sarcasticsciencefictionwriter asked:

Hello! For the elemental writer’s game:

Water, Fire, Air, Shadows, and Space! 😊

Oh wow so many! Thank you so much!!!!

Water: How did you start writing?
I don’t remember.

That is the honest answer because I have been writing for the entire of my living memory. I don’t have anything I wrote when I was like 6 or something. I do have some scribbles from when I was 9 I think? I was obsessed with the Hardy Boys books, and Diagnosis Murder TV show at the time. These were more ideas than complete stories. The first complete stories were fanfic for The Royal/Heartbeat which was an odd fandom for me to accidentally fall into, and it was nothing to do with being obsessed and everything to do with wanting to make a friend IRL. This girl at school was obsessed and I found her trying to make a fansite and I knew how to code so helped, she then asked me to beta read her fanfic, and being story-minded, I then dove into writing my own. It was a good gateway I guess because while I didn’t care all that much about that show, it led me into fan spaces online and I found fandoms that I did really love.

Anyway, it’s been 23 years since I posted my first fanfic on the internet, and I’ve been writing for longer than that so yeah, I don’t recall precisely how I first picked up the pen. I had stories I wanted to tell and that’s just how it’s always been.

Side note: I think this is a “how I was raised” thing because mum is more about words, and if the topic of ‘art’ comes up, always states very firmly that she can’t draw. It’s a point of frustration for me now in trying to teach myself how to draw, that the years when I could have comfortably been shit at it (when I was a child) were decades ago and I missed them because I didn’t even contemplate drawing until I was an adult. I think if I’d grown up in a more artistic environment then I would have had an outlet other than words for crafting stories, but instead words were all I had.

Fire: What’s a scene that you are dying to write?
As I don’t write fanfic anymore, and trying to describe a scene from my novel would be missing so much context, I’ll instead pick an art piece I hope to make in the next couple of months 🙂

Janeway and Amelia Earhart from Star Trek: Voyager for AU August. I think it could fit under Day 1 (canon divergence) or 18 (space travel) but I want Amelia on Voyager dammit! It’s been years since I watched “The 37s” episode and it has never left me. The injustice. Amelia Earhart should have joined the crew, become a pilot, hooked up with Janeway. Ahem.

Obviously I want to make everything on my list (and hopefully will one day) but when I ran my eyes down the list, this is the one that jumped out. So cross fingers I can make it happen.

Air: What’s the easiest part of writing for you?
Can I say the ideas? Planning. I love it when pieces just click into place and then everything unfolds. It’s just like magic.

Buuuuut as I said when I answered the question about the hardest part, that is probably not what is meant? It’s probably more about the words. In which case… I guess dialogue? I mean I said description was the hard part as setting the scene can be clunky and I need to fix that in revision. And if something isn’t description then it’s dialogue. I mean there’s a lot in between too like whether something is scene setting, action beats, thoughts etc. though that kinda all falls under the heading ‘description’. I think I’m overthinking this.

Shadows: What’s the darkest theme you’ve ever written about?
I don’t know. I’m not really given to dark themes because I always like a happy ending. Sometimes characters go through some shit but only so they can have revelations and become happier/more at peace with themselves. There was the apocalypse in Life Without Purpose. I did do a time loop character death fic The Beauty and the Tragedy but I wound up writing an alternate happy ending as while structurally it was beautiful (one of those that I look at and I’m like I wrote that?? as it’s so not my usual style), it was too sad. Painting Layers of Love had agoraphobia and that’s why it’s abandoned because I have that, and put too much of myself into it and then couldn’t fix it.

I guess in a lot of ways I don’t think I’ve really written dark ‘themes’ because while bad stuff happens, it’s never the end. There is always hope. I don’t like unrelenting misery in my entertainment – there’s enough of that in real life. That doesn’t mean characters don’t go on journeys, or grapple with darker issues. Like my current novel thematically is a battle about losing hope. Some characters give up and surrender to despair, others make unwise choices out of fear, there is the constant question of do they persevere? I don’t just write fluff, I just like to make it right in the end.

Space: Where’s your favorite place to write?
Answered here. So have an extra 🙂

Spring: Have you ever scrapped (a huge chunk of) a story to start over?  Why did the change come about?
Bwahahahaha – I laugh so I do not cry.

I have scrapped hundreds of thousands of words over the years I’m sure. Maybe even a million I don’t know. There was an espionage novel which was a NaNo project on… at least 4 occasions (possibly more), and I kept doing complete rewrites because when I went to revise it was never the story that I had hoped to tell. My current novel series I am writing a rebooted version. So essentially complete rewrites. Very little of the original books remain, so just off those I have tossed probably getting on for 200k. I also have a complete rewrite in the works for my sci-fi thriller novel (another 80k or so tossed). Eventually I will reboot my Camelot retelling and that will be another 50k out the window as I turn it from the wreck of a rushed, sloppy novella into an actual series. I haven’t looked at my Steampunk since I took a break from it, but I’m pretty sure that’ll need an almost complete rewrite as well (another 60k tossed).

Why do I scrap and start over? Because past!Me thought I had done a good job and hadn’t basically. When idea met reality on the page, that’s when all the flaws are revealed. Plus I have read a metric ton of craft books in the past year and learned loads. I know I can do it better now – this is the TLDR of it all. Basically I want the story to fulfil it’s potential – I want it to be good! – and to get the story to where I want it requires sacrifice and hard work.

Now if the question is “have I ever scrapped a huge chunk of fanfic” then the answer to that is no (aside from the unfinished messes on my HD anyway). I have very little filter when it comes to fanfic. Sometimes I rework things a little bit, go back and add in extra scenes or something, but otherwise the fanfics are just driven by pure love and obsession. What you see is what you get with them.

bookwormchocaholic asked:

Elemental Writer Asks: Rock, Spirit, Summer? 🙂

Rock: How do you deal with writer’s block?
Same way I deal with everything else – avoidance.

Honestly it depends how you define ‘writers block’. I mean you could say I have it now because when I sit down to write, I can’t focus for 10 seconds, no words are forthcoming and anything that I do scribble is just drek. It’s a bad time. BUT that has nothing really to do with writing and everything to do with depression deciding to do a comeback tour and drown me again.

However, I have always thought of the definition of writers block more being “I don’t know what to write” and that has never been the case in my life. I have always had more ideas than spoons to write with.

Anyway, when I can’t write I bang my head against the brick wall of “sitting there, trying and failing” for as long as I can without crying and then I run away. Then I repeat the process the next day.

Spirit: What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received on your writing?
Answered here 🙂

Summer: How do you know when you need a break from writing?
Why would I need a break? I ask, as I also think of that line about “you take a break or your body takes a break for you” – stares into the camera like I’m on the Office.

I don’t recall ever thinking “I need a break” and then taking one. I have taken ‘breaks’ from writing but it’s always either been involuntary and driven by health issues, or on a rare happier occasion it’s because I’ve had to prioritise another task, and I haven’t had the time/spoons for both. But no I don’t ever know that I need a break, it’s not ever been a thought that has crossed my mind like that.

Fall: Have you ever completely abandoned a WIP?  What led to that decision.
(as Spirit had been answered already have a bonus)

Yes a handful of times. I have 2 abandoned fanfics on AO3. One was a Lachbelle fic that I just ran out of steam on. It’s not that I didn’t have the ideas but I got tired, it went a long time, and then I couldn’t muster the energy to make myself finish. It was going to be a long one and at that time in my life I didn’t have it in me.

The other fanfic is of course Painting Layers of Love which I still feel a bit of guilt over. This was a prompt fic that lived because it was loved. It actually won a TEA. For someone like me that has always felt like an outsider in any community that really meant a lot. The problem is I accidentally wound up pouring too much of myself into Belle’s characterisation, and then I wanted to write a happy ending and didn’t know how – as I don’t know how to fix myself. Since then personally I’ve only got more agoraphobic, and if I knew how to fix that I would. So I really have zero clue how to write Belle out of it, and honestly I don’t know if I would. I’m ace, with no IRL friends, so I’m not really all that bothered about not being able to go outside. I think if I continued the fic I would be tempted for Belle to be like “I don’t need to be fixed. I’m content as I am”, which I doubt would work long-term with a relationship of any kind. Other people want to do things, go places, and not just hang out at home all the time. Guilt, resentment, frustration would build (at least I theorise it would), so not the ‘happy ending’ anyone wanted I’m sure, so perhaps for the best it stays unfinished potential.

I have also abandoned novels. Lots at various stages. However, the novel that got the furthest was a time travel series. I wrote book one and then book two. I then totally scrapped all of book two and tried writing it again. No matter what I tried I could not make it work, so I wound up binning the entire series.

ussjellyfish asked:

Clouds and sand!

Hey thanks for the ask! 🙂 🙂

Clouds: How clearly do you picture a scene before you start writing it down?
Hmm, it depends. Some scenes are like a movie, others are more like odd snapshots. However, to be honest I think if I can’t really picture a scene all that well, then there’s a problem with the scene. I need to be able to picture it to be able to write it.

So pretty clearly or I need to have a rethink.

Sand: What’s the softest scene you’ve ever written?
Ooooh I’m not 100% sure. I have written some real fluff over the decades. Maybe the blanket fort in In Your Arms? That’s the first that comes to mind anyway.

tinknevertalks asked:

Metal, space and spirit for the elemental asks, please. 🙂

Oh yay thanks for the ask! 🙂

Metal: What’s the hardest part of writing for you?
The… writing? Lol. Ok that sounds dumb but what I mean is planning – no problem, revision – cool, even editing – fine. But actually drafting? That’s the step in the process that is the hardest. I suppose it is also the step that takes the longest.

Also this is maybe not what the question meant? Perhaps it meant like dialogue or description or something? In which case hmm… probably description. I have got better at it lately (I think) but it still tends to be something I need to work on in revision, because it doesn’t come out smoothly during drafting.

Space: Where’s your favorite place to write?
In my office/at the PC for drafting. I tend to do planning and revision at the dining table on paper.

Spirit: What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received on your writing?
I think probably the comments I have got on Time Will Tell. Just blow me away. All the hearteyes.

sarcasticsciencefictionwriter asked:

Hi (again)! For the even more fic writer asks: 22 [your choice], 23 [Time Will Tell], and 25 [Life Without Purpose].

Awww thank you, one from both lists. You are sweet.

22) What is something you learned about yourself as a writer from the experience?

Hmm ok my choice aaaaand the difficulty level in answering jumps up a LOT haha.

If I look at the last fics I posted. There was the outtake of the fic I never got round to writing, the pinch hit for the Librarians exchange, a ficlet accompanying art for the B&W exchange and then the last fic I wrote – a canon-compliant, post-season fic for Seven/Raffi, Star Trek: Picard.

When I moved house September 22 I decided to draw the line then and quit fanfic. But I hit a rough mental health patch and wrote this little oneshot. I intended it to be a series. I have a lot of notes for a fic focusing on Raffi, and then one focusing on B’elanna. They would be in series, having a shared theme rather than time, events or setting. I never wrote anything past the first Seven fic.

What I learned about myself I guess is the reinforcement of quitting. It could have been a gateway back in because I love story, and I love the world of Trek, and I have headcanons and feelings. I have a lot of nostalgia for fanfic. It is comforting and it is safe. It has given my life purpose. But it has also been a way to self-sabotage because original writing is scary.

This Trek fanfic series I literally have so many notes and so many feelings but in writing out the first one, I just knew I was done. It gave me peace I guess? I still have a lot of fondness for my unwritten fanfic ideas. I love them. I wish they could have been written. But I have the same fondness for my original ideas too. Plus I think it being a Picard fic… that show hurt me a lot. That oneshot was a way to self-heal a bit. And I kinda vowed not to invest myself so much in other peoples creations, because that way leads to disappointment. My original writing will always turn out how I would like. I have the power of happy endings.

23) How did you come up with the title?

I’m pretty sure the phrase imprinted most strongly on my mind thanks to Alias. The vibe of a mystery and a love entwined with pain.

But time – timers. The whole countdown nature of the soulmark. Only time will tell as to who they match with, and whether that match will turn into love and a happy ending.

Honestly the title just jumped out at me. It fits IMO perfectly. I don’t think I could have called it anything else.

25) Share your favorite line
Hmm there’s a few turns of phrase that work quite well. I’m going to go with this though:

Fifteen thousand people vaporised in an instant but only one that mattered.

sarcasticsciencefictionwriter asked:

Hi! For the questions for fic writers: 1, 6 [Time Will Tell], and 18 [Life Without Purpose], please?

Yay, thank you!

1) What fic of yours would you recommend to someone who had never read any of your work? (In other words, what do you think is the best introduction to your fics?)

Hmm. Given I have moved across fandoms it really depends on that. I mean it’s no use reccing a Librarians fic to a Sanctuary fan (even if I did cross them over and do think they work well together).

I have written one shots and I have written novel length fics. I feel like I mostly write plotty these days but I have a lot of fluff on my AO3 too. Especially back in the day I wrote a lot of prompts.

So yeah it’s like one fic doesn’t encapsulate all genre, fandom etc. Maybe I guess for a ‘taste’ a shorter fic as an intro so perhaps one of the Librarians fics? I did half a dozen for prompt month a couple of years ago.

6) What’s one fact about the universe of [insert fic] that you didn’t get a chance to mention in the fic itself?

Time Will Tell 🤔

I find this question hard because did I put it in the fic? Have I just rambled about it? Have I not said it before? Can I remember the difference? No the answer is no haha. So yeeeeah erm… ok let me think.

The difficulty of this question is why the ask has been in my drafts for a couple of days. I have been struggling to think of a good answer. I mean with it being fanfic I was free to indulge myself and so I had that epilogue with all my headcanons about the intervening century.

I think what I might need to say is “do you have any questions?” I have really tried to think of a detail off the top of my head and failed but that doesn’t mean there isn’t something. It just means I am struggling. Sorry :/

18) If you wrote a sequel to [insert fic], what would it involve?

It’s kinda hard to write a sequel when all the characters are dead. Well I suppose Nikola is left but he’s alone, the world is apocalyptic. It’s all very bleak.

I think if I had to continue it somehow then a sequel would involve time travel, like Nikola going back in time to stop the outbreak from happening. I need to get a happy ending somehow.

purlturtle asked:

6/7, 10, and 23 for the “even more fic asks” for Odyssey: Future’s Legacy, please!

Awww thank you so much!! 🙂

6/7) How did you decide what tense and POV(s) to use? How did you decide what character(s) would narrate the fic?
In terms of tense I always write in third person, past. That’s not really a decision so much as it just comes out like that.

For POV oh boy, how many POV’s are in that fic? There’s a lot. I go with my gut and for each scene ask whose thoughts are the most interesting. I do a similar thing for original novels but I try and limit it a bit more. For fanfic as there’s a familiarity with the characters, it’s less of an issue to have lots of POVs (at least it feels that way to me). We already have the character connection and it’s not as confusing. Anyway, you can pry multi-POV out of my tightly clenched hands, I love it so. I see stories like movies, and movies don’t tend to just film over one persons shoulder the entire time.

10) How did you approach writing the fic? (e.g. wrote it start to finish in order, started with the ending, starting with the twist)
I’m a linear writer. I can’t write out of order (beyond notes or snippets that sometimes form as part of planning). Obviously the planning process is a bit all over the place because I start with wherever that starts, and then fill in the gaps. But yeah in terms of the actual drafting I go from the start, to the end, scene by scene in order.

23) How did you come up with the title?
Oh boy I remember struggling massively with this. I had more of a vibe/feeling. I wanted the title to shine like the bright warm sun bouncing off the blue sea of Italy, or the sun-kissed dunes of Egypt. I wanted it to evoke a sense of adventure, but I also wanted to hint at the meaning/theme if you like. That the characters were making choices, charting the directions of their institutions which would have ripple effects for years to come AND they were dealing with the legacy of past mistakes. So it’s like how do they want to be remembered? Do they want the future to be cleaning up their mistakes, or do they want to make a positive change and do better than the past?

I adore Warehouse 13 but the warehouse has done some very shady stuff. They make their own monsters in a way with their hubris. Peoples lives are altered irrevocably (like Sykes), and yes he became a villain but he didn’t have to be. Imagine if the Warehouse had a post-snag and bag team, who checked in on people who had been whammied, who helped them in the aftermath, rather than just never explaining anything and leaving people confused to try and pick up the pieces.

So yeah that was a LOT to put in a short title and I’m not sure I managed it but it was all of this ^^ that I was trying to encapsulate.

bookwormchocaholic asked:

Even More Fic Writing Asks: (fic of your choice) 5, 25, 39. 🙂

Thank you!

Bit confused though… there is no number 39? I’m guessing because of sequential numbers you maybe meant either 29 or 30. I’m going to go with 30 🙂

Anyway you followed me from the Rumbelle days so let me go back in time and pick a Rumbelle fic. Lemme see. Erm, how to choose? Oh! In my last ask I referenced Between Two Fires so might as well go for that otherwise it’s rolling a dice time.

5) Did you outline the fic?
I never delete anything so I went to check my files. I am a planner but not always for fanfic. Sometimes if it’s short enough, then the plan is in my head.

For Between Two Fires I have a rather cool sounding summary. Seriously it’s got half the best lines of the fic in it. There must have been some heavy inspiration that day like brain was on fire haha. It’s not a scene by scene outline but it covers the main points, and the fic was quite short anyway.

25) Share your favorite line
Ok it was maybe not such a good idea to select this fic because this question. Argh!! So, so many. I know I probably shouldn’t say that because it’s egotistical but man I do love so many lines in this fic. It just hits the spot. Like I could literally quote half the fic but as I have to choose, I’m going to go with the opening line:

“You’re supposed to be dead.”
“I’m supposed to be a lot of things.”

30) Would you ever return to the story’s universe and write more?
No but also yes. I will never return to it in it’s fanfic Rumbelle form. But I have said a few times that I intend to take the premise and include it in an original novel series one day. Unfortunately ‘one day’ is kinda the operative word there because so many ideas, and writing takes so long! I rebooted my portal fantasy series starting Day Three of January. I’ve written and edited Book One (almost 100k) and I’ve planned and started drafting Book Two (got to around idk the 15% mark) but it’s JULY – that’s into the second half of the year. There are 6 books in this series so odds are not good that I can get to this idea before 2026 (which is so not a real year) and that’s if everything goes according to plan (which it inevitably won’t).

I do love it though. It will happen one day.

purlturtle asked:

2, 15, and 23 for the “questions I would like to be asked as a writer” ask meme, please – the last ask meme you posted! (I’ll get around to the other one too, in a bit! 😅)

Ooooh thanks! 🙂 🙂 🙂

2) Go to your AO3 “Works” page, to the sidebar with all the filters, and click the drop-down arrow for “Additional Tags.” What are your top 3-5 most used tags? Do you think they accurately represent your writing habits?
Lemme see. Ok in order we have:

• Alternate Universe – Canon Divergence (18)
• A Monthly Rumbelling (Once Upon a Time) (18)
• Alternate Universe (17)
• Canon Compliant (10)
• Alternate Universe – Non-Magical (10)

Erm honestly if anything I’m surprised Canon Compliant is so many. Canon divergence being top is totally on brand (I mean what is fic, if not fix-it in some form?). Not surprised the event tag is there but obviously that belongs to past!Me and is no longer relevant.

I think if anything this shows I don’t make a whole lot of use out of the ‘additional tags’ function.

Ok I’m going to click on ‘canon compliant’. Oh. Oh. Yeeeeah that makes more sense. My related tag is “you can’t prove it’s not”.

15) What’s your favorite AU that you’ve written?
For the longest time my answer would have been Between Two Fires. The sci-fi espionage oneshot. One day a seed of that will be in an original novel. But that was so long ago now, and not my fandom anymore. Trouble is I haven’t written any really AU AU’s in any of my current fandoms. It’s all been canon divergence or canon adjacent. Which is still kinda AU I guess but I have to be honest when I hear the term “AU” I’m thinking something quite removed from their ordinary world.

I am inordinately fond of and the Sins of Atlantis. My Librarians/Sanctuary crossover. Given that the bulk of the fic takes place in an alternate present day, I think that’s the closest I have come. Even if leaving aside the crossover elements, and the Stargate backstory I gave the library, it’s still mostly canon. Honestly this is probably the most self-indulgent fic I have ever written – it’s certainly the longest! (well unless I count my original novels lol). I basically wrote this for an audience of one. I hoped someone else would enjoy it obviously but I still enjoy it immensely, however egotistical that is to admit. It’s got fun things in.

23) What’s a trope, AU, or concept you’ve never written, but would like to?
Oh so many. First thing that comes to mind is a Bodyguard AU. When I first rolled this concept around in my head I liked it so much I came up with 3 or 4 variations, and then wondered if I should make it a series, and so it lives on my “future novel universe” list.

I don’t think I’ve written any of the ‘fakes’ either – fake dating, fake marriage, fake divorce etc. But they would all be fun.

Oh! Wait I did kinda do fake marriage once. It was arranged and they agreed to be partners in science rather than the bedroom. It wasn’t that well written as I did a lot of setup for what was basically PWP, and then I got tired about it being so long and skipped the best part (the mutual pining). It was for an event and to be honest I liked the world building setup/part way more than the shoehorned in “make this fit the event” smut. Old fandom though so I won’t rework it.