@whumpmasinjuly / @whumpmasinjuly-archive
Day 26: Whump Advice
I know that this is my professor side coming out, but... As a trauma studies scholar, I strongly recommend reading scholarship about trauma. Not just trauma in the psychological sense, but in the physical sense as well. Understanding how people talk about it, experience it, etc. really helps to ground whump!
Here are some I recommend. Note that these are literary and cultural criticism, and that they contain any and all content warnings. (Long list, so I'm putting it under a cut.)
Objectification, Laura Nussbaum (Note that this one primarily discusses NSFW ideas of objectification and does analysis of NSFW works, so READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED, but also talks about objectifying through violence, such as torture, abuse, etc.). This section in particular may be useful to Whumpers:
Ugly Feelings, Sianne Ngai
The Body in Pain, Elaine Scarry
Cruel Optimism, Lauren Berlant
Read scholarship about the work you're doing a fic on, if it's a fandom piece.
And also! Read scholarship about whumpfics, h/c, etc. I find it helpful to be able to compare my own work to others who have come before me. Not only that, seeing how the genre has grown (and what's stayed the same) is extremely invaluable as a writer.
Here are two that I recommend.
Camille Bacon-Smith's Enterprising Women is an ethnography of Star Trek h/c fandom. It discusses "get 'em" fics, which are a precursor to whump.
Judith May Fathallah's "H/c and me: An autoethnographic account of a troubled love affair," a piece where the author discusses what appeals about whump and h/c to them.
26. What is your best advice to others about creating or finding whump?
I used to find whump on wattpad by scouring through everything that was tagged "torture"
Not sure if that still works, I left wattpad when they started having ads like.... 7-ish years ago and honestly, I haven't really been on anywhere but tumblr.
My main advice is that you should give more fics a shot. Read stuff you think you may dislike, because who knows, you might stumble upon some gold!!
And about finding your niche? I need advice on that too, it's been an ongoing struggle for *years* but I'm slowly finding people who appreciate the same things I do and the occasional story that hits all the right spots. (If anyone likes seeing whumpers win, whumpees die or never get out HMU!!!)
Also!! Interact with people and make friends so they sent you stuff they think you'll like!! They're usually right :))
Day 26: What is your best advice to others about creating or finding whump?
Creating: When you get hurt or sick or when people treat you like shit, take notes, write them down. Now you have a baseline you can magnify. Note how the cut itches as it heals, how the burn on one part of the hand makes another part ache or tingle. Note how it feels when sickness creeps in, how long it lasts. How people in power react when you challenge their mistreatment of you, or how it felt to challenge them, the way your heart might race, how you can go from riotous confidence to 'oh no there's going to be Consequences'. Now multiply that by the stakes of the story.
Finding: Tags are so neat. If everyone tags properly then it's just a matter of searching for what you want.
Day 26: What is your best advice to others about creating or finding whump?
Hmmm. I'd say the old saying: "If you can't find a story that fits your tastes, write/draw it yourself!" Doing that can get nerve wracking, but as someone who posts stories online since 2011, you'll get used to the nervousness and you'll be posting banger stuff :D
For finding whump, I usually use keywords on my Google searches/AO3 searches(for example, I look for used as bait trope fics by putting in used as bait in Google's search or in the AO3 search itself). If it's something super specific, it can be hard, but eventually you'll find some stories and such to your tastes!
And finally, if you're nervous about sharing whump with the whump community, that's a normal thing to feel! But this community is amazing and loving, and they won't judge you for your tastes :)
What is your best advice to others about creating or finding whump
This question is actually super important to me because I'm gonna be saying things I which someone told me when I joined:
.Create What You Want.
Do you wanna spend a bunch of time making sure everything is medically accurate? Hell yeah! Does the very thought of doing so make you want to throw your notebook out the window? Same! Be inaccurate for the vibes! Write whatever you want, don't let anyone tell you can't. Just tag it properly, m'kay?
.Don't Be Scared to Talk To People
I have met some of the nicest people in this community through their amazing writing and personalities and I wish I could have worked up the air to do so sooner.
.Fallow people
Okay this one is gonna sound dumb but I wasn't super good at remembering to hit fallow when I got on here 5-6 years ago and there are creators and stories I'm STILL trying to find again. Also if you do find a story or art or whatever you like, likes are nice, reblogs are better, tags and comments will be cherished.
Day 26: What is your best advice to others about creating or finding whump?
im gonna give my advice for creating whump, specifically writing! my biggest piece of advice is to just read a ton—you’ll inevitably be inspired by the writing of others, and you might find new ways of approaching a certain topic, injury, mental state, etc. imo the more you read the better writer you’ll be!
another super huge thing is research! depending on your preferred style this might not be so important for you, but I often like to write super realistic whump and I’ll get really into the research bit. quora is a great place for this because people really will be posting the most crazy shit on there—it’s where I go if I want to, say, learn precisely how it feels to be hit in the head with a baseball bat. medical sites like webmd are also super helpful for accurately describing the symptoms of whatever you’re writing about. also generally there are a ton of niche sites out there talking about all sorts of topics, whether it’s field medicine guides or research on historical torture methods. just do some poking around!!
finally, if you’re up for it, don’t shy away from prompts! whether it’s participating in an event, getting inspiration from a post, getting a bad things happen bingo card, or opening your askbox for requests, I’ve found having a specific prompt to be a great way to get started. and don’t be afraid to approach prompts you’re uncertain about! you can stretch your comfort zone and develop your skills, and it can be a super fun and rewarding challenge!
What is your best advice to others about creating or finding whump?
To create whump, my first piece of advice would be: "Just do it!" Whether it’s writing or drawing, do what you love!!! There’s so much content online that you can learn from and be inspired by, and I think that ties into the second part of the question—how to find whump.
At least for me, I’ve found a wide whump community here on Tumblr that has everything! From original stories, fanfiction, art, prompts, scenario ideas, tips on writing certain types of scenes, dialogues, injuries, etc.
I think the first step is deciding to do it, especially if it’s something you do because you want to, and along the way, you can learn and get better at whatever you want to improve in.
What is your best advice to others about creating or finding whump?
For finding it, the tagging system on Ao3 and Tumblr are usually how I find most things these days. Though for books (or shows), I generally fo for ones similar to what I’ve already consumed. I don’t know how I find particularly whumpy ones, I just do? Though when you read a lot in the medieval fantasy setting, it tends to come with the territory.
For creating it, figure out what you like to read/watch and start there. When you learn how others tell stories, it’s a start to find out how to tell them yourself. Also personal experiences help, too. Most of what I write is a mixture of these two things.
