#writing plot is haaaard

[bending-sickle]

no writing today. just editing. writing is so hard lately :/

[bobbile-blog]

Okay so my addition to the extensive list of “Tiny world building things that Arknights consistently gets really right” is not having binary, two-sided conflicts.

Like, yeah, okay. Everyone knows that having a multi-sided conflict is generally more realistic and makes for a better allegory and helps motives seem more real or whatever, sure. But that’s haaaard, and it takes forever to world-build and set up stuff that you’ll probably never use again anyway, and do we really need hyper-realism for this one character’s side plot anyway? It’s fine if we don’t have that here, right? This sort of world-building, while good, is usually not worth the effort you put into it because not all conflicts are important enough to justify that level of detail.

To pull an example from another mobile game, Honkai Impact does this in a perfectly serviceable way. While the story as a whole has a number of factions that interact with each other, there’s usually only one faction in the role of “major antagonist” and which faction it is shifts over the course of the story. You’ll sometimes get more than two groups at play, but that’s usually only used to set up the next major antagonist and they’re rarely on even footing and given equal focus. And that comes out fine! It works great for the pacing of the story and serves its purpose perfectly well.

With Arknights, however, they have consistently refused to write stories that are just a two-sided A versus B conflict. From way back in Grani and the Knight’s Treasure up to the political clusterfuck of the more recent story chapters, Hypergryph just doesn’t write stories that are black-and-white protagonist-antagonist. Off the top of my head, the closest we get to that is in stories like Lingering Echoes and Guide Ahead where a single character disrupts a protagonist-antagonist plot. The two stories share a lot in common, actually - there’s a two-sided protagonist-antagonist story that is disrupted by a protagonist-aligned figure, Czerny in the former and Fiametta in the latter, that refuses to be bound by the said simple conflict. Both stories are also complicated by B-plots that don’t have nearly as simple resolutions, which are tied closely enough into the A-plot to make it more complicated.

All of the events are like this - as I write this I’m looking back through the event records for something I’ve missed because there’s no way they’ve been that consistent with this, right? But they have, and it’s staggering how consistent they are with it. There are all sorts of factions lying around that just get picked up again on the whims of the writers (like AUS or the Browntails), and it does wonders for making the world feel more complex and more alive.

[mandaloriankait]

🪐&❄️ <3

🪐- name three good things going on in your life right now

Lemme try and think of three more things instead of just copying/pasting(hey Isa look at me doing positive things @karinamay )

1. My old af truck still runs and gets me from point A to point B and back

2. I have my own apartment

3. Still, my friends and mutuals bc they're all lovely and supportive 💕

❄️- what's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best?

Oh god, this is haaaard. Can I totally do a cop out and say that I have like an actual plot idea for an original story that I started back in 2022, and I think I should start writing it again sometime soon? It's all original characters and has dinosaurs in it (because I'm 5) and is all archeology and stuff like that. Soooo yeah I'm gonna go with that lmao.

[ponder-the-orb]

❄️ 🦋

🦋Share something that has been on your heart and mind recently: I've really tried to stop comparing myself to other authors but it's haaaard. So many of my moots are able to craft words in ways I definitely could not even dream of. I don't know if anyone reads such a good line or paragraph and just thinks 'how did you even think to do that???' And yes I am looking at you @alpydk ^^^

I also just cannot stop thinking about the fact I'm not posting updates fast enough. I see people on here posting basically every week whereas I'm struggling to get chapters out every 3-4. Makes me worry that I'll never actually finish my current project or that people won't care when I finally do.

BUT I also know that so many other people feel the exact same thing so I am going to keep trucking on! (Not to mention because I've gathered so many lovely mutuals while writing it's just become an echo chamber of encouragement).

❄️ What's your dream theme/plot for a fic and who would write it best? Wow that's a tough one. For themes I really love any time someone explores grief in their writing... especially when it might involve a certain wizard and a certain orb *cough cough.* While that is something I'm also working on there are hundreds of different ways to go about it and I think I've exhausted every mention of it on AO3 already. I have no idea who would write it best but if anyone is doing so right now, tag me!

Thanks so much for asking!

[isadora-greenhall]

HI ISA I HOPE UR BIRTHDAY WAS COOL anyway answer THESE if u PLEASE 🐇❄️☁️

Thank you my love!!! It’s still going whooo! 🥳🎉🎊 and I am having a great time so far, just chilling at home and doing some cross stitch as a gift to myself 🥰

Writers truth & dare game

🐇 ⇢ do you prefer writing original characters, reader inserts, or a mix of both? 

Out of the two I prefer original characters, but that’s because I’ve never written reader inserts before. I might challenge myself one day to give it a try, but I personally find it a little limiting because you have to keep things as vague as possible to fit as wide an audience as possible (nothing pulls me out of reading a reader insert fic than the writer describing “you” as having a feature or personality or relationship that I do not have 😂). But yeah, could be fun to try one day!

❄️ ⇢ what's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best?

Oooh this is tricky! Hmm…probably a long sprawling fic about Glenn dndads and my OC Rita, learning to trust each other as they journey through the Forgotten Realms together. It’s my pet plot atm. Unfortunately the person who could write it best is me, but writing long fics is haaaard 😭

☁️ ⇢ what made you choose your username?

Ooh I think I answered a similar question to this once ages and ages ago, but I think it’s a bit of a fun story! So, when I was 13 my friends and I joined the Ye Olde website Quizilla, and I chose the username Isadora99, for Isadora Quagmire from A Series of Unfortunate Events because she was my fave character at the time (no idea where the 99 came from lol). Then I started writing a fanfiction where I had a half-elf Mary Sue self-insert called Isadora, and because she was half-elf I came up with the name Greenhall because it sounded kinda majestic and awesome 😁 that character became my default OC for all my fics through my teens while also becoming my internetsona! There’s something so special about the OCs you created when you were 13 🥲❤️

[gumpistol]

6. is roleplaying the only writing-based hobby you have, or are there other things you like to write?

questions for muns.

at the moment, because it's time-consuming, roleplay is the only writing hobby i'm doing. this and i also went through a pretty big writing lull where i just didn't feel inspired much and whatnot, so rp and specifically this fandom is really me getting back into it. i used to do some writing for D&D campaigns, but with the business of life right now, I haven't had time to prep any of that stuff, even though I want to!! i've also attempted to dabble in writing fanfics, but i have a hard time sticking to just one plot for a long enough period lol.

someday though, i'd really like to write a novel, probably something fantasy/mythos/horror based (something neil gaiman-esque). i've got ideas revolving in my head about slavic lore, specifically the eastern aspects of it, but getting disconnected ideas into an organized plot is haaaard. who knows, i've been itching to maybe create a fandomless oc lately so this could be a start for creating my own story's characters too!

[non-un-topo]

My google docs staring me down like cats in a window waiting for food

[panpraja]

So ADHD to try and hack writing by coming up with sometimes overly-complex writing methods. Sitting down and writing is a myth to me on most days but if oddly specific tricks it makes my brain go ‘ding’ and make that connection then it’s giving.

[heavensong]

A vampire story centering around a weirdo cult, middle-aged high school teaching staff, and romance over a t1 diabetic gym teacher protagonist is not anything I ever expected to try and write but also not something i’m too shocked to see from myself

[firesign23]

Writing troubles have been going on too long...

when I find myself wanting to whine about writing, but dear god even I am sick of my bullshit.

[lil-meow-meow-goes-rawr]

me trying to plot out future stories

[bookofmirth]

CC plot is so haaaard to get through. I think the reason why we can make so many theories about Acotar is because acotar isn't so plot focused, especially Acosf.

But omg, I need my brain to work to understand wtf is happening in CC. I hate Sjm for that damn crossover because 1. I didn't know wth the IC were talking about in acosf 2. The plot gets more damn confusing because Sjm just keeps adding random sh*t without resolving the other plotpoints first. It's also hard because each character that has a POV basically focuses on their own plot. Bryce and Tharion's POVs ARE A SPECIAL STRUGGLEEE

I just... stopped following the CC plots. Idk how you guys do it, especially @yazthebookish but ughh.

Some of the posts I made post-hosab, like this one, I made for myself to keep shit straight. It's like she distilled every bit of worldbuilding and plotting that she didn't do in acotar, and shoved it into CC. Maybe if I cared more, I would remember more.

I'm trying to remain optimistic, but every time the crossover comes up in the groupchat I start ranting. I am not into it. acotar and CC are very different genres, they have completely different tones, the worldbuilding is super uneven, and she's doing it all just for the mic drop moment! Not because it makes sense for EITHER freaking story. Like how can she write hosab, and then still say that the remaining acotar books are like traditional romance novels??? Especially when her primary concern is who is going to bang when.

I'd honestly be fine with Amren continuing to remember some dramatic person or object from history at the convenient moment to keep the acotar plot going, better that than whatever CC is going to do to the acotar plot. Acotar5: The Dreader Trove.

Not to mention that Bryce is probably going to be insufferable as fuck in hofas. 🙄

[shadowstarkanada]

Ugh. I think I know why I haven't written case fic for any of my fandoms no matter how relevant. This is haaaard. Mood pieces are so easy. Even my normal plotting is easy compared to this. Maybe I'm just being too impatient with myself because I want to write instead of plot. Ahhhhh! How does one write casefic!?

S.P.On.age.

[will-zeke-thomson]

Are you planning on updating the Apparations of Fall fanfic? I JUST caught up after the pandemic and want to know what else is going on in it. King Scorn seems very spooky

Short answer: yes! I have not abandoned this and don't plan on it!

Long answer: writing is HAAAARD! And I have lost both motivation and plot as I have no idea what to do next exactly and how I want to end this. I have ideas but executing them or doing something well is hard and I'm at a loss right now. Add to that another few dozen works and projects I've been working on and it's just a mess.

So: yes I am going to continue it, but it's gonna take a while because I have a massive block and don't know what to do.

Thanks for reading though and as always to everyone feel free to leave me questions or comments. Maybe something will stir up an idea in me.

[chofitia]

Squeeee-niiiix...

How come you’re always making it so haaaard for me to insert my OCs into your woooork? First it was XV with Comrades (I had the choice of right moveset and janky outfit or okay outfit and OOC moveset.), and now First Soldier. How am I expected to download this simply to craft and move about my son who’s now queer thanks to AU characterization and the machinations of a fan my FFVII OCs! Fix this at ooooonce.

I don’t wanna actually have to craft compelling characterizations, backstories, and plot lines to write something! Or come up with good descriptions in order to commission art! That’s haaaard! I’m laaaazy!

[muffinlance]

How the hell do you manage to write such long, multi-chapter fics??? Like- how?! I'm barely slugging myself through this one-shot a few paragraphs at a time and I-??? Do you have motivation with you constantly?? Is my interest in other fandoms slowing my progress?? Nonetheless- like gosh, I doubt I'd ever be able to make fics more than one chapter long- much less complete them !!! What the heck is your secret, mate???

Okay so the best kept secret of all authors everywhere is:

There is no secret.

(Which is not a well kept secret at all, really, but people don't seem to believe it despite every author ever saying it.)

Like. It's just, years of practice? Intentful practice, where you pick a skill and study how stories you like are pulling it off and say "in this project Imma work on improving that", and then you do it even though writing is haaaard and you'd really rather stop and go start that other shiny project instead--

*SLAPS SELF OVER HAND WITH A RULER, NO SHINY ENDLESS TANGENTS FOR YOU*

Starting with shorter works is a Real Good Idea. They're not a huge time commitment--which allows for relatively quick "I did it!" gratification and equally quick "...I did it but it sucks" chances to figure out where you went wrong and either edit or improve for the next project. They let you practice all the skills you'll need for longer works, but without a year or more of your life committed to them. The short story is a unit that stacks quite nicely: chaptered works are essentially short stories strung together, with scenes being the flash fiction that comprise them.

Once you start feeling comfortable at the short story level, scale up if it interests you (though the short story itself is an artform and screw anyone who tries to say novels are inherently better): practice at the novella level (aka a couple of related chapters), the full novel (aka a couple of intertwined novellas), the series level (aka a couple of novels). All of these break down into short stories, just... more of them, building semi-sequentially in the same AU, with more breathing room for layering plots and character arcs then the focused medium of a short story allows.

I currently consider myself Pretty Good Okay at the short story level and Decently Competent at the novel. Currently I'm actively practicing at the series level, which Avatar is really good for, because it's native format is already broken into "books"; working out how an AU changes things is basically the writing equivalent of using tracing paper on part of a picture you like before coloring it yourself. I am justifying the crazy amounts of time I'm spending on fanfic as writing practice, and frankly it is paying off, because holy hell have my daily-ish writing habits improved and I'm seeing really nice returns on how well I think at the novel-wide level. Like. I was redoing the Scaled Over outline yesterday, and was idly scribbling notes on overall focus issues, background supporting arcs, ect in the margins and just... Two years ago my brain would have struggled to work like that? But now it's like, "oh hey don't forget this this and this." Not to mention that two years ago writing around 200k in less-than-a-year would have been insane for me.

Fanfic. It's good practice, yo.

(And a perfectly reasonable end in itself, if professional aspirations don't appeal to you. I know plenty of fanfics with a bigger readership and cultural impact than most published novels. Let none shame this wonderful hobby.)

tldr: Write lots. Write gud. Gud write make betterer writes. Yay you, you writer!