#drabbles are a lot easier to write in english than in german because in english you can help yourself a lot with it's vs it is

[courfee]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Spread the self-love ❤

mmm i already did this here so i don't know if i should rec my fics again?

but just so the ask isn't completely empty, here are my 3 favourite microfics i've written (tumblr exclusives so far)

1. an angsty james/jegulus one that i think sounds very pretty

2. if this be done the witchboy james crow regulus fic. its my little side project that i write on every now and then which may or may not get to see the world properly at some point. the beginning of it is still one of my favourite things ive ever written

3. the jily wordle drabble very silly and i love it dearly. jily drabbles were the first marauders fics i ever wrote back in 2011 :)

thank you for the ask and the love thats been spread <3333

[neeleys]

@darkbloomiana: For the writing ask: 12, 29, 40.

12. If you write in more than one language, what's the difference? I’ve written fic in 5 languages so this question is relevant, thank you for asking this! I used Finnish when I was so young that I didn’t know enough English, at the time I didn’t know what fanfiction was (Viv, I think I told you about The Guiding Light). I also use Finnish when I write fic that I’m not going to publish - I cheat by writing the dialogue in English and the rest in Finnish. It’s much easier and faster that way, but the dialogue must be in English. German and French really don’t count, because there’s only one unpublished drabble each, but I remember how important it was to write in the language the characters were speaking (@farminglesbian knows Die Konkurrentin!). I have one long unpublished story in Swedish which is my second language (or it’s hard to say) and I think writing in Swedish is easy - I dare to write things that would be too banal or embarrassing for me in Finnish. Describing people and surroundings is easier in Finnish and Swedish than in English.

29. What is the hardest thing about writing? It’s writing in English. Sometimes I want to scream because I don’t know how to express something. I haven’t ever lived in an English speaking country so it’s often simple daily life words and expressions that make me squirm the most. In Finland you’re supposed to write excellent English, especially if you have a university degree, so it was really hard in the beginning when I found my first beta and saw all the stupid mistakes - and the ones that are almost impossible to avoid if you’re not a native speaker. But it’s been a fun ride too, I’ve learned a lot and I don’t care so much about mistakes anymore. I want to send lots of love to all non-native speaker fic writers, and everybody who betaes our work! 40. Write a 9-word-fic Caroline didn’t care anymore, she just followed Gillian. Writing ask

[acnelli]

Which country are you from? Are you a native English speaker? If not, what inspired you to write in English? I‘m not a native speaker but I can‘t imagine writing in my own language (nobody would want to read it anyway as the fanbase is too small). I would like to write in English but I don‘t have the guts…

Hello anon,

I'm not a native English speaker. I had been a fanfiction reader long before I tried to write something myself. At first I actually started with fics written in German, but after a while I lost interest in reading fanfiction. After some time I discovered FFN and started to read English fics. And then I was hooked. I don't want to say that those German fanfic authors were bad writers or something, but I wanted to improve my English anyway, so I tried the English ones. There were so many fics available for the pairings and tropes I wanted to read, so I stayed there and do so until this day (I changed fandoms, though).

As for writing. I always loved writing, but like you, I was very hesitant to write in English. I quickly dismissed writing in German, because there weren't many fics out there with the pairings and characters I wanted to read about, so I just figured there would be slim to none interest in my fics. So, I actually wrote my first English fic (not published anymore) and surprisingly, I got some reviews even though I wrote for a super super rare pair (Edward Cullen/Leah Clearwater). I already deleted that one many years ago, but because of that fic I kind of got the courage to write more. So, I got into the HP fandom and wrote my first Romione fic (The Speech). There are many mistakes in that one...and I had been too lazy to edit it yet haha. But I think you can see that I improved over the years if you read my stories. Oh, and it also helps a lot to have beta-readers.

My suggestion: write for yourself and only for yourself. That sounds easier than it is, actually. Because, of course, a writer wants to get Kudos and comments. But it's still the way to go. Don't start with a super long story, but with small ficlets/Drabbles. Little slice of life moments, missing moments, etc. It's true that longer stories get more attention on AO3, so don't get discouraged by the lack of attention for your 300 words stories. Imo, it's the perfect way to get into writing and figure out your style.

Don't be afraid and just start. There is nothing to lose 💛

Thanks for the ask, anon, and I hope this was somewhat helpful.

[blacklilyqueen]

Writing Advice

I’ve been thinking about posting some writing tips for a while now, but never did, because I thought that I myself am way to unexperienced to give any tips. But thanks to @thecoffeeshopforwriters I’ve decided to see it as an exchange of experiences rather than actually giving tips. So here are some of my “tips” based on my personal writing experience.

1.    Try out everything

I often see writers giving tips like “do it like this…” or “never try doing it that way” which is a horrible advice in my opinion. If you want to find your own writing style or see what’s best for you, you have to try out different ways of doing it. Basically every other advice I’ll give you is based on this one, because no matter what you are struggling with while writing trying out different ways will show you which one is the easiest for you.

You don’t know whether you should write character x reader from first, second or third person? Write a drabble – or even an entire multiple chapter story if you want that – for each person and see what you think sound best (not the same drabble of course, but three different ones)

You don’t know whether you should write in your native language and translate it afterwards or write in English right ahead? Try out both. (I’m actually going to go deeper into this topic later.)

You don’t know whether you should write in a quiet environment or need some noises around you? Try out both and see.

This may seem obvious, but honestly, it’s the best thing you can do, especially when you start writing, but also when you’ve already been writing for years.

 2.    Native Language

This tip is only important for those of you who are trying to write in a language that isn’t their first language (I’m just going to assume the language you’re writing in is English). I see many people giving advice like “Only write in English right away if you want to completely understand the language”, but like I mentioned before I think you should try out every possibility and see what’s best for you, because we all have a different way of writing.

 I think for this advice it’s best to share my personal experience with you at first. I used to write everything in German (my native language) at first and then translate it. This always worked well for me, until I saw one of those “only write in English” tips. So I decided why not try it out and I found out that writing in English can be better SOMETIMES.

 While writing most writers (at least on tumblr) divide into fluff, angst and smut. This is absolutely important to keep in mind when thinking about which language you should use. Again I’m only going to tell my personal experience with this. I’m usually writing a lot of angst and I have never ever had problems doing it in German. My German is obviously better than my English and writing angst in German has always come to me incredibly easy, way easier than in English.

This absolutely isn’t the case with fluff. I always struggled with fluff in German. Personally I thought those feelings always felt “over the top” or super soppy, but when I wrote it in English I had absolutely zero problem with it, even thought I would have hated the German translation of it.

And last but not least smut. The thing with smut in German is that a lot of the words that sound sexy or good in English sound really cringy or totally “sterile” in German. Honestly writing smut in German sometimes feels like writing an article for a magazine at your gynaecologist. And as stupid as it may sound, I actually wrote it in German, but would often just insert the better sounding English word, because I knew that’s how I would translate it later anyway. This probably isn’t the best solution, but it worked for me.

 In the end I can just recommend everyone to think about what their strengths and weaknesses are. Once you know that try writing it in your native language or English (depending on how you did it before) and see if it’s better for you that way. It doesn’t matter whether you translate everything, write it in English right ahead or maybe do a mix of both, as long as you are satisfied with the result everything is fine.

 P.S.: I would recommend everyone trying to translate something Deepl Translator. As far as my research went this is apparently the best translator that it currently out there. It translates grammar correctly almost all the time and is really helpful for those who are unsure if they translated something correctly. Even if you want to translate it yourself first you can always use this to be sure you translated it the right way.

 3.    Location

I’m not talking about where the story takes place, but about where you are while writing. Personally I’ve noticed that I tend to get bored or fall into a routine when I’m only writing in the same place and that this actually caused a lot of my writers blockade.

Here’s my tip whenever you feel like you don’t have enough motivation to write or don’t know how to continue, just move a bit around. I usually tend to write in my room at my desk or on my bed and I think that’s where most of you probably write too. Next time just try to write somewhere else. Go to the living room and sit on the couch or at the dining table. Or if you want to go a step further just go outside. Find a nice bench at a park or go to the library. Maybe there’s a nice café or a bakery near where you live and you can sit there for a while.

Little changes in your environment can really help you to continue writing and even if you don’t feel inspired to continue writing in that moment it will often inspire you and maybe give you new ideas.

I hope that this will be helpful for some of you. Also feel free to add your personal experience or tips

Laura

[rowanofferelden]

Tag games - all of them

Writing tag - I was tagged by @naarna and @lightofevolution! Thank you!

1) How many works in progress do you currently have in progress?

Don’t shame me like this! :D I have 2 from OP times, 4 in Hp, not counting drabble collections, one for dragon age and an original work. Some of them published, some not but I am kinda working on all of them

  2) Do you/would you write fan fiction?

Considering we all know each other thanks to fanfiction, I do

3) Do you prefer paper books or ebooks?

I prefer paper backs because I’m used to it and it’s easier on my eyes.

4) When did you start writing?

I was 17 and ran out of KidLaw fics to read so I started to write my own.

5) Do you have someone you trust that you share your work with?

my rl friend @evolutionsbedingt is my first beta at most times - unless she is busy. and of course a lot of other people and all the readers.

6) Where is your favourite place to write?

my bed tbh

7) Favourite childhood book?

That’s a tricky question. Harry Potter, Three Musketeers and that ducktales/disney book they had at my school library and that only exists in czech and slovak despite being written by an Italian? That book is like a mythos for me and I want it but can’t get it anywhere and it drives me mad. I would pay like hundreds of Euros to get it.

8) Writing for fun or writing for publication?

both. I need to get stuff out of my system but I want people to react to it too.

9) Pen and paper or computer?

both but mostly computer

10) Have you ever taken any writing classes?

no - I live in Germany - they don’t really teach creative writing at universities here

11) What inspires you to write?

nothing in particular. sometimes I see something but mostly I just need to let out my feelings.

I tag @evolutionsbedingt @arzani-fuchsia @vergina-spva @stoic-blender @kissyourdemons @rainsrabble @itisariddle ----

Tag game

I was tagged by @naarna and @evolutionsbedingt thanks ♥

1. Post the rules. 2. Answer the questions given to you by the tagger. 3. Post 11 questions of your own. 4. Tag 11 people. Questions from naarna

1) If you have been sorted into a Hogwarts House, do you think the traits of your House fit you?

I am a born Slytherin tbh. Like it’s almost ridiculous. Sure, I am like 50% Slytherin and 50% Ravenclaw but I identify with Slytherin.

2) What was the last item you shopped that wasn’t food?

don’t laugh but clothespins earlier today. In baby blue and pink.

3) What’s your favourite place outside your flat/house/place you live?

my branch of university library. It’s amazing

4) Winter or Summer? Why?

summer. I get cold too easily. 

5) Cats or Dogs? Why?

kinda both and neither. I am not an animal person but they are cute and fluffy

6) Do you have a favourite childhood memory? And if so, what is it?

I don’t

7) Do you have a song from your childhood/teenage years you still love to hear?

Hard Rock Hallelujah by Lordi and the Hex Girls songs from Scooby Doo

8) Lefthanded or righthanded?

righthanded

9) Do you have motto or a quote that inspires you in your daily life?

Don’t wait for anybody to corrupt you. Be the villain you were born to be. Jokes, i don’t have one.

10) What’s your favourite HP spell? Why?

Accio. Would be SO useful.

11) What’s your favourite Magical Creature (can also be from Mythology)? 

Rusalky or slavic dragons or the water man. All in all I love slavic mythology and it’s a shame the world doesn’t care about us.  

Questions from @evolutionsbedingt

Why is a raven like a writing desk? - you shouldn’t stuck it up your arse. 

What is your go-to feel good book? -The Princess Diaries. I love trashy teen books

If you were a character in your current book, how long would you survive? -if you mean the one I am writing I would survive really long. If the one I am reading - which one? I could survive hp as a muggle :D

Where do you go to think? -I think everywhere and all the time

What is your favourite pie, cake or anything baked in the oven? -you should know better than to ask me about food! My mom’s apple cake and like a chocolate swirl.

Are you already excited for Christmas? -considering I hate Christmas or any other kind of festivities no

How many languages do you speak? -Oh god. Slovak, Czech, English, German, French, Ancient Greek and Latin. + several understand and can a bit. I am an idiot who tries too much but never finishes things

What would you like to change in your life if you could? -My flat would be WARM! It’s freezing in here -.-

What is your favourite skill? -ruining my life? nah. it’s how easy I can I meet new people

What are you going to do this weekend? -if everything goes as it should I will make a crusade to Ikea

Which movie should I definitely watch? I would say the Mummy but you’ve already seen it so... Sindbad, legend of the seven seas My questions:  1. what would your boggart turn into and how would you fight/change it? 2. what’s the story behind your first crush? 3. If you had a pet dragon, how would you name it? 4. how do you stay motivated to finish a boring task? 5. what food from your home country should I try? 6. Who is the first inspirational person that comes to your mind? 7. Favourite childhood show? 8. what do you hate most about your ex?  9. Favourite piece of clothing and why? 10. For what would you sell your soul to a demon? Asking for a friend 11. Why is Charlie Weasley the best Weasley? I tag: @o0sarena0o @luunascope @naarna @ibuzoo @orangelies @colubrina @ff-sunset-oasis @alasseablack @otterplusferret