Afternoon Quickie With My Fav Bois

My Stardew Valley characters 🌱

Me before season 8:

Omggg kick!!!! I love voltron so much! ❤❤ It has such a good plot. I love all the characters, Voltron is the best thing that EVER HAPPENED TO ME!!!!11!1!1😤😤😤👌👌👌💯💯💯

Me after season 8:

V*ltron

Sup! I'm new and I love your studyblr . I had a question tho. I have some really important exams in a really less time and I'm not very good prepared haha *nervous laugh*.... so what is the quickest method of note taking and learning stuff? Also i get distracted too often, i mean by random things so how to get my mind back on track?

Some tips from me:

don’t do fancy headers in class, you can always do them after class

use symbols and abbrieviations when writing notes or you can learn the shorthand method as well

just write things concisely, summarise them into bullet points

Other helpful links:

how to take notes faster by @studyquill

symbols & abbrieviations for faster note taking by @studyquirk

symbols and abbrieviations for note taking by @mystudentid

Some tips from me:

go wash your face if you think that you are falling asleep

drink coffee or tea to help you stay awake (not recommending it only as your last resort)

stand up if possible, otherwise just sit and stretch your whole body

use the forest app to help you stay away from your phone

Other helpful links:

how to focus in class by @emmastudies

how to stay alert

how to remove distractions

🏴‍☠️❤️🏳️‍🌈

What's your writing routine like?

Just a little reminder not to check up on the toxic person you left. Don’t check their socials. Don’t hit them up to see how they’re doing. Your peace of mind is too important to get wrapped up in it all again.

How I Wrote A Novel.

This, in a nutshell, is what I did to get a book with my name on it.

NOTE: This is just my personal way of making the words go. Other people have different ways to make their words go. In the world of words, there are no right answers. There’s just lots and lots of tea/coffee/tear stains.

1). The Idea

When I get an idea for a story, I open up a document, label it “Brainstorming,” and start making a bullet list of events that consist of the plot.

It has to be an idea with tangible weight. A stray bit of dialogue or something vague like Halloween, that doesn’t give me much to work off of. Halloween creatures living on the same street where it’s Autumn every day- now that’s something I can build from.

What kinds of creatures are they? What do they do? What do their houses look like? The best ideas are the ones that spark more.

2). First Draft

This is the easy part- and the most challenging. Easy, because there’s literally no bar. I just sat there and typed. But it’s a huge mental challenge.

When I was in first draft mode, I wanted that story out. I thought that by making it such a rough, far-away version from the concept in my head, I was only delaying the day where I’d hold it in my hands. Turns out, that’s what got it to take on physical form in the first place. So I quieted down, grabbed my laptop and some hot tea, and typed.

3). Dissecting the First Draft

After I finished draft one, I printed it all off and highlighted the scant amounts that were passable for the next phase. Dialogue, descriptions, setting- anything that didn’t look like it was up to par was scratched out and omitted.

I call the above pictures A Slow Descent Into Madness.

4). The Second Draft

On a fresh document, I rewrote the story altogether- and it make a difference. I was coming up with things I hadn’t even thought of previously. And it was surprising how much better the plot was than the first time around. But it was still rough.

5). Draft Three

My method was to start with the bigger, more obvious issues and work my way down. Any plot holes I found were noted, and my outline was constantly under revision. I cut out entire scenes and made mental notes on ways they could be fixed/replaced.

This is where I started cutting chapters in half to make the story flow better- but I didn’t bother writing in usable chapter titles. Instead, I improvised:

6). Drafts Four and Five

These were dedicated to correcting the smaller, less obvious plot holes. This was the point where the story finally started to look close to what would become the final version.

7). Drafts Seven Onward

With the story line looking how I wanted, I then moved on to sentence structure. That one song that looked terrible? Rewritten. Over-the-top descriptions and excessive prose? Gone.

8). Editing and Proofing

This is where I had outside help. Besides this useful tool, I had two people check for spelling issues and the overall story. Once it was in decent shape to be made public, I asked for some additional help.

9). Betas

My betas were in the age range that my novel was geared toward, along with a couple of teachers and parents (as it was middle grade). I gave them the full manuscript, along with seven basic questions like “Which characters were your favorite/least favorite and why?” and “Was there a part of the story that didn’t make sense?”

I gave my betas three months to read a 42,590 word story, and by the end they gave me back the review sheets.

10). Final Adjustments

After I read over the reviews, I let the comments sit for three days so that I could proceed with a clear head. I smoothed out any flaws, scanned over the MS twice to make sure everything was right, and that is how I got to the end of writing my first novel.

Next comes publishing- which is a different beast entirely.

Doodld my friends florist character <3 Find her on IG @/venjilo