Yes, the queen of unrealized ideas is at it again. I'm currently 1,000 words into a new fic. Is it the Ron/Hermione piece that's due by December 25th? Is it the Remus/Tonks piece that's due by December 31st? No, of course not, sillies! It's the Lily & Tonks (NOT Lily/Tonks...!) piece that's been rattling around in my brain for a month or so. It's called "God's Opinion," and it's about their decision to become mothers. Although I was definitely squeeing with joy to know Tonks was pregnant (and yes, I TOTALLY knew she was, from Harry's birthday party on), I have to admit the question of why Tonks would chose to carry a child when she was an Auror in the middle of a war truly puzzled me. The idea for this story sprang out of my musings on the matter. So far this is turning out to be an interesting piece. I have never written Tonks, Lily, or James before, and have only barely written Remus (nothing I've posted yet). Trying to get their characters right is interesting, and is thankful proving to be less daunting than I thought. Of course, I should reserve judgment on that until: a.) I finish the story; and b.) I get a few opinions besides my own on my characterisation.

Oh, and did I mention I'm looking for betas?

~Phoenix, who REALLY needs some more icons!

Okay, I still have not posted the things I promised, but I have, in fact, changed my layout. I'm not sure what I think. Comments, anyone? Does anyone besides Laura actually view this directly, or are you all looking at it through your flist?

~Phoenix, about to write something. Really.

All right, I'm back and I'm better than ever! Okay, maybe not, but I'm trying. Still no promises on when you'll see my next fic up, but I will be posting some work from my composition class later this evening. (Or this morning, as it is for me.) Perhaps not very interesting to you, but important to me as a writer.

Also, I'm excited to say that I should be able to take Reading and Writing Fiction next quarter. YAY! I had thought that I wouldn't be able to, since I hadn't take the prereq class, but apparently seniors can get an exemption. There will definitely be cartwheels here when/if I register!

Beyond that, I'm thinking of changing my journal layout to something that supports tags. I like the way this layout looks, but tags are important if this journal is to be accessible to readers. Also, there are some sort of wonky things about the way this layout works that makes formating stories irritating. Probably no one but me even cares about the layout, but I just thought I'd give you the heads-up.

Finally, FYI, there will be a for-my-eyes only entry posted after this one, and every day after that. If it seems prudent, I will eventually unlock them to the public.


~Phoenix

When I originally started planning to reread all of the Harry Potter books before the release of Deathly Hallows, I planned on closely studying the Malfoy family as I read, with the intention of writing a story about them when I was done. After reading Deathly Hallows, though, I was sort of speechless, at least when it came to the Malfoys. What we saw of them there was not at all what I expected. My mind turned to other story ideas, and I wondered if I'd ever succeed in writing about the Malfoys.

Three months later, I think I've finally got the beginnings of an idea. Better yet, I think this will be rather long. As in multiple chapters, not as in over 500 words. I hope I can pull it off. Last night's post about Harry returning Draco's wand got me thinking, and it's blossomed into an idea that I hope will work out. I think we'll be seeing both Narcissa's and Lucius's perspectives on the past; I'm not sure if we'll go into Draco's POV. Only time will tell.

For those of you may be thinking, 'Great, the nutjob's got another idea, how many has she mentioned already that have yet to surface in any finished form?' I can only say... sorry. I myself am very frustrated by the lack of time for writing. And I do admit that some of my story ideas may never take root. However, I just want to reiterate that I don't have any intention of spewing out random crap without further thought or editing. My drabbles are as close as I come to that. So expect these stories to take time. I do. But I'm excited about this one!

~Phoenix


ETA: Umm... apparently I forgot to make this entry public after I finishished tweaking it. Ooops. Oh, and also... absolutely no updates will be happening here until next Monday, after which time I will have written 4 papers. Yay. :-/

Someone care to give me a reason why I should write out the scene where Harry returns Draco's wand to him? I think it would be interesting, but I'm not sure the tone I should take. Frankly, I'm getting a bit sick of only having one scene in my head and being entirely unable to come up with a further plot. I can't imagine the return of Draco's wand would really be a focal point of a story, anyway. It seems more like an ancillary scene in something much bigger. What, I don't know. Maybe if I just keep scribbling down scenes/ideas for scenes, they'll someday magically merge into a coherent, lengthy story?

Yeah, I don't believe it either. But a girl can dream.

~Phoenix

P.S. If anyone has any idea how I can get my tags to show up on the side of my journal, I'd be much obliged if they would share the knowledge.

Here's the drabble I promised...


Title: 2 AM
Author: Phoenix Neal
Rating: G
Pairing: none
Warning: angst, Deathly Hallows spoilers, although it'll basically not make any sense whatsoever if you haven't read DH, or at least been spoiled
Disclaimer: JKR owns the characters... my angst is ALL HER FAULT!
Word Count: 100 words precisely

( Accio fanfic! )

Okay, I'm still not very good at drabbles... but I liked that one all right. I feel really sad now, though. :(

~Phoenix, who's not sure she'll ever quite forgive JKR

Time flies whether you're having fun or not! I haven't abandoned writing, but I am still quite busy with school. This doesn't keep me from waking up in the morning and having Harry Potter plot bunnies bouncing around in my brain before I'm properly conscious. Such an event led me to write a Lupin family drabble, which will be called "2 AM," I believe. I'll put it up as soon as I have time to make it exactly 100 words. (It's 118 now, and won't be hard to cut.) Yes, I know I said drabbles didn't appear to be my forte, but this scene just screamed drabble. There's simply no need for it to be longer. I like it. Also, I've added 375 words to my mystery project, which is, ever so slowly, coming along. I believe it would shape up a bit faster if I had more time, but I don't. "Just to See You Smile" is suffering from a similar lack of time.

I've decided I will post my first composition for my English class here, but I'm too lazy (and busy) to do it right now. Things are coming, though!

~Phoenix, busybusybusybusybusy

Not much progress on "Just to See You Smile", but I did work on it because I promised. (And because I wanted to.) It's right around 800 words, and some of my <whatever>-type placeholders have been filled in. Of course, I've also added some more. Oddly, if I stay up ridiculously late, my headache seems to go away. Or maybe my brain gets too tired to keep remembering my head hurts. Either way, it's helpful. Or not, if you consider it makes me stay up late in order to get enough brainpower collected to write.

I also just want to say that writing "Just to See You Smile" is a lot more fun than writing "Forgive" - not that I'm sorry I wrote "Forgive". No one can deny, though, that listening to "Just to See You Smile" over and over again puts you in a much happier frame of mind than putting "Forgive" on endless repeat. Neither are precisely happy, but at least the music of "Smile" makes you think it is!

~Phoenix, inching through this fic

Okay, I haven't actually written any more on "Just to See You Smile," but I've got a pretty good idea of what I'm going to use to fill in the parts that previously said <whatever> and <something completely outlandish>. Yes, folks, I really did start writing a story by roughing in details like that. What can I say? I can say that I love, love, love Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. It is definitely going to save me overtaxing my sadly atrophied imagination. And I still really, really love this story. I'm highly hopeful that tomorrow will bring some time to work on it. I could be wrong, but I'm hopeful.

Also, I've written the first draft of my first Intermediate Composition assignment. It's not exactly great, but I may post it after some revision. I'm hesitant to post it here because it's autobiographical, and I'm not sure I want that sort of thing here. We'll see.

~Phoenix, who loves it when the ideas flow

Today was the first day of my Intermediate Composition class (English 205). I am SO EXCITED. I think this class is going to be amazing, and just what I need. We actually get to write a short fiction piece for one of our assignments! I was expecting nonfiction only, so that was a surprise. I was definitely impressed by the teacher, who is very personable, and by her philosophy that writers need to share their work to get better. She also said that she doesn't average grades... if we get better as the quarter goes on, we get the better grade. Yay!

Now I only have to worry about whether or not I'll have the nerve to share my writing. Sharing something you've written is almost like stripping... not something you really want to do in front of strangers. I have some interesting people in my class, though, so hopefully I'll be able to get over my shyness.

~Phoenix, pumped

Okay, 25 minutes and ~500 words into "Just to See You Smile," I have to say I love it. I'm going to have to unbreak my imagination to come up with things crazy enough for Luna to be interested in, but hopefully some re-immersion in HP will do the trick. If there's one thing I admire about JKR, it's her knack for coming up with interesting and relevant names for people, places, critters, objects, etc. I wish I had half her grasp of folklore, language, mythology, etc. As I don't, though, I'll have to stumble along the best I can.

"Just to See You Smile" will be fully beta'd before I post it, so don't expect it to pop up really soon. (Especially since I've only begun to write it.) It should be short enough and interesting enough, though, that I'll get it done fairly soon. Well, if school doesn't take over my entire life, anyway. But this fic feels right, so I'm sure it will come out. For now, I have to go to bed, even though I'd like to keep working on it. Must find a Neville/Luna icon soon!

~Phoenix, who would like a few extra hours in her days

Well, since last posting, I've uploaded a whole boatload of new icons plus gotten a couple of new, exciting story ideas. I still need some good Remus/Tonks and Ron/Hermione icons, if anyone knows a good place for that. Oh, and Neville/Luna. I've decided Neville/Luna is my newest obsession.

In that vein, I will be writing a Neville/Luna piece... "Just to See You Smile." Hopefully, I'll start on that tonight. It's going to be based around the song "Just to See You Smile" by Tim McGraw, but it won't exactly follow the song - partly because I can't see Neville and Luna in Amarillo or Tennessee.

I'm also planning a piece called "Mourning Minerva" that will reveal more about Professor McGonagall. I'm excited to see how it turns out, since I really don't feel like I know her very well. I'm excited to find out more. (If that sounds insane, seeing as I'll be authoring the piece, you obviously don't understand how my stories come to me... in many ways, they write themselves.)

May I also say that I'm very, very, very excited to start my composition class Wednesday? It will be non-fiction writing, I think, but I think it's going to be AWESOME. I picked up the course pack today, and many of the subjects covered in it (eliminating unnecessary words, writing introductions and summaries, wise use of passive voice) are EXACTLY what I've been wanting to learn about. They're areas I need to work on, so I'm VERY excited to get to work on them!

And finally, no, I haven't forgotten my other stories... I will get to them eventually, I promise!

~Phoenix, PUMPED


P.S. I've visited the library today (two libraries, actually), and am now in possession of (almost) all of the Harry Potter books. I can't tell you how it comforts my neurotic mind to have them handy. I even got Quidditch Throughout the Ages (which I've never read) and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (which I've only flipped through). Yay! I'm still short a copy of Goblet of Fire, but I'll probably grab that later in the week.

Well, I'm at about 1600 words, and having a very hard time getting things right. I've revised what I wrote before a bit, which I think has made it better. Though I'm still excited about the concept, I seriously wonder if this fic will ever see the light of day. I hate having ideas better than my writing skills. :P

Anyway, last night's foray into drabble land has convinced me I don't have a career as a drabble writer ahead of me. I'm simply too loquacious. I probably won't try writing one again. Okay, that's a lie, I probably will, but not very often. If, for some reason, you were particularly tickled by my drabble and think I should write more, comment here with the topic of your choice and I will write you your own personal drabble. Be warned, I reserve the right to be highly creative in my interpretation of your prompt.

~Phoenix, going to bed before her head explodes

Okay, so I wrote something just for the sake of writing something. It's awful and I know it, so forgive me in advance. I've never written a drabble before, and it's darn hard to say much at all in 100 words. When I first stopped to check the word count, I already had 123 words. Sheesh. Anyway, this is in response to the "Stronger" challenge on nothing_hip. It's fairly loosely based on the song. It was a chance to air my opinion on Luna/Neville just a little, and I grabbed it. So:

Title: Stronger
Author: Phoenix Neal
Rating: G
Pairing: Neville/Luna
Disclaimer: JKR owns the characters, although I doubt she'd want to own this fic concept
Word Count: 100 words precisely

( Accio fanfic! )


~Phoenix, unfortunately now awake

Yes, it's been awhile since I've posted. No, I haven't disappeared off the face of the earth. Yes, I have been writing, although not very much. I've had a few plot bunnies jump into my brain lately, though. I'd like to work on them soon, but realistically it may be a bit. School starts in a week, and I've got quite a lot to do between now and then.

Again and again I'm confronted by the fact that I have very detailed and (to me) interesting character-development ideas, but very few moving plot ideas. I'm not quite sure what to do about that. I think my writing will always be character-driven, but it can't go anywhere unless I manage at least the basics of a plot as well. For instance, I've had some interesting ideas about doing a Snape/Narcissa piece, but, um, I can't think of a plot. I can conjure up all sorts of interesting details about how they would interact with each other, but I can't come up with much of a plot. We'll see where that goes. Because I'm now obsessed with tagging, that'll have to be called S/N 1 for the moment.

R/T 1 has not been worked on since I last posted, nor has TNM or Choices. I've worked on my 'mystery' piece a bit, but not much. Like I said, very little writing has been occurring. I still owe everyone my rec list, as well. Oy. So much to do, so few brain cells left to do it. Maybe I should just start writing drabbles...

~Phoenix, permanently sleep-deprived and Harry Potter obsessed

Yes, it's definitely 'it'. Unfortunately, a long, frustrating work day drained a lot of my creative energy. Grr... In any case, I've managed to scrape up about 1000 words in the last hour or so. However, as my head is beginning to ache and I'm completely losing my ability to spell, I think it's time to turn in.
In any case, I've been reading some fic I've liked quite a bit lately, and I think I'm going to post a list of recommendations sometime soon.

~Phoenix, cross-eyed with tiredness

I think I've found it. I'm not going to say what 'it' is, in case I'm wrong. We'll see.

~Phoenix, VERY excited

P.S. When I logged in and tried to update my journal, it kept coming up with an icon of Harry and Hermione. Like every single time I hit 'Update Journal' or 'Post' or whatever. Finally, I just reloaded the page and I could update. How strange...

I promised myself I would write tonight, and so I did. Not very much, because I didn't have much time (or motivation) in the end. I came up with the concept for an original fiction piece that I think will be called "Choices." I'm actually quite excited about it, although I only wrote a few lines, and have no real clue where it's going. Again, it's that darn plot thing. I have what I think is an AWESOME concept that I want to play with, but I can't figure out a plot to use my concept. Well, the idea was just born a few hours ago, so I'll let it mellow in my brain a bit before I get too upset about not having a plot.
I also (finally) typed up the beginnings of my Remus/Tonks piece. It's just over 300 words, so it's got quite a way to go. It still has no name, but I can't quite imagine naming it until I get a better grasp on what I'm doing with it. I've considered the highly uninventive name of "Remus & Tonks: The Lost Chapters," but I hope to come up with something better. For now, it shall be known in the tags simply as R/T 1. Yucky, I know. I'll change all the tags as soon as I name it. Oh, and sometime soon I hope to learn how to fix up my journal format so there's actually a list of tags you can choose from.
I meant to go over what I've written for "The New Marauders", but I'm too tired. Maybe tomorrow?

~Phoenix, trying to become a writer, really!

Okay, so I was able to post two stories in rapid succession because one was practically ready when I started the other, and the one I started second was very short and didn't really need beta-ing. But what now?? I have two barely-begun fics ("The New Marauders" and my unnamed Remus/Tonks piece), and the crazy notion of answering Severitus's challenge, even though that would be completely against my canon-compliant credo. It might be funny, though.

I think I'm just a bit stuck on the instant gratification thing. TNM (look, it's an acronym already!) and the R/T piece would both be quiet long, I imagine, and I don't know that I'm ready to get into something with multiple chapters. (Actually, who am I kidding... I don't know what's going to happen with TMN... maybe it will be short.) Anyway, I don't think I'm to the point as a writer where I can tackle long stories. (I can't even make that sentence sound right, let alone trying to string together THOUSANDS of coherent sentences!) I am determined not to write crap, so I want to hold off on longer stories until I get some idea of how to form a story arc. If the two things I've written thus far haven't revealed the truth yet, I'll let you in on a secret: I have no mind for plot - which is why I write short, character-driven pieces!

Anyway, I've also received a couple of requests to continue "Forgive." I can say that that will not be happening any time in the near future and will in all likelihood NEVER happen. "Forgive" was conceived as a one-shot, and I like it that way. More to the point, I feel entirely unequal to the task of continuing it. I don't think I have the resources, as a writer or a person, to adequately address Harry and Ginny's feelings in the aftermath of Harry's affair. To attempt such a thing would be to do a grave disservice to the characters. As someone who deeply appreciates J.K. Rowling for the richness of her characters, I can't do that.

Hopefully, the ideas will start flowing soon. If anyone here is very plot-minded, I might possibly ask for some help in coming up with a plot for TMN. I'm not exactly on a deadline, but I bet I won't get to write as much once school starts.

And that, dear readers, is your update!

~Phoenix, writing just to hear her own voice

It's finally here!

Title: Forgive
Author: Phoenix Neal
Rating: PG, for adult themes (non-explicit discussion of adultery)
Pairing: Harry/Ginny
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns everything, including my life. Oh, except the song lyrics, which are owned by Rebecca Lynn Howard.
Warning: Mild Deathly Hallows spoilers, angst
Word Count: ~2500 (one-shot)
Summary: Ginny's world falls apart when Harry confesses he's cheated on her.
Author's Note: This is a songfic, based around the song "Forgive" by Rebecca Lynn Howard. The idea wouldn't leave me alone, so I wrote it. It hurt me, in a way, to write this piece because I hated the thought of Harry cheating. I stand by this work, though, as being very true to the characters' natures. I hope you'll agree.

 

( Accio fanfic! )

Special thanks to mollydiane, moremixtapes,  jadefic  , and Anamarie at Perfect Imagination for their service as beta readers. Their feedback, suggestions, and nitpicks have made this fic so much better. I love you guys(gals)!

 

~Phoenix, having posting jitters all over again!

 

P.S. HOLY CATS it took me forever to format the style on that... LJ, I hate you.

ETA 09-10-07:
P.P.S. If you want a sequel, feel free to comment and say that, but do also read this.

 

X-posted to hp_fanfic, hp_fanfiction, hpnowips, hpgw, and hp_warbrides. Sorry to those who are sick of seeing it.