#back to work on organizing and streamlining this blog lol

[pleckthaniel]

Tag masterlist

Subject to changes, obviously.

If you see this on your dashboard, no you don’t.

#anarchism - anarchist posting, both theory and memes

#art - non-fandom art pieces (or pieces where I’m not interested in the fandom lol) created by people other than me

#art history - art history

#art resources - resources for learning artistic skills

#blm - racial justice theories & advocacy

#brighter fires - posts related to my warrior cats AU fic verse, Brighter Fires

#clothes - clothes I want or personal style inspiration

#containment breach - unfortunately, i've made a few viral posts. i'm too vain to delete them, ao instead i collect them in this tag while making constant posts about how much their notifications annoy me.

#fav - all my favorite posts

#couture - clothes I don’t want, but like to look at. and/or, general fashion tag

#de - disco elysium, mostly reblogs

#gravity falls - what it says on the tin (archival)

#for future reference - general resource tag

#goncharov - gonch posting

#hyenas - pics of yeens

#i am looking respectfully (and variations thereof) - thirst tag

#just english major things <3 - classic lit posts and/or blogging about english classwork

#laugh rule - I laughed out loud at this

#lego twin peaks - twin peaks tag, mostly shitposting

#lovesick tag - my real life relationship troubles

#mtz - mission to zyxx, mostly reblogs

#mission to zyxx - mostly original mtz related content & posts

#missouri my beloved (derogatory) - i grew up in missouri and currently spend about 2/3 of the year there. it is one of my favorite places on earth and also objectively one of the worst. this tag is for posts about that.

#nflposting - american football tag

#none gender left beef - talking about my day to day experience of transgenderism and also just posts that resonate with me on a gender level

#paperweight - blorboposting about c-53 from mtz

#pleck decksetter mission to zyxx my beloved - blorboposting about pleck from mtz

#pmmm - puella magi madoka magica (mostly archival)

#q - queued posts

#qlib - queer theory, advocacy, and general queer posting

#red dwarf - 90s space britcom red dwarf (mostly archival)

#rvd tag - riverdale, mostly reblogs

#riverdale is the best show on television unironically - riverdale, mostly original posts

#scout talks - talk tag / original posts and comments on other posts

#scout talks drunk / #scout talks high - original posts made under the influence

#scout.png - original art tag

#scout.txt - original writing tag

#scouts reddit adventures - screenshots of things i saw on reddit, posted here mainly for my own amusement

#serial killer genes - blorboposting about betty cooper from riverdale

#sf - generic science fiction-relevant content

#sociology major on main - usually just liveblogging reading soc journal articles for class tbh

#star trek - trekposting, 99% deep space nine

#space - information or images of real life space

#srhk - shadowrun hong kong

#wc - warrior cats, mostly reblogs

#sw - star wars

#thg - hunger games

#warrior cats - mostly original warrior cats related content & posts

#writing - non-fandom prose or writing-relevant content created by people other than me

#writing resources - resources for learning writing/storytelling skills

#wtnv - welcome to night vale (archival)

#youth liberation - youth liberation theories and advocacy

[inevitably-johnlocked]

hey steph! i hope you’re doing well!! i know you have all the fics you’ve read in a masterlist doc you made yourself, and i was wondering if it was worth the time it took to make that? if so, do you have any tips on how to go about doing that? thank you :]

Hey Lovely!!

I am SO sorry for the delay in a reply to this... I saw it and then it just got buried LOL. I'm SO SO SORRY, wasn't intentional!!!

I do indeed have all my fics listed on an offline RTF Text Document (not even a word doc, it's Apple TextPad lol) and OOOF when I first decided to start filing it, UGH it was A CHORE. I'm talking a LONG time because I went through, at the time, all 500 of my bookmarks and just spent DAYS AND DAYS of holiday time just copy pasting them all into a tumblr post, and then copying those over to the lists. I chose to use the Tumblr formatting since that's where it would inevitably be posted to.

"Why not use a spreadsheet??" I've been asked before. It's literally because I hate spreadsheets, I don't like using them, and by using an RTF formatted document I can keep the formatting consistent between Tumblr and the lists offline. I wanted to make it as PAINLESS and easy as possible to copy-paste between Tumblr's ever-changing UI and my offline lists. I literally just have to double click a block of text and I highlight the whole rec :)

Now, at the time I thought I was wasting time doing it, thought it was all for naught re-reading EVERYTHING so I could properly add tags to fics that didn't have them or so I could sort them better. But it's now 500 more fics later, and I'm SO glad I streamlined a process to do it. Having the posts this way, WITH my own tags makes it MUCH easier for me to call up the fics you guys are needing, or if I need to make a quick-list in-a-pinch. It was well-worth the time to initially sort the bookmarks. It's worth the time to format not-read fics on a separate list so I can quickly find them again and add them to my Bookmarks list already-done. And I keep going back to my bookmarks every couple months to add those new fics to my offline lists.

That said... it's a lot of work, and it's REALLY fortunate that my OCPD actually functions well for this kind of website. I like digital organization, and I'm meticulous about how things are organized, because it feeds that need for control in my brain. So I can say it's ALSO not for everyone, but if you're just looking to do it for yourself, just add tags to all your bookmarks on AO3 (make sure all your bookmarks are private, otherwise the authors can see what you're tagging or noting them as. All my bookmarks are private because my tags are all spoilerific and I don't know if those would show up for other people).

BUT if you want to run your own blog, check out this post here for some past things I've written on the organization and time management tips for your own :)

Finally though, Yes, it's worth it. While not getting the traction I used to, I know that my recs bring joy to people, and honestly being someone who people can come to to find what they're looking for is heady and humbling. I love being able to leave my mark on the fandom in some way. :)

Sorry again for the delay, but I hope this helps answer your question. Please don't hesitate to ask something else if I missed anything or misunderstood <3

[idol-trickster]

OOC: updates on the blog?

Hello all! 

Thank you so much 💜 for such lovely reception, again, especially with this event! I wasn’t sure how well it’d be taken, as it’s a bit 👌 off-canon, but honestly I’m so grateful and blown away by the support you guys give and it makes me want to keep working hard! As such, I want to be fully transparent with everything going on around the blog. (The various art streams being a stepping stone) With some changes made to help interactions!

Sadly one of the things I wish I did better with my first ask-blog was be more transparent and open. You can say I was a bit nervous and unsure how much to interact or what content to post or reblog, a valuable learning lesson; All of which I’m taking and fledging out with this blog to become a warmer and productive face in the community I adore so much!

      To begin:

   A few of you may have noticed, but I’ve added a new ❔ Counter for Asks on my blog description (at least the sidebar/mobile version). I’ll try to update this as much as possible so you all can get an estimate of response times.

     I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure if it’d be in poor taste or not to have this feature in the open, as I don’t want it to look like I’m...flaunting? However, realistically, I know this will help everyone interacting with me understand my workload. The last thing I want is for you to feel like I’m ignoring your questions or interacts! I see it all:  the replies , the asks, the mentions, the reblogs  (( I do go through and read tags and I love them all very much. 😭💜 even especially the thirst on main ones HAHA. ✨Oh golly, to everyone who tells me they love my art, you guys are the MVPs it makes my day so much! Especially reassuring with how much of a journey my consistency is and how I often I change my style; I worry haha~ 💦 ))

Now, while the !Survivor event is time limited; lasting maybe a month or two? (three if you guys like it enough or how asks go?) I’ll still respond to non-event posts, especially for threads on-going, so you don’t get bored or miss Trickster too much! 😂

     With this counter in place I’d personally like it to stay around 20-ish asks if possible. *Wink wink nudge nudge* , So I’m humbly asking followers and fans to keep a general mindfulness about this so everyone can have a turn and try to send in one ask each.

   If you’re running a fellow ask blog, don’t worry about the counter too much  when sending in an ask (I know ideas can be fleeting) unless you’re wanting a fast response: This is because I want to interact with a variety of blogs as much as possible in the dbd community. ⭐ I’ll sacrifice the work load for lining up content 🙏. 

     Although, if my asks reach 40, I’ll set it as a hard limit cut-off and close ask-box until I can reduce it. This will be for my peace of mind of not getting too far behind~ 🌺

I would like to also try and be even faster with my response times, which unfortunately means cutting down on some of the art posts. 😰 I’ve streamlined my art while still remaining fairly pleasing to me, and I don’t want to sacrifice quality too much, so I will instead be reserving art for interacts and look more into doing text posts for general answers (Maybe even doing sprites, like a few of my friends, or keep up with some doodle work). Of course this is liable to change, depending on the inspiration or flow. I’ll take artistic liberties 📝. 

With all this being said (whew that was a lot, sorry), I hope that this will bring you guys peace of mind along with me, and have you guys look forward to seeing the new system in place! Organization really does help so much... 🥰 

I am looking forward to interacting with everyone and even streaming more art for you guys if you don’t mind a spoiler here or there on occasion and are interested. ( I try to stream often on discord, so again, a plug for the DBD server I’m running with a few friends. It’s turning into a really lovely place lately with all the amazing bloggers and we try to be drama-free and welcoming to all as a community~)

I don’t know how to wrap this up so...Lastly, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! AAAAAH I’m sorry but IT’S SO AMAZING EVERYTIME to just be a part of this community and seeing everyone else unleash their creativity and show interest in mine. It’s truly such a wonderful thing and I’m so so so grateful to every single one of you that makes this place such a good one and looks at my art and just hhh 🤩 I’ll be sure to get back on the grind now LOL 💪 have a wonderful week every single last one of you.

[ltleflrt]

Hi! So i've been reading your fics for years, and just recently started following you on tumblr. You're great! And I was wondering if you possibly had any advice for someone trying to get through writing a large fic? I've just recently gotten back into writing, and what I thought would be a quick write has mutated into several chapters and feels a bit daunting. Even if you could just point me in a direction would be appreciated!

Hello!  Welcome to my messy corner of this hellsite(affectionate)!  Please don’t mind the stacks of reblogs, I promise I’m working on organizing them ;D

Getting back into writing is exciting news!  Taking breaks is supposedly good for the muse, but it’s not as fun as writing that’s for sure lol

It’s hard to give general advice without knowing what you’re struggling with specifically, but I can give you a rundown of my process.  It’s as messy as my blog because it’s something that just happens to me.  I suffer from longficitis and I’m ALWAYS surprised when I manage to write something quick and short.  The first fic I ever wrote was supposed to be a 1200 word one shot, and 2 months later was 78k, so uhhhhh.... oops? XD

Anyway!  I don’t plan shit, and I always think my stories are going to be short.  I am the very definition of a Pantser.  I write a little scene, and then I think “huh, I could expand on that”, rinse repeat.  This means I often write myself into corners, or into mysterious fogs that hide the future plot from me.  So at this point I whine.  Whining is VERY IMPORTANT.  It vents the frustration while also making me lay out what I’ve done so far and what I want to do and the options to get from here to there.  That’s a conversation I’m able to have without the whining component, but honestly the venting that comes with whining is cathartic and I wouldn’t give it up for anything.  Shoutout to @jupiterjames and @bendingsignpost for putting up with me when I get like this lol

And that brings me to the most important part of writing longfics (or writing in general, really).  Finding people you can talk it out with.  Someone you can bounce ideas off of, who can also be like “oh but you know what else you can do?” (because it’s not like I don't’ have a million plot bunnies breeding in my brain already, I must adopt those my friends offer me as well).  Now I know I make that sound simple, but it’s not.  Finding someone whose muse gets along with yours can take a while.  In the meantime though, find yourself a writing group.  Right now the writing group I like to work with is in the Profound Bond server’s writer cafe channel.  There’s always folks in there who will help me find the right word, help me rephrase a sentence I’m stuck on, encourage me, and talk out fic ideas with.  Sometimes I end up DMing someone and we chat it out privately.  And they’re WONDERFUL cheerleaders.  Sometimes it’s fun to just go in there and see if anyone wants to do a writing sprint, and see how many words can happen in the next 15 minutes.  You can find more info about them @profoundnet. 

Lets see, what else...?

Schedule writing times.  I write 1 hour a day, but not always all at once.  Sometimes it’s 15 minutes here, 30 minutes there, sometimes I manage to do it all in one sitting.  But I try to do it around the same time every day so I can get in the mindset for it.

Track your words.  It’s FUN and encouraging.  Don’t look at low wordcounts as a failure, ever.  Every number is a good number, because they all mean progress.

Keep notes of ideas about the story. It doesn’t have to be an outline, it can be messy and unorganized, just make sure it’s written down where you can find it.  Revisit the notes file whenever you’re in the mood to be creative, but not in the mood to make words happen.

Don’t be afraid to drop plot points if you feel like you can’t fit them in.  You might be able to use them somewhere else, either later in the story or in a whole different story.  Your favorite plot ideas will be better served in the right story that fits them, rather than forcing them to fit into a story that is wrong for them.

Try not to let the word count intimidate you.  Even after all the 100k+ fics I’ve written, I still look at my stories at the beginning and think “oh gods what have I gotten myself into?” and that could easily discourage me or anyone.  Just keep writing, you’ll get there eventually.

Some people like to write the exciting scenes first and then fill in the spaces.  Some people like to use the exciting scenes as their carrot on the stick to keep them chugging along.  I’m in the latter group.  Figure out which one works for you, and use it as a motivational tool.

Feel free to skip scenes you’re stuck on!  You can always come back to it later.  Heck, you might even figure out a way to skip it altogether and streamline the story.  Or by writing what comes after, you’ll figure out what kept you stuck on the skipped scene and now you’ve got your solution.  Longfics never need to be written in order.  (I mean, I usually write them that way, but I think I’m kind of an exception to that?  I dunno, we’re all different, and that’s neat!)

Anyway, I don’t know if any of this is new or exciting advice, but I hope it helps.  Good luck, friend!

[swordarkeereon]

A Matter of Ducks

In a lot of ways, ducks are like cats. They’re hard to herd because they tend to go where they want to go.  Every so often one has to sit down and gather up his or her ducks and put them in a row, or a huddle, in preparation for synchronized duck swimming (i.e. getting one’s shit together).

For me this happens two to three times a year. It’s that time again to regroup and reconfigure. Those of you who have been reading my blog for some time know that I sit down and revise my goal lists and, in turn, my schedule at regular intervals. I take some time to reflect and see where I succeeded and where I failed (and why). Writing things down has always been how I sort myself (and my schedule) out, and stay organized.

That said, here are some of the things that fell off to the side this year (unfortunately). I think I was too ambitious, and I shall watch for this pitfall in the future if I find myself with more ambition than time:

Monthly Fiction Serial: I love the Haunted Cottage series, but for now, I think I’ll only be writing 4 chapters a year, more if I have time.  I don’t think I can commit to more at the moment. There will be at least one more chapter before the end of the year.

BDSM Bookclub: I managed one, and I have another one about 2/3’s finished. I think two a year for this one is about all I’ll manage. I will release the second one before the end of the year.

Daemonolater’s Guides: These are temporarily on the back burner. I wrote these little guides to answer the most common questions I get in my inbox. There are eight of them, and they’ve done the exact job I hoped they would – cleaning out my inbox. In the meantime, I’ve decided to do a monthly blog post over on demonolatry.org to address the most common inboxed questions each month.

Over the past two months I have allowed marketing and administrative work to take up the bulk of my time when my first priority should be working on the next book, story, etc. This cannot happen! So I am going to streamline that where I deal with marketing one day a month (on a Saturday) – where I schedule everything I can (blogs, Patreon, social media), and get back to writing.  Administrative work (answering emails) will happen Sunday mornings, readings will happen Sunday afternoons, and dealing with Sephira Alchemy orders will happen on Sunday nights. I may need to add half a day for things like doing royalty reports, taxes, etc… I may also need to schedule one Saturday a month (or every other month) for videos.

I have also added some new things to my plate.

I am co-hosting the Deeper Down the Rabbit Hole podcast once a month.  While scheduling guests can take a little time, the prep for this is minimal (reading books, which I enjoy, and formulating questions for guests). It only takes up an hour one Tuesday night a month (plus the reading, which isn’t really work since I enjoy that part).

I am possibly teaching a class on Goetia that will require me to do a few hours worth of videos. I can set aside a Saturday for that. I still need to make my intro video. Plus I might check up on students during the duration of the class once a week. Note to self – take pic with Anthology of Sorcery!

I am the membership director of Temple of Atem. I will deal with this on Sundays (which I deem my Daemonolatry day).

I am the new representative for RMFW’s Independent Published Authors League. I will take care of those inquiries as needed until I get a feel for the job and can work in regularly scheduled “office hours” for that.

I know, it’s a lot, but I can do this.

Now I just need to remind myself that my first priority is writing the next book. The only books I’ve managed to keep on schedule are the Thirteen Covens. However, I’ve really dropped the ball on the non-fiction, Eagle’s Talon Gray, Emily Ever After, and Falling from Grace this year. That’s NOT a good thing.  The second priority is making sure my website is regularly updated. Finally, I’ll deal with public appearances. I might slow down on those as we near the end of the year and early next year, then pick up again next spring/summer. If I have time – I’ll deal with social media, but I am going to cut that down to half an hour per day, and any posts I can schedule ahead of time will happen during my monthly marketing post scheduling. Hopefully this new plan will keep me focused enough to finish the projects I want to finish.  I will be using Dragon on blog posts, emails, readings, and possibly writing to speed up my process.  I type fast, but sometimes it’s just easier to say it, you know?

So that’s my update for mid-September! Oh – AND I have the #DoMagick challenge to start over. LOL  Thank goodness that doesn’t happen every month.  Catch you all on the flipside! I’m off!