geoclaire:

this-too-too-sullied-flesh:

superirishbreakfasttea:

Things I’ve Learned From Fic Writing: 

• Writing action scenes is truly the worst  
• Every movie and TV show is just an AU waiting to happen
• People have to lean on doors all the time. It’s just a rule. 
• People who can stick to posting schedules have made a deal with some kind of higher power. 
• There are only so many ways to describe kissing and none of them ever seem right. 

-if you spent a lot of time on it, it won’t do half as well as the ones you barely even bothered to edit.

-the minute you start typing up a new fic “just so i don’t forget” is the first in a long line of minutes/days/years you won’t spend working on your WIP.

-dick or cock, cock or dick. you’re one or the other; rarely both.

-domestic fluff will get more notice than smut or angst.

-if you’re any good, eventually, someone will copy you, whether it’s your writing style, certain phrases unique to you, or flat-out plagiarism. calling them out on it will often start a fandom war, or at the very least vagueposting that makes everyone wonder if olympus is at war again.

-you can get 400 positive, glowing reviews and messages and one really nasty, godawful, anonymous one that doesn’t even criticize the actual writing but you as a person. you will dwell on that one for a long time.

-your old fics have the phrases that fandom has decided are cringe-worthy (”tongues battling for dominance,” “s/he let out a breath s/he hadn’t realized s/he’d been holding,” things more specific to your fandom). it’s okay. it happens to all of us.

-when someone goes absolutely nutbar, crazyballs, full-on fandom flail about your fic? you will be embarrassed by how amazing it makes you feel. roll in that feeling.

-WHEN WILL U UPDATE???? will happen five minutes after you post that 12k word update that took you the better part of a month to write and threatened your relationships because of the time you spent on writing rather than your loved ones.

-if you write smut, you will get very private, personal, often detailed messages from people describing what they had to go do after reading your fic.

-the best place to write fic is while waiting at the DMV. don’t ask why. something about the bad lighting and morose and suffocating humanity gets the creative juices flowing. so bring a pen and a notebook if you have to be there.

-you will read fics that are perfectly characterized, beautifully written, and heartachingly gorgeous. they will barely have any hits/notes. promote the fuck out of those fics, especially if you have a lot of followers.

-you will write fics that you know are lazy and just okay that people will go nuts for. don’t congratulate yourself for that.

-if it becomes a chore to write or update it, then maybe consider just stopping, or taking a hiatus on the project. people will bug you for years to finish. that’s okay–in fact, it’s lovely. but don’t let it make you feel bad. if you don’t feel it, it will show in the writing. maybe one day you’ll end up finishing, maybe you won’t. either way, you’re doing a great job. you contributed to fandom! and that’s wonderful.

-and the most important thing i learned about fic writing? always thank anyone who takes the time to read your shit and let you know that they liked it. you wrote something, and they read it! i mean, honestly. how fucking amazing is that?

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