Story Insights: Cherries and Cotton Candy
By Skywing Knights // January 28, 2021
Well look at that everyone!
We’re pulling a Throwback Thursday of sorts! I’ve wanted to do this for a while now. Essentially, this is the start of a series of articles with insight regarding various fan fictions I’ve written over the years. (Nothing on original works – see why on my About the Writer page. Nope, this is just for the fun of fan fictions! 😉 ) It will be a bit of a sporadic type of blog post series, primarily prompted once I finally get the chance to create cover images for my stories (oh the pain of adulthood). But hopefully they will be insightful and helpful to aspiring writers in a fun Q&A format.
Most of these will be focused on one-shots I’ve written, but if there’s ever a big demand or I get A LOT of time, I do hope to focus on some of the longer stories I’ve written. (In other words, YES, I will eventually write one of these for “Custody”, but it’s gonna be awhile because that thing’s a monster, haha.)
Today though I thought we’d start with one of my favorite, short, little one-shots. So please enjoy! ^_^
Story: Cherries and Cotton Candy
Summary: There’s something very bittersweet about love in this cruel, cold world. RobinXStarfire
Fandom: Teen Titans
(Read it on FanFiction.Net here.)
Q: Why did you write “Cherries and Cotton Candy”? How did the story come about?
A: I wrote this originally in 2008 (according to the original doc info on my computer anyway). Basically, that means I was about knee deep into writing “Custody”. And knee deep wasn’t Part 4 or even Part 5. So in short, I’m pretty sure I was impatient and wanted true Robin angst NOW, haha, and that’s how this was born.
Q: Did “Cherries and Cotton Candy” have a theme in your mind?
A: Not particularly. I did choose the title though particularly because I wanted to invoke ‘youth’. I think of cherry lip balms teenagers often wear and that first date on boardwalks or at theme parks when I think of Cotton Candy and I really wanted to contrast those two types of imageries and sensations with the dark nature of the story.
Q: What’s your favorite thing about this story?
A: WHAT ISN’T MY FAVORITE THING?? Haha, but naw, but in all seriousness, for whatever reason, I really liked the description of the pain seeping through his back like a snake. It’s imagery that I still enjoy because I feel like it’s very easy to imagine and squirm at the thought of.
Q: Is there anything you’d improve?
A: Not sure honestly. A go to answer might be to make it longer, but frankly I like the length as I think it’s more impactful. Perhaps if I lengthened it, I’d write other scenarios for each individual Titan, or perhaps just Starfire, of scenarios that might make them feel like they’re on the verge of breaking. I’m sure each would be interesting regardless, but I’d only want to write them if the same striking type of descriptions came to mind.
Q: Anything you want readers to know?
A: Mostly, I want readers to know how grateful I am to them. This was one of the first one-shots I had published in a long while. So I wasn’t sure anyone was still interested in reading my work at the time. The number of people who came to read it surprised me. I was so incredibly grateful for their love and support. So, thank you! Thank you very much!
Q: Why this cover?
A: My favorite color has always been red. I like how beautiful and elegant it is, but also how dark and dangerous it can be too. And I liked creating something where it flowed from one of those things to the other, much like what happens in the story.
Q: What do you think readers can learn from reading this story?
A: I suppose two things. 1. Short can still be good. It’s why we should never dismiss the art of poetry for example. Write strongly over lengthy. If you’re just using words for ‘filler’ then maybe you shouldn’t be doing that. Every word needs to bring something to your story and help it progress.
And 2. Don’t give up on yourself – go with your gut. Ask yourself if you would want to read what you wrote. It took me… 5 years to actually publish this? Geez. And I didn’t for so long because I thought ‘oh it’s too short, no one would want to read it’. But here’s the thing, I knew I would want to read it. And that’s what ultimately got me to publish it. And I’m really glad that I did. At the very least, it’s there for me and your works will be there for you too. And at best, you also are able to provide others with a fun escape as well. 😉
A little short and sweet, but I hope this was insightful to any readers and especially aspiring authors. I truly believe that fan fiction can be a great tool for helping writers become better authors. So don’t ever feel shame from writing fan fiction and using it to help you grow as a writer. Learn all you can, from every experience you encounter in life. Even the short, little ones.
If you ever have any questions regarding any stories I haven’t posted on yet, please feel free to send them to me via the Contact Us page!
And if you’re bored or are looking for a fun getaway, be sure to read “Cherries and Cotton Candy” if you haven’t already! Or of course, one of the numerous other stories I have online. You can find them all linked on my Literature Page. And if you want to see more of my antics and love for Teen Titans, be sure to check out my first Starfire cosplay!
Till next time!
~Skywing/Rena