Aspec-woomy - >:)

Sky is so fond of Rain. He just wants his friend to be happy and work hard, and he's just happy to see Rain happy.

"Will you help me?"

"Isn't that a given?"

SKY and RAIN in LOVE IN THE AIR, episode 2

Hello! I am a big fan of your fics, and I am always impressed with your ability to weave together a story and always make it engaging despite how diverse your plots are. I was wondering if I could request from you some writing advice for a humble beginner fanfic writer? Specifically with respect to transitions. I have all these pivotal plot point "scenes" in my outlines, but I struggle with connecting them with transitions when I actually write them. They feel so boring to write and read in comparison to the actual scenes, and often I am at a loss as to how to connect them at all. It is usually where my story gets stuck and why I am never able to finish a fic fully. Is this something you have ever struggled with? If so, do you have any advice for how to navigate it? It is completely fine if not or if you don't have the time to answer, but I thought I would ask because your chapters always go by so smoothly - before I know it my scroll bar is reaching the bottom of the page! :) Noticing I'm nearing the end of one of your chapters always makes me sad because they are so engaging and never feel superfluous or boring! Reading your fics inspires me to write - I hope to be able to actually finish a fic one day so that I can post it!

Let me tell you one of the best pieces of writing advice I’ve ever gotten: you don’t actually need to write the transition scenes. Are the characters at home and you need to get them to a restaurant? Cut the scene as they’re leaving the house and pick it back up once they’re sitting at the table. You can do this either by physically inserting a scene break or by just summarizing the trip in one line: “Traffic was light on the drive over, so Character A was in a good mood as they sat down at a booth in the corner of the restaurant.”

When I first started writing, I felt compelled to write everything the characters did, no matter how mundane. They wake-up, they get dressed, they eat breakfast. But if it’s not plot-relevant, you don’t have to include it!

However, if the transition scenes you’re talking about are plot-relevant and you’re still finding them boring, you’re likely getting bogged down in the exposition too much. Another good piece of writing advice I’ve received is: if you’re bored writing it, the reader will be bored reading it. This is not always true. You’re going to be more bored with your own writing at baseline simply because you already know that’s going to happen. But if I’m finding it difficult to write a scene or if I don’t want to write at all just because what I’m writing feels boring, that’s a sign that I need to change something up.

It depends on what you’re writing, but usually I do this by adding some flirtation to the scene. Is Character A droning on about something tediously boring that the reader needs to know for plot reasons but the writer is tired of hearing? Have Character B play with Character A’s hair as they talk, making Character A flustered.

If I’ve misunderstood your ask and what you’re actually struggling with is simply coming up with plot to fill the spaces between one big scene and the next, then just know you’re not alone. This is called fleshing out a “messy middle” in the writing world and it’s very common. One of the good things about fanfiction is that there are no rules and if you’re writing romance, my advice would be to just keep putting your characters in situations where they’re forced to be close to each other whether they want to be or not.

I can tell just from this ask that you’re a very good writer! Posting your first fic is always the scariest part, but it does get easier from there. If you’ve never written a fic before, I might just start with a short oneshot. Maybe even just a single scene, so you don’t have to worry about scene breaks or transitions.

I hope this was at least somewhat helpful! And good luck 🫶🏻

"Was it the unfamiliar fever, or was it because I let my guard down after revealing a bit of my true feelings, so I feel relaxed? Maybe it's because of his strangely vague atmosphere. I don't know anything about him except his name. Just what is this powerless feeling?"

MY PERSONAL WEATHERMAN (2023). Episode 7.

What do you think of the idea in media about someone being "defined by their trauma"? And personality traits that developed a result of said trauma being portrayed as flaws to overcome?

I think it's an idea attractive with people who have never experienced trauma, and people who haven't done the work to recover from it.

Trauma influences everything about you. Not just on the macro level like PTSD, but on the micro level. It influences your opinions and beliefs. People who were abused by teachers tend to be extremely unsympathetic when teachers complain about "difficult children."

I have a LOT of opinions formed because of trauma. And I still have them despite recovering because the opinions are about the things that the trauma happen in the first place.

The reason I hate this idea that "siblings are supposed to bicker and fight" is because that attitude is the reason my sister got away with everything she did. Because "siblings fight all the time, and Lily's the 'bad kid' anyway so..."

It's why I hate "Cycle of Abuse" storytelling, because it's a real attitude people have and it means abuse victims aren't taken seriously if they don't fit a certain mold.

The problem with how we write trauma is the little nuances that are all very important are left out because the writers don't know shit. Take this

And personality traits that developed a result of said trauma being portrayed as flaws to overcome?

Here's what that actually is: Survival strategies that have to be unlearned when you're no longer in the situation that required them in the first place.

Doesn't that sound a lot better?

Hire people who have experience with trauma who aren't still in the "still waiting for my abuser to clean up their mess" phase.