The Writing Hole

I post writing tips, prompts, and memes

[remnantglow]

classic scifi novels by men r always like. page 1 here’s a cool scifi idea i had. page 2 i hate women so much it’s unreal

[remnantglow]

ALT

ALT

ALT

guys if one more person leaves a tag like this on my post im gonna lose my mind. There Are Science Fiction Authors Who Are Not Misogynistic Men

[remnantglow]

ok i’ve gotten one too many ‘this is why i don’t read sci-fi’ comments so here’s a rec list for the people convinced all science fiction is bad and misogynistic (with something for everyone, hopefully!):

(also, btw, the book links are to the Storygraph, which includes content warnings for each one!)

smth funny and lighthearted about a security robot who’d rather watch TV then do its job? all systems red by martha wells (first novella in the The Murderbot Diaries series, 6 books, ongoing)

a complex, intricate political space opera following a warship AI who’s lost (almost) everything? ancillary justice by ann leckie (first in the Imperial Radch trilogy) (fun fact! bc of space linguistics reasons, all characters in this series are referred to with she/her pronouns, making gender a non-factor - it’s really cool!)

a dark story about travelling between parallel universes and a woman who is dead in almost every single one? the space between worlds by micaiah johnson (standalone) (SO good, i don’t get to recommend it often enough!!!)

a story about grief and letting go, and a unique take on alien invasion? the seep by chana porter (standalone novella)

hey, how abt some dystopian YA, for old times sake? specifically, one with sapphics and sick mechas? try gearbreakers by zoe hana mikuta (first in duology)

or, if you’d prefer something a bit less angsty, YA about a ragtag group of teens and a space heist? the disasters by m. k. england (standalone)

alternate history steampunk that blurs the line btwn science fiction and fantasy? the black god’s drums by p. djeli clark (standalone, novella)

a dark gone girl-esque thriller about clones? the echo wife by sarah gailey (standalone)

poetic sapphic romance and time travel? this is how you lose the time war by max gladstone and amal el-mohtar (standalone)

a hopeful utopian future and a human-robot friendship? a psalm for the wild-built by becky chambers (novella, first out of two) (this author’s got a whole bunch of hopepunk sci-fi novels in general, if that’s smth you’re looking for!)

africanfuturism, coming-of-age, and cool jellyfish aliens? binti by nnedi okorafor (novella, first in trilogy)

spicy lesbian cyborgs? and shall machines surrender my benjanun sriduangkaew (novella, first in the Machine Mandate series, 6 books)

cosmic horror with an autistic scientist, cyborg angels and AI gods? the outside by ada hoffmann (first in trilogy, 2 books are out)

also, if you’re a fan of Janelle Monáe, may i draw your attention to the fact that they’ve recently come out with a Dirty Computer short story collection, each story co-written with a diff writer?

this list is long enough, but have some more authors (who are not cis men) also worth checking out: rivers solomon, yoon ha lee, charlie jane anders, aliette de bodard, xiran jay zhao, mary robinette kowal, corinne duyvis

and finally, not all older/classic scifi is written by crusty old white guys who hate women!!! some iconic authors i’d particularly recommend looking into are ursula k. le guin, octavia e. butler, samuel r. delany and vonda n. mcintyre 🥰

[babischlong-six]

I’ll add C.J. Cherryh and her Foreigner series to this! Alien politics, linguistics, adventure and intrigue… Sometimes the aliens aren’t just like us, after all, and that’s ok!

[cleric-chono-is-my-everything]

Throwing in a recommendation for These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs

[i-will-write]

how i sleep knowing i write shitty fiction but at least don’t use chatgpt

[sentientsky]

repeating this to myself forever and ever

[alonelystargazer]

writing goals for 2026 ✨

to write

[seventyeight-moose]

[writing-ideas-inc]

[sourdough-seal]

"why did you stop writing your story!!! never stop writing!!!!!!!!!!!" well you see the character had to drive one mile to a new location and the sentence "she got into the car" was quite simply my undoing

[juleskelleybooks]

I feel this on a deep and personal level and I know you're making a joke but I do also want to take this opportunity to pass along the biggest small piece of advice I've ever gotten: You don't have to explain every step of how something happened unless something unusual/important happens along the way.

You can simply cut to the next scene when she's at the location, without explaining how she got there. People will fill that in. Now, if something important happens in the car on the way there, then sure, mention it. But if she's just driving? Nah. Delete that sentence, pop in a scene break, and keep writing.

Be free.

[flipchild]

best part about silksong is that some redditor got so furious at people suggesting they reset their mental, take a breather, etc, that they felt compelled to draw this in what I can only assume was a state of blinding rage

[deverauxwrites-deactivated20251]

It’s the Little Things That Make Them Real: Character Quirks

Physical Quirks ❖ Cracks their knuckles when thinking. ❖ Tilts their head too far when listening, like a curious bird. ❖ Always rolls up their sleeves; even when it’s freezing. ❖ Bites the inside of their cheek instead of nails. ❖ Writes with their non-dominant hand for notes/doodles. ❖ Compulsively counts stairs, tiles, or ceiling beams. ❖ Uses hand gestures way too big for the conversation. ❖ Stares just past someone’s shoulder instead of at their face. ❖ Always needs to fiddle with coins, rings, or a pen cap.

Speech/Language Quirks ❖ Uses outdated slang like it never went out of style. ❖ Slips into another language for swears or exclamations. ❖ Repeats the last word of someone else’s sentence under their breath. ❖ Adds a little whistle or hum between phrases. ❖ Ends most sentences as questions, even when they’re not. ❖ Misquotes famous sayings but insists they’re right. ❖ Can’t resist giving everything and everyone a nickname. ❖ Stutters only on words starting with the same letter as their name.

Behavioral Quirks ❖ Always chooses the same seat in any room. ❖ Eats one food at a time, in strict order, never mixing. ❖ Picks up random objects (salt shakers, paperclips) and rearranges them neatly. ❖ Never steps on cracks, lines, or patterned tiles. ❖ Hoards receipts, tickets, or fortunes from cookies. ❖ Stares at light bulbs until their eyes water. ❖ Reads the last page of a book first. ❖ Never finishes a drink—always leaves the last sip.

Psychological/Emotional Quirks ❖ Laughs during tense or uncomfortable silences. ❖ Refuses to say “goodbye”—always changes it to “see you.” ❖ Finds comfort in exact routines (same breakfast, same route). ❖ Talks to inanimate objects as though they’ll answer. ❖ Gets unreasonably angry at minor inconveniences (a pen running out, a sock slipping). ❖ Collects bizarre little “lucky” items like bottle caps or broken charms. ❖ Panics if they don’t have something in their hands. ❖ Over-apologizes, even when clearly not at fault.

[conindiundrum-writing]

They who see this shall get out of their writing rut.

[periodicallypurple]

Thought this might help others who struggle when writing. I know I get in my head too much.

[write-on-world]

[for-the-freaks-and-geeks]

[doveywovy]

no matter how hard i try, nothing i write will ever be as fucked up as the stuff somebody who thinks they're creating a Wholesome AU with unexamined beliefs will make.

[jerboaoa]

couldn't leave this in the tags

[prophetic-writer]

“What if I write it and it’s bad-”

WHAT IF YOU WRITE IT AND ITS GOOD? WHAT IF YOU WRITE IT AND ITS EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANTED? WHAT THEN????

[yogi-bogey-box]

reblog to give prev some of that good writing mojo

[yogi-bogey-box]

somehow all these good vibes have washed back on me and it's great. y'all are manifesting writing mojo for each other and me and I love it. keep going. don't stop.

[transmutationisms]

rephrasing a sentence to avoid having the same word twice in a row literally feels like adjusting yr stride so you step on the pavement cracks the right way

[orpheuslament]

now say it with me: authors/artists dont owe you moral purity. an author/artist job is not to hold you by the hand & tell you exactly what is Good™ & what is Bad™. you should be able to think for yourself

[orpheuslament]

"yes but depictions of (morally questionable thing) are only okay if its punished in the story" thats the hays code. you just reinvented the hays code

[billowingangel]

Prev I'm curious to know what movie that was

[hostilecandle]

If ANY of yall EVER do this shit to me, im deleting every single fic out of spite.

If I ever catch one of yall doing this to another author and I know youre a follower of my work I will block you personally on every platform

None of yall are the fic police. I DESPISE genai. I think its an insult to art, humanity, and the planet itself. But aint not a single fucking person here qualified to pick apart a strangers fic looking for a gotcha moment to make yourselves feel superior. If you think something is ai you can ask the author (most are proud of the ai use and will just tell you straight up) if they say yes you have your answer and can warn people. If they say no and you dont believe them you block and quietly keep it between you and maybe a close group of friends. Spreading misinformation is DANGEROUS. And NONE of you doing this shit are anywhere near qualified to do it.

THIS GOES DOUBLY FOR ARTISTS.

[hodari-pavels-good-boy]

Posting this here from my main too bc I feel that strongly about it

You dont get to witch hunt and scour peoples work just frothing at the mouth hoping someone messes up so you can publicly humiliate and gang up on them. Fuck genai and every single poser and lover that uses it but if you are not 1000000000% certain that something is made with it you shut. the. fuck. up.

Pathetic loser behavior on display here

[mintedwitcher]

I'm about to get mean because this shit? this pisses me all the way off.

"hurr durr these very common writing practices are SUPER OBVIOUS AI TELLS!!!!!!!!!! obviously this is an AI invention and not the result of AI being trained on THOUSANDS OF REAL FUCKING STORIES!!!!!!! we're all very intelligent!!!!!!!"

I hate yall. I hate yall for fucking ruining fanfic with your goddamn motherfucking AI obsession. "ooh there's em dashes!" YEAH REAL WRITERS USE THOSE. "there's long paragraphs!" YEAH BECAUSE THATS HOW PEOPLE WRITE STORIES.

we're not "writing like AI" - AI is writing like us, because it fucking stole from us in the first fucking place.

I've never used AI in my work, not ever, but guess what, my fics are ALL written like that. long paragraphs, long sentences, em dashes and hyphens and other grammatical tools, because I fucking know HOW TO WRITE.

quite frankly, if you think these things are "genAI inventions" you're just telling the world that YOU DON'T READ ENOUGH.