stephwriteswords

[stephwriteswords]

Broke 25k!!!!

[stephwriteswords]

hey it's nanowrimo. i have tips bc i've done it about 34 times.

Don't edit. Ever. Stop it. If you just decide to start a new project half thru this one with all new characters, no problem. pick up and keep writing as if you'd already written the first half of that.

"but i spelled it wrong" whatever. "but the grammar" whatever. make it exist first. no time for sense. think like you're working on a typewriter. no backspace. only forward go.

Don't re-read further than a paragraph or two backwards. "did i mention the gun before?" listen - it doesn't matter. if you need there to be a gun there, the gun is there. put it back in once you finish the book.

"i forgot the specifics of X thing i already wrote" whatever. change it, make a note/comment to figure it out later, and just write what makes sense for the moment. "no raquel it's legit the characters name and origin" idc that character is now reborn as Claudius from Elsewhere. it's fine.

only you see your mistakes. nobody else knows. one of the ways writing and dance overlap - only you know the choreography. nobody else will know if you miss a step, so just keep dancing and pretend you meant to do it like that.

it's an illusion that you need to write linearly - from point A to point B to point C. Nah; that's just timeline propaganda. I've written a LOT of books out of order and just reordered them once i've finished. if you have a scene you'd LOVE to write but can't get there yet because of plot, just fuckin write the scene. I've always found its easier to establish "point F" "point J" and "Point A" and then wiggle my way between those scenes.

write what you WANT to write. 230 pages of smut? of well-researched discussion on bread? whatever. the point is to strengthen muscles however you can.

if you miss a day, a week, whatever. not the end of the world. we all have dry days. also time is a myth so u can do this challenge whenever u want.

as soon as you try to write for a specific audience, you kill your voice. you are writing for yourself. stop thinking about how people will take ur book. it don't matter. what matter is u, enjoying writing. i luv u.

play to your strengths. i have characters talk so much because i don't know how to write a plot if it kills me but i'm really good at dialogue so.

i love a flight of fancy. write a poem in there. shift tactics and write in code. keep it fun for yourself.

see what happens if you shift something major about ur main characters - gender, wealth, superpowers. or if you change point-of-view. or if you kill everyone in a big explosion. do NOT edit anything before this or after it. often these little weird one-off exercises teach me what interests me about what i'm working on. it is never what i thought. plus it is a fun way to add like 1k words.

stretch.

it's for fun and for practice. stop doing that project if it's giving you anxiety. once my nano was literally 50k words of half-started stories. just things i tried and tried and tried and wasn't able to flesh out. oops. but i am now 50k words of a better writer.

add dragons?

read books/listen to books on tape/etc. people often make the mistake of "buckling down" to just write. you need inspiration. you need to like. fill up on words. you need to remember how it feels to lose yourself in a story.

i don't have the time or space to really talk about this in this post but a lot of creative people turn to drugs/alcohol because it can help you be more creative. this is harmful, and walking a blade that only cuts deep. if you notice you and your loved ones are turning more to substances, please know i love you and i hope you are able to get help soon. i feel like this almost never gets mentioned because it's kind of a hazy underbelly to art. you are always more important than the work.

on that note. drink your fukin. water.

don't talk about a story until you've finished it. once you tell the story, it exists already, and isn't about discovery. i usually have a very canned "haha we'll see" response.

grapes :) tasty snack.

i love you be free.

[stephwriteswords]

【ｗｉｐ　ｉｎｔｒｏ】 — 𝕙𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕕 𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕 (working title)

four individuals, fated from the beginning to change the course of history.

𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: dark high fantasy + romance 𝚜𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: empire of Ycekara | kingdom of Traovios | over the span of years 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚜 + 𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚜: found family | healing + facing trauma | balance vs. chaotic / duality of morality | morally grey characters | soulmates | divine destiny + intervention 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: E/NC-17 - graphic depictions of violence, gore, and sexual themes; mature language; more to be added 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚜: first draft 𝚙𝚘𝚟*: two, present first-person 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚎𝚜: wolf shapeshifters | angst | politics + war | magical creatures + races | primordial spirits | involved celestial deities | experimentations turned main characters

ーｔｈｅ　ｃａｓｔ

𝘴𝘢𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘩𝘯* — the wanted daughter 𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘢 — the lone heiress 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘤* — the breathing weapon 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘪𝘬 — the hopeful refugee

──────────

“Whatever you do… live.”

After the First War, Saelihn, born from whom some would consider Chaos Incarnate, finds herself in a land she had only heard about in stories: Ycekara, an empire of snow and moonlight. Daughter of one of the most wanted men in all of the charted lands, her desperate attempt at life puts her in behind the bars of yet another cage. Instead of a sentence, she’s offered a job—and a home.

Merric is the youngest Reveri to ever become General in Ycekara’s history. Tormented by his bloodied and scarred past, he is suddenly charged with Saelihn’s training—the girl who appeared one day as a blinding reminder of the twisted roots of his upbringing.

Then land disputes with Traovios, a kingdom north of the moonlit empire, triggers the beginning of the Second War.

After the end of the Second War, Calrik, with nothing but a full rucksack on his back and his baby sister in his arms, is welcomed into Ycekara along with the other Reveri refugees. Clinging to ashen hope, he decides to make a name for himself—and for his sister.

By the end of the Second War, Ycekara has produced its newest heir.

Ilantha, the first heiress of her kind—sworn to nothing and no one—is thrust in the thralls of ruling an empire just into her coming of age. Steered by the celestial blood in her veins, she relies on her divine connection with the Mother as well as herself to guide her nation.

Together, under Ilantha’s reign, a peace forges from the ruins of war and a fracture in an age-long prophecy. That is, until Chaos rears its nasty and unforgiving head, and ghosts of the past aren’t ghosts at all.

Four individuals, fated from the beginning to change the course of history.

──────────

—ｔａｇｌｉｓｔ: @moonmagics [+/-]

[stephwriteswords]

[stephwriteswords]

me, a big buff werewolf biker: [lifts my shirt to show you my scars] [points to one] i got this one from a kitty that didnt want tumtum scratches. and this one is from a baby bird nipping me. it was scared because it missed its mom.

[stephwriteswords]

magical girl, monster girl, same thing really.

[stephwriteswords]

“yess bats do purr! but it's not the same way cats do. you can't really hear it, it's more like a vibrating feeling if you hold the bat in your hand.“🥺

[stephwriteswords]

Map depicting which US States legally consider Pluto a planet.

[stephwriteswords]

What We Do in the Shadows | 2014 dir. Jemaine Clement & Taika Waititi

[stephwriteswords]

you do not have permission to stop caring about vampires just because october is over btw. vampires are a year round event

[stephwriteswords]

'oh vampires cant walk into peoples houses without being invited' well neither can I. its rude

[stephwriteswords]

ᴛɪᴘꜱ ꜰᴏʀ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇʀꜱ [ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴀ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇʀ]

don’t let your skill in writing deter you. publishers look for the storyline, not always excellent writing. many of the greatest books came from mediocre writers—and also excellent and terrible ones.

keep writing even when it sucks. you don’t know how to write this battle scene yet? skip ahead. write [battle scene here] and continue. in the end, you’ll still have a book—and you can fill in the blanks later.

find your motivation. whether it’s constantly updating That One Friend or posting your progress, motivation is key.

write everything down. everything. you had the perfect plot appear to you in a dream? scribble down everything you can remember as so as you can. I like to keep cue cards on my nightstand just in case.

play with words. titles, sentences, whatever. a lot of it will probably change either way, so this is the perfect opportunity to try out a new turn of phrase—or move along on one you’re not quite sure clicks yet.

explain why, don’t tell me. if something is the most beautiful thing a character’s ever laid eyes on, describe it—don’t just say “it’s beautiful”.

ask for critique. you will always be partial to your writing. getting others to read it will almost always provide feedback to help you write even better.

stick to the book—until they snap. write a character who is disciplined, courteous, and kind. make every interaction to reinforce the reader’s view as such. but when they’re left alone, when their closest friend betrays them, when the world falls to their feet…make them finally break.

magic. has. limits. there is no “infinite well” for everyone to draw from, nor “infinite spells” that have been discovered. magic has a price. magic has a limit. it takes a toll on the user—otherwise why can’t they simply snap their fingers and make everything go their way?

read, read, read. reading is the source of inspiration.

first drafts suck. and that’s putting it gently. ignoring all the typos, unfinished sentences, and blatant breaking of each and every grammar rules, there’s still a lot of terrible. the point of drafts is to progress and make it better: it’s the sketch beneath an oil painting. it’s okay to say it’s not great—but that won’t mean the ideas and inspiration are not there. first drafts suck, and that’s how you get better.

write every day. get into the habit—one sentence more, or one hundred pages, both will train you to improve.

more is the key to improvement. more writing, more reading, more feedback, and you can only get better. writing is a skill, not a talent, and it’s something that grows with you.

follow the rules but also scrap them completely. as barbossa wisely says in PotC, “the code is more what you’d call ‘guidelines’ than actual rules”. none of this is by the book, as ironic as that may be.

write for yourself. I cannot stress this enough. if what you do is not something you enjoy, it will only get harder. push yourself, but know your limits. know when you need to take a break, and when you need to try again. write for yourself, and you will put out your best work.

[stephwriteswords]

"vampires will never hurt you" what if I want the vampires to hurt me. What if I want the vampires to f

[stephwriteswords]

[stephwriteswords]

I just broke 10k??? What is this witchcraft????

[stephwriteswords]

7.2k :D

[stephwriteswords]

Bestiessss I've hit 5k on my nanowrimo project and it's only day 2