#like nothing feels better than when I'm drafting and brainstorming and when that outline finally gets fleshed out

[shippingmyworld]

My brother's advice any time I vent to him about my job: "Become a streamer."

[melishade]

After finishing the story and watching the visuals of aot, did it gave more ideas to work on?

Honestly, not really.

So for some context, I was a manga reader for AoT, and I specifically was in order to get more ideas for Attack on Prime. When the manga chapter for Assassin's Bullet came out, and Eren started laughing like a maniac over Sasha's death, I knew how I wanted to end the story, and I knew that the Rumbling was going to be activated. That is what spawned the creation of cm186: one of the first of many documents I had for AOP. (There was another that I had on a flash drive but the flash drive got busted and it costed too much to repair it and it devastates me to this day. Back up your files on different formats writers). cm186 was a lot of the brainstorming and rough drafts of that final battle and the aftermath of that battle.

Now I had an idea for an ending, it was just a matter of filling in the in between. How to get to that point. I continued reading AoT and continued writing for that 4 year gap that Isayama ignored. The Paths chapters dropped; that became some free ass real estate. And then AoT dropped the final chapter, and the final chapter wasn't something that I was particularly happy with. And I've stated in my author's notes of other chapters as to why that was the case.

Before and after the AoT manga ended, I was still writing, brainstorming, outline, analyzing, all that stuff for Attack on Prime. Even as I was writing chapters, I had written concept idea and scenes for future chapters that were either scrapped or changed via dialogue and action. Even now, as I've reached the climax: Guren No Yumiya, I still have to go back to previous chapters and fix certain things because I either don't like the direction I've taken, or the big scenes that happen in certain battles don't feel as impactful, so I have to add stuff.

Aot's anime ending remained mostly the same. I like the fact that they fixed Armin and Eren's conversation, which was one of the major problems that I had with the manga; however, there are still a lot of problems that I have with AoT's ending which would have benefited from an extra few chapters. Such as:

-Ymir's relationship with King Fritz, -Mikasa's role in the story, and the fact that she still holds onto Eren and thinks of him fondly when he killed 80% of all humanity (Also she kissed his decapitated head. That's still pretty gross.) -Also the whole Eren causing his mom's death because it's been shown in the show that abnormal titan can ignore a few individual people if they see a large host of people (i.e. Rod Reiss' titan) -We don't really see the fruits of the Alliance's labor post Rumbling. -Everyone looking at Eren rather fondly. This is kinda fixed in the anime, but it rubs me the wrong way in the manga. -The lack of time we really spend with the warriors and warrior cadets which causes their character development to be a little lackluster. I guess I'm thinking in the context of "I've known them for so little time compared to the main cast of three season"

There's a lot I could talk about, but I'm certain there are others who can explain it far better than I can. But AOP is essentially me addressing what I didn't like with AoT. Aot's anime ending did nothing to change that.

[scarfacemarston]

I'm writing an essay for the first time in YEARS (1500 words) any top tips as a seasoned writer? 😅

Hey! I’m happy to help. First and foremost, do not procrastinate. Yes, that is so hypocritical of me because I’ve been struggling not to do it myself. However, the less you can procrastinate, the better. I like having a writing playlist. I recommend classical music, there are so many sub genres of classical music that I’m sure you’ll find something. There are lots of good videos that are things like “Calming piano music and fire crackling” or “Library ambient sounds” if classical music isn't your thing. If you're looking to get into classical music, I recommend Debussy! Debussy has a lot of relaxing music.

This is relaxing, too, imo. It’s bardcore!  Other advice: 1. Outlines are your friend. They are so incredibly helpful, and many assignments may require an outline. I have had multiple academic and work assignments that requested one, but even if it’s not required, it’s still helpful. I had a professor introduce me to the “reverse outline”, which is when you take your paper, or what you have of it, and create an outline out of it. Here's an example. It's okay if you're not able to write outlines at the moment. You can always practice with other assignments.

2. I would also recommend writing just the subheadings and writing what you know from there and just writing in sections. I have had professors discuss how writing the introduction and the conclusion is the hardest part and should be written last. Unfortunately, some teachers/professors may require an intro first as a preview. It just depends on your teacher/professor. 3. My biggest piece of advice is something I struggle with, but it is helpful. It’s called a zero draft. It’s when you write stuff. Whatever comes to mind.It doesn't exactly have to be brainstorming, but it can be. I think this is way more free-thinking than that. Ex: tuberculosis Deadly, cultural, in pop culture, Sanitariums- places to live. Percy Shelly - author who died from it. Antibiotics - 1940s. Rene Dubos - wrote the first cultural history book. Trudeau - has cabins in NY.

It’s great for perfectionists because it’s no pressure. You KNOW you are going to write garbage. It’s like “word vomit”. From there, you have ideas, and you start to shape up what you have. What matters is getting SOMETHING on the page. Perfection does not exist. I have to tell myself this constantly.(Far easier said than in practice. I have OCD, and it’s a struggle.)

Getting it done is better than nothing at all. Again, I know sooo many people feel the same, so you’re not alone! Even people I look up to struggle with this. Misc ideas: going for walks, even if it's mini walks in the apartment/house. Also, practice self-care. Some people take longer showers/baths, and others take a nap, as crazy as that sounds. It's been weirdly helpful for me. Finally, think of a small reward for when you finally finish!

I hope some of this is helpful. Best of luck, and let me know if you need more help!