28 July 2011

Progress is good.

Today I actually feel like I have accomplished a lot in the past few days. I broke down bits of my FairyTailxHP story (with mini-essays) and ended up with a lot of questions that needed answering. The possibility of me finishing this story has gone up considerably.

As for my HpxKHR story- the newest manga chapter pushed me to keep the story on the shelf for a while. For now, I’ll consider it a good decision and leave it for another time.

Anyway, I also did something new. I read some articles that were written to help fiction-writers improve. There are tons of those online, obviously but I never really took the time to read them.

It's geared towards writers who are thinking of publishing and it gives good common-sense advise for fiction writing in general. The points- I'm pretty sure I'm guilty of a lot of those flaws, but at least now I'm a bit more aware.

This article made me re-read AtO's first chapter (It's really small, isn't it?). And suddenly I found myself editing/re-writing the entire chapter (which I will put online later it's on FFnet now.). 

That in turn pumped me up to start writing a few snippets for chapter 13. (Don't celebrate- you should know by now, how agonizingly slow my writing process is.)

This list is actually one that encourages you to start writing and keep writing (The first tip is “write”). And I like it just for that. It doesn't make a big deal about grammar or anything like that.

As a writer, are there certain writer's blog/websites you follow to help you improve/motivate you to write more?

Polar

23 July 2011

Stupid plot holes.

They always seem to appear just when you think you've managed to dodge them.

Case in point, my current HP crossover one-shots. Both of them are so close to getting done (actually have been like that for a long while now), but both of them have something missing.

Something is always missing. And no matter how many times I read over what I have, I can't figure out what's missing. I just know something is (but why can't I figure out what is?).

A part of me just wants to leave them be for now and do some writing work on other unrelated things until I figure out what's missing. I usually do this and end up with lots more incomplete writing so I'm not keen on listening to this part.

The part of me that is very insistent that I finish them reminds me of scary school teachers but even so, it's not very effective in making me find the missing parts and finish my stories.

Funnily enough I've managed to resist the evil plot-bunny in me, even though I got introduced to a new game fandom (that allows for tons of crazy ideas, believe me).

I've tried reading other things instead of writing for the past few days. That hasn't helped with the writing but it does keep my frustration at bay for the most part.

So what have you guys been up to during the summer? Found some new fandoms to haunt? Found some awesome stories to read?

Polar

14 July 2011

Requested Drabbles (Part 5)

Warnings: Unedited as usual, silly and not part of AtO's actual story/time-line.

8- Harry gets mistaken for a ninja (from Duchessa)
Yoshida looked around and surveyed the building critically. The windows, the exits, the type of wood used for the wall, everything needed to be studied before he raided the place.
He smirked as two kids ran out of the building. Perfect, I'll use one of them to get in. He jumped forward to the next rooftop carefully, following the brats as they ran down the streets.
Then he caught sight of the village chief talking to a teenager, a little older than him, with messy black hair. Yoshida assessed the teen's appearance critically. He looks like someone living in luxury, such pale skin and those clean clothes.
Yoshida jumped to the ground and watched the teen carefully from a distance. Change of target. He'll definitely have something valuable.
By the time they exited the village and entered the woods, Yoshida had a good understanding of the teen's movements and was confident he'd be able to attack without any problems. He's really asking for trouble by travelling alone. But I'll just knock him unconscious and rob him.
Yoshida grabbed a senbon, aimed carefully and threw. He gaped when the teen ducked forward pretending to wipe his nose as the senbon embedded in the tree where his neck should have been. He's not even looking this way.
Dismissing it as a lucky fluke, Yoshida grabbed another senbon and threw it at another vital area.
The teenager turned and pretended to search for something in his bag effectively dodging again.
No civilian or bandit can dodge my sneak attacks. Only a ninja...Yoshida flinched in realization. But there wasn't any headband. Oh no! A missing-nin? But he's just a little older than me!
His chaotic thoughts distracted him. He missed the small tree root in the ground, lost his footing and banged his head against a tree trunk.
Before unconsciousness grabbed a hold of him, he saw bright green eyes looking in his direction.
x-x-x-x-x
Yoshida sat up with a start. “Where am I?”
A lady patted his shoulder gently. “Ahh, Harii-san found you injured and brought you here. Said you'd fallen.”
Yoshida patted his head warily, not finding any bumps. “I…”
He healed you, I think. He seemed more worn out than before.” The lady shook her head.
Healed me, but I…” Yoshida frowned. I attacked him. What kind of person heals their attacker?
I hope he gets a chance to rest. Poor thing, always travelling.”
Yoshida looked up surprised at the real concern from the woman towards the other teen. Constantly travelling. So he is a missing-nin! But for people to be concerned about him like that... he's different.
The lady turned to him. “How are you feeling?”
I'm fine.” Yoshida looked away feeling a little embarrassed. No one would bother if they knew I was a common thief.
We're about to have lunch. Come join us, it looks like you could use a proper meal.”
Yoshida nodded, flushing when the lady smiled at him in a motherly fashion. What have I accomplished as a mediocre thief? I'd rather have be respected as someone useful and dependable.
Yoshida closed his eyes and carefully recalled the missing-nin's appearance. I'll find him and become his student. I'll become someone useful, too.
x-x-x-x-x
Harry walked down the dusty and uneven pathway and sniffed in irritation. What am I allergic to? He sneezed and winced when his ears popped painfully. I can't wait to get back to Konoha and sleep
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I forgot I had these requested drabbles (there are two more) with me. I'm finding tons of incomplete writing (fanfiction and other stuff) stored in Cds and USBs.

Using an OC perspective for this drabble was hard, since I had to create a complete personality from scratch. At least with Akira I knew what I wanted so it was easier.

Anyway Yoshida is supposed to be a young, smart but incompetent thief- a fun contradiction to think about but not easy to portray. For some reason, now I keep imagining Yoshida acting like Harry (helping random people) as practice to be 'useful/dependable' as he searches for him... poor guy.

Fun distractions
Secrets of the Darkest Arts by flayu [Harry Potter fanart]
The concept behind this picture is really well done- you can really see how Tom Riddle eventually became Voldemort after losing bits of his soul.
I love flayu's art style, the blending and colouring is unique and I imagine if Harry Potter ever became a graphic novel this would be the quality and style of artwork used.
The artist's gallery contains other beautiful pictures and interpretations of HP characters/scenes (some pictures have non-explicit yaoi themes, some nudity, etc, so careful if that bothers you).

Polar
P.S. Aren't drabbles supposed to be small/tiny?