#Keep on writing

[vomitingwords]

"I don't want to think about it now," one of my closest friends once told me. "I'll think about what I can do once I'm already in that situation," she even added.

Before we got into this conversation, I was ranting about my life. And why are things not happening the way I want them to? As if the universe is against what I want. These past few months have quite stressed me out, and I don't have anyone to tell these things to. Because, honestly, I never wanted to bother anyone. I am just a typical person who keeps things to herself. Especially if it's too personal for me to share.

Earlier, while I was traveling to work, this conversation struck me once again. And I just remembered that I also said that before to someone I know. I used to think that way. I used to tell other people the same phrase every time they asked me what I would do if I were in a certain situation. And you see, I used to not overthink too much. Yes, I am an overthinker, but not to the point that I am experiencing now. I just thought that my overthinking got the best of me. I'm on the verge of quitting everything that I'm passionate about. In short, I was so close to giving up and stopping everything that makes my heart feel alive. I haven't felt so genuine in a while, as if everything I wrote was nothing but mere words that have no meaning at all. Something I don't really feel like writing about. I stopped having a long conversation with anyone. I stopped listening to what they really had to say. And just think, think, and think until it's time for me to go to sleep.

But then I remembered who I was before. I remembered that girl who doesn't easily give up on things just because she's stressed out. I remembered that girl who loved to lift people up with her words. I remembered someone who would not let anyone stop her from achieving what she wanted. I remembered who I was. I remembered myself saying, "Let's see what I will do if I'm in that situation." Even if I am not sure what I can exactly do when that moment comes, even if I'm not sure if I'm still alive to witness that, I remembered how hopeful I was. And I remembered how much faith I have that things will always work out. And even if they don't, it just means that it wasn't meant for me at all.

I just want to tell you that sometimes you have to remind yourself of the old you—the you who have lived and survived in the past—just to get you where you are right now. And remember that if you don't like where you are right now, you still have a chance to do something that might change where you're going. It might be a tough road to walk on. But the most important thing is that you've done something. You've never abandoned yourself and just given up on what you really want to do.

Hello, I'm just dropping by // ma.c.a

[asexual-iguanodon]

just hit 50k words in my current wip ive been writing since march and i know its cringey and angsty but it makes me happy to write it, and it means so much to me that it doesnt matter if its good or bad.

so keep on writing guys, writing is a skill, it doesnt have to be good all the time, the point should be that it makes you happy and that it means something to you.

[courfee]

people’s takes on fic stuff fucking baffles me. i see people going on and on about word counts and complaining when updates “take too long” or refusing to read wips entirely bc they’re too impatient and i just… i cannot understand this shit.

i know that the majority of these people have had to write something for a class in school at some point. it took you weeks to write a five paragraph essay for a grade. most of the time, that’s less than 1k words.

there’s nanowrimo, where the usual goal is to write 50k words in one month. which is understood by participants as an incredibly challenging goal. it’s hard. most people who start don’t complete it in time. it takes a lot of dedicated time. it’s exhausting. and there are so many fics out there that are significantly longer than this - and you can read them for fucking free!!!

it breaks my brain how people don’t seem to understand how much effort and time it actually takes to write something.

it’s even wilder to me that people will just skip over fics entirely based off of how many hits or kudos they have. why even bother searching by ship or tags or what have you if you’re just going to discount 90%+ of your search based off of how many people read it before you. the more common place that becomes, the less amazing fics will end up getting read in the first place. it takes hits to make hits.

all of this is just so wild to me i cannot wrap my brain around it. and i hate going into fic writing for this fandom knowing damn well that i’m in a fandom where people who might genuinely enjoy something i spent hours of my time on will never even consider glancing at it because i’m not “popular” enough. i don’t publish fics for clout and approval, but there’s a reason why i share them in the first place. i’ve written plenty of fics just for myself, or for a few friends to read. but if i take the time to publish and post something, it’s because i want to share it! i put it out there hoping that other people might enjoy it like i do. because sharing that feels good. and it sucks to think that there are people who might have shared in that enjoyment with me, who will never see it because we’ve started putting this weird standard on shit.

i don’t know about other writers, but that’s exactly what i’m talking about when i say that fandom dynamics as of late are sucking the joy out of creating. i write because it brings me joy. i publish/post/share because seeing something i wrote bring someone else joy, brings me even more joy. and watching this whole shitstorm of people being shit to fic writers or completely discounting most fics for one reason or other, just cuts that down so much for me.

idk i have a lot of thoughts and feeling about this but at the end of the day it frustrating and, at times, a bit heartbreaking.

honestly you said it all. all of this.

one thing i wanna add is in regards to nanowrimo: 50k words in a month (1667 words a day btw) is incredibly hard and a lot of people don't manage it, but a common factor i've witnessed between those that have done it is that they went into it having fully planned out their stories. because writing isn't only putting down words on paper, you have to figure out what to write, if you want a great plot you usually have to plan for that, and even once you've written it all you still have to go over everything and edit it. there is even more time and effort that goes into writing that people don't see and just take for granted. it's absolutely a labor of love, and the labor part is strongly emphasised here, and still we offer it for free only for people to be bitchy about it

i just hope you keep the joy of it all, because the entire point of fandom should be that it's done for fun and with the purpose of bringing you fun...

sending you all the love there, at least we are enough people in this fandom who write and draw and cosplay and make edits and all the other things there are for creation that we can support each other through it all

[outsidersproxy]

I'm on chapter 13 for the Hellsing Ultimate phycological horror fanfiction!

The story takes place over 8 days, and I'm currently on day 3.

I've been writing non-stop all week and I'm really excited about that.

[cristalknife]

Kadam Week 2023

Welcome to another year and edition of the Kadam week

while the “official” week to post is in the first complete one of May, running from Sunday 7 to Saturday 13 please feel free to be inspired and use any of the following prompts at any time. Stories can be found here or on this AO3 collection

Day 1 ~  Kadam playing with sidewalk chalk like they're kids again.

Day 2 ~  His voice had never sounded so cold

Day 3 ~ Failed kidnapping (doesn’t need to be angst attempted intervention from Kurt’s Lima’s friends do count as kidnapping) additional humour bonus prompt

Adam: We almost got surprise adopted! Adam's apples: What? Kurt: We almost got kidnapped.

Day 4 ~ It’s just for one night

Day 5 ~ Stars in your eyes 

Day 6 ~ Secrets     

Day 7 ~ We need a break ~ aka it is vacation time inspired by the following pictures:

source Chris Colfer’s IG

source Oliver Kieran-Jones‘ IG Please let me know if you answer any of those prompts so that I can add your story to the master list. Also let me know if we want to make an ao3 collection for this year too or not

[chaospoetryandcookies]

The purpose of writing fantasy when so many wrote it before

I wrote a short story lately. Space fantasy YA, about a pricess having to choose between her freedom and duty... Nothing too special or original, I was aware of that.

But I liked the story. I liked Fenn, my main character, I created her life way beyond that story I published - her whole childhood, her adulthood, her ups and downs, making friends and enemies, hell, I even came up with her parents' story! I started wondering if I should write a novel with all that, although there was a thought that kept coming back: "this story is like hundreds of others, you're literally so unoriginal, who would even want to read that".

I ignored it, started writing a prologue anyway. The thought still didn't go away when I was planning a whole novel plot - by the moments it was getting louder. I didn't know how to get rid of it until very recently.

I found a story on wattpad, also YA, typical fantasy, happening in non-existing kingdom and time. The main character, having ridiculous imaginary name, being blonde with beautiful curls and green eyes and of course being a rebel and trouble maker. Of course there's magic, an aunt of the main character that's pain in the ass, a few kingdoms and in the middle of the continent there's a big, scary, ancient forest that's a home to all magic. I was rolling eyes with some fragments of the story but read it anyway and liked it very much. And just then, when I got so involved in this not-really-original story, I realized that I should continue on writing mine and why.

Because the purpose of fantasy is not to be the most original. There are so many things that all stories have in common and that's okay, in fact that's a part of fantasy genre. We read fantasy stories to escape from reality, even if they all start to sound alike.

(Actually I love when artist get creative with the details, leaving the cliches in the place)

You know, that's just a thing I had to realize myself as an author.

If you read this longass post to the end and maybe you yourself think that your story isn't worth telling or not interesting enough - trust me, it really is :))

[cristalknife]

writing quickly is a relative concept, like are you talking in a single sitting without caring for typos that will require just as much editing as it took writing? are you measuring it on the amount of words are being posted in fast sequence? ( readers will never know that regular weekly/daily updates are more often than not things that were written long before they see the light of day) are you measuring on that productive moment when words flow? (the one that arrived after 8-10 months of absolute nothing)

This is me. Kinda jealous of all the writers who can write quickly because I can't.

[mischievous-thunder]

What was considered peak masculinity back in the 2000s is now considered as little meow meow energy in 2024

This clearly shows how far we've progressed and become even more improved versions of ourselves.

As for this godly man, he's still as fiery and yet so sweet even two decades later, if not more, as he was all those years ago.

[nariarts]

Spent a ridiculous amount of time last night obsessively editing my hand written zines in Photoshop to take away any tiny blemishes so they were definitely readable.

Whatever. Understand or don't.

[frankierotwinkdeath]

Y’all want Taylor Swift to be gay so bad but you won’t even write femslash about her

[cristalknife]

and yet, no matter how long and hard the journey was, I wouldn't have made it without you by my side. You carried me when I thought I couldn't go on.

And here we are, at the end of an adventure, two changed people facing our new realities after all we've been through.

the worst thing about writing or any kind of craft is having an idea you're really excited to make a reality but then you sit down and realize how much work it's going to take to get to that point and suddenly you feel like those two little gay guys in the mountain in the lord of the rings

[foldingfittedsheets]

When I was young my dad offhandedly told me he thought people treated fish with so much casual cruelty because fish can’t scream.

The words branded themselves across my soul.

As an adult I think he may have been joking. He payed no especial attention to any indignities fish suffered in our household but I could never forget. I saw fish in a different light after that.

Fish kept in tiny bowls, breathing their own poisons, dying by inches. Fish kept in cold tanks, casually disposed of. Fish touted as being short lived when they could outlive the better loved family dog if only they could breathe. Fish casually won and discarded in cheap plastic bags, thrown away a week later.

How they would scream, if they could.

[trekkiesagainstchastity]

It doesn't matter if that fic has been in your drafts for years and is now self-indulgent to the point of parody. If Steven Moffatt is allowed to do it professionally, you are allowed to do it for fun.

[blu-engineer]

favorite stan twins characterization is that they're both equally insane. stanley just gets more air time to show it off. loosely inspired by a post i read earlier but here's some absolutely insane things both of them have done

stanley:

drugged a person and turned them into an exhibit in the mystery shack

had a vegas wedding to a prospector-themed novelty dispenser

gave mabel a grappling hook

failed to steal an animatronic badger

chewed his way out of the trunk of a car

punched at least three bald eagles

is multiply divorced, possibly even with the novelty dispenser

committed premeditated murder on a llama

faked a heart attack to get on Wheel of Fortune

took his clothes off in front of a live studio audience on Wheel of Fortune

has a rivalry with a fifth grader, a grandmother, and a man who exclusively dresses like a corn cob

stanford:

pulled a gun on a bus driver when he wouldn't let a pig on board

directly assisted in mind-controlling ronald reagan during his election in 1980

gave mabel a crossbow

got bitten by a vampire bat and subsequently began sampling human blood

owns contraband outlawed in 9000 dimensions; keeps it in an extremely flimsy plastic case

"accidentally" set a hawk on fire

has exes ranging from as normal as his old college buddy to as weird as a triangle and an alien with 7 eyes who put a metal plate in his head

wears turtlenecks because he's hiding multiple tattoos he regrets, including one themed around "all star" by smash mouth

is an Extremely wanted criminal across hundreds of dimensions; was completely kicked out of one for card counting

is, bizarrely, super into the band Eurythmics

can see shrimp colors

[cristalknife]

Shhh we do not count the amount of wip in this house. Nothing wrong with that, creativity doesn't have to be linear, and there are many privileges and advantages in rereading what you've written before. There is also a certain charm in letting wip sit there long enough to forget the story so that we can return to them and fall in love all over again. But also, finish them because clearly, those are stories we want to read and it gives such a warm feeling when a story is completed.

"just write the story you want to read!" they said. well, guess what, now i have 14 unfinished drafts because apparently, i want to read 14 different stories at once.