#i made an outline doc a while ago with the first like 3 chapters i think. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ronwestbreeze · 1 year

Text

TO YOU , WORLDS AWAY : PART TWO : CHAPTER NINETEEN

pairing: jake sully x fem!reader

summary: your new life on pandora

word: count: 3.4k

author's note: get ready for a whole lot of domestic chapters of the sully family hehe <3

AO3 | prev| next

Year 2160

“Doc!” Spider grinned happily when he spotted you.

The lab Norm and Max had set up was spacious enough for you to enter. And it was a little strange being the tallest one in the room for the first time. Though you were never really that short in your former body, it was still a startling contrast.

Spider ran up to you, awing at your new body, “Wow, you’re so tall!”

You grinned, kneeling down in front of him. Ruffling his hair, “And you’re so tiny, little Parrot.”

His little arms wrapped around your neck in a tiny hug, “I’m glad you’re okay. Mom says you weren’t feeling well and that I couldn’t see you.” When you pulled away slightly, he had a little pout on his lips, “I thought you left for good.”

Sometimes you forget how young the boy was. Had to be around Kiri’s age, maybe a little older. Still he was too young to truly understand what had happened and you were sure that Mary would prefer you not go into heavy detail. And you really didn’t want to burden him with it either.

“I was a little sick and it was very contagious.” You say instead, cupping his small face in your larger hands. “I didn’t want you to catch what I had. Now I’m better.”

Spider nodded like he understood, his wide eyes still taking in your face. “Now you’re one of them! When can I be like them?”

Norm entered the lab the same time Spider asked that and chuckled loudly, “Too little, kiddo. Gotta wait until you’re older.”

“So I have to be old?” Spider pouted. “Like you?”

You snorted while Norm rolled his eyes, “Keep up with the attitude and you won’t get one til’ your thirty!”

Spider stuck his tongue out at him as you laughed, placing the boy on your shoulders before following Norm to one of the computers. In some places you had to duck your head extra low, just so the boy’s head wouldn’t get caught by the ceiling.

When Norm brought up some images, swiping by to get to what he wanted, you spotted one of Hell’s Gate. Well, a blueprint of it at least. It looked different from the other one—the one you saw years ago while snooping through their computers after you first arrived on the planet. You had to have been sixteen or seventeen at the time when you saw the old blueprint outlines of Hell’s Gate.

Norm noticed your where your gaze settled and sighed, “Ever since the last one was destroyed—which I have to say was pretty fucking ballsey of you—those of us that stayed behind after the RDA left worked on rebuilding what was left. Keeping at least a few of the places alive and working so that we could live here comfortably.”

“You seemed to have made some progress.” You hummed, feeling Spider resting his arms and chin on top of your head.

Norm shrugged, “It's amazing how much time can go by when you’re hyper focused on this.” He waved his hand at the blueprint flippantly. “It’s not the same Hell’s Gate—don’t think we or the Na’vi would want it that way anyway—but it’s enough, ya know?” He then tilted his head, amusement twinkling in his eyes. “Though, you could’ve left a little more than scraps for us to work off of.”

“My bad.” You shrugged, both of you grinning.

Norm then pulled up a few schematics and other blueprints, this time of smaller projects. “Alrighty, what do you think, Doc?”

You spent the past twenty minutes giving your opinion on some of the projects. Then again, that was the whole reason as to why he asked you here in the first place. To get an engineer’s opinion on work. Like the good ol’ days. The only good days, really, besides Grace’s School. You liked being useful. Back when you first arrived at Pandora, you were trying everything you could to make yourself useful for the team. That was when you joined Grace in helping out with the school.

And when that had come to an unfortunate end, you buried yourself in studies, passing all your exams to become a prodigy engineer and a biologist in training.

Now, as a practically newborn Na’vi that was now starting your way as one of The People, you had to find new ways in this culture, in this clan, to be useful.

Max then arrived, standing awkwardly in the doorway, “Um, one of the warriors is here for you, Doc.”

You cringed when you realized the time, “Crap—I mean darn!” You placed Spider down as he stared up at you in confusion. “I forgot the time—you got it from here, Norm?”

He nodded, “Yeah, thanks for your help. You still got it, Doc.”

“Of course, I do.” You stood, adjusting the loincloth. “I may be in a different body but I’m still the best damn engineer on the planet.”

“Can I come with you?” Spider asked, following you as you walked toward the lab entrance. Even through the window you could see a warrior, standing further away and looking quite impatient.

You gave him a small smile, “Not this time, little Parrott. I got to start my training and I don’t know if they’d take too kindly to bringing you along on my first day.” Spider pouted and you ruffled his hair again, noticing bits of it were locking up. “Maybe next time, okay?”

“Okay.” He nodded, not hiding his disappointment.

When you got outside, the warrior’s eyes narrowed on you as you cautiously approached him. “You are late.”

“Only by a couple of minutes.” You weakly protest.

He huffed, adjusting his grip on his spear, “Come. We have much to do. We’ve already wasted enough time.”

Without waiting for a response, he leaped up onto a tree and began climbing. When he saw that you weren’t right behind him, he scowled down at you. “Skxawng! Climb!”

Rolling your eyes, you began climbing up after him. Like last time, you weren’t as fast compared to Neytiri. And it was the same with this nameless warrior. The only difference this time was that he didn’t have any particular patience for your slowness.

“Faster!” He ordered from his spot on a branch. Once you got up to the branch he was on, he glared, “If you plan to fight like one of us, you must learn to navigate this forest. It is your home now, you must know your own way without someone having to tell you.”

“Alright, I get it.” You mumbled. And really, you did. You had no energy to complain or protest against the attitude he was giving you. All you could do was follow him and learn. That’s all you could really offer at this point. “At least tell me your name.” You started as he started jumping from leaf to leaf. Wobbly but steadily, you followed after him. “You probably already know my name so don’t you think it’s fair?”

“Ezì.” He muttered, pointing his spear ahead. “Follow and watch.”

Carefully, you followed his instructions. Ezì moved elegantly and swiftly through the trees. Barely making a sound. You tried to mimic him, it wasn’t perfect but it was the best you could do. Ezì didn’t complain so it seemed like you were doing something right.

The both of you continued going like this, not stopping once. You figured if you asked for a break he’d probably snap your head off, so you refrained from doing so. At some point, you even managed to pass a Thanator without it noticing your presence. From the high ground, the creature looked a lot less intimidating.

Ezì watched your expression as you stared at it, “You’ve seen them before?”

After a few seconds, you realized he was speaking to you and nodded quickly, “Yeah, um, yeah I read about them and nearly got sniffed out by one a few days back.”

Ezì had a thoughtful expression, “You escaped one? You? Without having to kill it?”

“Yeah?”

“And you learned how by reading your….” He made a flippant gesture, “books?” You rolled your eyes, tail swaying behind you. “That is not how we will be doing things. You do not learn to be a warrior by reading. You learn by action.”

A sudden thrust from behind threw you off the branch. A yelp left your lips as you fell through a bunch of large leaves until you got to the ground, where the Thanator was.

You glared up, “Are you fucking kidding me, man?!”

From above, Ezì gave a smug grin as he squatted from his spot above, “You’ve escaped one before. Show me that you’re a warrior!” The Thanator’s eyes were already locked onto you, growling. “Show me you are worth my time and not another dreamwalker skxawng!”

You would’ve scowled at him, cussed him out, but the Thanator did not wait for you. When it pounced, you dashed away.

In your former body, you wouldn’t have been able to move as quickly as you were. Haphazardly jumping onto trees and plants, avoiding the Thanator’s claws and attempts at pouncing. Still, it didn't mean you were a pro at it, at least not as good as Neytiri or Ezì. But it was enough. Enough to keep you alive.

You just needed a way to lose it. Since your oh so generous teacher didn’t give you a weapon to defend yourself, losing it was the only option. As you kept going, you chanced a glance at the Thanator, finding it still on your tail and nearly grabbing it. You had to think fast.

Ahead of you was a vine hanging low from a taller tree. You jumped up and grabbed onto it, the Thanator missing you by inches at another attempt at pouncing toward you. Using what little upper body strength you had, you climbed up the vine as fast as you could, with the Thanator still growling at you from below.

One thing you knew for sure, well as for as your intellect on the subject went, they weren’t climbers. God you hoped they weren’t.

But of course, things couldn’t be easy for you.

When you got to a branch that was higher up than the one you had been on with Ezì, you spotted the Thanator making its way toward you by pouncing from tree to tree. And it was moving pretty fast too.

Damn those creatures!

Again, you leaped onto a nearby leaf, sliding down to another until you reached another branch. You looked up, stopping. The Thanator was nowhere in sight. And it was far too quiet.

For a moment, you wondered if Ezì was nearby, watching you with an annoying smug expression on his face. You thought about calling to him, but you weren’t going to be that reckless. That stupid.

This scenario, this training method, chillingly reminded you of your time training with Quaritch. He had taken it upon himself to teach you to fight when your father couldn’t. And you had asked him to, you were determined to be strong like him and your father. That part of you was long gone. But at least you learned one thing from him.

Always be aware of your surroundings.

Your ears twitched, your hands searched the ground beneath you until you found a long thick stick that if upon further inspection you’d see it used to be a smaller branch. But it was enough.

Leaves shuffling behind you gave you the go ahead turn around and swing as hard as you could.

And your swing had connected with something solid. The black blur of the Thanator toppled off from the hit and fell through the big leaves. You waited and waited until you heard a thud from below.

After waiting a few more seconds, you finally climbed down. Albeit clumsy, you managed to make it down without slipping or injuring yourself.

Ezì was already there, kneeling down next to the limb Thanator. He was mumbling something, words you could barely hear before he stabbed the creature with his spear. The creature went still after a few seconds and then Ezì stood to face you with an unreadable expression.

You tried not to think about the fact Quaritch would do the same thing. Examine you from head to toe, calculating without you knowing it until his words come. That’s what Ezì did with you. Out of habit, you waited for judgment.

Ezì finally spoke, “You’re quick on your feet. That could be useful.” He circled you, poked at the arm that held the branch. “Perhaps you’d do well with a spear…mmm, yes. A bow would slow you down…”

“Could’ve used one by the way.” You commented with a huff, dropping the branch to the ground. “The thing could’ve killed me.”

“But it didn’t.” Ezì smirked. “You are like Olo’eyktan. Adaptable. But a faster learner than he was.” You tried not to seem impressed by those words. You’d tease Jake about it later. “But you have a long way to go, tsmuke. Are you prepared for that?”

You shrugged, a determined look set on your face, “I wouldn't be here if I wasn’t.”

“That’s right.” Ezì smirked. “You wouldn’t be. Come. The sun is still high. We have much more to do.”

And you spent the entirety of the day scouring the forest with Ezì. He taught you all about the forest through minced words and a lot more action. Let’s just say, he liked putting you in dangerous situations. Though, he says it’s so you could adapt quicker and always be prepared to act without having to think about it.

Before dinner had arrived, you had spent the last of your day learning how to bond with a direhorse. For the first few hours you had failed but you were so determined to get it right, that you spent nearly half the entire day on it, despite Ezì telling you it didn’t have to be mastered in one day.

But eventually, you were able to stay on and bond with your new direhorse. Ezì, both impressed and reluctant, made you ride around to test if the bond was actually made. And you did. And it was amazing, almost relieving as you galloped through the forest with Ezì right next to you. This time he allowed himself to be impressed.

“Well done, tsmuke!” He grinned at you. “Well done!”

A smile broke out onto your face. Because you realized right then, what you felt was nothing close to your former training. It didn’t feel as gratifying as this. As proud. You always felt like you had to keep earning something, even if you were making progress. You still do, deep down, you knew that taming a direhorse wasn’t enough to be one of The People. You knew you had a lot more to do, a long way to go.

But it was looking pretty alright.

You came to dinner that night on your direhorse, surprising both Jake and Neytiri. But the kids' eyes widened in excitement.

“Horsy!” Kiri giggled excitedly as she ran toward you.

“Kiri.” Neytiri scolded but her face didn’t match the sternness she tried to muster. She followed after the child while looking up at you impressively, “Ezì is teaching you well then.”

You grinned as you picked up Kiri and sat her down in front of you on the direhorse, “Nah, I’m just a good student—get this Jake, he says I’m better than you, but I think we already knew that…”

“Ha. Ha.” Jake rolled his eyes, “I was not that bad.”

Neytiri grinned, “Ma’Jake, you were worse.” You laughed as you slowly rode around them, Kiri giggling in your arms. “You fell off so many times, face dirty every time. It took you two weeks to be able to tame yours.”

“Okay, okay, she doesn’t need to know all of that.” He sent Neytiri a look despite the smile he tried fighting back. “Besides, the flying is a lot better anyway.”

“I want to fly!” Kiri shouted, waving her arms around. Lo’ak began following behind the direhorse, asking for turns to get a ride.

“You will one day, baby girl.” Jake smiled fondly up at the two of you.

“My turn! My turn!” Lo’ak said to you as you pulled your direhorse to a stop.

You grinned down at the younger boy, “Alrighty.” You heaved him up and placed him down in front of you and Kiri in front of him. “Hold onto your sister.”

“Tell us more stories!” Neteyam said from next to his father.

Neytiri thought for a moment as you continued circling around them. “When I met your father—”

“God no!” Jake sighed, cringing as both you and Neytiri laughed. “We’ve already told the story, Neytiri. We fell in love and the end.”

You purse your lips, “I know I wasn’t there but I’m definitely sure it didn’t happen like that.”

“It did not.” Neytiri confirmed.

Soon Neytiri began telling the children about how Jake and her met. It sounded as if she had told the story many times before and so had Jake who chimed in every once in a while. Eventually, you got off your direhorse and set both Kiri and Lo’ak down as they listened to the story.

As Neytiri finished, Neteyam looked at you curiously. And in that adorable way where he tilted his head up at you as you stood behind Jake, yellow eyes looking at you curiously. “How did you meet, sempul?”

You hummed thoughtfully, the day you met him clear as day in your mind. “Well, unlike your mother, I did not want to kill him at first.”

“But you were definitely thinkin’ it.” Jake commented as you knelt down behind him, wrapping your arms around his shoulders.

“Oh I was.” You paused thoughtfully before continuing, “My sa’nok actually introduced us. In a way she set us up.” And so you told a lighter tale of how both you and Jake met. From when you were humans, from your time together in the Hallelujah Mountains, and up until the war with the Sky People which you told them cleverly that they’d have to wait until they were older to hear the rest of that part.

Eventually, after finally getting the children to eat and put to bed, Jake pulled you toward a random direction, “Jake, the hammock’s that way.”

He chuckled, “Ssh and follow me. I’m gonna show you somethin’.”

“Show me what?”

From behind you, Neytiri grinned, squeezing your shoulders, “The stars!”

Before you were about to say something dumb like “I already see the stars”, you soon realized what they meant when they led you to their two ikrans. Neytiri stepped away from you and got on her own. Jake led you to his, pulling you up to sit behind him.

The last time you had rode with him on his ikran was five years ago and one of the few good moments the two of you had shared together, after seeing each other in your avatars for the first time. Now you sit behind him again, wrapping your arms around your mate confidently while past you would’ve been hesitant and shy about it.

“You remember what to do?” He grinned at you over his shoulder.

“Shut up.” You pinched his waist.

With that, the ikrans took off. The wind whipping your face, caressing your ears and ruffling your hair. The forest below you and the sky…Neytiri was right.

They were taking you to see the stars.

As you flew, you leaned over a bit, holding onto Jake’s shoulders, to get a better look at his ikran. You never realized how beautiful yet vicious they were, how elegant they flew.

A grin tugged at your lips, “I have to get me one of these.”

Neytiri let out a hoot, smiling as she flew next to you and Jake.

You felt Jake’s hand tap your thigh, gaining your attention toward one of the moons. You had never seen it so clearly, even back when you rode with Jake for the first time, you had never seen anything as beautiful as the moon in the sky.

Your laugh was mixed with Neytiri’s excited shouts. And your eyes danced from the sky to meet Jake’s who looked back at you fondly, holding your hands tightly around his waist.

And in that moment, you hoped for more like it.

This peaceful life wasn’t so bad.

taglist: @luvvfromme @sully-stick-together @jakesullylvrr @s-u-t @ssc7514 @cheari @tojigirll @nyotamalfoy @perfectprofessorloverapricot @naityelen @dumb-fawkin-bitch @raggedyoldwitch @nhemmingsf @biooiuygjjgfsrb @thatsenoughformelol @thotd-f1 @beaniebeensbaby201 @theoriginalwife000 @3leni @23victoria @lovesickollie @atxara @im-in-a-pansexual-panik @ladylovegood-69 @lovekeeho @lilithmoon14512 @n7cje @fyfy-world @cleverzonkwombatsludge @goddesslilithmoriarty @itszzmoon @eternallyvenus @bajadotcom @ducks118 @alexandra-001 @sweetllamaparadise @padfootsvixen @avatarmasterlistblog

#to you worlds away #jake sully x reader #avatar jake sully x reader #avatar jake sully #avatar jake #jake sully #jake sully fluff #neytiri x reader #avatar way of water #avatar the way of water #atwow #avatar 2 #avatar fanfiction #sam worthington #kiri avatar #lo'ak #neteyam #spider socorro

337 notes · View notes

buthowboutno · 11 months

Text

buthowboutno's Unsolicited Writing Advice

Howdy fam!!

This is a post that i’ve been wanting to make for a while so!!! Finally fucking sat down and did it lmao

Considering we’re past the halfway point of ATWLP and over 125k words written for the universe, I thought I would share some writing advice and tidbits I’ve picked up along the way!! (especially for you baby writers out there) (we’re ignoring the fact that I only broke my five year writing hiatus like seven months ago)

ANYWAYS, ramble under the cut <3

Don’t force yourself to write linearly

If you’re dragging your feet along writing sections just to get to a certain scene in your head and losing motivation, just… write the scene you wanna write. This might be specific adhd oriented advice, but you gotta use your juices when you have them.

I’ve recently posted a chapter that I wrote all the way back in November. Did I have to edit some parts in light of changes I made to the outline and the way my blorbos have developed? Yes, but that’s way easier than starting it from scratch and losing all of my ideas when the scene was first bouncing around my head.

Outline outline outline… but don’t be a slave to it

Sometimes all I can manage the energy for is a long series of bullet points outlining a chapter, but it makes it SO much easier to sit down and type everything out properly later.

I also find that having a main outline for my entire story helps me from falling into plotlines that I don't know how to get out of or losing motivation for a fic because I haven't figured out the end goal for my characters. It's easy to sit down and work on a chapter because, for the most part, I already know how it's going to end up.

Having said that, sometimes your characters are stinkasses and decide to completely break away from what you had planned, and that’s okay! Understanding how you can and cannot shove your blorbos around for the sake of plot is a part of learning how to be a better writer.

Don’t delete your writing!

Chances are if you hate a section, it’ll read a million times better after you set it down for a few hours. Us writers can be so incredibly critical of ourselves, but resist the urge to select all and backspace!!! If anything, leaving a section you hate allows you to come back and edit it into something way better instead of starting from scratch again.

If you have to delete a section that just doesn’t fit in the story anymore, still save it!! I have a bits and pieces doc that houses all my deleted scenes that have been revived in later chapters. You never know how deleted scenes might help you pad out future parts of your story.

If you’re a literature snob (like me) and want to just flat out improve your craft… you gotta do your homework

You will always become a better writer the more you write and for those just looking to get out some emotions or have fun, that is perfectly fine! Ignore me! You’re already doing fantastic, look at you go!

But if you’re the type of person to read a fic and be like… “wow, that was better quality than most published books. how do i get to that level??” this is for you

When you’re reading, regardless of what it is, make a mental (or physical!) note of the things you like and dislike.

Ex: How does the author portray a certain emotion? How do they lay out the scene? What different aspects of characterization stick out to you? What’s the word choice like?

Never gonna bash on anyone who just wants to read for enjoyment, but when you start to exercise that muscle I /promise/ you that your writing will improve that much faster. (It really is annoying how the fucking rhetorical analysis skills they teach you in highschool help, but they do.)

Ages ago I went to this conference for young writers and in one of the seminars I went to, this pair of authors talked about this spreadsheet they set up to better lay out the aspects of writing they really loved or wanted to avoid in their genre. I think this is vv important when you’re planning out longer pieces of writing; you don’t want to get stuck in a trope you hate!

Watch critiques of books!

Booktube is super fucking great for this. I’m personally a video essay bitch, so I’ll sit and watch a three hour long video of someone dissecting a novel and giving a review. That shit will help you with everything from learning how to construct longer and cohesive plots to avoiding certain pitfalls that may turn an audience away from your work.

Rachel Oates is one of my forever faves and Alizee is a youtuber that I’ve just recently stumbled upon but love all the same.

I WILL SING THE PRAISES OF OVERLYSARCASTICPRODUCTIONS ALL DAY EVERY DAY.

They have really excellent videos that go into the different tropes and all the ways they can present in stories, whether it be good or bad. This helps you get familiar with the building blocks of a narrative and decide things like wanting to subvert a trope, build upon the popular ones, or even reject them all together. Fic is basically built on fandom-wide tropes, so I think it’s good to be familiar with them.

Just like artists, we gotta do our studies, too

Back when I was a infant writer (i.e. in eighth grade) me and my friends would find different writing prompts on pinterest and spend a few hours working on them before sharing what we wrote. Even if it's not for a larger work, it is /really/ good practice to describe scenery in a picture or come up with a character on the fly and explore how they interact in a situation.

It’s is the literary equivalent of drawing a hand instead of putting it in a pocket so you didn’t have to deal with it

Write messy! Write fast! Write garbage that you’re going to delete in five minutes! You’ll be surprised about the gems that come out of doing this. Literally some of my favourite lines have come out of a frenzied 10 minute keyboard mashing session.

Don’t be afraid of critique but know the difference between that and simply being hard on yourself.

I think this is probably the biggest thing I’ve struggled with as I’ve gotten back into writing. Before I started posting, I had about five chapters saved up ‘cause I was agonising over making everything perfect. Do I see, six months later, things I know I could have done better? Yes, but! I wouldn’t have been able to grow or develop as an author if I didn’t take that first step of posting and moving on to other parts of the story.

There is a time and place for critiquing and editing your own work and seeing where you can improve, but you also gotta meet yourself where you’re at. We’re not going to be Shakespeare overnight. Getting better is a process, baby! Embrace the fact that if you’re embarrassed about your work years or even months down the line, that means you’re growing as a writer.

And remember stinkies, any creation is good creation. Don’t go comparing hits or kudos or likes and being down on yourself, the act of creation is an important part of the human experience!!! Even if the only thing you ever put out is a 100 word drabble about lightning mcqueen making love to bowser, i’ll be proud of you.

Happy writing and get yourself some water <3<3

#atwlp #fanfiction #fanfic #writing #creative writing #rottmnt fanfiction #writing community #writers of tumblr #writer #writing advice

24 notes · View notes

darlingpoppet · 2 months

Note

i love wtdf so much!! how is the writing process and how far out have you planned the chapters?

Hi anon!! Aww thanks so much for your ask, you made my day! I’m really happy to hear you’re enjoying the story and also that you’re allowing me the opportunity to talk about the process :D

I’m normally kind of a pantser (or plantser?) when writing most of my oneshot fics—that is, at most I jot down only a vague concept that captures the vibe of what I want the story to be about, and then the rest of it comes together during the actual writing process.

Since WTDF is the very first time I’ve ever attempted a serialized longfic, I did not feel confident at all in my ability to completely go with the flow and find the story as I went along, especially with all the elements I’m attempting to juggle at once. In addition to the slowburn romance, I really wanted to include the sorts of tropes & techniques I love in stories, such as foreshadowing/chekov’s guns, unreliable narrators, uncovering a mystery, re-readability, stuff like that! (Chapter 1 especially is like, Foreshadowing: The Chapter and pretty much every detail about it has or is gonna become relevant in some shape or form later on lol!)

Admittedly idk how successful my execution will be so I don’t wanna oversell it too much, but if any of you out there enjoy looking for clues and theory crafting, fwiw that is absolutely something you can do with this fic ;D One of the reasons I was really excited about posting chapter 7 is because it was an opportunity to really start flexing those muscles and let a few planted things pay off… so if you liked that, there’s gonna be plenty more where that came from! ;3c

So anyway, all that to say I did a lot of planning for this story and in the broad strokes, I have the entire thing planned out all the way from start to finish. It’s not quite meticulous bullet points scene by scene though, that’s not my style—I’m still a bit of a plantser in that chapters & scenes are outlined at most with general vague summaries and maybe a few stated goals (there are some spots where I have to put stuff like “be sure to mention Thing A here which will be relevant to Scene B later on!”) and stuff keeps getting added and shuffled around (upcoming chapter 8 for example was a relatively late addition to the story and was split off from chapter 7 only a few months ago because I decided I really wanted to go whole hog with this particular episode lol.) I originally thought this story would be around 100k, which was already much longer than I envisioned, but now I’m certain that it’ll be at least twice that length, and I’m resigned now to the fact that this project is gonna continue be a big part of my life for at least the next year or two XD

That all said, I still wasn’t confident enough to start posting with just a roadmap, and I spent the last two NaNoWriMos in a row trying to lay down as much track ahead of the train as possible. As of right now, between published and unpublished bits over the span of the entire story, I think I have about half of the prose written.

On that note, my process for writing an individual chapter at this point seems to be: 1) write as much prose for the rough draft as I possibly can (or in other words, filling the box with as much sand as possible); then 2) I copy the individual scene documents on scrivener into a fresh single “second draft/editing” doc, where I 3) try to fashion it into something more refined, until I ???? and then 4) PROFIT/end up with the finished final draft.

This middle process takes A WHILE because I’m usually adding as much as prose as I’m taking away; and I’m often inspired to take more outline notes or skip ahead to write a bit of prose for something further down the line; I’m referencing my notes, referencing past & future chapters to make sure everything is staying consistent, doing new research; and I’m always trying really hard to be careful & particular about how I’m wording things… I often have several alternate wordings or sentences in every paragraph that I spend a long time swapping between and fussing over lol. And even then I often step away several times during the process to let the words marinate for a while. So if you’re wondering why it usually takes me about two months on average to complete a chapter, that’s why haha (even longer if god forbid I get blocked like I did with Chapter 4 oooughhhh). I’m sure many can relate! I still feel like I’m particularly slow though, and it’s only been getting harder as my story grows more intricate XD But I’m also having tons of fun with it!

I think the other thing that has helped me chill out a bit is keeping in mind that AO3 works are editable and so I can always just go back and fix stuff if, worst case scenario, I accidentally write myself into a corner or something like that haha. (Hopefully that won’t ever be necessary though!) I have already occasionally gone back to quietly tweak wordings or add a sentence or two that help keep the earlier published chapters consistent with the later ones (for example, I recently decided to stick with using the anachronistic term of “Greeks” rather than “Achaeans”, since it’s more consistent with Hadesgame naming conventions and ultimately this is a Hadesgame-verse fic.)

I think right now my biggest source of anxiety with this story is over how well I’m executing the pacing… whether or not I’m revealing things too soon/not soon enough, or whether or not the flashbacks are enhancing or undermining the momentum in the present story, especially the slowburn—it seems to me like the sort of thing where I can’t really anticipate at all how it’s gonna come across until I’m able to reread the complete story, haha. But I guess I also tell myself that I’m doing my best to order it in the most impactful way possible… and hopefully y’all are enjoying it too, so far :) I recently expressed this in an updated fic summary, but this story is now fully a three-in-one Hades fic: a canon divergence AU, a canon-compliant pre-canon story, and a mostly complete Iliad retelling with a Hadesverse spin… so the final word count is gonna reflect all that.

Thanks so much again for your ask! I’m delighted & eager to discuss my stories or Patrochilles or Hadesgame or the Iliad or anything else tangentially related to those topics any time, so my ask box is always open <3

#where the dead forget #emica chat

2 notes · View notes

chayscribbles · 1 year

Text

chayscribbles’ monthly writing update ☆ november 2022

☆ STATISTICS.

words written: 9835 drafting; 17606 redrafting/editing

projects worked on: Andromeda Rogue, Andromeda Rising

proudest accomplishment: i published my first art zine! oh and finishing the first draft of AR3 is also a thing that happened

books read: Memoria by Kristyn Merbeth; Cinder by Marissa Meyer, A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

☆ GENERAL COMMENTS.

(book comments first: Memoria (the sequel to Fortuna, which i read a few weeks ago) was MUCH better imo than the first, 4.5 stars. Cinder was very enjoyable but i do feel like i am simply getting too old for YA and would have liked it better if i had read it a few years ago, 4 stars. A Memory certainly wasn't bad, but in the end it fell a bit flat for me, 3 stars.)

this month has been Very Weird. within the span of like 3 days a lot of things happened, including finishing AR3 and other Personal Stuff that resulted in me suddenly having a lot of free time on my hands that i did not know what to do with. but everything ended up working out! and a lot of that free time went to working on my wip.

i had thought that after finishing AR3 i'd work on one of my lower-effort sidewips, or work on other hobbies like drawing, but the motivation for those things just... didn't manifest itself? (also the Secret Space WIP, has become bigger than i thought it would, and i felt it would require more commitment than i am currently willing to give it)

anyways i just ended up going right back to AR kjdfgkjfds whoops

more specific wip-related comments + featured excerpt below.

☆ COMMENTS: ANDROMEDA RISING (finishing the draft)

did i really finish this draft this month? it feels like forever ago jkfdjk

so my unofficial NaNo goal was to finish AR3. i had originally estimated it would take 15k, and then adjusted it to 10k. i didn't quite make the 10k either but i DID finish the draft, so that's still a win. to me.

this draft turned out way shorter than i had hoped... and there's a LOT that needs to be fixed, and i'm not completely satisfied with how it turned out. but i really was at the point where i had to just get through it to call it done otherwise i never would, so thank fuck that's over with.

(trying not to think about how much needs to be fixed yet. gritting my teeth.)

☆ COMMENTS: ANDROMEDA ROGUE (draft... 2!!!!)

so i had this whole plan of letting the entire series rest, then rereading, reoutlining, reworking some plot, character and worldbuilding stuff, and only starting draft 2 in 2023... and then i got impatient lmao.

i was somewhere in the reoutlining stage about a week after finishing AR3 when i realized it felt like i was wasting my time. not much of the main structure of this book is gonna change, so i was pretty much just rewriting the exact same outline i already had. (i plantsed through draft 1 but made a reverse outline as i was writing.) most of the changes are adding or changing certain details to scenes and no amount of planning was gonna help any more than just writing out the changes. so, on the 18th, i started draft 2.

(besides, it's not like i didn't let AR1 rest. i finished it in june 2021 after all.)

i also had a bunch of editing notes from when i was drafting, + stuff i thought about later while writing the sequels on how to better set things up, + notes taken during my reread. so i ended up just annotating the hell out of my first draft to show where i would add or change things, and then i put the old draft on one side of the screen and a new doc on the other side and started rewriting it to include the changes.

i've gone through about 5 chapters and added an epilogue so far! it's going pretty fast haha. i've already added over 2000 words just by fleshing things out a bit more, now that i know my characters and the world much better than when i started. it's SO much easier now that i have the entire series in front of me.

chapter 5 is where i've been slowed down as there is a considerable amount of stuff that needed to be rewritten completely-- it's quite exposition-heavy (it's the scene where Petra gets a rundown of her xenobotany mission), and when i first wrote it, i wasn't exactly sure where i was going with the story. and even though i now have a fuller picture in front of me, it's always hard to write an exposition-heavy chapter and include everything that needs to be said without making it drag. not to mention, foreshadowing and setting things up appropriately.

right now, i'm taking a quick break from redrafting to iron out some of the political backdrop of the story. not only did i need to rest after wrestling with chapter 5, but i was disappointed reading A Memory Called Empire, which was supposed to be a political intrigue, and it was one heck of a motivator to try to make the politics in my book better haha.

☆ FEATURED EXCERPT.

very short passage i added to AR1 to further demonstrate how much of a nerd Petra really is.

“Petra,” Dr. Derosy said, “you did your thesis on vitaplants. Would you mind giving us a brief definition?” Petra coughed and sat up straighter in her chair. “Vitaplants are a category of plants that boost the growth and health of other living organisms around them, specifically through the emission of vitawaves," she said. "Vitaplants have been found to have evolved independently on multiple planets around the sector and are not confined to a single genus, which has confounded taxonomists—"

“Thank you, Petra. I did say brief.”

☆ TAGLISTS. let me know if you want to be added/removed to either.

general taglist:

@nicola-writes @dgwriteblr @the-orangeauthor @stormharbors @quilloftheclouds @ashen-crest @writeblrfantasy @celestepens @stardustspiral @pepperdee @extra-magichours @avi-why @lefttigerobservation @chazzawrites @bardolatrycore

andromeda trilogy taglist:

@bebewrites @nicola-writes @dgwriteblr @the-orangeauthor @stormharbors @akindofmagictoo @quilloftheclouds @nora-theteawriter @ashen-crest @corpsepng @writeblrfantasy @toboldlywrite @celestepens @stardustspiral @pepperdee @cheerfulmelancholies @extra-magichours @writeouswriter @cilly-the-writer @lefttigerobservation @rose-bookblood @drowsy-quill @chazzawrites @cynic-and-chief @enchanted-lightning-aes @aesa

#chayscribbles writing update #wip andromeda trilogy #wip andromeda rogue #wip andromeda rising #this one got a bit lengthy sorry kjdfjk

23 notes · View notes

apricusapollo · 6 months

Text

Fic Writer 20 Questions

thanks for the tag @babygirlbridger 🤭💞

1.) How many works do you have on ao3?

40 🚶🏻‍♀️ I am supposed to have more but I archived some a while ago because they were so bad

2.) What’s your ao3 word count?

572,080

3.) What fandoms do you write for?

I've written for haikyuu but I'm not really in that fandom anymore so now I mainly write for star wars & red white and royal blue. occasionally marauders fandom too.

4.) What are your top five fics by kudos?

paper rings - jegulus

somethin' stupid (like, "I love you") - jegulus

english lover affair - firstprince

golden says of yore - jegulus

running through rose thorns - firstprince

6.) What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

definitely until the sunrise hold me tight. sometimes I wonder what I was high on when I wrote that.

7.) What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

paper rings <33

8.) Do you get hate on fics?

nope, never gotten it.

9.) Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I started a while ago and it's lowkey soo fun ngl 🤭 I usually used to avoid writing it but. not anymore.

10.) Do you write cross overs? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

oh boy. I used to. my very first famous fanfic was called fragile world. used to post it on Instagram and wattpad. it included *clears throat* shadowhunters, glee, 13 reasons why, skam, eyewitness 🧍🏻‍♀️ but in my defense I was, what, 12-13? I have CHANGED.

11.) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

yeaa it was kiss in the kitchen. someone reposted it on wattpad without my permission and gabby found it and told me. they did take it down after I told them to tho.

12.) Have you ever had a fic translated?

YEAH!! made me so happy.

13.) Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

well usually me and yana come up with the plot of my fics together sometimes. there's this one jegulus fic based on a couple of hamilton songs I wanna write and yana came up with more than half of the plot so yeah!! that counts!!

14.) What’s your all time favourite ship?

I think firstprince. they're just so. *muffled sobs*

15.) What’s a WIP you’d like to finish, but doubt you ever will?

in 2021 I started writing iwaoi attack on titan au. I had outline ready, I wrote 2 chapters out of 5 and all of that. then I never continued it. it still exists in my docs but I forgot half of the plot so I doubt I'll ever finish and post it but who knows. never say never.

16.) What are your writing strengths?

writing angst?? Idk I think I'm quite good at that for a girl who has never had her heart broken (in a romantic sense)

17.) What are your writing weaknesses?

DESCRIPTIONS. god I HATE describing things. I'd rather die than describe anything.

18.) Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I mean, I don't think I'll succeed (unless it's in georgian which is my native language) and considering that I mess up english sometimes, maybe it's for the best if I just stick to one language 😭😭

19.) First fandom you wrote for?

one direction. I was 9 y/o. write it in a notebook with a sparkly pen. it was called "love."

20.) Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

I have a couple so here's the list idc

paper rings

english love affair

sacred touches & wasted days

the end is here

better than revenge ('cause he's like so whatever)

champagne problems

(I'm too lazy to attach links to all of them so here's my ao3)

again, I hate tagging people so pls do this if u wanna mwah<3

#crys writes #fanfiction

3 notes · View notes

hollygl125 · 11 months

Text

Summer Reading / Writing / Arting Tag

Tagged by: @coping-via-clint-eastwood. (Fun! Thank you!)

1. Describe one creative WIP project you’re planning to work on over the summer.

I’m planning to submit a story for the ficwip 5k AU challenge, but I wrote that two days after it was announced (I have absolutely zero control over my mind), so now I’m just waiting for sign-ups and posting. I consider it a pre-canon divergent, canon convergent modification of a coffee-shop AU (not that I’ve ever read a coffee-shop AU). I think it’s pretty cute. But, since it’s already complete, I won’t exactly be working on that over the summer….

I will still be working on my ongoing series. It was ostensibly finished last August, but it’s grown in length by at least 50% since then (by adding to the middle—the end point is roughly the same). I currently have two unfinished sections (sections where I started adding something but need to fill in the rest).

In a dream world I would make a video to accompany the fic series, but I am an extreme perfectionist and don’t currently have the patience, so I think I would likely just drive myself crazy in the attempt.

I’d love to learn to make gifs in Photoshop, with pretty colours and layers and I don't know what…. I made a gif-set in PS once, but the end result was really big and unusable for most purposes because I didn’t really know what I was doing.

I’d also kind of like to embroider something. I bought some embroidery kits while slightly out of my mind during the height of the pandemic, and I think it would be fun to try using them and then, after learning a bit, make up something on my own. (Would it involve bees and butterflies? Probably.)

2. Rec a book!

Fiction: Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland. I haven’t read this in forever, but I meant to recommend it to someone about a decade ago and never got the chance. So I’m recommending it now to y’all instead.

Non-Fiction: Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi, which is about the development of racist ideas and non-racist ideas alongside each other. I think this is one of the last books I read before I broke my brain.

3. Rec a fic (outside your character tag)!

How cute of you, question-asker, to think I read any fic outside GSR!

4. Rec music!

I’m terrible at recommending music, but I do have a Spotify playlist for my GSR series. (The Spotify playlist is only current to the stories I’ve posted so far. My private iTunes playlist has about 100 more songs. The Spotify playlist will get there eventually.)

5. Share one piece of advice!

I did my undergrad in History and English Lit, but I have no background in creative writing (aside maybe from previously running my dog’s Instagram account), so I don’t know if I’m in much of a position to give advice, but I’ll tell you how I approached my writing process (and had a lot of fun with it!), and maybe that’ll help someone.

Writing fan fiction was not something I seriously considered doing until the day before I started doing it. On the day before I started, I thought of it as something I might do quite a ways in the future, when I’d prepared more. But then the next day my brain was like, actually, no, we’re doing this now.

The reason I’d decided to write fanfic was that I had all these little romantic GSR scenarios running around my head at night (and in the morning, and in the afternoon, and in the evening…), and it was getting really tiresome having to recreate the dialogue every night.

When I started I did an outline in a Word doc with story or chapter headings, based on the different aspects of the GSR story I knew I wanted to address. After I had the outline, I didn’t fill in the story linearly, though. I first wrote whatever scenario was most pressing to get out of my head. Then I wrote the next thing, then the next, then the next, all based on what was most urgently trying to escape my head. Sometimes I added more headings when I had new ideas.

But it was never work; it was always fun. I probably looked a little goofy. I kept thinking… oh my god, I can’t believe I’m doing this. (You have to keep in mind that, until January 2022, I had not read any fic since (or before) I read fic for Josh and Donna when they were taking their own sweet time back in the mid-2000s.)

Eventually I had to write some sections that were more functional—stuff that was simply necessary to get from Point A to Point B—but that was really minimal and still relatively enjoyable. (I have a hard time even remembering what those sections were anymore, but I think the chapter explaining how they got from the year of honeymoons to the events of season 13 was definitely one of them).

So I guess my advice would be that you should just do whatever works for you. (E.g., you don’t have to start at the beginning.) I think this works well with c-v-c-e’s advice: “This is art. There ARE no rules, especially ones restricting flexibility and expression.”

And, most importantly, please remember to try to have fun!

Tagging: If you would like to participate, please consider yourself tagged!

#about me #tagged #tag game

2 notes · View notes

thegingerwrites · 6 months

Note

1, 6, and 25 for the ask game!

Thanks for asking! I've been working on all three of these for a while now so i've been dying to talk about them

1. Do you have an outline for your WIP, or are you making it up as you go?

All three of my wips are at the point where I have a plan for where I'm going but one of them began life as a one shot I started working on and off on months ago that I then thought of a second chapter for and now it has a third chapter as a conclusion. I came up with a loose framework for the songfic first before I started writing it, basically picking lines from the song that I thought could be worked into scenes from their relationship. I grouped them together into chapters I thought made sense and placed them so that it alternates between Obi-Wan's pov in the past and Vader's pov in the present. The last fic has the longest, most in-depth outline I've ever written because it was inspired by conversations i had in the obikin discord. It's the most concrete planning I've ever done for a fic before writing a single word. BUT! I am at the point where my fic doc is longer than my outline doc so progress is being made.

6. Do you usually listen to music while you work?

No, I don't! Which I guess is ironic since one of these fics was inspired by a song. I really like a quiet room for writing. I wrote a lot of never too late after about 10 at night when everything was really quiet and still and I could just focus on my laptop in front of me.

25. If you could go back in time to when you first had the idea for this WIP, what would you tell yourself about it?

Ooh this is a really interesting question. I don't know if there's anything I would tell myself about the songfic if I could go back in time. I feel like it was a very me idea to have, I'd probably be impressed by my ability to stick with it now for 9k words and (checks history... yikes) almost 3 months. I tend to get these ideas a lot while I'm listening to songs but I'm not the most reliable at following through with them in particular but with this one I have a plan and a lot written already and I'm about 2 chapters away from it being finished.

If I went back to before I had the idea for my first omegaverse fic I would have been surprised and probably embarrassed by the idea. I'm a pretty firm believer that all it takes is one really well-written fic to give just about any kink a try. But it definitely took a lot for me to consider writing one myself. I'd tell myself to have fun and be less self-conscious about it.

With the long fic I have plotted out...when I posted that first message in the discord, I had no idea it would lead to a full-fledged (the fullest-fledged?) fic idea. Me of late august/early september had no idea what they were getting into. I wouldn't want to scare them off or anything but I'd probably tell myself to buckle up.

Thanks again for asking! <3

#my fic #genuflecting #asks

1 note · View note

princip1914 · 3 years

Text

A few thoughts on writing longfic

I’ve had this post brewing for a while and I figured since today is a Friday I might as well let it out into the wild.

First off, this is not writing advice. I don’t feel qualified to give writing advice. This is a few observations I’ve made over the course of trying to write something that feels, well, long. Fandom is full of excellent authors writing long chaptered fic, but I don’t see a lot of people talking about how they go about producing such fics. I remember feeling like long fic was really out of reach for me when I started writing again in the summer of 2019 after not writing for years and years and I wanted to talk a bit about how that changed for me. Of course, this post comes with all the caveats that there is no need to ever write long fic if you’re not feeling it. Some of my favorite authors write mostly or only oneshots! But, if you are interested, here’s my lengthy, self indulgent, and entirely personal take on ~the longfic process~ below the cut.

First, to get this out of the way: long fic is anything that feels long or complicated to you, the author. “I’m working on my long fic” can mean that you’re branching out from microfiction to write something that’s 2k long, or it can mean you’ve got a multi-part 800k epic. There’s no objective measure of if something is “long fic,” Your own personal definitions can also change as you grow in confidence or change your focus as a writer (a little over a year ago when I finished Doubt Thou the Stars are Fire topping out at 31k, that felt very very long to me. Now it feels….still long, but not very very long.)

Here are a few specific things that helped me write something long. I don’t know if they will be interesting for anyone else, but at the very least writing these down has been a fun way for me to reflect on my own process.

Practice exercises. Ok, this is going to sound exceedingly obvious, but writing one shots prepares you for writing chaptered fic. Here’s what I mean more specifically: if you know you want to write (as a totally hypothetical example) a chaptered fic set in America in the summer that relies heavily on a nature metaphors, is written out of chronological order, and features a melancholy tone--it helps to write a few one shots like that before you embark on the Big Fic. Just like artists tend to do sketches before starting a big piece, it’s very helpful to write something small that gives you a feel for the ~vibe~ of what you’re trying to do in the long fic. It’s helpful for all the usual reasons--you get to know a specific version of the characters which helps plan out a character driven plot for the long fic--but it’s also helpful because you will learn if the tone and mood of the fic has enough staying power to capture your interest for the long haul. For instance, I have a few unfinished chaptered fics that have a humorous tone. I wish I had done more short humorous fics before starting them, because I would have realized that I don’t currently have the mental stamina to hold up a humorous tone for the length of a chaptered fic (hopefully that will change and I will finish Last Days some time this century!).

Plan it out ahead of time. I used google sheets for The False and the Fair. I do not think God intended google sheets to be used for fiction, but that was not going to stop me. On a more serious note, I think the best tool for planning fiction is the one you’re the most comfortable with--the notes app in your phone, handwriting, word, google drive, sheets, chalk board, summoning circle, the blood of your enemies, etc. The reason I chose to use sheets is that I knew from the very beginning that I wanted certain things to happen at specific places in the story--for instance, I wanted the first kiss to happen at the end of the first third of the story and I wanted the “reveal” about the mine accident to happen at the end of the second third of the story. But, I didn’t know what was supposed to go in between those elements. A traditional outline for a story at this point in development might have looked like:

Meet cute

Kiss

Reveal

Ending

But, what my brain needed was to preserve the blank spaces in between these story elements, and specifically to preserve the right amount of blank space between these story elements so that it didn’t end up, for instance, that the first kiss was halfway through rather than a third of the way through. In this way, I found google sheets an invaluable tool for pacing in the early parts of the planning process. I simply made 30 rows assuming 30 chapters, and started plugging in the elements I knew I wanted in the locations I wanted them. Then I filled in the blank spaces by asking myself “how do we get from X plot element to Y plot element in Z amount of chapters.” I’m not a mountain climber, but I’ve often thought about the first things that go into the spreadsheet in terms of mountain climbing terminology. In climbing, a crux move, which can be anywhere along the route, is the most difficult move of the route: if you can’t do it, you can’t do the route. I think of the first things that go into the planning spreadsheet as the crux moves of the story, the most important pieces around which everything else turns. It was not an accident that those were also all the first scenes of the fic that I wrote; if I couldn’t do those scenes, I couldn’t do the story the way I planned it so I wanted to know early on if I needed to make changes.

Make changes if you have to: even though it helps to have things planned in advance, don’t resist the story if it tries to change on you while you’re writing it. Usually the feeling that you have to make changes stems from having a plot that is not entirely character driven. As you write the story, the characters reveal themselves and sometimes the plot has to change to change with the characters’ motivations. Here’s an area where fanfic writers have a leg up on everyone else: if you write fic, you already know the characters really well. That means, (in my experience anyway) it’s less likely that you’ll have a surprise character development which leads to a rethinking of the whole plot. Less likely, but not completely unlikely, unfortunately.

Lie to yourself: The False and the Fair was supposed to be 90k words. I thought that sounded reasonable, a little less than 3x the longest fic I had ever written. Now it's 161k and will probably top out a little over 170k. Ooops. But I never would have set out to write something that long. I wouldn’t have thought I could do it, even though anyone more experienced looking at my plans for the fic probably would have laughed at the idea I could cover all those plot points in 90k. Ignorance is bliss. Protect your ignorance.

Scrivener: Long fic for me means “fic that is long enough you can’t hold all the parts of it in your head at once.” That’s where Scrivener comes in (or another app if you’d rather, but I really like Scrivener for the ability to see the project either linearly or as condensed notecards). You can put together an organizational scaffold in Scrivener that allows you to move back and forth between the forest and the trees. So, for instance, you might be going for a jog and come up with the perfect line of dialogue for chapter 27 when you’re only up to chapter 5 in terms of writing progress. With Scrivener, you can go home, and put that dialogue in the “bucket”/index card/whatever for chapter 27 without compromising your ability to see chapter 5 clearly or muddying up your google doc. You can then use the fact that you’ve started writing bits and pieces of the later chapters in conjunction with the tool of lying to yourself that, actually, you’ve written a lot more of the fic than you realize and that when you get to chapter 27 it won’t be as hard as chapter 5 because you’ve put in the groundwork already. In my experience, this lie turns out to be true about 50% of the time, which is better than 0% of the time.

Digestible mini arcs: The False and the Fair was originally broken up into thirds. I thought it would be 90k and 30k was the longest I had written, so thirds seemed to make sense. Also, 3 is a nice, time honored storytelling number. I think it’s good to give yourself seemingly achievable milestones along the way to completion. These milestones (for me anyway) lined up well with the “crux moments” I’ve described. If you’re someone who likes to write out of order, writing your way to an already written milestone can feel like sailing to an island where you get to rest for a bit from the stormy seas before setting out for the next island in the archipelago.

“It's all part of the process”: I’m categorically incapable of describing things without resorting to running metaphors, and so I apologize in advance, but I am now going to do the insufferable thing of comparing writing a long fic to running a marathon. Here’s the thing with a marathon. You are not going to feel good every step of the way. We all know this. It’s a marathon, it’s supposed to hurt a little bit, especially at the end. In the same way you literally cannot write something novel length or even novella or long short story length without, at least at some point, feeling bad about yourself and your writing. But you also can’t run a marathon if the whole thing is agony, and for most people, it’s not--your meat sack shuffling along the course is subjected to the slings and arrows of all sorts of weird body chemistry that only happens when you push it to its limits. So, you’ll be in agony and then the endorphins will kick in for a while and you’ll be thinking “this isn’t nearly as bad as everyone said,” and then you’ll drink some water at a rest stop and feel like a God for half a mile before you crash and you’re in agony again until that one perfect song comes up on the playlist...and you get the idea. Writing something long, for me at least, is a bit like that. There are massive ups and downs. The key for me is to just understand it’s all part of the process, a necessary step on the way to the finish line. If the fic is 10 chapters long, at some point you have to write chapter 5. Just like you have to write chapter 5, at some point you also have to go through a bit of despair before reaching the end. It is unfortunately non-optional. In fact, despairing is something you can check off your list each time you’ve done it. Cut dialogue tags, check. Feel awful about my writing for thirty minutes, check. Write ending section, check. Often I feel that the stress and shame and fear that come with bad emotions while writing are worse than the bad emotions themselves. It really helps me to remember these emotions are all part of the process and nothing to worry about. If I didn’t have them, then I would worry!

I certainly have plenty more to say about writing, but this ramble has gone on long enough. If you’re interested in any of this stuff, please feel free to send me an ask.

I would also love to know more about everyone else’s writing processes, so feel free to pop into my ask box to talk about your own approach too! I am very interested in this stuff!

#long post #writing #fic #princip's fic #princip writes #princip's musings #longfic #how make words go

43 notes · View notes

ais-n · 3 years

Note

hi!!! firstly i just want to say i LOVE ICOS with my whole being. i read it for the first time in high school abt 5 years ago and read it again over quarantine last summer and it drew me in and wrapped me up wholly, i couldn’t put it down. i love the story and characters so much.

i also love writing very much and have always written small stories, fan fiction etc., the past couple weeks i’ve felt inspired to write fiction of my own, a novel of sorts with my own original plot and characters, and i wanted to ask you for some advice/ words of wisdom.

how did you plan out the characters you wrote? or did you more just let them write themselves? and did you plan out chapter by chapter how the plot would unfold before writing, or again let it happen as you wrote it? i’ve found it easier for me personally to let things happen as i write, and that the characters do things and say things i never planned for, was wondering if you felt the same or if you were more organized lol.

also what platform did you use to write on?

sorry for the long post, i hope you’re doing well.

Aww thank you, that's so sweet! I'm glad you like it :)

Side note, before I forget to mention - I just made a subreddit for my writing/stuff which will include ICoS things... I'll be adding more info on there this weekend hopefully, and I'm sure I'll do another post over here too but the link if you want it is https://www.reddit.com/r/aisylum/ It may be a place to find some other stuff in the future if you think of anything. I was thinking of doing an AMA or Q&A type thing over there too. Obviously, always feel free to ask here too <3 I love either place. Just wanted to mention while I'm thinking of it :)

I'm so happy you've been inspired to write - good luck and great job! I think that sounds absolutely awesome and I bet your story will be fantastic :)

We kind of did a bit of a hybrid.... I really wish I had the original bulletpoint list for what the book was originally going to be, but "Sonny" and I had opposite ways of looking at things. "He" would delete things as we went, and I would squirrel it all away until later lol So "he" deleted a bunch of bulletpoints/early info as we went because neither of us actually expected anything to come of any of it, so I also wasn't super anal about keeping track of things way early on. I might still have some documents buried somewhere with info but offhand I don't know where.

Anyway so I kind of am more like you in the way you write, but I will sometimes make the effort to try to plan a bit, especially if there's a cowriter. For ICoS for example, we had a rough outline planned of what was going to be the story, we started writing, we let the characters/plot/etc go where it needed to go, that meant things we hadn't planned from the start came in. The original story was basically mostly Evenfall, then skip Afterimage and Interludes for the most part but not entirely, and then we didn't really have a hugely detailed end initially from what I recall but we knew generally what was going to happen, so some of the stuff from later Fade would probably have been in the bullets. But when we got to the end of Evenfall, whatever was our next bulletpoint just did not feel right; we knew all the other stuff that starts Afterimage would happen instead.

For my long ongoing LGBTQ+ fantasy series I'm working on, the first book is finished but I'm editing it to change/add some significant stuff. I have a whole bunch of info on that which I've compiled over the years, so to an extent I have a general idea of plot things that will go down in the rewrite and also in the future into the other books, but a lot of details and even bigger points are left untouched. I prefer to let the characters/story/world/plot go where it wants to go, and I just have general points that I know make sense or have to happen eventually, and I look for how to fit them in as organically as possible to the way the story is going. If that makes sense. I will occasionally try to really work out exact storyline bullets but I get so bored so quickly that I never finish.

Because I like world-building and character development, I actually find it more fun and more useful for my organizational skills (any that exist, anyway, lol) to be aimed more toward that. Rather than focusing on the story and what the plot will be and what character will say what in which chapter, I prefer to dig into the past of the characters, dig into the world, the magic system or whatever is relevant, and have that info all squirreled away somewhere if needed. That way, as I'm going forward with writing the characters/story more organically, if things are going around what I initially thought the plot would be, this gives me something to then pull from for inspiration on how to incorporate this new plot/etc into the world more seamlessly, and make it feel more at home. And if you have all that info on characters, it also makes it easier to throw in things that flesh the character out more, and that can all lead toward character development in the future.

Boyd, for example - when we first had the valentine thing come up, it was just going to be a thing that happened that showed their miscommunication and how fucked the Agency was. But then it didn't make sense to me for it to just be a thing mentioned once and never again. So then that added to Boyd's story; now he was a valentine, so if it made sense or it was relevant, that was a thing that could or should come up. As the story progressed and the world grew, and with that the Agency and other factors were more fleshed out, it became more and more relevant. Then, by the time Fade came around, it was fully integrated into Boyd's story because by that point it would be weirder if it weren't - and because it made total sense in the characters' perspectives and the different organizations' perspectives and the story as a whole for the things to happen the way they did. But all of that, of course, then informs Boyd's mental health, physical health, and overall stability. Which then affects how he interacts with the world and other characters, which then affects the plot to an extent because of the choices he would make that may be different now, in the context of these life experiences, compared to prior to those life experiences. If the valentine thing never happened in Evenfall, a lot of Fade would be different. When we had that coming up in Evenfall, we didn't know another book was coming at all, let alone 3, let alone that it would end up having such a significant impact on the story and character development. But that's just kind of an example of building on things as you go, which is what I tend to do, personally.

As for the program - in the beginning we just used Word I think, and talked on AIM or something. It's been so long I don't totally remember. But for most of it we used Google Docs because that made it easy to share and write/edit at the same time.

Also, haha never be sorry for long posts - as you can see, I will almost always go longer ^_~

Hope you're doing well too! Thanks for your interest :)

#ask ais #icos #in the company of shadows #icosbooks

13 notes · View notes

scritch-scratches · 3 years

Note

Hi! I have questions about Dominoes, if you're comfortable with them. 1. Has your opinion and perspective on your plot outline and characters changed at all since you began writing them? 2. What was the most fun/interesting part about designing Dominoes' world and characters? 3. Have there been any reader feedback and/or reactions that surprised you as the project's come along?

1. Has your opinion and perspective on your plot outline and characters changed at all since you began writing them?

This is something I’ve given a lot of thought to myself!

While Part 1 has stuck to its emotional plot points really well, it is completely different from what I originally outlined. Some of the original scenes I wrote made it in, such as Ran’s encounter with KID, Kaito tackling Shinichi of the rooftop, the ShinRan breakup, but many, many others were cut. I still have a bunch of them in the original draft of Dominoes. Part 1 was originally going to have three completely separate plot lines: the bomb, KID, and the BO. But once it started dawning on me how massive this project was becoming, I knew I had to streamline it and get the plot lines to converge and work together. I’m pretty pleased with the result, because I feel like the resulting plot line is much more complex and less cliche than any of the originals. It was a lot of work, and really frustrating at times, but I think it worked out.

My perspective of Part 1 has really changed; setting out, I knew I was challenging myself with this sort of teen drama set up, which really isn’t my thing, and I kind of wasn’t looking forward to it. Part 1 was a means to an end, something I had to get through to tell Part 2 and 3, the stories I really wanted to tell. But everyone’s reactions have really changed my viewpoint, so much so that now I’m worried that part 2 and part 3 won’t appeal to the same audience that part 1 gripped, because they’re quite a bit different. Nevertheless, I decided a while ago that I wanted to stay true to the story I set out to write all those years ago, so regardless of reception, I’m going to power through.

2. What was the most fun/interesting part about designing Dominoes' world and characters?

I love brainstorming powers and codenames for all the characters—I spend ages lovingly agonizing over them! I have a whole google doc just for a breakdown of each of the characters’ abilities and affiliations.

But the most interesting part for me is thinking about how I can turn canon on its head. Dominoes started with a few vague questions I have had a lot of fun answering:

What if, instead of Shinichi keeping secrets from everyone, everyone was keeping secrets for him?

What would Kaito do if Toichi was killed by law enforcement, not criminals?

What if there is a reason all these murders happen?

What if Aoko finds out, and doesn’t forgive?

What if there was a problem that the infallible Yuusaku couldn’t solve? Something that no matter what he did, the answer he came to was wrong?

Plus several more that are a bit too spoilery to be discussed at this time.

I also love coming up with the story’s twists and turns. There’s nothing quite like being struck with an idea you know is going to blow away the reader, it always makes me full-on villain cackle.

3. Have there been any reader feedback and/or reactions that surprised you as the project's come along?

Just about all reader’s reactions have caught me by surprise in some form or another—I never expected the sort of emotional investment readers have poured into the story. Going in, I very much wanted to try my hand at fiction sensationalism; I wanted to write the sort of dramatic teenage soap opera that was so common in television in the 2000s, like Gossip Girl or the OC. Something that really captures that “everything is the end of the world” feeling you have as a teenager, with each chapter being punchy at the time you read it but vacating your head the moment you finish until the next update. The goal was to create what I affectionately refer to as a “Super Opera”.

But I may have failed. I may have created something very different, because this story...it seems to haunt some people. It stressed them out, or provokes extreme emotions I didn’t know it was capable of pulling out.

When people started bringing up child abuse in the comments, for some reason, I was really surprised. Especially when people started saying the depiction of it in Dominoes is realistic. I never expected any of it to resonate with people so much, or even intended it. It makes me kind of anxious, so since the first few chapters, I’ve become much more cautious and careful when it comes to writing those scenes.

I did not expect the intensity of hate for Dominoes!Yuusaku. I didn’t expect anyone to like him, hell, I wanted readers to dislike him. The story is designed to bias the reader towards Shinichi, so that the reader is inclined to stick with him later on, no matter what. That plan might have worked too well.

I was even more surprised by the reactions to the small throwaway line from Kazuha when she heard about the breakup—it is a pretty common reactionary attitude among teenagers, and I can’t tell you how many times I heard similar things from my friends or reacted similarly to breakups. It is just a brief momentary attempt at supporting a friend, but everyone reacted like they thought Kazuha actually meant it. Which was not at all what I intended.

Also! Some people seem confused as to why Yuusaku revealed Kaito’s identity to Aoko, despite Kaito’s threats, but I thought the conversation between Hakuba and him beforehand made it pretty obvious. I guess some readers are coming at it from the perspective that Yuusaku did it to, I don’t know, hurt Kaito or something, but Yuusaku did it for Aoko’s sake. Kaito was using her, and it was going to end disastrously for her and many others if it continued. As for Kaito’s threat, well, Yuusaku weighed his options and the risks and decided helping Aoko was more important.

“But Scratchie, Yuusaku clearly prioritized keeping his identity from Shinichi—“

Has he? Has he?

Yuusaku in Dominoes is not an easy nut to crack, especially not when I, the author, am deliberately biasing the reader against him. That’s purposeful; I wanted to make it as difficult as possible for the reader to get in the right mindset to figure him out.

For anyone dubious about Yuusaku’s choices so far, I’d really recommend rereading his and Hakuba’s scenes with fresh eyes. Put aside everything characters say about each other and focus on what the things they say tell you about themselves. Who seems most concerned with keeping the identities secret? Who doesn’t seem as concerned about it as you might expect? What is each character really worried about hiding, as opposed to what they want the other characters to think they’re worried about?

What makes Dominoes such a long project is the complexity and duplicity I have to try and work into each scene. The unreliable narrator tag isn’t a joke! If you want to solve the mysteries, you can’t get caught up in each character’s head, you gotta stay objective!

I’m gonna stop here ‘cause I’ve agonized over the answers to these questions for a silly amount of time. Thanks so much for sending them it, I love seeing people interested in the sort of meta behind Dominoes!

16 notes · View notes

incomprehensiblelentils · 3 years

Text

@dollsome-does-tumblr does this and opened it up to anyone and I am feeling chatty today SO!

Because I co-write a lot with my lovely wife, I might answer some questions including those co-written stories, or I might not, depends on how I feel when I get there.

name:

Megan but I go by Lentils most places on the internet, Shadowcrawler over on AO3

fandoms:

at the moment: MCU, especially Agents of SHIELD and Daredevil; Terminator: Dark Fate; Halt and Catch Fire. Oh and I wrote Dollhouse fanfics a thousand years ago. Sometimes I will watch a movie/show and think “those two girls should be gay” and bang out 2k of fic about it and then never write for that fandom again. (I THOUGHT this was going to be HACF but as it turns out, no, it’s not done with me yet.)

where you post:

AO3, at Shadowcrawler. I also have a tumblr @lentils-writes where theoretically I post links to fics/advertise them in the tags, because I used to be real precious about not putting porn on this blog, but fuck it.

most popular multi-chapter fic:

Co-written, it’s definitely mallverse, which is I think the reason most writers definitely hate us because it’s very long and there are a lot of tags lmao. The problem is that every tagged character HAS shown up in a significant fashion at some point so we can’t just...untag them! It doesn’t update weekly anymore because we’re exhausted by life lmao so at least there’s that???

As for a multi-chapter fic that was just me, I don’t tend to do that so much, so actually it’s say you will, my 3-chapter Endgame fix-it where Clint dies instead of Natasha and Natasha and Laura have a past. It actually has over 1000 hits which is very exciting! I feel like it’s...niche in a way that is frustrating but understandable lol. I put a lot of my heart into it and some people really liked it, so that’s gratifying.

favorite story you’ve written so far:

Co-written, I think our SHIELD Dollhouse AU is very underrated for the amount of work we put into it. Author bias evident here because I love Dollhouse warts and all, and it’s a lot of fun translating episode plots as well as the general trajectory of the show into stuff that will work with SHIELD characters. We don’t just rewrite episodes, we really try and rework them as needed. Also it features both Skimmons and my beloved rarepair Bobbi/Kara, though of course they won’t get together until later.

Of my own stuff, I’m still really really proud of the AU where Kara Palamas didn’t die. I think that was a pretty severe misstep of the show and I think I did a good job of fixing it. (I haven’t forgotten Kara, promise!)

fic you were nervous to post:

lolololol I wrote some uh. Terminator pornography last year and. They are very porny! I had co-written a bunch of smut obviously, but that was the first time I’d posted like, PWP all by myself on purpose??? and that was TERRIFYING. Also I was very nervous to post the Engame fix-it because that was my own personal goodbye/tribute to Natasha.

how you choose your titles:

They are always either song lyrics or jokes (such as Three Lawyers and a Baby, my Daredevil Accidental Baby Acquisition fic). My WIP docs are always titled either obvious shit like “RoseJannah horse girls” or memes like “what if we belonged to a fire cult and we fucked haha just kidding unless...?” or “Morgan has two mommies.”

do you outline?:

B and I typically outline for the co-written fics, although it’s more often chapter-by-chapter outlines since that’s how we write them. On occasion we’ve fully planned multi-chapter stuff out in advance but that’s less common. Oh and the one-shots are nearly always outlined as well, just to keep ourselves organized.

When I have written planned multi-chapter fics in the past I have used outlines - particularly for the Kara one and I had to do that for the SHIELD Kill Bill AU because I was trying to follow the format of the movie. For things that are allegedly supposed to be one-shots I almost never outline, which turns out to be a terrible idea when they inevitably balloon beyond my control and become 45k like say you will. That one, I wrote out a list of scenes I thought needed to be in it and then I wrote about 75% of those scenes and then I wrote a bunch more scenes I hadn’t planned for. Don’t be like me, kids!

complete fics:

According to AO3, 89 as of right now. Uh, you do not want me to list all of them, here’s a link, I guess!

in progress:

I don’t understand what the difference is between this question and the WIP questions lmao help????

posted WIPs that I have active plans to continue at this time:

Cowritten: mallverse as I said, and its femslash smut oneshots spinoff and character flashbacks spinoff and older characters/teachers spinoff (these get updated, uh, irregularly), the first half of a Piper/Snowflake SHIELD s7 fic that we are planning on finishing the second half of soonish, SHIELD Dollhouse AU, SHIELD Teen Beach AU, SHIELD Buffy AU. You may notice a pattern!

By myself, I have: Have Your Elf a Merry Little Christmas, a Terminator Hallmark Christmas fic that I ambitiously posted the first chapter of in 2019 and then lost steam immediately (I am going to go back to it sooner or later bc I had some cute ideas for it); the SHIELD Fate of the Furious AU that has one chapter to go and which I do intend on finishing eventually; Three Lawyers and a Little Lady, the Daredevil Accidentally Baby Acquisition AU that is literally just cute kidfic and poly avocados and which I have a bunch of ideas for and just need to buckle down and finish some.

posted WIPs that I have given up on:

Lol so there’s a Dollhouse Caroline/Bennett Doctor Who AU that I wrote purely as idfic and which nobody ever cared about except me, and I think that ship has sailed! RIP darlings. I also had an ongoing Skimmons series waaaay back when where I posted oneshots that were like missing scenes or gay readings for each s1 episode, and I just feel like it would be inauthentic to even try and finish it at this point. (It does include the first ever Skimmons fic to be posted on AO3! Really truly, there’s one fic that shows up as older but it’s an ongoing fic and was updated with the tag way after I posted mine.)

exchange fics due soon/unrevealed:

I haven’t done an exchange since like 2015 lololol I am so bad at them. I am currently working on finishing up my MCU Femslash bingo card, very late, and I do have plans for almost all of the remaining squares!

WIPs that live in my fanfic folder and are incomplete and who knows when they’ll be finished:

“RoseJannah horse girls,” which has been put on hold temporarily but is literally just Rose and Jannah being gay while riding orbaks

half of a Daisy/Gwen fic from Marvel Rising because I know they’re not making any more of those but I stg those two were really gay

multiple fics about Elise Nelson-Page including: avocados Halloween with smol Elise, Aunt Elektra very reluctantly taking smol Elise shopping until she realizes smol Elise also likes weapons (she buys her a fake katana), Uncle Frank is a pushover and spoils the shit out of Elise, and baby Elise has a high fever and everyone freaks out but then she gets better and smile at them for the first time (inspired by baby me lol).

coming soon/not yet started:

“Morgan has two mommies,” yet another Endgame fix-it where Maya Hansen did not die in Iron Man 3 and she resurfaces and she and Pepper kiss and eventually she adopts Morgan

Claire and Colleen go on a nice date to get coffee/tea where Danny doesn’t interrupt them goddammit

Bobbi/Kara Warehouse 13 AU which is sort of like “For the Team” but gayer ft. grappling hook

X-Men: Evolution Tabby/Amara fluff

Cameron/Donna character study disguised as smut

Grace proposes to Dani with a ring made out of the metal from her power source and Carl officiates the wedding

Dani gets horny watching Grace eat a peach and jerks off and Grace ends up hearing her and then they fuck (I have been calling this “the peach fic” in my head but I gotta stop being delicate about it lmfao it is just porn)

B and I have plans to do a Nico/Karolina Jasper in Deadland AU but we keep forgetting

I MUST WRITE FOGGY AND KAREN SADLY FUCKING IN A CHURCH WHILE THEY MOURN MATT THIS YEAR I STG

do you accept prompts:

uhhhhhh I have on occasion written a prompt for someone before but it’s pretty rare and I have enough trouble writing the shit I come up with in my own head lol. but never say never?

upcoming story you are most excited to write:

I’ve got a bit of the Bobbi/Kara Warehouse fic written and it’s nice to go back to that world. Also I’m weirdly excited about the Cam/Donna smutty character study I mentioned above, I have a lot of what I think are good ideas for it and it’ll be fun.

tagging @unwind-myself @swiftzeldas @swashbucklery @loved-the-stars-too-fondly and, if you want to, you!

#sometimes I write things

8 notes · View notes

ilkkawhat · 3 years

Note

All the numbers. (If not all then pick and choose a handful to answer).

lol you’re really going for it anon, huh?? 😂 bless your heart. I’ll do all of them and then idk. if anybody wants to send any again, I’m sure I can have a different answer

(I did just answer 7 & 22 so I’ll leave those out. rest below the cut)

1) is there a story you’re holding off on writing for some reason?

I guess if you count all of my active WIPs that have been sitting dormant for months or years, there’s those since I like. I know what I’m doing in pretty much all of them, just as I know what I’m doing in some of my unpublished WIPs, but I think I just need to be in a certain mood/energy to do certain ones (ie, Agony esp is a very heavy fic so I gotta be able to Deal with that)

2) what work of yours, if any, are you the most embarrassed about existing?

I deleted those 😂😂😂 but some of my reeeeeealllllly old stuff is still out there and I cringe thinking about that and though I could easily delete those too, I’m keeping them just since the harddrive that has the docs for it is corrupted lol

3) what order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else?

Just all over the place these days tbh. Even chapter to chapter it’ll change, I’ll write snippets in future chapters--and I’m talking like three or four chapters ahead--just to get it out there. But then there’s other days where I’ll sit and just write and not stop.

4) favorite character you’ve written

Nick Stokes, of course 💜💜💜

5) character you were most surprised to end up writing

Any of the Macgyver characters outside of Jack. Cause though I’ll claim not to all the time, I do know that I know the CSI characters (though I’m surprised I’m able to write in their POVs outside of Nick.) I grew up with them. I have a bond with them. The mac characters? I’ve only known for like. two years now and not even that well anymore since I’ve stopped watching the show.

6) something you would go back and change in your writing that it’s too late/complicated to change now

Expanding on details. Almost every fic I write, I’ll read it again later and be like “ah shit I should have run with this idea...” but I guess that’s how I can do a sequel/missing scene

8) favorite genre to write

hurt/comfort (emphasis on the hurt, really I mean we’re talking like borderline horror)

9) what, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

See I haven’t really honed in on any one particular thing that inspires me to write. It comes out of nowhere, and the following list of things doesn’t like, always work. When I’m listening to a song. When I’m driving in the car. When I’m watching something unrelated to the source material (totes got some inspiring vibes watching Falcon and The Winter Soldier yesterday tbh lmao) When I dream. When I go on a walk. When people send me asks and I just go the fuck off and suddenly ten chapters later I’m writing a fic that they probably didn’t even want (coughSpecimenStokescough)

10) write in silence or with background noise? with people or alone?

I think the last couple times I’ve like, really written it’s been in silence. Definitely alone. Don’t got people to write around, really lmao (unless you count my parents being in other rooms with obnoxiously loud televisions and tablets)

11) what aspect of your writing do you think has most improved since you started writing?

All of it. And I’m sure it’ll keep improving.

12) your weaknesses as an author

Dialogue. I don’t know how people talk 😂

13) your strengths as an author

Detail, description, and I also like to think--emotion? but idk. It’s hard for me to assess my strength tbh

14) do you make playlists for your current wips?

Oh YES! At least for the longer WIPs like Last Breath or Agony. And listen to it on a loop when I’m trying to brainstorm or write if I want to write with music on. I’ve been starting to link the playlists when I’m doing with the fic (which is not many so far)

(I think Hellbound is the only one-shot I made a playlist for that I didn’t share)

15) why did you start writing?

I honestly can’t remember, cause I think I’ve been writing stories (fan fiction or not) ever since I was in middle school?? Maybe even elementary? But I do feel like I had gotten more encouragement for it than drawing from the few people in my life that did actively cheer me on, and there’s just something about writing that is so...fulfilling? Esp since I can’t like. Just manifest the images or make the “movie” in my head, at least I can write them down and hopefully convey what I see/feel in my mind through words.

16) are there any characters who haunt you?

All my neglected OCs lmao. I did and I guess on some level still do want to make an original series.

In a chilling way Veronica also haunts me cause I realize how much of that like, darkness in myself I put in her.

And Nick, well, he’s just always on my mind.

17) if you could give your fledgling author self any advice, what would it be?

Just fucking go for it! Don’t give a shit if anybody will read it or not. Take your time, flesh out those details. Describe what you see, what they see, what they feel.

If you think you’re going too far...you’re not.

keep going

18) were there any works you read that affected you so much that it influenced your writing style? what were they?

I mean any fan fiction I read in the past has probably influenced me on some level. I know that when I came back to CSI in 2018, reading all of kristen999′s nick whump def encouraged me cause I was like “oh...there’s others like me who like to see him hurt!?!?” and I do think that maybe sometimes after I read a fic, I might like. Try to incorporate those styles I see. The way words are described, sentences constructed. Not like, copy of course but I feel like a long time ago my writing wasn’t really idk, novel-like? very short, almost read like a script whereas now, since I’ve seen the way people write their stories (some novel length stories, too), I flesh mine out a lot more.

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

I don’t 😂 Thinking of my bigger projects like Agony, I do just kind make up some of it as I go with a rough outline although sometimes it is a bit more detailed--like First Flight actually has a super detailed outline but I know that once I start writing, something might come up, some twist I didn’t think of before--or even one that somebody suggests to me, but idk I feel like I do have a way of tying everything together regardless? Cause especially with those bigger WIPs I will try to go back and re-read if something seems familiar or if I’ve forgotten a detail, or if I’m planning on diving back into it after a long break from it.

20) do you write in long sit-down sessions or in little spurts?

Depends. I feel more accomplished with the long sit down sessions so I target that, but lately it’s been little spurts with maybe one big dump at the end of the week.

21) what do you think when you read over your older work?

Mostly cringe, but there are times I’m like “holy shit this is really good???”

like I remember recently I re-read Agony and loved it, when I wanted to delete it maybe like. a week before that. I think it honestly depends on my frame of mind, and why I’m going back to read the fic? Cause I’ve had times where I’m like “wait what was this one?” and then I read it and laugh at how bad it is, but then other times where I’m like, “I wanna read that one fic I did...” and then I do and it makes me happy.

But, I will always kinda criticize at the same time--”aw, I could do this better, I could have expanded on this,” etc

23) any obscure life experiences that you feel have helped your writing?

My life is suuuuuuper boring so. not really lmao. One of my earliest CSI fics that actually created what I consider to be my number one OC (she’d be the lead in that original series I mentioned earlier) came out of me sitting and staring into a campfire lmao.

also there was this teacher I had (one of those good IRL supports) that told me a story of something that happened to her (or was it her daughter?) and I turned it into a story (back in my teen days) so. I guess there are somethings.

24) have you ever become an expert on something you previously knew nothing about, in order to better a scene or a story?

Expert? No. But I will do numerous google searches to try and figure some stuff out and get lost in a rabbit hole of “research” for a while and hope that when I do write it, it comes off as I know what I’m doing when really, I do not lol.

25) copy/paste a few sentences or a short paragraph that you’re particularly proud of

haven’t really written much in this past week, and certainly nothing to be proud of, but this line hit me like a ton of bricks for Specimen Stokes and I’m in love with it:

“Because, my dear specimen, I wanted to see if you loved the danger...or if you loved me.”

#mk.fic #mk writes stuff #nonny #mk talks

4 notes · View notes

scimitar-and-longsword · 3 years

Text

Tagged by: @morallygreywaren <3 <3

Name(s): *sigh* I don’t make this easy as my SNs are different everywhere lol thecuriouslo on twitter, scimitar-and-longsword here, I used to write a bunch of LOTR and SPN fics YEARS ago so one of my pseuds is CasintheShire (I orphaned all those fics lol) but my main is thelittlelo/Lolo.... I’ve also got a secret ao3 account where I’ve posted more than one “taboo” fic.... that you will never find lol

Fandom(s): Obviously TOG is my main right now, but Star Wars is always right there too.... other than that?? Idk I was into lotr and spn for a long time (as I already mentioned) and atla/korra, teen wolf and kingsman have all had their moment too.

Where you post: AO3. I’ve got a couple things here on tumblr.... but they always make their way to the archive eventually. (speaking of... I should transfer my most recent prompt fics....)

Most Popular One Shot (by kudos): Brothers Fight (518 kudos) which is my take on Joe and Booker starting to work through their issues following London.

Most Popular Multi-Chapter (by kudos): Share Your Address (1699 kudos) which is my Uni AU... which I’m sure you’re all sick of hearing about by now lol

Favorite story you’ve written so far: I would say SYA or Brothers Fight... but instead of repeating I’ll say it’s Collapsing Walls which is my Book of Nile whump lol.... I’m real mean to Booker in it... poor guy. Low key I think it might be my Big Bang though.... I’m having so much fun writing it, I can’t wait to post it!

Fic you were nervous to post: fucking all of them!!! I’m always nervous.... But I guess the one that was the worst was It Feels Like Flying. I hadn’t written full on smut in a LONG time. I felt so silly and awkward..... I THINK I did ok though??? idk lol

How do you choose your titles?: Depends. I usually have descriptive or joke titles as I’m writing, but I usually just end up going with something simple and descriptive. (SYA is the one exception here lol)

Do you outline?: Yeah. My outlines are all over the places though, mostly they end up being bits of dialogue and jokes lol

Complete: Officially??? Nine. but there’s a lot more of my work out there lol, some of it orphaned, some of it on other accounts.

In-Progress: Published WIPs, two. Both of which I have not abandoned I PROMISE! I’ve just been working on a few other things behind the scenes. (Big Bang, Zine One Shot, and my SYA holiday fic, all of which have deadlines I need to hit so other things got pushed to the background)

Coming soon/not yet started: ahahahaha how much time do you have?? I’ll Never Love Another - my big bang, Prince Yusuf/Knight Nicolo - lots of letter writing and pining... it’s fluffy angst, as is my brand lol Everything I Did to Get to You - SYA holiday special 😏 Impelled by the Persuasion of Love - My fic for the TOG Zine... which is taking me way too long for how short it is. (You’ll have to buy the Zine or wait a long time for this one... but safe to say I thought of a really sweet and fluffy idea... and then made it emo lol) Free Fall - It Feels Like Flying sequel Pilot!Nicky POV this time. it’s just smut lol I Padri d’Iatlia - Yes I’m still working on this.... I’ll post it at some point I PROMISE Mission Fic (temp title lol) - This is actually the very first thing I started writing for this fandom.... it’s quite long and I’ll post it once it’s completed.... but that won’t be for a while. Sniper/Spotter - Joe/Nicky and Book of Nile one shot that I have had about 75% completed for like 3 months lol To Winter in Russia - Book of Nile get together fic.... Snowed in, there was only one bed, slow burn. it’s delicious and I already have like 20k written.... once again I probably won’t post until it’s complete... though I’ve posted some snippets from it on tumblr before. There are three different A/B/O fics that will end up on the forbidden AO3 at some point lol I have like 6 other docs too lol, but they’re all named things like Rockstar/Artist and are mostly just a few bullet pointed ideas. AND this doesn’t even take into account the half finished chapters of Sword of the First Crusader, As You Wish and my FinnPoe fics... I am an ADHD mess and have trouble focusing on one project 😅😅

Prompts?: I’ve never been HUGE into prompts.... I have way too many of my own ideas taking up space in my brain. What I do tend to like prompts for is when I’ve hit a wall in something I’ll ask for prompts, or reblog a prompt list. So you know ya girl is struggling when you see those lol

Upcoming work you’re most excited about: My Prince/Knight Big Bang, 100%.

Tagging: @almostcanon @kiaya @themoonwheniamlost @siriusnebulae @heisallandheismore @cluelessheroes @goldheartedsky @ceraunos @heelipabo and @nicolodigenovas (and anyone else who wants to!)

#lolo rambles #lolo writes #tag games

11 notes · View notes

obsessivelycapricious · 3 years

Note

⭐ for director's cut ask

Heyy! Sorry I saw on this one for a while, hope that's okay!

From this post :)

So I'm about 11,000 words into a Marvel crossover fic. It's a reader insert that spans like from 1940's CA:FA onwards and it'll include the MCU ensemble, X-Men, Dr Strange, Venom, Deadpool and probably more by the time it's done. I'm thinking it'll be canon divergent, taking creative liberties before diving off book after 2012 - I don't have the ending figured out yet though.

Each chapter is really small, it's kind of by design. The main character lives a long ass time so it's more a highlights reel of events and memories than minute by minute account.

Her story could also be divided up into acts really. The first act is called 'We'll Meet Again' - from the song by Vera Lynn. It's set in the time before, during and after CA:TFA and crosses over with Wolverine - that part is almost complete.

Then the next act would be from Maria Stark falling pregnant up to the events of the first Iron Man movie and will cross over with Pre-CA:WS, Agent Carter, and college! Tony Stark. Then the next and so on. I'm thinking there are at least 3 acts so far outlined. I'm undecided if it'll be Thanos compliant or not, because I've got some ideas about it but those movies made me cry a lot.

I really want to start posting it, but I'm terrified that I will never finish it if I do. I've already posted a couple of snippets from it though, they aren't huge plot spoilers and kind of work as a stand alone thing (I think anyway). If you wanna read them, you can find them here: x - or at my AO3 account.

Since it's done, I'll post the first 700 ish words of 'We'll Meet Again' - see what you think! It's mostly under the cut as this post is long enough. Feel free to ignore also though.

---------------

In hindsight, Grace had known getting attached was a bad idea. She found herself doing it anyway.

The fourth time she drags Steve Rodgers in from the alley behind the diner, grinning despite the way he swayed, unsteady on his feet with at least one of his eyes swollen shut, she knew it was too late.

“When are you going to learn Stevie? Maybe next time just walk away - y’know? Not everything is worth the fight.”

“Not an option” He grumbles stubbornly, wincing as she applies ice to his face. She knows it won’t be long before he slumps over the counter, the last of the adrenaline running out of his body.

Returning to New York felt inevitable. She loved the hustle and bustle of the streets, giving her enough anonymity to feel safe while still being around civilization enough to really feel alive. It had changed quite a bit since the last time she was there though. Tough times had fallen on the city, but if the news papers were to be believed, the depression would be over soon. Roosavelt’s New Deal seemed to be working.

The lunchtime rush comes and goes without Steve making much move to leave, other than coughing wetly against the crook of his elbow a few times. Grace glances up at the door as the bell chimes, locking eyes with the newest patron as he saunters in, heading straight towards her.

“Hey doll.”

Finding herself mimicking the boyish grin, Grace grabs a fresh mug off the bottom shelf and sets to making a fresh pot of coffee without prompting.

“Hey yourself. Come to pick up your stray?” She adds, inclining her head to Steve who doesn’t make any attempt to register his friend’s arrival.

“Oh boy.” Nodding with a grimace, James Barnes gently claps the smaller man’s shoulder. “Michaels said he thought he saw it on his way down to the Yard. I figured he’d show up here. Stevie? You okay pal?”

Grace pushes the cup of joe across the counter. “It’s on me. You’re gonna have to give him a few. It was a real doozy this time.” She adds, furrowing her brow.

James groans, taking the cup with a nod of thanks. He sounds exasperated. “Damnit Steve, why can’t you just leave it be just once. One time. That too much to ask?”

Steve slurs, his voice muffled. “Should’a seen t’other guy.”

With a scoff, he rolls his eyes. “Yeah, I bet.”

Catching his eye, Grace motions for James to follow her a few feet out of earshot. She casts a worried glance over to the hunched figure. “You best keep an eye on him tonight Buck. He was coughing up a storm not ten minutes ago.”

“Damn, I thought he was over that. He seemed a lot better last couple of days. Obviously well enough to pick a fight.”

“You’d think he’d learn huh?” She muses with a snort, admiring the fact Steve Rodgers would never change.

Huffing a laugh, he looks back to her arching a brow. “Good job he found you huh doc? – How is school?”

Reluctant to get into the details, she glances down to her feet. “Just swell. Six months or so left then it’s over. Thank God.” Grace sighs, wiping the coffee stains on the counter absently.

“You’ll do great.” He says encouragingly with a smile.

The corner of her mouth quirks up. Eager to change the subject, she narrows her eyes at him slightly. “Have you been lifting weights again?”

James’ grin grows wide as he puffs out his chest, not modest in the slightest. “Oh, noticed, did you? As a matter of fact, I’ve been training at Goldie’s Gym. Nice to know it’s been paying off.”

“Was mostly the smell, but sure thing.” Grace quips with a flash of a smile.

“It’s the fish.” Steve supplies dryly – his voice still muffled against the counter.

James’ face twists in mock offence. “Hey!”

The warmth Grace feels inside tells her that getting attached is definitely a bad idea, but it doesn’t stop her from laughing anyway.

#asks #iron niffler #thank you friend #bucky x original female character #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes x female reader #1940s bucky

5 notes · View notes

licenselesswriter · 3 years

Note

1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 44. And if I could send more, I would.

Inspiration and Reading Asks:

1. How long ago did you start reading fanfiction? Writing fanfiction? Started reading when I was 12, started writing it, when I was 14, so reading, 19 years ago, and writing 17 years ago.

2. How do you spend your time when it comes to fanfiction? Are you primarily a fic reader, writer, or a perfect 50/50 split of both? I’m a 33.3% reader, 33.3% WIP machine, a 33.4% writer, and 100% mess, I usually spend my time doing an absurd amount of WIP that comes out of thin air, like, I can be eating an apple, boom, Bori WIP, a cup of coffee? Boom, Roro WIP, breathing? Boom, Lucaya WIP (that last one happens the most)

3. Are there any fics that inspired you to write what you do? It’s called Unfaithful (EN), it’s on fanfiction.net, and honestly, it’s so well written, that I had nausea 3 times while reading it, the pain was so palpable that I felt ill from it.

4. Link your three favorite fics right now. Right now, and in order 1 - Unfaithful (EN) 2 - Twenty Nights 3 - Perfect

6. How do you find a new fic to read? Where do you primarily read fanfiction? Fanfiction or AO3, and have an excel doc with my favorite ships, then I go to the random number generator, putting 1 as the minimum and maximum the number of the last ship I added to the list, then hit random, and read about that ship, keep things fresh.

7. Do you prefer to read short fics or long fics? Both.

8. How often do you reblog/comment on fics that you like? When they are on Tumblr, a few times.

9. Tag 3 fic writers you think are underrated/unknown in the fandom/fanfiction community. I’m sorry, but I don’t know if they have Tumblr, so, amirmitchell, snowdrifts, and Onde Tu Esteves

10. What’s your favorite fandom, pairing, or character to read fic for? Fandom: Game of Thrones, love all those modern universe AU I have to say. Pairing: Lucaya (Not a surprise) Character: Lucas Friar, Portgas D. Ace, Roronoa Zoro, or Prince Zuko.

Fanfiction Writing Asks:

11. How do you come up with your fic titles? Coffee, food, and usually, Spotify, all that, sometimes, make my brain work into having titles about the things I want to write.

13. Do you outline your fics? How much of a headache would someone get if they just looked at an outline of yours without reading the fic? I do outlines, in 5 stages, so a pretty big one. 1 - I write in my notebook, what I want to write, like a general idea. 2 - Post it on my walls and door, to give the story some structure. 3 - Notebook outline the arch of the story. 4 - Outline every chapter on word. 5 - Reduce that chapter into mini arches to write faster.

14. Do you have a personal word minimum that you hold yourself too? Why or why not? I do (now), I usually don’t post anything that is less than 2900 words, Why? because we must not forget that writers not only write for people in the fandom, they mainly write for themselves, and I love to read something among that word count because that’s long enough to keep me on the hook.

16. Do you research for your fics? If so, how deep of a rabbit hole have you gone down by accident when researching? I do research for my fics, how deep? I can give indications for divorce paperwork in the state of New York, even if you want or not to go scorch the earth with the “fault” rule, I can give an appropriate value to an apartment or a house in New York, Texas, Nashville, and San Francisco, and I can do taxes on those states too, and I know more about how high school classes work in the US than in my country, even when I went to those classes, and I’m from Santiago, Chile, you know, in South America, like, the last country of South America

17. How obsessively do you sit and stare at your fic after you’ve just posted and wait for feedback? I don’t, once I finish writing something, I run away, and watch anime for a few hours, or work (Yeah, sometimes I write on my lunch hour)

18. Do you have a WIP that you keep telling yourself you’ll eventually get back to, but deep down you know that’s probably a lie? I do apologize to “The Games we Play” I have no idea how I outlined your 26 chapters, but I’m still on chapter 2, and I’m sorry.

19. Do you edit your fics after you write them, or do you prefer to just hit post and run (because it’s someone else’s problem now)? Sometimes I do because sometimes, I write things wrong.

20. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process? That happiness I get when I’m in the Zone, and I write something that makes me say “Fuck, that was good”

21. What’s your least favorite part about the fanfiction writing process? I call it “The Deep White”, also known as writer’s block.

23. What’s your absolute favorite trope to write? I don’t write it anymore, because I was banned from a forum for writing it, but I love to write a bad ending, like “Killing the main character that I make you love for 30 chapters in the end” ending. I’m evil, I know, sue me.

24. What’s a trope that you’d like to never hear about as long as you live, let alone write? The “Good girl trying to change the bad boy,” I hate, apologies, I DESPISE that trope, it’s not cool, first, to be with someone abusive, and second, to try to change someone because you think you’re so almighty that you will change him (or her) because of love, bs, I SAID BS.

25. Do you listen to music as you write? If possible, link your writing playlist. I do, and of course, it’s named “Writing Shiet” because my brain can only process decent titles for fics (Says the guy who once named a fic “No Title”) Here’s the link

26. What’s your biggest distraction when writing? Anime and Manga.

27. Do you like to give your readers some warning of what might be coming or just slap them in the face with content at random? I don’t usually do it, but when I do it, I do it cryptic, like “You might be surprised, but this, I called in the beginning.”

28. How do you deal with writing pressure (ie: pressure to update, negative comments, deadlines, etc)? I ignore it, If I can ignore good advice, ignore something that gives me more stress it’s an easy cake.

29. Have you ever written for an exchange or event of some kind? Which one(s)? Did you enjoy it? I did but didn’t submit, I wrote for 2019 fictoberfest on Tumblr, but never send a shit, I did enjoy it tho

30. Post a snippet from your current WIP without context - no more than 300 words. "Well, we're still not in Texas," he says, implying something not PG-13 at all. "My God, in what did I turn you?" Maya teases him before getting up and grab his hand, pulling him up. Lucas grins at her, "On," he replies, making Maya flirty hit his chest

31. Of the characters you write for, which is your favorite? Has that choice been swayed at all by your followers/readers’ reactions to certain ones? I love writing Lucas and Maya, and honestly don’t know if it helps me or not LOL.

32. Copy and paste your top three favorite lines/jokes/sentences you’ve ever written. What fics do they come from? 1 - From November to June CH3 A few hours later, Maya heard a knock on her door. She takes a peek through the magic eye on her door and saw Lucas. She grabs her phone and fastly texts him. She was able to hear the 'ding' of his phone, and spying through the magic eye she saw his reaction. "Ok, first of all, I'm not that, second, my mother is not that, and third, I'm not gonna put that there, that's fucking gross, and probably deadly if you consider the size of my hands." he defends himself. 2 - Ten Duel Commandments CH2 Maya smiles at him, "Since you're all Texan cowboy goody-good boy, I imagine you would relate more with the honorable Lord Stark," she teases him. "Says the woman who read three books in a row and texts me at four in the morning," he replies before pulling out his phone, "R+L=J," he teases her, reading her text. "That's private, asshole," Maya recriminates him. 3 - The One Who Stayed CH18 "Then, I have less... GET OFF ME FUCKER!" Maya screamed, punching the person who grabbed her arm, "Holy shit, Lucas." she says, looking at the person she just hit. "Noted, never approach to you by surprise." Lucas says on the floor, "Well, this makes me feel more confident about you being here alone." he says before start laughing.

33. What do you like writing better: one-shots or multi-chapter stuff? Multi-chapter, unless, it’s wedding fics because I love weddings.

34. How much of yourself and your life experiences do you put into your writing? What do you think your readers’ image of you is? None.

35. How much has writing fic changed your life? Not much, but has made me happier.

36. Are there any fics or fandoms you’re embarrassed to have written or been part of? The Glee Project Fandom.

37. Give an update on your current WIP - if you don’t have one, give a sneak peek to a title or idea that you have and would like to write. "Shawn called him, and he assures him that if you try something inappropriate, he has a shotgun," she adds, making Lucas's face go pale. "Well, guess like father, like son," he comments, making Maya show unexpected interest in his words.

38. What does your writing process look like? How chaotic is it on a scale of 1 (very tame) to 10 (you can’t handle this kind of chaos)? As I explained in the outline question, pretty tame if we count that I have my outline process numbered LOL.

39. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on? That I try to make it real, I try to make people feel something when they read.

41. What’s your most popular fic (with the most notes on Tumblr, most hits/kudos on ao3)? Tumblr? The One Who Stayed Fanfiction.net? Ten Duel Commandments

44. Rant about something writing-related. Please, let’s stop glorifying the “Bad Boy” character, he’s an asshole, allow me to explain, Bakugo, fucking asshole, he’s just a bully with an oversized ego, no, he’s not a tsundere, no, it’s not cute, that shit is abusive, and it really makes me want to punch people in their nose when the romanticize that bullshit.

Done

(Told ya I was bored)

#Licenseless Answers

4 notes · View notes