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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

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

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction and Writing Resource' started by Dev_Binks, Jul 29, 2004.

  1. DaenaBenjen42

    DaenaBenjen42 Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 15, 2005
    ...when the only way something works is if the character you wanna try it with is (a) unconscious or (b) can't speak Basic to be understood or (C) didn't get stabbed due to having a nap, or some combination of the three. (It would have worked... maybe. Dunno.)


    For CheckSix: Word of the Day: Ziguli.
     
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  2. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    That word was in every second Russian book from the 1960s-1980s I ever read. Not new. :p
     
  3. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    CheckSix There's an old vocabulary thread here that has some cool words :)

    And yes, 'cool words' is a concept in the Chyntuck Manual of Style™. I have entire notebooks of those, much to the despair of my husband who has fantasies about those piles of old papers disappearing from my desk. Some are words that I had to look up in the dictionary, but many are words that I knew but didn't use and thought, when I saw them, "oh, this word would fit nicely in this chapter" or sometimes even "in this sentence" or "with this character", plus of course the old stand-by pretext "it may come in handy, you never know". And then there's the whole mental gymnastics of remembering in which novel that you read in 1998 there was a useful word, and tracking down the notebook where you jotted it down... [face_sigh]
     
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  4. DaenaBenjen42

    DaenaBenjen42 Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 15, 2005
    It makes sense in context, and had anyone told me it was a car, I'd have actually read Red Storm Rising when Dad wanted me to instead of ten years on down the line...
     
  5. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    Now I would totally recommend you two of those books, but given what era they're from, I think it's unlikely they were translated to English. :( They're both teenage literature, but pretty heavy and there's a lot of ziguli cars in them. I remember finding that odd, as we had all sorts of cars in Yugoslavia (as in, not just Yugo, but also foreign ones, yeah, even the ziguli, whom we never called that)...
     
  6. CheckSix

    CheckSix Jedi Padawan star 1

    Registered:
    Dec 15, 2015
    Thanks for the link. I will certainly check it out. Sometimes I wonder about using certain words and whether or not they will sound forced or make me seem pedantic.
     
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  7. gaarastar58

    gaarastar58 Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Dec 19, 2010
    ...you have listened to so many SW audio books you can hear Jonathan Davis or Anthony Daniels narrating in your head as you write.
     
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  8. brodiew

    brodiew Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 11, 2005

    I know what you mean, gaarastar58. I just stopped 'Honor Among Thieves' after disk five. I finally said no more to his Han Solo voice. I couldn't get through 'Razor's Edge' either.
     
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  9. Lady_Misty

    Lady_Misty Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 21, 2007
    When you find a review in your inbox for a fic on another site and after warring with yourself about opening it and reading what the reviewer has to say; fear that hey are going to beg you to update and your muse has refused to help with where the story is but wanting to hear their thoughts. Finally you screw up the courage to read the review and it's just someone wanting to know how to upload a fic on the the site.
     
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  10. Padawan4687

    Padawan4687 Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 10, 2010
    Lady_Misty [face_laugh]

    That sounds more like the makings of a Pet Peeve to me! Or just a major bummer. :p
     
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  11. Lady_Misty

    Lady_Misty Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 21, 2007
    Padawan4687 probably is more of a peeve but sometimes when you write others ask you for advice which is a sign you are a fan fic writer.
     
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  12. Raissa Baiard

    Raissa Baiard FFoF Artist Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 22, 1999
    ...your research for your current series include poker tournaments, the Rat Pack (and various members thereof), "The African Queen", the Jedi Code, sabacc rules... and "Why are Catholic priests celibate?"
     
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  13. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    I never knew that you needed a pretext to re-watch The African Queen :p
     
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  14. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014

    I read a book on reproduction of primates and then a doc about bonding in bonobo apes. #beatthat
     
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  15. leiamoody

    leiamoody Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 8, 2005
    You mistake "Organa Road" for "Orville Road".
     
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  16. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2010
    ... when you write an off-handed comment in an AU about another character totally unrelated to the storyline and you suddenly want to write a fic showing how the AU situation has affected that character. I've done this twice now. I need to create a mini-series.

    Also ... when you spend the vast majority of a day working on a fic when you probably should have been starting a 3000 word paper due in less than 2 weeks.
     
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  17. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    Similarly, when you have three deadlines this week, you need to renew your government-issued ID and your health insurance ID, you have to work on a campaign nobody else will work on...

    ...and yet, after barely having slept, you find yourself in the bath, writing bits and pieces of a completely new fic. Not just any fic, but the next incarnation of the one you publicly abandoned two weeks ago.

    #sendhelp

    Sent from my SM-T310 using Tapatalk
     
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  18. divapilot

    divapilot Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 30, 2005
    I did so much research on addiction and anxiety disorders for a fic that ads for recovery centers keep popping up on my facebook news feed. People are going to wonder...
     
  19. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014

    I google those two all the time. And by all the time, I mean all the time.
     
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  20. Sith-I-5

    Sith-I-5 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 14, 2002
    I don't know if this counts, but the basis is me doing research into Australian military slang, and encountering the term "arcing up" to mean opening hostilities, or shouting at someone, eg. Sergeant telling off a soldier.

    I was just made fairly happy while watching Border Security Australia (love that show, though it makes writing difficult while listening to it), and one of the customs and immigration officers tells a suspect to "calm down and stop arcing up at my colleague."

    :D
     
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  21. JadeLotus

    JadeLotus Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 27, 2005
    Huh, didn't realise the term arcing up wasn't used in the States.

    YKYAFFWW you stare at an open document for ages before sighing and shutting down your laptop.
     
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  22. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    I guess feeling inadequate and continuing to write no matter what is a weird combo, then. o_O

    Послато са SM-J500FN уз помоћ Тапатока
     
  23. Sith-I-5

    Sith-I-5 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 14, 2002
    Never encountered it anywhere outside Australia, though to be fair, I have not had reason to research any other country's military slang before, so maybe it is used elsewhere.

    EDIT: YKYAFFWW you think of pairing your Monster Squad with a TFA character, and start thinking about having an MS character reference her old adventures from somewhere on the Boards; do a Google search, and rediscover an early fic for them from two thousand and drokking three (2003), on an archived GeoCities webpage no less, and start thinking seriously about reprinting it here.
     
  24. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    ... when your plan for Saturday night is to re-read Tatooine Ghost, because you want to double-check that you got the details right by Monday.
     
  25. mavjade

    mavjade Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 10, 2005
    ... when you buy a book specifically to gain ideas and do research for fanfic.
     
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