#writing diaries

[mondayepiphanies]

yesterday i was feeling really self conscious and insecure about my writing style. me and one of my best friends were sharing some pieces we’ve written in the past and, reading my old works, i was thinking that my style was – and is – just too plain, too simple, not brilliant and rich enough. on the other hand my friend told me, “your writing hits just right where it should”.

so i was thinking that, when it comes down to writing, we really should have more faith in the fact that somebody would love our story just as it is, that maybe it’s exactly what they need

[veronicaphoenix]

[beastsovrevelation]

I know this is from Constantine (I think), but the character design so gives fem!Crowley

She especially makes me think of Lady Crowley in my ideas, because not only is she incredibly beautiful, there's this fierceness to her, and a hurt in her eyes. Her stare could both be the Queen of Hell, and a survivor who eventually grows her claws.

I also think of fem!Crowley when I look at her (a character who briefly appears in Medici: Masters of Florence), just make the outfit black...

[ladyniniane]

Writing diary 1

Today, I wrote the first 1k of Zoé's story! I decided to go for it and not wait further. Yes I could do more research, yes I could do this or that. But I'm trying to let it flow and not immediately think of how I could improve it.

I'm thinking about posting snippets here btw!

I wanted to write yesterday but I couldn't because I felt down over the past few days. I'm proud of the progress I'm making on launching my future business, but I can't stop the dark thoughts. I'm also feeling extra-sensitive to basically everything, especially due to the current events.

I would normally have felt guilty over "not being productive" but that's not the case anymore. I felt angry and frustrated, but not guilty. I'm writing for myself. I don't have any deadline to meet.

I will try to write more than 500 words for each session, but if I don't: that's fine. That's fine if I don't write everyday. That's also fine if I want to go wild and switch to another project.

[schmedterlingfreud]

🍄 ​Day [24 of 100] of Productivity 🍄​

Writing: - Effetto Luna; Chapter 20 and 21 Working hard on the final chapters (only five to go) of “Effetto Luna”, my Word Document just reached 200,000 words! ٩( ˃▿˂ )۶

I really can't wait to see what the final result will be. I really, really hope to end the longfic before the beginning of the new year (just two months until 2025, like whaaat?). The last weeks of the year are the hardest and toughest -- my extra shifts at work can't wait to ruin me --, but I promise I will involve every spit of my lasting energy in my writing to reach the conclusion of my stories. I hope to arrive at the end of this long journey with you, my dearest readers. There's so much more I want to share with you. ♡(ᵔ ᵔ˶ )

Reading: - The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K. Dick - The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath

Listening to: Wolf-I-Fied, by Littlest Pet Shop OST (... never even heard about the show, but I stomped on this song and I just can't have enough of it)

Snacking on: Pistachio and white chocolate dessert

Exra: I've been procrastinating on my house chores, I confess, because of my night shift and because, working the extra shift on Saturday morning, I didn't even enjoy my Ognissanti long-weekend -- it's so unfair! But, since I'm such a grown-up girl, I managed to take some time to organize my house bills and rents.

My little bro showed me his new tattoo (his second) and, since I'm such a grown-up girl (x2), now I want a new one too. This is going to be my fifth. I already know what I want it to be, but I still have to book it. I think it will be my Christmas/New Year's present. It's been a long year for me. Long, hard and great, and I want to buy myself something special as a treat for all the hard work I've passed through. I deserve it!

[shadowglens]

i’ve taken the plunge and started brainstorming a novel idea 😳

[sopefulheart]

God I have so many WIPs and I wanna post em so bad but it’s so hard to write pls 😭

[greenerteacups]

feel free to skip this it's a writing vent but oh my god the last few weeks of writing have been fighting me in the strangest ways

it's not even that I have writer's block — when I sit down to write a scene, the words come, and I can get it on the page, but for a while now I've been staring at the last 5-6 chapters of book 5 and felt this unease that there's an underlying structural problem with them. I've probably ripped them out and rewritten them 3-4 times at this point, my scrap document is about 30,000 words longer than it was before i started it, only now I've been focusing on this one very specific stretch of writing for so long that I've totally lost perspective. and I've been moving back and forth in the timeline so often that I've lost my natural sense of pace and flow, which feels like a writer's equivalent of an inner ear injury. chances are it's fine, and I'm just nitpicking because I've been worrying more about reception — i know that there are a lot of people who are really eager for this specific stretch of the story, and I have this desperate desire to Do It Right — but this plot has been fighting me, man. Order as a book just has so much stuff to set up, and then there's the emotional stuff, and the confounding tonal balance between incipient fascism/Order espionage/personal relationships and the hormonal trials of adolescence.

anyway, I spent this morning writing in a change that recenters the emotional tension of the first act, and hopefully that solves the problem. it feels like the closest thing to a solution so far, so maybe I can finally move on to the next batch of chapters. fingers fuckin' crossed, man.

[oh-youknow]

that stage of writing one single thing where not only do u have impostor syndrome u start considering whether or not ur literate

[mthollowell-writes]

As I find myself fine tuning the details of the 30+ page outline of my current WIP, I find myself questioning if I’m a meticulous plotter or a dangerously obsessive one

[onwriting-hrarby]

Welcome // About me

Dear everyone,

This is Hera, a 29-year-old professional reader and aspiring writer. Here you can find some thoughts about writing, the process of writing, and literature. Little skittered memories and imprints of my life, like an impressionist painting. What inspires me, what angers me. Basically, an old-fashioned personal blog.

my socials: ao3

________________________________________

Find my Masterlist of Writing Advice here.

Find my Masterlist of works here.

________________________________________

Tags:

Craft of writing / Writing advice: This is my talk about crafting, creativity and writing. I share my thoughts and my advice and a few behind-the-scenes on how I am crafting my story "Rotten Judgement".

Writing Diaries: I keep an almost-daily log in which I talk about the progress I make, my struggles and my writing worries. You might feel identified with it.

My musings and stories: in general, some personal thoughts and divagations about life. Also some snippets for works or drabbles.

Ask box: ask away for writing advice, general questions about my writing, personal questions, or just ramblings. I love to interact. Give me headcanons to work on drabbles, too, but bare in mind that I'm not very good at smut, so I don't think I can write horny stuff.

Talk to you soon,

-hera

[mondayepiphanies]

i really want to partecipate in some writing contest in my native language but i really struggle with coming up with plots for short stories… my brain just can’t seem to come up with anything that i can encapsulate in just one “chapter”…… i’m down for any suggestion

[juodojimirtis]

I am honestly, sincerely so damn obsessed with the concept of Ava being reincarnated Areala.

And not only because it lets me ship Avadriel while giving Adreala their happy ending.

The vision in S1 finale was the spark for me. But, Adriel is right, they are so similar. They both got the Halo unwillingly, and were led by fate down the path of glory and martyrdom (even though Areala has walked it before, being a Templar). They both are great leaders to whom, nothing is more important than her sisters.

If Ava were Areala reborn, she would literally be the Alpha and Omega of the OCS (the Beginning and the End, you filthy-minded...). My first thought was, she wanted to get back what is hers - the Halo, her sisters, Adriel... And she did. But, it's much deeper than that. The Halo called for her. For all these centuries, it clawed at the back of her mind, crying out to her through the realms. It considers her it's one true bearer. In the end, she could no longer stand it. And even less, she could stand to let more of her sisters die needlessly. Being the Warrior Nun was her cross, no one else's. The lives of the OCS might be expendable to the Church, but not to her. So, with Reya's blessing, she returned to Earth as an innocent child, knowing too well what pain she was to suffer before she can reunite with the Halo and rise again (as she must become a martyr again).

In my WIP, she couldn't even be dissuaded by the pleas of her own son. They were to meet again after all, she believed it firmly. She had raised a great man, so she trusted he will be fine.

Not to mention, in one of my AU's, it opens the possibility for Ava to merge with the Halo, and morph into an angel (something that only happened to Enoch before).

[beastsovrevelation]

It's ridiculous, I thought romance was clear with my Antichrist, in the Good Omens universe, she's with War, that's it. WarBeast for the win.

But, you know how sometimes your characters do whatever in Hell they wish? That's sort of what happened. I felt a fire between Maxine and... Muriel, for some reason.

It's like, Muriel is looking at Max with a puppy-love of sorts. They're complete opposites, Max is cunning and Machiavellian, Muriel's the incarnation of innocence. I guess, it isn't surprising for Muriel to develop a crush, Max kind of takes her under her wing, even defending her from Michael (Max’s aunt, in some versions mother) at times. What's more important, Max doesn't treat Muriel like a child. She sees the true potential in her, and encourages her to reach it. At first, I doubted Max would return her feelings, but it seems she does, at least once she's a bit less naive.

Alright, in some of my countless wips, I'll let Maxine/Muriel be a thing. There's AngelBeast now. Yeah...

Itt might be interesting. It's such a different dynamic than with Muriel than with War, it's... Beast of Revelation and puppy, I guess. Muriel would look at Max with stars in her eyes. Both Max and War travel all the time, but Muriel would always be by Max's side, never letting go of her hand. And, Muriel finally has someone who sees her, clearly. Someone powerful, who will always protect her.

Maybe, Muriel can eventually become Heaven's ambassador in Hell. The demons can't help but be charmed by her. Even Satan adores her (in my head, he's once snapped at Michael for berating her).

Hm... Characters with Hannah Dodd and Quelin Sepulveda as faceclaims would make an attractive couple.

Don't get me wrong, WarBeast is still the main one, while Muriel's usually either with Hastur or with Crowley. Maxine Frost is dead set on being sapphic in the Good Omens universe (she's bi), isn't she?.. And Muriel's dead set on dating diabolical beings. Also, two of Muriel's three love interests have giant scary dogs.

[gradfieldnotes]

i've been working on a paper for almost two years now and i'm ALMOST almost done with the final draft. i'm doing my last review and adding small things, correcting tables and images etc and then all that'll be left is the abstract and i'll be DONE with it, and probably submit it tomorrow afternoon???? i can't believe it???? the journal i'm aiming for is a difficult one so i don't know if it'll even be accepted, but i'm just so proud and grateful to finally have a final product after all this work. hopefully i'll pay out and i'll get an acceptance sometime in the future, but even if it's rejected, i'm just glad to have something to work with

[hallowgracie]

As I'm working on Season 3 of To Sail on Seas of Sky, the finale, I've been reflecting on what has worked and hasn't worked with this project overall. Atomic is the only other story where I have been this obsessed and basically able to complete it so quickly and still be satisfied with the end product.

I thought I'd share my observations with you in case it helps!

So what are my big takeaways?

I am never writing any stories that require dungeon crawl type content again. I don't enjoy writing them (even if I enjoy seeing them in media) and I hate coming up with puzzles and obstacles and yet I keep writing story ideas that require them!!

If I do write ANY stories that require a dungeon crawl again, I will read up on D&D materials to try and get more ideas of how to make these things

On the management side, creating an intricate outline and then letting it sit for a while is the best way to handle it, because that simmer time lets me feel motivated while the intricate outline works like a bookmark essentially and helps me get unstuck by understanding what needs to happen where and when

Deadlines (if at least the vague ballpark of one) also helps!

That said, I was also flexible with the chapter count and wasn't afraid to shuffle things around if I realized things weren't working or that the pacing is off.

Sometimes you do need to tell, to give exposition, to just do a recap without a full scene! While we tell writers (understandably) to generally keep expanding, you cannot do that if you have word count requirements (like this did because it was entered in the initial round of the Action Fantasy Tourney on Tapas). You have to make choices about what should show or shouldn't.

It's not just because of word count, it's because also some things do just need to keep going, and do not need to in-depth scenic description!

Self-doubt is the enemy, insert the Dune copy pasta here. I've learned to trust myself and my storytelling instincts.

So those are the big ones so far. I'm sure I'll have more revelations I attempt to stick the ending.