(no subject)

Does anyone feel like being a kind of hand-holding beta for a Lily/Sev/Reg (various combinations) fic? I got what didn't seem like but is apparently turning out to be a fairly ambitious idea a while back. I am about 3800 words into it and from the looks of things it is likely to turn out in the 10-15k range (!).

This terrifies me because I have not written anything that long before, and in fact fear that if I really do go on that long, that it's just that I'm failing to be concise. At this point I am asking for general advice more than help with phrasing and all the usual stuff (SPAG is rarely necessary for me, except to rein in my overuse of some words and tendency to use ten words where three would have done). I need to know if I am trying to do too many things at once, help with how to work in "now, while all this has been happening, this other thing has been happening offstage" kinds of things, and probably help avoiding plot holes.

It centers around interpersonal drama and angst, although there will be smexing in it (I'm not sure if it will go up to NC-17, but surely R) and also some (magical) drug use (and mentions of past use in the Muggle way). We are not talking a rapid-fire need, here; after this piece it will likely be some time before I get up to a chunk this size again.

I know this is totally the right time of year for this when no one has anything else on their plates. *nods sagely*

(no subject)

Does anyone feel like being a kind of hand-holding beta for a Lily/Sev/Reg (various combinations) fic? I got what didn't seem like but is apparently turning out to be a fairly ambitious idea a while back. I am about 3800 words into it and from the looks of things it is likely to turn out in the 10-15k range (!).

This terrifies me because I have not written anything that long before, and in fact fear that if I really do go on that long, that it's just that I'm failing to be concise. At this point I am asking for general advice more than help with phrasing and all the usual stuff (SPAG is rarely necessary for me, except to rein in my overuse of some words and tendency to use ten words where three would have done). I need to know if I am trying to do too many things at once, help with how to work in "now, while all this has been happening, this other thing has been happening offstage" kinds of things, and probably help avoiding plot holes.

It centers around interpersonal drama and angst, although there will be smexing in it (I'm not sure if it will go up to NC-17, but surely R) and also some (magical) drug use (and mentions of past use in the Muggle way). We are not talking a rapid-fire need, here; after this piece it will likely be some time before I get up to a chunk this size again.

I know this is totally the right time of year for this when no one has anything else on their plates. *nods sagely*

(no subject)

I don't know why I never did the simple conceptual reversal needed to think of this before, but Google confirms it's just as necessary a service: yes, Virginia, there is Ameripicking. It's somehow heartwarming to know that there's a place in the fandom ecology for such a thing.

I guess I just have this image in my head that we Americans are the ones who always get things wrong through ignorance, and more, that American culture is not only pervasive (nay, invasive; a noxious weed, a cuckoo culture that ousts other eggs if it can but get in the nest), but also somehow sloppy and worthless, not a crafted thing that needs care to correctly imitate. But I suppose it's just as difficult for an amateur British writer to sound authentic in an American-based fandom as it is the reverse.

As far as I know there is not a corresponding word for Canadian settings; I still like the word "Canuckpick". It has a kind of onomatopoetic quality to it, especially if one were talking about a story set in Nunavut or something.

(no subject)

I don't know why I never did the simple conceptual reversal needed to think of this before, but Google confirms it's just as necessary a service: yes, Virginia, there is Ameripicking. It's somehow heartwarming to know that there's a place in the fandom ecology for such a thing.

I guess I just have this image in my head that we Americans are the ones who always get things wrong through ignorance, and more, that American culture is not only pervasive (nay, invasive; a noxious weed, a cuckoo culture that ousts other eggs if it can but get in the nest), but also somehow sloppy and worthless, not a crafted thing that needs care to correctly imitate. But I suppose it's just as difficult for an amateur British writer to sound authentic in an American-based fandom as it is the reverse.

As far as I know there is not a corresponding word for Canadian settings; I still like the word "Canuckpick". It has a kind of onomatopoetic quality to it, especially if one were talking about a story set in Nunavut or something.