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kinetic-elaboration · 10 months

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November 26: Some More Writing Thoughts

So I used my huge vacation to write one (1) scene in my Time Loop fic that (appropriately enough) simply will not end and while this is objectively depressing, I do like the scene I wrote and I do feel pleased with myself for having written it, especially since it had been weighing on me for a very long time. So I feel optimistic. There are 9 scenes left in the fic: 4 in this chapter and 5 in the next. The remaining 4 in this chapter… are divided into 4 sections but should flow together pretty well, so I have this wild idea that maybe over the weekend I’ll do a big marathon session and write a lot of that at once.

If not, that’s fine. I’m not saying this to make promises or to put expectations on myself or whatever. I’m releasing myself of all artificial deadlines for this story. It’s the priority fic, I’ll work on it until it’s done, but getting to ‘done’ will take as long as it takes. My hope is to finish by the end of the calendar year—but again, if that doesn’t happen, such is life.

Anyway, the reason that I’m saying all this is that, as a treat, I’m letting myself think about the creative future again. I’m… in that liminal space, Sunday night, about to go back to work, but it’s the weird time of year. Everyone’s on holiday mode, no one really cares, it’s dark all the time, there are a lot of events—and I need to think about stuff like gift shopping and so on, and all I really want is to be cozy. I’m going to try to take this longer-term liminal space to re-settle myself (something I’ve been trying to do for months, sort of all year, sort of longer than a year, but the definition of being a human being is to be always optimistic I suppose) and maybe I’ll get writing done too and maybe before too terribly long I can move on to other projects.

And what will those projects be? I’ve been staring at the WIP List again. This is a habit of mine that is like… very strange, because it’s enjoyable and stressful at once. It always feels like it will be more productive than it is. Mostly it’s just staring at a list I’ve half-memorized and going… yeah, I’d like to work on that? But not now. The stars aren’t aligned. And then saying that over and over until I start to feel dizzy.

I have an old Jonty fic from like 2017 that I want to finish because I like what I have for it but it is just not a complete narrative that I could post as is. And I had an epiphany a while ago as to how to finish it in a fairly simple and clean way and I wrote down some notes. So I feel like… it will not be simple and easy because it has been a long time and it will be intimidating to get back into the story and try to match up the new text with the old. Also the story is peak 2017-me and I just don’t really think or write that way anymore. But I have this idea that it’s like a weekend-project or maybe something I work on intensely but in shorter chunks for a week, where I read over everything I have, think some more on the details of the remaining scenes, and just write them. In other words, it involves some prep work but if I devoted some discrete chunks of time to it, it’s a manageable task.

And the other story on my mind is the Millamy Road Trip I’ve been referencing a lot. As I mentioned yesterday, I’m pretty close to a workable outline for the first chapter, and though I do think it needs a little more work and to marinate, it’s a very promising next project after Time Loop is finally done (which will happen!! It will happen someday, impossible as it seems now!). This is a comparatively newer project to a lot of the other ones on the list… which is to say it is not new, but since I started planning it for serious, it’s grown and developed a lot, and all of that work has been more recent. I feel like that should make it… easier? Or at least a good balance to the Jonty fic, which is definitely from way back in the vault.

I just… hmm, I want to post things. I want to post things and I want those things to be old projects and I have this idea that this will provide me with a sense of accomplishment. It’s not really that simple, but that’s the fantasy of it. I also sometimes like imagining what I will work on farther down the line, a longer to do list, even if I know that planning even two projects ahead of the current one is probably a bad idea.

I need to get back into SGAU—that’s not in the writing stages unfortunately so I should probably bring it back into active rotation as soon as Time Loop is complete. And after Ch1 of the Road Trip AU, maybe one of my horror stories? Maybe a chapter of some other multi-chap idea? I don’t know. I just don’t know.

#the year 2023 #2023: writing thoughts

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kentonwrites · 3 years

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“Anamnesis” - Project Update

Look, I know I only have 40 followers and like 38 of them are bots, but writing these updates is my only source of joy. If someone happens upon this, please enjoy.

My projects/writing life since 2017 have been utter chaos. I’ve started and abandoned probably over a dozen projects, had nightmarish problems in my personal life, and pretty much put writing as my last priority. For some odd reason though, returning to it now has given me a better perspective on the craft. I feel like taking a couple of years to simply live and observe and consume other media and suffer has actually strengthened my writing.

A summary of my current projects:

1. Mispacha (Untitled): I used the placeholder title Mispacha because it’s the Hebrew term for “family,” which is what this novel revolves around. It’s about a dysfunctional family in the early 2010′s who simply live in constant disorder and end up degrading themselves. I love the characters and the plot points I have planned, but I’m only 16k words in and am not happy with what I’ve written. The dialogue feels awkward, the writing extremely sparse, etc. I want to see it through, but it’s hard to persist at it when 16k words worth of dead weight is just...hovering there on the page.

2. Blight 117 (formerly titled Potent). This was my last start-to-finish project, and the piece that I first introduced to @breefrankelwriting when we were CPs like 4 years ago. I recently reopened that document and read through a few scenes and was absolutely APPALLED at how atrocious it was (Bree I’m so sorry please forgive me), but I also feel like I’m somehow meant to tell this story and I eventually, someday, want to make it work. It was my first ever idea for a “real” novel--I’ve had the idea and characters with me since 7th grade. I feel like it’s supposed to be my magnum opus, but if I ever go back and re-attempt it, it’ll need an overhaul the likes of which have never been seen since the dawn of time.

3. Short Story Collection: Literally last night I was just standing around and then suddenly got the inspiration to start writing short stories. I know, it’s literally so spontaneous and quirky of me. I’d attempted a few during the absolute deadzone of 2018-2020, but none of them truly worked out. Since I evidently suck at writing longer pieces (see Mispacha) I figured, maybe my strengths could be suited to a shorter medium.

So I decided to randomly draft a short story last night that played directly to my weaknesses!!!

This story is what the bulk of this update is about.

It’s called “Anamnesis” and I literally came up with the idea, wrote the first draft, and made revision notes all in a span of 5 hours last night, from 9 PM - 2 AM. It was exhilarating honestly--I hadn’t written like that in years. The first draft ended up being 5200 words (!!!) but I want to eventually buff it to around 6k since I think I majorly underwrote the final scene due to fatigue.

“Anamnesis”

TITLE: The title, “Anamnesis,” literally fits the story in so many ways I could cry. It operates on every level. All I can do is bow down to the person who created this word and thank them for its relevance to my story.

CONTENT WARNINGS: Sexual abuse, violence toward elderly

SYNOPSIS: A home health worker is assigned to an elderly woman whose memory resets each morning. He begins to take advantage of her illness, using her inability to remember the previous day in order to mistreat and abuse her. But when she is prescribed a new, promising treatment, she begins to remember more than just the abuse.

AESTHETIC: This story has the most unpleasant aesthetic known to man. I’m talking old people, pills, mold, dust, stray cats, oatmeal, etc. I’ve been in a few hospice patient homes before and I wanted to capture just how uncomfortable and depressing it can be.

CHARACTERS:

Luna Lemin - the protagonist, an elderly woman with dementia whose memory resets every morning. Always confused. Pitiful. Sad. Dark secrets in her past???

Alex - the patient care technician assigned to look after Luna. An absolute piece of trash. A spectacular liar. Malicious yet curious.

PROCESS: Like I said, this story played directly to my weaknesses. How? Because I simply cannot create compelling characters or pace a story to save my LIFE, and this story DEPENDS on the characters and the pace at which their relationship progresses. Furthermore, the setting in this is somewhat bland (literally just an old woman’s middle/lower-class house) which is a sin in terms of my writing. I thrive off of having a strong sense of setting and being able to describe specific, interesting details of that setting. In this piece I largely deprived myself of that. But it also helped me balance my flowery, poetic, overly-quirky writing style with a cohesive story and effective characters. Lately I had been putting my work on the crutch of having good writing, but it didn’t work because 1) my writing is not at a good enough level for that, and 2) sacrificing effectiveness is never a good idea. Sometimes it’s better to choose the clear, effective verb over the never-before-seen exotic one found in the depths of the Thesaurus under “archaic.”

I’m going to begin editing the story and might soon post excerpts/more updates! Though I literally wrote it in one long sprint and haven’t looked back at it since so I am PRAYING it’s not garbage. Thanks for reading!

#writing #writers on tumblr #writing update #short story #anamnesis

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yougottalovekyloren · 4 years

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Across the Stars (Part 13)

A/N: Hi Friends! Long time no see :) Life has been nuts and I had to move home from college because of COVID-19, so writing hasn’t been of top priority. BUT, I am getting back into it now :) I decided to publish pt. 13 of Across the Stars (which I wrote about 6 years ago and had to edit for a solid hour XD) and finallllly work with it again. But I am in the process of working on other shorter piece (one shot or mini series). When that will be released is undetermined thus far. But, as always, thank you for reading, and I will see you next update :)

-M <3

Ben's POV

I sat rigid in my seat, my helmet over my head as we made our final descent back to the base

I had spent hours thinking of what to do, when we would leave, how much preparation we needed. But Y/N insisted that we didn't need to figure it all out now.

We had time.

After much convincing on her part, I finally let it go (for now) and enjoyed the last few days that we had left in true freedom before we were required to return.

Y/N's father was far from upset as he watched us leave, which I had assumed would have an impact on her. But, to my surprise, she just turned and walked away, not saying a single word of goodbye to anyone aside from her mother. And now we were here, going back to the darkness, once again.

"The Supreme Leader wants to have a word with you. I will take the prisoner." Phasma informed me quietly as we landed and the door opened. I nodded silently, and handed Y/N to her. I walked away, not looking at her leading Y/N away.

You will be okay, I promise. I'll stop by after I see the Supreme Leader.

I snuck one glance over my shoulder as I directed my thoughts towards her.

Okay.

I let out a small sigh, before turning and continuing my dreaded journey to Snoke's throne room. After stopping to take a deep breath, I opened the door and walked inside. But, instead of finding him sitting on his throne, I found empty space. No one was here. "Where-"

"On a different planet." A hologram of Snoke appeared. "Urgent matters are at hand. But tell me, what did you learn from your visit?"

The one thing that I had insisted over practicing was a story to cover over what had actually happened. I had spent time, trying to cover any cracks that might weaken my story, and expose the truth. I could only pray that he would believe it. As soon as I finished, he gave a small chuckle.

"Kylo Ren... you have always been a good liar."

"W-What?" Fear drenched me like a bucket of cold ice water.

"Watch this video, and let's see if you have any edits to your story."

A second hologram appeared, playing a previously recorded video. It showed Phasma leading Y/N to her cell, as she had informed me. Before they arrived, a group of three to four Stormtroopers arrived and created a circle around Y/N.

A sinking feeling of dread and fear began to rip apart my facade as I watched Phasma take a step back from her and give a command. They began to attack her. Roughly. Mercilessly. For a few moments, she remained silent. But it didn’t take long for her to begin to plead for mercy and as time went on, her begging turned into sobs of pain.

Blood spilled down her face, and I felt whatever resolve I still had to begin to shatter. Hot tears streamed down my face, and I resisted the urge to rip off my helmet and wipe them away. A moment later, the video died away and it was silent.

"Anything you wish to tell me... Kylo Ren?" Snoke sneered.

The doors behind me opened and I turned around to see Phasma with Y/N behind her. She was still bleeding and her clothing was starting to tear. Her left eye was swollen shut and bruises speckled across her skin. Softly, in the dead silence, I could hear her begin to wheeze. I squeezed my fists tightly in an attempt to control myself from killing Phasma, and doing likewise to the rest of the troopers and Snoke himself.

"The Stormtroopers saw you on Jakku. An intimacy that couldn’t be held by anyone except lovers. "

"You say love is weak..." I began shakily. "But I disagree."

"Take that ridiculous thing off and say that again to my face!" Snoke snarled. "You are the very definition of weakness!"

"No!" I yelled, as I ripped off my helmet. "I am not weak. Y/N saved me from the monster I was!"

"You will always be a monster!" Snoke laughed darkly. "You killed your own father." I gritted my teeth at the memory. I could never relive the past and do things differently, but I did not want to continue down this road. And I believed that was something my father would have wanted.

"I will no longer be a part of your game. I refuse to fight for you anymore."

"Then you are of no use to me!" He hissed.

"Fine." I turned my back to him, and stalked towards Phasma. I pulled out my lightsaber. "Move."

"I can't believe it." She spat. "You... You fell in love... with this prisoner, of all people."

"Move, Phasma. I don't want to kill you!" I whispered.

"No." She hissed. I grabbed her arm and slammed her hard into the wall.

"Do not follow us." I growled before pushing away from her. I quickly went to Y/N's side. "I'm so sorry."

"It's not your f-fault." She whispered softly.

"We need to go."

"What about the light-"

"We will figure it out once we are out of reach." I quickly put her arm around my shoulders, to help her walk. "We won't argue about this now." Before Y/N could protest, the door swooshed open again and twenty Stormtroopers entered, their guns locked on us.

"Give up your weapons, and your lives will be spared." Phasma snarled. Her guns was pointed directly at Y/N's head.

"Drop the gun."

"You do not give orders around here anymore, Ren! I will shoot her if you do not lay down your lightsaber. Now!" She snarled at me, tightening her grip on Y/N's neck. "Drop it. Now!"

I did as she said.

"Search the girl." Two Stormtroopers held my arms back as another two grabbed Y/N and began to search her for weapons.

"Stop being an idiot." The Supreme Leader snarled, as he watched all of this go down. "Kill the prisoner, and everything will be as it was."

"I don't want this." I spat.

"We will discuss in greater detail about what is to happen when I return." The hologram disappeared. The Stormtroopers led us out, and to the cells. Y/N was exhausted, looking as if she'd collapse at any moment. She tripped at one points and a Stormtrooper grasped her by the neck.

"Watch it, girl."

After numerous turns down familiar halls, we reached the holding cells.

"You will be sharing a cell." Phasma snarled. "Snoke's orders." A small flood of relief overflowed me at her words. At least we he had this. "Get in."

Silently, I walked in and a moment later, Y/N was shoved inside. "You are both now prisoners of the First Orders. Punishments will be dealt out when the Supreme Leader returns." Without another word, Phasma stalked out and the door shut and locked.

A small groan escaped Y/N's lips and a second later, her body began to drop. I darted forward and caught her before she hit the floor.

"I saw the video." I whispered, holding her in my arms. "As soon as we get out, I will kill-"

"No." Her response shocked me.

"What?"

"No." Y/N croaked. "That's what Kylo Ren would do. Not Ben Solo. Not my Ben. Their deaths won't change a thing."

"This wasn't supposed too happen." I felt my throat grow tight with emotion. "You were not supposed to get hurt."

"I'll heal. Don't worry about me." Y/N smiled softly. "It could've been worse. I could've been killed instead."

"Don't talk like that." I scolded gently, touching her hand that rested gently on my face.

"It could’ve been a reality." Y/N smiled sadly. "We all die someday."

"You will not be dying anytime soon." I kissed her forehead gently. "I'll make sure of it."

"Ben, you have to leave this place. You need to go home to your Mother." Y/N whispered. "And in order for that to be even a possibility, I...I can’t be here anymore. At least, I can’t be physically here anymore."

"Stop." I sat her up, pulling her head to my chest. "No more."

"I want you to be happy."

"You make me happy." I kissed her head. "You and only you."

Y/N lifted her head up to look at me. "You won't be able to get out." She began to sniffle, holding back tears.

"If I'm with you... it won't matter. You're all I need." Before she could respond, I kissed her fiercely. I pulled away a moment later. "Sleep. We need to rest."

And with that... our first of many dreadful days had come to pass.

---

#ben #bensolo #ben solo x female reader #ben solo x reader #ben solo x y/n #Kylo #kylo ren #kyloren #kylo ren imagine #kylo ren fanfiction #kylo ren x reader #kylo redemption #kylo x you #kylo x reader

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pinkyshy101 · 4 years

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So I got bored and decided to type out a list of the cartoons/tv shows I’ve watched, cause why not! I think this is all I’ve watched, or at least recent enough (I’m thinking like…. 2014/15 onward, when I actively started to watch more cartoons)

It’s kinda long, and I’m kinda rambley, so I’ll put it under a keep reading thing (if I can) so you don’t have to scroll through that if you don’t want to. Idk who will actually read this, but hey maybe it’s an idea of what kind of things I might reblog on here! I’m always taking any suggestions for shows to watch, I love learning about and watching more and more cartoons! So if there’s something I didn’t list as something I watched and you think of be interested, feel free to please recommend it! I may update this with a reblog or an edit or something at some point in the future, idk though. For now, its September 19, 2020, and here’s what I got for ya

This ended up way more rambley than I meant for it to be but I started writing it at maybe 12:30ish am and now its almost 2am when I’m getting ready to post it so oops 👀 I’m not really expecting anyone to read this but hey, it’s something! Read if you wanna know what shows and other stuff I watched lol idc

Cartoons I’ve watched in their entirety (or what’s all aired as of today 9/19/20):

(updated 12/2/20 as starting with ATLA)

Gravity Falls - watched since late 2014

Steven Universe (including the movie and Future) - watched since mid June 2015, right before the second stevenbomb/sworn to the sword (early season 2)

Over The Garden Wall - watched back around when it first came out, can’t remember exactly when but sometime in 2015

Star vs The Forces of Evil - watched the first 2 seasons as they aired, then stopped watching for a while and rewatched the whole show in June 2019

Hilda - watched for the first time in I think October 2018, rewatched in May quarantine

She-ra and the Princesses of Power - watched all 5 seasons about/not even a week after season 5 came out, idk why I waited so long to watch it

The Owl House - started watching it after the grom episode aired, idk why I waited so long to watch it but molly and noelle and everyone was screaming about grom on twitter, so of course I had to watch it then

Kipo and The Age of Wonderbeasts - watched it all in early August, right before I watched The Owl House

Infinity Train - watched the pilot back in 2016, then the first season when it came out, but then I started college and didn’t get the chance to watch the 2nd/3rd season until I decided to watch the whole series (s1 again, 2/3 for the first time) this past week

Ouran High School Host Club - ok I know it’s anime not a cartoon and I can’t see myself reblogging anything from it but it’s literally the only anime I’ve watched more than like 1 or 2 episodes of/the only one I’ve seen in its entirety so I figured eh I’ll mention it

Camp Camp - I almost forgot to mention this one! I started watching it when there was I think only 3 episodes of season 1, so back in 2016, and I’ve loved it since then! I guess this summer’s season couldn’t happen cause of covid.... But I’m still excited for when/if it does eventually come out!

Avatar the Last Airbender

Shows that I’ve partially watched but not completely:

We Bare Bears - I’ve seen the first 2 seasons, maybe some of the third I can’t remember, I watched it when it first came out but I haven’t watched it in a while, so I would probably need to rewatch a bunch of it (I did rewatch I think the first season sometime this year? But it was while working on school projects so I wasn’t giving it my full attention), apparently there’s also a movie now???

My Little Pony Friendship is Magic - I was huge into the brony fandom from roughly 2013ish-2017ish, I’ve seen up to season 8 and a few episodes of season 9, and the 4 equestria girls movies, and the mlp movie; I probably know seasons 1 - 4 the most, maybe a little of 5, 6 and 7 are kinda fuzzy but I’ve seen them, 8 I watched over quarantine (since it’d been a few years since I had watched any of it, I also rewatched bits of 5-7) as well as I think the first episode or so of season 9, but I don’t remember them too well. I watched the movie (the pony one, not eqg) when it came out in theaters, and not too long after that I drifted away from the mlp fandom (tbh I was drifting a little bit before it came out, but I knew I had to stick in there at least until it came out since I had been waiting for so long for it). The equestria girls movies, I saw them all when they first came out (I even saw rainbow rocks in the theater). I think there’s like, half hour shorts or episodes or something?? That’s in the eqg universe?? But I don’t think I’ve seen any of them, and if I have it was probably a really early one a long time ago because I haven’t really kept up with anything after Legend of Everfree came out

Animaniacs reboot - I’ve seen the first 5 episodes and it’s nice!

Shows that I’ve only seen an episode or few of that I (probably) intend on continuing to watch:

Glitch Techs - I saw the first episode! Definitely want to continue it

Rick and Morty - I watched a few episodes of the first season in like March/April quarantine, but I was still dealing with online school at home finishing out last semester then. I think I want to watch this eventually, but I have other shows that I want to catch up on/watch before I’d get to this one

Tangled the Series - idk if that’s the name I’ve seen multiple names but I hope you know what I’m talking about, I saw a handful of episodes from the first season I think sometime around fall 2019, but I’d probably have to rewatch the whole thing

Adventure Time - I’ve never had cable/cartoon network so I didn’t watch this growing up, but I’ve heard really good things about it and seen a bunch of stuff from it (I’d have to be living under a rock to have not seen anything lol) but it’s so long and I just haven’t gotten around to it yet! Well I’ve seen maybe a dozen or so episodes of the first season but it was a while ago so I’d have/want to start over probably

Shows I haven’t started

Amphibia - I’ve heard it’s good! I just haven’t gotten around to it yet

Avatar the Last Airbender - probably next on my list to watch, I’ve been meaning to watch it for years but I haven’t yet, its on Netflix now so that should make it easier to watch and a friend from school made me promise that this would be the next one I’d watch so that’s what I’m doing (I did watch the last 2 seasons of infinity train that night though, since I was really wanting to finish it first… But atla is next) watched it! (updated 12/2/20)

The Legend of Korra - obviously I’m waiting to watch it until after alta, and I’m probably going to watch it right after I finish atla

The Dragon Prince - idk really anything about it other than I think it’s on netflix? and apparently it’s good and maybe gay idk but I’ve heard it’s good thus why it’s on here lol

Black Horseman - idk too too much about this other than apparently it’s good but also kinda depressing. Similarly to rick and morty I want to watch it eventually but its not insanely high on my list

OK KO - don’t know a ton about it other than it’s decent, a step up from r+m/bojack on where I want to watch it but not urgently

Ducktales Reboot - similarly to OK KO, don’t know much about it other than it’s decent, same level of want to watch

Milo Murphy’s Law - saw a couple episodes when it came out, haven’t watched it in forever so if I ever do want to rewatch it I’d have to restart it, not super high on my priority list though

Bee and Puppycat - another one I almost forgot! I don’t know a ton about this but I’ve heard its nice! Plus from what I’ve seen I like the artstyle so 👀 maybe someday

Animaniacs (original) - I started to watch the reboot and I think I want to watch the original eventually! Just haven’t gotten around to it yet

Clone High - listen it’s not that I desperately WANT to watch this, I just have friends who are like, hey, watch this lol it’s apparently not super long so why not

Other non cartoon shows I’ve watched:

Brooklyn 99 - idk when I started watching it, maybe around season 4/5ish? I think sometime in 2018 so idk the season, idk, most of the episodes I’ve only seen once so I couldn’t tell you exactly what happens in every episode but I still like it

Rise - ugh I miss this show, I started watching it after/around when the 3rd episode came out (end of March 2018?), and I don’t think I’ve watched any of it since it ended (mid may 2018) cause its not on any streaming services anymore :/ at least not that I know of but I loved it and would love to rewatch it

Andi Mack - I’d heard it was good but hadn’t watched it after it ended (early august 2019 I think I watched it), haven’t rewatched it since then but it was decent, I mainly watched it cause I had seen clips of gay but yknow it was alright

Sex Education - watched 1st season sometime in 2019, when rewatched it/watched season 2 when it came out January 2020, this is like WAY more mature than like anything on this list but like it has an interesting story

Love Victor - watched first/currently only season when it came out mid june 2017 (how was June so long ago what)

Queer Eye - I’ve seen a couple seasons of it idk I figured why not add it lol

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist - I think I watched this around when there were maybe a few episodes of season 1 left (well there’s only one season now but still), idk I liked it cause like musicals and stuff idk

Idk what else to add to this section but if I think of anything (to any category on this list) I’ll probably update it later maybe idk (again I’m not necessarily going to be reblogging stuff from all/any of these but like, I figured I’d mention it cause idk)

Musicals:

Another thing I love is musicals, like I’m a design/tech major in college rn so yeah I like theatre lol so I’m going to list some I’ve seen (mostly watched bootlegs of, but I’ll list some professional/tour ones I’ve seen in person)(but if it doesn’t say anything special I probably just watched a bootleg, 2017 was a big year for me and my google drive being filled with bootlegs…) This might not be all of them and I won’t go into as much detail (I hope, I haven’t typed it yet) but we’ll see:

Broadway tours I’ve seen: (I swear this isn’t bragging they were cheap seats way up high lol)

Dear Evan Hansen (May 2019)

Wicked (first professional show I saw, October 2017, haven’t watched a bootleg or anything of it since then and I went in completely blind)

Mean Girls (November 2019, last professional show I saw before quarantine)

Come From Away (September 2019)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (November 2018)

The Book of Mormon (August 2018, was hoping to again this August but quarantine :( )

Non professional/high school/college/other shows I’ve seen in person/been on crew for (not all of them, but some) (assume I’ve also seen bootlegs/proshots if there are any)

Newsies

Spring Awakening (spot op)

Shrek (props)

Legally Blonde

I’ve seen done way more but I don’t feel like listing them or that they’re anything I’d want go reblog/actively look at fandom content for (that’s not saying it reblog stuff from shrek the musical but still lol)

Other shows I’ve seen only in proshot/bootleg form:

Basically every Starkid show

Spies are Forever

The Solve it Squad

Hamilton

Heathers

Be More Chill (yes I was in that big amalgamation of musical fandom stuff with these and deh in 2017 aaaa)

Falsettos

Beetlejuice

Spongebob

21 Chump Street

Les Mis

Phantom

(Again maybe not necessarily all but some there’s a slight chance I might reblog things about)

Musicals I still need/want to watch/listen to:

The Prom

Six

The Great Comet (not typing it all out)

Hadestown

Waitress

Bonnie and Clyde

Something Rotten

Tuck Everlasting

Again there’s more I want to see I’m sure but I haven’t really watched bootlegs in a while…. Idk feel free to suggest shows tho

Movies I’ve seen/like: obviously I’m not gonna just every single movie I’ve seen but heres a few I like:

The Sound of Music

The Wizard of Oz - these 2 have actually always been my favorite movies since I was little, I can’t dee myself reblogging much of anything about them but figured I’d mention them cause why not

Love Simon

Some but not all Disney movies (I grew up with no cable/mostly just pbs)

Most pixar movies?

I don’t think John Mulaney shows count as movies but eh whatever I’ve seen them on netflix

Idk what else lol I know I’ve seen more movies than this but eh

If anyone actually read all of this... Wow I’m surprised honestly lol have a free cookie or something for your struggles or smth, idk, thanks for reading this though lol I appreciate you (but also slightly worry, this was a lot of words and a lot of rambling)

#long post #me #personal #really long post

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komorebirei · 4 years

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WIP Folder Challenge

List the titles of your WIP files.

I was tagged by @mikauzoran--thank you!

Tagging: @zekroudon @synkiller82 @trashcatontherooftop @dramatic-daisies @luminousinthedark

Oh great, I have a lot. ^_^; Most of them have already started to be posted, since I’m more focused on finishing my WIPs than starting anything new. I have been in a bit of a writing slump lately, though.

Aside from the WIPs mentioned below, I also have another hidden WIP that’s a MLB for BLM commission so I won’t disclose any details yet. To the person who requested, if you read this--I’m so sorry it’s taking me so long! I’m working on Quantum now because that’s what’s inspiring me and I feel like working on it is curing my writing slump. I promise I’ll finish it soon. (This secret fic will become an audiofic, too.)

Not going to link to any of these, because I wouldn’t necessarily recommend anyone to read my incomplete fics, but if you really want to check them out, you can visit my AO3 profile here. I’m listing them in the order that I intend to finish them.

Fics on AO3

Quantum Entangled (Lukadrien)

This is a soulmate, no-powers AU. Soulmates are marked by some point of synchrony in their lives. Between Adrien and Luka, this manifests as them both having composed a fragment of a song that can’t be completed without the other person’s part. Adrien hears Luka play his part and realizes they’re soulmates, but he doesn’t know what to make of that and keeps it from Luka at first, opting to get to know him better instead. There are currently three chapters out, and two chapters coming. I’ve written most of Chapter Four (all but the last couple pages), and done a detailed outline for Chapter Five, so it should be done soon.

Graine de toi (love square)

This was inspired by Kimi no na wa (Your Name)--Adrien and Marinette have temporary body swaps. The reason for the body swapping, and the events that transpire, are different from the movie, so I wouldn’t really call it a crossover. In this AU, Adrien never went to public school, but he’s still Chat Noir and everything else is mostly the same, so the love square dynamic is a little different. There are five chapters out, and the rest of the chapters exist in varying stages of completion (some are fully edited, some are drafted, some outlined, and at least one needs to be rewritten). Not sure when I’ll be finished, but it’s the next multichapter fic in line after Quantum.

The Water Was Never Afraid (Adrigami/Marichat)

In this aged-up fic, Adrien and Kagami start dating. Their relationship isn’t bad, but Adrien is dealing with stress at home and work that Kagami can’t necessarily support him through, and dating her also puts pressure on him, so he starts visiting Marinette as Chat Noir to relieve some of the stress.

Rêveries, Passions (love square)

Music AU. Adrien is a piano prodigy and Marinette is a violinist. They go to music university together, and Adrien plays at a jazz club as the masked Chat Noir to get away from the elitism and competition of the classical music world. Marinette and Adrien are best friends, and he invites her to the jazz club, but she’s struggling to keep her head above water at school and thinks a side hobby will be a distraction, so she says no. She ends up going in disguise as Coccinelle once, though, and gets caught up in a flirty relationship with Chat Noir. It’s a story about secrets--the ones they disclose and the ones they keep.

I have a series of short drabbles in this universe, a few long drabbles, and a couple of chapters out. I’m not sure when I’ll get back to updating it.

Project Repo (LuXY)

Team Miraculous knows each other’s identities and communicates regularly through a group chat. When they lose the fox miraculous and XY picks it up, Luka gets assigned to get it back from him. It’s supposed to be humorous, but I suck at writing humor. XD I was having fun with this series, though. Someday I’ll get back to it.

YouTube-Only Stories (so far)

Nowhere Else To Go (Marichat / love square)

Chat Noir runs away from home and seeks refuge at Marinette’s house, but he won’t tell her why. A story about the pain of not knowing how to help one’s suffering friend, and dealing with the emotional issues surrounding a Hawkmoth reveal. (I hope that’s not a spoiler, but I mean... it’s pretty obvious, and the point of the story is not to surprise people with why he ran away.) I’ve been debating about whether to post this on AO3 or not, because it feels so old and badly written to me. People on YouTube seem to like it, though, so once I finish other WIPs I might give it a thorough round of editing, finish it, and start posting on AO3.

When I first wrote the series, I finished it. However, since there are so many loose ends and emotional issues to tie up, there was a lot of content that I later decided to add, which expanded the chapter count. Since then, though, I’ve decided that it isn’t necessary to resolve everything and extend the story beyond its natural ending point; I can always write more drabbles in the universe or a sequel later if I really feel like it, but it’s more important to keep the story concise and finish it. So I think there will only be three more chapters. One is already written, one is half-written, half-outlined, and the last is written. The end is in sight.

UMS Online (love square)

An AU where Marinette is a 3D artist and Adrien is a developer, the son of a gaming company CEO. His father is trying to push him into management, but Adrien prefers coding and gaming. He secretly plays UMS Online, an online fight game, as Chat Noir, the second-best player on the leaderboard, while Marinette secretly plays as Ladybug, the top player. Marinette gets hired by Agreste Co. (the gaming company) and doesn’t realize her boss’ son is Chat Noir. I thought the premise was fun and I have the whole thing outlined, but who knows when I’ll get back to this haha. It’s very low on my list of priorities.

#writing #writing updates #my writing

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naryrising · 4 years

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I was tagged by @riptidemonzarc - thank you!

I’ll tag @kyrstin @corancoranthemagicalman @asennnaa @measured-words @solosvejs @saltwife @jillchipher @sarking and/or anyone else who wants to do it :)

Ao3 name: Nary

Fandoms: Too many to list. Like hundreds, over the course of decades? I like variety and I don’t usually get absorbed too deeply in a single fandom. Currently I’m enjoying The Witcher, Castlevania, Dragon Prince, Yuri on Ice, the new She-Ra, I just finished watching Black Sails and Picard (Star Trek is a long term love), but there are so many more.

Number of fics: 553

Fic you spent the most time on: I have no idea. I suppose I have fics that I've started, then let sit for a long time, and then finished later, but that doesn't really count as spending time on them so much as letting other things take priority. I don't often write multi-chapter fics and my average writing length is certainly under 10,000 words so mostly they don't take extremely long to write. A few days or weeks, unless I have to leave them to sit for a while and think about what they've done.

Fic you spent the least time on: Probably a drabble, but I have no idea which one. With a good prompt or idea I can write a drabble in under 10 minutes.

Longest fic: To the Champion Go the Rewards, which I might still finish someday, who knows. 22,650 words unfinished.

Shortest fic: The Gravedigger, which due to word count discrepancies between Word and AO3 comes in at 99 words instead of a proper 100 and therefore is shortest by technicality.

Most hits: The Secret Room, 46,882 hits. It's had a lot of time to get them.

Most kudos: Slip A Dick To Your Witcher, 1455 kudos, in an unexpectedly short period of time.

Most comment threads: To the Champion, but as it has many chapters I feel a fairer candidate is The Aunt and the Ankh, which as a single-chapter standalone work has 62 comment threads (most ported over from the old Yuletide site, may it rest in peace.)

Fave fic you wrote: When you have 553 it gets hard to pick, but here are a few that I'm quite proud of:

None Other (Lion in Winter, 5k words, rated Explict, complicated relationships) From Rome to Brundisium, With Stops (Rome, 4800 words, rated Mature, post-canon development of a minor character) On Lightning, Which Occasionally Strikes Twice (Gentlemen of the Road, 7700 words, rated Mature, post-canon adventure) Brother Wolf, Sister Jackal (Brotherhood of the Wolf, 3700 words, rated Teen, fix-it fic and post-canon adventure) Escargots (Benjamin January Mysteries, 9400 words, rated General, murder mystery starring side characters) Ferda Bis (Letterkenny, 1600 words, rated Mature, utter nonsense that I had to research hockey slang for)

Fic you want to rewrite/expand on: I don't rewrite, but I have a few I could expand on. Many of my Lion in Winter stories are in the same post-canon setting, and if/when I write more, it will probably continue to follow that train of thought. I could, as mentioned above, someday finish To the Champion, if I get off my ass. I have half-promised a follow-up story to None Of Us Are Whole, which would be a weird experience if I can pull it off. I have a sequel in mind to On Lightning, Which Occasionally Strikes Twice. And I have some vague further ideas for Requested to Attend, which might or might not materialize into anything.

Share a bit of your WIP or share a story idea that you’re planning: I can't share some of them because they're for exchanges and I don't want to give away the surprise, but here's a snippet from something else I'm working on:

Dianthea floated, a passenger in her own body. She could feel her form and the world around her, but at a slight remove. The spirit of Ulkash, a long-dead warrior of the Kai do Arat, was in control - more or less. Dianthea knew that, if push came to shove, she could probably end the possession and take back what was hers, but she had granted Ulkash the use of her physical form until the night was over. The ghost had taken full advantage of the opportunity to once again savour some physical pleasures - eating, drinking, fighting. Now she had decided to move on to the next experience: fucking.

Laris had been somewhat apprehensive, although game to give it a try once it was clear Dianthea was willing as well. Go easy on him, Dianthea told her current inhabitant. She could talk to Ulkash privately with a bit of effort, although it was easier to speak to her out loud with their shared voice. He's worried about whether he'll be able to please you.

He's a man, Ulkash replied. He already pleases me. She was busy checking out Laris' thighs and backside as she followed him up the stairs to the master bedroom. Doesn't he please you? He's handsome.

Yes, but... his handsomeness isn't what pleases me most, Dianthea thought. She wasn't sure how to explain the details of her marriage to Ulkash. She settled for, I like that he's thoughtful. Sometimes he thinks too much, though, and then he gets anxious.

So you're saying I shouldn't let him think too much. I understand.

#ask meme #writing #nary speaks

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nadziejastar · 6 years

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Honestly, it feels like they came up with the idea of Subject X to extend the story of the Radiant Garden crew because otherwise KH3 would be the perfect place to end their story. She wasn't just a test subject, she was apparently a central figure in the experiments. When she inevitably returns in KH4 she'll drag Ansem, the apprentices, and the boys back into relevance even if they have no other reason to get involved

I suspect you’re right regarding the future. I am sure that she’ll be vital to KH4, and she’ll be heavily involved in Lea and Isa’s story in the future. She’s involved in a large human experimentation plot, and Lea and Isa also having that backstory would be seen as redundant.

None of this will be directed at you anon, just my general opinion on the current state of the story and characters.I’m going to rant a bit about the direction things seem to be going to get it off my chest. Basically, I resent how she took Saix’s backstory and derailed his entire character arc. And I don’t think any of them even needed her to have a role in the future of the story. Ansem the Wise still has a ton of potential. Lea is a full-fledged Keyblade wielder, and Isa could easily be one too. Whatever experiments she was involved in are going to be poorly retconned into the Xehanort Saga and will probably overwrite the mind control experiments that were originally mentioned. “Plot twist: There were no mind control experiments! It was really about learning the secrets of time-travel!” I’m not really excited to learn more, to be honest.

I didn’t play Union X. I tried to, but I didn’t like the gameplay. I have read the story summary online and watched Back Cover. But I have no attachment to Skuld or any of the other original characters from that game. I didn’t play KH3 to learn about them. I don’t care about them. I wanted closure on the characters from this arc. The arc that’s been building up over the last decade. I was attached to Lea and Isa and all the others. And to have it suddenly be all about this new girl and Keyblade wielders of yore out of nowhere…well, it felt like a slap in the face as a long-time fan.

As for Isa’s character: If KH3 is the precedent for how he is to be portrayed going forward, I’m not very excited for the future. It doesn’t sound like Nomura is either.

–There are several Organisation members whose original names are still unknown. Will we have a chance to learn them someday, or to find out about the scar on Isa’s face?

Nomura: If there is a sequel, then that chance may come. But in my heart right now my desire is a blank page.

To be honest, I don’t even know how much blame I can attribute to Nomura personally. I know he wanted to make BBS Volume 2 and was very disappointed it was cancelled. I highly doubt he’s happy with the many, many revisions to the story after it got canned. I suspect his lack of interest in explaining Isa’s scar is due to the fact that he already had a great story all planned out and it was not able to be realized due to factors outside of his control. The Foreteller arc is an opportunity to step away from the butchered Xehanort Saga plot and start over with a blank slate. Just like Verum Rex seems like his attempt at restarting the butchered Versus XIII project with a blank slate.That’s my personal opinion. If it’s true, I can hardly blame him.

As for Lea and Isa’s relationship, here is my honest take: KH3 took a very close and emotionally intimate former relationship between two boys (to me it even seemed romantic in nature) and made it into a caricature of a “dudebro” relationship. And like clockwork, it was all about a girl now. If I’m being perfectly honest, it felt like whoever was writing the Lea/Isa scenes was thinking “no homo, no homo” the entire time. Like they were terrified to depict even the slightest bit of genuine intimacy between these two male characters. I mean really, howcliché to attribute all of Saix’s villainy and the breakdown of his closest friendship… to a single girl that he barely knew. Completely deflecting away from the relationship they had with each other. A relationship history that spanned multiple games now revolves around a character who was never even mentioned before, let alone seen on-screen.

By his own description, he was not close to this girl. He spoke a handful of times to an imprisoned, traumatized amnesiac girl, in hushed whispers. He couldn’t have known her that well. She had amnesia. Did he even know her name? Did SHE even know her name? Didn’t sound like it based on the reports. He said they spoke in the shadows and it was too dim to make out her features. Did he know what she looked like? Again, this was not a childhood friend or anything. After a while, he wasn’t sure if she even existed. I seriously could not wrap my head around how ridiculous this whole concept was. It felt like a joke.

In 358/2 Days, Axel spent the entire game angsting over the loss of his close relationship with Isa. In KH3D, the first thing he does is look for him, and he’s very visibly upset when he finds out he’s still with Organization XIII. Then in KH3, he doesn’t mention him at all. It’s only Roxas this, Roxas that. Lea only remembers Isa exists when he randomly shows up in Twilight Town. I’m like, where did THIS come from? I was laughing hysterically when Saix asked for ice cream. It was the most out-of-character thing I’d ever seen. Axel didn’t even seem phased by him being so friendly all of a sudden, which was also very strange. I would have expected a stronger reaction, but he seemed more annoyed by his presence than anything. Even his promise to bring him home felt more like an afterthought than a priority. “I going to get my precious ROXAS back! Oh, well, I guess I’ll bring you back too, Isa. I mean, as long as you’re here…why not?”

Lea: Would you get lost? I’ll clobber you tomorrow.

Saix: Hmph. I expect no less.

I really disliked how Saix’s personality was portrayed in KH3. In my opinion, Isa’s entire redemption hinged on the fact that he was Xehanort’d. Saix was THE main villain in 358/2 Days. He was basically Xemnas-lite, only far more of an active presence than Xemnas himself was in that game. He was constantly antagonizing Roxas, Xion and Axel. By writing the story so that he was in control of himself the whole time, it sent the message that Saix’s personality is Isa’s true personality as well. And I just don’t think that works. At all. It’s inconsistent with the story, and it’s honestly insulting to Isa’s character. There was SO much evidence that Isa was not in control of himself prior to KH3.

It also left a very poor taste in my mouth because Isa was implied to be an innocent victim of cruel human experimentation, who was being controlled like a puppet by an evil madman. That is horrific abuse to a 15 year-old child. And the heartwarming resolution to his story is watching his best friend “clobber” him? Really? All he needs is someone to beat some sense into him? And keep in mind, this is supposed to be a battle to bring about the apocalypse. Why does the dialogue sound more like a pissing contest between two high school boys that are planning to have a fistfight in the parking lot after school?

Saix: I was jealous.

Lea: You admit it.

Saix: Well, if I make it back…you won’t get it out of me a second time.

Isa doesn’t even get a good redemption scene. He isn’t allowed to show any emotion whatsoever. He actually berates Lea for showing emotion…FOR HIM. And what’s Lea’s opinion after Isa is defeated? He’s disgusted that he LET Xehanort “reduce him to this.” It’d be like if Ven or Aqua were disgusted at Terra for having the audacity to get possessed. But no, apparently Saix was just putting on an “act” the whole time. All of his sociopathy was just an act of macho bravado to hide his jealousy and wounded ego. Sheesh, that’s supposed to make him more sympathetic? And he’s STILL a jerk even when he apologizes. There really was no way to make Saix into a “redeemed good guy”. I mean, he was a Xehanort clone, for Christ’s sake. As far as I’m concerned, the X-shaped scar never getting explained is just symbolic of the fact that the real Isa is still dead.

If it had just been shown that he was a victim of mind control, he wouldn’t have even NEEDED a redemption. He’d just… go back to being Isa, who was always good in the first place. I mean, you don’t need to redeem Xemnas to redeem Terra. Sure, it’s his body, but how stupid would it have been to have Xemnas give a half-hearted apology, then go back home with Aqua and Ven? The story could call him “Terra” all they want. But that’s still not Terra; that’s Xehanort. No, they actually needed to bring Terra back to have a truly happy ending for the trio.

That’s how I feel about Isa. KH3 can call him “Isa” all they want, but all I saw was a watered-down, slightly less douchey version of Saix masquerading as Isa. I wont go into too much detail right now because I have a huge meta almost finished (I hope to have it posted soon) analyzing Isa’s weapons and how they paint a very detailed picture of his (original) personality. And by every indication…Isa’s personality was very feminine, empathetic, and emotional. He’s basically the archetypal Yin; the Moon goddess. And that’s definitely closer to how I interpreted his personality based on BbS. I can’t see him saying ANY of the dialogue he had in KH3.

#anti-kh3 #kh3 spoilers #kh meta #kingdom hearts meta #kh axel #kh saix #kh isa #kh lea #kh leaisa #kh akusai #akusai #leaisa

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maidenariana · 8 years

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Ari Beats the Gatekeepers Part 1 or.. Ari Knew She Was Right So She Went Around Those In Her Way

Unfortunately, due to the lack of clear guidelines and training in all levels of government regarding policy on transgender name and gender changes.. transgender people need to be prepared, they need to know more than 'the supervisor,' they need to be polite, but confident and assertive, and maybe someday, the gate-keeping will stop for all of us. Well, we can dream!

Today was a difficult day filled with aggravation and disappointment.. however, today was also a wonderful day topped off with a victory over red tape and a would be gatekeeper.

If you have been following my story long enough, you may remember I legally changed my name and updated my driver's license and social security card information in May of 2016. Well, I was also in the midst of my divorce during that time. I wanted to apply for a passport since I never had one before. I filled out the paperwork over the summer and set it aside. I wanted to be able to apply with the divorce date filled in so the records were accurate. I decided, "no rush, I can wait until my divorce is final." I did not anticipate it taking 11 months for my divorce to be final. It was not contentious.. my ex and I handled ourselves in the best manner possible in my opinion. Still, due to all of the built-in delays (30 days to respond here, 30 days to respond there) and some rather inept lawyer-ing from her representation.. it took 11 months!

Guess when it was finally final? The irony.. it was Inauguration Day! That's right, I waited to send out my passport application due to that one little box not being able to show that I was legally divorced and in doing so, I am one of the transgender people now holding my breath to see if I sent it in time. In time for what, you ask? In time to be treated like a human being rather than be treated like a criminal by the wretched hive of scum and villainy that is now the white house.

Anyhow, one of my loved ones had to be admitted to the hospital on the 19th, just one day before my divorce was final.. this threw a new wrinkle in things as I took the needed time to care for my loved one. She had to be top priority. My passport application waited another two weeks for me. (My loved one is due to be released tomorrow - yay!!!)

Finally, yesterday I went into my local post office which is also an acceptance facility for passport applications. I asked the woman working the passport desk to take a new photo for me because the Walgreens employee made me look like a grandma in my first attempt at getting an acceptable picture. This woman had kind eyes and she was also very knowledgeable and patient. She went through all of the paperwork I brought... my physician's statement, my legal name change court order, my photocopy of my id.. then she paused..

"Is this the only birth certificate you have?" she asked. I said, "Yes, Why??" (as my heart began to sink)

"I'm sorry, but you need the long form and this is the short form. They will reject it immediately if your parent's names are not on the copy."

My heart sank as she told me I could get a copy the same day if I went to one of the Cook County Vital Records locations. I thanked her and decided I would just take the next day off (Friday) and take care of it. I double-checked the website when I got home and confirmed that the nice woman at the post office was correct. She had not given me bad information. I just missed that detail in my research.

I started Friday morning at the dentist getting my newly prepared crown put in place of the temporary crown I got 3 weeks ago. Once that was complete, I was off to the Vital Statistics room of the Bridgeview Illinois Court House. Of course this involves going through a TSA like security (only not as invasive). They had the lines split for men and women. I of course went through the women's line. They were nice enough and there were no issues. I found the right room, took a number and waited. I got called up to a station and told the woman that I needed a long form birth certificate. I showed her the short form one that I had (with my original birth name), my court order for my name change, and my current license. She started punching things into the computer then went to get a supervisor. Of course, I could already tell this was not going smoothly, but I hoped the supervisor knew the drill and knew that everything I brought was more than sufficient to prove who I was. NOPE! She told me that there was no way they could issue me MY birth certificate since my driver's license now stated a different name. She said that I could be anybody. I had given her a stamped and sealed COURT ORDER for the name change and she told me she could not help me.

I was so dumbfounded by the inept logic that I did not have the words to argue as she handed me a form to fill out and ship to Springfield Illinois so that I could have my birth certificate updated (a process that takes 4 to 6 weeks) BEFORE they could help me. Of course, as you can tell from the title of this post, I knew this supervisor was wrong. I decided then and there that I would visit each of the 5 other Cook County locations that day until I found a supervisor that knew the actual guidelines. Of course, because of the extended conversation about my gender and my name change with many people behind me waiting for their turn.. I had about 12 pairs of eyes looking quizzically at me when I turned around to leave. That's okay though, because I smiled at them all, knowing I was right and that this was not a true road block. I imagine I had a rather determined look on my face..

It turns out, I only had to visit one more location! That's right, after another twenty minutes of driving, the helpful people at the nearby Markham, IL location sorted me out in a matter of minutes (well, after I waited in line for about 25 minutes). The clerk did ask for a supervisor, but she returned just to tell me that I should make sure to also send the right form to Springfield, IL so that my birth certificate would match my ID in the future. I promised her that I would. I paid for two copies of my birth certificate and thanked the woman.

I glided out of there, feeling like I had just won a major victory. I knew I had enough time to get to the post office and still get my passport application out that very same day. I drove straight there (an hour drive back by that point). It was the same woman who had to turn me away the day before. I said cheerfully, "Hello again! I have the correct long form birth certificate, although I had to go to two different locations to get it!" I explained what had happened to her and she basically shook her head and lamented that it was sad I had to go through all that. She carefully went through all of my documents and told me that everything looked good and that I was all set. I paid for expedited processing and my passport application is now on an airplane.

I went home, filled out the form I was given to change my birth certificate and went back to the post office to get that sent out along with another physician's letter and legal name change court order. This should not impact my passport application, because with expedited processing it should be finished by the time they get to my birth certificate change in Springfield (a slower process by all accounts). If my passport gets rejected because the birth certificate I sent has my old name and the system gets updated and shows my birth certificate has changed.. then resubmitting will be fine and less complicated because my birth certificate will show the correct gender and they will have no reason to question it or to deny it. What a tangled web.

By this point it was late in the afternoon and I was elated to have all of that done, but I also had several stress knots in my neck. I looked across the street and saw one of the salons that I frequent. I decided to get a blow out (they also give you complimentary neck and shoulder massages). The girl doing my hair did a great job and had some suggestions for a cut as well. I plan to go back on Wednesday for a cut, but went with just the blowout for today.

The point of writing all of this out is that I hope it is helpful for anyone else dealing with this. Even if you have only one county court house you can visit, perhaps going on a different day and getting a different clerk will get you different results. It is unfortunately a toss of the dice every time we as transgender people have to deal with changes to identification documents. Be in the know, do your research, know more than the supervisors, be prepared to politely but assertively stand up for what you know to be the correct process. You could also even suggest that they call another location to ask how they handle it if they are unsure.

I titled this post with "part 1," because I am fully aware, that there is a strong chance that either my passport application or birth certificate update request will be denied. As long as one of them comes back as expected, then I know the next attempt should be the last to get this all finalized. Of course, Mr. Drumpf could sign an executive order on Monday that calls all of this into question and both of my requests could be halted. If that happens I will immediately contact the lawyer who represented me for my divorce (she is also a transgender woman) and together we will take on the U.S. Government if we have to.

I will keep standing up for myself and keep going to any lengths to make sure I am not denied. You should do the same 😉

-Ari

My goal in sharing my transition is to represent transgender people in the positive light that we all deserve. Re-blogs are always okay if they are for this purpose, but if you are a fetish blog or fetish website then I want nothing to do with you and you do not have my permission to use my images.

#decade of ari #Ariana's Transition Pics #another transition step taken #trans is beautiful #girls like us #transgender #gender transition #Transgender woman #transgender identity #27 months hrt #transisbeautiful #girlslikeus

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mustangtaisa · 8 years

Text

Through Eyes of Flame

This rest of this fic can be read on Fanfiction.net and AO3.

Pairing: RoyxRiza, hints of EdwardxWinry, HavocxRebecca, and LingxLan Fan Genre: Adventure, Action, Romance, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Drama Word Count: 97,879 out of ? - (This fic is incomplete and still being written.) All future chapters will be posted on the FFNet and AO3 links above. Summary: The story of Fullmetal Alchemist, told as if Roy and Riza were the main characters. Includes the years before and after the series. Slow Burn. Heavy on the Royai. Based on the manga, with just a bit of Brotherhood.

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Prologue - Central City, 1895

It was a quiet evening at Madame Christmas’ Bar. The regular patrons had already filed out into the Autumn night, leaving a lone figure sitting at the bar nursing a glass of whisky on the rocks. The girls that worked and lived there retired to their rooms a while later after bidding the older gentleman a good night. Being friends with a woman like Chris Mustang certainly had its perks. Besides being privy to some of the juiciest information in Central, the man also got to spend time with some very lovely ladies. The same ladies that gathered and gave him said information, at a fairly steep price, of course. You can’t get something for nothing, after all.

The windows rattled lightly as the wind picked up outside and a roll of thunder sounded, heralding the beginnings of a storm. The man finished his whisky as the last of the girls left for the evening, the older ones that didn’t live with the Madame. They hurried out once they heard the thunder, hoping to get home before the rain started. With all of them having gone to bed or back home, Madame Christmas finally directed her attention to the man remaining at the empty bar.

“Good to see you tonight, Major General.”

Grumman grinned and fiddled with his mustache.

“Likewise, Madame. The girls are lively and lovely as ever.”

Chris chuckled and refilled Grumman’s glass.

“On the house, my friend.”

Grumman lifted his glass in thanks and took a sip. Chris nodded and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, but before she could light one, the door to the upper floors of the bar opened and a little boy with a mop of black hair shuffled toward them, yawning.

“Aunt Chris?”

“What are you doing up, Roy-boy?” she answered him, putting her cigarettes back into the drawer behind the bar where she kept them.

Roy noticed Major General Grumman and stopped walking toward his aunt. He straightened up and noticeably became a little nervous.

“Oh! S...sorry! I didn’t know anyone was still here.”

He scurried back to the door in an attempt to retreat. He was not supposed to be down here, especially when there were customers.

“It’s fine.” his aunt reassured him and Roy relaxed, walking back to her. “What’s wrong, Roy-boy?”

Roy shrugged and looked at his feet.

“Nightmare.” he replied after a few moments of deliberation. He seemed embarrassed to say anything, especially with a man he didn’t know very well in the room. “I had a nightmare and I can’t go back to sleep because of the thunder…”

He didn’t need to elaborate anymore. Chris knew that thunderstorms made him nervous. His parents died in a car crash in the middle of a storm five years prior and the boy had been afraid of thunder ever since.

“It’s fine, go get yourself a glass of milk and come back.”

Roy nodded and all but ran to the kitchen in the back room. Grumman turned back to Chris once the boy was out of sight.

“How old is he now?”

“He turned ten this year.” “Already? My, how time flies.”

“That it does. They grow up so fast. In fact, he’s taken an interest in alchemy. Found some of my brother’s old books on the subject. I can’t get him to shut up about it sometimes. Every time he finds something interesting he just has to come tell me and the girls about it.”

Grumman laughed.

“You say that, but I’m sure you all fawn over him.”

Chris grinned.

“Ah, you know me too well.”

Roy came back into the room moments later, placing his glass of milk at the end of the bar and hoisting himself up onto a stool. Silence filled the room as Roy drank his milk, eyeing Grumman as the older man finished his last glass of whisky for the night.

“Thank you Madame, it was nice chatting, but I feel I should be on my way. We’ll save our conversation for tomorrow, perhaps.”

Chris knew what he meant. With Roy having come downstairs unexpectedly, an information exchange would have to wait. “Of course, Major General. Wouldn’t want you to be caught walking home in that storm.”

“Yes, yes, I best hurry along.”

Grumman got up from his seat and made to leave, eyeing Roy thoughtfully. Instead of turning to the exit, he turned back to the Madame.

“You know…” he began, seeming unsure about voicing whatever he was about to say. “I do know someone… An alchemist.”

This seemed to get Roy’s attention and the boy turned to face Grumman, suddenly interested in the conversation. Chris remained silent, staring at the Major General, wondering where he was going with this.

“In fact, he’s a remarkable alchemist. A genius even.” Grumman sounded almost disgusted as he said this, but also impressed. His tone was very peculiar as he spoke. “The military has been trying to recruit him as a state alchemist for years. The stubborn man refuses vehemently, but I think he would be willing to take on a student, if you were interested in that sort of thing.”

It took a moment, but once Roy understood what Grumman was saying, his face lit up with excitement.

“Really?” Roy asked, turning to fully face Grumman while still sitting on the bar stool.

Chris sighed. She should have known that was what he was getting at. The crafty old bastard. She cared for Roy as if he were her own son and she wanted nothing but the best for him. His happiness was her priority, but to send him away to study alchemy? She wasn’t sure she’d go that far. She would be worried all the time. It made it a little better knowing that it was someone Grumman was familiar with, though the tone of voice he had used to describe this genius alchemist made her unsure.

“Who exactly is this alchemist?” Chris asked, her tone of voice clearly conveying her doubts.

Grumman set his focus back on her.

“Berthold Hawkeye.”

Ah, so that’s why he was reluctant to speak well of the man. It was a known fact kept between them that Grumman hated Berthold Hawkeye. His dislike had mellowed out slightly over the years, but it was obviously still there, festering in the back of the Major General’s mind. And from what Chris had gathered, Hawkeye had also disliked Grumman. In the end, Berthold Hawkeye and Grumman’s daughter had eloped and never spoke to either of their families again, moving to a location Grumman only discovered because of the military’s interest in Berthold’s abilities as an alchemist. When word came back that Hawkeye wasn’t even speaking to the military any longer, holing himself up in isolation because of his wife’s death, Grumman’s detest had soared. It had been three years since then and it still seemed like Grumman was still full of bitterness for the man that took his daughter.

The sound of Roy’s voice broke Chris from her thoughts.

“Aunt Chris, I want to go!”

Chris frowned.

“It will be a lot of work. Alchemy is not a game.”

Roy nodded quickly at his aunt’s warning.

“I know, but I want to try. I know I can do it!”

Grumman laughed at the boy’s enthusiasm.

“Well, it’s up to your aunt, but I’ll bet you’d make a great alchemist some day.” he could see the fire in the boy’s eyes. Alchemy certainly did seem to excite him.

Chris grumbled and looked from Roy to Grumman and back again, thinking hard. She felt Roy was too young to jump into this. He had only taken an interest in alchemy a year ago. Perhaps he would grow out of it. It might have just been a phase. But the look on Roy’s face was enough to make her relent. He clearly wanted to study alchemy with a master.

“All right,” she started, and she was sure Roy was about to explode from happiness until she continued. “I have a condition though.”

Roy visibly deflated, but his look remained hopeful.

“If you do well in your schooling, I will let you go study under this Berthold Hawkeye when you turn fifteen.”

Roy groaned, his eyes pleading as he looked at her.

“But that’s five years away!” he whined.

“That’s my condition, Roy-boy, and you can either take it and learn alchemy eventually, or leave it and never get to study under a master.”

The fire returned to Roy’s eyes and he jumped off the bar stool, crossing his arms.

“Fine. I’ll be the best student. You’ll see.”

Filled with determination, he turned and walked back to the door that led upstairs, his posture straight and proud, like a soldier’s. He stopped just inside the door and turned back to the Madame.

“Thanks Aunt Chris.” he grinned before running back upstairs to go to bed, confident that the promise of learning alchemy someday would help him sleep through the storm raging outside.

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Hey guys. I’ve been wanting to write a multichapter Royai fic for a while now, but I couldn’t come up with anything other than a fic that told the FMA story as if Roy and Riza were the main characters. I know it’s been done a bunch before, but I still wanted to try my hand at writing something like that. This will be based on the manga, with a bit of Brotherhood thrown in.

Here’s just some things you can expect from this -

I will be including things that happened in the missing time frame between the Ishval war and FMA proper, as well as maybe some flashbacks to them as kids, but I’m not a fan of young Royai, as the impression I got from the manga is that they weren’t close friends when they were younger. They knew each other, obviously, and might have been friends, but I feel like Roy was probably too busy studying alchemy to make friends in the time he was studying under Hawkeye. And Berthold certainly would have never allowed any romantic feelings between his daughter and apprentice anyway. They didn’t appear to become close until after Roy learned flame alchemy.

Anyway, that’s why I will not be doing much young Roy and Riza and instead I will focus on Roy learning flame alchemy, their time in Ishval (maybe), and the years before they recruited Ed and Al, along with the things we missed happening to Roy and Riza during the series proper, and then I plan to end it with what happens post-series. I also plan to maybe change a few things once I get to the point in the timeline where the canon series officially starts. If I just wrote a recap of everything from the viewpoint of Roy and Riza, it might get boring. So I won’t be doing any major changes to the plot since I am a stickler for canon, but I might change around some minor things in the timeline and whatnot.

Yes, this will be long and probably take me quite a while to finish, but I’m definitely going to try get through it. Roy and Riza deserve a series all their own, and if Arakawa won’t do it, then I will.

Sorry for the long author note. I hope you enjoyed this little intro. Feedback is loved and appreciated.

#royai #fma #fmab #fanfiction #royai fanfiction

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smartworkingpackage · 7 years

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Podcast: Productivity for Writers with NaNoWriMo’s Grant Faulkner

Productivity isn’t only about our jobs and our to-do lists. The same concepts that help us produce work in the office can also help us tackle personal creative projects. Just ask Grant Faulkner, the Executive Director of National Novel Writing Month, a.k.a. NaNoWriMo—the annual challenge where ordinary people commit to writing a 50,000-word story in just 30 days. Evernote is proud to be an official sponsor of this annual creative explosion.

Grant has heard all of the excuses we have for not acting on our creative impulses, from a lack of time to the notion that we simply aren’t creative. He demolishes these myths and offers a way forward in his new book, Pep Talks for Writers: 52 Insights & Actions to Boost Your Creative Mojo.

Taking Note: Episode 11 — Grant Faulkner

Length: 46 minutes iTunes | SoundCloud | Overcast | MP3 | RSS

In this episode of Taking Note, Grant discusses NaNoWriMo, the ways we sabotage our own creative impulses, and how to conquer those inner obstacles to unleash our creative potential—not only in November but all year round. Here are selected highlights from our interview (click the player or download links above to hear the whole thing):

Let’s start off with your day gig. You are the executive director of NaNoWriMo, which is something people might have heard of and might be wondering what this funny acronym is all about.

Focus on the syllables here. Na is for National, No is for Novel, Wri is for Writing, and Mo is for Month, so National Novel Writing Month. That’s the largest writing event in the world.

Last year, we had 312,000 people sign up for it. This year, from our early indicators, we are expecting more. In its most rudimentary form, it’s a challenge to write 50,000 words in the month of November. Just to expand a little bit on why we do this, we believe that everyone in the world has a story to tell. In fact, I just read a survey that 81% of Americans say they would like to someday write a book, but someday doesn’t happen for most of them. We are all about making that dream of ‘someday writing a book’ happen now, through setting a big goal of 50,000 words and having a deadline of 30 days. Those are creative igniters or creative midwives to help people write.

how many people actually manage to complete the challenge?

About 15% if I was going to pick a one general figure. This year, roughly 45 to 50,000 people will complete a novel, which is huge. Oftentimes people will apologize to me for failing in NaNoWriMo and they’ll say something like, “I only wrote 10,000 words.” Even though some people might not hit 50,000, I don’t want them to think of themselves as failures because if you write 10,000 words in a month, that’s significant. If you do that for 12 months, that’s 120,000 words and that’s a huge novel. I recommend everyone sign up and just give it a shot and don’t quit. If you fall behind on your word count goal, keep going.

Just give it a shot and don’t quit. If you fall behind on your goal, keep going.

You’ve undoubtedly seen a lot of the challenges that people face when writing projects, especially if they are doing it for the first time. Now, you’ve got this book, Pep Talks for Writers. What prompted you to write the book?

One, I talked to a lot of NaNoWriMo writers. I heard a pattern after I’d been here for a few years. I talk to a lot of writers who discovered themselves as writers during NaNoWriMo. They love the NaNoWriMo community. They wanted to keep writing 12 months of the year, but it’s hard to do that. NaNoWriMo is a huge experience and you can make creativity a priority for a month. You can do that in part because you’ve got all these people around you cheering you on, but the next 11 months are more challenging because that community isn’t there in a big way.

I really wanted to write something that would help people stay creative every week of the year—hence, 52 essays—and really finish their novel and to take that creative momentum that they’ve established during November and keep it going throughout the year. That was my genesis of the book.

Internal challenges and external challenges both exist in abundance. Before we even talk about how we stay in the zone throughout the year, how about just that initial state of inertia we have where you tell people about something like NaNoWriMo or just encourage them to try creative writing and the first thing they say is, “But I’m not a creative person.”

I hear that a lot. Two rationalizations of why people can’t do NaNoWriMo. One is “I don’t have enough time.” I hear that most frequently, but the second one I hear and this is the one that actually disturbs me the most is that people will say, “I’m not a creative type.” It hurts me to hear that, actually. We are creators because we are human. We are wired that way. It’s in our genes. To say that you are not a creative type is really shutting down a huge portion of who you are and just not letting it out. You are just limiting yourself, and NaNoWriMo operates on the opposite principle.

We are creators because we are human. To say that you are not a creative type is shutting down a huge portion of who you are.

You are a writer because you write. You’re a real writer. You don’t have to be published to be a real writer. You are a writer because you write. Creativity for creativity’s sake is good. By participating in NaNoWriMo, by realizing that you are a writer and that you are a creator, you are much more likely to be creative in your everyday life and that means creative as a parent, as a boss, as an employee, as a citizen. That’s the kind of creativity we need to make the world a better place.

You point out in the book that inspiration is something that strikes constantly in little, microscopic ways. Every time you write a sentence, each word, each word choice has its own little inspiration. The phrase you use in the book that I really love is, “The muse is conjured in the telling.”

Thank you for pointing that out. I actually like that a lot too. I think sometimes we think of inspiration as this big glorious thunderbolt from the sky and that we can’t do anything creative until that somehow kind of strikes us—until we have one of those light bulb moments. You create inspiration when you sit down to write. It might not be the equivalent of one of those thunderbolts, but you are creating. I think inspiration is whispering to you between each word. It’s small, small moments of inspiration and you might not totally recognize it, but it’s happening with each sentence because one sentence spawns another sentence and spawns another sentence. It’s just about getting those words on the page. I like this quote from William Faulkner who said, “I write when inspiration strikes and inspiration strikes every day,” something like that.

I think we often stop ourselves from doing something like NaNoWriMo—or any creative project—because we look at other people who are successful artists and we think, “Oh, I can never be like that.”

Exactly. I think, especially with the rough draft, too many people will write the first sentence of a novel or first paragraph or even the first chapter and then they’ll go pick up one of their favorite author’s books, or even just any published author. Those books are so polished and perfect. What is not apparent is the number of drafts that the author went through, in excruciating fashion, to get them to that perfect state. And the author had an editor as well, and an agent. I think that that’s a bad way to measure yourself as a writer. Everybody’s rough draft is a crappy rough draft including those award-winning authors. I guarantee you.

I wish that some of the big authors in the world would show us their rough drafts because I bet they don’t look too much different than our rough drafts. I recently heard this quote from Barbara Kingsolver and she said that she actually starts at page negative 100. She doesn’t even count the first 100 pages because she is writing just to explore and find her story, and that’s largely what a rough draft is. You have a story in mind and sometimes you might have outlined it in ridiculous detail, but the writing process of that rough draft is still exploratory. If you get hung up on making it perfect, you’ll likely not hit the last page.

Let’s talk about this problem of, “Hey, I don’t have enough time to write.”

Have you ever met a person who says they are not busy?

Our busyness is at least in large part a perception. Obviously, there are a lot of very busy people in the world, but I think sometimes we think we are too busy to do new things or big things. I think if those things are really important to us, if we really want to make creativity a priority for a month to write a novel, we can find a way to do it. I say this from personal experience and dealing with hundreds of writers who I’ve talked to personally. What I do, and I’m just going to give this as a simple tactic for any listener who think that they are too busy, is go on what I call a time hunt.

Spend one week of your life keeping track of how [you] spend [your] time. You can do it in 15-minute increments or half hour increments. I think when you do that, you’ll realize how much time you spend on things like social media or binge-watching Netflix, even walking your dog or cooking meals. Some of these things are practical matters of life. Most people can structure their life in a way that will give them the two to three hours a day to write a novel. I need two hours a day, so I cut out social media. I cut a lot on my TV viewing. I make a promise myself to say no to most parties or dinner parties or occasions like that during November and I come up with a strategy where I can find that two to three hours a day to make it work. I think most people can do that.

The next step from that, once you’ve made some of those hard choices and you’ve carved out a little bit of time is to get into the habit of using that time. You talk a lot about the importance of routine. I’d like to dig into that.

I say in the book that ‘routine’ is another word for ‘muse’ and it goes back to creating your own muse by putting words on the page, just writing regularly. You need to do that to keep creative momentum. If you’re going to drop in on your writing for one or two days a month, it will be hard to like keep the ball rolling. You’ll always be starting from scratch. I think you need to form a routine where you do it regularly and to try structure your life for that.

If you’re going to drop in for one or two days a month, it will be hard to like keep the ball rolling. You’ll always be starting from scratch.

Stephen King in his book On Writing, which I highly recommend, has a nice passage on routine. He takes it further than I do, because he likes the idea of routine where you go to one place every day and at that one place, your ideal desk, say, you are picking up signals. It’s like when you lie down in your bed at night, your brain is like deciding to go to sleep and picking up all the cues to go to sleep. Stephen King said the same thing with routine. He says, “If you sit down at your desk at the same time every day, you are getting your mind ready to go back into the story.”

Maybe we can’t all carve out two hours like you mentioned every day, but even if you’ve only carve out a little bit of time to write in a routine manner, it really adds up. If you can write 250 words a day, that’s 7,500 words a month. At the end of the year, you’ve got a good sized novel’s worth of writing done.

90,000 words, isn’t that amazing? I’m a working parent and a writer in addition to my day job. Especially when I became a parent, I had to totally change. It totally changed my writing life. My routine was not as expansive and as glorious and as regular as I might have liked. I had to strategize and look for the nooks and crannies of the day, the 10 minutes here or the 15 minutes there where I could write that 250 words. As long as you are keeping your juices alive, I think that’s what’s mainly important.

I’m going to tell just one little story on this note, which I’ve always found this very inspirational. Toni Morrison, she was a single working mom living in New York City. She didn’t have much time. After she finished the homework with them and got them to bed, she literally had about 15 minutes before she went to bed herself. In that 15 minutes, which was like the worst creative time in her whole day, that’s where she wrote her first novel. Just 15 minutes a day.

We can get into the trap where we are engaged in fake productivity. We are having activity, but we are not actually moving forward. What are some examples of that?

Some people can spend their whole lifetime researching a novel. I think writers, you need to know where to strike that balance. Do you really need to research everything before starting? I think generally the answer is no. I think it’s best to write the story and go for it and then look for what you need. You need to do a certain amount of research to feel confident about the topic depending on what the topic is, but then there’s a lot of research you can do afterwards. I think things like that become rationalizations of why you are not going to write.

For me, before I did NaNoWriMo I wrote with a kind of ponderous preciousness. I would have to get that first chapter or those first two or three chapters just perfect before I could move on. I was just spending an inordinate amount of time tweaking sentences and cutting and pasting things. I really wasn’t moving the novel forward. That’s where there was fake productivity for me. I was doing a lot of work and a lot of tweaking, but I wasn’t really moving that much closer to the end point. It also made the time I spent on each section of the novel very skewed, like I might spend 50 or 60 percent of my time on the first act and 20 or 30 percent on the second act and then barely any time on the ending.

One reason I think the productivity of NaNoWriMo is really good is because you are constantly focusing on moving the story forward and progressing. You can measure it in the words you write every day, your word count.

What about writer’s block? I know you’ve said there’s no such thing. If there is no writer’s block, what is going on in our heads?

I say that. I know it’s controversial to some people. I tweeted that a few months ago and I got a lot of flak from certain people. Writer’s block is this sort of accepted notion and I don’t think it should be such an accepted notion. I think there’s a lot mythology build up around it. The stereotype of the author who hasn’t written in years and years. I think that writer’s block is largely self-imposed. It’s largely a story you tell yourself. You tell yourself that story when you’re not writing, when you’re not sitting in front of your laptop or in front of your Moleskine journal. That’s where the NaNoWriMo word sprints come in so handy. You can write in a burst for five minutes and it doesn’t have to be perfect. You are not supposed to even revise the grammar or anything, just get the words out.

I think when you put one sentence on a piece of paper, it leads to a second sentence and a third. It’s just about getting some words down and it’s amazing what happens. During those word sprints, it taps into a mysterious part of our brains. We are not planning the words to write or the story we are going to write. It just comes. It only really comes if you’re writing. It’s not going to come if you’re sitting there staring out the window. It’s really about sitting down and just putting some words down and you can start out with just absurdities. You can start with a few observations. It doesn’t have to be about your novel. The thing is just to start writing.

It only really comes if you’re writing. It’s not going to come if you’re sitting there staring out the window.

I tend to agree with you. I’ve certainly had many periods, sometimes very lengthy periods, when I’m not doing any writing at all. And I’ve had periods when I write myself into a corner and don’t know how to get out. But that’s not the same thing as being blocked. I think when you give the thing a name, you give it power over yourself. It becomes this external agency: “Oh, it’s not me. There’s this thing. There’s this writer’s block that is stopping me.”

That’s exactly it, I think. When you give it a name, you give it power. There’s no reason to give it that power.

There are so many ways around it. You can, as you say, just write some nonsense, just freestyle it for a while, just do a sprint or you could skip ahead in your story if you have an idea of where you’re going. You don’t have to write the next scene next.

Exactly. I recommend a lot of skipping. I love skipping ahead or back a lot. I was going to also say that one of the chapters in Pep Talks goes through Ray Bradbury’s process when he first became a writer. He did this cool thing where he would write just 20 nouns down and they would be random. Then, he would write what he called little pensées, little 100 or 200 word tiny essays about each word. By doing that, he would find his story and actually some of his most famous books came from that process. There are so many different ways to inspire yourself out of writer’s block. You can grab pictures on the internet and put them in Evernote. I did that with one novel to have some visual images to guide my novel. I think there’s just a lot of cool ways to not accept writer’s block.

I have one more thing I wanted to ask about and this is also from your book. The concept that we are going to fail, but when we fail, the key is to fail better. What do you mean by that?

I think there are a lot of different ways to interpret ‘failing better.’ At its most fundamental, failing better means actually seeking failure out by taking risks. The best novels take risks. The author is opening up his or her heart in a way that helps us connect with the story and that’s a risk. There’s something like beyond that for writing because I think it was Philip Roth who said like a really good baseball player hits the ball 30 percent of the time and that stat goes for a writer as well. Most of your sentences, especially in that rough draft, are going to be misses or they’re going to need improvement. I think you have to accept that to start, accept that you’re going to miss the ball more than you’re going to hit it. Then, think about ways to learn from that failure, to keep going and to still be open to taking risks.

Accept that you’re going to miss the ball more than you’re going to hit it. Then, think about ways to learn from that failure.

It’s a growth mindset that when you recognize something as a ‘failure,’ you are not shutting the door and saying you’re a bad writer and you should stop. You need to tell yourself that being a good writer takes practice. Ray Bradbury actually said, “To be a good writer, you have to write several thousand or hundred thousand throwaway words.” That’s one thing I tell people with NaNoWriMo, especially the beginning writers. You’ve got to write one novel, two novels, three novels to really learn how to write a novel sometimes. Most people don’t get it on the first shot. It’s rare. It’s wonderful when that happens, but it’s rare.

This is the nature of art or any creative endeavor. You fail more than you succeed, but you can cultivate that growth mindset and succeed a little more often or when you do fail, fail better.

There’s also the premise that more ideas are better than fewer ideas. Getting more ideas leads to more likely success. I like quoting this story that there was a study by a ceramics professor. Let me think if I can remember this. Half of his class was graded on if they could just make one perfect pot or ceramic piece. The other half of the class was graded on the weight, the volume of things they produced. What the teacher found was that the students who produced for quantity, what they produced was actually better than those who were focused on the quality of one piece. That’s because they were taking a lot of risks and they were open and they were accepting failure. They didn’t care.

Evernote is proud to be a sponsor of National Novel Writing Month. If you’re up to the challenge, sign up for free at nanowrimo.org, then come visit Evernote on the NaNoWriMo forum and let us know how your novel is coming along! We’ll post more tips and strategies to our blog throughout October and November.

Did you enjoy this podcast episode? Please visit us on iTunes and leave a review! We would love to hear your feedback. To get notified when a new episode has been released, don’t forget to subscribe to the Taking Note podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Overcast, or your podcast platform of choice. Thanks for listening!

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