#or have 3 drafts in a notebook before ever making it to a word doc
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
Text
I think the most damaging aspect mentally, as an author, of knowing ppl are creating private discord servers to rec fic to their friends is that for a while now I've had this very suspicion. I'll see groups of usernames leave kudos all over my works for various fandoms but they never, ever, even on a single fic, drop so much as an 'I enjoyed this! Thanks!' But I know they're passing it around in a discord server I'll never see and talking about liking it.
It's demoralizing and I just wish ppl understood that. I don't expect someone to read my fic and be inspired to create sistine chapel levels of gratitude posts/art/comments. But a simple 'hey this was good!' let's me know 'hey ppl like what I'm doing and it's worth it to continue to not just write but share!'
#write/draw/create for YOU gets real fuckin old to hear when no one talks abt why we SHARE#we share for feedback ok. plain and simple. if I JUST wrote for me nothing I ever wrote would get edited 40 times over#or plotted for weeks at a time#or have 3 drafts in a notebook before ever making it to a word doc#it would just be in my brain for me rotate like a rotisserie chicken and that's IT#so yeah create for you but holy ppl we're sharing for COMMUNITY. sorry ppl don't comprehend that anymore#your walled discord group is NOT community. it's you grabbing a piece of cake and LOVING it but not bothering to tell the baker thanks#idk I just wasn't built like that.... show a little fuckin gratitude. it's online for YOU. it's not online for ME. it's already on my lapto#least you could do is drop a 'hey I liked this so much I recc'd it to my friends!'#and that's it. that's my rant for the day.#if you want to continue to have fic to read you need to practice gratitude......#erin explains it all#fic#fanfiction
5 notes
¡
View notes
Note
Ik this isnt part of the ask game, but would you consider showing us how you outline in Trello?? It looks so freaking effective!
I have been waiting for someone to ask me this question. thank you so so so so much youâre going to regret asking lmao
so as I said before I use Trello - a free cloud based project management tool - to outline and write my fics (and also for my to do list and my Christmas present shopping and vacation planning and literally everything) because, to be 100% honest with you, I have no chill. I have never been relaxed about anything. ever. not a single day in my life. and therefore I marinate on fic ideas in my mind for months (sometimes years!) before I start doing anything with them. this is my process I use for everything I write and weâre using Mar[r]y Me as my example!
the first thing is the idea. I get an idea and I word vomit vibes into the closest thing (notes app, google doc, scribbling into my work notebook, texting a friend) and then I marinate on the idea. I first had the idea for Mar[r]y Me on January 25, 2023. it went through several iterations as I shaped what it was going to be and below is what I sent to Jordan in June 2023 and itâs the basis for the story weâve all been following. (or mostly, itâs changed quite a bit since then.)
once Iâm ready to start writing I create a board in Trello. think of a board like a white board, you then add âcardsâ which I think of as sticky notes except with a lot more features. also my process is the same no matter if itâs a one shot or a multi chapter fic, it just depends if it gets its own board or it goes into my one shot board. (which is filled with ideas waiting to be written lol) anyway. this is the Mar[r]y Me board!
for a multi chapter fic like this each chapter gets a card in the IN PROGRESS list (they move to the right as things get written/posted). each card follows a template: title, due date (loosely assigned to get an idea of what a posting schedule may look like), a label (always being with need to plan), and a checklist. also the chapter outline - obviously.
before I get into the outline, I use the labels as a nice visual representation of what the status of everything is. as the screenshot below shows, the each writing stage has its own color (and I use the color blind color schemes so I get the fun patterns too!) and it gets changed as we go along. it helps me know at a quick glance where everything is at the moment.
I also love the checklist feature, see below. which basically has all the steps I need to follow once I have a chapter written and ready for final editing. it may seem like overkill but I work long hours and youâd be amazed at how easily my brain forgets things lmao. so this ensures nothing is missed when Iâm getting ready to post.
now onto the outline. my outline goes from something super basic, to a few bullet points, to an in depth summary of whatâs going to be written. using chapter one as an example of this progression.
1. this is the og outline for the whole story. just a dream and a vibe and one sentence. literally.
2. the expanded outline for chapter one
3. just a small section of the final outline I used to write the chapter. a lot of my final outline ends up being actual sentences that I use in the final draft, I basically write the chapter in bullet points and unfinished sentences.
4. I use the very expanded outline to write the actual chapter. following along bullet point by bullet point. an example from chapter 9 since thatâs what Iâm writing rn.
5. once everything is written, all the bullet points have been used up or ignored, I transfer it into google docs and read it to myself, editing as I go. once Iâm happy with my final rough draft I use grammarly to idiot check things because Iâm an engineer not an English major. then I start using the checklist (teaser posting, creating tumblr post, etc.) and then the worst part. I walk around my home office and I read the entire chapter out loud to myself and make final edits as I go. is it excruciating to have to listen to myself speak the flirting Iâve just written out loud? yes. have I made myself cry multiple times? yes. do I find a lot of rough spots and smooth them out? yes. thatâs usually done on Thursday nights.
6. from there itâs all final editing and formatting and scheduling the final post. I also have to create the accompanying recipe post for Mar[r]y Me so I do that too. and we post on Fridays! sometimes I share the google doc link with friends so they get an advanced copy of the chapter and sometimes they get to be surprised with everyone else (Iâm running behind schedule and donât have time to share it lmao)
itâs a lot of work for something Iâm producing for free but I genuinely love it so much and it helps me keep everything straight. there would be so many lost ideas and abandoned thoughts if I didnât do it this way. itâs crazy that this the first fic Iâve ever written and that Iâll probably be close to 90k words by the time itâs finished.
if youâve made it this far thank you for indulging my very intense brain and itâs processes. I love the community weâve created here on this blog and Iâm so excited to keep writing and sharing. and I especially want to give a big thank you to my very good friends Ames, Alexa, and Jordan. Mar[r]y Me would not be the story it is without them and I canât thank you enough for your love and encouragement during this story.
#asks answered#anon <3#I donât know how to tag this#elle hyperfixates on something#<- yeah thatâll work
6 notes
¡
View notes
Note
It was a â5 things you didnât say at all (stewy/roman)â post! It could just be a fault on my end but each time I click on keep reading it shows a blank page. If you still have it somewhere and would be willing to share Iâd love to read it <3
OHHHH YES!!! that was a mini fic from a prompt list I had reblogged agessss ago. idk what happened to the actual post but I still have the draft in my docs!! so here you go :-)
5) Things you didnât say at all
His therapist had told him he should try keeping a journal. Roman is one hundred percent sure that thatâs some bullshit. He can barely bring himself to talk about his feelings with a professional, much less write them down and be forced to confront them by himself.
âJust give it a shot,â Dr. Rossi had told him. âA couple of weeks. Doesnât matter how often you do it or how much you write, just that you write something, alright?â
Roman had reluctantly agreed, so now heâs sitting in front of his laptop, glaring at the empty word document in front of him.
They had agreed that he could type instead of writing it out. Actually writing in a journal feels a bit too fucking teenage girl for Romanâs taste. Heâs not going to scribble his crushâs name in the margins and draw little hearts around it. Heâs a grown ass man. He types shit. And itâs easier to hide shit on a computer. He doesnât know where in the apartment he would hide a notebook that wouldnât be at risk of being found. He knows Stewy wouldnât go snooping, but he doesnât know what excuse he could come up with to explain it. If heâs being forced to keep a journal, he would much rather have it on his laptop, buried six folders deep, the way he used to hide porn when he was a teenager.Â
This is stupid, he types. He deletes the last few letters, then thinks better of it. Heâs supposed to be writing down whatever he feels. And he feels that this is stupid. He finishes the word again.Â
âWhat the fuck am I supposed to write about?â he had asked Dr. Rossi.Â
She had considered him carefully for a moment, as if she was trying to figure out how to explain it in a way that wouldnât piss him off. She spends a lot of time in their sessions figuring out ways to explain things in ways that wonât piss him off.Â
âAbout how youâre feeling. What youâre thinking. Hell, you could even write about what you had for lunch. Itâs just about getting words out of your brain and onto paper. Trust me. I think that once you get yourself to start, youâll find that it actually feels good.â
Roman had stopped himself from saying that he highly doubted it.Â
The word document is mocking him.
Iâm not going to talk about my feelings. Thatâs stupid. It doesnât make any difference if I write things down or if I just think them. This is a stupid assignment.Â
Dr. Rossi hadnât told him that he had to bring in the journal as proof. He kind of wants to, anyway, just to show her how fucking stupid it is.Â
âMaybe you can write about Stewy,â she had suggested.
Roman had scoffed at that, but now when he thinks about it, he thinks that maybe itâs not such a terrible idea. As long as Stewy will never see it. As long as no one will ever see it.
Stewy is okay. I like him. Heâs fine.
He lets out a long sigh.Â
Heâs always been really good at lying to himself.
He deletes the line and starts over.
I think Iâm in love with Stewy.
Which shouldnât be a big deal. It really shouldnât. Itâs NOT a big deal. That is something that happens to normal people. They fall in love, usually. Some people donât. I didnât think I would. Maybe Iâm more normal than I thought I was. (Haha).
Roman taps his fingers lightly on the keys before he types: He makes me feel safe.Â
It feels stupider to see it in words. He doesnât delete it.Â
He makes me feel like a real person. He makes me feel normal, sometimes. I guess as normal as I can be. He treats me like Iâm normal. He doesnât treat me like Iâm broken or fucked up (even though he knows I am). He treats me the way I think youâre supposed to treat people you care about.
And, okay, yeah, this journal has already spiraled into teenage girl bullshit territory. Here he is, sitting in their bedâStewyâs bed, he corrects himselfâwriting about his feelings. He almost wants to write Roman Hosseini as a joke. He doesnât.
Okay so maybe I love him.
He asks the journal So what?, as if itâs judging him for the words heâs putting into it. Maybe it is. He definitely feels judged, but maybe thatâs just him.
Maybe I love him.Â
I love him.
Seeing the words in writing doesnât make it feel any different than it already felt. So he was rightâtake that, Dr. Rossi. Writing them down doesnât make a goddamn difference.Â
He stares at the screen for a little while longer. The cursor is still blinking, waiting just past the period on the end of him. Roman tries to think of something else to say. He doesnât think thereâs anything else to add.Â
So there it is, staring back at him.Â
He closes out the word document, saves it as Therapy bullshit, moves it as many folders deep as he can, and shuts his laptop. He doesnât want to think about how it will still be waiting for him the next time he forces himself to open the document back up. Thatâs a problem for future him.
He doesnât think heâll say it. He doesnât know if heâll ever say it. But itâs there, and it will wait for him, as patient as can possibly be.
5 notes
¡
View notes
Note
What is your writing advice for young people who want to write fanfiction and original stories in the near future?
If this is just Way Too Much, skip to the end (#16). My most important piece of advice is there. I also happen to think #5 is pretty good.
-_-_-_-
1) Literally just write. Write whatever you want, and do a lot of it.
_-_
2) You donât have to post everything. In fact you donât have to post anything. You can, donât get me wrong, but it can be intimidating to sit down and think âI will now write something that other people will see and read and judge with their eyeballs.â Because thatâs probably gonna lead to nerves and writer's block. Just write down the ideas that you have, the things you want to write, whateverâs in your brain that you want to explore and expand upon and make into something. And then if you want to, share it. Or donât share it. I have plenty of half-baked ideas and documents and random story chapters and shit hidden away on my Google Drive that will never see the light of day, for a whole number of reasons. I wanted to write it but it wasnât ~Spicy~ enough to warrant posting, or itâs only like an eighth of a good idea, or itâs like one scene with no story around it, or itâs just something incredibly self-indulgent I just wanted to write for my own enjoyment.
Point being, donât write for other people. Donât write so that other people can read it; write what you want, write for yourself, and then if you want to share it, do.
_-_
3) You can pretty much ignore any and all of these for fanfiction. In fact, you can ignore pretty much any rules or guidelines you want for fanfiction. Fanfic is a sandbox. You donât have to be a âprofessional writerâ to post fic. No one expects you to be Stephen King or Margaret Atwood. Fanfic is just for playing in a fandom and having fun. If you wanna write a 50 chapter slow burn with very little plot aside from the OTP slowly getting to know each other, and no real stakes or central conflict, I guarantee people would read that. Really, fanfiction is the Old West of writing: lawless, wild, unpredictable, and free.
However, here are the rules you must follow:
-Separate your paragraphs. (Iâm sure you know this already, but Iâm gonna say it anyway just in case.) Do not post one big block of text. Make a paragraph break when someone new is talking, when the characters are in a new place, when a new event occurs that changes the scene, when a chunk of time has passed, and when thereâs a major change in subject.
-I know itâs obvious, but... grammar, punctuation, and capitalization. They exist to make writing easy for readers to read, and more people will read your stuff if they donât have to stop and try to figure out what you meant.
-Use tags and labels, as is possible with whatever site youâre using. Especially if you include possibly triggering content in your story. Again, I know itâs obvious, but itâs common courtesy. Bonus: tagging the themes and content of your story helps readers find it and read it :)
-If possible, limit the use of all-caps and exclamation marks / question marks. 99% of the time, one ! or one ? will do. If you overload the page with a lot of all-caps and long rows of exclamation marks or question marks, it hampers readability.
... Thatâs literally all I can think of. And, like I said, itâs all pretty basic stuff. You were probably rolling your eyes like, âUh, yeah, Gwen, I know.â But thatâs literally it. You can pretty much do whatever you want in fanfic.
That being said, hereâs my advice for both fanfiction and original work...
_-_
4) A quick and dirty rule for coming up with a plot, starting a story, keeping up pacing, or maintaining tension: figure out what dreams, desires, and goals are nearest and dearest to your main characterâs heart (see #16). Then set up the main conflict to be directly in opposition to that goal. It doesnât have to be in a tangible way, though it could be. But, if your main character wants more than anything to reach the ships on the southern coast of your world and sail to a new life, make sure the main conflict immediately prevents them from doing that - in fact, make sure to send them north. If your main character just wants to keep their loved ones safe, kidnap the loved ones. If your main character just wants to date their best-friend-turned-crush, make sure they think they have no chance - or, make them cocky about it, and make sure it makes Person B determined not to ever like them. You get it. Figure out what your character most wants, and then keep them from having that. Boom - your conflict now ties in with your character's motivation. It's like instant yeast for plots.
_-_
5) If youâre anything like me, you want your first draft to be Good, despite all that advice about how the first draft doesnât have to be good and itâs just to get words on the page, yadda yadda. And if youâre somewhat of a perfectionist (like myself), itâs easy to get stuck looking at a blank page because you donât have The Perfect Words, and you want what you write to be Good the first time.
Hereâs how I cheat that:
Instead of trying to write a Good First Draft from a blank page, hit the enter key a few times, skip a little down on the page, change your ink to red (or blue, or whatever - just something immediately identifiable as Not Black) and just thought vomit. Write whatever the hell youâre thinking, exactly as you think it. Donât worry about it being readable, donât worry about narrative flow for now, donât worry about covering all the details, donât worry about anything except either a) getting all the details of your idea out onto the page, whether thatâs a lot or whether itâs just a sentence or two, or b) if you donât have an idea yet, finding your way there.
Because this method is also very good for finding your way to ideas when youâre stuck in writerâs block.
Because of how human brains work, getting this stuff out onto the page - in all its messy, stream-of-consciousness glory - will likely spark more thoughts. As you write your original idea about the scene, itâll likely spark more ideas. Creation begets creation. If you just start thought-vomiting your ideas onto the page, chances are youâll think of more things as you go, and youâll start filling out description or dialogue or tone or action or whatever, and pretty soon the scene starts writing itself.
Not sure where youâre going with the scene or which ideas you wanna use? Use a lot of ambivalent language in your âthought-vomit draft.â My pre-writing notes are chock-full of the words âmaybe,â âperhaps,â and the phrases, âAt some point...â and â...or something like that.â In this way, I donât tie myself down to one idea; itâs just an idea, and Iâm keeping it on the page in case I use it, but I might chuck it in the trash or change it or whatever.
And then, once your ideas for the scene (or story, or chapter, or whatever) are on the page, then go back to the top and start translating them into a ârealâ first draft. Use black ink, and start copy-pasting chunks of the thought-vomit up into the top part of the document and translating them into Draft 1. Separate out paragraphs where paragraph breaks should be. Add the correct punctuation and whatnot. Change âdescribe the lobby here - include potted plants, fancy carpet, blood stain, etc.â into an actual description of the lobby. Flesh it out, or condense, or whatever it needs. And if youâre still stuck, change back to red ink and ramble some more until you find a path that feels right, then plug that in. This keeps you from looking at a blank page, and it allows you to generate a kind of Draft 0.5, somewhere between a plan and a first draft.
You donât have to use every idea. Like I said, jot down whatever comes to mind, put a âmaybeâ before or after it, and keep working. If the idea grabs you and you wanna keep expanding on it and exploring it, cool. If you just wanna jot it down so you donât forget it and then move on, also cool. Red-ink draft / âthought-vomit draftâ is your time to jump around in the timeline, add or finesse details at whatever point your brain moves to, etc. Donât try to do it exactly in story order, because you will get tangential thoughts and ideas, and you will not remember to write them down five pages later when you finally get to taking notes on that scene. Trust me. On that note...
_-_
6) Write everything down the moment you think of it. Seriously.
âIâll remember it when I get around to writing that scene in a couple days / weeks / months (/years).â
You wonât.
Write it down.
Phone, journal, google docs - hell, my family regularly laughs at me for grabbing a napkin during dinner and scribbling thoughts down alongside pasta sauce stains.
And then, once you have it written down somewhere...
_-_
7) Consolidate your writing ideas in one place.
Maybe this isnât really your style, and thatâs totally chill.
Buuuut, if youâre Type-A like me - or if you tend to be somewhat unorganized and you know youâll lose track of your writing notes if theyâre scattered across multiple notebooks, journals, napkins, phone notes, etc. - having one consolidated document of notes is a life saver. I keep mine on Google Docs so I can access it, add to it, and look through it for inspiration anywhere at any time. When I have one of those Shower Thoughts that I jot down on my phone or on a napkin during dinner, I set myself a reminder on my phone to type it up in my Story Ideas document later.
(Or, if the idea I had was for a story of mine that Iâve already started planning / drafting / whatever, I put it in the document for that story instead of the Big Random Story Ideas doc. You get it.)
_-_
8) Have other ways to collect and save writing ideas, besides just writing stuff down. If you like Pinterest, make pinterest boards of your characters or stories or settings or whatever. If youâre big into playlists, make a playlist for your character / setting / story / etc. Or both. Or something else. Iâm not good at drawing, but maybe you are, and maybe you like to draw your ideas. Whatever form it takes, having another way to save ideas and think about your stories is invaluable.
_-_
9) Some writers can just start writing with no idea where the story is going, and they just kind of figure it out as they go. I envy those writers. And I do that sometimes for fanfiction, where the stakes are somewhat lower and the audience is reading more for scene-to-scene enjoyment (and to see their OTP kiss) than for a Driving And Compelling Narrative.
But hereâs the thing: especially if youâre just kind of starting out, writing without some sort of plan is really, really hard, and will likely lead you into a slow, meandering narrative that will likely frustrate you.
Even if you think youâre someone that just canât write with a plan (and again, I have the highest respect for pansters out there - I donât know how you do it, you crazy bastards, but you keep doing you) - even if you think âI canât work with plans, theyâre too prescriptive, I just want to write and see what happens -â
Try at least making the most skeletal of plans.
Even if you have no clue what 90% of the story is, yet. Thatâs fine. But you need to have some idea of what youâre building to, even if thatâs nothing more specific than a feeling, or a turning point for your character. Even if your entire plan for everything beyond Chapter 1 is, âAt some point, Charlie needs to realize that Ed was lying to her.â
This is where those Draft 0.5 notes come in handy. Because, more than likely, working on your current scene that way will spark ideas for later scenes, which you can put down at the bottom of the document and save for when they become relevant. In my experience, the line between planning ahead and making a Draft 0.5 is exceptionally thin. One can quickly turn into the other.
If youâre really, really resistant to the idea of planning ahead, thatâs okay. Itâs not everybodyâs style. But for the love of all that is holy, write down your ideas for future scenes, even if youâre a person that doesnât like to plan and writes only in story order, because you will not remember that idea once you get to that scene.
_-_
10) You donât have to write in order.
Hereâs the thing: Iâm a person that can only do my Draft 1 in story order (meaning, chronological order). I just have to be in that flow; I need to write in story order for me to best channel where the character is at from scene to scene, both narratively and emotionally.
But my Thought Vomit Draft is another thing entirely. By using the brain hack of putting my notes in red (or another color, it doesnât matter) and going down to the bottom of the document / page and taking notes there, and then integrating them into whatever plan I have, and then translating them into Draft 1 once I get there in the story - by doing that, I can get my good ideas onto the page (and expound upon them and let my muse carry me and ride that momentum while Iâm in the moment of inspiration) without writing out of order.
Maybe thatâs just me. But if youâre a person who really prefers to write in story order, that could be hugely helpful to you. It is to me.
_-_
11) Emotion and motivation will do more for your story than technicalities of plot.
If your characters really care about something, and their journey through the (shaky or weak) plot is emotionally engaging, it will be a much more compelling story than a story with a âperfectâ plot and unrelatable or unmotivated characters.
If your characters care about what theyâre doing, and it means something to them, and their goals and actions are driven by dreams or fears or emotions that are integral to who they are, your audience will care too. If you have a perfectly crafted plot that hits all the right beats and has high stakes and fast pacing and drama - but your characters donât connect with whatâs happening in a way thatâs deeply meaningful or emotional for them? Youâre gonna have a hard time engaging readers.
When in doubt, prioritize character emotion and motivation over plot. Emotion is what drives story.
This power is highly exploitable. (Just look at pulp novels and shitty but entertaining movies.) You can even use it to glaze over plot holes or reinvigorate a limp narrative. Use it that way sparingly, though. Itâs a band-aid, not a surgery.Â
_-_
12) Evil villains are hard to write - mostly because there are very few truly evil people in the world. (There are a few. Billionaires and several big name politicians come to mind.) But by and large, there arenât that many evil people. There are plenty of bad people, but bad people have some good in them, somewhere in there. Trying to write an evil villain is hard, because they often turn very cartoony.
Hereâs a tip: itâs much easier to write antagonists who arenât evil. Even if theyâre bad people. Of course, thereâs no reason you canât write a villain thatâs just truly evil - a serial killer, or an abuser, or a billionaire, or someone who legit just wants to hurt people or blow up the earth or stay in control of an oppressed population, or whatever. But chances are, itâs gonna be really hard to make them feel real, and even harder to create a plot around them that doesnât feel forced or contrived.
Instead, try writing an antagonist / villain whose motivations and goals directly clash with your protagonistâs - but not because they want to take over the world or see people suffer. Write an antagonist whoâs chaotic good, but whose perception of the situation is completely opposite from your heroâs. Write an antagonist whose only desire is to save people, and who will do anything to achieve that goal - anything. Write an antagonist who believes in the letter of the law, and will hinder and oppose the heroâs methods even if they agree with the heroâs motivation. Write an antagonist who got in way over their head and did some things they regret, and now they donât know how to get out, and theyâre doing their best but whatever they set in motion is too powerful for them to stop now.
Write villains who are human. Write a killer who thought they were doing the right thing by taking their victim out of the equation, who vomits at the sight of the body and sobs over the grave they dig. Write a government leader who truly believes sheâs doing whatâs best for her people in the long-term, even if it might hurt them in the short term, and is willing to endure the hatred and belligerence of the masses if it means securing what she thinks is a better future for her people. Write a teenage bully that thinks theyâre the one being picked on by the world, and theyâre just fighting back, standing their ground. Write a scientist who will break any code of ethics and hurt anyone he needs to - in order to bring back his baby sister from the grave, because he promised her heâd protect her and he failed. Write an antagonist who is selfish and self-centered and capricious - because in order to survive they had to look out for Number One, and that habit ainât about to break anytime soon.
Write villains who arenât even villains. Write antagonists who oppose the hero because of moral differences. Write antagonists who are trying to do the right thing. Write antagonists who treat the heroes with kindness and dignity and respect and gentleness.
They donât have to be good. They donât have to be Misunderstood Sweethearts who âdeserveâ a redemption arc. They can be cruel and nasty and dismissive and callous and violent and etc. etc.
Just hesitate before you make them Evil-with-a-capital-E. Because evil is hard to write, and honestly, boring to read. Flawed human beings with goals and motivations that directly oppose the main charactersâ are much easier to write and much more interesting to read.
Ask why. Why is your villain trying to take over the world? What does that even mean? Are they trying to create a Star-Trek-like post-capitalism utopia, but they know that wonât happen in a million lifetimes, so theyâre trying to do it by force? Are they actually super in favor of human rights, but they got very impatient waiting for the world to do anything about poverty and war, so they decided to take it into their own hands? Are they determined to fix the world - no matter the cost? Are they terrified and overwhelmed, but committed to see it through to the end? Or - maybe theyâre just doing it on a dare. Maybe they donât really give a shit about world domination, they were just a mediocre rich white guy who decided to fuck around and find out, and now heâs kind of curious how far he can take this thing. And now heâs kind of an internationally-wanted criminal, so heâs kind of stuck living on his hidden private island in his multi-billion dollar secret base, strapping lasers to sharksâ heads for the hell of it. Gross, selfish, uncaring, and dangerous? For sure. Evil? Depends on your definition. See, now weâre getting somewhere.
_-_
13) Itâs tempting to let the plot control the characters. Itâs easy to drop your characters into a situation and see how they react. But hereâs the thing: that doesnât drive plot. In fact, it bogs down pacing. Instead, try to build you plot off of your charactersâ actions and decisions. Let your character build their own situation. Not to say it should go they way they wanted it to go; in fact, usually, their grand plans should go to hell very quickly. But having the characters take action and make decisions, and letting the plot develop based on that, is much easier to make compelling than making a rigid series of events and then trying to herd your characters into them.
_-_
14) Having trouble justifying a characterâs actions? Consider having them make the opposite decision, or having them approach the situation in a different way. For example: you need your character to go meet the bad guy, for plot reasons, even though thereâs no way itâs not a trap. If the character goes, readers are gonna be groaning with their head in their hands, because câmon man, that was really fucking stupid. But heâs gotta go, because the plot needs that. Two ways you might handle this: a) He knows itâs probably a trap. He decides not to go. The plot conspires to get him near the villain anyway. Or, b) He knows itâs a trap. But he needs to go, for (insert reasons here). So, he approaches it in an unexpected way. He brings backup, recruiting a side character we met earlier in the story. Or he arrives on the back of a dragon, because ainât nobody gonna fuck with a dude on a dragon. Or he goes - early, and ambushes the villain. It may work, it may not. He may get himself kidnapped anyway. But it moves the plot along without having Stupid Hero Syndrome.
_-_
15) This is a legit piece of advice: if all of this sounds overwhelming, literally just ignore it and write what you want. For real. Writing should be fun, and every single writer operates differently. If youâre sitting here like âIâm getting stressed just reading this,â just flip me a good-natured bird and get on with your life. I promise I wonât take it personally. Same goes for literally any other writing advice you see. Lots of rules and guidelines can very quickly make anything thoroughly un-fun. Just write. If youâre passionate about it and you do it for long enough, youâll start figuring out the tips and tricks on your own.
_-_
16) Hereâs the best piece of advice I can give you: know your characters. More importantly, know whatâs important to them. Build their personality and decisions off of that, and build your plot off of their decisions.
I see a lot of character building sheets that ask a shit-ton of questions like âWhatâs their most prized possession?â âDo they like their family?â âWhatâs their favorite food?â
And while these are good questions, my problem with this type of character building is that if you start there, with the little stuff, youâre building on nothing. IMO, to make a truly strong character (not strong like Inner Strength, strong like effective), you need a strong foundation.
Here are the things you must know about your character:
a) What are their greatest fears / deepest insecurities? And I donât mean âwaspsâ or âheights.â I mean the deep shit. I mean fears like âliving a meaningless life,â or âturning out just like their parents,â or âthat no one will ever love them,â or âbeing powerless.â You may say, âBut theyâre really scared of wasps! They fall into a wasp nest when they were little and got stung so much they almost died!â Great! Thatâs a fantastic bit of backstory. They should absolutely be afraid of wasps, and that should absolutely be an impediment later in the story. But dig deeper. What about that event actually scarred them? Was it the helplessness? Stumbling around, swatting at the air, not being able to do a single thing to stop what was happening to them? Was it that they were alone, and no matter how loud they screamed, no one was coming? Was it the bodily horror of feeling themself turn into an inhuman creature as they swelled up from the stings, unable to move their fingers or face normally anymore?
And donât forget insecurities, because those factor in, too. Are they deeply insecure about their identity? Do they believe, deep down, that theyâre ugly? Did they grow up poor and theyâve always been really touchy about that? Why? Dig deep. Figure out what really, really bothers them.
b) What are their hopes and dreams? What do they truly want out of life? What do they consider the most valuable to their experience here in this thing called life? Is it the freedom to forge their own path and be independent? Is it the approval of their family or peers? Is it a home? Is it knowledge, or understanding? Spiritual fulfillment? Is it deeply important to them that they contribute to their community, or protect those they love? What do they need in order to feel truly and deeply fulfilled in life?
Figure out those two things (each one encompasses several things, btw, you donât have to stop at just one for each), and then use that to inform how they behave and the types of decisions they make within the story.Â
It also informs character behavior and personality.Â
Letâs say we have a character whoâs afraid of helplessness. Theyâre probably gonna be the person that always wants to do something, try something, no matter how hopeless the situation seems. Theyâd despise just sitting and waiting, probably, because it makes them feel powerless. They might even be the person that makes rash decisions and acts impulsively and puts themself in danger unnecessarily, because in their mind itâs better than being at the mercy of fate. This is one way you could use a characterâs personality to inform their decisions, which in turn helps to inform plot.
Or, letâs say we have a character whose greatest fear is being left behind or forgotten. We may have a chatterbox on our hands. They might be obnoxious. They might love the spotlight, constantly vying for attention no matter the situation, because deep down theyâre so afraid that theyâd be forgotten otherwise. Or, it may go the opposite way. They may be so afraid of people leaving them that theyâre terrified of bothering people. They donât want to do anything that could annoy people, anything that might give people a reason to leave them. They might be exceedingly polite, quiet, accommodating. A push-over, really.
These are two nearly opposite types of personalities, both stemming from the same core fear/insecurity. You can go a lot of different ways with it. But if you build on that strong foundation, youâll have a strong character, and a stronger plot.
Likewise, the structure of your story can and should inform the design of these character traits. If you need your characters to team up near the end, it may be impactful if you give your main character a deep fear of commitment, an insecurity about being unwanted or left behind, and make them highly value independence and freedom. That could make their team-up for the final battle very meaningful. Conversely, you can use your characterâs deepest fears and desires to help design the plot. Is your character deeply insecure about voicing their opinions or taking a stand, because of trauma they faced in the past? Make them face that. Build that into the climactic third act. Give them the big inspirational speech where they stand up and talk about what they believe to be important, what they think the group should do. And then design that character arc to run through the story, giving you more handholds and stepping stones, more pieces of foundation on which to design the plot.
In this way, character should inform story as much as story informs character. Itâs a feedback loop.
Bonus: if you build your character and your plot off of each other in this way, it automatically starts to build in the foundations of that emotional investment I mentioned earlier. If your characterâs decisions are based on what they most want and do not want in life, you basically have your character motivation and stakes pre-built.
Note: you need to know these things about your villain, too.
-_-_-
Iâm genuinely sorry about the length of this, lmao. But you did ask.
Best of luck!
Edit: I forgot an important one:
17) Start when the scene starts and end when the scene ends.
What do I mean by that?
If your notes say âDanny asks Nicole out after school and majorly flubs it,â start the scene when Danny approaches Nicole after school. Better yet, cold-open the scene on âI was wondering if, you know, youâd wanna. You know. Hang out some time?â
Donât start that morning when Danny goes to school, unless youâre gonna cover the school day in like one or two sentences. Donât spend whole paragraphs going through the school day, unless itâs to cover other plot points first (in which case apply these same guidelines there), or if the paragraphs are there for a specific reason, like to illustrate how stressed he is and how it seems like every little thing is going wrong. Even then, trim the fat as much as possible. Expounding and describing everything Moment-to-moment is for the meat of the scenes, not the leading-up-to and coming-away-from.
Hereâs my rule of thumb: study how and when movies cut from scene to scene. Movies have exceptionally strict, limited time for storytelling; theyâre excellent examples of starting a scene when the plot point starts and ending when itâs over. If you canât picture a movie showing everything you showed, start the scene later and end it earlier.
#asks#anon#writing advice#writing tips#writing#fanfic writing#fanfiction#character creation#plot development#character development#my advice#original writing
731 notes
¡
View notes
Note
I was curious what advice would you give to someone new to writing fics? I've been wanting to get back into it but haven't seriously written something since high school. I hope this isn't an annoying question or anything!
Not an annoying question at all! I'm just a little worried that I won't have terribly good or useful advice. To be honest, I also sort of stopped writing in earnest right as I finished high school, and didn't pick it back up until my late 20s. It's certainly an adjustment! But I think the few things that really helped me get back into writing fic as a hobby and something I spend quite a bit of time on would be:
Write for yourself first, then find your other motivations. My original inspiration in getting back into fic writing was that there just were not that many fics I liked for my favorite pairing, and I wanted more of them, and I especially wanted more with the tropes and characterizations I wanted to see. I think at the very core of anything you need that internal spark that drives you. At the same time, for me at least, if I just relied on my own drive, I would not get much done; I need some external guardrails. So having people send prompts, or writing for particular events, or writing stuff for friends really helps me to get my ass in gear and finish stuff. That may not be the perfect motivator for you, and that's fine! You just gotta figure out what is.
Be open to inspiration. Anything and everything can be spun out into a story with the right tweaking. Obviously stuff like music is a classic inspiration source, but I've also pulled ideas from poetry, from memes, from Reddit threads, from YouTube videos, from rambling conversations on Discord and from real life to make fics out of. So many times, someone will post a silly Twitter screencap, and I'll think, There's a fic in this. And a lot of the time, there is! Research is a wonderful thing, but so is serendipity. If you're out there actively looking for ideas, eventually one that you like will stumble past you.
Find your community. I can genuinely say I never would have finished more than one fic if I didn't have fandom friends to talk to about even stupid headcanons, to bounce ideas off of, and to encourage me (and to encourage them in turn!). Discord has been a godsend, and some of my closest online friends are people I met in the GaaLee discord server. As I've gotten more comfortable as a writer, I've also joined general writing servers and Reddit communities and have found them immensely helpful on both a motivational level (bingos, sprints, owe-me challenges) and on a craft level (plot workshopping and writing ethics and live grammar help). It's a lot easier to think about fic ideas and hash through problem moments when I have a constant stream of fandom-related chatter coming from the little people who live in my phone! Ao3 is an amazing website, and it's great as, well, an archive, but it isn't social media by design. If you want conversation and human connection and cheerleading, you've gotta forge out and find it.
Make it a habit ... If you want to produce anything longer than a couple hundred words, you really have to set aside time for it. And writing is just like knitting or dirt biking or painting little model figurines: the more you do it, the more easily it comes. When I was first getting back into the proper swing of things, I committed myself to 30 minutes of writing per week. Just 30 minutes. I didn't even hit that goal every week, but there were tons of weeks I got on a roll and went over that amount, and by the end of the year I'd written over 200,000 words. I used to spend an hour laboriously tip-tapping out 200 words, but now I can easily blow through 1k in a 50 minute sprint. It's all about training that muscle.
... But don't make it a chore. With fanfic, you aren't doing this as a job, and you aren't ultimately doing it for anyone other than you. That means you can take breaks when you need them, you can set deadlines and then fail to meet them, you can write stuff and then decide to never post it. When you start getting burnt out, when the practice loses the joy and energy, stop. There's no 'hustle' here. In our capitalist society we're so trained to push past our limits and keep going even when it hurts us, but the hobby you do for connection and relaxation and whatever else shouldn't be like that.
Ignore metrics. Sometimes stuff isn't gonna get hits, or kudos, or comments. There are some basic 'rules' as to the stuff that does and doesn't get traction, but every time you post something it's a roll of the dice. If you're focused on watching that kudos counter tick up, you will get bummed out fast. And any writer will tell you that the stuff you think is your best work will never be the stuff that gets the most accolades. So you have to find something else to give you a sense of success. For me, it's watching my wordcount go up in my stats and those occasional comments where someone has a lot to say and that one person who always leaves me a <3 emoji (and, shout out to @egregiousderp, having someone to have long one-on-one conversations with about the stuff that never made it to page).
Don't strive for perfection. It's really easy to want your first ever fic to be a complete showstopper, the best fic fandom has ever seen, hitting all the tropes and the ideas and the characterization that you just know fandom is missing and would be everyone's top favorite if only it was written. This is a trap. No one fic can be all things. Most people who want to write an epic as their very first venture will not see the end of that epic, because they haven't put in the practice hours to make something on that scale work. That's not to say you can't start out with a big, sprawling multichap, just don't expect it to be the greatest thing since sliced bread if you're just starting out, and be okay with abandoning it for greener pastures if you get to that point. Think of the first time someone makes a vase out of clay or bakes a loaf of bread. That's never their best vase or their best bread. If they keep up with it, they'll make more and better vases and loaves. Likewise, your first fic is probably not gonna be your best fic. See it for what it is: your launchpad.
You can't edit an empty page, but you can over-edit a full one. This kind of spins off of #7, but if the words aren't there, you can't fix them. Daydreams and headcanons are fantastic (and god, how many times have I wished for a speech-to-text engine that projected my falling asleep thoughts onto a Google doc for later perusal), but they aren't fic. If you want to write fic, you've gotta get comfortable with the idea of sloppy outlines and rough first drafts. You can't build a house without a frame and you can't build a man without a skeleton (I mean, you can, I guess, but he'd be one floppy man). The nice thing about fic is that it doesn't matter if that frame is structurally unsound or the skeleton has 18 too many bones, you can clean that up in the editing process. But you can't start hanging curtains and arranging furniture in something that doesn't even have walls. That's the process. But! Also know when to set down the editor's pen and say, "Okay, this is good enough for government work", and call it done. ("Done" doesn't have to mean "posted", but it does mean, "I'm done picking at this for now, and I'm gonna go write some more stuff".) Over-editing can make stuff seem laborious and forced, and it prevents you from actually improving. To continue belaboring the house metaphor, you can spend your whole life rearranging furniture in just one room, but the end result of that is a pretty narrow existence and a room with a lot of footprints and tracks in the carpet.
Write shit down. When you have ideas, jot them down--in a notebook, in a Google Doc, in the Notes app of your phone, in pen on the back of your hand. You think you will remember that brilliant line of dialogue or sparkling snippet of narration or genius plot that came to you in a dream, but you Will Not. Write it down. Write it down. Write it down! There have been so many times when a fic was completely saved by past!me having written down my shower thoughts about what happens next in the fic, that present!me had completely forgotten about and was floundering over.
Have fun with it! Try different stuff. Try stupid stuff. Try experimental stuff. Do stuff you've never done before that you aren't sure will work. It's important to get comfortable with your niche (for example, I know I'm never going to be the sort of person who writes intricate plots of intrigue or super long 100k epics or detailed battles), but you can't find that niche unless you explore lots of different niches! Figure out what you love and what you absolutely hate, and then keep doing the stuff you love.
Okay, so that was actually TEN things, but ... I hope you still found this helpful. Feel free to send another ask if any of this was confusing or unclear. Good luck with your fic writing and, if you want, send me a link to what you've written once you've written it! I'd love to read it.
81 notes
¡
View notes
Text
Some Tips on How I Keep Motivating Myself to Write
This post was inspired by a response I recently got from @pastelnightgale and obviously, Iâm not an expert (Iâm literally on year 6 of a fanfic rip), but I still wanted to type something up about this.Â
I find that the hardest part about writing is finding the motivation to actually start it . . . and then keep it. You can have all of these intricate fantasies in your head, with twists and turns and even a playlist you made on spotify, but actually getting up and writing it is ridiculously hard.Â
Especially if, like me, you suffer from perfectionism.Â
I kinda wanted to write a post about how IÂ personally motivate myself to write, both fanfiction and my own things. Obviously, what I write is flawed and needs a lot of improvement, but Iâve come really far and Iâm proud of the progress Iâve made.Â
So, hereâs some tips Iâve picked up over the years. Feel free to apply this to whatever art you personally create, but this is primarily for writers.
1) Listening to Music
This is my number one. Easily. Iâm someone who has a lot of attachment with the music I listen to (as most people do, Iâd assume). Though Iâm picky with the overall sound, I prefer music or artists who really put a lot of thought into their lyrics specifically. Or even when they use certain effects to carry across emotions or add more emphasis to specific lines. Itâs why Iâm such a fan of Taylor Swift; her songs are basically poetry packaged as pop music.Â
It personally helps me to listen to music not just because itâs enjoyable, but it helps create scenarios in my head. We all shoot music videos in our head, why not try doing it with your characters? Plus, if the artist youâre listening to plays with words through metaphors or similies or imagery, itâs a massive bonus. I seriously recommend turning to music, whatever genre you listen to, and letting that sometimes paint the picture for you.
2) watching Movies.Â
This is a massive one for me. I donât know how high this would be on anyone elseâs lists since films are obviously a completely different medium to books, but I find thereâs a lot of things that can be useful about movies. For one thing, movies just have better fight sequences. Kinda obvious statement, but I donât mean in a âwell you can see it so therefore film is betterâ no, I mean, film literally has better action sequences.Â
Obviously, as a writer, youâre never going to be able to properly adapt the quick pace of fights in movies. But you can adapt the details in how they move. Fight scenes in movies are better then books because theyâre choreographed. Now granted, Iâm still beginning my journey in reading, but so far, I havenât been impressed with what Iâve seen. Either the author writes a scene that describes the action, but with no focus on the strain it has on the characterâs bodies, or they gloss over the fight completely. It makes me feel like Iâm reading fanfiction, but written from the younger side.Â
Itâs just super dissapointing, so I try to challenge myself by studying how the characters moves, the impact of their movements on each other, and then how tired that can leave them.Â
But also, movies can have other things that I think writers should learn to adapt. Like a characterâs mannerisms. Now, I donât just mean mannerisms as in what they do in their day to day lives, I mean facial ticks. Like, the minute sequences their features will go through as theyâre processing news. Or their stances. Or what they do with their hands. Actors are very detailed about how theyâre protraying their characters, and I just find myself aching to carry that over in my own portrayal of my characters.
Itâs obviously important to realise that film and novels have both their benefits and disadvantages in what they can and canât portray. But itâs even more important to realise that different mediums can also teach us things about our sense of portrayals.
3) Reading books
This may be surprising that itâs not number one, but honestly, I didnât start reading actual books until late last year. I kinda used to read some in high school, but those were few and far between. This year Iâve actively been trying to emerge myself in more professional writing, as I do find it a little strange to want to write so badly without taking any infleunce from any other writers.Â
Previously, I used to take inspiration from fanfiction and fictionpress, which I guess I still do. Thereâs definitely benefits in exclusively reading them (for instance, I prefer characterisation, romance and comedy in fanfiction) but I personally find books to be better in overall world building. I mean, obviously.
World building and setting are my weak spots, and I find that reading literal books actually helps me easier improve on these areas. Oh, and length. Iâm a pretty detailed writer, but itâs sometimes hard to navigate what should and shouldnât be getting so much focus. Fanfiction is pretty short (typically only a few pages), but books can be a whole lot longer, and how they use that space and length helps me translate it into my own pages. Granted, I tend to write way too much, but itâs still really helpful in navigating what should and shouldnât be getting focus.
Oh, and bonus points for booktubers. They review a variety of different books, and for me personally, whenever they critique books, it motivates me to write something brilliant so they could maybe read it and smile. My favourites are WithCindy and Dominic Noble.
4) TumblrâSpecifically writing blogs.Â
When I tell you that I did nothing in my last years of high school but secretly read fanfiction and writing blogs on tumblr in class, I--
Obviously, Iâm biased, cause Iâve been reading tips on here since I was a kid, but I really recommend following some good blogs on here. They give such good advice, specifically on how to research, or portray certain emotions and, most of all, representation. Tumblr was actually where I learnt to write my fight scenesâabout how to portray the feeling of a quick sequence of events, while balancing it out with your characterâs limited view. They write things I havenât even seen professionals talk about (and honestly, I think they could benefit from reading a tumblr blog).Â
My personal favourite blogs are: Nimbleâs Notebook, and Clevergirlhelps
5) Re-writes.
Okay, this is a massive one I shouldâve mentioned in the beginning. Never compare what you have on your word doc to what others have published. Why? Because I can tell you that they did not start off like that. They went through massive amounts of editing and drafting and re-reads before coming out like this clean cut version. Trust me. No oneâs that quick. And even if they are, who cares? It could take you two drafts, it could take you four, it could take you nine--we all work at our own pace.
Itâs something I have to keep reminding myself when Iâm on my first and second draft. Because they are shit. I always feel untalented when writing my first draft--oh, and thatâs not a purposeful dig at myself to get compliments, I genuinely mean that. I will never let someone read one of my early drafts because they are literally so bad, and not only that, but those drafts are for me. Theyâre not there for anyone else yet. Early drafts are just so you can start to build your empire, theyâre your foundation. You can reach for the sky the more you keep building.Â
Donât get on your own case if you donât like your first draft. Itâs fine. It gets so much easier the more you rewrite it. Trust me.
6) Write Things for You.
This is one of my favourite tips. Oh, and I donât mean it in a âyouâre not writing for an audience, you are the audienceâ kinda way. No, I mean literally write things for you. And only for you.
If you have a story in your head that you donât want to write because you know itâs just a phase, it wonât last long enough for you to make something out of, or youâre not confident in it, or whatever, fuck itâjust write it.Â
Open your word doc and type it out. Then donât post it. Or share it. Keep it on your computer, stored away in a folder you wonât ever share. You might be asking, why would you waste your time on a project no one will ever see? Simple.Â
It takes away the pressure.
A major hindrance to a writer actually writing is sometimes . . . not feeling good enough. Youâre worried that an audience will laugh or mock what youâve written, or that it wonât turn out just the way you planned it too, or even that the plot is too corny. Well, what Iâve found is that writing for myself stops me from judging myself so badly. I have so many documents on this computer of corny borderline wattpad stories that will never see the life of day. And it feels great. Cause Iâm still actively writing and improving myself while eliminating that huge amount of anxiety that plagues me.Â
This is such a massive tip, please consider it. Obviously, if the story turns out really well, go ahead and post it if youâre super proud of it. But otherwise, just write something with the intention of not sharing it. Keep it to yourself, so you can look back on it with fond memories.Â
6 notes
¡
View notes
Note
The ask prompt is too long to fit into an ask TT_TT but here's the doc for it docs(.)google(.)com/document/d/1yDI7iFRhOJ8ENv_IwZAo3rDSUqj80EiJROS10RzRbj4/edit
the lengths u are going for this,,, much appreciated you're very sweet!!!
prompts + answers under the cut!!
INTRODUCTION
Name: aloera
AO3 account: aloera
Fandoms you write for: bnha
How many stories have you written so far: 19
FANFICTION PROFILE
What's your favorite fandom to write for? hmm,,, used to do pjo and eah (ever after high) and eah was fun as fuck i will say!!! i think bnha is my fav mostly bc i made the most friends in this fandom :D
What's your favorite character/person to write for? bkg and kirishima!! cannot choose do not make me <3
Fic you'd want to improve? probably what we deserve? i rushed the beginning and the confession is a bit stilted imo
Hardest fic you've written? between lion and men -_- bc there is so much canon compliant stuff i've gotta write out before i get to the divergence and its HARD
Easiest fic you've written? come home to me!!! it happened so easily,,, no second guessing no writers block just vibes <33 was lovely i miss it
What would you say is the most "famous" fic you've ever written? also probably come home to me? its got the most interaction
first line of the first fic you've ever written and published. [not including my 2014 ffnet fics] "The bell rings, class starts, and Katsuki and Midoriya are inexplicably absent." from come home to me
Have you ever done a collab with another writer? yes!!!!! on two separate occasions and its so fucking fun i highly recommend trying it out its the best
Do you beta? if asked but honestly im a shit beta lmao
Do you like joining fic fests/exchanges? depends on what i have going on irl but in general yeah!!
FANFICTION PREFERENCES
Fluff or angst? definitely fluff
"OCs" or "Reader" inserts? reader inserts!! have been going ham on them recently
Blurbs or drabbles? blurbs!!
One thing you love about fanfiction i just. i really love slice of life romance?? and most media doesn't give you that bc its dedicated to plot and action and that's valid!! but fanfiction fills in the gap which is really nice
One thing you don't like about fanfiction most of the stuff i don't like is less about actual fanfiction and more about how people behave about it
What is/are your favorite fandom author/authors? IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE!!! TURN IT UP!!!
bnha: hiuythn, rae_tnub, Moniix, Ata_Lanta, wrunic, chezka, PurplePersnickety, surveycorpsejean, mahadevi, arxaris, deviance, Oceanbreeze7, MikeWritesThings, bonnia, wonhaebunny, dinosuns
voltron: hiuythn, Oceanbreeze7, DeerstalkerDeathFrisbee, arahir, dinosuns,
and honorable mention to loveclouds im not even in the haikyuu fandom i just love their fics So Much
these are just the ones off the top of my head i have so many favourites idc if i'm only supposed 2 have one!! die mad about it!!!
What is your favorite trope? secret relationship + relationship reveal til the day i die babie <3 <3
Least favorite trope? hm,,, probably just like. angst lmao i cannot stand 90% of it
A fanfiction clichĂŠ that you can't help but love? coffeeshop aus,,,, so good
Do you have a type when it comes to pairings? the otp where its like. piece of shit + himbo = love. ex. krbk, catradora, jade/beck
Favorite setting/au? hm,,, truly i cannot pick one KGKSJNHKj but i really like college aus!! and modern aus!! and roommate aus!!
Explain the meaning of your favorite line of dialogue you've written as if someone hasn't read it in context. âHe doesnât know,â Katsuki says, softly. âMy timer stopped and nothing happened. Heâs not mine.â
the line is from what we deserve!! it's a soulmate au where your timer counts down to the moment that you meet your soulmate!! bakugou's timer ends at USJ when he and kirishima attack kurogiri at the same time (impulsive kings <33) but kirishima's timer doesn't end until kamino because that's when he accepts himself as bakugous soulmate!! unfortunately, when bakugous timer has reached 0, he turned to see that kirishima's was still ticking and therefore believes that kirishima isn't his soulmate.
this line just,, idk. it's really sad. bakugou is such an action-driven character? if something doesn't go his way he Makes it go his way. he's got this insanely volatile quirk and he's got impeccable control of it!! but his love for kirishima isn't something that he can change and he's not going to ruin kirishima's chance of finding his own soulmate because he loves him and wants him to be happy. i really wanted to focus on how resigned he is? and how unusual that is for a character like him.
Favorite trope/genre to write? again, secret relationship with relationship reveals <33 fluff in general is my wheelhouse!!!
A trope/genre you haven't written but think would be a fun challenge? idk if this counts?? have been working on some dead dove concepts!! its super different from what i normally write so its a cool challenge
The one trope/concept you'll never touch and why probably cheating/infidelity?? it just looks,,, super difficult to write well and i don't have enough of an interest in it to try it out
Which do you prefer to write: longer or shorter fics? shorter!! low attention span gang <3
Ideal length to read? 5-10k?
Ideal length to write? 4-8k!!
How long was the longest fic you've ever written? control fraek is around 28k i think?
Have you ever written an AU? yeah!! i've done restaurant au's, soulmate au's, pro hero aus, and fantasy aus (general, not the bnha fantasy ending)
What's your favorite AU trope? hm,, probably when two people in authority are in a secret relationship? ceo's/uni professors/etc etc
Have you ever written smut? yeah!! was. difficult tho
What's your comfort genre? (the one you fall on most in writing/reading) fluff,,, hurt/comfort,,, fix-it fics with happy endings <3
If you were to start writing in other fandoms, which would they be? maybe jjk?? the characters are really cool!!!! fr i might go back to my ever after high roots i love the characters and setting so Much its so fun!!! idec if no ones into it anymore!!!!!
Is there a trope you think you could be easily recognized by in your writing? i've had people say they saw the mention of buff hagakure and recognized it was me so. probably that skdjhnksjd
WRITING STYLE
How would you describe your style? i tend to use shorter sentences and pretty simple words i think? and i gravitate towards lighthearted concepts that allow for ensemble casts and humour!!
Describe your style in three words romcom but fanfic
Favorite words to use when writing? the word reverent!! fuckin love including it!!
Dialogue tags or no dialogue tags? (she said, he said, they said, etc) dialogue tags!!!
Favorite dialogue tag (other than said, if you use them) again idk if this counts but "they said softly" is unmatched
Long sentences vs short vs a mix short <33
What colors would you use to describe your writing? hm,,, depends on the fic i would say?? control fraek is dark green to me?? kinda like a forest at night yk?? scary but there's still life there. sugar cookies is yellow like early morning sunlight, when it rains is yellowy-orange like a caution sign. not gonna list all of them cause theres a lot its just. do u get it? the colours change based on the vibe of the fic.
What song or music genre would you use to describe your writing? think. i am constantly trying to emulate that moment at the end of wasteland baby when hozier goes "im in love/im in love with you."
What kind of metaphors do you rely on? religious metaphors my beloved <33 they're just so pretty!!! i also love comparing stuff to water for some reason?? like that ocean vuong quote thats like "what are you now?/water." it goes hard!!!
What's something you'd say is experimental in your writing at this time? definitely action!! i have,,, no idea how to write it so anything i do is really just me playing around and seeing what works and what doesn't
Do you prefer to write by hand or to type? i've tried both!! personally i prefer typing because it goes way faster but i will say that writing by hand lets me get words down when i'm going through writer's block
What is your preferred place to write (notebook, laptop, cellphone, etc.)? laptop!!
What app/apps do you use to write (word, notepad, etc.)? google docs skjdnkjh its fine on desktop but mobile is,,,,, disgusting
Do you keep a notebook or file/notes page in your phone/device for notes on your writing? ngl i just have everything organized in my drive?? one folder per fandom and then sub folders for ideas+hcs, unfinished wips, and finished fics. multichaps get sub sub folders so i can organize outlines and drafts
Do you listen to music to help you write? yeah!! playlists organized by fic vibe :D
Where do you usually go to write (bedroom, living room, etc.)? mostly in my bedroom??? but moving around to different stops helps too i think!!
How long does it usually take for you to write? again this depends on what i have going on irl, how attached i am to the idea, my mindset at the time, etc!! i am,, the least consistent person skjnhdkjh.
What's your favorite font to use when writing? times new roman my beloved
Other writing habits? sometimes i'll write in the dark?? bad for my eyes but for some reason it gets the words flowing
CONCEPTUALIZATION
How do you conceptualize your ideas? (See specific moments like they're a movie, writing specific lines in your head, don't know until you put the words on paper, etc.) i tend to get inspiration from movies, books, poems, or other fics!!! sometimes one line just makes me go oh,, i want to write something like that,,, and then it helps me create an idea that makes me feel the same way?? i did this with control fraek!!!! i wanted a scenario where bakugou was cold and calculating and i was like hm. to do that heâd have to be focusing on something important. and from there i was able to flesh out the rest of the idea.
Which comes first: the pairing or the plot? with krbk its always always the pairing,, i'll be sitting there like wow <33 i love them <33 what if one of them had amnesia <33 (which, yes, wip!!) otherwise it's usually the plot!! and i slot in characters that i feel make sense
Have you ever used a prompt? yeah!! used a prompt for wlw week 2020 and it was fun as hell
Do you write around the story around a specific scene you want to get to or do you start from a plot idea definitely the first!!!! i almost always write like,,, a super messy scene thats 90% dialogue, keep it in my head, and then write the entire fic around that one moment
Do you find that you include a projection of some part of yourself in the way you write a character? a lot of the time when i write love confessions or love in general i'll have one of the characters think or say that the other person makes their head quiet? and it's because that's what i feel whenever i'm in love?? a quiet mind. i project on characters yeah but i think most of the projection actually goes to the way that i write love
Do you research some of the things you write deeply, partially and kind of wing the rest, or play entirely by ear (in this case, go with whatever base knowledge of the subject you have)? most of the time if i do research it'll be about the setting (ex. the izakaya in to have and to hold) or if i'm having the characters interact with an object that they like. need to know how to use (me, in control fraek: google. hey google. does someone die if they get shot in the foot??? no???? awesome thank u <3)
Have you ever had an idea for a story and forgot about it? lmaoo yeah all the time i'll find like 500-2k words of concepts in my gdocs like i do. not remember this at all
Is there a trope you think you could be easily recognized by in your writing? probably krbk secret relationship lmao
Are there concepts you've tried that turned out better than expected? yeah!! i fully thought the action in control fraek would be awful but it turned out not bad??? which im happy with
Are there concepts you've tried that turned out worse than you expected? again, what we deserve, i personally think it would have worked out better if i'd paced it slower and drawn out the pining but i. do not feel like going back to fix it so its staying the way that it is. pining is so fucking hard to do AHHHH i get so tired with it!!! im like just date already!!!!
PROCESS
How do you come up with titles? in rare occasions (literally. all my multichaps for some reason) the title comes after writing like .5 words of the first chapter im like YES this is it!!!!! sometimes i write the whole thing and pick out one line that fits (what i did with come home to me) a lot of the time i just. steal from songs or poems that i like
What's your favorite emotion to cause on your readers? i like making people happy!!!! love when people comment saying they're cheered up
What's your favorite emotion to write? lovelovelovelovelovelove
Have you ever cried or felt any emotion while reading something you've written? never cried?? but sometimes i'll rereading my hurt/comfort fics 4. yk. comfort
Do you write in order or whatever comes to you? in order!! unless i have a scene that i Need to write and i'll quickly jot it down so that i don't forget
Usual way you procrastinate while writing? ...doing asks like this, making playlists, discord, watching netflix. what don't i do smh
Do you outline or free write? i am. so shit at outlines. i mostly free write and write lil notes for stuff that i wanna add later
Do you set word goals or scene goals (scenes you want to include)? yes!! like i said i'll write loose notes for scenes that i want to add later!! it gives me something to write towards :D
What do you consider when writing your scenes? what goes into making the atmosphere and mood you want? to set a scene i do two things? the first is like,, the five senses bc that always sets the scene really well and makes it feel Real. i'll visualize stuff in my head like its a movie and write out what i would want to tell the set designer?? if the lights are low, if the space is busy, if it's supposed to exude comfort or not.
for putting forward the character's mood one thing i've found that makes a difference is sentence length!! long sentences are good for making a character seem flustered and nervous or not really in control of their emotions? good for love confessions. short sentences are good for when the character is focused on something or short on time. good for fights!!
What's something you never considered to include in your writing that you can't leave out now? def buff hagakure,,,, once i thought of it i was like. if i don't include this at least once in every single fic how could i look at myself in the mirror!!!!!! how could i face anyone!!!!
How do you start a story? establishing a fact about the character or describing the setting! option a is one single thread of gold, option b is between lion and men
How do you end a story? either by tying it back to the beginning or doing like a funny kind of closing??? option a is sugar cookies, option b is a godless society
How do you get out of writer's block? change something!! move something!! i go from typing to handwriting, moving from my bedroom to my living room, switching wips to work on something else!! i do sprints as well?? give myself like fifteen minutes to write something and sometimes 200 words opens up the way for another 2k. sometimes i'll just delete like 500 words and start fresh
Do you edit? or do you toss your writing out there? i edit!!! i'll go over it myself then send it to one or two betas (bee my beloved <33)
How do you edit? do you use spellcheck, grammar checkers, etc? bee is my grammar checker bc he is So Good with grammar. i use grammarly as well for spellcheck stuff mostly?? sometimes my edit process is just like "am i tired of looking at this!! yes <3" and then i post it
PROGRESS
Do you usually like what you write? yeah!!! i post stuff that makes me happy and that i'm fine with rereading!!! i write stuff for self-indulgence reasons first and foremost and i think my writing reflects that sjhnksj
Have you ever written something you didn't like but posted anyways? nope!! even what we deserve i LIKED even if i see a lot of room 4 improvement!! if i don't like smth it's not getting posted
Do you find yourself rereading your writing often? yeah!! the reason i wrote so much krbk secret relationship is because i loved it but i'd read all that there was so i just,, wrote more,, ngl its kinda nice being in a place where i actually like my writing bc i can write stuff that i want to see and really enjoy it!!
Can you tell us anything about your current WIP? sure!! i'm currently working on when it rains which is a fic where bakugou gets hit by a crying quirk!! i'm gonna be using it to explore So Much of all might's character and his relationships with bakugou and aizawa (and i think some people from his past!!)
Can you give us a sneak peek on your current WIP? âYou did something. What the hell did you do?â Kirishima sounds pissed off. It would amuse Katsuki if he wasnât fighting just to stay standing.
âNothing he didnât ask for,â Shinsou replies.
âKâri⌠shima,â Katsuki croaks out. ââS fine. Not him.â
His chest collapses back into the familiar dry heaving after that but Kirishima shuts up. He doesnât apologize to Shinsou.
Kirishimaâs a good friend, stubborn and loyal. He stands by Katsukiâs side like an attack dog, blocking him from the view of anyone ogling at his tears.
The last line you've written Ochako knows more than she'd realized. She knows enough to keep her guard up.
Itâs not enough.
Open a wip. whatâs the first line?
Katsuki wakes up feeling like absolute fucking shit.
INSIGHT
What's your favorite thing about writing? touched on this before but it's mainly just being able to write the things that i want to see and actually enjoy them!!! actually reread them!!!! i thought "wouldn't it be cool if bkg and kirishima owned a restaurant together" and then i wrote it and i like it enough to reread it!!!! being able to create content for myself makes me. so happy
How do you keep yourself inspired? this is gonna sound narcissistic maybe but honestly i'm just really excited about my ideas and where i'm gonna take them and the idea of "i'm gonna get to That scene" keeps me going through the entire thing. also my friends!!!! i'll talk to them about fics and their reactions keep me hyped up enough to finish!!!!
What is your favorite thing to write? just,, slice of life romance,,, stuff thats silly and makes people laugh!!
What do you think your strengths are in writing? i'm good with dialogue!! i do lil voice acting sessions with myself to make sure everything sounds natural and like it's coming from that character skhjnskj
i'm comfortable with my portrayal of love as well??? i spend a lot of time thinking about what it is exactly that i'm trying to get across and i think it turns out well!!
What are things you wish you could practice more? on one hand i wanna get better at writing angst on the other hand i dislike writing angst. do you see my issue
One way you've improved your writing since you began? characterization!! i think i've gotten better at writing characters that are all Different and bring different things to the table!!! i used to project a lot more and it would compromise the characterization because the character was like 70% me and 30% them? not to say that projection is bad but if you do it too much it just,, doesn't read like the character and from a reader's standpoint the narrative can become less compelling
One aspect of writing you're still working on? writing action!!! i. literally hate writing it but i write for a fandom about superheroes so. Unfortunately i gotta learn.
A piece of writing advice you've learned while writing saw this on another tumblr post but they said sometimes if you're struggling with a scene, the problem is five lines back. i've found that to be true!!!! sometimes u gotta delete a chunk and start a little ways back!! i did this with too busy being yours because i was stuck for Weeks and i deleted like 25% of what i had but it helped me actually finish it :D
A bit of writing advice you can't stand when people shit on show don't tell for being overrated lmao bc when u read their writing you can Tell
Something you wish you knew when you first started writing? ,,,,honestly i kind of wish i could know some of the stuff that i used to when i first started writing?? technically i'm better now but creatively i was must better when i wasn't stressing about whether anyone would like what i was writing. so i guess i wish i knew that i should keep that confidence? i kinda wish that i wasn't as insecure about other people's writing styles because i never used to be!!
Something you've learned in life that you apply in writing there's no point in feeling inferior?? writing one genre isn't better than the other. being in one fandom isn't better than being in another. the kind of language you use or the length of your paragraphs- none of that stuff like. matters. what matters is that you're having fun and happy with what you're creating!!!! enjoy other peoples writing but don't let it make you feel worse about yours :D
#AHH ive wanted to answer these for so long...... bro fr i was so happy when u sent these!!! like wow!! finally got sent one!!!#sorry for how long the responses are idk how to be concise#asks#anon#a(lore)a
5 notes
¡
View notes
Text
Being Simon
Chapter 1: The Past
Chapter 1/2 (All chapters)
Rating: T
Genre: Fluff/Angst
Word Count:Â 8493
Summary:Â Simon's type of therapy is...unusual to say the least. He has the incredible chance to go back in time to fix what he regrets. However, things get more complicated when Simon meets someone very interesting in the past.
Read on AO3
AN:Â Ahahahaha I did it!!! I finished a fic! That's a big achievement for me nowadays tbh. This has taken forever because stupid fucking health, but I did it! Of course I'm not 100% good with it but I'm still proud. Being Erica is one of my fave shows ever and is severely underrated imo. Then I saw this post and was like "oh damn that would be great for snowbaz." Now like three-four months late, here we are! Big thank you to @carryonmyloveliesâ as always. She has been a big support for me through this writing slump. I couldn't be more grateful for her <3
World basics: time travel therapy is a thing, no further explanation given, and going back in time to fix past regrets teaches patients how to live better in the present. Patients take over their past selves' bodies for a bit. Patients can return from the past either suddenly or by stepping through doors. So just imagine Simon doing that. Saying much more is spoilers.Â
Iâm gonna post chapter 1 today, then chapter 2 sometime within the next week. Hopefully y'all like it!
âââââââââââââââ
You know that guy whoâs got it all? A perfect job, a perfect partner, wonderful family, a life that people are secretly jealous of? You know that guy, everyone knows that guy. Unfortunately, I am not that guy.
My name is Simon Snow, and Iâm a fuck up. But Iâm getting better.
âMr. Snow, Mr. Snow!â Cassidy shouts, waving her hand, âI know the answer!â
âCass,â I say, âwhat did we say about inside voices?â
She pouts and crosses her arms. âKeep the volume down for all those around.â
âExactly. Now, try again.â Cassidy raises her arm with no added sound effects. I point my chalk at her. âCassidy, whatâs the answer?â
She puts her hand down, grinning wide. âItâs 42.â
I hold my hand out to her. âNice job, Cassy, right on the money.â
She gives me a big high five. The feeling of accomplishment surges through me. God, I love this job. My old customer service work made me feel dead inside. Day in, day out, same old fucking garbage from garbage customers. It was just never something I wanted to do. Now I get to see a little girl smile, and I helped her smile. Yeah, little self centred, but Iâll take it.
âPatrick,â I say, âcan you tell me how we can find 8 times 4?â
Patrick nods and starts rattling off the technique heâs come up with. Itâs a bit odd and round about but all his. Thatâs what I love about kids, the strange and unique things their little minds come up with. Itâs why I wanted to be a teacher in the first place, before I lost my way.
The bell rings and everyone's on their feet immediately. âAlright everyone,â I shout over the clamour, âmake sure to finish chapter three for tonight. And get your worksheets done! Weâre going to go over them with a fine toothed comb. Have a good weekend, kids.â
âBye, Mr. Snow,â they all parrot back. I wave them off, then start on my laptop. Being a teacher means having a lot of paperwork. (Or Google Doc work, I guess.) Everything is in mismatched folders and I have to scour them for my lesson plan draft. Unfortunately, Iâm still not great at organization, but Iâm working on it. Iâm working on a lot in my life.
My phone rings. I look up from my screen, and notice thereâs no sunlight from the windows. Holy shit, how long have I been sitting here? I quickly grab my phone. âHello?â
âSimon!â Todd shouts. âWhere the fuck are you?â
âOh, uh, hi Todd.â Fuck, what did I do this time? âI-Iâm still at work...â
He scoffs. âOf course you are. Shit, Simon, Iâve been sitting at Casperâs for an hour!â
My heart drops. I look down at my watch. Itâs 6:34. âOh my god, Iâm so sorry, love, I just totally lost track of time-â
âYeah, I guessed that. I should expect that of you now.â
Well, that stings. A lot. Iâve felt like a screw up my whole life, so much so even my parents didnât want me. Like they had some prophetic vision that their kid would be a no good moron. Therapy has started to rid me of those thoughts, but they still creep up every once in a while. Like now.
âIâm sorry, darling, Iâm really sorry. We can go to my place, have take away-â
âNo, Simon,â he sighs. âI just...I picked the day, the time, and the restaurant. All you had to do was bloody show up, and you couldnât even do that. I mean...do you even care, Simon?â
A horrible, familiar pain goes through my heart. I can still hear Agathaâs voice all these years later. I donât think Iâll ever forget it. My thoughts get all muddled up, mixing up old fears and trauma with today.
âI do care, Todd, I really do. I just- I didnât- I was- We can-â
âPlease stop..â He sighs again. I can almost see him rubbing his pretty black eyebrows together. âDonât stress stutter, itâs alright. Enjoy your work and takeaway.â
âUh, could we reschedule?â
âNo, we canât.â
I gulp. I hate that I know whatâs coming. âAre...are you too busy?â
âNo, Iâm just...Iâm done. I canât do this anymore, Simon. Hope you do well. I mean that.â
I slump in my chair. âOkay. You too. Bye, Todd.â
âGoodbye, Simon.â
He hangs up, but I keep the phone by my ear. My body feels too heavy to move and get out of this fucking chair. Once again, I screwed up my relationship. And the fact that itâs too familiar is even worse. This is what, the third partner Iâve lost in the last year? An abysmal track record. Before that I had been alone since uni, yeah, but I think it was better than feeling like this.
Slowly, I pack up all my stuff. Everything is quiet, like the world is in mourning for my latest lost relationship. Self centered as fuck but a nice thought. I sling my book bag over my shoulder and walk towards the door. Itâs not even a shock when I donât enter the foyer, but step through and end up in Dr. Margaretâs stony yet brightly lit office instead, complete with torches and pristine furniture. Itâs like some medieval version of an IKEA showroom. Dr. Margaret is sitting in her chair with a book in hand, obviously waiting for me. Just another day with a super powered therapist who has her office in a pocket dimension outside of our reality. (Thatâs my theory anyway).
I speed walk forward and flop down face first on her white couch. âHi to you too, Simon,â she says. I groan into the cushions. âGood day, huh?â I groan louder. âTell me what happened or get off my couch.â
I move my face to the side, glaring at Dr. Margaret. She just keeps looking at me blankly from her large leather chair. Dr. Margaret has little time for my whining, something I usually appreciate. âTodd broke up with me.â
âYou poor baby.â
I narrow my eyes even more. âArenât therapists supposed to be all sympathetic and shit?â
She scoffs. âSympathetic when youâre not being pathetic.â
âMy boyfriend just broke up with me, Iâm allowed to be a bit pathetic.â I rub my very strained forehead. âI always get dumped.â
âMhm.â Dr. Margaret picks up the notepad, the one I filled with my regrets the first day we met. Itâs embarrassingly long, but a lot are crossed off too. âTell me about âbreakup with Agatha.ââ
I groan, head falling back against the couch. âGod, thatâs one Iâve been waiting for.â
âStop groaning and tell me.â
âOkay, okay, gimme a sec.â I sit up and put my elbows on my knees, rubbing my temple. Headache is coming. Though Iâve started to actually pay attention to my health and take care of myself now (thanks to Dr. Margaret), the headaches still happen sometimes. Especially when I think about this.
âIt was 2003,â I sigh. âAgatha and I had been together for six years. Just before third year finals, Agatha broke up with me. I got really pissed at her. Turned into a huge screaming match. She said I didnât care, and I called her an arsehole that never loved me.â I run a hand through my hair. Old stress habit. âIâll never forget the look on her face. She was so unbelievably hurt. I knew it was wrong the moment after I said it, but I was too angry and proud to apologize. Agatha walked out. And that was the last time I ever saw her.â The words piece my heart like a knife. I feel like I'm about to shatter into pieces âWe avoided each other all through finals. Right after graduation, Agatha moved to California for her masters. She wouldnât take my calls, then she changed her number. So I gave up. Havenât talked to her in twelve years. No idea where she is now and what sheâs doing.â
Dr. Margaret nods thoughtfully, placing the notebook down. âWhat would you do differently? Try to fix things? Stay together?â
I shake my head vigorously. âNo, god no. We werenât good as a couple. But Agatha was one of my closest friends way before she was my girlfriend. I just, I want the breakup to not be so awful. That way we can stay friends. I want to keep her in my life. If I wasnât such an arse, she would be.â
âSounds reasonable. Letâs see if you can do it.â
A familiar chill hits me. At first it was terrifying but now I expect it. âAlright.â
Dr. Margaret nods, and the world spins.
âââââââââââââââ
âYouâre not hearing me, Simon!â Agatha screams. âIâm trying to tell you that itâs over!â
I stumble, blinking at Agatha and trying to focus on whatâs around me. Dirty walls, Lady Gaga posters, a shitty desk I picked up off the curb. Yeah, this is definitely my uni apartment. And this is definitely Agatha screaming at me, trying to break things off and Iâve just been yelling. Sheâs so mad but I canât help but smile. God, Iâve missed her.
âWhat are you smiling about?! Are you listening to me?!â She groans and shakes her head. âWeâre done, Si. I canât do this anymore. Goodbye.â
She turns around to leave and my pulse skyrockets. No no, not again. âAgs, wait! I-I am listening. Please, donât leave!â
Agatha freezes, hand on the knob. She glares at me over her shoulder. âWhat?â
âI-Iâm sorry for yelling, that was awful. Can we just sit down and talk this out? Please?â
She looks me over, probably trying to figure out if Iâm being sincere. I know I am, but as far as she's concerned I was screaming my bloody lungs out a minute ago. Must be weird for her. Thankfully, she lets go of the knob. âFine.â
I sigh in utter relief. I sit down on my shitty mattress (pretty sure I got this off the curb too) and Agatha follows. Sheâs tense, arms crossed. I fiddle with my fingers. The nail beds are all chewed up, hangnails surrounded by dark dried blood. Glad I broke that habit, but right now I sort of wish I still did it. It made me feel better.
âAre you going to say something?â Agatha asks, voice biting.
âYeah, yeah, just, uh...â I rub the back of my neck. Words are getting fucked up again.
âYouâre not going to change my mind, Simon. Weâre through.â
âI know, Ags, I know. I donât want us to stay together.â
Her eyebrows furrow. Itâs really cute. I miss when she did that. âYou donât?â
âNo, no, weâre not good as a couple. We donât work well.â
âOh.â Her arms fall into her lap. âOkay. Yeah, I think the same.â
âAwesome.â I turn towards her with a big grin. âBut, uh, could we still be friends though? Youâve always been one of my best friends, Agatha. I-I donât want to lose you after this.â
Agatha rubs her lips together, But slowly, she nods. âOkay, yeah.â
A huge weight lifts off my shoulders. I grin so wide it hurts. âThatâs great! Thatâs so great. I-I just, I donât want to lose you just cause our relationship didnât work out.â
She looks even more confused, and Iâm not sure why. âWhat do you mean âdidnât work out?ââ
âWell, I-I mean, yâknow, we just donât work as a couple. We havenât been happy for awhile because things have kind of...fizzled out, right?â
Suddenly, that infuriated expression comes back. She groans and stands up. âI canât believe you, Si! You really havenât been listening to anything Iâve said, have you?!â
I stand up too. âNo, no, I have! You want to break up, and I get why, weâre not happy together. Weâre not a good couple-â
âBecause of you!â she screams. I stumble back slightly from the force of her words. Â âYou fucked up!â
A horrible, upset, disgusted feeling takes over my whole body. Like my very soul is sicking up. I step towards her, reaching out. âAgs, I donât know what you mean. H-How did I ruin things? Tell me what I did wrong!â
She shakes her head and backs away. âIâve told you a hundred times, Si. If you donât know by now, I donât think you ever will.â
Agatha starts to stomp away. I chase after her. âAgatha! Ags, please, donât-â
She slams the door so hard all my knick knacks rattle. Iâm left in silence, except for the thoughts rattling around in my head. Fuck, what did I say? What did I do? I canât think of anything Iâve done horrible enough to warrant such a response from Agatha. I pull at my hair and gnaw at my nail beds. I mean, this me already does it, so whereâs the harm? Fuck, I donât know what I did. I canât remember!
Penny. I gotta go find Penny. She always has the answers. Sheâll remember why I fucked up. I rush out the door and swing my way down the shitty stairs, careful to avoid the usual vomit puddles. Iâm speed walking across the lawn towards Penâs TA building when I spot familiar frizzy white hair.
âThat was fast,â Dr. Margaret says, looking down at her book with a Starbucks drink in hand. Sheâs dressed in a horribly ugly orange tank top and boho skirt. Perfect for 2003. She needs to blend in with the time period, or at least thatâs what she says. I think she just likes to dress up. âSaw her storm out. Looked really mad.â
âWhat the fuck was the point of this?!â I yell. Iâm so angry, I canât help it. My temper is something I need to work on but I really donât care right now. âI still cocked things up with Agatha, so she still hates me, and all Iâve learned is that I apparently did something horrible that I donât even remember because itâs been twelve bloody years!â
She takes a long drink from her large Starbucks cup. âHm. Quite difficult. Whatâre you going to do?â
âFind Penny, I guess, Sheâll know, right?â
Dr. Margaret shrugs. âDonât know. You have a phone. Call her.â
Oh, right, phones are a thing. I dig around in my cargo shorts (god, I canât believe, I used to wear these things) and pull out my old Nokia slide phone. I sneer at the thing. It was my first and shittiest cell phone. I thought I was so cool because my mobile slid out. I was such a prat.
I go to my contacts, and Penny is one of five. That makes me a little sad. I always liked people, but I was always bad at making real friends. Iâve gotten better now but past me barely had anyone. I click her number, and she picks up after two rings.
âHey, Simon, whatâs up?â she asks.
âUm, not much,â I respond automatically. Dr. Margaret glares at me. Right, I donât need to push down my problems and pretend everything is okay. Pennyâs my friend, sheâll want to help. âActually, thereâs a lot. Aggie and I just broke up.â
âOh Si, Iâm so sorry. Howâre you feeling?â
âNot too bad. I guess it was inevitable. Iâm more confused than anything. Ags said I ruined it by doing something, but Iâm not sure what I did. Do you have any idea what she meant?â
âUh...I really donât know. She hasnât told me anything. She doesnât usually tell me things anyway.â
I sigh and rub my face. âYeah, true. Iâll figure it out. Thanks, Pen.â
âWelcome, Simon. Love you.â
âLove you, too.â I hang up and shove my phone back in my massive pocket. Dr. Margaret is back to reading. âWell, that was no help.â
âToo bad. Maybe going to the source would be better.â
I frown in utter confusion. âYou want me to go talk to Agatha again?â
âShe knows whatâs wrong. You donât. Ask her.â
I put my hands on my hips. âYouâre never this direct. Whatâs going on?â
She flicks her eyes to me, smiling slyly. âDonât trust me, Simon?â
âNo! I just know you always have something else going on. Nothing in therapy is ever easy or simple.â
âKnow that. Taught you that.â She snaps the book closed. âDo what you think is best, Simon. Then live with choices.â
She stands up, book tucked into her hippie purse, and walks down the lawn. I huff, blowing a piece of stray hair out of my face. âYou know I hate when you say that! Itâs just pointing out the obvious! Thatâs lazy therapy!â
Dr. Margaret, the woman who has changed my life in so many ways, makes the âwhateverâ W sign at me. I chuckle and shake my head. Okay, well, this is probably some weird test (again), but Dr. Margaret has a point. Best to be direct. Maybe Agatha will have cooled down by the time I get there. I should do something nice. Bring her flowers, yeah, thatâs a good idea. I look down at my cargo shorts, baggy Eminem shirt, and filthy knock off converse. Definitely need to change too.
I rush back to my apartment. Itâs dingy and gross, but thereâs a weird nostalgia to it. I shouldâve put up more posters. (Why canât that be a regret? That would be so much easier.) My dresser is bursting at the seams as usual. I throw my t-shirts around looking for something passable, but everything is dirty, tacky, smells like weed, or all of the above.
âChrist, how did I live like this?â I grumble, as if I wasnât pretty much still living like this a year ago. (Minus the weed. Kicked that after uni, thankfully.)
Eventually I find a plain brown shirt and a pair of jeans with only one tomato sauce stain. Alright, Iâm passable now at least. Thatâll get Agathaâs attention just because itâs so out of character for who I am in this time. I open the old pickle jar where I keep all my change and scrounge together about 20 quid. Should be enough for flowers, especially before the 2008 crash. The exchange rate is the only thing I miss about the past, honestly.
âAlright,â I mutter to myself, slinging my bookbag over my shoulder, âdecent clothes, okay hair, pocket change, bag to hold flowers. Letâs do this.â
I walk out my front door feeling confident, hopefully not too much. Canât get a big head. Need to focus on Agatha.
âSimon, mate.â I turn around to see Rhys wheeling out of his flat. âWhatâs up? Heard a lot of shouting earlier, you alright?â
âYeah, Iâm cool, man. Agatha and I broke up and things got messy.â
He inhales sharply between his teeth. âYikes. Sorry to hear that. Canât believe she dumped you for that snotty prep.â
I stand ramrod straight, then spin around on my heels to face him properly. âWhat snotty prep?â
âOh you didnât know?â
âDidnât know what?!â
Rhys raises his hands in surrender. âWhoa, take it easy, man.â
Shit. Reel in your temper, Simon, donât explode. âSorry, sorry, mate. Just, what are you talking about with this prep?â
âYeah, this preppy pretty boy Agatha sits next to in our romantic literature and creative writing classes. Theyâve always got their heads together. I didnât say anything because it wasnât my business, but then you said you two broke up, so...â
âSo you thought she told me, got it.â I rub my temples. Headache is coming back. âDo you know who he is?â
Rhys scratches the side of his head. âYeah, think so. Tall, dark-ish skin, grey eyes, posh accent, even more posh clothes. Name starts with a T. Terrence, Terry, Tyler-â He snaps his fingers and points at me. âTy! Thatâs it!â
My face scrunches up. âTy? Ty what?â
âDunno. Just Ty, I guess. Like Madonna. Dude thinks heâs better than fucking everyone just because heâs rich or something.â
My blood boils to a fever pitch. So Agatha broke up with me for someone prettier and richer. She said it was my fault because she didnât want to hurt my feelings. Mission failed, because I am fucking gutted.
âThanks for telling me, mate,â I say, holding out my fist to him. He bumps his own against mine. âReally appreciate it.â
âSure thing, mate. Come have a beer with us to commiserate?â
I chuckle. âYeah, but you may have to remind me later. Brain like sieve.â
âGotchu. See ya.â
âSee ya.â
Rhys rolls down the hall towards Garethâs. Right, itâs their weekly beer and footie night. I would hang out with them sometimes. I miss that. I should call them when Iâm back in 2015. Right now though, I have a mission.
âââââââââââââââ
Finding Ty will be pretty easy. I know when Agatha and Rhysâ creative writing class is, which is in a couple of minutes. (Rhys skipped a lot of class. Luckily he was a genius so he graduated at the top of our year. And Agatha never went to class when she was upset, so I know I wonât see her.) I run over to the building I know itâs in, a massive hall made from dingy grey stone and filled with caffeine addicted twenty somethings. Then I sit by a tree, waiting to see someone like Rhys described. Oh and when I find him Iâll- Well, Iâll do something. Not sure yet but itâll be something!
Droves of zombified uni students pass me by. None of them look posh and preppy enough to be like this Ty dude. He sounds like such a twat. What the fuck does Agatha see in him? (Or did see in him, I guess. Time travel is weird.) Maybe Agatha is still with him. Maybe they went to California together. She talked about me going with her for a bit, but I was scared to leave England. I donât regret staying, but I do regret the crushed look on her face.
The guy passes by me. He looks ridiculous, wearing oxfords, black slacks, and a goddamn tweed jacket with leather patches on the sleeves. Itâs the preppiest posh shit Iâve ever seen. I can see his hands, curled around his textbook, and his slicked back hair. Dark-ish skin and ear length black hair. Iâm on my feet in an instant.
âHey!â I shout. He doesnât move. âHey, Ty! Iâm talking to you!â
He finally turns around, and my heart stops for a second. Holy shit. This guy is beautiful. Like, super model on the cover of a high end fashion magazine gorgeous. Heâs got cheekbones sharp enough to cut glass and his eyes arenât just grey, theyâre green and blue mixed together. Like deep ocean water. And right now theyâre staring at me like Iâve lost my goddamn mind.
âYes?â he says. His voice is smooth, strong, really pretty. âYou called my name?â
I shake off my small gay panic (technically pansexual panic) and my anger returns. I glare hard at him. âYeah, I did. My name is Simon Snow, Agathaâs boyfriend.â
His confusion quickly switches to stone faced boredom. âOh youâre the boyfriend. Well, the ex-boyfriend now, according to the text Agatha sent me.â He tilts his head to the side, ocean eyes scanning me over. âI thought youâd be taller.â
My body feels like itâs on fire. This guy may be hot but heâs a total prick. How could Agatha dump me for him?! âWho do you think you are, huh? Flirting with someoneâs girlfriend? Thatâs fucking low, you pathetic shit!â
He scoffs, putting on hand on his hip. âVery well spoken. If youâre done with your little alpha male display, I have a class to get to.â
Ty turns away. Iâm ready to explode. I havenât felt this angry in years but this guy is getting so under my skin. I grab his shoulder and force him to look at me.
âYou donât get to walk away, dick!â I roar. âDo you think youâre better than me?! Well youâre not!â
âIâm not the one shouting at a random stranger on the quad.â
âIâm shouting because you stole my girlfriend!â
âI didnât steal her, you sexist shit,â he hisses. âSheâs my  friend. Are you the kind of arse to not allow his girlfriend to have friends?â
âNo! And Iâm not sexist! I just donât like someone flirting with the girl I was with when I was with her, especially when youâre all...posh and shit!â
Ty scoffs again and leans forward. âWell, at least I donât wear dirty jeans out in public. I have more self respect than that.â
My entire body explodes in a way it hasnât in ages. My vision goes completely fucking red. I shove Ty, hard. Way harder than I mean to. He stumbles backwards, dropping his books on the grass. He looks at me in utter shock.
âWhat the fuck?!â Ty shouts. He then shoves my shoulders, and I stumble five steps back. Holy shit, heâs strong.Â
âFuck you!â I shout back. I charge forward with all my might. Ty blocks me but that doesnât stop me. I claw and push and pull at him, no clue what Iâm doing at all. Iâm just so angry and pushing it all at him. He pushes back just as hard. Neither of us will give an inch. We scrabble like a pair of cats. I canât think, I just feel. I'm so angry and sad and worthless because...because....
Because Iâm losing my friend again. And I donât know what to do.
My hits get weaker and weaker. All the energy dribbles out like a melting ice cream in July. As I slow down, Ty stops pushing back. My arms fall down at my sides. His hands rest awkwardly on my shoulders.
âUh,â he says, âare you alright?â
âNo,â I choke out. Tears fill my eyes and cloud my vision. âNo, Iâm not.â
I break down, crying with heavy, ugly sobs. Everything is just collapsing in and around me. I really am losing Agatha all over again. It hurts even more this time. Iâve never fallen apart this badly on a regret. But everything from the past and present, losing all my partners in the past year then Agatha again, is just hitting me in one terrible mental blow.
âOh shit,â he says. âUm...â I feel his hand move off my shoulder and slowly pat my head. âThere, there?â
I snort like one of the kids I teach. I pull back, wiping the still flowing tears under my eye. âSeriously? Thatâs the best you can do?â
Though itâs a bit hard to tell, I think Tyâs face flushes. He crosses his arms defiantly. âWell, what the fuck are you supposed to do when a stranger attacks you then breaks down crying?â
I shrug. âDunno, really. This is new for me too.â
Ty rubs the back of his neck, shuffling his polished oxfords in the dirt. Iâm still sniffling like a child. âYou want to go somewhere private? Where no one can see you?â
My eyes catch a couple of people glancing and outright staring at us. Or just at me. I nod vigorously. âYeah, that would be good.â
Ty collects up the books I knocked out of his hands. He jerks his head to the side, and I follow behind him. Tears are still streaming down my face. They wonât stop no matter how hard I try. Ty leads us through a secluded area, past large trees and bushes, until we reach a completely hidden, beautiful ravine. Holy shit. Was this always here? I went to this uni for three years and I have no memory of this place. Either Iâm super oblivious or getting old. (Probably both.)
We go past a couple more bushes until we come upon a ramshackle rainbow coloured bench against some trees. It looks handmade by some stoned out art major. The mess of cigarette and joint butts on the ground only reinforces that theory. Ty sits on one end of the bench. I take the other, but weâre still pretty close. Itâs not very big. We sit in silence for a bit, save for my continued sniffling. Something bumps my arm. I look down to see Tyâs long fingered hand holding out a cigarette pack.
âWant one?â he asks.
âSmoking is bad for you,â I say automatically.
âLike youâre one to talk. You reek of marijuanaâ
âFuck, really?â I sniff my shirt collar and get a whiff of weed. I groan, letting my head fall back against the tree. âDammit. Thought this one was clean.â
âUnfortunately not.â He shakes the box. âYou want one or no?â
I sigh and pluck a stick out of the box. Ty takes one as well, then pulls out a pristine silver Zippo lighter. He lights us both with one flame. I watch the paper crinkle and shrivel away into ash. Iâm a bit nervous. Technically, I havenât smoked anything in over a decade. Hopefully I can depend on past meâs muscle memory.Â
Ty takes a long, deep draft and breathes out a long puff of smoke. I try to mimic him. My lungs burn with the heat of twin suns. I wheeze out, thumping my chest. Ty throws his head back laughing, hair touching his neck.
âYou must be a shitty stoner,â he chuckles.
âYeah,â I cough, ânever been great at inhaling.â
âBring it into your mouth, then your lungs. Donât do it all once.â
I nod, even though I kind of knew that. Just been awhile. I smoked a few joints but I preferred my old bong. But I try again, doing what Ty said. This time I only cough a little instead of wheezing like the worldâs most pathetic dragon.
âThere you go,â Ty drawls. Heâs definitely mocking me a little.
âFuck off.â
âChrist, what bug crawled up your arse?â
I glare at him, and his face is completely unaffected. âThe bug that Agatha broke up with me for you.â
He scoffs, flicking cigarette ash on the ground. âYour  ex- girlfriend did not break up with you to be with me. Weâre only friends. Iâd never date her.â
âThatâs mean, Agatha is amazing.â
Ty rolls his eyes dramatically. âIt has nothing to do with Agatha. Sheâs wonderful. I just donât like women.â
My eyes grow wider than saucer plates âYouâre gay?â
He cocks an eyebrow. How did he get so good at that? Does he practice in the mirror? âYou have a problem with that, Snow?â
âNo, no, of course not. Just didnât realise...â
âItâs not like Iâm hiding it.â He gestures to his perfectly pressed button down, spotless navy slacks, and polished Oxfords. Okay, he has a point, most straight men donât take such meticulous care of their clothes. 2003 closeted me had the excuse of being heteronormative as fuck, but 2015 pansexual me needs to work on his gaydar.
âI, uh, didnât want to assume...â Usually a safe answer in my experience.
âHow noble.â Ty takes a long drag. I still hate cigarettes, but the way his lips fit around the smoke plume is kind of attractive. âAgatha knows Iâm gay. I told her after she almost kissed me.â
âWhat?!â I throw down the cigarette and shoot to my feet. The fire in my gut is back, along with the sense of utter worthlessness. I fucked up so badly, made Agatha so miserable, that she nearly kissed a gay bloke. I feel so awful and confused and I donât know what I'm supposed to do, Iâm just mad.
He rolls his eyes, Â again. âSit down, alpha male, I said âalmost.â Iâm not even sure she realised what she was doing, we were both completely pissed. She leaned forward slightly and I blurted out that I was gay. Then she promptly burst into tears.â
My heart feels like someone has reached inside and twisted every vein. My arms relax at my sides. âShe...she was crying?â
âYes, quite heavily.â He taps the cig with one long, graceful finger. (Does he play piano? He should.) âShe said she was sorry, then blubbered for an hour about how conflicted she felt about wanting to break up with you.â
The impact of those words send me back down onto the bench. My whole body feels heavier than lead. âShe felt conflicted?â
âOf course she did.â
âI-I thought this was easy for her. That our relationship was already going downhill, then I did something so bad she decided to end it. And then I thought it was because she found you, someone better than me.â
Ty scoffs. âMy god, she was right, you are completely oblivious.â
I scowl at him. âWhat the fuck is that supposed to mean?â
âExactly what I said. Youâre so blind to what youâve been doing.â
âWhatâve I been doing?!â
âYouâve been a terrible boyfriend!â he yells. âYouâre forgetful, you miss things, you donât pay attention to Agatha, and most of all you take her for granted!â He sighs, rolling the half finished cig between his fingers. âAgs says you donât mean to do it, youâre just oblivious, but sheâs still hurt. There isnât one bad thing you did, Snow. Youâve been hurting her for awhile.â
Every word is slap to the face. My body literally aches with all the guilt I feel. Ty is right. I was an awful, Â awful boyfriend. Every missed date, every burnt meal, every stupid thing Iâve ever said, they all rush into me. Fucking hell. How could I have not seen it? I always had reasons, and they were always small things. But I guess a lot of small things pile up.
âFuck,â I choke out. Tears make little wet spots on the dirt floor. I donât know when I started crying again. God, Iâm a mess.
âPlease donât cry,â Ty says, sounding almost sympathetic. âI only have so many cigarettes.â
That makes a laugh surprisingly fly out of my mouth. Yet Iâm still picking at my nails, flicking away bits of my cuticle like I want to get rid of my pain. Iâm nervously babbling before I even realise it. âMy brainâs always filled with...stuff. Keeping my scholarship, keeping my job, working towards my future. E-Everythingâs always been about my future, what Iâll do eventually, even with Agatha. She was supposed to be my happy ending after all the shit Iâve been through.â
âSheâs a person,â he mutters, ânot your goal.â
âI know that!â I rub away more tears. âWell, Iâm learning. I dunno. I-I had a shitty childhood, okay? So Iâm always waiting for things to get better. And I thought if I did well at school and found a nice girl, things would just fall into place. Turns out shit is more complicated than that.â
I laugh to try to break the tension, but Ty stays silent. I cautiously flick my eyes over to him. Heâs still holding his cigarette. Itâs burnt down to the filter. His face is stone again, yet I can see the slight tremor in his fingers. Itâs miniscule but itâs there. I donât think heâs okay, but I barely know this guy, Iâm scared to ask.
âI donât know how to fix things with Agatha,â I sigh. âIâm bad at talking, bad at relationships, sometimes bad at friendships. Itâs not like I want her back. I...I just want her in life. Sheâs amazing. I donât- I canât lose her again.â
âAgain?â he says. My face goes bright red and my breath hitches. Fuck. Stupid time travel, screwing things up.
âY-Yeah, weâve had fights before, stopped talking for a while. I know this feeling, I hate it. I want her to be in my life and be happy and I donât know how to do that!â
âTell her that.â
I face him, blinking in confusion. âWhat?â
Ty sighs and flicks the butt onto the ground, crushing it beneath the toe of his utterly perfect oxford. âTell her that. Say youâre scared and clueless but you want to still be friends, so you want to figure out how to do that. Be honest. What else are you going to do?â
My mouth flaps up and down. Fuck. Itâs so damn obvious yet it never came to mind. I thought I needed something big and smart so Agatha would understand. But... âAll I need to do is be honest with her.â
âExactly.â
I smile for the first time since I got here. âWow, canât believe I didnât think of that.â
âYou do seem to be a bit thick.â His slight smirk and teasing lilt save me from getting angry. I scoff and shake my head.
âYeah, well, you seem like a bit of a prick.â He scoffs too, but heâs still smiling.
We sit there in silence for a little. All I can hear is birds chirping and students in the distance. I feel calm. So calm I donât want to get up for a while. I just want to catch my breath. Ty slowly tilts his head back over the bench.
âI havenât sat down in awhile,â he says quietly, almost as if to himself, but too loud for me not to hear. âIâm always at class or studying. I donât sit down and just...sit.â
âWell you havenât really been only sitting,â I chuckle. âYouâve been helping me.â
âWould it be sad that this has actually been the most relaxing time Iâve had in months?â
âUh, yeah, and a bit concerning.â
Ty laughs a little louder this time. His smile seems a bit more genuine, but his pretty eyes are a bit sad. It may just be his face. It looks like itâs designed for pouting. âIâm a political science and English double major getting ready for law school. My whole life is stress.â
I chuckle sadly. âSounds like a nightmare.â
âIt is. A nightmare I chose...â He spins the cigarette pack between two fingers. I know heâs just fiddling but it looks so damn cool when he does it.
âDoesnât seem like youâre happy about that choice.â
His eyes shift over to me without moving his head. âSince when do you know anything about my feelings?â
I shrug, crossing my arms. âI usually know what sadness looks like.â
Ty sighs. He rubs his temple slowly with his elegant ring finger. (What is with my finger fetish today?) âEver since I was little, it was expected that I follow in the family tradition. Get perfect grades, go to a good university, go to an even better law school, become a lawyer, then finally take over the family practice. Itâs what my mother did. Itâs what Iâm supposed to do.â
âIs that what you want?â
âDoesnât matter what I want,â he scoffs.
I tilt my head towards him, but not too close to scare him away. âWell, if you could do what you want, what would you do?â
âI told you, it doesnât mat-â
âThen pretend it does matter. What would you do for the rest of your life?â
Ty sinks further into the bench. It makes his stupid tweed jacket bunch up slightly, and he almost looks like a normal young adult. âHonestly, I just want to read books forever.â
I giggle quietly, and Ty glares at me with a now obvious flush in his cheeks. âFuck off,â he snarls.
âIâm not laughing at you!â He doesnât look convinced. âItâs just, when I first saw you, I never expected you to be a total bookworm. You seem too posh for that.â Ty snorts, keeping his arms crossed. He wonât meet my eyes. I lean closer, and he doesnât back away. âReading books forever sounds hellish to me, but it sounds like heaven for you. Itâs a great idea. Why not do it?â
Tyâs glare somehow gets even more intense. His eyes are just slivers of beautiful grey. âBecause Iâm a responsible person, unlike you.â
The words hit me right in the gut. I scowl deeply at him. âThat is beyond not okay. You donât know me, you donât know my life. So you donât get to spew shit like that just because youâre pissed off. Got it?â
Honestly, Iâm surprised how clear and articulate Iâm being. A year with Dr. Margaret has made it a lot easier for me to stand up for myself in a meaningful way, not just with growls and punching. But still, itâs hard, and I did this so easily. Iâve really made progress.
Ty scowls back, but I donât back down. Iâve always been good at standing my ground, thankfully. Slowly, Tyâs face falls and gets less angry. In fact, he looks a bit regretful. We slowly move apart again. He takes a few deep breaths before he finally speaks again.
âYouâre right,â he says, âIâm sorry.â
âGood, apology accepted.â I lean my cheek onto my fist. âSeems both of us are having trouble with our futures.â
âMine is secure.â
âBut not happy.â
He rubs his lips together, like heâs chewing his words. âThat doesnât matter.â
âWhy not? Why not do what you want instead?â
âBecause Iâve already applied to law school!â
âOkay.â I put my back to the bench again, staring up at the sky through the trees. âWell, Iâm nearly done with my maths and am about to start my teaching degrees. Then I've got a private school job lined up, but who knows? Maybe Iâll hate the job and quit and work at shitty customer service jobs for years until I decide to get my shit together and find an actually good teaching gig at a school I like.â
Tyâs dark brows furrow together. âThat is extremely specific.â
I shrug, hoping my smirk doesn't say too much. âI donât know, just a possibility.â
âAlright,â he snorts. âMy life will be fine, it wonât go off the rails.â
He looks so sure and resolute. I donât think Iâm going to change his mind, and I donât think itâs my job to. I canât save everyone, something Dr. Margaret taught me. Plus I just met this guy. No matter how pretty he is, I donât know him. (Wish I did.) Hopefully he can figure out his own shit.
âOkay. Your life, you can figure it all out.â I put my hands behind my head, leaning back, staring at the sky.
âYour life is going to be fine,â Ty says. âAgatha says that despite what you think, youâre smart. And Iâm partial to agree. You have trouble with relationships, but who doesnât? Youâve still got a good head on your shoulders. Youâll figure everything out too.â
I can feel my face turns bright red, and from the smirk on Tyâs face he can see it. I rub the back of my neck, trying to use my arm to hide my blush. âYâknow, I get why Agatha liked you. Youâre weirdly nice and, well, really hot.â
Now itâs Tyâs turn to have his eyes go wide. He looks very cute. âWow, youâre pretty forward for a straight guy.â
âWhoever said I was straight?â I smirk at him with one eyebrow raised. I hope I look confident and sexy and not just fucking weird.
âOh.â His voice is almost a squeak. âIâm sorry I assumed.â
âSâalright, common mistake.â I look down at my stupid Nokia. âWow, youâre beyond late for your class.â
Ty scoffs. âAnd whoâs fault is that?â
âOkay, yeah, guilty as charged. You should probably get to it though. Need good grades for law school and all.â
âYes, good point.â He stands up, and I follow, hands in my pockets. I both hate and love that Ty is a little taller than me. âBut...it was nice to talk to you, Snow.â
âFeelingâs mutual, Ty. So, uh, see you around.â
I grin brightly, then turn around before I say something really stupid. I usually do in front of pretty people. Plus I need to see Agatha. Thatâs why Iâm here, back in 2003. Iâm not supposed to be chasing after a pretty guy who went to my uni ages ago. Even if he is like, Â really pretty.
âSimon.â His voice makes me stop in my tracks and turn back.
âYeah?â
Ty steps forward and holds out a scrap of lined paper. âSince youâre newly single, and now I know youâre not straight, give me a call sometime? If youâre up to it, that is.â
My brain completely short circuits. Blows a fuse. Maybe every fuse. I just stare at Ty with my mouth hanging open for a bit too long. Ty starts to look genuinely concerned. But thankfully the synapses start firing again and I shake it off.
âUm, y-yeah,â I say. âYeah, I would like that.â I take the paper. âUh, thank you.â
âYouâre most welcome. I hope to see you around as well.â
I watch as he walks away, and Iâm mesmerised by the way his hips swing. Fuck, he is so hot. And he likes  me. I honestly have no clue why but Iâm not going to question it. I have to make sure to call him before I go back to 2020. But right now I have to find Agatha, so I carefully put the paper in the smallest pocket of my bag, then dash off towards Aggieâs dorm.
âââââââââââââââ
I knock on the door softly, and thereâs no answer at first. âAggie?â I say. âI came here to say Iâm sorry. I wonât yell, I promise.â
Still silence at first. I nearly leave, but then the sound of soft footsteps comes from under the door. The doorknob slowly turns and my pulse increases every second. Agatha is wearing her purple Watford lacrosse sweater, a pair of my trackies that I left behind last week, and blonde hair piled up in a bun. Her eyes are puffy and her cheeks are red. My stomach drops at the sight.
âWhat are you sorry for?â she asks, voice low and flat. She sounds more tired than angry. For some reason that hurts even more.
I take a deep breath. âIâm sorry for how I treated you, Ags. Our relationship didnât fall apart for no reason. I didnât pay attention to what you wanted and took you for granted. I was a terrible boyfriend. And Iâm really, really sorry.â I start nervously pulling at my hair. âI-Iâm not saying we should get back together. We werenât happy, and you deserve someone who will put you first. But I still want to be your friend. Youâre one of my first and best friends. Iâm not sure how to do that, considering I was such an shit boyfriend, but can we figure it out? Together?â
Agatha rubs her lips together, taking slow deep breaths. Her fingers tap against the door one by one. I donât know if Iâm going to throw up or run or both. All are possible. But then Agatha nods slowly.
âOkay,â she sighs.
âOkay?â
âLetâs try to be friends again. I donât want to lose you either.â
I grin ear to ear. âOkay, awesome, thatâs great. Iâm so glad you want to as well. I do love you, Ags, and Iâm sorry I hurt you so much.â
âApology accepted, Si, so you donât need to do it anymore. Letâs just move forward, alright?â
âAlright, yeah, Iâd like that.â I rub my neck and nervously gnaw at my lip. âUm, could I hug you? As a friend?â
She smiles softly. Itâs been so long since Iâve seen her smile. Not just because Iâm from the future, but I canât remember the last time she smiled back when we were together. I hope I can make her smile more now.
âYeah,â she says, âthat would be nice.â
We both step forward and throw our arms around each other. I havenât hugged Agatha in a long time either. Sure, we snogged and had sex, (though not very often honestly), but this is so much better. Thereâs no pressure or nerves. It feels normal. The most normal Iâve ever felt with her.
As we slowly part, weâre still smiling. âYou,â Agatha pokes my chest, âneed to study for your exam on Monday.â
I chuckle and nod, being silently thankful  Iâm not doing that exam again. Once was more than enough. âYeah, I know. This felt more important though. Youâre more important.â
She blinks in confusion. I canât blame her. Past me was always too focused on my work so that I could reach the happy ending I always wanted. Future me is figuring out that there is no happy ending. Thereâs just life, and I have to make it what I want, not just wait for happiness to fall into my lap. I havenât got it down pat but Iâm getting there. Thatâs more than good enough.
âWell, Iâm definitely glad to hear that,â Agatha says. âCall me tomorrow. Weâll go get brunch, okay?â
I nod enthusiastically. âSounds great.â The voice in the back of my head reminds me about the small fact of time travel, and that when I go back to 2015, past me is only going to remember bits and pieces of this day. âBut, uh, studying may fry my brain. So could you maybe call instead? And Iâll call next time?â
Agatha sighs with exasperation, but sheâs still smiling. âAlright, thatâs a valid excuse.â She presses a small kiss to my cheek. Itâs completely platonic, and it feels great. âSee you later, Simon.â
âYeah, definitely.â I hug her tight one more time before I go. She gives me a kind wave before closing her door. Iâm grinning like a mad man as I walk down the hell. I did it, I saved my friendship with Agatha. Iâm so damn happy. Plus I met Ty.
Oh right. I reach into my bookbag, feeling around for my notebook. My hand curls over the rings of the spine as I push open the stairwell door. And I instantly fall face first onto the dirty public school floor.
âMr, Snow!â Ms. Petty, the nicest janitor in the entire school, possibly in the whole world, rushes to me. âAre you alright?â
âUh, yeah, yeah,â I say. âIâm fine. Just clumsy.â
âHere, let me help.â
I take her hand and she hoists me to my feet. I still feel a bit dizzy, a small side effect of time travel I know all too well now. Ms. Petty keeps a hand on my back until I regain my bearings. âAlright, Iâm good.â
âYou sure?â
âYeah, donât worry. Iâll be alright.â
âOkay, dearie.â She pats my shoulder. âGo get some rest, get your mind off work.â
âRight, yeah, work...â
Ebb gives me one last comforting pat and goes back to sweeping the hallway floor. I wave at her as I leave, hoping she doesnât see the distress in my face.Â
Fuck.
âââââââââââââââ
AN:Â Chapter 2 will be posted within the next week, i.e whenever I'm well enough to edit it lol. See you all next time!
#carry on#snowbaz#simon snow#baz pitch#carry on fanfiction#being erica au#time travel#time travel therapy#fluff#angst#first meeting#mysnowbazfic
21 notes
¡
View notes
Text
CiN Behind the Scenes ~ Ch 2: Time Can Bring Danger
Original Upload Date: 2 September, 2020
Length on Google Docs: ~9 pages
Docs Word Count: 3,181
Reference Tally: 2
1) This chapter introduced a bit of new formatting: text conversations. One of the first things in this chapter was a short text conversation between Patton and Logan, and I wanted it to be clear that it was a text exchange from the formatting. So, I set it up all in italics, and put the involved characters in bold, to make it visually distinct (and still keep the formatting when I pasted it over to the Ao3 editor). It looks slightly different in the original Doc:
There wasnât a whole lot of change, just everything getting lined up on the left margin because of the fact the default layout on Ao3 doesnât do indents.
2) Pattonâs point of view got introduced at the start of this chapter! And he meets Janus! I enjoyed getting Pattonâs view in this chapter, and getting to display how he interacts with people he doesnât really know (in his interaction with Janus), as well as with people he does know (when he interacts more directly with Emile later on)
    A) Fun Fact: Patton and Janus have technically met before, but they were both too young to remember it. Otherwise, theyâve been classmates for a few years, but never really talked to one another.
3) Like Patton, I have accidentally left things at school, to never see them again, including several sets of gloves, a support brace for my knee, and a notebook that had the draft of like, half a story in it. I was pissed about that last one.
4) This was the point where I decided that Janus was gonna use a number of nicknames Roman has used to Virgil in the main Sanders Sides videos. It was a thing I had way too much fun with.
5) The âYouâre a little shitâ conversation was one of my favorite conversations between Janus and Virgil early on.
    A) This conversation also let me establish that Virgil is older than Janus by just a bit. Janus is the youngest of the teens, as well as one of the shortest (Emile is roughly his height, Patton is a little taller than both of them, and Virgil is the tallest of the four, if I remember correctly)
6) The scene with Logan and their team was something I was debating whether or not to keep in. It took a lot of revising to get it to a point I was happy with how it flowed.
    A) I wanted to have some scene to establish how the team works in the office, before showing them in the field. Logan makes sure their team is all on the same page, which even includes writing up a bulleted page for Remus, so he can follow along more easily.
    B) The conversation Roman and Logan have during this segment was the first really serious conversation I put into the story, and it was one of the first points I noted when coming up with plot points. Itâs at the top of the list with a lot of the stuff that goes on a fair bit later in the story. Thatâs how important it was to me to include it.
        a) Logan worries about Patton, especially as Pattonâs gotten older and been asking more questions as he looks into colleges to apply to. They donât want to put their son in more danger, especially after what happened to Pattonâs mother, but they know that they canât shelter Patton from the truth forever.
7) The âInstructions unclearâ joke is still one of my favorite lines. Originally it was gonna be a placeholder for a different joke, but it was too good to replace, so it got to stay on its own merit.
8) Emile is basically me when it comes to referring to the parent of a friend. Emile and Patton have been friends since Kindergarten, and Logan has said many times that Emile can just call them by their name, but Emile just chooses to still call them Mx. Holmes.
9) Emile likes Cherry Coke and Patton enjoys Dr. Pepper. Thatâs it. Thatâs the point. Unnecessary details? Maybe. But I like including stuff like that anyways.
10) Janusâ home life is, Not Great. At this point of the story, I still wasnât quite sure how I wanted to write his father exactly, but I knew their relationship was going to be strained at best.
    A) Janus spends almost all his weekends at Virgilâs place, so he doesnât need to be around his father. Virgilâs parents, though busy, are far more involved and attentive than Janusâ father has ever been with him, and basically consider Janus their second kid.
    B) Janus carries his yellow composition notebook and his journal with him everywhere. Or, at the very least, he doesnât leave them at home. He knows his father has gone through his things in the past, and doesnât want to take any risks. Heâs already walking on eggshells over thin ice because of his fatherâs transphobia, and doesnât want to know what would happen if the man figured out he had a massive crush on his childhood best friend.
11) Janus and Virgil have both been involved with several drama club productions with their school, both as part of the stage crew. Virgilâs helped with props and backgrounds, and Janus has mostly helped with costumes and makeup. Their school did a production of Chicago their sophomore year, and itâs still one of Janusâ favorite productions heâs been involved with.
12) Currently, Janus is using testosterone patches, rather than shots. Heâs still too nervous to use the needles. The patches need to be swapped daily, and he tries to keep a few in his bag whenever he knows he wonât be home for a few days. He keeps the rest hidden in his room, and his father has yet to find his hiding spot.
And, thatâs it for this chapter! Thereâs gonna be a reference tally in the rest of these (I forgot to track them in the first post of this series... Oops). Iâm not gonna count the nicknames/direct Sanders Sides references, since those are fairly obvious, but I will be counting references I made to video games, TV shows, movies, and theater productions. I was originally trying to count while I was writing, but lost count in the middle of chapter 12, I think, when I was at 20+ references, I think??? There are a lot-
2 notes
¡
View notes
Text
How do I write when I just canât write?
1.) Set the mood
Think about what makes your writing sessions productive. Do you need a cup of tea? Make one! (And grab yourself a glass of water while youâre at it. Writing is thirsty work and once you get up, you might not sit back down!) Does your desk need to be cleared off? Take a couple minutes to clear the clutter!
2.) Find your tools
Grab whatever you need to write. Grab your lucky pen and notebook, your laptop charger, a snack, everything you need. Put on your favorite playlist and take a seat. Youâve got some work to do.
Open your notebook or document to where you left off. Pull out your pen, pencil or keyboard and take a deep breath. Reread the last couple sentences. If you canât continue from there or you just arenât feeling the scene anymore, take a break to clear your mind, then see if you can go back and pick up where you left off.
3.) Clear your mind
Open to a blank page in your notebook or create a blank word document. Write everything that happened to you today up until this point. Did you have a lousy day? Write what made today so lousy. Have something you wish you could say to someone but donât really want to? Write it here. Write about your crush. Write about that argument you and your sister got into. Use this time as a brain dump just to get some words on a page.
Maybe you have a story idea you want to write down before you forget or a snippet from a future scene? Jot it down and highlight or circle it. You donât need to save this document, but if you wrote anything important, you might want to save that snippet.
4.) Pick a theme
Have you ever done a focused free write? Pick a theme. It can be an emotion, an item, a character or setting from your story; pick whatever strikes your fancy. Set a timer for 5-10 minutes and in that time, write everything that comes to mind when you think about that theme.
You donât need to use complete sentences. This can be a list, random words, feelings you associate with that, descriptions, how one of your characters would interact with this object, or anything else. The point here is to get some words on the page through association.
Canât think of a theme? Check out @deepwaterwritingprompts or @writing-prompt-s for some writing prompts and try a similar exercize.
5.) Give your story another shot
Did you get into the groove? Did you feel like you can write? Great! Open back to your story and start up again. Even if you canât finish that particular scene, throw in a couple enters or a page break and start writing a scene that you really want to write.
If you decide to skip ahead, try to write a couple of sentences of what happens between where you left off and where you start back up. This doesnât need to be eloquent or beautiful or even full sentences. Just an idea of how your characters can get from point A to point B.
Hereâs an example of something Iâve written when I didnât want to finish the scene in Illusions of Hope:
Kreisla was right. Job boards full of listings. Red - salvage, blue - ROSE Corp., yellow - mining, green - bounties and missing persons.
Investigative journalism may not be a career path on Caldera, but an investigator/bounty hunter? might not be a bad idea. She found a job, some kid had skipped town on a debtor and was presumed to be in [NAME THIS GOD DAMN CITY ALREADY]. That couldnât be too hard.
6.) Donât give up
Maybe today just wasnât a good day to write. Thatâs OKAY. Youâre not going to be able to wake up every day and write 5,000 words. You might not even be able to wake up every day and write 1,667 words.
YOU ARE VALID no matter how many words you write in a session. YOU ARE VALID if you didnât even open your word doc today. YOU ARE VALID if the words you wrote werenât up to your standard.
No matter where you are in your writing process, your words donât need to be perfect. You can always come back later to make revisions or rewrite entire scenes. The biggest fear I face when Iâm looking a blank page is that the words I write wonât be perfect. The perfect first draft is a myth, just like the perfect final draft.
I believe in you. Donât give up.
#writers block#inspiration#motivation#writers#writing tips#writing help#writing advice#writing tools#writeblr#writers on writing#writers on tumblr#focused free write#first draft#editing#free write#stephrawlingwrites#steph gives advice#you are valid#your words are valid#your situation is valid#you can do this#you can write#I believe in you#don't give up
5K notes
¡
View notes
Text
Novel Prep Tag Game
Thanks so much @keen2meechaâ for tagging me!!!! Itâs always fun to do these and get my gears grinding for a project! Iâll be doing this for The Irregulars (I would do one for E & I but I already have akjdvbafjv so here we go)!
First Look
1. Describe your novel in 1-2 sentences
Arya thinks her life is going pretty well, between her college applications, her friends, and her insanely good ability at avoiding her ex. Although, when a family heirloom starts giving her some creepy dreams she doesnât think are âjust dreams,â she has a feeling sheâs about to discover a lot more than she bargained for...Â
2. How long do you plan for your novel to be?
Mmmmm, between 40-60k? Tbh since this is only my second draft, Iâm not really focusing on word count rn.Â
3. Whatâs your novelâs aesthetic?
Hmmmmm, think Buffy the Vampire Slayer season... 7? Aryaâs one of those whoâs pretty sure sheâs finally gotten this whole life thing down, and now sheâs being thrown for the ultimate loop. Very dark and edgy, and kinda chaotic cause the mc is very âwhat the hell is going on what is this I donât understa-â 90% of the time.
4. What other stories have inspired your novel?
Tbh FMAB really inspired me as far as the villians go? Which then sort of drove just what the hell the heroes actually stand for.
5. Three images that get the feel of your novel
Main Characters
6. Who is your protagonist?
Arya Etheridge. Sheâs seventeen, pan-hellenic wiccan (though her patron god is Apollo), and her use of magic will be in no way sensationalized (sorry Hollywood). Sheâs a writer, and sheâs very unlucky in love. Sheâs only had one attempt at a real relationship, but the guy kept lying to her and all he wanted was sex. So, sheâs a bit scathed by that. She deals with a lot of self-esteem issues, and sheâs very withdrawn (even though she doesnât want to be). She changes her hair color a few times throughout the year, and whenever she gets stressed she does a tarot reading!
7. Who is their closest ally?
Hmmm, well at the beginning of the story itâs her bestie Margeux. Theyâve been through a lot together, and though Margeux pisses Arya off on the daily, she honestly wouldnât trade anyone else for her. Margeuxâs very much the prep girl who gets stuck in all the school drama, and Aryaâs very much the edgy girl in the back of the room too busy scribbling in a notebook to notice anyone. Opposites attract, for sure, with these two.
8. Who is their enemy?
In the real world? Herself. Definitely. But, once she gets swept up in all the madness of the novel, having to battle this ancient race of demons back to whence they came, she realizes she really doesnât have to hate herself as much as she thinks.
9. What do they want more than anything?Â
To get published, to have a stable home foundation. One of these is much more likely than the other, can you guess which one?
10. Why canât they have it?
Her birth parents are very... tumultuous with each other, at best, hence their divorce when she was four. Her dad got with her stepdad around that same time, and ever since her mother has been very... terse with her, to say the least.Â
11. What do they wrongly believe about themselves?
That she isnât worth the love that surrounds her.
12. Draw your character.
Oh dear, can I just promise to commission someone later to do this??? Lol. I very much am Not an artist.Â
13. What is the worst thing that could happen to your protagonist?
She has major abandonment issues, so tbh if she loses one of her close friends *cough*Margeux*cough*, she may honestly just go off the deep end.
Plot Points
14. What secret will be revealed that changes the course of the story?
Sooo, turns out Aryaâs part of this ancient bloodline to fight back and defeat the forces of darkness. Crazy, right? Well, she stumbles across this old ring while moving some stuff from her momâs place, and sheâs like âbruv, this is pretty and the perfect color I need to represent Apollo on the dailyâ so she keeps it. However, when she starts wearing it, she starts having these dream visions of epic battles. She prays about it, but the answer she gets isnât exactly what she expects. Sheâs swept up in the madness when these visions reawaken the ancient foes, and she has to learn to fight them back, and fast.
15. Do you know how it ends?
Yes!
16. What is the theme?
Learning you are Worth It, and just how much you can handle. Like, learning your own inner-strength and how to utilize it.
17. What is a recurring symbol?
Dream symbolism, 100%.
18. Where is the story set?
Our world!
19. Do you have images and scenes in mind already?
Most definitely! I have the majority of the first novel plotted, and I have the opening scene already written.
20. What excited you about this story?
So, straight-up, this novel started out as a way for me to write about myself and my friends. My friends are some crazy characters, and Iâve always wanted to live one of my novels, so... this is as close as I can get. Itâs really fun to navigate the creative nonfiction elements of this mixed with the urban fantasy of it all. Itâs a very thin line that Iâm excited to balance.
21. What is your usual writing method?Â
Usually I just sit down and go at it, but Iâve gotten more and more into making note docs and outlining the entire novel before I start. I remain very flexible as I write, but the outlines help me hit all the beats I want in a timely manner.
Iâll tag: @dowingsâ, @celestialbunnistoriesâ, @songsofaleriaâ, @milkyway-writesâ, and @cookiecutterwritesâ!
9 notes
¡
View notes
Photo
Does writing about yourself feel like pulling teeth? Or maybe writing a personal essay feels like wrestling an angry cat into a tiny Christmas sweater? Or perhaps it just feels like a rainy Saturday on the first free weekend youâve had in months?
For lots of high school students, writing about yourself feels awkward and forced. How can you share personal things without resorting to cliches or feeling braggy? How do you write an essay describing yourself and your accomplishments without making it sound like a resume?
Well, just like most things, you get better at writing about yourself ⌠by writing about yourself. You practice. Thatâs it.
Your personal statement is a big part of any college application and writing it shouldnât be the first time youâve ever written about yourself, your accomplishments, or the challenges youâve faced.
To help you hone your writing chops and prepare for your personal essay, here are four of the best ways to learn how to write about yourself.
HOW TO WRITE ABOUT YOURSELF:
Become a better writer by journaling
Itâs good to write more, period.
Different types of writing help you know your audience + hone your voice accordingly
Good personal writing is vulnerable
1. BECOME A BETTER WRITER BY JOURNALING
Journaling has been shown to help manage anxiety and reduce stressâboth things that are helpful as you navigate this challenging time of standardized testing and college applications. Journaling also helps you hone your writing voice outside of academic expectations or social mediaâs pressure to be funny or deep.
If writing about your feelings in a notebook every night feels a little too Judy Blume/Dear Diary, there are plenty of other options. You could keep a giant Google Doc filled with bullet points or record voice notes on your phone. You could keep a video journalâyou donât have to show it to anyone or upload it to YouTube! You could write lists on any topic that sparks your interestâfantasy jobs, favorite books, times I thought Iâd ruined everything but it turned out fine. If youâre not sure what to journal about, here are a few journaling prompts:
The two moments Iâll never forget in my life are (describe them in great detail, and what makes them so unforgettable)
The words Iâd like to live by areâŚ
I couldnât imagine life withoutâŚ
When Iâm in pain â physical or emotional â the kindest thing I can do for myself isâŚ
Make a list of the people in your life who genuinely support you, and whom you can genuinely trust. (Then make time to hang out with them.)
Regardless of the shape your journal takes, keeping a record of your thoughts helps you track important experiences in your lifeâsomething that will come in handy when youâre writing that personal essay. Â
2. ITâS GOOD TO WRITE. PERIOD.
The more you write the better your writing will be. And any kind of writing counts! Emails, journal entries, long Instagram captionsâany writing that helps you tap into your voice and your experiences will prepare you for your college essays. Youâll get in the habit of including details, crafting narrative arcs, and structuring your sentences with care. We all need junky first drafts, and the more you write, the more first drafts youâll have that can be edited into something great.
3. GOOD PERSONAL WRITING INCLUDES INTERESTING DETAILS.
Good personal writing, whether youâre writing a social media post or scholarship essay, includes interesting details. Specifics add color and context to a story. Telling your reader you were shy, for example, is fine. But opening your essay with this paragraph is more interesting:
The clock was remarkably slow as I sat, legs tightly crossed, squirming at my desk. âJust raise your hand,â my mind pleaded, âask.â But despite my urgent need to visit the restroom, I remained seated, begging time to move faster. You see, I was that type of kid to eat French Fries dry because I couldnât confront the McDonalds cashier for some Heinz packets. I was also the type to sit crying in front of school instead of asking the office if it could check on my late ride. Essentially, I chose to struggle through a problem if the solution involved speaking out against it. For the rest of this essay, click here.
Telling your readers that you took a trip to an unfamiliar place is fine. But this paragraph is better:
Day 1: âLabbayka AllÄhumma Labbayk. Labbayk LÄ SharÄŤka Laka Labbayk,â we chant, sweat dripping onto the wispy sand in brutal Arabian heat, as millions of us prepare to march from the rocky desert hills of Mount Arafat to the cool, flat valleys of Muzdalifa. As we make our way into the Haram, my heart shakes. Tears rolling down my cheeks, we circumvent the Kaâba one last time before embarking on Hajj, the compulsory pilgrimage of Islam. It became the spiritual, visceral, and linguistic journey of a lifetime. For the rest of this essay, click here. Â
4. BE VULNERABLE.
Writing about yourself doesnât need to reopen emotional wounds. If youâre wondering what to write your personal essay about, the answer isnât necessarily âThat thing I go to therapy for.â
That being said, being vulnerable in your writing is one of the best ways to showcase your accomplishments without being annoying or braggy. Share your own personal before and afterâthe challenges you overcame in order to accomplish something, the self-doubt you worked through to become good.
When youâre writing about yourself, contextualize it by providing a backstory. How many hours did you practice that trumpet solo before you auditioned? How many times did you run that lab test before you got the results you wanted? How many times did you try out for the varsity soccer team before you made it?
And good personal writing doesnât always end with a traditional win. Maybe you never made the varsity soccer team, but you learned a lot about yourself when you tried out. Perhaps the results of your lab tests didnât turn out the way you expected, but you discovered something important in the process. Show us the work that went into the person you are now.
Learning how to write about yourself doesnât have to feel awkward or uncomfortable. Promise! Use these personal writing tips to practice being reflective before you start your college essays. Practice may not make perfect, but it will definitely make it easier for you to showcase yourself to colleges down the line.
Website | Twitter | YouTube | Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest
#appblr#studyblr#college essay#high school#Common App#personal statement#College Essay Guy#college admissions#writing#writing tips
5 notes
¡
View notes
Text
11/11/11
I was tagged by @water-writings <3
1. Do you write fanfictions or original stories and did you ever write fanfiction?
I write (and always have written) both; I actually started writing fanfiction when I was like 10 years old, before I even knew what fanfiction was, and then later discovered that it was a whole thing. For quite a few years now fanfic has been my main thing, but Iâve got a few original things that Iâm knuckling down on this year and really enjoying, so weâll see.
2. Did you ever write your stories in the middle of class instead of paying attention?
Not in the middle of class really, but I did write like half a harry potter au fic sort of thing based off of some rp characters at the end of my year 11/12 exams. The exams were like 3 hours long each, and like, Iâm not smart but I am pretty quick at theory stuff so Iâd have 1.5-2 hours per exam to fill, and I would never use the note paper for notes. So Iâd fold my note paper into 8ths and write reeeeeally really small and fill it all up during my extra exam time. (I still have the sheets of paper if anyone wants to see xD)
3. How many notebooks do you have filled with your writing?
Since somewhere in 2015, I have filled 25 notebooks; not including anything I wrote straight out on a computer, on my phone, on random pieces of paper, or in other notebooks that arenât included in my numbering system, which I have lmao.
4. Whatâs your favorite way to write? Notebook, Word Doc, Google Docs?
By hand in notebooks. I used to write in a word doc, and I still use word to type up into and edit it, but I find writing by hand really pushes my word counts up, and forces me to do an initial edit when I type it up, especially with fanfic because I donât draft fanfic.
5. Do you write by yourself or do you need people writing with you?
Iâve always written alone - most of my friends donât even know that I write, or donât write anymore themselves, so itâs just me and myself over here. I was in a writing club at school for a while, and we tried to do a couple projects together, but the group got off course way too easily and nothing really got done, so I prefer to be alone with something Iâm really passionate about finishing.
6. Have you ever cowritten with someone?
When I was liiiiiike 12, my friend and I co-wrote a lot of Avatar: The Last Airbender fanfic lmao, which to this day is one of my favourite writing memories. And I co-wrote an entire 50k ânovelâ with my friend during middle school, which was actually pretty good fun - we traded off chapters and worked together on plot and worldbuilding and actually finished the whole thing. It was horrible (I canât look at it anymore itâs so cringey), but a good experience to have. Iâve co-written with a few friends online too, with mixed results - nothing thatâs ever really gone anywhere though.
7. Who do you bounce ideas off of?
No one lmao. I just throw them into the story and see if they work.
8. Have you ever taken an experience from your life and written it into a story?
Definitely! The most obvious example would probably be the series of short stories Iâve written and posted on this horse racing game I play, Flying For Home, which are sometimes drawn directly from stuff that happens around my workplace in real life, seeing as I work with racehorses in a big stable (the premise of the short stories lmao).Â
Another example I can think of is, funnily enough, my other horse-related project; a novel called Vertigo, for which I have drawn on a lot of my own personal history and people that Iâve met in my life and thrown it into the mixing pot. Itâs a bit of a personal daydream tbh xD Other than those, thereâs a little bit of myself in everything I write, I think, though itâs hard to pick out sometimes.
9. Favorite type of music to listen to while you write.
I usually donât let myself listen to music when I write, but if I do, itâll be the playlist I inevitably have for the story, turned down very quiet so that it fades into the background - usually just pop and alternative/indie sort of stuff.
10. Have you ever had anyone give you âadviceâ that hurt you and prevented you from writing for a while?
I donât think Iâve ever had anything that stopped me from writing, and Iâve certainly never had criticism from outsiders/strangers or whatever (generally people just ignore me). But I do keep my mum at a distance from my writing, as she tends to just push and push me to âpublish something alreadyâ and gives off the mentality of âitâs not worth wasting your time on if it wonât make you moneyâ. She uh...doesnât know that I have published over 100k of fanfic this year. Lol. Sheâs only trying to be supportive, in her own way, and I appreciate it, but I just donât mention it to her very often, because sheâs never really ready to listen to my point of view on it.
11. Have you ever had fans of your writing pester to write a certain way?
I donât have fans xD
And from @starsandstormyseas because you asked good questions and I Want To...
1. Have you ever had an idea that sounded really great in your head, but when you started writing it, came out terrible for whatever reason?
Yesssss, Flicker has gone through 9 versions in 2 years because every time I start it, it just goes very quickly in directions that I donât want it to and it never feels right. This version Iâm working on now is the first time Iâve really liked all the ways I could go with it so hopefully weâre past book 2 blues and back on track.
2. Whatâs your favorite part in writing a story? The relationships (or shipping), the plot, the worldbuilding, something else?
The like, âmainâ scenes, the big hitters. The culmination of all the middle bits into that one main plot point. And relationships too, though not romantic persay - I just really enjoy the scenes where two characters will bounce off of each other for like 7 pages of dialogue, whether its enemies, or friends, or romantic.
3. And weird habits you do when writing, or to keep yourself writing?
I write by hand mostly, and I have my own system to mark as Iâm going sentences I donât like, or words that donât really fit but I couldnât think of the right one, or facts Iâve made up on the fly that need to be googled. If I just mark down stuff that I want to change later as I go, I find that I set myself free in a way, and I can just move on without getting stuck on a google spiral (also I donât forget to fix my plot holes later).
4. Do you keep the internet on or off when you write?
On, though itâs very distracting when Iâm trying to write straight on my laptop lmao
5. What books, authors, fics, or any media, have heavily influenced your writing style?
I spent a lot of my childhood reading Enid Blyton and authors like her; older books, mostly my mumâs books from when she was a child, and things from my hometownâs very, very outdated library. So they had a huge impact on the way I learnt to write (they also had an impact on the way I talk too, but thatâs another story). More recently, the whole tone and way that fanfic in general is written has really influenced me, and Iâd like to think Iâve adopted it and made it my own in a good way.
6. What time is the best time to write? Day, night? Morning, evening?
Evening/night; some days, I cannot focus until like 8pm when I go to bed. And then I lose sleep because Iâm writing but yâknow. For editing/typing up, thatâs a late afternoon kind of job.
7. Is there anyone IRL that you let read your work?Â
I have a group of friends that Iâve known for 8 years now that are allowed to read my work. We used to rp together and all used to write and so we all know how bad we were back in the day xD. One girl from that group has been my friend since kindergarten, so she has always had me shoving handfuls of words in her face. Thereâs been a few other friends that have read some of my stuff, but not all of it, and the older I get, the less I share.
8. How do you handle negative or unhelpful reviews or critique? Does it impact the way you write?
Iâve never had any negative response, so I donât know. The silence when youâre 4 chapters deep and no one has reviewed is deafening though.
9. Do you respond to every comment/reply you get? If not, which ones get your attention and why?
I only respond to the long/sincere ones, because I feel like they deserve some encouragement in return for taking the time to really let me know what they thought.
10. Ever gotten weird, unsolicited messages asking to join an RP group or some such because this person apparently read your writing (but probably didnât)?
Hah. Once or twice.
11. What is your favorite platform to post your writing, talk about writing, or anything like that?Â
My favourite place to post and to read by far is AO3 - but I find the best platform to get feedback on is FF.net. My favourite place to talk about writing is over here on tumblr.
MY QUESTIONS
How do you get yourself to focus on writing?
Whatâs your favourite thing youâve ever written?
Tell me about your current WIP.
Do you write for yourself or for an audience?
Do you share your writing with anyone you know in real life?
Whatâs the nicest comment/review youâve ever gotten?
What platform do you prefer to post your work on?
Do you plot or pants?
What have you learnt while writing your stories?
Do you remember the first story you ever wrote?
Can you give a spoiler for your WIP?
Tagging (from writer peeps)Â @converginglives, @pen-in-hand (if you want another one I think mel got you xD), @aethryos, @paper-shield-and-wooden-sword, @siriusguided, @insertpenname-here, @indecentpause, @writing-at-dusk @sillyliterature @anoddconstellationofthoughts @writingtomorrow
8 notes
¡
View notes
Note
Hey Ren, I have had many fic ideas but every time I sit down and try to write it just... doesn't work. I tried to force myself because it's been so long since I wrote something, but it just doesn't flow. Any advices other than background musics?
Hey anon sorry to hear youâre struggling with writing as well :( Iâm not sure how useful any of this advice will be, but this is what I tend to do when Iâm stuck (not necessarily all at once, just a few different things I try) so hopefully something works for you.
1. If you canât write an idea, outline it. Donât worry about pretty prose, just write the idea down as if youâre telling a friend about it. Or even better, if youâve got someone to chat with, dump your idea on them. Have a conversation about it, then save all the messages in a doc. You might find yourself naturally falling into bits of dialogue, or scene creationâI usually do, then even if I canât find the words to write it immediately, I have a starting point. Or you might get lucky and have those few bits open the flood gates for more words!
2. Let yourself create something that isnât good. It doesnât have to come out polished and perfectâthatâs what editing and drafting is for. Just get the story down, even if you think itâs horrible. As long as you have words on the page, you can improve them.
3. If you want to force yourself to write without thinking, word sprints are great! Set a timer and write as many words as possible before it goes off, add friends and stir for some extra fun.Â
4. If thatâs not hardcore enough for you, there are apps out there that level up sprint writing so that if you stop writing for more than a few seconds, your words start to vanish. Or spiders appear on your screen. Flowstate is one Iâve used before when I really just need to make myself write something, anything, even if itâs crap. The Most Dangerous Writing App is another good one.
5. Writing goals. Start small, say you want to write at least 200 words every day for a certain number of days. Set a reward if you need extra motivation. If you canât hold yourself accountable, get a friend to check in with you and make sure youâre hitting the goal. Youâll find that by writing regularly, it will become easier to do it even when your brain is being a bitch and holding the good words hostage.
And the most extreme optionâŚ..
6. Donât write. Just donât do it. Say to yourself ânope I give up, Iâm not going to write ever againâ. Close all your writing apps, put away your notebooksâŚ. youâre on strike. Go about your life doing whatever you normally do, pick up a new hobby if you like (I recommend knitting). When I stop trying to be creative, I find that my creativity comes back. This one is especially good if youâre suffering creative burnout, the best thing to do is just let your brain relax, let it find inspiration in the quiet moments you would otherwise be spending stressing about not being able to write.
#re the mention of music:#I don't listen to music when I write#I can't#it's too much noise for my brain#yes even classical#so maybe trying a quiet writing environment could help too#cut the input to your brain so it can focus on the creative output
11 notes
¡
View notes
Text
Writing Interview
I was tagged in this by the one and only @angryteapot because sheâs very awesome and kind<3 Sorry it took so long for me to answer, love.Â
So here we go, if yâall wanna learn more about me click keep reading. Knowing myself Iâll probably go off a bit on some of these questions but oh well so be it. Iâll be tagging a few people after answering:)
(sorry for any spelling mistakes your girl is tired)
Q: What is your coffee order? Â
I donât drink coffee! No offense but to me it just tastes like dirt. If Iâm at a coffee shop or something chances are Iâm drinking hot chocolate.Â
Q: What is the coolest thing youâve ever done?
The coolest thing Iâve ever done was probably attending MMUN. It was years ago, but the memories are still so clear in my head and Iâm sure Iâll remember it till the day I die. For those of you who donât know MMUN stands for Montessori Model United Nations and is a UN roleplay where Montessori students from all over the world come to play delegates and âsolveâ world problems. You get assigned a land to represent and one or two issues you and your committee has to solve. (When talking of problems you have to talk from your assigned countryâs point of view even if you disagree.) The students are picked out from their schools and prepare for 6+ months.
It was honestly such an amazing time, both being there (Rome) and preparing. I attended with some of my closest friends and it was just great. It made you feel so powerful and like you could actually do something. I donât know man, all I know is that that was one of the best experiences in my life.
Q: Who has been your biggest mentor?
Iâm lucky enough to have had quite a few people wanting to help me/mentor me throughout my life. My all-time favorite one, though, no matter what has to be my karate instructor Johan. Iâve trained Shotokan karate since I was 8 and heâs always been my instructor so he's witnessed me growing up and changing (rather dramatically too lmao). Not to be dark but Iâve had some familial issues throughout my life and there have been times where Iâve felt like I didnât have a dad, but I always had Johan no matter what. Johan and his wife (who also trains karate with us) have more or less raised me and unlike my real parents they have never given up on me. They take care of me, ask me about my day, support me, ask about my mental health, praises me and so on. The relationship between a karate instructor and his student is usually stronger than other trainer/students relationships, but they kinda took it to the next level. I really love them for everything theyâve done for me and Johan is definitely my biggest mentor.Â
Q: What has been your most memorable writing project?
I mean, I havenât been publishing for way too long so I donât know if anything is âmemorableâ yet? But Professional Camping is my favorite so far (and my first published fic!) if ya wanna check it out;)
Q: What does your writing path look like, from the earliest days until now?
Well, Iâve been writing since I was 12, but Iâve only recently begun seriously publishing. I say seriously publishing because there was a time a few years back when I published spn fics on Wattpad but... letâs not talk about that okay?
Thereâs not really much of a âpathâ to talk of, to be honest. Iâve been writing for a few years now. I wanted to publish for months before actually daring to, but then I did and now weâre here! So far Iâve gotten a bit over 200 followers which Iâm eternally grateful for and a fair amount of mutuals (some so talented that I swear I almost started crying when they followed me). Thereâs really not much more to say than that, hereâs to more years of writing!
Q: What is your favorite part about writing?
You know that saying that a writer is always writing even when theyâre not writing words? Like stories are always created in the mind of a writer? Yeah, thatâs my favorite part. Just watching stories unfold in my head and bring new colors into my world. Itâs fascinating and it gives me some sort of weird writer kick.
Q: What does a typical day look like for you? Â
I get up at 6AM, leave the house at 7AM, go to school and attend whatever classes I have that day, lunch with a few friends (or maybe alone if they decide to stay at home and ditch me), more classes, go home, make dinner, train karate and then do whatever I feel like for example writing or Netflix. It might sound boring but fam I fucking love routines okay? Love em.Â
Q: What does your writing process look like?
Depends. I usually get an idea and then I think about it for a week before I find the time to sit down and write it after school or on a saturday morning. Sometimes the words come easily and I get that nice flow, sometimes itâs a bit of a struggle. If itâs the latter I write it until Iâm tired and then I take a break before continuing, wheras if I have a flow I write it all in one sitting. Only the first draft though, I have a rule that I never write a second draft/edit before at least a day later because I want a fresh pair or eyes.
Occasionally though I end up witing fics in the middle of the night when I canât sleep. I have a notebook by my bed filled with fics for when I canât sleep. Sometime sthe fics are garabage, but when theyâre not Iâll write over onto a google docs document.
Q: Whatâs the best advice youâve gotten? Â
Idk if this is meant to be writing adive or advice in general, but Iâll give you both.
Best writing advice is that the firstdraft is for you, the second is for everyone else. Donât stress about using too many adverbs or starting sentences with but or and in your first draft. That ish is your eyes only so you donât have to worry so much.
The other advice thing isnât as much of advice as it is just something important that stuck with me, but Iâll say it either way. Once when I was in my early teens Johan were teaching us a new kata (a karate thig) and I was really struggling. Everyone else but me were nailing it (at least in my head) so I got kind aupset and said âIâm sorry, I suck.â To which Johan replied âChris, the only thing you suck at is judging yourself accuretly. If thereâs anyone I know who doesnât suck itâs you. Now get up and try again because I know in my heart you can do it.â
That kinda touched me idk.
Q: Whatâs the biggest lesson youâve learned? Â
If your body says you need a break you need a break. Itâs so easy to let stress eat you alive and let anxiety keep you inside the house, but donât do it. Sometimes you just need to stop and breathe for a moment and thatâs okay.
Q: What advice would you give someone who wants to start writing? Â
Write for yourself not for anyone else. Itâs easy to get caught up in notes and followers but please for the love of God donât. The only thing that matters is that youâre enjoying yourself and learning new things. If youâre not having a good time then something is wrong.
Thatâs all folks! Iâll be tagging a few people, youâre under no obligation to answer if you donât want to/have done it before<3Â
Tagging: @wintersoldierswhore @bucky-at-bedtime @trashpandabarnes @moonstruckhargrove @strawberrybucky @seabuckys
4 notes
¡
View notes
Note
What's your writing process like? You're so eloquent (even when answering tumblr asks ... the serious replies, anyway) and it's inspiring me to get to that level.
Awesome, Iâm happy and flattered to be an inspiration! Never had my writing described as âeloquent,â so thanks for that! :)
So, I typically write for three different formats, each with its own approach but with some commonalities.
#1: Tumblr posts
Answering Tumblr asks first and foremost always starts with the good intentions to actually delve into the ask backlog. In reality, this almost never happens and I default to the first page in my inbox. Itâs not technically writing but choosing asks is key to this whole process. I love ones I can answer in a sentence (or image) or two but many involve taking the time to research or fact-check. I like those too, but if they require too much of an involved effort they are more likely to go unanswered, as I only have so much time. Lately Iâve only been able to do Tumblr stuff after 11PM EST. Though I want to put much of the blame on Tumblr itself because if there was a way to tag or favorite certain asks for later (and save drafts of ask replies), Iâd get a lot more done. But hey, itâs a site made mostly for sharing images, so what can you expect?
Ask frequency varies but since this is perceived as a Shin Megami Tensei blog, activity naturally increases around the time of new SMT releases, where I can get 10 or so asks a day, especially if Iâm active that particular day. Since weâre in the middle of an SMT drought, activity has really dried up. I still try to answer an average of three per day.
As for my actual writing and style, I personally perceive myself as a slow writer. I believe this is so because in real life I tend towards being a perfectionist with most things I do. I proofread an average length post of 2-3 paragraphs at least three or four times. One of those average length posts will take me about 20-30 minutes to write, more if there are images involved.
Another self-perception is a preference for direct language and communication. Thatâs why I was surprised you called my writing âeloquent,â as I like to be straightforward and succinct, workmanlike. That said, I also am sometimes frustrated that my English lexicon isnât grander than it is, so I often use a thesaurus to brush up. But itâs never about interjecting superfluous flair or purple prose but instead the right word that could stand in for three or four others and create better sentence flow.
#2 Long-form articles
Many of the articles Iâve written grew naturally out of Tumblr posts and asks to lengths that would be inappropriate for the Tumblr format, compounded with the problem of Tumblrâs limited (read: single option) image formatting.
When I start work on long articles, I usually go analog and write outlines and other notes in a notebook. Being away from a screen and listening to music helps stimulate my brain. Music is especially important but mostly for #3, below.
After jotting down what I plan to achieve, I often jump right in to Word or Google Docs and start writing the real text for whatever my head wants to spill at that particular moment. However, I burn out quickly here because, more often than not, I like to have properly cited sources to back up my claims and, like the Tumblr asks, researching can take a while! Itâs not just about finding sources and pasting in the right quotes but understanding their context and ensuring they are used appropriately in support of an argument. Itâs like every college paper I ever did, only Iâve actually cared about these!
Revision is key, as is being willing to trim dead branches. For example, from initial concept to publication, it took me around 10 months to finish all three parts of SMTâs Identity Crisis. Within about three months I had an article that was about 70% "finished,â but it was meandering and amateurish. It had a clear thesis but an inconsistent voice. It was difficult to do but I wrote a new draft that cut out much I previously thought important. It was the right call, the new draft, the current text, was clearer and better delineated. Subsequent articles have logically taken less time to write as Iâve gained experience with the format, all but the Odin one this past summer; it took me almost a year after I kept piling on new ideas, observations, and the silly notion to simultaneously reveal a website and a long-secret project.
All the same vocab and proofreading rules from #1 still apply, though scaled appropriately. I must have read the finalized Identity Crisis a few dozen times before it was published--and I still found typos much later, to my chagrin!
I treat article images as levity providers, something I hope helps retain reader interest throughout what are often lengthy documents. This is influenced by the humorous alt texts often employed by defunct gaming site The GIA, an outfit that probably made the biggest single impact on my games writing. Andrew Vestalâs Vagrant Story review not only convinced me to play the game, likely my favorite ever, for the longest time I considered it the standard for a game review. When I wrote the Vagrant Story piece for Hardcore Gaming 101, I deliberately included images similar to those of the Vestal review and alt texts (which HG101 typically didnât or doesnât use) as tribute.
#3 Creative stuff
I rarely talk about my original creations, if ever (I mean, talk about defunct sites--but I promise it wonât always be that way), but they do exist! Iâve been writing creatively since I was 11. Much of it bad, but thatâs okay! (Youâll never see that stuff!)
Weâre all influenced by the media we consume and Iâm no different. For me this most plainly manifests through music, historically mostly video game soundtracks. In the past I would listen separately to soundtracks from games I already knew front and back to absorb the tone and mood of the music, which Iâd then turn into various ideas (still mostly in notebooks, though thatâs changing). For the longest time I thought listening to instrumental music was the key to promoting pure, imaginative ideas, but since Wisdom Eternal: 1973 is technically a period piece Iâve been listening to classic rock and having just as much luck inspiring the old noggin. It also helps that â70s rock influenced most of the game music I like!
The previous point made me realize something: when I criticize modern SMT, for example, Iâve also been unconsciously making the statement âI donât want this to influence me.â Though, ironically, acknowledging those flaws has been hugely influential on how NOT to approach certain things. âWe are what we eat,â and that equally applies to consumed media. Some of my older creative works that I now deem to be bad were the result of a limited pool of influences, mostly JRPGs. Very much akin to light novel-caliber writing and concepts, which are often similarly criticized for their extremely narrow range of influences too often focused on literal conflict and not empathetic, realistic characterization.
This post has been going on for a while, but one last thing Iâll say about my creative writing is just how slow the process can be. Itâs slower than writing a research-heavy article, just because the idea or two you need to link certain plot threads canât always be forced out of your brain. In my case, namely the subject of mythology and religion in a narrative, itâs not just writerâs block, itâs about being well-read enough to know (Y) about a particular culture in order to solve (X) narrative problem. Ya gotta read and you gotta read the right stuff, though what the right stuff is will of course vary depending on your own goals.
This was a fun ask that took me just over 2 hours to write, so I hope itâs helpful for you! Honestly, I could have said more but enoughâs enough. That said, in the past Iâve tried adopting other writersâ processes to help my own only to find I couldnât harmonize with their methods. But itâs something youâll only find out as you write more and better understand what methods are comfortable for you. I can attest, that can take many years. Good luck!
9 notes
¡
View notes