Friday was a momentous day. After sending out several requests, and not hearing anything back over a few days, I finally received a positive response. I can now announce proudly that:
I have a beta!
To be honest, I'm a little scared. I've never actually had a beta before, so I don't know what the accepted methods of communication and sharing are. Do I send a summary with the piece? Do I provide some sort of heads up notice before hand, or just send over a chapter or oneshot, and see what comes back at me?
I've decided to start out with one of my finished oneshots, a story about a party and two people who have entirely too much history between them to ever move forward. I'm anxious to see what she comes back with, and I'm hoping she likes my writing style enough to stay on for a permanent basis. I'd love to have someone that I could bounce stuff off of on an on-going basis *cheeky grin*
I haven't been able to write any new pieces this weekend, but I'm hoping, once the beta gets comfortable, I'll be able to begin the revision for my OTH fanfic, In a Time of Need. My plan is to finish the rewrite, and then post the story as a new version. We'll see how it goes ^_^
Monday, March 28, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Resurrection, FanFiction style
In 2008 I began a year long quest toward metal stability and emotional health via the ubiquitous avenue of fanfiction. After watching an entire season of One Tree Hill, and falling in love with the pairing of Brooke Davis and Lucas Scott, I more emotionally invested in that one season than I'd been in any tv show for a long, long time. I saw in those two a facet of romance and depth and fantasy that I instantly connected with. It was hard not to become obsessed with their characters.
When it was blatantly obvious that they would not be the It couple for the show, I went in search of FanFiction, a hoped for source of fictional storylines that would assuage my bitter disappointment in their separation. I was lucky enough to find FanFiction.net, and the wonderful community of readers and writers for OTH. I started, and posted, three different plots, and posted a fourth entry, intended to be a one shot.
Through my stories for OTH, I slowly worked myself back to a safe place emotionally, pouring all my emotional turmoil and strife from reality into a fictional world that was handed to me on a silver platter. Think about it: the hardest part to any great story is developing the backstory. It's creating characters with depth and realistic attributes, bit players that add humor, a history that one can build from. With FanFiction, you're handed a fully crafted set of characters and back story, with full freedom to tweak as you saw fit, adjust as needed, and spin into a future that would please you as both an author and a reader. Perfection.
As my stability solidified itself, I found my desire to write waning. At some point, I'd completely stepped away from the world of FanFiction, and tentatively dipped my toes into the fantastical world of FictionPress. Since then, I've branched out, created my own website (obviously) and have begun to seriously consider penning a novel for publication.
However, none of that truly matters when you consider my FanFiction profile. I developed fans, loyal readers who faithfully read my updates and commented and provided feedback. By not completing my stories, I was disrespecting the time and effort they'd already put into my creative therapy sessions. By leaving plotlines hanging and characters dangling in the wind, I was being rude.
I spent some time today on my FanFiction profile, updating it and making some tweaks. I reread my summaries, and dear lord they were horrific. I've since gone back and adjusted them, but still. Three years of those dreadful summaries up for all to see...I shudder at the thought. I'm going to finish my stories there, and maybe when I'm done I'll tweak the summaries again, who knows. Either way, I've vowed to finish the stories this year, and only post once I have all the chapters done. It's just kinder, and easier that way. Too many updates of "I'm so sorry this is so late!" and "I promise, the next installment's just around the corner." Bah.
I'm actively searching for a beta now, and I hope to finish the stories by mid summer. I'd like to focus on some other aspects of my writing, but not finishing these would be a serious thorn in my side, I think. So...onward. To finishing projects three years in the making, and upholding my end of the author/reader role.
When it was blatantly obvious that they would not be the It couple for the show, I went in search of FanFiction, a hoped for source of fictional storylines that would assuage my bitter disappointment in their separation. I was lucky enough to find FanFiction.net, and the wonderful community of readers and writers for OTH. I started, and posted, three different plots, and posted a fourth entry, intended to be a one shot.
Through my stories for OTH, I slowly worked myself back to a safe place emotionally, pouring all my emotional turmoil and strife from reality into a fictional world that was handed to me on a silver platter. Think about it: the hardest part to any great story is developing the backstory. It's creating characters with depth and realistic attributes, bit players that add humor, a history that one can build from. With FanFiction, you're handed a fully crafted set of characters and back story, with full freedom to tweak as you saw fit, adjust as needed, and spin into a future that would please you as both an author and a reader. Perfection.
As my stability solidified itself, I found my desire to write waning. At some point, I'd completely stepped away from the world of FanFiction, and tentatively dipped my toes into the fantastical world of FictionPress. Since then, I've branched out, created my own website (obviously) and have begun to seriously consider penning a novel for publication.
However, none of that truly matters when you consider my FanFiction profile. I developed fans, loyal readers who faithfully read my updates and commented and provided feedback. By not completing my stories, I was disrespecting the time and effort they'd already put into my creative therapy sessions. By leaving plotlines hanging and characters dangling in the wind, I was being rude.
I spent some time today on my FanFiction profile, updating it and making some tweaks. I reread my summaries, and dear lord they were horrific. I've since gone back and adjusted them, but still. Three years of those dreadful summaries up for all to see...I shudder at the thought. I'm going to finish my stories there, and maybe when I'm done I'll tweak the summaries again, who knows. Either way, I've vowed to finish the stories this year, and only post once I have all the chapters done. It's just kinder, and easier that way. Too many updates of "I'm so sorry this is so late!" and "I promise, the next installment's just around the corner." Bah.
I'm actively searching for a beta now, and I hope to finish the stories by mid summer. I'd like to focus on some other aspects of my writing, but not finishing these would be a serious thorn in my side, I think. So...onward. To finishing projects three years in the making, and upholding my end of the author/reader role.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Temporary Hiatus? What?
One of the most difficult, and inescapable, aspects of being a writer, is the dreaded block. That moment when your lovely purple people eater plot bunny snags that tenuous wisp of the storyline, and disappears down that horrid rabbit hole, to go share a cup of tea with your ancient relic of a muse.
For me, I've always found inspiration, and the peak in my desire to write, comes from the harder times in my life. The moments when I'm stressed and overwhelmed and angry at the world, all the while hoping it'd be just a tiny bit kinder. With the development of a safe, stable life, my inspiration is sorely lacking. Add onto that a transfer and merger of three different computers, and their various versions of all my work, and you've got a hefty enough justification to take an extended break from the creative nightmares that writing can turn into.
Tonight though, I've finally managed to successfully blend together all three sources of data ^_^ Listen to me being a nerd. While I by no means have fully finished the updating, I have gotten to a spot that requires intense attention to detail, and review of every doc in my folders. You know what that means, yes?
No.
Oh. It means I am forced to review my stories, find out where I left off in each, find the inspiration again for their lovely plotlines, and forcibly threaten the deserters otherwise known as Grok and his sidekick, back to the table.
It's hopefully just a few more clicks away from posting, and I'm actually excited about the prospect of writing again. Joy of joys!
For me, I've always found inspiration, and the peak in my desire to write, comes from the harder times in my life. The moments when I'm stressed and overwhelmed and angry at the world, all the while hoping it'd be just a tiny bit kinder. With the development of a safe, stable life, my inspiration is sorely lacking. Add onto that a transfer and merger of three different computers, and their various versions of all my work, and you've got a hefty enough justification to take an extended break from the creative nightmares that writing can turn into.
Tonight though, I've finally managed to successfully blend together all three sources of data ^_^ Listen to me being a nerd. While I by no means have fully finished the updating, I have gotten to a spot that requires intense attention to detail, and review of every doc in my folders. You know what that means, yes?
No.
Oh. It means I am forced to review my stories, find out where I left off in each, find the inspiration again for their lovely plotlines, and forcibly threaten the deserters otherwise known as Grok and his sidekick, back to the table.
It's hopefully just a few more clicks away from posting, and I'm actually excited about the prospect of writing again. Joy of joys!
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