Writing in Pain

He/They

[xiranjayzhao]

I absolutely hate it when I hear that my name gets brought up at publishing meetings as an example of "authors who made social media work for them." Like fuck you, the lesson you should've learnt from my case was "take a chance on a book an editor is eager to acquire even if it's in a genre that hasn't been selling well" (Iron Widow got shot down at every major American publisher for market reasons even though many editors wanted it), not "LET'S PUSH AUTHORS TO BECOME INFLUENCERS." The skillset someone needs to be popular on social media is completely different than what's used to write books. Why would you force the average author to shake their ass on TikTok instead of DOING THE MARKETING THAT IS YOUR JOB and letting authors write in peace

[ao3commentoftheday]

give yourself the gift of reading your own fic. it was literally written just for you.

[ao3commentoftheday]

took my own advice today and reread a fic I posted on AO3 seven years ago and I gotta say, it fuckin' slaps

read your own stuff. it's awesome

[atlinmerrick]

I was told once reading my own work is "vain" and I gotta ask: why? And so what? Does reading my own work bring me joy? Does it inspire me to write more? Then who cares if it's vain or any other pejorative you want to name it. Joy is joy and this one hurts no one, is free, and IT'S MINE.

[ao3commentoftheday]

reading your own story isn't vain. it's like eating your own cooking. you just do it to feed your soul and your imagination rather than to feed your body.

[dashedwithromance]

i love it when you read multiple works from a writer and you start being able to pick out the things that stick with them. like the themes they keep thinking about, that can’t be satisfied with just one poem or novel or story. or the motifs they like to reuse and recycle throughout their works like an extradiagetic thread. it’s like drawing a map through a writer’s collection of all the things that keep them up at night

[absentlyabbie]

#also #to writers: you're ALLOWED TO DO THIS #you're allowed to use motifs and themes as much as you want #you can use them again to say something new #you can twist them from how you've used them before #you can do WHATEVER YOU WANT #I can't tell you how many authors (of fic and not!fic) #that I keep coming back to because I'm like: oh this writer is going to be soft about x #or this writer is going to lean heavy into found family #or this writer is going to gut punch me with the emotional intimacy #love your brand kids #love your motifs #love your themes (via @itwaswhileyouweresleeping)

[emptymanuscript]

I would argue that an author’s ability to succeed is indulging in this. To recognize in yourself who you fundamentally are and what you fundamentally care about is what makes a writer distinct and powerful. It’s not merely writing a story. It’s writing a story you CARE about in the way you care about to call like a siren song to others to care about the same things.

[strininsin1]

"we are writers,

my love.

we don't cry.

we bleed on

paper."

- a.y.

[writinginpain]

FrÖgg

i love frogs! they are very nice. good inspiration. 10/10 best anon ask thank you so much

[screnwriter-old-deactivated2021]

when it comes to writing, there is no such thing as originality. no story is original. but you know what is original?

your style of writing.

it is not what you choose to write about that makes a story original. it's how you choose to write it.

[jenivi7]

This is something I’ve been thinking about recently and can I just add, not only is someone going to now see this idea in your own words and in your own style, but there may be at least one person encountering this idea for the first time. 

All things exist but each individual person has not yet been exposed to all things.

Remix, reuse, beg, borrow and steal. It’s how words, themes, phrasings, tropes, styles and ideas in general get spread.

[moonlit-sunflower-books]

writing should be fun.

make oc playlists. spend hours on moodboards that have no purpose. write self-indulgent fluff that’s never going to be published. scribble three lines of poetry in the back of your history notebook. draw fanart of your own characters. write stupid dialogue that your publishers might hate. start new wips that you might never finish but write those three chapters that make you happy because if you don’t write them, who else will?

writing shouldn’t always be about “will publishers like this” or “i have to reach this word count” or “how do i get the most likes”.

have fun with your writing.

[theinternetbird]

Fuck it I’m writing a book. It’s gonna be like dork diaries or the diary of wimpy kids but with the protagonist being trans and actual issues people have in high school. I plead that you give me some advice. I’m non-binary but my dysphoria has always been mild plus I go to a small school so there’s lots I’ve missed. Please give me some advice or something you’d like to see.

[writinginpain]

Hey! I don't have advice myself, but I thought I'd reblog to send it into the writeblr world. This sounds like a great idea, I loved both those series when I was in elementary school and some representation like that would be great for kids! Good luck with your writing!

[amazonpoodle]

also seriously if a character isn’t white, i promise your only descriptive options aren’t food words and varying degrees of tan. it’s okay to say brown. pale brown! light brown! golden brown! medium brown! dark brown! deep brown! so many kinds of brown!

BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN BROWN

[laffbending]

#brown is not a bad word #you do not need euphemisms #B R O W N

[lgbtqiafeminism]

This post by writingwithcolor might help in picking good words to use plus reading about why not to use food words! In general if you’re writing a character of color I highly recommend @writingwithcolor

[cukibola-deactivated20200917]

Thank you!

[screnwriter-old-deactivated2021]

do you ever just... think about a fictional relationship you've created, and how in love these two characters are with each other and how good they are together and you just feel your whole heart burst into flames but in a good way 😢💖

[screnwriter-old-deactivated2021]

i mean. you’re not wrong

[writinginpain]

Character Concepts

I finally finished the concepts for the main couple in my little idea- the two of them are pretty adorable and picrew is absolutely a godsend. They even have names and personalities! I should be able to write them soon

[writinginpain]

Ideas, Ideas...

I've been doing a lot of thinking and not a lot of writing, maybe I should just- get to writing. I have some character concepts so as soon as I have names- I'll post a little short story on here or something.

[writingdotcoffee]

“There is an instinct in our species to tell stories. It’s a way of explaining the universe and explaining our world.”

— Joyce Carol Oates

[screnwriter-old-deactivated2021]

good morning

[katzenente]

To everyone who loves writing:

Keep writing!

Whatever you are creating, it is great! Why? Because you took your time to write it down and put all of your creativity and effort into it.

You are insecure about it? Don’t worry. I think everyone has this struggle of being insecure and being not happy with what they created. I know it is hard to keep on doing it if you are not happy with whatever you are creating, but:

Improvement comes with time.

So keep doing what you love and don’t force yourself to do something you don’t want to.

Stay positive!

[corystssides]

Do you ever read something of yours and you’re like “holy shit, I wrote this!” and like, it’s really good and ur heart does that little flutter thing.

[writinginpain]

I've been working on my idea, I have a pretty cute concept for the main characters. I'll have to decide length and plot. Writing a full length novel is too ambitious I think, so maybe a collection of short stories? I'm very excited