Winter Rose Writer

writer | bookworm | wants a pet dragon | AO3: WinterRoseWriter

[silkirose]

in order to write the story you need to write the story

[winterrosewriter]

I'm making myself so sad writing one of the timelines for this wip. My main character's wife just died in a car accident, and he and her sister listen to the last voicemails they have from her for the first time a week after her death, where she basically tells my MC that she's pregnant with their first child (strong hints because she just can't help herself), and tells her sister that she's amazing and she can do anything. just brb sobbing with my characters here. i love her so much and they love her and she's dead! But I had to kill her off for emotional and plot reasons. anyone else get attached to your doomed characters?

[seren-starlight]

We all feel impostor syndrome from time to time, but as your friend I just want to encourage you not to give in to those feelings. No matter what that nagging voice in your head might tell you and no matter what those doubters in your life might try to convince you of, you're talented, you're capable, and you belong here. In fact I'm willing to bet there's a whole legion of people out there who know that you do belong here! And besides, you're only a "usurper" and a "rebellious provincial governor" if you lose

[winterrosewriter]

I've been pondering various post-canon Kevin scenarios where he's in a sober group, because I will never get these lines out of my head: Wymack pulled a bottle of vodka out of the bag and put it down beside Kevin. “You have ten seconds to inhale as much of this as you can. I’m timing you. Go.” It was alarming how much a man could drink when he needed an emotional crutch. Wymack had to pry the bottle from Kevin’s desperate fingers afterward. Like, Kevin, we love you, but that's not healthy. Let's not even get started with him getting drunk immediately after getting a tattoo on his face. I've seen various fandom takes saying that the Foxes don't realize Kevin has a problem with alcohol and I agree. They're all college kids, they all drink. There are many lines where a character says something like, "Let's beat this asshole team and go get wasted." They all use drugs and alcohol as ways to burn off steam, like a lot of us. Alcohol and food are major elements to any social gathering, and if you have issues with either (drinking too much, eating too much, etc.), they can be difficult to manage.

I'm now pondering a scenario with Kevin's child confronting that legacy of alcoholism, with a father who has been sober since before they were born and who has complicated feelings about alcohol (between Wymack and Andrew, how could you not?). (All the fics where Kevin relapses or is an active alcoholic, I see and salute you, but that's not what I'm fixating on right now. For me, it's the emotional tangles of 'I know Dad goes to these meetings, and now I'm observing one, and it's so weird to hear him say he's an alcoholic. What do I do with that?') (Though I would say as a society, we are slowly shifting away from all alcohol all the time, with the rise in NA drinks and mocktails and rethink the drink campaigns, etc.) (Also, girldad!Kevin is the best. I just came up with this OC and I already love her so much.)

[corvid-language-library]

The sooner you start, the sooner you'll be done with it and the sooner you can stop thinking about it. Go on, up you get, it won't be as bad as you think.

[corvid-language-library]

You won't want to do it later either. You might as well just do it now. Even if you don't finish it all, anything you manage to get done now is something you don't have to do later (when you still won't want to do it)

[winterrosewriter]

Hi!! I just read The Goblin Emperor for the first time recently, and I’ve been devouring fics and having some ideas of my own :) I wanted to ask, was the concept of the record room for the nohecharei (which you described in your fic “he knows not the ways”) something that you took from canon or that you made up? I was flipping through my copy of TGE this morning bc I could’ve sworn that was mentioned in the book, but maybe I just read it in your fic and my brain latched onto it. Either way, I love the idea!!

Hi! So glad to hear it! I believe the concept for the records room I got from Hermitknut's Keystone universe (start with The Stairs Beneath the Heart on ao3), but I took it and ran with it. More on that is in another fic of mine, records of care. I'll definitely be writing more fic, but I'm just very slow...

[mercutiothecat]

Maxim de Winter: *is middle aged*

Budapesti Operettszínház in 2010: but what if we cast our 34 years old resident prettyboy. what then.

[theladyjanedoe-deactivated20221]

[autisticjoy]

THINGS THAT CAN BE TRUE AT THE SAME TIME:

* Your parents did the best they could, AND their choices wounded you.

* You love someone AND you know it’s not healthy to keep them in your life.

* You’re terrified to take the next step AND you know it’s the right thing to do.

* You want to have healthy relationships AND unresolved trauma is making it difficult.

* You’re afraid to fail AND you believe in yourself.

@drheidigreen

[damedianariggalbumphoto]

[naps4bats-deactivated20240921]

You strike Green Knight? You cut off his head like the football?! Oh! Oh! Beheading for Gawain! Beheading for Gawain One Year Hence!!

[feralkwe]

give your characters exes.

give them a variety of exes. give them relationships that shaped who they are but did not last. give them people they tried very hard to love but it didn't work out. give them situationships that taught them things. give them something deep that was real but could not endure. things that hurt. things that ended amicably. people with whom hot passion cooled to warm affection and became undying friendship.

no more first and only. give me the context of what made them know the next or one after was final and right.

[dalniente]

it is honestly amazing how much of writing and editing is just. logistics. like... do i use a name here or a pronoun? if i move this dialogue tag to the middle of this line and break it in half, does the end of the line hit harder that way? what if i move the tag to the front? what if i remove it entirely? ...wait, whose point of view am i in; can i reasonably say this character is appalled, or must i say they look or seem or sound appalled? is this a deliberate action or a step-removed one; is her hand closing on his shoulder, or is she closing her hand on his shoulder? environment environment environment, we need to break all this dialogue up with some narration, the scene is coming untethered. what! are! they doing! with! the rest of their bodies that are not hands! fuck fuck fuck FUCK i forgot we covered this two chapters ago and now i either need to cut this whole chunk or find a reason to reprise the conversation from earlier. name or pronoun? name or pronoun? name or pronoun? move this clause around in this sentence? oh i'll add this phrase-- nope, never mind, past!me added the same phrase two lines down. okay, if i add too much environmental narration it's going to take away from this bit, but not enough and it won't feel grounded. what if i move this to its own line? where the FUCK are their hands?

[winterrosewriter]

I hear there's a Goblin Emperor/Cemeteries of Amalo Discord. Would some kind soul send me an invite link, please?

[winterrosewriter]

How do all you writers decide what project to work on? Do you just spin the great wheel of WIPs? Tell me your secrets!

Sincerely,

Drowning in Writing Projects

[winterrosewriter]

I am bugged by how all the Witness for the Dead descriptions call Celehar a minor character in The Goblin Emperor. Like, no. He's named in five of the book's 30+ chapters. Csoru is a minor character, Celehar is a supporting character (and one who makes a big impact!).

[elumish]

Some of the biggest fantasy worldbuilding fails that I see, in no particular order

Gods without religion. The Gods are real and a known historical fact, but virtually nobody is religious.

Cultural racism/discrimination without structural racism/discrimination. Discrimination that exists only in microagressions or mean comments, without existing in any sort of structural way.

Secret history with no clear reason for it to be secret and no clear method for maintaining that secrecy. Major parts of the world's history are kept entirely secret, even though there's not an obvious reason to do so and even when history has shown this is virtually impossible to enforce (especially in a world with any movement or communication across borders).

Large, homogeneous countries. Even without immigration, virtually no country larger than the Vatican will be fully homogeneous in terms of culture, dialect, beliefs, traditions, etc., much less a large one with limited communication technology as is often seen in fantasy. The Planet of Hats problem.

[tulipfemme-deactivated20240718]

i mean this completely seriously but… a cup of coffee can save your life a little, a shower can save your life a little, making your favorite meal can save your life a little…….little things actually add up to really big things in the long run if you let them, the secret to surviving everyday is infusing a little bit of magic into the mundane i truly believe that