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drippingmoon · 2 years

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a 2021 year of writing

First of all, many thanks to @ecwrenn for hosting this lovely event 🥰 this will be my piece, and I'm looking forward to hearing from you and other writers too.

First bits are always the hardest to accomplish, whether it be tumblring or writing. This was no exception 🤣 but also as it happens, it always gets much easier later on.

This will mostly be me ranting, expressing some gratitude, sharing some facts and all in all babbling haha. I even put a checkpoint somewhere in here. Hope it's enjoyable enough to read 😊

It was my most productive year, writing-wise. Perhaps it is because I joined tumblr, but I was actually able to focus on my wip in the long months between summers, and my enthusiasms for it never waned (as might be obvious from my word vomits🤣, this included).

I write only during summer, for university-related reasons. Or at least that's what I call them. I'm pretty adept at finding polite excuses for not writing, but at the end of the day, that's a bad habit I can't shake off. So it was probably my fault that my last wip, The Snow Spirit, ended up discarded after it burned me out so bad I thought I'd never write again. I often ended up forgetting about my writing and what I wanted from it, and... it damaged everything, when I went back to it. Like if I can set it aside for almost a whole year and not sparsely look back on it, was I even a writer anymore?

Anyway, things changed. My relationship with 'quiv is much different than what it was with Spirit. It's much easier to write, considering that it's fully indulgent and the exciting plot beats come sooner rather than later when my enthusiasm has slipped.

So, it wasn't the case here. What with the tag games, getting in touch with you, seeing your enthusiasm for your projects and in turn reminding me of my own... I have a lot to thank you all for 🥰 for this year to have turned out this well, I'm very grateful for you all.

So last year, in the early months of autumn, before I joined the writeblr community, I was finishing the first draft of Aquiver, Aglow, which some of you might now as my main and only wip.

January/February

...I don't actually remember when I joined hahaha. Those two months look the same to me. And also, my life at the time hadn't been the happiest. Actually, until late May my memories are all jumbled, so I'm also using this event as a chance to straighten some stuff out. I might mix up things, I might've forgotten. I hope not.

I didn't know what I expected when I joined the community 🤣 I just knew I needed to get in touch with other writers to get my mind off stuff. I was very lucky at the time to have been received very warmly by some special people. I owe you a lot and if you're reading this, I hope you know who you are ❤ I've never been as grateful to discover a community as when I talked to you.

To be honest, tumblr wasn't my first attempt at doing so. I'd actually been active on Wattpad for some years before the adds thing came on, and it didn't go too well. It was also an attempt to see if I could survive on social media without it making me feel actively worse about writing in general. Needless to say, it went incredibly well 🥰

*For reference, some of my longest comments back then had been to ask if: 1. my mother tongue was English and 2. was I going to add romance because my plot was missing it. The answers were no and no, and though that's beside the point, I felt like getting this off my chest. It was incredibly disheartening back then to finally receive feedback and have it be of that nature, but whatever.

One thing I've observed, it's kind of a writerly rite of passage for everyone to start believing more in their writing and themselves, than random comments. It's a shaky foundation, but I'm also proud of myself for not being dependant on approval as I was back then. I honestly love writing, and will keep doing so even if maybe someday I'll get my wip roasted via anon or something 🤣

Chazzawrites challenge

Okay, I'm 90% positive this took place in February 🤣 but I wouldn't swear on it. I was also a lurker back then.

It was also when I first properly started interacting with you guys. For this reason alone, because I know how many things can be changed during events, I've planned on never missing out on one.

For those who can't remember or haven't participated, it was your typical 31-day-long challenge, whereby we had to answer to one writing-related question per day. Sometimes it wasn't easy to keep up, as some questions went into the rambling realm of introduce a wip or what's your favorite part of writing or how do you relate to writing action, description, dialogue, or something along those lines.

While it was very fun to answer all those questions, there wasn't much interaction, especially between people who weren't mutuals. That is, until towards the end of the event. When we had to tag a favorite writeblr, and explain why.

Then someone simply decided to write what many of us were thinking. That yeah, what was the point of one such question if one of writeblr's main problem was that people tended to keep to their closed off cliques, and even if it was an open event, no one really came to know another? I have to say, when it turned into general appreciation, outright skipping and actually having people pop up in the comments, it felt like something was changing, moving, and I was there to witness it.

It wasn't that grand, but you felt the spark, and it was incredible. Suddenly you felt you had common ground with those people, and it wasn't as hard to reach out anymore. There were only a few days left, but it those few days I made my first row of mutuals that I'll never forget ❤

And, somehow, it'd also proven to me yet again that, most people are waiting or maybe secretly hoping for the other to make the first move. Everyone likes being surprised, especially with heartfelt feedback. And it's not that terrifying to be the one to make the first step.

After all, how many times have I found myself smiling so hard my cheeks hurt because a writeblr I'd never interacted with before chose to send me a message, or a reblog.

(Which reminds me, if by the end of this or anytime during you wanna scream at me or ask something, this is me encouraging you to.)

I stopped lurking after that 🤣

Underwing challenge

This took place in April. I simply did tag games and asks till then haha, no point in bothering you with that. And I can honestly say I've been very lucky to be able to participate. Once more I met some incredible people, and saw again some very dear others I'd befriended in the previous challenge.

I was one of the adopters, so I asked people questions on a kinda daily basis. This was very helpful, I can say it's taught me quite a bit because at one point I was making up questions I would've never thought about otherwise. And seeing the angles from where others tackled the issues, getting to see them gush over their writing, world and characters... it was one of the most beautiful experiences I've ever had 🥺

My only regret is that I didn't also participate as an adoptee. Would've been thrilled to answer those questions too 🤣 but then again, I wouldn't have had as much time to ask, so it is what it is. Some incredibly kind people went rogue anyway and made my day by popping up in my askbox 🥰

Once again, if you happen to be reading this, I'm eternally grateful to you ❤

I don't think it will see a revival this year, but in case it does, I don't have to think twice about it to know I'll be on board.

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The summer months

(Doing one of them commercial breaks. You're halfway through! What to bribe you with... ah yes, there's a cat gif at the end 😊 cheering you on)

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This is where things get a bit long (as if they hadn't already been hahaha). So, what happened? Last summer, I managed to finish draft 2 of Aquiver, Aglow (lemme bask in that victory some more...

...there we go. Basking complete 🤣) I'd actually wanted to finish a draft 3 too, but, uh, things got a bit too long. Many changes to the story took place, but that was kinda to be expected, since I threw in every single idea I'd had over the years. At one point I was very exhausted because it only kept getting longer, and I stuck to my plan of writing one chapter a night no matter what.

*It was practically hell in some days when I kept churning out words and they were all the wrong words and I kept comparing it to my first draft and lookee, you've really managed to make it much worse.

(Now, months later and with a clear, rested head, it's not that tragic anymore 🤣 but yeah, talk about things falling short of expectations. Good thing I can't remember what they were anymore^^ 🤣)

But to see the end result, and how things added up, how some unexpectedly ended up being better than I'd imagined, it was very much worth it ❤ I love writing so much I don't have enough words to express it 🥺🥰🥰

As some sort of confession, I actually started writing 'quiv as a dedication to someone very dear. Also as a way of mentally preparing myself for some things to come. Naturally, it's much changed since its early days, but it'll never forget those roots. So when I'm joking that it's my no-plot-only-feels wip, I'm also talking about how, in it, I wanna safekeep some sentiments and ideas that are pretty precious to me. And as a tribute.

Oh, oh, and one unexpected development, was that I actually wrote the lullaby I'd planned on tackling separately. I cried while writing it, and it's got more plot in it than my entire wip 🤣 it's obviously in much need of rework since: 1. I've never written a lullaby or anything in song/poem format before lol 2. it was still out of its cradle before its time...

But it means a lot to me. And since I'm also writing this and I suddenly got the urge to share the idea behind it, even if it's somewhat of a spoiler. Sometimes I don't care about that haha

So it's called Statue On Your Brow. Not a very traditional or clear name for a lullaby, I know 🤣 but the idea behind it is this:

There's a statue in a graveyard, or anywhere. That statue rests on someone's grave, perhaps on cold earth, separating the departed, beloved one from the mourner by a few feet of dirt. And this statue, the mourner's brought to resemble the one who's currently resting in the afterlife.

But it's not meant to represent the one who's dead. Even if it has their shape, it's not them. It could never be. It's the one who keeps visiting the grave, it's the shape of all their aching feelings which want to see them again, which desperately want to fold themselves into the shape of them.

The statue is there, on their brow, to keep them company. For all the hours in which the mourner can't sit by the grave, can't hold them. Can't weep for them. In all those hours, the statue of the mourner shall keep them company, if they're beneath. If they're not, it's still an eternal reminder that they're missed, they're beloved.

Whew. This was... something to write. I had to take a break after writing this, and my fingers are still shaking a little. It means a lot to me, and I only hope to do it justice in one way or another, when I arrive to its final form. It's not the only lullaby in 'quiv, but it's by far my most beloved.

Oh yeah, lullabies. Why that chosen form of song 🤣 well, because they're all aimed at the dead, and come from mourners. And they all wish their loved ones to rest well.

To depart a little from this subject, I also have another dedication to make. To that one lovely person who sent me an entire playlist and basically boosted my whole progress towards the end, you've helped out so much back then ❤❤

*Also. For the record. So there was this song, with a great soundtrack, light but expressive, perfect for my scenes at the time. Yet I innocently pay attention to the lyrics for the first time, and realize how expressively christian they were and oh my gods my best friend was laughing so much it was making me laugh, I barely got the chapter finished that night. It's one of our favorite stories now. That my non-religious ass had been passionately replaying this song going 'it's all about you Jesus, it's all about you God'. While my face was:

*But yeah, I was asking for it since I somehow decided to write about angels and also touching the subject of (some form of) religion. Now I'm told I write Bible fic 🤣

After that, my writing progress petered out. This was to be expected haha, the summer ended. I think I managed to get 50k worth of notes (draft 2 was 200k), but again, I wouldn't swear on that and it's not important.

Except that I got so many ideas I wanna test out

Autumn

Mostly I got a bit too busy. Posted tag games now and then, but my newest format is of posting an excerpt every weekend. I'll be taking a break on this too after this week, since I'll get started on reading my draft, which I absolutely can't wait for 🥰

My plans looked a little different in the beginning. After finishing draft 2, I wanted to go back to Wattpad and post it on there whilst editing to speed the process up a little. But after the recent changes, yeah, no chance.

So I'm doing my thing again and I'll be fully rewriting it this summer once more, since I can. And I'm also waiting to see if maybe some new, better writing website pops into existence.

I really wanted to see how it'd fare on Wattpad and use it as a sort of beta reading, but I'll see what I'll do about that. Any kind of talk about publishing just puts a damper on my spirits, so I'm not in a hurry to sort things out.

I'm also very much hoping I can conclude the drafting process with draft 3, and I'll finally be getting to the editing stage and slowly making my way to the final version ❤ but that's still a distant dream.

And those are also my hopes for this year. That by the end, I'll be able to write that dedication that's been weighing on my mind ever since I began. That would make me happy.

Wrapping up

If you've made it this far, your patience is pretty incredible haha<3 but huh, this was actually incredibly cathartic to write. I was expecting it, but it's a very sweet feeling to see it bear fruit.

Now I'm going do address some stuff from Aye's list since I, uh, ended up kinda meandering as I tend to do.

Works in progress count: just one. Aquiver, Aglow, which I've been talking about endlessly hahaha, I love it that much. I don't think there's a point in my adding a summary here, since I have the intro pinned to my blog (which I've reworked by the way)

(Yeah, basically evil angels have wiped off most of humankind. One of them tries to figure out what to do with the remains of the world, while having her beliefs slowly changed by a human child, whose love catches her unawares)

Okay, I could probably add Icy Penumbra, my next series about one misguided touch wizard who made a deal with a dragon and they both wanna end the world.

Unluckily for the main character who's got to stop them, they're also the politest company he's been around in years. It also doesn't help that Ptarmigan's the one who blinded Asp and tries to keep that a secret, and he was also the previous Haw to Diahra, who also blinded him in one eye.

That's because, to make a contract with Diahra, one must promise him a lie they'll strive to make reality. And Ptarmigan was the first to fulfill his lie. It's brought him nothing but guilt and grief.

For reference, Asp's current lie is to free Diahra. As he's currently the last dragon alive, forever chasing the sun to stave off the curse that killed his kind. A curse of frost spreading over their wings, encasing them in ice and having them plummet to the earth and shatter.

*If that didn't convince you, how do trenchbards sound, cartographers of the rifts and trenches at the end of the world, because it's very much flat, and many other quirky worldbuilding stuff I'm very excited about?

I, uh, have it pretty much planned out, for once. Well, generally. Which is more than I can say for all of my other wips, 'quiv included, which still doesn't have an outline. Yay me 🤣

NaNo: haven't participated, not my thing. Tried it once, it kicked my ass lol. But I love cheering you guys on<3

Reading and book recs: to my eternal shame, since I got started on 'quiv, I haven't read that much, or, should I say, at all. But my eternally favorite series is The Tawny Man trilogy by Robin Hobb. It meant a lot to me, and the writing style is so deep and rich with the characters' thoughts, I've never meet better developed characters since her books.

I remember the summers when I would read 100 books:') my best years are far behind me, y'all 🥺 plus these days I can't even be bothered to search for books because that takes time and investment and I'd rather think about 'quiv.

But enough with my moaning.

Okay, this actually marks the end of this long... *squints* shopping list salad with everything. Hope you've enjoyed the cat at the top as much as I have:)

I don't have to think much about what I want from now on. To keep interacting with all you beautiful people and discover your incredible thoughts, and slowly finish Aquiver, Aglow.

What more could I want ❤

So see you all next year, too! May you achieve all your writing dreams, and may we all keep enjoying this community we have here ❤

#ayearofwriting #writing thoughts #my original writing #honestly i didn't know what other tags to add #can't believe i managed to write this in one night #if there be typos... eh i've tried my best but what can you expect when you're writing it all on tumblr

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witherednightmareold · 3 years

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Underwing Challenge Day 12 Q:

I hope you're having a great day/night, Scaley!

What’s the main attraction of the amusement park? Is there an attraction least visited? As the writer, which animatronics are your favorites?

Thank you, Aye! My evening is going quite well! I hope you’re day/night is treating you well!

The main attraction...? Honestly, I haven’t decided yet as it, of now, wasn’t important to decide on only one main attraction.

Although, Mimi’s stage show has been one of the most loved attractions AND was the main attraction for many years in the past. But a stage show couldn’t keep up as visitor magnet when people would demand more exciting, newer, shinier attractions.

One less visited attraction - due to the removal of the animatronic - was Nellie’s tea cup ride. She was an important part of the entire design, and when Makary demanded that she would be removed it was still a fun attraction but it didn’t have the same charme as before.

All animatronics are my favorites.... I can’t decide.... but because Lenny was mentioned the last ask with a similar question I will choose Mimi this time. No one probably noticed that my love for Mimi is endless...

#ecwrenn #underwing challenge #thank you aye!#wip. / sacrifice.

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notwritinganyflufftoday · 3 years

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Underwing Challenge Day 25 Q:

Hi, Lizzy! Day 25 is a writer check-in. How are you doing with your WIP so far? Are you struggling with anything? Or is everything going smoothly? What about your day today?

Hi dear, thanks for the question!! Sorry this is a day late, but I didn't do any writing yesterday, so talking about how it's going today is better ;)

I took three weeks off from writing and I've missed it so much. However, I'm also struggling to get back into it.

Today, I finally figured out what I'm gonna do with the next couple of scenes and I feel like the flow and plot of the story is back. (In comparison to the last couple of scenes feeling choppy and disconnected.)

Overall, I'm really happy with my WIP, the themes I want to touch upon and the character arcs I have planned. I also know my ending, so I can't wait until I get to those intense, emotional moments.

#ask answered #underwing challenge #wip: htberitch #ecwrenn

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splashinkling · 2 years

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a year of writing ~ 2021

imagine being able to look up at a mountain like that👀

Very much inspired by @drippingmoon and @sleepy-night-child because their posts were very awesome and I also wanted to write something awesome (shoutout to @ecwrenn for posting this great event!!)

Now get your snacks lads cause this might get long

Ok hold up. It's been a year?? A whole ass year?? 2021 just flew by like a damn freight train threatening to run me over while I'm walking leisurely on abandoned tracks (I've never once done this because there aren't any around where I am and I would never anyways cause it seems (and probably is) dangerous)

but enough bewilderment because there's actually a lot to get through and I know I'm going to ramble so let's get on with it. I'm literally going to pour my heart for all you people read because I'm feeling like being open for once and cause I've got more things going on than just Den, tho some of you know that already

(also because I'm being open, I'm being loose. so feel free to ignore my unnecessary vocabulary)

I'm going to mention late December too à la sleepy's way because those poor 7-14 days need some recognition haha

also we're going to do this first by project and by month (like Name/Title, Month-Month) because things intersect and everything and I have the compulsive need to organize this the way I need to (it's also sorted chronologically and I know that doesn't make sense if I'm doing it also by project, but I'm doing it anyways)

(okay I'm looking at this post-writing it. and damn did I not know how many things I wrote because this list is ginormous, but that might also be due to the padded rambling haha)

MST-S01, December 2020-October 2021

so this was the month I joined a new D&D group! (whom I am now temporarily, albeit possibly permanently estranged) and my first session was in the days leading up to new years!

I don't usually talk about D&D on here, but if y'all see dice on your dash, it might (almost certainly) be me.

anyways, MST-S01 wasn't my best character by any means, but I totally had a great time playing him/them during that time! I could ramble on more about him and further plans I had, but alas, I've got other things to ramble on about

Lost Mine of Crafting, January-October

My beloved D&D campaign! That I basically fully homebrewed! Due to some unfortunate happenings in October, I never got to run the last session of arc 1 😔😔 even tho I promised my players I'd do it before the end of the year when I was alright. I just never got around to it and now it's December 25th.

but omg let me gush about this a little bit because I never get the chance to-

so this is actually my third time ever DMing and my first time ever using a fully homebrewed campaign. major success all things considered.

originally Lost Mine was a crafting-based campaign. my players were supposed to be part of a company and make a living off of things they make. but no. they had to go on an adventure. they had to kidnap a penguin and make it their pet. they had to stop the random cult that keeps appearing and somehow save the ranger's sister and the NPC's brother.

I miss Lost Mine because I never got to finish it. but I don't know how I'll be able to get back into it. well I know how, with that finale (which would've consisted of a massive battle in a castle as well as plot-relevant fights) that I promised, but I don't know if I'll be able to execute it and/or continue into an arc 2

also fun fact, I could totally make this entire thing shareable because I wrote a damn summary for every session (I think there's like 30-something of them) and so that is definitely something I could do with my players' permissions 🤔

The First Born (aka Demon's Contract), March

aka the project that never really caught my attention

aka the first interactive fiction I tried working on this year

First Born was written as a response to a writing prompt. and the idea's there (where a demon receives a newborn in exchange for a thing that the human wants) but the motivation's not there. much less now that Den's a thing (same vibes and all) I also wouldn't know where I'd go with it as an interactive piece, so maybe a novel-style would suit it more? idk.

Tonight's Drink, Late May-June

A tie-in to my D&D campaign!!! it was for another game jam so it was stressful writing it within 2 weeks.

okok so Tonight's Drink is actually a bar in a harbour city (called Yesterday Bay) and this whole story is a prequel to campaign-time! I know I shouldn't say much more than that because Tonight's Drink is apparently something people would enjoy playing (so I'm told). but my players really did visit this bar and the Ranger got piss-drunk in it 🤣🤣

Sparks by the Fireplace, June

this was just a little scene snippet drabble thing that I ended up submitting to a game jam. also the second time ever that I used Ink, so that's nice.

Various Game Reviews, June-Now

this is an amalgamation of stuff that I wrote about games because I love games and I love writing games and I love writing about games. and all this is solely posted on Tumblr!

a couple I want to point out are my Littlewood and Hollow Knight ones because those ones are the ones I really really loved during the summer and I just had to gush about them, and now here are those posts where I gushed about them 🤣

I do wanna continue these, just not sure if anyone actually reads them haha. and also lists. those would be fun.

Genshin Impact TTRPG, July-August

oh lord I nearly forgot that I wrote this. but it was so fun at the time. a whole tabletop RPG based on Genshin. that might've been really fun. but I just don't have the time or the patience to keep up with the updates and tweaks the mechanics 🙃 so into the purgatory bucket it goes-

Demons in the Den, July-Now

Den 🥺🥺 and also the only traditional story writing I've done all year lmao and I started in the dregs July and I finished draft 1 in November. that's a whole 3 months and 59k words. I totally should've done NaNo but I'd been focused on Den at the time *sigh

y'all who've been following me know about Den. but those who haven't, Den's the WIP baby of this blog and I give it all my love and attention (especially the two main characters, Mara and Aliah because they deserve each other)

and okay but those unfortunate happenings in October totally affected my writing of Den. it was a tough time and Den was my escape, or at least my distraction.

Cozy Cold Night, December

my latest game jam endeavour!! something that ended up being way sadder instead of comfy. but the wintery vibes are all there!! this was definitely more like I had a scene idea and I wanted to see where it could take me.

also my first time using Bitsy! and it's super good for short stories!!

alright and now I wanna talk a little bit about being on Tumblr because that's something I wanna talk about.

apparently I've been here since June?? seriously? I didn't realize I've been here half a year. but the caveat is that I've only been a writeblr for like, since September, and even then I've only been interacting with anybody since mid-October and that means I've only been here for like 3-4 months??

that's absolutely wild.

y'all are amazing and very supportive! y'all wouldn't know it, but seeing people like my writing made that tough October bearable.

so this little section is a shoutout to all those awesome people I've met and interacted with during my short time here!

here's to more time spent with y'all!

I gushed on and on and I hope you're still with me because I'm going to continue gushing on and on, but this is the final stretch! so stand up for a minute, stretch, and sit back down because there's more to be talked about

and by more to be talked about, I mean that I'll brush up on ecwrenn's suggested content list 🤣

WIPs and Drafts

there's only one ongoing WIP and we all know what it is.

Demons in the Den

right now we're looking at Demons in the Den for the immediate future! Draft 1 is complete! Arc 2 is like, 10k words in (all in non-sequential order because I just wrote scenes that I wanted to write (so that means parts of the later beginning, and parts of the calm before the storm, and parts at the end haha) look forward to updates about this in January (probably!)

Things I figured out

here's the sitch, guys. give me deadlines (no "end of the week" shit, I need those 1 hour sprints!!). give me word limits and word goals. I have learned the way of my writing and that is quantifiable data. I need something to track and watch as I write! this is definitely something I'll take into whatever I write in the future because it's super motivating to me

also that I'm still no good at action scenes and I need to work on that. but also my descriptive writing is still on point (please allow me this slight flex/proudness haha)

Plans, Plans, Plans

my laundry list of things I need/want to do haha

first thing's first, I have to (and I mean I need to lock myself in a room and force myself) read over and rewrite Den to make draft 2. it might be this winter. it might be next summer. but I have to do it. because I want to and I want to be able to share it with y'all (also where, idk, but it'll be somewhere). and also finish arc 2, draft 1, but that's likely after arc 1, draft 2 however I do have the ending in mind already because it'll be so so good 🤣🤣

and then next... I'm gonna try and make a whole game! and I'll make game dev posts on here and everything, it'll be great (I hope!). I'm very much not sure which of my various ideas I want to act on. cause there's Night of the Winter Star, which is another interactive fiction game (this time in Choicescript). then there's this whole physical card game I'd been planning out that I nearly forgot I had lying around in my Trello (yes the whole thing is in there. no I haven't moved it anywhere else.) and then there's Flare Code, which is a whole damn RPG that I could make in who-knows-what and it'll take who-knows-how-long, but it's also my passion project. ah the options 🤔😔

also I want to interact more! even tho I don't have enough time 😅 Tumblr can already take hours from my day so I've gotta be careful with what I ask for. but meeting people on here would be really great! (even if I can only interact every so often) also events! I might wanna do those! especially since I've limited myself to only tag games and ask games so far!

oh and I actually really wanna change my pfp away from this damn eggplant plush 😔 it became a stale meme like a month ago (and I just might've found something to replace it with while I was looking for music to write this post to)

oh oh and I wanna chip away at my gaming and reading backlogs!! it's never gonna happen, but one can dream!

oh lord I've rambled on and on and for that I apologize 😅 gonna leave y'all with every single slime in a wonderful little animation from Slime Rancher (the first one, but super hyped for the second one) as my offering for having gotten this far haha

(can you tell I love that game? 🥰) (also idk where I got this from, I just had it on my computer haha credits to whoever made it tho!!)

#ayearofwriting #this is hella long and I've been looking at this post for so long #I humbly apologize for how long it is but it was refreshing to ramble on for so long #I'm thinking of changing my pfp into a cute lil' ghost I found in this music video #also June was so long ago #I had no idea I wrote so many things this year. this was a needed look back on an otherwise trying time #if I missed anything then... oh well I guess lol #okay well it's literally past 5am. I'm gonna go pass out.#also yes that banner image is Celeste because I love that game to bits as well

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juls-writes · 3 years

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heyy juls! i hope you're well. ♡♡♡ for the ask game: 😂 Share your funniest line (or dialogue exchange).

hello!! I am, I hope you are too!! thanks for sending me this! I don’t know if it’s my funniest, but I have a few bits of funny banter, so I picked one of my faves where Sagittarius is training Theo for the first time and Theo can’t hit him for shit.

“You’re too obvious,” Sagittarius noted, one hand on his chin as he watched Theo appraisingly. “And when you strike, you don’t really have any conviction behind it.”

“Because you’re not there to hit,” Theo countered, his voice muffled through the food. “It’s not that I don’t think I can hit you, I know I can’t hit you.”

“I s’pose that’s fair,” Sagittarius agreed, looking up at the sky pensively. June, too focused on eating her own sandwich, listened intently as they began to bicker back and forth. “But I want you to strike as if I’m going to be there anyway.”

“So I can hit nothing?”

“So you can hit nothing harder.”

“What’s that going to do for me?”

“When there is something there, you’ll have better follow through.”

“But there won’t be!”

“Well not if it’s me, no, probably not.”

#celestial #tag game #ecwrenn #celestial excerpt #original writing

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azusawrites · 2 years

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A YEAR OF WRITING - 2021 IN REVIEW

Joining in on @ecwrenn's "A Year of Writing" which is a wonderful event that I would like to thank her for organizing! There were a ton of things that happened this year in terms of writing so it will definitely be hard to catch up, haha!

Banner credit goes to @personnedelalune!

WORD COUNT

During this entire year, I've struggled with feeling productive due to a variety of reasons, such as depression and burnout, and it always felt like I was lagging behind on my wips and the things I wanted to work on. So it was really surprising to see that rounded up, I have managed to reach around 300k words of both posted and unposted works!

That felt really wild, haha. Turns out that writing every day even if just a few words did add up little by little! Sure, some of the stuff might not make the editing process, but I'm glad to see there is still a lot of raw material that I can use.

WIPs

The two that I started this year are Mirror Marchen and Nocturnal Animals, which are both dark, urban fantasy (yes, I have a type) and fanfics for the Twisted Wonderland fandom. Mirror Marchen is posted and updated once a month as the novelization process tends to take quite a bit, but it's still the one passion project I want to see completed. It helped me polish my prose quite a bit and reignited my love for fairytale retellings as well. So far it's received positive attention and I'm very grateful for that! It really makes me happy to see others engage with something that brings me so much joy!

Nocturnal Animals is still a wip that I plan to release next year, as I wish to iron out all the kinks and creases, and make sure it's faithful to both the fandom and the VtM lore as much as it can! I told myself once that vampires aren't that fun to write, but it seems that is not the case at all. Dark fiction is surprisingly therapeutic to write and it helped me deal with stress and frustration, for which I am grateful! The modern urban fantasy vibes from this fic are weirdly healing and it contains some of the most beloved scenes I've written yet.

WRITING PROCESS

I started out 2021 with a lot of hesitation and panic in regards to my writing because I had never expected it to be so difficult to express things in a manner that I would be happy with. I'm a perfectionist by nature and an editing demon - I can go months writing and re-writing a thing and still not be satisfied, but lately, I've been trying to kick the habit and focus on the things that I do think I've done well! So, the things that I feel I have achieved this year are-

Better prose. I think it's tighter and flows better, so it makes the text sound more natural as well.

Introspective focus. Getting into a character's head is an extremely rewarding experience and I've loved doing that for characters like Malleus Draconia, who, as long-lived folk, will have a more nuanced and rather different take on things like life and mortality. Getting to express those notions in writing was very rewarding.

Character development. I've always loved making OCs, but never had the inclination to share them with others due to various factors so I've been just working at them little by little and focusing on developing them better. Now that I'm actually writing them too, it really helps with the visualization process since I can see them act out scenes and be influenced by events around them.

Themes. I've become bolder with the subjects that I write about, I think, and more inclined to take risks. And it feels like it paid off since my works are meatier as a result!

Editing more efficiently. Reading especially has helped me realize what sort of narrative I want to emulate for my own stories, so I've become quite ruthless when it comes to taking out and keeping in things that I do enjoy and think would help the story along.

PLANS FOR 2022

For the most part, it's just going on with what I have already started, so more wips will be completed and started, and more concepts explored!

Writing will become an everyday activity as well, owing to the fact that it really helped me pull through from my burnout regarding work and is also managing my depression more or less, haha.

Mirror Marchen will hopefully complete its first arc (Prologue) and starts its second one (The Crimson Tyrant) which will be accompanied by its own introduction and delve more into the worldbuilding and character introspection aspects!

Nocturnal Animals will be continued, and once the first draft will be written and edited, will be posted in weekly batches! It's the one wip that will explore a lot of dark topics and concepts so please look forward to it!

New works that I want to introduce here would be GOETIA, a fic for the Obey Me fandom along with a couple of oneshots pertaining to BNHA and Tokyo Revengers based on a lot of brainstorming and hastily written notes, haha! There's a lot of love and care put into all of these so I'm hoping it will come through as they will be posted!

I'm also planning on venturing into original fiction as well, mostly in the form of an IF horror story that I want to see come to life little by little, along with a YA gaslamp fantasy concept that is becoming maybe a bit too big for me to handle. But oh well, it's fun and that's all that matters!

Thank you to everybody who stuck with me during this year! It's really been such a joy to have you around and I appreciate your company and can't wait to see more of you during the following year! ❤️

#azusachats #ayearofwriting #a year of writing

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sleepyowlwrites · 2 years

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Sleepy's 2021 writing wrap-up accompanied by a little salt but mostly cheerful exhaustion

this event was hosted by @ecwrenn thank you darling. I think I'm late but I only like being early to work. and this is not that.

I don't keep any kind of proper track of my word counts or progress, mostly because I don't really care - I know that I wrote this year and that's good enough for me, word counts are not a motivator - but also because I am disorganized and scramble around afterward of anything to clean stuff up.

here is a very general assessment of the writing that I did this year.

January - I wrote some poetry and meandered around in Youth Story (then temporarily titled Project: Black Rose) and Anxiety Story.

February - I existed, I think. it was around this time that I played (find the word) tag with Maybe Sorcery a lot. also somewhere in here I think we became soulmates but I'm not sure. that might've happened earlier.

March - I made a new wip intro for Anxiety Story (the title is Every Other Star is Silent) and promptly didn't work on it (the wip) for the rest of the year. this is fine. it's a heavy wip and I wasn't up for it. then I made a way-too-early-I-don't-know-what-I-was-thinking wip intro for Magick Story (the title is Spider Silk). I have worked on this wip but only in the worldbuilding department.

April - I did Camp Nano and wrote 21,079 words. it felt great. I tried to do the same in May.

May - I did not write 20K, 15K or even 10K. I started to suspect that I was experiencing some creative burnout. (not quite. I was, at the time, enjoying making doodle art of other writers' wip titles. that was fun and easy.) instead it turns out I was just having a WRITING BURNOUT and subsequently-

June - I didn't really do any writing until the very end of this month was I fell in love with a character and decided to write a study fic of him. and then I did that. after editing it's now at almost 8K. so that's cool.

July - finished that above fic, worked on Youth Story. at some point I made an intro that I worked very hard on. it's already not up-to-date so it's gone now, bye-bye. I have an informal one that works a lot better, and character intros! I worked on those in-

August - still loved that character so I wrote a sequel to my first fic, which is currently being slowly edited and sits at nearly 11K. the character intros were all created and gradually released in-

September - which was a funky month because my sister got married. this has nothing to do with my writing but it happened. by the way, I've been writing poetry all year. most of it is not up on tumblr, but I'll share almost anything in a find the word tag. seriously. I get a little crazy with those things.

October - it actually took me until this month to finish that sequel fic. by this time I have also created 200 wip title arts. also also I've been writing this ridiculously complicated crossover fic in my friend's dms and that makes it into find the word too. also also also I turned 28. hooray.

November - I was very busy at work and wrote poetry and did some tags and eventually realized that I would have to be on hiatus since I couldn't really write or post like I wanted to. oh right, at some point I decided I was finished with Youth Story draft 0. it's at like, 26K? I can't check right now because the docs are closed. I feel like my laptop just sneaky updated because why else would they be closed? unless a ghost did it.

December - I did almost zero writing because I worked overnights at work and just got more and more exhausted as the month went on. I wrote three? four? tiny flash fics and a tiny bit of poetry and then Christmas happened. and just finished happening, for me.

to sum up, I've written probably approximately 55K this year, which I believe is less than last year but whatever! I don't care. I wrote things, and they meant something to me, and also to some other (wonderful) people who said very nice things in tags and such and that's all I want, really. I just want to write things and enjoy it, and I did. so 2021 was not my favorite, but it had good in it. some of it I made by myself, some of it I shared with others, and some of it YOU - writeblr - gave to me. Thank You.

Love, Sleepy

#ayearofwriting #sleepy stuff #writeblr community

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maguayans · 3 years

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RED COMPLEX | PROLOGUE

summary:

Where Heart’s life take another peculiar turn.

Genre: fantasy, romance Word Count: 400+ | Warnings: none

Masterlist | Wattpad

The red string of fate was merely folklore. It tells of an old man who could tie a person’s whole life to another with the use of an invisible red string. It is a story romantic elders would tell the children to help them sleep at night and create a hopeful perception about life and love.

The string of fate is red yet it is invisible to human eyes, only the gods could see them. But life has its mysteries and somehow a human was born to have a set of eyes, able to see the red strings of fate.

Heart was only twelve years old when she realized this. Red strings of fate would wave and tangle themselves all over her neighborhood. As a child, it was the most terrifying thing, thought she had gone crazy because no one else could see them. But everything was made clear after a weekend visit to the library. Heart found the legend fascinating and had convinced herself her eyes were a gift from the old man himself.

She decided to use her ability to help fated pairs find their way to each other, and it was good. When she entered university, she had launched a blog dedicated to helping these hopeless romantics. For three years, her blog has been a hit and readers would always express their gratitude through heartfelt comments and sometimes, gifts.

Well, all readers except one.

The reader's handle was moonshot143 the anti-fan, the basher, that tenacious thorn on the rose stem that is Heart's blog. In every entry, moonshot143 would always be the first one to leave a comment, dragging Heart's work through the mud. If it was constructive, Heart would surely respond in kind and be open to their concerns but they were simply mean and unnecessarily vulgar. Fortunately, she kept her true identity. As long as the anonymous user wouldn't know who she is, she'd be okay.

But during the blog's third anniversary something peculiar happened.

Heart was finishing an entry when suddenly the windows of her room banged into the walls and startled her off her chair. A gush of cold air went through and somehow switched off the lights like they were candles. Her room has gone dark but she could see a tall figure in a dark red coat enter her room. Heart wanted to shout and call for help but the figure was fast to knock her out. When she woke up, she found the tall figure who turned out to be a man, with her computer, trying to delete her blog.

Note: Thank you for reading! I hope you’re having a great day/night!

#red complex by ecwrenn #writerblr #writers on tumblr #fiction #fantasy #stories #writing

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druidx · 2 years

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A Year of Writing - 2021 Writing Wrap-up

@ecwrenn suggested the Writeblr community do a “Your Writing Year in Review” post with things one has posted, so others can catch up on things they might have missed. This is such a wonderful idea, I just had to join in. So, with many thanks to her for organising, here is my Year of Writing.

Quick Stats

Total Written (rounded up) - ~85,500 words Average Words/Work: 886 Started - 44 works Finished - 38 works Published - 41 works Number of Works still in Progress (started anytime): 68 Mostly wrote in: July (7 works) & Feb (6 works)

Breakdown

I’ve written quite a bit this year. A lot more than I thought, if I’m being honest. The dates on my spreadsheet are a little out of whack, but I’ve written somewhere in the region of 85k words this year, across 39 pieces (one of which was my on-going nano started last year, which had 52k added this year).

My longest work that was added to this year was The Ruby Falls (the aforementioned long-running Nano), bringing the word count to 128,274. The shortest work that was created this year was A Tea for the Sore of Head, with a word count of just 96.

It’s not too surprising that most of my writing was done in July, as this was the TES Summer Fest week. This was an event geared towards creators in The Elder Scrolls fandom, which I very much enjoyed participating in (many thanks to the organisers of TESFest). I also did a few prompts from the Homestead Spring and Autumn prompt weeks, which allowed me to stretch my writing muscles with some more original work.

This year I was advised by an editor friend to work on my subtext, so quite a lot of my drabbles have been towards stretching my writing muscles in that direction, or trying out fresh styles (Dearest Mama, May I Come Home? is a prime example of this). I feel like I’ve learnt a lot from these experiments, and I feel like my writing has advanced from what it has been for the last ~5yrs, so I’m very proud of that.

I spruced up some older Titan - World of Fighting Fantasy fics and published them to AO3, bringing the Published figure up by more than was finished this year. I also joined two new fandoms to write in - Starbound and Thunderbirds Are Go. I’m pleased at how well these first few forays have been, and I have some more stories planned in these fandoms as well. A couple of my original works have also seen a lot of success too, notably Before It Shatters, and received glowing comments.

Plans for 2022?

I have a lot of Big Scary IRL stuff that has to be completed by the end of Jan, and the Homestead is putting on a “Be a better writer” prompt event (organised by the above mentioned editor) in Feb/ March time which I’m very excited for.

My main project to tackle, thought, will be The Ruby Falls. I want to have finished it by April, to have it beta read and final edits by October and published to AO3 this time next year. How achievable that is, is anyone’s guess ^.^;

Of course, there will always be lots of other short stories added to the mix over the year, and maybe I’ll finish some of those 69 WIPs... But outside those few big milestones, my plans are mostly fluid, tbh :D

ICYMI

Under the cut are the things I’ve finished since 01 Jan 2021. List organised by universe & series, 99% links through to Tumblr.

Original works

Before It Shatters ~ 800 words Civil war shreds the land. The court priest meets with a state advisor to beg his intercession.

Dearest Mama, May I Come Home? ~ 480 words A young man in the 1800s regrets his life choices.

Can't Fool an AI ~ 415 words A spacefarer tries to claim he’s fine; his ship AI sees right through him.

Court Intrigue ~ 155 Words A woman's partner admires her dress, while being underhanded.

From Ham Park ~ 240 words A woman yearns for the freedom of travel.

Rocky Mountains ~ 126 words Description of the Rocky Mountains from a train out of Denver.

Starbound

Castles in the Sand ~ 1,100 words Lana Blake asks the Last Protector for help.

To Make an Ethereal Connection ~ 1,270 words An old Glitch sings, and the Narrator invites them to journey the stars.

Thunderbirds Are Go

Family Treasures ~ 1,720 words Grounded by injury, Kayo considers her family through the lense of trinkets.

Chin up ~ 1,060 words Hard-hitting questions come up during a training session between Kayo and Parker.

Cake Dress ~ 225 words Penny needs a new dress; Gordon makes quips.

Titan - World of Fighting Fantasy

Princess for a day ~ 790 words Millicent gets a very special treat on her birthday.

TESIV: Oblivion - Haven’s Ember (Modern AU)

A Night to Drink To (AO3) ~ 1,030 words Where Martin, Baurus and Aderyn fall on the "drink" triangle

Better Homes and Gardens ~ 440 words Martin shows Aderyn her room in his & Baurus’ new house.

Bitter Winds and Rain ~ 1,070 words Aderyn is not coping well with Martin being in a coma.

It's fashion, baby ~ 360 words Baurus ribbs Martin of his choice of shirt

Night will Fall and Drown the Sun ~ 1,260 words Jauffre is not coping well with Martin being in a coma.

Shaving Accidents ~ 1,025 words Baurus is not coping well with Martin being in a coma.

The Insomnolence of a Troubled Mind ~ 700 words Martin can’t sleep, Baurus find out why.

TESIV: Oblivion - Misc

Accidents Happen (but they don’t usually end the world) ~ 500 words Martin trips and cracks his skull, dooming the world

By Any Other Voice But Yours ~ 1,163 words Martin returns to Kvatch with Lucien and Korbin; Lucien helps Martin relax after PTSD sets in.

Crimson Storm ~ 1,792 words Martin has a panic attack.

Honour Among Thieves ~ 875 words A thief and a spy have a late night chat about threats to the Grey Fox.

Marble Tombs ~ 506 words A study of the unquiet nature of Ayleid Ruins

No Rose Without a Thorn (AO3) ~ 3,036 words Modryn Oreyn helps an old dunmer... but all is not as it seems.

Of Garlands and Gladness ~ 1,342 words A travelogue style recounting of Bravil’s festival to Mara.

Technicolour Nightmare ~ 885 words You’re debilitatingly ill in the wilderness, will you survive?

The Steel Undone ~ 803 words Modryn Oreyn agonises about a choice that must be made to save the Fighters Guild.

Your Dads think you are Working Too Hard, and want you to Take A Break ~ 772 words Martin and Baurus extort you, the HoK, to rest and eat more.

TESIV: Oblivion - Rin

Bleach ~ 1,040 words A discussion about redguard hair

At First Blush ~ 3,860 words F!HoK & Methredhel end up on job that goes sideways fast, but kisses make everything better.

About a mentor ~ 510 words K’Rin L’Rue is asked what Arch-Mage Traven was like as a mentor

TESIV: Oblivion - A Slice of Life with Talis

Talis and the Terrifying Errand-boy ~ 850 words Mages are unnecessarily extra and scare the townies.

Talis and the Bilberries ~ 890 words Talis the Baker goes berry picking.

A Sweet Misunderstanding ~ 710 words Talis the Baker makes a friend

TESIV: Oblivion - Teas of Tamriel

A Tea for the Scorned ~ 210 words Teas of Tamriel columnist advises on a poison.

A Tea for the Sore of Head ~ 100 words Teas of Tamriel columnist advises on a hangover cure.

Malted Milk for a Goode Nite's Rest ~ 110 words Teas of Tamriel columnist advises on a sleeping infusion.

Potion for a Gaye Nite ~ 280 words Teas of Tamriel columnist advises on a potion of Banish Social Anxiety.

#writeblr community #writeblr wrap-up 2021 #icymi #writing #meta wandering words #writeblr events #ayearofwriting #ayearofwriting21

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