meridian_rose

Snagged from tellshannon815;
Rules: go through your last 5 fics and share the first and last line. No context.

While tellshannon815's examples had a sort of symmetry, mine don't, at all!
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30 Day Fanfic Writing Meme Index
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30 – Do you have a favourite fic you've written? What makes it your favourite? And don't forget to give us a link!

I have many favourites :D So many fics are special to me because they represent milestones; first time I wrote slash, first time I wrote a threesome, first time I wrote a big bang length fic, etc. Aside from the odd drabble I've done to meet a particular prompt requirement, there's something I like – even just a particular turn of phrase – in most of my fanfics.

I am pretty proud of Much Saves The Day, a BBC Robin Hood fanfic. I wrote it as a gift, it's one of the first fics I ever posted at LJ – if not the first, and I was really pleased with how the plot unfolded. I felt I got the balance between dialogue and description right, was pleased with some of the descriptions, and felt I managed to include both drama and humour, in line with the style of the show itself.

And that's all the questions D: Index post will be up soon. I had a lot of fun doing this meme. It'd be awesome if even more of you completed it, and if anyone knows of any similar memes, please send them my way.

28 – Have you ever collaborated with anyone else, whether writing together, or having an artist work on a piece about your fic?

I usually work alone. I've occasionally teamed up with someone for a landcomm challenge, and I did have someone make me some lovely, atmospheric artwork for my Dollhouse bigbang fic.

However, hrhrionastar and I have been writing together recently, and have a comm for our joint fics, Palace of the Prophets. Collaborative writing is a particular source of joys and challenges; you have to find a balance when you're used to working alone and having full creative control. That you're not doing it alone is also one of the best things about writing with a partner; if you're stuck on a plot point, or you've written a sentence that contains the essence what you want to say but isn't somehow the best way it could be said, you can pass it to your co-writer for advice. You get to act as both co-writer and beta reader for your co-author, and vice versa :D It's a very different experience, but one I'd recommend if you can find someone you're compatible with :D

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26 – What is the oddest (or funnest) thing you've had to research for a fic?

Oddest or funniest? I don't know. I'm always having to look up random things and have a folder full of info and urls. When was this particular thing invented? How long does a flight from LA to London take? How much blood is the human body and how much can be lost before shock sets in?

I think I'd be hard pressed to find an area of research I haven't touched on at some point. Geography, history, law, politics, languages, technology…there's a fanficflamingo though that's appropriate here, because sometimes I get caught up doing research unnecessarily:


source

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I don't usually use a beta. For things like Yuletide where the story is a gift, I try to, because a giftee deserves the very best I can give. If I'm very uncertain about a fic, I'll try to get someone to proof it. Whenever I do use a beta they've always been wonderful, giving me concrit and pointing out my silly errors as well as telling me what works.

However I did write a rant about sites that insist on a beta reader. When you're dealing with original fic or a small fandom or a rare pairing, it can be difficult to find a beta. And, as I write in the rant, some of the badfic on ff.net has allegedly had multiple betas. While I find a beta always makes my work better, that's because my betas are competent when it comes to spelling and grammar and, I'd hope, honest with their opinions.

I don't have any horror stories, just love for every beta reader who has taken the time to make my fic better :D

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22 – Have you ever participated in a fest or a Big Bang? If so, write about your favourite experience in relation to one. If not, are there any you've thought about doing? And if not, why not?

Yes. I've written two big bangs, some fics for the smallfandomfest and sweetdrabbleathon, and I've done Yuletide twice. I appreciate the structure and deadlines that make me finish fic – as you know by know, I'm a terrible procrastinator and don't work as hard as I should to write down my ideas or finish fic. There's an expectation that there will be an audience for fic, too; however, this doesn't always follow in my experience. None of the original prompters for the smallfandomfest prompts and the sweetdrabbleathon fest have ever reviewed the resulting fic. Which sucks. On the other hand, my Yuletide recipients have always commented.

Big bangs are something I really struggle with. It's such a big piece of work – fifteen k upwards in my experience. I used to write more, even when I had less time. I blame the Internet Now I struggle to complete anything beyond around five k.

There is a certain satisfaction to completing a big bang though. And when someone – giftee/prompter or not – gives you a lovely review, it's worth the effort of participating in a fest :D

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20 –Do you ever get bunnied from other people's stories or art in the same fandom?

To a point, yes. But it's often from discussions arising from a work that give me plot bunnies to work with; I'll pick up on something that's maybe not the focus of the fic, but which the story has brought to mind, and perhaps mention it in the review – then the author might reply with further insight. Mostly this occurs in the LotS fandom, because there seems to be more interaction, certainly amongst the Darklings, than is usual. And sometimes something in a review to one of my fics will spark my imagination for a different take on the subject/pairing.

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18 – Where do you get the most inspiration for your fics (aka "bunnies") from?

EVERYWHERE. Books , tv shows, movies, fics, news articles, adverts, song lyrics, music videos, conversations with people, prompts, random thing I see/hear when outside, misreading something, reading nutritional information on a chocolate bar. You can get ideas from absolutely anything, a moment of inspiration that gives you a line of dialogue to start from or a comedic plot point to work around.
Sometimes ideas don't even need a spark, they just seem to show up randomly in my head. Yes, this sounds odd to non-writers, but I'm sure most other writers understand.
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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?

I warn for character death – which is an odd one in many fandoms, where death is often a temporary inconvenience – and for non-con/dub-con, although I write those only rarely. I sometimes put a disclaimer about the violence involved being on par with the relevant show, because I tend to write in-line with that. I will warn for torture.

I sometimes think about replacing 'warnings' with 'content' because some things aren't necessarily warnings but people might like to know if they're featured in a fic. For instance I mention if there's vomiting mentioned because I know that's a squick for some people. Prevailing wisdom inists that Warnings as a category is important for the big three [death, non-con, graphic violence] and that other potentially troublesome content should be mentioned separately.

I also mention if I'm tackling themes like depression or suicide, and I specifically warned when I wrote a piece that it contained ' unsympathetic response to the depression by a major character, including scenes of verbal domestic abuse'. This might seem a bit over the top, but I don't know who might come across the fic, and what their triggers are. Furthermore, forewarned is forearmed. One day you might not be up to reading about a character with depression or a fic containing animal abuse or unwanted pregnancy; another day you might find the subjects bearable or even cathartic. So it's about building trust with your potential readers.

I also sometimes include spoilers with the warnings, saying 'spoilers for episode three' or 'first season setting' as a heads up.

Oddest thing? Probably for Sounds of the Sixties, which featured the following advisory:
Content and Warnings: Sex [f/m, m/m, threesome, masturbation], Drugs [marijuana] and rock'n'roll [OK, this one's not a warning unless you really hate Sixties music!]
The music was an important part of the fic, but I was really just joking when I 'warned' for it, riffing off the aphorism :D - and hence the 'content' part.

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