real gods require blood.

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.

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.

MORBIDRPA’S ALTERNATE FC SUGGESTIONS

your favorite redheads are old news, friends. i hate to break it to you. i still see people playing holland roden, which, in the year of our lord two thousand and eighteen, is so mind-boggling to me, but i’m honestly even getting kind of tired of seeing madelaine petsch, as much as i do love her. so here are twenty eight alternatives that you can use for your female-coded redheaded characters, all thirty five or younger! please credit back to this post if you use it in fc help or casting or anything of that nature, LIKE or REBLOG if you found this helpful, and, as always, consider buying me a coffee for continued support.

ABIGAIL COWEN — white — twenty years old // ALEECE WILSON— one quarter black, one quarter metis, half white — twenty three years old // ANNA ARENDSHORST — white — twenty nine years old // BARBARA MEIER — white — thirty two years old

BREE KISH — unspecified part black, unspecified part white — twenty two years old // BRIDGET ROSE SATTERLEE — white — twenty years old // CAMILLE CREGAN — white — age unknown // CARMEN SOLOMONS — black — twenty seven years old

CHARLOTTE SPENCER — white — twenty seven years old // ELENA SATINE — georgian — twenty nine years old // ELLIE BAMBER — white — twenty one years old // HALEY RAMM — white — twenty six years old

HOYEON JUNG — korean — twenty four years old // JADE THOMPSON — half afro-jamaican, half white — twenty seven years old // JENNA THIAM — white — twenty seven years old // LAURA BERLIN — white — twenty eight years old

LILLY DREESEN — white — age unknown // LISA TEIGE — white — twenty years old // LUCA HOLLESTELLE — white — twenty two years old // LYDIA ROSE BEWLEY — white — thirty three years old

MADDISON BROWN — white — twenty one years old // MAGGIE GEHA — white — thirty years old // MERYEM UZERLI — half turkish, half white — thirty five years old // OZCAN TEKDEMIR — turkish — age unknown

everyone in college is eccentric. everyone

you wanna wear full on Victorian suit? the girl in pajamas who clearly hasn’t slept in three days supports you

everyone is too preoccupied to care as long as you’re polite and follow class etiquette

multiple high school diplomas? eh. same stuff. multiple BAs? Enjoy learning chemistry AND art history! All in detail!

wandering around campus at 3am? that’s just the lifestyle tm

no matter how old or young you look it’s not really that weird, there’s sixteen year olds and sixty year olds doing BAs somewhere

If u put ur blood in a water bottle ppl will assume it’s juice and be Jealous

“Oh god I’m a monster” 20 students who r all procrastinating big projects say “same” simultaniousely and with the exact same tone

Everything is a joke so if u say “I subsist on the lifeblood of mankind” someone will go “lol what a mood”

It would take u like 100 years to major in everything

Seen sucking the blood of a fellow classmate and u r instantly the campus Cryptid and Mascot

Listen. If u have an ethical dilemma go find a philosophy major that believes in ethical subjectivism and they’ll make u so angry u forget abt whatever the fuck was bothering u

College is the only acceptable place to get into fistfights over classical literature

Literally all u need to do to avoid suspicion is be the guy that always has gum and a stapler

If u have a majestic mustache ppl will just assume ur an English major