No work today. I’ve spent my morning watching clips of recent SHINee radio interviews and wishing episode 3 of their “Wonderful Day” show was English subbed.

I also tried to get some writing done. There are two new stories I had an idea for, and I was trying to make a bit of progress. Failed miserably, but some words were typed so maybe not too miserably. I feel like I’ve let fanfiction Jungshin down a little bit because I haven’t written anything for him yet. Zero. He’s in all of my Yongseo stories being ever so cute and wonderful, and I made him a main character with Amber in my story “Beautiful Stranger”, but he’s never been the main main. Part of this is because I’m not sure who I ship him with. I don’t really have to ship him with anyone to write a story, but I typically write romantic/relationship fanfiction. Fanfiction Jungshin, your day will come. Author Noona promises.

I thought I’d quickly, very quickly, talk about the method to my writing madness. A lot of people on here probably want to be writers. The people who love Kpop and can do art stuff make graphics and posters. The people who are tech savvy make videos. I would assume that the people who post stories on here enjoy reading and writing. So here’s how I do it when it comes to fanfiction (and steps 1-6 for my real fiction).

Step 1: Think

When I’m working, when I’m playing, when I’m existing, I’ll eventually think of something Kpop. I’ll think of interactions I wish I could see between my ships or an interesting situation my biases my find themselves in, etc. I’ll think if video concepts for kpop songs I like. Pictures start forming and I’ll start piecing together dialogue… all in my head.

Step 2: Scribbling

I know some people write as they go and finish one whole chapter or story in one sitting. I can’t do that, mainly because I get distracted (VERY) easily and I’m a pretty busy girl. So I scribble down dialogue and ideas for scenes. On scraps of paper, on my computer, or I’ll record my thoughts on my phone.

Step 3: Jump Around

Not literally. But I typically don’t write my stories in order. I use a combination of my “Think” and “Scribble” steps, and I’ll keep adding scenes and ideas to a word document. I put those in order of course, but most of the time, I have the ending written before I have half the scenes in the middle. I ALWAYS know how I want my story to end. ALWAYS.

Step 4: Outline

I’m one of those lame people who love making outlines. I outline the entire story by chapter so I know what the hell I’m writing about. The outline is not permanent. I might change some parts, eliminate others, or get a slightly different idea. It’s good to be flexible when writing, in my opinion. But there are some scenes that obviously, I’m going to make them fit if it’s the last thing I do.

Step 5: Title

Sometimes this is step 5 and sometimes it’s step 7. Either way, I like to choose a title that’s actually going to tell the reader something about the meaning of the story. For example, my story “Listen” was named for the fact that I wanted it to be music oriented but also follow the idea that you have to listen to what your heart (and mind) is telling you, listen to your feelings. I want my title to sound good as well. For video concepts, I just stick with the title of the song, and work it into the story somehow.

Step 6: Debate

Should I try to finish writing this? Should I post this? Do I have confidence that people might read it and like it? Do I have the time to update? AAAAGGGhHHHH! Ok, I think I can do it. This is a little argument I have with myself.

Step 7: First 2 chapters

After I’ve decided to put myself through the embarrassment of posting on a site, I write/finish the first two chapters and try to make them as perfect as possible. I write the first two because I want to be able to post quickly within a day or two after the 1^st chapter.

Step 8: Post

I debate again for about 5 minutes before I actually push the “publish” button. And then I panic. And then I calm down. And then I wait.

Step 9: Self-motivate using panic

 While I’m waiting for views, for subscribers, for comments, I’m usually writing more of the story because now I’ve committed to something. I don’t want to piss people off because I posted and then decided not to finish. So I’m being a good little person and working on the story more.

Step 10: Smile

This is usually when I get my first few comments. View count of stories is ok, but just because someone clicked on the story doesn’t mean they finish reading it or that they liked it. When I get the comments back, that’s how I know that I had a good idea that someone appreciates and that my writing was completely horrific.

Step 11: check the site about 100 times a day…oh wait, that’s not a real step. Ignore that.

Rinse and Repeat. Have an awesome day!