#BleedingButterfliesBOOK

[sunnyanddumb98]

"As I clean out the dead butterflies of Valentina's heartbreak, I recall the first time I heard the myth. I never thought it was real—butterflies that live in the stomach and flap their wings when a person feels emotions such as love, fear, or anticipation—butterflies that you can lose if you're not careful even bleed them out. Nonsense"

Quote From the book I'm currently writing

[sunnyanddumb98]

"My chest fills with heat, like menthol, my arms tingle until I finally take the photo. They are ugly photos, like a mistake, and most people who see them don't pay much attention when they're in my gallery, but I have many of them, and I love them."

[sunnyanddumb98]

INTRODUCTION

Hi! My name is Karla.

You can find my writing journey and random thoughts, experiments—anything really—mostly poetry, though!

This is not my first foray into Tumblr, but I've never been an active member. About a year ago, I started posting; before that, I just watched in silence since I was fourteen, so bear with me.

At this time, I’m focused on connecting with fellow writers and readers here! I just finished a first draft and want to learn more about the publishing and writing community.

A little bit about me:

Birth Year: 1998

Writing Experience: I've been writing since 2020. I’ve taken this hobby seriously for about just one year.

Publishing Status: Currently editing my first book, "Bleeding Butterflies," and working towards publishing it soon, hopefully!

I want to follow:

Anyone whose writing I enjoy, but I truly don't have a specific taste; I’m recently discovering this world.

Writer’s writers

Folks who are willing to engage and have fun

Genres I Write:

Literary fiction

Magic realism

Poetry

Nonfiction

Expect:

I write stories about flawed characters navigating complex situations. I'm not very good with warnings because I'm not really good at evaluating what may trigger some people. I'm known for talking about sensitive issues in a candid, nonchalant, almost cavalier way, so beware. But please, please, please let me know if there's something you need me to tag!

Thank you for joining me on this exciting journey. I can’t wait to share more with you and get to know this wonderful community better!

[sunnyanddumb98]

I have been writing a book for the last year called Bleeding Butterflies. For the first few months, I wrote only in my spare time, taking forever to write 10,000 words. During that time, I took a trip to location, but mostly from October 2023 to March 2024, I was living my life as usual and taking notes.

Then I committed. For me, commitment needs something to lose, specifically money. So I spent 2,000 USD on an online coaching plan called The Novelry, and I spent the rest of the year until yesterday writing the next 50,000 words.

My day looked like this: waking up at 6:30 AM, training for an hour, having breakfast and a shower, then one hour of writing (I was strict about the length—just one hour, but I missed some days, taking four months instead of three to finish). After that, I worked an eight-hour job, attended The Novelry coaching sessions or workshops during lunch hour, kept working, and then read the book that is part of the writing plan.

I've never been a morning person, and my ADHD makes it hard. Emotional dysregulation was a big issue during this time, and maladaptive daydreaming was all over the place, but I kept my dopamine levels down. No TikTok, no Tumblr, no YouTube, no Instagram. I ate bland meals of raw oats and white rice with chicken—no spices, the only dopamine I allowed was music and writing. I talked with people at work, but I was mediocre at best in everything that wasn't writing for the last few months. I cut contact with most of my friends—all of them new, of course—but I'm not going to lie; I lost friends in the process.

It has been a weird experience because I'm truly exhausted and drained. My eye contact went from optimal to impossible, and sometimes I feel like the main character of the book lives and makes decisions for me as if I adopted that personality. Sometimes I'm triggered because I write a triggering scene, cry in the morning, and spend the whole day super dysregulated without figuring out why.

But also, I'm so excited and so happy. I feel accomplished, and I feel like I can die in peace because I put something, even if not edited, into the world. I have to spend a month without writing the book before editing a second draft, to let it marinate, but I'm so looking forward to the rewrite. I think now that I just finished telling the story, I can finally write it right.

Just on the last page, I figured out what it was about. Most of the time, I felt like I was rambling about my interests using metaphors. But now, I'm sure if I move everything a few centimetres to the left, it's going to be perfect.