Fandoms, Unite!

It usually feels really bad. Because this is the point it becomes real craft. It's so, so difficult to really be able to identify if it's truly not going to be anything or you're just in the hardest part of the process, and really the only way to know is to... write through it. Write it badly. Or, if you really can't, put it in a drawer and come back to it after a few months of breathing space. Remember, you can fix so much in the edit, but you can't fix nothing!

This PSA has been brought to you by the four fawns and does that ran out in front of me at various points on my drive home.

it’s griffin’s “how could you forget about lup?”

because he says it with this sort of incredulous laugh. and at first it’s like “oh yeah, haha, how could you?” because it’s lup. she’s your other half. your twin sister, your best friend, the other part of your soul. you know yourself through her. of course you wouldn’t forget her!

but you already have. and slowly, the dread sets in, because you have, and now you’re remembering, and there’s a kind of rage that comes with it.

begin by daydreaming as you normally do, or just after you've finished doing so. write down every thought you have. one after another. do not reread. do not stop for spelling mistakes. just dump out every thought. this is called stream of consciousness writing. you can do this for every scene you need a first draft for.

struggling to draft the scene? try to daydream about it. start thinking about how it would look, feel, what the characters would say, act it out in your head and then write out the stream of your thoughts as they arrive.

by now you have a few scene dumps. you may be tempted to go back and edit. do not do this expect for obvious spelling mistakes. do not read closely and start thinking "i need to rework this sentence." that is for later. now you're in the zone. draft more scenes. or work out what the next scene needs to be, scaffold it with a few comments. this will be the inspiration for your next deliberate thought stream that you will write out. repeat this process until you have the whole draft.

now that you have a draft or part of a draft you get to do this very fun thing called revise until you're happy. sweep through your draft with specific goals each time. one sweep to fix spelling/grammar. another for character voice. another for plot. repeat until you're happy with it.

leave it alone. just leave it for a bit. at least a few hours or days or even weeks. forget it exists. this will allow you come back with fresh eyes. then you can do your revisions with an eagle eye. now you may realize you need to add/remove scenes. you know how to get the first version down. close your eyes and daydream at your desk if that's what takes!

remember that fiction writing is persuasive writing. you are trying to persuade the reader to care about what happens next, the character's, the world, the feelings. as you're revising, consider whether you are persuaded. is the feeling/thoughts you wanted to provoke being felt by you when you read it? when working with beta readers, be sure to communicate what you're trying to convey so they can tell you if you've been successful or not.

this got a bit beyond getting the first draft done. hope you found it helpful.

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IN THE SOOP SVT #2 Episode 01. BONUS:

OKAY THIS IS HARD because I really love all of them so much. I couldn't tell you my least favorite because seriously the scale is so small I'm working in .0001's here. I realize Mikey's never listed as my "favorite" but I adore him so much. I will protect him with my life. But anyway, to more detailed explanation:

1987: I love them all so much. Raph's probably my favorite, his sass is unparalleled, but I also love Donnie for the amount of just. FERALITY the man has when it comes to science. Make a clone? Sure. Turn his brothers into babies? Yeah okay.

90's Movies: Leoooo... I love Leo. I love how he tries his best and how worried he is about Raph. He's just very good. A good boy.

2003: LEONARDO, full stop. He's my favorite, I adore him and his arc and his struggle with leadership and how it relates to himself and who he is. I love how he learns to be at peace with it all. I love the big brother vibe he has.

2007: This one is so close but Raph might push because he got the most character development and attention. Leo's a close second. The 2007 movie is so based around their relationship that it's hard not to include both of them together. I love how they show how Raph has dealt with Leo leaving, and how absolutely devastating it was for him. The more he acts like he never cared the more it becomes obvious how much he DOES care.

2012: I-it's Leo again. I love that they made him a fanboy, it gave him such a nice pop of character. I also love the idea that he chose to be leader, and though his father treats him as though he's the oldest, he's the one in charge, his brothers still just see Leo as their brother. They don't always listen to him. He doesn't always do it right, but damn is he trying his best, even if they don't always appreciate it.

2014/2016 (Bayverse): DONATELLO. I didn't like these movies a whole lot. I feel like they skipped the "teenage" part, but they're turtle content so I still enjoyed them to a certain extent. But GOD if I don't love Donnie's little quips and lines and the fact that he just JUMPED OUT OF PLANE COMPLETELY UNBOTHERED. I love Donnie in this one.