#not sure if I'm going to join writeblr or not

[ghostreader16]

Hello :D

Welcome to my blog!

I'm an amateur writer, who's also learning how to draw and animate. I've written scripts and some unfinished works before. I'm not exactly a professional.

I really like writing characters and how they interact with each other. I'm also kind of good at writing dialogue.

I'm trying to practice writing worldbuilding, power systems, and the like.

I'll be posting updates on my updates on my projects and some other stuff.

(I'll probably make sideblogs if things get too cluttered here.)

Anyways, here are thy projects so far:

Novels

The Volumes

Also known as Querencia, this is one of my first projects, and it has been sitting on my brain shelf, gathering dust, much like some other WIPs and ideas I have.

This one has gone through SO MUCH. From being about soccer to an omori-like way of exploring the human psyche. In the end, I settled with a normal highschool experience. Exciting, amirite?

Jayne didn't directly go to the classroom that day and ended up befriending a bird. As she hears rumors of a suicide attempt by a former 9th grader, the young writer becomes determined to make a change this school year one way or another.

Sketch:

Ginintuang Baril (Golden Gun)

This is actually inspired by a script that me and my classmates wrote for our year-end performance task. I really liked the concept and the characters so write a book I go. I also might make some comics about this.

Dreams of rebellion carries from one life to another. Guerrero Magsalin wanted to be a journalist in a way, despite living in poverty. Opportunities for change start to present themselves as he meets a thrifty freelancer, an infamous governer, and a priest he's known since childhood. The situation becomes more complicated as he starts dreaming about hazy familiar faces. There are just some things that never change.

Something that Involves Modernized Filipino Authors (ft. Other Authors of different nationalities)

Greatly inspired by Bungou Stray Dogs by Kafka Asagiri. I want to see what happens if you modernized these guys and make them fight.

But seriously, I am curious how this little side project is going to go.

I'm going to need to do A LOT of research for this.

Comics

Ready, Set, Go!

A little idea that I had when I wanted to practice writing romance. It'll be in an episodic format where the cast just go on their adventures.

About a young man who's somewhat new to college life and is already getting peer-pressured into dating and getting into a relationship. So, he starts his journey to find a date, despite being absolutely clueless on how courting works. Along the way, he meets people just as clueless as he is when it came to conventional romance. Hoo boy.

White Knight & Red Rogue

I have no idea where this one came from to be honest. I wanted to draw guns one day and bam! Story idea.

I'm still not sure where the story is going to go, but it's set in a post-apocalyptic world where people of different nationalities are forced to gather together in order to survive in a dying planet.

[incandescent-creativity]

It's still technically Sunday for me so--

Snippet Sunday a new writeblr activity from @tracle0 (post is here)

This is from FLOAT, since that's what I'm working on lately!

🌊🦑🌊🦑🌊🦑

“Hang on, what do you mean ‘back’ on Earth? What do you mean, specific memories ‘of Earth’?” My head swims, but the dizziness has nothing to do with the movement of the ocean. “We’re not on Earth?”

“Not anymore,” Aspen confirms.

“No,” the word pops out of my mouth before I can straighten out what I think of the news. “No, you’re wrong.”

My denial doesn’t faze her. Aspen doesn’t move from her relaxed position among the pillows. Her expression doesn’t even change—she just continues listening to me.

“How can we be on a different planet?” I demand. “We’ve never been able to find other planets that we could live on, let alone travel to. We’ve never even made it to the planets in our own solar system.”

“I’m sure that’s true,” Aspen says, infuriatingly calm.

Logically, my brain knows that it’s not her fault, but my racing heart and stinging eyes are telling me otherwise. Pulled to my feet by it all, I manage to not fall over. That’s good—that’s going to be step one in escaping.

“River,” Aspen says, also standing from the bed that we were just settling into.

“Stop it,” I snap.

I can’t choose between glaring at her and looking towards the door, my escape route. In the end, I glare so hard a third eye opens on my left cheek and keeps an eye on the door for me. The split vision is disorienting at first, and I do end up leaning left before I recapture my balance, but it’s easier to parse than the dozens of eyes that sprouted as a kraken.

“Just because I can do—do weird stuff now, doesn’t mean we’re on a different planet,” I tell her.

“I’m not lying,” Aspen says, sounding slightly less calm as her gaze catches on the new eye. I almost want her to say something, just to use it as an excuse to see what I can grow next.

“Prove it,” I challenge.

“We’ll have to go outside,” she tells me. “I can introduce you to Venus, my second in command, too.”

"No,” I say again, shaking my head and closing the third eye to prevent dizzying myself further. “If we have to go outside, it should just be us. Tell her to leave, then I’ll join you.”

“I can’t do that,” Aspen tells me.

“And I can’t have her seeing me like this,” I argue, gesturing to the third eye on my face.

“Dismissing her will only make her more suspicious,” Aspen says. She isn’t arguing with me—she’s still calm enough to present straightforward facts for my consideration. “And you’re going to have to meet her at some point.”

The idea of another crew member staring at me douses whatever fire had been building in me. I can’t get rid of Aspen; she already knows. But I don’t want to have to meet a new person while the odds of them rejecting me for having too many limbs and eyes and who knows what else.

“It’s not the meeting her,” I lie. “It’s the…” The what? The freak show factor? The way I feel like a fucked up werewolf? “The shapeshifting.”

“What about it?” Aspen asks, as if it’s not a gigantic issue.

No longer willing to make a break for it, I close the eye looking at the door for the final time. I feel the skin of my cheek smooth over as the nerve severs from my brain and slides out of my face like a hair that got caught in my mouth. Not knowing what else to do, I catch the eyeball in my hand. It’s warm, and damp, and the iris isn’t the dark brown color that my eyes normally are.

I hold it up to Aspen, who, remarkably, doesn’t flinch.

“I can’t have this be my introduction, Aspen,” I say, as cowardly as it is. “I want to make a good first impression, and then share the news once they know me as me. Not as a squid, or as anything else.”

The captain of the Endurance regards me for a silent moment. I do my best to meet her gaze and stand my ground. I’m not part of her crew; I’m stuck on her ship for now, but I haven’t signed anything. She can’t give me orders and expect me to obey them. I don’t know what I’ll say if she tries to, but I haven’t known what to say this whole conversation, so that won’t be anything new.

“I understand your… social concerns,” she says, pausing to try and figure out how to summarize what I just said. “But my crew is trustworthy. I don’t bring anybody aboard who isn’t completely focused on our survival. What I’m trying to say is—they can keep a secret.”

“I’m not trying to have it kept a secret from anybody else,” I point out. “It’s them I don’t want to know.”

“I generally try to share everything with my crew,” she says, still trying to persuade me.

“And I’m asking you not to share this.”

I don’t know what else I can say. I really don’t think it’s so difficult to understand why I don’t want to become this ship’s resident outcast, shunned for my randomly acquired random monstrous abilities, but Aspen is taking another moment to think about my request.

It turns out to be a much shorter pause than the rest of her hesitations have been. After she comes to her conclusion, she steps back towards the wall and unhooks the latch to open the porthole window. The sound of the waves lapping up against the boat gets significantly louder, taking center stage instead of just being a background irritation.

“Here, you can toss your extra eye out through this. Feed some fish.”

[aritany]

hi do you have any advice on how to go about gaining confidence to share your first draft with friends and all?

i've had this ask for a couple of weeks not because i've forgotten about it, but because i'm genuinely not sure how to answer it.

instinct says: don't.

hear me out.

when i first started writing, i had one friend who was a writer. i wrote my first real book in a blaze of over-caffeinated glory and shared it with a bunch of my irl friends and most of them never finished. if they did, it took them months and they didn't really have much to say at the end, which was disheartening at best, and hurt my feelings at worst. @mkdickson (my one writer friend at the time) wrote me a six THOUSAND word document with feedback and encouragement and is genuinely the only reason i kept writing. dead girls was the book that came after that, and it's only in the world because they were such a light in the darkness.

all that to say: pick who you share your work with carefully, especially if you're just starting out. your best bet is to share with friends who are also writers, if you have any. protect your feelings.

if you're already feeling nervous about showing your work to your friends, ask yourself why. make sure you know why you want to share. do you want feedback or critique? do you just want to share your excitement and enthusiasm about a project? are the people you want to share your work with going to be good stewards of everything it means to you?

if you're not sure they are, make some writer friends. writer friends make the world go 'round.

i started sharing my writing here on writeblr because i didn't want to put myself in a situation where my feelings were hurt. now, because of writeblr, i have a dozen people (just off the top of my head) i'd send first drafts to without a second thought.

(P.S. in the market for some writer friends? my discord server is full of some of the most wonderful people i know. i put a lot of writing in there that i don't post here + behind the scenes info about my projects and publishing. newbies always welcome to join!)

[wyked-ao3]

writer questionnaire

Tagged by @ink-flavored here and @the-letterbox-archives & @mundanemoongirl & @nczaversnick & @thecomfywriter

How long have you had your writing Tumblr/Writeblr? A fast and loose estimate is fine!

I post story's on ao3. But snippets and stuff here and a few months a little before April?

What led you to create it?

I saw a few other ao3 people had Tumblr and I joined...got confused then came back to try again a few days before the boop war and I ended up staying after the boop war due to making a few friends

What’s your favorite thing about the Writeblr community?

The support, getting to see others hard work. Making friends along the way and of course the OC's that we all fall in love with.

What’s one thing you’d like your mutuals to know about you?

I love talking about books, wips and fanfictions or just your characters or world building. I admit sometimes I don't know what to reply so if I'm silent I'm probably thinking about a reply or you managed to hit a time slot I'm busy or sleeping but I will reply eventually... 0_o

Is there anything you’d like to see more of on your dash?

My mutuals stories, I love to follow them as they are written and get insight into the characters. Chances are you will have at least one oc i will fangirl over and I'm going to apologize now lol

WIP it Good

Which Works-in-Progress (WIPs) or writing projects are you noodling about, lately?

The Pirate king of deaths redemption which will be book one of the pirate's cursed god series. I'm thinking it will have 4 stories and 2-3 mini stories

How long have you been working on them?

The idea since I was about seventeen

The plot I'm still figuring out

The characters some are old and some are new...infact two new ones arrived to the story yesterday ken will not be getting a major role he's just a background character.

World building since I was 19

Actually writing started about a month ago in seriousness and little snippets a month before that

Do you remember what inspired them/what got you started?

Tbh I'm not entirely sure what I was thinking but it's happening so let's roll with it

But I have always had a fascination with lore and supernatural beings and I was in a pirate phase do that might have something to do with it

How much time, in your best estimation, do you spend thinking about them?

Way to often..when I'm not writing I'm usually plotting out the next few scenes and consequences to it

When someone asks the dreaded, “What do you write about,” question, what do you usually say?

No one offline knows I write, but if I was asked the question by one of y'all.

I'd say mostly fanfiction but I'm starting a queer fantasy pirate story...just don't ask me about their cursed god yet as he is staying silent. I figure book to or three he will start talking or I may have to break out the threats again 0_o

What do you want to say (if it’s different from what you do say)?

Whatever the characters tell me to write and then I get to have the fun of tagging it 0_o (side note to myself I need to find a place I can find genres and stuff with a base description )

Let’s Rotate Blorbos

Name any characters you created.  Side characters, protagonists, antagonists, characters who’ve never been written, the first original abomination you ever pulled from your ass; whomever you’d like!

Daimhín,Oisìn, Jade,Galen, Briath, Morana, Heather, Coinín, Mal, Adoh, Taz, Amon, Oscar , Rob, Queen Kia, Queen Coral, princess Anne, Hill, Eric, Nimue, Death, Nyx, Davey jones, Nereza, Kieran pirate queen Eris, ken, pirate king cutthroat, and a ton of others who are not coming to mind right now

Who’s the most unhinged?

Amon, Briath and Morana are fighting for the title

Who comes the most naturally for you to write?

Oisìn at the moment, but I have a feeling Jade and Briath will both be easier to write when I get to them

Do you ever cringe at them?

Yes especially when writing certain things, yes I want to include them but some things just don't come naturally to me

How much control do you feel you have over your characters?  AKA, do they ever “write themselves,” refuse to cooperate, or do things you didn’t expect? To what degree? Are some less cooperative than others?

🤣 they write themselves mostly while arguing with me so it's a blast sometimes and change things frequently well most if that can be blamed on Amon

Do you enjoy people asking questions about your characters? And do you have a preferred means of receiving said questions? For example, as Asks, as replies, as reblogs, as tag notes, as comments on AO3, etc.

No preferred method I will interact with them all although sometimes I don't get notifications on tags for some reason

I will talk about my wips or OC's or we can talk about your wips and OC's ...or mutual interest or anything you want to info dump on.

On Writeblr Engagement

What makes you want to follow another Writeblr account? Do you follow ‘em as you see ‘em, or take time scoping out the blog to make sure you align with its content? Do you follow based on WIPs, or vibes?

I like most genres so I usually just scope for vibes and see what their wip is about or a published/posted work. I'm not picky so I follow quite a few writers lol

What makes you decide against following?

I try to avoid politics I don't mind a few post but if it's all politics I tend to back away or if I see them bullying or harassing people or threatening animals.

Do you interact with non-mutuals often?

Sometime but I usually like to scope people out first as I have stated in the past, I'm shy so sometimes I have to work through that first.

Do your mutuals’ characters occupy space in your noodle?

Yes to list a few

Ari from a starwars fanfiction by @lillybaaaka

Val and Kaz by @jev-urisk

Ashley by @gioiaalbanoart

almost all of @the-golden-comet s OC's

Royston is my favorite oc of @fortunatetragedy s story and that's not going to change easily.

And several others I'll stop listing now or we will be here all day and I do mean that literally.

Np tag @jev-urisk @the-golden-comet @thatuselesshuman @gioiaalbanoart @fortunatetragedy @aintgonnatakethis @lillybaaaka @evilwriter-originals @stars-forever

[rowanwriting]

— about;

hello, writeblr! my name is Rowan. I'm 32, bisexual, aro/acespec, nonbinary, transmasc (they/them), and an aspiring novelist. I'm also a part-time english undergrad and hopefully a future teacher.

I enjoy writing in quite a few genres, from contemporary romance to sci-fi to horror to fantasy, and I love trying new things in my work. my biggest challenge is actually finishing a wip, but I hope to get better at that with motivation from tumblr. I also enjoy dabbling in some fanfiction, especially when my original stories hit writer’s block. 

please feel free to join me on other social media, linked below. I look forward to getting to know more people in the writeblr community!

—links;

about // wip page // twitter // instagram // wattpad // archive of our own // gaming twitter // spotify // pinterest // nanowrimo

— works in progress;

lost in death —

Cassidy Sullivan is dead.

He's been dead for five years, watching his girlfriend move on without him. He's been dead for ten years, watching his parents mourn. He's been dead for thirty years, as the world changes around him and he remains the same, in the small apartment he died in. He's been dead for fifty years, and everyone has forgotten him.

Tristan Kent is a psychic.

More of a curse than a blessing, their so-called gift has ruined their life. Unable to go to school or work, they eke out a meager existence be exploiting their abilities from a small metaphysical shop. They don't believe in most of the things they sell, neither gods nor demons nor angels, but they know that something must be real, else they wouldn't be haunted.

When a regular client of Tristan’s volunteers them for a local ghost hunting reality show on the extremely haunted Wentworth Street House, Tristan takes the job only for the money. They have no interest in proving the supernatural to be real — they already know that it is. But the presence that haunts the house is like none they’ve ever sensed before, and their not sure what to make of that, save to find out more.

As the reality show commences, the ten so-called psychics come to exorcise the house. Tristan must discover who is genuine, who is faking it, and whether to help Cassidy resist expulsion. But there is more to the Wentworth Street House than even Cassidy knows, and soon he’s the only thing between Tristan and a sinister force that has remained hidden from his sight all these years.

the kraken —

Fifteen years ago, the love of Marisolle’s young life was discovered and brutally executed by her father, the Prince-Regent, for crimes against the Crown. Hardening her heart, the princess swore never to love again.

Now queen in her own right, married, and with children of her own, Marisolle is content, if not happy. She rules well and is beloved by her people, and her country is more prosperous than ever. But there are enemies on the horizon, and Marisolle soon must seek desperate help if her rule is to survive.

Theovold left his home almost ten years ago to join the queen of Mavacia in an arranged marriage. He loves his children, and adores his wife, even as he feels the deep chasm between them, the pain of a love lost. But his attempts at wooing her may come to a stop when Mavacia is attacked, and a new man comes into her life.

Vincenze is a pirate, nothing more and nothing less. When the Queen of Mavacia offers him a Letter of Marque, permission to sail under her name and banner, in return for his aid in the coming war, he knows that he cannot run from his past any longer.

And as Marisolle, Theovold, and Vincenze come together to face their enemies, the Sea Witch watches, pieces falling into place.

the beyond —

The year is 2284. Humanity has long ago risen to the stars, joining a galactic community of ascended species. No longer alone in the universe, the Helios Accord brought the countries of Earth together into one united government, The Sol Federation.

Emelyn Kane is a washed up soldier, a mercenary working solo. Born far from Earth, she spends most of her time on her ship, going from job to job and trying not to think about how she ended up disgraced and discharged from the human military.

When her ship crash lands on an uncharted planet, Emelyn believes her life, such as it is, has ended. But the planet is life bearing, inhabited by a sentient species. And the indigenous people, the Vescai, have strange abilities — abilities that have kept their massive empire hidden from the rest of the universe.

Even when she gets used to life on the beautiful planet she is now stranded on, Emelyn knows that she is the last person who should be seen as a vanguard of humanity, let alone an ambassador for the entire ascended galaxy.

As the Vescai debate her very appearance on one of their planets, Emelyn must decide if she wished to remain with them, or allow them to wipe her memory or send her home. But her choice might be taken out of her hands, as she soon begins to develop the very abilities the Vescai treasure.

the prince of stars —

A cursed prince must find and kill the fallen star that foretold his doom before his twentieth birthday.

Prince Riavyn is born under a falling star, cursing both him and the realm he is one day meant to rule. If he is ever crowned king, he will bring war and ruin to his country. At least, so long as the star lives. Now nearing his nineteenth birthday, Riavyn is more determined to be king than ever, despite being removed from the line of succession by his mother, the queen.

His only chance to regain his standing in the royal family and redeem himself is to seek out the living star, and kill it before nightfall on his twentieth birthday, when the astromancers say the curse will become everlasting.

Along with the captain of his guard, Riavyn sets out to hunt the star down, knowing that it’s his only chance to become king. But the curse is more powerful than he knows, and breaking it might have consequences he never imagined.

A star is not meant to die, after all.

[thebearthatreads]

Writeblr Intro

Hi, so I've been a part of tumblr for quite some time but I've only really begun to be active again in the last month or so. I figured given my long absence perhaps it was time to introduce myself and open up to connecting with other writers here.

So who am I?

My name is Sasha Hanton (She/Her), I'm the author of It's All Magic To Me which was originally released in May 2022 (Re-releasing as Polishing Magic in May 2025). For a long time, I struggled with openly describing myself as a person of colour, coming from a mixed-race background it's always been a bit strange figuring out how to define myself. However I now feel more confident in how I describe and define myself.

I'm Australian but I have Eurasian heritage, meaning my family come from a combination of Asian and European backgrounds. I know some people don't like the term Eurasian, and that's perfectly fine you don't have to label yourself with something you don't identify with but for me, I'm proud to call myself Eurasian. My family have identified as Eurasian for more than three generations now, and we've always been proud of our mixed ancestry (feel free to ask me more about this if you're interested).

Coming from a mixed background I like to bring that mix into my writing, injecting influences from a variety of cultures and mythologies. Whilst I'm a cis, heterosexual, neurotypical woman I try my best to be an ally and am always happy to bring more diversity into my writing and to read more diverse stories (if you know any good books by diverse authors please send me your recommendations I'm always happy to build up my tbr).

My writing

Currently, I'm in the limbo of waiting for feedback on projects and I generally try to stick to having one WIP on the go at a time (as otherwise I'm prone to overwhelm) . Predominately I write urban fantasy, generally with new adult-aged characters but written to be middle-grade and up friendly. Here's a quick breakdown of my works:

It's All Magic To Me - This is my novel, originally published under contract in 2022 but now out of contract and out of print but I will be re-releasing it in May 2025 under the new title Polishing Magic. It follows Willow, a university student, who discovers she has magical powers and goes on to be taught how to use them by Sphynx, a cat. Urban Fantasy inspired by the likes of Buffy, Charmed, Sailor Moon, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Themes involve family, responsibilities, and friendship. Venatores de Mythos Trilogy - My major WIP at the moment, I've written drafts for all three books but am waiting on feedback for book 1 before continuing editing. Urban Fantasy, follows three different characters who are all recruited by a mysterious agency that hunts and tracks down mythological creatures and artifacts. Globetrotting features a mixture of languages (Arabic, French, and Spanish with the main composition being in English). The main characters are from varying cultural backgrounds, each wildly different from the other with their own reasons for agreeing to join the agency. Percy Jackson kind of vibes. Chimera - Currently in the process of writing the first draft. Inspired by a short story I wrote for a recent competition following a mixed race, mixed species, witch and her family who are being hunted for parts. Dark Urban fantasy based in Australia, will feature lots of mythological influences. Adult because there's body horror, probably going to be some explicit sex scenes (not sure yet), and just generally dealing with heavier/darker themes. The Short Story Press Collection - A collection of short stories, currently available as an e-book on Amazon or in print (the print edition is newer and contains more stories than the e-book). Stories cover a range of genres from sci-fi, fantasy, gothic horror and more. Customerpocalypse - My first novel, currently available as an e-book on Amazon. Post-apocalyptic fantasy, written during a time when I was struggling with my mental health and it shows. If you've ever wondered why in post-apocalyptic video games there are NPCs who work in what's basically customer service then this might be for you.

Please shoot me an ask if you'd like to know more about any of my writing projects or about me. I'm hoping to share more on my WIPs here and to engage more, so please feel free to tag me in tag games!

You'll also see plenty of shares from fandoms I'm part of here, I have no intention of segmenting my Tumblr into two separate accounts so my apologies if you get spammed with Fairy Tail posts or DnD stuff (or anything else).

If you'd like to follow me on other social media or want to find my books here's a link you can follow for all of that: https://bit.ly/m/SashaHanton-Links

[innocenthedgehog]

Writeblr Intro

Hello everyone! I'm Tom (he/him), and I decided to join Writeblr to make some more writing friends. I have no idea how any of this works, but let's give this a go and see what happens!

My Writing

I mainly write YA sci-fi, though I'm open to a bunch of other things

I started writing seriously in April 2021, messed around with a few projects, finally finished a first draft in 2022, shelved it, and have been project hopping ever since. But I've finally found a story I have passion for, so here's hoping purgatory is over!

I'm a pantser

I like third-present, first-retrospective, pretty prose, specificity, pulpy action scenes, unique worlds, sympathetic characters, disaster characters, sympathetic disaster characters

WIPs

Beneath the Burning Sky

I call this story Berg for short, after my friend was very mean and called it ice Dune lol. This is my main focus, and a book I hope to traditionally publish someday. I have no idea how much I'm allowed to share with that caveat, so I'll probably avoid major plot things.

Genre: YA sci-fi sapphic romance

Status: Currently drafting, approximately 25K

Description: When they're both stranded in the frozen wilderness by an attack on their planet, Lana (a village hunter) tries to bring Sierra (the president's daughter/rising star of the stage) back home. Rivals to lovers, class conflict, winter survival. Lana may have a long-lasting crush on Sierra from watching her performances on TV. Also sentient flying snake aliens which are very friendly. Mostly. I promise I will write an actual blurb soon lmao

To Dream of Brighter Shadows

This has a very complicated history which I won't go into now, but in it's current form, it's a project I desperately want to write some day. The discovery writing I've done for it so far is by far my best prose.

Genre: Adult literary sci-fi

Status: Discovery writing

Description: A university student struggling with burnout and undiagnosed neurodivergence uses VR cybernetic implants to try and rebuild her old life.

Space Spies

This is entirely vibes right now, but it'll probably be the book I write when Berg's first draft is done.

Genre: YA sci-fi thriller

Status: Brainstorming

Description: Think Cherub/Gallagher Girls in space. May or may not include aliens.

The Ether Cycle

I will not let this distract me.

Genre: Adult? epic fantasy

Status: I will not acknowledge this exists. Though I may have the start of a magic system. And a world. And a conlang.

Description: A world made of floating islands, trees that are impossibly tall, reverse waterfall elevators, magic airships, teleporters, matchlocks? There is no plot.

Can't wait to make some friends here. Please like/reblog/friend me if you like the sound of any of this. I'll be sure to post some WIP intros and some excerpts soon!

[synobun]

OC in Three

Oh hey, did you know I originally joined this place because of writeblr? Crazy. I haven't written anything serious in years. anyway

@awritingcaitlin tagged me in this! And I'm going to use it to pretend like I am actually doing something

Rules: Find three pictures that match the aesthetic of one of your OCs. The pictures can be from anywhere, just make sure to cite them (and use image IDs)!

I will do this for Klaya, who is a major (side?) character in my WIP, The Brethren Court. She's very maternal, very quiet, and very capable of finding the monsters in the night.

[1 Poupoune05, Pixabay] [2 Darkmoon_Art, Pixabay] [3 PDPhotos, Pixabay]

I shall tag... @carrotblr! And @atinydroid! And @ryns-ramblings! And if you see this and want to do it, assume I am tagging you too.

[creatrackers]

Creatrackers: A Novella Series

Story (re)introduction

Genre: paranormal fiction, mystery

Tropes: paranormal investigation, found-family, lgbtq+ cast, English gothic, cryptids, folklore, friendly neighbourhood vampire, character blog

Status: book 1: first draft complete + being edited (current word count: 24607) book 2: half written book 3: outlined

Synopsis:

Holly, Adrian, Jo, and Omari are the original Creatrackers; a self-proclaimed research team who try to find evidence of supernatural beings and any other creature they hear about. As the number of crew members and their fans grow, and as the original four start to get older, their fun little hunts start to become far too real. Watch these characters evolve as they grow into adults who start to unravel what truly is out there in the world. In the first book two new members join, including Willa. A seemingly normal 21 year old who has actually been travelling the earth for the past few hundred years, trying to keep her vampire identity a secret. She has no thirst for human blood, only human cultures and the way of life for other creatures like herself. She becomes interested in the group while living in a small English town, and soon joins them on a hunt. Then another, and another... What could possibly go wrong for a vampire who befriends a bunch of monster hunters? 

Characters: Holly / Willa / Adrian

Jo / Omari / Kenny

I started this story in July of 2021, though it has been in the back of my mind for longer. Most of it was written between September 2021-January 2022. I spent a year living in England during that time, and it helped me so much with my writing. Not only for realism to the story, which is set in England, but because I was doing online classes and the only person I truly knew in the country (besides my family) was my elderly neighbour. Those months were mostly spent exploring the countryside, sitting by the ocean, struggling through my classes at home, and at a cafe downtown where I wrote. I missed my friends and social life, but this story helped me through that. The group of characters really felt like friends, as cliche and silly as that sounds. I wrote them to be my age, and now as I work on the next two novellas they grow with me.

I started this account as a username claim. I didn't plan on making it into a writeblr account, nor expected to enjoy it so much! I have not been active these past few months because I took a break from editing the first draft of novella one, and hadn't been writing much in general. But I feel inspired and plan to edit and hopefully write during August (around my camping trips) and in the autumn!

I'm not sure if anyone will read this far (lol) I kinda just have spewed nonsense. But I'm really excited for these next few months <3

[pertinax--loculos]

2024 Goals

So, I know, I'm a little late for this given it's a solid week (or so) into the new year, but hey, better late than never, right?

My Real Life this year will primarily involve working to pass my course in order to become fully qualified in my new job. Fortunately, from about June onwards, that's going to give me a fair bit of time to work on writing, so I figured I'd try and put down some relatively specific goals regarding the WIPs I have.

My biggest issue with writing is finishing things. Since I joined writeblr, I've gone from having no WIPs in anything approaching a complete state, to three completed first drafts (Absent That Night, The Monstrosity, and Miles To Go) and one completed zero draft (Psyche Shards). That in itself in astonishing for me, but I'd also like to continue to work towards having 'publishable' (read: clean, cohesive, comprehensible) drafts. With that in mind, this year I am going to work on four projects.

Project One is going to be the Vibes WIP. This is my 'first draft' project, ie something I'm starting without a whole lot of words down. I'm also approaching it in a novel way for me (working from vibes), so it's somewhat of an experiment in that sense as well. This is the project aiming to feed my need for discovery and chucking in cool shit that occurs to me over the course of my life.

(It's also pretty heavily linked to my new job, which is part of the reason I've decided to make it a key project this year. Any luck I'll be able to twist most new ideas/inspiration to fit within the scope of what I'm writing. Plus the actual form of the WIP is experimental enough that I can probably chuck in other random inspirations as well and deal with it later.)

Project Two is Psyche Shards. I have a (pretty much) complete zero draft for this, so I'll say the aim is to finish draft 1.5. This will be another new experience, in that I'll be writing from what amounts to a detailed outline; something I've never done before. I hope it will help me to pin down a process that allows me to finish more WIPs -- if writing from the zero draft works to keep the wordcount down to something reasonable, and is faster than my normal sort of draft one, then it will help to inform how I approach WIPs from here on out.

(I should mention, regarding wordcount, that the zero draft is 27k words. Not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I am a chronic fucking overwriter. So I'm hoping that having what I need to put down in front of me will help quell that issue. There's also issues with the climax of this WIP I still need to work out, but I think beginning to draft it in earnest will be the only thing that will fully help with that.)

Project Three is Absent That Night. 🥳 I've been saying for, like, over two years now that I'm going to write a second draft of this beast, and it's becoming my white whale, so it's about time I knuckle down and give it a go. It's intimidating as fuck because of how much I need to change, but I owe it to Latrell to sort my shit out, because it's a story I would really like to tell, and I cannot write either of the two sequels I have planned if I haven't wrangled the first installment into something coherent.

Project Four is theoretical, and a project-of-grace I'm giving myself in case I'm smacked with inspiration that just won't go away. I am going to try and make this a relatively high bar, however. I have an 'inspo' document where I can jot down notes and vague ideas, and I'm going to primarily use that for new ideas. If something does persist and develops on its own without my having to take time to sit down and think about it, then I will allow my muse to take me where it will and consider it project four.

(Ideally, I'd like to close out this year without touching a Project Four. Because, as I said, my main problem is starting things and then not finishing them, and this sort of random inspiration is a key reason why that happens.)

So there it is! Three/four key projects that I would like to work on for this year. I don't yet have any dates or deadlines regarding them, because up until March work is going to take priority and I don't want to stress myself out too much with anything else going on. However, I'm hoping to do a monthly update for the start of the year letting people know where I'm at, and if/when I get properly into working on any of these projects I'll increase the frequency of updates and sharing.

Another goal I have is perpetual, which is to be more active on here. I'm working on actionable steps to make this a reality, however, and I hope that that will bear fruit. There are far too many amazing, talented people on my dash to not spend at least some time on here every week. So I apologise to people who like numbers and deadlines (I'm one of them!), but these more ambiguous goals are the way I need to be at this point, and I'm enjoying the way they're inspiring me regardless. ^_^

What are you all's goals for the new year? Feel free to let me know! I'm way behind on what everybody is doing and would love to be updated by anybody who's managed to read this far. :D

[clairelsonao3]

Just wanted to tell you that you're an absolute doll, you've made the writeblr community an even more wonderful place since you got here, and you are loved and appreciated. This is your opportunity to (should you so desire) ramble about anything that's on your mind, WIP-related or otherwise. 💕

🥹🥹🥹 Thank you!!! Honestly, I was so shocked and happy to see this in my inbox. The only anons I've gotten previously have been chain letters and hate mail, and so my heart actually SANK when I saw this was an anon. But I don't think this is a chain letter and it's definitely not hate mail, so you absolutely made my day/week/month!

I think I started this blog in March, which makes it over six months now. And it's hard to imagine my life without it. The funny thing is (and I think I've mentioned this before), the week I joined, trying to innocently make friends by joining in some event focused on showcasing our WIPs that purported to be open to anyone, and I had the pleasure of being "greeted" by a couple of "hosts" who hadn't read my work, didn't understand the first thing about it, and took it upon themselves to try to "call me out" for something that I hadn't even done. I was so upset that I was this close to shutting down my account because I thought I wasn't welcome here and it would just get me more of the same.

But I stayed, and I'm so glad I did because I understand now that was an anomaly and simply massively bad luck to encounter that. 99% of my other interactions with people here have been positive, and the support I've found for both my work and myself has been beyond my wildest dreams.

Writing is not easy. This is hard, hard work we do. We, especially those of us who post our work publicly, are (metaphorically) slicing out large chunks of our hearts and souls and presenting them on a platter for people to evaluate and judge. Sometimes it feels like more than just our work. It feels like ourselves. And sometimes I get insecure and anxious. "Oh no, do people like such-and-such person better than me? Is their work better than mine? Is everyone going to abandon me to sit at a different lunch table and whisper and laugh and pass nasty notes about me behind my back?"

Middle school fucked me up good.🤣

I have a very strong hunch that I"m not the only one who deals with these types of feelings sometimes. Initially, I wasn't even going to talk about this, but then I was like, well, it might help someone.

Of course, it gets worse when your WIP is being difficult, too. Well, I sometimes think, this isn't working. Might as well take my toys, shut down my blog, abandon my work, and go home, simply in the interest of self-preservation. (I'm NOT doing this; I don't want anyone to worry!)

But I know that this urge is irrational, as are my fears. And that nothing I do -- especially not sitting and worrying and imagining ridiculous, catastrophic scenarios -- is going to have any effect on the situation, whatever it is. I can't make anyone like me. But what I can do is make sure that I send positivity into the world instead of negativity, and eventually, somehow, the universe will even out, maybe, kind of.

Anyway, all of this is a roundabout way of saying that I know yesterday was technically Worldbuilding Wednesday, and I wanted to send out asks, but then I realized, you know? I don't even really like worldbuilding all that much. 🤣 There are other aspects of writing that interest me much more.

And, to me, the most positive thing I can get is a personalized ask about my WIP. It makes me feel seen, acknowledged, loved, and that my work matters. I don't know, but I can only assume that other people feel the same way. So I sent some.

For those whose WIPs I'm not as familiar with yet, I combed through their blog for info about them, and that took some extra time, which meant I wasn't able to send out as many as I wanted. But that's okay because I'll send out more soon.

Anyway, I'm not sure what the ultimate point is to any of this, but that's what's on my mind. Thank you, anon. You're a doll, too. 💕

[agirlandherquill]

(This is alwri-tes because you can't send an ask from a sideblog oof-) Your writing snippets are sooo good! Are they part of a larger story? If so, what is the overview of this story?

allow me to just make sure my quill's filled with ink - oh, it is? right then, here I go,

hi! thank you so much for asking this - and to answer it, yes, my writing snippets are part of a larger story (or in my case two, which I will explain momentarily) - before joining tumblr about two months ago i had never heard someone use the term 'writing snippets' except for myself, so thank you writeblr for the giggle it gives me every time i see it - anywho, moving on to the larger story, well technically stories;

there are two novels from which i take snippets and post:

'Ruin's Reprisal' - the posts that include the title and usually a chapter number stem from this

The second is 'A Deal of Daggers' - this one is a little trickier for me to reference a chapter seeing as i'm in the stage of what I like to call joyful chaos, I have a scrivener document stuffed to the brim with snippets, some short, others significantly larger, as you can probably tell from the varying lengths of my posts; I haven't yet gotten around to writing this novel in order, seeing as I'm undergoing a complete rewrite of what was an incomplete manuscript (an incomplete 500-paged manuscript, may i add), but I'm slowly getting around to doing so,

and to respond to the second question - the overviews: Ruin's Reprisal is undergoing edits at the moment, i'm roughly on chapter 7/42, but in terms of plot it's there, it's all good to go and eager to be spilled from the confines of my mind and the very large scrivener doc (I'm at 210k words at this moment in time), and so without further ado, the overview:

'Disgrace. Servant. Murderer.

Three people with nothing in common, except that they were wronged.

And now, they’re willing to do whatever it takes to make things right. Which means taking the one thing that their society rests on; its sins, its saints, its deaths and broken dreams.

The unlikely band of criminals are going to steal the crown.

Everything depends on one heist. Take the crown. Free themselves.

Will any of them survive? Or will they fall to the country that took everything from them? 

Only time will tell.

And they’re running out of it.'

incredibly vague I know, but it's a little blurb i enjoyed coming up with, and as for the plot, well, that's slowly unravelling itself on Tumblr, as and when I find myself with the time to write, but one day hopefully I'll be an indie author - knowing me i'll stick the novel on ao3, (wouldn't be the first time), or if I get incredibly lucky, a published one,

but truth be told, 'Ruin's Reprisal' has grown up with me, it's been a labour of love since around 2019 I believe, it's undergone many, many changes, and I only completed the first draft as part of nanowrimo last year (and then some, I completed the full draft on New Year's Eve which was funny timing) and it's a story of loss, of growth, discovery and new beginnings - something that relates a little to the likes of youth itself, and there are moments in this story when the characters lose it, and in all honesty, I did too, but it's thriving and I hope to complete the novel by the summer (a rather ambitious deadline I might add, not to mention the many I've tried and surpassed long ago),

and as for 'A Deal of Daggers', i came up with the idea a couple of years ago, I wanted to write something a little darker than 'Ruin's Reprisal', with characters that had more matureness, more rawness to their beings, I craved a story that left me clinging to my keyboard for dear life at times as I wrote it and in many ways, it has. Even though it's a skeleton idea, it has cemented its place in my heart for eternity, and the more I write the more I come to love it and the characters, Reid and Isolde, to name the main few.

As for the overview, well, as I mentioned before it's in a state of joyful chaos, but, I can tell you it involves a contract, a murder, a betrayal, treason and of course danger - dangers of the heart included, because who doesn't adore a little tension every now and then?

and as a final note I'd like to say thank you, not only for asking this but for liking my writing too, this goes to everyone who has seen my posts and enjoyed them - there's nothing nicer than knowing that not only do I enjoy something that I do, but others enjoy it too,

and so I will send this off into the world of writeblr and disappear back into the fever-dream of life, scrivener, chaos and music forever playing in my ears,

~ A Girl and Her Quill

[writernopal]

Author Ask Tag

Tagged by a few peeps for this one!

@eponymoussquared here

@writeblr-of-my-own here

@gummybugg here

Thank you all so much! 💙

Tagging (gently): @sam-glade @theroseempress @squarebracket-trick @writingmaidenwarrior @writinglittlebeasts @mysticstarlightduck @elshells @tabswrites

1. What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war), and why did you choose it?

To be compassionate of one another. We're all different for so many reasons but we're more alike than you might think and at the end of the day we're all people doing our best and trying to get by. It's important to remember that and to know that we're all dealing with our own things along the way.

I chose it because it truly saddens me how much we as people hold each other back due to in-fighting and othering one another. I wanted a way to examine that and hopefully communicate to anyone reading AASOAF how harmful something like that is. It's no coincidence that the art and humanities have all but come to a standstill in Oepus and that's just part of it...

In short, be kind to your fellow man, dammit.

2. What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding (like real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites, etc.)?

Lizards for sure haha. But a lot of my inspiration comes from nature, human history, music, movies, and foley design! Also, I have an intense curiosity about all sorts of different things so Google deep dives are very inspiring!

3. What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, help readers grow as a person?

My MCs are trying to find their places in the world. They all kind of get confronted with some pretty harsh truths about their respective situations and are kind of forced to decide if they're going to keep going down their current path or if they are going to do something to change it.

As far as what I'm trying to achieve, I think I really want to drive the point that familiar =/= safe or "good". It can, but not always. I also really want to demonstrate that no matter who you are or where you come from, introspection, questioning the world around you, and deriving meaning to 'life and purpose', are something we should all engage in. I sincerely hope that it gives my readers the courage to do those things for themselves and grow into the versions of themselves I know they can be!

4. How many chapters is your story going to have?

As many as it takes.

5. Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

Original! AASOAF 3 will join AASOAF 1 & 2 on Wattpad when it's all finished! I have considered moving platforms recently but I'm not sure where yet.

6. When and why did you start writing?

My writing journey kind of comes in two parts. I started writing back when I was a teenager but only did it for about a year. I can't really remember why I stopped and I definitely don't have anything from that time, mostly because I didn't think to save it. I really wish I had though.

After that, I didn't get back into writing until late 2019 at the encouragement of my therapist that I journal my feelings. So I did that, but then somewhere along the way I remembered how much I liked stories and I started writing for fun!

7. Do you have any words of engagement for fellow writers of Writeblr? What other writers of Tumblr do you follow?

Just write, bro. Seriously. I think people get bogged down in a deluge of advice, technique, the "right" way to do things, etc, etc that they quite literally lose the plot. They forget why they started writing in the first place or build it up to be this thing they're afraid to engage with or even forget that under all of that they are just trying to tell a story. SO TELL IT. Stop putting up imaginary walls for yourself dude. WRITE. THE. DAMN. THING. You're not going to nail it on the first try, THAT'S FINE (and kind of the point, hello editing!) and you will get better over time. It's like jumping into a swimming pool and getting upset when you discover that you're not an Olympic level swimmer. Give yourself some grace and write the damn thing.

As far as other writers, I follow so many lovely peeps that this post would be longer than a CVS receipt if I listed them all LOL so instead, have some of my darling moots who have made being on this little corner of Tumblr that much sweeter 💙

@outpost51

@sam-glade

@elshells

@writingmaidenwarrior

@tabswrites

@crowandmoonwriting

@acertainmoshke

@captain-kraken (not around so much anymore but you had such a positive impact on me, dear captain, that it cannot be overstated)

[tailoroffates]

Author Ask Tag Game

I don't usually like to talk about myself, but if that's how you play then I'll play along. Thanks for the tag @doublegoblin!

I'm interested to learn about @winterandwords @toribookworm22 @turnthemasunder-if and @comicgoblinart so I'm tagging them with a non-obligatory participation offer. If anyone else would like to participate then join on in!

The Garden that Burned series is what I choose to answer with.

(1) What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war), and why did you choose it?

To be honest my story didn't start out with an underlying meaning. It took me a while to grow and build as an author before I realized I'd unintentionally included little "moral to the story" arcs within my plot and character arcs. Some of the points I touch on are resolving racism, accepting people for who they are not who you want them to be, learning to understand your emotions, fighting and/or coping with anxiety, learning to accept death and manage grief, war is a cycle of hatred, forgiveness despite biases, and there are likely a few other things I can't recall at this very moment.

(2) What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding (like real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites, etc.)?

Well, I really like Elder Scrolls, Tolkien's works, and Avatar the Last Airbender, so I'd have to say my magic systems are inspired by those, however, I've put my own twist on them so they fit better with the lore. The flora and fauna I've created are mostly chimeras of existing real-life plants and animals.

(3) What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, help readers grow as a person?

My MC was initially trying to become the leader of his village, but fate had different plans for him. Now his goal is to end the Divine war between the mortals and their gods. What am I trying to achieve? Nothing too deep. I just wanna share some stories :D If someone learns something or grows by reading my series then all the better. It would actually make me very happy.

(4) How many chapters is your story going to have?

My first book has 24 chapters, but I have no idea how many the second, third, fourth, or fifth will have. Your guess is as good as mine. I suppose I'll try to aim for that same 24 mark, but who knows.

(5) Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

The series is made up of original content and I intend to publish each book.

(6) When and why did you start writing?

I started as a wee tot but picked it up as an actual habit when it became therapeutic to me. Writing helps me work through my anxieties.

(7) Do you have any words of engagement for fellow writers of Writeblr? What other writers of Tumblr do you follow?

The best I can say is if writing is a passion of yours but you struggle putting pen to paper try setting a daily word count for yourself. It doesn't have to be a large count, but I promise you will improve by practicing every day. If you can't think of anything to write for the day, look up writing prompts and I'm sure you'll find a few that pique your interest.

As for other Writers of Tumblr I follow, I typically follow the creatives. People who show their passion by posting their works. It inspires me to see so many others writing their stories and participating in the writing community, so I aim to join in on the fun!

[authoralexharvey]

INTERVIEW WITH A WRITEBLR — @vermontwrites

Who You Are:

Vermont || they/them/she/her

Writer with an avid love of museums, staring at paintings and reading murder mysteries. Mysterious and yet readable, oddly obsessed with drawing demons. I have a collection of half written in notebooks and too many sketchbooks to count.

What You Write:

What genres do you write in? What age ranges do you write for?

Adventure, fantasy, historical fiction, paranormal, sci-fi. New Adult and Adult.

What genre would you write in for the rest of your life, if you could? What about that genre appeals to you?

Fantasy. Magic and new worlds really invoke a sense of belonging for me. I want to explore medieval towns with dragons and potion stores. I adore magic and elves and the lure of those stories.

What genre/s will you not write unless you HAVE to? What about that genre turns you off?

Non-fiction. Facts are cool, but I'm not the one to write those things. I find it tedious and too time consuming to make sure every tiny thing is correct.

Who is your target audience? Do you think anyone outside of that would get anything out of your works?

Adults. Perhaps teens would enjoy my works as it may allow them to feel a sense of belonging, but my characters are adults and so I assume teens would find it harder to relate to them.

What kind of themes do you tend to focus on? What kinds of tropes? What about them appeals to you?

Enemies to lovers, found family and the good old only one bed. I live shoving two characters that may be icy toward one another into a situation that makes them a little closer. In love or in family bond.

What themes or tropes can you not stand? What about them turn you off?

Whumper. Is that a trope? Either way, I dislike it.

What are you currently working on? How long have you been working on it?

Golden Veins. Its been a series I've been planning and worldbuilding for for about 2 years.

Why do you write? What keeps you writing?

I write because I enjoy it. It lets me escape the real world. I keep writing because it keeps me from the boredom.

How long have you been writing? What do you think first drew you to it?

I used to write silly stories when I was 10, but then got serious when I was about 13. I liked the ability to be creative and put all of my ideas onto the page and find pride in my work.

Where do you get your inspiration from? Is that how you got your inspiration for your current project? If not, where did the inspiration come from?

Everywhere. TV shows, movies, other books. The inspiration for my current work is The Lion King as well as some other writers on AO3.

What work of yours are you most proud of? Why?

I'm proud of most of my works. I don't see any reason to pick one when everything I write brings me joy and pride.

Have you published anything? Do you want to?

No. And no. Maybe just on AO3.

What part of the publishing process most appeals to you? What part least appeals to you? Why?

I've never been interested in publishing my works. Maybe a short story, but the whole thing is tricky and just doesn't appeal much at all.

What part of the writing process most appeals to you? What part is least appealing?

Planning and character design. I love writing an outline and also writing about my characters. Character design is most enjoyable. I hate editing though, drives me to boredom.

Do you have a writing process? Do you have an ideal setup? Do you write in pure chaos? Talk about your process a bit.

I just open the document, put on some music and go for it. It's chaos, yes, but only in my mind.

Your Thoughts on Writeblr:

How long have you been a writeblr? What inspired you to join the community?

1 year. I joined at the recommendation of a friend.

Shout out some of your favorite writeblrs. How did you find them and what made you want to follow them?

@abalonetea - I don't recall how I found her work but the aesthetics alone made me follow. @woodhousejay - Again, my brain is mush, I don't remember how I found their account but I did. Their art is amazing.

What is your favorite part about writeblr?

Interacting with the community.

What do you think writeblr could improve on? How do you think we can go about doing so?

Just as I said above. We should all interact more with one another. I should likely try more.

How do you contribute to the writeblr community? Do you think you could be doing more?

I contribute my art, I suppose but I think I should reblog more when I can.

What kinds of posts do you most like to interact with?

Character introductions.

What kind of posts do you most like to make?

Art and character snippets.

Finally, anywhere else online we may be able to find you?

I have Instagram I hardly look at, but links to media I use is on my Tumblr.

Questions For Fun:

What is your favorite kind of museum to go to? Have you used anything you've learned from your visits in your writing?

My favourite museums are the ones with anything historical. Natural History Museums are quite enjoyable. I've learned a lot from museums, I use the things I've learnt more so in my art than my writing.

Do you have an OC you default to when drawing? What about them makes them so drawable?

I default to drawing Zazu or Silviano. I like their body types and the lines of their clothing and bodies.

What is your favorite murder mystery you've read? Why?

My favourite murder mystery I've read thus far is The Museum Mysteries, a series by Jim Eldridge.

[card-queen]

Writer Q&A Tag

I am truly blessed! Thank you so much for the tag @maskedemerald! It really means the world to me!! I'd love to do more tag game things just to get involved or join a writing group of some kind!

What motivates you to write?

Disappointment, I guess? A lot of things I read/watch/play don't go places I want to see, don't explore ideas I want to hear about, don't show the effects of events on characters I think should be there. It sounds all negative, I know, but it's really not. Nothing gets me fired up quite like getting mad at the things that should have been.

A line/short snippet of your writing that you are most proud/happy of. If not maybe share a line of someone else's work that you love (just please credit them)

Well, I'm not sure on this one. I still consider myself pretty green as a writer, so I don't think I've written anything that stands out just yet. I'll grab this from one of my little writing challenges. I grabbed two random characters and a vague prompt to write a little scene about. It was surprisingly fun as I hadn't actually written for Velena yet.

‘That’s the funny thing about the truth, it doesn’t seem to change.’ ‘You truly expect me to believe that utter drivel about it being luck that you survived?’ ‘I don’t expect anything,’ Hughwen retorted in a predictable manner. Velena almost heard the words before they came out of Hughwen’s mouth. Was he becoming more predictable? Or was she? ‘You have your ungrateful life while your comrades don’t. How many good men died today instead of you?’ ‘I have no idea, I didn’t think to count,’ Hughwen said coolly. Velena felt something in the atmosphere change. Either she was getting to him, or Hughwen had decided he no longer wished to cooperate. ‘But I can tell you this, not that you asked: few of those men were “good men”.’ Velena looked Hughwen up and down. His face bore that smirk she had grown to loathe in the short time she had known her prisoner. His eyes showed a mixture of challenge and defiance. He had decided he was done for the day. She could see it.

Which OC makes you smile every time you think/talk about them and what are they like?

I'll say Cas for the sake of the question but quite honestly, I find myself getting wrapped up and enjoying thinking/talking about my characters without even realising it. Each character has something really enjoyable or challenging about them that makes them fun to write. The world, the story, the factions and forces within the world, the other characters and their struggles -- they all take root in the other characters as well, so even if you don't find their personality to be enjoyable, their perspective on matters, characters, past knowledge etc. often makes them stand out as enjoyable to me. Anyway, to answer the question: Cas' endless struggle to build an image of himself isn't really true to him to combat the stigma of a reputation that also isn't true to him. He pours himself into duty, over-exerts to the point of breaking and denies some of his stronger aspects because they might make him look like the criminal people see him as. He's exactly what I want from a main character: vibrant and adventurous, with a good heart and a rogue's mentality and a sucker for outcasts and black sheep.

What process of writing do you enjoy the most?

Easy answer: dialogue. It's fun to craft the ways characters say what they mean to say. Complex answer: that moment in the third or so draft, when you're looking at your overview and you see a common thread you didn't notice before and suddenly a whole wave of thematic resonance just clicks into place.

What part of writing do you think you are the best at? (Yes stroke your own ego it's okay)

I can't truly say yet. I think dialogue but to be honest, not many people actually read my work. Especially not now that I've started from scratch again!

What is something in the writeblr community is most enjoyable?

Silly asks, memes and just fun-building questions. Characters are simultaneously tools that fulfil a purpose within the story they inhabit, and ALSO they are vessels of personality and joy that bring the life to events and scenarios. You really need to have fun with and love your characters beyond their purpose and silly headcanon questions and fun doodles often do just that!

A writing tool/device you use that helps you with writing? (It could be speech to text, a writing program etc)

Enneagram, I guess. For me, I like to see similarities around where I'm aiming to feel grounded. The vast infinity of everything is really daunting and I do my best to avoid thinking about things that 'could be anything'. Anything = too much = I'm drowning. I've always tried to connect my work to other things to feel less disjointed but there was always something that didn't feel right or help me all that much. Everyone always went to TVTropes but I really didn't like to. Thank goodness I found something that worked for me!

A piece of worldbuilding that you like in your own story? (It could be the magic system, a particular place in the story, a law etc)

It's not so much one thing that I like the most, it's the fallout and effects of that thing. From this unspecified event, my world has:

The Runes of Magic as it is known. People are born under the sign of two or three Gods, with one God being their patron and thus, their birth element.

From Magic, there is Soulfire. Soulfire is the birth element dying and needing to be Cleansed. Uncleansed Soulfire can create Rifts and if a body with Uncleansed Soulfire is eaten by a beast or animal, they will transform into a Monster during an Athyric Moon.

Speaking of, Magic and Gods ties into the Godmoon or Athyric Moon. A monthly event that most Continental countries base their calendars on. A full-moon event that causes all Magic to be enhanced or brought to full power.

With Athyric Moons & Magic, there are engineers and tinkerers who use the Runes of Magic to make crystals and jewellery to perform simple tasks, like a Ice chests to keep stored food frozen, Heatstones for warming public baths, Crystal lamps to give off a faint glow at night, etc. These devices are designed to last the month then be recharged by the Athyric Moon.

Returning back to the original point with Gods & the Runes, we have the religions that populate the world. Each having different core beliefs, rules, taboos and ways of life based on the Virtues of the God that governed that land.

and so on, and so on...

Things in worldbuilding don't exist in a vacuum. If something is created, it may make something else in the world impractical or impossible. There may be something else that needs to be created alongside it to make sure that life would be sustainable for those in the world or area. These are areas where you can really have a lot of fun!

What piece of advice would you say to encourage others to write if they are having a rough patch?

My first goal for my day is always to write. If I can't write, then I'll watch, read or play something that might give me ideas or inspiration. If I'm not in the right mind for that, I spend time with my sisters and the dogs, and remember what I'm doing it all for.

Don't sweat the details, honestly. Some days/weeks/months just suck and it's good to recognise when it happens so you can just hit the eject button. Things tend to have a way of working themselves out. I find that if you're blocked when writing, there's something there that's bugging you and you might not even know what it is. The answer will be right around the corner before you know it, just don't go looking for it. Relax your brain, the answers will come find you.

Tag some people whose works you love/have been your biggest supporters

I can only really tag @maskedemerald, @yunidraws, @albicantknight, @snow-the-wanderer, @prismshard, @reneethegreatandpowerful and @merwetketet! Many of whom are inactive, I know, but I don't know anybody else!!

If you see this and want to do it, then pretend I tagged you, please! I need more friends here.