10 Writing Things That Have Saved My Creative Soul (and Sanity)

↳ If your character’s arc isn’t making you slightly emotional or existential, it’s probably not finished. If they start and end the story the same person, that’s not a character arc—it’s a flatline. Make them squirm, learn, lose, grow. Bonus points if they make you question your own moral compass in the process.

↳ Worldbuilding is not a license to drown your reader in lore like it’s Game of Thrones on steroids. If you have to write a wiki page to understand your own plot, fine...but that doesn’t mean your reader has to read it. Give us breadcrumbs, not a 12-course feast on page one.

↳ If the theme of your story can’t be summed up in one slightly aggressive sticky note, you’re probably overcomplicating it. (“This book is about choosing yourself even when no one else does”—boom, theme. Now go make your characters suffer for it.)

↳ You will hate your manuscript somewhere between 30k and 50k words. That’s your cue to keep going, not quit. It’s like the literary version of hitting mile 18 in a marathon. Everything hurts, but that means you're doing it right.

↳ That “genius idea” you had at 2 a.m.? Save it. Write it down. But don’t drop everything for it. New ideas are seductive chaos demons. Your current project deserves monogamy… at least until the second draft.

↳ A character’s greatest fear is a shortcut to their heart. Forget favorite color or coffee order...what keeps them up at night? What would destroy them if it came true?

↳ If you don’t know how to end your story, figure out what question it’s been asking the whole time. Once you know the question, the ending becomes the answer. Maybe not a happy answer, but a satisfying one.

↳ No one’s going to write your weird little story the way you will. That’s your superpower. So go ahead and write the morally gray necromancer love triangle in space. Your people are out there. And they’re hungry for it.

↳ You are allowed to be a slow writer. You are allowed to be a fast writer. You are not allowed to be a cruel writer—to yourself. The world will criticize your art for free. Don’t do their job for them inside your own head.

↳ Some stories just aren’t meant to be novels. And that’s okay. Maybe it's a short story. A play. A fever dream disguised as a poem. The shape doesn’t matter. The story does. Let it tell you what it wants to be.

Physical Contact Masterpost

Hand-Holding Dialogue

Hand-Holding

Touching

Hugs

Hugging Dialogue

Touch Starved Prompts

Touches Ask Games

Super soft intimacy

Casual Affections

Seeking out physical affection

Romantic, non-sexual intimacy prompts

Kisses

First Kisses

First Kiss Prompts

Accidental Kisses

Places for kissing

Angsty Kisses

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little-infj-cafe

1 month ago

Hello! Uh, I have a character who's kind of co-dependent on their partner but, I'm not sure how to show it in my writing. Do you have any suggestions for signs of co-dependency?

Hi :)

Signs of Co-dependency

always waiting for the other person before doing anything

not recognizing each other's boundaries and not enforcing boundaries

having low self-esteem

feeling the need to be of service to the other person

struggling with their self-image and self-worth

making excuses for their partner

being self-sacrificing

needing their partner's approval

avoiding conflict, taking on blame

failing at proper communication

minimizing or ignoring their own wants

doing things to make their partner happy

asking for permission

fear of rejection or abandonment

guilt over doing something "selfish" (for themself)

making themself uncomfortable for other's comfort

Hope this helps!

- Jana

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I hate that I can recognize this in myself from my past relationships and I love to know that I have grown so much and am hopefully no longer this person

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little-infj-cafe

2 months ago

does anyone else write a sentence so good you have to lean back in your chair and just vibe with the sheer power of it? like yeah, i, ME, did that.

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little-infj-cafe

2 months ago

Senior letters are so hard to write because of how blurry my vision gets with the tears.

The worry that this is all going to end and I’m never going to talk to them again. The sadness of knowing that our roads are going down different paths.

The pride I feel of how far they’ve come and how many different adventures we’ve gone on. The inside jokes. The stories. The lore.

The vulnerable moments. The good times. The bad times.

And I have to summarize all of that and include well wishes in a single letter????

My heart is going to explode. I love every one of these people so much.

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love writing I adore them I love them letters school graduation college to contain all my love in a single work is just impossible and some part of me will always have hope that they will return to my world

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little-infj-cafe

1 month ago

Writing Prompt #5

A screams, clutching the chair.

“Why are you screaming?!” B shouts as they run into the room.

A stares at the floor with a horrified expression.

“I dropped it.”

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writeblr writing writing prompt writing prompts dialogue prompt

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little-infj-cafe

1 month ago

Pondering my orbs.

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little-infj-cafe

1 month ago

Is this a problem?

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little-infj-cafe

3 weeks ago

pls do

for some reason ive had to viciously fight the overwhelming urge to add “dawg” to my every day vocabulary for like, the entire past month. No one i know says it. where did it come from? why is it here?? how do i get it to stop??? no but seriously i think ive heard it like, twice my entire life how did it get into my brain and why wont it leave.

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i could use more friends going to this college

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little-infj-cafe

3 weeks ago

the entire time i am having right now

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