"And I had to explain a lot of stuff to him." It amazed me how Johnny could get more meaning out of the stuff in there than I could— I was supposed to be the deep one."
The Outsiders, SE Hinton
No offense but I think some of you would be a lot happier writing a fictional atlas or encyclopedia instead of a narrative story
something pretty to remind you that there is still pretty out there
thriftbooks better world books half-price books wonder book pangobooks libgen archive.org ubuweb kanopy (library card required; free) tubi pluto tv
storygraph
abebooks, book depository, and goodreads are all owned my amazon.
today I: went to the barn took notes finished speech outline sewed sleeves went to a meeting wash and folded clothes wrote 800 words registered for classes
for my daily allotted complaining time, I had to wake up at 4AM to register for classes, and then at around 11, I went to the barn for practice, which went well, until it was time to turn the horses out and one escaped, so me and the coach spent the better part of an hour attempting to catch a runaway horse, and while I wanted nothing more than to shower and spend the rest of the day in bed, I didn't let myself wallow in the embarrassment of what happened, I showered, and made myself tick things off a now manageable to-do list
the great gatsby / kentucky route zero / koe no katachi / disco elysium / omori / night in the woods / homestuck / koe no katachi / l'étranger / disco elysium / firewatch / john dies at the end / everything everywhere all at once / the subtle art of not giving a f*ck
I don't typically do things like this but here we are, these are just some things I've picked up along the way that may or may not help
Split up your chapter or document
The most I'm able to handle is about 1-2k wc per page before I start getting overwhelmed/unable to process half of what I'm reading & writing so this one's the most helpful IMO. I separate subjects into individual documents so I can somewhat stay on track and that way I'm not trying to filter through the beginning/middle/end all at once.
Words & sentence structures
If you can't remember a specific word/structure the sentence the way you're intending; first of all moniter your time but if you can't get it right just underline and move on with your doc. You can always come back later vs getting sucked into a time void without progress.
Where to start
If writing from beginning to end isn't working, start at the most interesting point of your doc and work from there. My chapters end up like connect the dots but it keeps me engaged overall.
References
(This one may do more harm than good for some people so bare that in mind.)
If your thoughts start to wander too much/your having issues getting words down/your under stimulated, pick up a book for a few minutes. This generally helps me get back on track with focus & refreshes my memory on sentence structures/formatting/ect. If your having problems paying attention to that as well then it's best to take a break for a bit.
Timers
This one's important, especially when editing. Set timers, more so if you feel like you're getting stuck. It's easy to lose track of actual hours so i set them for around every 15-20 minutes while editing so if I'm not making progress with one area I know to move on and save it for later.
Get it down immediately
Google docs, notes app, even texting it to yourself just get the idea out before it's gone, even if it's just a few words.
Text to speech
If you can't follow along with your own writing/ reading it aloud isn't helping or if you're just looking for errors, copy and paste you doc into a text to speech site.
BGM
Background music can be helpful especially if it's noisy where you're writing. I aim for music without words so it doesn't end up overly engaging so, classical, music boxes, instrumentals and the like.
Minimize distractions
Set aside a specific time period you plan to write and turn off all notifications on your phone / minimize all possible distractions.
Okie-dokie lastly make sure you're taking breaks if you feel like you're getting too overwhelmed, it'll do more harm than anything if you don't. I hope some part of this was helpful & good luck! ♡
You don’t need to say “She was sad.” Show me the untouched coffee gone cold. The half-written text that never gets sent. The way she laughs at a joke and then immediately looks away. People don’t announce their emotions, they live them, they try to hide them, they pretend they’re fine when they’re not. Make your readers feel it between the words.
So turns out…..you guys are not gonna believe this…….but it turns out. Reading real books. Is good for you actually.
Encouragment for writers that I know seems discouraging at first but I promise it’s motivational-
• Those emotional scenes you’ve planned will never be as good on page as they are in your head. To YOU. Your audience, however, is eating it up. Just because you can’t articulate the emotion of a scene to your satisfaction doesn’t mean it’s not impacting the reader.
• Sometimes a sentence, a paragraph, or even a whole scene will not be salvagable. Either it wasn’t necessary to the story to begin with, or you can put it to the side and re-write it later, but for now it’s gotta go. It doesn’t make you a bad writer to have to trim, it makes you a good writer to know to trim.
• There are several stories just like yours. And that’s okay, there’s no story in existence of completely original concepts. What makes your story “original” is that it’s yours. No one else can write your story the way you can.
• You have writing weaknesses. Everyone does. But don’t accept your writing weaknesses as unchanging facts about yourself. Don’t be content with being crap at description, dialogue, world building, etc. Writers that are comfortable being crap at things won’t improve, and that’s not you. It’s going to burn, but work that muscle. I promise you’ll like the outcome.
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