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black-cat-showdown · 1 year

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Welcome to the Black Cat Showdown!!

There's so many famous black cats out there, fictional or real. But Wich one is the ultimate kitty cat? Lets find out!!

FAQ <- If you have any questions ask them on that post! Propaganda is also allowed and encouraged!!

Link to full tournament brackets here!!

(full list of participants names under the cut!!)

The tournament will start on Saturday April 1st!!

Link to FAQ <- seriously read it before sending questions lmao

Here are all 108 participants!!

• 808 (Hi-Fi Rush) • Aldwyn (The Familiars) • Amanojaku (GhostStories) • Archie (Tales Of Arcadia) • Assisticat (CardFight) • Bagheera (Jungle Book) • Berlioz (The Aristocats) • Black Cat (The Price by Neil Gaiman) • Blackie (Chi's Sweet Home) • Blair (Soul Eater) • Bonifacy (Przygody Kota Filemona) • Cat card (Inscryption) • Catty Noir (Monster High) • Chito (Flying Witch) • Chococat (Sanrio) • Chrono's cat (Chrono Trigger) • Constable Whiskers (Cookie Run) • Cosmic Creepers (Bedknobs & Broomsticks) • Domino (Amphibia) • Doom (Ruby Gloom) • Faithful (The Song Of The Lioness) • Fastelavnstønde katten • Felix the cat • Gareth (Time Cat) • Giovanni (Spiritfarer) • Gobbolino (Gobbolino The Witch's Cat) • Hollyleaf (Warrior Cats) • Hresvelgion Whisker (Fire Emblem: Three Houses) • Ichigo (Tokyo Mew Mew) • Isis (Star Treck) • Jack (Mad Rat Dead) • Jenny Linski (Esther Averill books) • Jiji (Kiki's Delivery Service) • Jinx (@bigfootjinx) • Keats (Professor Layton) • Kevin (Vanessa Stockard's paintings) • Kiki (Animal Crossing) • Kitten-Shark (Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency) • Kittie Softpaws (Puss In Boots) • Kofu (@straycatj) • Koshekh (Welcome to Night Vale) • Kuro (Doko Demo Issy) • Kuro (Blue Exorcist) • Kuro (Servamp) • Kuroneko-sama (Trigun) • Litten (Pokemon) • Lucifer (Cinderella 1950) • Lucy-furr (Jackson's Diary) • Luna (Sailor Moon) • Mae Borowski (Night In The Woods) • Malame (Flappy Dragons) • Mao Mao (Mao Mao) • Maxwell (-the dancing cat) • Mewo (OMORI) • Midnight (Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones) • Miles (Emily the Strange) • Minino (Hooky) • Miss Kitty Fantastico (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) • Mittens (Bolt) • Mog (Meg and Mog) • Momo (Google Halloween doodles) • Morgana (Persona 5) • Mr Mew (The World Ends With You) • Mr. Midnight (Fran Bow) • Mr. Mistoffelees (Cats) • Nargacuga (Monster Hunter) • Narinder (Cult Of The Lamb) • Naught (Naught) • Neko (Genshin Impact) • Nicol Ascart (Hamefura) • Nyanpire (Nyanpire) • Pantherlily (FairyTail) • Pete (Pete the Cat) • Pete the Cat (Mickey Mouse and Friends) • Pib (Dimension 20 Neverafter) • Plagg (Miraculous LadyBug) • Pluto (The Black Cat by Edgar Allen Poe) • Purrsephone & Meowlody (Monster High) • Ravage (Transformers) • Ravenpaw (Warrior Cats) • Rhiow (The Book of Night with Moon) • Sakamoto (Nichijou) • Salem Saberhagen (Sabrina the Teenage Witch) • Schrödinger's cat • Tama (Dragon Ball) • Smokey (Neko Atsume) • Siren (Suite Precure) • Snowball II (The Simpsons) • Somber Kitty (May Bird trilogy) • Sosa's cat (YUPPIE PSYCHO) • Spinel sun (Sakura Cardcaptor) • Sylvester (Looney Tunes) • Takkun (FLCL) • Thackery Binx (Hocus Pocus) • The Bean (#void watch) • the Beast (Fatum Betula) • The cat/Vermin (Coraline) • The Cat (Ghost Trick) • The Cat (Please Say Something) • The Cat (Little Kitty, Big City) • The Kitten (Kitbull) • Tuxedo cat (Minecraft) • Unico Uni (@uniconiuni3) • Vodka Mutini (Homestuck) • Witch's cat (minecraft) • Xiaohei (The Legend of Xiaohei) • Yoruichi (Bleach) • Yuni (Mewkledreamy)

#pinned posts #black cat tournament #competition #polls #animals

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iamvegorott · 10 months

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Happy Family Pt. 4 of 8

Unexpected Custody

“We should send out a reminder text to the parents when the buses will be here,” Bing said as he worked on going through the cubbies and ensuring everyone’s backpacks were closed. He also checked that the water bottles got sealed and inside the side pocket properly. Most of them were pretty good, but Bing didn’t want to risk the kids spilling water all over themselves on their first day of kindergarten. The older kids knew the drill but got checked in case a kid needed a reminder. The first day of school always threw everyone off.

“Should we make a separate text just for the parents of the kindergartners or just send it to the mass one, and those who aren’t affected can just ignore it?” Bim asked, rocking back and forth with one of the infants in his arms, the others having fallen asleep for their early morning nap.

“Might be easier to use the mass text since we already have that all setup. If we get complaints, we’ll change it for next year.” Bing suggested, pulling out Etta’s lunch box from her backpack and setting a note inside of it that Google had written that morning but had forgotten to put into the box. They both knew Etta was nervous about her first day of class, having said that being in a new place was ‘weird’ and had asked several times if she could stay at the daycare with Bing instead. Google hoped seeing a little note and doodle from him would help her get through the mid-day slump. Bing even added his own doodle on the back that he knew would make Etta giggle when she saw it.

“I can work on that since this little one finally fell asleep,” Bim said, looking down at the dozing infant in his arms. “Here’s hoping they stay down until after we get the other kids on the buses.”

“Go knock on some wood before you jinx us,” Bing said with a chuckle, putting Etta’s lunch box back and closing the backpack.

“On it, on it,” Bim said with a wave of a now free hand and headed for the infant’s room to put the baby down.

“Perfect timing,” Bing said as Anti came out of the same room Bim entered. He often napped after Dark dropped him off. It never mattered if they were there early, on time, or even late, which was an extreme rarity. Anti always took a quick nap and, as if by magic, knew the best time to wake up. “How are we feeling this morning, Ant?”

“Good.” Anti gave a little nod and, continuing his usual routine, went over to the children’s bathroom and closed the door. Bing got a little chuckle, knowing that Anti’s routine-sticking personality came from his father. Dark had basically everything written down to the minute, even his bathroom breaks, or at least Bing assumed he did. He would not be shocked if that got confirmed.

By the time Bing was done with the cubbies and was doing a lap to check on the kids to see how they were, most were either playing with blocks or coloring. Anti finished with the bathroom, the running water proving he washed his hands and came out. Bing watched as he went straight to JJ and Robbie and joined their tower-making. It was always fascinating how Anti could just play with them and immediately know the plan. He didn’t need any directions or explanation. Bing guessed that those three played a lot with each other since their fathers were very close. The three were practically brothers. While Anti liked his routines, he was still a chaotic kid, and being with the much calmer JJ and Robbie seemed to help him stay calm as well. That was until a different kid tried to mess with Robbie and JJ. Anti then would become the angriest five-year-old anyone had ever seen. Shocking that he’s protective. Dark’s known to be level-headed until someone he sees as his is being bothered. Then all that goes right out the window.

The same could be said of Etta and Google.

Bing was pulled from his thoughts when he heard crying from two different sources. He told the other kids everything was fine before heading over to the daycare’s parent entrance, catching that the crying was coming from behind that door. Before he could open it, Yandere, the teenage sister of JJ and Robbie, came in with Penny in her arms, the young girl crying her heart out.

“Hey, Mr. B.” Yandere greeted as she walked in, Chase following her with Lucas in his arms, the young boy crying like his sibling.

“What’s going on?” Bing asked.

“Sorry, sorry, I’ll explain as soon as I can calm them down,” Chase said, setting Lucas down as Yandere did the same with Penny. “Come on, kiddos, do you want to go play? It looks like Henrik’s playing doctor. You can join him.” The twins only continued to cry as if not hearing their father at all.

“Is everything okay out here?” Bim came into the room. “Are they okay?”

“They’re not hurt. They’re upset. Like I said earlier, I’ll explain as soon as they’re fine.” Chase said.

“How about we get you two some juice? I have some apple juice in the fridge you two can help yourselves to. How does that sound?” Bim went over to the twins and held out his hands. At the offer of their favorite drink, the twins, while still crying, took Bim’s hands and let him walk them away to the kitchen. “Fill me in later,” Bim added over his shoulder as they went.

“Sorry, I tried to get down here as fast as possible. Wilford texted me that Yandere helped carry Penny in?” Google spoke as he walked into the room from the entrance. “Shouldn’t you be at school?” He added to Yandere.

“My first period is study hall, so Dad’s letting me go in late to help get the boys on the bus if needed,” Yandere explained, popping her gum at the end of her sentence and pulling out her phone. “Speaking of Dad. He says to hit him up if you need him. I’m going to go play with the little ones.” She tucked her phone away and went over to where JJ, Robbie, and Anti were, sitting down on the ground with them.

“I don’t think that last part was on that text,” Bing said, trying to lighten the mood a little before looking at Chase. “Need to talk? We can go to the office. Yan knows to knock if she needs us, and Bim has your kids and the infants.”

“Yeah…I have some things to fill you in on.” Chase spoke softly. “You can come too.” He added to Google. “I know Bing will tell you anyway.” That comment had a little chuckle to it.

“Follow me.” Bing gestured with his head, leading the other two into the office and closing the door when they were all in the room. “So…what’s up?” He sat on the edge of the desk while Google sat on the other edge. Chase was going to sit in the chair but found himself pacing instead.

“You know how me and Stacy separated a long-ass time ago?” Chase started, not pausing to let Bing or Google answer. “With that separation, we decided to have shared custody. It was perfect. It got split evenly. We each have enough belongings for both kids, so they don’t have to pack a lot when they come over. We live in the same school zone, and everything was fine, but today she-” He stopped pacing. “She said she didn’t want them anymore.” Chase rubbed at his face. “It’d be one thing if I picked them up, and she asked for a moment and told me that she needed some help and wanted me to have them more. I get it. Life gets shitty, and sometimes you need time to focus on yourself, but she…she told the kids before I got there that they would not be living with her anymore. That she, and I quote ‘doesn’t want them here’.”

“She said that to the kids?” Google asked, his voice harsh while Bing was in stunned silence.

“I don’t understand where this came from, she was fine with everything, and now, out of nowhere, she does this? I tried to ask her, but she wouldn’t talk to me.”

“She’ll talk to me. Bing, do you still have that bat-” Google got off the desk, and his search for the bat was stopped short by Bing catching his shirt sleeve.

“Don’t.” Bing kept his hold on Google and looked at Chase. “She didn’t tell you anything? Nothing about why she doesn’t want them anymore?”

“No. Nothing. Stacy said she would go to the courthouse and set it up, so I have custody, and she’d pay child support.” Chase felt like his chest was tightening as he spoke.

“You’re going to let her?”

“I can’t force her to take them if she doesn’t want them. It’ll be worse to have them feel unwanted in their own home. I might as well let her do what she wants and focus on them, but-but I-” That tightening was getting worse and was making it harder and harder to breathe. “I don’t know how-how to take-how to take care of them on my own like this.” Chase was stammering, almost wheezing and coughing like it was becoming almost impossible to get air.

“Hey, hey, hey.” Bing noticed Chase struggling. He went over and placed his hands on Chase’s shoulders. “Breathe, okay? You’re an amazing father, and you’ll also do amazing at caring for them.” He kept his hold on Chase, guiding him to take some deep breaths with him until the door got knocked on. Bim opened it and peeked his head in.

“Sorry, but we need to start getting the kids ready to get on the bus, and the parents are on their way,” Bim said. “Penny and Lucas are calmer now if you want to get them ready.” He added to Chase.

“Sounds perfect.” Chase smiled, pushing any emotion of worry away so his children wouldn’t see it. “Thank you.” He added to Bing before stepping out of the room.

“Everything okay?” Bim asked after Chase walked past him.

“Later,” Bing said with a nod. “Let’s go get the kiddos ready.” He then looked to Google, who looked pissed about what they got told. “Are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah. Let’s go get the kids ready for their first day.” Google sighed.

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#bingle #bingleaverage #happy family commission #veggie writes

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marythewary · 3 years

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Happy Halloween, everyone!

This drawing is a tribute to Google's Halloween Doodles from 2016, 2017 and 2020. I love Momo and I couldn't help but draw her this Halloween!

Changing the subject to something more serious, if you have a black, white or tuxedo cat, please take care of them on this date. There are many cruel people in the world who hurt them in dates like this. I’m keeping an eye on mine. Also, stay safe!

#google doodle #halloween #momo the cat #sugar the cat #jinx the ghost #my art

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nateswinehart · 6 years

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Happy HalloweeeEEEEeeeen!

So I got to make this year’s Halloween Google Doodle and I thought I’d share some production art for it!

It was a long, crazy project (longest doodle we’ve ever made!), but I wanted to take the chance to tell a story I thought might resonate or maybe even help someone. After all, nothing is scarier than emotion.

Thank you to everyone who helped out along the way in making the video (Melissa Crowton, Cynthia Cheng, Sophie Diao, Helene Leroux) and everyone crazy enough to let me make a story for the homepage.

JINX HAS SO MANY FRIENDS NOW!!!

#Halloween #Google Doodle #Animation #short film #Character Design #storyboards #color script #ghost #black cat #Jinx #Momo #We are building a Doodle Cinematic Universe

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animationforce · 6 years

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Happy Halloween!

Don’t miss this adorable Google Doodle animation celebrating all things cute and spooky. Just look at the behind-the-scenes work put into this video! Here is some of the concept art shared on the Doodle page:

And here is a storyboard from the short:

Story and animation by Nate Swinehart, with backgrounds and design by Melissa Crowton, Cynthia Chen, Sophie Diao and Helene Leroux.

- Courtney ( @harmonicacave )

#halloween #google doodle #jinx's night out #ghosts #animation #halloween animation

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satoutoko · 6 years

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#Google Doodle #Halloween #jinx's night out #Fanart

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myquestforselfparody99 · 6 years

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#jinx #google doodle #sorry I am so in love with this #nateswineheart #happy halloween

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musicboxbunny · 6 years

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Happy Halloween!

#google #halloween 2017 #jinx's night out #google doodle animation #cute af

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fanelectricboogieloo · 6 years

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that google doodle was charming.

so here some fanart.

#Google Doodle #momo #fanart #jinx #happy halloween #little witch academia

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wigmund · 6 years

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Google's doodle for Halloween 2017 - Jinx's Night Out

#halloween #animation #google doodle #jinx's night out

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silvester-rosemary · 6 years

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One of the most adorable things that I have seen this year.

#Halloween #Google #Doodle #Google doodle #Jinx's night out #trick or treat #ghost

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tearsofafallenangel · 6 years

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Halloween 2017 Google Doodle: Jinx's Night Out

#halloween #cute #google #doodle #jinx the ghost #spooky halloween #friendship

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sesamie · 3 years

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the Beloveds...who are they?

you’ve no doubt seen me talking about some folks called henry, benjamin, jinx, momo, and frederick recently right? well you might be wondering, who are these guys? where did they come from? what do they do? i’m here to answer all those questions right here right now!

who are these guys?

in order: henry, benjamin, jinx, momo, and frederick!

henry is a mouse, benjamin is a fox, jinx is a ghost, momo is a cat, and frederick is a frog!

where did they come from?

this question is more complicated! these are oc’s that belong to me and a friend from school (who i’ll just call R for their privacy!!) it started last week when i asked them to look up the weather outside to see whether we would eat lunch outside or not (we’ve got a cool spot under some trees, it’s neat!). they opened their phone, yelled “WEATHER!!” into the microphone (their phone is hard of hearing /j) and google results for the weather showed up! along with them, this guy:

a lovaly man! i joked around about how much i loved him, then asked what should his name be? attempting to start a bit. HOWEVER.... IN SOME TWIST OF FATE.... ENTIRELY UNPROVOKED AND UNPLANNED.... R and i looked at eachother and said “frederick!” at the EXACT SAME TIME. it was meant to be!!!!!! thusly, frederick was born.

the first frederick drawing (by me!). in the first picture of him that we saw, he was wearing a hat, so that became part of his “official” design for us!

after lunch, we decided to look up “google weather frog” to see more pictures of him, and we ended up finding out that THERE’S A GOOGLE DOODLES WIKI. GIVE IT A LOOK, IT’S DELIGHTFUL. (we found out that frederick’s “real” name is froggy, but decided to ignore that part of google doodles canon.) after searching around there some more, we met a few more characters through this video from halloween 2017. it’s called “jinx’s night out”, and it features our lovely ghost, jinx!

the first jinx drawing (by R!)

this video also featured momo, who’s a cat that already has a lot of lore of her own!!! (me & R haven’t looked too far into this yet, but we’ve already made up our own momo lore that should be able to fit this into it, we’ll just have to see!)

the first momo drawing (by me!)

there’s also the Fox, who doesn’t have a name, but we decided to name them benjamin because R and i both really like the game little misfortune, and there’s a fox called benjamin in that game!

the first picture of benjamin (done by both of us!)

a few days later, we discovered the mouse, who we promptly named Henry and decided lives under a tree with benjamin.

the first picture of henry (with benjamin! drawn by me!)

speaking of where they live......

what do they do?

this is the part we’re still working on! we’re coming up with new ideas about these guys all the time, so in the future some of the information in this post will be wrong or changed. however, so far...

frederick lives in his mushroom house which is featured in a lot of the weather pictures that he’s in. the mushroom house is near the beach, and it’s a little ways away from the city! (this is based off all the beach pictures and the new year’s ones where he sits on a dock watching fireworks with the city behind him.)

jinx lives in the old abandoned house that’s featured in the halloween 2017 video! the house is in the city.

momo, benjamin, and henry all live in a big tree in the city park! benjamin & henry live together in a den under the tree (which can be seen in all the mouse google doodles!) and momo lives in a treehouse up in the tree! (i don’t know if this corresponds to or contradicts preexisting momo canon, like i said, we haven’t looked into it yet!)

R and i both came up with different sets of pronouns for them, but we agreed that generally, frederick uses he/they, momo uses it/she, benjamin uses they/them, jinx uses she/it, and henry uses he/him!

they are in a band!!!!!! the band is called “the beloveds” (because we couldn’t stop saying that they were our beloveds so we stuck with it) and here they are:

(there are some canon instruments that they play that contradicts this, but we have yet to deal with that lol!)

this post is getting pretty long (and tumblr’s really not enjoying it), so all the extra doodles and tidbits will have to wait for another post! this is all the most important information for them though. feel free to ask me any questions about them!!

#the beloveds #my ocs #THIS TOOK SO LONG TO WRITE SHDFHSDFH #i have more drawings and pictures i want to post so look out for those in a little bitt #casserole draws #(and r draws too but like. yknow)#in case you are wondering :) momo is my favorite

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salamandersofftheclock · 3 years

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Principles You Can Use From Rowling’s Philosophy of Writing

by Ruthanne Reid

If you’re like me, you loved the Harry Potter series. Maybe you watched the movies or even visited the theme park, and you wondered about JK Rowling’s writing process and the strategy she uses to write her best-selling books. If you’re like me, though, you’ve also been deeply hurt by things Rowling herself has said. On Twitter, on her website, in interviews, and more, Rowling has promoted harmful views of trans people, and you might be one of her many readers who find it painful, or even impossible, to return to the Harry Potter books you once loved.I understand. Before I dive into the wisdom we can draw from Rowling’s writing process in order to write our first draft (or others), allow me to share a principle with you. Death of the Author: Or, How to Love the Book, Not the Author In 1967, a French literary critic named Roland Barthes wrote an essay called La mort de l’auteur, or Death of the Author, in which he states that any piece of writing should be separated from the author that wrote it. In other words, he believed in judging the written work completely on its own merits, without involving personal beliefs or actions of the author in question. Sometimes, this is possible to do. Sometimes, it isn’t, and we readers have to apply discernment to what we read and the lens in which we view things.I have two examples for you. HP Lovecraft First, HP Lovecraft, whose incredible work literally created today’s modern horror genre. Do you enjoy any kind of tale with Elder Ones, or chaos gods, or even just good old Cthulhu? (I know I do!) His work was so creative, so new, that you’d be hard-pressed to find any horror story that doesn’t show at least some of his influence.Unfortunately, Lovecraft was also an extremely xenophobic racist. Now, I enjoy a good chaos god, and I’ve made the decision to separate his xenophobia from his writing. That means, of course, that I must view critically anything he wrote that implies white English people are somehow the pinnacle of humanity.It means I purposely do not allow his racism to infect my way of thinking. By doing so, I am practicing la mort de l’auteur. JRR Tolkien Here’s a second example: JRR Tolkien, whose work defined modern fantasy. Do you enjoy anything with elves and dwarves or made-up languages? We owe Tolkien for that. He redefined and polished the fantasy genre so well that everything from movies to MMORPGs still use his templates. Unfortunately, he also described his orcs as “squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, with wide mouths and slant eyes: in fact degraded and repulsive versions of the (to Europeans) least lovely Mongol-types.” Yowza. Now, was Tolkien a racist? Not exactly. In fact, according to the standards of the time, he was absolutely liberal and anti-racist. So then what do we do with this bizarro and racially horrifying description? We see it and choose to discard it. Generations of artists and authors have done exactly that, turning orcs into anything but“least lovely Mongol-types,” and aiding this genre.Again, it’s important to see the problem so you can avoid letting it influence your work. We enjoy the good parts while consciously discarding the bad, rather than being influenced by it. So What About JK Rowling? She’s not dead. In fact, she’s still saying harmful things, even as we speak. Instead of listening to her readers, who (at least initially) approached her in love, trying to help her understand, she doubled down, rejected their experience and their words, and in the process, caused an unbelievable amount of pain. Here’s the thing about la mort de l’auteur: it is entirely up to you whether to apply it to what you read, or to simply discard the whole thing and find less troublesome authors. Both roads are valid. In no way do I condone her attacks on the trans community, or her persistent sharing of misinformation. I choose to apply la mort de l’auteur for the simple reason that I benefited from the good things she’s written, and I wanted to share them with you. However, if you aren’t comfortable doing that, you are absolutely welcome to walk away. In fact, I’d suggest these writing articles instead: Neil Gaiman’s rules of writing, or how to create your own rules of writing. Okay. Awkward stuff done. Ready to dive into the process stuff instead? Let’s go! 9 Rules From JK Rowling’s Writing Process Over the course of her writing career, Rowling shared a lot of solid writing wisdom, and in my opinion, eight writing rules stand out—along with a ninth we can apply from her choices since. Whether or not you’re writing your first book like Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone) or last book in a series (like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), I think these rules speak to Ms. Joanne Rowling’s philosophy on writing.They are great writing tips for you to reflect on in your spare moments and then apply to your writing process, for short stories, novels, bestsellers, or even the first time you’ve ever attempted a book. Rule One: Protect your writing time “Be ruthless about protecting writing days, i.e., do not cave in to endless requests to have “essential” and “long overdue” meetings on those days. The funny thing is that, although writing has been my actual job for several years now, I still seem to have to fight for time in which to do it.” This is especially hard for those of us with family. Our loved ones come first, and while that is important, our loved ones also need to understand that we need time to write. Setting reasonable boundaries is a crucial step for a writer—even if they’re as simple as, “Mommy needs fifteen minutes of quiet time, okay?” If you have trouble setting boundaries with loved ones, try setting a reasonable boundary for one week. See how it goes. If it’s too much time or too little, tweak it. Establish a routine that signals to others that it’s your writing time, but also lets them know that outside of your writing space, you’re there for them. Not only will this teach the importance of flexibility and discipline to others, but also that your writing is valuable. It’s your work, and your dream! Needing quiet time to write doesn’t mean that you don’t love your family. Your writing deserves your time, too. Open communication about this can help everyone understand and respect that. Rule Two: Treat your writing like a job “You’ve got to work. It’s about structure. It’s about discipline.” It’s easy to forget that writing is a job. We don’t always feel like doing our job. We certainly don’t always feel inspired. To be writers, we must train ourselves to sit down and write even when we don’t feel like it. Those moments are the ones that really matter, even more than the shining, flying, muse-kissed moments.Writing when we don’t feel like it is what turn amateurs into professionals and rough drafts into polished manuscripts. “The muse works for you. You don’t write at her beck and call—you train her to show up when you’re writing. “ Rule Three: Believe you ARE a writer “I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me.” Yes, writing is possible with another job. Yes, writing is possible with other responsibilities. Are you a writer? (I know your inner critic snarled no, but I also know a tiny candle-flicker of unquenchable hope in you whispered yes with so much longing you could cry.) You ARE a writer. That means you write. A runner runs. A painter paints. A cook cooks. You are a writer. You write. Accept this, fight to believe it, and be amazed at how far that takes you. Rule Four: Write what you know “Write what you know: your own interests, feelings, beliefs, friends, family and even pets will be your raw materials when you start writing.” This doesn’t mean you need to experience aliens in order to write about them. It means that all good stories have universal application. A great example is this Google Doodle. (Trust me. I’m going somewhere with this.) Take two minutes and thirty-six seconds to watch this: Halloween 2017 Google Doodle: Jinx’s Night Out It’s adorable, right? Without a single word, this video told an effective story. You felt for the little ghost, both when it was sad and when it was happy, right? News flash: you’re not a ghost. That was universal application. It doesn’t matter what culture you’re from or what language you speak; all human beings know what it is to be lonely, to feel left out, to be frustrated, determined, and to finally be with friends. That story works because the creators used their interests, feelings, beliefs, friends, family and even pets to tell this story. (I’m fond of the kitty, myself.) I’m greatly oversimplifying, but here’s the gist: you already know how to tell a moving story because you live one. If you’ve ever had emotions, ever responded to anything, then you already know what universal application looks like. Listen to the people around you, and apply empathy. You don’t have to be a ghost to write a good ghost story. Rule Five: Read “I always advise children who ask me for tips on being a writer to read as much as they possibly can. Jane Austen gave a young friend the same advice, so I’m in good company there.” Read. Read. Read some more! The more you read, the bigger your arsenal of words will be. The more you read, the better your grasp of metaphor, poetry, beauty, passion, and empathy will be. The more you read, the greater you will be as a writer (and probably human being). It’s like learning more dance moves or impressively difficult notes on an instrument. The more you learn, the better you’ll be. So read in your genre. Read outside your genre. Get in the habit of finding time to pick up a book instead of your phone (unless it’s to open up another book.) You DO have the time to read. Even if that’s just ten minutes a day. Any time counts. And the more stories you read, the more likely you’ll start to implicitly develop the skills you need to become a great writer. Rule Six: Persevere “Perseverance is absolutely essential, not just to produce all those words, but to survive rejection and criticism.” This is one of those unpleasant truths about publishing: you’re gonna get rejected. A lot. I wish there were a way around this. Harry Potter was turned down again and again because that’s just the way it goes sometimes. And it isn’t only publishers: when you get published, and your work is out there, you’ll get bad reviews, too. Mostly, they’ll just be people who don’t understand what you’re doing. Intellectually, you’ll know that. Your heart, on the other hand, is going to break into a thousand pieces. But here’s the secret: you can’t stop writing because of push-back. You MUST NOT stop writing because of push-back. Keep going. Don’t stop. When you get rejected, pick up your pen and keep going (and use the way you feel to put more universal application into your work). And when you’re feeling really discouraged? Remember that when someone doesn’t like your book, they might also just not be your ideal reader. That person just wasn’t your target audience.If your book isn’t to someone’s taste, that’s all right. It will be to someone else’s.Keep writing your book, because your ideal readers need it. Rule Seven: Bring your whole self to the page “What you write becomes who you are … So make sure you love what you write!” Writing is a little like a Mobius strip, in a way: Your beliefs and experiences and feelings all help craft your writing. However, your writing clarifies, corrects, and often reveals your beliefs, experiences, and feelings. As you write, you’ll discover things about yourself. You’ll clarify things, too, because it’s only as you come to write them that you realize they needed clarification in the first place. Now, understand: this means that if you haven’t given yourself a good look to find your biases (we all have them), you will bring those to the page, too. It’s important to see who you are as you bring your whole self to the page. Writing is a brave, bold venture, and life-altering discovery is part of the journey. Rule Eight: Accept that failure is part of the process “Failure is inevitable—make it a strength. You have to resign yourself to the fact that you waste a lot of trees before you write anything you really like, and that’s just the way it is. It’s like learning an instrument, you’ve got to be prepared for hitting wrong notes occasionally, or quite a lot. I wrote an awful lot before I wrote anything I was really happy with.” Failure is normal. Also, it is okay. You’re going to write a lot of crap. You’re going to push past those things and write more crap. It may take you twelve years. It may take you a million words. If it does, then you’re on the right path—the same one your favorite authors walk. Accept that it will take time, and that sometimes, your pencil won’t be your friend. If you accept it, then when it happens, you won’t throw in the towel and set the house on fire. Instead, you’ll be able to go, “Well, dang; that sucked, didn’t it? Knew it would happen. Time to write some more.” Rule Nine: Respect Your Reader Sadly, this rule doesn’t come from writing advice she’s given, but in a way, it’s the final conclusion of the previous eight. This involves bringing your whole self to the page. This involves empathy and universal application. This involves perseverance, never quitting, and willingness to tackle your writing troubles. If your readers value what you created, they will listen to what you say. Your words have the power to uplift or hurt others. None of us can ever really know where someone else is coming from, and it’s essential that both our stories and our interactions reflect respect. Respect yourself enough to be a better person. Respect your readers enough to hear what they have to say. This sounds scary, I know, but I promise you, it’s worth it.

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