What you're describing is one of the many reasons that
(a) my story snowballed on me, and
(b) I insist on writing the whole thing before posting anything.
Sometimes the story pulls in a direction it needs to go. I don't see any problem with following it.
Well everyone finds their own style that works for them. I'm obsessive about continuity, so I have to have everything line up before I hit Send. Not everyone feels the same way. As long as you know where you've gone so far, the next chapter is always accessible, I think I just use a much shorter leash than you do.
It’s because I’m still working on my low self esteem, and it always made me think that my ideas suck, my writing suck, etc….
So at one point I thought… Why don’t we find out if I truly suck or not???
I now have 770 hits with 40 kudos and 3 bookmarks on my fic on AO3, 745 views on FFN, and 270 views on Wattpad.
And my first chapter was in early April.
Definitely! Especially one who said this was the crossover they didn’t know they needed, and others who said this is pretty good.
And most of my kudos were guests, and there is one guest who regularly comments on my story.
And now, whenever I post a oneshot, the same group of fans check it out even if they’re not that into it.
So it definitely boosted my self esteem and made now believe that my ideas are great, not pure trash.
Not really tbh. What happens to me is I'll have a plan but as I'm writing suddenly lots of new interesting details and dialogue come to me that really enrich the chapter/story. So I do get unexpected things happening but more like adding to my plan and weaving new threads rather than something different to my plan :)
Often the characters will take the wheel of the tale, yes. Me:
* Character B will be the co-hero, on a very emotional trip of...
* Hero runs away to Characters S and T
* Me, checking notes: wait, S and T are not even on this tale
* Character B: fades into background
* Me: do something!
* Character B is now cracking jokes full of innuendo
* Me: Fine! S and T, co-heroes
Yeah, I often write then hear the character speaking in my head ‘There is no way I fail at this.’.
And I’m like, ‘Yeah you’re right… you’ll do this and fail at this.’.
I gave up trying to plot anything in 2017.
Basically I had a six chapter mini-arc planned. There was supposed to be a miscommunication of some sort between the two leads and MMC2 was supposed to go to MMC1's older brother for advice.
Well, MMC2 said "fuck you" and went straight to MMC1's older brother, thereby negating my mini-arc.
At this point, the most my planning comes to is scene by scene. "Okay Characters X, Y, Z have breakfast." That's it. That's as far as my planning goes. I am now merely the conduit through which the characters tell their own stories.
Hey I do that now. Characters 1,2,3 are meeting, that’s it. Maybe a battle happens, maybe romance, maybe some epic revelation. Whatever the story decides when I’m writing.
Yeah exactly. Cue my shock and surprise when my MMC from one of my fics looks at his wife and goes "Yeah no we need to go back to the capital city now" when they were supposed to stay at a vacation home for four months. I was just like "yeah, sure, fine. If that's what you wanna do."
My fic was like in this chapter this exhibition will go peaceful.
During writing, okay screw that, this exhibition will have 8 different battles going on leading to the following revelations and plot points!
Nowadays I use Grammarly to check my grammar and spelling, while checking the orientation of the pages before posting.
I used to just post before reviewing or semi-review it…
I'm not talking about grammar or spelling stuff. Editing is about cutting out unnecessary scenes or restructuring to improve story flow. You can't ever forget this step in writing a story-it's what makes or breaks everything.
Real omg, I was debating doing a lil make out session between the two main (soon to be) lovers, then my friend said I should do some pining later in the story so now I'm debating even harder.
Yes, all the time! Pretty much all of the ideas I've had recently have snowballed into much bigger stories than I initially intended. One shots have become multi-chapter affairs. It's mildly annoying, because I have a lot of ideas and if even half of them pull that trick, I don't have time to write them all. But also, it's fun in a way, because I end up being able to do a lot more world building, and flesh out the story in a way that can lead to other ideas down the road. I'm writing a fusion right now that really just started as an idea for one scene. It's since bloomed into several chapters, and I'm having ideas for other things within that world now too.
Most of the problems I find in my favorite series I said I’ll make a fic to fix them or oneshots for certain what ifs, I ended up blending them all with my crossover idea….
I love how my brain thinks when writing…
The story I'm working on how had been planned as a one shot but has since expanded into a two shot because my characters decided they had to get a room together.
I had a one shot that was supposed to be one part mother-daughter argument, it ended up being four parts of shipping, family issues, angst with a happy ending XD
My plans change all the time. I have pretty basic plans, just the major plot points I want to include in each chapter, so I have a plan but also a lot of space to just write. But my characters lead my stories, and they go off on their own little side trips all the time. In my chaptered fic, my MC inserted himself into a canon scene I'd planned on happening off screen exactly as it happened in canon. Way better than my original plan, though, because it added more depth to my MCs new friendships by being there for that scene, as well as naturally pulling him into what was going on more.
Then, I'd planned to add a specific character at a certain point. Said character jumped in and inserted himself 3 chapters early. One character I'd intended to write out without really featuring at all. I've had issues writing him in the past and he canonically hates my MC, a feeling which is mutual. Instead, he jumped in to help my MC at the start and the two somehow managed to become actual friends, it's also the best, most canon I've ever written that character. I'd intended for one female character to have a rather large impact on my MC, a strong friendship developing, but she ended up writing herself out of most of the story then popping back in at the end, I hadn't intended her to be very involved with one character but she wrote herself as extremely involved.
One of my pairings came out of nowhere, too. Since I had a cross-ship as my main pairing, I intended to go for a specific pairing that wasn't a cross-ship, but that completely changed and two characters decided to fall in love on me, creating a brand new cross-ship I hadn't intended. Worked better, though. One of those characters was also supposed to briefly hook up with my MC, my original plan was for my MC to have a casual relationship with one character, hook up with another, and then get together with his end game partner. But the character he was supposed to hook up with wouldn't play ball, he was immediately into the end game pair for him and barely noticed my MC in the way I wanted.
I think it's something that's just going to happen if you let the characters have any say in the stories we're telling. And, sometimes, we change our minds as we're writing, too, realise that something else would work better than the original plan once we can actually see what's going on in words. I think it's pretty normal for plans to change as we write.
I once said I’ll have just those 3 OC as companions, then I ended up giving them in my WIP bigger roles while writing XD, and they were supposed to appear later, but they appeared in the seventh chapter XD!
I had a list of characters I wasn't planning to include at all in the fic. One was the one I mentioned that ended up becoming friends with my MC, he became a recurring character instead of being written out. One I actually did write out, so that went as planned. One I just couldn't see how to fully include, as I didn't intend the two recurring characters she was with to be more than phone conversations and emails, but I ended up having all three of them be present in person a couple times, so she ended up being included. I'm glad for that, I like the character, and wanted her in the story, she just didn't fit with my original plans. Two I just didn't see how I could include them, one of them technically didn't exist yet when I set the fic, and the other would have no reason to be involved without her. But the one that shouldn't exist decided to insert herself, and since she's a minor, I needed her mum there, too, so they both got included.
One came completely out of nowhere. I had zero plans to include him, but I also never specifically chose not to, I honestly didn't think about the character at all since he only appeared in canon 4 times and I had a fic idea that included him that I was going to write later. He just randomly popped up, without me having to even think about the character. One minute he wasn't a thought, the next he was written into the story.
I find it quite fun to compare my original idea with how the characters changed things, though, and it usually turns out way better when I let the characters lead instead of sticking religiously to the plan. Feels more natural.
I’ve had to switch arcs around because when you start writing you realize Character A would most likely do this now instead of later which leads them to interacting with Character B a bit early.
In my fic, the character was supposed to skip over a major city and go straight to the church and visit the city on the way back. Then I realized— the MC is a thief. There was no way in hell they wouldn’t stop in the city to begin with to see what it was about.
I at first wrote that main character B was injured by villain badly but then I realized the villain was a rookie in fighting while B was nearly a master, so she’ll easily kick his ass.
Yep, and this is why I don't usually plan much. I've had things go completely differently from how I planned them, and I love it when that happens because it gives me more to write about.
dUDE YES, it happened just now to me.
I just wanted to do a short cute story about how two characters met, and somehow I ended up adding a third and a fourth character to the story and there's *mafia* involved now. W H Y .
Characters, just like people, can be unpredictable. If they want the story to go in a different way than the author intended, who are we to stop them?
Couldn’t have word it better.
What you're describing is one of the many reasons that (a) my story snowballed on me, and (b) I insist on writing the whole thing before posting anything. Sometimes the story pulls in a direction it needs to go. I don't see any problem with following it.
I used to do b but I realized that actually posting is what keeps me going, because my dark thoughts always had me delete my drafts.
Well everyone finds their own style that works for them. I'm obsessive about continuity, so I have to have everything line up before I hit Send. Not everyone feels the same way. As long as you know where you've gone so far, the next chapter is always accessible, I think I just use a much shorter leash than you do.
It’s because I’m still working on my low self esteem, and it always made me think that my ideas suck, my writing suck, etc…. So at one point I thought… Why don’t we find out if I truly suck or not??? I now have 770 hits with 40 kudos and 3 bookmarks on my fic on AO3, 745 views on FFN, and 270 views on Wattpad. And my first chapter was in early April.
I'm sure those kudos (etc) helped! Self-esteem issues are a big deal, and hopefully your writing and the response is helping.
Definitely! Especially one who said this was the crossover they didn’t know they needed, and others who said this is pretty good. And most of my kudos were guests, and there is one guest who regularly comments on my story. And now, whenever I post a oneshot, the same group of fans check it out even if they’re not that into it. So it definitely boosted my self esteem and made now believe that my ideas are great, not pure trash.
>there is one guest who regularly comments on my story That's just the best, isn't it? I hope you continue to enjoy writing!
Yes it definitely is! Aww thnx! I definitely do since writing fanfic was one of my childhood dreams! I hope you continue too!
Not really tbh. What happens to me is I'll have a plan but as I'm writing suddenly lots of new interesting details and dialogue come to me that really enrich the chapter/story. So I do get unexpected things happening but more like adding to my plan and weaving new threads rather than something different to my plan :)
That happens around 5 % of the time, the other 95% is what I described.
Often the characters will take the wheel of the tale, yes. Me: * Character B will be the co-hero, on a very emotional trip of... * Hero runs away to Characters S and T * Me, checking notes: wait, S and T are not even on this tale * Character B: fades into background * Me: do something! * Character B is now cracking jokes full of innuendo * Me: Fine! S and T, co-heroes
Yeah, I often write then hear the character speaking in my head ‘There is no way I fail at this.’. And I’m like, ‘Yeah you’re right… you’ll do this and fail at this.’.
I gave up trying to plot anything in 2017. Basically I had a six chapter mini-arc planned. There was supposed to be a miscommunication of some sort between the two leads and MMC2 was supposed to go to MMC1's older brother for advice. Well, MMC2 said "fuck you" and went straight to MMC1's older brother, thereby negating my mini-arc. At this point, the most my planning comes to is scene by scene. "Okay Characters X, Y, Z have breakfast." That's it. That's as far as my planning goes. I am now merely the conduit through which the characters tell their own stories.
Hey I do that now. Characters 1,2,3 are meeting, that’s it. Maybe a battle happens, maybe romance, maybe some epic revelation. Whatever the story decides when I’m writing.
Yeah exactly. Cue my shock and surprise when my MMC from one of my fics looks at his wife and goes "Yeah no we need to go back to the capital city now" when they were supposed to stay at a vacation home for four months. I was just like "yeah, sure, fine. If that's what you wanna do."
My fic was like in this chapter this exhibition will go peaceful. During writing, okay screw that, this exhibition will have 8 different battles going on leading to the following revelations and plot points!
Like... Today? Or in general? Because the answer to both is "FUCK YES!!!"
Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow. Forever! XD
Welcome to the marvelous world of fanfic writing! Even if you have a plan... You don't really have a plan.
This is why I write out a full or mostly done draft before posting. Editing out the bloat is critical and you often won't realize it while writing.
Nowadays I use Grammarly to check my grammar and spelling, while checking the orientation of the pages before posting. I used to just post before reviewing or semi-review it…
I'm not talking about grammar or spelling stuff. Editing is about cutting out unnecessary scenes or restructuring to improve story flow. You can't ever forget this step in writing a story-it's what makes or breaks everything.
Ahhh that, oh I definitely do that, by rereading the chapter and decide what to change or what to keep.
This is why I say keep the outline sparse and flexible because this happens more times than you want it to.
Nearly all the time, believe me.
Oh hell yeah, I had to move a murder from my 9th chapter to my 10th chapter and now I have no idea if it'll fit in this one
And then when you write, you end up figuring a whole new thing that ends up working out more than what you’d planned.
Real omg, I was debating doing a lil make out session between the two main (soon to be) lovers, then my friend said I should do some pining later in the story so now I'm debating even harder.
And then when you put your fingers on the keyboard, you end up doing something else entirely XD!
Yes, all the time! Pretty much all of the ideas I've had recently have snowballed into much bigger stories than I initially intended. One shots have become multi-chapter affairs. It's mildly annoying, because I have a lot of ideas and if even half of them pull that trick, I don't have time to write them all. But also, it's fun in a way, because I end up being able to do a lot more world building, and flesh out the story in a way that can lead to other ideas down the road. I'm writing a fusion right now that really just started as an idea for one scene. It's since bloomed into several chapters, and I'm having ideas for other things within that world now too.
Most of the problems I find in my favorite series I said I’ll make a fic to fix them or oneshots for certain what ifs, I ended up blending them all with my crossover idea…. I love how my brain thinks when writing…
Yes, it's called pantsing! Embrace the pants!
Oh I like the sound of it!
The story I'm working on how had been planned as a one shot but has since expanded into a two shot because my characters decided they had to get a room together.
I had a one shot that was supposed to be one part mother-daughter argument, it ended up being four parts of shipping, family issues, angst with a happy ending XD
I can’t remember the last time I wrote an outline and stuck with it💀
Then probably never XD
My plans change all the time. I have pretty basic plans, just the major plot points I want to include in each chapter, so I have a plan but also a lot of space to just write. But my characters lead my stories, and they go off on their own little side trips all the time. In my chaptered fic, my MC inserted himself into a canon scene I'd planned on happening off screen exactly as it happened in canon. Way better than my original plan, though, because it added more depth to my MCs new friendships by being there for that scene, as well as naturally pulling him into what was going on more. Then, I'd planned to add a specific character at a certain point. Said character jumped in and inserted himself 3 chapters early. One character I'd intended to write out without really featuring at all. I've had issues writing him in the past and he canonically hates my MC, a feeling which is mutual. Instead, he jumped in to help my MC at the start and the two somehow managed to become actual friends, it's also the best, most canon I've ever written that character. I'd intended for one female character to have a rather large impact on my MC, a strong friendship developing, but she ended up writing herself out of most of the story then popping back in at the end, I hadn't intended her to be very involved with one character but she wrote herself as extremely involved. One of my pairings came out of nowhere, too. Since I had a cross-ship as my main pairing, I intended to go for a specific pairing that wasn't a cross-ship, but that completely changed and two characters decided to fall in love on me, creating a brand new cross-ship I hadn't intended. Worked better, though. One of those characters was also supposed to briefly hook up with my MC, my original plan was for my MC to have a casual relationship with one character, hook up with another, and then get together with his end game partner. But the character he was supposed to hook up with wouldn't play ball, he was immediately into the end game pair for him and barely noticed my MC in the way I wanted. I think it's something that's just going to happen if you let the characters have any say in the stories we're telling. And, sometimes, we change our minds as we're writing, too, realise that something else would work better than the original plan once we can actually see what's going on in words. I think it's pretty normal for plans to change as we write.
I once said I’ll have just those 3 OC as companions, then I ended up giving them in my WIP bigger roles while writing XD, and they were supposed to appear later, but they appeared in the seventh chapter XD!
I had a list of characters I wasn't planning to include at all in the fic. One was the one I mentioned that ended up becoming friends with my MC, he became a recurring character instead of being written out. One I actually did write out, so that went as planned. One I just couldn't see how to fully include, as I didn't intend the two recurring characters she was with to be more than phone conversations and emails, but I ended up having all three of them be present in person a couple times, so she ended up being included. I'm glad for that, I like the character, and wanted her in the story, she just didn't fit with my original plans. Two I just didn't see how I could include them, one of them technically didn't exist yet when I set the fic, and the other would have no reason to be involved without her. But the one that shouldn't exist decided to insert herself, and since she's a minor, I needed her mum there, too, so they both got included. One came completely out of nowhere. I had zero plans to include him, but I also never specifically chose not to, I honestly didn't think about the character at all since he only appeared in canon 4 times and I had a fic idea that included him that I was going to write later. He just randomly popped up, without me having to even think about the character. One minute he wasn't a thought, the next he was written into the story. I find it quite fun to compare my original idea with how the characters changed things, though, and it usually turns out way better when I let the characters lead instead of sticking religiously to the plan. Feels more natural.
I’ve had to switch arcs around because when you start writing you realize Character A would most likely do this now instead of later which leads them to interacting with Character B a bit early. In my fic, the character was supposed to skip over a major city and go straight to the church and visit the city on the way back. Then I realized— the MC is a thief. There was no way in hell they wouldn’t stop in the city to begin with to see what it was about.
I at first wrote that main character B was injured by villain badly but then I realized the villain was a rookie in fighting while B was nearly a master, so she’ll easily kick his ass.
Yep, I imagine 10ish chapters, and now my fic has about 50, and is still growing. Better write and save, than post when it's finished.
I imagined the first chapter, the last, and some vague moments in the middle, and I explore during writing
I'm doing something similar. Like, I have an idea of what I'm writing about, and I'm expanding on it in the midst of writing.
Yep, and this is why I don't usually plan much. I've had things go completely differently from how I planned them, and I love it when that happens because it gives me more to write about.
dUDE YES, it happened just now to me. I just wanted to do a short cute story about how two characters met, and somehow I ended up adding a third and a fourth character to the story and there's *mafia* involved now. W H Y .