#anyway appreciate the cut part from istmsams

[mallowstep]

hey again! i was the anon that asked about how you write the beginnings to your fics. your feeling was right; i wasn’t really asking about plot. my problem was that i was staring at a blank screen, trying to come up with a beginning scene, and failing because i didn't know how to begin. a commenter said something about challenging themselves to write a scene that establishes the major divergences from canon, which is exactly what i've been trying to do. even though i know what i want, i don't seem to know how to go about it. i think it's because i'm usually a very descriptive writer, but for this fic, i wanted to do something simpler, and now that’s putting me at a loss. i’m so used to starting fics off descriptively that i'm not sure how do it any other way.

HHHHHHH FUUUCK TUMBLR SDL;FJ;DSALKJF

FUCK TUMBLR!

okay. so. sorry. i wrote a WHOLE FUCKING THING. dear god. i fucking.

it's been a while since it was relevant, but i have a issue with repeating work. like. it's something my brain won't let me do. so this is going to be much, much shorter than it was initially and i'm sorry about that.

anyway.

you're making this too hard. look at this first draft of a paragraph from a published novel:

[id: paragraph of nearly illegible handwritten text]

as you can see, only one sentence remains.

i'm going to include my own example from istmsams under a cut (because of the daddy thing).

you can change your first scene, but only if you actually write it. which means if you can write a descriptive intro, write that. don't worry about how you actually want to start. just get some words on the page.

there's a reason published novelists write the whole thing first and edit.

rough draft: (also, aside, tumblr's beta editor makes it almost impossible to type indented text conveniently. first, ">" should be the block quote shortcut, because that's what it does in markdown. it's really annoying that it goes to a quote block. (block quote = intendented text; quote block = tumblr big serif letters.)

Dovewing churrs, rubbing her temple against Tigerstar's shoulder. "I don't want to upset you," she says. "I'm sorry if you saw Daddy playing with me."

"Don't call him that!" Ivypool hisses. "Stars, I'm right --- you don't --- urgh!"

"You did follow me."

"Because you were going to meet him."

"Which I did."

"And?"

"And you can't yell at me because you decided to watch."

"But you know I'm here now!"

Dovewing pouts. Not that it will [draft cuts off mid sentence]

"You're the one who had the idea to follow me, knowing where I was going."

Ivypool curls her lip. "Sorry, I didn't expect my sister to be calling

draft cuts off mid sentence lol.

final version:

Dovewing churrs, rubbing her temple against Tigerheart’s shoulder. “What do you mean?”

“You—”

“Ivypool,” Tigerheart warns. “Now isn’t a good time for this.”

“Because you were about to fuck her? Yeah, what ThunderClan really needs is more halfClan kits.”

“Because you’re upsetting her.” He kisses her temple.

“It’s fine,” Dovewing says. The look she gives Tigerheart makes it clear what she wants to add, and Ivypool is grateful she doesn’t. “But it is weird that you followed me.”

“When you say you’re going on walks at night, but I find hay in your nest, I do grow concerned.”

“Hay?” Tigerheart eyes Dovewing. “Kitten—”

“Stray piece. Could’ve been from anything.” She flicks her ears. That’s not the point. It’s still weird that Ivypool followed.”

“Yeah, trust me, I wish I hadn’t.” Ivypool flops to the ground. “But really, Dove, daddy?”

“Not that it’s your business, but yes.” Dovewing’s ears flick a few times, and she can’t quite meet Ivypool’s eyes.