Shortcuts

Fanfiction
Title:	Shortcuts
Author(s):	Anna S
Date(s):	May - June 2005
Length:	11 Chapters - 23,300 words
Genre(s):
Fandom(s):	Alias
Relationship(s):
External Links:	Shortcuts: The Cell (J/V) (Part 1)
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Shortcuts is an Alias Jack/Vaughn story written by Anna S.

I decided that the last J/V scribble will be the first in a bunch of other scribbles called "Shortcuts" which is exactly what the name implies, where I rush headlong through cliches at breakneck speed to reach my happy place. This being a way to get my crack fix before I set out to write anything longer.

After finishing this series, Anna said about her writing:

I've been thinking on and off lately about how I write. I've developed what I think of as a sketchy style of writing. It's not just that I use less flowery, writerly prose than I did when I started posting stories online. It's also that I've honed a style of bursts of telling between bursts of showing, mixed with bursts of conversation. This breezy bursting has pros and cons. A pro is that I'm writing at all. Writing fast & loose keeps my fingers limber. I'd probably be lying on the couch otherwise, rather than laboring more diligently over longer stories. A con is that I'll often take subjects that demand more care and attention--more words--and treat them pretty cursorily.

I'm all about embracing the pros. Writing is fun when it gets itself out of my head and when it makes readers happy. But it's very easy just to let myself scribble and scribble without ever stopping and birthing something at a more natural pace that would turn out more well-formed.

I'd compare this to traditional versus agile styles of software development, but that would be geeky.

Parts

• Part 1, "The Cell" (27 May 2005). Word count: 1,256
• Part 2, "The Cabin" (27 May 2005). Word count: 2,063
• Part 3, "The Dinner Party" (28 May 2002). Word count: 2,306
• Part 4, "The Conference" (29 May 2005). Word count: 1,978
• Part 5, "The Rescue" (30 May 2005). Word count: 1,813
• Part 6, "The Office" (30 May 2005). Word count: 2,011
• Part 7, "The Bedroom" (31 May 2005). Word count: 1,726
• Part 8, "The Rumor" (01 June 2005). Word count: 2,525
• Part 9, "The New Girl" (01 June 2005). Word count: 1,829
• Part 10, "The Scene" (01 June 2005). Word count: 2,451
• Part 11, "The Team" (02 June 2005). Word count: 3,344

Shortcuts is finished, with The Team as the last installment. Anna went on to write more Jack/Vaughn in Bona Fides.