Discussion You Know You're a Fan Fiction Writer When...

YKYAFFW... when you regret making one of the major supporting characters in your story a Barabel, because Barabels' speech idiosyncrasies drive you insane, but it's too late to change the species because you've already committed to the character in question in previous RPG posts, so you just learn to deal with the insanity while making a mental note to never deal with Barabels again.

 

YKYAFFW...when you get a cyst on your finger from writing. It's from holding a pen. I can blame science and original fiction too...but mostly fanfic.

 

Now that's dedication! Hope it heals soon!

 

We can hope with less handwriting and more typing, it will! Thanks!

 

While I obviously still can write, I have been holding my pens and pencils wrong all my life and my right hand tends to get all blue, black or whatever from writing; which is why typing is much easier for me. Not to mention what notebooks I used to carry in my bag would look like after a couple of weeks - like a dog was chewing them. A tablet with a decent screen that does not make your eyes hurt beats the notebook when it comes to writing long, complicated stuff that needs to be edited 6778978879 times.

I hope your finger will be OK, soon.

 

Another reason why I'm a keyboard warrior only...though that isn't meant to diminish your pain.

YKYAFFW when you've ever taken a microcassette recorder with you on vacation so you can record your thoughts on whatever plot you might be thinking of, since you won't have access to a computer. Yes, I have actually done this.

 

-when you buy notebooks for the sole purpose of fanfic writing/notes
-and when little things inspire you

 

...you remember that you were working on three resourcey indexy things - one on your own, two with friends. And neither of them is past mod-approves-the-draft stage yet, because all three of you may be...HEHE, LOOK, A BIRD! Wait, no, no birds at 3 AM.

 

...when you've been too busy with writing and beta-reading to find time to get the plot bunny index up to date. And you have a lot to get written and a quickly approaching deadline now less than two weeks away, so you have to put off the index for a while longer. (I promise it will get done eventually, though!)

 

SatineNaberrie I bought notebooks for just that purpose!

 

Oh my, you really are well-read, aren't you Findswoman?

 

The last time I said that to my muse (a nefarious creature that I call Darth Plot Bunny), she gave me several rabbits about people who do not appreciate gifts.

 

You spend more than 5 minutes pondering weird questions you're sure nobody else in the fandom has ever asked...

 

Try me.

 

I searched for lower primates' approach to mating and ended up reading a whole book, so beat that.

 

Did you read a whole book on the mating or just a whole book separate from that?

 

The whole book was about the culture, evolution, anatomy and many other things. Only one chapter was about mating.

 

That sounds interesting.

YKYAFFW when you don't think that's weird at all!

 

YKYAFFWW you're on a roll with one fanfic and everyone else wants you to update the one you happen to have writer's block for!

 

You have a dream involving some sort of a sweet, better, sane self of an otherwise shizoid-esque person.

Your tablet wakes you up with a news about that person recovering a historic item that you didn't know was stolen.

Though you have a problem feeling any empathy for them at this time in your life, this results in chugging down some Pepsi Max and writing a love scene (not a sex scene) involving a future fic's lead character loosely based on that person in terms of looks and some of characterisation.

The said love scene was a huge problem, just like the character and their romantic partner in this arc displaying any sort of affection for each other was a problem.

 

When a plot twist for a fic ends up being the perfect way to set off a chain reaction for an AU that you have been planning for a year plus.

 

When your fic initially exists entirely to deal with your AU.

 

Your brain is so set on the show you were just watching that your scene is in their voices...and you have to watch clips of the film you're supposed to be writing to remedy that.
It doesn't help when both the characters on the show and the characters in the film both have tons of irritated banter.

 

...when you left the job where you answered phones for newspapers, and had a writing cramp that wouldn't quit for three months afterward, thus making it hard to get any fic writing done. (Seriously. Did a LOT of writing at that job. Didn't realize how much until I left it.)