burntoutdaydreamer

[burntoutdaydreamer]

Not to harp too hard, but, are you really lazy? Or are you living with forms of neurospicy that make executive function in general difficult and consistent self care routines specifically almost impossible to keep, in a society designed to teach you that only certain human forms are allowed to be found sexual and heavily geared towards teaching everyone, regardless of physical appearance, that *their appearance, specifically,* is unacceptable for nebulous, arbitrary reasons, in a country rapidly falling both apart *and* into a fascist, oligarchic hellscape, in a world rapidly being exploited to death by shortsighted capitalists out to squeeze every last penny they can out of the planet before it inevitably bursts into flames to purge the human infection?

[burntoutdaydreamer]

I have no outline tho, just vibes

[burntoutdaydreamer]

Thought this might help others who struggle when writing. I know I get in my head too much.

[burntoutdaydreamer]

[burntoutdaydreamer]

It's hard to get into writing at first. Until you stop holding yourself to ridiculous standards. Huge difference. Consistency is still a struggle. But it's much easier to actually write when you allow yourself to make mistakes and be bad at it.

[burntoutdaydreamer]

[burntoutdaydreamer]

Word counts and writing speed

Notoriously prolific writer Brandon Sanderson said: "The average writing speed for a writer is between 200 and 500 words an hour." (He was talking about writing new prose in a story.) "The fast writers I know go at about 1,000 words an hour. And that is not a ridiculous speed. A lot of pros I know do between 750 and 1,000 rough draft words in an hour."

Huh.

Source: "How to Write a 100k Words a Year", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIze473qjJ0

[burntoutdaydreamer]

Going back to old writing is either just like:

1. “Who wrote this masterpiece?! It was ME?!”

2. “Who wrote this absolute shit? Oh fuck my life, that was me, wasn’t it?”

[burntoutdaydreamer]

[burntoutdaydreamer]

Stop Gaslighting Yourself

Hey Tumblerz, I wanted to open up a classic topic today that I find myself thinking about a lot: good old Self-Blame. Especially the kind that shows up after someone crosses a line.

To start off, I hope you have a couple minutes to check out this short sketch, a truly hilarious comedian's take on the subject: If A Robbery Report Was Treated Like A Rape Report.

I found Cynthia Kao's take here brilliantly cutting and hilarious (admittedly a bit disturbing, too). I think it nails the kind of absurdity that can send us into what I sometimes think of as 'self-gaslight' mode. Which is really, really, really common.

This state of mind makes sense because we do live in a world, a quietly coercive system, often designed to make the "blame game" of justice go flip mode on us.

If you're like me, you might find yourself thinking things like:

“Did I give the wrong impression?” “Maybe I shouldn’t have smiled.” “Was that... actually harassment?” “Am I just making a big deal out of nothing?”

If any of this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. And there’s a reason.

Blaming yourself can weirdly feel safer than facing how badly you were treated. The thinking goes: if it was your fault, then maybe you’re still in control after all - you can do better or fix it next time - and you aren't powerless to stop it from happening again.

That's comforting psychology. A mindset I've sunk into myself many times. But here’s the thing you have to remember: you simply were not the problem, you just weren't - you weren’t the one with the power in that situation.

Sadly, a lot of people who’ve been harassed don’t even recognize it as harassment at first. Work and pop culture train us to smooth things over, give the benefit of the doubt regardless of context, be chill, act “professional," on and on.

What I'm trying to say is, your reaction to self-gaslight makes sense. But that doesn’t mean you deserved what happened. And you don’t have to carry the guilt just because the system made it easier to blame yourself than to hold someone else accountable.

By the way, I have to say here that it’s okay if you’re still untangling how it made you feel. That’s not weakness, it’s actually your wisdom in progress.

Just know you’re not crazy or overreacting. You’re just living in a world that doesn’t always want to believe you. But some of us do. And we’re not going anywhere.

That went longer than I expected 🤓 ☺️. Thank you for reading.

Much love.

[burntoutdaydreamer]

[burntoutdaydreamer]

Hi Happy New Year! I was wondering if books that are set in the real world post 2020 Covid-19 should mention the virus and changes that happened in the world? Or could I choose not to mention it if it doesn't really affect my story or setting?

Okay so I’m totally answering this several months after you asked but wiejvhwjrgkf here goes

I’d say mention it wherever it naturally comes up. If your story isn’t based in 2020 or during the pandemic it’s not necessary to answer it per se but I wouldn’t pretend like it never happened either. Of course, if it’s not relevant to anything going on, or your characters, or anything like that then there’s no need to go out of your way to bring it in either. Go with your gut. If covid is something that would come up if this were a real story you were telling others, then mention it; if not, then don’t

[burntoutdaydreamer]

📍Church of the Gesù, Rome

The Church of the Gesù, constructed between 1568 and 1584, is considered one of the finest examples of Roman Baroque architecture.

[burntoutdaydreamer]

REBLOG IF THIS RELATES TO YOU:

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

[burntoutdaydreamer]

[burntoutdaydreamer]

I've already said that my number one piece of writing advice is to read.

But my number two piece of advice is this: be deliberate.

Honestly this would fix so many pieces of bad writing advice. Don't forbid people from doing something, tell them to be conscious and deliberate about it. This could help stop people from falling into common mistakes without limiting their creativity. Black and white imperatives may stop a few annoying beginner habits, but ultimately they will restrict artistic expression.

Instead of "don't use epithets": "Know the effect epithets have and be deliberate about using them." Because yes, beginners often misuse them, but they can be useful when a character's name isn't known or when you want to reduce them to a particular trait they have.

Instead of "don't use 'said'" or "just use 'said'": "Be deliberate about your use of dialogue tags." Because sometimes you'll want "said" which fades into the background nicely, but sometimes you will need a more descriptive alternative to convey what a character is doing.

Instead of "don't use passive voice": "Be deliberate about when you use passive voice." Because using it when it's not needed can detract from your writing, but sometimes it can be useful to change the emphasis of a sentence or to portray a particular state of mind.

Instead of blindly following or ignorantly neglecting the rules of writing, familiarize yourself with them and their consequences so you can choose when and if breaking them would serve what you're trying to get across.

Your writing is yours. Take control of it.

It probably sounds like I'm preaching to the choir here because most of my mutuals are already great writers. But I'm hoping this will make it to the right people.

[burntoutdaydreamer]

Well fucks? Get to it!