#writing words

[heartoflesh]

Who knew, the key to writing was to just write 😀

[lostboithoughts]

Never faked my “I miss you” or “I love you”

I only ever faked my “I’m okay”

[amoremagnificentbastard]

@aevallare tagged me for this. Kissing you so much.

words posted: 10,164 (I cry because I wanted there to be more)

additional words written: 29,849 (almost half of this comes from snippets and scenes I wrote in my phone notes app)

grand total of words: 40,013

fandoms: BG3 (because I have blinders on)

highest kudos: i'll peel my heart like a pomegranate if you promise it won't go to waste - 130 kudos

highest hit oneshot: see above - 1,725 hits

new things I tried: I posted smut for the first time! I also started participating in group events, like server exchanges and bangs!

fic I spent the most time on: say yes, but only if you want to (because I started the second chapter, ripped it to shreds, started over and wrote more, ripped that to shreds, and now I'm about 4k words deep into the third attempt and I think when I finally go back to it I'm going to end up ripping it to shreds again)

fic I spent the least time on: what's one more mystery after all the rest? (a gift fic I wrote for @kittenintheden as part of @thekindredcollective's Fall in Faerûn prompt event)

favorite thing I wrote: say yes, but only if you want to (and I'm really surprised I'm saying that)

favorite thing(s) I read: Don't make me choose. I read so much, from so many wonderful authors. Here are my Ao3 recs. I reread many of them often.

writing goals for 2025:

write something every day (specifically something that makes me happy)

learn to write without stopping to edit along the way (because I am so bad at that right now and stopping slows me down so much)

new works:

i'll peel my heart like a pomegranate if you promise it won't go to waste

say yes, but only if you want to

what's one more mystery after all the rest?

This ain't much. But it's a start. Thank you for welcoming me with open arms when I got here. This was a creative outlet I thought I'd lost for good. I'm so glad I was wrong.

Tagging @kittenintheden, @gilded-glitter, @deadly-diminuendo, @honeybee-bard, and @pinkberrytea if you'd like to share!

[spotsandsocks]

Well it’s happening again… did I say 8 chapters… what if that was a teensy bit of an understatement in the other hand I’m feeling very confident about the number 9

[trashootie]

Hi! I saw you post about how cool it is when you see other people decorating their spaces with your art, and I realized I never sent you a photo of a piece I commissioned from you on the wall! I asked you to paint my best friend as a desert god. I had it printed on real nice paper and framed for her to be dramatic about it. It’s followed her across a few apartments and life changes <3 She is so special to me, and that painting is one of my favorite gifts I’ve ever given, so thank you again!

Ahh thank you sm! I've never seen how my pieces look in print, the whole composition of this lineup is stunning!

I'm really glad I could do something meaningful for you and your friend, thank you again 💛

[deartoddanderson]

Is there anybody who has good tips on how to plan cultures for world building? I'm doing a project (for fun) with a few friends, but we got a little stuck when it came to the culture of the people in our countries. :')

[a-bird-who-writes]

Me: How do I get myself to write?

Me: ....

Me: You don't, wait out the writers block.

Me: ....

Me: You gotta write an ENTIRE Novel right now because life is short, DO IT NOW.

[sjstone-author]

(via A book about writing that is actually useful)

Bird by Bird is a book about writing that is also about its writer, Anne Lamott. It’s as much an autobiography as it is a writing guide, shifting back and forth throughout. By making it about the writing life, Anne gives context to everything else. It elevates the book from a list of useful tips to something far more impactful, moving and — yes — useful.

The insight into plot, character, themes, motivation, consistency are not simply marking off the usual checklist, but are drawn directly from her own experiences. She shares the victories and disappointments of her writing life, the difficulties along the way, the awkward reality of being a writer. None of the biographical material is indulgent, as it always serves the wider point that is being made.

Originally published in the early 90s, Bird by Bird only reached UK shores in 2020. It’s a bizarrely long gap (the Atlantic is quite wide, to be fair) and there are inevitably moments where the book has dated: there’s no real awareness of the internet, or of mobile phones. Computers are barely present, with the focus always on index cards and analogue approaches. Finding an agent and a traditional publisher is the only game in town, so don’t go in expecting advice directly relevant to the modern publishing landscape.

But if you want a book that helps to make sense of being a writer, and of the odd thing that is the writing life, while at the same time bringing into focus the nuts and bolts of how to craft a story: this is the one. It’s an unexpectedly moving and spiritual read, and is about as far from vacuous online writing gurus as you can get.

[avesssswrote]

yo you guys want some fanfictions?

[amoremagnificentbastard]

HEY

If you're reading this...

go write three sentences on your current writing project.

[tenderwatches]

sometimes you need dialogue tags and don't want to use the same four

[lostboithoughts]

Maybe, after all this time, I’ll never be with you

But still, you’re the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, and oh how deeply I love you so

[amoremagnificentbastard]

New Year Writing Tag

@cinnamontails-ff tagged me to participate in this game. Thank you so much for thinking of me!

What's been your biggest learning point this past year?

Everyone is different. That means everyone's perspective is different, and no one can or should try to tell a story the same way another author would. All you should do is tell your story the way you want it told, and those the story will resonate with will find it.

How has your writing developed this past year?

I'm developing the ability to explain why things are happening or why a character is acting a certain way without explicitly spelling out the reason. Before this year the last time I posted any fic at all was 2018. And in those six years, I had a lot of academic writing to do -- which meant lots of outright explanations, because one can't leave things up to interpretation in academic writing. I'm still getting out of that mindset, I think, but that's one way I've developed this year.

Good writing habits?

I have started finding spots where I can go to focus on my writing. I'm hoping to start making visiting those places part of my regular schedule this year!

Bad writing habits?

I have a very distracting habit of editing as I write. Sometimes I make it two or three paragraphs without stopping to edit. Sometimes I make it two sentences. But I have got to learn to get through the thing first before I start editing.

Favorite thing you wrote?

I love both of my Diana fics, but say yes, but only if you want to wins the top spot by a very slim margin.

Favorite reads?

I refuse to choose. Please check out my Ao3 recs -- that list is full of so many incredible authors, and I reread their stories so often.

Biggest win?

A year ago I wasn't at all anticipating joining a new fandom, much less being active enough to make friends and build a community. And yet here we are, and I'm so glad for it. This would have been an absolute mess of a year for me if you hadn't been with me.

Goals for the new year?

My goals are to write something every day, specifically something that makes me happy (meaning something that's not for work or school or anything else), and to learn to write without stopping to edit along the way.

Your favorite words of the year, aka the words you check each chapter for, making sure you didn't repeat them 788 times?

OUCH. The repeat offenders are look, lean(s), eyes, smile, hand(s), and smirk. Depending on the fic, I might even cut a kiss scene, because lips can start racking up search results, too.

What are you excited for in the new year?

You mean besides making more friends and reading more amazing fics? I'm hoping to start posting my longfic this year, so. That's pretty exciting.

No-pressure tagging @lyzelky, @nyx-knox, @bardic-inspo, @honeybee-bard, @busy-baker, @kalmiaphlox, @mellybaggins, @ballofbitter, and @saucy-scribbler!

[spotsandsocks]

The trouble with me is plot. The plot always gets away from me I just don’t think most people want plot they want smut and I’m just too lazy to write smut these days and deal with the pronouns 😂 and if they don’t want smut they’ll take angst and pain I generally like things to be happy for my beloveds. Not that I can’t angst on the way to happy but there you get into the problem of plot again ♾️

[trashootie]

Can you tell more about the deleted scene you mentioned under your "choking" piece? I've only played bg3 after full release, it sounds very intriguing. Also I am fascinated by your art like woah

Yes absolutely!

Basically the dreams is early access were very different, with the question asked during character creation being "Who do you dream of at night?"

This meant that the dreams were very personal with each character dreaming of someone important to them: Lae'zel about Vlaakith, Astarion about Cazador etc. So as a player you could make your dreams about someone from your ocs past.

I'm putting the rest under the cut bc I have a lot to say about this.

Your dreams were also very vague and to this day I'm not entirely sure how they were going to develop through the story if they remained as they were.

The character tells you that greatness awaits you and seems to embody temptation. Your relationship to them can be very different even with the fiew dialogue opportunities. I'll just provide a few screenshots from my ea playthroughs:

Dream 1

Dream 2

Dream 3 (you can make out but that's not where I went)

The vibe becomes very intense and it really makes you interested as to where they were going with this!

Also let's not forget about all of the dialogue with your companions:

Honestly I'd advice any fan of the game to check out an early access playhtough because A LOT has changed and there was so much interesting stuff in there