Fanfic Meme

[hils]

OOH! Fun! Stole this shamelessly from tellshannon815


1 – How did you first get into writing fanfic, and what was the first fandom you wrote for? What do you think it was about that fandom that pulled you in?
2 – Name the fandoms you've written in, and how much you've written in that fandom, and if you still write in it.
3 – For each of the fandoms from day two, what were your favorite characters to write?
4 – Do you have a "muse" character, that speaks to you more than others, or that tries to push their way in, even when the fic isn't about them? Who are they, and why did that character became your muse?
5 –If you have ever had a character try to push their way into a fic, whether your "muse" or not, what did you do about it?
6 – When you write, do you prefer writing male or female characters?
7 – Have you ever had a fic change your opinion of a character?
8 – Do you write OCs? And if so, what do you do to make certain they're not Mary Sues, and if not, explain your thoughts on OCs.
9 – Pairings – For each of the fandoms from day two, what are your three favorite pairings to write?
10 – Pairings – Have you ever gone outside your comfort zone and written a pairing you liked, but found you couldn't write, or a pairing you didn't like, and found you could?
11 – Genre – do you prefer certain genres of fic when you're writing? What kind do you tend to write most?
12 – Have you ever attempted an "adaptation" fic of a favorite book or movie but set in a different fandom?
13 – Do you prefer canon or fanon when you write? Has writing fanfic for a fandom changed the way you see some or even all of the original source material?
14 – Ratings – how high are you comfortable with going? Have you ever written higher? If you're comfortable with NC-17, have you ever been shocked by finding that the story you're writing is G-rated instead?
15 – Warnings – What do you feel it most important to warn for, and what's the strangest thing you've warned for in a fic?
16 – Summaries – Do you like them or hate them? How do you come up with them, if you use them?
17 – Titles – Are they the bane of your existence, or the easiest part of the fic? Also, if you do chaptered fic, do you give each chapter a title, or not?
18 – Where do you get the most inspiration for your fics (aka "bunnies") from?
19 – When you have bunnies, do you sit down and start writing right away, or do you write down the idea for further use?
20 – Do you ever get bunnied from other people's stories or art in the same fandom?
21 – Sequels – Have you ever written a sequel to a fic you wrote, and if so, why, and if not, how do you feel about sequels?
22 – Have you ever participated in a fest or a Big Bang? If so, write about your favorite experience in relation to one. If not, are there any you've thought about doing? And if not, why not?
23 – When you post,ewhere do you post to? Just your journal? Just an archive? Your own personal site?
24 – Betaing – How many betas do you like to use to make sure there aren't any major flaws in your fic? Do you have a Beta horror story or dream story?
25 – Music – Do you listen to music while you write? Do you make playlists to get into a certain "mood" to write your fic? Do you need noise in general? Or do you need it completely quiet?
26 – What is the oddest (or funniest) thing you've had to research for a fic?
27 – Where is your favorite place to write, and do you write by hand or on the computer?
28 – Have you ever collaborated with anyone else, whether writing together, or having an artist work on a piece about your fic?
29 – What is your current project or projects?
30 – Do you have a favorite fic you've written? What makes it your favorite? And don't forget to give us a link

1 – How did you first get into writing fanfic, and what was the first fandom you wrote for? What do you think it was about that fandom that pulled you in?

I actually remember this like it was yesterday. I was in my first year of uni and it was the first time I had unlimited access to the internet (We didn't get internet at home until 1997 and even then it was only free after 6pm and at weekends so that was the only time we could use it and we had to take turns because we only had one computer)

So I was poking around on forums and mailing lists and signing up for things related to my interests. At the time it was Buffy the Vampire Slayer which was in its third season. So I joined a few mailing lists and introduced myself hoping to make some friends with people who liked the same thing that I did (spoiler alert I am still good friends with several people I met in the Buffy fandom including my housemate jacqui_hw). Everyone was very nice and one girl asked me if I wrote fanfic.

Well, I had never even heard of fanfic so I had to go and do some research.

You know those scenes in cartoons where someone has an epiphany and the clouds part and a beam of sunlight shines down on them? That's what it felt like when I found out that people wrote their own stories about characters from their favourite movies and TV shows.

I'd sort of done it before I suppose. Upstairs in my room I have journals full of missing scenes and what character c was doing while characters a and b were doing main plot stuff. I've never shown them to anyone and I wrote them more for my own pleasure than anything else.

But when I found out that other people did stuff like that and shared it with a whole community of like-minded people. I was THERE. I had found my people and I have never looked back.

I owe so much to the Buffy fandom.

First fanfic: Buffy
First slash fic: Buffy
First femmeslash fic: Buffy
First convention: Buffy
First trip to the US: To attend the aforementioned Buffy convention

Buffy the Vampire Slayer opened up a whole world to me. A world I am still very much a part of and I will never forget that.