#just scroll to the bottom tbh i just fucking ramble all the time lmfao

[maiverie]

yk i just wanna share,,, I've been wanting to be a good writer just like you 😯 and any other authors there but like my head can't just form ideas the only ideas it's forming is the idea to sleep IT'S SO ?!*@?@ LIKE i wanna ask / im curious how writers like you think of prompts, the storyline and all and write it nicely ??? 😭 so yea i admire you !!!

:(( anon wth this is so sweet thank u so much :( u admire me?? bye i'm so flattered you even think of me like that 😭 it's an honour to receive this kind of ask so thank u sm for sending this through ☹️🫶 you're not alone,,, writing is hard and coming up w storylines can honestly be so ass 😭 i honestly dont really know if i'm all that qualified to give advice, but here are my thoughts!! :>>

in my experience, the best way to come up with a story idea is by literally just choosing one thing that you really want to write. it can literally be anything — maybe you really want to write a particular trope (enemies to lovers), a time period (something based on the 80s), a season (winter or summer), a workplace (the office), a character with a particular career (a magazine editor), or something really mf random (a character that goes shopping for christmas). just choose something to start with and flesh it out from there! most of the time, i choose my "one thing" by getting inspired by tv shows / movies / songs / other fanfics. for example, i might be watching a medical drama and think "damn i rlly wanna write a hospital au or nurse au or medical student au".

i think it becomes less overwhelming when you choose just one thing you want to do, because you can let your idea sprout from there. even if your final idea deviates far from your starting point, it's a lot less daunting starting from one idea than sitting there tapping your fingers while waiting for a story plot to randomly come up.

after you choose your one thing, maybe add in more details. if you've chosen a particular trope like enemies to lovers, think about why they're enemies and then go from there. was it a misunderstanding? where is the story set? how old are they? how do they fall in love? stuff like that! honestly sometimes i just put on main character music and visualise scenes that come to mind 😭

sometimes, your "one thing" can literally just be a dialogue line. is there one line you really want to include in your story? maybe it's a nickname or a particular scene or ending or something like that. for example, your one thing might be that you don't want your characters to end up together, so you can backtrack the series of events that unfold to make that happen.

as for writing tips, oh god if i included everything then this post would literally be way too long :< my best tip for writing is to honestly focus on your characters. start small and choose two/three main characters and focus on them. don't worry about coming up with a unique plot or something full of twists or whatever else. my favourite stories in the world were written by authors who made me genuinely love their characters because they felt real. sure, a whacky plot might hook a reader in, but likeable characters that are worth rooting for are what going to make your readers stay.

ways to make your readers want to root for your characters is by giving your characters motivations and fears and all the other stuff that real humans have. for example, i'm not going to give a shit about story about a snail that roams the earth. but if you tell me that that snail is the only one left of its species and its one true goal in life is to find another snail to marry, i'm probably going to care a lot more about the story bc now i rlly wanna know if the snail gets what it wants :<

LMAO maybe that made no actual sense but my point is mostly to just flesh out your characters and give them feelings and emotions and show that in your writing. with the enemies to lovers example, i really love the e2l stories that genuinely make me feel like the two characters are better when they're together because they bring out the best in each other. maybe i'm rooting for them because one of them has a history of self-sabotage and i really want to see them be happy for once. stuff like that, yk?

sorry if this was quite tangential and the advice is a little vague. you can always ask clarifying questions!

here are some resources that might help!

job ideas

dialogue prompts: one, two, three, four (search "dialogue prompts" on tumblr)

more prompts!

also bff don't be too hard on yourself. writing is so subjective — people you think are good writers might be considered bad by someone else. just write about stories you like, whether it's a cute romcom plot or a horror fic or an angsty story about fucking snails, because that's all that really matters. have fun okie? :>>

lots of luv <333