If You Feel Like You Forgot How To Write: Good. Forget The Rules. Be Ungovernable. Invent A New Genre.

being disabled will really have you thinking/saying things like “yeah i’m not really THAT disabled. as long as i take my meds twice a day (and as needed), eat and drink exactly the right things, keep the perfect balance of being active and resting, the weather is stable, and nothing unexpected happens AT ALL… i’m totally FINE! i probably should not even call myself disabled at this point because i’m doing so well!”

if you don’t want to call yourself disabled, that’s fine and it is your choice! but if you’re only “fine” or “doing really well” when a bunch of different variables are all lined up perfectly, then maybe you are not fine actually. just a thought!

me, struggling to write: hmm, this part is a little difficult. maybe i should check my planning document, which i created as a helpful tool for my writing process!

the planning document:

Things I’ve noticed are essential in plotting and would probably have saved me a lot of time if I had considered it earlier

The START of your story - how fucked up flawed is your premise/character at the start? what do they have to change? why are they HERE?

The END of your story - How do you want your main character/theme/universe to change after your story? Does it get better or worse? THIS SETS UP THE TONE DRASTICALLY.

What you want to happen IN BETWEEN - the MEAT of it. What made you start writing this WIP in the first place. Don't be ashamed to indulge, it's where the BRAIN JUICE comes from. You want a deep dive into worldbuilding and complex systems? Then your start and end should be rooted in some fundamental, unique rule of your universe (what made you obsess over it?). Want to write unabashed ship content? Make sure your start and end are so compelling you'll never run out of smut scenarios to shove in between scenes (what relationship dynamics made you ship it in the first place?).

The ANTE - the GRAVITY of your story. How high are the stakes? Writing a blurb or interaction? start with a small day-in-the-life so you can focus on shorter timelines and hourly minutiae that can easily get overlooked in more complicated epics. Or you can go ham on it and plot out your whole universe's timeline from conception to demise. Remember: the larger the scale, the less attached your story may get. How quickly time flies in your story typically correlates with the ante (not a hard rule, ofc, but most epics span years of time within a few pages, while a romance novel usually charts out the events of a few months over a whole manuscript.)

Everything else follows….?

Something I'm fond of saying is "The villain drives the plot but the hero sets the tone." Something that's very important about this is that the resolution to the conflicts presented need to match the hero's tone. If your story doesn't believe problems can be solved the way the hero wants to solve them... why is this the hero?

If you want your problems to be solved with brutal catharsis, then your hero should be someone who believes in brutal catharsis.

If you want your problems to be solved with forgiveness and reconciliation, then your hero should be someone who believes in forgiveness and reconciliation.

They don't have to begin there. This can be something they come around to over the course of the story, as they grow and change per their character arc. But by the time of their ultimate encounter with the villain, their values should be the values that drive the story forward.

There's this thing in D&D that some DMs do. Where, when you roll enough damage to deplete the monster's hit points, they'll turn to you and say, "That's a kill. Describe for the group how you take the monster down." And you're allowed to come up with some cool maneuver or something that your character did in order to deliver the finishing blow.

The hero's ultimate triumph over the villain is a lot like this. More than any other part of the story, this moment is their apotheosis. It should be a celebration of everything they are and everything they stand for.

You have defeated the villain; Now describe for the group what form that victory takes.

Romantic Writing Prompts (++Drama++)

She has two choices... the boy who makes her feel like art, or the man who can give her the world on a silver platter. Both love her. Both will ruin her in different ways. And she has to decide if she wants passion or security, because she cannot have both.

She thought she had found the love of her life on a dreamy vacation. The kind of love that makes you believe in fate. The kind of love that makes your bones hum. And then she comes home, walks into her best friend’s apartment, and sees him, wearing a ring, wrapping his arms around the person who’s been in her life longer than he has.

She’s built her career from nothing. Nothing. And now she’s finally on the verge of making it, rising in the world of high fashion, with a mentor who believes in her more than anyone ever has. But then she finds out the truth about him. And it’s not just bad. It’s the kind of truth that could end everything.

She has a plan. Stay in her tiny hometown. Marry the boy she’s known forever. Live a simple, happy life. But then the new guy moves in, brooding, devastatingly handsome, and everything she’s not supposed to want. Suddenly, her plan feels like a cage. And her childhood sweetheart can see it happening.

She knows he’s a mistake. She knows he’s all sharp edges and empty promises and that he kisses her like he’s daring her to regret it later. And still, she goes back to him. Again and again. Until she either saves him or loses herself completely.

She has a good boyfriend. A stable one. The kind of love that makes sense. Then, she meets him. The kind of love that is a disaster waiting to happen, that keeps her awake at night, that makes her question everything she thought she wanted. And suddenly, safe doesn’t feel so safe anymore.

She’s fine. She swears she is. It’s been years since she lost him. She moved on. She has a job, a life, someone else warming her bed. And then, she sees him again. Older. Wiser. Looking at her like she’s the only thing in the world that ever made sense. And suddenly, every lie she’s told herself comes crashing down.

in writing, if you're stuck on a sentence or paragraph you're supposed to just jusmp to the next part and keep writing. fine-tuning is for the revision phase not the first draft

unfortunately every single fucking letter is a bear trap

People who tell you not to write in bed are liars. They also should try writing on their phone.

sci-fi writers are either like, 'this ship travels at 12 parsecs and here’s the exact formula for faster-than-light travel,' or 'it’s space. don’t worry about it.' there is no in-between. both will look at you like you’re stupid if you ask too many questions.

Don't abandon your writing

It’s pretty common to lose love for a project at some point during the writing process. If that happens, it’s always okay to step away.

But (and this is the important part), don’t quit! Take a break, give yourself a breather, but always remember to come back. Your story deserves to be told.

Can't be sincerely dark without being called edgy, can't be sincerely emotional without being called melodramatic, can't be sincerely silly without being called stupid. They're gonna hate every emotion you put in your art no matter what so make it anyway and be as sincere as you can be