#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

[ladyniniane]

Journal d'écriture n°3 : mars

Vous connaissez le principe, on fait le point sur la manière dont j'ai progressé et sur ce que j'ai appris.

On peut dire que mars aura été richesen défis personnels et professionnels. Mais l'issue est très satisfaisante puisque j'ai bien progressé dans le développement de mon entreprise.

Et j'ai aussi avancé côté écriture !

Mon roman

En ouvrant les yeux dans son rêve, Basile vit un ciel de mosaïques. Il avait l’impression de faire partie des murs, d’être en dehors de lui-même, contenu dans cet immense squelette, soulevé dans les bras de l’éternité.

Ce mois-ci, j'ai repris l'écriture et j'arrive à 23k, pas mal ! (j'aurais aimé faire plus mais j'ai de nouveau fini le mois en étant malade. Vade retro !).

L'histoire prend de l'ampleur. Maintenant que Zoé sert l'impératrice douairière, je peux introduire les premiers enjeux et les mystères autour de la famille impériale. Je commence à trouver mon élan et à vraiment m'approprier cet univers.

De nouveaux personnages sont arrivés. Le point de vue du principal rôle masculin me permet d'explorer les touches surnaturelles de cette histoire (vu que ce sont souvent les femmes qui sont liées à la médiumnité et aux perceptions surnaturelles, je trouvais intéressant d'explorer autre chose).

Ce sera aussi l'occasion d'introduire la romance, même si j'ai déjà placée quelques scènes amusantes.

Héloïse rentre de quête

Avec 13k au total, j'ai fini l'histoire d'Héloïse en début du mois. Elle a osé, a posé sa question et rentre maintenant chez elle (bien accompagnée). Je pense relire au mois d'avril si tout va bien... (d'ailleurs la technique de changer la police de caractère pour relire marche très bien. Je l'utilise aussi dans mon travail du coup).

L'idée d'une suite ne me quitte pas. Il y aurait un peu un côté sit-com médiévale avec cette grande famille un peu atypique.

En tout cas, quand j'en aurais fini avec celle-là, je commencerai une autre nouvelle : Coup de fil de l'au-delà.

Les voiles de Séléné

J'avais annoncé que je souhaitais travailler sur cette nouvelle cette année. Et je valide ce premier objectif. Cette historie traînait dans mes dossiers depuis longtemps, mais j'ai enfin fini la relecture.

Cette histoire est placée sous l'influence de la lune et de l'étrangeté. Dans une cité antique, un roi orgueilleux souhaite imposer son pouvoir au temple. Mais il va se heurter à un pouvoir bien plus grand et connaître l'horreur pure...

Entre mes 20 ans et mes 22 ans, j'aimais bien lire les livres de Merlin Stone, type When God was a woman. Ils n'ont aucune valeur académique, la plupart des recherches et des théories sur lesquelles ils se basent sont obsolètes (même si je comprends la démarche de vouloir exhumer une spiritualité qui ne soit pas basée sur le féminin par défaut). Mais il faut dire qu'ils représentent quand même un sacré coffre au trésor pour écrire de la fiction.

C'est justement sur ces histoires d'ancien matriarcat que je me suis basée. Les histoires traitant de sociétés matriarcales traitent souvent (mais pas tout le temps heureusement) de leur chute plutôt que de leur apogée. Ce que je trouve décevant : pourquoi laisser entrevoir un autre modèle de société si c'est pour ensuite retomber dans un cadre des plus classique ? Ici, c'est l'inverse. Quand on gratte le verni, l'ancien est toujours là. Pour le meilleur comme pour le pire.

Liste et notifications

Je vais donc mettre ma nouvelle en ligne (sur Tumblr, AO3 et Wattpad ?) quand j'irai mieux.

Par ailleurs, j'ai vu que certains blogs tenaient une liste avec des tags, je me lance donc ici : n'hésitez pas à me dire si vous souhaitez être prévenu de la publication de ce texte (ou de nouveaux par ailleurs).

Voilà c'était tout pour moi, dites-moi comment ça se passe pour vous. Je vous dit à la prochaine !

[veephoenix]

[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...

[schmedterlingfreud]

TW: mention of weight loss and anxiety disorder.

Almost a week passed, and still no laptop on sight – they said it was supposed to be a quick and easy job, damn it! To say I'm just a little nervous is an euphemism, of course. I still try to go on with my writing, even if it means collecting notes and thoughts and ideas by hand, but it's not so easy without all my full documents collected inside my laptop. I just hope the incoming week will bring me good news. And not just about my laptop and writing progress, but... about everything else.

For tomorrow, I booked a Reiki cleansing session, since nothing seems to work to make me feel better. My anxiety and stress are literally burning my head. I manage to sleep with my med's help only, I don't ever feel like eating, and I'm losing weight day after day. I'm not doing so good, I have to admit it, and not be able to properly work on my stories is just making all this situation worse.

I just want to feel like myself again, that's all.

Sorry if writing updates are going to take me a little while, guys. I hope this week will bring some good progress – and I hope to have my laptop back.

Please, take good care of yourself. I send you all my best vibes and thoughts. 🏵

[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

[ladyniniane]

In 2025,  I will focus on my original stories (but I may write a fanfic from time to time. We will see 😉). I also hope to share my writing with more people!

The year of the Empress

My goal is to make significant progress on Zoé’s story. I have enough material to start a writing routine. Most of what I did last year was planning and brainstorming, so now I want to get more into writing. Even if I may need to change or correct things later. 

I will also keep doing research to stay inspired and make my world as immersive as possible.

Short stories 

I have many (maybe too many, but which writer doesn’t?) short story ideas. Because I need to make a choice, I will focus on :

🌙 Séléné’s veils: in an ancient world, an arrogant king wants to take revenge against the temple by humiliating the priestess Séléné. He, however, knows nothing of the ancient magic she wields and is about to experience true horror.

I have already written it, I just need to finish editing.

⚔️Untitled lady knight story: inspired by Arthurian legends and the story of the Fisher King. Young Héloïse sets out to seek adventure and explore the world. She soon hears about a mysterious castle and a wounded king. Could she succeed where many men before her have failed?

City of Ladies

Of course, I will keep updating my City-of-ladies blog! I will resume posting next week. My goal is still to focus on women who may not be well-known but who achieved a great deal. There are so many I want to write about… I will make sure to diversify and not just focus on queens regnant, though they are certainly fascinating!

Fanfiction 

I’m keeping the sequel to my Fe3h fanfic as a side project. I’ve already written a good chunk of it, but the editing will be time consuming. And since the fandom is half-dead, not many people will be interested in it. I don’t know if it will be worth it. We will see.

And you, what are your goals and projects? 

[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.

[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!