#i don’t even know my plot outline anymore 😭

[gothsuguru]

hello if anyone will allow me to speak abt writing w them please let me know bc i’m Struggling… they call me The Struggler™️ even (“they” being the bad bitches 😞😕)

[jjunieworld]

hi lovely !!

i just have a quick question (as someone who wants to start writing fics), what’s your process with writing? i usually struggle to actually START after coming up with the basis of an idea and it really puts off my motivation :c

especially with longer stuff with more of a plot, i really don’t know where to start. do you find it easier to set up a full storyline beforehand or do you just go with the flow?

i really enjoy your writing style and the way you word things it’s just so poetic ugh :( it motivates me a lot to start myself hehe (especially the lighthouse ☹️ ily lighthouse keeper hoonie ☹️☹️)

i’d also like to know how you started on tumblr? this space is a little bit scary and overwhelming for me, and i’m not really sure how to get stuff out there once i’ve written it TT

i hope you’re having a wonderful day/night !! <3

hi honey!!! ♡♡ this is is gonna be long and kinda rambley i’m sorry so i’ll but everything under the cut!! (>人<)

okay the first thing i recommend doing is writing everything down, whether that be in your notes app or in a google doc!!! and i mean EVERYTHING, down to the smallest scenes or dialogue you want to include to super quick ideas you want to implement — WRITE IT ALL DOWN!! if i don’t write literally everything down i will forget😭 it makes it 100x easier to have all of your ideas in one spot, especially if you struggle with adhd like i do

as for setting everything up, it’s kinda 50/50 for me! for the lighthouse i only had specific scenes i wanted to include written down (more specifically the ending and the first kiss scene) for the rest i didnt outline it or anything at all i just went the first thing that i thought about! for other fics like meet me at our spot and the salt under the sea, i had a whole dedicated outline!! sometimes the outline just makes things very overwhelming for me (especially if it’s super long) and then i start to hate it so i’ll just scrap it

but outlining definitely does help!!! the only thing is that sometimes when writing what you have outlined, i feels like you’ve already written everything which makes me at least not want to write anymore😭 as for starting, honestly start with the scene you’re most excited for, whether that be the ending or a scene in the middle of your fic! it makes things WAYYY easier and helps you get into the mind space of writing so you’re able to start from the beginning! i’ve been testing this out a little and i’ve found that it really helps!! (along with just writing a little of whatever fic you have in your head if it isn’t the one you’re currently trying to work on. it’s okay to put one fic down and pick up another!! it also helps to get you into that writing mindspace!)

all in all i would really recommend having an outline that way it’s a lot easier to know how you want your story to go rather than it all being a jumbled mess of ideas! it will make everything less overwhelming by having it all already laid out

the way i started on tumblr was actually through smaus!! the main one being all for a bet! you can start by smaus or even full fics, it really depends on what you want to do going forward! it does help starting small (like i did with smaus) because you can practice writing and how you want your writing style to be and everything, but if smaus aren’t your thing i would start with drabbles that way you put your account out there before fully plunging in!

the number one thing i tell everyone who asks it to make sure you tag your fics correctly!! the way i first learned to tag my fics was looking at all of the popular ones of the person i’m writing for (let’s say yeonjun x reader) and seeing how other authors tag their fics then copy it! tagging is very very important cause tumblr sucks pushing content out so you really have to do everything yourself :(

also if you’re looking to develop your own writing style or work on grammar or diction or whatever else the READ OTHER AUTHORS WORKS!!! i don’t mean just here on tumblr but published books as well! if you like the writing style of an author and want your writing style to be similar to theirs, then READ!! it’s literally impossible to grow your own writing if you don’t consume other’s. think of it as a forest, we’re all trees sharing the same water and sunlight and helping each other grow ♡ (that being said, don’t just straight up copy other author’s works!! that’s plagiarizing and really shitty no matter if you’re inspired or if they’re your favorite author or not. this goes for here and published works!)

it also helps to have a nice setup for your fics (again, not copying other authors!) if your set up is aesthetically pleasing, especially on here, more people are gonna wanna read it! i would suggest avoiding using any hard to read or distracting fonts, honestly just using the regular tumblr text is good enough! throw some colored text in there that matches your pictures and you’re golden!!

a little wrap up since this is so long lmao:

write down ALL of your ideas (including any scenes or dialogue you want to include)

start with whichever scene that you’re the most excited for so you get in the headspace of writing and then work around that

MAKE. SURE. YOU. TAG. YOUR. FICS. PROPERLY!!!!! tumblr sucks and won’t push out your content if you don’t!! it is up to you to promote your own works!!!

having a nice and aesthetic layout will draw in readers!! avoid using any hard to read or distracting fonts! try matching the colored text to the pictures you use to have everything be cohesive!!!

again, so sorry this is all just word vomit and super long😭 i hoped that this helped you and if you have any more questions then feel free to ask!! ♡ and thank you so so much!! you’re really sweet that just made my day ( ◡‿◡ *) i’m so happy that my work motivated you to start writing and posting on here!!! hehe make sure to send me your fic when it’s posted, i would love to read it!! (´ε｀ ʃƪ)♡

[whileyoureinschoolidothisallday]

OKAY I'M FINALLY DOING THIS!!!!!!

How many works do you have on AO3? 13!

What's your total AO3 word count? 119,813 but I have cyn chaos on there so it's kinda bloated lol

What are your top 5 fics by kudos? Most of my stuff posted there aren't actual fics, but it goes: Cynical Chaos (93), To the Best-Selling Abled Authors Who Love to Write About Disability (41), The Girl Who Refused to Die (25), I Almost Died and All I Got Was This Fucking Home Video (9), and Loyalty (7)

I think it's really funny that, on the fanfiction site, my actual fanfic has the lowest kudos out of these😂 (and Love is A Liar's Game didn't even place!)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Absolutely!!! As soon as I see them. I have yet to get a bad comment, but that's probably the only time I wouldn't. I live for positive dialogue about my writing and I know how nerve wracking it can be to leave a comment on someone's work, so I always like to encourage more interaction when someone does make the leap!

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending? Loyalty, for sure. Out of everything posted tho, I think To Whom It May Concern takes the cake cause it's a poem about the endless cycle of gun violence.

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending? HMMMMMMM Well it's not done, but Love is A Liar's Game is planned to have a pretty happy ending when we finally get there.

Do you write crossovers? As a teenager, me and a friend were writing a GIANT crossover called Search Beyond the Twilight Horizon that I am still extremely fond of (it's one of the few old writings that survived The Great Data Loss of 2011!!!). It was a crossover between Sonic (our characters' main verse), Kingdom Hearts, Zelda, Yu Yu Hakusho, Jak and Daxter, and DNAngel, but we only finished it to YYH before she started college and I started focusing on Cyn Chaos. Then behind the scenes, I WAS writing an Undertale x OFF crossover during my brief Sans craze, but I never got past the first few chapters.

For my own funsies, I've also written crossovers with my own Chaos Series! I did MHA and Gravity Falls.

TL;DR I love crossovers and will probably write more!!!

Have you ever received hate on a fic? Nope!

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I wrote a very tiny snippet of something for Touya a month ago on my NSFT blog, and I plan on expanding it, but that'll be my first time writing and posting anything sexy! Hopefully not the last tho ;p I've really come to like smut as an artform.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? LOL no. I don't know why I would.

Have you ever had a fic translated? No, but what an honor.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yeah, that crossover I mentioned above! It was fun!

What’s your all-time favorite ship? AxelxRoxas changed my brain chemistry so I'm gonna say that for now.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will? The Gyuutarou one I was outlining before Touya took over my brain 😭I recycled most of the major things from that fic and used it for Hex!fic and Siren!mc, so it really wouldn't stand up well on its own anymore. I know I need to officially scrap it, but I still have it sitting in my WIPs section cause I really liked what I was doing with it 😭

What are your writing strengths? Very strong voice, great dialogue, great characters and character dynamics, web weaving. The neurodivergency makes me really good at seeing connections between characters and details.

What are your writing weaknesses? Plot, description, 3rd person omniscient (if I write 3rd, it's gotta be close). I'm not BAD at descriptions once I finally hammer them out, they're just a slog for me so it takes me forever to finish them.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? It's fine as long as A. You know what you're doing and can do it accurately (or at least have a beta that does) and B. You're doing it purposefully, as in there's a specific point to its presence in the story.

What was the first fandom you wrote for? Sonic

What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to? I think writing KH or Final Fantasy would be nice someday. Especially KH.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written? Hex!fic has been really fun!!!!!!!!

Let's harass all the other writers I know...@yinyuedijun @prettyboykatsuki @hidinginmyhands @starlightbelle @bunni-bun and any other mutual I missed that also writes fic!!!!!!!!!!

Fic writer interview

@goingsparebutwithprecision tagged me in this one and then i had it in my drafts for six or eight months so now it is out of the drafts and into the queue

How many works do you have on AO3? a grand NINE

What's your total AO3 word count? 82,429, which is almost the length of a short novel.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Grace (SPN), Between Friends (Magnus Archives), Yellow Asters (SPN), In the Valley of the Ever Young (Umbrella Academy), and The Steward (Discworld)

I guess i'd hoped Another Journey (The Untamed) would do better - but I'm not at all surprised that my quick and dirty post-finale (by like a DAY) Game of Thrones thing didn't do well. On the other end of the spectrum, my quick and dirty post-finale-by-eleven-hours SPN thing did great it's my top seller. That's 600ish kudos so we're not talking phenomenal, but still. Goes to show I think the difference between how game of thrones fans handled the ending (buried heads in sand, wept and gnashed teeth, rent hair and clothing, ranted for hours on a slow monday worknight shift to me while i listened, horrified and enraptured) versus how spn fans, who never had expectations to gradually and then all at once disappointing, handled the ending (shrug, make some jokes, cry not because it's ending but because it happened, and then crack open the laptops for some quality writing about the whole thing). We were already prepared for things to be bad, so when they were even more bad than all THAT? We were actually, I think, in a way kind of pleased and satisfied. If it had ended well i think it would've been a bit of anticlimax after all that time. Whereas in Game of Thrones there was still the slim chance that they might turn it all around at the eleventh hour, so when they didn't the viewers just wanted to hide and lick their wounds. Produced much less immediate fic.

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? It really totally depends on the comment and my mood honestly. If it's especially long and glowing I try to give it at least a little bit of attention but it might not be right away.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending? Tie between Another Journey and In the Valley - In the Valley ends RIGHT before a character death in canon, Another Journey ends right after a non-canonical character death. So take your pic. I don't tend to do death for death's sake, but for these two stories it felt cheap to avoid it.

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending? FINISHED fic? That people can SEE the ending of? Grace, which I now don't like because it's not complex enough and I completely mischaracterized Jack, but that's what Wishes Were Horses is for. Whenever I get around to it. You know.

Do you write crossovers? Not really. I love worldbuilding but trying to marry two disparate worlds is too much for me, I don't like having to do all the logistics. Probably a less pedantic writer would just not care about the logistics but I also don't READ crossovers because the logistics or lack thereof is such an issue for me, so.

Have you ever received hate on a fic? No but back when I was regularly updating Book of Gold (which I'm linking even though I'm probably going to retire that version at some point and start working on a better rewrite) I had a reader who REALLY liked Steve, a character I had no plans to write from the perspective of because I barely remembered him and did not care about him, and still don't really, and that reader would constantly ask me with waning hope if I was gonna do anything Steve related. And I'd avoid saying a definitive no.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Prev apparently has some good Cyrano de Bergerac smut which I now want to read. I personally have never posted any sex in fics, but not for lack of hoping someday to tastefully get it all out there. I just was raised catholic so if I say anything sexual where people can see it i get embarrassed.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? I hope not I haven't checked lol but I only have nine and they're not well known so who give a shit

Have you ever had a fic translated? No.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? Nah. When it comes to writing I don't think I could ever split the work I'd want too much control.

What’s your all-time favorite ship? I do not have favorites because the other ones might get sad . this extends to foods, stuffed childhood animals, and books in my reading stack . also fountain pens

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will? At this point any of them lkajslkdjfasdf but i really REALLY doubt the immediate future of the Book of Gold, which is a shame because I have all the major beats mapped out in my head. It's just so much more ambitious than even the other long fics I have in my documents files, the scope is years instead of days or months, and it's a lot of planning and prep work that I can't help but feel I should instead spend on either quicker-to-finish stories or original ones.

What are your writing strengths? I think I have a strong voice, a good turn of phrase, that sort of thing. I also think that after years of trying I have gotten good at realistic dialogue that's not TOO realistic as to be unreadable, and I've learned how to be funny. Worldbuilding.

What are your writing weaknesses? Complex plotting, which sucks because I love complex plotting and want to do more of it. Also punctuality, which is not a writing weakness so much as a regular one, and the really big one is character relationships and consistency over time. I struggle to fit all those pieces together/remember whether they fit together when I started. This probably has to do with my social struggles in real life lol it's very hard for me to write characters thinking/believing/philosophizing/reacting differently than I would, at least without falling back into the 'everybody is me' mode that risks them coming off flat. I think my way around this for most of my writing life has been to write from one person's first-person perspective, which helps alleviate that problem, but I'm trying to do different things and expand my skill set/comfort zone.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? It's cool and I like it but I only know one other language than the one I speak and I speak it at a second grade level. So I don't do this much but I enjoy reading it. Love to copy and paste the language I don't know into a dictionary of words and parse it out it's like a fun secret treat.

What was the first fandom you wrote for? Discworld TECHNICALLY . but really The Outsiders and really really even before that I have an unnamed undescribed thing that I hope to turn into a short story that is almost not at all like the fic. so i will not discuss it

What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to? Star Trek (I've written for it but haven't finished and posted yet). Perhaps True Blood. I have some ideas.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written? Again I cant play favorites BUT. It's probably Another Journey. It just came together so easily and the structure fell right into place and I managed to do a lot of stuff that was challenging in a way that felt successful. Book of Gold is next to my heart so close that I'm sure it's not actually GOOD and I don't wanna call it 'favorite' because it's a different thing. It's a sibling.

@whileyoureinschoolidothisallday do you want to do a tag game? and any of the other writing mutuals on here who've plied their hands