The dark work of Joss Whedon began well before we got to him, back in the Age of Ultron: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rZNgaqpqxKewlqc.html

'Writing is a large field, and there are a lot of animals pooping in it" is a quote that I will carry for life

This feels like the final boss of writing advice. Start with a KZfaq weirdo and then progress through a Canadian psychologist, the richest man on earth, the poorest man on earth (in terms of bitches) who’s also technically a writer, and now we’ve progressed to one of the most influential (pejorative) writers of the modern age.

I genuinely appreciate fanfiction writers so much because whenever I am hyperfixated on a certain fandom I want to consume as much media as possible, mostly of a certain character and I just love the fact that there are often people who can fill the niche and satisfy my cravings. My life would probably be actively worse if it weren't for you, so please keep on writing!

Granted, I feel like the Joss Whedon "make it dark but tell a joke" phrase is just a bastardization of an actually good point. Terry Pratchett described a similar sentiment as "Let there be goblin hordes, let there be terrible environmental threats, let there be giant mutated slugs if you really must, but let there also be hope. It may be a grim, thin hope, an Arthurian sword at sunset, but let us know that we do not live in vain." The use of the word "Joke" in Joss's version of the line completely throws off the actual meaning.

"if you're one of those people who draws when you listen to us" *looks up from drawing tablet, the most called out i have ever been*

I actually got really happy when you said that fanfiction is actually valid as a form of writing and exercise, I usually see so many people be shitty about fanfic writers and readers all the time so it felt really refreshing. I mainly read fanfics and occasionally make a few for myself, but I struggle with writing because I have ADHD and am currently not on any medication. Also, bullying children is very bad. edit: good news! i am now on my adhd medication and im actually somewhat functioning in my meat sponge, i hope i can go back to writing again.

As an aspiring writer myself, I live by a simple rule: don't do anything in my writing that Josh Whedon would do. Now that I know more of the things that Josh Whedon would do, I weirdly think this video might help me in my writing. Thanks, Writer Boys. Edit: Do Not Bully Children. For the love of God.

On the qoute about art being your kid and having separate meaning: while in university, I participated in a lot of student films as art and props director. Once we did a mocumentary about a suicidal artist, who decides to off himself publicly to attract audience, and I had to make his room. The budget was zero. So I had to use my own art and stuff as props. So I put on a bunch feminist posters, put my clothes in his wardrobe, put my drawings in his scetchbook and et cetra. The end result looked like the mc had gender disphoria, and that's why he was depressed and suicidal. Neither I nor director intent that, but I think in the end it added to the story a bit.

With the whole "cut the scene you love" thing, I kinda wonder if that's also something Whedon locked onto as a Hollywood-specific tactic, because doing that in any other context is a weird take (as you guys discussed in a really great way). 'Cuz with Hollywood, yep. You do end up probably having to get rid of all the uniquely fun, creative scenes due to desired studio formatting and other pressures. And if that is at least partially the case, I wonder how many way, way better films we've all been missing out on lmao

Do not bully children. I had an issue of PSM back in the 90s that had some silly feature about the "unspoken truths of gaming" or something to that effect in it. It was all just goofy jokes and ribbing on certain tropes but one always stuck out to me. "If a character is described as 'witty', that's usually code for 'annoying'". Nobody has ever embodied that sentence more than Joss Whedon

Joss Whedon aged like milk for me as I gotten older. I’m afraid to watch this video, but my body is ready, as they do say. Edit: Do Not Bully Children. Please just… don’t.

As someone who writes Fanfiction to practice my writing before moving on to my own original ideas, I appreciate that you guys see the value in it, in spite of the connotations associated with it.

I feel like a better version of the tell a joke advice, would be have SOME moments of relief. Not necessarily comedic relief, but relief of tension. It could be a moment of quiet or contemplation, just to take a breather from any heavy scenes or high energy moments

1. Do not bully children. 2. Fanfiction is (every now and then) best fiction. 3. The past 50 minute mark gang knows why the thumbnail is like that, and the sub 50 minute gang doesn't.

42:27 This reminds me of when I was starting a new D&D campaign with my friends and I wanted my human character to have purple eyes. Thinking that I would get called out for having it be unrealistic, I did a bunch of research to bullshit an explanation as to why it was biologically possible. But no one actually fucking cared because we were playing a fantasy, wish-fulfillment, role-playing game. Don't bully kids ✌

I'm currently working on Danny Phantom Fanfiction (Because we all know that the premise of DP was WAY too good to just leave to a hack like Butch Hartman) alongside my own stories. Writing FF has been a great way for me to sort out different ideas, take a break before I start editing with fresh eyes, and get advice. I feel like it's helped me a lot.

I'm a fanfiction writer, and I honestly it's been the best thing to developing my own writing to the point that I am probably going to start breaking away from it soon. I also want to thank you because your channel has been so good to just put on and listen to to help me improve.

So much of Whedon’s tone feels very juvenile, it gives off ‘oh, everyone’s mad at me? Well then, I’ll be the BAD GUY!!!’ vibe. Which, fittingly, sounds like something Xander would say.

“Well, this is awkward.” -the number one Joss Whedon fan

Why do people on the internet default to bullying children so fast? Harassing anyone is crappy but can we please leave the children out of it!?

I am hoping to become a professional some day, and seeing people like Whedon makes me want to reach the point of professional work even more. Because if people like him are in the industry then others desperately need to get in there to drown out his voice. I hope that one day I can reach a point where people see my work and enjoy it. Also when it comes to fanfiction I am both a reader and a writer of it(more of a reader though). I'll admit that it scares me sometimes considering how a lot of people view fanfic. It makes me worry that maybe I'm less of a writer because of it, which is BS but it still sticks. P.S. don't bully children

As someone who just finished a fanfic about Summer Rose from RWBY fighting aliens in the 1960's with a proto-XCOM, and who plans on soon launching into another project involving a RWBY/Bionicle crossover, hearing you guys praise fanfiction writers brought a literal tear to my eye. This has easily become one of my new favorite KZfaq channels, partly because of how wise y'all are and how entertaining you are together. Keep being awesome! Also agreed, don't bully children please. Have we learned nothing from poor Jake Lloyd?

I'm a fanfiction writer, and man, did it feel good to hear your guys' love for the art. I know the purview of this series is Professional writing, so I always got sort of the impression that you guys didn't like fanfiction. But yeah, everyone starts somewhere and fanfiction is a great way to experiment. I'm now actually writing a Piot for a web show just to flex my original work muscles out more.

There was a tweet kicking around that was like "Netflix Cowboy Bebop is a terrible Bebop adaptation but an excellent Firefly reboot" and this video really made it hit as to WHY

Fanfiction honestly is what got me into writing. I use it as practice for my own stories, and it feels great to be able to write something (especially when I'm self-conscience about my own writing abilities) that people seem to genuinely love. To anyone who writes fanfiction, you're a valid writer who's adding to a fandom that they love.

If you're a Joss Whedon fan, welcome to the year 2021, I know it must be super disorienting to wake up from a 25 year coma

About the winged humanoids? Couldn't he just find a way to make it work? Like if it's a fantasy setting you could come up with a magic reason. If it's sci-fi, couldn't they be from like a planet with denser air which would make it easier to generate lift , or they don't even have to fly, they could have vestigial wings that are no longer used for flying and are used for like courtship behavior or whatever. If you really want something, then just find a way to make it work, but then again I'm not a writer so what do I know (closest to me being a writer is that I've been working on a D&D Campaign world)

If I was to say something, it seems like Whedon is really good at writing for a mass audience. People that go to movies as an event to hang out with friends and get drunk(me sometimes) who are not critically enjoying the movie as they watch it.

Pokemon taught me to double and triple save, and I absolutely apply that to my writing.

I'm officially a fan fiction writer at this point. I've always imagined different versions of stories in games that I play. A lot of the times I write them down and use those ideas for other projects, but I am currently doing a full, proper rewrite for the game Shadow The Hedgehog. That game is a giant mess, but has a lot of interesting ideas in it, so I'm taking the game's missions, re-structuring them in a way that flows well and makes sense, and now I'm essentially writing a brand new story to fit over that. I was originally just going to make a version where I stuck the missions in a different order and worked with that... but my brain decided that wasn't nearly enough so now I'm, as I said, writing a new game at this point lol.

Honestly, I do like Joss Whedon's style, even if it aged like milk, but, well...Turns out, being able to write successfully (which, whatever else you can say about Joss, you can't deny he's successful in an objective sense) and being able to give good advice on writing are not the same thing. In much the same way there are plenty of professors who know their subject inside and out, but couldn't give less of a shit about actually being effective at teaching.

Bullying children is bad, but I feel the need to bully Gus for the fact that Henry’s profile picture touches the left border of the frame while his doesn’t. But at least the two of them gave me the right to brag for getting what the thumbnail means.

Fanfiction is an irreplaceable artistic outlet for me. As a child, I used to write little stories for my classmates when given writing assignments, and hearing them laugh when I performed them was the first strong hit of dopamine I can remember experiencing. It was an awesome experience that sparked a love of writing in me at an early age… but it came with a drawback: the act of writing was permanently married to the act of performance, for me. When I write, I get ‘incredibly’ stressed unless other people are reading and reacting to what I’ve written at plenty of fixed points along the way. This creates a problem when it comes to writing original content. Simply put, no one cares about your original story until you’ve put the months/years of backbreaking work into making them care. I’m not complaining about this, really; it’s only natural that, with millions of amateur writers out there, no audience has time for literally everything that everyone wants to create… but for someone like me, who would need genuine input to feed the ‘performer’ side of my creative psyche along the way, it makes the challenge quite a bit steeper. Fanfiction escapes this. The bond the audience has with the cast and the world is already established, so when I introduce a handful of changes to the formula, as long as I keep the soul of the work intact, that audience will be willing to journey along with me. To say nothing of how fanfiction scratches a psychological itch to experience more of something you love… but this comment is already entirely too long.

I write a metric shit ton of fanfic myself and mainly use it to hone my skills and use it as self-therapy. I've been watching this channel and you guy's advice has helped a lot. And assisted me with looking into my own work more closely.

I write fan fiction sometimes. But is ALL I real besides acidemic works. I love fic writers so much. Especially people who write for nearly extinct fandoms. Nothing feels better than when I check for some really obscure show and someone is half way through a 100k friends to lovers fic.

If I didn't write the fanfiction that I did to completion (with the one reader who would comment with dedication to seeing the end) I wouldn't have been compelled to write my own original work. I haven't read much fanfiction but the craft is super important and I appreciate every reader who dips their toes in that community

Some of the most important classical works of literature would be called “fan fiction” if they came out today. The Divine Comedy is literally about Dante himself touring a Christian-Greco-Roman crossover underworld, where he goes on adventures with his favourite authors. Like Virgil, whose greatest work was - in turn - based on Homer’s characters from the Odyssey and Iliad.

Fanfic writer here (my boyfriend and I have actually been working together on a Zelda fanfiction, which we've had a _lot_ of fun ideas for) I've heard many times that a lot of the quote-unquote "real" authors started with their own versions of fanfiction, and honestly it doesn't surprise me. Hell, it was a fangame that gave me the push to want to start making my own games.

Writing fanfic helped get me through a rough time in my life emotionally, and reading it has been getting me through my current rough emotional time. I think nowadays the stigma against fanfiction is less widespread or accepted than it used to be, but I'm sure it's still around and still as ice cold of a take as it's always been. So much of Shakespeare is basically fanfiction, I'd even qualify his "historical" plays as Historical Figure RPF. So no, I won't value a work of art less for borrowing stuff from some other work, or for being made in someone's spare time to be put on the internet for free rather than professionally published and sold and copyrighted. If there was care in the making of it then there's value in it, and if I get something out of it then it's valuable to me. And obligatory, I got the thumbnail and y'all didn't, now don't bully children.

Don't bully children, instead, bully the people who bully children.

This series is one of the few writing advice sources I’ve encountered that actually makes me want to sit down and write.

Really appreciate you guys shouting out fanfics! I feel like fanfiction is constantly being scrutinized by people who don’t understand or it’s assumed to be nothing but sexual and/or self-insert. As a Writer and reader, it’s much appreciated :)

The thing about telling a Joke is, I feel, one of the reasons for Eternals being Not That Great. It’s actually an MCU film where the jokes work as a detriment rather than any improvement. With something like The Thor Films or Shang-Chi, you’ve got characters played by actors like Kat Dennings or Akwafina who can pull off comedic moments seemingly naturally. Eternals is a mostly serious movie steeped in Pathos in which eldritch beings pit their creations against each other to foster the growth of a planet’s population so that their life force can be used to power the awakening of MORE eldritch beings at the expense of both the planet and every thing on it, where a character who does nothing to stop the attempted mass extinction of life on Earth to the point of essentially murdering his family’s leader regrets his actions to the extent that he commits suicide by flying into the Sun. This is not a movie where Jokey-Jokes are welcome, and yet they’re present like the greasy congealed vestiges of bacon fat on the baking tray that is the MCU

I wrote a little bit of fan fiction back in my first year or two of college. I dropped off doing it because college started hitting me pretty hard. I feel a little bad about leaving those three stories unfinished but i just have no motivation to go back to them. I don't regret starting them and the expirence I think was a good one.

Has Ernest Cline released any kind of writing advice? You kinda have to complete the unholy trinity now.

im an artist and i never dabbled in with any other hobby, but always watching you guys has made me love writing more than i thought i did, i rewrote something i wrote 5 months ago, and i improved a lot, just by picking up tips and trying to be conscientious when watching good shows with well done writing or, reading fan fiction and seeing what went wrong and what went right, what makes me love a fic and what makes me dislike it, and how you can learn from literally anything everyday, from just living anyway as a fanfiction reader *i found an assassination classroom fanfiction with 700k words and 200 chapters, only 100 chapters in and it changed how i think about writing* , it made me write my first ever work kasdjlkasjdals to the person who made Senbazuru on Ao3 im forever thankful

As a fanfiction creator and enjoyer, fanfiction is just as legitimate an artform as anything else. Some of the most inspirational work I've read has been fanfiction!

I actually write fanworks, and it's super nice to hear that you all appreciate it! Too often, I hear people refer to them as gross/cringy wastes of writing talent. That's part of some input I'd like to give about this topic: So I'm not getting into writing/creative work as a job, more as a hobby. I bring that up because a lot of advice in this series has sort of made me afraid to continue. As it stands, I'm happy making stuff that isn't going to be picked up by an animation or film studio as long as the people I show it to like it. Maybe in the future, if my current career breaks down, I'd look into trimming it down for general audiences, but that's possibly decades off. I say this because after listening to a lot of advice I feel like *not* pursuing it professionally means I'm wasting mine and others' time and taking up space in "The Industry" that could be better served by more productive people. It may be a good idea to, on occasion, mention when advice is more calibrated towards people who're pursuing writing as a job. That way it stays in the minds of both people looking for a professional job and those who aren't. Alternatively, most of us are pursuing this stuff professionally and I'm way out of my league here. Despite that, I appreciate people offering more candid takes on pop-culture writing advice. I can see how some of this would really badly mess up someone trying to get into the field, and I actually use your "Don't be the next [x], be the first you" as a guideline when I'm working on stuff.

Fanfic writer here. I've had a lot of fun writing it and it's great for creative exercises and world building, especially if the source material can be lacking in that part. That and I've met a lot of great people and writers while being into this and I think my own writing has improved thanks to it.

as a fanfic writer these are words i needed to hear so badly, thank you for your appreciation for this medium it means the world to me 😭

Wasn't working on anything cool and creative, but your "save your work" bit did remind me to save the programming assignment I've been working on for the past few hours.

Like in the previous video, I wanna see a "Two Professional Writers React to our Subscribers/Audience's writing advice where you ask for writing advice either in a video or community post, and then read those comments

GUS CHANTING "Joss! Joss Whedon! Joss Whedon! Joss Whedon!" WHILE HENRY FAKE CRYING AT THE END KILLED ME OML also this episode, by far, has the MOST call-to-action for the comments [not a bad thing btw i just think thats a fun fact]

The problem with the "make it dark but tell a joke" is that when something is serious you need to be very careful about when to put humor. The jokes in horror or thriller movies (for example) are usually all in the first act, to give a sense of normalcy that will be ripped from the characters and the audience as the story progresses. It all depends of the intent of the scene, a lot of horror movies end with a joke to signify a happy ending, to say "after all the suffering both audience and characters can finally rest", and also a lot of serious action films or thrillers include jokes on the second act (montages are a perfect place to include a little levity on an otherwise dreaded affair), is something some Marvel films like _Captain America: Civil War_ implement better, there are pretty much no jokes on the third act, just a guy hellbent on punching Sebastian Stan to death, another guy hellbent on not letting Seabastian Stan to be punch to death and Sebastian Stan, trying to stay un-punched... good old character-driven drama

As a avid fanfic reader some of my favorite pieces of literature are fanfics. I’m not ashamed to say I’ve cried more reading fan-fiction than any other piece of media’s. It is a total valid way to create art.

I don't think the 'all work is open to interperatation' tip was meant to be that you shuld personify your work. thats just the quippy follow up whedon-joke thing added on I think the point is that, even if you wrote something, you don't get to be the one to say what someone else read into it wasn't there. sometimes we can put things into work or imply things we didn't intend, and if someone saw those thing in it and it meant something to them, its not really the authors place to tell them they're wrong.

I’m an avid fanfiction writer. By which I mean, even if I somehow managed to get published, quit my day job, and become a professional writer full-time, I would still keep writing fanfiction.

Do not bully children. It was thanks to bullying that Jake Lloyd never took up another on-screen role after his Star Wars debut.

On the point of people over-preparing. Fantasy and scifi writing forums are rife with this sort of thing. People who get lost in worldbuilding and checking against science to make sure it makes sense, without ever even considering what the story might be. It's really easy to trick yourself into thinking that you're doing work, when really it's just creative ways to dodge actually getting something done

I read Joss Wendeg for a sec, and i thought you finished dragging Chuck Wendeg and now dragging his brother Joss lol

I started with original writing and then went to fanfiction when I got stuck on my original works and now I've pretty much only written fanfiction this year lol oops My favorite part of writing fanfiction is how cathartic it can be. I feel like there's a sort of sunk-cost fallacy that's very easy to fall into when writing original works. At least with fanfics the characters you love are still there even if you end up scraping the writing.

36:00 My father learned this in computer science class, as his professor had a switch at his desk, and he randomly shut off the power. If you didn’t save, you lost everything, if you did, it was a minor inconvenience. But that is how he learned to ALWAYS SAVE

I'm a fanfiction writer in that I have four Google docs open with ideas I haven't touched in a month, minimum. But I do actually still love it I swear.

So, my interpretation on rule 7, based on a series of dialogues i've had with artist friends over this kind of stuff, is that what he's trying to say is that what the author wants to say in a story should be as clear as possible from the point of view of an audience member. Sometimes you write something and you have context as to why that particular thing makes sense, but the audience would not have it, and so you should try and make it clearer or give them that piece of context otherwise in order to make them understand it (or, you know, be okay with people saying they don't get it). Ironically, if that's what he was trying to say he did so in a very unclear manner...

I've a lot of wips, but fanfiction has reinvigorated my love of writing and reading. I read thousands of words, something I can't seem to do with paper books. you should enjoy what you're writing

I both read and write fanfiction..... I don't always finish things and I don't have a lot posted, but it's always been pure self-indulgence. And it's great to write things that are just for me but that other people will love too. And reading fanfiction got me through some bad times- the escapism and variety was engaging and kept me sane LOL Seriously fanfic writers are amazing cause they make wonderful things for free and for fun

it is SO important to draw a percentage of your inspiration from real life, looking at history and science is so full of free ideas that nobody has done before, all the art i love is inspired by real life AND art. other art can feel so weighty, bogging you down by wanting to be better than jt. yeah.

I went over to the recommended videos I can safely say I did not realize how cool juggalos were until now nor was I disappointed by infomercial style videos, that was hilarious and im a little sad there isnt more.

As someone who never understood the Weldon craze back in the day (Loved the first avengers though) this should be fun!

I've gotten really into reading recently. and while i've always come up with interesting stories, I've noticed that I'm coming up with more interesting and in depth stories, more often! when i say literally, i mean i've literal come up with like 5 stories ideas in a week, even 2 in one day! so consuming media definitely helps fuel your creativity.

DO NOT BULLY CHILDREN

So that just happened...

I know it’s Joss’ advice, but Taika Watiti in Ragnarok is the epitome of stepping on an emotional moment w an unneeded joke haha

I write a lot of Hilda fanfiction and it rly helps me hone my skills and it's fun

I won't say that I, as an unprofessional writer, am better than Joss Whedon at giving advice. But I will try to see what he was trying to say and reword it to see what I can make of that advice. *Let your characters be themselves, even if that means they are wholly unlikable. So long as the story presents that character in an honest light, you don't need to water down a character in a story meant for adults. *Doing something lighthearted can help lighten an otherwise overbearingly bleak tone. But only if you can fit it into the story without it feeling out of place. *Just because you make something does not mean you understand everything about it. You can find things that you did not even know about your own art, simply because you didn't see it at the time. *Have a plan to what you do in your work. See it as pieces that can be broken down to make it feel less overbearing. Knowing what you want to get done will help keep writers block at bay by giving your brain something to work with. *Art is food for the imagination. So much like food you want to balance what you take in to ensure that you mind gets everything it needs. So long as you are certain a piece of art has something for you, there is no reason to not explore that art within reason. *Having your work turned down feels like pushing a really heavy rock up a mountain, only for it to fall back down. That is when you are going to have to decide that you really want to be on that metaphorical mountain, because those are gonna be your hardest moments. *Everything has an ending, you are going to need to make your work with the knowledge that one day you need to wrap it up. If you can given yourself a realistic due date, you might help yourself a lot. *Be organized enough that you can keep track of your idea's, but not so organized that it eats all of you time. *When imitating something, see what you can add to make the story your own work. *Every character has an identity, and that identity will help you know what that character will bring to the table. You may find a character you thought was going to be in the background actually getting a bigger role as you understand that character. *Cut the fat. You don't need to simplify everything, but too much of anything can make a scene bloated and obtuse. *Listen to criticism from those who have experience. People are not always right, but knowing the difference between advice that can help you and advice that doesn't help you boils down to how well you can listen to what is being said. *Know who you are writing for. Understanding what the audience might want will help you make a story that is appealing to said audience. *Write the details you need to make a scene work. Then if you can add details without making the scene feel bloated, that is an option you have. *Innovation as a writer requires that you are able to think on your own. Your work does not happen without you, and even the best advice will fall flat if you can't utilize it with you own imagination. Do not mistake listening for becoming dependent on someone else. *You need to be willing to put your foot down when work gets uncomfortable, but if you want to work writing as a professional job then you need to treat it like one. Not everyone has the money to go into early retirement, so refusing every job because of a Diva attitude is going to make writing less and less viable as a job. But being unwilling to set any boundaries means that people will grow bolder with what they demand of you, until they make you their personal Simp. Every job has things that you won't like about it, so knowing when you should be willing to take a stand, and when a grievance is just a petty issue will help you make the best of both worlds without becoming a Diva or a Simp. To wrap things up, DON'T BULLY CHILDREN! #numbbuttgang

Fanfiction former writer and current enjoyer here! I’d like to, if I may, address first a general sentiment- everyone who can make fanfiction is WONDERFUL, and that effort isn’t diminished by its niche audience or specific area of specialization! Secondly- I’d like to specifically call attention to NSFW fanfiction writers, because they get a LOT of grief from fandom spaces at large, even in spaces where the creators give their blessings, for “ruining the fandom”. You guys’ presence isn’t a blight on your fanbase of choice- be it exploring a complex concept through NSFW concept or just describing how Master Chief’s suit jacks him off, y’all’s work is just as pivotal a part of your writing journey and just as impressive a work as your SFW content!

Am I the only person on earth that doesn’t like the original Avengers? Yeah, it was revolutionary for its time, but it has not aged well at all. The CGI, the costume design, Josh Wheatman being unable to decide whether he wants to make a goofy action flick or a serious sci-fi thriller… it’s just one mess of a movie. Infinity War and Endgame are incredible because they actually have good writers behind them, but those first two movies are mediocre at best.

36:17 That's usually how I edit when I don't feel like editing. I'll open a new file and start rewriting it without looking.

I been writing fan fiction since I was 7 years old. Showed it to the odd friend but this crazy world I made is just for me. Its been going for 17 years or so.

I think my partner and I planned an entire series using the "eat your dessert first" advice, lol. Once we established the logline basics, we were in high school and had no idea how to write anything seriously, so we ended up just dicking around coming up with and yapping about whatever random scene, concept, theme, relationship, etc. that happened to excite us at the time for 3 years straight. So when we got serious about actually MAKING the thing, we realized we already have an entire story, and all we have to do now is put the pieces in the correct order and figure out some glue to hold them together.

i read a lot of fic and i love all yall writers so much straight up you are the backbone of fandom! all the rarepair and fix-it fic authors especially i am kissing u passionately on the mouth! (also friendly reminder to always give writers kudos/likes and comment on their work!!!)

I write fanfics!!* *haven't finished anything in years... c'est la vie ALSO holy shit that advice about just scrapping something and starting over is so good and true.

I both read and write fanfiction! But idk about framing writing fanfiction as "training wheels"? Some people don't want to "graduate" from fanfiction, some people just want to continue writing fanfiction, and that's great too. (Also, bullying children is bad!)

I write a lot of fanfiction because, someday, I want to publish some stories or maybe even write for a cartoon series. Fanfiction provides an audience to present my writing to and it gives me the time to build up my skills. Reading fanfiction lets me see what works in engaging me and what doesn't. I make aus to stretch my worldbuilding and exposition muscles and figure out how to not make exposition a flat monologue and how to make the world itself tell it's own history. It gets me used to writing consistent characters because people *will* notice when someone is out of character. And most importantly, fanfiction is my form of writing for myself. I write what I want to see and I don't care if no one else wants to see it. Fanfiction is great. I love being a writer and reader of it. Also don't bully children. Especially children fanfiction writers.

2:49 "You can feel the sneer behind it can't you?" Behind everything you say? Yes I can.

Maybe the real Joss Whedon was the friends we made along the way.

As a fan fiction writer and reader, it not only helps hone a writer’s craft, but it also gives readers exposure to more experimental writing, taking more risks that would be less marketable to the target audience. It can also be the basis for excellent satire/parody of the original work. It could even become an original work in and of itself with revisions that contributes to shaping mainstream media. Also, don’t bully children. 😊

Oh wow I haven't heard of that Twitter that "predicted" events, but that reminds me of the KZfaq channel that did the exact same thing to run an ARG thing. It was called 2020 VISION and predicted people's death in 2020 in 2017 giving the exact date. Goes eye is closed with the name, eye opens up to give the month, closes and opens back up to give the day. Although the way they went about it is honestly pretty cool. They pretty much just uploaded massive videos that'd go through celebrities and other popular people's names, and also blink through all the months one by one, and same with the day. They'd private the video, use KZfaq's post editing feature to edit the date to be correct, and then unprivate to show this video with an untouched upload date to give the illusion that it predicted it back in 2017. The way they have the date revealed through blinking also just makes it very easy to edit and smoothly transition to what is cut.

Fanfiction has allowed my writing to go from incorrect grammar, short, wrong sentences to actually coherent, and possibly enjoyable, stories. Still have a lot to earn, but yeah, it's helped me improve my writing. Way more than any of my English classes would do for me, personally.

Thank you, fanfic writers, for giving us wholesome gay relationships that the creators COULD NEVA

Thank you for showing appreciation for fanfiction! A lot of people condescend about it because it's not an original property and you can't make money from it... which first off, there's no such thing as a completely original work, and second off, nowadays you technically *can* make money from fanfic, via donations. Also, as a fanfiction writer, I find that there are multiple types of fanfiction I write. The first is the one you guys mentioned: imitation and flattery. The second is fixing canon; like if a character was underutilized. The third is idea exploration: like what you guys are doing with RWBY; you're exploring an idea or world using canon components so you don't have to build from scratch. Kind of like buying cake mix instead of using raw ingredients. I mention all this because I believe all three are useful in becoming a writer. You guys elaborated on the first; the second is using critical thinking to figure out how and where a story went wrong, and how to fix it; you're flexing your problem-solving muscles. The third is flexing writing creativity muscles without needing to stress about world building, which imo is one of the main hurdles for me. At least with the third I *finish* works instead of leaving it in the drafts because I'm too worried about how immersive the world I built is.

Find some Ernest Cline writing advice now and complete the trilogy

Oh I write fanfiction all right... OF YOU TWO!

Even if a child has a particularly bad performance, they are a child, the blame for how their performance effects the product is squarely on the director and casting director. In short: DON’T BULLY CHILDREN.

The part about masturbation is interesting cos the pieces of writing I’m most proud of are the ones where I committed to shameless self indulgence. For context I write a lot of nsfw stuff and I find that the best way to do that is to go ham on the specifics of what I personally like. The risk there is alienating your audience but the way I see it, if you’re making porn and you’re going for mass market appeal then your work is just gonna get lost in the deluge of other, similar stuff whereas if you commit to your own specific interests then you’ll enjoy working on it more and it will reach the people you want it to

It was actually really validating to hear what you said about fanfiction. I love writing og stuff, but I started with fanfiction, and I still write & read it to this day, it always means a lot when people acknowledge how useful fanfic can be when it comes to honing your skill

I haven't read much fanfic but I am working on my first fanfic of sorts, about Warcraft. I say "of sorts" because it's following my own original characters, it's just taking place in the Warcraft universe. I love the Warcraft universe DEEPLY but Blizzard, ah, hasn't treated it so fairly... among other things. And I couldn't let my beloved characters, one of whom I've had for *years,* just wallow in that. It's a really wonderful feeling being able to give them a life of their own, change story things I like but think had poor execution, drop the things I outright think should never have happened, add my own details to canon, and to describe and move through Azeroth as I wish I could. I'm happy to know you guys support fanfiction as its own art, because damn is it hard as it is fun, at least for me :P

Sorry to hear you have bronchitis Gus, I've had it and it sucks, I hope you get better soon.

I can't find it, but I remember someone had compiled a set of writing advice from Terry Pratchett into one Tumblr post. That could be a good subject, maybe?