Writ Network

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[writnetwork-blog]

GATHER AROUND WRITNETWORK MEMBERS! It is now the new year, speaking of which we hope you all had a brilliant holiday - but without further ado, we are happy to present this years first prompt contest of which the theme is:

‘NEW YEAR, NEWER YOU’

Our prompt was deliberately left open to interpretation. It is to act as the title for whatever piece of work you produce but other than that, your response can be of any genre, any form of writing and essentially anything you would like!

We would like to have the results in by the 23rd Janurary! So get your pens and pencils out everyone! 

members: @kibberswrites @cometworks @ecririe @thiccsailor @writingmilkshake @little-euro-girl @alessia-writes-stuff @giaswords @gobletofire @adayinwriterslife

[writnetwork-blog]

due to commitments that meant we haven’t been able to look at this blog lately, WE EXTENDED THE DEADLINE - ANYONE WHO IS INTERESTED HAS UNTIL TOMORROW (AKA SUNDAY 27TH)

@kibberswrites @cometworks @ecririe @thiccsailor@writingmilkshake @little-euro-girl @alessia-writes @giaswords @adayinwriterslife

if a further deadline is required, please send us a message - we know how busy life can get !

[writnetwork-blog]

GATHER AROUND WRITNETWORK MEMBERS! It is now the new year, speaking of which we hope you all had a brilliant holiday - but without further ado, we are happy to present this years first prompt contest of which the theme is:

‘NEW YEAR, NEWER YOU’

Our prompt was deliberately left open to interpretation. It is to act as the title for whatever piece of work you produce but other than that, your response can be of any genre, any form of writing and essentially anything you would like!

We would like to have the results in by the 23rd Janurary! So get your pens and pencils out everyone! 

members: @kibberswrites @cometworks @ecririe @thiccsailor @writingmilkshake @little-euro-girl @alessia-writes-stuff @giaswords @gobletofire @adayinwriterslife

[writnetwork-blog]

In case anyone was wondering, we are still taking new members who are more than welcome to participate !

[writnetwork-blog]

GATHER AROUND WRITNETWORK MEMBERS! It is now the new year, speaking of which we hope you all had a brilliant holiday - but without further ado, we are happy to present this years first prompt contest of which the theme is:

‘NEW YEAR, NEWER YOU’

Our prompt was deliberately left open to interpretation. It is to act as the title for whatever piece of work you produce but other than that, your response can be of any genre, any form of writing and essentially anything you would like!

We would like to have the results in by the 23rd Janurary! So get your pens and pencils out everyone! 

members: @kibberswrites @cometworks @ecririe @thiccsailor @writingmilkshake @little-euro-girl @alessia-writes-stuff @giaswords @gobletofire @adayinwriterslife

[writnetwork-blog]

The new year is quickly approaching so we were wondering, is there anything you guys would like to see from us going forward? :)

[writnetwork-blog]

secret santa entry to @ratherinterestingmilkshake

The Woman asks the child if they would like to make a wish. They nod eagerly, small hands already clasping onto the crystal orb as they press their nose into its smoothed surface. Eyes squeezed shut and lips parted, they hope the ball can hear them through such a thick skin.

A breath passes and for a moment the child believes they have spoken too softly. Then, somethings flickers over their eyelids. Light comes flooding back into their corneas as they blink.

A strong glow emits from the ball’s core like a steady heartbeat. Then, it shifts into a smudge of red and a chill rushes against the surface, seeping into the child’s palms. There is a small, red-roofed house, sat comfortably in the middle of a snowstorm. Snowflakes march the perimeter in hypnotic spirals, filling in a set of footprints leading from the door of the house.

A figure plays in the snow, piling it into a tall mound only to kick it back to powder. There is a strange sort of satisfaction to watching the endless cycle.

The Woman peers inside the ball at the scene it has created. As oddly comforting as the storm was, what wish could possibly call for a blizzard? The Woman asks the child.

They look up at her with a wide smile. “I wished for winter.”

[writnetwork-blog]

writnetwork’s secret santa gift to @cometworks

Arthur wasn’t entirely sure what to think of Jackson, but he was of the general opinion that if he were to jump off a cliff he wouldn’t be overly disheartened. That being said however, as he stared and observed Jackson desperately wade into the murky lake outside their flat after unthinkingly - and much too dramatically if Arthur were to say so, throwing his essay on epiphenomenalism out the window -  Arthur did have to admit that he was somewhat amusing. You had to get your kicks from somewhere.

He had spent the last few weeks observing Jackson - non creepily of course, all in a desperate attempt to discover the truth. The rest of Arthur’s flatmates were quick to shoot down Arthur’s theories - throwing claims such as: “this is insane!”, “are you nuts?”, and even one swift deliverance of “you absolute moron!” - all of which Arthur frankly thought were a bit rude but ultimately failed to deter him from his goal. Jackson was a vampire and he knew it. He would prove it, Arthur pledged: a chant of ‘vampire’ ‘vampire’ ‘vampire’ chorusing within his mind.

However that being said, he wasn’t entirely sure how to go about proving it. Sure Jackson had cold hands, but that could simply be chalked up to the sheer lack of heating in the flat. Odd eating habits? Well Arthur couldn’t exactly judge he thought, as he ate his cold ramen with odd leftovers thrown in. The only evidence Arthur did have was Jackson’s aversion towards garlic and even then that was tenuous at best. He only had one option Arthur thought, he would simply have to kill him.

Wait. No. After prison you still have to pay off student loans. He would simply have to kill himself. Can’t pay loans if you’re dead.

If Arthur was able to see how Jackson responded to blood, then that would surely be a way to determine whether or not he was a vampire. As he twirled his fork around his finger and thumb, Arthur contemplated upon the best way forward before ultimately putting down said fork and inwardly adding ‘no time like the present’ to his ever repeating chorus of ‘vampire’, ‘vampire’. As he walked to the kitchen and shouted a call for Jackson, he did have the brief and fleeting thought that this could be a horrendous idea but quickly put it to the side along with his pot of food as he reached for a knife. As Jackson approached the kitchen with a muted ‘hello’, Arthur sliced the knife quickly down his hand and yelled a victorious ‘aha!’ when Jackson came into view and visibly recoiled.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Jackson screeched.

“I’m doing it! I’m proving you’re a vampire! I know the truth!”

All the panic Jackson previously had marred on his face quickly vanished in favour of the general expression found along the phrase “what the f-“

“I’m not a vampire, are you nuts!” Jackson cried as he flung his hands around, looking for all intents and purposes like a madman - or, Arthur’s thoughts helpfully interrupted, looking for all intents and purposes like vampire.

“Oh yes you are! And I’m proving it!”

And then Jackson uttered something completely devastating. Something Arthur had never planned for and something which completely sliced a halt in his train of thoughts.

“I’m a bloody werewolf!”

As Arthur’s internal repetition of the continuous list of ‘vampire’, ‘vampire’, ‘vampire’, switched to the confused sounding ‘werewolf?’, Arthur suddenly was starkly aware of the foolhardy cut on his hand and with a spell of dizziness found himself falling to the ground with a ‘oh’ on his lips.

Who would have guessed.

[writnetwork-blog]

Raise a Glass with Icarus

(Credit for the pic & title go to @vetyr)

We should have been aware of how broken you were, even if your smile rivaled the sun with how much your eyes shone. We should have been aware how much you resembled him - with how much you spoke of his story, with how much you wanted to convince each and every one of us that his story was not one of tragedy, but of brilliance.

Icarus did fall, you said, but Apollo embraced him before he did, cradling him to his chest and sent him to fall into the ocean, where he knew he could find him again.

Icarus’ wings did burn, you said, but only to give way for more beautiful ones, for wings made of love and fire and the ocean, gifted to him by Apollo as and apology for the fall he made him endure.

Icarus wasn’t reckless, you said, he was flying on the currents of ecstasy hat is brought on by youth, because the story we tell is not what he should be remembered as, for he was as brilliant as his father, even as young as he was and as young as he fell.

Maybe it wasn’t meant for us to know how much you had fallen on your own already, though you did not reach up into the sky for the sun, for the loving but burning embrace of Apollo. No, you reached below the earth for the halls of the dead, for the healing but deadly embrace of Persephone and Hades.

Where Icarus longed for warmth and love and greatness, you long for acceptance and family and release. Where Icarus longed for life, you long for death.

And yet, everyone who has met you can see you raise a glass with the boy who flew too high up and fell into the ocean bellow. So, my dear, raise a glass with Icarus, and I will gladly join you.

writnetork secret santa gift to @randopandour

[writnetwork-blog]

The Rejected

The lone sweater hung upon the rack in the clothing section. Watching, waiting, anticipating. It had to chosen next, it just had to be. It was the only one left from the bundles of ugly Christmas sweaters delivered to the store, after all.

A month and a half ago, the sweater would have been fine waiting patiently for some to buy it. But after watching its fellow brethren sweaters flying off the rack by the dozen, the sweater’s hope of being purchased dwindled.

Am I not good enough?

Am I not likable enough?

Am I not ugly enough? Weird question to ask, but seriously though?

Doubt seeped into in its being, filling up every literal fiber of its mostly cotton body. That doubt soon turned into a bitter resentment for each sweater pulled off the rack that was not itself.

If only they were less creative.

If only they were less desirable.

If only they were ugly…uglier…visually unappealing, I mean.

But it was almost Christmas. Who wouldn’t want a sweater with a reindeer’s head on it? Apparently no one, and it was already too late. If it could sigh right now, it would. No one wanted it again this year; it will have to go back to the storage, where the rejected sweaters lie.

It hated being a reject.

And so the ugly Christmas sweater was retired for the holiday season once again for the 7th year in a row, along with the other undesirables.

They were forced into the waiting game once again.

writnetwork secret santa gift to @katabasiss

[writnetwork-blog]

thank you to everyone who participated in this years secret santa! we hope you all have a great holiday this winter break :D

[thecaffeinebookwarrior-deactiva]

Common Misconceptions For Writing Queer Characters, Dispelled by Your Friendly Neighborhood Bisexual

1.  “It wouldn’t be realistic to include more than one gay/bi/trans/etc. character, because they’re statistically less common.” 

Queer people travel in packs.  We’re drawn to each other before we’re even out of the closet.  

Don’t ask me how this works, but flash back three years, and I was a sixteen-year-old baby bi just starting college.  I still had a lot of introspection to do (I thought I was a lesbian even though I was pretty strongly attracted to guys, for example, because I didn’t want to be associated with the stigma of bisexuality or accused of faking), I was still in the closet, and fellow queer people sounded like some sort of mythical creature that I’d never actually encounter.

A year later, I met my first openly bisexual friend – a fellow art student, obviously – and in my excitement blurted that I was bi as well (I’d since gotten comfortable with the label.)  It felt euphoric to finally say it out loud, and came out to my best friend immediately afterwards.  Surprise surprise, she herself was pan.  

Now I’m a senior, and almost everyone in my close friend circle is queer, including three bisexuals, two pansexuals, one lesbian, one trans boy, and one gay, plus a couple straight folks who I love in spite of their lifestyle.  

Granted, this could be due to the fact that I spend most of my time in the art department, but the point still stands:  queer people are drawn to one another like bees to honey.

So please, give your queer characters a posse.  It would be a lonely world for me if I didn’t get to interact with people I relate to in that way.

Moreover, recent studies show we’re not as uncommon as previously thought:  as of 2016, less than fifty percent of people under twenty-four identify as heterosexual, and over thirty percent of adults under thirty report same-gender attraction.

http://www.out.com/news-opinion/2016/3/11/less-50-teens-identify-straight-says-new-study

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/11807740/half-young-people-heterosexual-lgbt-homosexual-yougov.html

I think it’s perfectly understandable that people are becoming more comfortable with being open about their identity as society ceases to vilify it, and I only hope the world will continue to do so.

Like, say, by including more healthy, happy queer characters in fiction, for example.

2.  “This character can’t be gay/bi/etc. because it isn’t realistic for the time period.” 

This may come as a surprise to you, but Macklemore didn’t invent queer people in 2012.  

I know, I know, I’m a blasphemer and a heathen.  But the unfortunate truth of the matter is, historical erasure and the strict censorship laws of the twentieth century have created the impression that queer people are something new when we most emphatically are not.

Instead of going into the intricacies of how pervasive erasure was (and still is), I’ll list my personal favorite examples of famous people and characters you never knew were queer: 

1.  Richard the Lionhearted 

(Gay and charged with sodomy during his lifetime.) 

2.  Marlon Brando 

(Unashamedly bisexual, and arguably the founder of “gay leathers” with his movie The Wild One.)   

3.  Leonardo da Vinci

(Gay, convicted twice for sodomy, and “repulsed by the notion of sex with women.”  Had affairs with several of his male students.)

4.  James Dean

(Bisexual, had an affair with his screenwriter friend William Best and occasional flings with women.) 

5.  Josephine Baker 

(Openly bisexual.) 

6.  Joan Crawford 

(Bi or pansexual, reportedly had affairs with other famous actresses of her time, including Marilyn Monroe.) 

7.  Queen Christina (a 17th century Swedish Monarch) 

(Probably transgender, nonbinary, or gender nonconforming.  “Dressed and behaved like a man” throughout their life and had affairs with women.)

8.  Carry Grant

(Gay or bisexual, reportedly had affairs with many men, including Cole Porter.)

9.  Aristotle 

(Probably gay.  Had affairs with men, most notably Plato.) 

10.  Socrates

(An enthusiastically gay man who believed romantic love could only exist between two people of the male gender.)

The list goes on and on, but sufficed to say you get the picture.  If people were educated on how many iconic and influential individuals were non-straight, do you really think homophobic attitudes would be so prevalent in modern society?  

I personally find it doubtful.  Moreover, the pervasive erasure of queer identities is far from over.  I couldn’t count how many times a queer character had their sexuality censored to be more palatable to general audiences:  

How many of the queer characters in the Marvel universe, for example, have had their sexuality reflected onscreen?  CEOs have promised that there will be a “gay character in the MCU within the next ten years,” but that’s all we’ve gotten so far.  

And DC’s not much better: Wonder Woman was confirmed bisexual, but God forbid she be allowed to be portrayed as such on screen. 

None of the John Constantine adaptions have reflected the unabashed bisexuality of his comic counterpart, nor does Dean Winchester, who was also inspired by an openly bisexual character a la On the Road.  And I love Audrey Hepburn as much as anybody, but the erasure of Paul’s sexuality (he was very gay/bi in the book) can be added to Breakfast at Tiffany’s many sins.

In other words, everything is a lot gayer than you think, and it always has been.  So please, allow your writing to reflect it as such.

3.  “All gay/bi characters consider their same sex attraction the bane of their existence and wish that they could change it.” 

Whenever a well-intentioned straight person proclaims that queer people don’t choose their identities, that they’re born the way they are, I honestly appreciate the sentiment but I can’t help but cringe.  

Straight people, en mass, are taught that being non-straight is one of the worst things you can be, so I can’t help but feel that this pervasive mentality amongst allies of “they can’t help it!  They were born that way!” is somewhat reflective of that.  Because who would choose to be queer if they could help it, right?

Well, me, for example.  

I love being attracted to girls.  I love watching a pretty girl put her hair up or catch a whiff of her perfume, the fluttery feeling I get in my chest when I watch them laugh or giggle, particularly at one of my jokes.  Girls are just amazing, guys.  Who couldn’t help but love them?   

I love ogling cute boys every bit as much, of course, but that’s not the issue here:  my attraction to both genders is an integral part of who I am as a person.  I love it.  I’m proud of it.  I love to talk about it with my fellow non-straight friends.

I don’t want to change my identity.  I want close-minded people to change how they view my identity.  And until they do, they can fuck right off.  

4.  “Queer people take their identities really seriously and would never, ever joke about them.”

My guy, my dude, bisexuality it an untapped mine of comedic gold.  

“I go both ways” is my answer to any question involving two or more options, and a veritable fountain of puns bubbles up inside of me every time someone uses the word “straight” in a sentence.  I’m surprised no one’s punched me in the face yet for the amount of times I’ve erupted into an impromptu performance of “Gettin’ Bi.” 

And it isn’t limited to bisexuality, either:  when one of my friends mentioned she was pan, I hi-fived her and said, “Sweet!  You’re my panpal.”  I honestly expected her to deck me right there, but fortunately her fondness for punography rivaled even my own.

The point is, we really don’t take ourselves all that seriously:  every queer person I know – virtually every single one – has used their orientation as personal comedic fodder.   

If queer people seem oversensitive to you, that’s probably because you’ve only seen them react to homophobic/transphobic jokes that hurt them personally.  The trick is to laugh with LGBT people instead of at them:  think Holt and Kevin from Brooklyn 99, or the wonderful Thomas Sanders.  A compilation of his vines about queer people can be found here:  https://youtu.be/Yf-AIRezG2E.

Also, you’ll notice that unlike homophobic jokes, these jokes are actually amusing.  

5.  “They have to die, because, realism.”   

Aside from the fact that, as I’ve stressed before, queer people have always existed and managed to lead successful, happy, and fulfilling lives, “realism” is not the reason why so many writers bury their gays.

You see, long ago in the not-so-distant past of the 20th century, the censorship laws were such that gay and bisexual people could only be portrayed in books and media if they A) repented their sins and “turned straight” by the end or B) died.  

That’s why so many gay characters die horribly and their bisexual lovers end up with a person of the opposite gender, and why so much gay fiction is still tragedy porn for straight people.

Seriously, guys.  It’s a really ugly trope that needs to come to an end.  Every gay person I know realizes that being gay is hard, so please, give me a new generation of literary queer people who end up happy, successful, and safe. 

[narrativerehearsal]

Everyone who want to write and isn’t LGBT should read this and really think about it.

Half my friendship group in my department is bi. Not just ‘not straight’, we’re all bi. We really do travel in packs, partially because if you’re homophobic we don’t see why we should deal with you.

One more point to add: not everyone has their coming out as a huge deal.

I literally did not give a fuck about what my sexuality was when I was a teenager. I wasn’t sure but I basically went ‘oh well, I’ll just see who I end up having crushes on’. First crush was a girl, second was a guy. My ‘coming out’ has never been a dramatic thing, in fact other people have made a bigger deal than I have. What has mainly happened is I’ve made a comment about how a girl is cute or I’ve mentioned it when in a conversation about people we’ve liked/had relationships with. Some people do have their coming out as a big thing and that’s fine, but it doesn’t need to be.

Technically I didn’t ‘come out’ to a lot of my postgrad friends. I fell for a girl and it was blindingly obvious to everyone a good 2 months before we actually started dating. No one commented on it because for them it was no different from if I’d obviously fallen for a guy. 

[writnetwork-blog]

Secret Santa:

Hey guys! We thought along with the Prompt Contest in this beautiful month of December we will also be hosting a Secret Santa for us writers!

This event is for all of you beautiful human beings so you don’t even have to be a Writnetwork member to trade written-gifts in this winter time. (however, following us is required!) 

This holiday gift-giving will function as follows:

You can submit any piece of writing to us. Anything at all! Maybe Christmas Inspired, maybe somehow set in the Summertime (though we would like to remind you that you should keep in mind that this is winter-themed). We just ask all of you to keep it PG13 and trigger-free to assure a good experience for everybody! If you want your writing to specifically go to one person, please specify, but be aware that it might not work out.

With submitting something you are automatically on the list to receive something as well.

We will take submissions until a few days before Christmas (we will announce the deadline the day before it sets in) to give ourselves enough time to sort through all the submissions. The deadline can either be five days before Christmas or only one, depending on how many submissions we get!

From the 24th to the 25th you will receive a secret Santa from us submitted by somebody. The time will depend completely on your time zone, as we cannot account for everyone’s.

We, of course, urge you to post your Secret Santa that you received and write what you thought about it!

You will also receive an ask or message from us telling you who your Secret Santa went so you can see their reaction to it ^^ If we send an ask, please do not publish it openly, as this will defeat the purpose of a Secret Santa.

We hope to get many submissions for this event and for everybody to have fun writing!

As always, your writing can be as long or short as you would like and in any writing form e.g. poetry etc provided it contains more than 10 words :D

We are using this holiday as it is tradition to do a Secret Santa for Christmas, but if you’d want to introduce a tradition we could revamp to something writing-related from your own culture/religion don’t be afraid to shoot us a message or an ask! We are always open for new ideas!

[writnetwork-blog]

YOU ONLY HAVE A FEW HOURS LEFT!! 

SECRET SANTA ENTRIES MUST BE SUBMITTED BY 8PM GMT AKA IN 6:45 HOURS !!!

[writnetwork-blog]

Secret Santa:

Hey guys! We thought along with the Prompt Contest in this beautiful month of December we will also be hosting a Secret Santa for us writers!

This event is for all of you beautiful human beings so you don’t even have to be a Writnetwork member to trade written-gifts in this winter time. (however, following us is required!) 

This holiday gift-giving will function as follows:

You can submit any piece of writing to us. Anything at all! Maybe Christmas Inspired, maybe somehow set in the Summertime (though we would like to remind you that you should keep in mind that this is winter-themed). We just ask all of you to keep it PG13 and trigger-free to assure a good experience for everybody! If you want your writing to specifically go to one person, please specify, but be aware that it might not work out.

With submitting something you are automatically on the list to receive something as well.

We will take submissions until a few days before Christmas (we will announce the deadline the day before it sets in) to give ourselves enough time to sort through all the submissions. The deadline can either be five days before Christmas or only one, depending on how many submissions we get!

From the 24th to the 25th you will receive a secret Santa from us submitted by somebody. The time will depend completely on your time zone, as we cannot account for everyone’s.

We, of course, urge you to post your Secret Santa that you received and write what you thought about it!

You will also receive an ask or message from us telling you who your Secret Santa went so you can see their reaction to it ^^ If we send an ask, please do not publish it openly, as this will defeat the purpose of a Secret Santa.

We hope to get many submissions for this event and for everybody to have fun writing!

As always, your writing can be as long or short as you would like and in any writing form e.g. poetry etc provided it contains more than 10 words :D

We are using this holiday as it is tradition to do a Secret Santa for Christmas, but if you’d want to introduce a tradition we could revamp to something writing-related from your own culture/religion don’t be afraid to shoot us a message or an ask! We are always open for new ideas!

[writnetwork-blog]

24 HOURS LEFT!! 

BE SURE TO SEND US YOUR ENTRY THROUGH SUBMISSIONS IF YOU WANT TO PARTICIPATE!

[kiingocreative]

A character’s deepest fear is usually related to a desire to avoid feeling the pain caused by a past trauma. Characters will take all sorts of irrational actions if it means they can avoid that pain of the past. But as good storytellers, we must force characters to eventually face their deepest fears. Consider making your hero face their greatest fear (at least for the first time) at the midpoint of your story. Regarding the midpoint, Chris Vogler says, “One definition of this stage is that the hero faces his or her greatest fear. Whatever it is the hero was afraid of they will now have to confront and many times that is death or a kind of death. Again thinking metaphorically–death of their spirit in the inner journey–death of the enterprise.” Of course the hero will need to continually face their fears as we head closer and closer to the climax but the midpoint is often one of the first points where the forces of antagonism come into clear view. The midpoint can also be thought of as the moment that the character burns their bridges back to their old world. In The Godfather, Michael Corleone murders Sollozzo and McCluskey, burning his bridges back to being a guy not involved with the family’s business.

[writnetwork-blog]

Secret Santa:

Hey guys! We thought along with the Prompt Contest in this beautiful month of December we will also be hosting a Secret Santa for us writers!

This event is for all of you beautiful human beings so you don’t even have to be a Writnetwork member to trade written-gifts in this winter time. (however, following us is required!) 

This holiday gift-giving will function as follows:

You can submit any piece of writing to us. Anything at all! Maybe Christmas Inspired, maybe somehow set in the Summertime (though we would like to remind you that you should keep in mind that this is winter-themed). We just ask all of you to keep it PG13 and trigger-free to assure a good experience for everybody! If you want your writing to specifically go to one person, please specify, but be aware that it might not work out.

With submitting something you are automatically on the list to receive something as well.

We will take submissions until a few days before Christmas (we will announce the deadline the day before it sets in) to give ourselves enough time to sort through all the submissions. The deadline can either be five days before Christmas or only one, depending on how many submissions we get!

From the 24th to the 25th you will receive a secret Santa from us submitted by somebody. The time will depend completely on your time zone, as we cannot account for everyone’s.

We, of course, urge you to post your Secret Santa that you received and write what you thought about it!

You will also receive an ask or message from us telling you who your Secret Santa went so you can see their reaction to it ^^ If we send an ask, please do not publish it openly, as this will defeat the purpose of a Secret Santa.

We hope to get many submissions for this event and for everybody to have fun writing!

As always, your writing can be as long or short as you would like and in any writing form e.g. poetry etc provided it contains more than 10 words :D

We are using this holiday as it is tradition to do a Secret Santa for Christmas, but if you’d want to introduce a tradition we could revamp to something writing-related from your own culture/religion don’t be afraid to shoot us a message or an ask! We are always open for new ideas!

[writnetwork-blog]

24 HOURS LEFT!! 

BE SURE TO SEND US YOUR ENTRY THROUGH SUBMISSIONS IF YOU WANT TO PARTICIPATE!

[writnetwork-blog]

Last Reminder

Okay guys - tomorrow is the deadline for Secret Santa. So try to send yours in in the next 24 hours ^^ (Of course, if you take an hour or a bit longer, it’ll still count!)

Hope you have a lovely day

[writnetwork-blog]

where do we submit the secret santa entry?

over the submission sheet ^^ (right by the asks)

[monstersandmaw]

As a budding writer, I have to ask. How do you motivate yourself to write? Sometimes I stare at a blank page and feel absolutely nothing, no desire to write, no spark of ideas, and that frustrates me. I can’t get myself out of those weird ruts, it sometimes takes me a week to want to write again.

It’s tough. Writing is like any other craft, and you have to work at it. And some days you’ll want to write but the words won’t go. Instead of beating yourself up about it, set yourself a smaller goal.

Leave your desk or whenever you’re writing, have a stretch out, go outside and grab some fresh air if you can, and have a glass of water. Don’t force it. If you need a break, or a bite to eat, do it. You can’t run on empty, and neither can your brain.

Still stuck?

Plan out a story in bullet points.

Look at Pinterest or Instagram or read a book/story that inspires you or that you admire.

Write something out of order. Write the fun bits. Connect it all up later. The order you write doesn’t have to be the order of the story. Films aren’t shot in sequence, so why should your book be written that way?

Switch from your usual writing medium. If you usually write on the computer, try writing by hand, or vice versa. You don’t have to do the whole thing like that, but sometimes a change can kick start things again.

Chat ideas with a friend you trust with them. Get bouncing ideas round.

Write just a paragraph and then stop. Even if you think you could write more, unless you really get your mojo back, stop. That way you’ve achieved your goal and you’ll feel good. It’s more manageable then.

If you stop wanting to write, work out why. Are you bored with the story? Make something different happen. Bring in a new character.

Are you writing fanfic and you’ve got bored with the fandom? Write something else. You owe it to yourself to write what you want.

Good luck! And don’t be too harsh on yourself if the words aren’t going.