TL;DW - The Lazy Writer's blog

[the-lazy-writers]

A little about me, for anyone who's wondering

Hi! I'm Ridley, and this is my blog for writing tips, tricks, prompts and thoughts.

I'm a proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community, came out as pansexual in late 2019 and as non-binary in early 2024, with greysexuality rearing its head sometime in the middle there.

I've been diagnosed with depression, and should be diagnosed with ADHD a little later in the year and then it's on to autism for the full set. Neurodiversity is accepted and welcome here!

I'm a Uni student just starting my second, third or fourth year as of this post, depending on how you measure things. Confused? I started this degree in 2021, four years ago, took a full year of leave for ✨mental health reasons✨ after one semester and am doing it part-time so am only beginning my second-year subjects now. I'm doing a bachelor of arts majoring in writing and publishing, with an English minor.

I live in Australia, so times may sometimes be weird and some things may not directly translate into universal experiences. I loved writing and was great at it in primary school (K-6) but it sort of lost its spark all through high school (7-12). It was only in the time after I left that I realised my issue was not with English or writing as a whole, just how it was taught to me during that troubling period. I hope to pass on my newly rediscovered love of all things fiction with you all, no matter where you are in life's journey.

My ask box is always open, here's to a new beginning!

💜💜

-- Ridley

[the-lazy-writers]

Apologies for missing Writing Prompt Wednesday, was on the assessment grind for the last week of semester.

By the way, do you know I have a BlueSky? I only got back in today after it decided to be weird about my domain for eight months.

https://bsky.app/profile/thelazywriters.blog

[the-lazy-writers]

Foreshadowing is a narrative device.

Anyway, writing prompt Wednesday!

What thing does your character always have on them and why?

If you haven't gotten that far in character creation (or simply don't have one ready at the moment), try building a character around this object just for funsies! See where it takes you.

[luna-azzurra]

The specific humiliation of sharing your writing with someone and then watching them read it in front of you in real time. they pause. why did they pause. that was a bad pause. now they're nodding but what does the nod mean. now they look up and say "wow" and you need to know IMMEDIATELY what kind of wow that was. there are at least six different wows and only one of them is good and you have aged fourteen years waiting to find out which one.

[the-lazy-writers]

This is most of the reason that I insist on beta readers not being in the same room as me when they read my work. Hooray for the Microsoft Word comments and changes functionality!

[the-lazy-writers]

Writing prompt Wednesday, whoo-haa!

What does your character watch/read to calm down after stress?

I hesitate to call this a comfort watch but that's essentially what it is. Can answer for yourself or an OC.

[the-lazy-writers]

New writing prompt Wednesday unlocked!

What's something you(r character) listens to without judgement?

This could be a person/character, a school of thought or even an idea.

Yes, I do accept self-reflection within these answers.

[the-lazy-writers]

Hey hey, another Writing Prompt Wednesday!!

What's something your character is obsessed with? Why?

If you don't have a character of your own to try this with, interpret this more as a chance to rabbit on about your favourite piece of media.

[the-lazy-writers]

Writing Prompt Wednesday be upon us!

How does your character fill up spare time?

No tips this time, just go crazy!

[the-lazy-writers]

Time is compressible, therefore it is a gas not a solid or liquid.

In this essay I will...

[the-lazy-writers]

Character prompt be upon ye!

Describe a time when your character behaved contrary to their usual habits.

Tips and ideas under the cut!

This sprang from a generalisation of the idea of following vs. abandoning protocol. That seed is a little too specific for a writing prompt, due to its militaristic nature of phrasing, but it can work as a starting point for something if you're stuck.

Think of perspectives for this. What is the internal perspective (i.e. what the character is thinking as they're doing this) and what is the external perspective (i.e. what they are seen to be doing)?

Are there consequences for this action/inaction that could cause conflict? All the better!

[the-lazy-writers]

Here are my backgrounds for the quarter, bluesky has booted me out for the time being so I'm posting them on here. NASA JPL images used, made for my Google Pixel 6 (yes I still use one).

[ladyignatius4]

Mentally making a cup of tea and giving a gentle forehead kiss to every struggling writer on my dash right now.

Your story matters, your ideas are good, and someone out there is going to fall in love with your world.

[the-lazy-writers]

Sometimes this is all you need.

Other times you need to cry it out and need a bit of a cuddle because the words just aren't wording.

Either way... thank you, pass it on

[luna-azzurra]

If you can doomscroll for three hours, you can write for ten minutes. Don’t lie to yourself.

[the-lazy-writers]

But Lunaaaaaaaa it takes different energies to do one vs. the otherrrrrrrr

[the-lazy-writers]

Today's WPW is going to be dealing with time.

Juxtapose a character's current life with either their past or their future.

As usual, tips and ideas under the cut!

This idea came from Heroes of Olympus' climactic penultimate battle, I won't say more for fear of spoilers.

For the past option, it's a great way to reveal some backstory in a novel way. Consider what's similar and different between these two stages in the character's life, and try to draw out the contrast.

For the future option, don't feel beholden to this future, it's just one possibility that your character is considering in this moment. It doesn't even need to vaguely resemble what happens later for it to be impactful.

[the-lazy-writers]

Writing prompt Wednesday time!

Have a character withhold information to save face

Watch it eventually escalate as the lies pile up! Tips and ideas under the cut.

This is more of a scene-style idea than anything else, so it helps if you have a basic character outline/concept already.

Think about why they're doing this - it doesn't have to be much but there should be a reason for them to not tell this thing to whoever they're speaking to.

[the-lazy-writers]

Today's prompt is a little on-the-nose. But we never shy away from that here, now, do we?

Reanimate something you've left alone for a while.

Take this however you want, take it literally if you need to, or go for something figurative if you haven't got anything lying around.

[the-lazy-writers]

Wow it really is prophetic that I would hint at starting a series and then abandon the blog for like four months. Oopsies! I didn't name myself the lazy writer for nothing, eh...

Writing prompt Wednesday resumes at its usual time this week. Sorry for the delay.