Practical Writing Advice

practical writing advice

part 2

avoid writing in bed if you can. writing in bed is the mind-killer. writing in bed is the little death that brings obliteration. you may think "but i can write AND be cozy" you will get sleepy so fast. 98% of the time when i try to get a nighttime writing session done in bed i go to sleep. maybe 70% of the time if it's an afternoon writing session. also it fucking kills your wrists.

STRETCH before writing. stretch as many parts of your body as possible ESPECIALLY YOUR WRISTS! i have chronic tendonitis in both of my arms from not doing this and it is manageable but it is Not Fun!

plug your phone in on the other side of the room. better yet, plug it in and leave it in another room. better yet, power it off and leave it in another room. "i'll just check one quick thing" do not underestimate the power of the doomscroll.

do a warmup. look up writing prompts (i like one-word prompts or prompts that focus on a general theme as it's easier to integrate into my writing style), set a timer for fifteen minutes, or ten, or five, and go ham. make it shitty or incomprehensible, as long as you make it. create a dump document for all your warmups. i currently have two novels in the works that started as one of these fifteen minute little warmups.

pick your background noise ahead of time if you use it, and look for something long. i listen to 3-hour-long silent hill ambient mixes on youtube dot com.

take breaks. around every 45 minutes, as i'm noticing myself begin to lose focus, i get up, grab a drink, get my blood flowing, and give myself some space to breathe.

sometimes i sit down to write and i think "every atom in my body is averse to doing this right now. i would rather dance barefoot on a bed of nails than open my laptop and start typing." and you know what i do? i go do something else instead. don't force it! it will become a chore.

that being said! write as often as possible. try to write every day. try to write at the same time. don't beat yourself up if you can’t, BUT the more often you write, the more often you'll want to write.

if you're stuck on a scene or a page or a chapter, go back to the last place where you felt like you knew what you were doing and start writing from there. keep a copy of your other writing in case you want to reuse it or refer back!

i don't know if this is something that will be helpful for other people but i start mentally preparing myself for my writing session a few hours ahead of time. i will say to myself, "today, at this time, i'm gonna sit down and write that scene where mina walks out on her book club, and it's going to be awesome and i'm looking forward to it." then, by the time i actually begin, i basically have the whole thing written out in my head and can just put it down to paper. it's a good way to at least kickstart the session !

ok thanks bye

Ways to Experience More

(Hi, I am still alive! Working on some longer posts but for now have this mini one..)

Go to a meeting of a club in your community/school/neighbourhood

Actually attend one of those events your campus throws, even if you have to go alone

Attend a festival

Do that thing you’ve always wanted to do that your parents never let you do

Don’t be afraid to go to places alone if you have no one else to go with

If you are able to—travel, apply for your uni’s study abroad program, apply for field school

Volunteer!

If you don’t have a job, try out a job you think might be interesting or that will give you a skill you want

Change food brands from what you usually buy for one week

Look up the events going on where you live. Commit to going to two.

Go out hiking, to the beach, to the lake. Explore nature.

Take a class or attend a lecture on a topic you’re interested in

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cosmiccowboystuddies

1 year ago

[05.14]

Its been a weird few days, I finished my first semester, with a bang, got myself off of academic probation and rose my gpa to a 2.55, i was initally proud of myself I kept thinking about how I could have done better. today i found out i have to reapply for my job because of my leave and I am suddenly overwhelmed with the sheer amount of clutter that lives in my life. I've been trying to live more intentionally, live with less, but I chronically horde out of fear that my things, my uniquely acquired and curated things will be taken away by my mother who seems to take a sick pride in making me sad.

I woke up at 7 and took a shower, and lied in my bed with just a towel because I had the house to myself. I didn't dry off completely and tuned the fan on to the highest setting because I wanted to feel cold.

I fear I have been making my to-do list too long and overwhelming, so tomorrow I have planned for less, making the list more smaller and manageable makes me more likely to try.

sorry for being weirdly introspective, it's been a confusing few days

what i did today: ate 2 meals wrote 600 words finished everything i never told (lmk if yall want opinions) started reading that was then, this was now wash dishes unpacked 5 boxes organized sewing area organize bookshelf made jello washed hair organized desk talked to a friend

please feel free to reach out, always looking for mutuals

5/31/24

sorry guys for the breif break, but school got out and I decided to allow myself a bit of a break. for the past two weeks I have had the luxury of being a slug, but i start my job in two days and decided to begin to acclimate myself to being a functional human. throughout my break i was proud of myself because i wrote every day, weather that was journaling or working on something publishable, and i read daily.

being home was an unwelcome change, me and my mom don't get along, and thankfully she had been working in office the past 2 weeks, but now that shes working from home I've decided to spend as little time as possible at home. my mom is generally unsupportive of anything that she doesn't seem as valuable, and sees my hobbies as a waste of time unless she can brag to her friends about it.

in other good news, i've found a new eq barn and am trying it out tomorrow, I've been drinking water consistently and i found my bracelet and necklace that i thought i loss. they belonged to my dad before i 'stole' them, and have become very important to me, despite my hatred of working retail, i am excited to have some structure in my life, i find that when i have appointments or schedules it makes me more productive so working again should be good for me, anyway here's to what i did today

whay i did today:

wahsed hair

oiled scalp

read only the brave washed and put away clothes

washed dishes

cooked

journaled

went through storage bins

drunk a crap ton of water

some writing tips that i need to remember and thought some might be helpful

okay so just write, it doesn't matter if you hate the words or not just get them on paper, you're going to change it in the editing process anyway

if you want to write in a specific style write in whatever style you can at the time, it is easier to change words that exist if you're unfamiliar with the style than create them from scratch

if you hate your writing at the time you can always go back and rewrite

rewriting is your best friend, don't be afraid of highlighting a text you hate, I promise you if you reread it the next day or even like an hour later you won't hate it as much

Tags

writing writing tips writer’s block

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cosmiccowboystuddies

4 months ago