AMA Meme: Writing Edition

[aragarna]

Ganked from angelita26, cause we seem to have way too much fun playing memes instead of working. ;)

Ask me anything about writing.

Comments

[elrhiarhodan]

Have you thought about writing fic for any show but WC?

[aragarna.livejournal.com]

No I haven't, and I'm not sure what I'll do when the fandom dries out... White Collar was the show that turned me into a writer (an ability I didn't know I had).

I considered a Person of Interest/WC crossover for a while, but dropped the bunny on Nieseryjna instead. ;)
I might write a Castle/WC crossover too one day.

But crossovers don't really count, don't they?

My main issue is that to write fics I would need to:
1- want more of the show. Fanfics are, for me, a great way to compensate for the limited amount of story (16x45 minutes a year - in it's best years, was so not enough). Writing fics allows me to stay with the characters.
Which leads to:

2- care for the characters. There are a few other TV shows I enjoy, but I don't necessarily care for the characters like I do for the WC characters. They were humans, real, and mostly good (or trying to be)

3- understand the characters. I need to be able to get in their head. That's what I enjoy in writing WC fics. "what is he thinking?" "how would he feel if...?". Which is also why I tend to write Peter, or even El, more than Neal's POV, because I don't always understand Neal (esp. in later seasons).

And I haven't found a show that matches all that. Sherlock is probably the closest, but even that one doesn't trigger much inspiration.


How about you?

[elrhiarhodan]

I'm with you ...

I've dabbled a bit in a few other fandoms - short fics for West Wing, MCU, a few longer fics for Lewis. And of course, crossovers - but my crossovers are always WC focused.

Someday, I'll find a show or a movie where I care about the characters as much as I do for White Collar.

Some day.

[reve-silencieux.livejournal.com]

Do you write in silence or with music/tv on in the background? If so, what kind of music?

ETA: It must be the summer doldrums - too many of us are bored!!

[aragarna.livejournal.com]

Definitely music, because I don't like the silence. It could also be TV if I had a TV, and it can also be the radio (like news/report French radio). It's mostly for background noise, so I'm not really paying attention. I would just shuffle my iTunes library, or, put on my French radio.

So, how about you?



(For me it's more that I feel super exhausted lately - probably some vitamin issue - and I find it hard to focus on work...)

[reve-silencieux.livejournal.com]

I have this one cd that is contemporary piano, which is nice, since it won't distract me, but it doesn't last long! I have certain songs that I like and are sometimes my inspiration, but I'll still play it low because otherwise I'm just listening to it instead of focusing on my writing! Right now I'm staring at my screen in silence because I've listened to the same music for 2 weeks now. Heh.

Well, I just don't have any work. I did spend the morning on my class though! I think I was also avoiding my fic because I'm stuck.

[aragarna.livejournal.com]

LOL well, at least you take advantage of being stuck to do something productive! :)

[leesa_perrie]

Are there any tropes that you love to read but can't/haven't attempted to write?

[aragarna.livejournal.com]

oooh that is a good question.
Are they? *tries very hard to think*
Mostly case fics I think. Stuff with actual, serious plots. I kinda wrote one for my BB last year (post-S5, with Neal's kidnapping), but I feel like I'm not very good at writing those. It's just not really how my brain works.

And there might be AUs (like true, far from canon AUs) that I enjoyed occasionally, though that's not exactly a trope I love in itself.

But really, probably not. I tend to love reading and writing the same kind of stuff.

I did write something I don't read though. A presumed dead fic. ;)

How about you?

[leesa_perrie]

Oh, I know what I like to read, but struggle to write. It's pretty much the only genre/trope where I can cope with character deaths, so long as they're not the lead characters! It's the Apocafic! You know, end of the world and all that!! I've always had a soft spot for that genre in sci-fi and love fanfics based on it - though not-so-much zombies. I'm not keen on them at all.

Why can't I write it? Because killing off characters that don't die in canon is haarrrrd for me.

Too hard it seems! :D

[aragarna.livejournal.com]

Heee Because killing off characters that don't die in canon is haarrrrd for me.

It's even too hard for me to read. So I can't even imagine simply *thinking* about writing it.
It was hard enough to write a little about the aftermaths of Neal's death (which I've mostly tried to avoid thinking about too much....)

Even writing h/c. The reason it is so hard for me is that writing it feels like I'm inflicting things on them. And I just can't do that.

[angelita26]

Do you have a favorite writer or a writer who inspires you? (This can be a fanfic author or a published author) :)

[aragarna.livejournal.com]

Hmmm interesting. Not really, not consciously. The writers of the show itself, maybe. At least for the dialogues. I do my best to make the characters sound like they do in the show.

I don't really try to copy any fanfic writers. I may catch a wording here and there, but that's all. As for "real" writers, my main knowledge of literature is primarily in French, and that doesn't work with writing in English (which is often an issue, because sometimes I want ot express something that I know the phrase in French, but I don't know how to say it in English. And also there are some differences in style between both literatures... but that's not like I'm writing serious literature, so....)


You?

[angelita26]

No, I don't have any particular inspirations. Most of what I learned by getting my Lit degree is that I detest being forced to read something that doesn't appeal to me and that authors can't possibly be thinking about all that symbolism while writing 'the great American/World novel'. It actually kind of ruined me for a while because I felt like everything I wrote needed to have a deeper meaning, which is ridiculous. Sometimes characters hug, sometimes they drink beer for the hell of it, sometimes they wear an ironic t-shirt for the irony.

I hadn't thought about how different French literature can be from English - that's very interesting. I took World Lit in college, but I don't think we read anything French. It was a lot of African novels with non-linear plots. It drove me crazy because I love linear timelines.

[aragarna.livejournal.com]

It's just that English and French are different languages. French tends to be more wordy.
And for instance, one of the main differences is that most of the time, in a dialogue in English, you'll just use "she says" "he says". In French, you have dozens of way to say it and it is recommended *not* to use the verb dire.
So it's just not the same way to express things. And unfortunately I tend to think more in French when I want to express something specific.
(And I really don't feel like taking any English literature class...)

[sheenianni.livejournal.com]

I'm with you on the differences between languages. It can be fascinating and frustrating, especially if you're looking for an expression or phrase that exists in Czech but doesn't in English, and it's so easy and neat to express what you want in your mother tongue but impossible to find an English equivalent (or vice versa in conversation). And don't get me started on jokes...

Hmmm, I already asked my question, but this just came to me - how do you find writing fanfic about people in a different country and culture?

[aragarna.livejournal.com]

Exactly! And you know the exact perfect way to express a feeling in your own language but then it doesn't sound as neat in English...


As for your question, I'm not sure. I've never written anything else than White Collar, and even though the characters are American, they don't have a very defined identity (which makes it easier to identify I supposed). And I have to say, I probably see them a lot from my own culture.

Like, I know a lot of people have complained about the lack of Jewish characters on the show. I'm like "who gives a shit about their religion?" - probably because religion or religious heritage isn't a thing that defines us in France.

Actually, it's not until I started living in the US that I realized how "French" I was. I just don't have the same cultural and social background as Americans.


To go back to writing WC, I don't think I've ever really delved into those topics, and if I did, I would just stick to canon.
And I'm actually pretty happy that there's nothing in the show that creates a cultural barrier between the characters and me.

And American culture is something I know enough. So, I feel confident that I can write it. I don't think I would feel confident writing a very different culture that I don't know much about. Just chatting with my Japanese boss makes me realize how different cultures can be.

And even in WC there are still things I wouldn't pretend to know enough to write about. What could it be for Diana to grow up black and lesbian for instance?

That was a lot of ramble. Does that answer your question? What's your own experience on the subject?

[sheenianni.livejournal.com]

Have you ever written or do you ever intend to write your own story that wasn't fanfic?

[aragarna.livejournal.com]

Oh no, I don't think I'm good enough for that. Fanfic isn't *really* writing. You're just playing with already existing characters, dynamic and universe. You didn't create anything of it. Having to create all that is another level all together. And I don't think that I have that in me.
I don't seriously consider myself a writer. I'm just playing with Peter and Neal because it's fun, because I like keeping that universe and those character going. I like hanging out with them, basically.

Also, if I were to write a real story, that would probably be in French. And I haven't ever written a thing in French...


You?

[sheenianni.livejournal.com]

I think I'd love to write my own things at some point, but I never had an idea that I liked enough to go that way. I wrote some short things here and there, but nothing truly epic.

The closest I came to "original stories" was with some of my fanfics - one of my old HP fics was about Newt Scamander - it was about twenty pages long, and while I had the universe, I had to invent the characters and everything else. With the Conspiracies series I had the characters and the universe, but the story itself was pretty much my creation. And then there is my eternal Inevitable WIP, which has Neal, a little background from the show and that's pretty much it - all the OCs, the settings and storyline is mine.

I don't know. Right now, I have too much fun playing with Neal, Mozzie, Sara etc. to seriously contemplate original work. Maybe at some point in the future? Honestly, I'm not even sure in which language I'd write it anymore.

[nieseryjna.livejournal.com]

Is there a story you have in mind for a long, long time but seem unable to write it?

[aragarna.livejournal.com]

Well, there's that story I had in mind for a very long time and that I've finally decided to tackle, though it appears to be more difficult that I thought it'd be. I thought it was a cool idea, and I still think it is, but for some reason, I don't feel inspired...

And then, there's another one that I've had in mind probably for just as long, but it's a complicated story with an actual plot and all... *sigh* writing easy Little Neal stories is so much more fun...

[pipilj.livejournal.com]

How many stoties do you work on any given time?

[aragarna.livejournal.com]

Usually only one. I try to finish something before starting another one. That doesn't mean I don't think of other fics, but I don't like writing different things at the same time. I find it hard to go back and forth between different realities.

That said, it happened a couple times that I would write a ficlet while I have a longer fic in the work...

And... Well, I am currently working on 2 different stories at once right now. Because one is giving me some grief, so I'm vaguely stalling, and the other one was supposed to be short but is now 3k and not finished...

[sapphire2309]

What do you like most about writing Peter and Elizabeth?