#it is a creative writing exercise. okay. ily

[inkskinned]

i love when words fit right. seize was always supposed to be that word, and so was jester. tuesday isn't quite right but thursday should be thursday, that's a good word for it. daisy has the perfect shape to it, almost like you're laughing when you say it; and tulip is correct most of the time. while keynote is fun to say, it's super wrong - i think they have to change the label for that one. but fox is spot-on.

most words are just, like, good enough, even if what they are describing is lovely. the night sky is a fine term for it but it isn't perfect the way november is the correct term for that month.

it's not just in english because in spanish the phrase eso si que es is correct, it should be that. sometimes other languages are also better than the english words, like how blue is sloped too far downwards but azul is perfect and hangs in the air like glitter. while butterfly is sweet, i think probably papillion is more correct, although for some butterflies féileacán is much better. year is fine but bliain is better. sometimes multiple languages got it right though, like how jueves and Πέμπτη are also the right names for thursday. maybe we as a species are just really good at naming thursdays.

and if we were really bored and had a moment and a picnic to split we could all sit down for a moment and sort out all the words that exist and find all the perfect words in every language. i would show you that while i like the word tree (it makes you smile to say it), i think arbor is correct. you could teach me from your language what words fit the right way, and that would be very exciting (exciting is not correct, it's just fine).

i think probably this is what was happening at the tower of babel, before the languages all got shifted across the world and smudged by the hand of god. by the way, hand isn't quite right, but i do like that the word god is only 3 letters, and that it is shaped like it is reflecting into itself, and that it kind of makes your mouth move into an echoing chapel when you cluck it. but the word god could also fit really well with a coathanger, and i can't explain that. i think donut has (weirdly) the same shape as a toothbrush, but we really got bagel right and i am really grateful for that.

grateful is close, but not like thunder. hopefully one day i am going to figure out how to shape the way i love my friends into a little ceramic (ceramic is very good, almost perfect) pot and when they hold it they can feel the weight of my care for them. they can put a plant in there. maybe a daisy.

#warm up #writeblr. #i am not going to personally comment on the pineapple debate #some things are too big for me. #maybe we could have everything on earth choose their own names. #wouldn't that be fun #it is a creative writing exercise. okay. ily #''why only these languages?'' ..... bc i dont know every language #sorry :( #PLEASE leave me comments about what words u think are correct. i love learning them #btw! this isn't saying these are the most BEAUTIFUL words for it... just the words that are the most CORRECT #like i quite like the word ''keynote'' as mentioned. it's got a lot of fun sounds in it. #but it is not CORRECT. #''gloaming''' is interesting and fun and poetic but it is NOT correct . evening is MORE correct #but less beautiful. #does that make sense?

[stemgirlchic]

secret spy mission for when you're not okay

broken into "really really not okay" "really not okay" and "not okay"

really really not okay: mission stay safe

make sure you're in a safe place

hug your pillow, get under your blankets, anything that can be a little bit of comfort

if you're watching/reading/otherwise consuming something that's triggering you, put it away. or at least put it down for a moment. even if it's your work, even if it's an important news story that deserves your attention, it's okay. there will be other times to interact with it

if you're having bad impulses - rip a piece of paper, hit something soft, hell even throw something (preferably not something expensive but anything is better than hurting yourself or someone else)

deep breaths. i know it's cliche but it helps

ground yourself: 3 things you see, 2 things you hear, 1 think you feel.

really not okay: mission stabilize (pick 1-2 of these mission objectives)

watch funny videos online (i like SNL and clips from the office)

read a chapter of that book you set aside

if you can, get some fresh air, whether that's a short walk or just opening a window

if you're up for it, exercise can help, even just some stretching

work out your feelings creatively: draw, write angsty teenage poetry, sing a ballad in the shower, anything. we are creative creatures.

listen to some music - my friends all like listening to sad music when they're upset, but i find happy music helps. whatever works for you.

text/call/chat with someone you care about, even if it's unrelated to how you're feeling rn. just a meme or an emoji even, remind yourself you are loved.

not okay: mission small steps

get yourself some water

get a snack - it doesn't have to be complicated. a piece of fruit, some cheese and crackers, some chips, popcorn, pretzels, leftovers from last night. don't feel bad. this is productive. you are being productive. this is what you need rn.

turn on some chill music

make a list of the things you have to do - "must do today or there will be severe consequences", "should probably do today", "don't have to do today"

put aside the "don't have to do today". it's okay. there will be other days, better days. dramatically rip off that part of your to-do list, crumble it up, and throw it in the nearest trash can basketball star style.

start with your must dos. work for 15 minutes, then take a 5 minute break. if you can't do 15 minutes straight, do whatever time amount you can do. slow progress is still progress. i'm so proud of you.

take a nice, rewarding break after your must dos. you deserve it. then - reassess. are you up for your "should dos"? if so, repeat the last bullet point with them. if not, that's okay. there will be other days.

you did it. i'm so proud of you. one day you will look back on today and think "wow, i was so strong for getting through that. i can't believe i got through that" and you will be right. because you are so strong. ily <3 you are the best spy ever.

#inspired by recent events #mental health #you are not alone #you're going to be okay #you got this #be kind to yourself #you matter #you are loved #i love you #bad days #struggling #coping with stress #studyblr #academic stress #student #high school #college #university #vent #personal

[fcntasmas-archive]

This is a different anon, and I'm sorry if this isn't supposed to be writing advice hour 😁 I've been pretty much only writing academically for about 6 years now. I'm almost done with my higher degrees now, so I really want to get back into creative writing. I've sat down with a few ideas that I love, but when I start writing them, it's almost like my brain refuses to get out of that academic mindset. I don't think anybody wants to read a Buddie fick fit for the Journal of Accountancy. Is there anything you do that helps you not feel blocked or stuck, whatever the apt comparison would be?

hello, different anon!!! first of all congrats on being (almost) done with your higher degrees that's such an amazing feat i'm so excited for you!!!! BIG MWAH <3

as for your question, i'd say the advice i gave the other anon can work pretty well for this issue, too, but another piece of advice i can offer to get out of the kind of analytical, practical approach of academic language is to just,,, practice.

freewriting is a great exercise for this. set a timer for like five-ten mins and turn your brain off and just write. don't edit, don't backspace, don't dwell on it or think about it. just write. after that, look back over it and try and pinpoint the things you like about what you wrote, and what you didn't. then try it again, and this time try to focus on expanding on what you liked. rinse and repeat. eventually, you might have, like, even a couple of sentences that feel like they flow a lot more naturally than what you're used to.

ALSO, take a break and read some fiction. YA and NA particularly are two genres i suggest the most, if only because they focus so much on the emotion of it all, which is what you want to achieve when writing your own fiction. tap into the emotions you've either studied in fiction or felt yourself. a great writing exercise that i've done in the past is to just kind of like. write out the basic emotions you may feel on a regular basis -- sad, mad, happy, anxious, etc -- and then write a sentence or two of what they might look like in you or in a certain character. expanding from there should come easier, then.

and just overall GO EASY ON YOURSELF. your brain's been trained to write a certain way, ofc it's gonna take you a minute to find your voice again!! that's totally okay. be patient, embrace the editing process (even though it's arguably the woooorst) and try and try again. talk it out with someone you know/love/trust. send them some snippets and ask them where they think you could be less practical. then try and try again.

i hope this is helpful in any way!! ily lots babe and i am ROOTING for you <333

#answered #anonymous #writing is hard!

[sailoryooons]

Hi! It’s been a while 😅 (tbh I have been sending in asks without my name for a while lol randomly felt more comfortable without using my name idk 😕 I sent in some titles and some of them got replies yay!)

I like your ask game replies! They’re so interesting and different from each other wow. You’re such a good writer and it’s nice to hear your ideas. The mysterious ones make me so curious. (Too bad they won’t become real fics but oh well) “The Bloodless Stone” is so interesting. Why does the ruby turn red because of Hoseok? Why is Jimin immortal? Why does he need to make the stone change color? Why did the last owner get murdered? “Husbands for Sale” is my favorite one rn. It’s so funny. Would you ever write a crack fic? I think it would be good.

-🖤

HELLO MY LOVE! That's totally okay - you're allowed to end in asks however you want/however makes you most comfortable! I'm going to finish the fake titles today heheh I got super busy yesterday and wasn't able to do it like planned.

I actually was wondering if they were generated or not - honestly they're so much fun to do and they're such a good thinking exercise. I'm so glad you gave me so many options, because it really got the creativity flowing for me!

Honestly The Bloodless Stone and Husbands for Sale were my favorites lmao as soon as I saw husbands for sale I was like pouty Jungkook mad at his hyungs is the obvious way to go!

I would definitely write a crack fic - I don't know that humor is my forte, as I usually just sprinkle humor in what I write either by design but sometimes on accident.

Thanks for submitting so many ily I hope you're happy and healthy love!

#replies #🖤 anon

[whtaft]

Honestly??? I’ve been doing small creative writing exercises, and I wanted to try and start writing an actual story, but I keep getting discouraged? Like, I see all the amazing writers and I’m automatically like “I can’t do this??” Because I’m shit in comparison?? Pls, any advice? (Also ily thanks in advance❤️💞💓)

So, you came to the right person when it comes to combatingself-doubt in writing, because I am just about the least-confident person Iknow, and I am incredibly self-conscious about my writing! To be honest, I’msuper glad that I started writing before I became part of a fandom because Ithink that it is probably really intimidating to dive in now, when there’s alot of really great stuff already out there. But the fact is that there’salways room for more: more voices, more interpretations, more stories. Thatincludes yours.

So this got kind of long, but basically this is mambo’sunpatented advice on how to write despite crippling self-doubt. These arethings I try to practice myself (to varying degrees of success).

Make writing habitual

Practice

Try writing every day, even when you don’t wantto, even when it’s hard, even when you don’t have time. Don’t make unreasonabledemands on yourself (because we all need a break sometimes) but if you make writinga habit then you’ll improve. It’s as simple as that. (Though, don’t expect towrite 3000 words and you’re suddenly Tolstoy. You need to write a lot. A LOT.)

Set goals that are in your control

Setting goals is a great way to get yourself to dosomething. For me, I try to write 1000 or 500 or 300 words a day, depending onmy life/schedule. I track the numbers so I can see my progress over time, whichI find to be really motivating. If word count isn’t your thing, find somethingthat is. You wanna post one chapter a week, or you want to finish one scene aday… Just find the thing that’ll keep you chugging out your writing.

That being said, make sure that your goals aresomething you control. Don’t make things like number of hits or comments ornotes or kudos a goal, because you can’t control what other people do. Don’tput your motivation in the hands of strangers. That’ll only discourage you fromwriting when you don’t hit those goals.

Process

These are things that help me through difficulttimes in my writing process, so they may or may not work for you, but I’vefound them helpful.

Get a hype person

I have a friend (s/o @hakunahistata) who I go towhen I’m feeling discouraged about my writing or confused or whatever. Shereads my stuff, gives me some opinions, and usually tells me that what I’mwriting is much better than I think it is and that I need to chill. I’m someonewho naturally doesn’t want to share unfinished things with people, so it’s veryvulnerable to give an unfinished product to someone else. But I’ve found thatit’s really affirming and nice to have someone you trust who will work thingsout with you when you’re feeling down!

Don’t edit as you go

Nothing bogs me down as much as editing as I gowhen I’m writing something. I try my best to just plug along, get as much as Ican onto the page, and save editing (whether that’s for spelling or plotreasons) until after I have a completed work. Then you go back having alreadyaccomplished a complete draft and you can edit knowing ‘oh I want to add someforeshadowing in here’ or ‘this doesn’t really work with what I did later’. Itjust gives you an overall better sense of what the fic is and where you want togo and doesn’t leave as much room for self-doubt as you go along.

When in doubt, just write dialog                

I don’t know about other people, but I findwriting dialog far more enjoyable than any other part of the writing process.So when I’m stuck in a scene and don’t know where I want it to go, I just writedialog and ignore everything else. Then I can go back later and add in movementand commentary, etc.

Have multiple things going on

At any given time, I have between two and seven “long”WIPs that I’m working on. I get frustrated with one? I work on another. I getfrustrated with two? I work on a third. It makes me slow down on all of my works,and allows me to return to them with fresh eyes and ideas. It also means that Idon’t pressure myself to work on things I don’t want to work on (unless it’sfor a fandom event). If something stops being fun, I move on. No harm, no foul.

I also do the short Tumblr prompts for the samereason. They’re little writing exercises (like you do!) that let me explorethings in a low-pressure, short-term way. They’re also just fun to write!

Fandom

So, this is less ‘advice from someone who knowswhat they’re doing’ and more ‘stuff that I, personally, struggle with but tryto practice but not always’. Just know that you’re not alone in feelingself-doubt when it comes to fandom and comparison. It’s something that a lot ofpeople struggle with, myself included.

There is a place for your work

As I said before, there is room for everyone.Don’t sell yourself short by thinking that since there are already many storiesout there, you can’t include yours. You have a unique perspective, stories totell, and a desire to share. That in of itself is important and get you far!

Try, try, try, try, try, try, try not to compareyourself to others

This is the big one and the hardest one. It’seasy to compare yourself to others when there are so many talented people whoparticipate in fandom. Try not to. Enjoy the work of people you appreciate, butunderstand that they have their own voice and that doesn’t take away fromyours. Just try to appreciate that they’re putting themselves out there and arejust hoping for the best in the same way you are. Learn from them, but don’tcompare yourself. This’ll just put undue pressure on yourself in an alreadyvulnerable position.

Don’t talk shit about yourself

I’m so guilty of this, but try not to talk shitabout yourself. Even if you’re joking, every time you say “I’m such a badwriter” it reinforces that notion just a little bit more in your mind. Try yourbest to turn things around from “I’m not as good as they are” to “I writethings differently than they do, and that’s okay”; or, “this fic sucks” to “thisfic is a first draft and there are a lot of good ideas there, but I need topolish up some of the writing and clean up some plot holes”.

Play to your strengths

I know I have a niche in fandom. I write fluffy,cute AUs that will (hopefully) make people happy. Would I like to write 250,000word long epic alternative-canon fics that fix everything wrong with canon andinclude large-scale fights and medical scenes? Yes. Of course I would! Thosestories are awesome. But will I? Probably not. Don’t not challenge yourself,but also… just understand who you are, what you want to write, and understandthe importance of having your story out there. It’ll find an audience. Don’t beatyourself up for writing the ‘wrong’ kind of fic, or for writing fic that’s too ‘insert-adjective-here’.Your story will find its audience and mean something to them. What’s mostimportant is that you enjoyed writing it and the story means something to you.

Don’t put your happiness in other people’s hands

This goes back to numbers again. It’s easy toquantify success in fandom based on hits, kudos, notes, and comments. There areso many factors that are out of your control here and it can drive you crazy.This is why I’ve wanted to stop writing fics several times and it’s probablywhat I (a person cursed with being both incredibly sensitive and naturallycompetitive) struggle with the most here. I don’t have great advice for notdoing it, but I can tell you from firsthand experience that it’s not healthy. Tryyour best to ignore the numbers and to appreciate every good thing that comesyour way.

Celebrate your victories

When you reach a goal, celebrate. When you getover a hurdle that you’ve been struggling with, celebrate. When someone tellsyou that your writing touched them, celebrate. Writing can be really tough,isolating, and discouraging. Make sure that you take time to be proud of whatyou’re doing. Even if you don’t share it, even if you don’t reach your goals,know that what you’re doing is making you a stronger writer and that, at theend of the day, you’re doing it for yourself.

To write and to share work with people puts you in a reallyvulnerable position. I’m proud of you for starting and I’m proud of you fortrying. And I’m sorry I wrote 1,500 words about this. I’m just sensitive andhave a lot of feelings on this topic. This is actually a trimmed-down versionof this essay. You’re welcome for not including the rest.

#I Wrote This At Work Because I Am SO BORED #I'm Sneaking On Here Shh Don't Tell Anyone #Fic Stuff

[badacts]

Hi, Bee, I really enjoy your writing and I love the way you write the aftg characters but I always go back to my work and think it's just rubbish then (sorry, not good to say, ik). Because you have such little exposition in your work w/o making it hard to understandunderstand, and that aspect of your style is an aspect of mine I can never peg right. Can you give some writing tips for how you build a setting and choose the dialogue? Thanks

PRE-STATEMENT ONE: THANK YOU ILY

PRE-STATEMENT TWO: we’re always 12500% less critical of media we consume than media we create, that’s perfectly normal. i know that my writing is decent quality but i have plenty of my own not-so-great habits that i probably notice more than any of you guys ever would (for example, i majorly overuse qualifiers because.....i love them), and when i read a really beautifully pared-back fic i feel very self-conscious about that. i think it really helps to keep in mind that we’re all hypercritical of our own work, and that we should remember to be nice to ourselves!!!! i think it’s nice to see and emulate techniques from other people that we like, but also there’s intrinsic value in how YOU write, even if it’s not ‘technically’ of a high standard. just remember, i got a b in a creative writing paper as university level because my work wasn’t technically skillful according to the markers, but one of the pieces from my portfolio is now published, lol

OKAY MOVING ON TO THE TIPS SO YOU CAN EMULATE THIS THING OF MINE YOU LIKE, BECAUSE THAT’S COOL TOO

so the exposition thing for me is very straight-forward because i by nature write fic like i’m actually writing the script of a medium-budget action movie. that means i think of a story in terms of relatively quippy, fast-paced dialogue, and then add in any situational exposition within that framework, rather than doing it the other way around (reread one of my short fics and you can probably see this structure). the bulk of my descriptive imagery is added on top of that from the pov character, who is always focussed less on exposition and more on the emotional observations that pull a short fic together. 

so, my recommendation to you is to play around with some short exercises (~500 words) where you focus on writing a conversational dialogue (without being picky on quality!!) with a clear and progressive point a and point b (say, character a asks character b on a date and character b had NO IDEA character a liked them).

then you can flesh that out with the very basic observations that make the fic a story rather than a, you know, script (little character movements, facial expressions, the normal ‘character a says or mumbles or mutters etc etc’ stuff), THEN focus on the pov character’s observations and thoughts as narration. then leave the fic for a few days and come back to it so you can note any areas that need additional exposition for clarity’s sake. and remember this is just an exercise! it’s not about writing something beautiful, it’s about reevaluating your writing process and trying to create in a minimalist, pared-back way rather than trying to edit/clean a fic you’ve already created to get the same impression.

you’ll find that you can use this technique to build a longer story, too - stories are made up of scenes, generally either internally narrated by the pov character or dialogue-based. so once you’ve got point a to point b, you can add on b to c, c to d, etc, using the same idea

i hope that makes sense!! happy writing, and don’t forget to be nice to yourself

#bee talks to people #writing #writing advice #Anonymous

[sourpatchstarkids]

*plays that sound that indicated urgent news in the past*

i have no urgent news i just like that noise

anyways!!! some actual updates 4 you guys

last saturday and this saturday i’ve been/will be gone bcus im helping my hs theatre teacher judge forensics comps!!! i miss going to those but judging is super fun for me and i never broke to semis/finals so this is in a way even more interesting!

so i have no sit-down finals this semester but i do have:

a 20 page research paper and 15 minute presentation on an influential gay rights person in america, due end of april

a paper due tuesday on growing up as a female and how i’ve been affected by it; good news is she doesn’t need any sources so i can just grab that shit from my ass and go to town

a phonology lab due wednesday, a quiz in early april, and an ongoing term paper due end of april

four or five more poems to write and revising 10 total for a final portfolio

so needless to say i’ve been a bit busy!!! i’m not worried about any of my finals except for phonology bcus i’m still having a hard time with it

but speaking of class. holy shit y’all. so my poetry workshop is a once a week class and each class, we do some writing exercises and/or discuss a book of poetry we had to read, turn in a poem for next week, and critique everyone’s poem from last week. and i’ve said it before but it is a truth universally acknowledged that every creative writing workshop has to have a douchebag in it. ESPECIALLY poetry workshops. so of course i have one in my class. and so far he hasn’t been terrible, just kinda pretentious and a little rude but nothing too bad. but his poems are... not-good weird like i’m always uncomfortable reading them and not in a “i understand the poetic merits of my discomfort” way like just pretty reliant on shock value. 

so. 

this week we were critiquing our poems and his comes up and normally we have one person read the poem out loud then have the poet do so. but this time my prof’s like “why don’t you just read it yourself it’ll go faster” and i think he was a little confused/pissed about that but whatever bcus the actual reason my prof said that was bcus the poem was just super not-okay. i’m not going into detail but it was pretty clearly about a topic that wasn’t appropriate for student writing in the first place, much less a class with 13 girls and a female professor who has a daughter. and he finished reading it and normally i would wait a few seconds to see if anyone else wanted to say something and then speak about the poem in terms of craft and not subject matter. but this time i was already feeling off ((more on that later)) so i wasn’t gonna say anything but it was. dead silent. for at least a minute. no one would say anything about the poem (which was actually a prose piece instead of a poem but regardless) so i just jumped in like “i can’t really talk about the poem technically because the subject matter is super inappropriate and i’m not comfortable acknowledging it” and another girl (who im in love w/ her name is athena how badass??? anyway) said a few things about the format of the poem but like that was it. and my prof was saying her bit and trying really carefully to be like “there’s a line dude and you crossed it” but politely

so he tries to interrupt a few times to defend his choices, but another thing we do in class is make the poet wait until the very end to talk like no interjections or explanations during the critiques. and my prof pointed this out and he was getting super pissy about it even though it wasn’t a thing on him for once and when its his turn to speak he like super dramatically turns around and puts his stupid fucking hat on and says s/t like “well if you’re not gonna respect what i have to say i guess i’m done here” and fucking???? leaves??? in the middle of class like don’t get me wrong i’m glad i didn’t have to be near him anymore but he was just so fucking mad we called him out for writing about an inappropriate subject.

so he leaves and my prof’s just like “okay. i’m sorry about that guys i wasn’t sure how this was going to go i should have just gotten rid of his poem in the first place” and we talked for a bit about it then moved on with class. and i honestly don’t know if he’s gonna come back to class or not i sure as fuck hope not but it’s way past midterms so who knows

wow this is getting long but i got more to say so thx for reading so far ily

so EARLIER in that class before the whole tantrum we were talking about this book of poetry we had to read and at the end of the discussion our prof played a video of the poet performing a poem of his to an audience, some conference or something idk, and like most of the poems in his book he was talking about death and reacting to someone close to you dying and normally i’d be fine with that but he mentioned something that was so so similar to what happened with my grandpa and i knew i was gonna start crying so i left and tried to calm myself down and it took like a good 10 minutes maybe and i talked to the prof about it so it’s not like i missed anything but being sad is still so fucking exhausting and that kinda drained me for the rest of class

even though i’m typing not talking i feel the need to catch my breath whats up w/ that

and my prof only has office hours once a week for an hour, so i went today because i had some questions about my revisions, and we ended up talking about the class in general, and she said how grateful she is that i’m in her class and my dedication to it, and that she loves reading my work, and it was all very good for my ego n stuff

um um what else i got a dorm room for next year! so no more summer-long stress about that lmao buuuuuuuut i think thats about it!!!

again tysm for reading, ily, stay safe and hydrated <33

#this week has been a Week and i still got three more days to it #life of sam update #sam's doing college