#my editing skills are improving and not my writing👍👍👍

[herri-writes]

genshin masterlist's new drip btw

[morelikeravenbore]

💕 self-love time! talk about which ones of YOUR creations (edits, artworks, fanfics) you like the most then send to other creators to do the same 💕

AAAHHHH! It's always a beautiful day 84 years when Ari pops into my ask bearing love and sparkles! Sorry it took me so long to reply, Im allergic to being nice to myself! 👍😁👍

It'll come as no surprise, I'm sure, but the thing I'm most proud of is my ongoing fic How to Make a Villain. Not only is it the first "serious" (serious?) piece of writing I've ever shared with anyone, but I'm proud of my commitment to updating it for the last eight months straight, and when I read back on it, I'm floored that 1. This all came out of my head? And 2. my skills as a writer have improved beyond my wildest expectations.

[read it here if you'd like: wattpad | ao3]

The second thing I'm most proud of is the creation and development of my 🦋 Aurélie, who, just like my fic, is the first original character I've ever shared with the world. The way she's outgrown my imagination to become someone who feels very real to me constantly blows my mind. And not only has she changed my life in ways I never expected, but she's made an impact on the lives of other people — which is straight up a dream come true. Even if nothing else ever comes from my ambitions to be an author, the fact that people know and love something that grew straight out of my heart is honestly one of the greatest things I've ever achieved in my life.

And thirdly, I'm proud of all the brilliantly talented, supportive, creative and funny friends I've made in this fandom, whose imaginations inspire and excite me every single day. I hope you all know how much I treasure you, and that even if this fandom were to die tomorrow (touch wood), I'll remember you all for the rest of my life.

[thekuraning]

Waaah, could I please have 8, 24, 25, 33 and 38 for the writing ask? 😍

XHAJHSDGHA thats SO MANY 😭 (ty friend!!)

I dont know when to shut up so im puttinf them under a readmore

8. How slow is a slow burn?

I am so bad as accurately pacing a fic so this is something that. Is hard to say. But I think there's no hard limit to how short or long a slow burn actually is. What makes something a slow burn is a combination of 2 criteria: a) the length of time the story takes place over, and b) how long it takes for the reader to get from plot point to plot point. If you consider something like Romeo & Juliet, it takes place in-universe over the course of like a couple days, and you are constantly moving from story beat to story beat since the work is meant to be enjoyed in one presentation. It's complex and moving, but I think we all can agree it's not a slow-burn, more of a sudden explosion lol. Some people may think that sitting around 20k words it's not a short work, and for a play it's average (about 2 hours) but it's only 1/5 the length of a standard novel! (100k)

But if we imagine Romeo & Juliet taking place over say 4 months, and each 5000 words is a moment where he's come to Juliet's window one night each month, and nothing else about the story is different, the entire tone changes to something longer and drawn-out. In fact, I think it's probably possible for a skilled author to write a convincing long burn in 10k words or less if the internal and external pacing of the story is right. I also think it's probably possible to write a slow-burn that takes place within one universe day, but I think the pacing for that would require more words.

In reality, slow burn just needs to feel long, even if it isn't actually long.

24. Thoughts on flashbacks/flash forwards.

GO. FUCKING. WILD. Make time your bitch. Laugh at the linear progression of cause and effect. Storytelling is this weird abstraction where all of time exists at once and won't ever exist again. A well-placed flashback or flash forward will enhance the story by revealing hidden motive, establishing dramatic irony, or building anticipation. Be fucky with time. It's already fake and gay—with your help, we can make it faker and gayer! 🫵

Naturally, like any trope or tool, there's always a time and place when a flashback or flashforward is most effective, and sometimes it won't be. But as long as it doesn't feel pointless, as long as it feels like it's a scene we need, they're great to use! I started really playing with time and flashes in Maelstrom fic because of the villain, and it's the funnest thing even in relatively minor jumps of minutes or hours. DON'T BE AFRAID TO USE FLASH JUMPS THEY ARE GOOD AND FUN!!! 👍👍👍

25. Is writing the whole thing beforehand better or worse than writing it as you go?

I wish I was the kind of person who could write the whoke thing beforehand, because I think that + careful editing really is the best way to create a cohesive, well-balanced narrative but right now i just... dont work like that lol. I feel like i have to be extra diligent in keeping track ofnplot threads and potential holes and such. But on the other hand I think I prefer it this way because I get a lot of good feedback on what's working via comments! Especially in long running fics like Maelstrom or Zubat Fangs I refer to comments a lot when trying to decide how hard to hit certain plot points. I'm always open to (polite) constructive criticism on my fics bc of that!

33. Give your writing a compliment.

I think my writing brings people joy :) in all sorts of ways! My silly writing, my angsty writing, my gorey writing.... it all makes someone's day a little better at some point, and I take a lot of pride in that. I can also look back over the years and see how much my skills have improved since I uploaded my first fanfiction decades ago, which I think I still have on a floppy somewhere lol.

I've gotten so confident that I'm starting to more and more seriously consider working on my original fiction and well 😬 I'd like to publish something professionally. Even if I only self-pubklish an e-book or smth. I think I'm about there!!!

38. "This never happened" fix-it fics or "this happened but" fix-it-fics.

Definitely "this happened but" fix-its. I got my start in pokemon fics naturally and one thing you never see the end of are "Ash is a better trainer and never got pikachu" fix-its which. I mean. Eh. Sure. There's nothing wrong with that per say but like. To me it's the same as writing a coffee shop AU. You're telling a different story conpletely. And of course there's degrees, because sometimes the change is smaller and what that means is the story is basically the same. Idk. There's nothing wrong with that but it doesn't make me excited. "Yes BUT" feels like its adding onto something, not just altering it. 🤔

Thanks again friend!! This was fun!! 🥺

[saltymongoose]

Heyo! Vibrating anon here. I was working on the 6th chapter of my fic when I realized that I low-key want to beef up the previous chapters of the story. (1st chapter is mostly fine I just want to add more detail to Fellow's POV and fix a plot hole I accidentally made) but I'm worried that it'll be wierd to like, edit my chapters to suddenly have higher word counts. I know I'll be happier with the longer and more detailed chapters bc the writing on the earlier chapters is OLD (like literally half a year old) and I want to make it look better. I'm not deleting the fic or anything, but I'm going to be slightly rewriting the chapters in that I'm just going to make them more detailed and longer. It fits my writing style better to make the thin outline of the chapter and THEN beef it up but I was so caught up in the ability of actually FINISHING the chapters that I just instantly published them without rereading or editing at all. But Im not 100% satisfied with that anymore, I really want to make it better and share the kind of writing I know I can make. Is it fine if with the 6th chapter of the fic I also republish the first 5 chapters as well, just so I can have the story I actually want on the page now that I've got the skill for it? Idk. I'm probably gonna do it anyways I just want some kinda reassurance I'm not doing something stupid lol- Vibrating Anon

Yo! Yeah dude, that sounds completely fine. If you want to improve the chapters you already made, then you should definitely do it imo, if not just for peace of mind. It isn't weird to want to do that, and I know I've edited some stuff from my previous works in the past (though tumblr isn't the best for that kind of thing lmao). I'd make sure not to delete the original versions until you finish up the new chapters though, just to make sure you don't lose anything. 👍

Also, I know you've been wanting some in-depth feedback on the newest ones, so I think it's best to ask: would you still like that or would you like me to give more feedback once I read those newly revamped versions? 😄