Twenty Questions for Fanfic Writers
1. How many works do you have on AO3?
37
2. What's your total AO3 word count?
3. What fandoms do you write for?
The X-Files, pretty much exclusively.
4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?
- By the Dim and Flaring Lamps
- Ripper Weather
- She's Beauty, She's Grace
- Between Sorrow and Bliss
- Someday Your Child May Cry
5. Do you respond to comments?
I do if someone has a question, or if someone comments on the way I've written something in a way that makes me feel like I should explain the choices I made (biggest example was a commenter on BtDaFL who seemed to be viewing the story through a modern lens without taking the time period into account). I wish I did respond to every comment but honestly I get so in my head about it that I end up paralyzed most of the time. But I absolutely read every single one and return to them frequently, especially when my self-confidence is ebbing.
6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?
7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?
Most of mine have happy endings but By the Dim and Flaring Lamps was probably the most unambiguously happy since everyone who dies in canon- Melissa, Samantha, Ahab, Bill and Teena Mulder- are all alive and well at the end of it.
8. Do you get hate on fics?
Not really? There was some out-of-the-corner-of-their-mouth sniping about Pequod (not to my face), but it was clear that person didn't understand how character arcs work. Someone sent an anonymous message that BtDaFL was boring, but lots of people find historical fiction boring.
9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?
Only if it fits into the plot of the story, and only if I can make it match the overall tone of the fic.
10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?
I have one short Doctor Who crossover on AO3. I also have a Harry Potter crossover where William is a wizard and a wizard friend of Scully's secretly adopts him when she finds out Scully gave him up because she recognizes the phenomena happening around him, but that's never seeing the light of day while I'm still alive.
11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?
Not to the best of my knowledge.
12. Have you ever had a fic translated?
Someone asked if they could translate one of mine into Russian but I'm not sure if they did or not.
13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?
14. What’s your all time favorite ship?
15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?
That ballroom dancing lessons one is languishing and I doubt I'll get back to it anytime soon, mostly because I have no idea what the rest of the plot was going to be.
16. What are your writing strengths?
Dialogue, plot, and distinct original characters, I think.
17. What are your writing weaknesses?
I'm not very good at making my words beautiful or lyrical. I'm in awe of authors like @aloysiavirgata, @leiascully, and @slippinmickeys whose styles are so fluid and lovely. I feel like mine is often very matter-of-fact and clinical.
18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?
I've had to do it once or twice.
19. First fandom you wrote for?
I wrote something about The Land Before Time when I was in elementary school, long before I knew what fanfic was.
20. Favorite fic you’ve written?