#writing rambles

[rinrin222]

Writing

Time to write KimKenta reunions, KimKenta caring for each other, and KimKenta aftermaths! and finish editing the fics so they can be posted before the final episode!! <3

[morallysuperiorlips]

PLEASE Write Your Book!

I'm serious. Please write it. If you need a sign to start, continue, or whatever is inbetween, this is it. Go do it.

I spent the past couple weeks indulging myself in some BookTok recommendations. While some were indeed good (Kings of Sin, my beloved), some were just...I don't need to finish my sentence there.

I DNF'd some books for the first time since I read Lord of the Flies (sorry Golding, you put me to sleep with your descriptions) and I powered through others in hopes that they would eventually get better. The general consensus I ended up getting was that I could not understand for the fucking life of me how these books got published. The writing in some of them was no better than that of a 2010s teen writing Maximum Ride fic on Wattpad for the first time, with the characterization abysmal enough to match.

I don't want to knock any specific author or book here, because I will concede one thing: they finished their books. They got them published. They're successful. For that, I commend them, because I'm still on my way there myself and I can't take that away from them. Jolly good show.

But that brings me to my point: if they can do it, YOU absolutely can do it too.

If some of these Amazon and NYT bestsellers can have prose on a Wattpad level with characters that have enough poorly-written cognitive dissonance to make Deadpool or Walter White jealous, your fleshed out, deeply intuitive, and remarkably creative epic can sit right alongside them no problem. Whether you're writing the next GoT or a romantic slice-of-life, there is a not a goddamn thing on this planet stopping you from rolling up with the big dogs.

If these guys can do it, so can you.

So, stop telling yourself you can't. Stop letting other people tell you you can't. Stop comparing yourself to these authors who, respectfully and bluntly, can't write for shit (or at least need to fire their fucking editors, good lord).

WRITE YOUR DAMN BOOK. PLEASE. WE NEED IT.

(If you like my guides, prompts, writing, or art, consider supporting the blog today! All donations help me keep this thing up and running and all are appreciated <3)

[edgar-allan-homo]

One thing that really annoys me is when writers refuse to let their female characters be eccentric. Like, yeah they pass the bechdel test, yeah they drive the plot forward or whatever, but they just don't get the same attention from fans as the male characters because they aren't allowed to be interesting!! They are reasonable, maybe slightly annoyed at other characters' antics at times, maybe somewhat motherly or very solemn and serious or just a completely normal person – let girls be freaks!! Let girls have weird habits and stupid impulsive ideas and let them be a little short-sighted and arrogant and unintentionally funny!!!! Let girls start out as people with genuine character flaws that they can work through and let them have potential to improve and let them be on par with male characters not only in strength but also in wit and in character.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

[queenjunothegreat]

I COULD do a Valgrace Little Mermaid AU. Don't fucking test me.

[garden-of-rambles]

Some Odysseus/Odypen headcanon ramblings that have been on my mind while writing my fic:

So one of the tags on my story is ‘Odysseus is touched starved’ and for me it feels like such a natural conclusion about his character in general, and the way he interacts with Penelope.

Like, he became King at thirteen, when his dad was in the process of losing himself entirely. He had to "be the man of the house" and take care of everyone else around him, even those that originally would have taken care of him, like his father, or his mother who was preoccupied helping care for her husband/and would know that Odysseus had to step forward as a man sooner than he should have. And of course his younger sister was always someone that he helped take care of, not the other way around.

He is never just Odysseus after that, even among those who are considered close to him. He is King. He is Captain. He is the one who leads and looks after those in his care, and if that means there's no one to do that for him, well...he just gets used to it. He ignores the longing for it that remains, crawling beneath his skin and twisting in his stomach. It's not like he has a choice. That doesn't mean his family or friends didn't try to help, but once Odysseus took on those roles he couldn't be the one seeking comfort, the one needing care or instruction. So many of the comforting and loving touches he had received during childhood just lessen and lessen until they hardly happen at all. He is the man of the house. He is King. He is Captain. He is the one who offers assurance, not the one who needs it. Sometimes there are pats on the shoulder, or brief embraces, but he is usually the one giving them. And it's nice, always, that momentary contact, but they're not ones he wants to linger in. The idea of anyone else reciprocating is...uncomfortable, like clothing that chafes, because this is his role, who he is, what he must define himself by.

Then, of course, he meets Penelope. And the desire for touch is utterly overwhelming. Not just in a sexual way -- though there certainly is that -- but in every way.

The first time, it's such an incidental moment, perhaps only a second or two of contact. They had been talking at night beneath their olive tree -- a name he had already begun to call it by in his mind after just a few meetings -- and he had been in the middle of saying something, telling a story, likely just to make her laugh. But he couldn't say what he'd been talking about, because while he's mid-sentence -- without thought, as if it were the most natural thing to do -- Penelope reaches over, and pulls a twig with some olive leaves from his hair. He hadn't even noticed it caught there, but the barest brush of her fingers makes him speechless. He forgot whatever he had been saying, even as Penelope eyed him in confusion, waiting for him to finish, but he can't, because the only words that would come from his mouth would be him asking her to do that again.

It gets worse after that, but in a way he doesn't want to stop.

He craves it. More than food or water. Maybe even more than the air he breathes. Wanting to touch her he understood, and it was an equal desire that left him constantly stopping himself during the early days of their courtship, when touching where others could see would only get them in trouble. Still, his hands itch to move toward her, to guide her arm or thread her fingers through his, to hold her and kiss her and then do far more indecent things. But how much he needs her to touch him is the surprise, and one he is not prepared for, cannot be prepared for. As they grow closer and it happens more and more, it's as if his need only increases, and it's so strong he doesn't know what to do with it except try to hold it back, as if afraid that somehow this craving would consume them both if he let it.

Penelope notices, of course. She notices everything. It was one of the first things he loved about her.

When she asked if he didn't want her to touch him, for a wild moment he wanted to laugh and cry. Thousands of words get tangled in his throat, all of them inadequate to describe how he not only wants her touch, always, but needs it.

"I want it," He finally can manage. "More than you know."

She nodded, and when she looked at him again with a little smile and a cunning glint in her eyes, he realized her first question had been meant only to reveal this. To get him to admit it.

She tricked him. It left him stunned, dizzy, awed. Somehow more in love with her than he had already been.

"Then do not deprive yourself," She replied, smiling wider. "Or me."

He couldn't, after that. And never was able to again.

sooo uhhhh being touched starved definitely didn't get worse after being away from his wife and son for so long, no no why do you ask??? Its not like the ache of being away from the only people he feels he can be vulnerable around feels like it's actually killing him some days, nope, definitely not.

Anyways, this is something I'm really trying to get across in my own fic, because it just feels so true to his character for me, so I had to word vomit about it for a bit.

[flexdealer]

I’ve seen people say that Neil getting kidnapped and the confrontation with his father is the climax of tkm but….it’s not? if we were to use save the cat terminology, that’s the darkest night. it’s when everything that can go wrong does go wrong. I understand the confusion because it’s so fraught with tension and the stakes are life or death but Neil’s main motivation throughout the series is exy, it’s what drives him to say yes to playing with the foxes, what launches the whole plot into motion. he picks up other reasons along the way like his teammates and Andrew and wanting to ruin Riko but everything comes back to exy. Neil wants to stay on this team that became his family and he wants to play forever. the climax is the finals match. Ichirou is in attendance to see for himself if what Neil said was true and to decide if Neil gets to play or if he will be terminated. it’s still very much life or death. and it’s what Neil cares about most. he wouldn’t have fought tooth and nail to get back to his team after baltimore if it weren’t for exy because without exy he never would have known them in the first place. the original series begins and ends with exy. it’s called all for the game for a reason. of course the climax is the final game.

[thewitchoftheweed]

the editor that lives in my brain: stop using so many commas and end the fucking sentence

the goblin in my brain: if Faulkner's sentences can go for pages this can go for another line or two, what are you, a cop,

[anotherspookyarchivist]

Thinking about unhinged eyestealer Ford and how to write his backstory within that Frankenstan AU.

For one, a lot of this will have to do with the state Paranoid Ford is in post Stan's death. Ford's mental state worsens when he messes up - Basically Ford is so thrown by Stan's state of... dead... that he pushes himself to the brink while trying to become a necromancer. Ford, exhausts himself and falls asleep.

Bord appears and mutilates Stan's body. (Bill thought it was hilarious to use the crossbow a second time, for symmetry!); Funnily enough, the fact that Stan had been dead for long enough that his eye colour had already started to fade was the only reason Bill didn’t take them to open the portal... So it's left to only 'surface' damages.

After this incident Ford's need to protect Stan('s body) increases immensely - and he ensures that Bill can't possess him any more; However, as we know from TboB: Bill Cipher can possess corpses – and Stanley’s body must have reached the next state of the “deceased” timer – because oh boy Bill is enjoying the new suit! He’s cutting it up – creating bruises and all that. Not even focused on directly tormenting Ford, because he KNOWS now that Stanley was the guy’s weakness. And he loves to exploit that. (Moreover, unlike last time Ford probably wouldn’t shoot the body, right?);

So this is how Ford's over protectiveness reaches a new height. This is the point where he'll use Stan's state of 'dead' to do some additional work pre-revival. Stanley will be the one with the metal plate. (One additional scar to the body!)

Depending on how long Stanley will remain dead the Eyestealer incident would happen pre-resurrection as well, where Ford manages to fight it off - and maybe have some tissue of the thing? to analyse. (Disregarded until Ford's interest in eyes is peaked).

So Ford's motivation are overprotectiveness, guilt, and probably a lot of anger. I'm still not sure how unhinged he'll be (is he getting them from living things? Is he taking them from the dead? For certain he takes them from whichever thing tries to attack them; It'll be a signature move); His research might have revolutionised the medicinal field regarding 'eye donations' (or it could if he were to share his findings? Is he exchanging letters with eye banks? Is the EBAA [Eye Bank Association of America] on his heels for his unsafe practices?)

There is a whole bit where he dreams about removing Bill's eye - even if he'd never use it for anything (it goes against his actual 'mission' of getting potential eyes for Stanley); ...Maybe I'll create a fun dream sequence where he gets to do that. As a treat.

[demigod-shenanigans]

See, if I was smart I’d have done the lost trio week fics in order because that would have given me extra time to do the final ones

Alas, I am not smart and therefore I have fics 4 & 6 finished and 5 & 7 started. Why am I like this

[hephanna]

might post what I currently have of the second chapter of don't go sharing your devotion (lay all your love on me) which is about 10 thousand words, and then just raise the chapter count to 3 for the final act b/c I have already been so late with everything (apologies, I started my Masters right after I began posting)

[morallysuperiorlips]

Fanfiction Taught Me 90% of What I Know About Writing

That’s the gods honest truth. And I’m saying that as someone who has a literal college degree in writing.

I took SO MANY writing classes in college. All genres. Creative. Playwriting. Screenwriting. Editorial. Journalistic. Business. Technical. I’ve been writing since I could hold a pencil correctly, and really started to pursue it in 2nd grade when every teacher following gushed about my writing skills. I can confidently say I’ve been honing my craft for over two decades.

However, I didn’t really git gud at writing until I started really writing fanfiction. Like, joining a fandom and actively writing an ongoing fic for it.

Again, I’d taken years upon years of writing classes. I learned story structure, grammar, theming, POVs, tone, etc. all throughout school. I learned how to receive feedback and edit my work a little more down the road. I learned from professionals in the field. I worked with mentors.

However, none of that helped my skyrocket my skills like writing fanfiction did.

Fanfiction taught me how to actually write deep, nuanced, and compelling characters. I never once filled out a 200-question character sheet for any character I wrote on some silly school assignment. I never knew how to really know my characters until I was writing OCs for a fandom.

Fanfiction taught me the value of being concise. My schooling had drilled the concept of long, purple prose into me over time and in writing for a fandom for a children’s game, I unlearned that real quick.

Fanfiction really taught me the concept of “show, don’t tell.” I never really knew what a penchant I had for info dumping until somebody pointed out to me most of my headcanon’d lore drops happened in exposition and not in action.

Fanfiction taught me how to worldbuild. Eating the canon of my preferred fandom gave me a lot of time to strengthen my chops while I came up with my own answers to canon lore I hated.

Fanfiction taught me consistency. In school, I mostly wrote short stories. I hadn’t really bitten off a longer project until I started writing a longfic, and in doing so, I learned how to keep my characters, plot, and world consistent for a prolonged period of chapters.

Fanfiction gave me a close-knit community to consistently bounce my ideas off of, and give me feedback that actually served me in terms of bettering my skills and the story I was writing. Not just for the sake of meeting the measures of a grade or rubric given by a teacher.

I could go on and on, but tl;dr, I owe my current skillset and understanding of writing to writing fic. I wouldn’t be at the level I am without it. Honestly, I wouldn’t even be writing my current WIP without it.

So, to anyone who might have told you that fanfic is a waste of time, they are just objectively wrong. And if you’re reading this thinking for yourself that fanfic is a waste of time, well, you’re stupid and also objectively wrong :>

Fanfiction is valuable. Don’t underestimate it.

[gioia-writes-and-others]

🦐🤔🦐 MIXED FRIED .....for REAL ?

(dump writer post / snippet / art in progress)

Thank you for the tag to @illarian-rambling HERE,

@the-golden-comet HERE , HERE and HERE,

@alinacapellabooks HERE , @tragedycoded HERE , and

@wyked-original-writing HERE

You're also tagged !! 💋💋

*****

This is more a general update as I reached a point in The Scarred Angel where I HAVE to tied up a few things before going further.... Truth of the last couple of months 🙄

The time for scenes and notes hapardazly written everywhere is OVER ! (Half joke and also LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL)

More seriously : I want to make sure I don't drop everything which will be a huge disappointment for several reasons.

ramble/snippet/art under the cut

Ashley would kick my ass / won't leave me alone if I do so (I know this for a fact)

I spent enough time already on TSA (summer 2023 since the first idea came up + about summer 2024 since actively working on it

The initial idea and characters still have reason to exist

Thing is :

It's the first time I work something this "complex" (?).... aka : I've done, I'm doing and I'll do again many "ERRORS" along the way. (Oh wait! Such goes life.....) I really need an OUTLINE at this point, even a gross one! I have an entire first arc of 6 zero draft chapters plus several others (the current wc is between 60000 and 70000 words) BUT most importantly : I feel the need of keep specific and steady angles to write MY story NOT someone's else. Those same angles that made me start in the first place. And apparently, rn, I have to dig and put them on my board to better keep an eye on it among the mass of infos, researches, things that need to happen, characters development, various other ideas .....+ all the interesting imputs I see around and along the way every day!

Additional note : my mother, that knows nothing about what I'm writing , just sent me a letter from Claudia Sheinbaum, actual mexican president, especially dedicated to "Mr DT" and "Mr EM" from "the rest of the world".

You can find the note on the internet and since a lot of TSA PLOT is about INFORMATION.....guess what? The letter slaps but we're not entirely sure she said so for real 😉

STILL .... it would be awesome if she did and since one of the main inspiration quotes for TSA is "everything happens for a reason", fuck yes, I'll take this as a sign too!

....To be continued.....

****

SNIPPET....

Back to the actual chp 1, draft zero, "Amy on the border"

....

My heart skips another beat.

Phil feared it was too soon yet, that I might not be ready to handle the new environment.

Probably me stopping the meds didn't help him accepting my initiative but it hasn't be  a problem for my chief editor who doesn't know anything about me.

Rather the opposite way around, no way I could have missed how much they were happy about someone volunteering for the assignment.

I'm a newbie in this line of work, just two months since I toke the job, and they accepted nonetheless to send me to cover about the challenging task the local police department must face every day in this powder keg that is THE border.

No kidding.

There is always something going on here, endless supply material for many and many articles.

'Same old, same old' is what I heard at the office among other casual comments and still, keeping an 'attentive eye' upon the border situation it's considered a must, so that when something significant seems to come up they do actually send a 'soldier on the battlefield' in order to get first hand information.

I'm nowhere near close to have my own opinion on the matter but I basically threw myself on the opportunity.

.........

ART

Amy doesn't know yet but Ashley's already out there ....

Tag NP and a drink 🍻☕🍷☕ 🍹🍻 let me see what you got

@kiennwrites @gaslightwestern @spottedleech

@bi0mass @legalownerofufoemoji @dragoninatrenchcoat

@bluefiredesire @aalinaaaaaa

@lunaeuphternal @zackprincebooks @wyked-rebellion

@vesanal @jev-urisk @badscientist

@peach-the-gospel @jacobwren @inadequatecowboy

@orphanheirs @riveriafalll @saturnine-saturneight

@cowboybrunch @words-after-midnight @the-letterbox-archives

@angofwords @topazadine @aintgonnatakethis

@deanwax @thecomfywriter @leahnardo-da-veggie

@lychhiker-writes @avaseofpeonies

@mapplesand @kaeru483 @lullabynorth

@theeccentricraven @willtheweaver @dnschmidt

@keeping-writing-frosty @ryns-ramblings @aspiring-dreamer

@rivenantiqnerd @pertweefan1970 @agirlandherquill

@innerthoughtsmonologue @noxxytocin @moltenwrites

+ OPEN

[queenjunothegreat]

Back on my "coming out of anesthesia" bullshit, there was one time when Jason has surgery and when he was waking up he suddenly broke into distressed, heartbroken wailing and nobody could figure out why or calm him down. Turns out, he had immediately fallen head over heels in love with Leo at first sight, but the he heard Leo casually say "my husband" and Jason was convinced that the love of his life was a married man who would never love him back.

[bloomingdarkgarden]

when u really really really just want to write the climactic romance sequence of your fic but for some godforsaken reason you chose to write a full length novel with plot and multiple pov warfare and you have to finish the penultimate battle chapter instead.

[wishmemellon]

I need to finish a Brutecass fic just so I can make the tags “barbarian acts of sex” right next to “oral sex” a thing.