#so I thought I’d just write shorter drabbles - but keep it to dialogue only

[a-canceled-stamp]

Whumptober 2023 - dialogue

Day 1. Safety Net | Swooning | “How many fingers am I holding up?”

Characters; pairings: Tim, Jason; Tim & Jason

Setting: the manor. In my mind it’s a “Tim is adopted early” AU but can be read differently.

✧˖°.🪐⋆｡°✩

“Hey, hold up!”

“Leave me alone, Jason.”

“What the hell? You can’t just walk away from this!”

“It’s not a big deal.”

“Not a big—you passed out!”

“…only a little.”

“Are you kidding? You were out. Like, fully. Lights out, nobody’s home, the whole shebang. I swear, you even stopped breathing at one point.”

“Okay, that’s an exaggeration. You’re being dramatic.”

“Dude, I had to catch you. If anyone’s being dramatic, it’s you. Literally swooning into my arms.”

“Jason—“

“Listen, I’m just stating the facts. And the facts are, you gotta start taking more care of yourself.”

“I do!”

“Oh really? When was the last time you ate?”

“…you know what, I don’t have to answer any do you questions if I don’t want to.”

“Aha! See? Wait, come on, stop trying to walk away from this, man.”

“Come on, why can’t you just—“

“No. We need to get some nutrients in you, stat. Maybe some gatorade just to get your blood sugar up. Or maybe water first?”

“Jason, I don’t—”

“No, don’t you get it? I’ve had enough of this, alright? Now stand there and don’t move. If you try to run I swear to god I will burn your Tony Hawk poster.”

“…”

“Yeah, I ain’t fucking around. Now, Alfred’s gotta have some bars or shakes around here somewhere. If not I’ll make you a goddamn omelet if I have to. Seriously, Tim, this is ridiculous.”

“Uh, Jason? I think I—“

“Shut your yap. ‘It’s not a big deal’ my ass. News flash: passing out while walking up the stairs is not normal.”

“Jason, I, I think I might—“

“God, what the hell is Bruce even doing. World’s greatest detective and can’t even notice that his own kid is—hey what are you—oh shit.”

✧˖°.🪐⋆｡°✩

[sukirichi]

suki’s restaurant is now CLOSED! please read updates after the “keep reading” tab!

thank you for the milestone! it’s really such a huge gift to me since i just started posting jjk content here ten days ago (◕ᴗ◕✿) as a small token of appreciation, all requests are now open and there’s a variety of ingredients you can choose from!

masterlist !

meal guides:

🥞 breakfast - fics longer than 1k word counts

🍙 lunch (headcanons)

🍷 wine (nsfw content)

🍰 snack (timestamps, imagines & drabbles)

🍌 thirsts (ramble with me about our smexy thoughts!) for the brainrots

PLEASE READ:

— this event is officially closed. my asks are only open for the previous anons who i’ve asked to do a redo for any mistakes/restrictions in their previous orders.

— new requests will no longer be accepted. or maybe it will because i’m easily swayed with great ideas but it will no longer be part of the milestone event.

— my writing schedule is only during wednesdays, fridays, and the weekends. some works will be written in advance and scheduled to post daily (if possible.)

— please be patient! as you can see, i’ve got a lot of requests, and i really want your meals to be as pleasing and delicious as possible, so please please be patient. i’m training for med school and i’ve got other responsibilities too. if you want to decline a request if you can’t wait for it, that’s fine. 

— i’m human so...my mind can change any minute, and i could no longer be interested in a certain idea. if that happens, i’ll reply to your ask that i won’t be serving your meal anymore even if it’s here on the list below. it sounds kind of rude, but i wouldn’t want to write something i’m not interested in for the sake of pleasing others, because if i write something i don’t enjoy/am not that interested in anymore, then the meal won’t turn out as good had i been passionate for it. it’s going to be done out of forced productivity and the food might taste bad :<

— the last batch of accepted meals will be marked as ✿

— favorites will be marked as ★. because they’re the ideas i find most interesting and the ones i adore the most, they will take longer to be completed. i really want to give my ultimate best on that and just UNLEASH everything i have in me.

how to order!

✦ choose from the ingredients below

✦ choose your own sugar and spice!

✦ choose from the meal guides above! please specify if you want your request to be

✦ send in your request by dropping it on my ask box!

✦ be as descriptive as you want in your request, i want to make a good meal for you!

✦ example of how to order: 

— breakfast: ingredient 9 + sugar 1 for gojo 

— alternative: 9+1+1+song (optional) + dialogue of choice (optional)

— alternative:  breakfast with wine: ingredient 9 + sugar 1 + spice 1 for gojo

— optional: ingredient 9 + sugar 1 + spice 1 for toji + cookie “starboy by the weeknd” and “you wanna fuck me so bad”

ingredients : au (max of 2 picks!)

CROSSED OUT OPTIONS MEANS IT’S NO LONGER AVAILABLE

✦ sugar daddy au

✦ arranged marriage au

✦ accidental pregnancy au

✦ high school au

✦ university au

✦ med! student au / doctor! au

✦ lawyer au

✦ detective au

✦ ceo au

✦ sugar mommy au

✦ neighbours au

✦ bed sharing au

✦ roommates au

✦ co-workers au

✦ body swap au

✦ soulmate au

✦ fake dating au 

✦ marriage for convenience au 

✦ bodyguard au

✦ assassin au

✦ married au 

✦ love triangle au

✦ mutual pining au

✦ unrequited love au

✦ meet drunk au

✦ meet cute au

✦ siblings’ friend au

✦ friend’s sibling au

✦ established relationship au

✦ breakup au

✦ barista au / coffee shop au

✦ teacher x student au

✦ royalty au

✦ rentboy au 

✦ camboy/camgirl au

✦ ex au

✦ mistaken identity

✦ fuck buddies au

✦ bartender au

✦ tattoo artist au

✦ apocalypse au

✦ playboy au

✦ stoner au

✦ love at first sight au

✦ hate sex au

✦ sleepover au

✦ worthy opponent au

✦ age gap au

✦ loss of virginity au

✦ gangster au

✦ mafia au

✦ bet au

✦ rebound au

✦ drunk hookup au 

✦ bad boy good girl au

✦ amnesia au

✦ reincarnation au

✦ one of them is famous 

✦ one of them doesn’t know the other exists

✦ one of them is oblivious 

✦ one of them is taken already 

✦ polar opposites au

✦ met at the subway au

✦ library au

✦ football player au

✦ canon au (jjk canon)

✦ send me your own au!

sugar: tropes (max of 2 picks!)

CROSSED OUT OPTIONS MEANS IT’S NO LONGER AVAILABLE

✦ best friends to lovers

✦ enemies to lovers

✦ lovers to enemies

✦ strangers to lovers

✦ mutual pining 

✦ unrequited love

✦ forbidden relationship

✦ partners in crime

✦ slow burn

✦ send me your own trope!

spice: (for nsfw requests) (max of 3 picks!)

CROSSED OUT OPTIONS MEANS IT’S NO LONGER AVAILABLE

— here are the kinks/sexual content i’m comfortable writing about. there’s still a lot of kinks idk about so if it’s not here, please feel free to include the spice in the ask!

✦ breeding kink

✦ size kink

✦ stockholm syndrome

✦ age play

✦ agoraphilia (public place kink)

✦ somnophilia (consensual sex where the other is asleep)

✦ breath play

✦ dumbification

✦ cum play

✦ begging kink

✦ praising kink

✦ thigh riding

✦ collaring

✦ face sitting

✦ 34+35

✦ dacryphilia

✦ disciplining

✦ dirty talking

✦ exhibitionism

✦ role playing

✦ gagging

✦ watersports

✦ send me your own kink!

cherry on top : characters

CROSSED OUT OPTIONS MEANS IT’S NO LONGER AVAILABLE

— characters i can write anything for (nsfw & sfw)

: gojo satoru, fushiguro megumi, fushiguro toji, choso, noritoshi kamo, ryoumen sukuna, nanami kento, okkotsu yuta

— characters i can only write sfw for

: itadori yuuji, inumaki toge

— characters i want to write for but don’t think i can write well (nsfw & sfw)

: suguru geto, naoya zenin

— characters i’m MOST eager to write simp for

: fushiguro toji, nanami kento, fushiguro megumi, choso, naoya zenin

additional cookie!

✦ send me a song as a story inspo!

✦ send me your dialogue! (ex. “shut up and kiss me.”)

restaraunt rules : please read!

— i do not write about yandere, stalker, pregnant! reader (unless it’s still until the early age where the belly is still small), non-con, and heavily canon requests 

— nsfw content i won’t write about: period sex, blood play, temperature play, pegging, male characters dressing up as female, monster fucking (sorry, sukuna won’t be getting four arms if you want nsfw for him), bestiality, incest, hypnosis (non-con related)

— not exactly a restriction, but please keep in mind that y/n is still a character for me as the writer. i may or may not add in features that even though isn’t explicit, could be something not suitable for everyone. phrases like, “he peered down at her” sounds neutral enough, but could still be implied that the reader is shorter than the anime character. it’s difficult to write a 100% neutral fic that won’t imply appearance one way or another. if i’ve written anything offensive/upsetting, feel free to tell me about it. i’ll do my best to keep it neutral.

— the reader will always be female bodied in nsfw content

— please be patient! i want to write fics the requester enjoys so i’m going to take my time in preparing your meal!

— i may or may not cook your meal 100% according to your request. depending on my comfort upon the idea, i may have to tweak a detail or two.

— i can refuse your request if i don’t want to write about it for personal or other reasons. i’ll let you know beforehand.

— wine will take longer to be served!

— i will announce if a trope/au/character is no longer open for requests. i feel like some ingredients will be quite common amongst requesters and i don’t want to write for the same thing over and over again. same goes in the manner that if you have a similar request to another, it’ll be fused into one idea/meal.

— if your request contains offensive/uncomfortable content, i won’t even respond back to you. i’ll immediately delete your ask.

— if you still don’t get or are confused by the guides, send me an ask! i’ll happily guide you!

— this event is now closed. i will temporarily be closing my ask box so i don’t get flooded. i’ll open it again tonight for anyone who has questions or just want to drop a message!

hmm...i’m still not sure how to order for my meal.

✧ what if the story/scenario i want isn’t included in the choices above?

— as i’ve stated, please feel free to request whatever you want! the choices are there to give people an idea what they’d like to see, but if it’s not there, you can still request for it as stated in the “send me an au/trope/kink you want!”

✧ what if i don’t have any ingredient, spice, or sugar i want but a song inspo anyway?

— that’s also fine, but it would be preferred if you’re descriptive so your meal could be delivered better and faster. in this case though, i’ll just have to get creative!

✧ what if i want more than one character in the request?

— having others included in the request is fine, but as much as possible, i can only write a maximum of two main characters (the reader excluded)

✧ what if i want to request for the ones you want to write for but you don’t think you can pull it off well?

— just a heads up! i would love to write for them, but because i’m not entirely caught up in the manga, the characters mentioned above aren’t ones i know very well yet. 

✧ not exactly regarding the meal, but i’ve sent you requests from last week. would you still be writing them?

— i’ve received several requests when my bio states that requests are closed. however, because the ideas are actually really precious and i know i’d have fun writing them, i’d still write about them. i just cannot guarantee you’ll receive your meal soon since my requests were closed when you sent them. 

UPDATES:

Day One: breeding kink, size kink, thigh riding, married au, best friends to lovers is NO LONGER AVAILABLE.

Day Two: established relationship au, mutual pining, dumbification, and gojo satoru is NO LONGER AVAILABLE. to the asks that were received before this update, you may check on the requests accepted whether you made it to the cut or not. i’ll update this later. the restaurant will also reach out to you if one of your requested ingredients/spice/sugar/cherry on top did not make the cut. my asks are still open, so please tweak your requests a little bit to what is available! 

Day Two Update 2: Restaurant is CLOSED! spice 6 (somnophilia) is also no longer available! Check the requests accepted to see if you’ve made the cut, the latest and last accepted requests will be marked as ✿! 

requests accepted:

✦ fushiguro megumi

megumi really likes reader and gojo, yuuji, nobara helps him confess

shy megumi who is really flustered and shy around his crush  meals fused into one. read here: not shy

★🥞🍷 40 (tattoo artist au) + 5 (mutual pining) + 2,12,13 (size kink, praise kink, thigh riding) + reader is shorter than megumi and isn’t shy read here: work of art

(★🥞🍷 5 (university au) + 5 (mutual pining) + 12, 3 (praise kink, stockholm syndrome) + virgin megumi) i’ve been outlining this for days but idk...i just can’t seem to form something out of it. i still have it saved but idk if i can still finish, i’ll try my best though.   it’s just challenging to write, sorry :( MEAL UNAVAILABLE

🥞 + 33 (royalty au) + 1 (best friends to lovers)

🍷 + 27 (siblings’ friend au) + 1, 11, 19 (breeding kink, dumbification, dirty talking) + feral megumi (feral megumi supremacy) read here: unstoppable

🥞 + 3, 38 (accidental pregnancy, fuck buddies au) + childhood friends to lovers + baby moments with father! megumi MEAL ORDER 9 & 7 FUSED read here: happy little accidents

★ vampire au + 55 (reincarnation au) + 6 (somnophilia) + vampire markings + blood drinking + nursing megumi...or him nursing you? hmm? (STRUGGLE PAANIK) read here: scarlet

✿ 🍰🍷 23, 38 (mutual pining au, fuck buddies au) might fuse it with request 7  MEAL ORDER 9 & 7 FUSED read here: happy little accidents

✦ nanami kento

jealous nanami with oblivious reader + gojo annoying nanami making nanami confess read here: a little push

comfort & angst fic where reader dates gojo but gojo cheats so she breaks down, leaves him, and nanami comforts reader  it’s too difficult for me to write sorry :(

★🥞 + 33 (royalty au) + 7 (forbidden relationship) read here: violet

🥞🍷 + 21 (married au) +  4 (strangers to lovers) + 2, 12 (size kink, praising kink) MEAL U

🥞🍷 + 23 (mutual pining au) + 1 (best friends to lovers) + 1 (breeding kink) read here: like crashing waves

ingredient 6 (med! student au / doctor! au)  + sugar 7 (forbidden relationship) + spices 12 (praising kink) + dacryphilia read here: overtime

✦ noritoshi kamo

fem!dom reader where nori defends his wife from the elders so she gives him the best night + blowjobs + overstimulation + sub! househusband nori + tit sucking spspss (MEAL UNAVAILABLE)

🍷 + 18 (marriage for convenience au) + 5 (mutual pining) + 18 (disciplining)

🥞 + 21 (married au) + 1,13 (breeding kink, thigh riding) meals fused into one, breeding kink is no longer included | read here: i know

🥞🍷 + 20, 58 (assassin! reader, oblivious! noritoshi) + 13 (thigh riding) + love at first sight + “wait, are you flirting with me?” + “have been since the beginning, thanks for finally noticing.” (BIG BRAIN ENERGY) read here: illusion

✦ gojo satoru

serotonin boost for that lovely anon gojo simp 9487 (i’m going to make this special for you because i love you anon) i was thinking maybe gojo comforts his uni!student s/o? just fluff and some cutesy tootsy to relieve your stress! MEAL FUSED WITH SEVEN

Tokyo by Leat’eq + ice cream shop! au with limited cat themed ice cream, you need to wear cat ears to go order + “nyaa!” read here

🍷 + 44 (hate sex au) + 7 (forbidden relationship) + 12 (praising kink) read here: divine

🥞🍷  + 29 (established relationship au) + 5 (mutual pining) no longer included + 6 (somnophilia) + fused with other request that isn’t listed here read here: sweet angel

✿ 🥞🍷 + 29 (established relationship au) + 12,15 (praising kink, face sitting) + reader runs into awful ex and gets worshipped by gojo like they deserve (queen tingz) + gojo comfort read here: breathless

(✿ 🥞🍷 + 12 (bed sharing au) + 7 (forbidden relationship) + 19 (dirty talk) + magdalena bay : killshot + jujutsu tech goes on a trip, gojo and reader ends up sharing rooms and a twin bed)  i’ve been outlining this for days but idk...i just can’t seem to form something out of it. i still have it saved but idk if i can still finish, i’ll try my best though.   it’s just challenging to write, sorry :( MEAL UNAVAILABLE

★✿ 50,1 (mafia au, sugar daddy au) + spice 8,12 (dumbification, praising kink) wow butterfly anon POPPED OFF | read here: earned it

✿ 33 (royal au) + 5 (mutual pining) + 11 (praising kink) read here: fall from grace

✦ choso my MAN

Tokyo by Leat’eq + ice cream shop! au with limited cat themed ice cream, you need to wear cat ears to go order + “nyaa!” + flustered choso + “onii-chan” read here

★🥞 + 17, 34 (fake dating, rentboy au) + 2 (enemies to lovers) + optional wine read here: easy

soulmate au + forbidden relationship MEAL UNAVAILABLE

✦ inumaki toge

🥞 + 15 (body swap au) + 1 (best friends to lovers) read here: total opposites

🥞 + 10 (sugar mommy au) + 4 (strangers to lovers) BIG BRAIN ENERGY THIS ONE (STRUGGLE PAANIK)  it’s too difficult for me to write sorry :(

★🥞 + 64 (canon au) + 5 (mutual pining) + sensitive first kiss with inumaki, them trapped in a room + yuuji as matchmaker uwu + WALL PIN KISS YES SIR + basically hot af inumaki...debating whether i should turn into wine HMMM read here: delicate

✦ naoya zenin 🙄

naoya putting reader back in their place, LONG SCHLONG CLUB read here: acquainted

✿ deity au + virgin sacrifice for naoya + reader with worship kink (DAMN THIS ONE GOT ME TINGLING, its going to be consensual tho, we all have consent kink in this house) read here: true gift

✦ okkotsu yuta 

🍷 + 53 (bad boy good girl au) + 8,10 (dumbification) read here: good for you

★🥞🍷 + 65 (both are oblivious) + 5,9 (mutual pining, slow burn) + 6,9,16 (somnophilia, cum play, 34+35) MEAL UNAVAILABLE

✿ 🥞🍷 58, 65 (one of them is oblivious, hanahaki disease on reader) + 5,9 (mutual pining, slow burn) + 12 (praising kink + cockwarming) + clumsy first time sex MEAL UNAVAILABLE

✦ itadori yuuji 

🥞 + 21 (married au) + 7 (forbidden relationship) (STRUGGLE PAANIK) it’s too difficult for me to write sorry :( MEAL UNAVAILABLE

✦ toji fushiguro

★✿ toxic toji YES + enemies to greater enemies + toji railing reader in front of someone they’re seeing because he doesn’t want to see you happy but he doesn’t want to “keep” you either (LOL this is so toji, might tweak a little bit) read here: personal disaster

age gap au + size kink, somnophilia read here: shhh

✦ ryoumen sukuna

🥞 + 2 (arranged marriage) + 2 (enemies to lovers) read here: black magic

55 (reincarnation au) + 7 (forbidden relationship) no longer included + unrequited love + home from war inspired read here: home from war: the ending

✿ 🍷 + 38 + master x servant + degrading, edging, begging (oooh degrading aint my kink but let’s see let’s see) MEAL UNAVAILABLE

[xauroraxborealisx]

Writing Tag Game

thank you @kuriboh-i-choose-you for the tag <3 I do love these!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

20, all Yu-Gi-Oh ones! (there’s a hidden Kingdom Hearts fanfic on FF.net somewhere hihi)

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

441,106 words... Holy bleep! And in a little over a year only o.O’

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Deck the Dates (with cups of coffee) - Puzzleshipping

Elemental - Puzzleshipping

Netflix and Chill - Puzzleshipping

Habits - Rivalshipping

The Art of Conversation - Puzzleshipping

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

I always, always do! Comments give me life! Sometimes, I am very late at responding to them and I am very sorry, but I always will answer! The relation between authors and readers is so important and must be cherished and nourished! People take their time to write a comment, it’s only commen sense for me to take some of mine to respond!

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

Definitely Counting the Days, a collaborative piece with @atems-leather-pants I also have a few other pieces that end in angst, but they’re mostly drabbles scattered throughout Elemental.

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

I like happy endings, especially for the Puzzleboys because they really do deserve way, in whatever universe they find themselves in! So it’s probably a tie between Deck the Dates and The Art of Conversation, in terms of fluff I’d say!

7. Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I haven’t written crossovers, althought Netflix and Chill is a huge ride into different universes and inspired by tones of various media pieces! To me, a crossover includes characters from both shows/movies and I tend to prefer putting the YGO characters in another universe, but keeping only them. I have discussed about AUs including Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Schitt’s Creek hihi

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not much hate per say, but comments that did rub me the wrong way, yes. Pants and I were told that we used too complicated words in our fics... because you know, we like words and we like to use the precise ones at times... I have also been told that I made Yugi look weak and pathetic in one of the chapters of my fics and it really made me sad because, to me, Yugi is anything but weak and pathetic, but I mean, he has EMOTIONS and he is allowed to show them. Oh and I was also told at one point that a reader hope this would become a peachshipping story... in a puzzleshipping tagged fic.

But honestly, I don’t why people send hate out there! If you don’t like what you read, you have no obligation to comment on it, you can just close the tab and forget it. You can give constructive criticism, yes, but always be mindful of the words you use. Words are weapon people, be careful with them <3

I mean... I don’t like Twilight and I haven’t sent hate mail to the author...

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

Wh... why are you asking me this? *bluuuuuuuuuush*

But yeah, I do ;) and I often try to focus on different aspects and give it an emotional impact, although, sometimes, just letting steam out is nice too hihi

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don’t think so. I once got a mention about a work being inspired by one of my fics, but it was mentionned and linked in the notes, so legit.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I mean, I could try to translate it in French hahaha but no, no one has ever translated my work.

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

I am fortunate enough to have found a great parter-in-crime in @atems-leather-pants and we have written quite a few together and have another few planned out already. We’re #hivemind productions if you ever want to check it out!

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

Puzzleshipping has my heart and will always have <3

Although I do like Rival, Yugi-centric Flare, Thief and I also believe in the Yugi factor in which shipping Yugi with anyone is like, it just works!

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

Hummmmmmm I do have a list of WIPs and I actually intend of writing them all, but you know, time... Although I did start writing a Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle AU that may never see the light of day *sobs* but I shall drabble for it because I care about it!

15. What are your writing strengths?

I adore writing dialogues, I dream about dialogues, I fantasize about them <3

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Editing... writing short pieces... battling against sleepiness... did I mention writing SHORTER pieces?

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

If it works in the story and if it has purpose in it, it can be great! I love languages and seeing them used for plot purposes is even better!

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Digimon <3 yup, still have that hidden away somewhere. Digimon will always be my first love!

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

Ooooooooh this is hard! I adore collaborating and I take care of each of my stories like they were my children hihi but I think I’ll always say Elemental because it’s the fic that got me here <3 It made me realise that I could write, that writing wasn’t done just one way even by the same author, and that I really loved doing it. It led me to write more, to tackle on longer one-shots, to write multi-chaps and it led me to this fandom and to the wonderful people that are in it <3

I have no idea who to tag because, from what I’ve seen, everyone before me has also been tagged!

But if you’re an author out there, even if you’re just starting or have yet to publish, tell me about you! Reach out, talk to me about your writing!

Because writing is also about community, especially in fanfiction, and this should be celebrated <3

[hayjeon]

Practical Tips on getting your fics out there!

I’ve gotten an influx of these types of questions here recently, and the more i thought about what i was gonna add, it became really long :(  

disclaimer: a lot of the things i bring up are just from personal experience as a writer on this site, what my followers have told me they appreciate, and what i tend to look for when im looking for fics to read! If you don’t like these tips then pls move on :) 

although i’ll mention them, i’m also not going to be focusing on cliche tips like “write for yourself” or “grammar issues” cause those are pretty obvious!

1. accessibility of your blog 

when you’re trying to get your name out there, make sure that you’re creating an inviting experience for any potential followers! this includes:

a memorable url! be creative!

have some fun designing your blog’s aesthetic! (i love cute blogs because it reflects a bit of the writer’s personality), and (i prefer blogs with white backgrounds because it’s easier to look through/read, say, in contrast to a pitch black one where the words need to be white!) 

put your masterlist link in your bio (even better if you can link most recent fic! found this most helpful when i revisit authors that i like and can easily see if they’ve updated or not)

an organized and easy-to-navigate masterlist (personally, i prefer masterlists organized by band, instead of types of fics ie. i hate when i have to choose between drabbles, oneshots, and series masterlists; i really prefer to see them altogether!) --> see section 3 

organized tags (if you’re going to be posting a lot of non-fic-related content like pictures or videos, tag them properly so followers can sort through and find your fics easily!), or (if you’re going to be writing in different mediums like drabbles, or answering asks, make sure to use a unified #mine or #writing or #fics to centralize your content) 

2. get your name out there!

write write write! once you have some fics that show your talent, don’t be shy! 

join writing groups: when i first started out, I joined a bunch of groups that would reblog my fics in the midst of the content of much bigger writers; these blogs developed a following, and as a result of my content mixing in with bigger blogs’ content, so did my own tumblr! there’s been a stigma recently with these groups, but im sure you can find one thats supportive and not clique-y! 

send your fics to rec pages: what’s the harm? the only bad thing that can happen is that they ignore you! who cares! get out there! 

if you can do the above, i really encourage you to ask your fave writers for advice/to read your fic: again, the worst that can happen is that they say no or don’t respond or don’t have enough time, but it’ll be a good opportunity to get some feedback! i for one read (or try to read) every single rec that falls into my inbox. if i like it, i’ll #rec it, and if i don’t, unless the writer asks me for feedback, i move on!! 

utilize your tags!!: i’m not entirely sure if this is still the same or not, but from my memory, it’s the first 3-5 tags that matter the most? so utilize them well; push back the tags that aren’t really relevant (ie. #writing, #fics) and push more the main subject line of what you wrote (ie. jungkook fluff, bts smut, namjoon angst). these will populate your fics into the tags better!

headers!: when i’m scrolling through an infinite page of fics, the headers catch my eye the most; try being creative! you can find a lot of info out there on how to make ur headers super aesthetic, but i can share my tips too! --> see section 3

3. your masterlist 

here are some practical tips! 

organize by band, not type of fic/member/centralize your masterlist: i went onto a blog recently and clicked their bio mlist link to find a page full of 20~ish “JUNGKOOK MASTERLIST”/ “JAEHYUN MASTERLIST” and when i clicked on each one, they only had like 2 or 3 fics per member. i think it would’ve been better if she’d centralized all her fics! that keeps whoever is looking interested and more likely to click on another fic while browsing

add info about the fics!: when scrolling through a masterlist, it’s easy to get lost; try to add some snippets of info (ie. a short sentence you liked from the fic, a quick summary, a description of the au/scenario, or even a header!) this all gives some info about the fics you have tagged! 

headers: this isn’t a requirement, but i personally love a good header on fics i read and i love making them myself as i finish up a fic and get ready to upload it; here are free sources: unsplash for HQ stock pics, crop/edit/filter in VSCO, and then add aesthetic script with fontcandy) 

try to fill it up!: after i visit a blog after reading one good fic, i usually browse through their mlist to see if there are any more that i’d be interested in. if there’s a lot to look forward to, i’ll almost always follow; try to write as much as you can in the first few months to try and fill up your mlist and give blog viewers a reason to visit your blog again, follow, or even reblog your content!) 

4. try not to reproduce cliche fics: 

honestly tumblr’s writing community (and armys) has grown insanely these past few years and, unfortunately, even from my perspective, in the past 3-4 years, all the writers have sort of become blended together in my brain. but, i can say that the ones who consistently stand out are the ones who produce consistent content and think outside of the box! 

i tend to gravitate towards fics that have really interesting plotlines (ex. btssavedmylifeblr’s VOID is always a surprise to read because it’s sO unique! i usually don’t read ot7 fics but this one is legit my fave) 

I know it’s tempting to try and just write typical smut fics to try and gain some traction, but tumblr is already too overloaded by that kind of content; try to write something that’s special and unique! this will set u apart from the thousands of other writers here --> see next section

5. create unique fics: 

this is also personal to my writing style, but i get so bored writing just casual fics about the members, and it affects the fics i choose to read too; i prefer unique fics which you can achieve through: 

circumstance/au: create a fun au!; don’t just create an arranged marriage, create an arranged marriage in joseon dynasty, or between a werewolf and a hunter! (shameless self plug); don’t just give me friends to lovers, but give me spiderman!jungkook friends to lovers! (ie. cupofteaguk’s exchanges)

jobs: give them out-of-the-ordinary jobs; don’t just give me enemies to lovers, but give me rival!anchors who end up loving eachother! (ie. jimlingss The Newscasters)

fun dialogue: create good back-and-forth, (something i’m still working on!)! this will help your characters develop personality, and that way, readers will start to develop that themselves as well (ie. dad!yoongi from insemination wars by prolixitae is such a specific character that i love so much!, or obiwrites’ garden characters were so memorable!)

create memorable personalities: don’t give me a flat character, try to develop 4d personalities in all of your characters! (im still working on this too!) this way you can really make an impression on your followers! a great way to practice/recognize this is: “Ask my Character.” Can your followers ask a specific character a specific question, and would you be able to deliver an answer that is very specific to that character’s tone/voice/personality? If yes, then ur doing well! If not, try to think of ways that you can make tht specific character from a specific story, really unique and separate from your other characters.

6. some practical writing tips

be yourself, write for your own pleasure, blah blah blah; yeah you know already haha but here are a few more practical tips! 

grammar check: if you can, try and hone your grammar! makes for an easier read 

write like you: i personally LOVE this by obiwrites, but even the way she writes exudes her personality and is so specific; try not to be caught up in adding hundreds of synonyms and exquisite language; in fact, simpling it down and being more concise and honest with your writing is better than a superfluous sentence; this will also give ur characters so much more dimension and funk

use those commas/sentence variation: try to use more commas; this will feel like you’re the narrator to your own story; it also makes it more fluid to read in my opinion, over those short. clipped. sentences. (ie. “he came over, sitting down on the corner of your bed with an expression you’d never seen before” over “he walked over. he sat down, looking sad.”) 

half-half dialogue/narration: a fic with too much dialogue can get confusing, and a fic with too much narration can get dry; try to balance them out, and weave in and out of each! 

quality over quantity: don’t feel burdened to write a 30k word fic. in fact, i think some of the shorter fics (ie. any of versigny’s stuff) made a bigger impression on me over the longer fics because they were short, left me wanting more, and were just so high-quality in such small quantities. try out your hand at drabbles and one-shots, and don’t feel too burdened to try and develop a series right off the bat! 

abandon pigeon-holes: i’m guilty of this; i start series and then end up with no vision for the stories and they end up giving me writers block. its okay. just stop or discontinue them or leave them on a hiatus; it’s okay. your priority is yourself, and if abandoning certain works are part of that, then go ahead. it’ll help you progress more. 

and finally.......

i’ll add more as they come up! but if you liked this, then pls lmk! i’d love to give more tips and tricks; i think i started this blog 3-4 years ago when there weren’t as many writers here, but im glad you’re thinking of starting out/wanting to grow more! don’t feel intimidated! it’s not all about the notes/followers but creating a blog you’re proud of. 

so write what you’re proud of, or interested in, and keep going. i truly thoroughly had so much fun writing this post. if there are any writers who read through this and have some more advice, pls msg me! 

all the best to you! 

[hyungieyoongi]

Content Tag Game

Tagged by my besties @moon-write and @dulce-pjm !! Sorry for taking so long on this I had to gear up for it lol. 

1. What fandoms have you written for (but do not currently)?

I wrote some terrible series for One Direction and The Wanted when I was a teenager. Clearly I am a boyband fan and always will be. 

2. What fandoms are you currently writing for?

BTS! I don’t see myself venturing into any other fandoms at the moment, but TXT has been creeping up on me lately, so never say never. 

3. How long have you been writing?

For as long as I can remember! I have been writing little stories and things since I was a kid. It wasn’t until I was older that I started publishing fanfic, and I came back to it this year because I needed a creative outlet outside of school. 

4. On which platforms do you post your stories?

I only post on Tumblr for now. 

5. What is your favorite genre to write?

I LOVE established relationship fluff aus. 

6. Are you a pantser or a planner?

I am 1000% a panster. I never really have WIPs because I like to write when inspo strikes to keep myself from being stressed. Writing my little Yoongi series was a huge challenge for me because I felt a lot of pressure to know what I was going to write next. I am a Type A planner in literally every other aspect of my life, so this is the one area where I just let myself be creative when I feel like it. 

7. One shot or multi-chapter?

Oneshot – seriously my masterlist is just full of stories I write in one night and then post lol. 

8. What is the perfect chapter length in your opinion?

As a reader, I like to read things that are usually 5K words or shorter. I usually write shorter works (between 1K-2K), but I have found myself getting a bit longer lately. 

9. What is your longest published story? Is it complete?

Run Away to You is seven parts and is about 14K words. It is complete! 

10. Which story did you enjoy working on the most?

That is definitely a toss up between two fics of mine: 

I really loved writing Surprise. I was scared to write Taehyung because I hadn’t before, but once I had the idea in my head, it just felt right. I’m really happy with how it came together. 

I am trash for dad!Yoongi stories, so I’ve really enjoyed writing those aus. Never Enough was the easiest story I’ve written – it was really comfortable to write and made me genuinely happy to sit down and knock out. 

11. Favorite request you've have written and why (if any?)

I have literally only ever received one request, so it is my default my favorite lol. It is a short little JK drabble called Caring, and it makes me soft every time I re-read it tbh. 

12. Are there reoccurring themes in your stories?

Oh ABSOLUTELY – domestic comfort. I love the idea of my characters just feeling soft and warm and happy. Even if my characters don’t start in an established relationship, they still end up fluffy and happy. 

13. Current number of wips?

Zero – like I said, I am a panster. 

14. Three things you have noticed about your own writing?

(1) I write things how I picture them in my head. Most of my stories start out with me imagining a scenario that I would like to be in and writing from there. 

(2) My OC usually ends up being a ~little~ too similar to me and my personality, even when I don’t mean them too oopsies. 

(3) Writing dialogue is the easiest part of the story for me. I tend to say it out loud to myself as I write it. 

15. A quote you like from a published story

I will literally never be over how soft I was writing Run Away to You Yoongi: 

“You’d think a year apart would be enough for me to fall out of love with you. I think I’d still love you even if we spent fifty years apart from each other,” Yoongi whispered, his voice thick with emotion.

16. A quote from an unpublished story

I’m sorry I don’t have any right now!!!

17. Space for you to say something to your readers

I have loved EVERY MINUTE I have spent writing and interacting with you all over the past few months. I never thought I would come so far so quickly on here, and it has been a wonderful outlet for me to be creative, vulnerable, and share my obsession of BTS with the world. I have met incredible friends that I talk to daily and have really grown as a writer. Thank you for going on this journey with me and for supporting me in ways both big and small. Love you all ❤️

NOW THAT I AM SO FREAKING SOFT, I am tagging @delacyrose224 because I always like to know what is going on in that genius writer brain of yours. 

[redhawtriot]

Writing✨ Prompts✨ (dialogue)

Hey!

I am in a massive writer’s block— for all my blogs and my novel, so I am gonna be selfish and ask you all to help me find my happy place again. 

I am gonna open my request box until Saturday 02/22/20, but will only accept requests with these dialogue prompts! I am trying to practice writing shorter scenes with impact, so I will try to do 1000 words or less with these (drabbles).  If you would like, pick like two or three from the following, a character (or two) and submit them in my asks inbox and I’ll attempt it!

I can do just ‘x reader’ for now, but maybe I’ll extend it to ships. I’ll keep an open mind, so if you have a ship, you can request it, but there is no guarantee i’ll post it if my writing for that ship is dispassionate or just sucks. 

HnM💕

🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

“I just want to go home.”

“Are you trying to kill us?!”

“I think I love him/her.”

“I really don’t think children are in my future.”

“Well… that was almost cute.”

“For fucks sake! Stop leading me on!”

“Put that thing down and slowly back away.”

“Tell me it again.”

“When I think of my future it always has you in it.”

“Don’t say a word.”

“Please don’t go.”

“Did you teach him/her that?”

“What’s that sticking out of your bag?”

“Did you just hit me?”

“I-- uh.. No Japanese. Help me please.”

“It made me think of you.”

“Truth or Dare?”

“How are you here? I watched you die.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

“The sight of you makes me sick... I never want to see you again.”

“Excuse me. You’re in my way.”

“Let’s do this over again.”

“I cannot believe you could say such a thing.”

“I thought about you every single day.”

“You’re not leaving me.”

“but I would do anything for you.”

“It was you all along.”

“You’re gonna be late.”

“I didn’t know it’d mean never seeing you again.”

“So that’s where you’ve been all this time.”

“Wait, calm down! Let’s talk about this.”

“I won’t tell if you don’t”

“Don’t you start crying!”

“You know what? Forget it.”

“If I could have anything in the world it would be for you to be happy.”

“Can you just look at me?!”

“You know I hate being so far away from you.”

“I need someone to take care of this.”

“Okay… but promise not to freak out.”

“This is not the time or place.”

“That’s the deal. Take it or leave it.”

“I heard that you like me.”

“It’s too late for that now.”

“Give me five minutes to change your mind. That’s all I am asking.”

“Fuck it.”

“What are you doing? It’s three in the morning.”

“I’ll pay you 20 bucks.”

“You forgot hWHAT?!”

“Woah, you just met them.”

“Tell me you did not just say that.”

🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

[prettywordsyouleft]

my second question is a writing question. i always struggle with feeling like i'm not giving enough context when i write in short formats (like your drabbles). the thing i've challenged myself with most recently is "ficlets" that are under 1000 words, and i still struggle with those most of the time. it's possible that i just comes down to different writing styles. but i wonder if you had to "train" yourself to write drabbles or if you have advice on how to do better when writing less.

I definitely had to train myself to write less. It’s still a challenge for me (last week, I think only one CC drabble stayed under the limit ugh). Before starting this blog, I only wrote chaptered stories. Sure, I’d do a couple oneshots here and there but reality was a drabble seemed so unfathomable … why did I only need to write 200 words when I could do 2000?! But it’s amazing how writing drabbles can change and assist your writing as a whole. 

As writers, we often overwrite. So few have learned the skill of portraying a scene with precisely the right amount of words needed. I can tell you I just deleted 2 whole paragraphs right now that came before the sentence above, solely because they weren’t needed to help answer this! See! It’s easy to write more than what we need. So it’s really about taking an intentional look at what is needed for a storyline to work. 

Things that you can take out most of the time or just don’t do, as long as it doesn’t affect the flow: 

First, don’t write a complex idea for a short story. If you need more than 1-2 sentences to explain the idea, then it’s not suitable for a shorter story. Simple ideas like “A and B cleaning out the fridge together” as opposed to “A cleaned out the fridge in her apartment with her roommate B for one last time before moving out. When she finally moved out, she realised she missed B and this wasn’t the opportunity for her like she thought it would be. A approaches B because of her feelings.” Of course you could still write the latter but it’s going to need way more words than the original, more simple idea would.

He/she said/replied/commented etc after your character has spoken so long as the reader knows who is present in the conversation.

A new scene if your goal is to remain limited to a short amount of words (ie under 500) - keep it locked to that key scene only. 

Internal dialogue if it really doesn’t benefit being there. Equally a string of feelings when it could be portrayed in their actions.

Lots of description on the setting. Use those words for your character’s development instead. 

Write until you think the scene is done. Don’t focus on word count or anything until you’re done. 

Biggest advice: Don’t plan it out before starting. I know some people need outlines for everything before they write, but for short pieces, the more you plan, the more you’ll write. Get your idea and start it. 

Example to this last one: say your idea is A is in love with B but thinks B loves C. You don’t need to plan out why A thinks this in a small story. A can explain it in its own way. You don’t need to explain in detail (or at all) C’s role in B or A’s life unless it directly affects the storyline. In a drabble that is under 500 words, all you need to do is choose where the confession will come out (or equally not and why) and what B and A’s reaction to this knowledge is. If you plan out all the things and include C’s role in everything, then you’ll lose the chance to be concise on what the main target was for your story. If it’s a ficlet, then of course, there’s room for more information but I’d be more inclined to showcase what A or B does to lead up to this confession and the result and all that as opposed for more of their world. Does this make sense? 

Things I do after:

Leave it alone for at least 24hrs if I can. For CC, I tend to write so basic now that I’m used to the format and editing is easier since I don’t write many words. But if it’s not for CC, I’ll leave it to get it out of the freshly in my head zone.

Look for unneeded sentences first, then read through again looking for unneeded words. Can your sentence structure be altered to maintain it’s message but with 1-3 words less? Take out things we naturally do in longer stories, ie: each and every time, and make it concise: always / every time. You just cut it down by changing such a little thing. 

Be mindful of the flow. Sometimes removing words ruins the integrity. It’s okay if it’s a little over, but challenging yourself to write regularly with a word count makes it easier for you to know what words need to be there and what don’t. 

The more you succeed, the more you will challenge yourself. I always recommend drabbles for success. They can be used as mindless writing tasks and you’ll feel the satisfaction of finishing one. I like to think 500 is a happy medium. 300 is tough and 1000 when under a word crunch to me now feels too much and makes it easy to get carried away and end up with 1200. 400-600 is a really safe zone. You’re going to push to keep it concise so you’ll find yourself feeling you can complete a scene within this space well. It’s one of the reasons I created Challenging Words ( @challengingwords ) with Sem and we decided on 500 words being the word count if people want that as an extra challenge.

The more drabbles you write, the more your series/longer pieces will benefit from it. You’ll start to erase unnecessary words out of habit and be able to focus on all the parts that need attention. You’ll have trained yourself out of this over the top explaining we sometimes can do (not saying we all do it, but I’m sure you get me) and each part will have function and purpose to being there. 

I hope this advice helps! I wrote a lot about little stories! Let me know if you need any help structuring things. I think a beta reader or someone to bounce ideas off is equally vital, especially when it comes to challenging yourself. Good luck Xxx

[hardlyfatal]

gary’s writing workshop: lesson 6: point of view, part 2

aka: POVs/Subplots Are My OTP

To discuss the connection between POVs and subplots, first we must revisit the topics of plot structure, flow, continuity, purpose, and readability.

Subplots add complexity and depth to a story.

They give the writer the opportunity to show another aspect of the main character’s personality, how people can wear multiple hats in their lives. Brienne is a fearsome warrior, but she’s also sensitive and gentle. Jaime is a snarkmaster deluxe, but he’s also a huge romantic and secret chivalric hero.

Unless you can find a main plot that somehow showcases all of the above at once – not easy – you need to add a subplot or two in order to provide opportunities to display all the facets of their personalities, not just the ones that are used in the main plot. If you don’t, you run the risk of a story that feels monotonous and characters that feel flat.

Likewise, when a story gains the complexity of subplots, it can start to feel unrealistic, too busy, or even claustrophobic when everything is from a single character’s POV. She’s everywhere at once, has a finger in every pie and no time off. My recommendation is that no main character should be the POV of more than two plots. If your story has more than two plots, it might be best to have the third one related by another character, to permit some fresh air into the narrative.

In the Plot Structuring lesson, we discussed how scenes need to have a purpose: they must connect the prior scenes to the next, and push the plot forward in a substantive way. They need to make sense within the timeline, in forming one in a series of steps from the story’s start to its finish. Similarly, scenes need to make sense regarding whose POV they are placed in.

Who Should Get a POV?

Choosing who gets a POV in a story is a very big and important decision, because they are the character(s) who the story will be filtered through. Their thoughts and feelings and motivations will be visible to us in ways they will not be to the other characters.

The strength of narration tends to become weakened with each character added, because the reader becomes used to one person’s headspace, and then you’re shoving them into someone else. And many writers get so invested in the ratio of POV trade-off1 that the plot’s needs are ignored in order to follow this pattern. Instead of carrying through with the momentum created from the prior chapter, “It’s a Jaime chapter!” they exclaim, and so they switch to him even though they really should be sticking with Brienne, etc.

In other words, there should be a point to why we’re in another person all of a sudden, and that point should not be “It’s easier to describe this scene from the other characters’s POV”. POVs should belong to characters who are either primary in the main plot, or primary in their own subplot. In a romance, that would probably be two people: both halves of the romantic couple. In non-romantic plots or sub-plots, whoever are primary2 characters in them might have the POV.

If you do choose to have multiple POVs in a story, it shouldn’t just be for a single scene or chapter – POVs should not be squandered, as they’re more integral to the flow and continuity of a story than many people think. Shoehorning in a new POV for only one chapter can be a Chekhov’s Gun; if there’s no future to the person having their own POV, if there won’t be follow-through later on, it weakens the story. The reader is left wondering why we’ve been granted access to the new POV character’s head, only to never visit it again.

Exceptions: Sometimes at the beginning or end of a story, an alternate POV can serve as a quasi-omniscient POV, serving to provide information that the main characters have no access to but with a more personal touch, thanks to the character’s limited POV. I’ve done this twice, and looking back, I’m not sure I’d do it again, because in hindsight it feels like one of them is a Chekhov’s Gun and the other is a Deux Ex Machina.

Questions to ask yourself when deciding whether or not to add another POV to a story:

What inner voice/narrative/introspection is so important for the reader to witness that it justifies adding another POV to the story?

What inner voice/narrative/introspection is so important for the reader to witness that it justifies adding another POV to the story?

Will the story lose something if you don’t have access to the other character’s POV?

Is suspense an integral part of your story? If so, this is an especially important decision, because including other POVs can kill the mystery you need to maintain. OR will the suspense be enhanced because switching to another POV means that the cliffhanger you left the previous chapter on will be permitted to ripen?

If the conclusion you draw to these is that yes, adding another POV to the story will be a good idea, then go for it.

Headhopping

Headhopping is frequent switching of POV from one character to the next. How you define ‘frequent’ is subjective; IMO, more than twice a chapter is too much. Unless there’s a damned good reason for it – i.e. there are multiple strong and important subplots that take place in different locations3 – it’s best to limit the number of narrating characters to the minimum required to write a good story, without dumping in superfluous POV just ‘cuz.

Otherwise, you run the risk of the story feeling chaotic and disorganized to the reader: who’s the main character? Who are we supposed to identify with? Oh, we’re back to the first guy now? Who’s next? If your reader is questioning what’s going on, you’ve killed your readability4.

Having many characters as focal points can prevent the reader from making a connection with them, with the result that they become acquainted but don’t really get to know and identify with any, and thus they don’t become too emotionally invested, losing the compulsion to keep reading. Worse, they might take a disliking to a character and skip chapters featuring him/her5.

Pantser alert: I find that people who don’t plan out their plots, and whose POV each chapter will be written in, ahead of time end up being headhoppers. They’re just writing the story as it occurs to them, one chapter at a time, and when they hit a snag, or can’t figure out how to describe something they want to show, they hit on switching POVs as the solution instead of restructuring.

This tends to result in not only a weaker narrative but also weak characterization in the new additions, since little to no thought was put into it and there’s little actual function the new POV provides besides fixing the corner the author wrote themselves into.

If you want to reveal an event occurring without the main character(s) being present, instead of introducing yet another character6, maybe try to restructure the plot instead; can it be captured on video that the character can see later? Featured on the news/in the paper? Recounted by another character who was there? If the character is perceptive/deductive/good at drawing conclusions, perhaps include hints and signs of what occurred and have them figure it out on their own?

Bottom line: Including more than two characters without compromising the flow of the narrative and without becoming chaotic is possible, of course. It’s just not as easy as many people think it is and often can lead to a weak story. Be critical and selective when you choose to add another POV to your story, and see if there are alternatives, first.

How Many Is Too Many?

There’s no law stating how many – or how few – POVs you are allowed to have. However, a general rule of thumb is that the shorter the story, the fewer subplots (and thus, the fewer POVs) your story should have. More POVs = more complexity, and shorter stories just don’t have the length needed to do each of them justice. You need time to develop a character’s inner voice, and it’s just not possible7 with fewer than ~5,000 words per POV.

Here’s a rough idea of how long various types of stories are, and a recommended maximum number of POVs in each.

Drabble: 250 – 1,000 words. One POV, one plot.

Short story: 1,000 – 10,000. One POV, one plot.

Novelette: 10,000 – 30,000. Up to two POVs, max of two plots if done carefully, otherwise one plot.

Novella: 30,000 – 60,000. One or two POVs, at least two plots.

Novel: 60,000 – 80,000. At least two POVs, at least two plots and max of three plots.

Super Novel: 80,000 – 100,000. At least two POVs, at least two plots and max of four plots.

Epic: 100,000+. At least two POVs, at least three plots.

Switching POVs

Making your way, as a writer, from one character’s POV to another can be done in two ways: a hard, clear break, such as beginning a new chapter or inserting a scene break; and a gradual, smooth transition in the middle of the narrative.

I used to use the latter, and you can see it frequently in my Bleach fic, Become A Ghost. I have come to feel that it weakens the narrative because when you a read a scene, you become accustomed and settle into the mindset of one character… and then sliiiiiide into another’s, and it causes a moment of realization that you’re now in the head of someone else.

It’s not hugely objectionable, but I think it does compromise the readability of the story, and thus I’ve come to eliminate it. My stories now only feature hard POV switches, or don’t switch at all, remaining in a single character’s POV the entire time.

Deep POV

Deep POV is a narrative technique that works to eliminate the distance between the reader and the POV character. There is no headhopping, no visible narrator, and as few marks of authorship as possible. Its purpose is to coax the reader to submerge themselves in the character’s perspective and ‘become one’ with the character as much as possible.

Marks of authorship are things like filter words, dialogue tags8, and any wording that would be unnatural to a character’s narrative. To write with Deep POV, you have to commit to limiting the character’s knowledge to only what they’d personally be aware of.

The first Jaime POV scene in Desperado is a decent example of Deep POV because it’s very introspective and mostly avoids these characteristics. Some still exist, however, so I’ve revised instances of them to be more in line with a deep POV. 

Depending on word choice, it can be as purple9 as you want… or not. Just tone it down, if you have concerns about things becoming too overwrought.

Footnotes

1 1:1, 2:2, etc. i.e. a chapter featuring one main character, then a chapter with the other main character, then the first again, back and forth, etc.

2 This doesn’t mean “anyone who has any involvement whatsoever in the sub-plot”, just those to whom it pertains critically.

3 For example, in the A Song of Ice and Fire series of books, Jon’s at the Wall, Sansa’s in King’s Landing, Daenerys is in Essos, Brienne and Jaime are fucking about in the Riverlands, Sandor and Arya are fucking about in the Vale, Bran is prancing about the North, Tyrion is all over the damned place, etc.

4 Readability being defined, as mentioned in prior lessons, as how effortlessly a reader can become immersed in a story and move without interruption through it. Readability means there are the fewest number possible of things that can snag the reader’s attention, confuse them, or otherwise drag them back out of the story to the real world. Our goal as writers is to infuse our work with as much effortless readability as possible.

5 As someone who has been told many times that readers are skipping chapters in one story because they feature characters or pairings they don’t like, it’s really fucking annoying. You work so hard to create a complex story, build people and relationships, and weave the plot and subplots through it all in a way that’s at least marginally coherent, and you get “LOL I just haaaaate this character, I don’t read those chapters!” and “Gawd, these other characters bore me, I skip those! Tee hee!”. Well, fuck you very much.

6 Especially if you’ll only be using them for a single scene in the middle of the story: that’s a Chekhov’s Gun situation where the character his/herself is the gun, and not an item or situation.  

7 At least, it’s not possible to do well with fewer than ~5,000 words per POV.

8 We will go over both filter words and dialogue tags in more detail in later lessons.

9 Prose can be called “purple” when it’s so overblown, ornate, or fancy that it distracts the reader and draws attention to itself, and not in a good way.

© 2019 to me

[xerxia31]

Author Self-Interview

It’s author self-interview day :) And while it’s really challenging to speak about myself, regardless of how passionate I am about Everlark, the always incredible @hutchhitched convinced me to give it a whirl.

Several authors who are far more creative than I have posted some excellent questions, I hope they will forgive me for stealing some of them.

Do I outline or just start writing?

I seldom outline, but I always have a fairly good idea where the story is going before I start writing it. I see my stories as scenes in my head before I begin writing them, which means even before I put pen to paper, I have a solid idea of plot and scene, and often snippets of dialogue too. I think that’s why I’m best at short stories and ficlets, clear scenes as opposed to longer, more involved sequences of scenes (though I write those too).

Do I use a beta?

Seldom. For my long stories, I have both a grammar/language beta, and a content beta, but for shorter stories, drabbles, etc, I self-edit.

Where do I write?

Everywhere….. I do an extraordinary amount of writing on my phone (in google docs), which means my stories are always in my hand. I write when I’m a passenger in the car. I write when I’m waiting for the kids at choir or karate, I write in bed at night before falling asleep. I sometimes wake up in the night and tap out fic ideas or bits of dialogue into my phone.

Listen to music? Make a playlist?

Never. If there’s music playing, I’ll want to sing along, and that’s super distracting for me. 

Do I post right away or wait until several chapters are done?

Little of column A, little of column B. Sometimes I wait. More often I do not.  Depends on what I’m feeling in that moment.

Which voice do I use most often?

I’m predominantly a first person present writer. That’s the voice in which our sourse material is written, so it’s the voice that makes sense to me. That said, I do deviate from time to time, partly as a challenge, partly because specific stories feel like they need to be told in third. I keep stats on everything, so I can tell you that I’ve written:

First person present: 93 stories

First person past: 1 story (that’s It Started With a Contest)

Third person present: 27 stories

Third person past: 21 stories

I also wrote a little drabble in second person present, partly because, again, the source material is written in second person present, and partly, I think, because I’d just finished reading You by Caroline Kepnes (which is in second person present and hooboy it’s creepy, like having the narrator wandering in your head. Tough to shake off)

Which character is easiest for me to write?

Peeta, always. His slightly snarky brand of optimism aligns fairly closely to my own attitude. Though I definitely relate to canon Katniss’s stoicism too.

Let’s talk about specific stores now.

Not Real - I dreamed this story, almost in its entirety, though the dialogue was far better in my dream :) It was so intense and vivid that I had to wait a couple of days before writing it down because I knew I couldn’t have done justice to it while it was so fresh. I love the plot, and the moment when she ends the simulation. It’s one of those stories that shows I am incapable of judging my audience, because I really like that story, but it barely got any attention.

This Used to be my Playground - People got upset with me for rating this story M when there isn’t any smut in it. I kid you not. I love this story, especially the line “Why?” I ask, the word crystallizing on the window. If I was going to change anything in that story, though, I’d tighten up the ending. To me, it feels rambling. But the banner than Fran made for it is one of the most gorgeous things I’ve ever seen.

Destiny was written as a birthday gift for @madamemarquise, who is an incredible everlarker, and the pressure I put on myself to make it worthy of her was huge. It’s not a masterpiece, but I’m pretty proud of how it turned out. Stylistically, it’s a different tone than I typically use, and when I re-read it, it feels more like prose.

And one I’m currently writing - Cassie 7, the seventh vignette in The Cassie Chronicles (each chapter is a standalone, though they are all chronological). I only add to this series when I think about specific situations I want them to tackle, so it’s a meandering thing. But I really wanted to explore Katniss meeting Cassie’s biological mother. That’s what #7 will be about, and I’m pretty excited about it so far.

So that’s a little bit about my writing process, thoughts, etc. I’m happy to answer more specific questions. If anyone is interested in asking any, hit up my ask box :) And I especially love talking about fics I’ve already written, so if you’ve always wondered why I made some specific choice in one of my stories, please ask!

[goldeneyedgirl]

2019 Fic Meme

My end of year fic meme, compiled from some old Livejournal fic memes that I do when I write stuff. I do this for fun, because I like looking back at what I have and haven’t written, and what keeps popping up again.

It’s meant to be silly fun, and if anyone else wants to do it, PLEASE DO. I don’t want to tag anyone and put pressure on you in case you don’t want to/don’t think you have enough fic/hate memes. 

Twilight

12 Days of Fic-Mas (Twilight, WIP) Day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, bonus.  Twelve days of fic extracts, previews, and drabbles focusing on Alice Cullen. Encompasses Folie A Deux, The Only Girl in the World, JessaminexAlice, Omens, Asylum, The Long Way Around, The Dark and the Unknown, Hybrid, Runaway, All These Broken Things, & The Unexpected Second Life of Mary Alice Brandon 

Shadow to Light  (WIP) (Alice/Jasper, AU Angst, PG) In 1918, Jasper lures the newborn known as Mary-Alice back to Monterrey. He is lost to her before it even begins.

Total number of completed stories: Lol.

Total word count: 33,304 words were posted. 

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d predicted?  Look, I just... 2019 was a wash in so many ways. I played a lot of Fortnite really badly. I would have loved to be able to say Shadow to Light was finished, or that I was posting Hybrid regularly or something, but I can’t. I wish, wish, wish I had posted more but alas. 

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January? Outside of Twilight, I dabbled with some reader/Ben in the Umbrella Academy, and I was messing around with some Janet/Wanda in my personal MCU canon. As for Twilight, I think my stuff got a lot darker? Like, we’re down the rabbit hole here, and somehow Alice ended up being the most feared vampire in the Americas? Yeah. 

And there’s the Avengers/Twilight fic that is simultaneously three fics and one fic because I cannot make Executive Decisions and I can’t decide if I like 1. Alice knowing Bucky from Before Jasper; 2. Alice knowing Hawkeye from when he was a kid in the circus and being how Natasha and Clint got out of Budapest, or 3. the Volturi hooking up with Hydra and ... yeah, I think this one is legit the most second-most one of the most embarrassing things I’ve ever written. (I’ve been filing today, and boy howdy have I written some actual shit.)

What’s your own favourite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest? That’s like making me pick a favourite child. I’m always so, so proud of Shadow to Light, and I love The Dark and the Unknown ‘verse, and Hybrid is just hanging out there, chilling and ugh. My babies <3 

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?  TwilightFicMas was a huge risk! I wasn’t sure anyone cared unless I was posting more Shadow to Light, and people were SO nice and enthusiastic. So I guess the lesson is shut up and share more fic? Get out of your own head and spend time in the community because fandom isn’t meant to be lonely?

Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year?  I’m starting a graphic design business AND my masters in design in 2020, so I figure fic is going to be my downtime next year. Ideally, I would love to get STL finished, Memento Vivere’s sequel going, and have a few of my shorter pieces posted. I would really love to get some of my original stuff ready for publication, but I’d be happy studying, running my business, and doing the fic thing for 2020.  

My best story of this year: That’s up to the readers, I guess. Everyone seemed obscenely enthusiastic about The Unexpected Second Life of Mary Alice Brandon, though, and I was not expecting that at all - I was actually upset that I left the ‘dud’ fic for the last day of FicMas. 

My most popular story: Shadow to Light. Everyone is so nice and enthusiastic and polite about that one. I’m not used to it! Fandom for me is usually me sitting in a corner, doin’ my obscure thing, and maybe one or two people will read what I’m working on.

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:  I think everyone was super enthusiastic and nice about everything I posted this year. Maybe Folie A Deux? But like, that reflects more on me and the excerpts that I chose to post rather than the fic or the audience itself. 

Most fun story to write:  The Unexpected Second Life of Mary Alice Brandon because that Alice is so happy; I have this playlist for it that is super upbeat and funky. 

Hybrid is fun because that Alice likes to torment Jasper. He understands Edward on a molecular level once Alice arrives. 

Most Sexy Story: The Dark and the Unknown is the front-runner for that, because most of the sexy goings-on in Shadow to Light is very much focused on the psychological and emotional aspects rather than the physical.

Story with the single sexiest moment:  The Dark and the Unknown. I am still deeply uncomfortable writing sex scenes, so this may be the only one I ever do. The implication of a blow job in Shadow to Light nearly kill me tbh.

The forest behind the school is silent; just her breathing, and the slight wind. No birds or wildlife, none of the hum of the traffic or of the school.

They don’t undress more than necessary, her skirt slid to her hips, and he takes her roughly against a tree, flakes of bark falling into the dirt. She is hot and slick, and silent as he fucks her, his fingers digging into her hips, a growl rising in his chest. She is every bit his fantasy; the smell of damp flowers, the sweetness of her flesh, her willing supplication. His fingers tear through the lace of her tights as he grips her thighs, and the heels of her shoes must be bending, she’s digging them into the backs of his legs so hard.

Most “holy crap, that’s wrong, even for you” story:  The Long Way Around makes Jasper and Alice’s relationship pretty fucked up, and tbh I look back at it and really struggle with how dark it is and how dark Jasper’s character becomes. There’s a reason that Shadow to Light is the ‘official’ version - it’s a better balance, and I actually think Maria is a lot more interesting in Shadow to Light as a villain with complex relationships with both Jasper and Alice to the point where none of them really want to have to kill each other, but there is a lot of hate on both sides. 

Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:  That’s a hard question. Shadow to Light definitely did that because I had to consider what happened when you took Alice out of the picture, and how that changed what happened, and considered the inter-family relationships. So much of canon relies on Alice’s visions that things can’t just happen the same way. 

Hardest story to write: Shadow to Light isn’t easy because I have such a specific idea of how it plays out, how it ‘looks’ in my head, and because Alice is so fundamentally different to canon. More innocent when it comes to normal interactions, and so controlled because it meant life or death - but she’s still got to be Alice in a way that people can recognize. It also has to sound right? If I can’t get the right turn of phrase for one scene, it has to be put aside until I can work it out. 

 All These Broken Things is hard because I started it back in, like, 2014ish and my writing and understanding of the characters and canon has changed so much - plus there are a few sections that came to me quite early in the writing, and now sound really out of place, but are such a strong linchpin for the story that I have to rework them in. It’s a good kind of hard, though, because I’ve improved so much, my ideas and goals are more refined. 

Most disappointing:  Omens is a little bitch, honestly. I started it for a fic contest and kept going to explore Alice’s human life, and it doesn’t quite feel like my writing? It needs reworking, and be a little less obvious because I think the ‘four horsemen of the apocalypse’ is a good theme for a Human!Alice fic. 

Easiest story to write: Depends on my mood; Hybrid is great when I’m in kind of a ‘girls kicking ass’ mood and boot up my action girls playlist.

Biggest surprise:  Hybrid started as a love story that was basically ‘yeah, let’s make this shit super dramatic and overwrought’, and turned into this actual story with a huge focus on family and relationships. I can’t remember why I decided Alice’s father had a husband except that I was thinking about small town ‘otherness’, and LGBT+ people can and are still considered ‘other’ in these spaces. 

Then you add in Alice and Cynthia who are basically in the same boat but have been separated for their entire lives. Alice has knowledge in her corner, whilst having to fight through foster care, abuse, and hospital; whilst Cynthia has lived a very normal but privileged life as the daughter of a mixed-race same-sex couple in a very small town. I went full-hog with this, and added in an extended family, because I really hated how canon went balls-to-the-wall to isolate Bella from everyone, including Charlie. 

Like, this thing is a monster, and whilst I plan to sit down and rewrite the outline (which dates back to 2016, and I hate the ending of), I stopped outlining at 65 freaking chapters. 

Most unintentionally telling story:  I think this question that still confuses me finally gets a decent answer in The Dark and the Unknown - Jasper is seeing most of it from his perspective, and there isn’t a ton of dialogue. I’ve tried to avoid an info-dump, but it’s meant to be quite supernatural in tone, and focusing on vampire senses and gifts enhances that. 

Story I’d like to revise:  All These Broken Things wins that one. Due to the age of the piece, there are some pacing and tone issues in later chapters that are the reason I haven’t formally posted it. 

Story I didn’t write but will at some point, I swear: Oh man, I really want to finish A Thousand Years of Solitude, which is a Tanya fic. I’m really happy with what I’ve got so far, but it sounds smarter and more layered than it really is, so I’m kind of stuck. 

Mad World because Romani!Alice is super sassy and taking 0% of Swan or Cullen bullshit - I think 90% of my fic is just me going, “yeah, that’s not how normal people react.” And I’m a sucker for gothic horror. 

What else? Aww, Against A Wall which is AU Human Jasper coming from the shittiest home, and Alice finding him. It’s meant to be short, and another one I have a really clear idea of how it needs to work. 

And the one where Alice’s gift is a sentient power that pushes her to follow it; that Bad Things happen if she doesn’t; that Renesmee was always Endgame for Something, and Alice was a key piece to get that result. Or the one where Aro takes Alice as a ‘guest’ for a period because of Edward and Bella, and Alice’s gift is basically broken. 

Good times. I have like 5 years of fic on this computer, we could be here for awhile. 

[pommedeplume]

Writing Q’s

 Tagged by @nachodiablo!

Where do you publish your work? AO3. I also publish on ffn but I would like to encourage people to make the switchover to AO3 which is better in every way I could imagine (and my hits on ffn have plummeted over the last couple of years, despite posting the same stuff there.)

What medium/application/ etc.?

Huh? Do you mean what I use to write? I use Scrivener. It’s awesome.

Do you collaborate with others?

Nope. I’d love to someday.

How much editing do you do before publishing?

Depends. But for most things I do an initial draft then do an edit before posting. But some things get more editing that if I feel like it needs it. My best edits come after I’ve finished something and can come back months later to look over it. Need that emotional separation.

Do you listen to music?

Sometimes. When I’m really productive I usually do but while working through a slump I usually need more focus and quiet.

How do you decide what to write?

I get an idea. Or I get pulled in a particular direction so I just start writing notes and seeing if there’s any story there. Sometimes there are just abstract concepts that lack form.

When do you write?

Whenever I feel like it. I think my best writing tends to be done in the mornings, after I’ve been up a couple of hours and had some tea. I can sometimes write a lot late at night but that will inevitably require a lot more editing once I’m awake.

How often do you write?

Depends whether I’m in a slump. In a slump I can sometimes go a couple of weeks with no writing. But when I’m really clicking and the words keep flowing, I’m writing nearly a thousand words a day on average for months on end.

Do you take requests?

No one ever makes any. I wouldn’t be above doing drabble requests but no one has ever inquired about any in the nearly four years I’ve been writing so...

Is there a genre or type of story you want to write but are hesitant to?

If I knew that readership would be equivalent no matter what I published, I would do far more artsy, philosophical non-linear stuff. I’d write a lot more rare pairs. I don’t think there’s any genre I’m afraid of writing. I’m not optimal at writing action scenes so I tend to avoid action heavy stuff and stick to character and dialogue. I’m not great at writing dark or angsty stuff. But I’m not really afraid to. I just try to play to my strengths and take chances a bit at a time.

But mostly? I just want to write complex character studies with loads of existentialism. But I’m not sure anyone wants to read that if it isn’t coated in buckets of fluff and smut. So I have to be subtle...

Any inspirational quotes, videos, tricks, articles, etc that help you stay motivated?

No.

Go to page 7 of your WIP, skip to the 7th line, and share 7 sentences.

LOL. 1. Idk how I would know what page 7 was. I mean there’s probably some way of formatting scrivener to do that but then I’d probably never figure out how to get back. 2. LOL as if I only have one WIP. I have more than 7 WIPs (including unpublished stuff.)

Have an excerpt from random WIP that someday could become a full fic (I just need the guts to write it... personally challenging):

The boy was shorter than Sirius. He had deep brown eyes, short honey-brown hair and a full lipped grin.

“Yeah. I mean, my dad says so, at least,” the boy replied.

“Have you seen this?” Sirius asked, curious what the boy thought.

“Yeah. It’s terrible. This is good though,” the boy said, grabbing a tape titled ‘Suspiria’.

“I think I read about that in Fangoria,” Sirius said.

“I love Fangoria. I’ve got a subscription,” the boy said.

I tag @picascribit in case they feel like doing it.