#advice and tips

[sloanereeve]

sociology majors.. help ??

all of my friends, well, most of them have pets. is there some sort of research where people with pets have more friends or are somehow just people magnets. let me know. thanks.

[fanta-freak]

Btw if you're going to be ranking EAS alarms, PLEASE do your research because there's a LOT of FAKE ones out there!

Here's how to spot a fake EAS alarm!:

A really easy way to spot a fake one is if the "Alarm" sounds like a music box (or just music in general.)

The first ever emergency alert system was CONELRAD, which was used during the Cold war in 1951, so any "EAS" that claims to be from earlier than that year is obviously fake!

A more hard way spot one is try to find if the EAS is actually a mock (either by checking the description or try finding the original video/audio)

[nmjackson]

Mundane to Magical | Leveraging Transitions to Shift Into Writing Mode

In my day job, I work in SPED (Special Education). In being in this line of work, I've learned quite a lot. What I've learned especially is the power of transitions. Time to do classwork? There's a specific song. Time to go to snack/lunch/recess? There's a specific song. Time to go home? There's a specific song.

I focus on the songs because, even when my back is turned, as soon as I hear a specific song, I know exactly what to do, where we're going, where to position myself to better assist, etc.

How does this apply to writing?

Sometimes coming to sit down and write right after a long day, you find yourself fighting against your brain to do anything creative. Not being in the mood, as it were. The mental friction switching from work- work to creative work can be frustrating. But by leveraging certain transitions, you might find yourself being able to switch from work mode to creative mode much more quickly, efficiently and consistently.

If you haven't read "The Power of Habit" by Charles Duhigg, I'll give you a brief crash course. Everything we do can be broken down into habits. Every habit has a cue, whether we think about it or not. Every performed habit has a reward, whether we think of it as a reward or not. The more the habit is executed, the harder it will be to change later.

For example, and I'm going to use a personal example here, I come to sit at my desk. [The cue] I pull out my phone to find my time tracking app. [The habit] I go on Xiaohongshu/YouTube/Tumblr/Pinterest for the time I meant to spend on writing. [The reward]

Now that I know my cue, what type of behavior it triggers, and what I seem to value as a reward, how can I change this to create a consistent writing habit instead? Here's what I'm working on.

Turning on time tracking app and leaving my phone in a drawer [The cue]. Sitting at my desk with a pen and notebook [The habit]. Writing with pen and notebook for whatever time allotted [The reward].

In my new routine, I'm removing my distractions and training my brain to associate writing as a reward knowing that by the end of a session I'll feel accomplished. While I do have an extra rewards list, I make sure the only items are things I can immediately afford. Going into debt isn't very rewarding. Or things that immediately make me feel good. Like a walk around the neighborhood, an extra cup of tea, an extra hour of video games.

Here's your homework. ⬇ (•ᴗ•)

Find a 1 min to 5 min activity to incorporate as a "transition ritual" to shift your focus from work-work to creative work. It can be something you already do [sit at your desk] or something new [lighting a candle]. From here on out, every time you meet that cue, perform a writing habit. [Write for 20 minutes, write 100 words, finish an chapter outline/character sheet/dialogue, etc.] After the habit is performed, reward yourself immediately. We're not Pavlov's dogs, okay? Just give us the damn treat. Repeat on a daily or scheduled basis.

By building, or re-building, your habits around writing, you are training yourself to associate these little activities with entering a creative state of mind. Which means giving yourself more time to write in the long run.

Hope this helps! Happy writing! ✌︎︎♡⃛

[something-wicked-sims]

Dear Jade, I am writing this to ask a few questions I've had regarding writing in the sims form. How would someone start one of these sims stories? And how would someone keep it from becoming flat, and continue writing it past writers block? Some tips on developing a character inside the story would also be fantastic. Coming from someone who has only written novels and poetry, any advice on writing short pieces to go with photos is greatly appreciated! Sincerely, Mel. PS: This is 100% Real

Wow Mel, hit me with the heavy questions why don’t you Q_Q But you know, as someone who also made the switch from novel writing to sim story format, I kind of know where you’re coming from. Hence we begin…

Jade’s Mega-Fantastic Tips For Adapting to Sim Story Format 

#DearJade to block, as this is an extremely LONG post. 

Disclaimer: These tips don’t apply to everyone. The general rule of simblr is to have fun and DO WHAT YOU WANT. This advice is only really aimed at people who are serious about the craft and want to improve on their writing and how to present it in this medium. Not everyone takes it this seriously, and not everyone needs to. But for those of you who are looking for more direction with your writing, this is my personal, and humble advice. The fact that I titled this “mega-fantastic” was 100% sardonic. I’m just a chick on tumblr. I have a B.A. in English with a focus on creative writing, and nearly 6 months of simblr experience. These are my only qualifications. So, with that being said, don’t listen to anything I say from this point onward. 

How to Begin:Everyone’s writing processes are different. Some people like to map things out, while others tend to go with the flow. If your goal is to write some sort of cohesive linear storyline, and not just sporadic bouts of gameplay, then it’s good to have at least an idea of where you want to end up. Some point to make within your story, or some goal for your main character to accomplish. That way, all the things you do between point A and point B will have a similar thread, and you’re less likely to get lost on random tangents. 

General writing tips: Start with something interesting! Introduce your new characters in an exciting way. If you’ve never heard the phrase “in media res”, now’s a good time to learn it. Start in the middle, at the beginning. It’s nice to already have something going on at the beginning of your story, and don’t put too much time into explaining who all your characters are, what they do, what they like… right up front. It will engage people with your story more if you start off with action instead of description. 

Presentation: Since you’re writing a sims story, you have to think double time. Here, writing is only half of the work. Which is why simblr writers really don’t get enough credit! Think about how you want your scene to reflect in photos. The first sims story I did, I made the mistake of writing it in it’s entirety as a novel, and then having to take “necessary photographs” to go with each scene. I ended up with a great deal of pictures of people walking around aimlessly, or standing in the same room talking, or sitting on a chair talking, or on a couch talking… You get the point. You can still write as a novel and adapt it (which is still what I do), but I would recommend writing your scenes with your blog in mind. Think  “This scene could happen in their kitchen, but what if I moved it to a park instead?”, better scenery, probably more angles/more things to look at. Try to be creative with your screenies. Experiment with different angles. Think about your favorite movies, and the ways they are filmed. Try to incorporate those elements into your pictures. Sims stories have a certain cinematic quality to them, so write with that in mind, because how interesting your photos are will draw more people in to read your writing. Trust me. 

Character Development:Understand that the vast majority of sim stories and legacies unfold over enormous amounts of real life time. If you’re afraid of longterm writing commitments, you should probably run away screaming! No, I’m kidding (kind of), but they are huge commitments. I know people who have been writing their legacies for years. My first sims story took four months to complete and was around 75,000 words in its extracted tumblr form. My point is, it’s going to take a lot of time. Which is great! Because character development takes time. My advice for adapting character development to sims stories is to make sure every scene has a point. If you want to make a post just for fun, that’s great too! But when it comes to scenes that move your plot forward, answer the question “What does this accomplish?”, “Why is this particular scene necessary?”, “Would the story be the same if this didn’t happen?”. 

Simblr writers can spend hours putting together a post. I would think that is a pretty accurate statistic. From the writing, to building the set, clothing your sims, downloading CC, posing them, taking photos, and then editing the photos, each 3-4 pictures you take for a particular scene probably consumed precious long minutes of your life. So make sure that it’s an important scene that you’re spending all this time on. And, of course, just like most anime fans will tell you, FILLER EPISODES SUCK Q_Q (Not always. But sometimes). Anyways, sim story format sometimes forces you to consider what is vital to a story and a character, as we usually make posts to highlight specific moments in our sim-babies lives. I think development is really inherent to this medium, so I wouldn’t worry too much about if your character is developing or not.

General writing tips:

Dialogue is important!

How your character reacts to things is important!

Formatting:There are many different ways to format your sim story, and none of them are wrong. Do what you are comfortable with. If you’re coming from writing novels or short stories, then paragraph format is a great way to go. You can do caption writing, which is writing your text (typically dialogue and similar to playwriting in effect) directly onto your screenshots. You can do textual playwriting, which would be to have short exposition to setup a scene followed by tagged dialogue:

Maria: I went to the store yesterday.Bob: Really? What did you need to get there?Mari: Oh, I just had to pick up a few things for the party Saturday. 

These are the three most highly used formats I have seen used on simblr. I think they all work great, and you can even mix them. Just do what you are comfortable with and what you prefer. Don’t try to stretch yourself to change the style of your writing just to match what other people are doing. 

General writing tips:

One thing I will say is to be wary of your Point of View (or PoV). If you are using multiple PoV’s (as in you swap them between posts) then you should label whose PoV it is for your readers (I do so in my tags), if you use captions, usually changing font color to depict two or more players is the way to go. If you would like to switch PoV within the same post, I recommend using third person point of view e.g. “Bob walked here. Maria said this.”

And how would someone keep it from becoming flat… As I mentioned above, the best thing you can do here is just to make sure your scenes are vital to the plotline, or character development in some way. Don’t bog down your stuff with useless scenes, if your goal is to write a cohesive story. There is a #ts4 gameplay tag for a reason. It is not the same tag as #ts4 story, and people who follow one tag, may not necessarily want to follow the other. As a reader, I’m interested in the storyline. Is your character involved in some shady business? Are they going to find out that their loser husband is cheating on them? I don’t really want to see three different posts devoted to your sim cooking eggs for breakfast. SORRY. #justiceforeggs

General simblr tips:

@medleymisty has recently incorporated the usage of #simnovel for longer text posts. I think this is an excellent step forward for hobby sim story writing. So you can use this tag if you thing it applies to your work!

….and continue writing it past writers block? I can’t answer this! I am not a magician, unfortunately. Sometimes inspiration comes and sometimes inspiration goes. Writers block is a legit thing, and if I had a super-fix for it, I would hand it out lovingly to the world’s writers. But since I don’t, I will say that you shouldn’t pressure yourself ahead of time. Don’t think you need to post regularly. Go at your own pace. If you need a break? Take one. Just bounce right on out the door. I hear there’s a new Mass Effect game out. Go play it! Tumblr will still be here where you come back. 

Remember, this isn’t your job, it’s a hobby. As for how to get inspired or stay inspired, I really feel motivated to work on my sim stories when I am having fun, either playing the game, or putting together some scenes. So just have fun with it. Make Pinterest boards. Dudes, Pinterest is so great for writers, utilize it as a tool! Make character boards and pin things that you remind you of your babies and go look at the beautiful pictures when you’re feeling stuck. Share your boards, too! Lots of simblr’s have pinterests and you can follow them, they’ll follow you back, it’s great. Fantastic. But yeah, just have funnnn and do your thing and when you’re not feeling it, don’t try to force it, because you’ll just regret it and start to resent your stuff, and it’s just a bad time. 

This concludes my massive wall of pretentious text.

[futuredreamhouses]

In love with my desk set up. If you need/want any advice or tips always here:) talk to me if ya want I love talking to people online!! *my own photo

[nmjackson]

Same Shit, Different Day (・―・) | Identify and Address Avoidance Behaviors Through "Why's"

The longest running joke about writing is how writer's often avoid it like the plague. The joke's on me, too.

A word of warning if you continue reading, things are about to get serious.

I've touched on the topic of writer's block in previous posts. I've even made a flow chart to make it easier to find out which type of writer's block a fellow writer might be facing. Still, I suppose it doesn't hurt to break things down a bit further.

Down to its essence, writer's block is a type of avoidance behavior. Avoidance behavior can come from a number of things. Usually though, it's how you'd probably imagined it. Something is painful, you avoid it. Something is scary, you avoid it. Something is uncomfortable, you avoid it. It's not your fault, it's how we're wired as human beings. It's how we've survived.

Writer's block comes from these same feelings. It's painful, scary and uncomfortable. On top of that, our minds have thoughts of their own. Deeply- rooted insecurities (fear of failure, perfectionism, imposter syndrome) lead many writers down the path of procrastination. And, no, procrastination is not created equal imo.

You've got the positive kind- overplanning, nitpicking, doing chores.

The neutral kind- doom scrolling, reading, gaming, going out.

Then the destructive kind- anything that has to do with self- harm and/or harming others.

Yes, this post is definitely an oversimplification of avoidance behavior. However, what I'm trying to get through to those avoiding their writing projects at this very moment is that writing shouldn't be something to be feared if it's something you genuinely want to do.

Here's your homework. ⬇

Keep asking yourself "why" to uncover the root-cause of your avoidance to writing and/or finishing your current project.

For example:

"Why am I not writing?"

I don't have time.

"Why don't I have time?

I'm always doing chores.

"Why am I prioritizing chores over writing?"

Chores feel more urgent.

"Why do they feel urgent?"

Because writing is scary.

"Why does writing feel scary?"

I'm afraid it won't turn out good.

Now we have an answer. The Fear of Imperfection is what's actually causing the avoidance of your writing. Look, I know some of my posts come off strong, or silly, but if the reason why you don't write is because you think no one believes that you can.

I do.

I believe in your hard work.

I believe that you have the ability to get that book out of your head and into the hands of happy readers.

Yes, you can.

Hope this helps. Happy writing. ✌︎︎♡⃛

[nmjackson]

Rewiring The Hardware (⊙⁠‿◎) | Reframe Writing as a Non- Negotiable Act

"Writing is just a hobby."

"Oh, I like to write just for fun."

"I write for me. It's not like it's good anyway."

If you have said any of these, or any variation, you are hurting yourself. What saying this actually translates to is, "I de-prioritize my writing because it's not something I actually want to take seriously."

If writing is really something you do for fun, that's OKAY. Writing is a wonderful outlet. However, if writing is part of your identity, why do you treat it like a constant rain check?

Stop doing that and start fixing your mindset around your writing.

Here's your homework. ⬇ (•ᴗ•)

Treat writing like you would treat a healthy habit you want to keep up with. For example, prayer, meditation, exercise, getting enough sleep, getting enough water, you get the idea.

An easy way to get started is by changing your mental voice around writing. Instead of, "I'll write when I have time" turn that to "I write because it's part of who I am." Then try scheduling a writing session as you would an important doctor's appointment. By reframing your writing project and sessions as non-negotiable acts of self- care, you'll be more likely to protect that time and show up for yourself.

Hope this helps! Happy writing! ✌︎︎♡⃛