Ask "why?"

[veronica_rich]

For a friend in POTC fandom who has been asking me of late, "Why can't we ask why anymore?" - here's a chance to ask "why?" At least about fanfic. For anyone seeing this.

If you have any questions about any story I've written, go ahead and ask me. It can be "where'd you get that idea?" or "why the hell did you do that?" Or any variation thereof. If you don't like something and are curious, ask. To be honest, I can't promise I'll be able to answer - if it's been long enough, I may just not remember - but I'll try. All I ask is that you be civil.

(My stories are among Memories here and here. These are all ratings, including NC-17/M, so please be of age to read these.)

Comments

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

First, I have to say - wow. If you've been following for that long, I appreciate it. (I can write a story, but I can't find good enough words to say that, other than "I appreciate it a LOT" LOL.) Your ficlet I read earlier wasn't so bad itself - you should post it around, and write more.

As for inspiration - there's no one thing. I read other stories and sometimes they do it; sometimes fandom discussion gives me an idea. If I had to point to any one thing and say "I get more ideas from this than any other source," I'd have to be cheesy and say ... well, songs.

/iz sheepish

Seriously, pop music, rock, some 80s and 90s artists - you name it. If I like a song enough, I can listen to it a few times and get ideas out of it. (I wrote something recently about Will and Calypso negotiating, underwater, about his role as captain of the Flying Dutchman. My source for that was Madonna, "4 Minutes." I kid you not. LOL) But I don't do songfic. I'm kind of weird. :-)

I also like filling in missing scenes or doing after-movie stories about what might have happened or what will happen next. So I get a lot of ideas from watching the movies or seeing screencaps.

So how did you get the idea for your latest story you posted in your LJ?

[almost-maybe.livejournal.com]

Yeah, songs have that effect don't they? I remember playing the piano when I was younger and learning the song "When The Saints Go Marching In". The lyrics were there along with the notes, but I kept imagining it was a song about unfaithfulness because of the interaction of the notes. But I'm amazed that something like "4 Minutes" sparked that idea from you. :)

When you do get an idea, do you do additional research? Like when you wrote Contradictions? And nautical terms? (Sorry for these questions, from what I can gather I'm younger than you and the notion of coming up with a realistic POTC plot full of twists still escapes me. And this is were being an Asian is hindering. Terms and all.)

Thank you for commenting on my first shot at the Jack/Will fandom. I'm not a fanfic writer in particular, so this is unfamiliar ground I'm in. But thanks, I'll keep writing and doing my best to get better. :)

As for the idea for my story, Jack's line there is something I've been wanting to tell my bestfriend but only in the most platonic manner and intention. I thought, Hey why not that? :)

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I've had to look up some things online and in a few books I have, but no, no heavy research. To be fair, I don't think the POTC filmmakers did all that much research - there's a great cobbling-together of many elements of piracy and sailing and history, especially the romantic aspects. So I don't feel too bad about not being an expert in it myself. :-)

[almost-maybe.livejournal.com]

Aaah, I see. The wonders of creative minds. :-) Thanks for answering!