#i have an entire doc of a story outline i have so many thoughts.

[flareon-exe]

its sonic day so i get to post this and not feel self conscious heres my silly little metal sonic as mordred design for a black knight sequel fic im writing

hes real but also not ❤️ AND mentally ill

[karalianne]

NaNoWriMo Fire

I have been posting comments on NaNoWriMo's Facebook page, to the most recent three posts there (copied and pasted). My latest one has apparently been blocked or something, so I'm going to start sharing here. Please do share this far and wide.

If you don't know what the NaNoWriMo fire is, I have two resources for you:

Reddit Post (took two to post the whole story)

Google Docs summary (being actively updated as things continue to burn)

So below the fold I'm pasting the comments I put on Facebook, in order. Enjoy!

March 5, 20204

It's becoming increasingly obvious that the goal here is to shutter NaNoWriMo as an organization. I wish you guys would just DO IT ALREADY instead of pretending you're trying to do right by the community. That ABSOLUTELY ATROCIOUS ABOMINATION of a new ML agreement is reprehensible. I hope NOBODY signs it, because it is BLATANTLY trying to put ALL BLAME for anything that goes wrong directly on the ML's. Which is ludicrous. On top of that, if people have concerns about the agreement they are automatically being removed as ML. That's not good faith. It's not transparency. I've been trying to believe the best but obviously that was really silly of me and I apologize for believing that everyone is capable of actually doing better.

March 7, 2024

The Board Update is laughable and reinforces the impression I offered in my previous comment. Basically, nobody on the Board right now was even there when all this stuff happened. NaNoWriMo the organization is not actually listening to the feedback from the community; supposedly there have been focus groups but none of the people I'm in contact with (which is a lot of people who have all been very heavily involved with the organization over the years) ever got an invitation. I am just one person, and I am aware that I am not owed anything. However, this entire thing continues to be mismanaged, and I do not for one second believe that the organization is heading in the right direction.

Again, I suggest you just shut things down completely like you're obviously planning. All the noises about trying to do the right thing, followed by this alarming lack of actually doing the right thing and incredibly tone-deaf approach, are not helping the situation. Support for the organization is dwindling, and I am not surprised. That's what happens when you ignore and/or woefully mismanage your response to concerns.

March 9, 2024

Well, I'm back for another round of "I thought I told you not to do this kind of thing." Again, I know I'm just a person and nobody has to listen to me, but I know plenty of people who agree with me.

First, regarding the FAQ for MLs, there are contradictions and missing words. I try not to criticize that sort of thing too much (in spite of being a trained proofreader) but this is supposed to be a writing organization, and you people at HQ are supposed to be writers. Do better.

Second, it has come to my attention that both the Terms & Conditions and the Codes of Conduct have been updated with no notification. That is ridiculous and unethical, not to mention poor business practice. Literally every organization I am connected to sends an e-mail to let me know when there are changes upcoming, and often those changes are outlined so I know what to expect. And then I have the option to leave if I don't agree with those changes.

If you did send a notification e-mail prior to these changes being implemented, well, hey, we already knew the e-mail system was borked so whatever. But it looks like literally NOBODY got a notification of the upcoming changes, which indicates that there was no attempt to follow best practices.

It is clear to me, and to many other people in the community, that nobody at HQ actually knows how to manage a non-profit. I'm also pretty sure you don't understand ethics or best practices. You're trying to get ahead of bad things that ALREADY HAPPENED, and if you're actually consulting a lawyer about all of these things before you do them, they are giving you horrible advice. You also needed a PR team back in like November (maybe even October).

There's a weird attitude that I've seen all over the place, that people who are being vocal about this disaster are being mean or trying to destroy NaNoWriMo or something like that. I want to be crystal clear here: People who are being vocal are speaking up on behalf of people who needed a voice. People were being abused and others decided to help them get out of that situation. When the expected solution (reporting to HQ) did not result in appropriate actions, they moved to make the situation public. (That's when I found out and got involved.)

When we were discussing problems and asking questions on the forums in November, we were trying to be productive. We were looking for answers, making suggestions, explaining what was wrong (because as we talked we learned that there was far more than just the Mod X situation that was wrong), offering our assistance... and we got shut down.

Now I'm also hearing that there has been a focus group. Who was in that focus group? How did you get the participants? Nobody I know was contacted to be on that focus group. Are you actually LISTENING to the participants? Are the people you're recruiting all folks who've made it clear they're mad at those of us who are using our voices to call out abuses of power, poor organization and business practices, and unethical behaviour? I don't care if I'm not approached to be a part of a focus group, but making sure you involve an assortment of viewpoints would be beneficial.

I am just incredibly disappointed in how everything has gone and is going. The yacht has sailed. It's time to accept that and move on.

March 12, 2024 (the one that isn't showing up)

Every time I turn around, it seems, there's something new to facepalm over. It is becoming increasingly clear that HQ is on the defensive. You need someone on staff, like, six months ago, who is actually capable of professional communication. Right now, we're receiving passive-aggressive whinges about how many e-mails there are and how you're giving up vacations in order to reply to them. At least some of the foolish "answers" on the FAQ (which again, why is that on Zendesk? That makes no sense.) have been removed. The thing is, nevermind Pepperidge Farm, the Internet remembers. EVERYTHING.

It is not professional to tell your subordinates (whether staff or volunteers) that you're giving up personal time in order to deal with a mess that is your responsibility to deal with. It is not professional to complain about having to do a job you agreed to take on.

It is not ethical to try and get anti-union verbage into an agreement for volunteers. It is not ethical to try and get volunteers to take on all liability for events they organize on your behalf.

It is incredibly rude to treat adults as if they are misbehaving children. Especially not when they are bringing you legitimate concerns and criticisms about how your organization is handling a serious situation.

And yes, a lot of this one is specifically about Kilby, because WTF? How have you been on multiple boards and not learned how to do all of this stuff properly? You were absolutely NOT the right person for the job, and it's laughable that you think you were.

[getinthehandbasket]

Cross-disciplinary training for artists

My entire life I thought of myself as a writer. A nearly-failed author, because I had such a hard time writing, but a writer all the same.

I had no framework for writing anything more than drabbles or vignettes. Anything more than 2k fizzled out. Let's not even talk about papers when I was in high school and college. I thought I had to get it all out mostly-perfect all at once, the first time, and that was so overwhelming that I just.. didn't.

No one taught me about stages. No one taught me about outlining, filling in, refining, etc.

About ten years ago I decided I wanted to branch out beyond my fiber arts (a thing which I am good at) and my writing (a thing which I was not good at). I decided to learn how to paint, how to do multimedia art journaling, how to draw, how to do anything as a visual (but not digital) artist because I like making things.

The thing that surprised me the most was this: artists work in layers. The first few - hell, sometimes even the first MANY - layers are foundations. Underpaintings. Sketches. Blobs of color. Things that look nothing like what the final will be. Art is built up in layers, even fiber arts. All art, I have found, is made of layers and stages.

Now I'm back to writing. I write fanfic. I am now writing it using a "layering" strategy.

I laid out a very VERY vague timeline, and a few notes about a couple of scenes that made me want to write the fic to give those scenes a home.

Then I started noting down beats, and assigning them to different spots in my timeline. Now I had an actual outline.

NOW I'm filling in the outline with scenes. They're not necessarily good. Sometimes it's just a sentence or two saying something like "first threesome here" or "X goes to Y's house to hang out - reason??". Sometimes it's a 2k scene where I meant to do one thing and the characters decided to flirt prematurely instead. I'm not even writing in the perspective (or possibly the tense) I plan to use in the final. I'm currently writing everything from a 3rd person present-tense somewhat omnicient POV. The final fic will have first-person probably present-tense limited omniscience POV, bouncing between my MCs as the POV character.

I'm not even calling it my first draft. To keep that pressure off of myself, it's entirely within a "planning document" and I'm informally calling it my 0 Draft. I'm just telling myself the story, and not necessarily in order.

When I'm done with it, I will open up a new document and start retyping everything, editing in the process, rewriting a bunch of stuff, changing to the correct tense/POV, etc. That will be my first draft, because for some reason (*cough* bad English teachers who thought they weren't the ones responsible for teaching their students how to write essays, papers, or anything else, who required us to turn in "first drafts" of our papers basically for copyediting and that's it *cough*) I have it drilled into my head that a First Draft must be complete and ready to be copyedited. A First Draft can be a shitty draft, sure, but in my head it also had to be nearly the final form. So now I'm calling what most people would call their 1st Draft my 0 Draft.

And once I am done with my "1st Draft" (which is really my 2nd), THEN I will retype it one more time to catch any spelling or grammar or plothole mistakes. That's the version I will have betas read for last-minute checks, and that's the version I will post.

TL;DR - setting writing down for a while and learning other artistic disciplines, even if I nowhere near mastered them, has granted me so much insight into a better way to write. It's given me joy instead of anxiety in my most treasured creative hobby.

I'm not even halfway through telling myself the story and I'm already 13.5k in. After cutting some of my darlings out and moving them to a different doc.

"Cross-training" makes everything easier.

[squarebracket-trickster]

Writer Q&A Tag Game

Thank you @sunset-a-story for ALSO tagging me way back in August. I AM SO SORRY

1. What motivates you to write?

It itchy, itchy urge to create something. I NEED it OUT. I MUST make sense of it ALL. The thoughts need ordering and putting together to maximize the happy chemicals. I see something I like that someone else made and I get jealous so I must do something like that, but MY way, and BETTER. It all makes me very itchy (restless).

2. A line/short snippet of your writing that you are most proud/happy of. If not maybe share a line of someone else's work you love (just please credit them)

I skimmed my entire 3rd draft (so far) to pick a line. There are a lot of good ones but none I liked more than the rest - I couldn't choose. So... I know I've already shared this one but dammit. It is a kickass line. It's also the first line of WIPVII - and you do not know what devils I sold my soul to to escape THAT writer's block.

I will live, I tell myself through the salt water in my eyes and the sting of the south wind on my face. This will make for a good story one day.

5. What part of writing do you think you are the best at? (Yes stroke your own ego it's okay)

Banter and wit. Which is funny because I always thought that was the thing I would struggle most with - I was the academic overachiever who took herself too seriously in school. But when I reread my drafts there is something that makes me laugh in nearly every scene. Most of my highlighted lines are banter or retorts.

6. What do you enjoy most about the Writeblr community?

I love seeing writeblr content on my dash and I looooove getting interactions when I liveblog my writing. It is so nice to be able to share this with people who love it too (rather than inflicting it on my poor irl friends who are not writers). I just love all you Writeblr friends so much!

7. A writing tool/device you use that helps you with writing? (It could be speech to text, a writing program etc)

A 2x3.5' and a 3x5.5' whiteboard with a rainbow's worth of whiteboard markers in different thicknesses for brainstorming, family trees, timelines. My sketchbook, a mechanical pencil, and YouTube drawing tutorials for my maps and concept art. MS Word, dark mode, Times New Roman pt 11, with comments enabled for my manuscripts, outlines (bullet points), and worldbuilding notes. Subfolders within subfolders stored on my PC to organize all my Word docs. Two separate USBs which my completed manuscripts are saved to (in case something happens to my computer AND one of the USBs).

I have yet to find any worldbuilding or map making software (and it hasn't been for lack of looking) that gives me enough flexibility. I have yet to find any writing software that has features Word doesn't but that would actually help my process rather than overwhelm me.

I do want to write out a draft of WIPVII by hand at some point (though with my penchant for writing hand cramps this might be doomed). I also want to try an electric typewriter.

8. A piece of worldbuilding that you like in your own story? (It could be the magic system, a particular place in the story, a law etc)

WIPVII doesn't have very complex worldbuilding (there is no magic and most of it is ripped from real world history) but I do always love it when authors tell us what way the wind is coming, what smells it carries, what the view is in the distance, whose lands those are... that kind of stuff. Really creates a sense of place. I spent a lot of time mapping all this out in my own novel and I am very happy with it! The description feels so rich!

9. What piece of advice would you say to encourage others to write if they are having a rough patch?

Learn more about the craft. Writing is problem solving. If you aren't happy with something figure out why - the mechanics and technique behind writing. If you're still stuck learn even more. There are so many great, free resources on tumblr, youtube, blogs, pinterest (though it is most stolen from tumblr) even twitter and tiktok.

Also, learn how to filter out what advice is helpful now versus what should wait for later so you don't get overwhelmed. If you haven't even written a first draft yet don't bother with pacing, exposition, line editing, or let alone how to query. Just focus on the macro-stuff like plot and character arcs.

Tagging with the lightest brush on the shoulder these nine alleged humans: @cheeto-flavoured-pasta, @alnaperera, @bluberimufim, @daisywords, @boundedsea, @full-on-sam, @writernopal, @ashen-crest, @surroundedbypearls

[greatunironic]

20 questions for fic writers

approximately twenty years late for these twenty questions, but i'm here now so that counts rights? thank you to @aidaronan for the tag!

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 40

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 711,322

3. What fandoms do you write for? currently stranger things, but i've got star wars (prequels + rebels) w.i.p.s in the google docs that i'd still love to see the light of day

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? steddie overtook my oldest fics, so most remarkable thing is my number one, with two other fics in the same universe behind it (frozen with joy and the world throws its light), followed by all the missing girls and brutalist masterpieces

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? i try to respond to all of them because i'm trying to be more outgoing in fandom spaces; i also feel very humbled + touched by the response to my steddie stories so i try to stay engaged there when i can

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? i don't think anything is particularly angsty from stranger things -- i try to lean into optimism and hopeful endings when i can, even if something tragic happens with the story; so i would have to say the untitled companion kallus au out of rebels fandom, since part two ends on a bit of a downer.

(though various stories out of the eating in the underworld series probably qualify, especially when you're reading them chronologically...)

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? i like to think the whole of most remarkable thing, and other b-sides and rarities as the happiest, i would say? mainly because the idea of steve + eddie, alive in 2023 and thriving with their family, careers, and marriage is very dear to me.

8. Do you get hate on fics? not really

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? yes; allow me to be pretentious and say that it's typically serving a plot purpose, and often tender, sometimes silly, sometimes spicy

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? i like a good fusion, mainly; i think the only crossover i've written + published is an ancient avengers and battlestar galactica fic

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? not to my knowledge

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? yes! remarkable has french + spanish translations, and crozen with joy also has a french translation

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? no; i'm a solitary creature by nature, and also anxious to a fault so i've never felt it was something i'd be able to do + do right by my co-author.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? i love steddie but i gotta be honest here on tumblr dot com: kalluzeb

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? i pray every day that i'll finish all my wips; but my greatest fear is that i'll never conclude the star wars f+f au, even though the google doc is halfway written

16. What are your writing strengths? once again imma be a little pretentious and say crafting the story itself; i think i'm a really solid plotter + have good outlines that allow me to tell the story i want to tell

17. What are your writing weaknesses? probably being too wordy, and having a hard time trimming + cutting things; i have a whole google doc devoted to passages i've loved that i've excised from stories but just couldn't get rid of entirely -- i'm definitely a director's cut bitch

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? i've encorporated mando'a into a handful of star wars stories, and used a few russian terms of endearment for at me too someone is looking (rebels) -- so i think if it serves a purpose to the story, you gotta do it.

19. First fandom you wrote for? star trek, i think?? maybe stargate: sg1??

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? i love all of my children equally but differently, but gun to my head? dogfish or the other hand knocking, because both were so interesting + challenging to write in very different ways

not tagging anyone because i'm so late to the game, but if you wanna play just say i called your name!!

[igbylicious]

hiii ☺️ 10 & 25 for the meta asks

because you writing is always so interesting to me! and it's always feels so well thought out and just like satisfying(?) not sure if that's the word i'm looking for, but the point still stands 💗

omg hi pls that is really sweet thankyou!!! (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)

25) What part of writing is the most fun?

oohhhh that’s a tough pick! there’s a lot i love abt writing, but i think i have the most fun when i find a creative flow & everything clicks into place, and i just get hit w/ this giddy feeling of like ‘ah yes, this is why i'm writing this story :3’

10) How would you describe your writing process?

short answer: controlled chaos xD

i put a longer answer under the cut, i hope the explanation makes sense asdkjasdjk

meta asks for writers

my process varies from fic to fic, esp if they’re shorter, but for many of them it kinda looks like this:

plotbunny attacks

i wordvomit as many of my thoughts & ideas into a doc as i can

even if those thoughts & ideas contradict each other or don’t connect smoothly

no thinking just get all the frenzied ‘ohgodineedtowritethisthing’ energy out of my system

lots of all-caps yelling

using all-caps is my main brainhack to turn off the thinking lol

end up w/ messy collection of unhinged notes

(i usually give it some time to marinate at this point, esp since i’ve been so focused on finishing whichever way. a lot of my ‘wips’ are roughly in this stage)

then:

read through the mess

sort things into the right order

add new ideas that get sparked by rereading the first ‘wave’

set aside the things i end up not liking

just kinda refine the mess into a semi-coherent storyline

at this point, sometimes i have an extremely detailed outline, even w/ entire conversations scripted out; but sometimes i only have a vague idea of what’s going on and how i’m getting from A to B to C lol

-> if the outline is detailed, i can dive straight into the writing and it’s usually pretty easy and straightforward (unless i change my mind abt smth lol)

-> but if i hit a part of the story for which i only have a very vague outline, then i first take a closer look at the scene i need to write;

what do i want to happen in this scene?

what does it need to achieve?

does it have to lead into a specific ending for smooth transition into the next part?

etc etc

in that case, i kinda try to do the same thing as at the start; just mindlessly blarf out all my thoughts/ideas, sort them out, then get writing!

(i also use that all-caps trick whenever i get stuck during the actual writing lol; it just really helps to turn off the perfectionist in my brain. like leave me alone i’m yelling here!!!)

…i feel like this makes me sound waaayyyy more organised than i am ^^;; i usually start w/ an outline, yes, but i’ll also just change the entire plot on a whim if i think that makes for a better story lol

(example; in my original 9-chapter outline for whichever way, the qpr throuple becoming official was planned as the ending. then i changed my mind within like 2-3 chapters bc the trio just instantly felt so good together and i couldn’t justify why they wouldn’t just, youknow, talk abt that sooner!!! esp once i added all those extra chapters, which would’ve dragged it out even longer! so i pushed those storybeats forward, decided on a different milestone to end on, and adjusted the rest accordingly lol. really, really happy i did that :’) )

i hope this was what you’re looking for & that it made any sort of sense??? again thankyou for the ask! (〃＾▽＾〃)

[beautyofsorrow]

2, 4, 7, 18, 46

2. Do you plan each chapter ahead or write as you go?

evil. evil question. why would you make me think about my multichaps. ok so i tried the intensive outlining thing, i really did, and it flopped so bad because i'm pretty sure i have adhd which, among many other things, means i need novelty in order to stay interested in a thing. but i also need STRUCTURE so i know where i'm GOING or i'll never FINISH so i have started doing this thing where i have the vague outline of what happens and then go from there. for without anesthetic, i had a pretty good idea of what i thought the first four chapters entailed before i ever sat down at the word doc, just so i'd have a measure of security behind this wildly ambitious idea. turns out it was only enough for three chapters and i am spinning my wheels a little on the fourth/fifth/sixth, but it's going so much better than my last multichap did, and i haven't abandoned it like my first. so yay! it's my own version of what i call the ann patchett method of drafting (see "the getaway car" in this is the story of a happy marriage for more details on that, dear mutuals who are not zanna). more adhd, but just rigorous enough to keep me from walking out. this seems to be working, but it's also nerve-wracking because oh no, what if i get ?? chapters deep and i've written myself into a corner? (the answer: girl calm down, it's fanfiction and you're supposed to be having fun)

4. Where do you find inspiration for new ideas?

i rifle through the fridge at 10pm looking for a very specific food that does not exist and then get mad at myself when i realize i am gonna have to write it into existence.

see also: my love for the characters (/horny and emotional). a desperate need for non-romantic sexually intimate relationships in media. upsetting plotholes in canon. deranged character dynamics. weird takes on popular tropes. religious trauma. family estrangement. being queer. i also read a lot of books and find plenty of sparks ideas juice inside them, usually in their style and execution. i looooooooove studying form and how it influences a book's plot.

7. How do you choose which POV to write from?

whatever best serves the story! and/or whatever i feel i can handle best in a given moment. for example, the first time i tried my hand at sex pollen (drown me in glitter, glitter and gold) i had no fucking clue how to write from a sex-pollened person's POV, so the answer was to stay in la'an's head the entire fic. that let me get really comfy with the story so that by the time i had to write her being all high on horny juice, it flowed much more easily than if i had started in una's POV, who's dosed from the start. also, it was a much better, funnier, and stronger fic that way. la'an's mortification really came through and allowed me to hit a lot of comedic beats i wouldn't have been able to hit due to una's temporary plunge into angst.

18. Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

i do all three lol. mostly during and after. sometimes i'll have one from the start and it will stick; other times it will change to something else halfway through. many many times i will come screaming into ur DMs complaining about being done with a fic but not having title tags or summary. i started keeping a file in my notes app of lines of poetry i love, and i'll occasionally plunder them for titles. i'll also yoink song lyrics (just give me trust and watch what'll happen), riff on character quotes or episode titles (without anesthetic, ad astra), or rotate the fic in my head until something appropriately vibe-y presents itself (dress me down and hold me open, aces wild, stitch)

46. How would you describe your style?

contemplative, lyric and/or comedic (depending on the fic), & character-driven

[voxofthevoid]

Saw a writing game on my dash but am hesitant to tag you in it, so thought if I send it to you then you can choose whether to participate without pressure?

RULES: make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Then tag as many people as you have WIPs

You can always go ahead and tag! I take a while to get to everything from tag games to DMs, but you're always welcome to poke me in any manner ❤️

This one sounds familiar. Last time, I think I dumped my entire plot bunny list? Not sure. Owing to the way I write and post, WIPs can be the 70+ outline docs, the 4-5 stories being actively posted, or the one(1) story I'm actively working on:

This time, let's go with the stories being posted either here or on Ao3. No wild descriptions though; these are all named children.

there's a lover in the story (but the story's still the same)

everything burned, as promised

(let me be clear) every version of the story ends with you being slaughtered

because the negative sex was born into a bloodline

(this is also part of the story) how the story changes

(and he had said) darling, your looks can kill, so now you’re dead

Tagging (no pressure) @eusuntgratie @joeys-piano @cursedvibes @spacerenegades and @naamah-beherit

[tallulah477]

Hi tallie!

I have a few questions-

So I'm thinking of writing a Lyle wainfleet x miles quaritch x oc multiple chapter story-

So the little plot i have is after the sea dragon sinks and miles and lyle make it out alive, they make it to land, meet my oc, and she teaches them the na'vi ways and everything-

So do you have any tips on making a good mauti chaptered work?

Also any tips on a three way sex scene?

I hope this isn't to much to ask for!😅

Thank you! 💕

Roomie, I'm sooooo here for this story already OMG

Also, you could never ask for too much - I'm always here to help and my DMs are always open too 🧡 I just hope my essay of a response isn't too much LMAO

I honestly can't say I have that much experience writing multi chaptered works so idk how helpful I can really be, but usually for my works I try not to go in blind because I can write myself into a corner like that. Sometimes, I can have a vague idea and it drives itself. But most of the time I need to have an outline to follow, even if I end up deviating from it eventually. And I would def suggest an outline for a multi chapter fic.

But my brain is so messy and so are my outlines lmao so idk if you're an organized person or not, but your outline totally doesn't have to be if you don't want it to be. I would say, whatever you can think of in that moment, write it down. Literally whatever pops into your head - whether it's a scene, a specific detail you wanna remember to mention, a line of dialogue, an entire conversation. Sometimes I end up writing whole ass scenes in my outline and then just copy and paste it into the doc and edit it 😂

I would suggest outlining what you want to happen in each part, specifically how you want it to start and where you want each chapter to end so you know exactly where you're trying to get to with each chapter. Are we ending on a cliffhanger, or a point of relief after a tense scene? It also helps with not rushing through/dragging the fic too much, I think.

If you don't mind me getting specific with your idea, I'd love to see how messed up Lyle and Miles are after the battle on the sea dragon. Their entire team just died (again) and they barely made it out with their lives themselves. I'm not 100% sure about Lyle cause we don't really get too close him during the movies, but I know Miles is going to have some raging emotions to get through because Spider chose the Sullys over him and left him there alone (if you decide to keep it canon like that). So I think that would be really fun to explore.

Then you can introduce your OC and go through whatever tension there's going to be between the recoms and her/her clan cause I doubt either one is going to trust each other right away so there might be some (or a lot) of hostility. Either way, it would be really fun to see how their feelings and emotions evolve on both sides, but especially for Lyle and Miles as they switch from their human marine conditioning to learning and appreciating the Na'vi way of life. It would def be a different learning experience from what we see in the first movie with Jake because even though Jake was also human/marine, he was wayyyyy more open to everything Na'vi than the recoms.

That's just my thoughts anyway - obviously everything is up to you! Honestly, you have a fantastic plot and there's so many directions you can go with this, so this is a great concept for a multi chapter fic.

TLDR: Outlines and details are your best friend 😂

For threesomes, I really try to keep the focus fairly equal between everyone. It's a little jarring sometimes when a character is completely forgotten about and then all of a sudden is there again, so try to go back and forth as best as you can to make sure no one is left out. So if you're OC is riding Lyle and thinking about how big his cock is inside of her, make sure she also feels Miles biting her shoulder from behind or pulling her head back to kiss her just so he's not just standing there like🧍‍♂️

Don't be afraid to use names either. Best to overuse than for your readers to get lost with who is who, imo.

Although eventually OC may be too overwhelmed and lost in sensations and might not know who's hand is who's and who's cock is pressing where but she doesn't care cause she needs to cum right now

Depending on how you wanna do your threesome too depends on how you set everything up cause they can be more like a train where one person mainly fucks OC while the other is just the helper and then vice versa, or you can do double penetration where they both have their own hole at the same time (or the same hole if you're feeling a little crazy lol)

This is so long, I'm so sorry LMAO

[theleakypen]

Fic Writer Interview Game

Thank you for the tag (almost 2 years ago) @gusu-emilu!

I am tagging literally anybody who sees this and wants to play :D

name: Puck

fandoms: multifandom! although Untamed/MDZS continues to be my main

two-shots: I never understand this question but it looks like it means to rec your own two-chapter fics so here we go: Stories More Beautiful Than Answers (CQL, Mianmian gets to meet Jin Ling post-canon) and Rhûnlanders (I published it as a series of 2 separate fics, but it's basically 1 thing: Songxiao in Middle Earth - Xiao Xingchen is an Elf and Song Zichen is a Man, both from Rhûnland so they're still Asian)

most popular multi-chapter fic: Obviously Yunmeng In-Laws (my and @iamwestiec's CQL modern AU groupchat fic which had bafflingly runaway success) has to be the answer to this. But if we're only going by ones written solely by me, it's But, After All, I Am A Wen (incomplete Wen Qing canon divergence wherein she actually takes and uses the comb Jiang Cheng gave her to commit treason and save her family's lives)

actual worst part of writing: having the fucking brain space to fucking write, fuck. it's been really hard bc i have so many other obligations and they eat my brain so even if i have ideas i can't get them to turn into prose :(

how you choose your titles: in order of likelihood: first, quote from the fic itself; joint second place, something kinda descriptive of the fic or lines from a poem or song

do you outline? not generally. I did outline my multichapter Wen Qing fic bc it's so much more ambitious than anything else i've ever worked on and I occasionally do something resembling in an outline in the doc of my one shots when i know what happens in the sections but don't have the prose yet; it's usually, like, a series of bracketed statements.

ideas you probably won't get around to, but wouldn't it be nice? oh god so many lmao. i have an entire channel in my writing discord that is just these ideas. One idea I have is a Songxiao no eye transfer AU because BSSR doesn't open the mountain back up to XXC and how they have to deal with that. Also I have yet to write any Witcher fic but I've been playing Witcher 3 and I really wanna write a Vesemir POV fic that's 5+1 "5 times Geralt sent some random-ass stranger to Kaer Morhen and 1 time he came home" inspired by all the times in Witcher 3 when you can help someone and then be like "Oh yeah you'd be welcome at Kaer Morhen"

spicy tangential opinion: not that spicy but i wish more people would comment, especially on the smaller/less popular fics. i see your kudos! it makes me happy! but i'd love to know your thoughts if you have any!

callouts @ me: none of my self-callouts are writing-related, it's all just - clean your room, go the fuck to sleep, you're not a teenager any more and your body hurts less when you do basic life maintenance tasks. (honestly i'd probably also write better/more if i did basic life maintenance tasks so it counts lol)

best writing traits: Westie once said I'm good at making soft things hurt and I hold that compliment close to my heart <3

[tboy-boone]

1-15 for the wip asks :)

this is like an entire school assignment, sorry it took so long <3

how many WIPS do you have right now?

too many.... i can't finish anything

2. what is your oldest WIP?

I have this goofy sequel I made to this one story i wrote in middle school and I have to finish it. For everything else, I can't finish anything, but for this WIP, I am required to!!

3. what is your newest WIP?

The last WIP i worked on was Cold, and it's my favourite of all of them. My favourite child without a doubt <3

4. Do you have any WIPs that will never be finished?

I never ever finish anything and I love it! Some things are meant to be small and unfinished thoughts, and I will do it again!

5. What scene did you write first in your current WIP?

The first part I wrote in Cold wasn't the beginning. Since the idea came to me in a dream, I wrote it in segments. So, I wrote the beginning like 6 months later.

6. How long do you tend to spend on your WIPs?

It's usually like two days or almost a year. No in between.

7. What's the longest time you've spent on a fic?

When I was writing I Saw Your Ghost Tonight, it took so damn long.... I started it in October '22 when I was working sound at a play and..... then I hated it after trying to work on it for long. So, it took even LONGER. I have a whole hate/love thing with it, more hate than love.

8. What's the fastest time you've finished a fic?

My last fic took me a little under three hours I think. There was something in the air that night.

9. Do you write your fics as you go, or finish before publishing?

I finish my fics before publishing. I didn't always used to do that, but it helps me commit to the fic. Otherwise, all my works will never be finished.

10. Do you outline a fic before you write it?

Sometimes I'll outline a fic, but I don't usually. If it's a little on the longer side, I might outline it. It just depends on what I'm writing about.

11. How close has your WIP stayed to its outline/original version?

I never finish an outline..... but usually it'll stay pretty close.

12. Do you have a title, working or otherwise, for your WIP? How did you come up with it?

My word docs are given a working title, and it's usually the first sentence so I know what it is. I don't typically give it a good title until I publish it.

13. What's been part of your WIP since the beginning? What the newest idea that you've added to it?

Well, in unnamed wip, I have this bitchy to lovers concept that I like, but I'm thinking of changing some parts of it. I need them to be bitchier and the catalyst needs to change, I'm not feeling it anymore.

14. Rewrite a scene from your WIP from another character's perspective.

Ben had fallen asleep on the couch, but when Riley or Abigail nudged him awake, he would say he was just shutting his eyes for a moment. The occasional snore told them otherwise. Sometimes, he’d snore loud enough he heard himself through his sleep. Tonight was no different than any other, Ben woke himself up with a snort. His eyes burned after hours of reading and researching, so he lay there with his eyes closed, listening to Riley and Abigail in the kitchen. Riley’s laptop was still on, he didn’t get up that long ago. The blue glow dried out Riley’s eyes like the dizzying blur of pages dried Ben’s.

“Howdy, stranger,” Riley’s voice crackled.

There were days when they were all so invested in their research that hours went by before they spoke to each other and discussed their findings.

“You should get some rest.” The soft wrinkling of Abigail’s gloves echoed in the silent apartment. “The both of you.”

“Don’t tell it to me,” Riley grumbled. “Tell it to Indiana Jones in there.”

Despite his snarky tone, Riley kept his voice low for Ben. Although, Ben wasn’t sure if Riley spoke quietly for Ben, or because he cranky enough to start talking shit.

15. Rewrite a scene from your WIP in a different person (first, second, third, etc.)

Although, you should think about getting a new couch. You kneaded the cushions with your palm before sitting down, but it never made the seats any softer. You glanced at the clock on the wall, far too late to be awake, but far too early for you to sleep. The ticking bounced off the bare walls and through the barren rooms. There were plenty of things you needed to do, but the very thought exhausted you in an instant. Ringing echoed from the kitchen, another phone you forgot to disconnect. Can't a man sit in his home and listen to the drone of the news in peace? Once you hoisted yourself onto the crutches, you made your way to the phone hanging on the wall.

thanks for the school assignment brother golfball

[xoxoemynn]

Was tagged by @wistfulcynic to share my writing process, fun! Tagging @abigailpents, @red-sky-in-mourning, @montygreen, @gayhoediaz, aaaaand....I think I've already seen all my writer mutals active on Tumblr tagged in this BUT if you have not been, please consider yourself tagged.

Do you write in order? I do. I have to. I will happily tell other people that if they're stuck, they should skip the scene and come back later, but when I try to do it, I fail. My brain just won't let me proceed with the next until I know exactly what happens in the moments leading up to it, because WHAT IF SCENE A INFLUENCES SCENE B? I do wish I could jump around, but I can't.

How fully formed does your writing come out the first try? Pretty damn finished. I may go back in and add some flourishes, but overall, I'd say it's about 95% there.

How many drafts do you go through? Depends if it's a one shot or something like WTDB. One shots usually it's first draft, possibly pass it off to a beta reader, revised draft, and then I do another round of editing once I upload to AO3 because I swear I always find new things to fix once I see it in a totally new format, bringing us to a total of three. WTBD? Depending on the chapter, but usually looking at five or six.

Tell me about your process. I've realized I have two non-negotiables. The first is music. Sometimes I don't have music on because I feel like I need to Focus and it turns out I just don't write anything. I created a writing playlist for WTDB that basically just became my writing playlist, period, because my brain now associates it with writing. Other non-negotiable is an outline. I need one. Even if it's just bullet points. Every time I try to pants it I just end up spinning my wheels until I give in and jot at least a few notes down.

Again, I'd say one shots are different than a longer piece like WTDB. One shot I come up with an idea, write down the gist of the idea and maybe key lines/details I want to include because my memory is shit and I WILL forget. Then I just open up the ole Google doc and get going. I'm a simple lady.

WTDB was a totally different ballgame. I used Scrivener for that, and I can't imagine writing something of that length without it. I had a tab for each character, as well as pages for key settings, descriptions, references, etc. before I officially started writing. Especially with the intro character background stories, I was often shimmying sections around, and Scrivener made it really easy to do that. Then I'd write a chapter, immediately send it off to @margotandthefox for a pulse check off "does this make sense, does this work, does anything stand out to you as off?" Get it back, make edits. Once I had a nice chonk together, I'd send off to @monksofthescrew to beta that entire section of chapters. I'd then do some initial revisions, then another round when it's actually time for the chapter to go up, and a final one on AO3. (Although with ch. 5 I skipped AO3 because I had already been looking at it so much and it was weirdly liberating.)

Also I'd be remiss if I didn't mention I'd be lost without @margotandthefox, who frequently lets me just throw half-baked ideas at her, sometimes via rambling text, sometimes rambling audio message, and work through areas when I'm stuck. Highly, highly recommend you get a friend like that. 💕

Only other note I thought I'd share is I read my writing out loud as I edit, which was a trick I learned from my days as a writing tutor. And when I read along in my head, the voice narrating WTDB, especially the intro scenes, is the voice of God/the narrator from Good Omens. Now you know.

[threeletterslife]

What is your step by step progress to start writing a story or the next chapter?

ooh welllll i would say things differ when i write a oneshot versus when i write a new chapter, but i'm happy to outline my process for both!

ONESHOTS

usually, before i begin writing a oneshot, i create a very, very detailed outline of how i want the story to flow. i'll literally plan out entire dialogues and make bullet points for every scene to capture the overall mood/tone of the fic. this usually takes around a couple of hours on a good day

i will reread the plan a bajillion times to make sure i understand the plot and/or change it up a little so that the storyline is cohesive and the characters' motivations make sense. i also take this time to understand my characters better. i really want to be able to tell their story properly, so this is a step i never skip. consequently, step 2 always takes quite a while for me. i like to have things quite perfected before i write, so this step can take from days to months!

finally, i write lol. but because i have such an extensive outline, this step usually doesn't take very long at all. unless i lose motivation for the story. but that usually doesn't happen for my oneshots

editing is always a bitch. i'm very self-critical and i'm never satisfied with anything i finish. so after i write a oneshot, i ditch it for a few days or weeks and come back with fresh eyes to edit it properly. if i don't take those days off, i'll end up literally rewriting the entire thing because i feel like i can do better; usually, i can't and it ends up worse though LOL. first time's usually the charm for me. i don't really write multiple drafts anymore like i used to. editing is mostly for grammar and diction/syntax checking

SERIES

now for series, it's a little different. when i plan, i don't plan using chapters at all. i write the entire plot down from scratch from beginning to end AND THEN i divide the appropriate parts into chapters. this process for lod took me a few weeks

after i create the chapters, i began fleshing things out. huge series like lod make things hard because i have to keep track of many characters. and for lod, i had to keep track of two separate nations and two separate magic systems. i created a lot of tables to help organize all of this information and put them all in a reference doc! during my chapter editing phase, i added new characters, gave them more human-like qualities, added more plot points, took some plot points away, etc. this step quite literally took me a year (and over) for lod. i'm still technically fleshing out the plot for later chapters and including/extracting scenes to improve the storyline. fun fact: the character of doyun didn't even exist until i began writing lod!

for longer series, i don't necessarily finish my extensive plotting because then, i would never be able to write. i can go on and on with plotting LMAO. so it's better for me to just start writing. i have a separate document containing chapter summaries (the bullet points) and then i copy-paste that summary into a new doc for the new chapter. then using that outline (and while cross-referencing the tables i created in the previous step), i begin writing. normally, i stay true to the plot i created. sometimes, while i'm writing, i diverge, though. that's how yoongi's new character was born in lod. he was originally extremely harsh and cold, but when i actually began writing him, he just turned out soft, and i thought that fit the storyline better, so i kept it

editing is even worse with longer series LOL. usually, i don't edit much in chapters i've already written and posted (because it's a hassle and people have already read it, so changing something could be confusing). instead, i change the future chapters to accommodate the changes i made in the current chapters. it means i'm constantly changing and updating the future chapters, which honestly gets tiring sometimes. lod is the biggest writing project i've ever had. there are times when i completely lose motivation. sometimes, i don't want to do anything involving lod. but never once did i ever want to leave the series unfinished. i will finish it no matter what, of course. but good and bad days come and go. i definitely think a large part of my writing process is keeping myself inspired and motivated enough to continue writing. reading nice comments and answering asks makes me really happy because it shows that people are invested in lod's universe just as much as i am!

this was a very potentially boring and long outline of my process, but i hope it shed some light on how i approach writing! hopefully, it actually makes sense LOL

[reggieblk]

H E L O

hello <3 thank u so much for the ask from this game

H. How would you decribe your style?

I actually don't really know, which bodes well for the rest of this lmao. I'd say it's definitely influenced by everything I've ever read and my education - I went to school in France so there's probably some french influence in there. I'd say it's pretty simple and definitely still in the first stages of life, I hope to get much better as I keep writing!

E. If you wrote a sequel to [insert fic], what would it be about?

I'm gonna assume we're talking about equals in life (partners in death) bc I don't have any other fics posted haha. If there were to be a sequel it would definitely just be an amalgamation of scenes (already seen from Harry's POV and never seen before) from Tom's POV. Realistically there is nothing else I could do with how the fic ended lol, but yes I have thought about writing a small sequel like 20k of Tom POV

L. How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

Uuuugghh so many dude oh my god. I am SICK of equals in life how many times did I read that fic oh my god. I would like to use this opportunity as a formal apology for the HORRIFIC dialogue punctuation in that fic btw, any time I read back bits and pieces of it it's like full body cringe like - oh, a thousand ppl have read this, great. I do love the fic though so I'll revise it later on, at a time when I've laid it to rest for a bit bc I did write that fic out of love and I do love it, I'm just sick of it atm.

But, to get to the heart of the ask: I'm in the process of shaking off the habit of obsessively reading over every single sentence I write while still writing so it makes for more editing at the end but I now get the added bonus of rediscovering bits I'd forgotten! So I'd say I read over a fic a total of three times before posting : one entire time from start to finish, and then chapter by chapter as I post and I do that twice over (but there's also the small edits I make along the way).

O. How do you begin a story - with the plot, or the characters?

I tend to always use the same characters, main characters anyway so other characters just appear as the fic goes - but I definitely start with the plot. I'll vividly like hallucinate an idea I have and be like 'this is the best thing ever' and then if I'm motivated enough I'll open a google doc and flesh ideas out, write the bits of dialogue that stick in my mind and write an outline. The characters are part of the initial hallucination so I suppose it's kind of both at the same time!

Although, I mentioned in a post I'm writing a play (original work) for one of my fics, and for that, while I had a general idea for the plot, I was forced to come up with the characters first - so I suppose it depends on what I'm writing. (sidenote: this is the fic I've been writing obsessively for the past few days, I've decided to call it If we were lovers)

[the-blaze-empress]

For the Ask Game, 1., 2., 7., 19., 21., 41., 44., and 81.,

(hug)

1. do you know how you want the story to end when you start, or are you just stumbling through the figurative wilderness hoping to find a road?

i know where i want to end up definitely, sometimes that can change in specifics a little bit but like. the main themes and shit are always pretty set. the middle can b a bit hazy but also has the main points outlined. sometimes characters just have a few more panic attacks than expected u know how it b <3

2. talk about a notable time a narrative or character has looked you dead in the eyes and said “fuck your plan, here’s what we’re actually doing.”

PHILZA FUCKING MINECRAFT IN TAKE MY ARMS STOP FUCKING PANICKING. his reaction to quackity was WAY worse than i thought it was gonna be that it warranted an ENTIRE EXTRA CHAPTER. yeah so that happened. ALSO PHIL GETTING DISTRACTED BY THE RIBBON VENDOR. KID PLS THERES PLOT THAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN I GET IT THE RIBBONS R SHINY BUT WE GOT THINGS TO ADDRESS HERE. arms!phil very much has a mind of his own

7. tell us about the plot of the first fanfic you ever wrote

oh boy time to revisit the days where i didnt know what fanfic was!! i think technically my first fanfic was. sfge fic. i had a whole canon compliant story about a pair of twins, the daughters of the girl and boy from the snow queen fariytale, one had fire powers and the other water, the water one went to the school for good and the fire one went to the school for evil. they both got into the trial by tale and watched (ohgod what were their names) bane kill the good kid from woods beyond. uh yeah i had fun working out all their gifts and stuff, i had a lot of characters planned n shit i should see if i can find the word docs for that. as per usual the middle of the fic was very. hazy in the middle

19. what are some books or authors that influenced your style the most?

BUN BUNFLORAS @bunfloras!! SUCH a big influence on both what i write and how i write most notably in finally being the one to convert me from past tense to present. oh dear can you see me? for properly introducing me to whump and kidza, both of which i adore reading AND writing. fuckin. whats her name. margaret owen is such a good writer her books are so good i love how well she worldbuilds and embeds it all so well into her stories. go read the merciful crow duology you will thank me.

21. pick a writer to co-write a book with and tell us what you’d write about.

hmmmmmm. i think bun and i could write a good book together i mean we've already cowritten tens of thousands of words sfadsgdh. looks at rune and cam. looks at their rp. looks back at this question. yeah it would be about magic and queer relationships and growth and so much fucking angst

41. what is the weirdest story idea you’ve ever had.

i have no fucking clue. i have had so many story ideas i cannot keep track of them all. good lord. lemme check my google drive. OH I KNOW. that one klance fic i wrote from the perspective of a tree <3

44. any writing advice you want to share?

i feel like saying 'just fucking do it' is cliche. but its the best advice i can give really. write for yourself even if you dont publish it, read things you like and work out what you like about it and see if you can put that in ur own writing. write FOR YOURSELF. dont write for other people it will become a chore and you will regret it. people wont enjoy reading it if ur not enjoying writing it

81. if you could go back in time and give your younger self a piece of writing advice specific to you, what would it be?

god so much. not everything has to be about romance. stop taking on so many projects with deadlines at once. stop tracking how many words u write each day. write what you want to write. its okay to stop enjoying smth ur writing

writing ask game

(hi roo love you <33)

[mine-sara-sp]

Hey! I was rereading some old fics I’d saved and rediscovered The Memory Of The Observer and I just wanted to tell you how much that story means to me. I particularly loved chapter 4 and the way you wrote how Grian is trying to put his thoughts together through the book. I thought Mumbo’s idea to use building as a medium to try and remember what he’s familiar with was very clever too, I was really looking forward to seeing where you were gonna take the story. I wanted to ask, if you don’t plan on finishing the fic, is there a chance you could share the outline? I’d really love to know how the story was supposed to go, even if it’s just a summary

Hello! I'll admit I still haven't entirely given up on the story ^^ as much as I struggle to write in general I would still love to get back to it one day.

I had a lot of things planned, but working on that fic was a ton of work since I was constantly rewatching old Evo videos and rereading what I had already written (Since there were many disjointed thoughts coming from Grian I had to be careful not to repeat stuff when not meant to or forget to include something) also when I was writing that the area 77 arc was still going. I had a very clear image of where everyone was and what they were up to which I really liked, now I wouldn't have that, I would have to go back and rewatch a lot of videos, even if the events of the story move away from canon.

I actually wrote a scene for the story not too long ago (I woke up at like, 4 am, with the need to write Keralis and Grian interacting because BOI do I like what I had planned for Keralis's character in that story) in the scene Grian wakes up after Keralis bonked him on the head with a bottle because he was doing the thing again and then proceeded to offer him a sangria, they are wonderful and Grian has a headache.

I'm kinda scared of trying to get back to it fully, my old google doc is like pandora's box but with like 40+ pages of notes and unusable scenes and also reading my old writing sometimes irks me so I would have a hard time rereading the old chapters (maybe I could edit/rework them, I don't know). Welcome to my little personal Hell I go through whenever I get a kudos on The memory of the observer xD