(and Also Youre Too Young For Her But You Just Cant Get That One To Stick In Your Brain, Can Ya?)

I've already said that my number one piece of writing advice is to read.

But my number two piece of advice is this: be deliberate.

Honestly this would fix so many pieces of bad writing advice. Don't forbid people from doing something, tell them to be conscious and deliberate about it. This could help stop people from falling into common mistakes without limiting their creativity. Black and white imperatives may stop a few annoying beginner habits, but ultimately they will restrict artistic expression.

Instead of "don't use epithets": "Know the effect epithets have and be deliberate about using them." Because yes, beginners often misuse them, but they can be useful when a character's name isn't known or when you want to reduce them to a particular trait they have.

Instead of "don't use 'said'" or "just use 'said'": "Be deliberate about your use of dialogue tags." Because sometimes you'll want "said" which fades into the background nicely, but sometimes you will need a more descriptive alternative to convey what a character is doing.

Instead of "don't use passive voice": "Be deliberate about when you use passive voice." Because using it when it's not needed can detract from your writing, but sometimes it can be useful to change the emphasis of a sentence or to portray a particular state of mind.

Instead of blindly following or ignorantly neglecting the rules of writing, familiarize yourself with them and their consequences so you can choose when and if breaking them would serve what you're trying to get across.

Your writing is yours. Take control of it.

It probably sounds like I'm preaching to the choir here because most of my mutuals are already great writers. But I'm hoping this will make it to the right people.

im home from work bc i Got Injured so im indulging myself by finishing and posting an incredibly noncanonical joke i made about @dark-lord-of-awesomeness's shapeshifter Stan AU (fic here). stan has since learned fiddleford's name unfortunately, but i love to bully him.

sorry about no id but i injured my hand and typing this took a really long time

bonus: things i couldnt make them say but which theyre thinking anyway

I have a fic idea that I'd really like to write, and I hope people would like to read it, but I'm too nervous to do so. I'm afraid people won't like my writing or that I won't get the characters right, etc.

As someone who's become really popular over their fics, at least on Tumblr, I'm curious about how you got over those fears if you had them at all.

I would not say that I'm really popular, I would say I am LOUD at best

And secondly, Anon. I'm squeezing your hands as I say this, literally every person to ever create something to gift to the world has been nervous.

Everyone. Every single goddamn person, you know why? Because we are but finite beings with brains BUILT to stress about things

I can't promise that people will like your writing. I can't say that you'll get the characters right, or any other placating thing.

The most important thing is that YOU like it. And you need to accept the fact that sometimes that's all it's gonna be.

It's fucking OUTSTANDING when people like your stuff. When people leave long comments, and those little numbers tick up, and you feel like you're making things that people ENJOY, and you're having FUN. It's so good.

But its not guaranteed. There's no formula for that, you could read every Good Writing book ever, take a Harvard class on Writing, do all the things

But your stuff will never truly be GOOD until YOU like it.

Because when YOU like your stuff, what does it matter if other people, who you've NEVER MET, who you might never meet, care? It hurts when your stuff isn't as big as you want it to be, there's no denying that, but it'll hurt LESS if you're not reaching for it.

Enjoy your work. Enjoy the process, enjoy writing, because I'll tell you a secret. If you like your work, it shines through. If YOU like what you're making, then chances are, people will see you enjoying that, and join in too.

I make stuff for ME, and I make things I'm proud of or excited by or insane about, and somewhere along the way people who liked it jumped on

My first fics? Not popular. Not at all. I got hate comments back on fanfiction . Net, I was LEARNING, and I'll always be learning, THATS THE JOY OF IT

You'll only get better. You'll only get more confident as you go, as you create, and you'll only create if you START.

I had those fears. I think everyone does. But it takes a special kind of courage to decide "fuck it. I'm doing this for me, and I'm afraid, but I'm doing it anyway."

And I'm so proud of you. For creating. For doing the thing. And I hope you do it. Please, creating is all we have sometimes, and while I can't promise whatever you make will be good, or that other people will like it, I can promise you one thing.

The world is better when you help fill it

a selection of quick'n'dirty pamphlet binds because i had a bunch of short typesets i wanted to make multiple copies of. am i counting this toward my binderary goal? ehhhhh not really because theyre not hardcovers. but i figured i'd post anyway cuz the lil mushroom one in the front was cute :>

Based on the fic Abandon My Eulogy by @aroace-get-out-of-my-face

I don’t know why but this detail stuck with me for a bit. It’s like some “big shoes to fill” type stuff, idk.

There’s so many moments from this fic I want to draw, but I need to find the time first, so I decided to do a simple hour and a half doodle.

Absolutely heart crushing scene in one of the cat Stan mini series by @dark-lord-of-awesomeness Here's the link to the mini series

Haha. AUUUGGGHHHHHHHHHHH

oooh ooh mullet stan

Hi hi hi hi

Hellllllo

Hi

Have a ramble because ahhhhhhh

I was explain Stobotnik to a friend (I explain some weird stuff to this friend

We got as far as Stone being left in the mean bean in S2.

Their thought when i said that Stone got left behind or otherwise he'd have to sit in someones lap was:

Why didn't Agent Stone sit down first then have Knuckles put in his lap they buckle them both up like that

And the mental picture killed me so please, have this idea because I need to inform someone of this omg

Sounds like a good plan

ko-fi

binderary roundup! heres all the books i finished in february (minus one that i already sent to someone lol). so that's... 47! my god! i am taking a break forever now. goodbye X'D

I feel like I would have been diagnosed with OCD a lot earlier if the vast majority of screening questions (for mental illnesses in general) weren't based on the person's perception of their own behavior, in isolation. and what i mean by that is asking someone with OCD "do you wash your hands excessively?" is not a good question.

a person with OCD believes they are washing their hands the correct number of times. it's not excessive. we believe we're exhibiting best practices and helping to keep everything clean.

better questions might be, "does it seem like you wash your hands a lot more than your friends or family?" "do you get dry patches or cuts on your hands from washing your hands?" "do you find it deeply distressing, more so than how you've seen other people react, when you get something on your hands that you can't clean off right away?"

being asked "are you overly preoccupied with bugs, symmetry, and contamination?" also got "no" responses from me years ago in my life. what they didn't ask for, and didn't know, was what *exactly* I was doing in my day to day life that genuinely ate up my time and mental space to a concerning degree, but I *didn't know* that other people don't do this.

"do you spend a lot of time cleaning?" -> no, it's not a lot. it's a good amount. why?

"do you become frustrated because it seems like no one else meets your organizational and cleanliness standards - do you often 'take over' for other people because they can't do it right - do new friends seem surprised by how strict you can be about your living space?" -> oh. yeah. yeah I get it now.