I Had A Writing Professor Who Told Us How He Was Sitting At A Window Seat In A Coffee Shop When Somebody

i know it’s been said before, but it bears repeating: a big, big part of maintaining your confidence & self esteem as a creator is fully embracing the concept of “you don’t have to be good like them.  you can be good like you.”

for example, i’m not someone who’s particularly good at coming up with complex, elaborate plots or incredibly unique ideas.  it’s just not how i choose to write.  and it would be easy for me to look at someone with an elaborate, super unique plot & decide that because i don’t write like that, i’m not a good writer.  after all, unique plots are good, and my writing lacks those, so my writing must not be good, right?  well, no, actually.  i just have different strengths, like taking a simple premise & digging super deep into its emotional depths.  that’s what i do well & it isn’t any better or worse than people who do elaborate world building or come up with really creative and unexpected plots.

your writing is never going to be all things to all people.  it just isn’t.  inevitably, you’ll have to make creative choices that favor certain aspects of writing over others.  there is truly no getting around that & it’s honestly a good thing, because it means you’ve developed your own style.  but you’ll always encounter other creators who posses strengths that you don’t.  it doesn’t mean one is better than the other or that your writing isn’t good enough. 

comparing yourself like that would be like taking a piece of pizza & a cupcake & going “oh no, that cupcake is so sweet & my pizza isn’t sweet at all.” or “gosh, the garlic crust on that pizza is delicious and my cupcake doesn’t have ANY garlic.”  obviously your pizza isn’t sweet.  obviously your cupcake doesn’t have garlic.  a food can’t have every single delicious flavor at once.  the cupcake is good like a cupcake.  the pizza is good like a pizza.  so you don’t have to be good like them.  you can be good like you.

I’m a knitter. I sometimes knit socks.

I have recently got back into doing some writing. This writing has been multi-chaptered.

So, here is a trick I am going to share that I learned from knitting socks. There is a thing called “second sock syndrome” which is when you finish one sock but can’t seem to get around to starting the second. So, when I finish a sock I IMMEDIATELY cast on the second sock and just knit a few rows.

So, when you finish that chapter, IMMEDIATELY just write one sentence of the next chapter. Trust me.

How to Write Strong Friendships

Source: https://kingdompen.org/deep-friendships/

Post by @writingwithacutlass on instagram

Friendships turn a good story into a memorable one. They add more emotional weight and make the readers care about the story more. Deep relationships are hard to write, though, so here are some tips to help you write a strong friendship that will add value to your story!

make each character their own person

Do not add a character just so they can be “the friend”. This will lead to a flat, undeveloped and boring character. In order to write a deep friendship, you’ll need deeply developed characters. Sure, your main character will likely be developed and interesting. But make sure that “their friend” has a clear goal, interests, motivations, dreams, passions, a distinct personality, quirks, values, struggles, and so on. Unique, developed characters create a solid foundation for a strong friendship.

give them something in common

Now that you have two unique, developed characters, you need a reason for them to be friends. What brought them together? What similarities do they share that connect them and serve as something to bond over? These similarities could include status, hobbies, struggles, history, background, interests, enemy, goals, and dreams.

give them meaningful differences

With similarities also comes differences. Don’t just make the two characters different, but give them meaningful differences that can build off on each other. Let them support each other in their strengths and build them up in their times of weakness. These can be differences in skills, conflict resolution, personalities, method of action, and reaction. Keep in mind what each character’s strengths and weaknesses are. How do their similarities and differences complement each other?

give them history

It depends on how long your characters have known each other, but deep friendships often need time to grow. This means your characters have probably known each other for some time, and you need to make that evident. Throw out hints that they have known each other for a while, and make the reader curious about their history. A few ways to do this is giving the characters inside jokes, letting them banter often, having them communicate non-verbally, and showing how much the two know about each other.

give them glue

What is holding your two characters together? What is the reason they don’t drift apart? The “glue” holding your characters together could be a common goal, another character, or they are simply in a situation where they can’t get away from each other making it impossible to part ways. Do your characters’ goals, values, and personalities contribute to the lasting of the friendship?

create meaningful scenes

Now that you have all the key components of an amazing friendship, it’s time to develop it throughout the story. Make sure to include some friendship moments in your story, and show your readers the power of this relationship. These scenes are meaningful to your reader, but also develop the relationship between the two characters.

don't make their relationship perfect

No one is perfect, and no relationship is perfect either. After you’ve added all these perfect elements to the friendship, you’ll need to add some flaws as well. Friends don’t get along all the time, so it’s okay if they have arguments or avoid each other for a while. If the glue to their friendship is strong enough, they’ll come back to each other and reconcile. Perhaps their differences clash. Or maybe other things that are out of their control are forcing them apart. Make the friendship complex, as all real friendships are. The characters will have to overcome the obstacles to keep their friendship strong. Difficulties in their friendship leads to a much more compelling story, one your readers will be greatly invested in.

thank you guys for all the love on this post! it’s now my most popular one <3

“feminine urge” this and “masculine urge” that, what about the urge to stop procrastinating writing your wips?

how to write the second draft

@writingwithacutlass on instagram

source: https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-write-a-second-draft#why-do-you-need-a-second-draft

hello and welcome back to my page! this post was requested some time ago and i finally got around to making it. second drafts are arguably the hardest draft to write, since you are taking your jumbled mess of a first draft and rewriting it to be more cohesive and organized. although picking apart your novel is a painstaking process, it’s a necessary step that will improve your novel and make you a better writer in the process. here are five tips on how to write the second draft!

take a break, then return to your draft with fresh eyes

especially if this is your first novel, only start your second draft after you’ve had adequate time away from it. creating distance between you and personal work can give your mind time to reset and detach from particular ideas. certain story elements may feel necessary but don’t actually fit into the story, or your story may need something, but you’re not sure how to implement it. taking a break can help you view your writing from a previously unseen angle that can bring more refreshing ideas to the table and help you get through your second draft. take some distance from your writing to brainstorm new scenes.

understand your chaos

your first draft got your ideas down and, hopefully, created a loosely structured beginning, middle, and end. however, the first time you go through the whole thing, it will probably feel overwhelming—and it should. go into your first chapter knowing there will be big changes and improvements to be made. you’ll cut some things and add others, but don’t be afraid. if it starts to go off into a direction you’re not happy with, or if you have no idea how to continue forward from what you’ve rewritten, you can always reconfigure. that’s what second drafts are for.

break it up into separate goals

you don’t have to comb through your second draft beginning to end and address everything along the way. setting goals to address each element of your first draft, like working on emotional character arcs first, or solidifying the bare bones of your plot through each chapter can help you divide and conquer each necessary aspect of your story that needs to come together in a cohesive manner. once all these elements have been solidified individually, you can piece them together in a way that makes your second draft feel more manageable.

track your narrative

read through each plot point or chapter and see if the narrative tracks. make notes on anything that stands out to you or doesn’t feel as smooth. are events moving logically or sequentially into the next? are character goals clearly defined? does each new chapter feel connected to the last? it may be a rough version you’re going through, but these elements should be in place in order for you to analyze it accurately. your subplots should feel natural to the central story and characters you’ve created—they should just be added fodder to take up space. ensure there aren’t any redundant scenes or a repeat of information that doesn’t need to be explained again.

don’t proofread until the end

it’s tempting to go back and fix all your errors, but unless you’re in your third stage or fourth stage, this may end up being a waste of time. correcting typos and grammar should be saved for your final draft, as the entire writing process will entail rewriting, restructuring, and reorganizing until the moment you’re ready to publish.

grabbing new writers by the shoulders. it is important to write what you love and to love what you write. if you spend all your time trying to make something other people will approve of you will hate yourself and everything around you. learn at your own pace. you have time. i’m proud of you

Overcoming Perfectionism

Writing sprints

One of my biggest problems as a perfectionist and a writer is editing while I write. It slows me down way too much. Objectively, I know that grammar and spelling don’t matter in the first draft, but my inconsiderate brain is trained to argue that it does matter. If you spend more time fixing your typos than writing, then the best solution is to just do a writing sprint. 

It’s pretty self-explanatory: set a timer and then write for a certain amount of time. The goal of a writing sprint is to write as many words as possible in the time you have. Your writing does not have to be perfect. Let me repeat that: Your writing does not have to be perfect. The whole point of a writing sprint is to churn out words. Whether they’re “good” words is something to worry about later. If you still find yourself returning to that perfectionist mindset, then put your writing out of view for a while and take your mind off it.

First Draft Perfectionism Syndrome

Yes, I’ve decided to give this a name: First Draft Perfectionism Syndrome, or FDPS for short. If you’re on the first draft--I feel your pain. It’s tempting to make the first draft as neat as possible so you have less work to do later on. That’s the way it works, right? Well, yes and no. 

Yes, you might save yourself work later, but at what cost? You’ll be constantly obsessing over the tiny details and slowing yourself down. A first draft is supposed to be messy. It’s one big brain dump for the main structure and ideas of your story. It should not be of a published quality. That comes many drafts later. The first draft is all about just getting your ideas down.

Having fun with writing

Writing isn’t supposed to be a chore, but perfectionism can often make it seem like one. If you’re not having fun with your writing, take a step back and ask yourself why. If you’re not enjoying yourself, is it because of you, your idea, or both? Pinpoint the problem and then think of ways to solve it. Writing is supposed to be fun, not something to dread.

The perfectionist standard

Many times, perfectionists hold themselves to a standard of perfection. But what is perfect in writing? Good grammar and spelling? The complete absence of plot holes? Flowing and unstilted dialogue? Trying to have all of these qualities and more is simply unachievable. Every single published work out there has some kind of flaw. Your favorite media most likely has flaws, but does that make you completely hate it? No! So don’t burn yourself out trying to reach a standard that is literally unreachable. Your writing is not defined by its flaws. You might look at your writing and only see flaws, but another person won’t read your writing the same way.

Better done than perfect

It’s really important to remember that in the end, all that matters is that you have something. You can edit “garbage,” but you can’t edit a blank page. So don’t be afraid to show up. It’s okay to feel like your writing is bad and it’s okay to be imperfect. Every single writer ever has felt this way. If they haven’t, they’re probably lying. Honestly, I’d be extremely worried if a writer said that they think their first draft was ready for publication. It’s not. And that is more than okay.

i know we writers complain about writing a lot as a joke, and that's completely fine, but it's also important to remember why we love it and what we find in it!

we keep coming back to the blank page because we believe we can fill it. we build something from nothing more than our own imaginations. we transfer thoughts to words to paper to people. writing really is one of the most beautiful things we can do, and that's one of my favorite things about it.

A Name Dump Based on Vibes

Cottagecore Names

Aspen

August

Betty

Dorothea

Ivy

Jolene

Juniper

Willow

Adventurous Names

Everett

Hunter

Jessie/Jesse

Olivia

Peter

Sadie

Sawyer

Zoe

Artsy Names

Amy

Delilah

Dylan

Iris

Michelle

Noah

Sierra

Simon

Vintage Names

Adelaide

Caroline

Eleanor

Jude

Lana

Oliver

Stacy

Vivian

Dark Academia Names

Dorian

Ezra

Henry

Juliet

Lydia

Ophelia

Penelope

Sophia

Poetic Names

Blake

Calliope

Elliott

Fiona

Grace

Laila

Maya

Sylvia

Musical Names

Aria

Cadence

Harmony

Harper

Lyric

Melody

Piper

Reed

"Kill them with kindness" WRONG. drop the opera house chandelier on them.