#fanfic advice

[chemicalarospec]

PSA: When you “Subscribe” on a work’s page on Ao3, it subscribes to that work specifically.

If you want to subscribe to a user, you must click their name and hit Subscribe on the user page.

If you want to subscribe to a series, you must click on the series title and Subscribe from the series page.

(I’m saying this because I get subscriptions on one-shots that I have given no indication of planning to continue, including one that was in a series, so if I was to continue it, the subscribed person would not even know because it would be a new work in the series.)

Edit: okay, okay, I know you have your reasons... one day I'll make a ranking on my judgment upon all of them.

#ao3 #archive of our own #ao3 tip #fanfiction #psa #fanfic advice #reading fanfiction #I said this #how to use archive of our own #ao3 subscriptions

[silverskye13]

how did you get the confidence to write fanfiction? i always worry that i won't portray the characters properly so any ideas or wants to write fanfics that i have go away or i talk myself out of it :(

Well! First and foremost: Most people don't start writing,,,, anything with confidence. Let alone fanfic, where you know other people are going to be looking at it, with their own ideas of how the characters are supposed to act and feel influencing what they're coming to the story with. My first fanfic I was very insecure, which I feel like was evident, reading through the author's notes now. Apologies whenever something that required a lot of suspension of disbelief happened, a poll so readers could decide the ending so I wouldn't disappoint anybody, only to end in me writing and posting three different endings. Long justifications for why I chose certain things in the author's notes. The fic nowadays reads to me like a very rough apology.

"Hi I'm sorry I tried. Be kind I'm very scared."

But the thing about writing that fic was, it was the writerly equivalent of jumping into the deep end of the pool for the first time. After I bobbed back to the surface and realized a shark hadn't like, taken my legs off while I was down there, jumping in again got easier. And kept getting easier. And now I just write and post things.

There's kind of two schools of thought that I've seen people subscribe to, when it comes to taking the first leap. The one that's really popular around here on Tumblr is: Do it scared. It is simple and straightforward. You are scared. You will be scared. You probably never won't be scared. So do it scared. Write your thing, close your eyes and hit send [either to post it or to share it with one or two friends, or even just hitting the "save" button and not deleting it]. Get scared, do it, close your eyes, finish. When you open your eyes again and nothing terrible has happened, you can breathe a sigh of relief and do it scared again. It's a little nerve-wracking at first, but the idea is giving your mind the association of jumping and not falling. I did it and I didn't fail, therefore it is safe to do it again.

The other school of thought [the one I specifically subscribe to] is: Do it once. What you think or feel about it doesn't matter. What matters is you did it once. Maybe it will be hell, or it'll suck terribly. Maybe you're really excited! And it turns out great! Maybe its a wild ride of ups and downs, and by the end you need a few months to catch your breath and decide if it was worth it. Regardless: you did it once. Now you know, if you want to, you can do it again. Now you can decide if its worth doing again. For me, the euphoria of finishing a project always far outweighs the trouble getting there, so the step forward of "Do it once" is powerful for me. And that can be broken down too. "Write one chapter." "Draw one drawing." "Clean one room in the house." There is no pressure to continue if its really that terrible, but you at least get to decide if one was worth it [and a solid 9 times out of 10, one was worth it enough to do it more.]

Now, all that said, if what you're worried about is writing the characters right and nothing else -- don't worry too much. Most people care less about how true to life the characters are, and care a lot more about consistency in the story. An example from RnS: In canon, Helsknight is a cartoonish villain with one motivation, and that motivation is taking over hermitcraft Doofenschmirtz style. To date, no one has come into my inbox demanding I change him, because he's so OOC he's basically an OC at this point. What people have come into my inbox about though, is "Hey, you established X in this chapter, but he said Y in this chapter. Was there a reason for that?" which is them saying, "Why didn't you keep your character consistent?" If you tell your audience what the expectations are for the story and you stick with them, they will stop caring about OOC moments and characterizations, and will trust you're going somewhere with your writing. Suspension of disbelief, your powerful friend! They put the world on their shoulders and carry and everybody watches and claps.

If you're also worried about consistency, then start out with one shots! There's a lot less room for error, no large, sweeping character arcs to keep track of. And stringing a bunch of one-shots together can give you practice with character consistency and progression without committing to something massive and overarching. If you're truly worried about making the characters exactly like Canon [or the Canon in your head], I recommend making little lists of character traits, or important things you want to keep in mind. At that point you're scared of your own consistency, and you just need a framework to keep yourself consistent enough for yourself, if that makes sense?

Hopefully! This helps! Sorry I'm a little scattered today :'D

#answering asks #caramelcoatednightmares #writing advice #fanfic advice #longpost #the barking writer #im very sleepy and still thinking about soup #i think maybe i'm just very thirsty

[projecttreehouse]

writing warm-ups

do you wake up and immediately go to work? no! you have coffee and breakfast first, you wash your face, you get dressed. similarly, you have to warm yourself up before facing a writing challenge. warm-ups are also a great way to fight writers' block. here are some ways to do this:

-keysmash poem; mash that keyboard until you get 6-12 random letters. these are the first letters of each line of a poem you will write. oh, you say you're not a poet? i didn't ask! just mash that keyboard and cough a poem up and never read it again. -letter to the editor; pick a topic that pisses you off. the smaller and more arbitrary, the better. write a paragraph detailing the issue to a neutral third party with as much passive aggression as you can muster. -rewrite; grab a random page of some old project of yours and rewrite it. really think about what you like and dislike about that page, look at it from a new perspective, twist it around until it's different-- doesn't matter if the rewrite is better or worse, because you aren't editing here. you're just getting your gears spinning. -fictionalize it; think of something that happened to you, like a brief interaction with a stranger or a funny mix up at work. turn it into a one-page scene. -dream journal; record an interesting dream. list out details you can remember, or write it like a journal entry, or wax poetic about what it all means. -shitty fanfiction; self explanatory. the more self-indulgent, the better. set a timer for ten minutes, blast off, and then pretend it never happened. -deleted scenes; think about the in between moments of your project. write an email from one of your main characters, or a scene from their childhood, or a text conversation log, really anything that you wouldn't put in your main work. -confessional; pick a fictional character, yours or one from a piece of media you love. write their ten confessions in as much detail as you want.

happy writing! let us know if you try any of these, and reblog if you find this helpful!

#writing #writing tips #writing advice #writing warm up #writing prompts #prompts #fanfic advice #writer #writers block #nanowrimo #novel writing #writers of tumblr #writeblr #creative writing #creative writing prompts

[pastafossa]

Using Tarot To Help You Write

Right ok, so I’ve wanted to do this for a bit - there are vague references to tarot in my story TRT and I’ve answered a few questions about how I use the RWS-style tarot to write but now I have a little bit of time while I wait for my laundry to dry. So let’s get into it.

If you’re looking for another tool in your writer’s kit, you could strongly consider adding a box of tarot cards to the bag. Set aside, for a minute, what you’ve heard about it. Set aside any spiritual aspect, telling the future, the ‘OoOOOooOOh evil’, or even the ‘DRAW DEATH MEANS DEATH’ you see in movies. Instead, strip it down to its base.

Tarot is about telling a story.

(Below: Oak, Ash, & Thorn Tarot)

From a storytelling perspective, the first 18 cards of the RWS style tarot, known as the Major Arcana, essentially tell the Hero’s Journey as the Hero sets out on an adventure and searches for knowledge. There’s disaster, love, temptation, and wise people they meet along the way before eventually finding enlightenment at the end of their journey. The Major Arcana contains major archetypes and themes present through so many stories. When you add in the rest of the cards in the Minor Arcana - the other 56 cards, encompassing a variety of emotions, archetypes, figures, and various life events you might run into - you’ve got something perfect when you want to introduce new elements to your story. I keep a small deck on my desk and use it frequently when creating random OCs, plotlines, or problems for characters to solve.

And before you go, holy shit Pasta that’s a lot to take in, using tarot for your story doesn’t have to be complicated. You don’t need to have 20 years of tarot experiences, you don’t need to be an expert, you don’t need A Great Gift. You don’t have to know about tarot at all, really. You just need one thing:

The right storytelling deck.

More below the cut.

Look, there are a million styles out there, some that focus heavily on storytelling imagery and some that focus more on symbols; some that feature animals or nature, and some that focus on people. I generally lean towards animal-based decks since I’m more familiar with animal/nature imagery, body language, and symbolism, but in reality the best deck to use for writing is simply the one you’ll actually use. If you’re drawn to one, go for it. That being said, if you’re looking for something to use without needing to get into all the symbolism of each card, I generally recommend using a deck in which all cards, including the Minor Arcana, depict a scene you can examine - aka, one that plays up a story rather than a straight up symbol. Let me show you an example with three decks.

Left: Mystical Cats tarot; Middle: Oriens tarot; Right: Children of Litha tarot

These all depict the same card: the Seven of Swords, meant to depict deceit, theft, betrayal, lies, and trickery. The middle card relies a little more heavily on symbolic meaning (the black widow spider, which ‘betrays’ when mating and uses a sticky web - symbolizing a potential trap), whereas the other two cards show an active scene (Card 1: OH NO HE’S GONNA STEAL YER MOUSE WHILE YOU’RE NOT LOOKING; Card 3: YOU LOVESTRUCK DIPSHITS, TURN AROUND, THE SNAKE’S EATING YOUR EGGS). I’ve found cards like Card 1 and Card 3 are faster and more convenient for storytelling, because you’re basically presented with a scenario/characters/a situation right off the bat, whereas a symbolic card is more open-ended and might require some digging unless you’re already fairly familiar with the symbolism. If you’re going to get a deck that depicts people instead, I recommend looking for a deck that’s diverse. Humans come in all shapes, sizes, and colors, and having a deck that reflects that (something like the Modern Witch tarot) is valuable for storytelling. So if you’re picking a deck to help you write, look for:

Decks that use scenes/storytelling imagery for all cards

Decks with imagery/body language you can easily read at a glance

If you’re looking for a deck with people - decks with a diverse range of body types, ethnicities, sexualities, and genders

A deck with imagery you actually like, otherwise you won’t want to use it

‘Ok, so let’s say I’ve found a deck, or I already have one. What does using tarot for fic even look like?’

Let’s do two quick readings for two writing scenarios you might use this for! This will also show you can be as complex or as simple as you need to be. These are also the two scenarios I use tarot for most when writing - character construction, and plotline construction. First I’ll use the Children of Litha tarot, which uses a moderate amount of storytelling imagery. Then I’ll use the Mystical Cats tarot, which is probably the most story-heavy deck I have, imagery-wise. That way, you can see how construction gets a bit easier depending on how scene-heavy a deck is.

Scenario: I need an original character for this chapter or scene! Quick, draw three cards!

Quick reading: she’s very gentle but there are also two tigers inside her and one of them wants to kill you, especially if you fuck with her pet birds

More complex reading - Personality, Flaw, Backstory:

Card 1 - Personality: This character is someone who’s unafraid and bold in their kindness even when faced with danger, and they know when a gentle touch is needed. They believe strength is found not in being cruel or violent but in responding with love. This usually works out for them, to the point that even Scary People (TM) seek this character out, knowing they’ll find love and affection. Alternatively, this character is one half of the Brooding Rough One Loves The Gentle Soft One trope. Whatever works for you!

Card 2 - Flaw: Despite all that, the gentle character’s got a temper, and it exists in direct conflict to what they believe about strength, thus producing cognitive dissonance. This is someone who’ll dodge conflict to avoid showing their temper, but eventually that repression’s going to blow up into a real fight and it’ll be messy.

Card 3 - backstory: This temper and conflict avoidance is due to some tragic incident in their past that left them deeply wounded. It’s one reason they’re so gentle, but there’s a lot of lingering anger and trauma. These wounds are not healed, and if you look deep enough, you’re going to find blood.

Depending on how important this character is, you could add even more: a card for a strength, a card for a challenge they need to overcome to grow as a person, their family dynamic, etc. Again, you can make it as detailed or as simple as you need.

PASTA NOW I NEED A LITTLE PLOTLINE FOR CHARACTERS TO SOLVE. Quick, draw four!

Quick reading: holy SHIT your characters gotta move fast, cause there’s a pissed off dude out there who wants revenge NOW and is ready to fuck up a *shuffles cards and draws* religious temple of peaceful cat loving monks, one of whom is the one that fucked up Angry Dude in the first place WHEN HE WAS A BABY WITH HIS MAMA, PLOT TWIST OH NO, IT’S PROBABLY THAT ASSHOLE STEVE IN THE BACK OF THE THIRD CARD, LOOK AT HIM LOOKING OFF INTO THE DISTANCE.

More complex reading - Theme, Problem, Setting, Solution:

Card 1 - Theme: As you can tell from our cat with zoomies, your protagonists are on a clock. The theme here is urgency, it’s speed. Things will start off with a bang and they won’t have much time to slow down. This’d be good for a one shot or a chapter.

Card 2 - Problem: look at that cat, they’re so ANGRY, they are PISSED, someone did them dirty and they’ve been stewing over it for a while. They can’t stop feeling that betrayal no matter how much they try to lick it off shake it off forget about it. They want REVENGE for what was done to them and they’re gonna cut someone up.

Card 3 - Setting: Ah, a peaceful, sunny place where everyone’s just chilling. Everyone’s happy. Maybe a religious place, say, a church or a convent or hell, a nudist retreat. Either way, no one knows what’s coming. Except (and this is why scene cards are so fun)... for STEVE there in the back. Look at him. Everyone’s relaxing in the sun but he’s staring out into the distance. He knows. And just like that, Steve’s the In Hiding person who betrayed our Problem - Steve the Asshole isn’t a part of the Sun card’s meaning, but a storytelling scene card lets you stretch like this and have fun.

Card 4 - solution: Clearly the only person who can stop Bad Person... is their MAMA (or potentially his siblings). Maybe a character goes to find the Problem’s mother and brings her to the church to talk the Problem into giving up. Maybe the protagonists desperately tell the Problem that your family wouldn’t have wanted this, even if that family was hurt - the Empress is generally very nurturing and loving, so that’s a fair bet. Either way, the solution to the Problem is their family.  

Once you get the hang of this, you’ll start to find other ways you can use it. I’ve used it for creating quick or more complex or more randomized characters, for creating plotlines and character arcs, for a few of Jane’s cases in TRT. You can use it for backstories, for settings, for problems and solutions, for deeper themes to explore with your characters. Hell, if you want some practice, you could literally go through the Major Arcana and write one-shots dealing with each card’s theme. Ultimately the possibilities are endless, whether you want to construct a detailed plotline or if you just have a new character you want to randomize or flesh out a bit.

In short: go get yourself a deck and have some fun!

#tarot #writing #writing advice #fanfic advice #fanfic #fic advice #writing tips #fic tips #tarot for writing #basically look for a deck that tells a good story and then you won't have to to know anything about tarot for it to work #you can just go 'oh cat has zoomies in this card so this character is a hyperactive wild child always on the move and is amusing' #you can make it as deep or as hilarious or as shallow as you want #decks used here: oriens tarot - children of litha tarot - mystical cats tarot - oak ash and thorn tarot #honestly the mystical cats tarot is prime storytelling material

[amethystfairy1]

Hihi! I just wanted to say I absolutely adore both of your fics sooooo much! The way you write all the characters is amazing :D. I was just wondering do you have any advice or tips for people looking to get into fic writing? And quick q about travelling thieves! We know that mumbo has met pearl but if Grian and Pearl were to meet would they even recognise one another? Anyway your work is incredible and I cant wait to see what you do for the rest of febuwhump!

Hello, hello! ✨

I'm so glad you enjoy my fics and characters!

Tips to get into fic writing? Hmm...I mean, I know it's probably said a lot, but my biggest advice is don't be afraid to start. The first fic you ever write won't be perfect, it'll be far from that, and you've just gotta be ok with that. The best thing you can do is start, write something and post it, see what people think, see what you liked and didn't like about it...then do it again!

As far as like...actual advice, I'd say participate in a writing challenge! Like Febuwhump which is going on right now! 😆 It'll force you to take a prompt, make something of it, post it quickly and then move on. You'll end up with a big chunk of fics and feedback on at least some of them I'm sure, and you can go from there! Also you'd be surprised what sort of storylines might accidentally form during a writing challenge...Traveling Thieves came out of my Whumptober prompts from last year, after all!

My last bit of advice would be to not start with a long fic. By that what I mean is don't try to write some huge overarching narrative...start with something smaller.

Your favorite ship needs to get together, who asks who out? How did that go? What was their first date like? What about their first kiss? How long did it take for them to say 'I love you'? That's like four or five short fics right there. 😛

The reason I write my AU's the way I do is because of stuff like this. It's scary writing a long fic (trust me I've done it a ton of times) because once you bypass a certain point in the story, you can never go back. The fun thing about my AU's being a series of short stories is that I can always bounce up and down the timeline! If you've been keeping up with TTSBC you can see it! I wrote Flower Husbands all the way up to Scott knowing about Jimmy's wings and consistently spending the night at his apartment. They've fought, they've said 'I love you', Scott has been to the under-city and met Jimmy's parents...but I suddenly felt like writing more details about their early game relationship! Before Scott know Jimmy's big secret, before they'd said 'I love you' or anything like that...so guess what? I did just that! I wrote 'Karma Witch' and 'Lovestruck Baby' after I'd written fics like 'Gutterline Sunshine' because that's the greatest part of this set up! I can bounce around! I never get bored or stuck on one plot point because if I don't feel like working on it, then I don't have too! So if you're into worldbuilding and wanna create an AU to have your characters all exist in, I'd super super super recommend using the 'shorter stories in an interconnected series' format.

BONUS TRAVELING THIEVES QUESTION 🏃‍♀️

Pearl and Grian last saw each other when they were sold away form their colony at fifteen years old. It's been seven years since then, but considering they're twins and they were both already mostly grown before they were sold away? Yes. They would definitely recognize each other if they saw each other again. The problem would be if they'd allow themselves to admit they recognized each other...cut ties and forgotten names and all. 😭

I hope my rambling advice helped at least a little bit!

Thanks for coming by! 💖

#fanfic #ao3 fanfic #hermitcraft #traffic smp #traveling thieves au #grian #pearlescentmoon #writing advice #fanfic advice #worldbuilding

[shinjisdone]

In need of insight for Ticking Springs...

@greeknerd007 , @mitsureigen , @kame11a , @thirdblogsacharm , @sarah22447 , @blueberryhitosh1 , @written1nthest4rs , @huicitawrites , @wonderlace19 , @cronicallyonline

I am a bit at loss of how to approach the next chapters since there is one big thing and I don't know how to go on with it...

Imagine being Geppetto's niece and him wanting you to continue his 'project'. The one thing he aimed for and he makes it very clear to you how utterly important it is.

You feel sick, the world spinning as you doubt your uncle's sanity and trust more and more the longer you look at it. He demands it.

What on earth would make you agree to build a puppet that looks like your deceased cousin?

What would you think could he a good reason to he coerced to it no matter how frightened you feel? 🤔

Please comment or DM me!

#lies of p #lies of p fanfic #lies of p x reader #advice needed #fanfic advice #i am left a bit empty-headed #ticking springs

[actualcrocodiledundee]

so you wanna write a heartbreak high fic, but you're american...

As an Australian who writes fanfic for Glee (which is American), it's interesting seeing kind of the opposite thing happen with Heartbreak High, which is very much an Australian show (even though there's a couple things here and there that I'll get into in this post), and I thought I'd offer my perspective as someone who grew up and went to school in Sydney (and is also very autistic and detail-oriented). I think this might be the first time an Australian teen drama has gone mainstream, but there's a lot of specific cultural things in Australia that tend to get lost in fanfiction.

So, without further ado, here is your guide to how to write about high school in Australia (or if you just want to learn about Australia, here tis).

(Disclaimer: this is mostly based on my experience living in NSW where Heartbreak High is filmed and set, but there might be some subtle differences in other states)

{This is a photo from Maroubra Bay High School, which doesn't exist anymore and is now the location where Heartbreak High is filmed}

Basic things: The school year starts at the end of January and ends in mid-December, and is broken up into 4 10-week terms, with two weeks holiday between each term and 5-6 weeks at Christmas. We're in the Southern Hemisphere, and February is an absolute nightmare weather-wise. In New South Wales (NSW), you're in primary school from years K-6 and high school from years 7-12. People generally refer to the grade they're in as "year #" or sometimes "grade #". If you go to a public school, it's usually with kids from your local area. Primary schools are usually called [Suburb Name] Public School (sometimes there's a "north" or "west" or even a street name instead; high schools are generally [Suburb Name] High School. School starts around 8:30 and ends at around 3. There's recess in the morning (usually around 11am) and lunch in the afternoon (usually around 1-1:30pm). Kids will either bring their own lunch or buy from the canteen, which these days is generally meant to be "healthy". The legal drinking age here is 18; that being said, it is not illegal for parents to let their children drink alcohol at home under their supervision (so if a 16-year-old's dad lets them have a beer at home, they're not going to get charged with supplying alcohol to a minor). Drinking culture in Australia is pretty feral and pretty much every social gathering involves alcohol. The youngest you can be to start school is turning 5 on or before the 31st July and the latest you can start is the year you turn 6; most parents, particularly those that are more well-off and can afford that extra year of preschool/childcare, start their kids the year they turn 6 (even if they turn 6 in January), so most teenagers will turn 18 during year 12 (which generally involves, parties, drinking and pubs). I did not. I turned 18 the day after O-week at uni ended, which is my villain origin story, but in some instances, a kid who is a month away from turning 19 will be in the same year 12 class as a kid who turned 17 four months ago without having repeated any grades.

Language & Slang: Australian slang is so niche that I'm just going to link you to this document, but just be aware that some of this shit is outdated and not used by anyone not named Alf Stewart, so use your better judgement. Thongs are a pair of shoes. Prawns are seafood (not shrimp; no one says "throw shrimp on the barby"). Australians swear a lot. Some of my favourite swears are "get fucked", "fuckwit", "fucknuckle", "shitcunt" and many others. We use "cunt" as a term of endearment and often use "mate" to be as passive aggressive as possible (call your mates "cunt" and cunts "mate"). Nobody fucking says "g'day mate" (and, while we're at it, nobody fucking drinks Fosters).

Uniform: Hartley High is a non-uniform school. This is actually extremely rare in Australia and I think there's only like 1 or 2 mainstream schools in NSW with no uniform. The vast majority of Australian schools have uniforms ranging from the typical stuffy blazer-and-straw-hat combo at the likes of Shore and Scots to a simple polo shirt and footy shorts/trackies in your average rural or regional public school. In the original series from the 90s, it's established that the school did at one point have a uniform that was a plot point in an episode where Nick Poulos (the main character at the time) is elected class captain to the chagrin of conservative teacher and football coach Bill Southgate. Other schools in the area would probably have a uniform; the school where it was filmed is now closed, but I did find a picture that shows what the uniform once looked like (see above).

Geography: Hartley High is located in the South Sydney/Eastern Suburbs area, so feel free to incorporate a little Rabbitohs/Roosters rivalry into your fic for that extra bit of authenticity. We play rugby here, which Australians also call "footy". Australian Rules Football (AFL) is also colloquially called "footy", which can get very confusing. Private schools (like the one where Darren's fuck buddy Jacob goes) tend to favour rugby union. Pretty much everyone (and I mean everyone) has a rugby league team they support. For example, I'm a Rabbitohs supporter, my mum is a Cowboys supporter and my dad is a Broncos supporter. There's also State of Origin, which is NSW vs Queensland (basically you support the state you were born in but some people jump on the Queensland bandwagon whenever they're winning ... fuckwits).

Classes and Timetables: Timetables here operate fortnightly, so it's not overly common to have the same class at the same time every day. Generally there's a rollcall class in the morning for 20 minutes where teachers do things like read notices, hand out notes and check uniforms and phones (I'm pretty sure the NSW education department actually just banned the use of phones in schools), then you'll typically have two classes, then recess, then another two classes, then lunch, then maybe one or two classes followed by home time. Here is a summary of everything kids in New South Wales have to learn in high school: Stage 4 (Years 7-8): English, Maths, Science, HSIE (History/Geography), TAS (e.g. cooking, sewing, metal work, woodwork, digital technology), CAPA (generally just music and art but can also include dance and drama), PDHPE (theory and prac), LOTE (my school offered French and Italian, but there's a massive variety of languages on offer and a lot of schools actually teach the local Aboriginal language). Stage 5 (Years 9-10): English, Maths, Science, HSIE, PDHPE and electives. The number of electives that can be chosen vary from school to school, but some popular examples are PASS, Art, Drama, Music, Food Tech, Metal, Woodwork. Some schools offer things like STEM as an elective and others offer, say, two electives and have all students undertaking some kind of STEM class. What my school did was offer four electives - two for year 9 and 10 and then two for just year 9 because Australian History and Australian Geography would take up those extra two timeslots. I chose Music, Italian, Drama and, for some reason, extension maths. Stage 6 (Year 11-12): this is the lead up to the HSC, and it's where things start to get complicated so ... everyone has to study English (Advanced, Standard, Studies, Extension and EALD) and I think Maths (Advanced, Standard, Extension and a course called Numeracy which is more everyday numeracy in society), then a whole bunch of subject choices that can be found here, and the HSC has no requirements as to the types of subjects you can study (e.g. there's no language requirement, science requirement etc. like in the US; you got that shit out of the way in stages 4 and 5). There are also VET subjects that give you a TAFE qualification when you finish them which is nice (most popular one is Hospitality). Then you get your HSC at the end of year 12.

This was so long that there is going to be a part 2 (apparently there's a lot to know about living in NSW and going to school there and it's longer than 4000 characters), so stay tuned for things like student leadership, sport, extracurricular stuff, uni (this is probably the area that's the most different from the US) and whatever other extraneous things I can think of.

#heartbreak high #fanfic advice #life in australia #basically a guide to how to write about school in australia if you're american

[vhstown]

here's one for the writers 🗣️ do you set a mood / specific time for writing because right now im only writing at midnight on school nights ... haha Help

#vee chats #hobie brown x reader #miles morales x reader #fanfic #fanfic advice #fanfiction #writing #writing help

[artemx746]

This one’s for the younger fic writers out there.

If there is something you want to write, DO IT!

Who cares if it’s good or not, even if I’m the future you think it’s the worst piece of writing you ever brought into this world, that means you’re going to get better. You have to make the bad art before you make the good. If you wanna post it, that’s great! And if not you’re totally allowed to do so!

Don’t let age stop you from having fun just remember that fandom is supposed to be fun, if you’re not having fun you’re not obligated to stay. And also remember you should be writing for you not anybody else.

#fanfic writing #fanfic #fandom #fanfiction #fanfic advice

[quoxal]

Soaps scottish accent

I'm trying to figure out how much I want to change the dialoge for Soap to make him sound scottish but like??

These are the only real changes I could find of the dialog in CoD MW2. The rest is just the wonderful voice acting work from Neil Ellice. But how do you best translate that into dialog without making it too hard to read for people who don't know the accent. *flipping tables*

Kinda settled for these now and sometimes checking with "English to scottish/scots" translators to add more flavour. If any other creator or scottish speaking people have some advice please gimme ~~

(Chapter two will be up soon ^^)

#english is not my first language #and scottish is even harder halp #john soap mactavish #fanfic advice #writing accents #scottish accent #fanfic writing #cod mw

[infinite-orangepeel]

if there’s one thing i’ve learned since i first started writing and posting fics it’s this:

don’t rush it. seriously, DON’T. there’s no need !! and your work will turn out ten times better if you give it some space to breathe. don’t be afraid to sit on your ideas for a while, let them ruminate and develop in your brain like you’re marinating a slab of tofu (i’m vegetarian so that works for me but if you’re not then pick your meat of choice). it’s so easy to get caught up in the idea of a self-imposed deadline or to feel like you have to constantly be posting new chapters/stories to prove yourself. all false !! let your scenes adapt and change as needed. read them, re-read them, get to know your characters and their motives/wants/dreams/fears. when i first started writing, i’d try to update my fics as fast as possible because i thought people would stop caring/forget about my story if i didn’t. turns out that’s not quite how it works. i update my current wip once every two-three weeks instead or every few days (as i was before) and guess what ? the interest, support, and love from my readers hasn’t disappeared into thin air. in fact it’s increased and better yet—i feel genuine pride in the work I’m producing. anyways i don’t know if anyone else needs to hear this, but it’s been a really important lesson for me as a writer so i thought i’d share <3

#fic writing advice #just my two cents but if this helps someone else yay #marissa’s early morning writing thoughts #love you all and you’re all so talented mwah #steddie #steddie fics #steddie brainrot #steddie fic #fic writers #fic writing #writing advice #ao3 #ao3 writers #ao3 writing #fanfic #fanfic advice #steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie fic writers #steddie fic excerpt #stranger things #fruity four #steve harrington/eddie munson #steve x eddie

[chocfrog-enjoyer]

Things I hate in Harry Potter Fanfictions

This are the tropes I found multiple times in lots of different fanfictions and I got fed up with how illogical, overused and badly written they are :/

Completely changing the story to the point where I’m starting to wonder if it’s even Harry Potter because the only thing that stayed the same are the names.

( If it’s ships ) When one or both sides are already in love with each other ( in this cringy “I always loved him/her ) especially on what normally would be considered enemies to lovers. If I’m reading a story especially with a non canon ship I’d want to know how they’ve came to be, how the love blossomed. Or at least a reasonable explanation of why the character loves the other from the start of the story.

( If it’s Dark Harry ) The: One morning Harry wakes up and decides ah fuck it I’m changing sides “I care not for your good side anymore, now I’m going to be evil” and Voldemort is like “Oh well- guess I won’t kill him then, never mind that it was my obsession for the last decade and more, It changed today”

Evil-Good Harry…? Honestly I hate this trope soooo much. The: Voldemort was good from the start and it was Dumbledore that was truly evil and he manipulated Harry and/or he was the one who killed Harry’s parents. “Yeah, no like Voldemort is a pretty good guy. He can even be considered as a role model of being good if we ignore all of his other/earlier victims and people he tortured. I mean- I don’t see any evil right?”

Ron, Ginny and Hermione bashing because why not ( this happens especially often with Slytherin Harry fanfics). I don’t mind if some characters get their negative traits explored but make it real people, I can’t read a story where those characters act so bad and OOC for no actual reason. And no Harry being in Slytherin isn’t a reason because those characters never bullied and harassed anyone purely because they were a Slytherin. Yes they did not like this house ( for a good reason might I say ) but they never even acted out on Malfoy who was openly bullying them, the only situations we get where Malfoy and his friends got attacked by Ron and/or Hermione were deserved, and were responses to his provocations.

( If it’s not in order to hide his identity ) Changing Harry’s name. I can understand using Hadrian or Harris as the elongated versions of Harry but when someone straight up changes his name and now I’m reading a story about Daniel or Bob or something for no apparent reason then the whole thing seems stupid and illogical for me.

When Draco and Snape liked Harry from the start. Draco was a narcissistic, spoiled little child and he wasn’t nice to Harry both when he knew who he was ( train ride ) and when he didn’t ( Madam Malkin - their first meeting ). He expected admiration and friendship from Harry like if he had earned it. Making him be like a best friend from the very start is non sense, those boys would need time to come together, and with Harry’s personality I bet they’d still have a silly rivalry if they were in the same house. Same with Snape, like there’s no way he would tolerate Harry let alone like him. He hated Harry from the moment he saw him in the great hall and even before the boy went to Hogwarts. For Snape and Harry to like each other there would need to be a very good reason and it wouldn’t come immediately, but with lots of time and more interactions between each other.

Too much muggle stuff in the magical world. I don’t mind it if a lot of the story plays out in the muggle world or some muggle stuff is crucial for the story point but when I read a fan fiction where Harry was in St.Mungos and he was being treated the muggle way I lost it and dropped the fic. Like are you really going to put full on muggle medical equipment in a gigantic wizard hospital and make your healers use almost only muggle diagnostic methods? Most Wizards barely have any proper knowledge on muggles, and even muggleborns don’t know that much since they are introduced into wizarding world at a young age and basically spend the rest of their life in it. They have a lot more knowledge about muggles than pureblood wizards but it’s still not THAT much.

Overpowered Harry. The „Lord Potter; Black; Peverel; Gryfindor; Slytherin; etc… etc.. :/ nothing wrong with powerful Harry. I like powerful Harry. But it’s ridiculous that a child, a 11-15 yo boy would just instantly have more magical power than Merlin himself, and he would immediately know what to do with it

Gringotts knows everything about you. The „heritage tests” and all. Making a good use of Gringotts is amazing in fanfiction and I love exploring ideas people have on it but this trope is not only overused but also dumb. I’m not talking about simple family linking that people use or like blood checking. I mean the young Harry goes to Gringotts and just with a drop of his blood it is instantly known that he is meant to be a lord of this and that and he owns such and such properties and he is hella rich because of all the vaults that were left to him. And also goblins being friendly. These creatures do not like wizards.

Know it all Hermione. But like literally. Hermione being so overglorified and being literally smarter than Dumbledore and basically all Hogwarts staff often at age 11-16. She’s smart but let’s be real this is not possible. Like her being able to do anything in the world after “reading a book/going to the library for a bit”

Harry being the most handsome, ripped and freaking amazing Hogwarts student while literally being like 14 or 15.

Harem… Nothing bad with Harry having a flock of girls that are attracted to him ( this is canon ) but oversexualizing women in order to make Harry the girl-magnet that has 7 girlfriends and like all the „conventionaly attractive” witches around him - Hermione, Ginny, Fleur, Daphne etc.”

Harry hating Dumbledore from the beginning, blaming everything on the poor old man, being annoyed by the most stupid thing like: “Dumbledore smiled at him, and Harry went utterly furious” ://

Child Harry behaving like an adult and teenage/mature Harry behaving like a child. Why would a 11 yo go to Hogwarts and suddenly be a master manipulator, know exactly what to say to get out of difficult situation and can outsmart his peers and/or adults to show „how much better he is”. And the other situation: Harry being completely clueless, using childish language, being referred to by others as “little one, pup etc.”

All Slytherins are misunderstood angels. No they aren’t! As a Slyhetin myself I can recognize Draco’s ( and his friends ) bullshit when I see it! Yes stop the stereotype of “All Slytherins are bad” but do not excuse actually bad Slytherins.

Fics gloryfing toxic pureblood culture. Exploring different aspects of the culture, the better and worse ones is cool and creative but I’ve seen a lot of fics gloryfing what is just abusive and toxic and romanticizing it in the name of “pureblood customs/traditions”

Guns… just no… like what? It’s like how to tell you’re American without telling you’re American. I hate seeing guns in HP and the wizarding world, and the often following glorification of this weapon

Excessive American English. I don’t mind it much if it’s just some words but please all the slang and common words from American English are annoying. It’s not that hard to do a little bit of reaserch of the common differences in some words. The story is played ( mainly ) in the United Kingdom, the language used by characters should be British English ( like Harry & Hermione ) and Scottish English ( like McGonagall )

Excessive ( and especially if heavily described ) abuse from Dursleys that would have killed Harry at least 5 times before he would be 10. Like heavy beating, breaking bones, stabbing. I do not like reading such things and I found this in fanfics quite a lot….

Oversexualization of children 11-15. While exploring the sexual side of romance/life is okay in a teenager, it is a part of life, I hate seeing fics that oversexualize ships that at the time have characters aged 11-15 - literal children, especially oversexualizing young Hermione, in some Harmony fics ( where she was 14 ), or Ginny, with fics calling her a slut/whore because she had a crush on Harry, or when she’s a bit older because she dated a few boys.

Illogical use of Parseltongue. First of all Parseltongue is a language and Parselmouth is the speaker ( pls I beg don’t describe Harry as a Parseltongue ). But suddenly this language being like all powerful, and you can do wandless magic with it and basically perform any spell without ever using it before.

Luna being bullied by every Ravenclaw, ( like most of those ppl - especially the older ones or younger ones - do not actually care ) and her being like a super mega seer that knows all about the future and is actually super mega smart in her weirdness.

Feel free to add your points to this list!

#harry potter #hp #hp fandom #harry potter blog #hp blog #fandom culture #fandom things #harry potter books #hp fanfic #fanfiction #fanfic #writing #writing community #fanfic community #Harry Potter fanfiction #fanfic advice #advice #writing things #fanfiction things #fanfiction tropes #fanfiction thoughts #fanfiction tips #fanfiction talk #harry potter fic #hp fic #fandom ships #hp ships

[eatingrosescollab]

#jonathan sims #tma #martin k blackwood #martin blackwood #web martin #ao3 fanfic #fanfic possibilities #fanfic advice #fanfiction ideas #fanfiction polls #tma jmart #jmart #jmart fluff #jmart fic

[blighted-lights]

kinda curious bc im really getting into fanfic planning and such atm for my long fic, but would anyone happen to have any recommendations for apps or websites that help with writing organization/scene planning/ect? asking for my me

#blight rambles #txt post #fanfic #fanfic advice #friendship ended with my notes app. where the fuck did my fic go.

[paragonrobits]

fan fic writers, some advice from someone who's been doing AT fanfic roughly since 2011 i think; Adventure Time can seem like a hard series to pin down the dialogue but it largely comes down to a big part of the series' humor and dialogue using a lot of rapid code-switching for comic effect

essentially a thing a LOT of characters do is frequently switching from, say, very formal speech to a radically different kind of speech, usually within the same sentence. Marceline insisting that her bedroom is a LAIR, Princess Bubblegum making a grand speech that wouldn't be out of place in a high fantasy or Lord of the Rings monologue but capping it off with 'FAT MONEY STACKS'. Just about everything Finn and Jake say in particular, ranging from Finn's tendency to constantly use mathematical terms as slang or Jake mixing in mashed-up words into his regular dialogue.

It can really help to make character dialogue feel more genuine by paying attention to the ways they do this in canon, and if you worry you're not capturing a characters' voice well enough, this might be the reason; for example Simon Petrikov is pretty prone to this because he does NOT stick to one extreme or another; he flips from academic technical terms without being PRECISELY formal, to a much more casual way of talking and usually in the same sentence, never quite sticking to one extreme. He can cap off a rant about nihilistic existential crisis by shouting 'GREAT GOOGILY MOOGILY!"

(On a similar note, this makes a few characters VERY difficult to pin down, most notably the Lich. I personally take the point he dislikes speaking at all, as the vast majority of his lines are ONLY spoken when he's disguised as a different person and is speaking 'in character'; otherwise the most verbose he gets is when he's explicitly in the middle of an existential crisis. Depicting the Lich right involves hitting a sweet spot of a genuinely alien mentality but I think if you can write convincing dialogue for Sauron from lord of the rings you can probably translate that to the Lich.)

#adventure time #fanfic advice #queued

[severin-photocopy]

does anyone know about a fanfic about Moaning Myrtle's life that is angsty af as it should be? like I need to know more about her

#Moaning Myrtle #harry potter #hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry #fanfiction #fanfic #harry potter fanfiction #harry potter fanfic #harry potter fandom #fanfiction advice #fanfic advice #fanfiction recommendation #fanfic recommendation #harry potter universe #hp fandom #hp #severus snape #draco malfoy #sirius black #hp marauders #hp fanfic #help me plz