Meme - Ask the Author

[elrhiarhodan]

I figured I should start out the year as I mean to go on, and by that, I mean posting more frequently here, where my friends still hang out.

So, ask away! Pick up to three numbers and I'll answer as honestly as possible.

1. things that inspire you


2. things that motivate you


3. name three favorite writers


4. name three authors that were influential to your work and tell why


5. since how long do you write?


6. how did writing change you?


7. early influences on your writing


8. what time are you most productive?


9. do you set yourself deadlines?


10. how do you do your researches?


11. do you listen to music when writing?


12. favorite place to write


13. hardest character to write


14. easiest character to write


15. hardest verse to write


16. easiest verse to write


17. favorite AU to write


18. favorite pairing to write


19. favorite fandom to write


20. favorite character to write


21. least favorite character to write


22. favorite story you’ve ever written


23. least favorite story you’ve ever written


24. favorite scene you’ve ever written


25. favorite line you’ve ever written


26. story you’re most proud of


27. best review you ever got


28. worst review you ever got


29. favorite story/poem of another author


30. hardest part of writing


31. easiest part of writing


32. alternate title for (insert story title)


33. alternate ending for (insert story title)


34. alternate pairing for (insert story title)


35. single story or multi-part story?


36. one-shot or multi-chaptered story?


37. canon or AU?


38. do you reread your own stories?


39. do you want to be published some day?


40. which one of your stories would you most like to see as a movie/series


41. one song that captures (insert story title)


42. do you plan or do you write whatever comes to your mind?


43. would you ever write a sequel for (insert fic title here)


44. do you write linear or do you write future scenes if you feel like it?


45. share the synopsis of a story you work on that you haven’t published yet


46. share a scene of a story that you haven’t published yet


47. how many unfinished ideas/stories are you working on at the same time?


48. three spoilers for (insert story title)


49. writing advice


50. open question to the writer

And if you want to play along, here's the text to post on your own journal:

<ol> <li>things that inspire you</li> <li>things that motivate you</li> <li>name three favorite writers</li> <li>name three authors that were influential to your work and tell why</li> <li>since how long do you write?</li> <li>how did writing change you?</li> <li>early influences on your writing</li> <li>what time are you most productive?</li> <li>do you set yourself deadlines?</li> <li>how do you do your researches?</li> <li>do you listen to music when writing?</li> <li>favorite place to write</li> <li>hardest character to write</li> <li>easiest character to write</li> <li>hardest verse to write</li> <li>easiest verse to write</li> <li>favorite AU to write</li> <li>favorite pairing to write</li> <li>favorite fandom to write</li> <li>favorite character to write</li> <li>least favorite character to write</li> <li>favorite story you’ve ever written</li> <li>least favorite story you’ve ever written</li> <li>favorite scene you’ve ever written</li> <li>favorite line you’ve ever written</li> <li>story you’re most proud of</li> <li>best review you ever got</li> <li>worst review you ever got</li> <li>favorite story/poem of another author</li> <li>hardest part of writing</li> <li>easiest part of writing</li> <li>alternate title for (insert story title)</li> <li>alternate ending for (insert story title)</li> <li>alternate pairing for (insert story title)</li> <li>single story or multi-part story?</li> <li>one-shot or multi-chaptered story?</li> <li>canon or AU?</li> <li>do you reread your own stories?</li> <li>do you want to be published some day?</li> <li>which one of your stories would you most like to see as a movie/series</li> <li>one song that captures (insert story title)</li> <li>do you plan or do you write whatever comes to your mind?</li> <li>would you ever write a sequel for (insert fic title here)</li> <li>do you write linear or do you write future scenes if you feel like it?</li> <li>share the synopsis of a story you work on that you haven’t published yet</li> <li>share a scene of a story that you haven’t published yet</li> <li>how many unfinished ideas/stories are you working on at the same time?</li> <li>three spoilers for (insert story title)</li> <li>writing advice</li> <li>open question to the writer</li> </ol> (Meme text courtesy of <user site="livejournal.com" user="elrhiarhodan"> )

Comments

[tjs-whatnot.livejournal.com]

I had the three set, and then scrolled down and there is just SOOOOO many I want to know. So picked at random: 7, 22, 33.

[elrhiarhodan]

7 - early influences on your writing

I'm not joking, but all of the erotica I read in the '90s. And I read A LOT OF IT.

2 - things that motivate you

It's going to sound totally dorky, but the sheer joy of telling a story. Inventing the situation, seeing the characters grow and develop, getting everyone to a happy place (or at least a place where they can continue to grow in my head), and making sure that all of the moving pieces are properly resolved.

33 - alternate ending for (insert story title)

What story????

AND BONUS QUESTION, BECAUSE I WAS TOO QUICK

favorite story you’ve ever written

That's so hard - all my babies are loved. But if I have to pick one story that I love above all others, it would have to be Happily Ever After Isn't for Guys Like Us. It's a case story, it's a love story, it has a happy ending for everyone.

Thank you for asking.

[theatregirl7299]

6, 13, 29

[elrhiarhodan]

6 - how did writing change you?

What a fascinating question! I think writing has made me more open, emotionally. More willing to question things that I once took for granted.

13 - hardest character to write

Hmmm, that's actually a tough one. I think I've always found Sara very hard to write. I don't hear her voice in my head very clearly. Lauren was hard, too. Does it say something that both of these characters are female?

29 - favorite story/poem of another author

ACK!!!!!! Please don't ask me that! It's so hard to pick, there are so many wonderful stories and I will end up insulting someone if I pick wrong.

[cookiegirl]

Oh I like this :) 40, 42 and 49 please! *Awaits advice* :D

[elrhiarhodan]

Happy New Year and you are up very late, my darling!

40 - which one of your stories would you most like to see as a movie/series

Oh, that one is easy. The Wonder(ful) Years. Hands down.

42 - do you plan or do you write whatever comes to your mind?

I am a very proud pantser - I write by the seat of my pants. I don't outline and find that taking detailed story notes can be the kiss of death. Which is not to say I don't know where my story is going, I just don't have a map on how to get from here to there!

49 - writing advice

Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid to write something new. Don't be afraid to incorporate your own loves into a story. Don't be afraid to dig deep into your research and follow every sidequest until you get what you need. And most of all, don't be afraid of the blank page.

[cookiegirl]

It's not quite 2am here yet! :D

Thank you for the advice! ♥

[daria234.livejournal.com]

40

[elrhiarhodan]

40 - which one of your stories would you most like to see as a movie/series

I answered before for White Collar (and that one is Wonder(ful) Years), but if I had to pick for The Flash, it would have to be a story I haven't yet finished and published, which is a terrible answer. It's an A/U currently set in a university community, but is part of a greater arc in a Spy AU.

Which is a piss-poor answer. But the best one I've got.

[daria234.livejournal.com]

YES THAT IS GOOD MOVIE IDEA!! :) I would SO want to watch that. (Will Tom Cavanagh be in those silly jackets with the elbow patches? Or in a James Bond style tuxedo? Will Cisco be (even more) like Q?

[sherylyn]

OH, man, I'm like TJ -- I could choose a dozen ;-)

But for now: 24, 26, 27 :)

[elrhiarhodan]

24 - favorite scene you’ve ever written

GAAAHHH!!!! I've written 2.6 million words and I need to pick ONE FAVORITE SCENE!!!!!!!!

Well... Upon consideration, I think it has to be the scene with Peter, Neal, and Peter's dad in Thanksgiving at the Burkes'.

26 - story you’re most proud of

This is different from "favorite story" isn't it? I think the story I'm most proud of is Let Your Honesty Shine. Of course, Kanarek's are really contributed so much to that story - I don't think it would have been half so good without it.

27 - best review you ever got

I got an incredible review on Happily Ever After Isn't For Guys Like Us which I still look at when I doubt myself:

I found myself writing this in chat to a pal who recced this to me, and thought, "Hey, the author should see this," so this is what I wrote:

So it's wonderful, and...just a little QED for me in how to write wonderful casefic. I mean, it's casefic, but it's also relationship-fic, and at the same time, the watermark, all the little investigative details, even the wonderful FBI friend over the phone, pushing us forward into the revelation, they're all so well-written and really ring true. and it's just not fair that someone who can write wonderful detailed detective-work like that can also write a gutwrenching line like "I was the shiny new thing." She implicitly blames the parents, although she doesn't say it at all. But jeez, the detective side of it! It was like... like nothing I've read outside of Agatha Christie.

[sherylyn]

Oooh, that is all just too perfect!!

I'm reading/re-reading now, b/c that sounds like an absolutely perfect way to spend NYE!! <3

[dizzydrea.livejournal.com]

37, 44 and 47

And Happy New Year to you!

[elrhiarhodan]

37 - canon or AU?

AU, but a very generous definition of AU. I think you know what I mean - that line where the characters are in canon settings, in canon roles, but are not in canon relationships or doing canon things.

That's not to say I don't love non-canon settings and characters in non-canon roles (I adore those), but often, my stories are AU simply by virtue of the relationships.

44 - do you write linear or do you write future scenes if you feel like it?

Oh, I am SUCH a linear writer. I may skip a scene that I have trouble framing (usually a sex scene in a very long fic) but I write from the beginning to the end. No deviation, no exception. I don't think I can write out of order. I pants - I don't outline - so I don't actually know what's going to come next if I haven't written what came before.

Am I making any sense?

47 - how many unfinished ideas/stories are you working on at the same time?

I try not to have more than two stories going at once - a short, off the cuff story to fill a need and a longer epic type story that's brewing in my brain.

I should mention that I have a fairly strict rule that I started adhering to after I spent a year writing Return and Rebuild the Desolate Places. NEVER AGAIN. NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER AGAIN WILL I START PUBLISHING A STORY THAT IS NOT FINISHED.

Which means that I have a 50k story that will probably be the first in a trilogy but that 50k represents only a quarter of the story yet to be told for the first part of the trilogy. And only my alpha and beta readers will see it until it's finished. It's why I have a secretly published 162k fic that no one will ever find - it was written for an obscure challenge and I plan to publish it two chapters a week, once my beta reader finishes it.

I can't commit to a writing schedule that will tie me down to a single story for an undetermined length of time.

Does that make any sense?

{{HUGS}} and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!

[nywcgirl]

15, 28, 30. And have a wonderful 2017!

[elrhiarhodan]

15 - hardest verse to write

I would have to say my Vampire World, since it's been stuck at 14 chapters for the last six years.

28 - worst review you ever got

It wasn't so much a review but a comment someone made in another story about the Vampire World serial I was writing (see above), trashing the story that they had clearly never read.

30 - hardest part of writing

Exposition. I hate laying out a scene without any dialogue. To me, it's like trying to slog through wet sand in a fierce headwind. NOT FUN AT ALL.

[pipilj.livejournal.com]

Happy new year, how about 9,10 and 39

[elrhiarhodan]

9 - do you set yourself deadlines?

Generally, no. Not unless I'm writing for a challenge that has deadlines.

I don't tend to set daily wordcount goals, either. If I have time and passion and the muse is with me, I write. If not, I don't. For me, writing is about pleasure and if it can't be pleasurable, I won't do it.

10 - how do you do your researches?

Like everyone else these days - Google, Wikipedia, the archives to the NYTimes. Can't imagine actually going to a library! But I do have some good print reference books at home that I'll refer to from time to time.

39 - do you want to be published some day?

Until recently, I had no plans to publish original fiction. But I've been working on a story that is extremely AU and just might have the legs to stand as an original story.

Thank you for asking and happy New Year!

[sinfulslasher]

Can I just pick 1 through 50?

Not?

Okay, fine. *sulks*

How's about 1, 17 and 45 (WC, if at all possible, obviously *g*)

[elrhiarhodan]

1 - things that inspire you

Oh, you well know how I can be inspired by the strangest things - cute animal gifs, random internet memes, articles in the New York Times. But at the core of it, I'm inspired by characters, people who are real and individual and who I can find something admirable - even if they are the villain of the story.

17 - favorite AU to write

Jeez, ask something difficult. Wonder(ful) Years, for the win. I can see myself writing that 'verse into eternity.

45 - share the synopsis of a story you work on that you haven’t published yet

As you requested, and a story I am thinking about:

Both Peter and Neal are horrified at the results of the 2016 election and quickly come to realize that they can no longer work for the FBI. Neal resigns immediately - he has been working on future career plans for a while. Peter, however, needs to make sure that his team is going to be lead by someone with the right set of skills.

[sinfulslasher]

I know very well that you can be inspired by the strangest things - which is something I adore about you. ♥ (Heck, I didn't ask certain questions because I already knew the answer. LOL)

WY 'verse FTW!!! Please do write into eternity!

And OMG YES I want that story! Political statement FTW. Neal should get them fake IDs so they can move to Canada and join the Mounties or something. *g*

[elrhiarhodan]

No, I hate to tell you but Peter and Neal won't go to Canada and become Mounties. They still have important work to do.

But that is a cute idea. I would love to see them both on horses.

[sinfulslasher]

But...but...but I want the boys in uniform! *sulks* Though I totally get staying put and overthrowing the Orange Government. *shifty*

In the meantime, they can ride each other instead of horses.

What?

[riverotter1951.livejournal.com]

5, 14, 25 please

[elrhiarhodan]

5 - since how long do you write?

I published my first fic on March 9, 2010, so I'm just shy of my seventh full year.

14 - easiest character to write

The characters that are easiest to write are the ones with the most distinctive voices, which for White Collar would be Mozzie. For the Flash, it's any version of Harrison Wells - EoWells, Harry or HR (although I haven't written anything with HR yet).

25 - favorite line you’ve ever written

It's actually a lot easier than picking out my favorite scene. The line is from The Lost and Found:

He salts the fries and drags them, two at a time, through the pool of ketchup and burger grease, licking his fingers as he goes. Beneath the sharp tomato tang, he tastes the blueness of the cue chalk.