astraldruidry

[astraldruidry]

Environmental storytelling in a post apocalyptic survival horror game.

thanks tumblr for taking down my piece about censorship! heres a more censored version. i think its an improvement, really

(hey. you can still see it uncensored on bluesky.)

[astraldruidry]

*stabs you stabs you stabs you stabs you stabs you stabs you stabs you stabs you stabs you stabs you*

*Inserts "Hammer of Justice" from Deltarune*

Consulting Google and The Nerd Council (my friends) because I've never played anything by Toby Fox.

[astraldruidry]

*Inserts "Hammer of Justice" from Deltarune*

Consulting Google and The Nerd Council (my friends) because I've never played anything by Toby Fox.

[astraldruidry]

*Transgender noises*

*Transgender noises of agreement*

[astraldruidry]

Bring back capitalisation for Emphasis! I Love It! Best bit of this insane language.

Finding some random artists OC and getting so incredibly attached to the character and design out of nowhere like hi. I’ve just met you and your Pet Freak. I’m going to Monitor You so I can one day catch another sighting of your Pet Freak

[astraldruidry]

Turns out if you make a post going "hey I wanna start a writers collective" a bunch of cool people go "do it, I'll join." So yeah. Guess I'm starting a writers discord server. Will update soon.

[astraldruidry]

The urge to start a writers collective grows daily

[astraldruidry]

I am visualising them gently rotating in the void between realms...

Three perfect eggs I enjoyed on the 30th of October 2024.

[astraldruidry]

[astraldruidry]

🧩 How to Outline Without Feeling Like You’re Dying

(a non-suffering writer’s guide to structure, sanity, and staying mildly hydrated)

Hey besties. Let’s talk outlines. Specifically: how to do them without crawling into the floorboards and screaming like a Victorian ghost.

If just hearing the word “outline” sends your brain into chaos-mode, welcome. You’re not broken, you’re just a writer whose process has been hijacked by Very Serious Advice™ that doesn’t fit you. You don’t need to build a military-grade beat sheet. You don’t need a sixteen-tab spreadsheet. You don’t need to suffer to be legitimate. You just need a structure that feels like it’s helping you, not haunting you.

So. Here’s how to outline your book without losing your soul (or all your serotonin).

—

🍓 1. Stop thinking of it as “outlining.” That word is cursed. Try “story sketch.” “Narrative roadmap.” “Planning soup.” Whatever gets your brain to chill out. The goal here is to understand your story, not architect it to death.

Outlining isn’t predicting everything. It’s just building a scaffold so your plot doesn't fall over mid-draft.

—

🧠 2. Find your plot skeleton. There are lots of plot structures floating around: 3-Act. Save the Cat. Hero’s Journey. Take what helps, ignore the rest.

If all else fails, try this dirt-simple one I use when my brain is mush:

Act I: What’s the problem?

Act II: Why can’t we fix it?

Act III: What finally makes us change?

Ending: What does that change cost?

You don’t need to fill in every detail. You just need to know what’s driving your character, what’s blocking them, and what choices will change them.

—

🛒 3. Make a “scene bucket list.” Before you start plotting in order, write down a list of scenes you know you want: key vibes, emotional beats, dramatic reveals, whatever.

These are your anchors. Even if you don’t know where they go yet, they’re proof your story already exists, it just needs connecting tissue.

Bonus: when you inevitably get stuck later, one of these might be the scene that pulls you back in.

—

🧩 4. Start with 5 key scenes. That’s it. Here’s a minimalist approach that won’t kill your momentum:

Opening (what sucks about their world?)

Catalyst (what throws them off course?)

Midpoint (what makes them confront themselves?)

Climax (what breaks or remakes them?)

Ending (what’s changed?)

Plot the spaces between those after you’ve nailed these. Think of it like nailing down corners of a poster before smoothing the rest.

You’re not “doing it wrong” if you start messy. A messy start is a start.

—

🔧 5. Use the outline to ask questions, not just answer them. Every section of your outline should provoke a question that the scene must answer.

Instead of: — “Chapter 5: Sarah finds a journal.”

Try: — “Chapter 5: What truth does Sarah find that complicates her next move?”

This makes your story active, not just a list of stuff that happens. Outlines aren’t just there to record, they’re tools for curiosity.

—

🪤 6. Beware of the Perfectionist Trap™. You will not get the entire plot perfect before you write. Don’t stall your momentum waiting for a divine lightning bolt of Clarity. You get clarity by writing.

Think of your outline as a map drawn in pencil, not ink. It’s allowed to evolve. It should evolve.

You’re not building a museum exhibit. You’re making a prototype.

—

🧼 7. Clean up after you start drafting. Here’s the secret: the first draft will teach you what the story’s actually about. You can go back and revise the outline to fit that. It’s not wasted work, it’s evolving scaffolding.

You don’t have to build the house before you live in it. You can live in the mess while you figure out where the kitchen goes.

—

🛟 8. If you’re a discovery writer, hybrid it. A lot of “pantsers” aren’t anti-outline, they’re just anti-stiff-outline. That’s fair.

Try using “signposts,” not full scenes:

Here’s a secret someone’s hiding.

Here’s the emotional breakdown scene.

Here’s a betrayal. Maybe not sure by who yet.

Let the plot breathe. Let the characters argue with your outline. That tension is where the fun happens.

—

🪴 TL;DR but emotionally: You don’t need a flawless outline to write a good book. You just need a loose net of ideas, a couple of emotional anchors, and the willingness to pivot when your story teaches you something new.

Outlines should support you, not suffocate you.

Let yourself try. Let it be imperfect. That’s where the good stuff lives.

Go forth and outline like a gently chaotic legend 🧃

— written with snacks in hand by Rin T. @ thewriteadviceforwriters 🍓🧠✍️

Sometimes the problem isn’t your plot. It’s your first 5 pages. Fix it here → 🖤 Free eBook: 5 Opening Pages Mistakes to Stop Making:

[astraldruidry]

[astraldruidry]

This is the logical end point if my obsession with increasingly specific and detailed layers of worldbuilding (I know the diets of different ethnic groups in my setting through time now and what nutrient deficiencies they would theoretically be prone to during leaner times now)

[astraldruidry]

me and the boys have a couple of chains wrapped around the sword in the stone hooked up to mikes toyota tundra gonna pull that fucker out like a tooth.

[astraldruidry]

Thing w Ncuti Gatwa's status as first queer person to play the Doctor is any of the previous actors could steal his crown at any time

[astraldruidry]

Thing w Ncuti Gatwa's status as first queer person to play the Doctor is any of the previous actors could steal his crown at any time

[astraldruidry]

Peak! Also a great way to not have to stand up too long as a disabled person while still doing the social interaction with family or housemates.

no for real like sit over there and drink your little beverage and stay tf out of the way let me cook

[astraldruidry]

On the issue of the recent UK online “safety” act.

KEEP THE PRESSURE UP

IT MIGHT NOT HIT ITS GOAL BEFORE GOING INTO AFFECT, BUT EVEN THEN KEEP GOING

YOU CAN GET IT REPEALED IF YOU KEEP FINDING WAYS TO SHARE IT

KEEP SHARING THE PETITION, KEEP SIGNING IT, KEEP THE PRESSURE UP AND IT CAN BE TAKEN AWAY

EVEN IF YOU'RE NOT IN THE UK

KEEP FUCKING SHARING IT

SO MANY PEOPLE ARE GOING TO LOSE THEIR COMMUNITIES FROM THIS, AND IT WILL DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD

KEEP PUSHING IT. KEEP FIGHTING THIS. GET THIS TAKEN AWAY.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/722903