Writing related question for you! A little background:
Between 2016 and 2017, I wrote about 100k words of fanfic across several projects. This was the period when I completed a novelette length fic — the only time I have ever done this.
I wish I could recapture even a measure of this level of productivity, but I really don’t know how. I struggle to sometimes even finish 1k oneshots these days. Do you have any advice on how to remain consistently productive with your writing *and *how to actually finish multi chapter projects?
Hi, Eclipse. Hope you are doing well today. First, I want to be honest with you. That 100k word run you had back in 2016 wasn't just productivity. It was likely a perfect storm of hyperfocus, lower life-stress, and the specific dopamine hit that comes with a creative project. Trying to capture that is like trying to capture lightning in a bottle.
The first thing to do is that you need to accept that your baseline right now is around 1k words. Try to work with the writer you are today. I had to learn that recently and started to look at my long multiple chapter fics, such as Blood and Stardust, as piecemeal, since my chronic illnesses doesn't let me sit down and produce like I use used to.
Below is going to be some ways that I handle remaining constant.
Most people fail at multi-chapter fics, and the reason is that they try to write chronologically from a place of pure vibes. I love my pantser moots and followers, but it is extremely hard to stay focus and actually get the project finished.
So, don't just plan where you start. Write the final scene of the entire fic first. Again, for B&S, the end chapter is already written out. I find if you know where the story is going, it is much harder to get lost during the middle-act slump.
Being in Writeblr as long as I have and talking to several of my friends in the industry about hitting the momentum wall years ago, I noticed a trend. Many writers hit a wall halfway through because the middle of the story is objectively the hardest part to write. So, if a writer is aiming for a 50k story, they normally fizzle out around 10k.
When you feel the momentum dying, skip the scene that is boring you. Write the next high-impact scene: like the confrontation, the kiss, the revelation, etc. Then, you can leave a bracketed note for when you come back editing. My recent story, When Angels Break, utilized this method lots. I hit a wall with Bianca's abilities and how I wanted to show them in prose. So, I left [Bianca uses her illusion magic to show Sephiroth the faces who abused him] and colored it in blue, as well as bolded it, so I didn't miss it in editing.
By writing the high-energy scenes first, you build up a word bank. It's much easier to go back and write the connective tissue when you know exactly what it is connecting to. This is how I slowly turn a 1k day to a 3k day when I was publishing.
Keeping the momentum moving is important.
I know another author who uses a voice-to-text feature on their phone while they are taking a walk. They describe the scene out loud and have the phone write for them. This will make the editing take longer but it helps her immensely.
You mentioned struggling to finish oneshots. I found this usually happens because of the internal critic sitting on your shoulder. In 2016, you probably were riding the wave? This is how I completed my 100k+ Witcher Fic in the early 2000 or 2010s (lol don't remember when I uploaded it to fanfiction.net).
I found using sprints works wonders. I am not talking about writing for an hour. If you are in Discord and a server has Sprinto, utilize that. Or you can set a timer for 15 minutes.
During this time, your only job is to move the cursor forward and write. No checking the phone, Tumblr, backspacing. No researching. Just get the words out. If you do this twice a day, you are building a routine.
My own routine has me writing from 12:45pm until 2:45 pm. During this block, I engage Leechblock which blocks all the sites that I find distracting. Including Tumblr. I find this helps productivity.
A lot of writers tend to edit while they write. I don't know if you have chronic illness or anything like that, but I also find people tend to have a finite amount of creativity for the day or work session. So, if you spend an hour perfecting a single paragraph in a 1k fic, you've exhausted your creative energy on a micro-level.
In my research, I have come across something called the Zeigarnik Effect. It basically is your brain hates unfinished tasks. So, maybe never end a session at the end of a chapter or when you've run out of ideas. For this technique, you always stop in the middle of a sentence or a high action moment where you know exactly what happens next.
For example, you sit down but you won't be spending 20 minutes warming up. You'll dive right into finish the last though, and by the time that momentum finishes, you're already 500 words into the next section.
I cannot do this method due to my brainfog and chronic illnesses, but I found the premise of it intriguing.
My advice? Vomit the words out. I do this. Then, I come back and fix it. You cannot fix a blank page, but you can fix a messy 1k word project in 20 minutes the next day.
I hate it, but consistency is a muscle. And just like a muscle, it needs recovery. If you are trying to force yourself to write every day and it feels like pulling teeth getting the words, your brain is going to associate writing with discomfort.
Instead of 'write every day', as some advice, I have taken to 'touch the project every day'. This might mean spending 5 minutes just reading your last paragraph, adding a line of dialogue. It keeps the story active in your subconscious, so when you do have a burst of energy, you don't spend 40 minutes trying to remember where you left off.
To get the daily word count up, I started to stop thinking of writing like an art form (which it is) but rather a construction project. When I'm deep in a project, I don't wait for the Muse. I trap her in the room with me.
Another thing I found is that I do not have a flat goal like 2000 words a day. I have a floor and a ceiling goal. For example, I write, at least, 200 words during my day where I am actively writing. Even if I am sick or stuck in bed, I'm there in bed with a notepad and writing. It keeps the habit from fading.
If you having a massive breakout day, stop when you hit your ceiling. Mine is 2500 words. I know it sounds counterintuitive, but stopping while you still have energy prevents a creative hangover the next day. To put it simply, it leaves your tank half-full so you're actually excited to come back tomorrow to continue.
My friend, @manorofshepard, actually managed to write 90k words (their longest work yet) by not giving up and broke out of a really nasty writer's block. There were days they wrote 200 words and stopped, but there were days where the creative juices just kept flowing. Just a little trickle one day can lead to a flood the next.
I hope some of these helped. Excuse any typos since my aphasia can get bad when I write long answers like this and only gave it a cursory read through.
Hi there!! Very cool to see a fellow xenomorph appreciator. <3 I’ve noticed you frequently tag xeno-related things as “daughters of the emperor.” Is this a personal fan canon universe of yours? If so, do you have an intro post explaining it? I’m very interested! :)
HELLO THERE FRIEND AND FELLOW XENOMORPH APPRECIATOR! 👁️🎀✨ welcome, thank you, please enjoy my selection of fine xenomorph offerings.
that's right, the xenomorphs are part of my own personal canon where most of my writings take place that's heavily rooted in mass effect, alien, dune, lovecraft's cthulhu mythos, hades, warhammer 40k, control, and sprinklings of other media that are special to me. it's a very dynamic universe, i'm always working on it, adding to it, making changes; i have been writing most of it for the last decade or so. also you aren't the first person to ask me for a intro/master post, ONE DAY I WILL MAKE IT. (unfortunately, the academic life chose me and made me a very tired phd student, so i mostly just write fics set in my strange canon that gives me joy.)
but, i supposed we can always start somewhere!
A VERY BRIEF RUNDOWN: the xenomorphs are the daughters of the reaper emperor (official tag, but at this point it's mostly her faceclaim, rhea ripley; one day i will make new art of her), an eldritch entity that governs the cycles of extinction in the universe via the reapers. (she is the youngest sibling of azathoth and shai-hulud.) they are born from the black tar, which is her genetic material. but some xenomorphs are made from a union of the reaper emperor's black tar and her wife's, nyx the primordial goddess of night, black ichor. all organic life is either meant to be harvested to extinction, or be used as hosts to create more xenomorphs. there are three non-xenomorph daughters of night and extinction: nemesis (machine-goddess of retribution), kibellah (leader of a death cult that worships the reaper emperor), and marcy/wendy, whomst we all know and love from alien: earth. but the xenomorphs are her biological daughters, beautiful and violent daughters that are her pride and joy. everywhere the reaper emperor and nyx go, they are always accompanied by a retinue of xenomorph daughters.
WRITINGS OF INTEREST:
ode to joy (the birth of a red xenomorph)
kimah (little xenomorph nymphs get pretty little bows)
nyx and the neomorph (feat. david 8)
kibellah and the xenomorphs's first interaction
coming soon: i am working on a fic centered on margot (the first xenomorph seen in alien: earth) and joe hermit. hehehe.
POSTS OF INTEREST:
what mass effect species make the best hosts
xenomorphs born from asari
marcy/wendy becoming a daughter of the emperor (bonus thoughts about xenomorph queens)
thoughts about margot and me trying to integrate the shows events into my canon
why i call baby xenomorphs 'nymphs'
xenomorphs born of the reaper emperor and nyx
tyranids and xenomorphs
the scorched xenomorph from romulus as the eldest drone daughter of the reaper emperor
You should know that when I first glanced at your username, I thought it was “leatherfaceapologist” 😂 And I thought, ‘Valid.’
This is like the fourth ask I’ve gotten saying that 😂😂. My answer is always, it’s a nice sentiment but I would never apologize for my cannibal husband’s actions ♥️.
🔥 Now I’m curious what one or more of /your/ unpopular horror opinions are?
Ooooo okay! Have a few:
A lot of people loooove to rag on Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare and say it’s the worst in the franchise. I disagree. It’s fucking ridiculous, but I still find it very fun and enjoyable. Plus it introduced Maggie, who’s underrated as hell.
Halloween Kills wasn’t good. Yeah, Michael was a bad bitch in it. But the movie itself was ass and devoid of all rational thought. It annoyed me more than anything.
House of Wax had a lot of wasted potential. I don’t think it’s bad per say, but I think so much more could’ve been done with it. It’s got a great and genuinely terrifying concept, and some pretty fun gore. They just... didn't go far enough. They didn’t explore the world or the characters enough. Honestly, I enjoy the House of Wax fandom way more than I enjoyed the movie itself, because the fandom explores and expands upon those things.
Hello, Bardic. I just wanted to say that I hope that things better for you and your family soon. I also wanted to say that I really admire and respect your insights and wisdom on fandom. I greatly value experienced members of fandom like you. 💜
Thank you so much for such a kind and thoughtful message, it truly means a lot to me right now. Fandom has always been a special space for me, and knowing that my insights resonate with you is incredibly comforting. I’m taking things one day at a time, feeling better now than I did this morning since mid-mornings are terrible for me right now, but your support is a wonderful reminder of why I love my mutuals. I hope you're doing well, too.
Hello again, Bardic! Just wanted to share good writing related news with you. Lately, I have been feeling quite inspired to write OC/S/I x Canon fics, and I’m having a lot of fun with it. Ofc I’m happy if others enjoy these fics, but the stories I’m writing are very much for me first and foremost. I’m all in on these self indulgent ideas. :)
Hello, Eclipse. Hope you are having a wonderful day or night.
That is absolutely fantastic to hear, and I am so incredibly happy for you. There is a unique, unmatched magic in reclaiming your writing entirely for yourself and diving headfirst into beautifully self-indulgent OC, self-insert, and canon dynamics.
Writing for an audience can be fulfilling, but I always believed that writing purely for your own joy and creative satisfaction is where the real spark lives, and honestly, that genuine passion is exactly what makes stories resonate so deeply with others in the end anyway.
Keep leaning into every single inspired idea, enjoy every second of this creative wave, and never hold back on the stories that make your own heart happy!
On an aside, if you post anything on any of your accounts, feel free to tag me and I'll read them. 😊
Hi, Bardic! I feel like it’s been a hot minute. 😅 Just popping in to say I hope you and yours are doing well. :)
Hi, Lupine. How are you doing? And I think it has been a minute lol. We're doing okay. My husband and daughter just got back from a week vacation last night, and I'm currently working on a low-energy, zero stress AU. Other than that? Just keep on keeping on here.
Hope you're doing well, too. Also, is that a new pfp I see? Lovely. :)
