For lovers of fanfiction...

[MrsGulDukat]

Inspired by another thread by HensTeeth44, here is a thread for lovers of fan fiction either writer or just an avid reader.

I do have some unfinished Harry Potter fan fic to share but I'm at working at the moment.

Dont be afraid to share your favourites.

I've barely written anything since Thursday - haven't uploaded in days. It's half term so I've got the week off but I just don't seem to get around to it.

I had a 'I can't wait for the next update' comment today, which I think was probably a polite 'get a fucking move on - it's been days'. Hopefully I'll have something to put up tomorrow.

But I had my first covid vaccine today. My arm is killing me.

I came on yesterday so I now feel like utter garbage.

I felt pretty terrible last night - after the vaccine. I had to sleep in quite late - but that's gone now and even my arm is better so it doesn't hurt to type. But I'm just about to go out and I haven't written anything yet so - even if I finish my chapter tonight - it'll be too late to post it.

One day missed isnt bad.

Seriously, it can be two weeks plus between chapters for me. I think you're good @Icantreachthepretzels.

I've knocked out 1800 words this eve and feeling fairly pleased with myself. On my next writing evening I get to write a really fun hot-then-awkward toilet stall shag

I've got to write:

A fluffy little ending
The morning after a Mercenary and Politician start affair.
The morning after Cassie and Lucius share a bed.
A Human and an Alien have sex for the first time.

So not much at all.

Hi folks - hope you're all good. Please can i ask your advice. I've decided to poat my first chapter. Shitting a brick about it! Do you have any advice on how to make my fic stand out to get hits. I appreciate there is a fuck ton of HP fandom stuff online so it will most likely get lost but wondered if you had any tips. TIA x

Post*

@HensTeeth44 it can be tough! My advice would be a punchy summary, and lots of tags (ie, enough to give the reader a clear idea of what they're in for, but when it starts to become stream-of-consciousness it's going a bit far!)
Would you share your pen name/story title, I'd be happy to read :)

There's no real massive secret - if there was everyone would do it and the effect would be diluted! A good punchy and intriguing summary. Descriptive tags. If it's a niche or rare pair, promoting it in any communities devoted to it. Posting at peak time for US readers, say early evening over there, may help. Longer fics get more attention. And quality does, eventually, pay off, although it may take some time of people passing over your quality work for crappy wish fulfilment stuff (no I'm not mad, why would I be mad?)

Good luck! I'm happy to read :)

I got a few comments recently. Even on older fics.

Thanks for all the encouragement and inspiration, I've given it a go! It's not got a huge number of hits, but a couple of kudos and someone's made a nice comment! The contributions split 70:30 red/green warnings, so since mine's green I suspect the reader pool won't be that big.

Approaching the end of my long Queens Gambit fic, and I think my emo bae here might be my next target.

It's been really interesting writing in the QG fandom because it's the first time I've deliberately set out to write somewhere rather than feeling irresistibly moved to do so. I got fed up with writing in a dying fandom and set out to find a bigger pool of potential appreciators. (Although as HP shows, there is such a thing as too big.) It's also the first time I've meticulously plotted all of my threads and relationships back from the end and been able to see exactly what needs to go in each chapter. It's definitely reinforced for me that the way to write is to write, it's about doing the work whether you feel like it or not rather than being struck by lightning bolts of inspiration. The more I write the more I feel like writing.

My work is about 50% writing non-fiction. It only recently occurred to me that writing fiction was almost the same slog of just getting the words on the page in the best shape you can. I always assumed it was a joyous enlightened experience, so never bothered to try because that's really not me. It's quite a liberating realisation that even fiction is probably as much about hard work as it is talent!

Oh, totally. There are times when it is a lightning bolt and the words just pour out of my head and it's all I can do to keep up with them. But there are definitely other times when I make myself sit down, sketch out what needs to be happening right now and just fucking start. And even if what I bang out is clumsy and flawed, I can go back and fix it once it's on the page. Every time I can at least get something going, it starts to flow again. I think it's taken this long where my writing time is precious and snatched around work, DC and study to have the self-discipline to just keep ploughing on.

Thank you @hulahoopqueen and @BuffySummersReportingforSanity

I'm on Ao3 as SevIsAll66

Well, I've updated my Lucius Malfoy fic. That's fic 2 of 4 updated.

@MrsGulDukat looking forward to reading it 😘

I'm working on 4 fics side by side and I've hit a block with all 4 of them.

How is that even possible.

Maybe you need to choose one and stick with it- just force yourself to write something.
I just posted a rather brutal torture scene with poor Remus ... his damp wank seems a very long time ago now.
I think I must surely be coming to the end of the fic now. Though it will have a higher word count than Prisoner of Azkaban once I'm done - I wasn't planning on writing the boys a book longer than their actual book when I started out.

I might focus on the fic that's on its final chapter. Get that one out of the way.

Yes, I'd suggest that. Follow the snowball plan until you build up some momentum, basically.

The annoying thing is, I've got buckets of ideas but I cant arrange them into coherent sentences.

Curse my jumbled brain.

Sleep on it, take a walk tomorrow?

I draw story mindmaps when I need to get something clear.

Didn't get to that bathroom sex last writing night, either, this chapter is turning out long. But it's the last scene to go.

I've got an affair ongoing but I might disappointment my readers on it because it's going to be game between a husband and wife, and the poor lead character gets dragged into it.

I might try story mindmaps If I cant push through the wall on my own.