#it's such an insignificant thing and yet

[not-poignant]

if ur still doing the writing meme (i've liked all ur answers even the 'unpopular' ones a haikyuu fic i loved once got rewritten and i'm still sad i never saved the first one because i didn't realize the author didn't like it and i wish i'd commented more or sth to make them know we loved the og so much) -> 13 and 34 plz

Ahh I'm sorry you went through that anon re: the Haikyuu! fic. Please don't guilt-trip yourself for it. Authors have lots of reasons for rewriting a fic, or deleting a fic, and sometimes even when it's had thousands of kudos they will still do it.

It sounds like you commented in general (since you say 'commented more' instead of just commented) which is like... really awesome. Who knows, maybe the author thought they were giving you the better version! You can always leave a comment and ask if they still have the original chapters on file somewhere if that author's still active, and if they'd be willing to share them with you somehow.

Now to the meme:

13. What is a subject matter that is incredibly difficult for you write about? What is easy?

I was going to answer this with 'easy, everything I don't write' lmao because I just avoid the stuff I find hardest. But that's kind of...not the point. So in all seriousness:

Big ensemble scenes with big ensemble casts. I don't know why I insist on writing these a fair bit, but anything that has more than two characters in a scene is a struggle. More than four is like 'OH GOD.' It's just a lot of work in a different kind of way.

Happy endings. It's not that they're difficult to write, exactly, it's that I'm often...kind of sad to be letting go of the story and I feel like I've already let it go at the point that I'm writing the happy ending. Like, I am not happiest when I'm writing the happy ending, though I want it to feel really really good for readers. I love happy endings, but I also get really noticeable lag and slow down a bit towards the end of stories, because I have less motivation. An ending means letting go of that version of the world, or that installment, and my brain is like 'dun wanna.'

Beginnings/openings. I don't really enjoy the first few pages of a first chapter and I know I'm not often good at beginnings which further preys on my 'everyone is going to hate this story' insecurity I have at the beginning of a new thing.

Action scenes used to be in this but they're not as much anymore. But I do really struggle with sex scenes too! And I think that's a reason I don't write them as much as I used to. It's not a bad thing, one of the reasons they're harder is because I want them to be good and I just don't want to do carbon copies of previous sex scenes and I've now written like 200 of them.

As for things I find easy, hmm. I'm going to go with broadscale characterisation and dialogue. I also think generating character and place names is really easy, and inventing species to populate a new world is easy. I also think describing nature is easy for me, though I sometimes feel silly or like...I'm boring people when I describe it, so I try not to do it toooo much.

I'm bad at writing description but hilariously I don't find it difficult. x.x Maybe that's why I'm bad at it.

34. Thoughts on the Oxford comma, Go:

*takes a breath*

Since you don't mind unpopular opinions I hope you don't mind this one: I fucking don't rate the Oxford Comma and try to avoid using it wherever possible. It's really easy to avoid some of the errors an Oxford Comma can prevent through context, and frankly, the Oxford Comma can create its own issues which can be prevented through not using it. You can avoid or introduce ambiguity whether you do or don't use it, basically, one solves some problems and introduces others, the other solves some problems and introduces others.

In that sense, it's understandable why it's not mandated in many style guides. It is preferable in US English, but damn, I'm not from the USA. And the Oxford Style Guide recommends it but the Oxford Style Manual recommends against it. Australian Style Guides, including the one issued by the government, generally oppose its use, but it's not mandated, so it's really at the author's discretion.

I've tried using it. Like, I've sat down and thought 'right I'm going to give this a good shot' and I just really don't like it. So you'll see a handful here and there in my writing where I thought 'okay let's try it' and then just been like nahhhh.

I have no problems with other people using it, and those people can have all the extra commas I'm not using because damn, they'll need them. :D

--

From the Weird Questions for Writers meme!

[supernovaniamh]

Goodnight

Sleeptight

Don't let the Sleep Paralysis Demon bite!

[redwidow616]

I have my first real practice exam in less than ten hours and i just know i probably won't get a passing score

[1tbls]

feeling this way about hdb rn:

[qulizalfos]

anybody else feeling horrendously burnt out on this lovely monday evening

[13eyond13]

one of the lesser talked about fun things about intentionally reading more books is finding new stuff to be a bit of a hater about tbh

[sinfulhares]

I can't believe I need to make this post, but please don't tag art of my sonas as "me" or any other personal tags that are supposed to represent you as an individual

my sonas (Sin and Sotu) are extensions of me, they already exist in real life (it's me). it's really uncomfortable to see people claim my existence as part of their own, especially when it's a total stranger doing it

[danothan]

i keep wondering why my schedule has been so wonky lately as if i didn’t quite literally get into a car crash less than a week ago

[aro-aizawa]

i swear the absolute HEIGHT of total happiness is when a long fic wraps up with a wonderfully happy ending

[vorkerax]

I've been wanting to make an actual list of horror movies I have watched or partially experienced and document my interesting and fun thoughts on them for sooo long!

I think it would be quite difficult to do right now because I need to rewatch so much stuff and my unmedicated ADHD exacerbated from other factors is just not letting me focus on stuff

but I am looking forward to start doing it one day!

[caveat-canine]

how dare you be more poetic than me on my own post

I am completely and utterly normal about rivers, creeks, lakes, forests, ponds, hills, mountains, and other natural landscapes (lying)

[diari0deglierrori]

As much as I can enjoy the casual gaming in my day to day life I can’t let it be my main source of escape from the world because that’s when things usually spiral for me. And I’m not saying it is nor should be the same for everyone, I’m talking about me specifically. Because I know that when I focus too much on digital stuff and I’m not manually, physically creating things it usually creates a bad pattern and it’s truly not what I need rn

[onebrainsel]

Do you ever have an idea for a fic, and then you're like "I'm never making this." because you feel it'll either be ignored or hated? And both of those would hurt?

Yes, I always advocate for 'writing for your own dick'. And I do that. The last fic I posted is a great example of this on my end. But I had another idea and for some reason that one has me skittish of even breathing about it.

[venacesaur]

Wow I really, really missed the joys of writing a story and then unexpectedly becoming obsessed with some random background character who has two lines. Like hang on let's pause the murder mystery and gothic suspense for a second. I want this one specific guy to spend 500 pages chilling at a sleepover and playing truth or dare. I want to put him in an enclosure and study him. I want to pick him up by one leg and fling him at a wall

[dipshit-does-crimes]

wow it’s crazy how fine everything is! wow wow definitely am a real person or something definitely not just a thing wearing a skin suit or a hallucination

[jupitercl0uds]

world where i can get all the benefits of turning 18 (opening comissions without having to rely on my mum) without all the deficits (everything else)