#swimmingfox

How long have you been writing?

Hmm, since I was a little person, I think! But more in earnest since 2013.

How long have you been writing fanfiction?

2013! I discovered it via Fanfiction.net and was delighted/appalled/delighted by what I found.

How long ago did you join Tumblr?

2016. It was purely so I could put up the picsets I had finally worked out how to make.

What is the meaning behind your username?

Swimmingfox is my Ao3 username - it was taken on Tumblr so, erm, I put sticks on the end. I like swimming and foxes, innit.

What was your first fandom?  First pairing?

SANSAAAN. I had zero interest in anything else for a long time (and rarely do still in terms of reading others’ work, haha, with some exceptions).

When did you first get into SanSan?

2013. I had only just discovered GoT (on TV), binged the first two seasons and was taken with their relationship at the end of Season 2, then watched Season 3 when it came out and was baffled by that plotpoint not being picked up. Even though obviously he is FAR TOO OLD, gross, URGH. I read a bit about the books and fell down the rabbit hole (abyss, etc) of SanSan fanfic quite by accident after reading about ‘the unkiss’.

Is there a SanSan fic you’re particularly proud of?  Chapter? Paragraph?  Plot?

Oh, I’m sort of proud of all of them, hahaha. In a way I’m proud of the first one (Little Bird and the Colour of Fire) as I kinda taught myself to write fiction with that one. I had no idea how to format paragraphs or dialogue or anything, put the whole thing up at once (42 chapters, ha), and was gently advised by someone in how to make it better. But I’m also proud of Rebound as it’s part of my Potential series, and I really liked doing modern AUs for the first time.

Any comments you’ve received that stick out, even now?

Not comments as much as people I have met because of it (I’ve met 4 so far!), which is wondrous. What a lovely world!

Do you use a beta?

The magnificent eagle eyes of @zoesongs often looks over my work and corrects my spellings of Daario Nahaaaris.

Are there tropes/styles/genres you struggle with?  Any that are almost too easy?

Hmm, I’m always bang up for trying new styles - this fanfic world has been an amazing platform for experimenting with different approaches and formats, and has basically taught me how to write.  

When you start a fic, do you know where it will end?  Or do you figure it out along the way?

Yeah, I usually have an endgame, and then work out how to get there as I go along. I write lots of bits as they occur, and then fill in the gaps.

Do you have any rituals/conditions for ‘getting in the mood’ to write?

No, but it seems I often turn to fanfic writing when I’m sick, which is far too often - I think it cheers me up, both the writing and the love from comments!

Have you ever had writer’s block?  Any tips for overcoming it?

Sometimes things are harder to push through, but there’s usually a way! Writer’s block is almost always cured by comments, too...

Aspirations of publishing one day?

I am! First novel published last year. WHOOP.

Any tips for writers looking to post their first (or second, or twentieth) fic?

Just DO IT. But first, edit: leave it a week, then look at it again and edit some more. Start with a bang. Keep chapters relatively short and have plenty of dialogue to keep things moving along.

What are your other hobbies?

Swimming and looking at foxes, mostly.

Any general advice for writers?

You only need to say ‘said’ as in ‘she said’ as opposed to ‘she postulated/queried/gasped.’ Make sex scenes satisfying for the reader but always original! (I think if you wrote ‘she postulated/queried/gasped’ in a sex scene it would be marvelous and therefore very much break the above rule, arf).

Any general advice for readers?

If we’re talking fanfic readers, leave a comment if you like something as it means so much to the writer and spurs them on! It’s much harder than you think to a) write and b) have the courage to put it up. If we’re talking reading in general, just READ, yaaay. Books are the BEST.

Anything you’d like to say to the SanSan fandom at large?

Only that, truly, it taught me to write, and still does - and that without the SanSan fam I wouldn’t now be including ‘WRITER’ when people ask me what I do. So THANKS.

Read swimmingfox’s SanSan fics here!