I call it the spark, the scene or image or line of dialogue one thing that makes that fic NEED TO BE, and if I don't have it then I might as well not even open up a document--even if I can drum up the inspiration to write something, it all comes out vaguely flat and lifeless.
The really funny/gratifying thing is, when I post, the scene that gets the most comments or the line that gets the most cites is almost always the spark. It's like, the enthusiasm I have for that bit, and the vividness of the spark in my mind comes through, even when the rest of the story, honestly, maybe isn't that great.
The thing that I do, though, that I guess maybe isn't that normal is I immediately write that scene first, and then start filling in the blanks of how it got there. For instance, in my Merlin BB, the scene where Merlin bolts out of the throne room running, and then pushing Arthur up against the bedroom wall and whispering magic to hide them while soldiers pour into the room and Arthur stares at him in disbelief and shock--that was my spark and I wrote that first. Then I spent two months trying to figure out why the hell he was running from and what the hell came next. [snickers]
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I call it the spark, the scene or image or line of dialogue one thing that makes that fic NEED TO BE, and if I don't have it then I might as well not even open up a document--even if I can drum up the inspiration to write something, it all comes out vaguely flat and lifeless.
The really funny/gratifying thing is, when I post, the scene that gets the most comments or the line that gets the most cites is almost always the spark. It's like, the enthusiasm I have for that bit, and the vividness of the spark in my mind comes through, even when the rest of the story, honestly, maybe isn't that great.
The thing that I do, though, that I guess maybe isn't that normal is I immediately write that scene first, and then start filling in the blanks of how it got there. For instance, in my Merlin BB, the scene where Merlin bolts out of the throne room running, and then pushing Arthur up against the bedroom wall and whispering magic to hide them while soldiers pour into the room and Arthur stares at him in disbelief and shock--that was my spark and I wrote that first. Then I spent two months trying to figure out why the hell he was running from and what the hell came next. [snickers]