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ltleflrt · 3 years

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I would love some more mean advice, I'm taking notes because this is a goldmine

lol honestly, the advice about not starting a fic with Life Story Infodump or Daily Grind Infodump is the most important thing I can think of. Since nearly all of the times I back out of a fic, it’s because of one of those two things. Just about everything else I can think of is pretty minor and won’t make me quit reading. But here’s a few things I think might be helpful just for giving a story some extra shine.

1. Minute detail of a process is rarely necessary. Gloss over how something works unless the details have something to do with plot. For instance, if Dean is making tacos for dinner, just say Dean gets to work preparing tacos. Don’t talk about warming up the shells, or browning the meat, or slicing the veggies. Unless it’s plot related. If Dean makes checklists and crosses things off to soothe anxiety, then those details are important, but make it clear that he’s self-soothing. Or if Cas is allergic to onions, bring up that Dean sauteed them and added them to the meat, because Dean LOVES onions, and it didn’t occur to him to check if Cas has allergies before he started cooking, and they can’t be picked out, and oops the date ends with Dean rushing Cas to the ER, etc. Otherwise, just say Dean had an hour left till Cas showed up for dinner, so he hurried to prepare all the taco fixings, and it took too little time so now he had to figure out how to occupy himself till the doorbell rang.

(btw, I would LOVE more first date ending up in the ER stories, everyone who reads this is free to adopt that idea lol)

2. Please don’t write an entire story in 1-2 sentence paragraphs. This is rare, but it’s an almost instant nope out for me. There’s this one story that I reeeeeally want to read, because it’s right up my alley, and other than the short paragraph issue, it’s well written so I keep trying but getting stuck. I’m gonna have to copy it into a doc and edit the paragraphs and squish some stuff together to make it legible to my brain. Like there’s a long stretch in the first chapter where every sentence is its own paragraph, and just.... why. When you’re putting a paragraph break, there’s a mental pause happening in the reader’s mind. And too many short paragraphs in a row makes it more like a really long poem rather than a typical story you’d read in a book. A lot of advice says to not attack your readers with a wall of text (WALL OF TEXT CRITS YOU FOR OVER 9000!!!) and to break things up, but the opposite is also true. Too many super short paragraphs is like Damage Over Time (THROW MORE DOTS, MORE DOTS!) and either one of those will defeat your reader’s interest. Short paragraphs are a very useful tool, I use them myself for emphasis, but it can’t be your whole story. Try to limit it to no more than 3 in a row. If you’re going past that, take a minute to read those sentences and see if they’re related to each other. Squish them into a single paragraph if they are. Varying your paragraph length IS an art form. Like writing music. Paragraphs build a cadence, and staccato cannot sustain a whole song. This can be mitigated by creating long compound sentences though, so keep in mind that the length of the sentence, which should vary, can make a paragraph feel longer, even if it is only 1 or 2 sentences.

(haha she gives advice on how to break up paragraphs while critting you with a wall of text! good job, Carebear.)

3. The art of breaking up dialogue is just as delicate as the art of paragraph construction. Too much back and forth without breaking it up with an action or an internal thought can make it confusing who is talking. The rule of 3 comes in handy here too. After 3 back and forths, put in something non-dialogue. So it would go Character A says thing, Character B says Thing, Character A says thing, add some action/internal thoughts. And just a he/she/they said tag isn’t enough. IT IS BETTER THAN NOTHING, and depending on the cadence of the conversation it’s the right tool. But adding some physical movement or a stray thought would be better. That being said, don’t put too much action/thought between sections of dialogue. If you put too much info in there, it can make your reader forget that there’s even a conversation going on, and they’ll get to the next piece of dialogue and be like wtf is this pertaining to again? and they’ll have to scroll back to the last line of dialogue to remember what was last said. Remember, thoughts fly at the speed of light, so if you’re pausing the dialogue for some internal character thought, it’s happening in a matter of seconds, but your reader needs minutes to read and parse what’s going on. Again, rule of 3, try not to do more than 3 paragraphs between dialogues. And if you’re still not sure, or you feel like you need more so you keep going, read out loud from the last dialogue through the next dialogue and it’ll give you an idea of just how much time is physically passing for your readers, and you’ll start to feel the true size of things.

(WRITE ALL THAT STUFF DOWN THO. If you need to get it out, then by all means, get it out. It’s your first draft, and it’s important for YOU, even if a lot of it isn’t important for the reader. Trim it in the edit. FOR THE LOVE OF THE GODS, TRIM IT IN THE EDIT.)

(And the rule of 3 is a guideline, not a rule. It’s just a good measuring tool that you can use until you’re comfortable enough to eyeball things on your own.)

Anyway, those are the only things that come to mind while I’m calm and not in a frothing rage over writing errors that are not mine to correct. I feel like a huge asshole for vague-bitching about other people’s writing, and I profusely apologize for anyone’s hurt feelings if they read this advice and realize this might apply to something they’ve done. PLEASE KEEP WRITING, DON’T LET MY WHINGING DISCOURAGE YOU, I LOVE YOU.

#ltleramblings #writing advice #writer's angst #darmysasagiri

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hergalaxyperfection · 6 years

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The Writing Process ™

Part Two: The Actual Writing

This is the part we hate. No really, we do. Making the words go is hard. Figuring out where the scenes go is hard. Finding the space and time to actually write is hard, but you gotta stick with it. Writing is like making a puzzle, you’ve just got to put the pieces in place.

Writing is a process, that's why it's called The Writing Process™. Your first draft isn't going to be perfect. It's gonna have simple grammar, spelling errors, extra words, repetitive sentences, misused dialogue, horrible dialogue, too much dialogue, overall terrible writing, etc. It's not gonna be perfect bc it's a draft and it's the first part of creating an entire book. This is where your character will come to life but the words you use and the scenes will meld together with the world around your characters and everything is gonna be wrapped up in a nice little bow or sorts, but that's the end result. The real writing is hard. It's gruesome details and "I can't remember if I wrote that" and a happy little mixture of "my writing sucks" and "this is amazing I am a genius" and it's using Grammar to your advantage and you trying to set the mood and tone and trying to make the plot work and move it forward without any plot holes. Writing is making a story out of your plans. Writing is making sure everything makes sense and comes together. The biggest thing to remember: writing is not just writing, writing is creating and imagining and being so many different things a once.

Drafting is fun though. This is where you get to express most of your creativity while still loosely following The Book Structure™. It won’t follow exactly, but again it’s really up to the writer.

This is where the world jumps out at the reader from the page. This is where the characters deal with a conflict in probably not logical, but relatable ways. This is also where subplots make an appearance. A subplot is like a mini storyline within a story, it’s not quite the main conflict or content, but it still can impact the characters and the world. A huge sublot a lot of books have is romance. We see that a lot in fiction, but that’s not the only one. There are so many and, again, the only thing that limits you is your own creativity. In the writing section, you also see your plans fall into place so you can add subplots and extra details you hadn’t thought of before.

There’s this thing we writer’s love to do and most readers love to read: Plot Twists. This is a major thing. A plot twist can be considered a climax or used as a climax. Some can be huge and completely change the direction of the plot so it’s okay to use a plot twist as your climax. There’s also this other thing that’s smaller, but still has a somewhat significant change to either the characters, the world, or the story’s plot: Plot Turn. These aren’t often as big or significant as a Plot Twist. These are more minor and less shocking, some can even be predicted. These are easier to come up with and include too. The best Plot Twists and Plot Turns also use some foreshadowing to hint at the big or smaller change. Still try to leave your reader unsuspecting, but when it happens they will realize that what the piece of foreshadowing was hinting at. I don’t know about you, but when that happens to me, I feel like a dumbass because “Man, I should've noticed.”

Language is a huge part of the writing. The styles you use can make a huge impact on how intelligent the character is, how complex your story is, what words you use (vocabulary), and how complex your sentences are. The perspective that you write in can also have a huge impact on the story. Language and the style you use helps to improve your voice as a writer and also helps to develop a style or way that you enjoy writing.

With all books, there are many lessons to be learned. I, for one, did not purposely write a specific lesson that could be learned, but my book still had a couple different ones because they developed with the plot and the characters and the world. It doesn’t have to be something you’re really focused on. It can be side note lesson. You really don’t have to have a lesson in mind unless you really want one to be used, but it should be something to at least keep in the back of your mind.

Writing is basically a lot a lot a lot of hard work and it takes a lot a lot a lot of time. This shit does not happen in a day. But it becomes more fun and exciting the more you write because you get the joy of seeing your characters, your settings, your conflicts, your plot, your words come together to make a beautiful work of art. It may have a couple flaws, but that is perfectly okay. That’s what editing is for. I think the best part about writing is you get to be creative with how you word different things. You are the author so you get to decide what people say, what happens, and how everything changes and interacts. It’s really up to you.

And then there’s our trusty friend called Writer’s Block. He’s an asshole, but we can always count on him to make sure our work doesn’t get done. Often a lot of writer’s struggle with writer’s block. This is often when a writer can’t determine where they want to go in a story or they don’t know what to write to continue on with their plot and make their story flow. The best thing to do when you’ve got writer’s block is to just keep writing. I know it sounds weird, but it’s true. I like to do little exercises like write a little scene/one shot using your characters and give them a little story. It’s difficult yes, but it will help in a few different ways: it can help get rid of our pesky friend, it can help you better develop your characters, and it can spark a new idea that you want to include in your story. Writer’s block comes and it goes, but honestly, that’s just part of being a writer.

The best thing to do is just keep writing. Your chapters or scenes will develop and flow smoothly the more you keep writing and your writing will also improve the more you do it. Sometimes your writing skill needs some time to catch up to your ideas. And that’s perfectly okay. Nothing is wrong with that, don’t get discouraged, don’t get upset if you’re writing is below the level you want it to be at, because in the end you are still writing and that’s the most important part. When writing a book, you really don’t have to worry about much. Don’t worry about page count, word count, what people will think about it. Just be creative and follow your plot and plans. It’s your story so you should tell it how you want. No matter what, in the end when you finish your first draft a sense of achievement and pride will wash over you because hey, you just wrote an entire book and it came solely from you skull sponge.

#publishing process #writing process #writing tips #writing #part one #writing is hard #writing advice

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cescalr · 3 years

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Year Roundup.

thank you very much @voidstilesplease for the tag!! <3

RULES: it’s time to love yourselves! choose your 5 favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works <3

So. I didn’t post many things this year, compared to previous ones. We’re working with scraps, here. But scraps I am proud enough of, nonetheless.

A Muggle Cliché - Harry Poter, M/M, one-shot, Harron. Summary as follows; ‘Harry Potter. The squib son of James and Lily Potter. The nephew of Sirius Black. Ron is never going to hear the end of this from the twins, he realises, with great despair. In his defence, Harry Potter should be dead. Aka: Coffee Shop AU, with my customary twist on the trope. Buckle in, boys.’

My first proper Harry Potter fandom one-shot (I don’t count FWIW companion pieces) + also my first proper getting-together fic, plus my very fun and in-depth time-travelling dumbledore squib!harry AU having both very foreground and very background presence within the fic... you know, given the whole squib!harry and Other Stuff anyway the point is, very happy with this one. I’m not exactly good at the whole ‘establishing relationships’ thing, you can just look at all my WIPs that stop like a chapter or two in and the ones that are much longer.... tend to be the ones where relationships are there from the get go. But personally I prefer to read fics in which these things are not predetermined, and when I saw this prompt I couldn’t not. :)

The Secrets You Keep. - Into The Woods (2014), Gen. Summary: ‘Ignorance is bliss, compared to this.’

yeah, I don’t know either. I just, I watched the film and I was sad, and this turned out better than expected. I just, I kind of despise cheating, alksjdg;a anyway, found family and shit, I dunno. Lyrical language is not my forte, as I am most certainly not a poet (and I definitely know it), but I did try, and I think I did well enough; ‘the wife the Prince chose to have fun with... was not the one he was done with...’, to give you an idea. The prose is normal prose, but the dialogue was an attempt to write akin to the film’s style. Not sure how well it went down, but I like it enough.

Grass is Greener (Supposed To Be.) - Harry Potter, Gen. Summary: ‘Ron Weasley has found that out of his family, he looks the most like his grandmother.(The Black sheep of the family.)’

Written for the Weasleys Fest, and something I’m quite proud of, in all honesty. Got some good Ron & Ginny moments, some good Ron & Harry bonding. I find this one to be particularly sweet, though that’s just because I have a skewed view of the concept. It’s a little angsty. Bittersweet?

Whatever They Give You - Oxenfree, Gen, F/M. Summary: ‘Multiple choice: Which is it?A) 1907: When I was younger I could remember anything, whether it had happened or not; but my faculties are decaying, now, and soon I shall be so I cannot remember any but the things that happened. B) 1912: When I was younger I could remember anything, whether it happened or not; but I am getting old, and soon I shall remember only the latter. C) 1924: When I was younger I could remember anything, whether it had happened or not; but my faculties are decaying now, and soon I shall be so I cannot remember any but the things that never happened. D) All of the above. E) None at all.’

I’ve tried Oxenfree fare before; didn’t work. Hopefully this will go better, but as it stands, 1/? chapters in, I am still very much 1000% happier with it than the previous attempt at this. To avoid spoilers; it’s post the best ending, if you catch my drift. Gonna be a bit plot heavy, methinks, once I get back around to working on it.

For What It’s Worth - Harry Potter, Gen, M/M, F/M - Harron, minor/unrequited Ronmione, lots of plationics, background deamus, etc etc. Series Description: ‘A few left turns, and the story, though recognisable -Changes entirely.Notes:Harry Potter rewrite from book 4 onwards towards a Harry/Ron ending, with background Krumione and other ships (deamus, parvender, etc.)’

Technically cheating; started this a little while back, but the big update was this year (a whole 59,000 words) + two companion pieces written pretty recently gives me course to put it on this list. My favourite out of the bunch, honestly. Very proud of this one.

There are others I like, others I’m proud of, but they’re all not technically from this year, so, this is what I have to be going on with :).

Anyway... hmm. I’ll tag: anyone who wants to do this! :) because i’m nervous about tagging aslkdgj;aslkdgj anyway yeah thanks!! This was a nice retrospective.

#tag game

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