daredevilkink | Discussion/Off-Topic Post #1

Somebody tell me I need to step back from the computer because I have obviously delusions of grandeur. I am currently working on two things: the 'Foggy is a wizard' prompt and the 'Foggy gets kidnapped by a serial killer and saves himself' prompt. I am not quite sure what I have gotten myself into.
Random observations about the wizard prompt:
I am writing the thing from Matt's POV. Also because of the above mentioned delusions I have decided to turn this into something really large that at one point features a magic battle. Yes I will have to write a magic battle as May would sense it. What could possibly go wrong? Not that I need to worry about this already because currently I'm rewriting Nelson vs. Murdock with 'what if both had a large secret?' Which brings up so many questions. So many.

The problem with the serial killer prompt is that a) I have started writing but still have only very vague ideas about what exactly will happen. That is less than ideal considering this prompt requires quite an amount of actual plot. Also I have already 800 words that are just 'Foggy wakes up and wonders what the hell happened' and idk no matter how exactly I end up writing this there will probably be a lot 'Foggy. Thinking' and that's something I always find hard to write. Dialogue is fine. Characters doing things as well. But just characters thinking is much harder. I always worry that it's really boring and... coherent thoughts are hard.

Long fics with actual plots are great!

Are you determined to write the whole wizard fic from Matt's POV? If I recall correctly, one of the rules or hints for deciding on the POV for a scene is to ask yourself, who has the most to lose? Who has the most at stake? So if Foggy is the wizard, and there is a magic battle coming up that involves him, it seems to me that Foggy would be the one with the most to lose. Perhaps you should consider writing the story with alternating points of view, going back and forth from Matt to Foggy as each scene demands.

You can weave a lot of "Foggy thinking," into the story, placing carefully timed paragraphs here and there, and making sure you temper it with dialogue and/or action so that the fic does not consist entirely of Foggy's thoughts (unless you're going for a pure stream-of-consciousness story). Try to keep the paragraphs showing his thoughts from coming off as long and boring, and don't let them hold up the action. You could also think about having Foggy talk to somebody about what he's thinking, instead of just thinking it.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

I have been reconsidering my plan to have just one POV (mainly because of the battle admittedly) but it would mean So. Much. More. Work.
So far my plan for the fic is roughly:
- some college-era scenes that involve things that Matt would find odd bot not downright 'obviously he is hiding something major from me'-suspicious
- Season 1 plot + added demons ~~which is going to work so well considering I paid like no attention at all to the actual crime-plot of the show~~
- N v M with both yelling about the other having kept major secrets
- more S1 plot and more demons
- some random stuff happening afterwards

Which is already a lot. And of course some of the stuff I could just write from Foggy's POV instead of Matt's but I still had to add some stuff...and try to keep it at least roughly balanced between both because I don't want to end up with 10 chapters from one and 3 from the other.
It's certainly a possibility worth considering I'm just not sure if it will improve things that much for me.

The thing about the Foggy vs. serial killer fic is...that it's just that. Foggy is alternately locked up alone or talking to the guy who is going to kill him if he says the wrong thing so discussing his escape-plans with him is right out.
(Incidentally I've also considered adding some Matt-POV here. Not that he could interact with Foggy but he could still -duh- do stuff which might give the reader a break from constant 'Foggy thinks' and 'Foggy talks to creepy killer and thinks about what to say/do to avoid getting killed' but I think I have to write a bit more before I can make a decision about that).

But thanks. Writing down my thoughts actually did help :D

Why in the world would I tell you to step away? Both of these sound awesome! ;D

With respect to describing a magic battle from Matt's POV, I think that there are a whole lot of possibilities for describing it. Most of the time in shows and such, spells take the form of projectiles that make sound effects, so you could easily describe the sounds that the spells make as they fly. (Also, of course, the sounds that they make when they land!) If the magic users have distinctive voices and the magic requires an incantation, then that could be another way for Matt to follow the action. If they have very different types of powers (i.e. one uses fire and the other uses lightning), Matt could probably differentiate between them by smell, too (fire=smoke, lightning=ozone), but after a while, the smells would probably blend together so much that they wouldn't be too helpful. He could also potentially taste the same sorts of things that he's smelling. Finally, it could be very interesting to try to find ways for Matt to try to describe the feel of something fantastical moving through the air: how it affects the air around it without seeming to obey the laws of physics, maybe displacing a different amount of air than he would anticipate. It could be really disorienting for him, which would also be fun to try to capture. There are lots of ways that you could describe Matt perceiving the magic battle, and the fact that he would probably be utterly bewildered just means that if it doesn't come through perfectly clear, it would make sense from an audience member's perspective that it's Matt's confusion, not the narrative's.

When you need to have a character thinking for a while, it might be helpful to try to think of what the audience needs to know about the character's thoughts. You said that Foggy wakes up and tries to figure out what's going on, so that probably means that you'll need to establish 1) where he is 2) where he was before he got where he is and 3) how he thinks he might have gotten from there to here. Other details (such as his physical state, the appearance of the room) could also be useful to know. The ultimate purpose of narration is to impart necessary information to the audience, not to simulate a person's actual stream of consciousness (unless stream-of-consciousness is what you're going for, in which case it'll be up to the reader to put together why Foggy's thinking what he's thinking in the way he's thinking it). If you find action easier to write, then think about the mental space as an action scene. What does Foggy need to notice to make the decision/draw the conclusion that you need him to? How much does the audience need to know to effectively understand the scene? Once you figure out those answers, you will just need to put them in an order that makes sense to you (just like in an action scene) and describe them. Keeping your narration down to only what is necessary and/or interesting should let you create a narrative that will be engaging.

Hope this helps!

I have elemental-based wizard-magic in mind but what I'm planing also involve demons (because why just make things complicated when you can also make it REALLY complicated?) and you now made me realize that I haven't thought that much about the basis of their magic...(slowly changing it to alternating POVs is sounding better and better...)

But thanks <3

I agree with other anons suggestions: as long as you balance everything out it should be fine.

I am glad to hear that you are working on both of these prompts. Are you doing the bit for the serial killer prompt based a bit of the meta that he was kidnapped by someone trying to replace family?

Yes that was my idea. Though now I did some research (I'm kidding. I read in the Criminal Minds wiki) and now I'm considering going more in the direction 'good old-fashioned stalker' (still with some overlap as in 'Stalker is just searching for a friend/something' and not sexually motivated because I'd be uncomfortable writing non-con (do such stalkers even exist? If not I could probably get away with going 'In the Marvel-universe they do')). Which of course would mean more work because I'd need to write the whole set-up, Foggy getting creped out by random gifts and stuff and also that I would have to throw out like half of what I have already written because it is 'Foggy waking up in a basement and wondering what the hell happened' which would of course be very different when he weird stuff had already happened to him.

*breaks down sobbing*
Writing one-shots about Matt getting turned in random animals is so much easier.

I think that you can leave out any non-con if you don't want to write it! If anything the serial killer could be trying to repress sexual feelings for family member being replaced and get all crazy and hurt people in his/her denial.

I am really excited because I thought your idea sounded really good. I would be willing to Beta if you want more help!

That would be really great though it will likely take a while till I have something presentable. My Ao3 is http://archiveofourown.org/users/Klara_Blum (if you prefer some other method of communication I have various other social media sites XD just say which)

Same anon who is now wondering if AO3 even has a messaging system...my tumblr is: http://black-cat-aoife.tumblr.com/ (and has sidebar links to my various other online-presences if you prefer one of those)

As the op of the serial killer prompt, you don't have to write dub/non-con if you don't want to.

But omg, thank you for writing it! take your time, it's not a competition, and i'll be happy to get anything! =D

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