#i feel like i dont post enough considering how many wips are in my docs though

[dammit-stark]

pls send me prompts bc y’all I wanna write - i’ll write for just about any marvel pairing I swear

[trenchcoatkitten]

So I’ve been reading Temperature of the Heart, and you’ve mentioned how you have the whole thing written already. Can you describe what that’s like? What’s your writing process? How long does it take for you to write everything start to finish? Do you plan it all out or just kind of wing it? How long do you sit in an idea before you start?? Sorry about all the questions, I’m just so curious >_

bro!!! are you sure i will scream about writing for days omg

first of all THANK YOU its so freaking cool that you came to ask your questions and that you like my writing, im still sort of getting used to my writing not just being garbage that i read in the dark at 2am and never share with anybody, and i am always excited to answer questions waaaah 

(THIS IS GOING TO BE LONG I APOLOGIZE IM PUTTING A READING BREAK IN CAUSE I WENT OFF BRO, IM THE WOOOOORST) 

my process is pretty weird, it’s kind of all over the place? I’m kind of a halfway planner halfway pantser. I have an idea and usually make some disjointed notes about character and the main idea, in my phone or maybe on a google doc, and then a pinterest board maybe? Something to get excited about, a visualization. I ALWAYS tell myself im going to make an outline first and then i ALWAYS just jump right into writing because I’m too excited/impatient to wait. give me words on a page. give me dialogue. 

Usually when I’m a little bit into the project, when i know that I’m not going to abandon it to the depths off where my WIPs go to die (rip like literally over 300 individual and unique works, this is NOT an exaggeration, you should see my document bank its gross) Ill say “ok fuck you sami its time to actually know where you’re going” and I’ll sit down and make the grossest outline you have EVER seen. like im talking, my outlines are littered with memes, me yelling at myself, actual stuff thats going to end up in the final project, and just general random garbage? its so gross. Ive literally only showed one of my outlines to one person ever (hi akira!) bc im super self conscious of them and hate the way that i write them. making an outline usually sucks up an entire day of writing. they’re pages and pages because some parts will be INCREDIBLY specific and other parts will be so vague you dont even know

From there, when im done with my garbage outline, (after going back through what I’ve written and fixing the shit that was just me going off like a psycho) I usually start writing in earnest. I’ll highlight the parts of the outline that I’ve done and I’ll go back and check it often to make sure im following through on my plans and the character arcs and such, making sure that everything ties in and such. This section is me like. every day getting home from work or whatever and sitting down at the computer and not moving until 2am, this is the section where i forget to eat and I dont sleep enough and i forget to drink water or take my vitamins and I do word sprints with myself and have days where I write 10 thousand words in one sitting. (very not healthy and also terrible i do NOT recommend) this is the section where I’ll handwrite anything i can in the back of classes and at rehearsals because im pouring out words.

during this section I go back and edit ENDLESSLY. i cannot write something and just let it be. I go back to the section I wrote the night before, I go back to the section I just wrote, i go back to the very beginning. I generally dont have to do 1st 2nd 3rd draft this way, but it is much more time consuming as Im just writing. i dont know if i reccommend this its a MESS

THeN once i finish writing the whole thing, i sit down and reread/edit the whole thing once through. this makes sure i have good flow, the paragraphs go together well, the prose feels right to me, timelines make sense. during this time i make ENDLESS paper notes with calendars, section notes, additions, drabbles, thoughts about my own shit. i have notebooks full of just garbage. im not kidding. full notebooks. 

Once I finish that read/edit through I’m usually happy. only once something is completely finished will I consider posting. I go back too much, I add shit, I can’t let go of shit, not until it’s done. While I’m posting - I go through the chapter I’m going to post with a fine tooth comb, try to catch any tiny little mistake, add words here and there, but never change anything large if I can help it. Then i format it on Ao3 (this is literal hell, fuck the HTML editor it wants me to die) and then post it. Deciding to post a chapter to actually hitting ‘post’ usually takes me 1-4 hours, depending on the length, the difficulty of formatting, and how many goddamn links i wanna put in the chapter notes cause im the worst~ (insert jean ralphio voice) 

~~~

LISTEN im probably super extra but I’ve been writing since I was in sixth grade (thats twelve years! time is an enigma and i hate it!) and so I have a bit of practice, i have a bit of experience and while I’m not the best me that I can be, I KNOW myself, and this is just what works best for me. 

As for timing - it depends on the length of the project and how motivated I am. It took me about a month to write Royal (~50k), just a little over a month to write All Might’s All Night Shop Stop (~75k), and just about two months to write Temperature of the Heart (~115k). I try to post every few days, because as a person I hate waiting and I don’t want to do that to my readers! 

~~~

As for the ‘how long do i sit on an idea before writing it’ it really depends. Some things I will receive inspiration or a sliver of an idea and start writing it in the next ten minutes, even if I have to stop working on something I’m already working on, because that was Brain Has Decided. Sometimes I will consider an idea for like. months before actually doing it. I’ve had the idea for FBoW (the newest thing im working on oops? have i told anybody about this NO cause that will make it REAL) since before I started Royal, which was like. Last november. But I just couldnt quite do it for some reason, and it wasn’t pressing. My brain is super broken, and a lot of times I get sick over ideas. I can’t sleep or eat until I’ve written, and I will repeat phrases to myself until i can get them out of my head by writing them down. (Sometimes this is something nice or poetic - “The golden hour lights up the whole world, wiggling its fingers into every nook and cranny, lighting up two people lounging on a bench-swing, someone leaned onto porch stairs with a mug of tea, the space between those walking down a dirt road, a couple of dogs laid out on the deck.” and other times its literally “Ranch Fiddlesticks.” I’m not kidding. i have a note in my phone that says ranch fiddlesticks because I was actually going to Die if i didnt write it down.)

I do wish my brain didn’t do this - but I guess it makes some fun art, doesn’t it? 

WOW OKAY THIS WAS SO LONG im so sorry jesus christ. SOrry i will ALWAYS go off about my process and what it’s like to write. Writing is so so important to me, I LOVE it with every tiny atom of my weak, alcohol-infused, overworked heart. Despite how scary it is sometimes I am very glad to be sharing my work with the world, seeing peoples’ reactions and hearing things about my words, hearing how this little picture in my mind has gone into yours. 

okay jfc im done now im so sorry. thank you again and again and again, a thousand times over, for reading my work and enjoying the worlds that i enjoy building. It makes me feel like I’m worth it. It makes me feel like I’m doing something good. 

ily :’)

[yurionicebigbang]

okay heres that compromise i promised on dealing with writer overflow

ill try to make this short and sweet, but pls do let me know if im unclear bc im still pretty sick and what makes sense to me might not make sense to, like, a non-febrile person =‘)

once again, pls read carefully, theres a lot to take in

● heres a walkthrough of what im thinking:

i will post a form for participants who dont mind letting a second writer create based off the idea proposed by the artist. this form will be short and sweet and completely optional, likely just url and artist number if it applies, and will be available while im abroad between march 10 and march 19.

any artist/writer pairs that happen to be in agreement will be posted in a second claims document. this will be for a lightning round, probably only open for a week or less, for second writers, after i get back from europe.

if there are still writers leftover after that, they will then be relegated to first-choice pinch-hitter, and there will probably be a third claims doc set up for that so i can keep everything nice and neat. 

the last two claims rounds will happen in the background; the main claims pairings will already be confirmed and can get to work.

● here are some caveats to consider:

i mentioned in an earlier post that its unfair to force artists to take on a second writer, and its unfair to force writers to share if they dont want to esp after they claimed their artist fair and square (yes i know, timezones and all that, but no matter what timezone i post in someone is going to be upset). in order for this to work, artist/writer pairings both need to agree to allowing a second writer to create based on the story provided by the artist. the form is the solution i chose bc it can happen right away without confirming the artist/writer pairings, and its smth i can keep referring to (rather than smth like asks or messages, which can get lost....im a big fan of forms lol). >>an example of what i mean by this is such: artist 111 and katsukifatale1 are both okay with taking a second writer, and in the main claiming round they end up confirmed as a pair. they end up on the second round claim doc. artist 222 and katsukifatale2 end up confirmed as a pair, but only one of them filled out the form accepting a second writer, so they do not end up on the second round claim doc.

the writers who claim secondary will be secondary -as in, the artist/writer pairings in the current claiming round will be the main pairs, and its up to them to decide how they want to interact with the second writer. pairs can choose to work closely with the second writer as a trio, or they can choose to simply work together and let the second writer write based on the original ideas on the claims page. whatever they decide and are comfortable with is the name of the game. keep in mind if all three decide to work closely, you will need to coordinate things like the final posting date and the final submission between all three of you. it could get pretty complicated, but if you think you can make it work then i will help you.

this will absolutely cut down on the number of pinch-hitters available. it will. for sure. this is smth to think abt, bc we did have 40+ artists drop out during the wip submission process alone. i guarantee there will be more as the event goes along, and that most of them will be writers. it happens, and i cannot guarantee i will be able to find replacements. this is why some of you might consider staying on as pinch-hitters instead of second writers.

perhaps most importantly though, this second round can only take place after all artists in the current round have been claimed. its a really crappy feeling to go unclaimed while there are writers lining up to write for artists who already have someone, and it would be kind of unfair of me to allow that to happen. we all know what its like to participate in fandom, so im sure you guys get it.

● tl;dr

main round claiming will still happen. this form will be available for all participants who are okay with allowing a second writer and will happen in the background. after all artists have been claimed in the main round, the second round will begin, containing only those pairings who agreed on the second writer. the main round will be confirmed and can begin working together during this time. once the second round is confirmed everyone involved will be notified. the rest of the writers will be first-choice pinch-hitters.

in order for this to happen all artists must be claimed in the main round. there are some other issues that could arise from this but theyre all workable.

i know it might not be ideal to some of you. ive heard from many people who dont want any second writers at all, and ive heard from many who are okay with it. its impossible for me to please everyone in a way that is feasible for me as well, but this is my best compromise and what im comfortable with. hopefully this is an acceptable enough answer. 

you are welcome to let me know what you think, but pls do so in a respectable manner. i got a few asks the other day not fit for public posting and its not appreciated ;) i have turned off anon for now bc im too sick to deal with that kind of thing, but it will be turned back on after the weekend is over. i apologize for the inconvenience.