#this is my third time posting this but also my last bc I’m done tweaking it

[lochlot]

i haven’t finished the show yet but they totally are gay and run away together and live happily ever after right? guys ? right? guys?

[hotchley]

dkfjsksj omg SWEETIE when are you publishing your novel!!! bc i would SO BUY IT JUST TO SUPPORT YOU OMG

pls make it available worldwide i 10/10 would buy regardless of shipping fees

just curious: are you planning to self publish your book or go through external publishers? have you planned for how you want the cover to look like? 👀

how many pages is it so far? are you almost done or not there yet? (it's honestly fine if you're not, masterpieces take time!!!!! ❤️)

omg also do you do like moodboards/aesthetics/song playlists kind of things for your characters 🥴 bc that would be a very cool way to introduce them! but honestly i know life is tiring and very busy already so it's okay if you don't have time for this

also: where did you come up with their names? (bc honestly i keep using names of people i know irl when i write.... i once merged 2 of my friend's ex boyfriends names and tweaked them a little to form an unsub's name so 😭💀💀)

i hope writing has been going smoothly for you!! remember to drink water & take breaks! you can do it, i believe in you 🥰❤️

🌙

I love you so much! I love all of you because you really came through with these questions!! It was a very good distraction <3 I've put everything below the cut because I feel like my answers were getting very, very long x

1. OKAY SO HERE'S THE THING!

I'm currently in the process of editing, and I was going to publish it on Wattpad and enter the Wattys (if I get it up in time) and see what happens... I know Wattpad has a bit of a... reputation, but it's the most accessible platform for me and others to use, because I want it to be available to lots of different people, and that's both free and not difficult to use because you can change the colour scheme and font size.

2. On the one hand. I want it published because I think it would be really cool. It's extremely long (and by all the guidelines I've seen, a little bit too long for a young adult novel) but it's mine, and I did it, and I would want to share that with others. On the other hand, I have no idea how to go about self-publishing, and I hate being criticised, so publishing is a bit of a... iffy thing. I've also got very little knowledge of publishing in general. And I like writing for fun you know? Like I started planning my second novel, and wrote a bit of that, but then I got sucked back into this, and fanfic, and I know I don't want to write for a living.

And I'm not saying that if you publish one thing, you need to do it full-time, but still. Also, the idea of some of the people I know being aware that I wrote a novel and the contents of it... no. That just fills with my dread. So I think I'll put it up on Wattpad, and we'll see what happens!

I do have a cover! It's very amateur, but it kinda matches the one I did when I was writing it into my notebook, so to me it's something sentimental. I mean, the notebook cover was just the title, so this is a bit more exciting with an actual image lol

3. It's currently thirty-one chapters. Well, thirty-three if you include the prologue and epilogue. It's also 452 pages, but the chapters don't always start on new pages, and if you think that's bad, the second draft somehow ended up being 670 pages (but I think that's to do with the spacing getting all messed up...) As it stands, it's 172536 words umm....

I'm getting closer to finishing!! I finished chapter twenty-five last night, so I just have six chapters and the epilogue to go. I'm pretty sure some of them are shorter, but I have vivid memories of the final chapter being LONG. I just checked, it's 13,776 words... so... may split that in two whoops :)

4. YES!! YES I DO!! I have a whole pinterest board that I only made after the second draft?? It's basically what led to the third draft. I was like: oh, I'm not ready to say goodbye, let me make a pinterest board. And then when I was trying to think of things to search to make it I was like: I have no idea how to describe any of these people...

I have a moodboard for the five main characters, and one for the aesthetic of the school. And I'm thinking: the week leading up to the publication, I'm going to share each character one, and (I already have the post in my drafts) the post with all the information is going to have the Eros Academy one :)

And there's a playlist! I need to sort it out because there are some songs on there that I kinda don't really like/no longer fit with what I want it to be, but then I also just use it as something to listen to whilst I write, so maybe not... the playlist is going to be part of a) the post with all the stuff and b) the aesthetics chapter <3

4. Names.... names were complicated. Many people had them changed. If you're wondering what I mean by many:

Tiberias -> Tristan

Mr Winchester -> Mr Carter

Eleanora -> Viola

Spencer -> Peter

Green -> Gill

The Headmaster -> Rotchforth

And so many people's parents just weren't named so... I just chose their names super randomly. I chose names because I wanted them to sound all noble and fancy. And then I wanted some more normal and ordinary names. And some of them I just chose because I liked them.

I did like looking at the meanings though, just for a bit of fun

It's been fun!! I will <3 I'm also self-isolating (I tested negative, but regardless) so there's not really much else I can do... let's ignore the virtual experience, personal statement and coursework reading I'm supposed to be working on....

[lesbow]

my thoughts on the croods 2 so far

based on literally NOTHING but the trailer so even i’m taking all this with a grain of salt

the art:

GOOD: the colors are gorgeous. TC was always a vibrantly breathtaking movie and luckily the second seems to be the same

BAD: i’m disappointed with the clothes. at the end of the first movie, the croods excluding guy got huge wardrobe changes to highlight they were not the same people they were in the beginning. but sadly the sequel seems to have??? cut that out entirely as the family are in their caveman clothes again.

GOOD: i like how the faces are more...... refined? the eyes look more natural and have neater lines. and i also like that the face shapes have been tweaked a little too. those that needed sharper features (eep’s face in the first movie was literally a circle) got them, and those that needed smoother and more rounded features (guy used to have the Anime Triangle Jaw) got them too.

BAD: this also comes with a negative though. as someone already pointed out, although their faces look neater, they also look a little too neat. all of guy’s blemishes are gone. actually, everyones blemishes are gone.

BAD: also, their hair! in the first movie, everybody’s hair is messy. it’s the wilderness! they don’t have combs. but in the trailer, guy’s hair looks like it was literally put into a straightener. and this is before he went through the betterman transformation. a side by side of what they did to guy (they butchered my boy!!) is in the post i already linked. it’s nuts

GOOD: another thing about the character designs i DID like was ugga. most of the girls/women’s faces in the first movie were round, soft, and wide eyed. ugga’s face in the trailer now has more variation to it. she has high, sharp cheekbones, her eyes are narrower, chin more pointed. the women do not just have “soft” facial features anymore. i like that theres more variety between them.

GOOD: i love the farm and domesticated animals. the wildlife has always always been one of my favorite things about the world of the croods and they deliver on it once again (black and white furry elephants!!!)

BAD: there’s a downside to this part too tho and i will direct all of that towards douglas. WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO HIM?!?!? he looks completely different in a bad way. he looks simple. i look at douglas in the trailer and see an easy-to-make toy. the colors are simple and no longer ombré, his teeth are more rounded and claws nonexistent. he doesn’t look anything like a tiny crocodile creature anymore, and more like a toy store plushie come to life. look at him in the trailer and then look at him in a pic from the first movie and then look me in my eyes and tell me they didn’t ruin my boy.

now about the actual plot:

BAD: why are the croods “searching for a perfect place to call home”? why is guy so eager to stay at the farm?? yes, guy is an inventor so new technology would interest him, but he was way more focused and concerned abt making it to Tomorrow. at the end of the first movie, they all agreed to become nomads and stay on the move, following the sun. a theme they explored was that home was not a place/“a cave”, and is actually just about being with the people you love. so why would they want to..... settle all of a sudden? eep ofc still wants to get out and grug doesn’t like strange things, but the others are like in love with the place?? i have to say with all these things so far it’s almost like they’re trying to scrap the end of the first movie entirely and just base the sequel off the beginning to middle sections. which is kinda disheartening since the end was so beautiful and made me tear up.

GOOD: i like that there’s another family, especially a mom, dad, and a daughter. i LOVE the fact that eep now has a friend her age and it looks like they develop a great relationship!! i desperately hope the same happens with ugga and the mom, and maybe grug and the other dad can bond too. all 3 of them, while having extremely different lifestyles, have very similar roles, and could confide in and relate to one another.

BAD: again, my biggest concern is the backtrack. in the trailer, grug is wary and upset with his family for growing attached to strangers. just like he was in the first movie with guy. “i don’t know if cave people belong in a modern world” they’re not cave people anymore. they’ve already developed past that in the first movie. “this place is changing everyone” grug is still afraid of change?!?? he got over this in the first movie too! so not only have they backtracked with the clothes, but also with the character arcs. this is a little worrying. how loosely connected is this sequel??

GOOD: nonetheless, i do think the croods encountering farmers is interesting. so far, they’ve only known that you can either be a caveman or a nomad. being neither is an entirely new concept to them, and it will be interesting to see how they deal with this third lifestyle.

BAD: WHAT HAPPENED TO RIDING THE SUN?!? i’m sorry, i’m just struggling to wrap my head around why the croods would be so ready to settle down. they had a plan. they were gonna follow the sun until they “caught it” and then ride it to Tomorrow. so what happened? especially with guy?!?!? that was literally his life’s most important goal. sooo.....????????

GOOD: while i was busting a lung, one of my friends suggested that the plot this time could be about “remembering one’s roots”. like how the theme for the first movie was that change and moving forward is good, so the sequel could now be about how, although progress is good, it’s also important to remember where you come from. i think this could be an interesting storyline if they do it right.

extra thoughts:

BAD: where are the other pets? the owl bear? the liyotes?? the land whale??? they didn’t go extinct bc the croods rode off into the sunrise with them. so Where Are They?????? did they get erased to?

GOOD: i definitely like the revamped betterman designs. apparently they looked completely different before and i very much prefer their looks now. i’m tired of the “blond, conventionally attractive character(s) think they’re better than others” trope. the bettermans look more like regular people and take pride in the technology they’ve created. i especially like how racially ambiguous they are, as i know this was one of the points the first movie got praised on too. (i do think goth!dawn wouldve been a cool contrast to eep’s bubbliness tho)

NEUTRAL: okay so this is based on both the trailer and fan theories. ive seen a few people wonder if the bettermans are actually guy’s long lost family since they look a lot like him, especially with their affinity for technology. while i don’t think this is a bad theory, i don’t know if i’d want it? idk it’s hard for me to explain but it feels like we’ve already covered guy and his family’s past. can you even imagine the convo lol. guy: “omg you guys are alive!!? i thought you’d been gruesomely drowned to death by tar!!!” / them: “oh no we just hopped right out of that. so anyways” like?!?!??? idk it would just feel...... idk. i think it’s unnecessary. (the theory that dawn is their adopted daughter and is actually guy’s last remaining relative/sister is interesting tho)

conclusion:

good total -> 8 points

bad total -> also 8 points

final thoughts -> so yeah. all in all i’m excited for this!! i love the croods and the themes and subtle little touches they had in the first movie, and am interested to see what they do in the second. unfortunately, it looks like a few things got retconned which is very concerning. i both like and dislike the new art/designs, and am very interested in the dynamic between the bettermans and the croods.

and reminder: i’m taking even my own first impression with a grain of salt (a very, very tiny one) since we’ve seen literally only one trailer so far. these are just my thoughts based on what we have. they might change as more things get released, or they might stay solid. who knows! anything goes until the movie actually comes out.

(also pink!belt will be the death of me)

[batik96]

Venturing into 2020 ...

This will be the third year that I’ve used a daily word-count self-challenge to see if I can inspire myself to write more.

The first year, 2018, I wrote 43 words on New Year’s Day and, realizing that managing that every day would give me nearly 15,700 words at year’s end, I set that as my goal. (Not literal everyday writing but averaging it all out.) I surprised myself and ended up with a 50-words-a-day average. So I upped my self-challenge for 2019 to that 50-word level. 

I ended 2019 with a daily word average of 114 words and more than 41,000 total words.

I feel as if upping my self-challenge to 114 words a day in 2020 would be setting myself up for failure -- there’s a fine line between *challenge* and “seemingly impossible task” -- so I’m not officially going to go there. Instead, I’m going to maintain the 50-words-a-day goal for 2020 and hope that I meet it (and maybe, just maybe, manage to exceed those 114 words a day anyway)!

Dec. 31: Happy end to 2020. I am about to end the year having written far fewer words than I did in 2019. While I’m glad I managed to beat my daily word-average goal, and to some extent am pleased that I managed to write anything at all, I had been hoping for more. I have the ideas. (Well, a couple of ideas.) And I have a WIP that I think I’ll really like -- if I can pull it off. But the words don’t want to come. So I’m trying to be OK with writing about 25 percent* less than I did in 2019, recognizing that it’s still more than I wrote in the majority of years since 2012. And 2021 is a new year in which I can try again to write more (and hopefully better) words. (* That percentage depends on what measure I use. According to AO3, I’ve posted 20,000 fewer words than 2019′s 47,000. Which is pushing a loose 50 percent drop. But I know I have about 7,000 words in my unposted WIP, which brings the difference closer to 13,000, which I’m loosely considering 25 percent.)

Feb. 21: This is my first entry of 2020 and ... not great. But ... part of the reason I do it this way is because, when the words come, they tend to come in clusters of more than 50 words.So taking six weeks to write my first words isn’t fatal to the year-end goal.

During the weekend of Feb. 15-16, I wrote 1,320 words. Today (Feb. 21) I have added another 903 words, for a year-to-date word total of 2,223 words and a daily word average of 42.75 words. Which isn’t far off of that 50-words-a-day goal, despite my late start. (The words still feel kind of like I’m pulling teeth, but I have a solid idea -- and a unique idea -- that I like. Here’s hoping I can see it through to the end.

Feb. 23: Well, it wasn’t much, especially considering it was the weekend, but I added another 200 words to my current doc today, which brings my yearly word count up to 2,423 and my daily word average up to 44.87 words a day. I’m creeping closer to my 50-word-a-day goal and trying not to stall out for lack of time/energy. I want to write this. But every time I sit down to write, I’m also aware that I want to quilt. And I want to read. And I want to bake. And I barely have time for any of those things, let alone all of them. But I am trying to juggle. We’ll see how long I can keep everything in the air.

Feb. 29: It’s Leap Day, and I am determined not to waste an extra day in the year by doing nothing. So, along with making peanut butter cups and hoping to quilt yet today and maybe go for a walk, I have added 560 words to my current WIP, bringing my year-to-date word total up to 2,983 words and my daily average up to 49.71 words. I’m going to try to add to that before today is over. If not, then before the weekend is over. But I’m pleased that I’ve managed that many. 

March 7: So far today I haven’t managed any words. (I can hope that changes.) But, earlier this week, over the course of two days, I managed 599 words. That brings my yearly total today up to 3,582 words and my daily average to 53.46. 

March 11: On March 9 I managed 277 words. Today I added 363, for a combined 640 words. That brings the yearly total up to 4,222 words and my daily average up to 59.46 words. Slow but steady ...

March 15: Today I have added 579 words to my current WIP, which brings my yearly total up to 4,801 and my daily average to 64 words a day. (Though my doc says I have 5,108 words, so I’m not sure how to account for the missing 307 words. And, if I were to add them, it would push my word average to 68 words a day.)

April 16: I managed 1,031 words April 15 on a new WIP. (I would still be focused on my old WIP, except I have an exchange fic due at the end of May.) It took me a while to hit on an idea for the new one, but I’m happy with how it’s going so far. So, in the 106 days (as of April 15, not today) so far this year, I’ve written 5,832 words, for a daily average of 55.01 words a day. My average dropped in that month I apparently took off from writing, but I’m still above my daily average goal and my exchange fic is moving along, so I’m counting it as a win!

April 19: I have written another 1,339 words today on my exchange fic. Still quite a way to go, but it’s progress. I probably could keep writing -- conditions in my house are good at the moment. But I’ve been working on in for hours now (amid texting with friends and browsing Tumblr and Twitter), so I feel as if it’s a good time to stop and try something else for a bit. Anyway. That brings my yearly word count up to 7,171 words and my daily average (in 110 days) up to 65.19 words. I’m OK with that!

April 25: I’m developing a pattern, though not a bad one, I don’t think. I seem to be maxing out my writing sessions around 1,000 words before feeling the need to stop for the moment. Today, for example, I wrote 1,066 words. Not gonna complain about that, at all! It brings my year-to-date word total up to 8,237 words (in 116 days) and my daily word average to 71 words a day. I’m going to aim for more tomorrow, since I seem to manage to write on weekends more easily than I manage during the week. But we’ll see how things go.

April 26: I managed to write again today -- a good thing, since I rarely find time during the week and, thus, rely on weekends to get much of my writing done. I wrote 1,856 words (not including the ones I wrote to explain the ideas I have for the parts I haven’t yet written). That brings my yearly word total up to 10,093 words in 117 days, for a daily word average of 86.26 words. I’ll take it!

May 2: Well, I wrote 1,010 words today. None of them were for the exchange fic on which I should be working, but they were words. Words that I’m actually pretty pleased with, so I’m not feeling any regret about not focusing on my exchange fic. Today’s words bring me up to 11,103 words in 123 days, for a daily word average of 90.268. Fingers crossed I can find more time to write tomorrow -- and maybe on my exchange fic!

May 3: Well, I wrote another 1,023 words today and think I’ve finished (pending beta) the short little one-off that settled into my brain. That brings my word count for the year to 12,126 words in 124 days, for a daily average of 97.79 words. I’m still hoping to write more before the day is done, but I wanted to note this before I lost track of how many words I had in the first doc. Now ... on to my exchange fic. Update: I just added another 1,378 words to my exchange fic, which puts me at 2,401 words for the day and 13,504 words for the year. That raises my daily word average to 108.9 words a day. 

May 6: Over the past few days, I’ve written 474 words to put the finishing touches on something. That number’s deceptive, considering that some of those were new and some of them were replacing others already written and I honestly can’t be sure how many I actually wrote. But it was at least 474. Which brings my year-to-date word total up to 13,978 and my daily word average over 127 days to 110.06. The writing’s not what I would call “easy” right now. It’s not just flowing from my fingertips perfectly to grace my Gdocs. But it is happening, which means it’s not as hard as it has been at points during the past few years. I appreciate that.

May 9: I just added 1,051 words to my WIP. That brings me to a 130-day year-to-date word total of 15,029 and a daily word average of 115.6 words. I’m ... stunned.

May 16: I think I’ve finished my exchange fic. Today’s writing involved approximately 946 words, for an approximate year-to-date total of 15,975 words and a daily word average (in 137 days) of 116.6 words. (And my exchange deadline is still an astounding 15 days away. It’s not even a result of my “deadline’s approaching” panic-induced “inspiration”!) 

June 21: It seems like I’ve had a lull in writing (yes), but I finished my exchange fic and then spent some time beta-ing other exchange fics, so I wasn’t non-wordy during the past month. Still, it felt good today when I was able to add 579 words to the WIP I started in February. I also reworked a section, probably adding a few words, subtracting a few words, so I have no idea how many words I added there. And I think I have a workable route forward on finishing the WIP one of these days. (I won’t set a deadline, because artificial deadlines seem to freeze me as much as real ones inspire me.) Anyway ... 579 words added to the yearly word count makes for 16,554 words and a daily average (in 173 days) of 95.687 words a day. 

July 5: I finally had some time when things were quiet enough for me to focus on writing, so I did. I was at 1,214 words when the quiet went away. That gives a year-to-date word total of 17,768 words and a daily average (in 187 days) of 95.01 words. 

July 12: I’m still hoping to write more, but ... I went back and tweaked a conversation I wrote last week, adding 236 words. That brings me up to 18,004 words in 194 days for a daily average of 92.8 words.

July 21: I’m running behind in updating this, but ... on Sunday (July 19 -- happy birthday, BC!) I wrote 1,411 words on my current WIP. [It’s getting closer to done, but I’m still leery of my (made up) Aug. 1 deadline.] Those words bring me up to a yearly total of 19,415 words in 201 days, for a daily average of 96.59 words. I want to hope I get more written before the weekend, but ... it never seems to work. I managed to get my doc open Monday but didn’t add a word. It just sat there in a tab all day, watching me work. It’s open again today, but I’m not sure the result will be any different. Still, I’m trying!

P.S. I added another 555 words on July 21, bringing my word total (for 203 days) up to 19,970 words and a daily average of 98.37 words.

July 24: I’m surprising myself this week, managing to write a bit in the morning before work. (And letting a few minutes of writing time bleed into working time. But I was good and eventually closed out the doc to keep myself from straying away from work.) Anyway, on Thursday (yesterday/the 23rd), I wrote 779 words (and got a good chunk of my WIP’s ending written)! I still have to finish the ending and write an earlier scene, but ... it feels doable. The 779 words brings my word total for the year up to 20,749 words and a daily average (for 205 days) up to 101,21 words!

July 26: I am really trying to get this WIP finished. To that end, I have written 932 words so far today. I am optimistic that not many more will be needed and I hope maybe to write some of them today. Still, for now, that brings me to a year-to-date word total of 21,681 words and a daily average (in 207 days) of 104.73 words.

Aug. 2: I added 431 words to my WIP on Aug. 1, bringing my year-to-date word total up to 22,112 words and a daily average (in 213 days) of 103.8 words a day. (That was 213 days as of Aug. 1, not Aug. 2.) I had hoped to write some more today, but I’m not sure that’s going to happen. It’s ... complicated.

Aug. 19: No writing update. I’m kind of ... stuck. My WIP is either very nearly done or about to be razed to its foundation. I’m not sure which. While I decide, it’s sitting and I’m not writing. But I didn’t want this post to end up too far down my dash to find if/when I manage to string together words in a coherent fic-ly fashion again.

Sept. 6: Maybe it’s the three-day weekend allowing my brain a chance to relax and consider words, but, between today and Saturday/yesterday, I have managed 807 words on my WIP. I would like to think I’ll be able to add more before the weekend is done, but ... I’ll be happy with 807 words, if that’s what I end up with. It brings me to a year-to-date total of 22,919 words in 249 days, and a daily average of 92.04 words. Not as good as I’d like, but still well above my goal, so ... I’m OK with that! (And glad to be writing again, however slowly.)

Oct. 1: Between Sept. 30 and today, I have written 633 words. I still have a long way to go toward finishing this new thing (my WIP is on hold while I work on an exchange fic that is coming due alarmingly quickly, considering I just started writing it). That brings my year-to-date word total up to 23,552 words and my daily average (in 274 days) to 85.956 words. A bit lower than I had hoped, but they are words and I won’t complain.

Oct. 7: It’s been hard the past few days to keep track of a word count. I’ve basically been leaving my doc open all day every day and hoping that I manage to add a few words here and there. Along with adding some, I’ve subtracted some, I’ve tweaked some so they’re barely recognizable as having come from what was there before. But I have officially added 1,208 words since Oct. 1. That brings my year-to-date word total to 24,760 words and my daily average (in 280 days) to 88.4 words. I still have a long way to go on this WIP and not a long time in which to finish it, but it’s progress.

Oct. 11: OK, so ... I’m totally losing track of words gained. In the past few days, I added words. And then I subtracted words and added new words. And then I took a chunk of words and reworked them. I can say for sure that I have added 182 words. Though the reality is that there were many more than that written. Anyway. That’s 182 words added to the total word count to get 24,942 words in 284 days, That’s a daily average of 87.8 words. With 13 days left until I have to submit this WIP as a finished exchange gift. 

Oct. 17: I’m optimistic that I finished my current WIP (as opposed to the one that was a WIP before the current WIP and remains a WIP) this morning. If my beta agrees. Between edits and tweaks and the section I added this morning, I have no idea how many words that is. But, if I go back to when I started this WIP and add the current total to my word count as I started, I have written 26,588 words so far this year (not counting the ones I wrote and then edited or the ones I wrote and then deleted), for a daily average of 91.68 words in 290 days.

Oct. 18: My beta didn’t think I was quite done yesterday, but I was close, and I think I addressed her questions this morning. That’s another 291 words on Day 291 of the year. With a year-to-date word total of 26,879 words, that’s a daily word average of 92.367 words. 

Dec. 7: *sigh* My writing mojo has well and truly flown the coop. I think I need a vacation. But, while I have time to take (or lose) by the end of the year, work is too busy -- and too shorthanded -- for that to happen. So ... I muddle on. After submitting my exchange fic before Halloween, I haven’t really written anything new. Until I got an inkling of a thought for a scene at bedtime last night. I texted myself the bare bones and turned them into 451 words this morning. That’s not going to make up for not having written in close to two months, but ... it’s something. It’s 27,330 words in 342 days, for a daily word average of 79.679 words. I’m behind last year’s average, but still above my stated goal for the year (if not my hoped-for goal) and I still have time ... if I can find my focus.

Dec. 14: Baby steps. I’ve made no new progress on my WIP, but I did manage 518 words for an Advent fic prompt -- held over from 2019 because I only made it about halfway through them last December. That brings my yearly total to 27,848 words in 349 days (the way this day has started, I’m assuming there will be no time for non-work writing today), for a daily average of 79.79 words. Unless I somehow manage to finish the year strong, I’m not going to top last year’s average (and, not to seem pessimistic -- more realistic -- if it’s taken me 349 days to write nearly 28,000 words, I don’t see myself managing 13,000 words in the next 17 days. (That really would be a Christmas miracle.) But it is still well about my initial 43-words-a-day average and my “official” 50-words-a-day goal, even if I don’t write another word this year. So I will continue trying to write as I am able and try not to be too frustrated by how difficult words have seemed at large chunks of time this year.

Dec. 20: I tell myself that, with a handful of days before Christmas, I should be trying to write more of last year’s Advent fic. Or that cabin fic I’ve been pondering for months (well before the cabin fic fest was a thing). Instead, I managed 434 words on my WIP -- and count it as a win, even though I wish it were so much more. That brings me to 28,282 words in 255 days, for a daily average of 110.9 words a day. (That jump in average still doesn’t seem right, but apparently it is. It goes to show how even a relative few words can make a big difference.)

Dec. 31: Happy end to 2020. I am about to end the year having written far fewer words than I did in 2019. While I’m glad I managed to beat my daily word-average goal, and to some extent am pleased that I managed to write anything at all, I had been hoping for more. I have the ideas. (Well, a couple of ideas.) And I have a WIP that I think I’ll really like -- if I can pull it off. But the words don’t want to come. So I’m trying to be OK with writing about 25 percent* less than I did in 2019, recognizing that it’s still more than I wrote in the majority of years since 2012. And 2021 is a new year in which I can try again to write more (and hopefully better) words. (* That percentage depends on what measure I use. According to AO3, I’ve posted 20,000 fewer words than 2019′s 47,000. Which is pushing a loose 50 percent drop. But I know I have about 7,000 words in my unposted WIP, which brings the difference closer to 13,000, which I’m loosely considering 25 percent.)

[fuzzballsheltiepants]

Hi! So recently I’ve started writing a little more bc I’ve been interested in writing but I never really picked it up. The thing is though, the things that I’m trying to write end up being wayy too long. How do you control the length of your stories? Lol I feel a little weird asking for advice. (PS I love your writing, it has such a nice style to it)

Ahhhh thank you, you’re a sweetheart!  Congratulations on joining the weird and wonderful world of writing.  And I’m so flattered that you’re asking me! 

This is a problem I can totally relate to, lol.  I am very prone to letting fics get away from me, so I have lots of experience in trying to control length.  What works for me may not work for you, but here goes:

First off, what makes you think they are too long?  Does it feel slow?  Redundant?  Do you feel like you’re losing track of the story you’re trying to tell?  Or is it just that you were expecting to write something short and then...it’s not?

If it’s the last one, sometimes the story that you are writing needs more room to breathe, or sometimes the story you start writing turns into something else entirely.  Every Time a Bell Rings was initially conceived to be a one shot comedy, maybe 5-7k words, but once I started writing it became clear that the story my brain wanted to tell deserved more. 

I’m not big on outlines, but for many (most?) people they’re really helpful.  I do outline most of the longer fics (Back to the Start, Forging of the Wolf, my RBB fic) but I have the bad habit of straying wildly from my outlines as I write because sometimes the outline ends up being too limiting or I’ll get a better idea. 

It’s common for me to lose track of what I’m trying to tell.  I will write a scene that is pretty or that satisfies some urge, but then when I’m partway through it or I finish that scene I realize that it doesn’t actually add anything to the story.  A lot of times I just keep writing and go back to it later to see if it still deserves to be in there.  Other times, if it’s really pulling something in a weird direction, I’ll either delete it or, more often (since deleting hurts my brain) I’ll move it into a file that I call my “Discard Pile.”

My Discard Pile for my Forging of the Wolf fic is literally 20k words long.  It’s about 2k for Mewment, and was about the same for ETABR.  Sometimes I end up pulling little bits from there, but most of the time I got rid of it for a reason, as I realize once I have the objectivity to go back to it.

If you feel like you’re just a bit redundant, or that the pacing is too slow, just keep writing!  That’s what second and third drafts (and betas!) are for.  Get it on the page, and tweak it later.  I’m big on reading out loud when I’m done as that helps me catch when stuff doesn’t flow well or is just too repetitive. 

And I am merciless with my own writing.  I have a “when in doubt, write it” attitude, but also a “when in doubt, cut it” attitude.  I usually don’t even let @tntwme beta until I’ve already pared out a LOT.  If it doesn’t add to the mood, emotional development, or plot, I cut it.  And I still tend to suspect I’m wordy, lol, but at least most of the time the excess serves some sort of a function.

Also, don’t hesitate to reach out to friends that write.  If you don’t have any (or they’re not as supportive/helpful as you need), reach out to other writers that you might not know yet and see if they’re willing to help you out.  I’m often willing to give feedback on ideas, and there are some amazingly sweet and generous writers in both my fandoms (AFTG and SJM) who might also be open to it. There’s also resources like the AFTG fic library that has a beta readers list, who might be able to help you too.

Here’s an example from the fic I just posted (The Laws of Physics): I was struggling with where to end it, and I had this idea in my head about Aaron and Neil getting into an argument.  But at the same time, I was pretty sure that would distract from the intimacy of the story I wanted to tell.  I wrote a bit of that scene then asked @nikothespoonklepto about it.  They agreed that while it would be a good story to tell, it would be better served as a second story, and not part of this sweet little moment between Andrew and Neil.  So, I still have it, and I may at some point expand and add a chapter or two onto that fic involving Aaron, but for now that particular fic is best ended where I did it.

I hope that this is at least a little bit helpful.  I’m more than happy to chat more, and don’t hesitate to DM me!

[merry-the-cookie]

HEY GUYS!!!!!!! IM EXCITED!!!!!

Im posting more news about the keychains!!! aaaah!!! alright so!! ive been working on these 💪🏼💪🏼 and i can finally update you a bit on the situation!! 

Under the cut you’ll have me rambling about the work status for like three paragraphs so you can just skip to where i talk about the technicalities, prices, dates blabla bla. just wanna clarify for now that nothing is set in stone and i don’t have definitive prices yet 

i’m still working out everything and keep in mind it’s my first time doing this!! 

The tag for this on my blog is “keychain stuff”, i dont have the time to do a proper faq page for this im so sorry i cant stress myself even mORE LOL but hey i try to give some info in this very post!

anyway here we go

I have finished the linearts for the five kids!! ✨✨ three of them will have understudies on one side!! here’s an example of the line for the evan keychain! btw i’m sorry about those big watermarks but this project is really important to me so i’m not taking any risks loool i’m gonna work on the colors for those now! ✨✨✨

the larry/cynthia keychain is like, two thirds done lol i have to clean up cynthia’s side but this is the final design for larry!! theres. probably going to be some last minute minor tweaks, the text seems too small/dark to read but hey!!! HE IS DONE!!! 🎉🎉🎉 i had a lot of fun with it, i tried something a little different after dealing with so much lineart fhjsbs

the heidi keychain is also a work in progress!

I don’t want to post too many visuals bc i don’t want to give you false hope and stuff lool i’d rather you be pleasantly surprised than disappointed because it doesn’t live up to your expectations or something fjshsksh 

OK LETS GET DOWN TO BUSINESS

I do not have definitive dates for these,

 since i have to finish the designs first, make the templates and send them to either acornpress or zap creatives or sOMETHING to then actually make them lol

I hope to have finished the designs soon enough, to eventually order the charms…just know that these arent getting here before mid september at best But before i order them i will have to install a shop and open pre-orders!! i shall do that soon too arghghhh

(Pre orders will determine how many i order in and how much of which design depending on which ones are more popular, so that i don’t find myself with too many or not enough of them! (although i intend on ordering as much as i can tbh fhjkshsj) And i know many of you probably already know all of this but i’m writing it down for myself too lOL as i said, first time doing this,,,)

About the prices, 

i don’t want to make them too expensive? but there will be shipping costs since i live in france and i’m gonna have to ship them around the world all by my little self lool

so i’m thinking they will be

around 4/5€ per charm

? i’m still not sure. i don’t want to go above that but i can’t undersell these either. i still have to figure out the shipping added expenses!! but i don’t think it would go over 2 added euros

I don’t actively want to make, like, personal profit out of these? Ordering them can get expensive and my mother is generously letting me do this since i don’t make my own money to pay for it, and i’m so grateful that she encourages me to get myself out there ykno, so mostly i would like to pay her back with the money i would get from selling them! I’m mostly doing this because i really love dear evan hansen and i wanna share that with you guys! The eventual extra money, i would like to invest in like, charity or associations and stuff, since i’d never gotten the opportunity to do that before aaaa i’m excited

Thanks for reading this far!!! And for your continued interest!!! i love you guys aaa i’mso excited to share this with you i’m also very stressed and nervous but excited!!!!!! 💖💖💖