#so I always try to have those elements of the outlines there when I'm drafting or writing

[tlbodine]

Stuck? Try junebugging.

I don't know who needs to hear this, but we're 5 days into nanowrimo so maybe this will be helpful.

Do you want the safety and surety of knowing what happens next in your story but can't stick to an outline? Does knowing in advance what will happen suck the joy out of discovery writing? Do you try to wing it through plots but get tangled in plot holes or have a story that runs out of steam because you can't figure out what went wrong? Are you at your most creative when you have a little bit of guidance? Do you tend to under-write? Do you get ideas in your head for random scenes and snippets that drop from the sky without context?

If any of these apply to you, junebugging a draft might be for you!

What Is Junebugging?

Since you're on Tumblr, you might already be familiar with the concept of junebugging as it relates to cleaning. If not -- I think the idea was first introduced to me by @jumpingjacktrash.

The basic idea is that you tackle cleaning by way of controlled chaos. You pick a specific area you want to focus on, like your kitchen sink, and then wander off to deal with other things as they occur to you, but always returning back to that area. You end up cleaning a little bit at a time in an order that may not make sense to an outsider but which keeps you from getting overwhelmed and discouraged.

How Does Junebugging Work in Writing?

OK, so that's great, but how does this work with writing? Well. In my case, the general idea is to jump between writing linearly, outlining, and writing out of order. It usually looks something like:

Start free-writing a scene, feeling my way through it and enjoying the discovery process.

Thinking, ok, now I have this scene, did anything need to happen to lead up to it? Do I need to go back and add some foreshadowing? Does this scene set anything up that needs to be paid off? And then jump forward/back to make those adjustments.

I'll usually have a bunch of disconnected ideas of ideas that have popped into my head, so I'll write those down in a list somewhere and then try to figure out what goes in between them and what order it goes in.

I'll write what I call "micro-scenes" which is where I'll just sketch out a few essential elements of what's going on without worrying too much about details, description, etc. -- just he did this, she said that, the setting was this, real bare-bones script. Then I can come back through and flesh out each of those microscenes into an actual scene later.

Got a story that has a complex structure? No problem. Write through each storyline one at a time and then chop them up and weave them together afterward. Write all the B plot scenes first then come back through to do A plot and C plot. Move the pieces around like legos. No one ever has to know.

This method works for me because I can't "decide" story elements in advance. I have never been able to just sit down and "figure out" what happens in a story beyond a couple steps ahead -- I have to discovery-write my way forward. But at the same time, that gets really daunting. So I zoom forward with micro-scenes, roughing out the beats in the most bare-bones way possible, then when I run out of clear vision for what happens next I backtrack, flesh out those scenes, build in connective tissue, etc. and by then I will probably find more inspiration to jump forward.

It's basically folding drafting, outlining, and revising all together into a single phase of writing, which is chaotic and goes against everything people teach you, but if it works? then it fuckin works.

Anyway, sorry for the jumbled-up post, I'm dashing this off quickly while I heat up a pizza and I'm about to dive back into my WIP -- but I hope this was a little helpful. If nothing else, take this as my blanket permission that it's 100% OK to jump around, write out of order, write messy, outline sometimes, pants sometimes, and do whatever else it takes just to get through the story. You've got this. Good luck.

#writing tips #nanowrimo #writing advice #nano 2023 #writeblr #writing community #plotting vs pantsing #junebugging

[mrghostrat]

I remember you posting a blurred gif of the outline of atws, so if you don't mind me asking, how do you do that? Like, get the outline onto paper and not just scenes in your head. That's something I've always struggled with, because it's hard to write without an outline, but hard to do the outline when I don't have a first draft? I'm not sure how to explain it so I hope this makes any sense at all lmao

ahh so fair! some people just don't operate that way and you gotta do what's best for your brain. no point exhausting all your energy trying to squeeze into a "standard writing process" that'll make writing even more difficult for yourself.

under the cut, i'm going to explain my writing process every step of the way, using scenes of ATWS. i hope it helps in some way? i don't think it's anything special, but this is just how i write to appease my adhd.

first, this might help: i once used storyplanner.com when i didn't know how to even start a story and i loved it. it's a great tool that can hold your hand every step of the way, or just prompt you to think on your own. there's over 20 planners that ask different questions like "what's your character's major flaw?" "what's the inciting incident?" "what outside elements hinder the character?" etc that will present you with a complete story structure when you're done with it.

ok, now, how i write:

as for the post in reference, that's the 2nd stage of my writing process. i get carried away with tangents and hone in on details, so i plan in dot points to try and force myself to keep it simple and stay zoomed out.

i just write what happens in chronological order, and if i have an idea for a later scene (or something that i just want to happen, but don't know when/where/how), i note that in a separate document that i can refer to while i plan. this also allows me to gloss over vague sections to keep my writing flow going.

stage 1:

i've started using Notion's "toggle list" feature to minimise the less important parts of a scene and keep myself focused on the overarching plot during this stage. this is what the first point looks like:

i go beat by beat, essentially amounting to an elevator pitch for each stage of my story. "crowley and aziraphale are streamer roommates" + "people start to notice they each live with someone and the speculation starts" + "crowley and aziraphale interact on twitch" + "they attend the edinburgh meetup" etc.

i finish a story before i move on from this stage. i won't start writing something in earnest until i know how it ends.

stage 2:

this is what you saw in my gif, and why that page was so long. that's every scene i'm going to write in the story.

sometimes i jump straight from stage 1 to writing, but ATWS required a lot more figuring out before i started any kind of prose. here i'm basically noting down the details of what each scene is, the brunt of what's happening. this is when i have to figure out those "vague sections" i glossed over earlier.

it's still just intended to be a rough outline so i know where the characters are and what's moving their relationship along. most of these dot points are short because i've already thought about them a thousand times, and may have more details noted down in a different document.

meanwhile some of them i'm planning out the scene as i'm dotting it, making not of dialogue that i want to include.

stage 3: my bracket method

i only use this stage when i'm struggling to write and need to baby step into it. this is my "bracket method" in which i write the scene without, like... caring? some people may consider this "double handling" which may drive you mad, but it's the most helpful thing i've ever done for my process.

i switch tenses, i write how i chat (no capitals etc) and just word vomit the scene without focusing on prose. ATWS came quite easily at first, and i didn't need to use stage 3 until i got to chapter 4 and hadn't written in a few days.

stage 4:

this is writing the actual prose, but i wanted to include it so you can see the differences, to help better understand my notes/planning/outlining stages:

and this is what a scene looks like with stage three bridging the gap:

#i swear this had a point #i think the point is: i literally just write each scene one by one as i think of them #but use all these little methods to keep it clean and tighten my own leash so i dont get carried away or lost #rat writes #ratwips #writing tips #writing process #art process #fan fic #ask a rat

[writingquestionsanswered]

How do I make my writing less.. like I'm rambling? I speak and type in a way that is very much rambling but I want my writing (even if it's just a fanfic) to be more on topic ig?

How to Ramble Less in Your Writing

1 - Have a plan - Planning doesn't have to mean figuring out every last detail--creating scene lists, outlines, and timelines. It can mean that, and if that would help you, do it! But mainly "having a plan" in writing just means that you know the general plot. Who is this story about? What is the conflict? Why does the protagonist want to resolve the conflict? How will they go about it? What obstacles do they face along the way? Who or what placed those obstacles there? How will the character, their situation, or their world have changed by the end of the story? At the very least, having a beginning to end summary is a great way to format the answers to these questions and give you a plan to follow.

2 - Balance Exposition, Dialogue, and Action - If you find yourself rambling a lot in your story, you might be doing too much exposition, aka "explaining things." Remember that scenes (and your story in general) should be a balance of exposition, dialogue (conversation), and action (things happening). When you balance these things out in your story, you will find that you probably ramble less.

3 - Ramble First, Edit Later - Rambling in your writing isn't always a bad thing. For some writers, that's just part of the first draft process. It's sort of a "throw everything at the wall and see what sticks" method of writing, but it works really well for some writers. Some of the best stories in the world were written that way. The key is to go back and edit what's there so you can take out the things that "didn't stick" and clean up the things that did.

4 - Start With a Mind Map - If you find yourself having difficulty staying on topic in your story, try doing a mind map before you start writing and let all those rambling thoughts come out in an organized way. This can help you see all those seemingly random connections your brain is making between elements in your story, which is what sends you off on these rambling paths in the first place. Not only does this let your brain get all those random connections out of its system before you start writing, it also gives you the ability to look at what's there and see if there's anything worth working into something more relevant and cohesive to the story.

5 - Break It Up Into Smaller Parts - Another thing you can try is to break your writing up into smaller parts, which has the effect of putting up barriers that keep you from rambling too far off course. Try to focus on writing a scene... know what you want to accomplish in the scene before you start writing. Figure out the beginning point, the midpoint, and the end point. Then, plot the path between each point. If you still find yourself rambling, break it up by point. Write from the beginning to the midpoint. Then from the midpoint to the end point. Breaking it into smaller parts forces your brain to focus on that smaller part rather than giving it the opportunity to run off into the wild.

Happy writing! ♥

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[scribefindegil]

71?

71. When it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

A big old messy scratchdoc!! I try to use headings to keep the information somewhat organized, but they work best if I let them stay pretty sprawling. It's usually something like:

Top section: What are The Themes? Why am I writing this story? Are there important symbols or visual motifs I want to keep track of? Are there reminders to myself that I want to see frequently to bring myself back into focus (re: tone, characterization, types of description or details to focus on)?

Character Section: I don't always do this, but for big fics or things with a large ensemble cast I usually lay out each important character, the basis of their arc/conflict, and how they contribute thematically to the story. If it's AU or set post-canon or there are other reasons that information about the character would be different from their canon counterpart, I note it here.

Reference section: Any specific research I've done for the fic. Lists of things like minor characters' names, descriptions of settings or OCs, etc.

Revelation List: I stole this from DMing advice blogs, but any time there are mystery elements to a fic I always lay out the Revelations (what the characters need to learn) and the specific clues or circumstances they encounter that allow them to reach those conclusions. Do they find and interpret evidence? Do they get information from another character? Do they do research? Even if I don't plan out all the details of the plot, I need to understand how the characters are going to reach each of the Revelations or I'm going to get stuck.

Timelines: I don't always do these either; it really depends on the fic, but if there's a specific chronology I need to keep track of (or a secret structure that would get lost in the full outline) I try to write it down

The Plot: Finally!! The actual outlining part! I start by writing bullet point versions of the events I know will happen (I usually have a pretty strong sense of the beginning and climax of a fic by this point, even if I still have a bunch of fine-tuning to do) and then work backwards or forwards to fill in the gaps. If it's a mystery fic (and most of my longer fic has at least some mystery elements) I refer back to the Revelations list to make sure I have scenes that cover all the necessary Leads and Revelations to get the characters to the endpoint.

Snippets: For certain scenes, the outline version doesn't accurately capture the Vibe I'm going for, so I have a section at the end where I write quick, tiny, scaffolding-style first drafts. These usually have almost no relation to what the final scene actually looks like, but it's about pinning down the idea and the atmosphere.

These documents are really big and messy and I usually need to go back and edit them as I go, because my original ideas inevitably undergo some shifts as I figure things out, but that's the fun of it!

It has to be the right type of fic to make this worth it, but sometimes I'll also do a scene-level outline in an Excel spreadsheet, with columns for Scene, POV Character, Location, Characters Present, Events, Reactions, and Plot-Important Info. This is good for super plotty/mystery-heavy fics and fics with big ensembles that I can't keep track of other ways. I have an enormous and beautiful outline in this style for the Owl House Tam Lin AU which I do still want to write someday, bc while I didn't end up loving TOH as a whole I do love a lot of the characters, and also we came up with possibly the best plot twist of my life involving 400 years of moon phase records so. It's on the back burner but it's still on the stove, as it were. And the good thing is that because I have such an exhaustive outline it will be easy for me to pick back up at any time if I want to!

#memeses #thanks for the ask! #this makes it sound much more organized than it actually is lol #but!! the important thing is to write everything down!! #even if you are not cursed you probably won't remember things as well as you think! #and if you are cursed it makes it a lot less scary to have all the info there so if you just Absolutely Cannot Write for six months #you don't risk losing all your cool ideas

[zuppizup]

Hiiii I just finished the first two chapters of Fuel the Pyre! I'm super excited for it, it's very well done!

I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about your writing process. How do you outline? What kinds of things need to be in an outline in order for you to visualize the story? Do you outline the entire story, one chapter, or just one scene at a time?

Thank you for your time!

Hello! Thanks so much for your kind words! I’m so happy you’re liking the fic so far.

This is a super fun ask. Not sure how coherent or helpful my response will be, but I’ll give it a try. 😆

So, stories like Purgatory, Fuel the Pyre or my WIP dark magic AU, always start out as a bunch of questions.

What if Ezran hadn’t interrupted Callum and Rayla in Viren’s study…

Could a human/elf halfling do primal magic? Can all of them or just a few? What would control that?

What would the world be like if dark magic actually was controlled and regulated.

I usually don’t start out planning a fic when I ponder questions like this, it’s usually just my mind wandering. For me, while I love big, wonderful, imaginative worlds (like the world of The Dragon Prince) what I’m really more interested in is how these things affect individuals. I actually tend to visualise the story before I outline. In fact, I often visualise far beyond where I think I’ll finish the story. (I say where I think I’ll finish because both my current long fics are now firmly in the “after the end of the planned fic” territory)

So, in Fuel the Pyre, for example, I imagine there’s a lot of unknowns for the people involved. Halflings would be pretty new on the scene, all things considered, so the characters themselves wouldn’t have the answer to these questions, which felt like a great excuse to add tension and drama.

Once an idea has got me and I can imagine how that conflict is going to affect the characters, the general outline tends to sort of write itself. I am a planner, so I by the time I start putting pen to paper (so to speak), I’ll usually have a beginning, a rough middle and an end. There will be plot points, tangents, twists and sometimes side stories that I haven’t figured out, but I’ll have a plan for the general flow of the story.

From there, I’ll come up with a pretty messy draft. So, I just sort of go wild in a document. Usually, when I’ve decided I want to write a longer fic, it’s because certain scenes just play on repeat in my head, so I’ll indulge myself and write those out. Then I’ll go back and make rough chapter/arc notes, which usually leads into some other fun scenes I get inspired to write, and slowly, piece by piece, I sort of string the fic together like that.

I used to outline more linearly, starting at the first chapter and working from there, but I found I’d get stuck on transition scenes (the bane of my writing life) and then avoid the fic. (If I put my fingers in my ears and sing very loudly, the transition scene can’t hurt me). I find letting myself write the scenes I’m excited for makes me much more productive. They usually give me ideas for other fun (I use the term loosely, I generally mean “angsty”) scenes and I essentially build my story like that. I do like adding foreshadowing and twists, which is made a lot easier by writing like this too.

In Purgatory, for example, I tried to drop a lot of subtle hints about Callum and his slowly building arcanum connection. It’s so fun when people pick up on that stuff, but I also don’t want it to look like I just pulled a twist or a revelation out of my rear. Nowadays, I do prefer to write the bulk of a story before posting, which this method obviously works better for.

Often, when I start a fic, the beginning and the ending are the most defined parts of the story and the middle is the area that requires the most work, but by stringing the various elements together, I sort of “discover” new conflicts and fun elements to explore, which (hopefully) makes for a richer, more entertaining story.

So, not sure if that was what you’re looking for, but if you could describe the stream of consciousness that is how I write, a process, this is mine. 😅

#anon asks #thanks for the ask! #writing

[leighlew3]

Q if you have time.. how long did it take you to write a script versus now when you’ve gotten so many more hours of experience doing it? Like more or less it’s complete and ready to be shared?

Hi!

So, tbh I think I've always written relatively quickly... when it flows. I've always been able to churn a script out in anywhere from 1-6 weeks, depending on if I'm solely focused on that one thing or not and how much time I can actually devote to it daily/weekly. Otherwise, it could take months if I get distracted or hop around between scripts. But my standard, since I started... a few weeks.

That being said, after writing many scripts at this point, I've certainly become quicker and smoother in terms of having to spend less time going back for rewrites after I churn out a new draft. For starters, I tend to proof and polish as I go versus doing a vomit draft (many people prefer the latter way of writing -- and to each their own). But my "first draft" because of this, is usually a tad closer to a typical 2nd or 3rd draft. And thanks to the experience of writing numerous screenplays by now -- I find that I usually hit the standard structural points organically, which thus saves time on trying to "fix" that later.

Stories now tend come to me usually fairly close to the structure they're expected to be, compared to when I was starting out. Example: back then, I'd know I wanted to tell a story about XYZ but I'd have to sit there and map out what the inciting incident actually was and when it should rightfully occur, and be sure I was following a three act structure properly, and figure out where those acts should end, and sort through what the story's true midpoint would be, and how to nail the climax on time and effectively, etc and basically focus too much on hitting all the 'expected' points in a screenplay. And, making a certain page count (sometimes coming up too long or too short).

Now, however, I find that I just hit these things fairly naturally as my story flows out of me in development. I'll write up an outline (or a jumble of bat crap crazy notes, ahem) and automatically, whatever I'm planning just sorta lines up and comes out hitting those elements without really trying, and I also usually land right at or at least close to the page count it 'should' be for the genre.

As you evolve, you find that things you used to have to sort of mark off like a check list and go back and fix later -- become things that happen organically and are built in from the start, thus saving time. And not just structurally or technically, but also in terms of character work and the overall story itself.

So yeah, TLDR: the more scripts I've written, the "easier" and a tad bit faster it's gotten, due to the basics and structure and such coming more organically now. Effectively, I'm spending my time more wisely. Thus, when I'm diving back into a script for a rewrite due to lets say realizing I could add a whole new arc or rework a plot element or character, etc -- I'm focused more on the meat than the bones, if you will. Which makes things go a lot faster, for me.

That's why it's really, really important as an emerging writer to get the basics down. Do the research on structure and formatting and all those bits, and most importantly: write as much as possible (and read as many produced screenplays as possible also) so that all of those "basic" / "expected" things like structure, format, etc come built in, automatically, second nature -- and thus you can spend the bulk of your writing time on the story and character work itself.

#screenwriting #screenwriter

[mrbexwrites]

happy STS!! a slightly grimmer one today - what can make you abandon a project? do you ever truly abandon projects or do you just shelve them for later?

Hi Cee :) Happy STS!

I have a few WIPs that have been started and then shelved for later, and have been for years. I always intend to come back to finish them, but I just feel so overwhelmed at how much more I have to write to even get them finished. (I have a High Fantasy series that I started when I was about 15 years old that I have been chipping away at for years. I started the thrid book about ten years ago, wrote about a third of it, intimidated myself about how much I had to write, how I didn't feel like I had to the skills to write it, etc etc, and haven't touched it in about ten years- at least!) I have abandoned two projects, mostly because I wasn't enjoying writing the story. I didn't have any scenes that I was looking forward to writing, which is normally something that really motivates me. I write in chronological order- which is why writing Memento Mori out of sequence has really buggered me up and editing it is a friggin' nightmare!- and having those juicy scenes waiting to be written is mostly what drives me. It's like a little treat for all the hard work and slot with the exposition & character building that I try to slip in.

As I've progressed as a writer, and looking back at older projects, the reasons those projects have been abandoned whilst I've chipped away at others, is because the characters don't have an arc. I have a solid outline, but no character development of any sorts, so it just feels flat. I've tried to build on the character's wants vs their needs when I've been writing my more recent WIPs that I share on this blog, which has helped me develop most of my plots.

Maybe one I'll go back to them and pick them back up, but at the moment, I want to keep going forward with my new stories. Sometimes, really good elements/concepts that I liked from my abandoned WIPs get cannibalized or recycled into my current ones, so they're still around- like ghosts haunting my newer WIPs! (Keeping up the grim theme of your ask!!)

These days, being a marginally better writer than I was when I was 15 (I hope!!), I will continue to slog through my first draft, as I know that it can be improved upon with subsequent drafts and feedback. Younger me had to have that *perfect* first draft, which is what probably led me to feel so overwhelmed. I'm still a perfectionist, and really have to walk myself back at times- a finished, but unhinged, first draft, is better than a polished, but unfinished, draft of any kind!

As always, thanks so much for the ask, and sorry for the long rambling response! I always enjoy psychoanalyzing why I am the way I am!! XD

#sts asks #answered asks

[sheerquill]

𓄿 It's ESSAY TIME BITCHES DING DING DING (that's me hitting a triangle)

School has kicked my ass so here are some tips to motivate you to write that one essay due in [insert unreasonable time].

STEP ONE

WRITE AN OUTLINE OR ELSE. You might think "oh so I can skip over this step" but NO. Unless you're able to fly in the seat of your pants, you cannot continue without first writing one of these. My advice is to write a summary of the materials you're working with to get a better understanding. For example, I'm working with poems, so I would annotate and then maybe check SparkNotes for a few pointers to put me in the right direction. It's not plagiarizing if you're paraphrasing, that's what I always say!

STEP 2

Gather 'round all your source materials, works cited, and just spitball ideas. It's self-explanatory, but a crucial step. You're really going to thank yourself later for this one. Personally, I start with the middle/body first because intros and conclusions scare me. From there, you can branch outward to fill the intro and conclusion last. You don't NEED complete sentences???? You're in rough draft mode babyyyy. Commas don't exist, turn off Grammarly until you're ready to be coherent. God knows I'm only ever coherent between the hours of 10 pm and 1 am.

STEP 3

Is your word well getting dry? Use your imagination a bit. Look, we know that your thesis is about how Thomas Hardy's "Hap" is about his frustration with the unpredictability of the universe. But sometimes you just have to dig far within. No, FURTHER. THAT'S THE SPOT. The spot labeled "bull-shittery." It's handy when or if you don't necessarily believe in/ care about said topic. It helps you detach yourself from your beliefs and put yourself into the shoes of the essay itself. Or the person you're writing about.

However, if you are quite alright with the given topic and still feel uninspired, I find it helpful to gaze within at your own beliefs and pull out one of your own to add some sparkle to the essay. In other words, similar to the topic/point/idea, but not the same. You get me? Good.

Did you notice how I typed ONE at the start of this post instead of the number 1 yet? YOU BETTER BE PAYING ATTENTION!

STEP 4

Oh yeah, remember those intros and conclusions? You probably need those. Your intro can be divided into about 3 or so points:

Background info/setting. Give us some scenery, date or time period, or tell us who/what we're working with

Significance. How are these things significant/related to the rest of this essay?

Thesis! Sum everything up in one sentence (in other words, restate the question you're trying to answer)

I usually follow the same rubric for my conclusions:

Recap. Wow we've come so far, let's remind the audience what we just talked about

Getting warmer. Omg we're getting warmer to the big idea

Conclusion. In conclusion, this is my thesis reworded, but with added elements that were just explained in my essay.

STEP 5

You need a title if you haven't already done that! Titles are my only weakness, but I find it easy to pick some words out from my thesis. An example from google:

If my thesis is "School uniforms should not be mandatory in public schools because it would stifle students' creativity, take away students' rights, and cause students to lose interest in school."

Then my title could be: School Uniforms Strip Students' Rights

Sometimes it feels like a newspaper headline and you know, that's ok. It just means you're tapping into your inner BS. Look, I'm not here to get you A's, I'm here to get you to PASS (legally).

And there you have it, I hope someone can find use with this info and if anyone has more tips, please comment! I need help too ya know

#my essay is due in 3 minutes #i need to stop procrastinating #writerscommunity #writing #writers block #motivation #stop scrolling on tumblr and just start your essay i can see you reading this #writing advice #university #aggressive motivation #wakey wakey #back from the dead #writer problems #writers #writeblr #writing community #writerslife

[pastafossa]

fellow writer here 👋🏻 I wanted to know what your drafting process was like for TRT…how did the idea come to fruition and how do you draft each chapter? do you follow a plan to guide the story or just wing it? It’s one of the best I’ve ever read and I’ve always wondered what your writing/thought process looks like

Heyo writer friend! I can absolutely talk about this! And I'm going to do the best I can not to sound too much like this:

-How did the idea become TRT: so after a friend challenged me to try a 2nd POV fic (the only POV I hadn't written yet) and I'd chosen DD, I was trying to think of an idea that I could build a plot around. That was when I saw a little image blurb that said something like, 'In mythology, a red string of fate ties two soulmates together. It can tangle or stretch but will never break.' And my brain went... what if you had someone who could see those threads? And what if there were more threads, more colors, more types of connections? What if you could feel them? The plotline kind of blossomed up around that: obviously it would be useful for tracking, so a Big Bad should want to use it (enter Man in the White Coat funded by the military), and all protagonists need a Big Secret, so I can use one of my favorite tropes of the Morally Grey But Likeable Bad Dude (enter Ciro). I'd also been taught about the seven basic plotlines for large stories, so it made sense to choose a combo of 'Overcoming The Monster' and 'Rebirth' since those are continual themes explored by multiple characters in the DD universe. I also looked for openings to write my take on my favorite tropes from my favorite stories, and so those influences are there if you know what to look for (books like the Dresden Files, sci-fi fare like Stranger Things, etc).

-How the fuck did you plan this beast and the chapters: I do in fact have a guide/outline for TRT to guide me for each chapter! I generally wing it for shorter fics, but once I realized just how big this was going to be and decided I was going to go for it, I knew I needed an outline. I actually figured out what worked based on talking at a con to Mike Laidlaw, who at the time was the creative director of the Dragon Age series at Bioware, which is known for expansive stories with rich, detailed, branching plotlines. I wanted to know how the hell they kept track of everything, and bless him, he talked with me for a good while. They use a combo of a wiki page and twine, and twine was visual which worked well for me - highly, highly recommend twine. I've got my outline broken down in general events/themes/arcs, and then get more detailed as needed, though not too detailed since I like a little freedom in deciding how to do it as the event gets closer. Generally, everything flows downwards into the chapters like so:

Overall arc: these are the two arcs I listed above - Overcoming the Monster and Rebirth. Think 'Destroy the Ring' for LOTR. Even when a bunch of other stuff happens, these are the two eventual end destinations. I've got this broken down into general stages (which will be broken down further, as you'll see below) like, 'Avoiding connection due to fear of WC', 'Reveals WC tracking', 'Decides to stay and fight WC', 'Thread Training As Prep', 'S.H.I.E.L.D. involved to fight WC', 'Almost Caught By WC', etc. This allows me, at a glance, to figure out how the major events are driving everything else that's happening in any given chapter: how is it influencing the emotions of the characters? How is it nudging events along? What clues should I be leaving? Etc. It also lets me figure out how to create a rising arc of tension. This is then broken down further as needed, and I can get as specific as possible (I broke down Miami pretty detailed as I got closer to it). I also try to make sure most of the smaller arcs in the chapters nudge these two plotlines along at least a little. Everything should serve your overall arc in some way, is what I was taught. Admittedly I sometimes deviate from that cause this is fic and it's fun (aka: why this story is so long), but if I were publishing this, I'd snip some of those elements out.

Major Arcs: these are sometimes breakdowns of the overall arc (say, Matt and her relationship, which both plays into the Rebirth arc and also is an arc of its own), and sometimes they're standalone plotlines. If it were a tv show, some of these would be classed as the arcs for a single season rather than the entire show. I've got Matt and her relationship broken down into stages for this - 'Wanting to Connect', 'Struggling Not To Connect', 'Considering Running To Escape Connect', 'Accepting Connection', things like that. I then have those events broken down further, so 'accepting connection', for example, is broken down into the kidnapping arc, which fuels those chapters.

Minor Arcs/Breakdown Arcs: and here is where chapters usually pop up, and the place I might wing it. This is the reason I leave myself some generalities and open doors in the outlines, specifically so I can go with how the story's flowing at present. Sometimes I can write a chapter/scene in from the very beginning before I have the outline worked out, because I know they'll fit SOMEWHERE even if I'm not sure where or how yet. I had the Post-Nobu chapters plotted out from the very beginning, for example, and the Kidnapping plotline was also written up really early on when I was inspired and the muse bit. Other times, when I'm actually drafting a chapter, I look at where we are in the overall arcs and major arcs, figure out how the plot needs to be progressed (or if we just hit something heavy and need a break), and workshop around different ideas until I find one that fits. While drafting it out, I keep notes at the top of goals for that chapter and the driving theme (so Devil Hunt themes/goals are, say, releasing the Devil, displays of relationship trust, thread training, and just plain fun). Then I write out an in-order list of, 'things that need to happen'. I usually re-read the previous chapter, too, so that I can ensure things flow properly from one chapter to the next. Once I've got all that down, I just... sit and write it out in a fairly basic fashion, glancing at the themes as needed, but still allowing myself the freedom to deviate a little if the flow needs to veer off a little, especially since I can nudge things around in editing (fun fact: roughly forty percent of each chapter you read in TRT is added in the editing process!).

So basically, when it comes to drafting chapters and outlines for a long fic or story like TRT, the way I work is: I like having an outline, specifically so I can figure out how to drive the plot and what clues/foreshadowing I need to leave ages ahead of time. At the same time, I always remember to leave myself a little room to breathe in individual chapters. I've found that locking myself in too much can either stifle creativity or I wind up painting myself into a corner. Let your outline and draft be the bones of the story, the muscle and the meat, while the chapters themselves are your clothes, made to be changed and altered as needed.

#ask response #the red thread #writing discussion #bless mike laidlaw for talking to me for so long #TRT would not be as well organized as it is without him having given me all his advice #so that's basically how i draft things out #and know how to draft individual chapters #even when events in the chapters aren't directly advancing the major arcs #they're still *influenced* by them #in the emotions and attitudes of the characters #in how they feel and react #in how they interact with others #even unconsciously #so I always try to have those elements of the outlines there when I'm drafting or writing #this is especially true since I have major ADHD and some other health conditions that affect my memory #keeping track of larger events in an outline while I'm drafting or writing is vital #otherwise i will absolutely forget and miss something #also yes that is the story of how TRT came to be #basically all this stuff came together #and i realized omg this is a chance to try EVERYTHING I've ever learned #since I'd always wanted to become a published writer one day #so ya'll get my best efforts because I also wanted to see if I *could* do it #and figure out how this all would actually work for me

[bettsfic]

hi, betts! i enjoy scrolling your writing advice tag & have a question for you. i write fanfic primarily about my otp. i'm not bored & have a lot of ideas, but i wonder if you have any advice on keeping things fresh for both a writer as well as readers - consistent characterization is important to me but how do i do that & not write the same story every time? or do i just accept that it's the same story at the core because my characters are who they are regardless of modern au or canon? thanks!!

i'm sorry it took me so long to answer this! my life toppled over and i've been recovering.

i think having one main pairing + a lot of ideas is a great foundation to experiment and take risks with writing because the characters always stay the same. so i'd look at is as an opportunity to play around with structure, style, voice, tone, all the elements that make up fiction. here are some more specific ideas:

if you always write in third person, try writing in first or second person. first/second person fics never get as much traffic, but writing in different voices and observing how your sentence structure. changes, as well as what affordances those voices offer, will give you greater insight into your own style.

if you usually write in present tense, try writing in past. again, note the way your style adapts to that change.

if you usually write in chronological sequence and direct discourse (in scene), try playing around with time, the connection between scenes, flashbacks, and indirect discourse* (summary).

try playing around with your writing process. if you usually write an initial clean draft and then tidy it up to post, try writing a really messy draft and then rewriting it completely. if you do a lot of front-end work like outlining, try writing a fic without planning it at all.

if your otp is live-action (and by that i mean, has actors), try watching the actors' interviews and other work and note how their voice and body language change. try writing those changes into a fic while still staying true to the character of your canon.

try changing a significant detail of a character's backstory that would alter their personality. the goal of that exercise is to figure out how you maintain character voice while changing the character's perceptions and beliefs, or at least putting those beliefs or ideals in doubt. if a character's primary trait is that she's loyal, what can happen to her in her past that would make her question or hurt her natural disposition? that way you're commenting on an aspect of canon or highlighting it by changing it; hopefully your reader will see that you're acknowledging canon and speaking to it rather than writing OOC (although personally i don't think there's anything wrong with writing OOC).

take some time to sit down and write out what your strengths are as a writer and where you'd like to improve. then, write a fic where you focus specifically on one thing you'd like to improve. if you can't write a one-shot to save your life, give yourself a word limit and write a fic where you stick to it. if you're good at dialogue but not exposition, write a fic without dialogue (and by that i mean indirect discourse again; the characters speak but what they say is described as part of the narration).

*direct/indirect discourse is more complicated than that but scene/summary is the most concise way of describing it

the idea is less to make each story different, but to use the sameness of fanfiction as a way to go other directions with your own writing. that way you're adding some variation to your work while also finding ways to improve by working outside your comfort zone.

of course, there's also nothing wrong with remaining in your wheelhouse if that's what makes you happiest. branch out when you're ready. writing is always there for you.

i hope this helps!

#writing advice

[casual-eumetazoa]

How do you write your video essays? I'm working on one, but I can't figure out how to make it longer than 2~ minutes. I'm autistic too, but I struggle with not being as brief as humanly possible. I love your essays btw, they are really excellent, and you provide good insight. Sorry if this is a really vague question. Thank you so much! Also if you wouldn't mind @/ing me in your answer, that would be great, tumblr notifs kind of suck.

Hi @wooliebirds ,

thank you for sending this ask, this is actually a great question that made me think about my own creative process, and I’m always in favour of meta-cognition!

I will caveat this entire thing with a “that’s just from my perspective”, cause with my own stuff, my problem is always writing too much. I have this with literally everything, from academic writing to fiction to YT essays – so I’m not sure how much this will help, but maybe it will.

So… with video essays, you have to approach them like a narrative or a story. I know there is no consensus on what even counts as a video essay, but the vast majority of them are more similar to indie documentaries than they are to a lecture or an informative video. They aren’t similar to something like ASAP Science or Crash Course, they are journalistic or artistic or educational narrative works. Therefore, they tell a story. They have a “plot” for lack of a better word; there’s a natural flow to them, and they combine many different elements into a coherent whole. Usually they are a mix of facts, opinions, and narrative devices – just like any other documentary or journalistic piece. Different essays have different proportions of those elements: some are focused on the facts (like Cass Eris’s “Psychologist Responds” series), some have a mix of facts and opinions (like most Contrapoints videos), and some lean heavily on the narrative (like Abigail Thorn’s Cosmonaut essay for example).

How you adjust this mix depends on what you are trying to do. Any combination of those elements can work, as long as you have a distinction between them. As in, you don’t want to (accidentally or on purpose) blur the line between fact and opinion, or drown the facts in so much narrative that it starts to twist them. Of course humans naturally operate on biases and heuristics and some amount of this is unavoidable, but I think we still have a responsibility as creators/educators to minimize it as much as possible. This is why I have almost as many citations in my videos as in my master’s thesis (and display them on screen as well) – I know that I naturally lean quite heavily on the narrative so I try to make sure it is still grounded in reality.

I do approach the essays as narrative pieces: I start with some general main idea, then let it roll around my brain for a few days and see what it will stick to. For example with my NiTW essay, obviously I started with NiTW and its general vibe, and then it got connected to optimistic nihilism, and then to cosmic horror, and to meaning and storytelling and wham you’ve got an outline for an 8k long script. Based on that main structure, as I am writing the outline and doing my research, more and more ideas connect to it, and then I actually have to trim down the outline and figure out what I will include. Additional things also pop up while I am writing the script and sometimes even when I am editing and citing it. It really is a case of constructing a sort of an inter-connected web of ideas, concepts, facts, and narrative elements that comprise a coherent whole, rather than just picking one thing and talking about it at length.

Sometimes I don’t even completely know what I want to talk about, even after I’ve written an outline and done the research. I usually write “in flow” and quite often I have no idea what I will write until I sit down and do it. It’s always good to remember, with any writing, that first drafts always suck, and that writing a first draft is an exploration of your own thoughts and ideas more than it is an attempt to communicate them. Communication comes later at the editing stage. First drafts are just for getting stuff out of your brain and on paper/computer screen.

I don’t know whether you do any other writing, for me all types are more similar than it would seem at first glance. As in, I feel like my process in writing a science article or a fiction novel or a YT essay is broadly the same – and every kind of writing I do helps the other. I literally use the same method both for writing a scientific report and outlining a YT essay. So I would say, if you are more comfortable and/or experienced in other kinds of writing, you might be able to adapt that process for video essays as well.

And last thing is that having fun and harnessing the power of passion always helps. Being autistic, you probably have special interests, and you probably infodump about them in some form – use that! Infodumping is basically what I do with these essays. I’ve always enjoyed having long, rambly monologues about various topics, and a video essay is a perfect format for it. All I do is just check my facts very thoroughly and structure those rambly monologues so that they make an actual narrative rather than a verbal representation of the Pepe Silvia meme.

So tl;dr of this is:

1) video essays are closer to indie documentaries than to lectures – think about them as narratives built on facts and opinions that explore many different interconnected ideas rather than an explanation of one specific idea

2) first drafts always suck and exist to explore your own thoughts; use drafting, whether of an outline or an actual piece, to figure out what you want to talk about

3) if you do other kinds of writing, adapting that process might help

4) use the power of special interests / passion in general and you will always have something to write and talk about

In the best traditions of me, I’ve somehow ended up writing a thousand words on this question… hope you and maybe other people will find it helpful. And thank you again for the ask and for watching my videos, it is greatly appreciated!

#writeblr #writers on tumblr #video essay #youtube essay #actuallyautistic

[ljandersen]

For the writing ask 12, 15, 16 and you can write more than 3 sentences for 15 because it would be hard to answer in just 3 sentences.

More questions! Yay! Thank you for sending me some fun ones. It's always interesting to dissect our writing craft, I think. This is from the Writer's Ask.

12. Any suggestions for making editing easier and/or more fun?

Oh, wow. I wish someone would share the secret, because I hate editing. I suspect it depends on personality and writing style how much editing is either enjoyed or hated. For me, the main things that help are: 1) letting a long time pass between the first draft and editing and 2) focusing on the eventual reward.

I know a lot of writers recommend letting your first draft cool because it gives a fresher view of it on re-read. I think that's true. I find myself catching more things. More importantly for me, though, with time passed, I'm more excited to read the story again and revisit the parts I loved. Being my own reader, I want to see what will happen and editing along the way is how I get there. That works at least for the second draft.

Delayed gratification is important for me. I only edit, because I intend to share the story with others. The first draft is for me. I enjoy it. After that, it's a chore. I keep readers in mind and the reward of their interactions while I edit. Reader interaction may not influence my currently posting project, because I don't post until I'm finished, but it does influence future projects. The current gratification I feel by sharing my finished work motivates me to edit my unposted stories. I think anticipating the gratification is key to keeping at it.

15. Summarize in 3 sentences or less what is important for you when it comes to climax scenes.

I think I can summarize this in one actually: Is it the most satisfying ending possible?

"Satisfying" encompasses so much. Was the pay out for the build up proportional and worth it? Is it the "best" imaginable ending? If it's not, then I'll change the whole story to match the most satisfying ending. It's important for me to identify barriers to it feeling satisfying. Are there elements that nag at the ending and take away from the sense of satisfaction. I try ot address those barriers through the course of the story, slowly peeling them away or maneuvering pieces to relieve the ending concern.

A lot of this is only possible for me, because the story isn't posted and can still be changed, even in major ways. Since I'm a discovery writer, there's a heavy burden on editing and rewriting to streamline the story. Though I always know my ending, I don't know how it will look and actually develop. I have to make adjustments after I can finally see the story as whole.

In the end, the most important part of a story's climax is how it leaves the readers. Are they satisfied? Does it feel like the natural conclusion of everything that lead up to it?

16. Share one piece of advise for how you create tension in your stories.

Foreshadow. I love subtext and double-meanings. I love hinting. I love giving half-answers. Foreshadow, foreshadow, foreshadow -- I say! Don't shine the light right at the object, but bit by bit unveil it until the dim outline reveals itself in full. Anticipation and mystery are some of the most important elements of a story to me as a reader.

Thank you for the ask!!!

#ask meme #ask meme answers #my writing #on writing

[chuuyagum]

Here's a writing process question - you have been writing WGYTR with regular updates for like 3 months now and you said you had the overall plot planned out beforehand, so what I'm wondering is how long did it take to make the outline for the whole fic/basically how much prep work did you do before posting the first chapter. Did it take a long time to decide on everything that will happen? Not just WGYTR, the other fics too, and are there some fics that are easier to plan out and then some that are harder because the plot doesn't come as easily? Thank you so much for your wonderful fics and good luck with whatever personal things you have going on🤗💓

thanks so much for this question!! to be honest, i do very little prep before posting my first chapter! clearly this is all in relation to writing multi-chapter fics, as i haven't tried my hand at one shots lately. in that situation i think my process would be different, so keep that in mind!

i like to let my first chapter dictate the tone for the fic, so i tend to start writing it as if it's a one-shot then make sure i end it in a way that gives me room to keep writing. then my second chapter is where i do my real plotting and create my solid outline for the overall fic so the process tends to go like this;

[the explanation below does have mild spoilers for WGYTR however it's nothing specific, only vague plot elements]

come up with an idea - can be very specific or just a vague concept

ex: "Mecha Senku and the magic of lying" just came about because i saw several fics where Gen is Senku's robot and i wanted to try the inverse

decide on tone - will it be fluff, angst, ect?

write the first chapter! i just type this out quickly and with little care for details, its a rough draft so it's just meant as a mental starting point. overall i spend maybe 1 hour total on this draft - i type furiously and just let whatever comes out flow onto the page

outline! now that i have an idea of where i want to go, i can lay out my plot points. but first i jot down overall vibes in no particular order - it can be specific lines of dialog i want to use, specific scenarios or events.

ex: WGYTR - the title itself, "Who gave you the right?" i wanted this one line to define the character interactions. ultimately it's Senku who says the line, but in my outline it was originally Gen! but when i got to the chapter it made more sense for Senku to say it. this fic is all about the characters opening up to one another and allowing themselves to be seen as they are. so, in a sense, Gen was only able to fall in love with Senku because Senku allowed himself to be seen for his true self. and the same applies to Gen. Senku only fell in love with him for the same reason, Gen allowing himself to be seen in turn

plot! this is the easiest part for me in terms of outline, but my explanation may seem kinda daunting. first i lay out a general order of events. this is easier when the fic is canon compliant like WGYTR, but much harder when it's an AU like Mecha Senku. with events i always like to consider what actions logically lead into one another.

ex: WGYTR was quick for me to plot events since it's canon compliant. i chose where in canon it would start, and where it would end, then filled in the rest.

my overall outline looked like this;

- Gen joins the KoS

- Gen plots how to manipulate Senku for everyones benefit

- Senku largely tries to ignore Gen, too focused on his work

- it's still storm season, they get trapped indoors, forcing them to spend time together

- Gen makes a game to play (hadn't decided what game)

- Senku starts to relax as they spend more time together

- Gen develops a crush on Kohaku at the same time he develops a crush on Senku. deliberately squashes the feelings for Senku down

- Winter prep aspects

- Senku accepts Gen as a friend

- Gen accepts his feelings for Senku

- Senku faces his trauma

- Senku accepts his feelings for Gen

- Christmas

- Observatory & Gen's confession

- Finish the phone, fake Lilian

- Chrome is captured & the car

- Stone Wars

- ends just after Stone Wars

start writing chapter 2! now that i have a general idea of where i'm going, i go ahead and write my second chapter. here is where i make any necessary corrections to the direction of events to better fit my general outline

go back and edit chapter 1! nows the time to fix any problems in consistency, tone, direction, ect!

after i have my general points and have started writing, i break it down even further! this is where i start looking for symbols i can use to further my plot, and do research on more specific topics i plan to touch on

ex: WGYTR takes place largely within a huge time skip in canon. they literally jump from late Summer directly to Christmas of all things. so i thought about everything they had to do to get from Summer > Winter. they do show us some of what they did in between in canon, but they really gloss over it quickly, so for my fic i buckled down on the winter prep aspects that took the entire Fall to get done. from there, i broke it down further. if you look at each invention, it follows a process.

- Gen remembers paper is a thing

- Senku sets him up for the process

- the process brings Gen closer to some of the villagers (Ruby, Garnet, Sapphire)

- Gen starts fooling around with the paper and makes pinwheels for the children

- this action signifies to Senku how kind Gen genuinely is

- Gen makes a log book for Senku and a notebook for himself

- Gen uses his notebook to help Ruri and later to do the math for calculating Senku's birthday

if you follow that process linearly, you can link it to three upcoming canon events related to the paper making which tie it all together. since this chain of events begins with Gen, it'll end with Senku. can you guess what he's going to do with the paper next to wrap up this up? ;)

continue writing! i always have one buffer chapter, so i'll have chapter 11 written before i edit and post chapter 10.

now to answer some of your other questions;

did this take long? not really! this whole process, minus the last two steps....takes me maybe 1 day to 1 week total. WGYTR took me 2 days. by day 3 i had my first two chapters ready and the first one was posted! but those last two steps? i do those as i go along! which probably sounds insane now that i think about it lmao

as for fics that are harder to plan - any type of modern AU is much harder for me! im not sure why, but i struggle with it a lot. my soulmark AU, although i haven't felt inspired to write for it lately, was easy for me to plot out since it fits within the larger canon events. so was my short TsukaSenGen AU. but for a modern AU to make sense, there's a lot of elements to consider that aren't provided by canon, like professions and events and existing dialog, which is why i haven't worked on Mecha Senku in months rip

thanks again for your questions, anon! i hope i did well answering them all!! ♡

#asks #answered #dr. stone #yes im putting this in the main tag #dcst #my fics #writeblr

[writingquestionsanswered]

How do you go about implementing notes you've made while editing and reading over your draft? Notes you collect while writing a short story or something small may be one thing, but when you have an enormous novel (or even a series of novels) and you have hundreds and hundreds of words of notes, how on earth do you work through them all? Lmao. I only ask because I'm on my second draft and the notes are still controllable, but are doomed to only get larger lmao.

Organizing & Implementing Notes for Future Drafts

Notes for future drafts can get out of control quickly--trust me, I know from experience! Not only do I make notes while reading through my current draft, I jot down notes on post-its, in notepad files, on printed out timelines and outlines, in my phone, and sometimes even in a notebook I keep on my nightstand.

Organizing Notes

Hand printed notes can be difficult to corral, though I do try to keep post-its attached to printed out pages I’m using for reference (like a calendar or timeline), or if I have my whole story binder out, I’ll put them in that. If I jot something down in my phone or the notebook beside my bed, I try to remember to transfer them to a notepad file. Every WIP has its own folder on my laptop, and every WIP folder has a notes section filed with random notepad documents. I try to give them names that will help me know when/how they’ll be relevant, like “new chapter four idea.” 

Implementing Notes

When I’m about to start a new draft, or if I know I have a bunch of notes for where I’m at in the current draft, the first thing I do is gather all of my notes in one place. This essentially means pulling up the folder with the digital notes and making sure I have all my post-its and hand written notes at hand.

The next thing I do at this point is I start a Word Document and list out the chapters as headers. (Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3...) Then, I go through all my notes and input any pertaining to chapter one under the Chapter 1 header. All notes pertaining to chapter two under the Chapter 2 header, and so on. I also try to organize within each header, so notes I know pertain to earlier in the chapter will go at the top of the list, and notes for later in the chapter will go toward the end.

I usually end up having notes that either pertain to the general story, or notes that I’m not sure where they fit in. For general notes, I do a “General Notes” header at the very top, before Chapter 1. For notes I’m not sure about, it depends on how many there are. If there are only a handful, I’ll usually stick them under “general notes” and maybe note what it pertains to in bold beside it, like if it pertains to a particular character or story element. If I have a lot of those kinds of notes, I might end up doing a separate “General Notes” document and instead of chapter headers, use headers that relate to the notes like characters, plot elements, events, story details... whatever things these notes mostly fall under.

As I start work on the next draft, I can first read through the notes under “chapter one” so I can keep them in mind while I write/revise. Then, if I’m working on a particular character or story element, I can go to the “General Notes” and see if there are any notes for that character or element.

This works well for me, so I hope it will work for you, too. If not, hopefully it will help you begin to evolve a process that does work for you! :)

(And, if you’re still building up notes, you can always go ahead and create these documents now and start filing them under the proper headings as you go. ;) )

————————————————————————————————-

Have a question? My inbox is always open, but make sure to check my FAQ and post master lists first to see if I’ve already answered a similar question. :)

[venusoliver]

The Taste of Sweet Silk on Your Lips: Chapter 10 BTS

NOTE: this post will discuss plot points from Chapter 10 of my Ao3 Fic, The Taste of Sweet Silk on Your Lips. Please refrain from reading further if you'd like to avoid any possible spoilers. Enjoy!

This chapter was difficult, to say the least.

Personal business has left me very little time to work on other things. Finals (I had finals last week and this week for some reason. Long story), trying to get onto a normal sleep schedule, and the like. Neither of those things are compatible with my "binge write at 1 AM for a few hours" habits.

I try to get a chapter out every week, but this time I was rather far from that deadline. Each extra day that ticked by made me feel more and more stressed about a chapter I hadn't even begun writing.

I had an outline, as always, but recently I've changed the course of the story dramatically. Which is fine, I've written/changed my plot outlines for each chapter to reflect those changes, but it's still a lot of new elements to think about and try to properly integrate.

There's two ways in which I've written the chapters for this fic.

Number 1: sit down and write the vast bulk of it in one sitting, usually late at night.

Pros: the chapter is cohesive, even in the first draft. The chapter usually goes up much faster.

Cons: My back will hurt immensely by the end of it. It requires a longer attention span, which I don't really have.

Number 2: Write it piece by piece whenever you get the chance over the span of a few days, and revise it in the evening. Due to constant procrastinating by yours truly, it'll end up posted late that night.

Pros: there's a lot more random, exciting elements involved. It can spur a lot of new ideas and genuine moments I wouldn't have thought of otherwise.

Cons: the consistency is lacking, which causes the revising portion of the writing to take a lot longer. Adding small paragraphs, rephrasing sentences constantly, it's a lot of work.

Notably, I wrote chapter 3 using the first method. I refused to get up and use the bathroom until I had that entire bondage performance typed out.

For chapter 10, well, I used option number two.

The outline and very beginning of the chapter was written in my bathtub. (I write quite often in my bath tub, it's a very relaxing experience!)

The bulk of it, however, was written during a free period for one of my classes— orchestral waltz music blasting in my ears to drown out the noise of the people around me.

Suffice to say, both methods are good methods. It just depends on the content of the chapter.

So far, I'm really happy with Chapter 10! I've gotten a few comments already on it, and I see a lot of surprised reactions as to the ending— when Hitch's plan is made clear to the reader.

That addition was in my most recent plot revision. No where in the past did I think I'd go in that direction— but I'm so, so happy I did.

When you introduce something in a story, it needs to have purpose and meaning. As my lovely, theatre-professor-parents like to say, "don't put a knife above the fireplace in act one if no one is going to get stabbed in act two."

Thus far, Hitch has pretty much only been a plot device. She's Annie's bondage partner, I threw in some back story, but I didn't have many plans for her after that.

But now, that's completely changed!

I was a bit stumped for a while on what direction I wanted to go after Annie and Mikasa's angsty separation.

But one night, while sitting outside in the freezing cold, I realized something.

BDSM never made an appearance again in my initial draft. My plan was to maybe throw in a light bondage scene between Annie and Mikasa whenever they finally get intimate with one another, but I didn't have a solid concept in place of the BDSM club really mattering much anymore.

But I saw it as a large element of the story.

So, again,

Don't put a knife above the fireplace in act one if no one is going to get stabbed in act two.

And that's where Hitch's plan was devised from. I couldn't be happier with how it turned out.

I hope my readers are enjoying the story thus far, and I hope that they liked the recent chapter!

[mysticmikalla]

I need advice I'm sorry for asking I know you don't know me but please I'm trying to be a content creator, have fun but I always have this problem whenever I make something. Before I post it, I always think that it's not good enough and I'll delete it. or if I'm about to audition for something, I'll stop because I'm not good enough. I need to get over this because there's an art and writing school that I really need to go to for my future, and I'm too scared. (Continued in ask 2)

(2) if I don’t go to this school, I’ll have to keep going to my home school. That place is a nightmare. That highschool breaks everyone. So many people have either commited suicide or are seriously thinking about it, and I don’t want to. I know this is way too much to ask, but may I please have some advice?

***

Okay so, first I’d like to say that I COMPLETELY understand what you’re feeling. I made my blog in January, but it took me a month and a half to get the courage to actually start posting my writing here. Its so scary, opening yourself up to rejection and criticism like that (especially when it means getting/not getting accepted into a school.)

Hell, it was such a dramatic experience applying for Saeran Zine, let alone a school. I kept finding flaw in everything I wrote, I found it either boring or melodramatic, and I kept reading my friends’ work and comparing myself and loathing my writing even more. Even when I got in, I kept raining on my own damn parade with thoughts like “I only got in because those friends of mine didn’t apply.” Like lmao I’M NEVER HAPPY with my stuff, no matter how many acceptance emails or notes I get, I’ll always find flaw in it or think of something I could have written to make it better

Then I read this one quote, which went something like, “You will never be satisfied with your art because art is never complete.”

The person who wrote this quote was talking about paintings and drawings, but it applies to writing, too. No matter how many times I write and re-write stuff, a few weeks later I’ll come back to it and think, “Damn I could have done this differently.”

So I guess this is my first advice; don’t worry about not finding your work perfect, because unless your ego Is This Huge, you won’t!! Finding it good or acceptable is a journey itself, but you’ll get there the more you write and post!

My second advice I guess is the Ten Second Of Bravery. All you need is ten seconds of “FUCK IT IMMA DO IT” to hit send, submit, post, email, etc. Just ten seconds rid of self-doubt and anxiety, that’s all you need. You can hate your work and everything later, but it’s done, its out there, and that’s all that matters.

Loving your work (or at least in my case, not hating it as much) is a slow process. The more I post, the more confident I become. That fear of posting and showcasing your work does go away the more you do it. I recently applied to something and I didn’t even think twice about it, whereas in Saeran Zine, I spent DAYS filling out the application, then quitting, then filling it out again, then closing the tab because I felt I wasn’t good enough. 

So I think you should start small! Post a few things here on tumblr, just to get comfortable with the idea of other people reading your stuff!

(I’m rambling at this point I hope this is all making sense kdjhdsjfh)

Stephen King, the Literal King Of Writing And My Heart, said something that changed my life lol. Like I used to write my first draft and then compare it to other people’s finished products, thinking that my first draft had to be already perfect. And when I heard Stephen King saying that first drafts are NEVER good, it changed my life lol. He said to just get your ideas out, as messily as you possibly can, just to get the shape of the story. Once you see the shape, you can begin to outline and sculpt it in your 2nd, 3rd or even 4th draft. So don’t be afraid of writing badly on your first draft, even Stephen King does it!! You can always go back and rewrite everything later, it doesn’t have to be perfect the first time through!

And I think the last thing I wanna say is that you shouldn’t trust your own judgement that much when it comes to your writing. Our writing always seems predictable and boring to us, of course, we wrote it! We went over the scenes and dialogue a thousand times in our head, so the element of surprise is gone. That’s why its always good to have a readers or betas to give us pointers! Not saying that you should 100% only trust someone else, but think of it like a maze; you are in the maze, your point of view is limited to whats in front of you, so its hard to see the right path, so you need a bird’s POV to guide you through it most times! (This is also a quote I read once but I’m so bad at wording things. And I dare call myself a writer? smh)

I don’t know if these made too much sense, but I hope some of it helped! It’s unfortunately very common for us content creators to love our work. Just remember that you are creating something from nothing, its very hard to do and it takes a lot of effort, and you should take a look back at it and feel proud of what you’ve accomplished, no matter how small the fic or poem or headcanon is. 

Chances are, you are A LOT better than you think, so please don’t let self-doubt and anxiety keep you from going to that school and following your dreams! 

#this is so long im sorry #but i hope some of it helps!! #i hope you do get into that school! #<3 <3 <3