While hanfic is usually thought of as the domain of young teenyboppers, most of us these days are adults with our own lives and families. Frances, for example, is a brand new mother. I’m really thankful that she was able to take the time out of her schedule to answer these questions (mostly while baby was napping!).
You can read her fic, including the popular Secret Trilogy on her LiveJournal, here.
Why did you start writing hanfic? How long have you been writing?
I started writing in the spring of 2012. I’d wanted to start some sort of creative writing for a while but didn’t know how to get started or what to write about. I’d been reading others’ hanfic for a few months and thought it’d be the perfect way for me to be able to start exploring my own skills.
What’s your favorite brother and/or pairing to write?
Most people know that I’m an ‘Ike girl’ so he’s my favourite brother to write. I’ve paired him with OFCs in my stories. In many stories Isaac is often portrayed as moody or simply doesn’t feature at all so I wanted to try and re-address this.
What are your favorite hanfic stories and authors?
There are so many good hanfics about at the moment and they’re all a little ‘outside the box’ which I love. The Listener by Sarah Irene is unique with it’s constant flipping between past and present chapters. The Innocents by Paola has the feeling of being a real novel and it’s dystopian setting is fantastic. TeamZaylor’s Bodyguard is building into an intriguing read and I like how the three authors work together on a chapter. Loaded God Complex is hilarious, something I really look forward to reading as it’s light-hearted. Again, I love the way that having more than one author gives the piece a different depth. I also love Diamond’s writing. From the darkness of Make You Feel My Love to the pure smut of her one shots, the technicality of the writing never ceases to amaze me.
What is your writing process like?
I only write when I’m at work which may sound a little odd. I do shifts where I work 3 until 11 then have to sleep over then work again from 7am. I write for a few hours to relax before trying to sleep a little. I very often write in complete silence but if it’s too noisy then I’ll stick my headphones in and listen to just one song on repeat as I can essentially ignore the song but it blocks out all the other noise. I don’t overly plan my writing, I literally just type what comes into my head and I go back later and elaborate on it. This probably comes across in my writing though as I find it’s often somewhat disjointed.
Where do your ideas and inspiration come from?
For Sibling Rivalry the idea came to me to try and give the idea of a Zaylor story a new twist. Many stories often leave out Isaac as a character, particularly Zaylor ones, so I wanted to write something that included him but didn’t portray him as being ‘innocent’. My ‘Secret’ trilogy evolved as I was writing. I had little idea what was going to happen from one chapter to the next. sometimes I acted on comments I’d been left as readers had ideas of where they wanted the story to go.
Which stories are you most proud of having written?
I wrote a piece called The Chair which was originally intended to be a one shot. it’s the thing I’m most proud of having written as I think it shows how much my writing has improved compared to when I first started. it was also honestly the first time I’ve been truly happy with what I’d produced. the feedback ended up being very positive which is why I then started to write Sibling Rivalry as a continuation of the characters’ situations.
Favorite songs to listen to while you write or which inspire your writing?
The song I usually end up listening to is Call Me by Hanson. It’s a song that instantly calms me, I can literally feel the stress melting away.
Thank you, Frances, for being the August spotlight! I’m glad you and the new baby are doing well 🙂