Ao3 Author - Blog Posts
https://archiveofourown.org/works/64938397/chapters/167602762
Next chapter of Frankentwins is up! Sorry it took so long to write I had so many ideas :')
I've already started chapter three so it should be out much sooner than this was
and yes I changed the name of chapter 1 because it sounded better than my silly Percy Jackson sounding one
I won't lie to you, as a fanfic author I've gone through the most traumatic moments of my life thinking "ah, this is gonna make really good fic material"
me: *writes monoma neito content*
me: *stares at my reflection in the mirror and places my hand on it* “you are who i write for”.
Even better if they are occasionally unreliable narrators
absolutely love abusing the power that comes with 3rd person limited pov and just ignoring things and being vague sometimes. does the character know all the details? no? then I don't have to either.
That about sums it up! 🙃
Fanfiction writers be like:
"here's the immensely time consuming 100K word novel-length passion project I'm working on between my real life job and family! It eats up hundreds of hours of my one and only life, causes me emotional harm, and I gain basically nothing from it! Also I put it on the internet for free so anyone can read if they want. Hope you love it!" :)
Gale is also 💯 the MVP of this chapter. He may not be getting the romance partner role in this fic, but he’s def gunning for bestie status 👯♂️
The Embrace of Love and Death, Chapter 5: Playing with Knives
Chapter summary: Lae’zel puts Astarion and Miss Fortune through the paces, training them relentlessly until they learn to work together better. Things get flirtatious between the rogues as they get to know each other better, and Shadowheart puts Miss Fortune on the spot to reveal their past.
Read the full chapter on AO3! https://archiveofourown.org/works/64221298/chapters/166716742
Excerpt:
“It’s time for the two of you to start warming up,” the warrior commanded as soon as she noticed Miss Fortune was done eating. There was no room for bargaining or arguing in her tone. “You will go to the clearing, you will stretch every muscle, do push-ups, sit-ups, and squats to exhaustion twice, and lastly you will run until I decide to come stop you. Then, I will train you until I am satisfied that you’ve learned the lesson at hand.”
Miss Fortune could hear Astarion complaining under his breath the whole way to the clearing, and when they arrived he turned on them with a huff.
“Why don’t you just leave me at camp to watch the cook pot?” He demanded, waving his hands wildly. “Why put us through all this just to keep me on the road with you?”
“Is that what you want? To stay in camp?” They asked as they began to stretch their arms and shoulders.
“Wha—I didn’t say that,” the vampire countered, beginning his own stretches. “It’s just, wouldn’t that be easier?”
“And miss out on your witty banter and gorgeous face all day? Doesn’t sound easier to me,” Miss Fortune grinned.
“Oh, well in that case…” Astarion feigned sheepishness, brushing a curl behind his pointy ear. “Glad to see someone around here has good taste.”
“And you would know after last night, wouldn’t you? How good my taste is?” Miss Fortune dropped to the ground to begin stretching the lower half of their body. They chanced a quick glance up at the vampire and noticed an almost imperceptible shudder of ecstasy as he presumably recalled the taste of their blood. The half-elf had to look away quickly, hoping he didn’t catch sight of the hot blush razing across their cheeks.
“Aha! How delightful. Yes, you were scrumptious, my sweet. But to whom am I speaking today? Because it’s certainly not the same sad little bird who was ready to curl up and die last night.” Astarion followed suit, practically bending himself in half with seemingly no effort. Miss Fortune tried unsuccessfully not to let their eyes - or mind - drift too much at the sight. There was no denying that he had a great body, and the incredible flexibility had them feeling some type of way.
I'm really bad at leaving comments because I'm always super worried about not having a lot to say or coming off a little too excited. But I saw something similar to this post that made me more willing to put in at least a minimal effort to thank the author for their work and a little bit about what I liked. I don't write, and what little art I make rarely gets put out there, so I didn't really fully understand how encouraging little comments like that are to artists.
TLDR: Encourage your favorite writers/artists to do what they do. Make an effort to interact with their work and let them know what it made you think about. Insightfulness is contagious :)
how to have a healthier relationship with your stats page
1. Understand what stats can tell you - and what they can’t
AO3 stats tell you whether or not another user clicked something. That’s it. Hits tell you whether a user clicked the title of your fic. Kudos tell you that a user clicked the little ❤ at the bottom of the page. Comments tell you that a user typed something into a box and then hit the comment button.
Stats do not tell you why a person did any of those things. They also don’t tell you why a person didn’t do them. You know why you do those things yourself, but there are many types of people in the world and we all have our reasons why we do things. You can’t assume that every other user of AO3 uses the site the same way you do.
Stats are not a reliable way to find out if you’re good at writing. They’re not a way to tell if you are loved. They have nothing to do with the quality of your work or your worth as a person.
2. Don’t compare yourself to others - or yourself
Because stats are not a reliable way to judge quality or skill or the effort you put into a story, comparing your stats against another author will also not tell you which of you is the “better” author or which of you has a “better” story. They can tell you which story was more popular, but popularity itself has very little to do with skill or quality.
This is also true of your own work. Chances are very real that the story you’re most proud of is not the story with the best stats. Don’t let one story’s relative success or failure affect how you feel about another’s.
3. Focus on things you can control instead of things you can’t
Once you’ve posted your story, the reaction to it is out of your control. It will get however many hits, kudos, and comments other people decide to give it and you can’t do much about that at all.
What you can control, however, is the work you put into the story before you post it. Celebrate statistics like word count or time spent writing or the number of WIP you’ve managed to finish. Those are all numbers that are in your control, that you have the power to alter and affect.
Find something in every story that makes you happy. It doesn’t have to be the whole fic. It could be one particular characterization, a scene, or a line. Maybe you wrote a particularly funny joke or a really moving description or a hot love scene.
Highlighting positive emotions and being proud of your own work will make you less reliant on the opinions of other people. You’ll develop more confidence, and that will help you avoid the stats spiral in the future. Finding motivations inside of yourself is much more reliable than getting motivation from people who might or might not continue to provide it.
4. If you can’t ignore stats, avoid them
The first time I had an unhealthy relationship with my stats page, I ended up quitting fic entirely for about a year. I still wrote, I just didn’t post anything on AO3. I couldn’t trust myself not to focus on the numbers and make myself crazy, and so I didn’t allow myself to look at them at all.
The second time I found myself starting down the stats spiral, I knew the signs and I was able to pull myself out of it. I stopped looking at my stats page, but I was able to continue posting work. I still refreshed the page for the first day to see the hits/kudos/comments but after that first day I only returned to the fic in order to post a new chapter or answer another comment.
There are tools you can use to help you avoid stats. This AO3 skin hides stats entirely. This code hides hits. Here’s one for hiding kudos with additional instructions on how to hide any stats you choose.
5. Be your own cheerleader
When it comes right down to it, the reason why we focus in on stats is because we’re looking for reassurance. We want to know for sure whether we’re a good writer or not. Unfortunately, our stats are never going to tell us that.
A lot of us are also told by others that being proud of something we’ve done or liking something that we’ve created is boastful or bragging or other negative personality traits. But there’s a difference between bragging about how good you are and acknowledging your own skills.
Give yourself permission to like your own work. You might never get that permission from someone else, so you need to take that on yourself.
Start talking to yourself the way you’d talk to a friend of yours who was working on a fic or a piece of art or doing anything else that requires time and skill. You wouldn’t tear them down, so don’t tear yourself down. Build yourself up. That positive self-talk can be difficult at first, but it’s a habit that pays off over time.
6. Know that I’m proud of you
It takes courage and strength and determination to have an idea and then to act on it. It’s easy to think. It’s a lot harder to write things down. No matter whether you post your story online or you keep it to yourself. No matter whether you get a thousand hits or a dozen. You’re still amazing, and I’m so glad you took that leap ❤
Real
words cannot describe the joy you feel when you finally find the fic you've been looking for for the past weeks
Pain is finding the fanfic with the exact plot you wanted to read and seeing that it's been 5 years since the last update, hope is the last thing to die😔
the only reason i have twt anymore is to check ao3 status 💔💔💔
y'all are QUICK with it too
i have so many fic idea's but when i realize i'd actually have to write them.... oh look, suddenly my homework is looking real tempting
the memes on twitter omg 😭
⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚
find me on ao3 !!
┊ ┊ ┊ ┊ ┊ ┊
┊ ┊ ┊ ┊ ˚★⋆｡˚ ⋆
┊ ┊ ┊ ⋆
┊ ┊ ★⋆
┊ ◦
★⋆ ┊ . ˚
˚★
As much as I desperately want my fics to be up to the same standard as a traditionally published work, I’m not a literary editor.
I’ve been an editor of professional copywriting for many years, but I’ve come to learn that there is a gap between the skills needed for professional/technical editing and literary editing. Maybe not a vast gap. It’s still there.
All that to say, fanfiction gives writers and editors an opportunity to learn new skills. We should always keep honing our craft, no matter what that looks like.
I hate that there’s a stigma around fanfiction writing because it presents such a rich opportunity to grow as writers and editors.
And I hate even more that such a stigma stems from misogyny. There’s a pre-conceived notion that writers who are women (often queer women) and young don’t have anything worthy to offer. Of course, it swings in every direction for women of every age. Misogyny is no respecter of age, but the way some folks talk about young women’s writing makes me want to throw hands.
You — yes, you, fanfic writer reading this — need to keep doing what you’re doing. There is no more noble endeavor than creating something you love in earnest.
Don’t stop. Please.
I have read fanfics that have left me in tears, both happy and sad, had me laughing my ass off, wanting to scream. Fanfics might be seen as weird and taboo (weirdly enough) but no one can say that some fics aren’t so well written it feels like you’re reading a best selling book!
12 of 14 of my works were scraped by ai, and i know so many other authors are experiencing the same thing. this is your reminder to comment on fics you love, because creators are getting discouraged. we need to keep ao3 alive.
Quick question!
Should I kill this minor character's mom?
Why I should: good character development, creates conflict with her friend who thinks the people that killed her mom were pretty legit
Why I shouldn't: it will make me have to write MORE, it will create conflict, it was in the original plan but I'm kinda just not feeling it anymore
*LITTLE SNEAK PEAK OF UPCOMING CHAPTER*
Please note that there will most likely be changes, also I'd like you all to give me suggestions on things you'd like differently or ships or friends things like that even little things I'd like to know what I could or should change or incorporate I just want to make this story even better for you all, HAVE A GOOD MORNING/DAY/EVENING/NIGHT AND MAKE SURE TO DRINK SOME WATER EAT SOMETHING DOESN'T MATTER HOW LITTLE SO LONG AS YOU TRY TO EAT LOVE YOU ALL 💙💙💙💙
3rd person POV
"Mama psst psssst! Mama! " harry 'whispered', someone should really teach this kid how to whisper, to Severus Snape, Severus look'd down at Harry Potter a four year old boy who was situated on his lap "yes harry?" Severus quietly asked the boy "when are we going to make potions? I'm booored" harry whined, Remus watched with a smile "well today we are just taking notes and researching" Severus' answer caused Harry to huff and pout "here how about you draw something for us Harry" Remus say handing Harry a piece of parchment, harry gleefully takes the parchment and grabs Severus' quill from his inkpot
"Don't worry I'll take notes for you sev-uh Snape" Remus flashed him a smile, Severus decided not to tell Remus he already knows everything about this potion and just nodded his head before turning back to watch Harry, "*gasp* you can't see yet mama!" Harry tried hiding his drawing with his arms Severus huffed a laugh "alright I won't look" he said adverting his eyes to professor slughorn "piiinky prrooomise?" Harry squinted up at him "pinky promise" Severus glanced at harry and smiled lifting his pinky to harry, harry giggled and linked his pinky with Severus' before uncovering his drawing and continuing.
"Pinky promise?" Remus hums with a faint smile "..." Remus sighs as his smile fell 'him and his stupid sad kicked puppy eye's' severus thought "my mother and I did them when I was younger and then when I met Lilly she made me pinky promise her..." severus mumbles Remus smile wide "thank you" "hm? What for?" Severus tilts his head "for telling me" Remus answers "it was hardly important or anything" Severus says "still a pinky promise seems important to you and you seem happy harry does it so thank you for letting have this bit of information" Remus gives Severus soft eyes with a light smile, severus feel his cheeks start to heat up and quickly turns his back to slughorn and Remus returns to his note taking.
A few minutes later Harry declares he's done, Severus turns "am I allowed to see now?" He asks "hmmm" Harry pretends to think tapping his chin before giggling "I'm just kidding! Of course mama can look!" Harry lifts the parchment for Severus to see
Chapter 2 of Severus Snape, harry Potter and the annoying gryffindor's is almost done I'm just having a bit of writers block right now. Lmao it took me a week and some to make the first chapter
Chapter four of The weight if the universe is finally out!!! Although it is only half of what i originally planned to write, i think something is better than nothing atp! Hopefully you guys enjoy, we’re making some progress with our guapos ;)
<a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/
sorry i lowkey went MIA for a bit there…
i am struggling with time management rn so would you guys prefer me posting what i have written so far for the next chapter or wait an unknown amount of time to recieve it all in one go? like its already got like 6k words so far so it should be decent enough.
OH MY GOD THE AO3 AUTHOR CURSE IS REAL😭😭😭😞😞😞
guess whose EBV is flaring up 🔥🔥🔥🔥 im freaking SICK and have been the past three days omg im so sorry everyone 😭🙏 im going to try and force myself to write at least a couple paragraphs today because we’ve been at a stalemate for over a week
you guys are going to be spoiled next chapter god damn, already at about 6k words and we aren’t even close to being done 😭🙏
i’ve been posting a new jori fic on ao3, Leave the Light On!! i’ve also been posting related images on pinterest that i edit for the album covers and articles and things like that. for some reason, pinterest won’t let me post this article, so i’m posting it here… if it intrigues you, you should read my fic!! https://archiveofourown.org/works/64691734/chapters/166199176
guys i’m going insane im trying to post a new chapter to my fic and it’s not showing up at the top of any of the tags like it normally does 😭😭 i cleared my cache and im not posting between 12am-5am UTC time and the date of publication is right and idk what else to do 😭 i feel like ppl aren’t gonna realize there’s a new chapter unless it’s at the top 😭 does anyone know what i can do to fix this
“my daughter is fine” your daughter stays up until 4am reading joel x platonic!reader & joel x daughter!reader on tumblr & ao3
Chapter 7 of Skyborn is out!! Check it out here<3~
Guys I'm back with the progress~!! This fic has finna reached 500+ hits and 30+ kudos!! (Yea IK i'd post whenever either the criterias were fulfilled, but I don't wanna spam) ☆*: .｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆ Thanks for the support guys~~ I luvved the comments yall left and made sure to answer em all!! Next post on progress: Either when it reaches 40 kudos or 750 hits
If ya already haven't checked it out b4 here's the link!!
Guysss chapter 6 of Skyborn is out as promised!!!(once a promose, I can't bear break it) Now there's a sweet twist to yall's interactions and experiencing. Read the chapter to know what it is~~(Yes I'm kudos hunting) Check it out!!