fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2051 ]

[ SECRET POST #2051 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2051 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

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02.

[To Boldly Flee]

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03.

[Teen Wolf, Supernatural]

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04.

[Community]

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05.

[Gravity Falls]

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06.

[Farscape]

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07.

[Earth 2]

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08.

[Black Butler/Kuroshitsuji]

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09.

[Pokemon]

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10.

[Super Mario Galaxy, Suikoden Tierkreis, Pokemon, 999, Redline, Code Geass and Macross Frontier]

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11.

[Venus Ni Seppun]

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12.

[Brokeback Mountain]

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13.

[A Song of Ice and Fire]

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14.

[Tatta Hitotsu No Koi]

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15.

[Xena: Warrior Princess]

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16.

[Tom Hiddleston]

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17.

[Figure It Out - Matt Bennett]

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18.

[Dragon Age 2]

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19.

[Teen Wolf]

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20.

[Law & Order: SVU]

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21.

[Benedict Cumberbatch/The Hobbit]

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22.

[Florence Welch/Florence + The Machine]

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 04 pages, 088 secrets from Secret Submission Post #293.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 2 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 1 2 - posted twice ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I have only written like three fics in my life. Needless to say, I am not very good. I'm not bad but I do have trouble coming up with a direction that I want the story to go toward. I usually write something that I've wanted to write, but I have been browsing ficathons and I think I might try filling other people's requests. The thing is, I don't know how to write them without them being absolutely sucky. I usually write and come up with plot as I go, but that proves to be tiring and also stressful. I'd love tips or websites to consult about writing fanfiction.

Thanks.

The only thing that really helps with that is experience, s2s.

Some people find outlining helps, others find that it just slows them down. I think most people outline longfics but not necessarily shortfics. What I tend to do is start off by writing down everything that I know happens, and then outlining once that initial rush has run out of steam, and using the outline to gradually fill in the gaps until the story is done.

Thank you.
Right, I'll just have to keep practicing and finding out what works for me. I can't get great overnight.

When I first started writing I used to jump on any idea that excited me and write until I got bored. I never completed anything.

Eventually I found that the way to a reasonable completion rate was to go beyond visualising the two or three big scenes. If I couldn't storyboard (for me bullet points, for some friends stick men) every important step between A and B when trying to be logical about it then I wouldn't be able to write it.

Once I knew how the immediate plot COULD work I found it much easier to alter it to be how I WANTED it to work or how was necessary to include future plot points. There's something about having an option of completion that gives me confidence to think I can improve it without the stress of feeling it's essential.

Ha I rarely complete things too. I get bored easily and when I don't see an endgame, I really don't feel inspired to write. I see scenes in my head and I want to write them. But I have trouble weaving them with plot. I also have trouble varying my language.

I always outline. The longer the fic, the more detailed the outline, but I like to know where I'm going. It saves me some stress. YMMV, though. :)

Thank you. :)

I have no advice, but wanted to say you're not alone.

I have half a dozen original stories (I can never come up with ideas for fic even if I want to) on my computer and can't finish any of them. Once I get past the initial idea, and the few scenes I've visualized in my head, I can never figure out where to go next, and I lose interest. Then I'll think of another idea, and the cycle will start all over again.

Even when I've tried to write outlines it doesn't seem to help. It sucks.

Same. I think I lack discipline in writing. I should push through the things I write and stop giving up.
I think I'm gonna fill a kink-meme prompt tonight.

To me it depends on the nature of the fic and why I'm writing it. If it's supposed to be an epic saga with a lot of twists I'll jot down a few notes. But lately I've pretty much only been writing to entertain myself, which means I'm just writing whatever pops into my head... sometimes I'll even write scenes out-of-order and tie them together later. And for some reason those ones are the ones that turn out the best, but it might just be because I'm better at short stories than long ones.

Oh, and it's not specifically aimed at fanfiction, but IMO hollylise.com is one of the greatest sites for writing tips.

That's interesting!
Thank you. :)

Different writers have different ways of writing. This goes for all types of writing, not just fanfiction. Some people jump into a story completely cold, with absolutely no idea what will happen in the next paragraph, much less at the end of the story. Some people plan the story out with an outline twice as long as the final story. Most people fall somewhere on the (very wide) spectrum in between.

Ultimately, the thing that will help you most is trial and error. Try out different things and see what works for you. The more you write, the more experience you'll get, and the better you'll be.

Sorry this isn't a very helpful answer. But ultimately, the only way to improve is to practice. A lot. -.0;

No I think this is helpful! Thanks a lot. I just need to practice and find out what works for me.

Sometimes I plan, but most of the time I don't. Most of the time, it works for me.

Ugh I feel like planning is such a bitch and I don't wannaaaaa.

I've had a lot of problems with writing (and finishing) longer stories. I get to that point where I just don't know what to do, and then I give up. But here are two things that helped me:

First of all, outlining! But not from start to finish. This is the method that was suggested to me,: figure out the end first, then the beginning, then the midpoint, then a first plot turn (which will happen between beginning and mid), and then a second plot turn (which will happen between the mid and the end). Sounds funky, but it's actually worked wonders for me. And don't feel like you have to get super detailed; that works for some people, but my outlines are very general, and they serve me well.

Second of all, NaNoWriMo. Yes, that thing. Last year, I participated and forced myself to write my story in order, despite the temptation to jump around to the exciting (and therefore easier to write) scenes. It was unbelievably helpful. It forced me to mull over and flesh out those parts of the story that seem like such drudgery to write but which are so incredibly important to the work as a whole, and it unlocked my creative instincts. My characters were all but directing themselves, man. I'd really recommend that you try it this year if you haven't before.

I actually have tried NaNo for the past two years. Haven't gotten past 10k so I definitely need discipline. I plan on attempting this year as well. And going in with some idea of what I want to write. For the past two years I've been playing catch up and trying to come up with something to write.

You know what? Lurk the forums during October! Lots of activity as people brainstorm, and something you find in there might spark an idea (not that I'm saying copy someone else, of course. It's just helpful sometimes to immerse yourself in a creative maelstrom).

Anyway, discipline is a huge hurdle. I think it might very well be the biggest. You really have to push. But if you can get yourself to write just a little bit every day for just a couple of weeks, it starts to become a habit. It starts to become a part of the routine, a thing that you need to do. It doesn't even have to be any good; it just has to be something. And then, before you know it, it's integrated into your lifestyle.

I usually make an outline of the general ideas, key scenes that I want to hit and where the story will end, and then write. Things will change as I write, but having the general plan allows me to begin work and to skip around and write other scenes when I'm bogged down in one part of the story.

I would recommend skipping around in your story when you have difficulty with a particular scene and it becomes too challenging to continue--writing another scene can revive your enjoyment of the story, and keep you from feeling too frustrated to write. That's what helps me finish long stories. Sometimes at the end there are a few scenes you still need to slog through, but when you're close to finished.

Whenever I write anything I always try to figure out what I want to say by the time I reach the end. If I have no end point in sight, then how will I know what I'm trying to say or when I'm done, you know? Then I go back and fill in details. Sometimes I outline more than others, but usually if I'm on a deadline I outline like crazy.

With the fics I've had the most success at finishing, I've ended up pretty much writing the entire thing in my head before sitting down at the computer. Who says daydreaming isn't useful?

I have a dear friend who's an awesome and prolific writer, and she can literally get an idea and bang it out that night and have it be awesome as balls. Whereas I take aaaaaaaages and ages to plan everything out and quite literally have storyboards sometimes. So it's definitely a personal thing. Planning is good to avoid plot holes and continuity snafus and stuff, but there's definitely such a thing as overthinking it. Maybe go for some brief, commentfic-y type things first just to practice and work up to more complicated, longer works?

I've discovered a couple of things about my own process, but really the best way to figure out what works for you is to try something, decide how much it works for you, and then modify or discard as necessary.

For me, with shorter pieces that are all encompassed in about five scenes or less I generally go straight for it and start writing whatever came into my head. Occasionally I jot down a note or two about what happens so I don't forget, but mostly I just get it all out in one sitting.

With medium to longer pieces I like at least a vague outline, usually a scene by scene with a few words about what the main idea is or other information I need to know. Sometimes those scenes wind up splitting into two scenes in the writing process, but that's just fine too.

For my novel length stories (anything longer than around 40k or 50k, I like a more detailed outline. When I did nano last year I identified my chapters with the main ideas of what I wanted to happen, and then beneath those chapters when it came time to write them I did a scene by scene breakdown.

When I start a long piece though, at the very beginning, I usually just like to keep an unorganized sheet where I write down the ideas as they come to me, bits about characterization, thoughts about where things are going as a whole, until I feel like I have most of a whole piece in there that just needs to be sorted out and organized. I work better with a slew of ideas that I can potentially expand upon or weed out as necessary, instead of going directly for an outline.

Really, the absolute best thing you can do to get better at writing is sit down and write. Learning to finish things helps too, but sometimes writing different bits and pieces with no end and learning what works and what doesn't for you can be just as valuable. It's been about three years since I've started writing pretty much every day (with a few notable lapses) and I can't begin to tell you how much my writing style has changed - and improved, I hope!

Good luck!

Just practice.

As weird as it sounds, I find that if I outline, I lose interest. If I know where the story's going to end up, I don't finish writing it. So, I don't outline. However, a lot of people say outlines are insanely useful.

It just strikes me as a clinical way of writing, I guess? But you can try and see if it works for you.

Practice is the best help for this, IMHO. Personally, I don't outline for short (<2000 words) fics, but I do for novelette-length or longer ones, mostly because it helps to know where I need to end up. Maybe try it for a couple of fics and see whether it's helpful for you?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ SECRET POST #2051 ]

when writing fanfiction is it best to plan?

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Re: Female main characters/little or no het romance?

Re: Female main characters/little or no het romance?

Re: when writing fanfiction is it best to plan?

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Re: when writing fanfiction is it best to plan?

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Re: when writing fanfiction is it best to plan?

Re: when writing fanfiction is it best to plan?

Re: when writing fanfiction is it best to plan?

Re: when writing fanfiction is it best to plan?

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Re: when writing fanfiction is it best to plan?

Re: when writing fanfiction is it best to plan?

Re: when writing fanfiction is it best to plan?