I’m skipping a series of @the-wip-project‘s prompts to land on this one:
Q60: How do you start your chapters? Do you start with dialogue? Why or why not?
A60: I’ve not really thought about this before but, on reviewing the two wips on currently focusing on, I rarely start chapters with dialogue. In the chapters I do, I use it to startle the reader as a character is being startled by whomever has just started talking to them.
Thinkin about how as kids parents told us to clean our rooms without having ever shown us how to themselves, taught us any organizational skills, spatial management, or any other knowledge necessary to know how to efficiently tackle a mess without getting overwhelmed and then got exasperated when we as ten year olds didn’t just……figure it out
sigh. beauty in motion
Super slow mo clexa kiss. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
2x14 kiss.
Lmao! I just laughed so hard at this I interrupted my partner’s essential work (it’s okay, she laughed, too)
The network group gave me the hostname I asked for. Hopefully it won’t kill any of my programs ...
You know what I don’t get? When fanfic authors apologize for long chapters. It’s like? You gave me bonus content, for free, and you’re sorry about it? Bruh. I have already named my firstborn after you. Dude.
@the-wip-project‘s Q24: Have you ever read a thing in a book or seen in a show/movie where you thought: “Oh, this is good, I’m gonna steal that!” What was it?
A24: Hmm ... really rethinking how I am inspired by others writing. Am I actually stealing? The answer is yes, I guess! Will now be more honest with myself when I “steal” an idea.
You think you're staying "informed" by doomscrolling through your social feeds 24/7? That's exactly what they want. It's literally designed to keep you angry, scrolling, and - most importantly - doing absolutely fucking nothing.
HERE'S WHAT NO ONE TELLS YOU:
It's OKAY to edit your feeds so you don't see that shit when you're just trying to exist
You do NOT have to consume the world's suffering every second of every day to be a "good activist" - and by the way? You're not even getting "informed" by scrolling. You need to actually look up real articles OFF of social media to understand what's happening
Hitting like and share isn't activism. Sorry. It just isn't.
You wanna actually do something?
Learn your neighbors' names. ACTUALLY TALK TO THEM about what's happening
Join your school board and ask them face-to-face why they're against queer education
Stand up to your racist uncle instead of "keeping the peace" (peace for WHO exactly?)
Find out what abortion rights groups are ALREADY DOING in your area instead of reinventing the wheel
Join an actually inclusive church (you know, like Jesus would've wanted) and see what they're ALREADY DOING to make the world better
And for fuck's sake, stop saying "oh I don't talk about politics" - YOUR SILENCE IS POLITICAL
NEWSFLASH: You don't have to start the fucking underground railroad by yourself. That shit ALREADY EXISTS - you just never had to use it before. Lucky you. So volunteer if you're a safe person, at whatever level works for you:
Send money
Show up in person
Pack supplies
Make pamphlets
Whatever you can do
Not everything's gonna get you in the history books and you know what? IT DOESN'T FUCKING MATTER.
And here's something else that matters: Going to trauma therapy - REAL trauma therapy with a therapist informed in decolonization practices - is a RADICAL ACT. If you have the means to do it, DO IT. Healing yourself is part of the work too.
AND LISTEN UP BECAUSE THIS IS IMPORTANT: IT'S OKAY THAT IT TOOK YOU THIS LONG IT'S OKAY THAT YOU'RE STARTING SMALL IT'S OKAY THAT YOU DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING
NO ONE EVER PUNISHED THEMSELVES INTO SUCCESS.
You grew up with some racist/sexist views? Yeah, most of us did. You can't get stuck there. There's too much at stake. It's time to deconstruct. It's time to do the work.
But scrolling and sharing posts while feeling guilty? That's not the work. That's what they want you to think the work is.
Get off your phone. Talk to your neighbors. Show up at meetings. Stand up to family. THAT'S the work.