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

After watching one of the new Star Wars shows and suddenly want to swap out an OC for a new Canon character in one of your AUs but you really like the name of the OC and can't decide whether to keep them and make them a side character or repurpose the name or both.

Either way, you're waiting for another show to drop so you can see if a character of the same species has a name or not so you can name a character in a different AU because they don't have a name yet.


Technically the OC is a Canon character but they're only briefly seen and only have one line so might be considered either.

 

When you read your oldest work and realise you really overused character names in dialogue. It was practically every other line back then. So I've been trimming those out via editing for my own reading pleasure

 

When you have been struggling with a lot of things, especially writing, and then you not only find out your favorite musician is releasing a new album () but his message in the release video is literally exactly what you needed to hear right now.

"MY VOICE IS BADASS!"

 

When you get hooked back into a tv show you originally watched in 2002 and find yourself watching it on repeat and writing stories for it….


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

When you mix direct plot points from shows you watched as a kid in the early 2000s, mashing them up and changing just enough so you're not outright stealing anything

And with the additions of my selected main characters, hey presto, a completely new and original outcome!

 

...when one reference to Bucky Barnes was wholly intentional, and the other was not, but you're keeping the coincidence. (It was either March 10th or February 10th for a specific Tuesday in 1970...)

 

When you're reading back an old fic and spot a line you thought you'd used elsewhere. A quick check proved I was right, I'd somehow used basically the same phrase in two different stories without ever realising it. Truly, certain writing tics can creep in anywhere when you're least expecting.

Oh well, I can claim it as a callback now

 

@darkspine10 , I get that accidental repetition the worst sometimes! I'm trying to forbid myself to use the word "surprisingly" anymore but just you watch...

 

you wrote a fun line of of dialogue, a character POV being teased about another character crushing on them and these two characters are secretly making use of spare sleeping areas for adult time, which leads to a conversation about relationships but now that you’re cutting the timetable down from four days to two you suddenly aren’t sure if that’s long enough for two strangers go that far that quickly given the circumstances or to just go with it and use the line as the jumping off point as because they’re meeting up is why the POV character learns some important information before the two days were cut.

I guess I can always tack on extra days on after the conversation as I’ve already established that it’s going to take some time for something plot related to happen so it makes sense to keep the days but alter when things happened.

And to think, this all started because I realized that four days was way too much time to declare that a ship that crashed and basically burned and is now in pieces couldn’t be fixed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

...when you make a specific stop down the soup aisle for fic purposes and a character is drawn to specific soup. (Really.)

 

When you ask a friend who's into classic cars an innocent question strictly for fic research purposes and end up considering buying a car IRL.

Not, like, running out tomorrow to find one or anything as crazy as that but thinking maybe when your car needs replaced in a couple of years anyway you will have to sit down and have a more serious talk with said friend.

 

You consult visual guide books and rewatch clips on certain characters or lore everyday

 

Or you also keep bookmarked files upon files of research links for certain fics or concepts.

 

...when getting a character to the Indian Ocean is not only plausible, but doable. (The Navy actually tried having two Special NIS/NCIS Agents Afloat in 1986 is see if it worked on an Aircraft Carrier. Alrighty...)

 

When you wake up in the middle of the night, then while trying to get back to sleep you come up with about 5 separates bits of good dialogue or prose that you want to write down, but are far too tired to commit to that. Instead, you come up with a 'mind-palace' esque simplification of the information, reducing them down to 'what character is a specific bit about', and resolve to write it down come morning.

Usually when that kind of inspiration hits I'm never more than 20 or 30 minutes from something to write notes on, but this case required more mental processing before I could allow myself to drift off into peaceful repose

"I've got 2 bits to write for this character, one in chap 3, the other chap 5, then two fragments for character B both in the same chapter, then a single extended dialogue scene in this chapter, but if I only need to remember the first spur line of dialogue the rest will unfold like a magic puzzle box and my goodness is that the time?"

 

When you are minding your business watching Andor episode 9 and two relatively undesirable characters clash on the street and your shipping heart ❤️ is jolted back to life.

 

When you really want to write stuff but RL really sucks the life out of you so you just daydream about it and maybe in your sleep the story will be written one day

 

...when your way around a problem might just be "hide the obvious under a story in plain sight." (Because, if I have to uphold canon, then a character doesn't know who the guest at dinner is, who is being presented as "a military friend from the base." And I do have to uphold canon on this one, dang it. My first pass was not subtle enough...)

 

...when you have to read the news for a while because Wookieepedia is stressing you out.

 

......you forget Wookieepedia exists because you made up your own canon so why bother researching WHEN YOU ARE THE RESEARCH

 

…you deliberately ignore Wookiepedia because you made your own canon so why bother researchinh when YOU ARE THE LORE

Also if you have a personal beef with the wook and its „interpretation“ of the lore.

 

...when reading the Wook causes an interesting interpretation of a character. (...and that is how Sarcev Quest came down with a very odd case of dementia, folks.)

 

I think "lore" was the word I was looking for that somehow slipped my mind... WE ARE THE LORE.

..You read something wrong in the Wook and think "That's not how that works! Let me fix this with fanfic. There we go, much better" instead of fixing the thing directly because you want to avoid any drama

 

You spend your evening tracking down a song you heard in a grocery store because the melody caught your attention and you wanted it as mood music for writing.

When you find the song, you are even more delighted to discover the lyrics are fic-able too.

 

When you listen to Holding Out For A Hero and it gives you Foxiyo thoughts.
(Foxiyo = Commander Fox/Riyo Chuchi)