#except smut

please hit me up with some prompts

this is kind of a long one...

there's a piece of drawing advice that goes, "to get better at drawing get completely obsessed with something so you're forced to learn the rules to draw" or something. my philosophy is pretty similar, especially when I'm stuck on an idea- "I can do that better". almost all my ideas stem from something I watched/read/saw that I loved the concept and spun it into my own take

take for example my mummy rewrite- people tend to pick up on bad writing pretty easily, even if they enjoy something, so rewriting a story or making an au with another fandom and adding in all the things you felt were missing (like I did) is a great way to practice, and start looking at yours and others writing with a more constructively critical eye, if that makes sense. but it also gives you a framework and a good idea of the plot, which makes it easier to finish a big project.

have a plan too!! I always write a treatment for my fics, and then about halfway or a third of the way through I fully plan out chapters and finalize the plot, but keep it basic because I tend to come up with things as I'm writing, but you might not be the same way- still, you need a plan, because then the plot will start to meander.

get a second opinion! starting out I had people beta everything, but nowadays I kind of get impatient to post... I should take my own advice. but especially if you're starting out, it's good to get constructive criticism

read your stuff out loud as you write! that helps me imagine characters voices and better plan out jokes especially, get down the tone of dialogue as a read, and make sure the flow of description is good.

and a nitpick- learn proper formatting in terms of dialogue. not required or anything but it drives me up the wall and it's definitely good to learn