Things you'd say to your younger self

[Psychic]

Everyone changes and evolves with time. Especially when it comes to our craft, we aren't always the same person that we were when we started. Our methods, our skills, our process and even our ideals and goals can develop in interesting and sometimes unexpected ways. Reflecting on what we were like when we first started and comparing it to now can be kind of fun, so my question is: if you could go back in time and impart any of your newfound knowledge or wisdom onto your younger self, what would you tell them and why?


It's hard to pick any one thing, so here are a few:

Pick up good writing habits! This is something I struggle with to this day, and getting into the hang of writing regularly and doing fun exercise early on would probably have been a huge help.

Don't stress so much about describing everything. I promise, just because you don't describe a character does not mean people will assume they look like an alien clown wearing a business suit. There is a balance between no detail whatsoever and overwhelming readers with description. Also, lay off other people who don't describe everything! You will get over this eventually, just...calm down a little, okay?

Stay connected with fellow writers. There are awesome people in the community, and just talking with them is awesome for brainstorming and pretty motivating. I used to chat with a lot of fellow SPPf writers, but I kind of fell out of it for awhile, and that sucks!

If someone keeps telling you to use semicolons, look up how to use semicolons! Seriously, maybe there's a reason they keep pointing it out over and over! Do a little research - semicolons aren't that hard once you get the hang of them, I promise.​

~Psychic

 

[Creepychu]

Things I'd tell myself from back then? Heh, feels like a futile exercise since I doubt me from back then would be willing to take my sage advice on board, but for what it's worth:

1. Don't stress out over every little thing you write or review. Seriously, neither your writing nor your advice will be any better for it. It's fanfiction; it's okay to loosen up and enjoy what you're doing.

2. Save your work properly, with actual backups. I wanted to read over some of that stuff you inconsiderate git.

3. Don't think about doing it; just do it. You have no idea how much you're missing out on by not reaching out to the people you find interesting and talking with them. Come to think of it, I could probably still improve on this but that just makes the point all the more valid.

4. And while we're at it, your excuses are a bigger nuisance than the things you're making excuses for. Seriously, if you're spending more time apologizing and explaining yourself than you are having the conversation you actually want to have then it's time to stop with the excuses and get to the good stuff. Half the people who mind things you do wouldn't mind so much if you didn't keep bringing it up at every turn. The same goes for your author's notes too.

5. Your writing isn't perfect and it's not going to get perfect if you keep fiddling with it. Seriously, stop fiddling with it. Quality control's all well and good, but there's a point where you need to learn to let go and move on to the next segment if you actually want to get things done. Again, something I'm still in the process of learning.

Also, not an official point or anything but your edgy phase is embarassing. Please stop it with the edgy, no-one's buying it.

 

[Morpher01]

I haven't done a lot of posting in the Author's Cafe as of late (...or any at all, actually), but the title of this thread kind of jumped out at me. Anyone who has seen the posts I've made over the years will probably remember how much of a weird little brat I was when I first joined Serebii.

Now I'm a massive recluse, but that's another story. XD

Anyway, the things I would say to my younger self are as follows:

1. Criticism is part of the writing process. Yes, there are going to be people who will be unpleasant about it, and it's those people whose criticisms you have to dig through to find something you can actually use for improvement. Otherwise, ignore them and move on to the reviews that actually matter.

2. Reviews are not meant to be only praise. I remember first learning what a review was through Serebii (yeah, I didn't do much on the internet back then). Most of the fics I cared about seemed to have dominantly positive reviews, which led me to believe they were supposed to be only positive. THIS IS NOT THE CASE. Reviews aren't just meant to tell you what you did right; they're also meant to point out where you messed up, so you can keep those mistakes in mind for the next chapter. It's a two-sided coin.

3. Handle criticism like an adult. If you're not sure how to do that, read some other fics and pay attention to how the writers respond; if arguments start because of something the reviewer said, make a note to do the opposite of what the writer does.

4. Plan out your stories and characters. There was so much crap in my first fics that I literally made up as I went along (so many retcons...), and the best stories tend to not do that. Picture what you want to have happen over the course of the story, but focus on the big events (like Gym battles, catching a Pokemon, etc.). Figure out how your protagonist(s), and maybe even the antagonist(s), would react to them. Try to make them stand out amidst the other supporting characters.

5. Description is actually important. Imagine that not everyone knows what every Pokemon looks like, and for one reason or another they can't just look it up. Spend a couple sentences showing (not telling) the audience what the Pokemon looks like, maybe have the Pokemon do some things that show off its characteristics. Human characters are treated the same way, just with different details.


My time on Serebii has helped me grow as a person, so hopefully everything in this thread can do the same for someone else.

 

[Sike Saner]

It'll be okay. You'll make it through this. You'll see this story through to completion, and you're going to be prouder of it than you've ever been of anything else--not just on its own merits, but yours.

Things are gonna suck for a while. Most of them won't have a damn thing to do with your writing, but they'll impact it all the same. You're going to fall out of love with what you're doing. With a lot of things.

But I promise you, I promise you, you're gonna overcome all of it. I wouldn't be here talking to you otherwise. You'll never give up, no matter how many times it feels like you should. You are so, so strong when it all comes down to it. You'll be okay.

 

[Dramatic Melody]

Oh wow.

Don't be so hard on your writing. Of course it's not gonna be perfect. Of course not everyone's gonna love it. And of course it sucks feeling that all the hard work you put into it amounts to something less than your expectations. But that's what writing is all about, and that's why you keep writing. You make mistakes, you improve. You get criticism, you learn from them.

Don't write about mature themes just for the sake of writing about them. Research is key, and just pasting them onto your stories would do more harm than good both for you and your readers.

Less is more. That's really vague, and it'll take some time before you understand it, but you'll really see a difference in your writing because of it.

And lastly, stop obsessing about getting reviews. I know that you love reviews, and you still will for pretty much every time you post a fic on here, but you shouldn't put more importance on them than your actual writing. Don't get discouraged when you post a fic that gets very few reviews or doesn't get any at all. Take them as learning points and work from there. Trust me, the less you worry about what comes after the writing and posting, the more you'll appreciate it when it happens.

 

[Chibi Pika]

OH MY GOD. I wish I could do this for real. So, so, badly. And here's what I'd say:


DON'T STOP WRITING IN COLLEGE. Seriously, you have all the time in the world! Don't stop! Yes, the fic has 398743 plots holes and is an irredeemable mess, but if it's really that bad, then just rewrite it already instead of just sitting around for three years wondering what to do.

Please. For the love of God. Stop flaunting your plot twists in your thread. You look like an arrogant a**face. STOP DOING IT. 90% of the time these "plot twists" are just going to get written out of the fic in three months anyway.

Please don't summarize important character-building scenes with a single narrated paragraph. Just don't. You do it all the time, you're literally never going to be happy with the result, and you'll just end up having to go back and add those scenes later. Just save yourself the trouble and do it right the first time.

Get rid of the Pokegods. Why are they still in the fic? You know they're a bad idea! You don't even like them anymore! Just wait a few years for Generation 4. We'll get a million new Legendaries and everything will be better.

Remember that plot twist you came up with in summer of '03? Yeah, like 99% percent of all your ideas that year were terrible, but hold onto that one, because it's going to save your butt in Revision 11. It will literally be the only reason you ever pick up the fic again. And the sooner you realize that, the better.

And yeah, I know the second half of the fic is a confusing mess and you don't think you'll ever figure it out. You will. And it will feel amazing. So please don't ever hold onto any ideas that you're not 100% confident in. The good ideas will come, I promise. And they'll have an easier time of it if there isn't a bunch of old junk in the way.

~Chibi~;249;;448;

 

[diamondpearl876]

Whatever you do, don't stop writing.

and/because

Your characters are the only ones you'll ever know that won't let you down.

 

[bobandbill]

Great topic. =)

Hahahahahahaha yeah that fic is going to take longer than you think. And that's okay. Just keep at it and you'll get there in the end, even if you take a break for the better part of the year from that particular project.

Learn how to do dialogue, and while you're at it try to figure out better ways to write out battles.

Don't be so darn nervous about reviews or feedback. Post the darn chapter already. At worst it wasn't enjoyed, you learn from that and improve as a writer.

 

[Dragonfree]

Dear 2002-self: That silly Pokémon fanfic you started on your parents' wedding day? Yeah, you're going to still be writing that when you're twenty-five. It's not the best thing ever written like your friends keep telling you (boy, are you going to find that embarrassing), but you're actually going to meet several more of your best friends because of it and you're going to love it more than you can currently comprehend (yes, more than any of the other stories you've been writing; you have no idea). Please keep at it.

You can definitely skip Hogia, the bit where May beats up the random school bullies, the bit that talks about your weird Pokémon evolution headcanon (it's not going to be your headcanon for very long, because it's weird), the bit about all the low-level cloned Mewtwo running around wanting to take over the world, the bit where Mark is saved by a species of fake Pokémon that will never be brought up again, and the bit where he randomly bumps into the Waraider herd in chapter 29 or whatever it was, though. Some of your bad ideas will eventually lead to something good by some labyrinthine chain of reasoning (lots of them! You are some kind of secret genius of happy accidents!), but those just won't.

Dear 2004-self: Look, I don't know what possessed you to do this weird ~~~~destiny~~~~ thing in this revision where you decide convoluted coincidences happening to Mark are really because he is IMPORTANT TO THE FATE OF THE WORLD, but please just take that entire idea and throw it into the sea. Also, you are actually allowed to do stuff like not have Mark read the book about all the Ouen legendaries! The entire identity of the fic won't collapse if you just have him already know about the legendaries in his own region. Really. It's okay.

Also, this revision is going to take way longer than you think. It is the one you'll finish, though! Don't give up!

Dear 2005-self, you are being a total jerk to all these kids whose only crime is being a bit too excited about your fanfic (this is a great problem to have, honest). Stop being a repellent grouch telling people off if their reviews aren't up to your lofty standards. One day you will wonder how anyone ever put up with you.

You don't actually have to describe what all the Pokémon look like. Really. You don't have to do it while hating it and complaining about it. You can just not do it. As it turns out, nobody actually minds and nobody will even notice when you finally do stop it.

Dear 2007-self: Hooooo boy Morphic is not going to be anything like what you think it will be. You're not going to need that chapter two; just skip it and introduce the characters when they appear. Also, Jack and Gabriel are best friends and this is important. You should probably mention this at some point before the halfway point of the story. And write the villains better for God's sake argh.

That total jerkass dude you spontaneously wrote into chapter one? Yeah, he's going to be like your favorite character ever, and you're going to write thousands of words of extras about him and the Scyther morph. Don't be alarmed.

Dear 2014-self: JUST START THE DAMN DRAGON BATTLE OVER INSTEAD OF PUTTING IT OFF YOU CAN STILL INCLUDE THE ONE BIT YOU ACTUALLY LIKE ABOUT IT

 

[SilentMemento]

Fifteen-year-old Mem - Your writing sucks. I'm going to be very honest with you: it sucks utter ***. You're writing the one thing that you will hate (a Mary-Sue/Gary-Stu) in a plot that makes zero sense. Your other fic isn't much better, to be honest. It still sucks ***, but you're going to be very interested in the main character. Also? When you get older, you're going to wish that you could churn out chapters like you're doing now...but you'll look back and say that at least they aren't utter ****.

Sixteen/seventeen-year-old Mem - Listen to your friends. You don't have to be anything you're not in writing and in life. Don't get down on yourself so much from what other people say. So what if people you constructively critique say that you should've been aborted? That doesn't give you the right to flame the stories of newer writers who had nothing to do with it. You may think it's cathartic, and yes, that revenge fic is going to be totally ****ing hilarious to look back on, but you'll regret everything you do from those almost-three years down the line.

Eighteen/nineteen-year-old Mem - Please ****ing hell write better. You know that you're capable of so much more, but you're still writing like **** because you're stuck. I get it. You're stuck on what to write, you think you've found friends, you think you've changed for the better. You haven't, and you need to. Not only for others, but for yourself.

Twenty-year-old Mem - Good fate, listen to what Psychic is saying about your first writing of Revenant, especially about the horror; you'll need it later on. You will learn amazing advice from her and others on the forums. Also, don't be so afraid to talk to people. The people here are not like the people you've met in real life. The people on Serebii are so amazing, and they will love you for who you are. This isn't FFN; it's better. In every way. Don't be afraid of the moderators or anyone else.

Twenty-one-year-old Mem - Listen, kid, I know that you want to finish Revenant so badly, that it's your baby, but it's for your own good that you don't. You can recycle the characters that you made, put them in another story, but writing the scene you're planning is going to screw with your mind for the rest of your life. It doesn't help that the story is evolving in a way that you won't be able to control. You're going to put it down eventually two years later, but the damage will have been done.

Twenty-two-year-old Mem - Jeez, kid, listen to Dragonfree about research! The Unfortunate Truth to the Pokemon Ideal was an ambitious project for sure, but really, one-third of all kids who go on a journey die? What the **** kind of sick logic is that? Details, research, etc., you need it if you're ever going to become a successful writer. Listen to her. It's upsetting to hear it, yes, but you're not the hotshot you think you are. Revenant and TUTtoPI don't make you the absolute ****. Just...stop. Re-evaluate if you ever want to be serious about writing or if it's just a hobby to you.

Twenty-three-year-old Mem - Writing isn't just a hobby to you. It is literally the only thing that is going to get you out of the mess you're in. It is the only outlet in the world. Also, diamondpearl, GingerDixie, Meeker, Jax, Knightfall, and Cutlerine, amongst many other people are all going to help you come up with amazing characters. Thank them profusely because they would've never been born without them. All of those ideas would've never gotten off the ground without your friends. You would've never dug yourself out of your hole without those friends. Thank them, for fate's sake!

All incarnations of Mem - Listen...you're going to find something out about yourself at a very young age. You're going to be confused, scared, in denial. A lot of people are going to ask about it. You will say "no" every time. You think that you can't possibly be a girl because you were biologically born a boy. You are wrong. Your parents are wrong. You are worthy of love, and everyone like you and everyone in the world is worthy of love. Spread that love in the stories that you start writing before you turn twenty-four. Don't turn in on yourself. Don't harden your heart to the world. You have friends who will love you for who you are, love your stories for what they are. Even your characters will love you, even if you're cruel to them or kill them off. They won't judge you. Not now. Not ever. Write for yourself. Write for your true family. Write for the people who didn't make it to see you, and the folks who struggle every day. Give them your heart, your soul, and you will be at peace.

...I'm sorry if this turned more personal than expected.

 

[Firebrand]

14 year old Firebrand, you aren't half as clever as you think you are. You've got a ways to go, but don't worry. You'll get there

Also, you should probably experiment with more short fiction. That was probably a thing I should have done, instead of turning every project into a 300+ page novel.

 

[Bay]

And lastly, stop obsessing about getting reviews. I know that you love reviews, and you still will for pretty much every time you post a fic on here, but you shouldn't put more importance on them than your actual writing. Don't get discouraged when you post a fic that gets very few reviews or doesn't get any at all. Take them as learning points and work from there. Trust me, the less you worry about what comes after the writing and posting, the more you'll appreciate it when it happens.

My younger self pretty much needs this and even now I still need this, haha.

As for other things I want to say to myself:

It's okay to not have all your writings several thousand words. If your one shots or chapters are shorter than expected, it's all right. It's good to flesh out scenes, but it's also okay if you use less words to get something across. Even 200 word fics/scenes can be fun.

Don't get too hung up on the technical stuff too much. Yes the first few fics you have done has a lot of tense problems and awkward sentences. Your grammar has gotten much better, but you still stop sometimes because you worried if that sentence makes sense. Worry about that later when editing.

 

[Omegagoldfish]

I have made a lot of errors in the past (don't try looking for them, in a fit of shame I removed everything and made amends for every insult, and even things that may be construed as an insult).

I would certainly warn my prior self about respect and humility, and tell him to check everything multiple times over, (nobody wants some novice advertising their notes).

I would impart the knowledge that sometimes word-count is needed, and elaborate on the use of colons and semicolons.

And I probably would tell him of all the errors I made in the past, causing him to fix them. (Forget about the paradox thing; it doesn't help here.)

 

[Praxiteles]

Don't worry about being good so much! The thing is, I realize now, I had to have an incredibly inflated idea of myself as an exceptional writer or I wouldn't enjoy doing the work, putting it out or reading it. This became such a problem that I was phenomenally bad at bad reviews -- the idea of my stories having something to improve on was too unbearable and I usually ended up ignoring concrit. Being good is such a difficult issue for new writers.

Stay connected with fellow writers, same as Psychic. Keep listening to the technical advice they give and discuss. Don't try to go off and do everything all on your own. It's very interesting, but it's not even as perfect as you think/hope. Also, it's very good to have friends! Don't isolate so much!

Hmmm. Try to write for yourself, don't write for writing. When you see all the exciting/current things in poetry or writing as some kind of new skill that you must become competent at, you miss out on why they were popular at all. They're popular because they resonate with people's experiences, and they're really good to engage with. Then also, Don't be ashamed to enjoy something you do because you think it's too beginner.

You are never going to stop writing. Nothing will ever be able to stop you from writing. Instead, you'd be better off paying attention to the rest of the things in your life.

 

[AmericanPi]

Dear thirteen-year-old Pi: Not all responses to stories are created equal. Really, there's a huge difference between "Nice fic" and a detailed review, and you'd better learn to appreciate detailed reviews far more than short comments that don't mean much.

Dear fourteen-year-old Pi: Just because people do not say there are things to work on doesn't mean that there really aren't things to work on. A couple of years from now you're going to look back at the stuff you're writing right now and realize how many mistakes you're making. Also, Articuno_rocks is not going to stick as a username. Articuno will always be your all-time favorite Pokemon, but you'll find that American--Pi is a much better and less noobish username.

Dear fifteen-year-old Pi: For the love of Arceus, participate in the fanfiction community instead of just posting your fanfics. You're missing out on a whole lot by not reading and commenting on other people's fanfics or interacting with fellow writers. And when JX Valentine PM's you telling you to actually read the fanfic nominees before voting, respond to the PM and actually do it instead of just disappearing oh my god.

Dear sixteen-year-old Pi: Please, please, please do not take that megapause from writing. Yes, fanart is interesting and fun, but don't give up writing entirely in favor of it. If you kept writing maybe you wouldn't be depressed right now.

Dear seventeen-year-old Pi: Writing is really going to help you get out of your depression, so please get back into it. Heck, get more hobbies in general. Doing something is always better than doing nothing, and if you have something to occupy yourself with you'll spend less time thinking about how miserable you are.

@SilentMemento Don't worry about your advice to your younger self being personal. I found it to be touching and quite relataable, and as you can see my advice is quite personal too.

 

[Mrs. Lovett]

The first version of Deeds of Darkness was the best one.
I'm not talking about the writing mechanics (which you still have a long way to improve on) as much as I'm talking about the soul of the story and its characters. Beneath all of the awkwardness and illogicality, the original version was a mix of quirky personalities and everyday lightheartedness in a world of serious affairs and looming terror, and I think you underestimate the worth of having that kind of balance in a story. Yes, it's nice that this time around you have a cool mythology laid out and can now vividly describe someone being attacked by Darkrai. But in the end, it was the figures of your characters, with all their hopes and everyday conversations, juxtaposed against that darkness, that made the original story satisfying to read. It's what managed to get me, a college student, to smile during some bad days after rereading it. (And now I'm immensely grateful that you actually managed to get your act together and finish the whole thing, even if you never did post it entirely.) In contrast, when I reread many of your rewrites, I dislike them. The first one you attempted was the best, since you stayed true to your characters' original selves and put as much focus on them and their relationships as on the Darkrai hauntings and swarms of red-eyed pokemon. In short, DOD still retained its human element. But for some reason you abandoned that revision, and now during these later revisions you've begun to treat the writing like a game -- mixing some exotic, cool-sounding phrases into the description and amping up the horror as much as possible in the hopes that the result will be a dark epic. But no matter how many times you tried, it still didn't work. Because you weren't really putting your heart in what you were writing.

But don't worry. You might feel like you're stuck in a loop with DOD right now, but the feeling will pass. Remember that story you just got an idea for in the middle of that latest revision project? Stick with it. It's a good one. And date that journal page so I'll have a memory of when you started it! You date all of your story beginnings, why not this one?? (But it's pointless, you won't listen to me. )

It's good to be daring.
There were lots of characters and plot bunnies you came up with over the years that, to the older me, seem simply preposterous. They're crazy and borderline-illogical, and if you had posted all of them, people would probably treat them as a joke. And yet, those are still some of my favorite ideas. And now I'm putting them into stories, applying all of my present skills to make them work. Because now I know that with proper care, you can make nearly anything work -- but the only ideas worth putting in that effort for are the ones you're truly passionate about. So I'm glad you wrote out everything that was in your head. I want to let you know that I haven't abandoned all of it. And the fact that you weren't daunted at the prospect of writing something you wanted to write about is what inspires me to keep that attitude now, and maybe someday write a story you never thought would come from your hands.

 

[jireh the provider]

Your story filled with reflections will change, never permanent:

Throughout my early writing days, I just write to fill out my pain and vendetta to the people that hurt me, my criticisms to human history, and my disgust with humanity in general. Everything I wrote for myself before was more of "Humanity Sucks, every nation is evil, and if only I could just commit the grandest of genocides to be alone and restart this civilization all over again! Die Humans! DIE!" I really sound like Chara from Undertale, huh? Had it not been for my college days and perceptions, I would had made the forbidden choice of joining the ultimate genocidal groups (like ISIS may be as of now?). Not at all. But just hate myself in general.

Highlight the important details of a character:

This is something that you could consider an important factor in making a character. While you could describe someone as much as you could, you need the most important parts highlighted. The minor ones can be patterned out by the readers.

 

[AniPendragon]

Don't stress over the little things... You're going to have so much going on in the next few years, so don't sweat the little details. Don't worry about missing an upload date or a comma here and there. Focus on staying healthy and safe.

Don't listen to the haters... There's going to be people who hate your fics for no good reason. Don't let that destroy your love of fanfiction for three years.

Don't delete all your fanfiction... You will lose your harddrive in early 2011/late 2010. Don't delete everything off FFN because it'll be gone FOREVER.

Don't force yourself to write every day... You will burn out inside of a month and not write again for three. It's not worth it. Write five days a week, or even two. But don't try and churn out 3k a day. You can't sustain it. You will lose so much time trying.

Don't hide who you are... You'll spend so long hating yourself that it'll show in your writing. Be cocky. Write those Mary Sue original fiction stories. Enjoy your power fantasies. Don't care if people think they're dumb. Write them because they make you feel better about yourself. They kept you safe in the darkest of times. You need that.

On Gender... You're going to spend five years trying to understand why you don't feel like a girl. Look up the word agender and stop all that before it consumes your life and makes you hate yourself and everything else. Oh, and you're asexual. It's pretty great.

 

[Omegagoldfish]

I'd warn myself about the machines...

 

[0bss1d1ankn1ght]

I'd tell my younger self to save the many failed writings that I didn't finish.