cheerfulmelancholies

[cheerfulmelancholies]

15 Writing Tips from Authors

1) “You take people, you put them on a journey, you give them peril, you find out who they really are.” - Joss Whedon

2) “First, find out what your hero wants, then just follow them.” - Ray Bradbury 

Coffee bean’s analysis: Letting your characters lead the story can result in an authentic, character-driven story, full of real conflicts and natural emotion.

3) “Turn up for work. Discipline allows creative freedom. No discipline equals no freedom.” - Jeanette Winterson

4) “Show up, show up, show up, and after a while the muse shows up, too.” - Isabel Allende 

Coffee bean’s analysis: In order to write or eventually share your story with the world, you have to sit down and do the work, even if your brain is empty. Once you show up, the creativity has a chance to spark.

5) “All bad writers are in love with the epic.” - Ernest Hemingway

6) “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” - Leonardo Da Vinci

Coffee bean’s analysis: Being able to turn a complex idea into simple words is harder than one might think— but can elevate your writing. Not everything needs to be epic or overly flowery.

7) “Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life.” - Anne Lamott

8) “I went for years not finishing anything. Because, of course, when you finish something you can be judged.” - Erica Jong

9) “Don’t write at first for anyone but yourself.” - T.S Eliot

Coffee bean’s analysis: Perfectionism will kill any chance you have at having fun and finishing your novel. Let go of that pressure of being perfect and do not worry about being judged. Write for you.

10) “Forget the books you want to write. Think only of the book you are writing.” -Henry Miller

Coffee bean’s analysis: Don’t overwhelm your schedule with trying to write a ton of projects at once. Focus your energy into one (or two) at a time.

11) “A short story must have a single mood and every sentence must build towards it.” - Edgar Allen Poe

12) “Every sentence must do one of two things— reveal character or advance the action.“ - Kurt Vonnegut

Coffee bean’s analysis: Even if you’re writing a novel, this advice is brilliant. Whether it’s a sentence, paragraph or whole chapter… make sure they are meant to be in your story. Keep your scenes tidy and thematic, building towards something.

13) “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” - Anton Chekhov

Coffee bean’s analysis: When writing a novel, give your reader details so that they can picture the scene in their head. Don’t do too much telling (though it has it’s places).

14) “It is perfectly okay to write garbage— as long as you edit brilliantly.” - C.J Cherry

15) “If it sounds like writing … rewrite it.” - Elmore Leonard

Coffee bean’s analysis: Allow yourself to write messily and worry about editing later. Once in the editing phase, if your writing sounds stiff, rewrite it so that it sounds natural.

Instagram: coffeebeanwriting  

#writing advice #writing tips #writeblr

[cheerfulmelancholies]

#why's this gotta be so accurate though? #not writing

[cheerfulmelancholies]

(for the purposes of this poll, there is no monkey's paw situation: the chore you pick stays the same level of difficulty/grossness/etc. as it normally is for you, and you only have to do it as often as you want to. the chores you don't pick are magically done for you exactly the way you'd want them to be, just with zero effort on your part.)

#poll #I will happily pick up my clutter if it means all else doesn't need to be done

[cheerfulmelancholies]

#static noise happens #or disgruntled fax noises if I have a headache that day #I'm not good at mental math at all #I gotta write it out #poll

[cheerfulmelancholies]

#pusheen #cute

[cheerfulmelancholies]

#stoats #animals #fave

[cheerfulmelancholies]

#cool!

[cheerfulmelancholies]

Also:

I'm gonna make a goofy, happy-go-lucky oc who had a normal upbringing!

*proceeds to give them the most fucked up backstory that makes them a bitter person*

#just writer things

[cheerfulmelancholies]

ROYGBIV tag

Thanks to @romances-not-tragedies and @willtheweaver for the tags!

📝 Search your WIP for the colours of the rainbow and post the excerpt.

These are from Spin Cylinder...

RED (Noah's POV)

You, looking at me with eyes like fire and that smile, all threat and seduction. Jeans hanging low on your hips. The sculpture of your collarbones and the vibrant red drenching your shoulder and chest.

ORANGE (Brett's POV)

The streetlights don’t reach as far as where we’re standing, so there’s only a dim wash of orange around us and you’re a shadow among many, quiet in a way that transcends focus.

YELLOW

Not a single yellow anywhere in the entire WIP!

GREEN (Noah's POV)

And we drink as the clouds relinquish their burdens and curtains of rain blur the world outside into smudges and shadows of green and grey.

BLUE (Noah's POV)

The colours around us are eclipsed by the vibrant blue of the sky and the water in the pool with electric white sunlight skating across the ripples.

INDIGO VIOLET PURPLE (Brett's POV and yes, I cheated, shut up)

The first joint becomes the second becomes the third and my eyes are closing themselves, so I let go and lie back, falling into the swirling purple galaxy in my head that carries the pattern at the centre of everything.

Tagging @calicohyde, @cheerfulmelancholies and @cherrybombfangirlwrites if you'd like to do it, with an open tag for anyone else who wants to join in 💙

Reblogs, replies etc on my tag posts are always welcome, but if you're doing this tag yourself, please make your own post instead of using mine to start a reblog chain.

#I love your descriptions! #writers on tumblr #writeblr #other people's writing #tag game #roygbiv tag

[cheerfulmelancholies]

like watching water down a drain my thoughts pour out in a steady flow nothing quite tangible enough to hold

#poetry #poets on tumblr #abstract photography #black and white photography

[cheerfulmelancholies]

I think I'll try this too. At the very least I can have some extra fodder if I'm unable to get anything done for my main wips. I also wanna mix things up and spend some days writing in one of my many notebooks. Maybe the change of scenery will help motivate me more.

May Writing Challenge

This May I want to get back into writing. I’m not at all consistent. I’m at a point where I don’t feel like I can work on bigger things, because I can’t guarantee myself to keep working on it in a week from now. So I will take this month as a training month to get back into the habit of writing. I will do this by writing (or trying to write) 200 words every day. Topic is irrelevant. How great my writing is that day is irrelevant. Just 200 words written down. A habit taking 21 days to form was debunked, it does take a lot longer, but 31 days are a start I would say. These are already 140 words, so 200 words every day are hopefully manageable. You're more than welcome to join me if you like 😊

#writeblr #writing challenge #200 word challenge

[cheerfulmelancholies]

So we all know that Tumblr is US-centric. But to what degree? (and can we skew the results of this poll by posting it at a time where they should be asleep?)

Reblog to increase sample size!

#poll #I am from the US #I also old like to still be asleep #but y'know #work and stress

[cheerfulmelancholies]

Comic by Sarah Andersen

[cheerfulmelancholies]

#wtf the aggression 😂 #I needed a good laugh today #cats #cute #fave

[cheerfulmelancholies]

crescent moon

#cat #cute

[cheerfulmelancholies]

by Tim Allott

#nature #fave

[cheerfulmelancholies]

can't stop thinking about how the "convinced to return for one last job" trope is a kind of resurrection. digging up a restless corpse that maybe should have stayed buried.