Do You Ever Re-read Your Own Wips Like 'damn The Bitch That Wrote This Oughta Finish It'

Writers are scary because we’ll take personal trauma and think, "Hmm… what if this happened to my fictional characters but worse?"

Being ace in fandoms is so awkward sometimes because yeah the allos like the irredeemably evil villain who has murdered countless innocent people and experiments on children because he's conventionally attractive, what's my excuse? I like this guy for his personality. His personality is a burning truck of chemicals without a driver rolling at 220 km/h down the hill towards the daycare.

Soooo ✨

3 months ago, I finished the first draft of my first book (yay!!). I wanted to share some of my experience, knowing there are a lot of writers here. Maybe it could help some of you. I hope it will 🫶

It took me 3 years and 2 months to reach this point. From the world building and research to the writing part, it has been painful, frustrating, exhilarating, humbling, enriching and another tone of adjectives that i cannot list here (even if we love them, as writers)

I have some pieces of advice that stick to me after this agonizing experience. They are completely personal but if they resonate with someone here, I'm happy to share them :

Write : I know how it sounds. But there is no best advice for me. "You want to write a book ? Write it" yeah, absolutely. Write the 3 sentences that come to your mind in the middle of the day. Write the silly ideas that "nobody is going to like". Write 10 words a day. Write even if it doesn't make sense. One day, it will. So write. Sometimes it can be painful and I think it's okay. Most of the time, it's wonderful and liberating.

Your writing doesn't define your value : If you think it's not the best time to write then don't. I know, I said to write RIGHT ABOVE. But : listen to yourself, your feelings are valid and you're not defined by the number of words you wrote everyday. Sometimes, it's not the best time in life to write a book. A book is a massive project that requires time, investment, energy. You can always come back to your project when you have the right mindset

Listen to your heart : write and write what you like. Never forget that you write for yourself. Even if you want to publish. Write what is dear to your heart, be authentic. I'm convinced you'll find your audience

The first draft is bad : and it's FUCKING OKAY. The first draft is just here to exist. This is its ONLY job. If it's already good, great. If it's bad, that's normal. You're still learning about everything in your story. Especially in the case of a first novel !!!!

Talk about your story : I know how it can be difficult because it makes you vulnerable. I don't say to share every part of your story. Sometimes, talking about critical points offers you POV that you didn't have yourself. If you don't have anybody in your entourage, I think you can ask here

Take a step back : go outside (alone or with friends), play video games, read a book, take a nap, learn new skills. Leave your writing in peace. It needs to rest. And so do you

Stop following every advice: if you need advice, read them, then make them yours, but don't turn them into a holy rule. Your writing is yours. Writing is a creative hobby. It's too sad to kill this creativity with too many rules

Keep writing and take care 🩷

POV: you try rereading your work with a clear and non-judgemental mindset and end up discovering that you can't remember what tf u wrote cause HOW does this trash that I've been bleeding on digital paper for the past two years and have been thinking of scrapping recently actually make sense now unlike what I thought?

I just wiped a character completely out of existence because I’m a cruel god

no. no. what the fuck? my writing's not allowed to make me feel things. i MADE you. you fool, i MADE YOU

the cool thing about writing is that if you finish the book you get a free book at the end

kicking a hornets nest.