#i know i already have 3 major wips for this ship only your honor

[thetruthaboutlovecomesat3am]

love like fools: ava falls in love with Sara in high school (unrequited) and they reconnect as adults when Sara has a child

this city: same universe, but they fall in love earlier in high school and never really move on, they reconnect as adults and fall in love all over again

new fic idea: same universe, but they fall in love much much later, after they reconnect as adults, after oliver leaves again. after jay has already endured oliver's rejection, after sara has actually actually taken him back and almost even married him, and the pain and heartbreak is still raw for the both of them. and ava is still going through life alone, alone, the way ava has always been before them, she's still only talking to her parents once a forthnight, she's still vowing she's leaving star city as soon as she can again, up until she meets the child that they adopt in llf and starts fostering her on her own and everything changes because now she has to grow roots here, she has to stay. and then, of course, fate mocks sara and ava and tells them "no, you silly little things. this is what love is like."

[marjansmarwani]

Fic Writer Questions

Tagged by @221bsunsettowers and @futures-tense!!! <3 

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

111

2) What’s your total AO3 word count?

476,525

3) How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Currently I am only writing for 911: Lone Star. 

In the past I have written for 7 others: Teen Wolf, Voltron, Daredevil, Harry Potter, The Flash, Republic of Doyle, and technically 9-1-1 but I don’t know if that counts because it was a Lone Star crossover fic

4) What are your top five fics by kudos?

Brother (I will hear you call)

A Puzzle I Love to Solve

I'm gonna hold you forever

Friends Like These

tender-hearted sadness pulls me through the day

5) What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Probably Someday (But Not Yet). I write a lot of angst, but I usually wrap it up with something happy at the end. This one ended with uncertainty and TK breaking down so I think it just might hold the title.  

(Honorable mention to shut your eyes and fall apart because TK dies at the beginning of that one so there is no possibility of a happy ending 🙃)

6) What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

The majority of them all have at least somewhat happy endings, but take it, it's yours is just all around really fluffy so I guess that one maybe!

7) Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I don’t normally but Jamie and I recently finished our 2x03 coda which was a crossover with 9-1-1, so I have one now which makes that the default answer.

8) Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

No.

9) Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I want to! I used to, too! Someday I’ll get back to responding, but until then know that if you have ever left a comment on my fic I saw it and I loved it 💕

10) Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yep 🙃

It’s only happened a few times, most notably with my Nancy/Marjan fic I published last month. It’s not going to change what I write though, so they can just move on with their lives ✌️

Most of the time they come after me for saying I am a feminist which I have some thoughts on, but that’s a whole other post. 

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of, and hopefully not at all. 

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but that would be exciting if anyone ever wanted to try!

13) Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Jame and I just finished our 2x03 coda and, despite the fact that it took us forever, I enjoyed the process and would be willing to do it again 

14) What’s your all time favorite ship?

I’m not usually one much for shipping, but Tarlos has taken over my whole heart and Nancy/Marjan is on the way there too. 

15) What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I had a Teen TK fic started with Owen’s second wife as the main character and I really still love that idea and the topics I was going to cover (and what I already have written), but I feel like I have covered a lot of that in my Enzo fic it’s pretty likely that will just never happen, which is a little sad. 

16) What are your writing strengths?

I want to say banter, so I guess dialogue would be the technical answer  

17) What are your writing weaknesses?

Not being able to write anything short. 

18) What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Depends on the situation, context, and characters. I have a lot of thoughts on this too, but no one needs an essay right at this moment.  

19) What was the last fandom you wrote for?

911: Lone Star, still currently writing it!

20) What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Tie between would’ve loved you for a lifetime (I am a sucker for a non-linear narrative) and I am not what you planned (because Dr. Reyes/enemies to lovers)

Tagging a few that I can think of at the moment, but if you’re not tagged and want to go for it! @reyesstrand @moviegeek03 @silvarafael @paramedicstrand @morganaspendragonss @rafael-silva

[amiwritesthings]

Fic Writer Questions

thanks to @venhedish for the tag, this actually got me thinking on a few things lmao

1 ) How many works do you have on AO3?

currently 17, will probably add no 18 tonight. there’s also a bunch only published on ff.net (from when i wasn’t on AO3 yet) and yet another motherload of self-indulgent shit rotting on my hard drive.

2 ) What’s your total AO3 word count?

80781 words, about 60k of that from this year alone. i took a major break from writing 2010ish and really just got back into it during quarantine last year.

3 ) How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

7 on AO3. Supernatural, The Last Ship, Walker 2021, Men’s Hockey RPF, TVD, Graceland, Chicago Fire. for purposes of saving myself the embarrassment, we’ll limit this answer to just the AO3 stuff. 😂

4 ) What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

ooooh boy, maybe a little embarrassment after all.

A Trip to the South (TVD)

hey lookie, my incest glorifying days did not actually start with SPN lol. Salvatore brothers feeding together, blood sharing and enjoying it. I blame this being at the top solely on the fact that it’s been up since 2013 because it’s really nothing special.

when i dream (I’m doing you all night) (SPN)

Collection of (mostly smutty) deanjohn Tumblr prompts, i can blame most of those on other people lmao

Holding on (until it’s over) (Graceland)

Episode Tag to 1x10, Johnny/Briggs because even then i was obsessed with manny montana and i refuse to apologize for it.

11:59 (Men’s Hockey RPF)

Sean Avery/Henrik Lundqvist Hooker!AU, and yeah that’s pretty much it.

even whiskey can’t do (what you do when you kiss me that way)

OG Stanford Era deanjohn first time smut, my first foray into SPN fics.

5 ) Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

YES, i try to respond to all comments. sometimes RL gets in the way but as a rule i try to always respond. i love getting comments so i feel like appreciating the time the commenter took to bring me this joy. ♥️

6) What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

boy, this is a hard one. I’m not all that good with writing angst but i guess if I had to pick something i’d say don’t give up now (there’s already so much at stake), mostly because of the character’s frame of mind in general and the impending threat of invading a foreign country to overthrow a dictator the next day while being mentally wrecked.

7 ) Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you’ve written?

i’m not against it but i’ve never actually done it.

8 ) Have you ever received hate on a fic?

not that I recall. but i guess it wouldn’t be the worst thing, i struggle way more with getting no feedback at all.

9 ) Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

do i? DO I? yeah, i do. usually the kind the story requires which can range from soft to awkward to plain filthy. also whatever kind the kinky anons drop in my inbox, i’m trying to keep an open mind.

10 ) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i’m aware of. I don’t really operate in the super popular corners of the fandoms i’m in so i don’t think anyone feels the need to. it’d be pretty obvious to all the 10-20 people who are into that shit anyway lol

11 ) Have you ever had a fic translated?

again, not really running in the popular corners of fandom (rare pairs ftw) so imma say no. I could probably translate them myself but writing in my first language is fuckin awkward so no thank you.

12 ) Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, I’m a pretty solitary writer. I do love to come play in other writer’s ‘verses though if they don’t mind. i have written a few things in @vintagedean ‘s married!vibes for example (thanks for letting me play, dude!)

13 ) What’s your all-time favorite ship?

jeez, i don’t know. i’ve never really stuck with just one fandom, i’m a notorious multi-fandom multi-shipper. i’m the kind of person who watches eps of 4 different shows in one day and yells at the tv about all of them.

14 ) What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

we make a long way from easy lovin‘ look good, baby. i was honestly so invested in this project but then they completely torpedoed this pairing in canon in the worst possible way and i kinda lost the drive to keep writing. i have posted it to my graveyard collection of unfinished stuff for now but i don’t think i will finish it, sadly.

15 ) What are your writing strengths?

creating emotions, hitting you in the feels, or so I’ve been told. i like to think that (given that English is not my first language) just reaching the kind of level i’m at now can be considered a strength.

16 ) What are your writing weaknesses?

run-on sentences, endless run-on sentences. they serve a purpose SOMETIMES but mostly it’s just me and my rambly writing style. and repetition. i have actually started searching my writing docs for specific phrases while editing to catch most of them and rephrase. not being able to include just a bit of angst without it turning into an existential crisis for the character and me. and the worst thing I keep doing that i’m not able to stop is writing shit out of order. i start with the beginning, then some idea for the middle pops up, then I write the end and then I have to somehow weave it all together, it’s so inconvenient and annoying.

17 ) What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

i speak a few languages (or you know, at least can understand/write/read them) so as long as i’m sure that it’s correct and it fits the story, I’m all for it!! language kink ftw.

18 ) What was the first fandom you wrote for?

it was either music or hockey rpf, i’m not even sure anymore at this point, that was like 20 years ago. nothing that ever got published anywhere lol

19 ) What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

my name engraved on your heart, hands down. that is my beloved, my baby, the project nearest and dearest to my heart. i can actually read this and enjoy it without nitpicking my own writing at every turn and i’m just so happy with the overall vibe of it. it’s like a niche in a niche of a fandom thing though, so i get that it doesn’t resonate as strongly with others as it does with me but it is my favorite of favorites.

honorable mention to the house don’t fall (when the bones are good), though, because it’s what got me back into writing and it was my biggest (published) project and that fix-it needed to be written.

i think all my fellow fic writer mutuals have already been tagged in this, so i'm not gonna add y'all again but feel free to steal if this strikes your fancy.

[forestwater87]

Ok this is super embarrassing but you’re one of my favorite writers in this uh.. whatever this blogosphere is so!! I wanna try and take a crack at writing my own fanfic but.. I got no idea where to even start. Any advice?

Oh man, I feel awful about this! I didn’t know my inbox had any new messages, so some of these asks have been sitting here for . . . some time. 

Anyway, first off thank you very much! Secondly, the most obvious advice is just, you know, “do it.” But that’s infinitely easier said than done. I started writing fanfic when I was around 10 years old, so overthinking it wasn’t an issue, since I thought I was the world’s greatest writer. Assuming you’re not 10 years old and as blind to the concept of literary criticism as I was . . . well, the first step is obviously getting an idea. EDIT: Holy shit, this is long. I’m gonna have to break this bad boy up with headers, like it’s a real blog post or something.

Getting Ideas/Inspiration

I don’t know if you already have something you’d like to write about or if you’re still at the “gee that looks like fun” level of fanfic ruminating, but if you’re having trouble coming up with ideas, turning to the existing fandom is a great place to start! 

1: Filling in fandom gaps: I’ve found a lot of my best fic ideas by looking through what already existed and seeing where there was something missing; when I first started writing for Camp Camp, literally only @raenbowsofficial created anything for Gwenvid -- it didn’t even have a ship name yet, and I’m pretty sure the 3 people into it were still throwing “daven” and “gavid” around as well -- so there being zero other fics for it meant that if I wanted it to exist, I’d have to be the one to write it. (That’s also nice if you’re kind of insecure, because when no one else has tried the idea you’re interested in, you have no pressure to compare it to anything else.) 

Also, you could take a popular/already existing concept and write it the way you’d like to see it, if the existing fanfics do something with the story or characters that you’re not thrilled with. That’s handy because it gives you a general blueprint to work off of in terms of tropes and broad story beats, while letting you explore something new. Obviously, don’t rip off someone else’s fic note-for-note, but being inspired by someone else is a great way to kickstart your creativity! If you do have a specific author or story that you’re using as a jumping-off point for your own writing, I would strongly recommend linking them in your author’s notes at the beginning or end of the fic, and maybe gifting the story to them! You don’t have to, since the creation is entirely your own, but it’s still always nice to acknowledge the people who inspire you the most.

2: Fandom inception. If you want to be a little more direct and literal, there’s always the option of writing fanfic of a fanfic or fanart that you really love, if there’s a universe or story idea that you like, and you want more of it. As long as you give credit and notify the original creator, I think you’d have no issues in terms of fanfic etiquette, and I imagine they’d be honored to have inspired your own writing. Fandom is a very collaborative experience, after all, and we’re all in this together! :)

3. For more general “I have a vague idea of what I want to do (the ship, or maybe a tiny plot bunny) but I’m not sure where to go with it,” my biggest recommendation is music. Especially folk indie-rock music, which is 90% angst and 100% haunting. And again, looking at fanfic/art is a great way to get inspired -- I have a tendency to put up a particularly good or emblematic piece of fanart/fic in another window when I’m working on something tricky to write, just for something to stare at when my ideas start running dry (shoutout to @doritofalls, @ellohcee, and the aforementioned RA for being my go-tos when I need to stare at something pretty to feel inspired; there are absolutely others, because this fandom is filled with absurdly talented people, but those 3 are my heroes of inspiration and if you SOMEHOW don’t already know them, fix that immediately). 

Wow, that’s a lot and it’s literally just all about getting an idea . . . which you might already have. Yikes. For the sake of people who have to scroll past this, let’s put the rest under a cut:

Fleshing Out the Idea: An Ode to Outlines

Some people are able to just sit down and write something incredible from a vague idea, and the story just builds on itself without any sort of planning or organization to guide them along the way. These people are named Cipher/Campernetics, and we hate her for being unfairly talented.

For the rest of us, outlines are essential.

My outlines tend to be insanely specific, because I’m very afraid of letting a single idea slip through the cracks, and I build on them over time as I get increasingly sure of where the story’s going. The early outlines tend to be extremely vague, with lots of “and then something happens” connecting major plot points. An example for a current WIP I’m doing right now:

(Seriously, “Julia and everything”? Future Forest is going to be so pissed at current Forest when she reaches that point and realizes she has no idea what she’s doing)

And as the story starts to take shape and a plot eventually forms -- they tend to take at least 10 chapters to materialize, but they do generally show up! One of the great things about fanfiction is that plot is largely optional, though, so no worries if you’re starting without a full story idea -- I find myself writing more and more details down, if for no other reason than that I want to make sure I remember what I was thinking when I finally get to that scene (because I have absolutely gotten to a point in a story and forgotten what I’d had planned. It sucks). Here’s an example from another fic with pretty significant spoilers if you can figure out which one it is oops:

I’d recommend keeping your outlines pretty simple, at least to start with: words and phrases, rather than whole-ass sentences like the above. The complexity will develop as your ideas do, so no need to wrack your brain trying to write out the entire story in bullet form.

I use the bolded ideas as stepping stones, more or less; I’ll write out the piece of the story that each line represents, which can be as little as a sentence or as much as 4 or more chapters (RIP my most recent long-running fic), then delete that line and move on to the next. 

Bolding them isn’t necessary, but it does make it easier to differentiate at a glance what needs to be written. If you keep everything in the same hundred-page Google Doc like I do, this is very important.

Your outline doesn’t have to be well-written, and you can 100% use fillers like “and then something happens here.” I do that all the time -- again, another completely different story:

Now, the vaguer things are, the more annoyed Future You will be when it comes time to write whatever it’s bulleting -- there’s a reason I haven’t updated this fic, and it’s because I have zero idea what the everliving fuck “Pinky-and-the-Brain-ing all over the place” means -- but it’s really good for when you’re first getting started sketching out the vague outline of your fic. The more you panic trying to figure out all the twists and details at the very start, the less likely you’re ever just going to sit down and write the damn thing.

(This might be why I don’t write plot-heavy stories, to be fair. Mystery writers very well might have to have it all planned out from the get-go, and I’d recommend chatting with someone who’s a bit less “coffeeshop AU” and a bit more Agatha Christie for that kind of advice.)

Knowing When to Post

There are people that exist, who have amazing self-control, who can wait until their entire story is written and then release it in sections, at regular intervals, until the story is completed.

I am not one of these people, though I try to be with literally every single fic I’ve ever written.

Personally, I do this until I reach a point where I get stuck and need validation, and then post what I have in a giant chunk and then don’t update it for several months. This is almost universally known as the worst way to write fanfics, both in terms of getting interaction from fans and keeping readers from wanting to kill you, and if you have the ability to write the entire thing and sit on it until it’s ready to be shared, you are a hero.

Alternatively, if you can actually stick to a set schedule of writing it as you go and still update with a new chapter every X days, you are not human and I’m terrified of you, because if you find a way to weaponize this power you will rule the world.

Honestly, a good rule of thumb? Post it when you’re ready for people to read it, whether it’s done or not. Not all works will get done, and it seems mean to deny people the delicious little stub you’ve written even if you’re not going to finish it. When you’re happy with what you have -- or are so tired of looking at it that you need to post it or you’ll throw your computer out the window -- just do it and let out a sigh of relief, then either take a few days before going back to writing or just jump in immediately like a goddamn masochist.

(I have tried to get far enough ahead that I can start posting the already-written stuff on a schedule, figuring by the time I’m caught up I’ll have completed the entire story and won’t have any awkward gaps. Ahahahahahahahahaha that has never once worked.)

If you’re not certain about your writing, get a beta! The fandom is full of talented people who’d be happy to read over your work, and if the person you ask doesn’t have the time or spoons, they probably have a few ideas of other people you could reach out to. You don’t need a beta, but it always makes me feel better to have another set of eyes look over my writing before posting, and my beta always catches things I completely missed. Plus, you get a nice taste of that sweet, sweet validation we all crave.

This . . . is a bad guide. Just in general. The advice is . . . not good, and I think it’s largely useless. But I keep trying to think of useful things to add to it and coming up empty, so I hope something in here helped, and if you’d like to bounce your ideas off of someone, feel free to shoot me a message! Talking ideas over with friends is a great way to flesh them out as well, and I am happy to be anyone’s fandom friend.

[longroadstonowhere]

got tagged by both @lightrises and @tehstripe for this ao3 meme thingy

clearly i am very popular today

also i’ve got fourteen works on ao3, so results will probably be skewed slightly

1. What are your 1st and 2nd most common ratings? Any surprises?

i have thirteen G fics and one T fic, which like the only surprise is that i had a teen fic, hahaha (it’s morning and evening, day and night, for any curious folks)

2. What’s your most common warning? Least common? Do you consider yourself an adventurous writer?

the only actual warning i have on a fic is for major character death on fade (the one where rose blowing up her gate also explodes her house and the others try to continue their session as best they can)

hm... i try not to write the same sort of thing over and over again, but i also don’t do anything wildly experimental - i feel like the most adventurous things i did were morning and evening, day and night, and skaian shuffle (the former because it was a really intricate universe crossover thing, the latter because it was so long and also an attempt at vague detective noir)

3. How many works have you done in each relationship category? Is this more accidental or do you have preferences?

i have ten gen fics, two femslash, and one multi

this is sorta accidental, maybe? like i read a heckuva lot more femslash than gen, but i’m really bad at writing relationship stuff, and also most of my fics are from exchanges like ladystuck, so i’m usually writing to someone else’s tastes anyway

4. What are your top 4 fandoms by numbers? Are you still active in all of them or do you tend to migrate a lot?

technically i’m listed as having written for the hainish cycle and jurassic park, but those are lies because i’ve only ever written for homestuck (on ao3, at least)

so yes, i’m still active in the one fandom i write for, i’m just very slow about it

i do have vague plans to write for a couple other fandoms, but i have no idea when/if those plans will work out

5. What are your top 4 character tags? Does this match how you feel about the characters or are you puzzled?

so actually the beta kids are my top four (seven jade, five john, four rose and four dave)

i am not at all surprised that jade is the top one because she is in nearly every fic i’ve written (and this doesn’t even include alpha jade, who i’ve also written about), but i was a little surprised terezi didn’t rank higher, because basically if jade isn’t in a fic, terezi is (there are like two fics i’ve written where this isn’t true)

but yeah, considering how many of my works are canon-compliant or canon-adjacent, and how much i like writing for jade, i’m not that surprised the beta kids show up that much

6. What are your top 2 most used additional tags, and your bottom 2? What would happen if you combined all 4 into a fic?

okay, i’m just gonna list all these cuz i have one additional tag i’ve used twice and all the others are used once, so it’s pretty much up in the air what counts as most/least used

Rare Pairings (2) Retcon Timeline (1) [S] Game Over (1) Caliginous Romance | Kismesis (1) Sedoretu (1) Dinosaurs (1) Suicide (1)

as for the fic idea... well, you could combine retcon timeline and game over pretty easily cuz that’s basically the same idea, and stripe gave me the idea of ‘alone on the golden ship, jade makes dinosaurs and dates jaspersprite’, so there’s that i guess?

also ‘cameos by others’ should have an honorable mention here cuz i have a handful of background-ensemble fics where i don’t tag every single person that shows up because i’m not a monster

7. How many WIPs do you currently have on ao3? Any you don’t plan on finishing?

the only wip i have is wild child, which i definitely plan on finishing - in fact i’m taking a break from writing the next chapter to do this meme, because i wrote like two pages and got tired

8. Tag 5 people!

hm..... @akaczism is the only person i know of that might have fics that could do this and hasn’t done it already? i dunno, if you follow me and want me to tag you so you have more of an excuse to do this, feel free to shoot me an ask