this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2023
0 points (NaN% liked)
FanFiction
14 readers
1 users here now
A new fanfiction corner. The more we interact and support each other, the more thriving the community can become! A place for fanfic: written or drawn, creating or consuming. [Fandom icon by @[email protected]]
founded 1 year ago
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Fandom or original, I always had a hell of a time writing anything short. I would outline a short story and it would still turn into a monster in my hands.
As of late, I practice with prompts. I have written a lot of short pieces, from drabbles to longer 10k oneshots--all with the intent of practicing shorter pieces. It can be a lot of fun, practicing with a single scene or moment.
(Ignore the one story I'm almost done with which is over 200k and the other series which is seven parts in and over 400k.)
In the end, it's not a big deal. I did this because I wanted to practice writing shorter works. Some people only do longform, some only short, and if you're happy with it? Don't let it bother you! I love media with a lot of facets. Sure, some of them went downhill at some point, but that's not the case with all. And the point is to have fun. So don't make comparisons with that unless you really think your story stopped being fun and you've been forcing yourself to write anyway. That's really the only way a fanfic can peak (if the object is to write for yourself, of course).
Funnily enough, I'm kind of "forcing" myself to write in order to finish my current long-fic but not in a sense that I've lost interest in it. I was really lucky for the 6 months or so after I first started it last year that my life was really stress-free. That's flipped in the past few months & lo & behold, it turns out I'm a delicate little flower who struggles to write when I've got other boring adulting stuff on my mind. But writing it has been such a good escape from that crap that it's worth forcing in my opinion & pushes me to carve out a few hours for it every week.
I found a cute little trick a couple of weeks ago where I embedded a short story into my long-fic for a couple of chapters (basically a role playing game with the POV from the characters inside the game). Not sure if my readers care for it or not but it was great from a writing perspective & I knocked out 3 whole chapters in a week! I'm starting to wonder if that just means I should take on more short-fics or one-shots when I find myself stressed as they're more self-contained & easier to initiate & wrap up to my satisfaction. 🤷♂️ But then again, I really want to get this long-fic done too. Agh, not enough time in the day!
I often force myself to write too. I enjoy making stories enough that creating a habit to push through even when I don’t want to is important to me. I also wanted to be a professional author, so I taught myself tricks of the trade like it was going to be a job.
Doesn’t work for everyone, but it helps me complete stories. And the feeling of completion is worth it.
I love perspective shifts like that! Of course, I also love tabletop. Seeing the perspective of a character another character has created? chef’s kiss