#my process is literally. write the random scene ideas that pop into my head and frantically jump around like a mad man

[inkandgeese]

i love when i remember why i love to discovery write. like yes this is a process that works for me and it has for years. yes i still doubt myself immensely

[writtenbyaris]

my creative writing process as a planner 🌟

the idea:

story ideas come to me at the most random and inconvenient of times. right before i fall asleep, when i'm in the shower, during my classes, etcetera. my main rule is to always write them down, whether it's in my notes app or a slip of paper or a journal... i'll forget it if i don't.

i try keeping it simple at this stage and not thinking too deeply about it, otherwise it becomes quite overwhelming. sometimes ¡'ll make a pinterest board depending on what the idea is. if it's more of an aesthetic, then i can make a moodboard out of it to help inspire me more. however, if the idea is a plot of some sort, that can be a bit more difficult.

character and world building:

this is my favorite part. once i have an idea set in stone and i'm ready to work on it, i begin building the characters and the world around it. i figure out the mechanics of the idea and how it can relate to characters and the world they're in.

at this point, i'm definitely making pinterest boards, playlists, and picrews to feel more immersed in the skeleton of the story.

i still keep it as simple as possible, and try to enjoy it. when i try juggling too many things at once, i end up wanting to abandon the project. slow and steady is the key for me :)

creating the story:

now we get down to what being a writer actually is.. transforming the idea into a story. i have to at least come up with one major plotline to start. i usually write in my journal during this stage, but sometimes i'll use notion to organize everything and keep track of it all.

oftentimes, the main plot will come to me when i'm working on character and world building. sometimes it's even the idea that first popped into my head. the story is usually influenced by dreams i've had, my own every day experiences, and other media i consume.

arcs, subplots, themes, etc:

this stage is for the smaller details that are vital for the story to flow and actually work. it's like a puzzle that's finally coming together.

for me, a story isn't a good one without arcs and themes, so those are of utmost importance. subplots are necessary to make the world more immersive, give readers insight on the characters, and keep the story naturally flowing. everything has to be woven back in to the main plot or idea, though.

i will say, this is the stage that tends to give me the biggest headache :P

zero draft:

jumping into a first draft as a heavy planner is too scary for me. so i came up with the idea of a zero draft. basically- zero expectations.

this is the backbone of my story. in this stage, i'm basically just taking myself through the steps of the story. i organize the plot and subplots into chapters, and with each chapter i go through all the beats of each scene. literally every. single. thing. that happens.

i don't usually include dialogue in this phase, but i do mention when a character will be in a conversation. all the focus should be on putting a needle and thread through the story and tying it all together.

first draft:

the first draft is somewhat easier for me because i do a zero draft. so, i know everything that will happen in a chapter and just have to utilize my writing abilities to make it rhythmic.

this is the first stage where i write dialogue, so it tends to be corny. a lot of my writing can be cliche and basic as well. that's what editing is for though!

i usually stress the most when writing my first draft, because it's the first time the story is actually being written in the format of a novel. by the end, it's not always very good either. but i do not look back at all, which means absolutely no editing until the first draft is finished.

and so on…

once the first draft is finished, then comes draft two. it's enjoyable to be able to read your own work all over again, though it's sometimes embarrassing as writing does improve with practice.

i focus on one chapter at a time-reading slowly, editing, filling in plot holes, fixing anything that changed later in the story. i try to catch as many details as i can.

usually, after as many rounds of editing one likes, the draft would be sent to an editor and beta readers. then i'd look into publishing companies (can you tell i haven't gotten to that point yet? lol)

are you a planner or a pantser?

[adelha-mathilde]

Emergence (Trigun WIP drabble) part 1/??

summary: Vash finds someone emerge from a Plant Tank to look completely different from when they first fell in. A once sleeping Earthling now covered in Plant markings and a few angel feathers.

characters/verse: Vash the Stampede, Luida, Brad, OC / Trigun Stampede

content warning: injuries, blood, mention of serious injury, and other stuff related to healing and medical anatomy stuff.

I literally had this random scene start playing in my head! There is zero planning on my part as to the how and why and when and where it is just full on "this happened" and I gonna write it! And so I'm going to write it out here with no context or formatting HERE WE GO!

The alarms of the still functioning spaceship were going off in full effect as dozens of people started running about. Voices shouting over the din as Vash opened the door to the Plant containment facility. All eyes looking up above as several sections of the ship had caved in after a hull breach. His gaze noting with growing horror that many of the sleep capsules had come dislodged from the upper floors. Most of them were empty of occupants. But one was spewing out smoke as the glass over the front shattered. With the sleeping occupant falling forwards as Vash gave a shout of pure helplessness.

The woman in the capsule crashed into the unforgiving shards of glass for blood to weep from her frame. Vash sprinting over the stairs without thought as he vaulted them with all his speed. The woman was obviously awake. Since she was doing her best to keep herself still as the capsule shuddered and rattled. Several others behind Vash calling out in fear as much as sadness. Vash all but jumped up and onto several of the empty capsules to try and spider crawl himself over to the woman. Who finally opened her eyes to see him. A huff of air escaping her as Vash got next to her on the capsule right next to hers. "Hold still and don't try to move! Help is on the way!"

The woman gave Vash a half smile to note with warm humor, "Wasn't planning on moving anytime soon. This capsule on the other hand might be a different matter entirely. Do you have wings I can't see? Heck of a climb otherwise." Vash paused to then smile at the given indication. His hand reaching over to gently touch at her neck. "Try to stay calm. I'm not leaving you behind. No matter what. I'm going to get you out of this." The woman gave him a kind smile to chuckle at his promise. A sigh soon followed by warm words. "Lord willing. Kind of out of our hands, little bird. But I only expect you to do your best. So we'll say that is what your plan is, okay?" Vash blinked back tears to realize that he was crying. That this woman was comforting him instead of the other way around. While from up above more sounds of screeching metal and popping electrical wires made the danger more apparent. While the Plants in the shared tank below began to stir from the commotion. Petals unfurling for them to lift their heads up to gaze at the two of them. Vash felt his marks heat up as they glowed. Something profound and unspoken passing through the air as the capsules shifted due to the unrelenting demands of gravity. So Vash got a crazy idea.

The Independent Plant moved to carefully pick up the woman from being half out of the capsule to clutch her close to his frame. Cutting himself in the process for their blood to end up mixing together. yet all he did was zero his gaze to those eyes the same shade as his own. His words hard and hurting. "This is probably not going to work. But it's the only idea I have. We're going to fall so my- so the Plants can catch us. They won't hurt us. You ready for this?" The woman gave a shiver to then wrap her arms around Vash. Her words more pained but determined than before. "Already said my prayers for us both. Let's do something crazy, little bird." So Vash grit his teeth to vault the two of them off the capsule and directly down towards the waiting arms of the Plants. The impact with the water like fluid rattling his frame as waves cascaded out and over the rim of the shared tank. Both of them soon gently pulled into the waiting embrace of the Plants as their angel features became more prominent. That unique and cosmic touch giving Vash the feelings of his fellow Plants. Concern. Fear. Hope. Acceptance. Understanding. Sadness. Pain. Love. Faith. Vash soon came to notice there was one color of emotion amidst the others that was not one of them. His eyes opening to stare at the Earthling he still held. Her blood drifted slowly around them as she kept her hands to his shoulders. Some of those emotions in the vastness of feeling being hers. With such revelation came a name for Vash to etch into his very being. Retha Gwendolen Heise.

**********

Vash woke up in a comfy room on the ship for Luida and Brad to tell him what happened next. That the Plants had surrounded the two of them to also use some new kind of energy. Said energy basically reaching up to the capsules that had started falling to melt them into harmless globs of metal that floated on top of the Plant container fluid. But all of the Plants had gathered into one giant flower to then turn most of the lights on the ship off. The ship going into a reserved mode of operation for about 48 hours. But the crew had been able to surmise that both Vash and the woman he tried to save were still alive. With Vash being let go of the flower to float back up to the top of the tank for the crew to fish back out. Vash looked deeply worried to try and get out of bed. But Brad just shoved him back down to tell Vash that the woman was still in with the Plants and that they had no way to get to her. Since the Plants had not moved from that giant combined flower and showed no signs of doing so anytime soon. Luida gave Vash some encouragement in that she believed the Plants were doing what they could to heal the woman before letting her go. Which Vash may find out more after a good hot meal.

Vash took little time in eating to all but sprint out of his room and to the Plant container in his haste. But as the crew had said, the giant flower was still there as before. No changes to report as the ship came back online in full. Vash ended up running up the stairs to just jump back into the tank before anyone could stop him. Which had several crew members yell for someone to get Luida as Vash swam to the flower. His hands touching at the petals to try and force them open. Which resulted in the Independent getting a jolt of surprise that knocked him for a loop as one Plant moved to open her petals and reach her hand to him. Gently wrapping her fingers around his wrist for Vash to close his eyes. The marks on his frame blazing out as his mind got tugged away. His feet soon noticing he was standing on cool sand and some grass. His eyes opening to take in the sight of a beach at sunset. The sun just beginning to dip below the waves as the waves washed against the shore. Scents of water and greenery filling his nose as Vash gave a squack of shock. But soon he felt hands upon his shoulders. Soft voices echoing against his senses. "Do not fret, little bird. The human is alive. They share with us her memories and feelings from the past. Things we now share with the others to take goodness from. We will heal the human in time. A choice was made to make the human whole once more. Even though it will change them to something more than human. Be patient, little bird. Have faith."

**********

Vash heard the alarm go off to vault up on the bed. Which had Brad cuss in surprise and drop all his tools. The mechanic shoving the gunman back down to exclaim with ire, "Stop! You can't go running off until I finish the last attachment! Ten seconds and then go flying off!" Vash nodded to hold himself in place as Brad finished the repairs on his prosthetic arm. Then Vash was out the door and sprinting down the halls towards where the announcements were coming from. Several of the crew already gathering as Luida's voice rang over the communication speakers. "The Plants are opening the flower! The collective seem to be moving back into their original singular spots! Vash! Three of them seem to be still holding onto Retha! You have to see this!"

Vash all but tumbled through the doors to the Plant facility to then skid to a halt. His gaze going wide as he saw the Plants moving back to their individual flower state to dot the tank like stars. All save for four of them. Or three of them with one human they were descending with to the floor of the tank. They let go to curl back into their flower form. Which left one form to slowly walk towards the crew as they milled about in front of the tank. Vash scrambled forwards to all but careen into the surface of the tank. His gaze transfixed on the once Earthling named Retha Gwendolen Heise. Her hair was no longer rich dark brown, it had gone sheer white instead. It had also grown to such a long length it brushed at her toes. She was so much thinner than before. Almost emaciated for Vash to count her ribs along her now pale white frame. Marks glowing all down her skin for her to also have no signs of scars or injuries. A physical body that showed no outward signs of external anatomical genitalia like the other Plants in the tank. Which had Vash flex his fingers as he wondered just how much had the healing really changed Retha. Was she even human anymore or was she mostly Plant?

But Vash pushed that thought to the side as he pressed himself against the surface of the tank. The energy of the Plants washing through the glass to make in more like gel so Vash might pass through it with ease. So the gunman did so to sprint full speed into the tank and right to Retha. That woman he had tried to save over a century ago. Vash threw his arms around her to hug her tight and shudder from head to toe. His coat billowing up for him to press his face into the top of Retha's head. He could feel her hands touch at his sides for her energy to crackle over his senses. A question soon wordlessly answered for Vash to feel her smile. That sensation being the empathic and telepathic link all Plants shared and used with each other. Retha seemed to be able to use it with ease as he opened his mind to let them use words. "Retha! It's so good to see you! I almost gave up hope! But you're okay! Are you okay now?"

Retha's reply back had Vash feel like someone was tickling his mind with feathers that made him give a giggle. That voice the same as before as Retha replied with sweet words. "As well as one might expect, little bird. But I guess I shouldn't call you that anymore. Good Lord, you grew so big and tall. But it's going to be okay, Vash. I would have preferred to not have taken this long. But the others kept me from getting ahead of myself." Retha stepped back for Vash to keep his hands to her shoulders. Since she was now much shorter than he was for him to look down at her face. Those once brown eyes opening for him to see they were now silver grey. But her face was exactly the same as before. Her smile was just as it was in his memory. Playful words of warm happiness enveloping his thought and feelings. "Good to be back, crimson bird. Now then. Let's get me out of this flower vase and back into the real world."

[thedawningofthehour]

Hi, for someone who its just a beginner in writing fanfic do mind to share your process?

Oh god, I feel really bad when people ask me for advice because half the time shit just pops into my brain I had no input in really cultivating it. So when people ask me how I write dialogue-like, man, I don't know. There's a guy talking and I'm just taking down whatever they say.

Honestly, my biggest piece of advice is just to write a lot, and write whatever. Do you have a cool idea for a oneshot and you're not sure if you can pull it off? Write it anyway. You're thinking of a random scene in the middle of what should be a longer story? Cool. Write that. You think this idea is cringy and you would never want anyone else to see it? Write it and let it sit in your Google Docs. Write stuff and never publish it. Write stuff and drop it when it's no longer fun.

Seriously, I have so many Google Docs that are never seeing the light of day. Stuff that I never bothered to finish. Stuff that wouldn't make sense to anyone outside my brain. Weird horny stuff. Hundreds of hours I spent writing this shit. That wasn't wasted time because-well, for one, I had fun writing it, but I was learning what I liked, what sounded good. And don't worry about never having anything to show for it because you will in the process go "oh man, this shit slaps" with something. I've mentioned before that doth wasn't going to be publish originally. Literally every fanfic I have on AO3 started off as "I'm bored, let's get that idea that I've been thinking about while trying to sleep out of my head." Unlike all the other blurbs I've written, I wanted to return to them, hone them into something better, keep writing more. You can't force passion. It just kind of happens, and sometimes it won't happen. That's okay.

Another thing is: write badly. Seriously, your first draft is just a draft. Unless you're a professional author and it's the night before it goes to print, you can always change it. If you're sitting there thinking 'this is gonna sound so bad'? Write it anyway. Chances are it's not actually that bad. Even if it's not great, you have something to edit-you'll never have anything to make better if you never write it in the first place. And if you do come back to it the next day and realize that it's irredeemably awful-you can just delete it. Rewrite it later if you think of something better. But do not just sit around waiting to spontaneously think of the perfect execution for every scene, because it will never happen and then you'll be left with a blank document.

Oh, something I see a lot of younger, newbie fanfic writers do? Writing and posting the same day. I mean, I do it too sometimes, but generally you don't want to do that, even if you're not in the habit of going through multiple drafts. Your brain does get tired. At the very least do the final read-through on a different day. One of my teachers in high school said it was best to let a piece of writing sit for two days without even looking at it before doing the final proofread, because that's how long it takes for your brain to 'forget' what you wrote. You want to read what's actually on the screen, not what you remember writing. He was right. This is good advice for papers too, for all of you still in school.

Also, if you're planning to write fanfic in English then mad fucking props to you, I have a hard enough time speaking it half the time and it's the only language I speak and I have a fucking degree in it.

Writing is a hard thing to give advice for because everyone, and I mean everyone goes about it differently and wildly different stuff works for them. Some writers can only write first thing in the morning-I'm better at night. Some writers need to have a habit of writing X amount every day, no excuses. I can go between writing nothing and writing 4k words the next day-and those 4k dump days are typically where I do my best work. Nothing fits everyone. It's really a process of fucking around and finding out what fits you best.

Oh, and if you're struggling with anxiety or imposter syndrome? If you're too nervous to start the process, or too nervous to post? One thing that helps me is asking myself, what's the worst possible thing that could happen? Are planes going to fall out of the sky? Are you gonna die? Almost certainly not. What is likely to happen? I go through this pretty much every time I post a chapter. I think, "oh man, they've liked everything so far but this is the chapter where they Find Out and make fun of me." (find out what? I don't fucking know. anxiety isn't logical) I just think about all the other chapters I posted that I thought weren't up to snuff, where I thought people would judge me for it-no, they all liked them anyway. In some cases people even said that it was their new favorite chapter. So seriously, just push yourself over that hurdle. You will be glad you did. The most likely outcome is that some people will enjoy it, and the absolutely worst thing that could happen is that someone is mean to you. And honestly, that says more about them than you.

[riewritten]

what do you do when inspiration suddenly hits you? like do you just memorize it in ur head or note it somewhere or do u work on that idea immediately?? im very very curious about ur creative process PLEASE OVERSHARE because i believe there are things that are new to me. like you write and draw and it's amazing how tou do both! i'm more curious about ur writing process because i don't write much (nowadays i only journal or write diary entries, in the past i did write fanfictions but they're almost all oneshots or unplanned dropped after 2 or 3 chapters). (how) do you plan your storyline? do you consider yourself flexible (like are u comfortable with changing plans in a big project where one change could lead to other changes?). Do you beta read by yourself or is there anyone who does it? if you do it by yourself, what do you feel when re-reading your writings? i literally have sm questions but i don't wanna overwhelm you 😭😭😭 you don't need to answer if you don't want to, that's alright!!!

when u said i could overshare

for whenever the inspiration hits, i tend to start on it immediately. writing is such a mood booster for me and i'm in a low mood most of the time so i seize the moment whenever motivation comes :'D sometimes when i'm busy (let's say school/work) and a great idea pops in (usually in quote format), i just lay it down in my gdocs. for oneshots, 1 doc would suffice. for longfics, the docs per chapter are contained in a folder.

i don't think i'm great in fan arts (i just get the boost from those who draw well—like u!) so i'm glad you appreciate it as well <3

regarding my writing process, someone actually asked me about it before! but to generalize my answer there, i ponder on 3 things (plot, characterization, & chapter study). my first fic (and my first series in general) was dusk in the brightest. i worked on chapter study first: detailed sequence of events from C1-10, vague concept in 11-15, then the rest is just 2-3 sentences of how i want the story to end. the 2nd one, character study, was smth i learned from a professor in one of my subjects when i submitted a one-act play script to her and she heavily criticized my characterization (like so badly i still get jitters remembering it) 😭 since then, i've been very wary with getting things accurate and consistent with my characters. for my plot-heavy fics, that's what i'm most serious for.

i think my flexibility (i dont even think i got that) was v challenged during the last arc of DIB because i suddenly had a complete change of mind with the ending (exactly what u had mentioned: changes that would lead one thing to the other). it was def not comfortable but a great tip (i think) to work around it is that: go back to your earlier chapters, pick up the most random scenarios you had made, then come up with a reason why that random thing ensued. an example of executing it is how isayama worked around aot's first scene (child!eren crying & mikasa being the first one he sees) by connecting it to his last scene in the manga (ofc i wouldn't assume isayama just thought abt it midway. it's just with how he executed it).

i don't have lots of friends in this app so i usually do the revisions all by myself. i'm a type of author that releases chapters impulsively—i'd publish smth that i hadn't proofread yet, read it in the app, then just do all the editing there. i'll repeat the process until i finally get satisfied. i think it's easier for me to point out mistakes when i feel the urgency to do so (like omg i have to hurry in polishing this bc readers might click anytime soon 😭) though someone helped me change POVs (from 1st to 2nd) in DIB C1-13 and let me tell u that i never thought having someone help me beta read my work could bring me so much delight.

and pls don't worry about overwhelming me! using this app and dumping all my work here are literally what keeps me sane from the overwhelming things in my life atm. to have u appreciate it gives me joy & comfort. thats why i'd be honored to answer all of ur questions :'D

[astridthevalkyrie]

sophie, what's your process for planning / outlining fics?

hi love! my process goes a bit like this:

random scene pops in my head - which happens all the time, hence my literal scene capture series

i let it stew for a bit, let myself see if any other scenes pop up, if they form any kind of story, if it lasts long enough for me to even want to write it—unless it's giving me a really good feeling, in which case i try to draft out a first chapter as soon as i can (usually leads to two pages of nothing that i never continue LMAO)

if the idea actually sticks, an outline will first start with me throwing in everything just so i don't forget what i have so far—example:

so like, this is from the early outline of summer rain, but i still was writing stuff i didn't want to forget for the overarching story. the last point is for silent storms, and the second point was written because right away i knew i wanted her to face down traute in the future

i only ever start writing a coherent outline once i am ready to actually start writing the chapter

once i start outlining, it is always in bullets and usually organized by scenes

so like, it's weird, what you can decide to outline

sometimes i write dialogue bits, sometimes i write random trivia that doesn't necessarily matter but i don't want to forget include in the scene—ie which members of ricky's family survived

you can also see me arguing with myself in the scene 3 section LMAO and the reason i don't just replace "goes to his office" with "goes to the stables" is because i want to remember what the idea was, where it came from, and why it changed. if anything, i can incorporate something from both, but i hate erasing anything from an outline

("and they all like they've seen hell" love the lack of grammar there queen <3)

and then sometimes when you actually write the outline goes out the window because when you actually do write it down it's just not what you're feeling, like in scene 3 levi doesn't say that last point (thank god what in the fuck was i thinking writing that goofy ahh sentence) and there's nothing in the outline that says they go on a horse ride, but when i wrote it, it just felt right.

also! you can see above that i've marked it scene 1, scene 2—you will absolutely get struck with a scene after you've finished, so sometimes it's easier to mark it like this

some of these things are outlined in the same scene when they're actually in different parts of the chapter

but you also absolutely don't have to write in scenes at all—i do because i read and write in a very cinematic way

you also don't have to be thorough if you know what the scene is, then you're just wasting your energy tbh—"asks about tea and she says milk" does not make sense without context but i knew that that meant reader saying she liked milk and subsequently getting teased

i hope this helped! please let me know if you have any questions :)

[tryingtimi]

13, 14 and 18 for the ask game? @writingonesdreams

Hello, hello, dear! <3 Thank you for the ask! <3

13.  Describe your writing process from idea to polished

Oh, it’s pretty chaotic, but here it goes. It starts with that I consume any kind of media lmao. My ideas come from mostly, but not exclusively literally one single lines. Be that in movie, music, book, a conversation with someone whatever really. Then I start to think about how could I do something with it, like twisting it, or giving it a meaning that turns the whole thing around. Then something interesting (for me) pops into my mind, maybe a religion, a fashion piece, a place or a character trait. Maybe a scene. Then I tell my partner about it and we start to brainstorm the whole thing. I give the ideas, worldbuilding, characters I want and he helps me shape into coherent stuff that work well together. He may add ideas, but he always says that I gave him the idea he just elaborated on it, so yeah. Then I start to write the scene that pops into my head randomly and start to go from there. Then, when I stuck because nothing makes sense, I do the outline lmao. Approximately around the first half of it I usually stuck with that too, so I go back to writing scenes. These are the stuff I repeat until I get the whole story written. I also worldbuild a lot on the way by speaking and asking random questions from my friends, dad, partner, literally anyone who I know. I need people to question my ideas and/or add to it, tell me if it’s too weird or a good take, so my stories are always collaborative creations of me and the people around me. Or I like to think about it in that way :D. Then if the first draft is finally done, there goes a merciless editing, but I only reached that point maybe twice with stories hehe.

14.  How do you deal with self-doubts?

I don’t. That’s the secret, I’m always doubting. Jokes aside, it’s really a weak point of mine. The plot and scenes are always feel flat, the characters are petty, childish and two dimensional, the world feels empty or illogical. It has a healthy phase I think which makes you going forward, but when I reach the unhealthy point I usually take a step back and stop writing. I paint or do modelling instead and while doing that I usually listen to Brandon Sanderson podcasts, so when I get pissed off on my lack of skill in painting and modelling, I usually already has new ideas and a little motivation to write again. I also read back some of my short stories that I remember being very proud of and read back some lovely comments from some people I got to new on wattpad (and now you guys ❤️). I also talk to people, especially with friends who always inspire me to do something productive. Then, I usually charged back enough to start write again without hating every word.

18.  If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be, and what would you write about?

Well, there’s a lot of people because as I wrote above I’m already someone who strives in collaborations. Literally anyone who I love the stories of, I’d be down to write something together.

But, if we’re talking about famous people, then not surprisingly it would be Brando Sando. I’d love to write something quirky fanatasy or sci-fi story with him.

[robinrambles89]

I’m not the only one who ‘Yada Yadas’ my way through writing just to get to a scene that I’m itching to write, right?

I don’t even try to expand the shit. I literally write “yada yada” so that I can just begin my scene where I want. I can’t get caught up in the detail of HOW the characters got here. I can’t be bothered with the explanations of what’s going on or give exposition to have it make sense to anyone outside of my head. I just have to get the scene down before I lose it. 

I’ll be sitting on the couch, just scrolling, when the scene just pops into my head in extreme detail. Too many times I’ve rushed to get it down, but found myself losing interest as I try to write up to the scene, trying desperately to give all the background needed to have it make sense. But then I read an article that explained how in the script writing world it was super common to find the words “medical medical”. This came from the fact that the writers knew they needed medical jargon to go here to explain the next events, but that the research and fact checking still needed to happen before they could write it. But instead of stopping to do the research then and there, they just wrote “medical medical” as a place holder while they continued to write down the scene. 

So now, when a random scene bursts into my mind, I write “yada yada” and then jump in full force. I don’t explain the world, I don’t introduce the characters, I just write as I see it. 

I have written numerous stories like this, where it takes months to get it down because all I do is write when the inspiration strikes. The meet cute of my main characters pops into my head and I write it down. The happily ever after pops up and I write it down. The big fight scene strikes and I jot it down. Eventually I find myself with a pretty full story and then I go through and add the in betweens. I find my “yada yadas” and expand. 

It’s so satisfying to get the idea written down, even if it’s just the scene. I’ve never been good at the “write a crap first draft” thing, because I always get too bogged down in the shit that comes out. But if I take my time, write down the gems and yada yada my way through the parts that I don’t have worked out yet, I find my process to be much more enjoyable

[thedeathdeelers]

Juke fluff, right this way (based on this post)

you’re music to me (now on AO3)

“So, how come you guys are always here?”

Julie was staring down at her latest doodle, contemplating adding some more purple to bring out the details, when the question popped into her head. She had been wondering for a while now why the boys weren’t using more of their supernatural ghostly powers to their advantage, and figured that now was as good a time as any to ask.

It was a Saturday afternoon, and both Reggie and Alex had disappeared off to wherever they liked to spend their free time. Whenever they weren’t practicing, the boys usually found ways to entertain themselves, mostly at the expense of the other members of the Molina family.

Luke on the other hand, could usually be found either in the studio cooped up writing new lyrics, or hanging out with Julie in her bedroom (although even then, he would still have his notebook on him, jotting down words and melodies as inspiration struck), as was the current case.

Julie and Luke were sitting cross legged across each other on Julie’s bed; Julie doodling on a school notebook, and Luke working on a particularly difficult bridge for a new song they were hoping to premiere at their next gig in a few weeks.

So when Julie had asked Luke her question and she wasn’t directly met with an answer, she had just figured that he was busy writing down new ideas in his song book. But when the silence stretched longer than was usual for Luke, Julie finally looked up and noticed him staring at her with an odd expression on his face.

“What? Did I say something? What’s wrong?”

“Do you- do you want m- us to leave? I- I mean we thought you were fine with us living here, what with the band picking up and- But of course, if you want us to leave, that’s completely fine. The boys’ll understand and-“

“No! No that’s not what I meant at all!” Julie’s eyes got incredibly large, as she realised how her words must have been perceived. She frantically shook her head, her ponytail whipping at her cheeks with the movement, as her hands, covered in smudges of colourful ink reached out to rest on his knees.

“No, Luke. Of course I don’t mind you guys staying here - I really do like- love having you guys around. I just meant- I mean you guys can literally teleport anywhere, do anything, and not have to worry about getting caught. But as far as I can tell, you guys just hang around here all the time, or meet up with Willie every now and then at some random celebrity’s house.” Julie pulled her hands back in her lap, shrugging. “I don’t know, I guess I was just wondering why?”

She could see him visibly deflating, the odd expression on his face having morphed into a more composed look. He let out a breath, tapping his pen loudly against the pages in front of him with one hand, while the other rubbed at the back of his neck.

“Yeah, we- I mean we just haven’t felt the need to do anything else, I guess? When we first got here, we explored all of our old haunts,” insert smirk here, “checked out some of the new music that’s been taking over the scene - we even went to a few concerts.” He shrugged, his hand coming back down to rest on his knee. “But nothing’s really pulled at us enough to seriously want to leave for any extended period of time.”

She found that quite strange. Here she was talking to the boy who told her that their instruments were attached to their souls, and he was simply shrugging at the idea of being able to go to any concert anywhere, for free, without any consequences.

“You’re telling me you’re not even interested in checking out some of the older bands you guys were really into? Attend some of the concerts you always wanted to go to but couldn’t because they were on the other side of the country? Of the world?” She could hear how dubious she was starting to sound, but she couldn’t help it. None of this made sense.

Luke tilted his head to the side as he looked at Julie with a look that made it seem she was missing the obvious.

“But you wouldn’t be able to come with us? Where would the fun be in that?” He smiled at her, a small glint in his eyes. She rolled hers at him in return.

“Ha ha, very funny. Seriously, Luke, aren’t you, for lack of a better word, dying to go see certain people, certain bands, live? For free?”

He shrugged again, seeming unbothered by her line of questioning.

“Not really. I haven’t really felt any pull to check out new music in a while. I’ve been more excited about the stuff we’ve been making anyway.” He paused, playfully tapping her knee. “Plus I’m not sure I’d be able to properly enjoy a concert if I knew you couldn’t be there. Not as fun.”

She stared at him, wondering if his sanity had been touched.

“Not as fun? Really? I hope you realise you’re not making any sense. You know damn well that having Reggie with you alone would be enough. He’s the life of every party, dead or alive.”

She heard him snort, his head bending back down as he prepared to refocus his attention on the song book in his lap.

“I don’t know, Julie. It’s hard to explain. I just-“ He stopped himself mid-sentence, suddenly seeming to be too engrossed by the words on the pages in front of him. Only she knew better.

She put her notebook aside, and crawled across the tiny space between them, coming to rest on her folded knees right in front of him. She put her hands on his, stilling the tapping of the pen, and covering the words on the pages. She patiently waited for him to finally look up, focusing his attention back on her.

“Luke, you know I’d never hold it against any of you guys if you were to go and have fun without me. You guys deserve it - all you do is hang around here, unless we’re playing a gig somewhere. You should be enjoying your afterlife, not spending it constantly practicing or writing new songs or worrying about our next gig. Live a little!” He was frowning throughout her speech, but she could see the corners of his lips twitching a little at her choice of words.

He stayed quiet though, just staring at her, his eyes searching for something on her face. What it was he was looking for, she couldn’t tell you.

But after a few minutes of silence, he took a deep breath, tilting his head backwards as he closed his eyes, his hands twisting around, threading his fingers through hers.

“It’s not that I- that we would feel guilty, Jules. We’re happy with the way things are here. And to tell you the truth, I haven’t really felt the need to look for new music for a while now - what we create, you and me and the boys, it keeps changing and shifting and surprising me everyday.” He sighs, bringing his face back down, his eyes opening as they centred back on hers. In a softer tone, he continued. “Why would I go looking for something else, when everything I need is right here?”

She had a feeling he wasn’t just talking about music anymore.

“Why would I want to go searching for something else Jules, when I’ve already found the best? Something that I have right here, right under my fingertips?” He let go of her hands as he reached for her face, hers falling limply into his lap. His fingers brushed her cheeks lightly, leaving a trail of goosebumps behind, before they settled under her jaw, cradling her face in his palms. She couldn’t speak even if she wanted to.

“I have no desire whatsoever to go to concerts or look for new music, new talent, when you literally live under the same roof as I do.” His thumbs caressed her cheeks, his face moving closer to hers.

“You are music to me, Julie. As long as you’re in my life, my afterlife, whatever you want to call it, I see no reason in looking for anything, or anyone, else.”

He closed the distance between them, his forehead coming to rest against hers. She could do nothing but stare up at him, eyes wide and mouth hanging slightly open, her mind furiously trying to process Luke’s words.

You are music to me, Julie.

Her heart was beating so quickly, so loudly, it felt like it was about to burst out of her chest and take flight. She tried to focus on her breathing, taking deep breaths to center herself, before she gave up and threw herself into the stunned ghost’s lap. She wrapped her arms around him, and pressed her face into the crook of his neck. With the shock of the impact, Luke lost his balance, sending both teenagers tumbling backwards onto the bed. But even then, all Julie did was press herself closer against Luke, hoping he wouldn’t try to pull away.

To her delight all he did was readjust their position, tucking her head under his chin as he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tighter against him.

“What did I do to deserve such enthusiasm?” He chuckled, his hands rubbing soothing circles on her back.

Julie just shook her head, her lips moving against his neck. She felt him shiver beneath her, causing her lips to tilt upwards.

They remained in this position for a while, Luke rubbing her back, as Julie continued to breathe in his scent, enjoying this quiet intimate moment with him for as long as possible.

But then she felt Luke shift as he turned to his side, her head softly hitting the mattress beneath her. With their legs still tangled, and her arms still securely wrapped around him, she looked up at him, his face hovering a few inches above hers.

“I just want to try something,” was all he said.

And with that he moved down until his head cane to rest against her chest. His arms snaked around her waist, as he pressed his ear closer to where her heart was currently beating a mile a minute.

With a loud sigh, Luke stilled, remaining in that position. Julie tried to stay quiet, tried to keep her curiosity at bay, but she simply couldn’t.

“Luke, what are you doing? I mean, not that I mind but, is there a reason you moved?” She tugged lightly at his hair, her fingers finding refuge in his soft brown locks.

She could feel him shake his head under her fingers, as he quietly started to hum a melody she couldn’t recognise. His fingers then joined in, tapping along to an unknown beat on her waist. She shifted her head to the side, craning her neck trying to get a glimpse of Luke’s expression.

She could see a smile making an appearance on his face, and could swear she could feel his touch getting warmer, see light emanating from his every pore.

“Luke?”

A beat of silence. He opened his eyes, as he looked at her with a tender look and the softest smile gracing his lips.

“I’m just listening to my favourite song.”

“Oh? What favourite song? I heard you humming it, but I’m not sure I recognised it?”

“No, no. I wasn’t humming the song, I was just adding a little melody as an accompanying piece.”

Julie was thoroughly confused. “I don’t get it. Accompanying piece to what?”

“To my favourite song silly, I already told you. It’s more of a beat, really, but when I’m listening to it I swear I can hear the sweetest sounds in my head.”

When Julie still didn’t understand what in the world he was talking about, that frustrated look refusing to leave her face, Luke took pity on her as he started tapping out the beat on her waist again, demonstrating to her what he meant.

It took her a little while, but once she focused, she realised he was tapping along to her heartbeat. It stuttered at her realisation, and Luke’s fingers followed, not missing a beat.

Oh. Oh.

Her hands tightened their hold on his head as she tugged harder, guiding him back up towards her. She couldn’t hold it in anymore, refused to hold it in anymore. Once he was at her eye level, close enough she could feel his breath on her lips, she whispered-

“I love you.”

The brightest smile she had ever seen took over Luke’s face, his eyes shining as they competed against the brightness of his smile. His hands reached up, cradling her face again as he whispered back against her lips:

“You are music to me now, you are music to me forever.”

Forever. She liked the sound of that. If she could somehow manage to keep him for that long, it might just be enough.

FIN

[eunjidrabbles]

Happiness

(I started writing this as a random idea that popped in my head but I decided to finish it and post it to cheer myself up so have some domestic fluff while I work on the bittersweet series.)

Word count: 689 words

-

It often comes as a simple form, one you’d not expect it to.

Looking through the recipe stuck on the refrigerator door with a cute magnet in the shape of a rabbit, you verified the amount of eggs needed for the cake and turned back to the counter.

Only to be met with a hand full of flour on one side of your face.

Your lips pulled into a snarl as your eyes locked onto the perpetrator who was clutching her stomach and howling with laughter at your reaction. You took a second to stare at the egg in your hand, considering of breaking the golden rule formed by the leader of the house to not waste food and chucking it to the second youngest in the house. When you looked back up, her eyes caught yours and widened, seemingly hearing your thought process. 

With a yelp, Joy bolted out of the kitchen with you a step right after, determined to get your revenge, original task of baking a cake pushed to the back of your mind. You see her round the corner into the living room and you followed tightly, trying to aim your shot at her as she rounded the long sofa.

A snort and the start of a cheerful giggle stopped you in your steps as you followed the source of the sound to Seulgi who has now collapsed onto her side on the sofa while laughing and watching the scene play before her. It was in no way graceful, with tears streaming down her reddened face and the little snorts that escaped her when she tries to catch her breath on the inhales. Yet you stood frozen in your spot, admiring the woman before you. You could feel your heart flutter with each attempt she tries to calm herself down with and when her laughter tear stained eyes met yours, you suddenly forgot how to breathe as she beamed at you. As she pushed herself up and used her long sleeves to wipe away the tears, you tore your gaze away from her to spot in horror as Joy’s knowing smirk grows. She had just been silently watching you stare at Seulgi.

Hardening your gaze, you threw the egg at Joy but with her watching you so closely, she easily dodged it. Both of you flinched when an exclaim of surprise came from behind her and you leaned to your side to see past Joy as she turned around to see the innocent casualty in your food fight.

The moment Yeri got over the initial shock of an egg literally flying at her the moment she stepped out of her room, she glared around to spot for the culprit and spotting the three of you in front of her, she quickly pieced together the clues and yelled for the eldest in the house. “Unnie! They are playing with food again!” The look of fear as you hear a door slam open from down the hallway was apparently hilarious to Seulgi as she collapsed back onto her side and continued her laughing, pulling your attention once again to her. 

“Yah! What did I say about wasting food?” Irene came storming out, attempting to help Yeri sweep pieces of egg out her hair while chastising everyone else. You couldn’t help but let a sheepish smile tug onto your lips as you watch Seulgi still laughing and in her own world, so when you looked back up at the rest, you were met with the stern gaze of your leader and maknae, and also the knowing looks Joy and Wendy who came out of her own room to check the commotion. 

Dropping the smile, you gulped. You were in trouble, and taking a peek at the woman on the sofa was a mistake as you struggled to keep a straight face and fight the smile that was forming back up at seeing her be so carefree and happy. Letting out a huff of laughter, you covered your mouth in an attempt to hide your amusement. Your happiness was right here, in the form of a family, and her.

[laurent-ofvere]

MAYA PLEASE SHARE YOUR WRITING PROCESS

I just want everyone to be informed that @thickenmyblood is the kind of weirdo who you text with every day but then sends you a question on anon when they can literally ask something at any time?? and then informs you that they were the anon when you dont answer quick enough??

ANYWAYS I told you I would answer this even tho im out of touch with writing and dont have a real answer anymore so here are a few things I remember form my good old days as a writer!!

-it starts with the idea (duh) something will typically either pop in my head, manifest in a daydream or ill see something that sparks a concept to piggyback off of

-I fantasize about it a lot at first. before I sleep, when im spacing out, I just think of it as an image and just let it play out in my head, thats how I think of the scenes to write that I'll eventually connect

-random lines and dialogue run ons will start gong in my head without me thinking about it, those are the bits im usually most excited about bc they dont feel forced or like I had to come up with them, rather they came to me

-everything I write - be that snippets, scenes or the entire first draft - is trash. its bad, its bland, its clearly lacking, its overall just missing life. after I write a scene I leave it alone and let it sit for a while, the more time away the better. then I come back with fresh eyes and a fresh perspective and build on it, and I basically do that as many times as I can until im either sick of it or impatient to post. any time I look at my writing there's something I would change or add, so at some point I need to just let it go and let it stand as is.

[michaelbjorkwrites]

How to craft good figurative writing according to Dead Poets Society

Good figurative writing is electrifying.

It adds beauty and depth to your prose in a way literal language struggles to match.

But the challenge of good figurative language is that it doesn’t come from your head — it comes from your gut.

You don’t sit there and systematically craft metaphors by analyzing and connecting two separate ideas; instead, you let your intuition take the wheel, and you follow it down any and every dimly lit street, until you reach its intended destination.

Sometimes that destination is beautiful and inspiring. Other times (oftentimes) it’s a horrible, ugly place that should never see the light of day.

But the trick is this: to write good, natural figurative language, you need to let your intuition run wild, because for every few bad metaphors you write, a great one will emerge — and that’ll be the spark that brings your image or scene to life.

Nobody illustrates this process better than Mr. Keating in Dead Poets Society.

Empowering your gut to write better figurative language

In the above scene, Todd is the writer, and the class is his inner critic. His writing is stifled by their laughter and judgment, and he’s afraid to follow his gut on strange images, such as “truth like a blanket that always leaves your feet cold.”

But Mr. Keating (Robin Williams, God bless him) pushes Todd to ignore the class, putting a hand over Todd’s eyes and giving commands like, “Don’t think — answer!” and, “Say the first thing that pops into your head, even if it’s total gibberish!” Mr. Keating gives Todd permission to run with the wildest of impulses — and the end result is a fascinating string of figurative language and images, ranging from “sweaty-toothed mad man” to his full elaboration on the blanket of truth.

To write better figurative language, you need to be your own Mr. Keating. You need to give yourself permission to write (and pursue) gibberish, so that something artful and organic may jump out of you.

Here’s some advice on how to make that happen.

1. Start with freewriting

Freewriting is an exercise where you write for a short period of time without a filter, without editing, and without stopping. The goal is to shut down your inner editor and make fresh connections between ideas — which makes it great for figurative writing, especially if you tend to struggle with metaphors and similes. The next time you’re working on a scene, take just 5 minutes to freewrite some relevant similes and metaphors. Most will be nonsensical, but you’ll often come away with at least one great idea.

2. Write similes before metaphors

If your goal is to write metaphors, I suggest you start by writing similes. The word “like” is a helpful bridge, making it easier to form initial connections between unrelated ideas. Then, in revision, you can experiment with deleting the word “like” if you want to double down with a metaphor.

3. Trust the connection is there

When your subconscious makes a connection between two unrelated ideas, know that there is a connection, even if it seems completely random on the surface. Your subconscious wouldn’t have made the connection if there wasn’t something there — you just need to find it. Which brings me to #4.

4. Don’t judge a rabbit hole before diving in

Remember in the scene above how Todd initially shies away from the idea that truth is like “a blanket that leaves your feet cold”? The class laughs, but Mr. Keating encourages Todd to go further, and further, until Todd finally stumbles into a fully-realized simile that silences everyone. Just like the class, you might think your figurative language is dumb at first, but always take a few minutes to go down the rabbit hole and explore its potential.

5. Ask yourself questions

When you’re trying to explore and develop a piece of figurative language, ask yourself questions as Mr. Keating asks Todd:

What do you see? “A mad man.” What kind? “A crazy mad man.” You can do better. “A sweaty-toothed mad man.” Describe what you see. “A sweaty-toothed mad man with a stare that pounds my brain.” That’s excellent. Give him action. “And all the time he’s mumbling.” What’s he mumbling? “Mumbling truth. Truth like a blanket that leaves your feet cold.” Tell me about that blanket. — And so on.

Even if it feels like you’re going in circles, keep riffing and elaborating upon the idea until you land on something that works.

O Captain! My Captain!

To quote Mr. Keating, who in turn quotes Whitman: “The powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?”

Whatever your verse, I hope figurative language plays a part.

— — —

Hey there! My name’s Mike, and I’m a writer & copywriter with an MFA in fiction. For more tips on how to hone your craft and nurture meaningful stories, follow my blog.

And thanks to @vilchen​, whose original question about half a year ago prompted this post. This is an updated version of my original answer.

[reveriesofawriter]

hi bestie :) gimme 1, 12, 18, 26, 35, 36, 38, 53, 60 for let's fall in love for the night jalex, 61 for the one where jalex keep meeting at weddings, 66 for street lightning fic, aaand 70 sorrynotsorry for being ur biggest fan ill follow you until you love me etc xoxo bella

1. Do you daydream a lot before you write, or go for it as soon as the ideas strike?

I daydream constantly all the time but if I think up a specific piece of dialogue or a scene that I can literally see in my head, I will write it down immediately, usually in my phone notes bc starting a new doc is intimidating

12. Do you outline your fics?  If yes, how detailed are your outlines?  How far do you stray from them?

I only outline my fics if I think they're going to be long, and for me "long" depends on the format of the fic like if I'm writing something in snapshots I usually won't outline, and honestly most of the fics I've outlined have been 5+1 type fics where I needed to keep track of Things and Events

18. Do you enjoy research?  Which fic of yours required the most research?

I do enjoy research, I love learning super niche things that have no practical effect on my story whatsoever but knowing I'm getting into the head of someone in a particular time period (for example) knowing precisely what types of technology they would have had and how prevalent things were and whether something was only ever popular with rich people or only with teenagers. idk if this counts as research but I've watched multiple movies to write them into fics and that definitely took up as much time as actual research. for one more time for second chances I had a character who was an 8-10 month old baby so I did have to do some light googling to figure out developmental milestones but that was mostly to confirm what I learned a few years ago in my child development classes

26. What’s your least favorite part of the writing process?

finishing things. no the part where I've written all the significant plot points and I need to connect the dots or make the parts flow better. that's partly why I like snapshot fics so much bc I don't have to write so much of the glue, if I leave enough breadcrumbs I can trust the reader to fill in the blanks to a greater extent than if I've written 90% of a fic to be linear and then have random scenes that I just thought were too boring to write

35. What’s your favorite fic you’ve posted?

everything taylor-verse? can I say that? We Dream Impossible Dreams probably

36. What fic are you proudest of?

I am still in pure awe that sam and I co-wrote over 20k, I reread it all last week and we really! did that! and I have no clue how!! I can picture it after all these days 

but also street lightning, I feel like I caught a rare spark there

38. What is your most self-indulgent posted story?

I've been going crazy (I'm stuck in here) I know it was part of a challenge technically but I saw the challenge and knew without a doubt what I wanted to write about bc I remembered this event that happened and was like Fic Material and I really like how I had to do zero extra work to give it a pairing bc merrikat are just Like That

53. What is the most-used tag on your ao3?

not including the tag for alcohol warnings, fluff 😌

60. In and forget in the morning, what inspired the idea for the plot?

I listened to the song one too many times and a vague plot popped into my head lmao the most thought I put into it was when I was like oh alex is ace and then went back to make sure I didn't already write something that contradicted that. I seem to remember writing most of it while on vc with you and sam and neither of you had any idea lol

61. In if you leave the light on, then I'll leave the light on, what’s your favorite scene that you wrote?

the first one probably, I wrote the majority of this one on my phone just one section each night and I didn't think it would turn into a real fic until I got to part 3 and was like this is actually going somewhere, tho honorable mention to the fourth scene with the part about alex's middle name that you love so much :)) but the first scene was like a break in my usual writing pattern in so many ways so I like that I could stretch that out to a whole fic

66. What’s a fun fact about romancing what might've been?

you commented that it feels like a music video or short film? if I was directing any of my fics in film form, this would be the one I'm most confident in just because the vibe of it is so perfect that it would be a good balance of being hard to mess up (which would be good for my perfectionist self) and also like a pinprick sized specific mood that I wouldn't want to hand over to anyone else

70. Are you subscribed to any writers on AO3?

no but in my defense I follow my favorite writers in other places so I rarely miss a fic

[p1harmonyofficial]

[📰] Get to Know the Members of K-Pop Group P1Harmony With These 10 Fun Facts! (Exclusive)

P1Harmony is a rising global K-Pop troupe, but we wanted Just Jared readers to get an exclusive chance to know them a little better!

The talented six-member boy group first arrived on the scene back in October of 2020, embarking on their international music career with the release of their first mini album DISHARMONY: STAND OUT and feature film, P1H: A New World Begins, which positioned the group as a force to be reckoned with in the music scene.

Amid the pandemic, the group continued to make new music for their fans with the release of their second mini album, DISHARMONY: BREAK OUT, including their slamming, hip-hop infused title track “Scared,”” along with an accompanying music video full of street-style dancing and intense visual effects.

Watch “Scared” and check out these 10 Fun Facts about P1Harmony inside!

INTAK

1. I have more eyelashes on my right eye than my left. Right after my debut, I didn’t really know how to remove eye makeup, so for a while, I used to just rub my eyes really hard with soap and now, I have more eyelashes on my right eye than my left. 2. I used to love oysters, but now I cannot eat it. I was an oyster fanatic, until very recently. I ordered raw oysters after watching a TV show at night with JONGSEOB, and after one bite, I couldn’t eat it anymore. The taste of the “sea” was so pungent. Now, I’m too traumatized! 3. I saved a man’s life. I went chestnut picking with my dad, and found a guy hanging on a cliff and struggling to get back up. We immediately helped him get up. He was really grateful and I remember feeling so proud to have saved someone’s life! 4. I have a small horizontal scar on the right side of my face, and I kind of like it. I got this scar when I was about four or five, and although it’s not that visible now, sometimes I like it because it makes me feel like a charismatic, bad guy! 5. I love dogs. I love dogs, so I have been watching a lot of dog-related videos but I’m terribly allergic. I can’t stop myself from petting them when I see them on the street, and always regret it afterwards because I turn all puffy and itchy! 6. I fantasize a lot about time travel. I even tried and feel like it can really happen one day! I lie down in my bed, put my blanket over my entire body and focus really hard on the idea, but this brings me nowhere but to the future. [Laughs] 7. I have a gold tooth. 8. I have a brown spot (mole) on my middle finger. 9. I love my Crayon Shin-chan character earphones. I get happy just looking at it. 10. I go to the convenient store so much that there isn’t anything I have not tried!

THEO

1. My right shoulder is more developed than my left. I used to play volleyball and would strike with my right arm, so my right shoulder is more developed than my left. 2. I have a red mole. I recently got a red mole on the side of my right neck, but I have no idea where it came from and why but it’s not going away! 3. I can’t burp, literally. I don’t know how to burp and have never burped in my life 4. I only drink carbonated drinks. I rarely drink anything that is NOT carbonated. 5. I don’t like lettuce and tomatoes in my burgers. 6. I had a burst appendix and didn’t know it for a while. I was hospitalized for two months, because they couldn’t find my appendix. Apparently, my organs are shaped and structured differently. 7. I love slippers. Unless I am going to an official engagement or doing promos, I am always in slippers, (even during winter)! 8. I have never cried in front of people until I turned 20. I was watching a very emotional episode of “Animal Farm,” and got caught crying in front of KEEHO, SOUL and JIUNG. Since then, I think I’ve gotten more emotional. I once cried watching JONGSEOB cry, too. 9. I can’t stay still when I’m on the phone. I have to walk around or do something when I’m on the phone. 10. I love singing songs to my friends over the phone.

JIUNG

1. I love Tonkatsu (pork cutlet). I have been addicted to tonkatsu these days and have been eating it almost every day for the last few months. 2. I have the same birthday as my younger brother. My younger brother and I share the same birthday, which is Oct. 7. We were also born around the same time. 3. My younger brother and I have a similar birth time as well. I think he was born like 8 minutes before me or after! 4. I love raw garlic and don’t like kimchi. 5. I only drink flat coca-cola. I purposely decarbonate my coke by shaking it and letting the air out multiple times until the bottle doesn’t expand anymore and the coke is completely flat. 6. I still fit into my hats from my adolescent years. My head is so small that I still fit into all my hats from elementary school. 7. I think too much. I make daily memos and write down almost everything to organize my thoughts. 8. I like to dance and sing when the streets are empty. When no one is around and I’m in a good mood. I love walking down the empty street thinking I’m shooting a music video. I sing, dance and act. Last time, I bumped into someone and I ran away in full embarrassment! [Laughs]. 9. I have a scar on my eye. 10. I may look picky, but I’m not a picky eater! I love trying a lot of different cuisines.

KEEHO

1. I love collecting sunglasses and glasses although my eyesight is near perfect. I love wearing glasses even though I don’t need them to see. I also have been collecting a lot of sunglasses lately. 2. I talk during my sleep, apparently! According to my members, I sleep-talk a lot (almost every night), but I don’t remember any of it and I never have dreams. 3. I have the same birthday as my dad! 4. I can eat salads all day. I love salads! I love eating vegetables, especially celery and carrots, and prefer dressings like ranch and oriental. 5. I am not good at smiling. I have a hard time smiling so I’m still in the process of learning how to smile naturally! I have to make sounds out loud to smile [during photo shoots]. 6. I used to hate wearing sweatpants. I don’t know why but I hated sweatpants and never wore them when I was younger― even if I had to wear something more uncomfortable like slacks or jeans.. Now, I wear them all the time! 7. I rarely cry alone or in front of people. The only person who has seen me cry is INTAK. I was going through something heavy and was alone at a park by myself when INTAK came to pick me up. He started crying as soon as he saw me, and that made me cry. 8. I used to pull all my loose baby teeth. I hated having something loose in my mouth, so instead of waiting to go to the dentist, I used to pull them out on my own. 9. I have a light (barely noticeable) mole on my big toe. 10. I have curly hair, so unless I blow dry it, it goes wild.

SOUL

1. I used to collect beetles. I think I had up to 30 beetles in one big box. 2. I only wear Air Jordans. I only wear Jordans and my favorite design is the Air Jordan 1s. 3. I love dolls! I love buying and collecting dolls. I like anything that is cute and fuzzy. 4. I don’t like taking pictures of humans except KEEHO. I only take pictures of nature, architecture or like a beautiful scenery. The only time I would take a picture of a human is of KEEHO. 5. Me and my younger sister found an important historical stone artifact. We were just digging stuff up and found a stone artifact. We later learned it was a historically valuable artifact, so we donated it to a museum. 6. I wear my pants backwards. 7. I don’t like electric fans. I don’t like when wind blows in my face 8. I once had the same dream three times in a row. I had the same dream three times in a row, but every ending changed depending on the choices I made [in my dream]. 9. A bird pooped on my head while I was on my way to school. Without having much reaction, I just walked to school and waited until I had to go to the bathroom to wash. 10. I don’t get scared or surprised easily. I used to get yelled at for bowing down and saying hi to all the actors playing zombies, monsters or ghosts at haunted houses in theme parks.

JONGSEOB

1. I like books that are thick and with small letters for no particular reason. I tend to buy books that are thick, whatever the genre is. I think it’s because I’m a fast reader. 2. I never had cavities! I love eating sweets like jellies and candies. I can go through a whole pack in one sitting, but I’ve never had cavities! 3. I have something called a “knee hyperextension and/or back knee. My knee bends backwards in a straightened position unlike many people. 4 I love the dark. I usually don’t turn on the lights unless I really have to. 5. I could sleep for long periods of time. I once slept up to 16 straight hours, and I barely have dreams. Maybe like five times a year?! 6. I don’t like/eat seaweed or seagrass. 7. I love walking into a room that is super cold. I turn on the A/C and close the door for about 30 minutes so it can be ice cold before I walk in. 8. I want to learn how to play bass guitar one day! I watch random videos of jam sessions, and one day would really like to play bass guitar. 9. My eyesight is different on both eyes. I am near-sighted on one, and far-sighted on the other. 10. I am pretty good at playing games on my phone.

[headspace-hotel]

hey, I come in a shy place to ask for some advice. I really love writing, it's one of the things that gives me life, but I'm not really able to do it. I always feel like I need to be multitasking, or at the very least I get really jumpy and anxious whenever I'm not wasting myself on it, so I never write because it takes focus, it takes to be calm and sit down. I feel like a child that can never calm down.

I'm looking for some advice, small tactics or behaviors that could help, ideas for focus, I don't know. I really love your posts and thank you, even if you never get to read this <3

So, this initially sounds Neurotypical but i was able to make it work for me: I recommend forming a daily habit for writing.

What I mean is commit to spending at least SOME time (no particular amount) writing something. You have to be kind to yourself about this. It’s okay to skip days sometimes. But it helps a lot to make writing a part of your daily life so you’re not waiting on that inspiration or something to just fall together.

It’s about the physical act of typing at your computer or writing in your notebook. Don’t bother with a certain amount every day. Just be there for like 5-10 minutes. Focus on the clickety-click sound of keys or the scratch of a pencil. It doesn’t matter what you’re writing. For long periods of my life I’ve had documents on my computer to just dump words in. I wrote down visualizations for songs I was listening to, I wrote down random scenes that popped into my head, I wrote descriptions of things, sometimes I just wrote a random scattering of sentences. You’re not showing anybody this, so don’t be afraid to steal sentences from books and poems and songs you like and continue them or try to fit them together in new ways.

Plagiarism really is completely fine at this early stage as long as you aren’t copying and pasting. You can literally be *only* borrowing sentences and words if you want. If you don’t have any words, go out and find other people’s. Comment sections. Wikipedia. Books you have around you. Stick them all together into a paragraph and see what happens.

Writing by hand can be very useful if you get blocked. One fun exercise is to try to fill a page completely with words (doesn’t matter what they are). It does not have to be in a “fiction” format either. Write essays about subjects, making up facts as you go. Like, find something you know fuck all about, and then write about it like you’re the expert on it. Write the weirdest bullshit you can. Parodies come easy for me; maybe write one of those. Write definitions of words that don’t exist. Writing down dreams can be fun. Make up insults and swear words. It literally doesn’t matter how much “progress” you’re making, you’re just rewarding yourself for doing the act of writing.

You definitely need some way of documenting your progress, whether posting it on a blog or forum or something, or having shiny stickers or beads or something. This is really important! That helps you feel like you’ve accomplished something even if you don’t have a finished product to show anybody. You have to celebrate yourself and reward yourself for it. Maybe have a string of beads on your wall and add another bead for every day you write. Be sure to write down things like word counts and numbers of pages. Crunching numbers like that is a way to make progress satisfying.

Telling other people is really useful to the process for me. If you have a friend that doesn’t mind, you can text them or something about what you did on your writing every day. There are also writing forums where you can start threads documenting your progress. Having someone else recognize that you’re doing something can be really helpful. Also, re-reading logs of your progress can be a huge boost.

When you take breaks, spend the time doing something else that feeds creativity (if you feel well enough to.) This is very broad. Reading, doodling, going for a walk outside, all of those things count. Definitely suggest documenting those in some way too. Maybe a green bead, for tending your brain garden.

This is all very general advice, but I hope it helps!

[occasionally-writing]

After Practice Massage

A/N: This was a long process to write XD I had half of this fanfic written down when my laptop was out of commission and I just only now remembered that I had it waiting. This is my first time writing for the Stray Kids fandom so I apologize if they’re not in character! I tried to keep them in their personalities the best I could <3 Anyways, enjoy the fanfic <3

Summary:  After practicing for who knows how long, Minho decides to head back to the dorm but is surprised when Felix comes to walk home with him and offers him a massage for his sore legs and ankles.

Word Count: 1908

To say that Lee Know was tired and achy would be an understatement, though he tried not to let it show on how exhausted he truly was since he was currently in the middle of a Vlive and tons of Stays were watching him practice. Letting out a hugg of breath when the song he was dancing to ended, Minho slumped towards where his phone was propped up and smiled, taking in the countless praises he got for his dancing. 

“Alright guys, I’m sorry to say this but it’s time to pack up for today. We don’t want to get caught by Chan-hyung for practicing longer than we should’ve,” Minho chuckled, brushing his sweaty bands away from his eyes as he read the supporting comments and goodbyes from the Stays. Smiling as a blush made his already flushed face grow darker, Lee Know waved and gave a peace sign to the fans. “Goodnight everyone. See you next time!”

Clicking the button to stop the livestream, a sigh escaped his lips and he flopped down on his butt, checking the time on his phone and wincing when he realized how late it was along with how long he had actually been practicing for. Taking in a deep breath, Minho pushed himself off the floor, grunting when the muscles in his legs protested the movement, the joints in his knees giving a sharp crack as he finally stood up. Gathering his things and throwing his bag over his shoulder, Minho couldn’t even take one step forward when the practice room shot open and the group’s literal ball of sunshine popped in, a bright smile resting on his freckled face. 

“Hyung! Looks like I got here just in time! I decided to walk you back to the dorm! I didn’t like the idea of you walking back alone…” Felix got out, the child-like grin on his face being contagious as Minho felt one of his own smiles sliding onto his face. Trying not to put too much pressure on his ankles when he met Felix at the door, Minho ruffled the younger member’s hair and threw his arm around Felix’s shoulders, leaning into him as his legs throbbed underneath him. Noticing this, Felix furrowed his brows in worry but remained silent as his hyung urged him forward. “Lee Know-hyung...would you like a massage when we get back to the dorm?”

“What brought this on? But um...sure, if you don’t mind, that is,” Minho sighed, squeezing Felix’s shoulder as he was helped out of the practice room. Not minding the walk back to the dorm since Felix had a firm yet loving hold on him, Minho listened to the other dance ramble on about being voted as an imposter while he played Among Us with the other members. “Don’t worry, Lix. You’ll get them back. I’ll teach you some tricks if you want.”

Snickering at the gasp of excitement Felix let out, Minho just observed the other with amused eyes until his attention was brought back to what was ahead of them, the dorm appearing in their line of sight. Getting Minho into the building, Felix helped him into the elevator and clicked the button to get them to their floor. Not having to wait long, the two arrived at the dorm and opened the door, the sound of the television catching their attention along with the wavering scent of someone cooking. 

“Why don’t you go see who’s cooking? Just in case? The last thing we need is the kitchen catching on fire...again,” Minho sighed, nodding towards the direction of the kitchen as the sounds of a pan being placed on the stove made them both bristle. Keeping his eyes on Minho in worry, Felix bit his lip but agreed when he was shooed away. “Don’t worry about me. I can get to the couch.”

Staying still until Felix toed off his shoes and disappeared towards the kitchen, Minho made sure he was truly gone before he carefully slipped off his shoes, a sharp intake of breath getting sucked through his lips when a dull echo of pain shot through his ankles, making his legs tense when he finally got both shoes off. Tossing his bag on top of his shoes, Minho hobbled towards the living area, the sight of their makane catching his attention. 

“Oh, Minho-hyung...are you okay?” Jeongin asked once he noticed him, his brows furrowed when he took in the way Minho was walking. Practically dropping onto the couch as dead weight, Minho couldn’t help the grunt of relief that left his lips when he finally got off his sore feet. Making a small groan to I.N’s question, Minho grumbled something and leaned to the side enough to lay against the maknae. “...okay…?” 

Turning towards the sound of rushing footsteps, the two blinked when Felix came into the room, holding onto a heat pad with a determined shine to his eyes. Staying quiet as Felix skipped towards him, Minho only yelped when he was moved around, his head being placed in Jeongin’s lap, the maknae’s fingers brushing through his hair as Felix dropped down on the couch, carefully pulling Minho’s feet into his lap. 

“Keep this pad on your legs...I’m going to start now,” Felix mumbled, offering a small smile as he got to work, rubbing his thumbs in gentle circles around the bones of Minho’s ankles. Tensing up briefly at the small burn of pain that sparked in his feet, Minho tried not to move away, his lip getting caught between his teeth as he tried not to groan at the pain. “I know it hurts, hyung...just a bit more and it will feel better. I promise!”

“It’s okay, Yongbok...just do your thing,” Minho got out, letting his eyes shut, trying to focus on the feeling of Jeongin’s fingers in his hair. Keeping his eyes on Minho, Felix kept his touch firm yet gentle until he felt the older member grow slack, a sigh of relief escaping Lee Know’s lips when the dull pain finally vanished for something more pleasant. Smiling brightly when he noticed his hyung relaxing, Felix shot an appreciative look towards I.N, who shook his head and carefully lifted Minho, leaning him into the back of the couch so he could get up and help get dinner going. “Thanks Jeonginnie...by the way, who’s cooking? You didn’t exactly tell me, Felix.”

“Channie is! He actually got back from the studio early today...I think it had something to do with Jisung and Changbin forcing him out of the building,” I.N cackled, grinning widely as he remembered the hilarious scene of their leader being dragged into the dorm by his arms. Giving a tired chuckle of his own, Minho relaxed further into the couch. Sensing his hyung’s fatigue, Jeongin gave a small smile to Felix before he left towards the kitchen, pausing at the exit of the room so he could glance back at the two dancers. “Take care of hyung, yeah?”

Giving a small hum in response, Felix kept his eyes on what he was doing as the two were finally alone, the random show on the television just becoming background noise as they remained quiet. Letting his eyes flutter open as he gazed at Felix, Minho felt a shiver shake his legs when he realized the hot pack Felix had put on him finally got cold, the warmth no longer lingering. Noticing the slight tremor, Felix blinked and took the pad off Minho’s legs, figuring that they didn’t need it anymore since he was already almost done with his hyung’s legs. Moving his hands from Minho’s ankles, Felix felt around the other’s calves, frowning when he felt how many tight knots were in his muscles. How long did he really practice for to get this bad?

“Hyung...how many hours did you practice for? Your legs are full of knots! It must’ve been painful walking home,” Felix muttered, his tone full of worry that had a little twinge of guilt prickling in Lee Know’s chest. Reaching, Minho squeezed Felix’s wrist, catching the younger dancer’s attention and offering a smile, trying to assure the ball of sunshine that he was okay. Noticing this, Felix let out a small huff and wiggled the elder’s touch off his wrist, getting back to work with loosening the knots in Minho’s calves. “You’re lucky Chan-hyung doesn’t know about this or else he’d make you stay at the dorm and not practice.”

“Don’t tell him, ya? I promise after your massage and some rest, I’ll be okay,” Minho chuckled nervously, knowing what Felix said would be true. The last thing he needs is for Chan to find out and for him to fall behind on practice because he’s on their leader’s watch. Nodding softly, Felix chose to remain silent, letting the television become background noise once more, his focus going back on Minho’s legs. Relaxing against the back of the couch again, Minho took deep breaths through the slight pains he would get from Felix’s thumb pressing into the knots and before long, Minho found himself beginning to doze off. “Is it okay if I nap? Or do you need me awake?”

Shushing his hyung with a grin, Felix patted his knee and just watched in fond amusement the way Minho’s eyes fluttered shut. Keeping his touch light on his hyung’s calves, Felix grinned in success when he felt all the knots Lee Know was keeping in his legs faded out, leaving nothing but smooth muscle and warm skin. Rubbing his legs softly, Felix perked up at the sound of Chan calling them, knowing dinner must’ve been ready and if he knew any better, the whole dorm was about to get loud as hell. His thought coming true not a moment later, Felix yelped when the bedroom doors were slammed open and the sound of running footsteps caught him by surprise.

“Wha?” Minho grumbled, his eyes scrunching up before they opened when Jisung’s yell and Hyunjin’s singing woke him up, his face set in something that did not look like amusement at all the loud noise. Squeezing his knee, which made Lee Know glance at him, Felix offered an apologetic smile and gently lifted Minho’s feet off his lap, holding his hand out to help the other up. Letting out a sigh when Changbin yelled about something this time and Seungmin’s laughter echoed from the kitchen, Minho took Felix’s offered hand and slowly stood up, wincing slightly when his legs protested. Making sure he could stand on his own, Felix snickered softly when Minho mumbled something about his legs feeling like jelly and looped his arm around the elder’s waist. Leaning into Felix gratefully, Minho shot him an appreciative look and nodded towards the kitchen where all the noise was beginning to get louder and more hectic. “Come on. If we don’t get in there now, all the food will be gone or stuffed in Jisung’s cheeks.”

Letting out a snort of laughter, Felix nodded and removed his arm from Minho’s waist, moving it around the other’s arm instead so that Chan wouldn’t ask questions about him helping the other into the kitchen. Nuzzling his face into Minho’s shoulder, Felix grinned brightly when Lee Know rolled his eyes playfully, the two of them making their way into the kitchen where the rest of their dysfunctional family was waiting for them.