#writing on budget

[irfanullashariff]

Poetry Prompts & Practice: Why Salerno & Habecker's Journal is a Must-Have

Unlocking Poetic Potential: A Review of "How to Write Poetry: A Guided Journal with Prompts"

Have you ever felt the stirrings of a poem within you, a rhythm or an image yearning to be put to paper, but weren't sure how to begin? Or perhaps you're a seasoned poet looking for fresh inspiration and new ways to deepen your craft? Christopher Salerno and Kelsea Habecker's "How to Write Poetry: A Guided Journal with Prompts" is more than just a book; it's a dynamic companion, an essential guide designed to ignite your poetic spirit and elevate your writing to new heights.

This isn't a dry academic text, but a vibrant and interactive experience. Salerno and Habecker have brilliantly crafted a journal that transforms the often-intimidating world of poetry into an accessible and exhilarating journey. The very structure of the book, with its thoughtful guidance woven seamlessly with evocative prompts, ensures that aspiring and experienced poets alike will find invaluable tools to hone their skills and expand their creative horizons.

What truly sets this book apart is its commitment to providing practical tips that demystify the poetic process. The authors break down complex concepts—such as the power of imagery, the nuances of metaphor, the subtleties of rhythm, and the impact of sound devices—into digestible, actionable advice. Rather than simply explaining these elements, they challenge you to engage with them directly through their expertly designed prompts. These aren't just arbitrary exercises; they serve as real-world examples that allow you to immediately apply what you learn, seeing your own words take shape and transform on the page. This hands-on approach builds confidence and fosters a deeper understanding of poetic techniques.

The strength of "How to Write Poetry" is profoundly rooted in the authors' expert insights. Christopher Salerno and Kelsea Habecker bring a wealth of experience and genuine passion to every page. Their guidance feels like a one-on-one mentorship, offering encouragement, gentle nudges, and profound wisdom gleaned from their own journeys as poets. They anticipate common challenges, offer diverse perspectives, and inspire you to push beyond your comfort zone, ultimately helping you discover and refine your unique poetic voice. Readers will benefit from their clear explanations, their ability to illuminate the often-mysterious process of creation, and their unwavering belief in the potential within every writer.

"How to Write Poetry: A Guided Journal with Prompts" is an empowering resource that will transform your relationship with language and self-expression. It encourages experimentation, celebrates authenticity, and provides the necessary scaffolding for you to build a robust poetic practice. Whether you're looking to pen your first line or breathe new life into your existing work, this journal is an invitation to explore, to play, and to discover the boundless possibilities of poetry.

If you are ready to delve deeper into the art of verse, to find your unique rhythm and voice, and to create poetry that truly resonates, then this book is an absolute treasure. Don't let your poetic impulses remain unexpressed.

Embrace your inner poet! Purchase "How to Write Poetry: A Guided Journal with Prompts" by Christopher Salerno and Kelsea Habecker today and embark on your transformative creative journey.

Dive into greater, "How to Write Poetry Books"

- Irfanulla Shariff

[bambooswordwielder]

Obsessed with the fact that Shen Yuan only transmigrates when all the Peaklords have settled into their positions for a few years because the idea of Shang Qinghua being stuck watching Shen Jiu and Liu Qingge arguing for nth time about some budget detail that is DEFINITELY getting overblown now and just being stuck thinking

"Damn this would've been such a good enemies to lovers plot line... Imagine how much I could've made off of them..." and regretting not monetising their rivalry more before he killed off Liu Qingge ( "Oh and the angst Shen Qingqiu would've faced after his secret lover died and everyone blamed him for it! Fans would've been begging for more extras!" 🐹💔)

Like all the peaklords are desperately trying to mediate and fix the situation and Shang Qinghua is just imagining his one hundredth Fix-It Fic/AU where Shen Jiu is the King's trusted scholar and Liu Qingge is the King's personal bodyguard

Everyone thinks when a single tear falls from Shang Qinghua's eyes its because during Liu Qingge and Shen Jiu's fight they destroyed both his newly drafted budget (for the fifth time that month) and the fact they also destroyed the table (for the third time that week and the week just started)

Reality is Shang Qinghua is crying because he thought of an angsty death scene for the two Romeo and Juliet style because both their families couldn't accept them being together

Years of this pass and at some point he even picks up writing again (specifically about characters clearly based on Shen Jiu and Liu Qingge) and he gets really popular, popular enough his novels start to flood all of Cang Qiong and even Liu Mingyan takes some inspiration from them

Everyone knows damn well that the characters are clearly meant to be Peaklord Shen and Peaklord Liu, but no one tells because they all are legitimately waiting for the next volume of "Battle-to-your-poisonous-heart-and-peaches"

Does everyone know it's Shang Qinghua... Noooo.. Would anyone admit if they did know.... No.

Then all the sudden on day Shen Qingqiu suddenly looked in the dictionary and discovered what the word 'nice' is and now he doesn't abuse his students 🐹🤯

He even let himself get poisoned and potentially ruined his cultivation for life for Luo Binghe of all people!? Um excuse Airplane Logic, but the MC is supposed to only get all the good stuff AFTER he falls into the abyss!

And what's this about Liu Qingge helping to 'clear' his meridians so he has to personally visit Qing Jing peak every week?? Def something is off, an author knows fishy when he sees it

For how many years Shang Qinghua is stuck watching these two do their whole "You're my precious Shidi" and "I'll always be here for you" act and he's just stuck eating dogfood wondering when exactly is the marriage extra coming in and why the System won't tell me why Shen Qingqiu is acting all happy go lucky now

Shang Qinghua notices Shen Qingqiu talking to Yue Qingyuan more, he notices Qing Jing disciples running straight to Shen Qingqiu with joy and excitement rather than the reserved fear they had before, he notices how Shen Qingqiu only glares at him twice every meeting than before!

Maybe this isn't his version of PIDW, maybe it's a fan made version where Liu Qingge and Shen Qingqiu fall in love and with the power of love and friendship Shen Qingqiu learns to be kind and to care and isn't going to cause Luo Binghe to go down his dark path and maybe they can all have a happyily ever after—

*Endless Abyss Arc*

"Oh fuck–"

[Before Endless Abyss Arc]

*Shang Qinghua watching from a distance as Luo Binghe is practically clinging to Shen Qingqiu's side. Shen Qingqiu pats Luo Binghe's head and Luo Binghe does THAT smile he only does for his wives*

"Well this is an interesting fanfic..."

[After Airplane Reveal]

"Wait... So you're actually a transmigrater as well, Cucumber-Bro?"

"Yeah, and?"

"..."

"Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Do you hate, or have you at least at some point hated, Liu Qingge?"

"I– No–Wait what???"

"Let me reword it. Have you ever considered murdering him at one point?"

"WHYAREYOUASKINGMETHESEQUESTIONS!? YOUKNOWWHATHAPPENEDTOSHENJIU! IMNOTRISKINGHISFATE!"

"... So I'll take that as a no."

"OBVIOUSLY!?"

"So it's just a normal Friends to lovers 😮‍💨 No flavour 🙄"

Shang Qinghua was then brutally attacked.

[During the Five Years SY was dead]

*Shang Qinghua watching Liu Qingge go every single day to fight Luo Binghe for Shen Qingqiu's body*

"Oh my Airplane.... It's not a enemies-to-lovers... It's not Teacher X Disciple... It's a bloody love triangle with both! Oh how much money this plot would've made me 💔 I would've been able to pay for four months worth of rent and groceries!"

Random Disciple visiting An Ding: "Um.... Is Shang-Shibo okay? He fell on the ground?"

An Ding Disciple: "Leave him. He does that sometimes. Now about your budget request..."

*Shang Qinghua screaming in the background*

Random Disciple: "..."

An Ding Disciple: "..."

Random Disciple: "Should we check on–"

An Ding Disciple, now dragging other disciple away: "Let's settle this at your peak."

Years later when Bingqiu have already had their wedding and everyone has become somewhat tolerant of their relationship, Shang Qinghua just sighs loudly and Shen Yuan asks him what's up. Shang Qinghua looks him in the eyes and just shakes his head.

"My ship...💔"

"..."

"OW– Why did you have go hit me on the head!?"

"Because I don't want to know what's going on in there and I need to make sure what's in there stays in there."

[rochenn]

One and a half hours and 20 unorganized layers later I conclude that Arcane art style is hard. But imagine if TCW looked like this

[presiding]

if you like dishonored you'll probably enjoy the new count of monte cristo movie

[author-a-holmes]

Hi, you mentioned having some resources for people considering Indie publishing? I would love to know more!

Hi! Yes!

So you mentioned not having a big budget, which was discouraging you from going the indie route, and I did a metric tonne of research before publishing Changeling, and came across a handful of really good, free resources so thought I could pass some along in case it's helpful!

The only thing I don't have a good, free, replacement for is an editor I'm afraid, but a robust series of self edits could work well, or possibly a kickstarter for the editing costs? Something to look into maybe.

If you do decide to run a kickstarter to cover your editing costs, I'd highly recommend the Facebook Group "Kickstarter for Authors", loads and loads of free advice can be found in there, but that's all I can really suggest since I've not run one myself.

When it comes to preparing a book for publication, however, I have a couple of helpful free or low-cost resources.

is Reedsy Book Formatter. Now, Reedsy recently updated their platform and pricing, so I just (24th May 2025) went in and checked if their formatter was still free to use. It is! You have to make a Reedsy account, or login with a Facebook or Gmail account. Additionally, there's lots of buttons suggesting their "paid features", which makes sense. However the formatter, and the ability to download your formatted manuscript either as a PDF (for Print Books aka Paperback or Hardcover) or an EPub (Ebooks) is still a free function. The only 'catch' to the Reedsy formatter is that, on the bottom of the Copyright Page, they will input something like "Formatted with Reedsy Free Formatter" or something along those lines. I don't remember exactly. I was on a bit of an ego trip when I was researching my debut novel, so that was a No-go for me and I saved up and paid for Atticus to format my books, but that's NOT budget friendly and runs about $147, but I digress. Once you HAVE a formatted Book File — and if it's a PDF for Paperback, you know how many pages your book will be, then next expense is going to be a Cover. You can make your own book cover, but unless you're (A) A graphic Designer and (B) have your thumb on the pulse of the book cover market in your genre, I wouldn't recommend it. What I would recommend is...

Getcover Design Services. Getcovers are a professional design company based in Ukraine, and they designed the cover for my Reader Magnet "Whatever Happened to Madeline Hail?" and my debut novel, "Changeling" (I'll put pictures of the covers below.) Getcovers has a sister company called Miblart, which charges a closer-to-market-average for their design services, although still cheaper than many designers. I have NO PROOF of the following statement, but I suspect the designers at Getcovers are new with the company, and being trained up, before they're moved over to Miblart. Again, I have no proof of this, it's only a suspicion on my part. And that's NOT to say I have any complaints over Getcovers quality. What I would say is that, being based in Ukraine, somethings a little bit of back and forth is required before the designer understands what you're looking for. (In one particularly memorable moment, I ended up doing a mockup in MSPaint, and that seemed to solve ALL communication issues lol) But, on the flip side, all of Getcovers cover design packages come with unlimited revisions, so as long as you have a bit of patience, they're well worth it. Which brings me to cost. Getcovers isn't free, of course, but in my humble opinion they might as well be. Getcovers will design an Ebook Only Cover for $10. They will design an Ebook & Paperback Cover for $20. They have a premium service, for detailed covers, which is a Ebook & Paperback for $35. If you want a Hardcover Design added on, that's an additional $10. It's not free, but you cannot buy a PREMADE cover for that price. It's a little bit insane. Getcovers over other design services as well, such as author branding (My author branding was developed by them as well), marketing materials, and merchandise design, but again, I digress.

Finally, uploading your files. You have self edited as best you can, you've formatted your book, and you have your cover files. Now, all that's left to do is upload the book for sale somewhere. This is, honestly, the easiest part. Draft2Digital is a free platform to upload your books. They are a distributor, which means they take a small cut of your royalties for doing all the labour of sending your book out to a dozen other storefronts, but for ease of use, and time saved, it's a negligable amount (10% if I remember correctly). KDP or Kindle Direct Publishing is basically Amazon. You CANNOT have more than ONE KDP account, so if you're not sure if you've made a KDP account before, I'd reach out to customer service and check if you have a KDP account linked to your Amazon account. They'll be happy to let you know if that's the case, before you try making a new account and end up in hot water. But, essentially, it's also free to upload your book to KDP. When it comes to your EBook on KDP you have a choice between exclusive and wide. If you want to upload your Ebook to other platforms like Draft2digital, you CANNOT put your Ebook into Kindle Unlimited (aka KU). This is because Amazon requires exclusive rights to your book, so if it's uploaded anywhere else, they'll kick up a fuss. I've never had my books in KU, I prefer to keep Changeling widely available so take this next part with a pinch of salt, but I THINK KU is a 90day rolling contract. So you can have your book in KU for 90 days, and then choose to go wide. It's more difficult to be Wide, and THEN go KU, because you have to pull your book from all storefronts and make sure it's not available anywhere before putting it back into KU. The only "Cost" of publishing on KDP is if you decide to have a paperback or hardcover book, and want them to print a physical proof copy. This is a recommended step to make sure the files all uploaded correctly, however it's not a requirement. And if you do decide to print a proof, it's not too expensive. I think Changeling, which is a 5.5x8.5 trim, 399 pages, usually costs me less than $12 If you decide to publish Wide, and no Exclusive to Amazon, then other storefronts I recommend uploading to directly, instead of through Draft2Digital are Barnes & Noble, Googlebooks, and Kobo. Itch.io is also free to upload to, and is beginning to pick up steam with Ebooks! You can also turn on tips, so people can choose to pay you more than the book price is set to. The only 'Downside' to Itch.io is that is has a minimum withdrawl cost, which I THINK is $10 before you can have it paid out to your paypal account. Again, I'm pulling those numbers from memory, so I might be off a little. But, essentially, you can publish an Ebook for as little as $10, and a paperback for as little as... what... $45? Tops? I know that's still a handful of cash, but it's much, much, more reasonable than initial research suggests when you start looking into it <3 I hope ANY of this helped!!

EDIT!! I forgot to add the covers for "Whatever Happened To Madeline Hail?" and "Changeling" for examples of Getcovers work!!

Whatever Happened To Madeline Hail is the reader magnet for my newsletter, so I only really needed an Ebook Cover. I could have just spent $10 on this, but I want to offer it as a paperback once the main trilogy is complete, so I decided to go for the full package $35. Mainly because I was VERY new and didn't know how many stock images the designer would need to bring my vision to life. In hindsight, and for future reader magnets, I'll probably settle with the $20 option.

Changeling is the cover of my debut novel, and I've lost count of how many compliments I've gotten for it. I chose the $35 bracket for this cover design, and I actually ordered the entire trilogy all at once, so I also have books 2 and 3 covers matching.

Since Changeling is available in Paperback and Hardcover, I paid an additional $10 for the Hardcover version, the picture below is the full wrap for the paperback...

And for Xmas my Dad gave me the extra I needed for Getcovers to make custom Title Pages based on the cover design. I don't have a picture of that immediately to hand, as they're on my laptop, but a screenshot from inside of my ebook file looks like...

[muchcelebrated]

Crying because Disney+/Hulu did The Artful Dodger so dirty by not marketing it properly and it could and should be getting the same amount of praise and love as Bridgerton or My Lady Jane, but instead they were stupid and most people don’t even realize it exists.

[unpretty]

I recently learned that Fish Mooney was created for the Gotham tv show (you had her so well integrated in Sorrowverse that I just assumed she was a longstanding supporting character). Anyway, that led to me reading her Wikipedia page. And, well, I’m glad she’s in Sorrowverse because I have more faith in you doing justice to her than the official material did.

i really thought i predicted the cool clever thing they were going to do with fish mooney and then they didn't do any of that. so i guess i have to write it. along with all the other things they didn't do.

[the-dragon-hearted]

The Tower of Heaven Kids Dynamic RN

So in the fanfic, Erza, Jellal, Simon, and Erik are all in Fairy Tail post the Tower Heaven and I just realized this is literally their dynamic:

These kids are not alright, guys. They're coping best they can. I love writing them so much

[theangrycomet]

bruh I NEED more things where Skyfire and Kncok Out end up as slightly worrisome yet strangely amusing friendship.

They need to be weird science buddies who have a little too much detail on how the insides of things look like and operate and actually enjoy what earth has to offer up.

Former decepticons who the autobots do not trust BUT don't want going back to the decepticons if only to prevent Megatron from having them as resources (between Skyfire's frankly outrageous size and subseuent raw power (bruh yeeted megatron halfway 'cross the artic) and Knock Out's skills as a medic are a little on the scarce side)

They would be science bros who would enjoy bad human horror films together. I know i's right here

we don't need to get into how Skyfire loved Starscream at his best and Knock Out loved him at his worst and how Starscream's abuse burnt both those bridges but i wouldn't say no to it

[irlnorthshaw]

here are some things i noticed when rewatching the show!! also send over some of the things YOU guys noticed too

in “with fans like these” they foreshadowed that the ball was a ploy!! notice how we get a pov of the players signing the ball… as if WE are the camera

and here in “on klaus inspection” this was a subtle hint that dingaan was in the hotel with skarra– the butler served two drinks instead of one!

im sure there’s loads of stuff that brushed past me but these were the ones that caught me just now

[martyr-mayhem]

Please call your Representatives and Senators TODAY to let them know that you are looking to them to vote NO on the Republican budget proposal, and that you will stand behind them for standing strong, even if a government shutdown results.

Republicans will need Democratic votes to pass anything, but instead of negotiating in good faith, they’re pushing a MAGA budget disaster. On Saturday, House Republicans introduced a new continuing resolution (CR) that would run through the end of the 2025 fiscal year.

Their proposed long-term CR would slash essential programs, attack basic rights, and – worst of all – hand unchecked power over federal spending to Trump, Elon Musk, and their billionaire allies.

Democrats must not fold. They must stand firm and publicly demand a government funding deal that:

1. Guarantees there won’t be any extreme funding cuts in essential programs and any MAGA poison pills attacking abortion rights, LGBTQ+ protections, and immigrant communities

2. Guarantees real, ironclad protections to stop Trump and Musk from hijacking federal spending. The lawlessness must end.

We need to communicate to our Members of Congress our insistence that they vote AGAINST the Republican CR. They need to hear from us because they’re undoubtedly feeling pressure to vote for it. They know that Republicans and some of the media will try to pin the blame for a government shutdown on Democrats if the CR doesn’t pass. We need to let our MOCs know that we will stand behind them for their vote against that CR, even if that means a temporary government shutdown.

[kivaember]

i need to post my smtv rambles on here instead of keeping them to twitter but was replaying CoC and i find the scene after the Surt boss fight how Dazai comments on Koshimizu's willingness to listen to other people's opinions as a sign of poor confidence in his own leaderships. I feel like it really informs you on what dazai views as a "strong leader"...

like, in CoC Koshimizu is anything but uncertain about his leadership. He's definitely confident and assured in his choices, but he's also willing to encourage his subordinates to develop their own thoughts and opinions on their situation (which aligns with his whole Myriad Gods ambition). To many people that's actually a sign of a strong leader, but for Dazai to think the opposite is a really good characterisation point for him.

At the start of the game he makes a throwaway comment about how he's always caught between his parents who dislike each other, and how he can never make the right choice, as whoever he sides with will always end up with the other parent angry at him. He doesn't trust himself to ever make a right decision, and he'd rather have someone who's driven and self-assured make the choice for him. He's not at risk of upsetting people then, because it's not him who's deciding, it's someone else - someone strong who will brush away any protests.

Dazai wants to be in the "right" for once. He wants to be absolutely right and beyond reproach, and Abdiel offers him that because she is so certain that she is always right and absolute. He doesn't want someone telling him to think about his decision and decide for himself if it's right or wrong - he wants someone to decide for him to take the responsibility out of his own hands.

I'm rambling, really, but I just found it funny that Dazai of all people accused Koshimizu of "lacking confidence", and it sent me down a thinky rabbit hole. I know its a meme to dunk on Dazai (and for good reason, That Scene alone from CoC is fucking hilarious despite it trying to be serious), but I genuinely do like Dazai as a character and think he's a really good Law rep bc:

He represents the kind of person who's craving for guidance, and that desperation and fear of being hated or looked down upon for never picking the right choice makes him so easy to be swept up in Abdiel's wake. Idk. I just think it's cool.

[rexlottie]

FART FIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm still updating a majority of the raincoatinas' profiles sorry if they're empty T_T

[au-where-spn-is-good]

my hottest take as a sam lover is that i didn’t rly like the show’s portrayal of samifer (as in sam possessed by lucifer not as in the ship) very much. and i do think a not insignificant portion of that is how fucking ugly that suit was it did not fit him right and the shirt wasn’t the same white as the suit in a weird way and why didn’t they give him a TIE i just think an all white suit is such a difficult thing to pull off if ur not doing it right and the costume department was Not Doing It Right That Day

[kvtnisseverdeen]

GET TO KNOW ME MEME: FAVORITE SHOWS ↳ Teen Wolf (2011-2017)

"I'm going to tell you a story, maybe it will sound familiar. There was this kid, 16, alone, and running for his life. He couldn't see them, but he could hear them getting closer. They had guns, crossbows. They were hunting him. It started on the night of the full moon. Something came at him. Something bit him, and it changed his life. It changed everything."

[jakekazansky]

The newest fic in my Juvenile Delinquent Jake Au is posted!!!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/64067011