writing tip #3774:

if you don't know what you want to write, write what you know you don't want to write and work backwards

just saw a post that accused someone of using generative ai to write an essay because 'no one uses — instead of commas or semicolons' and i've never been more offended in my life

me: (knows full well that the last time i did a full rewrite for one of my projects, i wasn't sure what i was going to do with the ending when i started and it came to me as i went along)

me, considering a full rewrite of another project: too bad i simply cannot start this until i know what i'm doing with the ending

writing tip #3773:

just fuckign. run your celebrated writing organisation into the ground in so many ways that the chaos is impossible to keep track of

i met a lot of friends through nanowrimo and would never have grown into the writer i am without it. i'd never come across any event that celebrated the joy and messiness of writing quite like nanowrimo. the first drafts of every novel i've ever written (other than the one i started as a literal child) were written during nanowrimo. i was a ML in my hometown for a spell and loved it. but the last few years have been like getting punched repeatedly in the face by an old friend every time some new controversy was unearthed. and now it's shutting down. idk. mixed feelings. if anyone still wants to write thousands of words in november together without the use of generative ai i'm down

writing tip #3772:

if your protagonist is annoying, all that means is they're going to be way more memorable than a non-annoying protagonist

writing tip #3771:

write now, edit later. how later? uhh. later. just later. you'll get round to it at some point maybe

me and some friends played horror survivor and the toaster from the brave little toaster got med evac'd

hate it when i want to start working on a project that needs major structural changes, but i haven't figured out what i'm doing with the ending yet. logically i know that with the last project i had this, i also didn't know what i was doing with the ending, until it randomly came to me on the journey to a work event while i was working on the chapters leading up to the ending. but like. that won't happen TWICE, surely

writing tip #3770:

if your protagonist wants lemons, give them lemonade

found a "holiday scrapbook" i made as a kid which includes sugar and creamer from 1999

writing tip #3769:

better drape another layer of irony on that bad boy, you don't want readers to think you're being... *lowers voice* sincere

writing tip #3768:

protagonists aren't allowed live parents

writing tip #3767:

the best twist possible is revealing your entire novel is the lengthy introduction to an online recipe for sausage bake

writing tip #3766:

you don't have to introduce your protagonist's name right away, but readers tend to get annoyed if it's revealed more than fifteen chapters in

it's my BIRTHDAY so here is a SHAMELESS SELF-PROMO

i have another blog, @intothedraft, where i've been reading through all the drafts of a story i've been writing and rewriting since i was eight-years-old and tearing past me to fucking shreds.

today i will be starting to go through draft 3, which i wrote as a dumbass sixteen-year-old!

index is here if you want to sample some odd posts

and as a reminder, you can also find me on bluesky!