#writingwritingwriting

[charleslelurk]

17, 24 and 27 for the fic asks!

From here

Thank you for sending more!!

17. talk about your writing and editing process

When I first start an idea (and this is particular to longer word count ideas), I just let myself write whatever scene or image or dialogue is in my head (most of my ideas come from one light bulb moment that puts a scene into my head) and once I have that moment down, I start to figure out what the rest is. Once I have more than a few thousand words in a wip, I have to outline it (and I almost always have an overall idea for a fic by this point so this is easier than it sounds) and as I make the outline, I will figure out the ending/in betweens that I don't have yet. This is very much not set in stone though, and I am very comfortable changing things in the outline once I begin writing more scenes because I am a bit of a discovery writer even though I do also plan. I also write out of order, as the climactic scenes or scenes after the relationship is established are often the most fun for me so those are in my head earlier and then I have to ask myself "Okay, so how do we get there?" and I fill in the in between.

I edit as I go, largely because since I work on multiple projects at the same time, I will be away from a doc for a while before coming back and need to remind myself of details and tone before I can write more. And when I reread, I automatically begin editing. I rarely delete large passages or entire scenes, but I do a lot of minor edits for longer fics because I reread so much. I don't use a true beta, but I do have friends who look at my things before they are posted sometimes.

BUT for the fics where they are only like 1-2k and I post them with any sort of "wrote and dumped this" sort of disclaimer, they are usually written in a fervor, read over once, and posted (like running rossa corsa or rodeo clown).

24. how do you recharge when you’re not feeling creative?

Usually this means I haven't been reading/watching enough other stuff and just writingwritingwriting so I need to watch something to be a palette cleanse. OR I will reread one of my favorite fics and remind myself what I love about good writing to try and infuse those sorts of "good writing" aspects back into my writing. I know a lot of people avoid reading fic while they are writing but I am not one of those people.

27. your favorite part of the writing process

Oof this is hard, especially since I have been writing for f1 because for the last year in this fandom it has just... flowed. So my favorite part is when a scene just pours out of me (@ that sweet, sweet 4k of angst I tore through adding to Keep the Car Running yesterday) but that's also... a lot of my writing recently. Idk, my brain was like literally rewired by f1. It's appalling and amazing. So my fav part is when it flows, but it has been very regularly flowing so like... that's all of it really.

[visiodeii]

I feel like I found myself with Apollo

Since my first tarot reading, I feel connected to myself more than ever. So many things in my life pointed me in his direction. it all started when i was a Child: - Intrest in archery - I was part of the theatre club ( even in highschool) - Always on the sun and sunbathing - all the singing even if my voice isn't the best Then As a teen and even now: - I'm obsessed with sunsets/sunrises - writingwritingWRITING!! poems, fanfictions, novells, rp etc! - painting and drawing all day long, going to bed with paint on my finger tips - always wanting to do karaoke, singing, humming, whistling - being the sun and warmth of the friend group! - Always had a good 6th sense for bs This all is still intrest me! The list still goes on, I cry when I see a beautiful sunset, I turn on the music as soon as I wake up to get that invisible itch for a good melody scratched. And I couldn't be happier

[funkyllama]

writingwritingwriting

[formlessvoidbeast]

valar do I hate my brain in winter

it's just like--

finished up writing For The Want Of A Jewel, yay

fell into a massive depressive spiral

crawled my way out via reading ungodly amounts of batfam fic, a fandom which I have never given a second thought to before

got inspired and started to write The Second Son

hyperfocus to the max on WritingWritingWriting hahaha ninjas can't catch you if you're on fire

finish up writing The Second Son

The Depressions(tm)

and now I'm just, like, scrabbling around the corners of my own brain like a rat in a cage trying to find The Thing that will take up the hyperfocus space and hold off the endless yawning blegh of winter-brain but all options already taste like cardboard because the blegh is coming from inside the house

[murdermartmob]

getting cars stuck and writingwritingwriting

[thedumpster-fire]

Yes I made this, I need to convey my feels

[pointyobjects]

Everything Wrong With Theme Parties

<i>Another AU prompt for @turchinorain, who really doesn't want me to fall back into my writers block and is fighting it off with both hands. Yooda Best!

"This is why I don't come to parties..."

"You don't come to parties because you always say that 'books are better than people'."

"They <i>are<i>! Helga tells me, gesturing around as if the room were evidence enough of that fact. "A couple's costume party...can you imagine anything more idiotic?"

I have to admit, when Gerald told me about this idea, I momentarily wondered what parasite was manning the helm in my best friend's brain. There was not mistaking that he was madly in love with Phoebe, but neither of them seemed to be into things like 'couple's parties', until they got together. The whole idea was starting to seem a little ridiculous, even for me.

"The theme is kind of cute..." I offered. The small apartment was packed floor to ceiling with couple's in various states of costume, some matching, others not. I was beginning to think that I overdressed, and Helga underdressed. If she felt out of place, her huff of frustration hid it well. I was kind of hoping this party would break Helga and I out of our slump. While we were far from the honeymoon stage of dating, I always thought that when (not if) we did get together, it would be as exciting and passionate as the poetry she penned. And while I'm more than happy lounging around our shared space, watching marathons of zombie movies and Jane Austen adaptations, I kind of envied Gerald and Phoebe's unwavering sparks.

After a long stretch of silence, she spoke again. "So, what's with your getup?" Helga asked, not looking away from her phone. She warned me beforehand that the only good thing about parties was free food, and the opportunity to people watch. No doubt, she was logging her observations into her phone for later review.

"I'm a pirate," I said, simply. And she calls me dense.

"I can see that Footballface." The look Helga cut towards me could have shattered a diamond. "The theme of this dumb thing is "What You Were Wearing When You Fell in Love", and while I'd like to launch into a lengthy diatribe about what an absolutely stupid theme that is, even for a couple's party, I can't quite recall pillaging any seaports and taking back a tankard of ale with you since we've been together."

I resist the urge to let my jaw hit the floor. Helga, who remembers <i>everything<i> about our relationship, has let something slip her memory. How was this moment singed in my memory and not hers?

"You really don't remember, do you?"

"Unless you're thinking of some other girlfrie-"

"We were in the fourth grade. I was dressed as a pirate, and you were dressed as Lila Sawyer for some reason. That's when I knew."

Helga looked up from her phone and stared at me like I'd just grown another football shaped head. "You remember that?"

"Of course I do. It's when I...started to like you. Really like you," I finished taking her hand, because I knew she wouldn't take mine. Years into a relationship taught me that Helga might never be fully comfortable with public displays of affection. "Which begs me to ask, where's your costume?"

A smile that told me I'd never get the full story spread across her face. "I don't need one." Helga fingered a faded pink bowbraided into her long ponytail. "I've never taken mine off."

BUH BAM. I kind of love this, even though it's covered in fluff. I love fluff. I want to be the FluffMaster Supreme of the Hey Arnold Writing Community. It is my destiny. Hope you love this too!

[josh-lanyon]

Nothing like an amazing view to inspire some creativity 😊 #authorsofinstagram #writingwritingwriting #catalinaisland

[harrybridgers]

❄️❄️❄️

[gay-courier]

You weren't exactly sure what you expected. Well, you expected him to be an asshole, to be so rude that you just wanted to run and be alone. But, he wasn't. He was the opposite of that in fact. He was charming, sweet, kind. Hell you could easily fall in love with the man. He was almost all you wanted. All anyone ever wanted. You decided to strike up a conversation with him one night. You and him talked, this is when you realized that you did not actually even know his name. You asked, as politely as you could for it having been around a month since he started. He only laughed, stating he thought that he was the golden boy, he thought everyone knew his name. After some light teasing he told you. Felix. You repeated it, it simply rolled off your tongue. You told him it was a nice name, it was normal, much unlike some others here. You asked him to dinner, he accepted, saying how he thought you were interesting enough to get along with for more than a night, and if this date goes well he sincerely hopes to see you again.

The date went extremely well, it went perfectly in fact. It seemed as if you and him were meant to be. Simply meant to be, perfect for one another. Yet still you had no idea why this man was a 10. You and him dated for a long time. It had been your second anniversary when you finally realized it. He was a charming, handsome, sweet murderer. He had been in the army, destroyed planets, started civil wars, and made you fall in love with him so easily.

You didn't cry... You can bet your ass you cried. After being told something like that, after being informed that the man who you are in love with is a cold blooded murderer. What shocked you more was what he said. You had been next on the list. It was you who he was supposed to kill. And he failed his mission, so he had to leave, he was sent away. You never knew why everyone feared him, or why the others in the office begged you to not go with him, but now you do. Now you do, but you still love him, because to you his worst crime wasn't his murders or his lies. It was the way how he stole your heart and kept it for himself. Now you know why he was a 10. He was the charming, sweet, funny, amazing Felix. A cold blooded killer and a no good thief.

Taglist- @the-new-recruit (just tell me if you wanna be added or taken off)

You’re a regular office worker born with the ability to “see” how dangerous a person is with a number scale of 1-10 above their heads. A toddler would be a 1, while a skilled soldier with a firearm may score a 7. Today, you notice the reserved new guy at the office measures a 10.

[camaromayhem-blog]

When your singer says "make it more grosser!" #sovereign #gibson #writingwritingwriting #playitagain #thistimewithfeeling #thebeatingswillcontinueuntilmoraleimproves @the_eternal_antagonist

[emeson]

Studio. Bound. #carladuke #profusion #shaisoulwright #writingwritingwriting #singersongwriter #musician #andother

[thedumpster-fire]

What would be better. A jackson and elijah gym scene or a jackson, hayley, and elijah gym scene?

I'm kinda leaning to a jackson and elijah scene tbh but I need someone else's opinion

[soulfullofold]

HIHIHIHIHIHI #18, #32, #40 OF COURSE and #27 if its cathartic!

😳 writingwritingwriting

#18 Choose a passage from your writing. Tell me about the backstory of this moment. How you came up with it, how it changed from start to end. Spicy version: Questioner provides the passage.

Wellllll after showing up in your dms like buff garf it's been determined that my recent set of haiku will be the victims of this, specifically 457's!

So I guess overall I should begin by saying that tldr; one of the main tenets of haiku is to write from your own experiences. After doing this exercise, I agree; living the moment is the best way to condense it down to a tiny thought nugget moment in haiku. For most of my esk, this is not a problem. I already tend to base my esk where I've lived or been or from my experiences so this was a walk in the park for most of them. 457 is my first esk that really. Challenged me in that way because she's nowhere where I've been or what I've directly experienced. She's kind of still in a mutable space in my mind, I guess, with her nature features being from one place but me wanting to transplant her to another...and there was a lot of thought early on about what time period I wanted her to be from, exactly--ancient hunter or more modern? She's taken like 2% more shape since when I first got her and I really need to do more serious noodling but. I was treating her haiku as like little "obvious" or concrete notes about her personality. Sometimes that's what you gotta do to write lol. Just put something on paper. I was pretty surprised you wanted to know about these, since out of the entire set, these were some of my least favorites overall...Just because I felt they lacked the richness of others that drew on my experiences, because she's in this still-developing limbo, and...I don't think they're really haiku. I think the bitter-snark of her voice fits more for senryū but that's my onion. ANYWAY

ferns on the riverside whip-poor-will in the leaves oh, i will never return here

whip-poor-wills are migratory and I just liked the play between continually coming back to a place and 457's bitterness/sadness/angry spitting "I will never come back here". Self destructive much??? Also it's really subtle but I like the arriving bird & the play on leaves as in leaving idk just a fun thematic element. Though I definitely made a mistake and probably should have said nightjar instead of whip-poor-will bc. w-p-ws ARE in the nightjar family but I think when I wrote this I was thinking more specifically of a nightjar. IT"S FINE it's FIne please forgive me my ornithologist friends

the forest dies unceremoniously i bite back bitter tears against the sweet smell of rot

You know the Smell of a mushroom or a log rotting. Actually I got to Smell It this past week bc I just came back from a hiking & biking trip but YEAH it's such a visceral smell to me. I liked the LOOSE cutting word / juxtaposition between bitter and sweet. I also liked the um. Kind of "if a tree falls in a forest..." thing & 457 whoooo self-isolated herself in life and falls into eskhood unceremoniously. Lost into lost.

hollow as stone light as tin quiet as a thrush

a bundle of contradictions(?) here. stone can be hollow or solid. tin can be light or heavy. birds can sing or be silent. i thought it kind of fit her vibe to be both like. something that she shouldn't be, but also defiantly empty as;kdlfj hard to explain. It's the vibes. I went with tin here specifically because one of the motifs I associate with her is a tin camping mug that she drank her coffee in.

running is futile the earth still follows on the underside of my sole

Ah, I dunno this one felt so 14 year old journal to me but alas here we are. She scrambles through the forest trying to...outrun Something but she's surrounded by forest, inundated in it...isn't that what she Wanted in life? Idk she just has to be a ghost to work out what's been bothering her. I did have an adjacent experience to this where when I came back from hiking in Arizona I found sandy dirt and mud pressed into the soles of my hiking boots, No doubt from Beaver Creek that had somehow dried and stayed lodged in there even after all the other hiking around Prescott. Unlike 457 though I thought it was a delightful discovery :')

forest’s sweet solitude is only for those who refuse to hear

Another kind of eh one for me. I'm continually inspired by Richard Powers' Overstory so this is a brief synthesis of those ideas poured into 457. Aside from that, I was thinking about how peaceful and idyllic people regard forests are when in reality they're buzzing with activity and decay and communication at all times.

ANYWAYS R&R my haiku LOL

32. What is a line from a poem/novel/fanfic etc that you return to from time and time again? How did you find it? What does it mean to you?

Y'know I've never been a quote person. People always ask like "what's your favorite quote" and I literally never know what to say. I feel like I can never remember ONE line of anything perfectly vs like. The core concepts in peoples' works. I return to images / film bits WAY more often than words.

But when I was thinking about this last night, an iconic line from WTNV popped into my head. It isn't even my favorite by far, but I remember hearing it and thinking wow... it's (i think) from the pilot, about Cecil describing Carlos: "teeth like a military cemetery". Again, not even like one of the more poignant ones but it really impressed on me in 2013. I think one of the hallmarks of my writing (past & present) isssss the way I make comparisons or string together ideas like poetry. Wow that sounds super indulgent but I think that's something that always catches my attention in writing and something that I consciously or subconsciously do with my own. Just the surprising "huh!" evocative connections between ideas. Or like little details. Thinking of johnmountaingoats' lyric in Picture of My Dress about the Dallas Texas Burger King & the extra mayo. The rhythm of it too. Mil-i-tary-ceme-tary. I think of another quote hilariously. Well, not really a quote because I KNOW it's not right and I forget WHO said it. But something like "the place of poetry is on the tongue". I think the rhythm sticks with you there. Plus of course like. Being the first openly gay / queer Media (outside of fic) I ever consumed. That pilot episode meant a lot to bby me!!!

#40 Please share a poem with me, I need it.

How about... Good Bones by Maggie Smith:

Life is short, though I keep this from my children. Life is short, and I’ve shortened mine in a thousand delicious, ill-advised ways, a thousand deliciously ill-advised ways I’ll keep from my children. The world is at least fifty percent terrible, and that’s a conservative estimate, though I keep this from my children. For every bird there is a stone thrown at a bird. For every loved child, a child broken, bagged, sunk in a lake. Life is short and the world is at least half terrible, and for every kind stranger, there is one who would break you, though I keep this from my children. I am trying to sell them the world. Any decent realtor, walking you through a real shithole, chirps on about good bones: This place could be beautiful, right? You could make this place beautiful.

comment for one person only but Buckle about Donny thanks

27. Who is the most stressful character you’ve ever written? Why?

Hmm...I was thinking about it and probably honestly Ora. Not because she's stressful to write, but because I put a lot of pressure on myself to get her right. Mostly her dialogue I waffle on, trying to make it Sound like her but not be too curt but not be Too wordy etc. etc. Also out of all my characters, she's the one I do the most research for because of the setting and time period. I like including historical details or making a scene feel plausible for its world so I put a lot of energy into research for her!

THANKS FOR THE AAAAAASK I know it was a doozy!

[neitherlightnordark]

OKAY THAT'S ALL THE WRITING I SWEAR. removing myself from any writingwritingwriting now. *extraterrestrial construction sounds* guys if you see any smidgen of writing on this blog in the next [unforeseen amount of time until this burnout *whap whop* goes away] please dogpile me <3

[sometimesrosy]

Is it ok to not write everyday? Saturday I had family over (situation isn’t critical here), sunday I was feeling sick and with a lot of headaches, monday I had too much work and when I got home I just didn’t feel like writing. Yesterday I actually wrote, more than 3000 words. But today I left work later and went shopping. Had dinner while watching a tv show, took a shower. 10pm, didn’t feel like writing as my back really hurt & I was tired. I felt guilty for not writing as I had time. Is it ok?

PS. I’m really enjoying writing this story and I haven’t felt like it was this easy to write for a long time. I’ve been struggling to write, so now that I’m doing it and having fun and doing it daily, most of the time, I don’t want to burnout nor force myself to write when I don’t feel like it. I think that if I don’t particularly want to and force myself, I’ll stop enjoying writing it eventually

+++

Yes it’s okay not to write everyday-- or not write as much everyday.

As a writer, if you don’t have a deadline or assignment, whether for school or work or publication, then writing is 100% voluntary. You might feel a compulsion to write, but it’s still a choice.

And I believe that if people are looking to have a writing career, then they should actively CHOOSE to write. And to be aware how hard it is, how tricky, how little the rewards often are, and decide for themselves whether or not they are willing to sacrifice what they must in order to write. Because make no doubt about it, writing is something you have to sacrifice for. Even if it’s just your time and energy, that’s a sacrifice. And if you feel that you don’t want to sacrifice your time and energy to write, then maybe writing is not what you want to do as more than a fun pastime whenever the mood hits you. 

You can write without having a career in it, you know? You can enjoy it privately, or in fanfiction, or just for fun, with no grander goals than this one story, or whatever story you’re in the mood for. I mean I’ve been writing poetry for decades, and it never stopped me that I didn’t write regularly or publish much beyond that one year when I did a chapbook. I still find value in writing poetry, no matter what comes of it.

AND if you DO choose writing as a career or calling (because sometimes it’s more a calling than a career-- it’s hard to make a living, even when you succeed,) then you have to be aware that you’re in it for the long run. That means that you do not want to binge write every day, forever for the rest of your life. It is not sustainable.

Please remember that you are not only a writer, but also a person. You’re going to need time to be a person. To be with family. To work. To enjoy yourself. To be social. To get exercise. To be sick sometimes, or maybe all of the time if, like me, you have a chronic illness. 

As a writer, you need to take your life into consideration when you plan to write. Build writing into your life, don’t make it your life. Because in order to write well you do actually need to live. Whatever that means to you. 

Every writer has different needs. Some writers MUST write every day, to one degree or another. I think I might be one of them. But that doesn’t mean I write in my novel every day. There’s novelling, there’s journal writing, there’s poetry, there’s blog writing, there’s letter writing, there’s fanfic writing, there’s essay writing, there’s also social media writing. I’ve seen some instagram posts get very elaborate and be more like journals or essays. Do beware of twitter writing though. While it feeds the writing jones, it doesn’t seem to be very focused. Although, idk. Maybe it works for you to keep the fires burning.

But even when someone does prefer to write every day, sometimes there are going to be times when that’s not feasible, due to outside constraints or health or maybe a loss of inspiration or desire to write, even. It happens. 

I have a theory that writing is not JUST putting words on the page. A lot of the time, as writers, we really need a fallow period, where we DON’T put words on the page. Where we accept that there’s a silence in the words, a kind of wintering over, where we have to retreat from productive writing and instead focus inward on ideas, on feelings, on HOLDING onto those ideas and letting them grow underground, to bring them to bloom later, when it’s time to write.

Sometimes that “writers block” isn’t a writer’s block, but just a signal from our subconscious that we need to take a break and maybe slow down the relentless progress of words so that the ideas can grow and deepen into something more substantial. 

As I’m ghostwriting now, at a VERY fast pace, I do believe that writingwritingwriting without stopping to think leads to a shallower story. They can be FUN stories, but if you don’t stop to think about how it all fits together and maybe what it all means, then how can it really go deep? Sure you can push through to get that bingewriting wordcount... but does that mean you’re doing good writing? 

So basically I’m saying not only is it OKAY to take a writing break, I’m saying that in some ways it may be NECESSARY. Even when I do bingewrite, I find I need to take a break after it... so like for nanowrimo or ghostwriting, I need downtime to rest and recuperate. If I’m not writing slowly (for me 1k a day) where I’m building rest time INTO my writing day, I need to take a break, sometimes days, sometimes weeks, sometimes MONTHS.

One caveat is that if you do take a long break from writing, it can often be very difficult to get back into writing again. You lose your writing muscles. 

You might want to build some steps into your work habit that aren’t writing but share creative impulses, in order to either not lose your writing muscles or to work them up again after a break. Some of the non-novelling habits I mentioned before might help. Journal writing, poetry writing, writing about writing. But also note taking and research. Read books on writing or genre or storytelling. Watch shows that inspire your story. Read books to think about how other writers do it. Make maps and family trees and sketches of your characters or settings. Put your brain back in the story, even if you’re not writing. I like to start pinterest boards for all my novels/novellas. Sure it can feel like procrastination, but sometimes when I’m uninspired and not IN my story, I can go to the board and look at it and remember. Also it’s a good place to save research on, say, solo sailing, or how long it takes to get from the earth to mars at light speed or what the pacific north west coast looks like. 

tl:dr yes it’s okay to take a break. you need to find a work habit and a writing schedule that is workable for YOU and you should build breaks into that,but don’t let it get away from you so that you stop writing all together.