#apocalyptic melancholy titles for the win i guess

[dyed-red]

23 and 65!

23. how do you deal with writers block?

just starting right out the gate with the hardest question on the list, huh 😂 the honest answer is "a lot of ways" and "it depends on where i'm at in the story".

but some of those ways are:

finding a song that fits the vibe and listening to it on repeat for hours while trying to write

going back and reading what i've already written. this one works best if i start from like... the beginning, or very early in the story. i'll pick back up all the story beats and threads i was laying down and going back over them will help me untangle whatever mess i've made and figure out where i need to go next to make it build right.

writing down scene titles / story events on physical flash cards and rearranging them in different orders in front of me (sitting on the floor and shoo'ing away my cat) to find if i'm missing pieces or what order makes the most sense

stepping away from it for a while so it can percolate in the back of my brain

forcing myself to sit in front of it and get words out

the rubber duck debugging system (talk to someone about it, ideally someone not even in the fandom, and in the process figure out what the issue is or what i need to write next, typically before they even have a chance to chime in)

read something with a somewhat related trope that either inspires me or leaves me so pissed off that i just have to go and continue my story

one piece of advice i've never seen elsewhere: be clear / have solid lines between stories you have no intention to finish vs. ones that are still breathing, even if you're not making much progress on them or doing it quickly. give your mental energy, even if it's just percolation in the back of your mind (yes, percolate like a coffee maker), to the stories you are committed to completing

65. what is your favourite title for a fic you’ve written?

ooh okay so i'm both pretentious af and lazy af about titles. i sort of get stuck on the first one that comes to mind or gels with the story and then don't overthink it.

my runner up would be Architecture of Choice. it's only an honorable mention because, outside the fic itself, it makes me think of where it came from, which is choice architecture within behavioral decision theory, and that's way more technical and related to my day job than i want to be thinking about when writing fic.

so my actual favourite fic title i've written for spn is this pretentious monstrosity: Rusted H(u)e(w)

Like... who the fuck writes a title like that? I do, apparently. because the words came to me somewhat spontaneously like they always do for a title, but then when i went to write them i had "error 404 file not found" for if my brain was supplying "rusted hew" or "rusted hue". so i had to make it both. which fits the the story - not just each of the two readings but also the choppy, inelegant way in which they're spliced together. so i'm pleased with it anyway.

#finally answering these and thanks to all who've dropped some in my inbox! #will answer more in the morning :) #phyn vs. writing #ask games #about the blogger #my other favorite fic title from my prev fandom is: #got a melancholic temperament (that's what they said to me) #but like.... what a long and ridiculous title lol #i like paranthetical titles though #oh god i just reread the title Rusted H(u)e(w) and realized there is yet another reading: Rusted He #which... yeah #okay yeah it's cemented as favorite for sure #apocalyptic melancholy titles for the win i guess