New Fan Fiction

[Carrie]

Gosh...me neither!! (Especially since I'm only five foot... )

[Elentari]

We've all been there - agonising about sending the first story, so we do understand and try not to be too mean and heartless...
I have to say, my feeble first effort was very kindly treated and I was sent away with the encouragment to write another one - so blame Chris...
I don't think I've even been called 'a big gun' either...

There's nothing quite like the terror of having written that first story, checked it over and over for mistakes (which still mysteriously get through somehow), composing an accompanying e-mail message, attaching the document and....

(heart thumping loudly) ...pressing the 'Send' button.

After that you might find (I did!) that your first thought might be; 'Oh no. What have I done!?!?' You calm down pretty quickly though.

Then it starts all over again as you wait anxiously for a reply....

[Sage]

I'd like to say there comes a point when you don't feel the terror, but hmm when that happens I'll let you know

Maybe it's a good thing though; to be kept on your toes and striving to do better.

[Marion]

I agree, Sage. That frisson when you send a new story off to Chris, never does quite disappear, does it?
I think it is all part of wanting to do the best you possibly can and it is also hard to evaluate what you've written with an objective eye - which is why, I suppose, we all value constructive feedback.
After all, you've seen the plot evolve, so - unlike the reader (you hope) - you have no surprises to look forward to in the story. And - as Elentari says - however careful you are and however many times you've read the thing, the first time you see it on the screen - there, as bold as brass, is a blooming mistake!
I still can't get what I see in my mind's eye down on the page with the same 'oomph' either... however hard I try.

[Carrie]

I still can't get what I see in my mind's eye down on the page with the same 'oomph' either... however hard I try

Oh...TELL me about it...Marion...so, so frustrating. But such a good feeling when you think you might actually have achieved it. That's why I always appreciate feedback from a beta reader on the first painful drafts, to readers on the final story, so I know whether the scene I imagined in my head was what the reader 'saw' when they read the words...

[Skybase Girl]

I was wondering how long, on average, it takes you experienced writers to get the finished product out there ?

[Marion]

There are so many ways to answer that, Skybase Girl, depending on so many factors, including the length of the story and the amount of time the author can give to the project.
I suppose I can write fairly quickly, if the conditions are right.
For example, I wrote 'Prospect of Whitby'(about 17,500 words)- longhand - in the evenings during one week when I was on holiday there. I then typed it up and tweaked it a bit (okay, a lot) and then it was beta-read and I tweaked it some more. A longer story, like 'This Other Eden' (66,000 words) usually takes me several months, but on the other hand, 'Synchronicity' (120,500 words) and 'Valediction' (64,000 words) both took over a year to write. This was due to involvement with other projects, writer's block, a lack of imagination and total despair (on several occasions) all getting in the way.
Even so, I feel I had the advantage over some writers in that I was working part-time and could, when things were going well, generally spend the best part of a day writing.
I'm sure other writers have similar experiences with certain of their stories.
I suppose the best answer is that sometimes - if the Inspiration Fairies are feeling generous - it can seem like no time at all , and yet at other times, it's an eternity, no matter how long the story actually is!

[Sage]

Yes, I shall concur with Marion.

I can write about 2000 words a day, on average (dependant on having solid inspiration and minimal distractions). As vignettes are my specialty quite often a story can be finished* in a day or so. Or within the hour if it's a drabble.

That said I have a story I've been working on for two years and counting. It's a very character based story which needs emotional impact, and some background research. So I keep getting the literary equivalent of stage fright, or stuck after 1500 words (as I write in bursts. It's at about 15,000 words overall) .

The time consuming part is waiting for feedback, and I do get impatient, even though that's very unreasonable. So have to distract myself by writing something else.

*from initial spark of inspiration to final proofread before posting/submission.

[Matt Crowther]

I have problems writing all the fan fic let alone my first one. Although I remember Chris telling me (for my first...Angels of Deception) that she would've stopped me with my Rhapsody/Magenta scene if it went beyond what I have. My stories are 'maturing' I guess. Averaging four a year. I'm trying to get as much done before enthusiasm dries up.

[Carrie]

A silly answer, Skybase Girl, is 'however long it takes...'

Very salient points, Marion and Sage.
I just think everyone is different, and it's important to keep that in mind when writing your own story...{Ha ha, which I never do of course... }
I'm probably more of a 300 words a day person, to my intense frustration, but I find it helpful if I can do even small amounts of writing every day, as this seems to help the flow. Not always possible of course, as like almost everyone here, I imagine, we have other lives and jobs to keep us away from the keyboard or the notebook...
Some personal examples from me: eXtrapolations (~149,000) took me 2.5 years, although I did write several other stories within that time-frame. An example of a short was Shifting Sands (20,000) which took me about a month in total.
Simple arithmetic would suggest that the more time you spend per day/month on a story the faster it gets finisihed, but it isnt always as simple as that. Plot holes, twists, writing tough 'action' or 'emotional' scenes can stop me dead...giving me the impression I'm suffering serious writer's block. I rely on the fact I have finished other stories to hel me through those 'difficult' times.

I've found , however, that my productivity has improved with succesive stories, although it is quite frankly pathetic when I compare it to the prodigous ouput of my esteemed fan-fic colleagues out there....

[Matt Crowther]

I find I split my stories into two catergories:

the episode/episodic stories such as Angels of Deception that are short...half hour-ish if you will

the 'feature length' one's that are novel size almost such as Indigo was at 61 pages

I tend to be more cautious insomuch as pages rather than words. My novel was 211pp at about 120,000 words but I tend to write my Scarlet stories in spurts. Being slightly unsure of oneself, ill-confident etc makes for nervy times when the stories come back!

[Marion]

Rejoice! - there is new fiction on the main website.
The start of a story from Colonel Chris and a complete story by Keryn - always something to celebrate!
Check them out and have some fun!


Who knows, it might inspire you have a go yourself - or finish that story that's lingering in (what Carrie so descriptively calls) 'development Hell.' Like mine is at the moment...

[Sage]

Oh yes they are amazing
Multi parts are always fun. I love the heady rush of seeing the latest installment uploaded. It makes the frustration of having to wait for it all worthwhile.

Indeed I am inspired. I'd stalled on one scene but have decided to just rewrite it. From there on it'll be good to go. You never know maybe I will be finished by Christmas after all.

I tend to write all out of order when it comes to scenes; doing the dramatic/interesting bits as they come to me, then filling in the gaps between them later. It seems to help keep it flowing.

[Marion]

Sage said:

Multi parts are always fun. I love the heady rush of seeing the latest installment uploaded. It makes the frustration of having to wait for it all worthwhile.

Personally, I am not a great fan of multi-parts - this has nothing whatever to do with the stories - which are usually wonderful and entertaining - and everything to do with the fact that I HATE waiting!
I have no patience whatsoever, I like to read my stories straight through - and I am (and am forever being told off because of it) one of those annoying people who ALWAYS read the last page first. Doesn't do me any good, but that is what I do.
In some cases I have stopped reading new parts, waiting (with as much patience as I can muster) for the final installment before I go back and read the whole story!
I've only written one story that was posted in parts - Synchronicity - and I hate it. I tried to finish it before part 1 was posted, but, due to tweakage, it wasn't finished - and so there are bits I couldn't change because it had already been posted. Hence what does get posted now, gets posted in one huge lump

[Matt Crowther]

That's how I prefer to do my stories, one lump