Leverage recs + edging outside my comfort zone

[fleurlb]

The motivation has gotten better, but I still haven't managed to finish anything yet. In the interim, here are recs for three Leverage stories that I read recently and really loved. 

First Principles - Eliot imagines briefing his temporary replacement on how to handle the team. I *heart* the structure here - it's perfect. (And, yeah, if you're thinking it's putting ideas and aspirations in my head, you're right.)

Uncommon Denominator - Pre-series look at Nate as an insurance investigator, primarily through the eyes of those he investigated. 

The Moment After: Or The Incurable Nathan Ford - Picks up immediately after 215. I love this because it says as much about Sophie as it does about Nate.

So, I've been at this fan fiction thing for nearly a year now. It's been awesome practice and I've learned so much about writing. I'd always shied away from writing exercises but found that this was a good way to ease into it and also to focus on certain technical aspects of writing by using recognizable characters as building blocks. (As I explained to my artist brother - it's like practicing composition or perspective by copying well-known paintings.)

I've written over 300,000 words now (not all of it on LiveJournal) and am feeling like I need to edge outside my comfort zone and find new challenges. I'd always been wary of signing up for anything that involved prompts, especially if I didn't know what the prompts would be when signing up. (So, big difference between something like a bingo or lottery and something like FNL Laundry list.) 

I've signed up for story_lottery  now though and just got my prompts:
8 - a cliff
17 - a church
18 - a balcony
20 - a hot air balloon
23 - a creek
29 - home sweet home
bonus 27 - a classroom

Funny enough, 20 freaked me out at first sight, but then an idea popped into my head fairly quickly. I'm looking forward to trying this out.

I'm also considering picking up a few of the prompts over at leveragekink , and maybe (just maybe) edging waaaay outside my comfort zone into NC-17 territory. I'm not promising anything, but I think I'd like to try. 

Comments

[celtic-flicka.livejournal.com]

Go for it! Write porn!! :)

[fleurlb.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the encouragement. Just the thought of it makes me all blushy and so.... Catholic. :) Must get over this.

Awesome icon, btw...what show is that from? I don't recognize it.

[celtic-flicka.livejournal.com]

It's Cliff, the sleazy lawyer from VM.

[fleurlb.livejournal.com]

Of course it is...I don't know why I didn't recognize him. He looks....younger or something.

[celtic-flicka.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think the lighting and the raised eyebrows make him look a little younger there. I just love him--he's a perfect example of how to use a funny tertiary character to good effect.

Thanks for the fic recs--there's a sudden flood of Nate/Eliot slash in the comms lately, and that's not my thing at all. I can deal with some slash, but only if there's an inkling of it in the show. Otherwise, it's just porn for porn's sake, IMO.

[fleurlb.livejournal.com]

You're right - Cliff was an awesome character, used to good effect, and always amusing.

Yeah...slash, I have to say, I don't get it, most of the time. Which is not to say that I don't read it, because I read ridiculously promiscuously when I'm really into a fandom, but most of the time, I just don't get. (Although I do find some writers that I really like and I even get won over by the slash.)

Have you read Like Knows Like? It's from Eliot's PoV but is really about Parker. It's quite well-done and worth reading.

[meghan-84.livejournal.com]

you could use half those prompts for fnl...just saying Tim's cliff is like a character in and of its self like his fortress of solitude...And try the porn if all else fails I'll help you idea wise...

[fleurlb.livejournal.com]

I was happy with how the prompts came out - it was the period of not nowing what they were going to be that was nervewracking.

As for the porn, coming up with ideas isn't the issue - giving myself permission to write and post is. :) thanks for the encouragement though!