#sorry i am terrible at advice

[damn-daemon]

ok so ive been reading avwh for what feels like centuries now [very committed, and only just found out about you having a tumblr because it was tagged, so maybe im a bad fan :0] and i have a question to ask. feel free not to answer but im seeing all these new readers ask stuff and im like OMG NO I WAS HERE FIRST HOW DID I NEVER EVEN THINK ABOUT COMMUNICATING MY DESPERATION TO THIS AUTHOR BEFORE?? HOW DID I NEVER SEEK THIS OUT? Basically im wondering if you already have the entire book planned out? Like, in terms of updating, do you just release pre-written chapters or do you post as soon as you write? Do you write a whole bunch in advance? I have recently gotten into writing and so discovering your tumblr sorta feels like fate: who better to ask for tips on technique than the author who's gotten me through high school?

I know you started the fic before the show wrapped, so you obviously didn't have the whole thing sorted when you began, but do you now? Do you know how it'll end, have you known since s8? Have you drafted out the entirety of the story, and if so, do you find that that keeps you motivated as a writer? What's your technique as a whole; how do you decide what to scrap from cannon, and do you find yourself struggling with anything in particular?

Sorry if this is long and boring and even intrusive, I might (definitely) be excited at having discovered your account. So excited, in fact, that I'm using my work tumblr to send in this ask; hence the anonymity.

- chloe, your fan since 2015

First off, don't feel bad, Chloe!!! When I started AVWH, I didn't even have a tumblr, so you've been around a while! Second, ❤❤❤❤ to all your words. Reading this makes me grin like an idiot.

Now, let me see. I do know how the story will end, as in I know who is where, but not quite the path they take to get there. No, I do not upload pre-written chapters. If I finish, it goes up. I only had one story where I had like 10 chapters already completed before posting and I still don't know how I did that.

Given my brain loves to consistently change the story, I don't plan out too far in advance. I know major beats, but the details surrounding them remain obscure until I get there. I typically have about 5 to 10 chapters plotted ahead as I work, which keeps me from being bottlenecked into a particular plotline if I stop caring for it. I think if AVWH were shorter than it is, I would need a more rigid process, but since my story is slow moving, I have the chance to play around a lot.

Chosing between what in canon to keep versus scrap is very much just preference. I hate that Aegon Targaryen is potentially alive in the books, so I just didn't include that. Lady Stoneheart was something I wanted to see in the show, so I brought her back for the story. It's just a series of me picking and choosing what I like best because this is my sandbox and I make the rules.

I think I just mostly struggle with confidence. I come to imagine that certain things are expected of me and I fear I can't live up to it. It's something I'm trying to work on.

Now, I'm not saying my writing technique is for you (writing by the seat of one's pants is never recommended), but it is an option to try out. I'd recommend trying a variety of techniques and seeing what feels best.

#sorry i am terrible at advice #oh but thank you so much! #and thanks for sticking around! #❤❤❤ #take care Chloe!

[art-leon]

might as well do this one before the meme dies down amirite

text from the image says:

"I think we're gonna have to Execution Bullet this guy, Chesed."

"Damn."

also, an extra thing under cut

text from the image says:

"Sparkle on! It's Sunday! Don't forget to be yourself!"

#i have nothing to add to this one #my art #chesed lobcorp #i am not tagging this with the main tag for the game. sorry #terrible writing advice #twa conspiracy guy #also #twa cult leader #i think we're gonna have to kill this guy

[pennielane]

in my brief absence from here i’ve managed to fall in love with a man 11 years older than me

#i think i'm in my dear john era so pray for me #no but actually i've mostly been gone because my best friend is going through some really really terrible personal stuff and i've just been #Supporting Her #and also work has been busy (but good! yay!) #and yes #this 11-years-older-than-me man #he is my coach for a sport i do and i am.....in love (she says while she actually barely knows him) #(and she says while he barely knows of her existence [he DOES know i exist but there are so many of us he coaches so i'm sure i'm just one #face to him dlsiahfih;vdd]) #anyway tell me this...i'm late 20s and he's late 30s so is it....REALLY that bad #......??? #(yeah it's probably not ideal) #(i've been soliciting advice from my friends and they say i have the soul of a 100 year old so 11 years my senior isn't that bad but i still #think it's not....the most ideal) #no but i actually never crush on people so this is a Big Deal for me which is why i'm spiralling about it even though it will never amount #to anything :) #(anyway sorry for trauma dumping but hi! happy to be back on here)

[literaila]

hi, i want to start writing stories, and i admire your work, and i have a few questions if you don't mind, have you always been good at writing, do you write something everyday and how did you feel confident enough to start posting your work?

have i always been good at writing? no. absolutely not. i have always written things (evidence: the 1k novel i wrote in third grade about a dolphin adopted by a lobster which lacked quotation marks) if that’s what you’re asking.

writing, like all things, only truly improves with practice (and reading, absorbing information is no joke). sometimes i read things i wrote in the last year and have to sit and question myself for a good hour on exactly what i was thinking. my first work on tumblr was god awful, but i can admire it from afar because it got me where i am.

i personally think i lack the natural affinity for writing because i struggled in school and couldn’t really read until i was 10, but you’ll find your niche and it’ll work out.

do i write something everyday? ummm unfortunately no. i certainly think about writing every day, but typically i write 2-3 times a week during a good writing period. though! i wish i was disciplined enough to write something everyday because if would probably make writing a lot easier and less strenuous for me

(take that with a grain of salt though because i have a terrible attention span and can’t sit still for periods longer than 10 minutes. recently i’ve been writing when we’re slow at work, if that means anything to you)

how did i feel confident enough to start posting my work? simply put, i didn’t. i still don’t most days. writing is an entirely debilitating experience in my opinion and it sucks! i hate it! it makes me feel like walking on a thousand legos!

but if you’re feeling nervous about posting something, i encourage you to just do it. don’t worry about what others will think. when i posted my first story (on here, don’t ask about the eras before) i didn’t really like it, but my readers did. and that made it worth it to keep posting more. if you’ve got an idea that you’re passionate about, go for it! no one’s going to write it like you will.

honestly, i try not to take my writing too seriously (and i do a terrible job, obviously) because it’s supposed to be an escape from all of the terrible things about the world. so i’ll keep pretending it is an escape (wink wink). so, write whatever story you want, and post it on every platform across the earth. someone, like me, will love it.

#wow i’m awful #sorry but i have so many thoughts on so many things (and am terribly long winded) #but i loooooooove thinking about all of my terrible little stories #every time i post something i’m like ‘okay so choose a new career path’ #and then i don’t #:) #also i work solely for validation from others (i’m an attention seeker) so i have to post my writing or i will never ever finish anything #or i have to work out of spite #whichever comes first #when i’m working on something and no one likes it i give up! which is a bad way to live and you shouldn’t do that #actually don’t take any of my advice #i just realized i don’t know what i’m doing

[dmclemblems]

sometimes i rly think shez is kinda a psychopath like bruh wtf is this line and what did claude ever do to you

#Three Hopes #Shez #A NICE TROPHY? EXCUSE??? I AM SORRY WHAT NOW #for the record i don't hate shez but sometimes they have some REALLY questionable lines #and a lot of their advice is solidly terrible #also props to claude for having enough self esteem to call his own plans clever

[terriblewritingadvice]

Inner Critic HASN'T changed since Rivals as much as you think he has!!! He's always been a bit hypocritical! A bit too focused on being a JP hater!!!! All that's not even amplified in the Trad V. Self Publishing episode, it just SEEMS that way because the subject of that episode (as in "is traditional or self publishing better?") is a much more nuanced subject compared to "how to write rivals well", but both parties WANT to make it SEEM like there's "one good answer" to the question. Critic could realistically be on either side of the argument, and likely doesn't actually think so lowly of self-published authors, but is just such a huge JP hater that he'll ignore his real opinions to try and make JP look stupid. He does this in Rivals as well, but this is not as apparent unless you pay attention to the visuals of the episode (mostly the text that comes on screen).

Anyway, sorry for the rant, IC is my favorite character and I am a tad tired of people (aka just... the TWA/YMMV page on TVTropes and one of my friends on twitter + past me lol) thinking his characterization somehow changed, when that's really not the case if you actually pay attention.

#terrible writing advice #twa txt #i wouldve preferred to have made this like #a proper analysis #but this'll do #sorry for lack of the better quality posts #again #i got obsessed with a new thing #AGAIN #:') #i am so angry at past me #she was so stupid #i mean yeah let girls be stupid #support womens rights AND wrongs!! #but also!! #fuck that! i hate past me!

[letstalkaboutfandomsbaby]

Girl I read a post on Reddit about why guys like fat girls and most of them said because we were easy and let them do whatever they wanted to us. I lowkey want to cry lmao

Babe i am in no way trying to make you feel bad when i say this but do you really care about what reddit guys think of you?? I have never met a decent person who uses reddit, i have no doubt they exist but i have not met them, it's like 4chan in a way. Do not put any weight to their opinion bc men will literally fuck pizza dough and peanut butter like they are not hot shit sksksk i promise you are 10x better than they will ever be

Also? Who cares if fat girls are "easy"? That just means we're horny and kinky and guys love that, like tits are tits and pussy is pussy, why these guys think they're above fucking fat girls?? 🙄 THEY'RE the ones hitting US up, THEY'RE pursuing US, how does that make us easy?? Idk maybe I'm just a huge lesbian but i have no respect for these dirty men and their wack opinions, half of them don't even wipe their ass like god damn, get a bidet or something. Anyways i bet their dicks are small anyways, they need to humble themselves aldnlajdlajdla

#ask #this also feels like terrible advice i am sorry sksksksk #bad advice saturday ig

[xanzusx]

Okay but, really. How the fuck do you draw hands so fucking well? And boots??? Like, what the fuck??? Baggy clothing is also so cool???

🥺Ahhh thank you soo much Anon!!! It feels wonderful to know there's someone who likes how I draw stuff ❤️

This is exciting! It's been so long since I received an anon ask! 🥺🥺 oughh and it's a shame because my reply won't be good enough to show my excitement, I am so sorry. Reason is, I don't know how I do it either 😂 I am used to just going with the flow whenever I draw. Since I have issues with visual memory I never have a proper mental picture of what I want to achieve, but what has worked for me is using lots of references and using the "less is more" rule.

Drawing folds only where they are necessary, skipping drawing each phalanx separately, avoiding poses that would show the entirety of the hand/piece of clothing but that would look unnatural... everyone develops their own method, but my advice would be: don't be afraid of simplifying and covering, of drawing a hand that doesn't show all the fingers for example! Risk covering the initial body sketch with baggy clothes and unusual shapes, even if the body you drew looks fantastic or you spent a long time getting it right. It will hurt a bit but the end result will be worth it!

#treasuring this compliment forever thank you!! #thanks for the ask! #sorry if my response is not being helpful at all #also sorry for taking long to reply I genuinely didn't know how to ahshss I am terrible giving advice

[hollywoodsargeant]

im not even joking i paused reading the new chapter of boyish like halfway through bc i had to go squeal about it and then i came back half an hour later and they KISSED AGAIN??? im not kidding i am so obsessed with them

do you have any advice on how to make your writing so overwhelming that the reader just has to step away and scream?? bc its the best feeling but i cannot figure out how to do it and you do it so so perfectly

ah thank you!! happy to see people enjoying that fic as much as i enjoy writing it <3 they are my favorite ever all i want is for them to be happy… and they will be all plans are just aggressive amounts of fluff. i am also obsessed w them it’s a problem i think

and to answer your question i actually have no idea… which is very unhelpful i know 😭😭 but in all honesty i just write what i think is fun and cute and all that so maybe that has been translating. because tbh i have been doing it unintentionally

#ask #i am terrible at giving writing advice i’m sorry #hot tip of the day is write what makes you happy #that’s what i do and it has never failed me #boyish.miamis

[lilyrizzy]

This is dumb and probably just a personal thing but when you’re experiencing writers block at what point do you feel like it’s just not going to happen? I have an idea for a fic that I feel excited about and I’ve outlined and started writing but ugh it’s just such a slog and I can’t decide if it’s worth trying to push through when the words just aren’t coming. And I think everyone probably goes through that same thing to some extent but I don’t know if I should be like…trying harder lol

hey! so I am totally the least equipped person to answer this rn because I've been slogging away at the same thing since January, that I haven't written a single word of for like, three/four weeks maybe?

what I do (but wouldn't necessarily recommend lmao) is I tend to write scenes/dialouge as and when I find it fun to write that particular scene or as soon as the idea comes to me. but then I end up writing a load in not chronological order, which can be a pain in the arse because you gotta go back and make sure it flows when you write the more "filler/setting up" type stuff?

so my bad advice would be write the parts of the fic you're excited about! come back to the stuff that feels like a slog later. and if nothing feels exciting, that's okay too! the hardest thing about writing for me is sitting down and actually like starting to write lol. so try that first and if not, breathe, go outside, stroke a cat (or you know, a dog if you're that way inclined) and come back to it later. there's always time :)

#sorry this is such terrible advice but it was so sweet of you to ask my opinion i had to answer #if anyone has better advice #please reply to this post with it for my lovely anon #i am a mess and no one should take advice writing or otherwise from me

[jonnywaistcoat]

Hey, Horrormaster Sims. I have a wildly different question that barely relates to TMA (Sorry about that) but its about your own process. Please, if you could, can you tell me how your first drafts made you feel? I'm on the fence about writing my own thing (not a podcast, and again, not Magnus related, though I have a million little aus for that delightful tragedy you wrote, thank you for that!) But I'm discouraged by the collective notion that first drafts are always terrible, because there's no ... examples I can solidly use to help the dumb anxiety beast in my brain that tells me everyone who is in any way popular popped out a golden turd and not, well, you know. One of my friends said 'Oh I bet Jonathan Sims's first draft was nothing like what he wanted' and I got the bright idea to just. Send you an ask, since you're trapped on this hellsite like I am. Anyway, thanks for reading this (if you do) and if you'd rather ask it privately, I am cool with that. Alternatively, you're a hella busy man with Protocol (you and Alex are making me rabid, i hope you know) and you can just ignore this! Cheers, man, and good words.

To my mind all writing advice, especially stuff that's dispensed as truisms (like "first drafts are always garbage") are only useful inasmuch as such advice prompts you to pay attention to how you write best: what helps your workflow, what inspires you, what keeps you going through the rough bits. There are as many different ways to write (and write well) as there are people who write and so always consider this sort of thing a jumping off point to try out or keep in mind as you gradually figure out your own ways of writing.

On first drafts specifically, I think the wisdom "all first drafts are bad" is a bit of unhelpful oversimplification of the fact that, deadlines notwithstanding, no piece of writing goes out until you decide its ready, so don't get too hung up on your first draft of a thing, because a lot of writers find it much easier to edit a complete work than to try and redraft as they go. It's also important to not let perfectionism or the fact your initial draft isn't coming out exactly how you want stop you from actually finishing the thing, as it's always better to have something decent and done than to have something perfect and abandoned.

But the idea of a "first draft" is also kind of a fluid one. The "first draft" you submit to someone who's commissioned you will probably be one you've already done a bunch of tweaks and edits to, as opposed to the "first draft" you pump out in a frenzy in an over-caffeinated weekend. For my part, my first drafts tend to end up a bit more polished than most, because I'm in the habit of reading my sentences out loud as I write them (a habit picked up from years of audio writing) so I'll often write and re-write a particular sentence or paragraph a few times to get the rhythm right before moving to the next one. This means my first drafts tend to take longer, but are a bit less messy. I'm also a big-time planner and pretty good at sticking to the structures I lay out so, again, tend to front load a lot of stuff so I get a better but slower first draft.

At the end of the day, though, the important thing is to get in your head about it in a good way (How do I write best? what helps me make writing I enjoy and value? What keeps me motivated?) and not in a bad way (What if it's not good enough? What if everyone hates it? What if it doesn't make sense?) so that you actually get it done.

As for how my first drafts made me feel? Terrible, every one of 'em No idea if that's reflective of their quality, though, tbh - I hate reading my own writing until I've had a chance to forget it's mine (I can only ever see the flaws). I suppose there's theoretically a none-zero chance they were pure fragments of True Art and creative perfection, but Alex's editing notes make that seem unlikely.

#writing advice #rambling #first drafts #gotta say not mad on being called a horrormaster #feel like ive a ways to go yet #horror journeyman maybe

[art-leon]

hey guys guess what

doodle/sketch dump... TWO!!!!!!!

might contain wacky (derogatory) anatomy. character depictions may not match canon or smth idk

anyway.

- first 5 sketches don't really have any notes for me to add

text from img 3:

"???

what are you even saying"

text from img 5:

"this is- uh, this is definitely not an ad read! I'm just explaining how it works"

moving on.

- going to the lake: a part of a monologue. he'd probably recite it to confuse others lmao.

looking at this now it makes zero sense but might as well put it here. translation might not be accurate.

"i, in my consciousness, have ascended so much, it's like i have already lived on trillions and trillions of planets like this earth for one hundred million trillion years, this world is completely understandable to me, and i am only searching for one thing - a rest, peace and all this harmony from fusing with the infinitely eternal, from seeing this great fractal similarity and from this great unity of all that is existent, infinitely eternal, no matter where you look, be it inside - into the infinitely small, be it above - the infinitely large, get it? and you're here again with all that, go on, that is your distribution, that's your way and your horizon of cognition and awareness of your nature, it's disproportionately small in comparison-"

and it gets cut off here. sorry

- i feel like the thought process behind this one can probably be written as a greentext tbh

> be me

> rewatching twa (spons wars s2)

> "hey dl's armor spikes look kinda climbable"

> get idea

> draw

> "oh fuck i drew the wrong design"

> instead of redrawing conspiracy guy, redraw dl instead... because why the hell not

- conspie in the lor art style. ok? (used netzach as a ref for the left photo)

- the last one (i hit the image limit T_T). like 2/3rds of this page reference a shitty confession scene

i drew this one during class and i think it shows

"crap he looks like a femboy"

dialogue:

CL: "she said that she loves you, thinks that she loves you!"

CG: "but she can't love me!"

KC: "but i do love you!"

i feel terrible just writing this out lmao

anyway thats it. bye everyone

#i am not tagging them all sorry #my art #terrible writing advice #tw staring #staring

[youreamonocoque]

I literally started uni not knowing anyone. I knew nobody on my course or in my uni flatshare. But don't worry too much cos I made some really great friends once lectures started and I wasn't lonely after about 2 weeks. I know uni is stressful but that's what bonds people on the course together y'know. Hope you have a good time :)

I'm going into second year with some really solid friends that aren't on my course (or even at my uni so lol) but I was worried about going back and doing the whole 'oh shit i made no friends in first year' but it's whatever y'know? I'm chill about it now, it's not like i can magic a friend up out of nowhere. Just gonna go with the flow, maybe push myself a little socially but it is what it is and all that.

Not to be incredibly cringe but YOLO right?

(Just gonna ignore the group presentation that they want us to do midway through semester...)

#ty for the advice tho anon! #(sorry i keep phrasing my posts like i'm going to uni for the first time) #(i am going into second year just to be clear lol sorry my fault! i'm terrible at articulating myself!) #anon #answered

[scealaiscoite]

exes to lovers prompts ˗ˏˋ ꒰ 🍊 ꒱

-ˏˋ. dialogue ˊˎ-

¹⁾ “there probably isn’t a worse possible time in the world for me to bring this up, but i wanted to tell you how sorry i am for how things ended.”

²⁾ “i miss us. is that weird to say?”

³⁾ “they’re not good for you.” “and what would you, of all people, know about being good for me?!”

⁴⁾ “it’s hard to not fall back into old habits. everything just feels so familiar with them, y’know? it feels like going home after a long day and finally feeling safe again.”

⁵⁾ “i want to try again.”

⁶⁾ “i think we’re always going to end up finding our way back to each other.” “that’s what i’m afraid of.”

⁷⁾ “i can’t help but find it terribly funny that you think you’re in any position to give me dating advice.”

⁸⁾ “we used to live together. are you telling me that staying the night in the same place is too close a proximity for us to share?”

⁹⁾ “we’ve both changed so much. i can’t help but wonder what we’d be like together now.”

¹⁰⁾ “maybe the fact we have such a hard time staying away from one another says something.”

-ˏˋ actions / scenarios ˊˎ-

¹⁾ running into each other at a place they used to frequent together as a couple

²⁾ slipping up and calling them by a nickname/petname in conversation

³⁾ hearing of their new partner, and feeling inexplicably sad

⁴⁾ neither of them having an s/o to spend the following holiday with, so they resolve to just spend the day together

⁵⁾ giving their new partner advice on how to treat them, and it resulting in a row when the other person finds out

⁶⁾ finding out that the other has kept an item of clothing belonging to them, by accidentally running into them whilst they’re wearing it

⁷⁾ their friends and family taking bets on how long it’ll be before they get back together

⁸⁾ both getting set up on blind dates - only to arrive, and realise they’ve been paired with one another

⁹⁾ one character being given advice by a friend about moving on, and accidentally being overheard by their ex who was trying to build up the courage to make amends

¹⁰⁾ gravitating towards each other when in need of comfort after a stressful/traumatic experience

#i have been ambling on about these for a month but ! better late than never <3 #prompts #exes to lovers #exes to lovers prompts #exes to lovers writing #otp prompts #imagine youre otp #prompt list #writing prompts #fluff prompts #dialogue prompts #rp meme #imagine your otp #otp writing #otp rp meme #angst prompts #reconciliation prompts

[calliesmemes]

EVEN MORE ABSOLUTELY UNHINGED COMEDIC RELIEF

ASSORTED SENTENCE STARTERS FROM AROUND THE INTERNET, including quotes from Tumblr, Pinterest, TikTok, and X (formerly known as Twitter), for when a muse wants to lighten up the situation at hand.

CHANGE gendered words and in-universe phrases as needed.

SPECIFY muse for multimuses.

“   It’s sea shanty time once again my fellow bastards of the ocean! ”

“   Partner, I reckon that I ain’t been feeling very yeehaw lately. ”

“   I don’t study; I consult the lore. ”

“   Yeah, I understand women — they all want daggers and swords. It’s all quite simple, really. ”

“   Lord forgive me but I may have to make a nonessential purchase. ”

“   Those are bold words for someone in stabbing range. ”

“   Yes I’m a gatekeeper and a hater. I’m also God’s most favorite princess and the most interesting girl in the world. ”

“   My primary motivations are fear, spite, and aesthetic longing. ”

“   Man — if I had a sword, I wouldn’t be worried about shit. ”

“   It’s not blood that runs through these veins but glitter gel pen ink. ”

“   If I was in a Jane Austen novel, I would be the one sent to the seaside for my health. ”

“   Half of me is a hopeless romantic, and the other half of me is … well … an asshole. ”

“   I am the nicest, sweetest, most rage-filled person I know. ”

“   I hope I give off the vibe to all animals that I am their ally and their friend. ”

“   I see you’re paying attention to someone who is not me. Why is that? ”

“   Normalize letting me talk without making any sense. ”

“   Don’t care, didn’t ask, plus my psychic visions have predicted the outcome of this encounter. ”

“   I could be so much worse. For example, I could start acting like my father. ”

“   Sorry for acting so strange and irregular; It will happen again. ”

“   i love sitting in my room.....alone....a girl in her cave....scheming and plotting and drinking tea. ”

“   These man made horrors are beyond YOUR comprehension. I get it though. ”

“   I’m a goth girl on the inside. On the outside? A father figure. ”

“   I don’t need to face reality; I’m not just that type of girl. ”

“   DO I LOOK LIKE I GIVE A frickle-frackle? ”

“   I’m about to cha cha real smooth off a fucking cliff. ”

“   Sorry I told you about my trauma. Do you still think I’m hot? ”

“   My priorities aren’t straight and neither am I. ”

“   I have felt permanently guilty for no reason since I was like eight years old. ”

“   Of course I have a lot of pent up rage, you fool! I’ve been the same height since I was twelve years old! ”

“   I was born for shock value. ”

“   Good morning! God has let me live another day and I’m about to make it everyone’s problem. ”

“   Oh, I slept miserably because I was tormented by terrible visions all night. I hope none of them were prophetic! ”

“   Be the surreal nonsense that you want to see in the world. ”

“   Being smart has never stopped me from being a complete fucking idiot. ”

“   My hobbies include knowing things and being right. ”

“   This is good advice, but don’t tell me what to do. ”

“   I hate the idea of authority. What the fuck is someone being superior to me? Bitch I’m gonna take your kneecaps. ”

“   Stop forgiving my crimes! I worked so hard on those! ”

“   My hobbies? Uhhhh, symbolism mostly. Metaphors and implications and the like. ”

“   I may not have any braincells, but I make up for it by having many heart cells. ”

“   I can’t mansplain manipulate manwhore my way out of this one guys! ”

“   Not all your life decisions have to be smart. Some can be purely for cinematic value. ”

“   Sometimes I wish I looked more fragile and feminine like a dainty flower, but I do enjoy looking like I hate everyone. ”

“   Any dream can be a prophetic dream if you’re willing to do some really weird shit. ”

“   girl help there is not enough enrichment in my enclosure. ”

“   BRO, you NEED to stop SUMMONING DEMONS in the FRAT HOUSE. ”

“   I just gave your address to some spiders! ”

“   I disappoint my father as a hobby now. ”

“   I think that the dark circles under my eyes add to my aesthetic actually. ”

“   Good news! I’ve successfully replaced all of my emotions with jokes! ”

“   I have half a braincell left and I’m very scared to use it! ”

“   Listen, son — in this world, it’s either yeet or be yeeted. ”

“   I appreciate the advice, but I think that I’m old enough to make my own bad decisions. ”

“   I’m disappointed in me too. Y’all aren’t special. ”

“   Running from your demons is the best exercise! ”

“   Sorry; I can’t commit any crimes with you. My mom says that I have to study. ”

“   Time flies when you don’t know what the fuck is going on. ”

“   If I run out of tacos, I can no longer maintain my human form. ”

“   Bestie, I don’t think that I can girlboss under these conditions. ”

“   Yeah I’ve had combat training; I can do anxiety attacks! ”

“   Swag is earned, not learned. ”

“   Contrary to popular belief, violence solves a lot. ”

“   I CANNOT STAND YOU ALL so I will SIT DOWN. ”

“   Please God no … I don’t need any more character development right now! ”

“   If you can’t beat ‘em, yeet ‘em. ”

“   Do not put me in a situation. I’m at my limit and I am very tired. ”

“   I may be depressed, but at least I’m not basic. ”

“   It’s MY LIFE and I’ll sabotage it myself, thank you. ”

“   Think twice? Bold of you to assume that I think once. ”

“   At the next inconvenience, I will start biting people. ”

“   Oops I think that I just experienced an emotion. ”

“   Did you know that rats spelled backwards is star? ”

“   One day, I’ll be reincarnated as a pigeon, and I’ll shit on your head. ”

“   On the outside, I’m a baddie — but on the inside, I’m a saddie. ”

“   My grandma bullies me through the Ouija board. ”

“   I’m a cool person if you can just look past my personality. ”

“   Beetles don’t have to do taxes, and I think that is a beautiful way to live. ”

“   I hope that you get your character development arc soon. ”

“   Those are some nice kneecaps … It’d be a shame if someone stole them … ”

“   I’ve wanted to be a trophy wife ever since I was a little boy. ”

“   I’m done being baby; I want POWER ”

“   Wait, “Just Standing There Ominously” doesn’t count as socializing? ”

“   Yes I am smart, and yes, I am stupid. It’s called being flexible. ”

“   I am NOT delusional!!!!! I am OPTIMISTIC! ”

“   I deserve compensation for not being the menace to society that i could be, like i'm skipping out on a lot of fun here. ”

“   Do not ask me if you should or shouldn't do something !!! Before I am a friend I am an enabler !!! ”

“   i am the WORLDS PRETTYIST PINK PRINCESS and im gonna KILL YOU WITH MY HUGE FUCKING HAMMER ”

#askbox meme #askbox prompt #rp ask meme #ask box #roleplay sentence meme #sentence starters #roleplay prompts #roleplay sentence starters #* sentence meme #rpc help

[dduane]

Salutations and good wishes to you. I am an Indie Author seeking to go Pro. Some good advice and guidance might help minimise the mountain of my anxiety about doing this. I know you got your start with fanfiction, but did you find a publisher/agent through that door? [lots sneer at these days. Still] How many rejections did you suffer before you found your place in the literary world? Thanks for your time and sorry for bothering you <3

Hi there! And don't sweat it: this is no bother.

I have to apologize in advance, because my own career arc isn't likely to serve as much of a good example. In terms of how I got into this business, I'm a serious outlier.

Quickest and easiest to discuss: my agent and I got together after my first book was already bought and published. (Which back in the day was seen as a good enough way to go forward, and then still entirely possible.) He was recommended to me by one of my editors, as—like me—he was just getting started in the business: a likely-looking newcomer then scouting new talent. We met up and chatted, and it seemed to both of us that we'd be a good fit for each other. After forty-odd years of working together, we still are.

About the fanfic: (Adding a cut here so as not to carpet people's dashes with wall-to-wall text...)

What writing all that fic did for me—from about age sixteen onwards—was give me a whole lot of practice in getting the initial garbage associated with a story written and out of the way. Best to admit it here: we all have plenty of crap writing in us. And yeah, even long-term professional writers do. Whether you're at the beginning of your career or right in the middle of it, this is what "zero drafts" are for. You tell yourself the story, first time out... and routinely at this stage a lot of what proves to be unusable stuff emerges, and can be discarded in rewrite. (Of course crap writing can also emerge without warning in the later stages of a project, but there are many reasons for that, all beyond the scope of this discussion.) And you learn even more from reworking the material after you've gotten rid of the dross.

During the period when I was executing what might have been, oh, half a million words of fanfic—Trek originally, and then LoTR—and while reading a whole lot of everything, as I'd been doing since I was first allowed to go raid the town library by myself at age eight—I learned a fair amount about writing without realizing it. Some of it was simply about writing inside a set of rules. (Which I hadn't been doing previously: between eight and sixteen I was writing original fiction, mostly fairy tales.) Naturally in fanfic you have to obey the laws of whatever universe you're working in... or even if you wind up flouting them consciously, you do have to be conscious of them. But this work also led me to something that I hadn't really spent a lot of time thinking about: the concept that fiction writing as a whole had rules. I realized I'd better find out what those were.

The best stuff I found out during this period was what I picked up by direct example from other writers, whom I'd immediately start imitating and then sort of leave by the wayside when I found others I liked better; at which point I'd start imitating them. (This being a great way to learn and hone new skills, and to start getting a sense of what a writer's "voice" is and can come to mean. I think every writer does this, to some extent: because it's really, really tough to learn how to write without reading. And the more extensively the better.)

I have to emphasize here, BTW, that the fanfic that came out of me as I started slogging up this learning curve was all almost uniformly terrible. All of it, mercifully, along with my earliest original fiction, is gone now: long since burnt, shredded, composted under many layers of time. Trust me, it's just as well. Gah was it awful! Nobody else ever saw the stuff, for which I thank great Thoth every time I think about it. ...What's interesting, too, in its way, was that I didn't even know that what I was doing was fan fiction. I had as yet no contact with any kind of organized fandom, and it would be a long time yet before "online" was invented. I was working in utter isolation, unaware that anybody else might have been doing the same thing. (And it's difficult to describe the sense of astonishment and joy that hit me the first time I went to an SF convention, saw fanzines for the first time, and found out that I was not alone. All unsuspecting, I'd stumbled onto one of my tribes.)

But somewhere along the line, as the years went by—as I finished high school and went to college, and then from there to nursing school, and graduated and started working as a psychiatric nurse, and kept on writing—at some point, as I started writing original fiction again, as well as fanfic, the quality of the output began to improve. The combination of constant practice and voracious reading of better writers outside my chosen genre was slowly having an effect. Trusted friends who saw this later material started saying, "This isn't bad, you should try to get it published!" But since none of these folks were writers, I didn't pay too much attention to their opinions.

I did pay attention, though, when my good friend and mentor David Gerrold said something similar on reading my first novel in 1976. And when that was bought by the first publisher who read it, I had to admit he might have had something there.

This too, though, is unfortunately also a way I'm an outlier: I haven't had a lot of rejection. (Even in my TV work, where rejection is pretty much the rule rather than the exception.) Speaking very generally, just about anyone I've pitched something to in the prose market has bought it—or if they didn't like the idea I came in with, they've immediately said "But would you like to do this instead?" And often enough, what they've offered or suggested has been something that sounded like fun. That's how I wound up doing the Star Trek: Rihannsu books, for example: they were "instead of" a Romulan dictionary. Paramount essentially ringfenced an entire AU-area of Trek and gave it to me to play in, which struck me at the time as amazing. And continues to do so.

Now all this may make me sound almost unfairly lucky. But things do tend, slowly or quickly, to balance out. Over time the universe has made up for its relative kindness at the rejection end of things by making sure I knew plenty about the non-rejection forms of writer-career pain: projects from which I was not rejected but which went terribly wrong (wheels come off a huge deal just before signing, promised actors or directors fail to materialize...), projects where I did the work but didn’t get paid, or where I was brought on board and then got fired/ghosted unreasonably or for no reason at all, or sometimes (mortifyingly) for quite good reason. And let's not forget how, as what could seem a very pointed shot across my bow when my career-vessel was just pulling out of port, half the print run of that very-much-buzzed-about debut novel wound up being pulped in the warehouse because another, far better-established writer's new book needed the pallet space that mine had been taking up. (insert rueful smile here) Believe me, entropy is running, and will catch up with you one way or another. So make yourself as ready for it as you can.

I don't mean to increase your anxiety. Yet that said: you're preparing to enter a business in which, for a freelancer, at least some level of anxiety is more or less part of the basic ground of being. You are going to have to develop ways of dealing with the everyday forms of that to keep it from routinely derailing your work.

I find it helps a little if you can come to consider this as a modern form of Going On An Adventure. Good things will happen; bad things will happen; and all of these will be in service of building your career. Think of yourself as being on a quest.

Your job now becomes the business of suiting up with the best equipment and advice you can find (ideally not from outliers like me). The web is full of useful pages on subjects such as how to query and how to find an agent.

Here are links to some.

Compare these resources one against another to see how their different kinds of advice seem to stack up, and which ones are the most congenial for you.

Then use this data to start drawing your personal roadmap across the terrain. Get as clear as you can in your own mind about what you're trying to get out of being in this business: what kind of writing you want to do and what results you want to produce. Then set out, redrawing your road map as necessary as you keep moving forward through the new terrain.

And I wish you good fortune on the journey! (Because luck, as you can see from the above, can definitely be part of this... but fortune favors the prepared.)

Meanwhile, get out there and have a blast. :)

#writing #writing advice #fanfic #rejection