#anyway the main inspiration for this was some My Stand In posts i've made recently | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

thesunnyshow · 4 years ago

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Name: Ren Age: 21 Writing Blog URL(s): @ateez-ly, @wxyvision & @cherry-woo, and only the odd work on my main ( @soft-woo )

Nationality: British Languages: English, Spanish, Dutch (learning), limited Mandarin Star Sign: Aries MBTI: INFP-T Favorite color: Red Favorite food: Pasta or cheesecake Favorite movie: Coyote Ugly Favorite ice cream flavor: Strawberry Favorite animal: Red panda Go-to karaoke song: Back To Black by Amy Winehouse

What fandom(s) do you write for? Ateez, Nct (ot21), The Boyz, and now Stray Kids

When did you post your first piece? My first writing blog work was posted February 1st 2019 (Quenched - Yeosang)

Do you write fluff/angst/crack/general/smut, combo, etc? Why? Generally fluff and angst, sometimes a combo, though I have tried writing some crack more recently. I'm just more familiar with fluff and angst and it's easier to pull off

Do you write OCs, X Readers, Ships...etc? I mostly write x reader stuff. I have written with OCs and ships but I prefer to read and write x reader stuff so I stuck with that

Why did you decide to write for Tumblr? My Ateez writing blog was my first writing blog, but I did write a couple of stuff before that. I think it's just a case of "I have this really cool idea and I want to share it with my friends"

What inspires you to write? Just about anything - conversations with friends, Tumblr posts, my weird dreams etc.

What genres/AUs do you enjoy writing the most? I've really enjoyed writing prince aus (like my Xiaojun prince au) as well as getting into writing fantasy and crack stuff. I still feel most confident with angst though

What do you hope your readers take away from your work? I simply hope they enjoy it. It would be great if I could make them smile or cry with my writing

What do you do when you hit a rough spot creatively? I just take a step back. I don't force myself to write if nothing's coming to me. Sometimes I talk through what I'm writing with a friend and it helps give me some ideas. But generally, I try not to force it

What is your favorite work and why? Your most successful? My favourite work, excluding my wips, is probably 'Dear First Love' because it's the longest thing I've ever written and I think the storyline is really cute. My most successful is 'Hugging Ateez'

Do you think there’s a difference between writing fanfiction vs. completely original prose? I mean yes? To some degree. In terms of the process I guess not, but original prose is less likely to include famous people (real or fictional) so it's different in that respect

What do you think makes a good story? A good story, to me, is one where the reader is invested in the story. If the reader doesn't care about the characters and what happens to them, then to me, it's not a good story

What is your writing process like? I get an idea, write down the basic idea, then build around that, laying out the plot and all its twists and turns and fleshing out my characters. Once I've got a good idea of what I'm doing, I'll start writing. When I'm organised, anyway. Otherwise I just see where my writing takes me!

Would you ever repurpose a fic into a completely original story? Absolutely! If there was a fic that I was really proud of and wanted to turn it into an original story, I'd go for it

What tropes do you love, and what tropes can’t you stand? I'm a sucker for pretty much any trope as long as it's legal and not toxic. I really love 'found family' and the classic 'friends to lovers' tropes. I'm not sure if these are tropes, but I'm not really into mpreg or body swapping. You do you, writers, but it's just not for me

How much would you say audience feedback/engagement means to you? A lot! Even one reblog or comment puts a smile on my face and makes me proud of what I've made

Coffee or tea? What are you ordering? Tea! I have regular tea with some milk and a couple of sugars

Dream job (whether you have a job or not)? At the moment, it's to be a florist, although I'd really love to be a successful author

If you could have one superpower, what would you choose? The power to control plants so maybe mine won't die on me anymore

If you could visit a historical era, which would you choose? Either the Victorian or Georgian/regency era

If you were a trope in a teen high school movie, what would you have been? Probably the nerd/teacher's pet?

Do you believe in aliens/supernatural creatures? Some of them yes (e.g ghosts), some of them no (e.g. vampires)

Do you think fanfic writers get unfairly judged? I do. Especially by those who don't read/write fanfiction. A lot of people think we're 'cringy' or that we make things gross. There's definitely some gross fanfics out there, but I don't think fanfic writers as a whole should be judged by one questionable fanfic someone read once

Do you think art can be a medium for change? Yes, all kinds of art can. There's a lot of literature and art now that picks apart problems in our society and challenges them. It's already lead to some change in the way people think about certain things

Do you ever feel there are times when you’re writing for others, rather than yourself? I used to back when I wrote requests on another site. I'd sit there and churn out request after request after request like a robot until I started to hate writing and had to take a break for a while. Now, I just write what inspires me. I'll take a few requests but no way am I ever going back to the way I wrote before

Do your offline friends/loved ones know you write for Tumblr? I imagine my university flatmates have probably seen me reblogging my writing at least once, so yes. As for my family, I don't think they know what Tumblr even is (thankfully!)

What is one thing you wish you could tell your followers? This is really simple but… I love you and thank you for supporting me!

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers who might be too scared to put themselves out there? I know it's super scary putting out writing for others to see, but really, some leaps are worth it. You'll never really know how something will go if you never try. Maybe you could start off with small steps, like sharing a piece of writing with a couple of friends if you don't feel confident jumping straight in

Are there any times when you regret joining Tumblr? Sometimes, if there's drama in a fandom or fanwars going on, but I generally try to stay away from it and just enjoy the lighthearted content

Do you have any mutuals who have been particularly formative/supportive in your Tumblr journey? Yes, in one way or another. Some of them have helped me with my writing ideas, whilst others have been a rock for me emotionally, and many have played both roles. To name a handful of people, @linothot, @silverstonemanor and @wangjyunhao amongst many others have really helped me 💛

Pick a quote to end your interview with: Be who you want to be, not the person who others want you to be

#@ateez-ly #@wxyvision #@cherry-woo #@soft-woo #thesunnyshow #featuredauthor #episode 23 #ateez #nct #wayv #stray kids #the boyz

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something-wicked-sims · 8 years ago

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Dear Jade, I am writing this to ask a few questions I've had regarding writing in the sims form. How would someone start one of these sims stories? And how would someone keep it from becoming flat, and continue writing it past writers block? Some tips on developing a character inside the story would also be fantastic. Coming from someone who has only written novels and poetry, any advice on writing short pieces to go with photos is greatly appreciated! Sincerely, Mel. PS: This is 100% Real

Wow Mel, hit me with the heavy questions why don’t you Q_Q But you know, as someone who also made the switch from novel writing to sim story format, I kind of know where you’re coming from. Hence we begin…

Jade’s Mega-Fantastic Tips For Adapting to Sim Story Format

#DearJade to block, as this is an extremely LONG post.

Disclaimer: These tips don’t apply to everyone. The general rule of simblr is to have fun and DO WHAT YOU WANT. This advice is only really aimed at people who are serious about the craft and want to improve on their writing and how to present it in this medium. Not everyone takes it this seriously, and not everyone needs to. But for those of you who are looking for more direction with your writing, this is my personal, and humble advice. The fact that I titled this “mega-fantastic” was 100% sardonic. I’m just a chick on tumblr. I have a B.A. in English with a focus on creative writing, and nearly 6 months of simblr experience. These are my only qualifications. So, with that being said, don’t listen to anything I say from this point onward.

How to Begin:Everyone’s writing processes are different. Some people like to map things out, while others tend to go with the flow. If your goal is to write some sort of cohesive linear storyline, and not just sporadic bouts of gameplay, then it’s good to have at least an idea of where you want to end up. Some point to make within your story, or some goal for your main character to accomplish. That way, all the things you do between point A and point B will have a similar thread, and you’re less likely to get lost on random tangents.

General writing tips: Start with something interesting! Introduce your new characters in an exciting way. If you’ve never heard the phrase “in media res”, now’s a good time to learn it. Start in the middle, at the beginning. It’s nice to already have something going on at the beginning of your story, and don’t put too much time into explaining who all your characters are, what they do, what they like… right up front. It will engage people with your story more if you start off with action instead of description.

Presentation: Since you’re writing a sims story, you have to think double time. Here, writing is only half of the work. Which is why simblr writers really don’t get enough credit! Think about how you want your scene to reflect in photos. The first sims story I did, I made the mistake of writing it in it’s entirety as a novel, and then having to take “necessary photographs” to go with each scene. I ended up with a great deal of pictures of people walking around aimlessly, or standing in the same room talking, or sitting on a chair talking, or on a couch talking… You get the point. You can still write as a novel and adapt it (which is still what I do), but I would recommend writing your scenes with your blog in mind. Think “This scene could happen in their kitchen, but what if I moved it to a park instead?”, better scenery, probably more angles/more things to look at. Try to be creative with your screenies. Experiment with different angles. Think about your favorite movies, and the ways they are filmed. Try to incorporate those elements into your pictures. Sims stories have a certain cinematic quality to them, so write with that in mind, because how interesting your photos are will draw more people in to read your writing. Trust me.

Character Development:Understand that the vast majority of sim stories and legacies unfold over enormous amounts of real life time. If you’re afraid of longterm writing commitments, you should probably run away screaming! No, I’m kidding (kind of), but they are huge commitments. I know people who have been writing their legacies for years. My first sims story took four months to complete and was around 75,000 words in its extracted tumblr form. My point is, it’s going to take a lot of time. Which is great! Because character development takes time. My advice for adapting character development to sims stories is to make sure every scene has a point. If you want to make a post just for fun, that’s great too! But when it comes to scenes that move your plot forward, answer the question “What does this accomplish?”, “Why is this particular scene necessary?”, “Would the story be the same if this didn’t happen?”.

Simblr writers can spend hours putting together a post. I would think that is a pretty accurate statistic. From the writing, to building the set, clothing your sims, downloading CC, posing them, taking photos, and then editing the photos, each 3-4 pictures you take for a particular scene probably consumed precious long minutes of your life. So make sure that it’s an important scene that you’re spending all this time on. And, of course, just like most anime fans will tell you, FILLER EPISODES SUCK Q_Q (Not always. But sometimes). Anyways, sim story format sometimes forces you to consider what is vital to a story and a character, as we usually make posts to highlight specific moments in our sim-babies lives. I think development is really inherent to this medium, so I wouldn’t worry too much about if your character is developing or not.

General writing tips:

Dialogue is important!

How your character reacts to things is important!

Formatting:There are many different ways to format your sim story, and none of them are wrong. Do what you are comfortable with. If you’re coming from writing novels or short stories, then paragraph format is a great way to go. You can do caption writing, which is writing your text (typically dialogue and similar to playwriting in effect) directly onto your screenshots. You can do textual playwriting, which would be to have short exposition to setup a scene followed by tagged dialogue:

Maria: I went to the store yesterday.Bob: Really? What did you need to get there?Mari: Oh, I just had to pick up a few things for the party Saturday.

These are the three most highly used formats I have seen used on simblr. I think they all work great, and you can even mix them. Just do what you are comfortable with and what you prefer. Don’t try to stretch yourself to change the style of your writing just to match what other people are doing.

General writing tips:

One thing I will say is to be wary of your Point of View (or PoV). If you are using multiple PoV’s (as in you swap them between posts) then you should label whose PoV it is for your readers (I do so in my tags), if you use captions, usually changing font color to depict two or more players is the way to go. If you would like to switch PoV within the same post, I recommend using third person point of view e.g. “Bob walked here. Maria said this.”

And how would someone keep it from becoming flat… As I mentioned above, the best thing you can do here is just to make sure your scenes are vital to the plotline, or character development in some way. Don’t bog down your stuff with useless scenes, if your goal is to write a cohesive story. There is a #ts4 gameplay tag for a reason. It is not the same tag as #ts4 story, and people who follow one tag, may not necessarily want to follow the other. As a reader, I’m interested in the storyline. Is your character involved in some shady business? Are they going to find out that their loser husband is cheating on them? I don’t really want to see three different posts devoted to your sim cooking eggs for breakfast. SORRY. #justiceforeggs

General simblr tips:

@medleymisty has recently incorporated the usage of #simnovel for longer text posts. I think this is an excellent step forward for hobby sim story writing. So you can use this tag if you thing it applies to your work!

….and continue writing it past writers block? I can’t answer this! I am not a magician, unfortunately. Sometimes inspiration comes and sometimes inspiration goes. Writers block is a legit thing, and if I had a super-fix for it, I would hand it out lovingly to the world’s writers. But since I don’t, I will say that you shouldn’t pressure yourself ahead of time. Don’t think you need to post regularly. Go at your own pace. If you need a break? Take one. Just bounce right on out the door. I hear there’s a new Mass Effect game out. Go play it! Tumblr will still be here where you come back.

Remember, this isn’t your job, it’s a hobby. As for how to get inspired or stay inspired, I really feel motivated to work on my sim stories when I am having fun, either playing the game, or putting together some scenes. So just have fun with it. Make Pinterest boards. Dudes, Pinterest is so great for writers, utilize it as a tool! Make character boards and pin things that you remind you of your babies and go look at the beautiful pictures when you’re feeling stuck. Share your boards, too! Lots of simblr’s have pinterests and you can follow them, they’ll follow you back, it’s great. Fantastic. But yeah, just have funnnn and do your thing and when you’re not feeling it, don’t try to force it, because you’ll just regret it and start to resent your stuff, and it’s just a bad time.

This concludes my massive wall of pretentious text.

#okay I wrote a fucking novel #extremely long text post #long text post #saviorhide #dear jade #advice and tips #tutorials #sims story tutorial #sims story tips #myresources #asks #pottery-sims #dearjade #justiceforeggs

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