Discussion Fanfic Confessions - The Couch

So, some of us have real life diagnoses. Some of us have need for validation, the dreaded Darth Writer's Block, can't-wait-to-post-itis. Some of us can be hormonal. Some of us can be too proud, or too sappy. Some are a mix'n match.

So, this thread is something I've been pondering for quite a while, something like group therapy. Our own support group, fanficcers' anonymous - call it what you like. Say what you can't do, what you think you are not good at and what you don't feel adequate about doing, then let others do the same. It's like a recent discussion in the Scribble Pad, like those pet peeves and YKYAFFWs that are about ourselves. Let's go!

Please, be nice to others, don't judge and remember that this is not a "read my fic" thread.

Mav Edit: Locking because this is already a discussion in the Scribble Pad which is the place to have such discussions on such topics.

 

Literally all of the fanfic I have ever written is science fiction, and I cannot write space battles for shavit. I also have trouble with angst. I can write it pretty well, but I just have a hard time making myself do it. Some writers have absolutely no problem stabbing their characters in the heart and twisting the knife, but I definitely ain't one of them.

 

I write at the edge of my pants sometimes. While I do have a general outline on how my fanfic is supposed to go, I often improvise on the details. Also, I am worried about how natural do my dialogues sound because my early fanfics( which are thankfully deleted everywhere) made Tommy Wiseau look like Shakespeare in comparison.

 

Fascinating discussion @Ewok Poet

Like @Cowgirl Jedi 1701, I cannot write intense angstyness. I have never fleshed out an OC as a protagonist. They have been supplemental characters. My protagonists have invariably been ECs.
I gravitate towards writing short stories. Not the grand epics, although I do not mind reading those.

 

My turn...

I would never be able to write a fanfic that centers around a same sex relationship. For many reasons, the lack of importance in GFFA combined to the spotlight those beings would get here being the biggest one. I made it a sin on a totalitarian planet for funsies, but otherwise, seriously, I doubt that anybody cares and I don't think that L, G and B characters in the GFFA are making any kind of a statement. So, while I might mention it in passing, it's not going to be central to the story.

 

Good morning. Uh...though I usually write humor or light drama, I have been known to write a biting bit of angst every now and again. My angst can get pretty brutal in the vein of self condemnation/flagellation. It's quite cathartic when in that head space.

 

*sitting on the edge of the couch *
I have just started writing so it may be that I comment too early, but I have already discovered that lightsaber duels are hard to write. I managed to sqeeze out one through an entire Sunday's "work". (Well, to be honest half the Saturday was spent as well.) Huge drawback when writing SW fic... My second problem, which may partly be causing the first, is the language itself. English is not my native language so for obvious reasons the descriptions doesn't flow as easily as they would if I could write in my own language. There is a huge difference between writing technical English and fiction English.

 

When I write I totally just go by the seat of my pants, if I do an outline, even a super basic one, it feels like the story has already been written to me. I like coming up with characters and a skeleton of a plot and seeing where it leads me. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

 

My outlines always tend to be rough-ish guidelines than strictly adhered to. In the two times I've actually outlined a long-form story, I've frequently expanded things so much that entire chapters pass by between my intended chapters.