“No Need To Force Yourself To Do Something The “right Way” If It’s Not Your Right Way. Your Job

I aspire to write a book that makes people stare at the cover and hold it reverently for a solid ten minutes after finishing it

what if writers did streams like artists did

is it just me or the books that I always delay reading are the ones that actually becomes my favorite

Toxic standards in the writing community

Sacrificing sleep for writing. I notice this joke a lot, and I know a good number of people do it. I would do it too, just for the sake of fitting the joke because I thought it would “make me a real writer.” Please value your health, words and your stories can wait until you’ve taken care of yourself!

We compare ourselves. A lot. Often, I see a lot of people say things such as “I wish I could write as well as ——!” Or “I wish I had your writing style, mine is so bad!” Loves, your words are your words. Find the beauty in what comes from your mind, not what you hope could come from your mind in the voice of somebody else. Your hands place words in a specific way because that is the unique language they were tailored to, and there is no need to replace it for somebody else’s. Be proud of what you create!

“Call out posts” aimed to writers that spend a lot of time making Pinterest boards/playlists etc, when really, it’s something that we should enjoy and appreciate just as much as the writing itself. Not everything has to be productive, we can create just for enjoyment. Spend hours figuring out which songs would fit that scene in your WIP, or which would be the best theme song if it ever became a show. Spend days scouring Pinterest for what reminds you of the fiction living in your head. Let it come to life in different forms of art than the words you build them from.

Writing everyday and completing books at a fast speed. No. Not everybody works at the same pace, and not everybody can manage to write every day. It isn’t a race to see who can write the most, which is what it feels like it’s become sometimes. Let’s slow down and just enjoy the ride :) whether it takes you 10 years or 10 weeks to write a book, it’s a masterpiece all the same.

Superior writing advice:

Make your characters FREAKS. Make them DERANGED. Make people think ‘surely this one guy towards the back is normal’ only to reveal FUCK NO. The guy in the back exclusively collects clown paintings (paintings done by professional clowns) and has an irrational hatred of second floors.

the feminine urge to spend the rest of my life traveling the world and visiting libraries dressed in dark academia clothes is kinda unreal rn

Writing Account Advice

Intro

One of the reasons I joined the writing community was because of a post like this. I’d always been interested in the reading and writing part of Instagram, and this was an opportunity for me to get even more involved with it! For anyone who’s on the fence about making a writing account, I would definitely recommend trying it out!

1. Make friends

This is the most important thing you can do, in my opinion. There are many different ways you can do this, even if you’re introverted, like me. You can DM people with shared interests or join groupchats. Friends make everything worth it. I can think of so many people who mean a lot to me and make my day better!

2. Making your posts

There are hundreds of websites and apps out there you can use, but I’ll mention the ones I know best and the most popular ones here: 

Tumblr

Twitter

Canva

Phonto

PicsArt

Polarr

VideoStar

Pinterest

If you’d like to see how these are used, just take a look around the writing community and you’ll find many different styles and variations. Also, this is only a starting point! Feel free to explore other options and please add on in the comments if you know about more.

3. Themes

There’s a lot of spoken and unspoken pressure to have a pretty theme--the overall aesthetic and design of an account--in the writing community. Instagram is a very visually-based app, so a lot of people will follow or unfollow based on aesthetic. The truth is, though, it’s not necessary to have a theme. Whether or not you have one doesn’t actually matter because a writing account is meant to help your self-growth and your growth as a writer. Aesthetics don’t have any part in the friends you make or the things you learn during your time here!

4. Decide what content you want to post

Do you want to post writing tips? Original writing? Memes? Figure out what you like the most and then follow users who create that content, to get a feel for how people promote and interact with that content. However, don’t feel like you have to limit yourself--post what you want to post and what makes you happy, not what you feel like you have to post! 

More and more these days, writing accounts are struggling to find new topics to cover, given that there are so many of us here now. However, I would call this a potential opportunity. You have freedom to create any kind of content you want. You can post bookish content, study tips, aesthetics, and more--having a writing account doesn’t mean you have to limit yourself to writing tips!

5. Prioritize yourself

Always, always prioritize yourself and your own well-being before anything else. You may be a content creator, but that doesn’t mean you have to create at the expense of your mental health. You do not owe anyone anything. 

If prioritizing yourself means posting sporadically, then so be it. If it means taking a lot of hiatuses, then that’s the best thing for you. Sometimes you’ll see the mentality that creators are obligated to make content, and that’s an unhealthy mindset and idea.

In the same vein, you are much more than a number, whether it's for likes, comments, or follows. It's easy to become overabsorbed in numbers. Yes, it's disheartening to have low numbers, but in the end, you should just let it go, because you can't control what the algorithm chooses to do with your content. Your statistics are not a reflection of some fault in yourself. When periods of low engagement happens, as they inevitably do, try to focus on the little things, like small interactions that leave you smiling, or a comment that makes you laugh.

6. Schedule

Another step you can take is deciding which days to post. This is optional but it helps some people stay organized, like me. You might choose to post daily, only on certain days, or whenever you feel like it. Do whatever works for you and your real-life schedule!

7. Growth and engagement

As a new writing account, growth and engagement can be slow at first due to low follower numbers. However, there are ways you can help it, if you want to grow. Some don’t, and that’s valid, too! Also, keep in mind that all of the things I list here are optional!

Create a business account to track your statistics

Reply to followers’ comments and DMs

Use hashtags

Ask questions of the day in your posts

Make and share a help card

Put up question boxes/polls on your story and share the answers

Use tag lists, where you tag people in the comments who want to see your posts more quickly

Use writing/reading-related hashtags

when a character not in a cool way but in a fully sincere and slightly helpless way is like to understand things i need to be able to identify qualify & organize them i need structure and systems of logic but i also have an incredible capacity for empathy and feel things deeply. literally give me a kiss

I love the autumn--that melancholy season that suits memories so well. When the trees have lost their leaves, when the sky at sunset still preserves the russet hue that fills with gold the withered grass, it is sweet to watch the final fading of the fires that until recently burnt within you.

-Gustave Flaubert, Memoirs of a Madman and November

“we were lovers in a past life” trope but the current incarnations are enemy-to-lovers trope. when.