#m’s writing advice

[m1ckeyb3rry]

tips and tricks on writing fanfic if u have any i beg <3<3

i have wrote so much throughout my life but it never feels like it flows right yk? i just want to write my silly characters being devastating with eachother

and you are infact my fav fic writer ever so pretty please <3

(its fine if not lol just may as well ask)

hihi!! sorry this took me a sec to respond to lol but yes ofc i can do my best to help!! and apologies in advance if any of this isn’t helpful/applicable 😓 i’ll put it all under the cut just because i can sense myself rambling in advance why did it end up being an entire thesis

okayyy so the most important thing for me when writing is having my plot and characters be in constant conversation with one another. typically i will come up with a very vague idea for a plot, which will then tell me exactly what kind of main characters i need to write, and from there, i build my cast!! it’s why i’m always afraid of writing characters ooc — typically i take aspects of the pre-existing character from canon and then expand on them so that they fit the plot i want, and sometimes i get worried that that means i’ve changed them too much LMAO.

once i understand what i want from my characters, i start to write. i usually have to rewrite my first chapter a few times as i get a feel for the characters and their perspectives, especially my pov character (we’ll call them mc for the sake of simplicity moving forward). it’s only after i feel like the mc’s voice and personality have been established that i can continue. i like to understand a character well enough that i can intuitively know how they would respond to any given situation. it makes it much easier in the future!! because once you’ve established a character, you can’t change them. i’ll use glass princess as an example because ik you’ve read it — if i wanted to write a slight different story, i could’ve written the mc to be a ruthless killer who has a short temper and resents her brother. however, i then would’ve had to work within the constraints of that character’s outlook instead of the constraints of current mc’s character!!

that’s why i typically only have loose ideas for plots. after i begin writing, i let my characters tell me what they want to do. they usually know what they want better than i do!! a lot of my “best” scenes have been entirely unplanned and based on me just following the characters’ actions to their natural conclusion. i guess you could say i go into each chapter having an idea of what the “inciting event” for the chapter will be — for example, mc runs to the tea shop the day after meeting the blue spirit, but the results of that inciting event are based more on my knowledge of my characters than any preconceived outlining or plotting. along the same lines, EVERY time i’ve had writer’s block with a fic (that was unrelated to me losing interest in the fandom/character/storyline) it’s been because i’ve forced my characters into a situation that they would not naturally end up in. my best example of this is a story i started writing with a very cold main character; she meets an injured enemy soldier who has lost his memories, and the plot was meant to revolve around her nursing him back to health and falling in love with him. however, given her character and the backstory i knew she had, i genuinely couldn’t come up with a single reason for why she would heal him instead of just killing him or turning him in, so i literally abandoned the story 😭 essentially i would recommend solid understanding of characters over a solid understanding of your plot 100% of the time. imo strong, well-rounded characters can carry even the shittiest of plots, but the opposite is rarely if ever true.

that was a lot of theory stuff!! as for where i get my ideas (not exactly what you asked but tangentially related so i’ll add it in here in case anyone else is reading and wants to know), it depends on the kind of fic i’m writing. my favorite fics are canon-verse, and for those fics i try to look for niches in the source material that aren’t already filled and make a character for it. the best example of this that i can think of off of the bat is two of my aot fics — in one, the mc is a member of the military police and the first interior squad, and in the other, the mc is a warrior candidate during the events of the show. both of these roles aren’t really filled by canon characters, so creating these characters allows me to look at plot events in a new light, which lets me expand the fic into something beyond just a rehashing of canon. in terms of au’s…to be honest listening to music is huge for me!! i’ll scroll through tik tok and hear an audio that inspires me, and once i have a vibe for what i want to write, i’ll search for similar songs that help me picture the general aesthetic of the au. the idea for my one bllk fic peregrine was conceived when i heard a snippet of the song welcome and goodbye by dream, ivory, on tik tok!! overall i don’t really like writing straight au’s that much though. idk why but in my experience every time i’ve tried to write an au fic i’ve gotten bored of it much much quicker than i would’ve with a more canon-based story. that’s just me personally though!!! i do loveeee worldbuilding though HAHA the amount of fantasy worlds i’ve created but never written for is horrific.

when it comes to things like grammar, sentence structure, and word choice, the only two things you can do to improve are reading and writing a LOT. at first, you should read more than you write, and when i say reading, it can be literally anything. find what you do and don’t like from all of the authors you encounter, and try to incorporate the pros into your writings while noticing the cons in your own work. it’s not plagiarism! you won’t be able to copy any author’s style completely, and if you engage in enough kinds of works, you’ll become a blend of so many different styles that it won’t sound copied or anything. then, once you’re comfortable mixing and matching depending on what scene you’re writing (maybe for a serious scene, you take references from a classical novel, whereas for a more lighthearted moment, you look at a social media au to see what kind of jokes might land with a broader audience), you can start to develop your own style!! it’ll come naturally as you go. the more you write, the more you will be certain of yourself and the way YOU would write something. the mixing and matching will smooth into one style that flows more naturally and does what you need, when you need it.

my final advice is that you shouldn’t compare yourself to others!! just because your writing doesn’t sound like your favorite author’s doesn’t mean it’s any worse. i’ve read amazing stories that are nothing like my own — it doesn’t mean that mine are worse than those stories, just different. there is a place in this world for every single story!! and it’s inevitable that you will look back on your old writing and cringe. i do!! i cannot read anything i wrote more than a year ago because i’ve improved so much that the old stuff is embarrassing to me. if you don’t push through the fear of cringe, though, you’ll never get anywhere. i’m not sure if you’re planning on posting anything ever, but i can say with certainty that if you do, there will be someone who reads and loves it. there’s people who still comment on and read and love my stories from 2021 that i absolutely despise now (it’s the only reason they haven’t been deleted yet). oftentimes we are our own worst critics, and also, knowing the plot ahead of time doesn’t help (writing suspenseful scenes is SO HARD when you know what’s coming 😭). your readers will love what you write, probably even more than you do!!

i hope that that was helpful and i’m so sorry for writing a literal essay OMG. like this is such a long post 😓 if you have any questions about what i wrote or about a specific aspect of the fic writing process, then lmk!! i’m always happy to help 🫶🏻

[crossbackpoke-check]

it’s all the rest of what i want with you

connor dewar/brandon duhaime :: 8k

Summary:

“Brandon,” Connor says with a sigh. “There’s no baby in there.”

“Not yet,” Brandon says. Connor feels his stomach twist, almost like what he would imagine a baby kicking to feel like.

in these trying times of dewvorce, may i offer you 8k of pwp inspired by @stillfertile’s wonderful art which i had. several breakdowns about 🫶 anyway please enjoy!!!

[ahb-writes]

"Beautiful, sir." --Marcie

[deathwishdaydream]

PETITION TO...

label the gender the reader is in your fic beforehand?!?!? why is it when i go on a fic that says "x reader", the characters refer to me as a woman and with she/her pronouns. Since when are women readers the default? PLEASE tag/write like "x male!reader" "x female!reader" and if its gender neutral you can do plain old "x reader" cause theres no label or just "gn!reader"

make more gender neutral reader fics if the gender doesnt matter in the fic. its not that hard to use they/them pronouns and use the word person or spouse or partner. unless the gender is a really important role, please make it gender neutral <3 <3 you can do ctrl+f or find in page and look to see if you accidentally used a diff pronoun. its a good revising/double checking method

Tips (sort of):

Here are sum tips you can use to write a gender neutral reader fic :)

use they/them pronouns for us if its in a pov other than ours

instead of using wife/husband: spouse

instead of using girl/boyfriend: partner

instead of using girl/boy: person

avoid using dresses/skirts as reader's clothing

try not to go to in detail with clothing to make sure it stays very gender neutral

family/gender-neutral restrooms exist and can exist in your fanfic world!

It's actually really easy and self explanatory that I don't even know what else to list.

Now of course this only applies to fics where gender identity DOESNT affect storyline or plot too much. For example I will be reading this fic and it would definitely pass off as a male reader as well or a nonbinary one therefore it could definitely be a gn!reader fic! no one would have known it was a female reader if you didnt put x female reader or used she and her. you have a chance to be inclusive--more readers and higher morality--please take it!

I know what some people are thinking: why can't you just ignore the pronouns and the gender mention?

It's kinda hard for me at least to ignore and replace. Its some kind of ick for me that makes me scroll away quickly. I see an unlabeled gender reader fic (a fic that just says [character] x reader) and then it says something like "woman" and uses she/her i just get a bad ick and scroll out very quickly. Its 2023 and i think its important to be inclusive these days, especially when you can. If you need help at all with making your oneshots gender neutral then you can always ask me or anyone you know that can :) hope this helped

[thedelicatearcher]

working on my drafts at one in the morning because it seems that’s when the inspiration comes to me

[sarahowritesostucky]

Imagine you've bought a book: it's a M/F/M genre romance. What POV style would you most prefer?

Be awesome and reblog so I can get a good sample size please!💗

[imabillyami]

What I imagine the bottom to look and feel like whenever I see y’all write anal without lube & prep 🫠

Now that I have your attention, please join me in a quick writing anal 101 here.

Ready? Okay here we go!

Unless you’re writing fantasy/magical realism/ ABO? Assholes don’t self-lubricate or magically extend just because someone is turned on or meets their one true dick 😭

Trust me, anal without lube/prep? It HURTS. Cruelly so sometimes. It can cause tearing and bleeding (which can become really fucking dangerous when that leads to infection) and has absolutely zero to do with actual pleasure unless you’re into pain play.

So for the love of god. Please have your characters use some sort of lubricant to prep before going to town on each other 😭 Their assholes will thank you (and so will I.)

Additionally: If you use anything but water-based or silicone lubes please remember that whatever you use can break down the latex and therefore compromise condoms.

While baby-oil, lotion, even kitchen oils can all work as lubricants (spit does not possess the same qualities as a lubricant just fyi), they will cause safety issues with latex and most polyisoprene condoms. That goes for vag use too btw.

If you or your characters want to use anything but water-based or silicone lube? Use polyurethane condoms (though these have a 5-times greater chance of breaking or slipping off than their aforementioned friends).

Thought I’d use this meme-worthy moment to do some basic sex ed for writing purposes (and real life purposes).

Not telling anyone how to write their fics, but it can’t hurt to know these things.

Cause oftentimes there’s a severe lack of knowledge (or care) in fandom spaces, where people just don’t look this stuff up. And that’s dangerous.

I’m going based on my personal experiences (and those of the people around me) here, so don’t come @ me. If things are different for you somehow? That’s great.

BUT:

Every time the no lube/prep thing happens, you can imagine me screaming “LUBE! LUBE! LUUUUUBE!” at my screen in absolute horror.

(As the way of the fandom is all ‘don’t like, don’t read’, I’ll exit out of the fic and never read anything by that author ever again (unless pain kink or dry anal was explicitly stated in the tags), but oftentimes the lack of lube and prep happens without any warning, so there’s no way to see it coming. And that’s rather triggering and disturbing.)

If you wanna have your characters stick it into each other that way (or wanna do so in real life?) Alrighty. You do you. But tag it accordingly so people can apply the ‘don’t like, don’t read’ rule accordingly or avoid a severe trigger like that.

Anyway. This was sex ed 101 under a Solo meme. My job here is done.

Have a lovely day 🫡

[nelehjr]

Fanfiction Is Real Writing

Fanfiction is real writing. As long as you’re not selling it, I don’t care what you do.             Hi, I’m Helen. Thrice published author. Purveyor of lost fruit. I don’t do much fan fiction, but I’ve had tons of people meet me, get excited, say “I write too!” and then naturally I ask “Oh, what do you write!?” Because I really do want to know! Then they get embarrassed and say “Oh well, it’s…

[ladyfogg]

I have a pretty, fancy new website! And by fancy, I mean professional-looking lol. 

[m1ckeyb3rry]

hii mira !!

i have a question - how do u come up with or find inspiration for events that happen during a war-themed arc (like athyae)? asking cause im having a lot of trouble trying to formulate events during a war arc and im not rlly sure how to go about it in terms of pacing 🤕

(my mc is a nurse in the military and im trying to brainstorm how i can expand upon this but im not rlly sure where to go as of rn and this arc will last a little while, so im also not sure how to pace it)

hihi ray!! omg i’m so honored that you asked hehe i will do my best to help out!! i’m going to use SitH as an example because you mentioned it but if you want any clarification or anything on a finer point then you can ofc lmk 🫡

okayyy so with athyae i knew some basic things going into it since it canonically happens (kind of?? like it’s briefly mentioned in-verse) which helped me build from there. athyae is the only other place where the wine idea was utilized and i knew that i wanted y/n to be the one who came up with it because it would come back to haunt her. i also wanted y/n to battle with the propaganda/brainwashing that we know from canon is used by marley, which is where the idea for the amatas was conceived, and i always knew xanthe was going to die. at first, xanthe’s death was meant to show y/n that marley isn’t all that, but i changed it to be her fault to kickstart her mental deterioration into being fine with suggesting genocide. that is to say — i had a character, and i knew i needed her to eventually do some crazy shit, so i needed to come up with a plausible sequence of events to get her to that point. from there, it was all about guiding her to what i needed from her!!

it’s jarring for readers as well as characters if you thrust them into things with zero warning. that doesn’t mean that you can’t play with tonal shifts and whatnot, but it should be subtle, especially if you’re going from a more lighthearted setting into war. with athyae, i accomplished that via the declaration of war and general magath’s scare tactics abt what the athyaens would do to them if they were captured, as well as the newspaper that friedrich and colt read about the hanged scout. that part of the arc is still mostly lighter (friedrich’s infamous “call him daddy and mean it”, y/n describing how beautiful athyae is, the introduction of cordelia and the little jealousy subplot), but there are inklings of what’s to come being sprinkled in. that’s why, when you get hit with the baby scene, it still feels like things have taken a dramatic turn, but also not in a random way that’s just for shock value?? idk if that makes sense lol

so to sum up the last two points i would say a) know WHY you’re writing a story set in a war. why does your character specifically have to work in the military?? could they be a nurse anywhere else?? if you can firmly say that your story/plot would be completely different if there wasn’t a war happening you’re on a good track. from there, have an idea of one or two key things that you NEED to happen in the arc and that pretty much define it. then go through and think about how you can get your character into a situation where those key events feel plausible, and structure your story so that the buildup feels natural instead of out of the blue.

in terms of coming up with specific events (in athyae: the baby scene, the burning of the village, marek’s torture, etc etc), there really is no greater inspiration than history. now obviously it won’t be word for word — it’s not like there were titans and spinal fluid in wwii, which is mostly what i researched for athyae given the time period, but looking at past examples of wars gives you a feel for how many atrocities humans are capable of, which is much more relevant. there’s no event in history that i could see directly aligns with the fall of the athyaen capital, but assimilating my knowledge of the show with various tidbits about past conflicts helped me come up with something that felt authentic. the same goes for marek’s torture, which tbf we only find out abt post-war but since your character is a nurse they will probably encounter more marek’s than not — i researched various torture methods until i settled on a few that made sense given the attitudes towards eldians and the technology of the time, as well as what they were trying to gain from him. you’ll probably have to put “historical” in front of “torture methods” otherwise you’ll mostly get government websites talking about how torture is no longer legal. also, scrolling through the geneva convention and seeing some of the things that are outlawed in it should also provide ideas (depending on how dark you’re wanting to go).

in terms of pacing, i would suggest splitting a war arc into smaller arcs!! athyae was two, and the mid-east arc (which i never wrote but did plan) was seven, with each smaller arc only lasting about 5 chapters (i average about 5-7k words per chapter, so that puts each smaller arc at roughly 25-35k words each, give or take, ymmv). for athyae, i split it into ‘war on athyae’ and ‘defeat of athyae’. the separation allowed me to focus on the particular goal of the smaller arc super well and made the overall athyae arc feel more cohesive, as each portion of the war was given due attention. each mini arc gets an ‘inciting event’ that it’s named for (with ‘defeat of athyae’ it was the wine idea) and that the rest of the chapters are built around; this event can be at any moment in during the mini arc, but it should really be the focal point that dramatically changes the way the arc goes. for ‘defeat of athyae’ it was the wine idea; for ‘war on athyae’ it was y/n staying with the amatas. by boiling a larger arc down into these very rough mini arcs with focal points, you can ensure you give yourself enough space to handle the events that NEED to happen while also having the freedom to ad-lib as you go along and change things up if your story insists on going in a different direction

i hope this was a little bit helpful!! hehe i think a lot of the times too i’ve looked an outline and been like “yeah this’ll be 3k words max” and then it ends up being twice or thrice that length because i always underestimate how much ‘chapter space’ things like internal monologues and descriptions take up. so honestly pacing might come more naturally than you expect!! but anyways pls lmk if this was what you needed or if you have any other questions you’d like me to answer, i will do my best 💖

[jadwiga-abremovic]

This fiction and my extremely dark novel excerpt are this person's only two AO3 bookmarks. They've been on AO3 since 2011.

[leanimlopez]

Slip of the Hand, Available NOW KU and in paperback!

When Alice is hired to gather information on a group of thieves called the Collectors, she immediately finds herself working with the crew against her boss. Along with the crew’s handsome, ex-marine, James, Alice enjoys her time as a double-agent. Until her boss comes looking for her, and she realizes she’s in way over her head.

⭐ Instalove

⭐ Mafia-type

⭐ Alpha Male

⭐ Femme Fatale

⭐ Spicy

⭐ HEA

Signed paperbacks available on my website www.leanilopez.com

[ahb-writes]

Writing for the seasons.

(from Peanuts)

[dreamescapeswriting]

Hellooo!! I've been reading your fics for a while and you inspired me to start writing! I wanna continue and maybe even post some stuff on Tumblr! (not really mentally stable enough to post on AO3 and or Wattpad atm) I've been thinking of starting a new Tumblr blog just based for fics! I'm unsure how to start it or how to really have it play through or what I should do.. like the formatting or the wording and stuff... I'm still fairly new to making fics so I haven't posted anything, I do have a few fics I've made but I just haven't posted it since I'm still really unsure.

I really do love your writing and your fics and I want to try it out! You make great fics and I just seriously love it UGH! Anwys sorry bout that..

Any advice or help?

(ps: can I be 🎹 or 📜 anon?)

Hiya darling, Oh my gosh you're so sweet! Honestly feel you about posting on AO3, Wattpad isn't the best place tbf as a lot of plagiarism happens there but I get your apprehension!! asdfghjkl; I'm not sure if I'm the best help but I'll gladly try and help (or even if I cant I'll post it for other writers to be able to give advice)

Thank you so so much!!!

Formatting wise I have some videos on how to make masterlists and linebreakers/page breakers if those are of any use to you?!

Writing/wording wise I would go with whatever is best for you? Sometimes I find that writing in third person is easier but other days it's easier for me to write in first POV and I can change it up when I've finished the piece. I use grammarly a lot as it catches my grammar mistakes but after I place it in a google doc just to change the font and reread it (as I have dyslexia so seeing it in another font helps me pick up on small or big mistakes I make)

My biggest advice to give. Don't pressure yourself about it, take your time and remember why you're doing it in the first place. For example. I love writing as it helps me escape my reality and I really enjoy being able to do what I love on a day to day basis. I remind myself I'm mostly doing it because it makes me happy.

Find a routine that it's great for you. I used to write ALLLLLLLLL the time. When I first started I was post 7 days a week and twice daily (how the fuck I did that I'll never even know) but it wasn't good, I burnt out within about 6 months of doing that and ended up changing it all up. I have a schedule now.

Posting on set days and having it written on your account somewhere can really help too. I do Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and then I have a time I post to as well to help people keep track of everything.

When writing, try and take regular breaks, don't stare at your screen for too long. I try and use the Pomodoro methods. Working for 20 having a 5 minute break, or 30 minutes and a 10 minute break. There are some cool videos out there to help. I've been using a lot of different streamers recently as it helps me focus more.

If I (or anyone else) can help let us know!

[roosterbruiser]

Do you have any advice for someone who’s just getting into writing? I’m super nervous and feel like my ideas aren’t that great

I also just want to say how much I adore your works! I just finished landslide and I hysterically cried so many times(this is a good thing I swear) ❤️

my darling! of course!

first of all--all ideas are absolutely valid. even stories that I don't consider to be the greatest (literally Stephanie Meyers and E.L. James) have a good idea somewhere inside of them. another thing that I think is really important to reiterate to yourself is that you're allowed to use tropes that are popular! it doesn't make your story a dime a dozen or boring!

second of all, I totally understand being nervous. how could you not be? but don't pressure yourself into sharing your writing until you're happy with it and WANT to share it! write for yourself! sure, comments and reflags are fantastic! but what's also fantastic is when YOU love your own story. all of mine are self-serving and I think that's a wonderful place to start!

it's much easier said than done, but to get started on writing...just write. it doesn't have to be award-worthy at all! just get it all out!

if you're interested, this is how I start all my stories and get the creative juices flowing:

-brain dump ALL of my ideas on a note. they can be entirely incomplete thoughts and out of order. it doesn't matter! I'll usually do this for a few weeks, just writing down anything I can think of to add to the story. I've literally just written the note "they eat orange in the ocean" for Northern Sky and it's been helpful!

-make pinterest boards! and playlists! this can really help you capture the vibe of your story, especially if you're still finding it or narrowing it down! and pro tip if you use Spotify: if you find a song you feel like matches your story perfectly, use the song radio function. Spotify will generate a playlist that has songs similar in vibes to that one! that's how I base a lot of my playlists so they don't sound too disjointed!

-write it all out! I honestly usually make a prologue/teaser before I sit down and actually plan out the story. I think it can be helpful knowing that you're building to something and teasing it ahead of time!

I'm always down to beta read for anyone! and down to give notes, too, of course! YOU CAN DO THIS! the world needs more writers forever and ever!

and thank you for your kind words about Landslide :,) that story is very near and dear to my heart!

[animnightmare]

The discomfort as a white person of trying to place a character of color into my fic set in the 60s

I am. So uncomfortable. How do people write accurately about times like this I feel icky and I havnt even done anything yet

also im sleep deprived that probobly. Isnt helping