64 Days to go until rough drafts are due for the Perseia Big Bang!
To help everyone get into the writing mood, we’re interviewing some of our authors about their fanfic writing process, with one interview posted each week. This week, we’re very excited to be talking to @skywalking-through-life, known for her fluffy fics, such as her Percy's Senior Year (mis)Adventures series, and historical AUs such as waterbound.
What’s your typical writing process look like?
Before I ever write any of my stories down, I daydream them in their entirety - complete with dialogue, exposition, and cliffhangers at the ends of scenes! Knowing how it flows means I'm less likely to get stalled out somewhere, and knowing where it ends means I'm more likely to finish it. And I'll usually daydream the whole thing a few times, tweaking moments that don't feel quite right, until the whole story kind of…lives in me, somewhere? Then, depending on the length of the fic, I'll do one of two things - just sit down and write it out (minus details) for a oneshot, or, start putting together an outline. My outlines tend to be VERY robust, heavy on the movement and tone of the scenes, as well as basic dialogue (minus tags and other details). I fill those details in around the outline or draft as I go, until a scene feels like I've conveyed the essence of what I'd hoped to achieve with it. Then, I do probably like…genuinely, ten rounds of edits. I am rarely satisfied with anything on the first, second, or even third pass, and I am constantly adjusting my dialogue or my metaphors or my themes. But eventually I manage to convince myself that it is good enough to post.
What draws you to your fic ideas?
I think I'm the sort of fic writer who really enjoys seeing what I can do with the existing canon more than I am the sort who prefers to change things - with the exception of my Ancient Greek AU, lol. That drew me in because I am a historian in my soul, and sooner or later my brain will ALWAYS pull me back into the worlds of the past. But in that and in other stories, I get a lot of joy out of fleshing out moments that were only implied, digging into themes that were only lightly touched on, and deepening relationships that we already are familiar with. And as someone who was a part of the original PJO audience, I grew up with these characters! So I find myself exploring the ways that the characters themselves might have grown over time, trying to extrapolate their potential futures from canon, from my own life experiences, and from my studies on human (demigod, lol?) development. I love exploring relationships most of all - romantic, yes, but also platonic. I'm very, very passionate about the importance of genuine, thoughtful human connection in all aspects of my life, and I think that shows pretty clearly in my writing.
What do you do when you struggle getting into a character’s head?
Don't write them, lmao. But no, I actually just ask myself why I'm struggling. Do I not connect with this character in some way? What are their defining traits? What purpose do they serve in my larger narrative, and how can I write them to accomplish that, even if I don't connect with them? How have other people written them? Would another character serve my purpose equally well? Would writing this character specifically be a growing experience for me as a writer? I am constantly asking myself questions, even more so when I am trying to puzzle out a difficult character or moment.
Favorite and least favorite parts of the writing process?
The best part is when the ADHD gods bless me with hours of hyperfixation; when the words flow in the thousands, my eyes get so blurry I can't see my phone anymore (I do all my writing on my phone, lol, which I know makes me unhinged), and my thumbs go numb from all the typing. Those are the best days, and the high of actually getting all my thoughts out of my head and into the doc is unreal - I've never had a runner's high, but I feel like it must be similar to that. The worst part is therefore the opposite of that - the days when I can't even make myself pick up my phone, when I'm stuck in rut of executive dysfunction and lack of motivation. It's really, really frustrating to feel like my brain is actively sabotaging me on those days, like it is putting up a literal wall between the flow of ideas, trapping them inside. I actually love all parts of the writing process, so to not be able to do anything kills me.
How do you keep your characterizations consistent?
This might be a weird trick, but so far, I feel like it works for me? So, you know how some actors have a specific phrase or line that they'll say to help them get into a specific character or accent? I have scenes from my own fics where I feel I did a good job capturing a character's voice or essence, and I return to those and re-read them when I am trying to get back into that character's headspace. I also will re-read sections of canon that I feel convey the aspect of the character I'm going for, or fics written by folks whose characterization I really admire. I also have at least one of my endless rounds of edits be an edit specifically to check for a character's voice - both internal and external dialogue. That edit is mainly questions: would they say this/feel this/do this? Why or why not? Under what circumstances? How might they convey this differently than another character? Canon-compliant or canon-extrapolated characterization is REALLY important to me as a fic writer, because that's kind of why I'm writing fic in the first place - I want to tell stories about THESE characters. If I want to explore something different, I'll create a character of my own.
Favorite characters to write?
I think y'all will be totally unsurprised when I say Annabeth is my #1, lol. When I first read PJO, somehow 20 years ago now, omg, I instantly connected with her - as tween/teen, I too craved wisdom above all else, and desperately wanted to prove my worth and talent to everyone I met. I thought I could fix the whole messed up world, if I was only given the chance to try. When that's you, you develop a reputation for being a little intense, lol, and dueling flashes of annoyed arrogance and crippling anxiety made the already bumpy hormonal roller coaster of those years an even wilder ride. Now, I look back on those years with so much tenderness, and I have so enjoyed writing Annabeth working out how to grapple with all the things that I - and so many other emotionally volatile teenage girls - have learned as we've learned to mellow sharp intensity into a more balanced passion. But a close #2 is Percy, because honestly, I love Percy and Annabeth nearly equally. His voice is so uniquely his, and it's really, really fun to write a character who is as snarky and sarcastic and yet as genuine and real as he is. I'm not really snarky myself, so it's honestly very cathartic to sometimes let Percy give voice to some of my feelings about the world. His honesty - and lack of a filter - make him a very satisfying character to have as a storyteller! A few other favorites are Sally and Paul, Aphrodite, and Piper! PJO women, my beloveds.
How do you tweak the characterizations of characters to fit each AU?
Well, my Ancient Greek AU is my very first AU ever, and even though I've been working very slowly and thoughtfully and deliberately on it for a few years now, I still feel like I'm still at the beginning of this particular writing journey. And that is because it is quite the challenge to take the characters in a modern day, middle-grade urban fantasy adventure, make them adults, plop them down in the Middle Aegean Bronze Age as royalty, and make them feel like themselves. I've tried a few different strategies, and I think they've been (somewhat?) successful. First, I have tried to give the characters backstories that would lead to them having traits in the ancient world that are similar to those in the canon world. (e.g. Perseus and Andromeda both have a complicated relationship with their parents) Second, I have tried to isolate one or two really core parts of each of the characters, and think about how to apply that piece of identity in a way that fits the context of the fic. (e.g. Annabeth hungers for wisdom, and also wants to be seen as strong; Andromeda is endlessly curious, always asking questions and wanting to learn new things, and is always wanting to prove her toughness and steadiness) And third, I have tried to accept that, in an AU where the characters are pretty distantly removed from their context, they are never going to feel quite as close to their canon selves as they might in a different sort of fic. I can sweat over trying to translate Percy's city boy snark and wittiness into the cadence of an ancient prince until the cows come home - and I may even be really pleased with my results! - but I can't really expect myself to be able to do it perfectly every single time. Stressing over that would kill the fun, and I'm very, very fond of this AU, so I want to keep enjoying myself.
How do you approach writing relationships in your fics? Both Percabeth and other platonic/familial relationships.
Relationships of all kinds are the core of my fics, so much so that I would say that they are the reason why I write at all! I know that some folks might raise an eyebrow at that, since I do write a lot more romance than I do platonic or gen stuff, but I mean that very sincerely. One of my favorite things I've ever written is chapter 2 of ‘[conduct] not unbecoming men that [strive] with gods,’ the chapter where Percy talks to Paul, and then Sally, about some of his worries about growing up as a very powerful male demigod. I try to write gentleness and steadiness and curiosity and bravery and grace and unconditional love into all the relationships that I center my stories around, for a few reasons. One is that I don't think those sorts of prolonged, tender moments are moments that RR always prioritizes in canon, and I've already said I like to deepen moments that are only hinted at in other places. Two is that I think these are some of the values that Percy's world is built on, so it makes thematic sense to tie them tightly into whatever plot I'm working with. I sometimes struggle to engage with fics that don't center connections between characters for this reason. And three is that I am a very relational person - I'm in fandom to make friends and tell stories, and neither of those things really happen when you're alone - so it's easy for me to draw on my own experiences to write them! I won't go into detail about this, but my husband's and my relationship has quite a lot of similarities to Percabeth, and a lot of the conversations I write are based on irl conversations I have with people in my life. I'm a professional conversation-haver and connection-builder, so I honestly don't know how to do anything else.
How do you do research for your historical AUs?
Desperately wish I still had a .edu email while I scowl and mutter and wade through the uselessness that is the internet these days? My fault for leaving academia and taking a job outside of the ivory tower, haha. Maybe someday I'll go back and do that PhD, but for now, I start by doing a cursory search on Wikipedia so I can be sure I've got the right terminology for whatever I'm looking up. Then I visit whatever sources they've linked that are accessible, and from there: visit the Internet Archive, the Guttenberg Project, or museum/university websites for primary sources, collect my 100 free yearly articles on Jstor for secondary sources, visit my local university library for any books I might be able to get my hands on, watch YouTube videos put together by academics whose credentials I or others can verify, and finally, rely on the kindness of friends in academia who frequently have been able to send me specific things that I need. Archeology and material culture sources are the hardest to get my hands on, since I don't live in the right part of the world, and speak no Greek - any Greek. My kingdom for someone to decode Linear A. I've taken a few field trips - to the Met in NYC, and to the ANE collections at Harvard - but I can't quite afford a research trip across the pond yet. I have spent real, hard-earned money and almost three full years of my life researching for this AU, which is why I need to tell myself to chill out sometimes.
Do you have any advice for other Big Bang fanfic authors at this stage in the writing process?
Don't panic if the words aren't flowing. Sometimes they don't; they'll come back. Put down your phone/tablet/laptop and just spend time with the story in your brain. Put on some thinking music if that helps you; take a shower or go for a drive or a walk if that's more helpful. Give your brain a chance to rest and refill, and the words may come back faster! Also - and this advice is partly for me, too - don't panic if the story is going in a direction you've never gone before. You never know what idea is going to take hold of you, or where inspiration will come from! My Big Bang story actually comes from a nightmare I had, years ago. I've never taken direction from nightmares before, but when a story is saying it's ready to be told…who am I to stand in its way?
Want to join in? You can sign up to write/make art/beta here!
Want to come hang out in our discord? Link here!
