#how I write

[themandaloriansdiaries]

Prompts List

when sending in your request please let me know which character/person you would like, as well as what category you would like. please give me a brief rundown on how you would like for it to go as well. or I can choose which direction it goes in. also! please make sure when you choose a prompt include the number as well!

I do not take credit for these prompts!! I've looked through different prompt lists and mixed them up.

Kiss

"can i kiss you?"

"are you sure about this?"

"close your eyes"

"wanna practise?"

"i really, really want to kiss you right now"

"i think i deserve a kiss"

"if you win, i'll kiss you"

"kiss me again"

"are you wearing chapstick?"

"shut up" (affectionately)

"you'll have to teach me"

"was that okay?"

"you're gonna get lipstick all over me"

"i think this is the part where you're supposed to kiss me"

"just follow my lead"

"one more kiss? please?"

"can we do that again?"

"i like kissing you"

"wanna make out?"

"don't speak. just kiss me"

"your lips are so soft, I could kiss 'em all day"

Fluff

"I miss you"

"close your eyes"

" aw, you're so cute"

"you've always felt like home"

"you make me feel alive"

"i wouldn't change a thing about you"

"did I ever tell you how beautiful your eyes are?"

"I love you"

"why the hell is there glitter everywhere?"

"why don't you take a picture? it'll last longer"

"its too cold, come back"

"your hair is so soft"

"no, i'm not letting you go. its too early to get out of bed"

"im not going to stop poking you until you give me some attention"

"come here, you can sit on my lap until im done working"

"shh, you're safe. I won't let you go"

"you make me feel safe"

"you're a little shit but you're my little shit"

"do you want to stay over tonight?"

"can I hold your hand?"

"everything has been different since I fell in love with you"

"shh, its okay love, it was just a bad dream"

"stay with me please"

"my heart beats for nothing except you"

"could you hold my hand?"

"go to sleep, you haven't gotten any rest in the past couple of days"

"i'm having your child"

"I've been excited to see you all day"

"'i've lost everything, i'd be stupid enough to lose you"

"can I at least shut the door before you decide to pounce on me the moment I come home?"

Angst

"talk to me please"

"of all people, you?"

"I guess I wasn't enough, was I ?"

"I don't think I can look at you and not think of how you killed every last bit of love I had for you"

"sometimes its so confusing- if you were the one that didn't deserve me, or if it was the other way around"

"if time healed everything, then I would've gotten over you by now. its been years and i'm still where I am while I watch you move on from multiple me's"

"the ghost of you lingers around me everywhere, every second of the day. I just want it to stop. please"

"you're not leaving, are you?"

"don't leave me, please"

"don't do this to yourself"

"I can't just sit by and do nothing when you're suffering so much"

"talk to me please"

"let me help you"

"stop pushing me away"

"you haven't been yourself lately"

"please, just let me go"

"i'm not going anywhere"

"its better this way"

"theres nothing you can do"

"I don't want to lose you too"

"am I too late?"

"just leave"

"you said you'd always be there for me.. how come you weren't there when I fucking needed you"

"just go, leave! its the least you can do after all the pain you've caused me"

"why can't you love me back"

"you're breaking me"

"you did this to me"

"I can never look at you the same after that"

"you were my everything"

"get away from me"

Protective

"get behind me"

"hold my hand, okay? its gonna be over soon"

"close your eyes for me love"

"when I say run, I need you to do as I say without looking back, and don't wait for me"

"its all going to be okay, they will never hut you again"

"I swear to you, that as long as I'm alive I won't let a single soul harm you"

"listen to me.. take deep breaths, yes follow my breathing just like that. theres no need to panic, i'm right here now, aren't I? you're safe"

"when you love something, you are to protect it with your entire life at stake, and right now, my gut tells me to do the same"

"I'll be back very soon, but don't come out. stay hidden until I come back and try not to make a noice, hmm?"

"i'm so sorry, I wish I would've never left you alone! if I knew this would happen, I would've never left you alone"

"don't ever leave my sight again"

"do you trust me?"

"be more careful next time. I don't want to have to bandage you up again"

"you came back"

"I'm going to protect you"

"I got your back"

"I heard you scream, nightmares again?"

"why? because I don't want you to get hurt, that's why"

"promise me you'll be safe"

"I don't feel comfortable with you going there on your own"

Feel free to use any of these! Tag me in your work, I’d love to read them🫶🏽

#writing prompt #prompt list #writing list #story prompt #fan fic prompts #story line #imagines #fan fiction prompt #star wars #marvel #what i write #how i write #smut #angst #fluff #my writing #one shot #story #writers list #fic prompt #fic prompts

[deardragonbook]

Ways parents can fail children without even realizing it

TW: Mentions of mild child neglect, EDs, physical and mental health.

Sorry for not posting in a while but I just got back from a family holiday. The fact this is the first post I write probably isn’t a good sign but I think this is an interesting topic. 

First, what do I mean by failing a child? Well, I mean that pain is inflicted, either emotional or physical. But in this case without realizing it, I’m not talking obvious physical or verbal abuse. Most of what I’m going to talk about is more ignorance than anything else. But it’s a great way to make characters more distant with their parents without having to make the parents bad people. 

1.- The assumptions that children exaggerate their pain. I’ve seen this so often it’s painful. When a child complains they’re in pain, when they cry and scream for help, parents often treat this as a tantrum and don’t stop to consider perhaps they are actually in a lot of pain. 

As well as illness another thing to consider is, how many of you have had your parents laugh after you fall down and start crying before stopping to check if you’re okay? This can also be emotionally damaging when a child is actually hurt. 

This kind of ignorance can also cause food intolerances to be ignored and be forced to continue eating foods that cause us harm because they’re healthy. 

2.- Failure to recognize your children are different to you. This can be both physical and metal. I think the fastest way to explain this is through two examples: 

1.- Physical. My mother has straight hair, mine is curly. If you don’t know, curly hair requires a very different treatment to straight hair. As a child I recall my mother putting huge emphasis on brushing my hair every morning, I did as I was told and every morning my hair looked worse than before brushing it. It’d be all fizzy and just not nice to touch. My mother saw this as either me not brushing it, or when she saw me brushing it, that I was somehow doing something wrong. When I realized my hair was much better when I didn’t brush it and just combed it in the shower, she was having none of it. It wasn’t until I moved out I was allowed to do what I wanted with my hair and it looks much better now. 

That bad hair care not only affected my mental image of myself, I suffered bullying at school and constant criticism from my mother. When I never got the tools to properly care for my hair. 

2.- Mental. This one is far more obvious. If you have anxiety or any other mental issue that your parents don’t have, convincing them those feelings are real is extremely difficult, sometimes, near impossible. 

But even more simple than that, I study best with music on, if there’s no music I will listen to conversations on the street and not be able to study. My parents studied best in quiet. They forced me to study in a way that didn’t work for me just because it had worked for them. 

3.- Teaching children to save but not to spend. This one is a bit weird but stick with me. As a child I was given very little in material goods, which is fine, if ever I wanted something the answer was you can get with your own money. Okay, teaches children to spend money responsibly! Except the issue was, at the age of fourteen, I needed a computer for school and stuff. Computers are expensive. My pocket money was 5 euros a week. To earn that pocket money I literally ran the house (my father was ill, I ran the house because I was the oldest, my siblings were only like ten and five or something), to save up for a computer I needed to not spend any money during my childhood. I didn’t have new toys or actual hobbies. I also never went out with friends to eat or have drinks or go to the pool. 

Like I’ve said, my parents didn’t mean to take away my childhood. My father wasn’t at fault for being ill. The issue for me was the fact my parents were well-off. My sister at this same age (and I’m happy for her) gets sixty-five euros. The computer ended up being a family computer. I used it to manage the entire house’s administrative work. I let my sibling use it for school later on. It went to my father for work when I left home and bought a laptop. 

And as an adult who lives alone, the amount of anxiety I feel when spending money is... well, I lived off five euros a week during my first few years. I wasn’t eating enough or healthy. I’ve improved, but even now I’m still the person who finds the cheapest thing on the menu and always has that. 

And that’s a trauma they taught me. 

Had spending money been an option during my childhood, I perhaps would have learnt to spend as well as save. But I was taught to save to an extreme point and still do today. 

This is very specific. But there are many ways parents end up teaching traumas while trying to teach healthy habits. A lot of EDs come from home for example. It’s very difficult to stop and think about the long-term consequences of certain actions. 

4.- Body image. I knew what dieting was at the age of three because my mother struggle with her image. I knew I was chubby at the age of four. My mother still talks about my fat phase when I was pre-teen. I don’t even know if it was real at this point though, because at sixteen I was told by my doctor was I worrying under-weight, and my mother told me I was fat. I believed my mother over my doctor until she told me to not be surprised if my summer clothing didn’t fit because I’d put on weight. When every single item I tried on was baggy, I stopped listening to her. She probably still thinks it stretched out while in storage. But I know I stopped fainting when I started eating. 

To this day, my mother reminds me how I musn’t eat desserts and how much better I’d look if I just lost a bit of weight. 

I know from how she talks about herself that it’s more a reflection of her mental health than mine. But the inability to separate our issues from our children’s issues is dangerous. 

Trauma shouldn’t be hereditary. And for that, we need to take a step back and evaluate our beliefs. 

Anyway... that’s enough of my trauma turned into writing advice for one day! 

I’m sorry if this was a bit heavy, I promise to write something lighter soon! 

It’s been a really weird summer for me. I’m sorry I haven’t been active but just seeing the notification from tumblr and other social medias has given me a lot of comfort these months. 

So, thank you for being here! Remember, everything changes, and if things aren’t going great today, that doesn’t mean two years down the line things can’t be better. Sometimes all we can do is wait things out. Hoping you find something to smile about today. 

And, as usual if you want to check out my book, an activity book I have, my free stories or other social medias, all of that and more can be found here.

#writing #writer #writeblr #write #Writing tips #writing advice #writing tip #how I write #how to write #writing reference #writing references

[grandpierreva]

I'm in the mood to write a design document on how I would have written and directed FNAF SB. Not with the intent to one up Steel Wool but mostly just to keep my ideas on paper. Would anyone be interested in reading my insane ramblings?

#fnaf #fnaf security breach #fnaf sb #writing #game development #game design #how i write #fiction

[contentloadingandstuff]

heyyo :>

i've been a reading your works for a while and I've been curious on the process on how you write since I find the way you write very pleasing ! I'm curious on the steps you take once you get like an idea or start working on a request since this and trying to make up so much just from a prompt are the things i struggle a lot with when i try to write— & vvv quickly wanted to ask if you'd ever put your works up on ao3 ? thank you & wish you the bestest !

Hello, fellow writer!

Thank you! People say that sometimes, and it never fails to make me confused. I suppose the reader sees things that the writer cannot...

As you mentioned already, the first step is the idea, or the prompt. In the early days I just used Spin The Wheel for writing suggestions, but nowadays there's no shortage of ideas in my inbox.

So you could say that the idea isn't a problem, right? Wrong.

Not every one is the same. The key point in picking the right ask/idea is making it into a readable, interesting fic. In that sense, not every prompt is doable. Aside from the obvious ones that include things I don't write for, here are a few examples.

Too specific/complicated. Some asks include specific details that are hard to fit into the story as I see it, or limit the writing freedom. There are also the ones that basically are whole fics in themselves. *cough*Shrine Incident*cough*

Repetitive, and I don't mean the ask itself. Writing the exact same scenario over and over, but with different characters would lead to monotony on the blog, and very noticable shortage of unique content. Say, a wedding ceremony for every female character I write for. It would get really repetitive really fast, as most would just follow their culture's traditions with slight differences. Forcing every single one to be unique would be silly and OOC.

This may be a little harsh, but some are uninteresting. They are very rare, but they happen. Things like "their reaction to reader tripping on a shoelace" or "their reaction to getting a gift" would not amount to much readable content, as the reactions would be very limited in variety or straight up identical. Splitting the hairs would be annoying to write and boring to read.

The best ideas are those that are general, leaving much freedom for the writer, but still draw a rough framework to work within.

Now that I have the idea, I need to think it over (as every writer does). It usually takes plenty of time since I want to get solid ideas, not just any random thoughts. Not all ideas are workable into a readable fic as well. It takes longer for pure headcanons since those consist entirely of ideas. The general thought process for the more story-driven fics is something like "I want this to happen" or "I want to include this". Before I get to writing the post down, I already have a general, ordered plot line - it's only a matter of putting it into words and filling the gaps to connect the most important bits. The planning happens during my day - it comes naturally to me. Never once have I sat down and decided to think exclusively about a fic before making it.

There is also the research phase of my writing. Not all fics need research, but if they do, I won't shy away from it. I learned a lot about sepsis from an actual doctor when I was writing the old Fatui!Reader fic with Yelan, I read A LOT, and I mean A LOT about pregnancy for the fluff headcanons to make sure everything is realistic, making sure that X existed in medieval/reinessance times (it is very hard to decide if I should include it sometimes because Genshin's world is like a game of Sid Meier's Civilisation when it comes to technology), I watched a lot of pole dancing tutorials before writing the triple Sumeru smut to get a good reference point... speaking of smut, there is a lot of research going on there.

Why? Because I want to make smut hot. That is the ultimate objective, and sadly my nsfw imagination isn't that good. It has been getting better with the amount of smut I made so far, but it isn't as good as that of some authors. I also want to make sure things look and act as they would in reality. The realism, or making things believable, is one of my main objectives. That is also why smut takes the second spot for the longest writing time - I always want to make sure that things are in order and of as high quality as I can make them. Sadly, smut rarely has any comments. I know why, I understand why, but it does leave me guessing if it was really any good more often than not.

The final part of planning is choosing a format, and sometimes it is kind of hard to do. There are the obvious picks, but sometimes the request is vague enough, and the idea could work in all three - the bulleted headcanons, the mixed headcanons, and the narrative. There are a bunch of miscellany formats too, but I seldom use them.

When the planning is done, the writing part begins. It is rarely done in one sitting, since sometimes I get stuck on specific (usually liminal) points. The longer I am, the more frustrated and tired I get (the extensive planning itself is mentally exhausting, believe it or not), and I never want to write when exhausted. That said, there are some fics that I wrote like this, and people seemed to pay no mind. But still - I want to make sure I am thinking straight while putting my ideas into words. It is sort of a given, I know.

Sometimes I also pass the fic to my beta reader, but it's complicated. Then it's publishing time.

My advice here is to take frequent breaks. If you're barely keeping your eyes open, if you have a headache, if you want to throw your phone/pc/notebook through the nearest window, stop. Take a break, come back when you feel like it. (I'm assuming you write something like fanfiction) Do remember that fanfics are more about the vibe and ideas than real literary substance. If there's no willingness or passion when you write them, they may come out bland and forced. Personally, I focus on all three, but I would advise anyone to do otherwise. It's oftentimes a lot to think through, a lot to plan, and it occasionally gets frustrating.

Unless we're talking serious fanfiction, which in my writing is the Necro AU. Double everything I wrote here and you will get how much thought goes into the AU. Yeah.

As for making fics out of prompts. It depends heavily on the kind of prompt, the kind of fiction, the topic of the prompt, the characters involved and so on and so forth. Sometimes the prompt works with the character, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it gives you too little to work with, sometimes it gives you too much. I find that the ideas come to me themselves, but sometimes getting a bit of inspiration goes a long way. For example, when I was writing the smut and fluff headcanons for respectively Candace + Nilou and Candace, I went to an archeology exhibition regarding Tutankhamun's tomb. Yes, it was in my plans for a long time and yes, I used the ask as an excuse to finally go there, but it made writing that fun nevertheless. Sometimes you just need the right mood to get the ideas flowing.

I hope you find all of what I said coherent, and maybe even helpful to some degree. All of it is just my take on the matter, subjective, based in my own experiences and so on.

If you want to ask something more specific, or if you want me to help you with something, you can always DM me - I would be more than happy to help :3

EDIT: I'll post a select few of the more suitable fics on AO3, as well as Mortuarius. I was told that AO3 folk like AUs more than people do here on Tumblr.

#writing #contentloadingandstuff #writing advice #writing tips #writing help #how i write

[quordleona03]

20, 23, 31 :3

20: Have you noticed any patterns in your fics? Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?

Religion. I have been a convinced atheist since I was a teenager . (Intensive reading of the Bible and other myths will do that to you.) But I am fascinated by religion - by the stories people live by and the faiths they hold to against all reason. I invented an entire Cardassian religion for the sake of having a devout Cardassian discuss her faith with Jean-Luc Picard, who was (at least in my headcanon) brought up Catholic.

For quite a while I was also consistently interested in slavery - find me a universe, I'd write a slave-story fic in it. Sometimes I combined this with writing about religion. (MirrorMASH - especially A Hawk Through the Mirror - and A Good Job, are both technically examples of this.)

I love dialogue. My favourite thing about stories is usually when you get two or more people together and they're talking and it's so intense the reader doesn't know whether to laugh, cry, or scream.

23: Best writing advice for other writers?

Avoid glaucoma. No, seriously, the usual: you have to actually sit down and write that shitty first draft in order to get the story done. You don't need to show the rotten first draft to anyone til you make it better, but the only way to make it better is to write that crappy first version. A lot of writing advice is situational and personal. What works for me is to write something, anything, at least 750 words a day, just to keep my writing muscles energised. It helps to read a lot, to plan my stories out, to spend a lot of time thinking about my characters in situations that don't appear in the story, just so I know how they move and act and think and speak. But the one thing that is universal, I believe, is just that: write that bogging-awful unpublishable shamefully bad first draft - then polish. But you can't polish what isn't there.

31: Do you start with the characters or the plot when writing?

Oh, characters. Definitely. Except when I start with the plot. No, usually it's the characters. But I get really interested in the characters when I think of plot for them. So really, it's both.

I launched into MirrorMASH and The Games, both of them, without having any clear idea of where the plot was going - I just knew I wanted to put those characters in this situation and see what happened. On the other hand, I started writing "All We Know" with a very clear idea of the plot - but I would never have begun writing it if I hadn't so badly wanted to go back and find Hawkeye and Mulcahy and make sure they were still happy ten years after "Goodbye, Farewell, Amen".

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

Those are two different things.

If I am writing a multi-chaptered story, I have the story planned out. I know what's going to happen in each chapter. I may not know in exact detail (though I may have a lot of exact detail written down) but I know the plot steps. I think of this as crossing a wide, deep, fast river by stepping stones. Out in the middle of the river, you're surrounded by chaos and muddle and danger, but you have each stone solid underfoot and the way across is clear. So I embark on the chapter knowing whose POV is telling the story, and knowing what has to happen in the chapter (though obviously surprises happen). I started Margaret's chapter for April in "All We Know" three times over until I got to a good starting point (Barbara, Sam's daughter, turned out to be the way in). While sometimes it can be difficult, the steps behind me are solid and the framework ahead of me is worked out and I just have to complete this step, and so I start writing. And sometimes people give me an idea for a story and I run with it. I wrote a lot of the MASH drabbles like that. And "Comrades " was written because Ajay wanted to see Hawkeye and Mulcahy trapped behind enemy lines. Generally speaking, a story from an idea someone else explicity gave me is going to be shorter and tamer. (But not always.) But a story that has no chapters, which I have just embarked on with characters in a situation and a sketchy plot - I am writing off into a white page of hope, buiding the story one sentence at a time. Sometimes doing this leads to writing a multi-chapter story when I realise this has got out of hand. Sometimes it just ends up being one very long story that I keep coming back to and coming back to until the story curls round and tells me "it's done". I got the idea for "Tuttle" like that: and the idea for "Crabapple Cove", and the idea for "For Ever" and - longer ago - "Friend and Stranger", and the whole MirrorTrek sequence. Sometimes I begin a story thinking, this is just a flashy idea, it's a one-shot, how many words can this take me to do - and then I look up and realise, my God, where am I. In the middle of the river, with no stepping stones, just a lot of chaotic water and the surety that if I can keep writing, carefully, thinking things through as I go, there will be an ending. I hope. That's the creative process. Story in search of an ending, for the love of words.

#ask game #ask quordle #why i write #how i write #my stories #writing #creative process #stepping stones #my fic #religion in fiction #slavery in fiction

[kassienovapoetry]

I bring my journals out of the house

I am a sieve; the world is a geyser filtered through

You can’t hear, it’s deafening

The flow wanes as I choke and clot with “life”

A void opens .

Rectangles of leather, carsick, pressed leaves, bus timetables

Scrape those crusty clots, clearing a way

My journals bring me out of the house.

#kickasskassie #poets on tumblr #trans poets on tumblr #original poem #oc #writing about writing #how i write

[barbex]

I'm curious both about the editor you're using (tell me more?) and "abandoned spaceship" 👀

"Abandoned Spaceship" is nothing, yet. It's an idea seed I want to work on for the short story project at @the-wip-project. I thinking of something like a ghost ship vibe, but in space, maybe with mysterious aliens. I don't have much, not yet.

But I can talk about the editor! Reedsy is a great site with resources for writers, a marketplace of editors, designers, ghostwriters, and so on. The editor is a new project by them.

In my quest of leaving google docs behind, I tried several writing programs. My requirements were:

1. Browser based, because I write on Linux, Android, and Windows. Must work on phone and tablet.

2. Runs on Firefox, because if I want to get away from Google, I'm not going to use Chrome.

3. Uncluttered interface, font size adjustable, places to keep separate notes and snippets but connected to the story.

4. Basic functions are free.

I tried many programs and I seem to stick with the reedsy editor right now. It hasn't disappointed me so far and the interface doesn't distract me.

I think you need to register at reedsy.com first, and then you access the editor at https://editor.reedsy.com/.

Thanks for the ask!

#how I write

[wildemaven]

Sitting here rocking the babe for a nap and pull open my notes app to start writing something.

I write everything on my phone in the notes app first because I do most of my writing while rocking my little guy down for naps or bed. After I flesh out the story and feel like it’s done, I’ll past it into the Word app on my phone and have it read it back to me— I don’t know why, but hearing it out loud is easier for me to get the feel for how it reads and if I need to tweak things. Once it I feel like it’s good, then I past it to tumblr (I should probably do that part from my laptop cause I’m sure using the web version of tumblr is better ??).

But now I need to know everyone’s process, because I’m sure we’re all different in how we bring our ideas to life. Do you physically write first, do you use certain programs, write straight into a tumblr post like a badass??

Please share!!!

#my process is so ridiculous too #just a random thought while I sit here #my writing #how i write #wildemaven posts

[xxoxobree]

how do u write ur fics

they’re literally so good

I usually just write what I feel without planning ahead and it usually turns out bad

pls babes spill 🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿

I write like that too I’m not gone lie 🤣🤣

But I write 3 times.

The first time is the rough draft just to get all the ideas out of my head to not forget them then I read that over and rephrase and rewrite make everything sound pretty, Then I go over it one more time and proofread and add anything else I want to the story.

It’s a process tho and I be getting lost in the sauce sometimes too so I put the story down for a while and do my 3 step to see where it goes and continue writing until I like the story.

#neteyamsmunch #hope that helped #neteyamsmunch fics #breeandhermunches #breeandhermunchesfics #how I write #my process

[musewrangler]

Hey, I don’t know if you ended up getting any of these, so…

20. Do you work on a single project or many at the same time? How does that work for you?

This is so thoughtful. Thank you dear!

I always have more than one project on the burner at a time. xD This is usually a combo of fic and art. I have discovered this is helpful for me because if I have writer's block on one project, often working on another helps to both further that fic and make the the other project jealous so it gets more ideas. ;D

It's quite fabulous how ideas will pop into my head for the other stories while working on one of them. I can always pause and write those ideas down before I resume work on the current story.

And I have also realized---sometimes if all writing feels bleh, it's time to work on an art project. xD Get my brain into a very different mode, not to mention my hands. As I'm usually illustrating my stories, it's a joy to look at my characters' faces and draw inspiration from them for the writing.

Thank you so much for the ask!!

#writing #writing asks #asks #writing process #multiple wips #how I write #fan fic writer #ao3 writer

[wolfjackle-creates]

@vythika96 left a comment on Ghost!Robin Part 7 thay I wanted to reply to, but in a longer format than would be allowed by comments, so I'm doing it here! (Thank you for the comment!)

Cracking up that you said you forgot the glass until Duke spoke up like you didn’t write him saying it in the first place 😂

So parts 6 and 7 have been hard as hell to write. There are so many characters. And they all have so much personality. I'm skating by on Danny being unobservant and not knowing the underlying relationships well enough to pick up on subtleties.

But basically, this hallway scene has been killing me. I did 1 full rewrite. And I'm quite surprised it's just been one. A year ago, I would've needed two or three to be even this happy with it. (Yay for improvement!) In the first version, I had Duke yell about Danny's crown way earlier in the scene. Like, as everyone is rushing out of the dining room early. I also didn't have the physical confrontations between Bruce and Danny. Or the one-on-one convo with Jason. But I did have Danny clean up the glass.

Obviously I needed to fix that. Those scenes with Bruce and Jason were far more necessary.

So I rewrote. And when I did, I had to push back Duke's line by quite a bit. And only when I rewrote that line did I remember I also hadn't yet taken care of the broken glass. Because I deleted that part.

So yeah, it was always supposed to be there, but rewrites messed with my head a bit! I definitely think this version is better than what I wrote previously. And when I go through everything again before posting to AO3, I'll probably tweak things even further.

In other news, I can happily say I've decided how exactly I want Jason and Ghost!Robin to merge! I'd had ideas that were fine and would've worked. But I wasn't super enthused about them. Now I have one that is way better, but will make the fic a bit longer than I originally planned. So, yeah. Both excited and annoyed with myself for that.

#ghost!robin #my rambles #how i write

[deardragonbook]

Some sad things to do other than killing of a character (part 2)

1.- Losing custody. I love the found-family trope. Usually there isn’t actual custody but sometimes there is. But keeping custody can be very difficult especially where money is involved and when it comes to fantasy worlds, there is sooooo much more that can go wrong. 

You’ve got a group that’s been together for a book or two and suddenly they are forcefully split up. The younger member taken away to worsen the whole thing. It can be heartbreaking with no need for anybody to die. 

2.- Only just failing. Failure is painful. Now picture this: the information they needed to succeed arrived just minutes, hours or the day after the big failure. The person who brings the information is heartbroken knowing if they’d arrived just a little faster... 

3.- Having characters accept they aren’t good for each other after trying very hard. This can be a relationship, a friendship or anything, really. A lot of you have probably already lived this, and it’s painful. We all have distinct personalities and sometimes we aren’t a good match. No amount of hard work can make us happy together and that eventual acceptance is relieving, but also painful. 

4.- Expectation vs Reality. I’m going to give an example some of you have been through and some of you will go through. Publishing a book. Spending four years planning, drafting, re-writing, editing, marketing, getting the perfect cover and finally pressing publish just to see it flop. Watch how sales don’t even come close to covering the cost of the cover and reviews are few and far between. Watch how years of telling yourself. “If I can just finish this book people will read it...” And that wasn’t the case. And this still breaks my heart sometimes. It was a always a possibility I was aware of, but it still hurt. 

Now in books we expect everything to go end well, we expect the character to eventually get that job they wanted or end up with the love interest. So having a character’s dreams end up being... wrong or unaccomplished. It’s hard. But sometimes it’s important to let characters not get what they want, and let them continue despite it. It’s important to fall so we can get up again. 

As usual, I hope this helped! If you want to check out my books, free to read stories or other social medias you can check out my author website. I also just set up a discord for my book series but I’m hoping to talk about writing, publishing and books in general so if you’d like to reach out me join my discord! 

Have fun writing! 

#writing tip #writing tips #writing trick #writing tricks #writing resource #writing resources #how i write #how to write #character death #writing sadness #writing sad things #sad things to write

[thoughts-stuck-somewhere]

Forget heroin, just try giving up irony, that deep-down need to mean two things at once, to be in two places at once, not to be there for the catastrophe of a fixed meaning.

Edward St. Aubyn

#quotes #irony #state of mind #lit #chaotic thoughts #dark academia #chaotic academia #writing #that's me #how i write

[tales-from-nocturnaliss]

I was asked how I write, and for the life of me I didn't know how to reply to that.

Then my dear friend @kathea swooped in with a great idea and here we are, with a little snippet that shows what exactly I'm working on doing currently.

As extrapolated on in this post, I've been trying to rekindle my love of writing and, so doing, realized nothing says I have to rewrite old stories into my current style. Thus, instead, I'm using my skill level to enhance old works and it has been a lot of fun to revisit this old, flowery style while fixing plotholes, PoV, continuity, etc etc...

It's been going better than I could have expected.

So here we go @desastreus, an example of what I do! :D

(extra detail: 'magic' is a word that doesn't exist as-is on Aeyuu. Every race has a name for it that has a different meaning/weight. Thus, I added in this new information to 'update' the old version, in such a way that context explains what 'viira' means).

#writing #worldbuilding #how i write #Tales from Aeyuu

[bonvoyagenoona]

I do have a question about kinks because idk if it's only me that likes it. But when a guy cums and breeding kink it turns me on so much idk why it's so weird. I feel its because the two are connected lol . hopefully I'm not the only that finds these 2 things hot if if not I'm doing a walk of shame lmao. 👀😂

Mmmmm pleeeease, it’s not weird at all! Encouraging others to weigh in as well! I’m sure you know that there are tons of people out there (and tons of fics out there!!) that have these kinks!! And I have some very smutty things to say after the jump 😏

What is it that you find sexy about both/either kink? Would love to know!

Because, for me, it’s just so satisfying to see and hear a guy cum, and to know that you were a part of it! To know that you got him there! I don’t think I have a breeding kink per se, but I can see an in to the latter part, with that heat, being filled up, matched with the euphoria of release?! 🥵 

Like, take My Time Jungkook?? I imagine him like this all the time:

On top, grunting, sweating, drops falling down his long, wavy tendrils that are hovering above your forehead, eyebrows furrowed, tense, having put in the work all this time but somehow still working, so eager to race toward that moment where he can just r e l e a s e everything he’s got, finally unload and give you everything that has been building, so much that your body has to puff up to make space, his hand resting on your stomach as his body waves through his orgasm, gentle, but knuckles bent softly around that mound, knowing that inside of you, there’s evidence of just how desirable you are, and how he wants even more of you, how he’ll never stop wanting more of you, and---

OOF ANON YOU GOT ME WORKED UP!!

#bts fanfiction #bts smut #bts drabbles #jungkook smut #asks #your asks #anon #how i write #about me #I NEED A MOMENT #like i *just* logged off from work y'all hoo boy #a conversation about breeding kinks #a conversation about kinks

[quordleona03]

Hi, if you have time, I'd love to ask a couple of things:

How do you and your beta/proofreader share texts? Do you use email, Google Docs, or a different app? Just curious as someone who is starting to write and trying to get a feel for things. I'd also love to hear any advice you might be willing to pass on about posting and writing.

When I finish a section in All We Know, I send the latest version of the entire document (though once we got into dealing with March, and all the sections up til the end of January had been published, I split the manuscript into All We Know 1962 and All We Know 1963 - all of 1962 was now on AO3 if Jakrar wanted to check back with an earlier section.

On posting and writing, well: my advice is to sit down and write for an hour every day for ten years, and at the end of that time, you are a writer. (I use the site 750words to get my hour-a-day in, no matter what.) When trying to write a story: unless it is a very short story, plan it out ahead of time, chapter by chapter - what has to happen when. Let yourself be flexible, of course: sometimes the characters will tell you things about themselves as you write that mean the story changes direction. And then write: get the shitty first draft down, and then pause for at least a day - sleep on it, definitely - re-read, make what changes seem good to you, repeate - and finally, find someone to edit/proofread, and, hopefully, to beta-read. A beta-reader tells you their emotional responses to the story. Pay attention to their reactions. A sensitive reader picks up on what you meant, and what you want, and what they feel. The beta-reader's changes may be more difficult to introduce, more painful, but the work in doing so will generally make the story better.

I use LibreOffice, and save as a .doc file, and email that .doc file. For convenience, the .doc file is indexed with a table of contents and each section has a comprehensible heading, so that sections can be easily found.

Jakrar sends me back a .doc file with sections from my manuscript quoted, and her proofreading notes and comments underneath, identified by page number in the file.

What this can look like is (my original text in green, hers indented):

Mulcahy could have told Mrs Hunt he was going to see his sister - that was true: but he didn't think he could explain to anyone who knew what his salary was as a teacher, that he planned to fly to California tonight, and home on Monday. That hardly seemed real to him either, though their flight was at seven. He was looking forward to it with a wincing kind of anticipation, but beyond the flight, he had to meet BJ Hunnicut, who he needed to talk to, and Kathy, Maria Angelica, whom he both wanted and did not want to talk to.

In the first sentence: you might consider changing “that” in “that was true” to “it” I’d suggest changing the colon after “true” to a dash I’d suggest putting “(at least,” right after “anyone” in “could explain to anyone” I’d suggest changing “who knew what his salary was as a teacher” to something like “familiar with his teacher’s salary” I’d suggest changing the comma immediately following the word before “that he planned to fly” to “)”

Jakrar will also note contradictions in the text:

Page 368

Hawkeye got up when Mulcahy came in - paused a moment - presumably for Mrs Jamieson to close the door - and then came round the desk and took Mulcahy briefly into his arms. He let go, moved back, looked down.

At the end of the first sentence, delete the extra blank space following “briefly into his arms.”

Page 368

"Okay, wait," Hawkeye said, still holding on to him. "It did not escape my notice that when we flew up to Boston back in October, your ears hurt."

First, three paragraphs up, Hawkeye takes Mulcahy briefly into his arms and then lets him go and moves back, but here Hawkeye is still holding on to him. You need to change one or the other or have something in between where Hawkeye takes hold of him again. Second, they flew to Boston and had their interactions with Charles and Martine in November.

Sometimes, she'll also include comments on the text itself.

Page 431

"Fantastic," Hawkeye said, very cheerfully. "Lucky chance you knew that guy." "Never saw him before in my life," BJ said. "You knew him, didn't you?"

beats head on desk How have these guys survived this long?

Page 431

Hawkeye stopped short, turned, and looked at BJ. His eyes were wide and his eyebrows raised. "BJ? He's on the convention staff. I handed my dress bag in at the desk this morning, and asked them to find me at the mezzanine after my seminar, and take me to a room I could change in. He showed up with the bag and a key to that room, and I told him to come find me after the banquet. That is the sum total of our long-standing unacquaintance. When you called him 'Jack' I thought you knew him."

Near the end of the fifth sentence, delete the extra blank space after “take” in “the mezzanine after my seminar, and take” In the eighth/last sentence: put a comma after “Jack” (before the closing single quotation mark) I’d undo the italics on “him” (but leave the italics on “you”)

I used to be a stellar proofreader myself. But, since my glaucoma diagnosis, I've had to accept that I will no longer be able to notice if I've missed small issues in the text. Leading to comments such as these:

Page 432

BJ gave Hawkeye a beat of silence Hawkeye looked amused "Okay - "

Put a period after “silence” Put a period after “amused”

Sometimes, I disagree with Jakrar's suggestions (my comment text in red italics) and I often add notes on the decisions made in guiding the plot of the story.

Page 98 (from the AWK 193 doc)

"Hey," BJ said, calmly. "We couldn't invite all four kids, one of them a boy about Erin's age. We're not inviting any kids." And they had heard from Erin about that, at the top of her voice. "We just couldn't make an exception for Lorraine Blake. Anyway - "

In the fifth sentence, you might rearrange “We just couldn’t make an exception for” to “We couldn’t make an exception just for” The reunion just became a thousand percent better.

To me, the suggested placement of "just" sounds dismissive of Lorraine - "just couldn't" sets the emphasis on "couldn't for anyone". Does that make sense?

When I was discussing with Ajay65 how to plan the reunion at the end of the story, Ajay65 pointed out that if the party included children, the hotel had to be bigger, events had to be organised for parents-with-children, a sitter-service had tbe available for the banquet or the entire event had to be child-friendly - and I conceded the point and abandoned any ideas about a family reunion.

Page 398

Hawkeye was sitting bold upright and plainly indignant. "Beej, everyone there would know the circumstances."

In the first sentence, change “bold” in “sitting bold upright” to “bolt”

Page 398

"I didn't," BJ said. "And a lot of people who only remember Colonel Potter wouldn't either. Anyway, Hawk, if you'll cool down and listen to me, I heard back from Lorraine Blake, and she's now Lorraine Reynolds."

In the second sentence: you might consider rearranging “people who only remember Colonel Potter” to “people who remember only Colonel Potter” put a comma after “wouldn’t” in “Colonel Potter wouldn’t”

"And a lot of people who only remember Colonel Potter wouldn't either."

To me this (the above) sounds a more natural way of saying what BJ is trying to say than

"And a lot of people who remember only Colonel Potter wouldn't either."

The above comments are all editing or proofreading. Anyone experienced enough to know what correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation are, and with a good enough memory to catch glitches, can proofread your story. It is always easier to have someone else read your manuscript and catch errors than for you do it. This is because - unless you set the story aside for a few weeks - you yourself know what you meant to write, and your mind's eye will produce that for you on the page, even if that's not what you actually typed. A proofreader is only responsible for picking out the typos, punctuation errors, grammatical errors, and so forth: an editor will track things like "Hawkeye and Mulcahy actually flew to Boston in November". But in fandom, if you are fortunate enough to have someone who will be both proofreader and editor, they can and should do both.

But - when your editor/proofreader loves your story enough to read it with fannish appreciation, they will also notice things like this:

Page 471

"When did you tell him to go back?" Kathy said. She was beyond astonishment. That Ben might have been a voice urging Francis to return to the priesthood was not something that had ever occurred to her. She was bewildered, but she could not disbelieve him.

"A couple of times in Crabapple Cove. In New York...." Ben shrugged. "A few times. I don't remember. He told me to stop, last year. He told me he wasn't ever going back, they wouldn't let him be a priest, and I had to stop saying it, or he'd be angry."

"So you could get him to go," Sister Maria Angelica said, with delicate care, "if you weren't afraid of making him angry?"

It could be just me, but it feels like Maria Angelica's switch here, from the shock of realization back to manipulation, is a hair too quick and smooth.  Maybe if there's a hint of pause at the start of the third paragraph, before she's all composed again, and delicately trying to get Hawkeye to see things her way...?

Jakrar was right. A beta reader notices emotional mistakes in the text. So I amended my text (new text in bold):

"A couple of times in Crabapple Cove. In New York...." Ben shrugged. "A few times. I don't remember. He told me to stop, last year. He told me he wasn't ever going back, they wouldn't let him be a priest, and I had to stop saying it, or he'd be angry."

Kathy stared at Ben. She wasn't sure what to say. She moved her hands togeher under her scapular, and summoned herself to go on.

"So you could get him to go," Sister Maria Angelica said, with delicate care, "if you weren't afraid of making him angry?"

And sometimes, a good editor can save your life. On Page 516 of the total WIP so far (Page 210 of the 1963 version), there's this:

But it wasn't even seven in the morning in New York: the call rang out, with no one there to answer in the empty offices. Hawkeye stared at the San Francisco telephone directory, and thought of making prank calls.

It’s going to be three hours later in New York than it is in California.  But if it’s about nine in the morning in San Francisco, it’s about noon in NYC, so maybe there’s a lunch break and no one is answering the phones at the office because of that?

I said "OH SHIT!!" out loud when I read your email, and M, who was passing, said "What?" sounding very worried.

I said, "no no, nothing important," and then correcting myself "nothing in the real world - I got the time difference between New York and San Francisco exactly BACKWARDS"

"Oh," said M, sounding very relieved, "oh well shame on you, tut tut" and went on downstairs to make more tea.

I don't have the red cloak and magical comic book powers to reverse the direction of the Earth and besides people might notice if I did, so i guess I have to rewrite that bit.

Thank you.

*sobs with relief*

Thank you.

Will send you corrected and updated version ASAP.

Love and huge appreciation

Result: But he ate, and asked the waitress where he could make a long-distance phone call. He might as well call Shirley Mason and get it over with. A man answered the phone. He said Miss Mason was at lunch. He did not offer to take a message. Hawkeye stared at the San Francisco telephone directory, and thought of making prank calls. He called Charles's office. The hospital switchboard passed him through without comment: Charles's secretary, who always reminded Hawkeye of a very well-bred robot but with less warmth, said that she would inquire if Doctor Winchester wished to speak with him. Finally, Charles's clipped Boston voice said, "Afternoon. What is it, Pierce?" "Good morning, Charles," Hawkeye said. "Pierce. What is it?" Charles paused. "Are you in California? What do you want?"

Ah, that's a question...

#writing #proofreading #editing #beta reading #how I write #all we know