#outline it

[moreenchiladasplease]

trying to finish a sketch i did late last night ☺️

[gayglitterqueen]

how in the fuck do you outline anything for a story

[queeriboh]

auugjgjsbshdhhh new idea for my main post canon au just dropped

[aprillikesthings]

Wrote 500 words on a human au fic I’ve been poking at off and on for a while, and already figured out a few things I’ll have to change in the things I already wrote before tonight, and writing is hard, fuck.

I literally have no idea how long this fic is gonna be, still; I know it’s gonna be multi-chapter but whether it’s gonna be like 5k or 50k I have no clue. I just keep writing bits and pieces of it out of order (the fic itself is gonna be out of order, I’ve known that since the start) and I keep thinking that duh of course I know what happens!, but then I go to write it and nothing feels right, ugh. 

I know I’ve bitten off way more than I can chew, is what it comes down to; I just don’t know if my current writing skill is up to my ideas, so I’m just sort of fumbling my way through a bit at a time. 

On the upside I let someone read the mess of ideas and scenes I have so far and they liked it. God, how do normal fiction writers deal? I mean I know support groups and shit for writers exist, and workshops and stuff, and I’m sure some people bounce ideas off their partners. But that’s just.....not the same thing as when a friend sent me a snippet of dialogue from a current fic they’re working on and I was like, Oh man, She would totally say that, I can hear it in her voice when I read it!; and comparing and contrasting how we each write a particular fandom trope. 

[tyrant-king-toru]

I HAVE A SAYAMINA AU

WISH ME LUCK

[klainspiration]

Challenges - Wednesday July 25!

Four challenges today! Do one, do them all, just do something. Let us know in a reply to this post if you're in and what you're aiming for, because accountability helps.

CHALLENGE 1 - FEATURED WORDS - for inspiration

Use one (or more!) of these words in your writing for today. You will not be required to share the writing you do today (so don't worry if you're writing for a challenge that keeps you from publishing or sharing sections), but we'll believe you if you tell us what you used!

feather

waist

regret

thick

renew

CHALLENGE 2 - BLITZ WRITING - for a boost

1500 words in two hours! Let us know when you're writing, and take a look at the replies - you may find a writing buddy who can give you a push!

Don't get freaked out here. This may seem like a reach but I promise you that 1500 words is absolutely doable in 2 hours. Keep writing. Think of NaNoWriMo:

Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It’s all about quantity, not quality. This approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.

Don't edit as you go, write through your doubt, and see what happens.

CHALLENGE 3 - OUTLINE IT! - for structure

Getting started on something new? Stuck smack in the middle of a story without direction, or wading through pools of aimless prose?

Spend an hour (preferably two) putting together a complete, fleshed-out outline. Sketch out your plot, then start building it. A sentence here, a paragraph there, a quick writeup of an image you want to use. 

Anything you have, any little scraps of ideas or links for research, put it in the document. By the end of the day, you will have a working document that you can expand into your story, or a clearer vision for what you need to add or change.

CHALLENGE 4 - WRITE TO THE MARGINS - for the desperate

Max out your word count. That's it - nothing fancy, nothing complicated. The writer with the biggest word count by the time we get to the check-in post tonight gets bragging rights until Sunday. And come on, this is tumblr, where bragging rights are pretty much all we get.