Discussion The Scribble Pad (Fanfic Writing Discussions)

How do you get back on track when you’ve been chasing plot bunnies? I did short piece for the “Create an OC” challenge, and I really like my new character; i’m planning to continue his story for the DDC half-marathon coming up, but in the meantime I’ve got a million and a half works in progress that I need to attend to. Any advice in getting the moose muse back on track when it would rather play with its new toys? I know, it’s fan fic, it’s a hobby, so you should write what you want...but that’s how I got here in the first place Some of my stories are only a couple of chapters from being finished and I really don’t want to be The Writer Who Never Finishes Anything.

 

I gather up my plot bunnies and prioritize them chronologically by era and date, and then tell my muse that they can play with the new plot bunnies once we get the current batch done and dusted, but that's just me. I hope this helps Raissa

 

That is amazingly disciplined! My bunnies are more like cats... if I command them to perform, they open one eye to look at me in amusement, then roll over and go back to sleep.

 

I feel your pain, Raissa. I've abandoned things in the past, never quite knowing how to proceed or finding the want to to finish. That said, outside encouragement is wonderful influence. If I can have any say, I would love to see you finish Shadow of a Doubt. I don't know your plan for it, but if their confessions are the endgame, then the end is nigh. You write these character so well and I look forward to this particular resolution.

Edit: But to answer your question my plot bunnies either simmer in the ether of my brain or end up in plot bunny donation threads. I organize them not at all.

 

Thank you kindly Renata

I have a master list of all the dates that my fan fictions take place in, along with the major events that they tie into.

 

million and a half works in Oh boy, how grand to have this feast to nibble at! Might it work to separate the WIPs into those already published and those still on the H/D, known only to you or your beta? That might help to focus on ficfinishing the ones already 'out there.'

 

My bunnies are like my dog. And like me. They resist, resist and then they give in and nothing makes sense anymore.

 

@Mistress_Renata this is slightly off topic but maybe not. Coax your bunnies who are like kittens with the proverbial bowl of cream because I'm reading a novel where Lando has a delightful and lovely and outspoken Twi'lek love interest and her story BEGS to be written!

@Raissa Baiard -- as a FAN for all and any of your nummies, I have 2 tried suggestions which work for me but I love writing to music.

As I'm listening to soft jazz in the background, it suggests a mood and I go aha! Let me write that! Or:

I alternate: this weekend is for this update. Next weekend is for this other thing I'm working on.

 

I wondered where Ginni had come from!! What is the novel?

 

"Last Shot: A Han and Lando Novel" by Daniel J. Older.

 

I started the same group, and prioritise by date idea, back in February, but item number five is 600 words short of preferred minimum chapter, and the muse has some stuff for a few hours later, but nothing to bridge it.

Then last night, it got the crazy idea to recover posts from a dead Role Play, and make a fic out of them.

 

Something I have problem with is writing dialog that's not in proper* English. I have character's that should not speak properly but way to often I have no idea how to really write that.

* more or less, it's my second language

 

I'm working on something now that plays with an old movie.
So I watched the movie with Google Docs open, and jotted down little phrases and key words and attitudes of the main characters. Things that I can use in my story.

Maybe that's something you can use. Find stories or movies with characters similar to yours. Write down lines you like and use them to help craft your own dialogue.

Trying to understand the colloquial ways of a second language is pretty tough.

 

Are they uneducated native speakers or are they non-native speakers? If they're non-native speakers, even though your English is great, can you remember a time when you were confused about certain grammar rules? Are there still things that trip you up, or that you have to consciously make sure to avoid? Things that come easy to you when writing but maybe sound a little weird if you're speaking out loud or typing in a chat without the ability to go back and edit? Basically, just be really lazy about English when you're writing the dialogue for those characters.

 

I can completely see how difficult this could be. I don't have a great answer for you other than having a beta (or just someone to read your dialogue) who is a native English speaker. I was really into the Torchwood fandom for a while and there were people that called themselves Britpickers for the Americans who didn't know British English very well. They'd just go through a story and say "Nope, that's very American, we'd say...". So maybe in the same way you could send your dialogue to someone to have them help you make it not so proper.

 

So you want to write dialogue in "improper" English? Here are some suggestions that might help.

-- Have your characters say "ain't" instead of "isn't".
-- Have them use double negatives. (Ex. "Ain't never" "don't know nothing")
-- Have them use improper verb forms. (Ex. "Growed" instead of "grown" or "grew")
-- Maybe try having them speak in a dialect (for a good example of that, click here: http://boards.theforce.net/threads/cowgirls-drabble-roundup-udc-viii-beyond.50044701/#post-54235909 )
-- Have them say "y'all".
-- If they're talking about what someone else said, instead of "he/she said", have them say "he/she was like" or "he/she be like".
-- Just ignore the rules and be frickin' lazy.

 

Thanks for the tips, if people have more keep them comming

Part of my problem is how to spell slang, even if I have an understanding that there should be some way to say that in slang or even have an idea about how they would say it I don't know how to write it.

 

@Gamiel Are you just looking for informal, casual dialogue? Or do you want to capture a specific dialect? If it's the former, I would recommend using contractions and maybe the occasional slang or idiom, but I would caution against overdoing it. Dialects can be extremely difficult unless you are very familiar with the specific dialect you are trying to portray. Dialect can send a strong message about your character, which you may not want. It can also make it more difficult for the reader to parse; frustrated readers are rarely a good thing. I would err on the side of "proper" English and if possible enlist the help a a beta with strong dialogue skills.

 

+ Gamiel After searching YouTube this a.m. for insights in unboxing a new scanner, it struck home that YT has oodles of native speakers of all types, nationalities and accents making vids and uploading. That would seem to be a good source of colloquial rhythms of speech. Urban Dictionary DAHTKAHM carries all sorts of slang terms, too.

 

As long as it is slang you want to write I fully understand your problem. I assume you have to have English as your first language to master that properly. In cases you want to write "not perfect English" a direct translation from you native language should do the trick. (Think "googletranslate English" )

 

@Gamiel - There are regional dialects in Britain that sound nothing like British English, and I remembered using this translator - http://www.whoohoo.co.uk/ - for Northern English, which I assume to mean Norwich and Newcastle way.

Also, happy to help with this Britpicking stuff.

@Cowgirl Jedi 1701 - "y'all" is American English. Not aware of its use in Britain. All your other suggestions, spot on though.

 

In the request for suggestions how to speak improper English, British or American English was not specified. But as I was born and raised in the USA, American English is my native language.

 

+ Sith-I-5 What a fantastic link, thanks, guv'na!

 

Yikes, this thread needs a little pick me up!

There is a theme that I have notice, recently, on screen and on tv, that I thought might bare discussion here as far as translating it the written word. It has to do with two individuals in a fight to the death. Whether it is a duel with blaster or swords, doesn't matter. What matters is the relationship between the two duelists. After, the deathblow is struck or shot, the 'winner' rushes to the side of his opponent and either grieves the loss or comforts the other being into death. I know this is not a new concept, but it one that I have experienced in a cluster in a relative short amount of time. Examples:

Maul and Obi-Wan on Tatooin in S3 of REBELS
Sunny and Nathaniel Moon in Into the Badlands, where the honorable death was refused by the hero.
Zatoichi and Shigezo in The Tale of Zatoichi.
There was another example, which I have now forgotten. I will edit in when I remember.

What example of this have you seen and could a scene be written that would be as powerful or more powerful that seeing it on screen?

 

Reminds me of a lovely scene in the police series, Life, where a detective is forced to shoot a guy with a shotgun, and as the other is dying, distressed about his part in a previous crime and not totally aware of what is happening, the cop gently tells him that he has been dreaming, and to go back to sleep.