#fic writers ARE WRITERS

[katherynefromphilly]

Very often on fanfic writing blogs I hear people lamenting the overuse of “the raven-haired one” or “the blond” euphemisms in place of just re-using character names. On the legendary SFWA website they call this writing tendency the following:

“Burly Detective” Syndrome

This useful term is taken from SF’s cousin-genre, the detective-pulp. The hack writers of the Mike Shayne series showed an odd reluctance to use Shayne’s proper name, preferring such euphemisms as “the burly detective” or “the red-headed sleuth.” This syndrome arises from a wrong-headed conviction that the same word should not be used twice in close succession. This is only true of particularly strong and visible words, such as “vertiginous.” Better to re-use a simple tag or phrase than to contrive cumbersome methods of avoiding it.

Lots more sassy advice here: https://www.sfwa.org/2009/06/18/turkey-city-lexicon-a-primer-for-sf-workshops/

[bluejay757]

[jackwolfes]

thinking about that post of people assuming ao3 has an algorithm and also about how bonkers persistent the view is that ao3 is social media lite. like with startling regularity I get comments saying something along the lines of "it's probably weird to comment on a fic this old--" no it isn't!!!! this is an archive I am literally just assuming you searched for a selection of specific tags or sorted by kudos or looked back on my pseud or any other number of completely normal ways to use an archive site ?? kill the tiktok ghost in your brain and comment on old stuff it's NOT weird

[melodicwriter]

[britishmuffin]

ATLA sketches because I'm deep into it atm 8)

★ patreon || website || twitter ★

[toointojoelmiller]

better than drugs

[so-many-ocs]

“everyone is going to hate it” someone will love it. someone will reach out to you and tell you it changed their life. someone will hold it close and treasure it forever in a way you can’t even understand. keep going

[finleycannotdraw]

we need all types of art in fandoms

[museaway]

I hope the fic you are working on right now finds a reader who will think about it constantly for years

[wishingforatypewriter]

Me to my draft: You are a oneshot.

The draft: Wrong. I am the pilot chapter of a multichapter fic that you do not have the bandwidth to take on, but will haunt your every waking thought anyway.

[heywriters]

If you want to write a dumb little story with a dumb little plot and ridiculously silly characters. No one's stopping you. Genuinely, no one should be allowed to stop you. Write that dumb story with your whole heart and don't hold back.

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

“why would you write fics for small, unpopular fandoms? you’re not gonna reach that many hits in fandoms not many people know about” ?? because I’m not writing fics for hits or kudos, I’m writing them for me because these characters are my blorbos and I have so many ideas, so much thoughts about them that my brain might explode if I don’t write them out.

[thisnightissparkling089]

A friend sent this to me today and I feel attacked😅

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

Just opened my fic document and found this

Thanks, past me. Incredibly helpful.

[melodicwriter]

When you finally get to the scene you’ve been waiting to write

[mythical-bookworm]

the great thing about being a fanfic writer: if there's a certain fanfic plot you can't find, you can make it yourself.

the terrible thing about being a fanfic writer: now you *have* to write that fanfic plot you can't find.