Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related Keeping Focus

I copied this over from the JL8 discussion thread, because I could see it taking over:

So, how do you keep focused?

This is an interesting question, but I don't do anything in particular to stay focused... basically, if something is written well, then I will remember where I was when I pick up the story again. Where this gets interesting to me is when I write LnC fic and Smallville fic -- though Lois and Clark are the same essential characters in both iterations of Superman, I know the differences in speech and behavior. I find this fascinating because some of it I know is due to how the characters are written - for example, Smallville's Lois loves heavy metal and monster trucks -- but some of it is more subtle, like how Dean Cain delivers a smolder versus Tom Welling. Are the differences detectable because of the actors, the writing, or both? And how do I keep them straight when writing fiction where I can use my own imagination and yet keep the same characters and amazingly not get them confused? (consequently when they do overlap -- see Mr. and Mrs. Kent -- I am fully aware that they do) No idea...

It helps when all the stories you read and write are LnC related, then all the characters are the same. Since getting a Nook for my birthday in 2012, making it much easier to read long / epic stories from the Archives, other stories don't hold much interest for me. I've have "Life of Pi" sitting on my bookshelf for... <<clears throat>>... years, but still never have cracked the cover. I hear it's good though. I usually use my free time to write, not read.

My daughter is currently reading 4 different chapter books ), which was why I was often tempted to work on it. Actually, that's why Another Lois wasn't longer, because Wrong Clark was my reward for finishing it. When trying to work through some of the harder parts of WC (dark, angst-filled, or arguing segments), I've been tempted to start working on Book 3 (still untitled). It is the carrot dangling from the stick for me to finish WC, believe it or not.

I've always had multiple story ideas floating around in my head, since I started writing (30 years ago), so I'm used to it. It also helps not to have an active RL. In RL, I'm horrible at remembering people's names or faces, and am constantly embarrassing myself because I'm still working on faking the knowledge passably. There's the other consequence of remembering all those character names, and plots, my brain doesn't have room for RL.

VirginiaR, I seriously admire your ability to create literal novels out of the LnC universe. That does require some serious memory capacity! But do you write outlines first or just run with the plot thread until it gets tangled again?

And btw, 'Life of Pi' is an awesome read!

"Missing Lois" was my attempt to explain where the baby at the end of S4 came from and wasn't outlined. Since Lois basically spent S4 in alt-dimension, there was that timeline to follow, but other than that I just let my characters lead. I knew by May of '97, there had to be a roughly 3 month old baby arrive in canon dimension, so that was the only guideline I gave my characters.

There was no outline at all with "Green-Eyed Monster", which was my attempt at writing a short 10-15 part story. :rolleyes: It was more of a creative writing exercise to see if I could put (most of) the characters in service / blue collar jobs and still have it work. "Nightfall Honeymoon" was the sequel, and only got separated from GEM because I wanted to do an Nfic version.

"Another Lois" basically followed the canon timeline end of S2 and into S3, and I had a very rough outline for it. I knew basically what the ending would be before I got there though.

"Wrong Clark" is outlined with a little more detail, because it deals a little bit with time-travel, but it's also following canon timeline, so the "details" are mostly how it differs from canon. I know the main plot points my characters have to hit and I aim them in that direction and then let them have free rein. Often they come back to me and show me interesting bits of fluff, which we need to explore in more detail.

Unless I am determined to keep a story short, I usually let my character determine the path. Even then, my one-part story usually ends up being 3 parts. As I mentioned before, if I outline in too much detail then I lose interest in writing it because I already know everything that's going to happen and I feel the creative process hindered.

*COUGHCOUGH*

Ahem. Sorry. Did you say focused??

No. Not focused. Absolutely unfocused and very easily distracted. Obsessive, yes. Compulsive, definitely. Focused... Ooh! Shiny object!

Well, I recently did a count and I have seven half-published stories in the works and many, many others on hold (across different fandoms too, though they're mostly LnC or Castle). I have a lot of writing and art projects to do for school and a million and a half family issues to deal with... Plus every now and again I revisit some of my own stories that I swear one day I'll visit... Then there's tv shows that I don't intend to get addicted to, and movies to see, and friendsto hang out with etc, etc... The one thing that actually does work in my favor is my obsessive/addictive personality. I can stay focused on one thing for a period of time, and pretty much only that... It absorbs into my mind. The trouble is the rest of life's distractions getting in the way. I hate having to do things. But at least I'm good at list making, and when I've got a schedule I work about ten times better.

If anybody does have other tips though, I'd love to hear them...

NO!!! Not good. Not good at all! Just my opinion though... You can judge for yourself...

I didn't really think about overlap. Since I write for both Lois and Clark as well as Superman movieverse (not MoS), I tend to struggle with that as well. The only thing is that I feel the LnC character representations are better so I *sometimes* use them to guide the regular Superman characters through their exploits, especially when I'm trying to correct a wrong.

The most complicated thing that I'm dealing with currently is actually two in-progress stories in the LnC verse. The first being my upcoming "Tales of Dystopia" series in which things are complicated because they're LnC inspired characters but in the future, which is confusing in itself... Then I've also more recently been working on an anti-universe Lois and Clark that is creating some *WAY* jumbled up-ness in my brain... It's hard because you have to take the characters you know and love and flip them on their heads, which makes keeping up with other stories difficult too... So when I'm writing those I basically have to distance myself from anything else I'm writing/reading/planning on doing with my life and just let the obsession take over...

Focused? Uh. uh. Wish I could say I was very focused. Most of my stories are sitting on my computer completely unfinished without an even probable ending of any sort. I'm the kind of person who tries to avoid stories that have not been finished or on a schedule of some sort or another and try to do the same for my own as a result.

Which means many of them have not seen the light of day yet or if they have they're only a thousand words or so at most.

If you look at all the Lois/Clark stories I've written thus far (I found out recently that I've posted/published more Reeve movie than LnC at this point even though I have more ideas for the LnC than Reeve stories) the only story that I've gotten close to 10,000 words I ended up leaving kind of uncomplete/abandoned.

Focus? What's that?

I'm constantly distracted by reading fic rather than writing my own.

In terms of ideas ... I have a notebook I write in whenever I get an idea that has merit. I'll also add extra bits whenever they come along, and when I'm finally ready to start on a story there's often a good set of notes to work from.

Unfortunatly, writing for both SV (over 3 years) and LnC (just starting) I now have far too many 'ideas' that are probably never gonna see the light of day. Currently I'm desperate to finish the SV stories that have been lingering for over a year. Thankfully I finished my AU/historical/romance/Pirate SV story last week.

When it comes to writing; back in the day when I wrote more often I would occasionally be 'inspired' to write a short, or vignette, while in the middle of a longer story, but now I tend to focus on one story at a time. Mostly because I have a hard enough time finishing them up now as it is (case in point - TOGoM 2013 is coming along slowly)

When it comes to reading I only read one novel at a time on my Nook, but since online fanfiction is episodic I juggle several stories simultaneously.

On the L&C message boards it's not too hard to follow since there are only a few ongoing stories being posted at a time. On fanfiction.net (when reading Castle fic) it's more difficult to keep up since the volume of posts is somewhat daunting. There I tend to review the last 'chapter' posted before the reading the newest one to help me reintegrate with the story. This also helps distinquish between storylines which are similar, which happens a lot on that site.

Also, since I have no real life beyond work, I tend to check out both sites daily which makes it easier not to get too far behind.

There is a lot out there and it can get kind of crazy sometimes but the ones I really feel sorry for are those people who "don't read". Them I don't understand at all.

Tank (who admits that he just had to write his own 'Castle' story after the finale even though no one will read it)

Agreed! Castle fic can get more than a little bit daunting and absorbs more of my time than I'd like even though I love reading it and finally started writing some of it too... I really wish they had a better format for Castle fic more like these boards.

Really? Shoot me the link! I've been kind of (absolutely) addicted to a lot of the post-Watershed fics out there... I had to force myself to ignore the impulse to write one myself and just stick to the AU story I had planned previously... But I love reading them, so I'd love to read yours!

Actually, the big reason why Wrong Clark is easier to follow is we only have one Clark and one Lois as characters. While Lois does remember the other Clark at times, since she does not know it is a memory or a different Clark, I don't think there is much cause for confusion. At least I have not been confused.

I myself start writing a lot of stories, but don't seem to every develop them much. I know I should do more, but so far I havn't.

Just a tip -- get a beta. They can give you feedback which might encourage you to write further. It can also help keep you on a sort of writing schedule and help you make a deadline for yourself to finish something. But at the same time there is no pressure -- only as much pressure as you want. There are LOADS of excellent ones here!

Betas are awesome (well, they can be) - it's such a boost to see that someone's laughing in the right spots and reacting the way you wanted the reader to do. Also, they can point out where you're unclear and confusing them, which is very helpful. You want to find someone whose attitude is "I love what you're doing -- and you know what, I think it could be even better in these spots".

You do have to go into it understanding that you're not already perfect, though. Your beta is there to help you improve, but that involves criticism, and criticism can be tough to take if you're not prepared to handle it.

At the same time, remember that your beta is not God and they're not always right It's your story. Consider their suggestions, but feel free to ignore if they're not what you want the story to do. It's especially helpful if you can articulate *why* the suggestions don't work - you can understand more about what you're trying to do. Knowing when something feels right is good, knowing why it feels right is better IMHO.

PJ
who has learned soooo much from beta readers and other FOLCs through the years - this fandom is amazing.

I just remembered something, too. I don't know if this is just a me thing or what, but I tend to think to music (why I don't always like pop music). I don't know why, but for some reason whenever I'm driving and thinking about a story (about 90% of the time) I kind of create like a minin music video in my head out of my story and edit it down to match the pace of the song. Then, when I hear the song later I can associate the story with it and kind of work on it in my brain. Also, I listen to the same song on repeat a lot, so I can really get going with that...

Might be just an obsessive me-thing.

That makes sense, not that I have that talent in any means. But I've heard of people using words or clues to try and help them remember facts for tests or people's names (There was even an episode of Hanna Montana where she learned the bones of the body to music). I've heard of the concept, but being able to remember one fact vs. the other made no sense to me (putting them to song, does, on the other hand, make more sense.)

Music often inspires me. I'm a bubble-gum oldies fan (truly believe I should have been a teenager in the 1950s - possibly a former life ), so often songs from the 50s-60s (and into 70s and rarely the 80s - even though that was my decade) make me imagine what Lois and Clark might think if they heard such a song, where they would have to be in their life to have it inspire them or be to have it mean something to them, (which is why 'Green-Eyed Monster', and even 'Missing Lois' have many song references in them). I've even come up with an alt-ending of 'Wrong Clark' inspired by music (I'm trying very hard not to keep WC less of a music themed story), so I'll torture my Readers with that at some time after I finish that story (it's more of a tongue and cheek spoof ending version, although the plot would be the same).

I'd love to do a story where of like the musical demon from Buffy\'s musical episode visits Metropolis and sets everyone to song. Sadly, that would work better in a more visual medium.

Okay, sorry, went totally off topic. So much for my focus. :rolleyes: