Ooooh good question!

I’m afraid I don’t have a simple answer because honestly – it depends.

When I write a long story then I usually write a scene by scene outline before I start writing. This is because if it’s novel length I’m more than likely going to get confused and write myself into a corner. The exception to this is Painting Layers of Love because I’m experimentally writing that with prompts and as responses to people’s comments. I’m letting it develop organically and letting the characters drive more so than usual.

With all stories (short or long) I have clear images in my head for parts of the story. I usually have a jumping off point and I usually have an ending – it’s getting from A to B that I have to work out. Sometimes I just start typing and see what happens, sometimes I write up plans and essentially type out the entire story as a long summary. Quite often it’s somewhere in between. What I do depends on how inspired I am when I get the idea and whether I can start writing immediately, or if I need to put the idea on ice for a little while.

I usually have a fair idea of structure. I definitely fall down more on the side of planner than pantser but I’ve grown to appreciate a mix of the methods. I use what’s appropriate for the story and the situation. Novels I tend to plan to death but fanfic I’m more loose with and how many notes I have depends on the story. Sometimes this means I get stuck. I know where I need to be sometimes but not exactly how to get there. That’s when I talk with some amazing fic friends who have never let me down yet. I’m so lucky to have them!

Thank you anon 🙂

4) Do you have writing habits or rituals?
Answered here 🙂

5) Books or authors that influenced your style the most?
Answered here 🙂

6) Favorite character you ever created?
Hmm I just scanned my masterlist and this is a tricky one. I don’t believe I’ve created any OC’s in anything I’ve posted. I’ve made some minor characters my own perhaps like Mitchell Herman (Cinderella’s father-in-law) but I’ve tried to base every character on an existing one. OC’s are something that are very hard to get right. Robin4 has created a number of incredible OC’s, I wish with all my heart that Morgan was real, I’m a big fan of Morgan heh.

Anyway, I wrote a lot of OC’s when I first started writing fanfic *gulp* maybe … 16 years ago? Man I feel old now and that was because I was inexperienced. I threw an OC into the mix to make things happen – I was 11 and I learned that was a bad idea. Seriously, I’m so glad I don’t think any of that is still floating around the internet *cringes* but my point is I shy away these days from posting OC work. I’m wary of getting it wrong, I’m terrified of conflict and I can picture the disdainful insults already. Especially in a fandom that is so invested in the ships.

That’s not to say I haven’t got some OC fanfic on my hard drive. Back in between season 4 and 5 when I discovered the show, I created a son for Rumbelle. I gave him several different backgrounds as I played around with different scenarios. I was privately quite amused when Gideon hit the screen, because one of my favorite backgrounds involved my Rumbelle son being taken as a baby, and raised to be the right hand of a villain which well is a little familiar. The show made my OC real kinda.

7) Favorite author?
I’m fairly certain I’ve answered this before. The most enjoyable book series I’ve ever read was the Diagnosis Murder series by Lee Goldberg. TV-tie-in books, pure trash really but I loved them. It picked up and continued from the high point of the series, written by one of the executive producers who really “got” the characters and it was like having the show in book form. I admit there was a nostalgia element, it was like a slice of childhood as I haven’t really seen the show in years.

However, would I say he was my favorite author? I don’t know. I’ve not read anything else by him so how much was the subject matter and how much was his style? What even was his style? I mean he evoked the feel of the show with the irreverent tone and humorous descriptions. Would another book of his read the same? I don’t know. Plus if I say he’s my favorite author then that’s not very “well read” of me is it? Oh well I’m afraid that’s the only answer I have right now. I guess I’ll have to think on it some more.

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.

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.

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…