lemon-mint-writes

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Happy one year to Collateral Damage and happy 200 kudos

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Writing tips for long fics that helped me that no one asked for.

1.) Don't actually delete content from your WIP unless it is minor editing - instead cut it and put it in a secondary document. If you're omitting paragraphs of content, dialog, a whole scene you might find a better place for it later and having it readily available can really save time. Sometimes your idea was fantastic, but it just wasn't in the right spot.

2.) Stuck with wording the action? Just write the dialog then revisit it later.

3.) Stuck on the whole scene? Skip it and write the next one.

4.) Write on literally any other color than a white background. It just works. (I use black)

5.) If you have a beta, while they are beta-ing have them read your fic out loud. Yes, I know a lot of betas/writers do not have the luxury of face-timing or have the opportunity to do this due to time constraints etc but reading your fic out loud can catch some very awkward phrasing that otherwise might be missed. If you don't have a beta, you read it out loud to yourself. Throw some passion into your dialog, you might find a better way to word it if it sounds stuffy or weird.

6.) The moment you have an idea, write it down. If you don't have paper or a pen, EMAIL it to yourself or put it in a draft etc etc. I have sent myself dozens of ideas while laying down before sleep that I 10/10 forgot the next morning but had emailed them to myself and got to implement them.

7.) Remember - hits/likes/kudos/comments are not reflective of the quality of your fic or your ability to write. Most people just don't comment - even if they say they do, they don't, even if they preach all day about commenting, they don't, even if they are a very popular blog that passionately reminds people to comment - they don't comment (I know this personally). Even if your fic brought tears to their eyes and it haunted them for weeks and they printed it out and sent it to their friends they just don't comment. You just have to accept it. That being said - comment on the fic you're reading now, just do it, if you're 'shy' and that's why you don't comment the more you comment the better you'll get at it. Just do it.

8.) Remove unrealistic daily word count goals from your routine. I've seen people stress 1500 - 2000 words a day and if they don't reach that they feel like a failure and they get discouraged. This is ridiculous. Write when you can, but remove absurd goals. My average is 500 words a day in combination with a 40 hour a week job and I have written over 200k words from 2022-2023.

9.) There are dozens of ways to do an outline from precise analytical deconstruction that goes scene by scene to the minimalist bullet point list - it doesn't matter which one you use just have some sort of direction. A partial outline is better than no outline.

10.) Write for yourself, not for others. Write the fic you know no one is going to read. Write the fic that sounds ridiculous. You will be so happy you put it out in the world and there will be people who will be glad it exists.

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Leaving this blog as an archive for now. It truly was my happy place and I will forever treasure the work and growth I documented here. Maybe I'll return one day. For now, farewell writing blog, you served me well.

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IF I DON'T WRITE THIS STUPID HANNAH FIC THAT I WANTED TO POST OVER A YEAR AGO I'M GONNA LOSE MY MIND I WILL BE SO UPSET IT NEEDS TO EXIST ALREADY

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i loooove toxic and codependent relationships in fiction. they are so narratively juicy. if they don’t even warp and mangle each other to the point they create a single, fucked up entity then what’s the point.

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Google Ambient Chaos if you ever need background noises for writing! It's a customizable soundscape website.

Anon, when I first saw this ask, I thought it was going to be one of those mixers of nice, traditional sounds, like rain or a coffeeshop. And it is! And there's lofi hiphop, my favorite sound to write to! Which means this is legitimately an excellent tool for writers, and I love you for introducing it to me.

But I also want to say. There are some choices here. That I need to point out. Because they're either fantastic or questionable, and I can't decide.

Things like . . .

Couple arguing.

Medieval battle.

Beehive, where you can write to a fuckton of bees.

Crime scene.

And actually the perfect soundscape for NaNoWriMo.

(It's here, for those curious.)

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Wounds Opening Lines (and their significance)

In my fic Collateral Damage, there are five different povs that we see throughout. Each time a character gets their first pov, the opening line reveals something significant about their character or their arc.

Quackity - "Quackity watches the sunset alone." The entire fic reinforces the idea that Quackity as a character is severely isolated. He has no one he can truly rely on, only surrounded by coworkers and subordinates with no friends or family around him. This fic starts with Quackity alone, and ends with Quackity alone. The final line we get from him is; "He has a country to run, a million things he should be doing right now, people who are depending on him, but all Quackity can bring himself to do is sit there alone, and weep."

Sapnap - "Sapnap watches the sunset with dread, Karl clutching his hand tightly beside him." Sapnap's opening line is unique, as it is the the only one to mention two people. His opener provides a direct contrast for Quackity, as most of Sapnap's storyline does. Quackity is alone, but Sapnap has Karl (and George) to support him. Sapnap is also watching the sunset with dread, something Quackity doesn't experience because he is the one inflicting pain, while Sapnap is enduring it. Quackity goes on to admire the sunset and talk smugly about his trip to the prison, while Sapnap is unable to enjoy the sunset because of what comes afterwards.

Karl - "Karl has always been obsessed with soulmates." Karl's storyline really revolves around the soulmate aspect of the fic. He's the one who pushes for the soulmate theory, the one who continues to pursue it even after George tells him to stop, and Karl's knowledge and adoration for soulmates is what drives both him and the narrative forward. It's also what makes his arc, at least in my opinion, the saddest. The final line we get from his pov is; "Karl may not be Sapnap’s soulmate, but that doesn’t mean he can’t still try to be worthy of that role, should he have been lucky enough to have it." It reinforces Karl's unwavering devotion to Sapnap, that he still wants to be worthy of being his soulmate even though he gets his heart broken from finding out that the very thing he longed for Sapnap does have, just not with him. I remember I really struggled with trying to sum up everything I wanted to say about Karl's character with his ending, because he doesn't get the luxury of a pov after the climax. He continues to suffer privately, in silence, even to the perspective of the reader. He has no one to witness the full extent of his hurt. If there had been a Karl pov post climax, it would've only been two lines; "Sapnap has two soulmates. And neither of them are Karl."

George - "George remembers the day he found out they were soulmates." The other storyline that revolves mainly around the concept of soulmates is George's, and he serves as the contrast for Karl's storyline. George is also hung up on soulmates, but instead of being obsessed with the concept of it, he's obsessed with his actual soulmates he was once tied to. Part of him is still stuck in the past (something I firmly believe about c!George in canon as well), as indicated by his first line starting with a reference to an important memory involving his soulmates. George is so caught up in what he's lost, of a time he can't go back to, that he ends up making poor decisions for himself and his best friends. He becomes withdrawn, and is reckless with his own safety and his excursions with XD. Like Karl, George goes to great lengths to help Sapnap in ways no one else is privy to, even at the risk of his own safety, and like Karl, he is not rewarded for his sacrifices. But at the end of the fic, George still has Sapnap in a way Karl will never have. He is still, undeniably, Sapnap and Dream's soulmate, even if he can't feel them, and he clings to that. Karl has no such thing to hold onto.

Dream - "Quackity is always punctual." This. This is one of the earlier lines I wrote down, and may just be my favorite line in the whole fic. It's definitely my favorite opening, the one I'm most proud of. Dream's opening line is the only line to not mention the person who's pov we're currently seeing. Quackity is mentioned first, because Quackity controls everything that comes to Dream in this fic. I debated with the idea of drawing this out, to make it so it takes several lines to finally reveal who it is we're reading about, but it interrupted the flow of the scene and didn't make much sense to include. This line is powerful on it's own anyway. Quackity is always on time to torment Dream. Quackity is still exerting control over Dream, even when he's not there. Quackity still has a hold on Dream's story, even at the end of the fic. It comes across cold too, to say Quackity is punctual and not cruel or evil or something else that would imply emotions or humanity. No, Quackity is a businessman, a strategist, an apathetic dealer of Dream's suffering. I love Dream and Quackity's dynamic in canon and I had so much fun playing with their dynamic in this fic.

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I'm buzzing witn happiness bc someone left a super nice comment on wounds and actually talked about the details????? And with such care and praise too????? Essay incoming I'm going crazy over details and Need to talk about them.

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A year ago today was when I had hoped to have my wings fic posted :(( I was literally just thinking about setting some goals for next month tho and using this blog to help me achieve them, and then realized that next months is November and I've never attempted nanowrimo??? Do I, a burntout college student is about to star working again next month, attempt to do this???? I'm considering it

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Thinking about wounds!Karl again and feeling insane. No one knows how much he sacrificed for Sapnap, no one knows the extent of his suffering, and he gets no recognition for being right all along that the answer was soulmates. I could go on. That fic is full of hurt (purposefully) but I personally hurt for Karl the most.

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These are the songs for Chapter 7 in order (some of them probably aren't necessary/are too repetitive but I haven't gone through and cleaned it out yet)

When they aren't speaking and are dealing with the "second breakup":

Never Not by Lauv

You All Over Me by Taylor Swift ft. Maren Morris

the 1 by Taylor Swift

I Almost Do by Taylor Swift

Death By A Thousand Cuts by Taylor Swift

The bar/drunk George:

Hits Different by Taylor Swift

I Need To Know by Sleeping With Sirens

The Conversation

The Alcott by The National ft. Taylor Swift

Arms Unfolding by dodie

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Chapter 7 of Fall was heavily influenced by The Alcott by The National ft. Taylor Swift I had it on loop while planning and writing that fic and always knew that's where the story was headed. The reason I put Sapnap in the back of the bar was because of the line "I go to the corner in the back where you'd always be" with the logic that since Sapnap gets nervous in social situations he usually ends up hiding in the back of the room and that's how George is able to find him. Also Sapnap is Taylor's part and George is Matt Berninger's part.

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I wish more people liked chapter 7 of Fall, or at least commented on it. Like the epilogue is just fluff to wrap it up and show that they "live happily ever after" and whatever but chapter 7 is, objectively, the best one. Everything that happens, especially the conversation at the end, is what the entire fic was building up to, the prize at the end that could only be achieved with the foundation of 6 whole chapters before it. That's the real resolution, the real satisfying ending. Idk I guess I just wish it got more recognition but obviously the epilogue is the end so that's where all the comments go, and the epilogue has it's deep meaning and significant moments but it's not the best chapter.

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In other news I'm thinking about Fall again :'))) I miss that fic how did this happen. Anyways the song bite back (demo) by dodie is the conflict between George and Sapnap in chp 2 and also their argument sophomore year that leads to them being enemies in chp 3, it's so perfect and every time I think about how well that song fits I feel crazy in the best way

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I found a half formed idea in my notes and now I can't stop thinking about it, what if I did another toxic georgenap fic but instead of it being innocent young love and ends happy it's like genuinely fucked up? But idk if it would end happy or not? Like I already have a sad/open ending in mind and I think it would be the type of fic where the ending writes itself, I don't get to decide, but I've had another thought. Could I do toxic georgenap where George is secretly awful and Sapnap is oblivious to it, but Sapnap keeps all the power? Is that possible? Could I even pull that off????? Hhhhhhhhh so many thoughts in my brain for this idea oh nooooooo

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Me: my fic is so bad I can't even look at it

*author I look up to kudos and bookmarks it*

Me: ....ok maybe it's good

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Oh beloved writing blog how I miss you, I'm sorry I've abandoned you. I am forcing myself to take a break from writing today even though I want to jump right into the next thing. I really am happy but I'm also so burnt out and tired and I didn't really take a break after how burnt out I was from my first two fics, plus school is doing that thing it always does where it drains everything and more out of me so can't have writing draining everything out of me too ya know? I want to make time to do something low stakes and for fun to break up my "bigger" projects but we'll see, I'm trying to get back the outlook of writing for myself and no one else.