Fanfiction asks

[extrapenguin]

Via naye! Drop a comment and I'll give you an answer in reply. Striking stuff off as it's answered!

1. What made you start writing fanfic?
2. Which of your own fanfics have you reread the most?
3. Describe the differences between your first fanfic and your most recent fanfic.
4. Do you think your style has changed over time? How so?
5. You’ve posted a fic anonymously. How would someone be able to guess that you’d written it?
6. Name three stories you found easy to write.
7. Name three stories you found difficult to write.
8. What’s your ratio of hits to kudos?
9. What do your fic bookmarks say about you?
10. What’s a theme that keeps coming up in your writing?
11. What kind of relationships are you most interested in writing?
12. For E-rated fic, what are some things your characters keep doing?
13. Name three favorite characters to write.
14. You’re applying for the fanfic writer of the year award. What five fanfics do you put in your portfolio?
15. Question of your choice!

Comments

[sewn]

N:o 3 looks like a fun question, let's go with it!

[extrapenguin]

Describe the differences between your first fanfic and your most recent fanfic.

Well ... probably most dramatic is that my prose isn't beige anymore! I have actually figured out adjectives exist, and description exists, and figured out how to do mood-building stuff via descriptions of the setting! I've also figured out how to handle actual plot, instead of writing <1k of hook I have no idea how to continue on and then resolve. My characterization skills have also improved: not everyone sounds and thinks the same way anymore!

It's been 5+ years, and I've grown quite a bit during it, both as a person and an author. It's nice to see the change reflected in my fics, even if my first fics are not-great juvenilia.

[naye]

1. What made you start writing fanfic?

[extrapenguin]

Oh gosh, this is actually really hard, because I think the first technically-fanfic thing I wrote was Walking with Dinosaurs fic at the age of 6. It was four paragraphs long, about a triceratops, and I spelled "female" as "femail".

More broadly, I grew up in a house that loved reading, and exposed to a broad collection of science fiction books. I just grew with the knowledge that I'd be a storyteller of some sort, like most kids grow up with the expectation that they'll breathe oxygen. My bedtime stories were stories made up on the spot by my dad. (Actually, I think they technically count as Moomin IF. Oh gods.)

As for what made me take my stories, type them up, and publish them on the internet – I realized I had an audience! There were people who wanted to read the "amateur fiction" I wrote, and I could read theirs. And I get comments that are on occasion super duper excellent, and all the challenges are for something. People think I'm good! People like what I write! It's an ego boost and also a success. Given these premises, I think it'd have been weirder if little Penguin hadn't gone into fanfiction, lol.

[trobadora]

#5?

[extrapenguin]

You’ve posted a fic anonymously. How would someone be able to guess that you’d written it?
It contains research! :D I genuinely enjoy being able to research things to add that texture of accuracy where I can, and I enjoy it when I can write characters engaging in research.

It's sort of hard to come up with fingerprints that are neither super duper vague/inaccurate of my writing in general nor immediately giving away the game once fics are revealed. There are also some themes that have come up before in the corpus of things I've written, but I'd almost want a second opinion before claiming anything about them.

[trobadora]

Hee! That's a great one. :D

[china_shop]

6. :-)

[extrapenguin]

Name three stories you found easy to write.
Restricting to stuff written in 2018...
Despite the Warning Signs (E, M/M, Underage – Modao Zushi) was easy to write, since the POV character is a hoot and doesn't really care much about things that aren't his crush. It was a quick write, despite being almost 10k long.
Alarms Will Ring for Eternity (T, gen – Original Work/based on a song) was also fast to write! I got the idea and it just flowed. The hardest part was figuring out what to call the protagonist, lol.
When the Honor Comes too Late (T, gen, Major Character Death – Modao Zushi) was also easy to write, despite the premise, since I got an idea and could run with it. I think I had to think about the ending for like 15 extra seconds, but that's it.

The easy stuff tends to be ones where I get an idea and can run with it unimpeded to the end. People have praised them, so I guess they're at least OK.

[schneefink]

#11?

[extrapenguin]

What kind of relationships are you most interested in writing?
I quite like good father figure mentors and their mentorship relationships, as well as relationships where the sex involves the repressed character letting loose and bottoming (but never shall the two join). This means I inevitably end up on the other side of the top/bottom divide of Chinese media fandoms, lol. I also have a fondness for loyalty kink.

[dhampyresa]

10. What’s a theme that keeps coming up in your writing?

[extrapenguin]

Identity. Identity and finding it and growing up someplace you don't necessarily belong. Answers to the questions "Who am I?" and "What am I?" and figuring out how to answer them. Becoming.

[dhampyresa]

A good theme!

[satoyan]

How about #9?

[extrapenguin]

That I haven't used bookmarks much, recently! ... also that I like reference works, like this Liang primer. I read more widely than I write, and like poetry?