wordsnstuff

[wordsnstuff]

Standing Water: Wordsnstuff Writing Challenge [in collaboration with RUNT magazine]

Welcome to RUNT Magazine. We are an indie print publication celebrating visual art, literature, and the distinctions that make us human. Our aim as a magazine is to cultivate a vibrant community that promotes exploration and creativity instead of stifling it.

We’ve put together these prompts to hopefully inspire you to submit to our upcoming issue with the theme of STANDING WATER [click link for more info!]. If you feel inclined to express yourself in a different media, we accept all forms of writing (fiction, non-fiction, essays, poetry, etc.), photography, art, or anything that moves you! There is no submission fee and we encourage you to submit as much as you like.

The deadline is December 31st, 2024 and we can’t wait to see what you come up with! Submit for free here!

˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ *˚

Write from the perspective of a favored toy of your childhood.

If future you met present you, what would you talk about? What would you think of each other?

Your hometown has mysteriously disappeared. As you stand looking where it once stood, what memories come to mind?

You’re aging (spoiler alert). Write dual perspectives about one character who embraces that fact and one that rejects it.

You wake up in your childhood bedroom, magically a child yourself. You get to experience a Christmas as a kid again. Describe what you’ve missed about this as an adult, even down to the smells.

It’s been MANY years since you’ve stopped aging. You’ve watched friends and family pass on, never letting yourself fall in love or get attached. You spot someone that you remember from your childhood, also unchanged. Who is it? Do you say anything to them?

You’ve just discovered you were switched at birth. What do you imagine the life you could’ve had was like?

Tell a true story about your childhood. The first one that comes to mind. Maybe even the one you don’t think is even worth writing about at all.

You’ve spent decades running from the small town that labeled you a weird kid, but when you find an old yearbook and see your old self staring back at you, you realize you’ve made a nightmare of the only person who understands you. Make amends with the younger version of yourself, you were just a child.

Every morning, you sit at the same desk, doing the same work, feeling your potential slowly wither away, but you convince yourself it’s fine. What would happen if you stopped telling yourself that this is all there is?

Write the day in the life of an inanimate object that feels it is not being used to its full potential.

Write your first break up from the other person’s perspective.

Your spouse is a writer and has been incredibly secretive about their current book. It’s been published and as they’ve finally allowed you to read it, you’re slowly realizing this all sounds far too familiar.

You awake with your eyes closed, but you don’t remember falling asleep. “It wasn’t your fault,” you hear a voice say. What do you see when you open your eyes?

A once famous person reflects on their career as they slowly being to feel they are being forgotten by the public.

˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ *˚

Check us out on Instagram.ᐟ

Submission Link

⟢ no fee ⟢ no limit on submissions ⟢ any type of writing or art medium

RUNT Website

[wordsnstuff]

Standing Water: Wordsnstuff Writing Challenge [in collaboration with RUNT magazine]

Welcome to RUNT Magazine. We are an indie print publication celebrating visual art, literature, and the distinctions that make us human. Our aim as a magazine is to cultivate a vibrant community that promotes exploration and creativity instead of stifling it.

We’ve put together these prompts to hopefully inspire you to submit to our upcoming issue with the theme of STANDING WATER [click link for more info!]. If you feel inclined to express yourself in a different media, we accept all forms of writing (fiction, non-fiction, essays, poetry, etc.), photography, art, or anything that moves you! There is no submission fee and we encourage you to submit as much as you like.

The deadline is December 31st, 2024 and we can’t wait to see what you come up with! Submit for free here!

˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ *˚

Write from the perspective of a favored toy of your childhood.

If future you met present you, what would you talk about? What would you think of each other?

Your hometown has mysteriously disappeared. As you stand looking where it once stood, what memories come to mind?

You’re aging (spoiler alert). Write dual perspectives about one character who embraces that fact and one that rejects it.

You wake up in your childhood bedroom, magically a child yourself. You get to experience a Christmas as a kid again. Describe what you’ve missed about this as an adult, even down to the smells.

It’s been MANY years since you’ve stopped aging. You’ve watched friends and family pass on, never letting yourself fall in love or get attached. You spot someone that you remember from your childhood, also unchanged. Who is it? Do you say anything to them?

You’ve just discovered you were switched at birth. What do you imagine the life you could’ve had was like?

Tell a true story about your childhood. The first one that comes to mind. Maybe even the one you don’t think is even worth writing about at all.

You’ve spent decades running from the small town that labeled you a weird kid, but when you find an old yearbook and see your old self staring back at you, you realize you’ve made a nightmare of the only person who understands you. Make amends with the younger version of yourself, you were just a child.

Every morning, you sit at the same desk, doing the same work, feeling your potential slowly wither away, but you convince yourself it’s fine. What would happen if you stopped telling yourself that this is all there is?

Write the day in the life of an inanimate object that feels it is not being used to its full potential.

Write your first break up from the other person’s perspective.

Your spouse is a writer and has been incredibly secretive about their current book. It’s been published and as they’ve finally allowed you to read it, you’re slowly realizing this all sounds far too familiar.

You awake with your eyes closed, but you don’t remember falling asleep. “It wasn’t your fault,” you hear a voice say. What do you see when you open your eyes?

A once famous person reflects on their career as they slowly being to feel they are being forgotten by the public.

˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ ˚ ‧₊ .:･˚₊ *˚

Check us out on Instagram.ᐟ

Submission Link

⟢ no fee ⟢ no limit on submissions ⟢ any type of writing or art medium

RUNT Website

[wordsnstuff]

Hello! I just had the realization my original plot just isn't going to work but I'm almost done with my first draft and I'm too married to a lot of my scenes I've already written to feel like i can fully start over. Do you have any advice? Just thinking about starting over is making me want to put the pen down for a while...

Starting over near the finish line

By first draft, I'm assuming you mean that this is the first attempt at putting the your story to paper. What I'm about to say is not to devalue the incredible amount of work that you must have invested up to this point. It is an accomplishment on its own to sit down and put words on that page, let alone reach a point anywhere near a finish line.

The first time you do something (anything) is rarely the time you do it well, let alone perfectly.

If I sat a beginner down with some printouts of blogposts about knitting and a spool of yarn, I doubt they'd make me a sweater without having to undo at least 50% of the moves they make. That wouldn't be because they're stupid or genetically predisposed to suck at knitting. Regardless of how seasoned you are as a writer, each work you approach is like starting a brand new hobby from scratch. You have to mentally allow for space to make errors and to let go of good ideas. This doesn't mean you throw the good and essential core of your story out.

Take significant time to review what you have, identify the bits and characteristics that you find most emotionally and mentally compelling. Write them down, examine the commonalities and congruencies between them, and work out exactly you like about your story as it stands. There is always good amongst the bad. You seem to already have identified certain parts that you cannot bring yourself to let go, so once you figure why that is, you'll be able to trim away what doesn't serve you and move forward.

You aren't starting over. This is not the beginning, and you will never be back at the beginning again. This is process, and process is imperative to making anything. If you continue to visualize writing as an act that starts at point A and ends at point B you will never be done. Nor will you do justice to your ideas. If you don't allow them to waddle around and fall on their face like the newborn babies that they are, they won't develop as they're meant to.

This is not failure. This is writing. It's a necessary part of what you're doing. It's normal. It's good for you. It's good for your story. In fact, it speaks well to your character development and world building and even your plot development that you can recognize there is so much worth salvaging in this first attempt to bring to the next. You're already emotionally connected to so much of what you've made, and plot is only part of that. If you're able and willing to acknowledge what doesn't work, you will be able to trust yourself when you determine what does. A story is a sum of its parts, and this is just one part that you're going to put down, regroup, and reconfigure.

There are several resources that I've created over the many years to assist in plot development and all the problems encountered within, and those are available on my masterlist for your perusal.

I wish you the best of luck and look forward to your triumphant follow up once you finish that second draft.

x Kate

[wordsnstuff]

One question I have is where I want to make up a fake city that's located in the real world, but has it sorta has a magic system. Should I still look into world building for the city or take a different approach?

World building in reality...

I think the closest genre whose resources might provide some direction would be 'urban fantasy'. Although this genre regularly uses real, well-known cities as the backdrop for their stories, it is not unheard of to create a city following the same principles of world building. One thing you have to keep in mind when you're creating a fake city in a real region is the context of that region. The general features of the geography, the weather, the demographics, the surrounding regions and their influence, etc. It may not be a real place, but it's theoretically situated between real places. That research and consideration will add authenticity and a sense of belonging to your fictional location.

The magic system may or may not be affected by the location of this city and its geography, but the way characters develop in this environment will certainly affect the way they interpret and utilize the magic system. Culture and environment are huge parts of one's upbringing, and it's important to consider how this city shaped them or if it is at odds with their upbringing somewhere else.

World building is one of the primary parts of crafting a story, regardless of genre. Even stories that have no fantastical elements rely upon world building. It's the establishment of context, environment, atmosphere, culture, and for some characters, backstory. Regardless of invented magic systems or speculative technology, world building is about the establishment of place. Where your character is, where the reader will be existing with them. It's about making it feel as immersive and compelling as possible. Adding magic or science fiction should be an embellishment to an already well-considered and immersive environment for characters to move around in.

Best of luck,

x Kate

-

Masterlist . Ko-Fi . Patreon

[wordsnstuff]

Hello! How are you? I have a question:

Should I focus on what I'm good or what I'm bad at in writing? I like to think that I can write poetic stuff rather well, but I can't write dialouges to save my life. So should I just focus on writing the stuff I'm good at and ignore the rest or should I focus on getting better at dialouges and such?

Leaning into strengths vs focusing on improvement...

I'm very well! Thank you for asking.

I think that this is an important conversation to have with yourself as any sort of artist, and I don't believe that it needs to end with a choice between practicing a skill you could improve at or the sticking to what you're good at.

A writer's brain is a muscle, and as you gain experience honing technical proficiency, you become more informed as to what strengths and weaknesses are apparent in your work. The first step is to examine how you approach different parts of the development of a story. Take the time to observe how you personally think through the process of writing dialogue and how that differs from your process writing poetic prose. Harmony between different parts of your writing process will make writing easier and lead to a more consistent style and quality. Your aim is to bring one skill to the level of another, so until you understand why prose comes more naturally to you, it will be challenging to identify why dialogue doesn't.

Perhaps dialogue requires you to exercise imagination in a way that isn't as consistent with the way you process the world around you. For me, dialogue can be challenging because my inner monologue centers observation and my thoughts occur to me in a more abstract way, leading me to be more adept at skills like articulating metaphors. However, this way of thinking makes it challenging to frame my ideas literally, as you must do to imagine a scenario and then predict a chain of events or interactions between elements. Identifying how your imagination functions organically will help you understand where your ideas come from and why certain ways of expressing them come more easily.

I think it's important to incorporate experimentation and practice into the routine of any art medium that you aim to improve at. Designating specific time to stretch the muscles, experiment with a new exercise, and broaden your skillset will always have a positive effect on your work overall, and when you identify a weaker area it's even easier to focus your time and energy to practice that. Alongside any large project, there should be a separate area for practice and play, because regardless of how skilled or passionate one is, there is always room to learn something new and expand one's ability.

I highly recommend installing time in your writing routine for specifically practicing the skill you are least confident in without pressure to contribute that practice to your primary project. Utilize whatever exercises motivate you. Personally, I like the idea of selecting a simple writing prompt and challenging yourself to write a scene entirely composed of dialogue, but you might prefer to set a short timer and try to imagine and record an organic, simple, and believable conversation between two people about something like choosing a paint color for a kitchen.

Always make time to better your craft. It will always deliver results.

Best of luck,

x Kate

-

Masterlist . Ko-Fi . Patreon

[wordsnstuff]

Hey, so i'm working on my first WIP, and i wanted to ask about drafting. When can one consider their first draft done? Does it have to have the goal word count (ie; 100K), or would being about halfway there be considered a good enough first draft, that i can move on to the second and start editing?

Concluding each stage of the writing process

It's difficult to know when a phase of a writing project has concluded and you're ready to focus on a new objective as it's developing. I tend to approach my writing projects with a clear and uniform trajectory, regardless of how diverse my projects can be. This approach allows me to remain focused, thorough, and reassured that I am covering all my bases in an organized fashion. However, it also maintains space for me to be explorative and intuitive when necessary. In regards to word count, I don't think it's entirely relevant unless you're determined to adhere to strict genre conventions. Give your story the space it needs and not an extra inch.

(Optional) Zero Draft

In this phase, you're telling yourself the story. You're doing it quickly, messily, intuitively, and forgivingly. Explore every idea that glows in the dark for you, don't throw anything away or discount any possibility. Exhaust your imagination in this phase so that when you reach the first draft, you know you're making informed decisions.

First Draft

You're crafting the structure and core elements of the story. This is often the phase of discovery. You're becoming acquainted with your characters and how they interact, you're beginning to feel at home in the world and settings you've built, and you're seeing all sides of the conflict as it evolves. The goal here is settle on a beginning, middle, and end point, and by the end of this process you want to know your characters' motivations and relationships inside and out.

Second Draft

Go back quickly through the first draft and address any points where you got stuck, where you compromised for the sake of carrying on to the end, and fill in any apparent blanks. The first time you really iron something out, there will always be a few pesky creases. This is the time to find and flatten them.

Third Draft

This is where you question everything. Identify and scrutinize your decisions, dive into the "curtains are blue" discussions with yourself, and begin to tidy up things like grammar, clumsy dialogue, over-poured descriptions, and dubious vocabulary. Comb through each paragraph and be brutal, prioritizing clarity and intentionality of how you've told the story.

The Read Through

This is the point where I recommend doing three things:

Letting it rest away from you for 1-3 months so that you can return to it with a bit of unfamiliarity and new perspective.

Hand it off to a couple of trusted readers and give them ample time to read, digest, and craft some feedback

Reread the project once all the way through making no changes (although annotations are acceptable)

Fourth Draft

Finishing touches. Vigorously and meticulously scrub and scrape between the lines and imagine giving it to your worst enemy. If you can imagine any mean (but valid) things they could conceive of to say about it, this is the time to grapple with or fix those details.

Additional Resources

Guide to Drafting

Word Count/Productivity Tracker Spreadsheet

Balancing Detail & Development

Writing The First Chapter

Writing The Middle of Your Story

Powering Through The Zero-Draft Phase

Writing The Last Chapter

Chapter Length

Happy drafting,

x Kate

[wordsnstuff]

28 Days Of Memories: Wordsnstuff February Writing Challenge

– Last month, you guys really enjoyed participating in the writing challenge for #wordsnstuffjanuary. I recommend sifting through the tag and reading some of the responses. They’re truly amazing. Another month-long writing challenge was highly requested so I decided to make it a monthly thing. If you have a theme idea for the next few months, let me know here. I’m very open to suggestions! Gentle reminder that you can post the responses on Instagram as well. All I ask is that you use the #wordsnstufffebruary and/or tag @ writingandsuch so I can find your fabulous writing!

Side note – some of these are obviously more time consuming than others so it’s not required that you respond to them in order. As long as you specify which prompt you’re responding to, there won’t be a problem. The goal of this challenge is to inspire you to write every day and give you some sort of incentive and format for sticking to a writing schedule. The idea is to respond to one each day, so it doesn’t really matter in what order you do that.

☼ Prompt List ☼

Write about the happiest memory you have

Write about your first relationship

What was it like at your lowest point

Write about a time where someone really came through for you

Something that took a long time to accept

Write about dream you left behind and why you gave up on it

Write about what you used to do for fun as a kid

Write about your first love

Write about what it is like to grow up. If you haven’t yet, what will it be like?

Write about what it was like leaving home. If you haven’t yet, what will it be like?

Write about a memory that used to make you smile, but now makes you cry

Write about a person that left your life too soon

What scent(s) remind you of times in your life and why?

What have you done on Valentine’s Day through the years?

Write about your first passion. Are you still passionate about it?

Write about something you wish you had done

Write about a time you were obsessed with something

Write about a seemingly insignificant memory that means the world to you

Write about a risk you took. Was it worth it?

Write about your first kiss

Write about a place you used to frequent but never visit anymore

Write about a lesson you learned the hard way

Write about a memory that makes you cringe

Write about a person who left your life too late

Write about an opportunity that changed your life

Write about an event that, at the time, felt like the end of the world

Write about a person who once meant the world to you but is now a stranger

Write about your first heartbreak

I read all of your guys’s responses and they were all so lovely and amazing, so I decided to give all the writer’s out there who gave it a shot a ‘lil shout out because you guys wrote wonderful stuff that was really nice to read at the end of the day.

@perfectlyimperfectmess @psuedonom @viridis-blooming @oreodragonborn @willwantwrites @humblefun @writingonallthedrugs @hygeeandengentado @i-will-try-to-write @storyunrelated @risrielthron @chiizuburger @imperiallefty @boothewriter @largelevi @becs-bunker

Thanks for participating guys, your writing is awesome:)

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[wordsnstuff]

This might sound strange... writing a romance I started to see romantic potential between my lead and a side character, rather than strictly between the two leads... I'm starting to swerve. How can I suit my writing/mindset to keep the relationship with the side character platonic?

When characters develop minds of their own...

Writing is one of those mediums where people tend to overlook the importance of experimentation. It's seen as a fairly linear process: brainstorm, map the plot, write the draft, edit the draft, publish. If any other type of creation was done this way, most would see the process as incomplete, because experimentation is imperative to creativity. Curiosity is the key to finding satisfaction, and no matter how brilliant you think an idea is at its conception, the best way to do it justice is to question it.

If you find yourself in a situation where your story begins to develop outside your control, don't strangle it back into the shape you imagined for it at first. See where it goes. Let it bleed outside the lines and see what you prefer. You can always return to the original plan. The beauty in fiction is that it has infinite possibility, and if you have the talent to write characters and worlds that determine their own trajectory, enjoy the reward.

In your case, you've designed a romance between two characters but the chemistry of a different pairing has become more compelling, so see what happens. There is a good chance you've simply written a secondary character that serves the story better in a leading role, and there's no harm in experimenting to see if that's correct. If it doesn't work and you're convinced the relationship is more suitable in the platonic category, you will find the reason along the way and that reason will speak for itself as you return to writing the original pairing. If anything, this might become an organic way for you to misdirect the reader in order to make the payoff of your original idea more substantial.

Writing should be an intuitive process. If you're swerving in another direction, satiate your curiosity and then make decisions with all of the information. Just like any other artistic medium, you will only know what's right once you've established what isn't.

Best of luck,

x Kate

[wordsnstuff]

I want to write a story, but i cannot decide on which pov/person i should write. I feel like first person would be perfect, but then i want to keep certain informations secrets to the readers, so i thought maybe third person, but it’s not as fluid as first person is… how do i choose? Any tips?

Choosing point of view for your story

I am in the unique position of having exactly what you need. Here is my series of Guides on Point of View which detail my main tips, resources, and answered questions about each option as far as POV:

Guide to Writing First Person Point of View

Guide to Writing Third Person Point of View

Guide to Writing From Multiple Points of View

and some additional resources:

Pros & Cons of Different Points of View

Showing VS Telling in First Person POV

There is an absence of s guide to second person because it is much less common, but I would be happy to create it if readers show some interest

Best of luck,

x Kate

[wordsnstuff]

Why does screenwriting have such a weird format? I know it's standard for scripts of all kinds, but it's also alien? It almost looks like it's designed for someone to write quickly??

Why are screenplays the way they are?

Screenplays are interesting pieces of writing because while they can read very beautifully, and quality is apparent in some scripts more than others, it is a medium that is extremely purposeful. The script is not the final destination of the idea, and that is what you have to remember. The script is, more than anything, a map. It gives the cast, crew, and producers the necessary information to get a sense of the story so that it can be adapted effectively. Therefore, the quality of a script is judged by a completely different rubrick:

Adaptability: Scripts are naturally going to go through many changes to serve the filmmaking process. Filmmaking is a fundamentally collaborative process so other members of the group must be able to effectively interpret the script well enough to make strategic improvements. Scripts are definitely works of art in their own right, but the design must account for adaptation into a completely different medium and you will not always be the person making executive decisions on how that is to be done.

Clarity: Creative liberty is acceptable in a lot of forms of writing, and style is definitely apparent in a screenwriter's work, but that is primarily to be found in how they practically form the elements of the story, rather than how it is delivered in words. The clearer your meaning and intent in a script, the easier it will be for the other people you're collaborating with to interpret and translate into the next medium. Even if your work is meant to be experimental, abstract, or avant garde, the script is the place where you make sure everyone that is inside of the production understands the point, so that they can help you make sure everyone outside of it is confused in the desired way. Your talent and style can be showcased in the way you demonstrate the particular brand of humor or suspense or drama in the descriptions, dialogue, and dialogue cues.

Efficiency: Format is extremely strict in the industry because it is a collaborative medium that often brings together hundreds of crew members who are all from different backgrounds/experience. The one thing that must remain consistent and reliable is the legibility of the script. The gaffer and the producer alike must be able to pick up the script and find what they need to learn in order to fulfill their role. The format of the script denotes specific crew member's cues in specific places so they know how to find what's expected of them quickly and efficiently. While on larger productions, there's often many directorial positions who are coordinating and communicating with the crew members who handle more detail oriented jobs, that isn't always the case.

My advice, if you're looking to gain experience in writing scripts that are actually meant to be adapted is to practice self-discipline, pragmatism, and distance. Your script won't always belong to you. There isn't the autonomy in screenwriting that you have in prose. Learn the rules of screenwriting, then learn how to enhance them in your own way.

Best of luck,

x Kate

–

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[wordsnstuff]

Hey! So, I've been working on a story and I find your blogs truly helpful. Thank you so very much!

So, the story I'm working on is like rivals to friends to lovers, and what extremely frustrates me is that I just don't know how to let the relationship between the rivals to slowly improve without making it forced.

(Note: the two mcs are supposed to be ceo's to two rivalling companies and they have a project to work on together)

Sorry for the long question^^;

Hope you have a wonderful day (or night)!

Rivals to Friends to Lovers

There are a lot of ways one could go about developing a relationship with this trajectory, but here's how I would map out the progression generally:

Exposition: establish why they dislike each other circumstantially, then personally. It's important to make room for depth and vulnerability that later turns into opportunities for bonding and eventual affection. The best way to do that is set up the climax of the first act early, and immersing the reader immediately into the patterns and conceptions that have created the initial dynamic is the best way to set up an organic transition.

phase one: rivals to friends - a mutual misunderstanding is resolved, making way for acquaintanceship which blooms into friendship upon mutual interests or values OR events that continue pushing them together until they realize they don't hate each other anymore.

Phase two: friends to lovers - romantic interest grows between the two as their relationship develops and they slowly notice more and more similarities between the idea of the partner they want and the person in front of them

Phase three: lovers - there is a communication of feelings and desires and we reach a resolution the the tension and stakes. Remember that structure and pace is important in this story, so if this comes too early, you're robbing the characters of the slow escalation that will season the events following the love confession. I know it's the fun bit, but practice delated gratification for yourself and readers. The preamble is often more important to the conclusion than the resolution.

I've linked some other resources from the blog that you might find helpful:

Resources For Romance Writers

Guide To Writing Friends To Lovers

Guide To Writing Enemies To Lovers

Guide To Writing Will-They-Won’t-They

Guide To Writing Forbidden Love

20 Mistakes to Avoid in Enemies to Lovers

Tips on Writing Love Confessions

Rivalry vs. Abuse

Balancing Fluff and Conflict

Writing pairings that create inherent conflict

Maintaining tension in an early pay-off romance

Best of luck!

x Kate

[wordsnstuff]

Hi!

I have reached out to more people, but I'm still having problems with this, and I wanted to hear another opinion.

As a writer, do you have problems continuing a story once you hit a difficult scene?

Because I do, and honestly it's getting me frustrated at this point.

I have a good idea and a plot already done, but every time I hit a difficult scene I just get stuck, and can't write for weeks, sometimes months. I hardly even open the documents when it happens, and sometimes it comes right when I'm on a writing spree and being happy with my writing.

Do you have any advice on how to deal with this? How can I get past this issue and just keep writing more frequently?

I'd really like to hear it!

What do you do when you hit a snag?

When approaching this topic, the frustrating thing is that age-old advice has a lot of truth to it. Sometimes it is true that the best thing you can do when you're stuck is to stop struggling against the resistance and take a meaningful, intentional break to rest your mind and reset your thought process. Sometimes the key to getting started again is shaking up the routine and the altering the process until you find a new combination of habits that meet you where you are.

However, for a lot of us, the turmoil reaches deeper than that. A lot of people who do creative things are neurodivergent, so that has a place in the conversation when discussing what's preventing us from realizing our vision. Even if you don't identify with specific neurodivergence, there are a lot of tools and techniques that have been tried and tested for coping with immense, intrinsic difficulty with things like productivity, mindfulness, interoception, focus, and consistency. Just because these techniques are not specifically designated for you doesn't mean they won't be effective for you.

It is always a helpful exercise to take a step back and examine how you're feeling, both when you are writing and when you aren't, and try to identify any areas where you might be able to improve by changing things within your control.

When it comes to a specific scene holding you back from carrying on, I usually find that it's the result of a decision I made earlier in the plot that isn't serving the story as it continues to develop. I would take a chunk of time to take an analytical look at the scene, where it's come from, what is and isn't sparking in it (is the stagnation mostly due to the characters, events, environment, or lack of information, and is it a scene that is imperative to the reader's understanding?). A lot of the time, it's a scene that can be cut, or it's a scene that can be made redundant by infusing the necessary information of the scene into another place within the story.

If you've identified a scene as "a difficult scene", ask yourself why. If it's daunting because it's too long, then it can probably be cut way down and then added to later if while editing it seems a little thin. If it's challenging because things aren't falling into place and you aren't getting into a flow, then the set-up for the scene probably hasn't been developed effectively and you need to decide whether you're gonna go back in the draft to investigate or move on and return to it while editing.

If the information in the scene needs to be communicated at this specific point in the story, the problem might be the way you've chosen to present it. Pay attention to what your instincts are telling you, because pushing through a scene for the sake of getting past it will not produce a compelling scene to read. If you need to move past it, you have permission to do that. You can always come back and completely dig it up later.

Overall, I think it's very important to write with acceptance that the plot may not turn out the way you planned it. The process is much more effective and much more enjoyable if you aren't trudging along on a predestined path. If the characters and story develop outside of the lines, see where they go. You'll always have the opportunity to return to the outline and tailor later.

Best of luck,

x Kate

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31 Days Of Prompts: Wordsnstuff January Writing Challenge

– You all wanted a 31 days of prompts challenge for the month of January, so here is a writing prompt for every day of the first month of the year! If you use one or all of these prompts in a post on Tumblr, please tag it with #wordsnstuffjanuary so I can read your writing! At the beginning of February, I’ll pick my three favorite pieces to shout out on the blog! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: some of these are obviously more time consuming than others so if you need to switch some days around to fit your schedule that is totally understandable. The goal is to complete one every single day, so if writing day 24′s prompt on day 13 will make that possible, by all means, do you.

Does it get easier?

What is a “best friend”?

If you had to go back in time to change an event in your life, what would you choose?

Describe love.

What is your personal rock bottom?

Is love a feeling or a choice, and how do you know?

Why do humans create art?

How do memories evolve over time?

Find an old picture of yourself and write about how you felt in that time of your life. How have things changed? How have you changed?

At what point does a dream become a wish and not a goal?

Everything is free and you can do anything you want, so instead for money you work for how much time you’re allowed to live.

What are you addicted to?

What has to happen for somebody’s advice to make a difference?

You have a habit of speaking to yourself in the mirror. One day, the mirror starts responding.

If you could be anywhere doing anything right this second, away from your troubles and worries, where would you be and what would you be doing?

Write about your darkest secret without actually telling it.

Everybody always says that some risks are worth taking. Write about a time when the risk wasn’t worth it.

If you had to live through one memory of your life over and over again for eternity, which one would you choose?

Tell the story of one of your most treasured possessions.

Describe your own life as if you were setting up the exposition for a movie. Is it a drama? Comedy? Rom-Com?

Write about the end of a chapter in your life, whether that be moving out, the end of a relationship, losing someone close to you, or otherwise. 

There are many ways in which people can die to us. What are they?

“I used to think…”

What is the most set in stone rule you can think of? What situation would you need to be in to break it?

Would you rather live your life free or safe?

What are you working so hard for?

Do you feel more like a main character, a supporting character, or a villain?

What will it be like when you are successful? 

How much of last week do you actually remember?

Write about a book that has changed your life

What is your personal definition of “famous”? What qualifications are there for being famous?

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31 Days of Fantasy - December 2020 Writing Challenge

–  This month’s theme is fantasy, though the rules are a little different. Instead of doing a full story for every prompt (unless you’re up for it), the challenge is to brainstorm and write at least 500 words pertaining to each day’s prompt, and then on the 20th choose the writing prompt you were most inspired by and submit a short story around the initial blurb. Submit your draft by the 31st and every story submitted under the hashtag will be in a wrap-up post on the 3rd of January! I encourage you to post your daily responses to the prompts, but it’s not required in order to be featured in the wrap-up.

 I look forward to seeing all of your guys’ responses here using the hashtag #WNSfantasy and over on Instagram, where you can tag me @ writingandsuch.

This challenge begins on December 1st, but I always post a day early to give you some time to plan stuff out, because you may need to switch some days around to accommodate your schedule. You’re free to do one day’s challenge on another day if your schedule doesn’t allow enough time to complete that day’s challenge. Best of luck to you!

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☼ Prompt List ☼

After defeating the great evil that had plagued their nation, the hero decides to settle down, now as a farmer, in an obscure town, far from the action. Little did they know, but their arch enemy decided to do the exact same thing. Now, they are neighbors. x

You already had everything you wanted from your first two wishes, so you used your third to free the genie from his lamp. The resulting burst of magical energy destroyed the area like nuke. You wake up 3 weeks later with the ability to wield magic, but the world is in apocalyptic shambles. x

You are the last worshipper of an ancient goddess. Today she asked you out for a date. x

You are a vampire hunter with no martial skills or powers. Your blood, however, is toxic to vampires. x

You are the weakest, scrawniest, least powerful god in the entire Pantheon. But when the mortals finds themselves in a really dire situation, when they are hopelessly outmatched and their doom is near, they pray to you. You are Runt, the patron deity of underdogs. x

You, a 600-year-old vampire, found a good friend on an online forum. After being in touch for some time you decided to tell him/her the truth, but it turns out that he/she thinks you’re just being fantasied or watched too much Twilight. x

The dragon thought it was another “noble knight” coming to try to rescue the princess, but it was a beast tamer, here to tame the dragon instead. x

A demon gets transported into a witches world and meets a young witch. Now, the witch has to keep her out of trouble, and find a way to get her back to Hell. x

Most people in your family have powers. You thought you didn’t have any, only to recently discover you are a human voodoo doll, and want to use this power for good. x

Once a year for a month, gods and goddess from all different cultures come down on Earth in human form. They still have their abilities. You are one of them. x

A fantasy world is under attack by a dark god, who uses and weaponizes an song to puppeteer and influence those who hear it from the shadows. The group trying to stop them knows this, but all seems for nought when one of their leaders hums the melody during a meeting. x

When you and your friends rented this mansion in the middle of nowhere for holidays, you didn’t expect the owners to be a family of slashers. But there is one detail your hosts didn’t plan: of all the victims they could’ve chosen, they fell on a Coven of witches. The hunt begins. x

The Curse was simple, if anyone told the prince how handsome he was, he would die. To avoid this fate, his family convinced everyone that he was a hideous monster. To break the curse, someone had to love him for his heart, not his face. x

It’s the year 2015, after living 300 years as a vampire and never meeting a werewolf or a witch to make your nemesis, you realize you’re the only supernatural species in existence. As time goes by you slowly descend into an existential crisis as you don’t know what to do with your immortal life. x

You always thought your fantasy novel was a masterpiece and disagreed with its many critics. That was until you were sucked into your world and witnessed it yourself. x

You were kidnapped by a Dragon as a living treasure. However, it turns out that the dragon treats you better than the villagers ever did. x

You have just learned that you’re half demon. Suddenly the crazy things that happened at all of your birthday parties start to make sense. x

Due to the powerful, nearly uncontrollable magic residing within you, the village has locked you away - not because of any crime, but because of their fear. Until the day that something much more terrifying arrived. x

Any drawing that your youngest child, (age 3) creates instantly becomes real/accurate. Your child has no concept of consequences, and cannot stop drawing. x

AND FINALLY, DO WHAT YOU WILL WITH THIS SENTENCE: Not all stupid decisions lead to a grand adventure, but all grand adventures begin with a stupid decision. x

☼ Possibly Helpful Resources ☼

Resources For Fantasy/Mythology Writers

20 Mistakes To Avoid in Fantasy

Guide to Writing Fantasy

Commentary on Social Issues In Writing

Resources For Writing Royalty

Dark Quotes & Prompts

How To Make The Journey Interesting

General Tips on Chase Scenes

Tips on Writing Fight Scenes

Tips on Writing Chase Scenes

Best Friends-To-Lovers Prompts

Enemies-To-Lovers Prompts

Resources For Writing (Global) Period Pieces : High Middle Ages & Renaissance

Resources For Writing (Global) Period Pieces : 1600s

Resources For Writing (Global) Period Pieces : 1700s

Resources For Writing (Global) Period Pieces : 1800s

Resources For Writing (Global) Period Pieces : 1900-1939

Resources For Writing (Global) Period Pieces : 1940-1969

Resources For Writing (Global) Period Pieces : 1970-1999

Guide To Writing Historical Fiction | Part II

Guide To Writing Friends To Lovers

Guide To Writing Enemies To Lovers

Resources For Writing YA Fiction/Romance

Guide To Writing Will-They-Won’t-They

Guide To Writing Forbidden Love

This list of prompts was made to offer a wide variety the sub-genres included under “Fantasy”. The main connection here is magic, not exclusively the medieval, Tolkein-esque version that is most commonly associated with Fantasy. All prompts are from the reddit /r/writingprompts page, and credit to the original posts are linked on the (x) next to each prompt. 

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Shoutout to my $15+ patrons, Jade Ashley and Douglas S.!

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Word Count/Productivity Tracker

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Overall Sheet

This is my cherished word count tracking spreadsheet that I’ve been using for a long time to track my word count and productivity. I use this sheet for all of the writing I do, including fiction, nonfiction, academic, personal, etc.

It’s extremely useful if you want to get an idea of how productive your writing routine is, and if you typically work on a diverse set of projects (like myself) it helps you track your productivity in each one. I used to keep a kind of timesheet as well, where I would document which times of day I worked in which projects and for how long, and this can be helpful for that too.

I got a lot of requests to share my system and make a post breaking it down, and I’ve also created a template you can copy and use yourself in good sheets or excel.

View it in Google Sheets | feel free to make a copy and use it yourself :)

Keep reading

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How To Actually Get Writing Done

– I’ve seen so many posts on how to feel productive, but not too many on how to actually be productive. I do firmly believe in the power of mindset but that only does so much if you’re not actually going to sit down and get to work. I hope this is helpful to those who need it right now, whether you’re facing the end-of-the-year deadline or you’re trying to finish an essay before Christmas break is over or if you’re just trying to get out of a writing rut. This, as always, is my advice derived from personal experience and it may not work for everyone, but if this can so much as point you in the right direction, it has served its purpose.

Get Your Priorities Straight

Do you really want to spend this time writing? Or do you need to get that essay done? Is the laundry piling up in your closet, forming into the shape of a demon that’s going to scare the crap out of you tonight? If there is one thing I can pass onto you as advice, it’s to write with a clear mind. I’m not saying that you can’t write if you have other responsibilities, but writing to escape the million other things you know you need to do is not going to make that weight leave your shoulders and isn’t going to allow you to create good content either. it is much easier to be creative when the boring chores of reality aren’t nudging at your brain whenever you get stuck on a word that sounds wrong.

Eliminate All Distractions

Social media is not the only distraction there is that’s keeping you from writing. If you need to get stuff done, realize that maybe it isn’t wise to have two friends over to “study”. Be honest with yourself when the situation is starting to get critical. Do not set yourself up to fail by turning Netflix on in the background because “the noise just makes me feel more comfortable when I’m alone”. That’s what ASMR is for. Don’t make excuses for the fact that creating distractions is a form of procrastination.

Say No To Yourself

Your brain is going to tell you “Just one more YouTube video” or “Just a 30 minute power nap” or “I’ll have more time to write tomorrow anyway”. Ignore that voice. Recognize that that, forgive me if I offend you, is BS. You cannot have faith in the convenience of the future if you want to be a successful writer. If you constantly depend on the cozy belief that you will feel it tomorrow or that you don’t have anything going on tomorrow so you can spend today doing whatever and shove it all on future you, you are going to get slapped hard by reality a lot sooner than you think. Train your mind to hear that voice and respond with “no, there is a good to fair chance that something unexpected is going to pop up tomorrow and that right now is the only time I’ll get to get this done, so I’m going to power through and do it now” because it is much better to have it done early than be worrying about it later on.

Write What You’re Excited About First

So, it’s common sense that you’ll be more motivated to start writing when you’re excited about what you’re writing, so start with that. This is one of the oldest pieces of advice in the book, but it’s popular for a reason. If you need to, start at the end or the middle or a scene you’ve been thinking about a lot recently or whatever. Even if you go back and edit one of your past scenes to throw yourself back into your own story, it’s ok. It’s allowed. Do what you need to do to get into it.

Just Get Started

I promise you that writing is more fun and exciting and a lot easier than you think when you just do it. Even if you know that what is coming out of your pen is garbage, just enjoy it. Fool yourself into thinking it’s the best art there has ever been and sometime into the writing session it will become such. If you tell yourself what you’re writing is golden, it will become golden. Confidence is pretty much everything when it comes to writing, because the confidence shows in the final product at the end of the day. Just remember, like everything else in life, you just have to fake it until you make it.

Face Reality

You’re not going to get 10,000 words written and edited and ready for publishing in one day. You’re not going to wake up tomorrow any more motivated than you are right now. You aren’t going to suddenly feel ready to write your entire book if you spend an hour scrolling through inspirational quotes on Tumblr. You are never going to be more ready to write than you are now, so stop making excuses and procrastinating and read this as a sign: start now. Don’t second guess it, don’t spend time making your surroundings perfect and outlining the chapter ad nauseam. Just write. Right now.

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Showing vs. Telling

– At long last, it is finally here; The long awaited guide to showing instead of telling. This is obviously a very divisive subject in the writing community, so if there’s something you disagree with, that’s totally fine. These are simply my tips based on my own experience and you can take or leave whatever is useful to you. I hope this is helpful. Happy writing!

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Don’t Be Ambiguous

It is important to note that showing is mainly about conveying exactly what you mean to your reader. Telling is so dangerous in writing because it’s very easy for readers to interpret information that is told to them in a way that throws off any one of the elements of your scene. The best way to catch these instances of telling is to identify moments in which a reader could ask “what do they mean?”

Take those moments, for instance, if you were to write, “the woman was pretty”, and clarify what pretty is in the context of your story, or your perspective as the author. People have different definitions and associations to words, and your job, when it comes to showing, is to make your definitions and associations as clear as possible.

Use Strong Verbs

Showing does not mean telling in a more roundabout way. It means taking a bland description without any imagery and rewriting it in a way that paints a picture in your reader’s mind. You do this by using strong verbs and powerful words. For instance, instead of saying “hit, looked, walked”, you’d say “struck, peered, trudged”. See what I mean?

Balance

As a writer, you need to understand that there are no hard rules. There must be balance to everything, and despite how universal this “rule” may seem, you should know that it’s not that black and white. Here are two tips to help you keep balance between showing and telling.

Don’t overwhelm your reader with information that is unnecessary. If your reader can continue without knowing a detail, don’t include it, and don’t justify keeping it to yourself because you want to bulk up the word count or sound fancy.

When you’re telling, be brief about it and make sure that the inclusion of the detail is imperative to your reader advancing in the story.

Showing Through Dialogue

Dialogue is a really great way to show a reader character traits that showing through description never could. The way a person speaks, the words they choose, the manner in which they respond to things, are all great ways to give your reader information about that character. Use this to your advantage so that you don’t have to spend extra time describing it later.

When You Should “Tell”

When the number of words it would take to show instead of tell a piece of information isn’t worth your reader’s time

When you’re essentially repeating information the reader already knows. In this case, you’d say “so-and-so explained what she had said” instead of reiterating what she said and reaching a point where your writing is redundant.

When you want the reader to form their own emotions around the events in a scene, rather than planting them in their mind. Telling allows for the reader to have some emotional freedom, but this should come in little bits. Approach this excuse to tell with caution.

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