#also there will be more domingo art inflicted on you later when i finish my outfitober piece

[firstaidspray]

Quick Domingo/Solana doodle 💛

[seraphtrevs]

A mutual of mine recently went through their process when creating a piece of art, and I thought it might be fun for me to go through my writing process, even though no one asked lol.

Step one - I get an idea. There’s no real process here—it just happens. Not all of my ideas are good, but occasionally I’ll have one worth nurturing. When that happens, I’ll start to cultivate it. Sometimes I’ll find music to put me in the mood and go for a long walk, but most of the time I’ll just play with idea in my head while I’m taking care of mundane stuff. (My husband can always tell when I’m “writing” because apparently my face goes completely expressionless and I get a thousand yard stare lol.)

Step two – Outlining! (If a piece is short, I’ll skip this) I’ll write down the beats of what happens: Lalo does this, Nacho does that, snippets of dialogue. I’ll make sure the overall shape of the story looks good, but the ending will always be a little fuzzy. I can also guesstimate how many words I’m going to need. I can write about 1000 words an hour, so that gives me a good time frame for how long I’ll need to get it done.

Step three – Title! I find it extremely helpful to have a title BEFORE I start, because a good title can sum up the theme I want to aim for, and that helps me focus. It’s also the first thing a reader sees, so I want to make sure it puts them in the perfect mood for the story I want to tell. Sometimes a title will come to my mind fully formed, but most of the time I have to play around with it. I do a lot of cribbing from the greats. I’ll think of famous stories that have similar themes and look up quotes. Alternately, I’ll search for quotes about a particular topic and see what comes up.

Step four - Write! It’s really important for me not to be too self-conscious at this stage – I just write what comes to mind. (I don’t think about the outline too much, or anything of what I detail below – that’s stuff to check after I’m finished.) I like for things to be quiet because I’m “telling” myself the story, and I need to be able to “hear” it. Once I’m through to the end, I’ll go back and check my math.

Yes, math. I know it sounds weird, but it’s helpful! I’ve read a ton of books on story structure, some of which break down what should be happening in a story at every single percentage point in the manuscript. You can go overboard with that kind of stuff in a way that’s not useful, though. So I just take a look at my 25% and 50% marks, and then make sure my climax hits. 

By the 25% mark in the story, the inciting incident should have occurred—that’s the thing that happens that kicks off the story. More importantly, a question should have been raised that the reader will want answered—this is what the story is about. By the 50% mark, something should happen that at least partially addresses the question, but the answer at this point is either incomplete or wrong. The climax should happen very close to the end, just like sex. If I did it right, it’s a “wow” moment. It should either answer the question, or even better, make you realize that the real question was something else the whole time (twist!).

Since I don’t know the full answer to the question myself when I start writing, the climax is often a surprise to me too! This is my favorite part of writing because it truly feels like magic when things come together.

A few examples under the cut (spoilers for my fic)

1) A story with a straight-forward answer:

In Only You, the inciting incident is when Lalo gets Nacho to come home with him.

The central question is: what does Lalo want from Nacho?

At the 50% mark, Lalo propositions Nacho. So that’s a partial answer – he wants him for sex. But is that really all there is to it?

At the climax, it’s revealed that, no! Lalo wants more. He calls Nacho amorcito for the first time, and starts to plot how to capture him completely.

2) A story with a twist question:

In The Green-Eyed Monster, the inciting incident is when Lalo discovers that Nacho has girlfriends. He becomes enraged in a way we haven’t seen before.

The central question is: what is Lalo capable of? This question has been brewing in the previous stories in the series. We know Lalo is a threat and Nacho is in danger. But what is the danger? I

At the 50% mark, Lalo cuts off a dealer’s ear for no reason. This is an answer to the question of what Lalo is capable of: extreme violence with little care to the pain he inflicts, in a way that is random and unpredictable.

But! It’s only a partial answer. We still don’t know what he’s going to do with Nacho.

Lalo makes Nacho take him to his home and pays off the girls (that’s unpredictable, so the reader should still feel on edge). Then he demands submission from Nacho (reader is waiting for the violent part to come in). Nacho avoids the latent threat of Lalo’s violence by submitting to him.

The story could have ended there, except actually, it turns out “What is Lalo capable of?” is the wrong question—or at least, not the whole story. The real question is, “What is Nacho capable of?” Because when Lalo takes him to bed, Nacho nearly strangles him to death in retaliation! That surprised me, and I hope it surprised you too.

Here’s the breakdown for the other fics:

Power Play

Inciting incident – Nacho accepts Lalo’s invitation to go driving.

Question – Can Nacho use sex to control Lalo?

50% mark – Nacho initiates a kiss. Partial answer to the question: Yes, he can seduce him…

Climax – …but he hasn’t gained control of him at all.

Riding the Tiger

Inciting incident – Nacho uses his wiles on Lalo at the restaurant

Question – Can Nacho seduce Lalo, part 2?

50% mark – Nacho arrives at Lalo’s for their date. Partial answer – Lalo is definitely into him…

Climax – …but twist! The question should be, “Can Lalo seduce Nacho?” The answer is yes, and it leaves Nacho more helpless than before.

Flip the Script

Inciting incident – Nacho confronts Lalo about what he wants

Question – Can Nacho position himself as Lalo’s equal?

50% mark – Nacho asks if he can fuck Lalo and Lalo says yes. Partial answer – well, Nacho can be on top in bed…

Climax – …but he’s still under Lalo’s thrall.

Of Mice and Men

Inciting incident – Domingo agrees to go home with Lalo and Nacho

Question – What is Lalo going to do to Domingo?

50% mark – After Domingo’s second, definitive yes, Lalo starts slapping him around. Partial answer – Lalo is going to use Domingo sexually...

Climax— …but twist! The real question should have been, what is Lalo going to do to Nacho? Because Lalo is trying to destroy Nacho’s relationship with his best friend in order to bring Nacho more completely under his control (Man, Lalo is such a DICK.)

(This fic has an epilogue, which is when Nacho and Domingo have their talk, so the climax doesn’t occur right at the end. The epilogue has a mini-arc with the question, has Lalo succeeded? And the answer is no.)

Fire Bug

Inciting incident – Lalo commands Nacho to come along for some recreational arson

Question – Will Nacho obey Lalo?

50% mark – Nacho starts destroying the gas station on Lalo’s command. Partial answer – yes, but…

Climax – …Lalo has won a battle but lost the war by pushing Nacho too far – his leverage on him is slipping.

Keep It in the Family

Inciting incident – The twins arrive

Question – Is Nacho destined to be the plaything of the Salamancas?

50% mark – He sleeps with Marco and Leonel, so, sort of…

Climax: …but he’s finally figured out how to leverage Lalo’s desire and possessiveness against him

Later, I’ll be going over how I approach longer works like Reign in Hell, and the Only You series overall. Hopefully this was interesting to some of you lol.