#wrote it in google docs first and formated it in a way tumblr does NOT like

[coles-scythe]

Made the mistake of staying up past 3 AM writing a Modern/Band/College AU for GG to fight my depression. The good news is I have a shiny new AU to mess around with. The bad news is I'm still depressed. /lh

[shadowgast-recs-weekly]

Reccing Blog Tools

I figured now would be a good time to share what we use to make posting recs each week less of a pain in the hopes that people will copy what we do here.

THE SHORT VERSION: Google form -> Google Sheet -> Mail Merge to a markdown format -> copy and paste to tumblr.

The long version is long mostly because the google suite doesn't have native mail merge, so I wrote my own. Plus some small formatting/fiddly bits.

There's four documents involved:

1) A google form. Here's a copy of what I use. But honestly, this part feels pretty intuitive.

2) A google sheet with all the responses. Here's a clean, commented copy of what we use. I'm storing all of themes and a script to execute the mail merge. This is the one that's got all the bells and whistles in it.

3) A google doc with whatever formatting you want to use. Here's a copy of what I'm using. If you're doing mail merge a different way, you might not need this one.

4) A second google doc that's going to hold the output from the mail merge. It's a blank google doc. Just open up a new one and save it something you'll remember in the future. (used for mail merge, might not be needed if you do it a different way).

Okay, what's this about mail merge?

So the mail merge is used to help save a lot of time with formatting - by taking the responses in the spreadsheet and plopping the information as specified in the formatting document above (3).

I'm usually a word user, so I didn't realize that mail merge isn't really a thing in google docs. There's extensions that you can do to use mail merge, but a lot of them seemed to be assuming one would be using mail merge to send email, so I thought it'd be faster for me to just write my own version. It's in the spreadsheet, under the tab that says 'script'. Feel free to use an extension! It'll work just as well.

Note: You'll have to copy the script into the google sheet (under extensions). The first time you try to run it, google will send you a warning that this is an unverified script - go under advanced options and then read the fine print at the bottom. If it makes you feel any better, here's a youtube video that explains the entire script from start to finish.

So what are the actual steps?

Put this week's theme in both Question 1 of the google form and Themes!F2 in the google sheet.

Send out the form, let people do recs

Go over to the formatting tab on the google sheet. Make any changes needed.

Run the mail merge script.

Open a tumblr post, click on the gear on the top right and make sure the text editor is in markdown.

Paste what's in the second google doc (doc #4 above) into tumblr.

Preview, add graphics, tags, post

Choose the next theme from Themes!C3 and we're back to #1

So go forth! Make your own! Improve on this, and make it work for your own communities!

Special thanks to the reccers on AiFL who submit recs every week, and @professor-rye who does the graphics, as what they do on a weekly basis probably takes more time than running this every week.

[you-get-the-gist]

Hello everyone it seems more people than I thought are expressing an interest in my hlvrai fanfic so!!!!!!!!! I have one problem

help

Little summary under the cut of what you can expect:

SO basically, Benrey has been basically monkey-wrenching himself a time loop. Every time he 'dies'/gets defeated, he wills himself a second try so hard time restarts. Well, roughly.

Really, it's more of a "everyone except Benrey forgets about the last run, and the world gets reset." So Benrey tries again and again to be good, to appeal to Gordon, to get SOME sort of love, and it just does NOT work. The harder he digs his heels into making things go his way, it doesn't work.

The story needs a villain, and that's what he is, oooobviously (sarcasm, he's the POV of the story mostly)

It's only once he accepts death that he learns that the only way things can change is to let them pass.

And oh baby, SOMEONE has to learn that too (Gordon).

Oh also, the whole world was constructed by G-Man as a way to give his comatose son a world of his own (Tommy). Basically, bunch of machines tap into your mind n you get your own little simulation!! Of course, if you don't want your son to be trapped in what is basically his own mind, the little experiment needed other test subjects. Buddies, if you will.

That's how the rest of the science team came to be! Only a liiiittle fucked up via consciousness upload or whatever.

This experiment has been affectionately dubbed 'the Torment Nexus' by me n my friends, because it's kinda based off the hypothetical that was like "if you could start your life over but it was a simulation/not real, would you?" And in my mind, the answer to that hypothetical is "actually not really." So, yeah, Torment Nexus!!

More details can be uncovered if you. yknow. read it.

[thelucyverse]

How To Interact With Beta Readers - for Fanfic Authors

I wanted to make posts both for fic authors and beta readers, because I realized in several recent interactions that some helpful unwritten rules of fandom seem to have become lost to people who are new to it.

This isn't meant to be a call-out post against anyone to say 'you did it wrong!' (really, how could anyone be mad if you just didn't know any better), and there aren't even any definite rules for anything - but I just thought these things might be nice to know and helpful to share around. This first part will be @ the authors, the second part is @ the betas.

Asking for a beta reader

When you want someone to look through your fic, whether you ask in a tumblr post, @/helper in a discord server, in the notes of an already posted work or anywhere else, it's important to state both a) what the work that you want betad is and b) what you want from a beta reader.

The facts about the story.

The first most important facts about the story are a) length (in wordcount, as that is the most-used measurement for fanfiction - you can see it below the tags of an ao3 draft, or at the bottom left of a Word document), and b) rating and warnings. No, please don't just ask 'i have a fic for xy ship to beta' - that's nice information, but not helpful for someone who needs to decide whether they a) have the time to work on the length of fic and b) are willing to be confronted with the kind of content you have written.

In addition to that, you should of course also write what fandom, characters and dynamic it is about, because most beta readers are only willing to beta stories they would also usually read for fun. To make sure that the right people find the ask for a beta reader, you best target the post to them, so tag a tumblr post with the fandom and ship etc, and on discord share the request in a server or channel for the fandom, not an unrelated one.

What format is the draft in?

A word document you can send them via e-mail, a copy-pasted text in a direct message, link access to a google docs? Not everyone is comfortable with all of these methods, and you need to figure out one that works for the both of you.

Also, do you want the changes made directly in the text, in comment functions of the document, or as messages to you? If for example you send someone a Word document, and don't want them to change anything directly in your text, but they aren't comfortable working with the comment function there and end up writing you separate messages telling you what page and line the edits are one, that's going to be a lot more work for you to look through than you might have liked, so make sure to communicate it all beforehand and figure out a way that works properly for everyone.

What do you want from your beta?

'Well, to look over the story, duh?' but it's not that easy. Do you want the beta to:

- Only check for spelling and grammar mistakes in comments next to the text, No other suggestions at all because they would make you feel bad about your work/you don't have the time or want to spend the time on editing anything but honest mistakes/ any other reason?

- Grammar and spelling checks but also suggestions for word flow, repetitive words and phrases that could be changed and stylistic things like adding paragraph breaks (which are always nice to have for mobile reading)?

- [same as above] and also point out possible logic flaws and places where you might want to move a scene forward or back, or suggestions to things you could add to the story, with explanations as to why?

- [same as above] and also give suggestions for text you could cut that is unnecessary to the story or interrupting the flow of a scene in the opinion of your beta reader?

- Include nice messages as to what the beta liked best of the fic, or stay completely objective?

- Point out things they subjectively didn't like and would change about the story if they wrote it themselves, or not?

- Make corrections directly in the story, so afterwards you barely need to look at it anymore before you can publish it, or only give suggestions in comments or messages?

All of these are things some people welcome and others find incredibly annoying and/or hurtful! So make sure to communicate exactly what you are looking for. You don't have to do so in your initial public request, but once you have found a potential beta, you should text them the details before giving them access to your fic.

Do not be afraid of cancelling on a beta if you don't think it is going to work out! Whether because they aren't comfortable using the format you like to use, are a language teacher who can't stop correcting the long sentences you choose to keep as a stylistic choice, or just someone you don't vibe with, whether it's before or after they have started beta reading - be kind, but let them know that it just isn't working out, and that you would rather stop now before either of you wastes any more time and effort. If they want you to, you can tell them what you would have liked them to do differently, but don't ask someone to change how they are, and don't give unsolicited criticism, no, not even to a beta reader.

Decide on a time-frame

When are you going to send them the fic? Chapter by chapter over the next days, or the entire work? When do you want or need the work to be beta read? Is it for a challenge or gift exchange and needs to be finished on the same day, or can they wait for the weekend? Even if you don't have a specific deadline, when do you want them to send it back at the latest?

Working with a beta reader

After - or, if you are in for example a google docs at the same time, while - your beta reader does the corrections, you should look at them and decide which corrections you want to keep, and which to disregard. This is entirely your decision, it is your story, you don't need to feel bad if you don't take all of the suggestions for your work, even if you end up only correcting the spelling mistakes and ignoring everything else, it's your decision and this is fine.

If your beta gave suggestions for additional scenes or sentence changes, you can let them know once you have new text for them to correct, but keep in mind that they might no longer have time or energy to beta now, and don't be disappointed if they tell you this or don't reply. They already helped you, and you can always look for a new beta if you feel that your story still needs it.

Crediting your beta reader

Where are you uploading your fic, and how does your beta reader want to be credited? You best talk about this beforehand as well, as some betas only want to work on something when they will get the credit on a platform they are also on.

When posting on tumblr, it is usually expected to @ the person who helped you and write their url or tracked tag in the #s as well, but make sure to ask beforehand, as maybe they don't want other people to know they beta because they don't want to get swamped in work requests/ they don't want their url associated with for example explicit work/ they want you to tag a sideblog for the fandom instead of their main url.

On ao3, you can link to another author's dashboard or profile page (ask which one they prefer) in the notes by first going to the work text - rich text, writing their name, clicking the link symbol, pasting the url, going back to HTML text and cut-pasting the code to the note you want to have it in. You can do the prep work in a new work instead of your actual draft so you won't accidentally cut any of the work text. Again, ask the person beforehand whether they want to be linked there, or just want a nickname or their tumblr url credited.

You can also gift people works on ao3, and while this is in no way a requirement and most beta readers won't ask for it, just about everyone is happy to receive ao3 gifts! You can ask them beforehand if they want that, but as people can accept and refuse gifts on ao3 themselves, you can also let it be a surprise.

If your beta put a lot of work into your fic and wrote parts of it themselves, you can also make them a co-creator of the work on ao3, but only do this if you know and trust the person, as they will gain access to the fic and will be able to edit everything just like you.

Let me know if I missed anything, and I will update the post!

Tips for beta-readers themselves here!

[pellucid-constellations]

hiya! i just want to say that your writing is literally amazing and oh my god i love you so much!!! also you are so fucking talented i wish i was like you 🥺🥺 i had some questions about writing that i have always really wanted to ask you (coming from an amateur writer). you totally don’t have to answer these by the way!!

- when did you start writing?

- how long did it take to get the following you have now?

- how long does it usually take to create a fic?

- how do you stay motivated with writing?

- what app do you use to write?

- if you wrote while in school, how did you juggle that (because im STRUGGLING!!)

- how do you create your ideas?

- when did your write your first smut?

- do you focus on a specific word count goal?

- how do you navigate the SPACING ON THIS APP BECAUSE I FIND IT SO ANNOYING!!

- do you have any advice for a small writer like me?

anywho, i hope this isn’t too invasive or too much to ask! you’re just one of my favourite writers and i really want to produce better writing like you 🥺 i love you so much and i hope you have the most amazing today and even better tomorrows!!! xoxo -🐞

Hi! I would be more than happy to answer your questions :)) I'll make a little list under the cut! ♡ If anyone has anything else to add, feel free!

I wrote my first ever fic last year in June. I'd never written anything before that! (Other than this tiny, 800 word spn thing back in 2012 that I never posted anywhere haha)

It took me a year to get where I am right now. My one-year anniversary for posting content on this blog is tomorrow, actually! :)

It depends on the fic. Oneshots usually take me a few hours, but series take me weeks! I don't usually keep oneshots as WIPs unless I'm really struggling with it/don't like it too much

Staying motivated can be really tough for me sometimes. I like to ask others for inspo or encouragement if I need it (so it's good to make friends!!), or make playlists to get me going!! If you don't feel motivated though, don't force it! Motivation comes and goes and that's normal!

I use google docs for writing fics. When I transfer onto Tumblr though, I paste the fic into my notes app first to keep formatting and then copy from there (thanks @wkemeup for that tip!!)

I did write in school, and I'll continue to when I start graduate school! I'm going to be honest, juggling the two isn't always the easiest. I tried to think of writing as a hobby that I got to do once I finished whatever I had in my planner, and that helped a bit! (but I def wrote at times I really shouldn't have though lol)

Ideas come to me at weird times!! While I'm driving a lot. Most of the time, my fics come from one specific scene I have in my head, and then I make a story around that. I make an outline for series, but for oneshots I sorta just start writing it and let it come to me lol. I find that's the best way for me to work :)

I've only written smut twice, and I don't get too in-depth (I use it more as a plot device). But my first was back in October for my baseball!bucky series.

For series, I try to have a word count goal for each chapter, but I'm trying not to place such an emphasis on that. During my last series, I was insistent on making my chapters each at least 5k, and it burned me OUT 😅 I've learned that you don't always need a ton of words :)

Hmm what do you mean by spacing?? If you mean like post formatting, I could help with that!

Advice!! I think having a good group of mutuals/friends makes the experience here on Tumblr so much better, especially for writers. It's always nice to have those people to bounce ideas off of or ask if something looks/sounds okay when you are starting off. Writing is lots more fun that way!! On another note, I know this is always so much easier in theory, but don't get discouraged! I'm always doubting myself and looking at notes as much as the next person, and that can just add unnecessary pressure. Write what makes you happy! Write when you feel like there's nothing else you'd want to do. It shouldn't feel like a chore or a competition :)

[glassprism]

What was the fan reaction when Love Never Dies was first announced and when it actually was running in London?

Honestly, I don’t think it was much different from the reaction now: “There’s going to be a sequel?”, “Um, is this really necessary?”, and for the more knowledgeable fans: “It’s based off that book?” So very mixed, probably tending more towards the negative, and I don’t think that changed much when it opened, though it did have its fans from the start and still does today.

One particularly famous reaction, if you want to call it that, was the formation of a group called Love Should Die, composed of fans who were quite opposed to the sequel. It was always a pretty small group, and most of their work consisted of posting messages on YouTube and Facebook saying, “Phantom does not need a sequel!”, gathering reviews of the show, and generally trying to combat ALW and RUG’s assertion that the show was great and everyone loved it. But it became a bit infamous when ALW and co. noticed it and, firstly, attributed its creation to the wrong people, and secondly used the whole thing to call large swathes of phans lunatics who were unfairly hating on his show and attributing its failures to them. Which was never the case; LND does quite well at failing on its own, as reviews of multiple productions have shown, very often by people who have never even heard of LSD.

I think the only major change in reactions was a growing sense of confusion and occasionally frustration as the London production went on, because that production was a bit of a mess. It underwent numerous tweaks and rewrites of various scenes, dropping bits here and rearranging others, then shut down for several days in November and re-opened after having done some even more substantial changes. I remember back in the day that there was a group of fans dedicated to writing a complete and revised libretto of Love Never Dies, since it no longer resembled anything like the original and this was before the Australian production opened. They basically went off various bootleg audios and would transcribe it onto a Google Doc, and that doc was very fun to read - lots of annotations and notes in paragraphs going, “Okay, so based off this audio, these are the lines, but there’s a new one with some new lines and we’re going to add that in later...” Very fun, and I wish it was still up; I don’t think it was ever completed. Otherwise, as the show continued on, most people just accepted its existence and dealt with it their own ways.

And there were positive reactions, either from people who genuinely enjoyed the show, people who thought it was a bit of fun that they didn’t take seriously, or people who just liked the actors (I recall there was a big David Thaxton fan on one of the forums who saw the show multiple times just for his Raoul). This probably kickstarted Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess’s popularity in the phandom, cemented later by the 25th anniversary production (though it also started up the small groups of hardcore “Rierra” shippers, who would post conspiracy theories in various places or, less amusingly, send them to the actors themselves). I still have audio of the last performance of the London production, where you can hear the recorder and other nearby fans sobbing throughout the last number.

The most interesting thing that I remember about fan reactions was the initial reaction to the Australian production, as it had a completely different aesthetic to the London production. Hilariously, I recall a lot of people being a bit negative towards it just because it was different from what they were used to. (”Um, why is Christine wearing a peacock dress?”) It’s totally opposite from today, where the Australian production is what is most well known and the London production is regarded as this weird prototype, though it still has its fans today - even I have a bit of a fondness for it. It was the only production of LND that I knew, and it was the London aesthetic I had in mind when I wrote my only bit of Phantom fanfic, an LND rewrite (which nobody should read, do not go looking for it, I was very young when I wrote it and it sucks).

That’s what I remember anyhow. I was actually a little baby phan during a lot of this, wandering through the forums and just starting off on Tumblr, wide-eyed and bushy-tailed and all that, so a lot of it sticks out. Makes for a bit of a nice trip down memory lane...

[cdelphiki]

So how does Scrivener work cdelphiki? Any specifics? I think you talked about it a fair bit before, early in November, but I can't quite remember.

Scrivener is awesome!! Basically, it’s a word processor on steroids specifically for writers (and not student/business purposes, like Microsoft Word/Google Docs) Although you can use it for student or business purposes, if you wanted.  

Basically, you use it by first creating your project. It has a lot of templates to choose from, and once you pick what you want to do, it has instructions of how to structure your project in your newly created file.  There are a ton of template options, but I’m here for the novel format: 

But you can write pretty much anything you can imagine in scrivener.  

Pick what you want and click “choose” then save it somewhere. I have the app for ipads/iphones, so I save all my projects on dropbox so I can access them from my phone or computer. (This is how scrivener is set up for synced across platforms: over dropbox, not icloud for mac users. It took me a hot minute to figure out.) It has you name and save it up front so it can start backing up your work!!

Once it’s got the project created, it will give you the informational page for the template you selected. Read through it for a lot of good information on how to use all the organizational tools for your specific project. 

Now you basically just start working. There is no real wrong way to go about putting together your story.  I use scrivener for both one shots and multi-chaptered fics.  I actually keep most my one shots in one project, titled “Tumblr Prompts,” just to make it easier than having a zillion project files for single stories.  

If you want a pretty detailed walkthrough of how I use scrivener, I put it all below the cut. :D

Here’s one of my my well-used project files: 

There’s a lot going on here. The left column is your navigation bar. This is basically your entire book. As you can see I have folders within folders. The main one, called “Manuscript” by default, is basically the book in its entirety. I then use more folders for each chapter.  Right now, since I’m still drafting, I actually just have it broken into ‘events,’ rather than chapters. This is just a me thing and is what I figured out to help me keep better track of everything. 

So I have the Prologue, and then event 1.1 (act 1, event 1), 1.2, 1.3, etc.  In 1.3, as you can see, I have both chapter 3 and 4 as scene cards.  1.4 has five scene cards that will likely turn into 7 chapters, once I do a revision! 

All the various colors of text are revisions.  By default, the first draft is written in black.  

When you’re ready to do a revision, you can turn on revision mode and select which version you’re on. I’m on my third revision. I really like this function because it lets me see my progress. 

Now, inside all these folders you can see a couple different symbols there.  You can actually change the symbols of these things yourself by right clicking on the object in the navigation pane and selecting “change icon.”  I put the pencil on all my notes, so it’s very easy for me to know what to get rid of when I’m cleaning up and about to call something “done.” On Precedent, for example, whenever I publish a chapter, I go ahead and name the chapter folder in Scrivener and get rid of all the note cards so all that is left is what I actually published.  

Probably one of the best things about Scrivener, is when you want to get rid of something, you don’t have to erase it entirely.  On this project here, you can see I have a file a couple under the file selected for viewing called “trash pile.”  Whenever I remove large chunks of text, I actually just copy it over to a blank scene card so it’s not ‘lost.’  I then “move to trash,” so it’s not in the way, but it’s always available to me.  Scrivener does not delete anything you ‘move to trash’ unless you specifically move to that trash bin and make it delete it.  This is great because I can’t tell you how many times I’ve ‘thrown something away’ just to realize, sometimes months later, that that exact scene would work perfectly now! And good thing I saved the draft, so I had something to start with!  

Now, back to these ‘scene’ cards.  Scene cards are just the files you actually write on. I don’t know if Scrivener calls them that or not, but they’re set up like notecards. I don’t know if you ever did the notecard method in school, where you wrote major points on note cards and then arranged them into a logical order on the table? That’s basically what this is. 

To get to this screen, I selected the folder for section 1.4.  You can pick any folder you want, even the over all manuscript to get here.  Then you pick the view option, where the top arrow is pointing.  The first view option shows it as a document, as my other pictures have already demonstrated. 

What the notecards are going to show you is your synopsis, if you have one written.  Each and every file, even the folder itself, has a spot for ‘synopsis’ and ‘notes,’ which do not count into your overall word count.  It’s really nice for keeping stuff out of the way.  I’ve found I prefer having my notes as actual scene cards, but the notes section is handy for throwing important things.  I also save the link to where I’ve posted stuff on tumblr for easy saving or research so I don’t lose anything.  

If you do not have anything written in the synopsis section, the card will just show as much as the text as it can in a dark grey, rather than the black ink of the synopsis.  I rarely use the synopsis section, so you can see all my documents just have the first bits of text.  

On this screen you can start dragging around cards and move them however you think things need to line up.  This works remarkably well if you write in a lot of small scenes, and need to reorganize because you realized that Tim needs to have a panic attack before he faces Ra’s.  Or whatever.  You can also reorganize at any point in the navigation pane itself.  I drag stuff between folders all the time.  That’s another reason I love having my notes on actual scene cards, because a lot of times I end up punting scenes off into the future, and it makes it way easier to drag and drop it into the next chapter folder to deal with later.  

Another feature I really like is ‘targets.’ 

To get here, I selected the overall manuscript, and then switched to the third view option, up there next to the note cards option.  It shows me my whole book this way, as well as the status of each folder or document (which I have to set myself.)  It also shows me if I had a target word count, and how close I am to reaching it.  I like my chapters to be about 3k words, so I make that my target. (set your target by clicking on the target icon on the bottom right corner of a document while in document view.)  The purple goes from a dark purple to a lighter one the closer you get. (This is because I am using the ‘theme’ “Purple Haze.” The color is based on your theme. I forget what the default is.)

You can also set daily word goals, and up at the top, below the project’s name, it’ll show you progress toward that goal. I’ve written two words today.... so I don’t have a progress bar yet.  The bar above the project’s name is for the overall word goal set. I have this project set to 100k. 

I think that’s pretty much it.  The only other feature I use regularly I haven’t mentioned is the split screen.  

Basically, click where the arrows are pointing. When you’re in just regular view, it’ll look like a split screen, rather than a single document view button.  When you hit it, it opens your currently selected document twice, on both sides of the screen. Click on the bar for the document you want to change and then select whatever you want from your navigation pane.  I use this mostly for putting my notes on one side and my actual working document on the other. Yesterday I was using while revising, throwing anything I didn’t want anymore into my ‘trash pile’ by just dragging it across.  

Once you’re done with something, you can run spelling and grammar check (because it does not check as you go, unless you go into settings and make it do that. It’s turned off by default. I find the squiggly lines distracting, so I love this feature) and use the various text tidying tools, such as the one that turns all multiple spaces into single spaces! 

So yeah! That’s Scrivener. I love it so much. It has made writing so much easier. I wrote most of Life Happens in a single Microsoft Word document, and that was a huge mess and horrible and really difficult. I’ve written two long fics in their entirety now on Scrivener and I won’t ever go back.  

Oh, and if anyone was curious, this is how I use Scrivener for my one shots: I just label the folders with the main relationship or the collection they’re from, rather than treated the folders like chapters.  I then name the scene cards either with their actual titles or a brief description (if I didn’t give them titles) to let me know what’s been published and what isn’t done.  

[maydei]

I was tagged by @history-rover and @the-katuki-niliforv for the AO3 tag game like A MILLION YEARS AGO!! kjsddhfkjshfks sorry i forgot, i love you guys!!! <3

partially below a cut because this shit got LONG!

What’s your total word count on AO3?

762,774. Closing in on a million!! tho i know i’ve written waaaaay more than that when you add in my forbidden ffnet and quizilla days

Do you have a routine for writing?

sit down, open google doc, open several tabs of research. get interrupted by cat. get chewed on for a while. DRINK. write a little. browse tumblr for an hour. DRINK. read someone else’s fanfic. pass out on the couch. once i actually finish the chapter and slack off for a while, i go back to edit and re-read what i wrote, nit-pick my sentences, rearrange some stuff, then format on ao3. 

it’s not hella deep lolol and most of the time i have NO memory of what i’ve written until a day or two later and i go back to read it, tbh. i almost always end up surprised with myself.

What are your favorite kinks/tropes/pairings?

for someone who is absolutely fucking sick of college and never wants to go back, my last two fics sure as hell were college student fics, tho admittedly i like, never want to write one again.punch me if i do, ok? 

kinks.... 👀  many. many, many. browse my bookmarks and you’ll get an idea. i’ve lived on the internet since like 2006, sooooo. i’ve seen it all, i think. i’ve passed from denial into acceptance.

PAIRINGS: love me some pairings. Hannigram and Victuuri are the OTPs, Spirk gets an eternal special mention. There’s honestly so many I can’t count them all.

Do you have a favorite fic that you’ve written?

Well, the fic that’s gotten the most attention in terms of hits remains my SPN fic The Boy King. (RIP my child. Maybe someday my heart will sing again and I’ll finish you).

but finishing Fated was a huge achievement for me tbh, and Fated is GUNNING for the top slot in my stats page. Fated was the first longfic I’d written and finished in.... years. years, years, years. it had a HUGE effect on my confidence, the reactions I got were amazing. the reader feedback was unparalleled, and I was so fucking lucky to inspire enough people with that story that the YOI Soulmate Zine came into play. So if we’re talking about sheer impact, I think Fated takes the cake. It’s gonna hold a special place in my life basically forever. I think once I hit the year mark of that fic being completed I’ll probably go back and re-read it tbh. I don’t think I’ve ever sat down and read it from start to finish, so I’ll have to make a date to make that happen.

but undeniably Making Headlines is, like. It’s something else. The outline for this fic is immense. It’s certainly the most complicated in terms of plot an emotionally convoluted nonsense. I have NO idea if it makes any sense at all, but I have Plans™ and I am SO excited to get into the thick of the plot and the drama of this fic. once Arc Three starts it’s all over for you readers. also me. 

Your fic with the most kudos?

Fated, at about 1400!

Anything you don’t like about your writing?

Honestly, there’s a lot of things. Pacing is the big one. I often feel as thought I get too bogged down on characters and not enough on the plot, even though the scenes I write later inform the plot. It’s a weird fine line that I’m not really sure how to reconcile. Also the way I write sentences gets wonky. Sometimes my mental voice does some fucky things and ends up with weird word arrangements. I have to catch myself when I go back and edit. 

Inconsistent style is another. My mental health is a bag of cats, and I find I write different ways on different days depending on my mood. It can lead to some really dynamic scenes, but some that feel too slow. It’s hard to know. I just know when I get on a roll, it feels GOOD and I just churn it out. The beach scene in Fated was like that, and so was the last section in this most recent chapter of Headlines. Sometimes it just ROLLS. Sometimes it’s like pulling teeth. I never know which it’ll be. 

Tag some others:

@highermagic @hanni-bunny-lecter @weconqueratdawn @fragile-teacup @jadegreenworks @sinkingorswimming @omgkatsudonplease @lucycamui @coloredink

What’s your total word count on AO3? 

Do you have a routine for writing? 

What are your favorite kinks/tropes/pairings? 

Do you have a favorite fic that you’ve written? 

Your fic with the most kudos? 

Anything you don’t like about your writing? 

Tag some friends!

[esselley]

hi! so i just made an archive of our own account and i don't know what to post first. do you have any tips or advice for posting on ao3? do you have any tips for ao3 in general? thank you!

Hi there anon! Thank you for your question!

First things first: I think to a certain extent, what to post first is going to be entirely up to you. Whatever you feel like writing, whatever format it’s in, you should write it up and post it! Or, depending on how long you’ve been using the site as a guest, you can look through other people’s content to pay attention to tagging, author’s notes, formatting – that kind of thing. AO3 is user-friendly in most ways, and you’ll grasp it pretty quickly.

But, I do have a couple tips to help you out on your first run-through (and actually some helpful tricks I think some more familiar users may not know, as well)! 

BTW since we’re on the topic, if you use the subscribe function on AO3!!! Did you know about the different ways to subscribe to an author, a series, or an individual work?

You can only subscribe to an author from their dashboard or their profile page! If you are in the middle of reading a particular fic, and you hit the subscribe button at the top of the page, you will only subscribe to updates for that fic. Same deal if you want to subscribe to a series, you must be on the series page. Subscribing to a fic within that series will only subscribe you to that specific fic – you will get updates if that story is updated/chapters are added, but not if a new work is added to the series.

I suspect some people are unaware of this, due to the frequent amount of subscriptions I get on one-shots! (But, idk… maybe there’s just some really hopeful people out there laijefliajelsjf)

Anyway, now, onto the rest of this textbook (it got long)!

NEW WORK vs DRAFTINGWhen you go to post your very first work on AO3, you’ll go to Post > New Work at the very top to open up AO3′s drafting tool. From here, you can go through and copy over a work from Word or Google docs or whatever writing program you use, or just write up your fic in the post box itself! 

Either way you choose, you can then decide to post your work right then and there (Post Without Preview), or if you are still editing it, you can choose the Preview option. This will take you to the work as it will appear once posted; from there you can go back to the editing page, which will now have a Save Without Posting option. Use this if you would just like to save your work and come back to it later. Note: drafts are saved for one month only.

HTML vs RICH TEXTWhen you open your drafts/start a new work, the main field for your text has two options: HTML or Rich Text. HTML just shows you all HTML codes in your work. Rich Text is probably what you want to work in while editing, because you’ll only see this bar in that format:

However, sometimes you will want to use the HTML section in order to copy over text from another source that allows HTML format; for instance, Tumblr! I always copy the HTML from my tumblr fics over to AO3 when posting, because it is the easiest/fastest way to ensure the formatting stays intact. Here’s where to find that:

AVOID BACKDATED DRAFTSThis is a pitfall I encountered with my first fic I ever posted. When you create a draft, the date of posting defaults to the date you first saved the draft. So if you are like me and you draft fics way in advance of posting, you need to make sure to update the post date before you actually hit post, or it will backdate your fic – this happened with This Place in the Sky, and it was several hours before I realized it had backdated by a week, and no one was seeing it T.T Learn from my mistakes, younglings

(And if you want to backdate a draft, then you would go in here to alter the date.)

ITALICS ISSUESome people have noticed an issue with AO3 that causes fics to have odd spaces after punctuation (periods, quotation marks, dashes). This is a glitch related to italicizing when you transfer over fics from another source. To avoid having to search your entire fic for those spaces, always italicize the punctuation that precedes/follows your italicized words. For instance: 

“No!” – quotations/exclamation not italicized, glitch makes it show up as: 

“No!” – all punctuation italicized, now shows up as:

:D It’s just less of a headache to have to comb through and find all the random spaces, I find, when you just italicize beforehand! A preemptive strike. 

PARAGRAPH SPACINGLet’s look at the variations of line spacing in a posted fic: 

And here’s what this looks like in AO3′s Rich Text editor:

Sorry that is so tiny, but notice the clear difference in spaces between paragraphs while editing! There’s no actual correct way to do this, but! The “regular” option of spacing is the most common on AO3, and also the easiest to read. Avoid the no spacing option at all costs! It can be a huge headache to read, unless you are indenting paragraphs (less common on AO3, but acceptable). I tend to dislike the double spacing option as well because I feel like it breaks up the flow of wording, but that’s just personal preference.

HOW TO AVOID DOUBLE SPACING BETWEEN PARAGRAPHS

Frequent posters may also have noticed a thing AO3 does where it will insert double spaces at random intervals, often for large sections of the fic at a time, for no discernible reason. This happens often when you copy your work over from another source. But there’s an easy fix!

On MS Word and Google docs, find the “Add space after paragraph” option, and enable it for every fic you write. When you hit Enter (ONCE) to go to a new paragraph, it will autospace for you (meaning, you should not need to double tap the Enter key).

Now when you copy this over to AO3, it will read ONE SPACE reliably, giving you that regular spacing option up above. Cool news: if you copy your HTML from Tumblr to HTML on AO3, you don’t even need to worry about this. HTML be chill like that

QUICK HTML CODESAnother thing I see people asking is how to add hyperlinks! But also, did you know you can add links, bolded, and italicized text to your summary/notes as well? You just have to put them in HTML, and this:

ItalicsBoldHyperlink

will show up as:

You can easily bold/italicize/add links in the Rich Text editor, but summary/notes are HTML only and you will have to use the above. These are the most useful/common options you’ll need, I think. Try to preview before posting to make sure you got it right (and haven’t bolded your entire summary and the world with it on accident). 

LINK BACK TO TUMBLRThere’s an easy way to link your stories to Tumblr (or Twitter) that automatically includes your title, tags, summary, and all other relevant information right in the post! Just hit this button at the top of your fic, once it’s posted – it’ll take you to the Tumblr log-in screen, so log-in and from there you can edit the post. This is what I use to make all my AO3 fic posts on Tumblr \o/

TAGS/SYNOPSISFinally, more of a stylistic note! Be thoughtful when tagging your fic/writing a synopsis. In general, try to be clear and concise, so people can see what they’re getting into at a glance. Tag what’s important to the theme and tone of your fic. This really varies from person to person… maybe you want to tag every single thing your fic encompasses! I find really long tags to be overwhelming when browsing AO3, and prefer simple ones. I tend to overtag more for smut-heavy/PWP than I do for longer, plot driven fics.  

Your summary should also be clear and to the point, and describe the content of the fic. You can put any other thoughts in your beginning and end notes; if you are leaning towards saying anything like “sorry this sucks this is my first fic/I am bad at summaries/etc” just leave that out! If you don’t like summaries, use a quote from the fic. You don’t have to apologize for posting, even if you don’t think it’s a Shakespearean masterpiece. You still wrote a fic, and that’s awesome!

This is everything I could think of for the time being…I hope it’s helpful!!

[fidgetheart]

hey i’m looking to get into a role play but i’ve never done it before so do you have any recommendations on how to start, how to roleplay, etc??

aw man, uhhh… well, I got some wc ones! Land of the Lost is currently accepting, a new reboot of Clans of the Shoshone, Falling Leaves (for Pack and Clan), and Left in Lesdin’s gonna be opening soon! 

for how to start, I def recommend creating a character you want to rp - you want one that you can connect to, and can rp often. I’ve created characters on a whim multiple times before, which… wasn’t great bc I ended up abandoning them basically which was just a mess dfjhfdh

start with a design, name, and a base personality, but give yourself room for them to grow!! if you have any ideas in mind with them, definitely talk to a mod if you’re in a group rp, like the ones I listed. you can talk to others to set up relationships, or just rp and build them from there! you can be vague with family and bg, or go all out! tho it def depends on what the rp has going on, bc you may want to add bg events to their bio o: also there’s normally a bio format posted with each rp, so you don’t need to worry about setting one up!

also, bc apps are through google docs, I highly recommend saving any oc info you make bc I keep forgetting to do that and I immediately forget what I wrote dsfhjfdsh

with rping in general, it’s gonna depend on the rp! usually the ones I’m in are more literate, which asks for at least a paragraph reply, but it’s not always the case! also, you don’t have to be a writer to rp! it may be awkward at first, but it definitely gets easier as you rp more and more - I’ll give an example at the end!

oh! I can’t believe I forgot this, but reading the rules is highly important! please read them and make sure you follow them 

hmmmm…. I’m not sure what else to add for it?? I feel like I’m not answering your questions hhhh - I’m bad at explaining stuff rip

outside of discord, I have no idea ahah - I know there are a lot of forum rps out there, and it’s been a few years since I’ve used the forums on fanfiction net so idk if those are even still active ahah

tumblr rp has changed a lot - before, all you had to do was set up a blog (side or main - I prefer main bc it’s easier to follow other rp blogs and get recognized), and either rp as a canon character or an oc! ofc they don’t need to be a fandom oc, they can just be an og one!

but for tumblr rp, you def gotta think of a solid character bg if an oc (fandom or not) bc it’s easier for everyone when other muns can look and see who your character is. I def recommend setting up a rule page, so that way you can explain what stuff you want to avoid (for me was nsfw stuff mostly), or stuff you’re fine with (a lot of people would mention age ranges they were comfortable with when it came to other muns - like there were a few rp blogs that would only interact with people 18+ or 21+, which was a good thing tbh)

it’s def been a hot minute since I’ve rped on here, but when you make an oc to rp, this is where it gets hella important to make sure you can connect with them - I ended up ditching a lot of blogs bc I lost muse, and it’s a bummer tbh, but it does happen. also idk if rping is still active here or not? bc last I check the marvel rp tag it was just. ads for group rps and idk if they’re tumblr based anymore

anyway, tumblr rping is def gonna be harder! just bc it’s hard to get off the ground at the beginning, and it’s just… idk, weird? some people won’t respond to you and things get lost and it can become a mess, but at the same time, it can be a lot of fun! it just really depends on how you handle stuff and how active you are really

I’m def just spit-balling at this point, ahah - sorry about that! I’m trying to explain stuff but, again, I’m horrible at that dfjhfdhj

I’ll definitely try to clear stuff up for you tho!! just lmk with whatever questions you have o:

also here’s an rp example of mine!! tho, I did change  some stuff to keep clan specific secrets still secret for a certain rp!

The pale queen had arrived shortly after Aspenstar and Jaggedstripe settled Badgerwing’s body down in the flowers. She would’ve been with them, matching their steps stride by stride, but she had to check on her kits before she left. She had seen how frightened they were with the thunder alone, and she couldn’t imagine the confusion the little ones must’ve felt when their Clanmates began to panic at the death before Aspenstar soothed them. They were far too young to understand death, and she could only pray that it wouldn’t affect them. And despite how collected she had seemed back in camp, it was clear the deputy’s death had was not taken lightly - her steps were slow, her eyes misted with grief.

 A shaky breath escaped her jaws as Mistfang slowed to a stop beside her gathered Clanmates, the air thick with grief and tension. Finchpaw spoke, then Grasspelt. Jaggedstripe stepped toward Badgerwing next, but it was clear she was in too much pain to speak. But… as she gazed around at the others, her throat tightened with grief. Was no one else going to speak? Bluestone remained silent. Hootnose was silent as well, his gaze averted, and it was clear he wished to be anywhere but there. She just hoped their silence wasn’t from hostility - from them still holding a grudge for her leaving them for so long.

With a shake of her head, the molly slowly stepped forward, leaning down to rasp her tongue over Badgerwing’s head. “You were larger than life,” she said at last, her voice soft as ever. “You helped us each in your own way, and I feel my words can never be enough to explain my gratitude. You saved my life, and helped me with my kits. I can’t thank you enough for everything you have done. I hope you find comfort in StarClan, and I wish you all the best.”

It was shorter than she would’ve liked, but Mistfang hadn’t been close to Badgerwing - not as much as she would’ve liked. But regrets were useless, and she knew the dangers of getting lost in the what-ifs. As long as the deputy was safe in StarClan, free of any pain and of any troubles, then she knew it would be okay. It had to be. 

Slowly, Mistfang took a few steps back, head bowed as she sat down.

[unifiedsocialblog]

Writing for Social Media: 7 Tips and Tools

There’s loads of great articles about writing, including writing for social media.

Maybe this will become one of them. Whatever.

However, this piece is different.

You’ll see.

Bonus: Get the step-by-step social media strategy guide with pro tips on how to grow your social media presence.

7 writing tips for social media

…and for any kind of persuasive writing.

Sure, great writing may take talent and innate creativity. And hey, you’ve got something to say, right? No matter your current level of experience or skills. With a little gusto in your writing step, you can make the reader feel something, take an action, or be more informed than before.

A few tips below to show you how.

Suggestion: let loose, try some (or all) of these, and repeat them for a few of your posts. Build those new writing-muscles.

You’ll be amazed at how clear you’ll write, and how you’ll zero-in on your voice.

1. Barf it out

Writers block is a myth. if you wanna balst past it just write out anything in your head, without leaving teh keybord. just keep your fingers typing, looking at the keyboard not the screen, so your brain engages. forget about sentence structure, spelling, punctuation… just keep your fingers moving and p[ower through any blockages. do this for an articel, tech-doc, and kind of writing thingie. Even for a paragraph or three. whenever your stuck just typw. editing will come later. This is a brain excercise, not a make-it-look-just-right process. Editing comes later, but don’t mix the two. It’s never write the first time. but push stuff that’s in your head onto the page, then mnake your 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 edits…. LATER.

Okay, I’m back.

Whenever, I’m ‘stuck’, for any kind of writing… I just type. Every time, something useful appears before my writing-eyes-and-brain.

The same will happen to you, too.

Punch the so-called “writer’s block” right in the gut. It’s bunk.

2. Write to an 8th grader

Not because they are dumb. Because it forces you to write clearly. And to ditch the jargon and terms that eyeballs just gloss over.

“Drive innovation.”

“Become a disruptor.”

And my absolute non-favorite, “Transform your business…”.

Oh please. Some of the most over-used, under-effective statements of all time.

Companies and their writers hide behind these terms every day, all across the web. Statistically speaking, probably you, too. I’m just sayin’.

I don’t know if this intentional or not. But here’s the thing…

Terms and jargon say little, while making you and your biz appear as a commodity. Like many others. Better to do the heavy lifting for the reader. Because they certainly won’t. They’ll stop and leave, versus stay and scroll.

Do the work. Say something real. Practice on your kid, mom, or any outsider to tell your important and useful message.

Your readers will appreciate it. It makes good business sense.

3. Write to the reader

Because no one cares about what you (or I) do. Readers only care what they can get from what you (or I) do.

So then, write from the readers’ perspective. Make them the hero.

A list of features? B-o-r-i-n-g.

Words that paint a picture for how the reader’s life will improve, that’s the ticket.

Sometimes, “standing out” is nothing more than writing from the reader’s point of view. Because most of your competitors don’t.

4. Write with a purpose

And write that purpose at the top of your draft piece.

To keep your mind on the target while you write.

For an email, blog post, white paper, and of course for any social media post—be clear on the purpose.

What action do you want the reader to take?

Click the buy, call, or contact us button?

Or maybe you just want them to feel a certain way. Empathy? Bliss? Informed?

Too often, we humans write to write. Not a problem.

Unless you want to sell your stuff.

Social posts are usually a top-of-mind selling approach. And an opportunity to build, show, and share your brand.

And still, write with a purpose to raise your signal, lessen your noise.

Hey, don’t forget to delete the purpose reminder at the top of your draft.

5. Write to make the reader feel successful

Which is hard to do when reading long paragraphs, without breaks—like single lines and bolded lines.

Lead your reader down the page by breaking up your message.

Short paragraphs. Short sentences. Transition lines. Bullets. Some bolded items, too. Like this one…

Allowing your readers to skim and scan your message is nice.

It helps them feel a series of successes as they move down the page.

The more they read, the more they understand.

Good for everyone, right?

Oh yeah, and questions are good too. They encourage the reader to ‘lean in’, with interest.

What are you doing to help your readers scroll down the page?

Maybe I’ve overdone the short paragraphs in this post. Maybe not. Part of the just-try-it-and-see-for-yourself model. Better ‘too much’ than ‘too little’. You can dial it down later.

6. Write with a hyper-focus

…and with a tomato.

What the…?

Stay with me.

Too often, we look at a piece of work and think, ‘Ah man, I need a bunch of time to do this post.’

There’s a better way.

By defining and going after a small section or piece of your post, document or whatever you’re writing. Right now. Say, in the 15 minutes before your next meeting.

Define a small portion to write (I’m doing this right now for this single section)

Set a tomato timer, that you can hear going tick-tock-tick-tock

Barf it out (like we talked about above)

Make your edits

Finí

Go to your meeting

Progress made. Feels good.

I wrote this section in 17 minutes. You can, too. String a bunch more of these together to complete your writing, iteratively. Without feeling like you have to set aside a load of time in one or two sittings.

I love the Pomodoro Technique for getting anything done with a hyper-focus.

7. Use pictures to enhance the words

I’m not going to say much about this.

Of course, pictures enhance the words.

This piece is about the words.

I don’t want to leave you hanging though. Here’s one of a thousand good reads about adding pictures to your work.

7 writing tools for social media

Opinion: writing for social media is fun. Those writing tips and tricks help me enjoy the process. And so do these writing tools.

1. Session buddy (Chrome extension)

Good for: Reducing browser clutter by restoring windows and tabs for your writing project. In seconds. Cost: Free.

When writing, I usually do web searches to find related content or topics. These often become input into my writing piece. I arrange browser instances and tabs within each instance. Then, place them carefully on the screen to move around as needed.

Now, say I need to work on something else. Fine:

Click on the session buddy icon, in the Chrome toolbar

Name and save the session

Close the all the windows

Now you’re ready for action on a new task. Distraction free. Without any browser clutter.

Then, when it’s time to resume that project:

Click on the session buddy icon

Select and open the named session

Everything like before, instantly

Here’s a list of alternatives. Try and use what works for you.

Bonus: Get the step-by-step social media strategy guide with pro tips on how to grow your social media presence.

Get the free guide right now!

2. Hemingway app

Good for: Writing anything succinctly and clearly. Cost: Free online, $19.99 for the desktop app.

Hemingway app will make you a better writer. Period.

That whole jargon thing I complain about, it all goes away when you write like Ernest did.

Same for long sentences, unnecessary adverbs, superlative adjectives, and passive phrases. And, with hints for alternatives.

Write what you write

Paste it into Hemingway app

Visually see what works, what doesn’t

Make your changes, to do more of what does work

Paste back into your writing piece

Use Hemingway app often to build your writing skills. After a bit you’ll need it less. Though I still use it often to keep me in check. An amazing tool.

3. Markdown

Good for: Writing an easy-to-read, easy-to-write plain text format, then convert it to HTML. Cost: Depends. There’s a load of editors to write your markdown. Some are free, others cost. But not much.

Markdown allows you to write plain text for nearly all your writing projects. Find and choose a Markdown editor, for Windows, Mac or web.

Word, Google Docs, and the others of that same ilk? Oh please.

Feature bloat, complex to use, and limited to a tool. No thanks.

Markdown just works. With a simple WYSIWYG editor for headers, bolding, italics, bullets, highlight, horizontal dividers, and quotes.

Who needs more than that?

And, instantly convert your work to HTML to post on any platform, using their already-in-place CSS formatting.

In other words… you write text, export as HTML, publish anywhere.

Not sold?

Fine, try it out on your next writing piece. Easy to learn, even easier to use.

Markdown is the only way I write nowadays. Be careful, the same might happen to you. If you’re lucky.

4. ZenPen

Good for: Distraction free writing. Cost: Free.

There’s plenty of clutter in life. ZenPen is one small corner of the distraction-free-universe to help you write without outside interference.

Go to zenpen.io

Type and write

Copy and paste, or download (via markdown, plain text, or html)

Do something beautiful with your new Pulitzer-prize-like content

5. Grammarly

Good for: Making your writing clear, effective, and correct. Cost: Free online

Grammarly promises to keep your social posts on point. It will flag everything from contextual spelling errors to poor word choices. And, the tool integrates with lots of online platforms, including Twitter, Gmail, and Tumblr.

I make up words all the time, and misspell others. Not always a bad thing for getting people’s attention. As long as one is intentional about it.

Use Grammarly to convert the unintentional to the intentional.

6. Pomodoro Technique

Good for: Staying focused, for writing or anything else. Cost: Depends on the specific timer tool you choose. Loads of free ones.

I know, I already mentioned this.

It’s worth another mention.

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. It uses a timer to break down work into 25 minute intervals (usually), separated by short breaks. Each interval is known as a pomodoro (Italian for tomato).

Cute, huh?

But Pomodoro is more than cute for getting s&$% done.

I use it all over the place, especially when writing:

Define a section or two to write

Set the timer (for 25 minutes)

Work until it rings (and only on that task)

Put down a checkmark on a piece of paper

Take a short break

Lather, rinse, repeat

Works as a good tracker, too. For instance, four checkmarks = about two hours for the completed effort.

I use an online Pomodoro timer that makes an obvious tick-tock (a kitchen timer works great, too). My wife knows not to interrupt me when in this highly-focused state.

As long as I follow up with her about the ever growing to-do list she came to me for.

7. Dropbox Paper

Good for: Writing and collaborating with others. Cost: Free for the individual or small business. It costs for the enterprise.

Dropbox paper is my main writing, editing, and collaboration tool. Clients dig it, too. I teach them how to use it in one minute.

It looks and reads beautiful

Super-duper easy to write, distraction free (with a simple toolbar that pops up only when text is highlighted)

Works as web content editor, versus a document editor (who needs line breaks anymore?)

Write together with others, real-time

Alert your mates, immediately, with comments off to the side

Export and download in the common formats to publish elsewhere

Not much more to say. Try it yourself. I dare you.

Compose, schedule, and publish your expertly written posts to all the major social media channels—including Instagram—from one dashboard using Hootsuite. Try it free today. 

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