marigold

writeblr for @sunny-skipper

[sunny-ghost]

hello! i am looking for russian and portuguese sensitivity readers that are willing to answer some questions about their cultures and upbringings. there's no reading involved, as i haven't written much; just questions.

i've been doing a lot of research, but online articles don't really delve into homelife, upbringings, etc. they're mostly about food, traditions, etiquette, which have been very helpful but now i'm trying to learn about different aspects. i want people to read my story, and be able to relate to the main characters' experiences tied to their cultures, to resonate with them and feel seen; especially since the novel is targeted towards younger audiences.

i also felt it'd be good to communicate with you guys directly and get your opinions on things, rather than solely relying on articles.

my two characters are thirteen year old twins, vlad and eleonora. their mother is russian, and their father is portuguese - so i'm not sure if they have a patronymic name, if it still applies due to their father not having a russian name.

the plot is that they lost their parents in a car crash, and are either staying with relatives, or are in foster care when they stumble onto a portal, and get transported to another world. so, their culture and memories of experiences with their parents is very important to the plot; especially when they find a "way to bring them back to life".

i'll just be asking questions such as;

- are there any specific cultural ornaments in your house?

- because the two main characters are lost in a fantasy-esque world, what would you miss the most if you were far away from home/family

- what cultural aspects do you feel are underrepresented or that you'd personally love to see?

[sunny-ghost]

actually, one last thing

i need some advice; i have some pretty bad memory issues that i've had since childhood. they never used to affect my writing too much, but it seems to have gotten worse. reading helps you write better, you learn new sentence structures, phrases, words

whenever i try to write, i cannot remember the words. and i don't mean every couple of paragraphs, i mean most of my sentences sound the same cause i keep resorting to the same words i do remember. it's frustrating, my writing feels flat. i keep reading and reading but i don't absorb any of it, it's like my mind is turned off.

does anyone have any advice? i've tried commonplace books, and while they're good - i keep forgetting i have one, and honestly, it's just like moving the actual novel from one place to the other. i can reread it easier, quicker, but i still can't remember it.

i feel like i've lost my ability to write, it just doesn't come as easily anymore. i get stuck, trying to think of the words, and hours pass.

[jay-avian]

There could be multiple reasons why your reading looks and sounds flat.

You're used to your own reading. When you read the same thing over and over, of course it's going to look weird. Best thing for this would be to take a break from that particular piece for a while (most people recommend at least a month)

You're setting expectations for yourself you can't quite reach. I'm not saying it's an unrealistic goal to better your writing. But you can't expect yourself to mimic other writers, or better yet, to have your work sound perfect. You have your own style that you need to accept. Of course, that doesn't mean that you can't also be better. Writing takes practice, and that is probably what stage you're at right now.

You're just not in a good mental state to write. By the sounds of it, you're going through some hard mental health times. Honestly, I'm right there with you. I also have memory problems, and while it doesn't affect my writing (I don't think), it affects many other areas of my life. It makes me feel useless, stupid, dependent. I just want to tell you that you aren't any of those things and that you are amazing. Try taking a break, focus on you, on getting yourself better.

But let's say you do want to start working on your writing right now. Here are some tips that might help.

In terms of mimicking other people's writing, a good tip I saw was to start out taking a passage from a piece you like and edit it yourself. You'd still have the general parts of their writing, but you'd also be adding your own flourish to it.

Write now, edit later. This is a mantra I had to tell myself over and over when learning how to write. I also struggled with being a perfectionist with my own work. Just focus on getting it on paper, then don't look at the previous paragraphs again until you're ready to freshen up the whole work. Besides, editing is for editors. You don't have to work alone. Beta readers are also good if you're worried about it looking weird. (Again, you've been looking at this thing for a long time. Perhaps to others, it doesn't look as bad. Perhaps they'll find things you didn't catch)

I wish you the best of luck! Be sure to make sure you're doing well mentally. Maybe a break is what you need. Don't feel discouraged. Just because you're not writing doesn't mean you're not doing anything important. Rest is progress too. Now go be your best self!

[sunny-ghost]

thank you for your kind words, i'm definitely gonna have to take you up on that editing offer, or just betaing would be more than helpful ^^ reblogging this in case anyone else needs this advice

[sunny-ghost]

actually, one last thing

i need some advice; i have some pretty bad memory issues that i've had since childhood. they never used to affect my writing too much, but it seems to have gotten worse. reading helps you write better, you learn new sentence structures, phrases, words

whenever i try to write, i cannot remember the words. and i don't mean every couple of paragraphs, i mean most of my sentences sound the same cause i keep resorting to the same words i do remember. it's frustrating, my writing feels flat. i keep reading and reading but i don't absorb any of it, it's like my mind is turned off.

does anyone have any advice? i've tried commonplace books, and while they're good - i keep forgetting i have one, and honestly, it's just like moving the actual novel from one place to the other. i can reread it easier, quicker, but i still can't remember it.

i feel like i've lost my ability to write, it just doesn't come as easily anymore. i get stuck, trying to think of the words, and hours pass.

[sunny-ghost]

update

hello everyone! as you've noticed, my posts have been lacking lately. truth be told, i haven't written anything in uh, months. the snippets i've posted are from editing, the last time i actually wrote something from scratch?

last year.

so, this tumblr account is gonna be inactive permanently. if i ever return, it'll be on a new account. thank you to all my followers and those who interacted with my posts o/ to my sensitivity readers, i'd still like to continue working with you ^^ i'm active enough for that at least lol

[sunny-ghost]

so i've got this new wip, but have no idea how it works. the conflicts, the antagonists, etc

magic has never existed before in this universe; no witches, nothing. one day, stars fall from the sky, and contaminate the world. those who drink/eat from contaminated sources, gain magic. there are no spellbooks or guides, no mentors or prior knowledge to help those who suddenly obtain magic - so the world is thrown into chaos.

but aside from that, i can't think of an actual plot/goal for the characters or anything 😔

[sunny-ghost]

that's a great idea!! i never considered how it'd affect different kind of locations. that makes a lot of sense too, if the stars fell into the ocean surrounding port towns. whereas in the city, there isn't a lot of soil for the stars to dig into, but people would still be affected by eating contaminated food that comes in.

as for the port towns, stars that fell into the ocean could also contaminate the fish by turning some into leviathans and such, or those aberrations from the game "dredge"

[ditzybitzyspider]

omg yes!! the sea life starts to change as well, which then disrupts the food market because people cannot eat giant green crab or thousand-tentacle squid or whatever strange mutants appear

maybe someone uses their newly acquired magic to finally get away from their family and become a hermit in the mountains

maybe someone finally gets their big break and rises to celebrity status in the food industry magical gordon ramsay

maybe an orphanage which already had shitty contaminated resources all of a sudden is overwhelmed with angsty orphans with powers they can't control

[sunny-ghost]

yes!! i got stuck cause my friends and i could only think about the world going into chaos due to the sudden introduction to magic. people didn't know how to use their newfound power and were unintentionally (or purposely) wreaking havoc and destruction. the only result i could imagine was akin to apocalyptic, or magic immediately being banned to prevent further damage.

but this is perfect! the world adapts to magic. it definitely has its dangers that damn sea serpent is ruining the beach , but it doesn't all immediately go to shit. it provides opportunities! like magical gordon ramsey lmao, and people being inherently curious about the new animal mutants and transformed terrain.

though, there will be some people who believe this means the end of the world. they claim that magic is cursed, and will bring everyone down. most are understandably cautious, whereas others view the stars as a divine gift sent from above.

i forgot how fun worldbuilding is. though i still need to figure out character goals, antagonists, conflicts etc, this is great!

[sunny-ghost]

thank you @macabremoons for the tag!

rules: go to pinterest, search "[your name] core aesthetic" and create a moodboard from the first nine images. no need to mention your name

tagging: @rydykg, @halfbit, @janec23 and anyone else who wants to join!

[sunny-ghost]

so i've got this new wip, but have no idea how it works. the conflicts, the antagonists, etc

magic has never existed before in this universe; no witches, nothing. one day, stars fall from the sky, and contaminate the world. those who drink/eat from contaminated sources, gain magic. there are no spellbooks or guides, no mentors or prior knowledge to help those who suddenly obtain magic - so the world is thrown into chaos.

but aside from that, i can't think of an actual plot/goal for the characters or anything 😔

[sunny-ghost]

that's a great idea!! i never considered how it'd affect different kind of locations. that makes a lot of sense too, if the stars fell into the ocean surrounding port towns. whereas in the city, there isn't a lot of soil for the stars to dig into, but people would still be affected by eating contaminated food that comes in.

as for the port towns, stars that fell into the ocean could also contaminate the fish by turning some into leviathans and such, or those aberrations from the game "dredge"

[sunny-ghost]

so i've got this new wip, but have no idea how it works. the conflicts, the antagonists, etc

magic has never existed before in this universe; no witches, nothing. one day, stars fall from the sky, and contaminate the world. those who drink/eat from contaminated sources, gain magic. there are no spellbooks or guides, no mentors or prior knowledge to help those who suddenly obtain magic - so the world is thrown into chaos.

but aside from that, i can't think of an actual plot/goal for the characters or anything 😔

[randomramblesofaraven]

My enjoyment of writing, my productivity, and the quality of my work improved tenfold when I started embracing slumps and taking them as an opportunity to read everything I could get my hands on, watch lots of films and shows, go to the theatre, play games, hang out with friends, visit new places, and generally absorb life and marinate my brain in the art of storytelling.

Take from that what you will.

[sunny-ghost]

Japanese / Japanese American sensitivity reader needed!

My mystery novel, "The Oakwood Mansion", centres around Mai, a third generation Japanese-American protagonist living with her grandmother as she tries to solve the disappearance of her high school classmate. It is finished and roughly 80k words.

This is my first time working with a sensitivity reader, I will be open and communicative, working with you on every step of the progress. I'm more than happy to discuss compensation so you're properly paid for your hard work.

If interested, please let me know your discord tag, or we could communicate via tumblr or email, whichever you prefer. Please reblog!

[sunny-ghost]

Hello! I am still in need of a sensitivity reader, so if you're interested and fit the criteria please get in touch! If not, reblogs are highly appreciated!

[writeblrsummerfest]

The goal of Summerfest is to talk about our works, have fun, interact with other people; so let’s do something in the spirit of that by starting a tag game.

You have free rein over the creation of one piece of merchandise for your story? What is it? Reblog this, answer the question, and then tag someone else to play the game!

[rydykg]

really hard to choose,,, but probably a sticker set? for any of the wips in general. i love stickers :) make some of them chibified characters, others important pieces of the story itself, etc.

open tag as the og post already was but also @marigold-clouds ^_^

[sunny-ghost]

thanks for the tag!

without a doubt, it'd have to be plushes. i can't resist them, even though i'm literally designing tarot cards for one wip in particular. so, plushes for every other wip except that one, which gets printed out tarot cards.

tagging @macabremoons :]

[deniselavestal-deactivated20231]

“i will never be able to write like them :(” and neither should you? you are your own special self and that’s what you should be recognized for

[catchingbigfish]

you don't need to be able to write like anyone else but. you can. you absolutely can learn how to. that used to be how writing/rhetoric was taught -- by imitation. it's also still a really commonly used prompt, in my experience very very common in poetry, to study a specific person and try to reproduce their style. i also did this in like every art class i ever took in K12. there's no shame in respecting an artist and wanting to be like them! your natural, authentic voice will still shine through because it's impossible to recreate every single nuance of someone else.

you don't need to or have to, there is no implied should here, but if you want to? figure out what you like about them and try to do it. it really is that easy. (if it's a je ne sais quoi situation, compare it to something else that doesn't have that quality and figure out what it's missing.)

do you really like their dialogue? ok, is it short and snappy and witty, or is it flowery and poetic and heady? do the characters talk in one-liners or in paragraphs?

do you really like their description? well, is that because it's Hemingway and the detail is sparse so any addition is super weighted and important? or is it because they're gratuitous and make you see every angle of the scene from every possible corner?

it's ok to just write the way you already do, but if you want to write differently, you literally can.

[halfbit]

serpent's quest shenanigans

a brief itinerary for serpent's quest's first major act, these are generally in chronological order altho small parts are liable to change.

actually writing it down makes them sound like some scooby doo ass characters which is actually pretty accurate. i try to make all the plot points inherently fun with the potential for more serious and emotional moments

and yeah this is another slide from the presentation altho not entirely finished yet? i want to add a little doodle to it but thats gonna be..hard

[space-writes]

well now i want to know about the grave robbing and the whale marriage!

[halfbitart]

khayos and leon from serpent's quest this is such a dumb little comic but it kept making me laugh so. maybe i'll polish it and make it look pretty later. khayos's pet had a name written down somewhere but i honestly don't remember where i wrote it down so. it might have to be renamed.

[halfbit]

inspiration and the giggles struck me. anyway khayos's pet eats poison and he carries it around in basically a baby backpack. it is his favorite creature although it creeps leon out. if khayos could have more pets he would never stop collecting them, but unfortunately its kinda hard to care for them with how much he has to travel so instead he's just spoiling this single pet.

[halfbit]

random poll because i am a curious little lad

as a creator, where do you get your inspiration from *most* frequently?

books

comics/manga

tv/film

real life

my own life

history

mythology and folklore

args and multi-media projects

music

something else/elaborate in tags

Voting ended onSep 2, 2023

by creator, i am referring to anyone who is making/wants to make something based on an idea or goal. so you could be a writer, a musician, a worldbuilder, cosplayer, etc. it does not necessarily have to be original.

limited answer options but i tried :( feel free to expand on this with more specific polls. i didn't include a "multiple of these" option, since while i know that would be the majority, i want to know what is the most reoccurring sources of inspiration.

also for clarity.

real life - includes things like, scientific phenomena, animals/animal behaviours, or recent/current events that are happening but may not necessarily be directly happening to you.

feel free to specify what kind of projects you usually make as well in the tags!

[backhurtyy]

i am once again asking people to put whales in space. specifically whale sharks. and make their spots glow. they're stars. that move. do you understand.

[julescarstairs]

I think the worst part about writing a book is wanting to tell everyone everything about your characters and your ships and your elaborate fantasy world and the massive plot twist at the end of your novel but you can’t, because if you do, then where is the fun in reading it? What is a good book without its element of surprise?