justthehopeleft

[justthehopeleft]

ᴛɪᴘꜱ ꜰᴏʀ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇʀꜱ [ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴀ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇʀ]

don't let your skill in writing deter you. publishers look for the storyline, not always excellent writing. many of the greatest books came from mediocre writers—and also excellent and terrible ones.

keep writing even when it sucks. you don't know how to write this battle scene yet? skip ahead. write [battle scene here] and continue. in the end, you'll still have a book—and you can fill in the blanks later.

find your motivation. whether it's constantly updating That One Friend or posting your progress, motivation is key.

write everything down. everything. you had the perfect plot appear to you in a dream? scribble down everything you can remember as so as you can. I like to keep cue cards on my nightstand just in case.

play with words. titles, sentences, whatever. a lot of it will probably change either way, so this is the perfect opportunity to try out a new turn of phrase—or move along on one you're not quite sure clicks yet.

explain why, don't tell me. if something is the most beautiful thing a character's ever laid eyes on, describe it—don't just say "it's beautiful".

ask for critique. you will always be partial to your writing. getting others to read it will almost always provide feedback to help you write even better.

stick to the book—until they snap. write a character who is disciplined, courteous, and kind. make every interaction to reinforce the reader's view as such. but when they're left alone, when their closest friend betrays them, when the world falls to their feet...make them finally break.

magic. has. limits. there is no "infinite well" for everyone to draw from, nor "infinite spells" that have been discovered. magic has a price. magic has a limit. it takes a toll on the user—otherwise why can't they simply snap their fingers and make everything go their way?

read, read, read. reading is the source of inspiration.

first drafts suck. and that's putting it gently. ignoring all the typos, unfinished sentences, and blatant breaking of each and every grammar rules, there's still a lot of terrible. the point of drafts is to progress and make it better: it's the sketch beneath an oil painting. it's okay to say it's not great—but that won't mean the ideas and inspiration are not there. first drafts suck, and that's how you get better.

write every day. get into the habit—one sentence more, or one hundred pages, both will train you to improve.

more is the key to improvement. more writing, more reading, more feedback, and you can only get better. writing is a skill, not a talent, and it's something that grows with you.

follow the rules but also scrap them completely. as barbossa wisely says in PotC, "the code is more what you'd call 'guidelines' than actual rules". none of this is by the book, as ironic as that may be.

write for yourself. I cannot stress this enough. if what you do is not something you enjoy, it will only get harder. push yourself, but know your limits. know when you need to take a break, and when you need to try again. write for yourself, and you will put out your best work.

[justthehopeleft]

i highly recommend just writing whatever into your story without consideration for several chapters and then looking back at the mess you’ve created and trying to make sense of it. 90% of my worldbuilding cascades from the fact that i had someone try to pass off a coffee machine as a torture device.

[justthehopeleft]

Sometimes the first draft of a story is just a bunch of bullet points with some extra thoughts in brackets and that’s okay

[justthehopeleft]

We interrupt this lovely readalong for more HarperCollins union news.

Namely, the union is on strike. HarperCollins, the second largest publishing house in the United States, has made record profits (in the billions) but refuses to pay its employees a living wage or negotiate in good faith. Unlike the one-day strike earlier this year, this will be an open-ended strike, to last until a fair, good-faith contract is agreed upon.

I cannot overstate the implications here. HarperCollins is a 200-year-old behemoth with over 120 imprints, owned by billionaire Rupert Murdoch. You have reads books from this company, I guarantee it. You have enjoyed movies and TV shows spawned by this company. The workers striking at the blood and sweat responsible for launching those properties you love. And as Harper goes, so goes the rest of the industry. If we raise the living standards for one, so the pressure increases on other companies to raise it for all.

The Harper Union need your support. They have a full thread here, but here’s the gist of what they’re asking:

EVERYONE:

- Donate to the strike fund if you can

- Politely email Harper’s HR (peopleteam@harpercollins.com) and the CEO (brian.murray@harpercollins.com) to express your support for the strike and the union.

- Boost their message on social media and among your social circles (here are some assets you can use to do that)

- If you are in the NY metro area, come join the picket line at 195 Broadway in Manhattan!

BLOGGERS/REVIEWERS/BOOKSTAGRAMMERS/BOOKTOKERS:

- If possible, please hold all reviews of Harper titles until the strike is over. (And I would add, if you feel comfortable doing so, tell Harper why.)

FREELANCERS/INDUSTRY HOPEFULS:

- Don’t be a scab. Don’t take new freelance projects or temporary positions while the strike is ongoing.

BOOKSTORES/BOOKSELLERS:

- Share the “I Stand With” graphic

- Print and distribute the union bookmark at your store

AUTHORS/AGENTS:

- Do not submit or sign new contracts to Harper until the union’s own contract is finalized.

———

Please note they are not asking for a boycott on Harper titles. A boycott would harm the authors, who have nothing to do with this, so the union is explicitly requesting no boycott.

Also, please do not @ Harper social accounts to yell at them. Direct all feedback to that peopleteam email. The majority of folks watching those accounts are out on the picket line anyways, and their managers have already been warned that, as non-union members, they risk termination if voice any public support for the strike.

For more info, check out the union’s accounts on Twitter and Instagram. I also recommend this Twitter thread for some hard facts and figures.

Want something you can share on TikTok? Check out Carmen’s video here.

[justthehopeleft]

hey. yeah it happened- yeah it happened again. yeah I got caught up in the magic of storytelling again sorry. it will happen again

[justthehopeleft]

ᴡʀɪᴛɪɴɢ ʀᴇꜱᴏᴜʀᴄᴇꜱ - ʟɪɴᴋꜱ

word count + tracking progress - nanowrimo -> "Writing a novel alone can be difficult, even for seasoned writers. NaNoWriMo helps you track your progress, set milestones, connect with other writers in a vast community, and participate in events that are designed to make sure you finish your novel. Oh, and best of all, it’s free!"

every name on this planet - fantasy name generators -> "There are over 1400 name generators, as well as many description generators, guides and various tools you might find helpful. "

simplify your writing - Hemingway editor -> The app highlights complex sentences and offers helpful suggestions (sorry, Grammarly).

understanding words - vocabulary -> "Whether you’re looking up a specific word or just browsing, you’ll find a universe of friendly explanations and fun activities designed to educate and entertain."

focus / pomodoro timer - pomofocus -> "The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. It uses a kitchen timer to break work into intervals, typically 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks."

focus writing - zenpen -> "A minimalist writing zone, where you can block out all distractions and get to what's important. The writing!"

writing prompts / feedback / contest - reedsy prompts -> "Join (probably?) the world's largest writing contest. Flex those creative muscles with weekly writing prompts."

write 3 pages / day - 750 words -> Learn to habit-write, and get results + information on your writing consistency, speed, distractions, etc. The goal is 750 words—three pages.

black market information - havocscope -> "Havocscope provides information and threat intelligence on the global black market. Due to the ability of transnational threats to cause financial losses and social harms, key statistics and data about the illegal economy is provided to help mitigate this risk. The information about the black market has been collected from government agencies, academic studies, media reports, and reported data from our sources."

baby character names - nameberry -> "Baby names by the experts at Nameberry, including popular names and unique names, baby girl names and baby boy names and gender neutral names too. We've got baby name lists, news and a revolutionary name generator. It's more than a name, it's an identity."

[justthehopeleft]

For the last goddamn time...

"Kill your darlings" means "if something is holding you back, get rid of it, even if it sounds pretty."

That's it! That's all it means! It means if you're stuck and stalled out on your story and you could fix the whole block by removing something but you're avoiding removing that thing because it's good, you remove that thing. That's the darling.

It does NOT mean

That you have to get rid of your self-indulgent writing

That you should delete something just because you like it (?wtf?)

That you need to kill off characters (??? what)

That you have to pare your story down to the absolute bare bones

That you have to delete anything whatsoever if you don't want to

The POINT is that you STOP FEELING GUILTY for throwing out good writing that isn't SERVING THE STORY.

The POINT is that you don't get so HUNG UP on the details that you lose sight of the BIG PICTURE.

Good grief....

[justthehopeleft]

Promote your stuff.

Every day I see artists and writers hesitate in promoting themselves at least once a day on social media and also on that very day I see 100 ads for 10 shows I have no interest in watching, 1000 ads for 100 cars I'll never want to buy, etc.

Promote your stuff.

Repost old stuff.

[justthehopeleft]

we transposed your girlfriend into a minor key. yeah she’s much more interesting and sinister now

[justthehopeleft]

intense writing things (exposing things that writers do)

discovering a major plot point of their WIP halfway through and just adding it in with any other changes, telling themselves they'll "go back and revise it later"

lots of staring at a blinking cursor hoping it'll magically write

abandoning their main WIP at a crucial part to write the mini WIP that floated into their thoughts

thinking more about what they're going to write than actually writing

complaining about their favourite character dying off in a novel while simultaneously creating a character whose death will be painful for the reader in their WIP

— (iykyk)

can only write during a certain (extremely inconvenient) time of day

"look I wrote another 10 words" to anyone who will listen

knowing the entirety of the plot but nothing at all when you open a new paper

knowing the exact definitions of the most obscure words but forgetting the simplest things

writing a sentence, being proud of it, finding it again while editing, being really proud, sending it to your friend, realizing it's from Percy Jackson or some other popular equivalent.

smiling in pain when your friend asks you about the wip you abandoned months ago ("I know I will finish it this time")

[justthehopeleft]

im obsessed with stories that have a fixed ending before they even start. stories with narrators who are crying as they tell it because there is only one way this can end.

there is only one way this can go.

stories where the characters might know how it all ends and beg the audience to change it, knowing they can't. stories where the characters are unaware, but given the people they are and the situations they're in- well, what else are they supposed to do?

stories that are loops. that start with everyone dying and getting back up again to do it one more time.

because this time, maybe, it will be different.

the narrator cries.

[justthehopeleft]

I AM HAUNTED BY A PAST I CANNOT GO BACK TO !!!!!! anyways

[justthehopeleft]

i am doing so good at properly introducing my wips so that i can talk about them! anyway i finished the fall play

[justthehopeleft]

Hey I went to Finishing Your Wips island. Yeah nobody knew you there :/

[justthehopeleft]

i’m so sick of sequel and spin-off culture. sometimes stories are just over and that’s ok. there’s nothing more unsatisfying to me than when a story has a complete narrative that works well and then a sequel comes out.

[justthehopeleft]

you can instantly make a cool female character if you just take any stereotypically masculine character type and make him a butch lady. easiest trick in the book. you can try this at home

[justthehopeleft]

you know that expression, "dance like no one is watching you?"

try writing like no one is going to read it

it's easier to let yourself go and just enjoy the process of creation when you aren't also playing 6 dimensional chess with your insecurities and anxieties

write because you have fun writing and if you never post it anywhere that's totally fine because you enjoyed your time with the process