Fan favorite Lore Olympus fanfic series “Talisman” by Verdiwithin is now complete! The story is so epic it’s longer than all the Lord of the Rings books combined, and the author completed it in just over a year. In honor of this huge accomplishment, we put together a few of our favorites (mostly complete stories). This is only a quick list, so for more reccs, check our the other reccs here on our tumblr. Comment the kind of fanfic you’d like to read and/or your personal favorites!
It’s not uncommon for writers to rely on filler words while writing—and especially while first drafting. From filter phrases to adverbs all over the place, drafts that aren’t scrutinized to condense the writing are often full of words that unnecessarily clog up the writing.
Good news is while this is totally not something you should worry about while first drafting (seriously), when the time comes to take care of this issue, it’s relatively easy to do. Time-consuming and painstaking, yes, but thankfully not too difficult to do.
To make it even easier, however, I’ve decided to add to my how to make cuts without losing anything useful post with more easy-to-remove words to look out for.
- Starts/begins to. This is actually a tip I picked up from my editor, and it’s a good one—9/10 times when you preface an action with “starts to” or “begins to” you don’t need that phrase. Just by describing the action, the readers assume it’s just started unless otherwise stated.
- Immediately/without warning. Like “suddenly” these words are usually unnecessary. I’ll refer you to the other post for a longer explanation.
- That. I’m not going to say you never need “that”, but oftentimes I find “that” is super overused. In sentences like “She said that I should go,” for example, removing the “that” improves the flow and we don’t lose anything by cutting it.
- Up/Down. For these two I only mean in very specific cases: sitting up/down, standing up/down, etc. In those cases, the up/down is unnecessary.
- Dialogue + action tag. I see this a lot, and tend to do this a lot when first drafting and just slapping words down, but when you have a dialogue tag and an action tag, you usually only need one—and oftentimes I go with the action tag because it’s more visual (although there are exceptions, of course). So, for example: “‘Where’ve you been?’ he said, scowling” could be condensed to “'Where’ve you been?’ He scowled.”
- -ly adverbs. One of my last condensing steps is to go through and do a search for “ly” to cut down on my adverbs. While I definitely don’t recommend removing all of them (adverbs can be useful!), writers in general tend to use them more than necessary, so it can be good to go through and do a quick sweep.
So those are some words I look out for when condensing my writing—what phrases or words would you add to the list?
for the self-conscious beginner: No one makes great things until the world intimately knows their mediocrity. Don’t think of your writing as terrible; think of it as preparing to contribute something great.
for the self-conscious late bloomer: Look at old writing as how far you’ve come. You can’t get to where you are today without covering all that past ground. For that, be proud.
for the perfectionist: Think about how much you complain about things you love—the mistakes and retcons in all your favorite series—and how you still love them anyway. Give yourself that same space.
for the realist: There will be people who hate your story even if it’s considered a classic. But there will be people who love your story, even if it strange and unpopular.
for the fanfic writer: Your work is not lesser for not following canon. When you write, you’ve created a new work on its own. It can be, but does not have to be, limited by the source material. Canon is not the end-all, be-all.
for the writer’s blocked: It doesn’t need to be perfect. Sometimes you have to move on and commit a few writing sins if it means you can create better things out of it.
for the lost: You started writing for a reason; remember that reason. It’s ok to move on. You are more than your writing. It will be here if you want to come back.
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Pro Tip: Sign up for an AO3 account here. If you’re worried about anonymity, use a shell email and make an absurd username. The benefits of getting an account:
- You get more fics! Many writers have their work “locked” to only registered users.
- Searching is easier because you can save the fandoms you’re interested in
- Going back to old favorites or wanna catch up later? “Bookmark” or “Mark for Later”
- Commenting! More than kudos, writers thrive on comments. Even a simple heart emoji means a lot, but if you’re not sure what to say, check out this “Comment Builder” tool another group created to help give ideas for amazing comments.
- Use DARK MODE! With an account you can go to Preferences–>Site Skin–>Reversi, and voila! Dark mode ;)
Now that the PSA is out of the way, how do we search and find what we’re looking for?
In order to publish to Archive of Our Own (AO3), you must fill out several data fields for each piece of fan fiction. Beyond improving your fic’s searchability, these data points are important for a more crucial reason - your readers’ safety.
Girl Wonder Podcast hosts the first voice actor reading of Lore Olympus fanfiction, with the amazing Ruka, Socks, and Hupa. Short stories featured here include:
“A Quiet Place” by Goldielochs
“Cold and Broken” by Scholarly Dragon
“Distraction” by Jessy Ellis.
Jo from Girl Wonder Podcast reads segments of three Lore Olympus fanfiction from these short stories:
“Changes” by Little_Goddess_Aries
“Don’t Dwell On It” by ScarletInWonderland
“The Wedding Singer” by Juliabsquared
Girl Wonder Podcast hosts another live fan fiction reading! For Lore Olympus, she has talented voice actor Ruka Samuels read the first chapter of “Smol King” by Myth is a Mirror, a short story about de-aged Hades and his babysitter for the day - Persephone.
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: GRAPHIC VIOLENCE, RAPE/NON-CON
Status: IN PROGRESS
Relationship(s): Hades/Persephone, Hades/Minthe, Hera/Zeus
Tags: Intrusive Thoughts, Angst, Slow Burn, Domestic Abuse, Mention of rape, Jealousy, Insults
After the incident with Minthe, Hades is at his wits end. After his brother tell him he’s unwelcome, he takes this advice and leaves. Let Olympus manage without him. He isn’t important anyway, right?