fanfictioncritiquegroup

Topic Question: When writing fanfictions related to the CSI franchise how do you come up with ideas for specific cases? When you come up with the ideas, how do you write them? How do you know what evidence to have the CSI's find? How do you present it?

Winnner: LLK

TQ: When I’m writing fanfics I usually rely heavily on romance or on the dynamic of all of the characters. My CSI fics don’t live up to the name “CSI” too terribly well because I don’t focus on the cases as much as I should. My fics are a lot more like the CSI of Vegas’s season 8, I worry way too much about the characters. However I always do have at least one pretty significant case in the story I’m working on at the time.

Sometimes I present a bunch of smaller cases. In my fic “Elaborate Lives” I had them working on a new case in almost every chapter. It was as though the chapters came along as episodes. I’d have dialogue as the forefront of interest in the chapter, dialogue about one thing or another, but then in the background I’d slip in some detail about the case. In one chapter in particular I had the entire team, including my OC, called to a scene. It was the mass murder of an entire family. Well I slipped snippets of “Nick noticed a print on the door frame and leaned down to collect it.” and “Greg was about to step outside for some air and a little sanctuary from the massive blood bath he was working in when he noticed something strange, there was a key sitting on the window frame next to the front door.” But that was all mixed in to a very heavy romance scene between Warrick and Catherine. It was actually pretty cute the way I did it. Even if it was all mixed in to a crime scene.

The point is that I frequently don’t rely too heavily on the crime solving aspect of CSI because I’m not too good at writing a dramatic murder and then walking the investigators all the way through the solving process. That was actually part of my ulterior motive for selecting this as my TQ. I was hoping to learn a bit from everyone.

However from time to time I do write a fic or two that focus heavily on a certain crime. I’ll spend the entire time writing the fic dabbling and out of certain bits of evidence. Like I said I rely almost solely on the personal dynamic to tell my stories but I’d feel blasphemous if I didn’t include a little crime here or there. I rely on the personal aspect because I feel like I’m good at it. The decade I spent doing theatre taught me a lot about characterization and I am quite prone to believing that I have a pretty firm grasp on my characters, so I show it off a little.

Back to the point of a central case though. I’d start out with the idea, basically, that there was a case or something that they just couldn’t solve for whatever reason. I don’t know why I think I’m going to be so much better at writing a case that stumps the CSI’s than a run of the mill “trick roll” or something like that, but I guess I just live for a challenge, ya know? But I still do it to myself. In my current project fic, “Things Fall Apart” (I had it featured once long while back) I have most of the focus relying on discovering all of the details of a specific murder. This is one time, however, that I have a lot of the information that I’m going to deliver planned out. I think the two biggest things that helped me decide what to use (which I won’t reveal because the fic hasn’t been finished yet) were sitting down and having someone talk it through with me and having a good sense of back story.

Deciding who is going to sit down and talk it out with you can be hard though. I have a few CSI fanfic writing friends who have some very distinct qualities. One is very prone to empathy and tends to think through every detail of a fanfic from the emotional perception of the characters involved. That’s a great and helpful thing sometimes, but other times it takes me weeks to put out a chapter because we can’t agree on how mean I should or shouldn’t be. Another friend I have is absolutely cruel with her characters. The things she comes up with and the suggestions she makes sometimes make me marvel at her ability to think up scenarios for CSI. Honestly I often wish I could find a way to pitch one of her plots to the writers. She’s amazing, and very detailed. She’s the person I most enjoy going to for advice on how to work out cases and stuff like that.

As for the usefulness of back story. I was taught that you don’t just want to know what’s important “right now” in the character’s life, but all of the important things. What was their first kiss like? Do they have any brothers and/or sisters? Were they a happy child? Do they have a dog? Is there mother pretty? And though when I was 11 the first time I had to do a project involving “complex characterization and back story” I thought it was absurd, I can’t say that I still have the same sentiment. Anyone who has ever even thought about embarking on a co-authored fic with me realizes really quickly that I’m so sickeningly detail oriented with my characterization that it drives them a little nuts. That’s why I love writing with Bauerfreak so much (and because she’s an awesome author, read her stuff) because she puts up with my stopping every ten minutes to question the person’s “motive” for saying or doing what they did. This kind of attention to character can only help me when I’m writing a murder. I may not be good at dropping fibers, hairs, or fingerprints but I am a pro when it comes to the reason for the crime. That helps, knowing so much about the character, to figure out what kinds of things they might leave behind. As Grissom says “they always leave a part of them behind.”

I realize that I just wrote all of that and I haven’t even begun to address the other part of the question. How do I decide on the cases? Well I guess I covered it a bit in the above paragraph but I’ll go into it a little more. Usually the cases I choose are either generic run of the mill “cases” like the ones that you’ll see every day on CSI. Like a jealous wife, spurned lover, competitive college student, or uh... a bar fight gone wrong. However sometimes I like to be a little fun so I think of things, obscure sects of humanity, that obviously have their own share of casualties but may not get the front running on screen. The sort of communities like the “little people” of “A Little Murder” or the “Furries” of “Fur and Loathing.” So you’ll sometimes see some really abstract murders and motives.

Well I don’t think that you guys could possibly have any more stamina for reading this so I’m going to cut it out and move on to the critique part of this. Sorry for saying so much, I guess I had a lot more to say about the issue than I thought. Weird considering that I really chose this TQ in hopes that I would personally learn something. Not that I don’t do so frequently. (Yay for being in charge and using your powers for corrupt, albeit interesting, reasons.)

Topic Question: How much detail should a writer go into? How do you know when to quit? How much is enough without being too much?


Winner: Zelda49


Talk about a tough question this week! And my answer, I think it going to be kind of vague. Because for me, when I’m writing detail seems intuitive to me. There’s a fine line to walk when it comes to how much is enough, how much is too little, and how much becomes burdensome to the reader, and I generally trust my instincts to tell me when I’m on the mark. One thing I consciously do, though, is try to slip details into the story where the reader will take them in, but hopefully not be thinking about them. Things like “He rested his palms on the table and leaned forward, raising an eyebrow at her when he answered.” provide a picture for the reader but are (hopefully) unobtrusive enough that the reader isn’t processing words but picturing the scene in his/her mind. I also like to keep my vocabulary simple. That’s not to say that I don’t like to use descriptive words, but I don’t pull out the SAT words, either. I don’t want my reader to have to sit with a dictionary to get through the story (because they won’t—and neither would I), nor do I feel the need to impress people with my knowledge of words. I actually would rather my reader not even think about me because s/he is too involved in the story to give me a second thought!

TQ: What about this challenge was hardest for you as a writer?

Winner: Jennifer

The hardest part of this challenge was having to write a character I've never written before. What made this really hard was the fact that I really haven't watched much of CSI:NY or CSI:LV...at least, not enough to have a good grasp of the characters on NY. And as for LV, not much in the past couple years, so the only characters I semi-know are Grissom, Catherine, Warrick, and Nick...but really I don't know them THAT well. The stories I've written thus far are for CSI:M, and while I've written E/C and H/C, I've included most of the other characters in my stories, albeit in small parts. So...choosing a character or couple to write about was HARD.

When I write a story, it is with characters I know well and I feel pretty confident I can keep them mostly in character, with maybe a small deviation. And this is part of what made writing my fic hard...I was afraid I'd fail to write the characters "in character". To be quite honest, I almost didn't participate in this challenge. To do so would require a bit of research into the characters and I have little time for that. But, low and behold I was struck with an idea while at work one day. I got home and went to the FF help forum and asked a few questions, and began writing...and while my fic didn't quite match my original idea, it did evolve from that idea.

TQ: Tell me about writing comedy! Tell me about reading it! What do you look for?



Winner: LLK

I'm actually a pretty funny person. Or so I like to think. I've always been the one to make my family and friends laugh and I've always got a joke to make about most situations. I guess I just really like making people laugh and I'm pretty good at it with my friends. Unfortunately that doesn't mean I'm any good at writing comedy. I'm not. Actually I'm absolutely terrible at it. Every now and then I'll write something that a reader will deem funny but generally no. I just don't try to be funny with my writing though. I mean I won't refrain from cracking a joke if I'm writing a character in a situation where he or she would but I don't go out of my way to write humor. I'm not good enough at it.

Reading humor can be a lot of fun. I mean sometimes it's great. It really depends on the abilities of the author more than anything else. Some people have this great ability to make you laugh and others don't. All I do know is that if I'm reading a fanfiction if the humor makes characters go OOC, well then I just don't want to read it anymore.

TQ: We all know that the more we write the better we get. What about your writing has changed most over your time writing fan fiction? What habits do you still have? Which habits do you have or have had in the past are ones you would call bad? Good ones?

Winner: LLK


Well my writing in general has changed so much over time. I remember my first fan fiction, written based on the book Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, and I remember all of the mistakes I made with it. I was so eager to write and finish my updates I don't think I even cared that such a thing like grammar even existed. It was shameful. Spelling too. The funny thing is that that book is intellectual, completely unlike the musical that was based off of it, and though I'd read such a fine piece of literature my writing didn't live up to it.

I did, however, pick up a few habits even back then that I've kept. One of which is my obsession with canon, though that too has morphed a bit over the years. Back when I was writing fan fiction based on Wicked I refused to have anything to do with the Musical because I felt it wasn't canon, now that I've moved on to CSI, I still see that passion showing. I will almost always stop reading a fan fiction when I discover that it deviates from canon, it just seems silly. I think that's because of my theatre training. I don't think I ever realized how significant that was in my life, but I think it was. One of the biggest rules of improv in theatre is that you never deny the other person's reality. If person A says there's a door there person B has to see that door and speak/react to it for the rest of the scene. I think that's kind of the same way I feel about keeping things canon. If the show says that Catherine's toe was cut off in a horrible accident as a child (the show doesn't say that) well then she can't magically have ten toes. That's denying reality. You just don't do it.

I mentioned that my view of canon has morphed a bit. It hasn't really... but at the same time I realize that as I'm writing for a show that hasn't finished being filmed yet. (Thank GOODNESS) Things do change. I try to make sure that everything I write can fit into canon, be believable with the time line of the story. Sometimes that's just impossible though. When the thing your writing for is ever changing you're never going to be 100% accurate.

Like I said my bad habit was my lack of love for grammar. My good habit was my love of canon. Now, I adore both. Obviously I still have bad habits, like procrastinating and doing most of my work in the dark AM hours. I also take way too long to update and tend to write way more than I need to. Still, I don't receive many complaints about my stuff being too long, so I'm not worried.

TQ: What genre of story do you most often write? What genre do you most often look for to read? What makes you choose those genres?

Winner: Amanda_Ruth

When I first started writing, I thought I was going to be a fluffy, sickly sweet authoress, mainly because that was how I saw myself as a writer. And my (really bad) first story only served as proof of my theory. Then I went on to write another story, and it all just went down the path to angst. I basically put the characters through enough hell it would drive even the most level headed person insane.

The pattern didn’t really stop when I started writing my third story, the one that was critiqued. Honestly, starting it off the way I did made me want to kill myself (kidding). Then, between chapters five and six of that story, I wrote a very fluffy Valentine’s Day story… but what else do you expect from a V-Day story? (I guess that explains why the story we’re critiquing is fluffy, and not the usual angst we expect from Adorelo)

And then came Irony, my most recent story. The only way I was able to describe it to my friends was OMG SUICIDAL ANGST! I was crying as I wrote it because of something tragic that had just happened at my old high school. It was basically what I was feeling at the time, so I couldn’t say that I didn’t expect what I came out with.

Anyway, what’s the rest of the TQ supposed to be about? Oh, right, the types of genres I look for to read. Gotcha. Um… that’s a toughie. I usually read angst, humor, romance, friendship, stuff along those lines. It depends on my mood. And by that I mean, if I’m depressed, I read angst, if I’m happy, I read humor, and if I’m… well, ahem… I think you know where I’m going with this. *blush*

TQ: Last time we taked about how we choose genres. This time I want to know some of your tactics about writing different genres. What elements and common devices do you employ with each genre?

Winner: LLK

I blame my utter boredom for my punctuality at the moment. I've been out of town the last few days, staying with my older brother William and his family for his birthday. Anyway, I've been so occupied with the most adorable two year old that I haven't been online much at all. Still right now I'm the only one up and since I don't know how to work the TV and it's on full blast in the living room, where I'm supposed to sleep tonight, I figured I might as well drop by and finish this up.

So, what devices do I employ when writing different genres? Well, this could either be tough for me to answer or very easy. Let's see, shall we? As I admitted earlier most of my writing centers in the angst area of things and that's very true. I am just more natural and comfortable writing for that genre so I think I'll focus on that a while.

One thing I know I do a lot is employ the use of weather as a symbol of the feelings and emotions the characters are going through. If you remember my challenge fic "Frozen" the entire thing was set outside while it was snowing. Granted the line "It's snowing" was a requirement for the fic, but I didn't have to take it the way I did. The snow was my way of giving the readers a visual idea of what Danny was going through at the time. Besides I really liked using it to give the recurring idea that he had an addiction to the pain it caused him to breathe the cold air. Snow is also prevelant in the fic I have featured this week. I'm not saying that snow's the only weather I use, just those are two examples.

Another thing I do frequently is cause my charcters some sort of physical pain. In a chapter of "Elaborate Lives" my OC was at the hospital because her son's leukemia had relapsed (I know I'm horrible). While she was there she started to see that Nick was pretty special. Well I physically manifested the guilt she was feeling by having her hit her head, uncomfortably hard, against a brick wall when she was trying to pull away from Nick kissing her. I just like accentuating the emotional pain I'm putting my characters through with other elements.

I can't give too much info on writing happy characters though. I don't do that too often.

TQ: Sometimes we write about subject matter that we don't have a lot of experience with. How do you go about addressing these issues? What makes you know when and how to do research for a piece? Which resources do you use?

Winner: Jennifer

Well this answer will be short! I don't think I've ever written a piece that contained subject matter I had no experience with...save the last project we did here where we had to write characters we've never written before (which was hard for me because CSI:M is the only CSI show I regularly watch). This is mainly due to time constraints. I can take the time to write short stories that are pure fluff because no research is involved (and it suits the genre I write...romance!), but I don't even bother to tackle longer stories, with or without chapters, because I'd have to take the time to come up with a CSI case and do research about it and investigating it. Perhaps one day I will have the time to devote to such a project...and when that time comes I'll be doing the research for anything I'm not familiar with...from certain crimes, how people react to such crimes (to include how a victim of such crime would normally react), and the methods used to investigate such a crime.

What makes me know when I'd need to do research...simple...if I write a story and I'm unsure of anything, I'd research the topic. No making stuff up. Even if I'd want to know how a dispatcher would call in a crime, or what a paramedic would say when calling in an injury, I'd look it up. Like "DB" for dead body", or "GSW" for "gun shot wound".

Resources to use...hard to say since I haven't written but one story that required research. When I wrote that piece for our last project, I was writing characters I didn't know, so I used one of the forums in Talk CSI and asked questions on the characters and their relationships. When the time comes and I decide to tackle writing an involved story, complete with a crime, I'll use what I normally use...Google, webmd.com, and I'll ask around for different websites I can use for CSI type research. Research may also involve looking up laws in whatever state my story takes place in. See why I don't write involved stories yet?! Research would take time!

TQ: There's an old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words, as writers I know sometimes it's hard for us to ascribe to that adage. Still, sometimes we can say just as much in few words as we can in many. Tell me about how quantity and quality correlate in fanfiction. Tell me about writing quality stories with few words just as using many.


Winner: Amanda_Ruth

Usually, when I’m writing a CSI fan fiction, I’ll only use procedures that I’ve seen on the show, just to have a basic idea of what I’m doing. I’ve also found that, when it comes to procedures in collecting evidence and such, I can use the knowledge I’ve gained from watching Forensic Files. I watch a lot of shows on TruTV (formerly known as CourtTV), so I get a lot of my procedural knowledge from that.

Now, when it comes to things that I may never have seen on any of these shows, like types of injuries or diseases that I want to afflict my characters with, I put a lot of faith in the internet (which isn’t always the best of ideas). If I can, I’ll go to the library and check out some books on the subject, because books are the best ways for me to get the information.

A lot of things are best learned from firsthand accounts of the subject, and that I also have an abundant amount of resources for. In the story that was featured this week, I used stories of my father’s withdrawal in order to get the best account of what it actually entails possible. I mean, I have experience myself, but not to the extent of his. It’s basically forgetting to take my birth control pill (aside from getting a head ache, I get my period… Warrick could only get the headache). My dad influenced the more serious symptoms that he suffered in the story.

As for what makes me know that I need to do all this research, it’s very simple: I don’t know everything. When something seems a tad complicated, I think: what about it do I need to know? If I ever need to know something medical, my fingers are usually itching to type WebMD before I can think twice. I’ve learned that when it comes to any disease, I can learn everything I need to know there. And if I don’t know the name of the disease, or want a disease that fits the symptoms I want the character to have, I can just click on symptoms until it gives me a decent disease (not that I think any disease is ‘decent’). By decent, I mean that is simple to describe, only entails the symptoms that I’ve described so far, and doesn’t give me a headache trying to read (seriously, I’d rather have lung cancer than tuberculosis…).

Also, I’m pretty obsessive when it comes to research. I see that LLK has revealed that she had a troubled past. I would like to say that I, too, have had a bad childhood, but definitely not to the extent of LLK. I was not abused by anyone, but, rather, lost a sister at the tender age of four. It was a very scary time for my family, but it introduced me to the shitty aspects of life very early. From that event came the learning of many things, such as the procedures in putting out a fire, investigating suspicious circumstances, growing up in therapy, medications, and everything along those lines that you can possibly think of. I always research the meds that my doctor prescribes me, and the disorders I’m diagnosed with. It’s always refreshing to see that CSI has done severe Bi-Polar Disorder in the past. Though I’m nowhere NEAR as severe as the victim on the episode, I know what it’s like to have it to an extent.

Oh, my favorite thing in the whole world is researching laws in different states </sarcasm>. It’s so hard finding viable sites on the internet, and I’m usually only able to do research on this type of thing at midnight, when the library is closed. Nevada is probably the hardest state to find laws on (at least for me) because of how lenient it is because of cities like Las Vegas and Reno. You can’t get a decent set of laws without them being different the next county over.

What I actually do love researching is music. I have the basic idea of what kinds of music the characters on CSI like, and go from there. I’ve looked up certain artists to find out if they have any new music out that follows my timeline, and then I’ll place an inconspicuous mention of the song in my story. Or I’ll just say that so and so is playing on the radio when the car starts. Stuff like that.

TQ: We talked about our favorite authors in fanfiction last week. It was a good experience for all of us I think. So... now we should talk a bit more about favorites. What does an author have to do to write a story worthy of your favorites list? What does a story have to have to be better than any other? Is it a special something? How do you decide?

Winner: Jennifer

Oh boy LLK, your questions are getting more and more hard! They're very thought provoking...which makes his question hard to answer because I swear to God, I don't put a lot of deep thought into what makes a story one of my favorites, it just kinda happens. So, um, my answer won't be a deep one.

As for what an author has to do to write a story worthy of my favorites...first and foremost, and this is probably a very shallow thing to say, they have to write a romance story (or one that is action, drama, whatever combined w/romance) involving one of my ships. And I think it goes without saying that the story must be well written, plausible, and written for the most part, in character. No outright porn, and since I ship almost exclusively Eric & Calleigh right now...no sniveling simpering weak Calleighs, and no cavalier lady's man abusive Erics.

What does a story have to have better than any others...this is the hard part. I don't really know what to say. Um...as I said, it has to be well written, which I'm sure what constitutes "well written" can differ from reader to reader. I don't much care for 'song fics', so you won't find any of those on my list of favorites.

As I said above, the story has to have a believable plot, so you won't find any science fiction stories on my list of favorites (as stuff that happens in sci fi doesn't happen in 2008). And for the love of God, names have to be spelled correctly. Nothing will get me hitting the "back" button faster than seeing Calleigh spelled "Callie".

Um...as I said, the stories must contain romance, and can be romance with some other genre like angst. I don't mind angst, but there's a point where too much angst is TOO MUCH. Stories where the main characters go from one angst ridden incident to another wear me out, make me roll my eyes, and wonder 'what next?!'. And, they lose me...I give up reading it.

Oh yeah...for me, above all else, there must be happy endings.

TQ: Okay, we've done favorites and the like. Now, with regards to writing, how do you go about handling those old 'cliched' ideas? Be that marriage, death, a child; how do you make your story stand out from the others; do you, even? Any devices you try to implement or issues you try to steer clear of?

Winner: Amanda_Ruth

Whoever said that the TQs were getting harder was definitely onto something. But I have my country music playing so I should be able to do this with the same amount of depth that I've become accustomed to.

What I have become used to seeing in fan fiction (and which really depresses me, I must say) is that all thoughts of originality have been tossed out the window. I wish I could say otherwise, but I just can't lie. But, when I do come across that rare gem of a story where the flames of clichés have been stomped into nothing but embers, I can't help but smile. The fact that I have to call them 'rare gems' is upsetting, and I vowed (after my first two stories) that I would do whatever I could to destroy the clichés, no matter how my stories suffered in the process.

The first cliché that I took and beat to death with a blunt object was 'love at first sight'. If any of you remember When Greg Met Sarah - the first of my stories to be featured here - and actually remember what you read, then you may remember some dream sequences that I had. Well, by the end of chapter six, you get to see Greg discover that the woman in his dreams is not just a dream woman. She's a real person, and as of right now he is inexplicably falling for her. Now, this can obviously be misconstrued as love at first sight... and that's the whole point ^_^. My devilish little mind decided to have Greg fall in love with someone he thought didn't exist, and then magically learn (or just totally flip out with realization) that the woman does exist, and there's no going back: he's already in love.

The next cliché to suffer for ever existing was the 'secret admirer'. This story has never been featured, and I'm not telling any of you to read it. But you may want to if you don't like being spoiled. I got really bored on Valentine's Day, and decided to write a cute little Yo!Bling story for my friend. The product was a secret admirer story called Just A Little Fun. I had the admirer do something that at least I had never seen before, and according to some reviewers, they were forced to go back to the beginning to see if I had actually done what the story said I had done. It was quite entertaining to get reviews of how cute it was.

And, the final cliché that met an untimely death in my mind was the inevitable 'first kiss'. I have been fascinated with the concept of Yo!Bling since the beginning of season five - any fellow Yo!Bling shipper BETTER know what I'm talking about. I always found that moment profoundly wonderful, and have taken to writing about it every chance I get. When I wrote the second of my stories to be featured here, Irony, I didn't really know what was going to happen until it happened. As my story came to an end, I realized that the only idea I had for the first kiss was the annoying clichéd version. Then a thought struck me, and the ending that is now present in that story is the result ^_^.

Devices I implement... hmm... that's a toughie. *digs through brain* Ah, yes... my sarcastic attitude is usually how I come up with anything funny, because who doesn't love a little bit of sarcasm every once in a while? Come on, if you watch House, then you know you love sarcasm Another would quite possibly be that little personal experience bin people usually keep in the back of their subconscious. I'm usually not afraid to use my past experiences to come up with an idea, because it's usually the best way to do anything. If that makes no sense, too bad... I'm usually the type of person to confuse another until what I say finally makes sense

Okay, the only issue I try to steer clear of is... ahem... smut... Yeah, it's really disturbing to have to read something that is terribly written, but when they take the liberty of writing smut into an already terrible story, that's what I like to call 'EPIC FAILURE'! With that said, I will never write smut. Some of the worst smut is written by fourteen-year-olds that (hopefully) don't have any experience in that kind of situation. I, a young woman approaching nineteen-years-old, am not ashamed to say that I am still a virgin, and that is why I will never attempt writing smut. I have no experience, therefore am the worst possible person to write such a thing. I also find it hard to even attempt without giggling profusely... so, yeah.

TQ: Did you find it easy, or hard to write about friendship? Was it difficult straying away from your norms? Do you think your writing was influenced by the show, or was it primarily an ‘off screen’ friendship?

Winner: Amanda_Ruth


I haven’t watched CSI: New York as much as much as I used to recently, but from the snippets I remember from when I did watch it, he and Flack seemed to be pretty close friends. I was always fascinated by Danny and his relationships with the people he works with. I loved his almost hero-worship of Mac, but I was even more entranced by his friendship with Flack. Those are the kinds of friends I like… the kind of friends who goof on each other all the time! They are the most fun to write, and most times, for me, the easiest. Writing this was no exception… until I got to the conflicted emotions in Danny’s relationship with Rikki. He seems to care for her so much, but it seems to go beyond friendship, and that’s what had me addicted to the prospect of them being together.

And, if I said that this wasn’t hard for me to write, I’d be a damn liar! This was the hardest story I have ever had the pleasure of writing. I actually loved writing new characters, because it was becoming so dull and monotonous writing CSI all of a sudden. This gave me the new enthusiasm to do other stuff that was different. I’m just happy that Danny has always been my favorite out of ANY of the CSIs… not just male… I mean, Sara was, but she left. And… she got annoying after a while. Danny has always been awesome, in my mind’s eye.

I’m pretty sure, from what I’ve contemplated, that I was more influenced by the show than anything else. Some other CSI: New York stories that I read always seem to portray Danny and Flack as good friends who care about each other, which is something that I tried to capture in the piece I wrote for the challenge. But, I think a lot of the friendship you get with characters is mainly off screen, because the shows are trying to focus more on the science aspect of it again. I feel there is a lack of CSI connections… which irks me, because the science needs to be balanced out with some kind of personal relationship.

TQ: As writers we've all had times when we've sat down and looked at our older work for the sake of nostalgia if nothing else. So, tell me, when you look back at an old piece have you ever been tempted to "fix it" do you often wish that you'd written something a little differently? What do you do next? How do you go about "remodeling" your work? OR do you find yourself simply pleased with the way a specific piece turned out even months later?

Winner: LLK

Usually when I look back on my work, even from six months ago, I get this feeling that I could have done it better. I sit and pick things apart until I end up with a wholly new story from the one I started with. I guess it's because I struggle with the final edit portion of my writing. I'm always really eager to finish and get it uploaded. Without a doubt I think that each and every new chapter is the best I've ever written, and while sometimes that is true, it's rarely ever the best I could do. I guess that's just the way it is though. I don't think I've ever seen a flawless piece of writing before, not from myself or anyone else. I guess I'm just glad for my strengths and I always hope that honest critiquers and reviewers will help me to realize my weaknesses.


I know that this isn't really part of the topic question at hand but I still feel like it might be useful, or at least fun to talk about. The greatest compliment I've ever received from someone about my writing was actually from a friend of mine. Now, generally, I don't take what my friends have to say as meaning much because I figure they're just being nice. However, this time, it really did mean something to me. My friend told me that when she's looking for inspiration for her stories she reads mine. When she's struggling with writing, be it plot, or just syntax, she comes and reads over my stuff to get in the right mindset for writing. She said that she likes my writing style, the way I use words, that she goes to my work for inspiration. I don't know, it was flattering to say the least.


Anyway when I have a story that needs work I usually sit down and go over it with a fine tooth comb changing every little thing that I don't like. The revisions hardly ever make it to being posted, but they do usually happen. Stories that start out at fifty thousand words usually end up three or four times longer when I'm done with the edit. I guess that's because generally I expound on things, or make sure I follow sub plots, better the second time through. I have been known to cut entire sub-plots from stories, but still ended up with a longer piece because of the other “fluff” or “filler” I've added in at the end.


Okay so I know that this TQ answer really wasn't to the point, at all, but let me try to explain things the way I was asking for the explanations, in the beginning. What I was really looking for, when I wrote this TQ, was how people went about their revisions. OR, if they just didn't bother. I got the idea from a conversation I had with Zelda. Anyway, my process of revision is kinda complicated, and at the same time I'm pretty sure it's simple. Go figure.


When I first look over a piece, I'm always thankful that it's on a computer screen and not in hard copy because I'd have so much red ink on it I'd want to cry myself. I don't think I've written very many things that have ever turned out so well I didn't want to revise them. Then, usually, I make cuts. Large chunks of dialogue or prose that just get removed and then I usually mark those places. Lots of big ugly symbols that are bound to stand out and then huge, capitol, letters about what changes I want to make or what I need to include there that had ended up removed. Then I go through, piece by piece, and rewrite the parts that were cut, usually trying to write a page for every four or five lines that I removed. It's my way of rewarding myself for doing the edit in the end. I guess after that, I submit both old and new pieces to someone, or a few someones, and have them comment on all of the edits. Then, I start over. IF I'm feeling especially hard working that day.


I guess that's really all you'll need to know about the edit processes of LLK. I really don't do it much. Lol.

TQ: I got the idea for this one as I was writing my TQ answer yesterday. What is the greatest compliment you've ever recieved as a writer? Why was it so significant to you?

Winner: LLK

Over the years as a fanfiction writer I’ve received hundreds of reviews but even I have to admit that some of them just tend to mean a whole lot more than others. I’m going to give you all a list of reviews and comments that I’ve received over the years, even the ones that may not have been positive criticisms.

The first isn’t something I can quote. There is a story on my profile which I obviously need to re-work desperately, but I’ll take the time to do it eventually. However, aside from the obvious grammatical errors, someone I know liked the piece enough that they submitted it to a writing contest. I recieved an email a few weeks later saying that I’d won.

The piece is "To Days of Inspiration" it’s a RENT fanfiction featuring Benny as the main character. Apparently I touched on something profound, without even noticing it. I request that none of you read the piece, as it’s really terrible. But winning the grand prize in a contest with it, even given that it’s as grammatically inept as I’ve ever written, meant a whole lot. I won three hundred dollars, a t-shirt, and a free pass to the movies for a year. I still have the shirt! The fact that I never believed in the piece, but someone else did (and cleaned it up and submitted it) and then I won, well that really meant a lot. I never would have guessed that I had any talent before that point. That’s the only reason I haven’t taken it down from ff.net yet.
Now I’ll start with actual comments I’ve received in reviews on the actual website.


Quote:
Believe me when I say this is a beautiful piece, perfect in every sense. It is very real, and I thank you for capturing your feelings and combining it with hers to make an absolute amazing story. From: gnbrules

This was the first review I received for my piece "It Wasn’t All Bad," which was the first of a few very emotionally charged pieces I’ve written. Though it’s one of the shortest I’ve ever penned out, it was probably the most profoundly important to me that I’d ever written, at the time.

The fact that this reader said that it was real and that she thanked me for capturing my feelings made me really feel like I’d written something worthwhile. Again, I never thought the piece was very good, but it was this review that made the difference. I really wanted to express something significant in writing that piece, and it was this review that really made me feel like I might have done that. I guess my goal was to touch my readers and I felt like I might just have done that because of that review.


Quote:
WOW!

I loved the whole thing but, this part is my favourite;

"Frozen minutes passed, even at their sluggish pace, and the sun had long since left them. They sat washed in a sea of snowflakes that danced between city lights."

It really enhances how beautiful your fic is. BY: workinprogress08

Submitted to my story, "Frozen," it was the second challenge piece I wrote. I received a lot of great reviews for that story, both on and off ff.net, but it was this one that really effected me the most. I strive to have a unique writing style, to be just a little different. When someone points out the phrasing of my work and says that it’s especially good, that means more than most other compliments I’ve ever received. I try to be poetic in my prose, not rhyming mind you, but poetic. I fee like the line that person pointed out had that, and it really hit me that someone else saw that too.


Quote:
Angst and Danny always seem to go so well together, and the Reuben storyline is one of my favorites. Having said that, I have to tell you what a great job you did on this piece, particularly since you haven't written NY before. You captured Danny to a T, from his guilt over Reuban's death to his fierce loyalty to those he cares about (in this case, Rikki). I can very easily picture him finding her on the roof and staying with her, not only to grieve himself but to be with Rikki as she grieves, too. Love it! Great job! BY: Zelda49

Also submitted to "Frozen." I admit that there are a few authors out there in fanfiction land that I have a deep seeded respect for. Zelda is one of them. Ever since her first critique of any of my pieces, where she found both incredibly kind, and incredibly helpful things to say about my work I’ve had a profound admiration for her.

The fact that she, of all people, had such wonderfully kind and positive things to say about my piece struck a deep joy in me. I may never have said anything about it, but it was one of the most truly amazing moments for me as a fanfiction writer.

I’m working up my list on ff.net but I realized that my best review from someone for "Things Fall Apart" may have just been something someone said to me in conversation. They told me that the way I write my prose is distinctive and one of the things they liked best about me as an author. It was always clear that I was writing, weather or not my name was on the piece, and I should take pride in that. Well, I do.

Also, another person told me, via PM for some reason, that I had the characters more in character than they’d seen in a long time in that piece. They said that I had an "incredible grasp on characterization" and that I "shouldn’t take that for granted." According to them I’m talented. *shrugs*


Quote:
I guess I'm in the minority with my review after reading what everyone else wrote. Not sure why but I just couldn't connect with how you wrote Nick in this fiction. Your grammar and idea was great...just not a fan of your character version of Nick. Sorry. BY: csiviexn28

Submitted to my last challenge piece, "To Rise
Above and Beat it." Honestly, I laughed out loud at that review. But, it was one of the most important I’ve ever received. I’ve been messaging back and forth with that particular reviewer since I received the review, hoping that she could help me with my characterization.

Unfoturnately, the best she could do was to tell me to "watch a couple of episodes and try to figure it out myself." So, honestly I’m not taking her very seriously. I think that this is an attack towards my writing staged by former friend of mine, butterflygal9070, but I could be wrong. However, it did make me re-read all of my work, I’m proud of my characterization. So, this review made me as egocentric as any of the others I’ve mentioned.
I talked briefly a few days ago about the effect that my friend Hanna’s telling me she goes to me for inspriation had on my actual resolve that I’m decent, so I won’t go into that again. I’ll just give you guys to final examples of things people have said to me that have made me all warm and fuzzy inside.

One, a favorite author of mine from middle school wrote me a letter a couple of years back. T. A. Barron. He’d read a fanfiction piece I’d written based on one of his novel series and wanted to sit down and have a chat with me. According to him I had a gift for fantasy and a raw talent for writing. He said that I shouldn’t give up on that. He gave me a seven page explanation on exactly how I would best advance in the writing world and beseached me to try. I’ve never lost the letter, and more than anything it’s made me want to succeed in the writing world. Someday, I will.
The last thing I have to talk about, however, was probably one of the greatest achievements in my tiny little life.

Several months ago now, nearly eight, the forum I’ve been a member of for more than two years went into crisis mode. All of our current members of the time had decided to leave, to walk away, and never look back. Well I wrote a long "speech" about how much our time together had meant to all of us (the ones who were standing by my side and not leaving and the ones who were fed up) and that in the end we’d all be missing a part of us if we gave up on the forums.

Well, a few days later, Gregory Maguire (the author the forum was dedicated to) stumbled upon my post. I received the following email.


Quote:
lostladyknight, I do not spend much of my free time on the forums and haven’t been back since they were first put online. However I recently stopped by to see the progress and was shocked by what I’d found. I’m sorry for the state that they are in and am contacting my agent to have something done for it as soon as possible. Please don’t give up.

I have read over all of your posts, emails, and other attempts to return homeostasis to the forums and wanted to personally thank you for all of the effort you’ve put in. You have a charismatic way with words and an obvious passion for the friends–family you’ve formed on those boards. Thank you for your dedication.

I am going to do everything in my power to see to it that you and your friends aren’t forgotten again. Your pleas for help will no to unheard any longer. I would like to personally see to it that you are rewarded for your hard work. If you will accept the position you will be made head moderator for the site. Plant A Note will be your second in command. Also, if you send me your home address I would like to mail you a special reward.

Thanks again for everything you’ve done over the years.

Gregory Maguire.

The reward I received was an autographed special edition of the novel, Wicked. I’ll keep the internal caption to myself, however.

Gregory Maguire is the one author I respect more than any other. To receive such kind and inspiring words from him was the greatest compliment in my life. The fact that it was my speech, my determination, and my love of those forums that inspired him to help us was a truly amazing feeling. I must have been on the ball when I wrote that post. I guess I do have a way with words, after all.
And... that’s really about it. There is more I could talk about, bu this is probably already one of my longest post in this thread. And I haven’t even critiqued. Oh well.

Some of the encouragement I’ve been given over the years was truly inspiring

Winner: Racefh2639

TQ: What is the greatest compliment you've ever recieved as a writer? Why was it so significant to you?
Oh God, that implies that we have to pick just one. Uh, well there's actually three that I can't pick from so I'll talk about all of them

The first one came from ladyd10:

Quote:
"I have been absolutely enjoying this story and have been eagerly anticipating every chapter. For a first fic, you did a marvelous job and I look forward to more from you. You're an excellent writer and your plot was clever and original. A left-handed shooter would have driven Calleigh crazy because she is right-handed. Great work, very in character and well thought out."

The reason that it was so significant was because, as is mentioned, it was about my first fic and I think that kind of encouragement when you're just starting out and from one of my favourite authors over at ff.net was hugely...well, significant. I was grinning like an idiot when I read that.

The second was from somethingsdont:


Quote:
Aw, I really loved this. I like how each moment ticks by and you alternate between how they're feeling, what they're thinking, and really get into their heads, especially with Calleigh's struggle. Very sad, but I'm a huge advocate of angst. Anyway, great range of emotions, excellent writing. Thanks for sharing!

Again, it was from an author that I view as a million miles away from my work and there was a time when I actually hated the fic in question, but comments like this made me reassess the piece and start to like it again. And it also made me realise how great reviews can be, so from then on, I strived to review everything that I read.

And the third was from you LLK and about the same fic.

Quote:
So much tension! Oh goodness. I decided to read this a second time becuase you mentioned that you didn't like it so much. I don't know why! It's amazing....It was so tense... so powerful.

It was significant first off because of how ridiculously I felt about this fic and how this comment helped to ease that insecurity, but mostly because you took the time to do it, after you'd seen me review someone else's work and forgive me for sounding so sappy but it really made me smile

End of very long TQ!