#the editing process is the hardest part I have to stay motivated

[juniperhillpatient]

Also let it be known Guilty as Sin was on repeat as a Nick/Alice song, You Know I’m No Good was actually written retroactively about @izzysawyer & No Children is just about most families in Barren Lake

[nekohooch]

As continual motivation to work on cosplays I have been documenting the process of making this one by @mayakern

I’m editing the original slightly just for my own body limitations but I’m staying pretty close to the source picture!

I got about 3 yards of power mesh which is a fabric that has a four way stretch and I’m using it as the base for my bodice. I sewed it onto a bra because trying to make feathers conform to boob shape without it sounded like hell

Then I attached it to my dress form and got to work. When I was working on my Azem summoning circle dress I bought a silicone mat that’s usually used for baking, because it’s perfect to keep hot glue from sticking to surfaces. I put that under the mesh and started the very long process of applying feathers with hot glue. These are cruelty free feathers primarily (I got some from craft stores and online before I looked into types of feathers and how not to suck while using them) and the hardest part of the process is honestly taking the little fluffy bits off Every. Single. Feather.

And now it’s just repeat ad nauseam

I’m slowly working on the back but I have to figure out how to fasten this top before I add the feathers because if I’m doing a zipper I need to arrange the feathers accordingly. Next reblog will be the necklace I made when I can get pictures of it!

[bellaxgiornata]

Do you have any tips for people who really enjoy writing fanfiction but struggle to actually get themselves to write it? Like I love writing specific scenarios in my head (mainly because that’s what I really want to read but no one else has written that yet) but I struggle to actually just get the motivation to do it, so my ideas just stay in my brain as a “I want to write this” and then the interest dies off and it never gets written.

I completely understand this feeling so much. Before I started writing in the Daredevil fandom I often just daydreamed in-depth scenarios in my head. I usually wanted to write them into stories but then I just...never did it. Even though I have been writing different fanfics in different fandoms for a really long time, I more often than not just created up scenarios that lived in my head and then that was it because I never wrote them down. So nothing ever came of them and I was never able to share them with anyone. I could have written so many more things if I'd just sat down and tried.

(As always, I'm long winded so more below the cut 😅)

In all honesty when this happens, I think the best thing to do is just that. Just sit down in front of a blank document and free write whatever comes to you. Take the pressure off of yourself first and foremost, though--you don't have to share whatever comes out with anyone. Don't tell yourself that it has to be good, either. Have literally zero expectations for whatever ends up on the page. More often than not, that really helps the words start to flow. When you sit there and nitpick how you're starting a sentence or a scene or a word choice, that's when you start second guessing everything and that can often lead to thoughts like "I can't do this" or "no one will read this" or the classic "I suck at this" (which I still hear in my head some days). Ignore all that bullshit and just focus on whatever it is that's in your head--a conversation between some characters, maybe an entire scene you've had playing out in your mind, a fight scene, or whatever it is that you're currently excited about. Just sit down and try to get it out with no expectations. Because you can absolutely always come back to it and edit it up how you want after the fact and make it into a story or a one shot or whatever if you want, but the hardest part is just getting something out on a page.

But truthfully, the only way to write something is to make yourself sit down and do it. I don't know of any other tips to give besides that. Sure, you can make a playlist or a mood board for the vibe of a story or a character. You can make outlines of what you're seeing in your head that'll give you bullet points of what you picture happening. But really you just have to get excited enough about whatever it is that's on your mind and write it. And I think that's part of the beauty of writing fanfic when you do share it and people interact with it. The commentary and interaction from readers is what helps keep the excitement for a story alive for the writer, which then gives us that necessary motivation to keep coming back to work on a story. Because any writer will tell you that sitting down and getting the words out is hard. Some days it sucks and you have to slog through it to keep going, but that's just a part of the process. Over time it becomes a habit, though.

Hopefully any of that somewhat helped, but unfortunately there isn't some magic answer to make it easier to get started. Having other writers to talk to about your ideas really helps, too. Or just someone to talk with/at about whatever is on your mind. Breaking an entire fic idea into chunks chapter by chapter helps if you're making a big story, but just picking a starting point and writing it is your best bet. I actually first wrote the entirety of Marci and Fog's wedding for FFTD and then worked my way backwards afterwards to start that huge ass series. It all started with those two installments and the idea/scene in my head that I didn't get to until "The Breaking Point" far later. So you can absolutely just start with an idea and expand on it. But unfortunately, you kind of just have to force yourself to start somewhere 😅

[maebyyork]

On writing even when it’s hard

Writing is the hardest when my hope is the most precarious.  In the past I’ve walked away from the craft for weeks or months at a time, because everything felt so bleak. I don’t want to do that again. As Hemingway said, “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”

The rules I impose on myself for making word counts, completing projects, and other aspects of the writing process are ambitious. I hold myself to a high standard for the quantity and quality of the words that I write. I have to push myself to be able to achieve them, but they wouldn’t be worthwhile if they were easy.

Lately it has been difficult to want to write. Whether it’s sadness, exhaustion, or being distracted - it hasn’t been easy to find my groove. I know that part of being a writer is pushing through even when it feels like the well has run dry, but it's hard to stay motivated when I'm not feeling inspired. I tell myself that the words don't always have to be perfect, that sometimes it's more important to just get something down on paper. But even that can feel like a monumental task when I'm struggling to find the energy to write. As Jodi Picoult put it, “You might not write well every day, but you can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.”

Despite the challenges, I know that writing is important to me. It's a way for me to express myself, to explore my thoughts and feelings, and to connect with others. Even when it's hard, I'm going to keep writing. I'll keep pushing myself to meet my goals, even when I don't feel like it. And I'll keep believing that the words will come, even when they're hiding from me. Because as Stephen King reminds us, "Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”

On the first of November I started doing Morning Pages from the book The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. Cameron teaches artists how to get over the mental and physical hang ups that hold them back, and to be able to reclaim their creativity.

Now, each morning after my husband brings me coffee, and before I reach for my iPhone - I sit down with my pen and a journal to write.

What I write during this exercise doesn’t have to be on topic, logical, or even legible. I have discovered that even though those first words may be forced and weak by the end of the three pages I’m really starting to feel it.

I fell in love with writing after reading Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones, and I am starting to feel that same dizzy passion for the craft again as I do my Morning Pages.

There is so much to keep me tied to earthly endeavors, but when I put pen to paper I find the seraphim that tethers me to the celestial.

[nanowrimo]

Pantsing Vs Plotting

It's time to face one of the hardest stages of writing your novel: plotting. Are you a pantser or a plotter? If you're not sure yet, NaNo guest Will Soulsby-McCreath will take us through their steps on how to figure out where you and your project fall on this particular spectrum. 

People will talk about being a pantser or a plotter like you’re going to land in one of these boxes and stay there for the rest of your life, but I just don’t think that’s true. I think it’s better represented as a galaxy: people orbit (or don’t orbit) different planets at different times and to different extents.

Plotting, pantsing, and plantsing all have their benefits and downfalls, which is why it’s important to try to figure out what will work for you as soon as possible.

Don’t forget, what works for you is defined as what gets you to the end of your manuscript with the most ease. 

So how do you figure out what planet you’re orbiting?

1. Take a look at your life.

Do you plan everything? Is your whole life set to a schedule? Do you love calendars and scheduling and time blocking?

Try plotting: it’s like a plan for your book.

Are you chaos incarnate? Does your house look like somebody upended a Bag Of Holding in it but you know where everything is (or at least the most likely 3 places to check)?

Try pantsing: follow your whims, keep the story in your head until you’re ready to write that particular bit of it. Personally, I fall into the mentality of “if I write an outline all my motivation is gone because now the ending is right there so what’s the point?”

Do you sit somewhere in the middle of these two extremes? Try to see if there’s one ideology you identify with more than the other.

Do you take a planner with you wherever you go/reliably use the planner app on your phone? Try plotting first. 

Do you set alarms or you’d never get out of the house on time? Try pantsing first.

2. Take a look at your writing preferences

Do you like editing? Or is it the worst part of the writing process?

Any pantser worth their… pants(?) will tell you that editing is the most important part of pantsing a book. Wrangling those unexpected plot twists to make them look intentional can be challenging but it’s also a lot of fun. So, if you love editing, pantsing might be the right route for you. If you hate editing, you might want to try plotting (note: plotting still needs editing, just often not as much).

3. Take a look at your reading preferences

Do you like examining books for story structure and fitting the plot to a pattern? Try plotting with your favorite story structure.

Do you find story structure to be boring at best and incomprehensible at worst?

Try pantsing, see where it gets you.

4. Try Different methods and don’t feel beholden to a particular label

There are so many potential outlining methods, and so many different points in your writing process you could decide to outline, you can still count yourself as a pantser while using outlining sometimes and vice versa, you could pants a bit but not a whole novel and still call yourself a plotter.

If you’re stuck in a scene (whether you’re pansting or plotting), try writing a quick bullet-pointed list of what you want to happen to get you to the next bit. If your outline got stilted and impossible somewhere around act 3, try free-writing (it’s like temporary pantsing).

And, if the thing you tried didn’t work, if it didn’t get you to the end of your manuscript, try the other thing. If you tried plotting but got bored halfway through your outline, or your character motivations didn’t match up with the actions you wanted them to take, try pantsing. If you couldn’t get to the end of your narrative by pantsing or got too tangled up in possible plot loops, try plotting instead.

Will Soulsby-McCreath (It’s pronounced “Souls-Bee-Muh-Kreth”) is absolutely not secretly 14 cats in a top hat. Obsessed with every way to tell a story and every possible use for one, Will had few choices other than becoming a writer. Too nosy for their own good they like to invest their time fixing other people's problems, and when that doesn't work they hand out stories to make you feel better, like their debut novel Merry Arlan: Breaking The Curse, which releases 26th October 2021. You can check out their website, social media, and short story blog to find out more.

Top Photo by Yannick Pulver on Unsplash  

[witch-hazels-musings]

Hi I have a question

Recently I've been have a bad case of writers block. It been preventing me from writing my stories Blood rose Games and Her Eyes along with genshin fanfics I have started. What would you do about the writers block?

Thank you so much and stay safe!!

hiya, sorry to hear about your writers block. It’s the wooorst thing to feel that way. I have tried a bunch of different things to get through it but it took some trial and error to figure out how -- 

take a break: like a real break. no consuming the media you are writing for / about / beside -- go and do something completely different for a day, a few days, anything but don’t look or think about your topic at all 

consume media: watch your favorite show, a new show. watch a movie, read a book, read fanfiction, read manga, listen to music -- anything that’s going to spark ideas or pocket them for later. No matter your creative craft, consuming media and art will help you more than you could imagine! 

hang out with people: if that’s your thing - go and be with them, play games with them! just chat it up and don’t beat yourself up for doing it (this is my hardest part) 

write when you get motivated: as SOON as you get an idea or a partial one, whip out your writing tools and go to town -- it doesn’t matter if it’s a short or long burst, but you should follow that flow as soon as it appears

write something 

switch up your writing tool: usually write on a computer? get you a notebook and carry it around like your best friend! As soon as the spark hits you, pull that baby out and GO. Write in a notebook? Try your phone or computer (you can buy cheap bluetooth keyboards (i have seven). Write on your phone? switch it up! (I personally thing writing in a notebook when I have writers block shakes me out of it because I always type on a keyboard or on my phone, so it’s a ‘change in scenery’ and can help your brain)

read one of the fics you love the most: it’ll remind you how good you are, or how far you’ve come 

daydream: if you can’t get the words to come out, let your imagination run wild and build it without the pressure of finding the right words or phrases. see it in your imagination and come back to it later; it’ll still be there 

free form practice: write or create something that you are reallllllly good at, that you feel the most confident in, and just let your mind go. Don’t worry about if it makes sense, don’t worry if it’s accurate or clear. just let your brain create what it wants! (this also helps with character dialogue: if you can’t hear their voice in your head, don’t trap yourself in that hole. Instead, write out what you generally want them to say or get across, keep going then come back during the edit process and smile at how good your brain says, “oh that’s what they should say here” (works like a charm)

these are just a few things to try! they might not all work for you, but they could be good to try and, the most important thing to know is, you are not broken - you haven’t run out of creativity or skill - you’re brain is just tired, your body might be stressed, you might need food or water. The best thing to do about writers block is allow yourself to rest and then slowly give yourself something to work on. 

The first work I usually make after writers block is teeeerrible, but i’m just working out the kinks, after that -- smooth sailing baby 

[marvellouslymadmim]

Hey! Aspiring fanfic writer here; I was wondering if you could talk a bit about your writing/editing process and how long it all takes.

Thanks!

Welp, roughly the same extremely long amount of time it takes to actually answer an ask, tbh 🙃

So...I only know how my brain works, and I can only tell you what works for me might not work for you, and that's OK. I'm breaking into two separate bits, because I almost never do writing and editing at the same time.

And as far as a timeline, honestly it just depends. On life factors, what my hormones are doing at the time (jfc like the week before my period, I have zero creativity, motivation, or attention span), if I'm having trouble with a particular scene, if I'm getting consistent positive feedback (yes, I can totally admit that I write faster when I know a particular reviewer is following along with every update), etc.

WRITING:

First, you gotta just...be fixated, I guess. Particularly if it's an AU, I sit with it for a long time before I ever write a word. I go over scenes, think about how the world changes, what stays the same, what *has* to stay the same to keep the characters true to their canon personalities. I sit with the characters for a long time, too--not just the main characters, but the supporting cast, too. In order to predict someone's future, you have to know their past. Most of our present actions are actually reactions to past events, when you think about it. The better you know your version of the character, the easier every other aspect of writing will be. I don't know how it is for other people, but I don't ever "feel" like I'm writing. I feel like I'm "witnessing", and the characters are simply doing whatever they wish. (***this is gonna be a thing during the editing process, too, so hang on to that)

Then once I have a general idea, I choose a title. Generally, I do not even start a word document until I have a proper title to put on it. The title is part of the theme and aesthetic to me, and it grounds me in the overall arc.

Once that's done, it's time for outlining. I generally wait until I feel this weird almost tingling in my left arm (weirder still bc I'm right handed) and I'm practically vibrating with a need to WRITE THIS STORY NOW. Then I put on some Bear McCreary (honestly, any videogame soundtrack will do, as they are literally designed to help you maintain focus and keep pace) and fucking go to town. For me, it helps to do this with pen and paper, so that I can go back up and squiggle little notes in the margin, rearrange the order, etc, far faster than I could on a computer.

Important note: the outline is not the end-all be-all. Some things don't make it to the final print. Some minor storylines get tossed or characters simply...take a different path than I expect. I will continue re-writing and updating the outline as I go along. On average, I usually have 5-8 outlines per story, and they're often 3-10 pages long. I also have a posted outline, which is a log of all the scenes that did make it to the final product. 

Then, it's the actual writing, at long last. I have found that I write best at the start of my day, before the noise and static of daily life comes in. So I wake up around 5am and spend 90minutes writing before beginning my workday routine. I have the Word app on my phone and may continue adding bits in throughout the day at work, if I get a moment. However, after 5pm my brain is usually fried and no more creativity happens. On weekends, I try to have one morning where I "sleep in" til 6am, and then write until at least 10am, sometimes 2pm, if I can get away with it.

The hardest part still is knowing when to transition and when to skip to the next chapter/scene/whatever. This is like...zero percent helpful, but I liken it to Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart's definition of pornography: "I know it when I see it." It may seem like a scene is circling, and sometimes it means you gotta leave the room a bit earlier bc the scene has already served its purpose. Other times, it means ya gotta stay with it a bit longer, because there's something the character is trying to say. Give them patience, and give yourself patience, too. Explore the scene and its dynamics. You won't know til you know and even then, sometimes you won't be entirely sure. That's ok, too. Part of the process. Remember editing will happen and you can decide then (hell, you can literally re-edit after it's been published, I've done that before too and added a note on the next chapter for any readers who might have read the first version 🤷🏻‍♀️ not ideal but still functional).

EDITING:

I do simple edits (spelling, grammar, etc) just about every morning as I reread what I wrote the day before, which is a refresher course for the day's writing session. But big "real" editing generally doesn't happen until right before posting.

Now, here's the ***issue from writing: sometimes, something just "doesn't work" in a scene. Again, you'll know it when you see it. The words a character is saying feels clunky. The pacing feels off. Something just...ain't right. More often than not, it means either I haven't truly sat with a character long enough to know their true motivations/backstory, or I am not giving characters the proper time/space/impediment to make the actions or say the things they're currently making/saying. I'm trying to force the flow, rather than letting it ebb and breathe when it needs to.

Absolute ProTip: You spent HOURS writing this scene. It's got some REALLY GOOD moments and lines in it. It doesn't work but you can't just delete it. It's your LIFE. I struggle with this A LOT, and I have found a solution: create a second "outtakes" document to cut and paste those scenes into. Sometimes I still keep moments or bits of dialog. Sometimes I later use bits in a later scene. Sometimes I never look at it again but I still feel secure in knowing that if I wanted to go back and use the original scene instead, I totally can. I don't think I've actually ever gone back to the original, tbh, but it reduced my anxiety about deleting the scene and starting over.

So back to the scene that doesn't work. I take it apart, figure out *at what exact point* it stops working, then work back up a few lines to see where the shift actually begins. More often than not, it's because I'm having characters express their feelings in ways they actually wouldn't. (people very very very rarely actually say what they're thinking/feeling, and you have to relay it in other ways). So I have to keep the internal monologue of what they're actually feeling/thinking, while figuring out how that actually translates via tone, body language, and what they do and don't say.

The "something ain't working stage" can take LITERAL WEEKS. I sometimes have to walk away for awhile, or tackle it only on days when I know I have hours upon hours to truly work on it. I keep circling back around, and eventually, the knot works itself out. Persistence, and insistence that "good enough" isn't actually good enough, are key. (this is why you have to fixated on the story you want to tell--because some days, it's going to take every ounce of that obsession to keep you going and keep you on the track of telling the story you wanted to tell, rather than settling or switching to an easier tack)

Sometimes, editing is a breeze. I don't change much, I may go a little more into the character's inner world here or there. Once you've been doing this for awhile, you'll just know when a story hits all its marks--and you'll also know when it's not, when it could be more or do more, and you can figure out how to get it there. There isn't a precise formula for it, it's more like cooking without an actual recipe to follow--a dash here, a bit there, you'll know it when you taste it.

And I'll leave you with this unsolicited bit: just write. Write often, write about everything, write what makes YOU passionate and happy, and absolutely write for yourself. Edit the fuck out of it, if you need to. Get a beta reader, if you need to. Get someone to just bounce ideas off, if you need to. And don't post it until you're truly ready and it's something you genuinely want to share. If someone gives constructive criticism, take in on the chin and move on (keep the notes, if you think they're valid, and toss em if you don't--you'll never be everyone's style of writer, so know that sometimes, people just won't be the target audience). Know that you'll grow and you'll learn and you'll find your own voice and like any skill, you'll develop a second nature about it--all those parts where I say "you'll know it when you see it" or "you'll feel it" absolutely come from spending a literal lifetime (28 years) writing stories, and thirteen years of writing fanfic in particular. It's ok if you don't see it or feel it right away. It takes practice. And you will have an audience at every skill level, no matter what (finding that audience? different story altogether...).

All totaled, this process can take anywhere from 3months to over a year. Stories are like children, I've found: they each develop at their own pace, and some may need more time and assistance than others. But they're still pretty wonderful. (except the bratty stories. they're the worst 🙄)

[snowdice]

Road Trips and Missing Persons (Part 24)

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Relationships: Patton & Virgil, Virgil & Janus, Logan & Patton, Emile & Remy, Roman & Remus & Janus

Characters: Patton, Virgil, Janus, Remus, Roman, Logan, Emile, Remy

Summary: Patton was just getting groceries. The next thing he knew, there was a knife at his throat and he was an unwilling uber driver. Virgil’s on the run after the murder of his dad, and it’s not just his paranoia that’s telling him he’s being chased down. He has to get somewhere safe, somewhere he can trust, and all he has is a couple of stories from his dad and a name: “Green Bellow Foods and Dispensary.”

Meanwhile, everyone else is trying to find a missing 15 year old, all with different pieces of the puzzle about where he is. It really is too bad that no one is answering their phones.

Notes: Secret Agents AU, knives, carjacking, kidnapping, murder mentioned, guns mentioned, pepper spray, blood mentioned, drugs mentioned, explosions, car crashes (more to be added)

This is a fic I’ve been writing on study breaks that you have probably all already seen at this point. I’ve affectionately named it the Goblin Brain Fic because it’s helping my brain actually get motivated for studying. I’ve slightly edited it for wording and grammar, but not for content from my previous posts. Feel free to send in asks to direct it because I’m not 100% sure where this is going and you can help decide if you feel so inclined! You can see the process I went through to build this at this link.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 My Master Post

Logan had kept them in the meeting room for literal hours, pausing only to feed everyone except Patton and Virgil (who had actually eaten dinner). Eventually, he decided that he was satisfied with the explanations (Well, no, perhaps not satisfied, he was still very displeased with everyone except Virgil and maybe Emile, though Emile had not helped himself when he’d realized that he’d spoken both to Patton and Remus in the grocery store near Remy’s house early and he and Patton had proceeded to go off on a tangent about pasta.) and had taken them all to some of the hotel style rooms in the base.

The room Remy, Emile, Janus, and Virgil were in had two double beds. Virgil and Janus had claimed one of the beds already and were currently curled up together on it both asleep. Janus had apparently picked up Virgil’s stuffed spider from home and stuck it in his pocket. He had ordered Remy to dry the slightly damp toy with a hair dryer before consenting to laying down. The two of them had fallen asleep easily after their long days, the stuffed spider laying on the top of Janus’s chest and Virgil’s arm thrown around him loosely.

Emile had stayed up longer and taken a shower before emailing his receptionist asking her to cancel all of his appointments for tomorrow (or today as it was by now). He’d climbed into bed a couple of minutes ago, leaving Remy the only conscious one in the room.

Virgil stirred awake as Remy stood up from the chair he’d been sitting on and stepped towards the door. “Dad?” he asked.

Remy took a detour to stand by his bedside and stroke a few of the curls that were still damp from his shower away from his face. “Go back to sleep, kid.”

“Where’re you going?” he asked.

“Just gonna go grab some coffee,” he said.

“It’s night,” he pointed out.

Remy cracked a grin. “Yeah, well, you know me.” He tapped him on the nose. “I’ll be right in the mini kitchen outside.”

“Kay,” Virgil agreed, laying his head back on Janus’s chest. Janus never stirred, dead to the world in the way he only ever was when Virgil was snuggled up against him.

Remy closed the door quietly behind himself and wandered over towards the kitchen.

“Can’t sleep?” Patton asked when he stepped into the little area. The man was sitting at the small two-person table with a mug of what looked like tea and a box of Oreos.

“Having trouble chilling out,” Remy replied. “You know how it is.” Patton hummed in acknowledgement as Remy investigated the coffee maker.

“You know,” Patton said amused. “If your trying to calm down and sleep, coffee may not be the best solution.”

“Babe, do you know me at all?” Remy asked. Patton just shook his head.

“Besides,” Remy continued. “Who said I was planning on sleeping any time soon?”

“You should try to sleep,” Patton said, frown clear in his tone even though Remy was turned away, putting coffee grounds into the machine.

“Says the man already out here eating cookies at half past 1.”

“Touché.”

They were silent until Remy’s coffee was finished. Remy poured himself a cup and went to sit across from him. “Thanks for not shanking the little bastard on sight.”

Patton’s nose scrunched. “I should have known he was yours with that mouth of his,” Patton said, then he shook his head. “He’s a cute kid.”

“He held a knife to your neck.”

Patton shrugged. “It’s not the first time I befriended someone with a deadly weapon on me,” he said. He pushed the packet of Oreos over to him. “I hope you realize I’m filing for joint custody.”

Remy laughed. “I figured after I heard you spent over 3 hours in a car with him.”

“I’m going to teach him how not to curse and why falling asleep during a kidnapping is not ideal.”

“Well, Emile’s already tried his hardest on the first front, so good luck, and the boy likes to nap at inopportune times, what can I say?”

“Takes after his dad.”

“I am both insulted and flattered simultaneously.”

Patton giggled softly.

“But, seriously,” Remy said. “I do owe you for making sure Virgil was okay even if you didn’t know he was my spawn.”

Patton shrugged. “You don’t owe me anything.” He paused. “Well, you could buy me some cheese since I’d just bought a bunch to make mac and cheese, and it all went bad during the long car ride.”

Remy snorted. “Why do the lactose intolerant fear no god?” he asked. “But, sure, I’ll be happy to reimburse you and endorse your hedonistic ways.”

Patton smiled at him and finished off his tea.

 Despite his suggestion that Remy head to bed a few minutes before, he did not put his mug in the sink, but filled it back up with water and popped it into the microwave. Remy turned back to his coffee for a moment and immediately felt arms come around him. “Thanks for not being dead,” Patton said into his ear.

Remy chuckled and patted his arm. “You’re welcome Patty, but really what did everyone expect? I’ve got a couple of kids to raise still.”

Patton just hummed and kept hugging him until the microwave beeped. He grabbed his mug then and plopped another tea bag into it.

“So, not what you planned for your weekend, huh?” Remy asked.

Patton shook his head sitting back down. “I was going to make the mac and cheese and watch reruns of Parks and Rec,” he said wistfully. Then he grinned. “I probably would have still been awake at this hour anyway.”

“Oh, Pat. How many times have you watched that show?”

Patton just smiled at him, eyes sparkling. “We really should try to get some sleep,” Patton said.

“Yeah, well, Emmy snores.”

“And Lo kicks,” Patton said, “when he’s not trying to crush me. Not that trying to sleep in the same bed as one of the twins is any better.”

Remy snorted. “Didn’t take Logan for a cuddling type.”

“Oh, he always tries to deny it, but he’s a big softie.”

“Explains why I’m not dead all over again.”

“Hmmm,” Patton agreed. Then he grinned. “I have the Netflix app on my phone,” he divulged.

“…We’re starting with season 3.”

“Of course,” Patton agreed, pulling out his phone.

They got yelled at in the morning by Logan for falling asleep at the table.

The end! Except for the epilogue.

[yeoldontknow]

🖊writerly conversation tag

tagged by @j-pping to do this amazing interview/reflections tag. of course she put together one of the most amazing tags ever because she is brilliant. thank you for tagging me angel! 

questions below the cut!

2020

what was the most challenging part of writing this year?

gosh...i think for me the hardest bit was staying both motivated and inspired. a lot of my inspiration comes from being out in the world. im an introvert but i enjoy being out in the city around the noise and the people and the buildings on my own. the majority of my writing used to be done while riding the subway or on a weekend after id gone out somewhere. a lot of my fics are inspired by locations, and experiences within those locations. being inside for the majority of the year made it hard for me to remember how...people interact with or relate to the spaces around them. so i felt like a lot of the time staying inspired was coming from places within just me that felt inauthentic. i think my writing benefits from my ability to see multiple perspectives, so i felt like a lot of dialogue or writing itself was suffering just coming from me alone. it took a lot of work to ensure that it wasnt like that. 

and then, motivation was also so hard. the internet and the news and everything about america, the planet, the everything was unrelenting and draining. we as people were privy to so much trauma this year, to the collapse and fracture of communities, lives, governments. there were several weeks at the end of may and into june where i just...couldnt. i had no energy for anything. it happened again in november after the election and the windfall of it. energetic tensions were so high it just felt so hard to push out words when things were breaking everywhere. like there were more important things i needed to focus on, and healing was one of them.

what was the most enjoyable/rewarding part of writing this year?

i enjoyed the new community of writers/friends i found by writing for bts again. they challenged me and pushed me to better myself. @jamaisjoons is so inspirational in the way she generates community and encourages relationships between storytellers. doing the summer bucket list pushed me out of my hermit hole for camp nano, and i cranked out molotov cocktail and felt so proud of it. it mattered so much to me because it was the first long thing id written after a period of feeling deceased, and it was so enjoyable because there was a sense of community around it. its easy to forget how essential having a support system in your creative community is.

what piece has left the most impact on you and why?

probably ciperion. words cannot express how proud i am of that story and the direction its going in. i read it back sometimes and i realize that my writing was elevated because of that piece. tbh molotov was responsible for that lift, but ciperion was just a whole other tier. ive also never written anything like that story before and it felt so good exploring the themes of seafaring and pirates. 

what have you learned about yourself through the process of writing in the past year?

that i absolutely am someone who took for granted how inspiring the world is even if i see it as a stressor. but also that writing isnt necessarily about being inspired. its about pushing on when its hard. some of my best pieces came from that kind of push this year. 2020 felt like...a slog through most of it, but i kept pushing myself to write even when i was low and tired. i realized that some of my best writing comes from that push, when its not easy and when its difficult and i have to think harder. thats where i grow. 

how has your writing changed in the past year? how have you grown?

i think im more syntax and detailed focused than i used to be. lately ive been experimenting with making the act of reading feel like pleasure. my favourite books are the ones where i read a sentence, and im moved because it felt nice to read or it felt powerful. the sentence itself had power, not the image it was trying to convey. somehow separate, if that makes sense. theres a lot i need to learn before i could go off comfortably and try to write a book, and this is what ive been trying to master. my attention to detail has grown, and sometimes i think thats a detriment. i think sometimes im too detailed and i dont leave my reader enough power on their own. im still finding that balance, but i think im pleased right now with what im trying to push myself to master.

2021

ignoring your wips for a second, if you had all the time and energy in the world to write your magnum opus piece, what would it be about? why is that the dream story you’d write, all other things controlled for?

ive had two books in my mind forever. one was originally being written as a fanfic in a different fandom before i stopped and realized its too big and so much more important, and is worth being a book id like to write. if i wrote an opus like this it would actually be a book id submit to publishers but ~

- hundreds of years in the future, society has learned how to cure most diseases. for those we cannot, the sick person can be cryogenically frozen for a period of time until a cure is found. there is, however, a limit to the length of time they are frozen. no one has ever been frozen for over 100 years, and the main character is a scientist embarking on the experiment to do just that. it is, effectively, time travel. the main character is rash, selfish, sarcastic - not a very nice person; invested in their work and science and little else. they freeze themselves and wake up in the future. during their time in rehab they have to confront the horror theyve made of themselves, the horror people have made of the future, learn to be vulnerable. they end up falling in love with another scientist etc etc. theres so much more to this story and the world is enormous. one day ill revisit it

- a fictional play on orpheus in the underworld where a female main character’s brother was sold by their mother to the goddess of the underworld (helena instead of hades) for eternal youth. the gods all live in a hotel (the concept of this main thing is being used in elysian fields but its not remotely the same) after they were removed from the heavens. main character (ophelia) must gather several totems from the gods to prove her worth and survive her trip into the underworld to rescue him. id like to not focus on a woman finding romance, and instead a woman finding herself, her strength, her devotion to family, her power, and connecting with her history.

how do you want to grow in your writing this year?

this year id like to find balance, like i mentioned above, with my need for detail and my trust in my readers. the balance between detail and dialogue. i want to try to condense my writing again so not everything is a goddamn series. the ideas i have are huge and thats great but i need to remember how to parse things again, while still maintaining impact.

what’s one thing you’d wish to see in the fan-writing community this year?

i want more community, in general. as a multi fan, i see pockets in the kpop fandom where it exists and im well and truly aware that its recently become incredibly hard to foster on the exo side. ill just say that. maybe i dont witness it or its happening amongst blogs i havent found or have not found me. i want to see less dialogue about ‘popular blogs,’ whatever that means; less focus on notes; less worries about statistics. i want people to remember that fandom is not about numbers, and the moment you make it about that is the moment you stop having fun. i want less fear from writers regarding sharing work they read and liked, less shame around it. i want to see more vocal communication for the things people like and don’t like, more engagement and more interaction. the concept of popular blogs is so ridiculous to me, because no one has any control over the metrics. no one has control over who follows them or reads their work except the person doing the actual reading. i want people to realize they hold so much power - a person with 10k notes has as much power as a person with 2 notes because sharing is what fosters community. i want this fandom to remember to share again.

name one new thing you want to try doing in your writing this year.

gosh i really love postmodernism in writing. think like mark z danielewski, who plays with the shapes of words or the act of holding a book - the physicality of it. id like to maybe write a choose your own adventure, or do something that encompasses multiple platforms. or even, more importantly, finish as still as sound and time runner. those are more reasonable goals. time runner actually is done, i just need to stop pressuring myself about it and edit it to get it up. asas, too, is largely done i just need to get my ass together. i have so many other ideas no one has ever seen i need to finish what ive started. thats a real goal.

tagging: @yehet-me-up @jamaisjoons @kyungseokie @jenmyeons @luffles424 @yoonia @shadowsremedy @chillingkoo @onherwings @inkedtae @ninibears-erigom @imdifferentshadesofpurple @readyplayerhobi @ditzymax @sugaurora @snackhobi @yeojaa @sahmfanficbts @xjoonchildx @johobi and anyone else who wants to do this. as always please only do so if comfortable or you want to!

[theastrophilearchitect]

A new project.

Because the first one wasn’t working. Writing journey #3.

Tue 30/03/2021 - ‘Bay Tree’ Word Count: 42,150 07.27 Hello! So I established in my last writing update that I was taking a break from my WIP ‘Bay Tree’, to return May 10th, and even though I’m not writing today, I just wanted to say that taking a break feels amazing. I’m focusing on reading (granted, I’ve been reading House of Earth and Blood for like two weeks) and it’s really helping ideas for edits develop. 

In my draft, I got to chapter 13 (I think) of twenty-something (because I didn’t fully outline the climax, so I’m unclear as to how many chapters there will ultimately be) but I just don’t think I can get all the way through a draft without first doing some developmental edits. So, for the next few weeks, I’m going to note the changes I think I could make, then figure out which ones I won’t implement, then how I will implement the others on May 10th.

In the meantime, this Thursday, I’m going to start working on a new WIP, which I have quite a clear idea for, but obviously need to develop the plot. So that’s it for today, and I’ll update again for my new project on Thursday April 1st.

Thu 01/04/2021 09.54 It is Thursday! I’m free for a couple weeks! Which means it’s time to start working on a new project. My goal for the day is just to compile some of the various ideas I have into something vaguely cohesive, then I’ll develop it tomorrow, and hopefully make a skeletal outline on Saturday, scene block on Sunday... I’m going to shut up before I set myself a thousand insane deadlines, but I’d like to have started a draft by the end of my free time. So, let’s go.

Wow. Blank documents really are intimidating, aren’t they?

13.04 I already had my core concept, but now I have almost a justification for it--why it happens, and I think I want to build up my world first, then characters, because knowing the world and its various peoples will allow me to figure out how exactly they fit in and develop their motivations, then finally do the plot. I’ll only work out the three characters I’m currently certain will be integral for the plot, because I don’t want to waste time on developing characters who are ultimately unnecessary, like I did in the earliest days of Bay Tree. 

Basically, with a world, I can work out motivations; with motivations, I can work out characters, and with characters, I can create a character-driven plot. I want to focus on creating both lovable characters and a memorable plot--I know all my favourite books have memorable characters, but the ones I enjoy the absolute most are the ones where it doesn’t feel like the plot only exists to drive the characters into relationships (I’m looking at you, Cassandra Clare. Seriously, I love Shadowhunters books, but the technically ‘main’ plots always feel second to the subplots).

Fri 02/04/2021 08.16 Honestly, didn’t get too much done yesterday. Mostly because I ended up down a rabbit hole of researching (though I do think what I learned will help me to form my world), and I was busier than I expected to be. Regardless, I think I want to make this a series. I have a feeling Bay Tree is also going to become at least two books when I revisit it, but I’m going to go into this one with that intention.

Obviously I don’t know how long it will be right now, but I think I’m going to aim for three books, then let it shape itself.

12.25 I just spent an hour writing out a history of the world and how it got to where it is. This is really fun, but really intense.

16.36 So, I have a rough plot in mind. I have an ending, a catalyst, a backstory for the world, and a few characters. And a lot of things that need names. I waited a really long time to name my characters in Bay Tree, thinking they’d be easier to name when I had then conceptualised, which makes sense, but I’d given them numbers with which to refer to them until that point, so it was a long time before my protagonist became her actual name instead of just ‘3′, despite the fact she technically became 2 because I had to cut 1.

Anyway, going to pick names, then let nominative determinism do its thing.

Jesus, I have no good male names. I keep a list of names, first and last, I like for use, but I have so many more female ones than I do male.

In Bay Tree, I used MBTIs as a starting point for personalities, which I’m planning to do here, especially since I know the types so much better now, but I want names first.

Maybe I just ought to choose this specific character’s surname first. Maybe he goes by his surname, or some variation thereupon (like how Daniel Arlington from Ninth House goes by Darlington).

Maybe he doesn’t need a name. Maybe we literally just call him Hero Guy.

God, screw this. He’s Hero Guy until either it comes to me, or I have no choice but to name him.

Sat 03/04/2021 11.15 I feel like crap today. I’ve been doing nothing for three hours, and I, quite frankly, need to get something done. So I’m going to write.

12.41 Wow, initial development really is the hardest bit of the process, huh?

Sun 04/04/2021 08.04 I’d really like to do more worldbuilding first, and character development, but it’s difficult when I don’t know the different parts’ roles. So, today, I’m going to attempt to outline the primary plot points of the three books. Attempt being the operative word here.

13.41 Honestly, yeah, I’m struggling with the plot. I think I managed to get Bay Tree’s plot so fast when I sat down to actually write it because it had been on my brain for a couple weeks, whereas I literally started this project three days ago.

Maybe that’s how I’ll handle this--when I hit a wall with one project, I work on the other to give myself some distance. Working on Bay Tree requires less thought anyway, because that plot’s already mostly figured out. Yeah. I think I’m going to revisit Bay Tree, but for reference’s sake, I’m going to dub the new project... eh... the first thing that came to mind was ‘Feather President’ which is more related to the actual content than ‘Bay Tree’, but it sounds so much crazier. I want to dub it something that actually could be a title, even if it definitely won’t be the final title, because I don’t want people to look at my blog, see ‘Feather President’ in the pinned post and immediately assume I’m insane.

Could always just use an acronym. Let’s go with FSB; those are one of the character’s (also the only character who so far has a name) initials, which may ultimately change, but it works for now. Bay Tree and FSB.

I’m going to end this particular writing stint here and come back in a couple hours, at which point I’m going to switch back to Bay Tree.

I should really stop planning so far ahead when my plans will inevitably change.

15.40 So here’s the plan I currently have that I definitely won’t stick to: at the start of each week, I’ll determine which project I work on (operating Monday-Sunday; if you think the week starts any day but Monday, you’re wrong, and I’m not sorry), and only work on that project throughout the week. So I’ll work on Bay Tree this week, and FSB next week.

I’m going to let myself work on a project for more than one week at a time, but I think I’m going to say I can only work on one for three consecutive weeks before I have to switch to the other. This seems like a good way to stay excited. Yes.

This second? Not completely sure. Might just go read and deal with it tomorrow.

Mon 05/04/2021 - ‘Bay Tree’ 11.37 Actually really glad I just sat down and read--I read about 200 pages yesterday in total, which meant I could easily finish the last 100 pages this morning. So I finished Starsight (the recent reads post will probably be up by the time this one is)--was anyone aware the A Court of Silver Flames paperback is £24 on Amazon? Anyone?

Anyway, we’re returning to Bay Tree today, after nearly two weeks (I know that’s not even long), and I’m going to attempt to implement my edits, by which I mean I’m going to put scene changes at the bottom in brackets, then technically implement them when I redraft.

Tue 06/04/2021 - ‘Bay Tree’ 09.11 I didn’t exactly accomplish much yesterday. I spent a good few hours just watching YouTube, because I didn’t have any motivation to do work, which screwed up my schedule, and I did no writing aside from transferring my list of edits from my phone to my document. I started reading Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater, but didn’t get very far in--I’m obsessed with Stiefvater’s writing style; it’s the perfect mix between typical prose and fairytale-style storytelling. Anyway.

I’m going to switch to a new Scrivener project for the sake of cleaning it up--Bay Tree is a hot mess right now--and hopefully begin to implement my edits--maybe not today, but certainly this week.

Thu 08/04/2021 - ‘Bay Tree’ 16.53 So I haven’t yet had a day where I’ve done nothing (since my break finished), but the last couple days I’ve just been doing tiny amounts of what I’m calling ‘reference pruning’, where I’m just editing and clarifying character, worldbuilding and location documents. I’ve ‘pruned’ five character references, and I hate it. It needs to be done, but it doesn’t need to be done now. I’ve decided I’m just going to completely clear out the new Scrivener project I started for Bay Tree, and add stuff to it as it becomes necessary. I’m going to make notes of overarching edits (stuff I can’t just note at the bottom of a scene), and just get started with draft 1.7, adding and editing references as it becomes necessary. I’m also going to say I just need to spend an hour writing a day, rather than a word minimum.

Okay. Edits established. Things to bear in mind established. I need to go through the character profile for the POV character in chapter one, then we can get started. Or rather, I’ll get started tomorrow, because I need to go cook soon, and even if I do have time after dinner, I’m not going to, because I’m going to read then. Okay. Character.

I’m getting excited again!

Oh, and the setting. I need to do the setting document.

I’d like to draw attention tot he fact one of my character documents describes her as having ‘black upturned gold eyes.’ 

Clearly I couldn’t pick a colour, but now I’m inspired to give her heterochromia.

Character done, and setting undone, but I need to go cook now, so I’ll pick this back up tomorrow, when I may also do some actual work.

I just hope these posts give someone security in that writing is a messy process, and you don’t have to be perfect all the time to be a) competent, and b) a writer. I’m a competent writer, and I’ve only ever written about 60% of a draft. But I’m still going, still trying, and that’s the point.

Fri 09/04/2021 - ‘Bay Tree’: 484 words 09.15 Okay. So we’re redrafting, and this is like my fourth draft of the first chapter, so let’s just go.

Sun 11/04/2021 - ‘Bay Tree’: 576 words 09.01 Yeah, I missed yesterday. Ironically, having time off seems to be making productivity more difficult, despite the fact I actually have time for it. 

09.19 I feel like this project is making me stagnate. I think what I have is almost subconsciously tying me down, preventing me from improving, but I don’t want to just restart, because I want my bases, and it’s so ingrained in my head, I can’t physically start from scratch. Crap.

I think it needs to sit for longer. Crap.

It’s alright. I mean, it sucks, but it’s alright. It’s not like there’s any ideal age to become an author anyway, and I’m a long way off the average. I have time, and if it takes shelving projects now to complete better ones later, so be it. Maybe I’ll return to Bay Tree in a few weeks, or a few months, or a few years, or never, but I’ve learnt a lot from it.

So we move on.

Mon 12/04/2021 - FSB 08.05 This post is such a mess. I’m a mess at the moment. Today, we’re just continuing to work on FSB’s plot, and I think I’m already going to change the name of the character whose initials are FSB, so its nickname will probably change, too.

I had a trilogy in mind, but looking at it now, I think a duology will be best to convey the arc I have in mind.

21.51 I’ve actually accomplished quite a lot today--I’ve mostly been doing character profiles, but that helps me form tidbits to add to the story, which I can eventually string together. We’re progressing.

Tue 13/04/2021 - FSB 08.37 Hello! I think I can safely come to the conclusion I prefer development to actual drafting. Anyway, today I’m going to focus on completing the character profile for my other protagonist and do a little more work on another important figure. Then, I hope to be able to figure out the drive of the main plot in book one.

On another note, I am debating whether to plan out two books or three. Mulling it over, I think three books would give a more fulfilling arc, but it depends if I can work out enough content for the main plot. We’ll see.

Yeah, it’s going to be three. Two just can’t carry the impact I want.

20.00 I made pretty good progress today, but I just wanted to make the point I’m a lot more confident this project will hold my interest for longer than Bay Tree. This was something ruminating in the back of my mind for weeks, that I was desperate to write, where Bay Tree was very much a ‘sit down, make something up’ process at the beginning. Anyway, I think I’m done writing for the day, and I’ll get back to this tomorrow. (Because unlike most writers, I have a functional sleep schedule)

Wed 14/04/2021 09.19 Honestly, my head is empty right now, so I really need to open my project before determining what I want to do today.

Okay, so we’re basically just going to continue filling in holes.

14.50 Working out the plot, I’m pretty confident I’ve got the A plot covered, which the B plot will fit into, but I need more subplots.

Thu 15/04/2021 10.12 I want to work this one out mostly on the fly. I have nearly the whole of book one plotted out, but I want to work out the fine details as I write it; as I go, I’ll add more detail to my outlines of two and three. But for now, book one.

15.28 I’ve got basically the whole of book one covered; there’s just a gaping hole in act one, that I’m not sure I can fill. I mean, I can fill it, and I will, but I don’t feel like it’ll be that intentional of a thing. I think it’ll be more of an accidental idea that happens to flourish, but I’m going to keep working nonetheless.

Fri 16/04/2021 14.08 Good afternoon! I would’ve started writing earlier, but I wanted to catch up on the reading I didn’t do yesterday to make sure I finish A Court of Silver Flames within a week, so I can return the ebook and get a refund, because, despite being £6 cheaper than the paperback, it still cost me £8, and I want my money back. (Seriously, the paperback is fourteen pounds on amazon. Which is nearly twenty dollars. Which is pretty standard for a hardback, but it’s the paperback.) I’m about ten pages off meeting my minimum for the day (though I need to surpass that if I do want to finish it within a week), but it’s writing time.

14.37 I’m still establishing how, exactly, it applies, but I think I’ve solved it!

Definitely happy that as I’m planning, all I want is to make the characters happy, because I already love them so much. But they don’t get to be.

I have a section on a Pinterest board that’s just called ‘Simping’, and is just pictures of couples doing cute as shit things, and I literally just want my characters to dance together. Always. In Bay Tree, in FSB. Just dancing.

15.04 I have book one covered. It still needs development, scene development, but I can now move on to outlining book two, during which I’ll continue to develop one, integrate themes and such. 

Honestly, the plot falling into place is absolutely the most exciting part of writing. I get an adrenaline rush (yes, while sitting in a chair, typing), I start to love the characters, the world, the story... ahhhh.

I’m actually really satisfied with how the plot seems to be going.

16.44 The word ambiguous has too many Us in it. Three vowels in a row??? And the vowel sequence is a palindrome?? Don’t want it. 

I’m just sat here discovering new music. And it’s all so good and so dramatic and so perfect.

Okay, why do I have to come up with ideas so easily when I don’t need them? Then when I do I have nothing?

17.51 And just to clarify now, this post will actually end with Sunday the 18th, because after that I’m going to take three weeks completely off writing (aside from noting ideas), because I have a lot going on, then I’ll return on May 10th.

Note to self: develop a character who isn’t one of your two protagonists.

Sat 17/04/2021 10.23 I’m thinking I ought to do a more in-depth outline of book one before doing the basis of book two. Help me set up subplots and so on. Yanno, because other characters need some kind of agency, and I currently basically have two characters.

Sun 18/04/2021  08.52 I managed to plot out Bay Tree so fast because I’d already done so much development--plot was the only thing I was still missing. Anyway, I’m having a minor crisis. I think I’m a plotter, but I’m not entirely certain. It clearly didn’t work for Bay Tree. I think I may just start a draft of FSB now, and hope that lets me work out the other two books as I go.

In one of my excessive plans I will probably fail to stick to: I think I’d like to write a draft of the whole trilogy, all the way through, before even editing book one. I’ll obviously make notes of edits as I go, write as if I’ve already made them, eg. if, while writing book two, I have an idea for a book one edit, I’ll write book two as if I’ve already implemented it, which means I’ll have a little less editing to do of book two.

I have this all planned out in my head, but I’m probably being overambitious. We’re staying optimistic, though. I don’t believe in manifesting, but we’re manifesting.

14.23 I want to say I tried. I got a few details for the first couple chapters, but when I opened a doc to actually write it... nope. I need an outline to have a starting point. I just need detail.

Scene blocking sucks. But then I can’t write without it, so what can you do?

And I guess that wraps up this update. Writing this section, I’m about halfway through the writing break, and I have so many more ideas for this project. I was excited for Bay Tree because it was the first time I really made progress, but I’m excited for this one because I genuinely love this story. This post is going up May 14th, at which point I’ll be back to writing, and the next update should come mid to early June. 

And that’s a wrap.

[schnozzbun-art]

i'd love to hear about your writing process! and maybe misc headcanons you wanna share :oc

OOOH boy thank you! Alright so for writing process I’m no expert but this is what’s consistently worked for me

X. Outline/Roughs

Barely comprehensible, not meant for other humans. This is laying down the bare basics of what I want to happen and whatever ideas I have. Lot of bullet points. Out of context strands of dialogue. Some wayward metaphors and imagery. Nothing is written in order. 

1. First Draft

The hardest part. Here, I open a new document, and do my best to write everything in proper prose. I’ve described this phase as trying to hack a path through thick jungle with a blunt machete. 

At the top of the word doc, I’ll have a bolded bullet pointed list of things I want to achieve: literal plot points that happen in that piece, what ideas I want to focus on, and how I can achieve them. It’s something I can scroll back up to whenever I’m like “wait, what was I going for again?”

It’s quite messy, and if I’m struggling with a scene I’ll write [x happens] or [segue] when transitioning between scenes so that I don’t stay too stuck in one place. The goal here isn’t to make it Good but to make it Exist. Once this is done, we have a solid beginning and end, and then we can get to refining.

2. Second Draft

Open a new document. I have two documents open and am transcribing what I wrote from the last draft in the new draft. I find that re-writing sentences from scratch helps me find any problems and smooth out any rough prose. For me, trying to edit in the same document makes things messy and difficult to track progress. I think this is my favourite part and it feels like I’m actually ‘writing.’ It’s starting to come together and look like something.

Depending on the length of the piece, it’s either here or in the last draft that I’m starting to pinpoint the main Themes I want to hit with a particular scene or sequence. Knowing what theme you want to push or what reaction you want to elicit from the reader is SO helpful. Like a compass, it helps orient yourself to how you choose write your imagery and description in order to inform the tone of the overall piece. Again, I give myself a series of bolded notes at the top of the document so I can tell my self very specifically what my goals are in the piece, what the character motivations are, how I want to achieve them etc.

For personal pieces, I’ll let the writing sit for a few weeks and come back to it later. It’s VERY difficult to force out a third draft back-to-back (especially for a larger piece) if you don’t give your brain to absorb other stuff so that you can approach it with new eyes to fix problems or notice new ones you hadn’t even noticed.

With Conflicts of Interest though, I’ll show my co-writer @longliveteufort the completed second draft on google docs pinpointing certain spots that I’m not confident, asking for suggestions for a scene, asking her to choose between two phrasings of a line, sometimes just pleading for help in certain sections where I have zero idea on what should happen. Godbless she’ll often tell me when I very much need to summarise cause I have a tendency to over-explain (I am aware of the irony in this).

3. Third Draft

Okay! New document! We’re rewriting the WHOLE THING again. “What?” you may ask. “Really?” 

Yes, really. Even if I’m writing whole paragraphs verbatim (which is very unlikely, I’m always trying to improve stuff between drafts) I’m implementing all the notes I’ve gotten, smoothing out grammar. I have a good holistic understanding of what the piece should look like by now and I’m writing with that image in mind. When I’m gone, I’ll show to a lot of other people, get their notes, and edits to change phrasing or grammar. Editing from now on probs won’t consist of fool rewrites, but I’ll keep tinkering away at things until I think it’s ready.

In Conclusion

I’ve already talked a lot and I haven’t even brushed on like, grammar or phrasing or what I do when I’m super stuck on a specific scene (a question for next Friday perhaps >;3) but yeah the best thing to remember is writing is a process and the law of writing is that it needs to be a bit crap before it’s good.

As for headcanons GOD I’m trying to think of any I haven’t told you uhhhh. I like to think that RED have weekly campfire nights where they cook stuff and share stories/sing songs, while BLU have weekly movie nights and often heckle the screen.

[the-online-marketing-alliance]

How To Write an eBook in 7 Steps15 min read

Ebooks are a great way to start selling your ideas, skills, and experience online. It’s often the gateway to creating a complete online information product or membership site. They’re also an excellent way to grow your email list, by offering an ebook as a download in return for subscribing to your list, it’s called a lead magnet.

Whenever I talk to people and ask them what’s stopping them from writing an ebook…they tell me it’s the design, or the cover, the layout, images or technology.

The reality is that’s the easiest part, which I’ll cover at the end of this article.

The hardest part is actually the first part of the process…the writing. I don’t mean the typing – what I mean is producing something that actually works. Yes…something that people will actually read, get hooked on and engaged until finally you get them to take the next step. Which is when they will buy something more from you.

This article has 7 Steps: Step 1 to 6 is Creating the Content and Step 7 is Producing the Ebook.

What’s great about this method is it also helps you lay the foundation on how you will sell your ebook…or at least incentivize people to download it.

Table of Contents

How to Write an Ebook Ground Rules

Step 1) Make sure there is a market for your ebook

Step 2) Define your Avatar/Persona

Step 3) Devise the hook

Step 4) Create your ebook outline

Step 5) Fill-in the blanks

Step 6) Editing your ebook

Step 7) Convert into an ebook

Conclusion

What should I write about?

What is the ideal length of your ebook?

How long should it take to write the book?

Is there search traffic for what you’re writing about?

Is the keyword trending, declining or seasonal?

How to identify Personas

Persona template

How can you find and add hooks to your ebook?

Here are 3 methods to inspire your hook title or subject line:

2) Using Buzzsumo

The outline formula explained

Introduction

Who are you?

Describe the problem, outline the solution, paint a picture

Repeat above 5 times

Summarise what you’ve learned

Add Call to action for more information

Ebook best practices

Make it concise and review any reiteration

Checking for grammar, spelling, style and structure

The 5 Step Method

How to Write an Ebook Ground Rules

First of all…some ground rules.

What should I write about?

In the steps below, I’ve outlined a formula for getting results…but it’s useless unless it’s a topic you know something about, or you enjoy it and you have some interest in it. This is important because when you’re writing if you have no interest, you’ll get bored. Combine that with an online world that’s specifically designed to get your attention – your project will live a short life.

What is the ideal length of your ebook?

People won’t read a 500-page ebook, your readers cannot digest it and they’ll get fed up. You should plan to produce between 10 to 100 pages.

If its a lead magnet, then 10 pages is enough – it should get the key points across clearly and efficiently.

If you’re selling it as an information product…then it should be closer to 100 pages, because you will need to provide more examples to support your points.

Overall, the quality is what matters…so don’t add fluff or filler content.

Here is a book I put together with the For Dummies brand. It’s 48 pages long. It covers the key points of content marketing. Provides a framework to follow. Plus, it leads on to a course and software that we sell to help make content marketing easier.

It’s positioned like this.

It’s a 48-page ebook to wet the appetite, grow the list and get the key framework points across.

The book promotes our marketing course PICASSO, which is video and example-driven training. The PICASSO course then, in turn, promotes our software tools Kudani, Designrr and Headlinr.

How long should it take to write the book?

As fast as possible. The longer you take…the longer it exponentially takes to complete.

This means you need to focus less on getting it perfect and simply get the words on paper…or into Evernote, Google Docs (my preference) or Word.

This means you should start NOW…and take MASSIVE imperfect action.

Forget about grammar, spelling, layout…complete sentences, etc.

Get as many words down as quickly as possible.

Switch off Facebook/Email/Phone to stop yourself getting distracted. (Hint: Install Facebook News Feed Eradicator – and you’ll gain 1 hour a day back into your life.)

https://designrr.io/NewFeedEradicator

Get in the zone…and focus.

Set a timer for 40 minutes to focus and do nothing else.

Stop and walk for 10 minutes…then get back and restart timer.

Even if you do just 3 iterations of 40 minutes – you’ll find you’ve accomplished more than you probably do in a whole day.

With all that done, let’s get into the meat of this method.

Step 1) Make sure there is a market for your ebook

Sounds obvious but it’s probably the biggest mistake people make. If there is no market – no-one will buy or download your ebook. For example, let’s look at the diet niche. Should I focus on Paleo or Keto diets?

To establish this, you can follow some of these techniques:

Is there search traffic for what you’re writing about?

You can measure this by going to Semrush.com (Free registration required) and typing in the top level keyword for what you’re writing about. For example: “Keto Diet”

Obviously, a huge volume market with over 1m searches worldwide. Paleo Diet produces 368,000 volume, so still a great market to write for, but Keto is clearly the biggest right now.

Is the keyword trending, declining or seasonal?

To check this – go to Google Trends.

With this tool, I can actually compare values Paleo vs Keto.

And all diets have some seasonality as shown here, but the overall trend shows Keto is the one to go for.

Step 2) Define your Avatar/Persona

Put simply – who are you targeting this for? You’ll want to be able to relate with your target audience to meet their needs and help find solutions to their problems.

An avatar is a representation of your ideal customer. Take some time to understand and define this, so when you put your book together you can write in a way that they will understand. Using marketing personas makes websites 2-5 times more effective and easier to use by targeted users and drive 18 times more revenue than broadcast emails.

An example for Keto could be:

A Mom, aged 35-45, who needs to lose 50 lbs quickly and has been struggling with diets that are difficult to stick to. She’s busy with her family and has little time to cook.

Focusing like this on the avatar also helps define your hooks and design style. For example, a feminine color scheme would work better than a masculine black.

I often give them a name, which helps you focus even more. Let’s call her Susan.

How to identify Personas

The easiest way to identify the persona, if you have a website already, is looking at Google Analytics for data. You can identify where your visitors came from, what keywords were used, and how long they stayed on your site. Plus, demographics such as age, gender, location, interests, etc. Learning about your current visitors just became a lot easier to create personas for.

Here are a few more effective methods you can use to identify your Persona:

Monitor social media talking about your brand or keywords

Spy on your competitors and see what they have done

Identify complaints, comments, compliments

Questions on Google Search

Questions on Quora or Reddit

Persona template

It’s easier to write an ebook about someone you know. If you already have an idea of who you want to write your ebook for, great. If you don’t have an idea, I hope that this persona template can help paint your persona picture better:

Persona name: (example Susan)

Job title

about their company (size, sector, etc.)

Details about their job role

It could also be a family role (mom, dad, brother, sister, etc.)

Demographics

Age

Gender

Salary or combined household income

Location

Level of education

Family size

Goals and challenges

Main goal

Secondary goal

How you help your persona reach these goals

Primary challenge

Secondary challenge

How you can assist in resolving these problems

Values and fears

Main personal values

Common objections during sales process

Add images and color

Use an attractive color scheme that’s indicative of your persona’s characteristics

Icons and graphics can help in understanding who they are

Of the persona: it can be a photograph, a cartoon or a sketch – create a non-bias image

Psychographics

Behaviors

Attitudes

Opinions

Motivations are what make your personas human

Brands

Help provide great insights into the user’s likes and hobbies, which may even include competitor brands

Last but not least, understanding where your persona is at in the buyer’s journey. Here’s an example of what a buyer’s journey might look like:

https://venngage.com/blog/user-persona-examples/

This will help you fine tune your ebook and create a targeted objective to where you want your readers to end up.

Step 3) Devise the hook

The hook is what forms the title, headline or subject line. It’s designed to catch the reader’s attention by promising a result for the reader. Think of them as cliffhangers. They give readers a powerful sense of what they’ll get out of your ebook without giving away everything.

How can you find and add hooks to your ebook?

Go through your ebook, and note down every solution your book provides. Then ask yourself: What is the big problem you’re trying to solve and what are the pain points of your audience?

What will your reader’s life look like, or what will they be able to do, when they implement your solution? You want your readers to say “Yes, that’s me!”. If you can create that sense of identification, relation, you’re already close to securing the sale.

Now we have our avatar defined, this step starts to become easy.

We said that Susan needs to lose weight fast and has little time to cook with a busy family. She has also struggled to stick to diets previously, probably because she’s demotivated.

So the hook should focus on words like:

Quick, fast and easy to implement methods

Quick results so you’re motivated to stick

For busy people

Here are 3 methods to inspire your hook title or subject line:

Use Amazon Advanced search, and order by bestsellers to search using your core keyword. Look at the titles that are in the top 3-5 places.

Look at the results and analyse the bestsellers:

Using ‘Keto’ as our example, the titles that appear at the top are:

Simply Keto: A Practical Approach to Health & Weight Loss with 100+ Easy Low-Carb Recipes

The Complete Ketogenic Diet for Beginners: Your Essential Guide to Living the Keto Lifestyle

Keto Diet: Your 30-Day Plan to Lose Weight, Balance Hormones, Boost Brain Health, and Reverse Disease

The Easy 5-Ingredient Ketogenic Diet Cookbook: Low-Carb, High-Fat Recipes for Busy People on the Keto Diet

Keto Diet Cookbook For Beginners: 550 Recipes For Busy People on Keto Diet (Keto Diet for Beginners)

KetoFast: Rejuvenate Your Health with a Step-by-Step Guide to Timing Your Ketogenic Meals

What are the key things that standout for you?

Best selling titles:

Use numbers. These always work well in titles as they indicate that there is an end to the information. i.e. There is only a number of things people need to know.

Use Words like Easy / Simple / Step by Step / Cookbook / Plan. All these words say that there is a simple process to follow.

Are Benefit driven. (For Busy People / to lose weight / boosts brain health) – How does your title help or solve a problem for the reader.

While you are on the Amazon page, look at the 5 and 1 star reviews for specific information that people are looking for. Here are some examples:

It’s clear from the above that the author didn’t deliver on the title’s promise and needed to put more photos in the book.

2) Using Buzzsumo

Buzzsumo is a great tool to analyze what’s currently out there and the sentiment of what’s performing well. You can search your key term in Buzzsumo for free.

Here are some tips to help you:

Analyze top performing headlines

Competitors headline

Filter based on content type

Type of words and phrases people use

Create headlines that:

Tell readers why they should care

Make a clear promise

Hook readers’ emotions

Provoke curiosity

Provide explanations

Appeal to a tribe

3) Ask questions of your customers and/or your email list

Join a Facebook group – and create a poll.

Title it: “Hi, I’m creating an ebook for XYZ, and I want to make sure I’m on point. Can you help?

What are the 3 Biggest problems you have in doing XYZ right now?”

One or two sentences for each solution is plenty. These are your hooks, and you’ll use them later when writing your book description, title, headlines, chapters, etc.

Step 4) Create your ebook outline

In this section it’s important to be concise yet provide enough information to illustrate your point.

Remember you don’t want your ebook to be too long.

The outline formula explained

Try and cover the top 5 key problems and solutions. If there are more…that’s ok too.

Introduction

Outline what the reader will learn. Tell your story and use the pain points identified. Reveal your secret right away. When you start big and reveal that one secret right in the intro, this will make your readers trust you and expect even bigger results.

Who are you?

Why should people listen to you?

Tell a story on how you came about this knowledge.

Position yourself as an expert.

Describe the problem, outline the solution, paint a pictureRepeat above 5 timesSummarise what you’ve learnedAdd Call to action for more information

Critical – Most people forget this step

Step 5) Fill-in the blanks

Once you have an outline, you’ll want to start filling in the blanks to help expand and explain your ebook. Simple way to explain how to do just that is to:

Make it a “You and I” and just write. Use the persona to have a normal conversation and explain to Susan about your thoughts on keto diet.

Don’t stop to correct, instead get everything out of your brain. You’ll want to dedicate a separate time to correct any grammar and spelling errors later. Put your focus on getting your ideas down.

Ebook best practices

Once you’ve added all your thoughts into your ebook, you can start adding more insightful information. Some of this consists of:

Adding quotes

Adding images

Importing and highlighting stats, relevant sources, etc. (Great source is Statista https://www.statista.com/ )

Place appropriate calls-to-action within your ebook

Curate paragraphs from other sites and sources to strengthen your points

Step 6) Editing your ebook

After you’ve filled in the blanks with every idea you have, you’ll want to trim, add, and edit your ebook. One of the most important parts of your ebook is to constantly add value and engage with your readers. Creating a successful ebook is to make sure not to reiterate. Being concise and to the point rather than exhausting your readers. You’ll want to review some of your explanations to see if you can create snippets of information.

Make it concise and review any reiteration

With the paragraph above, let’s see how we can make it concise and optimized for engagement.

“Once you’ve filled in the blanks with your amazing idea, you’ll need to trim, add, and edit your ebook. Focus on creating snippets and watch out for any reiteration. Read your ebook to identify what might make your readers stop reading. It’s all about creating engagement after engagement.”

You can always reread and see if there are ways to make it shorter, concise and to the point.

Checking for grammar, spelling, style and structure

This is where you can spend your time correcting spelling, sentences, style and structure. However, instead of trying to fix everything, there are two rules to follow:

Focus on the big picture, so you don’t get overwhelmed.

And then the details like typos, tweaking sentences and grammar.

Seeing the big picture will help you spot things you’ve written in Chapter 3 that shows up in Chapter 1. During the first phase, you might make the introduction shorter, remove a whole chapter, merge two chapters into one so it feels cohesive with the rest of your ebook.

Using grammar tools like Grammarly is a life saver. However, be cautious when you replace every single error, because it might try to correct that one word rather than the whole sentence structure. No tool is perfect, so read your ebook out loud so you can notice poorly worded sentences or even check the tone of the sentences. If all else fails, there are proofreading services that might save you some time.

Whatever the path you want to use, be sure to not leave this up to the reader! So make sure to check off these:

Check spelling and grammar.

Check the length of each chapter, ensure the description flows well.

Brush up the voice and tone.

Step 7) Convert into an ebook

The 5 Step Method

Part 1: Import using Designrr

Login to a tool called Designrr which creates ebooks from your content.

Designrr can import and create ebooks from your blog, Microsoft Word, Google docs, Medium, another PDF, Facebook, or even an Audio or Video file, including a YouTube link.

In this case we’ll be using a Google Doc.

Grab the share URL from the Google DOC. (Make sure is accessible to ‘Everyone’)

Import the link into Designrr using the ‘Import From URL’ option.

Alternatively, you could also use the ‘Import Manually’ option.

Just copy and paste your Google Doc into the draft editor.

Part 2: Choose a Template

Then choose a template. There are literally 100s to choose from.

Part 3: Tweak, Customize and Tailor Your Look

Start by checking that the layout is ok – and that there are no grammar mistakes or typos.

Then begin the design process.

Adjust fonts, colors or style of your book:

A table of contents is generated automatically:

Change the template colors, headers and footers, cover image, or even add more images from your computer or the built-in library of thousands:

Select one for a new cover:

Then click ‘Publish’:

You can publish to PDF, Kindle, ePub or to your blog.

Once your ebook is created – you can also add a 3d thumbnail to use on your website to encourage people to download it.

Conclusion

Writing an ebook can be a lengthy process if you don’t know where to start or understand the steps you need to follow. We went over how to identify if there’s a market for your ebook idea and that creating personas can help fill most of your content. Knowing what to write about is one thing, focusing on one person and engaging with that persona is another. Creating the actual ebook itself, making it beautiful, is the easiest part when using a software like Designrr.

If you received value from this post please Like & Share this post so that we can serve and help others keep and build their business, income, so that they can sustain with the tools necessary to make an impact during this time.

Yours In Knowledge - Peace & Wellness

The Online Marketing Alliance

[adventuresinstudying]

After graduating high school (c/o 2019!), I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on my senior year. I wanted to share my wisdom (or at least some of my personal experiences) with anyone currently in their senior year - hopefully these will inspire you and help guide you through your last year of high school!

1. Do not let the college process consume your senior year.

Please, do not let this happen. Slow down. Take it easy. Try to devote less than 100% of your time to thinking about college, because otherwise it will ruin your year. Being a senior is a special time in your high school experience socially, emotionally, and academically - while college is important, it is not important enough to take away from enjoying this unique time in your life. Have a life and interests outside of worrying about your applications.

2. Take a free period (don’t fight me on this, do it).

A wise teacher once told me that every senior has a secret class that’s not on their schedule called “college applications.” While he was kidding around, this advice is accurate - having a free period will give you more time to work on your apps, whether it’s because you use a free to edit essays, study for classes, or simply de-stress. There is no need to overload yourself with courses - I promise no college will penalize you for taking a free period, and your mental health will be better because of it.

3. You will meet people you wish you’d known sooner - enjoy your time with them.

I found some of my best friends my senior year at the start of second semester. Yes, it was scary to realize that my most meaningful friendships were formed months before we would scatter across the country. But I was lucky to have the time I did have with these people, and cherish all the memories I have from my senior year. Be present and have fun with the people around you. Don’t be afraid to talk to new people or hang out with a different group just because it’s your last year - you never know who you’ll meet, and it just might make your senior year even better. 

4. Thank your teachers. And your mentors. And your coaches. And the people in the cafeteria. And any other adult who helped you get to this point.

Really, go around and give these people a heartfelt thank you. Write them a note or send them an email. From your favorite teacher to your least favorite teacher, you could not have gotten to this point without all those adults who supported you and advocated for you. The week before graduation I wrote thank you notes to all of my former teachers. Some were short, some were long - but every teacher who received a note responded with an email talking about how much it meant to them. Seriously, say thank you. It takes a village.

5. Try something new! It’s not too late.

It can be very easy to spend your senior year just staying on track. You’ve gotten this far and chances are you want to stay in your comfortable routine. I cannot recommend trying something new enough - take an interesting elective class! Join a club in an area you don’t have experience in! Try yoga! Anything! It is never too late to try something new, and it’s likely that you will have a lot of fun along the way or even find a new interest. Don’t worry about how it will look for college applications; focus on trying something just for the sake of experience, having fun, and going out of your comfort zone.

6. Senioirtis/Burnout is real.

Very often, the students who get hit by “senioiritis” the hardest will be the straight-A’s, 4.0 perfectionists. You may think that will never be you, but anyone who went through high school giving 110% will hit a wall and lose motivation. The best advice I received about senioritis/experiencing burnout is this: senioritis is less of a curse and more of an important life lesson. Maybe you went through high school giving your all 24/7 in order to get into your top choice college or be valedictorian. In the long run of college, graduate school, and a future career, this isn’t sustainable. You need to learn how to function at 75-80%, and more importantly to achieve results that you are happy with at this level. Take senioritis as a learning opportunity to be successful while balancing the aspects of your life.

7. Comparison kills, so don’t compare.

Comparison is one of the most harmful things you can do throughout the college process. Differences are inevitable; someone’s safety school may be your reach, and your safety school may be someone’s dream school. A friend may get into a school you’re rejected from. Someone you feel doesn’t work as hard as you may get into a school that you’re rejected from. These are just a few of the countless scenarios that breed comparison; you can’t avoid them, but don’t allow them to consume your life. First, remember that colleges look at students as a whole. You don’t know anyone’s entire story, so you cannot assume why they are applying to a school and why they were/were not accepted (and that includes yourself!). Second, everyone is on a different path. Don’t beat yourself up because someone seems to be having an easier time applying; everyone will get through the process at their own rate, and it will all work out in the end. Ignore what’s going on around you and focus on what you can do.

8. Be a mentor to younger students.

Ok, sounds cheesy, but don’t be the senior who yells at freshmen and goes around acting like underclassmen aren’t worthy of respect. Yes, you’ve earned some seniority by being the oldest in high school, but in my experience there is nothing gained from being that senior. As someone who spent a lot of time serving as a mentor both formally and informally, it is so much more valuable to be someone that freshmen (and sophomores/juniors) can look up to and go to for help. Whether through a peer mentoring group, a club, a sport, a class, or any other way you interact with younger students, be the senior who goes out of their way to get to know younger students. Introduce yourself, ask how their day is going, ask what classes they’re taking or how their year is going; all these are little actions on your part that can help underclassmen in big ways. Impart your wisdom before you graduate!

9. Find a healthy academic, social, and emotional balance.

Note that in a perfect world, these should all be equal. Study hard, but also spend time with friends and take care of yourself. The college process will be less stressful and your year will be so much more enjoyable if you learn to balance these aspects of your life. It’s ok to go out on a Saturday instead of studying for a test (chances are you can study earlier in the day or on Sunday!). It’s also ok to not go out because you need some time alone to mentally recharge. Find a balance that works for you, and commit to keeping that balance in place.

10. Think about your legacy.

Come May or June, you are going to leave the community you have spent four (or more) years being a part of. No matter whether you hated or loved high school, that’s a pretty powerful image. Although it might seem insignificant, consider the impact you had on that community. Maybe you started a club, or lead a group on campus. Maybe it was something smaller; maybe you always said hi to other students in the hallways or cheered loudly at sports games. I’m not saying you need to fake it in order to have a more significant legacy; I’m saying that it’s incredibly rewarding to spend your senior year being the person you want to be remembered as. This will inspire the people around you and feel more fulfilling than any grade or GPA ever will. Plus, you never know how a former teacher or peer may come back to help you in the future. 

I hope all the current and rising seniors out there find this helpful! Senior year has a reputation for being stressful and intense, but it doesn’t have to be. Enjoy your time in high school and make the most of the time you have left! Graduation may seem a world away, but the year will go by so much faster than you can imagine.

[writingbetty]

Planning A Novel

disclaimer: I know that there are a million ways of planning a novel, this is just some tips on how I planned ‘finding hallie’

FINDING INSPIRATION 

finding inspiration of a novel is often one of the hardest parts because you need to find the idea that sparks you novel. here’s some ways to help find that spark

consume a lot of art. whether it be other novels, actual art, films, tv shows, music, the more you watch and emerge yourself in the creative world the more likely it is that you will discover your own story

scroll through the internet. similarly I find scrolling through writing communities online whether that be on tumblr, youtube, blogs is so helpful in finding direct advice but also reading other people talk about their own stories will really spark ideas in your brain

people watch. no seriously. other people will always provide new inspiration for characters

write down all your ideas. if you write everything down you will be able to connect ideas and thoughts until you find the one amongst the madness

think about what you’re passionate about. if you know what you want to write about - whether this be some themes or genre or character or plot - you need to make sure this is something you are passionate about so that you will have the motivation to write the novel

think about your life and experiences. I don't necessarily mean write your own personal story exactly but take ideas, themes, feelings from your own life and make them more dramatic, connect them together, play around with them until you find your new novel

CREATING CHARACTERS

so once I've got a rough idea in my head and I've jotted done some rough plot points I start working on building my characters. I tend to write contemporary ya fiction so a strong character base is really important for me but other genres might require more world building first

form an image of your character in your mind. this doesn't have to be physical or precise just try and get to grips with who your character is - no details required - just imagine them

figure out names. this is own of my favourite aspects of planning a novel, honestly, my internet search makes me look like a pregnant mother to be the amount of baby name sites I go on. but baby name sites are so useful and the majority of them will have specific lists for different types of names or you can google lists for names from other eras / places to ensure that the name fits the character. you don't won't a grandma to be called something very modern like Brittany or to choose a name with strong heritage and origins but then not have that link to your actual character. also search for meanings of names, they don't have to always match up to your character but its best not to have a name that means the complete opposite to their personality - unless this is your desired effect

create a character chart. this is where your character comes to life. my favourite of these charts is this one because there’s so many questions (feel free to only answer some of them, sometimes not everything is relevant). these charts transform just a name and an idea into a fully fleshed out character and in doing so can help you with plotting their motivations and actions. it also helps to keep a record of this chart so that when you get around to writing you don't make continuity eras

create minor characters. once you have the main characters and there families you need to create friends and acquaintances - think teachers, colleagues, people who they see everyday. some of these will merely need names, some might also need a little personality descriptor. it isn't necessary to make an entire character chart but I would advise keep a track of their names and any traits that you decide upon which you can add to once you start writing to avoid continuity errors.

DETAILS

after character creation, it’s time to decide on the details of your novel and the context that the story occurs in. this can be relatively quick if you’re writing a novel set in the present day, in the real world, but with any new setting or different time period, this can become the most crucial step of planning your novel. 

setting is always a good place to start. for me this doesn't take long as I prefer to write stories set in a contemporary setting and hence the worldbuliding stage doesn't require a lot of time or imagination. but you still have to decide on main locations: school, home, towns. you can map things out or you can use places you already know 

all these locations need names. deciding on names for the main settings of your novel really makes the story come to life and feel real. for towns I like to look up some common prefixes and suffixes of real towns and then mix and match them to create something new. for schools, think about the names of schools you already know for instance my high school was merely named after the town so that reflects in my novel.

I wish I could talk about world building. but I know that I am not the best person to turn to for advice go check out blogs with a more fantasy based style for detailed tips on creating new worlds for your novel.

think about your characters. how old are they? what school year are they in? what would be going on in their lives at this point? don't write a story with 16 year old characters who don't face exams or start your story in the summer and keep them at school without any holiday. figure out the time that your story should be set and the context that that means your characters are living in. 

OUTLINING now you have any idea, a rough plot, characters and a setting, it’s time for the final stage of planning: outlining. this isn't something that everyone likes to do but I find it really useful for keeping my story on track and knowing where I'm heading. you can do this in as little or as much detail as you like, it’s up to you. 

start small. I like to blurt all my ideas out onto the page in a somewhat logical order before I have any of the details in there. this means I have the important points, the big twists and turns and the events that I know must happen.

connect the dots. now you have the big picture set, its time to get into the details of how you get from A - B. for me this always helps to make sure the story makes sense and flows and prevents me from starting to write and then struggling to figure out how to actually get my character to the point of the next moment.

gradually get bigger. I continue this process until I have a full storyline planned out by just adding more points in and then connecting the smaller dots together. this way I have the details of the plot sorted before I begin to write.

plan your chapters. I then try and organise this broad points into paragraphs and decide exactly when each one will appear and how much space it will take up in the narrative as well as how I will tell it. if you have multiple POVs this is a good time to assign the plot points to the characters. this doesn't have to be in mass detail, I like to leave a bit of ambiguity in my plan so that the writing process remains fun and exciting. 

TIME TO WRITE

now you’ve planned out your novel, it’s time to write. you don't have to always stay rigidly attached to your plan, let your characters control their own story if necessary but remember to update your plan after any changes to avoid coming across big issues later on. 

I hope this was useful, if you want me to do a similar post on my writing and editing processes please like and reblog, thank you

[jugs-and]

climb.run.hike (a la eat.pray.love)

G-d saw all that he had made, and it was very good. - Genesis 1

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I don’t know how to write anymore. I’m 27 now, but writing, blog writing specifically, has been habitually part of my life since I was 14. Writing is very much a muscle which needs to be worked at and maintained. To say the least it all used to flow, and the process of writing, more than the actual writing output, was an essential part of how I unwinded from the happenings of life. I’ve missed this, it has sort of fallen off the radar this year, and the narrative have swirled around in my mind. For the moment, the editing process seems to garble and confuse, more than clarify and expand the language which I employ. The feelings and emotions in myself - I can’t just describe. This is about the fourth or fifth time I’ve written this post.

The final four weeks before Christmas have been pure routine. Drifting, dilly-dallying, floating - I have fully embraced my inner alter-ego lifestyle which laid dormant this year. This other-me who leaves work early, and plays video-games late, and eats and imbibes freely. It is quite the contrast to the past six months of regiment and focus, the past few weeks have been completely restful, reinvigorating and refreshing - and, frankly, quite welcome.  In all of my limited existence (27 years <gulp>), I don’t think I’ve ever been so busy or occupied in my life as this past six months.

I have a hard time letting go because the final few weeks of the year have still been exceedingly busy. The last weekend in Auckland, I hopped between four Christmas parties on Saturday and Sunday, and finished with a late night working on Sunday. In all of these social gatherings, I was faced with many questions about my year, and I spent a lot of time recounting my adventures this second half of 2019. At Anna’s 30th birthday party especially, I hadn’t seen her in months, and the conversation is always tragically short when she is that popular. 

Social-jugs can handle the small-talk conversations at parties, however vapid and soul-crushing, but it was the mental mind contortions regarding finances and relationships which slowly eroded my sanity. The past six months has not just been the normal event after event after event, but it was like each event was suffocating on my own sanity. The way that money was constantly at the mind’s forefront would affect my ability to enjoy life. Restless sleep counting money instead of sheep, while my mind was full of shopping lists and balance sheets brought me no rest. The nights were long where I would replay conversations and then drift to semi-conscious dreams of impossible segues and circumstances. 

The second half of this year was, in one word, bizarre, with A-. I was increasingly frustrated and filled with despair. For someone with a infectiously sunny disposition, she’s very good at pushing people away. Her continued longing for her previous boyfriend who was clearly abusive and emotionally manipulative broke my heart. Really. 

I began to pine for the peaceful activities - I need the hiking alone and terrible renditions of my favourite nostalgic songs with a Bob Dylan rasp. I need the moment where I wake up and lazily watch the sandflies dancing on the tent fly. I need the Saturday morning brunches and afternoons laying in bed till the evening hours reading in a foetal position. I need to walk through the supermarket in my pyjamas and nights refreshing the same webpages as if the news that the world has ended would drop at any moment. I miss the pull of the dark corners of clubs where I move with my eyes shut, hair swaying in front of my face. Just normal things (right?!). 

I learned discipline and perseverance in financial matters - I tell myself that because, otherwise, 2019: Part Two ran me ragged. I longed for the days to just climb under the sheets and draw them over my head as if I could avoid the problems in life just for a moment and just be. Climb under the sheets and maybe stay there for a while, instead of falling asleep into dreamless sleep immediately. 

In November, I took my big holiday of the year: two weeks in the South Island -- a mountain-climbing course with Colin, and hiking by myself in the second week. During this time, I realized just how complex and busy the six months prior were. Hiking, in contrast, is simple. It is just one foot in front of another, and a simple existence of self-sustenance. Without the noise of information everywhere, there is just the conversations inside my head when hiking alone. There is only the crinkle of your own sleeping bag and never moment of loneliness in the solitude. Somewhere during the nine hour sleeps and genuinely feeling exhausted more than I can ever remember - I realised I haven’t had the time to appreciate this year for what it was worth and how much I have to proud of.

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As someone who has frequented the climbing walls at least twice a week for the past 6 months, I am still terrible at rock-climbing. Granted, my frequency and motivation for climbing, really does wax and wane like the moon. And lately, as my main source of exercise, due to this knee injury, it has been waxing. Nevertheless, I never really saw the improvement I would expect someone else to have with the frequency and focus on the sport.  To a large degree, the social element of climbing really brought me back repeatedly to the same crags. We spent many Sunday afternoons and evenings just chatting and doing very little actual climbing. But we were each other’s greatest cheerleaders in finding every little scrap of willpower and confidence to hold on to the little scraps protruding from the wall. 

Sometimes you have to remind yourself to breathe before a big move and just stick it. Sometimes you have to remind yourself to look down and see how terrifyingly high you are. Sometimes you have to take a break and shake the blood back into your hands. 

I learned it is okay to fail.

As someone who falls a lot, I can confirm that the falling gives me confidence because it means that I believed in myself enough, albeit maybe too much. I backed myself to make a move with confidence. The next attempt meant that I could attempt more and grow more in strength and resolve. The second time up would assuredly be better with experience, and there is a certain relief where you finally accomplish the right contortion of body to get past a section. 

Trad. climbing still terrifies me, but even with sport climbing and lead roping, it is still a delicate affair. Gathering at the bottom of a crag, checking each other’s knots, and double checking I locked the carabiner around my harness bell - it is a solemn routine. It’s a more serious sport and there is a lot more faith in each other and self-belief required in the equipment and process. Outside, the falls are bigger and the fall is a couple of metres to the last anchor point, which can be more than a moment in the air. I can only just breathe and trust in others to catch me. If climbing was an analogy for life, they would be my support system. 

Beyond climbing, I have found that people are a lot more compassionate, kind and exceedingly more patient than we can ever expect from someone like ourselves. If friends are ever an indication of the type of person we are, the bounds which feel almost endless, I am climbing far beyond my own character.

At the top of an outdoor crag, I learned self-confidence. 

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The Saint Heliers turnaround is the moment of reckoning and Armageddon. The entire way out to Saint Helier, it’s pulsing through my mind that I’d have to return this path and retrace my steps to finish. The people ahead of me are on the other side of the road, returning to the finish line, looking worse for wear. The turnaround is where the final nine kilometers starts, and the mind resets and forgets about the previous 33km which should have been easy-going. 

At this point, the race really starts to feel like a marathon. No amount of training prior could prepare for the tortures and endurance of this section. If I could describe the feeling - it’s like trying to spread peanut butter on toast from an empty jar. The opening to the jar is tiny, only enough for a butter knife to fit inside, and it continues to scrape the bottom of the jar. The bottom of the jar makes a screeching noise, and every single urge is to stop scraping, but for some reason we continue. 

I changed the music to my specially prepared list of tracks, rummaging through my pocket of half empty gel packs, to change to the final track in my <Marathon 2019> playlist. At 33km, I made it up to this point feeling mostly okay -- so I went for it. 

I made it four more kilometres with a negative split, running past multiple people who had started walking, before falling back into a numb survival mode. The sort of survival where you grit your teeth and and look for energy and strength you never knew you had. Digging deeper into the jar for one last push with two fingers jammed into the opening.

I ran alongside someone else who looked like he was struggling as much as I was, and we stuck together. I even had a little kick of speed about one km from the finish, near Britomart, before falling behind him again. Abby found me at the finish line, but I couldn’t move any closer to hear what she was saying. Nick came and found me to congratulate me, and I gave him a ride home via church. 

The last 9 kilometers was truly one of the hardest things I have finished, but I was so happy at the finish line. I don’t think anyone else could ever understand the tears of joy -- I could do it.

On the Auckland marathon, I learned self-belief.

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I think people who have hiked with me can assure you that my hiking style is best described as obsessive. Nearly all can affirm this, the rest never really made it back. When I returned to Auckland in November, I remarked that to Y- that I was genuinely just exhausted, Y- was astonished, 

> I cannot fathom what kind of hiking could make you exhausted

The Cascade Saddle day-trip was rough. It wasn’t the day trudging through knee-deep snow, or the sunburn starting to form on my cheek, right below where my cap did not provide shade -- but it was the collective two weeks of hiking and climbing, and finding my limit at the end of three long ten-hour days with a full pack. The entire day was full of the highest highs and the lowest lows. 

The Dart Glacier, arguably the centre-piece of this hike was stunning. The entire hike was designed around tracing the Dart River upstream on the true left of the river to its source. It was easily the most awe-inspiring thing I have seen this year, in terms of majesty and beauty. There is nothing on earth which makes me feel so small or insignificant, as standing at the base of a glacier and looking at the timeless, frozen rivers that run around me. 

The lows followed quickly after, descending from the mountain saddle, toward the end of the day and rapidly losing daylight. Fully knowing there was still 5 hours of hiking left in the day, slightly worried about the pace of the day quickly ending. 

I can still vividly remember the shape of the broad, flat rock which looked slippery, and despite making the mental cost-benefit analysis, still carelessly putting my entire weight on the rock. In true laidback-jugs fashion, I just decided that the problem would sort itself out. Unsurprisingly, the foot did actually continue slipping, and with zero points of secure anchor, on the side of the mountain I continued to slide down the hill for a couple of metres somersaulting over exposed rock and snow. 

I cursed myself with some very self-deprecating language to numb the pain down my shins and landing on top of my camera bag. In the back of my mind, I knew that I was hiking alone, very far from the closest person. Something about the self-sufficiency in the wild makes one increasingly irritable at every oneself, and every bad decisions. The rest of the limp back was miserable and I was exceedingly negative to myself.

The next morning, I made it as far as the Rees Saddle before returning to the hut. I started at 6am and vowed to myself that I would only go 3 hours because I had another 3 hours return and another 5 hours to the next hut. I made it two and half hours of climbing and walking along the narrow mountain route before stopping. I rested. 

I felt not so alone as previous days, but in such solitude for that short half an hour, just watching the sun come over the mountains and giving my body rest. From the Intentions Book I knew that I was the first person to come across this mountain pass for four months, and I took heart from that. 

In the moments where I could stop and see creation, remembering why I was out there in moderate-high danger, crossing waist-high water, and walking for hours with what seems like all my possessions - I could see that, in that moment, it was good. 

On the Rees-Dart track, I learned self-love.

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This year has been good, even great. It’s been the best one yet, and I know I have grown so much as a person. 

About a month ago, E- said I am often pretentious and this operated as a defense mechanism. It still slays me on the inside somewhat because it’s something I’ve battled my whole life. In reality, there is pretentiousness in me, but can that exist if I vow there is no pride? 

There is urgency in everything I do, because I like to think that I doggedly pursue and am surrounded by so much love, peace and joy. I don’t know how anyone could settle for anything less, I struggle to translate that sentiment into words and actions that other people could understand. I don’t know how I can put the thirst in me in a normal way, without resorting to l'appel du vide and feeling I’m crazy or weird (or inferior) compared to everyone else because I feel more than other people do. 

Life is merely what God has planned for each of us, and I’m just here to experience every drop of it. 

On some level, I long to share it with someone. There is so much of my life which is guarded and the way her words still have so much power over me -- I think I still have some residual feelings for her.

[hyba]

T A G : 11/11/11

I was tagged by @the-scum-initiative for the 11 Qs tag game - which is one of my favourite so I’m definitely looking forward to this! Your questions look awesome, @the-scum-initiative - thank you for the tag!!

Let’s begin!

1. Whom of your OCs do you find the hardest to write?  Why?

I think I find Mila’s father the most difficult to write. Mila’s father is the one character who is really quite different from my other characters in any of the books I’m writing, and sometimes it’s hard to get into his head.

Viggo can be difficult too, because he’s supposed to be super smart and cunning and manipulative and I’m... not all of those things! Still, I’ve been doing a lot of research on writing characters who are supposedly smarter than you, the author, so that’s hopefully going to come in handy as I write Viggo’s character, especially since he’s supposed to be a few steps ahead of everyone at all times.

2. What does a typical writing session look like for you?

It usually happens at night. I’ll either be sitting at my desk or on my bed, and I’ll probably have some music or a movie on in the background because it helps me focus. If I’m really in the zone, I’ll write for a few hours straight without any breaks (or however long it takes for me to get all of my ideas out for the day). If I’m not really feeling it, I’ll get distracted every 5 minutes and it takes a lot of effort to keep me on track. Once I’ve got all my ideas down, and I’ve completely dried out my head, it’s time to wrap it up! I’ll often end a writing session with re-reading what I’ve just written and probably doing a few edits here and there, and then I’ll save, quit, get some sleep, and open it again first thing in the morning. 

3. How did you become involved with writeblr, and how has it affected your writing process?

I can’t quite remember how I got involved in writeblr or how I even found it in the first place. I’d joined Tumblr back in high school, and I used it mostly to go through and see other people’s posts and like the posts that I enjoyed, but I didn’t use my blog at all. 

And then, somehow, I found writeblr. Maybe I’d stumbled upon a post and it led me down a rabbit hole, but whatever the reason, I found it and I closely followed the writeblr community on and off for a while before deciding to try my hand at Tumblr.

I think writeblr can be a very positive place if you surround yourself with the right writeblrs. I am grateful that I’ve found some really amazing writeblrs to surround myself by because they’re all really quite positive forces in the writeblr community. I know there can be a lot of poiltics, drama, and gossip, and I’ve made the conscious decision in these past couple of months to really stay out of all of that because, at the end of the day, I’m here to write and share my writing and find other writers I can help support. I don’t want anything else to taint my experience here. Making that decision has actually helped me get more out of writeblr, which has been great! ^^

So, in terms of support and positivity, writeblr has been a great place for me, and I find myself constantly motivated and inspired to create while being a part of this community. 

On a slight downside that has less to do with writeblr and more to do with self-discipline, I’ve found that the amount of writing I do has really plummeted since becoming actively involved in writeblr, and this is mainly because I see all the amazing content on here and I suddenly want to create OC intros and WIP intros and posters and soundtracks and graphics and basically all of these different things that really take up a lot of my time. I’m getting better about getting that under control, though! ^^

4. Which fictional world(s) would your self-insert want to inhabit?

I’m not sure about specific fictional worlds... I guess the first one that comes to mind is Arda from The Hobbit / The Lord of the Rings.

I might like to check out East and West Egg from The Great Gatsby - it would be cool to go to one of Gatsby’s parties! I probably wouldn’t want to go more than once, but it would be cool all the same. 

It’d be pretty cool to be in the How to Train Your Dragon world (or any world featuring dragons that you can fly and befriend). 

Those are a few that I can think of at the moment, though I’m sure there are many more.

5. Do you prefer to edit as you write, or spew out a full draft before making any significant changes?

Edit as I write - always. I know a lot of people advise against this, but it works for me and it keeps me happy and keeps the writing going. ^^ I end up doing a lot of writing in a day and spending a great chunk of that writing time editing and re-reading and re-editing, and I don’t mind it one bit!

And, as a plus, I end up with a fairly polished “first draft” that’s been revised and edited dozens of times already!

6. What inspired your current WIP(s)?

Oh, so many different things! 

My fantasy novels were inspired by this one scene that I got into my head of this warrior kneeling at the grave of his loved one and swearing to avenge her death. From there I’ve gotten so many great ideas - it just really unleashed a fantasy writer I didn’t know I had in me!

My murder mystery book is based on my desire to have a nice, classy, elegant murder mystery. I feel we don’t have enough of those. So, I went all-out - 90% of the characters are extremely wealthy, the fictional settings are very opulent and over-the-top, and the entire vibe is (hopefully) dripping with luxury and elegance. 

Apartment - well, that’s a good question. Sleeplessness, perhaps? I came up with the idea late one night when I wanted to write something suspenseful and it just sort of... popped up in my head, completely out of the blue! 

An Entity in Your Midst stems from my desire to write a folklore-inspired story, and I figure what better place to start than horror and urban legends that most people are familiar with or at least aware of? ^^ 

7. What kinds of goals have you set for your writing?  How close are you to achieving them?

My goals for all of my WIPs right now is to get them published (fingers crossed!). I’m in the final stages of at least 3 of my WIPs that I’ve shared here on writeblr, and I’m already looking into the publishing process and how that works and how to make sure my manuscripts are ready for an editor and agent and publisher to go over! Really exciting, but it’s still months and perhaps years away. So I’m “close”, but in terms of time, I’ve still got to be patient and realistic! ^^

8. What stylistic elements constitute your writing ‘fingerprint’?

Fragmented sentences, starting sentences with And and But... My writing fluctuates between very long sentences and nice and short sentences, which is interesting. I use repetition a lot, and sometimes I write more as though I’m narrating, so that punctuation can seem a bit off to the discerning grammar enthusiast. I’m not sure what else to include in there ^^’ Brooding characters, perhaps? Dark stories? No romance, unless it’s already established! 

9. What do you do for fun (besides write)?

I love to bake, to watch movies with the family, to read, to do research (odd but true), to watch fascinating historical documentaries, to tutor / teach, to create graphics just for fun, to make art, to swim, to play group sports with friends (though I hardly ever get the chance)... There are probably a lot of other things, too, that haven’t come to mind right now! ^^

10. You’re suddenly and unceremoniously dropped into the world of one of your OCs at the current timepoint in that WIP.  What happens next?

Apartment: What happens next is I hide or escape ASAP. It’s much too dangerous here for me right now.

An Entity in Your Midst: I get myself on a plane to the other side of the world. I like writing about horror, but not a big fan of experiencing it in real life.

The Fall of the Black Masks: I think it’s just so chaotic that I wouldn’t know what to do! I’d probably head to the nearest hospital to help out.

The Pirates of Sissa: Absolutely no clue! It’s a pretty chill time in the timeline, all things considered, so I might just wander around and explore some shops and maybe even get myself a few souvenirs.

11. What’s your persuasion on tragic backstories?

I think tragic backstories are common because we like reading about them. They’re interesting and they set the stage for the character that you’re dealing wtih, and how they’ll react to the events that are about to befall them, and so many other things. Tragic backstories are very interesting, but it doesn’t mean every character should have a tragic backstory. 

But, keeping that in mind, it’s also true that in real life many people go through tragedies at some point or another - the death of a loved one, the breaking up of a home, abuse - the list goes on. Some might even see a particularly uneventful life as a tragedy in and of itself. 

That’s a wrap!

Here are my 11 Qs:

Have you ever tried keeping a journal to help with your writing? How did it go?

What’s the most recent book or poem you read? Did you enjoy it?

What does your writing space look like?

Do you have a favourite character out of all of your characters?

Which genre do you find easiest to write?

Would you like your book to become an audiobook?

If someone decided to make a movie out of your book, what are certain elements or messages that you wouldn’t want them to overlook or belittle in their adaptation of your story?

If you could take any movie not based on a book and write a book for it, which movie would you pick?

What are some cliches you try to avoid in your own writing?

Do you make use of sensitivity readers? Would you consider using them?

What other social media do you use as a writer? Do you share you writing anywhere other than Tumblr?

I’m keeping this an open tag for any new writeblrs out there that want to try out some of these games! ^^ If you do decide to do my Qs, tag me so I can read it!