#ratcoffin69

the last sentence you wrote Memories of the previous night parade in flickering silhouettes against the cave-dark wall of his skull, out of order and incomplete like a badly cut reel of film: he’s drinking champagne from the bottle; he’s snorting a line off the coffee table; he’s sitting on the end of Dee’s bed, flicking through TV channels; he’s standing in the smoke-filled street in front of the bar, and then there’s Dennis. Just Dennis.

17. talk about your writing and editing process The first seed usually comes from a song or artwork that I'm particularly into, that aligns with their characters/relationship somehow. My brain tells me that THIS will finally be the fic where I just concisely slam out 4k words in a couple of days and am satisfied. I write a dot-point skeleton of the plot from start to finish, then flesh each of them out into paragraphs. Delete the parts that don't work and put together a playlist as I write that helps build a sense of tone for me internally (why most of my fics have specific songs in the notes). Flesh out the dialogue scene by scene. Realise that this is definitely going to be more than 4k words and try and strategically place chapter breaks in a way that make sense. Take a few nights to unpick tricky parts - usually I just get a little stoned and close my eyes and try and envisage the entire scene unfolding start to finish. Save the horny stuff for last, go through and rewrite clunkier sections. Sit out on my balcony and look at the ocean. Send it off to my good friend @kathleenbrash27 who gives me their comments on continuity/overall vibe. Final edit for spelling/formatting then hit post on chapter 1 and let the comments offer additional inspiration/suggestions <3 Depending on the length of the fic from start to finish this process takes anywhere between 6 hours or 3 months!

thank you for that i love writing about the bones of it all!! <3

27. your favorite part of the writing process

when you're brainstorming dialogue and suddenly everything starts coming together in the sequence you'd hoped for (or the moment when you finally figure out the solution to a plot point that seemed impossible to progress) - but also the second that i get to press post in ao3 makes me feel like one of those lab rats with the apparatus zapping pleasure directly into their brains

12. a trope you’re really into right now

i am suuuuch a sucker for college-era macdennis - or anything that explores their psyches as young men wading through the quagmire of their early 20s and all the directionlessness and self loathing and uncertainty that comes with it, but ultimately finding safety and something solid in one another. that and 'they've been fucking (on and off) the whole goddamn time!' post season 17

thank you sm i love talking about the process! <3333

3. how you feel about your current WIP

conflicted! the main wip i'm working on right now is chapter 4 of i'm not trying to get comfortable - which has been two years in the making because I've been so indecisive about how to make it make sense (it was my first fic and a little too precious/ambitious/convoluted plot wise, so now i'm trying to unpick/simplify/integrate the four separate drafts i have for it)

6. the word that appears the most in your current draft (wordcounter.net can tell you)

dennis (shocker haha)

thank you so much! <3