Seated in the doctor’s office I peeked over my magazine, causing the collage of perfume bottles to distort until they resembled vague, pastel coloured light-bulbs clustered at the brim of my vision. Across me slouched a woman with a house shaped cage on her lap, a string of drool snailing down her chin as she snored. I made a face at her green-cheeked conure as it inched down its tightrope towards me, bobbing its head. The middle-aged man a few seats down, his cowboy hat flipped over his eyes, fanned himself with a lung disease brochure even though the air conditioning had been set to blast. My eyes followed their thought bubbles as they bounced off the oily walls and popped. The severed letters puffed up to the ceiling in a cloud of confetti, mundane details they’d already forgotten. The parakeet’s thoughts were less entertaining, a string of staccatos that fizzled out before they could even form.
When the secretary, a bullnecked woman with streaked green hair grated down to a pixie cut, waved her faux quill pen at me, I placed my magazine back on the rack and followed her down a hallway tiled with domino doors. She kept glancing back to confirm I was still on her heels and hadn’t wandered off like a sneaky child. Once we reached my cubicle she finally left me alone, her black heels clacking against the shiny floor as she trotted off. I crunched down on the paper spread out over the bed, dizzy from the reek of iodoform. Fortunately the doctor arrived quickly, tapping a clipboard against his palm as he asked why I’d come. I lied that my back had been killing me and we both shrugged and nodded at the hardships of old age.
This thunderstorm cured my writing burnout.
Thank you @bitterwitchwrites for tagging me!
Here is an excerpt from the first draft of my novel that I’ve been blandly referring to as LL. I doubt this will be in the final version of the book but whatever!
An electrical hum stuffed his ears with cotton balls, silenced the jagged wind clawing at the trapdoor. When he called back to it, he was muffled out too.
Tagging: @memories-written-in-words @writingwithhotchocolate @writingisbae @raevenlywrites @yanittawrites @writingwithaddie @loki-writes
I forgot about this short wip, I hope I didn’t lose the actual document now
I wrote this short story a while ago, intending to submit it to some magazines, leaving it to decay chill until I had time off from uni to edit it. Currently busy af w *shiny* new novel, but I wanted to share some of it on here to motivate me to work on it. Alors,,,,,,
genre: spooky lit-fic logline: Trudging through the barren Arizona desert after a night out partying, a group of friends come across a cupcake shop owned by a creepy old lady and her cannibal husband. TW: drug use, dead rats, disturbing cupcake ingredients, murdery elderly people.
Everything had been going well up until I lost my pink sneaker. It jumped into an Uber and drove off waving, never texted or called, leaving me to live my life without protection from sharp objects or raccoon shit lying around my frilly socked feet. Then we missed the last bus.
Keep reading
Ecstatic to say that I’m in that particular writing flow state again. You know which I mean—the one where time and space do not exist.
Happy WBW! ^^ If you could bring one thing/person/place/etc. from your wip into the real world, which one would it be and why?
Probably Mr. Sinclair, the talking locust from Liquor and Locusts, because although he’s very nihilistic, we’d have a good time drinking brandy and being self-indulgently cynical together.
Not really, I’ll be writing but not 50K this time around. However, I’ve been part of the NaNo community since 2014—back when I was 14 if you can believe it, haha and it’s really motivating to connect with other writers during November. I’m looking forward to it!
who is doing nanowrimo this year? how prepared are we feeling?
This sounds amazinggg, I would 100% watch :)
thank you @radwrites for the template!
Having both finally escaped the cult they were born in - and reunited after four years - twins Dorothy and Felix embrace their newfound freedom, navigate their trauma, and figure out who they are.
Y’all I cannot express how much this fake Netflix series lives! in my head! rent free! I think this story would be so cool as a series and if I weren’t a little terrified of screenwriting, I would 100% play with that as a form alongside the novel.
The vibes of this came out a lot grittier than I imagine the story? That element is 100% there, but there’s also a very hazy, dreamy element to the story and I think it’d be very interesting to see how those intersect visually. My biggest fantasy for CM as a series is that it’d look like it was actually shot in the 80s and have an all 80s soundtrack (although there are some contemporary gems I’d be sad to cut out the OST). The only comparison I can really draw is Twin Peaks (which I’ve only seen like five episodes of oop) - but not in terms of content at all, rather the hazy vibe of floating between different stories with this growing unease and intensity - and perhaps some of the surreal elements too. Also this one shot is Major CM Vibes:
This isn’t structured exactly like the book - episode 2, Cadmium Yellow, is a combination of chapters 2-3 and also chapter 8, which is the first chapter in Dorothy’s POV. Because of the nature of writing split POV the split between Felix and Dorothy is obviously much “sharper”, but a TV series format would allow me to jump between them in one episode and still have clarity.
I also love the idea of a series for this story because it’d allow the POVs of the non-POV main characters (Beau, Jolie, Isaias) to also be included - hence the episode Pistachio Beach, which would be Beau centric and we’d actually get to directly see his backstory. As much as I love the twins as POVs and the story very much revolves around them, I’m definitely interested in the extra depth the story could get in this form. There are a lot of times when I wish I could add a chapter in Beau or Isaias’ POV but the idea of more than two POV characters is too much to handle lmao
I had so much fun with this, and I would 100% do another for episodes 6-10 when I write more content (ah discovery writer things)! I see my stories as movies playing out in my head and if anyone else does that you’ll know that not everything can be translated into words. So it’s really cool for me to imagine my stories in this format, because in a sense it’s the “truest” to what I see in my head.
Everything Holy
Four years after his twin sister escaped the Christian cult they grew up in, nothing about Felix’s existence has changed. This is why he has to escape too.
Cadmium Yellow
Dorothy’s roommate, Jolie, returns to the city and brings all their repressed baggage with her. Felix struggles to adapt - but a new friend is eager to show him all of San Francisco’s colors.
Pistachio Beach
Beau doesn’t sleep well. Troubled over a future he doesn’t know and a past he doesn’t understand, he has two coping mechanisms: call Felix; drive to the beach.
Cult Characteristics
The growing number of cults scattered across California is a growing cause for concern. When they hide in plain sight, it is crucial to know the red flags.
Revelations, Revelations
Felix hasn’t spoken to God in a month. Although he doesn’t find Him at the local Church, he does find someone with the same problem. Jolie has a proposal for Dorothy.
The next novel update should be coming soon! My goal is January 11th, because that’s Felix’s and Dorothy’s birthday so we have to celebrate ofc
church mud taglist - @kitblogsthings / @bijouxs / @ezrathings / @isherwoodj / @bookpacking / @alicewestwater / @svpphicwrites / @avi-burton-writing / @aetherwrites / @radiomacbeth / @sunwornpages / @coffeeandcalligraphy / @ladywithalamp / @wolf-oak / @keira-is-writing / @jennawritesstories / @cream-and-tea / @bauliya / @themillionthdraft / @you-are-my-neverland / @lasbrumas / @occiidens / @shaelinwrites / @wri-tten / @catgirlnya / @nbnoyas / @oceancold / @august-iswriting / @write-like-babs / @hekat-ie
mood!! same!!! good luck <333
just submitted to a litmag for the first time….
I’ve been saying “it’s been a rough chapter” for the past three chapters now.
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writeblr /// tangents about my wips It’s all lit-fic, mystery, and noir around here Project Istanbul
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