#i like to write random stuff in general in my notes app. i only do this when im truly and utterly bored and nothing else could keep my

[tiredgf]

i really like how simple and grounding my interests are

[gin-juice-tonic]

can i ask how youre able to make so many comics or if you have any tips for aspiring internet funny comic makers? your gag comics are always so creative and funny and well-executed, and your longer form stuff is just a delight to read, i would love to know if u have any advice/insight into yr process

I'm not good at advice so you will have to bear with me here. Also I'm putting it under a readmore cause images make it into a long post. The like first 3/4th of this I talk about specific comics I did, but if you scroll to the end I tried to give some general advice.

My stuff is unfortunately very inspiration-based as opposed to planning-based. So my process might not be helpful if you're looking for something structured... The first thing I should say is I write down basically anything that pops into my head ever. I have a bunch of nonsensical tumblr drafts,

I have stuff in my phones notes app,

I have pages and pages of papers and post-it notes littering my apartment (if you want to know the extent, my sister asked me how I could live with my apartment being so "messy". The only messy thing in it is my papers scattered about). I find the paper stuff the best, because I can draw instead of just writing down concepts.

This is the page I did for the comic about Stan "comforting" Dipper over his unrequited crush on Wendy. (The tumblr version being here)

You will notice aside from the order on the page being strange and some scratched out dialogue, there's not really evidence of a 'plan' here. That's because I was just drawing this as I was thinking it. You will also notice there are two random unrelated Ford drawings in the middle of the page. That's because I was drawing ANYTHING that I was thinking of.

And when I say write down anything, I do mean it. Write down something you did that week, something you remember from when you were 8, something you said out loud and laughed at, things you thought about in the shower, a fact you learned, what your friend had for dinner. See if you can apply it to something. I've mentioned before that this comic only exists because I ran out of toilet paper and went to buy a large bulk pack of it...

When I already have a base idea and just want to expand on it, I usually draw first ask questions later, and things seem to just snowball into being a story. As an example, for the comic I did about Dipper's swimsuit, the base idea was just "Dipper and Stan both wear fully covering swimwear - because they're trans and its what they're comfortable with." But when I went to look up what Dipper wore to the pool, i noticed mabel had a Star one piece suit

Dipper has a star hat in the first episode that he loses, right? SO why don't we give him a matching star one piece that he abandons.

Of course then that single drawing CREATES the story, because we have to explain how he eventually ends up in what he's wearing in the episode. And then I just draw and draw and draw until either the comic ends or I can't continue for whatever reason. The outline for the full thing usually forms while I'm drawing. If I'm worried about forgetting, I'll write down what comes next.

Some of this stuff I didn't stick to, or greatly expanded upon. It's good to be flexible with what you're doing. If something you originally intended only to be a throwaway bit inspires you, roll with it and keep going. (If it ends up being nothing, you can always discard it or turn it into something else later anyway)

I did the swimsuit one basically fully on my computer, but if you want to see another paper based one, a lot of the comic with the kid stans and crampelter I'm doing currently is down on paper.

If you can make out my writing, you can see it says "Crampelter has found out about Stan and Ford's boxing identities" at the top there, which was the general main idea of this part of the comic. This one was a lot more planned than the dipper swimsuit one. There's multiple pages of this sort of stuff, and I knew the idea I wanted was "If Ford and Stan are trans, why would they still be called those names as kids?" (So I guess the takeaway from this one is if you're wanting a structured comic, write down the main idea on the top of a page and brainstorm dialogue and drawings on it?)

There's a lot of sort of floating heads with dialogue, all that matters is I get the emotions or general idea drawn. They're important for me to draw out because being able to "see" the scene (even if I'm seeing it heavily unfinished) is what usually inspires the next bit of the comic.

And I know I talked like a lot already but some general other advice:

Draw, ask questions about what you've drawn, draw more to answer the questions, see if those new drawings ask any new questions, continue this process till you come to a satisfying resolution.

It's fine to not draw something immediately after you've thought of it. I have a lot of things I've just squirreled away for later. And in the same vein its okay to drag something old up that you've never used and try to work with it.

I almost always put on music while I'm trying to think of things. Something I feel fits the mood of what I'm doing tonally. And then I usually just put the same song on repeat, though some people im sure would feel like that is psychological torture. But its helpful to me.

This might sound silly if you're someone who leaves the house a societally normal amount, but I try to go out into the world and do things so I get new ideas and experiences I can build on. Sometimes those things are literally just "go to the park", but sometimes it's venturing out somewhere several hours away or doing an activity i'd never care to do normally... I try to take note of anything that stood out to me and write down thoughts or feelings I had during.

When it comes to trying to be "funny", you should try to make yourself laugh first. Not only because you want your comics to bring yourself joy, but also because its just hard to make stuff you don't care about (And harder to be consistent about it). Though if you think of something and you don't really think its funny, you don't have to throw it away! You might be surprised what other people end up liking. So don't kill yourself to write jokes you yourself don't really get, but if your brain spits out something on its own you dont care much for, it still may be gold to someone else.

It's okay to make comics about simple and relatable things. People love relating. And depending on what you're writing about, that relatability may be really needed!

Everyone has something of value to say. Even if you yourself don't feel like the things you're saying matter, or that they're too silly or un-serious to matter. They matter.

[ktownshizzle]

Can you tell me your writing process ? Do you outline ? Braindump? Write on your notes app? Just curious. Also your fav authors and comfort books. I always start something but never finish. So many unedited drafts of ideas but very little fruition.

Hi lovely anon! Sorry it took me a while to respond to this.

First of all, I hope you get the chance to write and find the inspiration to share your ideas to the world. I for sure would want to read them!

My writing process under the cut, in case anyone else is interested.

On writing

While I’ve been trained to write fast from news and sports writing in my previous jobs, when it comes to fic writing, I am not methodical at all, I fear.

Tldr; when I’m inspired, I write; when I’m tired, I stop.

I rarely force myself to write unless I am at the final editing stage and just want to finish it already. But generally I need to be in the correct head space to write. This might go against some of the usual advice, but since this is not my full-time job, it's important that I dictate my own pace and keep it fun, otherwise, I might stop.

So the way this goes is whenever I get inspired with something… I write. Honestly you guys sending me Yoongi photos or like wanting to talk about random Yoongi moments or theories have given me heapssss of inspiration! You have no idea! So keep sending those asks! 🤗

Basically once I have the big idea for the story, I try to do a general outline: bullet points of the characters, key moments, specific dialogue I want, etc. Then when I get inspired again, it’s a literal brain dump, typos and all, using Google Docs. I used to only be able to write using my laptop, but now I trained my brain to write using my phone, too, and this has increased my output because now I can write anywhere especially when I'm feeling insane.

Then I edit and expand the scenes. Finally, I work on the key moments that need to pack a punch which is the lead, the main conflict or the main tension point (first kisses are my fave!) and the ending. If there’s a smut scene, I write it last.

On managing your WIPS / drafts

Honestly, my WIP list is insane. I try not to let it bother me so much. but sometimes it pokes me like I'm a bear.

I do have a couple on ongoing/multi-chapter stuff so I pick up on what MC I feel like being at the moment then go from there. Or which MC y'all are really vibing with based on interactions and see if we can push the story further along from there.

Since you mentioned you have lots of unedited drafts, I suggest pick the best one you like and really envision that story and how you want it to go. You can even do a moodboard like what I add in my stories because it really helps set the tone and the vibe for me.

Oh, I wanna add that watching the boys on background like an MV or Run or whatever content also helps me. Instant serotonin boost.

-

I am sorry if this so long. I hope this answered your q. I am not sure if my methods will be of help to you, but I pray that inspiration strikes for you soonest! My DMs are open if you wanna brainstorm! :)

[northern-passage]

Hi! I'm sorry if you've answered this before, but what do you use for your IF writing and how do you organize it? (I might ask a few other writers I admire this so don't mind it if you see this question floating around 🙈)

hi! i pretty much solely use obsidian now, which is a markdown editor.

i used to use visual studio code when i wrote in choicescript, and some people do still use vsc in twine as well (along with tweego) but i have a system now where i write and code in obsidian and then port it all into twine manually once i'm ready, rather than bothering with tweego.

obsidian allows you to have vaults, so i have a vault for each separate project (blood choke, tnp, my novel, etc) then within those vaults i have folders where i separate everything. here's a peek inside the blood choke and tnp vaults:

i use. a LOT of folders, especially for tnp, it allows me to break up scenes and variations easily so i can find what i'm looking for. bc is much smaller so you can see i really only have one main folder for each chapter.

i have a variable file for both (i just had to crop out tnp's cus the vault has too many files lmfao) and i also use a spreadsheet on googledocs to keep track of them, both for how many possible points one can have in any numerical variables, as well as what each variable is used for:

for tnp i actually have a separate google doc for each chapter because there's so many. again, it makes it easier for me to find stuff rather than scrolling thru one big massive spreadsheet.

and that's about it. i keep everything pretty contained within obsidian now. i do keep notes on my phone too but it's very messy (i don't really write on my phone in general like some other people do) and i tend to just send any of that to myself through a private discord server and then i put it into my random notes files for later.

[lavenderchqn]

𝑅𝐸𝐷 𝐿𝐼𝑁𝐸𝑆 - 𝐸𝑁𝐷𝐼𝑁𝐺 𝑇𝐻𝑂𝑈𝐺𝐻𝑇𝑆

[Content warning: This is chaotic. Very chaotic.]

Hi everyone! Thank you so much for reading this, if you've managed to get here somehow... and thank you for reading Red Lines in general.

This project is the reason I started my tumblr, inspired to write a smau with an element of thrill and mystery - something you'd get in a Desperate Housewives or Pretty Little Liars type of thing.

A special thank you to those who have joined the taglist or kept up with the releases in general. I know who you are and every time I would post a chapter to see the notifications of tiny comments and notes just filled me with much much joy. In all honesty, Red Lines was the first project where I feel like I have completely written from the beginning to the end. Also a big big thanks to my irl friends and online friends who have been subjected to reading the chapters and my random thoughts about the story.

As I have said, there are some thoughts I have to share (as well as some tips for anyone who plans on embarking on this journey.)

First of all, holy I wish I had prepared better. For the sake of pointing out a timeline - I have gotten the idea for writing this series around the time of April (so around patch 4.5 - 4.6). The initial chapters didn't get released until the start of 4.8... And despite all that time I have given myself to map out the story did not feel like enough.

The biggest hurdle for me was getting through planning act three, as... aside from the ending. In my mind, some plans were already being made as the middle point of writing act 2... but they weren't prepared in the slightest.

Another thing is that I think I haven't used the social media apps (twitter in specific) to it's full potential... and the same goes for some of the characters in general.

Another thing is that - oh my god, if you put out anything but your smau fanfiction, make different profiles for the same characters if you post them. I have gone mad at myself from constantly having to switch Wriothesley's and Neuvillette's profile in my texting app. The next time I am using a different app for the smau entirely, that is for sure.

I feel like out of the entire cast of characters there's few that do not feel as developed as others (I'm looking at you Clorinde and Navia)... And some probably feel quite out of character when comparing to their game counterparts - that's Neuvillette.

When I was writing out stuff for my story, I wanted to capture the change of behaviour a person goes through when faced with a stressful and painful situation, with the character of [Y/N] or reader. Clorinde in my eyes played the role of the 'realist' who shared her thought process with the main character. Even though [Y/N]'s decision-making methods have changed, Clorinde remained constant... but also brutally honest at times. If I was remaking this story I would've tried to do something more with her character.

Navia is in this boat because... yep, I for sure could've utilised her much much better. What I was against was adding the ship of her and Clorinde, because I didn't boil down either one of their personalities to just being with the other one. Navia is a sweetie and I love her to death though.

Neuvillette is an interesting character to talk about where, in a sense, he was written exactly how I wanted him to be. He is actually modelled after a good friend of mine, acting very aloof and silly at times. I love for Neuvillette, such a serious character in game to be reduced to a confused comedic relief character <3

Be mindful of how much stuff you put out. If you may, or may not know, I am an accounting student - currently in my final year of university. Two weekly chapters as well as two regular posts (for people who don't follow red lines, as they are entitled not t) was a deathwish and a toll on my body.

Well, those were quite negative thoughts haven't they? don't you worry, I haven't been only miserable when writing this series, so let's talk about that too.

I love Fontaine. I love the setting. I love the characters. I love the story. This smau was what felt to me like a love letter to a region I've held deep to my heart as we were switching onto Natlan's release.

Back when I began the planning phase of this group, I initially thought of the Beverage Members as a group and began establishing them. As I am the absolute pioneer of the headcanon of Wriothesley and Furina being besties, addition of Lyney was an interesting one to be putting out. He's a complex character I felt like I was able to discover and use really well.

Speaking of Lyney? God I love that guy. Even though prior to the series I was a huge enjoyer of his, the process just made me attached to him even more. Thanks to the current (5.2) patch I was even able to get him on my account with his bow.

I've actually became attached to everyone in this cast in general. Although the main story of Red Lines has ended, I would like to revisit this cast one day in the future... but probably for like an additional oneshot if anything. I would really really like to develop Beverage Gang's side of the story and they are my blorbos.

All in all... wow, this was actually a thing I did. I have actually managed to write a story from start to finish and post it all.

Once again the biggest thanks to you, the readers. I think if it wasn't for the people actually reading the story, I would've given up at a point or another.

As of this point, I'm unsure when another long-term project like this will emerge. For starters, I'd actually like to take my own advice to heart and not post until I feel like I'm in the clear with my mind that I'm satisfied with my planning etc.

At this time I'm far too swamped with university to work on something like this. I'm due a half of my master thesis till the beginning of January... and I have not even started. Once I'm clear with that, perhaps my planning phase will being again.

Thank you so much for reading to these silly thoughts I have accumulated over the span of writing this series. Stay cozy everyone, let's chat soon <3

[borealopelta]

wip whatever

i'm gonna go ahead and consider myself tagged in @arokel's tagless tag game because i want to talk about My Wips :-) if anyone feels like joining in, please do!!

after posting my latest fic i was kinda like. hmm. i don't have anything to show. which is not true!! i have not one but two geologist!don fics in the wip folder. (now you could ask. hey finch why do you keep writing geologyfic. well a) i have this mental illness called degree in geology and b) it's basically just me trying to conceptualise what being a geologist (or studying geology) must have been like for someone who was doing it before the theory of plate tectonics was even proposed (not to mention accepted). the amount of stuff that was fully unknown to geology in the times these fics are set is limiting as fuck and that's what makes them endlessly fun to tinker with. i've done sooooo much niche research. this is what constitutes fun for me. apologies)

i've already talked about the first one in an ask game, don's horrible geology exam, which i've been slowly piecing together from semi coherent notes app scribblings from the height of my mystery illness, BUT the other is newww so. also i don't have titles picked out because i'm bad at that so the titles are. the file names. yay! snippets under readmore:

geologydonfic is the aforementioned don's exam misery fic

Bobby takes in Don – the line of his bracelet a red imprint on his cheek, bruise-black circles under his red-rimmed eyes, paler than ever, frown lines like deep etchings on his handsome face. It’s clear that he’s not dealing on his own. “Fine,” he says after barely any deliberation, “I can help you study.” He picks up Don’s textbook and flips to a random page. Most of it is taken up by a big, colourful chart, sort of like a repeating rainbow getting more and more washed out, with ray-like lines coming out of one corner. It’s utterly incomprehensible. Bobby puts the book back down on the table. “I can’t help you study.” The corner of Don’s mouth twists into an almost-smile.

argentina is the newer one, set in argentina in 1967. don is there for work, bobby is there for don, it's hot, it's dirty (so far only in the "the drill site is a filthy place in general" way but who knows)

The Jeep that had picked him up at the airport slowly rolled away to join the fleet of identical vehicles, all decorated with the letters YPF – the name of the company in charge of the work, Bob assumed. He barely had time to feel (or look) lost when he noticed Don coming his way. Or at least he guessed it was Don, from the familiar walk and the fact that the man was a good four inches taller than everyone around him. Dressed in grubby work clothes and wearing a hard-hat that cast enough shadow to hide his entire face however, he could have been anyone. Then the smile gave him away. Bob had not been twenty-two and a fool in love in a good while, but that toothpaste-commercial-runaway, all-teeth, bright-as-the-sun smile Don could smile when he really put his mind to it still made him go weak in the knees.

[helielune]

Pls tell me about the perfect app that lives in your head rent free

hello!!!! ok!!!!! i am here to dump all my brain sludge right here now!!

to preface i know there's like a bajillion productivity apps out there with varying degrees of quality so the likelihood of this already existing is very much nonzero BUT i think the possibility of it not existing yet is also very nonzero so here it is!!

essentially, the main premise is that one post, which said 'if thinking naruto would be proud of you for brushing your teeth, then grab that toothbrush dattebayo' or something along those lines.

it's an app that gives you a character to motivate you and work alongside you and celebrate your successes with you and encourage you to get up when you're. currently not up

mockup images!

is this miku? maybe.

anyways so the basic user workflow is that you would open the app (perhaps through a morning notification, if you're into that) and be greeted by your beautiful and supportive character, as well as your daily tasks. then you get to work!

each task or work session you complete will earn you currency! and with that currency you can deck out your character in the shop! think of a picrew. you can change their hair. their clothes. their body type. you can turn them into naruto if that helps you. you can make a whole new character if you want! and then you'll have two supporting characters!! this will all cost you 'work' though.

notes about the to-do list area:

morning routine section. this would hopefully be sort of a built-in feature. it would give you a morning notification to do all this stuff and include an animation of your character doing routine stuff with you so you feel like you have a friend brushing ur teeth with you lol

the tasks all have a label attached but i guess you don't really need one if you don't want one

the little tag that says '25m' on laundry means that you think doing the laundry will take 25 minutes of focus time. if you click on the hourglass icon next to it, it'll take you to a timer for 25 minutes automatically.

if you don't set time it'll just give you the default pomodoro timer sessions, which you can change in your settings. i'm a freak for settings so if this actually gets made you can rest assured there will be enough minute settings to go around

it lets you do 'counter' type tasks too, see 'apply to jobs'. thanks to habitica for that idea

notes about the timer page:

basically it tells you to focus on a single task. if you clicked the timer button for a single task in your list on the homepage that will be the highlighted one. if you clicked the general timer button then it'll just pull the first or a random one or something. but it only shows you one.

unless you click the expand button because i'm not gonna lock you out of viewing your own todo list

you can also 'quick' add a new task! like y'know when you suddenly realize you need to do that extra thing on the side just WRITE IT DOWN instead of getting sidetracked. maybe if i feel like it i'll let you take photos for tasks or speech to text or y'know. just make it easy and quick

during the breaks it plays a little break animation to remind u to drink water or eat something or whatever

i think i need to move some buttons around and stuff but generally this is what so many hours of my life (like years of turning it around in my mind plus the past few days of making these images) has turned into. some other features i would ideally have are screen time checkers so your character pops in when you've been on your phone for too long and says Hey. plus other stuff but this is already long

am i ever actually going to make this? probably i'd only get to a super basic version of it. at least a todo list. but those apps already exist...

there are some super limiting/challenging problems that i haven't really been able to solve. like 1. the picrew. god damn i want to make a picrew so badly but i just do Not have the time or energy. and if i use animations inside this thing to make it cuter than i would essentially be making a whole picrew like FIVE TIMES (FOR THE FRAMES).

and it leads into the next issue 2. the continuous motivation. it's easy to be motivated when you're using a brand new cutesy app and have like a hundred things to buy but what if you run out?? how many things do i have to draw to keep up with the demand and keep it motivating?? especially if the items in the store are hit or miss (which is. inevitable, because no store can be 100% only things that you want to buy) then the pickings get slim REALLY fast.

3. the personalities of the characters. it's one thing to provide a character and make its personality myself (i would do that anyway, a small handful of default characters, because you do need to get started somewhere) but it's another thing entirely to make a billion different lines of text to minutely capture the possible words of encouragement that every fictional character you ever liked would say. so you can have an accurate replica of them in your motivational app for maximum motivational affect. is this actually important to people? idk but i feel like if ur productivity app said smth weird and u went like 'he would not fucking say that' it might break the spell. so

thats the basic rundown if u have any questions OR FEEDBACK (!!!!!!!) hmu if you want to use this app also hmu but maybe don't depend on me making it in full... so some alternatives i found while looking for inspo are

habitica (classic gamification, does a lot of similar stuff including personalization!)

finch (just a supportive buddy, mostly for habits and self care)

otto (it's really cute and basically you take care of a Creature by focusing, but it's only a browser extension i think)

someone on a reddit thread made a feature-heavy gamified habit/productivity browser extension here and it seems very useful!!!

also other resources:

Magic ToDo - GoblinTools breaks tasks down into subtasks for you! it's not always 100% accurate but can be a start :) especially since you can decide how many parts you want

forest (i used this a lot before, it's more of a screen time stopper but it's got a sort of fatal flaw in that you have to actively begin using it each time. sometimes i just need someone to kick me out of a scrolling loop.) (also after they started monetizing the prizes it got boring :( )

my friends used opal before for screen time reasons but it's paid. if u have money that's probably a good choice

'amazing marvin' is another productivity/habit browser extension which is also paid. if you're into paying. heard it's good and super customizable to you too

i once tried cold turkey to break my screen habits and at least i can say it is VERY effective at what it says it does. just be careful with what you block lol

if u made it this far here's an extra miku for ur troubles. i drew it bc. i was gonna make a sprite and then got lost in the sauce. these mockups are gonna singlehandedly make me a master at ms paint mouse/trackpad drawing

btw it's not wednesday september 11 right now unless it is for you in which case how is it living in the Future? or the Past. i don't make the time rules

[bestworstcase]

Hello! You've mentioned being a NanoWrimo veteran, and I was wondering if you had any advice for planning out your writing for the month? I was going to do an outline beforehand to prepare, but I'm not sure if that's authentic to the NanoWrimo spirit.

i am i’ve been doing nano most years with wildly variable success since i was fourteen. my best advice is:

start writing now.

not your actual nanowrimo project necessarily and not the 1.6k and change daily you’d need to ‘win’ but start writing every day right now. if i’m going into november from a dry spell i like to start with a daily goal of minimum 100-200 words for a week and then at the end of the week, set a new goal of a few hundred more than daily average. rinse repeat until you’re in the habit of writing a decent chunk every day. THE POINT OF THIS is to avoid hitting the “”two week wall“” which is a thing that happens because writing 1.6k+ words in a day is pretty easy but writing 1.6k+ words per day every day for a month is really hard if you don’t, you know. train for it.

you will get the most value out of nanowrimo if you think about it as a writing marathon. it’s difficult because it takes a level of endurance and discipline that you probably do not have unless you’re already a prolific daily writer.

outlining is in the spirit of nanowrimo and has always been part of the culture; some people outline extensively (‘planners’) some don’t (‘pantsers,’ as in writing by the seat of your pants), many fall somewhere in the middle. the only hard rule if you want the, like, pure nanowrimo experience as it was originally conceived is: don’t start writing the actual story until 12:01 AM on november first. you can have anything from zero plan to minutely detailed scene-by-scene notes for the entire novel locked and loaded, but on day one you open a blank document and start writing.

another thing i’d really recommend is trying to write over that 1.6k daily baseline. an extra 340 words per day for five days will net you a free day and those are nice to have in case you hit a day where you can’t write for whatever reason. it’s a lot less stressful to bank up extra words ahead of time than to miss a day or two and have to catch up.

if you don’t already have a process for turning off your inner editor, start trying to figure one out now. the temptation to delete and rewrite a paragraph dozens of times will bite you if you indulge it. try things like hiding your text so you can’t read it (set font and page to the same color, or use wingdings), try sprinting apps like write or die, stuff like that. you are trying to complete a rough draft. it’s okay for it to be rough.

lastly, use the time between now and november to figure out warm ups that work for you. these are quick, simple writing exercises separate from your wip that you do before every writing session. here are some that i like:

set a timer for five minutes and write continuously, stream of conscious, without stopping until the time’s up.

set a timer for five minutes and write a loose synopsis or ramble about the scene you plan to write: what happens, who’s in it, what subplots is it advancing, what pieces of foreshadowing or set up do you need to work in, what’s the emotional tone, etc.

pick an object in the room. spend five minutes describing it in exhaustive but simple detail. think “this cup is a tall red cylinder. it’s made of glass. there’s about a half-inch of clear glass at the bottom. the red is bright and saturated, firetruck red. it’s sitting on my desk with sunlight falling through it, casting a red shadow. there’s water in it with three ice cubes. the cup is about six inches tall.” <- you want a stream-of-conscious list of observations, basically.

use a random [name/setting/plot] generator and write 2-4 paragraphs of something stupid based on the output. just the silliest or most overwrought or edgiest grimdark or saccharine bullshit you can spew out.

take the last five hundred or so words of your last writing session. read them over. open a blank document and transcribe them word-for-word (or nearly, if you can change a word here and there without breaking stride). the idea is not to edit, but to write out a decent chunk of words quickly, without thinking much about what those words are. (i like to do another warmup and then this one and then just keep going when i hit the end of the chunk i’m transcribing.)

the idea is to preempt writer’s block by giving yourself 10-15 minutes of no thoughts head empty rapid-fire word vomit to get your brain on track and ready to go. warming up before your writing sessions will dramatically reduce the frequency of sudden creative paralysis when you sit down to write.

[w1f1n1ghtm4r3]

followup fun facts about together, to that promised aquarium

this is gonna be just kinda a disorganized post of random things so uh. dont mind that.

the event title is actually a double reference ^^ its both a callback to 1dt with 1c promising to find time to do things as friends despite getting busier (even if theres no ichika this time), and also a reference to harusakis first kizuna!

colopale you still havent given us that aquarium they said theyd go to. theres a reason i had to do it myself. the fact that theres not an aquarium event in general is a crime tbh i know theres some romantic connotations with a pair going to an aquarium but theres very easy solutions to avoiding that? sending a group of 3+ characters together, having them run into other characters while there, inviting someone else along (even if they cant go, it helps make it feel more like a friend thing i think). i did a bit of the latter two, as you mightve noticed! in general though its just SUCH an obviously fun event theme i cant beleive we havent had one yet

while i am a known harusaki shipper, i kept the story pretty light on the stuff that could be read as explicitly shippy, since when im trying to make fake events, i like to think about how itd work in canon, which means keeping it low on explicit ship content. plenty of stuff that could be taken as ship food (as id like it to be!) but nothing that would alienate non shippers from enjoying the story too.

i actually didnt write shizukasas presence as intended for ship content at all though, but im definitely okay with people taking it that way lol they can be on a date too if you want them to be. my plan with them was simply theyre childhood friends too but dont get to spend time together that often anymore -> their schedules line up with a free day and tsukasa heard about the aquarium from saki, decides to invite shizuku to go there with him as a part of hanging out together -> surprise encounter with harusaki!

also both of them were scoring quite high on the form when i decided to lock in the lineup (tsukasa was absolutely sweeping the 2* category, and while shizuku wasnt winning anything, she was a pretty popular choice) and theyre very easy to work into a story together and also into a story that is focused on harusaki (╯▽╰ ) the benefits of siblings and unitmates

(tsukasa 2* poll sweep at the time of me solidifying my lineup)

the event and gacha names actually both came to me one night while i was about to fall asleep. struck by inspiration so strong i had to grab my phone and write them down in my notes app. and they actually worked very well! also heres the transparents of the logos if you want them i guess

the card/skill/costume names also mostly came to me in similar ways, in the last couple nights before i finished everything. i think only saki, luka, and shizukus skills didnt come to me that way.

while the rui fish in tsukasa card might be obvious, theres actually more animals referencing other characters too! theres a group of three fish in sakis card that are the colors of the rest of leoni, the sneakiest of the bunch, and also not quite as sneaky but maybe not as obvious as the rui fish is the airi and minori sea slugs :)

i did think about giving tsukasa fish to be emu and nene too, but that many differently colored fish in a 2* seemed like too much, so i didnt do it... at least of the units involved, 2/3 of them are fully represented in some way!

and now most importantly probably, is that this is in fact my second pass at an aquarium event! the original one i started back in 2022 and......... i think you guys can figure out why i couldnt just reuse it when i decided to go for making an aquarium event again this time.

yep, youre seeing that right. 4/5 of the characters i chose are the same as what ended up being 1dt, all i got wrong was the vs. thats pretty crazy, honestly. im still not fully convinced colopale isnt just stealing my ideas after val3 happened too /j

it was also saki focus actually! i had written out a rough idea for the story back then too, and while theres some similarities to the current one, it obviously went through a lot of changes when revising the lineup and also with everything that has happened in the story over the past two years. it was definitely a bit more explicitly shippy than my new attempt, although i still tried to keep the shipping stuff toned back somewhat

i only ever made one card for that set though, just lukas 2*... but thats the original reason i made the old 2* backgrounds! its always those fake events throwing me into the graphic design trenches (fist shake) i had been trying to do a more canon-accurate style to......... mixed success. its not terrible, but i definitely could not have done the full set like this. theres a reason i did promised aquarium in my own style!

the original theme for the set was kind of like..... performers at an aquarium? along with living water sculptures of animals. it was a fun idea, but i think i was much better suited to doing the underwater scenes of promised aquarium and also we have plenty of performance themed trained sets already ^^

considering i also technically kept her from the original set (plus she was also winning the vs poll), i gave her a higher rarity card this time around for fun. and also because i knew none of shizuku tsukasa or luka would have super significant roles in the story, and i thought it would be fun to design a lim hairstyle for her!

one final random fun fact: the thing that kicked me into gear making promised aquarium was the fact that haruka wasnt on beautiful sound. i was just a little mad that they had an underwater set WITH A PENGUIN COSTUME and there was no haruka. sometimes petty beef brings out my craziest motivations and then i proceeded to spend the better part of a month planning and making it happen.

[spiritedstars]

1, 3, 5, 7, 27, 29, 31, 33 😁(if these have all been asked then please choose three questions you would like to be asked) (if none of these have been answered, choose three, two or one — have a good day!)

1.Do you daydream a lot before you write, or go for it as soon as the ideas strike?

I try to write it as soon as I get the ideas. My notes app is filled with stuff because I don't want to lose it. If I can, I'll try to write as much of the scene/chapter as possible because I'm fueled by it. If not, I at least try to write the general idea/vibes. Then I proceed to daydream a lot lol.

3. Do you share your fic ideas, or do you keep them to yourself?

I mostly share with @abruisedmuse lol. She gets my ideas first hand but other than that, I usually keep it to myself.

5. How many wips do you have? What fandoms/pairings are they for?

My obsession has been SJM so all my wips are for her characters. I have a lot of Elucien, Satharion, and Eiris. I have a Feysand wip as well as a Gwynriel wip. In total, about 18 HAHA.

7. Post a snippet from a wip.

Sighing quietly, he glanced down at his station and began pulling different flowers at random, thinking about Nesta’s words.

It wasn’t that Azriel didn’t want to ask Gwyn out but…this wouldn’t be his first time attempting to be more than friends with someone close to him. He had almost lost Mor’s friendship in the process and even though they had both moved on, sometimes it was still awkward. He couldn’t let it happen again.

Gwyn…Gwyn was different. She was pure sunshine in a way he’d never seen in anyone before. She was funny, smart, scrappy, and though he knew she had a past that haunted her sometimes, Azriel had watched her slowly learn to not let it hold her back as she found herself again. 

And gods, he’d do anything to keep that gorgeous smile on her face. 

But what if it ruined the easiness of their friendship? What if he came on too strong? What if he ended up making her feel —  

“That bouquet is about as sad as watching you try to do pilates, Az.” 

27. What area of writing do you feel strongest in?

I think I write banter and emotions pretty well. I love writing dialogue and do feel like each couple I write has their own flavor in their banter.

31. Do you use a beta reader/editor?

Yup. My girl @abruisedmuse always gets VIP first access to my writing and provides me with her feedback. I appreciate her eyeballs and big brain :)

33. Is there a specific word count that you hold yourself to/enjoy writing the most?

I've only ever paid attention to this when writing SMTB. With each chapter, I aim for at least 20-22 pages. With the individual one-shots, I don't really pay attention so I end it whenever it feels right. It's been usually around 4-5K words depending on the piece.

thank you for sending in an ask, darling!! ♥️♥️ hope you've been having a wonderful weekend!!

[letstalkwhump]

Let's Talk Whump

Welcome to Let’s Talk Whump, a series of interviews that spotlight the amazing people in our whump community! I’m Malice and I’ll be your host today. 

Here today to talk all things whumpy is the brilliant @another-whump-sideblog!

We’re thrilled to have you here! Do you mind starting us off with an introduction?

You can call me Cam, my favorite color is green and I have a snowglobe collection!

Let’s get straight to the point! What does whump mean to you? 

To me, whump is any media that focuses on pain (of any kind) and how the characters cope (or don’t cope) with it.

And how did you find the whump community? What made you want to join? 

I first got super into whump during a depressive episode. I’m not sure exactly why, but it was comforting. I read pretty much all I could find in the fandoms I was in, and then I just started searching whump in general! I actually don’t remember the first whump fic I read, fanfic or OC, or else I’d shout it out. For quite a while I was reading a lot of whump without interacting at all, out of fear of people realising I was into whump, but eventually I got over that and even started sharing some of my own whump writing!

Do you think your view on whump has changed since you joined? 

I’ve gotten a lot more into OC whump and less into fandom whump as time goes on. I’ve also gotten less afraid of publically liking whump.

Everyone’s favourite question: Favourite whump tropes!

I like pet whump and torture whump a lot. I also like long recovery arcs with imperfect caretakers. And I’m always a big fan of unreliable narrators.

Do you have a favourite piece you've written?

I really like the first chapter of Jane’s Pets. The style is pretty fun and I think it’s a good introduction to the series.

I love the format and second person pov! It’s a really intriguing idea! What does your writing routine usually look like?

I tend to write at complete random, whenever I’ve got a free moment. I write in my phone’s notes app, which is a bad choice but it would take too much work to switch over to something else at this point.

Do you find that some things are easy for you to write? Is there something you struggle with writing? 

I’d like to think I’m pretty good at describing characters’ inner feelings, and I know I’m not great at setting a scene or describing how things look or feel or things like that. I love writing dream sequences because then things can not make sense physically and I can purely focus on the emotion. I also struggle with editing. I tend to edit only very rarely, and usually only after I’ve already posted something. I just known that if I say ‘I can’t post this until I’ve edited it’ I would post things very very rarely lol.

And is there anything you're working on at the moment? 

I’m working on the season finale of season two of Jane’s Pets right now! I’ve also been trying to work on describing the world outside of my characters’ heads and not starting every single scene in medias res.

Do you have a joke or pun you would like to share to spread some smiles today?

Did you hear about the performer who fell through the floor?

It was just a stage they were going through!

I haven’t heard that one before, it’s good! Is there any writing advice you’d like to share?

Just have fun! I guess I don’t really have advice for professional writers, but for those of us here just writing stuff and putting it on the internet for free, there’s no need to get bogged down in what you ‘should’ be doing in your writing. Just do what makes you happy! 

Shout out to your favourite writing/whump blogs, bffs or people who've inspired you.

The first friends I made in the whump community were @whumpyourdamnpears and @whump-in-the-closet! Both are great people who I’m glad I’ve gotten to know!

Finally, is there anything you'd like to add?

Thanks for interviewing me, this was fun!

Thank you so much for joining us , @another-whump-sideblog ! 

And to all you swell folks at home, have a whump-derful day!

[zhuzhudushu]

Hello! Your blog came up while I was searching up information about Chinese names and I was wondering if you could help me check the name I've come up with for an oc I have!

Despite being of Chinese ancestry I know little to no Chinese (forgive me ancestors, I'm still learning) so thank you for all the resources your blog provides!

The setting itself is more fantasy mythological-like with this oc being a 狐狸精 so I figured the name didn't have to be completely accurate/ def not something a random Chinese person would regularly have, (kind of like a "this is obviously a chinese name but in a fantasy game" situation) I ended up coming up with 灵火 due to the ocs relation to undead spirits and fire and also because it sounds like 灵活. I was wondering if the name sounds weird or wether I should change one of the characters. I also need to come up with a surname so I'm wondering if there are any specifics to what characters can or cannot be surnames?

Thank you again!! I'm sorry if this ask is way too long!

YES please come to me with Chinese names I love to break down this stuff.

I do want to put a disclaimer here that I am not a native speaker and this is all based on my intermediate level of Chinese knowledge.

Putting it under the cut to save dash space. You know I can talk about names forever ;)

Given Name

So based on a quick search of the characters in a few naming tools (including this one) it looks like 灵 as a character is not used in Normal names. However, like you said since this is a fantasy story it doesn't necessarily need to a Real Name and just needs to be symbolic/sound like Chinese. But this site does list a few names that include this character in 2-character given name combos, so it's not unheard of (though I will say some of the examples there are... probably not real names lol).

You can also see on that website other names that are phonetically similar/identical so if you want to check out different "ling" or "huo" characters, that website is a good place to look.

Another thing to consider if you want to keep the fire imagery is to find characters that use 火 as a radical rather than the character itself. 秋 meaning autumn for example has the 火 component and could be used in a name.

Surnames

As for surnames I usually direct people to this list on wiki of the most common 100 surnames, but if you want a less common one that's more difficult.

Basically, yes, there are rules about which characters are and are not surnames. I... couldn't tell you what they are, exactly, but typically if a character is a surname, you'll be able to find out on dictionary apps like Pleco! Even if it's a regular word, if it's also a surname, that will be listed as one of its definitions. See below:

There are also some characters that might have had uses back in the day, but now are surnames only. These tend to be rarer, in my experience (e.g. 冯, which I've never seen at all).

That said, I would say probably most if not all of Chinese syllables are a surname, somewhere. So, if you're going to be writing these names in pinyin/romanization, that might not matter so much! But in terms of characters, yes only certain characters are surnames.

Just as a side note, if you want to keep the "huo" pronunciation and are open to the idea, there is a surname 霍 Huò which was the name of a military general in one of the old Chinese stories I read LOL which is a surname I've never seen before so it's probably rare. A simple name with just a surname + single given name combo 霍灵 might be something to consider.

If it fits the vibe you're going for, there are a lot of animal/nature-based surnames. 金 (gold), 熊 (bear), 江 (river), 龙 (dragon), 冯 (galloping horse), 柴 (wood) are just a few examples. Another one of my favorite surnames is 孙 Sun because English speakers pronounce it (wrong) like the sun in the sky LOL (also it means son/grandson which is also pronounced sun so it's like a pun). It's also the author of The Art of War's last name lol.

So yeah, hopefully this gives you some food for thought. You're welcome to write back with more ideas :3

If anyone who sees this wants to comment, please do!! I'm by no means a Chinese expert and I'm always eager to learn more about names.

~Zhuzhu

[fantasticduckchaos]

Hi Ro! 🩶 Just wanted to drop in, to let you know how much I absolutely adore your art!! 🫶💕 (like it truly makes me so happy to see whenever you've posted a new one! 🥰)

So in relation to that I wanted to ask: What are the top 5 things that inspire you to do art? 👀

(also curious if there is anything about art in general, that you'd like to talk about! 🤗🩵)

Hey stella <333 thank you so much for enjoying my art :] I'm so glad you like it❤️

1. My hyperfixations - as soon as I join a Fandom or community I immediately feel the need to draw fanart for it, anything I'm passionate about really😅games, movies, fanfics, youtubers etc..

2. Other people - whenever I get requests for certain parings or drawings I get so happy because I'm like- "this person likes MY art so much they want to request!?" and I get so exited whenever someone even reblogs my stuff :D

3. People I love - anytime I have a friend that I love so dearly I constantly wanna draw them and give them gifts. If you somehow were able to look through my sketchbooks over the years, you would find month long periods where I would only be drawing one person. These things come and go but I love the rush of creativity I get whenever it happens :)))

4. Boredom - I know it's weird- hear me out. When I was in school I always found myself doodling in my notebooks when a class was boring (which it usually was haha) and it subconsciously really helped with my art journey and with my inspiration over the years.

5. Myself - sometimes I feel that the only way to express what's going on in my head is through art. It doesn't matter what kind. Sometimes I feel really overwhelmed and a random fucking poem about it pops into my head so I write down. Maybe I saw something really beautiful somewhere and absolutely HAD to draw what it made me feel. I find myself in so many things around me and I want to get it on paper or in my notes app just to preserve the feeling.

Art runs in my family, I have a few cousins who draw and on both my parents sides they have a history of it. Though my main inspiration to start drawing was my sister. My older sister draws so amazingly even three year-old me wanted to be like her. She unknowingly encouraged me to continue expressing myself and I am forever grateful for her. It's also so fun to see how other hobbies translate, for example I plays guitar; I didn't know this until after I started playing but my dad always wanted to play when he was a kid and my mom played guitar when she was in seventh grade (I started playing in seventh grade too!) my brother and my cousin also took a few classes and so did my grandpa on my mom's side. It's so cool to see things that don't seem genetic translate in different family members👍 okay sorry for the rant I got carried away😅😅

[coleoffduty]

tysm @sapphireblueye for tagging me and for all the wonderful things you do for this little corner of the fandom!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

9! [but i have 17 wips breathing down my neck rn]

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

282,695

3. What fandoms do you write for?

only hotd rn but i really wanna try writing for marvel (nashuri) or dc (batriddle)!

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

- brutus - The Watcher - The Realm's Sweetness - phantoms & fishbowls - legacies

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

yes! i think it's so sweet and intimate when someone takes the time to not only read and kudos my work but also leave an appreciative response,,,, i reciprocate a lot and as a reader, commenting is a bit intimidating so i rlly value the initiation!

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

i don't think anything i have out yet is too sad (but i'm angst tone deaf at times) although 'The Realm's Sweetness' is def the one that comes to mind. it's based on canon/my take on a lore accurate asoiaf storyline for lucemond so,,,,, yikes,,,

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

'love in the dark' and 'brutus' are a tie for that one. rhaenicent get to run away together and live domestically while lucemond get to rule and start their own little family despite,,, the horrors.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

actually not really. i've gotten condescending/backhanded comments but the only fic i've gotten a crumb of real hate on is my fic concept art which was.... interesting....

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

i do! i write the bad kind <3 no but srsly it's just nothing crazy or fun (imo)

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

no,,, maybe when i was like younger but as of now, no,,,

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

nope! but i think most of the ideas/plots i make up are really out there and abstract so if anyone tried-- good luck. i can barely keep up with some of my fic lore and that's because i have it all written down in my notes app.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

no, but i was thinking about translating my english stuff into spanish myself,,, and then i realized how much work that is so,,,

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

nah. i've thought about it... i just feel like my writing process takes a while and anybody stuck writing with me would end up regretting it lol

14. What's your all-time favourite ship

i ofc love my hotd dumpster fires (lucemond, rhaenicent, luaena, alysmond, jacegan, etc) but the first pairing that forever has a special place in my heart are soul&maka from soul eater,,,

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

i have this rhaenicent fic that was in the works but i just sort of lost any new plot to add to it. that tends to happen and my brain randomly picks things back up, but this one has been radio silent for a while,,, nothing i've teased or already have a preexisting work out for though!

16. What are your writing strengths?

detail. foreshadowing. outlandish things galore. you could give me an inanimate, random household item and i'd probably come up with a rlly intricate backstory for it.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

probs smut and the amount of writing i do. average trs and legacies chapters are 5-10k and that leads to slow updates. but hey, i'm trying to learn about quality over quantity.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

hmmm the only other language i'm fluent in is spanish but none of the characters i write speak it so,,,, valryian is rlly the only language i write dialogue in for fics but that's generated through a translator so eh. things get lost in translation or don't come across with the initial intended meaning. at first, i used to think high valryian was such a nice, intimate undertone for fics but now as someone writing the dialogue and sourcing the translations-- i've become a bit immune. i just use it for plot reasons now.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

b-bts ff- on wattpad- [gunshot] (this was actually a really nice experience and intro into fic writing so,,, army borahae asf)

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

probs 'is this fate (or is this fear)'! i love black mirror and the actual premise is based on one of my own nightmare sequences, so how fun <3 no but yeah i wrote it in a week and felt so immensely pleased with myself for having stuck with the idea and then completing it,,,

tagging @droppofsaltt, @spiderlilac, @unohanabbygirl & anybody else who sees this and feels like doing it <3

[daveinediting]

This is just a note of caution to myself to be, well, cautious.

Over the weekend, I had some questions in need of answering. Actual, real world questions whose answers will affect our decisions. They're Which one should I choose? questions. They're Which one's best? questions. They're What are the Pros and Cons? questions. And the subjects of these questions are not within our realms of expertise. We come to these questions bearing very little concrete knowledge.

We also come to the reality of AI powered search with very little concrete knowledge. Although in this case it seems more as if AI powered search engines have been released into the wild purely to see what happens, not as fully developed, thoroughly tested products. No one just knows about these things. They are what they are and whatever happens, happens. So effectively we’re all part of—

Well, it's not even an experiment in the classic sense of scientific method. It's an experiment in the sense of children doing things just to see what happens. Only with a financial incentive.

So anyway...

Because I have a reasonably narrow understanding of what’s available, I've got the AI powered Bard and Bing search apps on my phone and have settled on a course of employing both to help me answer questions.

To help me.

Answer questions.

Because I just don't know, you know?

I come to the table bearing zero confidence. So any answer that's crafted for me, well, no. I don't take it at face value. I can't take it at face value. This is very much an exercise in spitballing in which ideas are generated in order to identify paths of further inquiry. And, in the spirit of checking one against the other, I ask both the same questions.

I'm not testing them against each other, by the way. I'm not trying to determine which one is best. I'm just doing what I can to not be screwed by something that looks like an answer, or the answer, but isn't. And this note of caution I'm writing myself is to remind me that this effort of cross-checking isn't, is not, a guarantee because you can't use something you don't trust as the primary means of fact-checking some other thing you don't trust. It just happens to be how I'm starting (ish) and I need to be upfront about what it is I'm actually doing with these apps which is, once again, spitballing in search of avenues for further inquiry.

In other AI powered news, I'm enjoying playing around with the Adobe Firefly beta, fancying myself a conjurer of images through various prompts or, as I like to think of them, incantations.

I've also been listening to AI crafted Beatles songs on the Dae Lims YouTube channel that, as of yesterday, features zero content. As in all the AI crafted, alternate universe music that used to be there…

Is gone.

All that's left is the channel's description that reads "Just over here creating. Nothing is real." 

Still, back when there was content on that channel, like, a minute ago, I put the Beatles version of John Lennon's "Grow Old With Me" on loop for an entire day, marveling at its beauty and wondering what it means that such a thing can be conjured without the participation of the human beings whose voices mark the song as their own.

Finally (in an arena that doesn't require an ounce of trust), I've been using Bing and Bard to come up with names for stuff. Names for random companies, clubs, and organizations. A riff on brainstorming, it's interesting to watch how and if each prompt's wording changes the answers and ideas that get served up.

And how good are those answers and ideas?

Pretty not that great. Definitely not good to go which, interestingly, makes me feel superior about my own creative abilities. 

For now, at least.

😐

[eyrieofsynapses]

Aggregating some of the tips in the notes, plus adding a few.

Anyone telling you that you have to read X book to be a "true reader" is a snobbish lying asshole. Don't get caught in their superiority complex.

Audiobooks! If you just can't stay focused on a text, you can listen while you do chores or drive or whatever you want. (As someone with ADHD, I adore audiobooks, because they make boring tasks tolerable and even fun sometimes.)

Find the format that works for you! Don't like physical books? Use e-books. Don't like reading text? Listen to audiobooks/audio dramas. Don't like texts or audio? Try graphic novels/mangas/webcomics/comic collections/etc. Don't like long stories? Check out some literary magazines or poetry. Hell, you can go read online blogs, news articles, whatever. None of these are more or less valid than the other.

Read it out loud to yourself! Try silly voices! Or, even better, find a reading buddy to read out loud to.

You don't need to challenge yourself; you're more than welcome to stay in your comfort zone. If that zone is one specific genre or plot, go for it! (there's a reason why fanfic tropes exist, you're hardly alone)

On the flip side, sometimes challenging yourself to try something new is the spice that you need to stay focused or interested. Of course, you don't have to stick to the challenge if you don't want to--like everything else, you can drop it at any time.

You can come back to things! Think you'll enjoy a book, but you just can't quite get through it right now? Pick it up again in a couple years and see what's different.

There is no superior genre or form of literature. Kid's books, ancient Greek epics, young adult, poetry, nonfiction essays, educational books, purely for-fun sci-fi and/or fantasy, philosophy, classics, short stories, Wild West, mechas, mystery novels, erotica, horror, high fantasy, it literally does not matter. If you like it, it has just as much value as anything else.

Don't know what to read or what you'd like? Ask around! A librarian can chat with you and match you to a book; a friend can point you to what they know you might like; ask around on social media, whether that be a Discord server, Tumblr, whatever. Be as specific or as general as you please.

Chances are good that the thing you want is out there somewhere. It might take some digging to find, but it'll be there.

Don't just pick up whatever you find at the front of the library or bookstore. Go wander around the shelves, pull things off at random, read the first paragraph or two, and put them back on if you want. (This is sadly harder with e-book apps, but not impossible; usually there are collections you can skim through. They do provide samples.) Librarians won't be mad if you pull ten books and return nine (or all!) of them unread; you're just figuring out what you like.

Fond of a TV show or movie series or games or something similar? Ask readers in those communities what they like to read. If you've got similar taste in shows/games/etc., you'll likely have similar tastes in reading.

Check out some open mic nights! Yeah, it's not reading a text or anything, but you're enjoying stories. That's what it's all about, at the end of the day.

From personal experience: if you enjoy writing, it's absolutely worth joining a writing community and reading other people's WIPs and drafts. I have absolutely loved my writing workshops, because I get to read some fantastic work from my classmates. Too many times have I read a manuscript and gone "...well fuck, I want this as a book." Plus, writers often have good taste, so they can point you to good stuff.

Two things I've learned about through writing classes that I didn't know otherwise:

Take a look at nonfiction essay collections. (Essays in the sense of short stories, mostly.) One of my best friends writes the most delightful short stories based on his experiences, varying from eye-opening reflections to laugh-out-loud fun. Plus, nonfiction essays can be pretty dang short--sometimes nonfiction essays only run a page long, occasionally even shorter.

POETRY IS NOT JUST RHYMES AND MIND PUZZLES (for fuck's sake, education systems). There's free verse! There's modern poetry that is gorgeous and also hilarious! There's poetry to raise awareness, to educate, to rage at oppressors! There's poetry that's just there to make you laugh! Poetry is not a genre, it is a form. Here's two opening stanzas from Tim Seibles's "Ambition II: Mosquito in the Mist" (I could only find it online in that article, so just scroll down a little):

You human-types, you two-legged sapien-sapiens, you guys are walking smoothies ta me, milkshakes wearin’ trousers, a cup’a coffee mowing a lawn. I gotta hand it to you though— all the colors, the smells, tall, petite, skinny-minnies or whoppin’ whale-sized motha’ humphries—you got variety: I’m zippin’ around some summa’ nights and it’s like an all-you-can-eat situation.

And that's just the first two stanzas! I promise you, if they taught this type of poetry in high school people would fucking love it.

And finally: if you don't want to read, don't. There's only so much time to be enjoyed in life.

Don't make yourself do something you don't like just because everyone tells you to. "Be yourself" applies to reading just as much as it does to everything else.

people will read books they Do Not Like™ and then wonder why they hate reading