Writing tips, prompts, and memes

@pemfrost's side blog

[mikanseinic]

“how to recognize AI in fanfic” — hey so this is another not-gentle reminder that AI stole from us. it’s using OUR words and OUR sentences and OUR styles.

writing “long” paragraphs is not a sign of AI — it’s a common narrative choice many writers make both in fanfiction and in traditionally published novels, and AI stole it from us.

using an em dash is not a sign of AI. it’s a stylistic sentence choice that’s been an option in place of commas and semicolons for a very long time, and AI stole it from us.

long sentence structures are not a sign of AI, but are yet another stylistic choice writers often make to create a cadence and tone that mimics the flow of poetry, and AI stole it from us.

“YA narrative breaks”? i don’t even know what the fuck this means, but i can guarantee that AI stole it from us.

italics are once again a stylistic choice that many writers love to use to create emphasis, and it’s a more stylistically acceptable and traditional form of emphasis than bold or underline text. oh, and just to be extra clear: AI STOLE IT FROM US.

stop creating fandom witch hunts over AI when you know fuck all about what it means to sit and write a story, and to spend hours fiddling with sentence structure and dialogue to get the exact right tone. writers will stop writing out of fear that their work “sounds like AI” — IT DOESNT! AI STOLE FROM US! AI SOUNDS LIKE US! — and after a while, all that will be available on AO3 is shitty AI-generated fanfiction.

because yeah, people are going to continue to use AI to write fanfiction whether you “call them out” or not. but making a laughable thread on X that uses asinine criteria is not going to fix that problem. it will just push the real writers out because people will accuse them of using AI when they haven’t, and they will (rightfully) stop writing for spaces that attack them.

anyway. fuck ai.

[blissfullyunawares]

bleed on the paper if you must

[novlr]

Word count is not the only metric

Writing is about more than just word count. A thousand empty words won’t move your story forward, but one sharp sentence can change everything.

While your first draft should be about words on the page, and empty words are fine (you can tighten in editing), you don’t have to measure your project only by numbers. Your first draft can also be fewer words that you expand in editing. Choose the approach that works best for you.

[chaoticneutralficwriter]

not commenting on a fic someone wrote for you as a bday gift is fucking wild

[chaoticneutralficwriter]

On the plus side, this month's chapter didn't drop any canon that fucked up this fic before I could post it hahaha

[chaoticneutralficwriter]

I don't want to edit

Me after opening my draft:

[thewhumpiestofthemall]

Daily affirmations

I am a freak and that is ok

Anyone who hates on me for my writing has never picked up a pencil in their life

I should be more self indulgent

My characters should suffer more

[lost-the-narrative]

"IT WAS ONLY SUPPOSED TO BE A ONESHOT!!!" i scream, desperately clawing at the floor, as the fic drags me back into The Depths to continue writing against my will for the rest of eternity

[jessicafangirl]

This.

[nondelphic]

writers who make playlists before writing anything scare me. how are you setting a mood for something that doesn’t exist yet. are you conjuring it. are you a witch.

[black-y-white]

Don’t compare your book to others. When you’re writing, you can only apply one coat of paint at a time. You can’t even imagine how many coats of paint a finished book has because you only see the top one

[brisketbiscuts]

I ain't a wimp when I get writers block I STRESS ABOUT IT FOR A WEEK STRAIGHT, and not to ChatGPT like a coward. I face writers block like a man, laying in bed hours crying.

[dionysiaproductions]

[prophetic-writer]

It's also normal to have weeks where you don't write for no real reason in particular. You don't have to justify unproductivity

[nondelphic]

if the vibes are off, close your document. stare at the wall. think about your protagonist’s childhood trauma. return stronger.

[unravelingwhy]

my fave writing reminder

honestly, this phrase has been on my mind more times than i can count. i've kidnapped it, taken it as a hostage with no ransom money because i need it to live permanently in my head.

[nondelphic]

“how do you write again after a long break?” you just start. that’s the horror of it. you just. start. and then the story opens its eyes.

[outromoonyy]

Fanfiction is free therapy, except the therapist is making you suffer on purpose and you're thanking them in the comments.