I know I see a generation staring back at me

Fandom/writing sideblog for emmiepsyko. Multi-fandom, mostly Hamilton at present. I will not apologize for my long-winded personal posts, but I will generally put them behind a cut. var sc_project=11446446; var sc_invisible=1; var sc_security="b97ecba9"; var scJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://secure." : "http://www."); document.write("");

[thisismyhamilaskblog]

...can someone please explain why it is that I get ten kinds of twitchy about leaving my running word document open anytime I’m not on the computer, when I literally count no less than six paper journals scattered haphazardly around the apartment at this moment?

[thisismyhamilaskblog]

...huh. Found an old-ish notebook containing the majority of my fits-and-starts attempt at Community fandom. I had more going on there than I remembered. Also a couple of Avengers things.

Reading it kind of makes my skin crawl, but then, my skin’s been threatening to crawl away all day, so that doesn’t say all that much. It’s not bad writing -- the Avengers stuff in particular is a lot better than I’d have guessed, especially the one that always felt more like a journal entry than a fic -- it’s just forced writing, which I absolutely despise, but absolutely need to do. The only way out is through. Ugh.

Funny enough, I’ve been idly thinking about my Community haunt fic the past couple days. It’s haunt season -- start building in July to be ready by October -- and I’m thinking I probably need to do that with writing things as well. Forced writing is painfully slow writing.

And this one might be particularly forced, because it still feels...not self-indulgent, though it is that. More... I joke about how there’s scenarios and AUs that my mind likes to apply to every fandom I encounter. ‘Haunt fic’ and ‘theme park fic’ always top the list, and those are experiences that are just...weird to write about. I mean, for one thing I’m coming at it from a weird angle. I’ve given up on a couple of theme park AUs because “this is like if a coffee shop AU focused on the actual preparation of coffee.” No one wants to read a training manual. No one wants to read a guidebook.

...says the girl who literally reads Disney guidebooks for fun.

But I still think it can be done, and I mean hey, it’s Community fandom, and Community fandom is practically nonexistent, and I ship a relatively rare pair, which means, quite frankly, anything I write will probably be loved simply for existing. So that’s nice.

...now if I could just find the notes, because the haunt fic? Not in this notebook. Which means it’s all digital, which means it’s floating around somewhere but could take me until October just to fucking find.

[thisismyhamilaskblog]

Aaron Burr + 143 (Be serious for one moment, please.)

...so. This has been percolating in my brain for a bit and I suspect it’s gonna get Super Personal which means...even odds it either never actually gets written, or turns into a goddamned epic. But I have started making notes.

[thisismyhamilaskblog]

fuck fuck fuck goddamn shitting fuck i am an idiot

[thisismyhamilaskblog]

this

is

not

okay

[thisismyhamilaskblog]

blow us all away

Blow Us All Away: What you never leave home without

All the things. Seriously, I’m a goddamn traveling hoarder. It’s a running joke that I always need huge, durable bags because I’ll wear out cheap ones almost instantly, I shove so much stuff in there.

Bare minimum? Phone, headphones, wallet, transit pass, journal, makeup bag (which itself contains at minimum: powder, powder brush, eyeliner, mascara, lip balm, 5+ pens of at least two different colors + a pencil), cigarettes, lighter.

…I usually also have a spiral notebook, just-in-case menstrual products, a small pipe, a hairbrush, either a book or a couple newspapers (folded over to the crossword), and…probably some other stuff I’m forgetting tbh.

I’m known for being the person that, you need it? I got it. And I take that shit seriously.

[thisismyhamilaskblog]

Right Hand Man & The Schuyler Sisters - Maria--Reynolds (I'm sorry i'm lowkey stalking your blog)

@maria--reynolds

Stalking of all keys is gladly accepted here :)

Right Hand Man: Favorite Song

Nooo idea, man. My musical taste is so damn eclectic that I used to interpret this as “favorite song currently on the radio” just so I’d have an answer, but I don’t listen to the radio these days. I’m currently having a slight re-obsession with Anais Mitchell, though, so I’ll go with “Way Down Hadestown” atm.

The Schuyler Sisters: Favorite Book

Tie between Neverwhere and Good Omens (both Neil Gaiman, I cannot choose). Honorable mentions to Jen Sincero’s Don’t Sleep With Your Drummer and Ned Vizzinni’s Teen Angst? Naah... for being goddamn formative.

[madlori]

Writing advice you're not going to like.

People sometimes send me Asks wanting writing advice.  I suck at it.  I don’t really know how I do the writing, or how one should do the writing, or what one should do to get better at the writing.  All I can ever think to say is “write a lot of stuff and you will get better at the writing.”  Which is true, but hardly a bolt from the sky.

Well, as it turns out, I do have one piece of Legit Writing Advice, and I am going to share it with you, right now.  If you were in any of my writing workshop groups at a con, you’ve heard this advice already.

Warning: you’re going to fucking hate it.  But if you do it, you will thank me.

If you have a piece of fiction you’re serious about, something you might want to actually shop around, or just something you really are into and want to make it as good as you can…do NOT edit it.

Repeat.  DO NOT EDIT.

REWRITE.

As in, print out the whole fucking thing and re-enter it, every word (or use two screens).  Retype the whole thing.  Recreate it from the ground up using your first draft as a template.  Start with a blank page and re-enter every. single. word.

I hear you screaming.  OH MY GOD THAT’S INSANE.

Yes.  Yes, it is.

It is also the most powerful thing you will ever do for a piece of fiction that you are serious about.

Now, let’s get real.  I don’t do this for most things.  I don’t do it for my fanfiction.  But if it’s something original, something I might like to get to a professional level - I do it.  You absolutely COULD do it for fanfiction.  It’s just up to you and how much time you want to sink into a piece.

You can edit, sure.  But you WILL NOT get down to the level of change that needs to happen in a second draft.  You will let things slide.  Your eyes will miss things.  You will say “eh, good enough.”

The first time I did this, on someone else’s advice, I was dubious.  Within two pages, I was saying WHY HAVE I NOT BEEN DOING THIS ALL THE TIME.  I was amazed at how much change was happening.  By the time I got to the end, I had an entirely different novel than the one I’d started with.  When you’re already re-entering every single word, it’s easy to make deep changes.  You’ll reformat sentences, you’ll switch phrases around, you’ll massage your word choice.  You’ll discover whole paragraphs that don’t need to be there at all because they became redundant.  You’ll find dialogue exchanges that need reimagining.  Whole plot points will suddenly be different, whole story arcs will reveal their flaws and get re-drawn.

You cannot get down to the fundamental level of change that’s required just by editing an existing document.  You have to rebuild it if you really want your story to evolve.  You will be AMAZED at the difference it will make.

It will take time.  It will seem like a huge, Herculean task.  I’m not saying it’s easy.  It isn’t.  But it is absolutely revolutionary.

Try it.  I promise, you will see what I mean.

*PSA: Tipsy!Lori wrote this post.  In case you couldn’t tell.

[mooncalfe-deactivated20231020]

maybe i should try this with my comic scripts.

[rosalarian]

This advice is real.

[phantomrose96]

I reblogged this earlier on kind of a “that sounds interesting. might work, might not, can’t see it being drastically different but whatever I should try.” kind of note

I’ve got a short story due today at 5, so I decided to do this and completely rewrite the first draft.

OH. MY GOD.

This is legitimate. It’s let me completely gut scenes I was unhappy with, rewrite them entirely differently and not feel any loyalty to what I used to have.

It’s taking a long time. It’s a commitment. But heck so is writing.

This is great. Do this. It’s amazing.

[thisismyhamilaskblog]

Yeah, this shit works. It honestly doesn’t take that much extra time, either -- and this is coming from someone who does it by hand.

[thisismyhamilaskblog]

Gettin’ real damn tired of all my good pens disappearing.

[thisismyhamilaskblog]

Me: Do not write lengthy emotional notes and shove them at people. That never, ever works. Literally name one time that has ever not ended horribly. My brain: hm yeah you’re right My brain: but what if My brain: we wrote fiction and shoved it at people

[thisismyhamilaskblog]

It is so fucking absurd to me that three months ago, I truly thought this fandom was going to Save My Brain.

Whatever joy I found in it is officially dead. I mean. I’ll probably continue to hang around for awhile, read stuff or whatever. I have a half-finished fic I’d rather not abandon, but that’s never stopped me before.

Annnd no one will notice this post anyway, so. Yeah.

[thisismyhamilaskblog]

be the change you wish to see in the blah blah fucking blah I happen to like being petty and passive-aggressive thank you

[thisismyhamilaskblog]

...well, I guess this is what I get for being lowkey thankful for other people’s crises.

[thisismyhamilaskblog]

Between Hamilton and Empire, I will be happy if I never hear the word "legacy" again.

[thisismyhamilaskblog]

Well damn, I was just reminded of the existence of this song at the worst possible moment.

...also now I’m amused because my casual use of the phrase “well damn” comes from Avenue Q in the first place.

[thisismyhamilaskblog]

That feel when your crack fic suddenly develops a metric shitload of plot and you need someone to help you sort it out, but you've kept the original crack premise and don't want to talk to anyone about it because that would spoil the joke

...just me?

[thisismyhamilaskblog]

Icarus is bullshit, that’s why it’s called mythology People can’t stand genius without an apology