Writing Fic Is 80% Daydreaming 19% Sitting With Bad Posture 1% Typing

List of “I still…” prompts

I still smell the traces of your scent on my bedsheets; my clothes; my pillowcase

I still remember your favourite songs; the way you’d sing them out loud thinking no one’s listening, and then getting flustered when you realised I heard you

I still remember all of your little quirks in which I’ve always found so endearing to me, but you always thought were annoying 

I still remember the feel of you under my palms; every curve, every line 

I still have your number memorised, like the back of my hand

I still remember your smile, the soft quirk to it. How could I not? It’s ingrained in the back of my mind, even though I wish it wasn’t

I still can’t get you out of my mind even though I’m probably long gone from yours

I still remember how you’d laugh at my jokes even though they didn’t make any sense to anyone else

I still have our inside jokes kept somewhere in the back of my mind

I still remember how you taste

I still remember how you sound; your sweet voice you told me you hated when you had to listen back to it over voice recording 

I still remember how you’d be there for me, through both the thick and the thin 

I still remember how you told me you’d always be there for me

I still remember how our love was supposed to be unconditional… until it wasn’t

I still remember how things went down south. Where did things go wrong? I still don’t really understand what happened…

I still think about you, day in, day out

I still miss you

I still want you

I still need you

And I… I still love you, even after all of this time 

i’m convinced that overthinking your plot is just another way to kill your creativity. sometimes you just need to let the story go where it wants, even if it doesn’t make perfect sense at first

So for over a month and a half I’ve been told in my Creative writing MA class that my writing is too poetic and abstract to work in the form of a novel and that I need to simplify my meanings and sentences. I did as I was told and lost all interest in writing if I have to write in the same style that every other novelist does. Today I received this note from a classmate and didn’t realise how much I needed to hear it. Don’t change your art just because other people don’t get it. Don’t change your style to fit in with everyone else. It’s your story not theirs.

MILANOTE FOR WRITERS

Please tell me I’m not the only one who is obsessed with organizing my book. Like, I have never been a big plotter, but I like to have my research, mood boards, and character profiles in one place, where I can find them. Most people use Scrivener for this, but as much as I love it for writing, I like to visualize more than scrivener allows me. Plus - the app is really expensive and I have already paid for the desktop version, so I don’t feel like paying for a mobile app.

But what is Milanote?

Imagine your favorite corkboard, except it’s digital and you can access it both from your mobile and computer. Milanote allows you to make and personalize mood boards, to-do lists, write posts, add links to resources, add Spotify playlist, create boards within boards, add photos, and documents, sends you reminders when a certain task has to be done… and much more.

Milanote’s boards are extremely flexible. Besides writing I use it to organize my commissions, school, and finances. The Milanote itself even has plenty of templates for almost everything and I store almost anything in it these days. My family trees, interactive maps, notes, random ideas, character profiles.

It’s super easy to use and perfect if you are looking for something to make your story bible in. The app is available for both ios and android and any computer. You can also invite another person in and share your documents and your notes.

You can also convert your boards to pdf or a word document and download it later.

The only catch probably wood be, that Milanote only allows you to add a maximum of 200 objects for free. If you want more you have to pay a monthly subscription (i think 15 USD a month) - btw. the best purchase I ever made - but maybe the free 200 is enough for you, who knows?

also… did I mention dark mode?

sad news: staring pitifully at the blank document doesn't make your cool ass story you concocted in your mind appear on it by the power of osmosis.

Me every time I write

Finale arcade token

The sizzle of a grill

“If you’re gonna act like a clown, I might as well treat you like one.”

Eavesdropping

“This is the worst plot twist I’ve ever seen.”

Lighthouse

Love letters

Helplessness

“A little makeup will cover it up.”

“You brought a knife?! Here?!”

Coffee rings

Spunk

“Calm down, you cartoon villain.”

Filter

Rusted tool box

Operating room

Compliance

“I’m just waiting for the life in your eyes to return.”

Consume

Flickering lights

“You had it this whole time?”

Eye bags

Missing poster

Stained hands

Novelty keychains

Carnival food

Podcasts

“This place is decorated like an IKEA— not that that’s a bad thing!”

Humanising

Passing the blame

“All summer long, baby. All summer long.”

Also see:

June 2021 writing challenge

Writing challenge masterlist

Prompts masterlist

When you know EXACTLY what goes next but now HOW to write it:

As you write, you will naturally improve. Do not wait until you think you are good enough to start. You are always good enough to start improving.