spellmonger

[spellmonger]

Advice for the Busy, Burnt-Out Writer

So, I'm the writer friend in most of my friend groups. I have been writing/coming up with stories pretty much since I learned to write/could form coherent thoughts.

I have been working on the same novel concept for going on a decade at this point, and I also work in a field where I write ALOT. So it's safe to say that I have been doing this for a long time, and I write pretty much all the time. I'm also just a very busy person.

That being said, I get burnt out ALL THE TIME. I realize that it's become somewhat of a meme at this point, with writers wanting to write but being unable to for whatever reason. For me, it's almost always the fact that I lack the time and energy to write. (I either have the energy/motivation to write but no time, or I have the time but no energy - it's a vicious cycle)

Like any skill, though, it's important to continuously practice and work those muscles (for lack of a better phrase).

Sometimes grinding away at a big project (like a novel, for example) can be difficult to maintain - so instead, focus on smaller things.

I have been in a DND campaign for the past 2+ years at this point and around this time last year I started writing out scenes and interactions that happened during the sessions. I started by just writing things that happened to my character and how he perceived them in the moment - and then started adding in the other characters.

These little writing exercises could be anywhere from 500-2000+ words, depending on what I was working with, what I wanted to d,o and what I wanted to explore.

This did a couple of things:

It helped me better understand my character and how he would respond to future things, how he was feeling about things that happened, and people we met, and gave me a clearer idea of where I want to take him in the future.

It helped me better understand the other characters and how my character felt about them, their motivations, actions, etc. (this is great for roleplay purposes)

It also helped me remember things that happened in the campaign, especially those big character moments, because I was actively having to remember and recall things that happened, and now I have a written record of stuff that has happened (that's more organized than my chaotic note taking lol!)

It was also a MAJOR CHALLENGE for me as a writer, taking characters that I had no hand in creating and trying to accurately represent them and do them justice in my writing. Both as a sense of pride (knowing that I can do that), but also as a love letter to my friends and their characters.

The challenge of writing characters that I wasn't intimately familiar with, and was actively getting to know, has made me a far better writer than almost any other exercise or tip I have done. It forced me to write in ways that I wasn't familiar with, study character types that weren't my go-to, and really challenge myself to not fall into the same character syndrome I feel like a lot of writers struggle with (I certainly know I do). I can look at stuff I wrote a year prior, or even months before I started doing this, and actually notice a difference in skill. I am a better writer now than I was before because I did this.

Yes, the challenge of adding characters I wasn't familiar with did have a lot to do with this, but most importantly - this kept me writing. I was writing at least one thing almost every week for a year. Which is more than I can say for past years. Even when I was burnt out or felt unmotivated, I would write short little bursts of things that happened in the campaign, or at the very least draft them out in my notes app. That was enough to keep me thinking and writing.

I don't claim to have invented this technique or anything, but I can say with 100% confidence that it really helped (and continues to help) me constantly be writing even when I lacked the motivation to stick with my bigger projects.

I used my DND campaign, but this could work for anything: smaller scenes that don't occur in a bigger project, but exist in the same world, fanfiction, etc.

Just keep writing! <3

[spellmonger]

Have I learned nothing?

I gave a mouse a cookie. I should have listened to that damn children's book. I gave a mouse a cookie, and now he's following me to my apartment, asking for more cookies. Cookies are expensive, man, I can't be shelling out cookies to just anyone. I gave you that cookie because I thought it would be a one-time thing. Please do not ask me for any more cookies.

[spellmonger]

I work at a news station, and I specifically work the overnight shift (midnight - 8 am) four days a week (Saturday-Tuesday).

On saturday's we have a morning show, 6-7am, and the morning anchor (whom I adore) walked by my desk on his way to the studio before the show.

Anchor: Good morning, how are you doing today?

Me: Oh, you know...

Anchor: Are you dead inside like the rest of us?

Me: Always. (salute)

This made him laugh, and it put a smile on my face.

[spellmonger]

editing is just you vs. past-you in a duel of questionable comma placement and emotional instability

[spellmonger]

please dawg i just want to write....

[spellmonger]

Update on this:

I finished the yoai, it’s 1073 words long and everyone loved it - including my friend.

If anyone is curious about how I am spending my Pride Month, I'm spending it writing horrible softcore crackship yaoi between my friend's D&D character and my character.

Facts about the characters:

There is a 100+ year age gap between these characters. (His character ≈ 200+ yo - My character ≈ 105 yo)

We've established that these two characters will eventually have a father/son dynamic.

At present, my character is terrified of his character and is the only member in the party who sees him for the villain he is

His character is evil!!! (vile, horrible elven man - potentially redeemable)

His character has seemingly made it his mission to mess with my character (he does it for the love of the game)

Facts about the yoai:

THIS SHOULD NOT EXIST

It started as a joke about the two of them playing seven minutes in heaven because they were locked in a warehouse together at the end of the last session.

I made an attempt to do an actual true to character Seven Minutes In Heaven interaction between the two and only got 146 words in before I had to give up.

HE was disappointed that I didn't write actual smut. So now I am.

It's actually kind of good.

Facts about US:

This is not the first time I have written smut/yoai between my character and one of his characters (character from a previous campaign that showed up as an NPC in our current campaign)

That yoai was 2 K+ words long and was some of the best I've written to date. (very nsfw)

The homoeroticism between us is bordering on criminal levels.

We are actively in a sexual arms race (as he called it) in which we flirt back and forth until one of us breaks. This has been going on for months.

We no longer know if this is a bit anymore.

I'm visiting him in person next month.

The yoai is actually turning out good, and I'm only 573 words in. Our whole party is invested in me finishing this. I don't even claim to be good at writing smut, but apparently, everyone is obsessed with it.

Please send help.

Happy Pride Month!!

[spellmonger]

If anyone is curious about how I am spending my Pride Month, I'm spending it writing horrible softcore crackship yaoi between my friend's D&D character and my character.

Facts about the characters:

There is a 100+ year age gap between these characters. (His character ≈ 200+ yo - My character ≈ 105 yo)

We've established that these two characters will eventually have a father/son dynamic.

At present, my character is terrified of his character and is the only member in the party who sees him for the villain he is

His character is evil!!! (vile, horrible elven man - potentially redeemable)

His character has seemingly made it his mission to mess with my character (he does it for the love of the game)

Facts about the yoai:

THIS SHOULD NOT EXIST

It started as a joke about the two of them playing seven minutes in heaven because they were locked in a warehouse together at the end of the last session.

I made an attempt to do an actual true to character Seven Minutes In Heaven interaction between the two and only got 146 words in before I had to give up.

HE was disappointed that I didn't write actual smut. So now I am.

It's actually kind of good.

Facts about US:

This is not the first time I have written smut/yoai between my character and one of his characters (character from a previous campaign that showed up as an NPC in our current campaign)

That yoai was 2 K+ words long and was some of the best I've written to date. (very nsfw)

The homoeroticism between us is bordering on criminal levels.

We are actively in a sexual arms race (as he called it) in which we flirt back and forth until one of us breaks. This has been going on for months.

We no longer know if this is a bit anymore.

I'm visiting him in person next month.

The yoai is actually turning out good, and I'm only 573 words in. Our whole party is invested in me finishing this. I don't even claim to be good at writing smut, but apparently, everyone is obsessed with it.

Please send help.

Happy Pride Month!!

[spellmonger]

“You deserve love. You deserve good energy. You deserve to be surrounded by people who love you. You deserve to love who you are. You deserve to be at peace.”

— Unknown

[spellmonger]

my partner said something that kinda rocked my world

[spellmonger]

[spellmonger]

When a Character Is Grieving Someone They Never Got to Say Goodbye To

✧ They talk about the person in past tense… then correct themselves. Then stop talking entirely.

✧ They touch things that belonged to the person like they’re fragile, sacred, about to disappear.

✧ They hoard the last voicemail, last message, last anything. Play it. Don’t play it. Just knowing it exists hurts enough.

✧ They leave something untouched, an empty seat, a half-packed bag, a coffee order that isn’t theirs.

✧ They get irrationally angry when someone else seems to be “moving on.” As if forgetting is betrayal.

✧ They don’t let themselves cry all at once. It comes in pieces. Like they’re afraid too much grief will drown them.

✧ They over-apologize. For being quiet. For being distant. For not being okay.

✧ They become hyper-aware of time, dates, anniversaries, time zones, the exact moment everything ended.

✧ They get superstitious. Ritualistic. As if doing things "right" might reverse something.

✧ They smile when they talk about the person. But it’s brittle. And it never quite touches their eyes.

[spellmonger]

10 “I’m Trying Not to Fall in Love With You” Behaviors

(for that painfully slow-burn energy. they’re in denial, we are screaming.)

✧ Overexplaining why they’re doing something kind. “I only brought you coffee because I was already there. It doesn’t mean anything.”

✧ Making playlists, but never sending them.

✧ Remembering oddly specific things, like how you take your ramen or your opinion on grape-flavored candy.

✧ Looking at your mouth mid-conversation. Catching themselves. Looking away.

✧ Offering to carry something small and stupid, like a charger or chapstick, because it’s one more way to be close.

✧ Giving a compliment but following it up with a weird joke, like their brain short-circuited.

✧ Fixing your sleeve. Avoiding eye contact while doing it.

✧ Defending you in front of others but teasing you when you’re alone.

✧ Staring a little too long when they think you’re not looking.

✧ Practicing how not to touch you when you sit too close. Failing anyway.

[spellmonger]

Happy Pride Month!

Faust is back for the 5th time! If you want to use the flag of your choice as an avatar, they're under the cut. They're free to use as long as it's for personal use only.

[spellmonger]

How It Feels To Write The First And Only Word ( So Far ) Into Your Story :

[spellmonger]

We are the Pride Knights, and this is our battle cry No enemy can shake us, as hard as they can try There’s a fire in our eyes that no hatred can kill A passion in our hearts that’s as strong as our will To our fellow queers who fight their battles on their own We promise to fight with you, you are never alone To our fellow queers who have fallen with the pain We thank you for your courage, your fight is not in vain We are defenders of the right to be proud of who you are To love who you love and to accept every scar We are your knights, protectors of our pride Together we stand, together we ride

PRE-ORDER ROUND 2: ONLY AVAILABLE UNTIL JUNE 30, 2025!  Pride Knights Playing Cards, 52 unique cards, the numbers cards form castles, and the jokers are dragons carrying the progress pride flag! Shipping from the United States and Europe to: US 🇺🇸, EU 🇪🇺, UK 🇬🇧, Canada 🇨🇦, Australia 🇦🇺, and New Zealand 🇳🇿 Get yours here:

prideknights.com ⚔️🌈

[spellmonger]

Stories from a Journalist

So I'm a journalist.

More specifically, I work at a TV news station as a digital content producer. I mostly create content for the website that accompanies the TV side of things. I am also....a glorified secretary. Part of my job is to answer the phones. These phones are for breaking news tips - a way for people to call when stuff is happening that we need to look into.

This does not stop people from calling us for whatever nonsense they feel the news is somehow involved in.

People also call us to complain about what they are seeing in the news.

I have been cussed out, yelled at for fifteen plus minutes straight, called slurs, and blamed for tragedies that I had no control in (or stories that I had no part in reporting on).

Most of the time, I dread answering the phones because it's kind of hit or miss on who I will end up in a 30-minute unskippable dialogue with.

However...

I also have a lot of funny stories from these phone calls that I almost need to share due to the sheer ridiculousness of it all.

So I'll probably be sharing them here for the sake of getting them out of my brain.

Bone Apple Teeth.

[spellmonger]

reblogging this for use in my WIP. thank you sire.

Moral Dilemmas That Will Mess Up Your Character

» They witness a crime but helping the victim means exposing a secret that could ruin someone they love.

» They could save someone’s life… but only by hurting someone else.

» They’re offered everything they’ve ever wanted, by the worst person they know.

» They have to lie to protect someone, but the lie costs someone else dearly.

» They can bring justice, but only by breaking a promise.

» They’re given power, but to keep it, they have to become what they hate.

» They have the chance to take revenge, and it would be so easy. So satisfying.

» They’re the only one who knows the truth, but telling it would destroy someone’s faith.

» They could protect the many, by sacrificing the one. And the one matters to them.

» They promised not to get involved, but walking away would haunt them forever.

» They were wrong  and admitting it now will shatter their credibility.

» They’re asked to forgive, and they know the person doesn’t deserve it.

» They have to pick a side, but both sides are flawed. Both will cost them something.

» They want to help, but they’re not sure it’s their place.

» They said they’d never become their parent and now they’re staring in the mirror, wondering if they already have.

» They catch their friend doing something terrible, but they owe them everything.

» They can’t tell if they’re protecting someone, or controlling them.

» They get what they want, but someone else suffers for it.

» They promised to keep a secret, but now someone innocent is getting hurt.

» They fall in love and realize it compromises everything they believe in.