swirlingdoubt

I actually might be able to add to this! Woo!
Holiday horror is tantalizing, but there is a cheery and fun one knockin round the nogged out noggin.  The great thing is this story will require some field research for the location to add those little details that will put it over the top. Even with a paper-thin plot, it’s gotta have some moments of ridiculous humanity sprinkled in that I wouldn’t think up on my own.
BTW I’m awfully drunk right now so I apologize if there are audacious spelling errors. Those scurrilous red squiggles are not to be trusted.

I actually might be able to add to this! Woo!
Holiday horror is tantalizing, but there is a cheery and fun one knockin round the nogged out noggin.  The great thing is this story will require some field research for the location to add those little details that will put it over the top. Even with a paper-thin plot, it’s gotta have some moments of ridiculous humanity sprinkled in that I wouldn’t think up on my own.
BTW I’m awfully drunk right now so I apologize if there are audacious spelling errors. Those scurrilous red squiggles are not to be trusted.

There was a book I read once that was quite amazing – for 200 pages the author very well hid the fact that all the characters were animals and not people. Over the entire story, you are lead to believe it was some science fiction universe where culture was totally different and there were a few odd species running around – but you come to realize the unfamiliar species described were humans, and the main cast were animals like pigs and monkeys and bears. The strange culture was due to animals developing human-like communities far in the future. It was very clever. I had to go back and re-read passages to figure out how I was so tricked into assuming everyone was humanoid. I don’t remember the title of that book – I read it in high school. If anyone knows what I’m talking about...
My point is, the beauty of the written word is that people rely on their imagination to interpret what you say. You can manipulate readers to see what you want them to see by giving them as much or as little to work with as your story requires. If you want to focus on the hideousness of the species, that is what you can do – if you want to focus on the emotional or psychological rapport between characters despite their appearances, then that is what you can do.
An unstable environment shouldn’t be a handicap here. I think it is a very interesting question. How would a personal relationship develop over the turmoil of coping with a recent, traumatic history for the biology of the species? What does that say about our current phobias and expectations about what we are to each other? You could go a lot of directions with that idea.

Probably says a lot about me that I get most excited when the word research comes up. Can’t wait to read it!

This is a really fascinating concept. Could you elaborate on what you mean by ‘relationship-focused’ story? Do you just mean it’s going to be focused on any sort of relationship between two people or are you going for something more specific, like a romance or a buddy cop sorta thing? 

I actually might be able to add to this! Woo!
Holiday horror is tantalizing, but there is a cheery and fun one knockin round the nogged out noggin.  The great thing is this story will require some field research for the location to add those little details that will put it over the top. Even with a paper-thin plot, it’s gotta have some moments of ridiculous humanity sprinkled in that I wouldn’t think up on my own.
BTW I’m awfully drunk right now so I apologize if there are audacious spelling errors. Those scurrilous red squiggles are not to be trusted.

I feel like I should break out of my bloody holiday mode, although Yule lends itself so well to death and despair.

I’ll be in. I’ll probably post my Krampus story I wrote last year up here on AFF as well to coincide. What to do for the anthology… not sure yet.

“And he smiled as he said with a twinkle in his eye "Merry Christmas to all! Now you're all gonna die!" ~Weird Al.

Tis the season! The season for smut! Don your gay apparel, epic writers of AFF land! Chug that eggnog and cozy up to that fire, because it is time for the Winter Holiday AFF Anthology! 
If you wish to add a story to the anthology, the rules are simple:
Complete Oneshot (Under 50k words, please) Original fiction Holiday theme (Any december-ish holiday: Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa) All applicable warnings listed at the top of the story It’s up now! Just follow the link below, click “Add Chapter” and copy/paste your story into the editor. If you intend to participate, please put your story summary and warnings here, or send them to me in a PM, so that I can organize them into a table of contents as the stories go up. Feel free to hit me with any questions. 
http://original.adult-fanfiction.org/story.php?no=600109191
Confirmed Participants:
@Desiderius Price
Title: Jello
Tags: Bigotry, Exhib, Fingering, MCD, MiCD, MF, NoSex, Violence
Summary: A smoke break goes wrong, Megan heads home.

Title: Santa’s Sleigh
Tags: Bigotry, NoSex, Flashbacks
Summary: A Christmas train ride doesn’t turn out as Fitz had expected.

@CloverReef
Title: A Xenophiliac’s Christmas Carol
Tags: Oral, M/M, torture, anthro, Xenophilia (obviously) 
Summary: Sure, to most of his fellow human beings, Extany’s fetish for aliens is disgusting and unnatural, but this Christmas, he’s on trial for something else entirely: for breaking a tentacle monster’s heart. 
@InvidiaRed
Title: Outreach
Summary: A godling alone in the dark finds hope within an outstretched hand.
@BronxWench
Title: Nothing to Sneeze At
Warnings: M/M; Anal; Fingering; HJ; Shifter; Sneezing
Summary: There’s nothing like a break-up right before Christmas to dampen the holiday spirit, but when Marc met Ben, the holidays got a little bit brighter. Well, except for the sneezing…
@GeorgeGlass
Title: A Visit From Shota Claus
Tags: MF, Minor1, not sure what else yet
Summary: When Ellen finds herself struggling to assemble her child’s gift on Christmas Eve, she receives some unexpected tech support – and more – from Santa’s young son.
@Tcr
Title: Christmas, Bloody Christmas
Tags: Implied F/F, Nosex, Violence
Summary: Stationed on Mars in the year 2251, Gunnery Sergeant Celeste Laurier has severe doubts about the security of Fort Overraker on Christmas Eve.  Her fears are confirmed when Martian rebels launch a desperate attack in the hopes of capturing the base. When faced with hundreds of rebels, how can the fort of just over fifty people survive? 
@Sinfulwolf
Title: Solstice of Dawn
Warnings: F/F, M/F, Oral, Toys  
Summary: In a city on the frontline of a war against Darkness, the year's most holy day is about to dawn. Two strangers worshipping two different Gods, find each other and a night of comfort and a moment of happiness against the bleakness of the future.
@Praetor
Title: A Most Peculiar Burglar
Summary: Santa, re-imagined as a busty descendant, visits the home of a soldier on Christmas Day.
Tags: MF, AFFO, Challenge Fic, HJ, Oral, One Shot
 

I’m in! I might even manage something vaguely fluffy this time. Maybe. I can be fluffy, sometimes.

Thanks for pointing out Focuswriter! I’m downloading it. I burn my retinas writing in Word since I tend to write in compulsive, 8 hour long fits fueled by caffeine and mental imbalance.
Music is also great fodder for setting a mood. That can really spark more creative illustration of events.

Thanks for pointing out Focuswriter! I’m downloading it. I burn my retinas writing in Word since I tend to write in compulsive, 8 hour long fits fueled by caffeine and mental imbalance.
Music is also great fodder for setting a mood. That can really spark more creative illustration of events.

I do this too. Pictures for mood. Usually something setting related, I use focuswriter, which lets me put a picture as a background to write on. If I write a scene that takes place in winter, I’ll put in a wintery cityscape as the background. Or an angsty scene will get an angsty picture. 

In my case, it’s less about the relevance to the story, just unlocks the neurons, that’s all.  I can’t have it too stimulating either, or it’s a distraction.  Of course, I’ve got big enough monitors that’s it’s easy to have multiple pictures up along with my text editor (I generally don’t use an office-software to write).  Occasionally, if a picture might be relevant for the story, then that’ll be up as well.   Maybe these pictures are why my characters tend to like to be nudists…. maybe not, because these traits existed in my characters prior to this picture habit.
 

I don’t often use photos to help my stories. The images I have in my mind’s eye are usually not close enough to a real image to help the story, they frustrate. A  photo can be both too close and too far and this cognitive dissonance is like chalk on a backboard. Most canon characters and events in fanfiction have plenty of images.
 
There are two exceptions that come up in maybe 1 in 12 stories. A fan art can and has triggered a story or a scene. Or when I was trying to build up a cover art illustration for a story, I dug out a bunch of photo references. I went so far as to scrounge enough to pay for an illustration from an artist  who paired representational and impression in that fandom whose style I like and had open commissions. They requested refs and then backed out. The money went to another bill then.   My art skills are more photoshop than Michael Whelan. That image is very clear in my head. But only in my head.
I see enough of my scenes that I forget to include important details. So looking for photos that match that is mostly a way to use the time I could be writing.

You’re definitely weird AF. That’s what’s so great about you.

I’ll certainly use other pictures where needed.  It’s just weird that my mind can only freely write when I’ve got an explicit picture up … it doesn’t have to be related, more like it just unlocks the mind.  Maybe I’m just weird….

I will say my visual aids are largely not explicit. I find I like to collect images that feed a mood, or a facet of the world I’m building. For the Tales of the Seaborn Crown ‘verse, I collect steampunk images, mostly objects, Carnivale masks, costumes, and other things that flesh out the little details. I might save various bits of armor, or weapons that amuse. The explicit stuff doesn’t need visual aids, other than perhaps a pretty toy here and there. I like chastity cages lately...

I am definitely a pantser as well. As long as I have a spark of inspiration and some vague idea of what the main conflict might be, I'm usually good to go. Though I've done stories with less. 
I reverse outline. Once I have a couple chapters written, I go back and outline what happened in them and note down important details to keep things consistent. Then, if it's feeling aimless or something doesn't flow right, I'll jot down more specific things that could happen if the characters are kind enough to oblige. 

Creating stories can be a perplexing/confusing topic since everybody seems to have a slightly different way of going about it.   For trivial details, I’ll use random generators/pickers, to get a list and see “what fits”.  I’ve got a database which is close to the “lore bible” for my originals.  I’ve written small programs to help my writing (date generator, that random picker from a file, database management, map aids, etc).  I’ve drawn crude maps, both on paper and in drawing programs.  I’ve experimented with 3D programs, mainly for layout of major locations, just to give an idea.  I’ve got a bunch of spiral notebooks for my potter universe – which has turned out to be highly useful when returning from a decade “on-hiatus”.  I’ve got a myriad of small text files for my potter universe, with backstory (also useful after that long on-hiatus).  A three-ring binder with loose paper for the original universe.
As to actual writing, I don’t write a super-fine outline, just a crude one.  Write a few key scenes, if needed – just so I’ve got an idea of where I’m heading.  Bring up the “inspirational” pictures, and start writing.  I’ll write notes which I’m about to end for the day, so I can pick up where I left off.  I’ll jot down a bit of an outline for a chapter, when it’s important.  And I’m not afraid to cut/cull material or alter the outline if the characters aren’t agreeing with it.
I also try to keep a spiral notebook handy for that occasion when I hear something, or come up with something, or even after a talk with a coworker – I’ll jot those ideas down, which gives things a better chance of being remembered.  And I’ll typically find my brain the *most* creative, coming up with the *best* ideas as I’m trying to get ready for work after a long weekend….

Normally it’s inspirational, unclogs my neurons (so usually explicit pictures … use your imagination )  However, I have done some 3D-modeling, drawing, etc, when it comes to figuring out layouts to places, or even a family tree.
I’m a bit more toward a pantser when I write, but I do tend to have some rough idea already.  However, I will let the characters surprise me … heck, had a “surprise” blow job in the story the other day, I wasn’t planning on, but it just spontaneously happened.   My balance of pantsing vs outline depends on the complexity of what’s happening – a chapter that’s essentially smut is nearly always pants, while more intricate plot or action, would have an outline, or even blow-by-blow (depends on the timing required).
My general outline is “stuff happened”, and I’ll refine the stuff in between beginning and end as I write.  One thing I will try to do is to write the key scenes, just a draft, so I know what I’m headed for.
 

Yeah, most writers are pantsers or outliners at base.  If you have trouble with outlines you are probably a pantser. It is a continuum so there’s no hard edge. 
I think I have the most problem if I try to plan character behavior or feeling stuff ahead of time. I’ve done detailed grids and flow charts for action sections or to keep track of cast locations when multiplots are at a climax. Background and culture I don’t  plan enough, but I do record bits in a separate file/location for later reference.
My notes file makes for interesting reading in its own right. My notes mentioned someone wanting to shave someone’s beard as payback in chapter two, it finally happened in chapter 28. That wasn’t planning from before I started writing, but more like weaving in loose threads and plot hooks I left behind me. Often my Maguffins like the beard threat aren’t planned consciously, but my muse makes very good use while my ego is pleasantly surprised. One character got threatened in what I thought was a throwaway chapter ending, but is making an interesting subplot now… It’s not always ME doing the planning, but my muse. Recording the mass means I can weave the story back into itself and look much cleverer by not being totally episodic that ignores earlier changes. Continuity errors make ya look bad.

Just the setting. Once you build a world and continuity as long as you don't violate the rules of the world and the guidelines everything else is easier to let it happen more organically.
Only outlined a whole story once. Hated everything about it and deleted it wholesale.  

What the heck is a pantser?
Desiderius Price and BronxWench, I never thought of using images to help with inspiration and description. That seems very effective. I will try that.
Participating in RP helped a lot with character development as sort of a sandbox for the way a character might behave and act. Being able to bounce them off others can make them more fleshed out and creative since you can put them in situations that you wouldn’t have anticipated. I came up with a lot of characters RPing with friends when I was younger, although we stopped doing that after high school (a favorite was a Christmas horror theme where a sugar plum “fairy” terrorizes... – hm, might be a good one for a Christmas submittal here ).
I’m glad I’m not the only one that suffers with too much planning. Thanks for detailing your processes.
The only thing I write beforehand is dreams that can be used for plots. If I don’t write those down 10 minutes after I wake up, I forget them. Some of my best ideas, including a story I’m working on now, have actually been my subconscious talking. For some reason, my dreams tend towards comedy, puns, and satire that is far more clever than what I can come up with when awake...