oliolioxenfreewrites

[oliolioxenfreewrites]

there is nothing quite like being interrupted while absolutely immersed in whatever you're writing. i think this must be how fish feel when they're snatched out of the water by a bird of prey

[oliolioxenfreewrites]

{The Star Coins} by {Victor Paul Mohn}

[oliolioxenfreewrites]

[oliolioxenfreewrites]

Talking to a Ghost That’s Still Online

Song playing in the background: “We Hug” by Sydney Rose

I met you in the most random way. I was sad, scrolling through a quiet corner of the internet when I saw your comment, “Does anyone want to be my friend?” I hesitated. But it was my secret account, so I told myself, why not?

I thought it would last a day or two.

But one day turned into two, two into a week. I started staying up late just to talk to you, adjusting to the time difference like it was natural, like it mattered.

Maybe that was the problem.

Maybe I gave you a nickname too fast,

Maybe I was too nice,

Maybe I listened too well, agreed too quickly,

Maybe it was the age—me, 20, you… seven years older. Maybe that creeped you out,

Or maybe it was the cultural gap, the different languages, the way we came from two different worlds, but tried anyway.

I still wonder what went wrong,

Why did you disappear?

You still post,

You still open my messages.

So I guess… I just stopped being worth a reply.

Maybe I made you uncomfortable,

Or maybe you just lost interest.

What do you call a friendship that felt real but vanished too soon? A beginning with no middle or end?

I know, I shouldn’t be thinking about this. We only talked for three weeks. Maybe I was foolish for caring so much, for letting a stranger’s words make me feel seen.

But how do I forget the travel plans we made,

The fanfic we started together, the favorite characters we obsessed over, the books, the series, the anime,

The way we laughed, the late-night talks,

The rare and quiet moment of feeling understood.

What do I do with those memories now?

I wish you’d taken them with you when you left.

Was I ever a friend?

[oliolioxenfreewrites]

enjoy this little blurb about the noxthorne triplets. if you remember them 🤍

i’ve essentially scrapped majority of the world of tenebraethia btw 😗 aside from changing eiryls’ name to eirielle, not much has been rewritten; i’m simply overthinking once again.

[oliolioxenfreewrites]

ME @ ALL THE WRITERS I FOLLOW.

[oliolioxenfreewrites]

[oliolioxenfreewrites]

people who don't experience hyperfixation don't know what it feels like to hyperfixate so much on something that it becomes not only your subject of obsession but also your source of happiness and literally the main reason why you still keep going; literal source of strength and life.

shoutout to my favorite fictional characters, favorite people, favorite ships, favorite movies, favorite tv shows, fanfics and archive of our own

[oliolioxenfreewrites]

I take 5 of these autism-friendly stickers, please.

[oliolioxenfreewrites]

There’s a certain cruelty in how the heart keeps going, even when we don’t want it to. Not out of love. Not out of grief. Just out of.. pure function.

I wrote Four Chambers on a day where I felt disconnected from every version of myself that used to feel… anything really—when I realized the only part of me still moving was the part that never asked why. It doesn’t care if you’re heartbroken or hollow or wildly in love with someone who’s already moved on; your heart, the muscle–it just…beats. Steadily. Indifferently. Beautifully indifferent. I found something almost sacred in that apathy.

The heart is often over-romanticized—tied up in metaphors of passion and allusions of grandeur—but at its core (no pun intended), it’s just a muscle obeying its programming. And maybe that’s why it hurts more. Because while the rest of us falls apart, that one part of us continues without question. A quiet betrayal dressed as resilience.

[oliolioxenfreewrites]

Reblog with the reason why you write

[oliolioxenfreewrites]

i love the new look of my daily writing app 🥰

[oliolioxenfreewrites]

PLEASE Write Your Book!

I'm serious. Please write it. If you need a sign to start, continue, or whatever is inbetween, this is it. Go do it.

I spent the past couple weeks indulging myself in some BookTok recommendations. While some were indeed good (Kings of Sin, my beloved), some were just...I don't need to finish my sentence there.

I DNF'd some books for the first time since I read Lord of the Flies (sorry Golding, you put me to sleep with your descriptions) and I powered through others in hopes that they would eventually get better. The general consensus I ended up getting was that I could not understand for the fucking life of me how these books got published. The writing in some of them was no better than that of a 2010s teen writing Maximum Ride fic on Wattpad for the first time, with the characterization abysmal enough to match.

I don't want to knock any specific author or book here, because I will concede one thing: they finished their books. They got them published. They're successful. For that, I commend them, because I'm still on my way there myself and I can't take that away from them. Jolly good show.

But that brings me to my point: if they can do it, YOU absolutely can do it too.

If some of these Amazon and NYT bestsellers can have prose on a Wattpad level with characters that have enough poorly-written cognitive dissonance to make Deadpool or Walter White jealous, your fleshed out, deeply intuitive, and remarkably creative epic can sit right alongside them no problem. Whether you're writing the next GoT or a romantic slice-of-life, there is a not a goddamn thing on this planet stopping you from rolling up with the big dogs.

If these guys can do it, so can you.

So, stop telling yourself you can't. Stop letting other people tell you you can't. Stop comparing yourself to these authors who, respectfully and bluntly, can't write for shit (or at least need to fire their fucking editors, good lord).

WRITE YOUR DAMN BOOK. PLEASE. WE NEED IT.

(If you like my guides, prompts, writing, or art, consider supporting the blog today! All donations help me keep this thing up and running and all are appreciated <3)

[oliolioxenfreewrites]

TC's Practical Writing Tips for 2025

I am back again! I've said it before and I will say it again now, I'm not coming here to pretend that I can tell you how to use the English language to write a book. That's not my jam.

However I've been writing for over 25 years, and I've written nearly 3.5 million words since 2009 (alas, I did not keep track before then). Whether people like my style or not, my output is undeniable, and I'm sharing the tips that I live by when it comes to the act of writing.

#1 - The Number One Most Important Rule is: write it now, fix it later

The job of any piece of writing, up until the point you decide it's done, is not to be good. It's only job is to exist. You can always fix it later.

#2 - The Second Most Important Rule is: don't let yourself get hung up in the ~mythology~ of being a writer

Writing is art, undeniable. Writing is cool, undeniable. Writing is also just A Thing That You Can Do. It's a physical act. Sometimes you need to pay attention to the part of writing that is just A Thing You Can Do. Being able to disentangle yourself from the IDEA of writing when you need to is a very useful skill.

#3 - It is always permissible – and usually enjoyable – to write the stupidest possible version (see rule #1)

Free yourself from the mindset that the writing must be good. Sometimes you just need to get the words out. Label a draft 'the stupid version' and go ham.

#4 - "Inspiration" is great for poets, but only a bonus for people who write prose (See rules #1 and #2)

If you want to write often, you need to write often. You will find that you don't need to be "inspired" because you've made a habit of it, and it will come naturally. Even one sentence a day is still one sentence a day. One sentence a week is still one sentence a week. It doesn't matter how slowly you go as long as you don't stop Believing in the concept that you need to be inspired to write will trap you into believing in the concept of writer's block If you are having difficulty getting words out that satisfy you, lower your standards and keep writing (see rule #1)

#5 - A few months down the line you will not remember which words came easily and which words did not (see rules #1 and #3)

#6 - Read widely and often, both in your favorite genres and outside of them

You cannot become a good author if you don't read. Pay special attention to things that you love and things that you hate, it will make your writing stronger.

#7 - At a certain point, you MUST write, not just think about writing

You won't get better if you don't practice.

#8 - Never write for the lowest common denominator

Via wise words I once heard: "if you open the window and make love to the world, your story will get pneumonia". Write your work the way you want to write it, and the people who will appreciate it will find it.

#9 - Never write for the bad-faith critic

There will always be people who engage in bad faith, and those people do not matter to you. You will need to learn how to deal with critique, and bad-faith critique, but you cannot live in fear of people like that.

#10- Find the joy in the ACT of writing

It is totally fine and normal to want engagement and praise! However you need to find a way to make the praise the cherry on top, not the entire sundae. Writing is hard work, and it's a lot of work, and it's a lot of work that goes unnoticed. If you lose the ability to enjoy the journey and are proceeding only for external rewards from others, you will gradually write less and less if the ratio of work to rewards is unsatisfying.

#11 - New draft? New document.

For anything other than final copy editing, it's almost always helpful to start in a new document. Any change you make will invariably snowball, and if you're trying to edit within the frame of words you've already written, it will trap you from being able to make large sweeping changes that those snowballs might suggest (or demand)

#12 - Listen when people tell you that something doesn't work for them

Sometimes an outsider can see things that you would miss by being too close, it can be a helpful perspective.

#13 - You are not obligated to listen when people try to tell you HOW to fix it

You are the author, not them. It may not even need to be fixed.

#14 - It is always morally correct to look at critique that you received, even if you asked for it, and decide that it's bullshit and doesn't apply to you (see rule #13)

#15 - "Write what you know" means "write what you're interested in"

You'll learn a lot of new things while you're researching what you're interested in! You will also have a lot of fun putting the things that you love into your work just because you love them.

#16 - "Show don't tell" applies to screenwriting, not novels.

The phrase show don't tell applies to showing the audience in a visual media. Novels are not visual media. They do require a lot of telling. Not all telling, but a lot of it. Both showing and telling are important to novels, but the things that you show are more relevant. The tightrope to walk as an author is "this meeting could have been an email". What does the audience actually have to know (be present at the scene for) versus what can be summarized or relayed through dialogue? Your mileage may vary on which percentage of each works best for you.

#17 - It is always, ALWAYS acceptable to use "said"

Said is invisible. Said is the nail upon which the picture is hung. People will not notice said. People will not get tired of the word said. Using the word said most of the time allows you to really emphasize the times when you don't use the word said. (Also applies to "asked")

#18 - Become comfortable with who you are

Your work is always going to be yours and it's always going to sound like you wrote it, and that is a good thing! That's the best thing! No one else is ever going to write exactly like you, and you should be proud of what you bring to the table as yourself. Of course keep striving to reach new heights and keep improving, but you're never going to outrun your own voice and experiences. Embrace them!

#19- Keep track of your word count in a way that makes sense to you

Some days will be easy. Some days will be hard. On the days when it's hard, it's very helpful to be able to look back and see how far you've come. It helps you remember again that some days will be easy. (see rule #5)

The best thing that you can do is to find the things that you need in order to write at the level of productivity you want to achieve, and find easy ways to wrap them into your own life. Spend some time soul-searching if you need to. You will gradually acquire your own list of tips to live by!

I hope everyone who reads this has a wonderful 2025 and that you all accomplish what you would like to accomplish. I'll be rooting for you!

[oliolioxenfreewrites]

just because someone can articulate their point better doesn’t make them right, it makes them articulated. 

[oliolioxenfreewrites]

send me wip questions to answer!!! 🙏🏾

[oliolioxenfreewrites]

There's nothing more important than writing what you want to read. Don't worry about who will like your book. Don't worry about what market it can neatly fit into. Don't cut corners or blunt edges to satisfy an imaginary person who might dislike aspects of your art. It's yours. Treat it as a pure expression of your soul. Compromise is for cowards.