#writing is hard podcast

[tyungelic]

soobin's size kink but with a slight twist~ he gets turned on by being overpowered by someone smaller than him, he's obsessed with the way you can get him down on his knees the way your smaller frame hovers over his and the way your hand can barely wrap around his thick cock as you forcibly jerk him off until he's near tears and shooting blanks, mind fuzzy and hips twitching, drool pooling out of the side of his mouth bc he's so fucked out but he wants more, he wants more and more from his sweet little goddess <3

#idk where these soob thoughts are coming from but i'm having fun! :) #sooby 🐰 #soobin hard thoughts #soobin smut #tyungelic : hard thoughts 🪽 #me writing this while listening to a tech podcast for class shdjhsg

[oomles]

Thank you for being a friend 💖

I haven't done pixel art in ages, so I made these to celebrate the anniversary of my favorite show. Happy 13 years, Friendship is Magic!

#my art #pixel art #mlp #mlp fim #mlp g4 #twilight sparkle #rarity #fluttershy #applejack #pinkie pie #rainbow dash #Shout out to the funny children's cartoon that accidentally changed the trajectory of my entire life lol #I could write entire essays about how much I love that show... but writing is hard! So I have a podcast instead! Listen to my podcast ;D

[kicktwine]

the problem is I’m such a staunch believer in the slow buildup, the earnest enjoyment of meandering through terrible story decisions and weird nothing subplots to build up into a conclusion that explodes out from all that as fantastic storytelling and intrigue based on all that buildup, such that it makes it necessary to get through all that or you’re missing something essential, that I’m also a terrible person to talk to about what makes a story good. I can tell you plenty of what actually makes something tight and well-written and all that technical speak but how could anyone take my advice when I so so so love excruciatingly long unnecessarily complex fumbling and weird nonsense that spirals into, inexplicably, weird nonsense that makes you cry your lungs sore

#kipspeak #my point being everyone is too mean about post arr. sure f’lhammin did not have to be our problem but everything after that was like #meandering. Thinking. building. unnerving. they were cooking and i RESPECT their dubious food #i love homestuck and long audio dramas and dnd podcasts and indecipherable fancomics and lego ninjas and khux and im starting to love ffxiv #all incredibly long and made with passion and kinda weird and hard to get into #said with THE MOST affection in my heart #I could structure a kids show and I know how to write for tv but in my heart of hearts #I just want to write an impossibly long absurdity epic that is weird and a little bad and also makes you feel shrimp emotions #ALSO I feel 0% bad for not respecting ur theory or opinion if you haven’t played khux/dr/recoded I don’t feel bad about it at all I’m right #understand what’s going on in them and I’ll respect your theories. it’s like comics enjoyers but less chaotic #don’t let me get into comics. superheroes never really catch my interest but if you let me get into comics I’d explode #‘it gets really good’ is a genuine way to interest me #also don’t let me get into anime that do this. I already watched a thousand episodes of detective Conan— #maybe it’s a careful balance of weird and Good Storytelling Seeds. it has to have internal logic for one; and it has to have a structure #It has to be leading somewhere. and I want to see where it leads #we are GOING through the disney worlds. all of them. they are COOKING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[cutestkilla]

Happy Sunday and thanks for the tags today @artsyunderstudy @alleycat0306 @youarenevertooold @alexalexinii and @bookish-bogwitch. I love your shares as always!

Today from me, some sentences from Chapter 2 of Hiding Out In The Open, which I updated yesterday. (Context: This is my gift fic for @artsyunderstudy about Simon and Baz bonding over a psych podcast.) WAY more than six because I'm absolutely not capable of finding a six sentence snip right now.

“follow up question: www.invisiblemind.org/who-are-you-at-2-am” The episode’s main guest is a data scientist. He’s speaking about how our web search histories reveal hidden things about our preferences and biases, even our health. Which is all very interesting, except Snow sent this to me, and I’m a bit stuck on just how much of the research hinges on people having searched for, shall we say, erotic materials. How is he expecting me to respond to this? With an insult, probably. Only now—thanks to learning all about the correlation between the unemployment rate and pornographic search traffic—all I can come up with is ‘jobless wanker’. And I won’t be sending that. (Can’t think about Snow touching himself.) (Not while we’re chatting. That would be crossing a line, I think.) (Also, I’m in public.) I parry instead. “You do realise it’s two in the afternoon right now, don’t you?” I send. “Have you gotten your days mixed up from your nights again? Here’s a hint: next time, look for the big flaming ball in the sky.” “don’t you want to know who *i* am at 2am?” he replies. And that’s my plan to not think about Snow wanking out the window.

Tags under the cut!

@ivelovedhimthroughworse @hushed-chorus @iamamythologicalcreature @shrekgogurt @raenestee @facewithoutheart @fatalfangirl @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @whatevertheweather @thewholelemon @whogaveyoupermission @forabeatofadrum @wellbelesbian @larkral @captain-aralias @shemakesmeforget @valeffelees @aristocratic-otter @angelsfalling16 @aroace-genderfluid-sheep @yeonjunenby @cosmicalart @j-nipper-95 @confused-bi-queer @nightimedreamersworld @brilla-brilla-estrellita @ileadacharmedlife @onepintobean @orange-peony @theearlgreymage @stitchyqueer @prettygoododds @technetiumai @skeedelvee @moodandmist @martsonmars and anyone else who wants to share!

#six sentence sunday #my writing #hiding out in the open #it's hard to share six sentences of podcast banter because it needs so much context #AH WELL #when i go high concept i go all the way

[electromignion]

“Try to escape… Jeremy Bradshaw…”

(I wanted something to sound low-key ominous jsjsjsjs) a close close friend gave me the prompt “try to escape now” (or something sounding like that) and then I thought about the hand drawing trend I saw and then my brain was like boom what if: Jeremy Bradshaw escaping his thoughts, the Bridgewater Triangle monsters and yada yada yada??? So here you are!!

It was a struggle to take pics of my hands in so many angles to make the composition look interesting and also this is my first time trying out acrylic paint markers (which are more like pen brushes and not Poscas!) I had a very limited palette without many dark colours so yeah! (And also funfact I own this brown zip jacket)

Once again! If you have any prompts about Bridgewater you wanna see drawn don’t hesitate to share them!!

#bridgewater podcast fanart #jeremy bradshaw fanart #bridgies #bridgewater fanart #jeremy bradshaw #bridgewater #bridgewater podcast #fanart #brainrot is brainrotting #misha collins fanart #acrylic paint markers #idk what im doing #drawing hands is hard #but I love drawing hands #drawing hands #traditional drawing #I love Jeremy Bradshaw idk if you’ve noticed already #I had an university creative writing assignment and talked about Jeremy last semester my prof told me Jeremy is like my comfort blanket #she ain’t wrong #Jeremy Bradshaw is my comfort blanket

[kvothes]

.

#somehow despite literally Today being invited on a poetry podcast to share my poetry #i am convinced. that i am in fact a bad writer and none of my poems are any good and i will never write anything worth reading ever again #and good lord is this belief and fear burrowed deep #so somehow. i have to dredge through this. and find a poem. to read on this podcast #lol and lmao and things of that ilk #finding it very hard to write poems lately and this! isn’t! helping! #personal #delete later

[tinyblackturtle]

when Durretar said: "Rodents in my lair... and kittens who the think they're cats."

Brian Murphy you fucking poet.

#c3e27 #47:27 #he writes lines sometimes that just #go SO hard for no fucking reason #and i have to like rewind to listen again bc it's so good #naddpod #not another dnd podcast

[perenlop]

gonna say something that's probably gonna piss some people off.

"media literacy is dead" discourse has gotten to the point where i think some of yall are only a few steps removed from "we can't let our kids watch spongebob, it might turn them gay" parents

#trying very hard not to overshare bc this kinda left me w a lot of issues growing up #but like. my family wasnt QUITE the ''spongebob makes you gay'' brand mostly bc my mom didnt care that much on her own #but the adults in my family growing up were genuinely that post thats like ''looney tunes is sick. its twisted... its so violent and evil.' #and its getting harder and harder to not see the parallels between some of the shit theyd say #and the people who were apparently like ''tma is disgusting... the creator is a sick freak for writing horror in a horror podcast...'' #to the point they harassed the creator despite them putting up cws for each episode and the podcast being a horror podcast #like congrats youre only a few steps removed from my conservative aunt who banned some CN shows for being too evil #like its the same attitude as ''this makes me uncomfortable. it must be morally evil.'' no matter what that may be #echoed voice

[justanotherspeck]

s1 my beloved

transcript below the cut:

CASPAR: Anyway, this is Midnight Burger. I’m Caspar.

AVA (Outside): FUCK. YES.

CASPAR: That’s Ava, she’s always here.

AVA: (Outside) NICOTINE, GET IN ME.

CASPAR: And this is a... diner.

GLORIA: Are you sure?

--

CASPAR: The huge murder beast is having a coffee break

--

ZEBULON: For our marriage is made strong by a singular truth.

EFFIE: That divorce is an abomination.

ZEBULON: … And that we love each other very much.

EFFIE: Yes, also that.

--

THE EX: You can’t let that stand in the way of true love.

LEIF: Honey, you lay eggs.

THE EX: Why do you keep bringing that up?!

LEIF: It’s an important detail!

--

GLORIA: Do you ever feel like Leif is almost too relaxed? He goes with the flow no matter what, it’s weird.

AVA: Oh yeah? Watch this. Hey, Leif?

LEIF (In the kitchen): Yeah?

AVA: I’ve been thinking about it and, I don’t know, I still feel like a hot dog is a sandwich.

[POTS CRASHING.]

LEIF (In the kitchen): For fuck’s sake!

--

MARY: Can you help me?

CASPAR: What’s happening?

MARY: The officer outside, he’s been looking for me for days. I’ve managed to avoid him so far but now that’s him outside. Can you hide me somewhere? This desperate plea is brought to you by Arby’s. Arby’s, we have the meats.

---

LEIF: This Molotov Cocktail is brought to you by communism!

[BOTTLE SMASHING]

--

EFFIE: Yes, yes, of course. Our Lord is a God of peace.

ZEBULON: Indeed.

EFFIE: Unless you’re a merchant outside the temple, then look out for the chokehold of Jesus.

ZEBULON: Honey!

--

CASPAR: Ava, what are you doing?

AVA: I’m getting this jug of moonshine and going out in the parking lot to watch a fist fight. Suck on that, Stephen Hawking.

--

CASPAR: Oh, no. What are we going to do without all the essential work you do around here? Who will do the incredibly hard work of being an asshole to people?

AVA: That’s not work, that’s how I relax.

CASPAR: Well you must be really relaxed.

---

STEVE: We had come upon a binary star system. I looked upon these two stars rotating around their barycenter and my thoughts turned to my wife. We were like these two stars, locked into an eternal dance only due to chance and gravity, unable to recall a moment where we chose each other and unable to escape this rotation. Knowing that to move closer would obliterate us both.

CASPAR: This went from fun idea to Russian novel real fast.

--

STEVE: Hello, my friends. I am about to go on a date.

CASPAR: Yeah, we heard... uhhh nice work, buddy.

LEIF: Go get ‘em, tiger.

STEVE: I have no idea how to go on a date.

CASPAR: Oh.

LEIF: Shit, okay, uh...

CASPAR: Um... Ask her about her job.

LEIF: Yeah, her life in general.

CASPAR: Listen a lot.

LEIF: Don’t try and be funny.

CASPAR: Try sharing a secret with her.

LEIF: If she asks you to do something illegal, it may be a test.

CASPAR: What?

LEIF: Really gauge the situation at that point, is she kidding or does she actually want to do crimes?

CASPAR: What are you talking about?

LEIF: This is good advice.

CASPAR: Where, the Pirate Isle of Tortuga?

--

EFFIE: Caspar, thanks for being with us today.

CASPAR (Whispering): So great to be here, go fuck yourself.

--

CASPAR: Gloria, we’re going to have to go.

GLORIA: Oh, man. Okay. Guys, gather round.

[HEARTBREAKING MUSIC]

CASPAR: What the hell is that music?

[WOLVES WIMPERING]

GLORIA: V, Jungkook, Jimin, Suga, Jin, RM, J-Hope. I want you to know that I love you all very much. But I have my own pack, and I have to go run with them now.

EFFIE: (Fighting back tears) It’s... so hard to hear her say goodbye to the wolves.

ZEBULON (Also crying): I didn’t realize she named them after the members of BTS.

--

CASPAR: We should get one of those signs that says “This many days since an accident”.

LEIF: Yeah, except ours would say “This many days since your sentient radio quoted the Egyptian Book of the Dead, switched personalities, or steered you into a supermassive black hole.”

CASPAR: ...That’s way too long for a sign, Leif.

GLORIA: Yeah, Leif, that’s—

--

CASPAR: As a straight white male you know one thing about me: I’ve watched a lot of History Channel.

--

GLORIA: Okay, I’m thinking a chair, some rope, and I’ll pour hot coffee on her, let’s do some Guantanamo shit.

JANE (Overlapping): It’s no use, guys.

--

GLORIA: Did the doors to the diner just lock?

CASPAR: They did. Effie, what in the Amityville Horror is happening right now?

--

JANE: Does having you kidnapped maybe count as a romantic gesture at all?

--

CASPAR, narrating: In Ava’s defense, she was unilaterally putting everyone in danger... That doesn’t make it better, does it?

--

AVA: I am going to rip your balls off!

CASPAR: Oh, don’t threaten me with a good time.

#midnight burger #midnight burger podcast #podcast recommendation #i love them all so much #also #i finally figured out audio transitions #was not that hard #but also #this took me way longer than i thought #writing. voice acting. dynamics. all so good. #who else is doing is like midnight burger #i mean actually who is bc i need to know. none of my podcasts are updating/updating frequently and im losing it #lord knows if i'll do this for any other season tbh #i also was tempted to animate this but i ran into two problems: motivation and lack of skill #so it'll stay in my head lmao

[quaranmine]

Missing 411 guy?

David Paulides, the guy who is the creator of "Missing 411" which is basically a conspiracy about suspicious clusters of people going missing in National Parks in the United States. He is also the bane of my existence for the past year as someone who is researching a story about someone who goes missing in a National Forest.

To start with, if you've ever been even on the fringes of "irl spooky stuff" videos on YouTube, you might have encountered this. There are a lot of youtubers and podcasters who cover this guy's content without understanding What and Who they are giving platform to. Sometimes, people don't even mention him but will relate the cases that he covers in his books or use the same conspiracy points as him. I would not be suprised if you watched a Buzzfeed Unsolved/Watcher video (which are fine btw) and then got recommended something related to Missing 411 in the sidebar since it's a similar genre. It's super popular to the point where its outgrown its creator. I can't stress enough that many of you have probably encountered this content, at least in passing, without knowing what it was.

So to recap, Missing 411 documents cases of real-life people who have disappeared or been found dead in national parks, national forests, etc and claims that these cases are unusual and mysterious. It frequently talks about missing person "clusters" and things like that. There is often an overt, if not outrightly stated, implication that something supernatural, crpytid, or UFO/alien related was involved. For starters, David Paulides has written a ton of books trying to prove the existence of bigfoot. Now, I have no issues with people believing in bigfoot, or cryptids, or aliens, but I do have an issue with people co-opting real life tragedies and twisting information to push this as conspiracy. I simply do not think it is helpful or respectful to talk about missing and dead people (and children!) like this. Also, with the high prices of his books ($100-200) he just reeks of grifter to me.

To me, Missing 411 "criteria" is a stretch at best. You will see cases "mysteriously" connected because both of these people wore red when they went missing. Both these people's bodies were found near water (as if many National Park do not have water features.) Both these people's bodies were found near granite rocks (like, the most common rock type in mountains lol.) All these cases involve the weather turning bad! (um, yeah, that's a big reason why people get in trouble?) He frequently claims that bodies being undressed is highly unusual, without ever acknowledging paradoxical undressing. Or he claims laughably weak connections between people like "these two women who went missing in different years are connected because they both had three letter names that started with A." I haven't personally listened to this talk but there is a data scientist mentioned in his Wikipedia page who examined the case data and found nothing out of the ordinary in them. If you don't want to watch a video (I don't either right now) then he also wrote this article. From a different person, this article from a podcast is also good.

David Paulides does not present Missing 411 cases with accuracy. He has been known to cherry-pick data and purposefully omit data to make them seem more unusual. Many cases he covers are either already solved, or have extensive information available. He does not retract information or admit when he is wrong. Even if he does present a particular case accurately, he has such a bad track record with reliable research that he cannot be trusted as a source. There used to be someone on reddit who would deconstruct cases he covered. In this post they found several instances of cases of Paulides missing sources and coming to incorrect conclusions.

Note there's a few differences in the sources I just linked. The data scientist and podcast skeptic both said they found the data to be accurate, while the redditors have found evidence to the contrary. The data scientist also says he found Paulides' presentation of information respectful, but I personally find all of this highly disrespectful. But despite these differences I think we can all agree....the claims of Missing 411 are pretty ridiculous.

Also, let's talk about David Paulides himself. Before becoming a writer, he was a cop in California. He was a cop who was fired for corruption (well that's hard to do), because he was caught soliciting donations for a fake charity he set up. That's straight from his Wikipedia page. He continues to use his past as a "dectective" to attempt to make his claims sound more reliable. There was also a redditor who pulled up some other career highlights from when he was a cop in the 80s, by looking at court transcripts and news articles. His job used to be entrap gay men by pretending to be gay, getting them to invite him home with them, and then arresting then. He and his unit were also accused of police brutality many times in the 80s, with Paulides testifying in defense of his unit. And he has not changed btw, he's a Qanon stolen election covid denier type of nut right now on his YouTube channel (according to reddit. I am not watching this man's videos.) So yeah, I think his character speaks for itself.

Anyway, I'm tired of hearing about this guy and seeing 411 related content pop up around YouTube, Reddit, Tiktok, etc. Pay attention if you watch things related to "creepy and unexplained real life disappearnaces." I do not think he is a good person, I do not think he can be trusted, and I do not think that his work actually benefits the families of the missing persons in question. These are real people. He turns them into spectacles to push ~unusual~ circumstances and paranormal activity.

#helppp can u tell i hate this dude #i have formed a deep abiding dislike of him after being subjected to his content #near constantly while working on my au #DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO RESEARCH MISSING PERSONS CASES IN NATIONAL FORESTS??? #AND GETTING LEGIT RESULTS THAT DON'T MENTION MISSING 411??? I SEE HIM LIKE EVERY GOOGLE SEARCH #i have literally had to scrap information from sources because i consider mentioning missing 411 and david paulides #as an instant negative on a site's credibility for research #i started doing research on certain parts of my fic by writing -missing 411 in the search bar to exclude results mentioning it #quara asks #also i recognize that using reddit posts and podcast episodes to 'debunk' things this guy says is not necessarily a reliable source either #but it's not like something relatively niche like this is going to get some Big Official Takedown. #it's gonna be the redditors that dig into it #anyway you can tell that even in his official subreddit people are starting to hate him #whereas i first encountered missing 411 back in 2019 and people were into it hook line and sinker #but now even among his fans there's much more distrust

[seenandnotheardpod]

Behind the scenes of season two:

(Screenshot from Discord. Caro's avatar is a selfie of them with black glasses. Their message reads "Ivy's entire solution to every problem is just "I'm just gonna be cheerful at it until it goes away" Bet's more of a HIT IT WITH A HAMMER type")

#audio drama #podcast #seen and not heard #deaf #hard of hearing #writing

[breathing-stories]

I really like lyric games and how wacky, wild, and diverse they are. I wanna write about them, talk about them, make more and more of them

The last one feels easy to do, the other 2 less so :(

#lyric games #ttrpgs #indie ttrpg #why is writing so hard #yes I am considering a podcast #BUT THEN I STILL GOTTA WRITE SCRIPTS #advice welcome

[perfectlyripeclementine]

the best thing i ever did as a writer was start looking up my favorite authors’ names in my podcast app. i have a Fancy Degree(tm) and while i gained a lot it i didn’t learn a fraction as much from my formal schooling as i have from just listening to writers talk about their craft. hearing people talk about their own work and why they made the choices they made has taught me more than any workshop or seminar has. it has often given me the feeling of learning directly from my idols. people like ursula le guin may no longer be with us on this earth but we can still learn from them - not only from their work but from how they thought about their work. bell hooks has spoken on lots of podcasts.

plus, looking authors up leads me to podcasts i like with hosts who i think ask inquisitive questions who then lead me to other books that i wouldn’t necessarily have picked up in a store but that end up really informing my practice.

a couple of my favorite podcasts include the longform, between the covers, and thresholds. those are a good start. this most recent episode of between the covers a lot of topics that folks who like my writing on here might be interested in.

#a few ppl have asked me how i learned to write #and i never rly know what to say #and i like #forget that i actually worked really hard at this skill #and one of the ways i did that is by listening to like #idk #probably hundreds of hours of podcasts like this over the years #i listen while i’m cooking or cleaning #helps my brain enormously #writing ref

[manyfandomsonelog]

Was going to make a post about how I’ve yet to see a single person who isn’t a Sasha Wire apologist at least a little bit, because I feel like we’re all Sasha Wire apologists here, and then I realized that it makes complete sense that we all on some level still believe in Sasha Wire, because the show has taught us to.

Because Sasha Wire is a direct parallel to season one Juno Steel. They’re narrative foils. We’ve already been through this with Juno, we’ve seen him go down the same emotional path as Sasha, but the key difference is that Sasha underwent that path at Dark Matters, making the consequences of her actions and the length of her fall much larger than Juno’s. But of course we have trouble faulting her for it, because time and time again the story has looked at us and said “sometimes people make terrible choice, and those choices are wrong, but that doesn’t change the fact that they’re human beings, and it doesn’t mean that they can’t change”, and it’s said it over and over and over again, with Juno, with Jet, even with characters like Jack Takano, Sarah Steel, with Mag, though they don’t always change, they’re still people. The Penumbra makes sure that the listener sees that even the people who make the worst choices are still people, and so like. Yeah. Of course we’re all Sasha Wire apologists. It would go against the lessons this show has been teaching us not to be.

#also she’s a beloved character who we saw get slowly corrupted so it’s hard to write her off but that’s a different point #also I’m sure there are probably some non-Sasha Wire apologists out there I just haven’t personally seen any lol #sasha wire #the penumbra podcast #tpp #tpp season 4

[not-poignant]

Hi there! I absolutely love your works and, having followed you for a while now, I also really admire you as a person and an author in general. Every update on AO3 and Tumblr is always such a delight. I'm sorry if this ask is coming out of the blue or if it's something you've been asked before, but how did you take the plunge from writing predominantly fanfic to posting original fiction in serial form and also self-publishing novels? I'm currently in the process of drafting two original works after writing/posting fanfic regularly for years, and I'm just lost as to how to set everything up. I have a general idea (post chapter-by-chapter on AO3 and offer early access and some exclusive content on patreon or some other subscription service), but it all feels so daunting right now. Any bit of info or advice on how you got started would be immensely appreciated <3

Hi anon,

Tbh, I went from writing fanfic to original fiction because I had original characters in my fanfiction and readers asked me about them.

I had no kind of...dreams of being an original author in this way, I was published via other pathways already, and fanfiction was really an escape for me, a chance to break with all the conventions of standard writing and just do what I wanted.

But I needed a broader cast than what the movie gave me re: my first fanfics, and I added my own OCs, and left them in the background as much as possible, but even back while writing that fanfic, even the OCs were getting fanart. Sometimes readers would send me anons about them, or ask me more details about them.

Finally, I decided to write some hatesex between them, just something to kind of...idk get it out of my system? Answer what the readers were looking for?

The flow through therefore felt natural. Game Theory flows very naturally on from From the Darkness We Rise & Into Shadows We Fall. And from there, moving into other original works has been easy, in part, because I've often being doing alternate universes from a core of original characters.

If I want to introduce new original characters, I introduce them in stories where pre-existing original characters have already been established.

I didn't even start writing original works with a view to making money off that. In fact I thought it was a very foolish thing to do. A lot of people on AO3 don't want to read original works on AO3 and refuse to do it or only do it if it's PWP / pornography.

I started my Patreon account because readers asked me to. I got asks from very very generous people who wanted to know my Paypal, or asked if I'd start a Ko-Fi, and finally a few people just asked if I'd start a Patreon. I said I didn't think it was a good idea, and they said it was up to them if they wanted to pay me or not, but I should at least consider giving them the choice.

From there, I found it all very overwhelming. I made lots of mistakes. I had to go on hiatus for a year because I promised too much and couldn't deliver on many of those rewards. And for many years I only offered one early access chapter per week for one story, and my main stories were never early access (and still aren't, Underline the Black goes up for everyone at the same time - and while that may change in the future, it's definitely unconventional).

I've always been transparent with my readers that with very few exceptions, if they just wait, they eventually get everything for free. But if they want to support this kind of writing and/or enjoy it, and can comfortably afford to send some dollars my way, they can ensure that I can keep writing this way.

I have for a long time offered no exclusive content at all, I believe that can do well, but it's not my preferred way of doing things.

This career has been incredibly reader driven, anon. I would not personally attempt it cold, without a really fantastic readerbase who encouraged me every step of the way in the first place, because I am a cautious, insecure writer who doesn't like to take risks. So I can't give you advice on how to build this career without the support of the readers there in the first place, and I believe the only reason why I had their support was, in part, because of the actual strength of the writing itself. Which isn't to say it's the best, it's not, it's what I needed at the time and it's what a few other people needed, and that's basically how this works.

If you turn up with the writing, and the audience comes, and they want the story, you have the career.

In terms of practical advice - you can introduce original characters in fanfiction, just be aware that readers tend to be hostile by default if they pull any significant 'screen time' away from the fandom characters (and readers are extremely savvy to authors trying to build a financial business through AO3)

It IS daunting, but the good news is you can do a soft launch. You can open a Patreon or Ream account tomorrow and tell no one. You can mess with your graphics and your tier rewards to your heart's content when you don't have any subscribers. Build a buffer of early access/chapters, and make sure you don't overpromise on anything. Whatever you think you can realistically deliver to readers, cut it in half, because the stress of chapter update deadlines every month can really add up and it's a very different landscape to novel releases.

You can take your time, you can build interest slowly.

Remember you can never ever mention any kind of site where you're getting paid inadvertently, sneakily, or directly on AO3. You can't mention Ream, you can't mention Patreon, you can't mention Ko-Fi, you can't go 'learn more about my writing here' and link to those places. You can't mention buy links. You can only mention sites like Tumblr, Linktree, Twitter etc. Places where the point of sale isn't happening. Not doing so risks AO3's Not For Profit status and risks your entire account, and it's not worth it.

I did an interview with Subscriptions for Authors where I actually talk about many of these things so you can watch (or listen to) the podcast here if you're inclined! It also talks about the importance of community-building, gratitude to the readers, and generosity.

I am here because my readers wanted me to be. So I'm very concerned with making sure I can give them the best writing possible within my abilities. This makes me not very suited to offering 'how to start in this career' advice because it was a happy accident. It's hard to teach something I have never done your way myself, anon, because I worry I'd give bad advice. My writing had people turning up, but I'm not sure anything else I did, added much! I think responding to Tumblr asks and replying to every comment helped too! But...I don't know for sure.

But this career path does make me pretty well suited to offering 'how to keep this going' advice, because I've been doing this for ten years. <3333

#asks and answers #pia on writing #pia on subscription #pia on fandom #i don't know how i got this lucky #but i do know that i stay lucky because i work hard on the writing #so the writing is where it's at #i've been thinking a lot lately on drafting some kind of course on #how to write hooky serials #but if you're writing novels/books that won't be very suitable to you! #i'm not writing serials to turn them into novels #i'm just writing straight up serials that are very messy and difficult to turn into novels lol #idk i do all of this ass backwards #and recently just pulled out of giving a speech on my success as a disabled author #because i actually feel like i'm not good at what i'm doing in a way that is tangibly useful to others #if nothing else anon #make sure you join the Subscription for Authors Facebook #and watch some of the podcasts on YouTube #Christopher Hopper's keynote speech is particularly good

[spherekuriboh]

'you dont have any hobbies outside of media consumption lol' has this really specific like-- i don't know. it feels like a very ungenerous way to frame an audience, even though to be an audience member is to consume the media. i dunno. i think that that's an unhealthy way to frame your relationship to anything anyone else made? which is most things. like i dont think you've tainted the generative quality of knitting if youre listening to a podcast in the meantime...? i'm trying to pin down why exactly the idea makes me feel slimy. first of all its from tiktok which is already (wrings my hand) but like. "what do you do if you aren't reading watching playing or listening" has a very odd tilt i can't quite wrap my hands around.

#i like to write but when i write fanfic im participating in transformative fandom which is so intimately related to ''media consumption'' #that it feels almost ridiculous to count them as different things. but it is writing. it is generative. #can you call drawing a hobby in the tags of that post if all you do is post doodles about the show of the week? #because that *is* drawing! but it falls into the derisive cast of the original tiktok #which implies that your entire personality is media you consume if you don't do anything outside of the broad net of consuming media?? #like i think having quote-unquote 'other' hobbies is important. we've all seen the terminal online-ness of Some Fandom People. #but if you have time to read books and listen to podcasts and watch movies that is three things you like to do and it doesnt make one bad?? #idk i feel like the oop is taking swings at... screen time? fandom? i don't know but i feel odd about it #if you arent framing your response to the question like IM NOT LIKE *THAT GUY* then it's hard to form a response at all?