#the joys of being a writer

[igotsbook]

Sometimes you just gotta write that crappy scene because hey! chapter ten is actually done now! idc if it's crappy, Splash can tear it to shreds later! :D

[croftersforlife]

I love rereading my own writing because it’s a constant switch between “I’m the funniest motherf*cker on the planet” and “who taught this b*tch how to write?”

[whatsk-poppinhomies]

I started writing my Seungmin request like, two weeks ago. I got 8k words in, reread it last night and realized…

I fucking HATE it

The plot is shit

The dynamics are shit

Everything about it is shit (except the characters)

Time to RESTART!

[pherryt]

rereading one of my own fics because not only was it exactly what i wanted when i wrote it, but it has so many feels and *Damn* i wrote that?

i just want to hug my own fics sometimes.

[margindoodles2407]

Going back to Of Hands and Heartbreak to do some more editing and writing and FINALLY someone has been mentioned by name!!! Yay!

But on the other hand. It's a bit hard for me to get back into the narrator's headspace so that's fun :/

[supervisormeero]

I'm currently participating in the "Write Frictious, You Idiot, You Have One Chapter Left" challenge. I am the only participant, and yet I am somehow still losing

[the-jam-to-the-unicorn]

Me, thinking about chapter 33 of Showman...

[pollenallergie]

me sitting down to write a requested oneshot: ah yes, this is nice! it shouldn’t be very long, so i’ll probably finish it today and have it all edited and ready to go by tomorrow.

me six hours later: *has only written 600 words, at least 100 of which are just the brief description i gave myself for outlining purposes* *has also completely forgotten to eat lunch because i’ve just been sat at my desk alternating between staring blankly at the document while daydreaming about the plot of the oneshot and actually writing the oneshot* ah, yes, silly me, i’ve once again forgotten that writing is 90% daydreaming, 10% actually writing. damn, the harsh reality of the writing process has foiled my plans once again!

[a-flux-uchiha]

Upsides of being a writer: have fun ideas!

Downside of being a writer: those ideas haunt you at all hours of the day please save me i am going Insane

[illunicae]

There's something dramatic about walking to class and your brain just shoots you with the perfect line for your current WIP, so you fish your phone out of your pocket and fight the wind chill while frantically typing the line into your notes app because you know that in the next five minutes it will cease to exist if you don't write it down.

Anyway here's the line my brain tripped me with on my walk to class:

“Tell me something little Seance, do you see the ghost of the future you could've had?”

[onceuponalegendbg]

I’ll never forget the one review I got on one of my stories years ago that was basically three long paragraphs of “this story had potential but you focused on the wrong thing. X is a boring character, and Y was barely in it and got pushed to the side. I didn’t even really read most of it after a point. I was so disinterested I started skimming chapters.”

That review was almost ten years ago but I still remember it and how crap it was. Basically saying “I didn’t even read all of it or pay much attention because you weren’t focusing on what I wanted you to focus on so that makes it bad.”

Sorry MY story that I wrote with my co-writer didn’t go the way YOU wanted. That sounds very much like a YOU problem, bud.

[ailingwriter]

Here's a tip! Write what you want to write first. Sometimes it's easier to write something when you have a start point and an end point in mind.

[ghosts-and-blue-sweaters]

🍘 Is there a fic or idea for a fic that you've abandoned?

Is there a fic or idea for a fic that you've abandoned?

:’)

Yeah. Many.

Most of the fics I wrote last June/July/August, when I was getting into DSMP, I’ve just… forgotten about lol. I look back and think a lot of them are cringe, and they’re obviously OOC because I was so new to the fandom!

In addition, I tend to be real good about starting projects (I have over 100 WIPs) but really bad about finishing those projects (I have over 100 WIPs).

To name some particular examples of fics I’ve abandoned, at least for the time being…

Phil and Techno sneaking into a restaurant wearing terrible disguises (this was inspired by The Emperor’s New Groove)

Ghostbur writing his Things I Remember book, with flashbacks to every single memory on the list

Clingy Duo right after The Festival. Tubbo is kinda traumatized

Bedrock Bros babysitting Michael!

Beeduo attempting to make up a bedtime story for Michael (it goes in many weird directions)

Niki teaching Wilbur how to bake a cake :)

And those are just a few! I’ve got many many more!

[nimblermortal]

Heck yes Tonys halted due to WGA strike

Heck yes Stranger Things halted due to WGA strike

Heck yes no new Last Week Tonight due to WGA strike

IMPACTFUL THINGS AND THINGS I LIKE BEING HALTED DUE TO WGA STRIKE IS GOOD

PAY DEM WRITERS! BOOYAH!

[margindoodles2407]

11, 7, and 4 for the ask game :) and uhhh 8

:O HI UNI OF COURSE >:D (for this tag game)

4: A story idea you haven't written yet

Okay, by this does it mean like, I haven't written at all? Or one I haven't published? Well, never fear, I will give an example for both >:)

A fic I haven't written at all yet... Yeah, it's gonna have to be the Clone Pancake-Eating-Contest based on true events from my youth group. The idea is so fun, and to be honest that's probably why I haven't written it XD My style is much more suited to uh, sad things.

A fic I've technically started writing but haven't published yet is the one about how one of my OCs lost his leg. And by "technically started writing" I mean I've written the title XD But yes, there was an explosion and it had to be amputated. Fun times. Lots of pain. Anyway

7: Your preferred writing fonts

HOHOHO okay let me go take a screenshot real quick >:)

This is Courier, on Google Docs. The "Comic Sans" trick? It doesn't work for me. But Courier does. AND it looks pretty, unlike comic sans. So There.

8: If you had to write a sequel to a fic, you'd write one for...

I'd probably write a sequel to Son of the Sea, perhaps after Order Sixty-Six occurs. For maximum pain and anguish. But yeah, I think that'd be fun >:) (for me. not for the audience.)

11: A WIP you'd like to finish someday

I REALLY want to finish Of Hands and Heartbreak, but if we're talking any of my fics? Songs of the Galactic Archipelago. It's my baby, my favorite AU, and I have only written the prologue. Alas.

Thank you so much, Uni! I'll get to you in a moment >:)

[citrus-moonlight]

As I often do, I've seen a few posts going around lately lamenting the lack of interaction with fanfiction/fanart here on Tumblr as well as AO3, but after reading a particular comment last night I just need to say this:

If someone tells you that the lack of response to sharing their writing is making them feel so upset that they're thinking of quitting writing altogether, don't tell them that's not a good mindset to have and they should just have fun with it and write for themselves. (have you just tried not being sad? you'll feel so much better!)

Even if you're a writer who felt that way once upon a time but then you changed your mindset so that you don't rely on others' feedback for validation and now you're so much happier, that's not helpful. Because that's obviously not what the person who is feeling sad and defeated is able to do right now, and for most writers/creators that's never going to be possible.

And it shouldn't have to be.

Especially here. Especially fanfiction.

Fanfiction is something that's created because someone loves something and wants to share it with others who love the same thing. And this is specifically a fandom space, somewhere that is supposed to be a community where discussion and dialogue can and is encouraged to happen between the people who write and the people who read. So when there's radio silence when you share something in this kind of space, do you really not see how that would be discouraging?

Because of course I write for myself - I would never get anything down on the page if I didn't - but I share because ultimately I want someone else out there to read what I wrote, and with any luck, to get some joy out of it. But if no one tells me they did, how am I supposed to know? As far as I know I've just been yelling into the void. As far as I know, all that work wasn't worth it.

A metaphor I've seen as an example is that it would be like having someone invite you over and cooking an entire delicious, heartfelt meal, you eat it all without saying anything, and then just leave. Do you not see how that would be upsetting?

We put so much of ourselves into what we write, bits of our hearts and souls and the things that we love and are exploring and are interested in or confused about. It's such a vulnerable thing to share something you've created, so when you tell someone that they shouldn't care if someone else reads what they wrote or tells them that they liked it, you're dismissing a very real and valid experience for so many creators out there.

Because regardless of how slow or fast a writer is, or how big or small their fandom is, it's still hard and takes time and energy and dedication and love - all of it in between our day to day lives from the mundanities to the heartbreaks - to even get something to the point where we're comfortable sharing.

Now, I know that not everyone thinks that writers are silly or selfish or entitled when they ask for feedback. Before I started writing again after many, many years, the main reason I didn't really comment on fics very often wasn't because I didn't think that the authors deserved feedback, it was more that I didn't really think that it would matter. That my comments would just be noted - if read at all - and brushed aside and then they would continue on about their day.

I could not have possible been more wrong. You might think you're just one person and it's just one comment but it's amazing how it can turn a day (or week, or month) around. How it can encourage someone to finish a story, or make a connection they'd been struggling with, or even just manage to add 500 words to a WIP. It is truly incredible to hear that someone loved something I wrote, and if you've ever commented on or reblogged one of my fics, please know that it truly means the world to me.

I've gone through a rough time with all of this lately myself, but I'm doing a bit better now (for the moment), so I just wanted to say this, in part to remind myself when it inevitably gets hard again:

If you're reading this, whether you're a friend or you've never seen me on your dash and never will again: I'm sorry it hurts right now. I'm sorry you feel discouraged and lonely, that it doesn't feel like it's worth it anymore, that you're struggling to find a reason to continue.

But I desperately hope that you keep writing. I hope you keep sharing. You're worth it. I know it's hard, and if you don't want to and you're just tired of the cycle of giving so much of yourself and getting so little in return, I understand that, too. It's ok to be in your feelings about it, it's ok to feel drained by it, and even though knowing you're not alone in your experience doesn't change anything and it still sucks, it's normal and valid and there's nothing wrong with you feeling the way that you do.

But I hope that you are able to find the joy in it again, because you deserve it. ❤️