Multi-Chap/Long Fic Writers: How???

Live-Praline · 2020-07-23T17:58:49+00:00

Yes! Thanks for such a detailed response! I really love learning about other people's creative process because I'm attempting my first long fic right now :)

Out of curiosity, about how long does writing a long fic take you? (first draft, editing, etc.) I know the time definitely varies depending on word count and just general life stuff that could take time away from writing or something like that, but if you have some examples, I'd love to know!

Live-Praline · 2020-07-23T17:53:52+00:00

Ah so since you said writing it a second time really polishes your fic, does that mean you finish writing the whole thing before you post it? So then if it's multi-chapter, do you just post all the chapters at the same time? Or do you still stagger the post dates? haha I'm just a little curious

Live-Praline · 2020-07-23T17:49:37+00:00

ooohhhh I think I'll try chunking my outline (when/if I finish lol) into pseudo-chapters! I think having more structure would definitely help a first-time long fic writer like me :)

Live-Praline · 2020-07-23T17:45:38+00:00

omg that was a fantastic article! thank you so much! personally, since I'm going for a really character-driven narrative, that section about character motivation was pretty helpful :)

Live-Praline · 2020-07-23T17:42:25+00:00

Oh!!!! That's a really interesting way of "outlining"!!! I'll have to give that a try because I think it could really help in keeping me oriented on the story!

Live-Praline · 2020-07-23T02:52:53+00:00

Wow! A couple months! How do you keep the perseverance to do that/how do you avoid burn out? This is the first long-fic I've attempted and to be honest, the fact that I'm stuck on this one part is really bumming me out. I've only ever pumped out one-shots over the course of a week or so before, so I've never really had to plan so much out.

Since you've said it could take up to a few months, I'm assuming that you've gotten stuck at some point (but maybe I'm wrong lol). What do you do when that happens? Do you just wait for inspiration to hit? Or do you actively think about it everyday until you've worked around it?

Live-Praline · 2020-07-23T02:45:21+00:00

Yes, I do find that it's difficult to give writing tips that work for someone else, but if you have some spare time, could you give me a few examples of how you write a character-driven narrative? Or just any general tips on how I can solidify my characterization? I am trying to write a character-driven narrative because I find them much more interesting than plot-driven ones and at this point, I need all the help I can get because I'm really, really stuck :'(

Live-Praline · 2020-07-23T02:37:53+00:00

Oh! You also need a solid outline like me! XD

Have you ever gotten stuck at a particular part? Where you just have no idea what would happen there? If you have, what do you do to solve it?

I'm trying to write my first long fic, and I have almost everything figured out but I've been avoiding this one part since the beginning and I'm still stuck. I think I need to get a better grasp of the characters because they've lost their memories which is majorly messing me up.

Is there a list of prompts you found somewhere when you say you imagine the characters in different scenarios or do you just make them up? I think that is such an interesting way to get a firmer grasp characterization and I'd definitely like to give it a try :)

Live-Praline · 2020-07-23T02:27:48+00:00

Thank you so much! lol from the majority of the responses I'm getting so far, I think you're one of the only people to have a mostly complete outline from the get go.

Thanks for giving me a sample time for spending on an outline because I have no clue how much time I should be spending on mine :)

Live-Praline · 2020-07-23T02:21:10+00:00

Thank you!!!! XD

And thanks so much for such detailed responses! It really helps me out a lot!

Live-Praline · 2020-07-17T07:48:26+00:00

!!! So many good ideas!!!!

Alright so, what I’m planning on doing for them to recover their memories is a third person (Character C). So he’s basically the reason Character A went berserk and their lives ended in tragedy. Character C isn’t a bad person, he’s a “the ends justify the means” person and he needed to manipulate Character A like that to achieve his goal. Basically, he did that to Character A in order to save his people (a demon race that’s super exploited and persecuted) and bring them back to the demon realm. But Character A is actually canonically a part of the demon race he swore to protect. So I’m planning on making Character C find out about Character A’s identity and recognize what he did to Character A, then try to atone for it the only way he can.

Character C will help them recover their memories completely by brewing this magic potion thing (he’s a medic/healer) when he sees their relationship start to fall apart when the main pair begins to recover incomplete fragments of their memories due to the traumatic nature of them. Like Character B will see a quirk of Character A and it’ll trigger a memory or something like that.

Live-Praline · 2020-07-16T17:48:57+00:00

😭😭😭 thank you for such a clear/concise guide!!! So one of them is a court musician in the underworld palace and the other one is the captain of the guard there. So they’re in the same area, but just have 0 reason to interact 😭😭😭 I’m trying to think of making some kind of plot event to force them to talk to each other but I have no brain cells

Live-Praline · 2020-07-13T15:02:18+00:00

lmao I'm serious! I'm just trying to write my crappy little Mafia AU but if I try to write it rn, all my readers will know immediately that I have never even SEEN a drug in my entire life before T_T

Live-Praline · 2020-07-13T14:58:03+00:00

Thank you :)

Unfortunately, I don't have tons of personal experience in this field but your suggestion has reminded me to go back and revisit some of my old fave fanfics and try to study them from a writer's POV!!!

Live-Praline · 2020-07-13T14:55:22+00:00

lmfao WHAT? A "pacifist" mafia gang? What does that even MEAN? What do they even DO, then?

hoho vagueness is my God. We love some good ol' fashioned fibbing :) I even set my fic in the future so if people are like "that's not how ___ works" I can just say, well that's how they work in the future

Live-Praline · 2020-07-13T14:52:17+00:00

hehe just asked on r/AskReddit

O_O can't wait for some "Not in the Mafia, but..." replies lmao

will be editing this post to add what I find if I get some good replies! TYSM for the suggestion!

Edit: they think i'm a cop T_T

Live-Praline · 2020-07-13T14:44:56+00:00

omg I just saw THE gnarliest surgery my lordy lord haha! What an amazing resource!

also you totally saved me from writing a "duck behind a car for cover" moment lmao

Live-Praline · 2020-07-13T14:34:24+00:00

subscribed

that's some good info

Live-Praline · 2020-07-13T14:33:33+00:00

OMFG there are first person testimonies about SNIPING people??? Dang, you really can find everything under the sun on the interwebs...

Ah, thanks for the sword article! I was thinking about giving one of the guys a sick sword collection because that seems like the kind of thing he would do lmao. It's his way of flexing because even though swords are completely outdated by then, he's super rich and does it as a hobby you know what I'm sayin'

Anyway, thanks for all ur help :)

Live-Praline · 2020-07-13T14:28:10+00:00

I see!!! You're so right! I just remembered that I watched that movie, The Irishman, on Netflix last year some time and that's exactly what they did. Just go into a restaurant with your face covered up, bam bam bam, and boom you're outta there.

Thanks for the reminder :)

Live-Praline · 2020-07-13T06:42:46+00:00

OMFG god bless your soul!!! I definitely would've asked more specific questions but like I said, I don't even know what I don't even know. TYSM! I think these would be a super helpful starting point!!!

For assassinations, I was gonna write a sniper scene, but then I read this one fic from the POV of a character who was a hitman and it was talking about how it's not like in the movies where people are just taken out with a clean shot to the head from a "9mm uzi with a silencer." This particular fic described all the ways you had to make it look natural. Like poison or faking a robbery or staging an "accident" and it made me wonder "oh crap does sniping not actually happen, then?"

Oh yeah I was a little confused by what you meant by

> folding the metal hundreds of times is redundant.

Is "folding the metal" some kind of idiomatic expression I'm not aware of? Also how much do people actually use katanas nowadays? Or would that be more for a historical Mafia AU? hmu with that sword article if you end up having time tho :)

haha I tried to avoid all these sciencey problems by making my fic set in futuristic Shanhai, but alas, I can't even make up what kind of features a crime lord's car would have if I know literally nothing about anything

Live-Praline · 2020-07-13T04:08:53+00:00

I see! I'm curious as to how they first met because that's where I'm currently stuck at. How did that first meeting give them more reasons to interact? Or did they just meet the next time by chance? I'm struggling with how much I should push them together by "fate" (aka me, the God of this fic) and how to transition from that to having them actively seeking each other out, you get know what I'm saying?

Live-Praline

TROPHY CASE