Fanfic Writers' Virtual Water Cooler

[Princess Awinita]

My teen idol has and always will be Robin Williams

[Starfist]

I have to admit. That as a red blooded male my list of 'crushes' is long...
Thankfully they are just flights of fancy. But I have met some of them.

[Whytewytch]

I have to admit. That as a red blooded male my list of 'crushes' is long...
Thankfully they are just flights of fancy. But I have met some of them.

Did you have the poster of Farrah? How about the other "Angels"? Daisy Duke? WHOOPS! **shoves her age back into the closet**

On a side note, if anyone's interested, we may be doing a writing sprint this evening at 9 EST. Might not, too--it's nebulous, ATM. Frankly, my brain may not be functioning at that time after the long, busy, tight-scheduled day that I have ahead of me. BUT, others may join in. And, as always, anyone is welcome to choose the time that works for them and start one. Hope to see you there tonight.

[Sealurk]

I have just spent five minutes trying to explain the fundamentals of Farscape to my mum (she's a Ben Browder fan), getting responses along the lines of "So Floaty Man, Blue Lady and Wig Man are prisoners on the big ship?".

OPTION A: "Rygel the XVI is a Hynerian and Dominar of 600 billion subjects, Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan is a Delvian priestess and Ka D'Argo is a Luxan warrior, and they are all captives of the Peacekeepers and held aboard Moya, a living spaceship known as a Leviathan used by the Peacekeepers as a prison ship."

OPTION B: "...yes."

[Whytewytch]

I have just spent five minutes trying to explain the fundamentals of Farscape to my mum (she's a Ben Browder fan), getting responses along the lines of "So Floaty Man, Blue Lady and Wig Man are prisoners on the big ship?".

OPTION A: "Rygel the XVI is a Hynerian and Dominar of 600 billion subjects, Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan is a Delvian priestess and Ka D'Argo is a Luxan warrior, and they are all captives of the Peacekeepers and held aboard Moya, a living spaceship known as a Leviathan used by the Peacekeepers as a prison ship."

OPTION B: "...yes."

I suggest Option B.

[Nikki Alexander]

General question for you all, mainly a curiosity.

When you're coming up with characters for your fics, do you write out details about them before hand or work them out as you go along. I'm only asking because I'm kinda thinking about writing out like a profile for one or two of my OC's for my fic. I used to have this novel writing software and you could work on character profiles, but I don't have it anymore so I'm downloading it again, but I'm thinking of using that.

[Sealurk]

General question for you all, mainly a curiosity.

When you're coming up with characters for your fics, do you write out details about them before hand or work them out as you go along. I'm only asking because I'm kinda thinking about writing out like a profile for one or two of my OC's for my fic. I used to have this novel writing software and you could work on character profiles, but I don't have it anymore so I'm downloading it again, but I'm thinking of using that.

Personally I tend to do both, depending on the character. I often come up with a number of details or characteristics I want to use prior to starting writing, but I find the character grows and changes as I write them.

I make ridiculous quantities of notes, and character profiles feature among them quite a bit. The big secret to writing? Find what works for you and go with it. Try different approaches - some will work for you, some won't. If, like me, you write the equivalent of a doctoral thesis in notes before starting the story, go for it. If you find spontaneity and on-the-go characterisation works better for you, go for that.

Hope that helps.

[Nikki Alexander]

^ At the moment I have a few ideas about one of my main OC's, at the moment I'm having an indecisive moment about her name.

[Whytewytch]

General question for you all, mainly a curiosity.

When you're coming up with characters for your fics, do you write out details about them before hand or work them out as you go along. I'm only asking because I'm kinda thinking about writing out like a profile for one or two of my OC's for my fic. I used to have this novel writing software and you could work on character profiles, but I don't have it anymore so I'm downloading it again, but I'm thinking of using that.

I work them out as I go along, but I write the details in a character sheet or just a Word doc. I like to have pics for reference, too. What program are you using? Scrivener? Svenja Liv on DeviantArt has some awesome word count docs that have novel info pages, too.

[Sealurk]

Have you tried baby name books? I also use film credits and the 'people we want to thank' in album sleeves to mine for good names. And then I come up with Dave Taylor... *head desk*

[Whytewytch]

^ At the moment I have a few ideas about one of my main OC's, at the moment I'm having an indecisive moment about her name.

I'm with Sealurk. On both things. Find what works for you--mix it up a bit until you know. Also, baby name books are great. I used to use them all the time. Freaked Mr WW out after he'd been "fixed" to see me reading one of those. I also go to baby name websites, if I'm looking for a particular meaning or lineage or whatever. Love Scandinavian names! Ooh! And Irish!

[SF_and_Coffee]

NEVER! They must be fed oysters and strawberries and have the penultimate Barry White collection.

...because you have the ultimate collection?

Seaboe

Dammit, I'm out of green again, at least with your name on it. Consider yourself greened, with the real deal to come when GW will let me.

[SF_and_Coffee]

Or David Soul.

Seaboe

But this song brings back such memories! Not to mention putting me in mind of a blog series that's hilariously well worth reading, especially the comments section.

Why yes, I do listen to schlocky old music from the Seventies. Can't help it; I'm very much a product of my era.

[Princess Awinita]

General question for you all, mainly a curiosity.

When you're coming up with characters for your fics, do you write out details about them before hand or work them out as you go along. I'm only asking because I'm kinda thinking about writing out like a profile for one or two of my OC's for my fic. I used to have this novel writing software and you could work on character profiles, but I don't have it anymore so I'm downloading it again, but I'm thinking of using that.

Normally in my case when my characters come to me I just listen and write what I'm told because otherwise it gets a little lacking in the sleep department if I forget or miss anything because my muse and characters wont let me sleep a wink until the mistake is fixed

[Princess Awinita]

^ At the moment I have a few ideas about one of my main OC's, at the moment I'm having an indecisive moment about her name.

I'd recommend NameMage but sadly MapMage went out of business