emmagrant01: (woman)
1. My mom and I often joke that we are mentally connected. Over the years, we've had many, many incidents that made us think that, and today there were two more. I went to lunch with DH, and on the way I said, "Wouldn't it be great if my mom came for a visit this fall?" It had just hit me, out of the blue, that she hasn't been out here in two years. Within 15 minutes, my mom texted me and said, "I'm thinking of coming to visit you this fall" and asked what weekends would work for us. Later that afternoon, I picked up my phone and thought, "I should call mom, but I'm not sure if she's off work yet." Ten seconds later, my phone rang -- it was her. This happens to us A LOT. I haven't lived in the same state as her since I was 18, so it's cool to think of us as connected... even if I don't believe in anything supernatural.

2. I took a carload of stuff to a kids' resale shop, and they took very little of it. That was a bummer, but I decided to come home and offer up two of the larger items on our neighborhood social networking site (we use Nextdoor.com, and it's a huge improvement over the old yahoo group). Within half an hour our doorbell rang: it was a family who wanted to buy one of the items and just decided to stop by. So that was cool!

3. I think I've finally decided that the professional writing thing isn't for me. A year ago, I decided to give it a serious try, and I set aside time and everything, but... I haven't really accomplished much.
Get your tiny violins ready... )
emmagrant01: (woman)
Every time I go anywhere near Tumblr these days, I start to hear about wank, so I back off again. It's summer and I have a kid on my hands full time at the moment, so it's easy to just keep busy doing other things. And between [livejournal.com profile] threepatch and [livejournal.com profile] tumblr_refuge, I feel like I'm staying reasonably active in the fandom (and having fun while doing it).

But I have a Sherlock fic I really, really need to finish, and I have to figure out how to find the motivation to do it. It's set after HLV, so there is all of that to deal with, and wow. That's just hard right now. I'm not sure what I believe about Mary's backstory and where John's and Sherlock's heads are after that episode. (Not that I think everyone else is sure either, but man, that makes it complicated to work out the plot.)  And when I start to think about the unpleasant comments I am bound to get on it (because no matter what you write, you're going to upset someone who doesn't know how to use the back button these days), it makes me want to forget the whole thing and go do something else.

But I can't, because it's being written for someone who paid a large amount of money for a fic from me in a fandom fundraiser, and this is the fic she wanted. And it's been a year and I really do need to get it done. I actually like the prompt a lot and think that if I can just get myself back to work on it, it will probably turn out to be something I will enjoy writing.  [livejournal.com profile] drinkingcocoa has seen a few chapters and has assured me that it's worth writing, and that it will turn out well.

BG will be in a day camp next week from 9-5 every day, and so I will have time to sit down and write. I just need the motivation to actually do it. Got any you can spare? :-P
emmagrant01: (woman)

One of the bedtime things I do with BG is that once the lights are out, we get under the covers and I tell a story. He picks the theme or topic and often the main character, and I tell a story based on that. It's kind of like writing original fic on the spot, given a prompt. Sometimes the stories are mediocre (I can't figure out how to wrap up the plot and just give it a crappy ending), but sometimes they're rally good. The good ones we end up telling over and over and embellishing, improving, and so on.

So it has occurred to me on many occasions that those are the stories I should consider actually writing and trying to get published. I have no idea about children's lit, but it's always there in the back of my mind.

Anyway, BG really liked last night's story about a little squirrel named Sammy who started sneezing and couldn't stop. He loved it so much that he just presented me with fan art for it:

My kid's art: let me show you it. )


I love it! Getting fan art for something I've written is so amazing always, but this was extra special. :-)

emmagrant01: (woman)
Two recent comments on A Cure for Boredom:

→ "I'm pretty new to the Sherlock/Johnlock thing and a lot of fics I find Sherlock to be somewhat.... out of character. Sometimes a little, sometimes a whole wonking heck of a lot. I think this is the best characterized Sherlock I've ever seen. I love it."

→ "While this was certainly really hot, the characters, for me, felt OOC. I still liked reading it. But it could've been anyone, really."

And two on Just a Kiss:

→ "Ahh so brilliant!! This is definitely one of my all time favourite fics, it's just so awesome and very in character."

→ "by the end your John was an out of character asshole and there's no two ways about it. Normally I don't bother saying anything if I don't like something I've tried to read, but this was just ridiculous. I don't know why people even bother to write in fandoms if they're going to turn the main characters into out of character wankers who deserve to be slapped with sexual harassment suits. [...] at the very least for those of us who care about characterization MARK YOU WORK AS CONTAINING CHARACTERS WHO ARE BEHAVING OUT OF CHARACTER!"


I've talked about this before in various venues, but it really amazes me how widely people's ideas about characterization in fanfic can vary. What is completely OOC to one person can be perfectly IC to another. How can that happen when we all watch the same show? Assuming that most* people who write fanfic are actually writing the versions of the characters that are in their heads and are convinced that their version is as in-character as they can possibly make it, why is there so much variation?

My opinions, let me show you them )
emmagrant01: (woman)
I've said for years that I didn't think I wanted to try to publish any original fiction, but I've changed my mind about that in the last year. For a long time it didn't seem that the kinds of things I'd want to write would get published, but that's clearly no longer the case. I know so many people in fandom who've published m/m romance and erotica, and so I've been thinking about whether or not I want to do this too.

And yes, after stewing on it a year, I think I do. I have an idea for a book and have been thinking about it obsessively, and in another month I will have time to sit down and start working seriously on it. It's an idea I'm really excited about, as excited as I usually am for fanfic, and I feel like I need to go with my energy on this.

So I'm looking for some advice on how to proceed. I know many of you have experience with this, and I would appreciate any tips you could give me. I'm not sure what to do first. Do I write the book and then shop it around, or do I write a synopsis first and use that to look for an agent/publisher/whatever? I am a complete n00b in this area.

Any resources you could recommend or advice you might have would be greatly appreciated!
emmagrant01: (Trekkie pervert)
So I was watching some gay porn for fic research (no, really) and while it's occasionally fairly interesting, I usually seem to find it incredibly boring and really not erotic at all. It always seems so fake, with the actors glancing at the camera occasionally like they're in an episode of "The Office" and making these incredibly cheesy groans while looking stoned. And it takes forEVER for them to finish, and they're never actually that hard and the whole thing is just incredibly awkward to watch.

And when it comes down to it, watching two people have sex just isn't what does it for me. I know that 80% of the people reading this probably feel the same way, and we've had these discussions hundreds of times online and in person, but every time I click over to pornotube to see the various ways a certain sex act can be done, it always leaves me feeling kind of disappointed, you know?

So I watch gay porn in a fairly clinical way, looking for details to use in a written sex scene. What it feels like or makes the character think is something I have to come up with entirely on my own, LOL.

Edit: On an unrelated note, I love Paul Avril's porny 19th century art.

Edit 2: And you know, reading threads where actual guys talk about the sex they have (in real, honest ways, not in that Penthouse letter way) is seriously hotter to me than any video porn.
emmagrant01: (Sherlock)
I'm now up to date on Sherlock canon, woot! And now I'm looking for fic. And by fic I mean porn.

Anyone have any recs? I've been cruising the kink meme and a few comms, but haven't yet found anything that really presses my buttons. Said buttons would be first-time John/Sherlock fic with both boys fairly IC. Surely such fics exist in a fandom that's been around a few years?

EDIT: Lots of amazing Sherlock recs in the comments!

I'm really finding myself wanting to write for this fandom. Things need to sink in a bit (and obviously there are two more episodes coming), but yeah, I think there will be fic. :-D

Two quick pimps:

1. [livejournal.com profile] snapecase is currently posting! I wrote a fic for this one, in case anyone is interested. This is the first fic I've ever written from Snape's POV, and only the 2nd or 3rd Snape-centric fic ever. So it may be easy to spot the n00b, LOL.

2. Y'all, I am so effing proud of the current episode of [livejournal.com profile] slashcast. It's our 5th episode since the reboot and I think it's our best one yet. If you haven't listened, I hope you'll give it a try and then comment to let us know what you think. :-)
emmagrant01: (Default)
In this month's Wired, there is an article about Dan Harmon, who is the creator of the TV show Community. The article is about him and his career and the show, but there was this interesting little gem as well. Dan Harmon's basic structure for the plot of an episode looks like this:



I couldn't have put it into such a succinct form, but yeah, this basically summarizes the plot of a good story, IMO. This is what happens in every good fic I think I've ever read.  Of course, the something is usually another person, or the getting-in-the-pants-of another person, but that bit about paying a price for it is definitely part of a good story for me. When I think about the fics of mine that I'm proudest of, that's exactly what happens.  Parts 7 and 8 are usually done in the form of an epilogue in my fics, a glimpse into what "normal" life is going to look like once the characters have returned back to the rhythm of ordinary life again.

I'm thinking this might be a good tool to use when writing, especially when I feel stuck. What do you think?

emmagrant01: (Default)
I have a feeling I have posted this here before, years ago. Anyway, I just came across it in my bookmarks, and just want to say A-FUCKING-MEN to every word of it.

THIS is exactly how I try to write dialogue tags, when I use them at all. The author explains exactly why this is the gold standard in professional writing.
emmagrant01: (weeping cock)
I want to read all the cool fics posted on [livejournal.com profile] hp_kinkfest and [livejournal.com profile] hd_seasons, but instead I'm STILL writing this fest fic that simply will not cooperate with me. Now 25,000 words and still going, with the deadline looming ominously close, seriously?

I didn't even procrastinate this time. I started writing this fic a month ago, as soon as I got the prompt, and I've been working on it almost daily. It's just not ending! And it still needs a beta, and then I will have to revise it, and and and...

THIS should have been my BB fic, I'm thinking. *glares at muse*

I want to read all this lovely porn, but I don't have time. *cries*

Oi.

Jan. 27th, 2011 12:34 am
emmagrant01: (writer)
I'm 15,000 words into my fic for the [livejournal.com profile] dracotops_harry fest, with no end in sight. I can't seem to write anything short these days. And this one is going to need a beta with an iron fist, I fear. :-P

Anyone know what Easter break is like at Hogwarts? Is it ever really described?
emmagrant01: (Default)
I have spent so much time and made so damn little progress on my post-DH Harry/Draco novella of doom. I was sure it would be finished by now, but it's nowhere near. It's going to be a hell of a lot longer then I originally anticipated, which really worries me because I don't think the plot supports that sort of length. So I really have to do some thinking on this one.

And I have signed up for three holiday exchanges, none of which I have started working on yet, so it looks like it's time to put this fic aside for a while. Maybe a break is just what I need, but still, it's frustrating to have to set it aside when I have so many ideas, you know?

In mostly unrelated news, I am anxiously awaiting more answers to this question. Inquiring minds, folks. ;-)
emmagrant01: (Default)
I've been working on a H/D fic since April. After a first draft was sent to beta, it got a major rewrite. It's not quite finished, and with the release of the last book less than two weeks away, I'm starting to think I should put it aside for now. It's set far enough in the future that I doubt new canon will joss it completely. (Unless Harry or Draco die in which case I shall call it AU and finish it anyway.) I should be able to do another rewrite to incorporate new canon. I've done it before -- I was in the middle of writing Surrender the Grey when HBP was released, after all. Besides, the person whose request this was has already left LJ until after the book release.

So yeah, I think I'll wait on that one. It's not like there's a shortage of fic being posted now anyway. ;-)

And speaking of: Please rec me H/D Holidays fics!
emmagrant01: (Default)
This is the story of my life lately, but: Tomorrow is the deadline for the [livejournal.com profile] serpentinelion Secrets & Wishes fest, and my fic is SO CLOSE to being done. My betas tell me that it needs more work, and I completely agree. But tomorrow is my wedding anniversary, so it's not going to be done by tomorrow since I plan to spend my non-working hours having a romantic evening with MDH. So yeah, it's going to be late. Probably just a day or two, but still.

I suck at deadlines lately. I'm not sure what my problem is. :-(
emmagrant01: (erection ahead)
Okay, I feel like writing some crack, and I'm hoping some of y'all will help me. So, please comment with a pairing, fandom, and a cracktastic prompt, and I'll do my best to write you a drabble. I'll probably take the first ten, and after that I will most likely stop. Fandoms: Star Wars (all 6 episodes and EU to the extent I know it), Harry Potter, Buffy, Angel, Friday Night Lights, Star Trek (TOS, TNG, Voyager). Pairings: Any -- het, slash, whatever.

Edit: Wow, that was quick! I have ten, but if you want to leave yours anyway, go ahead. Anyone who wants to write one of the extras shall be rewarded! ;-)

~*~*~*~*~


So here's what I came up with. And these are probably more ficlets than drabbles, as they range from 200-500 words.

[livejournal.com profile] sonofdarkness requested: Harry Potter/Angel and/or Buffy Crossover. Draco meets Spike. Spike takes the absolute piss out of Draco for being such an obvious ponce. )

[livejournal.com profile] dm_p requested: Harry/Draco, weird stuff sold on eBay. )

[livejournal.com profile] neotoma requested: Luke, Obi-Wan, or Qui-Gon. gen. It might be Bunnies! )

[livejournal.com profile] bethbethbeth requested: Harry, Buffy, and Luke: considering whether they should go on strike. )
emmagrant01: (writer)
So, I suck. I owe fics for THREE things at the moment, all of which are now late, and I have the most horrible writer's block. I feel like a complete loser that I just cannot make this work. I'm all motivated to get things done, and as soon as I get the doc open, nothing happens. I've even tried to stay away from LJ in an effort to get the writing back on track, and it hasn't helped. *sobs*

Usually when I have writer's block, I just sit down and write, and see what happens. Sometimes it goes somewhere. Sometimes I manage a paragraph before I say fuck it and go do something else. There's been a lot of fuck its in the last week, and I have almost finished knitting a sweater for my nephew as a result. :-P

*stabs writer's block*

So what works for you, writers?
emmagrant01: (writer)
I was looking through some posts on [livejournal.com profile] fanficrants for sheer entertainment this morning, because it's kind of fun to see what people in multiple fandoms like to complain about. Much of it isn't dependent on the fandom at all, which is interesting. Some of it makes me want to roll my eyes, and then there are posts that make me go o_0.

A British reader read a fic by an American author, and thought the fic was wonderful in nearly every way -- it had great dialogue and characterization, was clearly well-researched, and was even Brit-picked. But then the entire reading experience was ruined for her by an instance of the word "gotten".

Requisite stuff: Yes, "gotten" is the correct past participle for the verb "to get" in standard American English. Yes, it disappeared from British English a long time ago, despite the fact that other past participles of the same form, like "forgotten", did not. (Though some Brits do claim to hear "gotten" used in conversation.) Yes, many speakers of non-American English think it sounds weird. And yes, it's something that the vast majority of Americans do not know is a difference, and why would they? Hell, I didn't know until a month ago that Brits don't say "silverware" or "foyer", and I've actually spent several years trying to make the language in my fics more British. This, even though I strongly disagree that a good HP fic has to sound like it was written by a Brit.

My point is not to bring up the whole language issue again, but the fact that the presence of a single word was enough to ruin an otherwise great fic for this particular reader. Don't get me wrong -- you can be as picky as you want about reading fic, and we all have our pet peeves. If I read more than a handful of euphemisms like "blond Slytherin" in a fic, it has to be a pretty intriguing story to keep me from hitting the back button. But I really can't imagine loving everything about a fic and then having it "ruined" for me by a couple of euphemisms. Of course, people who use euphemisms tend to have other writing issues as well, so it's kind of hard for me to imagine a fic where that would be the only thing that would bother me.

There's always going to be something, though. No one's writing style is going to please everyone, and that's okay. But one word? And it pissed her off so much she went over to that comm to rant about it? Fannish entitlement issues, I'm thinking.

Hard gen?

Jan. 19th, 2007 09:09 am
emmagrant01: (Default)
In the last episode of [livejournal.com profile] slashcast, [livejournal.com profile] mijan's Fandom Opinion segment was about the need for more of what she calls "genfic slash". Let me quote her to explain what she means:

So, where are the genfics with the occasional slash pairing? Where are the epics with thick, non-ship related plots, that just happen to have slash in them? Where's the Harry/Draco novel that spends most of its attention on Harry's fight with Voldemort, the destruction of the Horcruxes, and the history of the Voldemort's first rise to power, with the sub-plot of the ship being completely secondary yet delightfully blended with the rest of the fic?

When I first listened to her segment, I couldn't help but think... )
emmagrant01: (Team Gen (Triatha-Ron))
Woo-hoo! I'm writing for Team Gen for the [livejournal.com profile] triatha_ron! I'm excited, because I was really hoping I'd get to write for one of the teams, and even though I didn't give the mods a preference for a team, I was kind of crossing my fingers for Team Gen. (Forgive me flist, but I have a hard time sexin' Ron for some reason...) Yay!



On a different note, Episode 13 of [livejournal.com profile] slashcast is now available. It features an interview with [livejournal.com profile] gmth about [livejournal.com profile] merry_smutmas, an opinion segment by [livejournal.com profile] mijan, and much more. :-)
emmagrant01: (writer)
There's a Finish My Fic challenge going on over at [livejournal.com profile] fanfic_fanfic. The idea is that you can post a fragment of a fic you know you'll never finish (any fandom, any pairing, slash, het, whatever) and put it up for adoption. Other people can take what you've started and write the rest of it. Conversely, you can look for fics to adopt and finish. It might be a great way to get started on writing something if you're not sure where to start. :-)

Please feel free to pimp!

I've put a fic up for adoption here. :-D

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