#thx for the excuse to ramble about my feelings on my art. i've been doing that a lot lately but it feels good to feel like i have the words

[ilovedthestars]

For the Asks: 🦋🧩🌻

Please and Thank you!

Hello very polite anonymous friend!! Thank you for the asks!

🦋 ⇢ share something that has been on your heart and mind lately

I have been feeling really insecure about my art for....a while now. Months, at least. I think the transition to art school was a big part of that. You know that thing where people who were used to being the smartest/most academically successful student in their class/school go to college and are suddenly surrounded by people who were all the smartest kid at their school, and have a crisis about not being exceptional anymore? Turns out that same thing can happen with artists. It's hard not to compare yourself. And I've been feeling like it's been so long since I got to make the kind of art i want to be making, and made it well.

Fortunately, this semester I've gotten some assignments that give me a little more freedom, and also some opportunities to do some illustration work, and I'm working on several things I'm really excited about right now! I'm starting to feel like maybe I'm dragging myself out of the self-pity hole. (unfortunately all of these projects are on tight deadlines and I'm also fighting off burnout with a shovel rn)

🧩 ⇢ what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?

Hmmmm...most stuff I don't like I manage to filter out based on tags and summaries. I think a fic that's trying to be funny, but doing it in a way that feels out of character or just isn't my brand of humor, is a pretty immediate nope for me. Likewise if it dips into intense social awkwardness. I have a painfully strong sense of secondhand embarrassment and I'm not putting myself through that XD

🌻 ⇢ tag someone you appreciate but don't talk to on a regular basis

@ineedlelittlespace and @cephaliarch , i think I met both of you through exchanging long gushy comments on each others' fics!! I've talked in DMs with both of you a little bit, but it's been a while. I still think of both of you fondly! feel free to say hi anytime :)

[doodlesfromthebird]

(1/3) Previous question-asker here! Thx for giving such a detailed answer - I’ll refer back to this post when I get stuck. Im a lil baby writer - my art skills r more developed, but when it comes 2 making characters, theyre usually for stories I wanna write. Someday. Writing's hard. & I think it’s cool that one of the tips you gave was to interview your characters - my current fav OC group are all in a band, and when I first came up with them I pretended to interview them for a music magazine X)

(2/3) Plot’s a struggle for me too - tbh, the reason I started developing my OCs/worlds more was bc I tried to write a story plot-first, & ran into a brick wall bc I didn’t know the characters or setting that well. With that in mind, how do u know when ur done? When is a character or setting complete enough to write about? Theoretically you could just keep going forever, but do u have any markers you use 2 figure out when an aspect of character creation or worldbuilding is “finished”?

(3/3) [srry for sending so many asks omg, the character limit is ramble-phobic] but thank you for including those worldbuilding prompts!! They're exactly what I needed. You’ve inspired me to make a little guide for myself on character/design, trope and setting stuff that I think is cool, so that I can go back to it when I need new ideas. Thanks again, happy late birthday and good luck with whatever you decide to do with the Spiral universe! No need to apologize at all! I really enjoy the discussion!

I've always been character first, handwave plot for a few years until it puzzle pieces together into...something. Nothing water tight, but something I can at least give a semi in-depth synopsis of *most* of the things that go on in the story lol

I think its SO COOL that you gave your band-members a little interview for a music magazine -- that's exactly what I'm talkin about! And so fun, too!! And it sounds like it'd be something that would end up in the world itself, which is perfect.

"When is a character complete enough to write about?" I definitely recommend keeping an eye out on advice from your fellow writers, but... I personally think you can go on as much as you'd like to! As long as it hasn't become an excuse to delay in actually sitting down and writing for them in your story. (like ME lmao) Because sometimes smaller details just end up filling themselves in as you go along. I think you're fairly set if you have a good grasp on their personality, how they would react in a varying level of situations, what their goals, wants and fears are (and what have they experienced to have those develop) You may even want to write a character-focused little one-shot separate from the story that would help feel things out, while also establishing a mundane or significant moment in their lives, independently from everything else. This goes for multiple characters who are like a package deal. Like a pairing or a close-knit team that influence each others lives. Maybe even to convince you that the character is who you say they are. Like, it's one thing to say a character's charming, it's another to write about a moment where they're interacting with others in a way you actually find endearing and likable to back that up in your own head. Even while I was writing a rough script for a scene in a potential web-comic idea for Damian and Rio (the merman and vampire) a lot of small things started falling into place about the characters and world-building just started to SPRING FORTH, and I only had a general idea on how the scene would have gone, with key moments. From writing dialogue and character actions on the fly, I discovered: more about both characters body language, vampire lore and more how vampires function, a solid example of what an emotionally heavy conversation looks between the two of them, and more examples that convinced me of the chemistry between the two of them, in ways that I wanted.

Sometimes you get caught up in a creative current and suddenly you've blasted through like 3 pages of ideas. This goes for world-building too because characters are so frequently affected by the world around them in various ways. World-building is often something I overthink and I end up a fretting over about a lot of things that probably would be cumbersome to list in grand detail about anyway, but sometimes its fun to just think about, y'know? and if you're having fun then that's all that really matters. I'd say a general knowledge of what a general day of living in this world would look like, and maybe how it would affect the people living there long-term. What really sets the stage and how does it change over time, if at all. What makes waves and changes what was normal in either the world at large or for your characters.

The thing that personally always stumps me is structures of power and politics, and those are often times the real gear grinders of stories.

BAH I'M RAMBLING, MYSELF. I honestly wish you the best of luck with your characters and worldbuilding and I truly can't wait for you to fall in love with them. More than anything, try to be easy on yourself and the process and start with what brings you the most joy. Everything else will follow. Thank you so much for the birthday wishes!! :3