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thebratqueenOkay, as promised, here are my answers:
Fanfic writer's survey:
1. What fandoms have you written in?
VC, Fight Club, Harry Potter, Batman (TAS and Beyond), Buffy, Angel, Star Wars
2. Which fandom(s) do you think are your strongest? Why?
VC and Angel. I've got characters in there that I can just nail down. Give me a story challenge of what Wes would say if the phone rang at 3am and somebody told him the circus was coming to town and I could tell you his response. Heck, I could give you the various responses during the course of his character arc. Ditto Angel, Ditto Stat (up until MtD)
I also think I was pretty good at Fight Club, but that was mostly because I loved the psychology of it and trying to play with it. If the fandom itself had been more active I might have done more with it but without enough people to join me in the sandbox it was just talking to myself, so may as well save on the typing and just leave the stories in my head.
3. Which fandom(s) do you think you're not as strong in? Why?
Star Wars. I wasn't bad at Sith Academy IMO but I couldn't get into the non-parody stuff. I didn't care about the characters enough.
4. What fandom(s) do you wish you could write in? Why?
DS and Sentinel. Cindy (wife, beta-reader, fandom pimp and more) loves them and I know it would make her happy if I cranked out a story or two, but much as I love those fandoms I haven't been attacked by plot bunnies I wanted to give birth to. The closest I ever came was a wee bunny of Jim and Blair crawling through the dorms late at night in search of condoms. It was not meant to be.
5. In your opinion (as opposed to what you get told in feedback) what are your strengths as a writer?
Angst, humor and believable character arcs. Also nailing down character psychology. For me it's all about what's going on in their heads, and what makes them do what they do.
Also I think I'm good at showing parts of the stories that we don't get from canon but would like to - such as Louis and Lestat having a domestic moment, or the AI gang actually hanging out and acting like the friends that they're supposed to be.
6. In your opinion, what are your weaknesses?
Blocking. Biggest weakness, bar none.
I'm also pretty bad on action scenes, monsters of the week and C characters, but look - I don't tend to write those often. Some problems are easy to fix. ;) But blocking is in every story (unless, I guess, it's a story of pure dialogue) and that's always the thing that makes me cringe.
7. Have you ever gotten feedback about either your strengths or weaknesses that you disagreed with?
Beyond the "They're not FAGS!" kind of feedback I've actually never gotten an email which pointed out weaknesses (watch I'll get one today just to make me a liar). I have gotten emails from people that say they would have taken a different route, or played the characters differently, but that's just a matter of discussion.
I think for me the type of feedback that most makes me go "huh?" is when people say I'm really good at the NC-17 stuff. Don't get me wrong - obviously I'm putting my best effort out there - but I don't think sex scenes are a strength of mine so it always throws me when somebody not only writes to say they thought a sex scene was particularly hot,but that they consider me a good sex scene writer in general.
Not that I'm complaining mind you ;)
8. Overall, what's the worst piece you've ever written? (Meaning you look back on it now and cringe, not a piece you deliberately wrote to be badfic)
Pardon me as I hide under the covers and point to Sins. Boy does that baby scream "first effort". It's a classic case of Trying Too Hard Tarot.
Of my latest stuff - By the Way. I think it's the weakest story of the Epiphany series and I wish I could jump in a time machine to go back and fix it. God bless those of you who read it and kept with the series anyway.
9. Overall, what's the story(ies) that you're proudest of?
I'm pretty proud of Chosen. Also Truer Than Fantasy, for all that it's probably impossible for people to read that now without the Dagger of the Mind context.
The Wes alt dimension story arc may forever be one of my favs of Epiphany. I'm also found of my then/now arc but we'll see if that stands the test of time as I move on in the story. Returning, IMO, rocks (again for all that people need about a thousand pages of backstory to understand it) and I love The First Move.
Fanfic writer's survey:
1. What fandoms have you written in?
VC, Fight Club, Harry Potter, Batman (TAS and Beyond), Buffy, Angel, Star Wars
2. Which fandom(s) do you think are your strongest? Why?
VC and Angel. I've got characters in there that I can just nail down. Give me a story challenge of what Wes would say if the phone rang at 3am and somebody told him the circus was coming to town and I could tell you his response. Heck, I could give you the various responses during the course of his character arc. Ditto Angel, Ditto Stat (up until MtD)
I also think I was pretty good at Fight Club, but that was mostly because I loved the psychology of it and trying to play with it. If the fandom itself had been more active I might have done more with it but without enough people to join me in the sandbox it was just talking to myself, so may as well save on the typing and just leave the stories in my head.
3. Which fandom(s) do you think you're not as strong in? Why?
Star Wars. I wasn't bad at Sith Academy IMO but I couldn't get into the non-parody stuff. I didn't care about the characters enough.
4. What fandom(s) do you wish you could write in? Why?
DS and Sentinel. Cindy (wife, beta-reader, fandom pimp and more) loves them and I know it would make her happy if I cranked out a story or two, but much as I love those fandoms I haven't been attacked by plot bunnies I wanted to give birth to. The closest I ever came was a wee bunny of Jim and Blair crawling through the dorms late at night in search of condoms. It was not meant to be.
5. In your opinion (as opposed to what you get told in feedback) what are your strengths as a writer?
Angst, humor and believable character arcs. Also nailing down character psychology. For me it's all about what's going on in their heads, and what makes them do what they do.
Also I think I'm good at showing parts of the stories that we don't get from canon but would like to - such as Louis and Lestat having a domestic moment, or the AI gang actually hanging out and acting like the friends that they're supposed to be.
6. In your opinion, what are your weaknesses?
Blocking. Biggest weakness, bar none.
I'm also pretty bad on action scenes, monsters of the week and C characters, but look - I don't tend to write those often. Some problems are easy to fix. ;) But blocking is in every story (unless, I guess, it's a story of pure dialogue) and that's always the thing that makes me cringe.
7. Have you ever gotten feedback about either your strengths or weaknesses that you disagreed with?
Beyond the "They're not FAGS!" kind of feedback I've actually never gotten an email which pointed out weaknesses (watch I'll get one today just to make me a liar). I have gotten emails from people that say they would have taken a different route, or played the characters differently, but that's just a matter of discussion.
I think for me the type of feedback that most makes me go "huh?" is when people say I'm really good at the NC-17 stuff. Don't get me wrong - obviously I'm putting my best effort out there - but I don't think sex scenes are a strength of mine so it always throws me when somebody not only writes to say they thought a sex scene was particularly hot,but that they consider me a good sex scene writer in general.
Not that I'm complaining mind you ;)
8. Overall, what's the worst piece you've ever written? (Meaning you look back on it now and cringe, not a piece you deliberately wrote to be badfic)
Pardon me as I hide under the covers and point to Sins. Boy does that baby scream "first effort". It's a classic case of Trying Too Hard Tarot.
Of my latest stuff - By the Way. I think it's the weakest story of the Epiphany series and I wish I could jump in a time machine to go back and fix it. God bless those of you who read it and kept with the series anyway.
9. Overall, what's the story(ies) that you're proudest of?
I'm pretty proud of Chosen. Also Truer Than Fantasy, for all that it's probably impossible for people to read that now without the Dagger of the Mind context.
The Wes alt dimension story arc may forever be one of my favs of Epiphany. I'm also found of my then/now arc but we'll see if that stands the test of time as I move on in the story. Returning, IMO, rocks (again for all that people need about a thousand pages of backstory to understand it) and I love The First Move.
