You know what, I'm going to do my OWN thread of writing tips.

1) Write what you want. If you write what you want to read, there will be someone else out there who wants to read it! Don't worry about writing "things that other people will want to read".

2) All writing advice is HIGHLY subjective. Don't be afraid to read something and toss it out the window. Even these tips are heavily influenced by my own ideas of writing and how to write! Take all advice with a grain of salt and some critical thinking to decide if you agree.

3) Learn the "rules of writing". (Show, don't tell, limit adverbs, avoid unneeded descriptors, etc). This is important because...

4) Break those fuckin' rules. Just do it. Who gives a shit? Now that you know the rules, you can ignore them however you want.

5) A good way to improve at writing is to find someone you like and look at their writing. Try and think "why do I like their style so much". Is it the way they structure their sentences? Is it the way they use adverbs or adjectives or their word choices? Examine it!

6) The ability to critically think about your work is good! But you don't have to. You're allowed to just slap words on a page and post it! Writing does not need to be a Grand Or Epic Tale.

7) Grand Or Epic Tales are incredibly fun and you shouldn't shy away from trying to write one simply because it's a Grand Or Epic Tale!

8) If a project is daunting, try to break it into smaller pieces! You can slap a "this scene needs writing" and skip it if you're stuck.

9) You don't have to write every detail. If writing is a slog, try skipping around through scenes or glossing over the details you don't want to write. Cutting to black, single-word transitions, handwaving everything that happens, who gives a shit- just go for it!

10) It's totally fine to abandon works- sometimes it just happens. Don't feel guilty about it! Not everything is made to be completed. Sometimes things are just made to be expressed and left alone.

11) Don't delete your old work. No matter how "cringe"- you will want it someday.

12) No, seriously. I mean it. Don't delete it. Keep every scrap of writing you make. It can get recycled into other ideas and stories and you will LOVE yourself for keeping it. Just make a GDrive folder and slap all your old works three folders in if you can't bear to look at it.

(Sneaky break to promote @Fanexus. If you haven't signed up yet, go do that. I'm not paid, I just really love them and what they're doing and want everyone to get on board because Twitter is a hellhole. The more content creators migrating the better!)

13) Write your villains however you want. Make them 2D, make them the most compelling character in your story. Make them boring, make them complex. Write whatever works best for your story.

14) Not every villain needs a redemption arc.

15) Villain redemption arcs are rad as fuck. Write them anyway.

16) If you don't know anything about a topic, do some cursory research before you start writing. Unironically, Yahoo Answers are VERY good resources for little human details about things.

17) It is very easy to unintentionally write something that is racist/sexist/transphobic, etc. Don't let this fear stop you from writing.

18) It's important to listen to feedback, but there are bad-faith actors out there. Don't immediately accept any criticism of your work.

18 cont) Something that is transphobic to one person might not be to the next. Just because someone is marginalized does not mean they are the ultimate authority on that group. That said, don't dismiss this shit out of hand just bc there are bad-faith actors.

19) If someone offers unwanted criticism, you are completely free to tell them to shut the fuck up. Especially if it's being mean under the guise of being constructive.

20) Developing thick skin is a hard, but useful ability.

21) Don't forget to tag & warn for your content. Write whatever contentious content you want, but if you don't tag it then that DOES make you an asshole. It's not hard! Just do it. (And yes, "creator chose not to use archive warnings" is a correct tag method.)

22) Don't stop writing. Boring, "no duh" advice, I know- but don't stop writing. Writing is the best way to get better at it. That said, looking up guidelines and tutorials and taking classes also help a lot! There's no shame in taking lessons on how to write better.

23) Formulas are there to help. You can work off of a formula as many times as you want, it doesn't make you a bad writer! Plot is hard and messy. Just because something is formulaic doesn't mean it's *bad*. Quite the opposite.

24) If your audience can guess your twist, that doesn't mean your story is "boring"- it means that you are writing it in a method that means that your audience is following along and it's a cohesive narrative that is building up to its plot twist in an understandable way!

25) Tropes exist for a reason. Bitches love tropes. Just because you write tropes doesn't mean that you're a boring or bad writer. Tropes are good fucking shit. Just because I've read one story with a specific trope doesn't mean I won't lose my goddamn mind over the next with it.

26) Don't worry about "being individual" with your writing. Everything has been written before in some way or another. Just write what you want to write and don't bother with anything else.

27) Certain types of fiction do not inherently have more "worth" than other types. Don't let anyone make you feel bad for wanting to write 100k words of pure fluff. Don't let anyone make you feel bad for writing the darkest, twisted, most fucked-up thing you can imagine.

28) Write in whatever POV you want, in whatever tense you want! Active, passive, First, Second, Third, Fourth, just go for it! There's no "right way" to write POV and tense. It's whatever makes YOU comfortable and fits best with your story.

29) Take cringe by the throat and kill it with your bare hands. Write that self-insert fic. Write your OC shipped with a canon character fic. Make that Mary Sue, make it unrealistic, have all your problems be solved by punching someone in the nose and monologuing at them.

29 cont) Writing is self-indulgence at its PEAK and you should be a goddamn Roman Emperor being fed grapes by the tropes and wish fulfillment of your choosing.

30) Who cares if someone's already written that fic? Write it anyway. It's your take on the idea.

31) When in doubt, kill someone! :) (But only if it works with the story.)

31 for real) If you're stuck, don't be afraid to throw a curveball into the story. Just do whatever you want, it's your story!

32) Your writing does not need to hold someone's hand and tell them that "these actions are bad" or "these actions are good". You can just write people doing bad things.

33) If you want to write a morality story, then write a morality story! Morality stories are awesome.

34) Different stories resonate with different people. Just because someone doesn't like your work doesn't mean that there aren't three other people who love it. It's easy to get caught up in negativity bc of negative association bias.

35) Worldbuilding is fucking awesome and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. That said, there is such a thing as going overboard- but it's completely subjective. If you need to know the amount a cow typically sells for in your world, then do that!

35 cont) Build an entire economic system from scratch if you have to. You also don't need to do any worldbuilding at all. Slapping animal ears on someone and dropping them in medieval times is a perfectly acceptable way to write a story.

If these tips seem contradictory, that's because they are! Writing is highly subjective to each person's tastes. What is good for someone is boring for another. Don't ever forget that if you don't like someone's tips or advice, just fucking ignore it. Just do it!

36) It's okay to write "evil" protaganists. I think it's very sexy when the main character does fucked up things.

37) It's okay to write "perfect" protaganists. I think it's very sexy when the main character is noble and rightous with no flaws.

38) Something that might be a tired, worn-out trope for someone may be new and innovating for another. Don't toss tropes out the window just because they've been "overused".

39) Relationships do not need to be perfect in fiction. They can be flawed. They can be fucked up. They can be ugly and abusive and show two people who just aren't right for each other.

40) Enemies to lovers big sexy.

41) Friends to lovers also big sexy.

42) Friends to enemies is also also big sexy.

43) Enemies to friends to enemies to- you get what I'm saying. Change in relationships between people can be a powerful tool.

44) You don't need a relationship to be 'flawed' to write it. Couples are allowed to be perfect together. It's your story. Write what you want and if you want 100k words of perfect domestic bliss then WRITE THATSHIT.

45) Not all fiction is appropriate for children and you should not be expected to cater your writing to them on the off chance that they MIGHT read it. That is not your responsibility and don't let anyone make you feel like it is.

46) Themes are good and cool and if you want to write them you should write them. If you want your fiction to have meaning then give it meaning!

47) Your fiction doesn't have to mean SHIT. You don't have to write in any lesson, any morality, any ANYTHING if you don't want to!

48) "Show don't tell" is a rule that is useful. Tell anyway if that's what you want to do. Cut an entire scene for one paragraph. Just do it!

49) This one is just my recommendation, but keep a notebook of scraps and ideas. Anything you like, just- jot it down!

49 cont) If you're like me and hate starting notebooks, just completely eviscerate the first page. Scribble all over it. Write dicks 50 times. Draw a cat. Make the conksuckiest boot you've ever seen. Then just fill it with whatever you like that inspires you or you want to save.

50) Find the best way to write that works for you. I use Scriniver, make the window small so that it doesn't look like I have a fuck ton of empty space to fill (bc that psyches me the fuck out) and I write in Comic Sans (no, really. It helps.).

51) Slap your romance into place wherever you want. Beginning, middle, end. Doesn't matter. It's all about you and what you want. If it makes most sense at the end? Put it at the end! If you want them to get together and then go on an adventure, then do that!

52) If you write stories of abuse, you don't have to have your character forgive their abuser. You can also have them forgive their abuser. There is no "correct way" to write a story about abuse. There is no "correct way" to write a character healing from or dealing with trauma.

53) All characters can have redemption arcs. Even if they have a body count. What matters is how you personally feel they can be redeemed and then writing it.

54) Writing queer characters who are not out yet is not a bad thing. It's not queerbaiting.

55) Writing stories about homophobia/racism is not a bad thing.

56) Writing messy stories about queer experiences is not a bad thing. Queer stories don't have to be uwu pure.

57) Write as many uwu pure queer stories as you want.

58) You do not have to conform your stories to the idea of what another person wants. If there is a lack of x kind of stories, you do not have to write that story just to fill it. Write that story because you WANT to, not "for the sake of having x kind of stories".

59) Make your characters as sexy as you want. Just do it. They're not real.

60) You don't have to plot your story out in advance.

61) Plotting your story out in advance is a very useful tool and it can help get around roadblocks or "petering out".

62) Make your stakes as high as you want. Make them for the world. For the universe. For the goddamn multiverse. High stakes are exciting as shit and make for excellent stories.

63) Make your stakes as low as you want. For a familiy. For a lover. For a single friendship bracelet. Low stakes are personal and intimate and make for excellent stories.

64) Make there be no stakes at all. Who needs that shit, anyway?

65) If you want to switch the tone of your story, just do it! Who cares? It's your story!

66) Having a consistent tone of your story can help with cohesion. If you feel like your story is all over the place and you don't like that, look at your tones and how they vary.

67) Characters are important, but they're not everything. Good characters can carry a lot, but so can a good story, and so can a good world.

(That said, I personally do think that good characters can carry okay plot or worlds easier than good plots carrying okay characters- but that doesn't mean it can't be done.)

68) You don't need sex scenes for a story to be engaging.

69) Sex scenes are hot. Write as many as you want. Write only sex, if you want.

70) Perspectives are dope. You can jump around to as many people as you want.

71) Sticking in just one person's head for the whole story is not a bad thing. It can be a very useful tool to drive mystery and engagement.

72) Will they, won't they is a perfectly fine trope. It's fun.

73) Romance trope but gay is also excellent. (See tip 38)

74) Write as much fucked up shit as you want. Seriously I cannot stress this enough. Write as much darkfic as you want.

75) Read as much as you can. The more you read, the more you'll be exposed to new ideas and inspiration and different styles of writing that might resonate with you!

76) In a similar vein, when you read something you don't like, try to think about *why* you don't like it.

76 cont) Is it the style? The way they handle a subject manner? Is it their word choices? Figuring out what you don't like is a great way to improve your own writing because it lets you avoid those things you don't like.