I Said I Was Going To Move In Silence But I Think The Better Way Of Putting It Is That I’m Not Going

Just found out what a commonplace notebook is and I'm thinking I should get one. Honestly the point of this blog is sort of similar to a commonplace notebook but in digital form (And it's all public lol). Having a book dedicated to throwing whatever I have going in my brain or in my life does sound pretty nice. And maybe I can draw in it a bit too! I keep trying to let myself be messy, make mistakes and not be perfect in my regular sketchbook for a few years now but it hasn't really been working. Somehow I still get it in my head that it has to look a certain way and it can sometimes make me lose my motivation all together. So having a book dedicated to looking like absolute garbage and having no pressure for everything to look a certain way could help with that too! At least I hope it will. And it will also give me a place to put any actual garbage that I don't wanna throw out like tags and stuff from things I buy (since I kinda hoard them bc I don't wanna throw them any lol)

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

hi! if you’re feeling especially depressed, or anxious during these times, or just in general, i’ve compiled a list of things that are sweet and hopeful and might help you smile!

tumblr posts

How To Feel Again by @wowanothered

make a Hot Honey Drink with @fierybluebeacon 

love is via @battlechick

little notes for when you’re sad by @flowerais

asks

Make Me Admit Stuff by @jreadhd

Lighthearted Questions by @definegodliness

Soft, Stay At Home Ask Game by @serotoninsuggestion

Let’s Get Personal by @castielwinchester83

Fantasy Asks by @spectral-ask-memes

Flower Asks by @thatsthepositivitea

videos

Some Good News with John Krasinski

Reasons To Smile by Thomas Sanders 

Homemade with Steven Lim

Ambient Worlds (a channel dedicated to the background music of different places you’ve wanted to visit, i.e- each Hogwart House common room, Disney World, etc.)

Walkthrough Disneyland

books

Tea Dragon Society: Katie O’Neill (cute graphic novel about tea, and dragons)

Extra Yarn: Mac Barnett (a cute picture book about a little girl and her magic yarn)

The Astonishing Color of After: Emily X.R Pan (YA novel about grief, and love)

All Out: Sandra Mitchell (short story collection about LGBTQIA+ characters)

Counting By Sevens: Holly Goldberg Sloan (a middle grade novel of grief and family)

The Prince and the Dressmaker: Jen Wang (an adorable YA graphic novel with a non gender conforming character, and a soft, teen love story, set in the middle ages time period, with loads of lovely dresses and magic~)

Winnie The Pooh: A.A Milne (we all know our beloved winnie the pooh)

The Hidden Life of Trees: Peter Wohlleben (a rly interesting nonfiction book about trees and how they communicate)

Bloom: Kevin Panetta (a soft, cute, gay graphic novel love story)

movies

any Studio Ghibli film

the classic, animated Winnie the Pooh 

any old, animated Disney movie

Legally Blonde, 2001 dir. Robert Luketic

Miss Congeniality, 2000 dir. Donald Petrie

High School Musical (we all know the one)

Princess Diaries, 2001 dir. Gary Marshall

Wall-E, 2008 dir. Andrew Stanton

shows

The Good Place

New Girl

Schitt’s Creek

One Day At A Time

Hilda

Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts

Merlin

podcasts

Welcome To Nightvale 

The Two Princes

activities

pick and press flowers

heres some basic homesteading skills that are pretty fucking cool via @martinihomestead

knit/crochet (same link as ^)

read 

(heres another link for free books and essays from @diabeticlesbian)

listen to music (links via @vivienvalentino)

bake

cook

art things with @artsyskelly

redo your room

sketch

learn a new language

lie on the floor with your window open and listen to the world

read through wikipedia articles

host an online game night/day

get ahead on schoolwork

say fuck this and go on a run

make tea

make face masks

sew

plant shit

make a discord server

generate cool mansions/cities via @mostlysignssomeportents and @vesperlionheart

yoga

water your plants

create an oc with @kannibalprinceref

paint by numbers

call someone and either talk, or watch something together, or do your own thing, still on the call, as if they were with you

clean

write letters and save the USPS

catch up on the news (but in bursts, perhaps find some good news too)

make sidewalk art

talk to your plants

play a boardgame with someone (online or with the people you’re living with)

clean out your room

make your room/house into a place you feel safe

dance

write a song

write a story

(writing prompts via @veronicabunchwrites)

call someone

learn to play DnD

paint your nails

paint someone else’s nails

go adventuring

make a youtube channel

make a podcast

talk to yourself

learn to bake bread

garden

paint your room a new color

lie on your floor

lie in bed

sleep

watch a crappy free movie on youtube and make fun of it

exercise (but stretch first)

go on a walk and take pictures of things you think your friends would like

scroll through social media and send things to your friends

cover your wall with pictures, quotes, artifacts

make lists

find a pen pal

clean shit

you dont have to be productive, babe

these are just things i’ve seen/read/thought of- so if anyone else wants to add on- pls do! 

this isnt complete! so pls add on things that help you feel good, or stuff for people to do whilst stuck in quarantine! 

You don’t have to be a perfect writer to start writing. The more you write, the better you become. 

all the moons of 2024

Tips for Writing with ADHD

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! ♡

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

sorry for romanticising the mundane. i have little else

another tip, if you forget how to write, read your favorite book

writing tips from your friendly neighborhood author whos about to get published (yay me!)

sorry from the brag in the title but I'm very proud of myself and how much my writing has improved in the past year so i thought I would share some tips that helped me

read alot

analyize the style of authors you enjoy or want to write like (ie: story structure, diction, voice, tone, sentence structure, figurative language) i have a template i use if anyone wants

write daily ( it could be journaling, fanfiction, or even a blog post, writing daily builds a habit, and anything, any words on paper, is better than nothing at all)

if you're stuck, find a quote and write a short story around its use

your first draft is allowed to be crappy, hell it should be, it will never be perfect

it probably will be, but its only supposed to be first one, edit and revise as many times as you need to

tell what happening, show emotions

" she yanked the chair from underneath the desk, and sat down starring at the floor, before putting her forehead flat on the desk" sounds better than " she pulled the chair from underneath the desk, and sat down starring sadly at the ground."

so apply all then

the unholy trinity of piss-poor caretakers, tag yourself:

tomboy, meaning "this child is clearly queer but let's hope it goes away"

sensitive, meaning "clearly neurodivergent and often distressed but let's keep going until they grow numb"

mature, meaning "traumatized but let's ignore that"