#and nano is fast approaching too!!!

[foxmulderautism]

that post i made on my writeblr about how there's this one story i have out with a mag that i want rejected because i have a story i think suits the mag better.....live cam footage of me receiving the rejection email on my rainy evening walk

[syn4k]

anyways it sucks that nano said that about ai generated writing but im broke so im not gonna be giving them money in either case.

my approach to this is going to be: in my creative writing class, one of our midterm grades is to compete in one of three writing related contests, one of which is NaNoWriMo. HOWEVER, since our class has a high percentage of disabled people (both physically and mentally) who are incredibly prone to burnout when it comes to participating in traditional NaNo, our teacher (also disabled so she Gets It) edited the challenge slightly this year to make it easier for us to participate.

instead of writing 40,000 words in one month, our goal is to write 10,000 words a month for four months, starting in August and ending with 40k at the end of November. this is much more manageable and realistic for us, it still provides a challenge, and it also means the participants write an entire novel in four months, which is still a big deal for obvious reasons especially considering the majority of the class are very much amateur writers.

i've adopted this much more relaxed model while writing salt & the sea and will probably continue to use it next year regardless of if our teacher keeps it in the rotation for our midterm grade or not. if traditional nano has been too exhausting/intimidating for you in previous years for whatever reason like it has been for me, you're welcome to join me in participating in this unofficial offshoot of it!

another thing: i am a fast writer. i write a lot and i write very quickly. however, due to burnout, depression, the time of year that NaNo happens in, and a couple other things, 40k words in one month is a goal that i simply cannot hit in any way without hurting myself a LOT right now and that's okay. Reaching a goal means nothing if you destroy yourself in the process of getting there. It's okay to make a huge challenge easier for yourself in order to accommodate for your own disabilities, workflow, etc. or even just so that you aren't put off trying in the first place!

I don't have a name yet for this edited NaNo challenge and it probably won't go anywhere which is okay but I'm thinking of referring to it as Mini NaNo, Mitosis NaNo, or something else that preferably emphasizes it's an unofficial offshoot of the challenge.

(my) monthly goals:

Start: Aug 1st (you can dust off an old draft or concept if you'd like)

August 31st: 10,000 words

September 30th: 20,000 words

October 31st: 30,000 words

November 30th: 40,000 words

Current word count as of Sep. 2nd (started this draft on May 30th, I know, I cheated a bit): ~19,000

wish me luck!

[airas-story]

Sorry I know I prompt a lot but I just got a funny one after reading "Snowed in"

Somebody anybody trying to "fix" their tension, possibly by getting them to bang it out, surprised when they find out that they have already been banging it out for a while, and the tension is intentional

Clint groaned, as Stark and Strange strode into the room, already going at it. Natasha called it ‘unresolved sexual tension’. Clint called it irritating.

One night. Could they not get one night without the two going at it?

At this point, Clint was tempted to steal Strange’s sling ring and Stark’s nano-housing unit and lock them in a closet. But then, knowing the two of them, they’d probably spend an hour arguing before they bothered to even try to escape and it wouldn’t make a whit of difference in the grand scheme.

Thankfully, the two shut up once the movie turned on, probably because Natasha sent them both murder glares warning them not to interrupt her favorite—Clint didn’t understand how Natasha of all people liked the Notebook.

The two disappeared halfway through, muttering something about popcorn. It would be at least twenty minutes before the two of them were back if they got back into their newest argument.

He glanced down at his bowl. Empty. And if he didn’t get there fast, the caramel popcorn he favored would run out and then he’d have to settle for kettle corn.

The temptation of caramel popcorn was too much to resist.

Things were silent as he approached the kitchen, which meant the two of them were somehow not going at it.

He stepped in and froze.

Because the two were going at it, just not in the way he’d expected. Strange had Stark pushed against the refrigerator, and they were kissing like their lives depended on it.

“Finally!”

They pulled away from each other. “What?” Stark asked.

“The tension,” Clint said. “Which one of you snapped?”

Stark tilted his head. “Strange, obviously. But that was like… four months ago.”

Oh god. They really were just like that. They were all doomed.

[thessalian]

Thess vs NaNoWriMo

So that time of year is fast approaching, and I think a lot of people I associate with on this platform are going, "But Veilguard's coming out on HALLOWEEN!", which is entirely fine - NaNoWriMo is optional. And honestly, all things considered, I am probably never doing it as an organised situation again.

It took some digging to find the original text, and I'll probably post the screenshot I saw on Bluesky too, but summary: not only is NaNoWriMo pretty much supporting AI (they say "absolutely not condemning", but the rest of the text isn't nearly so mealy-mouthed about it) but also calling people who are against AI "ableist and classist".

No, seriously. I mean, seriously.

Look, how people get their ideas is probably up to them. And stolen valour aside, plugging an idea into ChatGPT and getting some word salad in return is ... I guess someone's prerogative. The same as someone just typing, like, "rutabaga" 50k times technically counts as writing 50k words. But ... first of all, NaNoWriMo was supposed to support people who write. Second of all, the idea that not having someone immediately at your side to serve as beta reader is "classist" is ... no. Like, if you're online enough to understand NaNoWriMo, you can find a damn beta reader. Third, "Some people's brains don't work well enough to see the problems in their writing--" SEE ABOVE RE PROOF-READING, FOR ONE THING, and for another, that's just shit like spelling and grammar check, which has been standard on word processing programmes basically ever since the concept existed! Fourth, I'm not sure how AI assists in shit like "Can't find a publisher because publishers are only really interested in what will sell ALL THE BOOKS", but that's one of their arguments too.

But the last thing - the worst thing - is what that means. NaNoWriMo is not cool with plagiarism as far as I know, but that's what trains AI. More to the point, you have to verify your word count with their website by actually copy-pasting everything you wrote into the site for it to show you as a winner. The fact that they support AI, and that one of their sponsors offers a whole bunch of AI features? I don't trust them not to be selling every single thing people submit for word count total to feed someone else's writer-bot.

I mean, the NaNoWriMo bods have made some spectacularly shitty decisions the last few years. There was that partnership with those scammers at Inkkit, which also revealed the whole thing where one of their moderators - who operated the youth programme, by the way - turned out to be a paedophile and groomer. But this one is just ... disrespectful of the very thing they were supposed to be supporting.

Please don't use the official NaNoWriMo resources. I am concerned for what it will do with not only what you submit for word count, but what you put in their forums too. If you want to do 50k words in 30 days, I am with you all the way, and others will be too. Find a support group that isn't these jackasses and do that.

Plus the "not using AI is ableist" thing is bullshit, by the way. I am not participating this year (I don't think, anyway; not unless I get a great idea) because I'm damn sure I don't have the spoons for that ... because disabled. Because fibromyalgia. The thing is, I don't want to just say "I produced 50k words and won NaNo", I want to write. I want to use my voice, not something cooked up by a machine learning algorithm based on a single sentence. I think way too many people have forgotten what "in your own voice" means to art.

Like, on the r/criticalrole subreddit, we were talking about how Lance Reddick actually did record all his lines as Thordak in TLOVM before he passed, and I mentioned how different that was going to hit, with the example of having heard Robin Sachs as Zaeed in the ME3 Citadel DLC after he passed. And someone went, "Oh, shit, I didn't know he passed! Hey, do you think they'll one day be able to use the voices of dead voice actors so we can keep hearing them? Because I know it's possible because Snoop Doggy Dogg is reading me my homework now and it's awesome!"

I ... may have kind of exploded. I may also have mentioned that some bunch of assholes tried to make a George Carlin special after Carlin's death and his daughter (understandably) hit the roof. It's bad enough to disrespect thousands of people by training an AI to spit out whatever of their works will fit a prompt sentence, but imagine hearing the voice of someone you love, mangled by AI's inability to get real emotional nuance, possibly saying shit they would never say? Using their voices doesn't change that the emotion and power behind those voices is gone forever; it just parades a decaying copy of them around like some vocal equivalent of Weekend at Bernie's.

[everythingwritingg]

Nanowrimo Tips

@everything.writing on IG

I really can’t believe Nanowrimo is fast approaching. 2023 has gone by so fast and we’re more than 75% of the way done with the year. October is coming to a close and November is approaching. Now is the season for pies, turkeys, and of course, NaNoWriMo. Whether this is your first time or you’ve done every one of them since they began, here is a list of tips to help you have a pleasant Nano experience.

First, what is NaNoWriMo? Whenever I post anything about Nano, I always get a bunch of questions asking what it is. It stands for National Novel Writing Month and happens every November. Writers challenge themselves and each other to write 50,000 words a month, which equates to 1667 words a day. You can go to Nanowrimo.org to participate.

Choose a story idea you’re excited about. A lot of people find themselves quitting their projects because they lose interest. While it might be hard to predict how you’ll feel about a project down the line, try to choose an idea you’re interested in, such as in your favorite genre. If you’re trying to continue an existing project, make sure you love it!

Break the monthly goal into weekly and daily goals. Thinking about writing 50K words is daunting and can make you tempted to procrastinate, so split it up into chunks of days and weeks. You can choose to write 1667 words every single day (I’ve done that), but it might benefit you to have some flexibility. One thing I find helpful is weekly goals such as 12K words a week so maybe you can write more words on weekends when you’re less busy. And remember that November is a whole month, so maybe you’re a little busier wrapping up some work deadlines at the beginning of the month, but then you go on Thanksgiving break. Or maybe you’re busier around the end of the month due to visiting family so you’ll write more in early November.

Be prepared by doing PrepTober. While you definitely don’t need to get every single detail down on paper, you should at least have an idea of your beginning, middle, and ending. This will make you more efficient since you’ll reduce the time you need to think. It can also make the process way less stressful.

Focus on getting the first draft done. Don’t edit as you go, because it’ll take more time. Instead, focus on getting the words down. You can edit later, but you can’t edit if you have nothing written. This might be hard to stomach for perfectionists, but you can absolutely edit in December.

Hold yourself accountable. Some people like having writing buddies to share progress, while others like to post their progress on social media. Whatever works for you and keeps you motivated. If you’re self-motivated, you can also keep a journal of how many words you wrote a day.

Work in places that promote productivity. This looks different for everyone. Some like to listen to music, others like writing in silence. Whether you prefer writing at a desk or on the couch, this is all up to personal preference. What normally makes you more productive?

Don’t stress too much. If writing 50K words is too much for you to handle, you can set your goal lower like 20 or 30K. November is a hectic month for some people, with work, school, and family. Unless you’re a full-time writer, you likely have some responsibilities more important than writing. It’s ok to put writing on the backburner if it’s affecting your ability to get some of them done or negatively impacting your mental health.

If you’re participating in Nano this year, I wish you the best of luck. If you’re not, then I wish you luck with your writing and life goals this month. Don’t hesitate to comment if you have questions, and I hope you enjoyed!

[meraki24601]

NaNo Snippet

Hey, friends! NaNoWriMo is in full swing. It's late, so I'm up making bad decisions.

I recently wrote a very whumpy scene involving a car accident and thought I would share a bit of it. The scene is still pretty rough and unedited, but I hope you enjoy it! If it inspires you to continue the story please tag me. I want to see your work!

For context: Caleb (current main character) is on his way to the store and already had to stop very suddenly in some traffic for emergency vehicles to pass. It's cold outside and there are a few patches of black ice where the buildings' shadows haven't allowed the morning sun to shine on the road.

-----------*-***-*-----------

As time slowed around him, Caleb’s fears became reality. Another car topped the hill too quickly. Their tires squealed as Caleb’s gaze jumped from the vehicle in front of him to his rearview mirror. His eyes focused on the scene just in time to see the braking car hit the patch of ice and lose control.

They were going to hit Caleb’s car. They were going to hit hard, too. Cars were fast approaching in the other lane. The cars in front of Caleb were closer together than normal from having to suddenly stop for the emergency vehicles. Despite the cold November day, there were even a few people out on the sidewalk. 

It was about to happen. Caleb could almost feel the vibration of the road from the other car skidded helplessly across it. The vehicles in the other lane had seen and were trying to stop, but they were too close to make it. If the sliding car shoved Caleb’s car into their lane, they would hit each other’s driver’s side dead on, not only killing Caleb but the other driver as well. On the other hand, if Caleb held his car straight, the sliding car would hit him hard enough it would probably end in a train of cars rear-ending each other all the way down to the light. Not a good option either. 

The last hope was the sidewalk. Just ahead of Caleb’s car was a street light. There was a chance that if the other car pushed him to the side and into the light pole, enough of the momentum would be eliminated that possibly only the car in front of Caleb would also be hit. Of course, if he was shoved over far enough and hard enough, Caleb could be crushed in the process. 

He turned his wheel.

The car hit him hard from behind. Caleb’s head hit his airbag even harder. The strangled cry of twisting metal rang out as a horrid smell filled the air.

Silence.

Screams.

[coffeeandcalligraphy]

My nano prose is very sparse at the moment. Do you have any tips for increasing word count?

Oh I feel you! Honestly the way I've been approaching it is kind of like... bigger is better? NaNo is funny because typically I wouldn't just say you know, overstuff your prose (unless that's what you want!) for the sake of it, but part of the fun I think is experimenting with ways to lengthen writing too, because of the nature of the challenge. So while it seems antithetical, if I know there's a longer way to phrase something, I will. I've been surprised by where that can lead--I've unlocked some really interesting aspects of voice (and also... word count lol). I go back and see if I can add descriptions every couple of sentences, which has been fun because I'm funnily not very intentional about descriptions. I also have been writing SO MANY flashbacks. If I need word count fast... FLASHBACK. And that's because I find they don't have to be attached to a causal chain as clearly as events in the fictive present.

[technocleanau]

The Future of Clean: Cutting-Edge Cleaning Technologies

The world of cleaning has come a long way from traditional mop and bucket methods. In today's fast-paced and technologically advanced society, cleanliness and hygiene have never been more critical. As our understanding of the importance of sanitation and sustainability grows, so too does the need for cutting-edge cleaning technologies. In this article, we explore the latest advancements in the world of cleaning technology and the role that companies like Techno Clean play in shaping the future of clean.

The Evolution of Cleaning Technology

Cleaning technology has evolved dramatically over the years. What was once a labor-intensive and time-consuming task is now being revolutionized by innovative tools, equipment, and processes. These advancements not only make cleaning more efficient and effective but also contribute to a healthier and more sustainable world.

Key Innovations in Cleaning Technology

Robotic Cleaners: One of the most significant technological advancements in the cleaning industry is the proliferation of robotic cleaners. These smart machines are designed to autonomously clean floors, windows, and even air ducts. Equipped with sensors and artificial intelligence, they can navigate spaces efficiently and ensure thorough cleaning. Techno Clean, a leading company in the field, offers a range of robotic cleaning solutions to meet various cleaning needs.

Ultraviolet-C (UV-C) Disinfection: UV-C technology is another game-changer in the cleaning industry. It harnesses the power of ultraviolet light to disinfect surfaces and kill bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens. Techno Clean utilizes UV-C technology in their cleaning equipment to provide safe and effective disinfection services. This technology has seen increased adoption, particularly in healthcare facilities and high-traffic public spaces, as a critical tool in the fight against infectious diseases.

Sustainable Cleaning Solutions: Environmental consciousness is a driving force behind the development of sustainable cleaning technologies. Companies like Techno Clean are committed to reducing the environmental impact of their operations. They offer green cleaning solutions that use eco-friendly chemicals and reduce water consumption. These efforts not only protect the environment but also promote healthier indoor air quality.

Nanotechnology: Nanotechnology has found its way into the cleaning industry, enhancing the cleaning process at a microscopic level. Nano-coatings can be applied to surfaces to make them more resistant to dirt, water, and stains, reducing the frequency and effort required for cleaning. This innovative approach is making surfaces easier to maintain in various environments, from homes to commercial spaces.

Techno Clean: Pioneering the Future of Clean

As we delve into the future of clean, one company that stands out is Techno Clean. Their commitment to staying at the forefront of cleaning technology is evident in their innovative product offerings and dedication to quality.

Techno Clean Robotic Cleaners: Techno Clean's range of robotic cleaners includes intelligent devices for various applications. These robots are designed to maximize cleaning efficiency, reduce labor costs, and enhance the overall cleanliness of spaces. They are equipped with advanced sensors, enabling them to adapt to different environments, and can be controlled remotely for precision cleaning.

UV-C Disinfection Systems: In response to the growing need for enhanced disinfection, Techno Clean has developed UV-C disinfection systems that are effective against a wide range of pathogens, including viruses and bacteria. These systems are used in a variety of settings, from healthcare facilities to offices, ensuring a safe and sanitized environment.

Green Cleaning Solutions: Techno Clean is committed to sustainability and environmental responsibility. They offer green cleaning solutions that not only deliver exceptional results but also align with eco-friendly practices. These solutions prioritize safety, efficiency, and a reduced environmental footprint.

Comprehensive Training and Support: Techno Clean not only provides cutting-edge technology but also offers comprehensive training and support to their clients. They understand that effective use of cleaning technology requires expertise, and they are committed to helping their customers achieve the best results.

Conclusion

The future of clean is bright, thanks to the ever-evolving world of cleaning technology. As we navigate a world where cleanliness and hygiene are paramount, companies like Techno Clean are at the forefront, pioneering innovative solutions to ensure spaces are cleaner, safer, and more sustainable. With a commitment to sustainability, advanced robotic cleaners, UV-C disinfection, and green cleaning solutions, Techno Clean is shaping the future of clean in a way that benefits us all.

To explore the cutting-edge cleaning technologies offered by Techno Clean, visit their website at https://technoclean.com.au/ and discover the future of clean today.

[nano-cache]

Nano was pretty sure his head couldn't be cleared. Not by fresh air, or the near-constant sedation that first week, or the stupid fucking speech pathology he'd been forced to partake in. But he followed Slate out, leaving Conny sitting against the window inside. "You're all like a...fucking hive mind here, huh?" Word seemed to travel fast, even without any apparent leaks out. After all, Nano was pretty confident Link wasn't calling anyone up to gossip, especially when she was practically militant about assuring everyone he was healing super well! Getting back on course!

"Yeah, Link's, uh...really been there for me," which was one fifth of the story, considering there were four other Caches keeping his ass alive. "Cress?" She'd spent more time in his house than he had. Honestly, he still hadn't even bothered to look at everything she'd done during her DIY Barbie residency in Three. "Do you have a name, or does this really do it for you -- this air of mystery?" Narrowing his gaze, Nano appraised the stranger, trying to figure out how the fuck Link, Cress, and this guy were all connected. It didn't make sense, visually.

They slowed, the stranger smiling pleasantly, which only made Nano scowl more. But that was just how he always looked. No different than any other interaction he'd had, on- or off-screen. "What gave you that idea?" He wondered if anything had been picked up from the finale, when he'd told Conny. But he'd been so careful, so smart -- the cameras shouldn't have caught a thing. Besides, if they had, it wouldn't be some stranger at a party approaching him. It would be Peacekeepers, escorting him to the nearest guillotine.

"Despite what you look like?" Nano laughed, like this was a joke, a fucking funny one too. "You look like one of the worst fucking moments of my life. Sorry if my Games gave you the wrong idea, but I'm actually not a fan of leeches. Hanging out with bloodsucking parasites isn't one of my interests. Weird that it's yours."

Slate raised an eyebrow at the symbol on the window, but didn't comment on it. Instead, he gestured for Nano to follow him. "A walk sounds great," he said. "It'll help clear your head." He couldn't understand what Victors went through and never would be able to. He had a great amount of sympathy for them, and while so many had turned into machines that the Capitol used for their own purposes, he knew there were those, like Alder, like Cress, who wanted to use their power for the better. He suspected that if Nano could manage to use the raw energy he had right now towards working for the cause, it might help him.

Or maybe he was just trying to justify approaching Nano in such a vulnerable state to ask him for help. Hadn't Nano already done enough?

As they went outside, he made idle chatter, absolutely certain that not only were there ears everywhere, there were eyes too. "I've heard that you were living with the Caches," he said as they walked, "and you've met Cress, as well. Seems you've had an exciting couple of months." He led the way through the garden. The benches were all bugged, obviously, but he'd heard from two separate and reliable sources -- Avoxes who worked for the president -- that the corners of the garden were areas unable to be picked up by bugs.

Once they came to a spot he deemed safe, he stopped walking, smiling pleasantly so that any cameras trained on them wouldn't think this was anything more than a conversation about the Caches and their affinity for puzzles. "I've heard that your sympathies lie somewhat outside the realm of the Capitol," he said in a quiet voice that very much did not match his pleasant facial expression. "Despite how I look, the same can be said for me. We might have common interests." Doing this was going out on a limb, it was getting increasingly dangerous as the rebel activity picked up and so did spies, but he had to do it. There was no honor in keeping yourself completely protected.

[nanowrimo]

How to Self-Edit Without Being Overwhelmed

How many times has self-editing distracted or made a mess in your drafts? It happens to the best of us. NaNo guest Elzevera has prepared a guide to help you conquer your self-editing tendencies and do it in a more productive, efficient way.

If you consider self-editing a necessary evil you need to get over with as quickly as possible, you are not alone. Most writers heave in despair at the thought. Not to mention the crippling fear of not being good enough.

But self-editing can be an empowering experience that leaves you bursting with pride instead of wallowing in the darkest corner of your mind.

No idea how? That’s what I’m here for.

Once you master the elements of BLOT, you’ll be self-editing effectively and efficiently—with confidence—in no time.

BLOT – Break & Breathe

The first step that will make a major difference to your self-editing experience is to take breaks. Many, lengthy breaks. And here’s where the second part comes in: breathe. Know that it’s okay to take your time and to adjust self-imposed deadlines.

Many writers fight me on this step because they’re afraid of losing touch with their manuscript and of taking too long to get to the finish line.

But you know what? Losing touch with your writing is the goal here. By stepping away from your book for a few weeks—a month is ideal—you ‘forget’ what you’ve written.

This makes it easier to consider your manuscript from a fresh perspective: you’ll spot things to improve straight away. You’ll also be surprised by how good some passages already are.

BLOT - Learn & Prepare

A common mistake I see writers make when self-editing is diving in without a plan. When you wing it and read your manuscript over and over, just hoping to come across elements you can improve, several things happen:

The process gets real tedious real fast. When you repeat the same step again and again because you feel you have to, your energy will go down the drain. 

You miss important things. Because you’re looking for everything at the same time--while not understanding what you’re really looking for--you get pulled into specific passages and ignore others.

There’s no indication of how far along you are in the process, which can cause despair and hopelessness.

Luckily, there’s a simple solution to avoid all the above: educate yourself before you start. Find a framework to follow and know exactly what to look for in which round. This can reassure you that you will get to the end.

BLOT - One thing at a time

This step ties into the previous one: when you attempt to edit everything at once, you end up exhausted and frustrated. And you’ll miss a huge number of things you could have easily tackled with a one-by-one approach.

Some writers feel they should be able to do it all at once because they believe that’s how professional editors work as well.

First: self-editing is not the same as professional editing. The goal of self-editing is to make your manuscript as good as you can make it with the tools and skills you have at your disposal.

Second: when I was an editing intern at a children’s book publisher, it was the In-House Editor who kept reminding me to focus on one thing at a time. And it’s made a world of difference to how much I can improve in any piece of writing.

BLOT – Time is your friend

You may feel you need to get your novel published as soon as possible. With the entire internet shouting, you should write more and faster and daily social media posts from fellow writers who just published their book, that’s not surprising.

What no one tells you is what I’ve seen many times: when writers rush to publication, 99% of the time, they’re unhappy with the quality of their writing.

There’s the initial rush of hitting publish, but the pride fades away and is replaced by self-doubt and more negative feelings revolving around ‘why am I not good enough?’

I’m here to tell you that you are good enough. You will experience the thrill of launching your book AND the pride that comes with publishing a book you nurtured as much as possible by taking your time.

If you have questions about BLOT or self-editing, message me on Instagram @willowediting or email me at elzevera@willowediting.com. 

Are you ready to BLOT your way through the self-editing process once NaNoWriMo is over, during Camp NaNoWriMo, or as a NaNoWriMo rebel? Download my free Self-Editing Checklist here for support.

Elzevera is a self-editing coach on a mission to help fiction writers self-edit effectively and efficiently so they can self-publish without regrets. She loves to read and write fantasy, and has a soft spot for talking animal characters. She lives in the Netherlands with her husband and baby daughter, who cheer her on in the background.

Top Photo by Faye Cornish on Unsplash  

[beedesigns]

Autumn is here!

This is easily my favourite time of year, but I've gotta say that September has just vanished! How are we in the final week already? Where did it go? Still, with October fast approaching that means one thing... Preptober is almost upon us!

I don't think I will be actively participating in the big NANOWRIMO itself this year. Instead, I'm going to use Preptober to further develop the world that I came up with during June's Camp Nano.

For once I'm feeling really positive about it too! It's a total mishmash of ideas at the moment, so October's objective is going to be smoothing out the rough edges and having it all run together. I'd honestly be lost without my notion databases to do it though. Being able to cross-reference everything and have a free cross-platform place to dump everything from ideas to completed articles is amazing.

I'm starting to wonder how I survived in the 'before' times without it.

[ms-scarletwings]

Oh YEAH, this too that should have gone on the diagram- when it comes to what to bring to the arena with these knuckleheads it is overkill or nothing.

We’re not going home so we’re going BIG and by god we are going DIY. Crucial difference between when they’re actually fighting for their primary goal vs doing it for the fun of their rivalry. Dib’s magazine gadgets are actually hella useful under the correct circumstance, and Zim does make extremely practical modifications to his personal tech (and fails with GIR through very little fault of his own).

But it’s not really the fate of the Earth that’s at stake when it’s time for prank wars gone awry and school showdowns. No matter what either of them claim, it’s a whole different ballgame when the stakes are actually ego. The muffin throw, the Bologna virus, The Food Fight, and The Wettening were not even really scuffles to the death if you take notice. Those battles were about both of them each trying to send a message to the other in one long-going argument. Zim’s is a statement about the inherent supremacy of his species, and Dib’s is a middle finger that shouts not to underestimate humans so quickly. You ever listen to “Impress Your Creators” by Tub Ring?? The ending part of that song is Dib’s entire spirit captured in words.

If a knife fight is on the schedule, Dib’s turning up with something that looks like a scrapped Micheal Reeves/StyroPyro project, and Zim is arriving with a nuclear freaking warhead. You can’t point out Dib’s ballon launcher and forget to mention the hell of a near-planet-destroying clapback it was followed up with. When you fuck around and goad a maniac from a type III civilization (Kardashev Scale) into a contest, you get to find out real fast.

What I love about it so much is that even if Dib’s kinda fighting an impossible battle here even with access to Membrane Labs level tech, he actually is unintentionally helping the Earth whenever this happens. One of Zim’s biggest hurdles when it comes to being an invader is having a one track mind combined with absolutely no ability to prioritize. Imagine the sort of devastation the resources that went into that ocean-filled water balloon could have caused if utilized smartly. How much time did he waste creating and curing the bologna pathogen, piloting a nano-sub to keep himself from being exposed, or running that matrix simulation on dib? Dark Harvest? Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy? Room with a Moose? All of that and more was time that could have been spent on his actual assignment. Having Dib around may motivate him to keep his post up, but think about how many whole episodes have also been him completely distracted with Dib-related side quests instead of focused on world domination. Am I the only one compelled to read a little too much into Duty-Mode GIR’s assessment of a simulated Dib as so unthreatening to their operation that he doesn’t warrant serious attention even in training?

But deep down it doesn’t have to be fate of the world level serious. This is honestly the most fun Zim and Dib ever have in their respective “missions” out of every other approach. No one else to save or destroy, just two rivals beating their chest and showing off their skills to the only other being alive that actually sees them and their hard work. This is less the Goku Vs Frieza type of enemy-ship and more the kind you see between Goku and Vegata or.. opposing Pokémon trainers.

Honest truth, with every episode of this messed up show I finish rewatching I’m more are more sure that Dib is just as incompetent and short-sighted when it comes to his “mission” as Zim is. But it’s so funny to me that while Zim just makes bad plans, has awful priorities, and improvises a lot by the seat of his pants, Dib’s incompetent in the classical bumbling villain sense. Like, he’s doing the right thing, he generally has clever approaches and insights, makes full use of his resources, yet,

He’s still aesthetically and narratively such an antihero, the poor dweeb.

Observe, my magnificent Venn diagram

Only thing I didn’t want to tack on that because it bears worth of some more elaboration: Both of these two are horrible about recklessly arming their nemesis with tons of free information and striking opportunity that can only be used against them.

And Dib is worse at this, like, so… so much worse. Zim will do the classic ‘Muahahaha, now that I have you right where I want you, here’s a detailed presentation of my entire insidious plan, Batman!’ routine while at least having the class to wait until the hero is being lowered over the acid vat or tied to the train tracks. Dib, as a villain? Would start reciting that same speech while in the middle of trying to kidnap the hero, about 3 and a half steps way too early. It’s actually crazy how fast he will telegraph his next move even when he’s not in a position of having a real advantage yet.

The first time the two met and Dib stood there loudly showing himself as the most perceptive and hostile human in range? And then stood there explaining alien sleep cuffs and what he was going to do with them? And then stood there declaring war and that he’d identified Zim’s base location, swinging said cuffs around in front of the gnome brigade? Granted, he wasn’t aware of Zim’s security at the time, but the essence of that sequence was a pattern that he was more than happy to keep repeating for the next couple seasons.

Also, Zim’s brutalism, while it went to some shudder inducing places, is more expected from a genocidal maniac born from a race of colonial supremacists. It’s part of his theatrics and it’s fun for him in the same way it’s fun for his leaders to blow up innocent ice cream space-trucks and unlucky planets. Dib gets mean with their face offs in a way that’s just dripping with spite. All the time spite. Trivial, personal, petulant spite. Even more than Tak and her grudge, which, should be a lot more surprising to me. But it’s really not.

What it did do instead was remind me of a very interesting quote I once heard, from a Cracked video about online gaming behavior, of all places,

[everythingwritingg]

I really can’t believe Nanowrimo is fast approaching. 2022 has gone by so fast and we’re more than 75% of the way done with the year. October is coming to a close and November is approaching. Now is the season for pies, turkeys, and of course, NaNoWriMo. Whether this is your first time or you’ve done every one of them since they began, here is a list of tips to help you have a pleasant Nano experience.

First, what is NaNoWriMo? Whenever I post anything about Nano, I always get a bunch of questions asking what it is. It stands for National Novel Writing Month and happens every November. Writers challenge themselves and each other to write 50,000 words a month, which equates to 1667 words a day. You can go to Nanowrimo.org to participate.

Choose a story idea you’re excited about. A lot of people find themselves quitting their projects because they lose interest. While it might be hard to predict how you’ll feel about a project down the line, try to choose an idea you’re interested in, such as in your favorite genre. If you’re trying to continue an existing project, make sure you love it!

Break the monthly goal into weekly and daily goals. Thinking about writing 50K words is daunting and can make you tempted to procrastinate, so split it up into chunks of days and weeks. You can choose to write 1667 words every single day (I’ve done that), but it might benefit you to have some flexibility. One thing I find helpful is weekly goals such as 12K words a week so maybe you can write more words on weekends when you’re less busy. And remember that November is a whole month, so maybe you’re a little busier wrapping up some work deadlines at the beginning of the month, but then you go on Thanksgiving break. Or maybe you’re busier around the end of the month due to visiting family so you’ll write more in early November.

Be prepared by doing PrepTober. While you definitely don’t need to get every single detail down on paper, you should at least have an idea of your beginning, middle, and ending. This will make you more efficient since you’ll reduce the time you need to think. It can also make the process way less stressful.

Focus on getting the first draft done. Don’t edit as you go, because it’ll take more time. Instead, focus on getting the words down. You can edit later, but you can’t edit if you have nothing written. This might be hard to stomach for perfectionists, but you can absolutely edit in December.

Hold yourself accountable. Some people like having writing buddies to share progress, while others like to post their progress on social media. Whatever works for you and keeps you motivated. If you’re self-motivated, you can also keep a journal of how many words you wrote a day.

Work in places that promote productivity. This looks different for everyone. Some like to listen to music, others like writing in silence. Whether you prefer writing at a desk or on the couch, this is all up to personal preference. What normally makes you more productive?

Don’t stress too much. If writing 50K words is too much for you to handle, you can set your goal lower like 20 or 30K. November is a hectic month for some people, with work, school, and family. Unless you’re a full-time writer, you likely have some responsibilities more important than writing. It’s ok to put writing on the backburner if it’s affecting your ability to get some of them done or negatively impacting your mental health.

If you’re participating in Nano this year, I wish you the best of luck. If you’re not, then I wish you luck with your writing and life goals this month. Don’t hesitate to comment if you have questions, and I hope you enjoyed!

[etjwrites]

Nano is fast approaching and with it comes the PHYSICAL danger of writing too much too fast.

Watch this vid for tips on preventing and mitigating potential damage to your hands!

Transcript coming soon.

[just-dreaming-marvel]

Out Of Time ~ 129

MASTERLIST

< previous chapter

Word Count: 3,050ish

Summary: The separate teams prepare for the battle against Thanos. (gifs aren’t mine)

Y/N was standing in front, staring at space as it whizzed by, when Tony came over and wrapped his arms around her from behind. He pressed a kiss just behind her ear, pulling her closer.

“What are you thinking about?” Tony whispered.

“How I’m suppose to be prepared for something, but I have no idea what,” Y/N whispered.

“The fate of the universe is not on you.”

“But it is, Tony… and there’s—“

“No.” He quickly, yet carefully, turned Y/N around to face him. “This is not on you.” His hands held Y/N’s face to look at him. “Whatever happens is not your fault.”

“You can’t say that. We don’t know what will happen yet.”

“You’re right, we don’t. But I will not let you feel the way you are feeling. And I promise, that I will not let anything happen to you.”

“I’m not worried about me… I’m worried about everyone else… it’s too much… it’s all too much…” 

Her eyes were tearing up, and this was all breaking Tony’s heart. He pulled her into his chest, cradling her head. It was killing him to see her like this, but he really didn’t know how to fix it. Tony didn’t understand exactly what Y/N needed to do, and he was coming to the conclusion that she didn’t either.

The two could feel the engines begin to slow. With Tony keeping an arm around Y/N, the two looked through the large window. The ship was approaching a planet. Peter and Dr. Strange joined the couple by the window.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Peter asked.

“I think we’re here,” Strange replied.

“I don’t think this rig has a self-park function,” Tony said, looking around. He left Y/N’s side, waving Peter over to where he was going. “Get your hand into this steering gimbal. Close those around it. You understand?”

“Yep, got it,” Peter responded, quickly following Tony’s directions as Tony put one of his arms in it as well.

“This was meant for one big guy, so we gotta to move at the same time.”

“Okay. Okay. Ready.” Out the window, Y/N could see that the ship was heading straight for the center of some wreckage. “We might wanna turn. Turn! Turn! Turn!!”

Tony tapped his reactor, armoring up. “Y/N! Get over here!”

Before Y/N could reach Tony’s side, the ship clipped a piece of rumble on the planet, throwing Y/N to the side. Peter has his helmet come up as Dr. Strange stepped between them, creating a shield for the rough landing. As the ship, shook and plowed through the dirt, Y/N portaled herself over to Tony. She wrapped her arms around him to keep steady, only for them both to be thrown to the ground. Parts of the ship flew off before it finally came to a stop. Tony’s helmet disappeared as he searched Y/N for any injuries. He quickly noticed that her breathing was fast and her eyes were clenched shut.

“Honey, honey,” Tony called. “You’re okay. Hey, look at me. Look at me.” She shakily looked up at Tony from her position curled up into his side. “We are safe. You are okay. You’re not hurt. Right?”

“I… I’m… o-okay…” Y/N stuttered softly.

“You haven’t had something like that in awhile.” Tony sighed before kissing her head. “I’ll get us out of here. I promise.” Dr. Strange came over and helped them up. “You alright?” Tony asked Strange, who nodded. “That was close. I owe you one.”

“Let me just say,” Peter started, descending from above like a spider, “if aliens wind up implanting eggs in my chest or something, and I eat one of you, I'm sorry.”

Tony pointed at Peter. “I don't wanna hear another single pop culture out of you for the rest of the trip. You understand?”

“I'm trying to say that... something is coming.”

Suddenly, a grenade rolled into view and the foursome was thrown back as it fired an energy pulse. Three beings appeared in the doorway.

“THANOS!” A blue man yelled. 

He flung a blade at Dr. Strange, who deflected it with a mystical shield and in return his cloak smothered the man’s face, throwing him to the floor. Y/N and Tony were quickly on their feet. One of the men went straight for Tony. They have a brief dogfight until a magnetic disc pinned Tony face first to a structure. An alien woman came up from behind Y/N, putting her hands on her head, entering her mind.

“Sleep,” the alien woman commanded. Y/N dropped to the floor, unconscious. 

“Y/N!” Tony shouted.

The alien walked towards Peter, who was crawling back frantically. “AH!” Peter exclaimed. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Please don’t put your eggs in me!”

Peter shot a web at Mantis in a panic, pinning her arms to her body just before the man that attacked Tony flew at him feet-first, kicking him away.

“Stay down, clown!” The man ordered.

The man fired at Spider-man, who extended his spider legs and leapt away. Peter couldn’t get far before an electric-like cord wrapped around him and his six new legs. It set him rolling across the deck.

“Die, blanket of death!” The blue man cried, struggling with he cloak.

Tony pulled free of the magnet and stepped on the blue man’s torso. The cloak pulled free as soon as Tony had the man securely under his foot. The other man had Spider-Man in a head-lock, gun pointed at his head. Dr. Strange had a musical shield up and stood ready to attack. The alien woman struggled to her feet, still covered with webbing.

“Ugh…” Y/N groaned, slowing sitting up while holding her head. 

“Y/N,” Tony called. “Are you—“

“Alright, everybody stay where you are!” The man holding Spider-Man in a headlock ordered. “Chill the F out.” The man powered off his helmet. “I’m gonna ask you this one time. Where’s Gamora?”

Tony hid his helmet as well. “Yeah, I'll do you one better,” Tony responded. “Who’s Gamora?”

“I’ll do you one better. Why is Gamora?” The man beneath Tony’s foot fired back.

“Tell me where the girl is, or I swear to you, I'm gonna French-fry this little freak,” the man holding Spider-Man threatened.

“Let's do it!” Tony responded, extending a nano-tech canon at the blue man. “You shoot my guy, I blast him. Let's go!”

“Do it, Quill! I can take it!” The blue man exclaimed.

“No, he can’t take it!” The alien woman replied.

“She’s right,” Dr. Strange said. “You can’t.”

"Oh yeah? You don't wanna tell me where she is?” Quill continued. “That's fine. I'll kill all four of you and beat it out of Thanos myself.” He looked at Spider-Man. “Starting with you.”

“Stop!” Y/N yelled, freezing everyone in place. She stood up. “No one is killing anyone!”

“Why can’t I—“

“She’s controlling us,” the alien woman stated. “She’s extremely powerful.”

“Wait, what? Thanos?” Dr. Strange questioned, realizing what Quill had said. “Alright, let me ask you this one time: What master do you serve?”

“What master do I serve?” Quill repeated. “What am I supposed to say? “Jesus”?"

“You’re from Earth?” Tony asked.

“I'm not from Earth. I'm from Missouri.”

“Yeah, that's on Earth, dip-shit. What are you hasseling us for?”

“So, you’re not with Thanos?” Spider-Man questioned.

“With Thanos?!” Quill repeated. “No, I'm here to kill Thanos! He took my girl- Wai- who are you?”

Spider-Man’s helmet disappeared. “We’re the Avengers, man.”

“Oh.”

“You’re the ones Thor told us about!” The alien woman stated.

“Thor,” Y/N breathed out, still keeping everyone in place. 

“You know Thor?” Tony asked.

“Yeah,” Quill responded. “Tall guy, not that good-looking, needed saving.”

“Where is he now?” Dr. Strange asked.

“With our other friends, going to make a weapon,” the woman responded.

“Y/N, you can let us go know,” Tony said. 

With a deep breath, Y/N let everyone be free. They all moved to standing positions, Tony beside Y/N.

“So you’re Y/N?” The woman walked up to her. “Thor mentioned you.”

“Really?” Y/N questioned.

“He said you were powerful,” Quill stated. “But he also said you were on Earth.”

“Yeah, guess not all Thor says is true.”

“Star-Lord, by the way,” Quill introduced himself.

“Right,” Tony nodded. “I’m Iron Man. This is Dr. Strange and Spider-Man.” He pointed to the others he introduced.

“I’m Drax,” the blue man said.

“And I’m Mantis,” the alien woman added.

“Okay, now that introductions are out of the way,” Tony started, “let’s go see what’s out there.”

Grabbing Y/N’s hand, Tony led her, and the others, towards an opening in the ship. The planet outside had clearly been through something war-like, and there was no sign of life anywhere. Star-Lord went down on one knee, getting out some sort of device.

“The heck happened to this planet?” He wondered. “It’s eight degrees off its axis.” He stood up. “Gravitational pull is all over the place.”

“Yeah, we can see that,” Y/N commented, looking at Mantis who was jumping joyfully high up in the air behind Star-Lord.

“Yeah, we got one advantage. He’s coming to us,” Tony stated. “We'll use it. All right, I have a plan. Or at least the beginnings of one. It's pretty simple. We draw him in, pin him down, get what we need. Definitely don't wanna dance with this guy. We just want the gauntlet.” Drax then choose this time to yawn. “Are you yawning? In the middle of this, while I'm breaking it down? Huh? Did you hear what I said?”

“I stopped listening after you said, "We need a plan.”” Drax replied.

“Okay, Mr. Clean is on his own page.”

“See, "not winging it" isn't really what they do,” Star-Lord responded.

“Uh, what exactly is it that they do?” Spider-Man asked.

“Kick names, take ass,” Mantis answered, meekly.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Drax agreed.

Tony paused, looking deeply hopeless. Quietly, Y/N’s breathing hitched as her head started buzzing. Thankfully, Tony didn’t notice to worry about it.

“Alright, just get over here, please,” Tony continued. “Mr. Lord, can you get your folks to circle up?”

“‘Mr. Lord’,” Star-Lord repeated with a chuckle. “Star-Lord is fine.” He motioned Drax and Mantis to come closer.

“We gotta coalesce. 'Cause if all we come at him with is a plucky attitude—“

“Dude, don't call us plucky. We don't know what it means. Alright, we're optimistic, yes. I like your plan. Except it sucks, so let me do the plan, and that way it might be really good.”

“Tell him about the dance-off to save the universe,” Drax urged.

“A dance-off?” Y/N repeated, trying to ignore the buzzing.

“It’s not a… it’s not… it’s nothing,” Star-Lord stuttered.

“Like in Footloose, the movie?” Spider-Man wondered.

“Exactly like Footloose! Is it still the greatest movie in history?”

“It never was.”

“Don’t encourage this, alright?” Tony told Peter.

“Okay.”

“We’re getting no help from Flash Gordon here.”

“Flash Gordon?” Star-Lord repeated. “By the way, that's a compliment. Don't forget, I'm half human.” He pointed at Y/N, Tony, and Parker. “So that 50% of me that's stupid? That's 100% you.”

“Your math is blowing my mind.”

“Excuse me,” Mantis nervously interrupted. “But… does your friend often do that?”

Everyone looked in the direction Mantis was pointing. Floating slightly above the ground, was Dr. Strange clearly using the Time Stone. Strange was cross-legged with green energy forming circular patterns around his forearms. His eyes were closed and his head jerked rapidly from side to side, blurring. The others went to his side. 

As Y/N grew closer, a green strand of energy slowing touched her head. She froze and her eyes shone green. Everyone was too busy with Strange to notice though. Her vision quickly changed. It was dark at first, but slowly each of the Stones shined on a gauntlet. The fingers snapped and her field of vision was suddenly filled with people screaming and disappearing into ash. She looked around for anyone she knew, no one was recognizable. 

Quickly, the setting changed. She was standing on a war-torn battle, that was vaguely familiar. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people and aliens were battling each other. She recognized many of those people as her family, her friends. They were dirty, bloody, and clearly fighting for their lives. Y/N looked around to see Thanos fighting herself.

“In five years time, the final battle will commence,” the Stones gravely voice filled her ears. “This is where you will be needed… If you try to stop what happens here today, we will stop you.”

Outside Y/N’s mind, Tony had made his was to Strange.

“Strange, we alright?” Tony wondered. Strange snapped out of his trance and fell forward, letting out a cry. “You’re back. You’re alright.” Tony steadied him.

“Hey, what was that?” Peter asked.

“I went forward in time to view alternate futures,” Strange Panted. “To see all the possible outcomes of the coming conflict.”

“How many did you see?” Star-Lord wonders.

“14,000,605.”

“How many did we win?” Tony asked.

Strange stared intently at Tony for a moment, almost sad like. Before looking past him at Y/N. “One.”

Everyone turned to look where Strange was looking. Y/N was still standing, with green eyes and green energy encircling her head. Tony rushed over, grasping Y/N by the arms.

“Y/N!” Tony called, trying gently to shake her out of whatever was happening. “Come on, honey. Push through!”

~~~

The quinjet ride to Wakanda was full of silent tension, silent worry. No one knew what exactly was coming, or how to stop it.

“Drop 2600, heading 0-3-0,” Steve instructed, walking up behind Sam who was piloting.

“I hope you’re right about this, Cap,” Sam said. “Or we’re gonna land a lot faster than you want to.”

From the looks of it, they were heading straight for the trees. But as the quinjet continued on, the tree were revealed to be a camouflage force field and the grand city of Wakanda appeared. Once they landed, Steve and Natasha exited first, with Rhodey, Bruce, Wanda, Vision, and Sam behind them.

“Seems like I’m always thanking you for something,” Steve stated as he reached out to shake T’Challa’s.

T’Challa shook Steve’s hand before looking at Bruce. “Uh, we don’t do that here,” T’Challa said, waving for Bruce to stop. “So how big of an assault can we expect?” T’Challa turned around and the team began following after him.

“Uh, sir, I think you can expect quite a big assault,” Bruce answered, trying to push his way closer to the front.

“How we looking?” Nat asked.

“You will have my King’s Guard, the Border Tribe, the Dora Milaje, and…” T’Challa trialed off, as Bucky walked up to the others.

“A semi-stable, 100-year-old man,” Bucky joked. With smiles on their faces, Steve and Bucky shared a hug.

“How you been, Buck?” Steve asked.

“Uh, not bad, for the end of the world,” he replied with a smile. “Have you… uh, have you heard from Y/N?”

“Unfortunately, no,” Steve shook his head and sighed. “But I have heard she’s been sneaking around with you and Stark. You’re going to have to tell me all about it as soon as this is through.”

Bucky let out a light laugh. “As long as you buy the beer.”

~~~

Leaving Rhodey, Bucky, and Sam to watch from outside, the rest went and met Shuri in her lab. Vision laid down on an exam table while Shuri used her technology to create a hologram projection of the Mind Stone above him. Bruce was on the other side of the table, watching her very movement. 

“Whoa. The structure is polymorphic,” Shuri stated.

“Right, we had to attach each neuron non-sequentially,” Bruce told her.

“Why didn’t you just reprogram the synapses to work collectively?” Shuri asked. Vision turned to Bruce, seemingly asking the same thing with his eyes.

“Because, we didn’t think of it,” Bruce answered with uncertainty. 

“I’m sure you did your best,” Shuri reassured with a smile. 

“Can you do it?” Wanda asked.

“Yes, but there are more than two trillion neurons here. One misalignment could cause a cascade of circuit failures.” Shuri turned to T’Challa. “It will take time, brother.”

“How long?” Steve asked, stepping closer to them.

“As long as you can give me.” 

A chime went off and Okoye quickly projected a hologram globe into her palm. “Something’s entered the atmosphere,” Okoye informed.

“Hey, Cap, we got a situation here,” Sam warned over the comms. 

Almost as soon as his words ended, a forcefield formed over the city. Bucky and Sam watched as alien vessels landed outside the barrier. One of them tried to go through, getting destroyed.

“Gosh, I love this place,” Bucky said.

“Yeah, don’t start celebrating yet, guys,” Rhodey warned. “We got incoming outside the dome.”

The landing vessels emitted shock waves and debris, destroying the forest. The Captain and the King looked at each other, both deeply concerned. Vision struggled to sit up and slide off the exam table, holding onto his side.

“It’s too late,” he said. “We need to destroy the stone now.”

“Vision, get your ass back on the table,” Nat demanded.

“We will hold them off,” T’Challa stated as he and his guards started for the door. 

Steve turned to Wanda. “Wanda, as soon as the stone’s out of his head… you blow it to hell,” He instructed.

“I will,” Wanda replied.

“Evacuate the city. Engage all defense procedures,” T’Challa commanded. He stopped before fully exiting the room, turned, and pointed to Steve. “And get this man a shield.”

Steve looked out the window, watching the ships crash land outside the barrier. He couldn’t help but wonder what all this had to do with his sister exactly. But there was a bigger question than that in his mind, a more important question.

“Where the hell are you, Y/N?” He whispered to himself.

next chapter >

NOTES: from now on the taglist when be added by a reblog. I will reblog it using my second account, @just-dreaming-marvel-2​​. Just so that my main page doesn’t get too cluttered.

If you want to be added to the tag list, please dm me or send in an ask.

[arialerendeair]

I'll chime in, because I'm on the other extreme end of @olderthannetfic, where I can sit down and Pants a 130k story. (They're usually in the 30-60k variety, but a story is however long it ends up being for me!) To reference the video series that Elfwreck shared above - I'm an Intuitive Panster through and through!

The vast majority of the time, I know 2 things going into a story. 1. What I want the ending to be. (It is often "Characters Smooch!" because I am a simple gal who loves her blorbos kissing, even her OCs.) 2. There is a specific scene I want to write that has inspired this story in the first place and I'm writing the fic around it.

I might have a handful of beats I think I want to hit in the middle, but it's all rather nebulous until I sit down to write all of it. It's in my brain, I figure it'll eventually make its way onto the keyboard.

Like others in the thread have said - you can really only find out which you are by giving things a *try*. I've plotted out fics before (I have a 100k+ monster that's plotted out to high heaven because it's working in conjunction with a series of comics from an artist, so to keep track of emotional beats to write, I have it all plotted out), but 98% of the time, I'm not doing anything more than a series of major plot beats described with a vague sentence that are 15-20k sections a piece, or nothing at all.

One of these feels RIGHT to me. Like it is how my brain works and how I want to write. But it takes some trial and error to figure it out and even more so, to figure out what is right for YOU, anon (and to all other writers out there) and how far along either spectrum you trend. There really is no right or wrong way to approach writing - it all depends on you.

A few things that can be really tough for Intuitive Pantsers (based on my own personal experience):

Feeling like your idea is way too big and you have no idea where to start

Having a few dozen projects all going at the same time, or starting new projects rather than ending old ones

Getting stuck with no idea of where/how to proceed and then pretending you'll finish it someday

In order, here's how I tackle those things:

Allow yourself to write smaller pieces of it. This is really, really hard, but I've written dozens of ficlets that are just... 1-3k out of what could have been a 100k+ story. Not every 100k story needs to be written - sometimes you can leave those to the reader's imagination!

Part of this is the ADHD in me - I need to juggle or I go crazy, but have a plan for finishing fics. Buckling down to finish a story is TOUGH, but having a plan to do so, having a cheerleading squad, hell, having a list to cross off - it's so satisfying to do. But if you need to put a fic down for a while - that's fine. But have a plan for finishing it if you truly want to - EVENTUALLY. (NaNo is always that for me.)

If you write yourself into a corner, it is because of 1 of 2 things in my experience. 1. Your problem is 10 sentences back, read back and take a left instead of a right. 2. Your problem is you do not know how to connect Plot Point C to the later Plot Point F. Spend some time listening to writing playlists and ideating/mentally chewing on this to see what your brain comes up with.

So much of learning the type of writer you are is trial and error. Try outlining - if it doesn't work, try a lighter/less detailed approach and see if that works. If outlining doesn't work, see if pantsing works. If pantsing doesn't work - try writing out major plot beats and write again. Your style likely falls somewhere in the middle - it's a matter of figuring out what works and then rinse/repeating it from there!

One ProTip I'll offer!!

The single most useful thing for me as the type of writer I am? Learning and knowing how to touch type, and to touch type quickly and accurately. Being able to type as fast as my brain goes means that I'm not trying to keep all of a story in my head at one time. I can start writing and let it just fall out and onto the keyboard. I've written all 3 of my published stories this way, I've written thousands of fanfics this way, and it's what works BEST for me. It took me the better part of 5 years to figure out this was the best way for me to write, and another 8-10 to get to a point of proficiency. (My first published fanfic is turning 20 in April, so I know it's older than some of you!) Don't be afraid if this takes you time to figure out!

(Learning to touch type (ie type without looking at the keyboard) is one of the most useful skills you can have as an adult - and being able to do that will only help you in life, never mind how much it helps you when writing.)

And anon, if you want a practical example of some outlining I've done, as someone who DOES NOT OUTLINE (lol), here's what mine looks like for a Centaur AU I'm writing:

This is a level of prescriptiveness that is very ANTI my usual writing style, but for someone who is not a plotter, this is how I outline!

Potentially an odd or stupid question, but how exactly do people outline their fics? This is a skill that I’ve just never picked up and any of my attempts to make one just kind of sputter out and stop. I still write, but I don’t really have any hard copy of where I’m planning on taking things outside of my head.

--

Well... are you someone who likes to plan things out?

I cannot write until I have an extensive outline, and the types of stories that interest me have plots that need to be tight (e.g. mystery novels). But there are multiple types of writer, and some figure out what the story is about by noodling along and then revising once they see what they've got.