30-day Fanfiction Writing Meme – Day 22

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The meme continues (originated by elfflame, brought to my attention by jedibuttercup).

Day 22: Have you ever participated in a fest or a Big Bang?

Not in literal terms, no. I’ve been participating in RemixRedux since 2007 (and one other remix that turned out, regrettably, to be a one-shot), and always enjoyed the experience enormously. I also signed up once for NaNoWriMo, but crashed and burned on that one; I’ve thought about trying again, every year since, but got nowhere on it.

If so, write about your favorite experience in relation to one.

Because of the above, any ‘favorite experience’ would by necessity take place in RemixRedux. And, being who I am, I of course stretch the rules to suit myself, and name three different types of favorite experience.

“Walking After Midnight”, done for RemixRedux 5, was the first remix I ever did, and I was delighted by how well I was able to grab someone else’s fic and run with it. (It also featured Xander in a central role — reliably a pleasure — and was the first time I ever wrote from Angel’s POV, albeit third-person.) It was a fine first experience, and I still remember it with pleasure.

RemixRedux 6, the following year, was a challenge. In 2007, my assigned author had been bastardsnow, with whose work I was familiar (and, in fact, I had met him at the second WriterCon), so the process of searching his stories and doing one-of-mine from one-of-his was relatively painless. In 2008, however, I was assigned an author previously unknown to me, and to whose style and chosen subject matter I was utterly unsuited. I finally found one of his/her fics that gave me a jumping-off point, and “Jasmine Tears” was the result: a ‘favorite’ in that I did a solid job with what was — for me — the least promising source material. (I also essentially did my own story and just called it a remix, which counts against me, but I did get the idea from, and base my remix on, material provided by the original author.)

My 2010 remix was the precise opposite: done from a story that perfectly suited me, “Otherwise a Perfect Sky” was a favorite experience in that it was — and I knew it even then — the absolute best remix I’ve ever done. Arguably the best story I’ve ever done. More than that, it was good as a remix: whereas I had added scenes to bastardsnow’s “Getting It” to produce “Walking After Midnight”, and done “Jasmine Tears” with only the most tenuous thematic links to “Do and Talk and Do” by Lee Greene (redwinevinegar), “Otherwise a Perfect Sky” was an expansion and extension — in style and presentation as well as in subject — of deird1’s “Come Crashing Down”. The author herself, and friends who were jealously protective of her and her work, agreed with me as to its success; even liz_marcs liked it, though I had stopped being one of her most-favorite-people years before.

Those are my favorite experiences, in that context, so far. Wonder what the future will bring?

If not, are there any you’ve thought about doing? And if not, why not?

I’d still like to give NaNoWriMo a shot, and I’ll be checking out the possibility of Yuletide this year, but that’s pretty much it. Nothing else really appeals to me.

Other Questions:

1 – How did you first get into writing fanfic, and what was the first fandom you wrote for? What do you think it was about that fandom that pulled you in?
2 – Name the fandoms you’ve written in, and how much you’ve written in that fandom, and if you still write in it.
3 – For each of the fandoms from day two, what were your favorite characters to write?
4 – Do you have a “muse” character, that speaks to you more than others, or that tries to push their way in, even when the fic isn’t about them? Who are they, and why did that character became your muse?
5 – If you have ever had a character try to push their way into a fic, whether your “muse” or not, what did you do about it?
6 – When you write, do you prefer writing male or female characters?
7 – Have you ever had a fic change your opinion of a character?
8 – Do you write OCs? And if so, what do you do to make certain they’re not Mary Sues, and if not, explain your thoughts on OCs.
9 – Pairings – For each of the fandoms from day two, what are your three favorite pairings to write?
10 – Pairings – Have you ever gone outside your comfort zone and written a pairing you liked, but found you couldn’t write, or a pairing you didn’t like, and found you could?
11 – Genre – do you prefer certain genres of fic when you’re writing? What kind do you tend to write most?
12 – Have you ever attempted an “adaptation” fic of a favorite book or movie but set in a different fandom?
13 – Do you prefer canon or fanon when you write? Has writing fanfic for a fandom changed the way you see some or even all of the original source material?
14 – Ratings – how high are you comfortable with going? Have you ever written higher? If you’re comfortable with NC-17, have you ever been shocked by finding that the story you’re writing is G-rated instead?
15 – Warnings – What do you feel it most important to warn for, and what’s the strangest thing you’ve warned for in a fic?
16 – Summaries – Do you like them or hate them? How do you come up with them, if you use them?
17 – Titles – Are they the bane of your existence, or the easiest part of the fic? Also, if you do chaptered fic, do you give each chapter a title, or not?
18 – Where do you get the most inspiration for your fics (aka “bunnies”) from?
19 – When you have bunnies, do you sit down and start writing right away, or do you write down the idea for further use?
20 – Do you ever get bunnied from other people’s stories or art in the same fandom?
21 – Sequels – Have you ever written a sequel to a fic you wrote?
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23 – When you post, where do you post to? Just your journal? Just an archive? Your own personal site?
24 – Beta-ing – How many betas do you like to use to make sure there aren’t any major flaws in your fic? Do you have a beta horror story or dream story?
25 – Music – Do you listen to music while you write? Do you make playlists to get into a certain “mood” to write your fic? Do you need noise in general? Or do you need it completely quiet?
26 – What is the oddest (or funnest) thing you’ve had to research for a fic?
27 – Where is your favorite place to write, and do you write by hand or on the computer?
28 – Have you ever collaborated with anyone else, whether writing together or having an artist work on a piece about your fic?
29 – What is your current project or projects?
30 – Do you have a favorite fic you’ve written? What makes it your favorite? And don’t forget to give us a link!

Day 23