#I might have to write this myself once I finish my current longfic

[igotthis2]

Enough wholesome Jayvik, I want full on Machine Herald!Viktor to choke Jayce when he confronts him at the Hexcore and for Jayce to get hard. Viktor wants to prove his victory and Jayce is just happy to have Viktor in any shape or form. (No established Jayvik before this)

Cue rough, intense sex with bottom Jayce and the Machine Herald fighting against his emotions. Machine Herald wants to assert dominance, but Viktor wants to be tender and soft to the man he loves.

[nosferatini]

AO3 Ask Game

Thanks to @addledmongoose for the tag and @cheeseplants for the game!

What fandoms do you write in?

Good Omens. Although I have some Good Omens crossovers with other fandoms. One of my works was a multiverse one-shot with characters from GO, Doctor Who, OFMD, Buffy and Batman.

How many words have you published in 2024?

According to AO3 (which I just learned does statistics by year? lol) I published 435,127 words.

What is your greatest achievement this year?

Well...

I could either talk about fics or podfics here. But if I'm going with fic I'll talk about how far I've come with The Season of Nightingales, my main longfic, which has only two chapters to go.

But I've made some major strides with voice acting and making podfics for some of the wonderful folks in the Good Omens fandom, and I think that's more of an "achievement" than simply something I'm proud of, like progressing my longfic :) I'm especially proud of finishing both my Factory Settings Podfic and Someone is Calling Him Shorewards earlier this year.

What are your top three fics you’ve written this year?

The Season of Nightingales (Good Omens Post S2 Plot-with-Fluff Fix-it, currently at 168k with two weekly chapter updates to wrap it up)

Reversed Veil of Worlds - A Little History (Good Omens Angst, 2/5 chapters published based on @daneecastle's Reversed Veil of Worlds comic series, which if you haven't read you should totally go check out! [Starts HERE!])

Unhallowed Providence (Reverse Omens Gothic AU based on @theonevoice's GORGEOUS demon Aziraphale and angel Crowley art—I've published one chapter and have the story pretty well plotted for the rest, just need to finish Season of Nightingales first!)

What was your biggest pit of despair moment?

There was no one moment... not related to writing or Podficcing. Just the slow and steady realization that I was booking myself for too much stuff and in no way have time to keep up with it all lol.

What have you learned?

....I have a really bad case of FOMO.

What fic did you want to do but never made it off the ground?

I have a little side fic started about Crowley saving the runaway unicorn, and a Coney Island (excuse the period typical term "freakshow") human AU that I have a plot for and no time to write, especially not now that I've signed up for two wonderful artist collabs that are going to be my priority once I finish Nightingales.

Did you beta any fics? Any favs you want to shout out?

Yes! I've beta'd for @dbacklot99, @wingsofopal, and more short one-off projects for various GOAD Writers Guild writers than I could remember at gunpoint lol.

What three fics have you read this year that you love?

If I have to pick three, I'll name the longfics, because there's no possible way I could choose between them and all the incredible one shots and short series that I've read this year. I would recommend anything that I've podficced (which is the vast majority of my AO3 Profile right now) but I'll shout out these three longies in particular:

Someone is Calling Him Shorewards by @harlotofupdog (podfic)

2. A Little Life by @gaiaseyes451 (beware the angst tags... but damn it's good)

3. Friday I'm in Love by NooRose93 (podfic - wip)

What ideas are percolating for next year?

Fics in my queue:

I gotta finish Unhallowed Providence and A Little History first. Someday maybe I'll get to the Coney Island AU...

Podfics in my queue:

Stuck on You by @zin-lynn-c

Mon Horrible Chéri by @mrghostrat

And the Podfic for The Season of Nightingales

there might be a chance of me looking into doing Or Be Nice and maybe a couple of others that I was recced and haven't read yet, but I haven't actually asked the author(s) so don't quote me on that lol.

Who do you want to thank?

@paperclipninja for the absolute knockout musical compositions she has created for some of my podfics!

My beta readers: @addledmongoose, @dbacklot99, @wingsofopal @demonsandpieohmy and NooRose93 (aka blackjeans93)!

My beta listeners: @theonewiththeshippinggoogles and @firstvisittoearth @wingsofopal and others from the various chats who have added their comments after listening!

@daneecastle and the @theonevoice for inspiring me with their comic and/or art and for being wonderful friends to collaborate with!

@elenthyaolyenths for making me pretty logos!

@outrageousring5655 for making prolific podfics so I can absorb more fanfiction than I ever could on my own!

All of my amazing friends from the @goodomensafterdark Writers Guild and @whickberstreetwriters

All of the people who have taken the time to leave lovely, encouraging comments on my fics and podfics. I keep the best comments in my inbox even after replying, because some of the things you've said have warmed my heart, inspired me, or are just generally something to treasure.

A fond, no pressure tag to @gaiaseyes451, @wingsofopal @lemon-tart-221, @adverbian @paperclipninja and @dbacklot99 if you would like to play :)

[tavyliasin]

9 People You Want to Know Better Tag

Tagged by @ankhegs-in-my-salad <3 I'll pop everything below the cut in case I get long and rambly because I know myself far too well to trust any answers will stay short~

Three ships:

Abdirak x He Who Was, my beloved Agenda, the pair so perfect they never leave my mind or my heart. I have read every work with the tag and will continue to devour any more that arise~

Raphael x Haarlep, the two fiends who also share no screen time but I'm utterly obsessed with their dynamics~ I will be getting back to longfics once I've recovered from life some more.

Gortash x Durge, there's just so much tasty lore in here and so many wonderful Durge OCs~

First ship: I am a basic bitch and BG3 fandom began for me with Astarion x f!Tav~ I still love the pair, I truly do, and their story will be finished someday in ATG but the rare pairs hold my soul hostage more often~

Last Song: Beautiful Crime by Tamer https://open.spotify.com/track/4NZKQIAbpUPd0jn0CzvRpS?si=0251195fca38430d

Last Movie: Ahh I don't remember... But I will be seeing the new Deadpool film later this week (and will bite anyone who decides to spoil a single detail about it, I've managed to avoid every single promo and trailer so I can go in knowing nothing which is how I enjoy films~) Currently Reading: Just finished a wonderful fic that I'm going to very highly recommend - https://archiveofourown.org/works/55999948 Mind the tags but it really is wonderful~

Currently Watching: Not a lot, I often lack the patience and focus to watch anything at all. But the Tav & Jav streams of BG3 have been quite a delight on Twitch, one of the few things I will force my mind to be still and enjoy for a few hours. They're finishing their first playthrough hopefully in the next one, which is both exciting and a little sad to see it end~

Currently Eating: Ah, thanks for the reminder! I have a small snack size banana loaf right beside me~ and I have a 0% alcohol cider, Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime to be precise, which is refreshing on a warm night such as this~

Currently Craving: Honestly? Creative drive and peace of mind. Struggling a little at present, but as with all dark clouds it will pass in time, it will just be unpleasant until it does. I miss writing like the world will end if words don't hit the page, but when a break is needed a break must be taken~

Favourite colour: Traditional goth answer, but my wardrobe backs me up that Black is top tier~

Favourite flavour: Hmmm this is tough. For savoury, I'm very partial to cheese, and with sweet I like chocolate, vanilla, and cinnamon to a close to equal degree~

Current obsession: BG3, with a sprinkling of Hades/Hades2

Last thing I googled: Gortash. Single word, and I shall not be elaborating further at this time~

Favourite season: Autumn, for the most part~ Still warm, but a slight biting chill in the wind that makes it perfect for hot drinks and comforting foods~

Skill I’d like to learn: I'd quite like to master any one of the skills I already have. I'm quite a jack of all trades, master of none, so perhaps something such as mastering one of the several instruments I can play a little of might be good?

Best Advice: "You can't edit a blank page." As a writer this has been a solid piece of advice - your first draft doesn't have to be perfect, it simply has to exist, because you can edit something messy into something wonderful but if there are no words there's nothing to polish. Sometimes you just have to write a whole mess and worry about it making sense later~

No pressure tags for @miradelletarot @morb-untamed @eldathsgrove @dmagedgoods @ineadhyn @hydropyro @theemptyislost @thecampjuicebox @taskignored

[runicmagitek]

1 to 3

Thanks so much for the ask!! 🥰

1) How many words have you written this year?

Posted to AO3? Currently 505,081. That'll go up once I post exchange fics throughout December. Also a big portion of that is my longfic (214k), which I finished writing in 2022, but finished posting this year. But in general? I don't have my yearly tracker open, but I think I'm sitting at 350k~ words written so far for 2023.

2) How many works did you publish this year?

Answered this one on a previous ask, but a little over 80 so far!!

3) What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)?

Probably What Leads You Here. I'm really proud of myself for staying on top of this longfic with drafting, edits, and so forth. It might not ever get as popular as my other fics this year, but it means a lot to me and I'm glad I was able to share it with the fandom!

[tunglo]

TAG GAME

Thanking @barmadumet​ for the tag! (omg I love these pointless tag games, reminds me of Myspace or something...)

What book are you currently reading?

Robert Anderson’s 1910 memoirs, The Lighter Side of My Official Life.

What's your favourite movie you saw in theatres this year?

I was just talking about this yesterday - time was I’d roll up at the Multiplex and have already seen every single film showing... Now I take my kid like once a year. The last film we went to was either Encanto or Addams Family 2, whichever one of those is newer.

What do you usually wear?

Oversized t-shirts, rockabilly circle skirts, and my beloved creepers usually.

How tall are you?

5'5"

What's your star sign? Do you share a birthday with a celebrity or a historical event?

Leo. I was born the same day as Princess Beatrice, as my nan never fails to comment on each year.

Do you go by your name or a nickname?

My own name, and then whatever my current penname is for fandom.

Did you grow up to become what you wanted to be when you were a child?

I wanted to write children’s stories. Then to be a teacher. In secondary school I thought about maybe working in translation. I ended up in local politics for a decade instead and doing lots of very sensible stuff. Now I make dollhouse miniatures and am writing a book on UFO sightings. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Are you in a relationship? If not, who is your crush if you have one?

Yup, married about five years now. (my partner is very much the romantic date remembering one in our relationship!)

What's something you're good at vs. something you're bad at?

I’m far too good at focusing on the bad, unfortunately. And I’m bad at being organised and sticking with things long term. :(

Dogs or cats?

Dogs. I would like a cat one day though...

If you draw/write, or create in any way, what's your favourite picture/favourite line/favourite etc. from something you created this year?

My fave fic is pretty much always whichever one I’ve just finished writing - at least until I start writing the next one! In crafting terms I’m pleased with the (albeit slow...) progress of a few projects:

What's something you'd like to create content for?

There are so many fandoms I’d like to write for at some point. I always return to tinker with the Superman/Jimmy Olsen longfic I’ve had in drafts for years, but I seriously doubt it’ll ever end up getting posted.

What's something you're currently obsessed with?

I’m deep in a Star Wars fandom phase at the moment. :) Just, Anakin destroying everything he’s ever held dear with his own greed. I love it.

What's something you were excited about that turned out to be disappointing this year?

Tory party collapsing? They keep hanging on for grim death.

What's a hidden talent of yours?

Speed reading. One of the few things I learned at university that stuck.

Are you religious?

No.

What's something you wish to have at this moment?

Tea. It’s getting to the point where I might have to put the kettle on myself...

Open tags to everyone who wants to! <3

[danceswithdarkspawn]

Hey, Dances! Coming in hot!

1. What fic of yours would you recommend to someone who had never read any of your work? (In other words, what do you think is the best introduction to your fics?)

(I really wanna know so I can start reading your stuff, your excerpt yesterday really enticed me!)

10. How do you decide what to write?

16. What’s an AU you would love to read (or have read and loved)?

33. If you write chaptered fics, what’s your ideal chapter length to write? Is it different from your ideal chapter length to read?

Don't wanna give you too much, so these four should be good! Nice running through your inbox, Dances!

Oh boy, so I have a few different things. Currently, a couple of longfics that are written from different characters and POVs (one in 1st, another in 3rd limited). A lot of my works tend to tiptoe around angst and might be heavy reads. If you want the lightest possible smack with the angst bat, Two of Swords or A Small Victory would probably be best. If you wanna go full-tilt on the angst bat with some idiot slow-burning forever, Broken Bird. This is the first-person POV fic that I'm writing. 10. If we're talking about creating new things, I don't generally get ideas I want to write all that often, or if I do, they go in my notes folder. From there, if I have the time, I pick something that's enticing or that I've been itching to read myself (or just wont leave me the hell alone) and go from there. As to deciding which of my ongoing projects to work on, it honestly depends on the headspace I'm in. I prioritize my longfics over any shorter pieces because I want to finish those. Ultimately, I decide based on what I feel like writing at that moment. 16. I once read an AU in which the events that started Dragon Age: Inquisition (i.e. the Conclave blowing up) never happened. While the fic itself didn't delve too far into that aspect and instead explored something else, I think it sets up a lot of "well what now?" types of scenarios. I'd also be incredibly interested in an AU in which one or more characters comes back from the dead, basically, but they come back...wrong somehow, and can't or won't articulate that to people around them. 33. My written chapter lengths have been anywhere from 2.7k to 8k, but generally I try to hit between 4-5k. Generally speaking, I prefer to read the same length (4-5k), however, if I'm enjoying the story enough, I will read almost any length. I just might need a break depending on the length.

[sesshy380]

🖊 Post a snippet from a current WIP.

🏅 What is something you recently felt proud of in regard to your writing (finished a fic, actually planned for once, etc).

😈 Is there anything you enjoy doing that you think your readers hate?

🌙  What time of day do you prefer to write? Why?

Thanks for the ask! I had forgotten I reblogged an ask game before I went to bed lol.

🏅 What is something you recently felt proud of in regard to your writing (finished a fic, actually planned for once, etc).

Wrapping up another hell chapter, and one scene coming out so amazing that I wanted to cry, because now I want to commission someone to draw the scene but I have no monies to spare 😭

Regardless, it was such an intense scene that something finally 'clicked' in my brain, and now I think my writing style is going to be a bit more consistent throughout the remainder of my longfic (fingers crossed!)

😈 Is there anything you enjoy doing that you think your readers hate?

Ummm...so...many...ellipses...

And OC PoV chapters/too much OC focus atm.

Oh, and Marik currently being in a m/f relationship (I HC he's actually pan with a leaning preference towards asshole male presenting individuals)

🌙  What time of day do you prefer to write? Why?

I answered this in another ask, so just gonna copy/paste my answer.

I do a lot in the later evening because that's usually the only time I have, but I prefer earlier in the day when the house is empty...which isn't something that happens as often as I like.

🖊 Post a snippet from a current WIP.

I saved this one for last because my current WiP is a longfic chapter and I'm gonna hide below a cut. Keep in mind it's still WiP so flow/grammar edits are bound to happen before final posting. Just shy of 350 words. Small TW of Atem wanting to die (not in a self-inflicted way) directly below cut.

Atem felt defeated. He relaxed and closed his eyes again, silently praying Bakura would decide not to toy with him this time and just finish the job.

The blade at his throat shook.

“You’re not going to say anything?!” Bakura seethed.

“What’s there to say that you haven't? I’m a cold-hearted ass.”

Bakura’s irritated growl was the only warning he had as the blade left his throat and a mouth was crushed upon his.

Atem’s eyes opened wide as he tried to recoil away, failing to do so because Bakura was pressed too tightly. He quickly shoved the elemental back, swinging simultaneously. Fist met face, and the sound it made was satisfying to his ears.

Bakura stumbled back, his face one of shock as he brought his hand up to wipe away the small bit of blood from the corner of his mouth. He looked down at the crimson smear on his hand, then over at Atem, a sadistic grin slowly forming.

“That’s more like it! Let’s try this again now that you're a bit more lively,” Bakura said with a dark chuckle.

“What do you want from me?!” Atem shouted bitterly.

“Isn’t it obvious, Pharaoh? I want you to explain your heartless departure.”

“I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

Bakura shook his head while tsking. “That may be true, but I’m not exactly asking for an answer. I’m demanding one.”

“And I’m refusing to give one,” Atem stated with a scowl.

Bakura stood up straight, his blade vanishing as he chewed the inside of his lip while slowly nodding in thought. “I see. So we’re gonna do this the hard way.”

He walked over to the wall of glass that overlooked the city and knocked on it. “Mal, you might want to get ready for a quick repair job.”

Bakura looked back at Atem, his grin becoming even more devilish than usual as his eyes began to glow bright. Atem could swear that a few tufts of hair had risen to take on the appearance of horns. “Hey, Pharaoh…can you fly?”

[foibles-fables]

hey i was hoping for some advice on how to stop planning fics and actually START?? like i feel like i have to plan out every chapter and then just feel paralysis at actually starting at the fear of the fic derailing into something else (which is part of the beauty ik) any advice helps :’(

HELLO NONNY! First of all, totally flattered you'd want to come here for advice. Second, gosh, yes, this is one of the most difficult parts of fic writing. Happy to try to help out, though this might get long!

So I see that you're primarily concerned with multi-chaptered/longfics here! It's been a minute since I've hunkered down to work on one of those myself--but this is a good warm-up question for me, as I've got a couple current ideas (including original work) that would necessitate more long-term planning.

When you're writing and publishing a longfic, you pretty much have three options, each with a varying degree of rigidity.

Plan your entire fic (however you like--outline, flow chart, etc.!) and finish writing it in its entirety before posting on a schedule per chapter. Benefits here include the ability to let your plot/characters grow organically without being bound to something you've already posted. No worries about a plot "derailing" if you're able to course-correct something earlier in the midst of it! Also, you're able to write in genuinely any order in this case. Downside, though, is that motivation can be a struggle here.

Plan your entire fic roughly and start writing at the beginning. Give yourself a few chapters of leeway (maybe 3-4 ahead of posting??) and post on a schedule while working on future chapters. You'll still be able to account for organic growth, here, but you are more bound by items that have already been posted. A good plus, though, is the motivation you might get from readers along the way.

Plan your entire fic, start writing at the beginning, and post chapters as they're finished without leeway. GREAT for feedback, but it's super easy to get yourself stuck as new ideas develop.

For an original work with the goal of publication, obviously, I'd use option one. For fic writing and posting on AO3, though, I'd make it my goal to pursue option 2. It's a really nice balance of keeping yourself and your plot on track but also picking up some sweet serotonin along the way.

Regardless of your posting method, it also seems like you'd benefit from hearing how I plan longfics in general. Using a typical indentation format, I start with the bare-bones structure of the plot to help determine chapter breaks (which can change as the actual writing occurs) and overall actions. Once I have the main ideas spelled out, I'll go back and fill out each section into as much detail I have in mind at the time. This will definitely vary chapter section by chapter section. Some ideas will already be specifically developed! Others might stay bareboned.

From there, I head to the opening chapter, as I personally write in order (you might not!). I'll fill in the chapter section with as much detail as possible (scenes, dialogue, in-depth prose notes, etc.) to make actually writing out the chapter as easy as possible for me. Using an excerpt from one of my longfic outlines, here's how a ready-to-be-written chapter section might look:

also note how messy they actually are lol

Once I have that level of detail done, I'll write the chapter. It really helps because while the planning was still "planning," it becomes a lot easier to translate the Plan into actual prose. After the chapter drafted and then finished, I'll move on to the next section and flesh it out exactly the same way before writing. Rinse and repeat!

That way, I have my overarching framework all good to go, but the little living details are the ones that can change as the work itself is completed! I think it's a happy medium between rigidity and natural flow, in which neither really impedes the other.

Bottom line, though? Best way to start writing is to just start. Easier said than done, and something that's really hard for my brain to accept as well. It's a universal struggle. But when you find the tools that work for You, it's fantastic!

God this got so much longer than I intended. Apologies and thanks if you sat through all of this without your eyes glazing over. As for me, I'm off to keep agonizing over planning and actually starting various one-shots, lmao.

[wander-wren]

Ok, here goes! I wanna preface this by saying that I've been in a serious writing rut for like the past six months, to the point where I've pretty much given up on my WIPs. It's not that I don't want to write, or that I don't have ideas, but the actual work of sitting down and getting words on the page feels like pulling my own teeth out. So I'm conducting research on writers I admire to see if I can learn anything from their processes. And so, without further ado:

How long have you been writing?

Do you start out knowing what's gonna happen in the story, like with a plot chart and everything, or does the story take shape as you go along?

Do you write in big chunks or a little bit at a time?

How many drafts do you typically do? Is your first draft usually like word vomit or something a little more polished?

Do you have a beta reader?

What's your editing process like?

Is there a certain time or place where you prefer to write?

What do you consider the hardest part of writing?

Have you ever struggled with perfectionism in your writing? Do you have any tricks for bypassing that "EVERYTHING MUST BE PERFECT" wall in your brain and just get words on the page?

That was a lot lol. Of course you don't have to answer all of them, but any insight you're willing to give will be greatly appreciated!

Thank you very much <3

woo okay let’s tackle this!! under the cut bc Long. strap in folks

How Long Have You Been Writing?

in any shape or form: since maybe 6 years old? but i started writing fanfiction at 12, started getting serious about writing in general at 15, and threw myself full tilt into fanfic at 17, so currently i haven’t written original fiction Really since june. which is a complicated answer. you didn’t specify if this is about original stuff or fic, but i’ll try to answer from both perspectives bc my process for each is wildly different.

Plotter or Pantser?

for both original fiction and longfics, i’m solidly in the middle; i usually start with a list of things i want to happen, and i always need some idea of where i’m going to end, even if it changes later. from there, i start writing the first few chapters. when i feel like i have a more solid grasp of where i’m going, i outline chapter-by-chapter through one “section” of the story, however i define that. once im done that section, i outline again. this gives me a lot more freedom to change things as i go and adapt to new decisions i make. i also add random ideas to my masterlist of stuff that i might want to include further down the line as i go.

with oneshots i never, or almost never, have a plan beyond the premise/summary, so they frequently get away from me and do all kinds of random things.

Big Chunks or Little At a Time?

i’m gonna say big chunks? i have adhd so i frequently hyperfixate on my projects and can work on them for hours and hours on end, which i don’t exactly recommend, but it happens. at any given time i have a “main” wip or two that i work on pretty much daily, and then others scattered around that i might pick up for a few hours if i get bored. but i try to finish fics as fast as possible bc if i move on there’s a 50% chance i won’t come back, at least not for months.

How Many Drafts?

for fanfic? one. every once in a while if something is REALLY not working i’ll rewrite sections, so that’s like 1.5 drafts, but it’s free labor i do for fun so while i take pride in it and want it to be good, i’m not going to expend THAT much energy, yknow?

for original stuff, like if we’re talking novels…at least three drafts? i haven’t gotten that far with most of my projects so i’m still learning about myself, but my general process seems to be that the first draft is about getting the main story beats and the emotions down. my first draft is always very heavy on the angst and catharsis, sometimes overdramatically so, bc there’s less plot to hold it up. then my second draft is more about plot and realism and structure, but i tend to lose some emotions in trying to do that. my third draft is about combining the two and continuing to polish stories/characters. i haven’t written any fourth drafts, so i’m not sure whats beyond that.

and my first drafts tend to be very polished. i wrote a little rant explaining the history of that aspect of my writing not long ago, so i won’t get into it again. part of that is just how i’ve always been, part of it is practice. i do feel sometimes that i write pretty enough to cover up structural/realism/continuity issues, which can be frustrating when looking for critique from people who can’t see past it.

Beta Reader?

yes! i have a small group of writer friends that i share things with, but that is pretty much always for cheer-betaing and minor critiques unless i ask for actual criticism, which i only do with my original stuff when i get to the second/third draft, partly bc it’s not ready before then, and partly because it’s a lot of mental work for the other people. shoutout to my main bnha betas, @rangerlexi and @spacetime-enthusiast, who are, as i said, mainly cheer betas, tho mav is also my resident bakugo expert bc he’s very hard for me to write sometimes. getting better tho!

can’t recommend finding betas enough, even if just to cheer you on. hell, i can’t make promises about super long works or original fic, but i’m always down to read fanfiction. i don’t even bite, i swear. obligatory note that you do gotta trust ppl tho yada yada thieves exist and mean people exist etc etc

Editing Process?

for fanfic: typically i reread one or two times right away while all my thought processes are fresh in my head. i’ll make spot edits and add or delete things here and there. then depending on how impatient i am, i wait a day or a few to send it to my betas and/or reread and edit again myself. then i post and i’m done!

for original works: i don’t bother to edit first drafts, or even second drafts sometimes. when it’s time to prep for a second draft, i reread and make notes on what i want to keep and what i want to change, then use those notes to make my next skeletal outline. usually my stories change drastically from one draft to the next, but the last time i did a third draft, i wanted it to be pretty close to the structure of the second, so instead of outlining at all i just did splitscreen and wrote the whole third draft while looking at the second, sometimes basically retyping a page word for word, sometimes going “well, that chapter is pointless” and skipping it entirely. when it came to line editing, i used hemingway bc i don’t trust computers to do my editing, BUT the different colored highlights were helpful to break up the monotony. hemingway is a lot more focused on concise/readable sentences and cutting adverbs than anything else, which was good for me as an overwriter. i cut 22k words the last time i used it, from a 130k draft.

Best Time or Place?

not really? i write everywhere and constantly. the advice about finding your niche of productive time never seemed to work for me because, as long as i’m not blocked/stuck, i pretty much always kind of want to write.

Hardest Part?

DEVELOPING RELATIONSHIPS OH MY GOD IT’S THE WORST. sorry. i hate. doing that. becoming friends? becoming family? falling in love? god. kill me. i love all [thing] to lovers in reading but in writing i tend to drift toward best friends to lovers bc then it’s kind of close. i love writing about people in relationships, tension and banter and softness and fights, but getting there is so awful.

Are You a Perfectionist? Tips?

hm. gonna try to answer this honestly and in the least asshole-ish sounding way possible lmao.

i’m not really a perfectionist? not in writing, anyway, idk about other stuff. but also it’s just like…i know i’m good at what i do. not perfect—i can see flaws in things i wrote even a few months ago—but good. More Than Satisfactory. sometimes fics just don’t work and i abandon them, sometimes it takes me a while to figure out what i’m doing, but i’m not generally paralyzed by the need for anything to be perfect because i’m happy where i am?

that’s a hard mindset to get to, though. and you will for sure feel good about something and then dislike it in a few months or years. that’s just the nature of improving your craft. i think if i had any tips, though, i would say a few things.

watch this video essay, the whole thing but specifically 5:39-9:20. i love cj the x and i agree with many of his takes on art, so. some of his other essays might be helpful as well but that one i know talks specifically about perfectionism.

or if you don’t want to, just have this quote that melted my brain a little when i heard it. “perfectionism is not an inherently bad impulse. but you have to earn that. you don’t get to be a perfectionist if it is unproven up to this point if you can even make a thing.”

read bad stories. like genuinely i’m such a petty spiteful person oops so. i don’t really seek them out much but reading like, really really badly written work is like “well, if that’s the bar, at least i’ve cleared it.” obviously don’t go attacking creators or posting the work to make fun of it, but read it. maybe make notes of exactly why it’s bad for yourself, even, it might help you get better at identifying problems in your own work if you can figure out why things are bad beyond just “i don’t like it.” there, that sounds less mean, right?

just post your shit, tbh. put it out there. most people on the internet, in fandoms, they’re nice, if you curate your space properly. it’s a confidence boost! put something out there that’s less-than-perfect, get a couple of kudos and realize the world didn’t implode, and maybe, maybe it’ll be easier to start/finish next time.

you kinda just gotta accept that you need practice, my dude. like. you can’t closer to perfect without work!! we know this!! just do it. i know i just said to post things but also if you hate what you made no one!! else!! has!! to!! know!! it can be a secret. it’s okay. this coming from a chronic oversharer lol i have the worst time trying not to shove my stuff at people….which, actually, kinda worked better as motivation for me, bc i couldn’t share something unfinished, so i had to Do The Thing in order to get validation/feedback/critique like i wanted. so either way, whatever works better for you.

The End

so yeah, those are my answers, i guess? i hope that makes sense and helps and everything!! i’m really sorry you’re in a rut, that’s the worst. if you have any more questions or just wanna chat about what you’re writing feel free to come say hi again!

[thatfeanorian]

2021 Fanfic Year in Review

thanks @viola-ophelia for the tag! :))

Total Completed Works: 20, WOW I didn’t even realize that that’s a little insane. And that’s not even counting the number of chapters in some of those.

Word Count: 115524. Again, that’s absolutely insane. I-- wow. I mean I’m sure there’s a huge number of people who’ve written more but compared to what I was expecting? Huge.

Fandoms I’ve Written in: S I L M A R I L L I O N. I write one thing and at least people like that. 

Looking Back, Did You Write More Fic Than You Thought You Would This Year, Less, Or About What You’d Expected? Way more. I’m very pleasantly surprised. I guess it was just a fanfic sort of year. 

What’s Your Own Favorite Story Of The Year? Ooooooh. I think it’ll have to be When Stars Sing, one of my TRSB fics. The story of a night in Himring and how Fingon and Maedhros exist together. A lot of angst, a lot of love. My artist was absolutely amazing and I adored writing this fic, plus I’m extremely happy with how it turned out. I am, however, a little disappointed by the number of people who read it, it’s a lot less than I had hoped for considering how much I love it myself, but I guess it’s all luck, isn’t it?

Do You Have Any Fanfic Goals For The New Year? Yeah, a bunch actually. I have a longfic that I’m currently working one (two actually) that I really want to finish as well as a few sequels I promised to people ( @arofili I swear I’m working on it it’ll be out soon). I feel like my quality of writing has vastly improved over the course of this year and I look forwards to being able to share my writing with y’all!

Most Popular Story Of The Year? All The Ways To Love. 37k words of Russingon arranged marriage ft bad-dad-Fëanor (I needed a villain I’m so sorry) and baby Maglor. Go check it out, if you want, I had a TON of fun writing that one.

Story Of Mine Most Under-Appreciated By The Universe, In My Opinion: Your Face, So Sweet. God this is one of my favorite fics I’ve ever written. A Modern AU in which Maedhros and Fingon decide they need something else in their life and adopt baby Gil-Galad. I feel hypocritical being like “omg it only has 200 hits” but also I honestly think this one is better than my most popular fic and I wish that more people had read it, as it’s one that’s close to my heart. 

Most Fun Story To Write: Guide You Softly Slowly Towards The Light, my other TRSB fic! This one was so sweet and light and I had an amazing time writing it. Kidnap dads always gets me like that. 

Most Unintentionally Telling Story: How Beautiful You Are To Me, a BODY DIVERSIT ELVES FIC with russingon, featuring pretty major fatshaming (completely condemned in the fic) and a whole fuck ton of love between Maedhros and Fingon. I am once again on a mission for body diverse elves and body positivity and I wrote this during ED recovery, which I guess was a coping mechanism in itself. Oops.

Biggest Disappointment: That If You’ll Still Be Mine has so few hits on it. Another fic I’m extremely proud of that I feel like hasn’t really been read. I, once again, adore this fic and I wish more people had gotten to read it, as I feel like it might actually be one of my best pieces of writing quality-wise. Go check it out if you want to!

Biggest Surprise: The amazing people who have gifted me fics this year as well as all the lovely comments I have received. Y’all are absolutely amazing and I adore every one of you. It means so much to me that you take the time to write for me and comment on my works, it keeps me inspired and confident as well as giving me (inevitably) wonderful ideas for future fics.

tagging @arofili, @maironsmaid, @findrahil, @fingons-rad-harp, & @jaz-the-bard

if any of y’all are interested I’d love to see!

[ghirahimbo]

Fanfic Review

tagged by @petite-neko

How many works do you have on ao3? 17

What’s your total ao3 word count? 283,239

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they? Three on ao3 (Legend of Zelda, Danny Phantom, and Welcome to Night Vale), though I think my ff.net account might have some old Yu-Gi-Oh stuff.

Are there any new fandoms you want to write for? I could imagine writing for the Wheel of Time show, maybe, and I had a thought for a Good Omens oneshot once, but really I'm happy where I am :)

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Pinesong Blind, But Now Offers Made in Moonlight All That Bleeds The Importance of Being Link

Which of your fics do you want more attention for? Ohhh Crystalline probably. I'm in this weird space of liking that one while at the same time feeling kinda insecure about it ^^;;

Do you respond to comments, why or why not? I do eventually! :D I got really behind on it during quarantine when Pinesong kind of exploded, but I'm pretty much caught up now. It's a fun way to make connections with readers :)

What sorts of things do you normally write? Slow burn? Humor? Angst with a happy ending? Some adventure? Emotionally loaded conversations? XD Not really sure what genre I fall into, actually.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending? Uhhh it's gotta be Echo & Narcissus, I think. WTNV Strex Corp bad ending oneshot ;-;

What’s a fic that pushed you out of your comfort zone? Probably Blind, But Now, because I did a lot of research about writing for a blind protagonist, and it's probably the closest I've come to writing longfic.

Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? Not usually. I'll read them sometimes, but prefer to write characters in their own worlds.

Have you ever had a fic translated? Somebody's translating Pinesong into Chinese right now, actually! I could probably find the link if anyone's interested :)

Have you ever co-written a fic before? Ha ha, started to once with a Yu-Gi-Oh fic, but we only got about six chapters in before my partner drifted away from the fandom.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will? lol I don't like saying that I'll never finish a wip because I tend to pick them up again after a couple years away XD That being said, I doubt I'll ever get The Importance of Being Link all the way through the Ganon fight, but I never really expected to, either.

What are you currently working on? Blind, But Now's last chapter and a revalink secret santa oneshot :) After that it's back to Arbiter and Better, and after that I have a longfic idea I really want to do... plus some random oneshots and maybe TIoBL thrown in there, I'm sure.

What are your writing strengths? lmao you tell me XD I guess I've heard it's characterization.

What are your writing weaknesses? Consistency.

What was the first fandom you wrote for? Most recent? The first I published for was Danny Phantom, and most recent is Legend of Zelda.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written? Depends on my mood. I guess I usually enjoy rereading The Importance of Being Link because I never really tried to be serious with it, so I felt less pressure for it to be "good"

What fic are you most proud of? Blind, But Now, mostly because I'm proud of myself for not giving up on it XD

Tagging: @coconi, @tirsynni, @heleentje (if you want! no pressure!)

[princip1914]

A few thoughts on writing longfic

I’ve had this post brewing for a while and I figured since today is a Friday I might as well let it out into the wild. 

First off, this is not writing advice. I don’t feel qualified to give writing advice. This is a few observations I’ve made over the course of trying to write something that feels, well, long. Fandom is full of excellent authors writing long chaptered fic, but I don’t see a lot of people talking about how they go about producing such fics. I remember feeling like long fic was really out of reach for me when I started writing again in the summer of 2019 after not writing for years and years and I wanted to talk a bit about how that changed for me. Of course, this post comes with all the caveats that there is no need to ever write long fic if you’re not feeling it. Some of my favorite authors write mostly or only oneshots! But, if you are interested, here’s my lengthy, self indulgent, and entirely personal take on ~the longfic process~ below the cut. 

First, to get this out of the way: long fic is anything that feels long or complicated to you, the author. “I’m working on my long fic” can mean that you’re branching out from microfiction to write something that’s 2k long, or it can mean you’ve got a multi-part 800k epic. There’s no objective measure of if something is “long fic,” Your own personal definitions can also change as you grow in confidence or change your focus as a writer (a little over a year ago when I finished Doubt Thou the Stars are Fire topping out at 31k, that felt very very long to me. Now it feels….still long, but not very very long.) 

Here are a few specific things that helped me write something long. I don’t know if they will be interesting for anyone else, but at the very least writing these down has been a fun way for me to reflect on my own process. 

Practice exercises. Ok, this is going to sound exceedingly obvious, but writing one shots prepares you for writing chaptered fic. Here’s what I mean more specifically: if you know you want to write (as a totally hypothetical example) a chaptered fic set in America in the summer that relies heavily on a nature metaphors, is written out of chronological order, and features a melancholy tone--it helps to write a few one shots like that before you embark on the Big Fic. Just like artists tend to do sketches before starting a big piece, it’s very helpful to write something small that gives you a feel for the ~vibe~ of what you’re trying to do in the long fic. It’s helpful for all the usual reasons--you get to know a specific version of the characters which helps plan out a character driven plot for the long fic--but it’s also helpful because you will learn if the tone and mood of the fic has enough staying power to capture your interest for the long haul. For instance, I have a few unfinished chaptered fics that have a humorous tone. I wish I had done more short humorous fics before starting them, because I would have realized that I don’t currently have the mental stamina to hold up a humorous tone for the length of a chaptered fic (hopefully that will change and I will finish Last Days some time this century!). 

Plan it out ahead of time. I used google sheets for The False and the Fair. I do not think God intended google sheets to be used for fiction, but that was not going to stop me. On a more serious note, I think the best tool for planning fiction is the one you’re the most comfortable with--the notes app in your phone, handwriting, word, google drive, sheets, chalk board, summoning circle, the blood of your enemies, etc. The reason I chose to use sheets is that I knew from the very beginning that I wanted certain things to happen at specific places in the story--for instance, I wanted the first kiss to happen at the end of the first third of the story and I wanted the “reveal” about the mine accident to happen at the end of the second third of the story. But, I didn’t know what was supposed to go in between those elements. A traditional outline for a story at this point in development might have looked like: 

Meet cute

Kiss

Reveal 

Ending 

But, what my brain needed was to preserve the blank spaces in between these story elements, and specifically to preserve the right amount of blank space between these story elements so that it didn’t end up, for instance, that the first kiss was halfway through rather than a third of the way through. In this way, I found google sheets an invaluable tool for pacing in the early parts of the planning process. I simply made 30 rows assuming 30 chapters, and started plugging in the elements I knew I wanted in the locations I wanted them. Then I filled in the blank spaces by asking myself “how do we get from X plot element to Y plot element in Z amount of chapters.” I’m not a mountain climber, but I’ve often thought about the first things that go into the spreadsheet in terms of mountain climbing terminology.  In climbing, a crux move, which can be anywhere along the route, is the most difficult move of the route: if you can’t do it, you can’t do the route. I think of the first things that go into the planning spreadsheet as the crux moves of the story, the most important pieces around which everything else turns. It was not an accident that those were also all the first scenes of the fic that I wrote; if I couldn’t do those scenes, I couldn’t do the story the way I planned it so I wanted to know early on if I needed to make changes.

Make changes if you have to: even though it helps to have things planned in advance, don’t resist the story if it tries to change on you while you’re writing it. Usually the feeling that you have to make changes stems from having a plot that is not entirely character driven. As you write the story, the characters reveal themselves and sometimes the plot has to change to change with the characters’ motivations. Here’s an area where fanfic writers have a leg up on everyone else: if you write fic, you already know the characters really well. That means, (in my experience anyway) it’s less likely that you’ll have a surprise character development which leads to a rethinking of the whole plot. Less likely, but not completely unlikely, unfortunately.

Lie to yourself: The False and the Fair was supposed to be 90k words. I thought that sounded reasonable, a little less than 3x the longest fic I had ever written. Now it's 161k and will probably top out a little over 170k. Ooops. But I never would have set out to write something that long. I wouldn’t have thought I could do it, even though anyone more experienced looking at my plans for the fic probably would have laughed at the idea I could cover all those plot points in 90k. Ignorance is bliss. Protect your ignorance.

Scrivener: Long fic for me means “fic that is long enough you can’t hold all the parts of it in your head at once.” That’s where Scrivener comes in (or another app if you’d rather, but I really like Scrivener for the ability to see the project either linearly or as condensed notecards). You can put together an organizational scaffold in Scrivener that allows you to move back and forth between the forest and the trees. So, for instance, you might be going for a jog and come up with the perfect line of dialogue for chapter 27 when you’re only up to chapter 5 in terms of writing progress. With Scrivener, you can go home, and put that dialogue in the “bucket”/index card/whatever for chapter 27 without compromising your ability to see chapter 5 clearly or muddying up your google doc. You can then use the fact that you’ve started writing bits and pieces of the later chapters in conjunction with the tool of lying to yourself that, actually, you’ve written a lot more of the fic than you realize and that when you get to chapter 27 it won’t be as hard as chapter 5 because you’ve put in the groundwork already. In my experience, this lie turns out to be true about 50% of the time, which is better than 0% of the time.

Digestible mini arcs: The False and the Fair was originally broken up into thirds. I thought it would be 90k and 30k was the longest I had written, so thirds seemed to make sense. Also, 3 is a nice, time honored storytelling number. I think it’s good to give yourself seemingly achievable milestones along the way to completion. These milestones (for me anyway) lined up well with the “crux moments” I’ve described. If you’re someone who likes to write out of order, writing your way to an already written milestone can feel like sailing to an island where you get to rest for a bit from the stormy seas before setting out for the next island in the archipelago.

“It's all part of the process”: I’m categorically incapable of describing things without resorting to running metaphors, and so I apologize in advance, but I am now going to do the insufferable thing of comparing writing a long fic to running a marathon. Here’s the thing with a marathon. You are not going to feel good every step of the way. We all know this. It’s a marathon, it’s supposed to hurt a little bit, especially at the end. In the same way you literally cannot write something novel length or even novella or long short story length without, at least at some point, feeling bad about yourself and your writing. But you also can’t run a marathon if the whole thing is agony, and for most people, it’s not--your meat sack shuffling along the course is subjected to the slings and arrows of all sorts of weird body chemistry that only happens when you push it to its limits. So, you’ll be in agony and then the endorphins will kick in for a while and you’ll be thinking “this isn’t nearly as bad as everyone said,” and then you’ll drink some water at a rest stop and feel like a God for half a mile before you crash and you’re in agony again until that one perfect song comes up on the playlist...and you get the idea. Writing something long, for me at least, is a bit like that. There are massive ups and downs. The key for me is to just understand it’s all part of the process, a necessary step on the way to the finish line. If the fic is 10 chapters long, at some point you have to write chapter 5. Just like you have to write chapter 5, at some point you also have to go through a bit of despair before reaching the end. It is unfortunately non-optional. In fact, despairing is something you can check off your list each time you’ve done it. Cut dialogue tags, check. Feel awful about my writing for thirty minutes, check. Write ending section, check. Often I feel that the stress and shame and fear that come with bad emotions while writing are worse than the bad emotions themselves. It really helps me to remember these emotions are all part of the process and nothing to worry about. If I didn’t have them, then I would worry! 

I certainly have plenty more to say about writing, but this ramble has gone on long enough. If you’re interested in any of this stuff, please feel free to send me an ask. 

I would also love to know more about everyone else’s writing processes, so feel free to pop into my ask box to talk about your own approach too! I am very interested in this stuff! 

[hezjena]

Thank you so much @kittynomsdeplume and @noire-pandora for the tagging me in the writing tag game! <3 Tagging forward @sidhelives, @enby-hawke @jrastegar, @piecesofsolaswriting​ and @the-cryptographer

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

30 

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 

553474 - (that’s almost as long as War and Peace!) :O

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Rituals of the Dalish - 305 kudos

Make no Mistake - 102 kudos

Blue Afternoon - 70 kudos 

Hunger - 69 kudos ;)

Writer’s Block - 58 kudos 

4. Do you respond to comments, why, why not?

So I try to respond to every single one of my comments, and I think I’ve got a pretty good success rate, but sometimes things fall through the gaps - particularly when work gets busy and I can’t keep on top of things. But I read every single one of them, often multiple times. I love every single person who’s ever left a comment on something I’ve written, and everyone’s support means the world to me <3 

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

That is hand’s down, Feverdream. Not only because it’s Solavellan which is angsty as all heck, but there’s a fake-out happy ending before the epilogue hits right in the gut. I’m still evil cackling over that one <3 

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Ohhh that’s a tough one, because I don’t really consider myself as someone who is good at writing happy endings - but the most hopeful ending(?) that might just have to be No Man’s Land featuring old!ladies Anora/Celene. 

7. Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one that you’ve written? 

Not anymore, and nothing that’s on AO3 - and then I cryptically disappear into behind a smoke bomb and you see me tiptoeing towards the door! >.<

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yup... 

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

Hehe yes! I like oneshot PWPs as well as incorporating it into longfics. If the characters want to go at it, who am I to stop them? Saying that I particularly enjoy writing femslash, but have written a fair amount of hetslash. My current side project is, City of the Dead an E rated Alistair/Bethany in which they cannot keep their hands off each other :’) 

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not as far as I’m aware

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but my dear friend @piecesofsolaswriting made me a podfic of the first chapter of Make No Mistake, does that count? If the translation is from text to spoken word? Maybe? >.<

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

Nope, but I have grand plans <3 

13. What’s your all time favourite ship? 

Oh no, don’t ask me that, I love all of them >.<

But crackfics have a special place in my heart <3

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Rituals of the Dalish - I started my longfic way back in 2018, and it’s LONG. I recently cut it right down to the scenes that I needed with the hope of just getting it finished. But my motivation to complete it is drying out, because it’s lingered for so long. And my writing has improved so much since I started, I kept editing the bits I’ve already written rather than finishing it. I’d like to finish it before DA4 comes out and I get well and truly jossed. But, that might have to remain a dream >.< 

15. What are your writing strengths?

EDITING. I love editing, my writing is bad, but I can just keep going over it and over it, until it’s half-decent and I love that. Taking my dumb lumps of coal and turning them into shiny glass :’) 

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Burn out. Grand plans that fizzle out because I’m too lazy to complete them :’) 

17. What was the first fandom you wrote for? 

Once upon a time, well over a decade ago, I wrote a character study for Jades-The White Witch from Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe. It’s probably still up somewhere in the depths of dA >.<

18. What’s your favourite fic you’ve written? 

That’s really difficult, it’s a toss up between Malfeasance, a dark, gritty and serious character study of Merrill written for one of @the-cryptographer​‘s prompts and Monarch a Trois a very unserious, femslash PWP, featuring three of Thedas’ Queens <3 

[babycharmander]

Things I have learned in my 20+ years of writing fanfic

I’d been thinking about this for a while and figured I’d compile a list, in case other people find it helpful. Keep in mind that what I say here is only my own experiences and tastes and I’ve no intentions of telling you how to write your own stories. So uhhh... let’s go!

1) Different stories require different planning methods. When I was younger, I used to think that I had to use the exact same method for planning each of my stories. Strict outlines on everything! Except... that's not how writing works. Stories are like wild beasts--you can try to tame them, certainly, but as each one is an individual, it may require different methods. Or you may discover that the stories that come to you are ones you can all write in the same way!

But for me personally, I find it best to plan out stories in different ways depending on which one seems to work at the time. One story may require a strict outline, while another may need a very loose roadmap. Other times I can fly from the seat of my pants and finish a story that way, or even use things readers have brought up to help me figure out parts of my story. The point is, don't try to confine yourself to one method of planning. Do what suits your story.

2) When working on a longfic, look for ways to include other characters. This one doesn't apply to every fandom or fic situation (for example, if there's only two main characters in your fandom, or if your characters have a very very very good reason to be isolated), but it's honestly a little bit of a pet peeve of mine when it comes to other stories, though I was guilty of it too when I was younger. I remember writing fics in fandoms where you'd have a large group of characters, but... the fic would only focus on two or three of them. They seemed to exist in a bubble, where no one else outside of that bubble really reacted to what was going on, even if there was no reason why they SHOULDN'T react to this.

For example, say you're working on a longfic for a fandom where there's a group of 5-10 characters (maybe a family, a neighborhood, a team, whatever). In this fic, character A nearly dies, leaving character B devastated at their terrible state and doing everything in their power to take care of A. And then... the rest of the characters don't really do anything, or just avoid the situation for no apparent reason. Once again, it feels like the whole story is taking place in a bubble. I totally get that sometimes you want to just focus on A and B's relationship, but consider how you approach this sort of thing for a longfic. Why not look for ways to include the others?

I'm not saying that means the entire story has to focus on all of those characters if your main intention is to focus on the relationship between A and B. But look for ways to include the others in the group/team/family/neighborhood/town/whatever--show how they're reacting to the situation or what they're actively doing to help or hinder it. Even if you only show one or two scenes per character, it burst the "bubble" effect of your longfic and makes the story richer and the world fuller. Heck, you may even find that you actually enjoy writing those other characters more than you initially thought. Give it a try!

3) In longfics, have specific details in your story that you can potentially bring back later. I'm not entirely sure how to explain this one, but... give your story specific details. Stuff like characters briefly talking about an event from the past, or a character having an item in their possession, or a character happening to know another, or just... anything. Obviously don't fill your stories with unnecessary detail, but sprinkle interesting, specific things in there every so often. You don't have to linger on them or hang a bright flashing arrow next to them to tell the reader "LOOK AT THIS!!!" In fact, you don't even have to come back to them later.

So... why am I telling you to do this?

Because sometimes those specific details will surprise you.

Sometimes you'll be writing part of your story, and then get stuck, and go back and reread something... and then you'll run across one of those details, and it will be the answer to your problem. Sometimes readers will pick up on those details, and voice their own thoughts on them, which might give you an idea for a plot point to bring up later. Sometimes those details wind up being the link between two plot points that you couldn't figure out how to tie together.

Even if they don't wind up doing any of those things, they can just be something to add more life to your story, and make it more memorable for your readers.

4) If your source material has voice acting, keep videos/sound files featuring characters' voices handy. Something I've found that helps me get into a character's head and voice is to just listen to them. In video game fandoms, you're likely to find videos that consist of a character's entire library of voice lines. For show/movie/podcast fandoms, you can of course find videos or sound files in which the characters are talking. If I'm about to write a character for the first time, I'll listen to them talk for a while before I start writing them. Other times, if I'm not certain a line of dialogue sounds like something the character would say, I'll listen to some of their canon dialogue for a bit in order to "refresh" their voice in my head, and see if I can clearly hear them saying the line I wrote.

Sometimes if I'm writing quickly and don't want to stop to listen to their lines, I'll add in a phrase they usually say to the dialogue I'm currently writing--that way I can immediately hear the way they say it in my head, and that will carry to the rest of the dialogue. 

In general, it's just a useful thing for making sure you're getting a character's voice right. (Plus, listening to the dialogue is fun just by itself!)

5) Before posting a longfic, make ABSOLUTELY sure you want to finish it. So, I've written... a lot of longfics. And as a kid, I had a problem where I would get this FANTASTIC IDEA for a longfic, and I would immediately start writing, and immediately start posting, because feedback! Excitement! Gratification! ... and then a few days later I would lose interest and move on to something else. Oops.

When I was in my late teens/early twenties, I decided that sort of behavior wouldn't do, so for a while I would not start posting fics until the entire rough draft of them was complete, and then I would post one chapter a week. And while that worked for a while, it, uh... could only last for so long, because my stories kept getting longer and longer and man you can only go so long writing on your own without really, really wanting some of that sweet sweet feedback.

So... I figured out a compromise.

I would start my longfics. Maybe write out the first few chapters, or write out the notes, however I decided to do it. For some, I would determine that the longfic would be "short" enough that I could finish it before any excitement I had for it burned out. For all the others, I would continue to write them without posting for a while, seeing how long they kept my interest, and maybe show them to some friends. If I started to get really invested in it, then I would (attempt to) create a buffer of chapters, and start posting on a schedule. That schedule... did not always last, but by that point I was usually able to determine that yes, I absolutely did want to see this fic through to the end. Otherwise, the WIP would stay unfinished and unposted until the end of time.

Naturally most of my finished longfics are the epitome of self-indulgence, but hey, that's what fic is for, isn't it?

Speaking of...

6) Always remember that writing fic is FOR FUN. My previous point there? Completely disregard it if you are not having fun writing a story anymore. I've had fic series I started out with full plans to complete them, but after a few years, I lost steam, moved onto different fandoms, and really could not go back. But... that's okay. This is for fun. If I'm not having fun anymore, why should I push myself to keep writing?

Not to say that you should quit writing at the first sign of trouble! Wracking your mind trying to figure out the next part of the story isn't the same thing as losing all enjoyment writing it (unless it is). Usually once you figure out what to write next, you feel that much happier, and can keep going.

Regardless, never lose sight of what you're doing. Writing fanfiction is a hobby, and hobbies should be fun. If you're not having fun, move onto something else. Your readers may whine, but they'll get over it. Sometimes even the feedback isn't enough to keep you going, and that's okay. This is not your job (unless you're actually getting paid for it). This is a hobby. Write what you enjoy.

Well... that's all I've got for now. I may add more stuff to this list later as I remember other things. But there you have it! 

Again, you absolutely don't have to take any of my advice if you don't want to. There's no single right way to write a fanfic! Do what works for you. If you find this stuff helpful, I'm glad. If not, that's okay! Either way, good luck with wherever your pen or keyboard leads you, and have fun writing!

[mcrmadness]

Hi! For the fanfic ask, i'd like🏅and ⏱

thank you 🍀

Thanks for sending an ask! ^^ The fandom is at least mostly die ärzte, which maybe doesn't come as a surprise :D But I try to answer the questions so that it doesn't need too much existing knowledge over dä!

---

🏅 What is the fic you’re most proud of?

Wow I can't even choose! I'm trying to pick one but then my brain goes "wait but this one also exists!" and I don't know from which perspective I should even look at this question! But I think I'm gonna answer this with two of my recent but short fanfics.

1. I think you might have heard of the movie where die ärzte were in back in the 80s, called Richy Guitar? Well, after a a conversation with a couple of people about one certain scene in the movie, a relatively short fanfic called "Jealousy" was born. That was my first new fanfic with a brand new plot after I got back to writing in 2018. I really like the way I wrote it, and I'm especially proud of the way I ended the fanfic because it simultanously makes absolutely no sense but still does :D

2. Background: This is my newest and extremely short fic that was inspired by the photos die ärzte released before their newest album was released. The photos are in the 20s or 30s American detective/mafia setting and at that point all photos looked more like they'd have been detectives investigating something. So, I got an idea from that, a very mild AU, and wrote "The Unsolved Case". It had no existing plot but it just kinda wrote itself, and I did some choices with it that I had never done before and I was delighted by the feedback I got! It was really an interesting process to write because plot twists are so different to encounter as a writer than as a reader, and I had never done that before so I had NO IDEA how it would turn out and if it would be obvious and lame, or come as a surprise. Fortunately, it seemed to be the latter so it was super fascinating experience. I'm really proud of that small inspiration I got in the middle of the writing process.

---

I'll put the second question under the cut!

⏱ What’s the fic you spent the most time on? (Was it worth it lol)

On the other ask I mentioned my current (dä) WIP that is already quite long and I have been working on it for years now, and have never posted anything of it anywhere, so I'm not gonna give the same answer to this ask.

Instead, I think I'm going to mention something I wrote as a (late) teenager for another fandom. Those all I wrote in Finnish, and I don't feel like mentioning much else than those were about My Chemical Romance which was my favorite band at the time. (And still a very important band to me.) Back then I used to write quite long fics and the last one got REALLY long but I also never finished it. I had planned all of them beforehand, I knew exactly what I was doing but had to just follow the plot ideas in my head.

I don't remember anymore on which one I used the most time on because I was 16-18 around the time I wrote those and it's been over 10 years since that. But it was probably the second one I ever wrote, which was a very eye-opening experience for me cos I wrote about things I knew nothing about, for example I wrote about suicidal thoughts and self-harm, which I myself had (and have) never had. I remember still thinking badly of people who physically harm themselves, but then I wrote that fanfic and included a scene about the topic, and suddenly it opened my eyes and I understood why people might do so, and it just changed my entire attitude towards the whole thing.

Once I was done with that fanfic, I was still playing with an idea of a continuum and I ended up writing a sequel to it. It was yet another longfic, because of course it was :D That's what I wrote back in the day!

All of these also included me drawing sketches of e.g. houses or floor plans. Sometimes I created OC's for the fics and made them in The Sims 2 because I wanted to see how the people would look like. Sometimes I created even the houses in my imagination to TS2. I did this especially with the last, unfinished one. I think I still have somewhere some digital drawings I tried to make of the house I imagined in my head :D Altho, I was really bad at digital art.

And I guess it was worth it because, well, like I said: sometimes writing can be a very eye-opening experience. It's pretty interesting that you don't even need to talk with anyone but just simply imagining the life through someone else's eyes can help you understand the world and other people better. It's cool.

[phantomchick]

List of wips - aka struggles

Call Me A Jason Todd fic I started two years ago and still go back to poke at longingly, will the second and final chapter ever be posted? Who can know for sure.

-

I tell myself that I don't need Anyone (But the truth is no one needs Me) Another Jason Todd fic I haven't completed, posted two years ago for whumptober, it was the only day of whumptober I participated in, intended to be full of Captain Atom and Jason Todd interacting during the fall out of Bludhaven getting chemo'd but he doesn't show up in the first chapter and have you ever tried to read Infinite Crisis? It's a fucking mess. With this wip I have a close to justifiable excuse in that I refuse to write without knowing the canon, and reading through all the canon that's relevant is A Task.

-

The Monster in The Man A Merlin fic floating around my drafts, currently at a good bit over 5k wherein Merlin gets POSSESSED by an old enchantment gone mad. Written because a Merlin fic I read ended on a horror style cliffhanger and I couldn't handle it so I charged my way through the first 2k of a sequel and I've been adding to it ever since. Angst with a hopefully happy ending, if I ever frikking finish it.

-

The Dragon Lord In the aftermath of his father's death after Merlin inherits his father's dragon lord abilities he notices some minor changes to his interactions with his friends, the thing is that Merlin is a dragon lord and unusually what he hoards is people, things might just turn out the better for it.

-

Maelstrom A Naruto time travel fix it fic that wouldn't leave me alone until I got the first chapter out, ironically it has left me entirely alone since I finished the first chapter and I have no idea if inspiration for it will ever return or when that will be.

-

You Don't Know Anything Long long ago in a land of asks and a time of legend @paradise-runway sent me a fic request for "one where the other Bat boys find out the circumstances of Jason's death and resurrection and their reaction?" it has been lingering in my drafts haunting me ever since, someday, someday I shall fulfill what has been promised.

-

Of Curses and Covenants A longfic exploring the magical underbelly of Gotham's history, focuses on the intertwined relationship of the Wayne Family and the Zatara Family brought about by how often Waynes through the generations have ended up being cursed. I have an index of all the curses ready, the problem with this one is the plot and the story.

-

Vicki Finds a Bat (temporary title) Vicki Vale stumbles upon a still alive young adult Jason Todd at a wafflehouse on the way back from snooping into Cobblepot's latest criminal schemes. Convincing the young man to go back home to his loving father might prove more of a challenge than she thinks however. (will have a happy ending if I ever fucking finish it, for now it looms in my drafts like an unhappy gargoyle)

-

Hug Deficit A fic about Jason being touch starved and his family fixing it, hurt/comfort all the way, post resurrection.

-

Stephanie Brown and The Mansion of Man Pain Robin Era Steph, she and Alfred have pumpkin spice lattes together, it's their thing because I say it is. Includes, Alfred raised 5 boys counting Bruce, he's not sure how to handle a little girl and Bruce trying to dad plus Steph trying her best. Would be a lot easier to write if I was any good at comedy.

-

Another Time, Another Place Some twenty years or so after their death, Martha and Thomas Wayne appear in the middle of Wayne Manor's ground floor parlour room, the major problem with this? Not only are Bruce and Dick away, Alfred's on holiday in England! Which is why Jason as the eldest has been unwillingly nominated by his younger siblings to deal with the situation at hand. Martha and Thomas in this are heavily inspired by @unpretty's amazing portrayals in her fics with them.

- Queen Blackfire and the Lazarus Lord An au with Soulmate identifying marks: Jason Todd was having an okay time as de-facto leader of The Outlaws, a band of misfits and rebels with hearts of gold (or at least silver) saving the world the best they could and filling in the gaps the more straightforward heroes tended to miss while they were at it. Then he found out he was soulmates with the Alien Warrior Queen bent on declaring war on planet Earth if the Justice League didn't find her soulmate for her. Things with his friend, team mate and potential future sister in law Kori just got super awkward and the only good thing he can find about this situation is how angry (and protective? But maybe he's just imagining that) Bruce seems over the whole thing.

Side note: Kommand'r freaked out during the years Jason was 'dead' and accidentally brought peace to a huge chunk of space and intergalactic society via building up her empire after throwing herself into work to escape the grief.

- To Grasp The Hand of a Fox Naruto and Kurama travel back in time to save the world but unfortunately they land in the same moment that Kurama's just been put under a genjutsu by Madara Uchiha, Naruto has to make his way to Konoha and wake Kurama up before the villagers seal him away inside Mito. Can he save his friend in time to save them all?

-

Those Winter Sundays Mcu fic. Snapshots of Tony working hard for the avengers and no one noticing. Civil War Team Iron Man.

- Salvation Rides a Solar Wind Iron Man fic in a Science fiction / Western style fic where Tony's presence is described through the eyes of the aliens he helps. Au where the war with Thanos goes very differently. The type of fic that needs like 5 multi chapter fics in a single series to truly shine, hence why I will likely never finish it.

-

And We Break Away Again Jason goes back to Talia after Damian is brought back from the dead by Bruce. It's not that he begrudges his little brother his resurrection, the opposite, but he can't ignore what Bruce did to him by taking him to the magdala valley and he can't ignore what Bruce doing for Damian what he didn't do for him, (do for Dick, do for any of them besides the blood related one) means. So he decides to go back to the only person who ever seemed to understand why he wanted to avenge himself in the first place, the only person who seemed to agree that he had a right to be angry that he'd died at all, the only person he can trust to hold him together while he feels like he's falling apart that won't judge him against the heroic mold while they're at it. Not sure if this will be a oneshot or a series but we're going good Talia with this one regardless, DC's been ruining her lately but through fanfic all things are possible so fuck them.

-

Fan The Flames In the aftermath of a magical fire taking hold of the Daily Planet in Metropolis, Superman is missing, can Batman and the rest of the Justice League find their friend as well as the identity of the evil arsonist before Lex Luther does it first?

-

In a Whisper (In a Wish) Ichigo Kurosaki protects people, it's not just who he is, it's what he is, down to the core of his very soul. The only problem is, that a few weeks ago he sacrificed half his soul to protect the world. It aches inside where he knows something important used to be. When everyone he cares for is avoiding him and he's starting to feel more like a shadow than a person, that aches at him too and he can't help but wish, quietly, privately, painfully, to himself if no one else that things were different, that he wasn't so broken or so alone. But if wishes were fishes they'd fill a whole sea (just be careful not to whisper them within the hearing range of the Hōgyoku).

-

An Honest Conversation (Is A Bitter Thing To Crave) Jason kidnaps Bruce but things don't go as Bruce expects. First of all the reason Jason was able to kidnap him was because Stephanie of all people was his insider, why would she support someone Batman knows she's only met once. And second of all the reason he's been abducted - So that Jason can drug them both with the same substance. And when Bruce asks what he's doing this for Jason only responds, "We don't trust each other enough to have a truthful conversation otherwise" and refuses to say anything more while they wait for it to kick in. What will be revealed by this forced honest encounter on both sides? -

carrying the world on thin shoulders Midoriya Izuku deserves better from literally all the adults in his life so this is part whump part hurt comfort part fix it fic that sprawls out from time to time but it's pretty bad tbh, at some point I'll probably make it neater and give it something resembling a coherent plot. Hopefully. -

Trust Issues HP fic. Harry gets dosed with a potion that's supposed to reinforce your strongest survival instinct, the person who drugged him might've intended to be helpful but said potion happened to be at extra strength and he was given what would be a normal fix for the regular version but for this one is twice the recommended amount. Great.. The biggest problem about all this - beyond his internationally wanted godfather Sirius endangering himself by hiding out in a cave near Hogsmeade against all rational advice, his best friend Ron hating him, everyone in school besides his other best friend Hermione also hating him or avoiding him and the entire Goblet of Fire problem - is that he can't bring himself to trust anyone enough to tell them what's wrong.

-

Truth is Treason in the Empire of Lies A post marvel avengers story, thor pov probably, made because I like to dive into a pool of thor & loki sibling feels sometimes: Starts off as Thor regales his new human shield brothers with the story of his banishment and return to Asgard ending with Loki falling into the Void and the Avengers have some questions, questions Thor had not thought of, remarks on things that Thor doesn’t know how to explain away.  After he goes to Loki’s cell and asks him some things he becomes more and more angry despite having no one he can punch > Gets drunk and criticises Sif and The Warriors Three after they try to calm him down > mention of Loki still being underage by Aesir standards during Thor 1 seeing as Thor was being crowned due to being of age in the movie > heavy inspiration drawn from queen regnant by peaceheather. “For while the Treason I detest, the Traitor I love still.” Currently just an outline.

-

Separation Split personality disorder Red Hood and Jason Todd, alternatively, Red Hood is a demon/parasite latched on to Jay. A lot of work necessary considering right now it’s currently just an idea inspired by a cool tumblr fanart.

-

A Trinity of Head Wounds The dcu trinity in the aftermath of a fight against some alien invaders (or something along those lines), whump, hurt/comfort, starts with them arguing, ends with them bleeding on each other in a friendship way, whole thing should take place in a single room on the watchtower and be a oneshot so it's gotta be a short and sweet one-two gut punch with the feelings which is difficuuult.

-

A Stark in The Stars an mcu fic, a really over complicated mcu fic, mostly because of Steve Roger's timeline fuckery, Tony's alive but he's not supposed to be, but so are a lot of people who were dead but aren't now you might say what with the snap and the blip. The thing is that Steve's timeline fuckery is making it so that everyone keeps getting confused between the two different timelines of events, obviously more confused the more that their characters were connected to the films/the events that were altered, the punchline of this particular fic though is that Tony's still alive and he's unaware of the timeline of events where he died. And as he's currently in space he's also unaware that everyone on Earth thinks he's dead (because why wouldn't they? he died in endgame after all). That makes this fic super tough to write because like ultimate unreliable narrator right here and not sure how to tie in the whole 'oh wait actually everyone on Earth thinks I'm dead because of the canon timelines' thing in or at what point of the story to do that at. The fuckery of it all gives me a headache. Plot is hard. Also all of that's basically background to the actual focus of most of the fic thus far which is Tony travelling around space in an Iron Man suit up until the point where it won't be background.

-

Magic Chained Merlin au. When you put magic restraining cuffs on Magic himself you don't just bind him you bind all magic the world over. It is therefore, infinitely lucky that Uther Pendragon never became aware of this fact.

-

A Child in The Cold bnha Midoriya deserves better also Recovery Girl and Aizawa have shit to answer for as far as I'm concerned.

-