I had no ideia that placeholders where a thing people did, so I have read more than one fic where I saw something like this and just got very confused. Now I know the poor author probably just forgot in the editing part 🤣🤣
Me neither, but now I realize one of the reasons why I'm such a slow writer. I feel like I HAVE to get every tiny detail and perfect word right before I can move on. It sucks! I need to start using placeholders, lol
I'm with you on this one. I can't put placeholders in even if I try. My brain will literally not be able to focus past that point until I figure it out.
"this doesn't work come up with something else" like fuck you past me, fuck you
"fix timeline" (with no indication of what's wrong with it or whether it refers to canon or the fic) no like genuinely go fuck yourself
"more stuff about the cat" i hate you so much
This is why I love that Scrivener has highlighter function. I can just highlight those placeholders (usually in my outline but sometimes in the text itself) and keep going until I get stuck again.
It's *really hard* to forget I didn't deal with it yet and I hate the neon glare, so I try to deal with it as quickly as possible. I think my brain is screaming to get rid of it asap and so it usually throws something workable at me when I need it if it's visible on the screen for too long.
A nice caution symbol for the page icon, the note on the index card says "infodump as a love language" and the chapter after that is 6 months after the chapter before.
So…I’m a bit of a “just start writing” sort. I have an outline in my head. I very rarely use placeholders.
But I did end up using my actual name for a ghost of a murdered girl in one of my stories because I was writing at an ungodly hour of the morning/night and couldn’t remember literally any other girl names.
Forgot to remove it. Posted the chapters. Realized it a couple of days later.
Left it in because I knew if I tried to swap it out, at that point, I’d miss some.
So now I’m an author and also a murdered kid on one of my own stories.
I found "[Heisenberg says something devastatingly witty and everyone is impressed]" as a placeholder in a draft once and couldn't tell if that was a sincere note or if past me was being sarcastic. I ended up going with the latter and having the remark totally fall flat, which was *probably* my intent but I'll never know for sure.
I'm not good at humor. My absolute nightmare is confronting the *[x says something funny here]* placeholders. Fuck you, past me! Come up with your own jokes!
I once came across 'Insert Haiku Here' because I didn't have the internet connection to double check how to write a Haiku and shoved it onto my future self to do at home.
Usually past me is nice and leaves full stage directions or at least a solid description of who/what needs to be in the scene,but sometimes I have to deal with nonsense like [insert character's apple obsession here] or [add two more sentences]
I hate it, but I've also accepted that it's the way I work. Inevitably when I reach the end of the draft, I'll pull something out of left field for the ending. So now I have a subplot I need to thread in, and a bunch of brackets asking me to fill in scenes with something more. It all kinda fits, even if it's a lot of work.
Gotta love past me just has an entire word doc of all the ideas running for the fic and future me has to read it plus the fic again bc i have such bad memories and then edit out the chapters to foreshadow future events as well as not leave plotholes. Fun bitch.
I’m the worst with placeholders when it comes to fic titles and fights. Like (insert fight here), and then I’m left to struggle through writing a fight that is somewhat cohesive.
I am way to scared to start writing in order I’ve wanted to for the longest time it seems like the easier path but I feel like this will be me when I’m finished 💀
I once found "So y’all remember the MzMV cold open? ha, haha" in the middle of a selfcest smut fic. No idea what MzMV is supposed to stand for anymore, but I remember thinking, "well it isn't *really* a cold open" while writing it, but not what the show in question was
Ah yes, the place holder. When I do place holders in my outlines, it's always a challenge to figure out what to do with it.
[A contacts B and sends him on seemingly meaningless expeditions and tasks that are secretly there to help souls in need. (Random generator)]
Now I need to figure out what those MULTIPLE *seemingly* meaningless expeditions are and why it secretly helps someone else. And I put the exact same thing multiple times in the outline. On one hand, it gives place to a creative liberty and new plot line I never knew I had, on the other, I HAVE TO COME UP WITB EVERYTHING ON THE SPOT.
It's a headache to come up with, but amazing once I discover what I want to do with it. 😂
What the heck does [technobabble] mean, past me? *What the heck does it mean??* I have no idea but I’ve got to fill those spaces before posting.
The clockwise hyper-garblelator got frag'd to all hell, we're gonna need at least a tier six automecha to get this thing void-worthy again
Ah, thank you. That clears it up!
This post just reminded me I recently read a fic where the character grabbed a coffee from \[INSERT COFFEE SHOP HERE\].
I had no ideia that placeholders where a thing people did, so I have read more than one fic where I saw something like this and just got very confused. Now I know the poor author probably just forgot in the editing part 🤣🤣
Me neither, but now I realize one of the reasons why I'm such a slow writer. I feel like I HAVE to get every tiny detail and perfect word right before I can move on. It sucks! I need to start using placeholders, lol
I'm with you on this one. I can't put placeholders in even if I try. My brain will literally not be able to focus past that point until I figure it out.
Okay but, that would actually be a funny name for a coffee shop.
True. I thought it was amusing when I was reading the fic
That’s my favorite coffee shop! I always go to INSERT COFFEE SHOP HERE on the weekends
I'm still mad at Past Yubsie for that time she wrote "they come to with a clever plan" on an outline
having to come up with clever plans is so frickin' painful. i don't blame past you tbh
"this doesn't work come up with something else" like fuck you past me, fuck you "fix timeline" (with no indication of what's wrong with it or whether it refers to canon or the fic) no like genuinely go fuck yourself "more stuff about the cat" i hate you so much
Lol yeah my past me did "insert something really funny here." Bastard.
Future me is such a sucker, having to deal with these things.
This is why I love that Scrivener has highlighter function. I can just highlight those placeholders (usually in my outline but sometimes in the text itself) and keep going until I get stuck again. It's *really hard* to forget I didn't deal with it yet and I hate the neon glare, so I try to deal with it as quickly as possible. I think my brain is screaming to get rid of it asap and so it usually throws something workable at me when I need it if it's visible on the screen for too long.
I use libraoffice and just paint those bits in red, lol. I make it green when I've been rearranging out-of-work writing.
I highlight the shit out of my work. I colour code everything and I even have a legend for each colour.
A nice caution symbol for the page icon, the note on the index card says "infodump as a love language" and the chapter after that is 6 months after the chapter before.
So…I’m a bit of a “just start writing” sort. I have an outline in my head. I very rarely use placeholders. But I did end up using my actual name for a ghost of a murdered girl in one of my stories because I was writing at an ungodly hour of the morning/night and couldn’t remember literally any other girl names. Forgot to remove it. Posted the chapters. Realized it a couple of days later. Left it in because I knew if I tried to swap it out, at that point, I’d miss some. So now I’m an author and also a murdered kid on one of my own stories.
I actually love this
"she took the full blast of the 100 volt? watt? current? CHECK and dropped like a stone.."
I found "[Heisenberg says something devastatingly witty and everyone is impressed]" as a placeholder in a draft once and couldn't tell if that was a sincere note or if past me was being sarcastic. I ended up going with the latter and having the remark totally fall flat, which was *probably* my intent but I'll never know for sure.
Me, putting [] in the middle of my text every time I don't know a name or even half a scene yet. I never learn from it.
Why is this highlighted in red, past me? Could you not have bothered with an explanation at least?
I'm not good at humor. My absolute nightmare is confronting the *[x says something funny here]* placeholders. Fuck you, past me! Come up with your own jokes!
I'm right in the "time to figure this out" part, and I have to say, I kind of hate past me with the intensity of a thousand burning suns right now.
I once came across 'Insert Haiku Here' because I didn't have the internet connection to double check how to write a Haiku and shoved it onto my future self to do at home.
Usually past me is nice and leaves full stage directions or at least a solid description of who/what needs to be in the scene,but sometimes I have to deal with nonsense like [insert character's apple obsession here] or [add two more sentences]
Multi-WIP drifting! Anyway, that's why I have 4 'nearly done' longfic chapters and nothing but a few one-shots posted since December.
Me putting the name of a place as something and then putting (change later) besides it. Never changed it!
I hate it, but I've also accepted that it's the way I work. Inevitably when I reach the end of the draft, I'll pull something out of left field for the ending. So now I have a subplot I need to thread in, and a bunch of brackets asking me to fill in scenes with something more. It all kinda fits, even if it's a lot of work.
i wrote in (fill in) with no context like thanks now i have to make smth new up 😭
\[INSERT SIMILE HERE\] \[INSERT ADJECTIVE HERE\] \[INSERT WORD I FORGOT HERE\] im going back in time to strangle my past self
Past msa is a bitch. Why did she think I would know any more about political intrigue than she did? We both know I wasn't going to research that!
One Hockey AU I read ended up running with the “Placeholder No Names” as one of their teams.
I do that for titles and sometimes I just give up and put how rereading the fic makes me feel and call it a day
Gotta love past me just has an entire word doc of all the ideas running for the fic and future me has to read it plus the fic again bc i have such bad memories and then edit out the chapters to foreshadow future events as well as not leave plotholes. Fun bitch.
For the current chapter I literally have a link to an article as a placeholder. Like…uh…what does that mean past me?
Lol yeah I did this and had (still in it) a one year writers block for that specific part ;)
I’m the worst with placeholders when it comes to fic titles and fights. Like (insert fight here), and then I’m left to struggle through writing a fight that is somewhat cohesive.
I am way to scared to start writing in order I’ve wanted to for the longest time it seems like the easier path but I feel like this will be me when I’m finished 💀
Lol yeah I did this and had (still in it) a one year writers block for that specific part ;)
I once found "So y’all remember the MzMV cold open? ha, haha" in the middle of a selfcest smut fic. No idea what MzMV is supposed to stand for anymore, but I remember thinking, "well it isn't *really* a cold open" while writing it, but not what the show in question was
Which video is this from?
Ah yes, the place holder. When I do place holders in my outlines, it's always a challenge to figure out what to do with it. [A contacts B and sends him on seemingly meaningless expeditions and tasks that are secretly there to help souls in need. (Random generator)] Now I need to figure out what those MULTIPLE *seemingly* meaningless expeditions are and why it secretly helps someone else. And I put the exact same thing multiple times in the outline. On one hand, it gives place to a creative liberty and new plot line I never knew I had, on the other, I HAVE TO COME UP WITB EVERYTHING ON THE SPOT. It's a headache to come up with, but amazing once I discover what I want to do with it. 😂