#in the end i think writing these characters especially in shorter fics with a focus youre always going to lose something
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🧠✏️
I'm obsessed with Sae I would ask every question if I coule I lov themn
AAAA this means so much to me bc IM OBSESSED WITH HIM TOO i am very very glad people like her ............................... 😁
oc ask game! (plus some art at the bottom lol)
🧠 - what do you like most about the oc?
answered HERE but alsoooooo i can definitely think of something else :)
i LOVE writing her dialogue LMAOO. her whole gimmick is that she acts wayyyyy older than she actually is, and when i say that i mean she truly acts like an old man. she is a very slow talker a mover and figuring out how to write for her has been lots and lots of fun !!!!
she uses a lot of ellipses... and always drags on a sentence if it is possible. she never uses exclamation points if she can help it... because she tries not to raise her voice... and typically doesn't get excited or emotive about many things. she trails off a lot, either on a tangent about a sailing story or simply because she has lost focus... and includes a quote from her afi or from a writer that can shed wisdom on the situation. everything is a lesson to be learned, you see... she also tends to repeat herself at the end of the sentence, she does. it's either "you see" or some variation of "i do/i am", depending on what was said... and of course she always refers to her boats and the ocean using she/her. laughs like an old man too, eheheh... always keeps the mood light
but, uh, when she gets flustered she uses "um" and "uh" a lot. especially when backed into a corner. sounds a lot less wise. her sentences get shorter when she's upset. real short. she tends-- you see, she tends to stutter a lot more when she is stressed, or in a tense mood. corrects herself, or-- sometimes, she cuts herself off before she says anything too harsh. her tone grows a lot more "childish", and she wants to sound like she knows what she is doing. won't raise her tone. just gets rather blunt with you.
unless she gets very irritated. because then she starts to emphasize certain words to you in an almost condescending manner, and-- and she still might stutter over her words because she is thinking less about them, but they are all flowing out of her mouth at this point. and if you push her too far she'll start yelling! exclamation point! it is rare to get an exclamation point from her! if you push her hard enough she'll scream! she'll fucking yell!!
but yea anyways she's been fun GHFDJKG
✏️ - how often do you draw/write about the oc?
grins. the grinner
SOOOOOOOOO sae as of right now is being used in a killing game rp which means i get to write for her pretty oftennnnn :) she gets to hang out with a whole cast of awesome characters that are both amazing and stressing her out so badly. as hell. it is chapter 2 currently (we're at the motive!!) and literally every single thing is going wrong (the motive concerns her family and of course her afi was threatened bc thats all shes got, her plan to escape failed miserably and shes starting to resent people with very little reason, somebody in the killing game knows JUST WHAT TO SAY to seriously push her buttons) but she'll persevere 😍 she'll persevere and get so much worse
i loveee the rp server bc the people there love to write fics and draw art of their own AND each others characters and i eat it up every single time. me included i love creating for these rps :) which MEANS i actually do draw and write for her a bit often!! now a lot of it is practice and/or doesn't get sent to the server lmfaooo i think the last fic i wrote for her (and finished-- i keep starting things and stopping 😔) was a backstory fic for her about that one bad memory i mentioned in the last ask :) a single person has read it and that is the person running the rp in the first place ghfdjkg
UM UM here's some old art that i sent to the server and didnt post here !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and here's a chart of literally ALL of her siblings LMFAOOOO
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Top 5. Fanfic authors :) Or if you feel like it: Top 10
Ooh hello hello! Thanks for the ask! Also for the "more" allowance, as I'm notoriously bad at staying within the allowable number of anything 😂 More is more!! I'll make a solid effort to stay within 5 if I can, so let's see!
perverse_idyll (@perverse-idyll): Longtime fave. As in...when was The White Road first posted? '08, '09? Since then, essentially. I read TWR and was sold and I've been sold ever since. PI is such a thoughtful, sharp, crafty, passionate writer. More than that, we are very closely aligned in how we see the characters and dynamics and she writes in a way that feels so honest and true to who they are. All of her work is so gorgeous and real and forever strikes a chord in my soul. All the better now that I can call her friend and know that she's just as fabulous a human as she is a writer! :)
Writcraft (@writcraft): Another writing crush turned friend! They have written so many incredible stories across multiple pairings, though in the beginning I only read Snarry of course! They have such a great variety, not only with fandoms and ships, but genres, from darker and angstier works (Tangled Web, Dirge Without Music) to more wholesome and romantic stories (Friends of Dorothy, Luck of the Draw.) I love their focus on different types of relationships, and especially appreciate the dedication to queer themes that feels both celebratory and validating, for all of the joy and hurt of the queer experience. (How We Were Warriors for queer themes & history, A Life Worth Remembering for polyamory.) And the boldness in some works that feel more experimental and different (Breathless for a poetic second person POV, Birdsong for the creepy horror.)...If I remember correctly, Hector's Arms was my first Writ fic and I clicked on their profile and happily gorged myself on their other works. And found not only fics I didn't know I needed, and have reread time and again (Broken Promises, Shattered Dreams; A Lion's Heart; Loved You a Long Time), but also one of my favorite fics in general, The Beating of This Fragile Heart!
Arrisha (@arrisha-ao3): Brilliant, brilliant writer! Also a ruthless sadist I'm pretty sure. I am deeply in awe of the emotional devastation she leaves in her wake. The brutal angst of it all is truly, truly admirable, my hat is off to her for that. And while Ab Intra, Ab Extra and The Syntax of Things are brilliant...I am extra in love with her shorter works, Loose Ends and Molly's Advice. I like to think I'm an angst lover, but woo-boy does Arrisha make me wanna grab a white flag sometimes. She knows just where to pull on those heartstrings and strangle you with them. (I feel like this is coming across as both rude and terrifying, but I could not be gushing more, I swear.)
drawlight | ripeteeth (@foxconfessorandthewolf): Though their works aren't currently online right now, still a favorite. The Forest King!! I loved that fic. The Lighthouse Keeper...Strange Pilgrims...Suspiria...so many goodies. Their writing is truly phenomenal (even their original writings I had a peek at!) The stunning and vivid and gritty prose, that manages to be both poetic and sharp as a knife. GOD. Killer writing. 10/10. I have their works saved to my Kindle 🙏 And I'm always excited when I see their works on AO3 again! Have to mention them since they are truly one of the best and I have all the love for them AND their work!!
eldritcher: Their work is so strange, and in the most unique and lovely of ways. "Strange" can seem so rude but I know they know what I mean by it! They craft their works with such purpose and thoughtfulness and with such great love for words and imagery and mythology. All of their works are ripe with meaning, and strung together with such artistic precision! There is nothing out there like eldritcher's works, I swear, and I am in LOVE with what they do. I discovered their work through @consistentsquash's rec for The Tumtum Tree and had to devour what more I could find! Dithyramb, Pasiphaë, Ariel, and other great snarries! I am eagerly awaiting the final chapter of The Lamb of Tartary! Then other interesting tales and ships in The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife, Plenitude, Exaltation, Once of Eden. I am so amazed of their mind and their craft and am forever excited to see what else they're working on!!
I could probably carry on with more, but I think that makes for a nice solid Top 5 list...😅 Though if it bothers me too much I'll come back later to reblog with more 👀 Goodness knows I've read a lot and there are many creators I admire so so much!! 😌
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☉✎✦✿(last one for the winter depression kon fic<3)
☉ what do you do when you get stuck writing?
usually, step back and take a break!! if i'm stuck writing at ALL instead of just on a specific wip it usually means i'm flirting with burnout and need to chill for a bit. time to read, play viddy game, hang out with friends, etc.
but i never take TOO long a break because if i do then it's really hard to get back into writing. so if its been a few days and i still havent written anything i'll open whatever wip i wanna work on and try to add at least a couple of sentences.
✎ how do you think readers would guess a fic was yours if you posted anonymously?
i have NO idea but the other day someone who knew me on my old ao3 account messaged me like "hey is this you?" and i was like HOW DID YOU KNOW? and they were just like "i recognized your style!" so there's clearly SOMETHING askjdhfdjks
but in the timkon tag specifically, um. well. probably the specific kryptonian headcanons, t4tisms, and "giving a shit about kon as a character" would probably give me away.
✦ what was your easiest fic to write & your hardest?
*opens ao3 real fast to check what i've written* uhhhhh
okay lessee. there's several of the shorter oneshots here that i actually just wrote entirely in one sitting and didn't edit just plonked em right on ao3, so those would probably count as easiest (reflections on respawning, aftershocks, faith trust and a bit of pixie dust, your ghost i will gladly bear, and we will walk in bitter rain).
hardest probably goes to sotm just for length, but in terms of content it's all emotional hurt/comfort and that is my wheelhouse! in terms of content, the hardest is probably androecia. i've never written much explicit fic before, so it was a challenge!
✿ did anything major change when you started writing "under the small fire of winter stars" to when you finished?
SO MUCH. OH MY GOD. SO MUCH...
so the original iteration in my notebook was a multi-scene thing with a heavy focus on kon & kara and Both of them being depressed and kara telling kon about new years' celebrations on krypton (occuring the day after the winter solstice, as days started to get longer and nights shorter again, with accompanying stories about rao's pantheon's defeat of cythonna and triumph over winter and darkness). and then i was like "hey this fic is for moss! i should add tim." so then i added tim and MORE scenes. and then i was like "oh no i will never finish this on time" especially because i could NOT figure out the ending in a way that felt satisfying to me so i kinda scrapped most of it.
the scene that became the actual fic is what was gonna be the second scene in the bigger thing, with tim finding and taking care of kon in the aftermath of kon and kara fighting and then severely bitching about metallo.
initially, kon was gonna mention some of the winter celebration stuff kara told him about and how he kinda wished he had more of a connection to kryptonian culture, and tim was gonna go Hm. and start thinking of ways he could get clark, chris, and/or jon to help him plan Something to surprise kon and kara with a little new years party. but that plot kept coming out feeling overly cheesy and contrived and i just was not satisfied with it, so. snip snip bitch.
still, i think the focus morphing into just "tim loving on kon with acts of service (and quality time) while mr acts of service himself is so out of it" was fun too!!! get loved idiot, etc.
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Thoughts on writing longer form fics/fiction vs shorter form?
Oh, a lot! Let's see...
I think both are extremely difficult but also extremely fun in their own ways.
Shortform fiction is a challenge for me, because it means I need to clearly delineate what belongs into it and what doesn't. Focus on what should be there and include that. What aids the theme? What drives the story to its soon goal? How can I make sure everything flows together into a series of striking and effective moments without wasting and time? If you fail on this selection process, the short story will meander and leave the reader confused by the end, especially if things that clearly need to be resolved are left unresolved. (Note: Some unresolved threads can be effective for a powerful ending, but they need to be purposeful unresolved. If you start a seemingly important subplot about a character going through something important and then never do anything with it and don't tie it into any theme, you've just wasted the reader's attention and time). The big advantage of shortform fiction is that you can make a meaningful statement and create powerful emotion much more quickly and powerfully than if you have to set up an entire world and cast first. Longform fiction requires you to capture and keep your reader's attention for much longer, which means you'll have to employ soooome level of "manipulation" to keep them hooked that shortform wouldn't need.
Longform fiction, however, has the advantage of giving you space. You don't want your character's entire existence to be suffering? well, longform gives you time to balance the good with the bad. There are some jokes you really wanna do and aspects of your world and characters you really wanna explore, but they aren't anything that fits into a single compact, thoroughly themed story? Well, longform allows for detours that let you take a look at these things. (Though, these detours still need to be curated, interesting and ultimately serve a purpose. Losing a reader's attention can happen waaaay too quickly and once it happens, it's the death knell for your audience retention). However, long form fiction also has the problem that it gives you too much space. When it feels like you can include everything, you often want to include everything. That's an issue I've struggled with a lot in the past. Soon, you'll find yourself with 500 characters and no way to properly use all of them. a lot of their stories won't aid the themes and intentions of your story at all. You'll produce side plots and even "filler arcs" that fall by the wayside and are forgotten and before you know it you fall into the "Bleach" conundrum where it seems like your story has totally lost sight of what it was about and you can't fix it anymore, because you've added so much fat to your story that can't be cut anymore.
Above all else, however, longform fiction is a commitment. As soon as your story grows too big for you to even comprehend it yourself anymore, that's when you're in trouble. You need to remember what happened! You need to remember all your characters' motivations, which developments they've already gone through and which they haven't and who knows who. If you lose track of that, your story will fragment beyond repair and your readers won't find keeping up with it satisfying anymore. That, as well as shifting fandom interests are the most common causes of longfics turning into dead fics, or, in the professional world, series being cancelled or book series being abandoned.
Ultimately the most important thing is to know your limits. How big does your story need to be? How big can you afford it being before maintaining it consumes too much of your life to be feasible? These are questions you should always ask yourself before you decide whether to focus your attention on short form or long form fiction. Of course, short form and long form also lend themselves to extremely different story types, so in the end it will also come down to what you want to write and how to make it effective... It's all a manner of having a feel for your own writing style!
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<333 4, 8, 14, 18, 22, 35, 46, 58, 74 for the ask game pls!!
thank you mayaaaa <333
4. Where do you find inspiration for new ideas?
Everywhere! Fics and books I've read, random song lyrics (whether the rest of the song fits or not), random posts on tumblr, images, posts on twitter, prompt lists, prompt blogs, etc. etc.
8. Do you prefer the beginning, middle, or end of a story?
Vastly depends on the story. I've had fics where I've had the beginning and ending figured out, but the middle is a mystery. I've also had fics where the middle was a breeze but the beginning and ending were both like pulling teeth!
I will say I tend to enjoy middles more on shorter fics (uhh, less than 15k) and beginnings & endings more on longform stuff!
14. how do you write emotional scenes? Do you ever feel what the characters feel? Do you draw from personal experiences?
I try to put myself in the character's shoes as much as possible! Figure out what emotion(s) they're feeling and then draw on my own experiences with it, lol. Especially if I can feel it a bit myself <3
18. Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?
Yes.
Sometimes the fic title is the thing that inspired the idea, like when I'm inspired by a lyric. Sometimes it just comes to me in the planning process.
Sometimes a fic title comes to me during the writing process. I'll write a line that just seems to capture the core of what I'm going for, and use that or something like it for the title!
A lot of times I end up titling the fic after, though. I'll scroll through the song lyrics I have saved for potential titles, just in case one fits. I'll look up songs that may have the theme or a similar vibe to what I'm gong for. I'll read through the fic looking for a line. I'll summarize it, try to capture the vibe. It can take a bit!! But I get there eventually. After a lot of whining :P
22. Are there certain types of writing you won’t do? (style, pov, genre, tropes, etc)
Speaking specifically for fanfic!
Probs won't ever write first person again. It's not something I vibe with in fic, it's hit or miss for me in published fiction too, and it's just... Not a style I like?
Omniscient POV. When I try it it feels too much like head hopping to me, so xD
Can't see myself writing cheating or hard non-con. Dubcon, yeah; gentle nc especially if its nc-to-c, but not anything harder. I will do comfort after, though!! Hmm... Detailed torture scenes or anything gory bc that squicks me out a little lol ^^;
I can think of a few others but I think that's good for now xD
35. What is one essential thing to remember when writing a villain?
Good question.
Honestly, I haven't written them in fic a lot? But when I do, I generally try to keep in mind their motivations and like... reasons for doing what they do.
46. How would you describe your style? (Character/emotion/action-driven, etc)
Hmm... Character or emotion driven!
58. What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most? (Brainstorming, outlining, writing, editing, etc)
Hmm, I mean, all of them at various points! I guess I'll give brainstorming the top slot because I just have... so many ideas. Therefore I must enjoy coming up with them 😂😂😂
Although nothing compares to writing when it's flowing!!
74. You’ve posted a fic anonymously. How would someone be able to guess that you’d written it?
Does it feature two characters taking care of each other? A lot of focus on trust and vulnerability and willingly offering up the softer parts of yourself? Is there an overuse of "x says"? Can you tell fic was fighting not to be overrun with em-dashes? It's probably a Tauria fic :P
[ get to know your fic writer! ]
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Hello honestly I hope not to bother you with my question but I liked your writing style especially on smut fics and was wondering of you had by any chance any good advice you feel to give refarding writing steamy fics ? Thank you I wish you a wonderful day 🙏🙏
Hi hi! You're not a bother at all!
Firstly, thank you so much! I'm so happy you enjoy my writing! 🥺
Secondly, I think it will really depend on the kind of smut/steamy stuff you'd like to write! There's a lot of different fics out there, some of which are 1000 words and focus only on the smut. Meanwhile there's fics that are 20,000 words long that involve a plot (or a lot of smut haha). Both are valid options and will depend on what you'd like to focus on in your fic.
Sorry if I ramble, and this is by no means saying you HAVE to do these when writing smut. This is just what I personally like to do and what I like to read in fics too. Minors do not interact!
When I write steamy fics, I focus a lot on the feelings of the characters, both about their emotions as well as how they're physically feeling. Pleasure is usually a given in smut, but sometimes there's pain (physical and mental), or fear, or doubts, and I think those are important to consider describing. When I write something, I want the reader to be able to feel what the character is feeling, get the reader invested in what's happening, and emotions are usually the best way to do that. Even when I want to write a shorter piece, my characters end up sappy and sweet haha
But like I mentioned, that's just one of the ways you can write it. Some people want to focus on the smut alone, which is perfectly fine too!
I hope this all makes sense and is at least a little useful haha
The only other thing I'd recommend and will be true for any smut writing is making sure the scene that you set is clear and understandable. It can be really hard to enjoy a smut piece when you're constantly confused about what position the characters are in or what they're doing. You don't have to be explicit on every single piece of anatomy. In fact, some people like making their erotica on the poetic side, sensual more than directly sexual, and barely use any anatomical terms or slang at all. But scene description is important in order to make the imagery clear and the story or actions flow smoothly.
EDIT: should have added this in to begin with, but really the most important thing is: have fun with it!! When you're enjoying your story and writing out what your fictional faves are doing, people can feel that energy. Not to mention, you shouldn't force yourself to write anyway, because it can hurt in the long run. If a fic isn't working out, it's okay to stop and return later, or even never return at all. But don't be afraid to be silly with your fic and put that enthusiasm in there!
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Revising A Tale of Star-Crossed Knights - Chapter 9
Link to Chapter 9: https://archiveofourown.org/works/39015690/chapters/101133303
This chapter is probably one of the lowest ones in terms of substance in the entire work, but I decided that it could get a post on its own. It's the first chapter in Part II which covers the time period in between Finn and Erinys separating for the last time all the way until Erinys' death and the beginnings of FE4 Gen 2/FE5. When I was approaching Part II, I initially wanted to write it in such a fashion to where it would swap between Finn's perspective and Erinys' perspective. I still did that for the second half, but for the first three chapters I segregated the perspectives. This was mostly because I didn't want to interrupt the Silesse Civil War arc which turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the entire work.
Chapter 9 is another filler chapter. The original version had some highlights of me rushing chapters again, that being abrupt endings in transitioning between scenes. That's definitely going to be a big thing to fix during the rest of the work. The other big thing, of course, is excising non-important worldbuilding stuff. (e.g., In the original version, Finn's bully is named Aillan, but I took that name out (as well as any Italy references) because I don't want to put something in that gets forgotten later on.) I also have worked at reducing the amount of interruptions between scenes and making them flow into each other. What would really be best is adding more content which is what I'm too lazy to do, but I still think it's worked well.
That said, while it's filler I do think it's good for Finn's character. He left Leonster as a young squire (maybe not 15 years old in this story, but young) and he comes back as an adult. So he has a sort of difficulty integrating back into Leonster, not only because of his longing for Erinys and Ced but also because he's matured more than his peers. Besides Quan, Glade is really the only close friend that Finn has. Even he doesn't truly understand Finn, but he at least helps through the culture shock of Finn coming back to other people suddenly changing their opinion on him and making crude jokes about his wife.
I think that's all I have to say, so the original author's notes are below for your perusal.
---
Welcome to Part II, the part where Erinys and Finn are completely separated. At first I was intending for the point of view to swap from scene to scene, but I realized when planning this out that it would interrupt story arcs if I did that - imagine if, say, the story flipped directly from Altena and Leif being little shits to Erinys learning about Annand dying. That would be whiplash. So the plan for now is that Chapters 9 and 12 will be in Finn's POV, while Chapters 10 and 11 will be Erinys' POV. That may change though.
Shorter chapter because lol taking a break for a week meant that I need to get back in my rhythm of writing. Nothing heavy happens in this chapter, it's just Finn returning home to Leonster. Which I initially wanted to base off Italy but I realize now that it's more fun to think of some kind of English influence too...not that it really shows in this fic. Next chapter will definitely include heavy stuff though...everyone knows what happens in Chapter 4 of the game so break out the tissues in a week.
Leif's born too and by necessity he's going to play a role in later chapters. I don't intend on this to be a complete retelling of the entire events of FE4/FE5 because that would be boring and I want to keep the focus on this relationship between Finn and Erinys, and later between Finn and his biological children. But obviously Leif is going to show up in some capacity, and Altena too beyond just being a little girl.
Miscellaneous notes:
Altena's a weird thing. It feels weird that Quan and Ethlyn would be away from their daughter for three and a half years, especially when she was only a few months old when they left Leonster. It kind of makes sense if they expected to return to Leonster after two months and not get dragged into in a wild goose chase, but I feel like Altena shouldn't be able to recognize her parents *at all.* She'd recognize her grandparents though for sure.
Credit to @PEve862 on Twitter for bringing up that according to Leonster's Fall, Finn really only had Glade as a friend (at least before he turned into a war hero.) I already felt like Finn was awkward and not really liked by others when he was a squire but that piece of info solidified the deal for the scene with the other nights. It's kind of like if someone who was bullied in middle school comes to a high school reunion and turns out to be more successful than their bullies. But I still felt like Finn would find it awkward - even though they're all about 20-ish years old, Finn's still more mature than his peers, and it really comes across when the others wanted to hear about what it's like to do The Thing with an "exotic" woman than actually listen to Finn who is truly in love with her beyond just in the bed. But Glade is there to save the day because he actually understands Finn and is friends with Finn beyond just wanting to suck up to their new commander.
Aillen is the name of a fire breathing monster whom Fionn mac Cumhaill slays in mythology. I thought the name looked natural enough to be thrown in.
Yudu is mentioned in supplementary material as an earth god worshipped prior to the arrival of Gair/Loptous. I wanted to call the tavern something other than "the tavern" and the name flows well.
I almost had Glade call Finn "fra" as a reference to Italian but decided to change it to "bro" because I want readers to understand the connotation immediately. I know that it breaks the immersion of this being medieval times but we're ultimately still in modern times so sometimes it's okay to use modern words. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Feel free to kudos/comment as always if you liked it, and see you guys next week.
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Can I just say I love Tulia ✨✨ She is so badass and sweet and finally Jean gets someone! How would you describe her personality tho? Like it changed slightly in each book?
Also what is your fav Aot and jjjk book you wrote? They are all so unique and different, like I’ve never seen stories like those before since most stories follow similar themes and plot
Awww yay I’m glad you like her!!! I do change which aspects of her personality I focus on depending on the storyline of the book but overall (with the exception of pomegranate ink because everyone’s just goofy in that and the first half of endure because she was still a kid) she’s a pretty mature and self-assured person who’s very kind and wise. She does have a shorter temper though and her judgement can be clouded when she gets angry, and she can be reserved with people she doesn’t know. She is a pretty good judge of character though! And yes her and jean are so cute together I love them.
Hmmm I think for aot it would be a tie between ship in the harbor and endure. Endure is like a comfort because it’s (so far) the longest story I’ve ever written and the one most people have read and I feel like I learned a lot from it. However ship in the harbor is definitely my most creative and has the most complex characters (especially Y/N in that story she’s probably one of the most interesting characters I’ve written) and it really makes me go out of my comfort zone. It’s also going to end up as my longest story once I finish it so that’s cool. Honorable mention goes to the 13T series even though I don’t like the writing style anymore just because I like the mythology I came up with for it.
For jjk I feel like all of my fics are very different and I like them in different ways. Pomegranate Ink is very lighthearted and fun (although there is angst planned for later on dw!) so it’s good to just feel good. I think icoamd has the best worldbuilding for sure and it has the most to be explored — for example, my favorite relationship in that story is between Y/N and a character that hasn’t even been named in the story yet. And then I love h / h because it’s the kind of fic which is almost even better when you know what’s happening due to how many plot twists are in it.
Thank you!! When I’m coming up with plots for my fics I have two methods: if it’s a canon au, I look for ‘holes’ in the story that the author did not necessarily explore to the fullest. I think the best example of that would be promise Y/N being an MP which there are no main characters in aot who are MPs (i guess besides annie and hitch but annie is only there as an MP for a season and hitch isn’t really a main character). If I’m coming up with my own world building, I try to think about what I want to happen in the story and then come up with plausible reasons for it — like in icoamd, I wanted Megumi to be Y/N’s guard but for it to be a very forbidden relationship, which meant she had to be engaged but with no chance of falling in love with her husband, so I made her future husband wayyy older than her. Then the question became why is she marrying someone so much older than her?? Because she’s a royal, marrying for an alliance to stop a war made sense, but then there had to be a reason for the war (which there is, Y/N just doesn’t know it yet). From there it comes down to research and referencing history to try and be somewhat accurate.
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Hello beaut! I'm a really big fan of your writing. I'm reading Pages of You for the second time and just loving it so much. Your fics are worlds I want to stay in and I find them really comforting and safe, especially during this unsettling time.
I know this is a bit of an annoying / tricky question for writers to answer, but I wondered if you could talk a bit about where you get your ideas from? Do they sort of fall into your head or do you work them out for a while? How do you know which idea is the one you want to go ahead with? Do you have lots of different fics on the go or do you just focus on one?
I've always wanted to have a go at writing but I get overwhelmed by all the ideas I have and I never know which one I should go with. If I do sit down to write one, I get really into it for a few days and then it sort of fizzles out, and I move on to something else so I never complete anything!
Hello sweet anon! What a lovely message to recieve, thank you so much for your kind words!
Not an annoying question at all. But hopefully my reply isn't too disappointing!
My ideas come from loads of places. Real life, films, books, history, songs... I tend to grasp on to little nuggets of ideas in fleeting moments, and when I do, what works for me is writing them down. Even if it's just a few words on a notes app, which I then add to my WIP trello board if I think the idea has legs (and yes, I usually have 2+ things on the go at once!).
For example, I've been thinking a lot about a Quidditch/mystery fic lately that came out of watching the TV show Yellowjackets earlier this year. Back then, I jotted it down and let it marinate for a while, because I knew I had a bunch of other things I needed to focus on - fests, gift fics, another long fic I've been planning for a while - so I only came back to it yesterday to flesh it out a little more after watching another film that got the little cogs in my brain whirring.
I think it's absolutely fine to jot down an initial idea then come back to it later - you might have more to add to it after an experience or a conversation, or after reading a good book or article or watching something inspiring, and this way you can watch it grow like a plant and evolve. That method works for me for my longer projects.
For my shorter things, I definitely start by thinking of all of the different 'ingredients' of a fic before I start baking it:
the simple outline or perhaps just the context of where the characters got to be where they are the moment the fic begins (as I tend to 'open' my stories with action),
the atmosphere (this is a huge thing for me in my writing - I like writing that evokes feeling, that incorporates the senses through setting and environment),
whose POV I want to focus on and how they are feeling and how they got to where they are feeling (you've probably noticed that I pull in a lot of memory in my writing, I like to layer memory with present action),
and then I usually think about the end point/conclusion to the story and work my way backwards from there.
I'm not a professional writer by any means, I don't read many, if at all, writing tips literature or use that many tools to help with my writing as sometimes I can feel they hold me back rather than help me (disclaimer: this is just my way of working, and won't work for everyone!). I just follow my emotions when I write and often that leads to, some amount of, success. I feel deep empathy with my characters and just let that run through me.
I think it's really important to also remember that you need to love something in order to get it done (or at least get it done to a standard that you're going to be satisfied with). Pages of You was hard for me in places to get through, don't get me wrong (100k is a lot of work), but I was very in Harry's head the entire time I wrote it and I was in love with his point of view of the world, of his way moving through and navigating the landscape I'd created for him (queer London in the 80s). Originally, I thought about a multiple POV story and was going to write Draco's POV too, but as I got started I realised I just didn't want to leave Harry. And I loved falling in love with Draco from Harry's POV too.
So if you're struggling to complete something, perhaps ask yourself if you should be coming at it from an angle that makes more sense to you, that you love: a POV change? A setting change? Maybe even a ship change? Even something like a tense change! Experiment! There's genuinely no rule book here.
Good luck with your writing, I think the main thing is to just start, to enjoy yourself, and to give yourself grace and a break when you struggle. You will get there. I believe in you.
#wow sorry that was a long reply#ask#anon#writing#pages of you#fanfic#fanfic advice#fic#fanfiction#on writing
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Meta for the fic Never Have I Ever.
Most of what went into this fic was stuff that I had in mind writing Truth or Dare, but I couldn't find a way to fit it. I really wanted the first story to focus on Janus's friendships within the group as a whole, and while his break-up with Virgil was the inciting incident to a lot of his insecurities in that story, I didn't want to make it too much about that.
I was thinking I might find a way to incorporate it into the sequel if I wrote one, but Ace Week seemed like a good excuse to start writing it as shorter follow up, just a brief scene in between here and there. Of course, I didn't actually finish it in time for that, but I didn't finish the first fic for the event it was written for either...
(stuff past here is mostly just personal trivia about me as a writer)
When I was writing Truth or Dare, I needed a source of Drama™ to force Janus into his bad decision making, and trying to figure out what that was going to be wound up being the subject of a lot of frustration.
I'm aromantic, and not especially interested in writing or reading about romance, but when you're in fandoms and want to read about your blorbos, it can be really difficult to avoid it. And often, writing those love stories is what is going to get eyes on your fic in a way that helps make the effort put into fanwriting feel rewarding. I used to write a lot of romance in the past, and while it got me a lot of readers, it always felt like fitting Those Emotions in was taking up space in the story that distracted from what I actually wanted to be writing.
There's a lot to be said about how unconscious amatonormativity can work its way in where it isn't wanted, even if someone's not feeling pressured by it directly. Thankfully, I've never had to deal with feeling like I was broken or wrong for not wanting to find a partner, and I've never been in Virgil's position of having a friend for whom I felt like I had to 'fake it'.
But...it can be frustrating for me as a writer when romantic plots and subplots nudge their way into a story, because sometimes I'm left wondering: "Is this the story I really want to tell, or is this just there because it's a part of the writing 'formula' I've internalized?" Because I've noticed a lot of my stories, despite an intended gen focus, wind up with romantic chemistry hanging on the fringes that...it's just there. And it makes sense for the characters, but I don't particularly feel like seeing it all the way through to the end the way a reader is most likely expecting. And sometimes I'm worried about that coming off as a tease.
Truth or Dare kind of wound up being this messy snarl of a story, where the romance subplot is there, but it's buried far beneath the rest of it. And Janus and Virgil as exes is never going to not make sense to me, so that followed pretty easily. But I wanted the subject of the break up to be something where neither of them were really in the wrong, because that kind of drama is uncomfortable for me to write. So when I was trying to tease out the history between the different characters the idea of that being the root of the conflict...kind of just felt right.
TL;DL: Virgil's aromanticism troubles aren't a 1:1 projection, but they are a sort of commentary on my frustrations with amatonormativity butting its nose into my writing.
Also, yes, if all goes planned and I keep writing stories, expect a lot of them to have the romance subplot go absolutely nowhere. You've been warned.
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Hello, just spreading some love on the dash
Your writing is?? so so cool?? I initially found your blog through the boatem knights and that series still holds a dear place in my heart, but along with that the rest of your work is just really creative and a joy to read. I’ve loved your writing for the minecraft end plus your ocs, and it’s really given me some brainrot for building minecraft theories of my own to just sit and think about as I play the game. I could pick out so many little details about what I like about your work, but to keep it a bit shorter; I love your characterization, especially in interactions between characters. Your dialogue is also great, and while both your angst and fluff are brilliant I’m so soft for how you depict the quieter, comforting moments between characters. All your aus and ideas are always so creative and fun to think about even if you don’t turn them into full stories, and it’s always a joy to see you on the dash. Overall, hoping this wasn’t too incoherent and wishing you a wonderful day :)
HELLO??? WHAT THE HECK WHO ARE YOU COME OFF ANON SO I CAN APPRECIATE YOU
This is the sweetest thing I- oh my goodness are you sure you sent this to the right person I... Oh my goodness gracious I'm so bad with compliments, thank you so much!!
Characterization has always been such a huge focus of mine and. I just AUGH I know it wasn't the best for the boatem knights fic (because I've never watched boatem before. No HC s8 episodes have been finished oop-) but I try!!
And OMG yeah I have so many aus and headcanons constantly in my head, it makes me so happy to know that people are liking them. And the stuff with my ocs too, even if that is less viewed, people saying that they like it is just so validating fkdjfjjd
Thank you so much and I'm gonna go cry and happy stim over this now
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Congrats @ 1000 followers!!!!
Question for your event: what's your top 5 fics you've made in the past? I think some people find their older works to be cringe, but I find looking back at what I've made in the past to be endearing. Like,, look how far you've come or maybe it's interesting to see what trends carry out through out all your works
Ty duder!! :-D
Hmbbb that’s a hard question. I do like rereading my old works, but there’s definitely a level of improvement I’ve gained that means I nitpick old stuff or don’t like my voice or pacing as much as I used to. Which happens with anything really but means sometimes I can’t enjoy the full piece. I also haven’t reread a lot of my old works recently so my vibes on how I feel about them are outdated.
If we’re talking about works older than a year, here a few I rmr still having a fondness for. They aren’t in any particular order though and I feel good gennnnerally about most of my stuff, but esp haven’t reread a lot of DC ones in awhile:
The in betweens (Bill n Ted) I rmr trying to do no scene breaks for this one, kind of like a lineless style but for writing, and I think I did that well in the end! Also always a sucker for domesticity and it feels very alive and dynamic and content in itself which is really nice
Contact (Lost Boys 1987) It’s a good short piece and while it feels kind of OOC for how I’d handle TLB these days, I think the intimacy and the inclusion of everyone in such a short word count is p well done and I like the texture of it a lot
Grounding Rod (Legion of Supes 2006) Iirc I have more issues with the prose of this one than most others, but the ideas I got out within it and the fact that it’s currently my only Legion fic endear it to me and I’d be interested to do More with some of what I outlined here
I’ll be there for you (Batman Beyond) THISSS was I think my first fic even close to this kind of length and I rmr it was written when I still had full on fic requests open in my inbox. It was meant to be so much shorter but it grew and it’s also like? Genuinely still pretty solid to me? Was a banger way to hit off my beyond phase and was one of the first times I’d done kind of a drawn out plot
Asynchronous (Bill n Ted) My very first Bill and Ted fic, and while it was still in an era of my writing I don’t like as muchhhh with like… kind of overly physical angsty or injury focused scenarios, I think it’s still pretty solid. It explores an alternate idea of what could happen in bogus journey and of if a do not separate set was separated, and even though it’s kind of gross and bleak being Bill and Ted adds a humor to it I think really works and also made me snicker a bit while reading
When it comes to trends I definitely know I use similar descriptions a lot esp when it comes to emotions and breakdowns as I was often pulling off my own experience. In my earlier writing especially my DC stuff like I mentioned above I was also very into harder angst? I’m not as into gore or injury for the sake of it anymore but a lot of my works starting out were very Sad for Sad sake and while they def still explored characters I’m glad I feel I have a wider range of focus now?
I do feel that, looking back, I’ve lost a level of natural-ness to a lot of my stuff. My older works feel looser and less stiff, and I’ve recently found myself in a place of having a difficult time writing regular interaction scenes. I dont know if I’m burnt out or if I’m just overly critical now, but I do wish I had some of that more pliant quality some of my older stuff has. I miss it!
That’s an interesting piece of looking back though and also why I have a no delete policy nowadays on stuff. Seeing where I’ve been and what’s changed and stayed the same is rly fascinating to me :-)
Ty for the Q! (And I’ll b trying to answer the others I’ve gotten from some diff peeps as well!)
1000 follower celebration
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1, 3, 5, 6, 10, 11, 13, 16, 20, 23, 24
send an ask: get to know your author
good god dirt. ok, putting this under the cut bc holy shit
1) is there a story you’re holding off on writing for some reason?
yeah, definitely. theres some longer ideas i have for batman fics that i dont wanna commit to yet, largely because im still learning how to write characters with did and im still fresh into comics, and i want to read more comics before i start writing a character im not as familiar with, yknow? like, i feel like i really need to read more stuff w the arrow fam and the bat fam especially before i go just saying things lol
3) what order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else?
chronological babey. i take it one chapter at a time. sometimes if im frustrated ill skip ahead a little bit or leave it as a rough draft and fix it later while i move on, but thats not especially common for me
5) character you were most surprised to end up writing
answered!
6) something you would go back and change in your writing that it’s too late/complicated to change now
id make level 2 shorter. i wrote so much for it i dont wanna just not post the whole thing but i really dont like the second half as much. i think id also make ammfh more playful and less. personal. there wasnt as much emphasis on john being a trickster as i originally wanted and instead i spent more time like venting through the fic which feels. very exposed and strange now
10) write in silence or with background noise? with people or alone?
i usually write w music or white noise in the background depending on how much focus i have! thats why some fics have white noise generators recommended in the notes
11) what aspect of your writing do you think has most improved since you started writing?
ah jeez idk. i think i might be better at the flowery stuff and just like wording things? getting the right vibe down yknow
13) your strengths as an author
i think ive always had pretty strong dialogue. ive gotten better obviously, but its always been one of the easier parts of writing
16) are there any characters who haunt you?
answered!
20) do you write in long sit-down sessions or in little spurts?
a mix tbh. depends on how much time/focus/motivation i have yknow? like sometimes ill pump out 5k in one day and sometimes ill just write a sentence or two before bed. all depends
23) any obscure life experiences that you feel have helped your writing?
i guess rping lol idk being a fmst major i think helps me tackle more sensitive issues in my writing better maybe?
24) have you ever become an expert on something you previously knew nothing about, in order to better a scene or a story?
see. i have absolutely googled weird obscure knowledge for a story. however. the moment i finish writing it it leaves my brain again. nothing sticks. also i have a healthy appreciation for "no one gives a shit it doesnt matter" and i will just throw guns in a fantasy setting bc i dont care and cant be assed to do research. its fan fiction not brain science. pay me if you want better quality
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The Sambucky fandom spends a lot of time and energy on calling out writers for using problematic, often straight up racist, tropes in their fics. And rightfully so, because some of said tropes are not only unplesant to read for many readers, but also harmful if they help to perpetuate some awful stereotypes. That being said... I feel like we need to show the other side of the spectrum more often and sometimes focus on people who don’t make these mistakes.
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So here is my personal THANK YOU! to all the writers who have never used these offensive stereotypes in their Sambucky fanfiction and who:
1. Give as much attention to Sam’s side of the story as they give to Bucky’s and do not focus solely on Bucky’s emotions about their developing relationship when it’s a mixed POV.
2. Acknowledge Sam’s trauma and all the loss he experienced in the past (not only in the context where his pain is used to help him better connect with another person who’s hurting).
3. Show other characters (Bucky or not) helping Sam go through his more diffucult moments (bad days, nightmares, painful flashbacks).
4. Show Sam having these more difficult moments.
5. Don’t act like Bucky’s traumatic past is enough of an excuse for his unpleasant behaviour towards Sam. (E.g. they don’t write a story where Sam forgives Bucky every mean, ignorant comment without thinking, just because Bucky’s sad.)
6. Show Sam experiencing variety of emotions - not just frustration and adoration towards Bucky. Show him being sad, happy, disappointed, confused, hopeful, dejected, relieved, terrified, confident etc.
7. Show Sam being the more vulnerable one in the relationship (in general or just in cerain situations)
8. Write scenes where Sam is shy or a little awkward (about his relationship with Bucky or about something else). Also write him being insecure sometimes.
9. Write just as much about Sam’s appearance as they do about Bucky’s. (Both as a narrator and through a character’s compliments or thoughts.)
10. Mention how beautiful Sam’s eyes are... especially if there is more than one line about them. (Plus mention their colour like... at all.)
11. Describe Sam’s appearance focusing on something outside of his smile or muscles. (Not that these are not nice, but there are other things to compliment and they’re hardly ever pointed out.) (Very much including hair or skincolour.)
12. Write Sam making mistakes, but not in a way that insinuates that he’s stupid or incompetent, but in a way that shows he’s a normal person who can sometimes be wrong and own up to it. (Unless he’s the only person in the story who always messes up...)
13. Show Sam being very competent. And show Bucky appreciating Sam’s competence, skills, and knowledge in various fields. (Also write Sam being a badass.)
14. Write about Sam’s background in pararescue, his medical training, skills in combat, flexibility, speed, ability to fly, ability to fix his advanced equipment, strenght, the fact that he’s pretty stealthy etc...
15. Write about the importance of Sam’s relationship with Steve even when Steve’s past connection to Bucky is not relevant to the story at any point.
16. Write Bucky being openly grateful for all the things that Sam did for him and write Bucky helping Sam back even when Sam didn’t specifically ask, because they genuinely care about each other.
17. Write about Sam’s past as a therapist not in the context of him helping Bucky get better, but because it’s relevant to the story and it’s something he has a lot of experience with. Or simply because it’s a significant part of his previous life journey.
18. Show Sam being frustrated or angry without falling into bad stereotypes. And show why his anger was justified and he had the right to react like that, because he doesn’t have to be polite and dyplomatic about everything if other people (Bucky very much included) don’t act respectful towards him in the first place.
19. Acknowledge that Sam is AJ and Cass’s actual uncle. The kids might like Bucky, but they’ve known and loved Sam for way longer... and I rarely see that mentioned.
20. Write about Sam’s past romantic relationships without focusing only on Bucky being jealous about them.
21. Show Sam’s interactions with other characters - not just in a romantic context, but also in terms of friendships (MCU Natasha was closer to Sam than Bucky and fics rarely talk about that), professional cooperation, rivalry and so on.
22. Mention the social commentary brought up in tfatws without brushing it to the side or downplaying the importance of Sam’s race in the formation of his character and storyline.
23. Acknowledge that Sam is human and his body is not enhanced in any way... without making it sound like he’s too weak to do the job.
24. But also... write about Bucky using his super strenght to carry Sam around and to pick him up all the time (for whatever reason), because it’s cute. Sue me.
25. Point out that Sam is slightly shorter than Bucky without always making Sam weirdly insecure about it.
26. Write Sam as Bucky’s first choice... not a second option he picked for the lack of a better candidate for a boyfriend.
27. Understand that Sam has a life outside of Bucky even if their friendship and romantic relationship are obviously very important for him.
28. Write Bucky touching Sam in reassuring, delicate ways. (Holding his hands, cupping his face, touching his hair, kissing the tip of his nose.)
29. Let Sam make harmless jokes, be charming, and be actually a nice person even when he’s not actively helping anyone. Just let him have a complex, but pleasant personality.
30. Let him be sarcastic without making him mean.
31. Add Figaro (Sam’s cat) to the stories about pets. Or show Sam’s emotional attachment to Redwing, even when it’s still a drone, not a bird.
32. Don’t forget that Riley died. And Sam’s parents died. And his close friends died. And other close friend left him without saying goodbye... etc. (Also don’t forget he himself died at one point...)
33. Mention and discuss Sam’s sexuality and romantic orientation (both in the tags to the story and in the actual text). ...I feel like it’s often unspecified for no reason while Bucky’s identity is clear from the start.
34. Give Sam little hobbys and interests that are unrelated to his work or his ability to make other people’s lives better.
35. Write about Sam’s fears and doubts while not forgetting he’s generally a very brave, mostly confident person.
36. Make the audience feel like Sam is a necessary part of the story. Not just a character added hastily at the end of writing just so the author can tag his name, because the ship he’s a part of is currently more popular than before and showind him at last minute will attract some readers to click.
and... 37. Do the things mentioned above in all of their Sambucky stories and use more than one of these ideas at a time.
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To people who wrote stories with these tropes... You guys are doing a great job and I appreaciate your work a lot. It’s easy to focus on complaining, because the Sam/Bucky tag on Ao3 was always kind of a mess, but my day genuinely gets better every time I find one of your stories. So thank you again and keep it up :>
(Side note: if you have any recommendations for fics that use the ideas I wrote in this post feel free to link them in the comments. Because the bar is hanging pretty low at this point and some authors still wouldn’t be able to cross a single point from my list if they examined their - allegendly - “Sambucky” stories... so we should promote the content that is actually good.)
#sam wilson#samuel thomas wilson#bucky barnes#james bucky barnes#captain america#captain america sam wilson#the falcon#white wolf#winter soldier#sambucky#sam x bucky#winterfalcon#tfatws#the falcon and the winter soldier#mcu#marvel
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How do you prepare for a writing session? I have a terrible time focusing on anything and would love some pointers
My focus has been all over the place lately, but, ahhh, here are a bunch of things that help me personally focus on getting that WIP done:
- Deadlines. Deadlines make me focus like nothing else. If I allowed myself to officially say that my update day needed to be Thursday this week instead of Wednesday, the chapter would come late on Thursday. Having an official update day of the week helps me pace myself.
(Having that day of the week not be a weekend day lets me actually relax and enjoy my weekend, which helps me recharge.)
- Outlines. Having an outline to follow makes it easier to write a lot all at once or to pick up where I left off if I’m writing in bursts. My outlines are a mess of point-form notes with all the plot and character moments I think I need to hit. Sometimes they’re snippets of nice-sounding dialogue and sometimes they’re things like, “Shang Qinghua says something here that reminds the audience of the existence of X plot detail coming up shortly.”
Or: “- Shang Qinghua does Y action. - Mobei-Jun is amused.”
I can dig up one of my outlines for a PINTWILF chapter. I have nearly all of them still, I think. Some of them have very detailed outlines and then some of them were super vague, like, “I HAVE A VISION, LET’S GO BEFORE I LOSE IT.”
I have a notes document with the outlines and a document that I’m actually writing in. Sometimes, I’ll have the side by side on my screen, with the notes document on my left, so I can glance between the two as I write.
(When I do this, I keep a third window hidden, which contains my music tabs and my thesaurus tabs and my distraction tabs. If I can’t see it, it helps.)
Sometimes, if I want one big window, I’ll copy-paste the outline into my writing document, underneath the in-progress writing, separated by a “CONTINUE HERE”. The point-form notes come up one by one, and I delete the point-form notes as I hit them until the copy-pasted outline is gone.
- If your eyes are slipping over the words, change the font and the font size. A large, dyslexic-friendly font like Comic Sans is usually good. Switching fonts is also good for spell-checking.
Shorter paragraphs can also make things seem snappier and catch my eyes better. They can also reveal the beats (plot, character, tension, etc.) of a scene. Once your bones are made clear, you can always go back in and rejoin paragraphs, or elaborate on the beats that need it.
- Honestly, just having massive chunks of free time (yay, being confined to my house) is what has allowed me to write this much. When I have errands or chores or tasks, I try to get them over with before I start writing, because constantly thinking “I need to remember to pay that bill after this” is a focus-breaker. It’s easier to just do it now so I don’t forget later.
Work is left at work! So fun writing time can be fun writing time only!
If I’m hungry or thirsty or need to use the bathroom, I just get up and go do that. Being hungry or thirsty makes my brain uncooperative. It needs energy to do its thing! Get up, solve the body’s problem, take the opportunity to stretch, and then my focus isn’t constantly divided by thinking, “I’m hungry.” Meals and other needs shouldn’t be withheld as rewards! They’re needed for writing!
If my feet are cold, I go get socks. One more distraction eliminated!
On a similar note, sometimes I can’t focus because I feel like I haven’t “accomplished enough” of other things and it feels like I have other things I should be doing. Taking a walk, cooking a meal (or a treat!), or getting a task or chore out of the way can help with that. I have Accomplished Something and now I can write freely!
- Give myself permission to just GET IT DONE and then go back and improve upon it later is a huge help. My writing doesn’t have to be pretty. I don’t have to get it right on the first try. I can go back and make it nice later.
If it’s feeling a little flat, I can come back later and tone it up.
If it’s feeling a little too much, I can come back later and tone it down.
I also don’t have to go back and make it nice later. Projects can be imperfect.
Likewise, it’s good to give myself permission to be direct when I’m writing. “Oh, damn, I need Shang Qinghua to cross the room here,” I’ll say, and it feels like I’ve hit a dead end. How do I write that transition? I write: “Shang Qinghua crossed the room.” Done! Stage directions don’t have to be fancy!
Maybe I’ll add an adverb later on the second pass, but dialogue can convey that he crossed the room carefully (“Are you... okay?”) or angrily (“What is wrong with you?!”) well enough.
I’m also allowed to just use “said”. Sometimes less is more!
- I’m only “allowed” to post one WIP to AO3 at a time. That also helps.
If you have other WIPs that feel like they’re dragged you down, you can just mark them as “incomplete” or “on hiatus”. Feeling accountable to others helps me write, but it also helps to remind myself I don’t “owe” my time or effort to any project if I’m not feeling it right now. People might be disappointed that I’m not writing what they want or that I even have to backtrack on a promise, but their disappointment isn’t really my problem. I’m allowed to change my mind.
Sometimes ideas have limits. Some ideas can become feature-length films and some ideas can become 6-hour mini-series and some ideas are only really worth about a short film (unless you bring in more characters and themes and sub-plots, etc). Sometimes, you have to get the writing version of a seam-ripper, figure out what you’re not vibing with, and come back with more characters and themes and sub-plots to make an idea vibe with you again.
And sometimes it’s good to follow Marie Kondo’s example and go, “You know what? This unfinished fic taught me that I do not enjoy writing fics like this.” Or: “This unfinished fic taught me that I do not vibe with this idea.”
- Sometimes, music is more distracting than anything else, especially when I’m writing dialogue. I’ll turn music off when I need to “hear” the dialogue better. Listening to ambience mix style stuff that goes on for hours can help set the mood and also means I’m not distracted by constantly picking new music.
- Sometimes I wear specific outfits or change into a different outfit when I want to be in a better mood for writing. Usually into a more comfortable outfit. (But sometimes there’s a scene that calls to be written by an author wearing a fancy dress! However, I find very fancy outfits are for very rare occasions.)
Brushing my hair or brushing my teeth before a writing sessions can help me feel refreshed. Sometimes I shower before my writing sessions. I find it relaxing to feel clean. Changing bedsheets or rearranging the couch to my liking can help too. Sometimes, I channel the energy of a bird picking at my nest and fluffing my feathers, for the Best Environment and Best Look! These cleaning behaviors are important for attracting mates and all the jazz, but they’re also good for attracting personal happiness and good writing vibes.
- Rereading comments before a writing session can help me feel pumped.
I answer comments or asks in bunches because most often I prefer to direct my energy towards my writing sessions. I love the comments and the asks! So much that sometimes I want to hoard them forever! But sometimes I need to set them aside so that I can keep making the writing I enjoy.
Sometimes it can be distracting, though.
- Okay! I think that’s everything off the top of my head! Key points for me:
Time!
Preparation!
Comfort!
Environment!
Different techniques will work differently for different people, of course. Sometimes, these techniques work very well for me and sometimes I just get more distracted. Oh, last thing is something I’m bad at, but: if it feels like I really need to sleep, I probably really need to sleep. Naps are my friend.
So are break weeks. Recharging is good.
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Got tagged by @veliseraptor for a writing meme!
How many works do you have on AO3? What’s your total AO3 word count?
193 works over 10 fandoms; 2,591,823 words.
How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?
I would count 10 real ones. Dragon Age; Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle; Critical Role; Marvel Cinematic Universe; The Untamed; The Witcher; Cardcaptor Sakura; Fullmetal Alchemist; Gundam Wing; Weiss Kreuz. Some of these pre-date the existence of AO3, and some of them are better off that way.
What are your top 5 fics by kudos?
A Villain State of Mind; Cover Up the Sun; Laughing As I Pray; I do solemnly swear; The Morning After. All Loki fandom fics. Not too surprising as that was the most mainstream fandom I wrote for, and they’ve been around for a while now, lots of time to accumulate stats.
Do you respond to comments, why or why not?
I do! I have a somewhat complex set of criteria for when I respond and how.
I will respond to all comments left on works in my current/active fandom except for: comments consisting entirely of emojis (mainly because I have no idea what to say to that) comments consisting of single words (same) or comments that seem to be about something other than my fic entirely or focus entirely on negativity (i.e., the commentor is using this box as a space to rant about how much they hate a character, the show, or another author/trope.)
I will usually but not always respond to comments on my next-to-last fandom. On older fandoms I will respond only to especially long or thoughtful comments, or ones that specifically ask a question that I can answer.
What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?
That would have to be Rise From Ash, the Loki timeloop fic I wrote in MCU. Since it was intended to lead into Avengers, it naturally had a downer ending since we know how Avengers went for Loki; but the story also ended with him having a major mental health break and resolving to kill himself in order to end the timeloop, so, uh, that was pretty unhappy.
Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you’ve written?
I think that the Never Gonna Tell A Lie series has to qualify for this one by default; two fics of the “characters from wildly different series meet in a bar” format, spanning seven different franchises.
Have you ever received hate on a fic?
Occasionally. I can’t answer in a lot of detail because I make a conscious policy of thinking about these comments as little as possible, so I tend to forget the details. Off the top of my head I know I received a few comments on my MCU fics of people complaining that the fic was nothing more than a Thor-bashing exercise (it wasn’t intended as such, but you can’t control how the audience will receive, I guess.) And then there was the whole infamous “ableist torture porn of a mentally ill man” episode.
Have you ever had a fic stolen?
Not that I can recall. It may have happened that I just don’t know about. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Have you ever had a fic translated?
A fair amount! Sometimes people will leave a comment asking permission to translate. I have always granted it. Sometimes they go through with the translation and sometimes not.
Have you ever co-written a fic before?
Yes! In Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle I co-wrote a couple fics with @faux-fires which were a lot of fun. (Which... doesn’t seem to be on AO3, huh. But Not Quite Paradise is still on ff.net.) And more recently @cerusee and I have been trading scenes back and forth for each other’s stories.
What’s your all time favorite ship?
I don’t know if I have just one. Maybe Kurogane/Fai. They really manage to straddle all my favorite ship dynamics.
What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?
Both of my WIPs in Critical Role fandom, Molly’s Moving Castle and Fjord Mustang’s YEEHAW! Fun and Pony Ranch, are at this point probably never going to be finished. Partly because of Characterization Marches On; the characters that I thought they were when I started writing were not the characters they ended up being in canon. But mostly just because I’m no longer really in the fandom.
Wonder if it’s worth closing out the WIPs on AO3 with final chapters describing how the fic would have ended?
What are your writing strengths?
I can do humor, I can do horror, I can do heartbreak. I can write a complex outline and stick to it, I have a fair amount of discipline and perseverance. People occasionally compliment my character voice, so I’d say that’s decent. I can spin up a plot for just about any situation. I love adapting canon to AU. My dialogue is pretty punchy and my action sequences are adequate.
What are your writing weaknesses?
I’m really bad at writing OCs, as I admit to every darn time this comes up. I’ve also recently realized that I have a strong tendency to avoid writing about characters I don’t like, on several fronts.
The first way that manifests is that if there’s a main/good guy character who the fandom likes and I dislike, I will avoid writing about them whenever possible. I don’t do character bashing. (Which means that if I am writing about a protagonist character, even if they’re being a jerk and the narrative is whacking them for it, that doesn’t mean I hate the character. It just means that the story requires that they get a good whacking, Thor.)
But the second way this manifests is that I will often just... avoid writing about the bad guys, if they’re unpleasant and I dislike them. Which in shorter things is fine! We’re here to read about the characters we like. But in longer or more plotful things, that means that all of the villain’s bad things happen off screen if they happen at all, so the audience doesn’t get a chance to really build up anger against them, so their eventual downfall is less satisfying.
I’m also weaker at writing romance than I would like, I’d say. If it’s a story that has a plot, the romance will frequently get shoved in around the corners or at the last minute. If it’s a story that’s supposed to be about romance, the characters will usually sidetrack into having philosophical discussions about moral relativity when they’re supposed to be flirting.
What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?
I’m not sure I understand the question. I don’t think this has ever come up in my fic. I do not speak any other languages fluently enough to have ever tried to write any part of my fics, dialogue or otherwise, in a language other than english. Is this asking my thoughts on other people doing that? Sure, why not?
What was the first fandom you wrote for?
That would have been Gundam Wing! Gosh, it’s been so long that I barely remember what that first fic was. But the biggest thing I wrote for that fandom was a ghost story on a space station, which was not very good, objectively, but I look back on it and think it had some seeds of a pretty cool horror/psychological drama going there.
Was Duo Maxwell really haunting the space station? Or was Heero Yuy just going mad with grief? Who can say.
Tagging! Well, Lise tagged me, so she’s out. How about... @hollyand-writes (if you have the time to spare,) @curiosity-killed, @thethirdamell, @plotdesigner, and @cerusee ?
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