#word count: 30k to 60k

[mp100ficrec]

A Heart Like Yours by Yessica

Fic can be read HERE.

Fake Dating, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, Friends to Lovers, Romantic Comedy, Light Angst, Family Drama. Completed. Rated: T. Word Count: 47524

Pairings: Reigen Arataka/Serizawa Katsuya

Trigger Warnings: Family Issues, Implied Homophobia

“[The invite inside was completely inconspicuous, almost bland. A cream-colored piece of paper with black lettering in a fancy font and little frills in the margins, as if it was an afterthought to this whole affair. The date of the event was printed largely at the top and somebody - most likely his mother - had used a red pen to underline it as well as the text at the bottom.

Reigen Arataka and guest, it said.

Clearly, they had intended for him to bring somebody with him to this affair. And there was only one person he could possibly ask.]

-----

When it comes to getting his parents off his back in regards to having a girlfriend, Reigen employs the oldest trick in the book. Meanwhile, Serizawa just wonders when his life turned into a romcom.”

[nii-hieromythic]

Acwrimo word count or w/e Day 1: 2,050

[roughdraftmonth]

Here's Everything You Need to Know About RDMO!

The first Rough Draft Month began on November 1st, 2024.

Rough Draft is a 30-day creative challenge led by a small group of writers and artists seeking to find joy and community in the creative process.

What is a "Rough Draft"?

Every great piece of art or literature starts as an idea - but it doesn’t stop there. A rough draft is your first attempt at taking on your creative project from start to finish. This process can be very daunting - but that's why we're here. RDMO will help you achieve your goals in a fun and community focused way.

Sharable Information: Instagram | Tumblr

Goal Tiers

Instead of a main challenge, we created 4 tiers (60K, 50K, 30K, and Flex) to create flexibility for your unique project. Examples of a Flex Goal include lines for poetry, scenes for screenplays, panels for graphic novels/cartoonists, and more.

This year we will be tracking our progress together on trackbear.app

Pick the goal that fits your project and join us!

🗻 Mountain Trail (60k)

🌳 Forest Trail (50k)

🌊 Waterfall Trail (30k)

🌙 Moonlight Trail (Flex Goal)

We've created challenge maps to guide you along your trail.

You can also use these graphics we created to tell others that you plan to participate. Get the word out!

Community Events

One of the best parts about November creative challenges is the mutual support and encouragement during such a big project. Join our Discord to participate with the RDMO community!

Other Features:

🎶 Listen to & save our curated writing playlists

✉ Sign up for our email newsletter for updates, advice, and resources to help you meet your goal - like how to find inspiration for your next project!

🏅 Sticker Book - Achievement Collecting 🔑 Locked In - Word Count Game ⏰ Let Me Cook - Pomodoro Timer

+ More Coming Soon!

We are working hard to create a space that promotes creativity and originality while being fun and supportive. Thank you for your interest and we hope to see you on the trails! ✏

[dreaming-marchling]

2024 Fic Round Up

Tagged by @princessfbi (thank you! so thrilled to have discovered your work this year!)

2024 Word Count: 661,417

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

Safe In Certainty Started in 2023, Completed in Feb 2024 | Fast & Furious | Marked in Trust Series | 223,657k

Part four finished! Still stunned to be here story after story with the most amazing commenters I could have ever asked for. Not bad for a story I had never intended to share!

MARCH

Marked in Faith 10 chapters posted in 2024 | Fast & Furious | Marked in Trust Series | Roughly 60k posted in 2024

I'm putting this in for March because this is the month I began posting one story a month until Reckless in Devotion started. Some of those babies are longer than my oneshots, lol. Forever love exploring other POVs in the Marked in Trust world!

APRIL

MAY

The Ex 911 | Bucktommy | 17.5k

My first 911 story! My first Bucktommy story! Buck as a character totally captured me this year. I haven't been taken by a new fandom in so long so this was so exciting! Of course I beat the crap out of Buck right in my first fic for him :)

JUNE

Eyes On Me 911 | Bucktommy | 18k

Post lightning strike cataracts, I had so much fun with this one. I constantly think about extending it or maybe doing a Buddie version of it, I just loved the storyline so much and other scenes popped into my head after I posted

Doctor/Warlock Confidentiality Shadowhunters | Magnus-Centric | 17k

My first Shadowhunters of the year! Magnus Bane gets therapy against his wishes. I felt very clever for the title, lol

Heart & Universe 911 | Buddie | 6.8k

My first Buddie story! Why be stuck in a ship war when you can have BOTH?? I love writing them realizing they're in love :)

JULY

The King of the Dark Storm Shadowhunters | Malec & Chairman Meow | 5.8k

I've had this stray headcanon about Chairman being an old god trapped as a cat floating around in my head for fun for so long and finally I wrote it!

Not Sexy 911 | Bucktommy | 7k

Listen, I need more fics about Buck using sex in unhealthy ways. It's catnip for me. Tommy got a glimpse behind that particularly miserable door in this one

Invasion 911 | Buddie | 10k

Nakedperil!Buck and protective!Eddie - a match made in heaven, in my opinion

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

Over the Cliff 911 | Gen 118 Fam | 6k

This was originally supposed to be how Buck got injured in Not Sexy but I was having way too much fun with the cliff rescue which wasn't even the point of Not Sexy so I chopped them in half to make a gen 118 family/Buck whump story and gave a much more to the point explanation for Buck's injuries in Not Sexy

Away From Us 911 | Buddie | 76k

My first 911 multichapter story! A presumed dead lawsuit era story full of angst. I fully anticipate more lawsuit era angst in my future, lol

OCTOBER

Art Class and Earthquakes 911 | HenRen/Gen Buck & Karen | 5.5k

Karen Wilson is awesome and needs more stories

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

Reckless in Devotion Fast & Furious | Brian/Dom | 33k posted in 2024

The 5th installment in Marked in Trust series!! This took me so much longer than I thought it would but it's finally up and running and I am so excited for everyone to see what's to come :)

To Be Bonded Shadowhunters | Malec & Parabatai | 30k posted in 2024

I still literally cannot believe that this is finally being shared. I started this story in 2019 - I know I keep saying that but like this thing took me 5 years. It is my nemesis, finally vanquished. And people are enjoying it??? What? I've been cursing its name and people are now enjoying it. Wild. Wonderful

2024 has been kind of a crappy year for me irl but in fic it as been wonderful. A new fandom, so many words shared and, best of all, such amazing support and kindness from readers. You're all so wonderful and you have truly been one of the brightest pieces of my year. I cannot thank you all enough.

Tagging: You know the drill, if you saw this and thought "I wanna do that" then you're tagged. Literally @ me so I can read yours, that's how tagged you are.

[fleuryuns]

──── ❝ FLEURYUNS . here are my current works in progress. please understand that i take my time with every project i work on, so do not expect these to come out quickly. do not steal these ideas ❞ circa 2024

( 꽃 ) CURRENTLY WRITING !

you're nothing but a puppet (let me be a part of the game) — (minor) sunghoon x fem!reader ; goal 30k (curr. 1k)

you've been taking care of your younger siblings ever since your parents died, and money is running low. so, when someone offers you a way to make "easy money," you can't risk saying no (squid game au)

y/n's unconventional guide to witchcraft & fire powers — air & terra witch!heeseung x fire witch!femreader ; goal 60k (curr. 5k)

based on the book ­”the ruthless lady's guide to wizardry,” you are a fire witch–more or less. you haven’t exactly mastered your powers, but you have other skills you excel in such as vandalising, cheating, and general fraud. when your mom goes missing again, you know it’s time you find yourself a good paying job, besides … well, stealing. thankfully, as if the opportunity was waiting for you to be ready, a job opening as a guard for a mysterious Person-Of-Some-Importance falls into your lap–it doesn’t take much convincing when you see the pay rate. soon enough, you’re travelling to the northern city to become a royal guard, as if nothing could ever go wrong with that, 'cause nothing ever could, right?

expired milk and other things best before november — jay x exchange student!femreader ; undecided word count

you and jay go through the motions of balancing school, a relationship and the struggles of growing up; some things are bound to topple over

after hours — jay x stripper!femreader ; undecided word count

jay reluctantly joins his coworkers to a strip club after a company party out of pure curiosity—you're determined to give him the time of his life

plagiarism! — fanboy!jay x fanfic writer!femreader ; social media au

you find out that your works have been plagiarized and shared on twitter without your permission and you can’t stop yourself from confronting the perpetrator

the seven husbands of the heiress — maid!yunjin x heiress!femreader x enhypen ; undecided word count

wip summary (the seven husbands of evelyn hugo au)

august eleventh — (side story) bsf!sunghoon x femreader ; undecided word count

wip summary (camping trip goes wrong horror fic feat. amnesia, (lots of) death)

fireflies, s'mores and more — counselor!jungwon x camper!femreader ; undecided word count

wip summary (adult summer camp for the Mentally Ill ..)

a little bit of luck — ladybug!sunoo x cat noir!femreader ; undecided word count

wip summary (miraculous au!!!!)

twenty thousand leagues below the sea — captain!sunghoon x scientist!femreader ; undecided word count

wip summary (20000 leagues below the sea au ... sorta)

a circus ain't a love story — criminal!heeseung x femreader x loner!jay ; undecided word count

wip summary (365 fresh mv au)

sparks — witch!jake x witch!femreader ; undecided word count

wip summary (modern magic au)

( 꽃 ) MY IDEAS !

"there's something wrong with my cat" — loser!jake x vet-tech!femreader ; undecided word count

jake doesn't know how to take care of his cat. solution? visit the vet.. like everyday

untitled — dad!jay x teacher!femreader ; undecided word count

newly single dad!jay .. yeah that's all i got (prob. feature some unrequited love w coworker!heeseung)

untitled — pirate captain!sunghoon x vigilante!femreader ; undecided word count

pirates au (probably smutty)

untitled — hyung line x toxic!femreader ; undecided word count

"when he cheated on me with the same girl my ex cheated on me with" yeah y/n is a bitch in this one

untitled — assistant!heeseung x serial killer!femreader ; undecided word count

based on what little i know about that book assistant to the villain (i've never read it)

untitled — boyfriend!jay x girlfriend!femreader ; undecided word count

jay helps you with your period cramps in the best way he knows (getting freaky)

to the moon and back — astronaut!heeseung x stay-at-home-mom!femreader ; undecided word count

not to spoil it but this is tragic

untitled — august!rei x james!niki x betty!femreader ; undecided word count

the folklore love triangle 🙂‍↕️

you don't have a shot — soccer player!wonyoung x soccer player!femreader ; undecided word count

based on you don't have a shot by racquel marie!!!

[platitudinalteen]

Hi! I hyper fixate on my interests and occasionally form coherent thoughts. Currently working on a DC (Damian Wayne centric) fic and this is where you'll find updates on my word count for it!!! Started 1.1.24. Requests and questions are always welcome! <3

Update: 20k

Update: 30k

Update: 40k

Update: 50k

Update: 60k

Update: 70k

Update: 80k

Update: 90k

Update:100k

Update:150k

Update: 200k

Update:250k

Update: 300k!

Update: 350k

Update: 400k!

[olderthannetfic]

This may sound really stupid, but I've been reading your asks for a long time and I would like your input.

Even after many many years of using Ao3 I have problems understanding how to use the "word count" tags because the numbers mean litteraly nothing to me. My first fanfiction site used "number of chapter" tags and when I started to use Ao3 I tought they were a better system of sorting.

Now I can see why the word count may be useful (I've seen obscenely long one-chapter stories on Ao3), but I still think sorting by chapter number is easier to use and understand, mostly because I prefer long fics and only read one-shot if I am in a "one-shot mood" and that doesn't happend often.

What do you think? And do you have some suggestion on how to use the word count tags or I just have to feel it?

--

I don't find chapter count useful on AO3 because so many people have chapters of less than 500 words. I mean... it might be useful to be able to screen out people who write chapters that short, but aside from that, their massively inflated chapter counts tell me nothing about the length or meatiness of the work.

People routinely post 50k works with section breaks that function like chapter breaks to AO3. That chapter count also means nothing.

Most people don't tag for work count on AO3. The automatic calculation can be helpful for a general sense of what kind of bucket a thing falls into.

<10k - short story

30k - novella

60k - concise novel

200k - bloated epic

--

How on earth can you know the length without looking at the length?

Sure, on some older, smaller sites, people wrote in a more consistent style where X chapters was usually Y words, but that just isn't true on AO3. Only wordcount—the wordcount automatically generated by AO3—has any hope of telling you how long a work is.

[ataleofcrowns]

Chapter 11 Progress [14/MAY]

Hey everyone, it's been a minute since my last update on the blog!! Happy mother's day to all the moms out there 💖

By the time of writing this, I have 40k words written for CH11, and I am both happy and mildly horrified to report that CH11 is looking up to be the biggest chapter yet by a mile. It's very likely the total word count will break through 90k words, primarily due to the LI routes.

First, I've finished the first draft for X's route for CH11 and am mildly exasperated by my inability to properly estimate how long these sections will be.

I thought it would amount to 10k at most, but X's route ended up with 18k words. This is mostly due to all the Imperial Court variations in their opening scene, because I'm a masochist. A single playthrough of X's route is more like 14k words, though, depending on the variations you get.

I'm also close to finishing R's route and have 8k words written for it so far. Their and A's routes will be a little less in word count, since they got more content in CH10, but they'll both likely still be 10-12k words. D's will likely be closer to X's route in word count, around 14-15k.

Altogether, this chapter's LI routes alone will likely be close to 60k for all four. So that leaves the rest of the 30k for the main plot, which I haven't started yet. I literally only have words written for R and X, as well as bits and snippets for A and D so far lol.

Please pray for me so that I can release this chapter in July and give you all a summer miracle 🙏🏼

Anyway, enough about the word count!! I've got some preview posting to catch up to, so beneath the cut you'll find various snippets for X and R's routes in CH11 that were posted on the Patreon.

Hopefully I'll be able to post some for A and D soon as well, once I dig into their routes in the coming weeks.

Here's a small preview of a bit you might see occur across all LI routes, though it still depends on who is appointed to your Imperial Court (and the Lord Samal referenced here is specific to X's route as well):

“Chief Minister, is this allowed? There must be procedure for the appointment of officials—” “It is all at the Crown’s discretion,” Chief Minister Karwan states simply, turning away from the representative again to face forward instead. “But this is highly unusual!” The Minister breathes an exasperated sigh. “Oh, quiet down! Were you not using the same technicalities to get your way a moment ago, you insolent dog?” “Do not speak to me that way!” Lord Samal erupts. “I serve Mîr Behram!” “And I was already serving the Crowns of this Empire when your master was still suckling at the teat!” the Chief Minister snaps. “Now be a good boy and come to heel, we have many more matters to discuss.”

Here's a preview for X's route:

“Why do you have that dagger?” You turn to look at $aname, taken aback by how stunned $athey appears. “$xname gave it to me.” “$cxthey gave it to you?” $aname repeats incredulously, glancing back down at the dagger in your hands. “Did $xthey tell you who it originally belonged to?” “It belonged to someone else?” You assumed $xname was the only one who owned it, but looking at it again, you can notice subtle wear and tear despite its well-cared-for state. Little scratches along its sheath, the edges of pearl looking a little worn along the handle. “Whose was it?” “$cxtheir mother’s.” Your fingers tighten around its sheath in shock, then twitch with the urge to put it away. “$cxtheir mother’s? Why would…” You look down at the dagger in complete disbelief. “Why would $xthey give it to me?”

And finally, here's a preview for R's route:

Your hands reach for $rthem, but then halt and hover in mid-air, uncertain of whether you should even touch $rthem while $rthey’s in this state. “It’s alright,” Perjin speaks quietly from beside you. “You can hold $rtheir hand, if you wish. Your magic won’t cause any problems.”  You take a slow, deep breath, calming yourself as you sit down on the edge of the bed and gently take $rname’s hand in yours. “$crtheir fingers are cold.” Alarmed, you rub $rtheir hand, feeling how clammy and cool $rtheir skin is. You turn to Perjin. “Why does $rthey feel cold? What’s happening to $rthem?” 

That was it for this update ✨

I’m posting further updates and CH11 previews on the Patreon for all tiers, as well as all sorts of fun extra LI/Crown snippets, so if you’d like more AToC content while you wait for CH11, consider pledging!!

As always, thanks so much for your patience and support 💖

[thevioletcaptain]

Hi! I don’t mean in any way to pressure you but I was wondering if you’re planning on continuing your fic “fortress”? I’d love to see it continue🥰 again no pressure I just really like your works!

Hi anon! Thanks for the message :)

Despite the hellishly long gap between updates, Fortress is not abandoned, and I do intend to finish it. It's actually pretty high up on my to-do list right now, and will be the next major thing I post once As A Friend is done.

Here's the order in which I plan to post DeanCas fics/updates over the next few months -- with some vague spoiler-adjacent-but-not-really-spoilery details for anyone who wants them:

Chapters 5 & 6 - As A Friend Roughly 35k words in total, split over these final two chapters. This will see Dean & Cas return to the bunker, announce their "fake" relationship to Sam & Jack, and then [redacted because I'm not giving the whole thing away even though you already know it's gonna be a happy ending].

Chapters 8, 9, & 10 - Fortress Roughly 22k words split between these three chapters. Chapter 9 (the during chapter in which Dean is suffering) & chapter 10 (the after chapter which follows the first days of Dean living with Cas after coming home) have been ready for a while, but chapter 8 (the before chapter, which features Robin's party when they were 16 👀 a party which you might recall was mentioned by Cas during the previous before chapter) has been holding them hostage. So as soon as 8 is ready I intend to post all three at once.

Oneshot - Hearts Beating Life (Into Each Other) Roughly 25k words of canonverse fuck-or-die fic. In which Cas gets cursed on a hunt, and you'll never guess what Dean has to do to save him..... lol. It'll probably get split into two or three chapters for readability, but I plan to post it all at once. This is only one final scene away from being complete at this point, but I want to finish As A Friend & update Fortress before I share it.

Chapter 8 - Isosceles Roughly 17k words, because this fic refuses to let me be succinct. Dean & Cas discuss more almosts, the angels make contact, we find out exactly what Sam said to Dean in chapter 4, Claire [redacted] when [redacted], Mary and Dean bond over [redacted], and the search for Kelly Kline picks up steam.

Chapters 3 & 4 - Empty Heroics Roughly 20k words split between these final two chapters. In which there is bed sharing, a plan is formulated, and Nobody Dies. I realize that barely anyone even read the first two chapters of this fic, but I still really like it and want to finish it off, so it's the fifth thing on my to-do list.

Oneshot - As-Yet-Untitled Shrinking Curse Fic Roughly 10k words of canonverse established relationship PWP. In which they've been together for literally three days when Dean gets hit with a shrinking curse that won't wear off for a year, and comes up with a creative solution to ensure that they can still enjoy the physical aspects of their new relationship despite being small enough to perch on Cas' shoulder.

Chapter 1 - One More Chain Does The Maker Make Roughly 10k words, and the first of five chapters. The whole fic should come in around 50-60k words, and it's canon-divergent from 15.06. Featuring a lot of pining, and Dean working on Jesse and Cesar's ranch. I posted about it here if you want to know more!

The final 5 chapters of Fortress & final 3 chapters of Isosceles will come next -- likely to be about another 30k and 45k respectively, based on current word counts and what remains to be written.

At some point in between all of this I also plan to post some updates to The Coda Project (I've written at least half of each coda up to 1.12 Faith at this point, I just need to buckle down and finish them off in order so I can start posting them again), along with a handful of short tumblr prompt meme ficlets I've written recently -- specifically, those based on the following six trios of emojis: [🧪🧛🏻‍♀️💦], [🔮🛁🫂], [🤠🎶🌬️], [🪼👀🎨], [🥬🍅✨], and [🥶😶‍🌫️🤯], all of which ended up being significantly longer than they should have been, hence the delay in posting them.

...aaaand I realize that this is far more information than you asked for so I apologize. But thanks again for your message, and for reading. I hope you enjoy all the updates when they're posted 💚

[cannibalisticcorpse]

2024 fic round up game

What fandoms do you write in?

currently it is JUST dead boy detectives, but DC fandom & x-men still have my mind, body & dick

How many words have you published in 2024?

ao3 says 367,000 words, but that's only posted stuff & doesn't count what im going to write this month night. i have AT LEAST 30k words of unposted stuff and wrote well over 60k words last month, so... come back later XD

What is your greatest achievement this year?

the friends I've made :] also finally writing stuff i actually want to write

What are your top three fics you’ve written this year?

oh mama chaptered, unfinished, RPF, romcom

good luck chaptered, unfinished, payneland, coming of age

AND ONE I'VE BEEN ADVISED TO NOT CLAIM PUBLICLY SO INSTEAD WE'LL SAY-

i wish it was summer oneshot, completed scott/warren, hanahaki/college roommates/enemies to lovers/band au

What have you learned?

some improvements on prose/word usage for artistry in writing, also that u can cum w a soft dick

What fic did you want to do but never made it off the ground?

ough my crossovers.. red dwarf/dbd & suits/dbd

Did you beta any fics? Any favs you want to shout out?

i should 😭 skylie & craftee i will get to you!!!!

What ideas are percolating for next year?

tattoo bdsm idea for payneland... it'll be a good one.

Who do you want to thank?

@handwrittenhello you know what you did to me

@agerblade for encouraging my degeneracy

@voiidvagabond & @chronically-pansy og rexstrevri nation ❤️

Other shoutouts:

ALL THE BRATS!!!! MY BESOTTED BRATS!!!! EW, MONTY. YOU'RE NOT BESOTTED BY THAT LITTLE BRAT, ARE YOU?? WE ARE!!!!!

tagging: anyone who wants to play!! @gayboydetectivez @aceofturtles and @littlechameleonguy 💪❤️

[destieltaggedfic]

hi!! Greatly appreciate what you do here:) I was wondering if you had any fics where cas actually confronts/is upset with dean for kicking him out when he was human, i hate how they just brush past it in cannon and i think he deserves to be at least little pissed off about it<3

Cas absolutely deserves to be pissed off about it! Ok so most of these are not the angst minimal fics that I prefer.

Missing Home - slipper007   Ao3

Set S9.  After they fend off the Rit Zien and Nora has returned, Dean realises that Cas’ life isn’t as good as he had hoped.  And that its partly his fault. Word Count: 3k                                 No Sex

Broken – angelofthequeers   Ao3

Set S11.  When they get him back and ask Cas why he would have said yes to Lucifer, Cas lays a few truths down about how the Winchesters have treated him for years.

Word Count: 5k                                 Non-Graphic Sex

These have scenes where it is addressed, but isn't the main point of the fic

But Water's Wider - li_izumi   Ao3

Set S12 AU.  Being banished by the BMoL has left Cas’ grace low and him a bit depressed, worrying about being less useful to the Winchesters.  Dean doesn’t realise how bad it is until Cas tries to run away thinking he’s not wanted.  Rehashing and forgiving all their old mistakes may actually allow them to move forward.

Word Count: 30k                              Graphic Sexual Acts

Family is More Than Blood - Crossroads_Castiel  Ao3

Set S12.  Cas comes back to the bunker when Mary leaves to comfort Dean, and when he mentions the chat he had with Mary about fitting in, Dean and Sam go out of their way to make it clear that Cas is a Winchester and he always has a home with them.  In return they help Cas and Crowley with their search for Lucifer.

Word Count: 60k                              Graphic Sexual Acts

[mp100ficrec]

For His Sake (to hell i go) by BadonKaDank

Fic can be read HERE.

Angst, Whump, Mogami-Arc. Completed. Rated: M. Word Count: 41030

Pairings: Kageyama ‘Mob’ Shigeo & Reigen Arataka, Dimple & Reigen Arataka

Trigger Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Unreality, Kidnapping, Homophobia, Sex Scenes, Sexual Assault, Forced Self-Harm, Forced Murder, Implied Starvation, Possession, Torture, Imprisonment, Gaslighting, Strangulation, Animal Death, Child Abuse, Suicide Attempt, Hospitals

“When Mob's plan to exorcise Mogami from inside doesn't go as planned, Reigen steps in and makes a deal Mogami can't refuse. With reality turning into a playground for evil spirits, Reigen finds himself drawn into a world of more than he bargained for. But even if its to keep Mob safe, he's not sure how long he can last...”

Part 1 of the Deal With a Devil AU series

[time-to-write-and-suffer]

Fight and kill each other!!!

[nailamoonsi]

REQUESTING BETA READERS for the upcoming LGBT science fantasy light novel (novella), "The Protector's memory of them under the sunlight."

I'm seeking beta readers for Blue Horizon's upcoming LGBT adventurous science fantasy light novel, "The Protector's memory of them under the sunlight."

It's around 75 to 100 pages, AKA 30k words long. This light novel will have a free-to-read version in the future, so I've decided to preview partial excerpts of the first chapter.

You can find a 5-page excerpt of chapter 1 here! The full 32-page excerpt is free-to-read within that link and also linked below.

The full 32-page excerpt can be found (free-to-read) here:

ON ITCHIO.

ON GUMROADS.

(Transcription of the summary can be found in those links.)

Message me (or even comment under this post) if you want to be a beta reader! I should have the document ready within a week.

I'm willing to do a swap of around the same range of word count (up to 60k or so). I'll only do so many swaps, and only if I'm personally curious enough.

Content warning of what's within the book under the cut (not as much as in the epic science fantasy):

There's a creepy "bloody" monster within the otherworld, suicide imagery, an attempted [gay] stabbing, and mourning for a dead sibling.

[thevoidwatches]

The following is a long, rambling story about my difficulties writing prose fiction in the last few years. If you want to skip to the end, it's that I'm taking the plunge into writing again and have started work on a queer erotic novel currently titled Melting in her Mouth. Snippets may be forthcoming as I write.

It's been a long time since I did any creative writing - well, unless you count superhero RP servers as creative writing. Let's just say that it's been a few years since I've done any prose writing. And it's been even longer since I wrote any original prose - the last long-form thing I wrote was a MHA fanfic, Breath of Life, which has gotten one update in the last four years but which I swear I will finish some day! Before that it was a series of original superhero novels that I got two-and-a-bit books into (can you tell that I like superheroes?) called Paternum, which I'm sorry to say I probably won't be going back to. If I ever do, it'll probably be a complete rewrite as I'm no longer satisfied with the pacing of my plot outline.

In these last few years, I've done a lot of other creative stuff. I've gotten a lot better at drawing (although like most artists I'm still never satisfied with my work). I've gotten a lot better at guitar (although I'm still not brave enough to try writing my own songs). I've done a lot of gamemastering, as the aforementioned RP servers were living worlds.

Mostly, though, I did RP. I did an awful lot of it - my records (because I'm that kind of nerd) suggest something like 2 million words, as a conservative estimate. That's a hell of a lot of writing. It's likely more than all my prose put together - Paternum totals to something like 400k, Breath of Life barely tops 100k, and none of my other non-public works like the Court Magician or Ruins of the Empire match up to either in length (around 60k but finished, and only 30k and abandoned, respectively). Even my early-early works like the Family Trade and Time Until Death (abandoned in college and finished in high school) won't tip the scales. I'm not even going to count story concepts that never got off the ground, like Starlight City Champions or the Empyriad.

Given that the vast majority of my output, now, has been collaborative RP - and that all of my recent work has been - it probably shouldn't be surprising that I find myself nervous at the idea of going back to prose. I have to write the whole thing?? All by myself?!? That's scary! Not to mention that these days I'm used to long, long-form stuff - stories with no set end, designed to continue immediately.

And that, of course, is a fear of its own. It's happened to me multiple times at this point - I come up with an idea for a story and start outlining it, and the outline just... keeps going. And going. And when I finally cut it off, at what seems like a reasonable point, I realize that it's actually unreasonable long. That's why Starlight City Champions is unlikely to ever happen - I outlined 6 books, then realized that each book was likely to be at least 300k words which, at a conservative estimate of writing around 2k words a week (the rate at which I wrote Paternum), would have taken almost two decades!

But the thing is, that fear - the fear that I'll never finish anything - was pushing me to never even start anything. If I never started, I would never disappoint myself by not finishing. But... either way, I wasn't putting out anything complete.

I've made a resolution to myself - I'm going to start a story, and I'm going to finish it. I'm starting small - a romance novella - and I'm starting self-contained. No room for sequels, no big overarching plot to spiral out of control, no huge cast of characters that all need development. A simple story with a straightforward outline.

I've prepared myself, I hope. I read Gwen Hayes' Romancing the Beat to make sure that my plot outline would work. I read some romance novels that I find inspirational - and aspirational - like @bibliosphere's Hunger Pangs and @unpretty's Unprofessional Behavior (can you guess that my novel is going to be erotica as well as romance?). I passed my outline to friends online to get feedback, and went through a handful of revisions before I told myself that it wasn't going to get any better by stalling longer.

I started writing Melting in her Mouth (working title, it may change) this weekend. After some false starts, the words are flowing again. I feel good about this. I feel hopeful.

If you take anything from this long, rambling meditation on nothing, let it be this - don't let your fears stop you from doing the things you enjoy.

Oh - and that I'm working on a queer erotic romance novel. Snippets may be forthcoming as I get farther into it.