Well, that's not a bad idea, the unfinished fic clearinghouse, but maybe more of an unfinished story swap meet, where you could trade your unfinished story with another person's and only if both parties agree? I wouldn't go for it personally but that's only because I still want to finish all my stories no matter how long it takes. But I might consider writing a story and intentionally leaving it unfinished for swapping purposes. I'm writing my first ever fanfic (that sounds like some kind of toy for little girls). Okay, technically, it's my second ever fanfic. Things are going well so far (even though I am apparently the world's slowest writer), but I keep changing my mind about the tense. I'd originally started it in past tense, but then decided to go with present tense because it seemed more exciting. However, now I'm thinking that present tense used for a longer story - and this one will be long, since it's being written for zulu's accursed House Big Bang Challenge - could get super annoying. Especially if the story covers a number of months. Any thoughts, opinions? I am often conflicted as to what tense to use, and I just write out the entire story switching tenses at will. By the time I get to the end, I will know what tense the stories requires, and use Find and Replace and many edits to change all the verbs to a consistent tense. I have been into present tense lately because it's easier to write the sex scenes. I find present tense to be cinematic and visual, and past tense more 'introspective' and thoughtful. Past tense works fine for some kinds of narratives. My advice is not to be such a perfectionist while you are writing the story. It will change a lot before you're done, so if you want to write paragraphs out of order, change the tense, even change an event or two, why not let yourself be free? Then go back and edit it later. One of the hardest things about writing is knowing what not to write. What can be left out, and assumed that the reader is saavy enough to pick up? I remember reading a poorly-written paperback Star Trek: TNG novel with this line: "With his hands, he opened the window." TMI is a style-killer. I try to write so that the reader learns to put things together as they read the story, they get familiar with the thoughts of the characters and better able to connect thoughts to actions so I don't have to describe every last action and can focus on the thoughts. My process is: -think about plot of story for weeks, even months, working out alll the details, what the characters are wearing, how it starts and ends. -think of it over and over again to make sure it's still interesting and wasn't just a flight of fancy. -list the events and/or locales of the entire story in approximate order of intended disclosure -write the paragraphs around the list, skipping around if I need to -shuffle the paragraphs into a reasonable order -lots of reshuffling of paragraphs to make sure the story doesn't drag -edit for grammar, punctuation, spelling, typos -edit for style -more editing until I reach the point where over-editing is a real peril, at which the story is more or less done Agree with blackmare, the small details matter. Scents persist in memory longer than any other sensory cue. People are characterized by small things. These hypothetical people are utterly alien to my experience. Maybe we're not here to be grammarians, but...isn't better to write correctly, if we can? Maybe these hypothetical people don't stumble over tense confusion, but...for all those people out there who do, shouldn't we try and do our best? I'm totally with you, Zulu, but a lot of people would say I'm a grammar hardass. Tense swaps are hard to overlook; spelling errors are less disruptive to me as a reader.

Is it just me or are there very few stories floating around right now. This should probably pop over to the ff discussion board, but I have noticed a startling lack of ff lately. Hope DIY Sheep doesn't mind me bringing this over. I wondered if this might be because fic writers are waiting for the new season to bed in a bit. To see which of the new candidates become fellows, to see what roles CCF end up in, to get a bit of s4 canon, basically? Are people out there holding off for that? Or am I just rambling? (well, that too obviously). Personally I'm writing lots & just waiting for the wilson_fest to open on the 20th :wink:

Thanks hw It is really odd. Why isn't this new season spawning new stuff. Tritter - love him or hate him - you cannot say he didn't produce ff.

I would think that once the fic authors get used to the new kids, and find out where/when the ducklings settle, things will pick up some more. At least, that's my excuse - TPTB are making the show different enough for me that my brain isn't coming up with new ideas.

Thing is re the NKOTB, we just haven't seen enough of them & its not like they are making the kind of dramatic impact Tritter did initially, so I doubt we'll see much fic about them for a while, though we did see some good new interviewing fic post-CC&F's departure. Poeia wrote this over on the fic rec thread - I am clueless as to how people like Alex, who didn't cross-post initially, get discovered. In that case, Sheep found Breakfast with Wilson and recommended it at the other place. For others, ??? Comments?

Alex probably knows better, but I think it might all come down to the EVIL PIT OF VOLES! I actually have a bit of a fondness for it and often find new writers and really captivating stories there. It is also handy for non LJ people. I posted a little story called Wierd Creepy Story (six months later someone kindly informed me that I had not spelt weird correctly - that's nothing. We suddenly noticed that on 19 thousand fridge magnets we had got the name of the candidate's electorate right - in this case it really was 'I before E, except after C'. There was much screaming - although personally I thought it was hilarious). Alex contacted me and said would I mind if they expanded on it. I said sure and we ended up with Alex's story of which I cannot remember the name of for the life of me. I think this might have been Alex's first House story and first foray into LJ - but Alex soon got the hang of it and people started reading and reccing - like the usual Internet stuff - word of mouth I suppose. I think there are an awful lot of readers out there and sometimes something just sets them off - idea wise. I know this happens with me (and generally). Have you noticed how we tend to get bunchings of types of stories, ie we will get a spate of kid fics - because people take an idea and run with it. I think I also said to Alex 'you must go to this great ff site that cannot be named' and then got Alex banned during the latest 'is it okay if we talk about fan fiction' debacle. I am always amazed at some of the stuff people can dig up in unlikely places. That's why I did like TPTMNBN and like sites like HHOW, because it's like a hub where everyone can put their collective knowledge together. We've got discussion, recs for all genres and ships, links to all the main LJ sites for new authors who are wondering where to post and chat and you can get advice on everything from 'I've just written a kinky House/Tritter story - where's the best place to post it' to 'where do I get a beta'. ETA: Got it - Post Trauma: http://alex51324.livejournal.com/20579.html

"Post-Trauma" was actually the second House story that I posted--"Lunch With Wilson" was first. But I had also written "Limericks" quite a while before. And yes, it's all Sheep's fault that people have read my stories. Poeia asked about other people who's stories have been read without being posted to the communities. Is there anyone else in that category?

Got it. Even though Sheep was the first review for Lunch with Wilson, she didn't read and rec it until after you'd started Post Trauma. I don't think whiteraven1606 cross-posted (or knew what The Other Place was) until people started reccing her. Good stuff on fanfiction.net do get found, but on LJ you have to know to go to someone's journal.

We find them Alex - some of us have House story Interweb story sniffing out noses. But what I like about general sites is that I get introduced to people like Alex - who is a Chasian - and I get to read stories other people like in genres I wouldn't normally read. I think that is excellent.

I'm new, so I hope I'm not threadjacking by jumping back to a couple of upthread discussions about when do you know which tense to use, and which person: In my case, the story tells me. I'm a morris dancer, and we have this catchphrase on our dance team for newbies and klutzes: "The music will tell you what to do." Same with my fic. The story tells me how to write it. I've only used second person a couple of times, but I find it's the best way to do "introspective House." He won't share his innermost thoughts, but second person conveys them with an intimacy that the third person doesn't have. Same with tenses; my second-person fics are in present tense with flashbacks ("You remember the time you went..."), but my third-persons are generally past tense. When I write third person, I do semi-omniscient, taking one character's POV. If the narrator is in House's head, she doesn't crawl into Wilson's or Cameron's or Cuddy's head. It's all about the character whose head the narrator is in reacting to the others. ("She looked pensive. He wondered what she was thinking.") Does this help? Or make sense, even?

whiteraven knew a couple of locations to post initially, but her betas, who were more familiar with lj, helped her figure out where (& the mechanics how, actually, as well) to get stuff posted to reach a wider audience.

In my case, the story tells me. I'm a morris dancer, and we have this catchphrase on our dance team for newbies and klutzes: "The music will tell you what to do." Same with my fic. The story tells me how to write it. Man - I haven't seen Morris dancing for years, but yes - I agree with the story dictating the tense.

Eos (ducks_in_a_row on LJ) is another writer who doesn't post to comms. I found her through a rec list, if I recall correctly, back when I was just starting to write fanfic and very nearly gave up the ghost because of how much I loved her stories. One long H/W 'verse of hers is on my Desert Island Fics list: Eos's Lost Causes was already mentioned, but the deal is sequels too, right? So I'm also going to take Same as It Ever Was, Reverse Psychology, and Foolish Hearts. (All found here.) H/W, PG-13. A long wonderfully IC story chronicling the evolution of the stupid, screwed-up friendship into something very much more. She also writes excellent H/W/Cuddy.

Whoo, I'm going to jump in and back track a little on the present v. past tense debate. This is going to sound weird, but when I write I kind of imagine that I'm in the character's position. The more AU the subject, the harder it is for me to think about the scene unless I'm thinking in the scene. The best way I can explain this is by using Emma Thompson's character in Stranger Than Ficton. So, using the present tense helps me considerably. Sometimes I write in present tense, get out what I want to say, and if I don't like it I'll go back and change it to past. Either way, at least I'll have a rough copy written down.