190 replies to this topic

[timeturner]

I am guinea pig number one. In this thread you can ask about my stories, characters, plots, challenges...whatever comes to mind that you may have wondered about. Or not wondered about, as the case may be.

I will not give away future plots for ongoing stories but pretty much anything else is up for discussion.

[stagnight]

Where did you get the idea for "The Present"? There are so many fine details that go into it... Hermione's daughter, Draco, to name a few...

I keep catching myself wanting to ask questions about the future.

Do you plan your fics out ahead of time?

[Elf_ears13]

Why did you call 'Discovering Love' sappy? Everyone's supposed to be proud of their writing! Besides, I really like fluff ... And I really did enjoy it.

[Violet Gryfindor]

In The Edge of Light, Cat plays an important role in Sirius' early life, even moreso than the Marauders in some ways. Where did the idea for Cat come from? Why would you make Sirius have her - a muggle - as a close friend? If she was so close to him, why did he have a liason with Lily in Reckless, a story in which Cat has a cameo appearance?

I have to ask this: why Sirius/Lily? When you first came to HPFF, you were a J/L fan, so what influenced you to jump to a new ship?

And because I can: how do you come up with all the crazy challenges you do? Do you mean for them to become so popular like the Out of Your Realm Challenge did?

[timeturner]

Darn. Tough questions from the get go.

I have had to pay more attention with the present than any other story I’ve ever written. The last time I counted, there were actually 68 different threads running through there that I try and keep track of. The actual idea, believe it or not, was something completely stupid. I wanted to write a story with as many ships as humanly possible in it. If you take a look at the first chapter, you’ll see dozens in that chapter. Funny thing was, once I wrote that first chapter it moved away from the “ship overload” into an actual story that I never planned on.

And, no, I don’t plan my stories. The present comes as close as I’ve ever come to planning a story and the extent of that is making sure every chapter has something that will lead to the ending (yes, its already written!). The fact that the end is written drives me nuts. Even when I write a “fluffy” chapter you can bet there is something important in there. Most times, in fact, the most important things are disquised in those chapters in hopes that many readers will overlook them.

Ah, Discovering Love, how I hate that fic. I’ve come so close to deleting it so many times that I can’t even count any more. A lot of people have said they liked it but, honestly, its just not me. It’s not the type of writing I do or feel comfortable with. I wrote it and had it posted in 15 minutes. I didn’t do the characters justice and it didn’t really tell any story but just a snippet of time. I suppose I don’t like it because it seems as if I wasn’t true to myself…I didn’t write something that I would write but something that the challenge asked for.

*sheepish* How’d I do? If I didn’t answer it wasn’t on purpose, this is my first attempt at this so tell me what to do

[timeturner]

Easy one first - challenges. Most of my challenges come from the boards. For example, a lot of people have being asking for help with descriptions lately…bring on the Mundane challenge. I like challenges to be, well, challenges. Something that will help make people better authors or, at the least, they can take something away from it as a learning experience. And, no, I actually always figure my challenges will flop. I never really set rules or pick popular ships so I figure most people will never give them a second glance. OOYR floored me not only by the response but the camaraderie everyone who participated had with each other. People still either “joined” or “didn’t” and I love that about it.

Edge of Light, wow, that’s a tough one. Cat actually came from Reckless. My hands were tied with Reckless in that I refused to go out of canon. I wanted to be able to write Sirius with a strong female character (such as Lily) but knew the only reason people accepted Reckless was because I did keep it canon…not actual canon but possible in canon. Once they reached graduation, though, my hands were tied with any further relationship between Sirius and Lily without going AU. And I didn’t want to do that…hence Reckless’ abrupt end and the beginning of Edge of Light. As to the liason in Reckless (and Cat’s cameo) I can’t answer that because one day I swear I will get back to Edge and that’s part of the entire story line for that fic…Sirius’ ability to remain faithful and true to some and yet balance that with hiding the truth from someone else (ala the secret keeper fiasco with James and Remus)

Sirius/Lily. Because it’s forbidden? No. Good question. First off, let me clarify, I have never ever liked James/Lily in fanfic. Noblevyne is the exception to that. They are boring in the ‘you know how its going to end’ sense of things. I love the dynamic between Sirius and Lily. If written right, the two play off each other amazingly well. They intrigue me and you have a freedom with then that other characters don’t allow room for. I think his choice as godfather plays a big part in my feelings as well…she would never have chosen him merely because he was James’ friend. They had to have a connection beyond that and that’s what I like to play with.

[stagnight]

How do you write Sirius so well? I know he's your favorite. Is there a certain person that you compare him to (besides canon)?

I loved the scene on the train with Hermione, btw.

[timeturner]

Oh, geez. I have no idea. I get a lot of the reviews asking ‘how does a girl get into a guy’s mindset so well’ and I never know how to answer those either. I don't base him on anyone but a Sirius that's in my imagination. I can tell you why I seem to write him differently than others (which is both bad and good).

I never focus on the big details of his character. The big events of his life-sorting, leaving his family, choosing James, the secret keeper- I try to forget all of those things when I write him and keep him in the moment I’m writing. His past affects him, of course, but he never seems one to dwell on those things which means he reacts to things as they happen rather than analyzing the pros and cons of what he might do.

I know that really didn’t answer your question but I’ve no idea why I’ve been able to grab his character and run with it when I struggle with others that most people find easy (like Draco and Remus, both of whom I have a devil of a time writing).

And, thank you. *blushes* That train scene was heck to get just right for both of their characters.

[BitterEpiphany]

Why did you choose to write within your genre? You know perfectly well how I feel about angst, but it still interests me why you - given how naievely hopeful you can be - chose to write within the bounds of angst.

[timeturner]

First and foremost, I write it because I know it annoys the snot out of you. *huggles, I love you dear, I swear I do*

Secondly, because no other genre really describes how I write. My stories encompass a bit of everything but I refuse to list them as “general” because well, its like the dark black hole of fanfic where everything in the archive seems to disappear.

[Cor_Leonis]

So, I've thought a lot about this, and I must ask:

Draco. Why do you dislike writing him so much, Timeturner? Surely he can't be more difficult to write than Sirius! Do you think this is because you dislike the characteristics JK gave him? LOLOL Can he not be redeemed?

And a sirius serious question...I've watched your writing develop since you first joined HPFF, and the amount of progress you've made as a writer is incredible. Are you proud of your accomplishments? (You should be!) And I have to ask, what's your favorite story you've written, and why?

[timeturner]

Draco. The truth? I don’t like him because he makes me work too hard. Writing actually comes pretty easily for me and he makes me work so freaking hard to get his characterization right. I don’t like the way JKR has portrayed him in that he’s inconsistent in the books, but that really has nothing to do with it. I get complacent about my writing and Draco shakes me out of that and makes me pay attention. I’ve learned a lot about myself from writing him and I still hate him for it. As for redemption…we’ll leave that up to the present to find out.

Progress is a tricky thing. I’m not proud, no. I am ecstatic and forever indebted to HPFF for what it’s taught me, though. I’ve learned so many things not only about writing specifically but more about pushing myself to be better with everything I write. People here have given me the courage to try new things and the strength and support I need to keep going. Early on I was terrified of offending people and pushing the boundaries of canon too far. I learned, though, that I actually am a much better writer if I do those things. I’m not good at staying in the lines, so to speak, and its only been when everyone here gave me the courage to venture further that I really feel my writing began to grow. As it continues to do with every single chapter I post and people help me and give me feedback on…I can’t express my gratitude to the site for what everyone’s given me.

Favorite story? No idea. They are my children, I love almost all of them for very different reasons. I can’t pick a favorite favorite but I do have ones that I learned the most; was hardest to write; have regrets about, etc. But no one true favorite.

[Violet Gryfindor]

New question! (because I love to bother you like you bother Kay)

The Big Fic. That was your idea. You might have already talked about it before, but how did you think of a collaborative fic like that? Did it take you long to choose the authors or find the right theme for the whole story? It was quite a project that took months to put together, but are you pleased with how it turned out in the end, how your "not so crazy idea" became something that would be cherished on the site?

(would you guess that I kept that PM after all this time?)

I love you! ~ Kay

[timeturner]

But this is so much fun! It’s like a big group of us sitting at the local coffee shop talking books…this is just a blast

The idea actually came from reading a short story collection. I thought, well, if they can do that, so can we! Choosing the original authors (the ones who got that pm you mentioned ) didn’t take long at all. After the initial list, though, we were still really really short. So I contacted the other authors and asked them for their suggestions and that’s how it grew into such a large production.

The theme itself was fairly simple, something along the lines of “characters facing Voldemort”. It got a bit more difficult when people wanted something more specific than that (go figure!). It didn’t take me very long to write the prologue but I just couldn’t send it out to everyone. These were the best writers on the site…the ones I looked up to and admired…and I was having to send them this thing. It seemed horribly inadequate and out of place and I knew everyone would laugh and think “why exactly is shea part of this? It was terrifying.

As for how it turned out, I couldn’t be more proud. Everything and everyone worked together so well. It was long and arduous getting everything put together but it turned out just amazing. Add that to the fact that we were able to get something over on Jay (he had no idea the whole time and got a shock when we took over the front page of his own site to announce the thing) and I love everything about the whole thing.

Can't complain about anything that allows you to get one over on the site owner

[BitterEpiphany]

What writer do you admire most in the real world and secondly, what writers do you admire most here at HPFF?