#i like writing micros that are just a snippet of the story

[ultravioletbrit]

“smoke” - Jegulus microfic - @into-the-jeggyverse - 450 words

Regulus is being assaulted by memories of last summer as they sit around the bonfire. Everything is bringing him back to this exact spot exactly a year ago—the smell of the fire, the salt in the air, the sound of the waves that are being drowned out by the sound of the most beautiful laugh.  

Regulus looks across the bonfire and instantly locks eyes with James and more memories crash over him like those waves. The feeling of his hands, his arms, his lips, his body. The sound of his voice, his whispers, his whimpers, his moans.

Regulus has to hold back his own whimper at the memories. The smoke from the fire is stinging his eyes but he can’t tear them away from James. James is looking back just as intensely with a heat that’s not coming from the fire. They gaze at each other for several long moments and then—just like last year—James nods to the empty spot beside him. And just like last year, Regulus is powerless to refuse.  

Regulus sits down beside James and James immediately threads their fingers together in the space between them. “I missed you.” He whispers softly in Regulus’ ear.

Regulus can see their friends glancing at them—trying, and failing, to be subtle—but Regulus couldn’t care less. He turns to look at James for a moment before turning back to the fire.

“I missed you, too.” He whispers just loud enough for James to hear.

They sit in comfortable silence watching the fire. “I don’t think I can do this again, Regulus.” James says after a moment—casually, like it means nothing. Regulus quickly looks at him again and tries to pull his hand away. James tightens his grip and pulls Regulus closer. “I can’t go a year without seeing you.” James’ voice is dripping with emotions.

Regulus looks back at the fire. “That’s your fault, not mine.” He says with more bitterness than he intended.

“I know.” James says then gets quiet for a moment. “I’m moving back to London.” He tells him—again, so casually like he’s not making Regulus’ head spin.

Regulus snaps his entire body to fully look at James. “What?”

“I’m coming home.” James whispers and Regulus feels a lump forming in his throat. “And I can’t go a year without seeing you, love.” James stares at him imploringly with a small, hopeful smile.     

Regulus stares at him for a moment longer before he clears his throat and turns back to the fire. “Well, we might have to do something about that then.” He tries to sound as casual as James.   

“We just might.” Regulus can hear the smile in his voice as he leans closer to James’ side.  

-

[tlbodine]

Stuck? Try junebugging.

I don't know who needs to hear this, but we're 5 days into nanowrimo so maybe this will be helpful.

Do you want the safety and surety of knowing what happens next in your story but can't stick to an outline? Does knowing in advance what will happen suck the joy out of discovery writing? Do you try to wing it through plots but get tangled in plot holes or have a story that runs out of steam because you can't figure out what went wrong? Are you at your most creative when you have a little bit of guidance? Do you tend to under-write? Do you get ideas in your head for random scenes and snippets that drop from the sky without context?

If any of these apply to you, junebugging a draft might be for you!

What Is Junebugging?

Since you're on Tumblr, you might already be familiar with the concept of junebugging as it relates to cleaning. If not -- I think the idea was first introduced to me by @jumpingjacktrash.

The basic idea is that you tackle cleaning by way of controlled chaos. You pick a specific area you want to focus on, like your kitchen sink, and then wander off to deal with other things as they occur to you, but always returning back to that area. You end up cleaning a little bit at a time in an order that may not make sense to an outsider but which keeps you from getting overwhelmed and discouraged.

How Does Junebugging Work in Writing?

OK, so that's great, but how does this work with writing? Well. In my case, the general idea is to jump between writing linearly, outlining, and writing out of order. It usually looks something like:

Start free-writing a scene, feeling my way through it and enjoying the discovery process.

Thinking, ok, now I have this scene, did anything need to happen to lead up to it? Do I need to go back and add some foreshadowing? Does this scene set anything up that needs to be paid off? And then jump forward/back to make those adjustments.

I'll usually have a bunch of disconnected ideas of ideas that have popped into my head, so I'll write those down in a list somewhere and then try to figure out what goes in between them and what order it goes in.

I'll write what I call "micro-scenes" which is where I'll just sketch out a few essential elements of what's going on without worrying too much about details, description, etc. -- just he did this, she said that, the setting was this, real bare-bones script. Then I can come back through and flesh out each of those microscenes into an actual scene later.

Got a story that has a complex structure? No problem. Write through each storyline one at a time and then chop them up and weave them together afterward. Write all the B plot scenes first then come back through to do A plot and C plot. Move the pieces around like legos. No one ever has to know.

This method works for me because I can't "decide" story elements in advance. I have never been able to just sit down and "figure out" what happens in a story beyond a couple steps ahead -- I have to discovery-write my way forward. But at the same time, that gets really daunting. So I zoom forward with micro-scenes, roughing out the beats in the most bare-bones way possible, then when I run out of clear vision for what happens next I backtrack, flesh out those scenes, build in connective tissue, etc. and by then I will probably find more inspiration to jump forward.

It's basically folding drafting, outlining, and revising all together into a single phase of writing, which is chaotic and goes against everything people teach you, but if it works? then it fuckin works.

Anyway, sorry for the jumbled-up post, I'm dashing this off quickly while I heat up a pizza and I'm about to dive back into my WIP -- but I hope this was a little helpful. If nothing else, take this as my blanket permission that it's 100% OK to jump around, write out of order, write messy, outline sometimes, pants sometimes, and do whatever else it takes just to get through the story. You've got this. Good luck.

[the-golden-comet]

✨💋Friday Kiss/Writing Share Double Tag💋✨

It’s that time again! The Friday Kiss Tag is upon us! 💋✨

I also want to thank @aintgonnatakethis here , @jev-urisk here, @wyked-ao3 here, @oliolioxenfreewrites here, @theink-stainedfolk here, and @drchenquill here!! Thank you all so much!! It must be Friday because I am itching to share a kiss with you all! 💛✨

(Doubling this as a writing share tag in case you don’t have a kiss to share 💞)

Rules: From your Story/WIP, share a kiss. It can be any kiss, from familial pecks on the cheek, forehead kisses, platonic kisses, to full-blown makeouts

Rules: share a snippet of your writing!

Let’s go back to Peter Hart, where the two men just finished a dance competition 💃

Benjamin is in disguise, Peter heard the prize was 50,000 gold. Need I say more? 🏴‍☠️✨

Benjamin’s pupils quivered. In Peter’s eyes, he could tell the next move the Captain was planning. Frantically, Benji gave rapid micro-shakes of his head as he prayed the Golden Phoenix captain wouldn’t follow through. Peter gave a fleeting glance back up once more, making sure Duke Matthias was watching and, as a final fuck-you to the bigoted sovereign….to disrespect his grace….he leaned down and pressed his lips to Benjamin’s.

This caused the crowd to cheer uproariously again, blushing and swooning as Benji shut his eyes tightly. Peter, daring as he was, upped the anté and went full-blown make-out as he guided Benji’s tongue with his. After all, Hart didn’t want those French skills to go to waste.

Leaving this tag +open for anyone who wishes to join! ✨

✨👇 Tag list for writing snippets below. DM me if you’d like to be added 👇✨

Tag List for writing tidbits (lmk if you want + or -)

@autism-purgatory , @clevah-girlboss , @glasshouses-and-stones , @alinacapellabooks , @tragedycoded , @deanwax , @dyrewrites , @honeybewrites , @drchenquill , @paeliae-occasionally , @lychhiker-writes , @thatuselesshuman , @fantasy-things-and-such , @billybatsonmylove , @madi-konrad , @far-cry-from-finality , @froggy-pposto , @fractured-shield , @avaseofpeonies , @topazadine , @thecoolerlucky , @willtheweaver , @somethingclevermahogony , @noxxytocin , @leahnardo-da-veggie , @addicted2coke-theothercoke , @the-letterbox-archives , @theink-stainedfolk , @ominous-feychild , @saturnine-saturneight , @words-after-midnight , @sableglass , @cowboybrunch , @moltenwrites , @pixies-love-envy , @davycoquette , @writeahurricane , @nczaversnick , @greenfinchwriter , @oliolioxenfreewrites , @lavender-gloom , @aintgonnatakethis , @thecomfywriter , @pluppsauthor , @michellekarnold , @flurrysahin , @authorcoledipalo , @jadeglas , @spookyceph , @48lexr , @kaeru483

[evelhak]

I’m curious about a few: Propinquity, Anem and Bitchberg (a great name, lol)

Well, you've already read about Bitchberg by now from the previous ask. :D

Lol, I actually winced a little when I saw you asked about "Propinquity" since it's the current working title of my Akashi centric fic, and I know you don't find him that interesting. It's still just a bunch of "notes" (=bits of monologue and dialogue that come to me and I have to write down so I won't forget). I haven't actively started this fic yet, since I can't really write multiple projects at the same time. I will probably have to finish another shorter fic after The Luminous Things, before I get to this one.

I know the opening lines, though:

Winning is like breathing. Sometimes I wake up, gasping for air, but my lungs seem to have fallen into a partial state of paralysis.

Or something fairly close to that. The idea has been in my head for a long time, because I really enjoy digging up ignored dimensions that kind of naturally follow from whatever is going on in canon.

There is of course one thing in this fic that could interest you: The main love interest is an OC. :) You know some things about Azumi already. Here's a snippet that will probably serve as her introduction in the fic:

I absolutely pretended to be the empress of this micro-utopia, growing up. Not because it was mine to conquer, or control. Because it was mine to know. To pick apart. Explore, taste, and merge with. A little pocket of wonder in this huge city, a bubble with its own rules. That's what I came to realise pretty soon, anyway. About the world. How different, how illogical and ultimately unsatisfying it was, compared to my shrine, my home, my own ecosystem, my island of undisturbed ground. It frustrates me that the rest of the world doesn't know how to do it. Live and let live. Give and take. Circle of life. A system that works. Because I was born into it. An heir to it. Happiness.

Micro-utopias are a huge element in my whole fic series as it progresses, and there are several kinds of them, Azumi's home life being its own example. Utopia is generally something I'm really interested to write about, especially because a lot of people claim you can't write interesting utopia without making it dystopia in the end, and I very much disagree with that, as people are always imperfect, so you don't need to add any intentionally awful circumstances for a story to have conflict, if you're writing believable people. For me, the key to what makes the most out of utopia is to centre it around whose utopia it is and why. This got slightly off topic, these are just themes I really like exploring and since my fics are my playground, I definitely use them for exploration of things I might want to write later in a more polished form in my original fiction.

The working title "Propinquity" came while I was writing a chapter in The Luminous Things where Kagami ends up lost in Kyoto (it's complicated) and spends the night in Azumi's place, where he has many enlightening conversations with Akashi. (Azumi and Akashi are already together in my main fic timeline, their own fic will cover how they got together, among other things.)

Here's a snippet from the chapter also titled "Propinquity", which I haven't yet posted anywhere, so things might still change a little, but for now, Akashi muses something like this in it:

"[Propinquity] is the central theme of this shrine. Things develop, and change, and prosper in propinquity. It rings true, doesn’t it? Right things, wrong things… so it really matters what you surround yourself with. It’s not enough to know and think. You have to see, and taste, and touch… A plant wouldn’t grow from the understanding that it needs water, if it never got it. It would still die from poison, no matter how informed it was. Azumi knew all of this, so bone deep. That’s why she was disappointed with the world. That’s why she retreated back to her paradise. I think that’s what caught my attention at first. How she had a physical place to go to when she needed to get away."

I probably would not have developed any need to write a story about Akashi's love life on my own. (Well, it's not all there is to it, but it is a how-they-get-together type of story). It was the influence of my ex, who's a big Akashi fan, and as I have probably said before, Azumi was originally her OC that we worked on together a lot. Eventually I grew attached to Akashi and Azumi together, and now I have my own version of the story.

I don't think I actually read any Akashi x OC fics myself, but my ex read them and complained about them, usually, and I picked up on two pretty common patterns, which I didn't want to do: I didn't want the OC to be 1) poor, or 2) have a similar family dynamic and childhood trauma as Akashi. This is because I wasn't interested in dealing with the power imbalance that tends to come with very different socioeconomic standing, and I also didn't want to write a relationship where people get stuck in validating each other's trauma, and it takes them a long time to grow beyond that phase because their relationship is centred around how similar their experiences are. I wanted to hit that sweet spot which I like the most, a relationship that centres around growth, having enough common ground, and being inspired by things about the other that you've never experienced before, or even believed really exists in the world. The kind of relationship that makes you feel that you want to fill your own gaps, and a key factor in that is the proximity, or, propinquity to a person you can rely on, because they don't have the same weaknesses as you. I just really love writing about people who are good influences to each other.

A lot of this fic will also be about dissociation and trauma. Yay.

Anem, then, is another original novel I've started multiple times without being completely satisfied. The premise is pretty classic religious cult + good girl/bad girl dynamic, or at least would seem like that in the beginning.

Here's how I seem to have described it on my website at some point:

Dina is a good girl. She picks up flowers every morning, to put on the altar of her family’s home. She’s chaste, she’s beautiful. She fears God. Semira is a “Wild One”, she rarely goes to church, she speaks out of turn. She could be beautiful, if her hair wasn’t so short. Dina doesn’t think it’s her job to save Semira. After all, if the Fathers don’t know how to help the girl, how could she? But Dina keeps ending up spending time with Semira anyway, and the more she does, the stronger the big black swirling something grows in her stomach. There’s clearly something very wrong about Semira. And there’s something wrong about the woods surrounding their isolated village. Dina knows she’s supposed to stay away, but Semira keeps going into the woods.

It has a lot bigger world and anything but clear-cut themes and dynamics, even though it may seem like that in the beginning... and it's one of those early projects that are sort of everything, because you're not good at narrowing it down yet. It's like a dystopian supernatural medieval fantasy horror philosophical cult story I wrote just to barf out everything I was thinking in my early years of studying theology. It's certainly a cult story, but is the cult the big bad or the world around it? It's certainly a queer story, but is it a love story or a hate story? It's certainly trying to say something, but what? No one knows, not even me. It's a big mess.

I'm also starting to feel like I'm dealing with every element and theme I have in this story, in some other story too, and coincidentally someone from my writing group actually just got a book published this year that has a strikingly similar setting and themes, (we both wrote them without knowing about each other) and even though it shouldn't, it does kind of add to my confusion to what to do with this story. I do still want to write it at some point, but it's a big question mark that sort of just pops up from below the surface every time I'm not actively thinking or writing about another project.

Some angsty pictures of Dina, also drawn in my early university years (Oh Lord how obvious my Arina Tanemura influences still were in the way I draw):

Yeah... at least they are accurately dramatic to the story.

Thanks for the ask. I hope there was something entertaining. <3

For anyone curious, here's the WIP list.

[tedwardremus]

This was a big month because I actually moved a fic off the WIP list and into the completed list. Congrats, Padfoot in Privet Drive. I will miss writing you.

I did expand a micro fic to a multi-chapter fic. So maybe the victory was a wash lol.

Completed Fics

Padfoot in Privet Drive 

(6 chapters total)

Sirius Black follows Harry to Privet Drive after the Triwizard Tournament.

Finding Your Magical Roots

The Black Family welcomes the reality show Finding Your Magical Roots into their home to film a special episode.

Field Study

Lily and James get left behind on a deserted island after A Care of Magical Creatures field trip.

Feels Like Home To Me

Snippets inside the Potter family home

Citius, Altius, Fortius – Communiter

Sirius is an Olympic athlete competing in the wizard pentathlon, James is a quidditch player, and Lily is a sports reporter. The three of them meet at the Olympic Village. And well, you know what happens at the Olympic Village...

1994 Quidditch World Cup

Harry wants only one thing for his fourteenth birthday: tickets to see the final match of the Quidditch World Cup.

Well, two things if you count his sudden desire to kiss Ginny Weasley.

But the quidditch tickets are definitely first.

Works In Progress

Snuffles & Son

(Not updated this month)

Sirius raises Harry and opens a shop that specializes in repairing cursed artifacts and places protection wards on family heirlooms. One day, an Unspeakable from the Department of Mysteries walks in with a cursed artifact from his cousin’s confiscated Gringotts vault, requesting Sirius’s assistance.

Be Not Afraid Of Greatness

(Not updated this month)

A collection of Frank Longbottom stories

Rage Against The Dying Of The Light

(Chapters 10 & 11)

In a universe where James and Lily Potter survive Voldemort’s attack on Halloween night. Most of wizarding society is enjoying newfound peace after a decade of war, except the young heroes who fought the war learn you can never really go back to the way things were before.

Without A Trace

Babies don't just disappear without a trace

View past monthly round-ups here

[the-blind-assassin-12]

20 Questions for Writers

I was tagged by the lovely @maggiemayhemnj - thank you!!

1. how many works do you have on AO3?

Ten. I was cross-posting everything for a minute there, but I lost steam and now I only post here - except for Aphelion, which I am co-writing with @something-tofightfor. That still gets posted in both places.

2. what's your total AO3 word count?

68,449 - not counting Aphelion. My tumblr word count is... a lot higher.

3. what fandoms do you write for?

Right now just Pedro Pascal characters.

4. top five fics by kudos?

Gonna go by notes on tumblr instead because that's where most of my stuff is:

Bes'laar Din Djarin x F!Reader (based on artwork by @stealyourblorbos!)

Survivor Blues Joel Miller x F!Reader

Forever Din Djarin x F!Reader

The Cold Offends Me Oberyn Martell x F!Reader (The Viper & The Wild Thing universe)

Point of No Return Ezra x OFC Clara

5. do you respond to comments?

I try to respond to all comments because I appreciate them SO MUCH MORE than I can accurately convey. I love hearing from people about what they liked or what shocked them or what made them feel things, and I really love the chance to sort of have a micro mini chat about it in the comments. That being said, sometimes I completely check out and miss a whole batch or a whole fic worth of comments goes unresponded to for far too long. And I always feel bad when that happens, which sometimes results in me responding to things WAY after the comments were left, to the point where it wouldn't surprise me if the person has already forgotten the fic/what they wrote... but I haven't forgotten how much it meant to me that they read and commented on my work. So even if it's 6 months to an eternity late, I intend to respond to them all.

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

It Pours From Your Eyes Joel x Tess

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

I feel like most of them have happy endings, but we'll go with A Little Christmas Magic - Frankie x F!Reader as perhaps the fluffiest happy ending.

8. do you get hate on fics?

I have gotten non-fic specific hate directed at my writing before, but that was a few years ago and it hasn't happened since. Which is cool because the fewer people wasting their time and energy on being unnecessarily mean about things - let alone about stories about silly little fictional guys - the better.

9. do you write smut?

I do, but I do not consider it one of my strong suits, and I typically only include it if it fits with the overall story though a few times I have written smut just to be filthy as a challenge... and as a treat.

10. craziest crossover?

I've been slowly spinning a True Detective x Tim Rockford crossover like a rotisserie chicken for months but I've only managed to jot down a few unconnected snippets thus far. And a title. It's gonna be called (maybe, if I ever actually write it) Flat Circle, Twisted Game.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

No, but if I did I would be absolutely PISSED. And I can't say I'd be nice about it.

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope, but that would be cool AF.

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! I am currently co-writing Aphelion with @something-tofightfor and it is so much FUN.

14. all time favorite ship?

In all honesty it's probably Leslie Knope and Ben Wyatt. I was straight up ready to stop watching Parks and Rec if they didn't end up together.

15. what's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

lol what kind of passive aggressive, self-doubt feeding question is this? I'd like to finish them all and I try like hell to believe that I will.

16. what are your writing strengths?

I think it's probably describing natural settings? But maybe dialogue. Idk.

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

Smut. Also keeping the momentum to finish things in a timely fashion, but mostly smut.

18. thoughts on dialogue in another language?

I try to only use it when it makes sense or when it benefits the story and not just as like... a novelty or an afterthought.

19. first fandom you wrote in?

Teeeeeeeeeeechnically? Like first one I ever made content for? I guess that would be the Twilight series. But I will not be sharing where to find that here. And if you find out where it is, you take that knowledge to the grave with you, you hear me? DO YOU HEAR ME, FRIENDS?

20. favorite fic you've written?

Even though it's nowhere near done, I love and am so very proud of Survivor Blues. But then again, even though it's a few years old now and I feel like my writing has grown since finishing it, Point of No Return will always have a very big piece of my heart.

Tagging: anyone who sees this and wants to play! Please tag me so I can see your answers!!

[kingwuko]

7, 11, 13, 27, 43, 50, 79 for the fanfic asks!

YAY of course!!! I'll put them under a cut

7. Post a snippet from a wip.

“Guess not. But if the swamp showed you a vision of her…,” Korra said carefully. “The swamp is strange. It sort of shows you what you need to see. The visions aren’t always right, but whatever the swamp showed you probably has some deeper meaning…” Korra wasn’t sure what the Earth Queen might have done or said to Wu, but whatever it was, it had really rattled him. Of course, that wasn't saying much. Wu wasn’t exactly the most cool and collected person she had ever met. Still, Korra got the sense that whatever Wu had seen was intense. “What I need to see…” Wu said thoughtfully. “I… I don’t know. The things she-I mean, the things the vision said to me…” “What did she say in the vision?” Wu’s posture became uneasy and his eyes darted away for a moment. He was being cagey, which wasn’t like Wu at all. Normally he was over eager to share. The vision must have really freaked him out, if he didn’t want to talk about it.

11. Do you write scenes in order, or do you jump around?

OOOhh good question. I actually try to write in order! There is a fic author from a different fandom who posts (amateur) fic writing tutorials. She's got a great track record with longfics and wrote a tutorial explaining her methods. One important point she made was that she always writes in order, because it helps her get through the not-fun parts if she has the fun parts waiting for her; just like it's enjoyable as a reader to experience a build-up to the big moments, it's enjoyable as a writer too! I followed this advice and I think it worked REALLY well for me. I managed to finish Secret and Windswept is coming along really nicely. That's not to say I've never written anything out of order, but if I have a scene in my head that's further down the line and I don't want to forget something I've thought of, I put it in my outline rather than directly into a document. Tricks my brain into thinking that I haven't really written it yet, because it's just part of the outline.

13. Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what have you been listening to recently?

I do! Well I try to, anyway. If I'm sitting down to write after the kids are in bed, you betcha. But I also do a lot of little micro writing throughout the day as ideas come to me or I have a few moments to myself. in that case I don't listen to anything. I have playlists for my fic and I like to listen on my work commute which is some of my daydream time where I think of fic ideas. Here's my playlist for Windswept:

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

oh boy you're going to make me compliment myself??? I have imposter syndrome big time this is difficult 🤣 I think I'm pretty strong in the sort of inner-monologue-stream-of-consciousness area. I really love getting into the character's heads and portraying their inner thoughts, and capturing their inner voices throughout it. And I think I do a pretty good job!

43. Is there a trope or idea that you’d really like to write but haven’t yet?

I REALLY want to write something about Wuko from Bolin's perspective. Every time I write Bolin I have SOOO much fun I really want to get in that guy's head!!!

50. How would you describe your writing style?

Maybe introspective? I try to keep the story moving but every time something happens, I always make the POV character think about it. I really like writing what's going on in the characters heads.

79. Do you have any writing advice you want to share?

Get a beta reader for your fanfics!!! Seriously. If your beta reader is just someone you send your completed drafts to and they provide suggestions and edits, that already will elevate your writing miles above what you started with. If it's someone who can also be there to help bounce ideas off of, outline, brainstorm, keep you on track with writing by encouraging you etc. Even better! Also. Don't be embarrassed about writing smut. Whatever. It's just sex. If you're writing it, you probably like reading it. Just write it and don't feel weird about sending it to a beta reader (as long as they've agreed beforehand that they're okay with smut!), don't feel weird about posting it. Lets unlearn shame together and all that. If you're writing outside your experience, try to get the perspective of someone from that experience. If you can't actually talk to someone about it, google and try to find info. For example I'm writing m/m when I don't ID as a man. I so I talk to men (especially mlm) and read accounts from men about certain things, so there's less chance that I'm being offensive or disrespectful or just plain wrong about something.

[bugcatcherwill]

can we have some writing tips, like how are you able to update the RATC fanfic every saturday? with job and etc. in the mix?

Oh boy, do I! So this is general writing tips, but also a window into my process so this might not work for others as well.

Basically I have a loose weekly schedule. I try not to stick to something more rigid because I know who sets the guidelines (me) and that person is full of shit.

The weekly schedule goes a bit like this: Early in the week, come up with what events I want to write for this current chapter and start drafting the general layout. Middle of the week is where the bulk of the writing happens. And then the Fridays are usually reserved for editing and touchups. Basically I try to have it all written or mostly written by Thursday so I don't force myself to scramble together that week's chapter. Saturday morning, I give it another few read-throughs for last minute editing and post it to AO3 in the afternoon.

What's important is that you make the most of your time while not-writing. They say 10% of a writer's job is actually writing and 90% of it is thinking about writing - and that couldn't be more correct. The amount of plot hooks that just...came to me while driving or in the shower is too many to count. And being away from that monolithic, sterile Google Doc REALLY helps clear your mind. Basically before I sit down and start my chapter, I make sure I have a gameplan of what I want to write first, so I'm not just floundering when I actually have some free time to write.

A big tip I have is find out what's the best way to write for your current schedule/comfort zone. Most of my writing I do on my phone. Seriously. I'm one of those freaks lmao. But I found out it's so much easier to avoid distractions of Youtube, Discord, Social Media, when all I have is my phone screen in front of me and I have to actually switch apps to distract myself. It also lets me do a bit of writing when there's a lull at my job, or when I'm on the exercise bike at my house.

So, yeah, a big part of what allows me to make these weekly updates is that time management, but also I've pretty much blocked so much of my story either in my head or in a Google Doc that writing it out thankfully doesn't feel like a chore :)

Also another tip: as much as you might hate outlines, you're probably gonna have to make an outline at some point. I, for one, HATE outlines. But I found a way to make my outlines a lot less unbearable.

What you do, is you don't write out your entire story's plan from the get-go. Because doing so makes it a LOT harder to squeeze in some plot point that you just came up with in the shower and you REALLY wanna put in there, but the outline says you can't. Outlines are like post-its. They're a good reminder, but you shouldn't be afraid of ripping them off the wall when you no longer need them - because that's what they're meant for.

I actually have two outlines that I use: the macro-outline and the micro-outline. The Macro-outline is basically just a bullet-point list of the major story beats I plan to have. Nothing too structured, nothing too complex, just a list of the big events and plot hooks. Then the micro-outline only goes over the next 2-3 chapters. It allows me to block out the actual chapters before I write them, and lets me look at the general story of those snippets and go "is that what I want to do?"

This, I feel, gives me a lot more flexibility in the story. Since if I come up with a plot hook I'd like to add, I can add that into the Macro-outline list, and then think about where I want to place that in the general timeline of events.

This is a bit of a wall of text, but I hope this helps! :D

[ruegracieuse]

this is random and a little embarrassing but i was curious about ur blog so i read a little and then was charmed by the way you write and express yourself and found myself relating a lot to how you have described your relationship to creativity, to the daunting challenges by the actual praxis and being a midwife to one's own creative visions and dreams and i hope you have cultivated and realized more of your courage in actualizing your ambitions as i can already tell they would be delightful to experience and witness ! I hope life is being kind to you 🤍

Hi! Please don't be embarrassed - this message is so lovely! I've been in a bit of a funk today and it sounds silly but reading this really made the clouds break a little bit :-) I really love the way you express yourself as well, this message is so well-written and the beautifully written. I love the phrase 'midwife to one's own creative visions' - it is really true that fostering and sustaining both creativity and courage is a delicate, ongoing and often exhausting task, but one of the most precious things we can do.

As far as realising courage in my own life is concerned - there are so many ways I've been wanting to till and sow and raise the seedlings of my own creativity. I want to learn how to knit, I want to do my watercolours more regularly, but most of all I want to share my writing. That last one absolutely requires the most courage, and the most work - I'm pretty good at regularly writing little snippets in my notebook or on my phone, but I am desperately shy about sharing them. I also want to build short stories rather than keeping things as little creative micro-pieces or paragraphs. But perhaps beginning by sharing some of my small, off-the-cuff writings will help.

I'm in the thick of applying for PhD programmes at the moment, which I do think is a creative venture - all good scholarship I believe requires just as much creative thinking and practice as it does analysis. Contacting scholars I admire and asking if they'd like to supervise me and pitching my idea and growing it into a fleshed proposal has required a little courage, so hopefully I'm not fully failing myself on the courage side of things - it's just taken a slightly different form than what I was anticipating. This message is a little spur to put myself out there in the areas I care about, too - it really is so lovely, and so humbling, to think that someone else out there enjoys the way I have thought about and expressed something.

I hope life is being kind to YOU, and have a lovely day/evening, wherever you are <3

[andhumanslovedstories]

But that's also not what nursing is. Like, all that is nursing, and I've done that kind of nursing, where the stakes are so high and you can feel even as its happening that this will be a story one day. But that's also such an emergency trauma nurse story. And it's just a snippet. And it's a true and honest snippet, one that I think about a lot, but also that that can appeal to ideal over reality. It's like getting a book published and saying, "That's what writing is." There's so much left out.

Like one time I was getting report from a nurse who told me that he had a patient who swung their ass out of bed and took a shit over the railing while shouting, "Bet you wish you answered my call light now!"

And that nurse said to me, "That is not what I went to school for."

And I kinda wish I'd said, "dude yes it is. and mr. floor pooper brings up compelling points."

You can see these people who got into the field because they want to be heroes and by god, we need them, because sometimes you do need people to run into a life-or-death situation. But there's no job where you're always a hero. Arguably if you're always doing something heroic for your patients, it's like "why is everything you're responsible constantly in crisis?"

Saving someone is cool. Maintenance is boring. Nursing is mostly maintenance work. A lot of the stuff we do isn't even about helping you get better, it's about stopping you from getting worse. You gotta figure out how value that work as well, because if you don't, you'll spend your shift resenting how you spend your time, which becomes resenting your patients who can totally tell you resent them btw, which leads to--among other things and after many micro-failures of care--aggressive floor pooping.

So that's what nursing is. It's also a million common, tedious, repetitive, gross tasks where if everything goes well, no one notices. It's not as punchy when it comes to welcoming people to their new profession, but you do want people to know what they're going to school for.

The first day I was in nursing school, one of our professors gave us a welcome speech. She was a former flight nurse, someone who helicoptered into critical situations to get patients safely to a hospital. She arrived one time at the scene of a horrific, multi-fatality car crash. One vehicle involved held an elderly couple. She found the husband, who was severely injured but had a chance to survive. He asked if his wife was okay.

His wife was already and very obviously dead. Another responder was covering her body. She asked us all to consider what we would tell that patient in that moment.

My professor said that she told the patient, “don’t worry, someone is with her right now.” That comforted him. She got him to the hospital and has no idea what happened next.

Our professor said to us, “That’s what nursing is.” That’s a hell of a welcome speech. And props to her, by god I still think about it all the time when I’ve got to figure out how to say something impossible.

[gracethyomen]

Arms Length Away: Masterlist

“The awful thing is that no matter how much you hold her at arm's length, she's still going to love you. Because you gave her just enough hope that she'll always wonder if you care about her the way she cares about you.”

Natalie is the paralegal that's been in love with Matt since she's known him.

Unbeknownst to her, Matt knows all too well how she feels about him, but tries to keep her at arms length to keep her safe.

When she starts to get dragged into the underbelly of hell's kitchen he calls home, some things can no longer remain hidden, and some emotions aren’t so easy to control.

I've had a few random drabbles outlining this story for a long time, and I posted a small excerpt a few days ago including a little spicy tidbit. As I write more of this story in actual full sentences I'm going to try to put them in chronological order here. I posted the original snippet first but I'm hoping I can put it in order eventually depending on how this little endeavor goes.

So without further ado, here's what I've got so far.

Warning: This story and most posts on my blood are MDNI. For depictions of violence, sexual content, language, and unhealthy relationship dynamics. Please don't model relationships after Matt and Natalie, many parts of their relationship are not all that healthy. I wrote them this way because Matt and Natalie are flawed characters, and the flaws of each character in Daredevil are some of my favorite parts of the show. Keep this in mind when reading, please. There are more warnings for this series but they will most likely be labeled specifically on individual chapters.

X: not uploaded yet, drafted.

R: not uploaded, not drafted.

O: uploaded and added to the master list.

Vague Job Description. (O)

Clear Cut Case. (O)

Complicated. (O)

Loose Tongue. (O)

Stairs. (O) (Care about you pt. 1)

Micro-Changes. (O) (Care about you pt. 2)

World On Fire (O)

Manhattan Native Obituaries Column. (O)

Things We Lost in The Fire (O)

Something old. (X)

Nelson v. Murdock (X)

The People v. Natalie Bishop (X)

End of Season 1. Both of DD and ALA.

Hopefully season 2 after some more drafting.

a/n: Thank you to everybody who read the first two excerpts of this story and for enabling my chaotic writer brain. @abucketofweird you are the main reason I'm publishing most of this so thank you for your interest.

[ancelineonline]

Ive been percolating fanfic ideas again. I like writing little bits and pieces so much, because these vivid little scenes will post into my head.

However, while they’re usually part of like… a wider story arc of some kind, I do not have any interest or ability when it comes to like… stitching the scenes together into that wider story.

This makes me feel like I’m a shit writer a lot of the time. Because I feel like it’s not good enough to just write a snippet.

But that’s nonsense. I write micro fiction and very short stories and I’m pretty good at that. I’m always So Proud of the snippets I write. I work hard on them. I put great thought into which words to use to create a story that has a rise and fall and emotion and closure even if it’s only a paragraph long. And I usually feel like I succeed at that. And that’s good enough.

I’m trying to make myself write those snippets down more often. I’m trying to make myself post them. Here on Tumblr and/or on ao3 (if they’re fic related, a lot of time they’re original) or wherever else makes sense. Because I want to be proud of the things I create. They are good enough for me, and that means they are Good Enough.

[kelyon]

TMI Tuesday

Hello Tumblr!

Whaddaya know, I'm back in business! Dark Mistress chapter 31 (Solution) is completed! This kinda took my by surprise when I finished it because it's pretty short (like 5 pages and three lines on page six, 3100 words.) I usually like my chapters to be a minimum of seven pages (I don't normally keep track of word count for that.) But I don't want to add things just for the sake of length.

It reminds me of writing the chapter where Gideon was born: There isn't much there besides the action. This worries me a little, because the intended climax of the chapter (and the fic) is a climax of emotion, not action. I guess it's messing me up that it isn't a climax of thought either. Like, I can't have the character introspect their way into the solution of the title. They have to feel it, and they have to act it. By which I mean, they have to do an action to display the profound climactic emotion. (Though I often wish I could just have actors performing the fic so the responsibility would be on them to convey these emotions in a moving and believable way.)

I'm also running into the whole "endings are hard" problem that I've had trouble with before. I'm a little annoyed that "Help! My Stepmother is the Dark One!" really should be its own story, and I've just shoved it into like 3 chapters of what was supposed to be a kinky romance between two consenting adults. But I'm too far gone to fix it now, so I just have to live with it. I just have to hope and trust that the love between Belle and Bae will come across even when it's not as developed as it could be. As Neil Gaiman says, you have to finish one story and then start the next story.

In other news, I believe today is the last day to vote in the Rumbelle Showdown. There were a lot of good fics this round (and a lot of good fics in the same bracket, which is very rude.) Among all the other reasons I love the Showdown, I really like that it gives us a new supply of micro-fics. I can't speak for anyone else, but I often find myself too busy writing ginormous multi-chapter stories to have any time to read longer fics. So it's really nice to just slip into a world for a breezy five minutes or so and enjoy a thousand words of Rumbelle with no strings attached. Shout out to the writers of short one-shots!

That's all I've got for now. Feel free to stop by my inbox with questions about Dark Mistress, OUAT, writing, or life in general. I've also got snippets of chapter 31 for anyone who asks.

I love you all, and I hope you have a great day.

Dark Mistress is here

My inbox is here

[leerongrong]

Your Baby?

Pairing: Nct Dream x Reader

Word Count: 1.8k

Summary: You and Mark have been best friends ever since childhood, staying by each others’ side even after he became a Worldwide Idol. When he finally introduces you to his members, who think you’re older than you actually are, what a mistake.

A/N: my first fic lmao i’m soo nervouss, also shout out to my girl @neoculturalshit​ for handling my shit while writing this

Shoe sole squeaking fills the air with the constant jagged breaths and stuffy humidity coming from the room, intensified with multiple voices mixing in with groans. Mark’s rambles are like mumbling in your ear, replaced with constant buzzing like bees and an unfamiliar feeling resting in your belly. Your bag is on your left shoulder, clutched between stiff fingers as you try to keep up with his fast footsteps.

His twelve a.m to twelve p.m schedule and your eight a.m to eleven p.m schedule proved hard enough keep up with. In between his dance practices, studio recording and your everyday micro engineering studies, there was only little time to catch the other without one having to run off in between hangouts. And even then, Mark always had the dreamies call on him about some unforeseen circumstances that’ll make him leave you all alone.

He’s been apologizing ever since the last time he left you, albeit in a super creepy rooftop at midnight, and wouldn’t stop until you brought on the idea of introducing the dreamies as an apology and here you are now, in SM entertainment heading straight to the practice room where you’ll meet them for the first time. And on the contrary, you feel more scared than excited.

“And there’s Chenle. He’s like realllyyy loud but like really funny and he has this dolphin laugh that’ll make you- Are you even listening right now?”

“Mark, i’m scared.” Saying it out loud makes you feel like a baby, some helpless child afraid of going to their first day of kindergarten, afraid they won’t have any friends or anyone to talk to. You’re embarrassed for feeling this way but right now you have Mark and he knows you. The best out of everyone in your whole life, “what if they don’t like me?”

“They’ll love you,” he chuckles, “If anything, you’ll be the one begging Chenle to shut up.”

Your entire walk there had remained quiet, an occasional quip here and there from Mark whenever he sees you still so stiff. He had done a good job at getting rid of your initial fear, the feeling reducing until all that’s left is jitters and a bit of shyness. Despite your previous fear of them, you still wanted to meet them and become friends, it doesn’t matter if one of them doesn’t like you, you’d at least add one more person to your mark’s-friends-that-became-yours-too list.

“You stay here, aight? I’m gonna gather them first.” He nods to your direction before opening the door and going inside. You hear him greet multiple people, the noise inside exploding with screams and laughter. The nerves come at full force and suddenly your feet feel like jelly and the constant reassurance from mark has lost its grip on you.

The weather outside has calmed down significantly. The storm has reduced itself to raindrops pelting down the window, the constant patter doing nothing to calm you down. Your heart is beating erratically inside your chest and you have to thank Mark for his timing because you feel you’d have burst if he hadn’t come out faster.

All eyes are on you the moment you step in.

Multiple lights shine down the wide room, creating an illusion that it’s bigger than it already is. Gray walls surrounding the space loom high and act as pillars to hold up the entire architecture. your eyes move to the corner where there are an abundant of water bottles looking as if they were thrown messily along with multiple bags, one you recognize as Mark’s.

You’re broken out of your trance when mark leaves your side and crosses the room to the corner, effectively grabbing his bag and water bottle from where they lay. You see him exchanging a few words with the choreographer before he makes a beeline for the door just behind you.

“Where are you going?” You snatch his bicep in a tight grip, frowning when you see him slowly chuckle.

“I have a recording session with the hyungs,” he mumbles, “But i’ll be back in 3 hours?”

Mark flinches when your grip tightens, said boy visibly shrinking under your gaze. “mark lee, i swear-”

“They’re really nice! i promise!”

“I don’t care if they’re nice or whatever. You’re not leaving me-”

“Noona, watch us dance!” The voice breaks you and Aark from your whispering match. You turn your head, only to have Mark break away from your grip and run out of the room at full speed leaving you to stare at his retreating form with a face full of disbelieve. “Don’t worry about hyung, he’ll be back soon!”

The dreamies all surround you, each one introducing themselves in their own unique way. Your heart’s still beating erratically as you try to learn and differentiate their names and personalities, making a mental note in your brain; Jeno’s the shy one with an adorable eye smile, Donghyuck or Daechan is the tan one with a knack for jokes, Renjun’s a little shorter than the others with the sharp mouth, Jaemin’s the one with weird blue hair, Jisung’s the youngest but the tallest, and Chenle’s the one who called you noona.

The jitters and nerves melted away completely in the first hour, the boys doing a good job in including you with them. They told you funny stories about Mark, about when they first debuted, they even went into a detailed explanation about how they knew your name from Mark and how they’ve asked him multiple times to introduce you to them. They insisted you didn’t need to reintroduce yourself because they pretty much already know everything there is, courtesy of Mark. Well almost everything.

Jeno, Jaemin, and Hyuck had decided early on to call you by your first name, the three agreeing that you’re roughly around their age. While on the other hand, Renjun, Jisung, and Chenle had decided to call you noona. You don’t consider yourself to look mature for your age and you certainly didn’t think any of them would be calling you noona, when in reality you’re younger than Jisung.

‘Do i really look that old?’ The annoyance is simmering in you at the thought, little bits of it breaking to the surface when you pout and cross your arms while you watch the boys goof around after finishing their routine. The thought of them thinking you were older leaves an unpleasant feeling in your mouth.

“Time for revenge.”

The multiple shoe screeching in the room had lessened a significant amount, the boys having done their practice and are currently playing a few rounds of rock-paper-scissors to decide who’ll be buying food. You watch from across the room as Renjun walks to the corner to pick up his water. “Renjun-ah! Can i have some water too?”

You giggle to yourself when he crosses the room to give you some from his bottle, the boy completely oblivious to your sneaky intentions. “Thank you, Renjun-ah.”

“Noona!” Chenle’s shrill voice is something you’ve gotten used to both before and after officially meeting him. Mark’s always let you listen to snippets of their unreleased songs and you’ve been able to recognize their voices for years to help with giving your inputs and comments. “Can we go to the store?”

“Why’d you need to ask me?” You cut yourself off before opting to rearrange your choice of words. “I mean, you can go if you want? I’ll stay here to wait for Mark.”

“We didn’t want to leave you alone!” he smiles, “but it’s okay, Jeno hyung and Jaemin hyung are gonna go for us!”

You watch as Jaemin and Jeno gather up their shoes and put on masks, the two chatting around with the other members for a bit and your heart clenches when you see Jaemin squishing Donghyuck’s cheeks, the latter shooing Jaemin’s hands away before pushing them out the door. “Adorable.”

Donghyuck’s gaze is on yours the second the words drop from your mouth and he sticks his tongue at you when he sees you looking at him, a teasing gesture the two of you have adapted. You’ve been acquainted with Donghyuck for the last two months, the two of you starting out awkward before one day, he had stuck out his tongue at you and now you’re always sticking tongues out at the other for no apparent reason, something Doyoung doesn’t approve of.

“Donghyuck oppa, lemme pinch your cheeks.”

Your response is a perfectly trimmed eyebrow raise, “Oppa? We’re like the same age tho?”

“Chenle-yah, let noona pinch your cheeks!” You ignore Donghyuck’s statement in hopes of not blowing your cover, smiling brightly when Chenle comes over and plops himself right in front of you. His cheeks are like mochi in your hands, the skin all dewy, soft to the touch that you have to remind yourself to stop squishing before you become addicted. “Gosh, Chenle, you’re too cute. Like a baby!���

Jeno and Jaemin get back just in time, multiple managers and choreographers burst into the room just moments after them, stopping by to check on their progress. Long hours have ticked away while the sun sets, casting its golden rays and warm hue through the window and into the room. the air is filled with low chatters and you’re in a conversation with Jeno when the door opens again.

“Hey everyone-” 

You recognize the voice to be Johnny’s but his next words are muffled from multiple footsteps coming into the room at once, some faster and bolder while others are quiet and dainty. You’re listening as they increase from slow steps into full out sprints and you don’t react quick enough and you shriek when you feel someone heavy crash onto your back, making you face plant to the hard floor, them tumbling down with you

“Mark, really?” Doyoung nags before turning towards you, “Hello, little bugs.”

“Noona, look. Mark hyung’s back.” The minute those words fall from Jisung’s lips, the person on your back, who you realize to be Mark, looks at you with furrowed eyebrows. The air turning awkward for moments until two laughs explode from somewhere behind you and he joins in.

“Noona?” Johnny laughs, “Jisung, she’s younger than you by months!”

Both Chenle and Jisung launch onto their feet, crowding beside you and Mark. You try to push Mark off of you while looking at the two boys and how their mouths are moving so fast you don’t understand what they’re saying, while the expressions on their faces make you laugh along with Johnny and Doyoung.

“Yah! I’ve been your Oppa the whole time?!”

“Call me Oppa!”

“Jisung you’re a few months older than I am! And you’re a babie.”

“Well you’re a babie too!”

“This is disrespectful!”

The room bursts into chaos as each of them try to convince you to call them Oppa, Hyuck and Chenle protesting the most out of the six. The laughs and giggles echo throughout as Doyoung and Johnny shake their heads and watch from afar, smiling fondly at the way you’re slowly blending in with the dreamies. Mark’s hand is on yours for a while, the emotions in his eyes too misty for you to read until he grins. “Told you they’d love you.”

Your laugh is airy and full of emotion, “Yeah and its all thanks to you.”

[misbehaviorismsa]

( odeya rush, cis female, she/her, 22 ) ** ♔ announcing ARABELLA HENRIKSSON,  the PRINCESS OF SWEDEN ! in a recent portrait they seem to resemble ODEYA RUSH. it is a miracle that SHE survived the last five years, considering they are SHREWD, IMPETUOUS, and CREATIVE. i hope the plague has not changed them. they are FOR working together with the other kingdoms

DATE OF BIRTH: April 10th 1625 STAR SIGN: the most Aries to ever Aries – is it possible for someone’s birth chart to have all planets in a single sign? Because if yes, she’s one of those people. TITLE: Princess of Sweden NICKNAMES: Ella, Ellie – she actively dislikes ‘Bella’ so you can annoy her with that – Bells would be mostly all right from her family/friends, but I kinda imagine this as less of a play on her name, and more due to her riotous attitude. ( hells bells! ) SEXUAL ORIENTATION: ???? she probably swings every which way. violently. with a bat. ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: greyromantic

BIOGRAPHY

listen, i tried to write a bio, i really tried – i scraped it twice, it’s been horrible so here’s a bullet point list for now

She had a very sheltered childhood. Not in the sense that she never got into trouble – if Ella couldn’t get into trouble, she’d usually make it – but more in the sense of her family sort of building a micro cosmos around her, which might have felt big at the time, but in truth she was under constant supervision and steered away from any true danger.

She was something of a child prodigy – she impressed all her tutors and studied numerous disciplines, soaking up knowledge like a sponge. She was a joy to teach, but a nightmare student, seemingly incapable of accepting anything at face value and finding it imperative to ask countless follow-up questions. She likes reading, but she likes talking about books more, especially with people who have already read them. She wouldn’t read something just for herself, she’d always rather pick something someone else mentioned to her so that she could discuss ideas with them.

 She’s quite athletic, she likes riding and has climbed (and will continue to climb) plenty of trees in her time. She loves sailing and has never in her life suffered from seasickness when out on the water.

She’s a painter and keeps a journal – well, sort of. She’s very flaky about writing in it, and she could go months without longer entries. It’s mostly a collection of thoughts she’s had, or others have had that she found interesting; snippets of poems (she never writes more than a verse, most of the time, it’s just one-two lines), occasionally even some stories she’s made up. If anyone were to read her journal, they’d probably just end up more confused as to who she is than before, as it’s an absolute mess of anything that caught her interest for a fleeting minute. I mean, she’s a bit of a mess too (who isn’t, amirite?) but it’s normally gathered around specific pain points. Generally speaking, Arabella acts quite put together and confident – and she’s quite good at making herself believe it, too. Needless to say I’m looking forward for that to change.

She’s the sort of person who’s a lot smarter than people give her credit for, but not as smart as she thinks she is. Enthusiasm doesn’t make up for experience, though it might hide the lack of it for a while, but that’s still a lesson she needs to learn. Surrounded by people who have known her most of her life, her tendency to bite off more than she can chew and take pointless risks was a relatively consequence-free endeavor. She’s only half-aware that this is not the case now that she’s in France, but – well, she also doesn’t fully understand what she could get herself into, so her caution is barely skin deep and it isn’t likely to keep her out of trouble for long.

She was really shaken by her eldest brother’s death, yet she refuses to grieve him. She cannot bring herself to think about him now that he’s gone and doesn’t want to talk about him with anyone, especially those closest to her. The one thing she can admit (only to herself) is that she’s angry at him – she even hates him for dying, at times. Everything was under control until he got sick, after all. She worries about her older sister and, although she wants to see her succeed, she cannot bring herself to believe she will, at least not without help.   

 She’s very much the youngest child: lacks any sense of responsibility, expects other people to swoop in and solve her problems, is accustomed to getting her way and being indulged, would even throw a temper tantrum every once in a while, though the outbursts have grown rarer with time.

 CONNECTIONS

SIBLINGS

Dependent on plotting but Ella is a handful under any circumstances, but I do think she has some redeeming qualities that would endear her to her siblings, at least on occasion. She is generally in high spirits and quite fun to be around, she’d talk to anyone about anything and would, somewhat infrequently, shower them with affection. She’s impervious to teasing and normally would just banter back without missing a beat. When she was younger, she was convinced nothing bad could ever touch her family, and that even if it did, it wouldn’t matter, but that changed when Ebba died. Since then, she’s started to pull away from her siblings, terrified of her own emotional dependence on them, but also determined to prove to herself and everyone else that she’s capable of taking care of herself.

FRIENDS/ENEMIES/ACQUAINTANCES

She isn’t shy about meeting new people – she isn’t shy in general, really. Awkwardness and embarrassment are not emotions she’s particularly familiar with and would typically be friendly even towards complete strangers. It’s not necessarily that she is trusting (though she might be, a little), she’s just very confident (and conceited – she assumes by default people would want to talk to her, she’s a princess after all, and so many have said she’s smart, surely she’s interesting to talk to, right?!) so she doesn’t feel out of place in France at all and she adjusted quite well to the transition. She can also be quite forceful and candid about things that maaaybe would’ve been more polite of her to ignore, so she’s definitely an acquired taste. If something a character does bothers her, they’ll know of it at once – her temper runs too hot for careful, planned revenge. She’d either retaliate immediately, or not at all.

BETROTHAL

She was betrothed before, as a child to Sebastian of Spain and in a sense grew up always knowing that, but not caring that much to explore what it meant. This fell through when they were still quite young, and Ella is more pissed off about not getting a say in either of these things, than hurt, or relived about it. She doesn’t like others managing her life, so she isn’t at all eager to be betrothed again, especially since the following marriage is much likelier to take place soon. Right now, she’s more content about the idea that neither her nor her sister would get husbands and they could just return to Sweden together and Ella could help her rule, instead. 

[dwellordream]

I tried to write for the first time in months and couldn't get anything worthy out. Do you have any advice?

I think it depends what you are trying to write.

I think a lot of people undertake very ambitious projects (aka full length original fantasy/sci fi/romance novels) right off the bat and then of course things don’t go according to plan and it’s very easy to get discouraged.

For many people it might actually be easier to think more micro to start with and try to just complete a brief short story about something that interests them. Failing that, maybe even snippets of scenes they have in their heads.

If you are trying to write this epic overarching tale but you really just have like four key scenes mapped out in your head and you are getting frustrated trying to reach them and link them together, there is nothing wrong with writing them out separately just to get those ideas on paper.

Alternatively you could try to do some sort of prompt fill where you just write say 300 words per day for a week or two, just to get back into the habit of writing. It’s hard to go from not having written in months to suddenly churning out say 1000 words in one night.