eli-writes-sometimes

[eli-writes-sometimes]

BTW i see these posts all the time like "ohhh i dont know what to comment on fics.." and every response is "keysmashes! or hearts!! anything works :3" and thats GREAT!! thats helpful!!

but: consider. if u genuinely like analyzing writing.. do u know ur just allowed to go through and quote your favorite parts and ramble abt what they mean to u and the author will LOSE IT WITH HYPE?

genuinely. i felt SO WEIRD the first time i did it.. but like. holy shit authors love it. its crack for authors. the first time i did it, it was on a fic that hadnt updated in half a year, give or take, and the author made 3 updates that month BECAUSE OF MY COMMENT.

LIKE. as an author every comment is INCREDIBLE!!! but also, dont feel like your comment has to be short or otherwise ur invasive or smth!! authors ADORE long comments more than ANYTHING.

[eli-writes-sometimes]

this is about procrastinating. or executive dysfunction. i think

[eli-writes-sometimes]

Too many writers are using generative 'AI' to make their book covers, so I've written a guide on how to make your own cover for free or cheap without turning to a machine.

If you can't afford to pay an artist, you CAN make your own!

I hope this is a helpful overview that covers the basics and points to some free resources.

[eli-writes-sometimes]

Finding the Write Time - "Did you just hit me?"

I'm taking part in @did-i-do-this-write's monthly challenge, Finding the Write Time!

This month, the prompt was "Did you just hit me?", and I took this as an opportunity to write some under-represented Niamh and Phoenix stuff! This is one of their first interactions alone, and I'm really happy with how it came out!

( @meteorify I think you'll like this!)

---

I don't want to be here. Skywalker insisted that I need to "bond" with Changeling, and the only way that I can think to do that is through training him; I saw him try to fight Archangel yesterday, and it was pitiful, so I know for a fact that he needs the help.

I throw a hard glare in his direction and he cuts himself off. 

"Where are we going?" he asks as I lead him through the brightly-lit halls of the A.R.A.

"The training room."

"Training?"

"You're part of the band now, you need to know how to defend yourself."

"I know how to-"

He's silent for the rest of the walk. A couple of minutes pass with only the sound of our footsteps echoing down the hall for company, until we reach an unassuming door labelled only TRAINING.

As I punch in the password for the door - W-W-L-S-D - Changeling looks from the floor to me to the door to me, before clearing his throat.

"Changeling." I call his codename just as he walks past. He jumps at the noise and stops, turning back to me. "In here." I nod my head towards the door.

"Oh. Sorry."

"Uh- by the way?"

I tilt my head slightly to show I'm listening.

"Why are you calling me Changeling? You know that's not my real name, right?"

"Yes, of course I know." I turn to face him, and he wilts slightly. "We're working, alright?" I try to make my tone softer. "When we're on the clock, it's codenames only, okay?"

"Oh, right." His eyes suddenly widen and I feel a wave of anxiety spill out from him.

He shakes his head and follows me into the training room as I hold the door open for him.

"My codename is Siren."

He sighs in relief. "How did you- oh. Of course."

I think they've remodelled it since I was last here - it seems brigher, cleaner, somehow, and the targets and mannequins that line the walls don't look nearly as worn and beaten as I remember. Changeling, for his part, is taking it all in like a child in an art gallery - staring at everything in fascination, but scared to touch anything.

I walk to the middle of the floor, far enough from any windows or screens - just in case - and beckon for Changeling to join me.

I remember it well - the grand opening, when they got all the A.R.A.'s best fighters to test the facility to its limits. It held up well, for the most part - assuming you don't count the incident with Archangel and the flamethrower... I still shudder to think about how much it would have cost to replace that skylight.

"This is... cool." His voice wavers slightly, but I take his small smile as a sign that I'm doing something right.

"Yes, the faculty were very proud when they put this in."

I think about it for a second.

"Now." I turn back to Changeling. "We're almost certainly being sent on a mission soon, and you're going to need to know how to hold your own in the field. Have you ever fought before?"

"Uh- no. I've tried, but-"

"I saw your- attempt to get that sandwich off of Archangel yesterday - is that your definition of trying to fight?"

"Yes." He casts his eyes downwards and his cheeks color slightly.

"Right." I try not to sound too disheartened. "We have a lot of work to do."

"What do you want me to do?"

He raises his arm and looks at his hand for a second before it falls limp to his side.

"Hit me."

"What?"

"You heard me. I need to know what you can actually do. So hit me."

"I- I can't. I don't know-"

With a sharp inhale, I consider my options. I could calmy talk him through what to do, maybe try and rile him up by making a jab at his hair or his confidence, or- the easy option.

I'm going with the easy option.

"Did you just- hit me?!" Changeling reels back from my punch clutching his face, and I can see the tears beginning to form in his eyes. His cheek looks even more red now, even though I didn't hit him that hard.

"You see what I just did? Do that, but to me," I say calmly as I shake my fist. He doesn't need to know that it hurt me just as much as it hurt him.

I know he doesn't trust me, but maybe he appreciates me asking.

"So, you just want me to hit you? What, in the face?"

"If you want. I don't mind where, just do it, and I can tell you what you're doing wrong."

"You're just assuming that I'm going to do it wrong?"

"Everyone gets it wrong first time. Trust me."

"Fine..." he mutters. Finally.

He takes a small step back, raises his fist, and swings it towards my face. His form isn't too bad, considering he's never done it before, but the punch itself is weak. It barely even stings.

The two of us stay in the training room for another hour and a half, me explaining how Changeling can improve, and him - for the most part - doing what I instructed. By the time Incendium's voice crackled out of the radio to tell us we had to come back to the lair for movie night, he was almost capable of properly hurting me with a punch. As long as I didn't block it. Or dodge. Or see it coming. All of which were very likely to happen in the real world.

"What do you want from me? Everyone gets it wrong first try, right?" He responds with an eye roll when I tell him as much.

"Well you just proved me right, then."

I try not to be too harsh with my criticism, but by the time he heads for the door, even I can tell that he's upset.

"Hey, look." I jog to catch him before the door. "You- you were good. Very good. The way you improved, it was- impressive."

"Thanks." He doesn't look at me.

"I was- I was thinking. Maybe, if hand-to-hand isn't working, you could try a ranged weapon? We've got an archery range, if that sounds..." I trail off, unsure how open he is, but when he finally turns to me, his eyes are wide in excitement.

"Archery?" A smile creeps across his face. "Like, bows? Arrows? That kind of thing?"

"Yes." I try to return the smile. "For what it's worth, I think you've got a good eye. You might be a good shot."

His eyes widen.

He looks down sheepishly, before glancing back up. "You think?"

"I do." I nod. "Phoenix."

He rolls his eyes again, before laughing and wandering off towards the lair. As I watch him leave, I catch myself smiling, and I wonder if I might be able to properly get on with the new addition. Only time will tell, I suppose.

"What? It's the end of the day, I can call you that now."

"You're strange, you know?" He laughs, and I reluctantly smile too.

"Takes one to know one", is all I say in response.

[eli-writes-sometimes]

10 Writing Things That Have Saved My Creative Soul (and Sanity)

↳ If your character’s arc isn’t making you slightly emotional or existential, it’s probably not finished. If they start and end the story the same person, that’s not a character arc—it’s a flatline. Make them squirm, learn, lose, grow. Bonus points if they make you question your own moral compass in the process.

↳ Worldbuilding is not a license to drown your reader in lore like it’s Game of Thrones on steroids. If you have to write a wiki page to understand your own plot, fine...but that doesn’t mean your reader has to read it. Give us breadcrumbs, not a 12-course feast on page one.

↳ If the theme of your story can’t be summed up in one slightly aggressive sticky note, you’re probably overcomplicating it. (“This book is about choosing yourself even when no one else does”—boom, theme. Now go make your characters suffer for it.)

↳ You will hate your manuscript somewhere between 30k and 50k words. That’s your cue to keep going, not quit. It’s like the literary version of hitting mile 18 in a marathon. Everything hurts, but that means you're doing it right.

↳ That “genius idea” you had at 2 a.m.? Save it. Write it down. But don’t drop everything for it. New ideas are seductive chaos demons. Your current project deserves monogamy… at least until the second draft.

↳ A character’s greatest fear is a shortcut to their heart. Forget favorite color or coffee order...what keeps them up at night? What would destroy them if it came true?

↳ If you don’t know how to end your story, figure out what question it’s been asking the whole time. Once you know the question, the ending becomes the answer. Maybe not a happy answer, but a satisfying one.

↳ No one’s going to write your weird little story the way you will. That’s your superpower. So go ahead and write the morally gray necromancer love triangle in space. Your people are out there. And they’re hungry for it.

↳ You are allowed to be a slow writer. You are allowed to be a fast writer. You are not allowed to be a cruel writer—to yourself. The world will criticize your art for free. Don’t do their job for them inside your own head.

↳ Some stories just aren’t meant to be novels. And that’s okay. Maybe it's a short story. A play. A fever dream disguised as a poem. The shape doesn’t matter. The story does. Let it tell you what it wants to be.

[eli-writes-sometimes]

[eli-writes-sometimes]

i think more people should make their ocs fans of real life media. theres something hilarious about being like yeah this is my character prince blackheart darkness of the fallen shadowlands and yes she WAS a warrior cats kid growing up.

[eli-writes-sometimes]

(runs up to you with a microphone) fmb characters as the mechanisms?

(grabs the mic with shaking hands) this is such a good question!! :D

OK, so I think Riley would be Jonny - they're both the leaders of their group (leader, captain, first mate, whatever you prefer), so I think they fit together pretty well

Niamh would be Tim - I love the interactions between him and Jonny, and I think that Niamh would enjoy winding Riley up in a similar way; plus, I think Niamh would enjoy blowing up the moon

It's pretty obvious who Ash would be - she and Ashes both have the same pyromanical talents, and they were partially an inspiration for her character! (she probably has a stash of tax purposes gold somewhere in the lair)

I'd say that Kai would be Raphaella, what with the wings and the passion for science, but I can also see a bit of Nastya in him, because he's an engineer and has a close connection with the stuff he builds (but not quite as close as Nastya and Aurora)

I think that Phoenix would be Ivy - they're both a bit more reserved, and fans of books, and my favourite, so I think they fit together pretty well!

Thanks for this question, I love combining my interests!!!!!!

[eli-writes-sometimes]

Some random FMB art that I've done over the last couple of weeks!

@meteorify - if you're interested!

[eli-writes-sometimes]

me reading my writing and wondering how the most incoherent sentence somehow was kept through all these rounds of editing

[eli-writes-sometimes]

hi 😈😈 do the fmb perchance have favourite animals (bonus points if theyre representative of the character)

Hey!!! Sorry it took me a second to respond, I'm in the middle of nowhere in the English countryside and the wifi sucks, and I also had to think about this a lot!

This is such a good question, so here are my thoughts :D

For Riley, I think he would joke that his favourite animal is a lothcat (from Star Wars), but his favourite real animals would be normal cats, since he thinks they're adorable and he grew up with one so they remind him of home

Niamh's favourite animal would be a fox, she thinks that they're cute in a way that most people don't appreciate, and just finds them pretty cool animals - she does also have a soft spot for cats, but foxes are her favourite

I'd say Ash's would be a salamander - she read somewhere that they were often associated with fire and she fell in love with them

Kai's is probably a raven, because of the wings and he probably sympathises with how they're always seen as bad omens

I think that Phoenix would have a soft spot for phoenixes as fictional animals, and chameleons because they're the closest that the animal kingdom can come to shapeshifters

Thanks for the ask!!! :D

Sorry again that it took me ages to respond, please send more asks if you have any, I swear I'll get to them quicker!

[eli-writes-sometimes]

Want an ask about your writing and characters? No problem! Reblog this post with an emoji for a corresponding mystery question in your inbox!

🌦 Clouds

🌳 Tree

🦋 Butterfly

(accepting requests until April 30th, 2025)

[eli-writes-sometimes]

Apparently a lot of people get dialogue punctuation wrong despite having an otherwise solid grasp of grammar, possibly because they’re used to writing essays rather than prose. I don’t wanna be the asshole who complains about writing errors and then doesn’t offer to help, so here are the basics summarized as simply as I could manage on my phone (“dialogue tag” just refers to phrases like “he said,” “she whispered,” “they asked”):

“For most dialogue, use a comma after the sentence and don’t capitalize the next word after the quotation mark,” she said.

“But what if you’re using a question mark rather than a period?” they asked.

“When using a dialogue tag, you never capitalize the word after the quotation mark unless it’s a proper noun!” she snapped.

“When breaking up a single sentence with a dialogue tag,” she said, “use commas.”

“This is a single sentence,” she said. “Now, this is a second stand-alone sentence, so there’s no comma after ‘she said.’”

“There’s no dialogue tag after this sentence, so end it with a period rather than a comma.” She frowned, suddenly concerned that the entire post was as unasked for as it was sanctimonious.

[eli-writes-sometimes]

Actually that no punctuation plot hole ooc wattpad fanfic written by that 12 year old will ALWAYS be better than character ai. And I love that 12 year old btw

[eli-writes-sometimes]

Happy WBW! I'm in the mood for some humor. Tell me something funny about your world.

Hey Tori! Thanks for the ask, and happy WBW!

Something about the Five Man Band universe that I find pretty funny is the monthly "team building" exercise - the taskforces were told that they need to find a way to bond with each other and learn to work better as a team, so what did they do? Started running a monthly karaoke competition, of course.

The "Karaoke Kontest" is run by Riley's best friend Jae, and consists of each member of the taskforces that take part singing a song which is then judged by a definitely not at all biased panel of judges who basically score it based on vibes - it might not be the fairest judging system, but it's all fun so no one really cares.

I wrote a couple of short stories of the Band at the Kontest and I think it's just a fun way to see how they handle pressure and stage fright and all that jazz, and the concept itself is pretty funny.

Thanks for the ask!

[eli-writes-sometimes]

Happy WBW! I've missed the past few weeks, so what's new in your world? Any new developments you're proud of or need to rant about?

Hey Tori! Thanks for the ask, and happy WBW!

I've also not been able to write much recently, because I am in the trenches of exam season, but it's the Easter holidays now and I've been able to write a lot more!

I've been doing quite a bit of art for the Five Man Band universe and trying to flesh out the characters designs properly, and I'm pretty happy with how some of them came out! I still need to do some work on characters like Niamh and Riley, but I'm pretty happy with what I've done so far.

Thanks for the ask!