@whispering-about-the-tmnt / whispering-about-the-tmnt.tumblr.com
Even though this poll isn't done yet (I meant to make it just a one-day poll), I think it's safe to assume 2003 is the winner! Now to decide which Turtle is the focus of the story (the one that the inciting event happens to -- the one who gets injured and whose perceptions get altered).
Note: The POV character / characters will be decided in the next poll, this one is just to decide who the story is going to be about!
As I mentioned, now that I have finished up with All The Time In The World and Passage, I am going to get back to updating my other stuff.
BUT I will still have a problem bouncing back and forth between them because one is third-person-past-tense (Something Wicked) and the other is script/screenplay format (Second Time Around). That means it would be best if I focus on one for a few chapters before moving on to the other one for a few chapters... so, for anyone who has read any of either of those stories, which one do you think I should get updated first?
13 talk about a writing experience that has pleasantly surprised you
In general, most of my pleasant writing experiences have been during the research stages! Often I will come across little details that will, completely out of the blue, give me a massive Eureka! moment, and either manage to bring everything together or open up whole new avenues to pursue.
A specific recent example is when I was developing my 70s AU and was looking through what New York was like back then. I came across articles about how many fallout shelters were built in the city in the decades before that, and it made me decide to make the Turtles' home in a particularly well-constructed one. That in turn led me to being able to tie their story in with April's, and also to give the place an emotional connection with Splinter (which will come up in a later story).
Also regarding the 70s AU, when I was looking to figure out what species the Turtles were, I came across a certain species that ended up giving me the reasoning behind their mutation, as well as the manner in which Splinter came to take care of them! I'll get that story out eventually!
But, yeah! Those are generally my favorite surprises when writing! And I have learned a lot while doing it!
Thanks for the ask!
Got the penultimate chapter of Passage up! One more to go!
A new chapter of All The Time In The World is up!
As a reminder, I am not actually on Tumblr right now! I'm taking a short break and just got on long enough to let you all know about the update! Love you all!
I am trying to keep a steady pace getting a few of my shorter fics completed to free myself up to work on Something Wicked and Second Time Around in earnest... so here is the tentative order that I will be posting things in over the next couple weeks. I like to skip at least a day between posting anything, so these are all going to be updated at least two days apart!
These can all be found at my AO3 page!
Do you have any tips for someone who wants to get into writing fanfic but whose writing is, um, not great? Bc I look at what you write and then at what I write and go, "wow, my stuff sucks."
First of all, eeee! Thank you so much!
Second of all, No! Your stuff doesn't suck! I guarantee it just feels like that because you're the one with it in your mind, and you know all the beats and twists, and you know the ending and... you know?
I've been writing fanfic since before I knew what it was; I started posting my stuff online way back when the only place to do that was fanfiction.net and newsboards and, if you had the time to figure out how to do it, Geocities and Angelfire sites.
I had little knowledge back then of how to write properly. My grasp of grammar and tense and spelling were definitely lacking. But I wrote anyway because I had stories to tell, and I was going to share them one damn way or another! And you know what, people didn't much care about the grammar being less than perfect, because they were there for the story... and I was okay at telling a story. And more importantly, if you show love for what you're writing, then it will always be worth reading!
Other than that, the first piece of writing advice I would be inclined to give would probably be to practice writing drabbles. It takes a lot of work to be concise, and restricting yourself to a set word count really helps! Writing something complete in exactly 100-200 words will force you to decide which details need to be left in and which ones are best left out.
You can check out my TMNT drabbles if you want to see what I mean! It's a fun challenge, and in the end coming up with just the right combination of words to get the point across is so satisfying!
My youngest kid, zero_is_a_nerd, is 12 years old, and has posted three drabbles of her own so far to get the method down. She is now working on a longer story that she wants me to beta-read for her. My eldest kid, CharbroilLaFlamme, is 27 and has been writing for years. She hasn't posted anything in a while, but she is definitely still writing!
But I digress!
Another thing I do when I'm writing is keep a list of words that I tend to use too often. I'll search in my drafts for words like "leaned", "stared", "laughed", "looked", etc; and if they appear more than a couple times in a chapter, then I will replace them with other, lesser-used words and phrases, or even remove them entirely. There's only so many times a person can sigh before they start to hyperventilate, y'know?
Anyway, sorry for dragging this out and being fairly incoherent! I was just so surprised by your message! Thank you for making me feel so good!
So, my current writing plan is to, over the next couple weeks, post the final chapters of Passage and Duck and Cover and All The Time In The World.
After that, I will be able to dedicate more brain-power to getting Something Wicked and Second Time Around worked on, because those are a lot more involved and need some pretty specific writing attention!
Anyway, feel free to check out all of my Turtle fics!
Just got a new chapter of the first story in my 70s AU up!
🌹 🌹
On it!
From my 70s AU. Again, a rough draft.
She gasped and again spun towards the door, but before she could take a single step she was grabbed from behind. Her arms were pinned to the sides of her body and the flashlight fell from her grip, clattering to the linoleum; then it was snatched up by some unseen hand and and its light was extinguished.
School starts here tomorrow, so I will probably be able to get some more writing time in soon!
Good thing, too. I've got a lot to catch up on!
Err... so that plot bunny that attacked me and that you people were supposed to talk me OUT of writing is bouncing around in my head like... well, like a bunny.
So, I might just end up writing it, after all, and posting it between getting chapters of Something Wicked and Duck And Cover up. And since it is a one-shot, that shouldn't be too big a deal...
But...
It's a 2003 fic involving Donatello, an invention, self-experimentation, hubris, and regret... and it might have an ending that is just open enough that people might get mad at me about it...
Are you sure you want me to write this thing?
So, I got Chapter 21 of Something Wicked posted earlier...
You guys love me, right?
Right?
🐢 & 🐱 & 🧓 & 👶 for au ask
Let's see!
Nope! And that's actually a plot point for a future story! It revolves around the whole reason the turtles were mutated in the first place.
Well, Mikey has Klunk, of course! But also, Leo has a somewhat more unusual pet that will be showing up in the next chapter of Duck and Cover (I know not a lot of people are reading that, but I still don't want to spoil it, so I'll just say stay tuned...).
Grouping these ones together because they both have the same answer: Nobody knows! They all hatched at about the same time on the same day, and Splinter was too overwhelmed to keep track of who crawled out of their egg first. Still, Leo acts like the oldest sibling, and the other ones are fine with that (and with him being the de facto leader)!
Thanks for the ask!
Oh, no.
I have another fic Idea.
I don't have time for this.
I have too many WIPs as it is.
Someone save me from myself.
