#i'm basically breaking through my writer's block with force of will

[kestalsblog]

Basic Tips to Improve Your Writing

I used to read a lot of unprofessional writing online, and through that endeavor, I started mentally compiling different qualities that turned me off to people's work right away. I'm sharing some of my thoughts about ways to improve your writing so others don't click off your work right away!

-Change paragraphs when different characters are speaking.

-In that same thread, remember to make new paragraphs and not have one giant block of text. This isn't only discouraging for some readers, but actually physically impossible to read for those who are visually impaired.

-Learn grammar. Sorry, but there is no way around this one. For example, commas aren't just for aesthetic appeal or your personal choice, and it will turn some readers away if your writing is littered with grammatical errors. You can't break the rules for creative purposes if you don't even know them, and the difference is generally apparent.

-Remember the narration style you've chosen. For example, if you're writing in third person limited, you can't think outside the mind of your main character. Don't jump suddenly to the thoughts of other characters or an all-knowing, omniscient voice.

-Slow down. Each word matters, so try not to think of writing as "I must get from Point A to Point B," but "I must get from Point A to Point B beautifully."

-Avoid repeating the same word or phrase too much, especially within the same paragraph. There are exceptions in dialogue, of course. (It's sweet when writers acquire their own personalized phrasings that mark their voice, but I have turned away from works where the exact same line just kept coming up again and again).

-Don't forget about setting. You might be able to imagine where your characters are, but no one else can if you don't let them know.

-Use a consistent verb tense.

-Your characters are not you and generally shouldn't always be mouthpieces for you to share your own values and thoughts.

-Your characters should sound distinctly different from each other, including their talking styles.

-Don't bog the reader down with too much description, and make sure the description you do have is realistic. Think about it. In the morning, do you wake up, go to the mirror, and think to yourself, "I looked at my shaggy dark hair and emerald green eyes"? Nobody thinks that way about their own appearance, and it feels like a forced way to let the reader know what the main character looks like.

-There's no need to start tossing out every character trait if it's not relevant to the story.

-Last, show some passion and excitement for your own work. Make sure the language embodies that passion because if you don't even care about your writing, who will?

#writeblr #writing community #writing #writers on tumblr #for writers #writing advice #kestal #text post

[monstersinthecosmos]

🔮

🔮 Any advice for writers working through burnout or writer’s block?

!!!! Yes, absolutely.

I have three main approaches to this for myself, and I know everyone's brains and writing habits are different so yknow like take it or leave it or modify it to your own needs but here's three things I always fall back on when I'm stuck.

Be kind to yourself.

Be honest with yourself. Is there a reason the writing needs to be done NOW? You are not a machine. If it's not there, it's not there. Obviously this doesn't apply if you have deadlines to meet but if you're writing for fun, don't get so twisted up about it that it's not fun anymore. WHAT ARE WE DOIN HERE FELLAS?! It's okay to take a break and recover until it feels right again, you don't have to fill a quota.

Set extremely small goals.

I try to write 100 words a day because I have ADHD and I get crazy burnout and/or I go into creative frenzies where I binge write for 3 days and don't do the dishes. There's a balance in here somewhere lol. An easy goal and a routine can help a lot. 100 words is a joke. But there are days where it's a HUGE struggle. But it's still doable, and I walk away feeling like I chiseled away at the idea a little bit.

I can't stress enough that you can't push yourself THROUGH burnout, and this can go to any type of burnout. (I feel this way about house keeping too LOL). You're drawing from an empty well. Be honest with yourself, be kind to yourself, set a realistic goal. If you're burnt out you're not gonna sit down and crank out 2k in an evening, you just aren't, and if you try to force it you're just gonna feel worse when you can't do it. Be gentle. Make easy goals. Ease yourself back into it.

And don't forget, sometimes chiseling away is just exactly what you need to do. I sometimes go weeks where I put in 100 words at a time on a fic and then finally I make it through the hard part and 6k floods out of me all at once. Chiseling away is good. You will find your way back when you get through the hard part.

(Also, even if you're chiseling away with garbgae & nonsense, that's okay! You can edit it later! A sloppy first draft is better than no draft!)

Refill the well.

Speaking of drawing from an empty well; creativity requires an input and an output, imo. That's my personal opinion!! Sometimes you need to take a break and work on the input stream, too. Take a week where you watch a movie every night instead of trying to write. Reread a book from an author you admire. Stare at some paintings. Listen to your headphones in the dark, whatever the fuck it is !

You're running on empty! And it's not just the basic human energy to function! It's the creativity! It's the inspiration! If you're writing a fic, revisit the source! Remind yourself why you like it! If a movie or song or picture gave you the idea for your fic, go back to that! Absorb it, replenish yourself!!!!!

I know sometimes when I talk writing stuff that I speak about it more like, idk philosophically? And I know others might have technical advice, like write scenes out of order, change the font, sit in a different area of the house, find a friend to cheerlead! All of those things can work, too, and I try them sometimes. ((I have more to say about this and about how outlines are my lord & savior when writing with ADHD and trying to chisel away a scene at a time)) But like, all of that I think is a bit secondary to just being kind to yourself and taking care of your mental health first and getting yourself back into a place where you CAN be creative and find that drive again.

My life would be a fucking shambles if I couldn't make lil routines for myself with the ADHD and Brain Problems and whatnot and I leave myself an hour every day to write, right before bedtime! 9-10pm every night I'm CLOCKIN IN! And for me it's like a lil reward at the end of the day, so that I can like unwind, end the day, stop worrying about whatever else I didn't get done, etc. Making space for it as a fun activity and a reward is essential for me, and I still get stuck sometimes, but going back to these ideas helps me a lot!!!!!!!!!!!

#writing advice #adhd writing advice

[neoarchipelago]

tw for rape and sorta mentions of suicide (just basically saying kys in context ) for those very sensitive or triggered by these!!

but like i went through all the posts i could find and they never said anything bad about non con or dubcon she said rape fics were bad- and the point of her being a “hypocrite” for writing dubcon confuses me as why would someone who didnt support that stuff write it? it doesn’t make sense to me. i understand not liking her point on the kys bit but you guys got really hung up on it and completely missed the point of it about literal rape being romanticized and used as a fetish, not noncon and the likes used as a coping mechanism. it breaks my heart to see especially from people i supported and enjoyed a lot and got me into this community supporting rape. ive dealt with lots of sexual assults and have been raped myself a few times starting from a young age and let me tell you, its horrible. me and my boyfriend do get quite rough at times and do indulge in things like noncon- something that is used to cope and can help- and it is so much different than actually being raped. if you like it rough and dirty trust me girl i completely get it but actually being raped is the most demeaning, violating, and live devastating things that can happen- not to mention the other physical side affects of it. not trying to spread hate, maybe i should be for supporting it, but im more just sad? like seeing a community im so into and my biggest comfort character ( who also has dealt with rape) supporting and defending it all just feels like a betrayal and so debilitating. so many of my safe spaces have been ruined in a physical and metaphysical sense and it just reminds me of the sa when i was a teenager and other boys on my team (i was raped and abused by multiple wrestlers as i was the only girl in the sport in a very large state wide tournament hosted by my school) joking about it and making it not serious not taking me serious and sexualizing the whole situation and thinking i was lucky for a chick. just sickening and heartbreaking to see and the worst throwback thursday ever.

Hi love. First of all, I'm truly sorry of what happened to you. No one should ever have to go through that and you are truly amazingly strong.

Thank you for sharing your point through respect and calm.

I'd like to throw you back to this essay that explains my point of view here. Of course, it's understandable if you don't accept it. I'm not here to convince anyone on this. This is sharing a point of view.

Here, hoping that you fully understand.

This will however be the last time I'll debate on this subject, further comment or anons will simply get a copy paste.

THIS CONTAINS SA , SH AND SEXUAL CONTENT, BE CAREFUL

I- dub-con, non-con and CNC kink in fiction.

A- the place of these themes in fiction and how it separated from reality.

I think the line has to be drawn. A line people seem to forget too easily. Obviously, rape is a horrible thing. This fact has never been refuted in any fics or novels or books. No writer will ever tell you, ‘rape is awesome and soooo romantic’.

Fiction is absolutely fiction. We are aware of it. There's a big difference. This obviously something readers choose to read being aware of fiction. Being aware that the real thing is horrible. Warnings and tags are always there to avoid readers unaware of it.

B- the differences with other themes

One thing I've been asked is what kind of difference writing rape is from writing dub-con or even pedophilia?

On dub-con, the line is blurred. Softer, protagonist may be in a path where the sexual action is wanted but blocked by the mind or pushed to it by the other protagonist, forcing their own need to give in. It is still seen as rape as consent is not fully given. There's not much difference from non-con. Writers usually use this tag to avoid any triggers to people.

For pedophilia, let's see this in a more details. I think we can all agree that all these themes, dub-con, CNC, non con, always involve adults. Whatever it is the kink, or in stories, it’s adults. Adults who are aware of what sex is and what this kink it. Children should never be near any of those themes. It's not about kinks anymore, children don't have kinks.

II- the reality of voicing your opinion on internet

A- SA victims and SH victims, sexual shame

Now there's something we need to talk about. Writing theses themes are used by many as a coming mechanism. SA victims may often use these writings to help the aftermath of these events in their own life.

In the kink itself it's something that obviously causes a lot of shame towards people who are not part of it. But many things need to be said. It's a need for a control of a situation that is dangerous and traumatizing. It's a sign of truth with your partner. Fiction is a way to live that fantasy in full safety as they are clearly aware of the truth of that situation in real life.

Now the thing that has started this whole conversation was the ‘don’t forget to tell rape kink writers to off themselves’.

It is not a small detail. Not at all!

This is where fiction is separated from reality. You are telling a real person to commit a real act that could lead to fatal consequences.

Obviously I think we’re all aware that many people on this website suffer from depression, self harm tendencies and bullying. I do too. Your words matter. Trust me. We’ve seen it with Inquisitor’s death while a live TikTok.

Many other tiktokers who had helped not only spread rumors but bully the creator only realized their mistake once he killed himself.

This is a no turn back situation.

Do you think you have the guts to wake up in the morning, knowing someone killed themselves because they wrote something you were against? That you are the reason they died? Their families are grieving?

You can find an article on the CNC kink here:

-https://www.choosingtherapy.com/consensual-non-consent/

B- respect even through anger

We have established one thing. The internet is a wild, free universe. Anyone can say or write or post whatever they want.

You are free to voice out your opinion, anger amongst these binary and servers. But one thing that is not ok is the way you say it.

A point doesn't need to be full of hate or threats to be said. Especially when serious consequences could be blown by it.

Everyone has their opinion, things they don't like. You are free to avoid tags, not read, block people. Protect yourself first. But attacking isn't protecting yourself. You’re simply causing another kind of harm.

People need to own up to their words and actions.

If you tell someone to kill themselves, it's horrible. It's an actual crime. A full crime.

-

[crows-home]

for the get to know your fic writer thing- 3, 7, 17, and 11!

(3 - Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic)

(7 - How do you choose which POV to write from?)

(17 - What do you do when writing becomes difficult? (maybe a lack of inspiration or writers block)

(11 - Link your three favorite fics right now)

This answer got a little long uh. oops! ^^" Here's my silly answer, but my more in depth answers will be below the cut

3. Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic

Usually it starts with a little idea in my brain. A "gosh wouldn't this be such an interesting/ fun scenario?" They're usually just for me to play in my own brain as bedtime stories, and nothing more. But sometimes I'm hit with that itch to write and get something out there.

I do what I like to call "word vomit." Just. Writing whatever the hell comes to my mind. Here are some examples I found in my doc that make me laugh looking back now

The beginning phase is just me going ham!! Throwing ideas at the wall, typing whatever's in my head without spell check or care. Like i'm writing notes to myself.

After that I do "scenes." Basically just breaking down big moments of the fic that I have in my head and writing them down. You know those moments/ideas that you come up with in your head that you can't stop relaying? That.

After that it's just connecting the dots, making everything fit together. I like to think of it like painting. Mixing together colors, seeing what fits and what doesn't, using different brushes. Sometimes I'll get through a scene and realize I'm rambling too much, it has too much dialogue, it doesn't make sense with the story- so I scrap that piece or find a way to save it for a different part of the story.

Then editing. A lot of editing. And hating what I wrote, wondering why people like it. Leaving the canvas alone for a while, coming back and going "actually i really like this. this is so fucking cool, especially for what i have planned at the end hehehe" Sometimes I polish it up in a way that i like, sometimes I go "fuck it. it's good enough"

And THEN it's done :)

7. How do you choose which POV to write from?

It's a few factors! Sometimes it's based on what I think would be fun (ex: "What if I wrote a fanfiction from Sonic's perspective. What might he have been thinking/ going through?") But sometimes it's what I want my readers to see.

Like, in the last chapter of "You are at your lowest", I wrote in Rouge's perspective during her meet-up with a certain character. That's because I intentionally didn't want the audience to have the other character's P.O.V. I wanted to leave readers wondering/ guessing/ confused.

17 - What do you do when writing becomes difficult? (maybe a lack of inspiration or writers block)

Depends!! If I'm not feeling inspired, I'll usually check on Tumblr or instagram to get back in the mood/ vibe or read some comments that people have left!! They really pull my head out of a dull space when i need it :) <3 If I've got writer's block, I'll either take weeks off writing or force myself to sit down and just write, no matter how bad it is. Then I just work with what I have.

11. Link your three favorite fics right now

aaaaaaa ok i love reccing fics and i have a lot but here's a few:

Slumber Party by Detton

Summary: Edward Richtofen and his traveling partner, "Tank" Dempsey try to survive in an ice apocalypse.

It's been years since i've played CoD- probably almost a decade, now- but a while ago went looking for Zombies fics for the nostalgia of it. And ough, this fic has my heart!! A Dempsey/Richtofen WIP that includes the main four and their interactions in an ice apocalypse. i just really like it a lot, and if this is your thing, i recommend it!! It's super sweet, and has superb writing 👌

The Buzzsaw Dilemma by redpenship

Summary: How do you stop an unstoppable force?

Three weeks after meeting Sonic, Tails is kidnapped by Doctor Eggman and tasked with building a machine capable of defeating the hedgehog. His success marks his first day as the doctor's secret apprentice, in which he must help the Eggman Empire against his will.

Tails becomes determined to use what little power he has to reduce the empire’s harm. When larger threats arise, he realizes that he can use his influence to save the world—and if all goes well, destroy the empire from the inside out, too.

If only alien invasions didn’t make things so complicated.

OUOSUDHFSFHSDH OBSESSED!!! oh man, a WIP about Tails being forced to help Eggman, and I'm super stoked to see where it goes. But heed the tags, because it does say "Major Character Death" and "Animal death"!! I'm so enthralled by the world building and reading this take on Sonic and Tails. Brainworms!!

Lastly I'm gonna link Sometimes the Picket Fence isn't Perfect by @skimmingmilk. It's a whole series on Sonic and Tails finessing their way past Mobian CPS and it's just so hasdkasdbkhas.

i'm still getting caught up, but i watched the last bit of the latest work being written on stream a few days ago and i 🥹🥺😭 they're so cute. They're brothers your honor!!

#answers #seeing soulkiah in my inbox i 😳 lol thanks for the ask!! #SORRY THIS TOOK HOURS TO ANSWER LMAO #i had so so so much fun answering this one!!!! aaa i really wanted to talk about my writing process #i am. so sleepy. but im so down for continuing answering more of these through the weekend! #ok goodnight cleveland #edit: RIP I TAGGED THE WRONG BLOG TOT my baaadddd

[melanatedkink]

I Wanna Try...

This one is kinda slower. Not as rough and racy as my previous works (as I'm writing this I'm not sure what the warnings will be). I'm reacclimating myself to writing. I hope you enjoy my attempt.

Warnings: If you're a writer, this may call you out a bit, writer's block. writer's envy, fluff, syrupy romantic writing, intimacy in the bedroom, no sex though

Pairing: Kirishima x Y/N

You were so glad that your boyfriend had such an understanding spirit. It wasn't like it was hard for you to get by on your own. You knew that you were all over the place when it came to success. You basically had like three jobs, only one of them forced you from the comfort of your home to play server at a pretty nice resturant. The other was editing for an up and coming streamer who wanted to uplaod their longer videos to social media. The third was your baby, albeit a demon at this moment. Writing. You loved to write. Anything and everything that came to mind seemed to flow so easily to prose.

It was easy, but recently you were beginning to edit and share your stories to real editors. This was no longer a hobby. This wasn't slutting out your oc's without reprecussion. This was essentially as real as romance got. And somehow, your limited view on sex and overall intimacy was tested with every page you wrote. Again, you were an amazing writer when it came to story. Drama, action, and banter was easy. In fact, that skill lead you to the current story you were writing then.

But, like all good things, the end was here. The turn. The moment when silly banter was becoming something serious. History told you that this where you- your character gets abandoned. You were tempted to go that route, but you'd promised yourself you get out of the writing cycle of a lover scorned, and actually write a happy ending. A healthy budding relationship. But how could you manage that, when you were presently holding on to a honeymoon phase, desperate to keep it alive.

The door to the ensuite bathroom cracked open. You were sitting in the middle of the bed, so you were able to catch your freshly clean Eijirou heading to the drawer for something comfy to wear.

"So, how's it coming,"

You replied with an annoyed sigh.

He cleared his throat and tried again," Has she vowed revenge for her broken heart, yet?"

"Kirishima, I swear to God," You spat, rubbing your temples at his accuracy. It would take just a couple paragraphs to make that happen though... No! Happy ending damn it! Happy. Bloody. Ending.

"Alright alright, I kid I kid," he relented, as he laid on his side next to you," Where's the writer's block happening?"

You leaned back on your hands, scowling at your words as you recounted your story to him, subconsciously building up to the real reason why you were upset with your stuttering progress.

"...and somehow these idiots are supposed to fall in love and I don't know how to fucking write all sappy and syrupy!"

"Why can't you tell your editor that's just not your style?"

"That's the thing," you whined," I'm not being pressured to write this for the publishing house, I'm just trying to prove to myself that I'm not just some one trick pony,"

He arched a small red eyebrow at your confession.

"Annnd?" he drawled.

You sighed through your nose, breaking eye contact in favor of staring at the sleeping screen in front of you.

"I'm envious of those intimate, romantic writers. They make love seem so real and honest. And I... how do I write about something I'm terrified of?"

Eijirou hummed at your words, internally swooning at your vulnerability. You were absolutely adorable right now, and you had now idea. The way you fidget when you become serious, as if you were actively montioring every though your beautiful brain before relaying them to him in whispers. He reached over to your occupied lap, regaining your attention in a snap.

"May I?" he prefaced. And at the sigh of your consent, he acted, quite gracefully removing the laptop and sitting up to face you head on. He large elbows rested on his thighs, allowing his shoulders to sag. His wide chest set the pace for your breathing, as you counted the myriad of seams in his tank top. You knew he was getting an eye ful of you. He was no stranger to peeking when it was convenient. A convenience granted every time you graced him with your presence.

His inched his hands, linking from pinky up until he'd encased both your hands in his. The warmth forced a shiver through your body. Your gaze trailed up his shoulders, his collarbone, his scuplted neck, all the way up to his eyes. You swore you felt at twinge in you heart when you first saw it. Blood red irises as soft a s full moon and as familiar as apples gazed right back at you. They felt so comortable when they were looking at you. A priceless vacation, and all you had to accept was to dare to look back.

You couldn't tell when you ventured closer, all you remember is counting the freckles on his nose until you eyes eventually fluttered closed. He responded in kind, ghosting his lips over yours. Unbearable static teased the tiny space between. Your heart insisted on reminding you it was there in your chest, but you felt as if the real danger was loss of his heat. Your fears quelled when Kirishima squeezed your hands as his accepted and dished out kisses. You two were getting so lost in you missed a notification on your laptop. Unfortunately the noise didn't go un heard.

You woke up to a pretty pair of pink lips and dazed red eyes.

"Why did you stop?" you whispered.

He smirked, tickling your lower lip with his thumb," Just giving you a chance to finish your chapter," he teased.

You leaned back on your hands, opening your gorgoues body to his darkening eyes.

"I'd rather have you, right now,"

That poor laptop didn't see it coming, as he slammed it closed and lunged to press you flat on the mattress. At least it won't break when it inevitabe clatters to the floor tonight.

#kirishima x reader #melanatedkink #mha #kirishima eijirou #drabble #kiri fluff #kirishima fluff

[thechaoscryptid]

🌿 ⇢ give some advice on writer's block and low creativity

(ask me writer questions!)

I love this question! I have many thoughts on this and I'll try to make them coherent lmao. I'm pulling out my writing books for this too because in Gentle Writing Advice (pg. 199), Chuck Wendig pretty well summarizes my thoughts:

And therein lies the secret: Writer's block isn't all that bad. Because, if you really think about it, writer's block is sometimes like a warning light letting you know something is off. It is a tremor in the spider's web, or an ill wind blowing. It's doing us a service, as bad as it might feel. Think of writer's block as the voice of your intestinal flora, the choir of hypersentient bacteria in your gut that provides the insight of instinct. You can ignore them and push on - that's okay, too, as long as you fix in edit - and there's also nothing to say our instincts are uinversally correct. [...] My process in this regard needn't be your process: certainly there's value to mashing the accelerator and driving that machine as fast as you can till the thing either gets you over the finish line or explodes in a fiery ball before tumbling down a plot hole big enough to swallow Central Park. You can always fix it in subsequent drafts. The point stands, though, that writer's block isn't necessarily all bad. There's gold in them thar hills. The question is whether or not you can dig for it.

I think writer's block is unfairly maligned. That's my hot take on it. We should spend less time boohooing the fact we're blocked and more time figuring out why it's happening.

Throughout the above book, Wendig talks a lot about the writing process and how your life outside of writing relates to it, and there's also a great section that basically boils down to "block or breakdown," in which he posits that some of what writers consider "creative block" is actually something more serious (mental or physical illness, weird/wrong environment, etc).

Writer's block is my sign to check in with myself on both a writing and personal level to ask what's gone sideways. Sometimes I can push through it with an extra coffee and a little effort. More often, it's my sign to rest, chill out, cool my jets. Take a break for once.

In the same vein, low creativity!

AWFUL thing to experience. Terrible! The worst! There are fewer things I hate more than the times my creative well has turned to sludge and writing is a fucking slog.

And, like writer's block, realizing my well is running dry is a signal for me to stop, step back, and reassess.

I've actually been struggling really hard with both block and being creatively dry for like, four months now. I've been writing fuck all except 100 words of BG3 fic at a time on work breaks, and it's been rough.

What I have been doing?

Reading. A lot of reading, and analyzing style/structure/characterization to figure out what new elements I might be able to incorporate to a new creative project. I've been reading fantasy, sci-fi, classics, writing books, other nonfiction, books on myths - I'm really chewing through titles 😅

Resting. Not forcing myself to sit down and work on projects. I've actually avoided working on writing projects even on days I feel like I can or want to write.

Other creatively involved work. I've been cooking and baking more, as well as doing a lot of zine admin work. Shit that involves creative projects but doesn't necessarily involve creativity. I looooove creative-adjacent work for low creativity times!

Redoing old work. I'm talking like, rewriting and editing 5+ year old work from the ground up. You already have the raw material, and this is an easy, low-pressure way to get back in the saddle OR just keep those writing muscles limber (but also, you canNOT beat yourself up about "oh I was so bad how did anyone ever like this" that's not allowed).

Not putting pressure on myself to perform. This is a huge cause of creativity issues for me, ngl. But over the past two years or so, I've really been working hard at just allowing myself to create at my own pace. I feel, especially in fandom, people feel obligated to churn out content as quick as they can lest they get ignored and forgotten; learning to break out of that "gotta go fast" mentality has done WONDERS for not draining me as quickly, even if it still feels shitty to see more popular writers dropping a new 15k fic every week.

Slowly but surely, my creative well is refilling. My blocks are becoming fewer and farther between and when they do hit, I'm better prepared to know if it's something I can push through and fix later OR if it's something I really do need to sit back and consider.

So yeah!

I guess TL;DR my advice is basically (though easier said than done, I will admit):

Know thyself and thy limits

Step back, get your head clear, and assess

Do non-writing creative work that sparks joy

Remove yourself from the comparison game

#asks answered #monstersinthecosmos

[sunriseverse]

how do you overcome writer's block?

hi anon!! thank you so much for your ask! i actually have a lot of thoughts on this topic!!! disclaimer that ymmv and this is just what has worked for me—though i hope it helps other people! this also got rather long, so i'm sticking it beneath a readmore.

i should start by saying that i used to get horrendous writer's block—the type that, if i were the crying type, would have left me in tears of frustration. however, after over a decade of writing, and four-plus years of that being writing with intent and dedication, i've figured out some things that have basically eliminated writer's block for me (with the exception of mental health-related hiccoughs that i can't really control).

first of all, i like to identify what kind of writer's block i'm experiencing, because that will help me determine my plan of action. broadly speaking, at least for me, writer's block can be broken down into two distinct—though at times overlapping—categories: idea block and motivation block.

idea block is what happens when, for whatever reason, no matter how hard i try, i can't come up with concepts or plots, and trying to write is a frustrating slog where none of the words i put to paper seem to feel quite right—this is the type of block where there's nothing stopping me from writing, but actually doing so feels like a slog. i also call this "dry" writer's block, because it's more tolerable to me personally—there's a lot of things i can do to help break the block that work fairly reliably for me (i'll get to that in a minute).

motivation block is what happens when i just cannot find it in myself to write, no matter how much i want to. i may have dozens of fascinating concepts, but for some reason, i just can't sit down and write. if i try and force myself, i'll feel resentful and bitter and unhappy—and this can make the entire process of writing incredibly unpleasant, as i will keep getting distracted and feel frustrated with myself. i call this "wet" writer's block—it's much harder for me to deal with, and can be pretty damaging if i try and power through it.

the third type of writer's block isn't really it's own category—it's the overlap between motivation block and idea block. i won't belabour the point, but this one is generally not something i deal with, and when it has happened, it's the most tolerable—if i have neither motivation nor ideas, then i'm generally not too upset about not writing. still, this can be frustrating! it doesn't feel good to find yourself unable to do something that brings you joy or meaning.

now that i've defined the types of writer's block, let's get to how i actually deal with them.

idea block

usually speaking, this is the easiest for me to deal with! generally speaking, i take a step back and try and assess the situation. oftentimes, the reason i can't come up with any ideas is because i'm overwhelmed by the other things in my life. my first line of action in this case is to make a plan to reduce the stress i'm experiencing, and then, after that, go through the various things i've collected and see if any of that sparks anything—for example, i'll go through my poetry tag on my blog, check out some books from the library, and watch an episode or two of a show. all of these are things that i can take inspiration from concepts or emotional beats from, and, even better, they don't really require me to do much! i also have a folder in my notes app specifically dedicated to fanfic ideas—this is where i jot down one- or two-line summaries of a fanfic concept i've thought of when i am, say, in a lecture or at the grocery store, and am not able to write at the moment, but i want to remember and work on the concept later on, and looking through this will often help with idea block. obviously, a folder of fanfic ideas is something that takes a while to build up—it's not a solution if you don't have anything already in there, but the other things i've mentioned, like reading a new book or watching a show, are things that don't require prior planning.

motivation block

this one is, like i said, much harder. however, the cause for it is often pretty immediately clear if i take a step back—usually, it's because i don't have enough happening in my life. this often occurs during breaks or on days that i don't have a ton scheduled, and the free time i have winds up seeming daunting and unappealing rather than enticing. in the past, i've definitely been guilty of trying to brute force my way through this—but, for me, at least, this is a really bad idea! it can lead to burning out, which causes damage in the long run, and is really unpleasant in the short run. instead, what i've learnt to do is to try and put myself in a writing mindset. some tools that help with this, for me, are going back to my initial concept(s) for whatever i've been working on recently, and try and identify if i've accidentally intimidated myself out of working on them, or if the concept itself is something i just don't feel particularly enthused by at the moment. once i've done that, i like to make playlists and moodboards—these can be for characters, or concepts, or anything you want, really! they're a creative exercise that doesn't require quite as much effort as writing, and they can help you with your writing later on. another thing that i do is read through my old works—anything that i've published on ao3 is fair game, and doing this often helps me to become motivated again because i'll find something that i really enjoy and want to replicate, or turns of phrase i want to use again. i also try and see if there's something physical that's the issue—i can't count the number of times where i was feeling unmotivated, and realised that, oh, i hadn't eaten in ten hours, or i was dehydrated, or i hadn't taken my medications for the day. another thing that helps with motivation block, for me, is to do a modified rubber duck method—i'll explain my wip or concept to a friend, and oftentimes they'll have comments or enthusiasm that will help me become motivated again, because i always have an easier time doing something when i feel like there's a third party that i am "accountable" towards.

total block

this one i honestly don't have a lot of advice for. generally speaking, though, in my experience, it's a good signal that i need to take a step back and recuperate—maybe i overdid it with my last project emotionally, or maybe i'm just really busy in real life and don't have the energy necessary to dedicate towards writing. either way, pushing yourself isn't a good idea! like with motivation block, it can wind up burning you out, or, barring that, make you associate writing with feelings of discomfort—which isn't something you want, because you can accidentally condition yourself into an aversion. my best advice for this is to just...............slow down! make yourself a smoothie, or eat some fruit. go for a walk, pet a cat, or work on a physical hobby. consider giving a friend a call, or texting them. in general, do something that reminds you that life doesn't have to be hectic and stressful—eventually, you'll have rested enough that your mind will probably naturally begin making up concepts and generating enthusiasm.

that's about everything i can think of! i hope anon, or anyone else reading this, find it helpful—and if anyone has any more questions, please feel free to ask!

#ask #c.txt

[sehnsuchts-trunken]

hello! This is just a request for grey from winx x mind fairy!reader. Just a whole bunch of fluff. I give you basically full creative liberty🤎

okay so the thing is. I have not yet finished watching season two. meaning I've had less than five minutes of grey content until now. meaning I don't know much about him or his voice. meaning. I won't be able to write him accurately yet. but!!!!! I'm kinda having writers block for riven rn, which is uh. overwhelming because I never have writers block for riven. but that means I'll gladly try something else. something new in this case even. just don't be too upset if it doesn't fit in the end I am doing my best

You had known you weren't the only one in here the second you had stepped into the room. Shit. Sam had said no one would be there, he'd promised you could get in and out of his dorm without having to answer any questions. Maybe, if you were quiet, they wouldn't notice-

But well, that plan you could throw away again instantly. You did not have to feel the change in their emotion to notice them freezing in the door. Them - Grey.

You knew him. Of course you did. Though, knew was an exaggeration, but you had definitely seen him around.

"Oh", he said, letting his towel slowly sink from his hair again. It was wet. And he - he was shirtless.

You felt the heat sting your cheeks, doing your best to ignore the wave of embarrassment you felt coming from him. Embarrassment, god. You were the one here who should be embarrassed, and you were, certainly. But thank goodness that Grey wasn't a mind fairy like you. You were sure he'd notice something other than embarrassment.

Okay, in your defense, he was attractive as fuck. Everyone knew that.

"Sorry!", you stuttered, louder than you'd wanted to, wincing at your own voice. See, this, this was worse than the worst case scenario you'd imagined.

You felt his shock and his confusion even though you tried to keep away from his emotions as usual - you always had, you always did, with the people you liked. You'd admit it, yes, you liked him a little more than you should for the few times you'd talked. You didn't know if he liked you back. You didn't check; you could've, but you were afraid, so you just forced yourself to stay in that uncertain little space everyone else had to manage as well.

"I didn't want to- oh, wow, I'm so sorry, this is so embarrassing, I didn't want to interrupt, I just-"

You really weren't bettering your situation, especially with how your eyes kept betraying you. He had abs, god damn it, you'd need to look him in the eyes but it was so, so hard.

"It's okay", he interrupted with a laugh, slinging his towel over his shoulder and leaning against the doorframe. You swallowed, running a hand through your hair. How did this man go from attractive to please run me over in a matter of seconds? "Sam's out with Musa though. If you were looking for him."

"Oh, I know", you said before you thought about it, cursing your tongue for running so quickly in his presence. Now you just sounded like you were breaking in here to- to what? To do something really weird, definitely. Well, you were kind of breaking in, to be honest. It wasn't really allowed to just sneak into other students' dorms. But could it really be called breaking in with permission?

"No, I mean, Sam gave me his key, I'm not snooping around or something! I'm here completely legally. I think. Don't check the rules, I may not actually be in here legally." You paused for a second, your face reddening even more when you felt the flicker of amusement coming from him. "That doesn't make it better, does it?"

Curse your nerves for betraying you like this!

"Calm down", he laughed. "I didn't think you were snooping around."

You smiled at him, reassured at least a little. Silence fell. He was still looking at you, still not upset, still not moving. Still shirtless.

Aaaaaand you were staring again. Oh, god, okay.

"I should-", you started quickly, pointing at Sam's door, "I should just. Okay. Yeah. See you around-"

Before he could respond, you'd already turned and basically sprinted away, barging into Sam's room with shaking hands and pulling the door shut as fast as possible. Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit.

So that could've gone better.

Or worse.

Even though you didn't know how much worse it really could've got.

Worse, maybe, if you didn't know now how he looked shirtless. Worse, maybe, if you'd died. Or worse, maybe, if you hadn't felt the pang of affection as you had sped out of the room that you'd always promised yourself you wouldn't try to feel.

#grey #grey x reader #grey fate #grey ftws #grey winx #ftws #fate winx saga #fate series #x reader #winx

[carlos-in-glasses]

4, 7, 15 for the fic writers ask! 🩷

Ooh thank you! ❤️❤️❤️

4. How do you channel characters' voices and personalities?

I watch clips of the show multiple times to get a feel for expression, personality quirks and tone of voice. This scene between TK and Carlos is super useful for it, because they're so tactile with each other and it's basically them having a chat in a fairly normal way, but there's obviously still certain inflections and emotions ("Do you have any idea how proud of you I am?" and the way Carlos says "Cooper?" and the part about the donuts.) When I write dialogue I try to think of them delivering it the way they deliver certain lines in the show so that it hits the same rhythms. I'm sure it's in no way obvious that I do it, but it helps. Owen/Rob Lowe has a very specific way of delivering lines and it's really fun to write dialogue for him because of it.

7. How do you handle writer's block or moments of creative stagnation?

I read - I often read before starting to write a new chapter whether I have writers block or not, even if it's just a few paragraphs from a book I like. I'm also a huge poetry fan and love listening to poets read their work. Hearing voices read beautiful language often sparks something. Here's Rodney Jones reading my favourite poem, Rain on Tin, which helped get me going the other day. I also try to keep in mind that creative stagnation will happen but it also will pass - writing will always be there for us even if we can't access it for a while. And we need to be gentle with ourselves. Forcing the lock breaks the key.

15. Do you plan your fics or prefer to let the story unfold as you write?

A bit of both! Mostly I loosely plan them and then they unfold. The opening to Man to Man where Carlos comes out to his parents is an example of a piece of totally unplanned writing (which I did on Christmas Eve, because I was panicking about writer's block!) and I just followed it through. I'll know what needs to happen in a scene, but it's like a hollow structure to be filled in. I like it when I'm writing and suddenly all these details come out. Example: This morning I knew I needed to write a flashback scene where TK uses hard drugs, but I had no idea what that would look like until I started typing...ten hours later and now there's a backstory to the backstory!

#Ask #Fan fic questions

[the-pen-pot]

Good luck on your writing today! What do you do when you 'have to' write for a story (because patrons voted) but you have no inspsiration or would rather write on another work?

An excellent question!

The short answer is you just... persevere. However, that's a really simple, pat response for what is often (for me) a basically complex negotiation with the writer part of myself that lives in the toddler world of "I want".

Here's a bit more detail for dealing with "I don't want to write it but I have to"

1. Environment: I remove distractions as best I can. Phone - hidden, any sort of fidget toy - removed. I use Cold Turkey (https://getcoldturkey.com/) to block out everything except what I need when writing. I don't give myself a choice. This is the world of Get It Done. 8/10 very effective but it can lead to self resentment plus occasional screams of torture as my brain thinks "I'll just check twitter quick" and it's blocked.

2. Bribery: "If you write 2000 words of this project, you can write 500 words of your other fave project as a treat." Or "You can have some chocolate" etc etc. This sometimes works, but the problem is I'm soft with myself, so I often actually just get chocolate or whatever other bribery material anyway. 2/10 not very effective but it's important to treat yo'self.

3. Gameification: I'm an old-end millenial and respond very well to "let's make it a game!" and 4thewords.com does this brilliantly. I've been using it for nearly three years now and my output has gone through the roof. Basically, you use your wordcounts to defeat monsters within time limits ot beat quests. I think they have a free trial right now for NaNo as well. If you wanna try it out I have a referral code as well which is BNRLZ21330 10/10 can't actually function without this anymore.

4. Scheduling: I thrive on routine, and scheduling helps, because it lets me mentally prepare. So if I know I've got a day coming up where I have to work on a project where I'm blocking, or my inspiration has flagged a bit, I devote more mental energy to preparing for it. 7/10 - does sometimes come with inherent dread in which case move to #5

5. Know that sometimes, it's okay to say no: There are days when forcing myself to write the thing is going to backfire in a huge way. It's going to lead to me banging my head on a desk and tearing my hair out and deciding I am a sham and a fraud and an absolute hack and just no.

On those days, where I'm more likely to sit at my computer and burst into tears, I call it quits. It's okay to do that, sometimes. I don't mean like, throw in the writing towel forever. I mean, step away from the word processor, take a deep breath, and if you can choose a different aspect of creativity, like painting, or textile work, or wandering around your house roleplaying stories (Watch out, witnesses find this distressing) Chances are, your brain needs the break. 11/10 more important than anything else is knowing to be kind to yourself. Writing, even writing what you love, isn't always fun. Sometimes it's just work, and sometimes, you just need to take that sick-day.

#Q&A #On Writing #Writing

[daryl-dixon-daydreams]

Hey!! How are you? I hope well :)

So, I really admire your work and you are a huge inspiration to me, I love your writing and I admire how often you post on your blog. You are very professional and very dedicated to the blog, so I wanted to ask for your help.

I'm currently having trouble writing, I'm with creative block and I don't have much energy to write, even though I love creating stories. So I wanted to know if you've been through this and what you did to get back to writing, or if you have some kind of writing routine, I don't know, I just want some tips or help to deal with it ^^"

I'm sorry if this was a bother, I hope you have a great day, you're amazing, kisses!<3

OH HI HELLO, LOVE! <3 Aren't you the sweetest 🥺 Ugh, writer's block is THE WORST. And we ALL get it. There can be a lot of reasons it happens, but I know for me it's usually one of two things: 1.) STRESS in life <- this is a creativity killer... and a lot of the time there isn't much we can do to overcome it except for self-care. Drink water, sleep as much as your body needs and time allows, go for a walk, do something else you enjoy, take care of yourself! All stress ebbs and flows, so it's likely that once you are less stressed out, that you will find your ideas and creativity and writing coming back! 2.) Stuck on a particular writing piece and can't solve something or don't know how to move forward... When this happens to me, I HAVE to take a break from it and focus on something else, and most of the time, my subconscious seems to get an idea as soon as I'm not trying to force. Sometimes I move to a different piece of writing, and sometimes I have to step back from writing for a bit altogether! Most of the time it works itself out!

Notice that the solution to both of these is basically the same: TAKE A BREAK. Writing is hard. We all get burnt out or stuck all the time, even if it doesn't seem like it to outsiders. Don't beat your head against the wall trying to force it, just step back and come back when you're refreshed!

#anon asks #ask mandy

[koolkat9]

11, 15 and 25!

A Writer’s Ask Game

11. Books and/or authors who influenced you the most

Rainbow Rowell definitely. My life has basically become her story Fangirl (a fanfiction writer going to school to pursue writing). But her Carry On series really made me believe that I could possibly be an author even though I feel my style is more fitting for fanfiction (focus on relationships over a solid plot). Like obviously I need to polish and expand my skills, but like...Her Carry on Series reads almost like fanfiction (because it is probably very much based off of Drarry fanfiction but shhhh) especially the third book which focuses so much on the main couple's relationship, their healing, etc. while the main plot often fell to the background. I mean a lot of people didn't like that, but for me, who loves to read stuff focused on relationships and is content with that being the main attraction, I really enjoyed it. It showed me a potential way to write a story, one I don't commonly see, but like.

Other authors who have probably influenced me though I can't really pinpoint how: Chris Colfer (and his series The Land of Stories) and Beck Albertalli (Her Love, Simone universe).

15. How do you deal with writer’s block?

Hehe...Basically I'm forced to take a break.

But yeah...I'll read some fics, both my own and others. Scroll through tumblr. Make headcanons, discuss headcanons/aus in discord servers. If i only have writer's block for a particular fic, I'll move onto another one.

I don't really do much. Kind of just sit, wait, watch youtube/netflix while i wait for the ideas to start coming again.

25. Favourite part of writing

When it's done. It's just nice to see it all come together. Especially if I feel a part was awkward only to read back and go "Wait that shit is good."

#writer ask game #writer asks #ask game

[owl-with-a-pen]

Hi! I just read the fanfic about Brainy and Nia going to the future and meeting their daughter, I know you posted it a long time ago, I'm just new to tumblr, so if you can I want you to do a fic about the future, where Brainy's daughter and Nia is 5 years old. And it would be cool to see the antics that her daughter does.XD

- Sorry this took so long to fulfil, but yes! I’m sure she’d get into all sorts and this story probably only scrapes the surface! Thank you for the prompt x

Nia had always preferred the night over the day; maybe it was just her Naltorian side talking, but she’d always felt there was a certain peacefulness about the night-time that just couldn’t be replicated in daylight.

That definitely hadn’t changed since Nova had come into the picture.

The daytime had always been busy for a number of reasons. Balancing work and family life, balancing family and hero life - balancing work, family and hero life. But, now that Nova had reached an age where she was starting to explore her natural curiosities, Nia and Brainy hadn’t had the luxury of focusing on anything else. At five years old, they couldn’t let their daughter out of their sight for one second of the day.

The second the sun went down, though?

Nova’s sleeping pattern had always been pretty steady, and once she was out - she was out. She’d definitely gotten that from Nia’s side of the family. After all, Brainy didn’t really need all that much sleep, although he had admitted to her on more than one occasion that he enjoyed resting at her side, retreating to his inner network at hours Nia would otherwise be sleeping, working on small tasks and calculations reminiscent of an actual dream-state. In that way, he could still be close with her during the night, and Nia valued that time together immensely.

Of course, the fact Brainy didn’t actually need those extra hours had made him the best dad ever when it came to late-night wake-up calls courtesy of one baby Nova.

She still wasn’t old enough for them to know for certain the extent of her abilities; Brainy had predicted they wouldn’t fully develop fully until her teen years. Honestly, though? Nia didn’t care what powers Nova had; she was perfect no matter what.

Nia watched from the doorway that evening as Nova cuddled against Brainy on the bed. Her blonde hair was getting so long now, falling in relaxed waves down to her elbows, and the light green tone of her skin was almost washed out entirely by the soft purple of her nightlight on the bedside table. She was curled into Brainy’s chest, chewing idly on her thumbnail, her dark eyes scanning along inquisitively to the passages he was reading aloud to her. Nia smiled privately to herself; Brainy really got into character when reading Nova to sleep, making a big show with grand gesticulations and silly voices, even when the book of choice for tonight was an account on quantum mechanics from Carlo Rovelli’s collection.

Nova had a unique taste in literature, that was for sure and, while she was definitely getting a taste for mathematics and physics, she also still enjoyed simpler story telling. Nia and Brainy had decided to switch up who read to her each night. Sometimes, they’d choose something on Brainy’s bookshelf, and other times they would go for stories catered for a younger – human - mind, like The Far Away Tree, or even folk stories like Little Red Riding Hood or Goldilocks.

Nova really liked Goldilocks; Nia must have read it to her at least twelve times this month alone.

As Nova let out a big yawn, relaxing further into her dad’s side, Nia caught Brainy’s eye, jerking her chin towards the door.

He nodded his understanding, continuing his narration as Nia ducked out of the room, heading towards the living room where Alex was waiting for her, already working open a bottle of red.

“How is she?” Alex asked, sizing up her wine glass as she began to fill it up generously.  

“She should be asleep soon,” Nia said. “But, uh, Brainy sometimes runs Q and A sessions with her if she stays awake through a whole chapter.”

Alex snorted. “Only for Nova would I find that concept adorable.”

Nia collapsed onto the sofa, snatching her wine glass immediately. She reached out expectantly to Alex, grinning when she rolled her eyes, ditching her own wine glass to fill up Nia’s.

“Why, thank you,” Nia said, tucking her legs up beneath her.

Alex tipped her own glass with a wry smile. “It’s my pleasure, really.”

Nia took a long sip, savouring the rich taste. They couldn’t exactly go off the walls with a toddler sleeping next door, but right now, anything that could offer her a brief period of relaxation, Nia was more than eager to accept. She swirled her glass thoughtfully. “You know,” she murmured, “Brainy’ll probably need something a little stronger to take the edge off.”

“Oh, way ahead of you,” Alex said, shifting to the edge of her respective sofa to grab a bottle she had stowed away inside her backpack. She placed it on the coffee table with a flourish, giving Nia the opportunity to try and decipher the alien script scrawled across the label. “Kara recommended this,” Alex said, raising a finger. “Please do not ask me what it’s called, because I will not be able to pronounce it.”

Nia snorted, taking another sip of her own regular alcohol. “I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.”

“He better, this stuff wasn’t cheap.” Alex smirked, leaning back into the sofa. “How have you guys been, anyway? I feel like this is the first time we’ve seen each other in months.”

Nia opened her mouth, only to frown. Had it really been that long? All the days had been blurring together recently, and yet each one seemed to be separated by something inexplicably unique in its own right – courtesy of one overly curious toddler.

Nia wasn’t even sure she could remember the last time she’d visited the Tower, and going out for patrol or even something as simple as date night was so far off the table right now, it might as well have been in another galaxy. There wasn’t a sitter in the city willing to take on a genius, alien five-year-old with a penchant for mischief.

To Alex, Nia only shrugged. “Nova’s just been needing a lot of our attention lately. Well, all of it, actually. Or else she’ll burn the apartment down.”

Alex’s eyes widened. “Wait, like seriously burn the apartment down?” When Nia pursed her lips, Alex’s mouth fell open. “Is that normal?”

Nia rolled her eyes, leaning back into the cushions. “According to Brainy, yeah. Coluans express themselves through their intellect, and Nova’s been flexing that muscle a lot lately. Brainy thinks it’s a good sign, that she’ll probably rise to the twelfth-level, but we don’t exactly have much for a frame of reference, y’know?”

“Well, you have Brainy,” Alex considered. “How was he raised?”

Nia shifted uncomfortably, averting her gaze. She took a long sip of her wine to fill the silence. “Uh,” she said softly. “That’s sort of a… sore topic, actually.” She bit her lip, running her thumb along her glass’s neck. “He had robot caregivers for the most part.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

By the subdued look on Alex’s face, Nia knew she didn’t want to butt in with any more questions on the subject of Brainy’s upbringing. Brainy had certainly shared a portion of his childhood with his friends, at least enough for them to know that his parents were not a topic up for discussion if he could help it.

Even with Brainy occupied with Nova in the other room, Alex didn’t appear comfortable to continue the direction of their conversation.

Nia chuckled softly, trying to clear the air. “Anyway,” she said quickly, steering them back on topic, “there isn’t an earth-equivalent to a robot nanny here; well… except for…” She stopped herself suddenly, resisting the urge to grin.  

Alex narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Except for what?”

Nia shook her head, pressing a finger to her lips to keep from laughing outright. The wine was definitely starting to do its job - not thirty minutes ago, thinking about this would have only stressed her out. She reached for the wine bottle, eager to keep this high going for as long as humanly possible, topping up her glass. As soon as it was full, Nia took another long swig, breathing deeply as the wine warmed her chest. “Kelex,” she said on her next exhale, unable to keep the smile from her voice.

Alex laughed incredulously. “Wait, what? Kel- Kelex? From the Fortress?” She shuffled to the edge of her seat, almost conspiratorially. “Doesn’t Brainy hate that thing?”

Nia shrugged half-heartedly.

Alex’s eyes widened. “Why does he hate that thing?”

That question seemed to ground her, at least. Nia winced. She was pretty sure they were skirting back along unsavoury territory. “He was never totally clear with me,” she admitted, staring down into her glass, “but I’m pretty sure Kelex reminds him of his own caregivers. They – uh – didn’t exactly get along.” She rolled her eyes. “Anyway, it doesn’t even matter. Brainy was happy to entertain the idea, but the second Kara brought Kelex over, Nova was obsessed with the thing. She rewired it in like… twenty minutes.”

Alex stared. “She’s five, right?”

“She’s also half Coluan,” Nia reminded her, toasting her glass in Alex’s direction. “Dismantling machinery is better than any toy I could buy her.” She closed her eyes at that, pulling a face. “I left her in the bathroom for ten minutes today to shower and by the time I got out, she’d turned my hairdryer into a blowtorch.”

Alex winced into her wine glass. “Oof.”

“She’s just curious,” Nia said quickly, rubbing idly at her forehead. Was she really getting a wine headache already? God, she was really out of practice. “She’s exploring her intellect,” Nia said eventually. “It’s healthy for her and I wanna encourage that, I do—” She sighed heavily. “It’s just…”

“Exhausting?”

Nia smiled bleakly. “That obvious, huh?”

“Then, take a break,” Alex insisted.

Nia stared at her levelly. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Hey,” Alex said with a smirk, pushing the wine bottle over to Nia’s side of the table. “Start with this. Finish the whole thing. Trust me, I have more.”

When Nia laughed, Alex glanced up at her, eyes flashing with a smile. “And, if you guys need a real break, you know that Kelly and I would be happy to help out.”

“You sure about that?” Nia asked warily. “Remember what I just said about the blowtorch?”

“You think a bit of fire’s going to scare me off?” Alex challenged. She leant back, gesturing to herself with relaxed emphasis. “Don’t forget, I shared a bathroom with an incredibly overpowered alien for years. Hell, I used to work for a super-secret government organisation that kept alien prisoners.” She placed her glass back onto the coffee table, folding her arms with a confident nod. “I’m pretty sure Kelly and I can handle a five-year-old super genius.” She winked. “And, if we can’t, we can always rely on Auntie Kara.”

Nia nearly snorted into her glass. She remembered a few choice stories from Auntie Kara revolving her valiant attempt at babysitting for Cat Grant’s son when she’d still been a PA. Something about him ending up on a train that had had a bomb strapped to it? Considering Nova already knew her Auntie Kara was Supergirl, the novelty of being saved from a near death experience would probably still hinge on traumatic, rather than invigorating.

Although, Nia had to admit, the idea of a break – however small – sounded pretty great right about now. She loved Nova with all of her heart, but having even just a few hours with Brainy to herself where she was actually conscious enough to enjoy them would have been amazing.

Still, she couldn’t help but picture Alex and Kelly struggling to figure out how to appease Nova’s more unique interests.

She smirked to herself, pressing her lips against the rim of her glass. “It’s your funeral,” she murmured.

Alex’s cheeks were already a little rosy from the wine and Nia knew she probably wasn’t faring much better. Still, before Alex could promise away any more of her free time, Nova’s door opened and, a moment later, out crept one very dishevelled looking Coluan.

Nia beamed from ear-to-ear. She stood, pausing when the world pitched a little around her. Wine drunk. There was no denying it, she was definitely wine drunk.

After carefully placing her glass on the coffee table, Nia made her way over to the bedroom door. She ran her hand down Brainy’s arm, squeezing gently. “Is she asleep?” she whispered.

Brainy’s expression was warm. He smiled softly, bowing his head. “I believe her excitement today tired her out more than she anticipated.”

Nia chuckled. That was the least surprising statement she’d heard all day. She turned towards the door, peeking inside. Nova’s nightlight was still on, enough to illuminate the profile of her round face snuggled against her pillow where she’d half cocooned herself in blankets only seconds after Brainy had no doubt tucked her in.

Her little mouth hung open slightly, silent breaths escaping her lips. Nia could spy the ears of her own childhood teddy bear poking out from beneath the blankets, hugged tightly to Nova’s chest.

Nia squeezed Brainy’s arm once more before sneaking into the room, summoning a swell of dream energy in her fist to keep from tripping over any mislaid toys or, more likely now she thought about it, machine parts.

Nia smiled; Brainy had promised to fix Kelex for Kara tomorrow. Despite his grievances towards the robot, he still felt guilty over the extent to which Nova had indulged her curiosities. They’d already sat her down to explain to her why what she had done wasn’t appropriate behaviour, and Nova had seemed to understand. Enough that she’d pouted when they’d told her she wouldn’t be able to go with Brainy to the Fortress to help fix Kelex in the morning. The last thing Nia wanted was for Nova to get her hands on the kinds of weapons Kara and Clark had hidden there. Nia had nearly blasted a hole through the wall on accident in controlled conditions when Brainy had been training her, she could only imagine what kind of destruction Nova could cause if she was set loose in there.

It was strange to think all of that had only been a few hours ago. Now, Nova slept peacefully, odd ends of blonde hair strewn across her face. 

Nia reached out, tucking those strands behind Nova’s ears. She perched herself on the edge of the bed, pressing a kiss against her daughter’s forehead. Nova scrunched her nose slightly before relaxing again, and Nia had to bite her lip hard to keep from making any sound.

She was perfect. Even with the chaos today had brought, Nia wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

“Sleep tight, Firestarter,” she murmured fondly.

When Nia returned to the doorway, she found Brainy waiting for her. She grinned, linking her hand with his. “Come with me,” she said, tugging him along towards the living room. “We have alien wine.” She raised her voice enough for Alex to hear. “And guess who just offered to babysit?” 

#supergirl #supergirl fanfiction #brainia #nia nal #brainiac 5 #alex danvers #oc: nova #my prompts #anon #i'm basically breaking through my writer's block with force of will #i really liked the idea of alex just being like i know exactly what brainy and nia need: alcohol #honestly what a legend

[icarusthefoolish]

Okay so i had a car crash today and it was the first time it ever happened and it was really scary for me because i‘m still learning how to drive. Nothing bad happened no one had injuries. I‘m only having bad back pain and i thought of this scenario where dean would comfort me and taking care of me after having a car crash. No major injuries, it doesn’t have to be dramatic. I just want some fluff🥺

Maybe you could turn it into a short imagine?

-💜

Oh lord, i hope your doing alright!! And i certainly can. I can't promise that it'll be too great since i haven't experienced a car crash myself but I'll try!

And I'm so so sorry that it took so long to write this, i was stuck in a really awful writers block and i couldn't get any ideas. I hope you still like it!

Be careful next time

-----------

You and Dean had always been close, you had lived with Bobby for a long time because your parents had died while Hunting so you were left in Bobby's care and with how often the Winchester brothers were at Bobby's place it was inevitable that you would start talking with them and become friends.

Your friendship had led to you becoming a part of their team, you went to hunts with them regularly and well one thing led to another and you got in a relationship with Dean. Both of you knew how dangerous a relationship between Hunter's could be but you both accepted that there would be difficulty's, it had been a long time since you started hunting with Dean and Sam and you still didn't know how to drive so Dean was trying to change that.

You had somehow gotten through the Drivers test with Flying colours and you were ready to actually start driving, while Dean loved and trusted you he didn't trust you with Baby, that Impala was his everything and he would basically freak out if there was even a single scratch in the paint.

So you got your own car, to be fair it was a very small one with very scratched of paint and a few dents but you still loved the car so even when you could have gotten a new one you still kept your old -and really banged up- car, she had been through a lot of stuff with you. From vampires to the Hookman attacking it to get to you.

What you definitely didn't expect was your Car to fail you but that was exactly what had happened, you were on the way to a hunt alone this time because Dean, Sam and Cas had a case of their own. During the ride you noticed some weird sounds from your car whenever you Slowed down, and one thing led to the other, you had to hit the breaks full force because a Deer had run across the Road but your breaks didn't work, while you didn't hit the Deer your car continued to Drive and when you noticed that you couldn't turn the wheel either it was too late and you had crashed full force into a Tree.

You let out a groan looking around, it seemed like you had passed out after the crash because the sun was now starting to disappear, you tried reaching for your phone and when you managed to grab it you hissed. You had definitely broken something and since you couldn't get to a Hospital without Help you called Dean, before you could though he called you and when you accepted and held the Phone to your ear you could hear Dean let out a sigh of relief, "where the hell are you?! You were supposed to be back hours ago! Do you have any idea how worried I was?" You smiled slightly before groaning again, "yea...u-uhh... slight problem, i may have had a car accident because my breaks weren't working..." Your head was pounding like hell and you only hoped that you could stay conscious long enough.

Dean let out a gasp, "shit what! Where are you? We'll come get you as fast as we can!" You couldn't help but smile at Dean being worried, people always liked to think Dean was nothing more then a Grumpy Guy who had 100 notches in his Bedpost and while the notches were true and he could definitely be grumpy at times, on the inside he was basically a big Teddy bear.

You told Dean where you were, well as best as you could with your speech being slurred due to being close to passing out again, after Dean ended the call you tried your hardest to not pass out but your body had a different idea and it didn't take long before you passed out, the next time you woke up you noticed you probably were in a hospital due to the smell. You tried opening your eyes groaning because everything was bright and stark white. You blinked confused before your eyes landed on Dean who's head was laying on his hands. From the looks of it he was sleeping, you were wondering where Sam was but your question was answered soon after since he came into the Room carrying two cups of probably awful Hospital coffee.

You smiled at him slightly, "hey sammy..." Your voice was rough due to not having used it for who knows how long, his eyes snapped to you and he almost dropped the coffee but placed it down before he could, "your awake! Thank god" he smiled before shaking Dean knowing his brother would want to know if you were awake. Dean groaned trying to push Sam's hand away, "Dean you have to wake up Y/N's awake." That seemed to have done the trick since his head snapped up and he looked at you slightly dazed, before he wrapped his arms around you, "shit your alright! Thank god." You giggled slightly rubbing his back, "mhm I'm alright... sorry to give you such a scare i didn't mean to, but my car's break wouldn't work." He shook his head kissing your cheek.

"I'm Just happy your ok, please be careful next time, i told you time and time again to get a new car but you wouldn't listen to me." You chuckled sheepishly looking to the side, "yea I'm sorry I'm gonna need a new car anyway so it doesn't really matter now does it?" He hummed nodding before pulling you close. Sam chuckled, "i mean it's adorable to see you two like this but i think we should get going we can't have people figuring out who we are." Both you and Dean nodded, you slipped out of the Bed standing up and going into the Bathroom to change since Sam and Dean had brought a change of clothes for you. You stepped out of the Bathroom, "alright boys let's get going?" Sam and Dean nodded before you made your way out and left the hospital after clearing that you were alright.

You got into the Impala sighing slightly before leaning your head against the Window. You definitely would be more careful now, and you would get a new car as soon as you could.

#aiko talks #aikos shit posts #💜 anon #dean winchester #Dean Winchester x reader #Supernatural #Dean x reader

[h3l10tr0p3]

Headcanon: Deku, the Serial Shipper

Contains- Mentions of sexual activities, established relationship - Bakudeku; Crack pairings- TodoIna, JiroMomo, UraTsuyu, UraTenya, DenkiSero, Kirimina, platonic Kiribaku etc.

(Beware- Long post)

Jesus Christ, I just had this HC and now I gotta spill, otherwise I won't be able to sleep tonight. Here's another annoying Long Post for y'all)

Deku, as a Pro Hero and Katsuki's Duo Partner, has a pretty hectic life since the media are crazy bloodhounds, the villains are a pain in the ass, interacting with fans becomes exhausting at times, and the critics are demons wailing for his blood.

Yeah, very hectic. And on top of that, there's very little time to relax. Most of the days he sneaks some solace in the gym, if he can buy more time he likes to read and immerse himself in his notebooks and research. Fighting Katsuki to blow some steam is a last resort to shed off weeks of frustration and only reserved for off-days or desperate times - because something like that inevitably devolves into gratuitous rough sex or worse, day-long fuck-a-thon. Not that Deku doesn't enjoy it, he simply doesn't have the time to indulge and he knows Kacchan doesn't either, so they try to keep their hands off each other unless the occassion begs for much-needed violent release.

But sometimes, you just want instant relief. Sometimes Deku just wants to kick back and relax like a normal person, go on the internet, without everyone hounding him for a piece of his mind.

So he does.

Under Anonymity.

Et viola @allmight9000 comes alive on several media platforms including Tumblr and Twitter. At first, Deku masquerades around as a hardcore All Might fan fighting anyone who dares to diss the retired Symbol of Peace . But since his retirement, his popularity has gone cold, not many heated debates take place around him anymore and as sad as this makes Deku, he decides to discover new venues.

Now, Deku knows there's this dark void of fanfiction lurking on the net and there's no escape from it should he ever set foot into it. He is also aware of the dark things that beckon him from the sewers like Pennywise the Dancing Clown (eg. All Might/Endeavour, Hawks/Endeavour, All Might Bowl, All Might/ Hero Harem, All Might/Midnight, All Might/Aizawa/Present Mic and so on), things he should rightfully keep a safe distance from. But this is fucking Deku we are talking about- ofcourse he dares to dip his foot into the murk of fanfiction.

For science, he thinks, and takes the plunge.

It all goes downhill from there.

One day, Katsuki comes back from his shift to find Deku face-planted into the sofa, he hasn't eaten lunch, hasn't bathed and is claiming trauma, repeatedly insisting that he has sinned and he is going to hell for it, then he shakily holds up a 367k word fic of Villain Might/Endeavour. Katsuki has to slap him back to his senses. Later that night, Deku calls up Toshinori and asks him for forgiveness, when Toshinori asks him worriedly, 'For what?', Deku assures him he DOES NOT wanna know.

After obsessively going through various tropes and completing every Enemies to Lovers / Mutual Pining / Unrequited Love fic there is (and there is a lot, Deku hates himself every day for it), waiting torturous weeks for dead authors to rise from the ashes for a teeny tiny update, Deku finally gives up his small lake of unfulfilling All Might ships (because frankly it's hard to find a fic that suits his tastes and convincingly fleshes out a love story around a man who has pointedly avoided romance for the better part of his LIFE or a find a fic which is COMPLETE) and sets out into the sea of Ships.

Bad Idea.

Very VERY Bad Idea.

(We know it, he knows it. Katsuki is the only one who is blessedly oblivious because he chooses not to wade into Deku's mental shit and compromise his own sanity.)

Strangely, Deku has come to take an odd satisfaction of returning to fan mentality of shipping two people without restraints (rarely more than two)-it's simple, senseless, easy. It gives his head a break from all the overanalyzing it does and gives him a small dose of endorphins when he cant work out, eat out or fuck out the frustration. He was adverse to it first, since these are strangers trying to ship two random people (people he is friends with), and it was unsettling to find so many people shipping them when they've BARELY had any interaction in canon real life! What's the premise of shipping them at all? He just didn't find any allure to it back then. So he kept his reads under fluff and under mature ratings because he feels uncomfortable reading smut about his friends.

But Deku had a 'Oh my God they were ROOMMATES' moment when Jirou and Momo announce that they are dating to the U.A. Alumni, that too after reading a really fluffy Creati/Earphone Jack fic which accurately referenced their public sightings together and spun it into plot-points quite masterfully. ( the author did a real good job on it) And the most horrifying thing about the fic, Deku finds, is the fact that NO ONE, not even the AUTHOR knows how correct they were in their estimates! No one except Deku.

That realization shakes the foundations of Deku's beliefs and morality as he wonders how many fics out there , sfw or smut, requited or unrequited love, enemies to lovers or lovers to strangers, fluff or smut have come so so close to the truth, been so damn close - like an alternate course of their love-story? and WHY IS NO ONE GIVING IT MORE KUDOS?

This is how Deku ends up being the most irredeemable Shipper of the universe- with a mission in hand:

To curate proof of all valid ships and to supply aforesaid proof of it to the world (as subtly as he can of course, so as to not compromise his own identity or the privacy of the Shipped.)

He begins to scour through the net for paparazzi photos, indulges in gossip, pries out information of who is dating whom from his Hero contacts, authenticates it, creates folders and subfolders of photographic 'proof' (they are just teasers really) and whenever anyone writes a fic that comes anywhere close to the real thing he makes sure to tag them in his tumblr/twitter post with photos which basically pour gasoline over their fiery passion to continue dreaming and writing fics around those Ships. Like:

You wrote a fic of Fluffy Iron Fist x Real Steel? Here you go- an obscure pic of them leaving her apartment together

Uravity x Ingenium and Uravity x Froppy? A love triangle that could possibly end in heartbreak?!! Damn, sistah, who knows? (She's confused too, imho) So here you go- Uravity getting tipsy with Froppy and Uravity snuggling to Ingenium under the rain.

One-shot of Chargebolt x Cellophane getting frisky in an alley? Honey, I gotchu. Here's a pic of them arriving at a villain scene together with dishevelled clothes.

All Might x Endeavour Slow Burn? My dear friend- here's a picture of the Symbol of peace roasting marshmallows with Shouto on flaming Endeavour merch. Please don't make me block you.

All Might x Midnight? Here's a pic of my mom, me and my Dad AllMight. Midnight, Who binch?

Celsius (Shouto) x Gale Force Stripper AU? Oh, hey, look I'm totally that one lucky guy who was in the right place at the right time, okay? I dont know these guys personally, OKAY? Not. At. All. But I have some Opinions™ about your fic? and pics to support it. Just wanna show you that maybe...i mean...MAAYYYYYYBEEEE...the stripper is Galeforce, not Celsius? Yeah? Don't worry though, You're doing good. Love the slow build, keep up the good work!

Deku becomes a sensational fic-writer-enabler and often gives inspiration to writers who are looking to write for a new fandom. Deku's got their backs.

He sinks so deep into this Shipping business that one day Katsuki catches wind of it. It was becoming painful to keep ignoring Deku's descent into madness. Katsuki was okay with it as long as the nerd did his job well and fucked him even better (which Katsuki will never admit to enjoying, even at gun point. Pull the trigger, you coward). So, yeah, Katsuki could have accepted all of Deku's weird stalkerish behaviours (even if they weren't fixated on him all the time anymore and the 'Kacchan, sugoi!' comments had plummeted drastically....who needs the shitnerd to validate his worth, right?! Right...it didn't make him pissed AT ALL. because admitting that would mean he enjoyed it, WHICH HE DID NOT, MIND YOU)

What Katsuki couldn't accept was Deku accidentally using his official Hero twitter handle to post a very platonic (but in the eyes of rabid fans- borderline homoerotic) pictures of him and Eijirou and posted it as #Ground_Riot. The fucking flood of Zeku-haters and pro-GroundRioters had the comments section on FIRE. The post goes VIRAL.

Deku, fucking DEKU, the man who is secretly ENGAGED to him, is promoting GroundRiot like NO ONE's business and HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT HE DID WRONG.

Katsuki finds Deku happily puttering around their shared apartment completely oblivious to the PR hell that has been licking at his heels. He immediately attacks Deku's account and is completely gobsmacked. Lo and fucking behold- every fifth picture in his blog is fucking GROUND RIOT.

Not just that, apparently, THIS MAN, his fucking FIANCE, is not only a renowned peacemaker in inane Ship wars, but is hailed as a Soothsayer of Ships for always correctly prophecizing "Ships that will Sail into the fucking Sunset', he is basically some minor god in the Hero fandom who is extorting excitement out of fic writers and fans alike so that 'the crime of incomplete fics' can be eradicated once and for all. And Deku's fucking commited to it.

(perhaps more commited to Ground Riot than his own betrothal because there isn't A SINGLE POST of ZEKU on his blog)

There's even a post where he answers an ask from anonymous. The question: "Are you also anti-Zeku? I have never seen you post anything related to that ship. Is it because you think it won't Sail?" And Deku answers shortly how he isn't explicitly Anti-Zeku, but doesn't like the idea of reading fanfics of that ship. He clearly witholds his opinion if the ship will sail or not. Katsuki also finds the chat which started all this shit.

Chat-

Hey! @allmight9000. I wanted to write a GroundRiot fic? Could you give me some inspiration?

Aww, sure! It's my favourite Ship tbh. I love GroundRiot. I have a whole gigabyte of inspirations in my laptop. I'll send you some when I get back home, okay?

Yup!!! I am actually a hardcore Zeku fan. But recently my friends got me into Ground Riot and I am addicted!! But Zeku will always have a special place in my heart <3

I see. :)

Do you wanna try it out? I know you mentioned you don't like it. But I know some REALLY good fics.

No thank you ^_^ I make it a point to not read those fics. I just can't visualize it working, you know?

Oh...np. Each to their own. But I really hope one day you try reading some if you can?

I don't think so ...😅...uh...but..Any preferences for your inspiration though? or genre youre interested in?

Fluffff!!

Haha, okay! Look out for the new post on my twitter!

YASSS!! Love ya!

You too!

Katsuki sees red, he's about to flip his shit when he decides to give Deku one LAST fucking chance to explain WHY THE FUCK is he promoting Ground Riot when he should be shipping Zeku and demands of him if he really wants their Fucking Ship To Sail Or Not.

Deku gets defensive and says of course he does. Katsuki asks why he has been trying to push him onto Eijirou all this time if he wasnt serious about it. Deku doesnt want to answer. Then Katsuki gets fruatrated and asks WHY the fuck didnt he post Zeku.

"Because I don't want to support it"

"We are literally fucking engaged, you moron. What the FUCK do you mean you don't support it?!"

"I support Us, Kacchan! I just don't wanna support Zeku-shippers! Those two things are different!"

"WHy dont you wanna support them?! tHere is No Difference!"

"There is! I am not obligated to do anything for you. But if I admit to shipping Zeku out loud to the shippers, then I'm obligated to post pictures of us and I know that if I start posting that then my blog will literally be a flood of just Us all over!!"

"What is WRONG with that?!!"

"WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE ENGAGED IN SECRET! NO ONE IS SUPPOSED TO KNOW! you said it yourself! That you don't like the useless yapping of reporters about your love-life where it isn't their business!"

"YEAH? WELL FUCK THAT!"

And Katsuki whips out his phone, takes a selfie of french kissing the hell out of Deku and immediately posts in on his twitter. Deku has hardly reeled back from that intense kiss when he realizes what Katsuki has done and he practically explodes in shame.

"Kacchan!! Our secret!"

"Your fucking fault, Deku. If I have to deal with the shitty extras at all, it better be for the right Ship, you dumbass. I'll punt you straight to China if I hear Ground Riot from your mouth ever again...capiche?"

"But I like Ground Riot...It's a valid ship, Kacchan. You cant diss on it just like that. It has wonderful scope, and the fluff in this ship is AMAZING. I think I have a soft spot for Uke!GZ and Soft!GZ now... and it is a really mutually productive ship unlike- hrmff!", Katsuki shuts him up with a smack to his mouth and sheds his shirt.

"Shut your mouth and strip, shitnerd. I'll fuck the Ground Riot out of you. Also, let's make this fucking clear that if you mention ANYTHING that goes anywhere near Eijirou's dick,ass, balls or mouth", Katsuki shivers, "then I'll wreck your dick, ass, balls and mouth. Remember that. Now STRIP"

"But what about platonically? That's a solid ship, right? Right, Kacchan? Also It doesn't mention Eijirou's- fuck!!!"

Deku gets wrecked thoroughly.

(Let's observe one moment of silence for his Shipping ass 🙏)

(r.i.p. Deku)

Katsuki later asks him why Deku doesn't read Zeku fics either, cause pretending to not like it to weasel out of obligation is fine, but it doesn't explain why he refuses fo read any either.

"A fic, especially the ones that I like, always are these perfect little stories which always have a happy ending. Can't help it, I'm weak to it, Kacchan- it's why I read fics at all, you know? For the rush of happiness and feels! It's always written with the intention that it will be perfect! And it is. But it doesn't come close to the real thing. There can be fics out there that come really close to what we really have though - but I refuse to accept that any fic could be better than the imperfectly perfect things I have with you, Kacchan. No matter what anyone insists, what I have with you is perfect to me. You are perfect to me. And that's all that matters."

Katsuki calls him an incorrigible sap and turns away to hide a violent flush that turns him red like a stop sign.

Omake:

Katsuki's #Zeku goes Viral too. But at this point no one understands what is going on or WHY. Because GZ appears to be a Zeku shipper when Deku is a GroundRiot shipper. Confusion abounds. Zac Efron memes agonize over Both ships, Captain America Japan Civil War Memes make a comeback. And for some reason, Deku keeps posting Ground Riot afterwards too and everytime he does, the next day he is seen limping.

"Did you have a hardtime with Zero-san at training yesterday?"

Before Deku can answer the one who asks him that, Eijirou comes up, winks and answers in his stead, "Very hard", and runs away to Mina's side before Deku has a shame-filled meltdown.

(The Ground Riot thing stops only when Mina and Eijirou get finally married.)

#bakudeku #katsudeku #katsuki x izuku #ktdk #bkdk #deku the shipper #humour #social media shenanigans #headcanon #fic idea #fanfic idea #too many headcanons #holy crap this was such a shit hc #deku ships kiribaku

[ariaadagio]

I'm in awe with your writing and how you seem to have a handle on your process and what works for you. Any chance of a peek behind the curtain?

Sure!  First and foremost, the most important thing is … writing is a hobby.  It’s supposed to be fun.  That’s not to say there are no times where it’s frustrating – it’s like solving a puzzle, and that can be frustrating sometimes, but ultimately fulfilling.  But along these lines, if I’m ever not in the mood to solve a puzzle, I just … don’t?  I see so many people try to force their way through writer’s block, but typically if I’m blocked it means my brain is saying, “Take a damned break, you hyper-fixated nut bar.”  So, I take a damned break, when needed.

NOTE: SPOILERS FOR CASTAWAY BELOW.

My first step in creating a story is what I call the percolation stage.  This is when I have a general plot bunny, but I’m not sure what kind of story I want to tell with it, yet.  During this stage, I let myself just think about writing.  I jot down notes and brainstorm.  But I don’t really do any substantial writing beyond trying to get bash a broad outline into shape from beginning to end.  My current story idea, a post-S4 epic thing, is currently in this stage.  I have broad ideas, but not super specific ones.  For instance, you might vaguely recognize this outline as what eventually became Castaway but it’s wholly different:

This outline is like 15 pages long, jumps around inexplicably, and is basically just my brain vomiting ideas as I think of them.  As those of you who have read Castaway know, some of this stuck into the final version but a lot of it didn’t.

After I get this part done, if it’s a long story, I usually try shift over to Scrivener and create a much more specific step by step outline – in the process of shifting from brain vomit to an actual narrative with rising falling action, things start to change significantly.  This is what Scrivener is BOSS at, helping to create real narrative sequences and allowing you to play around on cork boards and things.

From there, I usually start writing things out into a rough draft.  As you may or may not know, Castaway initially started as a post-3x10 story.  The reveal was supposed to happen IN Castaway.  But when 3x24 aired, I immediately went about changing it to be a post-reveal story.  Here’s some of my early writing, when the story was still post-3x10.  You might recognize the scene.

Eventually, because of the shift in time period, that got condensed down to:

Annnnyway, my goal when I’m writing a first draft is just to get something down on the page.  I let myself tweak a little bit as a go if the language is really bugging the shit out of me, but for the most part, I press onward.  Writing from scratch is the hardest, least fun part for me, and I tend to stick to the main plot line like glue, just to get to the end.  

Once I have a reasonable-looking first draft, I’ll start doing my editing.  This is where I take the crap I’ve got and start to “pretty” it up a bit.  I’ll add foreshadowing now that I know my exact ending.  I’ll also chop out stuff that I wrote but that I feel is too much “telling,” or is redundant.  I also add little scenes to better connect things and flesh things out — for instance in Castaway almost every scene with Maze, along with the Tribe stuff like Trivia night, and the Lucifer POV chapters, were added AFTER I completed my first draft, which was just a lean, mean bout of Lucifer & Chloe following the case to its conclusion.  

After I’ve done one major pass myself, I usually send things off to my beta readers to be looked at and be commented on, and then I’ll make further adjustments based on their input.  That gets me to my second draft.  And that’s when I start posting.  I usually edit from second to final draft as I’m posting chapters.

So, there you have it?  A very summarized and far-more-linear-than-usual sample version of my gobbledygook writing process.  Yay!

#lucifer fanfiction #stuckfic #on writing #on fanfic