Fan Fiction

[MrDrP]

For your reading pleasure, chapter 3 of "So Not the End of the World" ...

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3795405/...d_of_the_World

[TransWarpDrive]

I just read both stories! Wonderful, simply wonderful!
Nice job, kt! You have a great future ahead of you as a writer!
MrDrP, as usual, your storytelling skills rock! Well-done, my friend!
What I especially like about both tales is that Kim, Ron, and friends are all very much "in-character." The dialogue sounds natural and unforced.
I also like the fact that both stories continue the events of "Graduation," dealing realistically with the aftermath of the Lorwardian invasion and the destruction of the Possible home. And, I like the clever way MrDrP's tale included scenes that occurred between scenes in the finale, filling in some gaps in the episode's narrative. Great writing all around!
I have just one more thing to say to both of you regarding your writing:
"More, more! I want more!"

[CellerFan]

Hi gang,

Thought I'd toss out a few questions, mainly to form a kind of sample poll of microcosm of the fanfic-writing community (and partly to form some sort of distraction at the writer's block I'm currently swimming against! )

1. When preparing to write a story, what methods do you use (research, outline, storyboard, etc.)?

2. What, if anything, is your motivation while in the process of composing (music, other methods)?

3. What methods do you use to round out and further nurture your idea once it comes to you (music, meditation, studying focused subject matter, etc.)?

4. How open to change are past chapters in your writing? Would you go back and change a major part of a story as a result of a revelation later on, or are your finished chapters pretty much set in stone?

5. Once you've started a story, how committed are you to it? How much of your time do you devote to your writing? Do you have to set a schedule to push yourself, or is it more a case of IGTIWIGTI (I'll Get To It When I Get To It)?

6. What is your drive for writing/posting a story? Satisfaction of completion? Just to get an idea out of your head? Sharing/showcasing your talents to others? Putting a story out just to stop the little voices from screaming? :P

[CellerFan]

1. When preparing to write a story, what methods do you use (research, outline, storyboard, etc.)?

Once I have the overall concept for a story, I ruminate over it for a while, letting it stew in my head to see if it brews into something full of enough flavor to write. At that point it becomes a simple text file outline, where plot points and other notes are added. Then it becomes the text version of a storyboard (since I can't draw for beans), and a timeline structure. At that point the research begins, to gain some measure of factual accuracy. I have tons of links filed away in folders, sorted by story, of things used within each story (two which made me chuckle are the links on wedding ceremonies and a complete birthing procedure I drew from for the finales to Anything is Possible and Life With Kim )

2. What, if anything, is your motivation while in the process of composing (music, other methods)?

With me, it's usually music. What-if stories thrive best on what-if music - so that precludes just putting on a station and walking away. Most of the time I call on my collection of progressive rock (Rush, Dream Theater, Kansas, Yes, as can be evidenced by the lyrics I've interspersed into most of the stories of the Celller Series), but I have found a website which offers much the same, with a bit more scope: slacker.com.

Some of the ideas on filling out/polishing a character, and sometimes even plot points and major story points come to me as I''m dropping off to sleep - which may or may not explain a good part of my writing occuring in the wee hours of the morning.

3. What methods do you use to round out and further nurture your idea once it comes to you (music, meditation, studying focused subject matter, etc.)?

For me, it's TV - lots and LOTS of TV. I pick up nuances from characters and dialogue, and some of it filters into my stories. (an example - Kimi's key catch-phrase, "it's all about--" actually sprang from parts of dialogue in KP episodes - go fig!)

4. How open to change are past chapters in your writing? Would you go back and change a major part of a story as a result of a revelation later on, or are your finished chapters pretty much set in stone?

Other than a minor tweak here and there, I don't do much changing to chapters once they're "in the can." I've found that major re-writes just scare the whee out of me.

5. Once you've started a story, how committed are you to it? How much of your time do you devote to your writing? Do you have to set a schedule to push yourself, or is it more a case of IGTIWIGTI (I'll Get To It When I Get To It)?

I've never had a set production schedule per se; I find that puts a little too much pressure on the process (which may also be speaking negatively to my productivity). On the other hand, once I'm in a story, I tend to become a bit exclusive when it comes to my disposable time.

6. What is your drive for writing/posting a story? Satisfaction of completion? Just to get an idea out of your head? Sharing/showcasing your talents to others? Putting a story out just to stop the little voices from screaming? :P

Yes.

An added question that I failed to put as part of the original list: when you're putting together a story, do you also read works by others, or are you pretty much in your own 'verse-bubble during this time?

[Fireand'chutes77]

Answering our own questions, are we? :P

(C'mon, Cellerfan! Only four more posts until you can edit! )

1. When preparing to write a story, what methods do you use (research, outline, storyboard, etc.)?

It usually starts as a particularly vivid bit of REM, strong enough to lock in and stick. The scene envisioned is usually pretty far into the story (the dream-scene that kicked off "OLS" was midway through Ch. 11, and I worked back from there.)
Other times, "just the right comment" fires something off, and my brain runs off without me, (screaming "WHEEEEE!") churning out all these mental scenes, planning dialogue, tweaking the scene... It's very annoying. :P

Once I have something that sticks, I start writing. If I get to something I want to research, I go off and research. (Wiki. Pedia. Rules. :P). I'm technically-oriented, and I like to include as much (correct) tech as possible, along with its proper term, concept, description, and use. (Errr... maybe Wikipedia does have its limitations. But it does make a good jumping off-point! ) Problem is, I like learning about this stuff so much, I get absorbed in my research subject, and then I discover I've spent an hour and a half reading and clicking hyperlinks.

I've never liked outlines that much; I guess I'm somewhat gifted in that I can start writing and just go.

3. What methods do you use to round out and further nurture your idea once it comes to you (music, meditation, studying focused subject matter, etc.)?

Music, sometimes. Flipping through Popular Science and TIME ("oooh, that would be cool to add!"). Mostly, the "rounding out" process, adding details, perfecting dialogue, comes in mental flashes in times when I'm not near paper (in the shower, the car, etc).

I guess I'm somewhat unique in that I tend to envison scenes as little movies in my head. I can stop, edit, replay, reverse, tweak, and modify much like a director for a movie scene. (OK, great take, now this time, do a roundhouse to your right...). I can run it in slow-motion, making little mental edits to the fireball until it comes out just perfect. I can even see dialogue and motion as text on a screen, telling me how to describe the action going on. I can shuffle and modify the text string in my head until I've got it how I want and then I write.

I consider it my challenge to take these little movies and transform them into words. I have to remind myself that I can picture all this stuff; I can see the fireball blossom, the slo-mo jump, the dingy darkness or the murky ceiling or the sparkling sea. I can see everything down to the knocked-over oil drums - but my readers can't. They can't see what's in my head, and it's my job to show it to them, so they can recreate in their own minds an approximation of what's in mine.

4. How open to change are past chapters in your writing? Would you go back and change a major part of a story as a result of a revelation later on, or are your finished chapters pretty much set in stone?

I'm open to minor changes, such as including references to the invasion or things like that. However, past a certain point, I believe that a fan work becomes an entity unto itself. It creates its own universe. An author thinks and writes and draws conjectures based on the information he/she has at hand at that moment. For example, a writer makes a story based on the information from S1-3 and "StD." Then S4 comes out. Should a writer go back and change his/her entire story to mesh with events from a season he didn't even know was coming? No. The story has become its own separate timeline.

(Plug: This is one major problem in setting the story in "the real world" with a specific near-future date. In OLS, many things, such as Rummy still being on Bush's staff and the Freedom Tower being hit, were written back in January 2005. Things changed. The writing process with OLS, however, was so long that I was able to adjust to changes before I got to them in the story. I started writing in '05, hand-waved away the battlesuit in Ch. 9 after "So the Drama" aired, and incorporated details from S4 in chapter 13.)

Like every human being on the planet, and even Republicans and Democrats, I don't use "the truth;" I bend and torque and cherry-pick "the truth" and squeeze it into my preconceived notions of whatever I want to be true. If something uncomfortable comes up, simply ignore or downplay. (Don't like D/S? Break it up. Don't like Kim's new wrist-top Kimmunicator? Hand wave it away with technological breakdowns. Wish Kim still wore her old mission gear? Say it was reproduced by a separate clothing company and that Kim now varies her mission outfit depending on the environment.)

5. Once you've started a story, how committed are you to it? How much of your time do you devote to your writing? Do you have to set a schedule to push yourself, or is it more a case of IGTIWIGTI (I'll Get To It When I Get To It)?

I'm with stories all the way. No matter how long it takes, it's always somewhere in the back, stirring up scenes and nudging. I'm involved in school, homework, Scouts, and Robotics, so I'm surprised I've found the time to write as much as I have. Part of my problem is procrastination and my tendency to "wander off" with research. I'll write a paragraph or two, get to a word/topic I want to research (OLED, for example), and I'll get on Wikipedia. I'll be sucked in to that, read and click for a full hour, until I realize how far off-track I've gotten and get back to the story. By that time, I've "burned my eyes out" on the screen (you know the feeling), and I'm feeling listless, washed out, the story idea is gone, and I don't feel much like writing.

Then the next day, I'll get an idea-flash and write two or three pages. It comes in spits and spirts.

Another problem for me is, frankly, depression over my subject matter, especially for "OLS." The problem with writing "real" is that it's, well, real - death, guns, blood, guts, punches that hurt. It zings so far out from the "happy-happy" KP universe that I kinda stall, and don't know how to continue. I can't see how I can restore the status quo and make everything come out OK. It pushes me away. Then I have a flash, a break-through, a way to make it work, and I'm back to writing in leaps and bounds.

6. What is your drive for writing/posting a story? Satisfaction of completion? Just to get an idea out of your head? Sharing/showcasing your talents to others? Putting a story out just to stop the little voices from screaming? :P

Yes. Unfortunately, the moment you finish one story, and are sitting back in the chair saying, "Ah... Done!" another blasted plot bunny hops up and bites you.

Nooooooo! Not again! I just got through this! I... don't want... I can't... I... no time.... I...... I...... must...... write!

[jeriddian]

Hi gang,

Thought I'd toss out a few questions, mainly to form a kind of sample poll of microcosm of the fanfic-writing community (and partly to form some sort of distraction at the writer's block I'm currently swimming against! )

1. When preparing to write a story, what methods do you use (research, outline, storyboard, etc.)?

Usually, I have a basic storyline plot to start with, a sort of "what if?". For my "Resolutions" story, the basic concept was that Kim and Ron finally got together as BFGF after season three. But the story of their relationship was not complete. It would not be complete until they realized how much more their relationship was, and how much they really meant to each other. So how does that happen? I had to come up with a more dangerous scenario, enhancing one that had previously occurred. (ASiT was the logical choice for that as it never really happened, so now was the time to make it so). I had to make Shego more dangerous to get a better final battle between her and Kim at the end. I had to make the possibility of losing Ron a factor, to kickstart Kim into understanding how important he was to her. These were some of the ideas that naturally developed, and then I wrote the scenes accordingly, and then filled in the details.

As MBS 'kicked' the seriousness of StD up a notch, I went a notch further. I made Shego and Drakken more dangerous, their next plot more diabolical, As there was a destiny for Ron, so was there one for Kim, and they were intertwined. After that, it was a matter of working out the details of how it was done. My intent in terms of coming up with those details was to incorporate as much of the material in the series itself into the story. And so, I literally wrote from the heart.

I don't use a formal outline or storyboard myself as I like the flexibility to be able to change any part of the story where I need to do so. I keep it all in my head pretty much as I go along.

One thing for sure is that any technical part of the story is something I will research heavily. That is a must.

2. What, if anything, is your motivation while in the process of composing (music, other methods)?

Sheer emotion to see the right thing happen for the characters seems to be the most powerful force that drives me to complete a story. It's what drove me to complete "Resolution" and then to continue Campy's "Mating Games" story with "Queen's Gambit Accepted". I realized that this is what needs to be done with the characters and their story. It's what they deserve to have happen, and so I went in and made it happen. It was just something I absolutely had to do.

As for atmosphere, my favorite place to write was a cozy French cafe in the D/FW area. Good food, sipping on iced tea all the way through the day, excellent atmosphere (rather European in nature), and sometimes watching the people come and go. Unfortunately, I haven't found anything similar enough where I am now, so I write at home.

3. What methods do you use to round out and further nurture your idea once it comes to you (music, meditation, studying focused subject matter, etc.)?

I keep the KP soundtrack on in my car as I drive around. It helps keep me focused on thinking about my writing further KP Fic.

4. How open to change are past chapters in your writing? Would you go back and change a major part of a story as a result of a revelation later on, or are your finished chapters pretty much set in stone?

I've already gone back and rewritten "Resolution" once, expanding it further from 102,000 words to 172,000 words. I have plans now to adapt it for season four, and it will be a very extensive rewrite in terms of the details and events, although the major transformations of the characters will stay the same, and several scenes will not have to be changed at all.

But the way I proof my story is literally to read it over and over again from beginning to end, to feel it out, to make sure the timing and the flow of the words are right. This is very time consuming, but it yields a perspective, at least to me, of how the story would impact upon someone who did indeed read it from beginning to end. And some of my readers have done that. I've read 'Resolution" at least a hundred times now, just to try and keep improving upon it each time.

5. Once you've started a story, how committed are you to it? How much of your time do you devote to your writing? Do you have to set a schedule to push yourself, or is it more a case of IGTIWIGTI (I'll Get To It When I Get To It)?

Once I start, I have this need to finish it, period. And it will get done, eventually. Back when I wrote "Resolution", I had a lot more free time. I was able to literally pour my entire attention into it. Now that I am working full time again, plus administrating this board, plus attending to a business venture I am in, I can't do that. I really hate losing the train of thought as I go along, and I find that when I go back to writing, I have to sit down and read completely through everything done so far to try and pick up where I left off. It's very frustrating to me. But I have no choice.

6. What is your drive for writing/posting a story? Satisfaction of completion? Just to get an idea out of your head? Sharing/showcasing your talents to others? Putting a story out just to stop the little voices from screaming? :P

It's funny, but probably it's your last reason, although in a slightly different way. For me, KP is the ultimate success story. A young girl who learns to live life both ordinary and extraordinary, who succeeds tremendously at both, and to top it off has the ultimate relationship with that fairly rare situation, a best friend of the opposite sex whom she had known since pre-school, probably the best basis for that ulitmate relationship, at least in my mind. Of course, I am not alone in feeling this way by any stretch, but StD screamed at me to be continued, to be finished, to be "resolved", continued on to its logical conclusion as best as I could see it. I wasn't too concerned about showcasing any talent so much as seeing if anyone else enjoyed the 'final chapter' that I wrote. IT was indeed screaming out from my soul. It very simply just had to be written down.

I think other writers did a better job than I did, especially in terms of maintaining the lighter and more accurate spirit of the show, the comedy if you will. MrDrP's latest story (as well as his previous work) comes particularly to mind as he is able to catch the crisp KP dialogue pretty much exactly on target like the series does. My story ended up being darker and more serious, and that was the direction I wanted to take it, so it was a departure from the norm. One main impetus for that was to transform Ron out of being the buffoon into something more heroic, which was probably the one thing about KP I wanted to majorly change.

Of course, that meant I had to try and get the humor done in some other fashion with somebody else taking that "buffoon" role, but although I did have some lighter moments, I couldn't really maintain that humor and keep the story serious, because KP's humor is zany and slapstickish. It is a key part of the aura and and atmosphere of the show. I realized that if I was going to stay with a more serious approach, I couldn't really do that. So if I did have any humor, it had to be lighter and not so "buffoonish".

My initial use of Jos did follow that somewhat zany mold initially (and it didn't really succeed as well as I would have liked it), but eventually even she was transformed into a more serious character. But that's the nature of my personality, too, along with my work. There are several good authors out there who really can evoke the comedy aspect of KP very well and come up with some great scenes, dialogue, and jokes that are very funny, but it definitely is not one of my strengths.

Well, I kind of rambled there.:P Hope you don't mind. And I hope you got an answer to your questions.

[TransWarpDrive]

1. When preparing to write a story, what methods do you use (research, outline, storyboard, etc.)?

For the plot line itself, I write a structured outline. I pretty much have an idea on how I want my tale to start, what happens throughout, and how I want things to end. The details can be worked out as I write. I found I can't just write free-form; my story would then go off on tangents I don't want it to take.

2. What, if anything, is your motivation while in the process of composing (music, other methods)?

Generally, I just sit down at the computer in a quiet setting and type. I found I work better with no distractions.

3. What methods do you use to round out and further nurture your idea once it comes to you (music, meditation, studying focused subject matter, etc.)?

Well, naturally, I do research on any technical matters that pop up in my story, like details on how certain machines work, the layouts of any actual buildings I use as settings in my stories; that sort of thing. I've found that if an author gets those details wrong, readers in the know will pick up on the inaccuracies, which will only hurt the story. I know; I've picked out dozens of such goofs while reading books down through the years, and I'm determined not to commit any errors in my writing. So research is very important.

4. How open to change are past chapters in your writing? Would you go back and change a major part of a story as a result of a revelation later on, or are your finished chapters pretty much set in stone?

I'm not above doing a rewrite if I think it's needed. As my writing skills have improved, I've learned what works and what doesn't, and have edited - and rewritten - my short stories to make them better.

5. Once you've started a story, how committed are you to it? How much of your time do you devote to your writing? Do you have to set a schedule to push yourself, or is it more a case of IGTIWIGTI (I'll Get To It When I Get To It)?

It's usually the latter with me. Right now, I have other things to take care of (I've got a bad case of the dreaded "Real Life Syndrome" to deal with if you know what I mean), so I tend to squeeze in my writing whenever I find time. Plus, when I get stuck on a plot point or have trouble simply writing a given passage, I back off and let it sit for a while so's to give my subconscious a chance to work the problem over. It also gives me a chance to ask other writers' advice on the sitch.

6. What is your drive for writing/posting a story? Satisfaction of completion? Just to get an idea out of your head? Sharing/showcasing your talents to others? Putting a story out just to stop the little voices from screaming? :P

With me, it's mostly a combination of the first two. I'll give you an example: One of the first short stories I ever wrote came to me one Saturday night while I was sitting in a TGI Friday's restaurant having a drink. I was sitting at a table by myself, doodling on the back of a place mat while drinking when all of a sudden the idea popped, more or less fully formed, into my head. I asked a passing waitress for a couple more place mats and began writing down the story before it slipped away. The next day, I reread it to make sure it made sense. It did, but I found a few details that needed changing, so I corrected those when I wrote a second draft on my old manual typewriter. About ten or fifteen years later, after I'd become computer-literate, I stumbled across this story in some old papers I'd filed away. I sat down and transcribed it onto a Word document, making further changes as I went.
I haven't had the story published anywhere; my one attempt to sell it to a magazine for their fiction department resulted in a very nice rejection slip, which they inserted in the manuscript when they sent it back to me.
I mostly wrote the story in the first place just to get it down on paper before I forgot it, and to practice my writing skills with an eye on becoming a better storyteller.
Hope that helps answer your questions. Good luck dealing with the writer's block!

[Sir Sebastian]

1. When preparing to write a story, what methods do you use (research, outline, storyboard, etc.)?

It depends. Sometimes I just get a scene in my head and I just have to write it down. The I'll try to come up with a story around it.

In any case, I try to outline as much as I can before sitting down to write.

2. What, if anything, is your motivation while in the process of composing (music, other methods)?

I'm still trying to find out what works best for me. Usually I'll have something on the background: music or TV.

3. What methods do you use to round out and further nurture your idea once it comes to you (music, meditation, studying focused subject matter, etc.)?

Doing something else entirely. My brain shuts down if I try to focus on one thing. When I'm doing something else - watching TV, taking a shower, trying to get to sleep - part of my mind is working on the problem or idea at hand.

4. How open to change are past chapters in your writing? Would you go back and change a major part of a story as a result of a revelation later on, or are your finished chapters pretty much set in stone?

Being as lazy as I am, I try to avoid any major changes.

5. Once you've started a story, how committed are you to it? How much of your time do you devote to your writing? Do you have to set a schedule to push yourself, or is it more a case of IGTIWIGTI (I'll Get To It When I Get To It)?

The latter. I try to finish all stories I start, but I write when I have the time or feel like it.

6. What is your drive for writing/posting a story? Satisfaction of completion? Just to get an idea out of your head? Sharing/showcasing your talents to others? Putting a story out just to stop the little voices from screaming? :P

Don't know, really. I guess a part of it is seeing if I'm able to invoke an emotional response, which is why I started writing in the first place. After reading many, many stories, I was amazed at how they were able to get such strong reactions out of me, and I just thought: "I want to do that, too!"

[CellerFan]

Answering our own questions, are we? :P

I figured hey, what's good for the goose...and I wanted to head off that "What about YOU, CellerFan? Hm?"

1. When preparing to write a story, what methods do you use (research, outline, storyboard, etc.)?

It usually starts as a particularly vivid bit of REM, strong enough to lock in and stick. The scene envisioned is usually pretty far into the story (the dream-scene that kicked off "OLS" was midway through Ch. 11, and I worked back from there.)

Uh...wow? Not only did my timestamp/countdown format get good to you, you also share my story spark process? The method you've described almost exactly parallels the origins of each of the stories in the Celler Series. And it's usually one of the more, umm, "impacting" scenes that sets the machine into motion: AiP grew and flourished from the concept of Kim entering the "real" world; LWK more or less wrote itself backward from the moment of Kimi's birth, with everything leading up to it becoming a process of rounding and filling Kim's character in the Flesher environment, and her relationships there; SS was rooted in the "real" concept of terrorism, and how it could spell the actual destruction of our heroine. It also became a deep insight into Kimi and her abilities which grew from the threat of her mother's imminent demise and brought the "basic average girl" into the nearly indomitable fighting force of the Swan; and GS sprung from the event which returned Kimi to her life as she knew it, while carrying away the richer memories she experienced.

3. What methods do you use to round out and further nurture your idea once it comes to you (music, meditation, studying focused subject matter, etc.)?

Music, sometimes. Mostly, the "rounding out" process, adding details, perfecting dialogue, comes in mental flashes in times when I'm not near paper (in the shower, the car, etc).

I've come to give this process the monicker of "fluff" - the details that make a story more like a story and less like a documentary. Music is most important to me. It sets a mood. I think that's one of the reasons I've come to embrace Dream Theater as I have. Most everything they do is deliciously, almost darkly dramatic, without being "angsty" (pssst - want a small peek into the overall mood of Cellergeddon? Get thyself a copy of their latest CD, Systematic Chaos, which came out this previous June, and is a big driver behind the atmosphere of the story's premise. There are quite a few clips on YouTube of this album.

I guess I'm somewhat unique in that I tend to envison scenes as little movies in my head.

Yeah...that also deepens the emotion factor in those scenes.

I consider it my challenge to take these little movies and transform them into words. I have to remind myself that I can picture all this stuff; - but my readers can't. They can't see what's in my head, and it's my job to show it to them, so they can recreate in their own minds an approximation of what's in mine.

Welcome to the wonderful world of the blank textual canvas, fellow fanfic warrior!

5. Once you've started a story, how committed are you to it? How much of your time do you devote to your writing? Do you have to set a schedule to push yourself, or is it more a case of IGTIWIGTI (I'll Get To It When I Get To It)?

Another problem for me is, frankly, depression over my subject matter, especially for "OLS." The problem with writing "real" is that it's, well, real - death, guns, blood, guts, punches that hurt. It zings so far out from the "happy-happy" KP universe that I kinda stall, and don't know how to continue. I can't see how I can restore the status quo and make everything come out OK. It pushes me away. Then I have a flash, a break-through, a way to make it work, and I'm back to writing in leaps and bounds.

I'll admit the following freely, mainly because of the evidence that what I felt while writing has transcended to those reading; there were times during the writing of LWK and SS in which the tears came much faster and easier to my face than the words to the screen.

The most impacting example of this was during SS. A couple of weeks after I had posted Chapter 8 of the story, someone sent me a sound file with the first verse of the Ozzy Osborne/Lita Ford song I used in the story. I don't know how or where they got it, but the file also had Kimi's screaming at the point in the song where she lost it! The first time I played the file - Kimi's first word - "SHIIIINE!!! - went through my heart like a crystal shard fired from a cannon. I don't know if this person got the screaming from some movie, or if they did it themselves - but it's almost exactly what Kimi screams in the scene in the story. I've never played the entire file through and had a dry eye at the end. It's that intense.

6. What is your drive for writing/posting a story? Satisfaction of completion? Just to get an idea out of your head? Sharing/showcasing your talents to others? Putting a story out just to stop the little voices from screaming? :P

Yes. Unfortunately, the moment you finish one story, and are sitting back in the chair saying, "Ah... Done!" another blasted plot bunny hops up and bites you.

Oh, ya gotta just hate the bunnies that know exactly the point on your neck under which your carotid lay, hm?

Nooooooo! Not again! I just got through this! I... don't want... I can't... I... no time.... I...... I...... must...... write! [/QUOTE]

And that's the Death Grip of Darth Plotbunnie. It's also the emotion felt from the "movies" that drives one to write.

I wrote AiP and LWK to turn hearts; SS was bourne to turn heads with Kimi's skill and determination; I'm trying to encompass all that in Cellergeddon - and also to turn a few stomachs.

[Fireand'chutes77]

1. When preparing to write a story, what methods do you use (research, outline, storyboard, etc.)?

It usually starts as a particularly vivid bit of REM, strong enough to lock in and stick. The scene envisioned is usually pretty far into the story (the dream-scene that kicked off "OLS" was midway through Ch. 11, and I worked back from there.)

Uh...wow? Not only did my timestamp/countdown format get good to you, you also share my story spark process?

...Maybe your hat needs a thicker grade of tin foil? :P

I'm trying to encompass all that in Cellergeddon - and also to turn a few stomachs.

Ooooh, shotguns! :P