The Fan Fiction Mafia

[bobandbill]

I guess where Nate comes from, happy butterflies aren't a common variety.

Show us a paragraph of what you're working on right now. Just a paragraph, anywhere in your current chapter, be it the last paragraph you wrote or something smack in the middle.

Well okay. Start of a fic I'm currently writing.
[spoil]Riiiinnng. Riiiinnng.

I awoke with a start, greeted by the familiar screech of my alarm clock. I chose to ignore it for a while longer, far preferring to stay snuggled within the warmth and comfort of my bed than to brave the cold air that awaited me. Sure, the shrills were annoying, but I could almost convince myself that they didn’t exist by burrowing my head further into my pillow.
[/spoil]

 

[Negrek]

What? No! I liked it that way! It's like Nate could name the same animal five times and not notice or care because he's just trying to get it over with, and then the child gets mad after the fifth variation of "butterflies" and Nate throws in another four just to tick it off. It totally works with double butterflies! D:

Oh, I totally saw that interpretation, and I think it's pretty funny. Unfortunately it's OOC, so I can't use it there. I'm definitely thinking of how I might be able to work "butterflies, butterflies, and yet more butterflies" into the story somewhere else, though!

I agree, though saying "butterflies and happy butterflies" implies that the first set of butterflies aren't happy and unhappy butterflies make me sad.

I guess where Nate comes from, happy butterflies aren't a common variety.

No worries, all the butterflies in the Mirage Kingdom are happy. It's just that kind of place.

I awoke with a start, greeted by the familiar screech of my alarm clock...

Ordinarily I'd say, "Ah, starting a new journeyfic, are we?", but given that it's you, I doubt it's that straightforward.

 

[gorgonfish]

Show us a paragraph of what you're working on right now. Just a paragraph, anywhere in your current chapter, be it the last paragraph you wrote or something smack in the middle.

Spoiler: Spoiler

The small pendant reflected light as it sat in the palm of my hand, light and dark green glimmering softly. I didn't expect it. I never in a million years thought I would have it, especially not now. At the time, I didn't understand the empty feeling, at least not consciously. If I had, perhaps Misty and I would have become friends sooner and our entire history would happen earlier. But then my daughter wouldn't exist the way I know her so I stop thinking about it.

 

[bobandbill]

No worries, all the butterflies in the Mirage Kingdom are happy. It's just that kind of place.

Ah, excellent.

Ordinarily I'd say, "Ah, starting a new journeyfic, are we?", but given that it's you, I doubt it's that straightforward.

Haha, good point there about the beginning, I didn't even realise. :V I just need the character to realise they are late and then run to their nearest Professor Lab!(TM)

But no, it's a trainer fic, just not a journeyfic (if that makes sense, haha). Something I hope to finish this year? I did get a good chunk done in camp nanowrimo a couple months back (only 10,000 words but hey!), but in that I added in more events than initially planned. whoops

 

[Dragonfree]

Soo I don't have much time. I wanted to contribute so I'm going to edit / review as many paragraphs as possible! I want others to feel free to also do this / disagree or agree with me as well.

While obviously you're doing this with good intentions, these are WIP snippets posted for fun, not refined, polished work posted for critical feedback. As JX Valentine pointed out, you (general you) can't really offer much in the way of insightful critical feedback on a paragraph posted out of context because you lack understanding of the overall flow of the story at that point and the characters involved, and while you can certainly make valid wording nitpicks, these are WIPs, so their wording is probably not final anyway. This is pretty much exactly the wrong context for unsolicited critique - we want authors to feel free to post silly first-draft paragraphs that make no sense out of context here, without worrying that they're not good enough. If somebody expressly asks for criticism, of course, by all means provide it, and when people actually publish their work in the fanfic forum critical reviews are to be expected, but jumping out at people who are just posting explicitly unfinished snippets for a topic in the fanfic club to rewrite their word choices is kind of uncalled for. Again, I get that you just wanted to help people out, and that's cool; I'm just saying for future reference that there's a time and a place for offering detailed critique on people's writing, and I really don't think this is it. (Overall thoughts on them are fine, though!)

Gonna give you some advice here, buddy: if you go around telling people that your writing is terrible, it's not really going to convince them to take a look. People don't want to read terrible writing, after all. You yourself—the author, the person who wrote it and so should know—just said it was awful, so why should I bother, right?

People like confident authors.

Eh, not too confident. Few things put me off someone's work like the sense that they think they're amazing, and what with the Dunning-Kruger effect, it's not an entirely irrational aversion - people who truly are great tend to be a lot humbler than people who aren't. Putting oneself down constantly is rather offputting too, mind, but at least for me, it's definitely not because I believe them when they say they're awful - it's more because it tends to start to come across less like sincere humility and more like fishing for some kind of reassurance that you're great after all. (Which is not to say that's what InsaneTyranitar is doing; it's just the impression I get when I'm actually put off by it.) In general, self-deprecation shifts my opinion of somebody's work upward, not downward - acknowledging your flaws means you see them and are presumably actively working on them, which makes me a lot more inclined to look past them.

All that said, InsaneTyranitar, there's a difference between realistic self-assessment and just feeling like everything you do is trash, and it feels like you have a case of the latter. Don't! Phoenixsong is right: allow yourself to feel proud of the bits you do like, and don't get caught up in the idea that because you feel other people are better than you nothing you can do is worth anything. And above all, just keep working at it and strive to improve what you're unhappy with.

I agree with everyone ever that "butterflies and happy butterflies and zombies" >>>>> "bunnies and happy butterflies and zombies".


Now for some actual topics!


Which character in your fic is your favourite to write about?

Dave and Mia from Morphic and May and Chaletwo from The Quest for the Legends. Dave is just all-around really entertaining to write; his lines tend to amuse me and his psychology is really interesting to convey, since he likes to channel basically every emotion he feels into bitterness, anger and general jerkishness and doesn't have an introspective bone in his body. Mia is pretty much the exact opposite, since she's very straightforward and tends to say exactly what she is thinking, but the way she thinks is amusingly bizarre. Most of all, though, I like writing Mia with Dave, because I can pretty much just put them in a room together with some vague topic of conversation and something delightful will emerge.

I'm incredibly fond of May. What started out way back when as a silly kind of self-insert character developed into a person with some serious insecurity issues whose poor social skills, difficulties with empathy and fixation on being good at battling leads to some pretty horrible mistakes that she then has to deal with. Like Dave, she doesn't like to talk or think about how she really feels about much of anything, so writing her POV is a lot more challenging and interesting than a more emotionally honest and introspective character like Mark (the main character).

Chaletwo is then mostly really fun because what started out as a save-the-world plan that was shoddily thought out because I was twelve eventually turned into a save-the-world plan that was shoddily thought out because he was desperate and couldn't think of anything better and that he's stuck to anyway because he has a really hard time admitting to himself that it's kind of terrible. He clings to the simple and straightforward rather than think outside the box he's made himself comfortable in, and he likes to hastily wave away or forget about things that make him uncomfortable. Also, he's so delightfully childish and pathetic for a legendary.


Show us a paragraph of what you're working on right now. Just a paragraph, anywhere in your current chapter, be it the last paragraph you wrote or something smack in the middle.

Mark tried to imagine being inside May’s head; his first thought was that it was probably terrifying. Is she okay?

“I guess not,” Gabriel said. He reached for more sand, closed his eyes and shuddered for a moment before he withdrew his hand and opened them again. He sat looking dully forward for a few seconds. “**** Alzheimer’s,” he muttered eventually.

Dave doesn’t show up for work for a couple of weeks. It doesn’t seem like there’s any point in going to work – or getting out of bed in the morning, really – when they’re all dead. He watches bottles pile up around the apartment and tells himself out of habit that he should clean them up before he realizes that there’s no reason to even do that because there’s nobody there except him. So he leaves them alone as a ****-you to anyone who thinks he’s obligated to do anything anymore.

 

[Phoenixsong]

Eh, not too confident. Few things put me off someone's work like the sense that they think they're amazing, and what with the Dunning-Kruger effect, it's not an entirely irrational aversion - people who truly are great tend to be a lot humbler than people who aren't. Putting oneself down constantly is rather offputting too, mind, but at least for me, it's definitely not because I believe them when they say they're awful - it's more because it tends to start to come across less like sincere humility and more like fishing for some kind of reassurance that you're great after all. (Which is not to say that's what InsaneTyranitar is doing; it's just the impression I get when I'm actually put off by it.) In general, self-deprecation shifts my opinion of somebody's work upward, not downward - acknowledging your flaws means you see them and are presumably actively working on them, which makes me a lot more inclined to look past them.

No, I agree with that first part. I definitely don't like to see overconfidence, authors going around believing that they're God's gift to fanfiction and what have you, and I think that trying to cheer yourself up by going too far in the opposite direction is self-deluding and setting yourself up to be torn down when reviewers point out flaws in your work. When I said "confidence" what I meant was more like "here's my story, I had a lot of fun working on it, I hope you enjoy it!" and leaving it at that. People should feel good about standing by their work without necessarily having to brag about how awesome it is. Maybe confidence wasn't the quite right word to use there, idk.

That said, I guess I'm thinking about this in two different ways—there's your attitude when you present your story, and there's your attitude when you're talking about it with your readers/other people. I know that every author has things they can work on, and I know that part of reviewing is to help the author find those things, but to me (and it could just be me) there's something about being told there are problems from the outset that makes me feel like I've been put on plot hole patrol and it kind of colors the way I read it. Even for things like contest judging I prefer coming in with the mindset that, hey, here's a story someone thought I would enjoy, let's take a look, and then if I end up noticing a comma splice or an inconsistency then yes, I'll point it out and offer a suggestion. Sell me your story, just like a published author would sell me their book; don't distract me by putting me on guard before I hit the first sentence. I'm much more interested in hearing that you enjoyed yourself while writing this than that you feel the plot is a little shaky. If you're enthusiastic about posting it (without being overconfident), it makes me enthusiastic about reading it.

Having a discussion about the writing after the fact is a bit different. If someone correctly points out a problem in a review, then yes, the author should acknowledge that and take the advice into consideration. If they respond with something like "oh, yeah, I was struggling a bit with how to get that information across, I'll keep that advice in mind!" then that's great! If they want to have a discussion about how they could improve or go into detail about why they think it gave them trouble, that's great, too. I just don't think it has any place when you're trying to hook me into reading the fic (or snippet, or whatever) to begin with, so yeah, personally I'd much rather people not say anything about their difficulties at all in a summary or leading author's notes. Comments like that are probably better saved for some post-fic notes if you're going to bring it up on your own. That way I can see that you recognize your shortcomings and would like help with them, but I was able to read the story beforehand without being primed to focus on a specific angle while looking at it.

I dunno if that happens very often in actual fics here, but even when posting little snippets in a casual environment like this I'd rather not have the author trying to pick it apart before I've even started reading it. Unless they specifically posted to ask for help in getting through a tough spot, anyway.

(Meanwhile, more Morphic extras yessssssss)

 

[Negrek]

But no, it's a trainer fic, just not a journeyfic (if that makes sense, haha). Something I hope to finish this year? I did get a good chunk done in camp nanowrimo a couple months back (only 10,000 words but hey!), but in that I added in more events than initially planned. whoops

Nice! Good luck getting it finished, then.

I agree with everyone ever that "butterflies and happy butterflies and zombies" >>>>> "bunnies and happy butterflies and zombies".

Eh, I've come up with a way to make it work. We'll see if it's worth it in the end, since the joke ends up being a little different.

Dave doesn’t show up for work for a couple of weeks...

This looks like some delicious angst. You must post it!

Having a discussion about the writing after the fact is a bit different. If someone correctly points out a problem in a review, then yes, the author should acknowledge that and take the advice into consideration. If they respond with something like "oh, yeah, I was struggling a bit with how to get that information across, I'll keep that advice in mind!" then that's great! If they want to have a discussion about how they could improve or go into detail about why they think it gave them trouble, that's great, too. I just don't think it has any place when you're trying to hook me into reading the fic (or snippet, or whatever) to begin with, so yeah, personally I'd much rather people not say anything about their difficulties at all in a summary or leading author's notes. Comments like that are probably better saved for some post-fic notes if you're going to bring it up on your own. That way I can see that you recognize your shortcomings and would like help with them, but I was able to read the story beforehand without being primed to focus on a specific angle while looking at it.

Welp, I was just about to agree with Dragonfree and suggest as an alternative, if you don't really like what you've written, that you instead mention something specific you think needs work rather than a blanket "this is terrible I'm so sorry for posting it," but I guess it turns some people off. To me, a note like, "I had a lot of problems with the dialogue in this chapter, so if you have any comments about that specifically that'd be great, thanks," is perfectly fine; if I'm going to review, it's nice to know what kinds of feedback the author is interested in and to see whether my assessment of their weak/strong points lines up with their own.

So, obviously, people have a wide range of things they consider warning signs or annoying or enough to make them hit the backbutton. I think the wisest path, then, is to try and adopt a neutral tone towards the quality of your writing--the quality, I think it's fine to say you had fun (or didn't!) while working on it. After all, that's not really for you to judge; what matters is what your readers take away from it. Let them come to their own conclusions! But, overall, don't sweat it too much--this is definitely a case of "you can't please everybody," and fretting over whether you come across like an *** or a pathetic whiner in your author's notes is a pointless and nerve-wracking exercise.

However, I think it's generally healthier to have a positive mindset towards your work, whether or not that comes across in your author's notes or whatever. Feeling like your work is inadequate definitely isn't a fun place to be, and it's likely to hold you back from getting to a place where you are comfortable with what you produce because it can do a number on your motivation. So insofar as talking down your work is indicative of that sort of mindset, I think it's worth examining how you can overcome that. This is in part why I was going to suggest trying to mention something specific that you don't like rather than making blanket statements; I think it might help you really reflect on your writing and realize that it's not all bad. Surely there are some specific areas you think you'd like to work on--everyone has them--but if you're honest with yourself, I think you'll be able to find some things to like about your writing, too.

Another thing worth considering is whether that sort of negative outlook on your work is arising out of something not actually related to the quality of what you produce. For example, some people are afraid of saying good things about their writing because they're afraid they're not really that good, that they'll come across looking like a fool in addition to a hack, etc. Do you really think your writing is that bad, or are you afraid to admit that it might be pretty good? Some people use "being bad at writing" as an excuse to not do it, because what's the point? And so on. Ultimately, some people derive psychological benefits from believing that what they do is no good (or being blocked), and you have to have the self-awareness to recognize your real motivations in order to be able to break out of that pattern of negative thinking. If you took a positive view of your work, what would that mean? Would it mean you no longer had an excuse for not writing or not posting what you write or otherwise not taking risks and getting out of your comfort zone? And so on...

 

[DarkerShining]

Hmm... Well, I feel as if my writing is still a bit clumsy in some aspects, and it probably is. However, I also do know that I've improved quite a bit from when I first started. With Reflecting Balance, at least, I've gotten comfortable enough writing for it that I feel I don't need to worry too much about how it looks, while with some of my other projects that aren't getting anywhere... Let's just say I've had some difficulty getting anywhere part the first draft of the first scene with those. I guess one of the reasons I've gotten so far with Reflecting Balance is that I've made it past the beginning, and I know where I'm going with it, so I know what to do. I hope that as I keep improving while writing for Reflecting Balance, I'll eventually be able to get further with future projects of mine.

Don't know if this is really relevant, but I just wanted to contribute to the conversation, sort of. Try to get to know the other fanfic writers better and all that.

 

[GalladeofSpades]

Well, if we're talking about how we view our own writings...

One thing to keep in mind, if it hasn't been brought up yet, is how a someone views their work. Writers, from what I've heard, are prone to love their work and think it's amazing the minute they write it, but as time passes, they slowly begin to doubt and nitpick every single flaw in their work, until it's cringe-y enough to think 'why did I write this, this is absolute garbage'. This normally leads to either doubting the fic has any future and discarding it, or rewriting it enitrely from scratch. The preferred outcome is the latter, but for a lot of writers (myself included, unfortunately), the former happens a lot more often, which leads to lack of confidence in the fic, discarding it, and not writing a story that could've been great because you weren't confident enough to write it.

That kind of negativity doesn't really help your cause, since not only does it demoralize others from reading your fic, it also demoralizes yourself, as others have said. And while I understand that it's kind of difficult to think positive about your own work (again, I fall into this category), it really is more beneficial than being negative. Just try and turn off your inner critic and look at the bright side of things. If you don't like what you've wrote, you now know what doesn't work, and you can rewrite it having that in mind. And if you still don't like it after you've rewritten it numerous times, post it anyway, don't make a comment and see what others think about it. Make the appropriate changes when someone has reviewed and take solace in the fact that, once the fic is over, or even mid-fic, you can rewrite it to your heart's content. After all, with the appropriate criticism and experience, you can only improve!

Apologies to the more experienced writers here if my advice is... unhelpful. Or repetitive. Or unneeded. Basically, if my advice is crap, I'm sorry.

... I should really take my own advice.

Anywho...

For example, some people are afraid of saying good things about their writing because they're afraid they're not really that good, that they'll come across looking like a fool in addition to a hack, etc.

This... pretty much describes the reason why I think my writing sucks. I think that it's pretty good when I write it, and that it's amazing, but then I remember that not everyone might like it and that they might judge me for being proud of what I wrote. I'm pretty scared of what people think of me, so I usually take a pessimistic view on it just in case it sucks. If it does suck, I'm prepared; if not, I'm pleasantly surprised. But, as you've said, that's not really a healthy way of viewing things.


Not really a topic, but how is everyone who's writing a fic doing on it? Is it going well? No?

Well, for me, very angry plot bunnies started breeding in my brain when I took a trip down nostalgia lane and saw old RPs I did when I was young (and boy, they were just dung). A horror PMD story was suddenly born, and between two fics I was suddenly torn. In the end, I settled for writing the two, hoping that it would keep my writing drive fresh and new, so I wouldn't stop writing when inspiration, away, it flew.

The rhyming was completely intentional and was a spur of the moment thing.

 

[Umbramatic]

Eh, not too confident. Few things put me off someone's work like the sense that they think they're amazing, and what with the Dunning-Kruger effect, it's not an entirely irrational aversion - people who truly are great tend to be a lot humbler than people who aren't. Putting oneself down constantly is rather offputting too, mind, but at least for me, it's definitely not because I believe them when they say they're awful - it's more because it tends to start to come across less like sincere humility and more like fishing for some kind of reassurance that you're great after all. (Which is not to say that's what InsaneTyranitar is doing; it's just the impression I get when I'm actually put off by it.) In general, self-deprecation shifts my opinion of somebody's work upward, not downward - acknowledging your flaws means you see them and are presumably actively working on them, which makes me a lot more inclined to look past them.

All that said, InsaneTyranitar, there's a difference between realistic self-assessment and just feeling like everything you do is trash, and it feels like you have a case of the latter. Don't! Phoenixsong is right: allow yourself to feel proud of the bits you do like, and don't get caught up in the idea that because you feel other people are better than you nothing you can do is worth anything. And above all, just keep working at it and strive to improve what you're unhappy with.

No, I agree with that first part. I definitely don't like to see overconfidence, authors going around believing that they're God's gift to fanfiction and what have you, and I think that trying to cheer yourself up by going too far in the opposite direction is self-deluding and setting yourself up to be torn down when reviewers point out flaws in your work. When I said "confidence" what I meant was more like "here's my story, I had a lot of fun working on it, I hope you enjoy it!" and leaving it at that. People should feel good about standing by their work without necessarily having to brag about how awesome it is. Maybe confidence wasn't the quite right word to use there, idk.

That said, I guess I'm thinking about this in two different ways—there's your attitude when you present your story, and there's your attitude when you're talking about it with your readers/other people. I know that every author has things they can work on, and I know that part of reviewing is to help the author find those things, but to me (and it could just be me) there's something about being told there are problems from the outset that makes me feel like I've been put on plot hole patrol and it kind of colors the way I read it. Even for things like contest judging I prefer coming in with the mindset that, hey, here's a story someone thought I would enjoy, let's take a look, and then if I end up noticing a comma splice or an inconsistency then yes, I'll point it out and offer a suggestion. Sell me your story, just like a published author would sell me their book; don't distract me by putting me on guard before I hit the first sentence. I'm much more interested in hearing that you enjoyed yourself while writing this than that you feel the plot is a little shaky. If you're enthusiastic about posting it (without being overconfident), it makes me enthusiastic about reading it.

Having a discussion about the writing after the fact is a bit different. If someone correctly points out a problem in a review, then yes, the author should acknowledge that and take the advice into consideration. If they respond with something like "oh, yeah, I was struggling a bit with how to get that information across, I'll keep that advice in mind!" then that's great! If they want to have a discussion about how they could improve or go into detail about why they think it gave them trouble, that's great, too. I just don't think it has any place when you're trying to hook me into reading the fic (or snippet, or whatever) to begin with, so yeah, personally I'd much rather people not say anything about their difficulties at all in a summary or leading author's notes. Comments like that are probably better saved for some post-fic notes if you're going to bring it up on your own. That way I can see that you recognize your shortcomings and would like help with them, but I was able to read the story beforehand without being primed to focus on a specific angle while looking at it.

I dunno if that happens very often in actual fics here, but even when posting little snippets in a casual environment like this I'd rather not have the author trying to pick it apart before I've even started reading it. Unless they specifically posted to ask for help in getting through a tough spot, anyway.

Nice! Good luck getting it finished, then.

Welp, I was just about to agree with Dragonfree and suggest as an alternative, if you don't really like what you've written, that you instead mention something specific you think needs work rather than a blanket "this is terrible I'm so sorry for posting it," but I guess it turns some people off. To me, a note like, "I had a lot of problems with the dialogue in this chapter, so if you have any comments about that specifically that'd be great, thanks," is perfectly fine; if I'm going to review, it's nice to know what kinds of feedback the author is interested in and to see whether my assessment of their weak/strong points lines up with their own.

So, obviously, people have a wide range of things they consider warning signs or annoying or enough to make them hit the backbutton. I think the wisest path, then, is to try and adopt a neutral tone towards the quality of your writing--the quality, I think it's fine to say you had fun (or didn't!) while working on it. After all, that's not really for you to judge; what matters is what your readers take away from it. Let them come to their own conclusions! But, overall, don't sweat it too much--this is definitely a case of "you can't please everybody," and fretting over whether you come across like an *** or a pathetic whiner in your author's notes is a pointless and nerve-wracking exercise.

However, I think it's generally healthier to have a positive mindset towards your work, whether or not that comes across in your author's notes or whatever. Feeling like your work is inadequate definitely isn't a fun place to be, and it's likely to hold you back from getting to a place where you are comfortable with what you produce because it can do a number on your motivation. So insofar as talking down your work is indicative of that sort of mindset, I think it's worth examining how you can overcome that. This is in part why I was going to suggest trying to mention something specific that you don't like rather than making blanket statements; I think it might help you really reflect on your writing and realize that it's not all bad. Surely there are some specific areas you think you'd like to work on--everyone has them--but if you're honest with yourself, I think you'll be able to find some things to like about your writing, too.

Another thing worth considering is whether that sort of negative outlook on your work is arising out of something not actually related to the quality of what you produce. For example, some people are afraid of saying good things about their writing because they're afraid they're not really that good, that they'll come across looking like a fool in addition to a hack, etc. Do you really think your writing is that bad, or are you afraid to admit that it might be pretty good? Some people use "being bad at writing" as an excuse to not do it, because what's the point? And so on. Ultimately, some people derive psychological benefits from believing that what they do is no good (or being blocked), and you have to have the self-awareness to recognize your real motivations in order to be able to break out of that pattern of negative thinking. If you took a positive view of your work, what would that mean? Would it mean you no longer had an excuse for not writing or not posting what you write or otherwise not taking risks and getting out of your comfort zone? And so on...

Hmm... Well, I feel as if my writing is still a bit clumsy in some aspects, and it probably is. However, I also do know that I've improved quite a bit from when I first started. With Reflecting Balance, at least, I've gotten comfortable enough writing for it that I feel I don't need to worry too much about how it looks, while with some of my other projects that aren't getting anywhere... Let's just say I've had some difficulty getting anywhere part the first draft of the first scene with those. I guess one of the reasons I've gotten so far with Reflecting Balance is that I've made it past the beginning, and I know where I'm going with it, so I know what to do. I hope that as I keep improving while writing for Reflecting Balance, I'll eventually be able to get further with future projects of mine.

Don't know if this is really relevant, but I just wanted to contribute to the conversation, sort of. Try to get to know the other fanfic writers better and all that.

Didn't expect to start a whole topic. ._. But thank you all again for the advice! I'm taking it all into account.

And don't worry DS, you're fine!

EDIT:

Well, if we're talking about how we view our own writings...

One thing to keep in mind, if it hasn't been brought up yet, is how a someone views their work. Writers, from what I've heard, are prone to love their work and think it's amazing the minute they write it, but as time passes, they slowly begin to doubt and nitpick every single flaw in their work, until it's cringe-y enough to think 'why did I write this, this is absolute garbage'. This normally leads to either doubting the fic has any future and discarding it, or rewriting it enitrely from scratch. The preferred outcome is the latter, but for a lot of writers (myself included, unfortunately), the former happens a lot more often, which leads to lack of confidence in the fic, discarding it, and not writing a story that could've been great because you weren't confident enough to write it.

That kind of negativity doesn't really help your cause, since not only does it demoralize others from reading your fic, it also demoralizes yourself, as others have said. And while I understand that it's kind of difficult to think positive about your own work (again, I fall into this category), it really is more beneficial than being negative. Just try and turn off your inner critic and look at the bright side of things. If you don't like what you've wrote, you now know what doesn't work, and you can rewrite it having that in mind. And if you still don't like it after you've rewritten it numerous times, post it anyway, don't make a comment and see what others think about it. Make the appropriate changes when someone has reviewed and take solace in the fact that, once the fic is over, or even mid-fic, you can rewrite it to your heart's content. After all, with the appropriate criticism and experience, you can only improve!

Apologies to the more experienced writers here if my advice is... unhelpful. Or repetitive. Or unneeded. Basically, if my advice is crap, I'm sorry.

... I should really take my own advice.

Anywho...



This... pretty much describes the reason why I think my writing sucks. I think that it's pretty good when I write it, and that it's amazing, but then I remember that not everyone might like it and that they might judge me for being proud of what I wrote. I'm pretty scared of what people think of me, so I usually take a pessimistic view on it just in case it sucks. If it does suck, I'm prepared; if not, I'm pleasantly surprised. But, as you've said, that's not really a healthy way of viewing things.


Not really a topic, but how is everyone who's writing a fic doing on it? Is it going well? No?

Well, for me, very angry plot bunnies started breeding in my brain when I took a trip down nostalgia lane and saw old RPs I did when I was young (and boy, they were just dung). A horror PMD story was suddenly born, and between two fics I was suddenly torn. In the end, I settled for writing the two, hoping that it would keep my writing drive fresh and new, so I wouldn't stop writing when inspiration, away, it flew.

The rhyming was completely intentional and was a spur of the moment thing.

Don't worry, your advice is appreciated too. And yay for using old RPs as fic fodder!

 

[Griff4815]

Which character in your fic is your favourite to write about?

That's hard. I like writing all of my characters. Sometimes it's just easier to write about certain characters, though.

From my Digimon fic... maybe Duftmon. He's so deliciously smug. He's kind of a cross between an aristocratic knight and an arrogant intellectual who's a tactical prodigy. His dry sarcasm mixed with his unabashed lack of self awareness, along with his holier-than-thou, control freak nature and certain insecurities, makes him pretty fun to write at times. That said, he's a big jerk.

 

[Shurtugal]

Sorry guys. I only wanted to contribute. I hadn't meant to ruin anyone's fun!

(Note: I noted Enterprising because in my Myer Biggs test, that's what I scored (ENTJ). That's why it stuck out--and I agree, it's perfect for that story! I just wanted to be sure he knew its full meaning I am well aware that context is a big thing. I only commented according to the limitations of the paragraph. Some things I said were not context-related (showing vs telling, for starters) but I get what you all are saying. Anyway, I hope the people I did comment on found it helpful, and I wanted to say I enjoyed reading ALL of those paragraphs!)

Now, is it ok if I started a new topic?

Have a conversation with your character!

So I've been brainstorming for a long chaptered fanfic for a while now. You see, I've mostly done one-shot fanfics because everytime I attempt to do a long-winded project, I get stuck in certain places or new ideas interest me more. This time, I don't want to attempt the story until I know everything that's going to happen and all my characters so that I don't ever get a period where I get stuck, which means I'll just keep writing until I finish.

One tip I learned for learning your characters is to have a conversation with them. You can use an author-avatar to talk with them in a location, or it can simply be a spar-to-spar conversation where setting doesn't matter.

I'm going to give an example of what it should look like here, of course. I made myself "God" since I'm an author aren't I supposed to have a God complex, even a little bit? I'm the creator of the world and thought it would be fitting to address this particular character this way. I plan on making myself different to each character.

Anyway, this excerise allowed me to learn much more about my character. Usually I like writing snarkier characters. This character is somewhat snarky, but not in a way I've ever done it before. She snarks passively, which is something totally unique to this character. Anywho--I could keep ranting, but you'll see for yourselves!

I advise everyone try this topic. You might learn more than you'd originally think.

[NOTE: the only problem with this is that sharing it with others could translate into spoilers. If I ever pursue this story, and I probably will, some things would give off a lot of my plot twists, because this character is going to be potraryed as the villan first, and the readers and main character (Nathan) aren't going to know her backstory and motives and stuff. Plus there's that plot twist thing that even I refuse to say out loud as well . . . but you're better off reading it for yourself.

Spoiler: Conversation: Shurtugal and Soraya

Hello there, Soraya. How are you today?

. . .

Soraya? This is God speaking, and unless you want me to smite you, I’d start talking—now.

If you are God, then why . . . why do you let such a beautiful, awe-inspiring world to be stained with such evil, pain, blood, and death?

Go ahead, God. Smite me if you dare. It wouldn’t be the first time you killed someone for no reason, and it certainly won’t be the last.

Soraya, I don’t think you completely understand what you’re saying—

I do.

—but that is not what I came here to discuss.

Then get on with it. I have things to do, places to be…

I’m well aware of that Soraya. I’m God, remember? Anyway—I want to ask you a few questions. Think you can manage to answer them for me?

You created me. You should know the answer to that question. I don’t see the point in humoring you when you are an all-knowing, omnipotent being. Stop wasting my time.

I do not know you as well as I’d like to know you, Soraya. I want to ask you questions in order to understand you better.

There are things that not even God knows? How… interesting.

Well, I wouldn’t say that. More like… things I can’t remember. I need your help to refresh my memory. So—I ask you again, do you think you can manage to answer a few questions for me?

What happens if I refuse?

I could smite you—but I’d rather not do that. I could also kill everyone you love, but... like I said, I’d rather not do that. Just answer the questions, Soraya, alright?

I suppose I don’t have a choice. I only ask you respect the answers I give you.

Fair enough. Now, the first one—what species are you?

I suppose you aren’t joking, hm? I’m a Scyther. Because I am female, my abdomen is naturally bigger than most males for my species.

What are your opinions of the world?

That depends on which world you’re referring to.

The one you currently live in.

It’s a wonderful place. People and pokemon share a bond that is non-existent in the world I come from. But I know what it’ll become—and I’ll do anything to prevent that from happening.

Oh? Why is that?

Because the future is a living hell. Everywhere you look—blood, agony, death, sorrow, and then, you’ve got the fighting. It’s like the apocalypse out there. I refused to fight when I could. In those days, I truly believed in a world of complete peace and tranquility.

You truly believed that in a world like that? Even with all that going on around you?

Maybe believed isn’t the right word. I had hope in such a place. I didn’t fight because I was desperately clinging on to that hope, even if it was futile.
Eventually, my refusal to battle forced the elder Scyther to kick me out of the hive. They told me the world could not have peace without bloodshed.

And did you believe them?

… Not at first, no. It was only when I truly sought to change the world, to make it the perfect peaceful place I wished it to be, that I realized that they were right.

And you’re ok with that?

No. I’m not ok with it—I don’t think I ever will be. But that doesn’t matter, because the future is more important. It doesn’t matter if it’s ok with me or not, because all that matters is ensuring that the future I come from is abolished.

Wait a moment. How are capable of doing that? It sounds as if you can travel through time?

Don’t be ridiculous. I can’t do anything like that—not without assistance.

Assistance?

Don’t ask me to elaborate. It’s a long story.

I’ve got time.

You’re not good at taking hints, are you? What I had meant to say was this: I don’t want to talk about it.

Then why didn’t you just say that?

You’re obviously a male God. Figures.

What’s that got to do with anything?

. . .

Well, I guess that’s all the questions I have for you today.

Good. I must be going now—if you’d excuse me—

Wait. I’m not done, Soraya.

Oh. How disappointing.

You won’t be disappointed for long, I assure you. I’ll be back to talk to you later and ask you more questions.

I really don’t like you.

I know.

Goodbye, God. See you next time—or not.

Ha-ha. See you later, then, Soraya.

 

[Firebrand]

(Note: I noted Enterprising because in my Myer Biggs test, that's what I scored (ENTJ). That's why it stuck out--and I agree, it's perfect for that story! I just wanted to be sure he knew its full meaning

Yeah, I was wondering what you meant by that because it made total sense to use enterprising. Websters defines it as "ready to undertake projects of importance or difficulty, or untried schemes", roughly synonymous with "ambitious" but not entirely correlated. What Jason is saying is "If there's any man in the territory we've claimed who thinks to raise their status by trying to kill you, they'd have to get through me" because, let's be honest, slaying a giant dragon is a pretty good boost to your street cred. And while ambitious would have worked in that turn of phrase, I intentionally used enterprising instead because throughout the scene, Svarog is berating Jason to try and get him to be "a great man with great ambition", and to actualize his dreams of greater prestige by killing him. Jason then turns it around on him and says that to slay a dragon is the mark of a brave man, but the mark of a great man is to ride one, and he would rather be regarded as a great man than a brave one.

So yeah, context.

 

[Umbramatic]

Dammit, Shurtugal, you beat me to a new topic.

But I'll post for yours after I think of which char to use.

 

[Brutaka]

Have a conversation with your character!

I'm not gonna lie, this looked incredibly awesome So I did it. I think I might of gone too far.

Spoiler: Watch me mindf**k April

"Okay, what the..." April muttered with distant tone as she stared into the void.

Ah, hello. Glad you made it safely. Not that I was worried or anything, but whatever.

April slowly looked up and whispered, "...Arceus?"

Ha, no. Good guess though! I'm the author.

"The what?"

Author. I just pulled you aside 'cause I needed to talk to you.

"...why?" April wondered with a single brow raised.

I dunno. I'm having this discussion with some other authors, and right now, we're supposed to have some sort of conversation or something with their characters. Hold on, did I just break the fourth wall twice? Like, there's the first one, since we acknowledged this is a story, and there's the second one saying that is for a discussion in a forum... Would mentioning the breaking of the fourth be breaking the fourth wall a third time!? Goddammit!

April blinked, still clearly having a mental dilemma. "So this is all just a story? Including Shane and me!?"

I think it'd be 'Shane and I', actually. Hold on, let me go back and edit that... there we go! Hm... no, sounds too proper for your tone of voice. Okay, let's put the first one back in then. All right, it's fine that way!

The flying squirrel stood shaking, minorly traumatized after having her speech rewritten twice. "Please, don't do that... Oh, Arceus above, we're not real... Dang it, I was pretty!"

Haha, well, I wouldn't think of it like that. I mean, the concept of you is still very real. Your personality is completely cataloged, right down to your narcissism. Speaking of which, let's show that a bit more by adding something about your looks to the ending of that last dialogue...

Tears formed in April's eyes. "Stop that! That's completely not right!"

Okay, but really, what difference does it make? Like, if I didn't tell you that I had gone back and added the word 'completely' to your last line of dialogue and italized it so that you'd emphasis it when you said it, then you'd never have known I was doing it at all."

Her gaze drifted to the floor. She distinctly remembered saying the phrase the way she did, but it felt off - like the words weren't her own.

Well, that's because they're my words. See, I'm the author, so I...

"Can make you say whatever I want!" April said, completing the thought. Then she screamed, yelling, "STOP!" She slumped to the floor, crying. "I'm... I'm not a puppet!"

Tsk. You were always so strong, so proud, so stubborn. Now look at what you've become - a crying mass of fur on the ground just one tick away from completely breaking down mentally.

"What does it matter!? You just make me act however you want anyway! You're practically just talking to yourself right now!" A new round of tears formed at the conclusion of that last statement.

I guess you're right - I'm right? - whatever. Anyway, I've got to go write some more of Destiny Mirror. So the fun times are over, it seems.

April suddenly gasped as her throat tightened. Her eyes rolled back into her head, and she collapsed to the ground.

Don't worry, you wont remember any of this when you wake up, haha.

 

[SerenadeSP]

Stopping in again after disappearing for months. Inb4 everyone forgot me.

Anyway, topics!


Show us a paragraph of what you're working on right now. Just a paragraph, anywhere in your current chapter, be it the last paragraph you wrote or something smack in the middle.

Should be noted that I write entirely out of order, so this isn't necessarily in the next chapter of Heroic Potential:

Pegasus stepped away from the window, turning back to the long table behind him. Kaiba sat at the other end, glued to the laptop’s screen. Pegasus walked over, leaned in, and sighed. “You’re still working on this? It’s been hours! What happened to ‘this should be quick’?”

Which is your favorite character to write about?

Oh, god. Please don't make me choose. I'm horrible at choices.

If I had to pick just one, it would probably be the protagonist of Heroic Potential, Josh. Even though he's the protagonist, he's usually on the sidelines because he's not very good at the game yet, but still finds a way to stay involved in each situation outside of the duels (and sometimes during them). When he finally becomes "skilled" (I always consider skill to be subjective...), he stands out far more than any other character in the story, in my mind, because the distance he went from point A to point B is obvious.

Now to actually write and post that part...

Have a conversation with your character!

I'm terrible at these.

Let's do it!

Spoiler: Convo. between Serenade & Josh

Serenade: So, Josh, how do you feel about all of these duels?

Josh: Eh, they're okay, I guess.

S: Only okay?

J: I don't mind watching them, but playing the game is stressful. Especially with those Deck Hackers lurking around. They make everything waaaaay too serious for my tastes.

S: Right. You've had alot of encounters with them recently.

J: Yeah. Dave's been doing a pretty good job of taking care of them, but I can tell he's stressed about it too.

S: Really?

J: He's a really good duelist and all, but I don't think he's ever had to duel where there's actual risks involved. Not like losing a tournament risks, but actual gun-in-your-face risks, and it's getting to him. He won't say it out loud, of course. That's just the kind of person he is. I'm not even sure he realizes it yet.

S: I'm sure he has it under control.

J: I'm sure he's sure too. He tends to rely on himself when the going gets tough. I'm usually just there for moral support. He won't say that to my face, but it's definitely in the back of his mind.

S: That's the whole reason you went to the tournament that started everything, right?

J: Pretty much. I just sat on the sidelines, like always, and then I got sucked into this mess. Adam seems to have been sucked into it too.

S: What about you? Since you're with Dave all the time, you're probably involved in the Deck Hacker situation too.

J: I'd rather not lift up another card if I had the choice.

S: Then why are you still wearing that Duel Disk?

J: S-s-shut up.

It was really hard writing this without putting in spoilers along with it. I tried my best.

 

[GalladeofSpades]

Have a conversation with your character!

If you don't mind, I'll have two of these, as I'm working on two fics.

First up, Margot, from Doors!

Spoiler: Margot and I

Margot: Hnnng… Huh? Where am I?

Me: Oh, nowhere special.

Margot: Is… is this hell? Is this the Distortion World?!

Me: Maybe. I asked Gustavo if I could use it for a while. When he said no, I forced him to say yes. So… score one for me, I guess.

Margot: Wait… who’s Gustavo?

Me: Never mind about that! So Margot, I’d like to talk to you about your role.

Margot: My role?

Me: Yes. You are a villain. Your motives are not going to be revealed to anyone who’s reading this right now, so I’ll put those motives in your head.

Margot: … Yeah, that’s right, those are my motives. Is there a problem Mr… ?

Me: Spades.

Margot: Mr. Spades, okay. Is there a problem, Mr. Spades?

Me: Yeah, well… you’re not a really good villain. At the current time I pulled you out of, you’ve successfully picked some flowers. That’s it. You’ve done nothing else. Wanna tell me why?

Margot: Oh, it’s because I haven’t had the opportunity yet. But don’t worry, when the time comes, I’ll be ready!

Me: Toxicity asked you to rob a bank with her. You said no.

Margot: Oh, but if we did that, we’d have to steal those poor people’s money. What if they killed themselves because of that?

Me: You’re not supposed to care, you’re a villain.

Margot: Oh… then I’ll be more threatening, then.

Me: Prove it. *drops a knife and a doll* Stab this doll.

Margot: Oh… Okay…*picks up the knife and inches it slowly towards the doll, shaking*

Me: Oh for ****’s sake, HURRY UP.

Margot: *stabs the doll, but stitches it up almost immediately*

Me: ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Margot: S-sorry. I just don’t like hurting people.

Me: Where did you even get the stitches?!

Margot: I thought you gave them to me…

Me: No. No I did not. *sighs* Just… Just go. You’re free.

Margot: Th-thank you Mr. Spades. *bows down as she disappears*

Me: Okay, one left. Who’s next? *checks* Oh crap.

Second, it's Caesar, from The Other Side (title pending)!

Spoiler: Caesar and I

Me: Hi… Caesar.

Caesar: Oh, hello!

Me: You’re covered in something.

Caesar: What? Oh, this? It’s called skin, dearie. It’s mine.

Me: … yeah, sure. Anyway, I called you here to help me with something.

Caesar: Oh sure. Why wouldn’t I help the cosmic being that could off me while I’m asleep?

Me: I’m not a Cos-

Caesar: *eyes brighten*

Me: … Yes, yes I am.

Caesar: *eyes become duller* What did you want?

Me: I was wondering, what do you call your home?

Caesar: …

Me: Caesar? I was wondering what you called, so I could write it in my note- EEP

*despite supposedly being untouchable, Caesar has his claws up against my throat*

Caesar: Listen here. I don’t care who you are, but if you ask me about that or anything related to me again, I will find a way to make you mortal, and I will claw through your throat agonizingly slowly, just so you can remember that pain in the afterlife. Are we clear?

Me: You do realize that if I die, you cease to exist, right?

Caesar: Oh, I know. I also know that I could always appear in someone else’s head. Guess what?

Me: What?

Caesar: I’ll take the risk.

Me: Fine… I’ll drop it, I’ll drop it!

Caesar: *waits a bit, then pulls back the claw* Good. Is there anything else you need, dearie?

Me: … No. You can go.

Caesar: Thank you. Now if you don’t mind, I have things viciously kill. *disappears*

Me: *waits till Caesar is gone* *sighs in relief* Oh thank God.

So yeah, one's a sweetie pie, the others a deranged psychopath. Two guesses to who's who, and the first one doesn't count.

 

[Umbramatic]

GalladeOfSpades: Gotta say, yours were hilarious.

Now then...

Have a conversation with your character!

Let's screw with Dialga a bit:

Spoiler: Chat with Dialga

Me: Hey, Dialga!

Dialga: Hrm?

Me: It's me, Arceus!

Dialga: ... I know my father very well and you are most certainly not him.

Me: OK, so maybe I'm not. So tell me, what do you do for a living?

Dialga: It's not what you'd call a living, but I maintain the balance of time and keep younger Legendaries in line.

Me: Uh-huh. How much do time paradoxes mess with your job?

Dialga: -groans and places a claw on his forehead- You have no idea...

Me: Ouch. Do you have hobbies to kinda de-stress?

Dialga: I am far too busy for any sorts of "hobbies".

Me: Really? I saw you peeking at Palkia's Sailor Lunatone collection the other day...

Dialga: -looks panicked for a second before composing himself- ...How do you know about that?

Me: I just know these things~

Dialga: Mmph. I'll have you know it's a legitimately well-written and entertaining show.

Me: Go relax and watch it with your sister, then.

Dialga: Fine. I will. -stomps off-

 

[Starlight Aurate]

Well, doesn't this look like a fun topic! And InsaneTyranitar: Palkia owns a Sailor Lunatone collection?! She and I could be best buddies! XD

Have a conversation with your character!

Spoiler: Guess I'll go with Golduck:

Me: *Approaches a Golduck dozing in the sunlight* Hi there!

Golduck: *opens one eye and gives an offhand wave*

Me: You can talk to me; I'll be able to understand you.

Golduck: Hm? The only human who can understand what I say is Maressa... There's something odd about you...

Me: Well, Golduck, I made you. I know who you are, where you come from, and your favorite hobbies and everything.

Golduck: Really? Then you must know that I don't go by Golduck. My official title is "Certified Grade-A Badass," and some just call me "Awesome" for short.

Me: No they don't.

Golduck: Well, they should. *Closes eye again and shifts his position slightly*

Me: *Sighs* If your such a boss, then why do you spend so much time lying around?

Golduck: *Snores*

Me: ....

On another note, I just thought I'd ask everybody: how do you feel when you don't write your fic for a while? I haven't done anything for it in over a month, and I... kinda miss it. I know it's just an inanimate item, more of a concept than an object really, and that it isn't something that everyone thinks is uber-cool and gets me a lot of attention or praise, but in a way it's my baby. It's my pride and joy and (even though I know that what I write will always have flaws), no matter what anyone else says about it, I actually think it's really cool. There are times when I don't feel like working on it at all, but then there are times like this when it's all I think about. Does anyone else feel this way? Or am I just a little weirder than is normal for us fanfic writers weird and overly-obsessed?

 

[Shurtugal]

starliteevee: You're not weird. While I haven't actually completed / been consistent with a long-fic, I've had an idea that hasn't let me go, and I miss it when I'm not working on it, too. (In fact, like, one of my canceled projects happens after the new idea I have, so like, I'll probably do it once I finish the long-fic I want to work on--I say long fic, but it'll probably be medium-length).

***

Anyway, there are two points for the character conversation. The first was to have fun The next was to pick a flat, one-dimensional character, so you could use the conversation to help make them more three-dimensional in your mind. It doesn't have to be grammatically correct or anything, but interacting with your character like this helps (at least for me) to get a better picture of them in your head, especially when Character Overload starts occuring in your--the AUTHOR'S--mind!

I've enjoyed reading all the author / character conversations! They're interesting and I can tell all of you are having fun with it Just to clarify--it's not really like talking to yourself. It's weird, but it's something you've got to try before you can understand, but it IS like you're talking to someone else.

***

On a related-not-related note, I can't wait for ORAS contest results to be announced!

(I'm so proud of my submission with SubZero Dragon. I can't wait to show it to readers publically! After some edits because 9999 words leaves a lot of room for small grammar errors I know I still haven't caught, but it's probably only going to be like six errors maximum . . . AND YEAH I EDITED IT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE IN MISCROSOFT WORD AND GOT IT DOWN TO 9999 WORDS CAN I GET A WHAT, WHAT? HOLLAR! To be fair, I did use other word counters and they read several hundered words lower than Microsoft Word did, plus that's the one Negrek is using anyway, and then SubZero edited it lower than 9999 words BUT STILL WHEN I EDITED IT I GOT IT RIGHT ON THE CHINNY CHIN CHIN OF MY BUT HAIRS WOOOOOO! It's like an analogy for the story of my life or something.)

Since my computer is broken, I sadly will probably not be able to get all seven (or, eight, right?--although my ORAS submission counts, if I remember correctly) Gauntlet stories finished. I may still be able to get some stories out though so I'm not being cheap I promise but it's harder to use other computers and stuff and I don't have as much access UGH!

Also I such at Western garbage. Like holy ka-shizzle how they heck am I gonna do that one? Where do I even start without sounding like I'm using an army of texan stereotypes... WITH POKEMON (tvtrope reference? yes.)? Still the rest look interesting enough . . .

I look forward to reading other Gauntlet Submissions, though!