Writing Advice For Fanfics or Novels
Hello, my dears! As requested by @ilay-snt I thought I’d share my writing process with you all! I’m going to split this post into two sections of general advice and then how I personally construct a story.
Disclaimer: I’m no professional by any means. I’m basing this solely off two creative writing classes I took in college and what I find to be personally helpful so if it doesn’t work for you, that’s totally fine! Everyone writes differently!
Write the story that you want to read. Not only will it keep you motivated to keep going but it frees you to try whatever you want without being worried how it will be received by others. As long as you’re happy with your work, that’s all that matters. Your audience will find you.
(Hello audience! *waves excitedly*)
This one might sound a little daunting, but it doesn’t need to be a lot or necessarily “everyday”. It’s just a way to consistently practice, to help you find your author voice, and create a habit.
Writing everyday could be a poem or a paragraph or a whole chapter! It’s whatever you choose to make it just as long as you get something down. It doesn’t necessarily even need to be good. You can always go back and edit, but if you only write when inspiration strikes, you might never sit down to do it in the first place. Practice finding your way through the words to get at what you want, rather than waiting for the words to come to you.
If you’re REALLY really stuck. Then might I suggest you-.
As a chronic second-guesser, I can’t tell you how helpful it is to have someone read your story and help structure the plot. I’ve had a lot of instances where something I’d been struggling with for days was resolved by getting coffee with a friend and having them look at it with new eyes.
Get yourself a beta reader or just someone who has good taste whose opinion you trust to help you work out problems. Two heads are often better than one!
A lot of people like to limit it to reading authors you love and looking at the way they create stories, which is very helpful, but don’t neglect other forms of storytelling like movies and TV shows or even videogames! Think about what you like from your favorite things and why you like them.
As an example, one of my favorite pieces of media is the Mass Effect Trilogy. Mostly because it subverts the narrative of the Lone Hero archetype present in other franchises like Halo and Assassins Creed. The protagonist Shepard relies on their teammates abilities and support throughout the game to complete missions and eventually save the universe. Similarly, I like stories where there’s a cast of interesting and diverse characters surrounding the main protagonist who are essential to the plot.
Go dig through your own favorites and figure out what kind of characters you like, tropes you enjoy, and overarching themes that speak to you. From these, you can draw inspiration for your own stories and figure out what you want to write.
Writing doesn’t happen in a vacuum! If you feel like your inspiration is running dry or you’re in the middle of a block, go out and do things you enjoy or, better yet, try new things!
Be fully present in the moment and look at the world around you as if for the first time, talk to people you run into, or draw from your friends/family for inspiration. There’s a whole world of possibility out there just waiting to be written down or reinterpreted. Don’t be afraid to take breaks and have fun! Writing should never become a chore!
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s dig into my own personal process:
When I have an idea for a story, I try to do a rough outline first of the big plot points: the beginning, the middle, and the end, then fill in as much as I can in between.
My chapter outlines are never very well defined up until I reach the point where I sit down to write. It’s only then I begin to flesh out what I want to do. I take everything from the previous chapter and what I know is coming up to shape what needs to happen in the moment. I work better with flexibility so I can wander off the path a little rather than rushing from point A to point B.
Character sheets are probably the most important part of my writing. I like to give my characters as much agency as possible and allow them to steer the story rather than the story steering them. Unfortunately, the only way to accomplish this is to know them inside and out.
Most of my character sheets start with the basics: what does this character want more than anything, what do they actually need, and what do they fear. From there, I can identify their goals for the story and for each chapter, their personality traits, their likes and dislikes, how they respond to conflict, etc.
When I’m writing, the character sheets are my own personal holy book. If I can’t make them move around the scene anymore, a quick look at that will normally get me back on track.
Normally, I have a goal in mind (or several) I want to reach. Whether it’s progressing the plot or just one character’s arc, I allow those goals to drive the action, then set the characters loose like rats in a maze.
Often, I try to think “what can go wrong here?” and then how that character would react to the set backs or interact with each other based on that.
In a few cases, the characters just do what they want and then entirely new scenes develop I didn’t plot out beforehand from following after that instinct.
On the whole, I allow the characters A LOT of free will to shape the story while holding up the basic structure for them to work within and I’ve found it really makes the story come to life.
Generally, everyone I’ve met who’s a writer has something to say and the story is the medium for that. The most important thing when I’m writing and I’m buried neck deep in the twists and turns of the plot is to not forget why exactly I’m writing it in the first place. So I have a little manifesto of sorts at the top of my outline, only a couple sentences at most, that strips the entire story down to the one central idea I’m trying to convey or an overarching theme.
For example, if I had to sum up the central idea of House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (Great book by the way, can’t recommend it enough) it’s that true family accepts you for who you are and can come from unexpected places. Also, it’s essential to stand up to unjust systems in defense of others.
I try to find my own my own theme like this to keep in sight for my story. So I don’t veer too far from the purpose of it.
I’m off channeling spirits and battling possessed Jack O Lanterns, but the next update will come much sooner than Sunday so stay tuned!
In the meantime, enjoy these spooky boys who mysteriously showed up on my doorstep 🎃
FANART from @kimpuntoexe!! I love thier interpretation of Bill and Mabel’s mind sharing from Ch. 28 and there’s another art of Bill’s sweater from Mabel! Come have a look!
I love their friendship
I've been really busy these days, so I took my day off to draw this scene from chapter 28 of ahc (as great as always). Honestly, I wasn't convinced by the result of this drawing and thought about scrapping it. But since there wasn't an update last week, I saw it as an opportunity to give it a second look and try to improve it. And...well, here it is <3
Also, these past few days I've been using my free time to reread some of my favorite chapters, and there are a lot of moments from past chapters I want to capture... So expect more fanart from this fic; it's my motivation to finish the weeks.
@sapphosscribe
With tomorrow’s chapter update, we’ll have reached the point of the story that I feel like I can share A Human Condition’s theme song without any spoilers.
Listen. Enjoy. Anticipate.
24ish hours until update 😘
Get hype 😉
bill drunk during act 1 finale frfr
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDUZ97TiAil/?igsh=MTN4ZHNvZjZkMHFteg==
Bill is a theatre kid through and through. Man went full-tilt-diva-Freddy-Mercury-at-Live-Aid with that song in Chapter 21 😂.
THIS IS NOT A DRILL. More fanart from Ch. 27 by @knockknockwhosthereartistism ahead of today’s chapter posting! Four different scenes all of which incredible! Absorb and enjoy will I finish editing. See you all soon 😉🥰
4 whole (late) pieces for Chp.27 of A Human Condition!!!
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Hello my lovelies!
Just letting you know there will probably be an early update tomorrow after I finish the chapter and edit this afternoon. I’ll post a link on here when it’s up. Hope you’re all ready for more! 😉
NEW FANART HAS DROPPED MY DEARS!! @orpheuswasmine has done a spectacular job! I’m in love with this drawing! Someone go find my socks cause they have been knocked off! 🧦😍☺️
I went back to my roots because I love that fic so much 😭 Honestly, I was originally going to just draw Bill in his star suit fit, but after finishing rewatching Arcane, I took some creative liberty and drew him in that one Jinx scene from season one along with some blatant symbolisms (Im most proud of the chair 🥹)
THATS ALL MAYBE ILL DIGITALIZE IT WHEN I GET THE CHANCE
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Go ahead and click the link! Wouldntst thou like to live ridiculously? 😜
She/her. (25) A voracious reader and writer. I’m posting updates for my stories on here. Find me on Ao3!https://archiveofourown.org/users/SapphosScribe
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