#you get a butt tappy! you get a butt tappy! and you get a butt tappy! everyone gets a butt tappy!

[ratatatastic]

a goalie's appreciation for the men in front of him cannot and should not be understated (or the butt tappie roundup)

florida panthers @ la kings (quebec city) | 10.5.24

[missamyrisa2]

Oh you feet are that bad huh 😏 well if you don't want feathers I guess I could put miss Amy in tap shoes and use a tuning fork and tap on the toe tap which happens to be right under the toes 😏 I bet those tappy vibrations would tickle alot as well as the taps would sound like tapping on a certain flower belt buckle. It's cute that Amy has such a weakness to aural tappy tickles

yes mmmhhb I thought we had established a baseline understanding that my feet are bad, we don't need to verify or test or torture any more no more torturing miss Amy's silly hotwired feet and that's that and mmhhhh not the shoesssss!!! I can't take tap shoes shuuuussh I'm not saying anything more unnh but I guess I am eee they're so dainty and dark but metal it's like actually a little goth when you think about it they're black and intense and make big sounds and are like little platforms which is also cute and it just gets me bad on sight because I know what sounds they're gonna make and it's like the sound tickle fairies are fluttering up from each step snickering and taunting meee knowing they're gonna flutter those wings in my ears and lay sparkle dustttt which is all I can think about as you put those silly things on meeee mmmh no feet makeovers unnnh not the tuning fork!!! My therapist used that on me once and it was just dinging by my ear but it drove me insane like she was tuning ME up y'know a tune up like I'm getting my butt kicked but it's really actually using sounds to tune attune retune in Juneeeee heyyy it's almost June let's talk gemini oh pleeehehease don't tap my shoes with thatttt I'm gonna get soooo princess parted by thissss don't even talk about the flower I can't too much tappy metallll unhhh I'm dead see ya except I'm not it's aural tapppyyyy limbo and nnhhh nuuu more tapsssss~ so not on the feeeet that hot wire that tickle hot just became a power plant meltdown sunnnnn!!~~<33

[pesterloglog]

Calliope, Roxy Lalonde

Act 6, page 5089-5094

uranianUmbra [UU] began cheering tipsyGnostalgic [TG]

UU: i can't see yoU, bUt yoU mUst be back by now, yes?

TG: y

TG: and i am how haxxing up storm

TG: p stank by

TG: *stand

UU: haxxing? :u

TG: u dont even no

TG: my fingers are the mean lil beaks

TG: of furirus woodpeckers

TG: and my keyboard

TG: is a pitiful plank of cruddy wood

TG: guarding a trove of tasty bungs

TG: it is guarding them i might add

TG: moist fucking unsuccessfully

UU: u~u

TG: as my digits rain danger

TG: on this hapless lamptop

TG: the result of my tappy onslaught

TG: is line after wicked line

TG: of leetfilthy codes

TG: aka..

TG: the governments worst nightmare

UU: Um...........

TG: i will be in an out

TG: of the systerm

TG: before breakfast knows what ate it

TG: JACKPOP BABBY

TG: im am ur cryptogodress 8)

UU: roxy?

TG: it is womon verse machine

TG: a struggle old as stuff itself

TG: she will bring sburb to its knees

TG: and then turn

TG: with her shitwreckingest face

TG: and stare

TG: into the void

TG: and the void

TG: will wonk first

TG: ;3

UU: i don't Understand.

UU: yoU are typing some sort of compUter program?

TG: no

TG: that was all mostly a huge load

TG: all that noisy keyboard bangin i just mentioned

TG: was me just typing all that shit i said 2 u

TG: lol i did type it superfast tho

TG: just like they do in dumb fake movies about primo hackers who r THA BEST

TG: i guess i hacked into our conversation? w/ bs nstead of codez

UU: ^u^;

TG: but for real

TG: im just drag & dropin some game shit in to jakes place

TG: it is easy as a butt

TG: this kiddie game is a waste of my baller expertise

TG: * sexpertities

TG: / obligatory

TG: hey look

TG: a 'totem lathe'

TG: kay w/e

TG: BONK

TG: down it goes

TG: in that patch off dirt i guess

TG: daaang

TG: fits on that patch o dirt like

TG: a glass shitting slipper

TG: NEXT ??

UU: ah, i Understand. yoU're beginning then. good!

TG: yes im on a roll

TG: gettin my peeps outie

TG: splitting the ball b4 junk turns 2 pumpkins

TG: soooooooooo

TG: what were you going to give me back there? ;D

UU: right!

UU: it's a present i made for yoU.

TG: ooh!

UU: it coUld be...

UU: a farewell gift actUally.

TG: huh?

TG: are u leaving

UU: maybe.

UU: i am aboUt to go to sleep one last time before oUr schedUled entry.

UU: and there is a very real possibility that i will never wake Up.

TG: oh no!

TG: why!!!

UU: it is complicated.

UU: there is mUch to say aboUt it which i have never told yoU, dUe to my adherence to the rUles.

UU: some of which i am aboUt to break now, in order to give myself a fighting chance.

UU: bUt before i go down that serpentine path with yoU, here.

UU: one last bit of artwork from an admirer. something to remember me by, shoUld we never speak again.

UU: http://tinyurl.com/roxyisthisyoU

TG: !!!!!

TG: ssdlkjfs;lkfjdlskfj

TG: ohhhly SHIT

TG: *hooooooly

TG: holiest of shits

TG: the shit.....

TG: is down right

TG: SACROSANCT

TG: omgogmogmomog

TG: this owns

TG: my bones

UU: ^U^

TG: look at my outfit

TG: want 2 wear that outfit

TG: want 2 kiss + marry that outfist

TG: look

TG: at that lollipop

TG: that fuckin LOLLIPOP

TG: hehhe look at me goin in 4 a lick

TG: like im the queen of fuckall yall

TG: what is that in my hair

TG: is that

TG: COTTONE CANDY????

UU: indeed it is!

TG: say helloes to new phone wallpp

TG: sry baby eatin jake husband u r out

TG: /DIVORCE'D

TG: yes perfection

TG: more like

TG: perferection

TG: is what is givin me

TG: am getting the perfbonerz up in here

UU: i really enjoy drawing yoU. it is a treat.

UU: yoU are jUst so pretty. :u

TG: awwwwwwwwww

TG: <3<3<#<#<##

TG: hearts n hashes

UU: anyway, i am very pleased that yoU like my drawing. ~u~

TG: i love it

TG: i love U

TG: U x2 combot

UU: yoU do?

UU: really??

TG: yes

TG: fo rillies

UU: :U

UU: blimey.

UU: this comes as qUite a sUrprise.

TG: well i mean

TG: not like lets got get space married love

TG: more like ur the best and i like you a lot love

UU: oh.

UU: then the conciliatory type. i Understand.

TG: wait

TG: i didnt mean to jerk you around...

TG: did u feel that way about me

TG: aww shit im sorry :(

UU: no! don't be.

UU: trUst me, that is not how i feel aboUt yoU. or anyone.

UU: thoUgh i trUly wish i were capable of those feelings.

UU: perhaps the fact that i am not is why the topic fascinates me so.

UU: and why i have been prone do indUlge in sUch...

UU: fancifUl visUalizations.

UU: of yoUr people's lovely bright red relationships.

UU: they mUst be nice. u_u

TG: lol well its not like i would know either way

TG: but thats cool i didnt know that about you

TG: i dont know ANYTHING about u but i wish i did

TG: cant you at least tell me your name bfore you uh

TG: maybe go ways 4 ever? ;(

UU: yes, as a matter of fact.

UU: that is actUally the reason i am contacting yoU.

UU: it is one rUle i have decided to break.

TG: oh fuck!

TG: what is it!!!!!!!

UU: my name is calliope.

TG: :o

TG: .....

TG: ilike it :3

UU: it feels so strange to type that!

UU: bUt also good, actUally.

TG: well ty for finally confiding in me calilope

TG: *calliope sorrey

UU: yoU're welcome. it is good to get it off my chest.

UU: bUt i am primarily telling yoU this as a last resort, in hopes of saving myself.

UU: yoU see, this rUle between me and my brother is a kind of trUce.

UU: we have both agreed not to say oUr names to anyone so that things will not get oUt of hand, and so it became one of the rUles.

UU: if anyone were to say his name to me, i woUld immediately fall asleep, and he woUld wake Up.

UU: so yoU will Understand if i refrain from telling yoU his as well. ~_u

TG: so

TG: hes sleeping now?

UU: yes, fortUnately for both of Us.

UU: now, chronologically speaking, i have never contacted yoU after this moment.

UU: so if i never wake Up from my next nap, yoU will never hear from me again.

UU: if yoU do not hear from me later, i woUld very mUch appreciate it if yoU coUld message my brother, and say my name.

UU: it may be the only chance i have to wake Up again.

TG: fuuuck

TG: this is highly terrible and scary stuff youre saying

TG: but yes ill def do that

UU: splendid!

UU: <kisses>

TG: shit now i wish we had more time to talk

TG: quick what otter rules were you going 2 break

TG: spill it cali!!

UU: i want to!

UU: it is overwhelming, trying to be cavalier aboUt rUles i have respected all my life. i'm not sUre where to begin.

TG: well

TG: what i wonder is

TG: you said you couldnt have romantic feelings

TG: or "red relations" as you said in your trolly way

UU: oh, i can have romantic feelings.

UU: jUst not the flUshed kind, which hUmans describe as romantic love.

TG: ok but

TG: i didnt think that was alien to you

TG: not the way u made it sound

TG: like dont trolls have the 4 kinds and one kind is just staight up love feelins

UU: yes, that's right.

UU: bUt...

UU: oh bUgger. this is so embarrassing to have to admit.

UU: i am sorry for saying things which may have reasonably led yoU to believe this.

UU: probably way too many things. u_u;

UU: bUt i am not actUally a troll.

TG: o

TG: rrrrrelay

UU: i have never actUally claimed to be. bUt i'm sUre i have implied it, probably dUe to wishfUl thinking.

UU: i have spent so mUch time wishing i coUld be one.

UU: trolls are a remarkable and fascinating race.

UU: hUmans are too, please don't get me wrong!

UU: bUt i am oUt and oUt smitten with trolls and their history and ways.

UU: they have sUch amazing, coloUrfUl social dynamics that soUnd like so mUch fUn to be a part of.

UU: and they are so beaUtifUl.

UU: i wish i coUld be that pretty.

UU: UnfortUnately, i am not very attractive at all.

UU: sad to say, no one woUld kiss the corpse i will leave behind.

UU: even if there were someone aroUnd to revive me, i doUbt they woUld be inclined to bother.

UU: for, er... several reasons, actUally.

UU: bUt really, it was always for the best that i cannot have fUlly flUshed feelings.

UU: no one coUld ever love me.

TG: oh man no!!!

TG: that is not true

UU: it is.

UU: and it's for the best that no one has ever seen my face, aside from my brother.

TG: but i want 2 c u

TG: i proimise i wont think you look bad or judge you

UU: no.

UU: i am sorry.

TG: :(

TG: then what kinda alien are you

TG: wait dont tell me youre ACUTALLY from urnanus??

UU: heehee. no.

UU: that jUst happened to be a planet from yoUr system i thoUght was lovely.

UU: i was particUlarly strUck by its UniqUe rotation.

UU: it has very nice...

UU: bollocks, what's the word.

UU: the term that refers to a ball's topspin?

TG: ???

UU: it doesn't matter.

UU: bUt no, i'm not even from yoUr Universe, let alone a nearby planet.

UU: my species has never even had a home planet.

TG: what species are u

UU: i am a cherUb!

TG: omg

TG: that is

TG: amazing?

TG: like u have wings or such

UU: no!

UU: i doUbt i am what yoU're pictUring.

UU: bUt aside from a few sUperficial similarities, we are very different from trolls and hUmans.

UU: we are not a social race. we generally will not ever encoUnter another of oUr kind, Unless it is time to mate.

UU: and when that time comes, oUr coUrtship is nothing like it is for hUmans.

UU: it is highly confrontational and violent.

TG: sounds so lonely

TG: plus w/ hecks of tricky sex

UU: it is lonely.

UU: bUt that is in oUr natUre, to be alone. jUst as it is to find attraction throUgh contempt.

UU: now that i think aboUt it, i shoUld have known.

UU: i've been so foolish.

TG: known what

UU: aboUt the natUre of my game session.

UU: i believed he and i coUld play together, even Under oUr UniqUe biological circUmstances.

UU: i was so daft, i thoUght skaia had actUally made an exception for Us.

UU: and that we coUld overcome oUr conflicts, work together, and fUlfill the game's minimUm reqUirement of two players. one of space and the other of time.

UU: bUt i was always fooling myself.

UU: it is now clear only one of Us will sUrvive.

UU: my skaian visions have misled me.

UU: or i have blinded myself to their trUe meaning.

UU: this was always meant to be a session of one.

UU: and i am finally starting to Understand...

UU: the reality of that coUld have conseqUences more horrifying than we coUld begin to imagine.

TG: um

TG: how

UU: the thing is, yoU don't know him like i do.

UU: as hard as it may be to believe, he is even worse than yoU think.

UU: and it's all sUch a shame, not jUst becaUse of that.

UU: it is a shame that i won't be able to play, i gUess for selfish reasons.

UU: i was so looking forward to it.

UU: i really thoUght i was going to be someone special.

UU: that i coUld Use my abilities do something no one had ever done.

TG: hey you are being so defeatist stop that!

TG: you dont know you wont play we havent even tried the wakeup call yet remembr???

UU: yes. you're right.

UU: mUch like skaia, i've sUccUmbed to a gloomier outlook lately, due to recent setbacks.

TG: so whats going to be special bout your game?

TG: aside from that its just your fuckhead bro and you

UU: well, i was always led to believe i woUld be an extraordinary type of player.

UU: both of Us woUld be. we are both assigned extremely rare and powerfUl classes.

UU: they are the two master classes!

TG: oh yeh?

TG: what is urs

UU: mine is the most passive on the scale. a class designated for females only.

UU: i am the mUse of space. ^u^

TG: sounds p cool

TG: whats a muse do

UU: i'm not entirely sUre. i was hoping to discover that on my joUrney.

UU: anyway, his is the other master class.

UU: the most active class of all, reserved for male players.

TG: what is it

UU: Um...

UU: roxy.

UU: i think we may be getting a wee bit carried away with trivia here.

UU: we both have so mUch to do.

UU: yoU need to focUs on getting to safety, while i need to...

UU: prepare myself. for what i hope will be a short nap.

TG: ok

TG: you are right

TG: la siiiiiigh

TG: im worried 4 you

TG: but optimistic

TG: i will call ur name like a million times

TG: and shout it in 2 the void every chance i get

TG: til u come back :3

UU: you are a good friend, roxy.

UU: please take care.

uranianUmbra [UU] ceased cheering tipsyGnostalgic [TG]

[aliothizan]

When Beck and Cleo acknowledged Ellie, she did an excited little tappy dance, her nub wagging wildly before plopping down on her butt and staring eagerly up at the pair. "Kids do love to copy everything adults say," Ali said with a knowing grin. A lot of his youngest students would blurt out some really out of pocket things in class that they overheard their parents say. He wouldn't be surprised if Cleo introduced some old fashioned Australian cursing to her vocabulary before she turned two. When Beck tried to get Cleo to join the conversation, Ali gave her an expectant look before chuckling when she didn't break her focus from Ellie. "You can absolutely pet the puppy. She's very friendly," he said more for Cleo's benefit than Beck's. Ellie was usually very good with babies and stayed still to let Cleo come to her, though her tail was still wagging happily.

Catching sight of Ali and Ellie, Beck gasped at the latter. "Look Cleo! It's Ellie! Hi Ellie!" Cleo seemed very pleased to be in the presence of a cute corgi, because she started bouncing in the carrier excitedly. Beck looked at Ali. "Well, this is my first time babysitting so we won't be getting into the cuss words until at least the fourth or five baby sitting job. Jude would never let me baby sit again if I did that now," Beck told him with a laugh. She was being serious, though. "She's pretty good with repeating back new words though. Right, Cleo?" Cleo was entirely too focused on Ellie to be listening right now. Which was fair. "I see she got her dad's short attention span, also." She pulled Cleo out of the carrier held her. Cleo then proceeded to reach her hands out in Ellie's direction. "Okay, I get it, you want to pet the puppy. We're supposed to ask people before we pet the puppy. Ask, 'Ali, can I pwease pet the puppy'?" Cleo simply made a noise that was probably toddler speak for "make haste!".

[tortilla-of-courage]

-Walks on in, farts loudly while stretching, flops onto the couch taking up all the space, and opens a notebook.

Fast food Ghirahim looks dead inside in the way I am, and makes him a thousand times hotter.

Demises laughter breaking glasses makes me wonder if the trye reason Hylia hates him is because he broke all the glass in her house

Bald Twilight, but theres markings on his head we didnt see with the hair there. The markings spell swear words in Twili

No, Twi does not look good with a mullet. He looks like my whitetrash cousin who never wears jeans that fit because he steals his fat dads jeans, but he himself is fairly scrawny. He ties bandanas to his belt looks and makes pig calls in the mall when we lose him. He wont wear a shirt unless its -20 or mandated by law.

Wild eats rocks to help with his digestion, I think fish or birds do it, I don't remember. Wild eats the philosopher stone.

Wild blowing things up whenever things get emotional is hilarious to me, because I do the same, but with puns, which I think equal explosions in ruining the moment

Legend telling people to perish with that face is funny, but seeing his face from that angle when taller than him leads me to suspect he is sitting upon tje victim

Twi has full Uncle energy despite Times child being his ancestor. Wars 100% is teaching the kid to call Twi "Uncle funny face"

Wild learns how to make the Donald duck quack by accident and just SENDS SKY its just such insanity they both losing their shit over this sound.

Wild and Sky have a burping contest to see who can burp a word the best. Burp words include "Egg" "Warrior" "beans" "bra" and "boobies" because byrp language is funny.

Sky whipping the other Links butts with the sailcloth

Legend: You look like shit ///Wars:"You're the expert"

Sky runs a sanctuary for exotic pet birds that people didnt realize they couldnt properly care for. He tries to release as many as possible back to their ecosystem, but some are too domesticated

Wind sees Rabbit Legend and, not knowing tje secret, starts calling Legend a pretty bunny girl

Adult Impa is so fucking dateable, like yeah, kick my ass I'll love every second you'll be a perfect mother to children

Sky gets the full body wiggles like his core vibrating when he's excited and does a tippy tappy dance like birds do

Sky farting while falling and going into a spin

The "Throwing birdfood at people" prank, but on purpose to Sky. He loves it. Its his birthday gift.

Lemony Tortilla seties of unfortunate events seems accurate

Beefcake Link is smart as a whip. Noodle Link is dumb as a rock. Together, they are an unstoppable force of chaos!

Vaati takes dustbaths too!!

That excited "DirtdirtdirtdirtDirtdirtdirtdirtDirtdirtdirtdirtDirtdirtdirtdirt" YESSS TRUE BOYS WILL BE BOYS ENERGY! Chaotic gremlins

All the Links have at least once carved a dick somewhere nearly impossible to get to, and it baffles archaeologist

Wars freaking out over sliny fish and wild just "I dated a fish once. Twice actually! But I don't remember the first time"

Wild "I may be stupid"

Others: And?...

Wild: neutral chaos face before the smell creeps in and everyone is coughing on bean fumes.

[sf9]

Tippy tappy hello there!

I did get sick for a few days but I'm all healthy and strong again 💪🏻

Also I have a rather relaxed week since I only have classes and no work so I've been able to catch up with some chores and dramas.

I finished imitation and I cried a lot for the last ep... I'm also almost through signal and I'm praying for just 1 drama where Chani is not suffering! Just 1 happy Chani drama pls I'm begging!

How are you? Are you feeling better too?

You should also take care and eat a lot and stay hydrated and take some naps every now and then 😘

Smooch ❤

Smooch anon on I am SO sorry for taking literally ages to reply to this 💀I hope in this time you've recovered well and gotten better🥺💖💖

Yay for lots of resting and catching up on dramas 🥳🥳 HECK YEAH I'm glad Chani has a drama where he is happy, it's what he deserves!!!!! I've been meaning to start Imitation and my best friend recently gave me all the episodes she downloaded, so hopefully I will be watching it soon🥺 fingers crossed that the next drama he stars in will be kind to his character!!

I'm doing okay just busy now that uni is back, post grad is kicking my butt 🏃🏻‍♀️ I'll be sure to rest well and I hope you rest lots too 🥺🥺I hope you're doing well and keeping safe, lots of love ALWAYS 💖❤💝💟💕💟💓💟💕❤💘💗

[secrettreestuffidk]

anyways, my goats, current and past, in their hogwarts houses

Bethlehem: Gryffindore. kind of brash, little bit rude. is who she is and we love her. but why are you like this Beth? why.

Bell: Ravenclaw. smart, bit standoffish. tended to be a little mean, but made a very efficient leader.

Daniel: ??? asshole. probably a Durmstrang student?

Nazzy: Gryffindor. takes after her mother, Bethlehem;; kind of brash, little rude, but very loving. Nazareth was the first goat to adopt me. i call her "mom". she's good with me, not good at all with her actual kids.

Liberty: Hufflepunk, like Hufflepuff, but punk. she only wanted to spread the love (and eat pants) and no fence could stop her. seriously the sweetest thang ya ever met. the second goat to adopt me and possibly one of my favorites that i've ever had.

Remus: Hufflepuff. came when called by name.

Kainos: Hufflepuff. only wants love and scritches. also pees on himself, but that's a billygoat thing, not a hufflepuff thing.

Michael: Slytherin? idk, just kind of a douche

Bow: Ravenclaw. Shy, otherwise chill.

Arrow: Hufflepuff. full of love. and oats.

Peanut Butt: the asshole side of Griffindor. Affectionate, but inconsiderate about it. wants to be the boss goat. makes for an asshole boss

Lapgoat: Hufflepuff. was named "Chocolate Chip Paul", earned title of "Lap-goat". that's basically all you need to know

Tapestry: Ravenclaw. fairly amiable, tends to prefer to be left alone though. Tappy is prone to being very dickish when wanting affection (she bit my pants and just. held on. twice. like a fuckin alligator. she actually ripped them a little bit. it worked very well though. she got my attention.)

Theoretical Physics: Ravenclaw. takes after her mother, Tapestry. friendly, introverted, when wanting scritches tends to paw at me, which is rude because hooves are sharp and hard and unpleasant when in contact with my face. a good friend.

Raven: Hufflepuff. ok so when she was born she was the chillest thing you've ever seen. i could just pick her up in one hand and walk around with her. most goats need some legit acclimation to get to that point. Rae though? nope. bffs from the get-go. takes after her mother, Liberty

Robin: grifindor. douche. seemed nice at first, but really only here to fight.

Discrete Mathematics: Slytherin. his ambitions may be cuddles, but damn if there is anything he wouldn't do to achieve them, and damn if we don't love him for it. used to be the shy one. used to.

Applicable Sciences: Griffindore. her personality is "LEEEEROYYY JEENNNKIIINNNSSS" +affection +yelling

Riddle: Ravenclaw. shy, likes some scritches sometimes, but generally prefers to do his own thing

Batts: Slytherin. exactly like his twin, Riddle, but doesn't like any scritches pls n thnk. they should probably be in the exact same house, but this feels more right?

[scriptstructure]

Do you have a favorite guide? something like "Story Plotting for Idiots" type thing? I think I'm pretty well read in terms of lit and movies and such. But I'm at a loss as to where to start to start working on my own. I have TONS of ideas, always have, but the organizing of something longer than say, 500 words always gets bogged down. HALP?

I guess the closest thing to a favourite writing guide that i have is Stephen King’s On Writing, though there’s less ‘this is how to do writing’ and more ‘this is how Stephen King does writing’. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you think of it, there’s no single way to approach writing that is going to work for everyone, it’s all very subjective and personal.

Even going from one project to another, sometimes the same approach won’t work, it’s a matter of what works for you at that moment, for that project.

You can google ‘how to write’ and you’ll come up with dozens of ‘foolproof’ guides and approaches, ‘save the cat’ or ‘the snowflake method’ or a dozen other things. Some of them will have elements that will be helpful to you, and you should feel free to cherrypick what you need and discard the rest -- these approaches are written by people for whom they’ve worked. If it doesn’t work for you don’t agonise over it, just move on, try another approach. Keep on plugging.

That said, the one approach that I’ve consistently been able to use and have work for me, is a very blunt approach. Similar to Stephen King’s ‘write three pages a day every day’, and sort of inspired by the whole NaNoWriMo approach to writing, “BICHAK” (Butt in chair, hands on keyboard).

I call it ‘tippy tappy’.

What I do, is I have my ‘outline’ -- which is usually a single sentence describing what will happen in a scene, plus a couple of sentences about the emotional/ conflict outcomes that should come from that scene -- and then I sit down, set a fifteen minute timer, and just type until the buzzer goes.

So long as you keep tippy tappying on the keyboard for the whole amount of time, you’ll have something to show for it. One scene at a time, one fifteen minute chunk at a time, and that’s pretty much the only way I get anything substantial done.

Now as to HOW to plot?

I seldom know exactly how my story is going to go, or how exactly it will end. I’ve talked about a Problem based approach to narrative, and I start with that, generally. Here is a Problem that is going to affect the characters, who are these people and how are they going to react to it, what is going to happen in their lives as a result of the problem?

I’ll use my current project as an example, I’m about 4000 words in, it will probably wind up being around 60-80k by the time it’s finished. My outline so far encompasses the first two chapters. At the moment I don’t know exactly what the antagonist is going to do, but I do know how to lead up to it.

My outline looks like this:

[Sorry about the blurring, I just wanted to show how I have it laid out without folks reading my awful notes!]

So I have an A4 notepad, ruled with a line down the middle, just for personal preference. In blue headings and green notes, I have my outline for chapter one. I’ve finished all but the last scene in chapter one, and I’m at 4000 words in the manuscript, so you can see it’s a fairly compact way to outline. 

The black heading and red notes is for chapter two. It also just happens that I’m writing from alternating perspectives between my two protagonists, so the different colours helps keep those two POVs distinct. I may or may not write a chapter or two from the antagonist’s perspective at some point, and when it gets to that I might pick a third colour set to write those in, depending on how complex my notes are to look at.

When outlining, the main thing that needs to happen is that you have to be able to tell at a glance what you’re up to and what you wanted to happen next. I quite often get into trouble because I’ll start writing an outline and then wind up accidentally writing on my outlining page, I get so caught up in details that I forget the longer-term goals that I set out intending to write down.

Using bullet points to keep outlines manageable is something else that I’ve found helps. Keeping things simple ‘Jack wants X but he’s conflicted about Y and that leads to trouble with Z’. These are just the notes to remind yourself of the path you’re going to take. And if you find a path that branches off in a direction you didn’t expect, but it looks more exciting? Take the branching path. Keep your old notes in case it leads to a dead end, but after wandering around you’re going to have more material to work with, and more material is always good.

No writing is wasted.

I have TONS of ideas, always have, but the organizing of something longer than say, 500 words always gets bogged down

Okay, having tons of ideas is a way better problem than having not enough ideas, so we can work with this. 500 words is a great starting point.

Pick your favourite ideas that you think will fit together.

Decide what you think the big Problem of the story is going to be, what do your characters need to resolve in order to have an ending?

In one sentence, write down what will happen in the first scene

In 1-3 sentences, write down how the main character will feel about it, what changes for them in the course of that scene, and what they want going forward.

Do the same for the next two or three scenes.

Sit down at your writing implement of choice (computer, notebook, stone tablet, etc)

Set a timer. You can start with ten minutes and work your way up. Sometimes I do 20 minute or 30 minute stretches, but mostly I find that 15 minutes works best for me, personally.

Close all windows except for your writing project, pause netflix, turn the tv off. Have your outline beside you.

Start the timer and until it goes off you’re either writing, or you’re staring at the blank page. Trust me, writing is a whole lot better than looking at a blank page.

Keep writing. Tippy tappy.

When the timer goes off, go get a drink, walk around. Look at facebook or scroll tumblr, whatever you want to do.

Repeat until you have a novel.

Essentially, whatever system you pick can only take you so far, no matter how you organise it, writing a novel is a whole lot of just sitting down and writing. One letter after another until you have 80k words. Tippy tappy.

I find that not worrying too much about the whole novel helps. I just focus on the next 5000 words. I know what will happen in the next 5k, and I can write 500 words and then 500 words and then 500 words, and it adds up. 

The overarching Problem of the story keeps the gist of the scenes pointing in the right direction, and having the open-endedness of the plot as a whole means that if I suddenly discover a new direction as I’m writing I don’t have a whole bunch of outline work that I suddenly feel like I’m abandoning or losing.

Figuring out what outlining method works for you is going to take trial and effort, but you’ll get there. One scene at a time, one paragraph at a time. Every little bit will help you learn what you’re doing and what you want to do.

[ratatatastic]

happy first bob butt tappies in a game for the new guys!

tampa bay lightning @ florida panthers | 9.30.24

[ratatatastic]

happy lundy to boqy for a goal (with a mikksy secondary assist! yippee) to tie up the game after a 3 goal deficit in the first half of the 2nd to me who will never recover EVER from this

if not for the way jesper gets to adam first to bump him THEN FOR LUNDY AND BOQY TO BE SO EXCITED OVER THEIR NEWFOUND CHEMISTRY AND ALSO BECAUSE LUNDYS JUST HAPPEN TO HAVE SOMEONE ELSE WHOS ABOUT THE SAME AGE AS HIM

ITS THE WAY MIKKSY TAKES HIS DAMN TIME TO GET OVER TO THEM. AND ALSO THE WAY BOTH JESPER AND MIKKSY REFUSE TO MAKE EYE CONTACT AS THEY BUMP GLOVES

carolina hurricanes @ florida panthers | 9.28.24 (x)