Fic-Writing Survey

[between_time_and_42]

 This is a question meme thing I stole from Tumblr. I think it's supposed to be an "end of the year" thing, but I didn't write much last year so I'm going to answer some of them as if they were asked about all-time, not just last year (and I'm going to answer for original writing as well)

A. If you could rec a piece of music to accompany one of your fics, what would you pick? Why?

Now, as a writer and a music afficianodo, I can't just pick one...

For my fic "Good Enough" for the Kingsman fandom- "Dink's Song" as performed by Judi Resnick. It happened to be a major obsession of mine at the time, and the simple lyrics fit the pain of Harry losing Merlin so well. (I'd rec the Dave Van Ronk version except it uses female pronouns.)

For my fic "Waiting to Hold You" for The X-Files fandom- "Song to the Siren" by Tim Buckley. Byers considers himself ensnared by Susanne Modeski, like a siren ensnaring a sailor, so it worked.

For my fic "Turning Point" for the Inside Llewyn Davis fandom- "Somehow I Never Could Believe" from the opera Street Scene. Even if this song is a little too specific to the plot of Street Scene, I think it perfectly captures the feeling of growing older as a woman and wondering if there is more to life than being a wife and mother- which is basically the underlying theme of this fic, at least towards the end.

There's a lot more but, that's just three examples.

B. Who’s your favorite side-character from something you wrote?

By far, Noel Bryden from my Kingsman fic Prelude to Knighthood. He's actually one of my favorite characters I've ever written in general (if not simply my favorite). 

C. Get any good comments on your stuff this year? 

I got some great comments on my older fics for The Prisoner, and as for fics I posted in 2018, my two works for The Truman Show were well-received in terms of comments! Also, I got a couple of nice comments on my Max Headroom fic that I posted this year, which surprised me because I didn't even know there were still any Max Headroom fans out there.

D. Any drawings or pictures that had a big influence on your writing?

It doesn't happen often- usually it's after the fact, I'll find something that reminds me of what I wrote. And it's usually in terms of character's appearances. To stick with that, I modeled a few characters' physical appearances from my original story The Longest Train (which I wrote last year) after people I admire- specifically, the female protagonist Tess physically resembles Sara Watkins, while the male protagonist, Jay, is sort of an amalgamation of Jeff Buckley and Oscar Isaac.

E.  Who’s your favorite main character you’ve written?

Hard to say. Right now I'm pretty fond of Tess from The Longest Train, probably because she resembles me in personality more than any other character I've created. I also loved my OCs Brian Syme and Daniel Slade (their stories are called Dare to Be Happy and Music Videos, respectively), but probably only because I wrote them to be attractive to me.

Fic-wise, I've really enjoyed getting inside Harry Hart's head to write fic. I don't know why, but his dialogue just flows out of my fingers. 

F. What stories are you planning for the future?

See the massive list I posted somewhere below! Recent WIPs have taken a backseat to the Red Dead Redemption fic ideas- I have three currently in various stages of progress, and want to write two others besides them. I also intend to finish Born Again this year (Kingsman fic), and hopefully get Stay Away (Inside Llewyn Davis fic) to the point where it's ready to editing (then I need to find an editor... or rather, I need to find a fan in general). Plus I have an original story that's completely unwritten that I'd like to get around to eventually (when I have the time to properly research it).

G. Where do you think you grew the most this year?

I've been getting so much better at knowing when I'm being too wordy, and cutting weak parts to replace with stronger ones.

H.  How do you write? Paper, pen, computer? Music, no music?

Microsoft Word on my laptop. No music. In bed, so I can lie down if my back starts hurting from sitting up for so long.

I.  What’s your favorite work you did this year? Why?

From last year, probably "From the Upper Slopes of Mt. Nicaragua," about Hannah Gill (the actress who plays Truman's wife on The Truman Show). I don't like her as a person, but man is she a good character, and I enjoyed the way that it turned out (being able to fit so many headcanons into a single story). Also "Tough Nut to Crack" about Nux from Mad Max- again, because I was able to fit so many headcanons into one story.

J.  What are the best jokes you told this year? Any jokes you thought were funny that people didn’t catch? Vice-versa? 

Uh... don't talk to me about my poor attempts at humor in writing. Unless it's really dry humor or wordplay, I'm not very good at it. Besides, I write a lot of sad pieces, so it doesn't really fit there.

HOWEVER, here's one "vice-versa" I wrote in a song last year. Lyrics: "Every fact about you I have memorized, from the food you prefer to the size of your shoes, but I won't tell a soul if you don't want me to." People kept laughing at the "I won't tell a soul" line when I played it for them, and I realized it was because they took it as "sole-" like for a shoe. Unintentional wordplay, y'all!

K. Who have you killed this year? Why did they have to die? 

The only person I killed last year was Rodney Gallagher from my time-travel-murder-mystery The Longest Train, because there can't be a murder mystery without a murder. I feel very bad for him though. Also a few bandits from my post-apocalyptic Western, Some Velvet Morning, but they deserved it. (Plus they won't be the only ones to die.) 

L.  Which character did you most write about this year, and why do you like ‘em?

I dunno. I spent the most time with Tess and Jay from The Longest Train, and I came to really love both of them- Tess because of her similarities to myself, as mentioned, and Jay because he's just a good guy to write about, is all.

M. Meta! Have any meta about a story you’re dying to throw out there?

YES I DO! So, I thought about working this into a Kingsman fic that takes place in between the ending of The Path of a Kingsman and the Lancelot trials that culminate in Eggsy's father's death. But I'm not sure if I will so it's all in my head for now. Anyway, the aforementioned Noel Bryden passes away sometime during The Path of a Kingsman, and Merlin (his nephew) wasn't able to attend the funeral due to his duties to Kingsman (he was running a training session for the news Bors at the time and didn't trust anyone else to do his job). Some time after The Path of a Kingsman, he's cleaning his flat and notices a letter hidden away, addressed from Noel. Noel intended for him to find it much earlier, when he was still alive, but it's too late now. Anyway, it explains a lot of things about Noel that Noel never wanted Merlin to know, and also reassures him that he loves him, even though he never told him when he was alive. This inspires Merlin to reconnect with his parents and sister, as he doesn't want to end up the way Noel did, cutting everyone off because of his work. 

N. Anything you were planning to write that never got written?

Again, see list somewhere below.

O. Do you believe in outlines? Show us one! 

I outline everything, and if I could insert a picture into this post I'd show one off.

P. What are your pet peeves in other people’s work?

Inconsistent characterization, factual errors (like a modern song appearing in a work that takes place in the past)

Q. Quote three bits of writing you read his year. Can be your writing, or not. 

Not right now if ya don't mind...

R. If you had to rewrite one of your stories from scratch, which one would it be? What would you do to it?

Changes, or Concept Album Extravaganza, and I would change EVERYTHING. Ziggy & Pink would actually be in a relationship, for starters. Eva would not exist. The "returning to America to capture Ziggy's body and then going to space to bury it on Mars" plot would never happen- Pink would retrieve Ziggy's body, but bury it at his home. Also Pink wouldn't go back to Audrey, and Rael would have more to do in the story. But Whatsername would still sleep with Ziggy and get pregnant, and Mylo & Xyloto would still exist, to keep it consistent for the sequel which I'm quite proud of.

S. What’s the sexiest thing you wrote this year?

Last year, probably a vanilla "first time" fic for Tally & Zane from the Uglies series. Right now... be on the lookout for a nice RDR2 PWP one-shot, that's all I'm saying.... *insert the silly emoticon face used in suggestive situations, you know the one*

T. Themes, motherfucker, do you have them? What are they?

Yes I do, but usually only for longer works. My original story The Longest Train had the theme of appearance vs. reality- that just because you're familiar with a person's public persona, doesn't mean you know all there is to know about them as a person. My fic Prelude to Knighthood and its sequel The Path of a Kingsman have the theme of societal influences and the effects of a mentor figure on a person's development. There's more, but those two stories stand out right now.

U. Any stories that took a abrupt u-turn from where you thought they were going?

Not really. I usually try to see my original vision through to the end.

V. Which story was the most viscerally pleasing to write? Tell us your narrative kinks. 

I haven't been viscerally pleased when writing for a while. Except when writing dialogue. Dialogue, dialogue, DIALOGUE is my narrative kink. And really well-written similes.

W.  Who are your favorite writers?

Hard to say nowadays. 

X.  What’s your least favorite work of this year?

In terms of fics I only edited, I still don't really like A Clockwork Headroom, and likely never will.

Y. Why did you write? For fun, for a friend, for acclaim? 

For fun, and let's be real, when I write fic it's partially for all those kudos and comments, yo.

Z. If you could choose one work and immediately finish it, what would it be? How would you end it?

I'd finish Born Again because it's been such a struggle to write. It would end with Merlin being turned into a pod person and screaming at Roxy, just like in the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers when Matthew turns into a pod person and screams at Nancy. I've been wondering if I should then write an alternate ending where it was all a dream Merlin had after falling asleep while watching the movie at Harry's house, but I feel like "it was all just a dream" endings are for the weak.

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