anuninspiredwriter

[anuninspiredwriter]

CHAPPELL ROAN + 2nd Coachella Performance on April 19, 2024 wardrobe stylist: Genesis Webb 🎀 make-up stylist: Doniella Davy 💄 hair stylist: Dom Forletta 🌸

[anuninspiredwriter]

adhd tips from a girlie who was diagnosed in her late twenties and has had little to no support since and is being so brave about it:

1) Make it easy, make it accessible, and make it appealing. If anything this is the most important thing, all tips going forward are based around this concept.

2) That thing you think would help you but you haven’t bought/done it yet because you’re technically surviving without it? buy it, you need it. doesn’t matter if people around you might think it’s wasteful or that you’re lazy, you’re not, just do it, trust me.

3) expanding on tip #2, if you’re like me and eggs are your main source of protein because they’re quick and easy and feeding yourself is a near insurmountable task- buy yourself an electric egg cooker, make a bunch of hard boiled eggs and keep them in your fridge for quick and easy protein to add to any meal (handful of crackers, a hard boiled egg and a banana? 5 star meal right there.). Other easy protein includes: potstickers (put them in instant ramen), edamame (they have microwaveable snack packs), chickpeas (put in salads!), beans (can of beans microwaved with shredded cheese and some tortilla chips), peanut butter (with crackers, apple and cheese, adult lunchable style) and tofu (cut into cubes, throw them into a ziplock with some seasoning and potato starch, shake that shit up and bake it until crispy).

4) spend a little extra (if you are able) on daily use items that excite you, it will make you more likely to remember/want to do said daily task. for example: the only reason i remember to use sunscreen is because i bought some fancy japanese sunscreen that smells like roses so i get excited to use it, same for laundry detergent and body wash! there’s a gajillion different body wash scents out there, switch it up!

5) if there’s a task you continuously struggle with take a moment to think about which part of the task is making it difficult, it could be something even as small as “i don’t put my dirty clothes in the hamper because my hamper has a lid on it and lifting the lid is one step too many” sounds a little stupid huh? but trust your gut, it’s not stupid if it works. See tip #2 and BUY A HAMPER WITHOUT A LID.

6) if you are having trouble starting a task, break the task down further, sometimes the way i start tasks is just by going “ok step 1) stand up-“ and so forth. don’t worry about the task as a whole just take it one step at a time.

7) if you’re halfway through a task and have to stop, leave it out. all this, “put things away when you’re done with them.” is bullshit. you will be much more likely to finish the task if restarting it is easier because you left it out. you can also create faux deadlines like “I gotta finish this project before my friend comes over on tuesday because after I finish it I can clean off the dinner table.” etc.

8) It’s okay to outsource tasks and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, humans are designed to ask for, and to require help (what do babies do when they’re first born?? cry for help!!) ask for help and receive help without shame, if it makes your life better, you are WINNING.

9) if you have one big overwhelming task that you think you need to get done before anything else, but you feel motivated to do other tasks, do those other tasks first, it’s okay. otherwise in all likelihood (at least in my case) you’ll put everything off until the last minute and then have to do said overwhelming task and those other tasks won’t get done at all. doing smaller tasks also lowers the mental load and you can use them as a motivation launch pad to tackle bigger things.

10) If you notice you tend to not put something away/forget to do something, perhaps consider moving and storing the item closer to where it ultimately ends up or where you are more likely to see it. For example, my makeup, pills, and mail are all stored on my desk because that’s where I tend to do my makeup, take my pills and deal with my mail. I used to store my pills in my bathroom medicine cabinet but all too often I would forget because they weren’t in my line of sight. now that they’re on my desk, I have multiple chances per day to pass by them, go “oh I gotta take those.” and take them.

11) Open storage, open storage, OPEN STORAGE

12) motivation can look like all kinds of things. sometimes the only reason I get out of bed is because i remember I have a fun snack and I get to go eat it if I get up. it’s okay to lean into those simple “animal-brain” type motivators, you’ll eat because then you can use that fun new kitchen gadget you got a daiso? neat. you’ll shower because then you can paint your nails that fun new color you got? fantastic. you’ll go to the dmv and do that annoying thing because you’ll take yourself out for boba after? superb. lean-IN to those small motivators, they aren’t stupid or childish, they are VITAL.

13) don’t buy into the cult of “if it’s worth doing, do it properly” it’s guaranteed to set you up for failure. if it’s worth doing, do it in whatever capacity you are able to. i put sunscreen on once a day because that’s fucking better than not doing it at all and i sure as all hell will fail at reapplying it multiple times a day. if it’s worth doing, do it half-assed babieeee.

go forth and prosper!!! xoxo ✌️🩵

[anuninspiredwriter]

Being a writer is writing 3,000 words at 4 in the morning and then not touching your work for a month

[anuninspiredwriter]

oh to read poetry with your S/O under the stars while drinking cheap wine

[anuninspiredwriter]

things people do in real world dialogue:

• laugh at their own jokes

• don’t finish/say complete sentences

• interrupt a line of thought with a sudden new one

• say ‘uh’ between words when unsure

• accidentally blend multiple words together, and may start the sentence over again

• repeat filler words such as ‘like’ ‘literally’ ‘really’ ‘anyways’ and ‘i think’

• begin and/or end sentences with phrases such as ‘eh’ and ‘you know’, and may make those phrases into question form to get another’s input

• repeat words/phrases when in an excited state

• words fizzle out upon realizing no one is listening

• repeat themselves when others don’t understand what they’re saying, as well as to get their point across

• reply nonverbally such as hand gestures, facial expressions, random noises, movement, and even silence

[anuninspiredwriter]

also seriously if a character isn’t white, i promise your only descriptive options aren’t food words and varying degrees of tan. it’s okay to say brown. pale brown! light brown! golden brown! medium brown! dark brown! deep brown! so many kinds of brown!

BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN

[anuninspiredwriter]

Character Creation with Dice - The Basics

This is meant as fun and alternative way to create a character when you don’t know what kind of character you want or just have a plot and no character and hate to search for character questionnaires. Or don’t like using them. You just need two six sided dice and pen and paper or anything else to note your outcome. This will expand later on. The number under the traits tell which one you got.  Of course, you can skip parts when you think it is not necessary or don’t want to give your character one of the traits (yet). 

Basics 1 dice needed Gender Male           Female       Nonbinary 1 or  5         2 or 4          3 or 6 Sexuality Straight        Lesbian/Gay           Gay/Lesbian 1                   2                             3 Bisexual       Pansexual       Asexual 4                   5                      6 Height under 5’ (1,50m)      under 5’4” (1, 62m)       under 5’7”(1,73m) 1                               2                                     3 under 6’ (1,82)         under 6’3”(1,93m)          under 6’8” (2,07m) 4                              5                                     6 Build average      scrawny      muscular 1                 2                 3 athletic       chubby         delicate 4                5                   6 Face shape Round       Oblong         Rectangular 1                2                  3 Diamond    Square         Heart 4                 5                  6

Appearance Details 2 dice needed

Complexion (aka skin color) Tawny       Dark      White      Brown      Copper 2               3            4             5              6 Amber      Black     Beige      Bronze      Gold       Pale 7               8            9            10              11           12 Eye color Silver     Saphire     Hazel      Baby Blue     Emerald     Amber

2            3                4             5                   6                7 Chestnut      Gray       Jade     Onyx       Violet 8                   9            10         11            12

Sound of the voice monotonous      thin       smoky       throaty      adenoidal      smooth 2                        3          4                5                6                  7 husky      grating       croaky       shrill     squeaky 8              9               10              11          12 Marking (tattoos, scars, piercings) Arm Tattoo      Ear Piercing       Septum Piercing       Face Scar 2                      3                         4                               5 Back Tattoo      Leg Tattoo        Eyebrow Piercing      Chest Scar 6                       7                        8                               9 Face Tattoo        Branding         Back Scar 10                       11                    12

[anuninspiredwriter]

I am a(n):

⚪ Male

⚪ Female

🔘 Writer

Looking for

⚪ Boyfriend

⚪ Girlfriend

🔘 An incredibly specific word that I can't remember

[anuninspiredwriter]

Origami (poem)

TW's: mention of needles/sharp objects. Anything else I need to add, let me know!

-

Fold my brain. 

Like a silver crane resting in your shirt pocket,

best built out of pin needles,

and nested in bubbles,

fold my thoughts and hold them to your chest. 

For hopefully our mistakes will bring you wisdom 

and our birds will peck the thought of others into your heart. 

-

[anuninspiredwriter]

Thanks for the tag!! This is from my current in the works short story (I don't have anything longer going).

"The first time he ate one, he was five, and he should have known that anything so gray would be poison."

I don't really know who to tag? But this was fun! Thank you!

First Line tag

A lot like last line tag, but, ya know, first line instead :P

Rules: post the first line of a WiP and tag as many people as there are words in the quote.

Thank you @converginglives for the tag. I’ve been playing with James and the hyenas lately, so let’s scroll waaaay waaay back to see how this all started.

James shouldered open the door to April’s dorm, index card fluttering to the floor as he did.

That’s seventeen words, so seventeen people. Woof. Okay, here we go:

@esoteric-eclectic-eccentric  @aquariuspotato  @sensitivesapphic  @emdop   @dogwrites  @wildfaewrites  @kiki-thelocal-farmhoe  @notanalien51  @silvertalonwriteblr  @agwitow  @fernyquotes   @sweetcatminteareblog  @shadowfire71-writes  @inexorableblob  @reininginthefirewriting and @cirianne Bless! I hope that’s seventeen. My brain. halp.

[anuninspiredwriter]

Poem #12

A soft, sad boy. Kinda really like this one so I'm adding my tag list at the end.

TW's: none. Let me know if I need to add any

-

Speak, darling. 

For as we approach the night 

we float towards the stars, 

and I can only breathe if I feel your breath. 

So speak, my love. 

Will you whisper to me 

quiet words you’ll never forget,

books you’ve never read?

Sing to me all your unanswered prayers. 

As we land on the mood our foreheads touch, 

and fingers curl around our sheets.

When your voice grows hoarse

and your thoughts die down, 

together, we’ll fall asleep. 

-

Taglist: @lesbiien @nerdychef-jean @htmail

[anuninspiredwriter]

Poem #12

TW: some negative/depressing imagery (not sure how to phrase that), anything else, let me know!

-

Dim lights, room crash. 

Weeping Willows hang from his ears.

Piercings stretch under the weight 

of their untamed happiness. 

Honest thoughts spawning, 

uncovered, unashamed. 

Oh how he wishes the Willows

would rip the bandage off quicker, 

and shake off the ghosts

hanging on his frame. 

[anuninspiredwriter]

poem #10

Trigger Warnings: Death, graphic imagery

-

This is where I die.

Roots sprout from aching tendons 

and crash into the dirt 

like moonlight hungering for the sea. 

Shining through open pores 

the light illuminates depths of mystery 

that only the moon can know 

on it’s darkest nights. 

Fingers curl, desperate 

into the hem of a flower petal. 

Gripping for reality 

in the vines creeping up my legs. 

Thorns poke deep holes 

and fill with sap until the leak 

and freeze around my ankles 

Encasing my joints in an icy prison. 

Like a blind person in their bedroom,

Having been trapped before,

this is where I die, 

sinking into familiar touch and dreaming of the sea.

[anuninspiredwriter]

If You Give a Book a Title...

Book Titling FAQ

This post will mainly refer to novels and their nitty gritties, but a lot of this can also be applied toward short stories, novellas, poems and poetry collections, films, and the likes).

First Thing: What Does a Title Need to Do?

That depends on a lot of things. The listed things below are not always required but are typically all considered. You know your story best and what you intend on doing with it, so trim the list accordingly.

A title should…

represent the story, themes, and purpose as a whole

be marketable and easy to pitch

NOT resemble titles of other works in your genre

NOT be the exact same as another work, regardless of genre and medium (although some creator’s have proven otherwise; trust your instincts)

be easy to say and remember for an average joe when they bring it up in conversation

reflect your genre, sub-genre(s), and overall tone

make you feel proud to say and mention to others

get to the point

be interesting and raise questions or create mystique for someone unfamiliar (right between super-vague and super-specific)

be able to reach a wide audience

Are There Any Contingents?

Yes, both good and bad.

The Bad: If you are traditionally publishing, your publisher has the final say on the title. I know a lot of us have heard this scary statement, but I did some digging and found out some key things on this.

Yes, it is 100% true; a publisher has the final say. However, it doesn’t seem to be common practice and it’s not done without reason. A good publisher isn’t changing the title because they have their own good idea. When a good publisher changes the title, it’s because these industry professionals (who NEED your book to sell well) feel as if you have done a disservice to your book’s marketability with its original title. 

The most common reasons I could find for a publisher changing the title were:

It was too long

I’m not talking The Knife of Never Letting Go or Are All My Friends Hanging Out Without Me? long. I’m talking very wordy compound sentences long. Said-In-Two-Breaths long.

It was too specific and narrowed down potential readers

Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson appeals to many kinds of non-fic readers; The Roller Coaster of Emotions of a Mentally Ill Blogger by Jenny Lawson, although a funny title (and I love that book), narrows down that broad potential readership

You have to hook ‘em before they know what hit ‘em

It was too similar to another work

Either too similar to another work within the genre, too similar to another work within their publishing canon, too similar to another work coming out at the same time, too similar to a famous work, or just too similar to another work in general 

tl;dr: If you think you have a strong, unique, and effective title, chances are you’ll be able to keep it.

The Good: You could be off the hook for a lot of the “necessary” things for a good publishing title if you’re not publishing on a wider scale. If you’re posting on tumblr, Wattpad, AO3, et al. or you aren’t publishing for the public AND you care more about the title meaning than the “marketability”, than you are good to go. There’s no shame in publishing work for your own fun and not for a “bigger goal”. Plus, if you decide to aim for a bigger goal, you can always tweak the title. 

The Extra Good: There are opportunities to create nuanced titles all the time that don’t follow any “rule” listed in the first question. And even if they aren’t nuanced, IT’S ART! Do what you want! The advice here is simply to guide writers who want to focus on what makes a good title within a market. Both quests are noble and you should choose based on your story and your goal. 

The Extra EXTRA Good: A lot of leeway can be given for series installments (see below).

How Do I Know if It’s a Good Title?

A great way is to survey your friends, mentors, and writerly peers. You could give them the title your set on for feedback or you could give them a list of options for them to vote on. The purpose isn’t to let them decide if your title is bad or to choose which title, but for you to get feedback to use how you want. Sometimes I throw in filler titles that I come up with off the cuff and THEY are the ones who get chosen. Feedback is just food for thought.

Another way is to research published titles in the same genre. Both to analyze overused trends, patterns, motifs, and words AND to get an idea of what gets a lot of readers interested. Of course, the cover and author and so many other variables go into a successful book, but the title is at least one facet. 

Overall, you should think about its effectiveness. Does it evoke the tone you want? As you think about plot points and themes, does the title still make sense? Would you read a book with this title? Could this title be misleading in any way?

Slow Down! How Do I Find a Title in the First Place?

First, try to make a list of potential words and phrases to include in the title. There are many ways to find these which include, but are NOT limited to:

a common motif, symbol, image, or theme in the story

a character and their name

a once-said phrase/fragment from the text

a key word, phrase, setting, or name specific to the story’s world

words you like and/or sound pretty and are applicable

words that are uncommon but pretty and applicable (i.e. latin, historical/archaic terms, etc.)

a common expression, proverb, or saying

Now, let’s do some puzzle work.

Some of your words and phrases that you have compiled are perfectly fine on their own as titles. Other may need some support. I have a post on this concept, but I’m going to put it all here and expand upon it. 

Here are some common ways author’s arrange these words/phrases into the title*:

The Long-Title Metaphor w/ Imagery 

ex. The Knife of Never Letting Go

The Short-Title Metaphor w/ Imagery

ex. Lost Stars

A Sentence Fragment

ex. And I Darken

_______’s  _______

ex. The Savior’s Champion

The Main Character(s) (No Names)

ex. The Book Thief, The Help, The Time Traveler’s Wife, Dark Disciple

The Pair of Recurrent Theme(s) 

ex. Pride and Prejudice

_________ from ________

The Execution from the Silent Valley

The Easter Egg

ex. Fahrenheit 451

(paper burns at that temp)

The Command 

ex. Fall on Your Knees, Call Me By Your Name, Tell the Wolves I’m Home

The Introduction

ex. I, the Sun

An Utterance

I Might Regret This, You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me

_________ of ________

Trail of Lightning, Evidence of the Affair, Monsters of Men

Adjective + Noun

Hillbilly Elegy, Sharp Objects

*some of these examples include titles that appear in their entirety within the text, which means the author didn’t really have to manipulate a list like yours, but I still think they’re good examples to know

How Should I Title for a Series?

For this answer’s purpose, I’ll be referring to series with interrelated stories rather than anthologies like Goosebumps.

There are two parts here: individual installments and the series as a whole.

Individual Installments:

You should look at other series of the same length and genre. Some have titles that correlate and some prioritize other things like imagery. 

* I’d also like to note that it is much easier to get away with a title that is similar/identical to another work if it is the 2nd+ installment in a series.

In fact, it’s easy to disregard most of the aforementioned “rules” for the 2nd+ installment once it’s under the umbrella of a unique first book title. You don’t have to worry about a title that will “hook” a random reader so much. You do that more with the first book. 

Here are some examples to get you started:

Dystopian trilogies

The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay

Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant

Historical trilogy

And I Darken, Now I Rise, Bright We Burn

Fantasy romance trilogy

Caraval, Legendary, Finale

Dystopian romance series

Shatter Me, Unravel Me, Ignite Me, Restore Me, Defy Me, etc etc

Matched, Crossed, Reached

YA Mystery/Thriller Series

The Naturals, Killer Instinct, All In, Bad Blood

Series Names

The series’ name can take so many different forms. So, as always, I’ve got some examples for you.

The Conqueror’s Saga

Chaos Walking Trilogy

The Hunger Games Trilogy

Only example here named after the first book

Southern Reach Trilogy

The Chronicles of Narnia

Variants

Willow and Birch

Goodnight Family

Above all, an effective series name is short, unique, and memorable.

I Have More Questions!

Awesome! At the risk of totally filling up someone’s dash with one post, I’m going to stop here for now. However, I encourage you to send further questions to my Ask box! Make sure it isn’t anon, though, because I will be updating this post with your question/my answer and I would like to give credit!

[anuninspiredwriter]

Eternal

We were sunbursts by moon-fall, frivolous and detailed in description.

We were twinkling lights that people romanticized, thrown into the pool of someone’s irises to satisfy an admirer’s love poem.

Shining in the dark, it was too easy for us to be disguised by a night’s atmosphere.

People awed while we tried to peek through, searching for a spotlight.

But at the end of the night, we were always just indigo drowned in blue; widely seen but too far to be heard.

Loudly pleading for peace as we faded into the rising gold, we were trapped in our eternal reputation.

-

This was actually the poem I submitted to my school’s lit mag weeks ago lol. Hope y’all like it.

General taglist: @nerdychef-jean @lesbiien @gloombees

[anuninspiredwriter]

while we're on the subject of writing, how do you recommend extending a scene? im trying to be more expressive in my writing but it feels super rushed i was wondering if you had any tips

While I do believe you shouldn’t rush through scenes- I also am a very concise writer, meaning I actually like to use a few words to describe as much as possible. (Whether I’m actually good at that is a whole other discussion, whoops). So I’m not sure how helpful my advice will be!

And always remember- take writing advice, always, with a grain of salt. What works for me, easily might not work for you.

When you’re writing a scene, ask yourself (whether implicitly or explicitly), “What all do I want to show here?”

Should I focus on the characters? The dialogue? The setting? All of those? Something else? 

Start with a simple bare bone structure to start off with, then build upon it.

Let me exemplify this…

Say, I want to write a paragraph where Roman is going into Logan’s room and is worried about the state of disarray it is in. I’ll start with that. 

Roman opened the the door to find Logan’s room was a mess. That worried him. 

See? Basic structure. I want the reader’s attention to immediately be drawn to the mess, though, so I think I can add a little more detail…

Roman opened the door to Logan’s room, only to immediately step onto a shirt tossed aside carelessly. Upon pushing the door open wider, he noticed Logan’s computer open on the edge of his bed, surrounded by calendars and pens. That worried Roman.

So, the room’s a mess… but I want my readers to know this isn’t normal, so they understand Roman’s worry. Let’s see…

Roman opened the door to Logan’s room, only to immediately step onto a shirt tossed carelessly where the bare carpet usually laid. Upon pushing the door open wider, he noticed Logan’s computer open on the edge of his bed, surrounded by calendars and pens. Roman furrowed his brow. He couldn’t quite remember a time where Logan had ever left his computer open, let alone thrown on his bed where it could easily drop. That worried Roman.

And then to add the finishing touches… let’s try to show the reader that Roman’s worried, not spoon-feed it to them…

Roman opened the door to Logan’s room, only to immediately step onto a shirt tossed carelessly where the bare carpet usually laid. Upon pushing the door open wider, he noticed Logan’s computer open on the edge of his bed, surrounded by calendars and pens. Roman furrowed his brow. He couldn’t quite remember a time where Logan had ever left his computer open, let alone thrown on his bed where it could easily drop. Roman crossed his arms, stomach twisting, and wracked his mind for a reasonable explanation. No matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t come up with an explanation that made sense. 

See? Now I’ve conveyed everything I want to convey! And I can continue to do that for each scene, each paragraph, until it feels more natural. 

Remember: What is important to show the reader? What do I want to portray? What purpose does this scene serve? What does my reader need to know now?

[anuninspiredwriter]

reminder to myself about the process of drafting & revising:

first drafts are for making it exist

second drafts are for making it functional

third drafts are for making it effective