#i have to rewrite so many notes

[dyrewrites]

Bloodhound -- careful is as careful does

But as the twinkling violet of a yawning dawn found them tangled and sleeping beneath the sheets—too close, too comfortable—Alessandro would lose the simple yet devouring sweetness of the night.

Deluca did not wake first, instead he felt the eyes gazing and the soft hand caressing and woke too sweet. Shame was quick to sour it, calling him a cruel word—its favorite word—that snapped too loud from his lips, “troia del cazzo.”

“Che cazzo mi hai appena chiamato,” Alessandro snipped back, gripping with if not removing the hand on his arm.

“Non tu, io, Alessandro, I am the sl—” he tried to maintain the warmth, but shame bit harder and he tugged his arm from too intimate a touch and snapped again, “fuck this. I have to go.”

And, to his credit, Deluca did try to leave. He managed the clothes and made it to the door, even opened the door but he couldn’t step outside of the door.

For all the silver barring it.

With the itchy sting of it bright along his skin, Deluca did not move.

Behind him came a sigh, “about that.”

Deluca did not growl, but it was close enough as he turned to face his friend, his lover—his shameful plaything he kept getting too close to—and asked in no uncertain terms, “What the fuck.”

“I spotted your stalker when I came to pick you up,” tried the explanation.

One that fed the rage building in Deluca’s veins, “what the fuck are silver bars doing on yourdoor, Alessandro?”

“To keep you in, obviously, now shut up and listen,” he’d spoken to the vampire as harshly before. Worse, even. But never after trapping him somewhere and making him feel cornered.

So he wasn’t prepared for the fingers on his throat or the slam into a wall. One that was decidedly not the fun and flirty type he was used to and cracked the brick, filling the tight hall with dust and his mouth with metallic agony for a bitten tongue.

“No,” Deluca said through teeth suddenly much bigger than Alessandro remembered them, “you remove those bars so I can return to my daughter...or we test those delicious sigils that keep you from bleeding to death.”

For one who studied all of his exploits, been witness to more than one instance of him ripping an inhuman thing to pieces, and recently learned of an old name with a lot worse attached to it...one would think Alessandro smart enough not to challenge the monster at his throat.

One would think. However, relying on sigils he had too little blood to fuel, the Inspector chose to be an idiot.

“Do it,” he choked through the grip, “see...how long she lasts.”

Deluca threw him at the bars, taking no joy in the act—or the gurgled breaths following it, as the man tried desperately to breathe for all the suddenly shattered bones. In fact, if one were to ask Deluca how he felt about hurling his long-time friend and sometimes lover so hard into shiny silver bars he could hear all those bones shatter...he’d have said, “remorseful.”

Didn’t matter in the moment, as the Inspector created an obstacle and if he would not remove it well...it only made sense to use him to clear it.

“He’s watching your house, idiota,” Alessandro said too easily for all the blood filling his throat. Unable to stand just yet, he allowed his sigils to take more than they should to repair all the cracks and restitch what tore of his skin and muscle. Surprisingly unfazed by being tossed like a sack of potatoes, he did realize his mistake and sighed as Deluca glowered, “Yeah, yeah, I should have told you sooner, warned you before all the fun, maybe even after. But you know how hard it is not to burn up in you.”

“Me?” Deluca sneered, taking a single step forward, “you brought me here, you insisted on being my meal for the evening. You led the evening and you locked me in a fucking cage. You do not get to blame me for reacting.”

Alessandro had no response, not quite, and just sat breathing as he healed.

In the meantime, shame picked out certain words and implications and tore into Deluca, another barnacle begging for all that greedy heat. Beautiful trajectory you’re on; a city’s worth of men to fuck you so stupid you don’t even remember who to mourn.

But all Deluca said for it was, “Let me out.”

“I can’t,” Alessandro said through hacked coughs as sigils stitched enough to allow him legs to stand on—and rope to hang himself with, “I get that I fucked up, that I could have done all this different. But you go home now and you’re his. I know you’re his because he’s too fucking close and you’re too fucking stupid.”

Finding calm in a slow, steady breath, Deluca spoke quiet but firm, “Alessandro, I care about you more than I should,” closing the gap to grab him again by the throat, his tone remained quiet but firm, “please, do not make me kill you.”

Unsure if he could, but running out of things to feed to his healing, Alessandro swallowed through those fingers to warn, “no immunity will save you if he turns you into the monster you think you are.”

“Perhaps not,” Deluca said too calmly, “but if you do not open this door, nothing will save you from the one I am.”

Choked the response, as those fingers tightened, and Alessandro flicked a still healing wrist. A brilliant blue sigil flared on his palm and the bars slid up with a soft slikt.

Deluca dropped him, not bothering to look for the grunt and whimper as he spoke colder than Alessandro had ever heard directed at him, “when you figure out something more than doubt for why you threw away everything we’d become and given me enough excuses to ruin your fucking career...call me. Until then, work or not, we’re done.”

[ganondoodle]

(totk rewritten/botw 2 concepts)

Vah Narisha! elaborated on things and slightly polished it

(info written on there but for ease of reading writing it here again)

-its a prototype titan (divine beast) that crash landed on an island and was left there, its name is based on the big sky whale from skyward sword (its german name)

its very overgrown and half broken, with its tail hanging off the edge, but if you try to use the infusion power of links shiekah arm it will suddendly twitch and empty your entire energy meter immediately since it uses more power than you could provide on your own- serving as a hint that it can be reactivated

once its reactivated (zelda helps, perhaps with a quest attached) it will fly in circle patterns across the sky, you cannot control it (its still a half broken prototype after all) but you can use it as a place to rest and reach other islands that are very hard to reach otherwise

single parts will suddendly move and twitch or freeze as its ... a damaged prototype, its a slight hazard as the shaking can throw you off if you are standing in a bad spot (but not so much you cant reach it again), occasionally it will lose some parts

unlike the "modern" titans, who require the main energy network sourced from mainly ganondorf as their power source if there is no pilot/champion (thus stopped working after the intro), vah narisha draws energy from its surroundings, just like links arm does, so its still able to function even after gan wakes up; however the amount available is barely enough to keep it afloat and that only moving very slowly too- it is unclear if the reason for other malfunctions or unavaible controls is bc of lack of power or damage, probably being both, but after taking off there is no way to try and repair it further since you cant control it and it would pose a danger by falling if misshandled so its mostly left to its own devices

its not required for anything of the main story or to traverse the sky, but it is a cool thing and can make it easier to reach things, the idea for it is mainly from the unused prototype hanging in the hateno lab in botw since my goal is to make totk into botw 2 i thought its a neat idea to bring in previously scrapped ideas :3

[battle-subway-aftershow]

Inconspicuous mustache and glasses on, soooo you wanna talk about how galar could be good huh?

Points at you this is all your fucking fault (/j)

Anyways you’ve poked me so I’m going to talk about it now. Sorry not sorry.

Before I say anything: “Moth, Tinker, don’t like, all your characters live in galar?” Yes! Because when you’re making an au for Pokémon why make a region out of scratch, when Game Freak’s left a perfectly good blank slate for you right there?

Anyways with that out of the way, I’m putting this under a cut because this is going to be long.

Sword and shield are such disappointing games. You could say a million things about it— the graphics, the routes, the nat dex cut, so on and so forth, but that’s a long dead horse and im not going to start beating it.

I like Sw/Sh’s story. Or, more accurately I like the idea of the story that the games tried and failed to give us. I really want to say there’s something there to grasp at, but honestly? There’s not. Nothing burger ass game.

The plot up until the climax of the story is “The darkest day was a thing and there was a hero that stopped it. Bede’s mean and wants wishing stars. Wait, what?! There’s two heroes? And badass dogs? No way!”

It genuinely feels like they had a full story arc with plot beats written out, but had to scratch everything besides the climax and try to fill in the gaping plot holes as quickly as they could before they hit the deadline for release. It’s so jarring and bizarre when you reach the climax of the story, because it’s just… out of nowhere? You and Hop try to break into the Macro Cosmos tower to interrupt Leon’s meeting because he was… late for dinner? And Oleana hears this and starts acting like an unhinged evil antagonist out of nowhere, even though at the moment not letting you in is just, perfectly logical?

And then the whole hide and seek game she does for the keys— Team Yell joining in, none of this feels deserved at all, probably because there was, I don’t know, supposed to be things happening before this that properly built up to it?

It’s so frustrating, because if they had even executed the story at all, it would’ve been so cool. The guy who practically MADE galar is re-awakening what is basically an eldritch god in a misguided attempt to save the region from future disaster (trauma? Paranoia? All of the above?) but his plan backfires and nearly destroys everything instead??? It’s such a cool idea! And it’s just. Barely even executed at all.

Oleana and Rose both could’ve been such interesting characters. Their Pokémon teams are symbolic of themselves as people, for crying out loud! Imagine how cool those fights, especially Oleana’s, could’ve been if there had been a proper fucking storyline??

(I won’t go too in-depth, but Oleana using beautiful and feminine Pokémon up until her g-max garbador ace— a literal heaping pile of trash? And how that represents the her horrible personality hidden behind her appearance?

And how Rose’s team is made up of thorn and thorn-like Pokémon, as well as industrial Pokémon and his childhood starter? Without a rose in sight? He’s lost who he was to the pursuit of innovation or something. There’s no Rose anymore, only the thorns. Too bad there’s nothing before these moments.)

It ends up just feeling like a barely even executed dollar store version of Sun and Moon. You’ve got the punk evil team who isn’t actually evil, the altruistic company/foundation that turns out to be far worse than the evil team, extraterrestrial pokemon who are very debatably Pokémon being brought into the world and causing problems? Yeah everything screams “we tried to recreate the s/m formula,” down to Hop using Hau’s animations. Insane.

(Also team yell feels like another dead horse that I don’t want to beat— but they don’t work like Team Skull did. Team skull worked! Really well in my opinion! Meanwhile Team Yell is just… kind of a vague nuisance. I get that was the point, but if Macro Cosmos was going to be the villains— why not give any buildup beforehand? Oh well. I said I wouldn’t beat the dead horse.)

Tl;dr: Sword and shield is barely even trash, it’s an empty dumpster with some unopened cans in it and I am sitting in there playing with the cans trying to create a coherent story out of it. Man galar’s good if only it was good. Go watch Twilight wings it’s Galar if it was good

And also sw/sh feels uncannily like bootleg sun and moon, bri’ish edition.

[achaotichuman]

If you're rewriting a multi-chapter fic in it's entirety what is the social etiquette for replacing the chapters? Do I just leave it up and then switch out the chapters when I'm done with the rewrite, or do I delete the whole fic and start from scratch. I feel like the latter is a betrayal to those who are still reading but I also don't think many people are all that interested in this story anymore.

[blinkbones]

decided today was the day i'd compile all the notes i have for my WIP... ... ... ... ... i killed two sticks of glue, i had to go print nearly 30 pages of word documents, the sun is coming down, and i haven't even touched my voice notes yet.

[destinywillowleaf]

how to go from a one-shot/conversation spawned from thinking too much about an unseen father to more than a dozen fic ideas and an overarching narrative about family heritage (and the generational trauma that comes with it), the importance of communication, and how all lives touch other lives to create something anew and alive in one easy step

[gingerpeachtea]

🦀🧳🦀

YAY AIRPORT CRABS have 10 sentences from burning suns!!!

She fixed her hair while he worked, a feeble excuse not to look at him, though she also wouldn’t want him seeing her like this regardless. Sweat stuck wisps of hair to her forehead. She should’ve long since caught her breath, and her heart had calmed, but not entirely—a state that should be reserved for the company of aching thighs and pillow talk, not a poor stage performance. He placed her shoes neatly beneath her vanity, where she always kept them. Christian wrapped a loose hand around her ankle, his thumb slipping beneath the crosses of her fishnets to rub small circles over the bone. She looked down at him, still knelt before her. Her eyes fell to his hand [before he could/before he had the chance to meet her gaze]. “What is it?” she asked. She knew the answer. For all the ways he’d changed, Christian still hadn’t lost his boyish avoidance of directness. She considered some kind of physical comfort, perhaps a hand on his shoulder or cupping his cheek, but didn’t move.

(make me write!!)

[rewritingcanon]

omg what happened with the Snape fans?

mm. man. okay here we go 😭

so i made a post last year that was kind of poking fun at how snape fans ‘baby’ snape. which is not in the stereotypical sense where they characterise him as someone submissive or meek, but in the way where they destroy any nuance to his character and characterise him as a martyr or a hero in the face of the “terrorising, popular bullies” or what have you. which totally gets rid of the point of him— showing how lonely and bitter boys can be taken advantage of by redpill rhetoric and lose the things they cared for the most. its funny because snape fans will bitch and moan about marauders fans who do the exact same thing.

i didnt word it like this, i worded it as a sort of snarky joke at them. i had like 60 followers at the time. i didnt think it would get much traction at all bcuz i had criticised the marauders fandom MUCH more at that point and hadnt gotten any flack for it on tumblr so i assumed it would be the same for “the snapedom” or whatever cringe name they go by.

i got called a bitch, idiotic, stupid. they were pulling old posts i made of silly headcanons about the marauders and reblogging my post saying i was just another delluded marauder fan who just hates snape and reads too much atyd. which is SO funny because i have never read a marauders fic but i have tried to read snape-centric fics and most of them i had to drop because of the lily-bashing in it. and multiple of them tried to gaslight me in reblogs and the notes and tell me that snape fans were not like that AS THEY WERE LITERALLY PROVING MY POINT. they were saying “its so clear you havent met a snape apologist and just want to bash us” like ??? they had a serious case of victim complex and it suddenly made sense to me why they characterise snape the way they do. someone said i was trying too hard to be “not like the other girls” for criticising both snape and marauders fans, and when i proceeded to block them they made a pinned post about me thats still pinned on their blog 💀

when i tell you these people were like a hornets nest. i used to feel bad for them for the flack they get for simply liking a character— but after that i was so done trying to defend them. i remember at the time i had a more detailed criticism of snape i was going to post but after that i was too scared bcuz if they reacted like that when i never even insulted snape, i knew i was going to be absolutely cooked if i decided to actually say something of value.

and that was just from one post. there have been others who have tried to convince me things about the marauders characters that are simply not true. like james sexually harassing lily into dating and marrying him, or how sirius and remus are terrible for wanting to kill peter pettigrew themselves instead of sending dementors to him. such stupid ‘arguments’, if you can even call them that.

theyre like delusional james potter fans, which is hilariously ironic. both claim to hate the other for doing the exact same things they do.

[forcebookish]

one of the things that has me nonstop thinking about topmew is that they're actually a very unique type of couple in fiction but not in real life. in most fiction, people are always falling in love by accident. they meet, circumstances put them together, they're caught by surprise when they fall in love. but though both top and mew had never been in love before and didn't totally know what to expect, it wasn't a complete shock. they met through a mutual friend, they found each other attractive and interesting, so they decided to date. they fell in love because they went on dates and did romantic things together on purpose. i think neither of them expected to fall so hard, but still, the point of dating is to see if you're compatible and fall in love and maybe build a life together. and that's what they did.

i don't think that makes them boring, i think that makes them relatable! i think that makes them stand out from other fictional couples! you know, people claimed they wanted more realistic BLs, but for some reason when topmew came along, a ship based on a real life gay couple, they didn't like them?

[opens-up-4-nobody]

hi so so sorry if this sounds genuinely deranged but I need to know did you write a fanfiction in like 2014 that was set during ww2 where zoro from one piece was sent to a japanese internment camp and sanji went to conversion therapy I remembered it recently because it blew my mind at age 13 and I had to reread it + need a kind of where are they now with the author so if that's you 1) what's your stance on the fic today 2) how much of the research was done during writing and how much did you just know beforehand and used as inspo 3) did you have any ideas for where the other characters ended up because I did always wonder if like idk chopper overcame the trauma of being in the war and also just what usopp's situation would be in general what with the political climate. once again. if you didn't actually write this fic so sorry this must look like the ravings of a crazy person. godspeed

Hi. Uh, yeah I did write that fic. I would have been like only 17 at the time. I did do A LOT of research, like the fic was basically an excuse for me to research Japanese internment and WWII history in general bc I thought it was super fucked up. I was absolutely hyperfixated on the topic and my parents probably thought i was nuts for my ability to talk at length on this particular area of history. I just finished skim reading back through the fic and woof. What a bleak fucking story. I was very cruel to everyone. It's frustrating bc I think it's an interesting and compelling idea for a story. But to me it feels like: here is all the research I did and also characters talking in what feels like a too modern way. Plus, I was 17 and didnt understand people very well. I wish I had the energy and motivation to rewrite it. Although, I forgot I used to do song lyrics at the start of each chapter and the tonal dissonance of Owl City lyrics at the top of a chapter of harrowing events around the time of WWII is unfathomablly unhinged.

[firewoodfigs]

Next chapter of a study in reformation probably won’t be up till sometime in August (aka the month of salt air and rust on the door) because past me was dumb enough to sign up for an exam in July on top of working full-time, BUT I’ve created a monstrous playlist which you can listen to here for good vibes :) enjoy!!! I’ll see you guys very soon in the next chapter 💕💕

Feel free to let me know as well if you have a specific song in mind 🥰

[queen-of-bel]

. ed tw

[thefirstshootingstar]

My dumbass is not normal about my NNT OCxCanon ship, I'm ready to explode about it actually

[paganinpurple]

AO3 Etiquette -UPDATED

Based on both decent and not so decent replies, I have made some changes to my original post below.

It would seem a whole new kind of AO3 reader/writer is emerging and it is becoming clear not everyone quite understands how the website community works. Here is some basic guidance on how most people expect you to go about using AO3 to keep this a fun community archive that funtions correctly:

As well as likes, kudos is for when the story was interesting enough to make you finish reading. If it sucked or was badly written, you probably left. If you finished it, you liked it - so kudos.

If you really liked it, you should try to comment. It can be long and detailed or a literal keysmash. Writers don't care, we just love comments.

No critisism unless the author has specifically asked or agreed to hear it (so use your notes to say if you want some constructive feedback). Even constructive critisism is a no-no unless an author note tells you it's okay. No, posting it online is not an open invitation for that. Many people write as a fun hobby or a way to cope with, among other things, insecurity and just want to share. Don't ruin that for them. I've seen so many authors just stop writing coz they can't handle the negative emotions the critism brings, and it's only meant to be a fun thing shared for free (pointing out tagging errors is not included in this).

Do not comment to ask the author to write/update something else. It's tacky and off-putting and will probably have the opposite effect than the one you want.

There is no algorithm, it's an archive. Use the search and filter function to add/remove the pairings/characters/tropes etc. you want to read about and it will find you the fics that fit the bill.

For this to work, writers must tag and rate stories. This avoids readers finding the wrong things and missing the stuff they want. I don't care how cringy that trope is in your eyes - it gets tagged.

The tag exception is if you don't want to tag a million things or spoil your story, you can rate it as "chose not to use warnings," and maybe tag the bare minimum.

Don't censor tags. How can someone exclude a tag if the word isn't typed out correctly? There are no content bans for terms so don't censor them.

If the tags are mostly content/trigger warnings, especially if they are things considered very fucked up or graphic, you might want to use "dead dove - do not eat" to ensure people know that you're not messing around with tags and what they get is exactly what you've warned them about.

Character A/Character B means a ROMANTIC or SEXUAL relationship of some kind. Character A&Character B is PLATONIC, like friendship or family.

Nothing is banned. This is an rule because banning one thing is a slipperly slope to banning another and another, until nothing is allowed anymore. Do not expect anyone to censor for you. Because of the tags system, you are responsible for your own reading experience.

People can create new chapters and sequels/fic series any time after they "complete" a story. So it's considered perfectly normal to subscribe, even to a finished story. You can even subscribe to the author instead just to cover your bases.

Do not repost stories or change the publishing date without an extremely good reason (like a complete top to bottom rewrite or an exchange youve written for going public). It's an archive, not social media. No one cares what's the most recent, only what fits their tag needs.

Instead of deleting a story you wrote if you hate it - consider making it anonymous or orphaning it so others can still enjoy it, without it being connected to your name anymore. If you still want to delete it, fair enough.

It's come to my attention that metaworks ARE allowed on AO3, which is something I wasn't aware of. So if you do post an essay or theory, please tag it as such so others can choose to search for it or exclude it. Art is also allowed.

The only reason this archive works is because NON ONE PROFITS. Do not link to your ko-fi or patreon or mention monetary gain in any way or you violate the terms and risk having your account removed. If anyone does link, it leaves the archive open to people claiming it's for profit and having the whole thing removed.

I KNOW there's plenty more I missed but I'm trying to cover most of the basics that people seem to be struggling with.

I invite anyone to add to this, but please explain, don't berate.

[starryshinyskies]

kinda regret that the one fic i wrote that people really enjoyed and begged me to continue is the one that i feel was really rushed and overall not that good :/

[burntoutdaydreamer]

Things That May Be Causing Your Writer's Block- and How to Beat Them

I don't like the term 'Writer's Block' - not because it isn't real, but because the term is so vague that it's useless. Hundreds of issues all get lumped together under this one umbrella, making writer's block seem like this all-powerful boogeyman that's impossible to beat. Worse yet, it leaves people giving and receiving advice that is completely ineffective because people often don't realize they're talking about entirely different issues.

In my experience, the key to beating writer's block is figuring out what the block even is, so I put together a list of Actual Reasons why you may be struggling to write:

(note that any case of writer's block is usually a mix of two or more)

Perfectionism (most common)

What it looks like:

You write one sentence and spend the next hour googling "synonyms for ___"

Write. Erase. Write. Rewrite. Erase.

Should I even start writing this scene when I haven't figured out this one specific detail yet?

I hate everything I write

Cringing while writing

My first draft must be perfect, or else I'm a terrible writer

Things that can help:

Give yourself permission to suck

Keep in mind that nothing you write is going to be perfect, especially your first draft

Think of writing your first/early drafts not as writing, but sketching out a loose foundation to build upon later

People write multiple drafts for a reason: write now, edit later

Stop googling synonyms and save that for editing

Write with a pen to reduce temptation to erase

Embrace leaving blank spaces in your writing when you can't think of the right word, name, or detail

It's okay if your writing sucks. We all suck at some point. Embrace the growth mindset, and focus on getting words on a page

Lack of inspiration (easiest to fix)

What it looks like:

Head empty, no ideas

What do I even write about???

I don't have a plot, I just have an image

Want to write but no story to write

Things that can help:

Google writing prompts

If writing prompts aren't your thing, instead try thinking about what kind of tropes/genres/story elements you would like to try out

Instead of thinking about the story you would like to write, think about the story you would like to read, and write that

It's okay if you don't have a fully fleshed out story idea. Even if it's just an image or a line of dialogue, it's okay to write that. A story may or may not come out of it, but at least you got the creative juices flowing

Stop writing. Step away from your desk and let yourself naturally get inspired. Go for a walk, read a book, travel, play video games, research history, etc. Don't force ideas, but do open up your mind to them

If you're like me, world-building may come more naturally than plotting. Design the world first and let the story come later

Boredom/Understimulation (lost the flow)

What it looks like:

I know I should be writing but uugggghhhh I just can'tttttt

Writing words feels like pulling teeth

I started writing, but then I got bored/distracted

I enjoy the idea of writing, but the actual process makes me want to throw my laptop out the window

Things that can help:

Introduce stimulation: snacks, beverages, gum, music such as lo-fi, blankets, decorate your writing space, get a clickity-clackity keyboard, etc.

Add variety: write in a new location, try a new idea/different story for a day or so, switch up how you write (pen and paper vs. computer) or try voice recording or speech-to-text

Gamify writing: create an arbitrary challenge, such as trying to see how many words you can write in a set time and try to beat your high score

Find a writing buddy or join a writer's group

Give yourself a reward for every writing milestone, even if it's just writing a paragraph

Ask yourself whether this project you're working on is something you really want to be doing, and be honest with your answer

Intimidation/Procrastination (often related to perfectionism, but not always)

What it looks like:

I was feeling really motivated to write, but then I opened my laptop

I don't even know where to start

I love writing, but I can never seem to get started

I'll write tomorrow. I mean next week. Next month? Next month, I swear (doesn't write next month)

Can't find the time or energy

Unreasonable expectations (I should be able to write 10,000 words a day, right????)

Feeling discouraged and wondering why I'm even trying

Things that can help:

Follow the 2 min rule (or the 1 paragraph rule, which works better for me): whenever you sit down to write, tell yourself that you are only going to write for 2 minutes. If you feel like continuing once the 2 mins are up, go for it! Otherwise, stop. Force yourself to start but DO NOT force yourself to continue unless you feel like it. The more often you do this, the easier it will be to get started

Make getting started as easy as possible (i.e. minimize barriers: if getting up to get a notebook is stopping you from getting started, then write in the notes app of your phone)

Commit to a routine that will work for you. Baby steps are important here. Go with something that feels reasonable: every day, every other day, once a week, twice a week, and use cues to help you remember to start. If you chose a set time to write, just make sure that it's a time that feels natural to you- i.e. don't force yourself to writing at 9am every morning if you're not a morning person

Find a friend or a writing buddy you can trust and talk it out or share a piece of work you're proud of. Sometimes we just get a bit bogged down by criticism- either internal or external- and need a few words of encouragement

The Problem's Not You, It's Your Story (or Outline (or Process))

What it looks like:

I have no problems writing other scenes, it's just this scene

I started writing, but now I have no idea where I'm going

I don't think I'm doing this right

What's an outline?

Drowning in documents

This. Doesn't. Make. Sense. How do I get from this plot point to this one?!?!?! (this ColeyDoesThings quote lives in my head rent free cause BOY have I been there)

Things That Can Help:

Go back to the drawing board. Really try to get at the root of why a scene or story isn't working

A part of growing as a writer is learning when to kill your darlings. Sometimes you're trying to force an idea or scene that just doesn't work and you need to let it go

If you don't have an outline, write one

If you have an outline and it isn't working, rewrite it, or look up different ways to structure it

You may be trying to write as a pantser when you're really a plotter or vice versa. Experiment with different writing processes and see what feels most natural

Study story structures, starting with the three act structure. Even if you don't use them, you should know them

Check out Ellen Brock on YouTube. She's a professional novel editor who has a lot of advice on writing strategies for different types of writers

Also check out Savage Books on YouTube (another professional story editor) for advice on story structure and dialogue. Seriously, I cannot recommend this guy enough

Executive Dysfunction, Usually From ADHD/Autism

What it looks like:

Everything in boredom/understimulation

Everything in intimidation/procrastination

You have been diagnosed with and/or have symptoms of ADHD/Autism

Things that can help:

If you haven't already, seek a diagnosis or professional treatment

Hire an ADHD coach or other specialist that can help you work with your brain (I use Shimmer; feel free to DM me for a referral)

Seek out neurodiverse communities for advice and support

Try body doubling! There's lot's of free online body doubling websites out there for you to try. If social anxiety is a barrier, start out with writing streams such as katecavanaughwrites on Twitch

Be aware of any sensory barriers that may be getting in the way of you writing (such as an uncomfortable desk chair, harsh lighting, bad sounds)

And Lastly, Burnout, Depression, or Other Mental Illness

What it looks like:

You have symptoms of burnout or depression

Struggling with all things, not just writing

It's more than a lack of inspiration- the spark is just dead

Things that can help:

Forget writing for now. Focus on healing first.

Seek professional help

If you feel like it, use writing as a way to explore your feelings. It can take the form of journaling, poetry, an abstract reflection of your thoughts, narrative essays, or exploring what you're feeling through your fictional characters. The last two helped me rediscover my love of writing after I thought years of depression had killed it for good. Just don't force yourself to do so, and stop if it takes you to a darker place instead of feeling cathartic