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Prompt #1196

"Why would you do that, that is stupid!"

"And stupid would be very on brand for me. Have you never met me before?"

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Writing is so much easier when you actually write

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Poker variant where the goal is to eat as many cards as possible without anyone noticing

-you are the only player aware that this is this is the win condition

-standard deck of playing cards (inedible)

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Missing Prompts

Still Missing Them:

"I can hear their voice, commenting on every stupid idea I have."

"Do you think they also miss me?"

"It's stupid to miss them so much."

"I miss even the things I hate about them."

"Every place reminds me of them, and it only makes me miss them more."

"I wake up and I miss them. I go to bed and I can't fall sleep."

"Being apart from them is the only thing I never want to get used to."

"I miss the dumbest things about them."

"I just want to be close to them again."

"It's like there is something just missing in my life."

Having Missed Them:

"I missed you every day. And every night you were with me in my dreams."

"It was like I had lost a limb. A part of me that nothing could replace."

"Every second without you felt like a lifetime."

"I spent every day wishing for this moment. For you to come back to me."

"Not sure what exactly I was missing."

"I felt so lost without you."

"It almost destroyed me. Missing them like crazy."

"Maybe I just missed what I thought we had."

"I don't ever want to feel that empty without you again."

Not Missing Them Anymore:

"I don't miss you anymore. Maybe the person you once were to me. But not you now."

"I used to miss you. Past tense."

"Being away from you made me realize that I'm fine without you."

"I thought I couldn't live without you. Turned out I can."

"Your absense felt massive. Now it feels like freedom."

"I finally stopped missing you the moment I realized you never missed me.

"You taught me a valuable lesson. I shouldn't miss what I never had."

"Letting go was easier than I thought."

"I wish you would have stayed away."

"I never thought I would ever get over you."

"Now I don't ever think about them anymore."

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do you ever not write for so long that you’re almost afraid to? like what if I’m dumb now

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Prompt #1172: Write About (73)

Write about a misunderstanding that gets bigger and bigger.

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This from In Writing, a collection of writers reflecting on practice, really resonated with me.

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Writing Prompt

"You said you always wanted to be an elf."

I glared at the fairy. "I meant like from Lord of the Rings. Not one of Santa's little helpers. Now change me back!"

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Writing Prompt To Get You Unstuck

A monkey kidnapped you and locked you in a room. His friends and relatives are trapped in an experiment—you know, the one where if you put a million monkeys in a room with a million typewriters, one supposedly will eventually write a novel by pure chance? Yeah, that one. And they can’t leave the experiment until one of the monkeys writes something intelligible. It doesn’t even have to be a novel. It could be a nonfiction article, or a short story, or a poem as well.

The monkey kidnapped you because he knows you’re a writer. He believes that you can write something that will satisfy the scientists and finally allow his family to go free. You cannot leave the room until you have written at least 500 words (the minimum that the scientists will accept as evidence of that statistic chance happening).

The problem? You’ve got to go set up for your BFF’s surprise party. You need to get out of here FAST! But you can’t fake it by writing something subpar or repeating the same word over and over. The monkey will know. It doesn’t have to be perfect (after all, it is supposedly written by a monkey) but it does have to make sense and flow coherently.

If you try to escape, the monkey will catch you and take more… drastic measures.

You need to write those 500 words quickly, so it’s a good idea to write about something you care deeply about or comes naturally to you, something you barely even need to think about. You have thirty minutes to get out of here before it's too late to set up for the party anymore.

GO!

(And feel free to share the results when you’re done so that we can see how you escaped the monkey.)

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10 Subtle Ways to Show Love Without Saying “I Love You”

Subtle gestures can convey deep affection and understanding without the need for words. Here are 10 subtle ways to reveal just how much your character cares, without using words:

1. Surprising Them with Their Favorite Snack

Character A notices Character B eyeing their favorite treat at a store/party, and later surprises them with it, showing they're paying attention to the little things.

2. Fixing Something Without Being Asked

When B's favorite [object] breaks, A quietly repairs it and leaves it for them to find. This doesn't have to be about objects, e.g. issues like not having a ride home and A picks them up without B asking.

3. Leaving a Hidden Note

A slips a small note into B's bag or coat pocket, something sweet or funny; could be good after a minor fight, or if B has a dangerous career.

4. Covering Them with a Blanket

B falls asleep on the couch, and A drapes a blanket over them gently. Again, cute if it's after a fight.

5. Warming Their Hands with Theirs

On a chilly day, A takes B’s cold hands into their own without a word, offering warmth and comfort.

6. Offering Their Jacket

As B shivers in the cold, A instinctively hands over their jacket without waiting to be asked. Post-fight cuteness x3

7. Cleaning Up After a Tough Day

B comes home exhausted, and A has already tidied up the space. Great if they're married with kids.

8. Brushing Something Off Their Face

When B has a strand of hair or speck of dust on their face, A gently brushes it away; a classic, intimate action.

9. Waiting Up for Them to Get Home

A stays up late just to make sure B gets home safely, greeting them with a warm smile or a cup of tea when they walk in.

10. Running an Errand They Dislike

Knowing B dreads a particular chore or errand, A does it for them without making a big deal, or when they’re stressed/sad. 

Looking For More Writing Tips And Tricks? 

Check out the rest of Quillology with Haya; a blog dedicated to writing and publishing tips for authors!

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A child goes missing late one night after investigating a light emanating from their closet. The Child's teddy bear and the monster that lives under the bed must put aside their differences and form a truce in order to rescue the child.

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An action scene isn’t about writing down every punch, kick, or swing of the sword. You’re not choreographing a fight for your reader, you’re throwing them into the moment, making them feel the intensity, the panic, the adrenaline. Focus on the emotions, the tension, the stakes. Show how the character’s thinking changes in the heat of the moment, how their survival instincts kick in, how their body reacts to the chaos. Make it fast, make it brutal, and don’t drag it out longer than it needs to be. Action is about urgency, not precision.

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My biggest tip for fanfic writers is this: if you get a character's mannerisms and speech pattern down, you can make them do pretty much whatever you want and it'll feel in character.

Logic: Characters, just like real people, are mallable. There is typically very little that's so truly, heinously out of character that you absolutely cannot make it work under any circumstance. In addition, most fans are also willing to accept characterization stretches if it makes the fic work. Yeah, we all know the villain and the hero wouldn't cuddle for warmth in canon. But if they did do that, how would they do it?

What counts is often not so much 'would the character do this?' and more 'if the character did do this, how would they do it?' If you get 'how' part right, your readers will probably be willing to buy the rest, because it will still feel like their favourite character. But if it doesn't feel like the character anymore, why are they even reading the fic?

Worry less about whether a character would do something, and more about how they'd sound while doing it.

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one of my favorite things to do in limited perspective is write sentences about the things someone doesn't do. he doesn't open his eyes. he doesn't reach out. i LOVE sentences like that. if it's describing the narrator, it's a reflection of their desires, something they're holding themselves back from. there's a tension between urge and action. it makes you ask why they wanted or felt compelled to do that, and also why they ultimately didn't. and if it's describing someone else, it tells you about the narrator's expectations. how they perceive that other person or their relationship. what they thought the other person was going to do, or thought the other person should have done, but failed to. negative action sentences are everything.

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One of the best writing advice I have gotten in all the months I have been writing is "if you can't go anywhere from a sentence, the problem isn't in you, it's in the last sentence." and I'm mad because it works so well and barely anyone talks about it. If you're stuck at a line, go back. Backspace those last two lines and write it from another angle or take it to some other route. You're stuck because you thought up to that exact sentence and nothing after that. Well, delete that sentence, make your brain think because the dead end is gone. It has worked wonders for me for so long it's unreal

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Full offense but your writing style is for you and nobody else. Use the words you want to use; play with language, experiment, use said, use adverbs, use “unrealistic” writing patterns, slap words you don’t even know are words on the page. Language is a sandbox and you, as the author, are at liberty to shape it however you wish. Build castles. Build a hovel. Build a mountain on a mountain or make a tiny cottage on a hill. Whatever it is you want to do. Write.

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The reason none of my wips get finished