do you have any advice for people just starting out writing? i'm struggling through my first wip rn and no matter what the pacing is rushed and the dialogue feels flat. my word count is stagnant and low. i rlly look up to you as an author so i was wondering if you knew anything about how to fix it. thanks!
first off—hi! hello! thank you! i'm so flattered that you chose me to reach out to and i’m also super glad you like my work! welcome to the writing community. i hope your time here is especially rewarding :D
i thought i'd put together a longer post of my biggest tips and advice to start out, based mostly on my own experience. feel free to skim if you’d like :) this is probably a lot more than you bargained for with your ask!
first off: tips for writing itself.
you mentioned pacing, dialogue, and word count, so i'll briefly address each of those in turn. keep in mind that i’m drawing from my own experience, so don’t feel bad if some of my tips don’t work for you. everyone is different lol.
pacing is a tricky thing. it can be your best friend or your worst enemy or anything in between. my biggest biggest tip for pacing is to outline your wip from the start.
“but grey!” you exclaim. “outlining is terrifying! where do i even start?!”
good question, my friend! outlining sounds scary at the start but it can quickly wind up being a lifesaver. you’ll have to find what works for you specifically, but here are some tips to get started.
my method is as follows—split the plot of your story into three, four, or five parts. depending on how long your fic will be, these can either represent chapters or arcs. if you’re using arcs, these will contain smaller sections.
i like to summarize each part with a phrase (see my example below that i originally made for of bush and briar). then, i add a few bullet points. what happens in that chapter/arc of the story? what are the big events that occur?
of course, this example is only a basic outline, but you’ll want to have an idea of where your story is going. this’ll allow you to pace each chapter or scene in a way that flows.
say (for instance) that you’re writing a three-chapter shorter fic which involves the budding relationship of two characters. strangers to lovers, if you will. i’d personally outline the plot like this:
i. characters A & B meet at a coffee shop
ii. they can’t stop thinking about each other
iii. finale where character A asks out character B
it’s sweet, simple, and gets you where you need to go. you can add all the details you want later underneath each roman numeral.
the next step in finding a good pace is sticking to the outline’s main structure as you write your chapters. you can always add details or extra scenes within those chapters, but make sure you drive the story forward each chapter.
in regards to feeling like your pacing is rushed: try to mentally slow down and expand the details of the scene. spend a few extra paragraphs describing the characters’ surroundings; write a little more about a character’s internal thoughts; add some humorous dialogue to soften the blow if your chapter is about a tough conversation. add more scenes to a chapter. showcase more conversations, or more face-offs, if your work deals with tension between characters.
finding a good pace is hard to achieve when you start out, but it’s worth putting some extra effort into your planning in order to figure out what works for you.
next up is dialogue. my advice for this is more specific to fandom and fanfiction as i’m assuming that’s what you’re asking about, so here we go.
in regards to writing better dialogue, i’d say that you should be familiar with the fandom’s content and the personalities/relationships of the characters you’re writing about. for instance, if i were attempting to write bedrock bros (tommyinnit & technoblade) for the first time, i’d go and watch any number of VODs where the two of them interact.
having that backup knowledge from the start will set you up for success. once you’re sure you know your characters a bit better, sit down to write. it can help to write the dialogue itself without tags first; for example:
“Pick up the phone, dickhead.”
“It didn’t even ring!”
“I don’t believe you.”
“That’s a first.”
then, go in and add dialogue tags or description. figure out where you want beats (fancy writer lingo for pauses) in the flow of your style. for instance:
“Pick up the phone, dickhead,” Tommy hissed.
Techno stared at Tommy in disbelief. “It didn’t even ring!”
“I don’t believe you.”
Techno scoffed. “That’s a first.”
see how the above additions add to the flow of the simple dialogue and break up the conversation?
that being said, i’m a big believer in using description over dialogue tags. it’s a method that allows you to really show your reader the characters’ body language. humans communicate by so much more than just spoken word—you should use their movement to your advantage as a storyteller.
now that you have your dialogue written (!!!), it’s time to test it. this might sound crazy and insane and super fucking embarrassing, but the best way to test your dialogue is this:
read it out loud in your best impression of the characters’ voices.
seriously. if you can’t hear the rapport between your characters when you read it out loud, then you need to change something. it can be as simple as running through an example conversation in your head or asking yourself how would I respond to that? not every conversation follows a textbook format.
writing dialogue is a skill, and like any skill, it will only get better with practice. you can do this by writing short snippets, watching TV and then transcribing the conversations with descriptions, or by writing more fics. there’s also tons of dialogue practice on the internet if you’re willing to search for it!
now, last but definitely not least: word count. this is every author’s enemy, no matter who they are or what they write. you are not alone in this struggle.
so, you’ve finally sit down to write, only to find yourself staring at an empty document with a blinking cursor. don’t panic. here are a few tips & resources to help with boosting your word count and fighting writer’s block.
first: if you’re out of hope and struggling to meet a certain wordcount, use the most dangerous writing app.
this website is the best. you can set a wordcount goal or a time limit when you start, and this website will delete your work if you stop typing for more than ten seconds. it’s usually enough to get me off my ass and writing 500+ words in a sprint.
(also, don’t worry, it doesn’t delete your work permanently—you can download the failed session as a word document so that your progress wasn’t for nothing).
an alternative to this site (aka if you want a sprint timer and no terrifying threats of losing your work) would be the discord bot sprinto, which allows you to set writing sprints with friends or alone. it’s very easy to use and also leads into my new point—finding friends to write and brainstorm with.
second: make friends in your fandom. you’ll want people to brainrot your fics with (and support you), which honestly will motivate you to write more for your wips. it’s much easier to slog through an assigned word count when you’ve got people on your side.
you can achieve this by dm’ing people, joining writers’ discords, following people on the foreign land of twitter, and more! you can also opt into fandom-related writing challenges (such as ficfests, big bangs, or collections) that pair writers or writers and artists together. part of fandom’s wonderful appeal is its community; you are never and will never be alone in your frustrations!
third: if the words just aren’t coming, you can always scrap a fic.
the truth is this: not every idea is meant to see the light of day. you should be passionate about your work and your ideas in order to follow through. you are never obligated to finish anything that you don’t love, and you are never obligated to post your work on the internet.
tldr: your work is for you and for you foremost. it can be far too easy to forget that when you’re seeking others’ approval, but try to write for yourself first.
i really hope my thoughts are able to help you on your journey anon! thank you so so much for reaching out. my dms are always open if you’d like me to take a look at your work or if you’d just like to chat <3
A drabble I wrote based off a bedrockbros AU where Techno is studying abroad and meets a homeless kid who quickly clings onto him. Unfortunately, Techno has to leave at some point and can’t take Tommy with him, it would unfair to Phil and Wilbur at home who are already stressed enough with their own stuff.
Anyways, this takes place at the airport after Techno dropped Tommy off at an orphanage.
His phone dings, a notification.
“u boarding now?”
Techno sighs, not at the message from Wilbur, but from exhaustion.
“no, should be in 30 mins or so”
He listens to the numbers being called over the intercom, not wanting to miss something important. Techno sits next to the charging port while he waits to board his plane. He had to buy a new charger since Tommy accidentally broke his last one.
Tommy. Techno shakes his head, too tired to think of anything else except getting on that plane and going home.
Home. He’s lucky he has one.
Another ding.
“good. we really missed u :)”
Techno smiles down at his phone— a sad smile, one that hide tears behind his eyelids.
He knows they’ve missed him, he’s missed them too. Techno bets that Tommy misses him. As hard as he tries to not think of that kid, Techno can’t help the mental image of Tommy sobbing huddled up in a corner or sitting on a rickety orphanage bed.
At least it’s better than a bench. Techno has been trying to convince himself that this is what’s best, that he can’t suddenly bring a child home, but the hold that Tommy has on his heart is a tight one. It squeezes and scratches at Techno’s heart until there’s nothing left but guilt and regret.
Another ding sounds from his phone, snapping him out of his thoughts. Techno has only just now noticed the tears that fell from his face onto the screen.
“phil made ur favorite for dinner, don’t tell him i told u”
Techno wipes at the tears.
“i won’t. happy to be back :)”
The intercom calls out his gate number and he gets up.
“boarding the plane rn, see you soon will”
After some time, Techno finds himself in his seat. He pulls up the hatch that covers the window, looking out at practically nothing. Yet when the plane finally takes off, he can truly see the magnificence of this city. As Techno fawns over the glimmering lights of the buildings, he wonders which one Tommy was staying in. He wonders if Tommy is thinking about him constantly like he is. He wonders if Tommy still likes him, though he wouldn’t guess the kid does. Techno wouldn’t like it if someone were to abandon him.
No, he didn’t abandon Tommy. This was for the best. He did what he could with the cards he was dealt, and if Techno has to spend the rest of days convincing himself that he didn’t make a mistake he most likely will think about every night while trying to sleep, then so be it.
Yet he still wonders if he’ll ever get the chance to see Tommy again.
here’s a benchtrio drabble based on this au i made a while ago: https://twitter.com/higherpich/status/1454060179868246023?s=21 (except it’s technoblade and philza as heros)
Tommy, you’re going to hurt yourself,” Ranboo warns. They’re currently stacked on top of each other, stapling a poster to the town square’s bulletin board.
“No I won’t!” the blonde argues, sticking his tongue out in concentration as he tries to get the poster as perfectly placed as possible. It still ends up being askew. “There! Now, anyone who wants to join will know where to come.”
“That’s great, but can you please get off of my shoulders,” Ranboo strains. For a kid so skinny, Tommy sure is a heavy weight on his shoulders. “How do we know this is gonna work anyways?”
Tommy jumps off of Ranboo’s shoulders with a grunt, “What’s that supposed to mean? You saying that no one will wanna come?” he says, offense evident on his face. Is Ranboo really trying to mock these legends?
“No, I think he means that nobody can read your shitty handwriting,” a voice from behind Tommy speaks up.
Tommy turns around, a light pink dusting his face at the insult— he blames it on the cold. “Shut up Tubbo, no one was talking to you.”
Tubbo sits cross-legged in the snow, both Tommy and Ranboo wonder how he can nonchalantly sit there as the snow melts and soaks through his trousers. “At least we did some work, you just sat there and watched,” Tommy argues, “And plus, no one's gonna pass up the opportunity to join a club all about the great Technoblade and Philza,” he clasps his hands together.
“I think they will when they find out that the club is run by a couple of 11 year olds,” Tubbo blatantly says, drawing shapes in the snow he sat near.
“Hey! I’m 12!” Ranboo retorts, “But seriously, Tommy, I really don’t think anyone is coming. No one even thinks they exist, everyone thinks we’re just kids with very active imaginations.”
“We are!”
“Shut up, Tubbo,” Tommy turns back to the enderman hybrid, “And they do exist! I’m gonna prove to everyone that they do!”
“How do you plan to do that when no one is gonna come to the meeting, Einstein,” Tubbo is now laying stomach down in the snow, hands holding his head up and legs kicking back and forth. The two other boys are truly baffled at how someone can have such a high tolerance to the freezing temperatures of their town.
Tommy kicks some snow on the ground in defiance, “I don’t even know who that is!” he bashfully admits, “Just you wait and see. Tomorrow, I’ll prove you both wrong at the club meeting!” he shouts.
“Tommy! Lunch is ready, get your ass inside before you freeze to death!”
The blonde huffs, “Wilbur’s calling me, I gotta go. You guys better be there for the meeting tomorrow,” he hears Wilbur call his name again and scowls, “I’ll leave the gate to my backyard open!” he yells as he runs to his house.
Bedrock bros AU where Technoblade is a pirate who finds Tommy, a boy who has been cursed to stay a merman for the rest of his life.
Techno is a pirate with no interest in materialistic things such as gold or jewels. The joy of being a pirate comes from the tranquility he feels as he travels the seven seas with his friends— though others would call them a crew. It comes from the surge of adrenaline that rushes through his veins whenever an enemy ship tries to attack theirs (because if they can take down the great “Technoblade,” they’d be recognized as the strongest pirates in all the seas) though of course, Techno and his crew always win whatever fight they’re involuntarily thrown in.
The joy, however, does not come from the constant annoyance of Techno’s first mate, Wilbur, who’s always trying to get Techno to focus on the money and fame instead of the adventure, though it’s all in good fun as he knows his first mate would never cross a certain line.
One day, Techno finds a scroll in a crate that a shopkeeper gave him. He decided to stop by an island known for its good deals for travelers to stock up on some essentials; food, water, and some parchment (Wilbur uses up most of it to send letters to Sally, his lover.) Yet when he checks the crate he was given, he fins a rolled scroll, clearly been written on with ink and tied neatly with a ribbon. Techno knows this wasn’t anything he paid for, but when he looks up to give the scroll back, the shopkeeper is gone— he even checks the back but it just seems as if they’d disappeared.
Techno shrugs and keeps it, if it was important then they wouldn’t have put it there. Wilbur finds it after Techno gets back, the captain not bothering— or perhaps forgetting— to check what was on it at all. It turns out to be a treasure map, a dotted line stretches all over the paper from the island they stopped at to a big, red “X” in the ocean.
After a lot of non-stop begging from his first mate, Techno eventually lets up. He allows Wilbur to steer the ship to wherever the map takes them, wanting nothing to do with the, what he originally thought was, useless trip. If Wilbur wanted adventure, Techno could’ve given him one without a prize of money at the end. But alas, Techno decides to let Wilbur have his fun in the mean time.
When they get to their destination after a long and treacherous journey, they find a cave in the side of a small island, the water almost completely submerging it. The two go in together, leaving the rest of the crew on the ship with the promise of splitting all of it between them (Techno persisting that he doesn’t want any of the profit.) Yet what they find in the cave isn’t a chest overflowing with riches, but instead a merman. The flaming reds and oranges of his long tail compliments the golden, wet hair on top of his head. The red fins on the side of tail are transparent, allowing them to see bright and vividly blue water through them.
At first, everyone was stunned, none saying a word as the three of them stood with their mouths wide open. Techno and Wilbur, in all of their years of traversing the wide and open seas, have never in their lives met a real life mermaid— or rather a merman. Many pirates seem to think they don’t exist and that the ones who do preach about their true existence are making it up for fame and attention. The merman, on the other hand, has not seen a single soul in years, even the aquatic life of the ocean surrounding his average sized cave avoid it like the plague. Safe to say, he was pretty surprised when they two men came in on a small boat that contrasts their pirate outfits.
Even though he was equally as stunned, the merman was the one who spoke first.
“Who the hell are you?”
Techno thinks that he’s found a treasure worth looking for.
After a small argument— one that Techno personally found amusing, while as Wilbur’s face turned the slightest bit red from annoyance (Techno joked that Wilbur now knows how he feels)— the two pirates eventually get to learn the merman’s name: Tommy. Techno thinks it fits him quite well.
In exchange for his name, the two pirates also introduce themselves and explain how they got there in the first place, Wilbur reluctantly pulling out the map and showing it. Tommy tells them he has no idea who gave them that map and why. He explains that no one has been around here in years, which is quite unusual since this island and, by extension, cave aren’t exactly hidden.
Tommy also tells them that he himself hasn’t left this cave in years, admitting that the only reason he hasn’t stepped foot— or rather fin— outside of it is because of a curse that was cast upon him when he was a younger boy. This, in turn, sparks the question of how old he is now, to which Tommy hesitantly mumbles “…sixteen,” while looking away, embarrassed by his young age.
Neither of the men try to hide their laughter and it’s apparent. Tommy yells something about them being dicks and whatnot before Techno cuts him off.
“You call yourself a merman? You aren’t even a man,” he laughs.
“We might as well call you a guppy,” Wilbur follows up, their teasing making Tommy’s face turn redder. Whether it’s from embarrassment or anger, they don’t quite know.
In the short time that the three of them have talked, Tommy had quickly grown onto both of the pirates. To Wilbur’s surprise, Techno promises the merman that he’ll find a way to break the curse and give Tommy his legs back— on one condition. Once Tommy is back as a human, he’ll become part of Techno’s crew. As much as Techno had pissed him off, Tommy still takes the deal. Of course, it’s only so he can get his legs back and leave this wretched cave, no other reason at all.
It’s not as if Tommy used to hear stories about the one and only “Technoblade,” when he was younger, and it’s definitely not because he would wish he could become as cool as the world renowned pirate when he grows up.
Techno and Wilbur start their trek to where a powerful sorcerer name Philza resides. It’s rumored that he can do anything and everything for a certain price. That price is something that Techno does not know yet, but he’s not sure it matters.
Techno knows he would pay a fortune to break the curse on Tommy, for the only gold he’s ever wanted sat in curls atop the boys head, and the only gems he’s ever seen shine so bright are Tommy’s diamond blue eyes. Techno knows that both him and Wilbur would go through hell and back to have this boy they just met on their crew.
Besides, he promised Tommy that he’ll get the kid his legs back, and Technoblade does not break his promises.
A syndicate found family/foster AU where Techno, Niki, and Ranboo are runaway kids and Phil takes them in!
AU where the 3/4 of the syndicate are runaway kids. Techno is 16, Niki is 14, and Ranboo is 10, all of them with no parents and no one to take care of them. They’re not biologically related, but that sure as hell doesn’t mean they aren’t family.
They found each other in a bad foster home, and like the reckless, impulsive kids they are, they ran away from the shitty place they were meant to stay in. Now, they fight tooth and nail to stay “free” on the streets while being considered extreme flight risks.
Techno, being the oldest of the three kids, feels as if it’s his duty to protect Niki and Ranboo from harm’s way, while as Niki is always trying to protect Techno since he’s always worried about everybody but himself, (she’s scared that one day Techno will break.) Ranboo, on the other hand, feels like a burden. He sits back and watches as his older brother and sister do dangerous and/or illegal stuff to take care of the three of them because he’s told to never worry, yet he always does. Ranboo just wants to see his older siblings happy and safe, but as the youngest he can’t do anything to help them (and it’s not like Niki and Techno would ever let him lift a finger!)
One day, the three kids are taken in by a kind man in a bucket hat who introduced himself as “Phil”. He claims he helps kids who suffer from homelessness (Techno scoffed at his word usage, they’re homeless, not suffering from a disease.) Niki and Techno agree to let Phil help them, mainly because they were running very low on food and didn’t want Ranboo to go hungry for another four nights, especially when Techno had to lay low from shoplifting for a while after almost being caught. (Techno assures Niki that if anything goes wrong, he could probably take Phil in a fight.)
At first, they’re all wary of Phil. Of course they would be, almost every single adult in their lives has screwed them over one way or another. All of them lie and say they want the best for Techno, Niki, and Ranboo, but the three all know that they themselves know what’s best for them.
Ranboo is the one who Phil gets through to first, though it wasn’t a difficult task at all. Ranboo just wants to see Techno and Niki happy, healthy, and safe, and Phil seems like a great guy to help them with that. He makes Ranboo his favorite breakfast (pancakes with blueberries!), let him decorate his room however he wants (pictures of his brother and sister everywhere!) and even bought him a stuffed cat! From the way Ranboo sees it, Phil really cares for Techno and Niki, they’re just too stubborn— or maybe too cautious— to see it.
Techno was, surprisingly, the second to confide in Phil. After a pretty bad nightmare (Ranboo and Niki were back at their old foster home while Techno had to watch them through the window, unable to help them no matter how hard he tried to break the glass), he finds himself in Phil’s bedroom during the dead of the night. One warm cup of hot coco and some comforting consolations later, Techno figures that Phil isn’t as terrible as he originally thought.
Lastly was Niki, her being last is something none of them expected. She cares for her brothers, she truly, really does, but she can’t stand the sight of them carelessly trusting someone they barely know. Phil could turn into a completely different person in a week— hell, maybe even a day or two— for gods sake. They all do, and Niki knows that all too well. Niki has watched her brothers suffer for far too long, and she isn’t about to be left to pick up the shattered pieces of what’s left of them when this “Phil” guy suddenly decides he doesn’t want to play nice anymore.
It all changes when she finds Phil sitting at the dining table one night, the only source of light coming from the moonlight that shines through the open curtains. It illuminates the heart wrenching image of a sullen man holding a photo frame, there’s tears that run down the glass that covers the picture. That night, she learns that Phil had lost his family in a car crash, his two sons and wife, just like she had. He explains how he feels as if he needs to help kids because he couldn’t save his own. She, in turn, explains how she had lost both of her parents when really young, which is how she ended up in the foster care system. They sat together at the dining table for the rest of the night, both relishing in the comforting silence that the quiet house provides.
She doesn’t know when, but eventually Niki fell asleep, yet she found herself back in her own bed in the morning. Walking down the stairs as she rubs the sleep from her eyes, she stops in her tracks when she sees the sight in front of her. The same dining table that seated two grieving souls last night was now bustling with love and warmth. Ranboo, still in his Bat-Man pajamas, was devouring the stack of pancakes in front of him, and Techno chats with Phil as he drinks a cup of coffee (Phil said it was a one time thing since he’s 16, Techno is convinced he can change the older man’s mind later on.) Phil is hovering over the stove, cooking breakfast for the other two kids as he laughs heartily at whatever joke Techno told him, a fond glint in his eyes as he watches the scene that unfolds in the kitchen.
That same glint does not once leave his eyes as Phil catches sight of Niki at the bottom of the stairs. He’s calling her over to eat, but all Niki can do is stare at the blinding smiles each of them wear, a grin of her own slowly creeping up onto her face. That morning, Niki decides Phil isn’t that bad, not at all.
gracieabrams
vaporwave
stormborns
turnnoffyourmind
