#But I still wanted to share it; even if it's from an unpolished first draft

[disaster-on-the-horizon]

OC stuff

From a small bag, he pulls out a piece of cloth, folded into a square, clearly wrapping something. Seeing the fabric, Cindy freezes. This must be a coincidence, right? The people around mumble and gather closer, right before Malcolm cuts through the crowd. He hopes his predictions are false, but seeing the current situation…

Cindy takes the square. "G-got anything else?", she says, not even looking at the boy anymore. "Yeah", he pauses shortly, trying to remember the exact words the man had given him. You could cut the tension with a knife. "Some guy told me to tell ya this:", he clears his throat.

"From ya pall, Jeremiah Ratched!"

For a moment, time stands still. Malcolm comes even closer to Cindy, ready to comfort her. He had basically seen her grow up, after all. The boy truly had no idea what he just said. With a shaky hand, Cindy starts unfolding the 'gift'.

"That color…"

"That texture…"

"That smell…"

She repeats, while unfolding the long line of fabric. "P-Patrick´s scarf?"

Upon that thought, the last piece unravels, exposing a bloody stain reaching a good chunk of the scarf. Unable to breath, Cindy just drops on the floor. She can't cry. She wants to, but nothing comes out. No words. No thoughts. Even the surrounding people stay quiet.

Only Mr. Malcolm, who kneels down and tenderly holds the woman's shoulder, speaks. "Don't worry, Cindy. We'll make sure Ratched pays for killing your brother!" His voice doesn't raise, but the fury can still be heard. He was both their godfather, after all.

Now, all at once, the events rush back into Cindy's brain like a flood, her mind connecting each piece faster than she could even take in.

Then it clicks. What happened. And why it happened.

"No, Malcolm." The tears loosen from her face. "That's the worst part… I killed my brother."

She and all the other people in this bloody town.

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[hotcheetohatredwastaken]

Cheeto do you have any tips on writing I what to get some practice in before the next write a thon so I can write something ,but do not have good grammar skills is ok if I write it with some what bad grammar. And thanks for creating that I had so much fun.

My tip is to get into the practice of getting your ideas into words and onto the page, and that's it. Ignore grammar skills, ignore the mechanics of writing, ignore any thought of judgement from others or from yourself. Just write.

For the Write-a-thon, the goal is to write new words, and to write a lot of them. This means, basically, your first draft. And the purpose of a first draft is to exist. Not to have flawless grammar or mechanics or anything like that, but to exist as a base for further creation, and to capture the core idea of the story that you want to write so you can build upon it. So, if you want to practice for the write-a-thon, I suggest primarily to get comfortable with getting your ideas down on paper. You can do this in fragment sentences, in brackets, in bullet points, in floating pieces of dialogue and description, as unpolished or polished as works best for you---but get those ideas down.

If you are still worried about grammar, I would suggest continuing to read others' works, so that you can learn the rules of writing by observation. Further, an online spell checker would be able to proofread your work before your post. You could even get yourself a grammar book if you think it would help. But I just wanna emphasize that, grammar skills or not, your writing is still unique and captivating and worthy to be written and shared. So go write it, and worry about all of that later.

Thank you so much for joining us last month. I can't wait to see you next month, I'm sure you'll do amazing. Just keep writing---get those words on the page no matter how awkward or grammatically incorrect they may seem on the first pass---and the rest will follow. You've got this <3

[autumnslance]

Writing To Yourself

(Mileage may vary, I'm not your mom nor your teacher--unless you're working for a specific state healthcare service, anyway.)

That's how you garden. Tend the plot. Plant a million seeds, reap a thousand blooms. The rest? Compost for the next crop. -@biot08 / @driftward

During a Discord convo, I thought about why so many fandom writers catch “writer’s block”, and some of it goes back to self-care and taking in new media, getting inspiration and knowledge, covered in this post. But much of it?

People think everything they create has to be publishable for others’ consumption. That is Not True. Too often we don't want to write things just for the sake of writing them, falling into the trap of thinking it needs to be perfectly polished and shared, but No It Really Doesn't.

Folks talk about “writing for oneself” but in terms of posting finished pieces of the kinds they want to see. If everything feels like it “has to be” publishable, it can start to put too much pressure on oneself. And then there’s your block, especially if the type to worry about how others Perceive you and your art.

Try simply writing anything and deciding later if it's something you want to share. I have pieces I wrote cuz my brain suddenly said it wanted to, but that writing isn't posted anywhere. Usually it’s random lines; out of context sentences, scenes, or bits of dialogue. Sometimes just incoherent character rambling. Ideas for situations and what ifs. Misspelled, typos, not grammatical, redundant wording, passive voice, bad POV, too many adverbs, not enough active verbs, not enough description, too much description, etc. All in notebooks or doc files. I’ve shared the (now out-dated) deep nests of my WIPs folders and the multiple, unfinished, unpolished pieces within them. Most will never be completed nor seen by the public. 

For instance, I've a random smut fic of a Highlander Warrior of Light and the popular antagonist of Shadowbringers. I'm not usually a villain liker, but one day it hit my brain, so I wrote it. I have notes and outlines for the rest of their story and how it plays out, though I'll probably never write more. I scratched the writing itch, stretched some skills, considered things from a different angle, and now it sits in drafts (I did post a couple decent-ish smut lines to my private Twitter once).

Mostly, it's practice. Even if it's junk and janky.

“But I have (professionally) published X or Y…”

Still gotta exercise the writing muscles! Still gotta scrawl off something utterly unusable now and again for the heck of it!

All those random lines, descriptions, scenes, rambles? Maybe I'll use them someday. I wrote them down to feel the pen in my hand or keys clacking under my fingers, to see the words pop onto the page or screen, to play with word choice, sentence structures, and “how would they say that?” For my own satisfaction, no one else’s.

When I get bored or stuck, or need a screenshot or writing prompt response, I might poke at those lines, pages, rambles, and see if they hit now or spin off to something else. They often don’t. But sometimes they help inform other things I do post to the public later. Even if that’s just a Question of the Day prompt response on Twitter.

(That also counts as writing and creating btw; you’re still coming up with something to share about your characters and I think that’s very creative of you.)

If the mood strikes, write. Even if it's just a vague idea--especially if it's any bits of dialogue or description, if it's something you think that you actually do want to write when off work or out of bed or whatever.

Even if you never post it anywhere public. Even if it never gets out of crummy first draft, unfinished pages form. It might feel like pulling teeth and look rough, especially if it’s been awhile.

But still write it. No one else has to know or see. Not until you want them to.

Maybe parts of it will inform something you do finish later. Maybe two years from now another prompt will hit just right and you’ll dig out that draft and finish it for posting. Maybe you’ll cannibalize aspects of it for an entirely different piece. Maybe you’ll even use it in a few more years to see how far you’ve come as a writer.

In many cases? That's how you actually keep writer's block away. Keeping ideas around to steal from yourself, letting yourself write nonsense, unpublishable bits and pieces, maybe even whole pages, just for the heck of it, if writing is something one enjoys and wants to stick with as a hobby (or professionally). If you don’t enjoy writing for fun? Don’t force it; do little character prompts and blurbs as they feel right, and find the ways to share creativity that work for you.

And seriously, don’t forget to take in new media, experiences, and information. This is How You Lose the Time War got me writing on an original story I shelved last autumn. The stories aren't at all alike! But seeing new words in new ways helped shake something loose in my brain. So try to make some time for that, too.

Write to yourself, not for others’ consumption. Public posting is great for validation and encouragement, for when we feel the urge to share due to pride or just wanting to gush about our faves. But also let yourself remember why you liked creating worlds, making up stuff about your characters, and writing at all to begin with, without the pressure of public posting. Give yourself some grace, and let it all be messy, unhinged, misspelled, ungrammatical, incomplete, and make no narrative sense.

Write to yourself, for yourself. Then let the rest follow.

[queen-tashie]

Manuscript Search

Tagged by @mrbexwrites (check her excerpts here)

I'm finding: quiet, silence, small, tired

No pressure tagging @merriweather-the-un-merri-writer and @isabellebissonrouthier, and anyone else who wants to share (please tag me if you do, I wanna read them).

Your words are: red, water, under, afraid

Excerpts from THE QUIET FOREST are below the cut. This is a complete, but not professionally edited manuscript. Hopefully it's still nice to read :) (I would've shared from COPPER FRAMES, my current WIP, but I haven't started the second draft edits and the first draft is an unpolished turd right now XD)

quiet

Runnicka arrived at the clearing outside of Feio’s study early. No one had arrived, not even Raekisho Feio. It was odd. Feio was always early and never once had she showed up before him. Perhaps he hadn’t been able to sleep much either, but it couldn’t be that. Something was wrong. The forest around the clearing was unusually quiet for a sunny morning. A knot formed in her stomach. She walked to the study, deciding she should check on him.

silence (hehehe, this is the section immediately after the one above)

The door was ajar. Her chest tightened as she climbed the steps to knock. She hesitated, listening for any sound of stirring inside. Nothing. She knocked, softly at first, gradually getting louder. No one answered. Since none of her friends had arrived yet, she pushed the door open. “Raekisho Feio?” She called out. Her heart raced when no one answered. She entered. Her soft footsteps on the solid oak floor cut through the silence.

small

Runnicka joined her in the shallow water, sitting next to her. “What are you doing?” “Check this out. Have you ever seen a rock like this?” she asked, holding up a small white rock, wiping the mud from it. “Let’s see.” Runnicka picked it up. “It’s not a rock, this is a bone. Maybe for a finger.” Xaerena gasped, dropping a second muddy bone into the river. “There’s more behind you.”

tired

He swallowed, nervous and hesitant. He faced her, only inches away. He leaned in, closing some of the distance and stopping part of the way. Runnicka got tired of waiting and closed the gap between them. His lips were softer than she expected. Warmth spread across her face and down her neck. She took his bottom lip between hers and he let out a soft gasp.

If you like these, please feel free to leave a note or quietly scream at me from the tags :)