What parts of fanfiction do you think are hardest to write?

[@lillialuna8651]

"I hate literally every step in the writing process. The only thing I hate more than making a fic is not making a fic."

[@aceofspades8474]

So true, writing is agonizing and pure torture but it’s also my greatest passion and only goal in life.

[@scarylol1447]

For real.

[@Blue-mj5gm]

That's... Exactly the feeling.

[@OrkiiLikestoEat]

Yes.

[@whilenya4714]

_This!_ This is the feeling!

[@SKStar-zf3vn]

You want angst; no problem You want comedy; got you covered You want romance; I'm your girl You want dialogue; easy peasy You want an action scene; I'm on it You want a title; ahhhhhhhh 😶

[@Misty_Grey744]

You want names for characters, places etc.: 😄😃😀🙂🙁😟😰🫥

[@dustyrose192]

@@Misty_Grey744 I have like 17 characters named Elizabeth to the point I was making a new oc for a DC oc fanfic that I just went with Winona cus for some reason Winona Ryder, the actress came to mind when i tried to think of different name lol

[@theflyingspaget]

​@@dustyrose192 Winona makes me think Applejack's dog 💀

[@angelsartandgaming]

Same with character names. A lot of the time I end up accidentally either going the "Pea-Tear Griffin" route or going the Araki route of "Hey how about I name them after a band or a song I like!!"

[@nightingale-bloom]

that's when i put down a working title that will probably be permanent. no limits because i'm using every idea i get for this fic? it stayed. the sun and the moon because the two main characters are sun+moon coded and gay? probably gonna be like that forever.

[@glam4663]

Hardest things; 1) describing appearances. 2) figuring how to get from the beginning of my story to the end I planned.

[@aceofspades8474]

I struggle so hard with deceiving appearances, I think I have aphantasia so while I can imagine something I don’t really have clear pictures in my head and instead just think in loose descriptions; I also am horrible with faces irl and recognizing people so that probably doesn’t help. I can give a few basic features of a character no problem, but if you ask stuff like eye color or height or just any description of facial features there’s a very hight chance I won’t have an answer to give because no matter how much I’ve “visualized” them in my head those features were just kinda not present… it’s hard to explain, like they had eyes and a face when I imagined them but like I don’t know what it looks like.

[@SilentProti]

I think it's best to describe like "she said, tucking a strand of her long black hair behind her ear" so it's not just description in your face.

[@kenziekennedy4457]

I was the same with describing how a character looks, so I just find a face claim and either make a “cast” chapter in the beginning or leave a link.

[@crimson-cloud]

The most difficult to write is beginning writing. Literally just opening the document and writing. Once I can get in the swing I'm pretty good

[@cinders-xs2zn]

I have a fanfic I rlly wanna write, and I have the idea set up and everything, but I have NO idea how to start it. I usually start with dialogue or a action scene, but that gets old fast and I’m tired of starting like that.

[@CREAMNCHEESE-p1r]

Fr!!

[@lemadezan7387]

I have something with an entire outline written out but I CANNOT figure out how to start it and so I can’t get anything done and it’s so annoying

[@aliciam6145]

a bit of advice that may or may not work for you: try starting somewhere other than the beginning. You can always go back and write the beginning later once you know how the story flows. Start with a scene that you really want to write, then write as much as you need to to be able to come back and write the beginning

[@CREAMNCHEESE-p1r]

@@aliciam6145 wait how did i not think of that. THIS IS LIFECHANGING

[@NekoChanSenpai]

Pacing!! My stupid toddler brain hasn't quite grasped the fact that just because it took a long time to WRITE, that doesn't mean it's gonna be a long READ. So I go back and struggle to fill out the story so it goes slower.

[@bored_potato]

i do the same thing lol especially when it takes me longer than usual to update. A two-week absence from the usual update schedule could pressure me into writing an 8k chapter that isnt even really that good, and my usual chapaters are usually just half of that.

[@F00L_Of_A_Took]

I mean, just writing fast paced stories is also valid

[@NekoChanSenpai]

@@F00L_Of_A_Took valid yes, but I like my smut to last

[@glamourrock3170]

Man I struggle with that too. But if it helps, since you're the writer, when you reread it (esp right after writing it) the pacing is always going to seem off since you know everything that happens.

[@molasses3850]

Flirting/teasing/dirty talk. It comes off as corny and i cringe so hard. Granted, one of the characters fits this, is always flirting and very cringey in an adorable way about it, but it still feels awkward to write.

[@aceofspades8474]

I’m aroace but I find stuff like this fun to write in character, one of my oc’s has a very raunchy and flirtatious sense of humor and having them insert (hehe) innuendos into everything comes weirdly naturally for me considering my lack of interest or experience in that kinda field. My favorite though is characters who are incredibly flustered and cannot flirt to save their life trying to interact with their crush, especially when said crush is the exact same way, that’s the good stuff.

[@mochamatcha3]

it's super awkward and cringe when I reread it but I love to write characters making flirty remarks or just dirty jokes in general, it's just funny

[@Post_Stall_Maneuver]

We're fanfiction writers, most of us have jack shit flirting experience, which is why this is hard to write.

[@katashworth41]

This is why I simply don’t bother, I love reading that shit but writing it myself? Nope. Merely have characters suggest the word bedroom lol.

[@lucye339]

i had a couple in a short story i wrote and one of the pet names the guy(Samuel) gave the girl(Priscilla) was "fish😭 because she's a mermaid and Priscilla called Samuel a mosquito because he's annoying and a fairy💀

[@taytaythehufflepuff8532]

Hardest part of fic writing is coming up with the title and description. I can't tell ya how many fics I've posted with titles that are unsatisfactory. As far as genuine writing goes: trying to write emotion-tense scenes between characters. I love my heavy angst and emotion-filled convos, but my writing rate always goes to a screeching halt.

[@Dreamer-gh7yd]

Same with the titles and descriptions! Also tagging. The moment I try to do any of those things everything I just wrote leaves my brain.

[@laurenhenry5671]

THIS

[@orangetreestudiosII]

Usually, it's the middle of the fic. I have a beginning, I have a couple of scene ideas, and I have an end. I just gotta figure out how they connect. Also, commitment. If I lose interest or get another idea, it can be really hard for me to go back when I know I don't have the love anymore

[@jeffgoldblum7214]

Same. I stopped writing a book I'd been working on for a year because of distractions and the awful feeling of being bogged down in the middle

[@0XBlondie96X0]

If i didn't know any better i would've thought I posted this comment and forgot about it, this is how much this is me. Pretty much all my fics (at least that are finished) are one shots bc i struggle that much with figuring out the rest of the plot

[@sketchycat6223]

Same!!!

[@CK_Productions912]

I know it’s not necessarily a specific part but figuring out the plot has always been by far the hardest part for me. I’ve got 10s of _concepts_ but trying to tie an actual plot to them is agonising, I have almost no problems once I get going but for some reason even coming up with the most basic of plots can completely stump me.

[@nelavodhanelova487]

Same!!I have so many fics written! but once i get to the main plot, the brain goes blank

[@SilentProti]

Well I know what I say is controversial but using AI has been a great help to me brainstorming the plot for my story. I try to write detailed outlines for each chapter, give it to Claude and start prompting: give me feedback and analysis of the story and characters, how is the progress, what to improve, are there inconsistencies etc. I ended up fleshing out the story drastically and the plot evolved greatly.

[@warcatfurever101writeroffanfic]

I hate plot. I’m all about the emotional angst.

[@cyberqueen201]

Omg this is also me, but add the fact that I hate my writing (people might like it and this is just a me thing but idk) and I always abandon my multi-chapter fics along with other problems and that's my fandom life 😭

[@CK_Productions912]

@@cyberqueen201 oof, yeah… I get that, I haven’t updated my last multi-chapter for almost a year and a half… I also totally get the whole hating my writing thing, I know that we’re always our own worst critics but if people say they like it then you’re clearly doing something right.

[@reinarosario1084]

The actual words detailing actual events and not just vague ideas and feelings

[@tamatebako_yt]

The actual words are the bane of my existence. Like all the vivid images, colors, and emotions in my head sound amazing, I wish I could just extract them directly from my brain to the doc instead of having to channel them through words. What an inadquate vessel. Even worse when writing in a language that isn't your own.

[@AhsokaGryffindor]

@@tamatebako_ytI wish

[@softmoonfairy]

Am I the only one who imagines their fics like a TV series and thinks they have it all planned out and then sit down to write and realize they need to use description and set the scene, cause readers can't actually SEE it? As an overthinker, my own behavior just mindboggles me every time. I'm also really bad at transition between the characters not realizing they're in love with each other and figuring it out. My characters always end up being the most oblivious, innocent beings ever until I finally realize I need to switch it up.

[@Respectable_Username]

This is why I actually started looking into TV writing, because it's so much easier to write big print (ie just straight up writing what the characters are doing) than having to try add vibes to the written form!

[@HelloWorld-gt1hu]

Same for me too!! I think of my chapters as "episodes". I prefer to start publishing my fic once I have my "episodes" panned out already.

[@a.e.7081]

Lol, you're not alone with TV series thing. I also think everything as some sort of movie and then it becomes difficult when I have to actually describe very action based scene.

[@josteinhenrique2779]

For me, the hardest part for me is "The middle". When I start a story, I usually know how to start it and how it's supposed to end. However, I have to figure out what's supposed to happen between both of these. I also have difficult writing action scenes, specially body-to-body fighting... which is ironical, given how much I LOVE action/adventure stories.

[@Zhavari]

This exactly!!! I often have the perfect ending once I’ve written the perfect exposition, but first I have to figure out what happens in between??? Seriously?? And fight scenes. God I hate those

[@artific3r_]

The actual writing part. I'll have the entire damn story in my head and then i got to write it down and... i can't. 😭

[@ButteredBread201]

I have an entire AU with its own lore in my head but I've never wrote any of it down

[@mostnormalprosekafan-db8dh]

SAME 😭😭

[@-TheCrisisNight-]

On the topic of motivations: there is literally never a ‘good enough’ reason for a character to do an evil thing. A theme that features heavily in my own writing is family dysfunction, and my *goodness* this is one messy fictional family. Sometimes I look at it and go ‘well that’s irrational. Is it realistic?’ And then I realize I’ve seen real life examples of dysfunctional families in which they do irrational things for *way* worse reasons than my fictional dysfunctional family. If it’s a bad thing - Murder, abuse, unhealthy coping mechanisms… real people will do it for the dumbest reasons ever. My personal weakness in writing is fight scenes by the way. Spent a whole week on one that was like… 3-5 paragraphs max. X,p

[@maxiguess6330]

I am GREAT with slice of life stuff. The in between moments, the soft tender stuff, the conflicts in between canon episodes or chapters, downtime, things like that. But I cannot write an actual plot to save my life, and sure I have IDEAS for the plot but I always get burnt out when I write because I just wanna get back to the slice of life stuff 😭😭

[@dove_deceased]

descriptions of literally anything. they all keep giving SCP interaction log vibes they’re so blunt and sad 😭

[@lindapenttinen3382]

To keep characters in-character in a fanfic where they are a couple when there are no other fanfics like that so no guides for such situations other than canon material where characters' haven't met outside of battle situations. And actually writing the fanfic when you know what to write and how but fingers just froze on keyboard

[@RelativelyBest]

*Food:* I don't really care about food and cooking and know very, very little about it. This is a problem because I know eating is important to people who aren't me. *Time:* Keeping track of what time of day it is and having time progress in a natural way for my characters. *The middle part of the story:* I'm great at beginnings and great at endings but things tend to start falling apart in the middle. Other than that, I think I'm pretty decent at most of it.

[@arrow_of_ravenclaw5155]

Coming up with the title and summary. Usually after I write the first hundred words, the rest comes a little easier

[@BlindStarLily]

You’re so right though. Making titles that fit and summaries that sound good is something I really struggle with. I’ve been getting better at it though in recent months. Using fragments of quotes from media I like helps. Like, one fic I have written but not published is named after a fragment of a quote from The Fly since it’s my favorite horror movie. There’s basically no overlap between the movie and the fic outside of sci-fi themes and a pinch of body horror/character transformation, but my brain just latched onto that bit of dialogue and refused to let go lmao-

[@cinders-xs2zn]

@@BlindStarLily I like to ask people in the fandom for title ideas, like recently my sister came up with a good one for me. Writing summaries is hit or miss depending on the story.

[@aceofspades8474]

I think I can write summaries easily, not good summaries but I can write a summary. Titles though are a bane on my existence, much like character names are.

[@arrow_of_ravenclaw5155]

@@aceofspades8474 my simple philosophy is “when in doubt, song lyric”

[@molasses3850]

My titles are almost always from songs because I'm so bad at coming up original ones. I have a general idea and then spend an hour on Spotify and Google searching for one. My summaries suck but I don't pay much attention to that. It gets the point across well enough I think (I write oneshots so it's not like I need a super long one)

[@skibopmdada1152]

The middle part.. I have a great start, an AMAZING ending idea…. And no ideas for the middle

[@PantherCat64]

My biggest writing struggle? Its the same as for drawing. the ability to stop thinking I have the story written out of what's going to happen, but what happens between the plot critical points is basically fully discovery writer, no idea what's going to happen, and if I stop thinking the ability to write allows to come up in a way that's kinda actually beautiful at times and at worse is good stuff with bad grammar and of course horrid spelling, but when I try and think what's going to happen next myself it starts turning into slop at worse and at best is kinda awkward. Same for drawing too. And worse, it can ruin the enjoyment of it. I am ADD and naturally think deep thoughts regularly if not distracted, the longer life goes the harder it is to stop thinking. And if anyone is actually reading this: I would like tips please, that do not involve taking substances legal or illegal, I don't have much money here I can't afford it.

[@aceofspades8474]

Oof, so relatable. I have ADHD and I know exactly what you mean about thinking deep thoughts regularly, I’m constantly imagining random scenes or moments for a fic but if I try to figure out how to bridge all these individual scenes together into an actual story I just have no idea what I’m doing. I don’t even write the stuff I have imagined down, I just keep these vague outline points in my head because opening a word document to outline or write anything is the most agonizing thing in the world. I don’t really have advice, maybe talking to someone else to spitball ideas off of for how to get from one point to another or flesh things out, having someone ask you how things get there and maybe offering some suggestions could be helpful, idk though, just a thought.

[@stygian6642]

It's not easy to stop thinking, but I've had some success with having something in the background that my brain can occupy itself with while I write. The right playlist, for example, but one that doesn't affect my mood away from my characters'.

[@PantherCat64]

@@stygian6642 Yeah normally I have a music playlist and something where someone is talking in the background, it’s the bare minimum to get things done even non writing related. Though when it’s not writing or art, usually my thinking is focused on what I need to do, so I guess I need to find a third thing to eliminate that last bit of the ability to think.

[@analyticaltomato]

Smut is the hardest thing for me, not because I feel embarrassed or anything, but because describing actions either involves repeating the same verbs and nouns over and over again because believe it or not, there is only a certain number of ways human beings can do the deed, or extremely cringy metaphors to circumvent the repetition problem. I try to think about good explicit fics I’ve read and think about what I like about them, but their style is either more focused on plot, therefore not giving me that much to learn, or very, very unique and personal to them to the point that trying to use them as inspiration just feels like plagiarising.

[@aceofspades8474]

I’ve imagined smut scenes in my head before but I’ve never tried writing them down and I doubt I’d do it well if I did; I have no idea how to write in a way people find hot, like sure I can imagine steamy action if I want to and even really appealing flirting but I don’t even know where I’d start in writing the actual stuff going on in an appealing way that isn’t just clinical and sterile description of what they’re doing. It doesn’t help that I get too uncomfortable reading the actual highly explicit parts of smut to be able to learn from it, I’ve read some smut mainly for the dialogue and interactions surrounding the intimacy and just skip all the graphic details, I think I’d just have to write everything in my non-hot style and then ask my friend to make it appealing to an allo audience.

[@analyticaltomato]

@@aceofspades8474 i’m on the aroace spectrum too so I can relate to not knowing exactly how to make my writing hot, mostly because for me, the hottest part of smut _is_ the emotional intimacy between characters rather than the action. I patch up my not hot writing with a lot of sappy shit - not dirty talk, legitimately just the characters joking and teasing and being cute during the moment. That way I feel much more confident in my writing when I can deal with things that are enhanced by their physical closeness but aren’t tied to the writing being smut, necessarily.

[@Aurelian369_]

He verbed her adjective noun until she verbed

[@nelavodhanelova487]

physical pain. I can describe where it hurts, why it hurts, but how does the pain occur and how does it affect the character? it is not possible

[@moriaseawater4285]

pulsing or stinging are common descriptors, and a lot of pain often makes it hard to breathe

[@nelavodhanelova487]

@@moriaseawater4285 that is good advise, thanks.now just figure out how to use it when writing

[@PlatonicPluto]

It uh... "there is a pain in the place and it also hurts."

[@Whydoiexisthere-]

Try comparing the pain to the effect of what caused it (I’m so good at explaining), like a burn will sting, a bruise will pulse, and uhhh a hurt will hurt.

[@Galactic_birds]

Casual moments where no action or drama happens I’ve been stuck on a chapter for months because it involves two characters having a casual conversation

[@stygian6642]

It's all about goals. What do you want out of the scene? What does your character want out of the scene? If there's nothing to work towards, you're never going to get there either. You don't typically start a real life conversation without a goal, either. Getting to know the person, or befriending the person, or asking about how that person has been lately, or having someone to complain about the weather to. They're very small and ordinary goals, but they're goals.

[@QueenGreenflame]

Oh man, I get all these ideas, about how all these characters can be included in this problem that happens, and I have all the scenes, and I can make it make sense ...but UGH, the "why"?? WHY is all of it happening?? WHY is it THAT character who's suffering??? Idkkk, I just like the characterrr 😭😭 That and the solution to the problem, like, Miraculous Ladybug made it look easy coming up with resolutions to fight scenes and problems, but it's SO HARDDDD

[@TheChristianCountess2721]

For real! I can have an original Akuma victim in my head and have all the ways they wreak havoc written on paper, but actually having a smart way LB and CN can defeat the baddie that isn't like, "oh well duh, why didn't they figure this out 5 minutes ago?" is really hard. In this one WIP I have especially, I felt like I wrote myself into a hole trying to close Ladybug and Cat Noir off from the Akuma to work out relationship problems they had in this one scenario and have a cute/touching scene, but then realized that in closing them off with seemingly no way to get out because I needed them to get stuck {and I thought I had been kinda clever about it, lol}, I realized that I had no idea how they could get out at all, even with the other heroes active. I finally figured out a possible ending, like, weeks/months after, but I'd have to remember that when I finally get to writing it again, lol. And yeah, I love the rest of the classmates/friends, but with that many people and so many ways they've already all interacted in canon and so many different likes and dislikes among them, it's hard to try to go, "okay, what would be a good reason that all these characters are together? Like, what would interest characters like both Juleka and Max, let alone characters like Alix and Nathaniel? They all have different interests! 😭 That's part of why I love them, but ughhhh, I can't write", lol. Almost tempting to just go, "Why are they there? BEcause I said, lol. I love them and wanted them to interact".

[@SquamataReptile]

I *love* the subtle, minor movements, in animation you can show it and focus on it but in writing its slow ( in a bad way ) and repetitive and can mess with the progression in the story.

[@kenyastarflight]

The beginning of a chapter is always the hardest part for me -- just getting started is always rough. Also action scenes.

[@swankytable84]

Scene descriptions and the middle of my fics. For some reason I get up to around thirty-fourty pages (roughly four to five chapters worth), and my brain just... Shuts off.

[@pinkninja]

This is why I make comics, I only have to make the dialogue good, the other stuff I can draw or are just behind the scenes. I can make something that makes no sense to anyone else but me until I draw it.

[@maria-c993]

Mushy romantic feelings FOR SURE. I get a friend to go over everything and always have to disclaim like "I have never been in love so just make all the suggestions you want!" Sceneries are my jam though.

[@MidnightSkyeNeko]

dialogue, written dialogue, is the bane of my existence. I can imagine conversations and even play them out loud, but writing it down and have it sound natural? Oh boy...

[@lumisherbert5682]

For me it’s - trying not to overuse epithets or titles (ex. “The blonde” “tall man” etc - montage/interludes - writing dialogue that sounds like something a normal person would say -not writing in a weird combination of British and American English (from the US, but a lot of the books I read as a kid were written in British English, as with movies/TV and their dialogue). I add extra commas, Us and Ls, or swap letters around sporadically. The spelling is still technically correct, but I’ve gotten complaints about it (it’s not really a bother though, so I might not do anything about it)

[@miau5878]

imagine complaining that the way you and someone else speak language is slightly different wow like atleast you can still understand it

[@stygian6642]

I base my English style entirely on the narrator, when I writing an American character I write with American spelling, when I'm writing a British character I write with British spelling. For the most part, this is a big relief, not having to choose the words myself and keep track of them all throughout the fic.

[@lyricalnonsense625]

I FEEL THE ENGLISH AND AMERICAN ENGLISH THING SO SO MUCH

[@Dakota_The_Apollo_Kid]

The hardest part is trying to get a good amount of words 😭

[@chicopridebean368]

OMG REAL

[@CREAMNCHEESE-p1r]

FR.

[@SilentProti]

Recently, I had a chapter planned with 8 beats. First four ended up being +7k words so I have to split it like a tease...

[@brandonlyon730]

Then there’s me who writes 50,000+ word chapters.

[@Dakota_The_Apollo_Kid]

@@brandonlyon730 give me some of your motivation please🙏

[@CandyThePuppy]

Can definitely relate to the trying to keep characters consistent, especially when you reach a point where canon didn't care to develop them beyond a certain point ages ago so they're basically your original character now, but you don't want to completely retcon them but still make them feel real- ...it's a whole thing.

[@clnsqr]

I love descriptions! Like, I can pump out Lovecraft-level descriptions of a room, or go on for hours about what a character looks like. The same for dialogue, the characters live in my brain basically so I just have to go “ok character A, what would you say here?” and… boom! But you want me to write a *plot*? Who are you, my English teacher?

[@robotramen3070]

I never really struggle with making a scene serious, but KEEPING it serious is a whole other skill I don’t have. Watch the character make a bad joke in the middle of a confrontation or have a scene devolve into me dissing their thought process

[@HA-ro4tc]

Resolutions! Like I can write a well drawn out fight scene or the actions; but the consequences or the much needed talks are the banes of my existence

[@aceofspades8474]

All of it. More specific though, I have a hard time bridging ideas together and can struggle in the middle part of a fic. Also when there’s too many characters in a scene I find it really hard to keep track of everyone and so whether it’s dialogue or some important action, some of the crowd of characters will be forgotten and end up not reacting or interacting with the situation whatsoever, maybe that’s what’s supposed to happen as listing out every single reaction or forcing in a line for everyone might seem intrusive but a lot of the time it feels so wrong to reduce a character to a passive observer who’s doing nothing, it’s so much easier when there’s only like 2 or 3 characters in a scene. Also action during dialogue sucks, not so much fighting kinda action, more like body movements or someone just interacting with something physically while speaking; if someone does a thing at the exact same time as they say a thing I have no idea how to write that, I can’t write both at the exact same time and I never know which to put first to make it follow naturally, and interrupting dialogue to show simultaneous action also feels weird. Writing is super hard, I think if I have any skills it’s mostly in internal monologues and simple dialogue without the above mentioned factors, just having a one on one conversation or showing what’s going on in a characters head come kinda naturally to me, and doing both in the same scene is the best.

[@vanillaextract4135]

I think I’m great at characterization in most aspects - motives, relationships, actions, etc - but I find myself struggling with making sure characters don’t all SPEAK the same way. I think a good fourth of my editing process is deleting the “um”s lmao And fast-paced action. That too

[@acloneofmyself]

8:27 too real, im currently writing a fic and i LOVE writing these two ship dynamics, both being the same group of people annoyingly, with another group, i love writing all the non-romantic angst later on with the “sweet innocent child-like person” and “their two father figures, one of which dies and the other ends up being rude because he’s not very fatherly” and just how character a is still attached to character b ajdoshcndodi i love it, the other two groups died off quickly for a reason (multiple ships i didn’t care that much about at that point and interesting dynamics but not as interesting in my opinion) so for AGES i’ve been waiting to write the most angsty and one of the most plot-relevant chapters for my favourite ship dynamic but that was like 21 chapters in, i have now written and it’s long as hell but GOD did it feel like it took so long to get there

[@stegydraws]

The start. Once i get the fic/chapter started i can kinda just go from there. But the first like three paragraphs will always get me.

[@DragonLandlord]

Getting it down in order, my brain thinks stories out by scenes, out of order. The conflict, the getting together, introspective moment, the beginning, friend moment, the resolution.

[@thisurldoesnotexist]

I could write dualogue all day but action really gets me :/ it's so hard

[@katcat5]

for me the hardest thing about writing a fic is starting. either the very start of the fic or any chp, i have to restart about 5 times before i actually begin writing ;-;

[@GalaxyBlasterNP]

Hardest part of writing isn't the writing, it's looking back and realizing everything you could've made better after it's already published.

[@枒]

THIS!! I went back and re-wrote the first chapter of my fic because I absolutely hated the original one, it was from when I first started writing and oh my god it was SO CRINGEY

[@Mia-nk1kg]

@@枒That means you improved!

[@枒]

Smut is SO HARD TO WRITE. Not impossible, but it’s just painful. I always have to make sure I don’t use uncomfy words and I always have to go back and change so many things. I promised my fic would have smut in it but only one chapter has so far

[@narwhalwithaknife9465]

I can do set-ups to fight scenes as well as the aftermaths of said fight scenes really well! But the actual fight? Weeeeell….. Because of this I have full chapters of future setups and aftermaths (as well as the final chapter) but i haven’t updated my fic in months because i can’t write that stupid fight scene!

[@redwoodskies]

the build up or blow up of big important moments in my characters lives like I can think of the conflict and such even discuss what it’s about but actually writing it out is ridiculously hard

[@cafezin003]

Facial expressions: i keep using the same words! Sometimes, I'll only write a LOT of dialogue and forget that life happens around the characters or write a LOT of descriptive stuff and forget they talk.

[@lavenderisdedagain4554]

I am great at introspection and angst, dialogue that pulls your hearstrings- but then when I have to write them just…. Being happy? Fluff?? It’s so… hard!! And every time I have to hold myself back from it slipping into being angsty because I am apparently addicted to my blorbo’s pain.

[@emerald9194]

Internal monologue in emotionally heavy scenes that include dialogue. It’s really hard for me to balance what should stay in the character’s head and what they need to actually say. I also sometimes struggle with needing there to be a point or a moral or something that the characters learn even if it’s just a one-shot that can just exist to be fun

[@EngineerRiff]

Writing an opening. Once a story is going I can do it absolutely no problem, but it’s the opening and establishing that gets really clunky with me most of the time

[@AceofSpades341]

The start for me. I know how to write the middle and end parts, but the introductions/starting sentences will always be the death of me.

[@everest5718]

It’s so hard for me to write dramatic moments - I can build up to them fine, and sprinkle in the fallout, and even write subtle things like angst or heartbreak or love, but the moment where it all comes to a head itself is pain.

[@reefsquided]

SCENES WITH DIALOGUE AND ACTION??? THATS MY BEST THING!!!! I’m real good at describing movement and a character talking and interacting with the scenery at once. I usually write in a structure of “Filler,” he said, grabbing the rusting coffee pot off of the countertop and rushing to the other side of the kitchen.

[@RasheedaParker-qn9ec]

The hardest part of writing is writing a scene that I thought of in my head, but when I try to write it down I forget bits and pieces of it! 😫

[@conradzahourek]

angst, comedy, romance, dialogs but whe it comes to transformation sequences my writers block has to come in

[@AamuktaMalyadaDuggaraju]

To balance all the elements and make it seem like a real work with canon relevance while making sure your readers read it all through by making it engaging whenever the work is above 4 chapters and also making sure you write all the tags you apply. Not to mention canon and character relevance .

[@lilyd8908]

I get a lot of anxiety around keeping things lore-and-canon-accurate, especially in the case of location descriptions I find?? Like if the characters live in a house together in canon, I need to look at dozens of clips and pictures to make sure I’m describing it *exactly* right. I get stuck when I don’t know how to proceed with it.

[@Jacob-kx8go]

The first few episodes... I usually HATE the first few episodes of a tv series, so rewatching and writing those episodes make me procrastinate

[@greenstarlover1]

Me when I reach a slow part in my writing fic process: Same for any scene/build-up that need to fill the in-betweens in the outline.

[@BlindStarLily]

GAH! I hate writing exposition! I just want to get right into the good parts of the plot. Unfortunately, I have a chronic condition in which the plots my mind generates almost, if not all of the time, involve a lot of worldbuilding that I need to hash out before I can really get down to the juicy parts in the middle. My current WIP is a little better about it since I was able to get into the first juicy bit in chapter two rather than chapter six, but writing that first chapter was physically painful at times. I comforted myself by writing my MC having dysphoria and being autistic, and that helped .-.

[@aceofspades8474]

I mean being autistic and having ADHD, I love to yap and infodump so I don’t find it bothersome to explain worldbuilding or character stuff in detail as exposition, the harder part for me is preventing that from leaking into all of my narration and character dialogue making everything excessive rambling. Also, projection is the key to investment, sometimes at least; I’ve gotten super attached to one character from a series who doesn’t have a lot of major screen time just by filling in basically every blank that wasn’t filled in canon with things I relate to, so now he’s a very repressed autistic nerd who’s aroace with a healthy dose of gender confusion because I said so.

[@BlindStarLily]

@@aceofspades8474 F E L T I like to share my ideas and infodump and stuff as well, but I also love the idea of starting late-meaning starting in the middle of an action sequence or something similar. I couldn’t find a way to do that in this WIP considering how the story goes, but I did still manage to kind of do it by opening up on a paragraph about how badly he wanted to rip apart the dress he had to wear for church, which helped some.

[@ollieaxel7129]

@@aceofspades8474 PREACH!!! I'm also auDHD, and what you said about projection and investment is *so true* for me! In my case, one of the characters from a 75-episode series I'm currently including in a massive crossover fic only appeared in 7 episodes, and now because I said so, he's autistic, bisexual, and dealing with some of the same internalized ableism and biphobia in his early adulthood that among other things made my teen years so agonizing. I'm very much taking this particular blorbo (and the other blorbos in this fic) in his own direction and giving him his own struggles, but in doing so over this past ≈1 month, the dude and his band of weirdos have helped me realize that digestive problems, low blood sugar, and reoccurring headaches in very specific situations are not just default body things that are "supposed" to happen, so next time I see my doctor I'm gonna have a lot to unload, lol!

[@nobodyshekatonchires]

Moving characters across a room. I love writing dialogue when I've got the characters voices in my head, I can write a whole few scenes of dialogue way before i write any description

[@ThatObnoxiousMagpie]

The beginning and fighting scenes for normal stories, but if it’s a crossover, writing the scenes where the characters meet are extremely hard. I mean, how am I supposed to know how Jonathan Sims would react to V1 from ULTRAKILL? How would that even work?

[@kiwikarp9509]

I start a fanfic when I think of a good scene. I stop working on that fic when I have to write the intro, it's like a brick wall that stops me from getting to the good stuff.

[@DigidesteinedSayian]

I write scenes out of order, depending on what inspires me at the time. It gets a lot done, but then I have to link up all the scenes, and balance them all to keep everyone's mood consistent.

[@justwonderinqrache5847]

The way I write fics is I write whatever I can think of and put those parts order. So the hardest part for me is figuring out what to write in the parts between, whether it's just a paragraph or full chapters. The longest it's ever taken me was two months to post the second last chapter. And then I thought of something better *after* changing the fic status to "complete".

[@chicopridebean368]

It’s hard for me to write when I don’t have motivation.

[@TheBritishDragong]

Me all the time

[@YanaDerre]

Me yesterday, today, and most likely tommorow

[@Blue_Glacie]

The tagging process unironically

[@Byssa6]

I struggle with fight scenes. It’s just something about them that I find difficult to write. Maybe it’s trying to balance it so it doesn’t feel like a curb-stomp

[@StainedGlassLamp]

Prewriting and figuring out how the story I want to make will work in the first place because most of my inspiration and ideas comes from random dumb shit. I once ended up writing an entire 15k word TOH fanfic and the intial inspiration was literally just the Alastor door joke from the Hazbin Hotel pilot. Figuring out character motivations and how characters would react in situations and how to get from point A to point B is the hardest part. Typically once I do figure out the prewriting everything after that is much easier.

[@a.c.c.entertainment7230]

Getting out of art block💀

[@alwaysforgetful1089]

Dialogue. I can write literally anything else, but natural-sounding dialogue continues to elude me.

[@TheBritishDragong]

YESSSS. Literally writing a oneshot rn and it was going so well until one of them spoke and now I can’t pull anything out of the other one’s mouth 😭

[@PancakeZucchini]

the worldbuilding tbh. though that depends if i worldbuild at all LMAO it kind of varies for me? character development is usually my favorite thing ever until it’s in a fic where the premise is focus more on a concept rather than the characters 😭 so yeah. probably just writing fics that don’t focus on the characters in general :P

[@Dressup_Doll]

The buildup to the exciting things. I have two fics that I’ve gotten past 20 chapters, and almost every other fic is lucky if I hit 5 chapters. One is the messiest thing I’ve written, and the other is the show from my favorite character’s perspective because I am completely normal about her. I wrote the final chapter for the second story, and every time I go back to work on it, I just start sobbing. I’m so proud of myself for that.

[@Feralshoe]

It's always been pacing for me. Especially when it's in the middle of the fic 😭😭😭

[@lizard7001]

In-between moments. I can somewhat easily conceive a series of significant events within a story that are likely the reason I want to write said story to begin with. Getting from point A to B, C, and D in sequence? That's tricky.

[@Littleghostman4]

The hardest for me is the middle, I love getting into the start but when it starts to get longer I start to get bored or nervous that it sounds more boring than the beginning,

[@glowstickspinalfluid]

i'm just starting to write fics after drawing fanart all my life, so everything is difficult right now. but in particular, describing things is pretty frustrating. i don't draw people moving around or talking so i just do my best and feel fine about it, but i have very clear pictures of what people and settings and expressions look like in my head and don't know if the words i'm putting down match that

[@HarmonyMoonbeam024]

The hardest parts for me are transitioning from angst to fluff without making it too jarring 😂 and ending it. Ever since I got my new laptop and have finally been able to play my favorite horror game (Phasmophobia nerd here XD) my brain has been WIRED for angst and angst only lol. I may have two unfinished projects in my notes app because of this, BUT IT’S SO FUN TO WRIIITE 😭💜 THE CHARACTERS *NEED* TO SUFFER 👹

[@LaurenAlas]

I can easily have an entire story planned out. It's original, interesting, and unique in my head, but once I put it on paper, I have no idea what to do to make it happen.

[@JustAnotherHaiku]

Dialogue where they're just standing there tends to be the bane of my existence. Especially when more than three people are involved.

[@byyuwryy7905]

some stuff comes naturally when I'm in the mood, but getting from one point to the other when I'm trying to link the plot together and still have the between stuff be relative and entertaining is just too muchhhh

[@descrates3545]

I made a character with really broken speech and then I have to go through 10 corrections because autocorrect doesn't like him. Also I have to make sure he's still understandable, and not overdoing it

[@枒]

Can you show an example of how he talks? I’m curious

[@reeceemms1643]

trying to write something that is. Yes a fanfiction but also trying to keep it serious at the same time. I treat mine as actual Stories meaning it is hard to write it without it being too serious because again it is still a fanfiction but not making it too silly. There are some good fanfictions out there which actually have plot in them and are pretty good. The hardest thing for me as well is wondering where the story is going as well. Or for one instance where I was writing a Star wars fanfiction which I started early in my AO3 account based around a What if where a character who dies in canon ends up surviving. Having to basically write them into the whole trilogy (if you want to know the character is Jyn Erso from Rogue one, So I had to write her into the Original trilogy and have her interact with Han Solo, Luke, Leia, 3PO, and R2. Whilst also having to give her survivors guilt. Whilst also having to write in a relationship between her and Luke). But another problem was having to remember the dialogue from the original scene from the film. I did do it. But I had to resort to using Disney plus to remember the dialogue. Then there is also adding in new characters which I created myself.

[@Joey245]

Slow burn for me. I literally have no idea how people can write entire stories of unresolved romantic tension between two characters, I just wanna have 'em smooch and hug and hold hands as fast as possible.

[@platinumg.8614]

I feel a bit like what I can do if I am not that creative and the ship is like safe? No much drama can happen btw the twos or are much less than others ships

[@shaztato]

I can get into my characters' heads quite easily. Insecurities? Breakdowns? Anxiety? Emotional conversations? Check, check, check. But normal conversations? As in light, casual ones? That's hard. I don't like it being all dialog but I hate the "x said", "y replied" but I have to mark who says each thing. Additionally, interactions of 3+ people, that I struggle with.

[@epicpeachtime]

yesssss...? okay so ages ago i had a wip based off danganronpa. now, heres the funny part i finished writing the first trial before the introductions. its just... i dunno? characterization? lack of motivation? lack of something to work towards? either way right now introductions are an absolute pain

[@melon_choly]

Trying to set up the story and the atmosphere. I enjoy writing horror aus, and my strongest point is when the character is witnessing something unsettling or coming to a realization of the gravity of the situation. It’s usually my favorite parts but I have to set up a kind of mood that leads up to the scary parts

[@reagandanger2222]

1:58 On the topic of it suiting your writing style, sometimes the actual plot/themes of a fic itself can lead to those sorts of time skips working. For instance I’m working on a time travel fic atm where the characters have travelled back to the very beginning of their adventure with the knowledge they gained from the story. I can skip multiple weeks or even months at a time and I can expect the reader to just assume that the same things happened as they did in the source material. It helps a lot with skipping the boring stuff

[@CorpseBunniie]

Showing and not telling, im often insecure that im not getting my words or meaning across (autism yippee) so it translates over to my writing in the form of over explaining scenes and how a character feels

[@sweetsea3607]

I guess for me it would be to keep everything in balance. In my drafts I always somehow give only one character all of the best and important lines, all of the important actions and have every focus on them. I always have to take a step back before realising what I've done and change it so that the other characters are important too rather than just be there because reasons. I also tend to make things too dramatic and complicated in my drafts as well. It's so easy for me to forget the most simple things are often the best things.

[@loptseldr]

For me the hardest parts are starting the story. How do I get into it? How do I set thscene without it sounding like im a five year old. I can see it all in my head perfect6ly, can even act it out to help myself know how the character will feel and act in the scene but when It comes to writing it and starting that first paragraph no that firstl ine NOOOOOPE. My brain jsut shuts down and I stare at the screen. Also fearing that what I am writing isn't good enough and not being able to get it out right to match what is going on in my head. Like it's a work of art , chefs kissi n my head but on paper I might as well be speaking Kilingon for how uninteligable it is XD I also can only seem to write at night, my brain jsut does not function in the day most of the time. I have autism and ADHD so that is contributing factor as well. But the most annoying thing is when I get this brilliant idea ad scerne etc in my head nad I absolutly msut write it all down in that moment or it WILL be lost FOREVER!!!

[@the1-upclub98]

The only thing I can write is dialogue. Action and descriptions just aren't my cup of tea, which sucks because those are some of the biggest writing essentials.

[@ArisaMilkawa]

- the everyday life before the plot/action, like I'm boring myself writing it - dialogues when someone has to explain something, I get sidetracked and write about everything and anything and it's a mess

[@bonnietelocole6777]

7:32 I have some good advice for this! Whenever you feel these emotions, imagine how someone would write you to allow a reader to understand how you feel? Yeah, brows and jaws and such, but how do you feel _inside?_ Does your stomach hurt, does your heart speed up or slow down, do your lungs burn, does your voice try to claw out in a scream? Emotions have physical symptoms, describe those as well and that should help!

[@mybadsomething5854]

it's definitely the small more personal scenes and romance scenes.

[@reeses_unicorn]

The last one sums it up perfectly. 😅 I used to write all the time, but I've honestly been on a writing burnout for years. I've thought about this, and there's definitely a difference between when I used to just write for myself and when I started writing online for other people.

[@daniellins4114]

It's super interesting seeing how people feel so differently about this process then you do, describing why they have difficulty with something you love to do, or even with stuff that comes so naturally you don't even think of it as a category of stuff. (Needless to say, also emphatize the fuk out of other comments as well, fuk describing scenery!)

[@luckyheartfemboygacha9694]

The hardest part is plot and establishing relationships,I am good at smut and pre established relationships but thinking of how they met and making a good sounding plot