#you work at things and improve over time

[thebest-medicine]

So someone sent me an anon ask saying something like “well you’re terrible at writing so maybe you should stop and get a new hobby” I don’t want to bother publishing the ask (already blocked and deleted oop) to give attention to it but one thing about it kind of stuck with me. My question for people with this thought process…. do you…..do you think you have to be “good” at something for you to be ‘allowed’ to have it as a hobby? My dudes..hobbies are about doing things you enjoy… for you and you alone…. it has nothing to do with being arbitrarily ‘good’ or not friend.

To anyone worried about not writing / drawing / whatever else because you aren’t good at it, you don’t have to be! life is about creation and fun and finding joy in the things you do and where you are

#much love #my thoughts #two mad anons in a month after being on here for……………. 12 years? #hobbies by nature are meant to be enjoyed not necessarily anything you are ‘good’ at #plus how else would you improve at something? no one is born a extremely talented amazing photorealistic artist #or a Pulitzer Prize winning author or whatever else #you work at things and improve over time #I love looking back at my fics from 2012 on and being like WOW look how much I have grown!!!!!! #mwah it’s like a time capsule #anyway #DO THINGS BADLY #DO THINGS OK #DO THINGS GREAT #do ALL THE THINGS #hobbies #mine #personal #anon hate #lol

[wily-art]

[different anon] THE ANIMATION IS A DIRECT UPDATE??? NO WONDER IT TOOK SO LONG YOURE SO DEDICATED TO YOUR STORY 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯💖💖💖💖💖

YEAH I JUST UNDERESTIMATED HOW LONG IT WOULD TAKE. TURNS OUT ANIMATING IS HARD BUT IN FOR A PENNY OUT FOR SEVERAL MINUTES OF MOVING PICTURES I GUESS. I am self taught and learning as I go X'D

#HELP #no seriously i thought it would be like a quick lil 3 minute univolved thing #it is not three minutes #help me #sunk cost fallacy at work #you will notice varying quality when it's done #as there were improvement over time

[faunandfloraas]

i do find the difference between jpop/kpop showcasing people who didn't necessarily have the most raw talent to begin with openly working hard to become better singers or dancers vs the western, and specifically US obsession with acting like the only real talents are the ones who were "born" with it from day dot interesting.

#this isnt a Ooh western music bad post either by the way #i do just find the way over time its gone from ever really showing any of the hard work a person put in to just pretending it was 100% #natural is very interesting #bc No... even the people with natural talent have to nurture it #whereas seeing someone who was kinda terrible to begin and actively showing them improve and being like This was bc they practiced is nice #although that def seems less of a thing as kpop gets bigger and bigger #ive seen some terrible vids of idols and its like no you put in the money to train them properly good lord #its the same way i always find the obsession with bands in the west forming “naturally” rather than being put together funny #like I get it bc some lil high school friends makin a group and becoming big is very fun and cool #but so often those groups implode and ended up hating each other #a group of musicians getting together bc they're musicians doesn't inherently make them less interesting as a group that formed on their ow

[pansyfemme]

i mean. if people are uncomfortable with main characters cheating in fiction i do need to clarify that the ocs i draw all the time. do cheat on eachother. that is a main part of their storyline. so you do you but just know that is something that goes on

#also lots of semi-manipulative public mental health episodes #they do get help and work things out and re-establish bounderies #and a lot of the cheating is closer described as non properly established polyamory guidlines but over time they do find ways to deal with #things and their relationship is strengthened but it is messy to begin with #but i find kidd and noam’s story very based on self improvment for people with pre-established severe mental health conditions #where it is very much working around a lot of obstacles and finding ways to better yourself while knowing you have caused harm in the past #even if unintentionally or through a period of deluision #kidd and noam are important to me because they both have very different mental health issues and are activly flawed because of them #but still have to find ways to redefine their relationship to eachother while understanding that doing so means undergoing major changes in #their lives and their behaviors because neither can continue forward without seeking serious help

[crescentfool]

with the year coming to a close, i hope that anyone who's reflecting about how the year went remembers to be kind and fair to themselves with how you evaluate the year as a whole.

i think there are definitely times when life throws things that are... Not So Great at you. whether if it's some external circumstance that surprised you, or maybe your mentality wasn't at it's best. i wish for anyone who's encountered those kinds of challenges to be able to triumph over them and be able to say that they got through it.

heck, it might still be a work in progress even though you've kept chipping away at it, and that's ok! the results will show themselves eventually as you work through it! and i hope that we can all remember to be patient with ourselves as we go through these processes (learning, healing, etc.), because damn, it can be frustrating when you feel like you're "not there yet."

knowing that life can be rough at times, i think it's unfair to yourself (and others) to discount and downplay any progress you've made this year- whether if it's something that you did for the first time, or maybe you came to a new understanding and insight that you didn't have in the previous year.

it's not to say that you should undermine the validity of your experience with hardship, but to take the time to remind yourself what makes life worth living. to recall what moments were the most satisfying to you- and use it to strengthen your resolve for the next year and beyond. no amount of hardship will ever take away from the fact that you deserve to have hope that things will get better.

i hope that looking back on the year, you don't leave out the things you cherish. that you can remember the good that came this year. whether if the small victories are things like meeting someone new, trying something out for the first time, or making some strides in a long-term project/obligation...!

i wish everyone a happy new year! may it be prosperous, and that your life can move in a direction that's close to what you want out of life. you're all going to do great! remember to congratulate yourself for what you did well! despite everything, you're still here, and that's wonderful. never forget that!

#lizzy speaks #hello everyone. i know that there are *checks calendar* still 20 days left of december and 2023 #but i've had a lot of strong emotions and feelings i've had to sort through as i've been thinking about how 2023 went for me #so a lot of what i've written here comes from the perspective of someone in their early 20s #it's like... a crash and burn from when you were a teenager thinking that you know everything #and realizing how big the world is and how many responsibilities there are #all while a feeling of overwhelm looms over as you try to sift your way through the world and adjust your understanding of it #for me i've definitely had an underlying thought that 'you should have your shit together by now why aren't you there yet' #and it's! not motivating! at all! to think that way. and it's made me more than ever want to be a friend to myself. to extend a patient- #kind voice to myself that reminds me that others are also trying to navigate these feelings and to accept that i'm not going to have an- #instantaneous understanding of how one goes about adulthood. and neither will they. even if they look 'put together.' #like... these people have also undergone similar stresses and along the way figured out how to navigate through that space #and personally i've found peace in knowing that there are people who are older than me. trusting that they've dealt with these things too i #some shape or form and that them living... being here.. is proof that we shall be fine in the end and that we will move past what plagues- #our mind. there's definitely been some... anger i've had this year that. school didnt teach me these things or skills!! i was so mad lol #but hey if we are little guys who are living on planet earth for the first time we shouldn't condemn ourselves to an unrealistic standard- #of going through life and being able to instantly do everything 'correctly' and know how everything works #i'm still working on improving that patience... and also trying to put in the work to understand these things. #in the midst of a very tough week for me i was tempted to say that 'nothing happened this year it was not productive' #but then i was like. that's. objectively not true if you just look at other things. also theres worth in life outside of 'productivity' #...i think i passed 20 tags at this point. but like. my favorite thing about 2023 was meeting so many cool awesome people! #who would've known that funny lil squid game could bring so many connections and friendships i cherish! #thank you so much! for being a part of my life and changing me for the better! for giving me many fond memories! #and i'm very grateful to anyone who supported me and my art this year... for sticking around even though i wished i could do more #it means the world to me knowing that there's proof that i exist and have touched someone's life in a positive way! thank you! truly! #ANYWAY. happy early new year. i hope everyone can nourish a friend in their head that extends acceptance and patience to themselves #as we try and make sense of the world together. there will be things that we don't understand yet! but one day we will! and it'll be like #wow! look how far i came! i'm okay! i'm alive! yipee! thank you for reading this post i made to get my feelings out! have a nice day!

[amrv-5]

survived Badly (argh) but going to work on fic for as long as I continue to enjoy doing so then switch over -- see if I can find somewhere to watch The 400 Blows and probably cry forever and dehydrate and feel soooo sad and then feel better after. Thank you French New Wave

#boooo whatever saying nonsense nothing matters delete later #somebody should invent a proximity to your parents that doesn't immediately make you so emotionally weird forever #overdramatic. Im feeling fine im eating some crackers and lying around chilling. Just. Weird. Off Balance.. #Mild Disturbance in my Year of Exceptional Emotional/Mental Chill #not gonna let it break my 2024 streak of feeling generally Pretty Freakin Good and mostly Recovered From The Lost Year #Which btw. can I say... have i said...? Genuinely having one of the nicest years of my life so far... feeling really pretty good #mfw having more control over your life + surroundings + choices + living circumstances means you can genuinely #meaningfully improve ur day-to-day lived experiences and find what works for u to keep u happy + healthy + excited about life... magic #anyway. brief Huh I Feel Kind Of Bad And Sad In A Deeper Way Kicked Off By But Unrelated To Events Of The Day moment earlier #really made me realize how exceptionally good I've had it so far this year... i think... it's possible... things Do Get Better #anyway. ok done Tag Blogging now. just hope everyone enjoys a nice treat or something. get good sleep enjoy ur time change if it applies #watch a movie or something. idk have fun guys have a good night

[petpluto]

I wish the show had given us more glimpses into Xander and Anya’s relationship away from the rest of the gang. What we do see seems sweet, and they both are at ease and calm with each other in ways they’re not - for a variety of reasons - in public. In OMwF before the singing, Xander is content and excited to make them breakfast. And what we do hear about their relationship in front of the scoobs is snippets of Xander actively trying to help Anya integrate into the gang (and the world at large) and setting boundaries.

I know Xander’s “employee - employer vocabulary no-nos” bother some in both content and delivery; but to me, it’s representative of Xander’s understanding of Anya’s personality and both her attributes and limitations, and how hard he works to help her. He anticipates where Anya and Giles will clash, and works to mitigate those clashes to help insulate Anya from Giles’ annoyance and wrath. Xander sat down and came up with at least 5 but potentially more areas he saw where there would most likely be conflict, and worked with Anya to overcome them. He can’t go to Giles - he isn’t Giles’ favorite person either. But he can think about how to help Anya, and how to guide her in this one area. He puts so much more thought in how to help Anya have a genial relationship with Giles than he does for himself, and he wanted Giles to see him as a son at one point.

And when Anya does things he finds uncomfortable, says things he finds uncomfortable, he has conversations with her in private about it. "Ok... remember how we talked about private conversations and how they're less private when they're in front of my friends?” He isn’t perfect (and neither is Anya), but he does try to address his and his friends’ discomfort. And he eventually compromises. He either bends or accepts Anya’s ways, and even talks openly about being bathed in a sexy way, not a geriatric way.

Anya loves Xander. I believe it because she continually faces her worst fear - death - to be with him. But Xander wholeheartedly loves Anya, too. He’s snarky and sometimes cutting, but the sheer amount of *time* he spends on their relationship and Anya’s relationship with the others is his declaration of love.

#buffy the vampire slayer #xander harris #anya jenkins #xander x anya #I have a lot of Xander feelings #about a lot of things #but he spends so much time thinking about Anya and trying to improve her life #she likes her job at the magic box and she’s so *good* at it #he can’t let it fall apart because she and Giles clash #not when he can help her #not when he can diffuse the situation #he says they went over vocab no-nos in front of Giles to - I think - mollify him too #he’s saying ‘she’s trying give her a chance’ #he’s saying ‘she’s working hard to not upset you - harder than I’ve ever worked’ #he’s saying ‘she can do this just let her’ #and I love him for it

[answrs]

IT'S FINISHED

and since I finally found the drill now I can say THE B.UNNY IS ALSO FINISHED!

(I'm super, super happy with how he turned out as my very first actual taxidermy! done during a flare-up in the middle of a crowded convention no less!)

#taxidermy #vulture culture #vultureculture #taxidermy restoration #(for the deer) #dead animal #oddities #I'll do a before and after of the fawn and then you won't have to hear about it constantly anymore lmao #yeah I can see the bun is super scruffy and his eyes got a bit wonky when the clay dried over lunch #but those are things I can improve for the next time #I'm definitely not feeling anywhere NEAR ready to do the fox cub #but I have squirrels that are prepped and just need tanning to work on #plus like. mice and other feeder animals but ngl I think this is the smallest I'm gonna be able to work on until I have more practice #my back is screaming just from getting these wood pieces finished up so like. yeah. #collection

[magpigment]

do u have any art tips?

i have a handful, yeah! idk how helpful they'll be because i'll be quite honest, idk what im doing, but i'll sure try to be as cohesive, comprehensive and helpful as i can!

pretty much my number one tip is the most annoying one to hear, which is unfortunate because it's also the most effective, but PRACTICE.

practice is genuinely the one thing that can improve your art like nothing else can.

experiment with your style, your coloring techniques, your poses, your anatomy, your use of perspective and background, anything and everything can and will help! one thing that also helps with that is finding elements of others art (their dynamic scenes/poses, their coloring or lineart style, the palettes they use, etc) and mess around with that until you find something you like.

ive been mostly doing that to try and improve my digital art because boy oh boy am i not great at that yet, and ive already noticed obvious differences between my digital art from a couple months ago to now.

depending on what medium youre using (digital, traditional) my tips would vary, because im still very new to digital art, and i mostly do traditional art.

for digital art if that's what you're using, just mess around with brushes until you find something that works best for you! dont be afraid to mess around w different methods of coloring and shading, and one thing that ive noticed makes art look a lot better digitally is using interesting color palettes and experimenting with the colors you use to shade and highlight. im not super great at this yet, so take this advice with a grain of salt lol.

for traditional art, you’d have to ask about a specific medium because i mess w quite a few and have different techniques for most, but i hope this helped at least a little, and i’d be glad to try and help further if you’d like! but as just a general overview that’s what’s been helping me A LOT lately and i’ve been improving pretty steadily!

i hope you have a great day ^^!

#dandy talks #my art #sorry for answering this so late also #i started writing a response the day i got this ask and couldn’t figure out what else to say but i finally got the gist i think #sorry it’s not more specific or anything. i’ve been doing art for a pretty long time and improving slowly over that time #so my current art style and stuff is the result of around 8 years of practice and improvement #so i just tried to share some tips that helped move me along as well #the main thing is that art takes time and effort and practice to improve at but if u give if those things you WILL see improvement #i believe in you! u just need to find something that works for you and stick with it until it doesn’t and then find something else #and doing that over and over you’ll see improvement in your art #hopefully this made some sort of sense idk how coherent i am rn 😅

[shivasdarknight]

Hi, sorry for this but you are a writer, so umm.. I was hoping you could give me some tips/advice on how to write?

tbh the way I got into writing is a bit insane, but I do have some advice that can help. gonna put it under a cut just because it got kinda long

honest to god, one of the best pieces of advice is something you're already doing because reading can genuinely help you with becoming a better writer. stepping outside of your usual genres or authors can help expand your viewpoint and introduce you to more narrative styles so you can play around and see what works for you. eg. if you mostly read first person, give second person a shot. or if you're an omniscient third person, try limited third person. or even retrospective first person, because i often see people complain about first person pov when it's married with a present tense story. if you have a first person narrator talking about events in the past as if talking to you, or a journal it often takes an entirely different angle and it's something I've played with in Homestuck fics because that fandom tends to be more open to narrative experimentation. Writing is honestly a lot of looking at stuff you like (much like art) and smooshing it all together. Personally, I've gotten a lot of my writing style from stuff like The Locked Tomb, admittedly Lovecraft was foundational (but this is a great example of why to always remain critical considering his bullshit), so was Homestuck and Rick Riordan's stuff. I'm never trying to copy them wholesale, but I am looking at aspects I like - such as Riordan's humor intertwining with the narrative and narration, or the deeply unreliable narrators that Muir writes, or even how Homestuck balances purple prose with gut wrenching conciseness when it counts. A lot of modern day fast food fiction takes out a lot of the stuff that actually builds a story - pacing, playing with narration and technical writing - so you need to be conscious of what you're looking for in things. Often more established authors get to do weirder stuff than new authors, but don't discredit new ones because that would be leaving out folks like Xiran Jay Zhao and their phenomenal prose.

Another thing that helps greatly is reading writing critique. Video essays on books or even more critical thought pieces on writing, tropes, etc. can help you learn more about why something works. Lots of different channels on YouTube dedicated to dissecting media, absolutely recommend stuff like Hello Future Me, Overly Sarcastic Productions (real world ties + mythology, great basis to build things on), Zoe Bee (writer + commentary), Nerdwriter1 (media analysis + commentary), Just Write, and Tale Foundry. For adjacent suggestions that can help build up alternate perspectives that aren't directly about writing but are about critical thinking with stories (which is frankly an important skill to have), I definitely recommend Princess Weekes, Accented Cinema, Now You See It, Dominic Noble, The Storyteller, and Pop Culture Detective. A lot of this is discussing film (save Dominic Noble, who also talks about books a Lot), but the core essence of storytelling is helpful regardless of what angle it comes in - be it video game, movie, tv, or book reviews and analyses.

Actual writing. Varies on the person on if they do outlines or not and how, but I still recommend trying to do an outline when you're first starting out. One habit to immediately knock yourself out of is writing things chronologically. If you're working on a big piece and have more energy to write something in the middle? Put that in a new doc and leave a placeholder for where you're at. Legitimately, getting words on the paper is more important than those words being good. Because you can always come back and edit things to make sense.

Always edit what you write. I hate the "no beta we die like real men" attitude because people will dunk on editing but then praise stories for having "firm and satisfying" connections which can only really be built through editing. Your first draft is your rough idea. Your second one is when you read through and have it make sense. Three is making that make sense, and maybe 4 is more just grammar and spelling errors. Edit as many times necessary to make sure you like it.

Always work in broad strokes, then move in finer like with anything. Do a general idea for a story, then your main story beats, then how you connect them together, and then the nitty gritty of each. Keep lots of notes - do not rely on your head solely for everything - and just also be willing to let things go if they change.

What I tend to do when I write is I want a good flow. I often get that from reading my writing out loud to hear how it sounds, but I'm looking for a good beat to read along. Because even if the sentence is grammatically correct and structurally sound, it may not be very interesting to read. Like you could say someone feigned a polite expression to not let the other person know that they didn't feel comfortable with a topic, or you could go the angle I went with recently of "she painted herself an interested expression to wear as dread began to gnaw at her gut." Sometimes the more colorful or out there the language is, the better it sounds when you read it. Like instead of saying "that's just how things go for them" you could say, "but Fate had a funny way of making her disdain known for (X character)". And this is where reading other peoples' work comes in real handy because you can get a lot of examples of how people write things.

I also try and reflect themes of the story into the writing itself, like this section of a draft:

Still nothing.  Seemed he wasn’t going to bother with a glass, instead just ripping the top off of some bottle of gin and tipping it back with little regard for himself. Still that chronometer ticked on; still that taught tension like another arrow had been drawn.  A million and more things flooded Ysayle’s mind, itching to loose them at Estinien, yet found herself stuck in indecision as she stared daggers into him - ever her opposite as he just seemed despondent.  The gin bottle hit the extended shelf loudly; one hand a fist around the bottle, the other balled up on the surface - knuckles as white as bone. Still, Estinien said naught. Still, the chronometer ticked on. Still, Ysayle’s heart roared in her ears - poisonous words damming up her throat.

The theme of this story is avoiding the mistakes of the past. How things often can wind up cyclical, and the goal is to break from those cycles and repeats. So naturally, several points of the narration itself repeat itself. This isn't standard writing style, but it gets that point across by repeating "Still" as the scene crawls on. I also use a lot of alliteration in my writing because I personally find it fun? So "a maddening matter made most malign", for example.

It also helps to change up how you write or what descriptors you use based on the character whose head you're in, even if it's third person. Third person can have a voice and I often use it to speak aloud a character's thoughts instead of relying on italicized dialogue-thoughts. It makes the dialogue-thoughts appearing hit more when they do instead of just having to be subjected to internal ramblings constantly. Like in this fic I just published:

“...Can we talk about it on the morn?” “What for?” You don’t know what it is you ask of me. “Tired,” Estinien said with a shrug. “We’ve morning patrol, remember?”

Compared to this fic:

“Yes, confusingly.”  Her tone was flat as she leaned once again on Surkukteni’s shoulder, thankfully on the uninjured side.  “I fear I may have been wrong, though I truly doubt it.  To deny me twice, then throw a fit?  I wonder — why didn’t you go through with it?” Not even Surkukteni had that answer.  For the umpteenth time during that conversation, she refused to look at Her Darkness.  That desire — twisted and poisoned as it was — was one that still surfaced from time to time, yet like clockwork made her ill and was banished from her thoughts.  Why was that?  She felt scorned back then, wishing the universe would correct this error in sparing him but taking Ysayle — but was she not the one who helped save him?  Who helped tear those eyes from his armor?  She easily could — and had previously — bluffed that it was to destroy the eyes and be rid of the threat, but given her hesitancy now? Why?

All of Surkukteni's thoughts are condensed into the narration so that I can separate out her thought dialogue from idle musings since she - specifically - has a connection with something that can talk telepathically. This thing comments on the literal narration of the story, so when she's directly addressing this thing it's thought-dialogue. But her actual thoughts become narration to avoid spending too much time with that, as I find it's better used sparingly.

Motivation for writing is probably the hardest thing, and best I can advise is to get really into critiquing the stuff you like because you wind up finding a lot of material in fix-it stuff, or just wanting to see more of stuff like you. It's part of what drives my xiv stuff due to how they treat female characters, and I really just wanna see more sapphic bi4bi. So considering it's something I've been stuck in for a very long time now and really like the ambient lore and wish it would do better, it's fueling my desire to write. And from there, there are so many other angles to take - like building ocs, building lore. Finding a sandbox is genuinely one of the best ways to do it. Again, like. You'd be surprised at how much is there because of spite. LOTR has Eowyn because Tolkien didn't like that the "can be killed by no man" thing in Macbeth was resolved with a character born by c-section, so he instead wrote Eowyn, the woman who killed the Witch-King of Angmar. C.S. Lewis didn't like the fact that Tolkien believed that modern technology - or slightly less modern technology - didn't believe in fantasy and he explicitly cited lampposts. And this is why there's just a random light post in the middle of nowhere in the Narnia books.

Critique is good and healthy. I'm critical with the stuff I like and my own things so I can work on them and myself. It's fine to like something that you don't wholly agree with, especially if you're using it to inform how you build on it or build your own things. Like I dunno, I looked at Dante from Devil May Cry and went "what if he was trans" and now I've got Rhombi, a character who has stepped really far away from the OG Dante mould, but you can still see hints of it as I used what I wanted to see out of DMC to build this bisexual disaster of a guy. I was disappointed by Elsword not really committing to some of their character concepts, so I kinda just took Eve (and admittedly Add) and made them into Celes and Neilos and took them to their logical conclusions. All three of them were originally fantrolls at some point, so most of the heavy lifting was done when I was back in Homestuck and all I had to do was scrub the barcodes off of them to build them up in an original verse.

Chemistry is also crucial. If characters aren't vibing, move on. Do not force it. Good chemistry can save a bad story (eg. FFXV) and bad chemistry can ruin a good story. Often it's the characters that drive a story so you need to do a lot of plotting and planning. Most writing is honestly just planning before putting the words down.

And I'm very much so rambling by now but my main points are these (+ others I'm realizing while typing):

Plot a Lot and keep lots of notes, and also organize those notes. The contents don't have to be pretty, but you'll thank yourself in advance if you at least sort them by core idea

Getting words down is more important than getting them down correctly. You can always come back and edit it when you have an idea of how to make it work

You can always place a [insert scene here] tag so you can keep your flow and don't get caught on something.

You also don't have to write chronologically - you wanna write the big confession scene before the intro? do it! just jump right into it!

also don't be afraid to delete stuff or remove it from your draft. save things for later to see if they work elsewhere, because maybe it could be a better spinoff.

dont listen to the advice of "if it really matters, you'll remember it in the morning" that advice was given by neurotypicals who don't have memory issues. make notes of EVERYTHING and then delete the ones that don't work

sometimes writing by hand vs computer can really make a difference in how you think. handwriting is slower and makes you think about stuff, so you may want to keep journals for random snippets or ideas like how doodling is good for building up your habit of drawing

Outlines can help but how you outline is up to you. Try a few styles out and go with what works best.

I cannot stress enough that having something like a marker board to write out your broad stroke story ideas is really really nice

Broad strokes first, then narrow it further and further down. Don't get wrapped up in the nitty gritty details

Chemistry is crucial and can often save a piece you're not fully feeling.

Read your stuff out loud while editing because it can help point out stuff that's not jiving! I find it helps a lot with dialogue

Read a lot. Listen to critique. Be more critical. Also don't limit your idea of stories to just books - expand the media you consume and you'll find really interesting stories that can help with yours

Don't be afraid to use tropes, but also don't super rely on them to where you're just checking off boxes instead of coming up with natural scenarios built on chemistry (eg. having the nerdy goth girl is fine, but the way the trope ends in most media ("fixing" her or just having her be a quirky cynical critic) may not fit with your story and it may be better to see how the story plays out rather than forcing it into something it's not)

Iron Widow is a good example here: the relationship between Zetian and Yizhi is pre-established and comes off as sort of "boy next door" vibes, or at least the very dedicated childhood friend. It quickly becomes apparent that he's as much a co-conspirator in her plans as Shimin is. The guy can be ruthless when given the chance, and that's how Yizhi goes beyond the initial trope and defines himself outside of it. Same with the contextualization of Shimin's seeming "aggression" as the "bad boy" and figuring out where that problem/persona actually stems from, and then the shift of viewing it as less aggression and more retaliation and self preservation.

Find something you do really want to write about, like filling a void in a piece of media you like or doing a take on media that made you mad or disappointed. Jane Eyre is technically fanfiction because the author wanted to see more of Jane and didn't get that. The Divine Comedy is self insert fanfiction of Dante Alighieri as he does worldbuilding with Christian mythos regarding heaven and hell. The Riordan verse is his interest in mythology crossed with a desire to give his son a protag that was like him (specifically ADHD and dyslexic), which then became wanting to let kids see themselves in the different halfbloods in the series.

There's a lot of ways you can get started writing, but the best way is to just write goofy stuff for yourself. Get out stuff that may look bad at first, but you go back and read it and critique it. Just getting yourself into the habit of writing helps a lot, because again: it matters less about the quality, and more getting it on the page and actually having something. You can always fine-tune writing, after all.

My first FFXIV fic isn't actually even published. It was just me writing something rambly about my Warrior of Light when I was starting to figure her character out. It looks nothing like what I'm doing now in part because that fanfiction became a launching point for me to work on others. I've got a lot of drafts that will never see the light of day because these were proto-concepts that became the stuff I wound up publishing. It's fine to have drafts that remain drafts because you can take that as practice, and practice is good. Anything that you write has value because you can use it to let your technical writing skills mature.

Also, don't be afraid to look for help. There are beta services on tumblr (or at least used to be when I was a teenager), plenty of writing guides or places set up to ask questions, plenty of youtubers that give prompts for you to work with. The hardest part is always getting started. But once you get past the awkwardness of the start, everything just falls into place and gets easier the longer you go at it.

You definitely have the desire for it because I've seen your very deep love of literature through the Bi-Library, so you can definitely become a strong writer if you put your mind to it 🫶 Find something to fix or address, and that usually is what gets the ball rolling. Worldbuilding is fun and can lead to something, but you can't have a well built world without a story to explore it.

Characters drive story, story is how you explore themes and the world itself, and the world itself is built on your experiences and interests. Embrace the fact that this is coming from your lens and experiences, because no media is truly void of the author and its other creators. Embrace that fact and use it as an extension of yourself. But really, just write. Literally anything. Just get into the habit of writing, and it'll progress from there!

#original #asks #answered #bisexual-coala #writing tips #long post #this is very rambly but getting into writing isnt the most straightforward thing #a lot of the time it really is just finding something that clicks and not caring about what goes on the page for the first draft #ive been writing fanfiction for...over a decade now? + a lot of rp (also over a decade) and now some p serious original stuff #my fanfiction has also gotten way more involved than it used to be #genuinely i got started writing by keeping a lot of journals and writing every idea i had even if im now embarrassed by it #what matters is just getting into the habit first and then looking at your stuff more critically once the habit is formed #it's hard to build a habit if you're immediately critical #but it's hard to maintain a habit or hobby if you're not - especially if you feel you can build on something #if you do feel it you oughta pursue it and see where it takes you #perfectly fine to not be critical with hobbies but being Constructively critical is how you improve and mature #constructive is key here. because being down on your own writing or being self deprecating is how you lose a hobby #like let's say you don't like your dialogue #go read scripts or books of stuff you like the dialogue from. analyze why they work in contrast to why you feel like yours doesnt work #maybe someone else has a solution for why it feels off #sometimes it's just as simple as taking a step back and looking at it as a whole or even just sleeping on it and coming back w fresh eyes #always approach something you don't like about your work with the attitude of ''how can i improve so i do like it'' #like ''i need to be better at fight scenes. ill be sure to include more in my next piece to focus on it and maybe read some action books'' #lotta ways to do it!! theres no one right way just a way that fits best for you!!! #just absolutely ignore the ''if it's a good idea you'll remember it in the morning'' stuff. #it doesn't account for people w memory issues and will screw you over #you do not have to wait until you're good at writing to start working on something. you need something to work on to improve #you can always come back to an idea as many times as you need as you grow as a writer #so just write until you build a habit and base style then analyze and move from there #fanfic is honestly really good for practicing style and technique - the characters and world are already ther so why not use em?

[craycraybluejay]

Me: wants to be more manly and also healthy especially with recent developments, wants to get exercise and be more social

Also me: a reclusive writer by nature and too poor for a damn car

But if I get one I do really wanna start regularly going to the gym and some rock climbing place (I love rock climbing and I'm actually pretty naturally good at it. i'm not athletic and i'm kind of shit at team sports but i do have surprising strength and manueverability. and a lot of the sport is quick paced logic and working with your body weight/dimensions and gravity. logic being figuring out which holds you can logically use how and how likely you are to fail. and working with it is kinda.. a flow. i climb the easier level formations very quickly because its sorta like leaping over puddles. its about flow. if you stop and get stuck its much harder to start climbing again. but also i love that you can take risks. with the support rope holding you safe you can try different strategies on difficult ledges and holds and its like riding a bike it starts to come natural with muscle memory. also the calusses are really cool. also also i fucking love free climb parts the danger is so much more real but thats what makes it fun. climbing all about and falling on my ass or feet and scuffing my elbows and knees on the wall as i cling close to it if im in a precarious position. it just feels so good. the feel of the rough holds and wall, the adrenaline of climbing without the familiar and safe pressure of the support rope, knowing that if i fall in a certain place i might hit my head against the opposite wall and Really hurt. it drives me nuts in a good way. the thrill, the adventure.) anyway. got off track. i want to exercise and eat more! i want to be healthy !!! why do i struggle so bad at being healthy!!!

#anouther lore #rock climbing is like my girlfriend #i feel so much better about things when my muscles are aching with exertion #i need positive coping skills but its so damn hard to get to it even though i want to and i enjoy it #exercise feels good it really does and it chills you out somewhat too #im gonna do my best to take care of myself and be my own best friend #because depending on other people giving you better doesnt work. you have to take what you need and do it just for you #relationships will come but crying over what cannot be is a waste of time #self improvement however will never be a waste

[fruitsyrups]

ive crossed over into an alternate dimension where side profiles are somehow sometimes easier to draw than other angles. bodies in side profile however... nooo thank you...

#ok the back of the head is hard but the facial features proportions kind of feel easier to figure out . maybe. #weird #n e way im happy with the way i draw faces mostly maybe 50 percent of the time but im so not caught up on drawing bodies #like to the point it just looks bizarre #decent proportional face with like at least some understanding of structure/form even if it's not much #and then the stiffest clunkiest body you ever did see #or i can go the other way around and have an ok body. like decently fluid / proportional. but no face #theres some kind of disconnect. cant have both at once #thats only a sometimes thing though anyways. faces are generally easier #tried to do a teeny bit of gesture drawing yesterday but i was feeling sooo lazy and impatient so only 3 of them turned out ok ish #im pretty sure i post more often talking about art than i actually post art #i dont post most of the things i draw #i like to have my little secrets... #secrets in question are just literally anything that isnt adventure time art #actually looking through my art folder is crazy cause like if i saw this 3 years ago (i was really bad at drawing 3 years ago) i would. idk #drop dead or something #but now its like yeah same old same old. lots of problems. need to work on those. #but its nice to step back and be like woagh holy shit. massive improvement #earlier i was trying to dfraw a character and it wasn't coming out right but instead of getting frustrated and discouraged #it was more like i had this feeling of . idk. excitement to get better at drawing? #i dont know if this is just a temporary mood or maybe im turning over a new leaf. new optimistic mindset about art #<- watch that 'new mindset' totally disappear when i have a slightly more prolonged period of art struggle. lol

[cinna-bunnie]

me: weird, I’m not able to reblog anymore? If I click reblog nothing pops up. I notice ublock origin’s counter keeps going up, what gives?

tumblr:

why the fuck is a wordpress pixel preventing me from reblogging you loser ass website. I’m not on wordpress, this breakage shouldn’t be happening.

Tbf, if I open a new tab or refresh the page I’m able to reblog again - but if I’m deep in the dash that’s obviously not the ideal move to make. I’m assuming this has something to do with the new UI Tumblr’s using because this hasn’t happened before.

Also, having refreshed the page and basically JUST making this post - can you fucking not??

Maybe it’s because I have the logger open so it’s not refreshing things but uhhh yeah this is dumb, whatever’s happening here.

On top of my heart kinda racing (bad) by just using the new UI because it feels like I’m on twitter again I’m just so annoyed with everything @staff​ is doing >.> STOP IT god dammit

#if your website breaks because I'm using ublock origin - I'm not using your website #thankfully the app is there and it Seems I can refresh the page desktop to reblog again but god.... #why r y'all so hellbent on making me hate it here lol. I keep trying to say I love the community then tumblr throws another curveball #like hey!! do you want a new shitty update you didn't ask for?? here 🤲 #the twitterfication of tumblr includes finding unique ways to make you at least little angry or annoyed every day >.> #uhhhh on top of twitter going to hell and twitter ppl joining tumblr. I Can Tell bc there's def a lot more discourse posts floating around #the past couple of weeks. It's too late for the rent lowering gunshots huh? #like the ecosystem here improved significantly when the reddit folk came over then twitter implemented a post view limit and #almost immediately twitter ppl came over and kinda offset the reddit ppl 😭 idk things r p chill over at cohost #i gotta work on building out my circles over there and finding more ppl because it's a genuinely fun place and as time goes on feels #more and more like tumblr than fucking tumblr itself does. I'm still here bc i'm invested in my mutuals and the artists I follow. #I wouldn't be surprised if at some point I just plug an API and stream posts from artists somewhere else so I don't #even have to be on here anymore.

[useful-boy]

Hate when bitches at this store try to tell me "Ummm I need you to start the audit already, we're supposed to leave by 11" like damn that's crazy maybe if you left me a better store or did anything to help me out I wouldn't be starting so late after picking up all your bullshit

#literally the first thing i did was walk the entire store to see what all still needed doing and then i told the manager who still had #Several clerks on the clock 'hey the womens bathroom needs to be hit and all the counters need to be wiped down' and she went 'okay!' #then of course. wouldnt you know. when i get back in from my lot sweep (basically picking up excess trash or emptying trash cans #that got full after they took out trash earlier) (of which there were a Lot tonight. very unusual when most nights i can get by #without changing any of them) #none of the things i told her about had been done <3 And the kitchen was a fucking disaster #'you got clerks for that you coulda made them clean it' 'no ill do that later they did a lot today' okay sweetie whatever you say #they always wanna leave Me a shitty store to come into and then get an attitude when they have to stay late because again #I am spending more time fixing things that they should have taken care of already before i got there #wasting Both our time on clerk tasks just to get the store down to manageable levels of filth before i do the audit #and then you wanna complain like its My fault? whores #only One of the managers here ever leaves me a decent store (not Perfect but its still a huge improvement over other days) #and no matter how many times i give the same feedback to every manager i relieve or who relieves me in the morning #shit does not get better #i love it!!!!!! #meh. #mild vent #i guess #its just me bitching about work so whatever #also? you Told me you were gonna stay an hour late already? why are you fucking complaining about me being 'too slow' #to start the audit. bitch

[doctorbrown]

DOCTOBER '23 ⸺ 「 21 / 31 * IMPROVEMENT 」

July 24, 1969

I have been beside myself with excitement over the broadcast of the moon landing and found myself glued to my television set those few days ago, eagerly watching every moment of the footage. I imagine the rest of America has been doing the same. This is a historic, unprecedented moment in human history and I have been anticipating this day ever since President Kennedy's announcement of a national goal back in '61.

That Armstrong should reference Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon made me inexplicably happy; at least the scientists and astronauts at NASA are well-read. To think that even a hundred years later, his works would still be relevant and inspiring!

Ever since the Soviet Union's launching of Sputnik back in '57, it was clear that we as a species were entering a new global age of scientific discovery and advancement. The final frontier posed the greatest challenge of all, the unknown, and the desire to understand it, in addition to the recognition and glory such a feat would undoubtedly bestow upon the first to achieve placing a man on the moon, would lead to breakthroughs in the sciences that were previously unthinkable.

From Gagarin's monumental spaceflight around the earth to a man on the moon in only eight short years...

Despite the mounting tensions between the two countries over the years, it was the drive that pushed us well beyond our boundaries, and such scientific advancements would only aid me in my endeavours. I have enjoyed reading the news that has been available to the scientific community, and I was perhaps more fortunate than most.

There is still much work to be done on the time machine, as I have yet to find a suitable automobile to build the circuitry into. There may be some inspiration I can draw from the Apollo 11 mission and the brave men who have pioneered this new age for the world to make further improvements in my own mission.

As my previous attempts with other cars have been less than ideal, I will have to either redouble my efforts into improving these cars or search for a suitable alternative.

There is no time to waste.

#doctober 2023 #i considered A LOT of different things for this prompt believe me #i considered various improvements to the flux capacitor from the original tfc #or just improvements to the delorean as a whole over the years; the car had a lot of work it needed done #moments with doc and younger marty #but i liked the idea of 'improvement' as a general whole and i don't write a lot of '60s or so doc content #so i thought it would be neat to start to touch upon improvement through a scientific lens and those improvements culminating in #the moon landing #which you know doc was absolutely overjoyed by - if not also inspired by #and yes he did not sleep and watched that entire broadcast #&; a great idea can change the world 「 hc 」 #but i also just wanted to talk about the moon landing a little because it's stuff for doc to get super excited about and i love this for hi #and me personally i just *love* the space race; it was such a fascinating time in our history #the good and the bad of it #so i am excited always to talk about it

[mg549]

5 years in review (2018-2022)

#art review #year in review #art summary #art meme #my art #i wanted to look at them together :))) #i feel like 2018 is a solid start #2019 was a little rough as i learn a new medium [digital art] #2020 was mw sort of finding brand stability in the types of pieces i did #2021 was pushing myself to really improve with focus on texture and unintentional focus on lighting #and 2022 was a fucking STRUGGLE trying to learn how to put art out consistently while working full time #like for example. jan feb march of this year. i only put out one piece each month #bc i rly dont like my job lmao and it took so much out of me >moving cross country >starting first full time job >moving AGAIN across town #also the piece from july looks wonky to me now but it still is the most polished thing from that month bc i did a bunch of quick art fight p #ieces #unintentional themes for this year: realism. red/teal palettes [or more generally warm/cool contrast]. #almost exclusively music fanart or mh/sta stuff #idk im always over critical of my year in review stuff when i first make them then warm up as i become nostalgic #you can also notice a trend of yellow slowly becoming completely absent from my works. this is bc my old laptop had issues with displaying #color and washed yellow out so i never saw it. hence why old drawings of ppl look RLY JAUNDICED. i couldnt goddamn see it #and i dont rly gravitate towards yellow too often #aqua is my fave color in general but also to work with #i didnt do 0 traditional art this year but i felt like i did less that usual probably bc i used to work on my bed but now i work at my desk #which is Very Small and doesnt have a lot of space for me to get out pens or paints or whatever #that and also. less time and energy than in previous years :( #my faves for each year by month: jan-21 feb-19 mar-21 apr-22 may-22 jun-22 jul-18 aug-22 sep-21 oct- #18/21 [tie] nov-21 dec-22 [altho i def seem to always push myself to make sth rly good in the last month of the year tbh]