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Stuff I Learned at My Writing Workshop (That I’m Kicking Myself in the Head for Not Realizing Sooner):

-  The difference between a book that grabs you from the beginning vs. one that you’re on the fence about tossing out the window is winning your trust. It’s why it’s “easier” to read books by authors you already know, or fanfic where you’re familiar with the characters. Winning the reader’s trust as quickly as possible should be your first goal as a writer when you’re going back and editing your first draft. This can be accomplished by things like: speaking authoritatively about the subject (even if it’s utter bullshit), graceful prose, or establishing quickly in the story what it’s about. For example,“Character A had a problem. Character B didn’t love them back, so Character A was going to kidnap them so they would.” Maybe it’s not a story you want to read, but you are now firmly couched in what you signed up for in this story and the promise the author is going to deliver on before the end. 

- Characters need goals. They need goals in every moment and in every scene. Every character needs a goal in every moment and in every scene. Maybe they’re not directly pursuing that goal right this very moment but it’s probably always at the back of their mind. Romances and detective stories are the easiest to deliver on this need. Character A wants to win their love. Detective A wants to solve the case. Even when they’re having tea with grandma, their thing is at the back of their mind. Keeping your character and your story focused on this thing they want helps pull your reader along and keeps them engaged on the “So what?” and “Why are we reading this scene?” questions of why they should keep reading.

- Characters shouldn’t just have things they like, they should have obsessions. This is the one I’m kicking myself for. The scientists in Pacific Rim are eccentrically obsessed with studying their thing. Thorin in the Hobbit is obsessed with regaining his home. Katniss Everdeen is obsessed with protecting her sister. Every crazy whackadoodle fandom darling character is obsessed with something. What do they have in common? They’re intensely obsessed with the thing that they care about. We love characters who are obsessed with things beyond reason, whether it’s reclaiming their home stolen by a dragon, or building artisanal bird houses, saving your sister, or studying monsters. Everyone “likes” things, but people and characters who are obsessed with something fascinate us. Examine the characters you’re most attracted to writing in fanfic, and examine your original characters if you’re trying to build those, and figure out what are they obsessed with and how does that inform their character. That’s the thing that’s going to make readers care about them. 

(Was this advice helpful? Consider donating to my Ko-fi!)

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i was so ready to accept that there was just an evil boy band. these magical girls have a singing gimmick so the villains have to as well, don't think too hard about it just enjoy the show.

but no.

this was a targeted decision. they decided to form a boy band just to fuck with huntrix directly. they did this on PURPOSE. and in order to do this, jinu had to:

study modern pop music

write and choreograph his own routine

calibrate it specifically to go viral on tiktok (whistle and shoulder thing both easily replicated by your average fan, brilliant move)

find four 'conventionally hot' demons

TEACH THEM TO DANCE in PERFECT SYNC with the expert precision of chart topping bands

they had rehearsals

in the demon realm

for what, months? years??

was there a chalkboard that said "Always Be Posing" ??

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new one

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fanfic writing culture isn’t “oh dang! I wanted to write about this prompt with this character but someone else already wrote it, so now I can’t”.

fanfic writing culture is always “two cakes is better than one. the more the merrier. there can ever be enough fics of this character with this prompt!”

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Albus: Okay, so right here, it states that you’re creative. Gellert: Yes Albus: Alright... may I know what you create? Gellert: Problems.

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Guys. Im holding y'alls hands but the answer is *not* to ask dream for new boundaries or his alleged girlfriend's. fandom (and particularly rpf) is not *for them*. if you need to have dream's or anyone else's approval to do anything/not harass anyone, please leave rpf bc this is not the place for you. we need to have the barrier between fandom and ccs and that starts with not running to them to ask if its okay to write fic abt them, their friends, their SOs or whoever else. use your common sense to evaluate what *you* can handle, and block and move on when you find lines that are different from your personal definition of what is okay. the witchhunt *starts* when ppl try to create different stratas of fans and award themselves with golden stars for not being the weird ones

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y’all ever read a fanfic that you cannot believe an author just wrote for free?? what an honor it is to read a piece of someone’s soul they shared out of nothing but love for a piece of media. what a privilege it is to be allowed their talent because you share an interest!!

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"just write a little every day" ok but what if i write nothing for 3 weeks and then suddenly type like i’m being hunted by god

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when god closes a door you reach your little paws under it and go mrrwwaaaooow mmreeaaow

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how can someone so tall look so tiny and pocketable

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When writing always remember… a character flaw is only a flaw until becomes useful. 

Is your protagonist manipulative? Well that’s awful… until they manipulate the antagonist into making a decision that saves the lives of their friends. 

Is your protagonist a skeptic? Well that’s not good… until someone tries to lie to them. 

Is your protagonist overprotective? That sucks… until someone they love is in danger. 

Is your protagonist remorseless? Well that makes them pretty unlikeable… until a hard decision has to be made. 

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Chapters: 7/7 Fandom: Video Blogging RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF) Characters: Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Darryl Noveschosch | BadBoyHalo, Iván Buhajeruk | Spreen, Sam | Awesamdude, Zak Ahmed | Skeppy Additional Tags: Au Based on The Forest/Sons of the Forest, Minor Character Death, Canon-Typical Violence, Memory Loss, Blood and Injury, Wilderness Survival, First Aid, cannibals, Demons Series: Part 1 of The Solafite Files Summary:

Dream is a survival expert, hired by a squad of for-hire ex-military personnel for a secret mission in a hidden location. He gets along well with his squad, patching them up from the scrapes and tangles they get themselves into in the wilderness. Their mission is on a need-to-know basis, and Dream doesn’t have the clearance, but when it all goes pear-shaped, Dream will have to use every skill in his arsenal to get himself and the team back alive.

Featuring this art piece from Zua:

https://x.com/Lazyhumanoid30/status/1937794799962345562

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My piece art from @extrasteps "Survivors"

Go go read it guys!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/66879214/chapters/172609264#workskin

[extrasteps]

Chapters: 7/7 Fandom: Video Blogging RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF) Characters: Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Darryl Noveschosch | BadBoyHalo, Iván Buhajeruk | Spreen, Sam | Awesamdude, Zak Ahmed | Skeppy Additional Tags: Au Based on The Forest/Sons of the Forest, Minor Character Death, Canon-Typical Violence, Memory Loss, Blood and Injury, Wilderness Survival, First Aid, cannibals, Demons Series: Part 1 of The Solafite Files Summary:

Dream is a survival expert, hired by a squad of for-hire ex-military personnel for a secret mission in a hidden location. He gets along well with his squad, patching them up from the scrapes and tangles they get themselves into in the wilderness. Their mission is on a need-to-know basis, and Dream doesn't have the clearance, but when it all goes pear-shaped, Dream will have to use every skill in his arsenal to get himself and the team back alive.

Featuring this art piece from Zua:

https://x.com/Lazyhumanoid30/status/1937794799962345562

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He's grown so much oh my god I feel insane.

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the elephant in the room is actually really important for the feng shui of the place so i’d appreciate it if you left it alone