Halrloprillalar

So catching up on DW this morning took me to skip 120! I've been writing so much I've just had to keep my head down. (Okay, yapping on Twitter as much as usual.)

I've been trying, trying so hard to knock down the draft of the final Chris/Georgi story and it's still not done because I keep having to stop and work on exchange stories. Also, even though I know what I have to write, I just can't seem to get to the end of it -- it's like when you have a big bowl of salad and no matter how much you eat the bowl never seems to get any emptier. But I have a day and a bit free before I have to start the next exchange story so maybe this time.

This will be the terrible first draft, mind you. Which is pretty much a bag of cold mashed potatoes that I will then have to bash and kick until it's moulded into a breathtaking marble statue. (Part of the process will be removing metaphors like that one.)

Because I find this story so difficult to write, my brain keeps trying to distract me with ideas for less taxing side stories, some of which are useful and good and on the list for later. But then there was this one:

Chris & Georgi Go To Monte Carlo

Chris: *slaps Georgi's ass* Dress up nice because you'll be on the arm of a high roller tonight.

Georgi: The Russian is the high roller, you Swiss geek. You're my arm candy tonight.

Chris: Well, I am prettier than you. But I'm the one who has a system!

Georgi: See? I got some temporary tattoos to look tough!

Chris: If Victor were here, he'd let me be the high roller.

Georgi: If Victor were here, you'd both be my arm candy.

Chris: Could you say that again but into my phone this time?

Georgi: *looks justifiably suspicious*

Chris: I want to record you agreeing to a threesome with Victor.

Georgi: *rolls his eyes* Fine, high roller. But if your system works, I'm expecting some diamonds.

Spoiler: Chris's system did not work.

A question for fanfic writers: If you write the same pairing over and over, do you find that no matter what the actual story is, the essential conflict between them is the same?

I've been trying to work out the themes and controlling idea for a longer story I'm starting on and when boiling down my ideas to that essence, I find that the problem between the characters is the same problem between them in almost every other story I've written about them. (I did think of one where it was different and, frankly, something always seemed off about the characterization in that story.)

Is this an issue for you when you write? Is it an issue? Do you have one version of the pairing or several? Does it seem to make a difference if the canon spans a longer length of time? If the scope of events is greater or lesser?

I've progressed from trying to analyse all the fanfic I've ever written to see if I do this will all my pairings to analysing my long-term relationship to look see if it fits the pattern, so I think I'll just stop for now and wait to see what you have to say instead. :)

A couple of things about 300, the InuKai story I posted on Sunday, because I can't quite let go yet.

1. Many thanks to everyone who commented. I really appreciate that you took the time to let me know what you thought. You said such great things and my responses, I fear, were pretty lame. But I wanted to say that it makes me happy beyond what I can easily express to know how the story made you feel.


2. Oich U Agus H-Iuraibh Eile (Love Song) - Rankin Family. I had a fairly big playlist for this story and listened to it a lot. But this song is the one that will always be connected to 300 for me. I don't even know what the lyrics mean -- I haven't been able to find a translation -- but the mood of it is what I was trying to express in the story.


3. This was probably the second most difficult story I've ever written (Blood Will Tell is still first, I think). I started it over a year ago and fought with it for a few months. When I complained to Kest about it, I always called it the "soul-sucking InuKai" because it was so frustrating and so depressing.

( blather )

4. InuKai is my 100% pairing. I'm not going to say OTP, since I cheerfully ship both of them with a lot of other people. But of all my pairings in all my fandoms, I love them best. I just like to say that once in a while. ♥♥♥


And that's all.

How do you decide what to write? If you have a lot of fic ideas, how do you prioritize them? Especially if you're multifandom.

I'm having trouble with that right now. Typically, I prioritize by interest, both mine and the audience's. If my own interest is high enough, I'll still write the story even if there's no audience interest, but usually it's a combination of the two.

Right now, I have story ideas I'd love to write in any number of fandoms -- Whistle!, Dear Boys, Hikaru no Go (okay, that one's just filthy, filthy porn), Gundam Wing, Stargate SG-1, BSG, Harry Potter, Ultraman Nexus, FMA, Honey and Clover, maybe even Slam Dunk one of these days -- but Prince of Tennis trumps them all for personal interest and has a healthy audience interest, so that's nearly all I write.

Even within Prince of Tennis, I have ideas that drop down the queue because they involve characters that are not my favourites. I just don't have the time and energy to write more than about 1 out of every 20 ideas, so there has to be some sort of selection process.

The thing is, I wonder if I'm making it too easy on myself. If I just keep writing about the same show and same characters, is it going to be the same thing over and over again? I feel like I'm still trying to explore those characters, but that might not always come out in what I write.

Do you make an effort for variety in your writing, even if that's not where your primary interest lies? Or do you just write whatever you feel like?

I suppose this all comes down to what I want to get out of my fannish writing. I'm still not sure what that is. (Besides fame mountains of feedback the satisfaction of doing something I enjoy.)