Tag: writing is hard

bookcharactersthough:

danielle-writes:

Some advice for when you’re writing and find yourself stuck in the middle of a scene:

  • kill someone
  • ask this question: “What could go wrong?” and write exactly how it goes wrong
  • switch the POV from your current character to another – a minor character, the antagonist, anyone
  • stop writing whatever scene you’re struggling with and skip to the next one you want to write
  • write the ending
  • write a sex scene
  • use a scene prompt
  • use sentence starters
  • read someone else’s writing

Never delete. Never read what you’ve already written. Pass Go, collect your $200, and keep going.

This is the literal best writing advice I have ever read. Period.

Your fic writing progress isn’t annoying at all. I like knowing how other writers write, knowing the work that goes into excellent stories. I’ll admit, on days when I’m down and I see them, sometimes I get upset, because you’re able to do so much and still keep up the quality and quantity of work that everyone expects in your stories while I have difficulty writing one 1,000 word chapter to update my WIPS sometimes. Still, I enjoy seeing them and the funny gifs that you use with them.

yndigot:

determamfidd:

Oh gosh, Nonnie – thank you! I am really glad that the consensus seems to be that my little updates aren’t annoying, and that most people like to know where I’m at with the next installment. That’s great, and I’m really relieved!

And it’s okay, Nonnie: what I do is absolutely no reflection on the quantity or quality of your writing. You do what you do, and it’s just as valid and interesting and creative and heartfelt as what I do. We’re both fic writers, exploring the worlds we love.

I’ve been mucking about with fanfic for so long… and even these days I still get blocks, I sit and stare at a blank page, I get stuck. It has honestly taken years. I worked my way up to being able to pump out that many words at a time. I began with tiny little stories no more than 1000 words each: character studies, expanded scenes, that sort of thing. Then I tried a longer fic. Then my first chaptered fic. Then my first novel-length fic. I slowly improved over time. And they were all difficult, and I got stuck on all of them. I’ve been stuck with Sansukh, more times than I care to recall. Shouldering past that is always, always difficult, and has never become any easier, sad to say. 

*hugs* You’re brave and amazing. You’re doing it, and no matter the pace or the amount, the act itself is a mammoth achievement. I’m proud of each and every word you write – even the ones you delete and edit (especially them! Those are the learning words, the ones that teach you something about your own process!). Be kind to yourself, Nonnie, and don’t compare yourself to others. That’s like comparing apples and aardvarks. You’re your own person, your writing is your own unique and individual creation, not anything like mine – and that’s wonderful. You’re equally a part of the fandom, and just as important as anybody here.

Here, here’s a gif to make you smile. I wish you all the luck (and endless inspiration!) in the world. *hugs and hugs and hugs*

image

My two cents: word count isn’t the most important thing?

Like, I appreciate what Dets is saying, and I appreciate that Anon clearly wants to learn to write longer. It’s definitely a skill that can be learned and honed, so if Anon wants to write longer works, then … keep trying? Keep trying and sometimes something will click. Keep trying and sometimes you’ll just push through out of sheer stubbornness. And maybe over time it will get easier.

But also … I know long chaptered fics are wonderful, and I certainly enjoy reading them, and they get all the love because they get the chance to build an audience over time, but writing is not better for being long.  And yes, it is a skill you can cultivate, but there are some incredible writers (conventionally published and in fandom) who simply don’t do long form. Who spend countless hours pouring over a 2000 word short story.  Short shorts and flash fiction are pretty popular forms right now. If you’re not hitting the same word count as someone who is writing a 300K word epic, maybe the issue is that you’re not a long form writer?  

I just say this as someone who has, many, MANY times felt jealous of people who wrote epic novels in their downtime and kind of … slowly realized that part of the problem was that that wasn’t where my talent was.  I’m not saying I’ve completely given up on one day finishing a coherent long form piece, but I am saying that I’ve managed to write a stories in 3000 words or less and received immensely positive feedback (including having a writing teacher I greatly respected tell me that he thought I’d found a real sense of ‘purpose’ as a writer in the short pieces I’d done that semester).  Figuring out my actual strengths as a writer helped me stop being so jealous when I saw other people succeeding at things I wished I could do — because I was succeeding at something that maybe they couldn’t do quite so well.

Perfect addition, thank you!