Amy Writes

If you’ve been toying around with the idea of finishing your own original work, you should definitely do it. I’ve been on slush pile work and 90% of the fanfiction I’ve read is better than what comes into our submission box. You’d be horrified at what some people think is publishable.

Finish your novel. Submit it. You’re way better than you think, and you have a higher chance of being published than you fear. Especially at a place like Riptide or Dreamspinner, where they WANT your lgbtq stories.

Seriously. Stop doubting yourself and finish up that nanowrimo project. Dust off your half finished drafts. Finish your work, polish it up, and send it in. Trust me. Publishers want to see it.

Sincerely,

Title: smell you later Author: justkeeponwriting (ao3, tumblr) Artist: deancebra (tumblr) Rating: Mature Length: 23k Pairings: Dean/Cas Warnings: No major warnings apply Tropes: Alpha/Beta/Omega, College AU

Starting his second year of college, Castiel is tired of being alone, and makes a conscious attempt at making friends. It’s just as hard as he thought it would be. Although, almost all of his hardships seem to be related to one Dean Winchester.

Or, wherein Dean keeps asking Castiel out, and Castiel assumes it’s just a joke.

For my second tropefest this year, I got the awesome “smell you later” which is a cute college AU by justkeeponwriting

Go read the story here! 

Check out the art on AO3 as well! 

Title: smell you later Author: justkeeponwriting (ao3, tumblr) Artist: deancebra (tumblr) Rating: Mature Length: 23k Pairings: Dean/Cas Warnings: No major warnings apply Tropes: Alpha/Beta/Omega, College AU

Starting his second year of college, Castiel is tired of being alone, and makes a conscious attempt at making friends. It’s just as hard as he thought it would be. Although, almost all of his hardships seem to be related to one Dean Winchester.

Or, wherein Dean keeps asking Castiel out, and Castiel assumes it’s just a joke.

Title: smell you later Author: justkeeponwriting (ao3, tumblr) Artist: deancebra (tumblr) Rating: Mature Length: 23k Pairings: Dean/Cas Warnings: No major warnings apply Tropes: Alpha/Beta/Omega, College AU

Starting his second year of college, Castiel is tired of being alone, and makes a conscious attempt at making friends. It’s just as hard as he thought it would be. Although, almost all of his hardships seem to be related to one Dean Winchester.

Or, wherein Dean keeps asking Castiel out, and Castiel assumes it’s just a joke.

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.

Examples: 

crippling debt 

lonliness 

a building is on fire 

the world is going to end 

failure 

a broken heart

guilt 

noises they can only hear 

seperation 

lack of strength 

lack of wit 

someone has too much pride 

forbidden love 

encouraged love? 

Pick a problem, give it to a character, and let them try and solve it. 

If you don’t feel like actually writing, prepare for writing:

Open your WIP Word doc

Read the last page again

Scribble notes on what happens next

Title: (don’t) fear the reaper Author: justkeeponwriting (ao3/tumblr) Artist: starmouse123 (tumblr) Rating: E Length: 50k Pairings: Castiel/Dean, mentioned Sam/Jess Warnings: Alternate universe - Magic, soul bonds, magically binding contracts, (mild) dom/sub undertones, anal fingering, bottom!Dean, blowjobs

Summary: Castiel is a grim reaper – and a very experienced one at that. He has negotiated thousands of deals to keep the balance of souls, acquiring years of life energy from mortals who have too many years in their life span, and has passed it onto those who have less. But even Castiel isn’t prepared when he accidentally convinces a mortal called Dean Winchester to give him his soul, and with it, the complete control of his life.