kficanon | part thirty nine

ik i'm so tired of it i'm just like "HMPHH i'm just gonna write this shit and idc how it comes out" BUUUT that's easier said than done as always. could you elaborate on the pacing issues you use to struggle with anon? bec honestly pacing is ??? to me rn, i barely think about it

it's a crossover. which is another level of hard bec i usually find inspiration by looking at videos and gifs of the ship but all i've got to work with here is like 3 barely-there moments u___u

hmm i like to ramble a lot but some of these rambles hinder the pacing/makes the story too long-winded/story gets too detailed etc. however, some details are relevant later in the story, so i go back and forth in my doc to cut things that are not brought up again and keep those that are. but that's problematic as well especially for long fics, which i've probably spent months on and forgotten most of the details in the middle. i have problems linking scenes together, and my scenes begin abruptly and kind of hinders the slow/fast pace of the entire story.

ahhh well i guess you could always put yourself in their shoes and hypothesize what they would do around each other. (the fic i'm working on now has the same issue and i'm just T__T because the main pair's in the same group dammit)

ok so what is the average length of your average fic? bec seeing how my average fic is around 1k i feel that i really should get a bit rambly and build out the plot a bit instead of just making it as simple as possible. i'm afraid to get long winded but a rational part of me says i'm not anywhere near that yet lol. i do like reoccuring details tho, i don't think you should be afraid to include those anon.

yeah that's what i try to do. but like you i have characterization issues, like i have written this person many times and i usually feel comfortable writing them but suddenly i'm all IHNI WHAT THIS PERSON IS LIKE??? and also working in the elements of the au and how that affects the characters and yeaaah it's hard.

da, but maybe you'd benefit if someone told you some of the person's apparent character traits. everyone is going to characterize differently, but if you're stuck on something it could help to have a different viewpoint. that or rewatch an interview/show to analyze how they react with others

these are good tips anon, ty! i do think i have a good grasp of their characterization tho, i'm just doubting myself when it get srs /o\

ia also it helps to pick out a couple of traits that define them so aus won't change them into characters that are barely recognisable

my masterlist is quite polarized in terms of wc. if i were to average it out it would be 5k? i'm surprised! being concise is a good thing (also something i'm not good at), but if you want to broaden your ~horizons~ you could always elaborate more, but you'd run into the risk of changing your style u____u yeah, i keep the recurring details and eliminate those that are one-off and don't drive the plot.

i try not to think much about characterisation since it's so subjective. we can never get it completely right, but i just think it should be believable enough. aus are fun! i really enjoy aus because they let me play around with the characters and just take the essential parts of them, and think of how they would react to a particular situation when there're limited options/things work differently.

sidetracking but: one thing i don't understand is how dongwoo is said to be consistently written wrong in fics when it seems pretty fine to me lol. minus the part where the authors do include real faults in his character but i would argue that it's the same for most kpop fics if that were the issue.

being concise can be a good thing but it often means very small and limited stories. i have written longfic before (like 20k) but it was over a year ago and i would like to get into plot-writing again. i don't care much for perserving style, i'd rather experiment and evolve.

no ita, for me it's more abt reaching a characterization that i can stand for and feel happy with. i love aus! it's basically the only thing i write. i often fall in love with an au and have this very distinct feeling regarding it that i want to convey in my fic. i try to work more on surroundings and environmental descritions bec of this, but it's hard to keep it at a good level so it doesn't feel pointless or overshadows the actions and interactions of the characters

i don't read infinite fic but i can understand that dongwoo is a tricky character to write. that either ppl will totally agree with you or think you're totally wrong. i think a good trick is to never go for any extreme, because ppl are rarely black and white. they have different sides to them that you should try to include. without making them all bland and identical to one another ofc lol

then in that case please ramble more lol

i think it's really good that you do that. a lot of aus tend to focus on worldbuilding, and while the universes are memorable, the characterisations are compromised to drive the plot and they sound slightly unrealistic in many cases.

"but it's hard to keep it at a good level so it doesn't feel pointless or overshadows the actions and interactions of the characters"
what do you mean though? (sorry it's late over here, my brain isn't in tip top condition)

ia! this is the most headache-inducing part for me since i'm so used to fics that try to paint characters as saints and it just feels odd to me when my readers tell me that my characters aren't very likeable (((but that's the point)))

yeah i'll try lol. at this point i'm just whipping myself to do proper brainstorming and outlining and just put as much on the paper as possible so i can sort out the good parts later.

oh, that's prob partially me doubting myself 24/7. but like too much world-building, going on and on abt the environment for instance, i find often doesn't serve a purpose and it feels very.. detached from the story? like here's a huge block of descriptions and here's a block of action. i don't want the au to be more important than what happens in the au, no matter how much i like it. so i try to weave it all together, mix environment details with actions, in the same sentence preferably. and like what you said abt details, i don't want to include any details that don't serve an actual purpose. i'm prob way too restrictive with this tho, so i think my prose might come out a bit.. dry. it's all abt fidning a balance, ig.

huge kudos to you for writing unlikeable characters, anon. those are often the most interesting to me. (as long as they have something in them that i can sympathize with. but just, regular human beings doing shitty things sometimes. that's a good character.)

i noticed that thing about dongwoo too, which really confuses me because if people have such strong feelings that dongwoo is being characterized wrong all the time, where is and what is the more 'acceptable' character traits? some one should list them out

ia that characterization is subjective since we really only get a clue to half their personality when they're presenting themselves to us on stage (the other half is the dark side we'll probably never see). as long as the character in question is believable (as is, isn't the complete opposite of what they present to us as idols) mostly, i'll go along with almost anything! it's nice to read fics where characterization is a carbon copy of the same type of person over and over again

ia completely with what you've said r u me

yes someone should list them out so i can reference /shifty eyes

maybe i am you and you are me

idt it's that people give dongwoo "unacceptable" traits, more that they don't really give him ANY traits beyond sweet and caring and motherly.

though tbh these days i would gladly read any fic about dongwoo, poorly characterized or not. it feels like ages since i've read anything with him as a main character.

same da from below but, i don't see any problem with having a lot of details in your story (unless those details just lead to plot holes). i don't really understand why exactly in kpop fandom simple fics are so highly sought after? maybe it's because it seems a lot of people only like reading 10k and under? idk. i enjoy reading stories with a lot depth to them too. it's the details that can make a story quirky and memorable.
maybe the main character/s hit a lot of snags on the way that branch out in different directions, or perhaps those details are crucial to foreshadowing something later.
i guess if you go on and on about how the character can't stand the color of the blinds then maybe yes, the delete key is your friend.

i read a good line on a blog once that said something along the lines of, "every sentence you write should move the plot forward" if it's something you feel the reader should know that would enhance the plot, put it in \o/ if it's just a side note that isn't important, get rid of it \o/

"every sentence you write should move the plot forward" is what i try to do! when i ramble it's pretty cringe-worthy because i'm just going on and on about someone's recollection of their past when one sentence could be equally effective. i try to foreshadow with every single detail i have in my fic. if it's not foreshadowing/explaining what's going on/explaining what happened before then it'S FUCKING GONE.

hmmm idt to-the-poin fics are that popular anymore? it's the long fics that're getting all the attention. ig readers just don't like long, drawn-out fics that lead to nowhere. we have little time for fanfics after all.

ahh i see better now how you're writing! you're like the opposite of how i write. so far all i manage to do is write character and plot action with as much description that is needed to make the scene lol i'm not sure if you need to go as far as foreshadow every detail though. i'm not sure if for ex. the fact that billy bites his fingernails when he's nervous is going to play a huge role in him overcoming his fears and becoming a superhero.
and it's cool when you don't explain what's going on!! let the reader guess for once. i also find it awesome when characters lie to other characters or don't expand on something but go back to it later and it's like woah shocker!

i guess i'm just not in a fandom that has long fic (i think you mean to the point fics i'm not really sure what you're saying sorry). i'm not sure if i can agree with you on the little time for fanfics..../as i read a gigantic 20 chapter fic in a different fandom

hmm i do write enough to fill up a scene, but any detail must be mentioned again somewhere in the story, for me. or it could be part of the overarching theme. i concentrate on foreshadowing for short fics mostly. my writing can get pretty sparse. i leave out movements ie chewing of fingernails if it doesn't show what the character is feeling at that point in time/character development. i lol'ed at your analogy though :') i do my very best to insert some twists in my fics but they sometimes don't come out right |D

yeah i forgot the 't'. well |D but you do want your time spent to be worth it, no?

little billy has a lot to learn about becoming a superhero ok??? lol
i find it interesting that you say every detail must be mentioned again. i think i like where you're going in the way that these details are a theme because if you mention that billy likes his red boots because they remind him of his mom, you could later expand about how other things remind him of his mom not just his boots - and then billy can realize that he's been suppressing his grief over the fact that his mom died because evil villain joebob exploded his family house and now all he has left are these objects. and he has to visit the grave to begin the healing process

i have not the ability to write meaningful fics under 5k :( i just don't currently have a style that discusses deeply into things...i just...love...action and reaction

eh, i've read a lot of long fics where i'm like well that was interesting on to the next! i usually read them for the plot. i can't say i've ever read a long fic and was like that was horrible why did i waste my time with that? (now there are some novels...i've been forced to read...) if i'm still reading them then they must be doing something right even if the plot is all over the place

oh damn you've got me

that's fine too! fanfics are for fun and i love reading cute curtainfic about my otps :3 can you tell me more about which genres you tend to write about?

i'm like that too! although if the style/dialogue/plot isn't very well thought out then i'd skip it after skimming the first few paragraphs since i don't have the time.

/pats your head

i write romance and comedy fics (alright i'll confess most of it is porn). i think i've written like 20 fics but tbh i don't think i can nail down anything that i write concretely bc i'm very sporadic

i have read the start of a couple long fics where i'm just like ?_? i don't get it, so they probably just weren't about something that i found interesting - not that they are bad, just not my cup of tea

pwp my fave \o/ sporadic in writing technique or in style?

yeah, there could be that. i think openings are especially important. if an opening is mundane idt that'll keep the readers' attentions. not that i'm particularly good with openings /o\

sporadic in terms of genre and subject matter i just sort of write whatever type of thing i want to so most of it can't be connected together besides my love for romance and comedy
and porn

what happens to me is that i always write an opening and them get a couple thousand words then look back and i'm like well, that was a really stupid opening there is no hooks and no conflict for the character or reader to really care about the story. and then i go rewrite the opening

the fic i'm working on rn needs a new opening. i just have to decide what. the central conflict of the story is about the main character finding a new place to belong with a new group of people. so it's like man vs himself.
i think i'm going to try and capitalize on his lonliness or something
but any other type of ideas would help me out! and hey you might just see it in the fic /o/ but i'll never tell hehe

part thirty nine

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