#Craft of writing

[sunlit-skycat]

it frustrates me when people assume that just because someone writes fanfic, they must want to stick only to quite light genre fiction about meet-cutes and coffee shops.

It is really interesting seeing how Ao3-adjacent spaces assume that fanfic is always about deep characterization, slow pacing, and lack of action when Spacebattles is chugging along in all its high-octane, fight-heavy glory. Very much a "your experience of this hobby is not universal."

idk how to put this but i think two things can be true:

writing copious amounts of fanfiction can in fact prepare you to write original fiction, and does not in any dilute or compromise you as an author

if your original published fiction reads almost identically to most of your fanfiction (and i don't mean 'fics with the serial numbers filed off that you got published') i mean, like, your prose is so light and shallow and your characters so half-formed that they don't really feel original and the whole thing just reads like a ripoff of another, superior, original work, then i think that is an issue and something one should want to avoid.

conditional third thing: there is nothing wrong with wanting to write 'fanficy' or 'tropey' fiction, particularly if you want to write lighthearted romantic comedies or something along those lines. there's no shame in it and there's an audience for that. however, i think there are distinctions between that and works that are attempting to be a bit more serious and which want to deal with denser themes or more complicated characters, and it frustrates me when people assume that just because someone writes fanfic, they must want to stick only to quite light genre fiction about meet-cutes and coffee shops.

[sunlit-skycat]

I signed up for Smallfandombang in DW, where I have to write 10,000 words for a chosen fandom, Pale. First deadline is Jan 31 of next year. Release date would be sometime in April. I'm allowed to do short stories until I hit the wordcount, but they should be related.

So now I have to figure out what I'm actually writing. Tentative ideas:

Nicolette fic: I'd like to focus on the relationship between Nicolette and Zed before and during canon, because I feel like there's a lot of interesting stuff there. This also would serve as good prepwork for getting a further handle on these characters for later fics. I already have notes in progress on these characters, which means I don't have to allot time for a research phase. I'm very confident in my ability to write 10,000 words total on this, even if it's across multiple separate short stories. On the other hand, this feels kind of... small? Especially as something to hold until April 2025.

Postcanon Lucy/OC: Fleshing out the political situation of Ontario after story end through the courtship of Lucy. I expect this to be lighter and fluffier than Nicolette fic, which is a benefit. On the downside, I don't have any notes started for Lucy. I expect having to allot a month or two purely to creating those notes, which takes time out of actual writing. Character interaction is easier for me to write than other things, so I think I can probably complete this story on time. The real question is whether I can make it hit 10,000 with romance and political intrigue alone.

Elizabeth Driscoll's History of Kennet: Fleshing out the political situation of Ontario after story end in a different way, through Elizabeth's totally, very definitely unbiased accounting of the rise of Kennet as seen through a series of interviews. This is the most ambitious concept and requires handling a lot of different characters that -- you guessed it -- I don't have notes on yet or much practice writing. Additionally, this story would be mimicking the work of historians in academia, which I'm not too familiar with. I feel like I'd want a beta reader/advisor for this with more grounding in history.

Looking for input. I'll keep mulling over this until the start of October, at which I need to pick a concept and start writing.

[summer-gh0st]

I'm writing a story with some interactions where a nonbinary character is meeting people they couldn't tell the gender of and I end up with a lot of confusing "theys" even when I use proper nouns for the character in question. any ideas of how to not just toss around a bunch of "they said"s and such without saying the same descriptors over and over like "the one on the right" ?

Ah, what I live for!! You market yourself as an lgbt+ editor and then all you get is straight romance or fantasy with straight romance. Bleh

Moving on! This is really interesting, because it’s probably really context dependent and I’m not sure I can give the best answer without grappling with the lines themselves. I would possibly point to my previous post with character/setting/action, to try to avoid dialogue tags by describing the character who’s speaking, the setting, or the action they’re doing. This is a good way to avoid getting confused in any situation where two characters use the same pronoun (ie, when two he/him characters are the only ones on the page). Especially character can be helpful — if the reader knows that the main character has blue hair, let’s say, and the new character has brown, then a dialogue line ending with “…they ran their fingers through their brown hair” or something like that will help differentiate who’s speaking.

Also, using names is never a bad thing, and while it can get overused, tolerance for that is usually much higher when we have a same-pronoun situation.

Another method of differentiation is different speech patterns. If we know our main character with blue hair (let’s call them Blue) has a particular way of speaking, then making the new character have a different way of speaking will set them apart in a very easy to read but hard to notice sort of way. It’s meta, and really engrained in the style, but can be awfully effective. Let’s say Blue has a somewhat posh tone — they use fancy words because they read too much and have a very refined sense of style from studying philosophy at university. The new character could then have a southern accent, and speak very slowly with lots of y’alls, and ums, because they literally grew up in a barn with their beloved horse companion and don’t know how to talk to people. An extreme example, but it showcases my point: could you ever imagine these two people having the same tone of voice, and getting their dialogue lines mixed up with each other? Usually, no. And that’s one of the great, wonderful, and magical things about dialogue. :)

To sum up, I think that would be my general advice: character/setting/action; names are okay, and overusing them is harder in a same-pronoun situation; different tones of voice (this one is my favorite because it forces a lot of characterization!).

I hope this helps + wasnt too long, and let me know if you have any further questions. :)

[mkaneshige]

Mark's Musings #50

Little things done well make the big things happen.

[nighttime-novelist]

Reframing Show vs Tell

Notes and excerpts from the section on Showing vs Telling in Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne. I thought the way she reframed show vs tell gave us a better understanding of their respective function in a story. Basically:

Showing → Scenes

Telling → Narrative Summary

Scenes take place in real time; the reader experiences what is going on at the same time as it occurs in the text. Narrative summary, on the other hand, describes what happened after the fact. Both are essential to a story, but writers tend to overly rely on narrative summary. 

Narrative Summary (Telling)

Large-scale

Don’t use this to start your first chapter–you want to engage your readers early on. Turn any narrative summary you have into an actual scene taking place and deliver the information you want to give through it

Varies the rhythm and texture of your writing. Scenes are immediate and engaging, but sometimes you want to slow things down and give readers a chance to catch their breath, and narrative summary is a good way to do so.

Gives continuity on a larger scale. Narrative summary can capture weeks or months of slow, steady growth and development. The critical moments of this development should be captured by scenes, but the summary can help fill-in the gaps of a longer period of time.

Helps consolidate repetitive actions. For example, if there are multiple races occurring, not all of them may be important enough to justify a scene. Summarize the unimportant ones and give scenes to the crucial ones.

Use it when a plot development isn’t important enough to justify a scene. For example, you can narrate a minor event that leads up to a key scene. Or two key events being separated by narrative summary of what occurs between the events puts emphasis on the important key events while giving reprieve between the scenes.

Small-scale

Avoid telling us character traits or emotions. Examples include: “Wilbur felt absolutely defeated” and “Geraldine was horrified at the news”. It’s better to show these by describing their reactions, expressions, words, and body language. However, I personally believe sometimes it is okay, and even preferred, to tell emotions and traits. Just don’t overdo it, and save the telling for when it’s difficult to express by showing.

You don’t want to give your readers information. You want to give them experiences. Resist the urge to explain

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers Checklist

How often do you use narrative summary? Are there passages when nothing happens in real time?

Do the main events in your plot take place in summary or in scenes?

If you have too much narrative summary, which scenes do you want to convert into scenes?

Does any of it involve major characters, where a scene could be used to flesh out their personalities?

Do you have at least some narrative summary, or are you bouncing around from scene to scene without pausing?

Are you describing your character’s emotions too much? Have you told us they are angry/irritated/excited?

[withpatiencecomespeace]

The cinematography, the color choices, the set design, the dialogue, the pacing — what wasn’t KAOS simply superior at?

Still trying to wrap my head around how it weaved — what, SIX storylines together as it was approaching its climax?

[coruscantiscribbler]

This is turning into the longest chapter in the history of chapters, and I just can't find a graceful place to break it up. Chapters need to end with a sharp period, something that propels the reader to want to keep reading. Chapters just can't just peter out, they need to sizzle.

[vickihinze]

Picking A Theme by Tara Randel

When setting out to write a book, there are many aspects that need to be considered. What is the story about? Who are the characters? The plot? The theme? All the components that, as an author, we sit down and consider before we even begin to type the first page in our story. Since there are genres in fiction, the answers to these questions depend on if you are writing a romance, or a mystery or…

[bellemorte79]

Behind on writing

I am behind on writing because my life currently sucks. I hope to update my story this weekend. It is hard to crawl out of anxiety.

[celestemagnoliathewriter]

15 and 23 end of the year asks 🍍

Thanks for the ask @evesaintyves!

15. Something I learned this year

Where do I even begin? I learned a lot, but I think one of the biggest things I learned was to appreciate one-shots, both writing and reading them. When I started reading fanfic I didn't bother looking at anything under 100k, then 50k, and as I ran out of fics that interested me I looked at one-shots. There's something really nice about one-shots both in terms of conveying a specific emotion or interaction and how it can be more focused on the craft of writing. I write one-shots a little differently than my longfics - my longfics, I need to get from plot point to plot point and I don't have time to linger on anything (or the patience, honestly). But with one-shots I can focus on one thing at a time, really choose my words, and challenge myself to focus on a particular aspect of a relationship, interaction, or moment in time. There's value to that. I can't say I prefer one-shots to longfics (I will always prefer 100K+ works), but I learned to see the value in them both as a writer and reader.

23. fics I wanted to write but didn't

There are so many. One-shots - too many to count. Longfics, I wanted to start on my Andromeda fic sooner. I wanted to start on my Remus raising Harry stories sooner and finish them earlier too. I wanted to write a longer Grindeldore story (up to 100k words) but that didn't happen either.

There's always 2023 :)

Fanfic end of year asks

[sunlit-skycat]

Also works for comedy! Put the funny, surprising thing at the end of the setup for maximum hilarity.

Pro Tip: The Way You End a Sentence Matters

Here is a quick and dirty writing tip that will strengthen your writing.

In English, the word at the end of a sentence carries more weight or emphasis than the rest of the sentence. You can use that to your advantage in modifying tone.

Consider:

In the end, what you said didn't matter.

It didn't matter what you said in the end.

In the end, it didn't matter what you said.

Do you pick up the subtle differences in meaning between these three sentences?

The first one feels a little angry, doesn't it? And the third one feels a little softer? There's a gulf of meaning between "what you said didn't matter" (it's not important!) and "it didn't matter what you said" (the end result would've never changed).

Let's try it again:

When her mother died, she couldn't even cry.

She couldn't even cry when her mother died.

That first example seems to kind of side with her, right? Whereas the second example seems to hold a little bit of judgment or accusation? The first phrase kind of seems to suggest that she was so sad she couldn't cry, whereas the second kind of seems to suggest that she's not sad and that's the problem.

The effect is super subtle and very hard to put into words, but you'll feel it when you're reading something. Changing up the order of your sentences to shift the focus can have a huge effect on tone even when the exact same words are used.

In linguistics, this is referred to as "end focus," and it's a nightmare for ESL students because it's so subtle and hard to explain. But a lot goes into it, and it's a tool worth keeping in your pocket if you're a creative writer or someone otherwise trying to create a specific effect with your words :)

[sunlit-skycat]

State of the fic concepts 2024

In This Economy I Have To Fight Wizards To Become A Homeowner?! - Dark comedy. Ongoing.

The cost of housing in San Francisco is too damn high. That's why Ethan Kemmotsu, long-time commuter, first time resident, is taking his condo as his demesne.

Still, keeping hold of a place to live isn't easy. Ethan will have to face San Francisco's politics and history in order to claim a position in it as a Practitioner. Despite the city's reputation as a site of modern technological advancement, a deep divide runs between the haves and the have-nots. Who gets to control what land has always been deeply contested within California. Ethan's demesne won't come without a fight.

Blockers

Slowly writing the current chapter. I know what is going to happen here and for the rest of the fic, but still busy + wow current events suck.

Actually almost done! Has gotten way further than I expected for a meme concept that I came up with in January

The Former Weird Girl Alliance - Coming of age. Nicolette at the Blue Heron as she struggles to determine who she can ally with, who she can befreind, and who will have her back as Alexander's net tightens over her. Canon compliant, probably.

Blockers

Need to take notes on Eloise, which means reading her interlude

Need to produce and outline on the expanded version of this since it no longer has the 4 month deadline for Smallfandombang.

Lucy/OC - Romance oneshot. Adult Lucy meets a new player in the political scheming of Ontario and strikes up a relationship with him. Mostly me thinking about what type of guy Lucy would get together with.

Blockers

Eh this one is lower priority

I need to take notes on Lucy as a character, which is a large task and will take a lot of time

O Tempora, O Mores - Elizabeth Driscoll's totally unbiased history of how Kennet became a regional power over all of magical Ontario. Epistolary style? Features input from Dom, Nicolette, Lucy, Miss, Wye, and Hadley.

Blockers

Legitimately want a better polisci and history grounding before I attempt this. Have to finish reading SPQR. Should read another history book just to make sure I have a sense of the style.

Needs an outline

Look at all these characters I need notes for

Doing this epistolary is going to require thinking. Thinking is hard.

Verona Belanger - AU, drama. Instead of becoming a Witch of Kennet, Verona is picked by Tanner to become the newest Belanger apprentice. Verona if she had less resources and more bad influences.

Blockers

Sheesh this is the white whale of concepts huh. Been in variou stages of concepting since 2021.

Need Verona notes

Do you know how long this is going to be?

I need to write coherent Augur plots, which is going to be hard to do on a chapter by chapter basis. Which probably means multiple drafts. Ew.

A House Divided - AU. Rook makes one move, and the war for Ontario tips sideways.

Blockers

It would be nice to know more military history.

Need notes on all of LVA

This is going to require juggling a lot of characters, possibly multiple PoVs, and by the way have I mentioned I need notes on those characters too? Better to wait until I haev a better grasp on chars through other works first.

Nicolette in Baldur's Gate 3 - Crack, isekai. Nicolette wakes up in the Nautiloid with another inhabitant in her mind (again). Looks like her best hope for survival is with these other strange people she's found...

Blockers:

Need notes on BG3 characters???

Have to distinguish from all the other Tavfic out there

Not really a serious idea.

[mkaneshige]

A Writer's Influence

A writer’s influenceupon their readerscan be exponentialTheir words can take rootin impressionable mindsand thenblossom intodreams and hopes

[authortoberecognized]

WRITER’S FORUM  INDIE WRITING

                        WEBSITES HELPFUL TO WRITERS   This is a series of posts which, I think, will be beneficial to writers. But first, I would like to include my usual warning about using websites. Whenever you check a website you are, in my opinion and I talk from experience, being put on a list for sale. So, expect the possibility of being bombarded by ads from companies you, perhaps,…

[sunlit-skycat]

Never underestimate the capacity of marginalized people to make awful, terrible, tasteless art.

And art that's executed fine but that you disagree with.

"A cishet person must have made this, no queer person would ever portray queerness in this way."

"This artist must be white."

"No SA victim would ever handle the subject in this way."

"No woman would ever write women like this."

"This creator is obviously neurotypical. Everyone with autism/ADHD/depression understands-"

Nope.

People who make these blanket statements are very frequently proven wrong when the creator comes out as a member of that group. And even when they aren't proven wrong, even in cases where the creator isn't from the group in question, actual members of the group who don't fit whatever arbitrary criteria are being expressed will see these statements and feel excluded and erased.

Not everyone in your group is going to share your experiences. No single individual gets to personally decide what does or doesn't count as a "valid" expression of trauma or being part of a particular group, and creators are also not obligated to out themselves in order to "prove" their validity.

If something doesn't resonate with you, all that means is that it doesn't resonate with you. You don't have to like it. But you don't get to decide what it means to someone else.

[theoldaeroplane]

worried that thing you put in your art or writing or game or music is too self-indulgent, too self-referential, too niche for anyone but yourself? fear not! you can do whatever you want forever. and you should.