#tbh i prefer outlines because i can have Fun with it. i dont really need to worry about them being completely in character yet | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

youngpettyqueen · 10 days

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🍉🍎

hehe ty Ally!

🍉 Do you prefer to write short fics or long fics? Multichaptered works or single ones? Why?

this may come as a shocker considering the VAST majority of my fic writing is one shots but I actually prefer writing multichapter fics! its just that one shots are much easier to write, and, generally, much faster. I say generally, because it took me almost an entire year to write a matter of the heart, but my current WIP- which is 4 chapters and ive already surpassed a matter of the heart's word count- has taken a matter of weeks

its also that a lot of my ideas just dont suit multichapter fics. while one shots can be anything from a single scene to a whole story, multichapter fics have to be full stories. you need to start with an idea that can sustain an entire story. a lot of my fic writing tends to revolve a single scene in my head, which lends itself well to one shot writing, but not so much to multichapter writing. all that said, I love multichapter writing. I love the planning. the outlining. the editing. its a bitch to do but I love it so much

I just love a concept I can really chew on and flesh out. my multichapter ideas come less as "I want a and b in this specific scene" and more "hey what if x scenario happened to a and b" and its always so much fun to really explore that. im having a GREAT time with my current WIP, and exploring the situation ive concocted, and getting really into the details like where in the series this takes place, what feelings are we all dealing with, where are we in this relationship, etc. its a challenge, but its so much fun. I wish I had the time + energy to do more multichapter fics like this, honestly

🍎 Is there anything you straight-up won’t write?

most things that fall under the "dead dove, do not eat" tag. just not my thing. I avoid it in my reading and I wouldnt write anything that warrants that tag

also things like coffeeshop/tattoo artist x florist/high school AUs. complete divorce from canon into a different setting also isnt really my thing when it comes to writing. im open to reading it, but im VERY picky about it. I wouldnt read a coffeeshop AU, but I might read a noir AU. it would also depend on the actual canon source material tbh- I would read and have read at least one MASH AU fic, but I wouldnt be particularly inclined towards one for DS9

#fic bitching #thanks for asking!!#these are fun questions <3

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thegeminisage · 4 years

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fire emoji outlining AND editing -bma

i’m procrastinating on editing which is open in the other tab RIGHT NOW lmao brit marling anon ilu

fire emoji editing:

i don’t have a big take on this except i don’t like it. i think most people prefer editing to writing which is crazy to me??

i always hear shit about people going “i hate writing, writing is so hard and unfun, i just want my story to be done already” and that is so depressing, writing is my favorite part of the process!!

its hard for me to come up with an unpopular opinion about this because i fully 110% agree on the fact that its necessary and i understand why its needed, i just hate it. i hate how tedious it is, how long it takes, i hate how it feels like going backwards, i hate most of all having to CUT stuff i really like, even if it’s just a cool turn of phrase (just ask @callowyn who cowrites @cambionverse with me, this is the number one debate in all writing projects). it’s just difficult for me and so unfun!!!

i really admire people who can draft things multiple times because i JUST don’t have the patience

fire emoji outlining:

i think, especially for people who are inexperienced with writing or storytelling, most of the time your work WILL flounder without a solid outline. maybe not right away but sooner or later you HAVE to sit down and decide what you’re doing

outlines are very good for zooming out to see the “big picture” of your work and they are incredibly helpful for things like pacing, especially with tricky characters development arcs where characters have to change juuust a little at a time, so gradually you almost don’t notice it. and if you know how your story ends when it begins, it’s harder to get stuck, and easier to foreshadow

and i think most people think outlines are boring or unfun but tbh i have almost as much fun outlining as i do writing, if not more...to me, outlining is pure storytelling. what medium you translate the story into as it solidifies is totally in the air - it can be a prose or a comic or film. but in the outlining stage you’re just blocking out the beats and the arcs and the development and it’s like getting to write an entire long-ass story in a few hours or days.

i think also outlines prevent “writers block” which i dont think is real...like, thats just what people say when theyre having difficulty writing, and usually that difficulty comes down to a specific problem with a specific solution, but the concept of writers block allows people to go “lol idk the gods didnt bless me today” which is absolutely infuriating. stories are not written on inspiration alone!!! you have to have discipline!!!

the TWO things i will give anti-outliners: 1. sometimes you CAN get so enthusiastic you blow all your enthusiasm on your outline and then there’s none left for your work 2. if you’re a terrible procrastinator and/or really deeply insecure bc you’re New and you need to JUST DO IT already outlining can be Yet Another Hurdle and sometimes you just gotta start jotting it down...tho in that case i am a firm believer of going back and sorting out an outline after you have enough stuff down that you feel you have a place to stand

wow sorry i just feel very passionately about my outlines

(send me a fire emoji and a subject and i will give you a hot take)

#BRIT MARLING ANON #liz loves writing #personal #liz answers asks #delighted to hear from you as ever!!

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silenthillmutual · 4 years

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Hi! Curious question, do you have a specific way of outlining your stories? I'm thinking about making a bullet point list of important things that happen in each chapter. What do you recommend?

hiya!

i’ve started outlining my fics like: plot summary --> chapter breakdown

chapter breakdown into: chapter summary, then bullet points for specific scenes, lines of dialogues, or plot points that are supposed to happen w/ notes to whatever i was listening to / reading / watching when i thought of it in case i like forget when i get down to writing it. sometimes the bullet points wind up nested, and i was hoping i’d find a better example than what i actually have up bc i have some outlines for longer stories, but the one i was actually able to find isn’t the one i was looking for.

but like for example, i start w general story notes:

then i broke it down into specific plot events (at the time i wasn’t sure how long i wanted this fic to be, and in the like week since i started up this document i actually decided that instead of a regular fic i’m gonna essentially novelize the entire thing so this is more of a test run than anything else):

(there’s more plotpoints than that but i didnt want to make the pic too big)

and then i start writing the story out underneath that w some kind of marker to show where the notes end and the actual fic begins:

so that way if i forget what i’m writing or where i wanted to go with something i don’t have to switch between tabs or windows open on my desktop, i can just go back up to the top of the page

whether i use google docs or microsoft word kind of depends on what organizational structure i need from there. i never use notepad unless i’m just making a list for aesthetic boards or playlists. google docs automatically has an outline function that you don’t have to set up yourself, so like my lists of movies (and when i get back to writing academic papers on film, i’ll probably use docs for this too) have an outline already separated into category and subcategories:

i also like that google docs will allow people to leave comments, so if i want to ask friends to beta or proofread something for me, they can leave comments on the document as need be (and i’ve done it for others too!) that will show up as suggested edits.

unfortunately google docs lacks a couple of other things i like to use, like indents (bc the tab key goes to next, i dont really like clicking to make an indent it feels weird), strikethroughs, and the comments on google docs distract me so unless i’m already finished with something and in the process of editing i prefer using word to leave myself notes

so like. i strike through ideas that i’ve had instead of just erasing them when i’ve either decided to use something else

or when i’ve finished writing a section, bu want to retain the notes so i dont have to reread an entire published chapter (which isn’t that big a deal w most of my fics but this one in particular has been ~15,000 words per chapter)

^^ i went with numbers for this one because i have a specific set number of chapters that it’s going to be, otherwise i really wouldn’t bother. unless i’m writing a one-shot i don’t tend to have number of chapters planned out in advance, because that rarely works out the way i intend it to

also if i’ve talked to any friends about what i want to include in a fic, i copy and paste the discord messages until i can format it into the rest of the outline, or in case someone else inspired me to include something, that way i can credit them later (shoutout here to @bipolarreigen)

and actually because this second fic in particular is so long it’s something of an outlier in that the outline has its own separate document, which i’ve only ever done with one other fic, because it’s thirty-one pages long. so when i go to write the next chapter of it, i’ll copy & paste any relevant information for that chapter into a new document and start the fic w it kinda pinned at the top.

i also use the comment section on word for important dates, if i’m writing along a specific time frame:

which is all fun & games when i’m making shit up but when i go to write the novelization i’m probably gonna have to go by the minute and i haven’t decided whether i wanna use word or google docs for it yet. r.i.p.

i’ve also started making outlines for film reviews and meta so that i can group my thoughts together by theme, but i wait until after i’ve started writing to decide what order they need to go in.

i don’t think the school system really helpfully teachers people how to use outlines, tbh. i never used them until i got to college because 5th-12th grade there was a focus on writing them in chronological order, which i pretty much never do. i make a bare bones outline of “this is the beginning, this is the middle, this is the end” and then i drop scenarios and conversations in as they come to me, regardless of what order that comes in. even in outlines you don’t actually have to do the introduction first! even in academics, i’ve always written the introduction last.

i hope this helps!!

#writing #advice #writing advice #uhhh idk how to tag this!#ominous fic talk #about the blogger #jeyfeather1234 #answers.txt

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softforcal · 5 years

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hiii

hello! these types of questions are great don’t worry! everyones different but yeah, let me tell you about my writing process :) (this is a long ass writing rant and hopefully it’s helpful)

so for headcanons tbh, i just write them. like. i sit down and write it all in one go and tbh not much thought goes into them there isnt really a plot it’s just notes practically so headcanons for me are not difficult at all. fics/oneshots are where things actually heat up.

so for my fics i do note form outlines. what this means is i have all the major things that have to happen already lined out. i put it on a word doc on half my screen and the fic on the other and there’s no plan on how to get to each note point but i know i have to get there somehow, but having basic goals makes it easier for me.

when it comes to fics there’s usually a brainstorming process. i have two wonderful amazing loves of my absolute life @hereforlukescruff and @glitterprincelu and usually it will start with me saying an idea and we all just kind of start shooting ideas and bouncing off of each other. this process can take hours. like. i remember when i came up with gang luke (penumbra) i was in class and we ended up chatting about it for 3 hours and coming up with shit. when the main brainstorm is done i plot it all out. i have a few ocd tendencies, one of which is linear stuff means a lot to me. like i can’t start a fic at the end. i need to start at the start. so i’ll plan as much as i can but sometimes i stop at the middle and i re-evaluate once i get there and have a better sense as to where the story is going.

for me, characters are huge. like. i have the plot points but characters drive everything else. so i’ll often have a sit down and reevaluate what has happened to them and how they’re feeling and see if it’s all making sense for them, but, because i brainstorm a lot, usually i don’t end up changing much. strong characters are key my dudes.

my biggest motivator to get to the end of the story is well, the characters. i love them so much and writing for them feels so comforting to me. LOVE YOUR CHARACTERS. but also. something ya’ll gotta understand about me is that i’ve been writing fan fiction for 8 years. i’ve probably spent an average of 2 hours a day (and that’s seriously low balling it) so thats 2x365=730x8=5840 hours that i’ve written and that’s probably too low to be accurate. so i’m a writer. i type fast as fuck and i’ve been doing this a while so writing comes very easy to me, ideas are constantly flowing. this is legit what im pursuing as a job so don’t be discouraged if you can’t write 10k in a day like I do because... well, i’ve had a fuck ton of practice. writing 10k in a day is pretty common for me i’d say, once i sit down with a oneshot i don’t want to leave until it’s done.

but. i also again, have a bit of an ocd thing and when it’s paired with anxiety, it makes it hard for me to stop. i need to get things done. to check stuff off my list. or i get bored. if i leave a fic for even a day or two, it’s likely i’m not gonna finish it. so for me, and i know this, its important to wait until i have a sufficient amount of time to bust something out and a plan makes it so easy because i don’t have to stop and ask myself “okay now what”

what more can i say about writing.... uh... characters. so important. dialogue. key.

like i’ll start a fic with a general idea about an OC but as the fic continues they grow and i really enjoy watching them grow. i think a good rule of thumb if you’re having troubles with this is immerse the story view point in the most solid character you have (i’ll give an example of this in a moment) and use their perspective and musings on a different character, like what they notice, to promote growth.

example of what i mean when i say this. i recently wrote prince cal and from the start, he was my strong character. Ostara was new, she’s ashton’s sister, she’s back for the first time in a while. the very first paragraph establishes that calum is taken aback by how much she’s changed. there’s still some similarities to how she was growing up and i weave that comfort of the known throughout the story (with things like chicken fights in the pool or musing about how they used to play hide and seek as kids) but from the start, Calum is knocked off his feet by how beautiful she’s gotten and that’s a very obvious symbol of change, not just outside but in. so as the fic continues calum notices things about ostara. for example. the second time i wrote she was wearing a print of some sort, calum and i both mutually realized, ‘huh. she likes prints i guess.’ because ostara is ostara, i dont control her, in my brain she’s her own person, she’s dictating whats happening and baby just likes prints. and calum notices which says something about him, but its also little details like that that bring these characters to life.

i mean. i don’t know how other people write characters. my characters are always alive to me. they have their own voice and knowing their reaction to things is second nature to me. but this can be attributed to the fact that i legit wrote fan fiction about actual characters (MCU, TVD, Teen Wolf, etc...) for 6 years and being able to step into those characters and do dialogue that seemed legit was the most important thing for me. so i have a FUCK TON of experience on characters. so once again, if its hard for you to step into your characters thats okay. maybe do those things where you have a fill in the blank sheet on whats their fav food, their fav colour, do they like summer or winter? etc....

i think there isnt one way to write. i think i’m blessed that i’ve ALWAYS been a writer. since i was like 4. you know in elementary when they made you write and they’d give you those little booklets and shit? other kids had like one or two at most but this whore was always on book number 6 or 7 like, im a writer. it’s what i am. it always has been what i am.

im also a multitasker. so most of my writing is done while watching shows. which means its a double whammy for me. like. im learning about characters and plot WHILE writing so... as you can see, i’m hard core as fuck about this shit.

my point is. my process is a process that i think is pretty particular to me. most people i know cant watch tv and write at the same time. most people don’t sit down and bust out 10k in one sitting. and thats fine. if you enjoy writing then do it. focus on what you can be doing better, this isnt a competition. at the end of the day, the only person you should be trying to be better than is the person you were yesterday, or last week, you know?

find people who are creatively inclined because holy shit it makes a huge difference. bouncing ideas off of supportive people is really important. without my friends, Birdie in Penumbra might be named Cherry, the Gang AU wouldn’t have an ending all planned out and ready to be written, and i would have missed out on so many hours of face time calls and back and fourth messages with two of the most important people in my life right now.

so lets break down what the fuck i’m even saying

-find supportive people (but it’s important you support them as well. if they’re gonna let you throw ideas at them and help you out and pump you up, reciprocate hoe)

-focus on yourself

-find what you’re good at. plots? characters? dialogue?

-find ways to strengthen the things you’re not so good at (character fill in sheets, plot planning, etc...)

-find what, at the end of the day, really works for you

-don’t put pressure on yourself. writing is for fun. it should be fun. and if it is fun, i think motivation will come easy? but i could be wrong, once again, i have an addictive personality and writing is a fix i need every day or i go insane.

yeah. if ya’ll have any more writing questions let me know. i love answering these because i think it’s so interesting to really look at the process :)

#Anonymous

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r2dtoofine-blog · 7 years

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all of them for the headcanons thing

((holy damn anon al-fuckin-righty *cracks knuckles*

Hair- Case’s jet black hair is thick, soft and full of cowlicks. Honestly, you need a ton of product to keep his hair presentable but you know he’d never give time for that (unless for his *cough*wedding*cough* maybe). Right now he’s being lazy with his appearance which isn’t really a new occurrence but his hair is getting kind of long. He could actually probably have a little pony tail if he ever thought to do that. srs hes almost got emo bangs he NEEDS a haircut. save my boy. p.s. he only has hair on his head + eyebrows, eyelashes and facial hair is only possible to the extent of his sideburns tbh. the rest of his body is as bare and soft as a baby’s bottom.p.p.s. his eyebrows are a little bushy but have a soft shape to them ;)Eyes- I just realized I’ve never described eyes before other than colour, I actually had to look up terms. What I think applies is that he has rather large, gently hooded eyes. He’s got long, thick eyelashes to shade the just almost opaque solid colours of his entire eyeball. He really doesn’t have a visible pupil but where they would be, it glows just barely noticeably purple. His eyes do swap colour usually when he’s having a psionic fit or when he just wants to make them do it on purpose for effect or fun. my boy’s got disco eyes over them bags.Mouth- He’s got lips that are kissable af. that is, if he took care of them more so they weren’t chapped from his habit of nibbling on them. His lips are plump and his upper lip is almost heart-shaped. They ARE black like it says in the comic but is a softer black that matches well with his skin. His mouth is usually drawn into a bitch face though like he’s always annoyed which might be true most of the time honestly. When he smiles casually, it’s usually just a tight-lipped almost frown of a smile you get me? His full smiles though, are toothy and big, showing off his fangs and happiness together. (snark is usually followed by a fang-filled smirk though) Face- Hmm he’s got really nice cheekbones and a gentle jawline without a very pronounced forehead. His nose is straight and just barely pointed downward if you look closely enough and a round chin. His ears are split with his duality theme too~ his ears are a little large and pointed with an extra little echoing ear behind and a little below the working one. He’s got four piercings in each working ear(lobe and that upper ear part i dont know the name for lmao).(how tf do you describe a face tbh)Skin- Case has light grey skin with just light yellow for blush and blemishes. He doesn’t blush much really even when he feels like he’s blushing a lot his face just doesn’t get banana coloured. His skin feels mostly soft but he has his fair callusing on his hands, knees and elbows and feet. I headcanon that trolls have tougher skin so his skin does feel thicker than a humans if you were to compare them side-by-side. His scars from in the game vanished upon revival on earth but he’s gotten new, (tw self harm) smaller scars from his nails and teeth. Little pricks and half moons and long scars on his torso from his nails and only faint marks on his hands from his teeth that can be easily looked over or taken as accidental scrapes. wow sorry. moving on. Build- Case is a skinny boy. he’s 5′9″ and a twig with bones way too weak for a troll. this boy needs his calcium. He’s not all that muscular but not necessarily all fat either. His shoulders are slightly narrow with just slight hips to match and he has an average to small sized rib-cage and his legs are long and pretty. I wish i could describe his body better but i think that’s pretty much it lmao ask for specific detail if you want more in ims or ask or sth. Chest- The only definition in his chest is of his ribs. Case has just gentle pectoral muscles and a soft outline of where his abs could be. He doesn’t have any nipples but he does have grubscars along up and down the sides of his torso; three vaguely circular dark scars on each side that are (nsfw) gently sensitive oo la la.Groin- (nsfw? the whole paragraph tbh) uh okay so i guess ill start with his bulge. its tentacle-esque, just get that out of the way. Its about 7-8 inches in length, a little thicker than average and the same mustard colour of his blood. it has little pill-shaped bumps? up the middle and sides of the base of his bulge ending a little below the middle of it but other than that its smooth and blemish-less. He does have a nook too, complete with a clitoris just because fuck it really. his clitoris and the lips of his nook echo the theme of his bulge in that theyre yellow like his blood as well as uh inside. moving on.He’s got a cute lil ass thats small and only a little muscular and a lot boney, and thats all there really is to say on the matter. hands-case has nice piano-players fingers with light callouses. his knuckles arent very pronounced and his nails are long, dull with wear and unkempt. his nails mimic the colour of his horns and are very strong, meant to be like claws if sharpened properly. his hands only sweat when hes super nervous and then only a little bit but hell still nervously wipe his hands on his pants? legs-his legs are nice and long for his height and his knees are scraped up and rounded. his thighs arent very filled out and are mostly muscle from all the stairs in his office and on campus plushe doesnt eat enough to gain more fat than that tbh. pray for him. stance-wise hes usually laid back LOOKING so his legs just need to make up the balance for his slouched back.feet-his feet are average sized like probably mens 8 or 9? idfk but his toes curl inwards with the same type of nails that are on his hands if only a little thicker because theyre his back “claws” you know? hes slightly pidgeon-toed and when he relaxes he does prefer to lean on his left side. what else do i even put here. his feet are usually cold af ill just put that here too.other-his horns are grown layer by layer like a plant tbh but theyre made of about the same material as his nails only thicker and can also be sharpened if properly taken care of. his horns are not hollow and they do not have nerve-endings. his doubled horns grow side by side like a crown on his head with his innermost twins being about half the length of the outer ones. he doesnt take much care of them so theyre pretty rough and definitely not perfect looking. (though he did take care of them before his wedding, they usually reflect how disheveled the rest of him looks)

there. there we go.

#appearance #ooc #long post #sollux captor #homestuck

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