#repiies

Starting a fic is always a really daunting thought. You worry no one will read it. Or you’ll get details wrong, or you’ll get really into it and then get bored half way. But, the thing is, a fic isn’t going to write itself if you dwell on the worries and negative thoughts. If you have an idea, and you like it enough to develop it in your head, then chances are you should try and jot some of it down, even if it loses steam. Even if you don’t upload it, and you just share it with friends, it’s good practice.

I won’t lie, often what you envision in your head will be totally different to what you write. And that’s not a bad thing. Some scenes you think of will work, others won’t. Sometimes you’ll have a scene so vivid in your head, but it doesn’t fit the narrative or the setting, or there’s no where for you to slot it in so it reads organically. That’s okay too. Just because you can’t fit it in one fic, doesn’t mean you can’t use it in another.

When I start writing a long fic, I usually have an outline of the story for myself, and then do outlines for each chapter. Bullet points, normally. The beats of a chapter that you want to hit. Sometimes, the chapter writes itself, and you hit every one of the beats and it’s great. Other times, you find yourself going in a different direction with the chapter and it’s totally different from your outline. Not wrong, not bad - just different. It still makes sense and fits the narrative, but you find it opens up a whole other direction for you to take the characters in. And that can be wonderful and exciting. 

Details can bog you down. I know that some fandoms will devour you for getting the tiniest thing wrong, but you’ll find that those purists will usually stick to their own group. Most fic readers won’t mind if you don’t get every single detail absolutely spot on, after all, you’re writing and uploading for free, most will be grateful just for that.

The beginning of a fic, setting things up is always the hardest thing for me. That and the first thousand or so words of a chapter. You’ll find yourself doubting, and reading what’s happened back to yourself. Probably hating every word. That’s because you wrote it. You’re used to your style. You will read what you’ve written back to yourself over and over again until you’re seeing the words in your dreams, but for readers, they’ll be reading it for the first time. What seems old and tired to you, is fresh and new to them.

I would also suggest avoiding those posts you see on here that tell you to use other words instead of said. Or that tell you “real authors use the active voice” and things like that. Yes, definitely, there are some times in a fic where another word is a better choice than ‘said’. But ‘said’ isn’t a bad word, and it does what it needs to do. And it’s a far better word than some other options I’ve seen suggested. You style and your flow will come over time and with practice. If you worry that your work doesn’t read like someone else’s, it’s because it’s their work. It’s their style. Nothing wrong with it, it’s just different to yours.

Ultimately, writing a fic is meant to be fun. A labor of love. If you find that you’re no longer having fun, then you need to take a step back from what you’re working on. Work on something else, or just take a break for a few days, a week, or as long as necessary until you feel ready to take it on again. Frustrating as it might be, you cannot force yourself to write. I know some people can, some best selling authors say they do it, but you can always, always tell when someone has forced themselves to write a scene or a chapter or a page. 

You just have to take time, breathe, relax as best you can. Be comfortable and go for it. If you’re not ready to write a certain subject, like smut, then don’t write it until you feel ready to do so. Go at your own pace. Its your work, but don’t put it off. If you have an idea and its just bursting out of you, then write it down. It doesn’t have to be perfect - that’s what editing is for. What matters is that you wrote it down. 

@lifeasasim replied to your ask post

All this makes me sad ;____; nova's been through alot

thank u hannah!!!

Hi there! Thank you for your question.

Whenever it snows I get scared that I’ll slip and fall so hard on my butt sgakjf ps it’s snowing as we speak 

oh 👀👀👀