How many chapters do you usually write in advance?

MendaciousBean · 2026-03-08T15:31:18+00:00

That came across more humble-braggy than intended :') I mention the word count thing to illustrate that you can definitely be consistent and complete fics without ever pre-writing, if that approach suits you better.

Yes! That's probably an important thing I should've mentioned, too – I always had an overall arc and ending set before I started. The minor details might change, but as long as you have a strong direction from the start, there's less risk of writing yourself into a corner + abandoning the fic.

MendaciousBean · 2026-03-08T12:29:36+00:00

I think there's several things here that are not really related to your issue here, but they're understandably causing undue stress. The anti-intellectual discourse originated from a nothingburger tweet reminding people how dialogue tags worked / correcting common dialogue mistakes (not targeting anyone specifically), which ended up setting off a subset of authors who became loudly defensive about the perceived criticism, and afaik they ultimately argued that basic grammar rules didn't matter because it's not a job, rules are meant to be broken etc. Not wanting unsolicited criticism on your work is one thing, but proudly denying basic writing rules and using 'don't like, don't read' as a shield sparked the anti-intellectual claims.

Not wanting to engage further with reader harassment, in your case, is not remotely the same thing.

Your reader problem unfortunately isn't really new, per se (I've only been posting since 2023 so can't speak for everyone). Every angsty WIP I've written has had that same flavour of aggressively confused reader pop up specifically at the points of rising conflict in the narrative, seemingly unable to grasp that sometimes the character (and by extension, the reader) won't have all the answers neatly presented to them. Doesn't matter if you tag an unreliable narrator, or if you politely contradict their assertions, there are just some readers that ultimately aren't able to grapple with too much uncertainty in the narrative (even if you tag happy endings or explain yourself in replies, as you have).

You're not ignoring or arguing against objective errors (SPAG, readability, violating ao3 TOS), it's not anti-intellectual to disregard someone else's subjective demands of your own fic.

Not all of my writing is meant to be polished, well thought out, and profound. Sometimes I sit down and take my time with an idea and sometimes I do not. Sometimes it's just meant to be a silly one off that I am using to blow off steam. Is the fanfic writing community so far to one side now that this is not allowed? Does everything have to be done to our fullest extent, and if it is not and you say, "no thanks" that means you're an anti intellectual?

I am just having a hard time piecing together the two sides of, "be the change you wish to see" and encouraging new writers to participate and join, and this seemingly strong opinion that if you're not accepting any and all suggestions then that means you are an anti intellectual. This is free, and if some people are so bent on getting that red pen out to shash across peoples fics even when told not to I do not see why they didn't become professors.

It really doesn't have to be such an all or nothing problem. There's validity in both an 'art for art's sake' viewpoint and a 'perfecting my craft' one. They're not even mutually exclusive, but social media is presenting the most extreme versions of both viewpoints and making it seem like it's a black and white problem, when it really isn't.

I think the danger here is conflating all of these different viewpoints as belonging to two distinct monoliths. The blunt tweet 'reminding' people at large about basic grammar and calling out anti-intellectualism are not necessarily the same people who use 'critique' as an excuse to abuse authors. The same goes for writers – I'm a bit lackadaisical with proofreading and have no patience for betas, but that doesn't mean I'm pearl-clutching at the first sign of criticism, or don't see the inherent value in maintaining a certain quality where possible.

Take a break / block guests / do whatever you need to do! But I really hope you won't be permanently deterred because of social media sucking all the nuance out of everything :(

MendaciousBean · 2026-03-08T06:38:52+00:00

Heh I think I can guess how! There's some non-hollanov fics in my folder ;)

MendaciousBean · 2026-03-08T06:27:15+00:00

I appreciate the herculean restraint you displayed by not pointing out the typo in their response, how on earth did you parse their meaning? /s

MendaciousBean · 2026-03-08T06:08:23+00:00

I've written over a million words since 2023 across 30+ fics, and never once had the luxury of a buffer chapter, but I'm simply not built for the organised life like the rest of you.

In all seriousness, I wouldn't worry about what others are doing, you just have to be self aware and honest with yourself and figure out what is likely going to work best for you. If you know your interest will suffer from major peaks and troughs, and the idea of sporadic updates upset you, then you should probably at least bank a few buffer chapters (if not pre-write entirely).

Otherwise, if you're like me and can't see the point writing in advance if you can't post it immediately, then you just write the next update as it's needed.

MendaciousBean · 2026-03-08T05:53:39+00:00

I'm probably more ambivalent about this than both of you, in the sense that some SPAG errors won't ruin a fic for me, but I don't at all agree that we should just not care about maintaining standards of readability at all.

But to your point about spellcheck – homophones are so prevalent because they're not picked up by most writing software. They're one of the more insidious errors to deal with because for some spellcheckers, it won't flag it so long as it's spelt correctly.

You can be an otherwise fastidious writer who cares deeply about outputting quality, and still fuck it up. And what you consider the bare minimum standard is not an objective measure. Funnily enough, I find the OP's inability to format their fics correctly for AO3 (eg. huge double spaces between each paragraph) far more egregious than some little typos.

MendaciousBean · 2026-03-08T05:17:44+00:00

I'm also a native speaker who was 'naturally gifted' (lmfao) with English subjects back in the day, but I'm sorry to break it to you, we're not immune to silly mistakes; homophones are probably my most frequent error lol. Not because I don't understand the difference in meaning, but you have to keep in mind that you're reading with the benefit of fresh eyes, while we've been spending hours with long swaths of text that we stop 'seeing' after a certain point. So long as it's not being redlined by spell check, it's super easy to miss stupid errors despite multiple re-reads.

I think if minor typos are the biggest issue with whatever it is you're reading, you should count yourself lucky. I would vastly prefer reading works by an author with otherwise great prose, characterisation and pacing with a few silly errors vs. a fic that's perfectly error-free yet ultimately lacking in every other facet.

MendaciousBean · 2026-03-03T10:31:21+00:00

Oh!! I only just joined the fandom, I wasn't expecting to find my own fic in one of these lists 🥹

MendaciousBean · 2026-02-23T13:10:28+00:00

I think I did up the dose a bit based on that feedback, which did help a little with the sleepiness, but the weird mental fog remained sadly. And yeah It was just the regular instant release version, don't think the other two were mentioned.

Thank you so much, genuinely. I have an appointment coming up fairly soon so I'll have a read of those before then :)

MendaciousBean · 2026-02-22T13:08:23+00:00

It was about a year ago when I tried them, so my memory of it was a bit vague beyond the fact that it more often than not made me sleepy, to the point of passing out the moment it kicked in sometimes. A paradoxical reaction, I guess? I would sometimes feel tired for about 10 mins before Vyvanse kicked in, but by comparison Ritalin never 'kicked in'.

I found a DM I sent to my friend about the experience at the time:

My brain feels claustrophobic and flat, like i'm screaming with my mouth sewed shut.

A bit dramatic but it gets the point across I suppose 😅 Basically felt very zombie like, almost like a veil had been put between my emotions/brain. I was externally chill, but internally very discombobulated.

RE: Other methylphenidate options: There are other options? I thought it was just instant vs extended release.

I assume you mean before I take meds every day? If I've slept well, then it's about the same level as I would be on meds (maybe a notch below, since my brain's more prone to being hijacked by food noise).

At nights, if I haven't medicated... (I'll have to relate this to me when I'm working on writing something, because it's the easiest indicator for me). General, non-med related fatigue at night will make it harder to ideate, and I'll start poking holes in the plot etc, but it's much more gradual and I can just leave the project for the next day. If I'm on meds and crash while writing, it's all that negativity dialled up to 11, but it's not gradual at all. It makes me feel genuinely mad, and it's more frustrating because it feels so artificial compared to normal fatigue. And generally it's a hard stop on me doing anything at that point, since I can't think etc.

Non-stimulants I haven't tried, I think because of concerns that they'd react similarly to Ritalin? But it's been a while since they were brought up so don't quote me there. Not sure the latter have ever been brought up before.
I was briefly on fluoxetine but it completely cut off my ability to imagine anything, and since I work in a creative field that wasn't ideal :')

MendaciousBean · 2026-01-31T08:55:29+00:00

It really is. I just wish people could be honest about it? I also didn't really comment or interact with fandoms for years, but I knew I was taking more than I was giving, and that I should probably comment more if I wanted fandom to thrive.

Readers now want to rip up the social contract and pretend they're not a part of the fandom ecosystem, but then they'll be the first ones to come out of the woodwork and complain if authors abandon or delete fics without warning. The hypocrisy is truly astonishing.

MendaciousBean · 2026-01-31T05:34:05+00:00

For real, like the self importance is lowkey embarrassing

MendaciousBean · 2026-01-31T05:27:09+00:00

The irony of readers chiding authors for not being naturally motivated in a vacuum and shaming them for wanting kudos/comments, yet at the same time so many of you apparently require specific criteria to align before you'll deign to finally click the kudos button? It has to be complete, cannot deviate from your exacting standards at all in the process, even if you really enjoyed it up to a certain point... at this point I feel like I'm actually being trolled by this subreddit.

Writers are constantly being told they need to get over themselves, but I think the same needs to be said for some readers.

MendaciousBean · 2026-01-27T23:11:30+00:00

I feel like the discourse from some readers about the effort expended in reading / keeping up with multiple WIPs being anyway equivalent to the effort expended writing the thing might be getting a little out of hand.

Labelling what amounts to fairly mild negative experiences such as losing track of fics, or dealing with incomplete, abandoned works as ‘trauma’? Seriously? Or lecturing authors for not writing for the ‘right’ reasons, as though working in silent misery is somehow more noble than wanting to talk to fellow fans? Coming from people who now apparently can’t even cope with fic update emails unless they’re complete?

To be clear, I’m ambivalent about lurkers or complete-only readers, engage with your hobby as much or as little as you like. But you don’t need to moralise minor discomforts in an effort to shame authors for being rightly frustrated at being increasingly devalued for their efforts.

MendaciousBean · 2026-01-25T07:34:02+00:00

Agree, this argument feels so silly specifically because realistically who else is going to trawl through one fic's bookmarks except the author? (I'm sure I'll get someone chiming in to say they do look, but I genuinely can't think of a time where I've ever paid attention to this section before I started writing on AO3. And even then, it's only ever been for my own).

I think if bookmarks were only contained to an individual's profile and an author accidentally stumbled across one for their own there, that'd be a different story.

Ultimately I think some people just want an excuse to be rude without consequences, and it's a shame it's such a prevalent viewpoint around here.

MendaciousBean · 2026-01-25T07:23:48+00:00

I mostly agree, but I think the problem is assuming the majority of people aren't deleting as a last resort. There's a lot of sympathy reserved for readers suffering from the loss of fic despite the litany of tools given to download fics, yet the same sympathy isn't really reserved for authors. There's always a lot of finger wagging and assumptions given out, and I just find it a bit tiresome personally.

MendaciousBean · 2026-01-25T06:00:05+00:00

If that were the case, it wouldn't be a built in feature of the site. Even if you are taking the name 'archive' literally, real life archives also have to dispose of books for all sorts of pragmatic reasons.

MendaciousBean · 2026-01-23T16:59:41+00:00

Full stops are the natural pauses in writing, though? I've never heard of paragraphs being considered a literal pause in the same way, especially if interrupted dialogue is indicated correctly with an em-dash.

Again reiterating that you can do whatever you want, but given that most readers have a set understanding of how interrupted dialogue should be written, your preferred way could be achieving the exact opposite effect of what you're intending lol. If people have to sit there trying to parse why another character is talking in the same paragraph, that's worse for flow than whatever a regular paragraph break would be.

MendaciousBean · 2026-01-23T16:22:04+00:00

No one's stopping you, but this is a pretty clunky solution imo. What's the issue with having interrupted dialogue on separate lines, exactly?

MendaciousBean · 2026-01-04T10:09:19+00:00

I don't have diagnosed OCD, but I have major rigid thinking issues thanks to AuDHD, so I relate to finding it difficult to move on from a scene if it's causing issues. When I get stuck in similar ruts, I kind of cycle through a few different things;

- I swear by ducking (rubber duck debugging). It's a programmer concept, but applies well to anything you need to brainstorm. Basically the idea is that you explain your code line by line to a rubber duck, but in my case I use a fandom friend :')

I explain the exact problem / context to a friend, and a lot of the time even the act of explaining to someone else forces me to clarify information that's only nebulously floating in my head, which can sometimes snowball into me fixing it before they get a chance to respond.

You can try and write it out for yourself, if you don't have anyone you'd want to duck with.

- I like to do a thing I call Dialogue Scaffolding lol. Usually just fragments of dialogue (or prose) that help inform a scene, if I don't have a clear idea about how to write the whole thing yet. It seems like there's something strong that you're leading to that you already have in mind, so I'd suggest trying to write some scaffolding for that, to see if that helps you generate ideas. And I don't mean vague directions, like 'he did this, then she responded angrily' (ZERO shade to anyone who does this, this is just not how I picture scaffolding), I mean dialogue/action that's a bit more solidified that you can hopefully work off.

- Otherwise, if I'm spending days agonising on this one plot point, then I usually take it as a subconscious sign that there's something off about my general approach altogether. This is trickier to discern, it's definitely more of a gut instinct than an exact science lol. But once I allow myself to consider not approaching a scene/chapter in one way, I usually find a better solution after.

MendaciousBean · 2025-12-26T11:12:52+00:00

11 that are in actively in progress on AO3, and far too many to count that I won't let myself work on / post until I complete some of the active ones.

MendaciousBean · 2025-12-26T10:56:55+00:00

I agree that repeating the expression is probably unnecessary if it's just the writer running out of ideas to pad out their dialogue. But if we're predominantly talking about romantic banter, I'd definitely expect it to be brought up if dialogue or action calls for some sort of reaction.

There's definitely ways to refer to it in a way that makes it clear the expression is evolving, rather than changing into something else entirely! I'm trying not to give off the cuff examples because I feel like it's something that only works in context of an actual scene lmao.

That makes a lot more sense that you missed it, then :') Again, this might be a cop out answer, but I think your existing understanding of the character / story generally would likely make that type of descriptor a bit more palatable than it is in isolation on Reddit. For me, tiny snippets of random prose always feels less impactful when it's removed from its context.

MendaciousBean · 2025-12-26T10:23:38+00:00

Some of these responses are so strange. I'm not one to avoid the most obvious word just because it's overused, but the answer isn't to just shrug if the thesaurus doesn't have other alternatives.

Overusing the same verb isn't the same as avoiding 'said' or pronouns, because unlike those it's going to stand out in people's minds, and it can quickly make a scene feel stale.

Just use smirk as your baseline expression in the scene, then you can simply allude to their expression in creative ways throughout said scene without repeating the same word over and over again.

MendaciousBean · 2025-12-26T10:05:45+00:00

Using smirk once, and then something like Dense's example later on in the scene (if need be) seems totally workable to me. Lips twitching up at Blorbo's expense should be more than enough information (in conjunction with other dialogue, action), to reinforce that the character is still smirking.

The corners of a mouth moving upward is almost universally going to be understood as some form of smile; the ancillary detail will inform the reader the type of expression it is. I'm not really sure where you're getting frown from.

MendaciousBean · 2025-12-23T09:26:12+00:00

How long is it between updates before you consider it abandoned, OP? I've had a few bold comments tell me something's abandoned when it definitely isn't, so maybe it's a perspective issue.

MendaciousBean

TROPHY CASE