#but these are like general advices i guess

[rowanwritestoomuch]

The Best Writing Advice I've Ever Recieved

"There are no original stories. Only new ways to tell them."

On it's face, this might seem like terrible advice and so disheartening, and for me, it was. I asked so many follow up questions to expand on what my mentor meant by this, and he offered only this; 'we created every story there ever was before the beginning of time was recorded, before we could read or write, when we were sitting in caves casting shadows and craving pictures on the wall. Every archetype, every trope, every cliche, every character arc, every plot twist--- its already been done. So do it your way.'

For a long time, I thought this meant I needed to be unique, that I needed to literally find a new way to tell the stories I wanted to tell, which fit into tropes and archetypes and plot points I understood, and I agonized for hours twisting my ideas into every possible shape in order to make them as unique as possible-- and turning them into something completely incomprehensible.

I spent a lot of time stewing on this advice, trying to find my new way. Wondering, were there stories that hadn't been told? Could I be the one to finally figure out a way to tell a story that's never been done before? How do I tell my story in a way that doesn't remind anyone of anything else they've ever read?

And I focused on that. Guess what? The text was boring. Soulless. Contrite. Banal. Like the world's beigest pillow.

And if that last line struck you as familiar, it's popular from AMC's Interview with a Vampire right now, a fandom joke. And fandom is what taught me the thing I really needed to know from this advice; references aren't bad. Your media being akin to other media like it isn't a fault. I don't need to create a new story, I need to tell my own story, in my voice.

Telling a story in a your own way will always be new, will always be unique, will always be something that has never been done before; and to tell those stories in a way that resonates with us and the audiance, looking back on all the storytelling before us, and leaning on it rather than running away from it, using it to guide us, help us, hold our hands while we learn to sing with our own voice the song of generations and generations before that are all connected through storytelling---

that's what he was trying to tell me.

Your idea is good; it's been done before. That's okay; let that help you.

A story will be unique because you told it.

[beanghostprincess]

Any tips for beginners fanfic writhers? I am working on a fic about Asl+Uta on Ao3, I currently just put up the first chapter.

Aw, I'm so glad you asked me this. I don't know exactly what to tell you, honestly, so I'll do my best to give you some pieces of advice!

First of all, some basic/technical AO3 stuff:

Don't tag side pairings if they don't have a big role in the story or show up only like, once. Because that only fills their tag with unwanted fics their readers aren't interested in, and it will just be bothersome and sort of like spamming.

It really does work better if you write your fic on a Google Doc and then paste it to AO3 because that way you make sure you have it safe and sound in your lil folder. Drafts disappear from your account if you don't update them!

You can be silly in the tags but don't overdo it because people are there reading those to know what the fic is about. I always end up making jokes there but if it's a wall full of tags, people won't read it.

I personally don't like long summaries. It's better to just write a few lines that describe the fic vaguely and let the tags talk for the genre. You can even just paste some sentences from the fic and it'll look great!

I've written long fics with various chapters but I personally post it all together instead of weekly, but that's just me. Most people believe it's better to do it every week. In my case, I just do this because I often never finish shit and I prefer to just, you know, be sure I have all the fic done before posting.

Now for a more personal advice:

Don't worry about the amount of comments you get. That doesn't rate your fic. Most people don't even comment because they read at night and they're tired! Perhaps they just don't like commenting! But that doesn't mean your fic isn't good or hasn't changed their lives. I can promise you the only reason people don't leave comments is because they're lazy, but they probably liked your fic.

Don't expect results right away. I've had fics on AO3 that didn't get attention after weeks since I published them. Have in mind that the people who read are real people, and it's- It's like working on a store, you know? Some people might not come in a Monday morning, because they might be working/studying, but you might get more attention a Friday night.

Reread your fanfic all the times you want until you feel satisfied to post it. Never post something you aren't satisfied with because then, what's the point? Meeting the deadline? What deadline? It's YOUR fanfic. YOUR baby. You can do whatever you want.

Following that same rule: You can do whatever you want. Write whatever you want. Seriously, if people like it they will read it, and if they don't? Fuck them. You're doing this for you and because you like writing.

Get yourself a Beta reader. It doesn't matter if it's your friend or a mutual. It's always great to have somebody checking the fanfic for you! For me it's my girlfriend and I swear it's great to hear other people's opinions before posting.

If I'm being honest, I don't know what else to tell you. I've been writing fanfics for ages and I think I've just been vibing all this time. I don't consider myself a professional or anything but!! I hope I helped you somehow <3 If you have any other questions please, don't be shy and ask me!!

[taytei]

I want to learn how to improve ocs. Are there any tips, advices or tutorials you can give to your loyal fans like me? Have a great day

i've still got a lot of learning when it comes to improving ocs myself!

my best advice is try and pull character references from multiple sources, it helps fill out the character if you can pull ideals/traits/backstory elements/design details/etc and use them to fill the holes in your character.

and also just. love them. love them like you do your favorite character. love them in their story and love them in their mundane life. think about the little things that arent important or relevant to the world/story or even really to them like; do they have a messy or clean room? how would they do in a high school biology class? would they enjoy camping or would they be miserable out in the woods?

ask questions that would never really need an answer and just use that build a foundation for them.

you can apply this to both character writing and art by the way! because these details you think of shine through even if its just them .. standing there?

[sysig]

Some scribbles :) (Patreon)

[poisoned-pearls]

you know, Idk if I have to say it, but, cut off those people who drain you. You shouldn’t always have to text first, your friendship shouldn’t end because you stopped talking.

And I know it sucks, that feeling of crippling loneliness. But when shit was absolutely the worst for me, when everything had fucking crashed and burned, I met a few people who finally reminded me what it meant to have someone care, and you’ll get it soon

[jellycreamjammedart]

Do NOT get invested in a Discord server where every breath you take has you walking on eggshells (at best) despite trying to be careful and compliant as much as you can, to the point you not only feel discouraged and unmotivated to share anything in there because it made your brain replace the giddy first thought of "I hope they find joy in it like I did!" with the ghoulish first thought of "I wonder what problematic thing they could still find in it after I already sanitized it as much as I possibly can," but also give you crushing anxiety over whether or not you should share a thing in there to the point it takes you all day to actually make your choice: you choose not to, or you do it and still regret it despite your utmost care-- doing it and succeeding are extremely rare lucky shots at best.

And you must know you're having it bad when whenever you get a ping/@ from there your brain thinks first thing instead of "Oh my! Someone thought of me when saying/showing something or wants to show me something or just talk to me!" it's a thought like "Oh boy! I wonder what I could possibly be getting grilled for this time no matter how careful I tried to be."

Dont do this to yourself hon. You dont need that anxiety and creativity-hindering environment where youre basically doomed and set up into getting in trouble from the start bc of the way things are handled. Yes even if people there are (apparently) nice-- just ask to add those you wanna keep in contact with and then hit da bricks, man. There are many other *actually* friendly servers out there even if theyre smaller-- bigger doesnt necessarily mean great, after all; ive certainly felt much happier and more positive in my smaller servers and now aim to stick with them <3

Tldr; dont stick or get invested in Discord servers (or any other online spaces really) that makes you anxious and paranoid of your every typed word or image/content shared or your every online move there to the point of unmotivation and discouragement- that place's not healthy for you; leave it hit da bricks, there are better places just waiting for you to come across that will *genuinely* take you in with open arms

[charliethemanticore]

Hi btw being trans does not automatically grant you supernatural understanding of all esoteric trans knowledge. You actually need to put effort into learning or put effort into keeping quiet about things that don't pertain to your specific experience

[wawek]

Boundaries are really important to respect unless theyre mine bc mine are really confusing and normal people dont have issues with stuff like that

[velvetwyrme]

Hey! I just wanted to let you know that somebody has posted your comic sans comic on reddit in the Undertale subreddit as well as the general comic subreddit. They’ve credited you in the comments and everything, but I just wanted to give you a heads up in case they didn’t ask you first/if you’re not cool with it.

... Huh. Thank you for letting me know- I don't use Reddit, so I had no idea :')!!

They didn't ask, and I'm not a fan of reposting, but I do appreciate the credit (and the fact that they have been correcting people on That One Panel)

Honestly, I'm not sure how to feel about this!! On one hand I'm flattered that it was... "cool" enough to get shared to another site, but on the other hand I'm a little miffed that it was reposted in the first place?

I... is there even anything I can do here?? What is Reddit etiquette? I know reposting is pretty common there, and I'm not really inclined to report them or ask them to take it down if that's part of the post economy/ecosystem, you know?

Thank you again for letting me know, but I uh. have no idea what to do about this!

[adore-gregor]

study smart not hard (altough both is best actually) this saying is so true

[pike-the-monstah]

yknow, i do love a well done "thing bad" video but if your entire channel is "thing bad" videos, especially if all the thumbnails are you making increasingly cartoonish "yikes!" expressions, it does make me want to tell yt not to recommend your channel anymore lmao

[mejomonster]

Oh also when I start dropping the Red White and Royal Blue book quotes expect a FLOOD I'm highlighting the fuck out of this book

[killadelphias]

my problem w fandom based discord servers is of the dozens and dozens I've joined and ditched over the years, they always always seem to devolve into nonstop vent sessions about everyone's personal problems and emotions and the original idea of the server gets left behind. or the general chat channels all turn into perpetual therapy hour and no one talks about anything else in the other channels. could have been a string of bad luck for me or maybe that's just human nature when gathering mixed company in a semi-anonymous forum. but honestly, ughh.

[ingo-ingoing-ingone]

Would it be alright to ask you advice on curating my fandom experience? Regarding avoiding b///kshippers and the like, unfortunately. I don't know who else to ask, unless you or your followers know of someone? I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable.

I guess so, yeah! Would be easier if you're off anon, admittedly, or on discord or the like. I'm not sure what specific info I can give tbh?

I can give some general advice though

Block people if you don't like them, and mute/block terms you don't like. Use filters liberally.

This is the internet, things that should not exist unfortunately do, and we cannot change what others do. It's not worth your time and energy or mental health to try and change other's minds on this, i promise.

Personally, I prefer to block and mute individual people instead of filter tags or block terms. I'd rather catch and block the source, so I can keep certain people from interacting with my blogs or fics. Some people would simply rather not see anything at all, so block and filter anything associated with it. It's genuinely up to each person.

But remember this IS and will always be the internet. The unfortunate truth is that you WILL see stuff you don't want to, sometimes in the least likely of places. Sometimes people won't tag. Sometimes it'll ruin your day. But if you wanna engage with fandoms and media online, you have to know this, and you have to be able to decide when the risk is not worth it.

It sucks, it really sucks that this is how it is, but it is :(

But yeah! Know what works for you! Block people! Block tags! That's genuinely the best thing to do, and at the end of the day almost all you CAN do. At least it's a powerful tool.

Good luck anon! If you need more specific advice you can ask, though it's no guarantee i'll have an answer

(Oh, another thing I suggest is, if it's a fandom like submas that has big presences in other languages, if you cannot speak those languages find the tag for the ship or whatever it is you don't like IN THAT LANGUAGE and block it

In english, if I see ship art I don't want to see, I can easily read the tag and block the artist. In japanese, I cannot read the tags, so blocking the tags helps me not see it because as we all know, sometimes it's hard to recognize what's a ship art piece and what isn't!

It's not foolproof, but it definitely helps me avoid artists I cannot read the tags of, and find artists that don't create stuff like that! because I personally love finding cool art from all over the world, despite not being able to read it.)

[vaguelyhauntedcornfield]

Idk if anyone will see or respond to this, but if you’re in game design/development, what advice would you have for someone looking at trying to make a transition into the field? My undergraduate degree was in studio art--ceramic sculpture specifically--so I know I would definitely have to do some portfolio work/skill building. What about masters programs? Are they worth it? Is there a difference in how online vs traditional degrees (both from accredited institutions) are viewed when hiring? Any general tips?

[galactikburzt]

Truth be told i would really love to be a standup comedian

I think we actually do need more comedians in the world