#I've already shared part of this snippet in a last line but whatever

[vladdyissues]

I need some advice. I really want to try my hand at writing pompep but I'm hesitant because I've written several fics in a different fandom and no one seems interested in them anymore. I'm so discouraged I've considered giving up writing altogether. What should I do?

The "success" of a fanfic is typically dependent on the following, in order of importance:

The size (popularity) of the fandom

The age of the fandom*

The popularity of whatever ships you're writing

The actual writing

*Naturally there are outliers like the Danny Phantom fandom, which went 19 years without any new canon media and was still incredibly popular.

Three out of four of these options are completely out of your control (because I believe our fandoms and ships choose us, not the other way around). Don't let yourself be discouraged by the capricious nature of popular culture.

You can be a master wordsmith with 20+ years' experience and writing degrees all over your wall, but if you're only writing rarepairs (100 works or fewer on AO3) with an unpopular trope for a teeny tiny fandom that saw its last heyday in 1988, it's going to be a lonely experience. It's not your fault, and it doesn't mean your works are worthless. All it means is fewer people are seeing them.

This is the formula for a "successful" fanfic:

Write for a popular fandom or ship

Self-advertise on other social media sites

Update regularly

But none of that matters if you aren't having fun. So here's my personal advice to you, anon:

Write for your own joy. Or sick amusement. We don't judge here. But do it because you want to. Don't force it out of a need for approval, validation, or engagement. None of those things is guaranteed to us when we publish something.

Talk about your work on other sites. Make it accessible. Post links and snippets and headcanons and "behind the scenes" stuff. Add a "comments and feedback welcome" line in your author's notes to encourage people to share their thoughts.

Tag often and tag correctly. If you're on AO3, try to use Canonical Tags (tags that are already in the system; these yield more favorable search results).

Become part of the community. Follow fellow fans, join a Discord server, reblog others' works, read their fics, leave comments. (You may already be doing this. If so, keep it up!) Mingle and enjoy yourself. Fandom is community. Elevating others also elevates you.

Update as often as you can, but be careful not to turn it into a chore. If working on a multi-chapter fic becomes an agony, take a break. The motivation will return. (This is where having friends really helps. You can share your writing woes and get unexpected morale boosts.)

Another tip: Try not to focus too much on the numbers. I'm guilty of this myself, and every time I catch myself getting a little too preoccupied with my hits-to-kudos ratio, I have to remind myself that it's not all about numbers. Multi-chapter works have especially poor HTK ratios because people re-read chapters but can only leave one (1) kudo.

Final tip: As with embarking on any new journey, it helps to know the landscape. Be sure to get your hands on all the canon material you can. (Then you can ignore it as you wish lol.)

Happy writing, anon! Best of luck to you 💗⭐🍀🌈🎈

[ardawyn]

Ballad of the Cursed Character Intro: Caithan

Basics; 24 years old, she/her, white, blue-grey eyes and brown hair, lesbian, a dro hean (her mother is a fairy, her father is human)

Facts: when fairy magic was outlawed seven years ago, she fled to Canglin (or the Forsaken Lands), losing her mother and younger sister in the process; lives now secluded in a cabin at the edge of a forest with a small village down the hill; because she’s part fairy, she’s able to harvest magic from sources which she sells for good coin; has survived three assassins; a scar runs down her right cheek from a wound that nearly blinded her; always carries a hatchet and dagger at her belt; devoted to her gods, especially the Queen of Gods; appears calm and cool on the outside, but there’s a never ending storm brewing inside her; loves her little cabin and decorates it with souvenirs of her journeys, but she’s restless, never stays long and travels a lot; plots her revenge

Snippet under the cut:

» “Achnui,” she said, voice quiet but clear, “I have returned to your shrine with the same purpose as always. Forgive me, that I have not simply come to pay you homage. But since the source never runs dry, I assume I have not yet offended you.” She smiled to herself, before the smile died and something darker took its place. “This time I haven’t come with the intent to sell the magic. Raiders from the west have attacked the village I live close by. They killed, plundered and took some of the villagers to become their slaves. There was a little girl … ” The words tasted like ash in her mouth, like blood, and her chest tightened. The girl, blue-eyed and with her brown hair in a plaid, had reminded her so much of her own little sister. Caithan swallowed hard. “I have to find those raiders. Everyone else is too afraid to act, but I cannot fight them alone. I need more magic.”

The flames in the stone bowl gave a loud crack, and the air changed. Achnui was here, her presence wafting in the gust that toyed with Caithan’s hair. If she disagreed with her plan, she would show it, wouldn’t she? She would give her a sign, a punishment perhaps, but there was nothing. There was only approval in the wind.

Caithan raised her face skyward, to the dark grey clouds that had veiled the sun for days. “With the magic you are giving me, I will free the villagers and make the raiders pay for what they did.” Another gust brushed across her skin. Not a frigid one that howled over these lands, never tiring, but a warm, caressing one. «

[corancoranthemagicalman]

Coran! 💜💜💜 for the fanfic writer ask game

Also sorry these arent in order

⏳ 🎶 🛒 👀

Liv!! 💙💙

⏳ : How long does it take you to write a fic, or a chapter?

It really depends, genuinely! On one hand, I wrote, edited, and published a 6k fic in two days. On that same hand, I wrote 30k words approx. in like, five days? But that was on a piece that I was just writing for me to get the creative juices flowing so I wasn't worried about word choices as much as getting scenes down. And that was during Christmas break.

But on the other hand, my current WIP which is almost at 30k has taken me all month between trying to find the time to write, editing, and research. Lots and lots of research on this one that isn't even making it into the final piece. Haha!

So I'll say, on average, if I'm free of time, I could easily write probably 10k in two days? Eh?

🎶 : Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?

Yes!! All the time!! It's crucial to my process. Like, that same WIP I was telling you about. Lately I haven't been able to listen to my music while writing which is why this last leg of the fic is taking forever to write!

I either have custom playlists for whatever ship I'm writing for, or I have a very generic pining playlist full of my favorites. What's looping definitely depends on what I'm writing, but I guess lately Share Your Address by Ben Platt and Don't You Dare (Make Me Fall In Love With You) by Kaden MacKay have really been critical pieces in my playlists.

🛒 : What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

It depends! I think I definitely overall default to a lot of storm imagery. I.E. Lightning, thunder, clouds over the horizon, etc etc.

But it also is completely dependent on what I'm writing for! For instance, in my WIP at the moment I'm using a surprising amount of dancing metaphors? But I think dancing metaphors are integral to my interpretation of those characters, so I think if I write for this ship more often I will probably come back to them.

That being said, now that I'm thinking about it, I think I'm just drawn to ships where the storm metaphor works.... Gentlebeard... Destiel... Hell, even in my VLD days I did it. Damn. Did I use storms for GOmens writing too?

Also for something other than a theme/imagery, I typically love writing First Kisses even if I never tag them? As such? I love that. But surprisingly I've really stepped outside of that with some of my later Supernatural works and definitely within OFMD. My "Getting Together" OFMD fic they DIDN'T EVEN KISS. THEY DIDN'T EVEN KISS. 2018!Coran would shake in FEAR at the animal I have become.

👀 : Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

I've kind of done that already??? Whoops??

Okay, so here's the thing:

I'm supposed to be finishing the third installment of Bang Bang! And it's coming along, I promise!!! But I was having issues with some of the transitional parts. It just wasn't flowing, and I needed a brain break so I could come back with fresh eyes.

So I started the aforementioned and thus far unnamed WIP.

(It's a Bagginshield fic. Whoops. I'm so sorry loyal followers. I am trash.)

And it was just supposed to be a break!! Just a 6k at the max joke-centric fic!! To make me laugh and to post and then to go back to what I actually was trying to work on this month! [The third installment of Bang Bang! plus another WIP I have yet to mention (͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)] But then it quickly devolved evolved into... a 30k beast of pining and cultural discussion and guilt and love.

I cannot wait until it's done. So I can be free from it. I've loved writing it but at what cost.

Since it's you my dear Liv. If you want a snippet of the WIP, just send me another eye emoji with a number, and I'll send you a line off the corresponding page number. For reference, there's 64 pages so like go off on number picking. But I don't even know if you like Bagginshield, so I won't subject you to it anymore than I've already subjected you to my rambling, haha!

Thanks for the ask, dear! This was fun!

Emoji FanFic Writer Ask Game !!