The 3 Trimesters of Mpreg...

Mpreg. Strangely this topic sends writers/readers/normal people running for the hills. Why? Because let's face it. It is NOT normal for men to get knocked up. But nor is it normal for a guy and all his best friends be gay, all dating, and have perfect seme/uke relations.

So before you ask, I am for mpreg. I have written one completely and am writing 3 more at the moment. I am a major fan, and there are some amazing ones out there. However, often a writer won't know what to do, or how pregnancies will work.

So I broke it into three parts, or trimesters if you will - conception, pregnancy, delievery. All three are important, and all must be thought about in depth.

1. Conception- How did your uke get pregnant? What miricle brought this upon him? Is he happy or not?These are some basic questions you'll need to ask before you start your mpreg. Generally men get pregnant in fiction because they aren't human. Take any SOLDIER from Final Fantasy VII. You can claim that they aren't technically human anymore because of the Mako injections. Or if the character is an angel or demon.

Also consider how the uke realizes he's preggers. Men don't normally take a pregnancy test. Did they do blood work because he was constantly ill? Or did he not realize till he was in labor? (hey... it could happen!) Perhaps it's something common in their world and they took a test? Or maybe someone told them they sounded like a pregnant girl, and it got their mind working. Whatever it is, make sure it's plausible. Most readers have a built in bullshit meter which mpreg is quite likely to set off if it's not well thought out.

2. The actual pregnancy - Too many times writers don't research pregnancy, and the uke starts showing within a month. Or he gets too sick too soon. Or delievers too quickly.

Between the conception and delevery is the endless research that you NEED. What sort of cravings should the poor uke have? When will he begin to show? How will his hormones affect him?

There are bound to be blogs about being pregnant somewhere on this grand place we call the internet. Read them! They will help you understand what women go through when pregnant, so just adapt it to your uke's situation and all will be well.

3. Delievery - Eventually that baby is going to have to come out, but how?

• C-section - Honestly this is the most plausible, unless you plan to give the uke the necessary plumbing to deliever a child. But as always RESEARCH it before you write it. Know how bloody it should be, where the cuts are, and what the uke will have to do for it.
  
• Don't describe it - This is the easiest way. Why? Because you don't have to know how the child was delievered either. No siree! All you have to do is write about the nervous seme as his lover goes through childbirth. This is a good time for a revilation on how he treated his uke, or even an epic battle. Just anything to happen while the uke gives birth and destract the readers from the poor crying man going through labor.
  
• "Natural" Birth - Umm... Not quite so natural, but it's always an option to give a man plumbing. Normally this would be done by magic, or genetic enginering. Or you have passage way out. I don't like it however. I mean, imagine the last time it hurt to give a shit. How big was that shit? less than half the size of a baby? Double that pain and discomfort for a longer time, with an audience... Sound pleasant? No. So let's go with a vagina or c-section!

This is only part of what it takes to write an mpreg. You have to have some sort of plot, since having a baby isn't a good enough plot for some people. Also consider what the children will look like, and be named. How will they act?

All of this is important to writing an mpreg. Enough rambling for now. I have an mpreg to write. Little Angelina Nicole Phantomhive Michealis needs to be born! Please feel free to comment!

Muse Hunting

Deep in the jungles of Africa there lives an exotic mystic beast called inspiration. This beast is akin to the plot bunnies - rabid pink beast that bite unsespecting victims filling them with a posionous urge to write. However, unlike the plot bunny, whom writers curse for their frequent biting, the inspiration is sought after and hunted - generally with pen and paper made weaponry. Why are they hunted? Because their rare feathers are required for a story to be created.

By now, some of you are probably wondering why you're reading my insanity. Part of this insanity was brought on by a whole day in front of the computer going "I want to write. What should I write?" I have a list of 25 (and growing!) plot ideas some of which date all the way back to December. They span three fandoms and at least 10 pairings. They range in depth from PWP (porn without point) to deep angishing motif filled philosophy. And yet I couldn't write.

I had no inspiration. I would choose a prompt, and the scenes would start to fill my head, but I couldn't figure out where to start describing them. The words wouldn't come. I sat there for 5 hours, fingers poised, waiting for some sort of story to start writing itself.

There has to be some sort of solution to this. I hate days like these when I want to write, and can see the great potential of an idea, but yet not be able to get it out. Luckily there is. It's just that in my stupidity I decided against using one of these cures.

1. Do something else for a while - In essence I am doing that now, by writing this, but whenever the ideas won't come, get up and go do something else. Get out of the fandom! Honestly reading Ciel/Sebastian fics didn't help me write one. Reading Yamamoto/Gokudera doujinshi didn't help me write the story that I have promised someont for tomorrow. (Not that I want to work on that one anyways. The prompt is Yama/Goku and leapard print socks. Not good when my mind wants to angst.) I find it quite helpful to get up and do some exercise. It gets the chemicals in my brain flowing better.
   
2. Change something - Especially if your sitting at a desktop, you probably have the same view, the same music, and the same people around you. Change it up a bit. Switch to a new artist. Change the decorations. Move to another room. Do something. Get something new to flood your senses.
3. Smelly good stuff- Your sense of smell is amazing. If I'm ever stuck I open some windows and light some insense. Insense will flood a room faster than a candle, and stick around longer. (Hence me opening the windows so it doesn't still smell like "romance" three days later) Smells and candles will help to create a more romantic mood, especially good for writing yaoi romance. (Not quite so good for writing Non-con, or adventure. Generally those don't have passionate romance in them.)
4. Write by Hand - Yes, I know that you'll then have to type it up, but thus is the curse of writing. Hand writing is more personal than typing. It allows you to doodle on the page edges, write questions to your self, and fling your pen and paper across the room with minimum monetary damage. It also makes your brain slow down and think more because it'll take longer to commit each sentense to a medium. (If you really want to slow down, try writing with your nondominant hand. It cuts me down to half speed, and I'm pretty dexerous with both hands!)
5. Plot something new - This is the one that broke me out of my curse. My co-conspirator Kenzie texted me, and we started talking about foot fetishes. This topic molded into a story, which molded into a series, all based on Mukuro having fetishes. Around this time, the dam on my thoughts broke, and I was finally able to start slowly working on fixing my Gokudera/Tsuna non-con. (Coming to a FFn account near you!)
   

So there are some tips, to find your inspiration. I really hope they help, and I'll probably be posting something new in a few days. (Either my essay on mpreg once I clean that up, or my review of JPqueen's store and the 4 doujinshi I bought from them.) Thanks for reading, and good writing!

Also if you read, please comment, and leave a link to any of your writing! I would love to see what you've done!