Water's October, Right?: House Fanfiction Discussion

Hey all, I'm back and I'm using jet lag as an excuse for bringing up the tense issue as well. John Updike, in a forward to a printing of the Rabbit omnibus talked about why he used present tense in the Rabbit Run series, and I pretty much buy into his concept. Present tense, he said, is like the process of watching the film unroll. You're watching the story happen as you read it. Past tense is used for telling a story that's already happened. So when I'm writing something in which I want the story to to feel as if we're watching the events at that moment, I use present tense. I don't use it often, but when I do, it's because I want that "you are there" sense to the writing. For a specific example of that, I used present tense in "Family Housing" since much of that was made up of small pieces out of House's youth. I wanted the story to have a feeling as if we were watching old home movies, getting glimpses of his life.

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. I suppose you and I are the same variety of weird. I know I brought this up a few pages back -- the fact is that especially with tricky scenes I will tend to take on the character's role and sort of act it out, see what I would or wouldn't do as that person.

I suppose you and I are the same variety of weird. I know I brought this up a few pages back -- the fact is that especially with tricky scenes I will tend to take on the character's role and sort of act it out, see what I would or wouldn't do as that person. This really makes sense to me. I had a discussion a while ago and I compared writing to putting on a one-man (one-woman?) show - you're the writer, obviously (!), but you're the director, stage designer, director of photography as well as having to "play" all these different roles. I write almost exclusively in third person past and I like the omniscient narrator POV - it suits my natural detachment - but I do try to keep it limited to one character's POV per scene, at the very least. I've only written one House-fic in first person past and that was a case where the story immediately dictated itself in that form - it wasn't a choice as such. It was telling, to me anyway, that the one and only time I've done this was with an OC. I can't, or maybe don't want to get that into the main characters' heads. That way they aren't giving up all of their mystique. Though I can't imagine, literally, can't imagine what it's like inside House's rat-maze brain - and that is part of the massive appeal his character in particular.

Pimpage ... the Housefic Hall of Fame discussions have started up again, starting with The Dead Parrot's "Things To Do Before You Die." http://community.livejournal.com/housefic_meta/95129.html#cutid1

FYI, Namaste & everyone, we have a new pimpage thread http://houseofwhining.com/viewtopic.php?t=261 Don't worry about deleting your post here for now, but please add one to that thread & everyone else running fests etc, don't forget this thread exists now (posts for chase_fest? & IIRC Anamatics is running a new comm for the NKOTB, stick a post there too please to spread the word)

Another hear! hear! for Things to Do Before You Die. If a House/Wilson fic can make the Hamster go squee! AND post a comment, it's worth reading. I know, recs go on the rec thread. I posted it there, too. In fact, I originally posted it there and not here because I thought that's where I saw it mentioned. Darned memory, or lack thereof; my name is OLDHamster for a reason. :?

It depends, blacktop. If it's something in a story I'm already writing -- say a new chapter or I just can't figure out how to write a particular scene -- I fall back on an old technique of just writing one sentence about what happened. That's because sometimes I start overthinking the scene and get stuck. So by focusing on one thing -- the "what happened" part -- I'm able to ignore the side issues and look at the key moment or moments, then I build up from that one sentence. (Often that "one sentence" never appears in the story, but it's the structure around which the fic or the scene is built.) When it comes to coming up with a new fic, and I don't have an idea, sometimes I just write a sentence, and go from there, see what it sparks in my imagination. I did the 20 chapters of "Friends, Family and Other Complications" merely by asking myself: "What did Blythe think of Wilson when they met?" and going from there. The fic "Disobedience" literally started with one word: "Don't." Then I started thinking that that is the word House has heard all his life and was most likely to ignore.

As an avid reader, I am curious to know what techniques you sterling writers employ to overcome writer's block? Rewatching past episodes? Making up mind puzzles? Compiling lists? Conversing with online (or RL) friends? Borrowing plot bunnies? Dipping into fiction fests? Gazing at pictures of Hugh Laurie? What works for you and what doesn't? Sometimes it helps to reread the fic I'm working on. Sometimes it helps to just write something else entirely. I'm doing a very long piece and I swear there have been times that I ended one chapter and didn't have the muse to write another word for 2-3 weeks. Other times, I've written a chapter a day. I think sometimes you just have to wait out your writer's block, especially if you're writing something very emotionally draining. I think you have to give yourself time to recharge.

I've often found that going and doing something completely unrelated will help. Like, grocery shopping or dishes or just commuting to work (mine tends to be a long commute). Awful as it sounds, I've had occasions on which re-reading some of the older stuff I've written will spark something new for me. I don't know why this happens; I just know that it does. Other times -- fairly often -- it's a conversation with another writer that will set me in motion. That's so effective an unblocking tool that the collaborative project I'm now working on is over 90,000 words. We keep talking to one another and that spawns new chapters all the time. So what it comes down to is: It's different all the time and it seems to be different for everyone; and sometimes, yes, there's just nothing to do but wait it out. Frustrating as that is.

When I hit a block on a WIP, I walk away from it for a while. I can't stand forcing something; writing isn't supposed to be a chore (for me). If the words aren't coming, or the ideas aren't forming on the page, it's time to go feed my soul in some other way. Creativity is a well, and it can run dry. When that happens, it's time to find another way to fill the well. If it's fanfic, there are times when watching an episode I love, or watching one that has some relevance will trigger another idea, another way to look at the same idea. Sometimes, all it takes is a discussion here (like the personal canon thread) to spark something. As long as I'm writing *something*, I don't consider it a true block. Every piece deserves its own pace. With this last fic (for the Wilson_fest), I wasn't supposed to post it until after October 20th. I worked on each section individually as the ideas came to me. I had it written well enough in advance to leave the whole thing alone for more than a week, then give it another look before sending it out for feedback. My beta (Karaokegal) gave me excellent advice, which I turned over in my mind for a few days and then implemented. I gave it another full edit and then it went live. I'm pleased with the results, but I'm not sure if that will become my new method, or if that's just this particular fic's rhythm.

I put it aside and go do other things. I find that when it is time to write there will be a little voice that won't let me sleep, will be there at work and will generally make itself known untill I bust out the laptop and begin writing. Sometimes that voice is a line or a comment or even just a setting but it will be something that calls for attention right there and then.

I'll let the story rest while I do something else non-writing. I find it organizes my mind to organize a drawer or closet. There's something about a fresh view of the physical world that works on the word block. And I keep a notepad handy for random observations that might need jotting down. If I'm completely stuck, eventually I'll re-read the story and ask myself questions about it. Usually that works to get me past the spot. Often I'm not completely blocked but simply stuck on a certain scene, and there have been times when I just wrote around it in hopes that the answer would work itself out in the writing. That's sometimes successful and sometimes winds up generating bits and pieces that are cut and go into my pile of ideas to use later.

View Full Version: Water's October, Right?: House Fanfiction Discussion