30 days of fandom meme; part 2
Oct. 10th, 2015 04:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scripsi11 – Genre – do you prefer certain genres of fic when you're writing? What kind do you tend to write most?
Yes, my fic of preference is darkfics. My writing is in many ways a means to cope with things that has hurt me or which scares me and writing darkfics is a safe way to explore those subjects. And a good tragedy can be very cathartic. Up until I started to write Doctor Who-fics almost everything I had written was darkfics, but I find I can also write funnier stories too. Or stories which I think can be called bittersweet. My darkfics are usually het, a few gen and one or two slash stories, while the funnier fics all are gen.
I don’t think I have ever written something fluffy and romantic, and I doubt I ever will. I don’t read much romantic stuff either. I don’t mind a good love story if it fits in an overall narrative, but I have never had any interest in romances. Even when it is by an author I love like Lois McMaster Bujold. Her Sharing Knives books bored me, though they are very well-written. But the story is mainly just a romance even if it is in a fantasy setting.
12 – Have you ever attempted an "adaptation" fic of a favorite book or movie but set in a different fandom?
No. I don’t see the point in it and I have never enjoyed reading a fic like that either. It’s just not for me.
13 – Do you prefer canon or fanon when you write? Has writing fanfic for a fandom changed the way you see some or even all of the original source material?
I prefer canon, but it is still fanfiction and we are allowed to adapt. I can’t say it has changed my views, but thinking of what motivates a character do deepen one's understanding.
14 – Ratings – how high are you comfortable with going? Have you ever written higher? If you're comfortable with NC-17, have you ever been shocked by finding that the story you're writing is G-rated instead?
I write any rating, from G to NC-17 and I don’t see why I would be shocked by writing one or the other. I write what I want to write and then decide rating when I’m done. I used to write a lot more NC-17 rated smut than I do now, but I didn’t take a decision to do that, it just happened. I think it had a lot to do with me needing to work out a few things about my sexuality. Now I kind of feel like I have. But I do write self-indulgent smut from time to time to amuse myself.
15 – Warnings – What do you feel it most important to warn for, and what's the strangest thing you've warned for in a fic?
When I first started to read fanfic I didn’t get either warnings or pairings being advertised. I thought it very annoying to know beforehand what to expect from my reading experience. But back then I also assumed that all fanfic was well written, probably because the first I read was really good ones. I’ve changed opinion since then. There are so much fanfic out there and it’s hard enough at it is to find the gold nuggets. I have also came across a few things that squicks me and I’m truly grateful for warnings of mpreg, scat and waterplay so I can avoid it.
I warn for violence and sex and I really try to give my fics proper rating and warnings. As I often write about dark stuff, the last thing I want is someone unknowingly reading something that disturbs them. When I recently got flamed for one of my darkfics my first thought was that I had somehow missed to warn it properly. As it turned out I had, the rating was high, there was all conceivable warnings, there was a mention of disturbing themes in the summary AND a author’s note saying this was a very dark fic so please just read if you are ok with the. (I still don’t get why someone would knowingly read something they don’t like and then flame the author.)
So, I warn and perhaps do it to an excess, but I find that is better than the opposite. But what a strange warning would be I don’t know.
16 – Summaries – Do you like them or hate them? How do you come up with them, if you use them?
Summaries are so hard! Necessary, but hard. I often cheat and use a quote from the main text. Sometimes I think I should go back and re-write my summaries to make them better, but I never do.
17 – Titles – Are they the bane of your existence, or the easiest part of the fic? Also, if you do chaptered fic, do you give each chapter a title, or not?
I like making up titles. I may be overly fond of using quotes, though. On the other hand; a fair number of my fics are inspired by a poem or a lyric, so it fall quite naturally to use it in the title then. I usually don’t give chapters any title, though.
18 – Where do you get the most inspiration for your fics (aka "bunnies") from?
All over! I get a fair amount of inspiration from prompts of various kinds.![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
who_contest one word prompts has sparked fics like Yellow, Sweetie and Just You and Me and the TARDIS, which I probably wouldn’t have written otherwise.
Songs can be very inspirational. Crows Feet On the Prettiest Eyes was written after listening to The Beautiful South's Prettiest Eyes just after I had watched an episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures and thinking Elisabeth Sladen really had very pretty eyes.
Plot holes. I wrote three very different fics about Nyssa because I’m frustrated with the lack of story arc she has, when the seeds are there for some really interesting stuff. And The Problem With Lucy comes from me not finding Simms!Master behaviour quite right.
But I think I get most inspiration from doing “what if’s” or “what would” or “why’s”. My ongoing Sleepy Hollow-fic Mary’s Tale started with thinking on why Lady van Tassel was evil and what could have happened to her to make her the way she was. Professor Keller started with me wondering where the Master got money for his scheme in The Mind of Evil and what do evil Time Lords do to amuse themselves? Answer; nothing nice. And A Conversation and the rest of my River Song/the Master fic stems from me wondering what the two of them would think of each other.
Often, of course, inspiration for one fic can come from more than one source. Something Missing was written forwho_contestentry “Master”, but also me thinking of how the human Ten would cope in Pete’s world- I figured he would want to go looking for the things he knew, ie old companions. And that he probably would want his best enemy around too.
19 – When you have bunnies, do you sit down and start writing right away, or do you write down the idea for further use?
Depends. If I have time to write, I write, otherwise I jot down the idea and perhaps a few lines until I have time for it. It happens that I get plot bunnies when I’m supposed to sleep, then I have to get up and write them down or I will never fall asleep that night.
20 – Do you ever get bunnied from other people's stories or art in the same fandom?
Absolutely! The Doctor/Master drabble called I Don’t Want You was written as a direct result from readinga_phoenixdragon Did You Miss Me?. And Burning, a Ainley!Master/Sarah Jane Smith fic was inspired by Queen and Mistress, a Ainley!Master/Peri Brown story by LilacFree (BDSM warning for both stories).
Yes, my fic of preference is darkfics. My writing is in many ways a means to cope with things that has hurt me or which scares me and writing darkfics is a safe way to explore those subjects. And a good tragedy can be very cathartic. Up until I started to write Doctor Who-fics almost everything I had written was darkfics, but I find I can also write funnier stories too. Or stories which I think can be called bittersweet. My darkfics are usually het, a few gen and one or two slash stories, while the funnier fics all are gen.
I don’t think I have ever written something fluffy and romantic, and I doubt I ever will. I don’t read much romantic stuff either. I don’t mind a good love story if it fits in an overall narrative, but I have never had any interest in romances. Even when it is by an author I love like Lois McMaster Bujold. Her Sharing Knives books bored me, though they are very well-written. But the story is mainly just a romance even if it is in a fantasy setting.
12 – Have you ever attempted an "adaptation" fic of a favorite book or movie but set in a different fandom?
No. I don’t see the point in it and I have never enjoyed reading a fic like that either. It’s just not for me.
13 – Do you prefer canon or fanon when you write? Has writing fanfic for a fandom changed the way you see some or even all of the original source material?
I prefer canon, but it is still fanfiction and we are allowed to adapt. I can’t say it has changed my views, but thinking of what motivates a character do deepen one's understanding.
14 – Ratings – how high are you comfortable with going? Have you ever written higher? If you're comfortable with NC-17, have you ever been shocked by finding that the story you're writing is G-rated instead?
I write any rating, from G to NC-17 and I don’t see why I would be shocked by writing one or the other. I write what I want to write and then decide rating when I’m done. I used to write a lot more NC-17 rated smut than I do now, but I didn’t take a decision to do that, it just happened. I think it had a lot to do with me needing to work out a few things about my sexuality. Now I kind of feel like I have. But I do write self-indulgent smut from time to time to amuse myself.
15 – Warnings – What do you feel it most important to warn for, and what's the strangest thing you've warned for in a fic?
When I first started to read fanfic I didn’t get either warnings or pairings being advertised. I thought it very annoying to know beforehand what to expect from my reading experience. But back then I also assumed that all fanfic was well written, probably because the first I read was really good ones. I’ve changed opinion since then. There are so much fanfic out there and it’s hard enough at it is to find the gold nuggets. I have also came across a few things that squicks me and I’m truly grateful for warnings of mpreg, scat and waterplay so I can avoid it.
I warn for violence and sex and I really try to give my fics proper rating and warnings. As I often write about dark stuff, the last thing I want is someone unknowingly reading something that disturbs them. When I recently got flamed for one of my darkfics my first thought was that I had somehow missed to warn it properly. As it turned out I had, the rating was high, there was all conceivable warnings, there was a mention of disturbing themes in the summary AND a author’s note saying this was a very dark fic so please just read if you are ok with the. (I still don’t get why someone would knowingly read something they don’t like and then flame the author.)
So, I warn and perhaps do it to an excess, but I find that is better than the opposite. But what a strange warning would be I don’t know.
16 – Summaries – Do you like them or hate them? How do you come up with them, if you use them?
Summaries are so hard! Necessary, but hard. I often cheat and use a quote from the main text. Sometimes I think I should go back and re-write my summaries to make them better, but I never do.
17 – Titles – Are they the bane of your existence, or the easiest part of the fic? Also, if you do chaptered fic, do you give each chapter a title, or not?
I like making up titles. I may be overly fond of using quotes, though. On the other hand; a fair number of my fics are inspired by a poem or a lyric, so it fall quite naturally to use it in the title then. I usually don’t give chapters any title, though.
18 – Where do you get the most inspiration for your fics (aka "bunnies") from?
All over! I get a fair amount of inspiration from prompts of various kinds.
who_contest one word prompts has sparked fics like Yellow, Sweetie and Just You and Me and the TARDIS, which I probably wouldn’t have written otherwise.Songs can be very inspirational. Crows Feet On the Prettiest Eyes was written after listening to The Beautiful South's Prettiest Eyes just after I had watched an episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures and thinking Elisabeth Sladen really had very pretty eyes.
Plot holes. I wrote three very different fics about Nyssa because I’m frustrated with the lack of story arc she has, when the seeds are there for some really interesting stuff. And The Problem With Lucy comes from me not finding Simms!Master behaviour quite right.
But I think I get most inspiration from doing “what if’s” or “what would” or “why’s”. My ongoing Sleepy Hollow-fic Mary’s Tale started with thinking on why Lady van Tassel was evil and what could have happened to her to make her the way she was. Professor Keller started with me wondering where the Master got money for his scheme in The Mind of Evil and what do evil Time Lords do to amuse themselves? Answer; nothing nice. And A Conversation and the rest of my River Song/the Master fic stems from me wondering what the two of them would think of each other.
Often, of course, inspiration for one fic can come from more than one source. Something Missing was written for
who_contestentry “Master”, but also me thinking of how the human Ten would cope in Pete’s world- I figured he would want to go looking for the things he knew, ie old companions. And that he probably would want his best enemy around too.19 – When you have bunnies, do you sit down and start writing right away, or do you write down the idea for further use?
Depends. If I have time to write, I write, otherwise I jot down the idea and perhaps a few lines until I have time for it. It happens that I get plot bunnies when I’m supposed to sleep, then I have to get up and write them down or I will never fall asleep that night.
20 – Do you ever get bunnied from other people's stories or art in the same fandom?
Absolutely! The Doctor/Master drabble called I Don’t Want You was written as a direct result from reading
a_phoenixdragon Did You Miss Me?. And Burning, a Ainley!Master/Sarah Jane Smith fic was inspired by Queen and Mistress, a Ainley!Master/Peri Brown story by LilacFree (BDSM warning for both stories).
