#donna tartt enjoyers

[ephemerensis]

LOOKING FOR DONNA TARTT MOOTS PLEASE I AM SICK AND TIRED OF FEELING INSANE SWIMMING IN MY OWN THOUGHTS I JUST NEED MORE DONNA ENJOYER FRIENDS interact/dm me i beg

[phonydiaries]

forever thinking about how I've never related more to a character than when Richard said "I'm nothing in my soul if not obsessive"

[spinostarz]

[worm-priest]

I almost wrote a VERY long post about “the little friend” by Donna Tartt because I just finished it but I decided to write something shorter so

It’s not a bad book and it’s nice to compare the common themes Tartt portrays in her stories but I can tell why it’s her least popular one. In some moments it feels like the atmosphere is the driving force of the story and if you don’t connect with the atmosphere then too bad I guess. Harriet is a great character and one of the best parts of the book. Great showcase of the effects of grief on an entire family. In my opinion the book spends too much time in some characters heads. The story could have been told just as effectively if it was slightly shorter

I did also feel like the details weren’t as purposeful as in her other books but please take this with a grain of salt because I just finished the book and it’s 2 am. Maybe in a week I’ll have a different opinion

[bruciemilf]

Heeey I'm new to this fandom, got any reccs for batfam/DC/comic blogs I should follow?

@frownyalfred is ABSOLUTELY amazing. They dissect characters so beautifully, so interestingly. Truly amazing. If you love complex stories involving the Batfam and actually the most genius takes actually, they’re for you ^^

@allgremlinart their art is very very pretty and they’re dead funny (jason Todd humor)

@faytelumos a VERY talented writer. Will make you wonder how the mind even comes up with their stuff??? I want the writer juice they’re drinking. Very knowledgeable about comics

@emo-batboy again, very funny, single handledly keeps my serotonin from collapse. if you enjoy light hearted and funny social media batfamily posts, they’re your guy. Girl. Human (maybe)

@ere-the-sun-rises once again, an incredibly talented writer. Their style is very visceral, their characterization is wonderful, and I love everything they post. Can write a tragedy like a mf

@wandering-between-the-stars is also such a fun person, mostly superbat, lover of fluff

@wanderintofics also a very talented writer — will give you very very interesting takes and concepts; character driven, fellow Bruce enjoyer ^^

@fishsticks19 gahhh they are SO magnetic. very knowledgeable about canon, lore, history etc, — basically, they’re very accurate with characterization and enjoy exploring the darker side of faves (from what I’ve seen). Very fun. If you’re into Donna Tartt, they’re for you ^^

@januariat VEEY VEEY VERY VERY PRETTY ART ACTUALLY FAVORITE ARTIST DC GIVE THEM A CONTRACT COWARDS

@sseasia also very good art and super sweet as well!!

[dorkacademia]

the tumblr girlies should stop sleeping on donna tartt's the little friend. it has something for everyone. the waifish coquette dollettecore lana del rey aesthetic preachers. the weirdgirls™. the ones with religious trauma. the southern gothic enjoyers. the has-been formerly rich + stately family enthusiasts. unconventional family lovers. americana advocates. childhood adventures tainted by a dark presence appreciators.

murder past, death everlooming, danger sought, hazy summers and fabricated memories. it feels like a soporiferous, hazy, hot summer afternoon daydreaming about your town's mysteries and making up unseemly explanations for them or reading your favorite childhood adventure book while knowing how it would realistically end.

tw for repeated use of the n word tho

[podraje]

So, I've read Donna Tartt's The secret history this February. It was enjoyable, but it wasn't an instant "love". I actually thought, that the ending was weird.

But since that time, I've gained some sort of nostalgia for this book? Like, I'd be sitting somewhere and think "oh, this reminds me of the time, when I was reading The secret history" or "this kinda feels, like the secret history" and I'm like ???. Do I miss this book or something?

Donna Tartt's writing kinda did something to my brain. I've read The goldfinch, and it also gave me those weird, strong feelings, but it's different with TSH. Is it now my favourite book? I think, since I can't stop thinking about it, it must be.

[hogwarts-legacy-hype]

yeah you know who I am, this is incredibly niche and specific but I simply needed to gas up the girlies who helped contribute to the crackship that is Sebastian Sallow x Henry Winter (of 'The Secret History' fame).

Many wonderful chats and calls have been had, and I've made some real friends from all of this insanity ❤️

- @slytherizz for being the very first person to delight in the idea of Seb and Henry getting hold of a time-turner and meeting Julius Caesar, thus eventually spawning the Willow Extended Universe. Supreme Mugwump for Willow headcanons, Greek island aficionado, lover of Scottish lochs, and of Big Murder Men.

- @xantineverdoer for sheer rabidness, far-reaching headcanons, Pinterest wrangling, voracious smut, gut-wrenching angst, and Henry Winter theorycrafting. Producer of snippets that formed the nexus of current Willowshipping.

- @ravenbronze for her incredible 80s AU art, including the iconic Sebastian Sallow-in-short-shorts. Managing director of Seb's closet, and in charge of his Walkman.

- @writing-intheundercroft for fantastic snippets, sublime "what ifs," tantalising headcanons, TikTok mining, Pinterest scouting, and the pivotal phrase "linen is for ripping."

- @kaidynsarell for her absolutely delicious angst, including a version of post-Azkaban Sebastian and Henry Winter, who learned Magical Law simply to get his bf out. Reading it felt like being born anew.

- @just-another-fanfiction-writer for bursting into chats, dropping amazing emojis and then riding off into the sunset ;)

- @cuffmeinblack for sharing her incredible Donna Tartt shelf, and being our resident Abergaunt and Francis Abernathy enjoyer.

- @adylorewrites and @peanutslore for providing bemused support and encouragement from the sides, and for reminding us that, yes, from the outside we are all completely insane.

❤️❤️❤️ (I believe I've caught everyone but please slap me if I haven't!)

✨Love Crackships✨

[jessaerys]

15 mins into saltburn and i'm like. ok this is charming in the way that ~dark academia~ novels from people who read the secret history and thot they could pull a donna tartt but it's actually really giving drarry fanfiction are charming. like it's enjoyable as trashy slop not high literature. sorry this sounds harsh but i mean it with love in my heart for trashy slop. it's giving i want to study at a British university for people who were really into MCR rpf in the early to mid 2010s

[mysteryofvampires]

Just a late intro post:

About me:

✒️🕯🎀🌙

German girl

INTP

Bookworm

(Fanfic) Writer

My username on ao3 is Blo0dandink

Way too obsessed with aesthetics

Dark academia enjoyer

Loves vampires way too much

Alisa de Vamalia and Franz Leopold de Dracas Fan account

I love to get lost in books

Classic literature is my actual lifeline

Lover of everything dark and gothic

Enjoyer of the Victorian era

Author of the unfinished WIP "a circle of ghosts" and proud mother of cute, but dead OCs

I have a sideblog dedicated to books @vampireprose

Things I post about/reblog:

Fandoms

Art

Historical clothing

Literature

Gothic stuff

Dark academia

Just stuff I like

German stuff

Fandoms I'm active in:

Die Erben der Nacht

Heirs of the night

The secret history

Six of crows

Dark Rise series

Dracula

The picture of Dorian Gray, Stalking Jack the Ripper and If we were villains occasionally

People I'm weirdly obsessed with:

Donna Tartt

Ulrike Schweikert

Lana del Rey

Franz Kafka

Oscar Wilde

Bram Stoker

Hozier

Queen Victoria

The Romanov sisters

Elizabeth Bathory

The Band ghost

[sleepy-vix]

hi !!! so i know you've read classics and i have a few questions for you. lmk if i'm being annoying btw

uh first i was wondering what classics i own that you've read and your thoughts on them (i've been accumulating a collection for a while but haven't read them)

little women

great expectations

the picture of dorian gray

alice in wonderland

frankenstein

emma

pride and prejudice

great expectations

the secret history

the great gatsby

i was also wondering your favourite subgenres of classical books? i've been specifically interested in the russian classic subgenre

um where you would recommend me to start? out of the books i have preferably

and just any other general tips for reading would be helpful yeah

(i'm finally getting back into it after four years and i'm kinda lost idk)

NO YOURE NOT ANNOYING !! i saw your video on tiktok and was like shxbsjd i want to talk abt your books with you so bad but i didnt want to be annoying 😭

sigh im such a nerd

ok sooo lets get into it :D

get ready for alot of text

the books ive read will be in blue (purple is i'm going to read them soon)

• little women -> i loved ittt. i have yet to read the other books in the series though (theres little women, good wives, little men, jo's boys). the movie (by greta gerwig) is one of my favourite movies ever so i have an attachment to the story. i recommend watching the movie first if you haven't already bc i honestly preferred it more, but the book is also incredible and sweet and the writing is great and it made me cry and learn to be a better person

• great expectations

• the picture of dorian gray -> ooh this one was one of my first ever classics, i think after children's classics and the catcher in the rye. i loved it alot. the descriptions are so beautiful and the premise is so interesting and agsbj i'm just so obsessed with the way oscar wilde writes !! actually i've heard people say that this is a good place to start for classics, but i'm not really so sure about that. i think this definitely is a staple in classic literature, but i recommend saving this as your 2nd or 3rd classic read so you're more used to the eloquent writing style of classics and you can fully appreciate the picture of dorian gray in all its glory :)

•alice in wonderland -> oh i loved this sm. i love alice in wonderland in general, more specifically the tim burton version. i think this is a good place to start, since i know you like alice in wonderland so you're already attached to the story and therefore will most likely enjoy it alot. the sarcasm and wit in this book is really enjoyable and fun, i finished this one really fast back in primary school :)

• frankenstein -> i finished this recently ! it's so great, i love frankenstein so much. though, it did seem like nothing much was happening so just beware that even tho its labelled as horror, it's more... thoughtful? it's really nothing like frankenstein in popular media, though i think that's part of its charn actually

• emma -> i've read 2 chapters of this. i'm planning on actually sitting down and finishing this next week or so! i recommend the movie with anya taylor joy if you're hesitant about reading it, bc the movie was really good :)

• pride and prejudice -> if you want to get into jane austen, this is probably the place to start. she's a really amazing writer and the way she creates characters and character relationships is so amazing i was really impressed by this book ! tho i gotta say i dont feel any particular attachment to it and im not exactly in a hurry to pick up her other books. like her writing is really good but im just not really into high society and period romance drama. i still recommend this though since it is a good classic and a staple to the genre.

• the secret history -> ooh this one isnt exactly a classic but definitely does deserve to be. I LOVE THE SECRET HISTORY SO SO MUCHHHH. i've reread this book like nearly 3 times. donna tartt's writing is so phenomenal and the characters are all so interesting, i can't wait for you to read this! though, one con is that it is reallyyy long and ik that its not uncommon for people to get sick of how the story drags on :( so i recommend making sure that you're fully hyped to read this cus i'd hate for you to drop it half way since its so brilliant i promise. pay attention to the way she writes scenes and characters and just anything ever because its just so well doneee.

• the great gatsby -> i have this and i'm thinking of reading it next actually !! im just letting myself process frankenstein and go back to read the frankenstein introduction before moving onto this :) i've heard that it's grand and gives old money but thats all i can say

ok looks like thats all !

i recommend starting with alice in wonderland and then going to the picture of dorian gray or pride and prejudice :)

ah also my favourite subgenre in classic literature is horror (they tend to not be scary at all and more thoughtsy) or japanese (osamu dazai is all ive read but im really interested in reading more japanese authors)

russian literature is also cool, though ive only read crime and punishment by dostoyevsky. i really want to read notes from underground or white nights or dead souls by nikolai gogol next agsbdj

if you're looking to get into it then probably white nights is the best since many people say its the best and also its really short compared to c&p. im not an expert tho so honestly you do you

also if you enjoy frankenstein and the picture of dorian gray then i REALLY reccomend the case of dr jelyll and mr hyde because its so short but sooo good

as for reading tips, i reccomend taking breaks and not pushing yourself cus then you'll find the experience tedious. also dont be intimidated because reading classics is like reading any other book except the writing style is super eloquent. read whatever subgenre of classic you enjoy and dont force yourself to read others if you arent interested :)

THATS ALL FROM ME. tysmmmm for the ask i had so much fun answering this

sorry for yapping so much i cant help it when it comes to books so your fault for asking 😔 /lh

i hope you have fun and feel free to slide into my askbox if you have thoughts to share or anything else to askk

oh wait actually im curious, whats your experience with classics so far? what books have you read? did you enjoy them?

[derrypubliclibrary]

i see you, reposting stuff about the secret history. Me too, me too. who is your fav charactor? (Mine is Francis and me and him are ACTUALLY besties)

YEAH!! big donna tartt enjoyer my favorite is richard im spinning him around in a salad spinner in my brain

[astrum-aetherium]

HEY GIRLIE LUV UR BLOG was just wonderin what type of modern media (like after the 80s or smth) henry wld like in ur opinion? things like idk music/artists or movies/shows or heck even musicals! ^^

awh, thank you so much!! i'm always heartened greatly to see people finding enjoyment in my blog and my content. i do this for all of us henry-enamored masses, as goddd knows we deserve it. there is such a profound lack of content about him pretty much everywhere.

this is such a thrilling ask to receive! i would love to share my thoughts on that. because i have strong perfectionist tendencies, however, i will deviate from the instructions a little bit and break this down into two sections — a short mention of interests that align with the canonical timeline, and one that attunes to a more modern setting. beware that i'm incredibly biased, but all of these just make sense to me. click on links to hear examples.

so, we know that TSH takes place in the 80s. it's never directly mentioned which year we are actually toying with, but it's sort of generally established in the fandom that the story starts in the late summer/fall of 1983 (richard attending hampden and joining the greek class), and ends in the summer of 1984 (henry doing what he did). therefore, these first few propositions on my end are based on this boundary. not to worry, however — it'll be quite short, as i, as a contemporary member of gen z, have way more things to add to the modern list.

he would be quite fond of classical music, there's no way around it. specifically, and mostly because of donna tartt's own description of him likening an old ballerina, i would even go as far as saying that he prefers ballet. take tchaikovsky as an example — swan lake or the nutcracker as the classics, definitely. i wouldn't even exclude the possibility that he would like to go see performances thereof (aside from reimaginations of ancient greek theater, of course). i'm not exactly well-versed in classical music, but from what i do know, i would also like to add that he could like rachmaninoff, shostakovich, beethoven and bach, of course. chopin, even. and yes, i know, this might be quite boring to uninterested minds — which is why i will be moving on.

to assume a slightly more modernized viewpoint (80s-90s)... he would love depeche mode. specifically their albums some great reward, black celebration, and ultra — the comparably darkest ones. this doesn't quite align with the "canonical" timeline as all of those were released around/after 1984, but i just know he would. specifically the songs but not tonight, only when i lose myself, lie to me, if you want, and (of COURSE) enjoy the silence. just basically depeche mode as a whole — so fitting.

for a more broad approach to slightly older music: tears for fears, the cure, duran duran, billie joel, U2, chris isaak, the smiths.

now, to modern stuff. i have to mention lana del rey. there is no way around her when i talk about henry. ultraviolence and honeymoon are his albums. from UV: specifically shades of cool, black beauty, and the title track itself. from honeymoon: the blackest day, swan song, terrence, and, once again, the title track itself. from other albums, i'd say: if you lie down with me, did you know, NFR, national anthem, and i can fly. a bonus mention of unreleased songs that suit him so well: cult leader, tv in black and white, and serial killer. can you tell i am a diehard lana fan? always have, always will. i could write a novel-length essay about how each song on her discography correlates with henry. i love them both so.

other examples of newer music he would like: mitski (specifically heat lightning and once more to see you, but generally all of them), lorde, mac demarco, local natives, the national, birdy. and — you need to hear me out — some taylor swift songs. i think he would appreciate the poeticism of folklore (e.g. hoax, this is me trying, the lakes) and evermore (cowboy like me, tolerate it). sue me.

when it comes to film and tv... i'd say he would be one of those people who genuinely enjoy silent movies, lol. pretentiously so. to be less humorous, i think he'd quite enjoy complex dramas. the haunting of hill house, maybe. the sixth sense. the shining. the silence of the lambs. hannibal. TROY (although he would complain and complain and complain about the inaccuracy but still like it). a clockwork orange. dexter. evidently, i'm not a huge movie nerd, which is why this might be a little general. but here are just some thoughts.

for musicals, i needed to consult my devoted theater kid friend. to make a long debate short, we agree that it would be the phantom of the opera, les mis, and heathers (for some funny reason). as an explanation on the latter — he would enjoy the hierarchy concept and the dark comedy of it all. but this is just a wild card, lol. the other two are more fitting (specifically the phantom of the opera!).

this took longer than anticipated to compose, but i hope it provides some sort of outlook. thank you, once again, for this wonderful ask! i was overjoyed to say the absolute least.

[bettsfic]

Hi betts! I was wondering if you had any advice for writing Feelings. I feel like my fic writing is often a lot of this happened then this happened and then this event happened. I want to make sure it feels like things are being told by my character and not just a robotic narrator reporting the events. I've been going through your writing advice tag but haven't found a super relevant post to this so thought I'd ask if you have any thoughts on injecting more Feelings into writing.

this is a great question! unfortunately it has a very Big answer.

i think it's important first to consider the greater historical context of prose. prose is a relatively new invention in the history of humanity. prior to prose, there was poetry, oral storytelling, playwriting, and what we would consider now to be nonfiction. the concept of written fiction is kind of miraculous. it allows us to perceive the nature of being another person, within the quiet of our own minds. in other words, prose allows us access to a consciousness outside of our own. a fictional story is thus one in which a given consciousness, translated into language, experiences events in a cause and effect sequence, which is called a narrative.

what you're talking about, injecting Feeling into fiction, is a concept that tends to invoke debate based on separate schools of aesthetic thought. i know writers who would read your ask and go, "uh, good? reporting events is what you're *supposed* to do." and i know writers who believe that the entire purpose of the form is simply to convey conscious thought, external events be damned. personally, although i respect the opinions of these writers, i think it's all kind of silly to think one kind of writing is better than another. it is, as all things are, a creative choice of the author. i, the reader, am only meant to bear witness to those choices.

visualize, if you will, a spectrum between these two schools of thought: the reporting of actions and external events, which we'll call exteriority, and the reporting of inner thoughts and feelings, which we'll call interiority. all fictional prose falls somewhere on this spectrum. on the exteriority side we have writers like william faulkner, cormac mccarthy, chuck palahniuk. on the interiority side, we have virginia woolf, henry james, garth greenwell, donna tartt.

this spectrum is one of narratorial access. how much access do we the reader have to the experiences of the narrator(s), and how accurate are those depictions? how much detail are we given? how are those details chosen and why?

the most exterior writing is what some call "cinematic." many people are in the exterior school of thought because they believe "show don't tell" to be literal. "show don't tell" is ridiculous for many reasons, the most obvious of which is that (when taken at face value) if i wanted to be shown something, i'd watch a movie. the real meaning of "show don't tell" is the idea you shouldn't tell the reader the conclusion they're supposed to be drawing from the events of the story. again, personally, i think it's baffling why anyone has an opinion on this, when the truth is that showing and telling is yet another spectrum and every story falls somewhere on it. to have opinions on these things would stifle my enjoyment as a reader and closes me off to discovering new things.

when the reader has the least possible access to the narrator, the events of the story can follow any character at any time, and detail only what can be seen from the outside. my favorite novel that does this is Plainsong by Kent Haruf. i once tried to write in this style and found it tedious and difficult, but i'm a very interior writer. nevertheless it was a good exercise for me, if for no other reason than it sharpened my understanding of my own style.

if you move the down the spectrum just a skosh toward interiority, you invite inner observations. these are largely sensory: what a character sees, hears, smells, etc. here's an example:

an exterior action would be, "the door slammed." an interior observation would be, "she heard the door slam."

i have heard many arguments as to why the latter is "weaker" writing. i've heard them called "filter phrases," and have even read an essay on why you should avoid them. which, again, ridiculous. it's far more important to know when and why you might deploy a "filter phrase" than to deny yourself use of a potentially necessary tool.

inner observations force the reader into the perception of the narrator. "the door slammed" is a fact. it can't be contested. the author is telling me this event occurred and i cannot dispute it or interpret it. "she heard the door slam" can be questioned. all we know is that she heard it; we have no evidence it really happened, only our trust in the narrator to convey events with accuracy, which is how we get the idea of an unreliable narrator.

let's move one notch closer to interiority. now we have inner reactions and opinions. exterior: "the door slammed. the woman stood up and locked it." now we have the opposite scenario to the one above. with an exterior action, we're given doubt. why did she lock it? we have to use context clues to determine motivation and emotion. interior: "she heard the door slam. in a rage, she stood up and locked it." the second sentence confirms for us that the door very likely did slam, and also tells us outright that she's mad at the person who slammed it.

the reader has to perform an equal amount of work for both of these scenarios. in the exterior example, they have to puzzle out the emotions and motivation of the character. in the interior example, they have to puzzle out the accuracy of events and reasonability of emotional response. both create different kinds of tension.

generally speaking, the closer we move toward interiority the less exteriority we have, because the external events of the story matter less than what the character thinks or feels about them. using our example above, an even more interior approach would be, "when she heard the door slam, she knew it was over. how had it come to this? he was no different than the last one, or the one before that, or the one before that. as she went to lock it, she vowed: never again."

since i don't have a full story drafted out, pretend "the one before that" are all examples of times this situation happened before, and so two actions, the door slamming and the woman getting up to lock it, might take ten thousand words to tell, to give us context as to why she's in a rage about it.

here's an example of nearly pure interiority from a novel i'm working on right now:

And the only logic that came to me was that everything was made up of the souls of the dead and the yet-living. It felt blasphemous—in Kinraden, the afterlife is unity in a place beyond limited human understanding. But I believed the opposite. I believed we all came from things and would return to things, and that everything, at its fabric, was the same as everything else. I was a toy truck rolling across a hardwood floor, and a sunflower opening up in the light, and a can of Campbell’s soup heated on the stove, and a pig headed to slaughter, and my father giving a sermon to an audience of people looking for answers in the wrong place, and everything has a soul and so everything suffers. And that suffering crushed me, not because it exists, but because it is eternal. Suffering is the base of everyone and everything. 

(i apologize for using my own writing as an example, but i tabbed over and this was the first paragraph i saw, and it was surprisingly relevant, even though i am 100% going to end up cutting it.)

i know there is no exteriority here because i can't tell you where his body even is while he's thinking these things. i also don't know when exactly this is happening. the physical existence of the scene and his body within it is irrelevant to the information being conveyed, which is a major life philosophy and how it differs from his father's. within one paragraph, he's building a kind of polemic that will hopefully allow the reader to understand exactly how he managed to defy his father's indoctrination.

even though there's no exteriority, though, there are still images present. toy truck, sunflower, can of soup, etc. and they create visuals to hang onto so that it still feels, in a way, exterior. those physical objects, however, are not actually physical, but metaphorical.

what's also important is that this is a super fucked up line of thought and builds the state of his emotional unreliability as a narrator. he's conveying the events of the story with relative accuracy but his logical and emotional responses to them are in constant conflict. (he needs lots of help, which he will get.)

there is kind of a default in fanfiction, particularly fanfiction based in visual mediums, to convey all information within a physical scene, i suspect to stay as close to the canon portrayal as possible, because film/tv are also sequences of scenes. when in scene (direct discourse), characters are always physically embodied in spaces, moving and doing and saying things, at a specific point in time. but, circling back to my initial point, prose does not have to be embodied. it's not film. you can be fully in the mind of a character and have no idea when or where they are existing, and merely recount the events from an unstated time, if any happen to be relevant (indirect discourse).

(side note: specifically direct and indirect discourse refer to dialogue but i'm using the terms more broadly. direct discourse: "i just want that sandwich, man," tommy said. indirect discourse: tommy said he really wanted a sandwich.)

even though i've talked at length about narratorial access as relevant to consciousness, i want to touch base again to the idea of Feelings. it's hard to convey feeling in fiction, because your only tools are brain and body. either your narrator expresses their feelings in thoughts, or they express them in the description of physical experiences. it's kind of a constant battle which path you choose, but i hope some of the above can help you decide.

so now that you know the broader theory around (Thoughts &) Feelings writing, here are some exercises you can try:

begin a story in direct discourse, present tense, the events of which can only be understood through prior context. (for example, two characters are having a heated argument with no explanation as to why.) then, through the POV character's narration, move into indirect discourse, past tense, to explain the events that led up to the argument.

find a story you've written in third person and rewrite all or part of it in first person. the trick here is to become as disembodied as possible. in fact, your approach can be that you're simply writing a monologue from the character's perspective, in their voice, with all their potential misunderstandings intact.

try swinging the opposite way: write a fully exterior story (the shorter the better). then go back and thread in internal observations. and then go through and add thoughts and opinions to the events that have occurred. and lastly, go through and add greater context and cognition to deepen our understanding of the external events.

whew. this was a lot. but i hope you found it helpful!

and because i am trying to be better about self promo, i'd like to mention here that i'm a freelance editor and writing coach, and also i have a newsletter with more thoughts on craft.

[ratty-corduroy]

Here is my embarrassingly late reading wrap up from January :)

My thoughts on each + a bit on how February is going under the break

I have all of the Patrick Melrose novels on my kindle so I reread Never Mind and Bad News and no surprise that Bad News is still one of my favorite books of all time (and you may think that this is a sign I need to go to therapy,,,, and you would be right)

And like usual I read some more Kurt Vonnegut, Breakfast of Champions was my forth novel of his (ten more to go I think😭) I liked it better than Cat's Cradle but not as much as Bluebeard and Slaughterhouse-5 but the more I reminisce on it the more it's growing on me I think lmao

And then Man Without a County is a collection of essays and speeches and things of the like he wrote in his last few years and of course I loved it you literally can't go wrong with Kurt imo.

I didn't like My Year of Rest and Relaxation as much as I expected too from all of the recommendations I got for it but it was still enjoyable, just a funny quick read ya know

And Empty Theatre!! I picked this one up on a whim from the bookstore completely blind and it was SUCH a pleasant surprise. I can't believe more people aren't talking about it! I never really find myself reaching for historic fiction, but this was so lovely. Beautiful flowery prose that was still very accessible and easy to digest. And it felt almost like a I was gossiping with a friend over coffee at times, I found myself gasping and thinking "She said what?!" And the ending was so wonderful as well, I definitely think I will want to reread this at some time in the near future.

Near the end of January I started reading The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt and I've been so busy with school and other stuff that it's all I've been able to read this month so far 😭 I'm absolutely loving it but it's such a monster of a novel and I already read pretty slow as it is that it's anyone's game whether I'll finish it in February or not lol, I also had some non-fiction lined up for Black History Month that I haven't been able to crack into yet so I'll probably just read them in March or April anyways that's about it I hope you read some good books this month ily

[goodpointsandbadpoints]

doing this bc @thetentaclecommander did it and it looks interesting.

When did you start writing?

I started journalling when I was seven because I loved the Junie B. Jones books, so I mimicked the diary-style genre to write about my own daily activities. When I was eleven, I got really obsessed with book publishing and novels as a concept, so that's when I wrote my first official story that followed a basic plot rise and fall. It is not good, but it was the beginning.

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

I LOVE mysteries, but I don't have the skillset to write them. Same for thrillers! I also like stories with extensive lore over a long period of time, but I don't know if my brain is made to build complicated worlds.

As for themes in my reading, I think I usually love things focusing on trust, acceptance, and survival. Yum. I probably end up writing about those a lot as well...

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

(I think I have always done this, as shown by my imitation of Junie B. Jones.)

To me, it's about writing style and atmosphere. I love a delicious writing style.

I think I generally want to emulate good flow; I want the writing itself to be enjoyable, regardless of what the story is. I am fascinated by the styles of Andrzej Sapkowski (I know it's translated and there's a whole discussion about that, but still), Cormac McCarthy, Donna Tartt, and Tove Jansson (also translated). I am also heavily influenced by poets, including Mary Oliver, Morgan Harper Nichols, and Carl Sandburg.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

I'll write anywhere as long as I have my laptop, my phone, or a notebook and a good pen. I've written in cars, the bath, my bed, the backyard, the break room during my lunch, etc. As long as I can get into a good posture, I'm set.

I also like to have music going in the background in some way. I'll either play my usual rock playlists, or find one of my soundtrack mixes.

What's your most effective way to muster up a muse?

Probably either by listening to music that makes me feel strong emotions, going through a life experience that I need to process, or being in nature! Another rarer occurrence is to think of an odd character concept (e.g. my OC Tulie, a tulip who turned into a boy) and build off of that.

I also like to read other authors' books to inspire myself. It's one of the fastest ways to get myself into a writing mood.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

I don't know. I tend to be more of a vague theme-writer because I love establishing atmosphere more than anything else.

I'm still learning how to analyze stories for themes. Dare I say that trust, loneliness, and survival are common ones in my stuff? Somebody tell me.

What is your reason for writing?

Writing is my most reliable form of communication. To process, to share, to expand. I have to.

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

People can think whatever they want, I suppose. I want people to feel something in the fibers of my pieces, how I was enjoying every moment of putting them together. And to be completely barefaced about it, I want people to think my pieces are done well, at least for my experience level.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

What do I feel...

I'm not sure! Maybe immersion? Also, I'd like to think I build tension well, though it might be only tension that feels right to me. I love being picky about how authors build tension and emotion.

How do you feel about your own writing?

Depends on the day. I like my most recent pieces and frown at the ones from +3 months ago, but sometimes I'm in a mood where it feels like nothing I've written has ever been what I wanted (edit: it doesn't help that poor self-esteem is mine enemy). I'm constantly finding things I want to emulate or improve.

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely for yourself, or a mix of both?

I don't think I can write unless I'm fully invested in the story, so it has to be at least 80% for myself. I DO think about what makes a story good in general. What would make this feel more tense? Would people care about this character? That kind of thing. But generally, I have the most fun, fluid process when I write for myself.

I'm tagging my writing buddies! Hop on board, if you so desire.

@samblerambles @silvercap @fonulyn @colesabi @resident-rats

@welcome-leon @geddy-leesbian and @thebrandywine

And anyone else who wants to join! 🩵 I'm so curious to see peoples' writing origins and reasons for writing!