Weekly Fic Discussion

[lachrymosy]

(Bi)Weekly Fic Discussion

Welcome back to our (every other) Weekly Fic Discussion post!

This post can be used for any kind of fic discussion you want, but there are also a few prompt questions each week. You can reply to all of them, one of them, or none of them if you have something else you want to talk about!

Feel free to post WIP snippets, ask others' opinion on characterization, share a clip that has broken your brain, etc.!

This discussion's prompt questions:

• Technique discussion! Is there a risk you've taken with your writing technique/style for a fic that you felt paid off?


• Similarly, are there any fics you've seen that used an unexpected or unique writing style? What do you think worked well in those cases?

Comments

[blackcatofmisery]

I know I write the same all the time. Far as I can recall, there's not been a conscious effort to try a particular style or technique. As far as other fics, though, my own idea of a fic is pretty standard prose. Paragraph-style. It's still the most common I see, but there was one I noticed on Twitter (I haven't read it, although judging from the retweets on my feed, it's well liked) that's written like a group chat conversation. It uses created screenshots and documents first-person accounts of the action.

Personally, I have added chat to stories, but it's been a small part. An entire fic written like that? You do rely on what can be said, and people rarely chat like they're setting up a stage play, so it's a very limited in atmosphere but also more personal. More personal than a first-person paragraph-style fic, which is typically told by a single person rather than multiple. At the same time, getting a real feel from text can be difficult, so is the speaker actually "LOL" or really just passing the time texting on the toilet at a diner? But it works. And it's fun. To me, it's a nice change and a great example of modern effects on old art.

=^..^=~

[bookishdagger]

Honestly I don’t think I vary my technique all that much when I write…..but honestly I also don’t have a great understanding of my own writing style so maybe I can start deviating from it more when I understand it more?

In terms of fics with unique writing styles….this is my chance to recommend this absolutely INCREDIBLE fic from this year’s ficmix, Jeon Wonwoo Vs. The Dark Fold . It’s so creative and experimental in the way it incorporates video game elements into the fic and it’s just like!!!! The ultimate example of what fanfiction Can Be. it’s SO COOL.

[aceaceaceace]

I like trying out new things, but it's usually not so dramatic that I think people besides me would notice. Style wise, I've recently been pushing myself to try more for humor, and I think I have managed to get a little funnier than I used to be. Technique wise, I really like experimenting with how I approach time in a fic. I've done fics that span ~15 years, and I've done fics that drill down into a singular day, and both require very different styles and tools, imo. Right now, I'm got two WIPs that are pushing how I explore time even further (a time loop fic and a non-linear fic with past and present story threads.) They've been fun challenges to work on, but I can only hope my efforts pay off in the end...

An experimental fic that's been on my mind recently is This Time by preciouslittletime. It's a Seventeen Seokmin/Jeonghan fic that explores the same day in two different universes for the ship, connected by a vivid dreamscape. The execution of it all was just perfect to me, such a well-crafted story with gorgeous prose. https://archiveofourown.org/works/39121845

[moriendum]

"I've done fics that span ~15 years, and I've done fics that drill down into a singular day, and both require very different styles and tools, imo."

oh I agree! it's awesome that you can do both, in my head that takes skill. like, a story that spans 15 years? wow.

[bluedreaming]

Is there a risk you've taken with your writing technique/style for a fic that you felt paid off?
I don't know if it paid off or (more accurately) if I really succeeded, but I remember having a lot of fun writing resurrecting past idols for present idioms in sort of Rashomon style. I also added qr code audio as scene breaks; unfortunately they're now broken so I have to redo that part, but I think the effect was kind of neat (and I'd probably do my own audio now if I was doing it again).

Similarly, are there any fics you've seen that used an unexpected or unique writing style? What do you think worked well in those cases?
I have to admit that I have not yet read untitled (draft_2ver2_new_1b.ext) but I'm so intrigued by the premise & formatting; it just seems so cool.

[poppyseedheart]

Mods I love these questions!!

1. I love taking technical risks! I think it's a lot of fun and I've learned a lot about myself as a writer through playing around and trying new things in the low-stakes environment of ao3. Writing non-chronologically always feels like a big risk to me, and I think it especially worked in a (then / now) format in my wooyoung & changbin crossover fic larger than life when the lightning is right. I've also messed around with pov and tense, and created some fanworks that are fictional podcast episodes — pretty nontraditional, and a ton of fun.

2. The first fic that comes to mind re: a unique writing style is the goofy and eminently charming hamster!Hanbin pov in the fic please do not the hamster by rocketsummer. It is so funny and so effective!! I actually want to go reread now hehe.

[bookishdagger]

hamster!Hanbin pov.....i'm sold. how did i not know this existed

[poppyseedheart]

it's SOOOO funny truly

[moriendum]

I don't know how to answer the first question because on the one hand yeah, I like to change things up and try different styles, but on the other, it's way too subtle to really be noticeable, I think? :') I haven't played around with formatting yet even though I really, really want to.

but I have a rec: corroborating evidence by murkya uses footnotes throughout the story. it's a canon compliant tbz fic where they're also vampires and I mean, that alone would've drawn me in, I loved the worldbuilding, but I loved that particular choice of adding footnotes just as much.