PinsandKneazles' journal

[PinsandKneazles]

You know, I was thinking it was about time I started a writing journal; somewhere to throw all those random ideas until I find a story home for them. Being old 👵 I like to physically write notes in books and on scraps of paper, but being old 👵 means that I often lose the scraps of paper or forget what I wanted to say before I find anything to write with/on. Also, I ramble, which involves A LOT of words, but I'm not sure I can blame that on my age...

I started reading HP fanfic in 2015 and writing in 2016, and then I stopped again in 2017. I have this terrible habit of hobby-jumping from one fad to another, but know this - I usually jump back again to revisit an established hobby a few years down the line. 2020 was the year I "jumped back" into writing and wrote a quarter of my current WIP on my computer, about a third of its sequel, and almost all of the final part of the trilogy. I'm not sure why I like writing backwards, but I do. Maybe it's because it's easier for me to write something if I know where it's going to end up?

My current headworld is set in the next generation and centres around Albus Severus Potter after he's finished at Hogwarts. He's a Hufflepuff and a born Healer. As part of his four-year Healer training, he's electing to spend a year as a muggle medical student at a UK university, which is where the first story is set. Of course there's a relationship in the offing. There's not much magic, just little glimpses if you look very hard to find them, but the second story (written from Al's POV) is set in the magical world, as is the third. 

I love to research backgrounds and explore ideas for my stories, and one of the things I'm constructing is a model describing the genetics and heritability of magic (this will feature a bit in the second story). I also like writing about everyday occurrences/conversations and subtle mysteries.

I also really, really love answering questions about my stories, so feel free to hit me up with asks!!

Pins x

[PinsandKneazles]

Soooooooo, at the very last minute, I've decided to sign up for NaNo. Now last time I tried this, my muse sank and didn't resurface for nearly three years 😳 I have given it some armbands this time, so hopefully it won't suffer the same fate as its predecessor....

I have three projects which I'm planning on writing next month. The first one is my current WIP, "No Wands, Please - We're Muggles". The second is its sequel "Witchful Thinking", and the third is a plunny I had about an hour ago, which is going to explore a dark AU of Harry being renamed and raised by Voldemort as his son. "No Wands" and "Witchful" follow the exploits of Albus Severus Potter and Sunita Chandrakumar, firstly in the muggle world and then in the magical world.

Ideally, I'm hoping to write 25K words, but if this quantity doesn't happen, it's no biggie. I'll be uploading "No Wands" chapters as I go, but its unlikely I'll post more than snippets of the other two.

Looking forward to a month of writing!

[inmyownlittlecorner]

I'm cheering for you!! 

I love all your titles (and your username)--they're so punny! 

What's your ideal writing environment?

Could you tell us a little about your take on Albus Potter? I'd love to hear about your OC as well 👀

Does writing energize or exhaust you?

Good luck ❤️

 

[PinsandKneazles]

44 minutes ago, inmyownlittlecorner said:

I'm cheering for you!! 

Thank you so much! I will probably need all the cheering I can get, as well as a few kicks up the backside as I am Procrastination Queen 😳

 

46 minutes ago, inmyownlittlecorner said:

I love all your titles (and your username)--they're so punny! 

What's your ideal writing environment?

Haha, thanks! I adore puns and other word-plays ❤️

My ideal writing environment is indoors; somewhere comfortable and not too cluttered. My actual writing envirinment is a complete mess, with notepads and papers everywhere. I like to do my thinking outdoors (usually when I'm spending time with my horses) or in the car. Basically, anywhere without a handy notebook to jot things down.
 

49 minutes ago, inmyownlittlecorner said:

Could you tell us a little about your take on Albus Potter? I'd love to hear about your OC as well 👀

Sure! Al Potter (in my head) is a Hufflepuff through and through. He's caring, kind and hard-working, with an interest in science, which makes him a natural Healer. He meets my OC at muggle university, where he's elected to do a year of muggle medicine as part of his Healer training. The first fic (No Wands, Please - We're Muggles) is set in Cambridge (UK). 

My main OC - Sunita Chandrakumar - is inspired a little by some song lyrics "I'm a million different people from one day to the next" (Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve), and I've given her a few of my own character traits. She's a 19 yr old with typical anxieties and insecurities, who doesn't always give the best starting impression, but she's a loyal friend and a decent person at heart. The fic is from her POV.

 

 

1 hour ago, inmyownlittlecorner said:

Does writing energize or exhaust you?

It does both. There's the excitement of writing a chapter where I know exactly where it's going, how it will start and end, and what the characters are going to say. When I'm in the mood to write the right vibe for that particular segment, it's energising and uplifting and I get a huge buzz from it.

But...I do struggle from writing fatigue. If I have a writing binge (over 3K words in a day), I'm often too tired to write anything meaningful for at least day afterwards. And writing strong emotions, whilst 'fun', is also draining; it must be the effects of adrenaline peaks and troughs, I guess!

Thank you so much for your questions! ❤️

[starlitcastles]

Hello!

First and foremost, I'm pretty much curious and also excited for both of your story ideas and looking forward to reading them if they do end up getting published and whatnot!   Secondly, I wanted to say that I honestly love the titles for your first two WIPs too especially the second one and cannot wait to read them!  Yay for the plunny and dark AU story too--definitely hoping you'll be able to write that as well!

 Another thing is that I also have a few questions for your stories which you can find below:

1.  No Wands Please and Witchful Thinking both sound interesting so going to ask: what do you hope to accomplishing in writing these two stories? Why?

2.  Sunita Chandrakumar....I'm only hearing this name and I'm intrigued! So my question about her for you is this: if you had to describe her as a color, what would it be?  (The question I might add is drawing inspiration from a song that I've heard from an artist called Stella Yang called Colors).

3.  What's your favorite thing about writing in general? Why?

4.  Do you have a playlist and or any song that helps you write your stories? If so, what is your playlist titled? If not a playlist, what are a few songs that helps you write the story?

5.   What inspired you to write the dark AU with Harry being Voldemort's son? 

I  hope that you and your muse will be able to conquer this JulNano/Camp Nano and show them whose boss! But seriously, I hope that everything goes well for you and do wish you the best of luck! Hopefully you'll be able to reach the 25k word goal! That said, just going to say this: You can do it! You got this!   

 

[PinsandKneazles]

22 hours ago, starlitcastles said:

Hello!

First and foremost, I'm pretty much curious and also excited for both of your story ideas and looking forward to reading them if they do end up getting published and whatnot!   Secondly, I wanted to say that I honestly love the titles for your first two WIPs too especially the second one and cannot wait to read them!  Yay for the plunny and dark AU story too--definitely hoping you'll be able to write that as well!

 Another thing is that I also have a few questions for your stories which you can find below:

1.  No Wands Please and Witchful Thinking both sound interesting so going to ask: what do you hope to accomplishing in writing these two stories? Why?

2.  Sunita Chandrakumar....I'm only hearing this name and I'm intrigued! So my question about her for you is this: if you had to describe her as a color, what would it be?  (The question I might add is drawing inspiration from a song that I've heard from an artist called Stella Yang called Colors).

3.  What's your favorite thing about writing in general? Why?

4.  Do you have a playlist and or any song that helps you write your stories? If so, what is your playlist titled? If not a playlist, what are a few songs that helps you write the story?

5.   What inspired you to write the dark AU with Harry being Voldemort's son? 

I  hope that you and your muse will be able to conquer this JulNano/Camp Nano and show them whose boss! But seriously, I hope that everything goes well for you and do wish you the best of luck! Hopefully you'll be able to reach the 25k word goal! That said, just going to say this: You can do it! You got this!   

 

Hello and thank you so much for stopping by with all these lovely questions!! I'll try and answer them as best I can

1) I've had the idea in mind for "Wands" and "Witchful" for a looooong time now, and I started writing them both last year. I guess my goal is to eventually complete both stories as the third part (Witch Way Up - are you sensing a punny theme, here?!) has already been written. I wanted to explore the idea of a next-gen wizard/muggle union which could be set in the muggle world. "Wands" is already up on the archives if you wanna read it  11 chapters have been published so far; I'm in the middle of editing the 12th, and half-way through writing the 13th. 

2) Sunita as a colour - ooh, I've never been asked a question like that; interesting! I think I'd see her as teal; in some lights, she's blue. In others, she's green. Teal is a colour which definitely clashes with some, but it also enhances the beauty of others. I'm not sure whether that was the sort of answer you're looking for?

3) My favourite thing about writing? Its a preservation of thoughts and memories. And I love words in general.

4) I don't have a playlist, but when I'm driving and listening to the radio, sentences/phrases often come to me. Maybe I should try writing to music someday!!

5) Chiara's "Jimmy Portman" series was the inspiration for my dark Harry AU ❤️ I'm still plotting it in my head; I'm trying to keep Pettigrew out of danger from Voldy and the Order for as long as possible, and that's proving a bit of a challenge!

Thank you for your words of encouragement and for taking an interest in my projects  

[crowsb4bros]

Have you discovered anything that surprised you recently about your story? A plot point you hadn't anticipated or maybe a character trait or bit of dialogue? 

I know that Sunita and Albus meet at a muggle university, but if she had gone to Hogwarts what house would she have been? 

Any ideas what they'll both be specializing in after university? 👀

Good luck this NaNo! ❤️ 

[PinsandKneazles]

1 hour ago, crowsb4bros said:

Have you discovered anything that surprised you recently about your story? A plot point you hadn't anticipated or maybe a character trait or bit of dialogue? 

I know that Sunita and Albus meet at a muggle university, but if she had gone to Hogwarts what house would she have been? 

Any ideas what they'll both be specializing in after university? 👀

Good luck this NaNo! ❤️ 

Hi Paula! Thank you for stopping by  

1) I've had the story plotted out for a little while now in terms of the beginning, end, and a few bits in the middle. No surprising discoveries about the story, but LOTS of unforeseen dialogue and subplots, haha! 

2) Sunita's Hogwarts house - oh blimey - I want to say Ravenclaw but I think she could fit in well in Gryffindor too. She'd be a hatstall, I reckon.

3) I know exactly what Al will focus on; influenced by observing how muggles do things and departmentalise their hospitals, he's going to create a new speciality in Mungo's for anaesthesia/analgesia. Sunita, I'm not so sure yet - maybe ophthalmology or dermatology? She wouldn't crave the adrenaline rush of emergency/critical care, and I can't see her being a surgeon.

Thank you so much, and best of luck to you too! I'll be dropping some questions off for you soon ❤️

[PinsandKneazles]

I've just been hit by a plunny involving Voldemort and a time-turner, which ties in with my dark Harry AU fic

[PinsandKneazles]

A little snippet from the sequel to "No Wands"...

 

“How did you ouch it?”

“Ah, my older brother James poked me in the face with a stick when I was about your age.”

I’ve modified the truth a little. James did give me the scar, but it wasn’t from a muggle implement. Instead, he’d managed to steal our god-brother Teddy’s wand and fire a curse from it, which ricocheted off the fireplace and hit me just above the eye. We were playing Aurors and Dementors at the time and all I had as my weapon was an old curtain masquerading as a Dementor cloak. The ‘cloak’ wasn’t nearly as protective as we’d hoped it would be as my blood ended up all over the lounge after I got cursed, much to Mum and Dad’s horror.

“Bad James.”

Hope everyone's NaNo is going well so far ❤️

[prideofprewett]

No questions (yet), but...Aurors and Dementors?! Like cops and robbers?! Absolutely brilliant piece of world building! I love seeing people create little things like this in their stories. I REALLY need to get my act together and read your story because you left me some really lovely reviews and I feel TERRIBLE I haven't reciprocated yet!  Anyway, I hope your first week of JulNo is treating you well! 

💖 Courtney 

 

[PinsandKneazles]

7 hours ago, prideofprewett said:

No questions (yet), but...Aurors and Dementors?! Like cops and robbers?! Absolutely brilliant piece of world building! I love seeing people create little things like this in their stories. I REALLY need to get my act together and read your story because you left me some really lovely reviews and I feel TERRIBLE I haven't reciprocated yet!  Anyway, I hope your first week of JulNo is treating you well! 

💖 Courtney 

 

PLEASE don't feel obliged to reciprocate! I love reading and reviewing other people's stories, and I do so without the expectation of return ❤️ Thank you so much for visiting my NaNo nest and I'm really glad you like this little take on cops and robbers, haha!! Once JulNo is over, I'll finish R&R "Freedom Ain't Nothing But Missing You" ❤️

I hope JulNo is going well for you too. I'm behind on word-count, but I'm doing a little bit every day

[PinsandKneazles]

Always ask permission before you borrow things, kids...excerpt from a random fic on my laptop (Roxanne's POV):



Al won’t mind if I borrow his broom, surely? I run outside to the broom-shed, where Al’s super-smart shiny Firebolt Enigma is sitting and waiting for me to fly it through the skies.


*****


“Oh shit,” groans James, palms over his face as he surveys the wreckage of Al’s broom which is now lying in pieces at the base of a very solid tree in Gran and Grandpa’s garden. “Al is going to do his nut! That broom was brand-new.”

“Well, he said Roxy could borrow it. His fault for not giving her any instruction as to how to fly it.”

Errm, well, actually…

Al’s broom was quite a bit more powerful than I was expecting, let’s put it that way. It was thrumming much too enthusiastically when I climbed on board, and instead of setting off slowly and gently like my Shooting Star Pro does, it bolted vertically like a complete nutter and started leaping - yes, actually leaping - through the sky. I thought I was doing bloody well to hang onto it, to be honest, but then it plummeted towards the ground, dropped me into some mud, swerved, and flew itself straight into the tree with an ear-splitting crack.

Tree one, broom nil.

 

Sending you all lots of good JulNo vibes ❤️ 

[lostinthelightss]

i'm just here to cheer on no wands plz, because actually yes plz bring magic in soon, i can't way to read all about how sunny deals with that!! also hello??? jonty is terrible and butterflies should only be reserved for al, that's all thank youuuuuuu

[PinsandKneazles]

On 7/12/2021 at 4:22 PM, maraudertimes said:

i'm just here to cheer on no wands plz, because actually yes plz bring magic in soon, i can't way to read all about how sunny deals with that!! also hello??? jonty is terrible and butterflies should only be reserved for al, that's all thank youuuuuuu

@maraudertimes OMGGGGGG I am a terrible person because I've only just noticed, thankyouthankyouthankyou     As you've had the dubious pleasure of validating the vast majority of it, I am SO SORRY to disappoint you, because there's not going to be much magic in 'No Wands' 😟, although one of your reviews gave me a fun idea for a chapter, so look out for that (eventually). Anyway, you have been a wonderful motivator

I've actually had quite a productive day today and written all sorts of little snippets for various chapters and put the protagonists through everything from arguments to frolicking on grass(!), so here you go  💛

Oh noes! Excuse the swearing...

“A big deal? For fuck’s sake, it IS a big deal. Well, it is to me anyway,” I retort angrily. “I’m just expected to accept it quietly and not make a fuss? Not that I’d stop you - Hell, you can do what the fuck you like! I just wish you’d told me earlier, that’s all.”

but also...

 

“I guess it would have to be grey.”

“You can’t have grey - that’s my favourite. You’ll have to pick a different one. We can’t both like the same one.”

“Says who?”

“Says me, obviously,” I reply, before dissolving into peals of laughter as he begins to tickle me mercilessly. “Al, stop!”

“Only if you let me have grey as my favourite.”

“Never!”

“Then I’m absolutely not stopping.”

Spoiler: he does eventually...

 

[PinsandKneazles]

Yay! So I've pushed past the 10K word barrier now. I'll gloss over the fact that I'm still 13,678 words away from my target 😅 and I don't think it's achievable in seven days, but I'll hopefully get a little closer by the time August rolls around. I'm very happy that entering JulNo didn't destroy my muse; last time I signed up for NaNo, I wrote...zero words

The bulk of Ch 15 of 'No Wands' (16, if you give the prologue a number) is there, Ch 16 (or 17) is well underway, and much of Ch 17 (or 18) had been written a while ago so that's not far off completion either. Unless I try to stuff my story with unnecessary extras, over half of it is now done (woohoo!!) and I'm anticipating there will be 25 - 30 chapters by the time it's through.

Thank you so much to everyone who has taken an interest in my story; all the views, reviews and questions have given me life and kept me going this month! ❤️

Now. Off to write some more

Edited July 24, 2021 by PinsandKneazles
I misspelled 'either'...

[PinsandKneazles]

Well, I made it through JulNo with my muse intact. Hurrah! 15k words written, 3 chapters uploaded to the archive, and a good chunk of the next 3 chapters has been completed. I'm still enjoying writing my story. ..just hope that enthusiasm continues through to the end  Many thanks for all the questions, reviews and support ❤️

[PinsandKneazles]

I am terrible at keeping a writer's journal 🥴 Most of the time, I forget it's here, and on the odd occasion I remember it, I have no idea what to write in it! All I know at the moment is I'm struggling a bit to finish Ch 19 and I can see Ch 20 is going to take some inspiration and willpower to churn out as well. Unfortunately, I have to write something in that space because I need a bit of waffle to link Ch 19 with 21 (which is already pretty much written); time-wise, I can't quite jump straight from Ch 19 to 21, IYSWIM.

Oh well. Microscopic problems in the grand scheme of things...

[blackballet]

Hi there, I am here to try and poke at you to spark inspiration! (I think you are referring to no wands in this last post, which I have only read the first chapter of, but am totally struck by) What has changed for Albus since arriving? What are you aiming to set up for the all-elusive ending? These aren’t necessarily to answer here, but for yourself to answer 🙃 Also, for one to answer here, what would you study if you were dropped into Hogwarts/post-secondary education in the Wizarding World? Hope this helps!

[PinsandKneazles]

Oh haiii ❤️ Thanks for dropping by! Yeah, I was referring to No Wands  With a rat-racing push from @roisin, I managed to complete Ch 19 and I think I know where 20 is going, so that's all good for now!

Al changes quite a bit during the course of this story; he's learned the theory of mixing with muggles, but putting it into practice isn't always as straightforward. Therefore, he comes across as quite aloof and a bit of a know-it-all to begin with, but as the story progresses, he mellows a bit and finds a few muggle friends. I've already written the ending to this story and I'm trying to dissuade Al from travelling an unnecessarily convoluted path to it 🙄

If I was to study anything at Hogwarts or afterwards, I'd probably choose alchemy - I enjoyed chemistry at school and pharmacology modules at university

[Oregonian]

Hi!  I'm dropping by your journal rather belatedly to say congratulations for getting so much done during the JulNo.  It sounded as if it were partly a lively muse and partly just honest hard work.  I love your description of your writing environment, "with notepads and papers everywhere."  I have two tables in my living room covered with those papers (luckily I pretty much know what's in each of the piles), and an old family friend who was visiting pointed out that there was still enough space left in the room to set up another card table (that was a joke, of course).  It's fun to go through the piles periodically and discover all sorts of gems, such as web addresses for potentially useful websites that had been completely forgotten about. 

I read some of your Albus-in-Muggle-medical-school story some months back and thought it was a delightfully original idea, carried out well.  Good luck in keeping your writing streak going! 🌠

[PinsandKneazles]

On 9/27/2021 at 6:04 AM, Oregonian said:

Hi!  I'm dropping by your journal rather belatedly to say congratulations for getting so much done during the JulNo.  It sounded as if it were partly a lively muse and partly just honest hard work.  I love your description of your writing environment, "with notepads and papers everywhere."  I have two tables in my living room covered with those papers (luckily I pretty much know what's in each of the piles), and an old family friend who was visiting pointed out that there was still enough space left in the room to set up another card table (that was a joke, of course).  It's fun to go through the piles periodically and discover all sorts of gems, such as web addresses for potentially useful websites that had been completely forgotten about. 

I read some of your Albus-in-Muggle-medical-school story some months back and thought it was a delightfully original idea, carried out well.  Good luck in keeping your writing streak going! 🌠

I am SO SORRY - I have only just noticed your post!! Shows you how frequently I visit my journal 🤣 (oops, sorry journal). Thank you so much for the congratulations and for taking the time to read 'No Wands'.

My writing environment is kinda like my life, house and the inside of my brain; chaotically-strewn papers, piles of stuff I keep intending to sift through, old photographs I get distracted by. No wonder I rarely get anything done. I like how you know what's in your piles! I know what's in mine until my dearly beloved partner comes along and MOVES MY STUFF (to look for his). I also love the surprise of finding some unexpected nugget of goodness when I am forced to search through the papers for an important document or a particular magazine...

Anyway, thanks once again for dropping by ❤️ It's made my day to find this!

[PinsandKneazles]

Hello!! I hope it's not too late for me to join NaNo this month? I wasn't planning on it, but my muse seems to be prodding me at the moment, so why not? I'm only two days late...

My main projects are 'No Wands", which is currently about two-thirds complete, and "Witchful Thinking" (the sequel). I don't have a word count aim in mind  bearing in mind I'll have to fit writing in between work, conferences and other stuff this month, so it might be 1K, 5K, 10K, 25K or more, but probably closer to the zero end than the 50K end...

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!! I will be cheering you all on ❤️

 

[prideofprewett]

Yaya! So glad you're joining in on the fun! And every word/intention counts!

One question I have, and so sorry if you have answered this elsewhere but, what inspired you to write No Wands? 

I look forward to reading more and ooh a sequel 👀

💖 Courtney 

[PinsandKneazles]

Hey Courtney!! Thanks so much for stopping by with questions   I think it was a post on this forum about further education in the magical world that sparked the idea. I'd had Al and Sunita in my head as a ship for a while (since 2016? 2017?), and though I toyed with them meeting as teenagers, University seemed to be a much more suitable setting for what would turn out to be a slightly more mature romance story than one I could feasibly see high-school kids involved in.

The UK is full of old universities, so I picked one I had a bit of knowledge about, and it went from there