writingwhileiwander

[writingwhileiwander]

Submission

Can I just vent about how PISSED OFF the whole narrative about women and men frustrates the the hell out of me? 

Men are simultaneously too stupid to operate a vacuum cleaner, yet they are smart enough to structure everything in society for their and only their benefit .

Women are smarter, stronger, more reliant, and just better in every way…and yet we’re poor and helpless and oppressed and constantly in fear from abuse, pain from abuse and periods. 

Periods are either this super empowering event that sends the mere males screaming for the hills or another sign of how much our existence is suffering and misery and “WOE IS ME!!” (Are they annoying and painful? Yes. But if you are doubled over in pain, vomiting, or otherwise incapacitated - SEE A DOCTOR and get second and third opinions because that ain’t normal, and could be life-threatening)

Men and women cannot have an egalitarian relationship. (How much misandry and misogyny do you have to swallow to accept that shit?) Heterosexual romance is a lie, and relationships are always male dominating and abusing the female; men belong with men and women belong with women because queer is superior. 

Any suffering or issue men have is their own fault - THEY made society, after all. Their higher death rate on the job, shorter life span, the draft, custody disputes…meh. Masculinity is toxic, and they choose to be men, so it’s their own problem. (Talk about victim blaming!) 

I believed all the shit Tumble likes to peddle. I believed it and wallowed in misery for years, wasting my life until I got some professional help. And it look even more years I’ll never get back trying to unlearn all this crap. I’m angry at myself for believing it, and angry at the people who still peddle it to the young, confused, and anxious. 

Stop talking shit about the men in my life (family/friends/coworkers) who have had their act together, and actually get off your asses and DO something instead of sucking your thumb and pouting on tumblr. Take that STEM class. Learn self-defense, because men ARE taught “how not to rape.” Don’t settle for being treated badly and don’t tell other girls to expect bad treatment because “that’s just how men are” (usually followed by some creepy “so date ME!” line that could have come from a “nice guy” if you scrape off the vanish) . Stop circulating widely debunked stuff like the “1 in 4” statistic (one study, never replicated, lots of methodology problems) because lies aren’t helpful.   

I’m not a victim anymore. Stop trying to shove me back into that box (submission). 

[writingwhileiwander]

And here is the ff.n version!

[writingwhileiwander]

Remember the 100 follower fanfic giveaway that I did a looonggg time ago? 

Well, here’s the first one, requested by @parsleymusic

(This can also be found on ff.n, and I’ll post a link once ff.n decides to actually put it up)

[writingwhileiwander]

greater-than-the-sword reblogged your post and added:

@writingwhileiwander how’s that list going?

Good news/bad news.

Good news: I read through the book, wrote notes, and have a general idea of what I want to do with it.

Bad news: College has been trying to destroy my brain but I’m slowly winning the war. I haven’t actually sat down to write A N Y T H I N G in a while. I’m going to be in the car for over three hours in a few weeks, and since I usually use that time to write fanfics, I’ll probably do it then!

[writingwhileiwander]

Update

Once again, not dead!

The tl;dr version of my story is that I was emotionally drained and Tumblr was a big part of that. I needed to step away.

Good news is, I’ve learned a lot (about both myself and my writing) and I have a few things coming up. I’m stating this now so I have no room to procrastinate on it: Sherlolly fic coming on August 26th. That’s my birthday so I also won’t forget!

I have a few things IRL that I’m doing and until I graduate from college, they take priority. Once I graduate, the plan is to show up at least once a week. Senior with 9 classes left. THANK YOU GOD I AM ALMOST DONE I AM D Y I N G.

I also learned that I’m better with shorter fanfics, so expect some when I come back because I actually have a freaking plan (for this INFP, that’s major progress in and of itself)! I also have a list of things I want to write :)

However, my inbox is always open if you want to talk or need someone to pray for you. I can’t always reply quickly but I have Tumblr on my phone so I’ll see the notification!

I miss you all and hope to have something for you guys to read in December!

[writingwhileiwander]

Has your TBR list gone down yet?

It has indeed! I'm finishing up the last book (83% done) to get it to where I want and I'm hoping to finish it tonight so  I can start rereading MDoN for a refresher/inspiration :)

[writingwhileiwander]

Also, to the anon who asked for the Mara, Daughter of the Nile fanfic - I got you. I totally will, but my goodreads TBR list is 1053, I need to get it down to 1000 before I re-read the book to start. But I got you!

[writingwhileiwander]

When people say they “don’t like plain water”… like… what is wrong with you?! Your pampered lil butt need some flavored air too?

[writingwhileiwander]

I work with 15 year old girls who are so brainwashed by their pimps. They will try to run away from a safe place to get back to this man. They have stop orders on them if they run so we have to restrain them from going back to a life of abuse. They have specific lists of who they can call and I have to listen to their intimate conversations with mom, grandma.

Sometimes we fail. And she gets away. And we never see her again.

These same girls have their pimp aggressively looking for them. To him, she is no different than a 20 year old other than the fact she can make him much more money. To him, she is property. He calls the house to find her. He goes to family members houses posing as a social worker. He waits outside the facility in case she runs. We are to call the police when we see them. Cops show up, this man walks free. Despite being a known child trafficker with tattoos of his name on a 14 year olds body.

So when I hear you defend prostitution, this is what I hear you defending. These pimps are not anomalies and they do not solely prey upon children. They are the ones managing the women who you so strongly defend the right to abuse.

If you defend prostitution or purchase women’s bodies, you are defending child trafficking and unimaginable suffering.

[writingwhileiwander]

someone: I don't like [favorite character]

me, hovering over the unfollow: am I this petty

[writingwhileiwander]

[writingwhileiwander]

How to Write a Novel

Have you ever had a brilliant idea for a novel? You sat down to write, and the first two/three chapters came out fast as lightning, but then it stopped. You got stuck. “Writer’s block.” Right?

I finished my first “novel” (novella length) when I was 14, and since then have brought 5, going on 6 different novels at least as far as a complete first draft. I’m told this is considered unusually productive.

I understand that the same writing process doesn’t work for everyone, but if you’re stuck trying to be productive, or don’t understand how people can finish books, you might find it useful to have a look into my writing process. If you have a process that works for you, ignore this. If you’re stuck trying to get anywhere on a project, read on.

1. Daydreaming

Ah! But this is productive daydreaming. Every time you think of something that seems like it could be part of a story, write it down. Preferably in a specific place. Simply the act of gathering these ideas will help you think of more of them. Soon you cannot bear to have a cool idea without writing it down.

2. Isolating the story

Not all ideas will work equally well together. After I have a lot of fragments, I start to pick out all the ones that seem like they work together in the same setting. They have typically a type or aesthetic. At this stage maybe make a Pinterest board or some other type of aesthetic compilation. Cautionary: do not reupload photos that do not belong to you.

3. Pastebin

Next I set up a sort of “pastebin” (usually a notepad file) into which I can dump all the related fragments. I put everything there I can think of. Plot events, character details, all jumbled together. Building this bank or repository usually goes on for several months. If I feel compelled to start writing, I just put it here. Everything here and earlier can be done simultaneously while working on another project.

4. Assembly

When I finally feel like I have enough ideas, as well as a solid idea of the aesthetic of the novel, I take the pastebin contents into a separate document and start to assemble them a summary. I consider this the official beginning of the project. This is also the point at which I start to list and define my characters and start to strike out ideas which have turned out to be irrelevant.

5. Plotting

I  use the program Scrivener for this, which is truly invaluable. This can be done without Scrivener, though, and I did it before Scrivener, it was just more difficult. Write each separate event of the story on a different notecard and experiment with arranging them until you find the correct order of events. Be sure to consider cause/effect relationships. If there is anything implicit that has to take place between point A and point B in your plot, write up a card for it. If you have any favored plot structures like the Hero’s Journey or the Midpoint Reversal, now is the time to consider them. Notecards can be color-coded by subplot or POV or anything you like.

6. Begin!

At this point I open up a word document and start to write. For most chapters I usually start by creating a bullet-like list of things that happen, in order to make sure I hit all my goals for the chapter. This can include setting details, foreshadowing, character development goals, that snappy line of dialogue you just thought of, whatever. Don’t delete these (except the ones you decide not to use). Save them somewhere. Scrivener makes this easy. The bullet lists can prove invaluable in helping you rewrite. You can also rearrange your notecards at any time during the draft and add new ones.

7. The Grind

Word count goals are pretty effective at keeping me motivated to progress. If you feel so inclined, join Nanowrimo or use some other program to help you turn out fast word count. Sharing with others helps with motivation too. If you don’t have a writing group to support you, find a child who likes being read to. Read your shitty draft out loud to them. Provided it’s child appropriate, of course. Nothing is more motivating than a kid demanding to know what happens next. Don’t forget to: get physical exercise! Drink water! Have something else going on in your life! I’m serious. Don’t spend more than like 20 minutes staring at a page without writing anything. Get up.

8. Starting Over

Midway through you might find some humongous flaw, or discover that your vision for the story has changed completely. This is okay! Rewrite your summary. Scrap your first draft entirely (well, don’t throw anything away, but you know what I mean) and start over from your notes. Use the chapter bullet points that you developed while writing the first draft. Try not to look at your old draft while rewriting or your brain will get in a rut and you will make the same mistakes again.

9. Finished!

Once I am done with my first draft, I put together a list of all the things I want to change. Outside input helps a lot with this. As in the previous step, I build another summary. I get my chapter bullet lists and modify them as I go to include and remind me of the changes I need to make. These lists and the original summary really help you remember the original vision for the story. Sometimes you can look at what you’ve written and all you see is text. The notes will help you dissect it again. If you haven’t started over from scratch yet, now is the time to do so. If you have already done so, then your overall plot structure ought to be sound, and chapter-by-chapter level edits should be okay.

10. Space.

When I’m done with either the second draft, or what I call “1.5″ (which is a story that I had to start over in the middle), I need some space. At this point you need to take at least several months away from your novel to “see it with fresh eyes”. Work on something else.

11. Feedback

Feedback essential for rewriting at the chapter level. For a beginner, you will need to get feedback before doing any rewriting at all because you might have trouble identifying the flaws in your first draft. Feedback is hard to get. I know. Try to arrange editing swaps with other writers. Even the experience of editing other people’s novels can help you spot mistakes in your own. Never take anyone’s advice for your story at face value. Only you know what you are trying to say - other people can guess wrong. Try to figure out what led them to the wrong conclusion.

Note that revision can be a never-ending process if  you let it. At some point you have to move on - whether that is publication or whatever you have in mind for your novel.

I haven’t yet published, and since there are many other blogs who have and are more qualified to talk about the publishing process, I’ll leave that to them. Here are some of my other writing posts:

Lazy Writing and the Hero of Destiny

Line-level Edits for Cleaner Writing

Video Games and Plot Structure

Villain Motivations

[writingwhileiwander]

[writingwhileiwander]

The real trinity of Star Wars

[writingwhileiwander]

Regarding today’s movie news-

I’m fairly happy to see that Peter Jackson has finally managed to buy the rights to The Silmarillion and will be making a new trilogy based on it, but I’m iffy on his casting of Adam Sandler as Melkor.

[writingwhileiwander]

misogynist scorsese really stepped out of his comfort zone with silence!!! 1. priests dont have wives, so he didnt write women characters being abused by their husbands!!! revolutionary!!! 2. 16th century priests dont say cocksucker!!! he had to find new words!! braving the frontier of cinema!!!

and it goes without saying that he clearly really grasped and understood the complexities of japanese society at the time, what with calling japan a swamp where nothing grows!!!!!! what a guy!!!!

[writingwhileiwander]

star wars + planets