#im sorry this is what my notes doc looks like. the formatting is for ME to enjoy only | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

whirlybirdwhat · 3 years

Note

Heyo~ I just wanted to say that your fanfics have inspired me to write my owns, they're so good!!

But my writing isn't nearly as good, do you have any advices for this starting writer? <3

oh my gosh anon !!!!!! im ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ !! im so glad they inspire you, and I wish you all the best on your writing!!! you got this, and please link them if/when you post!!!! 👀👀👀

as for advice - i got a few things!

first off, your writing is yours, and - especially in fic - there isn't necessarily a type of 'good' writing, just different skill sets! for instance, i find that my weak point is dialogue, while im great at worldbuilding + emotions. another writer might be the opposite, but it doesn't mean my writing is 'bad' and theirs is 'good' or the reverse, simply that we have different strengths! as you grow as a writer, you will find your strengths and learn to grow them, and your weak points! there is truly no standard, so don't put yourself down!!

moving on to more advice however - (EDIT: theres a tldr at the bottom because sorry, i rambled a bit!!)

1. write. it doesn't matter where, it doesn't matter when, it doesn't matter how! I have written fics on sticky notes in the middle of class (whiskey peak chapter of esom) on discord in the span of a few hours (make a choice (turncoat hero)) and in my notes apps (the ace/yamato fic i posted)!! if you learn to write anywhere you please, this will keep ideas from leaving your mind, and allow you to get into the zone that there doesn't have to be a set time to write!

2. length never matters for a fic. If 100 words is all it takes to write what you want to write, then 100 words is all it takes! don't let the general adoration for long fics to scare you off from writing, and write what you're comfortable with. I know writers who only write chapter fics, and writers who will only write one shots (then there's me, who tries to do both at once lol.)

3. when i am lost with the plot of a fic, the first thing i do is draft an outline of what i want to happen next. this is just a simple bullet point outline, in the general fashion of, say

- luffy gets a different hat post pirate king

- monkey steals hat

- luffy calls for zoro

- zoro sleeping?? sanji kicks him then fight

- the monkey is revealed as the red haired pirates monkey

- shanks shows up "miss me anchor?" party time

brief, follows a simple set of actions, perhaps one or two lines that i thought of while writing, and gives me a skeleton to follow so that when i lose myself in a fic i know where i can go next. Some people find it useful to do this at the beginning with a super detailed plot, and others never write a outline at all! it depends again on how you grow as a writer, so don't be afraid to try different things out when you approach a fic

4. stuck on a part? writer block? can't focus? get up drink a glass of water, and get back to writing! i find this helps me get refocused on writing when i am stuck, a little body 'wake up' as you will.

5. never EVER delete a scene from a fic. never. NEVER. move that scene to another doc, put it in a 'scrapped writing' folder, idc, but never delete it entirely. it helps you grow as a writer, and you can always put the scene back/reword it, etc. i cannot count on my hands how many times i have reworked a previously scrapped portion of a fic and came out the better for it!

6. having multiple wips is okay!! celebrate it even!! i always have at least five docs for five separate fics up on my computer at all times so i can shuffle between them when writing and write what im inspire for in that moment. its okay if you never make headway on one of them, as long as the ideas keep flowing

7. want to get something out quick? word wars are your friend - set a timer for 15 minutes, and write as many words as you can. this is especially fun if you have someone doing it with you, so you can compare counts at the end and share your story!!

8. writing, like all art, takes time. and, generally, there is a chance you will write faster when you first set out to write then you will later, because later, you will be more conscious of your word choices and be more deliberate and careful in your plot, rather than just churning out works. It's okay if you don't churn out 5k a day - writing is not an obligation!

9. have. fun. im serious! write what you want to write, even if it seems no one will love it or like it or want to read it - write what brings you joy, what makes you smile, even if it's something that's been done a thousand times before!! this is what fic is, for your own personal enjoyment. Additionally, do not be discouraged if there's a low amount of reviews for something you put your heart and soul. it sucks ass, yes, (i have a couple fics i love which have only gotten like, a quarter of attention of some of my other fics) but ultimately, the idea you wrote down is one you want to see in the world!! it doesn't quite matter what anyone else likes.

10. grammarly, word counter, word, etc - anything with a spellcheck is your best friend, and will generally catch things you miss if you cant find someone to proofread for you. additionally, if you want to be more critical of your fic, look for friends tto give constructive critcism, but know that you absolutely do not have to accept it from any stranger online unless you asked specifically for it.

11. fanon is fanon and popular headcanons are popular headcanons and both are absolutely not canon. you do NOT have to follow it if you do not want to.

12. read!!! i read a lot of fic, a lot of published books, and each has something i really enjoy and apply to my own fics.

13. to reiterate again just... write. write and write and write. i have over 300k posted to ao3 rn, and more in my docs. you will not improve your writing to any standard that you set for yourself unless you write!! always practice!! learn from your mistakes!! grow!!! you will improve with time, i promise, just go out and write what makes you happy anon!!

tl;dr have fun, write a lot wherever and whenever, and write for yourself before anyone else. you will improve with time as a writer the more you practice, and it doesn't ever matter how long your work is.

if you want more specific advice on formatting fic/general rules/ your first time posting, feel free to send another ask!! but for now, i wish you the best of luck anon and a very 👀👀👀👀 at your future fics!!!

#that was #so much rambling i am sorry but i do hope its helpful!!#whirlywhat #whirlyanswers #advice #writing #fic writing advice #fic advice

10 notes · View notes

writing-is-thorapy · 3 years

Text

Dead-ception: Ramblings of an Exhausted Writer

”One night, I was very tired but not quite ready to go to sleep. I thought, “what if I reread Dead-ception and published my commentary here?” So that’s what this is. If you want actual, legit meta-commentary, that’s coming after the work is fully published 😉

We’re going to try this out with Chapter 1.

I recorded my thoughts while I read the chapter and have transcribed them (all of them) here. Whenever the section I was discussing was unclear, I have clarified with a parenthetical side note or quotation.

Hope you enjoy!

Transcript:

Hey this is Victoria, AKA Writing_is_THORapy, and I’m gonna be reading my fic “Carry You Home,” AKA the Dead-ception AU. Um, I’m not gonna be reading it aloud, I’m just gonna be reacting aloud, and I apologize for my voice *loud sniffle* and the occasional sniffles because my allergies are acting up. Isn’t that fun? So... yeah let’s get started!

(After first section that ends with, “He had no idea it would go so wrong.”) I remember when I wrote that first part, that first section. God, I had no idea this was gonna turn out to be such a big thing.

Damn, I kill Anakin so fast. He dies within like the first 200 words. *Laughs* Anakin’s my favorite character and he’s like... not in this. At all.

(”He wrenches Rako Hardeen’s mask off...”) When I referenced Rako Hardeen’s mask, I didn’t remember whether he actually had a mask or not and just made up that he did but he ACTUALLY DOES so I’m proud of myself.

(“Obi-Wan ignites his lightsaber, the blade going straight through Hardeen’s chest.”) Yeah kill ‘im, Obi!

(“Ahsoka’s lithe body...”) I use “lithe” a lot to describe Ahsoka. Like, it fits, but still...

I like that I included the detail that Anakin’s sightless blue eyes gaze upwards at the STARS. Good job, me!

Oof I love these last two lines: “For the first time in his life, Obi-Wan wished he was dead./Maybe then Anakin would still be alive.” Oof, that impact. Good job.

I’m sorry I’m gonna be patting myself on the back a lot during this. Mainly because I’m surprised... that this is so good. *Long pause* Y’know? Haha

I like that I included Rex’s POV because, like, a lot of times I feel like with deathfics, the few deathfics that I’ve seen like, actually cover the aftermath of a death, ‘cuz I feel like a lot of times it’s just the build-up and the death itself but not a lot of aftermath, which is partially why I wrote this. Um, I feel like with ones regarding Anakin, they don’t... really cover Rex. And I mean like... I really—I really like the friendship between Rex and Anakin. I think it’s a really cool thing, and... I definitely think it’s under-appreciated, so... Rex and Anakin rights.

(“...on the Permacrete.”) I had to look up what concrete was called in Star Wars. It’s “permacrete.”

Ohhhhh “Rex is the one who was made to die./Not his [Jedi]” except I wrote the, um, Mandalorian term but I’m not gonna try and say it ‘cuz I know I’ll butcher it.

Oh my God do you know what I just realized??? So, um, I wrote here “Something clicks.” You know what else clicks? A GUN. Or a BLASTER. Parallels! Yeah! I know, I know that’s a stretch, but. I’ll take what I can get.

I gotta say figuring out the logistics of this next part when the 501st arrives and gives Anakin this send-off was harder than you might think. ‘Cuz I had t—part of my writing process involves me ruthlessly poking holes in all my plot points and everything that I make happen so that I make this as airtight as possible. Um, so... finding the rationale for Rex to call the 501st over instead of like, going back and telling them... it wasn’t easy.

Oh no! It says that “he thanks the Fox.” No! Typo! I’m gonna go fix that in the doc. And maybe I’ll fix it in the real fic later, but... I don’t feel like it right now. *Opens Google Docs on my phone* Where is chapter one? Chapter ooone? Chapter one!

Now you’re all gonna know about my mistake. Please don’t go and find it. (SIDENOTE: You can’t because I fixed it!) You’re gonna go and find it, aren’t you? Please don’t. It’s gonna bug me enough.

Ok, let us continue.

(Referencing Anakin’s send-off) I also had to look up a loooot about military formations and procedures, specifically regarding those, like, honoring the dead. It was interesting research.

“It’s our turn to carry him.” Carry you home! Yeah! Cue title! Ish!

There is an extra “z” in there. Where did that “z” come from? Let’s get rid of that random little “z!” *Goes to Google Docs and pulls up chapter one*

*Searches for the “z”*

Oh it’s not in the doc. It’s just in here.

*Continues reading*

And I wrote “cloth” and not “the cloth!” Come on, Victoria! I’m sorry half of this is me pointing out all of my typos.

Ohhhhh “Each step he takes feels like an impossibility he does not deserve.” Good line! Patting myself on the back! I’m sorry this seems so egotistical!

Oh and that’s that first chapter. Uh, well... I’m gonna go fix those typos because otherwise they are gonna bug me.

I was really proud of coming up with the Missing Man Formation for this—I didn’t come up with it, sorry—but for finding the Missing Man Formation and using it because I really like it. I think it fits really well.

*Goes and fixes typos*

Let’s see... Where’s the part where—oh! Found it! Typos fixed! Fantastic!

So let’s see what else do I have to say about this first chapter...

Meta and stuff about the contents of the first chapter in-depth, um... I’ve been writing out meta for each chapter and it’s no where near finished yet because I have to really go through each chapter and find all the things, but I’ve started for each, just by taking the comments I had on the side of each doc. After I fully release Dead-ception I’ll start releasing that. I don’t know how I’m going to release it, I don’t know where, but I’ll release it. So... yeah.

Bye for now!

#star wars #my writing #my fic #the deadception au #chapter 1 #commentary #tori talks #ramblings of an exhausted writer #I apologize for the excessive self-praise #This fic is my baby #this commentary consists of two things #me pointing out all my typos #and me patting myself on the back

4 notes · View notes

dayseternal-blog · 4 years

Note

Hi days! Since im currently under quarantine, I've been meaning to write my own Naruhina fanfic and i think this is the perfect opportunity to start! im just wondering if you have any tips with writing and also on using AO3 since I'm pretty new to the site :) Thank you so much and I hope ur doing well!

AHHHH HAVE FUN!!!!

I have so many tips??? For planning, editing, posting, and general thoughts. I’m sorry, it got out of hand 🙈 Also, everything below the cut are just my own opinions (even if they’re phrased like laws lol). Other writers will have differing opinions.

Planning Tips 🗒:

1. First to make absolutely clear, you don’t have to plan. You can write whatever you want because it’s your story.

2. But it’s useful to have a detailed summary or general outline.

3. And it’s useful to choose your verb tense & POV before you start.

4. It’s easier for most people to write from just one perspective (limited 3rd Person). An example of this would be “Nightdreams,” for which I only wrote Naruto’s thoughts. Limited 3rd is useful to build angst because everyone can only guess at what the other character is thinking!

5. But if you want both POVs shown, that’s fun, too!! I’ve done that in diff. ways. “Undercover” and “Catskin” switches throughout. “White Lilies” has half/half of the chapter. “Inspo” switches each chapter. Whatever you choose, do it deliberately for the amount of information you want to share with the reader!

6. Keep your verb tense consistent! It’s easier to write in present tense, even though we were taught in school to write stories in past tense. If your character is having a flashback, you can easily make that distinction between present and past by switching to past tense.

Editing Tips ✅:

1. Each new paragraph belongs to only 1 character’s thoughts, words, and actions.

2. Vary sentence length! Short sentences and fragments are wonderful to indulge in.

3. Try to keep each paragraph short (no more than about 4 lines). A bilingual reader told me it’s easier to process.

4. Try to open a chapter with a description of the environment (sounds, space, or feelings) rather than talking or conversation so that you can immerse the reader in the story right away.

5. If you want a beta, set clear parameters for what you want the beta to look for. Be specific. Examples: you want the beta to check your spelling and punctuation, you want the beta to check for clarity in a certain section, you want the beta to be like a soundboard for you to bounce ideas off of, you want the beta to check for sensitivity. Btw, if you don’t want a beta, that’s absolutely fine.

6. If your story is set in a Japanese-influenced world, please don’t italicize Japanese words. That just draws attention to a word that doesn’t need attention. Italics should be used for emphasis, thoughts, maybe words in a letter or newspaper the character is reading.

7. If the characters all have Japanese names, like in Naruto, please find appropriate names for any OCs you make. This is arguable for an alternate universe.

Posting to AO3 Tips 👊🏼:

1. Write your story on a Google Doc, then when you’re ready, copy&paste into AO3′s RICH TEXT (Not HTML) BOX.

It’s always defaulted to HTML. So make sure you click that Rich Text button before you paste the story in, otherwise your formatting’s gonna get all funky.

2. Before you Post, read through your story! AO3 sometimes doesn’t “return” your paragraphs properly, so just make sure your spacing is all good.

3. Also check your words that are italicized. AO3 sometimes adds extra spaces between italicized and normal words.

4. Look at similar stories to yours to see how they tagged ships, triggers, and genres. The wall of tags is very important!

5. Keep your story summary simple. If your story follows a popular trope, you might want to highlight that in the summary.

Miscellaneous Tips 🌻:

1. Have no shame.

2. If you learn by following examples (like I do), study your favorite stories and take mental notes on what makes that story so good to you. Is it the formatting? Is it the subject? Is it the characterization? What did the writer do? Turn an analytical eye on those stories.

For example, while I was writing Nightdreams, I studied the formatting (transitions, verb tense, point of view, etc.) in @katarinahime‘s “Serenity Prayer” and the use of description in @missa-chua‘s “Unless the World Were to End.” I reread them several times. I tried to emulate their styles in my own writing.

3. For the love of ramen, please don’t make ramen seem like some foreign food that Hinata has never tried before. Please.

4. Follow @ao3commentoftheday to get a whole writing community’s tips!! The moderator responds everyday to asks on a wide range of writing concerns.

5. YOU CAN FORGET EVERYTHING HERE IF YOU LIKE AND JUST DO WHATEVER YOU WANT. It’s your story!

You are your own #1 Reader. Write what you want to read because literally no one’s going to read it as often as you do! This is allllll about what YOU want!

If you have any questions about something I didn’t cover or you’d like me to expand on a tip, let me know :) Thank you for asking! And I am so excited!

I hope you love your fanfic!!!!!

#anon #fanfic writing tips #my opinions #i will never bash your story #it's your story!#love your story

38 notes · View notes

ilguna · 4 years

Note

hi- I’m not sure if you’re the right person to ask, but I wanted to know how to start a fanfic writing tumblr- I mean, I’m just not sure how to start since I’ve never posted anything on my account- I’m sorry if this is an inconvenience-

Don’t worry about it. I’m a little offended that you would think you’re coming to the wrong place 😂.

Imma break it down for you.

BTW this post is long bc I wanted to cover all bases

—

First of all, if you’re on tumblr mobile, then that’s fantastic and we’ll start with that first. If you’re on desktop, I would like to suggest getting it on your phone because it’s more accessible and easier to manage than doing it on the computer. The only time I go to the computer is when I’m going to post fics, but we’ll get there.

I know you said you’re wondering how to start posting fics but I gotta give you some advice before that. Because there are just some things I cannot stand when it comes to some fanfic blogs, alright?

Be easy on your color scheme. I wouldn’t put any bright colors because it could hurt someone’s eyes, and sometimes it looks really bad. Going along with that, you should be careful what your second color is on your blog (let’s say that your base color was a maroon, and then you’d choose a color similar to that/darker than that. It’ll be hard to read the things in your bio, and it’s frustrating)

This is obvious, but make sure you have a profile and header picture, it’s more appealing rather than tumblrs default.

Turn ON asks and then proceed to do it for anonymous questions, because that’s the only way you get requests. Some people do it off anon but that’s not as common.

You can do this on desktop and a safari browser. It’s not possible to do on mobile just yet. Open up safari > log in > little person icon in the top right > edit appearance. Scroll until you see “let people as questions” turn that on. Turn on anon, and edit the box to whatever you want. Keep it short

Turn off “share posts you like” and the following one below it. It’s a risky game to play when it comes to what you’re looking at and liking.

No submission posts, normally people don’t submit things anyway. Turn OFF “on blog advertising” and then that’s it. It automatically saves so you can just leave to the next screen imma bout to tell you about

IF you go to my blog on desktop, you’ll see that there’s a theme. My font is different, I have a different set up than most blogs, etc.

If you wanna mess around with that, scroll to the top of page (you should still be on the same page from the anon instructions) and tap “edit theme”

It might take a second to load, but you’ll get there.

THIS SCREEN IS VERY IMPORTANT.

Besides the fact that it lets you edit your theme, this is how you put in a Masterlist, and all other links you might want in your bio.

You said you haven’t written anything yet, so there isn’t a need for a Masterlist just yet. But when you DO start posting, please come back to me and I’ll let you know how to put one in your bio, okay? Nice and shiny for your future followers.

If you wanna change your theme go to browse themes, change it from “all themes” to “free themes”. If you like mine, it’s called “Accesible”. If you just want the font, get out of the theme screen and scroll the screen on the left. Turn ON “open dyslexic

Remember, you can do all of this on desktop too, it doesn’t have to be on safari

—

Now onto posting, I have some opinions that might offend my mutuals (oopsie)

I can’t tell the difference, but PERSONALLY, I think posting fics on tumblr from my phone is gross. But that’s also because I’m writing 1000+ words normally and it gets difficult to post

If you want to post fics with more than 100 paragraphs, then you have to go to desktop or maybe safari tumblr (I don’t post from safari tumblr so idk if it works) because tumblr says NO paragraphs after 100 on mobile. There is no restriction on computer

I write in Google Docs, because it’s neater and I’ve discovered some hate for Word after deleting some of the shit I wrote over and over. Plus it’s an app, and you can open it up on computer. Easy to use.

If you use Notes on your phone, or type directly onto a tumblr post, then that’s fine but you don’t know your word count and it’s a little difficult to navigate.

When it comes to formatting, I used to have it be really long. But I’ve narrowed it down to 3, sometimes 4 things.

Summary: this is where I put the request so the anon/person knows that it’s their request. (I copy n paste the entire request in the summary part, I don’t answer asks (requests) anymore because it’s easier to answer them after I posted).

Warnings: my permanent is swearing, and then I add on (what type) violence, murder, suic*de, gore, etc DEPENDING ON THE REQUEST

Word count: and I do this because I write long imagines sometimes and some people don’t want to sit through 5k words of boring shit

And the optional—Note: I put this if I thank someone for their patience on the request, if I say happy holidays or some shit like that. I don’t have notes on every post anymore because they just turn out being the same every time

Apart from that, give it a title (make it unique but not too long!) who it’s for and then copy and paste the fic in

I’m using my own posts as an example right here, okay. But I have the summary and all of that bolder because it’s easier to see, and I want it to be different from the actual post. Most fanfic writers do this.

I also put 2 —‘s between the authors note at the top and the fic to also make a difference there

Don’t have the entire fic italicized, it takes away the special part of italicizing a word

Finally, it’s tagging.

I cannot stress this enough, DO NOT tag things that have nothing to do with the post. It’s my biggest pet peeve and it’s because I can’t comprehend why people tag (for example) Katrina Stuart when it’s a fic OR A RANDOM POST about someone else

Instead, let’s keep it simple.

🌸 STOP 🌸

I forgot to mention this. But choose your username wisely. You can change it later on, but it’s a goddamn pain in the ass when you have 50+ fanfics you wrote and your Masterlist is nice and clean only to realize that you have to RELINK every post individually

Listen, I changed my username on my old blog, and it took me 8 hours ROUGHLY to relink and fix every individual Masterlist. I had to create new masterlists, with so many tabs open to fix it

Instead, change it before you start fics

If you wanna be a colby brock blog, I have a canon url (which means that it’s so fucking GOOD and I’m angry that i realized it was open only a month ago rather than when I created this account) and it’s colbysbrocks (it’s a plural canon url). And I have colbysecrets too. If you don’t like either of those, I have a couple of other ideas that I wrote down if you want them

🌸 okay continue 🌸

This is how you should tag:

(I’ll give an example after this)

Your username first, the person it’s about, the fandom (if it’s not Colby brock, then something like marvel, etc). Then the persons name, imagine, fanfic, x reader, and oneshot. Then if it was requested

EXAMPLE ONE:

Azurebrock, Colby brock, Colby brock imagine, Colby brock fanfic, Colby brock x reader, Colby brock oneshot, requested

Simple, right? You can even use this method for Wattpad too.

EXAMPLE TWO:

(This is Star Wars, im using my own username again)

Kylorenlovesyou, Kylo ren, Ben solo, kylo ren imagine, kylo ren fanfic, kylo ren x reader, kylo ren oneshot, Ben solo imagine, Ben solo fanfic, Ben solo x reader, Ben solo oneshot, Star Wars

Notice that I tagged both of his names. I do this because it draws more people in, and more people will be attracted to it (however, in the Star Wars fandom there’s a difference between Ben Solo and Kylo-Ren, so you would have to specify in the title Ex. Resistance (Ben Solo) or Struggle (Kylo-Ren). It would depend on which persona you’re using

This works for a couple of fandoms, like twilight and shit like that

EXAMPLE THREE:

(Final one, I just wanted to cover this base just in case)

If it’s a request for more than one person. Let’s say Colby Brock and Sam Golbach (like a Polyamorous relationship, if it’s just about a bunch of people, tag the people in it and don’t put the imagine, fanfic, x reader, oneshot after any of them, it doesn’t apply)

If it’s a poly relationship (or maybe more) then do everything you normally do for one person, and then just add on the second;

Azurebrock, Colby brock, Sam Golbach, Colby brock imagine, Sam Golbach imagine, etc

If you’re on desktop, I would suggest putting in a Read More (this goes BEFORE your fic but after the authors note, below the 2 —‘s). The way you do that is press enter, and hover over the new break in the fic.

Off to the right you’ll see a . . . Click that and then you have the read more. I would only suggest using this if there’s more than 500 words, so that if the fic is super long, it doesn’t take up the entire dash for the follower (it takes forever to scroll and it’s annoying

If you’re on mobile, it isn’t possible. Just post and you can go back and edit later if you have a computer

#azurebrock #anon #ask

21 notes · View notes

saint-ossifrage · 4 years

Note

God i wish I had your determination for fic writing 😭 can I ask how you go about doing outlines, bc im horribly disorganized and I have no clue and would like to learn 🥺 (if thats okay to ask rip)

Ok so first of all. I am so sorry this got so long. Second, thank you for asking about something I love. I never get to talk about this. Unfortunately, that means I have way too much to say about it. I don’t know if you were expecting something as detailed as this...either way, take it with a grain of salt. Different people set up outlines how they like, this is just how I do it. Ok, here we gooo!

What I’m doing right now is working on a detailed chapter-by-chapter outline. I started with a vague plot that I didn’t even think I would write out because of the complexity/length. It turns out my hubris will be my downfall!

Anyway, I started with three broad plot points. Beginning, middle, and end. Example: A gets taken. X happens during their abduction. In the end, B and C rescue them. They’re broad on purpose because that makes it more flexible as I flesh it out, which is important in case I figure out there’s a plot hole or a different scenario I prefer. Then, I start nitpicking as I expand it. I like to ask simple questions. Ex. Why did A get abducted? This helps me determine what happens leading up to the fic and pushes me through the story. Consider character arcs throughout this process.

(I also ask myself how that might affect canon, but that’s because I want this fic to fit into canon without completely changing the ending. So, I lay out the pros and cons of trying to shove my fic into canon. Would this change it too much? Would it make sense at all what with X and Y? I’m kind of a freak about it when I put my mind to it, so you should by no means feel pressured to do the same!)

Once I figure out if it works or not, I start laying down the groundwork. I use Artistotle’s story structure because it’s easy to understand for me. I'm actually drawing out the chart right now. I start by assigning the exposition and rising action to chapters. Additionally, I like to know my ending because, otherwise, the middle might get muddled due to excessive meandering.

Here’s how I lay out chapters:

So on and so forth. This is just how I do it, you can format it however you want! You can have as many scenes in a chapter as you like. I try to stick to 3-4 depending on length for my own sake. I also strive to make my scenes and, more importantly, chapters end on a specific note. It could be happy, hopeful, suspenseful, sad, or even a cliffhanger.

(FYI, I specified DAY/TIME - which would be something like TUESDAY MORNING or MID-TUESDAY, etc. - because I was getting confused about how many days passed in a past fic and how that affected the current fic. I’ve learned my lesson. I estimate how much time a scene would take so I can count up how many days pass over the course of the chapters. This isn’t necessary, of course, but I included it just in case.)

Oftentimes there will be a narrative thread that will wind through multiple - if not all - chapters and this can get very confusing to keep track of. I have to consider how it will develop and build on itself, so I take some time to think through it in a separate bullet list. I write down the basics. For example, if a character gets sick at the beginning of the fic and gets steadily worse, it would look somewhat like this:

Or, if a character is grieving, I jot down the 5 stages of grief. Then, I start brainstorming about how their specific externalizations of each stage would look like.

On my doc, I have four sections. Section 1 is for the broad plot. Section 2 is for the detailed chapter outline. Section 3 is dedicated to the threads I’m fleshing out. This is also where I put the Q&A's. I’m kind of a control freak so I even highlight very important things, like motives for characters. This layout is just so I don’t get confused, but it’s not necessary.

Then there is Section 4: the scrapped bits. It’s important to be flexible while building your outline. You don’t need to completely throw away things that don’t fit! Just stick ‘em in Section 4 or some equivalent and let it rest while you cultivate this story.

Going back to the outline - I give each scene a working title that’s dumb as hell, for fun. Again, not at all necessary, but it makes me laugh. Plus, I like having chapter titles sometimes, and I can get inspiration from a scene title if it fits.

I use this outlining method specifically for multi-chapter fics. I wrote a very long crossover chapter fic in the past and it was a huge, unwieldy project. I know it's sort of the standard, but posting a chapter before the rest of them, or at least the next one, is written made it hard to keep track of all my loose threads. That's why I did a 180 and started obsessively organizing things. Unfortunately for my readers, I developed this method halfway through the fic. Oopsies :3

That’s about it. I did my best to explain it, but I’m not sure how much of this is comprehensible to someone who isn't inside my brain. If anything is unclear please ask me about it. If you can’t tell, I like talking about writing. I don’t mind. I’d feel super bad if my explanation was confusing. I hope it helps 💗

3 notes · View notes

stemcelltransplant-blog · 7 years

Text

Saturday, March 25, 2017

So this is weird. Not exactly sure how this notebook works but it looks really cool. I even set it up on my phone. Tots want to transfer all the lists from notes to this on my phone. So today. Too many thoughts unsure where to start. So this is gonna be a ramble.

I'm watching Chopped right now. Cant pay attention to it. I try to watch and I cant focus. No idea whats cooking. No idea about the basket ingredients. My head cant focus on the show. I keep thinking.

Good sleep last night. Woke up at 6:30 to begin my day. So enjoying waking up and thinking. It's the best thing ever. I havent been able to this in so long, its like my brain just turned on. Papa says I just gave myself permission to do other things. 4 years of just focusing on colitis and tv and now its like the world has opened new opportunities.

Tots feel bad for not formatting this. Or being articulate. So scatter brained. BRAIN TURN OFF!!!! Or at least calm down.

Kinda feel like its fine though. My writing is showing how im thinking. Makes me feel cool. ;)

This will be great on a blog. I have so many plans for recording this trip. Excited.

Ok so back to today. Woke up feeling good.

Hoping not to repeat anything from this entry to another entry.

Ok, ok. Focus. Now I want guddo to see what she thinks about this journal. She always stole my journal when I was small and said it was boring. Like just a list of events. No emotion or feelings or anything juicy. Thinking this is a better attempt.

Ok, really. The point is to focus on today. Feeling like I should do something artistic and focus on the whole transplant thing if its gonna be on a blog. Nah. This is better.

Woke up happy. I started reading this MIT tech magazine. So interesting. Wanting to start reading about advancements in tech. and to read research articles.

Then, I started looking up things for guddo. So happy her application deadline isn't passed. Tots freaked out the other day that all deadlines are gone.

Really wanting to color right now. Its actually really soothing. Gotta finish the entry though.

Pass order was perfect today. Got out at noon.

Then went to the best massage ever. You got no idea. My masseur is an angel. (love the background noise of tv) She had perfect pressure, perfectly warm hands. Perfectly hot hot stones. Hehe. Hot hot. Ive had several massages, but this is the best one yet. Ive never moaned in my life but I did today. I was so afraid that I was making it awkward.

I keep peeing. WHY? Every freaking 20 minutes! :(

Yeah im gonna say everything. No barriers. No embarrassment. Having people look at your butt for the last four years because of colitis.

By the way, the relaxation room before and after a massage is something everyone should do. It's so calming. You should definitely arrive early enough to get 30 minutes in the relaxation room before your massage. It's great being surrounded by people, all on comfy couches, enjoying soft music. So calming. Therapeutic.

Post massage.

Ok, so now I want to start this on a blog and make it public for people to read daily if they're interested. But my mom says I jinx things when I do that. I'll talk to Guddo, Mama, and Papa and analyze their opinions. Probs gonna do it anyway. I want to keep my friends updated but I also want to make it public and see if I can be popular. (my dad is taking a pic of me right now for the family) So vain, I know. But I think it's ok. Might just skip asking everyone.

My daddy's picture

Gotta pee again. Ugh. So frustrating.

This is taking so much longer than expected but I'm really enjoying it.

Loving my life.

Ok, after massage. Went back to apartment (dad has an apartment nearby to get to nih when I get discharged from hospital and need to come stay in area for biweekly checkups) Opened packages! Got my new disney jacket, cherry blossom hand sanitizers, fan for hospital. Then, just changed and got ready to go. I keep wanting to work on my LEGO castle but with always doing something everyday I don't get time to do things at the apartment. T_T

So back to hospital we go. Currently hooked up to IV pole thingy. 12-6 is basically the only time I'm unhooked when I can be everyday (some days I have extra medications so the schedule changes some times.

Almost forgot to mention pizza. Right after leaving the hospital, I convinced Papa to go to &pizza. Half the fun of eating is eating with another person.

So ive been without food for the last 5 weeks. Docs wanted to do a bowl rest where nothing goes through mouth except meds and water necessary to take them. For some days now I've been allowed to slowly add clear liquids. Basically one item a day, slowly increasing amount of liquids everyday while reducing my high dose steroids every few days. Clear liquids includes tea, chicken broth, italian ice, etc.

Back to &pizza. We took lots of videos of the process. Such a good smell in the restaurant. So many toppings. I recorded the people there, my dad ordering, the food. Videos are great ways to save memories. While my dad ate, I had some sweet tea and cherry italian fruit ice. It was so much fun to just take him out and eat together after so long.

Btw, I was readmitted to hospital 5 weeks ago for gvhd of the gut. More on that later.

My dad hated the pizza but I think he enjoyed the experience. And then, of course he complained about the bad food afterwards and how I owe him another pizza. Blah blah blah.

Ok, back in hospital now. Getting tired. Think im gonna stop for today. Anything I forgot to mention, sorry. Going to Tumblr now, starting new blog, posting on FB, bypassing parents (though I did ask my dad about it). Peace out.

#stem cell #transplant #life #illness #CGD #colitis #ulcerative colitis #experiences #awesome

4 notes · View notes

ghcstlydj · 5 years

Text

Rules for mobile users

[[here’s a google doc for the updated list of rules, applicable for all my blogs]]

anything under this cut is from my outdated rules.

[rules updated: 07/28/2019]

–STUFF YOU SHOULD DO–

• No godmodding. No sending (implied or explicit) homophobic/transphobic/bigoted messages to me or my character either.

• Please don’t over-pester me for replies. I promise I’ll get to them. Feel free to drop me a reminder after at least a week of no replies, though. In return, I usually give you a week too, unless otherwise specified in your own rules, until I remind you if it’s your turn to reply (or more often, I chicken out and trust that you’ll eventually respond/want to drop it and end up never bringing up that particular thread ever again). You’re always free to start multiple threads with me, that is greatly encouraged because I love having lots of threads with people.

• If you start getting bored with the roleplay, feel free to drop it and/or end it. We can always start up another thread in the future.

• However, please let me know if you want to drop a roleplay thread! It can give me major anxiety when I’m waiting for a response that’s never going to come, and I wonder if I did something wrong and assume that’s why you’re not replying anymore :’) I’m not forcing you to let me know if you want to drop a thread, you can drop it without saying anything too. But I personally really appreciate being told about that sort of thing.

• Don’t reblog a thread you’re not part of. This should go without being said, of course.

• If you can trim your threads, please do! It’s fine if you can’t, though, because I will most likely trim the thread for you. If you don’t trim threads with other people, however, I’ll be less likely to follow you since I don’t like scrolling through long posts.

• Please don’t claim any of my art as your own. I prefer if you don’t repost any of my art without asking me first. All of my icons are also created by me using my art.

• That being said, if you’re following me, please let me know if I’m doing something that’s making you uncomfortable or is breaking one of your rules!! I do read the rules pages of everyone, but I’m human and forget things, and I’m not a mind reader either ;~; I care, so please tell me if I’m doing anything bad

• You can reply to any of my open starters at any time! Even if they’re a year old! Even if other people have already replied to it! My open starters are open for a reason, and we don’t have to be mutuals for you to reply to them either :’)

—

–STUFF YOU SHOULD KEEP IN MIND–

• I am of age to do smut rps, but I will not for this blog because Vinnie and his counterparts are all in closed relationships, and they are physically minors. There will occasionally be sex jokes, but that’s about it.

• I’m alright with roleplaying nsfw, minus smut. Gore, violence, and generally dark roleplays are cool with me. I love angsty things just as much as I love fluff ;w; Speaking of gore, you’re more than welcome to fight/harm/injure my muse to any extent! You don’t even have to ask! However, please read my headcanon post regarding pain and injuries, because my muses are ghosts and therefore work slightly differently when being injured than a regular living human.

• I prefer not to roleplay with personals, unless you are someone I know from school or something like that. Personals in general are allowed to follow me too! However! Personals are not allowed to reblog roleplays, in character posts, or ooc posts especially if I say in the tags that I’m going to delete the post later. Only things that are tagged with my “art tag” tags are okay to reblog. Headcanon posts are not okay to reblog unless I say otherwise.

• Like spamming is okay! I very occasionally lose roleplays, and getting lots of notes from likes are never a factor for that, for me personally. If I lose a roleplay, it’s mostly just because I forgot, so that’s really a “me” thing. I’m usually very good at keeping track of who I’m roleplaying with and how many ongoing threads I have, and I reply pretty consistently, so just remind me if I haven’t responded after five or more days (as stated in one of the above rules)! And I like it when people like my posts! It lets me know that you like my blog and the stuff I post, and it makes me happy :’)

• I’m pretty lenient with short replies. Don’t feel pressured to match the length if my reply gets long! Multi-para (usually 2-4 paragraphs) is my go-to for roleplays, so I usually do long replies by default.

• Adding onto that, I honestly don’t mind one-liners. Of course, in crack/online roleplays it’s fine but I’m okay with it in serious roleplays too. I prefer it if you don’t give me one-liners, but hey, as long as I’m still having fun with the roleplay anyway, it’s cool with me! I understand not being able to think of anything to write, so just as long as you don’t give me one or two words as your reply like ‘He smiled.’ or ’*laughs*’, I’ll be cool with it. Put at least some effort even if you’re only gonna give me one sentence, otherwise I’ll drop the rp once it becomes a repeat offense.

• I will not change the formatting of my roleplays to fit yours. I’m comfortable with sticking to only paragraph style roleplays for myself, thank you very much. It’s cool if you format, I think formatting can look nice sometimes. I will sometimes use icons, but I will not go all out with formatting my own posts with all that cool ‘small text’, and indents, and bolding and all that. The most I ever do with my formatting is italics for emphasis on certain words.

• I tend to move roleplays from asks onto its own post. If I send you an ask meme and you answer it, I’ll respond by making a new post, tagging you, and linking to your reply. Until formatting on asks are fixed, I will answer any asks sent to me in a new text post rather than asks.

• I accept any sort of asks! If they aren’t answered after a while, either I don’t know how to answer it or I might be drawing it out and I am a very slow artist- Sorry-

• Feel free to tag me in any of those tagging memes! I don’t mind and I think they’re pretty fun to do! ^^

• Adding onto the above rule, you’re more than welcome to send me those chain asks like “send this to 10 roleplayers you think are really great!” because it’s super duper nice that you would think to send one to me! But don’t expect me to send them to other people, because I won’t :’) my anxiety won’t let me, so I’m sorry-

• If I follow you, that means I’ve already read all of your rules. I have also read your About and Mun pages, if you have those as well. I might not send the codephrase, though, because most of the time I get anxious over having to send things like that. I’m very sorry–! But if I follow you, then chances are that I most likely have read them- If you choose not to trust me on this, I understand.

• I generally follow every rp blog that follows me, but I might not follow some people back for a few reasons. Some might be for the type of content you post on your blog, but I am still non-selective! I will roleplay with anyone who asks (unless you wanna rp gross things or you’re a mean person,,,, like your muse can be as much of a dick as you want, that’s no problem but don’t be gross to other people as yourself) and if I do roleplay with you, I will be more likely to follow you as well.

• Adding onto the above rule, however, please respect that it’s nothing personal if I ever unfollow you either! It’s not that I hate you or anything, but if you haven’t followed me back and you’re a private rp blog, or if we’re mutuals but never really roleplay, our muses just don’t click, you spam stuff that I don’t want to see on my dash, or you’ve become inactive for years and/or don’t interact with me anymore, there’s nothing wrong with that! We can still be friends but I prefer to have all the people I follow be potential rp partners. Feel free to follow me on my personal, Briightskies, if you still wanna keep in touch but not rp :’)

—

–ABOUT THIS BLOG–

• These are technically fandomless OCs, though they were integrated into the Hetalia world in a way (Vinnie’s boyfriend is Feli Vargas Jr. and Devon, Vincent, and Flint’s boyfriends are just Feli’s 1P, Opposite, and Opposite 1P counterparts respectively). That being said, I will most likely roleplay within the Undertale or Deltarune fandoms (yeah sorry, I’m not too into roleplaying in the Hetalia fandom lol, i’m just stealing the fandom’s AU concepts and running), but I am open to any muse, and other fandoms I am familiar with.

• I’ll also rp with fandoms I’m not into either, as long as you have a good about section for your character, which also indicates how you portray them (any headcanons or AUs you have that aren’t canon, or whether you portray them as canonly as possible, unless they’re OCs of course since a regular about page is a given) and I’ll probably look up other things about that fandom in its wiki if I don’t know what something is anyway.

• This blog is OC, multiverse, and crossover friendly! Multiple threads are also greatly encouraged, because I love having lots of threads with people!

• This blog is a single ship blog! All my muses already have boyfriends whom they all love very much and they do not want to get into relationships with other people

• I will tag common triggers and such, but don’t be afraid to tell me if you have something you want me to tag! I promise I’ll remember to tag it from then on. I do not have any known triggers myself. Any trigger warning tags will be written as “tw; ____” with a semi-colon, not a colon. If I feel like something should be tagged as a trigger but I’m not sure what to tag it exactly, I’ll just tag it as “tw” as a sort of catch-all tag.

Requested tagged triggers:

• tw; vore

• tw; age regression

• tw; jump scares

• tw; mental hospitals

• tw; spiders

• I will only talk through the IM system ooc. If you send me a message through there, I will not respond with ooc brackets ((these things)) because I will automatically assume you know that you are talking to the mun. I do not do roleplays on there.

Thank you for reading this really long list of rules! It means a lot if you did!

There’s no password, because I’m also anxious with those for other people’s blogs as I said above. But if you would like to interact with me, you can shoot me an ask directed to one of my muses, or like these posts at any time (also feel free to re-like those posts so I can make another starter for you at any time!) for me to write you a starter with Vinnie, Devon, Vincent, or Flint!

#rules #long post;;#blog updates #links for mobile users

0 notes