Oh. Ooog. Urgh… 😅😅😅 I’m sorry, anon, character writing is probably the only area of writing where we are unqualified to give advice to people. “Have 25 different people in your head and use them as a "commedia dell’arte” style[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
💖 You don’t have to write for a specific audience. 💖 You don’t have to write for any audience. 💖 You don’t have to write for mass market appeal. 💖 You don’t have to know who your audience will be.[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
shepardsherd: kaylinalexanderbooks: endlessburningdarkness: do you have separate documents for each chapter of your story/fic? why or why not? separate documents for each chapter all chapters in one doc something else (i’ll elaborate in the notes) would love to know which[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Thankful every day for the sheer volume of writing I can get done with my partner’s help. <3
allthingswhumpyandangsty: writers whenever they’re starting a new fic: I have these ✨ vibes ✨ now I’ll have to build an entire plot and write an entire fic about those vibes
natalieironside: The assumption that YA literature needs must be lesser than other forms of writing just betrays a deep and profound lack of familiarity with the medium. Simple as. If that’s what you think, you’ve been reading shitty books and[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
iamalivenow: yeah bro it’s a character study. the 2 thousand words of blowjob is vital to the study of the character This, but I am dead serious, no irony.
shepardsherd: shepardsherd: I have no fucking idea why, but my brain has veered from making Sacrifices a smut wip, into a full blown dark gritty fantasy. Like, my brain wants a few characters dead and it’s only chapter 10 Like,[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
beakedwhalesyo: headspace-hotel: author-a-holmes: lady-averie: This might be unpopular but I’m not going to use simpler vocabulary in my writing if it’s out of character for the narrator. If my POV character is a botanist, he’s going to call a plant[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
as far as I know there is no ‘rule of style for this as of yet. Personally, I would use either parentheses (text) or brackets [text] or more likely I would describe what the person was signing, rather than using[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
The world is never worse for having your fiction writing in it. Every story you choose to tell and share improves the world a little bit.
singthepraise: iiterative: ‘the point of fiction is to build the world we want to see!’ respectfully. No It Is Not. the point of fiction is to make up some guys and then be like “wouldn’t it be fucked up if[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
thevoidstaredback: You’ve heard of Method Acting, get ready for Method Writing! If my characters are angry, I’m angry If my characters are elated, I’m elated If my characters are hungry, I’m hungry If my characters haven’t slept in three days,[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
♠️ I believe in your right to create fiction that I don’t enjoy. ♠️ I believe in your right to create fiction that I think would be better if it was different somehow. ♠️ I believe in your right to[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Good/constructive critique is critique that helps you strengthen your story by making it better as the story that YOU want to tell. Any critique you receive that tells you that you should change the story in ways that take away[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
“Queer coding” exists because for a long time it was unacceptable or outright banned to depict characters who were states to be, or implicitly queer. Therefore authors had to sneak depictions of queer characters in through coding with plausible deniability.[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
huntinglove: Me: Okay! Let me turn off the internet so I can focus on writing!! Also me: *keeps having to turn the wifi back on because I keep forgetting how to spell certain words* English isn’t my first language, cut[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
❣️ “Shipping” characters means that you are interested in the idea of what it would be like if characters were involved in a romantic or sexual relationship with each other. ❣️ Shipping something does not mean that you think that[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
charlottemadison42: largishcat: circling back around to the issue of writers being expected to do all their own goddamn marketing via social media these days, because it completely nixes the possibility of writers being weird shut ins, off-putting eccentrics, or misanthropes.[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
that-other-fruity-emo: Important author question Do you title your chapters? Yes No See Results
“But why would you want to imagine, read or write about a relationship that wasn’t healthy, good or desirable to you personally?” I genuinely don’t know how to explain the concept of fiction to you.
I wish I understood why pro-censorship fans think that its normal and okay to treat “shipping” as some kind of sacred moral space away from other types of fiction where only good and pure and desirable things can happen. I[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Actually, friend, freedom of expression does mean that it’s okay to ship anything you want. It’s imaginary. It’s not real. ☝️ You’re not obligated as a writer to exclusively write about healthy, normal relationships and sane, moral actions. ☝️ Fictional[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
midnightseal: “how did you get into writing” girl nobody gets into writing. writing shows up one day at your door and gets into you
So you’re stuck trying to solve a writing problem. Maybe you’re trying to figure out what comes next in a scene. Maybe you’re trying to work out how a conversation should flow. Maybe you’re just trying to come up with[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
aritany: real question. how do other writers manage story pacing. is it intuitive or do you have a system panic based. Which I guess technically counts as intuitive.
damnfool-of-a-took: letswritesomenovels: tanya-posts: Here are ten questions to ask that will not put your friend in a tough spot, but will still give you some useful input on your novel: 1. At what point did you feel like “Ah, now[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
oh-cramity-its-amity: remember. it doesn’t matter if you only wrote 5 words or 500 today. progress is progress, and you shouldn’t beat yourself up over it. dont compare yourself with other writers because everyones method and process is different!! you’ll finish[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
You know, it occurs to me that I don’t actually even know what fanfictons pro-censorship fans are objecting to when they say “it’s okay to write about it but not okay to romantcize it.” Because in pretty much every minor[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Hi anon! Thank you for asking this question. I’m going to answer it in a kind of grumpy tone, but I promise I am not grumpy at you! is it okay to depict unhealthy relationships in fiction (ie minor/adult) when[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Fictional stories and inside your imagination are the only places where you explicitly do not have to be responsible, careful or thoughtful of others. Do whatever you want in fiction and your imagination forever. No one is harmed. You are[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
📝 It’s normal and understandable to want your writing to be read. 📝 It’s normal and understandable to want a see a response from the people who read your writing. 📝 It’s normal and understandable to be motivated to write[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
neil-gaiman: Posting this for the people who think that Tolkien’s world-building was something complete and entire and finished before he started to write. You always learn and discover your story and your world as you write. Sometimes you are just[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
ao3commentoftheday: ao3commentoftheday: life’s too short to write for an imaginary critic that you fear will hate what you wrote to be clear, odds are good that someone will hate what you wrote, but that doesn’t mean the writing is bad.[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
You are always free to talk about your writing as much as, and at the level of depth that, you want to. But you never, ever owe anyone an explanation for why you write the fiction that you do, or[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
ihni: crystaltoa: mantorokk-writes: sventhecrusader: rowdyravens: those posts criticizing common writing patterns in fanfiction are so fucking harmful and they ruined me so like yknow what??? People tell you to avoid “smirk” and “chuckle” as descriptors because no one does those[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Controlling and restricting the things people are allowed to write or read about in fiction is authoritarian. Restricting the way, manner and style people are allowed to write about things in fiction is authoritarian. Censorship is always bad. Always.
bob-time: madame-helen: There’s a reason Bilbo’s journey started when he was 50
“You shouldn’t write that because readers might think that it was okay to do in real life.” A person with secure morals will never be convinced to do harm by a mere piece of fiction. “Okay but mentally ill people[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
mythandwords: theurbanspaceboi: theurbanspaceboi: some of you need to make your bed and have a shower with a soap that smells nice, and then sit in a chair near the window and have tea with milk and read a hardcover book[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
♥️ It’s okay to write or read about sex and romance. ♥️ It’s okay to write or read about sex without romance. ♥️ It’s okay to write or read about romance without sex. ♥️ It’s okay to write or read[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
sarahlizziewrites: Dear writers, this is your permission not to overexplain your shit. Don’t write for the common denominator.
meradorm: *sits down to write a smut fic* The plot of this smut fic is that Character A believes himself abandoned by God.
dead-dyke: You wrote about murder?? Murder is illegal?? You wrote about this dude killing someone and you didn’t even say ‘murder is bad’ at the start of the book, wht wtf, wtf is wrong with you? I can’t believe you[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
✏️ There is no reason to assume that an author’s intention with dark elements and evil characters is to sway their audience into believing that those things are good. ✏️ There is no reason to assume that every dark element[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
fellshish: I don’t write for comments but boy do comments make me wanna write more
notaplaceofhonour: apathetic-revenant: norilski: apathetic-revenant: “oh no, my audience has begun to guess the big twists of my story and are accurately predicting what will happen!” incorrect response: write the rest of the story to be as twisty, shocking and counter[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
paradoxtrollplanet: A general frustration I have with the assumption fiction, especially erotica, reflects the authors morals is that it relies on a very literal interpretation of a text. A movie monster isn’t just a scary creature and an obsessive stalker[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
ngoziu: “why do you tell stories” i tell stories so i can forget about them and then go back and read them and be like “wow who wrote this, this is exactly what I want”
naryrising: future-crab: It’s been said before, it will be said again, but it’s still worth saying: the fact that art centering on straight romance is allowed to just be bad, but art with queer romance in it always has to[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
aceofwhump: Hi there! Oooh WWI aviation? I love that! Well let’s see if I can offer any help. Survival rates for pilots that were shot down in WW1 were pretty much none existent. If you got shot down you were[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
anneapocalypse: Hey you know what’s super funny about the idea of “good bi rep”? For a character to be canonically bi you have to make sure and establish that they’re attracted to multiple genders. Not all mediums allow you to[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
someone said: “I don’t want to live in a world where people write nasty fiction about (insert horrible thing here, such as murder, rape, csa, etc)…” ☝️ Understandable, but we all live together in a world where all of these[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
rlyehtaxidermist: “you sound smart” that’s because i’ve spent years doing academic writing to the point that it’s my default cadence plus or minus the use of profanity as a tone indicator “you sound stupid” that’s because i’m dumb as fuck
visceralcoma: keepcalmandwritefiction: ALT A cool thing about writing is that the better you get at it, the more you’re aware of what you want out of it, which means it gets harder, which means you actually feel like you’re getting[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
First of all– the binary “for horror” vs “for romance” idea is completely fake. Just take a look at the slasher villain fandom. You can put elements in for horror all you want and people will still be turned on[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
I am so glad that they are inspiring to you, and I’m so glad that you’ve gotten the courage to write again! People–especially authority figures– who squash the creativity of others are inexcusable in my mind. We had a similar[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
🖤 Your story idea is not too weird to write or share. 🖤 Your story idea is not too self-indulgent to write or share. 🖤 Your story idea is not too embarrassing to write or share. 🖤 Your story idea[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Whenever someone compliments our character writing in a fanfic, and they’re talking about one of the people who are in our system– –it’s just. The most absolutely validating thing in the world. Like– yes, person who loves the way we[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Absolutely true, anon! In fandom, with recent fanworks, it is often possible to reach out to the author and ask them if certain material is in their fiction. Sadly, with older fanfic, and with printed media the author might not[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
💖 Write the fiction that you want to write. 💖 Write any fiction that you want to write. 💖 Don’t let other people discourage you from writing the fiction that you want to write. 💖 You are never a bad[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
datingtrees: maya angelou saying the funniest thing anyone has ever said about editing, which i can never let myself forget EVER AGAIN [x]
dduane: longroadstonowhere: bookishdiplodocus: avelera: Pro-writing tip: if your story doesn’t need a number, don’t put a fucking number in it. Nothing, I mean nothing, activates reader pedantry like a number. I have seen it a thousand times in writing workshops.[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
i-will-write: there’s absolutely nothing better than writing 10k word in a single sitting, that is until you remember you have a body that is starving, thirsty and incredibly sleep deprived, your finger are cramping, your shoulders screaming and you haven’t[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
rnorningstars: tippenfunkaport: tippenfunkaport: That viral post that’s going around about how people who write “book quality” mlm fic are too “normal” to publish and have real jobs so only “weird” people publish their “shitty” fanfic is so completely out of[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
gingiekittycat: I forgot how lonely it is to write original fiction. Where are the kudos? The subscriptions? The comments? The people cheerleading me chapter to chapter? Where are the kind words and compliments and reassurances that what I’m writing isn’t[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
youreonyourownkid13: write weird shit. Write indulgent au fanfiction and self insert fics. Write creepy horror scenes and random character crossover dialogue. Write in a different genre. Write that sex scene that you know won’t make the cut. Write about sentient[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
✨ There is nothing wrong with writing or enjoying the type of fiction that appeals to you. ✨ There is nothing wrong with writing or enjoying mary sues, obvious author self inserts, or overpowered protagonists. ✨ There is nothing wrong[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Hey friend! Yes, I am a writer, you have come to the right place 😉 My advice for you is to explore and discover how other authors and creators have handled these dynamics in the past. ✏️ Seek out fiction[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
coarsely: how long do you tend to write your chapters on average? as in the default length a chapter might be up to 500 words 500-750 words 750-1000 words 1000-1500 words 1500-2000 words 2000-2500 words 2500-3000 words 3000-4000 words over[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
mostly-funnytwittertweets:
My preference when it comes to fiction is to be following the protagonist not because I like them as a person– –but because I have desperate need to find out what the fuck is wrong with this twisted creature and[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
tsarina-anadyomene: the goal is to have such an overly refined writing style that people can immediately tell you’re a pervert
I agree with you in spirit. The problem is that you actually absolutely *can* make disgust the basis of your morality system– and doing so will powerfully fuck up your mental health, your perception of reality, and your relationship with[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
lilacwriter07: when you write smut is you male character circumcised uncircumcised never thought about that See Results Sorry I have to ask bc I was watching some guys making sausages, and they made dirty jokes about the skin (😏) but[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Thank you so much for the compliment, but– I will level with you, pal, we kinda cheat 🤣 a) There are multiple system members for whom writing is one of their primary hobbies, and we also tend to be the[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Right? I can’t imagine looking at that picture and not thinking it looked like a sexual act or sexual metaphor. Honestly, maybe all this is so on my mind because recently we were thinking about, and looking for the imagery[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
mod2amaryllis: to everyone who’s ever said something kind about my work: you help me get through the day. thank you.
em-dash-press: I am going to take a deep breath and just remind you: Writing is messy, even for the best authors. It’s supposed to feel a little uncomfortable, exhilarating, freeing, natural, and terrifying. It’s supposed to inspire you and feel[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
thatgirlonstage: I will never understand media that portrays the classic Writer Problem™ as being out of ideas. At any given moment I have at least six ideas for massively ambitious projects that will never happen because I simply do not[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
sleepyowlwrites: mecharose: lux-scriptum: Step One: have unmedicated adhd. Step Two: word vomit Step Three: dont care if you get no notes. in an adhd binge you will be reblogging them all later anyway. Step Four: TAG THAT SHIT TUMBLRS SEARCH[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
A few years ago we would not have had a good answer for this question, but having finally got back into fandom writing and really dug into it, I can tell you with clarity the definitive answer. Start with the[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
iseetheworldinmetaphor: “You don’t write for prizes. You write because this is the way you are most alive, the way you feel you can be most effective in confronting life and society —and yourself even. The imagination sometimes takes off, takes[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Some realizations that I had about outlining that helped me write: 💫 You don’t actually have to outline the entire story from start to finish. 💫 You can ‘outline’ just by noting down thoughts, elements, scenes or ideas that stand[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
mostly-funnytwittertweets:
xxlovelynovaxx: colubrina: colubrina: for the love of god, write all the self-indulgent scenes you want. be utterly shameless about including every last fantasy. i know everyone likes to share quotes and quips about how miserably hard writing is, but please[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
cr1nge-culture: one of the best fics i’ve ever read, one that had me addicted to my phone and crying, wasn’t even prose. it was a huge, casual, bullet-pointed outline with every detail of an au that the author never got[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
olderthannetfic: datamodel-of-disaster: olderthannetfic: – Isn’t it fun? And yes, both certain types of plots and a given writer tend to default to certain word counts. My natural word count (assuming I can force myself to finish something) is right around[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Wrote almost another 3k today. There are only about 4 scenes left to write in the novel and I am going insane about it.
🔸Sexual content in fiction should not be treated as worse or more terrible to write or to read about than violent content in fiction. 🔸Normalizing, trivializing and even glorifying violence in fictional content– while othering, and villainizing sexual content– is[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
So close to finishing the first draft of this novel you can *smell* it. 2-3 more writing sessions and its done. Started in November. Wrote every day in November. 10 or so days in December. 8 days so far in[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
“make an outline!” they said “It’ll make your writing easier!” they said. and I hate that they are right. I hate that, for me at least, not having to decide what’s going to happen next while I’m actively staring at[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
unpretty: unpretty: unpretty: the first time you read a book by an author and it’s boat-centric you’re like, “oh, this is the boat episode of the police procedural” and then you get to the next and there’s more boats and[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
🔸It’s okay to imagine any fictional scenario. Imagining something bad doesn’t make you a bad person or mean you want it to happen. 🔸It’s okay to write any fictional story. Writing a fictional story about bad things does not make[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Hey friend. Honestly I have been in pretty close to your position before. You can get back into it! There are some ways to help ease yourself back in if you have a partner or someone willing to listen to[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
wintersongstress: wilf (wip i’d like to finish)
I decided this needed its own post, so– Here’s some context for “"The content of a piece of fiction does not reflect on the morality of its author.” and “Your personal interpretation of the content of a piece of fiction[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…