July 2011

When I found this fanfiction meme on Deviant Art, and all I could think of was, wouldn’t this look great on my profile page (even though nobody may ever read it).

How about a brief introduction of yourself?

My pen name is Lellow, I’m a young, Australian woman who enjoys the beach and reading and writing fanfiction…

Fabulous, what got you into fanfiction in the first place?

Buffy the Vampire Slayer – I was 14 and Joss had just broken up Buffy and Angel. I was so angry with him so I got my Buffy/Angel fix from fanfiction. It took a while before I could watch Buffy and Angel canon again. Now, I'm quite happy that Buffy and Angel broke up… and didn’t go all… you know “Edward/Bella”

I see, so what kind of fanfiction do you write?

Currently, I’m writing RuroKen, though I’ve also got postings for Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and Sailor Moon fandoms. I’ve also dabbled in BtVS, Angel, Supernatural and Mulan fandoms, though those writings are in my private collection never to see the light of the internet upload:).

Do you tend to write the same pairings/characters? Or are you a fandom whore?

Within each fandom, I tend to pick two characters (not necessarily a romantic pairing … i.e. Legolas/Thranduil) and just explore the relationship between the two. I think it makes it easier to write stories which are true to character.

In ‘The Assassin’, I’ve become a little bolder in my writing and am experimenting with different pairings and creating original characters.

What is your most popular fanfic and why do you think people like it so?

My most popular fanfic is ‘Always’, which I wrote for the Sailor Moon fandom. I think people like it because it is a short, typical 21st century romance and part of a large and amazing fandom! I personally have a love-hate relationship with it.

I love it because the reviews I got from it built my confidence as a writer, but I hate the themes within the fanfic, especially Mamoru’s OTT jealousy. I’m not going to fix it, I want it there to remind me of how far I’ve come, as a writer and as a person :).

Forget other people, what’s the fanfic you’ve written that you’re most proud of?

‘The Assassin’ – because it is one of the longest most complex pieces of I’ve ever had the pleasure to write.

Do you find writing easy? Hard? What are the most difficult aspects you struggle with?

Writing is hard, but I find that if I have a process when writing it makes it easier. I tend to jot down points that I want to convey in a scene, then write a ‘scene skeleton’ with dialogue. Then I flesh it out, do a quick edit, send it to a beta (or read it again after a week), make changes, then post, before I drive myself crazy over the little bits that irritate me. I think for me the most difficult thing is creating a plot for a multi-chaptered story and conveying it with the same competence as I do with my short stories.

Write a few sentences or so of your favourite pairing or character.

I refuse to do this, on the grounds that I’ve already written heaps and you can click on one of my stories below.

Are there any fanfiction trends/cliché’s you can’t stand, or are sick of?

Over the top romance fanfictions, especially romance fanfictions in RuroKen which clearly don’t consider the setting of the story. My biggest peeve is RuroKen fanfictions set out of context (i.e. in a high school or in a medieval castle). RuroKen set in any time other than Japan in the late 1800’s, may as well not be RuroKen. Sorry, just the way I feel…

Are you guilty of any of the fanfiction trends/cliché’s you hate? Or any other ones?

The over the top romance thing, yes. Unresearched, out of context RuroKen fictions, never.

I try to steer clear of cliché’s.

What was the first fandom you wrote for? Do you still like/participate in it?

Sailor Moon was my first fandom to write for. I still love the fandom, but I don’t write for it anymore :).

Name your OTP’s or most frequently written pairings/characters and explain what it is about them that you love to write.

I love writing for Kenshin and Tomoe because they are both extremely complex characters. I love that both of them so obviously stand in that grey area between villain and hero. The fact that they are both from a historical setting, so clearly apart from western culture is also something that both challenges and interests me.

I also enjoy writing for Thranduil/Legolas, mostly because their relationship, compared to the others is so different.

What would you call your writing “style”?

Well, for my most recent works, I’d say my writing style is ‘intimate’. I like exploring characters close up, minimizing dialogue, and really focusing on their emotions and feelings , and using those emotions and feelings to drive the plot forward.

Do you read other people’s fanfic? If so what do you find you like reading the most?

Yes I do, and the ones I read over and over again tend to be dark, complex and challenge the existing preconceptions of the characters and themes which are explored in the canon. My absolute favourites in order of ‘level of darkness’ (starting with ‘holy-crap-that’s-dark' to ‘that-one’s-ok’) are:

‘For the Good of Gondor’ by Irena (Lord of the Rings)
‘Shadow of His Wings’ by Mirabella (Harry Potter)
‘Angel Electric’ by Lord Chaos (Sailor Moon)
‘The Strength of One Green Leaf’ by Kasmi Kassim (Lord of the Rings)

Only 2 of the four can be found on ff . net… so Google them if you wanna read them.

Name one thing you’d love to write, but have been too afraid or shy to do

No idea, I’d try any idea, no matter how risqué. As long as it is approached tastefully and is relevant to the plot.

Do you have trouble taking criticism? Or worse yet, do you have a dreaded bloated ego?

No, I generally don’t have problems with criticism, as long as people give it constructively. And yes I have a bloated ego. I think I’m a pretty great writer, and no amount of grammatical mistakes and punctuation errors will make me believe otherwise! :s

When you write is there anything that helps? Music? Quiet room?

I like to write in silence and usually when I’m on my own. Rhythm in dialogue is very important to me, so I need to be able to read the lines out loud to myself, and 'become the character'. That’s particularly difficult when other people are around watching and judging.

What inspires you?

Well written stories.

Lastly, how would you sum up your fanfiction experiences and yourself as a writer?

Picky...

Hence the very exclusive list of my '4 absolutely favourite stories'

I have a longer list of 'Favourite stories' followed by a list of 'Stories I can tolerate'.

I’ve learned that when you start off in a new fandom, it takes time to sift through the crap and get to the good stuff! Some writing out there is just, simply awful, so i judge everything from the title and the synopisis. I avoid things that say some variation of 'Read this! It's so great!' and really, really awful titles. Once a stories cleared that stage of my radar, I usually begin by reading the shortest fanfiction the author has, from the fandom I'm interested in (because reviewers lie!) and if I like it I continue.

I'm also quite picky with what I put up on my page. I like to be thorough, because, God forbid someone looks at my stories and thinks ‘this writing, makes me ashamed to be a part of this fandom!’

The only thing I'm not picky with is reviewing, good or bad works, you'll probably hear from me.