#perfackles

9 questions with perfackles/coconutice22

This week: @coconutice22 a.k.a. @perfackles, talks her vault of unposted fanfic; plot bunnies and when you should stop editing.

ASS: What do you most enjoy about writing fanfiction?

coconutice22/perfackles: I find when I’m writing a character or situation that my mind suddenly starts to analyse and see more about that character as a consequence. I’m not great at meta analysis, but I can think to myself “How would they act in this situation?” and then I find points of canon to support what I’m writing and then things just click.

What aspects of writing do you find difficult when you write fanfiction?

Anything involving movement. I find that hard in my writing full stop, but argh, movement. I fear what I end up doing is entirely dialogue, with vague descriptors as to what is actually going on.

Have you ever received hateful comments on your fic and how do you deal with it?

Yes, unfortunately. Many years ago (in a galaxy far, far away…) probably more than a decade ago now, there was a website where people would take fics from FF.net and then they’d go through and ridicule them. It wasn’t pretty, I wasn’t happy.

I reacted by doing nothing, but one of the shining memories of that moment for me was two of my friends defending me and telling the site they were shit for copy and pasting entire fics.

I was very young at the time. I dealt with it by taking.. Ppffft… about seven years to ever share anything again. As it is, I rarely post my writing online any more.

I have probably into the hundreds of fics in Word documents. Really I write for myself, especially fanfic, as it helps me process either something I’m feeling relating to my life, or relating to something happening in the fandom I’m writing for.  

Conversely: what’s been some of your favorite feedback on your fanfic?

The first fic I ever wrote, it was so short, and this was possibly 15 years back now. I still remember someone telling me they were amazed how much plot and emotion I’d fitted into quite a short piece of writing.

How do you handle writer’s block?

Abandoning the fic and moving to something else. Lately though, ha, by posting the bare bones of my plot bunny on tumblr and seeing if anyone will take it further so I don’t have to (mwhahaahaha which finally happened the other day!)

Which Supernatural fanfic of yours are you most proud of and why?

Of things posted, probably “Hell Has Dean Winchester”. I really like Dean/Crowley, but writing rare pair is not something I do a lot of. And sharing my rare pair fic?? Like, that’s never  happened before so this all worked out well. Ha, and then the fact people who don’t even like the pairing read it and then later talking to them about Dean/Crowley. It was just fun to open up that discussion.

What/who has had the biggest influence on your writing?

Probably J K Rowling for published authors, but I’ve spent 16 years reading *a lot* of fanfiction and that’s then been a massive influence on me overall. I love fanfic so much. I would think I’ve easily spent longer reading fanfic in the last 10 years than published books!

What are you currently working on?

In Supernatural, the two fics I’d like to get finished are a one shot which is about Sam and Castiel trying to re-think life after Dean has died. It is dark, no humour, and basically a very self-indulgent piece about me working through some grief of my own. It isn’t fun to write but I’d love to finish it.

Another is a kinda mafia AU. I love them so and thought it was about time I try giving it a go.

If you could give one piece of advice to a new and/or struggling writer, what would it be?

My day job is in book publishing so I’ve done a lot of hand holding of new authors and I think the things I repeat the most to them would be:

Spelling mistakes happen, grammar mistakes happen, making either doesn’t make you a bad writer, it makes you human. Don’t stress out over mistakes in your work. Perfectly grammatically correct pieces of prose can still be meaningless shit, and work that is riddled with technical errors can still be a fantastic read. Meaning and sharing your vision goes so far beyond grammar and spelling.

There is such a thing as over editing. Sometimes you just need to say “This is done. I am finished writing” and not go back to keep tweaking things.

If you want to “test” your work, try putting it in another font, or changing     the margins. Sometimes just changing the physical layout can help you see even your own work with fresh eyes.

Don’t be afraid to self promote. There’s a saying, “In order to whisper you must shout”. Make a big noise about your writing (fanfic or original). You should be proud. Everything you write is a little piece of you, and that     piece should be celebrated.

Dean: the one in the relationship who sleeps naked, hogs the covers, starts a conversation only to get distracted by something ridiculous. Likes to cuddle but denies it. Loves to cook, wakes partner up in the middle of the night for random kisses. Can't dance but busts all the moves. Leaves sticky notes on the mirror. Slaps that ass when the hubby walks by. Blushes when the ass slap is returned. Calls hubby "the love of his life and the father to all of their future children aka hot as fuck let me love you baby" when he gets home from work. Is a dork but a proud dork. Sings in the shower. Love's Cas unconditionally because that's his soulmate.