Trying To Write Fanfiction For The First Time Is So Humbling, It Feels Like I've Never Written Anything

Sibling dynamics are kind of an untapped gold mine in media. Relationships between siblings can be so weird. We experienced the same childhood but in very different ways. I helped raise you. You helped raise me. You’re the only person I’ve ever really punched. You drive me fucking crazy but if anyone ever hurt you I’d chase them to the ends of the earth. You’re the only one who understands what it was like to see our parents slowly come to hate one another. Stop stealing my fucking socks.

what the computer screen sees as i write the most gut-wrenching scenes of my novel

agreeing with this entire list, specifically number 2 and 8.

What I Love In Writing

Lately, I've seen so many negative posts (including my own) circulating about things not to do in writing, "advice" about which words to avoid, which tropes are most annoying, etc., etc. No wonder writing is often seen as a discouraging avenue to explore. In response, I've decided to make a post about things I personally LOVE to see in other people's writing, things that make me want to read more and more.

Attention to physical details that are less commonly described in stories. Three of my personal favourites are descriptions of hands, necks, and shoulders, which are just as expressive as eyes and other facial features.

When writers stretch a word's known meaning in a way that feels new and off-kilter. It always surprises me and draws me in. I particularly like when a noun is made into an interesting new verb. For example, "His eyes lanterned the dim room." Even though it might not make immediate sense, it can evoke a variety of new readings and emotions based on the context. If the scene calls for it, invent your own vocabulary. Language is yours.

I personally love contrasts between emotional states and settings, like when a character is facing turmoil on a beautifully sunny day, or, alternatively, two characters expressing their love for each other in a place that's falling apart.

How wonderful is it when someone can pull off the present tense elegantly? That sense of immediacy is refreshing.

Lengthy sentences that cascade rhythmically and emotionally to the point that you reach the end of the sentence and think, "Oh my gosh, that was only one amazing sentence!"

I love when characters are raw and real and messy and complicated, when they feel like people I could meet in my everyday life. I love when good characters do bad things and bad characters do good things.

Metaphors and similes, especially ones I've never read before.

I like when ugly or unexpected things are described beautifully. There is a difference between romanticizing something ugly and acknowledging an ugly thing's attributes thoughtfully enough to illustrate it with the same care and passion as a universally accepted lovely thing.

Personally, and I've changed my mind on this one recently, but I think it's sweet when I can pick up on favourite words or phrases the author likes to return to now and again. I understand it can be repetitive at points, but it's also like discovering a secret, cherished thing I can share with the writer. It adds to the voice. (Side advice: give yourself the liberty to change your opinions and try again with writing techniques you previously disliked).

Emotion, emotion, emotion. I'm an emotional person, and I like emotional writing that always walks that line between "balanced" and "too much." Not necessarily in that everything feels exaggerated or out of proportion with the plot, but that I can sense the characters' emotional states at all times, and sometimes even the grammar or language can reflect that - shorter phrases for an abrupt feeling, elongated ones for drawn-out, languid moments. The world is gorgeous, and our feelings are gorgeous. Writing that can capture that sensitivity has an everlasting effect on me. Like I'm at a party and the lights are too bright, the music is too loud, there are too many people, but it's all a reminder that I'm a human being. We're alive.

There are many, many more aspects of writing I love, too many for me to name but these are just some of the first that came to my mind. Amid all the cautionary writing tips you read out there, I encourage you also to establish for yourself the good things you should do. The risk of perpetual don'ts is a perpetual blank page.

Do what you love, and love what you do, but above all else, do.

Song of lost secrets Masterlist:

General:

wip intro

blog tag

Pinterest board

Notebook profile

Characters:

Salem grey (moodboard, intro)

Hesperus lark (moodboard)

Emene boss (moodboard)

Nasira Bay (moodboard)

Silvia lark (moodboard)

Rayen perez (moodboard)

Evan grey

All posts:

am i even supposed to link all of them in a masterlist? idek

dialogue i love

love when fictional men are so devoted to their partner it makes them dangerous and insane. very slutty behavior keep it up king

Alia vallence - a mood board

– More than royalty

"Please, can we try again? Let me love you one more time, thats all I need. I'll do better."

I love being a writer because it forces me to understand and build the mind of someone who grew up, thinks, and acts so much differently from me

okay yes kaz doesn't care about anything blah blah blah but have you ever considered that he remembers absolutely everything and not only the stuff he can one day use against the people in his life. he remembers how jesper puts cinnamon into his coffee so it doesn't keep him awake all day so kaz keeps cinnamon sticks behind the bar at the crow club for him. he remembers how wylan tucks flowers into his messenger bag so he waits beside a flower patch when they meet to discuss demo plans. he remembers how nina hates how her only pair of boots dig into her heels so he leaves a new pair on her bed without a word. he remembers how matthias is soothed at the sound of bird chirping so he tells him to walk down by the east harbor for "no other reason" than to "pick up a shipment" and NOT because seagulls and ospreys cluster there. and yes. his wife. inej. he remembers how pious and devote she is so he carves symbols of the saints into the wood of her ship with his knife to remind her he adores her faith despite all that he's said before and he would remember even in death how her raven hair flows down her back and how her nimble fingers stroke around her whiskey glass because he loves her GODDAMNIT.

specific tropes in romance that always heal something in me that it never broke

like, forehead kisses, soft love confessions, peppering kisses all over the lover's face. promises that are kept, hands those are held with a gentle love, and hugs that engulf the heart too.

or when they rest their head on your chest, or lean on you for support.

"your tears kill me," kinda thing. or when a sunshine character finally cries and bawls their entire life's hurt out into their comfort grumpy character (plus point, if the grump feels guilty thinking if they had done something to trigger this emotional outburst)

communication. no matter hard the topic is, how big your differences are.

listening to the other person yap

admiring their facial features and seeing not just the outer structure but the person that they really are.

them getting angry on ur behalf

cradling each other in hugs basically

feeling emotional walls break when you're with that one person particularly

gentle communication. yearning to do more for your lover (!!!!)

affectionate smiles and eyes crinkling with a smile that's directed specially at you.

finding their laugh contagious.

the feeling of being accepted, despite flaws and all

silent domestic acts like being in the kitchen together, dressing up together, them drying ur hair while u sit between their legs

occasionally stolen kisses

or one deep kiss that just lights your world and fulfills your soul and heart.

sleepily nuzzling into each other!!

reaching for each other despite being asleep, with mumbled endearments and whispers of need!!!

laughter coming easily by their side, like happiness is just another day to day thing (this can also be about self love. when u truly love urself and prioritize your own rights and cherish the fact that you're you. happiness becomes beautiful even in solitude)

their fingers buried deep in yo- OOPS.?! :)

Full offense but your writing style is for you and nobody else. Use the words you want to use; play with language, experiment, use said, use adverbs, use “unrealistic” writing patterns, slap words you don’t even know are words on the page. Language is a sandbox and you, as the author, are at liberty to shape it however you wish. Build castles. Build a hovel. Build a mountain on a mountain or make a tiny cottage on a hill. Whatever it is you want to do. Write.