idreamofdraco's Harry Potter and writing blog

the "my favorite character did nothing wrong" mindset is completely unappealing to me because i love thinking about all the things my favorite characters did wrong

Idk who needs to hear this but Dead Dove: Do Not Eat is NOT a universal trigger warning, it means "heed the tags because what you see is what you get." You still need to tag your shit

about 90% of fanfiction takes place in a utopia where men are thoughtful and unsure of their place in the world

that is actually my main principle of explicit fic is that the personalities stay On during sex.

really humiliating trying to write horror like they went into the creepy house and there was a creepy ghost and the creepy guy with a creepy knife and everything was very creepy are you scared yet and thats like literally not how suspense and tension actually work but like all u can do is say well maybe something else was creepy?

Feeling inspired... Might put off writing and think about it the whole time

reminder that u can literally Just write the scene that interests u. if youre like wow i want to write this thing but dont want to come up with a whole story around it, then free yourself and just write the scene in your mind

actually, that sex scene is load-bearing

Writing is best when it’s an escape from a responsibility. When it stops being an escape, it’s a responsibility.

Real thing that changed how i write: I started asking "what does this character think is wrong with them" and separately "what is actually wrong with them." Those two things are almost never the same. She thinks she's too much. She's actually terrified of being too little. He thinks he's bad at commitment. He's actually just never met someone he trusted enough. The gap between their diagnosis of themselves and the real thing, that's your character arc right there. you don't have to explain it. just write both.

It takes one minute to imagine the scene and 500 hours to write it

if you dont decouple your drive to create from your desire for attention you will go insane. simple as. you will never feel satisfied b/c you will always want more and you will feel perpetually bitter that you did not get what you are “owed”

It’s an unpopular opinion but it is absolutely and completely true. I’ve never seen someone who creates for engagement happy with the engagement they get. I posit they can’t ever be happy that way because it will NEVER be enough