garnet-butterfly

[garnet-butterfly]

it is honestly amazing how much of writing and editing is just. logistics. like... do i use a name here or a pronoun? if i move this dialogue tag to the middle of this line and break it in half, does the end of the line hit harder that way? what if i move the tag to the front? what if i remove it entirely? ...wait, whose point of view am i in; can i reasonably say this character is appalled, or must i say they look or seem or sound appalled? is this a deliberate action or a step-removed one; is her hand closing on his shoulder, or is she closing her hand on his shoulder? environment environment environment, we need to break all this dialogue up with some narration, the scene is coming untethered. what! are! they doing! with! the rest of their bodies that are not hands! fuck fuck fuck FUCK i forgot we covered this two chapters ago and now i either need to cut this whole chunk or find a reason to reprise the conversation from earlier. name or pronoun? name or pronoun? name or pronoun? move this clause around in this sentence? oh i'll add this phrase-- nope, never mind, past!me added the same phrase two lines down. okay, if i add too much environmental narration it's going to take away from this bit, but not enough and it won't feel grounded. what if i move this to its own line? where the FUCK are their hands?

[garnet-butterfly]

[garnet-butterfly]

Emotional Walls Your Character Has Built (And What Might Finally Break Them)

(How your character defends their soft core and what could shatter it) Because protection becomes prison real fast.

✶ Sarcasm as armor. (Break it with someone who laughs gently, not mockingly.) ✶ Hyper-independence. (Break it with someone who shows up even when they’re told not to.) ✶ Stoicism. (Break it with a safe space to fall apart.) ✶ Flirting to avoid intimacy. (Break it with real vulnerability they didn’t see coming.) ✶ Ghosting everyone. (Break it with someone who won’t take silence as an answer.) ✶ Lying for convenience. (Break it with someone who sees through them but stays anyway.) ✶ Avoiding touch. (Break it with accidental, gentle contact that feels like home.) ✶ Oversharing meaningless things to hide real depth. (Break it with someone who asks the second question.) ✶ Overworking. (Break it with forced stillness and the terrifying sound of their own thoughts.) ✶ Pretending not to care. (Break it with a loss they can’t fake their way through.) ✶ Avoiding mirrors. (Break it with a quiet compliment that hits too hard.) ✶ Turning every conversation into a joke. (Break it with someone who doesn’t laugh.) ✶ Being everyone’s helper. (Break it when someone asks what they need, and waits for an answer.) ✶ Constantly saying “I’m fine.” (Break it when they finally scream that they’re not.) ✶ Running. Always running. (Break it with someone who doesn’t chase, but doesn’t leave, either.) ✶ Intellectualizing every feeling. (Break it with raw, messy emotion they can’t logic away.) ✶ Trying to be the strong one. (Break it when someone sees the weight they’re carrying, and offers to help.) ✶ Hiding behind success. (Break it when they succeed and still feel empty.) ✶ Avoiding conflict at all costs. (Break it when silence causes more pain than the truth.) ✶ Focusing on everyone else’s healing but their own. (Break it when they hit emotional burnout.)

[garnet-butterfly]

writing update: i have 3 main characters, 12 subplots, and no idea who committed the murder. maybe they all did. maybe it was capitalism.

[garnet-butterfly]

if the vibes are off, close your document. stare at the wall. think about your protagonist’s childhood trauma. return stronger.

[garnet-butterfly]

I lost my job last week. . .

I'm not super happy about it, but I should have seen it coming. The company I work for was purchased a year and a half ago and the corporate office has been making *interesting* choices ever since.

The most interesting, to me anyway, was choosing to take all my responsibilities and given them to a team at the corporate office. fml

So, I have spent the last week just adjusting to being unemployed and walking a lot (I can be out of work or out of shape, but not both). My next steps are figuring out exactly what I want to do next. Part of that will be focusing more on creative endeavors, specifically writing and art. I don't know that anything will come of it, but I want to nurture what has been neglected while at my soul sucking job.

[garnet-butterfly]

Well. . . Working on my first magic system and. . . It's actually working???

Fingers crossed it keeps moving smoothly.

[garnet-butterfly]

The most difficult part of the writing process for me is the transition from inspiration to planning.

There is a scene in my head, perfect, get it on the page. . .

Now. . . How does that magic you just introduced work? Where does that scene fit in a larger narrative?

And I haven't found a way to structure these things yet in a way that clicks with my brain. 🙃

[garnet-butterfly]

Writer's Block

You’re staring at the page. The cursor blinks like it’s taunting you. You want to write—hell, you even know what you want to write about—but it’s like your brain’s frozen. That, my friend, is the all-too-familiar little bitch known as writer’s block.

So, how do you fight it?

Here’s what’s helped me, and maybe it'll help you too.

1. Write anything, even if it’s trash

Seriously. Open a doc and let yourself write the worst possible version of what you’re trying to say. No pressure. No editing. You can always clean it up later. A messy first draft is better than no draft.

2. Change your scenery

Sometimes your brain just needs a different view. Go outside. Sit at a café. Write on your phone instead of your laptop. A small change can trick your brain into feeling inspired again.

3. Idea dump

Forget structure. Forget plot. Just go full chaos mode. Rant about your characters, the scene, or how much writing sucks today. That little brain dump might lead you to a breakthrough.

4. Read something short and good

A poem. A Tumblr post. A flash fiction piece. Sometimes reading a spark of good writing reminds your brain how fun words can be.

5. Accept the block, but don’t leave it there

Writer’s block is normal. It doesn’t mean you’re broken. It just means your brain’s buffering. Rest, hydrate, and be gentle with yourself. Then try again.

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Writing is weird. Some days it flows like magic, and other days it’s like dragging your soul through the trenches. But if you’re stuck, don't give up on it— the words will come back.

[garnet-butterfly]

[garnet-butterfly]

Something I'm fond of saying is "The villain drives the plot but the hero sets the tone." Something that's very important about this is that the resolution to the conflicts presented need to match the hero's tone. If your story doesn't believe problems can be solved the way the hero wants to solve them... why is this the hero?

If you want your problems to be solved with brutal catharsis, then your hero should be someone who believes in brutal catharsis.

If you want your problems to be solved with forgiveness and reconciliation, then your hero should be someone who believes in forgiveness and reconciliation.

They don't have to begin there. This can be something they come around to over the course of the story, as they grow and change per their character arc. But by the time of their ultimate encounter with the villain, their values should be the values that drive the story forward.

There's this thing in D&D that some DMs do. Where, when you roll enough damage to deplete the monster's hit points, they'll turn to you and say, "That's a kill. Describe for the group how you take the monster down." And you're allowed to come up with some cool maneuver or something that your character did in order to deliver the finishing blow.

The hero's ultimate triumph over the villain is a lot like this. More than any other part of the story, this moment is their apotheosis. It should be a celebration of everything they are and everything they stand for.

You have defeated the villain; Now describe for the group what form that victory takes.

[garnet-butterfly]

I'm in a mood

I want to write, but I don't want to do any prep work. I want the story to burst forth from my head fully formed like Athena. . .

But like. . .

I REALLY need to nail some plot details down first.

[garnet-butterfly]

Writer 1: Needs to know everything about the story before you can begin

Writer 2: Wings everything. Hardly knows anything about the story. Doesn’t know what’s supposed to happen next

Writer 3: Makes detailed outlines but never follows them

Writer 4: Is a mix of Writer 1 and 2

Writer 5: The sleep doesn’t exist writer

So which one are you?

[garnet-butterfly]

This tweet lives rent-free in my head now. Hands-down the best comment about the relationship between art and artist.

[garnet-butterfly]

I have found some fantastic craft videos on YouTube lately. I'm a firm believer that 90% of all writing advice is exactly the same, but how it's verbalized/categorized/synthesized is way more important to it clicking with you.

I have found a person that clicks. Nothing they are saying is new information to me, but it was broken down in a way that helped me overcome a mental block I had been having for WEEKS! So anyway. . . here is a link to her YouTube channel.

Happy writing.

[garnet-butterfly]

me as a writer

[garnet-butterfly]

*struggles while writing* i suck and writing is hard

*remembers some ppl use ai* i am a creative force. i am uncorrupted by theft and indolence. i am on a journey to excellence. it is my duty to keep taking joy in creating.