Elizabeth Weir/John Sheppard Appreciation/Ship/Discussion Thread

[KrisRussel]

And since we're fic pimping--I've published 7 chapters of Testament.

Thanks!
*starts reading*
The only problem is that with reading all these great fics I can't seem to be able to continue writing my own fics...
"oh well" *shrugs and continues reading*

[Reiko]

Description of landscapes, for me, is easy writing. It's much harder to paint emotions--to convey the 'feeling' of something, though for some reason in the story I'm working on, I just had to do a scene where Elizabeth is observing her surroundings and it was really hard! I haven't had to do it in a while, not something just over-the-top descriptive and I was a little thrown.

I find I have trouble describing scenery without it becoming overly repetitive. I'm looking at the wahp and I have "IT WAS PRETTY" worded differently about 6 times. lol.

I have a question: when describing the setting, do you describe it all at the ebginning of a particular scene or do you like to slowly unravel it throughout.

What are the senses you have the easiest time writing? The hardest time?

[Falcon Horus]

As a primarily visual person, this is the biggest problem I have when writing fiction. I can imagine the actors/characters acting in my head and what they say, but it's so difficult for me to transfer that to text in an engaging way. (I can't be the only one that has characters talk in my head). And it's hard at times. I think that's one of my biggest problems when it comes to more creative writing.

Second that - I see whole scenes play out in my head, but writing it down usually goes the wrong the way. Then again, a sentence in my head always sounds better, than when I actually say it.

At work when I need to explain something, I can never find the right words or explain it properly so the other side understands what I mean. They usually give me confused looks and then I turn all frustrated and start using my hands and feet. It's not actually all that funny - it's not exactly one of my strong points cause I usually shut down completely and the brain goes blank.

I like people telling me what they think of my writing, whether I'm describing the things and feelings adequately or if I need to elaborate some more. And when I really need to, I'll just find my dictionary/thesaurus to help me out. And sometimes I dig really deep into my subconscious mind and my muse will take me on a wonderful journey... that is, if she hasn't left without giving notice.

I don't think I can pimp any stories that fit in here - let me see... *starts digging* ... Oh look, John-in-a-fic ...paired with Kate... never mind. Next! Oh wait, Elizabeth-fic ... paired with Kate and Teyla... not for this place. Next! *throws her on pile with John*

*hears splashing*

Oh please... get your minds out of the gutter there.

Ah!!! Eureka!

Rose - Elizabeth/Anyone but in this case it could be John.

And another one -> Confession, Kate & John/Elizabeth

Does a threesome count too -> Kate/John/Elizabeth? If it does -> Welcome Home

Ah, that felt good.

[KrisRussel]

But a prompt is where Distractions came from and I'm quite proud of the tone of that one. And it's pretty Sparky. For me.

See, I'm never gonna get my own fics finished
*shrugs again and continues reading*

[Eri13]

I find I have trouble describing scenery without it becoming overly repetitive. I'm looking at the wahp and I have "IT WAS PRETTY" worded differently about 6 times. lol.

I have a question: when describing the setting, do you describe it all at the ebginning of a particular scene or do you like to slowly unravel it throughout.

What are the senses you have the easiest time writing? The hardest time?

I like to slowly unravel through, but mostly it depends on what I'm trying to convey. In the scene I was referring to, the description has to be throughout the segment, as Elizabeth is traveling through the scenery the entire time.

When I write, I try to avoid what I known are my obvious pitfalls. My worst is wanting to get something out of the way, so I rush through writing it. Like, wanting to get to a Sparky scene but having to do other 'fillers' before, so I'll rush characterization. And that usually means BAD writing. To avoid it, I write the scene I want to write, then figure out how to connect it with other parts of the story. Sometimes it's not easy--for example, I wrote the Teyla-talking-to-angsty-John scene at the end of Testament Chapter 7 at the same time I wrote the opening scenes of Chapter 1. It's taken me this long to get in the filler. But I'm proud of that scene and how it's evolved over rereads and edits.

Easiest sense? Hmmm...probably touch. I love describing how things feel, how fingers feel touching something--it's wonderfully provocative and there are so many words you can use. And touch has such a wonderful way of being able to convey emotion and the actual, physical feel at the same time.

Hardest sense? Probably sight. Because of what you were describing. If you're not careful, it can become extremely mundane and plodding. Like all of a sudden you can turn from a narrator into an encyclopedia.

[Eri13]

Second that - I see whole scenes play out in my head, but writing it down usually goes the wrong the way. Then again, a sentence in my head always sounds better, than when I actually say it.

At work when I need to explain something, I can never find the right words or explain it properly so the other side understands what I mean. They usually give me confused looks and then I turn all frustrated and start using my hands and feet. It's not actually all that funny - it's not exactly one of my strong points cause I usually shut down completely and the brain goes blank.

I like people telling me what they think of my writing, whether I'm describing the things and feelings adequately or if I need to elaborate some more. And when I really need to, I'll just find my dictionary/thesaurus to help me out. And sometimes I dig really deep into my subconscious mind and my muse will take me on a wonderful journey... that is, if she hasn't left without giving notice.

I don't think I can pimp any stories that fit in here - let me see... *starts digging* ... Oh look, John-in-a-fic ...paired with Kate... never mind. Next! Oh wait, Elizabeth-fic ... paired with Kate and Teyla... not for this place. Next! *throws her on pile with John*

*hears splashing*

Oh please... get your minds out of the gutter there.

Ah!!! Eureka!

Rose - Elizabeth/Anyone but in this case it could be John.

And another one -> Confession, Kate & John/Elizabeth

Does a threesome count too -> Kate/John/Elizabeth? If it does -> Welcome Home

Ah, that felt good.

OH THAT'S SO ME! And it's incredibly frustrating because I use three-syllable words in my head and with people I"m comfortable with. My English is quite good and I even know grammar! But somehow in front of bosses or other co-workers, I'm reduced to 'ahs' and 'ums' quite a lot and I have a really hard time catching my breath. I certainly don't speak eloquently all the time. As both an English major and a writer, being unable to verbalize thoughts is INCREDIBLY frustrating. I HATE HATE HATE it. HATE it.

Poor KrisRussel--she's never going to be able to write again if we keep pimping fics.

But read FH's too, they're good.

[Torri012]

woha! i discovered gateworld again!
i bet no-one missed me though

[Eri13]

woha! i discovered gateworld again!
i bet no-one missed me though

Yes huh!

Welcome back, Torri012!

Oh, btw for fun this morning (because my final project for work still hasn't gone through and I'm waiting on bosses to give me something to do) I went through and read the opening pages of this thread. For anyone who hasn't done it in a while, try it...it's fun and funny.

Marimba, I read your original posts! I didn't realize you were one of the founding members of the thread! XD

[Reiko]

Second that - I see whole scenes play out in my head, but writing it down usually goes the wrong the way. Then again, a sentence in my head always sounds better, than when I actually say it.

Yeah, that's what my problem is, too. When writing my WAHP story I can imagine hearing the character/actor delivering lines in my head, but on the other hand it looks totally bland -- and worse, out-of-character -- when I write it out. It's annoying, because my number one concern that is constantly worrying me is that I don't write perople in character. It's difficult, especially at this point when I'm working on it on my own and I don't know how my portrayal of the characters will be recieved and if it will make sense.

When I write, I try to avoid what I known are my obvious pitfalls. My worst is wanting to get something out of the way, so I rush through writing it. Like, wanting to get to a Sparky scene but having to do other 'fillers' before, so I'll rush characterization. And that usually means BAD writing. To avoid it, I write the scene I want to write, then figure out how to connect it with other parts of the story.

That's what I've been doing, too. In writing a sotry I tend to take a non-linear approach, writing the parts I know what I want to do with and have on my mind and connecting them later on. The connections are often hardest as I'm finding changing the mood drastically from one part of my story (regret, guilt and grief) to more cheerfulness and then slightly back by the end to be difficult. I know I can do it, but I can't seem to make the words connect to those changes.

I have to agree that touch is one of the senses I am most connected with and it takes on a variety of forms. It's so diverse yet you don't have to overmilk the description and I find touch to be quite easy to achieve. Hearing can also be easy for me.

Sight is hard, transferring what I see in my mind to paper. It's hard to do without spending a ridiculous time on it and being overly repetitive, which I tend to do.

[Anuna]

Eri - here is a prompt for you (and everyone else who wants to give this particular topic a try) - I recently read one fic like this and now i want more of them --- I would like a fic where John and Elizabeth are arguing, the argument gets really heated and then explodes into heat of other kind. Smut is not required (not everyone has my kinky brain) but hot kisses are a must. If you want to make it episode related, then I'm picking Hot Zone or perhaps The Game. Or, not canon related, maybe John did something foolish, or even Elizabeth?

There you go, guys, now make me happy with a fic. I would absolutely love if someone wrote me smut. *looks at SR*

[Eri13]

Yeah, that's what my problem is, too. When writing my WAHP story I can imagine hearing the character/actor delivering lines in my head, but on the other hand it looks totally bland -- and worse, out-of-character -- when I write it out. It's annoying, because my number one concern that is constantly worrying me is that I don't write perople in character. It's difficult, especially at this point when I'm working on it on my own and I don't know how my portrayal of the characters will be recieved and if it will make sense.

That's what I've been doing, too. In writing a sotry I tend to take a non-linear approach, writing the parts I know what I want to do with and have on my mind and connecting them later on. The connections are often hardest as I'm finding changing the mood drastically from one part of my story (regret, guilt and grief) to more cheerfulness and then slightly back by the end to be difficult. I know I can do it, but I can't seem to make the words connect to those changes.

I have to agree that touch is one of the senses I am most connected with and it takes on a variety of forms. It's so diverse yet you don't have to overmilk the description and I find touch to be quite easy to achieve. Hearing can also be easy for me.

Sight is hard, transferring what I see in my mind to paper. It's hard to do without spending a ridiculous time on it and being overly repetitive, which I tend to do.

I'm with you and keeping everything tonally the same. I reread and rewrite quite a bit and even then I don't always feel like it 'flows'. And sometimes it flows better than I thought it did.

When I write non-linearly, harder than tone for me is continuity. I have a tendency to forget little tidbits I popped in a few chapters ago and then I can write something that can contradict it! I'm always having to reread. *headdesk*

With visual stuff, I tend to get so descriptive it gets confusing. That's why this descriptor scene with Elizabeth was so hard. Trying to explain everything it got completely muddled. I see the scenery in my head, but whether you guys will see what I see is going to be up in the air! I really admire writers who can so clearly convey the look of things.

Anuna, actually, does that very well.

[Anuna]

Yeah, that's what my problem is, too. When writing my WAHP story I can imagine hearing the character/actor delivering lines in my head, but on the other hand it looks totally bland -- and worse, out-of-character -- when I write it out. It's annoying, because my number one concern that is constantly worrying me is that I don't write perople in character. It's difficult, especially at this point when I'm working on it on my own and I don't know how my portrayal of the characters will be recieved and if it will make sense.



That's what I've been doing, too. In writing a sotry I tend to take a non-linear approach, writing the parts I know what I want to do with and have on my mind and connecting them later on. The connections are often hardest as I'm finding changing the mood drastically from one part of my story (regret, guilt and grief) to more cheerfulness and then slightly back by the end to be difficult. I know I can do it, but I can't seem to make the words connect to those changes.

I have to agree that touch is one of the senses I am most connected with and it takes on a variety of forms. It's so diverse yet you don't have to overmilk the description and I find touch to be quite easy to achieve. Hearing can also be easy for me.

Sight is hard, transferring what I see in my mind to paper. It's hard to do without spending a ridiculous time on it and being overly repetitive, which I tend to do.

We are having interesting discussions lately!

Sight is a difficult sense to describe, perhaps because it's the dominant one. You get an overwhelming amount of information through sight, but you can't really 'skip' it. All the emotional information comes pretty much through sight.

I like working with hearing, taste, touch, warmth/cold - you can tell so much with those senses, sometimes it adds that extra something to the story.

[Anuna]

I'm with you and keeping everything tonally the same. I reread and rewrite quite a bit and even then I don't always feel like it 'flows'. And sometimes it flows better than I thought it did.

When I write non-linearly, harder than tone for me is continuity. I have a tendency to forget little tidbits I popped in a few chapters ago and then I can write something that can contradict it! I'm always having to reread. *headdesk*

With visual stuff, I tend to get so descriptive it gets confusing. That's why this descriptor scene with Elizabeth was so hard. Trying to explain everything it got completely muddled. I see the scenery in my head, but whether you guys will see what I see is going to be up in the air! I really admire writers who can so clearly convey the look of things.

Anuna, actually, does that very well.

I do??????

That's something I didn't know about my own writing. Whoa.

[Eri13]

I do??????

That's something I didn't know about my own writing. Whoa.

One of things I love most about reading your fics is how everything is tangibly descriptive without being overbearing. Like how you could see, feel, sense the snow in the one you recced a little earlier without needing to go overtly flowery in snow descriptions. I love writers who can do that. It feels real.

[Anuna]

One of things I love most about reading your fics is how everything is tangibly descriptive without being overbearing. Like how you could see, feel, sense the snow in the one you recced a little earlier without needing to go overtly flowery in snow descriptions. I love writers who can do that. It feels real.

Thank you - coming from you that means so much to me! If I can do real and make you guys feel, make you involved, then I'm so very happy!

This is something nobody said to me before - well not in this particular way. Thank you so much!