19 Points

Non-writing activities that actually help your writing

To get better at writing, you have to write. Yes… But what about the times when you genuinely don’t feel like it?

First of all, it’s alright! It’s not the end of the world! You’re not a failed writer if you have a down day. But if you really feel like doing something that pushes your writing along, but isn’t actually writing, here are some things you can do! →

📚 Planning out your next chapter When in doubt, plot it out. Sometimes you might simply be stuck because you don’t have a clear path forward. A simple outline of all the major beats in your next chapter can really put things into perspective.

📚 Writing an impromptu scene Every writer goes off and fantasizes about a scene in their novel that isn’t actually part of the plan. Treat it as if it was a fanfic of your own novel and give it a shot! Writing it as fanfiction takes the pressure off, and might just get your creative juices flowing again.

📚Reading a similar book for research This is a  super helpful and fun way of doing research for your book. Dig out similar books in the genre and get reading. A great way to get book recommendations is to speak to some bookish people and tell them a little bit about the story you’re writing. Often, they can have great recommendations of a similar book vibe that could help you along.

📚 Actually research For whatever type of book you’re writing, you’re going to have to do some research. Whether it’s describing architecture in a fantasy world, or making sure your facts are correct in a historical setting, research is a crucial part of writing. Perhaps if your creative side of the brain isn’t feeling up to it right now, your logical one might be of us and help you gather some facts to make your writing more authentic.

📚 Edit or rewrite previous chapters If you have the need to work on your project, but can't bring yourself to write some more, work with what’s already there. It’s inevitable that some of the chapters you wrote, you aren’t entirely happy with. This might be the time to try something new - open that chapter side by side with a fresh document and rewrite it by changing one integral part of it.

📚 Think on it Yes, we all fantasize about our projects and our characters. But how often do you actually stop and truly think about your story as a whole? How often do you try to figure out that plothole before saying you’ll leave it for later? It might help to meditate for a bit, clear your head of distracting thoughts and focus on the problem in your writing that you need to solve.

General Advice for Beginner Witches

A brief masterpost of some of my advice posts for beginner witches and the episodes of my podcast dealing with the same. (There is UPG here, particularly where marked, as I base a good deal of my advice on my own experience and observations of other witches.)

Hex Positive Podcast Episodes

Hex Positive, Ep. 04 - Advice for Beginner Witches (July 2020)

Hex Positive, Eps. 6-7 - Come In For A Spell 1 & 2 (Sept 2020)

Hex Positive, Ep. 12 - Witching From The Broom Closet (Jan 2021)

Hex Positive, Ep. 24 - Warding A Witchy Home (Dec 2021)

Hex Positive, Ep. 27 - When Inspo Takes A Holiday (March 2022)

General Tips & Advice

I Feel Like I Might Be A Witch...But I Don't Know

I Have Mental Health Issues - Can I Still Be A Witch?

Can I Still Be A Witch And Use Magic If I Take Medication?

How Do I Teach Myself To Believe In Magic?

How Does Magic Work? (upg ahoy)

Will I Be Possessed Or Haunted If I Try Witchcraft?

What Are Some Things I Can Do To Get Started?

How Can I Start My Practice If I Don't Have Tools Or Books?

How Do I Organize My Study Materials?

How Do I Contact A Deity?

How Do I Worship My Deity If I Can't Have An Altar?

Tips On Working With Deities And Spirits (here be upg)

My Intuitive Spark Feels Low - How Do I Get It Back?

I'm In A Slump - How Do I Get Out Of It?

I've Reached A Stopping Point - What Do I Do Next?

My Candle Is Flickering - Does It Mean Something Bad?

How Do I Make A Magic Circle For Spellcasting?

What Happens If I Get Interrupted While Casting A Spell?

Do I Need To Maintain Positive Vibes For My Spells To Work?

What Should I Do If I REALLY Want To Hex Someone?

How Do I Know / What Do I Do If I've Been Hexed?

How Do I Become More Skilled And More Powerful?

How Do I Know When I'm Ready For The Next Step In My Practice?

Additional Tips For Developing Your Practice

Witchcraft Exercise - Quantifying Your Craft

Witchcraft Exercise - Dig Through The Ditches

Witchcraft Exercise - The Book of Lessons

Witchcraft Exercise - Home Brews

Tips on How to Visualize and Construct Basic Wards

Practicing Your Warding Technique

Cleansing Before Warding / Warding A Shared Space

Refreshing / Patching Existing Wards

Non-Appropriative Herbs for Smoke-Cleansing

Smokeless Cleansing / Other Methods

Recommended Reading & Book Suggestions

being a writer leads to a genuinely helpful but also very stupid kind of mindfulness where you'll be having a sobbing breakdown or the worst anxiety attack of your life and think "okay, I really need to pay attention to how this feels. so I can incorporate it into my fanfiction."

i’ve not posted much this year but merry Christmas and happy holidays from me and these two little birdies x

I made these as a way to compile all the geographical vocabulary that I thought was useful and interesting for writers. Some descriptors share categories, and some are simplified, but for the most part everything is in its proper place. Not all the words are as useable as others, and some might take tricky wording to pull off, but I hope these prove useful to all you writers out there!

(save the images to zoom in on the pics)

Accurate

Naming characters in your books is like:

This is Mischa Ernst Townes III: I made a list of thirty-two possible names and narrowed them down through careful evaluation of which phonetic sounds and letter combinations invoked his energy, which etymologies most emulated the spirit of the character, and which names had connotations or allusions that would foreshadow or contrast his inevitable arc while simultaneously harking back to his history in an interconnected web.

OR

This is Roger Halifax it came to me in a dream.

There is no inbetween.

Can You Scan The Backside Of A DA:I tarot card? I haven't seen what it looks like :3

Why certainly!

I’ve been seeing people wanting larger scans of all the individual cards… the only reason I didn’t do that before is there are a lot of them, haha, but I could do it if there are some people really want to see. I understand, because there’s a lot of detail in the cards and it’s hard to see in the big sets. I was thinking maybe putting up some bigger versions of some of the lesser seen character cards — and some of the ones people don’t immediately recognize as character cards, like Hawke’s. But if people have any particular requests, I can go with that!

(Also I gained 30 followers overnight, so uh… hello?? /nervous wave!!)

Reminder not to edit while you write. You want to finish that story someday? Then stop editing while you write!

Fixing an obvious error/typo in the sentence you just wrote is fine, but we're not talking about that. Do not reread, do not continue searching for errors, do not even spellcheck in case that leads you down the editing rabbithole.

Finish the story. The clock is ticking on that muse and distractions waste precious time!