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Do you ever read a piece of your own writing and just go oh damn

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if you’re a writer, reblog with the font and program you use when you write

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Allow yourself to be a beginner. No one starts off being excellent.

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Which OC claims they’re tough and have no emotions and don’t care about anyone, but as soon as That One Person is in danger they go all 

Bonus: who is That One Person?

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I’ve got literally no inspiration to write and just thinking about my WIPs gives me crippling anxiety.

But also I reeaaally want to write something.

In conclusion, help.

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it’s official

I am FAR too invested in the lives of fictional characters

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How to Write A First Draft

What? I give advice? Even though I prove on a daily basis that I don’t know what I’m doing? Yes. Because this writing advice HINGES on you not knowing what you’re doing, so it’s well within my jurisdiction.

Treat your first draft like you’re doing nothing but taking notes

You’re not trying to make each paragraph all perfect and literary, you’re just letting yourself know what goes where.

Like, your first draft is 100% allowed to be:

The Room was square. It had purple curtains and the walls were white. It was cold and the floor creaked.  

Like, that got the description down and out the way so you’re free to write the next paragraph, and the next, and the next, until you’ve stumbled your way into a full book. A book full of wooden descriptions and dialogue like [insert heartfelt response], but a book. As it’s been said before, it’s easier to edit a bad book than a blank page.

But you wrote that, so next draft you can sit down with and turn it into something that sounds, you know, less like cardboard, like:

She pushed the door open and peered into the hidden room. The perfectly square configuration was almost as cold as the blank white walls and the chill that cut into her lungs. Through her foggy breath she could see dusty curtains- faded purple, a color choice that made her frown. The floor creaked under each careful step as she made to examine them closer.

There. A paragraph that is objectively better than the last one.

My point is, don’t let the fear of writing ‘badly’ stop you from writing at all. Give yourself permission! Do it on purpose! Wake and up and decide you’re going to write everything that way as terribly as you possibly can, write the whole damn thing that way if you have to, revel in flat characters and and choppy transitions and missing subplots, as long as you’re prepared to revise it later.

Just let yourself suck sometimes. Life gets a lot easier.

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I did something absolutely terrifying yestersay. I let people *dramatic pause* read my work!! Even though it wasn’t my WIP, it was still something I put a lot of effort into. I have a lot of mixed emotions about it, but mostly I’m grateful that my impulseive self actually went through with it. I feel like I’ve knocked down one of the big, tall, scary, conpletely imaginary walls preventing me from putting myself out there doing the things I’ve always dreamed of doing. So pat on the back for me. And all the glittery gold stars.

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It’s getting easier to write every time I sit down. I think I’ve worked myself out of my rut. Hope I can keep that momentum up.

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I wrote 400 words today and like... I know it’s a very small number but damn, it felt good. I haven’t been able to sit down write anything over 100 words at a time in a while and I’m proud of myself. 

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New Tumblr / Writeblr

I’m back to Tumblr-land, and this time, I solemnly swear to actually commit and make an effort to connect to other people here instead of occasionally shouting things into the void. 😆 I especially want to get to know other writers here. If you’re a writeblr and wouldn’t mind new friends, please like, reblog or otherwise react to this post so I can follow you!

My main WIP right now is Tales from the Witch House, also known as my current Camp NaNoWriMo project. It’s a story about a number of witches, shapeshifters, vampires, friendly neighborhood lovecraftian monsters and other supernatural beings squatting in a semi-abandoned house together. It’s new adult slice of life urban fantasy, very queer, very character-driven, and unapologetically full of all my favorite tropes: a lot of found family goodness, a poly relationship that combines friends to lovers with enemies to lovers, and more  It’s also a story of growing up, searching for independence, getting to know yourself, other people and the world around you, and the perils of sharing a kitchen with a werejaguar who is a total slob.

Right now, the project is still pretty new, but eventually it’s going to turn into a series of novella-length stories, each with its own protagonist (since there are a lot of important characters here). It’s very likely that I’m going to start publishing it online as a web serial sometime this year. If I don’t get too distracted by the legions of my other WIPs, that is. (I guess I’ll tell you all about them in the future, too, whether you want to or not😂)

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Happy Birthday To Me?

So yesterday I woke up to an email informing me that this Tumblr is a year old. A whole year. And I just thought... “damn.” You know that feeling when you take a thirty minute mid-day nap and wake up in a different millennium? I felt that. Time flew by so fast and I still haven’t done a single thing I set out to do on this blog or in life really. It was the wake up call of a lifetime. I think I finally understand the difference between a dream and a goal and that’s action. So after approximately 26 hours of feeling sorry for myself, I’ve decided it’s time to make like Nike and just do it. I’m going to write this damn book, and I’m going to post original content on this damn blog, and if nobody likes it or cares, oh well! The only failure I’m afraid of at this point is the failure to try. Because I don’t want to die in sixty-something years with a list of things i’m going to do. 

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As I’ve grown as a writer, one unexpected change in the way I view and critique other stories is that I no longer see stories on a scale of good to bad, but from finished to unfinished.

There are rarely ‘bad’ stories, only stories that needed more work to reach their true potential: stories that needed faster pacing, stronger characters, fewer plot holes, a more developed settings, better narration, more editing.

There’s a good story in (almost*) every concept.

What might this mean to us as analytic readers? 

If we look at stories on a scale from unfinished to finished instead of bad to good, the natural response then becomes not “what made this story bad” but “what would I edit to make this story better” which both focuses on positive, growth-oriented thoughts and forces us to dig deeper in our understanding of stories.

Even more important: What should this mean to us as writers? 

It means that we shouldn’t doubt our own concepts and stories so much. 

Even on the days when your story feels like it’s unoriginal and undesirable and not progressing, remember that there aren’t any bad stories, just ones that aren’t done being edited yet. Keep working, keeping writing, keep editing. You have a brilliant story in there somewhere, you’re just pulling it out of the woodwork still.

* Concepts that don’t make good stories are concepts which would actively harms real life oppressed groups even when done well. Viewing stories as finished or unfinished should not include ignoring or dismissing aspects that are harmful to readers.

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How to Make Your Descriptions Less Boring

We’ve all been warned about the dangers of using too much description. Readers don’t want to read three paragraphs about a sunset, we’re told. Description slows down a story; it’s boring and self-indulgent. You should keep your description as short and simple as possible. For those who take a more scientific approach to writing fiction, arbitrary rules abound: One sentence per paragraph. One paragraph per page. And, for god’s sake, “Never open a book with weather” (Elmore Leonard).

But what this conventional wedding wisdom fails to take into account is the difference between static and dynamic description. Static description is usually boring. It exists almost like a painted backdrop to a play. As the name suggests, it doesn’t move, doesn’t interact or get interacted with.

There were clouds in the sky. Her hair was red with hints of orange. The house had brown carpeting and yellow countertops.

In moderation, there’s nothing wrong with static description. Sometimes, facts are facts, and you need to communicate them to the reader in a straightforward manner.

But too much static description, and readers will start to skim forward. They don’t want to read about what the house looks like or the stormy weather or the hair color of each of your protagonist’s seventeen cousins.

Why? Because they can tell it’s not important. They can afford to skip all of your description because their understanding of the story will not be impacted.

That’s where dynamic description comes in. Dynamic description is a living entity. It’s interactive, it’s relevant. It takes on the voices of your narrators and characters. In short, it gives us important information about the story, and it can’t be skimmed over.

So how do you make your description more dynamic so that it engages your readers and adds color and excitement to your story? Here are a few tips.

(I have a TON more tips about setting and description. These are just a few. But I’m trying to keep this short, so if you have any questions or want more advice about this, please feel free to ask me.)

Keep reading

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bro, i dont even care anymore. fuck it! *continues to try very hard*

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THIS IS SO IMPORTANT

Please write stories that are problematic. 

Stories need conflict.

Write them to show what’s healthy. Write them to show what’s unhealthy.

Write them because problematic behaviors exists, and writing is a medium to explore and show– to teach and make the reader think. Shying away from these topics only creates ignorance. 

I see so many people telling writers to avoid anything that could be problematic, like writing about it is supporting it. They fail to see the importance of writing with depth and meaning. 

Writing has always been about conveying thoughts and ideas without fear of censorship. Being able to present problematic situations in a healthy way is important. 

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writing is like keeping plants

Plants come in all different shapes and sizes. Some come from the amazon, where it’s warm and wet all the time, and some come from the desert, where they only see a few inches of rainfall per year. No plant is better than another. I mean, how can anyone not love plants?

Some need to be watered every day, some every week, some even every month or year, but the thing is that they all need to be watered at some point. They’re all good plants, and they all deserve the nutrients, but it’s you that has to tip the watering can first – they can’t do that themselves.

Think of your writing as your very own plant, a new life that you’ve planted and cared for over time. Water your plant. Give it sunlight. Even if it’s only once every month, plants like cactuses only need a couple drops! And even if you don’t care for it for a while, plants can always bounce back and grow new leaves and flowers that are bigger than ever.

So water your plants. Water your writing. One drop at a time.