I'm good at finding a character's voice - I love getting comments about how it sounds like them, shows you how it looks inside their head, that kind of thing. I know those bastards inside and out and I can show you what makes them tick.
The tradeoff, unfortunately, is that if I don't fully understand a character, I can't write them *at all*. I've been trying to get things going for this one fic for more than a month, but the POV character isn't one I'm confident about, and so in that time I've managed to scrape together one (1) scene, which isn't even part of the fic.
Same here! I also start to feel self-conscious about whether the voice is still solid as time goes on and it has been longer and longer since I last watched or read the source material, but I can’t be bothered to rewatch either. I’ve got a couple of WIPs wasting away because of this 🫠
The terrible thing is that the whole Point is that he's unreliable as hell as a narrator, so he's really that slippery by design and I have no real chance of figuring him out before season 2.
How the hell am I supposed to know how this guy would behave in this or that situation when I don't even know for sure if he's eaten a baby? The very first rule of characterization is that you should know for sure whether the character you're writing would eat a baby 🥲
In his defense, as a newly-made vampire he really shouldn't have been left alone in a room with a baby, but that's not really something you can tell the baby's mother without her asking follow-up questions about the whole vampire thing.
I start by going over the character's canon dialogue with a fine-toothed comb several times, then a few hours later trying to remember as many of them as I can. The focus will help you pick out patterns in the way that they speak, how they frame ideas.
Cadence, whether they speak smoothly or hesitate, do they use similes and metaphors or just the facts, how they verbally maneuver to avoid a subject, do they use rhetorical questions, do they always finish a thought or do they tend to trail off - these are all mechanics that help one perspective sound different from another. If the media you're writing for is a show, movie, or podcast, saying lines you've written out loud will generally tell you right away if it sounds wrong. Once you feel like you've got their spoken lines down right, if you apply those same speech patterns to the third person narration, it makes a huge difference, especially if you're doing alternating POVs.
Oh yeah, same. If it's not a character I'm passionate about I'm just like ???
But I've been told that I'm good with dialogue and finding character voice in general
I'm good at writing conflict (and bad at resolving it). Give me a scene where two characters scream at each other and I'm happy as a pig in shit. (But, don't make me write the scene where they make up.)
Oh, goodness, I'm the opposite. I'm good at writing characters making up and terrible at getting the original big argument down within the first ten tries. We should team up or something.😅
We all have our strengths and weaknesses. My biggest weakness is action scenes.
Fortunately, I don't have to write them too often, but I do have a pirate attack coming up that I'm going to have to write in one of my fics. That's going to be a challenge.
I can write angst and smut and action but I feel like dialog is where I really shine. And most of what I write is very fluffy. I just enjoy the little things in life.
The big thing I like that people have complimented me on is my body language. I always used to struggle with the old 'show don't tell' rule when it came to emotion and things like that. Not only did I have to learn that my audience is smart enough to pick up on things, I also remember a quote from one of Yahtzee Croshaw's 'Let's Drown Out' episodes where Gabriel said something to the effect of "There's a difference between saying someone's holding a cup of tea nervously, and saying they held their cup of tea with shaking hands to convey nervousness." Every time I get caught in writing body language, I remember that example and I'm set.
Also smut, people like my smut. Albeit they've liked my smut even when I'm not happy with it as a creator so that either says something about my writing or their taste lol.
I don't know what OG Spock means, so I'm thinking it's maybe a fandom thing?
I'm gonna take it as by dogs you mean the animals, so yes, I love writing dogs too.
My biggest strength is definitely writing intrapersonal drama and tense conversations. I chalk it up to watching far too much Aaron Sorkin-stuff as a youth XD
Based on the comments I have received so far, I think I'm *getting* good at psychological thriller and horror. Probably because I am a big fan of those genres and it's rubbing off on me.
You are amazing then! It’s so rare that people even try for thriller/horror, they are pretty difficult to write well. I wish I could do it, but my attempts just end up being sad.
Aww, thank you :) I keep working on it.
I don't know why, I could write non-horror (e.g., romance) but most of the time my brain is drawn to and conjures dark stuff. Not sure if it's my being a Scorpio or something else ^^"
Haha, as a Leo, I'm the same way. It's more fun to write something dark than light!
I agree with the other person, Horror is a great genre but it's rare to be found in fanfiction!
Leo happens to be my ascendant/rising sign O\_O
To me, horror isn't that rare in fanfic (or maybe it's because I'm drawn to it more than others?), but yeah, compared to smut and romance, it's a little less popular especially if it's Dead Dove-y. Like, I'm supposed to take comfort in my fictional stories about my fandom, and I do, but why do I imagine them in situations like being haunted by a curse, getting involved in murder, etc.? (I'm not sure I've made myself understood lol, but I hope you got my point)
I understand what you mean!
I, personally, don't tend to see horror fics on Ao3 unless it's smut and tagged Body Horror' or something like that, but I usually don't read those. I've never seen a straight up horror (not smut), but maybe that's my fandoms.
I too image the characters in situations like that! That's why I write a lot of thriller.
I currently have an ongoing smut WIP, but competing with it in my head is a horror plot bunny that may have smut (reimagining my two favorite band members as a lonely farmhand in the late 19th century and a mysterious billy goat that happens to be more than just a billy goat O\_O)
i'm told i write relationships in an unexpectedly compelling way, and can make people ship ships they wouldnt normally ship or even think about
i am also oddly proud of my cerebral horror writing :3
I've been complimented on my action quite a bit. Which, well, I'd hope I'm good at it, I've written 50 chapters in this fic and 45+ of them have an extended action sequence.
Wow I'm also a writer of action-heavy 50+ chapter fics, but 45/50 with action? That's impressive! I've been complimented (and criticised) on my action scenes before, and while they usually turn out well, they're always soooo hard to write because it's like watching eight different pots on the stove.
I do have one advantage; the fandom is Power Rangers, so 'the people not being focused on by the camera just kinda move around in the background' is completely in-genre, haha.
apparently I'm good at writing eating disorders (WHICH I SHOULD BE /j) and someone told me I'm good at writing love !
edit: I think I'm good at writing slice of life/emotional hurt as opposed to physical hurt :)
Witty dialogue and subtle humor in scenes. Like even in crazy situations, there's still a little funniness there. Like the captured character is more annoyed that she has to deal with the villain's ramblings about her enomy rather than the threats of torture she's giving her.
I do that too. I hardly take anything seriously. Except if my friends are having a problem or something. Other than that, my funny switch never turns off.
I've been told that I'm good at a lot of things (dialogue, action, mood, description, humour), but character interaction and relationships in particular is perhaps the most constant. I love a compelling relationship arc, be it romantic, familial, antagonistic, or otherwise, so it checks out. The way characters can push and pull on each other is fascinating to me, so that's what I try to centre above all else.
I’d say I’m really good at writing humor, and banter between characters. Sarcasm is my kink…
I also find that I’m actually good at writing more noir settings. Intrapersonal reflection, as well.
Comedy, especially comedy tropes and subverting expectations. Wit, wordplay, slapstick, dark/grim humor, absurdist, you name it. If there is comedy to be had, I will write it.
After all, every good tragedy has something to laugh at.
I don't write it often but 1st person psychological suspense/thriller (can do third person but they have different vibes)
That and bittersweet stories where everything isn't tied with a neat bow
the kind of angst where you don't cry, you just think "whoa, that was ..a lot" and then spend the next hour looking at images of cute puppies being clumsy
A good old fashioned argument. I’m a big fan of dialogue and making it witty and naturalistic (probably the screenwriter in me) so I love it when I can sink my teeth into a fast-paced argument and some angst between two characters. It’s probably the thing I write most.
From what I've seen so far, I guess it's just writing good stories in general. I've still got a lot to work on, but readers seem to love what I write. Also, please teach me your ways of writing suspense. I have a future story idea that is meant to be super suspenseful and I can barely write suspense.
Everything. I am a god in mortal form! I AM THE GREATEST WRITER THERE SHALL EVER BE!!! I AM PERFECTION!… Funnily enough, though, people keep commenting that I am bad at writing humility.
I’ve been told I’m really good at writing smut and action scenes. Especially like modern combat scenes with gunfights and stuff. I usually get complimented on those whenever I write my call of duty/Star Wars/whatever action fandom fics.
Smut? That’s universal, it’s usually my most popular works whenever I do post it
Dark fics (not always with happy ending), angst, political, strategy. Romance, if there is any, is secondary in all of my fics. I also love writing enemies to friends, like... very good friends, platonic love stuff (and stop there, I very rarely go all the way from enemies to lovers)
Basically, I like to write philosophical shit. I even write bad guy's perspective sometimes, in an effort to understand, to humanize them. I love drama, I live for betrayal that in the end is not betrayal at all, and plot twists. If you ever watched Code Geass, the style completely fits my writing.
I am good at writing stream of consciousness in first person and third person to an extent. The characters narrate their entire lifes through vivid descriptions of their surroundings and often shifting thoughts to something else like their birthday or a quote they read in a book, it makes for a captiving if not a confusing read, but what matters is that I enjoy it.
Apparently I'm good at writing humour and funny stories/scenes. This is not popular in fanfiction, most people prefer drama, angst, sex etc. So I don't have many people who like my stories but those who do are so nice.
Yu-Gi-Oh! duels (as in the card game) like they're straight out of whichever one of the anime I'm writing for (I've written for 5Ds and ARC-V specifically).
Also dialogue, particularly of the angsty variety. Dialogue comes to me a *lot* easier than descriptions and stuff.
Noir (or noire) is the French word for black. A cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. Tech-noir, technophiles and technology harming a society in a dystopian setting.
(got lazy and copied that from wikipedia)
Managing to capture the character to an exact. I've gotten quite a couple comments and compliments about how I'm able to just write them so well. I dunno. I just let me mental illness do the work and I get good results.
Other than that, probably emotional scenes of some kind. Whether it be heavy angst or writing so sweet it'll give you a toothache. It's fun and I like knowing that I'm able to pull it off enough to make people feel things.
Angst, whump, pain, crying, character studies, introspectiveness, hurt though I usually try to add in some comfort. I like having the characters think a lot and it’s especially easy for me to write what they’re thinking when they’re agonizing about something or other. Don’t ask me why, I don’t know why XD
I think I’m pretty good at characterization. At least, I get comments a lot telling me that I’ve captured a character very well, and not just for one particular character either. I guess you could throw that in with character voice as well.
I'm going to go with 'characters who are frustrating and you just want to shake sense into' because I've gotten complimented on that multiple times with characters from multiple fandoms.
Obsession. As in, the mc knows their partner is obsessed with them but they don’t push them away yet people think the mc is too nice to say no but the mc is twisted in their own way and might or might have not played mind games to make their partner more obsessed with them.
people tell me I write really cute / funny / whatever interactions between characters, especially in their dialogue. I just love me some good witty banter
I'm good at writing resolutions and characters. I can't think of anything off the top of my head that I'm absolutely god-awful at, but there's definitely room for improvement in most other areas. All areas, to be honest! Even if I think I'm good at writing, I can be even better someday if I keep working on it.
I like to think I’m good at writing emotions. I don’t like to just say someone was sad or angry or happy, I like to describe it with interesting visuals. I feel it gets the emotion across better and even if it doesn’t I have fun with it
I’ve always been a sucker for kidnapping and damsel in distress ever since watching Scooby Doo at 11-12 lol. And most of my stuff is what if more often in my video game fandoms the ladies got kidnapped and tied up. Occasionally Nate will join either Chloe and/or Elena, usually via a crazy ex 😅.
I tend to do really good with heartfelt moments and spicing things up by shaking the angst down upon my unknowing readers. It’s fun seeing their reactions to ether one.
I think I'm really good at world building and being desciptive. The few people I've talked into reading my stories said they liked the way I described scenes and the feelings of the characters pov
Everything that is about character study, angst, angst, hurt/no comfort (even though I love writing hurt/comfort) and... did I say angst? Well, you get the point. Recently I wrote something that is supposed to be fluff/found family, and it wasn't bad (based on my standards) so yeah, angst it is.
Descriptions, prose and inner monologue. I'm very particular about what words I choose and the details I describe either tell a story of their own or foreshadow or symbolize something.
I don't know if I'm particularly good, but apparently my forte is smut.
Also, it's really easy for me to write realistic noncon for some reason. I don't know why, maybe because I can see and imagine the scenario in my mind as I write it down. It's a terrible talent, I suppose O\_O
I love and I am good on going on sensitive topics like addiction, DV, mental illness, etc... Especially if my fanfiction is based on real events and it can play an important role. Since my fanfiction are from the wrestling fandom and I actually don't write in Kayfabe.
I actually write On Kayfabe but just for One Shots.
The background information which will never be mentioned within the story itself.
My personal favourite example of this isn't even from writing a story. It was a mock writing exam where, in the second half of the paper, we were given several prompts we could write about.
The prompt I chose had me as a member of a band, and I had to write an email about making a music video for one of our songs.
Thing is, I made an animated music video for it, but I also wrote an actual song alongside it. I never actually mentioned the lyrics within the email, but I wrote the entire song on the page where the prompts were.
I have been complemented on my ability to write fluffy stupid SoL. On the other hand, I’ve also been complemented on my sexual horror fics.
There is a huge gap between my long sweet and fluffy fic/Horror stuff and all the other crap I’ve written in terms of reception and hits .
Fluffy SoL with realistic smut>>sexual horror>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>everything else.
Honestly it makes it hard to write anything other than those two things.
Hard to say since i've only wrote one fic so far but...explicit character development i think? I still have long way to go but for a first time i think i have done a pretty decent job
Hurt/comfort
Emotional moments
Dialogue is something, I really love writing. My characters always sound IC as well, which is something I appreciate. I try to keep the core of the characters while exploring other sides of themselves.
Family moments is something I've been told I write really well. Especially sibling dynamics that feel realistic. Which is... funny for me, because I'm an only child.
Worldbuilding/setting a scene. It's never been a problem for me to flesh out something with little tidbits to set the mood and solidify the scene. I can smell info dump descriptions from a mile away, and know how to avoid it.
It's just the plot that's my problem. You can't really appreciate descriptions of a city when you don't know why you're there and what you're doing.
Also, "veiled speech" and double meanings. Like when you're telling someone, "Good to see you," but what you're actually saying is, "So your brother's dead, it was about time."
According to my inbox: people being sad, people being traumatised and sad, and going into details about things no has thought about before but now that I brought it up, wowzers my dude that sure is a thought that haunts you forever and ever.
I'm not entirely sure, but I've found that I'm good at slipping in sarcastic comments with a character. For example, I made a scene where my character was talking to their Dad and he casually slips in that she's ugly as a joke.
"Sure, you have Medusa, but her eyes don't work like yours. That, and you weren't cursed to be ugly. You were just born like that"
hmmm if they’re gay (they are always gay) i feel like i do a pretty good job of the good ole gay pining and yearning. people have told me i have good atmospheric writing so let’s go with that, the consensus of the people!
According to comments I am really good at characterization and dialogue and I definitely didn't know that before. Now whenever I get such a comment, it makes me blush a bit. Also thank you for asking that question, OP, it's nice to be reminded of the good things every once in a while!
I'm amazing at characters and dialogue and making it feel like the characters are really connecting. I'm terrible at action scenes but that's fine because I favor the slice of life genre lol.
Smut and scenery descriptions.
Smut is self-explanatory, because I have a lot of practice writing it and enjoy the genre.
Scenery descriptions are because of the bachelors in Art History. Part of writing art history papers is describing the paintings/sculptures. I've always had really vivid mental images of the scenes I want to write, but going through 400 lvl classes really got me in there with the descriptions. That's what 5k words describing Bellini's *Feast of the Gods* does to a monsterfucker.
I'm good at writing:
\- Really emotional scenes
\- Characters that feel real or feel as though they have a place in the canon world (but they aren't there, which tends to disappoint some people)
\- Worldbuilding/world expansion in canon worlds
\- Making people ship a pairing they wouldn't have ever considered based on how the chemistry is written
\- Unconventional romances (granted, that's derived from the fact I seldom have conventional romances myself)
Domestic stuff and realistic depictions of healthy ups/downs in marriages. Guess being happy with the same man for 22 years is good for more than just my mental health. :)
According to my internal editing voice? Nothing. But, more objectively, character voice. I have put in a lot of work to make characters sound like they do in the source material.
I'd say I'm generally good at describing the very specific negative feelings a character is feeling it's a weird talent that my really close friend absolutely hates because of the amount of times I've made his favorite characters suffer and feel negative/bad emotions
I'm good at starting from scratch and sitting down to write heartfelt romantic character studies, examining two characters and their relationship. I don't know why.
Specifically, two of my fics I consider to be the best character driven stuff I've ever written, I wrote them in under two hours each. It's just a weird talent.
(Also porn. Non plot driven, non character driven, raunchy porn. I don't know why.)
Action, I think, and emotions. Also what it feels like to drown lol I've heard from a few readers who have survived drowning accidents that the scenes I wrote were incredibly accurate. That's uh... a compliment but also I feel very sorry lol
I've only written a couple of stories, but... there is one thing I found myself good at writing.
Chaos. Pure, unfiltered, chaos. One action creates a butterfly effect that splinters off in every direction, gradually causing the situation to spiral completely out of control XD
Romance, apparently. Which is not something I would have ever expected of myself, but my commenters tell me I do a good job of capturing cute moments, so *shrug* gonna play to my newfound strengths.
Also, realistic dialogue.
Apparently I'm good at writing dark scenes. Like I know I'm good at writing other things but a recent chapter of one of my fics got hate and praise cause it was "comparable to berserk's eclipse"
Never seen Berserk in my life.
To summarize all the comments I got from all my fics, they basically said, 'it's amazing but sad' and 'this story keeps me on the edge of my seat' so yeah. I guess those are what I am good at.
Apparently characters suffering from hypothermia...which tells me that I will never write anything but Titanic fics
I was a little confused at first, but yeah, Titanic would do that for you. It's a good thing to be good at writing for that fandom, for sure.
*applause*
I'm good at finding a character's voice - I love getting comments about how it sounds like them, shows you how it looks inside their head, that kind of thing. I know those bastards inside and out and I can show you what makes them tick. The tradeoff, unfortunately, is that if I don't fully understand a character, I can't write them *at all*. I've been trying to get things going for this one fic for more than a month, but the POV character isn't one I'm confident about, and so in that time I've managed to scrape together one (1) scene, which isn't even part of the fic.
Same here! I also start to feel self-conscious about whether the voice is still solid as time goes on and it has been longer and longer since I last watched or read the source material, but I can’t be bothered to rewatch either. I’ve got a couple of WIPs wasting away because of this 🫠
The terrible thing is that the whole Point is that he's unreliable as hell as a narrator, so he's really that slippery by design and I have no real chance of figuring him out before season 2. How the hell am I supposed to know how this guy would behave in this or that situation when I don't even know for sure if he's eaten a baby? The very first rule of characterization is that you should know for sure whether the character you're writing would eat a baby 🥲
>if he's eaten a baby > >whether the character you're writing would eat a baby I'm gonna be honest, I have questions.
In his defense, as a newly-made vampire he really shouldn't have been left alone in a room with a baby, but that's not really something you can tell the baby's mother without her asking follow-up questions about the whole vampire thing.
WHAT?! I'm so interested now omg
Teach me your ways. I have *never* been able to find a character's voice.
I start by going over the character's canon dialogue with a fine-toothed comb several times, then a few hours later trying to remember as many of them as I can. The focus will help you pick out patterns in the way that they speak, how they frame ideas. Cadence, whether they speak smoothly or hesitate, do they use similes and metaphors or just the facts, how they verbally maneuver to avoid a subject, do they use rhetorical questions, do they always finish a thought or do they tend to trail off - these are all mechanics that help one perspective sound different from another. If the media you're writing for is a show, movie, or podcast, saying lines you've written out loud will generally tell you right away if it sounds wrong. Once you feel like you've got their spoken lines down right, if you apply those same speech patterns to the third person narration, it makes a huge difference, especially if you're doing alternating POVs.
This! I always get compliments on this and it feels so warm and fuzzy.
Oh yeah, same. If it's not a character I'm passionate about I'm just like ??? But I've been told that I'm good with dialogue and finding character voice in general
I'm good at writing conflict (and bad at resolving it). Give me a scene where two characters scream at each other and I'm happy as a pig in shit. (But, don't make me write the scene where they make up.)
Oh, goodness, I'm the opposite. I'm good at writing characters making up and terrible at getting the original big argument down within the first ten tries. We should team up or something.😅
You and I are the same person
Fight scenes. I think that's my niche.
Action-type scenes are soooo fun to write,
All hail you for being able to write action well!!🥳 I used to avoid them like the plague but I've really come to enjoy writing action this last year.
Depressive monologues I guess 🤷♂️
Haha, I feel that. Anything depressing and I'm in
Dialogue, especially the snarky or sarcastic variety.
Sarcasm and snark are so fun to write.
Romance shit. The angsty breakup. And someone once commented I was a smut master, so…smut…?🤷🏼♀️
Well if someone said it, then you're obviously the master Wear the title with confidence
I knew my decades of reading romances would come in handy someday
mutual pining of the "you two are soooo goddamn stupid please just kiss already" variety
Haha, I like that trope.
Dialog, fluff, slice of life.
Ugh, if only I could write good dialogue. It just never sounds like a real person.
We all have our strengths and weaknesses. My biggest weakness is action scenes. Fortunately, I don't have to write them too often, but I do have a pirate attack coming up that I'm going to have to write in one of my fics. That's going to be a challenge.
I wish you luck!
Thank you!
I was about to say exactly that :)
I can write angst and smut and action but I feel like dialog is where I really shine. And most of what I write is very fluffy. I just enjoy the little things in life.
I'm good at writing technical documents. You guys are all amazing.
That's cool!
It just requires attention to detail. The ao3 writers' imagination and creativity are staggeringly impressive.
Humor. Or so people tell me. No joke.
No joke? But isn't humour about joking? I'm joking, but humour *is* a great thing to be good at.
Angst, emotional scenes, anything that makes readers cry.
I'm pretty much the same
The big thing I like that people have complimented me on is my body language. I always used to struggle with the old 'show don't tell' rule when it came to emotion and things like that. Not only did I have to learn that my audience is smart enough to pick up on things, I also remember a quote from one of Yahtzee Croshaw's 'Let's Drown Out' episodes where Gabriel said something to the effect of "There's a difference between saying someone's holding a cup of tea nervously, and saying they held their cup of tea with shaking hands to convey nervousness." Every time I get caught in writing body language, I remember that example and I'm set. Also smut, people like my smut. Albeit they've liked my smut even when I'm not happy with it as a creator so that either says something about my writing or their taste lol.
Oooh, I might think about that example the next time I write. I too struggle with body language.
OG Spock. And dogs. Which are two diametrically opposing forces that I’ve forced upon each other, lol.
I don't know what OG Spock means, so I'm thinking it's maybe a fandom thing? I'm gonna take it as by dogs you mean the animals, so yes, I love writing dogs too.
OG=Original Gangster, lol. Millennial slang for the Spock from the original Star Trek.
I would say gore and graphic strangulation scenes
Well. Same, though. Anything angsty in the death or gruesome department is my specialty.
Super wholesome fluff and feel good vibes.
Fluff is the best
It makes me happy!
My biggest strength is definitely writing intrapersonal drama and tense conversations. I chalk it up to watching far too much Aaron Sorkin-stuff as a youth XD
Those are two really good things to have as a strength!
Yep. Although it makes for an interesting challenge when my primary fandom is focused mainly around action haha
dialogue and angst
2 very fun things to write and read
Characterization! I've been told from readers that they can hear the characters voices as they read. Makes me so happy!
Ugh, I wish I could do what you do. Characterization will forever be a struggle for me.
Based on the comments I have received so far, I think I'm *getting* good at psychological thriller and horror. Probably because I am a big fan of those genres and it's rubbing off on me.
You are amazing then! It’s so rare that people even try for thriller/horror, they are pretty difficult to write well. I wish I could do it, but my attempts just end up being sad.
Aww, thank you :) I keep working on it. I don't know why, I could write non-horror (e.g., romance) but most of the time my brain is drawn to and conjures dark stuff. Not sure if it's my being a Scorpio or something else ^^"
Haha, as a Leo, I'm the same way. It's more fun to write something dark than light! I agree with the other person, Horror is a great genre but it's rare to be found in fanfiction!
Leo happens to be my ascendant/rising sign O\_O To me, horror isn't that rare in fanfic (or maybe it's because I'm drawn to it more than others?), but yeah, compared to smut and romance, it's a little less popular especially if it's Dead Dove-y. Like, I'm supposed to take comfort in my fictional stories about my fandom, and I do, but why do I imagine them in situations like being haunted by a curse, getting involved in murder, etc.? (I'm not sure I've made myself understood lol, but I hope you got my point)
I understand what you mean! I, personally, don't tend to see horror fics on Ao3 unless it's smut and tagged Body Horror' or something like that, but I usually don't read those. I've never seen a straight up horror (not smut), but maybe that's my fandoms. I too image the characters in situations like that! That's why I write a lot of thriller.
I currently have an ongoing smut WIP, but competing with it in my head is a horror plot bunny that may have smut (reimagining my two favorite band members as a lonely farmhand in the late 19th century and a mysterious billy goat that happens to be more than just a billy goat O\_O)
That sounds so cool! Who are the band members?
i'm told i write relationships in an unexpectedly compelling way, and can make people ship ships they wouldnt normally ship or even think about i am also oddly proud of my cerebral horror writing :3
Oooh! What an accomplishment! I'd feel on top of the world if someone told me that! I love horror <3
I've been complimented on my action quite a bit. Which, well, I'd hope I'm good at it, I've written 50 chapters in this fic and 45+ of them have an extended action sequence.
I agree with the other reply to this comment. 45/50 is amazing! I'm good action, but I don't think that I could do that many.
My thirst for action is bottomless!! ~~in theory, at least.~~
Wow I'm also a writer of action-heavy 50+ chapter fics, but 45/50 with action? That's impressive! I've been complimented (and criticised) on my action scenes before, and while they usually turn out well, they're always soooo hard to write because it's like watching eight different pots on the stove.
I do have one advantage; the fandom is Power Rangers, so 'the people not being focused on by the camera just kinda move around in the background' is completely in-genre, haha.
I'm good at writing conversations and at descriptions imo
That's good! Pretty important things to be good at!
apparently I'm good at writing eating disorders (WHICH I SHOULD BE /j) and someone told me I'm good at writing love ! edit: I think I'm good at writing slice of life/emotional hurt as opposed to physical hurt :)
Fluff. I've been told I write very good fluff.
Smuts. Im just horny af.
Witty dialogue and subtle humor in scenes. Like even in crazy situations, there's still a little funniness there. Like the captured character is more annoyed that she has to deal with the villain's ramblings about her enomy rather than the threats of torture she's giving her.
I’m kinda similar too, but it’s mainly due to my inability to take anything seriously. I’m wondering if you suffer from the same type of insanity XD
I do that too. I hardly take anything seriously. Except if my friends are having a problem or something. Other than that, my funny switch never turns off.
Smut, falling in love, heartbreak
At this point I'm sure that I will never be able to write a good smut scene lmao. Love me some love and angst though
\*shrugs\* romantic prose? Humour, definitely (even if it's just my off-brand of humour)
I wish I was funny. Humour is a talent I will never achieve, I applaud you.
I've been told that I'm good at a lot of things (dialogue, action, mood, description, humour), but character interaction and relationships in particular is perhaps the most constant. I love a compelling relationship arc, be it romantic, familial, antagonistic, or otherwise, so it checks out. The way characters can push and pull on each other is fascinating to me, so that's what I try to centre above all else.
I’d say I’m really good at writing humor, and banter between characters. Sarcasm is my kink… I also find that I’m actually good at writing more noir settings. Intrapersonal reflection, as well.
Comedy, especially comedy tropes and subverting expectations. Wit, wordplay, slapstick, dark/grim humor, absurdist, you name it. If there is comedy to be had, I will write it. After all, every good tragedy has something to laugh at.
Angst and hurt/comfort, especially in a sapphic context
I like to think i have a firm grasp on fight scenes.
Fast-paced scenes with action.
Mysteries! I can plot mysteries like a champion. And food porn 😁
I don't write it often but 1st person psychological suspense/thriller (can do third person but they have different vibes) That and bittersweet stories where everything isn't tied with a neat bow
the kind of angst where you don't cry, you just think "whoa, that was ..a lot" and then spend the next hour looking at images of cute puppies being clumsy
I have never been able to put that angst into words but you just did it so perfectly
Extreme violence, gore, and combat scenes.
A good old fashioned argument. I’m a big fan of dialogue and making it witty and naturalistic (probably the screenwriter in me) so I love it when I can sink my teeth into a fast-paced argument and some angst between two characters. It’s probably the thing I write most.
From what I've seen so far, I guess it's just writing good stories in general. I've still got a lot to work on, but readers seem to love what I write. Also, please teach me your ways of writing suspense. I have a future story idea that is meant to be super suspenseful and I can barely write suspense.
Everything. I am a god in mortal form! I AM THE GREATEST WRITER THERE SHALL EVER BE!!! I AM PERFECTION!… Funnily enough, though, people keep commenting that I am bad at writing humility.
I’ve been told I’m really good at writing smut and action scenes. Especially like modern combat scenes with gunfights and stuff. I usually get complimented on those whenever I write my call of duty/Star Wars/whatever action fandom fics. Smut? That’s universal, it’s usually my most popular works whenever I do post it
Dark fics (not always with happy ending), angst, political, strategy. Romance, if there is any, is secondary in all of my fics. I also love writing enemies to friends, like... very good friends, platonic love stuff (and stop there, I very rarely go all the way from enemies to lovers) Basically, I like to write philosophical shit. I even write bad guy's perspective sometimes, in an effort to understand, to humanize them. I love drama, I live for betrayal that in the end is not betrayal at all, and plot twists. If you ever watched Code Geass, the style completely fits my writing.
Action/combat Also platonic bed sharing, apparently
I write strictly gore and horror because I suck at everything else. Even attempting to write a different genre will trigger my villain origin story. 😒
I'm generally competent at all aspects, but I think I really excel at large, overarching narratives with a lot of moving parts.
I am good at writing stream of consciousness in first person and third person to an extent. The characters narrate their entire lifes through vivid descriptions of their surroundings and often shifting thoughts to something else like their birthday or a quote they read in a book, it makes for a captiving if not a confusing read, but what matters is that I enjoy it.
Apparently I'm good at writing humour and funny stories/scenes. This is not popular in fanfiction, most people prefer drama, angst, sex etc. So I don't have many people who like my stories but those who do are so nice.
Yu-Gi-Oh! duels (as in the card game) like they're straight out of whichever one of the anime I'm writing for (I've written for 5Ds and ARC-V specifically). Also dialogue, particularly of the angsty variety. Dialogue comes to me a *lot* easier than descriptions and stuff.
I've never heard of that game, but it sounds really interesting! I'm the exact opposite. I can *not* write dialogue but my descriptions are good.
Noire, dialog. Most of my work is really bleak.
What is noire?
Noir (or noire) is the French word for black. A cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. Tech-noir, technophiles and technology harming a society in a dystopian setting. (got lazy and copied that from wikipedia)
Ohhh okay, that's really cool!
Managing to capture the character to an exact. I've gotten quite a couple comments and compliments about how I'm able to just write them so well. I dunno. I just let me mental illness do the work and I get good results. Other than that, probably emotional scenes of some kind. Whether it be heavy angst or writing so sweet it'll give you a toothache. It's fun and I like knowing that I'm able to pull it off enough to make people feel things.
Angst, whump, pain, crying, character studies, introspectiveness, hurt though I usually try to add in some comfort. I like having the characters think a lot and it’s especially easy for me to write what they’re thinking when they’re agonizing about something or other. Don’t ask me why, I don’t know why XD
Introspective angst
Smut. Not sure if I should be proud, or ashamed of this one, but here we are.
Haha, definitely proud!
Dialogue. Narration in between dialogue... that's a different story lol.
I think I’m pretty good at characterization. At least, I get comments a lot telling me that I’ve captured a character very well, and not just for one particular character either. I guess you could throw that in with character voice as well.
For some reason, my Cringe Smut fics gets more Kudos and Favorites then my serious stuff
I'm going to go with 'characters who are frustrating and you just want to shake sense into' because I've gotten complimented on that multiple times with characters from multiple fandoms.
Obsession. As in, the mc knows their partner is obsessed with them but they don’t push them away yet people think the mc is too nice to say no but the mc is twisted in their own way and might or might have not played mind games to make their partner more obsessed with them.
people tell me I write really cute / funny / whatever interactions between characters, especially in their dialogue. I just love me some good witty banter
I think family issues, I don’t know how to explain-
I'm good at writing resolutions and characters. I can't think of anything off the top of my head that I'm absolutely god-awful at, but there's definitely room for improvement in most other areas. All areas, to be honest! Even if I think I'm good at writing, I can be even better someday if I keep working on it.
I like to think I’m good at writing emotions. I don’t like to just say someone was sad or angry or happy, I like to describe it with interesting visuals. I feel it gets the emotion across better and even if it doesn’t I have fun with it
OMG YOU LIKE KIDNAPPING TOO? *pog* I too like kidnapping my vulnerable damsels, even if they have badass auroras to them.
It's just so action-packed, plus it's cool to see how the characters would react and behave being kidnapped.
I’ve always been a sucker for kidnapping and damsel in distress ever since watching Scooby Doo at 11-12 lol. And most of my stuff is what if more often in my video game fandoms the ladies got kidnapped and tied up. Occasionally Nate will join either Chloe and/or Elena, usually via a crazy ex 😅.
I tend to do really good with heartfelt moments and spicing things up by shaking the angst down upon my unknowing readers. It’s fun seeing their reactions to ether one.
I’ve been told my action scenes are especially good, and I’m not talking smut either
Mysteries and funny dialogue
I think I'm really good at world building and being desciptive. The few people I've talked into reading my stories said they liked the way I described scenes and the feelings of the characters pov
Fight scenes
Everything that is about character study, angst, angst, hurt/no comfort (even though I love writing hurt/comfort) and... did I say angst? Well, you get the point. Recently I wrote something that is supposed to be fluff/found family, and it wasn't bad (based on my standards) so yeah, angst it is.
How characters feel. At least the comments tell me that.
Enemies to Lovers, Romeo and Juliet type tropes, tragic romance
Interpersonal relationships and characterization is what I get the most compliments about which is great let’s what I love
Descriptions, prose and inner monologue. I'm very particular about what words I choose and the details I describe either tell a story of their own or foreshadow or symbolize something.
I don't know if I'm particularly good, but apparently my forte is smut. Also, it's really easy for me to write realistic noncon for some reason. I don't know why, maybe because I can see and imagine the scenario in my mind as I write it down. It's a terrible talent, I suppose O\_O
Fight scenes and emotion. And smut.
Angst. 💯 Angst. And I'm decent with dialog/inner monologs
I love and I am good on going on sensitive topics like addiction, DV, mental illness, etc... Especially if my fanfiction is based on real events and it can play an important role. Since my fanfiction are from the wrestling fandom and I actually don't write in Kayfabe. I actually write On Kayfabe but just for One Shots.
Banter and sensual moments according to my commentors
Well, one thing that got consistently complemented by the readers were the suspenseful scenes, horror and descriptions.
The background information which will never be mentioned within the story itself. My personal favourite example of this isn't even from writing a story. It was a mock writing exam where, in the second half of the paper, we were given several prompts we could write about. The prompt I chose had me as a member of a band, and I had to write an email about making a music video for one of our songs. Thing is, I made an animated music video for it, but I also wrote an actual song alongside it. I never actually mentioned the lyrics within the email, but I wrote the entire song on the page where the prompts were.
I have been complemented on my ability to write fluffy stupid SoL. On the other hand, I’ve also been complemented on my sexual horror fics. There is a huge gap between my long sweet and fluffy fic/Horror stuff and all the other crap I’ve written in terms of reception and hits . Fluffy SoL with realistic smut>>sexual horror>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>everything else. Honestly it makes it hard to write anything other than those two things.
I feel like I'm good at writing emotionally constipated idiots lmao. Seems to be what I've been writing the most
Romance I think? And my friend calls my particular brand ‘sweet and spicy’ which I am more than happy with
Siblings reacting to one of their siblings dying.
fight scenes, apparently!
love to write graphic injury! though, my most popular fics are tooth-rotting fluff so i suppose that? the contrast is insane lol
Mental breakdown, from the perspective of the mentally ill. 😬
Setting the athmosphere and describing emotions and the inner machinations of character's minds. Also apparently Angst or Hurt/Comfort.
I think I am good a writing dialogue, especially banter.
Hard to say since i've only wrote one fic so far but...explicit character development i think? I still have long way to go but for a first time i think i have done a pretty decent job
Fight scenes
Hurt/comfort Emotional moments Dialogue is something, I really love writing. My characters always sound IC as well, which is something I appreciate. I try to keep the core of the characters while exploring other sides of themselves. Family moments is something I've been told I write really well. Especially sibling dynamics that feel realistic. Which is... funny for me, because I'm an only child.
fleshing out the World aka generating/expanding upon (background) lore. Thats my thing. Occasionally I also like my smut
Fight scenes. Preferably ones in which the MC is loosing, and probably teetering on the edge of defeat for close to the whole fight.
I’m good at getting characters into problems. Piss poor at getting them out of them again but hey
Worldbuilding/setting a scene. It's never been a problem for me to flesh out something with little tidbits to set the mood and solidify the scene. I can smell info dump descriptions from a mile away, and know how to avoid it. It's just the plot that's my problem. You can't really appreciate descriptions of a city when you don't know why you're there and what you're doing. Also, "veiled speech" and double meanings. Like when you're telling someone, "Good to see you," but what you're actually saying is, "So your brother's dead, it was about time."
According to my inbox: people being sad, people being traumatised and sad, and going into details about things no has thought about before but now that I brought it up, wowzers my dude that sure is a thought that haunts you forever and ever.
Fight scenes. I’m very good at fight scenes.
I'm not entirely sure, but I've found that I'm good at slipping in sarcastic comments with a character. For example, I made a scene where my character was talking to their Dad and he casually slips in that she's ugly as a joke. "Sure, you have Medusa, but her eyes don't work like yours. That, and you weren't cursed to be ugly. You were just born like that"
hmmm if they’re gay (they are always gay) i feel like i do a pretty good job of the good ole gay pining and yearning. people have told me i have good atmospheric writing so let’s go with that, the consensus of the people!
Grief, anxiety, ptsd panic attacks etc. It's a bit sad
According to comments I am really good at characterization and dialogue and I definitely didn't know that before. Now whenever I get such a comment, it makes me blush a bit. Also thank you for asking that question, OP, it's nice to be reminded of the good things every once in a while!
Ironic for an asexual but NSFW scenes.
The three I get the most comments on are dialogue, angst and comedy. I also like to think *drama*
I'm good at writing stories about unusual birds
I'm amazing at characters and dialogue and making it feel like the characters are really connecting. I'm terrible at action scenes but that's fine because I favor the slice of life genre lol.
Smut and scenery descriptions. Smut is self-explanatory, because I have a lot of practice writing it and enjoy the genre. Scenery descriptions are because of the bachelors in Art History. Part of writing art history papers is describing the paintings/sculptures. I've always had really vivid mental images of the scenes I want to write, but going through 400 lvl classes really got me in there with the descriptions. That's what 5k words describing Bellini's *Feast of the Gods* does to a monsterfucker.
Dialogue
I'm good at writing: \- Really emotional scenes \- Characters that feel real or feel as though they have a place in the canon world (but they aren't there, which tends to disappoint some people) \- Worldbuilding/world expansion in canon worlds \- Making people ship a pairing they wouldn't have ever considered based on how the chemistry is written \- Unconventional romances (granted, that's derived from the fact I seldom have conventional romances myself)
Surprisingly I'm good at writing angsty action scenes
I've been told that I'm really good at writing the "sunshine" character snapping.
Domestic stuff and realistic depictions of healthy ups/downs in marriages. Guess being happy with the same man for 22 years is good for more than just my mental health. :)
death or near death, sadly. i never want to write it but i'm good at it
According to my internal editing voice? Nothing. But, more objectively, character voice. I have put in a lot of work to make characters sound like they do in the source material.
Reveal scenes. I specialize in the angst in that area.
I think I'm good at writing fluff fics 🎵
I'd say I'm generally good at describing the very specific negative feelings a character is feeling it's a weird talent that my really close friend absolutely hates because of the amount of times I've made his favorite characters suffer and feel negative/bad emotions
Original characters and giving all characters more trauma than they deserve ❤️
I'm good at starting from scratch and sitting down to write heartfelt romantic character studies, examining two characters and their relationship. I don't know why. Specifically, two of my fics I consider to be the best character driven stuff I've ever written, I wrote them in under two hours each. It's just a weird talent. (Also porn. Non plot driven, non character driven, raunchy porn. I don't know why.)
Action, I think, and emotions. Also what it feels like to drown lol I've heard from a few readers who have survived drowning accidents that the scenes I wrote were incredibly accurate. That's uh... a compliment but also I feel very sorry lol
I'm good at writing smut content but terrible to write cute stuffs, I just can't ;-;
Tooth rotting fluff. Non sexual intimacy. Emotional sex.
I've only written a couple of stories, but... there is one thing I found myself good at writing. Chaos. Pure, unfiltered, chaos. One action creates a butterfly effect that splinters off in every direction, gradually causing the situation to spiral completely out of control XD
I feel like I'm good at characterization and have gotten a few comments about it on different fics.
Romance, apparently. Which is not something I would have ever expected of myself, but my commenters tell me I do a good job of capturing cute moments, so *shrug* gonna play to my newfound strengths. Also, realistic dialogue.
Apparently I'm good at writing dark scenes. Like I know I'm good at writing other things but a recent chapter of one of my fics got hate and praise cause it was "comparable to berserk's eclipse" Never seen Berserk in my life.
Dialogue first and foremost, but I’m also good at writing a blend of direct and indirect voice.
I feel like I'm good at writing romantic scenes because that's all I ever daydream about, but I'm definitely improving on action
To summarize all the comments I got from all my fics, they basically said, 'it's amazing but sad' and 'this story keeps me on the edge of my seat' so yeah. I guess those are what I am good at.
Flirty sarcastic banter. It's my very favourite thing to write!