#also im posting this without editing or rereading ANYTHING so i'm sorry if it's an incoherent mess. just know that i love you

[lovelyelbowleech]

Hiiii I loved the new chapter so so much! I was recently thinking of going back to fic writing and I wanted to ask: what's your writing process like? do u always have 1 chapter ahead done for like a buffing period or do you just write each chapter in between posting? What's your editing process like? Do you plan out everything that's gonna happen or is it by whichever way the plot takes you? how long until zukka's first kiss? do you have an estimate on how many chapters a fic will be? how do u make your plot so convulted but still follow along? How did u make your characters to dimensional and full despite the fact that we've seen some of them for only bits at a time? what's your personal favourite scene in the upcoming chapters? did u realize im trying to ask about all's fair without asking about all's fair directly while also asking for writing advice? Have u ever written a real book? I love you thank you bye have a nice day!!! looking obsessively desperately forward to the next chapter!!!

Thank you for the great ask! Sorry it's taken a while to answer, life is being a bit complicated at the moment😅

Answers below:

what's your writing process like? do u always have 1 chapter ahead done for like a buffing period or do you just write each chapter in between posting? 

I start the next chapter as soon as I finish the previous, so I sometimes start a week before I post if I send to my beta reader during the week, or if she can't get it done over the weekend, but generally there is no buffer, I just post when I'm done and start the next one.

What's your editing process like? 

Chaotic. I write a rough guide for the chapter, with lots of place holders, then go through and add detail, dialogue, and fill in all the easier bits. Then I go through again and fill in all the placeholder bits, as the chapter takes shape, then again to add punctuation and correct all the underlined in red words, of which there are many. (If I worry about those things when I write, it would take me all year to get anything done.)

Then I tidy it up again, do a final reread, transfer to google docs, correct anything it suggests (lots of the writing a wrong word that's correctly spelled - like through and  though, my nemesis) Send to my lovely beta reader, then follow her suggestions, and all the additional corrections, then post. Takes a while 😂

Do you plan out everything that's gonna happen or is it by whichever way the plot takes you?  

A bit of both. I have a rough plan to the end of the fic, but there is a lot of wiggle room. At the moment I have the next 8 chapters planned pretty thoroughly - but even so,  as I write, sometimes I change things around to make it work better or because stuff just becomes different when I actually write it. 

how long until zukka's first kiss? 

I see you slipping this one into the questions 😂 I'm not going to tell you, obviously, but I will say that Sokka might get a clue within the next stretch of chapters (before BSS)

What that means is open to interpretation though ���

do you have an estimate on how many chapters a fic will be? 

I did for the first one, bec the scope was smaller, now not so much. I plan about 10 chapters ahead in detail, and the rest is planned out by just the major events that need to happen at certain times. It gives me plenty of space for things changing as I write. 

how do u make your plot so convulted but still follow along? 

Timelines so I know where everyone is at that point, even if they are not in a chapter. So when I need them to be in a place to do a thing, they are lined up. I also have a lot of notes, and use scrivener to organise them and my chapters (although I don't actually write in it, because it does not understand my dyslexic spelling at all.) Everything else is just wiggling around in my brain and sort of pulls together without much thought 😬 

 How did u make your characters to dimensional and full despite the fact that we've seen some of them for only bits at a time? 

Canon characters come with ready made backstories and goals that make them seem fully realised people. But as things move forward in the fic and motivations and feelings change, I guess I try to mesh those things together to make them still feel rounded

For the OC's I find if I make them full backstories, personality quirks and realistic struggles and motivations it helps me write them as full well rounded people, even if the details of what makes them who they are are not 'on screen'. It helps me write them and fit them into the canon world and mix with the canon characters. Of course this also means they ended up getting more tangled in the plot than I really meant them to. They were originally intended to just be outsider POV for canon characters, but a bunch of them sort of developed their own agency, and I found it fitted into certain plot points I was planning a bit too well to ignore. 

what's your personal favourite scene in the upcoming chapters? 

There is one that is mostly planned out that I have been looking forward to writing, although the details are still shifting. It's been in my head since War Crimes 😬

did u realize im trying to ask about all's fair without asking about all's fair directly while also asking for writing advice? 

I did notice that, yes, 😂 

Have u ever written a real book? 

No, I have only ever written fic - I planned a book, way back when but never actually wrote it. 

Thanks again for the ask, sorry the answers are a bit rambley. I hope you are having a good week!

[claymotif]

hiiiiii ok for both sky sea and starless hour if they were being adapted into a movie/tv show/etc what would the soundtrack be like??? any songs you would specifically have to include??? general vibe and type of instrumentation etc??? (this is also me saying if you have playlists i would like to see them and hear you explain them bc 👀)

okay SO for sky sea im just gonna hit some key points (since i've been using the same playlist since it was a space odyssey and haven't cleaned it up yet, some songs are no longer relevant) but tsh. oh boy. none of these are in a particular order sorry <3

(because i've committed the high crime of knowing more than one language. sorry some of these songs are not in english but im including translations to the best of my ability. also sorry this post is LONG long)

sky sea:

all time low - a love like war

keldan/aderyn anthem. literally just every line

"is this the end of us or just the means to start again"

i would say most of the song is referencing their past relationship except the last line (and maybe the repetition of "we go together or we don't go down at all") which is like. present day learning to fuckin deal with each other

muse - won't stand down

another keldan song sorry but like. come on

specifically when his revenge arc begins. somewhere in there he's gonna try to ruin the nation and then have to decide whether it's worth it to follow through :)

sleeping at last - neptune

literally NO idea where this one fits in bc it literally suits every one of the main four and lowkey every possible dynamic

"i'm only honest when it rains" etc etc

"i want to love you but i don't know how"

florence + the machine - king

melati my beloved <3

this is her theme song after she ascends to girlboss mode

5sos - lover of mine

keldan/seia

i think this one pretty much sums up their dedication to each other even tho they truly don't actually label that relationship it's just like. they're so absorbed in each other that they're like one single entity at this point. creepy but effective

side note this is really just a reflection of my 12 y.o. self's music taste idk why

for starless hour i actually have two playlists, one for like. instrumentals and the other for vibe inspiration. again trying to hit key points only but i don't know how to shut up

the ready set - the witching hour

"heard that energy is a constant state / nothing ever ends, it will only change"

"and then I fall into a hurricane of empty thoughts / where I become all my own problems when I swore I'd not"

"there's something telling me that I still have a lot to give / maybe there's beauty in uncertainty, I hope there is"

this one's literally 60% for the vibes because how can i not include a song called "the witching hour" on this playlist

but also i really like the feeling of sort of. cautious optimism in the song that feels really central to. maybe not the overall plot of tsh but definitely where i want the resolution to end up

monsta x - destroyer

"however many times it takes, rewind / i'll go to you, rewind / the ending is up to me anyway"

"i believe in destiny, i believe in us / ... / all of the memories in this vicious cycle"

"then the ending is complete / our string is already connected"

ignoring the time-travel themes of the song. god the idea of writing your own destiny. or like even though tsh doesn't have time travel i like the idea of trying over and over again to get it right. like i'm not giving them the chance to try but i like the idea.

also UGH red string of fate theory my beloved

lea - ende der welt

"this isn't the end of the world ... / just the end of us / this isn't the end of the world, even if it feels like it / it doesn't kill us"

"and when the sun goes down, is it just the earth that turns with us?"

i know the song is intended as a breakup song but again. come ON how can i not include it. it's literally called end of the world.

all time low - old scars / future hearts

"i don't wanna be the one that's left behind / don't blame me, don't hate me"

"i am lost inside this endless haze of life / but this life is mine to live"

again sort of in line with the idea of making your own decisions/writing your own future. i think it also fits neatly with delwyn's belief that only he is in control of his own choices? he's the one who picks his destiny. even tho in the end he chooses wrong, it's still his choice etc.

bastille - get home

again. literally the whole song but:

"we are the last people standing / at the end of the night / we are the greatest pretenders / in the cold morning light"

"how am i gonna get myself back home?"

this song goes along with the end of the story, once all the worst has come to pass and there's nothing left to change/prevent

and it's getting home in a literal sense because the story i think will take them pretty far from home. but also in the figurative sense of the journey changes them so much and how can they possibly go back to who/where they were?

jo sung mo - do you know (youtube link to my preferred cover)

"if you ask me why i didn't say anything / my heart aches, i can't answer"

"no matter how many times i'm born again and leave again / there's no world like this one where i met you"

"maybe this world is beautiful because of the traces of you"

"do you know today is the last day you and i will be under the same sky?"

another breakup song but GOD.

also sorry my translations are rough but i literally could not find an eng translation of the lyrics that i liked enough to use so i just made my own

anyway. haven't figured out how to word all of my feelings about this song so i'm hoping u will just Understand. thanks <3

stray kids - chronosaurus

not really an exact lyric to point to actually but i think this song captures the desperation and the "oh god i'm running out of time" vibe that i LOVE for tsh

the theme for instrumentals is yearning baby! loneliness and hope and "the light will come again" and "everything is so different than it was". extremely unquantifiable emotions with no lyrics to guide me. good luck bestie (this playlist is shorter tho because it's newer)

gone in a flash (spider-man: no way home)

the quiet loneliness.. the fade out... ugh i literally have no words

you're going to notice a lot of these instrumentals follow the same theme lmao

exit through the lobby (spider-man: no way home)

obsessed with the way this builds slowly and then fades out to the lone piano

on the nature of daylight (max richter)

this song would be included on the basis of title alone but it's also perfect. one of my long-time fave instrumental pieces out there

a knight of the seven kingdoms (got s8 soundtrack)

yes this is from game of thrones. yes it's a masterpiece. next question

a different idea of love (luke howard)

again. strings. there's something about string instrumentals that makes me sob every time.

manhattan sunrise (ola gjeilo)

PIANO. i really love this song and also the title and the vibe fit equally perfectly with tsh. the light dawning over the city. despite everything that's happened there is still hope.

maybe you can guess that this piece corresponds to the end of the plot

at dawn (hania rami)

once again. slow sad piano. what more do i need to say.

one day you finally knew (slowed remix) [chad lawson]

no comment. just vibes

(translation: this is the song that would play during the end credits of the movie. if it were a tv show it would only play during the last ep's credits tho)

[clichejoe]

3, 15, 20, 22, and 23 for the writing ask :)

Sweeeeeeet! More questions! I've just answered q3 in another post, but I'll give the others a shot! Thank you for sending these in!! (omfg this one turned out super long Im sorry lol)

15. What do drafting and revision look like for you?

Ooooh good question. Asked at a good time as well, because I feel like my methods have changed a lot recently because of what I've learned writing Candlelight. But let me give it a shot:

So drafting is pretty easy, I have a basic plotting document I saved back in 2017 that kind of helps me outline the beginning, middle and end of a story. I always used to use that religiously - I've planned a lot of stories and fics before using this method, but I've never finished them. Revisions always used to happen as I was writing - I'm a huge perfectionist and I edited as I wrote, which made me lose a lot of enjoyment of the process. I wasn't rereading what I'd done because I liked it, I was tearing through it with a fine-tooth comb, picking it apart until I hated it.

Recently, my plotting has become a lot looser. As I said, Candlelight had a beginning and an end. A general idea. That was it. Everything else kind of just . . . happened as I was writing it, and it's been a lot more fun that way! Revisions have changed too - I barely reread my stuff now (as you can probably tell by all the spelling mistakes in the text lol). I sit down on Monday to start a chapter and try and finish it by Saturday. I have an idea of what I want it to say, but everything else is a bonus and revisions are where I add a few extra words to make it look like what happened was on purpose lol.

20. Where do you begin a WIP? ex: a mood, a scene, a certain character dynamic, etc. Does this differ per project?

Usually with a WIP I have one specific scene in my head. And the mood of this scene for almost every WIP is the same.

It's the lowest point of the story.

Kind of grim, I know, but I love the scene where the protagonist fails, so spectacularly it looks like everything is lost. Usually for me a character dies in this scene as well. It's weird, I know, but I find that this scene works as like a base - from this I can build the character relationships, the high points, the joy of the story. Emotional contrast in stories are my favourite thing (can't have happiness without sadness etc) and it helps me establish where the bottom of that is. I can build it from there. The higher I take it at other parts of the story, the more painful I know this first scene is going to be.

It's also the scene I know (hope, really) hits the reader the hardest - the one they're going to remember. And that emotional response is also an excellent motivator.

22. How much of your own self/experiences do you believe pours into your projects? If this differs per projects, which projects have the most and least of you?

Accidentally? A LOT. I feel like I start every story with a basic idea, a setting, genre. A few characters. But then as I'm writing it and developing it, part of me just sort of leaks in unwillingly. For example, the A Game Called Werewolf horror story I'm working on with a friend has become a reflection on struggling with anxiety and existential dread - a feeling of a lack of control of your own life. Candlelight was meant to be a fun fanfic, but the previous isolation and loneliness of the main character became a key plot point because I, myself, was pretty lonely when I started it (having just left uni and friends etc. Dw I'm chill now).

23. What do you do to engage with your projects which isn't usually writing? ex: playlists, pinterest boards, etc. How much do they play a role in the development of your work?

I usually always make a spotify playlist for anything I'm working on. Pinterest boards as well. They don't really help me develop the work as they more help me get in the right head space before I sit down to write it. Or, if I've not worked on a certain project in a while, they remind me of what I was working towards. The key emotional impacts that I wanted the story to have and why these motivated me to start it in the first place.

[closetedotaku01]

i rlly hope youll keep writing after Kinktober, bc as a writer myself i see so much potential in your writing. it's already great, but it really reminds me of my own writing from a year or two back. i was the one who asked how long you've been writing & i've been writing fanfic for 7 years so its cool to see how good you already are. youre going to improve so much over time & i'm really excited to see it, you do so many things in your stories well & theyre only going to get better! (1/2)

THIS GOT SO LONG IM SORRY!!!

This.... I—. WARMED MY HEART!! Pick a name or emoji or whatever you want and you are an official anon!! Also this got long so.. READ MORE IF YA WANNA!!

Thank you so much for saying you see potential. Sometimes I’m really.... unhappy with my work and feel like I can’t improve and this just... MADE ME SO HAPPY!! Like... hearing it from someone who does write💜💜💜💜💜 makes my whole life.

I’m so excited to keep growing and I hope you stay for the journey because this is so sweet. Maybe casually come off anon way down the road (so I can’t guess) just so I can read some of your work too 👉👈. And no worries there will be more after Kinktober. I am really enjoying this and have no plans to stop writing any time soon.

~~~~

Okay so my favorite published authors are Jandy Nelson (I’ll Give You The Sun is a book I reread constantly. It’s my comfort book. I swear if my soul was anywhere besides my body, there’s a piece of it trapped in that book.), Fredrick Backman (specifically And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer), Brigid Kemmerer (literally all of the books she’s published with Bloomsbury I’ve read and adored), and Neal Schusterman (Specifically the Arc of a Scythe Trilogy). They all write in ways that affect me deeply and they mean a lot to me. I don’t necessarily try to emulate them, but they definitely are the authors I consult (by reading and rereading their works) to get ideas and to learn how to write.

~~~~

Fanfic authors. I think I’ve made it pretty damn clear on here that I am hopelessly in love with @imaginethathaikyuu (I’m still too scared to tag her I’m sorry) and her writing. She means the whole world to me in every way. Her writing always hits me in a MAGICAL way. Especially her newer pieces. Works of hers that hit hard for me are: (please note this list is not comprehensive. These are just the FIRST ONES that came to mind. All her work is objectively great.) 

-Tsukishima accidentally teases his s/o’s insecurity - this one holds my heart.

-Heated argument with Tsukishima - this is the angst I adore. Honestly, this might be one of my TOP TOP favorites, because it feels so real. 

-Morning sex with Tsukishima -just the line “theyre your tits!” That’s all. Brings me serotonin beyond words. And it feels so genuine and lovely. Again... she makes the world so real. Also in my TOP TOP favs. (Is my Tsukki love showing too much?)

-Helping you when you can’t sleep - This is beyond words beautiful

-Helping you study - PLEASE I NEED THIS NOW

-Tanaka finding out his s/o is pregnant - YES! SHE DOES TANAKA SO WELL

-Tanka asks Kiyoko to dance.... but she says no - SO WELL 

-Riding Headcanons -🙈

-S/O is nervous about him going down on her  -because who ISNT the first time?

-Learning about your self-harm scars -hits close to home and Iwa’s makes me cry every time.

-Akaashi making it up to you after a fight -my favorite color is literally purple 💜

-Bokuto’s s/o has a nightmare - I literally revisit this one whenever I have a nightmare

- Kinktober 2019 - ALL .... but the ones I revisit the most are Tsukishima’s, Oikawa’s, Futakuchi’s, Yaku’s, Iwa’s, Yamaguchi’s, and Matsukawa’s.

-Kinktober 2020 - please GOD read Kuroo’s, Mattsun’s, Iwa’s, Suna’s, and Atsumu’s. They’re all immaculate but those in PARTICULAR were MASTERPIECES.

-Having an angsty fight - particularly Kuroo’s GETS TO ME. Like... damn. Makes me... melt. Idek why. It’s just, again, how real she makes it feel. From the atmosphere and setting to the way the characters behave. A lot of times in “argument angst” (is that a term?) the arguments feel so shallow and stupid. And I’m like “on my moodiest days I wouldn’t react like that” or “Kuroo WOULD NEVER”. But these feel so real. Ughhhh.

-You give Kenma a gift mid-stream 

-Kenma gets turned on during a stream - can you tell I love the way she writes streamer Kenma 😌 also this is my fav nsfw-esque Kenma piece solely because it feels accurate to his character in a beautiful way despite me headcanoning that he’s ace.

-Oikawa’s s/o wakes up without him there

-Iwaizumi getting.... caught.... by Makki and Mattsun... with you  -Give Iwa More Love 2020

-Tendo teasing his s/o by ... taking care of himself - One of the first Em pieces I ever read. I don’t think it was THE first. But it was definitely the first one I read like... RIGHT AFTER she posted it.

-Tendo comforting s/o who’s parents yell - hits very close to home for me, and I just wanted him to come whisk me away the first time I read this

-7MIH with Tendo  -hehe I love this more than anything. Also Ushijima’s ONE line makes me CACKLE. I’m in love with this one

-This two part series with Atsumu (1) (2) -haha I reread these too often

-Kneel to Pray  (Sakusa) -I have not even one criticism or negative thought. Not one. And I’ve read this TOO many times.

-Tough boys are soft for you - two of the best boys

- Countdown to Christmas - Days 6,7,11, and 12 are the ones I reread the most

THIS IS SO BAD!! I WENT STRAIGHT TO THESE AND DIDN’T THINK IT WAS THAT MANY COS I REREAD THESE ONES REGULARLY. (And there’s a lot more theatre good. Please explore her blog! It’s WONDERFUL) Sorry for spending too much time on Em’s blog, but also.... not sorry cos she’s amazing and all of these pieces inspire me.  I’ll try to be fast for the rest of these ahfihfadsfsjfh.

 @star-puff (catch a theme of me being scared of talented authors)’s piece La Lune and her Fleur d’Amour event (search #fleur d’amour on her blog) are so creative and beautiful and truly show how talented she is. She’s amazing. EDIT: I’m adding this as soon as I’ve read it because it just made me cry. Omg. Read this. Tsukishima royalty AU it is angst though so 👀 read at your own risk. EDIT: On GOD Meg could murder me and I’d say thanks. Please read this beautiful time stamp shit it makes me HAPPY. 

UPDATE: And Meg is now responsible for the most canon Tsukki piece I’ve ever read. 

There’s a cute SMAU called Sunshine by @pudding-head-kenma and idk how she does it. It’s so good. I could never tell a story this complex, THIS WELL, using only text messages and tweets and such. She also does mini headcanons that are REALLY cute.

Anything and everything by @haik-choo is gold. Literal gold. The way she writes Tsukishima is IMMACULATE. Toxic headcanons, mischaracterizations all of its gold. And she’s a beautiful shitposter. She drops shit that makes me CACKLE at the most random times. All of it is a big yes for me.

UPDATE: this is gold.

Of course I’ve read In Another Life and OF COURSE I sobbed. Took me AN HOUR to read because I kept having to take breaks to just.... sob. VERY MUCH A HEAVY DUTY ANGST. Not for the weak of heart. BokuAka. This is probably the oldest piece I’ve read that still HITS for me. 

There are other pieces but I can’t remember them.... probably will come back and add to this post later.

Thank you for this ask. Thank you for being so kind and inspiring. I was kinda worried about releasing anything I’ve ever written and still get nervous sometimes so this ask makes me feel a hell of a lot better and makes me feel like I’m joining a WONDERFUL community like... Look at all that talent ^^^^.