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
142 posts
Latest Posts by sapphosscribe - Page 5
MORE FANART GUYS!!! 😆😆 Christmas came early for me this year 😁 this was practically exactly how I pictured it! (Seriously, so blown away and flattered by people taking the time to draw my little fic ☺️)
Some fanart of chapter 16 and 19 of A Human Condition by @sapphosscribe
By far my favorite redemption Human Bill fic
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!
General Advice:
1. First and most importantly: You Have to Write for Yourself.
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*)
2. Write Everday
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-.
3. Get Feedback
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!
4. Analyze media you admire
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.
4. Take Breaks and Be Present
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:
My Writing Process
1. Everything Begins with the Outline
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.
2. After the Outline, The Character Sheets
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.
3. Structuring Each Chapter
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.
4. The Point of It All
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.
Anyway, that’s my advice for any other writers who are starting out, hope this was helpful in some way! All of you have a good day! 💖💖
The Seven Stages of Writing:
1. Having the best idea for a story
2. Making a bunch of character sheets, plot outlines, snippets of scenes and playlists for inspiration
3. Sitting down to actually write the story
4. Realizing halfway through you don’t know anything about *insert random topic here* and go down an Internet rabbit hole to become an armchair expert while bullshiting the finer details and hoping no one notices.
5. Getting stuck for too long on a scene/ trying to make a character or plot Do A Thing™️ it’s not doing without it being contrived.
6. Wallowing about how terrible your writing is and how the whole story is basically a dumpster fire that should never see the light of day.
7. Going back to edit the whole thing and realizing it’s an absolute masterpiece and you were worried about nothing all along.
It’s here! Thank you for your patience! Editing this took FOREVER, but now it’s here for your reading pleasure. Enjoy! 💖
Hello my dears!
The holidays have got me rushing around so todays chapter of A Human Condition will either be out late in the day or tomorrow. It’s a long one 😉 be well!
Hello my dears! Another week, another chapter! This one with Stan and Ford hanging out! 💙💙
AHHHH OH MY GOSH!! 😆💖💖 Guys, There’s fanart now! @ilay-snt has done an amazing job illustrating the prologue! Go check it out!
Chapter 1: Some sunny day…
Fanart for A Human Condition by @sapphosscribe
I’m in love with this story, so I was thinking, what if I did fanart for every chapter?
That’s the idea, let’s see if I can actually do it ahah… I’m going to die.
Anyway, read this fic, it’s really well written.
For anyone who’s interested,
Here’s the playlists I listen to while writing A Human Condition
Specifically requested by @crypt-idkeeper
Needless to say, there may very well be a prequel to A Human Condition
A-X-O-L-O-T-L
ᓬ(• _ •)ᕒ
The time has come!
Enjoy your regular Sunday update! 🩷🩵
Stanford Pines invoked his name. He called out, and someone came…
Hope everyone is ready for tomorrow’s update to A Human Condition. To see what else lies in store…
At last, it’s here! Your regular Sunday update! And it’s a long one too! Eat up my dears! ❤️❤️
Me editing the next chapter of A Human Condition for tomorrow, looking at the perspective shifts like:
I hope none of you disappear in the coming days. Seriously don't do anything that can't be undone.
Back to your regularly scheduled update! This week is a Mabel and Bill-centric chapter! Enjoy! 💜
As promised, a Halloween treat! Enjoy!
Magic and mischief is afoot…
Expect an update to A Human Condition tomorrow, just in time for Halloween!
No update today my dears!
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 🎃
Lucky number 13! An early update, as foretold.
I’ve been looking in my crystal ball 🔮
I think I see an early update for you all in the near future… 😉
The wait is over! The new chapter is out! Eat up! 🥰🥰
Hello dear readers! It’s update day!!
It’s time to go into the Labyrinth! ✨✨
A little treat 🥰
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! 😉
Greetings Tumblr!
(Do kids still say ‘greetings’? I haven’t been in this dimension in a REALLY long time 😉)
If you’re reading this, chances are you’re here from my fanfic on ao3, A Human Condition.
Just wanted to offer you all a quick update on how the story is progressing:
1. At this point, I have the whole thing plotted out from start to finish with a little flexibility in the middle for some fun hijinks. This means the story WILL BE FINISHED at some point.
2. This fic is probably going to be pretty long simply because we’re reaching the end of the first small arc right now and I have about four more planned so probably around 300,000 words though that could go up or down depending on how everything shakes out.
3. I try to update this fic every week, sometimes there may be early updates, which I’ll post on here, or perhaps a few late updates if the writer’s block is writer’s blocking. Either way, I’ll make sure to let you guys know.
4. For now, I’m updating on Sundays. If that changes in the future, I’ll make a post about it.
Anyway, not sure how to end this other than thanks for reading and have a great day!