Gonna make a plug here for a friend of mine, author Aaron Allston, who has just released a book on plotting (e-book only atm) called Plotting: A Novelist's Workout Guide.
If you're a Star Wars or Terminator fan, you might have read some of his licensed books for those universes, but let me give you my personal plug. I have a BA in Creative Writing, so I've had a lot of writing professors, and that experience made me completely quit writing for five years after I graduated college.
Fanfic got me back into it again, and I attended a few writing workshops at Origins Con by Aaron and fellow Star Wars author Mike Stackpole and LOVED them. I mean seriously LOVED them. I've been to many of them over the last few years, some of the sessions multiple times, and I never fail to learn something new that helps me greatly improve my writing. I learned more from Aaron than all of my college writing professors combined.
I've also read this book and found it very helpful, especially for getting past being "stuck" and other plotting issues. And the best thing about Aaron is he's totally pro-fanfic and isn't a snob about published authors being "real" writers while fanfic writers aren't. Anyone who writes is a "real" writer. And his philosophy isn't that you have to do it HIS way, but rather he presents a series of tools he's found useful and encourages you to see which ones might work for your own individual toolbox. His style is fun to read and there are some exercises that you can do (or not).
So seriously, not recommending this to spam anyone or because he's my friend, but because I know I'm a better writer because of his help. You can check out his site for info on this and other books he's written, or just go straight to the Amazon Kindle store. Check it out if you love writing fiction and want to get better.
If you're a Star Wars or Terminator fan, you might have read some of his licensed books for those universes, but let me give you my personal plug. I have a BA in Creative Writing, so I've had a lot of writing professors, and that experience made me completely quit writing for five years after I graduated college.
Fanfic got me back into it again, and I attended a few writing workshops at Origins Con by Aaron and fellow Star Wars author Mike Stackpole and LOVED them. I mean seriously LOVED them. I've been to many of them over the last few years, some of the sessions multiple times, and I never fail to learn something new that helps me greatly improve my writing. I learned more from Aaron than all of my college writing professors combined.
I've also read this book and found it very helpful, especially for getting past being "stuck" and other plotting issues. And the best thing about Aaron is he's totally pro-fanfic and isn't a snob about published authors being "real" writers while fanfic writers aren't. Anyone who writes is a "real" writer. And his philosophy isn't that you have to do it HIS way, but rather he presents a series of tools he's found useful and encourages you to see which ones might work for your own individual toolbox. His style is fun to read and there are some exercises that you can do (or not).
So seriously, not recommending this to spam anyone or because he's my friend, but because I know I'm a better writer because of his help. You can check out his site for info on this and other books he's written, or just go straight to the Amazon Kindle store. Check it out if you love writing fiction and want to get better.
Anonymous review reply (Alibi ch. 1)
Nov. 20th, 2012 12:03 pmI wish people would leave a way to respond to a review if they're going to ask questions, but in case my anonymous reviewer looks here:
Thank you! Yes, I have FANTASTIC (and VERY PATIENT) betas! I'm very lucky.
No, the story is not going to be slash. I actually posted in the summary and in the authors notes at the beginning of the chapter that there would be no slash, and no romance. A gay man can have male friends without being attracted to them. Dash's sexual orientation is a parallel to Danny's secret and what it's like to have to hide part of who you are from the world out of fear. There is no sex in this story at all.
I always thought Dash was more well-rounded on the show than just the bully. Yes, he did a lot of horrible things and sometimes acted like an idiot, but we also saw him team up with Danny on several occasions. Similarly, I thought Paulina had more depth than just the "mean girl." I don't really like when either of them are portrayed as just mean or bullies in fics, because I think it misses the nuances Butch Hartman and the writing team on the show actually put into the characters. Also, the fact that Dash is so similar to Flash Thompson from Spider-Man is what made me think that Dash, like, Flash, would grow out of his bullying and end up friends with the hero after high school.
As for why he beat up Danny, he actually talks about that in my other fic, Ghosts in the Closet.
Thanks for reviewing!
me like so far:Doing good. Very clean writing(as usual, you must have good
beta's too) no confusion as to who's talking or who's POV it is. So is this
going to be slash? I'm a little confused. But I like the irony and how you
make Dash more human and intelligent. Not just some bully. It'd be kinda cool
if you snuck in there why you think he beat up on Danny. I found each writer
has a unique and cool spin on that. Anyways I look forward to more chapters!
Thank you! Yes, I have FANTASTIC (and VERY PATIENT) betas! I'm very lucky.
No, the story is not going to be slash. I actually posted in the summary and in the authors notes at the beginning of the chapter that there would be no slash, and no romance. A gay man can have male friends without being attracted to them. Dash's sexual orientation is a parallel to Danny's secret and what it's like to have to hide part of who you are from the world out of fear. There is no sex in this story at all.
I always thought Dash was more well-rounded on the show than just the bully. Yes, he did a lot of horrible things and sometimes acted like an idiot, but we also saw him team up with Danny on several occasions. Similarly, I thought Paulina had more depth than just the "mean girl." I don't really like when either of them are portrayed as just mean or bullies in fics, because I think it misses the nuances Butch Hartman and the writing team on the show actually put into the characters. Also, the fact that Dash is so similar to Flash Thompson from Spider-Man is what made me think that Dash, like, Flash, would grow out of his bullying and end up friends with the hero after high school.
As for why he beat up Danny, he actually talks about that in my other fic, Ghosts in the Closet.
Thanks for reviewing!
New fic - Alibi
Nov. 19th, 2012 10:08 pmI just posted the first chapter of a new Danny Phantom fic, Alibi. It's Dash's arc, how he goes from being the high-school bully to finding his place in the world. No romance (shocking for me, I know!). It sort of a companion fic to Ghosts in the Closet. Shorter than a novel, but not a short story, either (14 chapters.)
Also, made a cover for it:
Alibi by ~myaibou on deviantART
Also, made a cover for it:
Alibi by ~myaibou on deviantART
Fic rec - Phantom of Truth
Oct. 22nd, 2012 10:49 amI don't read much fanfic. There's so little good fic out there, and I have so little time for reading (especially when I'm writing), I just usually only read authors I already know.
But I stumbled across an absolutely brilliant Danny Phantom fic through a picture on DA that I just had to share. It's called Phantom of Truth by HaiJu and it is breathtaking. It's a Maddie-captures-Danny-Phantom-without-knowing-the-truth story, which I've seen a million of, but most of them are one shots, over quickly. This is a complete story (well, not complete, it's a WIP, but it's nearly done and it looks good that it will be finished)that the author is able to make work over a longer period of time by having Maddie's experiments being done at a GIW facility, giving Danny reason not to tell her the truth (he's in THEIR control, not hers, so he has every reason to believe telling the truth would only make things worse for him, if not by his mother's hand, then by the government's.)
It is stunning in its detail, in both the "science" (just enough real science to make the sci-fi stuff believable) and in Maddie's internal thought process. I was absolutely riveted. If you like DP, check it out.
But I stumbled across an absolutely brilliant Danny Phantom fic through a picture on DA that I just had to share. It's called Phantom of Truth by HaiJu and it is breathtaking. It's a Maddie-captures-Danny-Phantom-without-knowing-the-truth story, which I've seen a million of, but most of them are one shots, over quickly. This is a complete story (well, not complete, it's a WIP, but it's nearly done and it looks good that it will be finished)that the author is able to make work over a longer period of time by having Maddie's experiments being done at a GIW facility, giving Danny reason not to tell her the truth (he's in THEIR control, not hers, so he has every reason to believe telling the truth would only make things worse for him, if not by his mother's hand, then by the government's.)
It is stunning in its detail, in both the "science" (just enough real science to make the sci-fi stuff believable) and in Maddie's internal thought process. I was absolutely riveted. If you like DP, check it out.
Punctuation question
Oct. 4th, 2012 02:12 pmOkay, fellow writers, a punctuation question.
If you break into a line of dialogue with a description of action offset by emdashes, where do the emdashes go in relation to the quotation marks?
Example: In the dialogue, Sam is saying, "Then the boys wanted to have 'guy time' at Tucker's." I want to break into that between "'guy time'" and "at Tucker's" to indicate that she makes air quotes.
"Then the boys wanted to have 'guy time'--" she made air quotes "--at Tucker's." ???
"Then the boys wanted to have 'guy time'" -- she made air quotes -- "at Tucker's." ???
Some other placement? What say you, internets?
If you break into a line of dialogue with a description of action offset by emdashes, where do the emdashes go in relation to the quotation marks?
Example: In the dialogue, Sam is saying, "Then the boys wanted to have 'guy time' at Tucker's." I want to break into that between "'guy time'" and "at Tucker's" to indicate that she makes air quotes.
"Then the boys wanted to have 'guy time'--" she made air quotes "--at Tucker's." ???
"Then the boys wanted to have 'guy time'" -- she made air quotes -- "at Tucker's." ???
Some other placement? What say you, internets?
Writing - new (long) short story
Sep. 27th, 2012 04:47 pmI realized that even though the main reason that I started this journal way back when was to talk about writing, and I've been writing, but haven't been talking about it, so...
Been working on a new... well, it was supposed to be a short story. It's not short. It's not anywhere near novel-length, but it's not a one-shot either. Right now I'm on chapter 9, getting near-ish to the end, so probably 11 - 15 chapters total, short-ish chapters (around 2,000 words), so just over 18,000 words right now.
It's one of those plot bunny ideas that would have fit nicely into Closet. Well, it's too many chapters to really be a part of Closet, so it's better as a separate story, but it fits into the theme and the events for sure.
And Dash is the POV character, and it's his character arc. I've never written Dash as a POV character. I always enjoy writing from a new character's POV because I learn about them that way. I never had much use for Kaiba, for example, until I made him a POV character, and all of the sudden, getting into his head, he became much more intriguing to me.
I had greater affection for Dash going in, but it's still been an education. I've also had to do some crash learning about (American) football. :)
And I do love his arc, moving him from the popular guy bully, which at the point of this story he'd already left behind, to something more, which he hasn't quite reached yet. He's sort of lost, knowing he no longer fits where he used to, but not sure where he can fit now.
Plus, he gets a good shot in at Sam for being as prejudiced as she accuses the A-List of being (he's right), but then ends up being moved by her, as well.
And of course, secrets, secrets, secrets and what it's like to have them. Fun stuff to sink my teeth into, and it's nice to not have a giant novel-long plot to have to contend with.
Been working on a new... well, it was supposed to be a short story. It's not short. It's not anywhere near novel-length, but it's not a one-shot either. Right now I'm on chapter 9, getting near-ish to the end, so probably 11 - 15 chapters total, short-ish chapters (around 2,000 words), so just over 18,000 words right now.
It's one of those plot bunny ideas that would have fit nicely into Closet. Well, it's too many chapters to really be a part of Closet, so it's better as a separate story, but it fits into the theme and the events for sure.
And Dash is the POV character, and it's his character arc. I've never written Dash as a POV character. I always enjoy writing from a new character's POV because I learn about them that way. I never had much use for Kaiba, for example, until I made him a POV character, and all of the sudden, getting into his head, he became much more intriguing to me.
I had greater affection for Dash going in, but it's still been an education. I've also had to do some crash learning about (American) football. :)
And I do love his arc, moving him from the popular guy bully, which at the point of this story he'd already left behind, to something more, which he hasn't quite reached yet. He's sort of lost, knowing he no longer fits where he used to, but not sure where he can fit now.
Plus, he gets a good shot in at Sam for being as prejudiced as she accuses the A-List of being (he's right), but then ends up being moved by her, as well.
And of course, secrets, secrets, secrets and what it's like to have them. Fun stuff to sink my teeth into, and it's nice to not have a giant novel-long plot to have to contend with.
Weight of the World posted in full
Jul. 21st, 2012 01:06 pmI don't think many people on my flist read DP fic (except my two betas that I force into it when I need their help... love ya guys!) but just in case, Weight of the World is completely posted at ffdn now. And if anyone prefers Archive of Our Own, I finished posting it there, too.
I've actually done some freewriting and sketched out an outline for a short story (still DP... how is it that nothing has replaced this fandom as my Primary Writing Fandon after so many years????). I'm in the middle of doing an advance read for a friend's book, so gotta finish that first, but once that's done, I'm gonna try and get the writing juices flowing again. We'll see if that happens. The kids start high school in two weeks, so it's gonna get crazy busy again really soon...
I've actually done some freewriting and sketched out an outline for a short story (still DP... how is it that nothing has replaced this fandom as my Primary Writing Fandon after so many years????). I'm in the middle of doing an advance read for a friend's book, so gotta finish that first, but once that's done, I'm gonna try and get the writing juices flowing again. We'll see if that happens. The kids start high school in two weeks, so it's gonna get crazy busy again really soon...
FFDN alerts down?
Jul. 5th, 2012 12:14 pmAnyone know if FFDN alerts are down? I posted my latest chapter, but didn't get the usual alert notice. I wonder if that means no one will know a new chapter is up. (Or if they do figure it out and send reviews, will I get review notifications?) ::grumble::
ETA: Well, I got at least one review notification, so maybe it was just a onetime glitch in the uploading process? Wonder if that person got a notification or if they just stumbled across the fact that I updated...
ETA: Well, I got at least one review notification, so maybe it was just a onetime glitch in the uploading process? Wonder if that person got a notification or if they just stumbled across the fact that I updated...
THIS is the cover to Weight of the World
Jun. 26th, 2012 10:30 pmLast one. I just wasn't thrilled with the messy pencil coloring on the statue picture, so I decided to color it digitally, but it was still missing something.
And then it hit me. It's missing DANNY. Small and insignificant next to the glory of the Danny Phantom statue.
This one ties with the tight-wire one as my favorite.
Weight of the World - digital color by ~myaibou on deviantART
And then it hit me. It's missing DANNY. Small and insignificant next to the glory of the Danny Phantom statue.
This one ties with the tight-wire one as my favorite.
Weight of the World - digital color by ~myaibou on deviantART
Another cover
Jun. 24th, 2012 05:30 pmFor Tales from the Phantom Planet. The picture by itself was kind of boring, but with the title in context, it turned out okay. Not as good as the high wire picture.
Tales Cover by ~myaibou on deviantART
Tales Cover by ~myaibou on deviantART
Fic Covers
Jun. 23rd, 2012 11:33 pmOkay, I decided to work on some more book covers, so I made 4 pencil sketches, and even managed to color two of them. And I don't hate them! In fact, I'm really very pleased with how By a Wire turned out, color and all. Considering I suck at coloring, this is an accomplishment! :)
Tucker - pencil by ~myaibou on deviantART
Tucker - color by ~myaibou on deviantART
By a Wire - pencil by ~myaibou on deviantART
By a Wire - color by ~myaibou on deviantART
Snow Kiss - pencil by ~myaibou on deviantART
Going Ghost! (or not) - pencil by ~myaibou on deviantART
Tucker - pencil by ~myaibou on deviantART
Tucker - color by ~myaibou on deviantART
By a Wire - pencil by ~myaibou on deviantART
By a Wire - color by ~myaibou on deviantART
Snow Kiss - pencil by ~myaibou on deviantART
Going Ghost! (or not) - pencil by ~myaibou on deviantART
At long last!
Jun. 3rd, 2012 08:53 pmAfter four long years in the making, the first chapter of Weight of the World (the sequel to Infinite Potential) is up at ffdn!!!
Title: Weight of the World
Author:![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
myaibou
Genre: Adventure, Drama
Synopsis: Sequel to Infinite Potential. As the Ghost Zone spirals into civil war, Danny must unite ghosts and humans to fight against an old enemy who poses a new threat. Post-canon.
Rating: T
Warnings and Pairings: Spoilers for the whole series. DxS (but not the main focus of the story), minor TxV.
Title: Weight of the World
Author:
myaibouGenre: Adventure, Drama
Synopsis: Sequel to Infinite Potential. As the Ghost Zone spirals into civil war, Danny must unite ghosts and humans to fight against an old enemy who poses a new threat. Post-canon.
Rating: T
Warnings and Pairings: Spoilers for the whole series. DxS (but not the main focus of the story), minor TxV.
