Hi hi!! Thank you for loving my fics and for gushing about them in the comments. I’m using my telepathy to learn your identity as we speak

The answer to your question is I go absolutely crazy town on my outlines. The Story Does Not Control Me I Control The Story™

jk

My outlines vary in length but are usually around 20k words. I think my shortest outline was 10k and my longest was over 60k but I can’t recall exactly how long

In addition to writing out every piece of dialogue, I am also establishing setting, physical movement, plot lines, themes/motifs, and character development in my outlines. It really is like. Everything. I’ll post some example screenshots on twt under where I post this response

Almost everything I outline makes the final cut as well. Sometimes I’ll remove things from the outline that ended up taking more space than I intended. For example in racehorse, one of the chapters I wrote was originally 20k words longer than what it is currently. I cut 20k after writing it bc it was too too long. The conceit of that chapter is the same, but not quite as detailed as it was before

So for your process. It is extremely normal and fine for your story to shift as you write it. There’s a method of writing called discovery writing, which is where you go in with an idea, start writing without much of a plan, and just discover where the story takes you. Your process sounds like you have a plan, but you still make room for discovery writing as the story and characters develop and naturally progress in a direction you hadn’t originally considered. That’s super common

My favorite part of the writing process is editing, then outlining, then the actual writing. So for me, I want the writing part to go by quick and easy. Therefore, I am doing multiple rounds of outlining and planning before I start writing. By the time I get to the actual writing, I’ve already encountered all of the moments where the story wants to naturally deviate and accounted for them in my outline

So because my outlining process is so vigorous, I do end up following the outline pretty closely and I don’t encounter moments where the story gets away from me as I write. Most of the changes from my outline to the story I end up posting are cosmetic

Please understand that my way of outlining is not typical and I’m kind of a. Crazy person for the way I do it

fav author ouhhh quick name 5 herothoup songs NO title tracks

I have some tips for U. I will separate my advice into the categories: sentence structure, dialogue, emotions

SENTENCE STRUCTURE

Ok so for sentence structure. Personally, focusing in on sentence structure to change not what I’ve said, but how I’ve said it, is something I do during editing. When I’m actually writing my first draft, my primary concern is getting words on paper. They don’t have to be good words, they just have to communicate the correct information. Once that’s done, I can go back in and edit for things like repetitive sentence structure and other such things. This does not have to be your process, but it is what works for me

If you’re concerned that your sentence structure is repetitive, I’d keep track of what exactly feels repetitive and when you’re using it. Are you using the same structure every time you describe the environment? Or when you describe physical actions? Are all of the characters moving in the same way all the time? Is it just the same individual words over and over? What is being repeated, when, and what are you trying to communicate to the audience when you resort to the same sentence structure over and over again?

Once you figure out where this is happening and what you’re trying to say, you may have an easier time varying your structures.

Some things I pay attention to are the words I use to start sentences; the lengths of my sentences; and the punctuation I use.

I try not to start multiple consecutive paragraphs with the same word, for example. Sometimes it’s fine, but I want to do everything in my power to keep a reader engaged. If I’m repetitive without an intention behind the repetition, the reader might think oh wow she started the last three paragraphs with “however.” Now they’re thinking about my word choice instead of my story, which I don’t want.

Similarly, I try to vary sentence lengths as well. Even though your writing is prose, it should have a rhythm to it. If every sentence is the same length, the reader might get bored. If you just wrote a few longer sentences, try throwing a short one in there to shake things up. If your sentences are usually an average length, try writing a sentence that’s so long, it’s a paragraph (I do this specifically to convey anxiety all the time).

And with punctuation. If you’ve used an em dash in your paragraph already, try a comma. Or parenthesis. Maybe break your sentence into fragments. See what happens. Could be cool. The more variety you offer your reader, the more it keeps their brain engaged

If you struggle to determine where your writing does and does not have rhythm, read it out loud. You’ll be able to both feel and hear when a sentence is clunky, or when a paragraph is repetitive.

That said!!!! Repetition can be a very useful tool that conveys a lot of meaning and emphasizes important information. Don’t be afraid to be repetitive. I’m repetitive as hell in my fics

DIALOGUE

For dialogue, I’m going to quickly define “punchy” to make sure we’re on the same page as to what that means. For me, I consider punchy dialogue to be fast paced and impactful. That impact could be humorous and witty, or it could be emotional (like a gut punch). So that’s the type of dialogue I’m going to give advice on

I don’t know what your process is like, but for me, I’m a huge planner and outliner. My outlines contain every single line of dialogue that will occur in my fics. When I have a scene in mind, the first thing I do is figure out the dialogue between the characters. I do this because my stories are mostly character driven, so what they say to one another is the primary thing that’s going to move the plot forward. It’s the most important (and usually most entertaining) thing on the page

My outlines are bullet pointed, so all of my dialogue is structured in bullet pointed lists without anythingggg else attached to them. No quotation marks, no dialogue tags, no actions. Just what is said by character A on one line, character B on another line, alternating back and forth.

Outlining like this allows me to see the conversation the way it would be if it was happening in person (aka, nothing taking away from what’s being said). When it’s just the words, you can get a better idea of if what’s being said is communicating the correct information and tone. This + reading it out loud also helps you determine if your dialogue sounds like something a real person would say, like it has rhythm, etc. Read it out loud and hear what it actually sounds like

In the actual writing process, I will add in additional prose wherever needed to control the pace and rhythm of the conversation. When it needs to be fast, minimal action and dialogue tags. When it needs to slow down, more action and dialogue tags

When something needs to be punchy specifically, we are using mostly just short pieces of dialogue and nothing else. That keeps it quick.

If you are specifically trying to be funny in your punchy dialogue, I recommend finding people who you think are funny and mimicking their speech patterns. For me, I am frequently mimicking the McElroy brothers, miles bonsignore, Brennan Lee mulligan, ally beardsley, Caleb hearon, Becca Moore, and my irl bff

EMOTIONS

There are a lot of ways to make your story emotionally impactful. What I specifically do when I want to make something land emotionally is I pull from personal experience. I haven’t experienced all of the things the characters in my story have, but I’ve felt the resulting emotions.

For example. I am frequently. Frequently killing parental figures. Both of my parents are alive and we have good relationships. But! I know what it feels like to lose a loved one anyway (through death, through breakups, through drifting apart—loss is loss). I know what it feels like to fear losing someone, to lose part of yourself when they’re gone, to struggle to find yourself again but to do it anyway. So I can take those feelings and put them into my characters because even though our situations are different, our feelings aren’t

So maybe you haven’t experienced (let’s say) a devastating breakup and you need to write one. You know what it feels like to care for someone. You know what it feels like to be scared, lonely, to resist change, etc. That’s what a breakup is. So you can write that breakup with emotional honesty if you just break it down into emotions you personally understand

Also, if you’re struggling to write something that’s emotionally impactful, consider whether or not the story has earned the emotional impact yet. Do we care about the characters? Are we invested in their wellbeing and relationships? Do they have something to lose or to gain? Have we foreshadowed the emotional moment? Have we built up to it? If the answer is no to these questions, the audience probably won’t care that your characters are going through something hard. Tell the audience what your characters want, and then make them struggle to achieve it. Tell the audience what your characters are afraid of, and then make them face those fears

And some technical advice. If you feel like your scenes aren’t hitting, look at how you’re describing things. Try describing the scene or the character without specifically calling out their emotions. Instead of saying Character A is depressed, say Character A crosses the street and doesn’t notice when a car has to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting him. Character A eats half of an apple before realizing that it’s molded, then continues eating it anyway. Character A is scared of heights but now he can lean over a railing five stories up and he doesn’t feel a thing.

If you need/want to call out their emotions, consider where those emotions exist. When you’re scared, where do you feel it? Does your stomach detach itself and float around? Does your chest feel hollow? Do your finger tips go numb?

Please feel free to DM me! My DMs have been sorta kinda weird lately so if I don’t respond please lmk that you have messaged me lol idk we’ll have to cross that bridge if we get to it

Thank you for this question!!! I appreciate you 🫶

WEEEEE THANK YOU

I primarily take inspiration from horror as a whole, my own life, and other people’s books

For example. Most of root rot was inspired by things that have happened to me. Seungmin’s storyline is mostly inspired by We Are Okay by Nina Lacour

Sticky Butter was inspired by Anxious People by Fredrik Backman and When Someday comes was inspired by The Expatriates by Janice YK Lee. Sticky Butter also took from Knives Out

Glass Heart has some very literal parts of my life in it. More generally I also have certain themes and messages that I reuse over and over just because they interest me personally, such as taking time apart before coming back together again

The horror inspiration mostly shows up in the themes I like exploring and how I explore them. I’m not typically taking direct plot points or anything from horror, but I am taking feelings. I think it’s a genre that excels at eliciting reactions, so I try to incorporate similar storytelling elements into my work to elicit the reactions I want, too. Usually the reactions I’m going for are not fear, but the dread, shock, tension, hope, and even humor I use come from how those same elements are used in horror. Horror also just really inspires me so much in general like if I need a boost of inspiration or creativity I’ll watch or read something scary

But I also take inspiration from literally everything. There’s a moment in Starling that was inspired by a smosh YouTube video. Jeongin’s storyline in root rot was inspired by a random tiktok I saw about some guy doing van life. I don’t usually take inspiration from music actually but The Sincerest Form was inspired by Closest Thing by Madeline the Person. And also the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice lol. Wait also racehorse takes some inspiration from August by Madeline the Person also. And sometimes my prose takes from hozier

Thank you very much for asking I love to talk about these things. If you are seeking inspiration, I recommend paying attention to things you like in other people’s work (of any kind—fics, books, music, tv, movies, anything), figuring out why you like it, and emulating that in your stories

Hello my beloved welcome back 🫶

I will give you a quick (“quick”) breakdown of a handful of my fics re: which POV I chose and why. Spoilers for when someday comes, racehorse, bone sick, and sticky butter.

Fic: When Someday Comes

POV: singular, Seungmin’s

Reasoning: WSC is about Seungmin going to Seoul as a young adult because he believes he may have been kidnapped from there as a child. He wants to see what his life would've been like had he never left before he starts the next chapter of his life (college, adulthood). While there, he meets regular guy/college student Minho, who takes Seungmin under his wing.

If we consider the questions from my last response, Seungmin is by far the character who has the most to learn both internally and externally. He doesn't actually know if he was kidnapped; what to do about his suspicions; what to do with his life; who he is at all; and he doesn't know anything about Seoul; the lifestyle there; etc. The only thing Minho has to learn is who Seungmin is, but even Seungmin doesn't really know who Seungmin is. Therefore, Minho's POV doesn't add anything to the narrative that we can't also get from Seungmin.

Fic: Racehorse

POV: singular, Hyunjin's

Reasoning: Racehorse follows childhood BFFs Hyunjin and Minho's relationship throughout different periods in their lives. It explores how they navigate their codependency, sexualities, careers, and other problems they encounter that bring them closer, pull them apart, and bring them closer again.

In this one, we can consider character motivations. Minho believes a romantic relationship with Hyunjin is impossible for various reasons, so he spends a lot of the story trying to separate himself from Hyunjin so he can get over his feelings. His motivations: get over the crush, move on, find someone new.

Hyunjin, however, spends much of the story trying to reel Minho back in, and he makes some crazy decisions to accomplish that (losing his virginity in a threesome and sending a pic of that to Minho unprompted/as his way of coming out....damn). His motivations: do whatever it takes to keep Minho around.

Between the two, Hyunjin's motivations are more likely to push the narrative forward because he's seeking out the relationship, whereas Minho is trying to avoid it. Since their romance is endgame and a central focus, it makes more sense for us to be in Hyunjin's head than in Minho's, as Hyunjin is the one pushing us toward our endgame. Additionally, there are a few instances where Minho is keeping secrets not only from Hyunjin, but from the audience. If we were in his head, it would be more difficult for these secrets to serve as a plot twist. Hyunjin has secrets from Minho, but not from the audience. His secrets serve more as a source of tension and dread for the audience, but not surprise. As such, his head is safe to be in because he doesn't need to conceal anything from the audience the way Minho does.

Fic: Bone Sick

POV: dual, Felix and Chan's

Reasoning: Bone Sick is about Felix and Chan, who both find themselves stuck in their hometown after having failed to accomplish their dreams. Now, they have to figure out the best way to move forward.

For this fic, we can look at the central themes I wanted to explore here, which include: how to move forward when you don't live up to your own expectations; creating new dreams once your original dreams are no longer possible; guilt; shame; and forgiveness.

Both Felix and Chan have backstories that support these themes. Felix had plans to move away from his hometown and live a grand life with his partner. But, his partner died and he blames himself for that. Chan was an Olympic hopeful who ruined his own career by being reckless and getting injured. Both of them need to learn the lessons supported by the themes I wanted to explore.

Additionally, both of them are able to conceal and reveal information to the reader at appropriate times. They both have secrets from one another and from the audience that are interesting to explore. As such, a dual POV makes sense because each POV supports not only the messaging of the story, but also the practical storytelling methods used in keeping a reader invested

Fic: Sticky Butter

POV: trio, Jeongin and Hyunjin and Chan

Reasoning: Sticky Butter is about a heist gone wrong. Jeongin and Hyunjin are accused of stealing something valuable, and Chan is one of the officers in charge of interrogating them. Despite what they may claim, all three of these characters are much more intertwined than they let on.

This is a backstory heavy fic. It's told out of order, so you don't know why Jeongin/Hyunjin are being interrogated or if they're guilty at first. The more we explore their individual backstories, the more we understand why they ended up in a heist situation to begin with. They aren't career thieves, so why are they stealing? What in their pasts led theft to be a viable option for them at all? How did we get here? Only exploring one POV would answer these questions for only one character. So, we needed to explore both.

As for Chan's POV. We need to know his backstory, too, to understand why he ends up helping Jeongin and Hyunjin instead of sending them to jail. So for everyone who plays a major role, we need their POV so we can understand their backstories and motivations. If we limited the POV to just one character, the story being told wouldn't make nearly as much sense.

I do think there are ways to explore stories/characters like the examples I've included by using different POVs than I chose. For example, in a racehorse type story, maybe you think it would be fun to explore the POV of the character avoiding the relationship. Maybe you can take that character and develop them in such a way that they serve as a really strong, interesting person to guide us through the narrative. Personally, I couldn't/didn't. So, there aren't any hard and fast rules. Whatever feels right to you is right. And the more you practice, the more POVs will just come naturally to you. Eventually you won't even need to think about which POV to write from because you'll just know automatically

Thank you for asking this question I. Am in love with you

So the way I determine what pov a story should be told from is based on which character has the most interesting pov according to the story I’m trying to tell. By “interesting,” I mean:

—which character has the most to learn, both internally about themselves and externally about the circumstances in which they find themselves?

—which character is most likely to make decisions that propel the narrative forward?

—which character has a backstory/motivations that will benefit the narrative if we dig into it in detail?

—which point of view allows for you to properly conceal and communicate necessary information at the appropriate times?

If you answer these questions ^ with the same character POV each time, you only need that character’s POV. If your answer changes from question to question, you might need the POV of multiple characters to tell the most interesting version of your story

If you aren’t sure how to answer those questions, one way to figure out your answers is by determining what kind of story you want to tell. Are you exploring any specific themes or tropes (for example: guilt, grief, love at first sight, exes to lovers)? Do you have a message you want to get across (for example: you are worthy of love even if you make mistakes)? Is there a certain emotional tone you’re going for (romcom, angsty, fluffy, etc)? Which character(s) embodies those themes/messages/tones the most?

You can also consider practical elements as well such as how long you want the fic to be, how much you enjoy writing certain POVs vs others (I have some members whose POV I struggle with, for example), etc

If you want specific examples of why I chose certain POVs for my fics, I am happy to give you a detailed breakdown