allspnships:

9 questions with rosemoonweaver

This week: @rosemoonweaver​ talks filling in the gaps; rewriting scenes, and using writing to work through personal issues.

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ASS: What do you most enjoy about
writing fanfiction?

rosemoonweaver: The
community. There are so many wonderful people I’ve met through our mutual love
of characters or ships or tropes and it really makes the whole process of
writing more fun. Writing is pretty lonely as it is so being able to reach out
to other writers and readers makes actually writing feel much less lonely than
it is.

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

I have
trouble with filling in the gaps at times. I really enjoy writing dialogue and
introspection, but the stuff that happens in between is difficult for me.
Trying to decide what I should show and what I should skim over is tough for
me, as typically I’m not very interested in the day-to-day aspects of the
character’s lives. When I’m writing a longer work, I don’t want to write or see
things that don’t advance the plot or add to the setting, tone, or atmosphere.
Deciding whether or not to show a moment where a character is just having lunch
with their friends or shopping or some other mundane activity is difficult for
me. Those things, the quiet moments where characters just do normal things, are
always the hardest for me to write.

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

I’m lucky
because I’ve never gotten a hateful comment. I have gotten the typical annoying
comments (ie. “when are you going to update?” “more!” etc.) but those I just
kind of roll my eyes at. I have gotten some comments that I just didn’t know
what to do with because they almost seemed like a backhanded compliment. One I
remember was something along the lines of “When you don’t know what else to do
just porn”. I didn’t respond because I had no idea how to respond, but that’s
typically the kind of thing I get when comments aren’t positive.

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

The best
comments are one of two things: emotional reactions or speculation. I love
knowing how my readers are reacting and whether or not they’re invested in what
I’m putting out. I love it when readers comment with things like “I wonder if X
is going to happen.” “I bet Y is secretly a noble!” “I can’t wait to see what
character A is going to do about what character B did! They’re going to be so
upset!” or, my personal favorite “Oh, shit!”. I love to see how my readers are
reacting to the stories I’m telling, whether that be excitement, intrigue,
shock, or even disappointment. I don’t mind comments where readers tell me they
don’t like what I’ve written, as long as the comments are condescending or
mean. I just like to know how readers feel about what I’m doing.

How do you
handle writer’s block?

It depends
on how blocked I am and what I’m working on. If I’m writing a longer fic, I’ll
re-read the previous scene I was working on and, more often than not,
completely delete it. I’ve found that a lot of the time when I’m blocked it’s
my subconscious trying to tell me that what I’ve just written isn’t going to
work. Re-doing a scene completely is usually the best way for me to get over
the block. If it’s just that I feel I can’t write for whatever reason it’s usually
because I’m nervous or afraid that what I’m working on isn’t going to be very
good. In times like that, the best thing to do is just push through and write
it anyway. I could be right and wind up writing something that’s absolutely
terrible, but at least isn’t on the page and I can fix it.

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

Some Things
Last. It was my deancasjimmy big bang entry and I absolutely adore that fic.

I’ve gained
a bit of a reputation in my original fiction workshop groups for being the kind
of person who writes characters that destroy themselves. I’ve written plenty of
things in the past where characters were too stubborn, too afraid, or too
secretive and as a result they end up unhappy and alone after having done
irreparable damage to their lives. Some Things Last was different for me in
that while Dean, Cas, and Jimmy are all stubborn, afraid, and secretive and
while they screw up, they don’t ruin their entire lives. These characters screw
up but they can be forgiven for it. They’re flawed but that doesn’t mean
they’re horrible and deserve punishment. It was a different route than I
usually take and I was proud of myself for trying a different path.

Some Things
Last was very personal for me as well. I projected a lot of myself onto Jimmy
Novak and in doing so I was able to have a kind of conversations with myself
about regret and forgiveness. My fanfiction is often a way for me to deal with
issues I need to work out (even if my audience never knows this) and using
Jimmy to explore my own issues with secrets, fear, and regret was a deeply
healing experience for me. I poured my soul into that work and I’m incredibly
proud that I was able to do that and make a good story in the process. 

Also, it
was the longest work I’ve ever written to date and the fact that I was able to
write 62k words on a single project was a big accomplishment for me.

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

I try
really hard to not be influenced by other people’s writing. I really do enjoy
reading the works of my friends and other fanfic authors, but I try not to
absorb the way they write into my own writing. Of course, that’s not always
possible, and there are definitely tropes and interpretations that are kind of
accepted by the fandom that I reflect in my writing. For example, Jimmy is
usually the most promiscuous character I write, Cas is sarcastic, Dean is a
secret softie, and Sam is intelligent and exasperated.

My biggest
influence, however, has been myself. I write what I want to read and that’s
resulted in several rare pairs, femslash ships, poly ships, and minor character
inclusion. There’s not a lot of recognition in writing femslash or rare pairs,
but I tend to find that the people who do read those things are much more
excited and engaged than the people who only read one or two very popular
ships. It’s also lead to trope twisting and self-indulgence but that’s fun,
too.

What are
you currently working on?

I’m taking
a bit of a break at the moment, actually.

I just
finished posting two big projects and I have another commissioned fic I’m
working on, but other than that it’s mostly going to be small things for a
while. I’ve got the poly bingo and rare ships creation challenge to keep me
busy. I am planning out a serial killer au (it’s winjimstiel) but I don’t know
when that’s actually going to get written. I’ll probably start posting it
before the end of the year, though.

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

It’s okay
that your writing isn’t the way you see it in your head or that it’s not super
detailed or realistic or happy or whatever else you think your writing should
be. You’re creating something and that’s pretty impressive. You’re making
yourself and your readers feel something. Don’t worry about the fact that it
may not be super popular or an exercise in craft excellence, it exists. You’re
created something brand new in this world and that’s pretty great in and of
itself. Your writing is going to suck sometimes and that’s okay. No one writes
a masterpiece 100% of the time and certainly not when they’re just starting
out. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to exist.

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Here be awesome…
Tumblr: rosemoonweaver.tumblr.com
AO3: rw_eaden