#good thing is that I've been keeping these ideas/drabbles on the notes doc so that whenever i do get to the chapter

[laugtherhyena]

I think one of the most painful aspects of writing a long as fic is that sometimes you just REALLY wanna write something that happes way later down the line and it makes writing the current segments harder, not necessarily because you're not enjoying what you're writing now, just that your brain jumping to some crazy thing way ahead of time.

[screadingchallenge]

Behind the Keyboard Volume 37

Behind the Keyboard is a series of interviews with different Schitt’s Creek fanfic authors. The series will last as long as there is interest (from authors) and capacity (from me). If you are an author from the Schitt’s Creek fandom who would like to participate, send a DM to this account.  

Each author was given ten questions. The first five questions are the same for every author, the last five will vary.

If you'd like to do an interview, let me know!

Let’s meet our next author:

@demora00 / Demora00

How many fics have you written?

I have 16 published fics. A few for SC aren’t published anywhere and many more for other fandoms have died with ancient websites or disappeared the way physical notebooks have a way of during various moves.

When did you publish your first fic on AO3?

January 7th, 2022

Describe your writing process from “Oh, I have an idea” to pushing publish on AO3. 

First thing, if it’s a line, or a quote, or a picture, I’ll open my prompt folder and just stick it in there to marinate and come back to when I know how to use it. 

A few times, I’ve been lucky enough to go “oh wait” and open a brand new doc right away and just start writing. Sometimes I’ll take voice notes or send voice memos to friends if I’m driving and tag them #carthoughts for quick reference. 

I rarely write in order. Most of the time, I'll start a scene, get stuck but know how I want another to go, so I'll swap. More often than not there's some frankensteining. I'll moan and whine about it to @doug-judys-blog or Trickiwoo about it throughout. I know it's finished when I've edited it so much I hate it. Finally one or both of them will beta. @doug-judys-blog is the best cheerleader I could have dreamed of. They always know how to get me out of a "no words just vibes" spiral.

Tell me about your most recent fic? What do you love about it? Is there anything you think you could have done better?

The last fic I wrote that wasn’t a drabble was about selective mutism. [Some things I still can't tel you] It’s a physical manifestation of anxiety that isn’t often spoken about except as a trauma response and I feel like I managed to capture all the other little things that come along with it in a very tangible way.  I love that Patrick, who is still a person used to struggling in private with so many things, can trust David and show vulnerability without it being a stress point for their relationship. There's something really soft about that kind of trust that ultimately very romantic to me.

What advice would you give to someone who’s thinking about publishing their fic for the first time?

Do it. Get a beta. Get a cheerleader. (One can do both!) Hell, ask that compatible weirdo you kinda sorta vibe with in that fandom space to be a sounding board. Our fandom is so welcoming and talented, there's always someone willing to help.

In your mind, what’s the most important element of good writing?

I need writing to make me feel things otherwise what’s the point? I don't mean 'tear out my heart' intensity every time, but if the writing doesn't evoke something for me, I'll be hard pressed to keep reading. 

Tell me about a story that you wish you could write but that you’re not quite ready to tackle.

The last night Ted and Alexis have together and the aftermath of that. Really deep dive into Alexis' feels and sit with it for a while. It's somehow more tragic because we as the audience know that they are incompatible, but the love they have is real. But sometimes love isn't enough, and it's a real sign of growth for both of them, if a tragic way of doing it. 

Weirdest thing you’ve googled as research for a story?

Cowboy and rodeo terms. I don’t know that that’s weird in and of itself, but the reasons for the research were unorthodox.

Outlines - yes or no?

Yes, if not in a classic way. I usually do just point forms and terrible broken sentences, vibes, placeholders with attached comments and that works just fine. Sometimes whole conversations that need to happen but I don’t know quite where to put yet.

Tell me about your current WIP if you have one.

I have a few I’m working on and flip between as my attention span wanes, but I’m most involved in my first long fic. I don't want to give too much away, but it's a cerebral sci-fi mystery with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind vibes. I started working on it a few weeks ago and it's taken over. It's completely different than anything I've done so I'm quite nervous about it, but I've been reassured it could be as amazing as I see it in my head. I’ve already written myself into and out of a corner, so you could say it’s going well lol.

[fuwushiguro]

any advice for new writers?

Hi hi baby! It's 1am and I'm not wearing my glasses so if there's any spelling mistakes or typos.. no there isn't <3

My biggest piece of advice I always tell people is to just write, write anything, even if it's bad! You can look at what you don't like and break down why you don't like it and improve upon it or start from scratch! There's no pressure to share your work, keep at it until you're happy and confident with it. And honestly, even if it's not the best thing in the world, that's okay too! The fact that you've written something and feel happy enough to share it is amazing, there's bound to be someone who reads it and feels happier for seeing it. But again, you're under no obligation to share, do what feels right!

Writing notes is another good thing to do. I am a fiend for not making notes even though I know it'll help me in the long run. I usually get an idea and just run with it. But, I've been working on a new series and I have a MASSIVE google doc for it I share with @toyomitsus and @twicesangel where I write and organise everything and then they give me feedback and add stuff in too if they want.

Which leads into another piece of advice: talk to people about your ideas! Whether it's friends, family or other writers! I get REALLY inspired whenever I bounce ideas off the previously mentioned girls^ they are so supportive and kind and always make me feel really excited and confident in what I'm doing. We have phone calls to discuss things and ideas and we write drabbles, make headcanons, send memes etc. All things that fit in with specific characters and specific AUs and it's so fun.

Don't write anything you aren't excited about or it'll make you hate writing. Don't write something you don't want to because you think it'll get you more notes or attention or whatever. I feel like people can detect sincerity through blogs and writing and people can sort of see when you put your all into something or when your heart isn't in it. So prioritise things you really want to do, it's your blog after all! No one else's. It should be all about what inspires you and makes you happy and feel good.

I sometimes make specific playlists for certain fics or AUs. More often than not I will either listen to an entire album I know I like and fits with the vibe I'm going for or I will listen to one song on repeat for hours until I've finished writing. Lyrics inspire me a lot. I can think of an entire series from one lyric or melody or the way a certain part of the music makes me feel. My inner (ex) art student in me is also very inspired by visuals too like pictures and colours. Use your senses, they'll help you along the way. Even scents like sweets or perfumes may transport you somewhere.

Reading a lot definitely helps too I think. Seeing how other people write and taking what you do and don't like from that. I have a very specific way I like to write so I always get a little shocked if people don't write similarly to me but differences build experience.

I think writing, as I've already said, is really important. I have been writing on Tumblr for a year now and I can't believe how much I've improved from my first fan fic to what I write like now. Every time you write you improve. It's like honing any other skill. You may not realise it, I genuinely didn't, but you get more and more experience with every single thing you write. So don't hold back just because you're worried you aren't good enough. Everyone starts somewhere and everyone improves.

Be sure to take your time though. Don't feel obligated to write if you aren't in the mood for it and the same goes for sharing whatever you do write. Take plenty of breaks. Make sure you're comfortable when you're writing and are in a good headspace. And don't rush.

Other little finnicky things would be to figure out a tagging system. Make sure to tag things with appropriate trigger warnings and relevant character tags. And use a read more for longer works! It's very bothersome to have massive fics clog up the tags and people's dashboards.

Sorry this was so long and rambly and I'm sure there's tons of mistakes but I hope you get the.... jist? gist? u know what i mean 😭 have a lovely day or night and good luck to you and your writing endeavours!

[cyanide-latte]

I figured i’d ask you if all people this question since you’re a talented writer. Tips for getting into writing when you haven’t written in so long? it’s been years and i feel like i’ve lost every creative bone in my body.

Figured this wasn't a bad subject to kick off the New Year with, so I hope you don't mind the delayed reply! And thank you for asking me too, it actually means more than I can put into words, Susie! ; ; It means a great deal that you wanted to ask me!

I've been there, in that place. You go so long without writing, sometimes it's like you've forgotten how. Not that you really forgot how to put words on a document or string together sentences to form a thought, that becomes mechanical at some point. But writing itself is elusive. And the longer you go without it, the harder it can feel to regain the skill. Sometimes, even if you find a groove again, your writing won’t feel quite the same; some inner critic will be comparing what you write at that moment to something you’ve written in the past, and that’s when you start hearing your self-doubt really rag on you.  It’s a hard voice to live with.

Now, I don’t know if this will work for everyone, but these are the things I’ve noticed in the past that tend to reignite my creative spark when it’s guttered and gotten me writing again, and at best, I figure it couldn’t hurt to share in the event something in here might help?

Don’t try to force inspiration. It rarely works, and even if you can make yourself write something, it’s probably going to feel artificial once you’re done. Let it be spontaneous, and when it strikes, even if you can’t write immediately, find a way to make a note of the idea for yourself for later.

If you want to go looking for something in hopes of triggering that spontaneous inspiration, I recommend either revisiting something that you remember loving when you were younger or trying out something very new.  You’ll either find something new that you’ll click with that’ll reignite that spark, or you’ll rediscover something you loved has an aspect to it that inspired you.

Reading other writers’ works can sometimes help too! Maybe not necessarily that you read something they write and you want to write similar or opposite, but their enthusiasm and passion for their work can at times be infectious. (That’s definitely helped me more than once!)

If you have an idea of the kinds of stories you want to tell, jot down a page of brainstorming notes. This one’s been hit or miss for me, but when it hits, I’ll end up with pages and pages for an idea.

When you want to get started, start with shorter writing. I find it to be a better exercise. Drabbles work well for me (and by drabbles, I don’t mean the original use of the word as a flash fiction made up of only 100 words; when I say drabble, I mean writing a single contained scene, usually focused on a single emotion that charges and moves the scene along. I find that can be really good for practice in general, and sometimes those drabbles will end up being scenes in larger projects.)

Another exercise that works sometimes is writing sprints! NaNoWriMo infected me with that, and just seeing how much you can write in about 15 minutes, unedited and without major stopping, can be great practice.

This is the weirdest tip, and I actually don’t expect anyone to take it, nor do I think it will work for most people but... I actually write most of my stuff out by hand. I keep a great deal of notebooks and I’ll bring a small handful of them with me to work or wherever I go. Writing longhand out on paper has always kept me sharp, and it’s an invaluable way (for me at least) of making a rough first draft. Nearly everything I’ve written and posted on my AO3 has had a handwritten first draft, and I do a lot of editing and touch-ups and changes when I transcribe it into a typed doc. For me, there’s an extra bit of reward in seeing the drafts change and evolve from those first handwritten pages to the typed next drafts, and I couldn’t tell you for the life of me why, but it keeps me writing even when I can’t get to a computer and allows me a little more satisfaction and pride in whatever work I do post.

Last suggestion I have...? Write what you feel.  Write what you know, sure.  Write the stories you want to tell, yeah, definitely.  But write what you feel.  Writing is art and art is expression, perhaps in its most true form. Whatever you’re feeling (or at times, you believe you’re struggling to feel or like you can’t feel,) write it. It’s release. And when you put your emotions and your feelings into what you write, no matter your skill level, your audience will be able to pick up on it. I saw once the phrase, “No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader” to exemplify how crucial it was that the writer pour the necessary emotion into a scene, a work, a story, in order to draw out genuine emotional reaction from the audience and all them to connect with it. That’s stuck with me ever since. Because I don’t think we just write to express ourselves and our imaginations; I think we do it to connect with someone else who needs the stories we have to share, you know?

^^;;; Sorry for the long, rambling wall-of-text. But I hope something in here might help! And thank you again for asking me!

[cassatine]

I strongly and deeply believe you should keep writing for Damnatio Memoriae. I love the way you wrote the characters and just need more! I don't think I've read, no I know I haven't, anything like it. You used a different side of the characters and it was WOW!! So I hope you keep writing for it or add Kylo's perspective to it oooor like little stories within the same story PLLEEEAASSSE

Thank you nonnie! I’m glad you liked it, and that you enjoyed the characterization :D It’s… well, it’s not how I expect TLJ to go (at all), but the characterization is partly built on some of the things I expect to see, and I EXPECT SO MUCH WOW someone calm me down 

I can’t promise a sequel because… well, I do have a few ideas and I kept the ending as open as possible partly to make it easier to revisit that verse later, but I didn’t particularly plan for what happens next. There is a doc called renmnesia sequel leia id fic (i’m great with temporary titles). It’s not a straight-up sequel. It’s a Leia story of sorts, set after the events of damnatio and thematically linked to it, but it’s also barely 1k of messy, messy notes. I can’t guarantee it’ll pan out - I have a lot of docs like that, and a lot that ended up in the crap folder. And if I do something with it it’ll likely be slow, especially since i’m already working on other things that i really want to finish atm. 

So I can’t say much more than maybe. I’m decisive like that. I can promise that I’ll post about it here when I know for sure, but that’s all I can give for now. 

(As to writing Kylo’s perspective - not likely to happen, for a variety of reasons but mostly because 1) if i do this kind of diptych i want to go all the way and plan for mirroring structures and parallels and all that good stuff and 2) if i do write a follow-up I’d rather have his POV on things unspoiled. Supplementary snippets aren’t very likely either - that part of the story’s done for me. I might do some for drabble days tho it’s been way too long since I did one or ask memes if asked to, but that’s it.)