#just read through some old fic comments on my better works and mmmmm talk about an ego boost....

[roseymoseyberry]

Hey.. I need your help. So I've been writing fic for awhile now but have never posted them online until recently. And i got positive feedbacks right which made me love writing even more. My readers are all so nice and they're patiently waiting for updates which i had written halfway. Anyway life kept me busy for awhile buT now i can't get back into fics.. Rereading my fic i only see flaws and now with each new comment i received i just get overwhelmed. Kinda wanna delete my ao3.. What do i do

I’m so sorry it took my a couple days to get back to you anon. Life has been... well, life, lmao.

But ok, listen. I absolutely feel you. I went through a writer’s block as recently as this past summer/early fall for... I want to say two or three months at least? It was rough. I hated reading over my own stuff because it all just read as terrible to me, the pace rushed and dialogue bad, etc etc etc. (and lord almighty, don’t get me STARTED on how I felt when I realized I was abandoning a fic from an old fandom oops)

It’s hard to get out of that. And ultimately every writer is a little different, so I can only tell you how I get out of ruts.

Before we get to how to start writing again though, I want to say that if you’re overwhelmed by the stress of thinking of reader’s waiting for more? Officially put the fic on Hiatus. Edit your summary to say “This fic is on Hiatus” so that you know that anyone reading it knows it could be a very, very long time, if ever. I have only really needed to do that once, but found it helped to take the pressure off. If you receive email notifications for comments, maybe turn those off for a while. Come back to them later.

Ok, and now. My big, fancy, all important advice:

For me, the number 1 objective is to force yourself to get words down on the page. To get yourself writing again, you need to fucking write.

There’s a couple different strategies I’ve try when I’m stuck.

One of the first is to reread the story I want to work on. That usually works if it’s the kind of block that isn’t about hating my writing so much as just staring at the page and not knowing how to word. In your case and with that specific kind of feeling though, it may not be so relevant because yeah. Right now your writing feels like shit to you. So this is something to consider for future blocks.

The next thing I’ll usually do is just. Brute force it. I force myself to write a sentence, and won’t let myself delete it. And I’ll keep forcing myself to write until I’ve got at least a paragraph or two. It’ll be slow, and it will be painful, and it will feel like I’m writing the worst writing in the world. Just absolute garbage.

But a paragraph or two will eventually roll over into more, and usually when I reread over it later I’ll realize it wasn’t nearly as bad as it had felt like it was at the time. And the most important thing is I’m getting back into the flow of the fic. Often from that point the rest just falls back into place.

Brute forcing it by yourself can be tricky though. If you’re not sure how to get yourself to do that, look into some writing tools to motivate you to just get down words as fast as you can! A couple suggestions I have are:

Word Sprints: This website is just one way to do this particular exercise, but I found it super helpful in the past! Word sprint/word wars/speed runs/etc are basically a game-like situation where you and other writers have a set amount of time to write as many words as you can. The Word Sprints website has 25 minute spans with 5 minute breaks, and you can either join the global one (which I don’t recommend lmao) or you can make your own group and invite other writers to it. This specific site allows you to see how many words the other folks in the group have written in real time, so it can help motivate through fun competition if that’s something that appeals to you.

You don’t have to be constrained by the site though. I’m part of a TF fan content creators discord where folks sometimes just run our own, usually with more like just 10 or 15 minute long sprints and then everyone shares how many words they wrote at the end of the sprint. It can be a really nice way to change the focus away from the quality of the words your putting down to the quantity. Because listen -- you can always go back and edit lower quality writing, but you can’t do anything with no writing to work with at all, you feel?

(If you happen to be in the TF fandom and feel comfortable messaging me off anon, feel free to do so and I’ll definitely send you an invite to the discord. It’s really nice to have a space to talk with other writers and problem solve with folks who know the pain, haha)

Fighter’s Block: If something that involves other people doesn’t appeal, no worries! This web app is basically a simple little rpg style game. You put in a word count that you want to reach (so maybe something as little as 100 or 200 words) and then you go into a fight. In this case you’re motivated to write fast because your health goes down while you’re idle, and the enemy’s health is your word count, so you defeat them by reaching your word count. It’s a fun little game and is a great alternative to word sprints.

I know there’s other similar sites, so don’t be afraid to search for a tool that fits you.

Another way you might be able to get words out is by abandoning where you left off for now and writing another scene that you’re excited about. I personally don’t do this because I have to write in order -- I just have to!!!! -- but I know a LOT of writers who bounce around and then knit the scenes together.

Or really, just mix it up in general. Do you always write at home? Try taking your laptop to a coffee shop for the express purpose of writing. That’s something I do a LOT. Always write on a computer? Try writing on your phone. I’ve even seen a post going around about changing your font to comic sans and that helping! Shake things up. Try something new. You might find something that works better for you!

Mmmmm I think that’s about all the advice I have personally since those are my go to’s. But keep in mind it’s not the end of the world if that doesn’t work for you -- all writers are different!! If I’ve learned anything from talking to other writers, it’s that we all have different ways we do it, different tools and formats and styles and all of it.

And ultimately? Don’t forget that fanfiction is about self-indulgence. It’s about you! If it’s stressing you out way too much, take a break. Put that shit on hiatus. Turn off notifications from ao3. Leave it alone for a while. You do you. Ultimately, while it may feel cruel, you don’t owe your readers anything. You’re doing this hobby because you like to, and you shared it with them by choice.

If the need is strong enough that you want to delete, look into orphaning your works. That way it’s no longer connected to you in any way, but it’s still available to readers.

I wish you only the best, Anon, and can only hope I was of any help at all, haha

[herdustisverypretty]

Question tag for AO3 writers~~

I found the original questions on AFF a while back, and I thought since I’ve been tagged in so many meme things lately, I’d also tag a bunch more people in this one XD Since the questions were designed for AFF, I’ve reworked some of them to fit for AO3 writers. I also removed two questions rather than trying to translate them to AO3 terms.  So, I’ll fill out my answers first, and then put the blank questions again at the bottom for you to easily copy and paste! 

1. How did you come up with your username and what does it mean?

'Her dust is very pretty' is the last part of a Dorothy Parker poem called Epitaph for a Darling Lady. Dorothy Parker is the only poet I’ve ever liked. I usually detest poetry and find it stupid and annoying. But I like most of hers. I used this as my first tumblr URL too. It’s just kind of my name now. I’ve been using it since 2010. 

2. Which fanfic of yours has the most feedback? (bookmarks/subscriptions/hits/kudos)

Subs is Chemicals with 177, bookmarks is Neko at 116, hits is Chemicals at  18600, and kudos is Chemicals again with 694. Stats are weird. 

3. What is your AO3 profile icon and why did you choose it? 

It’s ahegao Kuroko lmaaaaooooo. I chose it cause I love slutty Kuroko. 

4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters?

Quite a few actually. Maybe too many to list even... I’d say High_Noon and Goldfasan are the ones I recognise or see the most?

5. Is there a fanfic that you keep going back to read again and again?

I don’t actually read that much fanfiction? Which might be odd for someone who writes a lot of fanfiction. Idk I tend to find a few really good ones and then reread them for eternity and never look for anything new. Though tbh I haven’t read fanfiction for a number of months now. I’ve been too busy, or too stressed (and definitely too autistic). 

6. How many stories are you subscribed to? How many do you have bookmarked? Subbed to 7 fics (most of which are really old and will never be updated, or are friends’ stories). I have 231 bookmarks. Apparently. I have no idea what they all are, because only 30 of them are my OTP, and I only started bookmarking last year, and again, I don’t read much. I think AO3 is lying to me. Likely, as it lists my subs as 67, but I counted them and there’s only 7 in there plus 2 author subs. Conspiracies. 

7. Which AU do you find yourself writing the most?

I define AU as ‘completely unrelated to the main plot’ so, if the KnB characters were in fuedal Japan. I use UA (universe alteration) to define things such as if a KnB story followed the general main plot (basketball) but had changes to it, such as omegaverse (though I don’t consider ships UAs). With that said, tbh I don’t think I have one? I write a whole range of stuff. I don’t think I lean towards any particular AU or UA. 

8. How many people are subscribed and bookmarked to you in total? (you can view this on the stats page)

Total bookmarks: 1285 Total subs: 504

9. Is there something you'd like to write about but are afraid of people judging you for it? (Feeling brave? If so, share it!)

Honestly I don’t think I’m ashamed of anything by this point. I’m probably one of the most non-judgemental and open-minded people you’ll meet, so I kinda have no shame with that. Like, I won’t judge other people for having weird interests, and therefore don’t feel any shame for my own because I see no reason to have a problem with it. If people don’t like my writing they don’t have to read it. No one’s forcing them to. 

10. Is there anything you would like to be better at? Writing certain scenes or genres, replying to comments, updating better, etc. 

I’m mostly okay at replying to comments, sometimes I won’t reply if I don’t know how to respond or I’m busy/tired. Unless I feel like there’s no reason to further reply to a comment, I’ll usually try to reply later (sometimes months....). I need to get better at putting description in instead of just rushing through something and shoving it at the internet saying “I’M SICK OF IT JUST TAKE IT HOW IT IS”. Ideally it would be nice to update more frequently and consistently but that’s something that will never change due to my mental and physical health sooo. Whatevs. 

11. Do you write rarepairs or popular ships more often?

tbh I think it’s arguable if even the more popular ships I write are even that popular. The most popular ship I write is Akakuro I guess? I do write a bunch of rarer pairs (Mayumibu hghghghgh also Aoaka yes) occasionally though.

12. How many stories have you posted on AO3 to this day (finished and unfinished)?

87. Which I feel like is a lot considering I did about 50 of those in one year. 

13. How many stories do you have saved in/with your writing program?

39 in Google Docs. Possibly. I’m half asleep and may have missed some. I have a crap tonne more in MS Word, but I don’t want to count them all. Oh, fyi, these are only for my current fandom. I have other stories in Docs and Word that are original or other fandoms. 

14. Do you write down story ideas, or just keep them in your head?

Write everything down. Either in a document or just in the notes on my phone. 

15. Have you ever co-authored a story?

No, but I’d like to. It sounds interesting. 

16. How did you discover AO3?

An uh, ex-something found it in 2013 and showed it to me. I liked it more than FF.net, which always gave me a headache with it’s shitty UI and layout, and Livejournal, which was either dead or didn’t exist for my fandoms back then. Does anyone still even use those 2 sites as their main story platform?

17. Do you consider yourself to be a popular or famous author in your fandom(s) on AO3?

Not at all. I might say I am possibly known or recognised, but I definitely do not think famous or popular at all. Far from it. 

18. Do you have a nickname or fandom name for your readers?

Does anyone? I’m not published yet lmao and neither am I a Korean idol so uhhh, no, my readers do not have a nickname or fandom. 

19. Was there an author who inspired or encouraged you to write?

I would say no. No one prompted me to start writing when I was little, I just did it cause I liked it. Even when I started writing seriously, and when I started writing fanfiction, it was all me. I guess there have been writers who have inspired me to get better though? Namely Mikssi and goseum-dochi. 

20. What writing advice would you give to a beginning author?

I was once told that if you can't think of anything to write just put SOMETHING on the page. Be it a date or a title or an idea. Just get something on the page. I now start every story by dating when exactly I started it (yes even the exact time). It's less intimidating that way. Writing down my ideas also helps me plan. 

21. Do you plot out your stories, or do you just figure it out as you go?

I often have a general idea or at least ideas for future chapters. But mostly I just bullshit my way through it lmao. It often backfires. 

22. Have you ever gotten a bad comment on a story? If so, what did you do?

The only negative comment I've gotten on a story that really upset me was once being called insensitive when referring to sexual abuse. It really offended me because. Um. You... do not know my past experiences. At all. And I'm not going to bring them up because of that. But wow. And it bothered me too that they called me insensitive when I was just writing from experience. Like ok. Sure. Cool. I mean I could see where they were coming from, but I’m going to take a guess and say they had never experienced what I was writing about.  I’ve gotten a couple of other negative comments, but they didn’t upset or ‘get to me’ so much as just piss me off due to the stupidity of them. 

23. Is there a certain type of scene that you have a hard time writing? (action, smut, etc..)

Action. 

24. What story(s) are you working on now?

Uhhh, I guess mostly right now I’m working on Nano, and one other story. I have unfinished and ongoing things, but they’re on the back burner right now. 

25. Do you plan your next project(s) before you finish your current ongoing story(s)?

To a really problematic degree. 

26. Do you have a daily writing goal set for yourself?

Definitely not. Way too much pressure. Do not need. 

27. Do you think you've improved as a writer since you first started?

My god, yes. From my early original (shite) stories of 2007-2009, to my really early (also shite) fandom fics in 2011-2012, to my explosion in the VIXX fandom (at least 80% shite), to now... My goodness. I’m actually in the half-hearted process of editing old AO3 fics to be easier on the eyes. Mostly that’s relatively minor changes. If I went back to AFF. Hoo. I’m highkey scared of looking at some of those again. 

28. What is your favorite story that you've written?

I guess I’d say Chemicals. It’s a story I always wanted to do, and I’m happy with how it turned out. I also have to make mention to NMT, since that thing was my life for like 2 years, and writing it helped a lot. I also am quite fond of what I refer to as my ‘cat vampire story’ aka this. I also don’t mind my story Wanderlust. I think I put more effort into that one than I do with most things I write. 

29. What is your least favorite story that you've written?

MMMMM I can think of it and I don’t want to acknowledge its existence at all. IT NEVER HAPPENED AND IT WAS A MISTAKE. Also NMT. 

30. Where do you see yourself (as a writer) in 5 years?

Probably not published yet but goddamn will I try (not very hard though)

31. What is the easiest thing about writing?

For me it's writing dialogue. Chat room/text message based dialogue is especially fun.

32. What is the hardest thing about writing?

Starting and ending the story (or, if it’s a chaptered story, ending the chapter). Also liking your own work. And not comparing yourself to others. And holding onto the hope that maybe one day you’ll actually be successful and you should keep going. 

33. Why do you write?

idek. It’s fun? Satisfying? It arguably sometimes entertains people? Gives me something to do. Unleash all that creativity bopping around up there. idk. Do I need a reason? 

Anyways that’s all the questions, so I’ll put them here as well without the answers to easily c+p.

1. How did you come up with your username and what does it mean? 2. Which fanfic of yours has the most feedback? (bookmarks/subscriptions/hits/kudos) 3. What is your AO3 profile icon, and why did you choose it? 4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters? 5. Is there a fanfic that you keep going back to read again and again? 6. How many stories are you subscribed to? How many do you have bookmarked? 7. Which AU do you find yourself writing the most? 8. How many people are subscribed and bookmarked to you in total? (you can view this on the stats page) 9. Is there something you'd like to write about but are afraid of people judging you for it? (Feeling brave? If so, share it!) 10. Is there anything you would like to be better at? Writing certain scenes or genres, replying to comments, updating better, etc. 11. Do you write rarepairs or popular ships more often? 12. How many stories have you posted on AO3 to this day (finished and unfinished)? 13. How many stories do you have saved in/with your writing program? 14. Do you write down story ideas, or just keep them in your head? 15. Have you ever co-authored a story? 16. How did you discover AO3? 17. Do you consider yourself to be a popular or famous author in your fandom(s) on AO3? 18. Do you have a nickname or fandom name for your readers? 19. Was there an author who inspired or encouraged you to write? 20. What writing advice would you give to a beginning author? 21. Do you plot out your stories, or do you just figure it out as you go? 22. Have you ever gotten a bad comment on a story? If so, what did you do? 23. Is there a certain type of scene that you have a hard time writing? (action, smut, etc..) 24. What story(s) are you working on now? 25. Do you plan your next project(s) before you finish your current ongoing story(s)? 26. Do you have a daily writing goal set for yourself? 27. Do you think you've improved as a writer since you first started? 28. What is your favorite story that you've written? 29. What is your least favorite story that you've written? 30. Where do you see yourself (as a writer) in 5 years? 31. What is the easiest thing about writing? 32. What is the hardest thing about writing? 33. Why do you write?

People I’m tagging @justsimplyl | @6ubble-gum | @the-chibi-sempai | @humanitys-shortest-soldier | @friendlyslowpoke | @kelandry5 | @someone-stole-my-shoes

Fill out the questions and tag more authors you know ^^