On Sun, 11 May 1997, Tempest wrote:

	The process the casual writer and the professional writer does to
prepare him or her self for writing a fanfic is most important.  To
some its habit, others its to get in the mood. Its the processes we
follow that may be what makes us different types of writers.

	So my question is this:

		What do you do to get in the mood for Fanfic Writing?

Well, it feels a bit egotistical to talk about my own writing, but since 
you insist :)

Oddly enough, I follow different processes for different stories (fanfic 
and otherwise).  The best ones have been ones that floated up in my head 
and swirled around for awhile, picking up ideas, and ending up almost 
fully formed before I get a piece of paper.  "Shizuku" was written this 
way -- all in one sitting, based on a swelling of ideas originally 
precipitated (I kid you not) by my leaky shower.  "The Throwaway Son" was 
quite similar -- once the idea had swirled around for long enough, it 
ended up just flinging itself out on paper, and later on my computer 
screen.  When this mood stirkes me -- and it's not something I can invoke 
-- the hardest part is surviving until I reach a scrap of paper :)

Other times, I do little writing exercises, which don't necessarily get 
me anywhere, but sometimes do.  "Hitting the Nail on the Head" was 
originally going to be my one-syllable 'fic, and I sat down in a 
coffeeshop with every intention of writing it in one syllable, but as I 
wrote it turned into a story that couldn't possibly be told that way, so 
I gave it up.  That one was forced idleness, as well -- I was stranded in 
a coffeeshop for a period of hours with nothing but napkins and a pen.

Some ideas take a lot more work to get out on paper/computer.  These are 
the ones I have to work for -- "Flambe!" and "Ranma Monogatari" among 
them.  There are a few ways I get the ink flowing in my veins when I'm a 
bit stumped.  One way is research.  It sounds a bit uptight, but I find 
that researching aspects of a story can give it a bit of added "oomph" 
and often gets me started when I've been stuck.  Examples: looking 
through cookbooks for recipes for "Flambe!" got me hyped up for writing.  
Much of the symbolism and dialogue in my Shampoo "Reunion" story came 
from about twenty minutes with an idiomatic dictionary -- and the scenes 
involving that research flowed like water.  And "Ranma Monogatari," my 
most heavily researched to date, benefits constantly from tidbits of 
research and reading about Heian Japan that I've been doing -- and I have 
a few scenes from future chapters just waiting for me to get the story 
that far.  When I'm stuck, I look things up; even if I never use them, 
they get me thinking the right way.  


I also draw pictures, reread my old fanfics and other people's fanfics, 
and reread the manga.  If after all that, I'm still not in the mood, I 
sleep.  This doesn't do anything to get me in The Mood, but it certainly 
gets me in a better mood :)

mata ne,
bengman