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hindsight allows me to look back at my writing from almost a decade ago and wince (with fondness and nostalgia XD) at how 17-year-old me used to write, but tbh at the time i just really wanted to write all sorts of fun and indulgent stories (and i did!) https://twitter.com/redluxite/status/1248872636609789952
it's difficult to sustain or recapture the unbridled enthusiasm you have as a beginning writer, but tbh that's your biggest advantage. write whatever tf you want. go ham with the tropes. make it as cheesy or dramatic as you can think of. go so fckn big you can't go home, ever.
you'll have room to finesse your writing and settle into a style you like, a way of putting words together that's comfortable. you'll have room to read more stories and pinch the bits and phrases you like, sneak things into your own prose. you'll have room to grow into writing.
but some of the most important things while starting out are allowing yourself to be as indulgent as you please, and finding a really good support group to both encourage you and point out what you need to work on.
i wouldn't be as in love with writing as i am now, or as
i wouldn't be as in love with writing as i am now, or as
well-practiced, if the dramione and mattxmello communities on ffnet hadn't shown so much support for a teenager exploring fanfic for the first time. they let me know what i was doing great and what i could do better, and they never put me down for being "bad".
it's okay to be "bad", and to dive into the cheesiest, most overdone cliches and tropes, and to not really have everything planned out. we all start out bad. then we encourage each other to do better.
(and i can't stress it enough — read!! even if it's just other fanfic.
(and i can't stress it enough — read!! even if it's just other fanfic.
it really helps expand both your storytelling and narrative style horizons. much of my work is influenced by stories — fanfic + original fic — i've read and loved through the years. writing is also art, after all ^^;;)
own both your "bad"-ness and your enthusiasm and write.
own both your "bad"-ness and your enthusiasm and write.
