Good Lord, has it been one month?

I apologise for taking so long to upload the newest chapter. Let me have a final proofread before I upload Chapter 50.

By the way, the story is coming to an end soon. Just that there's much much more to go before I call it quits!

Workshop: Fiction Writing (Part 2)

Thanks all, for waiting. Here is the second half of my reflections after the writing workshop. You can read about the first half here.

3. Even when you are tired, you can write pretty decent stuff.
Writing, fun as it was, was no joke. Writing and thinking of ideas from 9 to 5 was tiring. At the last exercise, my mind was already like, "let's just do something simple." So yes... I kind of relaxed and chose the first idea that came to my mind instead of working on that idea a bit more. However, after I was done, I took a look and I thought, "Hey, it could have been worse." I've submitted that piece of writing to the facilitator to look through. She will be a good benchmark to my expectations.

Of course, I'm not saying that I'm satisfied with half-committed work. Nevertheless, if there is a moral of this story, it'll be this: Don't make fatigue your excuse... as with other things like work and life and family etc. *feeling really guilty right now*

(I shall join Tamaki senpai from Ouran High School Host Club in his corner of woe...)

4. I appreciate fanfiction.net
For the sheer reason that through them I, at the very least, have been given an avenue to publish something. Anything. Publishing crap work to not-so-crap-but-still-boring work over these years gave me a valuable thing called experience.

5. I'm on the 'right' track
Not trying to be stuck up or anything, but it's just that some of the things that the facilitator had mentioned and recommended are things that I am currently doing. It's pretty awesome to know that. And I can only attribute to that many many years of stumbling and fumbling and getting people to critcise your writing. It was sad to see that I could have learnt those in just a one-day workshop rather than going through the whole thing over so many years. However, I guess I had to learn some things the hard way. What I'm trying to say is, experience is key.

6. Things are better with comrades
I was sitting in a group of six, and these people are really supportive, witty and fun to be with. In addition, they were very tactful with their comments. It was really lovely. Time just flies when I was writing with them, and we even had lunch together :P Well, all of them read my Chapter 50 draft. They did not give much comments (which meant more than it sounded), but it was an amazing feeling nevertheless to give your work to someone to look through. I should try to humble myself more to allow a second opinion because well... all my stories were written and planned and edited by me.

In conclusion, I had a brilliant time. I can't wait to go for another one someday. You ask, "Are you using the things that you're learning into your stories?" Truthfully, not always. It's a little time consuming, hurhur. But the tips do appear in my mind once in a while as reminders. Hehe. Yup. I'll continue to work hard for my readers and my characters.

Tamaki Sempai's corner of woe taken from here.

Workshop: Fiction Writing (Part 1)

I went to a writing workshop a few weeks ago. To those who are clueless, here is the details of that workshop. You may need to click on the image to have a larger view.

If you remember my previous post, I was talking about how afraid I was to meet other writers because of my background as a fanficion writer. Turns out that I was too paranoid about it.

The workshop was amazing. Well, I think it's kinda rude to disclose what I've learnt. I think that it's best to the facilitators at the workshop. At most, I'll give some kind of remark rather than a detailed  So if you are here, expecting some kind of crash course, well, you're not going to get it, sorry :(

Firstly, we did a self-introduction. I was the second one in the line, so I had to make quick decisions. Should I just keep quiet? Or kick myself in the shins and jump into the fire? Well, I made the latter choice.

"Hi, I'm aichioluv, and I'm... I'm a closet fanfiction writer."

No one really reacted. Do they even know what is fanfiction? My facilitator, however, chuckled, though not in a bad way (I hope). So I continued.

"I'm here (in this workshop) because I want to see what I'm lacking in my writing, which should be a lot. And I want to see how I can improve in my writing."

Yup, my self-introduction went by smoothly. Not angry mob of nay-sayers, no pitch forks, nothing. Yes yes yes, I was overreacting, I admit. But seriously, I know the general reputation of fanfiction being completely unoriginal (duh, it's fanfiction!) and substandard. Of course I worry. It was absolutely liberating, my confession. After that, I felt less concerned, for some reason. No one judged me, at least they did not say it out.

I really enjoyed the workshop and I've picked up some tips for improvement. If I really had to nitpick, I wished that we had gone more in depth. Maybe analyse author's works and discuss how we can use their awesomeness to improve ourselves. Hmm, is it even legal?

Apart from that, I'm simply glad that the workshop delivered what it needed to deliver. Here are some of the things that I've discovered and rediscovered during the workshop.

1. I had no idea I have an inner critic.
At the start of the workshop, we were supposed to dismiss our inner critic. I was thinking, "What inner critic? I will be happy enough if I was more critical of my work." Due to everyone from fanfiction.net being so nice and friendly, even if I had any mistakes, they may put it in such a roundabout way... or maybe they did not even notice.

Then, I remembered. Once upon a time, I received a painfully honest review for one of my earlier works. In his/her defense, I'm super grateful for that review because it gave me a good reality slap on my face. Unoriginal as it may be, fanfiction is, obviously, works and characters created by the original author. To make characters out of their character is kind of an insult to the author, in my opinion now. So I'm glad that that reviewer was honest enough to tell me.

That being said, since then I was ever so cautious in my planning and I try to be real critical with myself - especially with character portrayal. Sometimes, I feel exceedingly frustrated when I can't illustrate certain personalities the way I imagined it to be. I guess that could be my inner critic trying to giving my ideas 'friendly reminders' back to oblivion.

So, I do have an inner critic. Never thought about that. While it's good to have a certain standard for yourself, it is just as important to ignore the internal naysayers and write what YOU want to write.

2. I've pushed myself out of the box.
I guess I really surprised myself there. Not that I am a really good fantasy/adventure writer in the first place, but I never considered making characters more than what I was comfortable with. In the end, I thought of things and ideas that were sort of out of my usual style. At least, what was what I tried to do. I did try to make one of the characters in an exercise a failed comedian, but I guess even the function of a failed comedian failed on me. *sigh* humour was never my strong point. Nevertheless, I was glad that I tried to do something slightly different. Turns out that I could so it if I really try.

I'll continue another time!

Details of workshop were taken from here.

Did you ever not know the importance of something until it's gone?

Yes, the cliche sentence.

I'm feeling it big time now.

I've just deleted an entire section of writing.

It's gone. Forever.

Damn it.

I want to curl up and cry >_____<

EDIT: I'VE FOUND IT! I found a previous version in my harddisk. That folder was not backed up for many months but well, I wrote that scene a long time ago so... I'm just so happy and grateful and relieved.

Phew.

It is over...

EDIT (28 June): Well, further reading of the novellas just threw my entire chapter around. So yes, I'm back to editing the last chapter. Still, it's pretty awesome that I've made it this far. Just saying *smirk*

Yes, it is over.

If you are wondering what I am blabbering about. I am actually quoting from the last chapter of Days of Exile.

Yup, you've heard me.

Days of Exile is completed!

Well, there are still things going on, but rest easy, citizens of fandom. You will get your story out soon. Let's say... around August? So near yet so far, huh? :)

I wanted to write about the writing workshop, but oh well. Another time, I suppose?

So excited!

Aloha, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter that I've written.

Tomorrow (21st June), I will be attending a workshop on Fiction Writing, conducted by Academy of Literary Arts and Publishing Singapore. Any Singaporean writers here who are going tomorrow, I guess I'll see you. I would be super stoked if someone came to me and said that they have read my fanfiction, but then again, I don't have many Singaporean readers. Oh well.

Now, to be honest? I'm super anxious about tomorrow.


(K-ON! An anime that I would really love to watch, but it's not quite high in my priority list.)

What am I anxious about? Tons of things! This workshop is supposed to be an advanced workshop. Yes, I have experience in writing. But experience does not always equate to ability. I can just imagine.

Facilitator: let's have a short introduction around the room.

Participant A: Oh, I dabble a lot on writing. I've written articles for the Strait's Times (Singaporean newspaper).

Participant B: I've been sending manuscripts to publishers so I'm hoping for the best.

Aichioluv: Um... I write fanfiction?

*cue awkward silence*

I know, I should be proud of my 'heritage' but I am worried. What if I'm not cut out for this? What if I end up being more confused? What if my writing is so kiddish and I completely humiliate myself tomorrow?

What if, what if, what if...

I guess I'll only know tomorrow.

I would love to give you details about the workshop but I really want to get back to writing my chapter, so I'll tell you more after the workshop.

Meanwhile, have a good weekend!

Gif taken from here

Days of Exile: Chapter 47

Hehe, I must at least keep to my promise and come back after the two week break, right? No, I did not manage to reflect on how to be more efficient. But at least, the busiest part of my work is over for a few weeks or so. I will try to get my writing done.

Anyway here's the exciting chapter. In many things, I kinda outdid myself. This chapter is seriously a chapter which was in my head for the longest time. So to see it materialise and be published is something I never thought I had the commitment and dedication to do.

I took things to my own hands and did my own interpretation of what happened between Cloud and Tifa at the airship. If it is true as many speculated that they did naughty stuff, then it's just unnatural. I feel that their relationship was not very well-executed in the entire story, and it would be just weird if Cloud all of a sudden decided that Tifa was good to be with.

Also, maybe a lot of you do not agree with the way I portray Tifa. I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but so far, I'm kind of liking it. Tifa has this whole world of feelings and emotions, but she is finding difficulty in expressing them. I'll see where this leads and hopefully I can see a different side of Tifa that I've never seen before.

I like to write about the scenes concerning "On The Way To A Smile - Case of Shinra". I definitely look forward to writing more about Rufus Shinra. Though with my new plan, I'm not too sure how that will turn out...

Ahhh, finally. Reno and Meia have crossed the barrier, once and for all. I honestly struggled with whether I should ever write about them getting intimate. It was the original plan, but halfway through I pondered as to whether it would be too cheesy, or too unnatural. Truth be told, I played Meia as such an innocent character that such elements would hardly be related to her at all. So I did drop hints to remind you guys that hey, Meia is twenty, and well, she is grown up already.

Sidenote: Gee, do people even bother with abstinence before marriage? It seemed to many fanfic writers that the characters are all such... frivolous people. Gah, this would take another long time to explain. But in a nutshell, in the end I decided that I'll just go with it. Next time I may make more considerations before writing something like that, but it was interesting to weigh the options then.

Whatever the case is, the chapter is over, and uploaded. I would really, really, really appreciate it if you could review it. But whether there are reviews or not, I will continue to write this. I want to finish this.

Have an awesome week ahead!