Hiya, I am officially caught up onto episode 1012 *but* One Piece is actually one of the few things where I am more or less caught up to spoilers with. Anything past 1012 is free game too, but might require some extra research ;)

🦅 Do you outline fics or fly by the seat of your pants?

So, I promised to answer, so here we go:

⛔ Do you have a fic started but scrapped?

Actually, yes I did just a few days ago with a Tatort Stuttgart Fic called "Von falschen Namen und richtigen Gefühlen". The original idea was that Julia had thrown Sebastian out from one moment to the next and he did not have a place to stay, so he first ends up in a cheap hotel, but was then thrown out onto the street. Luckily Thorsten was there to save him and of course they would end up together. Problem was, the thing fizzled on me... well, that's not entirely true, I wrote a 20k first draft but it had several problems and then the rewrite fizzled on me at 10k or so. And a few days ago, when I was working on a timeline and plot for "Wo der Rhein Neckar heißt..." I finally realized why: The story was just not working because to get it where it needed to be I would have to make Thorsten and Sebastian both ooc. Which is something Tatort writers might do to push their story idea through to its desired conclusion but I usually refrain from it. So I took out all the parts that do work and implemented them into "Wo der Rhein Neckar heißt..." and just trashed the rest.

🦅Do you outline fics or fly by the seat of your pants?

Well, that depends a bit. For small stuff, like double drabbles, quick prompt fills, ficlets, or oneshots I usually do not outline. For longer stuff that clocks in around 10-20k, like "In Dubio Contra Coitum" I usually do a quick outline, like jotting down some basic facts about when and where the story is set, who the characters are, what POV I want and a few important scenes, stuff like that.

For anything longer, I outline to hell and back and I usually can tell you what will happen and when, long before I write. Which does not mean, that I won't discover something new while writing. Like in "Gefühlschaos", when I realized I was missing two full chapters after I finished the first draft.

Sooo, vorchagirl tagged me ages ago for this and having finished my thesis I finally have time again for it. :) So here we go! Number 5-20 are german originally but I have translated them - still keep in mind the english version is not the “real” one. I’ve just started writing fiction in english, so there’s not so much of it yet (not for finished stories). Having said that, writing in german and english works sooo differently for me. I thought about translating my two german Mass Effect stories, but it just doesn’t feel right.  It was such an interesting experience to make! I pretty much love both, but as you can see, I tend to do much longer sentences in german (I think it’s also a language specific thingie) - but I also tend to do very short ones for starting something.

1. It was one of those conversations she had with Anderson again. (Mass Effect)

2. Thessia fell. (Mass Effect)

3. Life wasn’t fair. (Mass Effect)

4. So this was what dying felt like. (Mass Effect)

5. "Garrus, bitte, ich schätze Ihre Bemühungen wirklich sehr, aber…" | “Garrus, please, I really appreciate your efforts, but...” (Mass Effect)

6. Mit einem Zischen schloss sich die Tür zur Kabine des Captains hinter Garrus. | With a hissing sound the door to the captain’s cabin closed behind Garrus. (Mass Effect)

7. Es gab Tage, an denen Supervisory Special Agent AD David Rossi sich ernsthaft fragte, ob es die richtige Entscheidung gewesen war, das FBI zugunsten einer Schriftstellerkarriere zu verlassen. | There were days when Supervisory Special Agent AD David Rossi seriously wondered, if it was the right decision to leave the FBI in favour of a writer’s career. (Criminal Minds)

8. Keine Tür. | No door. (Criminal Minds)

9. Liebes Tagebuch, meine Güte, ist es lange her, dass ich das zum letzten Mal geschrieben habe – sicher fünfzehn Jahre. | Dear diary, gosh it’s been a long time since I’ve written this – for sure fifteen years. (Diary, Criminal Minds)

10. Hotch, Du findest also, wir sollten uns alle mal gegenseitig die Meinung sagen, ja? | Hotch, you think, we should give a bit of our minds, yes? (Letter, Criminal Minds)

11. „Feierabend, Leute.“ | „Quitting time, guys.“ (Criminal Minds)

12. Entspannt lehnte Rossi in dem dunkelbraunen Ohrensessel, der für seinen Geschmack beinahe etwas zu weich gepolstert war, und ließ Henry Wottons Worte einen Augenblick lang nachwirken. | Rossi leaned relaxed in the wing chair, which was almost a little too soft cushioned for his liking, and let the words of Henry Wotton echo for some time. (Criminal Minds)

13. Seit fünf Stunden lag Morgan im Bett und wartete darauf, dass der Schlaf über ihn käme. | For five hours Morgan lay in his bed waiting for the sleep to come. (Criminal Minds)

14. Kommt, meine Brüder und Schwestern. | Come, brothers and sisters. (King Arthur)

15. Es war der schönste Tag ihres Lebens gewesen. | It has been the best day of her life. (Criminal Minds)

16. Zwölf Tage, neun Stunden und siebenundvierzig Minuten. | Twelve days, nine hours and fortyseven minutes. (Criminal Minds)

17. David, weißt Du noch, wie Du mich nach diesem Fall mit den Onlinespielern, die völlig jeden Realitätssinn verloren hatten und Teenager sich gegenseitig umbringen ließen, gefragt hast, wie es mir geht? | David, do you still remember how you asked me how I was doing after this case with the online gamers who lost every sense of reality and let teenagers kill each other? (Letter, Criminal Minds)

18. Reid saß an seinem Schreibtisch und starrte frustriert auf das leere Blatt Papier vor ihm. | Reid sat at his desk and stared down at the empty sheet of paper in front of him frustrated. (Criminal Minds)

19. Scheiße. | Shit. (Criminal Minds)