i wanna start a smau of my own, any tips?
omgg i feel like i’m never the right person to ask this to because this is only my second time trying smaus 😭 i wish i had that old response somewhere saved but i’ll give you some stuff i remember i think are important for smaus and writing in general!!!
1. make sure you got a idea of what you’re trying to write!! plan out the basic stuff, e.g what genre/trope you want to focus on while writing [ e.g. pay the price is a neighbour trope with enemies to lovers while stg is a sports au with strangers to lovers] the characters you wanna use and their characteristics etc.
if you struggle with coming up with a full plot (which i do to) i recommend just writing down major events you want to happen in the story like “i want them to be stuck in a room tgt” “i want them to accidentally kiss” and work around that by adding some random stuff with it over time.
2. try to make it sound as natural as you can? i noticed that people (me) are more interested in smaus that don’t feel forced with its dialogue, like you don’t have to rush the plot, and if you are, just make sure it makes sense for them to move from one point to the other!!!
3. this is a personal preference but you don’t have to make it sound like a serious novel. its okay and definitely appreciated to be random and silly in your writing!!! no one on twitter is going to be always tweeting angsty are they? maybe it’s because i’m on stan twitter but i always like to give my characters some type of quirk that doesn’t make them too bland yk? it can be boring to read a story where your characters are all very bland and barely doing anything
4. WRITE AT YOUR OWN PACE!!!!! i feel like a lot of writers in general feel pressured to put stuff out in a deadline and as a result it sometimes ruins the quality of the writing 😭 i’d say write a few chapters before you even post the smau so you can try to write the rest while you let those chapters marinate. as a writer (both smau and normal) you should never feel obligated to post, its YOUR blog!!!
5. make sure you’re actually enjoying the writing. this kinda ties to the 3rd and 4th point but if you don’t enjoy what you’re coming up with it’s going to sound forced and ruin the quality of the work. you don’t want writing to feel like a chore 😭😭 i’ve seen a lot of people put their smaus on hold because sometimes, you just don’t have the creativity or even the motivation to continue writing. i know notes and engagement can do a lot to motivate someone, but you should firstly ask yourself if you even enjoy your writing if it didn’t get any engagement? whether you’re okay with writing it for yourself. if the answer is yes than you’re already doing great.
ummmm idk if you have any other questions i guess i could try to answer? this feels weird because i haven’t even been in the smau scene for a year compared to others but i still feel honoured that you asked it from me!!!
