#when overwhelmed with fanfic: just work on your screenplay

[thinkingisadangerouspastime]

there are so many fics i want to be working on all at once so instead im working on my screenplay

[nextinline-if]

hi! so i didn't know who to ask so i just chose randomly from the if blogs i follow 👉👈

but um, i'd like to ask, how'd you start all of this? like, deciding to make your story an if, etc.

i'm 16 and an amateur writer and i'd like to venture into making an if (aside from doing screenplays, fanfic, and school works :P)

ty if you do answer this or not! 💜

Oh! I'm not sure that I'm the best person to ask because im a mess but here's the gist.

I knew my story could never just be a novel because there were so many ways the story could go (not just relationships, but how MC's story is told). So, with that in mind, I started to think it could be a game. I settled on a visual novel format at first. But not being artistically inclined or having money to pay an artist, I eventually decided that interactive fiction would be a better format.

I would say some things to keep in mind:

An outline or multiple outlines are incredibly helpful in helping see where your story can go and also finding plot holes to fix;

You don't need to have every detail fleshed out or characters fully fleshed out (they will evolve), but your overall plot and who is invovled (and how) are important before getting started.

Consider realistically how many characters you can include. If you decide to include ROs and/or friends, it's better, in my opinion, to start small (4 or less) for a first time IF. That's not to say more is bad or anything, but it could get overwhelming when you're just starting out.

Don't be afraid to get feedback from other authors or bounce ideas. From my experience, IF authors are overall very kind and enjoy helping each other.

Look at other IFs from the same genre and other genres and see how they do things. That doesn't mean you have to stay conventional, it just means you can get an idea of how to start. When you read an IF you like, take note of what you liked about and that will give you an idea of what you might want to focus on in your own IF.

Last thing, don't be scared to experiment and remember that you will learn as you go. If you make mistakes, just own those, take the lesson, and move on. Kind of something to remember for writing in general.

[pynkhues]

HELLO DEAR WRITER FRIEND how do you balance your different WIPs/stories? And fanfic & non-fanfic? How does one do this without losing their minds or losing a sense of what they're doing w each story?

Hi, anon! Gosh, I feel like not very well at the moment, haha, but I do have a system which I'm more than happy to share! It might not work for you – I think the way we manage things, particularly creative projects, is often pretty specific to how we operate generally, but hopefully there's something in here that's useful for you.

(This isn't super long, but I'm putting it under a cut just in case)

I have a masterfile of projects, which is really just an excel spreadsheet project tracker. It's what I use to record anything I'm working on, even if it's just a concept in my notebook. It's not an overly detailed system, I just record title, a one line description to jog my memory, the genre I'm thinking, the stage of development, and, down the track, any recognition it gets (this is more for non-fandom projects as I've received a few fellowships in the past that I need to acknowledge when a work gets published – I do have a fanfic version though too without that column and the genre column).

Here's a screenshot of it, including my little dropdown list of stages (click for full size):

I have different pages for different types of projects (i.e. novels versus short stories versus screenplays), but the structure of the template is exactly the same for each.

This is really just a way of me keeping track of ideas that I've had and knowing quickly where I'm at with them, so I update it only really as I work on things.

From there, each of my projects has a little file tree where I tend to break things up like this:

This is really a way of bundling up different aspects of a project, from development notes and things like family trees I might have done up, or character histories I've written, through to old drafts, and even submission packets and contracts if it's gotten to that stage.

The Inspiration folder is really important to me in balancing working on multiple projects, and it's actually pretty different to the Research folder. More than anything, the Inspiration folder's kind of a mood board that gets me back into the headspace of a particular story. A playlist, photos or artworks, sometimes movie posters or poems – things that make me think of the tone and the energy and the characters of that particular story.

Some of my projects might only have one or two things in that folder, some have hundreds of things, haha, but it doesn't really matter. Whatever I put in there is a way of coaxing myself back into that storyworld and leaving all the other one's behind.

Once I feel like I'm there, I'll usually jump into my notes and start to work on it, but re-engaging with that Inspiration folder really is pretty pivotal. I often like to give myself the time with that too – like, I can't listen to music when I write, but I love making playlists for projects, so I'll usually go for a walk and listen to that, and then by the time I come back and sit at my desk, I'm really ready to re-enter that story.

As for balancing things generally, it's definitely tough! I try to limit myself to working on two or three things at a time, as I've figured out that's a bit of a sweet spot for me (I get a little overwhelmed with more than four, I've discovered, especially during lockdown), and I try to designate time, which I talked about a bit in this post.

And that's kind of it! It's not a perfect system, but it generally works for me most of the time. I hope it's a help to you too. 💖

[babbushka]

Hi, it's okay if you don't want to answer, I just wanted to ask you because I find you incredibly successful ❤ First of all, your works had a great influence on my decision to write. I said to myself, "I want to express myself like her, I want to be able to reflect what's on my mind on paper like she does." You inspired me and I started writing, hoping that one day I would get to the point where I'm successful like you. I know it'll take time to establish my own way of writing and it'll improve as I write. But when I write, I always get stuck, I think I can't convey what is going on well and rush it. I guess I make no progress. I don't know what to do, if you have any advice I would be happy to hear it. You don't have to answer if you don't want to, love your work ❤

Hello my dear anon, oh this is so kind of you to say! I'm absolutely honored to have inspired you to start writing, and I'm happy to give any advice for how you can continue on with this craft, for whatever that may be worth to you :)

(putting it under a cut because it's long lol)

Firstly, I would like to say that the word 'success' means different things to different people. There's success of public reaction, how it's received and all that, but there's also success of internal goals. I personally try to concern myself more with my internal goals, and less about how other people view the writing in terms of likes/kudos/reblogs, whether that's fanfic or my screenplays. These sort of goals vary depending on the piece, but usually they boil down to trying to make someone feel a certain way, or trying to make a certain point in the story.

For example, if I'm writing something that's supposed to be a hurt-comfort piece, then to me, it is successful if at least one person is comforted while reading it. If I'm writing something that's a horror thriller, then it is a success if I'm able to make at least one person feel that sense of fear, or at the very least, dread. It doesn't really matter to me how many notes it gets, or how many people read it, as long as I was able to impact one person (and that usually is myself lol) then the piece was a success, and I move on to the next.

I think it's important that you contextualize how you see success for your writing. My best advice really and truly is to write the things that you want, and not what you think will be popular. Write the plots that interest you, try to convey the emotions that you want to feel, do what brings you happiness. When you put your heart into your work, people will see it and be drawn to it, trust me.

In regards to getting stuck, oh my gosh have I been there before! We all have, it's a part of the creative process where at some point, all of us run against a wall, and have to be faced with how we're going to move forward. Please don't be discouraged by this, it is a natural part of the process, I promise. I have been writing for over a decade, in one form or another, and I still have moments where I have no idea what I'm doing! But, over the years, I've sort of figured out some tips or rather, things that I do to make writing a little bit easier of a time:

Outline your story. I don't care if it's 1k, 10, 100k -- outline. I don't care if it's just a oneshot or if it's a professional novel, you outline. Outlines can seem boring and unnecessary, but they are your best friend in terms of what the hell is going on in this story. This is where you really figure out what the plot it, how things happen, what the points of action are, all that jazz. I have an outline template that I can give you to use, if you'd like it. Outlining is the structure, it's the skeleton of your story, and without it, there's nothing for the meat (dialogue, descriptions, actions, etc) to stick to.

Warm up before starting on your WIP. It can be as easy as writing a string of nonsense, keysmashing, typing up random dialogue that has nothing to do with anything -- just get your brain moving and those creative muscles flexing. Then when you're itching to just work on the real thing already, delete the nonsense, and get to it.

Have smaller WIPs to work on alongside the big one. This does not work for everyone, but for me, I find it really helpful to switch gears when I'm stuck on a particular piece of writing. It's nice to say "okay, i have no clue how i'm going forward with this one, let's work on this one for a bit instead," because what tends to happen is that by giving your brain a break, it's able to flow ideas more freely, and you'll be past that sticky point in no time.

In terms of trying to convey what's happening on the page, I really do think that asking yourself a million questions to give context -- or rather, having a friend ask you them -- is so helpful.

Let's say for example, you have:

He put the book down.

Well, alright, that's pretty straightforward, and it works, but, it doesn't paint much of a picture. We simply need more context:

How did he put the book down?

Where did he put the book down?

What did he feel when he put the book down?

Why did he put the book down?

What is the significance of the book?

What did he do after the book was no longer in his hands?

When you ask yourself these questions, you can take 'he put the book down' and turn it into:

Slamming the weathered diary onto his desk, he blinked back tears, the shock of its contents too overwhelming for him to handle. Alone in the room, his mind races-- never in a million years could he imagine that his own father had endured such sorrow. He paces, unable to simply stand with this knowledge weighing heavy on his chest, his deepest fears realized. He never should have read the diary, but now the damage was done, and the words could not be unread.

or,

With a trembling breath of reverence, he let the smooth pages of the book flutter to a close as he gently set it back on the shelf. This was it, this was the very tome he had been looking for! The very same one that had been treasured for years, heralded as impossible, a myth, a legend. A light fills him, one of eager anticipation, but also of clawing fear: he must protect this book and the knowledge it contains, this he knows, so that it can never fall into the wrong hands. Leaving the library, he amends to return that evening with a way to smuggle it out, but for now, he must plan how.

Two very different interpretations, two very different images! All from the way we answer the defining questions of context.

It takes time, and practice makes perfect. Writing is a skill just like any other, and the more you do it, the better you will become, I promise. No one wakes up one day out of nowhere and is perfect at being creative, often, the beauty is in the process of learning and developing your craft. I know it can feel frustrating, but the very fact that you know you are struggling means you are getting better, because you can recognize where you're having trouble and are trying to fix it. That is something to be proud of, and something that I know you can work through in time.

I hope that you were able to find this helpful, and I'm sending you all my love!

[nanowrimo]

My NaNo Road Trip: From Training Wheels to Cruising the Highway

We’re off on the Great NaNoWriMo Road Trip! So far, participants like you have helped us raise over $9,000 of our $50,000 goal to fund a redesign of the NaNoWriMo website. We’ve asked NaNoWriMo participants around the globe to tell us about their journeys along their own creative highways. Today, author, participant, and Municipal Liaison Belinda Missen reflects on her route from Jurassic Park fanfic to five-time published author:

I remember as plain as day the first story I ever wrote. It was the summer of 1993, I was eleven years old, and firmly ensconced in the world of Jurassic Park fan fiction. Something about that film spoke to me on a level that nothing else had and, suddenly, everything made sense.

I wanted to write books.

From that point onward, I was madly scribbling in the back of disused school books. Not until I was fourteen would we get a family computer, and then I could be found bashing at keys aimlessly for hours. This time, fan fiction gave way to new characters; convoluted, angst-ridden plot lines; and password protected documents, lest anyone decide they want to read the musings of a teenage girl. In all, it was like peddling down an empty highway with training wheels on.

Of course, life gets in the way while you’re busy plotting to overthrow literary overlords, and I ended up doing the ‘normal’ things expected of people. I put the pencils and spare notebooks away for a few years while I finished school, went on to university, and eventually settled into full time work.

But I quit my job with an overwhelming sense that life had more to offer me than fourteen hour shifts and huge petrol bills. Writing was something I’d begun to dabble with again, tapping out random musings on blank emails and sending them home. Most of them were left unattended until that one idea came up and bit me in the bum around April 2014.

I was consumed. I was back to fourteen hour days, but I was enjoying it. Characters and scenes, storylines and weird research terms in Google (because, let’s face it, we all do it!), and I’d swapped my training wheels for my first beat up car. This was the manuscript I was learning to change gears with. Too fast? Too slow? Back off the throttle, and cruise for a bit.

The truth is, writing is scary. Four weeks later, I had a finished manuscript–at least, I thought it was finished. In my excitement, I sent copies to friends. That feeling was, in a word, terrifying. What if they didn’t like it? What if they did like it? What then?

"My first NaNoWriMo gave me a full license to drive headlong into my writing career.”

Among my own self-criticism (we authors are notoriously bad for that) were comments on improvements; tone, style, dialogue. But there was an overwhelming positivity. It was through this initial reading that I was drawn to NaNoWriMo. One of my readers was a participant, and suggested I join.

So, I did.

Not only did NaNoWriMo give me the opportunity to rework my manuscript, it gave me a community, and I was soon going to local write-ins, meeting other writers, and forming friendships. The artistic community is a wonderful place when you’re all working toward the same goal. My first NaNoWriMo gave me a full license to drive headlong into my writing career. It’s because of this that I’ve experienced what followed next.

Since my first NaNoWriMo, I’ve published five books. There have been mistakes and learning curves along the way. I’ve undertaken more schooling to learn the art of editing, and I’ve stepped up into a Municipal Liaison role within my region. Learning to write, improving at your craft, and throwing it out into the wide world is a huge leap of faith, and a journey unlike one you’ve ever taken. There are no road maps, but plenty of road blocks, and sometimes you run out of gas. The important thing to remember is to just keep pushing on. You’ve got this.

Belinda Missen is an author and screenwriter from Geelong, Australia. What began with writing fan fiction as an eleven-year-old has become a full-time job. In 2016, Belinda received the JOLT Court House Youth Arts Award in the Inspire 26+ category for her piece Obsession. In 2017, her fifth release, Love and Other Midnight Theories, soared to the top of the Amazon screenplay charts, overtaking JK Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them for an entire hour. In 2018, she’s hoping to kick things up a notch and delve into traditional publishing. Visit her website, or find her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads. 

Top photo by Flickr user Richo.Fan