cheshirewrites

[cheshirewrites]

Lately I've been seeing stars.

[cheshirewrites]

Gate

[cheshirewrites]

While your wip’s protagonist is staying at the palace of a greedy Lord, a vengeful enchantress transforms its inhabitants into a household item that reflects some aspect related to them.

[cheshirewrites]

people say “write what you know” and then get surprised when i hand them 47 pages of unprocessed emotional trauma disguised as fantasy worldbuilding

[cheshirewrites]

Weird Questions for Writers (because writers are weird)

1. What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is that just the default setting?

2. If you had to give up your keyboard and write your stories exclusively by hand, could you do it? If you already write everything by hand, a) are you a wizard and b) pen or pencil?

3. What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?

4. What’s a word that makes you go absolutely feral?

5. Do you have any writing superstitions? What are they and why are they 100% true?

6. What is your darkest fear about writing?

7. What is your deepest joy about writing?

8. If you had to write an entire story without either action or dialogue, which would you choose and how would it go?

9. Do you believe in ghosts? This isn’t about writing I just wanna know

10. Has a piece of writing ever “haunted” you? Has your own writing haunted you? What does that mean to you?

11. Do you believe in the old advice to “kill your darlings?” Are you a ruthless darling assassin? What happens to the darlings you murder? Do you have a darling graveyard? Do you grieve?

12. If a genie offered you three writing wishes, what would they be? Btw if you wish for more wishes the genie turns all your current WIPs into Lorem Ipsum, I don’t make the rules

13. What is a subject matter that is incredibly difficult for you write about? What is easy?

14. Do you lend your books to people? Are people scared to borrow books from you? Do you know exactly where all your “lost” books are and which specific friend from school you haven’t seen in twelve years still possesses them? Will you ever get them back?

15. Do you write in the margins of your books? Dog-ear your pages? Read in the bath? Why or why not? Do you judge people who do these things? Can we still be friends?

16. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever used as a bookmark?

17. Talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. Tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text.

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 addition: Questioner provides the passage.

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

20. If a witch offered you the choice between eternal happiness with your one true love and the ability to finally finish, perfect, and publish your dearest, darlingest, most precious WIP in exactly the way you've always imagined it — which would you choose? You can’t have both sorry, life’s a bitch

21. Could you ever quit writing? Do you ever wish you could? Why or why not?

22. How organized are you with your writing? Describe to me your organization method, if it exists. What tools do you use? Notebooks? Binders? Apps? The Cloud?

23. Describe the physical environment in which you write. Be as detailed as possible. Tell me what’s around you as you work. Paint me a picture.

24. How much prep work do you put into your stories? What does that look like for you? Do you enjoy this part or do you just want to get on with it?

25. What is a weird, hyper-specific detail you know about one of your characters that is completely irrelevant to the story?

26. How do you get into your character’s head? How do you get out? Do you ever regret going in there in the first place?

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

28. Who is the most delightful character you’ve ever written? Why?

29. Where do you draw your inspiration? What do you do when the inspiration well runs dry?

30. Talk to me about the role dreams play in your writing life. Have you ever used material from your dreams in your writing? Have you ever written in a dream? Did you remember it when you woke up?

31. Write a short love letter to your readers.

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?

33. Do you practice any other art besides writing? Does that art ever tie into your writing, or is it entirely separate?

34. Thoughts on the Oxford comma, Go:

35. What’s your favorite writing rule to smash into smithereens?

36. They say to Write What You Know. Setting aside for a moment the fact that this is terrible advice...what do you Know?

37. If you were to be remembered only by the words you’ve put on the page, what would future historians think of you?

38. What is something about your writing process YOU think is Really Weird? If you are comfortable, please share. If you’re not comfortable, what do you think cats say about us?

39. What keeps you writing when you feel like giving up?

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

[cheshirewrites]

A Writer’s Ask Game

Send me an ask with the number(s) you’d like me to answer!

The Basics 1.     Do you listen to music when you write? 2.     Are you a pantser or plotter? 3.     Computer or pen and paper? 4.     Have you ever been published, or do you want to be published? 5.     How much writing do you get done on an average day? 6.     Single or multiple POV? 7.     Standalone or series? 8.     Oldest WIP 9.     Current WIP 10.  Do you set yourself deadlines?

The Specifics 11.  Books and/or authors who influenced you the most 12.  Describe your perfect writing space 13.  Describe your writing process from idea to polished 14.  How do you deal with self-doubts? 15.  How do you deal with writer’s block? 16.  How many drafts do you need until you’re satisfied with a project? 17.  What writing habits or rituals do you have? 18.  If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be, and what would you write about? 19.  How do you keep yourself motivated? 20.  How many WIPs and story ideas do you have?

The Favourites 21.  Who is/are your favourite character(s) to write? 22.  Who is/are your favourite pairing(s) to write? 23.  Favourite author 24.  Favourite genre to write and read 25.  Favourite part of writing 26.  Favourite writing program 27.  Favourite line/scene 28.  Favourite side character 29.  Favourite villain 30.  Favourite idea you haven’t started on yet

The Dark 31.  Least favourite part of writing 32.  Most difficult character to write 33.  Have you ever killed a main character? 34.  What was the hardest scene you ever had to write? 35.  What scene/story are you least looking forward to writing?

The Fun 36.  Last sentence you wrote 37.  First sentence or your current WIP 38.  Weirdest story idea you’ve ever had 39.  Weirdest character concept you’ve ever had 40.  Share some backstory for one of your characters

The Rest of It 41.  Any advice for new/beginning/young writers? 42.  How do you feel about love triangles? 43.  What do you do if/when characters don’t follow the outline? 44.  How much research do you do? 45.  How much world building do you do? 46.  Do you reread your own stories? 47.  Best way to procrastinate 48.  What’s the most self-insert character/scene you’ve ever written? 49.  Which character would you most want to be friends with, if they were real? 50.  [Other question—ask me anything]

[cheshirewrites]

summertime writers' asks!

🦋 tell us about your current wip

🌿 who is your favourite character you've ever written?

🌞 favourite character from current wip

🍦 what is your current word count?

🌻 least favourite character / hardest to write

🍉 favourite wip

☁️ wip you want to write but haven't started yet

🌸 wip you've been working on the longest

✨ newest wip

🦩 wip you hate working on but are too far gone to turn back

🍸 character who inspired your mc

🌱 book that inspired your wip

🍃 what is your genre?

🌼 least favourite writing genre

🥥 least favourite reading genre

🐠 author who inspires you

🍯 author you know

🌷 writing achievement you want to brag about

🍄 name a song that represents your mc

🍬 a song for your favourite character

🌤 name the hardest thing you've had to do for writing

🍰 where you like to write

🍧 weirdest place you've written

🕊 mc's MBTI

🍀 character you would kill off if they were not vital to the plot

🍓 worst thing you've done to your characters

👒 nicest thing you've done to your characters

🌾 book you would / have writ(t)e(n) fanfic for

🌨️ book you hate

🐥 here's some writing motivation!

rb for an ask!

[cheshirewrites]

questions for your ocs!

Whats the most expensive thing they own?

How forgiving are they?

Do they have any allergies?

How well can they keep secrets?

Hows their relationship with their family?

How well can they handle criticism?

What do they usually keep in their pockets/bags?

How do they deal with grief?

If they could change one thing about themselves, what would it be?

Who would they main in super smash bros?

What do they hate most about themselves?

Whats their worst memory?

Whats the easiest way to offend them?

What traits are they attracted to?

What would their minecraft house look like?

If they could kill one person without consequences, who would it be?

Hows their self esteem?

Whats in their fridge?

How do they feel about religion?

What traits do they despise in other people?

Whats their favorite memory?

If they could go back in time and change one thing, what would it be?

How do they feel about lying?

Who would they main in mario kart?

How organized are they?

Whos their biggest inspiration?

How would friends describe them?

Whats their biggest secret?

If they could live anywhere in the world, where would they choose?

What makes them want to befriend someone?

What are their hobbies?

Biggest fear?

What do they hate most about others?

Which OC is the most likely to break the 4th wall?

One OC will protect you, and the others will try to kill you. Which OC would you pick to be your defender?

Would you rather live in your OCs’ universe or this one?

Your OC finds out that you are their creator. How do they react?

What is your noncanon nickname for your OC?

What is/would be the fandom nickname for your story?

What is/would be the nickname for a fan of your OC?

Which OC is most likely to be called “son”/ “daughter” / “child” by fans?

Which OC is most likely to be called “husband” / “wife” / “spouse” by fans?

If you could tell your OC one thing, what would it be?

What kind of advice would your OC give you?

Which OC is/would be “woobified” by the fandom?

What song would you sing to audition for the role of your OC?

Your OC finds themselves in your universe and you are their only contact. How well do they handle the adjustment and how would you try to help/hinder/contain them?

f/m/k: OC edition

Who would you cast to play the part of your OC in a TV show or movie?

If you could choose to meet one of your OCs in person, who would you pick?

Which OC would you absolutely NOT want to be a real person?

What is your dream medium for your story (book series, video game, comic, movie, cartoon/anime, etc)? 

Which OC is the most likely to become a “mascot” for your story?

[cheshirewrites]

mechanical souls || the ship

“I think our best bet is the ship they’re loading,” Rue says, “it’s the only one here that looks like it might be in the air soon.”

It’s a big ship, too, the kind that could fly all over the world. Huge sails, waving slightly in the evening breeze, made of a deep, red fabric that Rue bets is covered with runes. Permanent things, sewn into the sails, meant to keep them in the air. The ship is taller than some buildings, a massive thing that must have been made years ago. 

If Rue remembers correctly, skyships are one of a kind, the only evidence of a society without the ban that remain in use.

“She’s a beauty, isn’t she, dearie?” 

“She is,” Rue says, without thinking. Then, the situation hits him sharply and suddenly, like a knife to the chest. He shouldn’t be talking to anyone but Felix, because no one else should know where they are. No one can know where they are, not if they want to avoid problems. 

He turns around, fast enough to make himself dizzy.

A metallic pin immediately catches his eye, the one worn by skyship workers. Then, long gray hair, styled in a neat braid and draped over their shoulder. They sound familiar, Rue thinks, before he finally takes in their face, and-

“Captain Pandora?”

[cheshirewrites]

if it won't spoil too much of what you're writing--what's the most regrettable thing rue/oliver/felix/any other character has ever done? (and, in case the answer's different--what do they, personally, regret the most?)

Okay, not to sound cliche, but Oli and Rue regret hiding things, but they do so in very different ways. Rue is a bit obvious, because he comes to regret hiding what he does when he could have been building up people who needed him. Oli, on the other hand, regrets hiding the truth about where he's from and what he does. In his mind, coming clean sooner could have prevented everything that happens to Rue and Felix before it ever started.

Felix's biggest regret, unfortunately, is major spoilers. I'd share it, but I haven't gotten to writing that scene yet, so I'm not 100% sure how it goes down.

[cheshirewrites]

harpy

[cheshirewrites]

Get these ai writing assistants out of my face!!!! I don't care if my writing is bad at least it is mine!!!!

[cheshirewrites]

Imposter Syndrome in a Writer/Artist

Imposter syndrome is evil in the way it takes something you enjoy and manipulates it into a source of negativity. The imposter lives within each of us, tormenting our art, haunting the spirit.

However, the imposter is merely a a conglomerate of insecurities and doubts we have about ourselves and what we create. The imposter is created in an attempt to self sabotage.

Take what resonates, and leave the rest:

You deserve success and feel worthy of it

You are more precious than rubies, and so is what you create

Only you can write the story that begs to be created

Keep going creative one, someone needs to see your work on a shelf. Your art may be the representation a person desperately needs

[cheshirewrites]

The Robot Apocalypse came. Cities are empty, you stayed since you’re almost out of insulin and will die soon anyway. The robots find you and while processing you one of them sees your insulin pump and asks if you want to apply for dual citizenship, since the pump technically makes you a cyborg.

[cheshirewrites]

The Robot Apocalypse came. Cities are empty, you stayed since you’re almost out of insulin and will die soon anyway. The robots find you and while processing you one of them sees your insulin pump and asks if you want to apply for dual citizenship, since the pump technically makes you a cyborg.

[cheshirewrites]

The Robot Apocalypse came. Cities are empty, you stayed since you’re almost out of insulin and will die soon anyway. The robots find you and while processing you one of them sees your insulin pump and asks if you want to apply for dual citizenship, since the pump technically makes you a cyborg.

[cheshirewrites]

making art is actually abusive because you are manipulating the viewer into feeling something