#because I tend to reread paragraphs multiple times because I get lost

[dinitride-art]

how long did it take you to watch the van scene the first time? about how many times did you rewind? did you catch the lip glance right away? did you think it was heading in a byler positive direction when mike was talking? how about when will was talking? were you happy/disappointed by the painting? how did you feel by the end of it? how devastated were you by will's crying?

Oof, well, actually I didn’t watch the van scene/ep.9 until like a solid week after vol. 2 came out because I was watching it with people. So, when I did actually watch it it was all in one go. But at that point I’d already seen every stage of devastation and cautious hopefulness that happened in the like 2 days after vol.2 dropped. So, technically, it took me the actually amount of time to watch the van scene that it took to play out.

I’m also really bad at watching things the first time and actually processing what’s happening? I’ve got a really bad memory so it’s kinda hard to get emotionally invested when I don’t actually remember over half of what happened lol. That’s probably why I like doing analysis’ and theories because that’s the only way I can actually remember anything about the show- so even if I did watch the van scene the first time I’m not actually 100% sure that I would’ve been emotionally devastated. I don’t remember watching it- but I think I remember thinking, ‘oh, it’s not actually that bad’

This isn’t really an answer but it’s uh it’s what happened lol

[theroundbartable]

I honestly have no idea how you write so many fanfics and how they're all so good I'm so impressed by you

I have actually.... Kinda stopped posting for a while.... But like.... Thank you (灬º‿º灬)♡

(i'm working on multiple stories actually. All which I'm not satisfied with.... Or done with. I'm not used to having so many WiPs. Believe it or not.

The one i'm bsing on right now has 60 pages and I am Not even close to being done. )

I guess the main reason I have so many ideas, is because BBC Merlin has like a dozen plot holes per episode, potential for many concepts and a background history of hundreds of books that I can mix like Tarot cards.

For how I get to write so many.... i simply don't have a life? XD okay, fine. I have a job, which takes about 10 hours +/-1 of my day, depending on how busy we are.

And I also have friends and housework duties. But I usually meet those on weekends.

Which leaves me with round about 4-5 hours a day to work on my projects. Be it art or stories depends on how my brain acts that particular day. I tend to use that time as much as possible.

During my time at work (I'm working post press at a print factory), I have lots of time to let my mind run wild. It's an unconscious thing I do, so I don't get wrapped up in anxiety (there are days when this method does not work.) This continues when I drive home, but this time with musical background, which also influences my mood and ideas.

I spend my break time reading fanfic, btw. Like a responsible adult :)

I often like to combined overused tropes. The more I use, the more complex and original the story. (there is nothing wrong with a flower shop au. But combine this with rivals to lovers with a biker gang au, add a little shapeshifting into animals into the mix and grand a cat the ability to see the future and bam, unique story created. Not that I ever do it on purpose. I usually search for a specific au and then it's not specific enough to satisfy all the tropes i wanna see in that moment XD)

When I get home, I usually try to get those ideas out of my head, so I can focus on other things. Like new shows I wanna watch or whatever.

I get really lost in my writing sometimes. But most of the time I only get a page or two done. Sometimes more, sometimes less. But it's practically every day, so it rounds up. Not to mention i always reread the last paragraph to remember where i am and also to edit a few things in.

I can never switch of my mind. But writing get's order into the chaos that is my head space.

When my head is empty and without any inspiration, I usually watch a movie, but I can never really concentrate on that, so I have to draw and often miss important plot points.

I'm not very happy with my writing style at the moment, but that isn't going to stop me from writing. Neither is the fact that while concepts come to me easy, art does not, is stopping me from drawing.

Things I want to show are hard for me to do. Only things I want to tell. I can combine that, somehow. But it's difficult.

I don't write and draw everyday, btw. Sometimes i'm just not in the mood and that's okay. I do this for fun. If it's not fun, then i won't force myself to continue. But i have the habit of at least reading through a few lines. Which I will then correct. Which leads me to actually starting to write again.

I usually get restless after about 4-5 days of not doing anything (like when i'm at a friends house without my laptop), then i have to do something or i get really annoying.

With myself, mostly.

I wouldn't call that impressive. But I don't wanna reject your compliment, so :3 thank you ^^

I just really like the show. My mind needs something to focus on and Merlin is one of those shows, where the most toxic fans are long gone and I don't have to fear uploading any fics.

It's.... Convenient, I'd say :) and exhausting :D

[jenroses]

Dear Good Omens Fandom *

*And others.

It’s time to talk about footnotes.

Okay, so there are a number of different ways to augment text in a print book to provide more information. When expanding on an idea, on a page, one often puts a footnote to a SHORT paragraph that appears on the same page. In digital versions, all the footnotes are often at the back of the text and linked to via some variant of a hyperlink. 

Functionally, in a print book, most people will read the paragraph or sentence the footnote is in, drop their glance to the bottom of the page, and look up again. Grade: B+, perfectly serviceable.

Functionally, in a properly coded digital document such as an Ebook or web page, one clicks the footnote symbol or number, reads, and then either clicks it again or hits the back button to get back to where they were. Grade: C-, if you exit on the bookmark you may never get back to where you started, if you hit a back button, the document may reload if your browser is being techy, but if it is coded right, you probably can usually get back to where you need to be. 

If it is not coded properly or at all, F-, not functional, will not read.

When providing references or receipts, one uses references, often a numerical list or alphabetical list at the back of the book, chapter or article. The point is that if someone wants more information, they can get it. In a nonfiction article, this works well. 

You provide your reference in whatever style is appropriate to the publication, people can find what they need, the document is rarely long enough to care about flipping back and forth. Online, even easier. People can click through, open in a new window, whatever.  Grade for nonfiction: A+. Provides extra information in an accessible way. 

Grade for fiction... eh. Just use an appendix in a print book, author’s note, end note, whatever. Footnotes for receipts pull me out of the story. Grade: B- (or C+)

And online? Use an end note or chapter note. You rarely need to provide links in the text in fiction, just use an end note and say, “By the way, if you were wondering about such and such, here’s where it came from and what it’s about.” Easy peasy, flow is fine. Grade: A

So in a fandom which grew up with a fully footnoted actual physical book such as Good Omens? The temptation is to stick with the original for style, but please, my darlings, I beg you, do not do this. YES, you can absolutely provide snarky asides, quips and expanded information. You can do it without interrupting yourself mid sentence. 

But it will be more functional in a digital environment, ESPECIALLY for people who use “whole work” viewing rather than chapters, people who download for reading later, and people who are visually impaired who need screen readers... if you use another method.* You do not have to send people on a wild goose chase to find footnotes, which many will simply give up on and ignore, and in which case, why did you bother? *It works like this. Put an asterisk in where you want your aside. Finish your paragraph. Break your paragraph. Add another asterisk and italicize your text. Voila.

Using this alternate method has multiple benefits. Your quip, witticism, background note or digression does not interrupt the flow of the writing. People read the footnote just about precisely where they need to. They do not get lost. They don’t have to follow links. Screen readers are 100% fluent with this method. And it copies from Google Docs to AO3 (if you use rich text paste and not html) seamlessly with nothing getting lost in the transition. 

The eye sees the asterisk,* scans down for another asterisk, finds it, reads, and scans back up a very short distance. 

*Like this.

Since pagination doesn’t happen in AO3 or google docs or websites or screen readers set on “scroll”... you simply do not have one of the components required for proper footnoting. Footnotes go at the foot of the page. And a 100,000 word fanfic doesn’t have pages. It has chapters.

And that’s a problem on Archive of Our Own. You see, people tend to upload one chapter at a time. Footnotes are often numbered within chapters starting from 1. But if you do that, and someone has loaded your entire story, the minute they get to chapter 2, those careful footnote links you crafted bounce them up to chapter 1′s footnotes. 

The Asterisk method completely avoids that. It removes the coding stage. It removes all bouncing around. It works no matter how people load your work. And that, mes anges,* is functional. And it looks fine. It’s intuitive. And it doesn’t make me want to throw my phone out of the window of a moving car because we’re out of cell range** and I’m having to follow hundreds of footnotes back and forth and I couldn’t load the whole document because the footnotes wouldn’t work that way and now I can’t get the next chapter of your fucking amazing writing.

*my angels, French **true story, happened today Nov. 24, 2019. The wanting. I didn’t actually do it because I’m a goddamn grownup.

Grade for using the asterisk method? Five huge sighs of relief, and an A+ from every single person who uses a screen reader or can just about manage a scroll but can’t deal with finding the back button in the dark for whatever reason*.

*rheumatoid arthritis, stiff hands, lotsa lying down reading here.    

The show did not have footnotes. It had occasional voiceovers. It’s okay to adapt your technique to the needs of the technology. 

Bless everyone who has painstakingly gone through and linked to footnotes and back again. I know you worked really hard on it. Please stop doing it. This method is so much easier. 

If you want to see how this works in a full fic, I happen to have one here. Mitzvah

End note

There is no real correlation between the quality of the story and the quality of the footnote method. I see a wide variety of methods in many stories throughout the fandom. You’re not wrong per se, if you don’t do it my way. But you’re doing more work than you need to, and wasting time you could be doing literally anything else. This is probably best taken as a “going forward” recommendation, because no one, literally no one expects you to go back and redo hundreds of footnotes. 

If you reread your own work, and you have a lot of footnotes, it is wise to read it on multiple devices and in multiple ways. Does it make sense without footnotes? Some people will never look at a single one. If someone tries to use the footnotes, do they work in subsequent chapters if they’re not in chapter by chapter mode? If someone just reads in order, text first, footnotes last, are they going to have any idea what the footnotes are referring to? I have done literally all of these things in different fics in the fandom.  

[feather-dancer]

Which of your fics…

I got tagged for this by @dreamsarelikedragonflies​! I’m gonna stick to my Tales of Arcadia fics for this so nobody has to suffer the old that happened pre the big writing gap I had.

…did you think would get a bigger reaction/audience than it got:

It was a bit of a long shot particularly given it was the first thing I’d written proper in ages that’s public but probably Masks We Wear, Lies We Share. Character centric fics that don’t follow the lead of a franchise always are hit and miss and this had an extra handicap in being the form of the general goings on than “Here’s the plot hurtling away” but alas! It’s set when it is because of the UK cuts on the TV version and this was the easiest way to work around knowingly having holes in my knowledge.

…is your funniest:

Humour for me is not something I can specifically write for, it’s more incidental ( “Oh I swear he better just be on moral support right now or he'll catch these hands holding a warhammer”) though I will admit I do love how Cat with the canary and the last line of Trolls, fried chicken and walnuts came out in the drabbles.

…is your darkest/angstiest:

Ghosts he left behind 100%. The chapter I’m working on right now has Toby trying to come to terms with loneliness and the not knowing and one of those moments which is gonna hurt the reader more I’ve been plotting since January is coming too :D Grief and loss in forms other than death seems a very common thread in this thing not to mention thoughts keep turning back to Draal as nobody got a chance to reconcile with what happened before everything went off the rails.

…is your absolute favorite:

I’m gonna say Presence, elegance, an unmistakable dominance - Nomura because when Maestro came on shuffle I immediately burst out cackling as what the hell. Though I’m always biased for changeling banter at the best of times.

…is your least favorite:

I’d say one of the ones I’m writing right now that has been a constant fight to get the right vibe going because it’s an AU but not if that makes sense? It’s not that it’s bad by any stretch it’s more it feels like I’m wading through treacle trying to get the words to fit together right and the frustration gets to me. It WILL be done but it’s being defiant to the letter.

…was the easiest to write:

In a mystery to everyone including me, How to bond in the Darklands kicked down the door and essentially decided to exist over the space of 48 hours plus edit time. Second would go to the AU I’m writing right now as uh:

This was started just before midnight on freaking Saturday and it’s STILL trucking nicely.

…was the hardest to write:

Savouring Memories. I have very particular thoughts on grieving and moving because of my own experiences of being left adrift so often which I know aren’t shared by many so trying to write it in a way that can make sense to outsiders AND keep it in character woof.

…has your favorite line/exchange/paragraph (share it):

Shall I pick from the files I’m currently working on as a treat? No context nor which file I’m pulling these from to help keep the mystery going :)

Somehow this manages to be translated into stuffing him under her arm with an elbow tucked under his chest for support, his annoyance only grows when the opportunity is snatched for a photo to commemorate his brand new status as a living scowling handbag.

~

"Sounds more like an elaborate ruse to me, are your manners really that scarce?" She hisses back, refusing to move herself from the flickering warmth that is gradually returning the energy lost from her attempts to find a single door that would let a lone lady in from the weather. He lets out a hum in return, putting a mark in the book to properly give all his attention.

"No no, my words are as innocent as can be! If you are at all willing to indulge and trust my intentions are as so I can even prove it right now. All it will require is the lady's hand, if I may? I will not judge if you refuse." The hand is offered like it is there to tempt her with a form of devil's deal. She is clearly not impressed even before a reaction is snapped back a little louder than intended causing a few curious glances their direction.

"Do you honestly believe that you are so charming that you could speak a few honeyed words and have me at your beck and call? Sir, I must inform you that you are highly mistaken."

~

Deliberately eating slower to extend his break some more it is only after the final fry is devoured that Douxie checks his phone again for a reply to find he'd been sent an eyes emoji and there is not a force on earth that coulda wiped the stupid grin off his face.

One thought, well why not have a crack at it anyway?

~

"You do realise, Nomura, we wouldn't even be having this problem if you weren't quite so nosy, hm? Be thankful I gave you plausible deniability."

"Not my fault that's where all the best fun and or blackmail material comes from, is it?" She snipes back placing the tidied blankets to her side for whoever decides to deal with them because it certainly will not be her.

"Your domestic tiff sounded interesting who am I to ignore it."

…have you re-read the most:

Can’t say I tend to reread my own stuff except when I’m double checking something for a future chapter which hilariously happened last night actually as I somehow forgot in the space of a couple of hours Douxie grumbling about Latin. Everything goes through multiple proof read edit runs tho with the exception of drabbles. Ghost!AU Chapter 2 took AGES being such a beast of a chapter to run over it a few times.

…would you recommend to someone reading your work for the first time:

I’m gonna say Ghosts he left behind because it’s an actual chaptered thing that deviates from canon and gives you a good idea about my angst loving heart that seems to infect everything I write.

…are you most proud of:

Ghosts he left behind again! While it suffered and languished round the same time my mental health took another bad turn it’s been a consistent thing even when I could do little more than adjust the spreadsheet or chuck in a handful of words. The third chapter is nowhere near content complete but it HAS started moving again when I’m not completely sidetracked by other things which feels like a small victory you know? I love AU’s at the best of times and it let me alter one canon plot line a tiny bit just to see what would happen and take other people along for the ride because while I know the big story beats prior, when we hit the Eternal Night your guess is good as mine.

Tagging anybody who’d like to!

[takaraphoenix]

So, @kimmycup​ tagged me in this game. Let’s do this. Alternately titled:

Let me rant about the difference in receiving feedback on FFN vs AO3

Because I am really getting lost in the math behind “most popular” fic. And it’s most definitely more than just “reaching a different audience” when the feedback for one and the same fic differs between over 1k comments on one site vs not even reaching 100 comments on another site.

Author Name: Takara_Phoenix

Fandoms You Write For: Okay so let‘s only involve the ones I am still actively involved with, not the ones that are like... eight years old and I haven’t thought of them once, yeah? That’d be: Percy Jackson, Shadowhunters, Marvel, Rise of the Guardians/How to Train Your Dragon, Detective Conan/Magic Kaito, Vampire Academy, Jungle Book, DC Comics/the Arrowverse, Descendants

Where You Post: AO3 and FFN, but occasionally also on tumblr - when it’s prompts or drabbles

Most Popular One-Shot: Depends on where you ask. And what you define as popular. Personally, the only value I see are in comments - kudos are literally just the press of one button, they mean nothing, and hits aren’t an indicator of much either considering it counts as a hit even when you opt out after a paragraph.

I’ve only had my AO3 for five years now, meaning that the fics on FFN still had four more years to simmer on there and gather attention, I suppose. Meaning, a fic posted for the first time obviously gets more attention than a four years later mass repost on another site.

On AO3, the oneshit with most comment threads would be How to Court the Prettiest Omega Ever in Five Years or Less, my first PJO ABOverse fic, featuring Nicercy. Which, you know, is only 37 comments on there. Seriously I genuinely blame the existence of the kudo function for the overall lackluster comment-response on AO3 because “press one button vs actually writing words”... but that’s a different conversation to be had. (I mean, seriously, in comparison, this fic has 51 comments on FFN... and it is by far not the one with most comments I have over there).

The clear winner if you look at FFN is Something Went Wrong, my first Minotaur/Percy smut fest with a whooping 116 comments. And yes. Positive. Genuinely did not expect that when after weeks of debating, I decided to post this story. *chuckles* (Again, for comparison, this fic got a total of 8 comments on AO3... eight... the difference there is staggering... Which, I’d like to tag on that, on top of the kudo-nonsense, the fact that AO3 displays total amount of comments to the readers and not comment threads is also misleading and I don’t think it helps, because I think you’re more inclined if you see it’s only 8 comment-threads in total on a fic you like vs it showing you 16 comments as the total comment-count.)

Most Popular Multi-Chapter Story: THIS IS TOO HARD TO ANSWER. I’d have to consult my chart, but that hasn’t been updated in ages. Because overall amount of comments means little if you don’t also take into account the amount of chapters - 50 comments on a oneshot are a lot, 50 comments on a 5 chapter fic, not so much, and 50 comments on a 50 chapter is frustrating to receive.

Okay, let me go full nerd on this one. Y’all know I love charts. There was a time where I was interested enough in finding this out that I had a chart going of all my multiple chapter fics. With a collumn on how many chapters the story had at that point in time, how many total comments on AO3, how many total comments on FFN and what, by combining those two numbers and dividing them through the chapter-count, was the average amount of comments per chapter.

However, that chart had last been updated on December 31st 2016. There’s been a lot of influx, lot of new stories and other stories gaining/losing popularity, so when I now say Meet the di Angelos with a 2016 average of 57,25 comments/chapter, that is completely exclusing ten fics I wrote since then.

Damn now I really wanna update the charts...

Also if you can’t tell by now how much actual feedback and comments mean to me, I genuinely don’t know how else to convey it... xD”

If you go by total comment-count - which, again, is misleading because you gotta keep the chapter-count in mind - it’d be Chasing Fireflies on FFN with 1749 comments (on 102 chapters. And, again, for comparison, 88 comment-threads on AO3. 88 vs 1749 is insane) and Percy and the Ghost King of Summers High on AO3 with 749 comments (on 50 chapters. On FFN that’s actually on 990 comments. Far smaller difference here compared to other stories).

Though I dunno, if you measure popular by fanart received, Summers High comes in with five, while my Chasingverse is in with 6... and multiple fanfictions written for it.

Favorite Story You Wrote: Favorite to write, or favorite to reread? There’s a difference there. I’m insanely proud of Chasing Fireflies and the plot and world I created there, the character development. I... don’t really reread it it’s over 500k long I don’t have that time.

Currently, I am really loving The Primal Instinct, it is sooo much fun to write, I get to put basically all my favorite headcanons in there, I’ll get to write Aline and Helen more and Jace’s interactions with others, it features both my favorite OT3s at once. (And it is faaar from my most popular one. Just, feel like mentioning this because my numbers-obsession may read as only writing for comments, which I don’t, I mainly write for myself. The comments are just... very, very nice treats to receive. Also, I love numbers and charts and were curious to see if there is a kind of trend there in what does receive most attention sooo...)

Story You Were Nervous to Post: Uuuh every new thing. Every time I step outta my comfort zone. Trying out a new pairing for the first time. Venturing into a new fandom for the first time. Experimenting with a new kink and wondering if this would be too much. Literally every single time, still.

How Do You Choose Your Titles: On a whim. I suck at titles. Mostly I try to force alliterations because I am a sucker for alliterations, but otherwise I do try to go with “as it says on the tin”, or I try a pun/being clever. Aside from my Triton/Percy fics. Every single fic I’ve written for them is named after a song from Disney’s The Little Mermaid franchise and I have yet to run out of songtitles to use for fics and hey, by then they’ll probably have included a new song in the live-action remake so there’s that! :D

Do You Outline: Depends. Oneshots? No. I just write those. Multiple-chapter fics? ...Depends. xD

If I have a clear vision for where it’s going to go, I do tend to divide into chapters and make myself small notes on what goes into said chapters. Mostly, it’s just a rambled “and x happens and then y” at the end though and then I see how I can make it fit into chapters.

Complete: 795 stories on AO3! Damn, I’ve been busy.

In-Progress: As of right now, 4. Because this week features my Ace Awareness 7-parter, though technically we’re right now down to 3 multi-chapter fics because the next one is only due to be released and join the rotation!

Coming Soon/Not Yet Started: Well, that is two entirely different things now.

Coming Soon:

Shadowhunters, Asmodeus/Jace, “The Royal Consort of Edom” oneshot on the 23rd

Shadowhunters, Magnus/Alec/Jace, “Nesting 101″ oneshot on my birthday this Saturday

Percy Jackson, Nico/Percy, “Something Borrowed, Something Green” oneshot on the 30th

Shadowhunters, Magnus/Jace, “Dancing with the Monsters in the Night” an out-side-of-schedule oneshot for Halloween

And I do think that that is what constitutes “soon”.

Not Yet Started:

HTTYD/RotG, Hiccup/Jack, “The Origin of the Blue Hoodie”, planned for November 27th

Shadowhunters, Magnus/Jace, “Set-Up by the Guard-Cats”, planned for December 4th

Descendants/PJO, Nico/Percy, Ben/Carlos, Uma/Audrey, “Demigod Defenders of Auradon”, planned for December 11th

A-and that is as far as I have planned my schedule ahead. Those three are the only fics on my personal schedule that I haven’t started working on yet. I don’t like to plan ahead too much, because then you just completely lose interest in the story by the time you get around to actually writing it.

Do You Accept Prompts: Prompts, not so much. Requests, yeah. For one, prompts always seem so demanding, while requests are more polite - and also more structured. Prompts are always like “here have one quick trope thrown at your head” and like... I do have a well-enough planned-out schedule with more than enough fics of my own set, I don’t need to try and turn one random prompt into an actual story. But if someone has a specific request, a pairing and an actual plot, that they really wanna see, I do always hear them out, I may not always like the pitch and thus not accept them all, but on the overall I do accept requests.

More inclined to accept birthday requests than random requests, because random requests would be put into the rotation of my schedule and, well come on that shouldn’t be a surprise, they tend to be pushed off then in favor of fic ideas I came up with myself because there’s nearly always more enthusiasm about writing an idea that you came up with yourself than the idea of someone else. Whereas birthday requests have a set date that doesn’t disturb my schedule and I am a big softie who has a weakness for getting gifts myself so I do like to do something nice for someone so they get something special for their birthday.

Upcoming Story You Are Most Excited to Write: Most excited to write? Well, that’d be the Descendant/PJO crossover atm, because that is something very new and shiny and I do love shiny, new things to experiment on. But also The Prince of Pluto, my next multiple-chapter fic that I have already started writing.

Tagging: Whoever wants to do it! <3

[forestwater87]

Hello! I just wanted to say I’m a big fan of your writing and you’re a huge inspiration for me. I’ve been struggling with writing a lot lately. I feel that one of the reasons I can’t write is because I’ve lost all the people who inspired and motivated me. If you don’t mind me asking, what do you do for inspiration/motivation? I’ve been stuck for the longest time and I didn’t know where else to look.

Thank you so much! AHhh, that makes my heart all fluttery

I’m sorry you’re having trouble with inspiration! Unfortunately I’m very familiar with that feeling, but it’s important to remember that your fic is supposed to be fun for you, and there’s nothing wrong with taking a little time to get the spark back. Of course, I also know that that doesn’t help when you want to write but just don’t seem able to. For that I tend to lean hard on different brainstorming techniques; there are a lot, but these are some that work for me personally:

Hummingbirding: If you have multiple stories you’re working on but no real drive for any one in particular, try hopping from one to the other. I usually set a goal – one paragraph, one sentence, sometimes even one word if I’m feeling particularly exhausted – and go into a story, writing until you meet that goal and then jumping into the next one. Sometimes one story will snag you and you’ll surprise yourself by exceeding that goal, sometimes by a lot. Other times you’ll struggle to meet it with every dang fic. But every word you write is progress, and sometimes I think it really helps you feel like you accomplished something without having exhausted yourself on a single story.

Prompts! Those writing prompt tumblrs and lists are popular for a reason, and you never know when an AU idea or a drabble collection will spark your creativity.

Reading other fanfic: Now I’ll be honest, when it comes to reading other people’s really really good fics, I don’t get inspired as much as depressed. This … is not good. Don’t do this if you can at all help it. However, I do get inspired by reading bad fanfic, in a spiteful “I can do better than that” way. This … is also not good. This is just bad advice overall. Okay, but if you’re a better person than I am, I hear that reading other people’s fanfics is a great way to get inspiration. (And if you’re not a better person than I am … hell, inspiration’s inspiration, right? Doesn’t exactly matter where it comes from.)

Talk it out: This is hands-down the best one for me. Having a friend or someone whose opinion you trust read over what you have so far and just literally going back and forth about “okay, well what happens next? what if….” “that might work, but I kinda want X to happen so how do we get there?” “maybe….” If you need a person, I’m right here! Can’t promise I’ll reply with the utmost speed, but I think literally sitting down and working through the plotholes or emotional notes you’re trying to hit is the best way to get that spark lit under you again. Besides, the person you’re talking to likes what you write, and that validation can be a huge help. Actually, that should be its own thing.

Ego boost: Nothing wrong with asking for praise. I don’t wanna talk about the number of times I’ve either whined publicly on tumblr or privately to my friends and just been completely open like “hey, can you say some nice things about my story? I’m feeling like a butt about my writing.” And if nothing else, it’s nice to have that kind of feedback, and sometimes seeing what an impact your writing has on other people is just what you need to want to get back into it.

I hope some of these help! There are other ways to get inspired – I know a lot of people reread their own work for inspiration, or get immersed in the fandom again in some way; people who can do art often find that drawing gives them ideas (you lucky artistic fucks) – so this is far from an exhaustive list, but it’s a start. I hope I’ll hear back from you again, maybe even with an update on how your writing is going!

[kristablogs]

Six tips for writing emails that aren’t absolute garbage

Unless you're writing to a close friend or provider of illegal goods, "Yo Chucky" is never a good way to start an email. ( NeONBRAND / Unsplash/)

Despite dozens of services trying to kill it, email isn’t going anywhere—with its myriad of flaws and bad practices, it’s still the best system we’ve got. But unless you have a totally innovative idea that will revolutionize the way we communicate forever, there’s two things you can do to make email a bit less awful for everyone.

First, ask yourself whether you actually need to send that email. One of the worst things about digital correspondence is that it’s a pretty crowded channel, so the best email can sometimes be the one you don’t send. There are little to no built-in priority systems, and the artificial intelligence-powered attempts at them aren’t always reliable—an important email from your boss can easily end up in the same inbox as a deranged rant from your cousin and a receipt from your last Uber ride.

But if you decide there’s no way around it, then crafting better, more thoughtful messages can help make email better for everyone. This is where we help you out.

Nail the format

Email has been around since the 1970s, so some pretty well-established conventions have developed over all that time. Getting them right is the first step to a great email.

It all starts with the subject line. It shouldn’t be something vague like “Question,” or “Tuesday?” Instead, write a one-line summary of your email that literally describes the subject of your message.

A good subject line is something like “A question about your article on bad photos” or “Are you free for coffee next Tuesday?” A clear subject means the recipient can see what the email is about when they scan their inbox. This will help them assess its importance and make clear it’s not yet another Groupon offer destined to be left unopened.

The introduction is just as important as the subject, since you want the recipient to actually keep reading. But don’t worry—it takes little to get it right. Your two best options are either “Hi [recipient’s name]” or simply “[recipient’s name].” You can also go with “Dear [recipient’s name]” but it’s a tad staid. Having their name in there assures your recipient that this is a message sent directly to them and not some random email someone copy-pasted and sent to a bunch of people.

A crucial detail, though—make sure you get their name right by triple-checking for misspellings. Also, veer on the side of being too formal—it’s better to call someone Dr. Montgomery even if they are okay with “Charles,” rather than leading with “Yo Chucky” and offend them. People can be touchy about how they’re addressed. If the signature on their reply uses a more informal name, you can consider that in a follow-up email.

The body of the email is where you actually write your message. We’ll look at that properly in a moment.

Finally, email sign-offs are something that people usually put way too much thought into. You don’t need to stress out over the differences between “Thanks,” “Best,” “Regards,” and “Sincerely.” Pick one you think suits your personality and just use it.

Get the tone right

Email humor is tough, but if you really think you can make your boss laugh, by all means, spice things up. (Austin Distel / Unsplash/)

Once you’ve got the form down, it’s time to focus on your message.

Who you’re emailing and your relationship with them determines everything. You absolutely shouldn’t use the same approach to email your close friends, your boss, and someone you’re looking to interview—each one requires a different tone.

Before writing, briefly consider who you’re emailing and what they likely expect from you. Feel free to use slang with your friends and family, but probably avoid it when you’re communicating with coworkers. If you’re writing to a colleague you’re close with, you have a little more leeway and may use slang, but be careful—if the subject of the email is somewhat official, or you think you might show that email to somebody else in the future, try to keep it formal. Use your judgment and don’t say anything in an email you wouldn’t say to their face—or want read out loud in court.

Also, be super careful with humor. Emails don’t convey tone well and emojis are a poor substitute. Unless the recipient is close to you and knows your kind of humor, don’t make any ambiguous or edgy jokes, or statements that could be misread. There’s an extremely thin line between making your boss chuckle and making them initiate disciplinary proceedings—and you don’t want to be on the wrong side of it.

Make it just as long as it needs to be—but not longer

Long emails are terrible to receive. That’s just a fact. Nobody wants to spend an hour wading through paragraph after paragraph of something that could have been a couple of lines. On the other hand, some people take the idea of brief emails a bit too far. Replying to every email in five sentences or less is nice in theory, but it’s not practical because that level of brevity tends to make people sound rude.

Generally speaking, an email should be as concise as possible without omitting anything. As a freelance writer, I send a lot of pitches and get back almost as many rejections. The best rejection emails are the ones that say something like, “Not for us, sorry. Good luck finding somewhere else.”

Yes, they’re super short, but they say everything that needs to be said and also take the time to leave things on a positive note. In terms of length, writing a full line rather than half a line doesn’t make much of a difference in reading time, but it makes a huge difference in the way you make the recipient feel.

One email, one topic

It’s a good idea to limit emails to a single topic. If you want to schedule a meeting, give feedback on something, and also ask the recipient for an expense report, it’s probably better to send two or three separate emails.

Email inboxes just aren’t as searchable as most people would like them to be, so it’s too easy for an important bit of information to get muddled up or buried. Your recipient shouldn’t have to remember that the date of an important meeting was mentioned in a single line at the end of a long email providing feedback on an unrelated project. Even when they scan their inbox looking for it, they’re apt to skip over the email it’s actually in.

Reread and edit. Then reread again.

"Yeah, 'I'm super looking forward to hearing back from you, please and thank you,' does sound a bit desperate." (Sincerely Media / Unsplash/)

The secret to all great writing is editing—and this is just as true with emails. I’m not suggesting you spend hours working through multiple drafts for a simple note to a friend, but you should at least reread every email you write twice before you hit “send.”

Read it over once, making any necessary edits, and once you’re done, read it again to see what the final version looks like. Make changes until you feel satisfied. If it helps, read your email out loud so you’re forced to actually look at every word, instead of just skimming through them.

These are some of the things you need to look out for:

Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors, especially in the intro and whenever else you mention your recipient by name. You can use tools like <a href="http://grammarly.com/" target=_blank>Grammarly</a> to help spot them.

If you’ve already sent an email to someone else and you’re copying and pasting the body, make sure you update any details like the recipient’s name, the date, and phone numbers.

Don’t just send a wall of text. There should be paragraph breaks between each point you make.

Don’t repeat yourself or go on longer than you need.

Too! Many! Exclamation! Points! How many is too many is up for debate. Casual emails can handle one every few lines but a message to your accountant should probably have none.

Cliches. Avoid them like the novel coronavirus.

Make sure the tone is consistent and appropriate.

Remember to attach whatever you said you were going to attach. Some email clients, <a href="https://ift.tt/2xXT40V" target=_blank>like Gmail</a>, will help you here—if you say “attached” without actually attaching something, they’ll prompt you.

The “to” field is for people who need to respond. The “CC” field is for people who need to be kept in the loop.

Other tips and tricks

Writing a good email, like many things, is more about avoiding problems than doing anything dramatically inspired. If your tone is right, the body is concise, and you don’t commit any ridiculous blunders or offend the recipient, you’ve written a good email.

After you hit send, it’s only a matter of waiting for a prompt and hopefully positive reply. Keep something in mind, though—emails get lost. Frequently. If you haven’t heard back from your recipient, it’s okay to follow up after a day or two, depending on the urgency of your message. Just remember people have lives, so don’t be pushy about it.

If you’re worried you’ll be the one forgetting to follow up, your email client probably has a nudge or reminder feature, which is worth using. Set it for the maximum amount of time you can wait for a reply, and after that, it’ll ask if you want to follow up.

[scootoaster]

Six tips for writing emails that aren’t absolute garbage

Unless you're writing to a close friend or provider of illegal goods, "Yo Chucky" is never a good way to start an email. ( NeONBRAND / Unsplash/)

Despite dozens of services trying to kill it, email isn’t going anywhere—with its myriad of flaws and bad practices, it’s still the best system we’ve got. But unless you have a totally innovative idea that will revolutionize the way we communicate forever, there’s two things you can do to make email a bit less awful for everyone.

First, ask yourself whether you actually need to send that email. One of the worst things about digital correspondence is that it’s a pretty crowded channel, so the best email can sometimes be the one you don’t send. There are little to no built-in priority systems, and the artificial intelligence-powered attempts at them aren’t always reliable—an important email from your boss can easily end up in the same inbox as a deranged rant from your cousin and a receipt from your last Uber ride.

But if you decide there’s no way around it, then crafting better, more thoughtful messages can help make email better for everyone. This is where we help you out.

Nail the format

Email has been around since the 1970s, so some pretty well-established conventions have developed over all that time. Getting them right is the first step to a great email.

It all starts with the subject line. It shouldn’t be something vague like “Question,” or “Tuesday?” Instead, write a one-line summary of your email that literally describes the subject of your message.

A good subject line is something like “A question about your article on bad photos” or “Are you free for coffee next Tuesday?” A clear subject means the recipient can see what the email is about when they scan their inbox. This will help them assess its importance and make clear it’s not yet another Groupon offer destined to be left unopened.

The introduction is just as important as the subject, since you want the recipient to actually keep reading. But don’t worry—it takes little to get it right. Your two best options are either “Hi [recipient’s name]” or simply “[recipient’s name].” You can also go with “Dear [recipient’s name]” but it’s a tad staid. Having their name in there assures your recipient that this is a message sent directly to them and not some random email someone copy-pasted and sent to a bunch of people.

A crucial detail, though—make sure you get their name right by triple-checking for misspellings. Also, veer on the side of being too formal—it’s better to call someone Dr. Montgomery even if they are okay with “Charles,” rather than leading with “Yo Chucky” and offend them. People can be touchy about how they’re addressed. If the signature on their reply uses a more informal name, you can consider that in a follow-up email.

The body of the email is where you actually write your message. We’ll look at that properly in a moment.

Finally, email sign-offs are something that people usually put way too much thought into. You don’t need to stress out over the differences between “Thanks,” “Best,” “Regards,” and “Sincerely.” Pick one you think suits your personality and just use it.

Get the tone right

Email humor is tough, but if you really think you can make your boss laugh, by all means, spice things up. (Austin Distel / Unsplash/)

Once you’ve got the form down, it’s time to focus on your message.

Who you’re emailing and your relationship with them determines everything. You absolutely shouldn’t use the same approach to email your close friends, your boss, and someone you’re looking to interview—each one requires a different tone.

Before writing, briefly consider who you’re emailing and what they likely expect from you. Feel free to use slang with your friends and family, but probably avoid it when you’re communicating with coworkers. If you’re writing to a colleague you’re close with, you have a little more leeway and may use slang, but be careful—if the subject of the email is somewhat official, or you think you might show that email to somebody else in the future, try to keep it formal. Use your judgment and don’t say anything in an email you wouldn’t say to their face—or want read out loud in court.

Also, be super careful with humor. Emails don’t convey tone well and emojis are a poor substitute. Unless the recipient is close to you and knows your kind of humor, don’t make any ambiguous or edgy jokes, or statements that could be misread. There’s an extremely thin line between making your boss chuckle and making them initiate disciplinary proceedings—and you don’t want to be on the wrong side of it.

Make it just as long as it needs to be—but not longer

Long emails are terrible to receive. That’s just a fact. Nobody wants to spend an hour wading through paragraph after paragraph of something that could have been a couple of lines. On the other hand, some people take the idea of brief emails a bit too far. Replying to every email in five sentences or less is nice in theory, but it’s not practical because that level of brevity tends to make people sound rude.

Generally speaking, an email should be as concise as possible without omitting anything. As a freelance writer, I send a lot of pitches and get back almost as many rejections. The best rejection emails are the ones that say something like, “Not for us, sorry. Good luck finding somewhere else.”

Yes, they’re super short, but they say everything that needs to be said and also take the time to leave things on a positive note. In terms of length, writing a full line rather than half a line doesn’t make much of a difference in reading time, but it makes a huge difference in the way you make the recipient feel.

One email, one topic

It’s a good idea to limit emails to a single topic. If you want to schedule a meeting, give feedback on something, and also ask the recipient for an expense report, it’s probably better to send two or three separate emails.

Email inboxes just aren’t as searchable as most people would like them to be, so it’s too easy for an important bit of information to get muddled up or buried. Your recipient shouldn’t have to remember that the date of an important meeting was mentioned in a single line at the end of a long email providing feedback on an unrelated project. Even when they scan their inbox looking for it, they’re apt to skip over the email it’s actually in.

Reread and edit. Then reread again.

"Yeah, 'I'm super looking forward to hearing back from you, please and thank you,' does sound a bit desperate." (Sincerely Media / Unsplash/)

The secret to all great writing is editing—and this is just as true with emails. I’m not suggesting you spend hours working through multiple drafts for a simple note to a friend, but you should at least reread every email you write twice before you hit “send.”

Read it over once, making any necessary edits, and once you’re done, read it again to see what the final version looks like. Make changes until you feel satisfied. If it helps, read your email out loud so you’re forced to actually look at every word, instead of just skimming through them.

These are some of the things you need to look out for:

Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors, especially in the intro and whenever else you mention your recipient by name. You can use tools like <a href="http://grammarly.com/" target=_blank>Grammarly</a> to help spot them.

If you’ve already sent an email to someone else and you’re copying and pasting the body, make sure you update any details like the recipient’s name, the date, and phone numbers.

Don’t just send a wall of text. There should be paragraph breaks between each point you make.

Don’t repeat yourself or go on longer than you need.

Too! Many! Exclamation! Points! How many is too many is up for debate. Casual emails can handle one every few lines but a message to your accountant should probably have none.

Cliches. Avoid them like the novel coronavirus.

Make sure the tone is consistent and appropriate.

Remember to attach whatever you said you were going to attach. Some email clients, <a href="https://ift.tt/2xXT40V" target=_blank>like Gmail</a>, will help you here—if you say “attached” without actually attaching something, they’ll prompt you.

The “to” field is for people who need to respond. The “CC” field is for people who need to be kept in the loop.

Other tips and tricks

Writing a good email, like many things, is more about avoiding problems than doing anything dramatically inspired. If your tone is right, the body is concise, and you don’t commit any ridiculous blunders or offend the recipient, you’ve written a good email.

After you hit send, it’s only a matter of waiting for a prompt and hopefully positive reply. Keep something in mind, though—emails get lost. Frequently. If you haven’t heard back from your recipient, it’s okay to follow up after a day or two, depending on the urgency of your message. Just remember people have lives, so don’t be pushy about it.

If you’re worried you’ll be the one forgetting to follow up, your email client probably has a nudge or reminder feature, which is worth using. Set it for the maximum amount of time you can wait for a reply, and after that, it’ll ask if you want to follow up.