Okay, Tumblr hates me and won’t let me reblog things, so this is my attempt at an Appreciation Post :’D
@kittensartswriting @siarven @pheita @andtheotherwriter @wortfinder @kainablue @dove-actually I love you guys! I love our discussions about writing and other stuff and I’m truly grateful we managed to stumble over each other on this weird site <3
guys, if you want a really great writeblr to follow, also a really really talented writer, go follow @caswellwrites. The stories they write are so fucking beautiful and I love their style
FRIEND 💚 YOU ARE ONE OF THE FIRST PEOPLE I MET ON WRITEBLR and I think the first person who tagged me in anything, and also I am so excited about reading Sonnenzorn YAY. (Also: request to adopt Lauri, pls. Yes? Yes.) I love our chats and our mutual love of ridiculous puppies, and all the mutual flails. Thank you so much for welcoming me, for your support and heaps of fun conversation, and ofc your offer to beta KE for me (which you may regret once you see what a mess it is, lol) 💚💚💚
This is the nicest thing ever and I'm looking forward to reading Knight Errant!! You can't convince me otherwise <3
I'm so happy I found you and I hope you continue to have a great experience here!
p.s.: and the hearts are green which is one of my favorite colors and definitely my favorite color for hearts (does that make sense??)
p.p.s.: it's so amazing that you can read my WIP without me having to translate it first 😍
Wishing that your writeblr got a little bit more attention? Do you follow someone’s writeblr that you think deserves more love? If so, look here!
So a while back, I posted this link, asking for people to submit writeblrs that deserve some recognition! Thank you so much to everyone that participated, I really hope I do your amazing blogs justice and I loved seeing so much positivity from everyone!
I’m hoping to make this a monthly or a bimonthly thing, so I’m still accepting spotlight recommendations! If you would like to be in the spotlight, or want to recommend someone, please do the following:
Send a submission to @pens-swords-stuff. This is so I can leave it sitting in my inbox until I can post it, instead of losing it in my notifications somewhere. Do not put your request in a reblog, comment, or DM, it will be lost.
Follow the submission guidelines below. The more information the better! Please give me some information to work off of.
You are allowed to request appreciation for yourself, or for someone else.
If you are requesting appreciation for someone else, please let me know if you want to be credited for it, or if you want it done anonymously.
Please reblog this post so more people can see this, and potentially send in more requests.
I’m just one person with limited time, and the more information you give me, the more likely I am in being detailed because it’s easily accessible. I don’t have a whole lot of time to dig through blogs, and from now on, if I find the information provided lacking or inadequate, I will ask for a resubmission with more details — they may not be included in the spotlight until more detail is given to me. I’m sorry for the inconvenience, but this takes a lot of time to put together, and the more streamlined you guys can make it for me, the better it will be.
Submission template:
Writeblr url
Why are you recommending this blog?
What kind of content can I find on this blog?
Why should people check them out?
WIP information: Only applicable if you want their WIPs to be included in the spotlight. Must include a description and links to relevant posts about them.
Other: Anything else you want to say? (If you are recommending someone else for the spotlight, please say here if you want to be anonymous or not!)
Links: Optional but highly recommended to include. Any example posts of this blog to showcase what it’s like would be appreciated.
So without further ado, here are the spotlights for November, 2018!
@autofoebia
recommended by me!
For those of you who follow my WIP posts, you know that I write a lot with my writing partners. @autofoebia writes with me for Wanderlust, and honestly it wouldn’t be the same without their fnatastic writing. Not only are they an amazing writer, they’re a really awesome person who’s endlessly entertaining and a really good friend!
What you can find here:
Really cool aesthetics! They have a really artsy, unique sense of aesthetics and moodboards that are quite frankly nothing like I’ve seen on tumblr. They’re actually the one who got me into the whole aresthetics thing so basically everything I do is derivative of theirs. (example post: here).
Lots of drabbles and short scenes. They write a lot of horror, platonic love, romance, and even if you don’t know who their OCs are, it’s a short read that’s easy to get through without any background information necessary! It’s a fantastic blog to just jump into their content without needing to check out a WIP page or a master post. (Example post: here).
Why you should follow them:
I’ve met a lot of really amazing writeblrs and read some really good content. @autofoebia‘s prose is top-tier and their drabbles are so amazing to read even if you don’t know the OC that’s being written for. Their writing is magical and I can’t thank them enough for putting it out into the world!
They write with me for Wanderlust! They post some Wanderlust content that I don’t post on my writeblr, so if you in any way like what I do and are interested in my WIPs, they’re a fantastic blog to get a glimpse into this wonderful urban fantasy setting that we’ve created!
@decantae
recommended by me!
@decantae is my main writing partner, and I am 100% confident that I would not be writing today if it wasn’t for them. They make some of the most amazing OCs that I have ever seen, and I am in love with every single one of them. They’re the coolest and like I’m still shook that we’re friends.
What you can find here:
This is the other person who got me into aesthetics and playlists, and their sense of style is so good. All of the playlists they compile here are absolutely amazing, and they definitely have a stronger aesthetic game than I do. They’re willing to make some for you if you request them, so check it out! please make some for me McH <3
They’re also really into onomastics, which is basically a fancy word for the study of names. It’s super cool having a real linguistics student do some analyses for your OCs because it’s legit and adds a lot of depth to character names that you may not have realized before. They’re super nice and are willing to analyze OC names so take them up on that! I can vouch for their names; this is my go-to person when I’m stuck about that.
Why you should follow them:
Their writing style is fantastic — literally goals, for me. I’m always forever trying to catch up to their level. Not only are they an amazing writer, they make a lot of amazing content outside of that: photoshop skills, mapmaking skills, aesthetic skills... They’re all top-notch and although they don’t have a whole lot on their blog yet (it’s a baby writeblr still, so cute!), I’m sure that this writeblr will not disappoint. So give it a chance!
Literally all of my WIPs are written with them: Morsmordre, Wanderlust, Post-Script, For Queen and Country, etc etc etc. If you like what I do, you’re already a fan of @decantae‘s writing — there’s no @pens-swords-stuff without them, so go check it out!
@the-mermaid-typist
I think a lot of writers are really hard on themselves — for the most part, we are our own worst critic. After sitting down for hours, trying to hammer out a scene we can see so clearly in our head and coming up with nothing it can be really difficult and discouraging. Maybe our WIP that we poured our heart and soul into didn’t reach the audience in the way we really wanted, or we compare ourselves to other writers and feel really down about ourselves and our own ability. There can be a lot of negativity in the writing community, and @the-mermaid-typist is a refreshing ray of sunshine amongst all that doom and gloom.
What you can find here:
Positivity posts! Not only do they reblog a lot of advice and encouragement, they post a lot of their own positive things as well! Her tips from a silly mermaid (some example posts found here and here) have honestly helped me out a lot in feeling better about myself and getting a healthier perspective about my writing.
Their ask box is open, and they can give you amazing advice about writing! They have yet to start posting about their WIPs (you should go ask them about it!), but you can tell they’re a great, knowledgeable writer from how detailed they answer questions about writing. (Examples found here and here). And of course, each answer is super encouraging and positive.
Why you should check them out:
If you’re ever feeling down about yourself or your writing and you need a quick pick-me-up, I would absolutely recommend that you guys check @the-mermaid-typist out! A lot of writeblrs are a mixed bag full of posts about their WIPs, OCs, writing advice, with some positivity sprinkled in here and there. That is definitely valid and in no way a bad thing, but it’s so rare to find a writeblr dedicated to writing positivity. This is somewhere you know you can go to find nice comments and encouragement without having to scroll through different kinds of posts.
I’ve had the pleasure of talking to @the-mermaid-typist a few times, and I can tell you that they are a wonderful, kind person. Even before we started talking, there was this one time that I just needed a distraction from life and asked my followers to just ask me anything. @the-mermaid-typist was the first person to reblog and ask me a question, and you guessed it, it was super encouraging. They were one of the few people to actually do that, so it really meant a lot.
@promptsforthestrugglingauthor
recommended by anonymous!
We all know the feeling of getting stuck in a rut. You want to write so badly, your fingers are itching to churn out some sort of story, but... You’ve got nothing. For some godforsaken reason, you have absolutely no ideas to put down — not even a stinking ‘And they were roommates!’ AU can save you at this point. Ugh, your brain feels like it’s going to explode if you don’t do some writing now, so what do you do? Accept defeat and just give up? I think next time this happens, you should check out @promptsforthestrugglingauthor.
What you can find here:
Prompts! Prompts galore! There are over 600 prompts on this blog, which means that you’ll probably never run out of some interesting inspiration! (Some example posts found here and here).
They do writing livestreams on twitch sometimes! That’s not something a lot of writeblrs do, and that’s super cool! It’s interactive, people can tell her what to write, and that’s an amazing way to get to know people! (Example post found here).
Why you should check them out:
I’m going to be honest with you guys, writing prompts do nothing for me for the most part. I can see it but they don’t make me want to write anything because I don’t find them inspiring. But the prompts that @promptsforthestrugglingauthor come up with and post are different — they’ve inspired me like no other prompts I’ve found before, and before I knew it, I had a short story drafted. It’s a wonderful way to get some practice or overcome writer’s block, and they’re specific enough to give you an idea, but vague enough to leave it wide open for your imagination. They’re the perfect prompts — if they worked for a prompt snob like me, they can work for you too!
They answer questions about writing that can be really insightful! They’re a talented writer, and it shows in their prompts, their answers, and the things they reveal about their WIPs.
Comments from submitter:
I think promptsforthestrugglingauthor should get more love! It’s a GREAT blog, posts writing prompts daily and answers questions about writing that are really helpful! She talks a little bit about her stories when asked and I think she’s a great influence on the community!
@cawolters
Some writeblrs you follow because you want the positivity, the prompts, or writing advice. Other writeblrs you follow because you are interested in their personal writing process, successes, failures, and thoughts. @cawolters is the latter type of writeblr, and it’s really fun following along their blog, because you feel like you’re right there with them on every step of their journey.
What you can find here:
Everything you want in a standard writeblr! @cawolters has it all: the relatable writing posts, writing advice, lots of cool bits and pieces about their WIP, and they have a lot of great interactions with their audience!
@cawolters is an artist! I’m always super jealous of people who can do their own artwork (which devil did you sell your soul to, to gain the ability to write AND art? Please give me contact information and such, thanks) because it really gives you a different way to glimpse into their amazing world. They also do really cool quote post things which look awesome and are definitely eye catching. (Example posts: here and here)
Why you should check them out:
I don’t know about you but I am a sucker for dark fantasy, and that’s what @cawolters is working on! They have a really cool WIP trilogy called Rise of the Blood Dawn. They finished the first book already which is amazing and a huge success — as someone who never finishes anything, I applaud them — which means that maybe we’ll see their books on shelves someday, so go support your fellow writeblr!! In their words, the book is about “sexual equality, two horrible people, “vampire” smut, necromancy, secrets and bloody sword fights “ and really, what’s not to love about that?
WIP Information:
Rise of the Blood Dawn: Book One. The Serpent Kiss
Shiroin is our main character who we follow for better or for worse (usually worse), while the ghosts of her past gather around to shape her future.
She is the nineteen-year old Heiress to the Empire of The Three Worlds: Kyoh, Gailia and the Endlands. Seemingly a quiet fragile-looking girl, but looks can be deceiving, and Shiroins is the master of deception. She is born with a curse. A black snake of magic resides deep within her bones, and it keeps whispering nasty and naughty things in her ear. Egging her on to assassinate the Emperor, and steal the throne before her time, for instance.
One day, the Emperor has called the Ten Kings to his hall, gathering them all for the first time in a thousand years. The long awaited war with the demonic Blood Kin is breaking, and actions must be taken to either keep the Elsalvians behind the mountain wall, or, find a way to exterminate them for good.
The otherwise careful and cunning Shiroin is caught eavesdropping, and as fate would have it, she is bestowed an Elsalvian sell-sword to watch her every step; the cool and mysterious, Kiel. The two of them quickly find out that they have more in common than their masks.
Just as the Empress and the hired Blade decides to make an alliance to kill off the Emperor, something goes dreadfully wrong.
The curse, which has always stayed behind the bars of Shiroin’s ribcage, springs to life when her father and his dead-eyed sentinel tries to gut her for the dark magic.
In a sudden bite, the serpent launches out of her mouth, whispers suddenly turning into shouts, and royal murder.
Stunned, and somewhat ecstatic, Shiroin must travel across the Empire to convince The Ten Kings that she should have the throne despite the slightly unfortunate circumstance. Luckily, Kiel knows the woods and mountains, and together they embark on a blood soaked journey.
Through nightmares, ghouls, ghosts, witches and a bandit or two, Kiel and Shiroin hack, slash and stab their way to both power and freedom.
@gaslightwestern
What’s your favorite genre to read or write? I feel like a lot of people in the Writeblr community tend to lean a lot towards fantasy or YA — and don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this! I am also a huge fan of fantasy and YA, and every single genre writeblr is valid! However, historical fiction is a rather niche genre on tumblr in my experience, and @gaslightwestern is a great writeblr to check out if that’s your preferred genre, or you just want to check out something different!
What you can find here:
Lots of fun information about their WIPs! There’s a lot of posts about their thoughts on writing, excerpts, they participate a lot in tag games and ask games, and they’re so thorough in their answers! Even without having had a chance to read through the actual WIP yet, I feel like I have a really nice understanding of the story and the characters!
The aesthetics of this Writeblr are awesome! I’m a huge visual person who loves aesthetics, moodboards, etc. And whenever I visit this blog I’m instantly transported to the Wild West setting they’re writing for because of all the visuals. (Example post: here)
Why you should check them out:
Like I mentioned before, it’s really refreshing having a historical fiction WIP to follow because I haven’t seen much of it on tumblr yet! They did mention that they’re looking for people who also appreciate that genre, so definitely shoot them an ask or something for a nice chat! Having a little historical fiction community within the writeblr community will probably be really stimulating and interesting.
WIP Information:
When Sins Haunt
Charlotte O'Shea, the co-proprietress of Quinn’s Firearms in Fort Worth, becomes obsessed with revenge after Warren Howard destroys her life yet again. She goes after Warren and his vicious Cobalt Gang; hell-bent on ending their reign of terror once and for all. Meanwhile Jack Cadwell, an investigative journalist, is forced to flee New York City after failing to take down a powerful crime boss whose reach stretches across the country. Jack runs into Charlotte in Wichita and the two old friends find themselves fighting to stay alive and uphold their morals as they blaze a trail of vengeance across Kansas and New Mexico Territory.
@stephrawlingwrites
Submitted by anonymous
Some writeblrs are super helpful and accommodating, and @stephrawlingwrites is the best kind of writeblr cheerleader! You know how some posts give you warm fuzzy feelings inside? Well that’s the entirety of @stephrawlingwrites‘ blog, and I think we as a community are extremely lucky to have people like them!
What you can find here:
Really kind posts! They’re the kind of Writeblr that goes out of their way to check in with others, ask other people about their OCs and spark pleasant conversations in a way that I don’t always see other writeblrs do. I haven’t had the opportunity to chat with them yet, but after going through their blog, I think they’re a really nice person who would be a delight to talk to!
Lots of miscellaneous writing posts. They talk to a lot of people about writing, they post about their own WIPs and OCs sometimes — which, if their short stories are anything to judge by, are probably amazing — and also a lot of really good writing resources and advice that are extremely useful! They even write their own writing advice instead of just reblogging it like I do! (Example post: here and here).
Why you should check them out:
They promote a lot of WIPs on their blog, and in this day and age in tumblr getting a reblog on your original content can be such a struggle. They’re an extremely kind person who supports other writeblrs in so many ways, and they definitely deserve the same love and support back!
Their writing style is spellbinding — and I chose that word very deliberately. It’s simplistic but somehow warm and comforting at the same time if it makes sense. It’s the kind of writing that stays with you for a while even after you’ve read it.
Comments from submitter:
They are a kickass writer and their short story "A Man Called Toad" is very compelling.
@kirsten-ann-writes-stuff
This writeblr is such a fun blog to scroll through because I can really feel the love and the setting they have for their WIP! My writeblr is a mess since I bounce around with several kinds of posts, lots of fragmented, inconsistent WIP fragments and wildly different aesthetics, but @kirsten-ann-writes-stuff focuses on her WIP and WIP aesthetics, and it’s a wonderful way to dive right into their stories!
What you can find here:
Lots of excerpts, poetry and aesthetics for their paranormal horror novel! I’m a huge fan of this creepy vintage aesthetic, so I love looking through this blog, it makes me want Halloween to be around the corner again. It’s really effective and makes me want to find out more! I’m an aesthetics person: give me a good aes and I am intrigued. (Example post: here)
There’s also some nice writing references, advice and just general bloggy stuff on here too! I personally love getting to know the author behind the story as much as the actual WIP, so I love those posts that break away from the spooky aesthetic.
Why you should follow them:
I haven’t seen a lot of creepy horror-style WIPs on writeblr too much, so I definitely think this is a good place to start! The characters seem really interesting, and the excerpts posted are really nice if you want to experience that paranormal horror feeling during long nights. It’s another amazing writeblr who deserves a bigger audience than they have right now!
WIP information:
All Our Demons
Atlas is an adrenaline junkie in his senior year of college, suffering from depression and lost in his quest for a future. He has a dark violent past that he just wants to move past, and a compassionate naive best friend, Jessie, who sees the best in him. Further aiding his self doubts, he is madly in love with her, who shows no signs of feeling the same. When he finds a mysterious map promising to help him find what he’s looking for (and he barely knows himself. Love? Adventure? A purpose?) he sets off for what he hopes will be his best excursion yet.
Along with Jessie and a mysterious stranger that leads them forward, he finds a world of nightmares - paranormal, emotional, and of his own mind.
@silas-fenderson
Honestly, after scrolling through this writeblr I have so many questions — that’s a good thing, I am intrigued by this person. Why are you a porch hobo? What kind of days do you have?? I came for the writeblr, and stayed for the character and I don’t regret it at all.
What you can find here:
Lots of interesting poetry! As someone who adores poems but is mediocre at best at writing them, I’m super impressed at the amount of quality poems that have been posted. As a Japanese person, haikus have a special place in my heart as an underrated form of poetry so bonus points for that! (Example post: here).
They also started a thing called The Porch Hobo’s Rusty Old Tunes, and it looks like they post some music they like! I have a very limited music taste, so it’s always a joy being able to discover what other people like. They accept tunes request too, so be sure to check it out! (Example post: here).
Why you should check them out:
Not only are they an intriguing person, they’re really nice too! I love seeing the way they answer their asks, or engage in a reblogged conversation. Their WIP “The Tale of Taothule” is also super interesting, with a folk tale-ish tone that I can really appreciate. The setting is also really unique, with a lot of references and inspirations that I think that you guys should go check out and support!
WIP information:
The Tale of Taothule
"The Tale of Taothule," is about a world divided in two between the ludicrously disorderly Discordant Flock (Think Lewis Carroll) and the destructively bureaucratic Banner of Concord (They're like cowboys crossed with the mafia). Our heroes try to stop the endless feuds to bring peace.
Wishing that your writeblr got a little bit more attention? Do you follow someone’s writeblr that you think deserves more love? If so, look here!
Every month or so, I will take a handful of Writeblrs and give them the spotlight on my blog; this might include a general overview of the writeblr, some details about their projects, and what I like about that writeblr.
I’m not the most popular writeblr in the world (I think I’m fairly small in terms of follower count actually), but I know how discouraging it can be to feel like you don’t have a lot of recognition. I want to give you that recognition. You’re doing a great job, and you deserve to be appreciated.
If you would like to be in the spotlight, or recommend someone for the spotlight, please do the following:
Submit an ask or a submission to @pens-swords-stuff. This is so I can leave it sitting in my inbox until I can post it, instead of losing it in my notifications somewhere. Do not put your request in a reblog, it will be lost.
In the ask/submit, please put in the writeblr url you would like to see appreciated, as much information as you can fit about why they should be appreciated, and maybe something about the WIPs and OCs of that Writeblr. Links to WIPs and such would also be appreciated, and can be DM’d to me if necessary.
You are allowed to request appreciation for yourself, or for someone else.
Please reblog this post so more people can see this, and potentially send in more requests.
Please let me know if this is something you’re interested in, I’d love to do this on a monthly or bimonthly basis if I have enough requests.
I’d just like to say that I appreciate @jaykingwrites for... appreciating me... you know what I mean. You’re one of the first people I actively interacted with on writeblr, and I’m really glad I get to have this experience with you.
Aside from Jay, I would also like to take a moment to appreciate @the-modern-typewriter, whose prompt blog is what inspired me to make a writeblr in the first place. Best decision ever!
