#fanfiction resources

[sugar-plum-senpai]

Fanfic Writer Notion Template | Notion Template for Fanfiction Writers | Writing Notion Template | WIP Organizer Template

Hello! I'm very excited to finally share the Notion template I've created for fanfic writers!

Admittedly, I am more of a fanfiction reader than a fanfiction writer, but I wanted to try my hand at creating this Notion template. That being said, I'm not sure if I've organized the template in a way that is super helpful or makes sense for a writer, so any advice/suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated! I am definitely planning on revising the template - this is a very early iteration.

Feel free to contact me if you have any suggestions! :)

[xythlia]

FANFIC WRITING RESOURCE MASTER POST

so in the spirit of wanting to see writers thrive I've decided to make a big master post of every single resource I use in order to create my works. It can be really hard to find concrete resources and it's frustrating to feel like you just don't know how to do something or how to get started but no worries hopefully you can find answers in this post ^⁠_⁠^

ON WRITING SMUT

› writing resources to keep on hand while you write

The Ultimate Guide to Writing Smut Fic by QuinnAnderson on AO3

The Sexy Thesaurus by Laurel Clark

Lewd Vocabulary in Erotic Fiction Survey by KJ Scott (from a survey done on r/fanfiction)

75+ Ways To Say Heart Pounded by Kathy Steinemann

Ways To Describe Breath & Breathing by Kathy Steinemann (everything on her site is super helpful tbh)

21 Other Words For Vagina by Lisette Marshall

The Gay Sex Positions Guide (be advised this is a photo guide!)

Writing Sex Scenes by Michael La Ronn (video resource)

GENERAL HELPFUL WRITING TOOLS

› things that can help when you feel stuck on certain words, want to avoid repetitive sentences, or check your spelling and grammar

Reverse Dictionary (search for words based on their definition)

Related Words (help you find words related to another word or phrase)

Describing Words (find adjectives)

Words to Use (reference that groups subject related words by parts of speech)

Wordhippo (has synonyms/antonyms/ect based on different definitions)

Netspeak (search for words you don't know yet/internet slang)

OneLook (thesaurus/dictionary)

Fighters Block (overcome writers block by setting it up as a game to achieve a certain word count)

Scribens (lesser known spelling and grammar check but does more! Helps prevent word repetition, rephrasing, vocab enhancement, + other stuff)

THE BASICS OF WRITING

› helpful resources to give you a solid foundation for your writing

7 Fundamentals of Writing by Michael Stover

Fundamentals of Writing by Jim Westergren

RECOMMENDED BOOKS

› this section is books on writing I recommend reading, you can either purchase them or if you know how to pirate you can get them that way too

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

On Writing Well by William Zinsser

The Elements of Style by William Strunk & E.B. White

Ernest Hemingway on Writing by Larry W. Phillips

The Writers Journey by Christopher Vogler

[kimboo-york]

Nirvana in Fire rec list & Resource database!

I have been busy updating my NiF database! I have added a new tab, "Resources," which contains links to all kinds of information about the drama Nirvana in Fire, the novel Lang Ya Bang, and cultural/historical facts/meta!!!!

Here's a peek:

So whether you are a fan who just wants to know more, or a fanfic writer who needs to know more, please partake of all the great information here!

If you have any suggestions for resources I have missed, please let me know.

[nyarlathotep-thecrawlingchaos]

Have some adoptable devil fruits that may or may not be making an appearance in some of my fics, because I've developed a useless hobby of coming up with devil fruits and definitely have no use for all of them.

Kabe Kabe no Mi (wall, paramecia type)

Grants the user the ability to create indestructible walls at will, as well as phase through any type of wall, provided it isn't comprised of sea stone.

Kumo Kumo no Mi (cloud, logia type)

Creation of clouds, mist, and fog, and the ability to transform into mist. Can be used to alter weather patterns, though results can be volatile and unpredictable.

Mōfu Mōfu no Mi (model: morph, human form zoan type)

The ability to completely morph one's features, perfect mimicry of other people at will. Limited to only human transformation, user cannot mimic fishmen or animals. If a fishman or animal consumes the fruit, they will also only be able to transform into human forms.

Tako Tako no Mi (model: Blue-Ringed Octopus, beast form zoan type)

Ability to transform into a blue-ringed octopus. User still can't come into contact with ocean water, but can breathe underwater in fresh water or use abilities on land. Small in size, ideal for stealth; venom containing neurotoxin, also ideal for a rogue/assassin type character.

Kami Kami no Mi (Hair, paramecia type)

Ability to grow or shorten one's hair, and control it at will. Comes across pretty useless, but can be used to make a rope in a pinch, garrote or bind one's enemies, or easily escape if said enemy happens to grab user by the hair.

Būmu Būmu no Mi (Boom, paramecia type)

Not to be confused with the Bomu Bomu no Mi, allows user to create explosions at will, of varying size and severity, whether for distraction purposes or to cause actual damage; user cannot use it to turn themselves or others into a bomb. The greater the explosion, the more difficult to control. Very volatile as a result and requires extensive training to properly master.

Saizu Saizu no Mi (Size, paramecia type)

Ability to either shrink or expand one's size at will, the extent of which depends on the user's mastery of their abilities. Standard, one can grow as small as an ant or increase their size around threefold. Does not alter physical strength, but can make the user either more difficult to detect or harder to combat.

Ondo Ondo no Mi (Temperature, logia type)

Temperature altering; including one's own body temperature or others', and the temperature of the user's surroundings, whether it be a single object or the surrounding atmosphere.

[quillandsaber]

Something I think that gets lost to history is that your average soldier prior to (roughly) WWII was the person primarily responsible for maintaining not just their weapons but also their clothing and other equipment. That stuff was expensive; you couldn't just throw it out when it got too worn. So your average soldier knew how to sew, patch, darn, knit, braid cord, in addition to things like sharpening blades and cleaning guns. They wouldn't necessarily be good at it, but they'd be good enough at it.

All this to say: it's perfectly reasonable to assume Clive would be able to transfer the skill of braiding cord to braiding hair.

[psychic-refugee]

Here are some shots of Nevermore students if anyone needs a reference for OCs or background characters.

[thecoramaria]

Hello! I'm starting off with my own long-ish fic (goal is 100k). Do you have any tips for writing 100k+ fics?

Thank you so much :)

Yes! I have five videos you'll hopefully find helpful.

This first playlist includes my longfic duology, as well as how to go about naming your chapters.

This second one is all about outlining, which should hopefully help you figure out which approach would be right for you. I'd argue that the longer your fic is, the more detailed your outline should be, since there's way more elements to keep consistent and tie together into a cohesive storyline, but others have found outlines to be the death of their longfics, so that's why I recommend using these videos to figure out which approach is right for you.

I also have a video on how to edit your fanfic in the works, detailing the process I'm using to edit my current longfic. Keep an eye out for that!

In terms of plot, I recommend this article. Bear in mind that this is written for original fiction writers though, so be sure to watch out for anything that may not apply to fanfic. What I like about it though is that it provides an understanding of plot that can be applied to stories of any length, from the shortest drabble to the longest of epics.

Anyways, hope all these help! Writing a 100k story is a big undertaking, but I can say from experience just how worthwhile that is. Wishing you all the luck~!

[writeblrdirectory]

@sabels-small-sphere

NAME: Sabel / Izzy

PRONOUNS: he/him or they/them

USERNAME/URL: sabels-small-sphere

SHORT BIO: I'm a bisexual, trans black writer with a focus on fantasy, although I occasionally write sci-fi or urban fantasy. My stories tend to focus on queer black people with magical powers. I've been writing both original and fanfiction for about 10+ years, but I just joined writeblr recently.

WIP LINKS:

Shifting Tides WIP Side Blog

Don’t Clip My Wings WIP Side Blog

WHO I'D LIKE TO CONNECT WITH: Other fantasy writers of color.

SOCIAL LINKS:

Instagram

Octo-Obsessed#4122

>> join the writeblr directory

[animatical-fandoms]

Not me making another timeline spreadsheet to figure out when people would have been in school etc for my fixit fics. This one, to no one’s surprise, is todoroki-family-centric. The Rei-being-one-year-younger-than-Enji thing is a headcanon, but for the most part, the relative ages are canonish based off of others’ calculations

Also it is never mentioned whether or not Endeavor went to university and I cannot find anywhere what age he officially debuted. Also school year versus birth dates versus the year that it is absolutely is fucking with this but I did my best. 

[sugar-plum-senpai]

The green version of my Fanfic Writer Notion Template!

[kogarashi-art]

Posting Fic - How to prep your writing to display correctly on AO3 (via LibreOffice)

So I've seen guides online about how to convert your fanfic for AO3 after writing it in Google Docs, because a lot of people use GDocs to do their writing (which is a decent option, since it saves it in the cloud and all that). I'm not planning on repeating that here.

But I don't do my writing in GDocs, I do my writing in LibreOffice Writer, because it emulates an older version of Word (which is what I grew up on and am most used to), and because I can have more robust spellchecking than on GDocs. And when I was first considering finally posting my work to AO3, I'd heard lots of commentary about how often pasting into the rich text editor sometimes loses formatting, or what hoops people had to jump through to make sure everything looked good.

So I'm here with the actually-pretty-darn-simple method I use to post to AO3 for anyone who needs this, because I want to be helpful.

Please note: this is largely for the basic formatting one might use on AO3. I haven't tested it with fancier things (not even smallcaps yet, though I'm hoping that won't prove too difficult when I finally get around to a chapter that needs that functionality). Also, these instructions are for Windows, which is what I use.

The first step is, obviously, to write up your story in LibreOffice Writer. I have some formatting standards I prefer because it makes my works look like they're publication-ready, which helps me stay in the "I'm actually writing fiction here" groove.

Once you're done writing, you need to make sure the file is ready to save for AO3. With how I write, the only thing I change is that I remove that first-line indent across the whole document. This is easy enough. Select everything, and then go to Format > Paragraph.

Once in that dialog, change the first line indent to 0. If you don't see a number there at all, just enter the number in there.

Then press "OK." This will realign all the paragraphs, including their first lines, to the left margin.

Note that I haven't changed the spacing between paragraphs at all. It's still single-spaced, and that's fine, because the next step can handle that.

DON'T SAVE OVER THE ORIGINAL.

What you want to do at this point is select "Save As" and make sure to save it as an html file, not whatever file format you normally use. LibreOffice will probably ask if you want to do that or use its native format, and you can just tell it "use html format."

You should now have an html file wherever you saved it. If you double-click it, it will open in your default browser, and you can check that the formatting carried over properly if you want. It should look ready for posting, complete with the internet-standard single empty line between paragraphs. LibreOffice knows to wrap each paragraph in html paragraph tags, which is what AO3 likes, and AO3 (and generally the rest of the internet) reads that as the extra empty space between paragraphs, just like you should see here on Tumblr.

Now you need to navigate to where you have the file on your computer via your file manager of choice (I'm on Windows, so I use File Explorer, which I can reach just by right-clicking on the Start button, but I also have a shortcut to it on my taskbar). Right-click on the file, and "open with" Notepad. You can also just open Notepad and open the file from within the program.

You should see the html code for the file.

This is all set and ready to go. Copy everything between the "body" tags in the file (I also skip the lines that are for the chapter title, because I can enter that in a different spot on AO3).

Copy the selected code and paste it into the HTML editor on AO3. If you want AO3 to do a bit of cleanup for you, you can click over to the Rich Text editor, then back to HTML, and it will clean up extra carriage returns and such, but this isn't necessary. Double-check that everything looks good by clicking "Preview," and if you're happy, click "Post."

This even preserves smart quotes, which I don't bother to change to straight quotes, though I suppose you could do so if you wanted.

But honestly, that's how easy it is. Save the file as html, copy the html over to AO3, and done. No scripts, no file converters, no worrying if your formatting is going to survive being pasted into the Rich Text editor. Just LibreOffice and Notepad.

[vhstown]

please stop scrolling and take the time to read this.

i don't think people understand the extent of the horror happening in palestine right now. "death" means nothing to people because of desensitisation so let me just tell you what white phosphorus is. it's being used in israeli munitions and has been and will continue to be fired across gaza and the palestinian borders.

white phosphorus burns when it comes into contact with oxygen (at nearly 800°C or 1500°F. the human body can withstand ~50°C for reference.) the air you breathe in ignites and it is near impossible extinguish. it sticks to clothing and skin and is very difficult to remove because it will continue to ignite in air. it burns flesh up to the bone and even past the bone because it penetrates tissue and is absorbed VERY easily. if you inhale it it'll destroy your respiratory tract and lungs. it can cause failure in multiple organs including the liver, kidneys and heart. it is being released in one of the most densely populated places on earth.

the only way to treat someone exposed to white phosphorus is to submerge them in saline or water and to pick out the substance with forceps, and when you undress a wound the substance can re-ignite. this is just ONE weapon that is being used to kill palestinian people right now. palestine does not have access to medical care, humanitarian aid, power, or internet. their hospitals are being bombed. gaza is one of the most densely populated places in the world with over 50% of the population being children. many children are the sole survivors of their families. there are videos of children experiencing panic attacks and symptoms of ptsd. the fact that israel has committed war crimes in plain sight means that we can only imagine what will happen to the palestinians in complete darkness.

israel has and will continue to deny this. your interests and fandom will still be here, you will wake up tomorrow morning and see your friends and family, but an entire nation of people are being wiped off the map. being silent is being complacent. reblog, spread information, tell people in real life, attend protests, sign petitions, call your government offices, at the very least be angry and upset and horrified because once you become numb and indifferent and hopeless the oppressors will have already won.

what's happening right now is more than a genocide and once it becomes a part of history we'll wonder how the world let this happen. genocides have been part of all nations. just because it is far away does not mean you don't have to be concerned. the fact that YOUR governments and YOUR idols and the people around YOU are supporting the mass eradication of an entire group of people should scare you. it shouldn't make you feel anything less than sick and angry and disgusted. DO something about it, no matter how small you feel your voice is, because palestinians no longer have one.

[edit] links to some helpful reblogs: one & two

post on how you can help palestine

learn about palestine with this masterlist of info

+ a further reblog of mine

[edit 2] about palestinians "not having a voice" at the time i wrote this post internet connection was cut off entirely and even journalists weren't able to report for a period of time — that is all i meant by that. they of course have a voice and i never meant to undermine how people are risking their lives in gaza to get information out there and i apologise if thats what people took from it, it was not my intention but it is entirely my bad. please continue to spread information and updates from gaza as they come.

[nottragic-stilltoothsome]

Everything I found in Szarr's palace, for all your fanfiction-writting needs. I haven't found any other post like this one, so i hope i m not copying anyone. Posting it here, because editing the official wiki feels intimidating. Feel welcome to add anything I missed.

Astarion's siblings (the other spawn):

Petras - one of the two you meet in the Flophouse.

Dalyria - the other one from the two you meet in the flophouse. Her diary can be found in the "guest room". Before Cazador turned her, she was a doctor, a "Physician General to the Parliament of Baldur's Gate". She thinks vampirism is a disease and plans on curing herself of it by drinking blood of someone young and healthy - other spawn's daughter, Victoria.

Leon Onufrio - before Cazador turned him, Leon was a sorcerer. He is the one whose daughter's (Victoria's) body is found, cursed, in the room where with the Kozakuran dictionary.

Leon put a protective counter-curse on her, to discourage other spawns from attacking her. Despite his efforts, Dalyria bit her, hoping it'd cure her vampirism. Needless to say, it didn't and Victoria died @easterlingwanderer found out that if you use "speak with the dead" on the body, it turns out that it was a random urchin and Leon did get Victoria out of the city on time. After removing the curse inflicting you with necrotic demage, you can loot a letter of her body from her father instructing Victoria to read said dictionary, so she can freely move around the castle.

In the favoured spawn room, you can learn that Leon was the one usualy occupying it (along with his daughter). His diary reveals that he put extra effort to be Cazador's best hunter, so he can keep Victoria away from others and that he came up with a plan with Figaro to disguise and sneak Victoria out of the palace.

He also notes that he doesnt like the way Violet looks at Victoria and Cazador's wicked smile, when Leon asked him what his master was planning to do with his daughter.

Violet - you can find her Diary in the Dormitory of Spawn. She notes that she put garlic in Yousen bed as a prank.

Aurelia - a tiefling

Yousen - @neophytepagan noticed he is a gnome

Other:

The chamberlain of Cazador was Antwun Dufay. In his diary, which can be found under his bed in his room after a successful passive perception check, it says that he had a lover Lurianna (a werewolf, who can be found dead by walking through fake north wall of chamberlain's office, or through another fake wall in Chamberlain's private room). He knew about Cazador's Black Mass enough to fake his death in order to avoid the threat of taking Astarion's place. Unfortunately for him, it seems he confused the actual death potion and fake death potion, and really died. His lover drank the other potion, which melted her guts. The actual fake-death elixir can be found in his desk, which puts the player in 10-turn coma. He ordered the elixir from Bonecloaks', where he also ordered most of the things the palace needed to function (like bloodstain remover, candles and food for "guests").

Godey - Cazador's right hand. Astarion says that while Cazador was the master of the palace, the kennels (the room where the spawn d be tortured, when they did something Cazador didnt approve of) was the domain of Godey. Godey tortured the spawn when Cazador didnt feel like it. Cazador trusted Godey with the key to the sealed ballroom for the duration of the ritual.

Through the palace, fanatic-servants cleaning the palace: Syrin - human, Greenfern - wood half-elf, Vilhelm - human, Varderola - also human. All of them are servants, who Astarion said are devoted to Cazador and came to the palace of their own will, beggining Cazador to turn them into vampires. Vilhelm is most noteable, as you can talk to him and he asks Astarion why isn't he downstairs, that he is late and the ballroom is already locked. If pressed, he informs that Godey has a key and that the Cazador is going to punish Astarion for missing the ritual (and from his expression, he seems to quite like the thought).

Chamberlain Dufay wrote a blooddonnors ledger, instructing the Spawn to favourite the lower class as prey, as too many missing patriars may drow too much attention.

The language Cazador uses is Kozakuran, from a distant land of Kara-Tur. Astarion notes that they were strictly forbidden from learning it. From Cazador's Journal you can learn that Astarion was not an unreliable narrator when he said Cazador liked torturing him the most: Cazador paid the most attention to him in the journal.

In the favoured spawn room, there is a ledger with the list of spawns who have been favoured (its only Leon and one time Violet).

Amanita Szarr - on her 13th birthsday, invited by her Uncle Cazador. She was invited to the ballroom. She became a vampire, but was not happy about it. She rejected her family name Szarr and named herself Lady Incognita. She claims she stays in the attic and writes stories. One of the books written by her can be found on Cazador's desk.

Mrel Alkam - vampire mastress from Athkatla that Cazador wrote a letter to.

[sas-soulwriter]

What to give a fuck about,while writing your first draft!

I`ve posted a list about things you don´t need to give a fuck about while writing your first draft. Here are things you NEED TO CARE about! (in my opinion)

Your Authentic Voice: Don't let the fear of judgment or comparison stifle your unique voice. I know it´s hard,but try to write from your heart, and don't worry about perfection in the first draft. Let your authenticity shine through your words.

Your Story, Your Way: It's your narrative, your world, and your characters. Don't let external expectations or trends dictate how your story should unfold. Write the story you want to tell.

Progress Over Perfection: Your first draft is not the final product; it's the raw material for your masterpiece. Give a fuck about making progress, not achieving perfection. Embrace imperfections and understand that editing comes later.

Consistency and Routine: Discipline matters. Make a commitment to your writing routine and stick to it.

Feedback and Growth: While it's essential to protect your creative space during the first draft, be open to constructive feedback later on. Giving a f*ck about growth means you're willing to learn from others and improve your work.

Self-Compassion: Mistakes, writer's block, and self-doubt are all part of the process. Give a f*ck about being kind to yourself. Don't beat yourself up if the words don't flow perfectly every time. Keep pushing forward and remember that writing is a journey.

Remember, the first draft is your canvas, your playground. Don't bog yourself down with unnecessary worries.

[thecoramaria]

Thank you for your videos! I started watching because I wanted to write fanfiction but never did any creative writing. I did essays. But that's for school. How to hone your writing skills? How to progressively get better? Any writers on websites to follow, videos like YouTube etc. Any courses to take on how to write ? I'm ready 📝

Aww thank-you, Nonny~! 🥰

The main course I did to learn how to write 👉 bachelor degree 🤪 It didn't teach me how to write better fanfiction, but it did teach me enough about the publishing industry for me to see how fanfiction as a medium differs from published fiction and what gaps regular writing advice isn't filling. (Context! Yay!)

In all seriousness, the best stuff I learned about writing was from reading hundreds of blogposts and watching hundreds of videos ever since high school. Holly Lisle's blog and email list was a favourite of mine back then, and now it's Mythcreants.com, because they have a critical, intersectional approach to storytelling that cuts through most of the industry fluff. (Seriously, just read their take-down of the 'Save the Cat' formula.)

In terms of YouTubers, some of my favourites include Abbie Emmons, Hello Future Me, Reedsy, and Jenna Moreci. (I just realised that there isn't a whole lotta diversity, especially race-wise, in this bunch, so that's something for me to improve.)

These other two sources aren't exactly general writing resources but they have been important perspectives on my fanfiction journey: @writingwithcolor and Stitch's Media Mix. Part of improving fanfiction isn't just about improving pacing, plotting, and prose, but also representation. These two resources focus mainly on race, but there are a wealth of resources by people of various minorities offering advice on how to better represent people like them.

The main caution I'd like to give in regards to most of these resources is that they assume that your goal is to get published, and thus their goal is to teach you how to write something that's sellable, something you can pitch to agents, something you can market to a sizeable enough niche. I cannot stress enough how pervasive this assumption is, to the point where we're conditioned to believe that fanfiction can only ever be a stepping stone towards getting published.

If your goal is to write fanfiction, then you need to treat the advice any professionals offer... as a sundae bar. 🍨 Take what works for your story, for the fanfiction medium in general, and leave the rest. Critically examine all professional writing advice through the lense of a hobbiest.

(Side Note: If you decide that you do want to be published someday, that's totally okay! This ask was specifically about fanfiction so that's why I'm centring that.)

I think the only way to keep getting incrementally better at writing fanfiction is to think of a story you love so much that you're willing to learn whatever you can to write it. It's about putting passion and personal fulfilment first and whatever is considered "good writing" (usually defined by whatever's profitable) as a close second. We fic-writers and readers live for the indulgent nature of these stories. As long as you're writing and having fun (and improving your craft because it's fun), I think you're gonna smash out some great fics!

Thanks again for your ask, Nonny~! 💖