Schmiezi wrote:

I am stuck a bit with writing at the moment. Or maybe not stuck, for the plot is almost complete. I know exactly what I want to write down but I haven't found the right way to write Sherlock's and John's POV with the right words. The narrator's voice just feels wrong.

It is hard to explain in English, sorry. With Not Broken, the narration flows rather on its own. With the Santa fic, I haven't found that flow yet because it is a different Sherlock I am writing about, for example. He thinks different, has different experiences, and I am not yet comfortable with how I show him.

Does that make sense?

Well, it's a bit difficult for me to understand because I never really write AU but let me try. I wonder how a character who thinks differently and has different experiences would still be Sherlock, so I am guessing you have trouble keeping him IC. Maybe it helps if you go back to the canon character and see if some of its more extreme characteristics can be of help for your AU Sherlock too. For example, he could be just as arrogant, unpredictable, manipulative or sarcastic without losing his AU characteristics. Maybe he can outsmart everyone and pull a prank of some sorts. 

Great. Welcome. It's lovely to have you around!

I'll send you the questionnaire right away. Well, as "right away" as my smartphone allows. ;-)

Only 171 words so far. Aaaaahhh!

I started again, using a completely different style and am down to 544 words again. But I like those words a lot better than my first attempt.

PLUS I have sent the prompts for the four new participants this morning. Hope you are happy with it!

I am worried... I don't know. I have written about 3000 words and all I think is: is it boring, omg it's repetitive, where has my plot gone, and dialogue in bits and pieces all over the place...
I slowly realise this is really hard work (big surprise *lol*)

Also I'm worried about expectations. It's my first fic I know, you might all reassure me it's fine, but I'm slowly realising that I can never be as good as I want to be with this fic. I mean, I just read five blog entries about how to write proper dialogue, and now I'm intimidated... not because I don't think I can do it proper one day, but because I know I lack the practice and have limited time. Probably I'm just nervous because I want to do the very best on my first try yeah, I know Tell me again about getting cold feet... mine are very cold now!

But at least, I have written something. Anything. In the beginning, I thought I will never be able to write more than a page... now that I have written some pages I start realising that quality matters not quantity... anyone else still in fanfic writing learning process?

Also I'm getting so annoyed by these dialogues that just happen and that just don't belong into this fic and I feel like I'm writing loads but will never use it... where was the warning that said this can be so frustrating?

edited to add: Oh, should I mention that I still have fun nevertheless?
 

Last edited by Whisky (October 21, 2015 11:02 pm)

Gently, often our first ideas are not necessarily our best. If you don't feel creative then maybe you're still too much in your comfort zone. Maybe shake it up a little, add a crazy element.

Whisky wrote:

I slowly realise this is really hard work (big surprise *lol*) 

Yes it is! It's a lot harder than it looks. I'm spending pretty much all my free time on my fic right now. 

Whisky wrote:

Also I'm worried about expectations. It's my first fic I know, you might all reassure me it's fine, but I'm slowly realising that I can never be as good as I want to be with this fic. 

Well, obviously no one can really tell you it's fine, we don't know what you're doing and it's pretty hard to create a story that makes sense. However, fanfiction doesn't have to be perfect, have you ever read a perfect fic? Most of us are amateurs and our writing is not of professional quality. Don't expect that from yourself. It supposed to be weird and goofy and sometimes come off the rails completely, we're not Picassos, we're kids with crayons.  Just make sure your story has a beginning, middle and an end.  

Whisky wrote:

 I start realising that quality matters not quantity... anyone else still in fanfic writing learning process?

Yup, with every story I've written, I've also made some notes about things that I need to work on. And yes, quality is way more important than quantity. 

Whisky wrote:

Also I'm getting so annoyed by these dialogues that just happen and that just don't belong into this fic and I feel like I'm writing loads but will never use it... where was the warning that said this can be so frustrating?

I think you've just written the warning.  Maybe you could make a 'random dialogue' file and put in everything you don't use. Then you don't have to feel bad about cutting things out. I don't know why this keeps occuring to you, my guess is that you need more clarity about how your scene is supposed to flow and the function of the dialogue in that scene. It sounds like your mind is just wandering off. 

I'm also no expert, this is my fourth story and so far it's not necessarily making any sense yet, but maybe you find something useful in this. 



 

silverblaze wrote:

Gently, often our first ideas are not necessarily our best. If you don't feel creative then maybe you're still too much in your comfort zone. Maybe shake it up a little, add a crazy element. 

I decided to put my first idea back into the drawer, perhaps for another try later. I still have to finalise the plot for my new thought but my first impression is that I can cope with it much better. So there's still hope.
 

I am slowly approaching "the heart" of my story, but it´s still the long way towards finish. I find the writing to be a great fun, but I´m a bit annoyed that despite having my story carefully planned, the actual process of writing is still quite slow... 

And yet, I am very content with what I have written thus far...

How are you faring, my sisters-in-arms? 

So you are already finished? 

(shakes in horror at the thought of her own, still unfinished work)

Congrats, Yitzock, Susi! That's one weight off your shoulders
Yitzock is right, nakahara, you should not yield to panic/worry/anything of the kind. We're still only the 2nd November, after all!

As for me, I'm halfway through now, and spend AGES editing and looking for information to be as accurate as possible (the end result won't, obviously, meet with my way too high expectations...but as I've already said, it's okay, because the readers probably won't have the same expectations).
I've sent that first half to a friend, and will most probably send it to another tomorrow, after I've worked a little on it.
Still working on it, but oh so not discouraged. I'm having fun, is what I'm doing.

Last edited by Lilythiell (November 2, 2015 10:48 pm)