Category Archives: Stream of Thought

49. What do you find the hardest to write in a story, the beginning, the middle or the end?

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Oh the muddy middle definitely.

Unless my mental headscape is bad in which case everything is equally difficult but presuming things are running how they should…

In the beginning everything is bright and shiny. I’m enthusiastic and I’m feeling positive. This is it! This is a great idea, ooh-rah.

Uh-oh. I hate everything. I hate the story. Why did I think I could write again? This is a terrible idea. Well alright maybe the idea is ok but the execution is definitely lacking. Nothing makes sense, every word is just awful. This is definitely the worst thing I’ve ever written. I want to burn it in fire. It’s dragging, it’s boring, I’m just repeating myself. How many words have I got? Ugh recount must be lying. Oh this is interminable. This is terrible.

Woah I can breathe again. There is light at the end of this dismal and dark tunnel. I never want to see this story again but whoop downhill, massive race to the end because I want this to be over with! Mad rush, big finish. Oh phew it’s done, I’ve typed the end.

So yeah the beginning has enthusiasm, and the end has proximity to well the end – it’s the middle that causes all the problems.

47. Do you start with characters or plot when working on a new story?

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Characters, I’m certain it’s characters because they drive the story. The character makes the plot because it’s not about “what happens to them” it’s about “the journey the character makes and what changes about them”. I don’t know if that makes sense.

Like, ok I might start with something that seems like “plot” first e.g. the ConArtist!Belle and Mark!Gold AU fic that basically popped into my head due to my love of Leverage and Hustle. I just sort of wondered about a crew like that hearing Gold’s “bad reputation” and going to take him down but Belle realizes he’s not the man she thought, and she was glad and very much in love, but Gold thinks she’s someone she’s not.

So immediately it turns back to the characters. Without them there is no story. I mean even a “case of the week” show like Leverage still springs from the characters. The cons are secondary to the subplot of something a character is going through, or the character works it out through the con. For example I mean Parker in Leverage had an amazing character journey. She went from being completely closed off and stabbing people with forks because she didn’t know how to talk with them. To showing her compassionate heart, to falling in love and building a family with the team, making friends and well she got better at being a con artist and able to perform a role. I love Parker.

Anyway, characters create the plot. I might have a “situation” but if there’s no character journey, if nothing happens to change life for the characters, then there’s no plot. I’ve written series fics before and after the first couple, I don’t need to “think of a plot” because the characters have it covered. Based on what happened to them in the first couple of ‘episodes’ they now are telling me what needs to happen next.

TLDR: Characters definitely.

For TMI: 1. Describe yourself how you would describe a character you’re introducing.

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*cringes* Character description is a weakness of mine anyway and describing myself? Urk. Ok well I’ll give it my best shot…

—–

Sam closed her eyes, and rubbed at her forehead before returning her hands to the keyboard. Tiredly she ran her left hand through her short dark hair, lingering on her bad shoulder, waiting for the joint to crack. It had been a long day. She pulled her dark brown eyes away from the monitor, to gaze at the fading daylight outside the window. The trees were still and the sky was clouded.

She thought about her heavy duvet on her bed. British weather was so changeable, it had gone from 30 to 15 practically overnight, and the last week had been pleasant but now it seemed set to get warmer again. Sam felt the cold easily but even she thought a winter duvet might be a bit much tonight. Her lighter duvet was tangled up with another blanket on her couch, legacy of a snatched TV hour earlier in the week. However, just the thought of moving took too much energy so she resolved to deal with it later.

Although Sam screwed her face up, feeling her glasses against her nose, she probably should stand up and turn the light on. She glanced down at herself critically. Her khaki chinos were scraping the small of her back again, the fabric bunched uncomfortably and held in place by her new belt. She’d been made to buy another, as the old belt had so many extra holes punched into it the end tucked into the next belt loop around on her side. It was amazing what a difference a loss of thirty five pounds made. Her dark red t-shirt hung loose, too large even for a ‘baggy-style’. She was back to her college weight now, back to wearing size tens and twelves. She’d actually bought a t-shirt earlier that week that was sized for an 11 year old boy.

Reluctantly Sam stood, berating herself for being lazy, and padded the four steps to the other side of the room to flick the light switch. She took a detour to the window and pulled the blue curtains closed before returning to her desk. Sam’s lips twitched as she wondered how many steps it would be for a taller person. Everyone always went on about how small Emilie De Ravin was but google reckoned the amazing actress was about her height.

—–

Ok I think that covers it? Hair color, eye color, height, general body. I’m sorry I know it’s bad. I’d usually try and weave it in over a much longer scene/multiple scenes with dialogue and things happening. Just all clumped together it’s exceptionally boring. Sorry.

Hey Giftee! I hope you’re doing ok. My week did eventually look up so I was able to work on your gift today; I reckon it’s about 1/3 done. Would you like a snippet to fill your stocking? ;-) ~ Santa

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Hey there Giftee! Not sure if my last message got through, but either way, things are definitely looking up in Santaland and I’m in a much better place than I was a week ago. I hope you get to be less busy and can work on your own gift soon! ~ Santa

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I am so sorry. I got your message and intended to reply and then flat out forgot. I didn’t mean to be rude! I suppose I could have pretended tumblr ate it but that would have been dishonest.

I am utterly thrilled that your week improved! I was worried about you *hugs* so I’m really so pleased that you are feeling better! A snippet would be fantastic yay! honestly it really does feel like christmas heh 🙂 Actually this is better than christmas! All the craziness ends on the morning of the 16th, so if nothing else I’ll have the last week to finish my RCIJ *guiltily contemplates WIP’s* I have two weeks with nothing to do but write. Hopefully I can make the most of that!

You are the best Santa! Again I’m so sorry about forgetting to reply *hides* and I’m really happy for you that things are better *hugs* Hope you have a great week!

TMI Tuesday

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Ask me about the show. Ask me anything about my fics, ask my characters anything. You can send me a word and if it’s in my WIP doc then I’ll post a teaser snippet. I accept prompts for any of my existing verses.

This week I posted:
Nothing. I wish that’s because I’d been working on my RCIJ but alas no such luck. Life is a bit crazy right now but I really enjoy TMI Tuesday so I can’t miss it heh 🙂 Feel free to hit me up if you like. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to answer.

Ask Box

Masterlist

You could also ask me a question off any of these lists.

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I’m so behind on fic (and on liking and reblogging gifsets to be honest). Real life’s a bit crazy and by the time I get to the PC I’m too tired to make the comments you guys deserve. So if I usually comment on your stuff, I still love you and your stuff, I’m keeping a list and I WILL get to it, it’ll just be a little late.

This has been probably a totally unnecessary PSA but it makes me feel better to say it. I don’t want anyone thinking I’m snubbing their stuff. It’s just me being busy and brain dead tired. Sorry and thank you.

Hi Giftee, this is Santa checking in. No more words on the page unfortunately :( I’m having a bad week in terms of mental health and all my writing has had to go on hold for a couple of days whilst I get myself sorted out. Still, slow and steady wins the race and I’m aiming to bounce back in time to get some work done during Camp Nano in July. You hang in there now! ~ Santa

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Oh Santa! 🙁

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I’m really sorry to hear that! Please don’t worry at all about writing, and just forget the gift completely. I just want you to take care of yourself! You are what is important! I’m behind you 110%, with the anonymous restriction I guess it would be hard for me to actually do anything but please know that I care, that I really sympathize, and that I understand. Massive *hugs*

I hope you do feel better soon for your sake, and I hope you enjoy Camp NaNo! Usually I find NaNo to be a positive experience and I really hope that you will enjoy it. I don’t know if you know (and it might be a giveaway if you asked to join now heh) but there is a Rumbelle cabin for Camp. Also I don’t know if this will help you but I wrote a couple of pep talks in April, and I plan to do the same next month. There is also the word crawl that I made, and one Worry made as well. Best of luck for Camp! I’m rooting for you *waves pom-poms*

Do you enjoy the Marvel movies Santa? Spiderman Homecoming is releasing next month. If you do like those movies, then I hope you’ll enjoy it! The trailer looks good, I’m interested in the Tony Stark and Peter Parker interaction. Tony being a mentor is a new side to his character.

Anyway I hope the week is good to you Santa! Wishing you all the best! *hugs*

For TMI: Do you have any new fics that you are contemplating? If so, what are they about? :~)

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Sorry for the delay! It’s been a hectic few days and I’m really tired. I did actually type out a long answer to this Tuesday night but I wanted to go over it before I posted. I love this question! Thank you so much for asking it! 🙂

There are three event fics:
– RCIJ (super secret *mimes zipping mouth shut*)
– Next months Monthly Rumbelling
– Rumbelle Vacation fic

The AMR fic is going to be another oneshot in the In Your Arms verse. It’s going to be a month or so after To Be Loved and it’ll summarize what happened in between the two fics, and also tackle the “should we move in together?” question. The Rumbelle Vacation fic as the spreadsheet says is going to be set at the North York Moors Railway. Gideon is going to be a small child, maybe 3-4 and the fluff I have planned is so fluffy I have no teeth left 🙂

In terms of ‘other fics’ I have a ton of ideas but this post would get extremely long if I talked about all of them.

Anything with smut is on hold for now because I’m just really not inspired that way at the moment. Also there are a few ideas which I’m more drawn to than others.

Nightwalkers
It’s going to be novel length and so I want to finish it before I start posting. I’ve had the first three chapters done since November. Basically be prepared for all the tropes – fake dating, bedsharing, “let’s hide in this small closet”, “let’s kiss as an alibi”, “oh no we’re tied up and we’re having to ‘wriggle’ and that’s awkward” hehe. In terms of plot Belle is a cop and she has to go undercover as Gold’s escort to infiltrate a high stakes poker game, because one of the players is a murderer.

Enchanted Forest AU
Rumple is the dark one, married to Belle, they’ve had TLK, he’s the hero of Avonlea. #NoSpoilers as to how that happened. Lots of Swanfire angst with a happy ending. As much as I keep going on about how much I want to write this I probably haven’t because there’s an 18 year time jump in the middle between the Rumbelle plot and the Swanfire plot, and I’ve never quite worked out how to handle that.

One Night Stand turns true love
I reblogged a prompt and whoops planned the whole thing – “You were supposed to be a one night stand, but we ended up talking till dawn instead of sex. And wow we really click, so do you maybe want to have breakfast and stay longer?”

Belle is a single parent
I am very attached to this concept. I think it has so much story potential so much so I have three story ideas from it. One is sort of like a remix of Transposing Digits where Gold still has Bae, but Belle has a daughter as well. It’s extremely fluffy. The other two scenarios? Not so much. One has Gold as Belle’s kids teacher and they met at a parent-teacher conference. Now you’re probably thinking Gold is the stern teacher and nobody can understand why he teaches, all the kids hate him? Yeah no he’s more like spinner!Rum, he’s kind, soft spoken, a little hesitant but he can put iron in his voice to say “stop that” so the kids don’t run riot. He loves children but he’s never had any because he’s terrified of interacting with them outside the teacher-student boundaries. He’s convinced he’d be a terrible father.

Gold has OCD
Yes I combined this with Belle as a single parent because it made everything more difficult. I have so many notes on this already I’m sort of wondering why the story hasn’t written itself, it’s practically all there. It’s probably the most angsty thing I’ve ever planned. I feel really sorry for Gold. Neal is a teenager in this and I feel sorry for him too. It’s a big mess.

Enchanted Forest AU
Fiona was blasted before she cut Rumple’s fate so he still had magic but Malcolm ditched him, the fairies lost track of him, so Rumple grew up a peasant and hid his magic. Nearby Princess Belle is also hiding her magic but she hears rumors about Rumple and goes to him for lessons.

BraveWarrior
I have a mighty need to write a full fic. I ship them a ridiculous amount. The idea is that Merida gets in fights to protect her brothers and the court sentence her to anger management. Her parole officer decides that if Merida wants to hit something than she should do so in a controlled environment, and signs her up for Mulan’s self-defense classes. It’s like a modern day AU of the lessons they had in The Bear King. Only this ends with them going out for coffee, and to the movies, and cooking each other dinner and all kinds of sweet dating fluff. I have so many BraveWarrior ideas. I want to write all the things!

*****

Oh did I say a few ideas? Oops. Well it is only a small sampling of the ones on my list. Oh and the above doesn’t even take into account the continuations I’ve promised. I have three outstanding prompts for different verses…

Costume Party!Gold, if a bad guy ever took Belle hostage, what would you do to save her? Belle, do you think you’d be able to free yourself, or would you wait for Gold to rescue you?

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Gold: I would burn the city to the ground if necessary.

Belle: *rolls her eyes* no you wouldn’t Cal.

Gold: *sighs* *mutters* Only because you wouldn’t like it. (Belle raises an eyebrow) *sighs again* alright and because it wouldn’t be helpful. I would do everything that was humanly possible though. I would spend every penny I had if it would help, I would hire the world’s experts. I would do anything.

Belle: I know *kisses him* but you know I’m no ‘damsel in distress’.

Gold: *fond smile* If you saw an opportunity you would save yourself. Oh I know sweetheart. You’ve saved me on occasion before now.

Belle: On occasion? How about we’re each others hero?

Gold: I like that and I love you.

Belle: And I love you.

Fires!Belle, what was it about Gold that made you fall in love with him? Were you worried that might happen when you were given your mission?

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(OOC: I love you anon, this is one of my favorite verses!)

Gold was my mission. Love was never supposed to be part of the deal. He was the target, I was to get close, infiltrate his life and then spy on him long-term. I would gain the dual benefit of access to his intelligence and my cover would be more secure due to our marriage.

Loving him went against …. well everything! However, it was impossible not to love him. Julian was like no man I’d ever met. He seemed to see through the cover identity which had been crafted to be irresistible for him – he seemed to see me, even more miraculous he seemed to prefer the real me. No matter how many times I told myself that he didn’t really know who I was, it always felt like he did. Oh he didn’t know the details of my past but I think he knew what was in my heart and he valued me.

It wasn’t about my training, or my pretty face, or what I could do for him. It felt like he cared about me just because I was me. How could I not love him? When I got subsequent missions, to sabotage operations or to kill his comrades I was very worried about what would happen. I never wanted our time together to end but it was doomed from the start. Even if there had been no side missions, I believed that he would never forgive me because of the deception that had brought us together.

It is possible that I might have been wrong about that…