#i'm procrastinating on writing something for my actual wips

[rotisseries]

it's still wednesday where I'm at if your clock is 30 minutes off so here's my wip wednesday post for my day 1 @bylerween2023 fic!! ghosts my beloved

[bookish-bogwitch]

an ask game for writers to procrastinate working on your WIP(s)

thanks for tagging me @wellbelesbian!

1. 🦈Tell us the name of your/ one of your WIP(s): Basil Pitch's Diary. It's literally my only WIP.

2. 🍄Describe your WIP/one of your WIP(s) in the format of “___ + ___ =___” Bridget Jones's Diary + Carry On = We Love Baz, Just As He Is

3. 🌍What tags or warnings will one of your WIP(s) need if you intend to share it? Internalized homophobia, gaslighting, self-hatred. 😬

4. 🧭An alternative title to one of your WIP(s)? I never considered an alternative title to BPD, but the one that comes to mind now would be a huge spoiler. The alternative title to the next chapter is "I Fortunately Know a Little Magic," which is sassy and snappy (R.I.P. Howard Ashman) but less thematically relevant than the title I chose.

5. ⚠️Which WIP your most likely to finish or update next? Basil Pitch's Diary. Literally every other fic I've ever posted has been while "taking a break" from BPD, which could go on indefinitely if I let it, so I am bound and determined to finish this fucker before starting something else.

6. 💾What is your document of your WIP/ a WIP called? (not the stories actual title but what you’ve saved it as) I have a list for BPD called "Chapter Checklist." It contains subtle insights "Baz is an UNRELIABLE narrator."

7. 🖍Post Any sentence(s) from your WIP. Here's Baz and Dev in ch. 7:

“Will you stay for dinner?” 

“Can’t. Dev and I…”

As Niall told me about their plans I grabbed one of the football’s nylon loops and let Rusty tug on it as we walked. It seemed too late for Niall to have a date all the way in London, but what do I know about dates.

“Come with us,” said Niall. 

I grimaced. “No thanks. I’ll catch up with Dev when he’s not on molly and climbing down your throat.”

“You don’t ‘catch up’ at Beast Night. You dance.”

“With whom?”

“Men.”

8. ♻️A scrapped idea for your current WIP. I just looked in the trash folder of the BPD Scrivener project and found this note I don't remember writing:

Renée Zellweger would play Baz. People would be skeptical but she’d fucking nail it. Gaining weight for a role? How about growing eight inches, sprouting a happy trail, and joining the legions of undead. (Might as well cast Oscar bait.)

9. 🤔What’s a story you’d love to write but haven’t even started yet? A Watford-era get-together magickal mishap involving animal transformation and beloved children's literature. So, you know. The usual.

10. 🤡How many WIPS are you actively working on? Just the one. @facewithoutheart and I have a secret side project going that involves back-and-forth writing and it's stalled out on me. It's very fun and silly and I plan to return to it when I need a break from some of the angstier parts of BPD.

11. 🛠Is there a scene or anything in the WIP you are struggling with right now? I'm not working on any one BPD scene right now, but trying to map out the rest of the fic in greater detail so that I can roll from one chapter to the next. I was struggling for a couple of weeks with how to make an unavoidable canon plot point emotionally relevant to Baz's arc, but I think I figured it out last night. Phew.

12. ❤️Not a question, just a second Kudos to send. Kudos and tags to @cutestkilla, @thewholelemon, @whatevertheweather, @brilla-brilla-estrellita, @monbons, @onepintobean, @ileadacharmedlife, @ivelovedhimthroughworse, @skeedelvee, @im-gettingby, @imagineacoolusername, @iamamythologicalcreature, @youre-an-apocryphal-concept-223, @rimeswithpurple, @goblindad-emoshit, @facewithoutheart, @artsyunderstudy, @alleycat0306, @erzbethluna, @ebbpettier, @emeryhall, @f-ing-ruthless-baz, @hushed-chorus, @hertragedyconnoisseur, @ionlydrinkhotwater, @ic3-que3n.

[iamamythologicalcreature]

An Ask Game for Writers to Procrastinate Working on Your WIP(s)

(Not like I need the assistance, but I'm so thrilled to be thought of as a writer that I'm totally doing this.)

Thank you so much for the invites @aristocratic-otter, @bookish-bogwitch, @shrekgogurt, @ic3-que3n, @ivelovedhimthroughworse, @drowninginships, @best--dress, @you-remind-me-of-the-babe, @monbons, @thewholelemon, @whatevertheweather, and @youarenevertooold! (I think I might be the last one in the 'verse doing this, but that won't stop me from tagging more people at the end.) I've loved reading everyone's answers!

Okay. Here we go. I am absolutely using my flimsy claim to authorhood to answer these. >.>

1. 🦈Tell us the name of your/ one of your WIP(s):

The Haunting of Simon Snow

2. 🍄Describe your WIP/one of your WIP(s) in the format of “___ + ___ =___”

Construction Worker!Simon + haunted manor house = a most interesting summer job

3. 🌍What tags or warnings will your / one of your WIP(s) need if you intend to share it?

Well, it's a ghost story. You can draw some conclusions from that.

4. 🧭An alternative title to your/ one of your WIP(s)?

A Victorian's Gothic

5. ⚠️Which WIP your most likely to finish or update next?

It sure as hell better be Haunting. I mean, my goodness, it's looped around my brain like a too-patient boa constrictor, just sloooowly squeezing.

6. 💾What is your document of your WIP/ a WIP called? (not the stories actual title but what you’ve saved it as)

snowbaz.scriv is my catch-all Scrivener file for all ficcy things

7. 🖍Post Any sentence(s) from your WIP.

There’s a person that I used to be. Magic I used to hold, magic that held me. I have done everything I can to forget that feeling, because it was never supposed to be mine. I was never magic. He’s magic. He’s magic, and I can almost touch him. He’s magic, and he can almost hold me. I live on the edge of almost all the time, so that’s enough. (It’s never enough.)

8. ♻️A scrapped idea for your current WIP.

This was originally planned as a story written in letters. (Doing that with something else, now, and it works way better in a different story.)

9. 🤔What’s a story you’d love to write but haven’t even started yet?

I'm going to stick to snowbaz fanfic for this, because if I broaden it any further, this list will instantly become quite long. (I have a lot of original story ideas.) For snowbaz, though? Well, there's the one I'm planning for COTTA. There are a couple AU's that I've written way too many notes on. And then a Fangirl crossover fic that I sincerely hope to someday write. (Technically I started it, but only a few hundred words at this point.)

10. 🤡How many WIPS are you actively working on?

Actively? One. Maybe two. Kinda thinking two, but the second one is new and more of a game at this point, so we'll see. (Not quite so actively I also have my Baz fic, my "Silence" fic where Baz successfully steals Simon's voice. It's roughly (super roughly) outlined, and I've written several scenes, but it's on the back-burner for Haunting. And COTTA. No more new fics after that, though! I really want to tell that story!)

11. 🛠Is there a scene or anything in the WIP you are struggling with right now?

That's funny. What a question. XD YES. Yes, there are scenes. I'm designing Pitch Manor to get through this damned scene LOL

12. ❤️Not a question, just a second Kudos to send.

Thankee kindly!

On the off chance there are any fic writers left out there who haven't yet done this... Tags! @mooncello, @cutestkilla, @blackberrysummerblog, @hushed-chorus, @fatalfangirl, @onepintobean, @j-nipper-95, @facewithoutheart, @angelsfalling16, @noblecorgi, @alexalexinii, anyone else who wants to. Cheers!

[drowninginships]

An Ask Game for Writers to Procrastinate Working on Your WIP(s)

First of all, thank you soooo much to @monbons and @valeffelees for tagging me, I nearly had a whole breakdown over how nice this fandom is and how good it feels to be included in something like this. Yall are the sweetest, thank you <3 1. 🦈Tell us the name of your/ one of your WIP(s): Uhhhh, yall name your WIPs beforehand? I currently have two documents titled "nose ring simon" and "wing fic" and I typically title it just before I post it.

2. 🍄Describe your WIP/one of your WIP(s) in the format of “___ + ___ =___” I think you'll find this is a pretty easy formula for most, if not all, of my fics. Simon + Piercing + Baz Horny. Alternatively, Simon + Wings = Baz Horny. Sensing a theme?

3. 🌍What tags or warnings will one of your WIP(s) need if you intend to share it? Explicit tags, for sure. It'd be pretty funny to tag the wingfic as monsterfucking, so I'll probably do that, but otherwise, nothing crazy going on here. Just boys very much in love.

4. 🧭An alternative title to one of your WIP(s)? "wing fic" often affectionately gets called "how the fuck do wings work" or "goddamn motherfucking physics"

5. ⚠️Which WIP you're most likely to finish or update next? Definitely the piercing one. The wing fic isn't cohesive or coherent at this time, and it's more of a collection of scenes rather than a whole fic, anyway. I'm having a lot of fun writing the piercing one!!!

6. 💾What is your document of your WIP/ a WIP called? (not the stories actual title but what you’ve saved it as) Please see answer #1. It's truly mind boggling to know that some of yall are out here naming WIPs.

7. 🖍Post Any sentence(s) from your WIP.

Of course it's gold. Everything about Simon is gold. His mind, his body, his soul. The color of his skin and his hair when the sun shines through it from behind. The small loop now adorning his nostril.

8. ♻️A scrapped idea for your current WIP. For wing fic, I was trying to figure out a way to make an au scene where everyone has wings, and I could do a little, like, wing caretaking session? But I couldn't find a solid enough reason for everyone to have wings, and also I realized I just didn't care enough about that scene to pursue it further.

9. 🤔What’s a story you’d love to write but haven’t even started yet? I find this question particularly difficult. I don't know that there are any stories I want to tell, right now. Usually when I want to write something, I schedule it in and I do it. Right now, there's nothing on the back-burner.

10. 🤡How many WIPS are you actively working on? Only the 2! I'm not usually one to work on multiples at a time.

11. 🛠Is there a scene or anything in the WIP you are struggling with right now? Re: "goddamn motherfucking physics," I've never been super into fantasy or a fandom that particularly liked wings, so I genuinely have no clue how these things work. I took on this project as a gift for @valeffelees after he lamented the lack of wing fics for him to devour, and while I'm not an expert, I'm certainly trying my best. But like, the anatomy??? of a wing???

12. ❤️Not a question, just a second Kudos to send. Again, thank you both so much for tagging me. You're exactly who I would have tagged here, so instead of tagging you both again, I'll tag @thewholelemon even though I know you've already filled this out <3 Also, I'll tag @chaoticgaywitch @iamamythologicalcreature @youarenevertooold @beastmonstertitan and @brilla-brilla-estrellita because you all played our stupid little poetry game and brought me a lot of joy!

[mistresslrigtar]

🤗 What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

💖 What made you start writing?

🧐 Do you spend much time researching for your stories?

Ty for the ask! I'm procrastinating from doing any actual writing so my answers below are long-winded....

🤗I'm not sure I'm the best one to give advice to new fanfic writers, since I feel like I'm just getting started myself! However, the biggest thing I've learned over the past year and have to keep reminding myself is to NOT compare my writing to anyone else. Instead, I try to focus on what I know I'm good at, use those strengths as the building blocks for my stories and write around them. What does that mean? For me, I start with the dialogue and characterization (sometimes the page only has a conversation written out, then I go back and fill in the setting, internal thoughts, actions, etc.) I also focus on just one or sometimes two things (world-building, internal conflict, showing vs telling, etc) I would like to improve upon. I find one-shots are a great way to experiment and focus on an area I would like to work on.

💖I've always loved to read, especially sci-fi/fantasy novels, and imagine what it would be like to live in those worlds. As a former stage performer, I started writing as a creative outlet (it seemed like the next best thing to performing a musical or play) and as a way to immerse myself into those worlds and characters. I'm sure I'm not the only author who puts themselves in their characters shoes.

🧐Do I research my stories? That depends on the stories. So far, I've had to do some research for two of my stories. The first is my completed work that I've talked about ad nauseum (😅🤣) I Belong to You. I had to do a bit of research on drug addiction and some other stuff... I'm talking about alt rock bands and songs, guitars, and motorcycles, I swear. Seriously, I spent HOURS listening to music until I found the right band for that story. (Good thing I like alt rock. I mean, I'm a huge Radiohead fan, so Muse was like listening to classic rock in comparison😂)

The most in-depth to date is for my current WIP Captain Link Araki.

For starters, I can't tell you the number of hours I spent researching Japanese surnames to find the right one for him. Following that, I read a lot about pirates, their habits, the crewman, jargon, what they do when their ships need repairs, what types of ships they preferred, etc. Then, after I picked a ship, I had to look up the parts of the ship, if it would have a main cabin, how many sails, etc, etc. As it was, I still got some of it wrong, but thankfully my wonderful beta (Zelmo 😉) knew enough to tell me what I needed to fix. I like to incorporate some reality into my stories, so I spent the better part of an afternoon looking up rowing terms and mechanics, and that was only for a two page scene! So, yes, I guess I do research when needed, and tend to get so sucked into studying and taking notes that little to no actual novel writing gets done that day.

So, all that being said - if you happen to read that story and notice something I got wrong or have a suggestion, feel free to tell me. 😅

And thanks if you read this rambling answer!

[lurkinglurkerwholurks]

do you have any advice for writing long fics/series??? I have so many I've been wanting to write but the last times I've tried I always lost motivation, so now I'm scared to try 😭

Ohhh, been there. Okay, so I've done it two different ways, and odds are high that you've only tried one, so maybe whichever you haven't done before, do the other?

Method 1: Write it all, then post one chapter at a time only once complete. That's how I wrote my early multi-chapter series. I was so worried I'd get bored or stuck and bail before I did what I wanted to do, I made sure all of my chapters were written before I posted anything. If you're addicted to the serotonin of feedback, that's fine, find a writing buddy who will read your WIP so you're still getting some of that spark along the way, but don't put up anything public until you're all done and ready to rock and roll.

Side note: This is also a pretty good way to build a bit of a following on AO3. If you promise people up front that everything IS done and written and it WILL finish and you give them a regular posting schedule—a chapter every Tuesday or whatever—they'll subscribe and happily follow along because there's no risk. Short of you getting hit by a bus or something, I guess.

Method 2: If, however, you've tried the above and that's where you're getting stuck, do the opposite. Maybe sketch out some rough notes to yourself on where you want to end up with the fic, just so you know you're heading in the right direction, but then let go of the need for control a little and post as you go along. That's what I had to do for my two biggest fics because they took literal years. Actual literal years, plural. The fear of leaving things dangling might be more motivating than you realize.

Some things to remember:

It's okay to start small. Like, it's tempting to dive right into a mega-sprawling epic of a fic with 100 chapters or whatever, but it's also okay to... not... do that. Try a fic with a few chapters instead. Build that muscle. Get used to writing beyond oneshots. Pre-built structures like 5+1 might help you build that muscle as well.

Sometimes you just gotta... do it. Like, that sucks, I know, it would be nice if there were an easy trick, believe me. Like, the fic I am procrastinating on is not a long one, but it's kicking my butt and it's so frustrating. But I'm getting it done a literal line at a time—for every ask I answer, I make myself hop over into my doc and write another line. Some nights I'm literally messaging Audrey like "I just want to get one sentence done before bed." And I stack one sentence after another until it's done.

It's okay to procrastinate a little. Emphasis on little. It sounds like you get stuck, procrastinate some, then don't stop procrastinating, but it's okay to give yourself a little break. My two biggest fics spawned so many other fics because I would hop from the chapter I would be working on to my distraction fic... until I needed to be distracted from that fic and then my chapter was the distraction!

It's also okay to combine the above methods. For Nature and Nurture, my first big fic, I used Method 2 allllll the way up to, like, the last three chapters or so. I was so scared of fumbling it all at the end that I switched to Method 1 for the last chunk, made myself write it ALL, and didn't post anything else until it was all written.

You can do it!!

[j-nipper-95]

An ask game for writers to procrastinate working on your WIP(s)

Thank you for the tags @artsyunderstudy @iamamythologicalcreature @aristocratic-otter @shrekgogurt @wellbelesbian @theearlgreymage and @ic3-que3n

I am definitely procrastinating on both my WIPs at the moment. Trails is back in limbo, and ASR has taken up permanent residence there recently, and I desperately want to get back to both of them. Here's hoping this will kick start something in my brain! I do love a good Q&A, so let's dive in!

1. 🦈 Tell us the name of your/one of your WIP(s):

I have two WIPs I am actively writing, and one I haven't started on yet, but desperately want to. The Trails We Blaze was my Carry On Through the Ages 2023 fic, and is a The Road to El Dorado!au. Then there's my original novel, A Survivor's Revenge, which I've been writing for far too long and it definitely needs to be published soon!

2. 🍄 Describe your WIP/one of your WIP(s) in the format of "___ + ___ = ___"

Ok, this is much harder than I thought it would be, there's so many elements to each of these WIPs, so bare with me.

Trails: con men in 1920s London find map to Atlantis + WW1 trauma + gang warfare + repressed romantic feelings = friends to lovers action, adventure, and chaos across western Europe that's probably been too intensely researched for the sake of historical accuracy

(Side note: this isn't how I thought I'd use my degrees in history and archaeology, but here we are!)

A Survivor's Revenge: marvel cinematic universe + James Bond = ASR

or - what would happen if Bucky wasn't brainwashed by Hydra and sought revenge on the scientists who experimented on him, was a 14 year old school girl instead of a grown man, and had elemental powers + MI6 super spies and the general aesthetic of a Bond movie = a stab first/ask questions later FMC willing to do whatever it takes to keep her loved ones safe (and I do mean whatever it takes - Lauren hasn't baulked at anything I've thrown at her yet).

3. 🌍 What tags or warnings will one of your WIP(s) need if you intend to share it.

ASR will definitely need some trigger warnings for violence (if only because of Lauren's penchant for it), and if it were being posted to AO3 the series as a whole would probably require a 'main character death' warning. This is your formal warning, no one is safe in my writing.

Trails is rated M, so there's not going to be anything too graphic or explicit, but it does have a PTSD tag, as the fic tackles both Baz and Simon's trauma from living through the First World War, and specifically Baz's claustrophobia. So I would probably warn about the panic attacks and discussion of how Baz became claustrophobic.

4. 🧭 An alternative title to one of your WIP(s)?

Neither of these had alternative titles other than my save names (Spy Novel and SnowBaz fanfic) before I decided on anything. I'm useless at coming up with titles, and I can't really claim full credit for either. A friend from uni came up with A Survivor's Revenge, which is really fitting, as revenge is a major theme in the book. And The Trails We Blaze is a reference to one of the songs from the movie The Road to El Dorado, and was Ashton's suggestion when we were bouncing ideas back and forth last year.

5. ⚠️ Which WIP you're most likely to finish or update next?

Trails will definitely be finished before ASR, purely because ASR is going to be published as a proper book, and I don't have the cash to do this independently, or the publishing deal to do it traditionally. So I know this will take time. But I am currently working on the next chapter of Trails, so hopefully it won't be too long before I can post it.

6. 💾 What is your document of your WIP/a WIP called? (not the stories actual title but what you've saved it as)

I have so many variations of both WIPs it's ridiculous. I swear there's been 100+ iterations of ASR over the years, all with variations on either A Survivor's Revenge/ASR or Spy Novel as their title.

With Trails I have my base document, which is where the rough first draft happens, in Scrivener: the trails we blaze - draft copy. And then I also have my final document in pages, where I fix the formatting ahead of exporting to AO3 (because AO3 hates it when I do it straight from scrivener and gets rid of all my italics!): the trails we blaze upload copy.

7. 🖍 Post any sentence(s) from your WIP.

This is probably one of my favourite exchanges in the first ASR book.

“Just like old times,” Lauren said. “Tell me, did you consciously decide to make my PTSD worse by assigning him to me, or was that a happy accident?” “What’s the diagnosis?” Vanessa asked, ignoring Lauren. “Fractured ribs, minor internal abdominal bleeding, concussion, and three broken fingers. She needs to rest for at least a week,” Todd said. “She has a name,” Lauren muttered. “The internal bleeding is minor for the moment, but won’t be if she doesn’t rest.” “Who’s ‘she’ in this, the cat’s mother? I am here, you know.” “Yes, and whilst I would love to trade witticisms with you, I do actually have a job to do. Part of which involves divulging a diagnosis, and pardon me if I feel certain people in this room are going to be more receptive and actually take my advice when I give it.” Lauren glanced at Vanessa. “Is he always like this?” “Just with patients. And most of the people who work here.” “So, everyone?” Vanessa thought for a moment, then bobbed her head from side to side in a movement that said Pretty much, yeah. “If we’re quite done discussing my conduct, I do actually have other patients who need my attention.” “Poor sods.” “Yes, of course,” Vanessa said, ignoring Lauren’s comments. “Have you got a treatment plan sorted?” “I’m nothing if not professional.” “Did someone switch the definition of ‘sarcastic asshat’ and ‘professional’ in the dictionary when I wasn’t looking?” Todd twisted ever so slightly away from Lauren, instead focusing entirely on Vanessa.

8. ♻️ A scrapped idea for your current WIP.

Initially in ASR Lauren was framed for the murder of a student, alongside releasing the main villain from prison (not a spoiler, it's literally in my synopsis, no worries there!), and afterward she was forced to go on the run. Essentially, it made the heads of MI6 and Lauren's best friends into her enemies for a few chapters of my drafts a couple of years back. I loved this idea, and genuinely want to implement something along these lines again, because it was an interesting position to put the characters in, but I also really love where the plot is taking them currently, so we'll see if it truly ends up remaining scrapped or not.

9. 🤔 What's a story you'd love to write but haven't even started yet?

Another original novel, this time firmly rooted in science fiction (no superhero/light fantasy elements here), where time travel is possible, but the super anxious MC refuses to use his powers to travel back in time because of the side effects of said power. Gay romance, anxiety, angst, all the good stuff!

10. 🤡 How many WIPs are you actively working on?

I'm not too active on either of my WIPs at the moment. Work's been crazy lately, and I flip between feeling super burnt out creatively and being too tired to do much. But Trails and ASR continue to be my most active WIPs.

11. 🛠 Is there a scene or anything in the WIP you are struggling with right now?

In Trails I've hit an intimate scene, and my little ace brain doesn't know how to approach it! Plus, I don't know how far I can stretch the M rating before we enter E territory.

12. ❤️ Not a question, just a second Kudos to send.

All of the kudos to everyone! I wish there was a way to leave it more than once, because seriously, the CO fandom is so unbelievably talented, my God!!

Tagging (sorry if you’ve already done this):

@blackberrysummerblog

@orange-peony

@you-remind-me-of-the-babe

@palimpsessed

[mycupofrum]

For the WIP as game: 🖍️♻️🛠️❤️

Hello! Thanks for your ask! ❤️

Ok, I’m just going to talk about While You Were Sleeping AU Prongsfoot in all of these replies since I should be writing it much more than I have. Maybe this will help me sort it out in my mind. :D

🖍️Post Any sentence from your wip

I’ll just give you a little snippet:

__

There is a knock on James's door. Thinking it's Remus, he decides to crack a joke, something that will get a laugh out of him. "For the last time, Remus, I am not going to wear a plain black thong on my wedding night! You know I prefer rhinestones."

When he opens the door, he finds Sirius raising his brow at him, and Remus widening his eyes before biting his lip and trying not to grin too hard.

"I finally met your roommate," Sirius says calmly. "He was kind enough to let me in."

"Oh," James says and coughs. "Right. Fuck. I was just joking. Please ignore everything I said. I don't know what comes out of my mouth half of the time. Mostly I'm just trying to fuck Remus. I mean fuck with him! Not actually fuck him – "

"James. Please stop talking right now," Remus interrupts him, ready to burst out laughing.

"Rhinestones, huh?" Sirius's gaze lingers on James, making him feel hot.

__

♻️A scrapped idea for your current WIP

I was going to use the scene from the movie where the family insists Lucy and Jack kiss underneath the mistletoe, as you do with your comatose fiancé’s brother (?!? never made sense to me lol but it’s romcom logic), but I scrapped it. I have another idea on my mind.

🛠️Is there a scene or anything in the WIP you are struggling with right now?

Yes. 😂 I was going to make them play pool but I cannot for the life of me write about it because I’ve hardly played it once or twice and have no interest in researching it. And I’ve been stuck with this stupid scene for a long time. I should remove it and rewrite it but my mind is blank about what to replace it with. I’ll just have to make a decision and push through.

WIP procrastination ask game

[gumnut-logic]

Oh for the procrastination post can I ask 5⚠️

11🛠 and send lashings of 12❤️? (Sending this is actually me procrastinating as I've to finish marking and it's KILLING me!!)

::points and laughs::

I find it funny that you think I know :D My muse its nuts and at the moment it is super nuts and bouncing all around the park.

Last year I barely wrote at all. This year, the urge has come back and I'm putting down words, but they are random and all over the place. I don't need any more WIPs I have too many, but every time I attempt to focus on one the muse rebels. ::glares at it::

At the moment it is a juggle between one of the recent little fics that have sprouted - who knows how big they will get, frickin' weeds - and the third Alexander Sweetapple fic (I really need to get him out from under that building).

There is also Callisto, which was supposed to be my major fic of 2021, nearly 45,000 words - I NEEED to finish that.

Because the major fic of 2022 was started - only a couple of people know my plans for that one...and it includes dinosaurs! But gotta finish Callisto first ::sigh::

Then there is the third fic in the Kermadec series which has been eating my brain since 2020, alongside 'When the World Goes Boom' which also NEEEDS to be finished...and 'The Hero'. Ack, plot heavy is so much work.

Plus the planned crossover of Marks & Wings with the Kermadec series and all the emotional impact of that. Oh, and, of course, that bit of 'Scott' I have sitting here that revives Em Harris in the Marks & Wings universe, that's another WIP that I've been playing with recently.

As you can see, my brain is a mess.

At the moment, I'm trying to get something cohesive out of my brain so one of the weeds or Sweetapple or just anything. Just write, damn you :D

Herding cats is an apt metaphor. ::hugs you tight::

Nutty

(it's scary in my head)

PS: Answering 11 in a separate post :D

[babyblue711]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you for the tag, my darling @itbmojojoejo 💙

1. How many works do you have on ao3(or masterlist)? - I've only ever uploaded to Tumblr. I have 4 stories total (but all have multiple parts).

2. What’s your total ao3/tumblr word count? - I literally never counted until now - 66,700 (plus an additional 3500 in the works)

3. What fandoms do you write for? - Mostly just Ewanverse (Salad Days, High Life, and TLK) but I have recently dabbled in HOTD (Modern AU Aegon & Aemond)

4. Top five fics by kudos - I'll just do top 3 with the most notes since I don't have many fics: Temptation Part 1 (Ettore/High Life - DD;DNE), Surrender Part 1 (Aegon Modern AU), Redemption Part 1 (Will- Salad Days)

5. Do you respond to comments? - YES! It is the BEST part of writing!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? - I'm a sucker for happy endings. Temptation was definitely angsty but the ending of Part 2 of Surrender could also be considered a different sort of angsty (wiggles eyebrows).

7. What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? - Definitely Redemption (Will - Salad Days) but I'd say Devotion (Osferth - TLK) is a close second.

8. Do you get hate on fics? - No, I think I would crumple and cry if I ever did!

9. Do you write smut? - My fics are porn with little plot 😈

10. Craziest crossover? - Haven't considered but now you got me thinking!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? - I sure hope not.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? - Not to my knowledge

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? - No, I think that would be difficult to blend creative ideas but kudos to those that do it!

14. All time favorite ship? - Call me crazy but I happened upon the most beautifully written fic on ao3 with the most unusual pairing but I instantly fell in love - Aemond x Aethelstan (TLK): A Red Dawn Rises by Avonne. Give it a read!

15. What’s a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will? - I literally fell hard for Aethelstan when writing Devotion and I tried my hand at writing for him. I do not think I will finish his story but I dearly love the character.

16. What are your writing strengths? - The smut! It comes most naturally despite never writing smut (or anything actually) until I published my first fic last summer.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? - Comprehensively telling a story without needing a ton of words to do so. I am working on keeping my fics shorter while still conveying a complete story without going overboard!

18. Thoughts on dialogue in another language? - I like it but I also need to know what they are saying so I can follow along.

19. First fandom you wrote in? - Ewanverse - Will from Salad Days

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? - Devotion is my personal favorite, there's just something calming and sweet about Osferth and his story flowed from my brain effortlessly.

No pressure tags for funsies/to help you procrastinate (sorry if you've already been tagged): @myfandomprompts @arcielee @sylasthegrim @thekinslayed @theoneeyedprince @inthedayswhenlandswerefew

[valeffelees]

An Ask Game for Writers to Procrastinate Working on Your WIP(s)

thank you kindly for tagging me @shrekgogurt @youarenevertooold, and @monbons i've been seeing this game make its rounds on my dash and was really hoping someone would pull me in!

🦈 Tell us the name of one of your WIP(s)

my main three wips at the moment are without sun, ballad of the final sparrow, which is more commonly known as bitverse, and fragile things (and how to break them), but i've also been fucking around a bit the last two or three weeks with a new (terrible, evil, very self-indulgent) wip called god-forbid.

🍄 Describe one of your WIPs in the format of “___ + ___ =___”  

i think i might be dumb bc i don't understand this question at all.

🌍 What tags or warnings will your WIP(s) need if you intend to share it?

bitverse: heavy angst, psychological horror elements, alcohol abuse, allusions to suicide, unhealthy coping mechanisms, dead dove: do not eat.

🧭 An alternative title to one of your WIP(s)?

ballad of the final sparrow -> baz is typing fragile things (and how to break them) -> there's a werewolf in london god-forbid -> the gap between a tragedy and comedy

⚠️ Which WIP you’re most likely to finish or update next?

i have no idea. i mean, you'd think the answer would be without sun since it's the only fic i actually have posted at the moment, but unfortunately i am an untrustworthy villain.

💾 What is the document of your WIP called? (Not the story title, but what you’ve saved it as.)

same as the fic title. if i start a new wip and don't know what to call it, i'll pick something at random and add (working title) at the end.

🖍 Post any sentence from your WIP

from without sun:

“You don’t like peppermint,” he says. But maybe she does. Maybe that’s one more thing he can add to his growing list of things he got wrong about Agatha Wellbelove. No. 1 — Dislikes peppermint; actually, she is quite fond of it. No. 2 — Likes Simon Snow; him, not so much.

♻️ A scrapped idea for your current WIP

one of the biggest changes i made to the plot of without sun really early on was penelope's role in the story. i had a clear idea of the story i wanted to tell as soon as i saw the prompt for the fic. without sun was always supposed to be about more than simon and baz. the story is about grief and love, and the space we take up in the lives of the people around us. but n e way, in my orig draft, penny was actually supposed to be able to communicate with simon a bit, and there was gonna be a whole sect of scenes in the middle of the fic where they sat around together trying to break simon's curse what we know and what we don't know style via passing notes. i ended up tossing this idea really quickly tho, and i'm glad i did bc one of my favourite moments i've ever written in any fic happens in chapter two of without sun and it belongs to simon and penny.

🤔 What’s a story you’d love to write but haven’t even started yet?

so many. or, well—what counts as "haven't even started"? i hate to let ideas sit around in my head bc it feels like leaving raspberries in the fridge for too long, like that shit is gonna get mould on it, so usually the first thing i do is rough out a few scenes and/or script out a very rough outline of the plot (like this / this / this style) so that i have something to come back to later. i have dozens of zero drafts just lying tf around. but otherwise, yeah, so many. one big idea i have is called heart on fire and it's based on fanart, but i haven't started it yet bc obvs i wanna get permission from the artist first but i've been holding off reaching out to them about it until i've knocked a few of my less intimidating longfics off my wip list bc heart on fire is gonna fucking hefty so i don't wanna give'r until i'm sure i can manage it.

🤡 How many WIPs are you actively working on?

LMFAO

🛠 Is there a scene or anything in the WIP you are struggling with right now?

i'm having a real bitch of a time with agatha's main scene in chapter two of without sun, i've been fighting with it on and off for months, but i can't get it to do what i want it to do.

❤️ Not a question, just a second kudos to send.

cheers!

sorry for any doubles but, tagging: @drowninginships @cosmicalart @that-disabled-princess @fatalfangirl @cutestkilla @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @artsyunderstudy @thewholelemon @roomwithanopenfire @hushed-chorus @blackberrysummerblog @imagineacoolusername @nightimedreamersworld @prettygoododds @confused-bi-queer @mooncello and an open tag for anybody else who wants to procrastinate their wips!

[scorpsik]

20 Author Questions

I was tagged by @ellegreenawayslover thanks :)

1. How many words do you have on AO3?

I have 263 for my sins.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

648, 503

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Criminal minds right now, but I have writtten for Cell Block H and Farscape too - although they aren't on AO3.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

TOLL

LOVING/LOVED

PATERNALLY YOURS

COLD PIZZA

RUNNING FOR TWO

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Every single one. Because someone took the time out of their day to write a few words to me, and I need to respond in kind. It means so much.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

HA!!! This one:

JOB DONE

or this one....

NIGHTMARES

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Good grief... happy ending? Uhmmmm.....it is so hard to remember them all. This one is sweet. I don't do happy really, but this is sweet.

SOMETHING TO REMEMBER ME BY

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not yet. I have done on art, but not yet on fics.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Naaah. Veeeeeeeeeeeeery mild schexchy on rare occasions, but not smut. I'm too shy.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Nope. Don't like 'em. Don't actually watch enough TV to write one LOL

11. Have you ever had a fiction stolen?

Nope.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope.

13. Have you ever co-writtten a fic before?

Not really...I help another with her first story, but never co-wrote. I'm a lone wolf. I've never had a beta. Hell, I rarely read 'em myself before posting ;D

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

I don't ship.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Got a Spencer+Em/ grieving over Maeve request, but Maeve was such a pointless, dull, waste of screentime that I'm procrastinating over it.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Speed LOL Characterisation, I think.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Speed LOL I hate writing endings.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I do it often, but rely on Google so I hope it isn't gibberish.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Farscape

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

Soft spot for this one:

FOOTLOOSE

IS THERE LIFE AFTER DEATH?

Tagging: @storiesofsvu @milfsloverblog @weemssapphic @just-a-torn-up-masterpiece

[gnpwdrnwhiskey]

Procrastination Game Asks 😋 Because I can never pick just one!

💾What is your document of your wip/ a wip called? (not the stories actual title but what you’ve saved it as)

🤔What’s a story you’d love to write but haven’t even started yet?

Thank you! 😘

Dieter Tax:

💾 What is your document of your wip/ a wip called? (not the stories actual title but what you’ve saved it as)

-- got one right now just called Valentine's. Guess I'm a little late. Maybe it'll keep for a year. 😆

🤔 What’s a story you’d love to write but haven’t even started yet?

-- I have an idea floating around in my head for something where Tim brings Mags in as a consultant on a case and she is over the moon excited that might be fun one day?

Thanks for the asks Betty!! 🦛💕

[jesuisici33]

Fic Writer Interview

tagged by @vanillahigh00 <3

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

18

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 

79,614

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

cause i believe that we were supposed to find this (Lonestar, T) 213 kudos

It's Photoshop (Lonestar, T) 144 kudos

A Lesson In Flirting (Schitt's Creek, T) 132 kudos

Public Relations (Schitt's Creek, E) 128 kudos

yes i know that he's my ex but can't two people reconnect? (Lonestar, E) 98 kudos

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

YES! i'm always so awed and feel so loved when people comment on my fics! (although sometimes it might take a while for me to comment back)

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

yes i know that he's my ex ...it's break up sex so...

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Umm... a good majority of them tbh?

7. Do you write crossovers?

Not really. Although I do have a 911/Lonestar crossover wip buried in my drafts set right after the actual crossover.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

No, and I hope that trend continues!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

*looks at all my E rated fics* what's that?

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

If I have, no one has brought it to my attention.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but if someone wants to I would be honored!

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No.

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Atm it's Buck/Eddie from 911. Although I do love TK/Carlos. I still love David/Patrick, but I think I'll have to rewatch the show for them to grip my attention again.

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I don't want to say never finish, just hibernate.

15. What are your writing strengths?

I have really good ideas, and I'm really good at writing dialogue.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Procrastination. (One of my goals this year is to at least write 100 words a day. Just to get in the habit of writing more, and with a low word count so on days I don't feel like doing it, I feel less pressure). Also inner voice and scene description. Although I feel like I'm getting better at that lately.

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

A bit nervous. I mean, I am learning spanish on duolingo, but I would feel a lot better if I had a native speaker to varify that my dialogue is correct and makes sense. However, I'm not opposed to doing it if it makes sense to the fic itself.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

iCarly, back when I was 11.

19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

Joe/Nicky from The Old Guard and Percabeth. Although I don't have any fic ideas for them.

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Top two contenders for favorite fic are yes i know that he's my ex, Public Relations, and Let's Play a Game (Spies Are Forever, E)

yes i know he's my ex - it's my first angsty fic, and i worked really hard on getting the tone right for this fic. it's set during Tarlos' break up, yet they're having sex in this fic and it doesn't end with them getting back together. so i wanted to focus on their mixed emotions of being together yet knowing it's just a one time thing. and thankfully everyone who commented said i pulled it off!

Public Relations - my first multichap fic. throughout my time writing, i've always scrapped projects and went on to something new or just abandoning it. so this proved that i could finishing something and stick with it. i was really proud that i could accomplish that, and write something that ended up being almost 40k words! not a huge word count for some fic authors, but a huge accomplishment for me :D

Let's Play a Game - my first fic into fandoms! (on this account, lol) When I watched Spies Are Forever, I needed more, and sadly the fandom is pretty small, so I decided to write a fic for it! This was originally going to be a multichap fic, however I kept getting icked out that Agent Curt Mega's name was the same name as the actor who played him, so this just ended up being a pwp. However, this did get me back into writing so it still lives in a special place in my heart.

anyone else want to do an interview? @hippolotamus @malewifediaz @eddiebabygirldiaz @monsterrae1 @rmd-writes @alrightbuckaroo @liminalmemories21 @carlos-in-glasses @cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut @wandering-night19 @rosedavid @apothecarose @mammameesh @steadfastsaturnsrings @loserdiaz @disasterbuckdiaz @thewolvesof1998 @pirrusstuff @your-catfish-friend @tyfinn @thebumblecee @cultofsappho @daffi-990

[inahc3]

I was hoping it would take me about a month to recover from moving, this time - as opposed to the three months it took last year. In a way, I was not entirely wrong - my body had recovered enough before the end of May that simply standing up didn't make my legs try to cramp. And yet, here I am in late June, finally admitting to myself that the odds of writing before July are slim, and yet not being entirely sure how I got here.

At first, it was the chores. Things postponed until after moving, like address changes that couldn't be scheduled in advance. Things related to the new place, like learning to use the appliances. Minor surprise issues, like having to buy shower curtain rods.

Then the urgent chores were handled, and I did my best to space out the others - I'd much prefer to hyperfocus on getting all the house things done, but that way lies burnout and frustration (ok I did actually have a burnout week too, that sucked), and besides, I'm sure new house things will pop up on a regular basis now that we don't have a landlord to call about them.

My RL social life took off too, and that was a fun kind of exhaustion. While that was going on, I decided I'd rather fill my head with appliance manuals during the week, figure out their quirks (like how the dishwasher delay function gets weird if you open the door), and *then* dump all that knowledge into my reminder app before filling my head with WIPs and plot instead.

I think I procrastinated a little after that was done - or maybe I had too many appointments. my memory is foggy and my notes are cryptic. I did at least have some stuff fizzing in the back of my head still, and one sleepless night I figured out a solution to my biggest plot hole.

The weekend after our housewarming party, I was determined to get back on that horse. I got all my notes out, flung some documents onto the shiny new TV, and filled my brain with plot again. Sorted out all the things that needed deciding about the plot of part 1, how the plot hole solution affected them, which scenes were most urgent to write in case they jumped the tracks and changed things - I was all set to spend Sunday Actually Fucking Writing, with my notes all around me to help get back into things.

Then Sunday came with an opportunity to do things I'm normally not well enough to do, and I decided that was worth postponing the writing just a little bit. Surely I could do it in the afternoon. Or on Monday, at worst. I even brought my laptop along in the hopes that I'd have writing time while I was out.

I ended up doing pain management instead of writing, and then being so exhausted I made the very stupid decision to read Just One Chapter of a fic someone had recommended. It was a good fic (dustverse), and I can never have just one, and then it was 6am and I was deep into both spoon debt *and* sleep deprivation. 🤦 So I resigned myself to a few days of recovery. I recovered, made plans to pick up the writing again on the weekend - and promptly got sick instead. 🤦 Ugh. I can't write while sick even when I have something to continue, let alone when I haven't touched my fic in so long anxiety thinks writing is an existential threat. 🤪

So here I am, beginning to recover - the good news is I think I'll be well enough to travel for an important medical appointment, the bad news is I need to save all my spoons for that and not take risks, plus my brain is full of Things To Pack (which I have not properly written down, FML) with no room for Things To Write. And I know I won't write shit while I'm away, and there'll be a pile of postponed chores waiting for me when I get back.

I'm gonna need a solid day of Only Writing to push through the anxiety, and it's gonna suck so much, and I don't actually think I'll have room in my schedule until July. 😭 And I can't even afford to have strong feelings about it right now - gotta stay relaxed and give my immune system all the spoons that aren't spent on packing.

NGL, it's times like these that make it tempting to throw in the towel and leave the writing to people who don't have to fight their own brain over every goddamn word. But this story really, really wants to be written. So I think I'll keep trying. At least until part 1 is complete and I get the ineffable idiots talking again.

I got a really nice comment on it a while back, too, so my beta readers and I aren't the only people looking forward to more chapters. :) :) although at this point, I think it makes more sense to sketch out the remaining scenes and have several mostly-written chapters to edit, to be sure all the plot threads come together well enough, instead of going mostly chapter by chapter like I have before. So even once I get writing again, posting could take a while. Slow and steady wins the race, I guess?

[12romy]

Thanks @sebchal for tagging me!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Oof. 57, damn that's a lot, what am I doing with my life?? 53 of them in F1 (I know it says 52 but one of them is on anon lmao)

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

GUYS I JUST COUNTED AND APPARENTLY I'VE PUBLISHED AROUND 477K FOR THE F1 FANDOM??!!??! SEND HELP (there's another 100k in my wips rn)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

F1rpf, although I have a fic for The Sandman and one for Our Flag Means Death (let's forget about my works for spn lol)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

So the first one is Odd ducks, the fic I wrote for The Sandman, which is pretty normal since the fandom is bigger. After that, only F1, with Let's try something else (sewis fake dating feat Seb and gay panic), A Change of Habits (my lonnnnnnng chewis fic following the 2022 season), Your Crush is Showing (Brocedes, the first long fic I completed. Lots of smut.) and finally, Remember to forget (me), brocedes lewis!amnesia fic. I am very proud of the last one, mostly because it's super angsty and I torture Nico so much in it lmao

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do, actually, but usually I procrastinate on it, and I took ages. It's just, like, I feel it important to thank everyone for the comments, but it can feel a little repetitive and so I just tend to... Push it back to the next day, again and again. When it's on a multi-chapter fic, I reply before publishing the new chapter usually, but if it's a one-shot or the last chapter... Well. You'll get an answer but god knows when ahah

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Oof, that's between Losing it all, a really dark fic about Nico, and Too Late, a bad ending 3344 fic based on Monza 2021 :)

(be careful about the tags if you go and read them btw)

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Damn, that's a difficult question, I love writting sappy endings... But actually I think it's the ending of Welcome in the family!

It's a cute fic about Kimi/Tonio/Minttu, and the ending is definitely what I consider one of the happiest, mostly because of a little time-jump that allows to see the future ^^

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I did once, actually, on the 3344 fic I mentionned earlier. I think the person was just a max fan and didn't appreciate the way I make him suffer... I had put the write tags and all, so idk why they clicked on it. Anyway, it was scary and upsetting and I'm glad it only happened once ^^"

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Hell yeah. Go have a look, honestly, there's no way I can summarise it. I write way too much of it, I think (and most of it hasn't been published yet I think)

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Nope, but I should, it could be fun! Actually, I'd like to write a Lewis/Lil Nas X one day, so who knows. That's not at the top of my list, though.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I... Don't know, actually? How do you even check that? I hope not ahah ^^"

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! Someone offered to translate one of my fic in Chinese!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I DID, The Prince and the Knight, with my wonderful @feuerspirit !!!!!! And I don't want to spoil, but me and @metheevilgenius miiiiight publish a little os at some point ;)

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

Oh, such a hard question... I'll go with brocedes, but it's really mean to make me chose only one. They're just.... *siiiigh*

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Definitely this BDSM seb/charles/mick and lewis/pierre I have started. I didn't publish it and it's like 20k long but I'm completely stuck and haven't worked on it in a long time. Not totally happy with it either ^^"

16. What are your writing strengths?

Uh, good question? I don't know, I get compliments about the characterisation... But other than that, I like to think I have a pretty good sense of humour and I'm able to make people laugh (or like, I hope. I make myself laugh, which is a good begining)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

The fucking dialogues.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I like to use petnames in other languages cause petnames always feel more personnal when you use it in your own language. So with the F1 drivers, it's nice cause not all of them are english! I tend to put some German or some French sometimes in my fics for full sentences, but I try not to do it too much. If you don't understand the language, it can be very frustrating.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Time to dig up my old ff.net account lmao

Nah, actually, I remember very well of my first fic. I was 15, it was two pages long, I was feeling bad about writing a fic in the first place although it didn't involve any romance. I deleted it a few hours after posting it, ahah. It was for the fandom of a french youtube show called Aventures. It's like, people playing a dnd style game, it's pretty cool and I was really into it for a long time.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

The fic I love the most of is definitely Up or Down. It's one of my favourite fic I've wrote. It's one of my early work, so it's a little clumsy and far from perfect, but I have good memories of myself writing it. I was in vacation in Rome at the time, alone, and I spent my time wandering in the city and thinking about my fic, it was amazing. And well, the content of the fic is also nice I guess XDDD

-

noooo idea who did this thing, and who didn't, so ignore if you've already done it or don't want to! I tag @feuerspirit @n-ico-ando @sunshinesebby @sionisjaune