Finding inspiration

Finding inspiration isn't always as easy as it sounds. Actually, most of the time I find myself looking for inspiration and not finding any. It's not an easy concept to grasp. Sometimes I'm in an (what I like to call) inspired mood. For me, those usually last a few days and my stories take huge leaps forward. They seem to appear out of nowhere, I just wake up with a bunch of ideas on how a story should continue and I spend hours writing them down and perfecting them. After a while, it just stops as suddenly as it started. 

I never use my inspired mood to actually write pieces other than simple drafts. I mainly work on plots, certain scenes I want to add to the story and adding depth to my characters. Surprisingly enough I'm not a better writer when I get inspired. My grammar gets a little sloppy and I tend to get into too much detail. I always need to go back in later and eliminate half of the details I put in. 

But now for the hard part: what if inspiration seems to have taken a leave of absence? What if it just doesn't start flowing the way you like it to? There are tricks to get inspiration and for everyone there's another one that works. I mainly use three tricks to get on in my stories.

The first trick is research and reading. When I need inspiration I just start reading up on the subject. This week I've been working on the plot for the USS Falcon Christmas Special. To start I did the simplest thing I could think of, I googled on the term 'Christmas special'. That lead me to a bunch of Christmas special related wiki pages including a full listing of Christmas specials from running shows. While going through all the information I found I made a mind map to keep track of Christmas related ideas. Later on I'll use that to determine the main plot of the special. 

The second trick is using the characters of the story. Since the characters of the USS Falcon are pretty much done I can get inspiration by just examining how they would react to a particular situation or another character. It gives information on what plotlines could work. For example, I don't have a religious character in this story so it would make no sense to focus on the religious part of Christmas. 

The last trick is using cliches to your advantage. I've talked about this before and I can't talk about it enough: cliches are cliches because they work. So use them to your advantage. My mind map for the Christmas special is loaded with cliches. Not because I'm going to copy them into the story, but because they can help me set up a plot for this special. 

So that's my way of finding inspiration when I'm not in a flow. I'm curious, what do you guys do to get inspiration?

Overcoming a writersblock by writing a Holiday Special

Hello again. As you may have noticed it has been quiet on this blog again. It's not because I haven't written anything lately, but mainly because I'm stuck in chapter 5 of the first Star Trek Falcon episode. I'm okay with what I've written so far, but I'm not sure how to make the transition to the second part of the chapter. Later today I'm giving it another try, but if that doesn't work I'll consider dropping the second part.

Something that hasn't been helping is the fact that while watching the third season of Star Trek Enterprise I realized that some characters needed a little bit more work so they won't resemble certain characters of Enterprise too much. I have to say that it wasn't exactly the most encouraging moment when I realized that the story needed a little bit more work than I initially thought. Of course, since the first version it really has come a long way, but it wasn't quite there yet. I'm happy to report that I'm actually working on character profiles for all the main characters and I'm putting a lot of thought into their development throughout the series.

To get myself going again with the story I picked up a little side project for this month. Since Christmas is approaching I decided to write a Christmas Special involving the senior staff of the Falcon. Today I started brainstorming and I hope to have a plot and chapter planning for the special ready by the end of the weekend. Although you guys haven't met all the senior staff members just yet I decided to include them all into the special. Just consider it a sneak peek of what to expect of the dynamics between characters.

That's really all for now. I hope that you're as excited about the special as I am. Also, I'll try to update the Episode one again this week. I've been stuck for long enough.

For now, have a great weekend and I hope I'll see you again.

The art of finishing

It's been too long since I wrote here. Of course there are reasons why it took me so long to write, but basically it all boils down to this: I have a problem finishing what I start. It's a common problem among (fanfiction)writers. We get inspired, start typing away and end up with a writersblock that is just too scary to overcome. Just take a look around at fanfiction.net and you'll know exactly what I mean. Half of the work is unfinished or 'temporary' on hold.

When I was last here I promised you guys that the 'The last little bit' (Arrow) would be done by the start of the second season. As you may have noticed, that was last month and I haven't even uploaded a single chapter. To be quite honest, I haven't even written a paragraph for this story. The reason why is simple, I couldn't get into the flow of the first season. I totally lost touch with the characters and found it impossible to write anything that wasn't incredibly out of character. Apart from that I never really made a planning on what would be happening in the remaining 3 chapters (the last one I have a pretty good idea), so I had to go back and find things to write about. I can tell you, that's hard when you can't seem to get into the flow of the show anymore.

And there you have it, a writersblock. Combined with a demanding life (exams at school, coworkers who come down with something) this is fatal for any piece I write and no piece seems to be immune to it.

The next couple of months I want to focus on learning how to finish. Not just for writing fanfictions, but also for writing blogposts (I have at least 10 unfinished blogposts in my concepts folder) and original (short) stories I work on. I want to master the art of finishing.

So what to expect for the coming month? I'm sorry to say but I'm putting 'The last little bit' on hold again. I'll be working on the story planning and hope I'm getting back into the flow by watching the second season. I'm getting back to you when I can finish it.

Star Trek Falcon will be back shortly. I've been watching Star Trek Enterprise and I have a whole bunch of cool new idea's for new episodes. But first things first, next chapter of episode one will be a scene involving Captain Dolch and Lieutenant Wildt. I'll be going a little into the background of Danielle Dolch, Mick Dolch and Kevin Wildt. I think it'll be very interesting.

As for the blog posts, I really want to write about writersblocks, tips and tricks to finish a story and planning a story before you start writing. I have enough idea's really. If you have anything you'd like to see a post about, just let me know in the comments and I'll see what I can do.

That's it for now. Hope you'll stay tuned and I'll see you next time.

Beta Hero's pick for this TV season

It's September and the new TV season is about to start. After a summer of (re)watching previous seasons of my favorite shows finally the fresh seasons and even fresh shows are about to air. I think this year is very promising. Anyway, here is what I'll be watching this season. (in order of air date)

How I met your mother (September 23rd)
How I met your mother is starting its 9th season this fall. I got in a little late on this show, I started watching the first season last year. Now I'm up to date and looking forward to the new season. I starting to hope Ted will never meet their mother and the show goes on forever. 

 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (September 24th)
This is a brand new show that's airing this year. I have to say, it looks really promising. I've seen a short introduction scene and the trailer and I'm really thrilled. This also looks like a good show to write fanfiction for, so I keep my fingers crossed. 

                             Big Bang Theory (September 26th) 

The Big Bang Theory is starting its 7th season. There are two kinds of people who watch this show: the first kind is normal people who laugh at the characters and the weird things they do. the second kind are the nerds who actually get the jokes. I'm afraid I'm of the second kind. 

Arrow (October 9th)
Arrow is on for another season. It won't surprise you that I'm going to watch this show again this season. I loved the first season (aired last year) and especially the pace and feel of the show.

Almost human (November 4th)

Another new show that I'm really excited about. It combines two of my favorite kinds of shows: police/detective and scifi. Although I'm a little concerned about the show becoming a cliche I'm really looking forward to it. If you're interested, you can watch the trailer here. 

Community (air date to be announced)
Yes, I'm very excited about the fifth season of Community. I am worried though that it's not going to live up to my expectations. On the bright side, the original writer is rejoining the team so fingers crossed!

 


Another show I watched over the summer is the 8th season of Dexter. Since the show has been going down hill for a few seasons I wasn't expecting much of it but it's turning interesting now that there's only 2 episodes left. So there's a honerable mention for Dexter.

So that's what is on my watch list this year. I'm curious to see what you'll be watching this season. Let me know in the comments!

~ Chell <3

Planning fall 2013

It's been quiet on this blog, way too quiet in my opinion. Main reason is that school has started again. I don't think I mentioned it just yet, but I'm a student at the Delft University of Technology. Currently I'm studying for my severely delayed bachelors degree in technological policy management with a focus in IT. (You just guess why so many of my original characters specialize in software related issues.) I follow four classes this fall semester which include two modeling classes (simulation), one IT class (Business Intelligence, which is awesome by the way) and one overdue math class. On top of that I started a new side job this month while I haven't quit my old job yet, so I work more hours than I usually would. 

But that's enough about my personal life for now. I bet you'd like to know what my planning is for writing this fall so lets get right to it. 

I have good news for all the Arrow fans, I'm planning to finish 'The last little bit' before the start of the new Arrow season. (Oct. 9th) Reason why I'm pulling this project forward is because I plan to write an alternative universe ending for this fanfiction and I don't want to be pulled in the new season. I'd rather start a new project if and when I get inspiration for a story. 

The other project I'll be working on this fall is the current Star Trek Falcon episode. I'm almost finished with chapter three, so that should be up somewhere during or maybe before the weekend. Also, please note that I changed the spacing of the two first chapters after an extremely useful set of reviews on the Trek BBS. 

I'm afraid that's all for the fall of 2013. I have a project I really want to start working on, but I'm waiting until I have a little bit more time on my hands. It's a parody piece for Friends and it will be a one shot to begin with, but maybe I'll extend it later to a multi chapter project. That's all I'll be sharing about this project for now. 

Off course I'll be writing regular blog posts (promise) on the writing process along the way. For the next week I was thinking about writing about inspirational music and the series I'll be watching this TV season. If you have anything you'd like me to write about, just leave me a comment and I'll see what I can do. 

That's really all for now. Thanks for reading and have a great day!

~Chell <3

Why distractions are not always a problem

Happy Friday everyone! Today I'll be writing about distraction because that's really the theme of the week for me. Somehow I got nostalgic and started looking for old Power Ranger episodes, which I eventually found on project free TV. A little side note here: Project free TV is awesome. It holds links to episodes of pretty much every show you could think of. Which is great because living in the Netherlands (Europe) means that a lot of great shows air later here. So I relay on the internet to keep me up to date with my favorite fandoms. 

But lets get back to my discovery of 17 seasons of Power Rangers. Luckily for me, I only watched up to Power Rangers Light Speed Rescue. Everything after that doesn't have any nostalgic value for me and just seems silly. I also missed the Zeo and Turbo series because those weren't aired in my country. For some reason it made more sense to pick up with In Space I guess. Anyway, I was thrilled with hours of nostalgic entertainment ahead of me. So instead of writing I got stuck watching a kids show. Some people might think it's a waste of time, but here is why it's really not. 

First of all, even a simple story can be a huge inspiration. I also read many fanfictions written by either young or untalented authors just because there's something there that grabs my attention. Something that with a little twist could really be awesome. Just to give an example, my Arrow fanfiction came to mind when I was reading a fairly bad 'five to one' fanfiction by another author. She had written about five times Oliver Queen lived and one time he died. Obviously we only die once, but I thought it was interesting to turn that concept around and have him 'die' five times in a figurative sense instead. The idea wouldn't have come to mind if I had stopped reading after the first break. Personally, I'm glad I did. I really enjoy writing this particular story. 

Another great thing about kid shows is that it usually has a clear point to make. There's a lesson to be learned in every episode and usually it's a cliche. Now, I know that most writers claim you should keep yourself far from cliches while writing, but I have a different point of view here. A cliche is a cliche because it works, so use it to your advantage. Want some examples? Think about Harry Potter, a great story praised for originality. Boiled down to the core it's just another boy destined to destroy evil, one of many cliches. Or how about Star Trek and Star Wars, which can both be summarized in the same way using cliches. The point I'm trying to make is that you should know your cliches before you can write something original. Kids shows are a great way to get familiar with them. (Okay, so are the classics, but the classics don't go boom or have one liners!) 

My last argument only goes for non-native English speakers like myself, but I still want to share it with you. Watching as many shows as possible keeps my English skills up to date. Many of the non-native speakers don't speak English on a daily basis and usually it does show in their writings. Too keep my English from getting too rusty I watch as many movies and TV shows as possible. I also read a lot of English and try to talk to native speakers when I get a chance. I have to admit, Power Rangers is fairly simple, but it's still a lot of fun watching!

Now I should really get back on writing for my fanfiction pieces. I currently work on the second chapter of Star Trek Falcon episode one. If everything goes as planned it will be up this weekend. For all the Arrow fans, don't fear, I think I'll be able to pick up 'That last little bit' somewhere next week. 

As for now, thank you for reading and I hope you'll have a great weekend! 

~ Chell <3

Getting started with Beta Hero Fiction

Hello and welcome to my brand new blog: Beta Hero Fiction. 

Lets just start with introducing myself. My name is Chell and I'm from the Netherlands. Ever since I can remember I've been writing. Usually short stories, but also poetry, songs and stand up comedy. After an exchange program to the United States I stopped writing in my native language and refined my skills in English. It has been a challenge, but I think I'm getting there. 

Most of you however will know me by the name of Beta Hero, my nickname at Fanfiction.net. I've had an account for years, but only recently started publishing my own stories. Currently I have only two published stories due to an extremely busy summer (turns out apartments don't renovate themselves!) but there's more to come!

But why starting my own blog instead of just staying on Fanfiction.net? Well, I felt restricted by the rules. Sometimes I just want to share something else than just the story I wrote. I also like to share tips and tricks on how to make your stories better or a little insight on how I go through the writing process. Unfortunately Fanfiction.net simply doesn't offer an platform for these sort of things. 

Now, don't be afraid. I'm not leaving Fanfiction.net behind, I still like the community a lot! It's just that I'd like to add that little extra to my writing by offering you this blog to read. So today I've posted my stories here. In the future I'll first publish new chapters and/or stories here before I'll publish on Fanfiction.net. So if you like the newest stories hot of the press, come back and check this blog regularly! 

~ Chell <3