Actually Useful (fan)writing tips that helped me out in the long run: a thread

1) finding your personal writing style

if you're just starting out, chances are someone suggested you find your writing style by reading other people's stories & recreating the styles you liked. but that can be detrimental in the long run bc it teaches you to copy, not to study

so instead try this: write the story you want to write with the abilities you currently have.

THEN look up for other stories in the same genre & jot down a list of what worked & what didn't, what you liked & what you disliked

was it the choice of words, the length of the sentences, the use of punctuation? where there too many/little descriptions? where the dialogue stilted/perfect for the scene? what do you think made the narration entertaining/boring? was it the inside perspective/the lack thereof?

was it the way the main character thought were woven into the narration/the way the narration kept a nice distance from the character? was it the unreliability of the narration, not knowing what's coming next, or the exact opposite?

the more you read, the more questions come up, & the more answers you have to give to yourself. thanks to this new understanding, it's easier to go back to your own writing & work out the things that aren't working, or maybe are working but could be even better with some editing

building your own writing style isn't an easy task, it takes commitment & lots of exercise. even many seasoned writers add their own style in the last draft—before then, they write with matter-of-factness just to have words on the page. that also works bc with writing

what's important is the finished product, not how you get there. granted, the more you exercise the easier it becomes to just write with your own personal style from the start & it'll surely take up less time, but if you're just starting out you don't need to rush it

i guess this brings to the next tip, which is:

2) editing is part of the Writing Contract

if you want to get better, you WILL have to edit your writing. even if social medias (& fandoms) try to push you to publish your works as fast as you can, you shouldn't overlook editing

"editing" is not simply correcting typos or wrong verbs; editing is making sure that your work flows easily from start to end, that the scenes all make sense, that every part/description/dialogue has a purpose in the story, even if it's not blatantly obvious at first glance

actually, editing can be pretty entertaining bc once you have your story all written out, you can start adding eastern eggs, tweak characterizations a little to make them more rounded, add a couple of humorous/dramatic details that only a keen reader will notice

if writing is like building your house, editing is adding in the internal decor. sure, you can probably live in your house just fine without all the pictures & carpets & colorful mugs, but why deprive yourself (& your visitors) of the whole experience?

3) for characterization, think of apples

an apple can be divided in 3 parts:
- seeds
- flesh
- skin

a character is basically the same:
- seeds: experiences/traumas who've shaped them
- flesh: how they act in response to their experiences
- skin: how they're perceived by others

this can be pretty useful when trying to understand the core of a character to keep them IC even in AU contexts.

breaking it down, tier 1: the seed.

the seed of an apple dictates the taste, shape & color of the apple. with a different seed you'd have a peach, not an apple.

in term of fanwriting, these are the core characteristics of your character that you should not change, not even in an AU, or else your character won't be recognized by their fans. still, you have two more tiers to work with, so it's not that restricting

tier 2: the flesh

an apple that is shaped like a banana might not be recognized instantly by who's eating it, BUT if the taste is the same the eater probably won't complain.

in terms of fanwriting, this is the level of characterization that can be tweaked if

there's a good enough reason AND the core of your character is the same (or very similar) to the canonical characterization.

tier 2 is that one level that allows us to put a gentle, sweet character in a hitman!AU. that's bc our understanding of tier 1 is deep enough that

we can make tier 2 consistent with the core parts of the character.

& then tier 3: the skin
the skin is the part that's easily switchable bc while it's influenced by tier 1 & tier 2, it's less important on a narrative level. so for example adding tattoos

to a character isn't really gonna change their characterization much

but not everything in the physical sphere of the character is necessarily part of tier 3. like, a character with a physical disability will be shaped by their experiences with society as a disabled person

so not everything that's physical is necessarily interchangeable, BUT that's what the writer has to decide for themselves.

what a writer might put in tier 1, another writer might put in tier 2 or tier 3. so this doesn't necessarily mean you'll get IC characters, but

following this method you can have a character that's consistent in your story—which is what most readers are looking for anyway. "canonical IC-ness" means nothing if there's no consistency in your own fic

4) your understanding of your narrator makes or breaks the story

first of all, you have to understand WHO your narrator is. is it a character in the story or is it an external force? do you have insight into your character, and if so, how deep is that insight?

your character is sitting in a bar. next to them there's another person. in the street there are people looking at the bar from the window.

here you can 3 narrators:
1) the character sitting in the bar
2) the person sitting in the next table
3) the people looking from outside

choosing the right character and the right closeness to the story can enhance the plot. if you're looking for introspection, narrator 1 is the best option. but narrator 2 & 3 can also give you introspection—just from a different point of view

so while it's common to use the main character as the narrator, that's not the only option. sometimes a slow burn is more entertaining from the point of view of the friend who's trying to hook the 2 characters up, or from the enemy who's trying to break them up

it's always good to try out different point of view during the first draft bc that helps you understand who's the better narrator for your specific story

sorry for the typos LOL i hate english plurals but this is good bc it brings me to

5) beta reading

while you don't have to have a beta, specifically, asking for a external feedback might help you solve plot holes or point out inconsistency that you can't see simply bc

you're too deep into what you're writing & while everything is clear in your mind, on the page it might be a little more messy/clumsy. that happens to everyone, that's why editing is important

if you can't find a beta, you can be your own beta by doing a couple of things

1) take a step back for a bunch of days & start a new writing project. just get your mind off it & go back to it later on, with a fresh mind. chances are you'll notice things that aren't working more easily that way

2) change the font & possibly the way you're reading your story

some of us have photographic memory, which basically means that we remember what we wanted to write in a specific paragraph so we skip over any mistake/inconsistency bc our mind is already skipping ahead.

by changing font & device (maybe printing the story even!) you trick your

brain into thinking that it is reading something completely different, which forces it to pay more attention. it works wonder with my brain goblins

we don't talk about me using where instead of were for a whole tweet but. anyway. don't be like me i guess https://twitter.com/zenzeromante/status/1328695327709425666

as for more specific tips:

5) smut is linked to characterization
there's a lot of smut out there, but the best smut is always the kind that manages to show you the characters, their thoughts & needs during the sex scene. basically, what you want to do is

aiming at a sex scene/story that can exist EXACTLY thanks to the characters involved.

this isn't to say that you can put characters in scenes that are outside of their comfort zone, but you have to make their reaction plausible & consistent

so for example if you have a BDSM scene, you could have:
- a couple who can't wait to start
- a triad who's a bit reticent bc they don't know much about it
- a person who wants it, but has to stop in the middle bc this specific scene is bringing up hidden memories of trauma

& while these would all be considered BDSM scenes, the way they evolve is linked to your understanding of the characters.
basically: character-driven smut is better than characters that only exist bc of the smut, bc with the latter you risk getting cardboard characters

this last one should've been the tip number 6... but anyways.

7) if you wanna write dark shit, you HAVE to get into it
what makes dark fiction "dark" is not the fact that the readers know that at some point in the story someone was getting tortured

we want to see the CONSEQUENCES of that torture scene. on the tortured person, on the torturer, on the people who allowed the torture to happen, on the people taking care of the tortured person's recovery, etc. & we want the consequences to be on par with the "crime"

which isn't to say that dark fiction has to end well (where "well" means "the bad guy gets punished"). it just means that if a character has been tortured for 5 years, the consequences will be enormous & they will affect the character's relationships with other people

& especially his relationship with the torturer.

that's why many enemies to lovers stories don't work, bc often writers cut off the "ugly stuff" that's in the middle to get to the romantic closure. but to actually work the story NEEDS the disturbing thoughts, the revenge,

the anger, the conflict, the hate towards yourself for falling in love with the one who's made you suffer the most, the inability to accept it, that gut-wrenching feeling of not knowing who you are anymore, what you deserve, how broken other people made you

that's literally what makes dark fiction great: the fact that after all the pain, after all the tension, the resolution is extremely sweet even if (actually, EXACTLY because) the character has been taken apart so much

8) readers ARE smart

some writers (either bc they're just starting out or bc popularity has gotten to their heads) think that readers are stupid, therefore they have to spell everything out for them or else the readers won't understand what's Truly Going On. but that's untrue

readers ARE smart, even if many don't realise it. that's the reason why someone might tell you "i love the chemistry between the characters," but maybe won't be able to point out exactly where/how they feel that chemistry. but that's not important bc

the reader's job is simply to enjoy the story. it's the writer who has to craft a story that draws the reader in.

once you've realized that the readers are actually smart, it becomes easier to leave things understated, or less obviously in-your-face. by which i mean that

you can start using subtext.

subtext is the "showing" part of the "show, don't tell" rule. basically, instead of straight up telling the reader what's going on, you let the reader draw their own conclusions by letting the story unroll without the narrator's commentary

granted, it can be hard to understand when it's time to show or when it's time to narrate.

as a general rule: do you need the readers to FEEL this scene as if they were living through it? does the scene serve a higher purpose, like understanding a character's motivation?

if that's a yes, then it's better to show the scene by letting it play out. for example, instead of saying "she was jealous," you can build up to the jealousy by letting the character ask insistent questions or make her pout when the object of her jealousy comes up

this way the readers will develop an emotional connection to the character by living through the scenes with them & therefore experiencing the same emotions & feelings.

"showing" also builds up tension. that's bc "she was jealous" is a static sentence: it doesn't tell you

how jealous the character is, how she shows that jealousy, how that jealousy impacts her life & her relationship/s with other people. meanwhile, showing smaller details of her jealousy in different scenes makes it so the readers understand just how deep that emotion is felt

still, sometimes "he was a bitch" IS the right sentence to write, so it all depends on what your goal for the story is. not every emotion/detail needs to be shown—sometimes things are felt but are irrelevant to the bigger story

that's why editing is helpful: bc once you have your story written out in front of you, you can add in details that make the story more vivid, or take out the details that are just distracting.

again, you should be aiming for a good final product, not a perfect first draft

one more thing:

9) on writing tips & how to sort them out

there are a lot of writing tips, blogs & opinions online. it can be pretty overwhelming, especially bc often enough you'll hear opposite opinions & you don't know whom to listen to. so this is how to sort them out

first of all, understand that writing only has one strict rule: grammar. & that's bc language is a social convention. good grammar allows anyone, from any background, to understand your text, so having the basics down is a necessity

(you can still break grammar rules, BUT

you gotta know what you're doing. so start working with good grammar/punctuation & only then work your way up to breaking down the language with purpose)

any other writing tip is just that: a suggestion, a tool you can choose to use or not

now, here's the thing. good writing tips are useful bc they take a segment of a text & explain exactly in what circumstances that segment worked.

which is to say

any writing tip that uses absolute language ("never", "always") & doesn't have examples is completely useless

notice the difference between:

"never use adverbs bc they 'tell' too much"

and

"use adverbs sparingly bc they often act as covert repetitions, but understand that sometimes an adverb is the best word to use. 'he smiled happily' is a repetition bc smiling already implies some

kind of happiness, but 'he smiled savagely' has a whole different atmosphere. still, 'savagely' is a bit too direct & this scene would work better with some subtext. so maybe instead of 'telling' the reader how he was smiling, you can let him talk with actions & words"

the two tips are extremely different bc the first one straight up tells you to throw a whole ass sentence modifier out of the window, while the second one teaches you when adverbs might work & how to edit your text when they don't

"never use flashbacks" is a bad tip bc it tells you nothing on WHY you shouldn't use them

"for a flashback to work you have to let your readers get interested in the story & the characters first & the flashback has to have a purpose & consequences on the narrative" is a good tip

bc it tells you what circumstances you need to draw out the best of the segment you're writing

if you read many different genres, you can easily tell that there are many techniques that repeat themselves & may work with certain conditions & not with others

that's bc techniques are tools. using a screwdriver when you need to saw a tree is counterproductive, but that doesn't mean you should NEVER use a screwdriver. there's just time & place for it to work at the best of its potential & purpose

so how can you understand what tips to follow?

1) only accepts tips with examples of both why they work & why they don't
& even then 2) allow yourself to doubt EVERY TIP & just get down to writing. try it out for yourself. compare your text to other published works

does the flashback work in this part of the story? no, bc it's too soon, the readers don't care about the main plot yet. does it work here? no, it's too sudden. but I need that PTSD symptom there. so maybe I should go back to the previous scene & build up to it more slowly

that's how you understand if a writing tip works or not for your scene

basically, always remember that writing tips are relative, they can be useful in a specific context & useless in another. they're not "easy tricks of the trade". they're things you gotta hammer in your

head with exercise, to the point where you'll know if a flashback will work or not without having to think too much about it.

that's the same for negative feedback. never change your text blindly bc of feedback. just go back to the text, try out new things & see what works best