#I have lots of rewritten scenes to share but I think I'm taking a break from POV switches

[exilethegame]

Hi sorry to bother you but is your patreon still going?

I was subbed but it didn’t seem to be updating so I stopped but im unsure if its just my app not working or of its on break and i missed the post about it

My Patreon's been on a break! Right now the only access is to backlog content. However (I may or may not) be planning to restart it up this month or the next.

[tblsomedoodles]

That was a couple typos I meant the wip for your fics

Ah! That makes more sense! lol. I was sitting here trying to figure out what was the last fish-based au that i had and was like "no way they're here from my merstuck days"

Anyways! It's going good! Nanowrimo is this month so i'm getting a lot of writing done. My main goal is to finish "Proud Family Traditions" so that's the one getting the most work at the moment.

Here's a little wip preview : ) (it was really hard to choose. I love so many lines in this part lol)

“You've seen how Uncle Mike eats. That's going to be a lot of pancakes,” Raph said, though the sounds of the cupboards opening hinted said he probably already started prepping for said breakfast. “If i'm going to have to make that many pancakes, then you are going to have to help me. It's only fair.” “Is that child labor?”

I worked a lot on family web last month as well. I had to take a break b/c i was getting frustrated with the incomplete scenes i had been writing, but the next chapters a little over halfway done.

Here's a little thing from that b/c why not lol.

“Congratulations on your promotion to teddy bear for the time being. It’s a temporary position, only until Raph stops panicking and I know exactly what’s going on.” “Are you sure that’s a promotion?” Mikey asked. “of course. What’s better than being a teddy bear?” “Says the turtle allowed to walk down the hallway on his own,” Mikey muttered. “Enjoy your teddy bear status, damn it,” Leo shot back.

other fics, oh Silver LInings i've got some work done on recently. I need to finish the chapter i'm working on before i can update it, but here's a little bit from that too.

“Yah, hear this? He has a microscope in his emergency bag,” Raph said, turning towards the other two. “I’m more worried about the pigeon puppet,” Casey answered. “Says the guy that keeps fruit roll ups in his weapons bag,” Donnie shot back.

And i think that's it for active fics. There has been a bit of work done on the Donnie vs fic but i only have about 2 chapters done properly. Everything else has to be rewritten so i don't really feel like sharing anything from that right now.

Thank you!!

[lloydfrontera]

Let's give another name for the game: "Webtoon pain" for easier access! So i suggest it goes like this;

-For all webtoon chapters, you may only state 3 points of pain for each chapter released, starting from chapter 1

-the scenes in the novel that will be correlated for points of pain for the webtoon must have happened in between the timeline of the events of the webtoon's chapter(if it was excluded or rewritten)

-scenes for each point of pain must invoke a feeling of pain for it to count by being excluded/rewritten in the webtoon

And finally,

-each webtoon panel drawing may count as a point of pain; limited to 2 images that was just not how it was pictured in the webtoon

Tldr and summary:

5 possible points of pain for each webtoon chapter; 3 scenes, 2 drawings/panels

This is for fun amdnnfnf no need to compile every possible points at once, we have a very very long road ahead! I do hope we get a lot of points, i missed drawing 😌😌

i am so sorry for the late reply! i was paralyzed by the realization that if i wanted to make a comprehensive of changes that have been made starting from chapter 1 i would have to re-read the entire novel and the webtoon and i simply do not have enough time in the day to do it :(

so! instead i offer a list of moments i remember from the top of my head in no particular order, i'm sorry please forgive me </3 i'll try to put the chapters they're from but i don't remember all of them sorry!

when lloyd asked permission to check out the wetlands, arcos not only agreed immediately but he also insisted on going with him and took a basket of food with them because he wanted to spent time with him. and he even brought lloyd's childhood favorite food 🥺 (43)

when working on the wetlands lloyd threatened to have anyone who went to the bathroom in there thrown in jail because hamang was going to drink that water and so help him god if they contaminated it (46)

there's this really one cute scene where lloyd is explaining something to arcos and he notices he seems a bit distracted and when he asks why arcos tells him "I just think I'm blessed to have as my son" which makes lloyd all flustered and embarrassed. plus in that very same chapter he calls him "my dear lloyd" and also thinks of him as 'my smart son' which,,, i'm so soft for,,, he adores him so much,,, (122)

and there's also this other really cute scene with marbella trying to feed lloyd a lot of food before asking him to take a break because they're both very worried for him. and lloyd agrees because, as i've mentioned before, he's a momma's boy <3 (156)

javier introducing himself to ppodong!! it was so fucking adorable he even shook fingers with his little paws T-T and also he calls him sir poddong but i don't remember if he also does that in the webtoon aklsdla (18)

lloyd telling javier his heart exploded from his compliment and calling him a killer. before thinking he's like a beautiful painting: elegant and perfect.,,, c'mon (18)

after the explosion in the mine with the ants, javier doesn't immediately get knocked out and is instead awake and aware when lloyd carries him on his back and they banter the whole time, neither of them saying it out loud but both being grateful they have each other for company while stuck there. (26)

PLUS that's the set up for lloyd riding javier during the monster invasion! javier did it first! he even made the same "gyddyap" joke!

oh! and when lloyd asked permission to work on the mine, arcos agreed with the only condition that lloyd wouldn't be in the mine during the construction because it was dangerous. lloyd didn't agree because he needed to be there to prevent accidents and so the workers would trust him but he did give his word that it'd be safe. (21)

also! marbella making lloyd a pink teddy bear for good luck! and lloyd actually keeping it because he didn't want to hurt his feelings! and also asking her to make one for javier to share his embarrassment happiness! (61)

speaking of! did we get the scene with marbella and ppodong?? where she asks him to ask the mice that are eating her plants to please stop? because that was also adorable (28)

the fact that javier fully believed for ten days that lloyd was playing a prank on him because there was no fucking way he was gonna make him fight a dragon. except he wasn't and he totally would. rip javier 😔✊🏽

can we count the change they made to their armor? like when they go to find the elven forest they wear this really cool leather armor that i love and that they completely skipped in the webtoon :(

when they finished paying the debt! lloyd and his family were going to take a family trip!! lloyd was looking forward to it!! actually we were robbed, i wanted to see the frontera family taking a family trip, it's such a cute idea T-T (120)

there's this nice conversation with javier and lloyd where javier tells him he's relieved loyd wasn't born in the capital because he would've become a terrible swindler. but that he's relieved and thankful that he put his tricks to good use. let them have sweet conversations goddammit, the banter is still funny!! (135)

oh! and the bet!! they made a bet where if lloyd was wrong he'd call javier hyung for three years but if he was right javier would use the dress and wig for the trip home. (167)

and of fucking course lady ella my beloved baby they did you wrong i will never stop mourning for you 💔 (167)

the fact we didn't even get javier in a hoodie is a fucking disgrace too ngl (169)

i'm sure there are way more but i don't have a lot of time today so! this is what we get for now! how many points did i get :D??? i didn't get the chance to collect panels from the webtoon tho :( i'll get to it once i have a free moment!!

god i love this game, each of this moments deserve their own post tbh </3

[reedsplice]

Writing Tips

FREEZE!

PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR! ..

AND WAVE THEM AROUND LIKE YA JUST DON'T CARE

Lol did I get your attention?

1. Grab your readers attention

Instead of starting your story off like.. "It was a warm, sunny day"

Start your story off with a BANG!

Grab their attention from the first sentence.

But before they even open the book, make sure you have a cover that catches their eye..

2. Cover

This is so importation. People do judge books by the cover. The cover of a book is what catches the readers eye and have them curious what the book is about..

3. Description

So they pick up this book that has caught their, and read the back to find out what it's about. This is make or break. If it doesn't interest them, it's back on the shelf. So make your description exciting, give away some spoilers even. I know you want to leave some surprises, but the reader won't even find out what those surprises are if they never read the book. So make the description something that will make the reader want to open the book..

4. First Line I KNOW WHO KILLED MY BROTHER

Grab their attention with the first line! And then make them want to keep on reading. And boom! Someone just bought your book!

(You can write your story however you want, these are just my own personal tips.)

I'm also speaking from personal experience. I'm picky with what I read and if it doesn't instantly grab my attention, then I move on to looking at another book. The first thing that grabs my attention is the cover, and then I read the back and most times it honestly sounds boring to me. Like one was something like, "it's a boring summer of cleaning the house" and I was like, no thanks.

So honestly? Go crazy with it.

I know some people can feel like, oh that's overdramatic, but..

(Personally, I'd rather be called overdramatic than boring xD )

Hope that helps!

A few more tips..

Cut the boring scenes (the scenes you don't even want to write)

Don't info dump (make the reader care about the character before going on and on about the characters whole life/background/interests. Imagine if a random person walked up to you and started sharing their whole life story lol)

Cliffhangers (end each chapter with an exciting BANG so the reader wants to read the next chapter)

Plot Twists (Yes)

Personality ( I've read too many stories about characters with the personality of a cardboard box. Make your characters lively! Give them some flavor!)

Break the rules (I've read so many writing tips and some of it is like, "thanks but nah, pass." Who says you have to write Your own story a certain way? Go wild.)

Just Write

You can't edit a blank sheet of paper. So trust me on this, just write. Do a writing sprint. Zone out and just write. Don't stop. If you want to pause like, oh wait I need to research this and this first, do it after. You'll end up spending the day researching it, trust me. Instead of that, just add in [research this and this later].

Once you've written a chapter or however much you want, you can go back in later and edit it. They say all writing is rewriting. Trust me, I've rewritten my stories so many times. Why do you think you see so many: "(Don't read! Revamping story)" titles? A lot of people end up just posting their first draft. They look at it later and see so many things they can polish up.

So go hard. Push yourself. Go further.

Take your story to the next level.

This is all just my own advice. So take what you want and leave what doesn't fit your style. And remember that it's Your story.

Hope this has helped! Hmu if you need any advice for your story!

Slay bestie!

(sorry if that's cringe lol but slay!)

[captain-aralias]

WIP Wednesday - Deleted/rewritten scenes from 'Unintended'

Unintended is my Carry On Reverse Bang fic, based on art by @asticou! It's about a fake engagement between friends.

it's finished as of the weekend! which means i'm between fics right now, so going to do my usual thing of sharing bits of fic from when my previous fic was a WIP.

the following contains major spoilers for 'Unintended', so don't read this if you haven't read the fic - go and read the fic instead!

thanks for tagging me today @facewithoutheart @ionlydrinkhotwater @hushed-chorus @forabeatofadrum @bookish-bogwitch @cutestkilla @artsyunderstudy @aroace-genderfluid-sheep @fatalfangirl @krisrix

tagging: @ivelovedhimthroughworse @technetiumai @erzbethluna @chen-chen-chen-again-chen @letraspal @you-remind-me-of-the-babe

💍 👇

Deleted/rewritten scenes

these are the bits that i kept because i re-wrote them a lot.

bits i've shared before:

baz fake proposal from chapter 1 *

sexy kissing from chapter 2

chapter 3 groping but in simon's POV

shepard in chapter 5

*i didn't say this at the time, but another reason i removed this scene was that i knew baz would do the real proposal and i thought i would have simon say 'see, i told you, you would propose', but he never did, because by then i'd written about 10k of crying and the tone seemed wrong.

from chapter 1

“All right.” I manage to keep my voice even. “Then what? We stage a break-up?”

“I figured you’d dump me.”

Well, that’s implausible. “Why? Did you cheat on me?”

“No,” Simon says. “You just realised you could do better.” He points into the case. “How about that one?”

“I hate it,” I say, without looking. I don’t need to. However nice the ring is, I’m not wearing something that I’ll forever associate with this moment. “Why don’t you dump me? Then you’d be the villain.”

“Nobody would believe that,” Simon says, brow wrinkled again. “And you wouldn’t be a villain, it just makes sense.” He points again. “How about …?”

“How about we try another shop?”

We try another three shops. 

💍

Will we get to plan our wedding? The wedding Snow and I might have had, if almost everything about our lives was different. I don’t have anything embarrassing like a ring-binder of ideas, not yet, anyway – but it’s not as if I haven’t thought about it. It’s not as if I haven’t thought about how much I’d enjoy this.

💍

from chapter 4

“No. Trust me,” he says into the phone. “You don’t want to upset my fiancé. He’s the sort of man who enjoys setting things on fire for fun.”

Simon’s turned away so he can finish his conversation. 

“I do not.” 

Not only for fun, anyway. 

“Yeah,” Simon says, ignoring me. “Yeah. No, tomorrow’s fine, thanks.” He hangs up, turning to me. Smiling. “Hey.” 

I lean in and kiss his cheek. (It’s not busy outside the Watford gates, but there are enough school children milling around that I think I can justify it.) 

“Hello, love. Been waiting long?”

“Nah,” Simon says, taking my hand. “Just got here.” 

We cross the drawbridge together. 

We’re here to seek the Crucible’s blessing – it’s a tradition for mage-mage marriages, another binding before the ultimate one. In this case, Simon and I are alreadyjoined, of course, and we have no idea whether we can be bound again. Or whether any magic the Crucible has will work on Simon now that spells bounce of him.

The binding can be reversed – plenty of mages are still left at the altar – but it’s a significant step. After today, our names will be entered in the next edition of the Magickal Record, our intentions publicised. 

I can’t help but think Simon 

i think i felt this scene was dragging. time to switch to simon, that feels like walking/like moving the scene on.

💍

He dumped me again shortly after that – this time for being too clingy. I think that meant that I texted him more than twice a day. And tried to talk to him about what he wanted to do with his life. Definitely a step too far.

Now, of course, we all know what Gerard wants.

He wants to marry a nice girl, who doesn’t ask too many questions. I can’t blame him for that. There were times I thought that would be my future, too.

Fortunately, I think I have something a little better.

“What did you even see in this guy?” Simon whispers to me as Gerard and Maddy approach the Crucible together.

💍

“Crowley, that makes even less sense,” Baz says, making a face. “You wouldn’t be my best friend if I was bothered by any of that.”

“But that’s not going to help us work out what to do about this engagement, is it?” I huff. “And it’s different, being friends and being married.”

“Is it?” Baz says, and it’s strange, but it sounds like he’s really asking. What would be different? Even though we both know that everything would be.

i had real problems with this scene, as you're about to see. we're trying to a) keep the mood UPbeat, simon and b) not give the game away that baz actually wants to marry him.

💍

“Right, well. It’s obviously my fault.” I faff around with my fork, breaking the cake in front of me into smaller and smaller bits. I don’t want to look at him. “You couldn’t handle it anymore. My temper. How fucked up I am. The fact that I can’t even do magic. That I can’t talk to you about books or music—”

“Simon.” Baz leans forward across the table, between the cakes. He takes my hands, “stop.”

I stop.

“You do know that none of that is a problem for me,” Baz says, insistently. “It’s not as if I’m not fucked up. It’s not as if I don’t have a temper.”

“Yeah,” I say. “I know.” I do. I know we work as friends – it’s the rest that’s the problem. “That’s not going to help us work out what to do about this engagement, is it?”

“Well,” Baz frowns, “you could always say you don’t want to talk about it. When people ask – why you broke up with me.”

“I already told you––”

“Or you can keep not breaking up with me,” Baz says, interrupting me. “And I won’t break up with you.”

💍

Not only about the cake. (Although he didn’t choose the chocolate, which is clearly the best.) But – if we don’t break up then we’ll have to get actually married.

Baz must know that. Which means …

Which means … Merlin.

Has Baz just asked me to marry him?

💍

If we don’t break up, Baz and I will be getting married.

Married.

Does he want that?

Do I?

I haven’t thought about it before, I’ve never let myself think about it. Because this wasn’t real, because it all had to end and although I loved Baz, I knew we weren’t supposed to be together.

But now I’m sitting amongst the half-eaten remains of a dozen mini wedding cakes and Baz is in the other room talking to my gran and Penny’s dad about magickal binding spells. And I know I do.

I do. I want to marry him.

💍

If we don’t break up, Baz and I will be getting married. Which sounds good – perfect, actually – except that that’s not the only question and I don’t know the answer to any of the others.

Is that what Baz wants?

Is that really what’s suggesting?

And can I let myself have him if it is?

end chapter. i really hated this ending, and then i remembered that rainbow always ends on a downbeat/stressed syllable. and that got me to the chocolate cake ending, which i really like.

💍

from chapter 5

She hangs up.

I spell the music louder.

SIMON

Somehow, I make it through the next day. And the next. 

Penny helps. Shepard’s still in Scotland – still unreachable by Normal methods and magickal ones. She sent him a bird, but it came back a day later with the note still in its beak. Penny says that means Shep’s underwater. She’s trying not to worry, but I can tell she’d like to talk to him about this. It makes me feel a bit better, knowing I can do something for her, too. She makes sure I remember to have a shower every day; I make sure she’s eating.

I make it through my exam on Friday, too. I’m not on my top form – obviously – but enough of what I’ve learned this year must have stuck somehow as I’m able to answer most of the questions.  

There’s a text from Baz waiting for me when I get my phone back: 

“Hope you didn’t fail. x”

It makes me smile, even though it’s kind of rude and I probably shouldn’t. 

Penny says Baz isn’t replying to any of her texts or her emails, and she thinks he might have eaten the bird she sent. He’s still talking to me, though. Not out loud, admittedly. He hasn’t answered my calls – he says he’s always asleep when they come through, no matter what the time is – but he responds to my texts. It makes me think he doesn’t hate me. 

“Why would he hate you?” Penelope asked me yesterday. “Isn’t this what you agreed would happen?”

It is what we agreed, but she didn’t see Baz’s face. He was so disappointed. 

But at least he doesn’t hate me. He remembered my exam. He sent a kiss.

I text back: “did ok i think. no thx to you. x”

Baz must be watching his phone. He writes back almost immediately: 

“You never needed me. x”

He doesn’t know how wrong he is. The only thing keeping me going is the thought that I get to see him again soon. 

“still on for brunch? x” 

Baz takes a while to reply to this one, even though all he needed to do was thumbs up. I see the three dots fade in and out on the screen a few times before his message finally arrives. 

“I don’t think that’s a good idea right now, do you? We’re supposed to have just broken up. We shouldn’t be seen together in public.” 

OK, I guess that makes sense, even though I can’t imagine anyone’s that interested. Except my grandma and Jamie, for obvious reasons, and some reporter who keeps calling, trying to get me to say something rude about Baz for the Record.  

“we could go to the cinema instead,” I suggest because it’s dark. No one would see us. 

“There’s nothing on,” Baz replies. 

“come round, then? Penny won’t ask any questions. x”  

“Thank you, but I’m busy this weekend.” 

He’s lying. He didn’t even think of an excuse. 

I call him. He doesn’t pick up. He texts me instead. 

“Maybe next week? x”

Next week’s my birthday. Has he forgotten? Has he remembered? What if he remembers and changes his mind? We 

this was clearly a big deleted bit, but i thought simon was....... coming across too happy!!! YES. the opposite of what i'd been fighting the whole time. GET WITH THE PROGRAMME, SIMON. and i didn't need most of this - i needed to get to the lady ruth scene, so i just cut straight there and referred back to this.

💍

“Not because we’re friends,” I tell him. “Not because you have to. Because I love you.”

Simon’s eyes are wide and blue. “Love—?”

“Not as a friend,” I clarify. “Not just as a friend.

SIMON

No, he––

That’s not––

And anyway, even if it’s true––

It can’t be, but––

Even if he kissed me––

I shouldn’t. I can’t.

I can’t say yes.

BAZ

Simon looks like he’s going to cry.

Not in a good way, but I think that’s fine. I feel a bit like crying too – pretty much always.

“Baz,” his voice cracks, “you deserve better.” 

this scene was going so great until i hit 'not just as a friend' - which i thought was PERFECT, and perfect as the end of baz's section - but i really didn't want simon to have to react while he was saying the next line i had in my head, which was 'Baz, you deserve better'. so i tried to write around it. for more than a week. (when i dont know what i'm doing, i always write very slowly.) this one is the first in my doc, but i can't tell if it was chronologically first. it's the closest to what i eventually went with.

💍

“You’re it for me, Simon. There’s no one better.”

“There’s you,” I say quietly.

I immediately regret it – I sound like an ass – but Baz was looking so sad before and at least now he isn’t. He looks like he’s got the answer to something.

“Do you love me?”

💍

“You know you deserve better.”

It’s the right thing to do. Tell him. It’s what I’ve been thinking, all this week. How selfish it was to think I could hold onto him. When I knew I shouldn’t. When I knew––

Baz is shaking his head. “I don’t know that.”

That he deserves everything?

“You should.”

“I don’t want anyone better.” Baz is still pushing, still holding on. “There isn’t anyone better. I’ve only had other relationships because I thought I couldn’t have you.”

No. That’s not––

“Ask Gerard,” Baz entreats. His voice is pained too; his face is so close. “Ask Tristan. You’re it for me, Simon. There’s no one better.”

He looks so sad. It’s breaking my heart, but I can’t let him do this.

“Baz,”

💍

“Baz …”

This is what I wanted. It’s what I want. But I can’t––

We can’t––

I shouldn’t have kissed him just now.

My voice cracks as I speak: my throat’s tight and hot. I swallow.

“You know you deserve better.”

BAZ

I don’t know that.

I don’t know if I deserve Simon, but it’s not important. I love him. I want to be better for him

💍

i have no idea what this came after, sorry

Is this too much?

Or not enough? I can’t tell. I’ve never confessed my feelings to the love of my life before.

It’s awful – and it isn’t, because Simon hasn’t said he doesn’t feel the same. He’s said the opposite. I think that’s good, even though he also looks like he’s about to cry – not in a good way. Honestly, I feel like crying too, but I also feel desperate and like we’re getting somewhere and, anyway, it’s far too late to turn back now. So, in for a penny …

“Marry me,” I beg him. “Please. Love.”

“I can’t.” He sounds wretched.

“Because you don’t love me?”

“Because I’m me,” he says. His wings

you'll see i kept 'about to cry - not in a good way'. i liked that. anyway - that's the end of that. fortunately after all the pain, the scene turned out well! but basically i wasn't ready to cut away to simon, but i had to cut away to simon - not just because the line was good, but becuase he deserves to react. ugh. but he had nothing to say. hard times. ok - something else. i wanted to put the reveal that baz didn't care about the goat into the wedding, but i ran out of time so i tried to insert it into stuff i'd already written.

💍

Everyone forgets about me and Baz for a bit after that. That’s fine, though. The garden’s big enough that we can wander off without anyone noticing. I kiss Baz behind one of the greenhouses. He lets me push my fingers between the buttons of his shirt and bite at his neck. I keep us covered with my wings.

“I love you,” I tell him.

“I love you too,” Baz says, catching my face in his hands. “Also, there’s a goat watching us, so you might want to stop.”

“What?” I laugh and turn around. Sure enough, a winged goat is standing a few feet away from us. It’s not watching, though. It’s eating one of Lady Ruth’s plants.

I hurriedly let go of Baz and try and shoo the goat away. “Get off!”

Baz isn’t at all helpful, even though he has magic. He just watches. Fortunately, I know a few tricks from Ebb.

“Very impressive,” Baz says, as the goat wanders huffily back towards the house.

“Shut up, I got that goat for you.”

“You do know when I said I wanted to be married at Watford, I meant I wanted to marry you?”

“Fuck.” I had to get up early to drive Agatha and the goat here. “I mean, good. But––”

Baz leans “I love you

i hated this though, as it slowed down the action. so i instead broke up the swithin (originally petra, but she's too old by now!) and cake conversation to put the goat there. that worked better.

there might be a few other bits and pieces but that's the main stuff!! thanks for reading.

(i couldnt make the ring emojis smaller. so.... apologies for that)

[zezeiyy]

I read your fic even if I'm not always familiar with the original content bc I really love your style. Do you have any advice for someone who's scared to write? How do you find the time to write?

This is seriously one of the best type of compliments… thank you. And I really appreciate the question because the will to create is something I think about a lot. Creating any type of art, whether it’s an image, writing, a song, is an intensely personal experience and sharing it with the world can be extremely difficult. Obviously I’m going to be focusing specifically on writing, here.I guess the question is, what are you scared of? Are you scared that it won’t be good enough? Are you scared of sharing it with other people, and being judged for it? Are you scared that you won’t be able to follow through and finish it?The thing about writing is that, a lot of the time, it won’t come together until you’re done with it. And you’re never really done with it. I’ve written pieces where I can’t read it without seeing all the flaws, and I want to tinker with it, but after a certain point I just have to accept the way it is and move on. Nothing will ever be perfect and if you cling to that idea that the only way you can show your writing to anyone is if it’s perfect, you’ll be too paralyzed to even put a word down.So this is what I do, personally: put the fucking words down. Even if at times every keystroke makes me cringe, put the fucking words down. It doesn’t matter how stilted or awkward or awful it is, as long as you’re writing, you’re getting ahead. The magic part about writing anything is the ability to go back and edit. Draft one will suck, draft two and three will suck a little less, and maybe by the time you’ve rewritten that sentence ten times, you’ll like it. Or maybe you won’t. But maybe the next sentence will make up for it. Not every sentence is going to be profound. Stephen King had some really good advice. 400 words per day. If you write at least 400 words per day, you’re 400 words closer to a finished product. Even if you end up scrapping it all, that’s still 400 words of practice under your belt. As for sharing it with other people, it’s important to find people you trust with your writing. I have one editor who’s been reading my writing since we were twelve years old, and he tends to be the initial wall I bounce all my stupid ideas off of. I trust him to tell me if something sucks. From there, I have a tight-knit group of friends that get to see some of my earlier drafts who weigh in on what works and what doesn’t. It also helps me feel excited about my own writing, because I’m safe with those people. I trust them. Surrounding yourself with people who can help you evaluate your strengths and weaknesses as a creator is immensely useful. Other people can see things in yourself that you can’t. Listen to them.And the thing is, when you put that writing out into the world, accept that other people might have an entirely different interpretation than what you intended. They might not like it. They might project entirely onto it and turn it into something you don’t understand. It might make them uncomfortable. It might really fucking touch them somewhere deep down and make them feel a little more understood. (Oh, and, learn to reign your ego in and harden the fuck up. Learn from what strangers say about your writing. Learn to take some criticism. It makes you better, even if you initially feel like you never want to write ever again, even if you feel defensive and defeated. Swallow your pride.)Learn your strengths as a writer. Learn where you need to improve. Do exercises that actively help you fill in your weak spots. Read often. Find people who inspire you.Ultimately, you can only write what you want to write. I think it’s good to think about your audience, because art is meant to be shared with other people, but trying to please everyone other than yourself might kill your drive to create. I don’t think it’s a good idea to censor yourself either. Art is meant to make you feel, and it doesn’t always mean you’ll feel good. Share it anyway.As for finding the time? Make it a priority. Schedule it, if you have to. Think about how much time you spend scrolling Twitter, or Tumblr, or whatever site you spend the most time wasting time on. Figure out what work flow works for you. I, for instance, work best when I’m multi-tasking. Typically if I’m writing fanfiction, I’m playing the game/watching scenes/reading lore at the same time. If I’m working on my novel, I’m chatting with friends. As for technical solutions that’ve helped me become a faster writer:- a spreadsheet tracking word count- a short-hand outline with major plot beats- a detailed outline breaking down each action in each chapter- an organized folder with separate documents per chapterThis vastly improved the speed of my writing. Outlines are a living document, and they can change as you get better ideas, but having a plan or an idea in mind gives you a goal to shoot for when you’re putting words on the paper.Wrapping this up because it’s getting long… I do think it’s really important to do more than just write. Make memories with people. Have friends and strangers tell you their life stories. People watch. See the world with your own two eyes. This will make you a stronger storyteller. Ultimately writing is a way of relating to the world. You’ll relate to it better if you actually get the fuck out there and experience it.

[solomonara]

Question: You said a while back that you posted The Breaking of Dick Grayson in pieces partially because it would allow you to do some last minute edits based on people's reactions. Have you changed/edited anything already? And if yes, would you be willing to share? I was going through the comments and now I'm kinda curious.

Oh! Interesting question, thank you! And I apologize for the wall of text that follows… I’m going to put my answer under a cut out of respect for everyone who follows me who doesn’t want to read a couple hundred words about my writing process. (Edit: and if you’re on mobile I just apologize in general because this is a MESS and there is nothing I can do about it)

So, just to clarify for anyone else reading this who isn’t familiar with the comment anon is talking about, what I meant about editing based on peoples’ reactions was that, for example, if I started getting a lot of comments assuming the story was going to go one way that it really was not going to go, that would mean I’d need to add some stuff to sort of steer people back in the right direction. (I have a tendency to put on blinders to really obvious other reasonable plot paths when I’m following A Plan.) As a reader I hate being totally blindsided when it seemed OBVIOUS a story was going to go one way, and then took a hard left that I in no way saw coming. It’s kind of a fine line to walk between predictability and suspense and I worry about it, so I gauge my readers reactions.

I did not mean “Oh, people asked me to include XYZ, I guess I will do that.” I am way too much of a control freak for that.

So to answer the actual question, no! So far I haven’t had to do that! That’s not to say that I don’t make little edits in every single chapter I upload. I usually decide I absolutely hate at least one comma in each one, and I do tend to massage the dialogue a bit.

The only example that comes to mind right now is that in chapter 13 when Tim, Babs, and Bruce are discussing the sudden appearance of Damian, Bruce’s musings about how the League of Assassins might tie into Nightwing’s current unknown agenda just got way too wordy so I took out a couple sentences to make him more terse. That kind of thing. Or I’ll change up vocab choices for different characters because I’ll notice they sound more like me than like themselves.

Which is not to say I don’t have a couple pages full of scraps that were excised completely in initial edits, bits that needed to be entirely rewritten and were left by the wayside in early drafts. Those are mostly things that haven’t happened yet, but here’s an old bit from chapter 4 (remember chatty drugged Dick?) that got rewritten:

“We could still gather combatdata on this blend,” Ra’s said thoughtfully. Savage nodded.

“Grayson. Deathstroke has beenholding you back this entire time. He stands between you and your freedom. Don’tyou think you should fight him?”

“Um, no?” Dick blurted.“That seems like a really stupid idea. I’d have a hard time taking Sladeon a good day; I’d rather not try it while unarmed and drugged!” He hadn’treally meant to say the part about having a hard time fighting Deathstrokeunder the best of circumstances but oh, well. It wasn’t like Slade didn’t know that. And talking seemed to keep his body from automatically doing whatever someone told him to.

“You don’t have a choice.Follow Deathstroke downstairs and fight him with all of your skill,”Savage said firmly.

Deathstroke cleared his throat.“All due respect, gentlemen, but do you want him incapacitated for another few weeks?”

I remixed it for two reasons. 1: I really didn’t want to write a freaking fight scene. I hate writing fight scenes. 2: There was just no point to this dialog or where it was headed. Ra’s and Savage already knew this method of control didn’t do everything they needed it to, so why even get into it. They’re both too smart for that. I was just kind of spinning my wheels with this scene and what I ended up with in chapter 4 isn’t significantly different, but it feels much smoother and more concise to me.

Unlike this answer to your question XD

tl;dr: Nah, nothing significant! But thank you for asking!