Another writing meme because why not

[kat_lair]

***

This has been floating all around the flist (and can I just say how awesome it is to have an active flist again *g*)

Put a number in the comments and I’ll answer accordingly.

The mission for those of us who answer the questions, should we accept it, is to stay positive about our writing and ourselves, but to also be fair about our shortcomings.

1. Of the fic you’ve written, of which are you most proud?
2. Favourite tense
3. Favourite POV
4. What are some themes you love writing about?
5. What inspires you to write?
6. Thoughts on critique
7. Create a character on the spot... NOW!
8. Is there a character you love writing for the most? The least? Why?
9. A passage from a WIP
10. What are your strengths in writing?
11. What are your weaknesses in writing?
12. Anything else that you want to know... (otherwise known as Fill in the Blank)

PLEASE consider posting the meme on your own LJ even if you don't want to ask me a question

***

Comments

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

I too am happy to have so many of the Lewis fandom on my flist.

And #7 please.

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

Clara doesn't like swimming. Not because of some vain concern over how the swimming costume does nothing to hide her less than sleek form or what the chlorine will do to her hair and skin. No, she doesn't like swimming because she knows what really lives at the bottom of the pool. And under it, deep in the place no one lets themselves see except Clara. And well, you know what happens when you look into abyss. And Clara... well, she's just waiting to be noticed.

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Lovely - really imaginative and just a little bit spooky.

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

Thank you :)

[pushkin666.livejournal.com]

5 please.

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

It varies. For fanfic it's often the dynamic of people that sparks a lot of WHAT IF... type of ideas. There are tropes that I love that happily fit into a lot of pairings (is that a pairing that I couldn't write vampire or sentinel fic about? I don't think so.) .

For original fic or poetry it's usually a phrase or feeling or theme, sometimes but not often, something concrete like an actual event. I don't tend to write actual people I know into fics, although I may take some bits of them. I do write my own issues (and subscriptions) into fics on occasion and poetry like 90% of the time but I don't know if that counts as inspiring...?

[pushkin666.livejournal.com]

I would say that writing your own issues (and subscriptions) can definitely be described as inspiring. :)

[darkangel-0410.livejournal.com]

Hmmmm, let's see...how about 9?

(And, yeah, it's completely kick ass to come on lj and see new posts again :D)

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

Hmm, this is from as of yet named magical realism waycest fic which may or may not ever be finished. But this is the start.

***

“Oh,” Mikey says when he walks into the kitchen. His mouth twitches like it wants to smile but he crosses his arms and stares at Gerard blankly instead. “You’re back.” Then he turns around and walks out, his shoulder blades tight, jutting sharply against his t-shirt like amputated wings.

Gerard’s fingers close uselessly on thin air and he wishes for a pen, a brush, a quill of finest, blackest feather, thinks about hollow bones and his brother’s spine like it’s a secret.

[darkangel-0410.livejournal.com]

That looks awesome, fingers crossed that you finish it.

[dreamersdare.livejournal.com]

#8 please :)

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

Hmm... I don't write characters I don't like so I don't know if I really have the least favourite one as such. What character I like to write depends a lot from my mood. Sometimes I'm all GRR and prefer to write characters who are a little (or a lot) toppy, or even evil, not-human or insane. I really like writing someone whose thought processes are a little hinged.

Of course, other times I'm feeling the opposite of grr and want to write someone a little uncertain but brave. And funny. And weird.

Sigh, this is like the vaguest answer ever. Sorry.

[dreamersdare.livejournal.com]

Eh, I've seen vaguer. Hell, I've written vaguer :)

What about characters you'd like to write or feel they would fit well into stories at times, but you find yourself struggling to capture the essence of them? It's a perpetual pitfall in fandom but do you have one of those Achilles heel characters?

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

Hmm... it sounds arrogant but I honestly can't think of anyone whom I couldn't have a stab at writing. Of course how well I do that is the reader's judgement to make. Sometimes I deliberately choose to write characters or pairings that I don't personally care so much for or ship, as a kind of challenge. And then usually in the process I gain appreciation to them, or some kind of insight. For example, I wrote Ianto/Jack for a charity auction fic and afterwards I felt like I've said everything I can about them and I'm extremely unlikely to tackle that pairing again. Or I wrote Hathaway/Hobson in a fic that was both het and needleplay and managed to convince myself about both the pairing and the kink. And then often these fics become the ones I'm most proud of precisely because they weren't easy.

[moth2fic.livejournal.com]

4 please!

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

Hee, none of this should be a surprise... Power dynamics (subtle, or outright bdsm), best friends becoming lovers, supernatural/magical realism themes, people cooking/baking for love, banter/humour, sometimes dark fic with evilness and unhinged characters, people being competent and having surprising skills/knowledge, ust... I'm sure there's more, but those tend to feature a lot :)

[moth2fic.livejournal.com]

Lots and lots of themes!*g* Yes, I associate them all with you and your writing - but do you have a favourite?

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

Well some kind of power dynamics make their way into most of my fics and I do love that theme. Also 'from best friends to lovers' is a dearly held favourite of mine.

[moth2fic.livejournal.com]

See? We're getting closer to the real heart of things!! *g*

[beedekka]

This meme is a good'un :o)

I am interested in #6, please.

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

Critique... I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to writing and for fic I rarely do drafts, meaning that while I can go back and change small things and fix mistakes, the majority of things stay as they are. Sometimes order of scenes has to be moved about but... With any critique, either for fiction or academic writing I have to leave it for a few weeks before I can approach it unemotionally and actually use it to improve my writing.

For fanfic I use betas for longer stuff and trust them to tell me if something is wrong. Same for original fic (co-authored). When it comes to people leaving feedback, I'm not really looking for in-depth critique although not opposed to it either. I kind of just assume that most people operate the same policy as me: if I don't like, I don't comment, and I don't really have energy to start mentoring inexperienced writers in fandom, I do enough of that with students and their essays.

[margaret-r.livejournal.com]

I'll take No. 1, please.

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

Gah, I find it impossible to pick just one because I'm proud of different fics for different reasons but I've limited myself to 4 fics here although there were others I could've talked about.

Life is Bigger (http://kat-lair.livejournal.com/220556.html) (SPN, Bobby & Castiel gen) - I got the idea for this fic after a particular episode and wrote it really quickly because it just tumbled out. I'm really proud of the subtlety of the characterisation and the friendship between the two, and how Bobby moves through his grief, and how even in the darkest times there are sparks of joy.

Give Me Back The Berlin Wall (http://kat-lair.livejournal.com/66888.html) (SPN, Dean/Sam, evil!Sam) - I'm proud of the language and the use of an unreliable narrator. This is undoubtedly one of my personal favourites.

Moth (http://kat-lair.livejournal.com/106272.htmll) (Firefly, implied River/Inara) - My only Firefly fic and my first stab at femslash. I love writing the internal voice of someone who isn't quite there and I made full use of synaesthesia of River's thought process and remain really pleased about the results.

Sharpen Thy Mind, Fasten Thy Heart (http://kat-lair.livejournal.com/289365.html) (Lewis, Hathaway/Hobson, needleplay) - Written to challenge myself as this is both a pairing and kink that are not personal favourites but at the end of it I'd managed to convince myself of the plausibility of both. I'm also very proud of embedding the technical details of the needleplay in a way that didn't distract from the intimacy of the story, writing femdom and from the female pov - something I don't really do in fanfic, although do in original. More femdom, I say!