cnjosephs

[cnjosephs]

Told myself I was going to work on the third chapter of Mysticverse.

Got distracted scrolling Lizzie No's Instagram and thinking about how, if ever I was lucky enough to get to make Mysticverse an animated series, Lizzie No would voice a fucking PERFECT Bronwyn.

Ok now I'm actually gonna write I swear.

#mysticverse wip

[cnjosephs]

In Riley's defense, it's not just him.

I know this is just the chapter heading + POV character, but I still feel a little mean every time I look at it.

#mysticverse wip #i dont think this would really fit with the plan i have for chapter titling #but #i am so fucking tempted #to label mal's first chapter The Fool (III) Malison

[cnjosephs]

I know this is just the chapter heading + POV character, but I still feel a little mean every time I look at it.

#mysticverse wip

[cnjosephs]

what you need to understand is that textile work is basically the closest i have seen to Real Magic and the reason old ladies in quilting spaces are either the grumpiest or the most whacky cheerful people you'll ever meet is because they're basically wizards who have studied the ancient crafts too long

[cnjosephs]

I have several potential recommendations depending on what you're looking for, how much you want to pay, and if you want or do not want to do any custom coding!

I use Squarespace because I find it easiest to use and I like how I can make my website look with it (link for reference), but it is also a bit expensive (my plan is somewhere around $17/mo) and I sometimes get frustrated that I'm pretty limited in how much custom coding I can do unless I want to shell out for a higher-tier plan. However, if you want a website that will look good without having to do any custom coding at all and you don't mind paying a bit, this is a great option.

I know a lot of people who use Wix, which IIRC has a free tier if you don't mind branding. I've tried Wix before and didn't really like it, personally; I don't like their builder and I don't like their pricing tiers. But I also know people who swear by Wix, so I think a lot of that is personal preference!

If you wanna keep it very cheap but still look professional, I really recommend getting a Carrd plus a custom domain—the Carrd pro plan plus a custom domain will probably run you around $30/year, which is still a bit of money but way less than Squarespace's $200/year. I can't think of any writers I know off the top of my head who use Carrd, but my podcaster friend @starplanes uses it for their website in a way that I think is really effective.

Wordpress is also extremely popular. Depending on whether you do Wordpress.org or Wordpress.com and depending on how many bells and whistles you need (and whether you want to be able to have a shop on your website or not), it can either be of comparable price to Squarespace or a fair bit cheaper. I've tried this before and found the website builder frustrating, but I do want to give it another go at some point, because I have so many friends who absolutely swear by it. Author Emily Thiede uses Wordpress for her website, and I believe my friends over at @hughousepods use it for the website for their podcast network. Also, if you're familiar with HTML and CSS, I believe there's a bunch of customization stuff you can do with Wordpress (though someone please chime in if I'm wrong lol).

If you're able to spend a little but not a lot, my personal recommendation is to get a free/cheap website (like Carrd) plus a custom domain—custom domains are pretty cheap, usually around $10-12 a year, and IMO it has several benefits: it looks more professional, it ensures nobody else will snag the URL you really want while you're building your career, and it's also just a bit easier to direct people to (especially in verbal conversations). Also, if you end up changing your website host at some point, you'll be able to keep the same URL and won't have to worry about people having outdated information (a particular concern for writers, whose work is often printed and thus can't be changed easily after the fact).

Hope this was helpful! Please feel free to message me if you have any questions or want more in-depth advice on anything :)

I need to seriously look into setting up a writing website soon. Any recommendations for getting started?

#also hi in case it seems weird that i just followed you and immediately reblogged with this lengthy advice: #i follow you on my personal account and saw this post come up on my dash there #and decided that my reply belonged on my writing blog #resources

[cnjosephs]

Sapien boy and neanderthal girl doze in the springtime, finally together again

#art

[cnjosephs]

I gamify word counts.

Here, have my custom template that I actually use. Because gatekeeping resources is whack.

I sometimes write up to 4,000 words a day for my day job, and then I’ll sit down in the evening and write more.

I'm able to make this work (for me, just for me, most of the time) because I've discovered that I can trigger dopamine hits with visual cues like colors and a progress chart.

So I made this word count tracker.

It's nothing too fancy, but it's got pretty, live-updating colors, a chart that tracks my progress, I can set a goal if I have one. I keep one of these in almost every writing project folder.

It works really well for me, and it helps me when I'm feeling freaked out by a word count or a blank page.

Just Input your word count goal and your word count by day. That’s it. It’ll track your progress, color it in by weight (so satisfying), and you’ll see the graph get closer and closer to your goal.

#resources

[cnjosephs]

why do you think it's so common for writers to insert themselves into their stories?

I don't know.

#fave

[cnjosephs]

I forgot I have to be active here so here’s my Twitter tutorial on how to draw folds I made a while back to help a friend!

[cnjosephs]

#laugh tag

[cnjosephs]

look i gotta say there’s a special place in my heart for first drafts. they’re so cozy and safe and they feel like a house you built for yourself. and ya maybe you built a room you didn’t really need and there are some floorboards that don’t match, but like, it’s yours, and you like it. and you get to just live in it in all its eccentricity for a little while. and sure, someday you’ll need to fix it up so other people can come live in it, but not right now. right now it’s just yours 

[cnjosephs]

It might seem that the writer needs a gift of mimicry, like an impersonator, to achieve this variety of voices. But it isn’t like that. It’s more like what a serious actor does, sinking self in character-self. It’s a willingness to be the characters, letting what they think and say rise from inside them. It’s a willingness to share control with one’s creation.

- Ursula K. Le Guin, Steering the Craft: A 21st Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story

#advice

[cnjosephs]

Must I "talk" about my book to my "audience"?? Is it not enough to just reblog things under the title tag and have people vaguely understand from the fever dream of images I've assembled?

#laugh tag

[cnjosephs]

The Galloway hoard, a Viking age treasure hoard consisting of silver ingots, hack silver, silver jewelry, and some gold pieces. Uncovered near Balmaghie, Scotland by a metal detectorist in 2014. Dates to around 900 AD. Currently housed at the National Museum of Scotland.

#art

[cnjosephs]

#laugh tag

[cnjosephs]

Really one of my most strongly held beliefs is that it’s deeply unhealthy and soul-stunting for children to only consume media the world’s most coddling and judgemental adults determined was ‘age-appropriate’, and watching stuff that would horrify your parents behind their back should be encouraged and rewarded.

[cnjosephs]

#morgan #amnesia story