Writer Stuff - Blog Posts

Lol alright let's do it.

1. Homeward Drowned

2. No. But my second draft title was Driftwood Souls. I liked Homeward Drowned (reference to the words homeward bound, but, well, drowned lol) better though, as it fits the story more.

3. The Wounds of Wood and Water

What chu guys think?

Okay now I am curious. 👀

How does everyone come up with titles for their work?

Do you have a go-to style, or is it more "vibes based" depending on the work?

this question is prompted by me wondering where the new publishing trend of what seems like a lot of unrelated book series having titles along the lines of

"The [blank] of [blank] and [blank]"

with me wondering where it came from, and if it is based off of one book series that everyone else is trying to copy, if its something publishers are pushing, or a mix of both.

so, as a fun little interactive post:

What's your current WIP document title,

Are you planning on changing the title after editing

what would the title be if you formatted it in "The [blank] of [blank] and [blank]" style?

That moment when you just scroll through pinterest for character visuals and SUDDENLY there's a picture that makes you put something completely new and random into the plot, even add another person into it and question whether you're not doing too much.

Leaving my world at your care

prompt: “I do not know what tomorrow will bring, but whatever happens, please… take care of my cat.”

She had an hour.

And she used to go to him.

Heroine stepped through the boy’s dorms as quietly and as quickly as she could. None of the guys were out, probably scared of the punishments for dismissing bed-time.

It didn’t matter to her.

In less than an hour, she would be too far away from the academy. Which was terrifying, but meant that she could forget about certain rules.

Just as she started to enjoy her little rebellious freedom, she found his dorm. The headboy’s dorm. Her sole rival.

The stakes were too high to care about whether or not she obeys bedtime.

She took out the key bunch she had in her pocket, which she was given by her homeroom teacher to help him ensure no troubles were made inside the dorms.

“The teacher’s bunch? hm, you know, acting like a complete nerd won’t help you become smarter than me.”

“Maybe. But it will help me sneak mice into your room.”

Now Rival will learn his lesson.

She searched for the right key and unlocked the door, a bit at unease from the audible sounds the lock made.

Surprisingly, the room was not entirely dark. Rival’s windows were open and the full moon shed some light inside.

He was not in his bed.

Instead, he was sprawled over his table, his neck placed on his bookand his back crooked onward. This did not seem comfortable. And it would hurt when he wakes up.

“How come no one invented a way to not be stiff after sitting…?”

“You mean like, stretching?”

“...”

“Nerd.”

She knew that this astronomy exam stressed everyone, but she didn’t imagine him like… He looked so tired. Perhaps she teased his last score too much. 

and she had no time to help now.

I’m scared, too.

Heroine got closer to him, and raised her hand to his shoulder, but then froze.

He had enough to worry about, and she doesn’t know how he would react to her request- Nor what he will imagine is the reason for such a strange plea…

Right now, at least one of them got to rest.

But it wasn’t just her on the line anymore. She cannot just keep these problems to herself. And maybe, somehow, she had a feeling that he would rather know.

“Hey, Rival,”

She touched his shoulder lightly. It took a moment before there was any reaction. He groaned a bit, still resting his face above his arm. He turned to her side, opening his eyelids in a rusty way.

Heroine couldn’t help but smile at his widened, chestnut eyes.

“Heroine…?”

His voice was barely audible. 

“Yes, it’s me. I came to… well…”

She took a moment to collect the right words. The stakes were high, but she couldn’t stress him more than needed.

He brought his head up and straightened himself. Looking right at her.

“What’s wrong?”

Nothing, yet. But not for long.

“I need a favor from you.”

He nodded slightly and waited. Looking more serious than she ever saw him.

She didn’t want this. She wanted to comment on his messy bed hair and banter and see his smirk and just go back to her normal life.

“I will leave the school for a while and… and I cannot take my…”

She took a big breath.

“My cat. She’ll have to stay here and she doesn’t trust anyone besides… Will you please…”

“I will take care of Nova.”

Rival tried to smile reassuringly, still looking a bit tense. But the promise meant the world to her. 

Heroine smiled for a bit, too.

“Thank you, I don’t know what I… How would I leave without knowing she’s safe.”

But both of their smiles died down quickly.

“...where are you going?”

She inhaled, hoping to keep herself calm. And him, too.

“I do not know, but I have to. And… and I want to.”

He stared at her for a moment. He still looked tired, but also tense, and… and something else.

“Is it dangerous?”

Yes. I’m scared, Rival.

“I cannot tell you, Rival. This is my own problem.”

“Hero-”

“I never wanted to get you involved. But it’s… Nova, she doesn’t trust anyone besides me, and well…”

and you.

“You can get me involved in everything,”

He said, standing up and holding her gaze.

“Whatever this is, I can help. Please, I never saw you this anxious.”

He extended his hand towards hers, not quite touching, but closer than ever.

She closed the gap, holding his hand.

I’ll miss you, Rival.

Heroine then came forward, hugging him.

He was surprised, but accepting. Wrapping his arms around her himself. It felt nice and warm, and Heroine held him like she’d hold the last piece of normalcy she had.

Her clock buzzed. It was midnight.

“I need to go.”

Heroine said, not moving yet. She felt him sighning and nodding. 

They slowly let go of each other, and Heroine took out the key bunch and gave it to him. For one last moment, he held her hands.

“I won't let you down. I’ll take care of her for as long as needed.”

“Thank you, Rival.”

Heroine started walking away, she opened the door, and looked back once more. Rival’s deep brown eyes were still on her. Still too fearful for her liking.

“I will come back, as soon as possible. Enjoy being the top student while you can.”

She meant it. She will return, maybe sooner than expected. She will come back and hug him again and banter and hold Nova and stress about their exams and everything will be normal.

He smiled at her, hope and playfulness in his eyes. That was how she wanted to remember him.

“Enjoy being a dork in the outside world, nerd.”

“Oh, I will.”

Heroine closed the door and went her way, walking with ease. Knowing that she will return She will come back to hug him again and banter and hold Nova and stress about their exams and everything will be normal.

knowing all of that, Heroine walked into the night with confident steps.

Chess Partner

Rival had that glint in his eyes, she noticed, the one he recently has when they play.

"Things don't look too well for you, don't they?"

The perfect, still, poker-face Heroine mastered kept away any information he tried to get.

"That is what you have said last time."

He frowned a bit, but his eyes kept their shine.

"So you do have a plan..."

"Hopefully."

"Then I shouldn't eat your knight..."

"If you doing this is in my plan."

Rival leaned in and squinted at her. Sometimes, just sometimes, he was too dangerously cute. Heroine hated to admit that to herself, but the way her lips urged to smile at his sight left no doubt.

"So you DO want me to do this...!"

"You can try to interogate me all day, or actually think for yourself."

Hero almost let out a chuckle as she answered. He pouted again, adding a frown and a crooked nose. She finally let out a laugh, dropping her straight face.

"You're a pleasure to play with..."

Rival was quite for a moment, his smile was... It has never been that soft. God her heart beat so fast.

"I can say the same for you."

He blushed a little and looked away. Scratching his scalp, Heroine used the distraction to take mental notes.

He brushed his hair, which she doesn't remember him doing in any other day they met. A warmth grew in her as she hoped that she read the signs right. His clothes were nicer, too. He replaced the usual seeatshirt and sweatpants with a polo shirt and jeans. The shirt's sleeves were shorter, which was nice and...

He has a scar. Right at the back of his forearm, barely noticeable.

"That's it. I'm not eating that. It reeks with a scheme."

Hero knows that scar. And she knows that man. Villain grinned at her.

"Knew this was your plan. Scared now?"

She immediately returned her poker face.

"Plans change."

She played her move quickly and quietly. Villain took some time but made finished his turn.

"I'm gonna win this time, I can feel it."

Hero didn't respond or banter back. She didn't say anything for the next few turns, no matter what he tried to do to tease or make her laugh. He grew more worried each turn.

"Hey ummm..."

She needs to finish this and think of the next step. This was her chance to catch him once and for all.

"You good?"

Looking up, she noticed his worried expression. It was completely geniune when she smiled and reassured him.

"Yes, just got lost in thoughts for a bit."

He smiled back.

"I actually had something weighing on me too, mind if...?"

"Go ahead."

He took a big breath. That moment, she knew what was about to happen. What she wished one of them will be brave enough for. She wished for this ever since they first played her. Ever since he truly challenged her. Ever since he took his loss with a laugh and adoring eyes.

"I know we only ever meet here to play, and that I have annoying jokes and... And an annoying self..."

Even the dread she felt didn't stop her from chuckling.

"But I like... I don't know... This. Playing wit- Even when you win. So you I thought..."

The fact that she knew of his identity didn't stop the butterflies she felt. Making her wish he was who she sees now. Just a softhearted, clever guy she met at an urban chess.

"We could go get ice cream aft-, or something less childis- I mean... Well you-"

This is her chance. Even if not for love. She showed him the best smile she could master.

"How about coffee tomorrow? I know a perfect place."

A coffee shop 50 meters away from a police station. It will be easy.

He smiled shyly and let out of all the air he held in his lungs.

"Sounds perfect..."

His blushed and relieved face turned her stomach. Imagining how he'd look at her tomorrow, when he'll realize who she really is.

But now Heroine must forget about it. She'll smile and laugh and be happy, genuinely happy, that they like each other.

They were chess partners, and she can't allow him to guess her next move.

As a writer whose default is dialogue, kudos right back to writers who use more description and such. Y'all put so much detail into your works and I love it, wish I could explain what I visualize as well as you guys do

kudos to writers with dialogue-heavy works, I got mad respect for y'all. love using dialogue as a tool, but my default settings are non-verbal (dialogue) and non-stop yapping (description).

born to write the beginning and ending, forced to write the middle part.

No literally because I want people to cry at the things I write but I don't wanna cry at the things other people write

me writing angst: haha this is fun I hope someone cries reading it

me when my favorite show has even the slightest bit of angst: OH NO

Does anyone know how to tell if your work is ok, I know constructive criticism can be helpful but I want to make sure the draft I give people to criticize is at least decent. I’m taking mainly about writing in this case as I can spot visual oddities in my artwork more easily than I can notice clunkiness in my writing. I’d love any advice anyone may have.

Ya’ll for the past few hours I’ve been trying to calculate population growth for my fictional world and started going year by year listing out the total population, births, and deaths for each year.

There’s no way this is necessary, and I do t know why I’m doing all this when there’s no way at any point anyones gonna start talking about population growth within the story.

Idk what Im doing and have decided to share with you the nonsense I’m getting up to.

This is some more of my personal art. This character is the protagonist of a story I’m writing, they’re the main character of the story Calix is in (Calix has star stuff in his theming so I snatched him for artfight). Obviously this piece is really abstract but I can confidently say from looking at my other artwork my abstracts stuff looks better.

Feel free to give constructive criticism or ask questions! Have a spectacular day!

Might delete this later might not.

I’m trying to remember the narrative issue where someone keeps raising the stakes till there’s nowhere else to go within fiction except to undo character progress. I’m not super certain what I’m thinking of but I’m trying to look up how to avoid raising the stakes so high that there’s then no where to go from there story wise. Idk if there’s a word for this lemme know if y’all have any input.

Writing?

Hello!! I started writing again recently, I've been learning some things about how stories go together!! WORDS ARE APPEARING ON THE PAGE and it is like magic. I am in a great mood! I hope you are all having a lovely day out there! Writers, the words haven't abandoned you forever!!

If anyone out there is writing, and wants to put our heads together to giggle about starting to write, reach out and say hi!!

the worst

Brain Soup

I am a writer.

I swear.

I promise myself: I am a writer!

But my words are stuck.

I don’t think in monologue.

I think in abstract ideas without real words.

I think in colours.

Synesthesia and neurodivergence on paper hints at delicately built structures supporting the colours that move like swirling, shimmering mist inside my brain.

No.

Never have I just one isolated, traceable thought — against my will, every one flutters by on erratic wings, overwhelmed by so many others. Could you keep your eye trained on a single monarch butterfly in a migrating swarm?

My thoughts are strobe lights — echoing, pounding, deep vibrations that reverberate off the walls of my skull in primary colours.

They float like soft, hazy clouds that wistfully blur the sky with creamy lavender, glittering magenta, electric peach, and yearning forget-me-not blue. So full of stories, beckoning me to tell them. My earnest hand strains its tendons, returning with nothing to show for the desperation with which I extended my reach.

They pool at the top of a dark room, iron shades of smoke billowing out of my ears, daring me to latch onto them with a foolish grip. The cloud mocks me from above, choking me with my own sheer volume of intangibility.

I know so badly what I want to say. What I need to say. What I have to say or else I might die.

But none of the words to say it.

My thoughts are a glossy, sticky honey — a glistening liquid with flecks of sunlight, flowing leisurely towards the small opening of its glass container. They are an infuriating, sluggish tar — a languid sludge rolling across the backroads carved into my brain.

Syrup or grease, they ooze with unrivalled lethargy, clogging the channels in which they travel before ever becoming.

But I am a writer, I promise myself.

I am.

I swear.

———————

lightbluefog

Look what I made

Me realising I wrote 213,000 words and 45 chapters in my twd WIP just to get to the idea that started my entire story. (I'm no where near finished)

Writing a fanfic but making it REALLY obvious that you don't like a character.

Being a writer is writing your story the way you want and then that one character insists on a different outcome. So you change that scene but then another character complains too. Now you have to decide what to smother and what to allow! That is so hard to do.

Fanfic is a good and healthy part of creative storytelling.

However some of you are depriving the world of great art. Simple because you’re busy working within the copyright of existing art.

This is coming from someone that used to spend years writing fanfic before officially publishing original fiction.

Please publish your own work too. It’s scary but you’ll be better off for it. Especially when your original story starts getting love too.

Nobody knew they needed certain story worlds until someone took the chance and started a new one.

You can still write your fanfics but don’t miss your true calling.

I usually stop watching Dexter around Season 4, Episode 7.

Rant

Dexter not killing Trinity feels like a plot contrivance; there’s no real reason for him to let him live. He just decides not to kill him after already receiving the proof he needed. Instead, he gets sidetracked with some serial killer of the week because “he threatened Deb.” Really, Dexter? Do you not remember what happened just a few episodes ago because of Trinity?

The idea that “Trinity is on cooldown” doesn’t make sense. When has that ever been a consideration for him? It felt like the showrunners didn't want a predictable series, so they made Dexter act out of character. Trinity isn’t just another Miguel situation; Dexter has seen him kill innocents live. There’s no justification for not dealing with him ASAP.

You could argue that Dexter is struggling with parenthood and being a husband, which clouds his judgment. However, he has never allowed his role as a boyfriend and pseudo-father to so severely distort his logical reasoning. Show runners wanted Trinity to hurt Dexter. The only way they could get that outcome was to make Dexter act outside of his norm.

“Maybe he wanted to learn more about having a normal family life from Trinity.”

Dexter has tabled other serial killers with normal lives. He knows how’s to put on a show and still exist.

“Well Rita needed to go out that way for the set up!” (in a totally different show that the writers definitely knew would be a reality someday)

Actual take I’ve seen before. That show also shifts the dynamics around with the audiences relationship with Dexter so not a fan. I’ll explain. Imagine if Supernatural had a spin-off show that said: “erm actually the Winchesters were pieces of shit the entire time. You should hate them actually. Because technically they were still killing people even if they were irredeemable monsters!”

Then Sam and Dean are killed off by Adam and that found footage werewolf they chose not to hunt.

That’s how that ending feels. So no that “setup” isn’t a good payoff to either series. I’ll just pretend the show ended after S3.

Gee it sure is boring around here

Alright I’ll bite.

My WIP is about a character who was sculpted into becoming a serial killer by his politician serial killer father. He’s just currently done his first kill that is personal to him.

My character is currently stuck in a blizzard within a patrol car with a sheriff. The sheriff is gruff caring type that is unaware that he is a killer. She assumes he’s just trying to get across town for the holiday morning. The problem is he has incriminating evidence in his duffel bag.

I’m unsure of how to proceed the story once he wakes up. I want to make him grow closer with the sheriff somehow before something unfortunate happens to her. It won’t be by his own hands but it’ll be a consequence of the killing he did earlier.

My brain is having a slight hard time connecting that dot toward her death.

I have an idea of who kills her and how it’ll eventually lead to him being chased but I’m not sure.

Writers UNblock

Ask me a question or vent to me about where you're stuck in your WIP, I wanna help yall its getting real boring in here

“Erm Hollywood/ Gaming Industry/ Music/ publishers don’t make anything original anymore it’s just sequels, remakes, samples, and prequels!”

I’m going to hold your hand when I tell you this:

Support original art outside of existing pillar franchises and labels.

If you remain inactive in supporting new things, everything will stay the same. Studios, producers, and executives only produce games, movies, music, and TV shows if they believe there’s a fanbase for it. Many book publishers won't take risks on picking up an existing series unless they can prove a major return.

I’m done with this stale argument that everything sucks now. If you’re unhappy with the industry, do something about it or stop complaining. Stop hate watching and start engaging with content you enjoy. Take a chance on new content, you might be missing out.

The era of the hate-watching YouTube essay reviewer is slowly ending, and that's a good thing. Don’t let these reviewers, who often don't even watch what they critique, deter you from trying new things. They often have agendas to convince you that only their specific taste of art is worthwhile. They also don’t like a majority of things even indie.

Form your own opinions and seek out new things to enjoy. Deconstructing and hating is easy; constructing and loving is much harder.

There’s no way this is a real person. Nothing in the original post was said about having kids. Typical internet.

Long rant

I find it funny too because someone pointed out that almost nobody in the US pays for these. Most people, if they want one, will wrangle a stray one from around the airport. Not to mention typically luggage has had wheels since the 70s.

A rich businessman mad that he has to pay $6 out of his expenses. In an economy where most people struggle to afford groceries, this guy is upset about the possibility of spending $6 after traveling around Europe.

I was curious though if OP did have kids and simply didn’t mention them. If I was missing some crucial context that the replier had that I missed. So I checked OP’s profile. OP was traveling alone and has one daughter that appears to be an adult.

So nothing close to this imagined scenario in the comment replying to me. I realize the replier was projecting his scenario onto my comment. But my comment isn’t to the replier it’s to OP. Who clearly doesn’t have that specific scenario to worry over.

Additional Context:

(I made the original comment because I’m tired of people engagement baiting on there. Originally this site was about creatives showing off art.

Now it’s about non-stop engagement baiting like any other corner of the internet. A popular one atm is Europe vs USA .)

Me: only interacts with writing posts and anime

Tumblr: you want to see politics?!

Me: *not interested x1000*

Tumblr: oh so you *really* wanna see politics huh?!

I know it’s an election season but ffs.

Yes yes we all read "There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury

Hey everyone, would you be interested in a story told from the first-person perspective of a young woman who’s stuck living in a creepy underground town and has to face seriously chilling horrors? Let me know!

Rewatching gravity falls since the first time it aired. Lots of setup in this series. Even season 1 did that well. Very impressive. If the series came back I would want Dipper to own the shack as an older man.

I think I will have made it as an author when I start getting fanfiction of my books. As long as it’s not anything illegal, I don’t care what the fanfic is about.

I wrote and published my book. This book is very important to me. I never thought I’d live this long to write and publish a book. That’s all.

This is one of the memes I’ve made about my first book.