#drawingspaces talks about writing

[dazedandlucid]

have you ever written a main pov on characters with a significant age difference as you? (this may be subjective considering maturity differences can be different from person to person) but i'm mostly wondering abt this in the context of wanting to write a character in an age you have no idea what their lives would be about or basically what issues a person at that age would be tackling. i.e. a 19 yr old wanting to write a 24 y/o seems difficult. in ur experience, how have u/would u go about it?

i’m in my 20′s now and i have been writing (with huge interruptions of time) for roughly 10 years and have written characters in their teens up till their 40′s-50′s. obviously, i’ve been a teenager so i know what that felt like for me in particular, but the way i approach character, at least now, is that people are people and my experiences aren’t universal. so even though i was teen and i know what it felt like for me, that experience doesn’t apply to everyone. so when i write a character of an age that isn’t mine, both an age i’ve been (like for example jinhyung in htttoh. believe or not, i was a baby at some point! i obviously don’t have clear memories of it, but it happened) or one i haven’t been, is to treat them as a person-character-person as much as possible. i definitely do research into that age/experience whether that’s just online searches, watching a variety of media, reading books. obviously, a lot of this is stuff i’ve consumed over the years informing this as well. also, i know irl people of various ages, so that also informs having an idea of what people at different points of life tend to think about, care about, how they view the world, etc. but i try to approach every individual character as that particular character and try not to pigeonhole characters/fic based on how old they are. i know people in their early 20′s that are way more mature than people i know who are in their 50′s in some ways, and way less mature in others. don’t generalize characters based on their age is my point.  if i take my own fic as an example, “love me electric” taekook are my most emotionally intelligent tk. hands down. i will go to bat about this. they say what they mean, they don’t play guessing games or mind games with each other. they’re very open and vulnerable in their communication from the get go. obviously, their story is way simpler than some of my other tks and they don’t have the same life experiences that have informed why my others tks are the way they are, but they will genuinely have the most balanced and less difficult relationship out of all of them at the moment (except maybe time-space continuum tk but i digress). they’re in college. they’re the second youngest tk i’ve written. so i guess my advice is to:

1. approach characters regardless of age as multifaceted not just as generic representations of their age group

2. consume media about that age group made thoughtfully and empathetically 

3. research what the experiences of that age group are from those people themselves, especially taking culture into consideration. 

i hope some of this helps! 

[anythingtrxsh]

Hello! any underrated fics that you're just DYING to read? or have read and don't understand how they don't have more attention? Any scenarios are fine! ty!

omg okay so for fics im dying to read i have a few that im waiting for them to be complete? so yeah, i am literally suffering here but alriGHT ill take it. 

tbh with you this was such a fun ask to answer, ily anon<33

fics i cant wait to read

just look to the moon [151k] by taecheeks {just like it happened with chemistry, the one thing keeping me from reading this is the word count thats scaring the shit out of me (and also i barely even have time to read a 5k fic these days so im sAAAD)}

bloodhorse [55k] by batman {my baby tay recced this fic to me and i heard the writing is crazy good. its got something to do with horse racing i think? im not sure, but its on my list!}

Speed Demon [50k] by lethallergic {one of you actually recced this fic to me not long ago and i still havent got a chance to read it but i definitely will!!}

nighttime daydreams [33k] by veridiae {the summary for this one is just screaming my name and im so ready for this fic to claim me i am rEADY}

all of you, all of me [24k] by conclusions (introductions) {HHHH IVE WANTED TO READ THIS FIC FOR AGES AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHY I HAVENT YET IM SO STUPID SO STUPID ITS NOT EVEN LONG WTF JAS}

the sweet escape [22k] by starbloom {this one definitely intrigues me, especially because ive heard the write is a very good one. and also i love me some travel aus}

how to talk to other humans (and other valuable life skills) by drawingspaces {WIP-- i am actually really excited about this fic bc its a singledad au!! and we all know i LOVE those.}

symbiosis by taecheeks {WIP-- what we are NOT gonna do is pretend miss avery isnt absolutely amazing at writing long ass fics with the most delicious slow burn. she’s doing god’s job at spreading the arranged married taekook agendAAAAA}

underrated fics (according to me)

Life As We Know It [61k] by adrenalinecaged {im not a huge fan of abo, and specifically not mpreg, but this fic is just?? it for me?? i really loved it. like a LOT. like i keep re-reading it all the time bc omgggggg yes}

to always follow the sun [36k] by thruspring {this fic is my child and i will protect it with my heart}

Sibylline, Oblique (Sweet) [32k] by veausy {ma’am really has a way with words and i love her<33}

the happiest place on earth [15k] by taecheeks {this might actually be my favorite fic by her. i just loved reading it so much and i loved how happy my heart felt after i finished it}

I want you, I’ll color me blue [10k] by blackberryboy {i literally cannot WAIT for this writer to post more fics}

happy reading!! 

[remainingso]

can u rec some fics that would destroy a person regardless of fandom?

omg hi anon do you follow me on twitter 

anyways this is all bangtan fic bc i have been reading nothing else however! it’s totally understandable imo and fucking DEVASTATING i read this entire fic trilogy over the weekend and melted into a puddle of feelings so! Imma link it here along with other SOUL DESTROYING FICS 

the bangtan is bad at feelings trilogy by AttilaTheHun DEVASTATING ROMANCE, the first one is a masterpiece of pacing, these fics are also such an amazing study in how to take your protagonist to rock bottom by having them fuck up so utterly and then learn how to fix it, the first and third in particular just ruined me 

here comes the sun by fruitily — less emotionally destroying in that there’s no angst, still made me want to cry by the end because of the bittersweetness of endings, the lovely but terrible way that perfect summers end, the beauty of new beginnings, sobs 

the impossibility of hands by drawingspaces—not really emotionally destroying BUT this fic kind of fucked with me by showing me this entirely new way you can write prose that I could never ever replicate in my life ever, but makes this one single long night feel so electric and vivid 

THIS HUNGER GAMES AU by nallari—IT’S A HUNGER GAMES AU NEED I SAY MORE??? short and sharp like a dagger between your ribs

love like war (we go together or we don’t go down at all) by notyoongs—tHE EXES FIC TO END ALL EXES FIC, the pacing on this is, again, a MASTERPIECE, the romance will make you hurt so much, the resolution will make you cry tears of happiness, and, again, it’s just such a good case study in how two people can fuck up together, can love each other and have it all fall apart, the viciousness that’s borne from what once was love, UGH

Like Thieves In The Night by ashardoffreedom—okay this one is incomplete as fair warning, but if you follow me you probably (?) know about the grisha trilogy and six of crows and whatnot, THIS IS A SIX OF CROWS AU and like no lie I like some parts of it more than actual six of crows; an EXCELLENT study in how to take an existing mythos and expand it, absolutely beautiful ensemble cast writing, OT3 EXES GETTING BACK TOGETHER FIC, LOTS OF BLOOD, IT’S PERFECT, PLEASE READ IT 

let the light in by sharpa—I feel like I might’ve recc’d this on here before? But whatever it’s perfect light contemporary fantasy, perfect found family relationship, also a really good look at sacrifices and how to heal without making everything the same as it once was, how you can be hurt and move on even if that root hurt doesn’t get better, really lovely!!!!

OKAY I think that’s all I have right now to talk about, please let me know if you want more/read these/whatever lolol I love talking about fanfiction and exactly why i love the fics I do 

cheers!! 

[dazedandlucid]

do you enjoy writing from jeongguk's or taehyung's pov more and why? is one just easier than the other or is it something else? what influences whose pov the story gets told from?

i really love both! i used to find jk easier but it’s pretty equal now. i think was intimidated to write from taehyung’s pov more than anything. and what influences who the story gets told from really comes from what story i’m trying to tell, whose growth i’m trying to unravel, so to say. usually the romance is secondary so that will determine it too.

[dazedandlucid]

This might be a weird question but! How did you learn how to write smut? When I read the first chapter of rwcbmt I was like ! Dang ! Bc it was one of the best smut scenes I’ve ever read and I’m a writer too but I don’t want to write about smut bc I’m not confident about it and don’t want to depict it wrong so I’m wondering what worked for u?

hi! so first thank you so much for reading my stuff! it really means a lot. second, i seem to be kind of an outlier weirdo about this (but please correct me if i’m wrong) because it seems like a lot of authors share your sentiment about writing sex. in my case, i genuinely like writing sex scenes. i think they can be an interesting tool to talk about relationships and character. now, i don’t think sex is the be all end all and if you were to list either what’s more important/interesting to write about or what makes a relationship, i don’t think sex should be listed super high. but. sex is very much a part of the human experience (not for all people of course! this is a-okay!!!!) but it’s one of the things we do. so talking about it, and wanting to talk/write about it among other things, is normal and natural and fine. so i treat it like any other type of scene in terms of writing which makes it an enjoyable process (or as not enjoyable as writing anything else tbh). but the thing about writing sex that i hear most is: its boooooring. which. fair. in its barest bones, sex is choreography. so writing out what hand is doing what to who and which weirdly shaped gangly ball accompanied appendage is going up whose whooha or wherever, gets boring real fast. which is why i think that the physical part of sex is the least important part of writing sex and of any sex scene. ever. it seriously does not matter. what makes sex interesting to me, as both a reader and especially as a writer, is everything else, namely, how sex feels, and even more importantly, how sex operates within and affects a story. but, like, how do you do this? i think every writer has to figure that out for themselves, but this is what works for me:

1) is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me? (or: why are their clothes coming off?): a sex scene, like any scene, has to have a reason of being. even if it’s just: they wanna fuck. sex scenes get treated like filler a lot. this is why so much fic sex feels gratuitous and unnecessary. because authors also kind of just treat them that way. it “has” to be there. but a sex scene, like any scene, should tell us something that would be missing if that scene wasn’t there. even if it’s just “hey these two dudes! they really like each other’s bods!” the first chapter of rwcbmt is just sex but the rest of the story basically makes no sense without that scene. that doesn’t mean i couldn’t have told the story without it, but it would have required a lot of rewrites. this is fine, but my point is make the sex feel important (even if it isn’t) and not just a scene taking up word count. your story shouldn’t stop once the dicks are out. actively think about why you even want to include sex in the first part.

2. oops, we forgot the condoms again (or: why dicks are the least important body part): no, this isn’t about safe sex (tho write safe sex, kids. it literally costs you nothing). and yes, dicks do matter (tho not as much as they’d love you to believe). what i’m getting at is that when writing sex, what can make it interesting and feel fresh is the details. basically everything beyond the main event. it’s the tinier things. obvious things like the way they kiss and where. the way their bodies feel. but also random things like whether someone’s hands are shaking. what their legs are doing. the randomest places on a body can be what gets someone going. make it feel particular and personal to those characters. make it be more about the way things feel than the thing itself.

3. how do i love, thee? idk, let me see your dick, man (or: take the rose colored glasses off please): that said, when I say feelings, i don’t mean capital F feelings TM. sex can be super smushy i love you so much feels time but it can also be just sex. even between two smushy i love you so much feelings people. there’s a lot of feelings you can explore during sex. sometimes yeah that’s just the desire to get off but it can also be feeling vulnerable or scared or grossed out or giddy or angry or literally anything else you can feel. but i also mean sensation. describing the way things feel. basically, where your pov’s character’s head is at. they shouldn’t be having full on monologues in their head but your brain doesn’t just beep offline during fucking the way we think. and if it does, make the reader conscious of that. acknowledge the flatlining of all coherent thought. that says a lot too.

4. not another 90’s baby making slow jam please (or: the “mood” is a living breathing thing): your characters aren’t having sex in some empty vacuum space pod. turn wherever they’re having sex into an active part of what’s happening. what does the room feel like? what’s the lighting, the smells, the sounds? scenery can be character too. take advantage of that.

5. don’t forget to take the trash out there’s lube everywhere (or: sex is nasty). this is both a word choice thing but also a reality. sex is gross. bodies are gross and they produce gross substances and sounds. i’m talking about sweat. i’m talking about the other s (also known as a j, the other other s, and the c). sex isn’t some perfectly choreographed thing ken dolls do. sometimes someone slips and a finger or something else ends up where you didn’t mean it to. don’t ignore this. make a joke out of it. make a not joke out of it. make it hot. but don’t ignore it. also, leave the purple prose in your mom’s mills and boone novel where it belongs. you can make sex feel romantic but don’t romanticize it. the nasty gross parts are what make it fun.

6. maybe we should just join a monastery and hold hands when the friar isn’t looking (or: why sex isn’t about sex): the biggest thing for me when i write sex is that the sex is the least important part. as in, the physical part means nothing. it doesn’t really matter who does what because what i’m really trying to get at is i’m trying to show you something about these two people (or 3 or 4 or etc) and their relationship, this thing between them. why the sex is even being had in the first place. what that sex does to their relationship. because it should. if it doesn’t? there’s not really a point to even writing it out.

i think this is about covers it but basically what worked/works for me is not treating sex any different or lesser than any other scene. a sex scene can be a lot like a fight scene. if you keep it superficial, it’s just two people going at each other until they’re both sweaty with battered bodies. but if you don’t demean it just because it’s something physical, it’s a scene you can use to show how a specific type of physicality plays into a character’s life for those particular ten paragraphs of fic time. sex does not inform character, but how a character has sex can tell us something about them. a good fight scene isn’t about who wins or loses. it’s about how a character puts up a fight. a good sex scene shouldn’t be about who does what or what goes where, but how a character feels, and just as importantly, how they feel about making their partner feel.

[dazedandlucid]

Hi, I'm trying my best to finish writing this thing and I feel like I'm a beginner once again even if I've written a lot of full mostly novel length stuff suddenly I feel like I can't write at all and it's killing me because I have so many things I still want to write !

hey! this feeling is so normal and common. i know that doesn’t help but in case you find it comforting that you’re not the only writer who feels this way, i wanted to say so. being a writer is both one of the best and worst things to be because you have an outlet to put the world inside your head outside of it, but you’re also wracked with constant self doubt. each project is a different animal and lack of confidence can hit you at any time. i don’t know if it ever goes away fully. i’d suggest two things: first, consider if you need a rest period. burnout is a thing and if you’re producing at the rate you seem to be, eventually you hit a wall. sometimes hitting that wall takes you a second to realize. so maybe it’s time to take a break. this sounds contrary to what you want, to write, but there are theories that say that creatives need to go through cycles of productivity/rest. but rest isn’t dead time or inactivity. this should be a time you consume art, and i think it’s best (or at least in my experience) to consume things not in your medium. so no fanfic (if what you write is fanfic) but instead novels, poetry, film, music, art, etc. this will give you sources of inspiration, allow you to not have to focus energy on producing, and allow you not to compare yourself to other work in your medium. also, don’t forget to take care of yourself. get outside and go for walks (did you know some of the best writers attribute walking/spending time in nature to what kept them going to write?), do non writing related things you love that give you energy. the second thing is: after the rest period (if that is what you need) you have to, and bear with me, force yourself. i know that sounds unromantic and against everything we hear about writing, but things like inspiration are arbitrary. they are fickle. the writer who produces is the one who sits at whatever work station they use and, very unromantically, spits words out. even if they hate every single one. that’s how it is sometimes. but at times, we have to push words out, even if we end up deleting all of them, to eventually get to the words we’ve been looking for. sometimes the words you’ve been looking for look nothing like how you imagined.

[taekookficrecs]

hello! do you perhaps have taekook aus that have an interesting (kind of unique) plot/storyline to suggest? kinda wanna keep myself entertained while being stuck in quarantine :'))

hey :) i definitely feel you and i hope these can keep you occupied!!

I Won’t Fall (in love with you) - orphan_account (( 10/10 | E | 52,444 ))

“You have to promise not to fall in love with me.”

Some Killer King You Are - lethallergic (( 1/1 | E | 55,443 ))

In the game of love, everyone’s a winner.

summer; blue - batman (( 1/1 | M | 66,024 ))

More than you can manage, more than you can hide: a study in light.

you are the top of my lungs - bakkushan (txvbios) (( 1/1 | T | 8,607 ))

"If only we could be strangers again."

Jeongguk and Taehyung get to know each other in a broken-down bus on their way to Daegu. Nothing less, nothing more.

Or so it seems.

Lucky strike - expplipo (( 15/15 | T | 35,735 ))

"You’re bad luck, I’m good luck. Two sides of a coin. Heads and tails. We match.”

(mundane superpower/luck au)

Speed Demon - lethallergic (( 1/1 | E | 50,082 ))

Pick up the pace like danger and ride.

Smell the Roses - bananamilks (( 2/2 | T | 33,276 ))

"Wait, you're werewolves?"

"Lycans, there's a difference."

[or, Taehyung gets lost in a forest in Goheung, but as a result meets six men(?) that will change his life]

Ghost Story - mindheist (( 1/1 | E | 19,729 ))

It was an untold story with no ending, until now.

Inhale, Exhale - Kavbj (( 1/1 | M | 18,156 ))

Jungkook’s not sleep deprived, and he’s certifiably sane - Taehyung just happens to be able to breathe magic.

Read All About It - jvante (( 1/1 | E | 40,701 ))

A star football player and an aspiring journalist fall in love, and make headlines everywhere.

Invisible People - mindheist (( 1/1 | E | 22,792 ))

The most important things are the hardest of all to see.

One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer - zerorequiem (( 19/19 | E | 83,324 ))

Jeongguk is 22, fresh out of college, working a bartending job that was supposed to last just the summer, and unsure about a lot.

Manhattan socialite Kim Taehyung, beautiful and confident, suddenly shows up in skirts and high heels and leaves him breathless.

ènouement - merelypretty (( 10/10 | M | 81,964 ))

Being a fairy prince isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, especially when you’re cursed to die by the age of twenty. A year before his birthday, Taehyung meets fairy hunter Jeongguk, and he’s pretty sure he’ll die a little earlier than planned.

(Maybe I Love You) We’re Too Young For That - kaihua (( 22/22 | M | 153,324 ))

If there’s anything Taehyung dislikes more than writing pop songs, it’s writing songs for Jungkook: rising idol, CF magnet, and one of the biggest douchebags Taehyung’s ever met.

But hey, it pays the bills.

Abbadon’s Waltz - eclairdeluxe (( 1/1 | E | 56,998 ))

Hell hath no fury like a lover scorned.

Running on Fumes (But We’ll Make It Through the Night) - littleheichou (( 2/2 | M | 73,933 ))

Jungkook’s a fresh face on the force, destined for greatness like his parents. A symbol of hope for the city that, maybe, will finally overcome the android ‘infiltration’ after decades of turmoil.

But Taehyung? He’s just trying to survive.

It’s on a rainy Friday night that a hot-shot investigator meets the young man being hunted down by some of the most powerful forces in the country and Taehyung may not know a whole lot about life, but, god, does he know about living.

Chemistry - taecheeks (( 11/11 | E | 200,913 ))

“What’s your zodiac sign?”

“Virgo,” Jungkook responds without thinking. He frowns, glaring. “Why?”

“Hm, I can work with that,” Taehyung says. “I’m a Capricorn.”

“Fascinating. Now back to Chemistry -”

“Isn’t that what I was talking about?”

[Or, Jungkook just wants to get his tutoring sessions with the President's son over with. Taehyung just wants to get his cute tutor under him.]

real worlds can be manic too - drawingspaces (( 18/? | E | 234,531 ))

Sex and love are not one and the same but they tend to feed the same animal.

Taehyung doesn’t want much. The Universe, for one. The rest he can take or leave.

beta/theta - antiking (( 1/1 | T | 17,585 ))

In the midst of Busan’s worst heat wave to date, Taehyung makes a bucket list, and Jeongguk’s dreams take a turn for the weirder.

Resonance - rix (( 1/1 | E | 30,676))

Jungkook wonders if the fact that soul-focused battle techniques make people horny as hell is just something the professors politely ignore. Or maybe he's just weird.

sonámbulo - batman (( 5/5 | E | 57,314 ))

One painting, one mission, one hundred days.

admin nj - i had a lot of fun with this one haha a lot of my favorites are here too !! a lot of these are pretty popular but i hope i provided some new stuff for you :)

[taekookficrecs]

Taekook Longfics? Preferably college or coffee shop au’s! 💗

hey friends :) combining some longfic and sugar daddy asks !! long fics for me are around 100k and above so that’s kinda what im going for here. pls enjoy

long fics

real worlds can be manic too - drawingspaces (( 18/? | E | 234,531 ))

Sex and love are not one and the same but they tend to feed the same animal.

Taehyung doesn’t want much. The Universe, for one. The rest he can take or leave.

New (Newer) Rules - jvante (( 6/6 | E | 108,229 )) 

Step #1: Don't get involved with the guy your girlfriend cheats with.

Failed step 1.

(Maybe I Love You) We’re Too Young For That - kaihua (( 22/22 | M | 153,324 )) 

If there’s anything Taehyung dislikes more than writing pop songs, it’s writing songs for Jungkook: rising idol, CF magnet, and one of the biggest douchebags Taehyung’s ever met.

But hey, it pays the bills.

Chemistry - taecheeks (( 11/11 | E | 200,913 )) 

“What’s your zodiac sign?”

“Virgo,” Jungkook responds without thinking. He frowns, glaring. “Why?”

“Hm, I can work with that,” Taehyung says. “I’m a Capricorn.”

“Fascinating. Now back to Chemistry -”

“Isn’t that what I was talking about?”

[Or, Jungkook just wants to get his tutoring sessions with the President's son over with. Taehyung just wants to get his cute tutor under him.]

One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer - zerorequiem (( 19/19 | E | 83,324 ))

Jeongguk is 22, fresh out of college, working a bartending job that was supposed to last just the summer, and unsure about a lot.

Manhattan socialite Kim Taehyung, beautiful and confident, suddenly shows up in skirts and high heels and leaves him breathless.

Fall Asleep (Fall For You) - drannie (( 22/22 | M | 149,954 ))

“They say when you fall in love you can’t fall asleep, but now that I’ve met you I feel like I finally can.”

A University AU where Jungkook and Taehyung become roommates. But Jungkook has insomnia and can't fall asleep with other people and Taehyung can't fall asleep alone.

Lupi - kpopismydrug (( 12/12 | M | 107,209 ))

This is one summer break that Taehyung will never forget. From dealing with a moody mare that likes to think she’s a stroppy teenager rather than a horse, to dealing with childhood memories that threaten to choke him, Taehyung will soon find out that when you take a trip down memory lane, some things are more than just memories.

i don’t want you to go (but i want you so) - kthsv (( 16/16 | T | 206,525 ))

sometimes the universe makes mistakes

sugar daddy fics (some are longfics too)

i forget to breathe (when i’m with you) - locks (( 14/14 | E | 111,780 )) 

"Do we have a deal, angel," Taehyung repeats, and Jeongguk can hear that he's losing his patience, hands resting on his hips.

Jeongguk lifts his head, snapping the lid closed. "Pleasure doing business with you, daddy," he nods, sending a grin up to Taehyung who just narrows his eyes at him.

"You're lucky I like you," Taehyung mutters, sounding mildly threatening as he steps over to him and tilts Jeongguk's chin up, leaning down to press a kiss against his lips.

Lucky doesn't even come close.

Or, Jeongguk's trying to figure out how he ended up with a sugar daddy when all he wanted was a couple packets of instant noodles.

Blind me or bind me - winter_taebun (( 11/11 | E | 51,490 )) 

Taehyung is just looking for something to fill the empty void in his heart and Jungkook only has money to offer.

OR

Taehyung offers his body for Sugar Daddy Jungkook.

"This isn't a place where people fall in love"

Sugar and Spice - kkozumes (( 1/1 | E | 23,212 )) 

Jeongguk can't deny that he's attracted to Taehyung. No, he realised he was attracted to him as soon as his car pulled up by the side of the road. Jeongguk appreciated a handsome face and Kim Taehyung was beautiful to him. What he didn't expect however was for the beautiful man with the expensive car to take him back to an equally as expensive apartment away from home, give him new clothes, allow him to stay and then ask if Jeongguk wanted a sugar daddy.

If love is nothing more than just a waste of your time, waste it on me - BTSLarryAf  (( 25/25 | E | 81,386 ))

Jeon Jeongguk is the owner of Jeon Entertainment, small but very successful recording label. He’s one of the richest Korean bachelors under thirty and he’s dedicated his whole life to his job and he doesn’t have time for relationships and feelings. However, sometimes his life gets lonely so he decides to find himself a company.

Kim Taehyung is a college student struggling with money so he signs up with an agency that is finding company for rich lonely men. And that is how Jeon Jeongguk becomes Taehyung’s sugar daddy.

Glad it’s stopped raining - kissforvante (( 1/1 | E | 20,433 )) 

Distance between Taehyung is never a good thing. But sometimes Jeongguk can work with it.

admin nj - i’ve only read locks sugar addy au and there doesn’t seem to be many others but i tried my hardest!! hope you all can enjoy these 

[dazedandlucid]

is writing hard for you? the process of actually writing down a story. your writing comes off as very effortless. it’s obvious you put a lot of effort into it but it seems like something natural for you. i hope that isn’t insulting to say i don’t mean it that way at all. love your fics so much <3

hi!

this didn’t come off as insulting at all. i think that’s the effect all creators want to achieve in a sense. or at least i do. not that it’s easy but that whatever you produce feels natural to others. the work isn’t supposed to be in the work, to put it one way.

in terms of whether or not writing itself takes a lot of effort, it comes and goes but the honest answer is no. once i know what to write and sit down to do it, the process itself isn’t what i would consider difficult. it takes a lot of effort tho but i can breeze through whatever i need to get written if that’s how you want to classify level of difficulty. now getting myself in the headspace to actually write, that’s another thing entirely. i find certain things about writing harder than others. it depends.

thanks for liking my writing! appreciate you saying coming by :)

[dazedandlucid]

Do you have any tips on how to edit better like more efficiently? I really hate editing it's such a pain in the ass I have this thing I've been editing all week but it's nowhere near done and I want to post it already but editing my own work makes me cringe ;-//

well hey there fellow writer dude person! you’re in luck because i’m in the middle of a pretty uphill editing stretch so i have a lot of thoughts on editing right now. i hesitate to call this advice but more like just what works for me and what my process is like.

so editing is like this big scary word to writers i feel like. another slightly less (or more?) scary word is revision. i’ve been writing fiction in some capacity for ten years and i didn’t really start hardcore editing until about two years ago. it’s funny because i’ve never had this attitude about my academic/school writing, but never applied this thought process or saw the necessity for it for my fiction. i’d just reread it once to grab any grammar/spelling mistakes or story inconsistencies and be done. i didn’t experience the cringy feeling you’re describing but i was aware that it would happen if i did actually did try to edit.

fast forward to my time in the bts fandom: editing is my main m.o. no really. i am a firm believer in editing now. not because i necessarily think that first drafts = pure shit, but because the way i’ve come to view a first draft has radically changed. my newfound love of editing has been largely influenced by my other new love: outlining. knowing where a story is going. whether or not your outline is incredibly vague or highly detailed is not the important part, but having a sense of direction for what you want your story to be and what has to happen in order to tell it, helps you get a firm grasp on what you need to actually write. this may seem like i’ve gone off on a tangent but outlining has helped me a lot in the editing process. so i’d suggest giving it a go if you don’t do this already. (i have a few q’s related to outlining but from a character pov so if you need advice on actually outlining please feel free to ask)

here’s the thing, that cringing feeling you described? that’s a good thing. it means you have a sense for sussing out quality and what good writing is. that doesn’t mean yours isn’t, but most writers will tell you, a first draft is never the best one because you can always improve it. it means you know your writing has potential and the potential to be better. so don’t feel discouraged because you feel that way but at some point you have to just accept the cringe. it’s part of the process.

now onto your actual question (finally!): how to edit better. i’m going to break it down into things to focus on and the things i like to keep in mind when i’m ready to edit a first draft:

- know your characters: sometimes when we’re first writing, we don’t have a clear view on who a character is yet. this can be helped by really drawing out a character in the outlining process, but if you haven’t done this, this is where editing can be helpful. once you’ve reached the end of a story, you should have a better sense of who a character is. they’ve gone through the entirety of the story (whether it’s one self contained scene or multiple scenes that have taken them physically all over the place) so knowing that during the editing process will help you catch inconsistencies or ways to reword or rewrite certain dialogue or thought sections.

- the best way to eat a pie isn’t all at once: manage your editing sessions. break up your editing into chunks. do one edit where all you look at is grammar. another where you look at dialogue. another where you focus on character thoughts or actions. i know this can seem counterintuitive to the difficulty reading your own work issue but focusing on one aspect of your writing at a time can make you less judgmental about the whole of it if you focus on the parts that make it up.

- distance does make the heart grow fonder: if you feel like you’ve hit a wall with what you’re working on sometimes the best thing you can do is not work on it. take a break. walk away from it and don’t touch it for a week or two. sometimes you need that distance to get new ideas, to let the story breathe. you’ll be surprised how taking time off can get you itching to get back at it fresh and ready to see the story with different eyes. don’t extent this period for too long but you’ll be able to tell what’s the right about of time for you (or for the story).

- as some great seven dudes once said in japanese, be ready to let go: i’m paraphrasing but don’t be afraid to make changes. slash entire paragraphs, reword things, exchange the structure of a scene. do this on a second version of your document so you have the original version because sometimes it actually isn’t broken and you end up realizing how you wrote something the first time was the best version after all. also, now that there’s only so much you can do. at some point you’ve revised all you can and it’s time let your story go into the ether aka the internet.

- writing is another form of music: a big part of writing is rhythm. hitting a certain tempo or cadence to the way words are put together. one way to figure out whether or not your story sounds right is to read it out loud. this might make you feel silly but it’ll help you sound out what works well or not, especially in terms of dialogue.

i’m going to cut it here because i feel like i covered all the big things. all of editing, same as writing, is trial and error. figuring out what works for you. i hope some of this helps or at least gives you a starting point on how to make editing more efficient. i also want to add that the more you write and the more you edit, the more comfortable you are with both. the more you know yourself as a writer and an editor. being a creative person, or just someone who likes to create, can unfortunately also mean being your own worst critic. the best thing you can do for yourself is to learn when to be demanding of yourself and the potential of your work but also when to be kind to yourself and realize that there is no such thing as the perfect story. allow yourself and you’re writing to through the process and grow.