technically-a-writer-technically

[technically-a-writer-technically]

Writing is political.

If you think stories aren't political, you're not paying attention.

All art is political.

[technically-a-writer-technically]

we must protect archive of our own at all costs

[technically-a-writer-technically]

On a fundamental level, I understand that this is a critique of using AI to make something out of nothing, literally writing the essay for you and not relying on the LLM being shoved down your throat by tech bros to enhance the work you would have produced anyway. Enhanced, in this case refering to meeting your esssy word count in 40 minutes.

But, I had some time, and...

Hard disagree, actually. This is just an inaccessible solution for many people and their contemporaries are going to use AI. The crazy thing for me is that AI has a valid use case for burnt-out college students trying to survive an academic environment that does not support them.

Genuinely, why struggle when you could just not? Like of course, the ethics of how and when you use AI is important, but as a general tool for outlining, topic generation, making information more digestible, it's not a bad tool.

The trick is to not over-rely on it, like genuinely you will struggle more than everyone that opted to use it, which could unfortunately be everyone in your class, and the only thing you'll have gained is... dignity? Maybe. Your professor does not care about that though. You walk away from from the experience wondering how everyone else is keeping up it with all the work and it's because you're punishing yourself by not utilizing the same tools as everyone else.

Literally, as someone who chose not to, please do not end up crying on Halloween in full costume because you couldn't digest a full novel and the extra 10-30 pg. readings, and write a specifically one-page paper in MLA formatting, which is not your degree standard, every week, while also reading another novel and doing research for your final project for that one class. Only for your professor to dock points for structure, formatting, citation errors, neglect to tell you that you didn't need the traditional introductory header on those papers, which would have given you more space for your specifically one-page papers, and the solution is to seek tutoring from one of your classmates during the free time you don't have because they write great essays and you are struggling with content, deadlines, the professor doesn't like your answers to the writing prompts in ways that you genuinely still don't understand.

Whatever, not every essay is a creative endeavor that you walk away from proud of, and that's okay. It's literally work, unpaid labor and, presuming you're American, you're going into debt for it, and not every professor is worth that stress.

Fuck AI art and fiction/fanfiction though, sorry, it's ugly as fuck and meaningless garbage. Do it yourself or perish trying. AI was supposed to free up time for us to do the things we love, not replace us in doing them.

chatgpt is the coward's way out. if you have a paper due in 40 minutes you should be chugging six energy drinks, blasting frantic circus music so loud you shatter an eardrum, and typing the most dogshit essay mankind has ever seen with your own carpel tunnel laden hands

[technically-a-writer-technically]

Who knew independence would make me more confident?

Well, and anxiety meds, lol.

[technically-a-writer-technically]

Becoming a writer is great because now you have a hobby that haunts you whenever you don’t have time to do it

[technically-a-writer-technically]

[technically-a-writer-technically]

hyperfixation please stay with me long enough to complete the project. hyperfixation do not fade. hyperfixation finish what you started for the love of god

[technically-a-writer-technically]

Ill never stop blogging. I could become prime minister and youd still see me on here posting

[technically-a-writer-technically]

your careers are temporary. archive of our own is forever

[technically-a-writer-technically]

wait, because this is what I was wondering too. I mean, I'm here, but where is everyone else?

Where are the other Tumblr girls, gays, and theys who are playing Marvel Rivals? I need friends to play with.

[technically-a-writer-technically]

lol, lots of weird gay perverts got their start with the mcu. (It's me, this reblog is about me. This is also only partially true, Marvel Cartoons carried.)

I forget people who aren't weird gay perverts are into marvel because to me that's inherently weird gay pervert media... the MCU did unforgivable things to the landscape and now when I play marvel rivals there's STRAIGHT PEOPLE on there.

[technically-a-writer-technically]

Healthcare issues reflected in yaoi ✊😔

[technically-a-writer-technically]

Writing can be so easy when the muse kisses you and you write and write and forget the world around you. But a lot times you don’t have the luxury to wait for the muse to come kiss you and you still have to write. Here are some of the things I do to motivate myself to do what has to be done.

How to motivate myself to write more

The 100 Words Challenge

Set yourself a specific amount of words that you must write every day. 100 words doesn’t sound like that much, but even if you only write them every day and not anything more you still wrote 3,650 words that year. Better than nothing and definitely helps to get back into writing, because it motivates you to write even more and helps writing on a schedule.

+ it also works with a specific amount of time

The Inspirational Jar

Grab some pieces of paper and write down prompts you saw on the internet, song lyrics you like, characters you like to write about, quotes from books or movies, or just random words or situations. Fold them and put them into a jar or a box. Now you can just open it and grab one of the papers which you use as the basis for your writing that day. It’s great for getting back into writing and finding your own writing style through different forms of writing and different topics.

+ doesn’t have to be a real story, try other forms of writing, like a poem, a stream of consciousness, fanfiction, dialogue only, texting only, a retelling, no dialogue at all, a song, a diary entry, a character description,…

+ try to spice things up by using two or more inspirational slips of paper

Set a writing time

By setting a specific writing time you can trick your mind to shift easier into the mindset you need to write. You can write just after waking up or right before going to bed or somewhere in the middle. Try it out and find out what works best for you.

Block your phone/laptop

The luxury of having the world at your finger tips is great but it’s also distracting. Use apps (like Forest or Selfcontrol) to block your phone for the time you need to write. Or use something like Cold Turkey Writer so you have to write a specific amount of words or time before you can use your computer again.

Choose a writing place

Where do you write your best works? Choose a specific place to become your writing place, so you can trick your mind (like with the writing time) to get into the right mindset.

+ switch it up from time to time and go somewhere else. Go to a library, a coffee shop or a park to get fresh ideas and then go back to your routine

Music

Try to find music that stimulates your brain to concentrate more on writing or use music that fits the scene you’re about to write to get the right mindset. Music is great to feel like you are in a specific situation or have specific feelings - that’s why it’s great to have a soundtrack to your stories (and it also motivates you to finish it, so someone can buy the rights and make a movie out of it and use your Soundtrack - or is that just me?).

Ask a friend

Ask a friend, a family member or someone else to give you a setting, a word or a character that you try to incorporate into your already existing story or write something short and new.

Exercise

When you’re stuck and suffering from writer’s block with a scene, just stop and go out and work out or do a couple exercises at home. It clears your mind and you feel better after, so that you can sit down again and concentrate. And exercising is also a great opportunity to think your story through and work on solving existing problems.

Make a calendar

Write down whenever you wrote something in a calendar or use a habit tracker. It makes it easier to keep track on what you achieved so far and where you can still improve.

Reward yourself

Don’t punish yourself if you haven’t wrote in a long time or didn’t finish on time. Rewarding yourself is much more efficient. Choose some form of reward (when I write today I can… watch the new episode of my favourite show after, call my friends and go out, order a pizza, buy a new books, etc.) and stick to it. Even if it is a really small reward, getting to recieve it will fill you with joy and pride and makes it more likely for you to do it again.

I hope this helps everyone who struggles to motivate themselve to write. Good luck to you all!

Check out my side blog for more advice and writing prompts: creativepromptsforwriting

- Jana

[technically-a-writer-technically]

It's a cute bunny, and not anthropomorphic at all, so take what you want from that.

You’re married to your phone background/lockscreen how fucked are you

[technically-a-writer-technically]

Messaging people for the first time is so hard. What am I supposed to say? Like, "You seem really odd and your blog intrigues me. Do you want to have philosophical conversations or perhaps talk about fictional characters?" What! Whatever. I will just follow you back and stare at your blog with my big beautiful brown eyes.

[technically-a-writer-technically]

please, please, please, let this be me too.

“do you think you’ll still be writing fanfic when you’re 90?” yes, I do, and I hope AO3 is still here with me when I’m a 90 year old childless fanfic writer who writes slow burn dead dove do not eat dubcon gay sex enemies to lovers. next

[technically-a-writer-technically]

if you're trying to get into the head of your story's antagonist, try writing an "Am I the Asshole" reddit post from their perspective, explaining their problems and their plans for solving them. Let the voice and logic come through.