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luxfuxxvii:

things that help me write in case anybody else hasnt found their process and wants a little inspiration:

1. clean room = clean mind = brain empty = BAD = writers block. have the perfect amount of messy in your room, but an organized writing space. for me, i associate a clean room with a clear mind. empty room, empty mind. if i have a clear mind, im probably thinking thoughts my therapist would be proud of, im also probably thinking about wellness and cleanliness and happy things and spiritual wellness and hmmm maybe i should do yoga. well guess what? writing is messy. writing is having bad thoughts, bad ideas. writing is thinking “how can i hurt my character the most?” or “how can i comfort my character after being hurt?”. in order to figure that out you have to let it be chaotic. but EVERYTHING has a spot, okay? for me, i have a pile dedicated to clothes, all tossed into a reusable bag, with a few shirts artfully spilling out onto the floor. but other than that, my floor is relatively clean. you want chaotic, not crowded.
2. have a spot dedicated to writing. im not talking “this is the only place im allowed to write”, im talking a writing shrine. all of my writing stuff is on my nightstand, this way i can write in bed or on the floor, whichever i deem my designated writing space for the day. my notebooks in the same spot. my bluetooth keyboard is also there. i have a cup for pens and highlighters. i have pages ripped out of notebooks filled with tips for revising. passive vs active voice. varying sentence structure. i have an old notebook i used for my creative writing class that i can go to for finding poetic devices. i have a blank sketchpad that ive been using to make little charts or timelines. the books i need for reference are all in my little spot. also thats where my snacks go (offerings to the gods, aka the evil tarantula in my brain making webs of LIES ((bad, bad headcanons)))
3. have a special writing thing. basically the equivalent of lucky socks or lucky charms or literally whatever, except its for writing. i have a shirt i specifically wear when i plan on writing. its literally just a cream white button up. i dont NEED to wear it in order to write, but on days where i know i can write but am still struggling, putting it on really helps. i struggle to write in special outfits because most of the time, if im wearing a cute outfit, i am performing. well writing isnt a performance. i am a scatterbrained rat. so its usually pajama bottoms and my writing shirt. booya.
4. water. idfc. idfc. water. water. drink it. chug an entire 20 oz in one go unless you think youll get sick. if youre not gonna get sick, get to chugging. “i always forget” cool me too. adhd sucks man. but i have POTS, so i have to drink 120 oz of water a day. the thing is, i NEVER remember its there. everyones always taking sips at a time and then forgetting they even own a water bottle. solution? drink the entire thing in one go. do it coward. its the only way. if drinking water gives you a stomach ache, i promise you, thats because youre dehydrated. you will get used to it. im sorry it hurts. but the more water you drink, the more it starts to go away. the headaches stop. suddenly you actually start to crave food, and it doesnt even hurt to eat it?????? what???? yeah man. water helps pretty much everything. i might make a separate post to talk about this actually.
5. find your medium. paper? keyboard? you do both, but for different things? for me, i like to write in notebooks. idk, it just works. i discovered this in my creative writing class. she had us use notebooks and i discovered that writing by hand really gets me in the flow. writing with a keyboard makes me want it to be perfect, and overall, i really struggle to read things on a computer. however, i do like using keyboards because the words get typed faster. problem is, when im using a keyboard on a hard day, my brain cannot keep up with my fingers, and so i stop typing to think of a word, and then im out of the flow. writing it by hand takes longer and gives me ample time to come up with sentences. also the cursor isnt blinking at me menacingly. but also, if ur a paper person, ONLY EVER WRITE IN PEN!!!! ITS LITERALLY A GODSEND!!!!!
6. some days, you just need to write different things. what i mean by this is there are days when i can absorb information and give instructions, and then there are days when i can follow the instructions. i say “im going to take notes on how to use passive vs active voice”, and thats what i wrote for the day. other days, i look back at my notes and i say, “yes im going to put this into practice”, and then i DO. writing is writing man. learn as you go. no matter what, youre writing. some days its a notes day. some days its a letter to your best friend. some days its a poem. some days you actually sit down and write the fucking shit you wanted to write (finally). also remember that you dont need to write the same amount of words every time, too. i wrote 18 pages by hand all in one day. the next day? i barely wrote 3. the day after that, i didnt write at all. THAT IS PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE.
7. find your system. no im not talking about this writing routine im informing you of right now, im talking do you plot or do you have vibes? are you a very weird, confusing, and inconvenient mix of both? lol. me too. you CAN plot. you CAN just have vibes. but which one actually gets you to start writing? figure out which one you are. think on it rq, cuz it leads to the next one.
8. timelines can suck it. for me, if i figure out a consecutive timeline, my motivation goes out the fucking door. this is because i FUCKING HATE HATE HATE HATE time crunches. EVEN THOUGH IT’S NOT MY TIME CRUNCH????? ITS THE CHARACTERS?????? basically, for the first draft, i cannot have any concept of time in my story, otherwise i will feel trapped, like i HAVE to do it in the way i originally planned, and then I’ll never write it. so how i solve this, is i get an idea. just one. one idea, for one scene. i write that idea down as a little summary (and i really mean little, guys) and add a couple notes to give it vague vibes (moonlight shining through branches, water droplets on skin, laughter, etc), and THEN i write that scene down from memory. this is because i primarily write based on vibes, even though in my head i know exactly how this scene is going to serve the plot, and where exactly this bad boy will fit in my plot. but i know i might change my mind later, so i dont write that down. i recommend doing this if you have adhd, because if youre only writing down ideas one right after the other, chances are, you are not elaborating on them enough for your future self to go back and fall in love with the little note you made. we are just too forgetful. so you write down one idea, add little notes on the vibes you want to incorporate in your idea, and then you go and write the scene. thats it. one at a time. if you come up with another idea as you go, write it at the top of the page where the title goes and pray to god it sticks in your brain when you find it again.

i hope this helps a little in a very adhd way? this is my process (its not really process, more like a rulebook). i hope it inspires you guys to find the things that work for you, or at least opens your mind to the more chaotic organization your brain might need. i know i really struggled with the advice that suggested i do things neurotypically???? like no thanks. nuh uh.

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maureen2musings:

Dunsborough Park, Surrey

lhackett

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kuttithevangu:

One of the things about writing that feels the silliest is when there’s a detail in the scene that the character doesn’t think is important but you know the reader will know it’s important because otherwise it wouldn’t be there, so you’re just sort of making eye contact with the reader over the character’s head and whispering “don’t tell them”

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gr8writingtips:

when you’re trying to cut 30% of your novel’s wordcount and you reach a chapter which is 90% fun dialogue and not much else

ALT

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thepromptfoundry:

ALT

Get your contrast on this Juxtaposition July at the Prompt Foundry!

Whether things be opposite, just different, or two sides of the same coin, placing one thing in juxtaposition to another can create interest and nuance you wouldn’t get from either on its own.

If you use this list, please tag me here @thepromptfoundry, I’d love to see your writing and art!

Feel free to combine different days’ prompts with each other, or combine them with other events! Create fanwork, invent something original, give us some academic analysis, make art that’s all vibes, whatever tickles your fancy.

Respond to as many prompts as you want or as interest you, don’t worry about missing or skipping any. Remember, this is supposed to be fun!

If you have any questions or musings, check our FAQ, and if you don’t find your answer, shoot me an ask.

Plain text list below the cut:

Keep reading

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aroaessidhe:

layaart:

Here’s the cover I designed/illustrated for Common Bonds 2! another anthology of aromantic/platonic stories!

kickstarter launches feb 16

Common Bonds 2 submissions are now open, until August 15, 2025!

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writingwithfolklore:

1. Start local

This isn’t a rule by any means, you don’t have to start local, but I would recommend it. There are some agencies that ask you why, if you aren’t local, you’re reaching out to them, and being able to say “I’ve already reached out to all my local agencies” is a pretty air-tight reason. Plus, supporting local is cool, and I found a greater sense in accomplishment once I had crossed all my local agencies off my list. It brings order to what is otherwise a sea of like millions of agents across the globe.

2. The agency is more important than the agent

By this I don’t mean literally in terms of work. I more mean it as it’s more important that you make note of what agencies you apply to for organization, because many, many agencies require you to only submit to one of their agents at a time, and submitting to two might disqualify both applications. My organization at the start wasn’t great and I accidentally applied to the same agency twice, so definitely pay just as much attention to the agency as the agent.

3. It’s a test in confidence

I wrote an entire blog post about this over on my website (it will be coming out June 13!), but essentially, querying has been the biggest test in my confidence I think I’ve ever had to do. I thought I was prepared for endless rejections, and when I started, I wasn’t really all that concerned about being rejected. But the longer I went with 0 interest from the agencies I was applying to, the more I started to doubt my work.

Is my manuscript awful? Am I an awful writer? What are they all seeing that I’m not?

And the craziest part is that I went back to take a quick look at my manuscript and I did find it awful, where before I obviously hadn’t. This is when I wrote the post about dealing with self doubt. Even though I had started to look at my own work with a low opinion of it, I held onto the fact that my beta readers and my mentors and my editor all helped me make it better, and gave me their approval. Querying has the power to make you change your mind about your work and yourself—it’s important to be prepared for that, and to have strategies to pull yourself out of the pit when needed.

4. Read up on your terms

There are too many genres. There I said it. Why is speculative fiction and paranormal fiction and literary fiction and commercial literary fiction all on the same earth together? I think there should be like three genres: It actually happened, it didn’t actually happen, it’s a bit of a mix.

There are a million terms you’re going to bump into when you start looking into agents. What you might pitch as an urban fantasy to one agent would be better to pitch as a speculative fiction to another, so it’s important to know the terms or be constantly looking up the ones that you don’t know. It’s annoying, it takes more time, but it will also help you avoid pitching to the wrong person and make sure that you pitch your manuscript in the right way.

I have a silly example: I had been seeking out and pitching my manuscript to YA agents—which is a genre considered to be under the “children’s” umbrella. It wasn’t until far too late (about 30 queries in) that I discovered my manuscript actually fit far better as a New Adult. If I had taken the five seconds to look up the difference at the start, there’s a whole lot of people on my list that I never would have pitched to.

Lesson learned.

——————————————————————————

(Psst… Did you know I launched a website?)

Head on over to www.gatesannai.com (or click here!) for exclusive blog posts, updates on my work, and pictures of my dog.

While you’re there, consider signing up for my newsletter too :-)

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the960writers:

How to Make Themes Work Together

Jami Gold:

We probably all learned in school that theme is a story’s “message”—the ideas that a reader is supposed to take away from the story. However, one thing that many teachers don’t emphasize is that a story can (and probably will) have multiple themes.

Most themes are revealed through subtext. So we might need to identify the main themes by analyzing the different story elements contributing to the impression of “what our story is about”:

• Story Themes: What’s the premise of the story? Who’s supposed to win or lose—and why?
• Character Themes: How does the protagonist change over the course of the story? What do they learn?
• Plot Themes: During the plot’s turning points, what do the characters attempt? Do they succeed or fail—and why?
• Choices Themes: What choices are the characters making? Do the results match the Story or Character Themes (choices that agree with the themes should succeed and vice versa)?
• Villain Themes: Are the villain’s beliefs reinforced or disproved by plot events?

Themes Can Add Depth to Our Story

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We can lose our drive to write for a lot of reasons. It often indicates a growing maturity as an artist — you understand the craft better and your own (current) limitations better, and so you begin to feel overwhelmed in a way you didn’t before. It can also be that external anxieties are getting in the way or simply that you’ve lost interest in your current project. 

Hope is not lost. Read on for some tips on reclaiming your writing spark. 

Shift gears

Sometimes, all you need to reignite your writing spark is to engage your brain in a different way. If you’re struggling with your novel, take a break and try writing a poem or a piece of flash fiction. Or, you could try drawing sketches of your characters, a map of your story’s world, or some possible outfits for your climactic battle scene (it doesn’t have to be good. No one’s going to see it). 

The trick is to stay creative but to approach your work from a different angle. 

Change location

If you’ve been trying and failing to write at your desk, surrounded by crumpled up dreams drafts and last week’s candy wrappers, you may be suffering from an environment with stagnant energy. Try taking yourself on a writer’s date: go to a location that fits the tone of the project you’re working on (lux hotel lobby, seedy theatre bar, the wilds of a nearby park), and see if that gets your creative wheels turning. 

Dress [in]appropriately 

In Writing Down the Bones, Natalie Goldberg has a chapter called “Blue Lipstick and a Cigarette Hanging Out Your Mouth”. By this she meant, “Use outfits and props to step outside yourself and get a new perspective”. You might find it helpful to have a special “writer’s sweater” that you only wear when you’re writing or to dress like someone confident and cool enough to smash writer’s block in the face. 

Do some soul-searching

What’s really going on here? If the above tricks aren’t doing it for you, there may be some bigger issues at play that are inhibiting you from connecting to your writing spark. 

Write letters

I’ve written about the restorative powers of letter writing before, and I’ll mention it again: handwritten letters are a great way to get the words flowing. You don’t actually have to send them when you’re done (although you can if you want to); the recipient doesn’t even need to exist. Simply by putting your thoughts down in a low-risk way, you’re unclogging your creative pipes. 

Join a writing group

There’s power and accountability in numbers. You can find writing groups online, through community centres and writers centres, or by sticking a flyer up in a bookshop and starting your own. There’s even a Novlr writing community on Discord where we share tips, struggles, and just generally talk craft! By inviting other people into your writing practice, you’ll have some support and encouragement to keep you going. 

Find your writing spark with writing prompts

The internet is awash with writing prompts. These can be a helpful way to get something down on paper and stretch out your writing muscles. Whether it’s a premise, an opening line, or a character study, writing prompts can give you a gentle, creative push and even inspire new work.

Experiment with found structure

If writing a traditional story feels like pulling out your own teeth, try a found structure story. This means using fictional “found material” like shopping lists, calendars, to-do lists, ticket stubs, banking records, and so forth to create a narrative. 

Here’s an example: Imagine a week in which a bride-to-be prepares for her glorious wedding, is left at the altar, rages in misery, and ultimately emerges healthier and stronger. Now, write her shopping list for each day of that week. How does it change from beginning to end? How much emotional detail can you communicate to the reader through the items that appear on these lists? This can be a fun way to create a story without the anxiety of writing it.

Set a petty life goal

I am a proud champion of the value of pettiness as a motivator. There are plenty of noble reasons to write: to share powerful stories, to help readers in need of healing, to inspire others to write stories themselves, and to draw attention to important social issues or minority identities. 

There are also some really inane and selfish reasons to write: to become more famous than your ex, to appear on TV and make your ex regret everything they’ve ever done to you, to have your book made into a movie and receive casting consultation rights and pitch your favourite actor in the lead role and allow them to take you for coffee as a thank you. But the thing is… these are the motivations that are really going to pull you out of the dirt when you need it most. Find the silly driving goal that really gets under your skin and hold onto it for dear life. 

Forgive yourself

Many writers experience a lot of shame when they aren’t writing as much as they feel they should. Needless to say, this shame only makes the writing harder. Allow yourself the space to take some time when you need it, process your struggles, and return when you’re ready. The page will be waiting when you get back. 

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vivsinkpot:

When Should You Describe a Character’s Appearance? (And When You Really, Really Shouldn’t)

It’s one of the first instincts writers have: describe your character. What they look like, what they wear, how they move. But the truth is — readers don’t need to know everything. And more importantly, they don’t want to know everything. At least, not all at once. Not without reason.

Let’s talk about when to describe a character’s appearance, how to do it meaningfully, and why less often says more.

Keep reading

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