#How I Write

[airglowairi]

How my set up looks while im either role-playing or writing my fanfic

Music playing

Mothman, Zim, and my cat accompanying me

Pillow, mouse pad, and calander are from @banana-zim shop on esty. They have beautiful merchandise there ♡♡

[fanaticsnail]

I have a question about your WIPs of a different kind: how do you not lose sight of all the WIPs and ideas when you write so many at the same time ? And what is your progress when crafting a Story (multi chapter or one Shot) in general? If its okay to ask?! To some, there work progress is very personal so i get If you don't wanna answer it 😊

Because i am over here like:

And I wanna cram all my initial ideas in one thing and then there is the next Idea and I get overwhelmed and then i forget little details and scenes i was so proud of. And then i am to overwhelmed to write anything down 🥺 or i wanna sleep and the ideas come to me just then and are gone the next morning haha 🥲

And you are more like this with your writing✨:

Also your recent WIP-List is soo exciting

Have a beautiful start of the day, Snail✨🍀i will go to bed now!

Oh no, believe you me -> I am exactly like that. My writing process is not pretty and all of my thoughts are maddening. Thank you for asking, I'm happy to show you exactly how my brain maps out if you like!

A glimpse of my writing process:

Snail: "Oh, I have this idea. I wonder what it would look like if I just..." writes a small introduction, gets overcome with the thoughts, watches it play out on my screen the longer I write, letting the words take over, surprised at the scenes coming out, genuinely shocked by the plot like watching a movie for the first time, nodding along and wondering how the hell that happened, writes a one sentence conclusion.

Snail: "...oh, but I can't just leave it there. I should just-." keeps writing, oh no now it's a lengthy series, playlists and soundtracks propel me to keep going, freaking out about the word count now, keep writing until satisfied with the conclusion.

And then it sits in my documents until it happens again for another fic. The amount of ideas I have for myself is insane, and I try to find the time to add a little bit per day for one or the other. Then I go through it and read it a bit later and format it then and see if I can get more giddy emotions to come out of it while editing.

Then there's the fics I haven't written that play out in my mind like a little story when I drive (obviously focussing on the road too) like the Cabaret at Baratie fic I've been attempting to write and map out for a few months now. I keep getting side tracked because I want you to not only have a "why choose" between Sanji and Zoro, but imagine it being the Heart Pirates, Cross Guild, Kid-Pirates, it just never ends.

Here's my current unhinged docs (I have blurred the ones that are a little incredibly NSFW).

When the ideas come to me at night, I usually text myself a note in the middle of it so I don't forget. The Apprentice with Mihawk and When You Had The Chance with Beckman were fics that came from the middle of the night prompts.

I'm also lucky enough to have some beautiful mutuals who chat to me and listen to my unhinged ramblings and add little points to spur me on. Chef-husband has also been on the receiving end of such ramblings. I also keep asks and requests in my ask box until I form something cohesive, which is why it takes me so long to answer some things.

SO TO SUM UP: I am exactly like this too.

How I think I write:

How I actually write:

[battlemaiden13]

I am the same anon from before :) I have problems with writing like when do i start a paragraph? Where do i put the apostrophe? How do i describe a character when they’re nervous or angry? (Sorry for ranting 😅) Anon🪐

Paragraphs are used for camera changes. If the scene shifts in your mind then it's a paragraph. If someone new starts talking it's a paragraph. If there is a new thought, new paragraph. If you've written a huge chunk it probably needs a paragraph.

Apostrophes are used to show possession Edge's car, Papyrus' mug, Blue's armour. They are also used in the place of letters for shortening words (I am to I'm, they are to they're) or for accents like how I write Red speech sometimes.

describing characters feelings I like to either draw on my own experiences or pick up traits from people watching. what do you feel when your nervous or angry? I mean you can also get a bit abstract with it. Feelings aren't all black and white:

Ace felt as if a fire was spreading through her chest, her hands were bawled into tight fist by her sides and she was shaking so badly her blood must have been boiling from the movement.

She didn't notice any of that though, staring at the dust scattered in front of her, hearing her heavy breathing in her ears and thinking just one thought.

She was going to skin that lizard alive.

Obviously Ace isn't actual boiling her blood or a fire spreading through her chest but the world falling to silence so she could only hear her own breathing happens when your mad. Ace is mad by the way. I didn't say that once in that short snippet. You don't have to straight up tell an audience but also don't be afraid to. Your allowed to just say someone is mad or upset or really happy and excited and honestly sometimes us as readers need that.

Write for you. Ask people for help, get a beta reader if you want to share, read your writing out loud to yourself or a friend but write for fun. it doesn't need to be good or perfect. Just enjoy yourself.

Hope this helps.

[willows-adventures-in-words]

How it Started

So, TLDR (because this turned out longer than intended) I had no intention of writing fanfiction for VoicePlay but then I heard a reactor refer to Geoff as a dragon and that was the end of that.

Now for the details. I'll start at the beginning. Late last year I started listening to/watching their videos. The first video I watched was Enemy because YouTube suggested it to me. And I thought, sure I like Imagine Dragons. I watched a few of their videos and thought they were cool. Later in the year I really started watching some of their older videos. This year Youtube suggested I watch people react to VoicePlay and I thought, that could be fun to watch.

Well, I was right. It was fun. And technically gave me more VP content since I was running out of videos that I thought would be fun. (I mean I was wrong. There were other fun videos I hadn't seen at that point yet) Everything went downhill when I watched someone react to Geoff's cover of Jack's Lament from Nightmare Before Christmas (highly recommend) and called him a dragon.

So it's basically Mortius's fault.

Though I did find other people calling him that, that moment was the turning point. First I told myself NO. I will not write fanfiction for this. I'm not going to write fanfiction for a band. Not again. But then when I was at work, I started brainstorming ways to make an idea come to light and I knew it was over. I've resigned myself to that fate. I was going to write something. It was just a matter of what.

First, it was going to be medieval times-ish with Geoff being a dragon that can shapeshift into a human. Well, I dismissed the idea. Then I was stuck but the idea wouldn't leave. Geoff with dragon powers... Then the thought hit me. What if he got the ability somehow? I didn't know how yet but I'd concluded it would be a post-apocalyptic setting. And that's where it started. So, with the inspiration from the Seven Nation Army cover video, on March 9 I started writing.

(I still wasn't comfortable with the idea of writing VoicePlay fanfiction so I tweaked their names a little to make myself feel better)

But that's not the end yet. Because in my mind, post-apocalyptic means AFTER the apocalypse had already happened and it's some time later. Now at this point I'd already written two disconnected scenes. And then I realized that post-apocalyptic wouldn't work anymore. Because one of the scenes I wrote was Geoff's ability 'activating'. So I started a new brainstorming session to figure out how Geoff, and the others, got their abilities.

So, long story short, it was a government/military thing where they wanted to test some new thing they created. They did a few testings but wanted a bigger sample size and choose a city. The thing they tested sometimes gives people side effects like powers. The details are vague because I still have no idea on how to make HOW they tested it make a little bit of sense. I'm very slow with the whole writing thing.

And that is how I started writing VoicePlay Fanfiction. Because at this point I've started a side-project that is based on of the collabs they've done. No name changing. Legit fanfiction.

[primevein]

Currently creating dozens of characters.

Once the characters are created, I can pick which ones I want to use in the story, and keep which ones I like.

[dreamcatcherwriting]

I write by rhythm. The beat of sentences, the rise and fall of the words, is so incredibly important to me. If I can't find a word with the right syllables to fit the pattern I have in my head, it bothers me. Sometimes I'll even edit the word a little, so it's not quite the shape it ought to be, but at least it fits the rhythm.

Often I need a word with a specific sound on the end to fit as well. This is bothersome if I can't find one. I often wish I could just make up words and have people know what they mean.

My writing is kind of like poetry. It has to fit, it has to flow. It's not in a poetic format, it is prose, but it has a beat it follows and I can feel it in my head and if I deviate from that it feels wrong, like trying to twist your arm in a way that it doesn't go. It's very interesting.

[grandpierreva]

I'm in the mood to write a design document on how I would have written and directed FNAF SB. Not with the intent to one up Steel Wool but mostly just to keep my ideas on paper. Would anyone be interested in reading my insane ramblings?

[the-penguin-of-baskervilles]

when you are writing a fic do you have most of it planned out beforehand or do you kind of make it up as you go along?

In the past, I've mainly identified as a plotter.

My typical approach to a story was to use Google sheets and write out mini summaries of each chapter. I used Blake Snyder’s story beats, the 27 chapter method, Dan Wells’ seven point story structure, the Highway and Service Road method from Jane Cleland’s book, “Mastering Plot Twists” and everything in between.

However, after composing the blueprint for a story I’d often be bored and struggle to write the actual novel. Knowing what happened next killed the vibe. Another issue that I saw in my writing was that my character development and their growth cycles sometimes felt stilted and forced. Whether or not I could capture the essence of a character was a roulette of hit or miss.

Because of that, I approached TPATL in a different manner. I felt like I finally knew structure well enough that I could pull off a character driven story - I’d attempted it before, around 2018, and it ended disastrously. TPATL exists primarily because Lloyd was the perfect character with enough conflict and personality drama to keep pushing the story forward. The tension between him making a conscious choice to be good, when his natural instinct is to be bad, and the effect that Princess has on him in suppressing a lot of those urges, makes a character driven story about him much easier to develop.

I do still use plotting and structure to set overarching plot goals, but the finer details of the story are left open for spontaneous creation. For example, I knew I wanted to write the scene where the stalker enters Lloyd’s backyard and attacks Princess by the swimming pool from the start. The identity of the stalker though, was up for debate until this morning when I officially decided who it was. I really enjoyed writing this way. Using structure when I needed it to figure out where I was going and letting the rest unfurl organically was fun and frustrating. There have been several points where I’d painted myself into a corner and didn’t know how to get out. But something always came together in the end - albeit to varying degrees of success and gracefulness. (Ahem… subplot with Lloyd and Sheriff Holbrook, I’m looking at you. That ended up taking so long that I just decided to cut it short. I deleted a bunch of content that would’ve rounded it out, and yes, I do mean deleted as in permanently deleting those chapters from my hard drive/cloud.)

Writing TPATL as a character driven story has enriched my ability to think on my feet, solve plot holes as they crop up, and write characters with richer internal conflicts. Even Princess has become more complex to the point where she’s less of a reader insert and more of a real character. Her behavior is fairly consistent and there’s an identifiable personality with its own unique thought patterns.

I even dove into Lloyd’s childhood with the Idaho subplot. Unfortunately, this had the side effect of turning the story into a massive plot sprawl. I needed to wrap things up and tie off loose ends to get back to the main storyline. In hindsight, had I planned this out architect style, the narrative would have flowed smoother, culminating in a more logical conclusion.

As I approach the climax of TPATL, I’ve found myself grappling with a number of challenges because of my lack of planning. At this point, the whole thing is a maze. It’s irritating, especially for someone averse to revisiting their past work, but it’s forced me to think creatively and find innovative solutions when I’ve written myself into a corner.

So, to answer your question: usually I’m a plotter. My natural inclination is towards plotting, but TPATL has been an exercise in flying by the seat of my pants. I’d say that this current story has been 85% improvised and 15% planned.

[bigtreefest]

Your writing inspires me and I've a lot of ideas for fics and such just swimming in my head, but I ain't able to put anything on paper, and I really just wanna share my thoughts with the world.

Ya got any tips?

Hi, nonnie! Thank you so much! I can’t believe what I share is so inspiring and I’m so happy you want to write! Idk if I have tips, but I can give you an example of what writing can look like? I guess my mechanism of action could be the equivalent of a tip.

To give some insight to my process, it usually starts with swirling thoughts in my head. It’ll be a certain scene or a line of dialogue, so I write it down as soon as I can so I don’t forget it.

From there, as the thought continues to tumble, I get more details that are thrown in, so I write those in, too, which helps the story start to take form. This is sentences instead of fragments, and actual interactions or thoughts or movements of the character.

Then I start to think about how they got there, where they’re going from this one moment I was able to think up. That gets written down, too. It doesn’t have to be pretty, or have perfect grammar, but anything you deem worthy of note should be put down. Sometimes, you have multiple scenes you want in the same fic, but they’re written in different places. I combine them and shift them around for the order of events I intended to get a rough draft. Then I go through and proofread and add more details- facial expressions, sounds, setting pieces. I probably proofread like two more times, make sure it says what I was trying to, then will post.

For an example, in my first Jake fic, ‘Touch My Butt,’ I literally only started with the title. I knew I wanted an awkward Jake, who was afraid of pushing things too far. Then I asked, ‘okay, why is he afraid?’ That came with, maybe he accidentally said something that could’ve been taken the wrong way when they met. And then that led to ‘well, how did they meet? What exactly did they do?’ And the fic spiraled from there. Once you start to get into writing a certain idea, the words will flow, you just have to start somewhere and be alright with the choppy beginnings. That’s where the hard effort is, then the additions are easier.

The biggest thing overall is, don’t be afraid to make mistakes or take as long as you need to post. Writing takes time and practice. The first thing you post might not be great, mine sure as heck wasn’t, but I look at what I write now and what I wrote then and I’m astounded by the growth. And I m sure the same will happen when I look back in the future.

In summary, start with the thoughts you have and put them down. They don’t have to be pretty. Then fill in the gaps from there. Make sure all the details that were in your mind have a way to fit in and then proofread.

Anyone else who has tips, feel free to add!

[contentloadingandstuff]

heyyo :>

i've been a reading your works for a while and I've been curious on the process on how you write since I find the way you write very pleasing ! I'm curious on the steps you take once you get like an idea or start working on a request since this and trying to make up so much just from a prompt are the things i struggle a lot with when i try to write— & vvv quickly wanted to ask if you'd ever put your works up on ao3 ? thank you & wish you the bestest !

Hello, fellow writer!

Thank you! People say that sometimes, and it never fails to make me confused. I suppose the reader sees things that the writer cannot...

As you mentioned already, the first step is the idea, or the prompt. In the early days I just used Spin The Wheel for writing suggestions, but nowadays there's no shortage of ideas in my inbox.

So you could say that the idea isn't a problem, right? Wrong.

Not every one is the same. The key point in picking the right ask/idea is making it into a readable, interesting fic. In that sense, not every prompt is doable. Aside from the obvious ones that include things I don't write for, here are a few examples.

Too specific/complicated. Some asks include specific details that are hard to fit into the story as I see it, or limit the writing freedom. There are also the ones that basically are whole fics in themselves. *cough*Shrine Incident*cough*

Repetitive, and I don't mean the ask itself. Writing the exact same scenario over and over, but with different characters would lead to monotony on the blog, and very noticable shortage of unique content. Say, a wedding ceremony for every female character I write for. It would get really repetitive really fast, as most would just follow their culture's traditions with slight differences. Forcing every single one to be unique would be silly and OOC.

This may be a little harsh, but some are uninteresting. They are very rare, but they happen. Things like "their reaction to reader tripping on a shoelace" or "their reaction to getting a gift" would not amount to much readable content, as the reactions would be very limited in variety or straight up identical. Splitting the hairs would be annoying to write and boring to read.

The best ideas are those that are general, leaving much freedom for the writer, but still draw a rough framework to work within.

Now that I have the idea, I need to think it over (as every writer does). It usually takes plenty of time since I want to get solid ideas, not just any random thoughts. Not all ideas are workable into a readable fic as well. It takes longer for pure headcanons since those consist entirely of ideas. The general thought process for the more story-driven fics is something like "I want this to happen" or "I want to include this". Before I get to writing the post down, I already have a general, ordered plot line - it's only a matter of putting it into words and filling the gaps to connect the most important bits. The planning happens during my day - it comes naturally to me. Never once have I sat down and decided to think exclusively about a fic before making it.

There is also the research phase of my writing. Not all fics need research, but if they do, I won't shy away from it. I learned a lot about sepsis from an actual doctor when I was writing the old Fatui!Reader fic with Yelan, I read A LOT, and I mean A LOT about pregnancy for the fluff headcanons to make sure everything is realistic, making sure that X existed in medieval/reinessance times (it is very hard to decide if I should include it sometimes because Genshin's world is like a game of Sid Meier's Civilisation when it comes to technology), I watched a lot of pole dancing tutorials before writing the triple Sumeru smut to get a good reference point... speaking of smut, there is a lot of research going on there.

Why? Because I want to make smut hot. That is the ultimate objective, and sadly my nsfw imagination isn't that good. It has been getting better with the amount of smut I made so far, but it isn't as good as that of some authors. I also want to make sure things look and act as they would in reality. The realism, or making things believable, is one of my main objectives. That is also why smut takes the second spot for the longest writing time - I always want to make sure that things are in order and of as high quality as I can make them. Sadly, smut rarely has any comments. I know why, I understand why, but it does leave me guessing if it was really any good more often than not.

The final part of planning is choosing a format, and sometimes it is kind of hard to do. There are the obvious picks, but sometimes the request is vague enough, and the idea could work in all three - the bulleted headcanons, the mixed headcanons, and the narrative. There are a bunch of miscellany formats too, but I seldom use them.

When the planning is done, the writing part begins. It is rarely done in one sitting, since sometimes I get stuck on specific (usually liminal) points. The longer I am, the more frustrated and tired I get (the extensive planning itself is mentally exhausting, believe it or not), and I never want to write when exhausted. That said, there are some fics that I wrote like this, and people seemed to pay no mind. But still - I want to make sure I am thinking straight while putting my ideas into words. It is sort of a given, I know.

Sometimes I also pass the fic to my beta reader, but it's complicated. Then it's publishing time.

My advice here is to take frequent breaks. If you're barely keeping your eyes open, if you have a headache, if you want to throw your phone/pc/notebook through the nearest window, stop. Take a break, come back when you feel like it. (I'm assuming you write something like fanfiction) Do remember that fanfics are more about the vibe and ideas than real literary substance. If there's no willingness or passion when you write them, they may come out bland and forced. Personally, I focus on all three, but I would advise anyone to do otherwise. It's oftentimes a lot to think through, a lot to plan, and it occasionally gets frustrating.

Unless we're talking serious fanfiction, which in my writing is the Necro AU. Double everything I wrote here and you will get how much thought goes into the AU. Yeah.

As for making fics out of prompts. It depends heavily on the kind of prompt, the kind of fiction, the topic of the prompt, the characters involved and so on and so forth. Sometimes the prompt works with the character, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it gives you too little to work with, sometimes it gives you too much. I find that the ideas come to me themselves, but sometimes getting a bit of inspiration goes a long way. For example, when I was writing the smut and fluff headcanons for respectively Candace + Nilou and Candace, I went to an archeology exhibition regarding Tutankhamun's tomb. Yes, it was in my plans for a long time and yes, I used the ask as an excuse to finally go there, but it made writing that fun nevertheless. Sometimes you just need the right mood to get the ideas flowing.

I hope you find all of what I said coherent, and maybe even helpful to some degree. All of it is just my take on the matter, subjective, based in my own experiences and so on.

If you want to ask something more specific, or if you want me to help you with something, you can always DM me - I would be more than happy to help :3

EDIT: I'll post a select few of the more suitable fics on AO3, as well as Mortuarius. I was told that AO3 folk like AUs more than people do here on Tumblr.

[kassienovapoetry]

I bring my journals out of the house

I am a sieve; the world is a geyser filtered through

You can’t hear, it’s deafening

The flow wanes as I choke and clot with “life”

A void opens .

Rectangles of leather, carsick, pressed leaves, bus timetables

Scrape those crusty clots, clearing a way

My journals bring me out of the house.

[barbex]

I'm curious both about the editor you're using (tell me more?) and "abandoned spaceship" 👀

"Abandoned Spaceship" is nothing, yet. It's an idea seed I want to work on for the short story project at @the-wip-project. I thinking of something like a ghost ship vibe, but in space, maybe with mysterious aliens. I don't have much, not yet.

But I can talk about the editor! Reedsy is a great site with resources for writers, a marketplace of editors, designers, ghostwriters, and so on. The editor is a new project by them.

In my quest of leaving google docs behind, I tried several writing programs. My requirements were:

1. Browser based, because I write on Linux, Android, and Windows. Must work on phone and tablet.

2. Runs on Firefox, because if I want to get away from Google, I'm not going to use Chrome.

3. Uncluttered interface, font size adjustable, places to keep separate notes and snippets but connected to the story.

4. Basic functions are free.

I tried many programs and I seem to stick with the reedsy editor right now. It hasn't disappointed me so far and the interface doesn't distract me.

I think you need to register at reedsy.com first, and then you access the editor at https://editor.reedsy.com/.

Thanks for the ask!

[xxoxobree]

how do u write ur fics

they’re literally so good

I usually just write what I feel without planning ahead and it usually turns out bad

pls babes spill 🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿

I write like that too I’m not gone lie 🤣🤣

But I write 3 times.

The first time is the rough draft just to get all the ideas out of my head to not forget them then I read that over and rephrase and rewrite make everything sound pretty, Then I go over it one more time and proofread and add anything else I want to the story.

It’s a process tho and I be getting lost in the sauce sometimes too so I put the story down for a while and do my 3 step to see where it goes and continue writing until I like the story.

[musewrangler]

Hey, I don’t know if you ended up getting any of these, so…

20. Do you work on a single project or many at the same time? How does that work for you?

This is so thoughtful. Thank you dear!

I always have more than one project on the burner at a time. xD This is usually a combo of fic and art. I have discovered this is helpful for me because if I have writer's block on one project, often working on another helps to both further that fic and make the the other project jealous so it gets more ideas. ;D

It's quite fabulous how ideas will pop into my head for the other stories while working on one of them. I can always pause and write those ideas down before I resume work on the current story.

And I have also realized---sometimes if all writing feels bleh, it's time to work on an art project. xD Get my brain into a very different mode, not to mention my hands. As I'm usually illustrating my stories, it's a joy to look at my characters' faces and draw inspiration from them for the writing.

Thank you so much for the ask!!

[thoughts-stuck-somewhere]

Forget heroin, just try giving up irony, that deep-down need to mean two things at once, to be in two places at once, not to be there for the catastrophe of a fixed meaning.

Edward St. Aubyn

[tales-from-nocturnaliss]

I was asked how I write, and for the life of me I didn't know how to reply to that.

Then my dear friend @kathea swooped in with a great idea and here we are, with a little snippet that shows what exactly I'm working on doing currently.

As extrapolated on in this post, I've been trying to rekindle my love of writing and, so doing, realized nothing says I have to rewrite old stories into my current style. Thus, instead, I'm using my skill level to enhance old works and it has been a lot of fun to revisit this old, flowery style while fixing plotholes, PoV, continuity, etc etc...

It's been going better than I could have expected.

So here we go @desastreus, an example of what I do! :D

(extra detail: 'magic' is a word that doesn't exist as-is on Aeyuu. Every race has a name for it that has a different meaning/weight. Thus, I added in this new information to 'update' the old version, in such a way that context explains what 'viira' means).