#Don’t look at me… this wrote itself 😇😂

[powerbottomeminem]

Questions: 2, 3 and 17 😇

2. Why do you write fanfiction?

I write stories, some happen to be in the form of a fanfiction. Fanfictions have the advantage that the setting and the characters are by and large already established, the rules of the world are already made up and the reason of how the people know each other is given. That’s a lot of writing work already done and I instead can go straight into the questions I’m actually interested in.

I see the difference when I planned "Flip the Coin, Bitch!", as I did more than six months of planning and creative work before I wrote a single word of the prose itself. And I’m still taking a lot of cues from the established experiences these people actually had and translate them into this world I created, instead of doing it from scratch.

Or looking at "The Arsonist EP", it’s a story I’ve been working on since high school. The characters and the world and the plot’s all mine, and it’s a ton of work. "The Arsonist EP" is actually a practice run so that I get to know my own characters and how they interact with each other. A practice run to see if I can even write these people.

A fanfiction that uses everything from the original work has a lot less work outside of the prose to do. You can get earlier and deeper into the weeds of your subject matter because you firstly don’t have to create a whole freaking world and cast and secondly you don’t have to introduce a whole freaking world and cast - the reader already knows.

That’s another difference I see between my stories: "Love Is Ǝvil" meanders at the beginning because I didn’t know what I wanted to write. I just wanted to write something and I sorta stumbled into my story. But I didn’t have to establish anyone.

For "Flip the Coin, Bitch!" I have to create an introduction to the world and the cast, which is effectively the first four chapters where I lay out some key information about this world and some of the characters. I know exactly what my subject matter is but I can’t get to it until I have laid enough groundwork for the reader to follow me.

There’s advantages to writing for an already existing IP. The constraints can also be disadvantages when you want to get creatively wild and your vibe clashes with the original.

For a lot of fanfiction writers the built-in audience is also an advantage. It’s easier to get people excited for something they already know than for something completely new by a completely new writer.

As a writer of Eminem fanfictions these days that particular advantage doesn’t apply to me 😂 But when I was writing for One Piece (Zoro4ever), I could always count on a lot of people reading, liking and commenting on my work. It’s nice to know that your writing has impact of some sort.

The difference between fanfiction and original work to me is that of a tool, not about quality or superiority. You need to know what your story needs, and what you want to write about. Then take the path that fits best for your purposes.

3. What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

I concentrate on emotions. What I’m interested in is why humans are how they are and how their inner world interacts with other people. Personally, I think we easily lose sight of the fact that another person’s as immensely complex and contradictory faceted as we are. I like to dig into that.

Plus, I think my way with words is good to read and evocative. I find a way to keep a reader interested in a person’s inner monologue, to follow a particular train of thought regardless of personal tendencies and to feel what the character is feeling. There’s great power in words and I like to think that I know how to use this to my advantage.

In my stories there usually ain’t much action, it’s all about the reaction for me. So you won’t read about car chases and big epic battles in my stories, but about the little things we fight in ourselves. To me that’s more relatable and I put a lot of effort into my prose to make those inner monologues as relatable as possible.

BTW, I love adjectives and I’m gonna use them as much as I want ✨

17. A trope you’ll never, ever write for.

That rape is fun for the victim 🤢

I was once asked the following:

How about character A is a tad bored with the relationship, so to spice things up they disguise themselves, kidnap and rape their lover. After character A reveals that it was them all along character B is totally okay with it all and finds it sexy even - mind you, character B was *not* in on the joke beforehand.

Nope, I ain’t writing that. Writing an adult and consenting couple who role play rape? Sure, no problem. Writing that rape inside of a relationship can happen and feelings afterwards might be complicated? Absolutely a possibility (and I have done so in "Love Is Ǝvil"). But it’s not a fun prank to pull on your partner and I ain’t writing that.

Thanks for the questions, anon 💚

#ask me shit #I love talking about writing #and other things #potentially triggering #brief rape discussion