#wqasite

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WQA Site News

Hey, everyone! You may have noticed I've been relatively absent over the past couple of months. I've made the difficult decision to close down the ask box for a while, possibly permanently. This is partly because I needed to shift my priorities back toward my own writing and taking time out for myself. It's also partly because I just couldn't keep up with the inbox. It was rare there was ever less than 30 to 50 asks at any given time, and over the years questions seem to have gravitated away from general writing questions to requests for plot specific advice... which of course comes with lengthy plot rundowns. At the end of the day, those types of questions became the bulk of what was in my inbox. I realized that the needs of the community had shifted from needing general writing advice to personalized writing coaching, and that's just not something I'm able to offer here.

I have loved every single second I've put into this blog, and I am so unbelievably proud of the fact that many of you over the years have messaged me to say that you got a trad book deal or indie published your book, or were on your way to one or the other. That's something I will always hold as part of my tiny legacy on this big blue marble. Thank you, so much, for giving me the opportunity to do it.

The blog will stay up so you can access past posts and the WQA post masterlist. And maybe, periodically, I'll open the ask box up for a short period of time. Or, possibly, I may even open it back up permanently one day. Hard to say for sure. But, in the meantime, wherever you are, may your writing be fruitful, your reading be blissful, and may you stay safe and protected always.

Love,

WQA

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Yesterday, I got pretty upset about something here on the blog.

I had spent some time answering an ask only to discover I'd misunderstood the question. Someone went on a bit of a tirade in the comments about how the question asked one thing, but my answer focused too much on another thing, and I lost my shit. :(

I think what upset me was the attitude of the person in the comments. They seemed livid that the answer wasn't what they thought it should be. Their words oozed with entitlement, as if they or Anon had paid me for my time and I'd delivered an inferior product. But I'm not being paid. And I didn't misunderstand the question out of malice. The commenter's anger was unwarranted. Is it so hard to just say, "Hey! I think Anon meant..." ?

This happens rarely. Most of you are super kind and supportive. Still, I wanted to put out a reminder that people like me volunteer our personal time because we want to support you on your writing journey. So, if we misunderstand a question or request, please be kind.

For the record, the OP was kind. They reached out and politely clarified their question. Unfortunately, I saw the other person's comments before I saw the clarification and was already upset. So, to Anon, I'm sorry your question got bulldozed by an unrelated angry person. I wasn't upset with you. ♥

Anyway, that's all. Back to our regularly scheduled program.

Thank you for being here and for understanding that I'm a person, too, and sometimes I have bad days.

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Hello this isn't about writing but your blog. From what I can gather your original blog got hacked and all the content removed. I wonder if you have a backup of any of the original posts or a way to gather that amount of information again. I used to come to your blog and just read through random posts to find inspiration and ways to improve myself.. it helped me a lot as a writer and I was devastated to find it all gone. I hope this blog can get back on it's feet because it's a God sent.

Hi, thanks for writing!I’m so sorry you were devastated to find the old WQA gone. I was going through a rough period at the time and closed the blog without really considering the consequences. While I hate that I caused anyone distress, I think this fresh start is a good thing for all of us. I still have copies of most of my old posts, so I’m going through them, doing some updating, and will re-post them over the coming months. When no update is necessary, I’ll try to locate re-blogs. In the meantime, I’m here to answer new questions and will try to get some new posts up, as well as sharing valuable advice and resources from other blogs. :) <3

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WQA Tags

I’m setting up the tags for the new site, but I can’t make links to them until my account has had more activity. In the meantime, if you want to follow them:

Advice - wqaadvice Asks that I answer with advice. All others will be filed in the appropriate area. Asks - wqaask All asks in one place.

Books - wqabooks Posts related to books. Pretty book pictures and aesthetics, book reviews, book recommendations, book-related questions, etc.

Characters - wqachar Everything related to characters and character development.

Dialogue - wqadia Dialogue help seems to warrant its own category, I think.

Editing - wqaedit Everything related to editing, revision, probably grammar and style stuff as well.

Featured - wqafeat This will be for your stuff. Writing you send in, pages you want to share, book links, book trailers, whatever you want to share that’s writing related.

General - wqagen Most writing stuff will go here.

Guides - wqaguide This will be for my own guides, or if any of you want to do a guide for WQA to host (with your name on it, obviously). Motivation - wqamot Motivation and inspiration! This will also probably include things like motivational tips, inspirational tips and pictures, prompts, etc.

Publishing - wqapub All posts related to publishing. Resources - wqares Resources that don’t fit into any of the above areas. So, if I were to re-blog an index of fantasy writing resources, that would go here. Or, if I make any resource posts that don’t classify as a guide, they’d go here. Site - wqasite Site news and site-specific stuff, like this post.

Tools - wqatool Posts about tools for writers, apps, cool web sites, programs, etc. World Building - wqaworld Posts and blogs about world building and settings.

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Site update!

I wasn’t happy with the new site theme, and since a follower of the old blog asked for a search bar, I went in search of a better theme.The one I found (Rue by ANHCHORS) is PERFECT! So sleek and organized, plus it has a sidebar for navigation and a search bar. AND, I really love the way it lays out asks. Hopefully, if I can stay on top of tagging, this will make the site easier to search. I’m going to try to update some of my old posts, too, so hopefully this will make those easier to locate as well. And now that I’m not as limited by how many page links I can have, I can start a new/better/updated post master list. Okay, please excuse this flood of enthusiasm. I really like this theme! :)

Don’t forget to send in your questions if you have any!

~ WQA

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not writing related, but what theme do you use? love the blog. xx

It’s called Rue by ANHCHORS. (And yeah, that’s the right spelling ;))I’m glad you’re enjoying the blog! <3

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Just so glad you're back!!! What did you do while you were gone??

Aww, thanks! Sorry I disappeared the way I did. I was under a lot of pressure at the time, knee-deep in last-minute novel edits, under a rapidly dwindling deadline, and I let myself implode under the pressure. Though I would certainly do things differently if I could have a do over, I definitely don’t regret the break and the reset. This new WQA feels better to me, and I think we can re-build from the smoldering ruins of WQA1 and come up with something really cool. :) Anyway, to answer your question: I finished my book, took some much-needed time off, wrote a new book (or the start of one) during NaNoWriMo, and now I’m revising an old WIP from a few years ago. Thanks for your question! I’m glad you found me again. :)

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Anon Questions! :)

Oops! I just realized the blog was set to not accept anon questions. It’s now fixed. You can ask questions on anon and the inbox is currently open. Also, don’t forget you can submit something to the blog. Head over to the submit page for more information! Have a great day/night, everyone! Nice to see some familiar names in my activity today. :) <3

~ WQA