Tag: writing

I have 58 fics started in my drive. FIFTY EIGHT! That doesn’t include the ones that are just one line or a prompt I want to use but haven’t started. I’ll start something, wander away for three years and maybe my attention will key back into it. Or I’ll work on something in short bursts for years. Nothing is ever abandoned, but my process is not remotely linear and today I’m finding it frustrating. I want to get these stories out and it just isn’t happening.

merindab:

tiger-in-the-flightdeck:

silken-scarves:

Looking for advice from fandom friends!

I have a fic that I want to write, but I feel like every chapter installment would be short. I have nothing against short fics myself, but I have this weird guilt complex about short fics being less good than long ones? I’d just like some advice/ reassurance. I just can’t really draw out these scenes, if that makes any sense? 

Thanks!

It’s not the length that matters, it’s the impact.

#@merindab #you should share the cupcake story

Okay so I write short fics, mostly, and I too suffer sometimes from the “this is short so it’s not as valuable” demon.

I got told the BEST analogy at 221B con from @patternofdefiance and I really do need to print out and put it somewhere I can see it.

It’s like walking into a room and there’s a tray of these beautiful gourmet cupcakes. They’re still wonderful and delicious and sometimes all you want is a morsel. 

They aren’t less good just because they’re cupcakes instead of three-tiered wedding cake or something. Sometimes you want a cupcake and not a whole cake.

Plus, like tiger said, it’s not the length, it’s the impact. I often joke that my fics are bigger on the inside.

Feel free to come talk to me, I’ll be happy to discuss if you’d like.

old-long-john:

Shout out to writers who can’t do plots, who write about feelings and moments in time instead. I love reading those fics, and I love writing those fics. Keep on peering into the depths of characters’ hearts and souls in the little moments. You’re exploring the places where canon often fears to tread. 

the two methods of fic writing:

damijon-supersons:

soundofez:

  1. don’t think don’t breathe don’t question where the inspiration came from just wriTE LIKE THE WIND BEFORE IT LEAVES
  2. meticulously plan the plot out until you actually have to write the story and then struggle and suffer

bonus method: no inspiration OR plot just an idea that you want to keep working on but you just stare at the screen blankly with tears running slowly down your face

Number 2 is me every time

I am all of these. Sometimes in the same day

writers’ block tip

bettydays:

i cannot believe how well this worked. so i was at awp last month, and sitting in on a panel about…something, i can’t remember what, and a panelist (i can’t remember who, so sorry) said:

“writers’ block happens because you’re afraid to write something. so unblocking yourself is a means of finding what you’re afraid of and writing it.”

but i was skeptical, because like. sometimes i can’t write shit just because there’s nothing in my head. so i thought, ok, next time i’m stuck, i’m going to ask myself what i’m afraid of and see if that helps.

fast-forward to this afternoon. i’m 80% of the way finished with a story i’m working on, i know how it’s going to end, but i just can’t fucking write it and i don’t know why. i’ve been stuck for a week on these last couple scenes.

and then i asked myself, “what am i afraid to write?”

fuck. it was so easy. my brain immediately supplied, “i’m afraid if i take this where i want to take it, it’s going to get too long and sentimental and i’ll lose control of the story.”

and at that point, it was a simple process of deconstructing that fear. i promised myself i could write the mushy emotional stuff in another piece, so i could keep this one short and clear. i found the paragraph that started that train of thought, cut it, pasted it in a new document like a seed to sprout another story, and kept writing. 

so yeah, next time you get stuck, ask yourself, “what am i afraid to write?” and see where it gets you.