[highschool-kindergarten-teacher]

trauma runs deeper than you think

in 2013, a study was performed on mice.

essentially, male mice were put in a cage and, upon exposed to the smell of cherry blossom, were shocked. as you may expect, the mice grew to fear the smell of cherry blossom.

but it gets deeper when, a little while later, the male mice bred with female mice. interestingly enough, when the scientists exposed the baby mice to the smell of cherry blossom, despite no contact with their father, were just as stressed. if not, only slightly less.

of course, i don't condone such cruel experiments, but it got me thinking. if this is the case for humans, it would explain a lot.

i've had cynophobia for as long as i remember. the fear of dogs, for those unaware.

i'd break down in tears and hyperventilate when i had to go to a friend's house, and i found they had one. i don't exaggerate. it was so strong, i always wonder why no adult ever thought to intervene. while it's not as debilitating anymore, i still avoid walking paths where i know a house has a dog.

the most particular part is, i never had a negative experience with dogs. i asked my parents, neither they nor me ever had an experience that would justify such a strong fear. in fact, in situations where i was forced to be with a puppy, the dog was very friendly to me and noticed my fear and attempted to console me the best it could. it makes me think, perhaps, my fear goes way back. farther than me -- or even my parents. perhaps my grandparents had a negative experience. maybe dogs are my cherry blossom.

i wonder how many fears people brushed off as "just born with" were actually an unrecovered trauma from generations back.

[highschool-kindergarten-teacher]

three things about writing that i wish i knew sooner

i. don't be afraid to break up sentence structure.

add excitement! do two long sentences, then a short one. it helps keep your readers alert.

ii. keep a notepad with you always.

you can use your phone too, but i've found i like physically writing my ideas better. my best ideas were things i found out of nowhere. abuse your curiousity. you see a bird? wonder what kind of bird is that? write it down. random urge to write about vampire dentists? write it down. found a word you like? get it out of your head.

even if these ideas don't all amount to much, it's better to have a hundred bad ideas and one good one than none at all.

iii. trying new things won't kill you, i promise

i loved writing fantasy as a kid. adored it. wrote lore for hours about magical lands and stuff. i grew up, and one day, that didn't appeal to me anymore. i wanted to write facts. about my life. what i've learned.

that's okay. you're gonna grow up and change. but i'd felt i'd boxed myself so deep in this corner of "ah, well, i'm a fantasy writer sooo" that i took a break from writing. don't do that. that's stupid. i was stupid. don't be stupid.

but more on point, writing in different genres can really help you grew and stretch that creative muscle. you might hate it. that's okay. all that matters is you gave it an honest try.

additionally, however, write what you love. i'll preach this until the day i die. write what makes you want to write. improvement, however, comes quicker when you branch out. and when you branch out, you can even find ways to incorporate that in what you like to write.

if you usually write in the modern era, writing in an old fashioned environment forces you to come up with solutions for problems in a more creative way (e.g. a character is alone and needs immediate help, but it is set before phones..)

these were just some common mistakes i made back in the day, let me know if you'd like a part 2.

[highschool-kindergarten-teacher]

part 2: sorry for the delay, i hyperfixated on the new hunger games and lost my sense of time

iv. write a little bit every day

this goes hand in hand with my second point. the thing is, your writing skills? that's a muscle. it gets rusty if you only write once you get inspiration. of course, if writing is merely a hobby to you, this isn't a problem. however, i've seen people (myself included!) improve at phenomenal rates just from writing as little as two pages a day.

this can manifest in different ways, depending on the writing you like. for some people, this is adding onto the rough draft of their wip, for me, this looked like writing poetry every day for a summer. this is why i recommended writing everything down, because you can use those previous ideas for days you're stuck.

i know writing daily sounds tedious. it's not. i promise. if you just say "i'm going to write one page" for most people, that's like, fifteen minutes. you can do it!

v. do not tear yourself down

sit down. storytime. once upon a time, i loved writing as a kid. one day, i decided i hated it, because everything i wrote was, to me, garbage. so, i threw out everything i wrote and never wrote again. the end.

kidding. well, not completely. i grew up, and i realized this is idiotic. but that doesn't take back the gap years in my life where i never wrote anything. it was sad, because i would've loved to know what i was going through and thinking about in middle school.

additionally, i lost all my old writings from when i was a kid. all because i wasn't brave enough to continue writing. even when i had ideas. even when i wanted to.

i am mentally shaking you and saying you are never going to improve if you give up!

of course ask for feedback. of course critique your work and think of how you can improve. but don't take it too far. please. for every insult you give yourself, also say how you did well! (if you tend to focus on the bad and hyperfixate, give a couple things).

these are all the tips i have from the top of my head. hope these help. feel free to dm me any questions/requests on what to post next. cheers!

[highschool-kindergarten-teacher]

three things about writing that i wish i knew sooner

i. don't be afraid to break up sentence structure.

add excitement! do two long sentences, then a short one. it helps keep your readers alert.

ii. keep a notepad with you always.

you can use your phone too, but i've found i like physically writing my ideas better. my best ideas were things i found out of nowhere. abuse your curiousity. you see a bird? wonder what kind of bird is that? write it down. random urge to write about vampire dentists? write it down. found a word you like? get it out of your head.

even if these ideas don't all amount to much, it's better to have a hundred bad ideas and one good one than none at all.

iii. trying new things won't kill you, i promise

i loved writing fantasy as a kid. adored it. wrote lore for hours about magical lands and stuff. i grew up, and one day, that didn't appeal to me anymore. i wanted to write facts. about my life. what i've learned.

that's okay. you're gonna grow up and change. but i'd felt i'd boxed myself so deep in this corner of "ah, well, i'm a fantasy writer sooo" that i took a break from writing. don't do that. that's stupid. i was stupid. don't be stupid.

but more on point, writing in different genres can really help you grew and stretch that creative muscle. you might hate it. that's okay. all that matters is you gave it an honest try.

additionally, however, write what you love. i'll preach this until the day i die. write what makes you want to write. improvement, however, comes quicker when you branch out. and when you branch out, you can even find ways to incorporate that in what you like to write.

if you usually write in the modern era, writing in an old fashioned environment forces you to come up with solutions for problems in a more creative way (e.g. a character is alone and needs immediate help, but it is set before phones..)

these were just some common mistakes i made back in the day, let me know if you'd like a part 2.