Fic: All In, Draco/Harry, PG-13

[snowgall]

Figured I might as well post this link to my LJ for posterity. My first (and most likely last!) fic :)

Title: All In (or on LJ)
Author: snowgall
Pairing: Draco/Harry
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 427
Summary: Draco introduces Harry to strip poker
Warnings: Unbetaed*; misuse of British-isms by an American; scanty knowledge of poker
Notes: Written for Draco's Kinks and Tropes Party July 10, 2015 for the prompt "Draco introduces Harry to strip poker" by indyonblue

*Concrit is welcome for this. Seriously, this is a first fic and I have no delusions that it is a masterpiece or anything. I would really love to know how to get the dialogue to flow better (the way Draco talks about betting their clothes still doesn't really work for me, honestly), how to make the setting more clear, how to get their thoughts across non-clumsily, all of it, basically. You can send me a PM if you like, or comment below, and my feelings won't be hurt at all. I've already gotten more nice and sweet comments on this than I expected, so I don't need to be coddled. Oh, and if I got any British-isms wrong I definitely want to know! Like, does it make sense for Draco to say "What I am interested in, is seeing what Harry Potter looks like under his kit" ? Is that the right way to use "kit" or did I flub it? Using language right is really important to me, so please do tell me if something is off.

Comments

[birdsofshore]

Love reading your advice, Vaysh. I must chip in about the last line. I think it definitely loses the graceful flow it currently has when you break it up like that. I really admired the flow of snowgall's writing here and I think it would be tragic to lose any of that, especially in this last line, which is so joyful and keeps the momentum Harry and Draco build up as they are about to leave the room. I would stick with the original for that reason, although not stylistically correct, or go for the slightly less lovely, "Potter," he says with a laugh, "I'm all in."

[snowgall]

Oh no! Dueling advice! Now I have to find an arbiter :) Maybe I will gather up the courage to show this to my husband and see what he thinks. (just to be clear, I don't need courage to ask him for writing concrit - he's great for that - but to show him my fanfic!)

I'm so grateful for the feedback though, and it is so interesting that there isn't just one 'right' way to write it. If only it were that easy!

And it's also becoming funny to me that we have already written more words discussing this fic than are even *in* the fic. But I like to think that picking apart a shorter piece makes discussing the craft of writing easier. Maybe because you can be more focused and not have to worry about a sweeping complex plot or anything.

Really there's so much that I don't know about how to do this, so keeping it focused on a short piece is probably the most helpful to me. Vaysh was being highly optimistic when she said, "Your true test, of course, will be a longer story with more moving of characters around a scene, with more complicated motivations and a full suspense plot (with sex scene). :) " ! This was hard and stressful enough for now :) Any more complexity and I would give in ♥

[birdsofshore]

"Your true test, of course, will be a longer story with more moving of characters around a scene, with more complicated motivations and a full suspense plot (with sex scene).

I've almost given up on trying to get all that right! Sometimes I think, if we really sat down and thought about what we were trying to achieve, we would never write at all. Remember this is meant to be a fun hobby, first and foremost. And I think someone's excitement and sense of fun/ urgency to tell the story when they are writing is often the most wonderful part, and outweighs stylistic elements in making a fic a gripping and memorable read.