.the X vein

* makes you gay*

Show don’t tell? Ignore.

Basic grammar and punctuation? Unnecessary. 

Physical descriptions of characters? Don’t need to bother. 

Solid plot? That’s for later. 

The words don’t come as fast when you’re thinking of the best way to put them together. It doesn’t have to be pretty, or much more than inconsistent nonsense.  The point is to have it exist.

this usually means character arcs and deep ethical and political debates for me, but for some people it’s gonna be physical description or in-depth plotting or Whatever

It also depends on if you just need to tweak the original file or if you want to re-write the whole thing. I’ve done both.

The first is my usual technique, where I make a copy of the the original for second run and that’s the one I cover with my notes. I always add notes in bright colours in the body of the text, because I have the attention span of a guppy and that makes me pay attention. Notes in the comment boxes, I’m not so good with, because I lose track. As I make the amendments, I remove the coloured patches, so my patchwork book becomes whole.

The second technique is sometimes easier. You know the story. You know what you need to add and where/when you need to add it. This gives you the chance to add more dynamism. First time I did this, my first chapter went from being bland infodumping to an action scene and it really jump-started the whole story and gave me much more momentum. Getting the first chapter right can make such a difference - it sets the vibe and the energy from the word go.

It all depends on whether planning and outlining work for you as well. If you have specific beats and moments you want to hit, finding a rhythm for them can take a bit of time. Write out a timeline, so you can clearly see where and when you’re hitting things. Sometimes, it can help because it lets you see where the action flags and where there’s potentially a gap that needs to be tightened.

That said, everyone does things differently. I am a keyboard-smashing word monkey and I will smash my way from beginning to end of a book for the most part, then go back and chip off bits and pieces to tidy up the shape of it. Some people prefer to structure everything beforehand.

Endling is a beautiful and harrowing adventure where the last living fox tries to help her cubs survive in a ruined world.