How do I even do this writing thing?

[malenkayacherepakha]

I've got a couple of long fic ideas rattling around in my brain - one Drarry and one Hinny. They've been lurking in the background for months now, and now that I'm free of fest deadlines, they're getting noisier and it feels like the right time to start exploring them further.

I'm excited about them, and they feel like they could turn into long fics, but as a result, I have absolutely no idea where to begin with planning them or writing them. I don't really have an established writing/planning process, and I've never written a fic like these ones before or written a longish fic without a fest deadline to make me get on with it as quickly as possible, so I'm way out of my depth.

So, I thought I'd turn to the experts and ask you all, how do you go about starting a big fic idea? Do you have any top tips? I love hearing about people's writing processes and all the different tricks we use to get the words out, so feel free to tell me as much or as little as you want!

Comments

[gracerene]

I'm definitely a big outliner! I outline even my PWPs (usually just a line or a paragraph with how I see the scene going) but it's especially key for me in long!fic, though not everybody works that way! Things often do change/rearrange once I start actually writing, but before I do that, I write out a brief synopsis of every scene in the fic so that I have an idea of where things are going, the beats I need to hit in each scene, and a framework to follow along.

[malenkayacherepakha]

I like an outline, including for little ficlets, but I've not really ever gone so far as to detail each scene. I did that to a certain extent with my Erised, and it did really help keep me on track (particularly important as I was working with such a tight time frame) but I think I'll have a go at doing an expanded version of that outlining process for these fics.

Do you write in order or jump around, seeing as you have an idea of all the scenes in your fic?

[gracerene]

It depends. For the most part, I write chronologically, but if there is a particular scene that is standing out in my mind, I might just write that one first! In fact, for the second long!fic I ever wrote, the first chapter I wrote was actually the epilogue. Sometimes I'll also skip scenes or parts of scenes if I'm feeling blocked on them and it's holding up the writing. But I do generally prefer to write chronologically so that I have a good grasp of the way feelings etc. are evolving. Because I do end up adding things I'd not planned in the outline, if I skip around too much I find it's harder for me to ~feel~ where the characters are at, because I've not yet written their development, if that makes sense? But everybody is different!

[malenkayacherepakha]

I normally write in chronological order for exactly the reasons you mention - I need to do that to know how the characters are developing over the course of the fic. I do often leave gaps though if I'm getting stuck on a sentence or paragraph. In several of my fics I've written 'banter goes here' and then come back to it later when I'm feeling more able to channel my inner snarky Draco!

I might try initially writing these fics slightly out of order, as there are a few scenes that I already have in mind and getting those written might help me unlock the rest of the fic and its universe in my mind. I'm open to trying everything at this point haha, and at some point hopefully I'll land on a system that works for me.