That gives me an idea, actually, to start the story at the year end feast. Dumbledore announces his retirement, to the shock of all the students save for Harry, who of course knows that he and the Headmaster now have a job to do.

I don't really know why I was so wed to starting w/ the graveyard and then jumping to seventh year.

Well, I do, actually. It was because I've already written a chunk of the graveyard stuff and obviously since I had written it I felt it was important and could never, ever be scrapped.

But you're right. I should start where the story starts.

 

Those are the ones worth reading.

 

I can hardly be bothered to post my fic to FFnet, but I'm contemplating opening an account on AO3 or one of the other fanfic sites in an attempt to dredge up some of the attention which fuels my writing.

Is it worth posting on AO3, or is traffic there low? Is there anywhere I should be posting a HP fic? Should I be DLP exclusive and only allow my elite comrades here to read what I write?

Questions. Hmm.

 

I personally do the majority of my fanfic reading on ao3 these days - the community is a lot more active and it's easy to find specific tropes. I do feel like people comment a bit less than on ffn though.

 

Also, FFN spams ads on mobile, whereas AO3 runs on donations, so doesn't have those. Plus, the mobile site actually works really nicely, rather than being a steaming torrent of shit.

 

Meh, I mainly use the FFNet app which isn't too bad.

 

One major thing the FFNet app has going for it (for me, anyway) is its Text to Speech functionality. With AO3 I have to download the fic and then open up the .epub in a different app. Not a huge bother, but a few extra steps that FFNet cuts out for me.

Of course, I don't imagine many people listen to fics so this is probably a very small issue.

 

I'm looking for a word which is on the tip of my tongue.

It is similar to "predicted" or "preview" but neither of those. Its use is to refer back to something previously only touched upon or hinted at. It is a quite formal, almost archaic word.

I.e. at the beginning of a text you mention something in passing. Then later in the text you write "as pre-xxx above...." and then you go into the topic in proper detail.

I'm fairly certain it begins with "pre-". It may also contain the letter L. It's basically a synonym for "hinted at", "touched upon" or "alluded to", but the thesaurus isn't turning it up when I put those in.

 

Preestablished? It's a lot stronger than "hinted at", but its the only word I can think of that fullfills all your specifications.

 

foreshadowed

-edit-

also, predicated (not to be confused with predicted)

 

Prelibation?

 

Prefaced, I'm thinking. Possibly preambled. As a stretch, proffered or in prelusion.

 

Predilect/Predilection

Doesn't quite fit the definition, but it sounds right.

 

I have one question:

Is suicide an acceptable option when you realise the fourth chapter of your story could very well be the first? It feels as if I've just wasted two months of my life writing superfluous nonsense.

I've been doing some research and I think pills are the way to go. Thoughts?

 

Well, you do get better at writing by writing, so even if you won't publish those chapters, it's okay, since the ones that you do publish will be better cause of it. At least that's what I'd like to think.

 

Part of the process is going back to that thing you wrote a year or two ago and realising "Huh, this is complete garbage." If you realise something from the past is bad, you've clearly learned from writing it. Now you just gotta bite the metaphorical bullet, scrap the old stuff, and start fresh. Good luck!

 

I would take some inspiration from the successful writers and do it the slow way, so pour yourself some whiskey!

 

I feel attacked.

@Niez, the writing advice tends toward starting the story as close to the end as possible. That does not discount prologues, or you as the writer finding the start point even if it takes a meandering path to get there.

If you recognise that the story is better off starting at Chapter Four, just remember that most people never get to Chapter Four, and those that do rarely have the courage to ax the first three unnecessary chapters.