#but i've never had anyone edit/beta/proofread like this

[flowerslut]

Roots is the best 😁 Thanks for updating even though you seem insanely busy

wow thank you for reading AND for your kind words!!!! 🤩 I will be less busy later this week once I finish moving, but thankfully the hardest part (writing the actual fic) was finished in the summertime

nowadays I just try to catch typos/fix errors/change sentences I hate/etc each week before I post. big BIG shoutout to the loml @volturialice for giving each chappy a look-through and catching all my bad habits so that the story reads soooo much smoother 😭 between her corrections and @perihelions-crew also clocking all of my typos/grammar fuck-ups, it's making roots my most thoroughly edited and well put-together fic i've ever written in my LIFE 🥰🥰🥰

[optiwashere]

Since you're in your thirties, what was it like writing fanfic in the late 1900s?

I wouldn't know, I didn't start until the 2000s.

(side-note: this got rambly and really long because I'm on break and got all up in my reminiscence)

Even in the 2000s it was different. Posting without walls of tags so you had to rely on a good summary + hope for the best when jumping into certain things. Maybe you'd get a conscientious author who'd put warnings/kinks/squicks in an opening note, maybe not. Not every character would be tagged. You'd get author's notes in the middle of chapters (as in, in the middle of the story itself) where the author argues with characters' motivations or comments on them in icanhascheezburger-style texting speech. Song fics meant someone would randomly splice lyrics into the middle of the fic.

Sometimes you'd write for/post on a single-fandom archive, hell even single ship archives.

It was a wild time.

Sometimes those archives would gatekeep who could post and who couldn't, usually for editing purposes. At the very basic level this was probably a good thing for me since it meant I had to actually proofread, edit, and concentrate on the quality of my writing. However, in hindsight that was obviously wide open for abuse if you happened to get on the bad side of some of the beta staff for whatever particular site you used. Betas who were random people just like the writers, by the way. Betas who tended to be friends with admins for other sites where you could get blacklisted and never really know. You'd just get rejected over and over again.

What's funny is that I kinda miss single-fandom archives. At the same time they (perhaps counterintuitively) decentralized everything and made finding what you wanted nearly impossible. If you didn't like what was popular on that archive, you were usually completely out of luck unless you made what you wanted to see. That usually involved making a separate fic site.

Also, anyone that says "things are different now" w/r/t comment culture and such are usually wrong, but only in the angle they're approaching it. Comment culture is different, but people have always been stingy with reviews and critique and comments for as long as I've been posting fic — the difference is that now when people don't like something they tend to just backspace out and move on with their lives. They might vaguepost on social media, or chat in private messages, or gossip in Discords, but back then people had no problem with criticizing a fic in the public reviews/comments.

A lot of people do not understand "don't like, don't read" these days, though. Which is hilarious considering how much we tag in comparison to even the 2010s. People are usually much more aware of what they're getting themselves into when they see a fic on AO3.

[uglypastels]

you know what’s actually so crazy? when you said “help. i need help.” in your last post about writing, i saw it for what it was, just like a little jokey joke to convey how stressed you are. so how the last anon thought that was you actually asking for your readers to just write your fic for you is beyond me??? like, coming from a fellow writer, whenever i ask my community for help (be it with beta reading or anything like that), i am very direct (and polite!!) with my request. i make sure they know exactly what i need help with and (most importantly) that help would genuinely appreciated but not required because it is not their jobs as my readers to drop everything and proofread or edit for me when I ask. if they’re going to help me, i want it to be because they genuinely want to help me and not because they feel forced to and guilted into doing so. given how long we’ve been mutuals, i can attest that you would definitely approach asking for help the same way. <3

(also i sent this on anon just because i don’t want that angry anon in my inbox… anons like that scare me lol)

I will admit it was half joking 😆 but you are absolutely right. I would never ask people to directly write anything for me. My memory is shit but if I recall correctly the only thing i've asked from people is to let me soew ideas at then because I have always considered the brainstorming the most useful tactic and it's also the most fun and collaborative as you can just talk to people and exchange ideas both ways (as I am ALWAYS uo for a good chat and also love to return the brainstorm favour).

I guess prev anon had seen my other posts asking for help and got fed up, but it's ironic that they did so on the one post where I was mostly reflecting on myself and not directly asking anyone for anything.

Eitherway, thank you so much for your kind words and I totally get wanting to remain on anon 😆 all the love 💞💞💞💞

[riewritten]

what do you do when inspiration suddenly hits you? like do you just memorize it in ur head or note it somewhere or do u work on that idea immediately?? im very very curious about ur creative process PLEASE OVERSHARE because i believe there are things that are new to me. like you write and draw and it's amazing how tou do both! i'm more curious about ur writing process because i don't write much (nowadays i only journal or write diary entries, in the past i did write fanfictions but they're almost all oneshots or unplanned dropped after 2 or 3 chapters). (how) do you plan your storyline? do you consider yourself flexible (like are u comfortable with changing plans in a big project where one change could lead to other changes?). Do you beta read by yourself or is there anyone who does it? if you do it by yourself, what do you feel when re-reading your writings? i literally have sm questions but i don't wanna overwhelm you 😭😭😭 you don't need to answer if you don't want to, that's alright!!!

when u said i could overshare

for whenever the inspiration hits, i tend to start on it immediately. writing is such a mood booster for me and i'm in a low mood most of the time so i seize the moment whenever motivation comes :'D sometimes when i'm busy (let's say school/work) and a great idea pops in (usually in quote format), i just lay it down in my gdocs. for oneshots, 1 doc would suffice. for longfics, the docs per chapter are contained in a folder.

i don't think i'm great in fan arts (i just get the boost from those who draw well—like u!) so i'm glad you appreciate it as well <3

regarding my writing process, someone actually asked me about it before! but to generalize my answer there, i ponder on 3 things (plot, characterization, & chapter study). my first fic (and my first series in general) was dusk in the brightest. i worked on chapter study first: detailed sequence of events from C1-10, vague concept in 11-15, then the rest is just 2-3 sentences of how i want the story to end. the 2nd one, character study, was smth i learned from a professor in one of my subjects when i submitted a one-act play script to her and she heavily criticized my characterization (like so badly i still get jitters remembering it) 😭 since then, i've been very wary with getting things accurate and consistent with my characters. for my plot-heavy fics, that's what i'm most serious for.

i think my flexibility (i dont even think i got that) was v challenged during the last arc of DIB because i suddenly had a complete change of mind with the ending (exactly what u had mentioned: changes that would lead one thing to the other). it was def not comfortable but a great tip (i think) to work around it is that: go back to your earlier chapters, pick up the most random scenarios you had made, then come up with a reason why that random thing ensued. an example of executing it is how isayama worked around aot's first scene (child!eren crying & mikasa being the first one he sees) by connecting it to his last scene in the manga (ofc i wouldn't assume isayama just thought abt it midway. it's just with how he executed it).

i don't have lots of friends in this app so i usually do the revisions all by myself. i'm a type of author that releases chapters impulsively—i'd publish smth that i hadn't proofread yet, read it in the app, then just do all the editing there. i'll repeat the process until i finally get satisfied. i think it's easier for me to point out mistakes when i feel the urgency to do so (like omg i have to hurry in polishing this bc readers might click anytime soon 😭) though someone helped me change POVs (from 1st to 2nd) in DIB C1-13 and let me tell u that i never thought having someone help me beta read my work could bring me so much delight.

and pls don't worry about overwhelming me! using this app and dumping all my work here are literally what keeps me sane from the overwhelming things in my life atm. to have u appreciate it gives me joy & comfort. thats why i'd be honored to answer all of ur questions :'D

[blocksruinedme]

SMALLETHO WEEK STATUS: PENULTIMATE REPORT

(please let this be penultimate report)

Okay I have 11 hours to get these out in saturday my time zone and i am going to do it, or i'll take my me off and throw me in the lake (it's right there down the street I'll do it.)

You'd think they'd be done by now. You'd think given how many days ago they were first "basically drafted" they'd be done right now. But noooo, some bitch (me) decided the fic "deserve more" and there are scenes "they really need" and like fine yes I still agree but why can't they just be done.

Red Life fic:

the first three sections are about incidents after turning red than made etho go "huh" about joel. they serve their purpose, but currently exist mostly in the form i scrawled down on the back of another fic in my car after the dentist. I could def describe things more, add a little more reflection about their place in the double life ecosystem as they start murdering and burning

gotta make good kiss at end, and the last bits of lead in, and the little bit after

the main issues here is that i gotta go rewatch DL ep 4 from multiple POVs. at minimum i need pearl's pov of dying, and maybe check for some other people's reactions to joel's shit that are not in smalletho vids but in universe they would have heard. (if only i could shove knowledge of every traffic episode fully into my head, sigh. so much content.

so that's not too bad!

fuck me there's 36 [] around words i don't like/phrases that need to be replaced/etc. fml fml fml

LARPer au morning after fic

apparently i'm adding all this backstory, which means i got to take it out o the author's notes, which i hope will make it more appealing. it's mostly about the party that this is morning after, but it's joel pov and *very* focused on getting laid, he's kinda aware that a lot of shit went down for pretty much everyone else

i want to add a very quick awkward bit with joel asking jimmy about the party the night before, currently he's totally succeeding at making joel (who is very distracted) think he's fine. and it's not gonna get explained in this story, but i'm not setting up a giant mystery, it's just more of "joel missed some shit last night". if that upsets people... i'm sorry! i'm actually very new t writing fic but it feels fine? it's a 5k story, alluding to the rest of the world seems fine

then it's just, fuck holding my breath... 40 sets of []. many many many of them, when i have people look at them, they say "that's fine", and it's just me at "will i have a time to struggle for a synonym/rephrasing

Dear everyone who compliments my writing skill (which i love, keep on doing it)

i hope you are not comparing yourself to me. here's some reasons why i probably have a leg (several legs?) up on you

i am very old and have been writing in one way or another possibly since before you could write.

I legit used to teach sat prep in writing, i have been trained in this and made money on it

if you live like i do, when you are my age you will also have a pretty big vocabulary

i usually edit a lot. I get beta, i throw problem sentences and such at friends, i've gotten proofreading from actual professionals. If i published most of my first drafts, well. I might not get as many "well written" compliments (though i think my plot and characterization would be similar levels of quality, my voices not so much - i have google docs for the way people talks and go through my dialogue looking for places to change things. it's actually great. i could share it?)

it's wild that what is my most popular fic by 3x is the one that went from thought of to posted in <12 hours and thus had only quick editing. so, it's not alway from editing

i just never want anyone who doesn't have those things to compare themself negatively to me, y'know? That said I'm a hypocrite, I compare myself negatively to professional writers in other fandoms. So, do as i say, etc

am i avoiding getting back to writing? yes

back to joel talking about asking scott to help him get tarted up

okay one last thing, me being pleased with my writing - i am jumping between my early 20s larper au and my late 20s/30s burning man au, and i think i am doing a good job at giving age appropriate characterizations to similar version of the same characters. my 21 year old Etho feels 21 to me and my early 30s Etho feels early 30s to me. These ensembles are very much based on my own experiences so I've got a lot to work with, 60 year olds would be harder :)

[kellyurban18]

I love you guys. I really do, but some of yall are taking my writing and updating once a week for granted so this is just a PSA.

This is a hobby. Writing fanfic is a hobby. It is a funy hobby and one of the two hobbies I have the other is sewing/quilting.

HOWEVER.

I am also a freelancer, a stay at home mom, and a single mom to twins on top of that. I've been a single mom since the day they left the NICU. I had preterm twin babies who still to this day have some behavioral problems that needs my attention.

WITH THAT SAID.

I am a freelance Editor, Beta Reader, Ghostwriter, and Proofreader. I have clients and a job that doesn't officially have a clock out period. I am doing something 24/7.

Writing fanfic is fun, an escape, and something I don't completely need to focus on. Yes I edit it and I give it the courtesy skimming before publishing. But I do not write and edit and proofread my fanfics the way I write and edit for my job.

This is to escape that.

So while I am so glad and happy you guys love my stories that you want more of it, just remember when you comment or private message me two days after publishing a new chapter asking me to update...no just don't do it.

Don't do it to anyone. Everyone has a life outside of this world of fanfiction.

"Just post the chapters you've already written it's not a big deal"

Yes it fucking is Jessica. If I posted every chapter I have written for this story you would be confused. I dumpster write which means for the very first writing of a chapter I just slap down whatever I want to happen which ends up to be about 500-1k words then I edit that like 2-5 times before you have the chapters you all know and love with 3-4k words. Also I just wrote what? An 11k chapter for you little fuckers so relax a bit.

NOT ONLY THAT

I am renovating a home and helping my narcissistic mom with her hoarding lifestyle while also listening to her telling me my freelancing isn't a real job despite the fact I support my self and my family just fine while also giving my sister money on the regular because she won't ask our parents anymore because they make her feel guilty for needing to pay her heating.

(Sorry. I love her I do. She's my best friend when she's on a good day but that switch can be turned in 0.3 seconds I swear.)

There are only so many hours in a day. So many hours in a week. I need more than most of those for my job(s).

This isn't to say I'm not open to comments reminding me,

"hey it's been a while are you going to update".

This is for the person who has religiously private messged me every week since the first chapter asking me to update two days after publishing and then messaging me every day until Tuesday night and messaging me every hour or two on Wednesdays until I update.

Last week when I didn't publish until Thursday she told me I had responsibilities to my readers.

I have never wanted to throw my computer out my window before.

Anyway.

I love you all and this was just a rant.

I will be publishing a little late this week again and probably all month since February is a busy month for me

I have my kids' 5th birthday on the 19th and we are going to Orlando on a family trip from the 23rd through to the 7th. Disney and Universal of course. So please keep that in mind near the end/beginning of the month if I don't publish around there.

Most of you are amazing and the "Can't wait for more!" Comments are great! I love reading your comments!

This was just a rant and a little reminder that fanfic writers have lives outside of this world even if we wish we didn't. Unfortunately the economy isn't very supportive of hobby writers lol

Okay I'm done I think.

Love you all.

It's like 5am over here so I'm going back to sleep.

[jamieanovels]

Writer Tag Game !!

tagged by the lovely @mjjune <3

soft tagging: @kaiusvnoir @muddshadow @thetruearchmagos and anyone else who would like to do this :)

answers under the cut!

Do you write in order?

Yes. I have to, lmao, or else my brain goes NOPE and gives up on the entire book lol. I can do some heavy scene work on the last few scenes I wrote (2-3, give or take), but apart from that, I save any heavy-duty editing for after I've finished my first draft.

Do you start with something in particular?

Ideas wise? No, it can be anything. Usually, though, it's a theme or message of some kind and then I built around that.

In terms of the actual draft, though, yes. I always want to start with a strong line that tells the reader as much as I can about the character/plot/theme. Back in college, I had a professor for a Jane Austen class who had us memorize the first lines of every book we read for the course. She said that the first line of any book should always tell you as much as possible about the book itself, and that's always stuck with me.

How fully formed does your writing come out the first try?

This has changed over the years, haha. I used to say probably 90%, simply because I wouldn't do much with my finished draft and just move on to the next thing lol.

Now, as I'm trying to seriously move toward actually publishing, I think I probably land around 60-70%? I'm an overwriter, so for tea cow, I expect that once I finish my draft, most of my editing process will be cutting unnecessary words and making things a lot more concise. But the story beats are there already.

How many drafts do you go through?

2-3 before beta readers. I've never gotten past that stage, though, so no idea after that lol.

Tell me about your process?

My writing process is split into four phases: brainstorming/worldbuilding, outlining, writing, and editing.

During the brainstorming/worldbuilding phase, I create a document and just start putting ideas in there. For fantasy, I make sure to spend extra time on the magic system, setting, and any other salient details specific to that world. This process can range from a few days to months, depending on how complex the story is.

In the outlining phase, I take what I liked from the brainstorming phase and put it together into an actual cohesive story. Usually, I summarize what I want to happen in each section of the story, and then I bullet point "milestones," or things that need to happen/be foreshadowed, for each section. Depending on how good of a job I did during the brainstorming phase, this usually takes a day to a few days.

Once I have an outline, I start writing. Each chapter should feature at least one milestone. I also leave myself a Little wiggle room to change things if I feel like they fit the plot better. I've added a few scenes into tea cow that weren't in its outline, but overall, I've stuck to all of its original story beats. The writing phase can take me months to years because I am Lazy. Tea cow is going fairly fast, landing at around 6 months since I started writing, and that's mostly because of procrastination lol

When I'm finished drafting, I go back to the beginning and start line editing. Based on what I've done in the past, I usually do a full line edit all the way through (proofreading and just editing for general readability). Once I'm done with the line-edit, I make any consistency edits and/or heavier scene changes based on anything I've noted while line-editing. Line editing doesn't take me too long, usually a week at most, but scene changes take longer.

After this full process, I'll start looking for beta readers, and then make any adjustments that I feel would make the story better based on their feedback. I haven't gotten to this phase in so damn long that idk if I would still approach it the same, but we shall see ;)

[freya-fallen]

Commissions

I take commissions.

I take them through ko fi and Patreon, but I will also discuss direct commissions outside of those sites. My fic ideas seeking sponsors are here (check out how to do this on ko-fi)

A few things to note: I only write adult content for adults. If you are under 18, I will write for you, but only up to the maturity level that is appropriate-- ie, PG 13 for anyone between 13 and 17, R rated for anyone 17, etc.

I want to be happy writing for you, so I'll make suggestions if your idea doesn't quite hit me. I want you to be happy with what I write, so I'll also ask for input. Should we not quite see eye-to-eye, I may refer you to someone else.

I'm willing to work out deals-- payment plans, lower cost-per-word for higher word commissions, writing for art or a commissioned story of my own, but I've been writing both as a hobby and professionally for my entire adult life. I'm also highly educated. My prices might seem high, but I (like most creatives) undercharge for my work. Please understand I won't won't write for nickels. I have plenty of free content out there and everything that is fanfic will be posted for free online somewhere and at some time.

That's another thing: My commissions are not ghost-writing fees. Those need to be discussed in addition if that's what you want.

What will I write? Pretty much anything involving fictional characters and situations. I don't have an interest in RPF. That's about it. I specialize in darkfic, especially as it comes to trauma, healing from and dealing with trauma, and non-romanticized dark situations. I have written fluff, so if you just like my style, feel free to ask.

I am always open to suggestions, but not big on concrit since I'm a professional editor and proofreader. If I want concrit, beta-ing, or editing, I'll find someone. But if you have an idea you think I might like, go ahead and shoot.

Fandoms I will write for are anything I'm familiar with or can easily become familiar with (if it's on a streaming service like Netflix, Hulu, Prime, etc). I also write original fiction (way more than I write fanfic), but there's additional conversations to be had for that.

I love/never get enough of writing

Zombies

Kidnapping/abduction/darker version of canon events

Death games AUs (hunger games, squid games, you name it)

My own universes wherein I write how different interconnected stories would work

omegaverse, soulmates, or similar mating/forced relationship tropes

angry female veterans

MFM polyamorous relationships

Dealing with trauma through BDSM

Power imbalances

[robotslenderman]

So I've had a couple of friends say that they wished they could edit like I do, so I thought I'd write stuff on how, exactly, I write. This is just a basic overview but I might go into more detail later about some of the stuff, especially if anyone is interested.

(This is not me saying that my way of writing is the One True Way. Personally I've never heard of anyone else writing first drafts in dot points like I do.)

A lot of people think editing is the same thing as proofreading, so instead of taking a step back and looking at their novel in a zoomed out state, they're going through getting rid of typos and rewriting sentences instead. Which is a vital part of editing, but is actually a very minor part of it.

The core of my editing method is this: you need to be able to summarise your story and its themes in less space than you have available to you in a tweet. Learn to boil your story down and only then can you zoom out.

Is that hard? Yes, if you never learned how to do it.

Will it absolutely transform your ability to make your stories what you want them to be? Also yes. Much like an artist doesn’t spend the whole time zoomed in to their piece, a writer shouldn’t either.

My process:

I (usually) write the first draft in dot points. Nothing more than cursory research, lots of [notes in bolded brackets], it’s all a rush.

I let it sit for several months.

I come back and, before rereading, make at least two summaries -- a sentence-long summary, and a paragraph-long summary.

I write down what themes I can remember.

I reread the story. For every scene I read, I write a summary of it on a note card and jot down any themes I see in the scene. I also copy-paste each scene into a separate Scrivener sub-file, for easy rearranging later. I do not edit; I write notes to myself in the actual writing so that future me can see my ideas and do the actual editing for me. This includes continuity notes/errors, places where I need to do research, etc.

I lay out the note cards in chronological order and essentially make them justify their place in my story. This is where I rearrange scenes, make notes on continuity or adjustments I have to make due to the rearranging, and also write notes on what potential the scene has in relation to my summaries/themes for later.

The second draft is a complete rewrite, and what most people would consider a first draft. Even when I don’t write my actual first draft in dot points, I still do this step.

Let it sit again. (Up until recently I’d write the second draft, do the proofreading immediately afterwards, then publish immediately afterwards. No longer doing that.)

Now is time for the classic editing as people know it — this is where I polish sentences, flesh out the bits I’ve been procrastinating up until now that I can’t justify removing entirely, and get rid of typos. This third draft is the one I send off to the beta; this is the stage where I start publishing as I go along.

LET IT SIT. AGAIN.

Final edit & proofreading. This edit focuses on cutting and condensing as much as possible, because I never shut the fuck up. This streamlines the story, makes it easy for people to follow and maintain their attention, and stops it from dragging. (I have written doorstoppers before. If you fuck them up they ABSOLUTELY drag.)

BOOM THERE'S A FIC!

Can go into detail about more of these points if anyone wants/if I feel like it. For now I'm just leaving this overview here.

[thegeminisage]

question to Miss Experienced Professional Fic Author Liz—do you have your betas read your fic from the beginning, as soon as you start writing it? like i know you mentioned cathy and emily (?) have access to the doc. is that standard procedure? i'm curious because I've never written fic myself but I was drafting something today and my friend's gonna beta once i'm done but I was wondering if I should have her beta thorughout the whole process.

HI sorry i saved your ask for last bc i didn’t want it to get buried <3 and then it got so late that i didn’t know if you’d see it if i answered <3 this was extremely professional behavior <3 so i’m...................scheduling it to go up when people are awake. sorry again lol

anyway ok so the SHORT answer to this is: if you don’t know that your friend is willing to look over your fic multiple times, get your thing as polished and close to done as possible before letting anyone else beta it. that way, your second pair of eyes is able to do the maximum amount of good! if it’s a longer fic, you may be able to do this in sections - you can finish chapter 1 and then have your friend look at chapter 1, then chapter 2, etc, since nobody can beta a multichapter fic in one sitting. it depends v much on what you and your friend feel like! 

the looooong answer is: my “betas” are also just my friends! same hat! so more often than not they just want to see what i’m doing. so if i mention what i’m working on they’re like “oh can i see” and i’m like “yeah” and then they come in and look. like, as far as standard procedure goes, it’s all very casual. if it’s too rough for proofreading i’ll usually wind up giving a heads up that it may change a lot later in case they don’t want to read it multiple times, but usually they do anyway (so in my case it winds up being a mix of both “edit now” and “edit at the end”). i’m really very lucky to have so many extremely smart and cool people willing to do that kind of thing for me <3

that said, imo there are different ways to edit and things to edit for - it’s not as complex and awful as it sounds, for me different people wind up helping me with different things. it really depends on what stage your writing is at/what your friend is helping you edit for. i categorize them as follows:

cheerleading - this is what i was talking about above...this is just someone reading as you write (sometimes checking in daily, sometimes literally WHILE YOU TYPE IT, my friends have done this lol) and encouraging you. i’m not particularly shy about letting my buddies just kinda hang out in there, it’s like my little house 🙏 it’s also fun to have people read as i go (it helps keep me excited). doesn’t exactly count as editing/betaing imo (so you don’t necessarily need a writing-savvy friend to do it), but it’s still a level of support <3

plot soundboarding - this is stuff like... “how do i get dean and cas to talk about x thing,” “where should i end this chapter,” “if i change this thing in chapter 1 that leaves a huge plothole in chapter 3, how do i fix it?” this is for the plot, not the prose itself, so you can do this when the fic is very rough, maybe even before it’s written, when it’s still in the planning stages

“regular betaing” - this is what most people think of when they say beta - this is a general readthru where they’ll point out inconsistencies or anything that sticks out to them (good or bad). “this sentence is worded awkwardly,” “you said mary had a cup of coffee here but earlier in the scene she had tea,” “you used the same word four times in one paragraph.” you want to have the fic written by this point (though again if it’s a long one, it doesn’t necessarily have to be complete - more on this in a sec)

final typo check - you want to save the LAST typo check for after everything else is perfect and not going to be changed at all. my friend coralie is checking my fic for typos and i asked her not to read unedited scenes yet - because of course if edit them, and my edits have typos, and she’s already read those parts, i’d have typos in the checked bits, which would defeat the entire purpose

so it really depends on what you want your friend to most help with - if you want plot help, obviously you’d come in early, but if it’s just typo help, come in late. and of course how much help she’s up for giving you - reading what you write daily might be more time-intensive than just checking it one time and sending it back. 

as for whether or not it’s better to have “regular beta” stuff done on your writing as you write it or after it’s all finished, there’s pros and cons to both situations

reasons to edit as you go: a long fic divided into sections can seem more manageable, your pal gets to know your your project as it’s being written, you get someone to be excited with, you get immediate feedback on potential mistakes that might save you from having to do more editing later, editing as you go will DEFINITELY save you from a huge slog later, sometimes when you’re not up to writing it’s nice to have something to edit so at least you get to do a little work on it

reasons to edit after it’s finished: less time-intensive, when you can see the whole fic at once you’re less prone to forgetting what happened in the beginning, when you see it all at once you can also see the way things come together (or fail to come together), you're less likely to have to look over the same section multiple times, you get to polish it up before anyone else sees it (good if you’re shy), sometimes it’s nice to let things sit awhile before coming back to edit because breaks can help you see more clearly

and like i said, i usually wind up doing a mix of this. the important thing though is there’s really no wrong way to do it as long you and the person helping you are on the same page. just like everybody has a different writing process, everybody has a different editing process, yk? just try it whatever way seems most appealing and sensible to you, and eventually you’ll hit your groove. i hope that helps, sorry if it was a way longer answer than you were bargaining for lol

[aelia-likes-monsters]

I started a writing blog a few months ago, and I haven't put much up, but it's hard to motivate myself when the few stories I've had don't get many notes, and it seems like the prouder of them I am, the less people seem interested. Someone told me it's because none of my writing is explicitly NSFW (either it's SFW or the details are vague/fade-to-black ish because that's what I'm comfortable with right now). What do you think? I feel so defeated, should I just give up?

I’m absolutely never going to advise anyone to give up. 

To start at the top… Yes, NSFW is more popular than SFW, but there’s a niche for SFW stories. There are people who, for a variety of reasons, are more comfortable with stuff that doesn’t have explicit scenes in it, so if that’s what you’re comfortable writing, don’t push yourself to change that. There are times where getting out of your comfort zone is good. This is not necessarily one of those times. Unless you want to write something different, don’t. 

A few things to check for on your stories/posts:

Are you tagging well? Your first tag should always be #exophilia because that’s the main monster tag that works. The next four should be something like #monster boyfriend or #monster girlfriend or #monster lover if it’s romantic, followed by maybe #[monster type] boyfriend/girlfriend/lover. Those are the kinds of tags that help people find you. I also like monster/reader, and things like that. My best advice here is go look at popular writers and see how they tag.

Did you check your grammar and formatting? The main thing that makes me struggle to read a story is when it’s formatted poorly–walls of text are hard on the reader–or there’s been no editing. As usual, I’m going to add the disclaimer here that I know English isn’t everyone’s first language, and that’s okay. Just do your best. I’ve used a tool called Hemingway, and I know a lot of people use Grammarly to check their work. If you want a human touch, there are people like @thetravelerwrites who offer proofreading services for a fee. Or, you can look online for critique groups and/or beta readers to get feedback. 

Do your stories have hooks? What I mean by that is, have you ensured that your first few paragraphs are polished, and so interesting that they hook the reader, grab them, and pull them in so they need to keep reading the rest of your story? 

Is your story super long, without a read-more? This is actually something that will prevent a lot of people from reblogging. Nobody likes scrolling forever, so make use of the read-more tool. If it’s more than about 5 paragraphs or 800 words, add in a read-more. 

If you’ve checked those things, and you’re sure it’s none of those, then the next thing to do is start networking. With the tags all borked, the next steps are things like reaching out to other authors (off anon) and messaging them. Other authors can sometimes help you with tips, tricks, and beta-reading. If you throw yourself into the community, it helps other people find you. (And on that note, if you meet the criteria for it, make sure you’re on Traveler’s Masterlist of Masterlists.) 

If none of this seems right, and you want to talk more about it, please feel free to message me off anon. I can’t promise that I can help, but I can promise to try. ♥