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panlight · 1 year

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A few minor tweaks that would have made Twilight a more cohesive story:

Don't kill Victoria in Eclipse; her gift is evasion, if anyone could escape, it's her! Actually, don't kill Laurent either. He dies off screen, it wouldn't really change anything. He can get his original happy ending with Irina.

Make the "Riley" Mike Newton, or Eric Yorkie, or Tyler Crowley. Someone Bella knew, someone local. In the book we don't meet Riley until his death scene so why should we care about him? The horror and tragedy of one of Bella's schoolmates being used and corrupted by Victoria would be much more narratively satisfying, and would give the human kids like, a purpose in the story other than existing to love or be jealous of Bella.

Tempted to do something similar with Bree, but it might be overkill to have two kids from Forks end up in the Seattle newborn army. So EITHER make 'the Riley' someone Bella knew, or 'the Bree' but maybe not both.

If we must stick with the basic Breaking Dawn outline, then Victoria living to the end of the story keeps the flow of the original antagonist. If the "Riley" survives he can be the one to report Renesmee's existence to the Volturi (as he did in Forever Dawn), if not, Victoria can get someone else to do it.

Name drop more of the Breaking Dawn visiting vampires earlier in the series. The only ones we had really heard about before were Peter & Charlotte and the Denali 'cousins.' I don't know about anyone else, but my impression from the first three books were that these were like, the only people willing to put up with the weirdo Cullens. Them suddenly having loads of friends willing to risk their lives for them felt like it came out of nowhere. It was fun to meet Peter & Charlotte and the Denali because we had heard of them before; everyone else felt like they came out of nowhere. Maybe when Bella is getting a tour of the house there can be gifts from other vampires ("is that . . . is that an Ancient Egyptian canopic jar?" "Oh, yes, a gift from Carlisle's friend Amun), or name them specifically in Eclipse when they are trying to find people to help them after the Denali refuse.

Have a few more vamps (other than Garrett) go vegetarian in the end. There's this whole big speech about about how special this diet makes them and then like . . . no follow up at all. Whatever you think of the premise of vegetarian vampires, it's just unsatisfying that it doesn't really go anywhere. The only convert is Garrett, who does it for Kate, not actually because he was inspired by the Cullens or whatever.

Okay this one isn't minor but: JACOB! FIGHT! THE IMPRINT! That seemed to be what his character was set up for. He's the one to champion falling in love the normal way. He's the one who resents choices being taken away from him. Him fighting an imprint and winning seems like a much more natural arc for him than becoming supernaturally obsessed with a half-vampire baby. The shifters and vampires reluctantly working together in Eclipse to protect Forks/La Push was much more interesting than them being forced to because of Jacob's imprint.

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thegnomelord · 2 months

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was thinking about drawing Ifrit from "Hell has a basement floor" and had some headcanons on his appearance.

on one hand i was thinking to make him tall and burly, built big to store all the mana and power he has, make him built like a volcano.

on the other.... what if and hear me out.... Ifrit.... skinny. tall and gangly, long limbs, underfed, outlines of bones poking out from underneath the skin, sunken eyes for that extra unsettling factor. besides magic does have a cost. maybe it's just your body that needs to be exchanged.

now i thought of the second hc because tall and skinny isn't exactly associated with the kind of brute force Ifrit has but he's still strong even if his lifestyle is gonna put him in an early grave. now imagine when he's finally part of tf 141 they notice that he's not very well in the food and weight department for his height and the amount of energy he spends so... they start feeding him (especially Price and Soap because protect and care hoard/pack)......

i've also been getting into the trope where characters gain weight as a sign of health and living a better life. so yeah tell me what you think

and maybe share your hcs on Ifrits appearance because i don't want to butcher your creation on accident

Okay 1: you have no idea how happy it makes me when I hear ppl want to draw fan art of my stuff :DD, internally I'm like that dog video where the dogs happily tapping his paws lol bc he can't contain his excitement lol. And also yeah, I'm a huge sucker for the trope and your little idea with Price amd Soap tickles my brain.

And 2: man you did some mind reading bc your hcs are actually very close to what I've made up for the lore of the whole au. While I want to overall leave Ifrit's body type ambiguous to give readers some space to imagine themselves in Ifrit's place, Ifrit is 100% underweight with more of a volleyball/basketball player type build, as mages focus on stamina and endurance rather than raw strength bc that can be augmented with magic. Also has stretch marks because their weight fluctuates a lot lol

Okay lore spoilers so if y'all want to find out through the story skip this-

Okay so— magic is increadibly taxing on the body, not just by eating away flesh and creating mage marks as a Mage's power grows, but just by simply existing inside the body magic stresses the body. Because fundamentally magic is toxic to humans, and even mages who have the needed adaptations to utilise magic are no better than our ancestors when they were first learning to stand on two legs.

The best metaphor I have for magic is chemo drugs. They're used to kill a cancer but they also damage healthy cells. Magic, similarly, damages the body by existing inside it, but also is used by mages to heal the damage as soon as it happens. This uses a lot of calories and also why mages have really irregular weights, losing 10kg in a week isn't an uncommon thing.

Someone possessing even half of Ifrit's capabilities would need to eat 3x that of a regular human of the same height and weight. Mages are literally Shaggy from Scooby Doo lol. And that's only to get the bare minimum their body needs, caloric need becomes much bigger if they're active like Ifrit is. So you'll find that many mages, but especially military ones, are underweight and need to regularly get Iv fluids and nutrients to help their body recover from using magic. They also need to eat a lot of highly caloric food, which isn't easy when one of the most common side effects of magic use is puking your guts up.

Most military mages don't reach 30. The average life expectancy is around 25, with active duty (i.e. constant missions and daily magic use) mages lasting on average 3-4 years before their body basically breaks down, but they can last longer depending on how conservatively they use magic.

Now, knowing all that, Ifrit has been actively using strong magic on par with military mages since they were 14-15 years old and while they're not the healthiest, they're healthy as a horse when compared to most mages. The reason behind their continued survival — their mage marks.

#gnome's tea break #gnome correspondence #hell has a basement floor series #hell has a basement floor lore

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sincerely-sofie · 4 months

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Seeing as you have finished writing the script for your AU thingy, I wanna know, how?

Like, were you motivated the whole time? Or was it a on and off writing type thing?

i'm trying to write but I don't know if I have the motivation...

How did you keep the motivation if so?

Oh man. I have so much to say about writing and creativity that I could make an entire series of posts talking about the subject, but I'll try to keep things orderly and brief.

Disclaimer: I should let you know that I have never finished a writing project before recently finishing my TPiaG AU. Keep that in mind when reading the advice I offer— the tips I give have only been put into work in my own life over the course of the last couple of months, but they’ve proven very effective in my experience!

Sofie Creativity Tips Episode 1, go!!!

Was I motivated the whole time I was writing TPiaG / How did I stay motivated?

Absolutely not. If I hadn’t provided myself a detailed chapter-by-chapter outline for TPiaG before starting the writing process, I would have given up thanks to a mix of writer’s block and absent motivation. Motivation is a fickle muse and prone to ditching me for months on end, so I’ve adapted by trying not to rely on it, but also by creating new motivation rather than clinging to past motivation. I create motivation for myself in two ways: removing friction when writing and being my own fandom.

Removing friction is pretty simple— I create very detailed chapter outlines that remove any fear of writer’s block, set up my devices in a way to make it easy to access my manuscripts and notes, download premade writing playlists that have Pomodoro session break timers built into them, and more. Anything that makes the writing process easier to get into and enjoy doing, I make sure to incorporate into my life.

Being my own fandom is less intuitive, but a thousand times more rewarding in terms of motivation. I make memes of my characters. I write self-indulgent snippets on the side. I make AUs of my own work. I make playlists and save audio clips that suit the characters. I draw comics exploring concepts that might not get into the manuscript itself but that I want to make content for regardless. Basically, I dive in deep into the story, characters, and world, and try to do so with the enthusiasm that I give other people’s projects.

(That part is extra fun, because if I have a headcanon, it automatically becomes canon to whatever AU or original project I’m working on. I have all the power in the world when working like this, and it’s very fun.)

What changed and made it so I finished my first ever written project?

This isn’t exactly what was asked, but because I have eschewed motivation as the main driving force in my writing process, I figured I’d give another insight into how TPiaG went against the pattern of half-started and swiftly abandoned projects that came before it and actually got finished. Late into October, I adopted a new method of producing first drafts. Previously, I would spend weeks polishing the same chapter and would only move on to the next chapter once the current one was perfect. My new method is the complete opposite. I’ve started calling it Writing BFF:

Write bad

Write fast

Write fun

First up, write bad. The point of this is not to waste your time writing prettily during your first draft. Don’t bother agonizing over how to reword that one sentence to be more elegant when it does the job well enough to get its point across. Don’t go off on a 30-minute research tangent in the middle of a writing session because you want to fact-check that one detail and make sure it’s perfectly accurate when you could just put a placeholder detail in brackets and CTRL+F search and plug in something accurate later on. Don’t write pretty, write bad. And be okay with it. You can’t edit an empty page, so fill the page with as much garbage as possible so that you can turn it into gold later on.

Next, write fast. This is only effective when paired with writing bad. Don’t pause, don’t hesitate, don’t deliberate. Write as much as you can and do it as fast as you can. This idea is best illustrated by Chris Fox’s book 5,000 Words Per Hour, where he talks about increasing your WPM (words per minute) and how it makes everything about your writing better. The person who creates a beautiful first draft once every three years is doing okay, but the person who cranks out a complete manuscript every three months learns leagues more about writing than the first person does by the end of three years. The second person has practiced outlining, drafting, editing, publishing, and more with every manuscript completed. The faster you write, the better you get, because practice makes perfect and quantity begets quality.

Finally, write fun. I write what I enjoy, and if I’m not enjoying it, I pivot the project so that I enjoy it again. I like writing deeply personal stories, so pretty much everything I write is heavily based on my life and experiences— TPiaG included. Grovyle’s portrayal is deeply influenced by my experience being an elder sibling who has been a bad example of self-talk, and cleaned up my act because my younger sister started echoing how I spoke to myself. Dusknoir’s portrayal is informed by my experiences with being the therapist / mom friend in different social circles as well as attending actual formal therapy. Twig is the character that my experiences have the greatest influence on in her portrayal, and I joke about her being a self-insert, but ultimately all of the characters are self-inserts to some extent. I also enjoy low-stakes and slow slice-of-life stories that are driven by character growth. If I ever stop having fun with a project, I inject more of myself and my preferences into my work to get it back into my favor.

TL;DR / Writing advice lightning round

Write as badly as possible as quickly as possible, and have fun as you do it. Momentum yields motivation and stagnancy yields doubt. Editing comes only after the first draft is complete. Be your own fandom and your project’s biggest fan. Give yourself direction and ward against writer’s block by making detailed chapter-by-chapter outlines. Make the writing process as easy and enjoyable as possible. Motivation is a lie and if you chase after it instead of making your own, you’ll be writing on hard mode for the rest of your life. Reject perfectionism, embrace flawesomeness.

If I didn’t answer your question right, let me know! I’ll do my best to correct it.

#creativity tips with sofie #sofie answers asks #sofie says stuff #writing #writing advice #writing tips #writing motivation #writer advice #writer tips #writers on tumblr #writerscommunity #writers of tumblr

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nomsfaultau · 22 days

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thank you so much for writing mandatory family reunion. i just reread it for the eighth time. i think im going to dedicate my life to life to reading your other sbi fics until you update again. also; do you have any tips for committing to fics and not leaving them half-finished?

ahhhh that’s so sweet glad you enjoyed! As for writing fics, having it be your special interest really helps. But for more general advice on finishing:

-Don’t stick to just one story. Which seems counter intuitive! But inevitably you’re going to hit a snag in one story. So instead of stopping writing at all, switch projects. Writing involves a whole bunch of thinking, and stuff needs time to percolate in the back of your head. But having a small project to work on in the mean time keeps you engaged in the writing process, gives you practice, makes you feel like you’re making progress, and allows time to work out the other story. I personally have 1-2 main projects, Fault and MFR, and then rotate a couple back burner stories that I work on whenever I get inspiration and fully expect to have very slow progress and possibly never finish. Short stories, one shots, hell even just writing little one off scenes that don’t go anywhere. It’s a way to keep writing fun and thus you’re more likely to continue working on the stuff you’re trying to complete. Don’t feel bad if there’s breaks between working on your main project. Writing involves a lot of thinking and it takes time to do that.

-Devoting time to do that thinking also significantly helps. When you’re falling asleep can be a good time to rotate stories in your head. Could also be if you’re walking from place to place, or brushing your teeth, or other little gaps in the day. Even if you’re not physically writing, it’s still part of the process and can make it easier when you actually sit down to write because you know what scene you’re most excited to work on. Also, talking over your story idea with a friend is a great way to stay motivated if you can get over the mortifying ordeal of being known. You can bounce ideas off them, and other people’s investment in a project can be a great motivator to finish. Like legit a single ao3 comment once stopped me from my plan to abandon a fic. Reminding yourself why you (and other people) like the story makes it easier to want to continue.

-Keeping a rough outline of what you envision for the story can give you a road map to how close to done you are and where to go next. Just like you can hop between projects, I find jumping around the plot time line to write what scene I’m most interested in atm keeps me going instead of writing everything in order. Though, all writers have different degrees of plot planning, so that depends on your style.

-Art! I’m an artist, and while writing definitely fuels what I draw, I find doodling cool scenes I want to write really inspires me to keep going. This sorta falls under the same category of continuing to think about the story and motivating you to finish. -I found keeping a writing journal has improved how I view my writing. Basically, I’ll jot down a bullet point list of scenes worked on that week/month. Writing is a very slow process, so seeing a timeline of actual progression on a story makes it feel like I’m actually getting more out of my head and onto paper. I also jot down what ideas for scenes I came up with since that’s also part of writing, and might include a chill no stakes writing goal for that period, like work on X or Y project, or a particular scene. Sometimes my goal is just ‘write at least one sentence’. I give it lots of leeway, and accept that the muse may just be somewhere else that week. And if the goal isn’t met, no sweat! Life can get busy at times and it’s more important that you aren’t beating yourself up if it’s been awhile since you last touched a project. Forcing yourself to write a scene that isn’t ready won’t result in a good scene or an happy writer. Switch projects, give yourself time to think about it, take care of yourself, etc.

And, legitimately, don’t be afraid to abandon a piece. Maybe you’ll come back to it, maybe you won’t. It can feel disheartening to feel like you can’t seem to finish a project, but unfinished pieces also do a lot for you: they hone your craft, allow you a creative outlet, give you scenes that could potentially be reworked for later pieces, and most importantly were hopefully fun to write! Story crafting is a hobby that should bring you joy, not frustration and shame.

Like, I have stories that will never see the light of day and are just so I can have fun and poke it with a stick occasionally. I’m 100% confident in saying that every author will have tenfold the number of unfinished wips compared to complete works. That’s just part of the creative process: exploring different worlds to find the one you want to write.

Perhaps a fic might never get finished, but in the wise words of Technoblade: “if you enjoy it, it’s not time wasted, no?”

(Now, I think he was talking about murdering people, but the point still stands.)

#I mean besides my novel I’ve only completed like 6 fics out of dozens of ideas #Only one of which had multiple chapters #Well and truly having a bunch of random wips is normal and expected #Muses are flighty write to have fun with it #Ask #writing advice #creative writing #writeblr #writers on tumblr #writers #writing inspiration #something to nom on

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fullcry · 1 year

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*knocks on your askbox* hostage/creature vash au?? may i ask for more details please 👀👀👀

You may!

So, I've had this fic outlined for a while but I wasn't going to work on it until maybe the end of May? I wanted to finish Memories on Film and Biology first, then make more progress on Love and Peace and Gunsmoke.

BUT. @zeearts had to go and create this incredible creature!Vash design and it just got my brain spinning all sorts of gears and now I'm back to dabbling with the Hostage AU!

Basically, the story goes something like this:

Meryl grows up in a rural town without a plant whose primary trade is worm hunting. They've got industrial production going, trading their goods for water from July and other essential resources. There's problems in the town, and being close to July they are firmly within the thrall of the Eye of Michael (except Meryl, ofc, because our girl is Smart and Knows a cult when she sees one).

Well one day Meryl gets chosen as a sacrifice and she gets taken to July where she's put in service to Knives and Conrad as sort of a glorified maid/caretaker to this strange creature Knives proclaims is his brother. Meryl doesn't know what's going on and the whole things seems hella sus and what the fuck is this bird thing huddled in the corner, but she does what she's told and pretends to be a Meek Believer while she tries to figure out how to bust out.

Meanwhile, in the background:

Knives, unable to forcibly control Vash's gate, has proceeded with his "Destroy the Parasites" master plan using the Eye of Michael to start a holy war while he hopes that giving Vash a little of what he wants--a human companion--will weaken his resolve and/or give Knives something to hold over him so he can gain some kind of leverage in this battle of wills with his brother.

Unbeknownst to Meryl Conrad is also plotting, secretly dosing her food with drugs to use her as Test Subject 1 in his plan to create part-plant humans. He hopes that he can secretly dose the water supply he controls to get the drug out to the masses and create hybrid humans that might stand a chance of surviving Knives' war and win a place in his Eden.

Wolfwood, the one responsible for capturing Vash and bringing him to Knives, is also skulking around Knives' lil July penthouse. They've got a baby Livio hostage they're using as leverage and Wolfwood wants his lil bro back and is making his own plan to bust him out while Knives and Conrad are distracted with their war.

Back to Meryl.

Our girl slowly befriends dear Creature!Vash, locked away in his lil plant-proof chamber. He's half-delusion from Knives' mind-fuckery, and through kindness and patience Meryl slowly brings him back to himself.

One day Meryl and Wolfwood meet, and together they strike up a plan to bust everyone out--her, Vash, Wolfwood, and Livio. But things don't go according to plan...

I've been dabbling with it a bit the past few days, though I'm TRYING to stick to the goals I set for myself as much as possible (I have a Patreon now and I'm trying to stick to an actual schedule!) but you know how inspiration can be <sob> It controls me I don't control it.

Speaking of Patreon, for anyone interested I'll be posting WIP snippets of this fic and other ideas this upcoming week on my page!

#Ask #Trigun #Hostage AU #TriStamp #Trigun Stampede #FanFiction

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creativepromptsforwriting · 1 year

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Hii! I really love your blog and I was hoping you could help me with something.

I'm writing a novel, and in it character A and character B are basically on the run, being chased by someone dangerous, an assassin, etc. It's a drama/thriller with family themes.

At some point in the story there's a sort of standoff /fight and character B ends up killing the person who was after them. They (A & B) go back to B's hometown and this is where I get stuck. The subplot is that B is looking for her mother, and when they come back B realizes that her mother is actually in the same town a few blocks away. B talks with her mom and it doesn't end well, and A comforts B (their dynamic is found family since A acts as a sort of mother-figure to B throughout the story- B is a young adult)

Now, I know that at the end of the book B's mom's house ends up burning down and her mom comes to live with her at B's house. I don't know how to write this part because I feel like it's so random, and like I need a sort of reason for the house fire to happen, like, in my first outline I had the character that was chasing after A & B find them there and for the fight to happen at B's mom's house and ends up burning down, but because I changed that to B killing that person earlier in the book I'm just stuck. I'm trying to figure out if I should start over completely or just change things again, I just don't know where to begin with solving this problem. Also, it doesn't really have to be a fire, but I need a valid reason for B's mom to come live with her because book 2 focuses more on their relationship.

I know this is long but I could really, really use your opinion/ help. Thanks!

Hi there :)

My first question would be: why did you change the timing of killing the villain? Because I fear that if not done well, it can feel like this is the final fight and should go at the end of the story. And because you orginally intended like that it could very well become so that the reader is excited for the big fight and than it comes too early and cuts the story basically in half and the reader loses some interest in the rest of the story.

So it is really important to think about this structure and to make it clear what the main plot point of the story would be. It has to be something that carries on for the whole story or it needs a very good reason to change directions. Either way the middle of the story would not be the best timing to change directions.

With the living arrangements for book two, you could also go the route of the mother being in danger. When Character B is important enough to being followed by an assassin than maybe there is still someone out there that wouldn't hesitate to hurt her mother in order to hurt her or to get her to surrender. She would be safer if she lived with Character B. That could also be one of the reasons why she tried to find her mother. To keep her safe.

I hope I was able to give you some ideas for the direction you want to go in. Good luck with your story!

- Jana

#anon ask #ask #creativepromptsforwritingask #creativepromptsforwriting #writing help #writing advice #story advice

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bettsfic · 8 months

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Hi, Betty. You are always surprising me with your thoughts and tips. Everything you put out there is always so useful, or just a really great read, so first of all, I just wanna say thank you.

Second of all, I am very curious afrer that last ask. What are your top (say 3) books on craft and your top on criticism? Also, ¿could you show us how you index?

most craft and criticism are kind of in the same pile. i see it like, craft looks forward and criticism looks backward, and by that i mean craft books are about what's not written and how to write it, and criticism is about breaking down what's already written (using craft theory, in this case).

there are a lot of craft books i like but there are just like a mountain of caveats that go with them. i used to recommend bird by bird by anne lamott as the ultimate beginner craft book but i recently sat down and read the whole thing (i've been reading excerpts only for years) and the humor is very dated now, and a lot of her not-craft insights are tasteless bordering on offensive. the writing principles are there, though. somebody just needs to write a bird by bird that sticks to the skills and doesn't try to be all wacky zany wine mom who is actually kinda racist and ableist.

two others i've read recently that i like are refuse to be done by matt bell and madness, rack, and honey by mary ruefle. oh, and the triggering town by richard hugo is also good. when it comes to craft, the poetry books tend to be my favorites.

top craft theory criticism is the rhetoric of writing by wayne c. booth, aspects of the novel by em forster, and 13 ways of looking at the novel by jane smiley.

i plan to write about my indexing system in my newsletter eventually but this video on creating a commonplace index goes over the basics pretty well. mine varies a bit because half of it is research for future projects like this dude but also story ideas, brainstorming, outlining, etc. i keep trying to sit down and write a coherent article about it but i just haven't had the time.

#book recs

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thedawningofthehour · 7 months

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Hi!! Yes, hello, I cried again, thank you for that. Even though you said we „shouldn’t expect too much“, my heart is still very much cracked haha

ANYWAY, since the guessing game is still on, I was thinking a lot during this chapter. My guess is, either Raph has a really stupid idea that he‘s thinking through right now and that‘s why he‘s been so quiet OR smth happens to the Hueso place and he like sacrifices himself to get his family to escape like idk maybe EPF or smth knocks at the door and he holds them off

And so I was wondering if you could tell us when this stupid thing is gonna happen, I have a feeling it might be like the book 2 finale or somewhere close to that??

ALSO, I was wondering how you organise your chapters and the plot you write about. Do you have like a pinboard and put the NYC map on it and connect the dots with red yarn? (Detective style) or do you use some program or are just…weird and memorise it all?

Maybe he hasn't actually had the stupid idea yet, but he's definitely ruminating on everything that eventually compels him to make that decision.

The stupid thing will be a direct consequence of the final climax, so it'll be coming up here soon. I'm going to put up a poll probably after the next chapter.

I'm giddy that we're getting there, honestly. There's a foreshadow I put in literally in the single-digit chapters of Book 1 and when I wrote that I couldn't imagine actually getting to that point. I always feel like I'm going to die or something before I finish stuff, like, I was shocked when I finished doth.

Oh my goooood I am so terrible about plotting and outlines and stuff. I always, always feel like I'm in elementary school filling out a worksheet. I am basically this guy

except there is no paper because I haven't written anything down I'm just sleep deprived and rambling and smoking copious amounts of weed. (I have never smoked weed)

I know generally how the plots go, and as chapters draw closer I start thinking more specifically about where parts should go and where they would fit best. The whole war kick-off thing, that originally was going to happen after the third reverse-kidnapping, (the mall with the mercenaries one) but Gale and Mikey were still having their library trips, and that just seemed like an...awkward thing to have hanging over them. And it just didn't have to be. I could have cut that arc short, delayed the third reverse-kidnapping until after after the library meetings were discovered, or I could push off the war. And the war didn't need to happen then-if anything, it complicated the other plot points that needed to happen. And I think it worked out for the better this way.

I'm not totally satisfied with this method though. When I was writing Book 1, I had probably about half the fic written before I started posting-it was all in one document, Donnie's scenes were all together and Leo's scenes were in some incomprehensible order and often unfinished because I wasn't expecting to post anything and would just stop when I felt like it, when I finally committed to putting it to order I think I had like eight documents open at one point and three different highlighter colors to denote what I'd done in the master document, it was an ORDEAL-but it meant that I could group scenes together based on what was most effective, move things around very easily. The fact that Leo and Donnie's chapters were pointedly not happening at the same time helped a lot too. In Book 2, I end up writing with two, maybe three chapters planned ahead in my brain, and I feel like that forces me to sometimes rely on short-term climaxes that add to the word count but don't really do much for the story overall, or put off certain things that I don't particularly feel like writing at the time or don't know would work there. Book 2 would probably be significantly shorter if I'd plotted it out the way I did Book 1.

...What were we talking about? Oh! I do actually have a map of NYC open pretty much constantly in my fic window, it probably shows when they were driving around last chapter that I was literally going along the border with my pointer finger. But I'm terrible and I don't write any of this shit down. I usually remember, but there have been occasions where I've completely forgotten what I was going to do, and I think it was chapter 32 where I had pretty much finished the rest of the chapter and then realized I'd forgotten the final Leo scene-which was a pretty major scene. So I guess...yeah, weird and memorize sounds correct, but I don't actually do it that well.

#if you can parse anything here bless you #i wasn't planning on typing this much so it's very much stream of consciousness #doth asks

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sunsafewriting · 1 year

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Hey :). I was hoping that maybe you would have some nuggets of wisdom regarding story pacing and plot. Everything you published on ao3 is so well paced and worded in such a way that the reader can vividly picture every scene. Sooo.. question: how do you plan out the plot of a story? And when you don't necessarily have a plot, how do you make sure that the scenes you want to write are well-connected/paced within the bigger narrative?

Anyways, I hope you have a great day. And answer or not, I will keep enjoying your work just the same.

hey mate! thanks for thinking of me but you have actually come to a terrible place for pacing advice bc that is definitely the part of writing that i struggle with most lol . but i shall tell you how I cope and hopefully some of that helps you (?)

basically I cannot plan to save my life. fic or original writing --- if I set out to outline, I come up with bad ideas and stress myself out of even starting. all the stories I plan are MUCH worse than the ones I don't. for some writers planning works great and if that's you that's awesome!!! but I am doomed to walk another path

what I do instead of planning a story is think about what I (me, personally, bc I write fic from a place of indulgence) WANT out of it. like, what's the stuff I wanna see? to me, the essential aspect of pacing is making that stuff feel important and worth it and earned. it has to have emotional weight or it won't be what I'm after .

that's also how I try to make scenes are connected; they're all focused around a general Vibe or Feeling I want to construct.

for example, in Do A Flip, what I wanted was all of them getting to become a family. and so I worked backwards from that --- what are the steps within steps within steps that lead them there? what little aspects can we put together to create that kind of image?

for pacing it's also handy sometimes to ask what the best bit about NOT being where you're aiming for yet is. like, what is worth lingering on and enjoying that isn't the end goal? what fun thing can you only have at THIS moment of the story, rather than later? it makes each part more fun to write .

I started with a much shorter version of the fic (14k) where I wrote a shoddy draft of the whole thing from Diego's pov, and then I went back and added a ton more pieces.

that's also something I use to help myself out (and because personally I love to write this way) --- I write in pieces.

this improves my pacing, because then I'm not having to constantly consider the whole structure. instead, I'm thinking about what the point of an individual fragment is --- what am I showing in this scene, and what does it mean? often it's just something small (like I want to show that Beatrice is comfortable with Ava holding her hand, or that Lilith tries to be friendly to Diego) but I function much better with a hundred bite sized pieces than a massive whole.

in these piece-style stories, I rely on the reader drawing connections between different parts and inferring rather than a smooth flow. it's just something I enjoy as a narrative form --- I like gaps and spaces where you figure bits out yourself.

I also rearrange a ton. scenes get cut and pasted to be in a new spot all the time bc I realise as I go that they could be tweaked and fit better somewhere else. when I'm writing, I also often just leave a break and write SCENE, and then jump on to the next one --- like I don't know how I'm going to fill it in yet, but I know I need something to separate out two more similar bits, or a different POV, or to slow down before X Event happens. half the time I have no idea where a chapter is going until the first version is almost done.

the other thing about pacing for me is that devastatingly I rely heavily on rewriting, editing, and cutting beloved scenes that don't super gel. chapters take SO long to come out bc I rewrite them 2-4 times. a lot of better (and less highly strung) writers don't need to do that much so please don't feel like it's necessary but it's definitely necessary for me bc without it my work would be a total shambles lmao. I also find the promise of rewriting means I'm less likely to freeze up or stare at a blank page because I will go back and improve/tidy up later.

I also think paying attention when you feel pretty meh about something is helpful for pacing. for example, I wrote a 6k version of chapter 3 of Favourable Conditions where a lot more happened, but I didn't like it. I got my girlfriend to read it and she said "the whole first part feels like you're racing to get to the second part, and then it all settles down". and she was totally right --- I had a scene I was excited to get to so I gunned it, but the overall feeling of the chapter suffered as a result. I split the chapter in half and then rewrote the whole first half as a chapter in its own right, and decided to focus on what fun stuff I could do there, rather than just skipping through to get to the rest. I ended up adding scenes that were the ones people in the comments liked most. I also ultimately decided to change the next few plot beats afterwards, based on how that went.

I would also say that generally speaking, not a lot happens in my stories. like, I go for smaller stakes and smaller actions that slowly add up --- mostly bc I'm writing very chilled out stuff. but if you're trying to build a character to the point of doing something drastic, it's a different ballgame to escalating them to some minor change. both are super doable, you've just got to keep in mind what you're aiming for. I like minor stakes because I enjoy trying to make small things like washing dishes or going to the park matter. it's also just the vibe of where I'm at right now --- previously I've written things that were a LOT more dramatic.

if you're really struggling, I would also suggest starting with writing something short. your blog is blank so I couldn't tell what kind of writing you might be interested in, but it's much easier to tweak and change and judge these things if you're working in a smaller area --- like a 2-4k oneshot --- than if you sit down to write 80k. I literally never sit down to write 80k of fic I just accidentally end up doing it lmao.

I hope some of that is vaguely useful? I don't have a lot of wisdom to dispense bc as you can see most of my process is crutches for getting around having no natural sense of pacing. if you have any more specific questions about pacing a particular scene or idea I might be able to help more?

but good luck! 💛

#thanks for the ask!#hopefully some of this helps #hit me up if you have any other questions and i will do my best :D but yeah i struggle a bit with the broader questions

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emeraldspiral · 16 days

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So I was thinking a little more about the idea of the Control Brains using the SIR units as sleeper agents like the Clone Army from Star Wars and having them Order 66 all the Invaders when they're no longer of use to them. Then I started thinking about the probable episode order of the unfinished season 2 episodes.

We know Nubs of Doom had to take place before Day of Da Spookies because Minimoose is in it, but DoDS has to take place after 10 Minutes to Doom because Dib mentions knowing the purpose of Zim's PAK in that episode, and DaDS likely took place before Mopiness of Doom because Zim's plan in that episode was to make Dib give up on the paranormal, which he does in MoD, only for Zim to realize he doesn't want that.

In the first season, based on the way everything was scheduled, it seems like BoTP was intended as the mid-season finale and the Halloween Special was supposed to be the season 1 part 2 opener. So based on that I would hazard a guess that the Xmas special was originally intended to be the season 2 part 2 opener while a different episode was to be the mid-season finale. Most likely The Trial, since I think that script was for a half-hour episode, and it's the only script we know of that wasn't just a run-of-the-mill Zim episode. The only other possible candidates I would say are When Pants Ruled and maybe Squishy, Hugger of Worlds, which was being written the day the show was cancelled.

Now, all that made me wonder what the season 2 finale was supposed to be. There are a handful of episodes we know of that were only outlines or basic pitches and never written, but I believe Top of the Line is the only script we know of that allegedly had a completed script that was never released, never adapted into the comics, and has very few details attached. Given that it was to see Tak return for the first time since the season 1 finale, it would make sense if they were saving her for the season 2 finale. But the only thing we know about the plot other than Tak and Skoodge being in it was that it was to revolve around a SIR competition. But what about that concept makes it worthy of being a season finale or the triumphant return of two fan favorite characters? Maybe something more important was going to happen in that episode, and that's why the details have been kept under wraps this whole time.

What if the Control Brains trying to Order 66 all the Invaders was actually going to be a thing? Years before Revenge of the Sith even!

Like, think about it. Does it really make sense to pull all the Invaders away from their missions for a SIR competition? We can assume Zim would show up whether he was invited or not. But why would Skoodge go? Perhaps, as with Hobo 13, because he was hoping that his SIR performing well would get him welcomed back into the Empire? IDK if Tak being a saboteur was actually confirmed to be part of the story, or just fan speculation. But wouldn't it make sense for her to be there if she also thought she had something to gain from outperforming all the other Invaders?

So what if the whole thing was a set-up? What if all the Invaders by that point had either already completed their missions and were looking for new assignments or expecting rewards for their service, or failed their missions and were looking for redemption, and the competition was sold to them as an opportunity to prove their worth to the Control Brains. But in actuality, its purpose was to lure the Invaders into a trap where they'd all be killed by their own SIRs. Tak and Skoodge would survive because they're badasses and if Tenn wasn't already dead she might survive due to her experience dealing with rogue SIRs while Zim, just like in the Virooz arc, would survive because GIR never stays in duty-mode long enough to finish the job. GIR would however accidentally cause the destruction of all the other SIRs, potentially saving several Invaders, but perhaps also causing the Control Brains schemes to go undetected. If however, any of the other Invaders realized what had almost happened, it might lead to them defecting from the Empire. So just like Dib getting Tak's ship at the end of season 1, there'd be an important change to the status quo and a progression of the plot to get people hyped to see the consequences in the next season. Like maybe the Control Brains sending assassins after Zim, or some surviving Invaders coming to earth to hide out and possibly plot a rebellion.

#invader zim #tak #invader tak #skoodge #invader skoodge #gir #top of the line

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reginarubie · 1 year

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Hey Regina!!

Big fan of your Jonsa stories and the current FIRESTEEL one🔥

Just wanted to ask/know will there be any updates on any of your Jonsa fics?

Cause gosh honestly I'm missing yours (ours) dark and unhinged and possessive LORD OF THE WORLD🤤😅 (empress of the world)😉

But seriously any Jonsa updates will be appreciated 😭🤗

Ciao anon!,

First of all thank you! It’s amazing to know how much you appreciate my stories (Jonsa, darkJonsa and Firesteel).

Tbh I’ve been working on-and-off on next chapter of Like Wolves in the Darkness lately though I’m having some issue with the new POV, next chapter will be a double POV chapter and the first POV of it will be new and I want to make it plausible, accorded to the story but also canon which is giving me some issue, though I am halfway through that, so expect some good news on it soon!

I am kind of outlining next chapter of Soulbonded as well, and of Don’t go in the Forest, but it’s a slow process because both are very intense to write (especially Soulbonded since I added so much lore and basically wrote myself in a corner which means I have to be twice as mindful of all the lore I added in the coming chapters for future chapters reasons ™️).

The time of wolves new chapter is under review, btw, so yep… at one point I should be able to update that too.

I’ve also had the draft of coming chapter of the Chanson du sun’s son and his queen wolf and I actually have mapped and half written all the coming chapters of Wind of Ice, thought as they’re not Jonsa stories you had no asked after them — sorry to use this reply this way but I guess it kind of has become an update on how I am doing on my fics — hope you don’t mind.

Also you are in luck because guess on which story I’ve been working parallel with Firesteel these last days? Empress of the World! (Also because of these amazing portraits made with an AI, because tbh I’m very bad at art which have inspired me)

Lady Favorite Sansa of House Stark, officially taking a more active role in the court of Valyria and being officially associated with the throne of the Empress during a court session and the trial of lord Domeric of House Bolton.

Emperor Jaehaerys III, emperor of all Valyria, Noble Father, the Liberator of Braavos and New Ghis, … though I can’t tell you what he’ll be doing next chapter (��)

Their son in a couple of years, Jacaerys Brandon of Houses Targaryen and Stark, heir to the throne of Valyria and of Winter, prince of Tyria and Winterfell.

Princess Rhaenys of Houses Targaryen and Martell, current lady of Dragonstone, Prime Achor of Valyria and dragon rider.

The Lady Mother of the Emperor, lady Lyanna Karstark, concubine of emperor Rhaegar Targaryen.

Princess Daenerys of House Targaryen, lady governor of Meereen and Pentos, dragon rider, adoptive mother to her brother-husband bastards and in collusion for power with the lady Favorite and the Emperor.

Yeah, I know they are only crumbles but know it’s just a taste of the whole meal that’ll be the chapter! More food (aesthetic if nothing else) for your Emperor Jaehaerys and his Empress’ needs!

As always thank you for dropping by! You don’t know how happy that makes me! Sending all my love ~G.

Ps once i have updated the new chapter of Empress I’m really curious to learn what you think of it, so if you wanna, drop by again! ♥️

#ask the hag #anon asks #sansa stark #firesteel #jonsa #jonsa fanfiction #empress of the world #like wolves in the darkness #Soulbonded #don’t go in the forest #wind of ice #the Chanson du sun’s son and his queen wolf #I guess this kinda turned to an update on my most asked after fics #I promise #WIP #It’s a work in progress but we’re getting there!

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smoosnoom · 9 months

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Hi Moon!! I hope your essay went well. I just wanted to write u a lil somethin' cause you've been rly helpful and supportive the past lil bit while I sort my brain out and I finally have like a rough draft/outline thingy for a story because of u but like I just wanted to give you something nice to wake up to! :D Who knows, maybe I'll put it in a whole story some day. I'm not like a writer or anything but I'm trying! I'm learning Evolving, even! All right. Onto the good stuff.

---

Mike's soft puffs of air waft in a rhythmic pattern across Will's neck. His warm presence rests heavy against Will's chest, his lanky limbs strewn haphazardly along Will's entire form. Will's been awake longer than he'd care to admit, stuck beneath the man glued to his side. Mike always sleeps in on the weekend, and frankly, Will can't blame him. Finally having a day off after all the work and school that gets piled onto them everyday would have anyone exhausted. Anyone except Will, who can nearly never get a good nights sleep. He likes to believe he still gets a decent amount of rest, laying here, limbs tangled and sweaty with Mike Wheeler sleeping pressed up against him, entirely too close and not at all close enough.

Will cards his fingers through Mike's hair and gets no response. He leans close and places a feather light kiss to his forehead before leaning down and pressing his own forehead against Mike's. "Hey," he says, just above a whisper. Mike stirs a bit, and before he knows it, he feels Mike tense and stretch out, shaking and gripping Will's shirt. He lets out a loud groan before settling back in, curling his knees up even higher and curling in tighter against Will's side. "Mm, mornin'," Mike mutters through his thick, scratchy morning voice. Will places another kiss atop Mike's head and smiles gently against his hair. "Morning, sunshine." Mike huffs out a laugh under his breath and snuggles up under Will's jaw. "Shut it, early bird," Will wraps his arms tighter around Mike and tugs, squeezing him ever closer. "Can't have you sleeping all morning now, can I? You'll be up all night otherwise." "Mm," Mike answers back noncommittedly. Mike's not worried about it, Will knows this, but he still attempts to keep them on some semblance of a schedule. "What's the plan for today, Mr. Wise?" Mike cracks an eye open to catch the grin forming on Will's face. "You know, I was thinking," Will starts, and stops. He swishes the words around in his mouth as he trails his fingertips along the length of Mike's arm. It causes a small shiver to run up Mike's spine. "I was thinking we could go to the movies, maybe? It's been a while since we've just, like, went on a date or whatever..." Will trails off, hesitant, still a bit unsure about calling what they've been doing lately, dating.

Like, yes. They sleep in the same bed, eat breakfast together, and spend basically all their time together. But they did that before they were, like, dating. Or whatever this is. And sure, maybe they share clothes occasionally, when Mike can fit into one of Will's hoodies that actually reaches his wrists, and Will can find a shirt of Mike's that can fit over his shoulders, although it still tugs much too tight against his frame, but Mike always says it looks good. Really, really good. Will can't help the heat that rushes to his face whenever Mike gives him one of his much too sincere complements. He's been complementing him more lately. Much more.

Will thinks Mike isn't even aware he's doing it half the time. The way he looks at Will with those deep, dark eyes, intense but soft around the edges. His expression makes Will's heart feel like it's oozing out of his ribcage, pooling in his stomach and resting heavy like a warm, homecooked meal. But that doesn't mean they're dating. They never made it official, technically. It's not like they're, like, boyfriends or anything. Except, like, they kiss now. So that's something. Something friends definitely don't do. And Will would know. They used to be friends. The best of friends, even. Still are, probably. Just. More, now. Maybe. He thinks. Will might be a bit confused about the whole thing, to be completely honest. "Will?" Will looks down to see Mike staring lazily up at him. He may or may not have been spacing out, and Mike may or may not have noticed. "Huh?" "I said, that sounds nice." A smirk pulls at the corner of his lips and he leans up, onto his elbow before bring his other arm to trap Will against the pillow where his head rests. Mike looms half his body over Will, his hair tickling at Will's jaw. Will swallows, still nervous and a bit giddy at the prospect of his last train of thought rapidly coming to fruition. Mike leans in and catches Will's bottom lip between his, swiping his tongue across it and nibbling ever so gently on it. Will's eyes flutter shut, and he brings a hand up to tangle in Mike's hair.

They kiss back and forth for a moment, open mouthed, but slow and unhurried. Will feels lightheaded. When Mike pulls away his eyes are hooded and he has a dazed look about him. A grin breaks out across his face and he leans in to land a quick kiss to Will's cheek. Will may or may not be a bit over the moon at this reaction. "We should get going, before it gets too late for our date." Mike waggles his eyebrows at him, and Will can't help the bubble of laughter that falls from his mouth. "Right. Yeah." His voice cracks, throat dry from being kissed breathless. "So, Mike, I've been meaning to ask you..." He starts, not wanting to ruin the moment, but really needing the clarity. "Does this mean we're actually, like, together, together?" He glances to the side, nervous. Mike raises his eyebrows at him, then tilts his head in the cutest display of confusion Will has ever seen. "As opposed to . . .?" He trails off, genuinely not understanding at all what Will is asking.

"I dunno, like, are we..." Will might be panicking a little bit. The grip in Mike's hair tightens a fraction, and if Mike's eyes roll into the back of his head, Will's not going to tease him about it now, not when he needs this answer. His fingers loosen their grip and and he cards them through his hair, and if Mike's eyes fall shut for longer than your average blink, well that might just be Will's overactive imagination. "Are we Boyfriends?"

Mike's eyes shoot open, and lets out a kind of garbled, twisted laugh in the back of his throat. "Uh, Will, what do you think we've been doing these last few weeks?" The blush that sits on Will's face could cook an egg, probably. He shrugs as much as he can, given the lack of available space, and tries his best to keep hold of some dignity. "I guess I just wanted to be sure, is all."

Mike smiles a lopsided, dopey smile at him. He shakes his head, and a breathy laugh falls from his lips. "Unbelievable, Will Byers. Did you think I'd be making out or going on dates with anyone other than my boyfriend?"

Will feels a thrill run through him at the pointed use of the word boyfriend, and how easy it sounds coming off of Mike's lips. And maybe he's a little lovestruck, but how can he not be, with the love of his life calling him his boyfriend? Will grins wide and blinding before sliding his hand to the back of Mike's neck and pulling him down into a too needy and too urgent kiss. They laugh into it as he tightens his hold on Mike's waist and pulls him down on top of him. So, yeah. Maybe they're dating.

---

Sorry if this is weird or makes no sense or messed up grammatically I'm so tired and delirious rn going to bed good night, Moon sweet dreams!! (I'm so nervous I never share my work but I told myself I wouldn't sleep till I finished this and I can't save it for tomorrow cause I have stuff to do so. There it is!! Wringing my hands and panicking but also satisfied cause I finsihed a thing and ur really nice so even if it sucsk you'll rpobably be nice anyway ok loli'm spiraling goodnight, moon, goodnightcowjumpingoverthemoon)

hello !!! im so sorry for taking literally forever to reply, especially since u stayed up to finish it oh my god but ! im replying now !!!

oohhhhhh h my go d . this was so so cute !!!!!! i think u totally and absolutely are selling urself short because i did very much enjoy this :) its short and incredibly sweet, i love the peek into of their domestic, less significant moments, and will's uncertainty to where they stand with each other, it's so real and so so sweet to see in him being so nervous to ask yet mike's unwavering Yes of course we're boyfriends . who else am i making out with WHICH IS SOSOOOO CUTE

and ! i think u do a great job of describing things, how certain movements and touches make them feel, and i loveeeeed ur dscription in "Will's heart feel like it's oozing out of his ribcage, pooling in his stomach and resting heavy like a warm, homecooked meal." likeeeeee . ooozing out of his ribcage . pooling in his stomach . resting like a homecooked meal Oh ur crazy that is so lovely so so pleasant ! it paints a perfect picture of the domestic, warm feeling the entire setting is exuding, the kind u get from a warm home and with company that u trust with food that u know tastes good and satisfies . what a good sentence

they have great chemistry and i was very much interested in the entire thing :) my only comment is that u should Definitely hold some more confidence in ur writing, it definitely doesnt suck and i do not blame u for spiraling But . this is good . this is great . i was invested and u closed it all up so nicely, a full-circle one-liner to wrap it all up with a nice bow !!! "so yeah, maybe theyre dating" . a good conclusion to the story, which me personally im always rly harsh on LOL i love a good closing that makes the entire story feels complete, which u did well :)

anyway ! im so sorry to take forever on getting to this, i really hope u could forgive me and u didnt drive urself wild oh my god i rly hope u didnt !!!! im so sorry !

thank u so much for sending such a sweet thing into my inbox, i appreciate it so much :) <3

#/ask #everyone read this asap #byler

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rosieblogstuff · 3 months

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🍄Decriscribe your wip/one of your wips in the format of “_ + =__”

🤔What’s a story you’d love to write but haven’t even started yet?

(asks from the Asks for Writers to Procrastinate list)

🍄 Decriscribe your wip/one of your wips in the format of “_ + =__”

The irony of a question that describes the title for 90% of my WIPs & at least 75% of the fics for this fandom in general. 😂

How about

rare disease + lying about your job = near-death medical mystery

(That's the WIP I've been working on for over a year and someday SOMEDAY will actually finish.

I had this idea that if I made myself not post it until it was done, I'd write faster. 🤣 Turns out this was not the case. But I have 7.5 chatpers/20k words and someday I'm going to post like a whole story in a week. I swear. BUT NOT UNTIL IT'S ALL DONE this time.)

🤔 What’s a story you’d love to write but haven’t even started yet?

Ooooh well. That depends on your definition of "havent even started yet". If I have an idea for a thing I have almost certainly written at least half a scene about it and, if I'm lucky enough to have more ideas about the thing, written down some notes. If I don't write it down at all the details will fall out of my brain like water from a sieve and then I'll be annoyed with myself later.

But ok so an idea I've written very little of. I actually have a couple "big" ideas that I haven't gotten far with. They'd require a lot more outlining to make them come together. But ok.

So someday I'm want to write this fic idea where Matty decides she's just DONE with James MacGyver and she's going to take care of the problem herself. And not by just by sending Mac on a wild goose chase until he decides to give up. She's going to eliminate all possibility of James ever showing up at all by having him assassinated.

And who could do this job for them? Maybe even for free, because it's basically taking out the trash? Murdoc of course! Bonus that he really has a personal thing against abusive father figures.

Of course she can't do this alone. She's going to have to drag some into this mess with her. I honestly have had a tough time deciding if she's going to enlist Riley or Bozer to help her out. I've been leaning toward Riley, although I could see Bozer doing it out of loyalty and sour memories of James. (Jack gets left in the dark again, for various reasons including that she thinks it's best if he has plausible deniability in all of this.)

There will be problems later because Murdoc is still the #1 baddie on Phoenix's list, and analysts get wind that he's up to something locally. Mac and Jack decide this is a great time to hunt him down. It's not like Matty can say no to that, especially when James is probably barking at her to get rid of the hitman who's after Angus.

This is sort of the part where I haven't untangled the rest of the plot because there are so many possibilities. At some point somebody (James? Jack?) is going to get suspicious of Matty's behavior. At some point Murdoc is going to get caught, or almost caught, and there's no way he can stop himself taunting Mac. At some point Riley is going to have to decide if she's going to take the fall for Matty because either way, she's going to end up in trouble somehow.

Yeah so that's as far as I've gotten.

Come to think of it my other big unwritten fic idea also has to do with the problem of James' existance... but that's a fic for another ask sometime. :)

#asks answered #fanfic writer asks

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rollercoasterwords · 11 months

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hi rae!! i was wondering if you could tell us more about your writing process :)) im very curious about it. like, do you brainstorm then write or write whatever flows or both. do you painstakingly line edit after or just give it a glance for any mistakes. im mostly curious about atydsp bc its so exceptionally well written and it absolutely boggles my mind that you were posting a ch a day. how much of your time for atydsp involved editing/scrapping & rewriting/etc? xx

hi sure i'd be happy to!! gonna put this under a cut tho bc it got long lol

for atydsp (+ my captive prince rewrite) my process was pretty different from my other writing in that i basically descended into a feverish haze of obsession and literally abandoned all other hobbies just to write bc i loved the story so much lol. for atydsp especially that thing was like...my only hobby for half a year like i was not reading or watching tv or movies or playing video games etc bc the only thing i wanted 2 do in my free time was. write.

when i'm rewriting a story from another character's pov i usually have the ch of whatever i'm rewriting open next to word doc and just kinda go 2 town. i think it's much easier when you aren't having to do the heavy lifting when it comes to plot and are following an outline, bc obviously you aren't having to do much story planning urself--although for the later chs of atydsp where i sort of broke off from the og version + the chs where r + s are separated + i had to write new scenes for s i did have to spend more time planning, writing, editing, etc, but i didn't start posting the story until i'd already written the first 20 chs so. i had a pretty large buffer and that combined with the obsession combined with the shorter chapters + outline to follow is why i was able to post so frequently.

when i'm writing a new fic there's much more brainstorming involved bc obviously i am having 2 come up w a whole new plot!! but bc i'm only writing fic for fun i don't really take it too seriously and usually i just cobble together a couple of fun scenes or tropes that i like and then sort of...fill in the blanks? like if i'm like "ok i want to write a scene where x happens and then later a scene where y happens" i usually end up figuring out a plot/how to keep the story moving between those two scenes, rather than vice versa (having like...a coherent plot and then coming up with fun scenes that fit into it). like my current wip started as just a single idea of "ooh what if there was a werewolf fighting ring" and then it become a voldemort-won au bc i was like hmmm in what situation would r + s meet at a werewolf fighting ring...and then i decided it would eventually turn into a horcrux hunt bc i was like "ok if r + s grew up in a voldemort-won au...what would james be doing...." and now the story is continuing to change as i continue to have ideas of like "ooh what if i incorporated this trope" or "ooh this would be such a fun scene to write." like lily + james's entire dynamic in this fic basically grew out of an idea that i had for a single argument that i wanted to write lmao

anyway when it comes to actual writing process i usually go into a ch with just a vague outline of a few bullet points, and if i'm stuck on something i send a voicenote to my sister just like...talking through my thoughts + what i want to happen + usually by the end of the voicenote i'll have figured out what direction i wanna take things. or sometimes i'll ask her opinion (the ending i'm planning rn for atwmd changed completely after one such consultation...had an idea but then talked myself out of it but then my twin was like wait....i think that idea works better than what ur currently planning....and i was like damn maybe ur right....). so most of my planning + brainstorming is basically just me daydreaming + then talking 2 myself lmao.

when it comes to actual writing i'm pretty slow because i'm too much of a perfectionist and i need everything to sound right. immediately. like i have heard the advice so many times "just get something down on the page then go back and edit it later" but i am like. incapable of following it lol i will write a sentence and then read over it three times to decide if i like it before i move on. the plus side to this is that my chs usually need very little editing; i generally just read over them once or twice and make a few minor tweaks and i'm good to go!

anyway. i have had some similar inquiries abt my writing process etc in the past so i'll tag this ask w 'writing tips' bc i think that's what i've used b4; hopefully this satisfied ur curiosity!

#writing tips #<- not really tips but tagging w this bc it'll take u back 2 similar asks abt writing process etc i think #ask

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thegeminisage · 5 months

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okay i have TEN MINUTES to type out my thots about the last two tng eps i watched. day before yesterday was a surprise watch of "the icarus factor" together and last night i did "pen pals"

the icarus factor: i have nnnnever been more angry IN my entire life. riker's dad sucks so bad he sucks SO BAD

that being said the episode was horrifically sloppy. it could have been a must see but it was all over the place and committed so many crimes

firstly, i dont understand the point of offering riker a promotion in this episode when 1. he already canonically turned down a promotion to be here and 2. it didn't tie into his daddy issues in any way whatsoever

also, why did they have his dad DATE THIS DOCTOR LADY? not only is that extremely uncomfortable for everyone involved (can you imaaaagine your parent bringing home a coworker or vice versa seeing a coworker show up at work with your parent) but it ALSO served no function - pulaski didn't tell us anything about riker's dad that he didn't know and we didn't know

it also used up basically all of my goodwill that had been generated re: pulaski. she really is just a knock-off bones and she's actually so boring because of that and even her dating riker's dad and being a chronic divorcee didn't make her interesting. sigh. once again i'm sorry women.

i also don't understand worf's b-plot being about his ten year (although wesley trying to get them both into the dead dad club was HILAAARIOUS and maybe the most i've ever liked wesley so far, i'm allowed to say this since i'm also in the club). i feel like worf's >:( should have been something to do with riker's daddy issues either a disapproval of his parenting or a lack of understanding of why it's bad parenting or SOMETHING bc that needed to be the whole episode and the b plot was just so ??? like it's a b plot i would have enjoyed in a diff ep but not this one

and finally, after ALL of that, after outlining in detail what a shitty person riker's dad is, how he felt the need to compete with his own child who he was also emotionally and physically neglecting so much so that he CHEATED and felt proud for it, how he never put anything before his career, AND

AFTER HE SAID

"IT WASN'T AS HARD FOR YOU BECAUSE YOU WERE IN DIAPERS WHEN SHE DIED"

WHICH MADE ME SO ANGRY I ALMOST BLACKED OUT

the man didn't even apologize. the word "sorry" never left his mouth he just told his shitty sob story and that was it. they yelled some japanese at each other while doign this martial arts thing and will was like glad you came pops and they hugged and that was the end. and also he didn't take the promotion because we knew he wouldn't. girl come ON.

pen pals: the first half of this episode sucked real bad. picard and the horses was awful and i don't think he should be allowed to say the word "allah" on television

wesley getting his own command...eh. it was fine and he hasn't been nearly as annoying in s1 as he was in s2 but i don't care so i was tapping my watch and waiting to get to the ACTUAL episode. it was so tedious to watch everyone argue about his mental wellbeing and future or whatever. who cares. he shouldn't even be here there should not be children aboard starships

i liked the part with data's pen pal BUT i also think he knows better than to violate the prime directive like that. if he slipped and did it once and then confessed that'd be one thing but 8 weeks?? he wouldn't fucking say that

i was also ??? when he beamed her up and didn't leave her in the transport room...idk, i like that he has feelings, and she WAS cute if a little uncanny (the voice filter sounds like the one tumblr used in that one interview lol), but it seems like if you wanted an episode About Data he could have fugured out that third answer of how to both save her and obey the prime directive, instead of getting yelled at and/or ignored by picard and then picard doing it. (man when picard asked for tea first from the replicator while data was trying to get his attention...)

at least pulaski was nice to him i guess :/

tonight, "q who," which will sadly probably have q in it, but at least i get to meet the BORG. at long last...................................

#personal #star trek blogging #tng lb #i'm so excited. i've been looking forward to this for weeks. tng for once PLEASE don't let me down

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