a girl name deliah♡

from an indie author who's published 4 books and written 20+, as well as 400k in fanfiction (who is also a professional beta reader who encounters the same issues in my clients' books over and over)

show don't tell is every bit as important as they say it is, no matter how sick you are of hearing about it. "the floor shifted beneath her feet" hits harder than "she felt sick with shock."

no head hopping. if you want to change pov mid scene, put a scene break. you can change it multiple times in the same scene! just put a break so your readers know you've changed pov.

if you have to infodump, do it through dialogue instead of exposition. your reader will feel like they're learning alongside the character, and it will flow naturally into your story.

never open your book with an exposition dump. instead, your opening scene should drop into the heart of the action with little to no context. raise questions to the reader and sprinkle in the answers bit by bit. let your reader discover the context slowly instead of holding their hand from the start. trust your reader; donn't overexplain the details. this is how you create a perfect hook.

every chapter should end on a cliffhanger. doesn't have to be major, can be as simple as ending a chapter mid conversation and picking it up immediately on the next one. tease your reader and make them need to turn the page.

every scene should subvert the character's expectations, as big as a plot twist or as small as a conversation having a surprising outcome. scenes that meet the character's expectations, such as a boring supply run, should be summarized.

arrive late and leave early to every scene. if you're character's at a party, open with them mid conversation instead of describing how they got dressed, left their house, arrived at the party, (because those things don't subvert their expectations). and when you're done with the reason for the scene is there, i.e. an important conversation, end it. once you've shown what you needed to show, get out, instead of describing your character commuting home (because it doesn't subvert expectations!)

epithets are the devil. "the blond man smiled--" you've lost me. use their name. use it often. don't be afraid of it. the reader won't get tired of it. it will serve you far better than epithets, especially if you have two people of the same pronouns interacting.

your character should always be working towards a goal, internal or external (i.e learning to love themself/killing the villain.) try to establish that goal as soon as possible in the reader's mind. the goal can change, the goal can evolve. as long as the reader knows the character isn't floating aimlessly through the world around them with no agency and no desire. that gets boring fast.

plan scenes that you know you'll have fun writing, instead of scenes that might seem cool in your head but you know you'll loathe every second of. besides the fact that your top priority in writing should be writing for only yourself and having fun, if you're just dragging through a scene you really hate, the scene will suffer for it, and readers can tell. the scenes i get the most praise on are always the scenes i had the most fun writing. an ideal outline shouldn't have parts that make you groan to look at. you'll thank yourself later.

TARGARYEN.

STARK.

BARATHEON.

LANNISTER.

BOLTON.

MORMONT.

ARRYN.

GREYJOY.

MARTELL.

TYRELL.

A few mood boards for my fanfiction

To those who see. A teen wolf Fanfiction introducing my oc Rory lovette.

beta & alpha readers wanted for fic projects will beta in exchange!

Hey everyone!

For those that don't know me, my name's Lou (she/her) and I have recently gotten back into revamping the numerous fic projects I had in my vaults and trying to get back into my writing again.

I have put out this post to say that if anyone is also in a similar situation with their own fics, I am offering my fellow fic writers to beta & alpha read fics in exchange for coming on as an alpha or beta reader for my own projects.

As a beta & alpha reader, I am willing to not only check for grammar, punctuation, spelling and formatting but also:

identify weaknesses in the plot.

identify pieces in the story where engagement was high or lacking.

identify points in the story where clarity is needed.

help develop characters (both oc & canon)

canon check pieces of information (for canonverse/compliant fics)

|| if you have specific needs, feel free to check with me ! ||

As a writer, I am looking for someone to help with:

identifying inconsistent tense.

identifying where engagement was high or lacking.

identifying points in the story where clarity is needed.

writing relationship development (platonic/romantic)

editing plot structure and fluidity.

writing descriptive settings.

identifying monotone or repetitive parts of the story.

Most importantly, I am looking for people who can approach my story as both a reader passionate about the fic and a writer/editor passionate about helping improve the story.

My projects are also multi-chapter (150,000) and usually part of a wider series (minimum of 3 parts) ; therefore, I am open to working on fic projects that are of equal length!

The fandoms that I write and will read for are:

Fairy Tail, My Hero Academia, Attack on Titan, Game of Thrones/House of Dragons (TV), X-Men (movies), Teen Wolf, The Last Kingdom, The Nine Lives of Chloe King, Harry Potter (fuck JKR tho), The DC Animated Films/Young Justice, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Walking Dead (universe), Scream (movies), The Vampire Diaries/The Originals, The 100, Glee, Pretty Little Liars, Percy Jackson, Criminal Minds, Wolfblood, The Chronicles of Narnia, Outerbanks, The Maze Runner, Grey's Anatomy, Tower Prep, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, FATE: The Winx Saga, Stranger Things, Star Wars, Resident Evil (Gameverse), Power Rangers (the movie), The Hunger Games, Five Night's At Freddy's, Pacific Rim.

The fandoms that I have as WIP right now are:

Teen Wolf, Harry Potter, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Chronicles of Narnia, The 100, Game of Thrones.

The rest of the fandoms listed are in the worldbuilding process, which I also welcome help with if anyone is interested in bouncing ideas back and forth and fleshing out each other's fics!

This is the link to my Ao3 if you want to understand my writing style.

if you're interested in one of the projects I have for these fandoms (as a beta or just as a potential reader), send me a DM or a ask!

The type of fics that I enjoy writing/reading are (with consideration that Ao3 is my primary writing platform):

M-E Rated (For that reason, I prefer to work with 18+ betas)

Plot-heavy but with a well-written romantic subplot (requirement)

Specific tags/plot I enjoy/write: Time-travel, Fix-It, Canon-Divergence, What-Ifs.

Canonverse fics.

Both OC (has to have the potential of good development, though) and Canon Character-centric fics.

Found family, healing from trauma, redemption arcs.

Crossover/fusion fics (where the original fandom is set in the universe of another fandom)

Zombie-Apocolypse fics.

Dark twists on characters, plots, and the wider canonverse.

-

The type of fics that I steer clear from or don't enjoy reading/writing:

G-T Rated.

No romantic subplot at all (I am a romantic girly, sorry to say)

A Mary Sue OC/Reader-Insert or Mary Sue plot.

Reader-inserts.

Established Relationships (unless I can read the build up first)

Specific tags/plot: P*dophilia, Incest (outside of canon-typical), Mpreg, Omegaverse (only under special circumstances).

Modern AUs, Human AUs, No Power AUs.

No Comfort, No Happy Ending, Major Character (Permanent) Death.

Character bashing (I do read fics that bash, but I find it hard to beta for them only because I like to discuss characters objectively - but there are exceptions, so feel free to check)

Anything that attempts to glorify or justify racism, homophobia, transphobia, biphobia, xenophobia, ableism, sexism, bigotry, abuse, r*pe or anything even remotely similar.

(feel free to check with me tho, I am open to discussion of everything except the bottom dot point)

Because I believe beta reading to be an experience that should be enjoyable and insightful for both the reader and writer, I am open to :

Discussing any ships, character arcs, or plot points that my betas personally wanted to see in the show or are very passionate about (read: this does not mean I will change my entire story but that I am open to possibilities)

Analysing and critiquing any of the above media (read: NOT BASHING, but genuine analysis of how different media were handled to apply to our own form of writing)

Giving out and receiving fic, tv, movie and book recs to aid in inspiring each other during the course of our writing, but also to support our fellow writing community!

It's been really lost with the rise of grimdark as a genre, and also with the way television has changed over the years. But 'the rise and the fall' or the 'inhale and exhale' within a genre (i.e. between intense and light moments, or emotional and silly moments) was actually fundamental in particular to television storytelling structure, and certainly in a lot of books too. You only need to look at Lord of the Rings to see that even J.R.R. Tolkien understood this inherently. It's good storytelling to know that in most stories, in most genres, even horror and thriller, it's good - powerful actually - to let your characters breathe and have a moment.

beta & alpha readers wanted for fic projects will beta in exchange!

Hey everyone!

For those that don't know me, my name's Lou (she/her) and I have recently gotten back into revamping the numerous fic projects I had in my vaults and trying to get back into my writing again.

I have put out this post to say that if anyone is also in a similar situation with their own fics, I am offering my fellow fic writers to beta & alpha read fics in exchange for coming on as an alpha or beta reader for my own projects.

As a beta & alpha reader, I am willing to not only check for grammar, punctuation, spelling and formatting but also:

identify weaknesses in the plot.

identify pieces in the story where engagement was high or lacking.

identify points in the story where clarity is needed.

help develop characters (both oc & canon)

canon check pieces of information (for canonverse/compliant fics)

|| if you have specific needs, feel free to check with me ! ||

As a writer, I am looking for someone to help with:

identifying inconsistent tense.

identifying where engagement was high or lacking.

identifying points in the story where clarity is needed.

writing relationship development (platonic/romantic)

editing plot structure and fluidity.

writing descriptive settings.

identifying monotone or repetitive parts of the story.

Most importantly, I am looking for people who can approach my story as both a reader passionate about the fic and a writer/editor passionate about helping improve the story.

My projects are also multi-chapter (150,000) and usually part of a wider series (minimum of 3 parts) ; therefore, I am open to working on fic projects that are of equal length!

The fandoms that I write and will read for are:

Fairy Tail, My Hero Academia, Attack on Titan, Game of Thrones/House of Dragons (TV), X-Men (movies), Teen Wolf, The Last Kingdom, The Nine Lives of Chloe King, Harry Potter (fuck JKR tho), The DC Animated Films/Young Justice, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Walking Dead (universe), Scream (movies), The Vampire Diaries/The Originals, The 100, Glee, Pretty Little Liars, Percy Jackson, Criminal Minds, Wolfblood, The Chronicles of Narnia, Outerbanks, The Maze Runner, Grey's Anatomy, Tower Prep, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, FATE: The Winx Saga, Stranger Things, Star Wars, Resident Evil (Gameverse), Power Rangers (the movie), The Hunger Games, Five Night's At Freddy's, Pacific Rim.

The fandoms that I have as WIP right now are:

Teen Wolf, Harry Potter, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Chronicles of Narnia, The 100, Game of Thrones.

The rest of the fandoms listed are in the worldbuilding process, which I also welcome help with if anyone is interested in bouncing ideas back and forth and fleshing out each other's fics!

This is the link to my Ao3 if you want to understand my writing style.

if you're interested in one of the projects I have for these fandoms (as a beta or just as a potential reader), send me a DM or a ask!

The type of fics that I enjoy writing/reading are (with consideration that Ao3 is my primary writing platform):

M-E Rated (For that reason, I prefer to work with 18+ betas)

Plot-heavy but with a well-written romantic subplot (requirement)

Specific tags/plot I enjoy/write: Time-travel, Fix-It, Canon-Divergence, What-Ifs.

Canonverse fics.

Both OC (has to have the potential of good development, though) and Canon Character-centric fics.

Found family, healing from trauma, redemption arcs.

Crossover/fusion fics (where the original fandom is set in the universe of another fandom)

Zombie-Apocolypse fics.

Dark twists on characters, plots, and the wider canonverse.

-

The type of fics that I steer clear from or don't enjoy reading/writing:

G-T Rated.

No romantic subplot at all (I am a romantic girly, sorry to say)

A Mary Sue OC/Reader-Insert or Mary Sue plot.

Reader-inserts.

Established Relationships (unless I can read the build up first)

Specific tags/plot: P*dophilia, Incest (outside of canon-typical), Mpreg, Omegaverse (only under special circumstances).

Modern AUs, Human AUs, No Power AUs.

No Comfort, No Happy Ending, Major Character (Permanent) Death.

Character bashing (I do read fics that bash, but I find it hard to beta for them only because I like to discuss characters objectively - but there are exceptions, so feel free to check)

Anything that attempts to glorify or justify racism, homophobia, transphobia, biphobia, xenophobia, ableism, sexism, bigotry, abuse, r*pe or anything even remotely similar.

(feel free to check with me tho, I am open to discussion of everything except the bottom dot point)

Because I believe beta reading to be an experience that should be enjoyable and insightful for both the reader and writer, I am open to :

Discussing any ships, character arcs, or plot points that my betas personally wanted to see in the show or are very passionate about (read: this does not mean I will change my entire story but that I am open to possibilities)

Analysing and critiquing any of the above media (read: NOT BASHING, but genuine analysis of how different media were handled to apply to our own form of writing)

Giving out and receiving fic, tv, movie and book recs to aid in inspiring each other during the course of our writing, but also to support our fellow writing community!

beta & alpha readers wanted for fic projects will beta in exchange!

Hey everyone!

For those that don't know me, my name's Lou (she/her) and I have recently gotten back into revamping the numerous fic projects I had in my vaults and trying to get back into my writing again.

I have put out this post to say that if anyone is also in a similar situation with their own fics, I am offering my fellow fic writers to beta & alpha read fics in exchange for coming on as an alpha or beta reader for my own projects.

As a beta & alpha reader, I am willing to not only check for grammar, punctuation, spelling and formatting but also:

identify weaknesses in the plot.

identify pieces in the story where engagement was high or lacking.

identify points in the story where clarity is needed.

help develop characters (both oc & canon)

canon check pieces of information (for canonverse/compliant fics)

|| if you have specific needs, feel free to check with me ! ||

As a writer, I am looking for someone to help with:

identifying inconsistent tense.

identifying where engagement was high or lacking.

identifying points in the story where clarity is needed.

writing relationship development (platonic/romantic)

editing plot structure and fluidity.

writing descriptive settings.

identifying monotone or repetitive parts of the story.

Most importantly, I am looking for people who can approach my story as both a reader passionate about the fic and a writer/editor passionate about helping improve the story.

My projects are also multi-chapter (150,000) and usually part of a wider series (minimum of 3 parts) ; therefore, I am open to working on fic projects that are of equal length!

The fandoms that I write and will read for are:

Fairy Tail, My Hero Academia, Attack on Titan, Game of Thrones/House of Dragons (TV), X-Men (movies), Teen Wolf, The Last Kingdom, The Nine Lives of Chloe King, Harry Potter (fuck JKR tho), The DC Animated Films/Young Justice, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Walking Dead (universe), Scream (movies), The Vampire Diaries/The Originals, The 100, Glee, Pretty Little Liars, Percy Jackson, Criminal Minds, Wolfblood, The Chronicles of Narnia, Outerbanks, The Maze Runner, Grey's Anatomy, Tower Prep, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, FATE: The Winx Saga, Stranger Things, Star Wars, Resident Evil (Gameverse), Power Rangers (the movie), The Hunger Games, Five Night's At Freddy's, Pacific Rim.

The fandoms that I have as WIP right now are:

Teen Wolf, Harry Potter, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Chronicles of Narnia, The 100, Game of Thrones.

The rest of the fandoms listed are in the worldbuilding process, which I also welcome help with if anyone is interested in bouncing ideas back and forth and fleshing out each other's fics!

This is the link to my Ao3 if you want to understand my writing style.

if you're interested in one of the projects I have for these fandoms (as a beta or just as a potential reader), send me a DM or a ask!

The type of fics that I enjoy writing/reading are (with consideration that Ao3 is my primary writing platform):

M-E Rated (For that reason, I prefer to work with 18+ betas)

Plot-heavy but with a well-written romantic subplot (requirement)

Specific tags/plot I enjoy/write: Time-travel, Fix-It, Canon-Divergence, What-Ifs.

Canonverse fics.

Both OC (has to have the potential of good development, though) and Canon Character-centric fics.

Found family, healing from trauma, redemption arcs.

Crossover/fusion fics (where the original fandom is set in the universe of another fandom)

Zombie-Apocolypse fics.

Dark twists on characters, plots, and the wider canonverse.

-

The type of fics that I steer clear from or don't enjoy reading/writing:

G-T Rated.

No romantic subplot at all (I am a romantic girly, sorry to say)

A Mary Sue OC/Reader-Insert or Mary Sue plot.

Reader-inserts.

Established Relationships (unless I can read the build up first)

Specific tags/plot: P*dophilia, Incest (outside of canon-typical), Mpreg, Omegaverse (only under special circumstances).

Modern AUs, Human AUs, No Power AUs.

No Comfort, No Happy Ending, Major Character (Permanent) Death.

Character bashing (I do read fics that bash, but I find it hard to beta for them only because I like to discuss characters objectively - but there are exceptions, so feel free to check)

Anything that attempts to glorify or justify racism, homophobia, transphobia, biphobia, xenophobia, ableism, sexism, bigotry, abuse, r*pe or anything even remotely similar.

(feel free to check with me tho, I am open to discussion of everything except the bottom dot point)

Because I believe beta reading to be an experience that should be enjoyable and insightful for both the reader and writer, I am open to :

Discussing any ships, character arcs, or plot points that my betas personally wanted to see in the show or are very passionate about (read: this does not mean I will change my entire story but that I am open to possibilities)

Analysing and critiquing any of the above media (read: NOT BASHING, but genuine analysis of how different media were handled to apply to our own form of writing)

Giving out and receiving fic, tv, movie and book recs to aid in inspiring each other during the course of our writing, but also to support our fellow writing community!

beta & alpha readers wanted for fic projects will beta in exchange!

Hey everyone!

For those that don't know me, my name's Lou (she/her) and I have recently gotten back into revamping the numerous fic projects I had in my vaults and trying to get back into my writing again.

I have put out this post to say that if anyone is also in a similar situation with their own fics, I am offering my fellow fic writers to beta & alpha read fics in exchange for coming on as an alpha or beta reader for my own projects.

As a beta & alpha reader, I am willing to not only check for grammar, punctuation, spelling and formatting but also:

identify weaknesses in the plot.

identify pieces in the story where engagement was high or lacking.

identify points in the story where clarity is needed.

help develop characters (both oc & canon)

canon check pieces of information (for canonverse/compliant fics)

|| if you have specific needs, feel free to check with me ! ||

As a writer, I am looking for someone to help with:

identifying inconsistent tense.

identifying where engagement was high or lacking.

identifying points in the story where clarity is needed.

writing relationship development (platonic/romantic)

editing plot structure and fluidity.

writing descriptive settings.

identifying monotone or repetitive parts of the story.

Most importantly, I am looking for people who can approach my story as both a reader passionate about the fic and a writer/editor passionate about helping improve the story.

My projects are also multi-chapter (150,000) and usually part of a wider series (minimum of 3 parts) ; therefore, I am open to working on fic projects that are of equal length!

The fandoms that I write and will read for are:

Fairy Tail, My Hero Academia, Attack on Titan, Game of Thrones/House of Dragons (TV), X-Men (movies), Teen Wolf, The Last Kingdom, The Nine Lives of Chloe King, Harry Potter (fuck JKR tho), The DC Animated Films/Young Justice, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Walking Dead (universe), Scream (movies), The Vampire Diaries/The Originals, The 100, Glee, Pretty Little Liars, Percy Jackson, Criminal Minds, Wolfblood, The Chronicles of Narnia, Outerbanks, The Maze Runner, Grey's Anatomy, Tower Prep, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, FATE: The Winx Saga, Stranger Things, Star Wars, Resident Evil (Gameverse), Power Rangers (the movie), The Hunger Games, Five Night's At Freddy's, Pacific Rim.

The fandoms that I have as WIP right now are:

Teen Wolf, Harry Potter, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Chronicles of Narnia, The 100, Game of Thrones.

The rest of the fandoms listed are in the worldbuilding process, which I also welcome help with if anyone is interested in bouncing ideas back and forth and fleshing out each other's fics!

This is the link to my Ao3 if you want to understand my writing style.

if you're interested in one of the projects I have for these fandoms (as a beta or just as a potential reader), send me a DM or a ask!

The type of fics that I enjoy writing/reading are (with consideration that Ao3 is my primary writing platform):

M-E Rated (For that reason, I prefer to work with 18+ betas)

Plot-heavy but with a well-written romantic subplot (requirement)

Specific tags/plot I enjoy/write: Time-travel, Fix-It, Canon-Divergence, What-Ifs.

Canonverse fics.

Both OC (has to have the potential of good development, though) and Canon Character-centric fics.

Found family, healing from trauma, redemption arcs.

Crossover/fusion fics (where the original fandom is set in the universe of another fandom)

Zombie-Apocolypse fics.

Dark twists on characters, plots, and the wider canonverse.

-

The type of fics that I steer clear from or don't enjoy reading/writing:

G-T Rated.

No romantic subplot at all (I am a romantic girly, sorry to say)

A Mary Sue OC/Reader-Insert or Mary Sue plot.

Reader-inserts.

Established Relationships (unless I can read the build up first)

Specific tags/plot: P*dophilia, Incest (outside of canon-typical), Mpreg, Omegaverse (only under special circumstances).

Modern AUs, Human AUs, No Power AUs.

No Comfort, No Happy Ending, Major Character (Permanent) Death.

Character bashing (I do read fics that bash, but I find it hard to beta for them only because I like to discuss characters objectively - but there are exceptions, so feel free to check)

Anything that attempts to glorify or justify racism, homophobia, transphobia, biphobia, xenophobia, ableism, sexism, bigotry, abuse, r*pe or anything even remotely similar.

(feel free to check with me tho, I am open to discussion of everything except the bottom dot point)

Because I believe beta reading to be an experience that should be enjoyable and insightful for both the reader and writer, I am open to :

Discussing any ships, character arcs, or plot points that my betas personally wanted to see in the show or are very passionate about (read: this does not mean I will change my entire story but that I am open to possibilities)

Analysing and critiquing any of the above media (read: NOT BASHING, but genuine analysis of how different media were handled to apply to our own form of writing)

Giving out and receiving fic, tv, movie and book recs to aid in inspiring each other during the course of our writing, but also to support our fellow writing community!