PlaceToHide.net Interview with Liz
| Interviews by Fans | |
|---|---|
| Title: | PlaceToHide.net Interview with Liz |
| Interviewer: | Bethany |
| Interviewee: | Liz |
| Date(s): | February 2012 |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom(s): | Hanson |
| External Links: | February 2012 Author: Liz – Spotlights, Archived version |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
In 2012, Liz was interviewed by Bethany for the spotlights section of her website PlaceToHide.net.
See others in the series at PlaceToHide.net Interview Series.
Some Excerpts
Why did you start writing hanfic? How long have you been writing?
I guess I should say I started writing hanfic as an escape from everyday life. I was just a regular school kid that loved these guys and wanted to really portray my emotions with them, and get some connection through my writing.
Oh sheesh! I’ve been writing longer than I’d probably like to say. I started writing around 1997-1998; right in the beginning of the “craze”. I was still in middle school at that time and wrote fantasy stories with one of my friends during our lunch and recess time in a small, spiral notebook. We were always afraid of our parents finding our thoughts jotted down, so the stories were always hidden, until one day I just panicked and put everything into my dad’s paper shredder. What I wouldn’t give to have those first stories back.
I did take significant time off through the years, and if I did pick up a story, I wrote it purely for myself. After reading so many great pieces from the girls I’m friends with on Livejournal, I convinced myself to give it a go and take a leap back into writing. I definitely still feel rusty compared to some of the other authors—sometimes I don’t feel like my word play is as creative, but I enjoy it and it’s a great activity to keep working on since I do want to write a book or two later in life. At least I’m getting a taste of feedback and experience under my belt as I move along right?
I know you’ve just started posting your stories online. What’s that been like and what made you decide to try it?
I had been a fan of fanfic since maybe 1999-2000 era on HansonHouse and I had somehow come across some stories on LiveJournal after a day of boredom found me on Google looking up sites that still posted fiction. Needless to say I got sucked in more and more, and decided to make my own page and add some of my work as well.
I graduated college as an English major and always enjoyed writing (Hanfic came easiest to me) and always had this one story (my original posted story, Best Kept Secret) going. Whether I took breaks, modified it, erased it all to start over, or wrote for hours a day and days on end, I had a good portion of it in its final stages so I decided to suck it up and post it to see if any other fellow writers would want to enjoy it or leave their feedback on ways to improve it.
Sometimes it’s a bit hard to get any sort of reactions from people, but just like wanting opinions on your work, you also wait to see what everyone else is writing as well. There are definite slower days in the fanfic world, but the bursts of praise is always helpful in ways to boost motivation.
What are your favorite hanfic stories and authors?
Oh gosh. Over the years, it’s so hard to name the stories I love. I can read anything from tragedies, romance, slash, pure smut, angst, you name it. I remember enjoying old stories like “I’m Not A Playa, I Just Crush A Lot” about Taylor being a total man-whore. I LOVE and have re-read Catapult many times, and even have it saved both to my laptop and on my iPhone. I read stuff regularly from diamondjourney, ahopper84, hudsone_coltrane, ohtheirony, irresistablehf, drunkinlov3, the archived memories of thesweetshoppe, prettyzombiegirl (on both LiveJournal and her website: a cinematicsunrise), shewasred (you of course), and so many others. My loves in the hanfic universe cover both ends of the spectrum that I’m always reading something. I still have stories to catch up on, and I can never seem to get enough of all sorts of authors.