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Universal Series

@universalfanfic / universalfanfic.tumblr.com

Writing tips, fanfic stuff, personal wips and aus. I will spam you with my mediocre art.

My Writing Quick Links

DC!Sutton AU - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Irene Bright, John Wick oc -  1, 23

Peyton/Lex AUs - Fae: 1, 2; Dragon: 12Home Invasion, Confrontation, Kryptonian

Mind Control AU (Mary/Owen) - 1, 2, 3

Maddie/Connor: Arranged, Braid, Care

the absolute struggle of knowing the exact plot of your fic, what the characters facial expressions will look like, what sounds will happen, the emotions, the lighting, everything….

except it’s all playing as a movie in your head and you can’t articulate any of it.

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get up and go write.

write for the people who will one day pore over the words you've chosen.

write for the people who think you could never have gotten so far.

write so you can bring words to life.

write so one day you can look back and see how far you've come.

write to inspire people who are too afraid, or who cannot, put words to paper.

write, because if you don't create this, who will?

and if anything, get up and go write for yourself. there's still so far to go. take a break, breathe, but go back. there's still so many things to share.

CREATE AMBITIOUS PIECES OF ART EVEN IF YOU DO NOT THINK YOU HAVE THE APPROPRIATE LEVEL OF ARTISTIC SKILL IT IS THE ONLY WAY YOU WILL IMPROVE IT IS THE ONLY WAY YOU WILL ACHIEVE THAT LEVEL

Well, thanks to a conversation with @inkoutsidethelines, here's a snippet of another AU.

Sutton accidentally let's slip the name of some superheroe's LI before they got together and suddenly she's considered a matchmaker. It only gets more stressful when people in Hell's Kitchen start to hear about it.

Heather belongs to @ink and she deserves more screen time in any future parts

One of the hard parts about being a writer with a vivid imagination is that there are So Many Ideas, and they fall into so many categories, such as

  • Fics I want to write
  • Fics I want to read
  • There is just One Scene and I could write it but it would be waaaay more cool if I had all the build up to the scene but unfortunately. I can only figure out the Scene
  • I keep changing my mind. Where am I going with this
  • This has been done a million times before. But. Hear me out
  • I will 100% Never Write This. This is just my Emotional Support Idea no one can ever know about bc it makes sense only to me
  • Would be better as a comic...
  • This will be my magnum opus if I can just get my 50 pages of ideas into a coherent narrative
  • All I have are vibes

And, of course

  • WIP I started and haven't updated in 2 years and oh god its beEN TWO YEARS???

My brain:

I want more fantasy books that are just thinly veiled horse girl stories.

I want to see an injured dragon rider defying all expectations to fly again.

I want to see the city lady forced into the country, where she befriends a wild griffin.

I want to see a local villager going Home Alone on unicorn hunters.

I want the historical tavern to be saved by one wench's unlikely friendship with a pegasus.

So my problem with most ‘get to know your character’ questioneers is that they’re full of questions that just aren’t that important (what color eyes do they have) too hard to answer right away (what is their greatest fear) or are just impossible to answer (what is their favorite movie.)  Like no one has one single favorite movie. And even if they do the answer changes.

If I’m doing this exercise, I want 7-10 questions to get the character feeling real in my head. So I thought I’d share the ones that get me (and my students) good results: 

  1. What is the character’s go-to drink order? (this one gets into how do they like to be publicly perceived, because there is always some level of theatricality to ordering drinks at a bar/resturant)
  2. What is their grooming routine? (how do they treat themselves in private)
  3. What was their most expensive purchase/where does their disposable income go? (Gets you thinking about socio-economic class, values, and how they spend their leisure time)
  4. Do they have any scars or tattoos? (good way to get into literal backstory) 
  5. What was the last time they cried, and under what circumstances? (Good way to get some *emotional* backstory in.) 
  6. Are they an oldest, middle, youngest or only child? (This one might be a me thing, because I LOVE writing/reading about family dynamics, but knowing what kinds of things were ‘normal’ for them growing up is important.)
  7. Describe the shoes they’re wearing. (This is a big catch all, gets into money, taste, practicality, level of wear, level of repair, literally what kind of shoes they require to live their life.)
  8. Describe the place where they sleep. (ie what does their safe space look like. How much (or how little) care / decoration / personal touch goes into it.)
  9. What is their favorite holiday? (How do they relate to their culture/outside world. Also fun is least favorite holiday.) 
  10. What objects do they always carry around with them? (What do they need for their normal, day-to-day routine? What does ‘normal’ even look like for them.)