Details are what makes a story amazing. And long.

Joke of the week:

A man entered a pun contest. In his eagerness, he entered 10 different puns in hopes that one would win. Alas, no pun in ten did.

--
New!
Quote of the week:

"Not all who wander are lost." J.R.R. Tolkien.

Bio last updated: March 27, 2013

General News: Rise of the Guardians has stolen my heart, and I've been writing a lot for that fandom. Updated Winter Gods and quite thankfully the third chapter is coming along nicely. I think the problem with the second chapter was that I had to set the mood - everyone pretty much agrees the Avengers would wind up staying in Stark Tower, but everyone has different ideas what the Guardians would do, how 'out of the picture' Pitch is, what Jack and the others' relationship is... just... ugh. So much setting the scene on top of the plot. At least I got the second chapter out - now to move on to the fun parts. :)

I will also be attempting to reply to everyone who reviewed chapter 1 and 2, so if you get a PM for a review you wrote a long time ago, sorry! I'm a terrible procrastinator. I just wanted to thank you all.

Anyway.

Story info:

Fanfiction is my favorite hobby. Though I am 23, I still enjoy my fandoms and creating for them.

I do have real life outside of this hobby, so sometimes I fall out of the fanfiction scene to focus on more important things. Job searching and maintaining friends are my first priorities. However, I don't think I will ever truly grow tired of fanfiction.

Warning - As an author, I am a slow updater. I write chapters, and then I sit on them for a while, in order to look at them with fresh eyes and see mistakes for editing. Thus, I do not update as frequently as some authors on this site do. However, when I do update, the chapters are usually very long and detailed.

I try not to start stories unless I intend to finish them. However, sometimes I do bite off more than I can chew. I always have an ending in mind, but when I hit a block, I might put the story on hiatus until I can come back to it. My Stories currently on Hiatus are: Secrets, Couples of the Digiworld, and Legion Rising.

I am currently caught in the following fandoms: Danny Phantom, Rise of the Guardians, Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons. Most of what I read and write will be for these fandoms. Danny Phantom is my home base fandom, the fandom I return to whenever I get bored of other fandoms. It is the fandom I spend the most time in. My attention span tends to shift every few months or so. As for my other fandoms, I still am interested in them, I just do not actively seek out or create new material for them.

Though I have plenty ideas of my own, I do occasionally take challenges and requests. PM or Review to send them to me.

Romance Blossoms was a response to a fanfic contest held by 1000GreenSun. It recieved first prize.

101 Challenge: Manifestations is the response to a dare. I am doing poorly on said dare.

I am involved in the ROTG Kink Meme, as an anonymous author. I may put up some of my works here on my Fanfiction account if I deem it good enough. The Kink Meme is located here: (http://rotg-kink.dreamwidth.org/2200.html) and here: (http://rotg-kink.dreamwidth.org/2389.html) Warning: Some challenges include adult content. 18 and over, please.

I occasionally write drabblets or original writing on my Tumblr account: http://ave-aria.tumblr.com/ . If I want to share it or want critique, I may post fandom drabbles here as well.

Newest oneshot It's Not Fair is posted. The original was written on my tumblr, in response to Polterrgeist's art post on tumblr. The art, my response, Polt's reaction, and Polt's tumblr account can be located here: http://polterrgeist.tumblr.com/post/44343894730/ave-aria-polterrgeist-its-never-fair

I think that's everything. My PMs are open if anyone has questions.

Personal Info:

Call me Avearia. I go by that in many sites, including here, Deviantart, Tv.com, Tumblr, GaiaOnline, and many other places. I'm Female and graduated college, trying to get a proper job. (No luck so far.) Until then, I'll continue fanfic'ing to my heart's content.

I write for several fandoms, and hang out in several others.

Fandoms on this site where I lurk, read fanfiction, and may occasionally write for: American Dragon: Jake Long, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Avengers (movies, cartoons), Brave, Case Closed, Code Lyoko, Danny Phantom, Digimon, Fillmore!, Girl Genius, How To Train Your Dragon, Hunger Games (Books, Movies), Legend of Zelda, Legion of Super Heroes (Cartoons, Comics), Magic Knight Rayearth (Manga), My Little Pony (Friendship is Magic), Portal 1, 2 (Games), Rise of the Guardians/Guardians of Childhood, Silent Hill (Games), Static Shock (Cartoons), Tamora Pierce (All categories), Tangled, Teen Titans (Cartoons), Transformers (Cartoons, Movies), W.I.T.C.H. (Cartoons), X-Men: Evolution, Xiaolin Showdown, Yu-Gi-Oh (Cartoons)

Pairings I like: Mostly anything. By Large, I am a multishipper and I like (or at least respect,) all pairings. Do not expect any pairing consistency from me, for I truly do enjoy them all. I have favorites, of course... but I respect the story of the romance more than the romance itself. If it's well written, I can get into it, unless I really loathe one character or don't like the chemistry of the pairings. I'm a muskateer shipper - one for all and all for one. It multiplies the fics I can read by tenfold.

I'm a picky reader though. I largely avoid fics with character death, self harm, torture fics, sugar-high fics, self inserts, or lemon-lime, unless I'm in the mood.

I'm fine with Slash, though I only occasionally read it. Same with songfics, because they CAN be well written, but I don't often find myself interested. Music is an auditory art, not a visual one like writing, so translating that to text can be hard.

I really love AUs though I wish there were more that created a whole new creative universe to revel in and explore. Highschool AUs, for example, are fine, but I REALLY love something like future-fic or Zombie Apocalypse or Steampunk AUs. I just love them with all my heart. AU can be a plethora of creativity and imagination.

OCs - When I see someone else with the words "OC" in their story, or "CharA/OC", I'm cautious--you really have to catch my attention to make it worth my while. I like OCs, truly, but as with AUs, they're the best when they're creative and original. I prefer OCs that are minor, supporting characters, (since this is fanfiction, and the cannon characters should be in the spotlight) but I enjoy it when an OC is done well is put in the spotlight... it lets us see the characters through a stranger's eyes. Fun. :)

I really love drabble fics and oneshots, especially ones that elaborate on the canon series.

Faving: I don't often "favorite" stories, unless they really impress me. Trust me, I've read WAY more than the 50-some fics that are on my favorites list.

Reviewing - Love it, do it whenever I can. Reviews make me a better writer, and I've learned a lot from some of the ones I've gotten. Also, they're nice to get. :) If you've written something in one of the fandoms I lurk in, and want me to review your story, shoot me a PM. I may decline if it contains something I dislike or if I don't have time. Otherwise, I'll try to leave you a constructive review. I may only read the first chapter and decide I won't read farther, and review what I've seen so far. Or, I might read to the end, fav and alert, and review the whole story. if you ask for a review, be prepared for constructive crit. I try to be constructive but not harsh. And I am always long-winded. Don't ask for a review if you can't handle a little fire. Remember this: I don't always tell you what you want to hear, but I promise I will tell you what you need to know.

Also, I've never beta'd and never had a beta, but if you want some advice on a story before posting it, I'll be happy to help. Again, be prepared for crit.

-o-

Other fandoms that interest me: (But Fanfiction seems lackluster)
Animal Crossing, Ben 10, Ben 10: Alien Force, Batman Begins, Batman Beyond, Bleach, Calvin and Hobbes, Chobits, Codename: Kids Next Door, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: NY, Disney, Fable (Games), Fairly Odd Parents, Foxtrot, Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime, Manga), G.I.Joe - Renegades, Get Ed, Gunnerkrigg Court, Harry Potter (books), Ico, Invader Zim, Kim Possible, Kingdom Hearts (games), Lord of the Rings, Misfile, Monster Buster Club, Neopets, NCIS, Phineas and Ferb, Remote (Manga), Secret Saturdays, Sky High, Sly Cooper, So You Want to Be a Wizard? (books), Speed Racer (Movie), Speed Racer: The Next Generation, Spyro, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars trillogy, Super Robot Monkey Team, Super Smash Brothers, The Hobbit, Three Delivery, Tsubasa Resivoir Chronicles, Voltron Force, XXXHolic, Zevo-3, Zoids

I'm always up for new interests. you think something might interest me? Feel free to PM me and tell me all about it!

-o-

Fun writing tips:

The Importance of Setting: Quick! Look up from your computer! Where are you? In your bedroom? In the library? Sitting on a park bench? In the airport, at the hospital, or a foreign country, perhaps?

Setting in stories provide context for the scene. Where you are can greatly impact what’s going down in the story. I notice that this is one of the areas that fanfiction writers constantly neglect—many just ignore the surroundings and have characters bantering to each other in some nebulous, ill-defined, white room. Or worse, the dialogue is just hanging in the air, not even attached to the characters speaking it—we could be listening to a recording for all I know!

So next time you’re writing a scene, start with the setting. Or even better, be creative with the setting. You can delete it later, but trust me, sometimes setting can really twist a story into something bizzarrely interesting.

Perhaps your characters are absently wandering through the local park. Or they could be checking into a hotel for the night. Maybe they’re saying their witty sarcastic dialogue while mountain climbing together, hanging precariously on the edge of a cliff. Or they’re arguing while slogging through a black swamp, the muck staining their clothes and making them irritable.

Mess with the weather. It’s snowing, it’s hailing, it’s raining cats and dogs. Or perhaps it’s just dull and cloudy. What time is it—dawn? Dusk? Midnight? Mid-morning? What are they doing—cooking food? Shopping? Playing hide-and-seek? What’s going on around them? Are the birds singing? Are there people protesting on the sidewalk? Is someone using a jackhammer down the street while they’re trying to take a nap?

Lastly, details. Though they might seem tedius, details can really set the mood. Instead of “They were on a boat. A storm hit. The characters were terrified.” Try: “Once the broad marine vessel was well out to sea, the sky darkened unexpectedly. A storm hit, winds picking up and tossing waves of water onto the deck. Lightning danced in the air. The characters were terrified.” Which would you rather read? In first, I present the bare-bones facts. In the second, you know the type of boat, what kind of storm hit and what it looks like—as a reader, you can imagine the storm yourself, and feel the terror the characters feel.

True, adding details effectively can be a balancing act: you can’t write “The broad wooden 3000-man-carrying marine vessel named “The Mariner” was 100 miles away from land and well out to the dark, black, forbidding and terrible sea…” there’s detail, and then there’s going overboard. (No pun intended.) But I find it’s better to over explain than to not explain at all.

Do not be afraid to add details. If you’re scared of the above problem, get a beta reader. Practice makes perfect. Having “Too many words”, however, should not be on your minds. Though it looks long, if your fic is a good read, people won’t even notice the length. If it’s good but short, people are left wanting more.

With these details in mind, you can paint a vivid picture in your reader’s heads, make them feel like they’re there with your characters, living your story, instead of simply spectating.

-o-

Writing Summaries:

On this site, a story's summary can be the hook that snags readers or the blockade that keeps them away. Despite what people think, writing good summaries isn't hard. Writing EXCELLENT summaries is hard, yes, but good ones? No. Especially not since Fanfiction.net upgraded the maximum character limit from 255 to 384.

Basically, the trick is this: Who, What, When, Where, Whistles.

Who: Which character is your fic about? One character? Two lovers? A triangle? The whole gang?

What: What is the story about? A lover's spat? An exciting adventure? A sidetracked trip to the laundromat?

When: Not as optional, but--at the current point in the fandom's story? Perhaps at the beginning of the franchise? before? Or perhaps a time travelling story?

Where: Where's it take place? At the high school? Paris? Middle Earth? The Laundromat?

Whistles: Also known as tags, added to show readers what genre your story is, or what potentially unsavory content it may contain. These are your AU, Oneshot, Slash, DxP, Raikim, Deathfic, OCs included, Jake's POV, etc. go.

the When and Where are often optional in Fanfiction, unless the setting/time is highly unusual and cruitial to the story. The Why is even more optional, though can be included to hook the reader. The How is utterly useless, because you'll be spending the whole fic explaining How the Who did What, where, when. /AU, Slash.

After you've made your list of who, what, when, where, and whistles, just write it out. Like you're explaining it to a friend. "Hey, I wrote this story, where Saturn Girl accidentally kisses Superman during a fight and Lightning Lad gets jealous!" That can be translated into "Saturn Girl accidentally kisses Superman during a fight, and Lightning Lad gets jealous. SG/LL, SG/SM. Onesht." See? Easy.

Then once it's all down on paper, check to see how long it is, and if it exceeds 384 characters, rewrite the summary to make it shorter. Remember: you don't have to include every little detail in your story, just the Who what when where whistles list I included above. You can fill in the rest of the blanks after you've nabbed their attention, okay? Don't be afraid to turn this summary:

"Raimundo is doing laundry at the temple when he accidentally breaks the machine with a Shen Gong Wu. He still has laundry to do, so he packs things into his car and drives to the laundromat. When he gets there, though, he finds Jack Spicer is doing laundry there too, and instead of fighting, they end up talking, and express their feelings for each other. Romance, Oneshot, Raijack."

Into this summary:

"After Raimundo breaks his washing machine, he heads to the laundromat. While there, he meets a very familiar face. Raijack."

Remember, Brevity is the soul of wit. Catch their attention, then tell them the story. That's what a summary is for.

And so for gods sakes, please stop writing "i suk at summaries just read it". After all, if you can't be bothered to write a good summary, then why should anyone be bothered to read it?

-o-

Come visit me on deviantart! you can find me here: http://avearia.deviantart.com/

And Tumblr: http://ave-aria.tumblr.com

:P Onwards to victory!

Note: I enjoy reviews, even on works I did a long time ago. If you have critique, or even just feedback, I'd love to hear it!