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#take all advice with a grain of salt
borderlinereminders · 2 years
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I screwed up and now have to apologize/make it right. Now what?
Okay, first of all, take a breath. When we mess up, it can be really hard on us and send us into a guilt spiral. Take a moment and remind yourself that you are human and humans make mistakes. Remind yourself that you are not a bad person. If you are having urges, please check out my post on urge surfing. If you are feeling in crisis, a skill like TIPP may help ground you.
If you are in the middle of a situation with someone, it's still okay to walk away. “I need to take some space to get control of my thoughts. I’m not trying to avoid this or walk away but I want to have a clear head.”
When you're feeling more calm, move on to the next step.
Apologizing
Apologies can be really hard. We're often told not to "ruin an apology" with excuses, but it can be so much more complicated than that. One of the first things I keep in mind about apologies is that explanations and excuses are not the same thing. Here is an example post I wrote of a personal situation where you can see an "explanation" apology instead of an "excuse" one.
It's not okay to say "I'm sorry I screamed at you and insulted you but I wouldn't have if you hadn't done -insert reason here-." This is not a real apology, and it puts the blame on the other person for being screamed at or upset they were screamed at. It's valid to talk about your feelings that led to the situation, but they shouldn't be conveyed in your apology like that.
What you could say is "I'm sorry I screamed at you and insulted you." But you could also say "I'm sorry I screamed at you and insulted you. I was feeling frustrated but it wasn't right to scream at you and insult you." While a lot of people say the first one is "right", I do think the second one is also okay because sometimes an explanation can make it easier to apologize, or sometimes open the door for a bigger conversation (if the other person is in a headspace for it) or can be crucial to not disregarding your own feelings (which are valid, even if the way you responded to them wasn't.)
A lot of this depends on the relationship itself as well. The latter one works for my partner and me, as seen in the example post I shared above. It doesn't mean it will work with everyone, in fact, it could make some people feel dismissed or invalidated. It's good to communicate when you're both calm about what some of the best ways to navigate situations like apologies are.
Some other things to remember about apologies are while a lot of people say that it's okay to express how badly you feel, there is a fine line. Sometimes, even though we do genuinely feel torn up about something we've said/done, it's not good to convey that in a way that can lead to the other person needing to comfort us or feeling they need to put their feelings aside for our well-being. Saying things like "I'm sorry I screamed at you and insulted you. I feel really bad that I did that because you didn't deserve it" are okay. But saying something like "I'm sorry I screamed at you. I feel so bad. I'm so sorry. I don't know how to handle this because I feel so guilty. I'm a terrible person and don't deserve your forgiveness" isn't really okay.
The feelings can be really overwhelming, and I get that and see how those guilt spiral apologies can happen but they end up pushing the other person to accept your apology even if they're not ready just to make sure you're okay.
After the apology
Okay, you've apologized. Now what? Well, it largely depends on what the other person is feeling. If they want some space to think, calm down or just breathe, then you should give them that. (Please note that there is a difference between someone needing space to process vs someone wanting space to avoid accountability for their part in things.)
Phrases like “It’s not fair of me to say what I said/do what I did and expect things to just be fine. I’m here when you want to discuss this further.” might be helpful
The other person is not obligated to accept your apology or offer forgiveness, but please note that this doesn't mean you should continue to beat yourself up.
When the other person is ready to talk to you, it's your turn to listen and hear them out (as long as they are talking to you in a calm manner. Regardless of what you did, they still shouldn't be attacking you.). Even if you don't agree with what they're saying, hear them out. Let them talk about their feelings. Sticking with our example, maybe they felt afraid when you screamed at them. Allow them the space to talk about that.
When they're done talking, now is the time where it might be time to communicate about things as a whole on how you can both do better in the future.
Maybe you screamed at them because they ate your food out of the fridge without asking, again. While your feelings are valid, you can still apologize for the hurtful things you said (like the insults in our example) but still communicate about the larger issue. In a case like this, using the DEAR MAN method might be helpful.
If this is a situation where you recognize you are completely at fault like say for example, you took out a bad mood/day on them, then this might be the point where you talk about working on things to do better. This might include talking about some coping skills you plan to use in the future, or even talking to them about ways they could support you if they're able to.
While you can't promise to never do it again, making an effort and plan to change and do better is important.
At the end of the day, remember it’s okay to make mistakes. You aren’t a bad person for them. Please don’t continue to beat yourself up.
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niceinchnails · 7 months
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Some art advice pisses me off a lot theyre always ⚠️DO NOT SHADE WITH BLACK EVER⚠️IF YOU EVER USE PURE WHITE ON YOUR ART YOU DIE⚠️ You can do whatever if you ever see a "dont" on a dos and dont art advice there will always be some way to make it look good ok
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robyn-goodfellowe · 10 days
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Hi uhh idk how to say it but any tips on writing in general? I really wanna write my story I have stored in my doc but I don’t know where to start.
hello!! i am very honored that you came to ME to ask because i love to talk about writing, so thank you :) with that being said this might get a little long so ill put everything under a readmore, but all of my advice can be summarized like this
tl;dr: just start!!!
i KNOW. in my soul. that there's genuinely nothing more every aspiring writer hates to hear than "just start" lol but it really does come down to that. just start. whatever you put on the page doesnt have to be PERFECT, it just has to be there. my first drafts for anything are never solid. my initial drafts are NEVER the quality of the final
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and its through careful, consistent rewriting that it becomes something more palatable and fun/easy to read. what ive noticed a lot of new writers do (and i used to be very prone to this as well) is that they go into their drafts expecting to drop their final product there, and aim for perfection. i cannot stress enough that perfection is THE ENEMY in literature. you can rewrite things thousands of times for it to turn out imperfect in the end, and thats OKAY. you'll end up with a draft you like eventually, but don't expect yourself to find it right away. it takes me a lot of consistent writing sessions to have a paragraph that im satisfied with. itll come to you naturally
but the best advice i can offer is really just ... START. open google docs and just write down your thought process, whatever that looks like for you. maybe its the summarisation of a few scenes you like, maybe its a chunk of an out of context paragraph. whatevers in your head, put it on paper and see where you can go from there. thats really the only way you can start
outside of that some of my big things are being consistent and READING. i write for at minimum half an hour every day (not always fic lol! i am a creative writing major, am working on my manuscript and also trying to get published in some small-scale literary magazines and sites. so im always working on something, basically) and its probably the only thing in my life i am super consistent about. maintaining a habit and making yourself write even when you dont "feel like it" or cant find motivation is the best way to keep writing long term. and reading, well, how i like to put it to my friends is that creativity is like a well. you cant keep drawing from it without filling it up eventually. you need good writing and good words to inspire you so you can keep drawing from your creative well. when im not writing im reading and you should be too. you really cant have one habit without the other
are really immersing myself in the world that i've created for my silly little guys. i am, at all times of the day, immersed into my stories one way or another. im almost constantly curating pinterest boards, or making playlists, or sharing it with my friends (the last one is highly important. the best way to stay encouraged is to have someone to share with) and so theres not really a day when im not thinking about what i want to write to some extent
but yeah basically thats all of the advice i can offer. write, write, write and don't be afraid for it to be not perfect. nobody is perfect, you are human. so just have fun with it
hope this can help ssomewhat! :)
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earthtooz · 8 months
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hello! i love your works so much everything you write is perfect! i stopped writing more than a year ago but reading your works inspired me to write again 😊 it’s crazy how we are the same age but our level of writing is completely different, yours blew my mind 🤯🤯🤯 (in a good way!!!!!) i was wondering if you could give me some tips to improve my writing as i feel like i’m lacking in many departments (if you’re comfortable in doing so, ofc!) thank you! ❤️❤️❤️
this ask was send march 5th, and i'm happy to report that four months later, for the first time in a while, i think i'm finally at a point in my writing where i'm confident giving out tips that are not generic and stock standard. i do not know if anon is going to ever see this, but i hope you do, and i hope that you're still as inspired to write as you were when you sent this :) a lot can happen in four months!!
i'm just going to get straight into it. you'll find that the further you go, the more... catered the advice might be to you (it's long, and maybe a bit rambly, but i hope it’s useful in some sort of way 🥲)
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# ONE - THE MOST BASICS:
the most DEVASTATING thing you can do for your writing is not have a purpose for each scene or snippet you write. give your scenes a point, don't let them be just images that you sit on the document to take up space! are you trying to prove that character x oc's relationship is growing? are you trying to show that it's breaking apart? are you trying to set up the character as someone who's beginning to fall in love and hates it? give everything a purpose. every word must be linked to your intention.
you know what they say about chekhov's gun, if you are going to mention some little thing, give it a purpose later! you mention reader likes sweaters? let character give them a sweater! this works in many-a-ways.
this all comes down to the planning, which i would give tips on, but i'm writing this part too late. i'm also trying to keep this first part brief because this is a very long post.
for english speakers, the second most devastating thing is to not know your grammar LOL (i cannot criticise those who speak another language as their first! kudos to you, keep doing what you're doing.)
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# TWO - FIND YOUR STYLE: easier said than done, but it's an essential part of any art. writing takes time, and only time will evolve your skill and therefore, your style. if you do not like what you write off the bat and believe you are 'lacking' in some departments (no such thing, there is room to improve instead of being 'incapable' of doing something), then i always turn to some of my favourite authors, whether they are published or another fanfiction writer, turn to them and study them. DO NOT PLAGIARISE, just try and emulate what you see from their works and put them into your works, with your own sense of individual style.
i have my list of esteemed tumblr writings that i look up to, as well as writers that i adore. ocean vuong will always be one of my favourite writers, i listen to him frequently when i am stumped by my own writibg. he has this sort of creative aura that drips of his own idiosyncrasy that inspires me every time i try to listen to him, him just speaking calms and invigorates me so much.
so yeah, find your writer, and learn from them :)
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# THREE - THE 'DEPARTMENTS': the departments that i have included are:
characterisation
dialogue
description and artistic expression (this one is long, bear with me.)
like i said earlier, there are indeed departments are writing that we all have room to improve in. i will talk about the few that i might find specific to fanfic writing because i am nothing like an actual author :,)
characterisation: a fickle little thing T^T the worst thing ever. to characterise properly means you know the character like it's your own, but in fanfiction that's just truly not possible :,) so i can try and give you my own tips on how i deal with characterisation.
listen to the english dub (or your first language) - DON'T CRUCIFY ME. PLEASE. BUT LET ME SPEAK. for my fellow fluent english speakers, listening to a dub in a language we do not understand can only go so far in the way we understand a character. when listening to english, we hear the intricate ways of their tone and personalities work, and what kind of dialogue best flows with them (toji fushiguro is excluded from this. never listen to that man's english dub.). when i was writing for bakugou- he's not the hardest character to understand, but with the help of the english dub, the dialogue that i wrote for him flowed a lot easier than if i had just tried to internalise his jp dub. he's gruff, and rude, and cocky, and his english va captures that in quite an adorable way! ofc you can never just ignore the original, the original is there to provide you the blueprint, but sometimes a little help explaining the blueprint goes a long way !!
characterisation can also be perfected through the subtle changes in dialogue that you see. a big part of character is how they talk, and even just the subtlest of changes can go far. let me start with the example "this is a really bad idea." if i were writing itoshi rin, then i would change the sentence fit to his speech and embody how he'd actually react to a 'bad idea'. he's curt, doesn't say more than necessary, and unashamed to be cold so he'd probably just say "this is stupid." before walking away LMAOO if i were writing someone like gojo, then the sentence also changes too. he doesn't mind talking and adding more to his point, so i would write something like: "you sure? this doesn't seem like the brightest idea." and if i'm really trying to sell a romantic relationship, i'd add a 'sweetheart' there or something.
dialogue: this is a personalised experience, so as is everything in writing. i have been complimented on my flow and dialogue a lot of the time but in truth, i am merely having a conversation with myself in my head. i try to become the character i am writing about and then i just chat with myself :3 it can be that simple. dialogue does not need to be something you over-complicate, i am my own, ethical character.ai.
description and artistic expression: look, i can't say much on this one except that you're all on your own. i am still trying to perfect my own skills in this department because this is perhaps one of my most vexing parts of writing. i truly am just not... as poetic and imaginative as i want my words to be, but i am trying and i am improving.
my biggest tip regarding description and artistry is: if the reader can imagine it, you don't need to write it. you don't need to fill in the gaps with actual scenes, if your characters are walking through the park as a filler for getting from destination A to B, then that park scene does not need to be as descriptive as A or B. a mere 'you took a shortcut through the park' will suffice. or even better, just go straight from A to B.
say my 'A' scene is starting at a cafe, and my 'B' scene is going to the mall, you could just go 'calling for the waitress to get the bill, you then find yourself in the mall within 15 minutes'. spend time on the gaps that require a bridge to cross, not the gaps that you can merely step over.
these kind of things appear in your planning and admittedly, i don't even plan ROFLLL but i have primary scenes that i have sketched out which i sometimes add to. like spider webs, when going from one thread to another, sometimes the journey is not all that important if it does nothing for your plot.
again, i find inspiration in a lot of the writers i look up to. a recurring motif is something i love adding, whether that be dialogue or a recurring item that symbolises something (like the hairband in between love and lies - a nagi fic). techniques like motifs or an extended metaphor add a lot of depth in your writing that you can't find otherwise. you can also omit going too over the board with reader's emotions too, or just the character's. if it's obvious that they are angry, sad, happy, you don't need to go too far in detail about said emotions.
another so crucial thing is to take note of the things you see in real life and apply it in fiction. the most mundane of things you are doing can have beauty in words.
are you at the beach? why don't you take a look around. tell me about the people that sit on towels, minding their own business. tell me about the way the sun sits high in the sky, unforgiving and burning before going into the main plot.
are you sitting on a bench, killing time? tell me about the breeze you feel, or perhaps the heat that overwhelms you. tell me about what you hear- bikes, children laughing, whilst you're waiting for your date to show up- all of these minute things, so long as you don't go overboard, will matter a lot to the imagination of the reader!
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# FOUR: TAKE CARE OF AND LOVE WHAT YOU WRITE writing will always be hard :,) not a single draft goes by where i do not find inconsistencies and flaws, but i love them all the same. i love the drafts that i read over once and posted and i also love the drafts that i poured blood, sweat, and tears into. neither of them are more special to me because they were all born from a simple idea.
to look back on what you wrote and going 'i can do this better now' is beautiful, no? i love the end product for what i learnt on the way.
i know me giving this advice is kinda hypocritical because you'll find me going 'i hate this' in the tags, and you can choose to believe me or not, but i adore all of my stories the same. some of them i just hate that i couldn't give them the attention and love that they deserved, which shows through in the end quality. not that you guys seem to care, it's all in my head sometimes lMFAO.
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# FIVE - KEEP THE POV CONSISTENT: now we are getting to the tips that i've been learning myself recently. how funny is it that i learnt this whilst reading from a writer that i so admire?
whilst reading a long fic, i noticed that the flow is satisfying because there was no swap of perspectives. the character was in the focus the whole time and the reader was the reactor, the catalyst being the character's actions and internal dialogue. on the other hand, the reader's thoughts and feelings being in the spotlight can also be significant.
i had always known that keeping the pov consistent would influence your writing, but i never knew how much.
which pov you might want to choose is all intuitive. writing is intuitive- every other tip that i have revealed is all intuitive and i'll cover more of this later. more importantly right now, which perspective you want to execute is all on you, and no one else. if you know your character, your storyline, and your skills, you will simply know how the story shall go. it is just as powerful to write it from reader's pov as it is the character's because it comes from your knowledge and authority as the writer!
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# SIX - LEAVE THE COMFORT ZONE: this kind of returns to tip four. sometimes the only way to evolve is to do something we are bad at and that advice applies to writing too. writing is a path set by previous writers but it is not one that we have to follow all the time, why take a shortcut when the long way is prettier, and more rewarding? your journey of improvement is dependent on what you realise and give yourself opportunities to improve in.
for example, recently i have been trying to improve the depth of my descriptions and- don't laugh, but the way i've been doing so is as followed:
i input myself into the scenario, i empathise with the characters within the scene and i describe it. maybe it's emotional and the character can't look you in the eye because they don't have the heart to, not when their chest is filled with a smoke that is so unbearable that all they can focus on is not turning to ashes. maybe it's a happy scene and all you can look at is the character. maybe it's confronting, and the only thing you can think about is defending yourself against their clenched fists that will never actually hurt you, but you know damn well can break your walls in one swing. leave the comfort zone, write new au's and new dialogue pieces, write new metaphors and similes and use rhyme, listing, repetition- just try something new every time and let it be meaningful to the story.
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# SEVEN - GIVE YOURSELF TIME. like the growth of your muscles or the mobility of your limbs, or the way your hands flow along the canvas or keyboard, writing is a skill that can only be improved with time. fanfic writing is intuitive and completely reliant on your own tastes.
i can sit here, speak for ages about writing, but the only way you can learn is to do. i have people who see what i do and praise me for being one of their favourite writers, and as honoured as i am every time, i am merely born from the six years i have put into this craft, as well as the hours i put into writing and planning what they see. if you could see the behind the scenes, you would go 'what the fuck am i looking at' LMFAOO.
when i write and then i reread and i know what it is missing, but i cannot speak about this like it is easy, like i have not spent the past few years of my life consistently writing for various characters and growing along the way. to be fair, you don't need to take six years to get good at writing, it can be a very smooth process! i don't think i was the brightest cookie at 12 ngl but i took my characters and rewrote them into different scenarios and here i am today, at 18 and (marginally) better.
as long as the urge is there, worship it, take the step and write. then post, if that is a step you want to partake in. simple as that :)
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that's all for now! sorry this is so long, now that you've reached the end, i just wanted to say that i have no authority over what you produce and how you do it. these are simply just things i've learned along the way and i hope they can provide you some sort of revelation.
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letswritestories101 · 2 years
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Characters are not people (and the importance of planning and fairness of character arcs).
A character I liked recently had a very tragic end. He had suffered a lot as an outcast and it wasn't totally unexpected in a way. Still, not only me but the whole fandom got that sense of bitterness, no matter how logical seemed at first. Was pretty much a consensus. I tried to understand why.
Then I saw: It's for nothing. He died continuing to suffer, being hated, for no reason and without any justice or narrative sense. The terrible thing hit: he needn't have died. It could have been resolved in another way. Was like saying: "strange, different and outcast people, no matter how hard they try to overcome and find love and understanding, they will die in hate and pain".
Of course, wasn't the author's intention, but it comes out quite like this. Because other characters in these respects survived the so-called worst ordeals.
Reflecting on this, I came to an interesting conclusion and that inspired me to write what I thought would make good writing advice both for myself and to help should anyone want it:
Characters aren't people.
What do I mean?
Think about us.
Sometimes things don't go as planned and we end up with totally different results even though we did everything right. Or we achieve something when everything was falling apart and there was no way out. Just chance sometimes.
Our characters aren't people. The chance card doesn't work with them because there are authors. And authors dictate all the rules.
Hence, enter what I mean:
As writers, we have to give meaning, motivation, and in the best way we can, irreversibility to a character arc AND how it might sound. Because in the end, if we don't give them a satisfying and justified ending, it's not going to be well written.
Of course, in real life, there are circumstances beyond our control and unexpected events. Both just and unjust. However, in history, you decide the facts. That traumatic conga given to some character or cradle privileges will not be life's work, but yours.
No matter how much attachment, grief and suffering a certain character leaves upon dying or good feelings upon winning and getting what they wanted, it needs to make narrative sense. It has to be explained and not just played out.
Even what may seem like chance in the stories and for the characters will be you, needing to be planned and executed in a satisfactory manner.
Prim from The Hunger Games dying. Tadashi dying in Big Hero 6. The fairy godmother showing up in Cinderella when she needed it most. Midorya becoming the heir to the One for All from All Might. Even if in the narrative they are shown as coincidences of life, good or bad, they are crucial events and translate messages. It's all about payoff.
For example, killing a character suffering from depression trying to have a happy life and move beyond suffering leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. It is frustrating.
This happens in real life, often even, sad as it is. But the authors, not real life, are the ones who drive the story. And if you saw the above, you would hardly blame the event that killed them but the author who just made a mistake and ruined what would be a beautiful and inspiring message.
Sure, characters like that can die, terribly at the hands of the villain if you want. It's your story. But not without impact on the plot, not for nothing in the plot. Not without seeming like that was the fate that made the most sense for the character. Not without having a good point or sensibility while executing that idea.
And if you, for example, kill only depressed people because they might have, statistically, more chances of that in real life as the only justification it will sound… bad. Very bad. Yikes. Stop, rethink, and do it again. After all, we are not perfect and we can improve. Mistakes are normal.
We just have to remember that the fates of our Ocs are not simple works of chance or randomness.
Suffering and tragedies, or joy and rewards cannot be given for shock value.
Because in the end, characters aren't people.
They are a medium.
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slimegargoyle · 9 months
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op on that anti-therapy post being one of the most mentally unwell people I've encountered on here is kind of hilarious. good luck with that.
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I was wondering if you could help me with a household cleaning question regarding the purchase of a new vacuum?
I've been considering an upright cyclonic cordless vacuum because I'd love to not have to keep plugging the thing in while moving around the house. But I've only heard bad things about them, that their batteries don't last very long, and that the cyclonic ones break more often.
So I guess I'd like to know is if the bad rumors are true, or are cordless vacuums worth the price? If this is outside your field tho don't worry about it lol
I see no reason why the Cycloinc versions of cordless vacuums would break more often if you're using it correctly/not smashing it into corners and walls at every turn. Just do your best to find a model that, especially used, isn't too beaten up and always check the reviews before buying. Depending on the retailer, they may even let you try it before you buy it, as well, which can really help in choosing which one you want
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dracononite · 1 year
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How did you you make art your job online? I'm trying to do that, but I never get enough people to even see my art. How do you get people interested in your art, and keep them around??
I started doing commission and adoptable work to support myself through college. Building an audience has taken years but I like to think people follow me because I post art that I enjoy making. I don't post art for the numbers, moreso as an archive/journal of what I've done, but it is a plus to have more potential clients see my work. Also I'm just one artist so this is just my experience!
Interacting with other artists and sharing their work, posting art when you know people are active, re-sharing your own art, and paying attention to what posts your audience engages with is a good way to build up a community. People will come to recognize your username, aesthetic and art style..
If you're looking to do commission work you need to make it obvious that you're open for commissions - link to your prices in a pinned post, make new monthly commissions posts (people may get tired of seeing an old one or assume you might not still be open). Also make your contact info obvious even if it's something simple like "DM / email for commissions." People who want to commission you might not know where to start!
As a plus, once you have somewhat of a consistent work flow, there will likely be people who are interested in supporting you outside of commissions. Offering more of your work (personal, traditional, merch etc) on a subscription service like Patreon or Ko-fi gives people who are interested in seeing that the incentive to support an artist they already like.
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the-lonelybarricade · 7 months
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how is your creative process while writing? and specially how do you deal with having started more than one multi chapter fic? I never really wrote a whole fic but a was trying to for feysand week, but I ended up not having time
I can’t say if the problem is that it’s a multi chapter fic and I end up not knowing where to go and what to focus on first. And there’s always another ideia for other chapter or fic that’s usually impractical.
I think anxiety is a big problem to, knowing there’s something I should finish but can’t even focus enough on what I have at the moment.
I feel this anon, I was also trying to write a whole fic for Fyesand week and ended up not having time 😂 I did the same for Elucien week, too, which is why I'm now a purveyor of so many WIPs at the moment
When it comes to juggling them, I think I update mostly based off of: 1) which piece has gone without an update the longest and 2) which piece I'm feeling the most motivated to work on. Sometimes it's kind of nice to be able to jump between stories to be able to work on whichever one is scratching my brain the most. I always lean into whatever I'm feeling most inspired about so that I'm working with my brain instead of against it.
As far as getting stuck, I find I always struggle with multichapter fics if I don't know where I'm going with them. I write my fics chronologically, but I always start knowing the ending or the general trajectory the fic will take. Sometimes I outline fics before I start, which is always helpful even though I almost always divert from the outline.
So if it were me, and I was struggling with not knowing where to go next or what to focus on with a fic, I would start by creating an outline of the story (or even just the chapter itself). How does it end? What are your characters working towards? How does the story change them? I think those things will help guide you, though obviously you still have to actually write the chapters which is the hardest part.
I've found recently that when I'm really stuck, it helps to start with writing just the dialogue for the chapter. I don't use dialogue tags or any descriptors, I just write line by line how the dialogue will flow and once that's done, I go back and add in all the rest. I find that usually about 1k worth of dialogue can generally end up being about 4k-ish words once I've gone back and added all the rest.
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rileys-battlecats · 1 year
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What’s your best advice on translating the image in your head on paper? Like when you imagine what you want a character to look like then draw it. Sorry for the weird wording and question, I was just trying to draw a character of mine the other day and they ended up looking… horrifying. Had such an uncanny valley feel to them. I ended up going with it and it sort of worked but when I was drawing I thought of that super cool sketch of Gullytuft you posted the other day. And how even without colour and if the caption wasn’t there we would be able to look at that cat and go “wow, that’s Gullytuft!”
Not sure if I'm reading this question wrong but I'll give this answer in two parts, just in case!
First, getting images out the brain and on the paper; What I normally end up doing is sketching and resketching whatever I'm trying to draw over and over again until it really captures what I'm going for. Oddly enough I'm not an especially visual thinker? I tend to think in concepts/motions rather than images which is kinda wack, so having a specific image in mind when I go about drawing is pretty rare for me. So! It's drawing over and over again til I get it right. Sorry if this isn't helpful ^^;;
Next, getting your characters to look like themselves; there's a few things that can help you with this! One thing is to make sure your characters have recognizable shapes/silhouettes.
Here's some characters of mine as only silhouettes, and if I did my job right in designing them, they should (hopefully) still be recognizable!
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Even with them all being in the exact same pose, their shapes are distinct enough to where they still look like them, you know? Or at the very least, are different enough to be distinguished from one another.
(Cheat sheet for who they are; Mudpaw, Gullytuft, and Owlpounce)
When you design a cat character, don't just think about the markings and color; think about the body type and the shapes you incorporate into their design! Try to make each character unique enough that they are still recognizable without color!
We'll take Gullytuft as an example, since you mentioned that sketch of her from the other day: Gullytuft's shapes that make her her in my mind are her sharp eyes, a triangular face with her distinct cheek fur, and inner ear fur that extends out past her ears
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I try to always include all these aspects of her design when I draw her, and that consistency makes her more recognizable!
Once you have a solid design to work with, make a reference for yourself! I nearly always have a character's reference up when I'm drawing them, even if I draw them often, because I want to make sure I'm getting all their details right. The more often you draw a character with those details that make them them, the more you'll be able to do so consistently! (Sorry if this isn't worded very well I'm Sleepy haha)
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I don't have enough time or experienced with enough classes to write a detailed multiclassing guide, but for D&D players, especially new players, wondering if they should multiclass, the simple answer is "probably not". Multiclassing is, in general, bad. The game was not balanced with it in mind, and it's very easy to muck up your character if you don't know what you're doing. I'm not just talking from an optimization perspective, either; it's difficult to justify it narratively in a way that doesn't cheapen the significance of what class levels represent. You don't become a Bard by practicing the lute for a week. You can't become a Wizard without years of study. If you plan to multiclass, my advice would be to find some way of tying it narratively into your primary class somehow; an Eldritch Knight becoming a Wizard is sensible, because they already have an understanding of how to work arcane magic, they just need to spend some time focusing on that over improving their martial abilities to learn enough to start filling out a spellbook. Of course, that still takes a long time, but the Eldritch Knight's previous experiences mean they already know how to cast multiple spells already. If you want to multiclass for story reasons, ask yourself two questions: Is multiclassing really the best way to convey this change in my character, and, if so, do they have the adequate time, experiences, and resources to practice the skills necessary (physical training, study, spiritual attunement, etc.) to even START being that class? The reason I put so much weight into class levels is because the Player's Handbook itself makes a point to clarify what sets a member of each class apart from others who seem similar on the surface; not every soldier in a given army is a Fighter, chances are most of them aren't. And Paladins are even rarer! To achieve even one class level is a strong indication of skill and effort, and I as your DM would expect you to consider how your character achieves levels in a second class. My campaign features a Fighter/Warlock multiclass, and her patron is both the supplier of her occult magic, and her instructor, personally training her in her dreams, so she can level up in either class and it'll make sense. My favorite combination, Paladin/Sorcerer, can be explained by latent powers emerging in response to their experiences and the holy power they channel within themselves, perhaps a gift from their deity or the result of them or their ancestor slaying a creature like a dragon or vampire whose blood imbued the Paladin's bloodline with arcane magic. Maybe a Monk/Cleric comes from a monastery that reveres a specific deity, and that Monk caught their deity's attention, choosing the Monk for a holy mission. If multiclassing is part of your character's backstory or projected future, having a plan for it is key to making them still feel like a cohesive, singular character.
#musings#dungeons and dragons#take my advice with a grain of salt since not all groups will put the same weight into class levels as i do#but the reason most wizards are depicted as elderly is because wizardry is extremely difficult and takes a long time to master#class levels being rare or hard to achieve is kind of necessary from a worldbuilding perspective#if becoming a wizard was possible after what amounts to a college course there'd be wizards everywhere#and the players wouldn't be as important because their own abilities wouldn't be anything special for a long time#i didn't talk about optimization very much since i think most d&d players don't care about that as much as roleplay and thematics#but if you're questioning if multiclassing would be good for you#look at the benefits you'd get from even one level of another class and ask if that's worth setting your main class back permanently#even one bad multiclass level can become a problem with initiative is rolled and you're functionally one level lower than you should be#it's also why timing when to multiclass is important!#it's tempting to multiclass as soon as you hit level 2 but unless you're starting as your secondary class you should really wait#until you're at least level 5 or so because that's a big power spike#and once you achieve that it doesn't hurt as much to delay levels in your main class in favor of another#that's variation in this of course#if you're a paladin who plans to take just one level of hexblade you really should do it at level 2 if you dumped strength#you don't want to be relying on 13 strength for weapon attacks any longer than you have to#and if you're only interested in the thematic elements of a class remember that flavor is free!#plus you can use things like your background to give you a feel akin to a different class#a warlock entertainer who makes a deal with the devil to save their music career is a cool way to get bard flavor without multiclassing#especially since if you manage to become a true bard you probably don't need the devil's help anyway
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revasserium · 4 months
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It's been ages since I wrote a chaptered fic. The last time, I think I was around 17-18. My word count was much lower though. My dilemma now is that my word count is significantly higher and right now I'm covering like, a "back story"? Like covering what happens before the main plot takes place. I wanted to keep it to three chapters, covering each year for school. But it's looking like I have a lot of stuff in the last chapter.
My question is, how do you break sections apart in a chapter without it looking too messy and all over the place? I considered breaking it up into smaller chapters but figured it might mess up the flow somehow.
Hm... so, this is going to be a longer answer so I'll put it under a read more :)
I think the "skill" of writing well comes not from being able to format a story so it doesn't look messy, but rather to write it well enough that it doesn't read as messy. i'm really lazy with this so when i don't wanna put in the work of like... making good transitions, i'll do the thing where i number parts of a fic and then just write like... vignettes basically LOL
for me, MOST of the time, it's me being lazy, and i'm alright with that. if this is just for funsies and you just wanna get from point a to point c without having to worry too hard about continuity or point b, then just do that, have a physical line-break!
if you wanna do the HARD thing, then you gotta like. reevaluate the chapter and ask urself, are these physical visual breaks needed because you were too lazy with your writing to lay down the foundations in text? because any good editor will probably tell you that you should lean on visual/physical things last in the medium of text/storytelling. not that you shouldn't or that there aren't fantastic instances of the layout of the text being just as important as the actual text itself (read: house of leaves) BUT, the text itself should do most of the heavy lifting, right.
so yeah! that's how i'd look at it. if you wanna do the Good Writing for urself, then you're gonna have to edit your story to make the writing better. if you wanna do the Fun Writing (which can also be the Good Writing; they're not mutually exclusive LOL) and it's literally just for u to like enjoy the content and not the form, then do whatever you want! leave it messy if u don't wanna do physical layout things!!! it's literally up to you :D
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pastafossa · 1 year
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how much ahead do you write for TRT? would you recommend writing as you go or finishing a few chapters (or even the whole thing!) before posting
also my middle name is hind so it's almost flattering to see the shipnames and such :)
love your work!!!!!!!!!!
So me personally, I don't write ahead, but I do outline ahead! I've got everything charted out, what needs to happen, how the arcs need to unroll, clues to leave, etc. This is what allows me to write the chapter every week - in my natural environment, I'm a pantser and I tend to wing it (which works fine for a one-shot but less so for an epically long fic like TRT). I'm also an extrovert - I need external feedback or, at the very least, some form of interaction to feed my creative drive. If I don't have that, if I wait to post a chapter until I'm done with everything, I'll essentially run out of energy and coast to a stop. By posting a chapter each week that I've written, I get that feedback and can keep going! There are flaws to my method - sometimes it's impossible to tell how a chapter's going to go until you write it, or you suddenly get a good idea about some event that should, in reality, have caused clues and foreshadowing to appear three chapters ago. But that's where the outline comes in! It gives you a north star to drive towards even if you choose to take a side road on the way there.
But note that this is me. Most of the other writers I know are introverts and can write just fine by being left alone with their own internal feedback for encouragement, and I also have a few friends who absolutely hate the idea of writing like I do. They absolutely need to have it all done before posting, and the sheer chaos of writing a new chapter into existence every week isn't something they'd enjoy, just like I'd hate being confined to their method. So everyone's different. I'd say the low-risk, high-patience, safest option is having it all written ahead of time, if you're introverted enough or can charge your own battery. The high-risk, high-reward option is writing as you go, favored by those who need to interact in order to create. And the neutral ground is getting ahead by three or four chapters before beginning to post, finding a safe middle balance between the two. So the real question is, which would work best for you? Do you have the patience and inner drive to get it all done first? Do you need interaction to keep yourself going (hi it's me)? Do you land somewhere in the middle? I will say, my writing absolutely suffered when I tried, desperately, to be what I wasn't. People will tell you to write for yourself, to get it all done before posting because it should be for you anyway, and while that works for a lot of fic writers, for some of us, writing in isolation for only ourselves is where our creativity goes to die. I think figuring out where your creativity graveyard is, and going in the opposite direction, is a huge benefit to you once you figure it out, even if you need to experiment a little to figure it out.
Also YESSS I'm so happy to hear from a Hind! I always love hearing about people with the same name. It also strikes me as funny because I never actually meant to name her Jane Hind. It was originally just a placeholder I used while writing and in notes, a joke about a Jane Doe reader insert, the one we can't trace back, and only after I'd used it long enough in notes and the first chapter that I went... 'actually this kinda works, because she is a Jane Doe, with a real name I can't ever use'. And admittedly it would make me pretty happy too to see my own name for a ship like this LOL.
Thank you so, so much anon for coming to say hi!
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crypticjackal13 · 1 year
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Any tips on writers block and/or writing itself?
Hmmm.....perhaps? Here's what I ask/tell myself as I write ✍️🤠
Write what you love. I don't like writing things that don't make me happy/fulfilled in some capacity. Like I've said before(especially for fluffy/romantic content!) If I don't have a stupid grin once I'm done I go back and rewrite! For more emotional stuff, I think of stuff I've read that's made me feel feelings and try to figure out how it got that way
It doesn't have to be perfect. Period. It doesn't matter how long you've been writing, you know your own skill level/strengths/weaknesses. Vibe with it!
Ambience. For me, I need some kind of noise or sensory thing to get me in the zone. For my bakery request I had animal crossing music on and I sped through it bc the vibes were right :)) there are lots of YouTube playlists/videos/channels dedicated to writing ambience!
Look up those silly dialogue prompts or trope lists!! Find one you love and build around it!! If you find yourself stuck, maybe look at an alternative one and see if you can get further!
Getting stuck sucks. When I took my composition class in highschool my teacher told us that no matter what, keep writing something. Even if it's the same word over and over, keep going until something new pops up in your head!
Don't force yourself. In my personal experience I've tried to sit in front of a blank doc and try to picture stuff in my head but I could never get it through to the keyboard. If you honestly don't feel up for it, you don't have to. If you can only get a few words or sentences down, don't feel bad.
Sometimes you have to start at the end of a story. Most of the drabbles I write, I think of the ending before I think of the beginning. I knew I wanted Spider Queen to accept the reader and Redson being together, but from there I had to retrace the reader's steps! How was the confession? Did they have to sneak off? It's very much like "hey, you might be wondering how I got in this situation. Well, lemme tell ya"
I hope this helped!!
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wolftattoo · 6 months
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for the record however if raw meat is brownish/grey like steaks or mincemeat BUT the packaging is still vacuum sealed it is ok to eat . its just a little oxidised and youre cooking it so its ok. if you do want a discount for it im sure you could get one though .
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mollish-art · 7 months
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hehe hello again, i have tiny question. so im currently working on a little story abt elves and dragons and the more i work on plots it just goes all over and i just wanna know how you can pace a story with mixed species and a rather large amount of world building, and also how to have proper transitions to different character povs as i have 3 main povs that i wanna try 2 being elves and 1 being a dragons. :)
That's a really cool story concept you have there! I've actually been developing my own fantasy universe for the past 7-ish years called "Draka Imperium", which is all centered around dragons and such.
Funnily enough, I've been struggling with the exact same problems that you have laid out here (complex worldbuilding, story pacing, multiple character POVs, etc), and I've been wrestling for the past few years with rewrites in order to make things work the way that I want.
One of my friends who is a published author (Fennah - you may recognize his youtube animations or his book, Amygdala), gave me some really good advice recently about writing in general, and it's given me some direction to help with my own rewrites. One of the things that stuck with me the most was about letting your characters speak for themselves. Don't try to put your own words or ideologies into the mouths of your characters - let them live and breathe in the world that you've created!
As for my own personal advice, at least when it comes to POV alternating, I'll let you know what I did with Unperson, as I am alternating between 2 POVs for that story. I planned out (roughly) what story beats I wanted to hit for each chapter and made notes for each POV in a different color - this just helped with organizing. But what helped the most with writing was to keep the environmental/story beats in mind from my outline, but to simply allow the characters to react to them. I never had dialogue pre-composed before I started writing; all of my chapters so far have mostly been written like a stream of consciousness. I merely led the characters to interact with certain things in their environments, and then wrote their dialogue and mannerisms as if I were an actor and improvising their lines/movements without making them stick to the 'script', if that makes any sense. In other words, in the process of writing a scene, if it felt more natural for the character to react in a different way than I had originally planned it in my head, I would simply allow the character to act in that way rather than trying to shoehorn them into a box that I had created for them.
Idk if that makes any sense, but I hope it helps somewhat!
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