#I have a very detailed outline for chapter 7 and am starting one for chapter 8

[theteddyandardenarchives]

Guess who's over her writer's block and back to work on The Circle in the Square

[blakbonnet]

AUTHOR OF THE WEEK: @clairegregoryau 💕

Everytime the topic of fandom kindness and community comes up, of helping each other out and fostering a quiet corner where people can be themselves, most people in our little fandom think of Claire. She's written over a million words of OFMD fic and read even more, and you can always see so so many recs over on her twitter. Incredible good vibes, and an author who truly lives to lift other authors up. She also does SO SO much for fic authors over on the OFMD Fic Club server <3 And she was incredibly kind and shared her entire writing process with me:

What's your writing process like? Do you start with the beginning or the end? Do you write in order or as the scenes come to you?

I’m a huge advance planner, which is a process that has developed for me over more than 25 years of writing original fiction. I’ll get whacked with a story idea, then I’ll sit down and set out the central kernel of that idea, and where it needs to start, where it needs to end, and what the turning points need to be to get there.

A lot of the time I use a three-act structure, largely because Jenkins has talked about OFMD using that structure (one example here). So that makes it easy for me to hold to the canon beats when I’m writing AU stories, or to mirror them in canon-era stories, which is also something I try to do most of the time. With long experience (and now 1.7 million words of OFMD fic written (!)), I find this part of the process really easy. I’ll usually do that plotting by hand-writing out my notes, because it really fires up a different part of your brain.

Because I am such an advance planner, I do tend to write in a completely linear way from start to finish (I also pretty commonly post my long-fics as I write- each chapter goes up as soon as it’s finished and has a final editing pass). Punching through it in a linear way, knowing the ending that I’m working towards and being enthusiastic to get there, really keeps me motivated.

I do all of my writing in 30-minute sprints at the OFMD Fic Club Discord, where we’ve built a lovely and LOUDLY enthusiastic writing community that anyone is welcome to hop into 24/7. For those who find the constant chat a bit overwhelming, we also have a Quiet Focus Sprints channel. Again via long practice, I’m a very fast writer, but that’s accelerated a lot more over the last couple of years, paradoxically because I couldn’t write the way I used to anymore.

I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that includes some fun brain impacts at times, and it’s really hit my working memory especially. I used to be able to hold all the strands of a complicated story together in my head as I wrote, but now I can’t do that as easily. So that’s why the outline is important for me, so I never lose track of the idea- I’ll also do a quick outline at the start of each chapter I’m writing that notes what needs to happen, and then I’ll write in what I call layers, getting down whatever I can first, and then doing sweeps back through it to add internals, narrative detail, sensory details and so on. I make a LOT of notes and square brackets as I go to remind myself of things to look at later.

I also use a plot matrix [Twitter thread, Example Matrix] that you may have seen floating around- I mostly use it to keep track of plot details that have already happened within a story, so that I can check it out at a glance, but I will sometimes plan certain elements in advance (as in the case of Tree Change, which covered 87 of the 93 Kinktober prompts last year across 12 carefully planned chapters). There’s always space when I’m writing for the characters to surprise me within that plot framework- as a final plotting thing, once I’m at the halfway mark I’ll often plot backwards from the planned end to make sure that I’m on course, and to see what I need to adjust.

Favourite trope or headcanon you like to explore while writing?

I really like to dig into the friends-to-lovers trope that sits at the heart of the show. The Ed and Stede relationship reminds me immensely of my own- like Rhys and Taika as friends, we’ve been yes-anding each other for over 25 years (all of my least hinged fic ideas come from bouncing thoughts back and forth with my husband), and it’s been a steady mix of constant silliness, curiosity, and care. We’re best friends first and that’s one of my favourite things about Ed and Stede, that they are, too.

What I really love about it is the vulnerability of these two people who’ve been hurt so much by others in the past, who’ve never been fully appreciated for all the things that they are, and in each other they find the one absolutely perfect person who just gets them, and it makes all the difference. It’s always fun to play with that and variations on it in fics, and it’s usually the beating heart of my stories.

Whose voice is easier to write - Ed or Stede? Why?

I want to say that I find them both equally easy depending on the story. Ed as a character speaks very much the way I think- he has that ADHD buzz, the high swear level, and a very AoNZ turn of phrase that’s also very familiar to Australians (like me). Writing Ed is like turning the inside of my head out and it always flows easily.

But I have always said that I see myself in both characters in equal parts, so I find Stede pretty easy to write as well. I feel like I pretty solidly understand him as a person, with his history of rejection and his commitment to trying anyway, and trying to be kind, and letting himself be fascinated by things, from piracy to books to moths to Ed (that one’s not hard).

Your personal favourite thing you've written that you'd like more people to read

This is a near-impossible question with 69 OFMD fics up on AO3 😅 I really do love them all, and I have a lot of smaller one-shots that haven’t been read as much, but overall I’m incredibly lucky with readership and so so grateful for everyone who enjoys my work.

But my recent Reverse Bang fic The Broken Lines is hugely important to me and I think it’s probably one of the best things I’ve ever written anywhere. It’s set in the aftermath of the First World War (my professional zone of expertise), and features a Stede who’s lost his voice, his memory, and as far as he knows, his Ed. He gradually remembers what happened with the help of the crew and another Ed, who appears in his mirror from 1719, searching for his own Stede. It was a beautiful collaboration with artist Gerlinde to begin with, but I also got to work with one of my longest-term writing friends Jill @followedmystar as my beta, and then with Boy, who made a truly transcendent podfic that I can’t yell about enough.

What is the one word that you think you use a lot?

I think the word I have to zap more than any other is “actually”, and there are still a million of them in there when I’m done. The main reason is that to stick close to canon voice, I try to incorporate a lot of the less iconic/ more ordinary turns of phrase that the characters use a lot in their speech (I’ve watched every episode of the show… way too many times), and both Ed and Stede actually use “actually” a surprising amount. I just use it an even more surprising amount 😂

(This just sent me on a QUEST to find a specific number because I am that kind of nerd- Stede says it 15 times in S1 and 12 in S2, and Ed says it 8 times in each, for totals of 27 and 16, many of them in distinctive moments; it just gives that little buzz of recognition for me. I started out screenwriting before I moved to prose, so my writing tends to lean pretty strongly on having a recognisable, almost audible voice to the dialogue, as well as a cinematic visual style for the big adventures especially).

Do you have a beta reader? Have they made you a better writer?

I quite deliberately don’t use a beta reader for most of my OFMD fics, because being in this space is an exercise in recovering from lifelong paralysing perfectionism around writing especially. I’ve spent so many years not finishing original work because it never feels like it passes the invisible bar for perfection that exists in my own head. So when I started writing OFMD fic, I set out to accept good enough as good enough, and to get back to enjoying writing as fully as I can.

Obviously this means that my work could be better, but I’m actively working on letting that thought go and loving everything I’ve made just as it is. When I have worked with beta readers on projects that require them, like the Reverse Bang, it’s been with friends who I trust and adore, who I know will listen to what I need (cheerleading, mostly), and will do their best to work with me on improving the story without letting me spiral into hating it all because it wakes the perfectionist beast back up.

That doesn’t mean I’m without regular support, or that I’m not trying to improve my writing! I read an absolutely insane amount of fic, and I’m always in awe of the talent we have on this ship, and always learning from what other people do well. In lieu of beta readers, we share snippets of work all the time in our sprints team, so I get feedback there; I also get it from readers in progress, who often give me a sense of what’s hitting the way I hoped and what needs a bit of tweaking. I also have lovely group chats and individual friends like Kerry @communionnimrod and Lis @ghostalservice and Jill who I can run to if I need an opinion on whether an idea feels right or not, which I will often ask.

I’m very very careful with my writing, but in a couple of rare instances readers have also DMd me to note spots where I’ve inadvertently included something that doesn’t reach the sensitivity standard I’m aiming for. I’m always grateful for that gentleness and bravery in reaching out and I’m always happy to change something or to add tags or notes as needed.

Why OFMD 🥹

I watched the whole show in one hit a week after the final episode aired, and I loved it immediately, but I thought I was going to be normal about it. The unravelling into complete, unrelenting obsession happened gradually as I rewatched it with my husband and teen, then again, and again, then started to read fics and hunt up art, then started joining fan spaces, and then dived into writing my first fic in two and a half decades (all original writing between The X-Files and here), thinking it would also be my last.

I’m still here, still writing constantly, and a major portion of it is the show and how distinctly it reflected all the many parts of me, some of which I’d never seen so clearly before. I had a tough childhood in a few different family respects. I didn’t understand that I was neurodivergent until I turned 40 and my own kids were heading for diagnosis, and I’d been rejected constantly throughout my life for being too much. I was a high achiever who was in the process of crumpling under pressure right when I watched it, and while I’d been figuring out my sense of my own queerness for a few years, I’d never had a community that helped me feel at home with that.

And in the end it’s the community that’s been the reason I’ve been fully sucked into fandom for the first time since my teens- the writing in this space is top-tier wonderful, and the community is such a found family, just like the Revenge. Being able to write and have people actually want to read that writing, being able to cheer others on and hype their work, being able to help set up the OFMD Fic Club Discord and make it a safe spaceship for so many people, has been incredibly fulfilling and lovely. 

Please head over to @ofmdlovelyletters (who also made the header) and send your love to all your favourite authors (and authors of the week 😈 watch that blog for some special letters coming your way)

[cuteciboulette]

1/2 NaNo - update

(I like that it can both be read as "half" and as "Heero/Duo", lol.)

I'm off on a pretty, if inconsistent, start. One month is a long distance run and we're only 4 days in but it is pretty encouraging so far (what is disheartening is that I'm only half way through chapter 2 ^^; )

As expected, I already need to revise my early outline and will most likely have to split chapters 2 and 3 into 2 chapters each because everything moves more wordly than first anticipated...

So revised estimate is about 10 chapters (instead of 7) + 1 epilogue. No way half a NaNo will be enough, which is what worries me the most tbh, especially because I know I'll only feel confident to start publishing when the first full draft is be written down as I keep going back to chap 1 and change details about the first info Heero and Wufei collect about "the ghastly affair". I am expecting to realize right at the end that, wait, no, actually that doesn't make sense, I need to change that in the very beginning! v.v

I'm also considering asking for a second opinion early on because writing a mystery is *hard* (especially when it's not what interest me the most in the story! XD) and I just don't know if I'm super obvious with where I'm going or on the contrary subtle. I don't really care if the readers guess the plot but I am concerned that I'm making Heero and Wufei stupid in my fear of not having them to jump to conclusions out of fine air >.< My thought is that if I'm making them too dumb, I probably should work on it NOW rather than 6 chapters in...

Anyway, word count!

notes: 1. yes, I'm absolutely counting the words I wrote 1h prior to midnight on Oct 31st because I can 2. as I'm stopping the counts at midnight and as I'm mostly writing at night, the count is pretty confusing (even to me!) as every day I write both for "today" and "tomorrow". It's already 11 pm here so not sure I'll add words to today's count but I will probably for tomorrow (aka words written today after midnight)

[wetcatspellcaster]

1, 2, 8, 12, and 16!

1. Do you prefer writing one-shots or multichaptered fics?

I mean, my ao3 speaks for myself :') I guess my history of multichap is less of a preference, and more of a complete inability to keep anything fucking brief

even the gale/durge fic was supposed to be a one-shot. smh.

2. Do you plan each chapter ahead or write as you go?

It's a mixture of both. My last three fics have followed this pattern -

Write the first few chapters just chilling, seeing where things go. Hit the first point that feels like a 'turning point' (in pieces this was infamous chapter 7). then I outline and plan, once I know the fic is going to happen for real.

Typically, I plan what happens in a chapter, but not necessarily every step in the process. It depends how writing the chapter is going - outlines get more detailed, the more I'm struggling. atm, I'm stuck on the modern AU, so I am writing bullet points whenever i have energy so I have something to help me. sometimes I'll work off a one sentence notice, and the action will be vivid enough in my mind for that to work.

8. Do you prefer the beginning, middle, or end of a story?

depends on how reliant the story is on romance. if it's a romance-heavy fic, the middle for certain, bc the tension between two people getting together is my favourite part, and established relationships are comforting to read but they're sometimes difficult to progress as a writer.

i also like endings though! often because the ending of a thing will have become more and more vivid to me in time, so it's nice to finally put that final set of images down on paper. particularly if I stick the landing :'))

12. How does receiving or not receiving feedback/support impact you?

aghhhh, a dangerous question

I'm a very pessimistic (and currently very depressed) person. I require a hell of a lot of positive reinforcement, for a dumb bitch who's chosen to be in academia. I'm not sure I would still be writing, if people hadn't commented and read my early fics, in my dragon age era. I'm not sure I'd value the work I put into the world, if people hadn't shouted at me and told me it was valued.

this kind of changed with pieces 'blowing up' (i don't like that phrase). receiving that amount of feedback was amazing, but it was also overwhelming. it felt weird, to become 'known' - this is my introvert hobby, i like not being perceived. Now that it's passed, I also firmly believe no fic I write will ever be that popular, ever again. which isn't that no fic will be as good or better, but pieces was a perfect storm of a fandom i'd already written for, tropes people liked, and the height of bg3's popularity. my writing wasn't magically better in pieces, than in other fics. I will never get that amount of attention again, unless I start deliberately chasing trends or popular fandoms, which I don't want to do.

...and that's totally ok. Since pieces, I've consciously tried to just write ideas for myself, and not for feedback. feedback is the nice added bonus. but it also proved to me how much fandom/fic popularity is not about quality, and more about timing. your audience is determining a lot more than your writing necessarily is :')

so, to answer your question, to receive feedback or not to receive feedback impacts me a lot. receiving it will always make me feel like a better writer, because I'm very harsh on myself and I see none of the good things in my work that other people see. Someone saying 'oh this was good' has me replying 'oh fuck, really?' not shouting into a void is always fabulous.

but not receiving feedback is also an utter relief. I loved writing so much of the modern AU just for myself and one other person. it's nice to have a fun, medium sized audience of people I recognise, and people I'm writing for. bc i'd rather have just my own enjoyment, or a smaller group of core people who i know like my writing, than have a flash in the pan of like "WOW THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER" who never stick around

woof. long answer.

16. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them?

All of my fic ideas are published or publishing! :)

but I'm fighting off a dragon age rook concept (an orlesian mage who fled from the circles after the college system was introduced and then became a prodigious 'assassin', killing people with magic) with my bare fucking hands.

get to know your writer

[ladysomething]

Well, I lasted three update emails. I was holding out on starting your new fic so I could binge a lot of chapters at once, but after getting the update email today I just couldn’t wait and to no one’s surprise, I loved every minute of it! Such an interesting world you’ve created and it’s only going to get better (for us, for Charles who knows).

I do have to ask since I’m not a fic writer - when you say you’re expecting this to be around 150-180k is that daunting for you as a writer or exciting? Right now you’re averaging around 8,000 words a chapter so with that average that’s around 20 chapters and with possible (please don’t view this as pressure) weekly updates that’s 20ish weeks of fic! I’m always so curious if this seems overwhelming to writers? I know as a reader it’s so damn exciting.

lol can you tell I’m a numbers girl and not a writer?

ah thank you! I'm so glad you're enjoying it, and I totally understand the urge to want to wait. I'm excited you're coming along on the journey anyway!

moving on to your question, I'll try to be succinct but to nobody's surprise I am an absolute yapper so it probably will be a long and winding answer.

I think firstly, you kind of almost explained it yourself, but in the opposite way. I'm a writer, not a numbers girl haha. I personally (though other writers may have different experiences) don't really think about how many chapters it will be, or how many weeks of uploads, so there is really no opportunity for it to be daunting because it doesn't really enter my mind.

The outline I have for this fic IS broken into chapters, but I already am not sticking to it. When I'm writing, I often explore a scene in much more detail (and therefore many more words) that I expected when writing the note for scene. e.g. today's chapter was like "1. Charles goes into pre-heat 2. max claims Charles 3. Pierre shows up" and then it ended up being 10k. I just finished writing chapter 6, which is also at 10k, and I've ended up having to shift half of what I outlined for chapter 6 into chapter 7 because I found a natural end point and I didn't want to end up with a 20k chapter.

so, for me at least, when I write I make a lot of decisions based on my instincts. does this scene need more, or is it dragging? is this chapter complete, or does more need to be added? is there too much in this chapter, and should I split it?

all of which is to say - my estimate of 150-180k is based on how much I have written so far (55k) and at what point in the story am I up to (I honestly don't think act 1 is done yet). I suspect my estimate of 150-180k is very low, and it's not getting to that word count that's daunting, because it's not what I'm actually working towards.

what IS daunting is trying to tell the story itself. are the characters right? are their intentions coming through? am I hiding what I want to hide? do I have a note of plot I've started at the beginning so I make sure I follow it through to the end? working towards answering those questions is what I'm thinking about, and that is always daunting, no matter whether its 10k or 200k (though.... PWP is always fairly mindless hahaha).

but it IS exciting. especially when people love something. I've written a lot of fic in my time, long and short, complete and not complete, and I can absolutely guarantee that the difference between exciting and daunting is how people react. when people love something ... the nerves are there, but they're eclipsed by the sheer joy of knowing you brought a smile to somebody's face with your writing.

not to get sappy, but I whole-heartedly believe that my purpose on this earth is to make people happy through my writing. if I know that I'm doing that, I could write 200k fic after 200k fic and die a happy woman.

I hope that kind of answered your question anon! long and winding, but fairly thorough? haha

[illarian-rambling]

Thanks for the tag @davycoquette!

Writer Questionaire

1. Is writing a hobby or way of life?

I mean, it's my greatest passion, but it's not what I do or plan on doing for a living in the future, so I'll go with hobby. To be honest, I'm fine with that. I think I'd enjoy writing a lot less if I was doing it professionally.

2. A journal full of writing notes or a clean, completed manuscript?

Sorry guys, clean manuscript. I do a barebones outline to start, then just write the thing top to bottom. I know first drafts aren't supposed to be pretty, but I can't help myself.

3. Who (or what) is your writing inspiration?

That's a tough one. I read a lot, so maybe Sanderson or Tolkien, but honestly, the person who inspired me to take writing more seriously is a guy from my weekly dnd group. He was the first person I met in real life who wrote and had published stuff. He proved to me that regular people can be authors too.

4. Which is worse: someone you "idolize" reading your first draft or listening to you sing?

Listening to me since, easily. I can't sing, but I'm fine with that. I'm not emotionally invested in my singing ability like I am with my writing ability.

5. Has writing from someone else's POV ever changed your own perspective?

Maybe a little? I feel like a lot of my characters are based on different parts of my own psyche, so really I'm just leaning into those. Because of that, writing about them has made me more accepting of different parts of my own identity.

6. Tumblr, AO3, LiveJournal, or FFN?

I'm only on Tumblr at the moment. I don't intend to put my writing anywhere else because I feel like sites like AO3 aren't really made for original fiction.

7. AO3 wordcount, and are you satisfied with it?

Not on AO3, but I just did the math and between three Honor's Outcasts books and two and a half Mortal God books, I'm at 644,000 words. Add up all the miscellaneous short stories I have floating around and I'd put myself at an even 650,000. Not bad!

8. What movie/book/fic gripped you irrevocably?

The Name of the Wind was the first book that really showed me what could be done with prose. I don't care that the third book is never coming out, Kingkiller Chronicles will always have my heart <3

The Foundryside Trilogy is an underrated series that basically inspired Mortal God. It weaves fantasy and sci-fi perfectly, has some of the best villains I've ever read, and the ending still makes me sick to think about. Which is a compliment.

And, of course, the Stormlight Archives massively inspired my worldbuilding. I always strive for the layer of depth and strength of character found in those books.

9. What’s the highest compliment you’ve ever been given, and have you been given it?

The best comment I've ever gotten isn't exactly a compliment. One of my beta readers once commented on a weak metaphor, "You can do better, you started with a symphony." That really stuck with me for some reason. It reminds me that I do have the capability to write beautifully, and that I shouldn't settle for anything less.

10. What defines your writing style?

I've been told my narration is very conversational, cut through with fanciful descriptions. I've also been told the voice of whichever character I'm writing from the POV of tends to slip through into my writing style. Descriptions in Sepo's chapters are darker and more grim, the narration of Ivander’s chapters gets more sarcastic, Twenari’s chapters focus more on the smaller details, the voice of Astra’s chapters has some more of that country flair, and so on and so forth.

I'll tag @fantasy-things-and-such @wyked-ao3 @rotting-moon-writes @finchwrites and anyone else who wants in :)

[otrtbs]

hi!!

thank you so much for everything that you’ve contributed to this fandom, seriously, your time has been invaluable. people treat fanfic authors like a writing machine, but no, this is just your hobby!!

i was wanting to ask about your writing process:

1. when writing, do you usually write most/all of your fic before starting to post it?

2. how much do you outline before starting to write?

3. how do you keep up with what seems to be a semi regular posting schedule (as in like, staying committed to a fic and actually completing it lol)

sorry if you’ve already answered any of these before :)

hey hey heyo!!! this is so sweet!!

it honestly depends! with ahb!, i had a very good direction and plan on where i was taking the fic so i knew each chapter before i sat down to write it! but winterlude was more free-form. i was like, i want these 15 things to happen over 4 chapters lets make it work! and then with the dinner fic, that's one that i am writing out in its entirety before i post it. because there's a lot of details and web-weaving that go into it, and if i drop a thread somewhere it'll make the whole tory unravel, so it has to be complete before anyone else sees it. so it really depends on the vibe/intricacy of the fic!!

most of the time i'll try to outline a solid timeline with beginning and then major points to the end in chronological order. (so with art heist imagine like: 1. james introduction. 2. job interview/acquisition 3. assembling the heist team 4. meeting the team 5. new hampshire training 6. practice heist 7. heist 8. art swaps (berlin/amsterdam/portofino/copenhagen) 9. regulus death 10. grieving 11. healing 12. ending) <- and then i would go in and fill in things like,,, how does a jegulus relationship develop amidst all of this? and then you get sub-plot points like the museum date, the drowning degas, the auction house date, etc. until you get a pretty good fleshed-out idea! and then as i write and have even more ideas, i can plop them down somewhere on the timeline (amsterdam coffeeshop meeting/last supper group dinner/ etc) . and before writing each chapter,,, i sort of break chapters down into mini-stories with their own beginnings, middle, ends. just to make sure something is happening in each chapter, and it has structure.

this is putting so much faith in me hahah!! my posting schedule ranges from twice in one week to once in 4-6 months. and sometimes i just delete works if im not feeling them anymore ah! but!! i will say, the biggest way i stay committed to completing a story is having an ending in mind that i'm excited to execute or get to!! like something on the horizon at the end of the story normally motivates me to write enough to get to that point. but it's also just okay to stop writing a certain story if you're feeling uninspired!! sometimes, when i'm feeling burnt-out with one story and i'm not motivated to finish it, i'll just leave it alone and go work on something i'm actually interested in for a while until i feel the interest spark up again!! (hence...months between uploads sometimes) 😋

[citrus-cactus]

Howdy, all! I can't post my art summary quite yet because it contains part of someone's Secret Santa gift, so I thought I would fill out the fic summary template created by @reliablejoukido (see her original post here!). Even though I didn't publish (or finish!) much, I did start writing again this year, and that feels like a huge accomplishment, so it seemed like it would be fun to look back and talk a little bit about what I have in the works.

First, the finished fic!

My er... grand return to writing (I wouldn't call it that, but I did have a lot of fun writing and drawing for it, even if it took 6+ months from start to finish ^^;). I love these three characters as a trio so much. It was really hard to pull out a quote I liked and have it make sense in context, so I put the summary in there... but since I brought it up in another post, I thought I'd share what one of my editing drafts looks like:

(ok, so maybe not the tiniest font imaginable, but sometimes there are cross-outs to the cross-outs and sometimes I DO run out of room near troublesome paragraphs and in the margins!)

Now, onto WIPs!

Hmm, well! That sure is a title, isn't it? ;) I wanted to write Junzumi and came up with this idea late last year, and finally started trying to figure it out. It's meant to be fun and flirty and a bit awkward, but the ultimate goal is to be kind to JP, because he (and his body) are given so little love overall. And even though JP and Zoe are not actually hooking up in this fic, it is meant to show the relationship between the two of them in college, and how they could start going from friendship to dating. There IS nudity, but it's meant to be tasteful and respectful, I promise!

Oof. I haven't forgotten this fic, I swear (even though I published Chapter 4 three years ago!). I got really excited to work on it earlier this year (flush with success from actually publishing something, rotfl!) and then let it continue to languish (orz). Upon reflection, the reason it's been stalled is I was having a hard time figuring out the flow of action, but after re-outlining it in September I think I know now what Maki needs to be doing in order to experience the emotions I always meant her to be feeling in this chapter. And yes, she and Meiko meet (yay!).

Chapter 6 has been done for YEARS, and Chapter 7's probably pretty close to done as well, so it really is just this chapter being the hold-up.

AKA, Garg Fic #1. Been mulling over ideas for fic for this fandom all summer, and finally decided to write one based on some minor characters from the SLG comics (that I didn't even read, and can't read now because they're out of print). But I AM reading the new Dark Ages comics, and I'm proving to be a really good guesser about certain details, so actually, I feel INCREDIBLY validated about my original vision and characterization, ahaha.

As you may be able to tell from the quote selection, this is not a happy story. But I believe it's a story worth telling. It's about preserving customs in the face of tragedy, and mourning, and extinction, and love.

AKA, the thing that pulled me away from writing Garg Fic #1. I was possessed. I was writing something in my head about Macbeth's relationship with Demona this summer, and suddenly (VERY suddenly) it morphed into this. Dang, but they're fun to think about. This fic is weird, it will contain one MAJOR narrative trope/cliche, and it's definitely going to be NSFW if I end up getting that far. But I reeeeeeally like this paragraph I wrote for it XD

Thanks for the template Zuz, and thanks to everyone else for letting me ramble about writing! See you again for the art roundup!

[trappedinmymind]

3, 7, 8, 16, 19 from this ask game

3. What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?

I'm not entirely sure I'm interpreting this question correctly, but I'll try my best. So, since I typically have multiple writing projects going at a time (especially right now), my brain mentally categorizes them into "computer projects" and "phone projects". Computer projects are more 'important' (not really) and feel as though I have to work on them in a professional environment (i.e. sitting at a desk) and take them seriously. Phone projects are more relaxed, I'm-doing-this-just-for-fun projects (again, that's not actually true it's just how my brain perceives it at the time) where it feels appropriate to do anywhere, at any time. It's fine to do phone projects on the computer, but I Can Not do computer projects on my phone (I technically can, it just feels wrong). These categories are not fixed and in fact change regularly.

As for the actual writing process, phone projects tend to just be stream of consciousness. There are a few places I might need to edit, but they're usually [forgot this word] or [transition here] and other small edits. (As a note, I use brackets to signify where I need to edit, with whatever's inside describing my idea of what I need there. It makes it very easy to find with ctrl+f). Computer projects get something comparable to an actual outline, with lines of ideas of what I want to happen interspersed between [descriptions of what I want to happen here] and [more context/detail] and etc until I basically have the whole chapter planned. Then, I'll go back through and add whichever scenes I feel inspired for until the chapter basically looks like how a phone project would.

I usually take at least a few days off of writing after this, just to clear my head and come back to the chapter with fresh eyes. I'll make minor edits to phrasing, add some [more here] and other things just to lengthen scenes that feel a bit too short. If the situation is particularly dire, I'll put brackets around a whole sentence or even paragraphs that I feel need to be re-written, then come back to it at a later time.

Then I'll whittle away at those, and finally once I've gotten rid of all the bracketed sections, I'll paste the whole chapter into google docs and do a grammar/spelling check. After going through all of those and making whatever changes I think are needed, I'm basically done with the chapter. Sometimes I'll come back a few hours later to give it one final check before posting, other times I just want to be done with the chapter and post it straight away (usually the latter).

7. What is your deepest joy about writing?

I like the daydreaming portion of it, where I haven't written anything yet but am convinced it's gonna be great :).

Nah, in all seriousness, there's a lot of little joys in writing for me, but I'd say my favorite is weaving in all the little details and hints that are gonna come back later. The things that start out small, seemingly insignificant, but grow and grow until there’s no way to ignore it. I love those little things that mean everything. They’re like gold bars to me. Small, but heavy, and priceless.

8. If you had to write an entire story without either action or dialogue, which would you choose and how would it go?

Without action. I think I could imply a lot of action in the dialogue, and descriptions and character's thoughts can be used to lengthen the scene, imply pauses, and etc easily enough.

Without dialogue, readers are left with long paragraphs of text that might be difficult to keep track of. Even when I'm writing action-heavy scenes, I try to intersperse some little bits of dialogue or at least markable thoughts that gives a bit of a break from having to visualize everything. I don't think I could write something without dialogue in a way that makes it enjoyable.

16. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever used as a bookmark?

I'm not sure - it's usually a business card or receipt that was left in my purse, or the torn-off corner of a piece of paper that was just laying around. In an emergency, I have used another book as a bookmark, but I was planning on coming back to it as soon as I could, so that might not count.

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

I started when I was a kid. The first thing I wrote was a mcyt fanfiction, but admittedly the plot was kind of good so I might reuse parts of it again. Then I didn't write for a while, but I started getting into mental health stuff and wanted to write stories from the perspective of people with different disorders to try to help destigmatize them (again, I was a kid. I'm now well aware that unless I have those disorders, that's not exactly my place) as well as a few things playing with the concept of time and souls.

I first started putting stories online when my friend got me into a fandom and we created a joint account. It was mostly my friend publishing on there, but I posted a few things, too.

I don’t know how I stopped writing, but I did. Some time just before or during the pandemic. Maybe life got too much. Maybe I just didn’t feel comfortable writing for the new fandom I was in (it involved real people, and I hate writing based off of real people) and couldn’t focus long enough on something I did feel comfortable writing about. I’m not sure.

I think it was Nimona that finally brought me out of that writing slump. I couldn’t get my head out of that world, and it got to the point where the only way I could get out was to write it down. Then of course I went back and started writing for my old fanfics again, and came up with a few ideas for potential original works

[radiaurapple]

for the ask writer game:

numbers 3, 11, 14, 43, and 56 :)))))

omg buckle up this is gonna be long (also going to answer thru the lens of Lucid Dreams, sorry Mr. Shingles lol)

3. Describe the creative process of writing a chapter / fic

I always start with an outline! For a long-form work like Lucid Dreams the outlining process is a little like the underpainting in an oil painting — the purpose is to set the tone and arrange the major shapes in the composition to ensure that it’ll come together into something pleasing. The outline starts with broad strokes and becomes more detailed with each pass. With Lucid Dreams I began with the idea of opening on Alastor meeting a human Lucifer in New Orleans, only for the reader to later realize that the story is not an AU — that both of them are still in the hotel. The next major plot tentpoles were Hollis, Lucifer’s ability, their deal, and Alastor’s trip to Heaven.

When I begin each chapter, I always have a pretty clear idea of what I need to accomplish and how, so it’s just a matter of filling in details. I have a playlist for the fic I always listen to while I’m writing — music really helps me to hold the tone in my head while I’m working. 

Ideally I’d write the entire story before posting anything so I can set up and follow through on story beats, but that isn’t as fun, lol. For Lucid Dreams I write chapters at least 2 weeks in advance, which accomplishes a couple of things:

it makes it possible for me to maintain a consistent update schedule when I’m busy (I even updated Lucid Dreams during my cross-country move!)

it allows me move beats around and set up references within that window so the story feels cohesive

it lets each chapter marinate in my head for a little while before posting, which is super helpful for revision

This amount of lead time has worked pretty well for Lucid Dreams — there’s only a couple of things I would change if I could:

I realized after Ch. 10 that I wish I had made Lucifer’s human eyes green instead of blue (like Eden 🥺)

There’s a scene I really want to add to Ch. 2. I still might sneak it in there if I have time lol!!!

11. Link your three favorite fics right now

how to choose 😭

All time / any fandom:

Running On Air by eleventy7 | Harry Potter (trans women are women) - I am not exaggerating when I say this fic is a perfect execution of the form. It is shockingly good. It easily stands alongside the best novels I’ve ever read. Lucid Dreams is directly inspired by this fic and there’s a little reference to it in Ch. 7. 

Astra Inclinant by eleventy7 | Harry Potter (trans women are women) 

saltwater said by gimmeshellder | Steven Universe

Radioapple:

Strange Appetites by Gotllphi

my kingdom come undone by literalmetaphor

the Wicked Game series by Trashdemonx — I’ve gotta mention this one because this author honestly might be the best smut writer I have encountered in more than a decade of reading fanfiction — I will absolutely be returning to their work to study it whenever I find myself writing a scene with any kind of physical intimacy.

14. How do you write emotional scenes? Do you ever feel what the characters feel? Do you draw from personal experiences?

I am honestly just a very emotional person, lol! I am formerly religious and I often leverage that background for Lucid Dreams, which is certainly cathartic — but in general I don’t draw as much on personal experience for Lucid Dreams as I do for my original work. I have never been to New Orleans, and I am not the Devil. That said, there are elements of the characters’ internal worlds that I see reflected in myself which helps me to write them!

43. Do you take sadistic joy in whumping your characters, or are you more the “If you hurt them I would kill everyone and then myself” kind of person?

When I was younger I always pulled my punches with characters — I’m a very empathetic person and I struggled to bring characters (and myself, and readers) down into dark places. But my best artistic work has always arisen from a kind of feral impulse to capture and reflect pain — it is actually just like the description of Alastor’s second kill in chapter 9. As I’ve gotten older I’ve come to understand life as a cycle of making and unmaking, losing and gaining — pain lays the foundation for healing, and that cycle is an essential aspect of the human experience. So I’m no longer afraid of taking my characters all the way down. It certainly isn’t sadistic for me, but it is cathartic, and it makes my work a far better reflection of life. 

56. What’s something about your writing you pride yourself on? 

omg why is this so hard 💀💀

I am a storyteller professionally — I started writing Lucid Dreams after a work-related trauma left me at the lowest I have ever been artistically. This story (and all the nice comments I’ve received about it 🥺) has helped me recover, which is why the prose in Ch. 10 is so much stronger than the prose in Ch. 1. But I’m still not incredibly happy with it, which probably speaks to my own perfectionism more than anything lol. 

So what do I feel Lucid Dreams does well? In the show, we really only see Lucifer and Alastor’s characters at a surface level, and I feel Lucid Dreams is successful at giving them both a complex, realistic, and relatable inner world. I’m also honestly shocked by how tightly constructed and elegant the plot came out — I’ve gotten way more skilled at constructing long-form plots in the past few years and I think that really comes through here.

thanks so much for sending this ask, I had a lot of fun answering!!! ❤️

[ask-obt]

What steps do you usually have for creating each page, and how long does each one usually take you? Do you do stuff like thumbnail entire chapters in advance, etc?

I don't know how big your page buffer is, but you seem to get pages done at a really impressive rate, especially considering every page is clean and colored, so I'd love to know how you manage it :)

// this is a long ask, so buckle up!

all of my pages start with an outline, which is then fleshed out into a script- over time I've found that having an entire chapter done before starting any other step cuts out unnecessary fat that comes with editing. if there's one thing I learned from preboot OBT, trying to figure out what exactly happens on a page as you're drawing it can lead to a lot of heartbreak if you decide to change it (a lot of preboot OBT's chapter 4 was subject to this- I have a million drafts of rune and fienne in the market because I didn't know what I wanted them to do there). my scripting program is actually the beta version of a program one of my classmates in college made, and if it ever goes public I'd be happy to pop a link since I believe they want to make it open source eventually. on average my scripts are about 5000-6000 words long, and are written (casually) like film scripts since that's the format I was trained on as a film student.

my outlines are a bit sloppy because it's just like a stream of consciousness flowing out while I try getting ideas slapped down as quickly as possible. I try not to worry too much about details unless I have a clear vision in mind because I think writing the plot out in one go flows the most smoothly.

and then from there, I expand that outline into a script.

after the script is completed, and assuming I have enough buffer, I thumbnail the entire next chapter- or at least as much as I can stand in one go. I'll usually either be working on rendering the previous chapter during this step, or I'll have the previous chapter completed so I can devote my attention to it. either way, I try and give myself room to do a variety of tasks depending on my mood. thumbnails are easy to work on while on-the-go for example, but they require a lot of thought to put together. coloring can be tedious, but it's great to do while multitasking of on lunch at one of my jobs.

part of the thumbnailing process for me includes putting down text bubbles. surprisingly, this is a very tedious task, so I try to get it all done in one go so I don't have to agonize over it. and this is where my process gets a bit convoluted, so bear with me.

to do this, I take a look at my script and break all the dialogue into different text bubbles. I've gotten to the point where I think I do pretty well naturally finding breaks in pages, and I just go in chronological order putting text down. for this step I have page templates prepped, which show the safety margins that I need to follow to prevent text from getting stuck in the binding when printing into books. I make sure all the text is safe, and then move onto the next step.

after that, I copy the page with text bubbles, and then shrink it really small into thumbnail size. on a layer above this screenshot I trace the text bubbles, and then treat those bubbles as "dead zones" to draw around while working on the thumbnails. this might be an unnecessary step if you have a good grasp on how much text takes up a panel, but I am historically awful at judging that so knowing the exact text bubble size when thumbnailing helps prevent my bubbles from getting in the way after the art is already rendered. then, rinse and repeat for the rest of the chapter!

some chapters I'm quicker at thumbing than others- on the low end we've got chapter 5, which I wrapped up in 2 months (I did roughly 1 thumb per day)

and then chapter 6 which I dragged my feet on a little bit, at around 6 months

(and chapter 7, which is twice the length of a normal chapter for me, took 4 months!)

after that is sketching, the part I dread most when working on a chapter. it's the part that requires the most thinking on my part, and I did away with sketching completely for most of chapter 3- but I've been trying to make my lines thinner lately, and until I build up the confidence to work without sketches, I'm afraid I'm stuck with them. I try to do 1-2 sketches per day, but some days I just don't do them if I'm not feeling up to it.

(I'm actually avoiding sketching while I work on this ask)

while most of OBT is done in CSP, the one thing I don't do there is lines- for that I use Autodesk Sketchbook. sketchbook has a pretty incredible predictive stroke tool that adjusts your strokes after you make them. it takes a bit of time to get used to, but with it I can draw much faster than any other program or with any other stabilization tool. I gave CSP an honest shot with lining by trying to use it for 6 months, but sketchbook was just too powerful so I live the multiprogram life. I try my best to keep all my lines closed during this process because it'll make coloring WAY easier. like I think coloring used to take me an hour, now it takes me 20 minutes tops.

then I flip off the visibility on all layers except the lineart layer, save as a PNG (saving a working file as well if I'm feeling spicy), and then import to CSP! where the most fun part begins.

to start, to do that colored lineart thing where the lines on my characters are darker on the outside than the inside, I start by coloring characters their inside color first (using the "lock transparent pixels" layer option). for comics this is reduced to a simple "warm palette" color and "cool palette" color, which are brown and blue respectively. it's subtle, but you can see it in action with rune and eilwyn here.

then I use the magic wand tool, my best friend. I select the negative space around the characters, invert it, and then with the dark color selected in my palette (for me it's a dark brown approaching black) and the transparent pixels still locked, I use the "outline selection" option to outline the characters. I usually outline them by 6 px, but it'll depend on what looks best.

then for coloring, with the characters still selected, I use the "shrink selection" option to shrink it by 1 pixel. this helps prevent aliasing when I use the fill bucket to fill characters in with a base color! after that I pick them out by character and manually add their main color by hand, so they look something like this.

and here's the part where I impart upon ye, dear reader, with the forbidden knowledge I learned while doing the Monster House Marathon this month. see, I really like doing these daily events because they push me to my limit. a page a day is the most comfortable fast pace I can work on the comic, but it can still be a bit of a strain to get a page done before my bedtime, so I'm much more willing to learn shortcuts in order to get a nice juicy 6 hours of sleep instead of 4.

if you do a closed lineart method like me for most of your character's markings, the "Set Reference Layer" tool is going to become your new best friend. using this, I set the lineart layer as the reference layer (and only the lineart layer), move over to my coloring layer, grab my fill bucket tool, and then I can just start literally filling in characters within seconds. some characters have unclosed markings that I'll have to do by hand, but this is extremely quick and I love it so much.

finally I add a multiply layer where I do some light shading. this step used to be full cel shading, though over time I've found that my art reads a little more clearly without it. and shading also used to be miserable because it was another 30 minutes to an hour of rendering that kept me from completing a page, so it sometimes got a little miserable.

and finally, I add backgrounds and lighting effects. I have a pretty decent library of pre-rendered backgrounds I've made that I can just plop in a scene, but sometimes for new or one-time locations I'll make a new one by hand.

and that's a completed page! it's a bit hard to calculate how long a singular page takes start to finish since I try doing everything before the lineart in batch style, but I'd say it all roughly evens out to 2-4 hours. breaking it down, it looks something like:

Thumbnail - 10-20 minutes Sketch - 30 minutes - 1 hour Lineart - 30 minutes - 1 hour Coloring - 10-20 minutes Rendering - 10-20 minutes Background - 20 minutes - 1 hour

so pages are pretty quick for me to make! this helps me build a pretty sizeable buffer, I think my previous record was somewhere around 40 pages? maybe 70 if I included dielle's wish. though I will admit during this Monster House Marathon, I actually ran out of buffer on day 7, and I'd been laying the tracks in front of the train until, uh, checks watch, the 27th! as of writing this I finished the buffer through the MHM, so I can rest easy. this ask probably won't queue until after the MHM has ended so this probably sounds a little comedic. the main reason I was able to manage these daily updates without a buffer was because of an art high I was experiencing this month, which is also why I did a marathon in the first place.

though usually, I really am an advocate for buffers. having a buffer of at least 3 months means I can hop around with different processes as my interest in them flips around. my brain usually likes to focus on one task at a time, and a lot of it, so having that freedom is great for me. and sometimes, I just wanna take a month off to play a new game or hyperfixate on stardew valley once again! it all comes down to practice and developing a workflow and schedule that works for you.

[bg-sparrow]

For the writing asks, do the 3s: 3, 13, 23, etc.

For this fanfic writer ask game!

3. On a scale of 1-10 how much do you enjoy incorporating romance into the average story?

I’d say 6 or 7. I’m a romantic, but I don’t really read romance? I’m more into the romance being a secondary or tertiary storyline. And a good romance, to me, is built upon the small moments of the big, hectic adventure of life, so that’s where I love finding it in a good story!

13. Talk about a writing experience that has pleasantly surprised you.

There Are No Roads (Time Circuits #2.5) was a huge surprise to me. In my OC x canon rewrite, it was meant to be this 10K oneshot of Doc’s time in 1885 before Marty showed up, and it turned in a 40K, 9-chapter fic where each chapter was dedicated to a month, the last of which detailed the timeline of September 1885B (if Doc had been shot at the festival/ Marty hadn’t shown up). I loved the minor characters that took on a life of their own, the subplots that flourished, and the exploration I got to do of the canon characters. I’m still, to this day, immensely proud of it and reread it often.

23. How do you deal with writer's block?

At the moment? Not very well, lol. For real, usually, getting out an actual notebook with a pen and just writing out “Why do we feel stuck?” and prompting myself like that leads to me talking to myself for a page or so until my brain untangles something. Or I’ll ask, “What part are we excited to write next?”, list a scene or two, then tell myself to just write a line or two for them right now (which ends up turning into a few hundred words). I still panic when it happens, though, like I don’t know if it will help. 

(Also, apologies to anyone reading it, but I am a little blocked and lack motivation on Once Upon a Time in the North right now. But it will get done!)

33. Do you start with the characters or the plot when writing?

I guess the characters come to mind first with a vague haze of a plot around them. As I build one, the other fills out, and it’s a back and forth. Then, as I go on, it becomes, “how does the character react if I do this? What if their reaction is the opposite of what I expect? What does that say for their character AND the story?” They’re very co-dependent to me.

43. How did writing change you?

Writing grounds me. It’s the ability to have control and create order with words and ideas I lack in real life, especially as someone who went undiagnosed with severe ADHD until adulthood. I was always centered and focused the most when I had good music structuring a scene in my mind, and I love editing because of that control I have to form the narrative just the way I want. 

53. When writing, do you have an outline? And do you stick to it?

For longer fics, definitely. I try to tell myself to adhere to the basic structure I’ve laid out, but I’ve moved stuff around, like moving scenes from the end of one chapter to the beginning of the next or, within a chapter, rearranging those scenes. After Time Circuits, I gave up the rigid outlining for a bit just to see how I’d fare, but I still end up with loose outlines in my notebooks when working stuff out. 

63. What’s the best insult you’ve read in a fic?

I have no idea! That’s a great question! I can’t really think of one off the top of my head!

73. How do you visualize scenes? Do you see it like a movie in your head, or do the words just flow?

I’m a very visual person, so when I write, there is a movie playing out on the page. Then, once I have it out, I go back and fill in the introspection and detail the setting a bit more.

83. Less is more or more is more?

Less is more. God, I’ve been learning that lesson since I started taking writing seriously in college (again, because I tend to be wordy). Learning how to be succinct and hit people with just the right words is a lot of fun, and I like to practice that with the many drabbles I write throughout the year. They are great practice!

93. Do you hear other people’s writing styles when they talk?

So, and this might sound strange, but I don’t talk to a lot of writers to where I audibly hear them? I chat with fellow writers online, and I can see the similarities if I’m looking for them, but for the most part, this doesn’t really apply to me! I’ve never talked to/ chatted with someone where it was immediately apparent. Sometimes I think I’m that person, though!

Thanks for the ask!! :D

[beautyofsorrow]

2, 4, 7, 18, 46

2. Do you plan each chapter ahead or write as you go?

evil. evil question. why would you make me think about my multichaps. ok so i tried the intensive outlining thing, i really did, and it flopped so bad because i'm pretty sure i have adhd which, among many other things, means i need novelty in order to stay interested in a thing. but i also need STRUCTURE so i know where i'm GOING or i'll never FINISH so i have started doing this thing where i have the vague outline of what happens and then go from there. for without anesthetic, i had a pretty good idea of what i thought the first four chapters entailed before i ever sat down at the word doc, just so i'd have a measure of security behind this wildly ambitious idea. turns out it was only enough for three chapters and i am spinning my wheels a little on the fourth/fifth/sixth, but it's going so much better than my last multichap did, and i haven't abandoned it like my first. so yay! it's my own version of what i call the ann patchett method of drafting (see "the getaway car" in this is the story of a happy marriage for more details on that, dear mutuals who are not zanna). more adhd, but just rigorous enough to keep me from walking out. this seems to be working, but it's also nerve-wracking because oh no, what if i get ?? chapters deep and i've written myself into a corner? (the answer: girl calm down, it's fanfiction and you're supposed to be having fun)

4. Where do you find inspiration for new ideas?

i rifle through the fridge at 10pm looking for a very specific food that does not exist and then get mad at myself when i realize i am gonna have to write it into existence.

see also: my love for the characters (/horny and emotional). a desperate need for non-romantic sexually intimate relationships in media. upsetting plotholes in canon. deranged character dynamics. weird takes on popular tropes. religious trauma. family estrangement. being queer. i also read a lot of books and find plenty of sparks ideas juice inside them, usually in their style and execution. i looooooooove studying form and how it influences a book's plot.

7. How do you choose which POV to write from?

whatever best serves the story! and/or whatever i feel i can handle best in a given moment. for example, the first time i tried my hand at sex pollen (drown me in glitter, glitter and gold) i had no fucking clue how to write from a sex-pollened person's POV, so the answer was to stay in la'an's head the entire fic. that let me get really comfy with the story so that by the time i had to write her being all high on horny juice, it flowed much more easily than if i had started in una's POV, who's dosed from the start. also, it was a much better, funnier, and stronger fic that way. la'an's mortification really came through and allowed me to hit a lot of comedic beats i wouldn't have been able to hit due to una's temporary plunge into angst.

18. Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

i do all three lol. mostly during and after. sometimes i'll have one from the start and it will stick; other times it will change to something else halfway through. many many times i will come screaming into ur DMs complaining about being done with a fic but not having title tags or summary. i started keeping a file in my notes app of lines of poetry i love, and i'll occasionally plunder them for titles. i'll also yoink song lyrics (just give me trust and watch what'll happen), riff on character quotes or episode titles (without anesthetic, ad astra), or rotate the fic in my head until something appropriately vibe-y presents itself (dress me down and hold me open, aces wild, stitch)

46. How would you describe your style?

contemplative, lyric and/or comedic (depending on the fic), & character-driven

[warrioreowynofrohan]

22, 58, 75 for the fic ask game? :)

I am SO sorry, I was so excited and happy to get this ask and then I never answered it! <3

22. Are there certain types of writing you won’t do? (style, pov, genre, tropes, etc)

There are a lot of things I don’t know how to do - action, for one. There are a lot of things I’m too lazy to do, like detailed worldbuilding. And all my fics so far have fallen into fairly similar patters - either emotional reflections or emotional conversations. But until 2019 I’d never written any fanfic at all, or even considered it, so there’s no saying that won’t change.

I don’t usually connect with a lot of the writing exercises that I’ve noticed as common on tumblr. I can’t take a one-word prompt and create a story from it, or start out with a trope and build a story around it. I look at the long lists of characterization-building questions and can’t answer most of them for most characters I write, even canon ones. Basically, I’ve never done any practice or any disciplined writing, and when I look at the ways you’re supposed to practise I draw a blank. I just occasionally get an idea that connects with me emotionally and even more occassionally manage to write it down.

58. What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most? (Brainstorming, outlining, writing, editing, etc)

I like getting a new idea and outlining it, and I like writing down the parts that are clear and vivid in my mind. I’ll usually have spent a while daydreaming about something and mentally assembling it before I start writing it down, and will by then have a sense of many of the key things I want to do. That part is fun! After that it gets into the more challenging parts of pulling together all the other elements that need to be there but that I don’t have the right words for. And I’m downright awful at editing - reading prose that sounds wrong in my head doesn’t make me want to fix it, it makes me want to close the document and walk away!

75. What scene in Ashes took the longest to write? What was difficult about it?

That depends on whether write means times spent actually writing or time spent leaving it alone because I didn’t know what to do! 😂 Chapters 7 and 8 were the longest in the making by far, because I had a sense of the major moments in the emotional journey that needed to happen, but I was having trouble putting them together in a way that worked. Chapter 7, with a lot of help and advice from friends, came together pretty well - the Finrod and Fingon conversations stayed similar to what I had planned for a long while but the timing got rearranged , abd the Finrod-Turgon conversation helped a lot with getting the other parts to fall into place without Maglor having too many repetetive conversations. Chapter 8 was even more challenging abd in the end I’m not sure it did work the way I wanted it to; it was one of the pitfalls of being very much a plotter rather than a pantser, that I didn’t know any way to substantively anend it from my earlier ideas without breaking everything that came after, which was the stuff I wanted to get to.

[ohmyoverland]

Fic Writer Questions

Thanks for the tag @anything-thats-rock-and-roll :D

1. How many fics do you have on AO3? 26

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 25, 570

3. What fandoms do you write for? Except for a few one-offs and my 3 Anne With An E fics, I write Lockwood & Co. 💚⚔

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

After Chameleon, an unbetad Miraculous Ladybug salt fic written before the actual episode had come out. It accidentally blew up asldkfjhjkl

On My Mind, a Detroit: Become Human rk1k ficlet where Connor can read minds.

All the Words I Don't Have, pure grade A Locklyle fluff

are we out of touch, are we out of time? AWAE Season 3 speculative fic that is actually an expanded version of a tumblr post I wrote after the penultimate episode of the series premiered.

wavering, my cot3 pining + character study fic. I'm really proud of it and I promise chapter 3 is coming eventually lmao

5. Do you respond to comments? I don't 😭 I want to but I never know what to say and before I know it, the comment is 2 years old oops. I reread comments all the time ❤

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? That's tough to say for sure but I think every lessons forms a new scar ending with an off-screen character death is probably the most angst I've ended with so far.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? That would have to be All the Words I Don't Have again. Everything is beautiful and nothing hurts. And Lockwood writes some really bad poetry.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Not so far.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I do sometimes, and it's not published yet.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? Another Change of Plans is the most tumblr WIP I have lol. It dares to start asking the question, "What if the Old Guard adopted Adam Young, the antichrist from Good Omens?"

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Sort of? There was one collab fic I wrote a scene for but it never got finished. Someday I might post my part, because ngl I'm pretty proud of the Skull/Lucy banter in it.

13. What’s your all time favorite ship? How could I ever choose??? By bookmark stats, it would be Marinette and Adrien from Miraculous Ladybug. But cot3 (Lockwood & Co) and Superbat (DC) are up there too.

14. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? A better question is what isn't a WIP I'll never finish??? I have dozens 😭 Though one that stands out is an old Frozen fic I outlined in I think 2018(?). The premise is a canon divergence where Anna's death is faked when they're children and she's raised in the village instead of in the castle. There are two full acts that are just set up for a The Prince And Me/Princess Diaries-esque rom-com between suddenly-a-princess Anna and just-a-normal-guy Kristoff.

The outline on its own is about 8k words, and frankly I've considered editing and posting the outline itself before because it's detailed enough. This fic is actually a drabble I wrote to take place within my AU, but it reads canon compliant enough of its own so I posted it.

15. What are your writing strengths? Ideas. I am always getting new plot bunnies, always getting excited about the next great idea, always thinking about new aspects of these worlds and characters I want to explore.

16. What are your writing weaknesses? Dialogue and volume. That's why I write so many descriptive, very short fics XD

17. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? I'd only do it in a language I've studied for a couple years, and even then I would want a native speaker to read over it for me. But it hasn't come up yet?

I do really like Superbat or Star Trek fics where the author sparingly includes Kryptonian / Klingon / Vulcan with a translation at the end.

18. First fandom you wrote for? My Little Pony, or maybe Percy Jackson?? I'm too scared to check my old accounts to see which came first, if I ever even posted the fics I remember writing then at all.

19. Favorite fic you’ve written? building glass castles for sure!!! I love the atmosphere in it, and the monologue from Skull. That monologue came to me in the middle of the night once, so I had to type it up immediately and build the fic around it later.

No pressure tags @sabetha @synestheticwanderings @abumperprize @lenacarstairspotterstewart @woahpip @flythesail @shizuoi

[heartofspells]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you for the tag, @tracingpatternswrites, my lovely! <3

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

I currently have 93 works, which feels like too many and also not nearly enough.

2. What's your total ao3 word count?

1,476,428. The vast majority of that was written last year. What??

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Pretty much Harry Potter. I've dabbled in Supernatural publicly and a few others privately, but nothing else have ever really stuck for writing.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

At the Healing Edge of Broken - multi-chapter Wolfstar

Prick the Craving, Watch it Seep - Wolfstar breeding kink smutty mcsmut (and i hate that title now in case anyone was wondering)

How to Succeed in Business - more Wolfstar smutty mcsmut

The Tying of Canines - yet another Wolfstar breeding kink+knotting smutty mcsmut

Multiplying Parents - Wolfstar get-together featuring adorable young Harry pov

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do not anymore, though I used to try very hard to keep up with them. I don't have a reason other than that I get distracted too easily and then they build up and it feels overwhelming and I finally figured out that I was stressing myself out over them. But I read each and every one repeatedly, return to them often, and I love and appreciate all of them.

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

What sort of question is that? How am I meant to choose? I have too many fics with angsty endings. I guess I'll say Wasteland just because of the build up to the ending?

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I, shockingly, have a lot of fics with happy endings (no one believe me), so I'm going to stick with choosing from longer, chaptered fics for this and say Scatter the Shadows, my little band AU.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I have in the past. Not so much anymore, but people don't always like or agree with what I write. That's their choice and opinion.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Not continuously, but enough. There's a small running joke that my smut is more poetic than truly smutty? So I guess that's the kind I write?

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I haven't and likely never will. Crossovers have never really done it for me.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge and I very much hope not.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I've had people ask, but I've never seen one actually done before.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! I co-wrote Family on the Mend with @tracingpatternswrites! I was super nervous about writing with someone else, but she's just lovely and I'm happy to have gained a friend from the experience.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Wolfstar, my beloveds. I might stray but I always return.

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

There are way too many, but probably YOU. I'll keep hacking away at it, but there's soooo much to it that it gets overwhelming. I even had to cave and make an outline, and just that part of it is massive.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I'm terrible at giving myself compliments and talking about strengths, but based on what others have told me, I think I'm very good at conveying emotions and getting into a character's head for those super deep and gritty moments.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I'm terrible at writing action sequences and I'll always be the first to admit that. I also feel like I constantly run out of words and start getting repetitive with the smaller details.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I love when it's done but I've rarely done it myself. And the times that I have, I've tried my best to find someone who is fluent in the language I want to include instead of stumbling through a translate service on my own, because those rarely work.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter. I'm a one horse sort of person, I guess.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Oh, that's tough! I'm torn between At the Healing Edge of Broken because I did enjoy writing that one a lot and I love the story I got to tell, Scatter the Shadows because not only was it just insanely fun to dive into that world and all the descriptions of music along with writing actual songs with @fonkeloog, but I had so much support for that fic, and Multiplying Parents simply because I giggled my way through writing it and it still amuses me.

No pressure tagging (sorry if you've already been tagged/done this): @in-flvx @beautitudes @pinklume @bythehearts @benjamin-ovich