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

It's really frightening how many of these describe me.

And my two cents...

...when the two items always found in your purse or on your person are pen and paper (money? keys? cell phone? psssshhh, pen and paper).

...when you come home from work and ask your brother (who has no work) "Is it up yet?" and you both know which fic you're desperately waiting for an update on.

...when your parents actually use the Cheaper by the Dozen "Not of general interest!" phrase to shut you and said brother up at the dinner table so that they can hear non-SW conversation.

...when you and your brother use the plastic lightsabers in the backyard to choreograph fights.

...when you take Cultural Anthropology classes and switch native cultures to alien cultures.

...when you create an original language for your original culture.

...when you write three different versions of the same scene, scrap them all, and rewrite the fourth version before you decide it's as good as it's going to get.

...when, while listening to classical or non-vocal music (such as Star Wars soundtracks, Pirates soundtrack, David Arkenstone music...), you do your level best to create a scene where all the action matches up perfectly with the music's risings and fallings.

...when your entire mood can change based on whether or not a reply or update has appeared.


And unfortunately, I'm guilty of even more. :: Oh well.

-Saber

 

The two things you would grab if your house were burning down are your computer and your Star Wars Visual Dictionary.

You refuse to read the EU because you know the characters' *real* backgrounds are the ones that exist in your head.

You watch all the movies you can find with Star Wars actors in them, even if they show up for 30 seconds and the films are really stupid and obscure, because you're trying to get their speech patterns down. (I'm a fan of both Qui-Gon and Liam Neeson, but I drew the line at "Krull." I am *not* going to watch that stupid movie . . . again.)

 

ophelia... when I watched Love Actually... all I could think was, "that's Qui Gon." And I'm not even a prequel fan. XD


...when your entire mood can change based on whether or not a reply or update has appeared.

So yes. Yesyes.


...when you constantly stay up past midnight, because of an insistent plot bunny, even though you have to get up at 6.30 the next morning.

...when you start yelling at the librarian because the stupid computers don't have floppy disk drives, and how the heck are you supposed to upload the fic you wrote on your laptop last night?

...you waste a CD-R, burning just your fics to it, because you're so desperate to upload it.

...you look at your AIM buddy list, and realise that - out of around 100 people - over half of them are fic writers (of one fandom or another)

...you have successfully converted your IRL friend - who isn't even a Star Wars fan - to your chosen 'ship.

...people keep asking you what you're laughing at when you're on the library computers, and you explain some Star Wars in-joke, and they all back away slowly.

...opposite to many of the others ones in this thread, you actually use a fanfic as a source of information in a class debate. Heh.

...without you realising it, your IRL friends already consider you a stalker of your favourite character, since you write about them so much. (...this was actually Mason from DLM, but I just know they think I stalk Kyp as well. >>; )

 

...when you constantly stay up past midnight, because of an insistent plot bunny, even though you have to get up at 6.30 the next morning.

Always.

...everytime you see a movie you make up a different ending/sequel and an OC, then have dreams in which the OC is in the REAL sequel.

 

Oh, and never mind all these "talking about your OC as a real person"... It's even better when someone else does it.

 

...when you write three different versions of the same scene, scrap them all, and rewrite the fourth version before you decide it's as good as it's going to get.

ROFLMAO! Oooh that's me down to a T. I also tend to have a couple versions of a fic going at the same time just incase I have to see how one change of character choice comes across.

 

When you read all four pages of this thread and identify with 90% of all posts.

When you've actually worked with another fanfic writer (non SW or SW doesn't matter) and you've actually been told by the boss to stop discussing fanfic and get back to work.

When above coworker and you work in a theater and your conversation is overheard by a customer at concessions and they think you're discussing the plot for Episode III.

You've actually used fanfic to write a book report for schoole.

 

...when you constantly stay up past midnight, because of an insistent plot bunny, even though you have to get up at 6.30 the next morning.

Well that one most definitely fits me except I gotta be up at 530am. Hehehehe And I've been guilty of this for nearly 2 weeks now... the OCs and CCs will not leave me alone! hehehehe keep nagging me!

 

Hearing voices are we? Uh... just don't pay attention to them when they tell you that the drive thru at the McDonalds is the Death Star's exhaust port and your car is an x-wing.

 

. . . you find yourself ni the meat section at the supermarket and wonder if Kyp Durron likes beef or poultry.

. . . you have a Live Journal for a SW character, and you get up in the middle of the night to update it

. . . when you drop your purse and the things that fall out are 4 notebooks, six pens, a pencil, and the Galactic Traveler's Guide.


Dana

 

...When you're talking with somebody and try to get your mind off of a bunny and back onto what she's saying.

 

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

...You and your fan fic writing friends constantly refer to each other by the names of your OCs.


Guilty as charged. I'm constantly called "Dren" and I constantly call two of my friends "Ryo" and "Sho-nan" all the time.

 

...when you see a picture in a magazine that reminds you of your favourite ship, and you base whole plot lines around that one photo.

 

When you've been writing a scene in which a character suffers an injury, and when you coincidentally wake up with a pain in the same spot, your first thought is, "Oh, yeah, that was where the Sith knocked me into the--No it's not!!"

 

When people don't look at you strangely anymore when you say, "(character name) isn't talking to me right now, so I can't post."


When you have a list of non-combat related uses for lightsabres.


When you jot down license plates, bumper stickers, business and streets signs for possible future use as character names.


When other people mistake your OC for a canon character. *waves and smiles at Jane Jinn*


When you use your SW plushies, poseable Aragorn, and GIJoe action figures to block out larger battle scenes because you don't have enough siblings to use them.


When you reread the X-wing series (or EU book of your choice) as 'research'.

 

You know you're a fanfiction write when...

When you have one entire drawer in your business file cabinet (I'm a freelancer) filed iwth story notes, plot bunnies, and first drafts of fanfics.

When you actually are more inclined to work on your fanfiction than your original fiction because people are waiting on you and it's more statisfying.

 

When you're moving to another dorm, and you put all your writing materials - including notebooks, printouts, computer disks, sketchbooks with character drawings, and little scraps of paper that have notes scribbled on them - into a small cardboard box that you chose simply because it already had the word "FRAGILE" emblazoned on it.

And as it sits in the corner waiting to be moved to the new place, you glance at it every so often, make a mental note to tell your friends who are helping you move not to stack anything on top of it, and refer to it as "myyyyy precioussssss."

Leona - you've got a good idea. Methinks I should slap a great big Obi-Wan picture onto the drawer of my new desk after I put all my stuff into it.

 

You've got more notebooks and folders and papers etc for fanfiction in your backpack than you have schoolwork.

:Targeter:

 

These apply to a friend of mine I used to work with:

All your creative writing assignments end up being fanfics.

Your creative writing teacher actually bugs you for the next installment.

You've actually included fanfic as a work-sample when applying for a writer's gig at a local newspaper.


For me:

You're more careful about how your notes and stoies are organized than your bills and business files.

You back up your fanfic more than you do you business files.

You put SW/Gundam/etc... soundtracks into your MP3 player and/or walk-in and llisten to them while you're out excercising.riding your bike so you can think about your fics.

 

You are struck by a plot bunny while in a car with 8 other people, so naturally, you grab a pen and piece of scrap paper and begin writing with your purse as a flat surface. And struggle to come up with an explanation when your cousin asks why your paper has 'You may kiss the bride' as the first line.

You've just checked out the entire Jedi Academy trilogy from the library so you can write Kyp and spend the entire day reading them, ignoring your visiting cousins completely.

 

...When you find said clipboard and someone other than you has added some rather naughty dialog to what's already written.

And then you use it...

 

. . . there's a sale at a jewelry/accessories store and they've got little initial charms for fifty cents, so you buy ones in the initials of your 'ship.

. . . and put them on things so you'll see them all the time

. . . you spend hours browsing clothing websites to find the perfect outfit to describe in your story

. . . to justify writing fanfiction in class, you have your characters discuss whatever it is the teacher's talking about


Dana

 

... when you're writing notes for biology and you automatically capitalize the F in force, like the 'Force'

 

... when you're writing notes for biology and you automatically capitalize the F in force, like the 'Force'

I do that one all the time.


You know you're a fan fic writer when...

... You ask someone what episode a certain scene was from, only to realize that it actually came from a fic. (I'm guilty of that one.)

... You've got you family and friends so hooked, they begin suggesting plots for your newest fic.

... A day without reading a least one fic is like a day without caffeine.

... You know the birth dates of all the CCs.

... You've spend hours searching photo gallery's of movie stars to find a person that could play your OCs if a film of your fic was ever made.