What is this I don't even.

wolveswithhats said:

I love that there’s universal panic throughout fandom whenever someone uses specific concepts in their fic. Everyone’s afraid of ripping off someone else, even though these things are directly referenced in the game, even if not expanded much on. Everyone is allowed to use them. But I do this too and get nervous with each passing day. D: GET ON A MOVE ON, WOLVES, BEFORE SOMEONE WRITES YOUR ENTIRE FIC BEFORE YOU DO.

Yeah, it’s tough to set out to write something new without feeling like you’re stepping on anybody else’s toes, and the sense of panic that someone else will get to what you want to do before you do? I feel that a lot too. For a long time I avoided reading humanized Wheatley fics (cutting myself off from my favorite genre!) just because I was worried that 1) I’d subconsciously copy them somehow, or 2) I’d see them doing something I wanted to do and get depressed over it. But that was probably not the best way to deal with my own irrational fears.

In the end, you’re absolutely right that everyone is allowed to use whatever they want to tell their stories, and the fact that a story is being told by one person (as opposed to another) means it will already be a unique interpretation of whatever is being presented. I hope you guys don’t let this fear stop you from writing what you want to write!

nauticalacronym asked: Hey, uh, do you ever think you might finish that giant!Wheatley story you have over on the Portal Kink LJ? It's just, well... I think I'm in love with it. It's hard (pretty much impossible) to find anything giant!wheatley and I just seem to have this sort of... itch... you know? :D

I don’t knoooowww

I’m on the fence about it. There’s a way it was going to go (I think you heard me talking about it?) and I don’t know if I can write that, but I still do like what was already written of it…

Maybe, maybe not, I honestly can’t say at this point—but thank you for the message of support :)

I think maybe my refractory period in writing is just much smaller this time, though that doesn’t make any sense. Normally I’m sick at the thought of writing for at least a week or two after finishing something, but this time I’m not. Just… antsy to keep going. So I will go with the flow and make use of it!

momoneymoboolits:

doktorassgardian:

im writing

i have no idea what i am doing

which bring me to a question, i normally use a stream of consciousness writing, i hardly edit anything till i’m done with everything. is that a “general procedure” or what??

essentailly im just asking how other people write

That’s one way to go about it. It’s generally one of the “healthiest” ways, since you don’t judge yourself until it’s all down on paper and that allows your creativity to go on uninhibited. It can produce some great writing.

On the other hand, you have people who edit as they go, and usually I do this. You can go sentence by sentence, which means not leaving a sentence until it’s precisely the way you want it; the obvious downside to this is that you can get really, REALLY stuck and your idea may get a little warped in the process, but it’s still a good way to write because you can end up with a really polished piece of work in the end, and you can probably connect ideas better.

What I do sometimes is write part of it one day, and if I get stuck, I let it sit for a day or two, then return to it and edit what I have before continuing.

What usually ends up happening is this: I write the whole thing in one go, editing as I go just to make sure everything pieces together and I’m not dropping details or changing tone, then I edit the piece as a whole once or twice before posting it on here. The longer you practice and get accustomed to your own narrative voice, the easier it is to spot and correct errors.

So stream-of-consciousness is fantastic, especially for a beginning writer, and some people keep it up their whole lives. Over time I found myself segueing out of it. Everyone’s different!

Momo has good words! Made me think about my method too, so for what it’s worth, here it is (also sorry I always use too many words for things so this is longish):

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(Source: doktorengine)

me trying to read fanfiction

conversationparade:

‘she tripped, but a pair of strong arms grabbed hold of her from behind before she hit the floor’

‘…she tilted her head back to look into his eyes, enjoying the feel of his warm arms wrapped around her torso’

‘…her hands intertwined behind his neck as their lips met’

‘…she wrapped her legs around his waist as

suckersoprano:

Okay going back to bed

If the anonymous wants to come introduce themselves, I love new friends—especially ones that make a point of giving me a proverbial knock on the head. Plus I’d like to know who got to see me making a fool of myself while I flailed at them in asks.

Running out the door at this very second so I apologize for any errors, bluntness, or awkwardness—

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For all the people who ask me for writing advice…

neil-gaiman:

Neil Gaiman

1 Write.

2 Put one word after another. Find the right word, put it down.

3 Finish what you’re writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.

4 Put it aside. Read it pretending you’ve never read it before. Show it to friends whose opinion you respect and who like the kind of thing that this is.

5 Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.

6 Fix it. Remember that, sooner or later, before it ever reaches perfection, you will have to let it go and move on and start to write the next thing. Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.

7 Laugh at your own jokes.

8 The main rule of writing is that if you do it with enough assurance and confidence, you’re allowed to do whatever you like. (That may be a rule for life as well as for writing. But it’s definitely true for writing.) So write your story as it needs to be written. Write it ­honestly, and tell it as best you can. I’m not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter.

…

Read the whole article. It’s filled with great advice from wonderful writers…

Kurt Vonnegut’s 8 Tips on How to Write a Great Story

dancergypsy:

1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
4. Every sentence must do one of two things:reveal character or advance the action.
5. Start as close to the end as possible.
6. Be a Sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them, in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To hell with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

source

I read these once a long, long time ago, and I didn’t realize til now just how much I’d taken (most of) them to heart.

However, I will always disagree with Vonnegut’s venomous hatred of the semicolon.

You know

Writing should be easy.

It’s just putting words together to form complete sentences.

So why is it not easy?