#2025 writing plan

[annabawritersdream]

IMPORTANT!

I've seen some of my moots post New Year Resolution lists/To-do lists so I thought I'd share mine. It contains important information my mutuals deserve to know.

I suppose you all don't remember my WIP The Lady of Ithilien.

Don't worry, it's a very small thing I've never really talked about. Enna? Eönwë? I don't know who these people are (just kidding, of course). Well, I have to announce that it will no longer be a WIP. It won't be a WIP for a long time, since I don't plan on posting new chapters until the latter part of this year and possibly even early 2026.

Much has changed since I posted chapter 3 back in April. I've created many, many, many OCs and some of them will appear in the story quite soon. As such, I need to have them completely (or semi-completely) figured out (full names, lineage, background, personality and role within the plot) BEFORE I start writing about them.

This is why answering character asks will be my main priority for early 2025 at the very least. I need to know who my characters are before I write them and make a mess. Please send as many asks as you can (even random questions), so that I can flesh them out as much as possible. Even stupid questions are okay. Seemingly stupid questions—I reckon questions are never stupid—are actually the best because they force me to think. Trust me, I do need to think 😂 it's the overthinking part that which I don't like.

I was re-reading the LOI prologue last night and I couldn't help but notice how different Ioreth's personality is if compared to how I wrote her character just two chapters later. She sort of has some of the same traits, but she's much more gentle and understanding in the prologue than she is later, and I don't think Enna "misbehaving" could trigger such a massive change in her personality if she hadn't shown signs of being a complete b*tch beforehand. Luckily for me, I haven't written much yet, so that issue could be easily solved by deleting the prologue and reposting it separately as a general introduction to Enna as a character. I have already copied the prologue in my AO3 drafts in case I decide go through with it, but I will wait a while longer before I make a decision since I'm notoriously volatile and change my mind every five seconds about everything. This example is just to show how writing instinctively and without thinking can impact things in the long run, so I definitely need to develop my characters. That's the first thing I intend to do this year.

Second, I need to finish the Tolkien OC Week one-shots that should've been done by the end of this past August. I am still working on the one-shot for Day 5 and I have changed my mind about the prompt for Day 6 at least a billion times. I have to expand the one for Day 7 and finish the one-shot for day 1 (Maiarin world-building is the stuff of nightmares).

Plus, I need to make sure that I don't further change my mind about things I've already written, which is something I unfortunately always end up doing. I change my mind all the time and it's honestly kind of debilitating at this point. I feel like I'll never finish anything and it's disheartening.

I legit can't stop coming up with newer ideas that I think are better than the old ones and replacing stuff I've already written with new scenarios. The thing is, my excitement wears off pretty quickly and I soon get even better ideas that quickly replace the new ones. It's a never-ending cycle which needs to stop ASAP.

I do plan to make some changes to the LOI chapters I've already posted. I'll edit the story before I resume posting later this year/next year. I've planned the following changes so far:

Possibly take out the prologue and reposting it separately [the reasons for this change are mentioned above]. Should that be the case, LOI will start with chapter 1. I haven't really made up my mind about this though. I kind of don't want to delete it because, in doing so, I would lose all my comments and comments are very important to me, but I suppose I could screenshot them, print them and frame them 😂

Change Eönwë's Quenya lines in what is now Chapter 2 to Valarin. I mean, the guy is basically in a coma and starts speaking in a second/third language? I know that Maiar and Valar are supposed to be more or less masters of all languages, but I think it would make much more sense if he muttered stuff in Valarin rather than Quenya. I did not think of this when I first wrote the chapter a year ago and I wasn't not yet obsessed with Turkish period dramas.

Carefully review the parts of Chapter 4 that I have already written and make major adjustments. Write new parts that make more sense considering the events that have just occurred story-wise (don't worry, I won't discard anything. The "current" chapter 4 will be pushed back in the timeline and possibly become Chapter 7 or 8.

Pay a lot more attention to grammar and spelling. I usually don't mind it when other writers make spelling mistakes, but when it happens to me...it's a whole other matter entirely. I've been learning English for a long time and the fact that I still make that kind of mistakes—mostly due to distraction—really irks me. I'm talking capitalization issues, wrong vowels and such. I know how to write correctly and I cannot stress how I roll my eyes whenever I spot misspelled words I perfectly know how to write. And it usually happens after re-reading the same paragraph four or five times.

Stop adding lore to asks I've already posted. How are people going to keep up if I keep adding more and more things? I literally posted the Eleniel/Celebrían ask on New Year's Day and I've edited the post twice already because I obviously came up with slightly different concepts and ideas. It's been two days and I have no doubt I'll come up with slightly different variations of things anytime I re-read the post. I don't think it's fair to the person who sent the ask (@lucifers-legions in this case, but it could be anyone) to keep changing things. I never do it on purpose (it's more of an impulse things), but I need to make decisions and stick to them. People should be able to read the answers to my asks without stressing over what I'm going to change. This applies to everyone sending asks (anons and mutuals alike), but it's even more important when someone is borrowing your characters for their story. So, I plan to be better and I really hope I will succeed. Also, constantly updating things is not good for me either (I forget half of the stuff and get confused, which is...not ideal)

Try and work on all the other asks I have queued. They include a second unusual OC/creator questions ask from @fishing4stars, four more from @lucifers-legions (three character asks and one fic-request), one from @dilettantefeminist, one from @jhelenivarsimae, one from @quillofspirit and two from @saurongorthaur9 (one character ask and one fic-request). I have started some of these and for others I had ideas which I momentarily abandoned/discarded. What I am trying to say is that I HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN about these and that I'm working on them. I wish I could put things out more quickly, but...you know me by now. I'm slow. And I wish I wasn't.

Try and be more organized. I have a bunch of random files and notes that need to be neatly stored somewhere. My brain is a mess as it is and it doesn't need any more distractions.

Speaking of distractions...Tumblr (and social media in general) happens to be one. While I love scrolling through my feed here...it prevents me from actually writing and planning. Which is why I think it won't be surprising if I take even longer breaks from it. Despite this, I would like to keep in contact with all the awesome people I've met on here so. You can text me on Insta (I can give it to you via text on here) or you can email me if you like. Just text me and we'll talk about it. I'll still come back to Tumblr every once in a while (I'll never deactivate my account or things like that), but...I think I need to take drastic measures to stay focused and actually update my fics. I'll come back here to reply to the asks I get and to comments and texts I might get, but I don't think I'll ever be as active as I once was. Maybe I will be again one day, but I need to work on my concentration skills first (I honestly think I might have ADHD and I kind of would like to get it checked out. I've been doing some reading about it and most of the symptoms I have are a match for ADHD. It might also not be the case, but...I don't know.)

Update (sometime down the line) my masterlist, make it more pretty to look at and make a headcanon list to be kept in my files and also to be posted here. Most of my asks are buried somewhere and I need to keep them all in the same place so that I can easily find them. Not urgent, but also...quite urgent.

All in all, I would like to thank all of you for your continued support and thank you for putting up with me. 💕

I understand I can be a pain and I'm sorry (I'm honestly starting to think Enna and I are the same person. She's just way more unlucky)

PS: *As a testament to my overthinking, it seems I cannot stop thinking about that darn prologue (it's been LITERAL HOURS since I first queued this post and it's been haunting me ever since). Ioreth's characterization is my main issue with it at the moment, but, on second thoughts, I suppose that the whole "personality change" issue could be attributed to her acting nice while Enna was a young child in an attempt to gain her trust and manipulate her into thinking that she was way better than her mother. That's kind of plausible. She basically gaslighted her throughout her childhood and started showing her true colors when Enna grew up and started to "rebel". Okay, that's more or less fine, I suppose.

It's just that the prologue is set in Ithilien and the first chapter is literally a year later in Minas Tirith and she's already met Mairon. Mmm...🤔

Should I add a few chapters in between showing Enna's pre-drama daily life, her lessons with the most sensible tutor in Middle-earth aka Finnas, her moving to Minas Tirith with Faramir and Elboron, introduce her two main attendants and address the differences between her life in Ithilien and in Minas Tirith? Should I also include a chapter where she meets Mairon and he starts manipulating right off the bat?

I'm literally debating whether I should rewrite the story from the start [the most complicated option what will probably cause me to abandon the fic altogether], add the extra chapters between the prologue and Chapter 1 [if that ends up happening, the prologue will go back to being Chapter 1 and the other chapters will follow accordingly], or just delete the prologue and leave everything else as it is now [the easiest option]

In any case, I doubt I'll be able to post anything before next October/November, my ultimate deadline being early to mid 2026.

IF I DON'T UPDATE BY THEN...then you're allowed to consider the story officially discontinued/abandoned.

Writing LOI requires a lot of work and hopefully finishing off the one-shots first will give me inspo and motivation to work on the story. If not, Elenwë and all my OCs will only live in my mind and in the one-shots that are already posted.

Also, all the planned fics I listed on my masterlist... probably won't happen either. Let's be realistic, I'll never ever get to them in this lifetime. I get distracted too often, I can't meet deadlines and I'm never satisfied with my own work. I am never happy about it. Perhaps I'm just not cut out for writing. Maybe I should stop writing right this instant.

Lastly, I would like to thank all of my moots for their unwavering support. I have met so many wonderful people here and, even if I stop writing, I'll always keep reading and commenting!

[swampstew]

Big News!

I'm switching blogs!!! Don't panic, I am not deleting this one as it is my main - however, I am moving all my writing to a new sideblog to make that the focus of my writing requests, events, and other fun shit. Swampstew will be my interaction blog where I will post merch/pics(?!) and other fun stuff, but it will be more of a blog blog than just focusing on the Kid Pirates and writing.

The change is happening over this weekend!

I do think that I will be removing the bulk of my followers from this blog to build up the following to the sideblog, but I feel like that would be too much work/destroy my follower milestones I worked so hard to reach...tbd tbh.

also, wtf guys almost at 2k?!?!! seriously? bless.

That's my new year update. Well, one of them.

The other stuff? I'll post about in more detail next week. I have been going through a mental health crisis (I'm getting better though), and just have a ton of work to do, AND planning big life changing events for 2025!!! Can't wait to start spilling my tea ;)

[moonshine-nightlight]

2025 Writing Plans

With this being the third such yearly plan post, i think its officially a tradition lol. my standard disclaimer is this is my high level plan right now, subject to change and likely overly optimistic, but still worthwhile to make and try to layout. posting about writing plans gets me excited for the new year.

here's what i'm thinking:

Nothing's Wrong With Dale: Borrowing some of my plan from last year, i need to finish my own edit of Dale, hire an editor, commission cover art, and then self-publish. I'd love to get all that done in time for december publishing, but given how long everything was taking last year, i'd settle for just pushing it over to editors by the end of the year.

Short Stories: I want to finish off Courtship Confusion and Free Piano: Haunted this year, along with at least one other new story, but i am not trying to predict what that might be lol. maybe one that's been on my shelf for a while,maybe the one i started a couple days ago, maybe a new idea I havn't even had yet, like Voluntary Sacrifice. Nothing's gonna get posted until May at the earliest.

Novella(s): I'd like to kick off work self-publishing two other Novellas: a combo naga novella (Finally Woken and Selfish) and Sacrifice. No idea how far I can get between my edits and revisions, scrounging up the money to pay for editor/publishing/cover art, and pulling together some sort of timeline for all that, but I want to get it all going so i have more self-published work out there (it'd b really cool to go to a con or something in 2026 and have a set of books to promo and not just 2 lol - not to get too ahead of myself).

Series: I want to make Sacrifice the first novella in a 6 book series, each focusing on a different deity returning to the temple with the final book about all of them coming together against a common enemy, likely focusing back on the MC from Sacrifice. I have some note sand outlines for the different stories (although they all need better titles). Currently, I was considering them being a published exclusive, but I might still post abridged version on here, especially as I work through my ideas. So for 2025, in addition to getting Sacrifice further on it's own publish journey, i want to complete all the outlines and notes, solidify the characters, etc - everything i need to start writing these stories.

Longer stories: I still want to work on planning them out and making a decision on one to start posting next, like with Dale, but I don't think that actually posting anything longer like that will happen in 2025 (see everything else i want to do above lol). Still, getting organized is important and i'm looking forward to fleshing them all out and knowing which one i'll be diving into next.

So lots of stuff i want to get into and multiple things I want to try to finish off lol Definitely overly ambitious, but its getting me excited to get to writing.

As always, my day job is extremely busy January - April and this year is no exception so new stories until that time passes.

Feel free to send in any asks about upcoming/current stories! I'm looking forward to all the exciting writing and publishing to come in 2025!

[helianskies]

i'm trying to sit down and write while i'm still on break from work this week but i can't seem to decide what mood i'm in. yesterday it was emotional angst and romance, today it's crime fiction and murder mystery, on monday it was fluff and soft, cosy fics. who knows what tomorrow will be! but the indecision is killing me!

[themagicforest]

Planning on my new journal. Find it here 🍄

[meetinginsamarra]

Writing Plans/Ideas for 2025

@calaisreno asked me what my plans are for 2025, writing-wise.

Starting with @chriscalledmesweetie 's Johnlock January, there will be 31 limericks for the prompts. These are all done.

Fluffbruary will post the prompts tomorrow and I'm toying with the idea to build a fluffy retirement!lock fic around them if they fit. Not 100% sure, I don't want to put myself under stress. Depends on how much I will get done in January.

Maybe I'll participate again in FTH with a 5-10k fic. Undicided, so far.

I'm definitely going to do calaisreno's May Prompts because they are a special challenge as in I have to come up with something that fits the prompt within 24 hours. This year has been such a surprise to myself and I want to have this again!

Most likely, I guess I won't be able to resist doing Whumptober for the 4th time in a row. It will get me to edge of exhaustion for weeks again but on the other hand it's such an awesome experience, I won't miss it. Two of my (what I personally think) best fics have been created during whumptober. I had an idea for the start of a whumpy fic some days ago.

-----

There are several not very much developed WIPs, mostly in my head.

Like the retirement fic (see above), a funny different first meeting, another more action-y different first meeting, sequels to two of my series, a Sandman XO, the fairy-tale AU that seemigly cannot get finished and the whumptober idea.

I have a very vague Cyberpunk XO idea and a pseudo-historic heist sort-of idea dancing around in my head for a long time.

Likely, I'll write something completely different. 🙂

[hoshiina]

HELLO ITS ME AGAIN

[sparklingchim]

spending the last day of 2024 drinking wine & writing fanfiction 😋

[wexhappyxfew]

going to take the time to figure out the chronological Silver Bullets timeline masterlist!!!!! i write out of order for the SB crew but want a chronological one for those interested! not sure when i’ll be able to get to AO3 uploading but it’s on the list for the future. also…..writing updates: have four pieces in the works, focused on: judy x rosie, paulina x hambone, viv x blakely and carrie x dougie (for some of our more under-written duos i want to do more with)!

[lewmagoo]

hope y’all have a good day 💖

[deltamel]

call for (very early) k'tober requests !!

hey all !!! i've started writing planning out my kinktober '25 fics already (and writing some of them... LMFAO). i know this is very early but...

i wanted to feel out if there were any particular characters, kinks, or character(s) and kink(s) scenarios that my lovely readers and mutuals would like to see?? (drop a comment or ask, whichever you are most comfortable with). these will all be default dom!reader and sub!character. i'd enormously appreciate any reblogs on this post <3

my fandom list is here. i'd only be comfortable writing for media i'm familiar with to ensure i do the characters justice! butttt my list isn't exhaustive so please just ask if you have something you're dying to read about hehe.

as for kinks, i don't have a list but you can check out #𐚁 mel writes! or #𐚁 mel yaps! if you'd like inspo, or just fire away. i promise i don't bite and there's ZERO judgement on this blog LOL. i'm comfortable with dark and light content. hard nos off the top of my head are: incest/stepcest, daddy/mommy kink & pregnancy.

༒

there is no pressure of course — i have already planned out 31 days but i'd love to be able to give back to those that have been so sweet to me on here, and to anyone who enjoys my writing. i cannot promise requests will be fulfilled, but if any catch my fancy, i'll definitely write them and make sure to tag you next year when i post them <3 i hope this is reasonable hahahah!

looking forward to hopefully hearing from yous !

big love — mel 𐚁

[considerad]

time to get me some new music!

[ex0rin]

excited to vote on all the febuwhump prompts right now under the assumption that i'll be still writing neggie in february EVEN MORE excited to find out what new fandom i switch to on the eve of the month like i've done for the last two years

[lavender-long-stories]

Help! I am buried in a sea of growing to-do lists. >-<

I am apparently in the mood to write every thought about the next month and the coming year down, and I now have 6 pages across 4 notebooks of brain-dumped notes for various parts of my life (work/life/writing) and counting.

I have some exciting new ideas for next year (writing-wise - that is what you guys care about, right XD) and a lovely mountain of things I want to do before Christmas. I use my holiday party as an excuse to violently get every inch of my house in order, which adds a nice bonus of having it ready for the new year.

I love abusing this mood to get as much out of it while I have it, but it came out at an inconvenient time since it's my heavy writing day. Oh well.

This got me thinking:

Do you guys have any writing/life plans for the next year?

What do you do with this energy? (I clearly make brain dumps)

How are you going to make your life better for the next year? (I love to find new quality-of-life improvements~)

What do you think I should add to my lists? 🫣🫣

[the-bi-space-ace]

I've written A LOT of fic so far in 2024 and I plan to continue in 2025. I already have some ideas that I can't wait to share with you ;)

That being said!

Feel free to reblog/reply/tag why you picked the fic you did <3

Links to the fics under the cut

Calling Me Home (series)

Blind Trust

The 212th's Sunshine

Your Intel Was Good

For The Republic's Use

Surprise Inspection

[magicaldaydreams]

While I’m not condoning opening other people’s mail, if you see trump election mail in your parents house you can use the prepaid postage reply envelope to send strongly worded letters to trump’s campaign on trumps own dime :)

It doesn’t help anything significant but it does cost the annoying orange 68 cents and the staffers who open the damn things have to waste time opening the letter you sent just to see ‘plan 2025 takes away my human rights go eat shit’