#I'm thinking about writing a fic but I need time to let the ideas marinate

[northernsunsets]

Still thinking about the Shen Yuan as Ning Yingying's adopted older brother au

[thunder-shadow]

ive got many!!! 1, 4, 5, 8, 17, 21, 27, 28, 37?!

Thank uuu <333333

Do you daydream a lot before you write, or go for it as soon as the ideas strike?

Oh boy, yeah I daydream a lot haha - usually I get an idea and write down the bare info for it (like the ship and maybe one or two scene ideas) and then I just let it marinate for a bit, usually listening to music or reading! Then ideas usually pop in from there XD I'm a daydreamer all the way

4. How do you choose which fics to write?

Usually it's just whichever one I feel needs attention at the moment? Or whatever my brain latches onto haha

Like yesterday I meant to edit the GHE chapter so it could be posted, but instead I wrote the Earthcury one-shot turned multi-chap (which I wanna finish b4 I post it)

It's very wishy-washy is what I'm saying LOL

5. How many wips do you have?  What fandoms/pairings are they for?

All of WIPs are for SolarBalls haha I can only write for one fandom at a time XD

Okay, so obviously I have the GHE fic, the Jupixturnus fic, the Vercury fic, and now the Earthcury fic (those are all multi-chaps); then I have my oneshots, of which I plan to write Vars, Vearth, another UraEarth, a fluffy Jupiturnus one, a Poly Rocky planets one, and I still have a Sol & Nemesis one with snippets, as well as the post-paranoia Luna fic that still needs its chapter two LOL (and then I have a titanearth smut + jupixturnus smut that i'm thinking abt but shhhhhh)

That doesn't even count the random ideas I've just jotted down in my notes app LOL

8. Post an out-of-context spoiler from a wip.

Oh gee, lemme find one I feel like posting!! I don't have any spoilers to be honest, bc i haven't written since i posted the ghe one or i would've used that 😭 so just have a snippet from my latest wip

I actually posted this the other day but deleted it like immediately LOL but here! from my earthcury college AU

‘Okay,’ Earth thought, narrowing his eyes. ‘First midterm is in 7 days. One week. You’ve got this,’ and he pumped his fist, ignoring the weird looks a couple of people threw at him. ‘Just need to study. Actually study for once.’ Then he looked down at the multitude of papers spread out in front of him, his laptop propped open to a chemistry video from a Youtuber he’d found on line, and groaned, letting his face fall onto the table. Across from him, Mars let out a laugh, flipping another page in his book. “Earth, I don’t know what your definition of studying is, but putting your head on the table and giving up is not studying as far I’m aware.” Earth looked up at him through his lashes, sending him as much of an annoyed look as he could muster before groaning again. “Organic Chemistry is going to kill me! Why did I decide to become a biology major?” “I don’t know. Why did I decide to become an Astronomy major?” “Because you’re weirdly obsessed with aliens?” “Wha-” Mars spluttered, putting his book down and looking at Earth. “No!” “Because you weirdly like math?” “No, Earth, because I enjoy astronomy! I like learning about it!” Mars rolled his eyes, taking a sip from his water bottle after a second. “And I know you’re the same way about biology because we’ve been roommates since freshman year!” “Ughh,” Earth whined in response. “Just let me melt into a puddle and evaporate away so I don’t have to take these midterms.” “You could just study for them, you know.” “That was my plan! But that involves studying…” “Oh, wow,” Mars said, throwing him a stare that just dripped with disdain. “Studying involves studying, I really didn’t know that, Earth.” “Fine!” Earth stood up, shoving his stuff haphazardly into his backpack. “I’ll go to the library! And this time, I’m going to actually study!”

17. Do you have a writing routine?

Nope! I literally just sit down and start writing oop

21. Do you prefer writing chaptered fics or one-shots?

I prefer writing one-shots just bc it feels simpler, like a one-and-done LOL but multi-chaps can be fun too!!

27. What area of writing do you feel strongest in?

Being able to write a lot 😓 and body language, I feel quite confident in body language LOL

Also my grammar and language use, despite my copious use of em-dashes, semicolons, and ellipses I otherwise really just innately understand most grammar bc of how much I read when I was younger ‼️

28. What area of writing do you want to improve in?

DIALOGUE 😭😭😭

37. What fic has been the hardest for you to write?

The GHE fic hands down, it just feels so complicated 😭😭 I'm slowly chugging a lot, we're nearing the last few chapters :D

[corishadowfang]

How do you generally plan out your fics? Because Fallen Stars seems to incredibly well planned I want to attempt to write something that is just as intricate 😂

Ooooh, man, I'm not sure how good my planning actually is (I say, staring at my many, many outline documents), but I'll explain things as well as I can? And hopefully at least some of it'll be useful.

(General writing advice disclaimer: What works for me might not work for everyone, so take everything with a grain of salt, and feel free to toss out anything that you don't like, haha.)

I...think I'll break this down into stages, maybe? Just to hopefully keep things more organized. (And also throw this under a cut, since I have a feeling this'll get long...)

Pre-Planning

So, uh...everything is very freeform to start off with, haha. The earliest stages are less, "What would make a good story?" and more, "What's fun about this concept?" So there's not a lot of structure to this part! I might write pages and pages of worldbuilding; I might just tinker around with a punch of different scenarios in my head; I might write snippets of concepts that I think would be fun--whatever! I tend to do this for a couple of reasons:

There are a lot of times where I get struck with an idea when I'm already working on a big project, so like...I don't really have a lot of time to actually plan out a story right at that moment, haha. So it goes on the backburner to marinate for a little while!

It kind of lets me figure out if this is something I'd actually like to write, or just something I'd like to play around with in my head.

Even with fanfic (which is generally a low-stress hobby), I can still sometimes...kind of get into "perfectionist" mode. Just messing around with things, focusing purely on what I find fun without worrying about whether it works narratively, with no expectation that I have to write the story, kind of gives me the freedom to figure out what I actually like about the idea and really hone into that. It helps fuel excitement for the project if I do decide to write it, and can give me a lot of cool ideas that I might not have given myself the freedom to think of otherwise!

Planning

So there's...no real timeline for anything, aha. Usually at some point, something will click over, and I'll go, "Yeah, okay, I do really, really want to write this story." At which point, I start taking some of the random ideas I have and trying to get them a bit more organized. This usually ends up being broken down into three broad categories.

The Characters

This is probably the biggest thing in regards to actually developing the story. Before writing, I generally like to have at least some basics down:

What is the character like at the beginning of the story, and why?

What sorts of things have caused them the most problems, and what would it take for them to resolve those problems?

What is the end goal for them in the story? (Do they get better? Worse? Learn how to live with the hand they've been dealt?)

What sorts of things would need to happen to get them to that point?

The main character(s)' arcs generally affect the direction the story goes in--essentially, I'll tailor events around what would help to push them toward their arc's end (ideally, with some interesting emotional conflicts for them to grapple with)--so I want to at least have a pretty solid idea of the main characters' overall arcs before I begin writing.

Uh, I guess just for an example, here's some of my early notes on Skuld and Brain for Fallen Stars:

Skuld: She’s still…she’s still reeling a little.  She hasn’t stopped to examine what the end meant for her, but she’s grieving the loss of her home, of people close to her, and she’s…in a lot of ways, Scala feels alien.  She wants to stay here, but she doesn’t, because it’s not home.  She’s also…just very tired of being in a position of authority that she doesn’t feel prepared for.  She was put into the position of Union Leader, and with her friends, she managed that fine, but now she…well, she’s tired.  She wants to be a kid again.  She wants someone else to worry about the world, and she’s angry over the fact that her childhood was basically stolen from her and that she’s been put into this position she didn’t want.  She’s angry because a part of her feels like if she hadn’t been put in charge, maybe she would’ve been able to make the most of her time with her friends.  (She also has very complicated feelings about Scala in general.  She wants to stay, but she also wants to leave.  It’s hard.  Mostly what she wants is just to run away for a while and not have to deal with any of this.  She’s tired.) Brain: The boy basically repressed all of his feelings about the end, but they’re all coming back baby.  As usual, he threw himself into his work—and now he’s throwing himself into this, too, working himself to the bone because the sooner he can find the others, the sooner he can stop grieving them.  (He’s totally fine!  No trauma at all, definitely.)  That said, he’s also tired.  He feels extra responsible for the end of the world because he had the Book of Prophecies; he’s trying not to think about it, but it’s the reason he won’t ask for Master’s Defender again.  He thinks he doesn’t deserve it.  He has complicated feelings about Scala, too, but tries to hide them a lot.  He also…he’s not quite as set on the ability to change fate anymore.  After his failure, he doesn’t really feel like it’s possible, so mostly he just wants to leave and spend time with his friends; worry about the things he can control.  (Skuld and him fight over it later, I think; probably after they find the Book of Prophecies and learn about Darkness.)

The World

I...quite often go overboard with worldbuilding, haha. It's a lot of fun! That said, a lot of worldbuilding ends up popping up organically during writing, too.

Before I start, though, I at least like to know the basics. I find it helps to like...sit down and go, "Okay, what sorts of things might trip me up when writing if I don't know them?" If all else fails, I'll usually take the time to sit down and think about:

Basic culture and how the society functions. What sorts of things are important to this society? What sorts of myths do they tell? How do they interact with other societies? Do they have trade? What's their governing system like? Things like that.

What sort of history does the world have? This can be very basic, but a couple of small notes can still help inform what it's like.

If there's magic--how does it function? Are there any consequences or limitations? What lets people use it?

If there are important non-human characters or creatures: how do they work? What's their basic biology like? How do they intersect with society?

For Fallen Stars, I ended up:

Determining some very basic stuff about how Scala functioned--essentially, stuff like, "They have a lot of trade," and, "they're run by a council," and, "because of the Keyblade wielder thing, they have a lot of stories focused around light/darkness."

Creating a very basic breakdown of the council--who was one it and what the individual roles did.

Getting a basic idea of what Ephemer's family's role in the society was (both previously, and in the current day).

Building up some ideas about legends--specifically, ones about the Union Leaders, and how Scalans would think about them in the modern day.

The Plot

The plot is...probably the least fleshed-out of the three, aha--for me, at least. That's because, no matter how much planning I do, the story almost always goes off the rails eventually. (Sometimes as soon as the first chapter, depending on what the characters do...)

That said, I do like to at least make sure I know two or three key things about it. Generally, these are either a) a major plot twist, or b) a major event. I generally call these "pillar points"; essentially, these will be spaced out across the story, and are the things that I'm working toward. Unlike a lot of the finer details of the story, these remain relatively stable; they're what help me stay on track, even if how we get there ends up changing.

Fallen Stars ended up having three pillar points:

Brain exploring the abandoned town and finding out about Darkness.

The whole crew going to confront Darkness, with Darkness appearing fully for the first time.

The end of chapter 39 all the way through the end of chapter 41. (Which...I can't explain exactly what some of those points are yet because of spoilers, aha.)

The pillar points are the main things, but I will sometimes do a brief outline or summary of the story--just with the knowledge that the details may change later.

Writing

And...after that, I'll usually start writing! That said, I still, like...adjust things as I work, haha. A big thing I'll do while writing is to like...think about the specific purpose of each chapter? Like, what sorts of character and plot points do I want to hit to move things along, etc. Sometimes I'll build out a general outline of chapters between the beginning and the first pillar point, then between one pillar point and another, etc. These are all really flexible, haha, but they can at least help get me thinking about what needs to happen.

And, uh...I think that covers the basics? (Don't look at the size of this post, it's fine--) Hopefully that's at least somewhat helpful--even if it's just to kickstart ideas for your writing process, haha! Good luck, and I hope you have fun with your story!

[sickness-health-all-that-shit]

thank you @callivich for sharing the idea of making fic dvd commentaries! I thought I'd give it a go 🥰 @shamelessdvdcommentary

Broken things

summary: When Lip brings home an advanced android in order to test it for the company he works for, Ian doesn't know what to make of him. MIK-940810, or Mickey, seems virtually indistinguishable from a human being, throwing Ian for a loop as he feels an undeniable connection to the android. Their relationship deepens when Ian finds out about something that Mickey has been keeping from Lip and the people who built him.

There’s a faint blue light shining from the place where Lip’s thumb rests for about two seconds. Ian’s expecting some kind of whirring noise, like when you turn a computer on, but there’s just silence.

And then suddenly the blue eyes come alive.

some stats: I started writing this about a year ago, as part of the latest shameless big bang and finished it around january this year. it's a multichapter of about 28k words divided into 8 chapters

What was the initial inspiration for your story?

probably something I was watching at the time. I love sci-fi! I think I would've had the initial idea in the spring of 2023 and then let it marinate for a while, until the big bang came a-knocking lol. I'm pretty sure it was always gonna be android!Mickey and human Ian, and when I remembered Lip's canon interest in robotics it all started slotting into place for me

If the story is written from a character’s POV, why did you choose this character?

like I said it was always gonna be android!Mickey and I really wanted to explore Ian trying to figure out what made him tick and questioning what makes us human in the first place

What was your favourite scene to write?

probably their initial conversation when Ian asks all sorts of questions that make his brain explode more and more, while Mickey sort of watches him spiral and just seems to have an obvious answer for everything lol. that and the scene where Mickey heavily flirts with an increasingly flustered Ian, that was a lot of fun

How did you come up with the title?

one of the main themes of the fic is the coming together of these two individuals who meet at a time when they both needed it because they were feeling broken, for different reasons. there's a parallel especially between Ian's relationship with his bipolar disorder and Mickey's feeling that he's malfuctioning as an android and that he'll be seen as a broken toy. in both cases it's because of heightened emotions compared to what's considered 'normal', but they heal each other throughout the fic and overcome that sense of brokenness together

Are there any little moments or references you hope readers will notice?

hopefully all the little references and parallels to canon! (things like Mickey's serial number for instance) I had a lot of fun with those, it was like winking at my fellow fans like 'get it? it's like in the show!' lol

Was there anything you struggled to write? If so, how did you overcome this?

I struggled a bit with the resolution of the main conflict/angst, especially explaining how Lip suddenly decides to help them in the end, after being a dick for most of the story lmao. hopefully it doesn't feel that sudden or rushed, but yeah. I still think about it at times lol

Favourite line in the story?

“Well, ask away, doc. You studyin’ human anatomy all day, right? Bet you’re curious as fuck to know all the ways they replicated that shit in this hot little android body o’ mine.” - like I said, I really enjoyed Mickey shamelessly flirting xD

Did the storyline change in any way as you wrote the story?

I just checked my original (handwritten) outline, and I think I had meant to make Ian catch on more to the fact that Mickey is a different type of android, even with Lip's reassurances, but I think in that version he ended up being suspicious in a way that didn't gel with his blossoming feelings for Mickey, and maybe as a result I made Ian a little bit more unsure of himself, which goes back to him feeling broken because he feels like he can't trust his brain too much. also when I was still gathering my ideas for the story I initially thought Mickey might turn out to have memories of a human Mickey Milkovich who had died, but I scrapped that because I wanted this Mickey to be the real Mickey, android or no

If you are writing a particular trope or genre, was it your first time writing this?

I'd definitely never written sci-fi or an android fic before! I might delve more into science fiction in the future though, who knows 😌

What are you most proud about in the story? (plot, characterisation, dialogue, twist/cliffhanger, etc)

overall plot and dialogue, probably. I'm really proud of how I developed my original idea, and some of the lines still make me laugh (or cry)

Are there any deleted scenes that didn’t make it to the final story?

going back to my original outline, I apparently had a whole chapter that never came to be? here's what I'd written down: "Lip's boss shows up at the house. Mickey needs to pretend to be a regular android despite his anger. Ian defends Mickey. The police gets called. They have to make a run for it." maybe this would have helped the resolution feel less rushed/anti-climactic but it also seemed to complicate things a bit too much for my taste, so it got scrapped

Would you ever write a sequel to this story?

I think the epilogue leaves things in a good enough place!

Were you nervous or excited to post this story?

both!! but more excited overall, I think. it's probably my favourite story I've written

Ask your followers to pick a snippet (no more than 500 words) and share your thoughts about it.

please!!!! I will love you forever <3

this was great, I highly recommend it to all writers 🥰

[morning-sun-brah]

Do you have any tips for writing stories? I wanna write a fanfic and I know what it’s about too, but I have no idea what to do.

I'm so so sorry that it's taken me so long to respond to this! I'm either on here once a day, or I'm gone for a month, and there is no in-between. 😭😅

As for writing tips! I have some of the lamest advice and I apologize in advance lol.

Firstly, and I know this is so generic so forgive me, just write! I know there can be a lot of pressure trying to figure out how to begin a story, but I just open a doc and start typing. I'll make a little outline (nothing crazy, just bullet points in chronological order- but I know ppl who keep spreadsheets), and then I start typing. If the way it starts feels clunky, later, I'll go back and add a paragraph or re-word it, but getting started is the more important part. That way, you have something to build on.

Also, read! I know this is more generic advice, but so much inspiration can happen when reading someone else's works. It can help with flow and provide good examples on how to begin a new fic.

Some advice I have a hard time following is also to take your time. Write the chapter, and then sit on it. Run it through Grammarly. Have a beta look at it. Give it a couple days or even weeks to marinate. Start the next chapter. You sometimes think of other things to add, that help with foreshadowing. Or little mistakes you'll catch that you might not have noticed at first. Or even whole scenes you want to add that you thought of while you were in the shower lol.

Other than that, I can only tell you some of the things I do. I keep a notes app full of words and phrases I like, to remember later. I have lots of resources I use (thesaurus.com, writers' blogs, that kind of thing), and I try and think about how I would like something to sound/what I want to say before I start typing. The car is a great place to just be alone and think about things. If FBI has me wire tapped they hear me having the most unhinged conversations with myself.

But literally starting a fic can be such a hurdle and it's hard to do sometimes. But just typing, from any point, can be a good start, and then going back later to add an intro. Either a scene setting, or setting up the tone of the story, or lore, are all good ways to start.

I hope this is helpful in some small way, and I also wish you all sorts of luck!! Let me know if you do end up posting a fic- I'd love to read it!

Also!! Here are some links that might be helpful!

[swaps55]

Swaps! Master of povs. Any advice on writing multiple pov-fics? I'm working on a multi chapter fic that would thrive if it was written in multi povs, alas, that's hard and I don't know where to start. Any thoughts about the process, or any chance you have already answered such an ask before and can link me that? (as always: love your writing. It's gold. Thank you for letting us be part of your journey.)

Oh, yesssssss, I live for multiple POVs! Thank you for the kind words!

Now, keep in mind, I wheel and deal in multiple POVs. For me there is no such thing as too many, which I am sure a lot of others would disagree with, and I don’t think you see it used and abused in published work the way I do it. But hey, I’m writing for free, and my fic in particular is predicated on the idea that every POV is on the table except for the main character, and I will use whatever POV I need to center the one POV I can’t have.

What a lot of sensible people will do is settle on a fixed number of POVs, say, 2-4, they’re willing to rotate through and try and distribute them somewhat equally. The Expanse series does this, for example. So one way to do it is to think about the story you want to tell and select your POV carousel based on who you think you will get the most mileage out of. If you have a story taking place in different locations simultaneously, you probably need a POV character for each. If you are looking at two different sides to the same story, you probably need POVs that are antagonistic to each other.

Or you can be like me and use whatever POV seems most useful at the time, no matter how many it winds up being in the end.

With the caveat that rules are made to be broken, and I am writing this as more of a peek into what I do vs a treatise on the right and wrong ways to do it, this is a breakdown of some of the exercises I work through when choosing and working in multiple POVs.

Be thoughtful about whose POV you want and why. One of the benefits of multiple POVs is that you can get wildly different perspectives on the same series of events. Different characters see the world differently. They notice different things. They interact with their world differently. These are things you can use to your advantage, and act as tools to tell your story. One of my favorite things to do is use the POV of a character who absolutely would not clock the important takeaway I’m after in a scene, but the things they notice and observe make the reader able to clock it. What that character experiences might be very different from what the reader experiences. I’ll often ask myself, ‘what does this character give me that another character wouldn’t in this scene, and why is that important?’

Spend time sitting between the ears of your chosen POV character to get a feel for how they see the world. I usually wind up marinating in a character’s head for a while before I dive into their POV for the first time. What state of mind are they in when we meet them? What’s important to them? What are they thinking about? What drives them? How can you use those drivers to connect back to your central narrative? You'll see a character you think you already know in a whole different light if you spend the time you need to really think about these questions, how to answer them, and what that means for the story. You’ll be really glad you did it.

Treat the POV character as the hero of their own story. One of the struggles and rewards of working in multiple POVs, especially POVs who are not a main character, is that those POVs have to work on two levels: they have to further the plot/character arcs of the main characters while honoring the motivations and goals of the POV character. It can be really difficult to find the right way to line both these things up, but it’s worth doing. If you just write a POV character in service of the main character/plot, it falls flat. (This is honestly true of any character, POV character or not, but for the sake of this post we’re focused on POV.) I’ve done a lot of agonizing over how to center a POV’s character’s own narrative within a larger context. Your character doesn’t know they are in a story. They don’t know they aren’t necessarily the main character. That’s where multiple POVs can really shine: by letting that character have their own agency within a bigger narrative, you can add a lot of depth.  

Make your POV shifts clear and easy to follow. This can mean sticking to a single POV per chapter, or using a clear scene break if you’re switching within a chapter. Establish your new POV as quickly as possible so your reader doesn’t get lost or confused. I could go into a whole other discussion about head hopping and multiple POVs vs. omniscient POV, but that’s getting off track.

Have fun and be creative! If you’re wheeling and dealing like I am, sometimes POVs you never would have considered otherwise can offer you a totally new perspective. My “No Main Character POV Rule” led me to try the POV of a character I never would have otherwise tried, and it has dramatically shaped the story in some really powerful ways. Don’t be afraid to try something off the beaten path!

I hope any of that helps. I love multiple POVs. The kaleidoscope of perspectives it offers is such a fantastic tool that I really love using, and I hope you have a lot of fun with it!!!!!!

[pipermca]

hello I have a question not on the ask meme :D how do you figure out plots? plots are one of the hardest parts for me. interested in your method! also happy new years! cheers! thanks for being such a kind and awesome friend =D

Plots! Ask a hard question, why don't you! 😅

I'm a plot gardener. I usually let ideas marinate for a while before I start to write. While an idea is marinating, the idea will sometimes develop and grow into something that I want to write. That's when I actually start writing. (Whenever I start a fic I usually know where I want it to go. The destination may ultimately change as I write, but I always have SOME end in mind.)

Most of my ideas either start as a "what if" or as a single visual/vignette. A Thousand Years started off as a "what if" (what if one of the Lambros got thrown back in time and had to figure out how to get back to his brother?) I needed to figure out how that happened, how they'd get back, and how that would affected them. The plot grew out of that. Datastream started off with the image of two bots back-to-back, their heads wired together (just as seen in Myla Xan's amazing artwork!) Why would that be needed? What problem were they trying to solve? And so on.

Interestingly, Mind, Body, and Soul started off as a "what if" (what if the Datsun/Praxians weren't brothers like how everyone writes them, but were romantically involved in a trine?) Then, with that idea in mind, I started thinking about what the story might be there... And I was consumed with an image that served as the genesis for the whole entire 300k fic: Bluestreak, collapsed to his knees before an open door in an empty apartment, completely emotionally crushed. (We eventually saw that image at the very end of chapter 20.) The whole story eventually developed around those kernels.

Happy New Years to you, too! Thank YOU for being so amazing, and for letting me yell at you when I need to. 😄

[missgryffin]

hi! I’m a new writer and I started a fic but I just wanted to ask if you had any advice for writing fanfiction. I started my fic but I’m kinda hitting a writers block and I don’t know where I want my story to go. I want my characters to have dimension but I don’t think I’m communicating it well. And my plot line, I feel like it’s so hard to communicate in writing. I just feel like my writing is bad as a whole and I wanted to ask for advice because you’re literally one of the best writers I’ve encountered! Love your writing so much

Thanks for the kind words, anon!! 🫶 This got long, so I put it below a cut:

First off, congrats on getting started — that's always the hardest part, and there's a lot of bravery in starting something new and letting your work exist outside your head. The #1 piece of advice I hear everywhere and pass along to you is simply to keep going. Writing is a muscle, and it takes repetition, practice, reflection, etc. to find your style and get better. I came back to writing in 2020, and it took writing consistently since then for me to be where I am now of feeling like my writing's where I want it to be and feeling confident about bigger pieces.

On the direction of your story and your plot, know that this is such a common dilemma for writers!! And honestly, the advice out there varies a lot depending on if you're more of a pantser (make it up as you go) or plotter (plot it all out first). I'm somewhere in the middle. I plot a decent amount, but sometimes it's only in broad strokes, so I leave room for building out scenes intuitively as I write. I also get stuck all the time, and for me, I know that means that something's not working — either I have to go back and change something in the prior paragraph/dialogue, or I have to take the scene in a new direction, or I have to figure out a different way to bridge the gap between what happened and what I know I'm building toward.

At this point, my advice to you would be this: do some daydreaming. Go on Pinterest, browse Tumblr, go on a walk with a good playlist. Let your mind wander, mood board your fic, let all the vibes marinate. Whatever scene ideas pop into your head, write them. Write out of order (you can always massage things to fit chronologically later). Loosely figure out your ending, so you at least know where you need to end up — sometimes it's easier to work backwards when outlining the latter part of a fic. Use tropes and their conventional story beats as much or as little as is helpful to you.

Once you have that direction, my advice on "communicating" your plot and characters really boils down to the adage of "show don't tell." Which sounds so cliché, I know, but it really does work!! Think about the aspect of your plot or character you want to be coming across to the reader, and then brainstorm actions or scenes that could demonstrate that happening.

An example of when I was very conscientious of this is Castling. (Spoilers ahead!) The main plot is present day, but I wanted to build the emotion and pining and just the stakes overall by inserting past flashbacks, as opposed to just saying, Lily and James were best friends while growing up at school. So I came up with a handful of significant moments to show their friendship in action throughout their past. The second year scene sets it all up: Lily does not hesitate to confront James for Remus, demonstrating both her fierce + sassy personality and the depth of her friendship with Remus. The seventh year scenes show how everything's evolved: first there's the fight in the corridor, in which James steps in to shield Lily and punches Mulciber after an incident that escalated while they were brewing Amortentia in Potions, and then later that night Lily finds out James got broken up with. I never had to say that they were starting to subliminally have feelings/attraction toward each other — we pick up on that based on what happens: James doesn't just defend Lily out of basic nobility; he's "a caged bull in Sirius's arms" in the immediate aftermath of Amortentia 👀, which is the breaking point for his girlfriend. James picks Lily's friendship in his girlfriend's ultimatum without second thought. And they don't hug. It's not a sibling-like consolation because there's an undercurrent of tension that's decidedly not sibling-like anymore — they're just in total denial about it. And then finally there's the post-school scene, in which they're more comfortable around each other in part because they're simply more mature and have figured out how to care about each other without crossing the boundary of friendship (yet).

Something I tell myself a lot when it comes to figuring out plot and "showing" the reader is plot can be small. I'm constantly saying this to myself. And what I mean by that is, "plot" doesn't have to be some sweeping, complicated thing. Of course some stories go that way and longer stories often necessitate more complex narratives, but there can be just as much plot in "discovering feelings for each other" (As Lovers Go) as there is in "planning a complicated mission that goes awry because of a secret double-agent" (Vindicated). It's simply a matter of going more deeply into smaller details and the emotional trajectories of the story. So "plot can be small" doesn't mean the plot itself is "smaller" or "lesser," it means that plot can be based in small actions that are incredibly important or meaningful to the characters, and the story then teases out all the little details surrounding those small actions.

And finally, the last thing I'll say (this already getting way too long 😅) is that plot and character development are both very layered things. The Castling corridor fight initially was just a corridor fight — the idea for adding the Amortentia element came later, and the idea for connecting the fight with the ultimatum and the breakup came even later after that. Don't put pressure on yourself to figure things out entirely the very first time you write something down!! Ideas build on each other as you keep writing. You'll add layers that make scenes better. And the layers of the story and the characters will keep building throughout the story. This is where dimension comes from. We don't need to know everything about a character right away — let the layers peel back as the story goes on.

If you're still reading: I hope this can help!! Best of luck with your writing!! 💗

[mega-ringsandthings-world]

Ok, ok, glad you liked the art! There's more to come because I am full of ideas and sadness! Prepare!

Anywho, now that I have rambled about the boys a lot (and trust me, there's definitely more where that came from), I thought I'd take a change of pace and focus on others.

Like Buggy. What we know is he escapes, possibly due to running away (which will probably haunt him forever) or getting saved by someone. He does meet someone, as you've said before, but who? Could it be Dragon? Does our greedy, narcissistic clown somehow become a revolutionary? Maybe it's a marine. Did a marine see this kid and go, "Screw it, I'm not killing kids," and let him go? Does he run into Smoker? Start a traumatize boy band (now I wanna write the fic we’re buggy and smoker run into each other after lougetown.) Or is it someone else, someone I wouldn't have guessed in a million years? Doflamingo, perhaps? That would be the meeting from hell. One of the other would-be warlords? And what happens to him? Does he spend the next two years trying to help Shanks in any way he can? Does he do mostly what he's done in canon and go for the One Piece? Or is he a warlord? Did he make deals with the world government for Shanks? ‘Gasp’ I'm gasping at nothing but thinky thoughts, but eh, I'll just throw some crazy in there for fun.

Also, are you going to add pirates we know to Loguetown who get caught, aside from the characters we already know? There are a few characters we see in canon that could be the right age to have been around. You could just slip them in there to add more people to the "Fun Time with World Government!™️" and more people Shanks and Mihawk can bounce off of while captured and once they get out. You said that they won't trust anyone who didn't go through what they went through, so not a lot of allies or having civil conversations. But maybe that's the point... oh well, whatever you do, I'm sure I'll love it.

Also, this pirate generation needs a name. If the last generation were the Great Pirates, maybe this generation could be the Silenced Generation? And later, after the two years, the Monster Generation.

And propaganda, does Roger's message about the One Piece get out there like it did in the main timeline? Not a lot of people escaped from the excision, so that's not a lot of people to spread the word. Is the World Government suppressing it after all? They didn't mean for Roger to tell the crowd, so why in hell would they want that driving force that created pirates who are specifically seeking a piece of the Void Century and possibly information on Joy Boy or Nika? So, do they turn it into, instead of a last word, a rumor? Like Davy Jones or Nolan and his Sky Island, like it's a fun bedtime story but nothing that's actually real.

Those are all the questions I have today hopefully I’ll get you that new art out soon no promises but I will try! Seriously thanks for indulging my asks, I know you don’t ow me any of you time and it’s cool that you’ve given me some. Anyways off to dreamland for me!

Prepared and so excited! See, with Buggy, it's a mess. If this AU is the sort-of inverse of canon events, Buggy has to keep his beef with Shanks. That happens because Shanks is the one who saves him. He gets him to safety, and then gets himself caught to lead the marines away from him. But from Buggy's perspective, Shanks abandoned him. Which. He's going to spend his time torn between grief/worry/resentment and thinking Shanks got what he deserved, (because Buggy is vindictive like that) only to find out how wrong he was. During the end of the two years, he's going to try to help Shanks, though. Him and Smoker do meet, Smoker being the one to spur him into helping Shanks. Smoker is going to go the way of Vergo in this AU, at least as far as the marines are concerned. Dragon is going to pick up some key players, (wink, wink) and he would save a child. So that's Buggy, even though Buggy doesn't espouse revolutionary ideas. (and Buggy would be even more obsessed with the one piece, it's his way of coping) And here's the thing, once what the marines are doing starts coming out, there's going to be an alliance between the revolutionaries and pirates to protect themselves. Because after the marines get information out of the captured pirates, they will start hunting the free ones. Benn Beckmann is already around, and some other characters will come sooner, some later. Garp is going to be the one who brings Mihawk and Shanks and some of those characters together. It will take them a long time to trust anyone else, but they will. And the pirates who weren't captured but were still hunted count as having a shared experience in their books. As well as the people who have been hurt by or due to the government, especially children. (wink, wink) I was thinking the Ghost generation! Since the marines kept an entire swathe of these people in captivity for two-three years, living as nothing more than ghosts. The one piece declaration did get out, though yes, the WG is trying to make it seems like nothing more than the ravings of a madman. It still becomes a substantial rumor, though, because it's something for the the pirates left to cling onto while they are being hunted. And the WG also wants the one piece. So it's them, and not the pirates that initially began the search. They go out systematically raiding pirate ships and hideouts and work their way up from there. When Mihawk and Shanks get out, Shanks kicks off the real pirate hunt by confirming Roger's last words. Which he does for Buggy's sake. No rush! And you're welcome! Ask away as much as you want, my mind is full of this and I'll literally talk forever if given the chance!

[wickedlyqueer]

5, 14, 15, 18 for fanfic ask?

Aw thanks Carson! :D This got ramble-y, and I won't apologize.

5. What’s a fic idea you’ve had that you will never write?

Hm, there's the Holy Poly fic, but other than that...? Oh, okay I guess this is familiar to you and the people on discord, but recently I had this 1 am brainrot idea where Elphaba is dead, and Glinda is so distraught over it that she crafts an entire D&D map and embues it with magic, so they can both live there. Basically, Elphie doesn't realize they're in a simulation and that they might not even exist since they already died???

And while everybody in the discord was like "THAT'S FUCKED UP! WE'LL SUFFER! WRITE IT!" I had to explain... that I can't.

There's one (1) rule I follow and that's that a fic needs to have a cathartic ending. It can be sad or bittersweet, but I physically and emotionally cannot deal with an Elphaba who find outs that the person they love and care for the most is actively lying to them and has created a universe that isn't even real (!!!). Elphaba, fundamentally, would never ever trust Glinda after learning that. It would go beyond betrayal. It very much gave Glinda all the power and agency over Elphaba and it felt so nefarious and so wrong, that despite the chat hyping me up, I had to stick to my principles and refuse to ever touch the idea.

BUT. As you also know Carson, I did like certain aspects of that idea, so I let the idea sit in my brain for a bit and now that has turned into the multiverse fic, which I am excited about, has a far more expansive world than the other idea ever had, and does not consist that fucked up power balance.

TL;DR If I don't like a fic I let it marinate in my brain until the elements I like & do work find a place in a story I want to write and can envision.

14. If you could see one of your fics adapted into a visual medium, such as comic or film, which fan fic would you pick?

I find adaptations fascinating and I love visual mediums, so for most of my fics I can think of something. But for now let's say Smoke Covers Your Radiating Heart.

It's an 80s AU so I can easily see it be turned into a cheesy & messy & iconic 80s movie, bops and all!

15. How do you come up with titles for your fics/chapters?

Fuck if I know, honestly. I do like my titles to reflect the fic, so I always try to get the main "theme" of the fic somewhere in there. Like Smoke Covers Your Radiating Heart; in itself the title reflects how Glinda and Elphaba have quite some trouble showing how they feel about each other. They're hiding (even though a bit of smoke is never going to hide goddamn radiation (!!!).

But simultaneously there's some silly word association going on. The smoke refers to the amount of smoking that is happening in the fic (and generally in that time period). Radiating was a reference to the Dutch history that I've interwoven in the fic and the anti nuclear weaponry protest that Elphaba organizes. The heart obviously reflects gelphie's love and the "covering" I already explained. Just shake the words in your hand for a lil bit and voila; Smoke Covers Your Radiating Heart.

18. What’s one of your favorite lines you’ve written in a fic?

Oh gosh, this is tough, because I don't really write memorable lines imo? I'm more focused on the scene and dialogue and if it blends together. Not whether I have the perfect sentence that's very quotable. But again, if I have to force myself and choose an answer, I really love this exchange from the Victorian one-shot:

“I don’t care,” Glinda breathed out shakingly. “I want to have and hold you, Elphie.” “Then have me in your dreams, your thoughts, your fantasies. The only place our love is allowed. That’s where you’ll find me.”

Ask me a fanfic question

[danpuff-ao3]

📝 2022 Review

Thanks for the tag @greenmegsnoham 😘 Lotsa good stuff came out of last year!

💌 Most popular fic

Obscene, I think! This was a tough call. Hits, kudos, bookmarks, comments? The ratio of hits to all else?? My brain doesn't like math so let's scratch that last one. But my top for hits and kudos is Obscene and it ranks very high in the other areas so...yeah! Besides, the people love their smut, don't they? Makes me glad! Gave me a lot of trouble to write. I was worried about writing a/b/o for the first time, especially since it was going to be a gift for a friend. It was also written for Kinkuary and I wasn't sure I was going to get it done in time, but indeed I did!

Also I commissioned LuEndland art for it which is very spicy and delicious! (You can see that at the end of the fic!)

💋 My favorite fic

...are y'all ready for me to sob about Contempt again?

Anyway if you're new here, hi, Contempt is my pride and joy, my heart and soul, the best thing I've ever written, and I'm not sure anything will ever top it.

This is THE Snarry for me. The Snarry I always wanted. Snarry as I always envisioned it. Nineteen years of my obsession with this ship. A decade or more of this specific idea; a decade and more of it marinating and spreading and seeping into every part of me. And I spent, what, a month or more in front of Scrivener, pulling out hair and bashing my head into the wall writing this story. This story is built on my bones, written in my blood, blessed by my tears.

This all sounds very dramatic, but it was a very intense process for a very intense story. And it turned out to be everything I hoped and dreamed it would be, and more. This is the story of my loves, the story I always longed for, and it exists now and I created it!!!! How awesome is that???? It still blows my mind, even though it's been seven months since it was posted, eight since it was finished. Their story still haunts my dreams, thus my dedication to its sequel.

Even cooler: there's a podfic (plus cover art!) by the ever talented MrVillain. I also had an embroidery commissioned from onbeinganangel for it!

💣 Most unexpected fic

Orange Blossoms. I was a bit torn and half tempted to pick my dead dove monstrosity In My Veins (In My Blood.) But no, I think it is Orange Blossoms. All I had in mind was my desire to write at least one fic for HP Flowers, and it had to be Snarry. Snarry + flowers for my birthday, just me combining my favorite things all for myself! I was resigned to writing a very short, very simple fic.

Instead, the story grew and become something more. The darkness of war, the sweetness and scariness of romance. The importance of tradition. How far people are willing to go to cling to hope, and faith, and love. It is a story of beauty in the darkness and grimness. All the symbolism I played with, between not only the flowers, but colors and other aspects. So much thought and care went into every detail. It was such a blast to write, and I'm glad the story grew and bloomed the way it did!

📌 Fics for next year

with luck (please wish me luck)

Devotion: companion piece/sequel to Contempt. I did mention that story was still haunting me, right? Yeah. It is.

smile with sweet surprise, chapter 3: it's been like a year since my last update, so yeah. I'm really sticking to that "one chapter a year" nonsense, haha!

Dralbus fic: story I've been trying to write since 2021, but has been an uphill battle with friend drama that followed, and the uncomfortable connections this story has. But I'll be damned if I let those people drive me away from the stories I love. So I will finish this fic full of determination and maybe a smidgeon of pettiness.

Scarry fic: past Snarry, current Scarry, family drama + romance.

Good Daddy: fic I've been writing for way too long that's part of the Yes, Daddy series. All the praise kink!!

Sugar Daddy fic: Harry is Snape's sugar daddy. That's all you need to know.

Christmas fic: sequel to The Christmas Prince.

Project Three of Hearts: mystery poly fic.

More Kinkuary fics?? and Kinktober???

...Snarry Bang? 🙈

......Snarry-a-thon??? 🙈

Oh! Hoggywartyxmas will be revealed soon!!!!

💡 Next fic I plan on writing

Oh who knows. The next thing I intend to work on is making progress in Devotion, but who knows where my muse will lead me on any given day.

Tagging: @fleetingdesires, @bluesundaycake, @onbeinganangel

[frannyzooey]

Hey Kelli! I love ITD and TMTC so much, and I had a question about plotting - how do you do it? Do you plan ahead/outline, or write as you go? I'm trying to get into writing longer fics, but I find it really hard to fill in the scenes between Point A and B (if that makes sense).

Hey nonnie! ❤️❤️

Writing series can be really hard — it’s hard to fill those scenes, it’s hard to keep pace, it’s hard to create an overarching plot or theme and stay true to it, and it’s super hard to stay motivated sometimes, so I feel this pain!

I typically start with an idea that I let marinate until I have a vague concept of the ending: ie. with ITD, I knew I wanted her to meet Ezra as her best friends dad and I knew I wanted them to end up not together, but on a hopeful note.

Taking that, I start the first chapter and sort of let the story and my inspiration guide me — my brain is of the sort where if I write down the entire plot in a document or on paper, it “satisfies” that need for me and I don’t feel inspired to write the story anymore.

I’ve learned this about myself, but I also need to keep track of inspiration as it hits, so my method is:

Start first chapter and post, knowing a very vague idea of the general direction I’m going in. Consume media (the source material, novels, music, observe life, etc) and taking inspiration from those things, begin the next chapter.

Chapter outlines always start as a google doc, where I dump inspiration via scrambled sentences or words and/or a specific scene, if I have one in mind for that chapter. I then pick at the doc over a course of a couple weeks, brainstorming how to flesh it out, how to link scenes and then wait until I’m truly motivated to write (for me, it feels like an oven timer going off in my head) and then I sit down to fill everything in.

Then I send to my beta for thoughts, then I edit, then I post and start the process all over again. ❤️

It’s a chaotic way of writing, because as specific scenes come to me, I’ll write them down completely out of order — but I like it, because it gives me a lot of freedom to play with the events and time to think of something better, more inspired, or something that fits the characters better now that I’ve got a firmer grasp on them.

I hope this was helpful in any sort of way — I am cheering you on! Series can be amazing things to write because they can 1) push your skills and 2) make you proud and 3) give you the time to tell a longer story and also 4) the interaction you get from invested readers can be really amazing and special. I know you can do it! ❤️

If you ever wanna chat more about it, just DM me! ❤️

[ragnarlothcat]

12, 61, 68 for the ask game (if that’s too much just choose one!)

Hello my pal and thank you 🥰 (For this ask game)

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

I mean, I definitely would have stopped posting a long time ago if I wasn't getting any feedback or support! It's gradually built up my confidence to the point that when I do post a fic with limited engagement I don't fall apart (entirely) because I can accept that it's because the fic is niche or people are busy instead of assuming that I've used up all my words forever!

I used to be good about replying to everyone because it was like we were hanging out (in the AO3 comment section, the most natural discussion platform of course) but then I got busy and fell behind and I'm simply going to have to live with the consequences of my actions now. But I do still lovingly read every comment and am getting less anxious with time, so thank you 💙

61. Why do you continue writing fics?

But seriously: I love writing (or at least I love it more than not writing) and fic writing is its own specific medium. I write original fiction too and I used to think that once I got deeper into that I'd stop writing fic but truthfully they're very different. With fics you don't need to sell people on your story because we're all invested in these men and their nonsense already. And then there's the collaborative aspect like how I get people's theories and their immediate feedback whenever I finish a chapter. When I finish a chapter of my book nobody sends me fire emojis which is fine I guess but fanfiction is special and fun and it lets me try out new styles and genres while still fixating on our handsome space men.

68. What, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

New ideas attack me more or less constantly but if I want to be inspired for something specific I have a process:

Get the vibes right. So I listen to rain noises and maybe watch a (lightly) spooky movie for my demon fic.

Go do something else, like play a game or shower or go for a walk and let the vibes marinate.

Be busy with something else (like work) and let my raccoon brain furiously write more of the story to distract me from the monotony of sending emails.

This is harder with less vibe-centric fics (idk what I would have done if my groundhog day fic had won that poll other than imprison Bill Murray for a bit) but I think it's pretty effective! Not so effective that I can finish a fic in under two years but it's important to set realistic expectations, I find.

[sparklingbinjuice]

I’m sorry about your muse. As a fellow creator who has struggled with The Block, I know it’s really frustrating, you want your brain to do what it’s supposed to and it just won’t!!! Listen. It will not be forever. You will write again.

But sometimes the brain is just not in the right space to create.

For whatever reason: maybe the ideas need to marinate for a while before they’ll let you work with them, maybe your brain is putting all of its energy into something else that’s going on and there isn’t any left for writing. Or the problem might be something else entirely. Regardless, trying to force it almost always makes it worse. If that worked, it would have worked by now. It seems counterintuitive, but the most helpful thing? Might be to stop trying to make yourself write. Let your muse take its sick leave or vacation or strike or whatever. Take off the pressure, give yourself time and space, let your brain do whatever it needs to do. Focus on other things for a while. Give yourself permission to not write. And eventually… without needing to be bribed or threatened, your muse will come find you and you will know, you will know when it happens. And you will write again.

It will come back. I promise.

thank you!!! I really appreciate you taking the time to message ❤️ You're very kind and i am grateful for your advice 🥰

honestly, I've come to terms with the fact that writing will never be easy for me. even on my best days it feels like pulling teeth. i don't think that this is necessarily a bad thing. olympic athletes still sweat 😅

i don't think i'm blocked so much as i am Afraid. i write non-fiction almost every day and i feel the same way about my thesis as i do about my fiction / poetry. i find it hard to try, because it's impossible to fail if i don't. a blank page is entirely beyond reproach, faultless. often, i'd rather be invisible than judged. i find the possibility of imperfection horrifying. i find it hard to be quiet and alone with my thoughts. i find it hard to open myself up to praise if it comes at the crushing cost of criticism.

i agree that it's often best to rest and recover so you have the energy to create more. this is important and excellent advice! but sometimes i've allowed myself to take a whole month off, and it hasn't always helped. for me, a creative 'block' is an easy excuse to give up, to let the shame and fear overwhelm me before i really even try to do the gruelling, emotional work that creating a Thing requires. creating anything is hard work.

i am, unfortunately, the kind of person who likes things to be easy. doing nothing is so simple, and writing is so hard

i know that i complain a lot here. i know that i don't often post fic, or anything that really justifies my self-identification as a writer. but i'd rather you guys know that i'm not entirely blocked or uninspired, i'm just lazy and scared - choosing to remain unseen. which is just a synonym for hidden, which is just a synonym for buried

[dove-da-birb]

Anonymous opinions! I haven't known you long but I think

You prefer to finish a project before starting on another one

You seem like you read a lot as a kid?

When you get interested in something, you learn almost everything there is to know about it

You would like to work either in the sciences or something related to fine arts

You're a really sweet person! You like to make people smile with your words

Going to do this in order! And all of these are actually spot on! *good noodle sticker* Going to go in a bit deeper and explain them!

Mostly true; if I get brain worms for another project I write down some jot notes and general ideas. Like currently I have brain worms for a long-form fic, but I want to finish the Soul Match AU I started for TWST first before working on that beast. I may be biting at the bit, but I need to finish that project before even attempting another one. Smaller projects are different though as they require less time and dedication.

Yup! I used to read a new chapter book at least once a week, especially when I was a teenager. I once finished a 400-page book in one sitting; no regrets. I had tonnes of books; YA chapter books, to university textbooks (my favourite one was about marine ecosystems, but it's lost to time)

I try to at least and update my knowledge as new stuff comes out; looking at you Spinosaurus, I'm looking at you. It's mainly on weird info my brain just likes to grab on and never let go of. I can't tell you what I had for lunch, but I can tell you fun mega fauna facts.

Yup! I originally wanted to be a paleontologist as a kid, but uhhh I suck at math. I tried some courses to become an art/biology teacher, but it was during Covid and I suck at distance learning so I dropped out. I currently do have a college diploma, and am currently debating what exactly I want to do next; I know I want more schooling though. My favourite classes in high school were ceramics, painting, biology, and chemistry.

Thank you! I like making people happy; be it through cursed memes here, or writing match-up requests on my side blog.

But yee.

[taegularities]

Hiii just a quick question, how do you outline fics when youre preparing to write them? Like how do you figure out the plot etc...tysm for ur time!

hi hello!! i kept thinking about how to answer this bc i've never really thought about how i start my writing in depth. i think i come up with an idea and then build a world around it.

so like, i jot down the main plot of the fic and then split it into as many scenes as i find necessary for the story. there are some convos or happenings that don't fit into one scene, so you need to highlight them separately — that's what i do. and then i add convos — those usually come to me as i outline! that might sound odd, but i really do let the characters converse with each other. they become their own person and i imagine what i'd do or say and what, e.g. jk could do or say. i think of a couple traits for those characters and then develop their personality and dialogues according to them.

and while i come up with scenes and details, i figure out the rest of the plot, too. as in, what to do next, etc. i'd also advise you to let a fic marinate!! so like, create an outline and then wait. let it rest for a few days bc you will come up with more dialogue, details, stuff to add that'll keep making a story better. honestly, in the end there's no recipe for how to build a plot and a story — over time and as you work on an idea, things come naturally to you. you'll feel inspired by the world, songs or the characters themselves. also brainstorm with friends!! it's such a 💡 experience.

as for the layout itself, my outlines usually look like this, as taken from cmi10 lol:

he laughs

you say, "it's not over yet"

he mentions ___ again, "we'd do so much if you..."

etc. and then i make coherent sentences with these. outlines really do help a lot, so if you ever feel like i'm a fast writer, they're the reason for that lol!! like they can be detailed or just fragments, like mine. do whatever you feel most comfortable with!! hope that helps. here's another piece of advice on how i start my fics. feel free to ask more if you need anything, and good luck with your writing 🤍