The Written Forest

She / They 🏳️‍🌈 British 🇬🇧 Neurodivergent 🌈 Writing high fantasy from first person perspectives ✨ all books contain magic & forests🌱Friend to moss

[authorarbour]

🌱Reintroduction

Hi all!

My name is Abi (she/they), I'm a UK-based writer who's working on their first full manuscript - at the minute it's still in it's first draft, which I aim to finish by the end of 2026 (I missed this being 2025 due to quite some crazy events), before editing.

I'm autistic having been diagnosed when I was a teenager, and I have raised money for the National Autistic Society previously, conquering my goals.

I am a reader of fantasy in it's many sub-genres, with my favourite authors being Terry Pratchett and Jim Butcher. But I'm branching out my reading into other genres, slowly.

I've launched my very own editing business! Called Twisted Leaf Editing, and available on it's own website here. After learning how to edit, it felt like my heart had found its calling and now here I am offering my services for new writers looking for an affordable and friendly option. I am actively against AI, so my services and writing will never see these harmful machines.

My favourite books:

The Dresden Files series, beginning with Storm Front by Jim Butcher (but my absolute favourite is Summer Knight).

Discworld, specifically the Sam Vimes series starting with Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett (Feet of Clay is perfect).

The Vicki Nelson Investigations series by Tanya Huff (Henry my beloved).

The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells, beginning with All Systems Red (Murderbot is so beautifully autistically-coded, I see myself in him).

My current WIPs:

The Willow Weeps -> A story written from the perspective of my old DnD character, about friendship, revenge, and finding footing after the world around you crumbles. My main WIP.

Unnamed villain romantasy -> Still currently in the ideas phase.

Ragbag's Theatre -> A collection of short stories that were created by my grandfather for his puppet theatre, but were never penned.

Unnamed dark fantasy -> Inspired by Iorveth and Saskia's story from The Witcher 2, again currently in the ideas phase.

I have other hobbies too:

I like to knit little soft plushies and I end up giving them away to friends and family who have little children.

Dungeons and Dragons - I love my group of close friends and playing together weaving both serious and silly stories.

I play video games!

I like to draw, although I don't get much time for that these days.

I love taking photographs on my travels too, but again, no time these days for that.

My favourite games:

The Witcher series (yes, I love all three, and have played them all multiple times).

FFXIV (Have you heard of the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy 14 Online...) - I main Dancer, Paladin and Sage depending on which role I need to fill (but mainly Dancer when completing story content)

Baldur's Gate 3

[sodiumvaporss]

i do have to say that no matter how shitty any sort of media is or how shitty your own creations are. always remember

[authorarbour]

AI-less tools for those who want to write!

This is the beginning of a list full of suggestions of apps / programs / tools that can be used to write that hold absolutely no AI (either for scraping or learning). I'll start:

LibreOffice -> A competent AI-less suite that rivals Microslop's Office Suite. It's free with an option to donate, and I use Writer for all my writing, and Calc occasionally for spreadsheets. I love LibreOffice and will rave about it all day if allowed.

Chronicler -> It's like creating a wikipedia for your world / characters. It's free with a paid option for further cosmetic enhancements. I enjoy it for it's ability to link things together.

vvd.world -> It's like chronicler but does the coding for you, you just write into it. There are some options for AI use to separate your writings into sub-headings, but you can turn it all off.

Honourable mention, to a time before AI and endless superfluous subscription fees, Microsoft Office Word from the early 2000s through to 2021. There's ways and means to have these versions if you just love the way Word works (I personally love it for editing), but you may need to become a bit of a pirate to find them ;)

Please add onto this list so others may benefit!

[authorarbour]

Adding onto this for visual sources!

Unsplash -> it's a stock image finder, real images created by real humans. You can find locations, items, creatures, and pictures of people. IMHO, it's better than Pinterest due to Pinterest being an ad and slop filled app at this point.

Heroforge -> Create a 3D model of your character that you can paint on the website for free, with the option to buy to print or have printed. Great for character visualisation, and your tabletop RPG.

Picrew -> Again, another way to visualise your characters for free. Many great artstyles to choose from and browse.

For those who game in the time they're not writing:

The Sims / Paralives are pretty decent for architecture and for designing characters.

Character creator on Baldur's Gate 3. It's weak as a base game creator, however it has it's own in-built mod menu where you can install any number of mods to your game, including for character creation and you can almost create anything now.

[higgsbison]

happy glorious 25th of may

[kjscottwrites]

[X] <- psst click this

[authorarbour]

Editing Update - 26th May 2026

Project: The Willow Weeps

I have finished the first edit of Chapter 3. Chapter 2 took so long because it's a longer chapter, and this one I decided to do during the middle of a freaking heatwave.

Seriously, this heat is awful. Anyway, I am making progress and feeling good about myself. I should update the word count now too, so here it is:

I've added more than I thought I would have at this point already. Edit #2 is looking like it might be subtracting them again 😂

Ticking boxes makes me happy :)

[authorarbour]

Editing Update - 23rd May 2026

Project: The Willow Weeps

I've finished the initial edit of chapter 2. I have had a turbulent May so far, and next weekend that will continue as I'm taking my partner out to UKGE.

I've barely had the energy to even read! I open my book (System Collapse by Martha Wells) and I'm asleep by the second paragraph! It's a shame becuase I love the series so much.

Anyway, this is a post to say I'm still going. I'm still doign the work. I'm still excited. So excited I even made myself a little spreadsheet tickbox chart to show my progress:

I wish you all well, and as there's a massive spike in heat where I live, remember to drink plenty of water, apply your sunscreen and make sure your pets are well accommodated too!

[twistedleafediting]

Twisted Leaf Editing & Our Stance on AI

It sucks. Rant incoming, I apologise in advance.

Plain and simply, AI "writing" is unethical, it is causing witch hunts within the writing community and quite frankly, if you as an AI "writer" / "artist" wanted to complete the task of creating something such as prose or poems or art, then you would have picked up a pen or pencil long ago.

"But I'm disabled and I need the tools." There are plenty of tools out there for disabled artists / writers. There's audio-dictation, I've seen people paint with their feet or their mouths. Artists create their own way in the world, they create their own tools and work-flow along the way. (For the purposes of clarity, spell-check has been around for decades, and is not classed as AI use).

"But AI is a good tool." No. No it isn't. It's paying a bootlegger for their copy of Shrek 6 (which at the time of writing this, does not exist). The AI mostly being used is generative AI, or LLMs (Language Learning Models) to use the scientific jargon. The same AI that was scraping and being fed with stolen works. What it's pumping out is slop that was mish-mashed together from works that it took without permission and you can even search for what was stolen: here, and here. Inspiration is good, until it's plagiarism. And friends, AI is a thief with no original ideas.

"It doesn't harm anyone." Also, I am a firm supporter of our natural world and the resources that AI datacentres take away from us is abhorrent. Including from our own brains.

That all being said, our stance on AI is simple: human hands create human works for human consumption. Why should editing be automated by a machine? I edit proudly by hand, because your work should be treated with the same gentleness as handling a new-born baby.

[authorarbour]

AI-less tools for those who want to write!

This is the beginning of a list full of suggestions of apps / programs / tools that can be used to write that hold absolutely no AI (either for scraping or learning). I'll start:

LibreOffice -> A competent AI-less suite that rivals Microslop's Office Suite. It's free with an option to donate, and I use Writer for all my writing, and Calc occasionally for spreadsheets. I love LibreOffice and will rave about it all day if allowed.

Chronicler -> It's like creating a wikipedia for your world / characters. It's free with a paid option for further cosmetic enhancements. I enjoy it for it's ability to link things together.

vvd.world -> It's like chronicler but does the coding for you, you just write into it. There are some options for AI use to separate your writings into sub-headings, but you can turn it all off.

Honourable mention, to a time before AI and endless superfluous subscription fees, Microsoft Office Word from the early 2000s through to 2021. There's ways and means to have these versions if you just love the way Word works (I personally love it for editing), but you may need to become a bit of a pirate to find them ;)

Please add onto this list so others may benefit!

[authorarbour]

Editing Update - 9th May 2026

Project: The Willow Weeps

I have reached Chapter 2 in my editing journey, and I am seeing just how different my voice changes within the writing and how I need to change it at the beginning.

This is the first round of edits. I'm sure there'll be many more. But, I am excited and it feels like the process will be so much quicker than the writing part.

I've also, as I hit the second chapter, opened a fresh document and set it up ready for writing the second book of this duology. I won't write in it until I've finished the first round of editing on book 1, but it's there, ready for when I begin. I've done this because I hate a blank sheet staring at me, so pro tip: Prepare your page / document any time you start a new writing project before-hand.

[romanimp]

"noir isn't a real genre" vs "noir is the only genre"

[spankerella]

I think we all should.

[lawbreaker13]

YES

[authorarbour]

Editing time!

I took a couple of weeks to myself and started editing when I returned home from being away in Scotland. I am excited to be on this step and honestly going back over what I've written so far has been so fun! I get to see all the places I put placeholders in and change it up, I get to see the glaring mistakes I made during the writing process I hadn't seen up until now, I get to see what my writing was like almost 3 years ago and how that's changed over time.

It's during this time that I'm also allowing myself to think about artwork, the blurb, the inserts, the page design, and the biggest and scariest thing of them all: publishing. I'm of two minds about publishing, for so long I dreamed of traditional publishing and seeing my book(s) on shelves in my favourite haunts, but with the rise of AI within publishing spaces, I'm beginning to hesitate. With indie or self-publishing, I get to decide everything from cover to cover with my book(s), but I have to self-market on social media and that is a daunting task as I am very camera shy and don't know what to put out there. The internet is forever, you know? Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm excited. I'm looking forward. And I'm nearly able to start sharing bits and pieces of the writing!

[aquilacalvitium]

Write it badly or it'll never be written

Write it badly or it'll never be written

Write it badly or it'll never be written

Write it badly or it'll never be written

Write it badly or it'll never be written

[valiantentropy]

This needs to be my reminder fr

The primal urge to fill my tumblr with my random and rampant writer thoughts and ideas

[twistedleafediting]

How to find the right editor for you

Editors come in all shapes, sizes, colours, genres, and specialisations. So how do you find the perfect fit for you and your book?

Firstly, let's start with genre! What genre are you writing in? Hopefully you already have an answer to this question. Because with literary direction, techniques, and devices you need to ensure that you're sticking within your genre and some are more prevalent within your chosen genre rather than the one you're trying to avoid. A (rather broad) example of this would be that in both fantasy and sci-fi, there's a system in place that is different and makes marks on your world in ways that your characters can interact, in fantasy that could be magic and in sci-fi that could be a complex super-computer. So when looking for an editor, you want to find the one who works with your genre as they'll know all the fancy stuff like literary devices, techniques and tropes like the back of their hand!

You can also go a little further and see if your researched editors have a portfolio of work or testimonials from published authors and see if they also match any sub-genres you are working in as well. However, this may not be the case for some, and you may wish to have conversations with them (we'll get to that in a bit).

Next, specialisations. What type of editing are you looking for? As stated previously, editors can specialise in certain tasks. I know of editors who prefer line editing over developmental editing, and other editors who prefer it the other way. What you are looking for at the time, whether that be developmental or line editing, manuscript evaluation, or even just proofreading, you should remember that it's fine to approach editors for just that service, but a lot of editors can and will also do any step of the editing process for you. While it is common for an author to pick an editor and stick with them, remember it is your choice. Lastly, you've decided that you've found a good list of editors that could help you. The last step is to contact them, ask for a discussion or a call, and see if they're right for you. Does speaking to them open you up and let you get excited when discussing your vision? Does telling them about your vision for your book get them excited? Do you enjoy the conversation with them? If you can answer those questions with yes, and get the answers to any question you have from them, then you've found your editor!

This advice can also help find an agent if you wish to go down that route to publish. I cannot speak for other editors, but I am open to be contacted either here, or through the contact form on my website found here. I do not charge for a conversation, and I am excited to discuss your fantasy works.

[twistedleafediting]

Unhinged writing tip of the week:

When putting your writing down for the day to come back to later, leave off in the middle of a sentence. I do this all the time and it really

[authorarbour]

Word Count - 14th April 2026

WIP: The Willow Weeps (working title) Word count type: Full document minus the title pages.

I have made myself cry with finishing my writing of this book. It's not the end of the story, but even during the DnD campaign this was based on needed a small break after the last events of the book. This is a milestone. I am going to celebrate with cake and a good break before I get started on the first round of editing. I expect more words will be added, and even more to be taken out, and much more still to be replaced. But for now, I am proud of myself.