#maybe I'll get myself to do research and edit what I have to fit

[spamgyu]

hii !! it's my first time requesting to you but can I request for something like giving mingyu kisses with red lipstick on after he comes back from paris (I'm tryna distract myself from that dior fit but he still looked too good nonetheless 😔) thank you!!!!!

So what I'm hearing is you want me DEAD

Alright.... let's do this

Tweaked the request a bit .....

LA VIE EN ROSE – MINGYU DRABBLE

*NOTE: this is not edited sorry. Brain rot is so bad.

"Baby," The heavy door of their shared hotel suite shut behind Mingyu as he called out for you. "I'm back."

"Bathroom!" You called out.

It wasn't long before he appeared at the door way, leaning against the doorframe as he watched you wipe away your eye make-up – a soft smile on his lips.

"How was the show?" You turned to face him, putting a pause to your night routine.

"Crazy," He let out a soft chuckle, recalling to the crowd that had showered him with love just outside the venue. "I wish you could have seen it."

Upon hearing that he had a schedule in the city of love, Mingyu didn't think twice to bring you along – convincing his managers that you needed to be there for your own work purposes.

Which wasn't much of a lie, attending shows of your own favorite brands for research purposes.

It was a silly excuse all that mattered was that it worked and you were there with him. More importantly, looking quite beautiful in the all black attire you had managed to put together; a leather mini skirt with graphic hoodie that seemed to swallow your frame, paired with knee high boots and trench coat.

And even more the better that you were wearing his favorite shade of lip color – a matte red, bringing all the attention to the soft pillows he loved the most.

"I think I saw a bit of it on twitter." You smiled, walking over to him – slinging your arms around his neck. "You're drooling."

Mingyu laughed, reaching up to wipe the corner of his lips as his other hand rested at your hips. "How was yours?"

"Great, the marketing team loved the collection." Your gaze mirroring his – the two of you may have been conversing about your day but both of your minds were on one thing and one thing only.

Each other's lips.

"So how long do I have to keep this up before you let me kiss you?" Mingyu hummed, his head dipping dangerously close to yours.

"Do what?" You asked playfully, brushing your lips against his before pulling back – earning a pout from him.

"You're so annoying." His grip tightened, pulling you against his chest – a little too rough, you may add, causing you to stumble and your lips landing on the collar of his shirt.

Leaving a faint mark of your lips behind.

"Babe!" You gasped, knowing that he had to return the shirt by the end of the trip.

"You're right, I'll be in deep shit. Probably get an earful and I'll most likely be so sad." He feigned the same reaction as yours. "I think a kiss will make it better."

Giggling, you knew there was no winning – not that you cared. You had left the hotel before him earlier in the day and did not get the chance to see him when he had been in full Dior clothing and beauty.

And maybe it was for the best, because had you seen how gorgeous he looked, he might have not made it to the show without traces of your red lips all over his face... and neck.

You remembered sitting in the hired car, scrolling through social media and seeing all images of your boyfriend roll in – looking absolutely breathtaking in the midst of the crowd.

"Is that so?"

Mingyu nodded, his bottom lip jutted out.

"Well then, I guess" You sighed, your nose brushing against his. "I just have to."

"Maybe even make out, I don't know." He mumbled against your lips, before taking your bottom lip between his – smiling briefly at the thought of the color messily transferring on his skin as your lips and tongues slowly moved against each other.

PERMANENT TAGLIST

@thegirlwhoimagined @forcheol @ohmygodwhyareallusernamestaken @f4iryjjosh @akeminy @yonabutnotyuna @tacosandbitch @aaniag @bettybotterboughtabitofbutter @xbaekcult @alwaysalmostthere @ashkuuuu @morkswatermelonnnnn @isabellah29 @lottogyu @bubbly-moon @lllucere @bo-fairykim @pluviophile-xxx @daegutowns @jenoxygen @niktwazny303 @aahvii @fragmentof-indifference @leah-rose03 @haolistic @eclliipsed @joshuahongnumbers @gyuguys @yaaaridk @christinewithluv @yoonzinoooo @livelikejinki @watercolureyes @whoa-jo @primoisellerose

#..........well.... now i need to go kiss him #or maybe kill myself #mingyu drabble #mingyu x y/n #mingyu x you #mingyu x reader #spamwrites #mingyu fic #spamquest

[lraerosesims]

Hey, hi, hello, greetings, sul sul!

So I know I've been a little quiet lately on the Sims CC front, so I thought I'd update you all on what stage I'm up to on each project:

1. The Elderwood Manor Build

I was working on testing this build for functionality etc, and tried to test in different spots in the neighbourhood, and that's when I discovered some broken terrain in the back of the lot (where the terrain slopes from road height to the beach). I've tried to fix it, haven't had any success yet. So I may end up having to either:

Do more heavy research on how to repair just the broken part - putting off uploading it until fixed, or

Remaking the build as close as possible to how it currently looks but on a flatter beach lot to avoid breaking terrain

Either way, it's unfortunately not ready to post for you all to enjoy just yet, I'M SORRY!!! 😭😭😭 I was really hoping to post it but I'd rather not give you guys a broken lot.

I haven't made basically any progress on this outfit since I last shared a texture WIP here. No excuse really, just taking on too much for my little pea-sized brain to handle and can feel the ADHD burnout creeping in so I don't wanna push myself too hard. Making my CC textures is exhausting, and takes a very big toll on ye olde✨mental✨ so I promise it will get done, but I just require some time to recharge so that way I can share the best possible retextures for you all to enjoy.

2. The Harlow Jumpsuit outfit

This one is about 75 to 80% complete. It's another very time consuming project, with the screen recording, video editing, voice over recording, blah blah blah. The biggest problem I have is that I feel the need to announce when I'm working on something (to build interest and anticipation for what's to come) but then take ages to finish it - which leaves people wondering if I'm just full of shit or actually going through with it 😂😂but I promise the tut is happening still!

3. Retexturing YouTube Tutorial

Don't expect this one anytime this decade🤣 I have no idea what I'm doing so I'm winging it entirely. Watch this space though, because who knows maybe I'll just magically find the willpower and mental capacity to figure it all out.

4. Stretched earlobe mesh

And...5. Whatever this hair is

So I did a recolour of a base game hair to make an undercut bun hairstyle (that's accurate to my real life five-head)...not sure if anyone would ever even want this in their game. So far I haven't gotten around to binning it, or even making it in different hair colours. It's also just using a Maxis texture I stole from a different hair and reworked to fit this one. But anyway, that one...exists...for some ungodly reason 😅😂

If you read this far, and haven't given up on me or this page yet then I'm eternally grateful (and slightly confused, but I won't question your intentions 😝)

To be honest with you all, I've got a heap of stressful shit going on in the real worldz right now so bear with me and I'll eventually work through the current projects I'm yet to finish.

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🖤 - L'Rae

#WIP update #Help I'm tired and need a 10 year long nap #lraerosesims

[shirogane-oushirou]

edit: i decided this would drive me nuts, but i still want to keep it in case there's something worth salvaging in the future. ignore all of this ^_^

for some reason i'm interested the idea of poke!ren beginning our friendship with that like... unintentional infantilization a lot of people do with disabled people when they're trying not to be actively ableist? not because i enjoy that LMAO ABSOLUTELY NOT -- and my pokesona is prideful as hell and would DESPISE it -- but i think it would make sense.

[cw casual ableism, infantilism of disabled ppl. also, disclaimer: i'm basing some of this loosely on my own health issues so it may not 100% apply to all disabled people. just want to keep that straight LMAO.]

most many doctors are SUPREMELY ableist, but doc!ren went into his field SPECIFICALLY to help disabled people and so focused on how best to treat each individual person according to their personalities and disabilities. sure, poke!ren's also technically both a clinical doc and researcher, but if doc!ren is like 80% clinical 20% research, poke!ren is like 10% clinical 90% research.

so poke!ren... doesn't have that knowledge. he does mostly field work and some lab work, with the rare "what do you think about this specific medical case?" appointment. he's the kind of person who hates the more vocal brands of ableism, but is consistently overbearing with his treatment of disabled people in a way that's inadvertently exhausting to deal with because "what happens if i tell him this is also ableist? will he have a fit? will he get angry or upset? will he decide disabled people are too picky if i'm not the Perfect Disabled Little Meow Meow?" so you just end up suffering through it.

therefore, he goes full "paper skin, glass bones," with me, very, "oh i can get that for you! no don't stand up, i can do that. can i cook something for you? no no no, i mean, i know you COULD, but wouldn't it be /easier/ for me to make it for you? you might hurt yourself!". 🙄

we have an evening outing in another city. it gets dark, we're not at the point where we're comfortable staying at his place together, he offers to maybe help me find a hotel, and i say "nope i've got this!" and fly away home on a Fucking Lugia.

and then he has to sit with that and realize some things.

like the fact that he has no idea who the fuck i am beyond surface level. after all, i've been carrying a legendary bird around in my back pocket and he didn't know until now, months after we first met.

like the fact that i can take care of SOME things by myself with the right "tools" or pkmn. i SOMETIMES need help, but i don't ALWAYS need help, and if i DO need help i have the option to tell him myself.

like the fact that he simply saw me as Disabled. as though i didn't have a life before or outside of Disability. i was simply the pitiable, lonely, disabled vn nerd he talks about games with.

and then he has to relearn Me from square one, and it makes our relationship so much stronger. we're able to work on our perfect balance together and build the trust that HE won't take things over for ME when I'M capable of something, and that I will let HIM know when i need HIM to do something I can't do. he has to trust that i'll let him be more doting on the days when i'm having flare-ups, but simultaneously has to respect when there are things i still want to do myself even on those worst days.

.........idk. this is a lot of words to say "god i want to be taken care of, but in a way where the other person sees me as an adult with a personality and decision-making ability and a life that's deeply AFFECTED by disability in many ways but isn't JUST disability." yk?

tbch, after writing it all out, this maaaay end up as canon..... OR it might remain a theoretical offshoot depending on how comfy i am when the Mental Movies (tm) of us finding that trust come together. poke!ren's supposed to be like. PURE escapism, so something like this honestly might hit too close to home to feel good fdhfghfg. like at least he'd end up learning that balance, which is nice... but everything leading up to it? 😬 Maybe A Bit Too Painful....

(damn. verbose king over here, wrote all of this TWICE just to say "i might throw it out" lKNMADKJFNKJDNF)

#first made this after a 'well meaning' purchase of an unsafe food brand by family the other day but it was more vitriolic kJNSJKDFN #so i forced myself to sit on it instead of vent-posting. and now the tone's MUCH nicer kjdfnkjdfn ;;;;; #📌 [ my posts. ] #✏️ [ my scenarios. ] #✨ [ oc lore. ] #🐸 [ look ahead. ] #🦔 [ used to be easy. ] #ableism -

[writing-plurals]

Hello! I've been thinking of writing fanfics about a ship making them share the same body. It's going to be drabbles/one-shots tho, since I'm not good at writing (I barely ever write XD) and I don't think I would be able to write a full story with various chapters. I'm plural myself so I have a basic idea of what I should avoid (evil killer alter trope for example)

There's some ideas I came up with and would like some advice on writing the following:

In-system romantic relationships

DID systems

Median systems

Plurals fighting together as heroes

But there's something else I wanted to ask advice on (even if it isn't exactly for writing). See, I'm a native spanish speaker so I'm gonna write the drabbles in spanish. I think it could be a good way of introducing non-disordered and non-traumagenic plurality to other spanish speakers since most of the plural content and activism in spanish is about dissociative disorders only, but because of that there's many sysmeds and anti-endos and I don't know how I should deal with them.

I don't think I can ignore them, specially because I don't want them spreading misinformation (as always) in the comments but I also don't want to flood them debating sysmeds. I thought of maybe making a carrd (with sources) and linking it but IDK if it's actually worth it to make a carrd just for this.

Hey friend! That's a lot, and I can't touch on all of them, so some of them I'll be throwing to other mods and our followers to add on in reblogs. I hope that's alright!

In-system Romantic Relationships

Internal Romantic Relationships are almost the same as ones in the Outside. You can surprise each other with flowers, and presents that's to be THEIRS. You can hold them inside *and* out (when cofronting. It'll all just look a little different.

Person A wants to surprise Person B? Gotta make sure internal walls are built up so they don't know about the flowers until they're set up and they switch in. Have them leave notes for them with the sappy shit people would normally say to their face if there were two bodies involved.

Person A and B want to cuddle while watching a movie, it looks like hugging yourself, but maybe B has control of one arm, and is stroking the face or other hand. During sad parts, A hugs B (with the body) eeeeeeextra tight!

Plurals Fighting As Heroes

The mask a singlet would wear as a hero has multiple meanings once a system puts one on. So plan on the group having a long conversation about the name they all want to use that won't tip anyone off. Think System Name but opposite direction, so as not to be found out.

And same goes for the outfit, except you can probably lead with more of what the system members like in aesthetics.

And the elephant in the room, what about powers? Do they all have seperate (more nichely specific) powers? Do they all have the same one and use it differently? If you've seen the later seasons of My Hero Academia, there's a comparison to Midoriya you might find helpful.

Just make sure that if you include powers, that the way it fits into the world doesn't show your system to be Different because they're a system.

And last but not least (for my advice before additions)

If you're planning on writing some of the first creative representation of plurality, prepare to be the people that are looked to for information.

Set up a Caard or something akin to one with information, (credited and linked to sources!!!, Caards get a bad rep for that), and you can direct people to it like a FAQ.

And by taking on this role, you have to accept the risk that sysmeds are going to try to debate you. So deeply consider if you have the time to research responses that are backed up by studies that you can shut them down with. There are several blogs I've seen share information like this that you might find helpful in bringing it to the spanish side of fandom.

@cambriancrew is a fantastic place to start, and you can find more blogs akin to them there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope that this and advice further down on this post is helpful. And I give my best wishes as you embark on this. We need more people like you making content online.

-Mod Tick Tock

(This has been edited to remove the color, thank you for the feedback!)

#Mod Tick Tock #actuallyplural #plural gang #plural system #plural representation #writing plural characters #plural pride #pluralgang

[kaylas-world-0]

I'm so impressed by how much you write, do you have any tips?

Tips For Writing A Lot?

Sure. I can try to explain it as best as I can.

The moment an idea comes to my mind, I write it down. I don't start editing right away. If I have to do research, I will do it. For me, doing research is very fun and I would love to share what I find with you. Do I need to write something about a disease? I immediately research and add whatever I find on the internet to my story (not everything of course. Don't want to fill your mind with countless/unnecessary information and scare you away/ bore you into the further reading) This also develops and moves the story forward. Both in terms of fullness and vocabulary.

I'll try to fit my ideas in your requests if it suits your wishes. Whenever it comes. I write as I feel like. I start with whichever one I feel closer to. I always give a start to all your requests. So when I look back and see the words there, I don't go back, it pushes me to write more.

I also use translator after editing (I am calling out to those whose native language is not English) It also helps a lot for me to find new words/sentences to add. Or fix mistakes that I missed while editing. You do this or don't, that's do not change what you do. You write, you pour your mind into words. That's what counts. No one can think excatly like you, even if they did no one can write/express like you. (Don't leave all the job to the translator. It sometimes translate wrong or add wrong pronoun/noun) Either you know this or not I am leaving a warning anyway.

If you don't force yourself a bit. Sit down, open the site and start writing without any disturbance/ without anything to distract you, you will not and can't write at all even if you do want to. I know that from myself. Distractions. A pain in the ass. I do that to myself, a lot. I regret immediately. I do it anyway, I know cuz it happens a bit out of my will. Probably because of habit. But I shouldn't. I'm ready to write, but suddenly I go to YouTube or another social media and waste a lot of time there. Even if I go back to writing again, I lose my desire, I don't want to write anymore, I get tired or my ideas poof away. This is when your will, yourself, your mind come into play. You need to stop and remind yourself. Ask what you want to do first. Do you want to write? Need to do homework? Or need to do housework? Or do you want to waste time? Maybe you will have fun while you waste that time, but sometimes you need to stop having fun so that you can do your responsibilities. Time will not come back. It's the dearest thing you have. Getting in trouble is really not a good thing. As the day of your work gets closer, you become more stressed. It is always better to do it right away from the first day than to delay it. (Tho songs matching with your mood or the story can help too)

But first and foremost take care of yourself. You always come first. Sleep at the right time. Eat at the right dose. Believe me when I say this, if you don't eat or sleep your mind after some point literally stops working and that's a huge no for us writers because if your mind not working? You can't write. (This is like a huge writers block moment lmao Even if you are depressed sometimes the best ideas comes from unexpected moments) I know some of best times to write/good ideas nearly all the time comes at night. (For me it also comes when I am showering. Staying in there at least for an hour 👀💦) But sometimes you have to do sacrifices to live more lmao

This is like cooking. You can't rush it, ir would taste bad. You can't cook it for too long. Everything has to be in time. If you are cooking more than one dish, the cooking time for all of them will be different. Depending on the difference in ingredients in it~

I think... I write a bit a lot here. But thanks for reading all these (if you did 👀) and for the ask!

#tips #kaylanswers #i am happy to hear that i am inspiring people :) #that's the whole point why I wanted to share my work #I actually have no idea how to write tips ksbsjs

[halleyuhm]

~WTW Ghost Gala: Days 1 to 8~

I just found the event and I'm several days back, so I'll try to be brief. I'll be using my WIP The trees don't let you see the forest because I think it's the one I'd like to try for NaNoWriMo and the aesthetics fit with the season.

It tells the story of a young witch cursed with blindness due to a failed spell and her journey to find the way to reverse it, aided by friends, fought by foes, and realizing the might be more important things than getting her sight back. It will be a challenge to write using every sense but vision! I have written the synopsis here, if you are interested. Yeah, I should probably do an official WIP intro.

So there we go, under the cut.

(Divider by @cafekitsune, go check her work out!)

🎃 Pumpkin Carving - You have to kill off a character: Who do you choose?

Right now, without having planned much, I choose Mauve. She's the secret keeper and sooner or later the past catches up with everyone.

🦅Raven - Create a tagline for your WIP

"Things we lose aren't lost: they remain with us, albeit in different shapes".

🔮Crystal Ball - Outline a scene, act or your entire WIP.

Let's just try the first scene so we can compare what I plan with what will later come up:

1. Juniper wakes up and sees nothing. Elowyn is there tending to her wounds. Crying, stress, oops she messed up so bad, she can't be a Sun Sage anymore. But she deserves it, and Mauve, her mentor, lets her know. Periwinkle, the cat, is silently judging June so hard she can feel it.

2. Laurel comes in, distraught because he played a part in the situation (unknowingly??). Maybe he argues with Elowyn and Mauve because of inner guilt + they accuse him. But June crashes against something and they focus on stopping her from falling head-first into a boiling pot.

3. Same scene or after some struggles?? Mauve (or Periwinkle, why not) mentions the Wildfire Hollyhock, the burnt lands, and the town there, but doesn't tell what happened in those cursed places.

4. June wants to go, Laurel joins, and Elowyn is told by Mauve to go with them because she is the BEST. There are obvious reactions. Witchy stuff.

5. I'm bad at this.

🍂Fallen Leaves - Create a playlist for your WIP

Work in progress but here it goes.

🎇Jack o' lantern -Share an interesting fact you found while doing research for your WIP

There is a flower that only blooms after wildfires. The seeds lay dormant under the surface until the soil is burnt and then they sprout. They don't last long, just enough for bees to pollinate them and drop seeds which will stay dormant until they are awakened.

You can read an article here, for example.

🧄Vampire - Tell us where you find inspiration or motivation.

This is what I struggle with the most (along with planning).

Inspiration comes in dreams, random shower thoughts, a single word in an extensive paragraph, Pinterest aesthetics, little things I see in my daily life, name generators (that I never end up picking), and simple things. Like, "Oh, this would be fun to write about."

Motivation uh, comes when my brain hyperfixates on an idea. And reading. Reading lots.

💀Skeleton - Have a favorite plot structure? If not, share how you plot.

I have no idea how I plot. Usually, I start writing and let the story take me where it needs to go (yeah, there's lots of editing later). I get ideas on the go, maybe a whole scene, and I add it to my evergrowing list of ideas waiting for the auspicious moment when it comes into play. Somehow, I managed to be very cohesive, though. And I surprise myself with how everything seems to flow as if I had previously planned it.

🍬Trick or Treat - Set some writing goals and milestones for your WIP.

This crashes a bit with the last answer, but I really really want to be more disciplined and focused. I just want to manage to plot the story and get to the NaNoWriMo final milestone. Let's do it!!

If you've come this far, thank you! You are my hero 💜

#WTWEVENT #WTWCOMMUNITY #wtwevent #wtwcommunity #am writing #preptober #nanowrimo #writeblr #writblr #WIP: June #ghost gala

[not-poignant]

New-author-Anon here. Thank you so much, Pia. It just... It's so easy to see the "small" wordcount and think "oh, this is nothing." I'm pretty good at churning words out normally, but on top of this, I have a legal job that takes up 25-30 hours a week, and I teach Japanese 3 hours a week. I kept telling myself that it's not too much. The salary is good for my area (about 19k AUD a year), and that's the probationary one. Thank you. You're probably right it's burnout. Ill try to adjust my workload

It's so easy to see the "small" wordcount and think "oh, this is nothing."

Honestly I agree! I saw the 1,600-1,900 words and thought 'oh that's not too bad' and then I saw 'twice a week' and was like '....hang on' and then added up the numbers on my calculator and did a tiny little scream in my head about what you'd committed yourself to.

I'm just a little worried about you anon! You're obviously a superstar with everything you do, and I'm really really glad you're getting paid a decent amount for your area! I want this to be a good fit for what you're doing because you like the content and you like the work. But man, non-fiction takes a toll. It's harder to write than fiction, for the most part, because it requires more research every single time. You don't get to 'settle down' into characters, and those hours of research and editing aren't invisible.

One thing you can maybe consider doing while you figure this all out, is sit down and - if you aren't doing this already - work out the hours you spend realistically on the writing job. Not just the writing itself, but the editing, the researching, and also thinking about what to write re: the topic itself. It's sometimes easy to forget that these are also the hours of your new job, and they are all equally important.

Another thing you could do if you're very committed to keeping this job, or can't restructure easily, is seeing if you can try and get ahead on your schedule, so that you feel less like you're constantly at the mercy of your deadlines - I don't know if it's possible, but if you can even get a week ahead sometimes, it can help remove some of that dread. ADHD makes this very hard, and so this may not be possible with what you're already doing, so don't stress if you can't. It's okay.

Your feeling of helplessness may be your body or mind trying to communicate to you that you're just overwhelmed right now. And if it is writer's block - there will absolutely be different techniques that you can use to help you.

And 100% you need to look at scheduling some rest. One of my hardest earned skills personally is the ability to go - after staring at a chapter and hating myself for not writing anything - is 'Right! I'm not going to write for the next four hours! I'm clearly tired! I'm going to go lie down, and get some rest. Or I'm going to do something fun or relaxing. Or I'm going to go for a walk. But the thing I'm 100% not going to do is stare at this document. I'll come back later.' The hardest part of this skill is catching it before 3 hours have gone by, lmao. Sometimes I'll just do the 'endless scroll' and distract myself and feel guilty and stressed, and I have to actually just be like 'walk away and go do something else.' I may still worry about it, but at least I gave my brain a TV show, or a movie I love, or a book, or I ate something tasty, or I drank some water.

The fact is, people tend to write better when they're not exhausted all the time. I have to take days off because of chronic illness anyway, but taking actual rest time is vital to you actually being able to feel inspired and motivated enough to write. You obviously have discipline! And reaching out for help is great too. Give yourself some mercy and kindness in amongst feeling like you're not getting anything done, you're getting a lot done, and are maybe now needing to re-evaluate a little. I really hope it works out though, and it sounds like you're working damn hard to achieve it. I do wish you all the best, seriously.

(Oh, and random tip that isn't in my other writer's block links - if you can, consider hooking up with some Twitch stream 'write ins' or other writing groups. Sometimes the gentle pressure of other people who 'get it' all kind of figuring it out at the same time can actually help? I'm not one of those writers who benefits from this, but I know plenty who are, and it might end up being your thing too!)

#asks and answers #pia on writing #dodgy advice #please dismiss anything i say that doesn't work for you!! #<3333333

[world-of-fire-and-flight]

Hi!! I hope you are doing well❤️

For the ask game, how about Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces?

Maybe also taurus and gemini?

I am not sure how many i should(/can) ask for-

HI! I'm good just kinda keeping busy😅 Hope all is well with you too! (And I'm also really happy you asked for aquarius because that's my sun sign!)

Also, I'm sorry - this got kinda long lol

Capricorn - hahahaha so I *try* to write every day for however long time allows (so a few hours at most, rarely do I write all day). I'm not picky and just tend to write whatever I have the motivation for. Some days it's blogs (personal or freelance whatever), sometimes it's creative, and sometimes I bounce around. Get a blog done, a chapter done, whatever and switch, so there's not really a set schedule of "I'm working on this project for this length of time."

As far how long it takes.....it depends on the length of what I'm working on and whatever's going on around me (but that's what I have headphones for😂)

Drafting a blog can take me maybe an hour, unless I have to do research then it'll take a few hours. Then I edit it immediately and send it off to who ever it's for so it'a not my problem any more. Same with personal blogs that I post on my website, though those can sometimes take longer depending on the subject.

Drafting a Tumblr snippet or an actual chapter for a creative work can vary. On average, it takes me a couple hours. If I'm struggling with it or if I'm working on it between other tasks, it could take me anywhere from a couple days to a week.

Aquarius - Currently, I'm working on EoE, the sequel to Fire & Flight. The landscape and the overall world the narrative is set in is definitely the most unique feature a d arguably my favorite part of it because I get to let my imagination take hold of it✨

Pisces - both! I've called myself a pantser, but I definitely daydream a lot of scenes and then those scenarios do kinda play like a movie in the background while I physically sit and draft it. And also, due to the shear amount of daydreaming I do before actually sitting down to write scenes, I find that the words flow a lot better than when I sit down and open up a fresh document and try to just go for it. I have to have an idea first or else the worlds don't work lol

Bonus signs because idk how many you ask lol:

Taurus - ummmmm idk. I've never thought about it. There was a scene in F&F that I had to cut because it didn't fit but you can bet your ass I shoehorned it into EoE so I guess I'll wait literal years to make a scene work if I can. I'm a brutal editor though too, so I'll cut scenes if I can't make them work and align with my plot or make them serve a purpose (character development, etc)

Gemini - Depending on the length of the thing I'm working on/what it is/what draft it is, it can change a handful of times. In my Tumblr drabbles, the plot can change between each part because, for the most part, I write those on a weekly basis without any preplanning and then ideas hit me as I write and I have to make decisions on the fly about whether or not those ideas work with previously written parts or not.

#writeblr #writeblr games #writeblr asks #THANKS FOR THE ASK! #I've learned that I love doing these because they make me think about my writing and consider things about me as a writer that I never have #💜💜💜

[longlivebatart]

Since my friend was kind enough to feature me as their first podcast recommendation, I figured I might as well help pad out their brand-new blog!

Disclaimer: I'm still in my first season, with ten episodes under my belt, but I feel like my experience will help any others who haven't started a podcast yet! This is going to be a monster of a post, so the rest will be under the cut.

So you want to start a podcast. Great! It’s a fantastic way to get your (literal) voice out there. Podcasts are one of the last few truly individual and democratic ways of media- there are no massive corporations trying to get a stranglehold. Anyone with the technology can make one, so  there’s no barrier to entry.

Whether you want to do a fiction or nonfiction podcast, I’m sure you have an idea (or twenty) that you want to do. But you’re nervous because there are so many guides and advice out there. Fear not, I did a lot of research before I started this podcast, so I can share some tips, tricks, and general advice.

Step 1: Get over yourself

This may sound harsh, but it needs to be said. No one will care about your podcast more than you do. That’s just the reality. But as bad as that sounds, there’s a good part too- it means no one will be listening to it as closely as you do. So if you miss an ‘um’ or a click or a whatever during editing, chances are no one will notice. 

You also have to go into podcasting for the right reasons. If your reason is ‘to make a bunch of money,’ then you’re going to be disappointed. Monetization is years down the line and probably won’t be a lot anyway. 

But if your reason to go into podcasting is to have fun or to just share what's unique about you with the world, you'll have a good time.

And I'll be honest, I had a hard time doing this step too. It was me being arrogant but at the same time insecure. I have a speech impediment plus a very thick regional accent and I thought that would hinder me. It didn't. 

Podcasting actually helped me get more confident in myself and remember that what I say matters. So if that's something you're looking for, go for it. 

Step 2: Research

So you have an idea. Or, rather, you think you have an idea. Chances are, your podcast idea is way too broad to appeal to anyone because you’re trying to appeal to everyone. I know, that seems counterintuitive- why would you exclude people from your potential audience when you don't even have one yet? But the more specific you can be, the better. It’s called a niche. So say you want to start a fitness podcast. You don’t want to do body building one episode and then yoga the next. That will just put your listener off because they will think that not every episode is applicable to them. And that’s what you want to do- find a niche so every single episode appeals to your audience. Narrow yourself down, and don’t worry if you think you’re being too specific. I’ll help with that later on. 

You want to ask yourself a few questions- what is the podcast about, why are you making this podcast, who are you making this podcast for, etc. There’s a great article that covers these questions- and more- right here. So answer those questions and you’ll have a great starting point. 

Step 3: Topic

Take that broad idea you have and figure out what exactly you have experience in or just have a lot to say about. Sticking with our fitness example, maybe think of yoga exclusively. And if you can get more specific than that, maybe yoga you can do in 10 minutes, that’s even better. Once you have the idea you want, it’s time to start looking to see who did it before you. Because no idea is completely original, and that’s fine! You will bring something completely individual to the table because there isn’t anyone exactly like you anywhere. So listen to those 10-minute yoga podcasts and see what they did and you can do different. Say you can think of yoga positions you can do in 10 minutes while in a chair. Fantastic, that’s a great niche to fit in. 

For myself, I did a lot of research into art podcasts and didn't find one that was like my idea. That doesn't mean there aren't any out there, it just meant that there were very few. That means a) there's limited competition and b) there's a gap in media catering to that subgroup. And it's ok if your audience is different than what you expect!

Also, be sure you have enough topic to cover multiple episodes. Some guides say 10 episodes, but I say go longer. A lot longer. Try 35 episodes. If that seems daunting, then this isn’t the topic for you. If you can’t make at least that many episodes, you’ll stall out and eventually drop off. And nothing is worse than podcasts that just end without wrapping up. So it’s good to know that before you start. 

This is a good time to plan out episodes- you have a bunch of ideas already! There’s this thing that people in the industry call ‘podfade’ where most podcasts fizzle and may even die after 7-10 episodes. I don’t want to happen to you. So make a bunch of ideas, structure them in a way that makes sense, and move from there. 

Step 4: Name

Next up is the name. Now, there are three general camps for names: the branded, the creative, and the descriptive. 

The branded is using your name or the name of your brand. Unless you have a really recognizable brand or you use your real name a lot and it’s easily recognizable, I wouldn’t go this route. Say someone who doesn’t know you finds your podcast, Mike Smith Fitness. Why would they click if they don’t know who Mike Smith is? If I used my name, it would be something like Sydney’s Art Podcast or An Art Gallery Tour with Sydney. Not as grabbing. 

The creative is what I chose. Creative names have to walk a fine line, though. You don’t want to go too obscure, otherwise it will be confusing. Take my podcast. It’s an art podcast with pure descriptions of artworks. So I started thinking of names that would be clever with that. I landed on the idea that bats use sound to ‘see’ the world. And people say ‘long live bad art’. So Long Live Bat Art was born. 

And the descriptive is describing what the podcast is about. Say I went with this option for my own podcast. I would have titled it something like Art Description Podcast. That's good for SEO- search engine optimization- and for letting people know right away what the podcast is about, but I'm not good at that. 

But you will have to go through a lot of iterations to find the best name for your podcast. For Long Live Bat Art I had a lot of ideas, most of them bad. And bad ideas are good, as long as you recognize they’re bad. Because bad ideas spark good ideas. So just don’t filter yourself, write all those ideas down. For example, I had ‘Negative Space,’ ‘Blocking In,’ ‘Illusion of Space,’ ‘A Different Perspective,’ ‘Visionless,’ ‘Echolocation,’ ‘SONAR[T],’ ‘Artistic Vision,’ and a more vague one that was considering using a pun on the term for a total lack of sight- amaurosis. Now, ‘SONAR[T]’ was pretty good, but I looked it up. It was similar to a podcast in French, [SON]ART.

You don’t want anything close to what you’re planning. Best case scenario, you’ll confuse listeners, worst you’ll direct traffic to the other podcast and not yours. And then you have to worry about intellectual theft suits. So just steer clear. 

And if you really want to protect your name, trademark it! Look up trademarking laws in your state and country and follow them. 

Step 5: Social Media

You want to get the names/handles/whatever for the social media sites you plan on using. My suggestion is a website, twitter, and instagram. Unless you think your audience will use other sites, then by all means, use those! 

You also might want to use a community part of a website/app. Start a Facebook group, or use a Discord server. This can be a place for you to interact directly with your audience, and for them to interact with you! 

For a website, you do want to buy a domain. It just makes it easier to give it out to people verbally, which is what you’ll be doing most of the time. So you don’t want a domain with lots of random numbers, or another company’s name in it, you want just a plain domain. And then once you have a domain, most code-free website builders have an option to click that you already have a domain. So put that in and get building! I won’t go into detail of how to do that here, but there are tons of videos and tutorials out there. But just play with it, see what you like. 

Step 6: Format

So you have your topic and name. Great! Now is the time for what form your podcast will take. Will it be an interview style? Will you have a co-host or multiple co-hosts? Will you fly solo?

This is also where you can start to think about if your podcast will be seasonal. And don’t feel like because you don’t have a fiction podcast, you can’t do seasonal. Long Live Bat Art is. 16 episodes a season, posted every other Friday starting from the first Friday in July. That’s 8 months of content. And then the rest of the active time can be spent promoting the podcast. But the most important part of season-based podcast is to RELAX. You give yourself a break. I won’t work for the 4 months off at all. If you’re scared people will forget about your podcast, put those doubts aside. Yeah, maybe a few people will. But if your show is good, most people won’t. Plus, there’s a handy-dandy thing called ‘subscribing’ that means that episodes will be delivered right to your listener’s feed without them doing a thing- they won’t have to remember, they’ll just get the episode.

This is also the time to decide how long your episodes will be. Don’t go searching the web for the ‘ideal’ length because spoiler alert: there isn’t one. Some podcasts are under ten minutes, some are over two hours. The answer for ‘how long should an episode be’ is kinda weird but at the same time super simple- ‘as long as it has to be and as short as you can get it.’ That means cutting all the fat and making sure every second is good content. If you have 45 minutes of great content, then your episode will be 45 minutes. Don’t try to cram 15 extra minutes of nothing to make it an even hour. 

Step 7: Write

Now it’s time to plan your episode. There are some people who like to write a word-for-word script- like I do- there are some that use bullet points, and some use a combination. There are reasons for all of them, and all of them suit different kinds of podcasts and people. 

Scripts are good for people who want to keep everything really tight in their show. They’re also pretty much necessary for fiction podcasts. But there are cons- if you’re not used to reading from a script and it’s a non-fiction podcast, you can sound really flat. And that’s not good listening. So try to write like you talk. Shove your inner English teacher into a closet and lock the door for a little bit. Don’t worry about not starting sentences with ‘and,’ ‘but,’ or ‘so.’ Don’t worry about sentence structure or past participle tense. This isn’t an essay, it’s a podcast script. I didn’t have to worry about that because I’m a former theater kid who got used to reading scripts. But if you don’t have that background, it can sound different. 

When you write a script, I recommend doing a few trial runs BEFORE you ever hit record. You’ll catch a lot of ways you want to change sentences to better suit how you talk. Because how you think you talk and how you actually talk is often a lot different. And don’t be afraid to go off-script! If you think of something you didn’t add, you can go and change it in the trial runs. That’s a lot harder to do later on, but not necessarily impossible. 

Bullet points are the loosest way you can prepare. They’re good for interview podcasts, for example. You want to have things you remember to touch on during the interview without having them word-for-word. But they’re not just for interviews! Do you like having the freedom to explore the conversation with your co-host(s) naturally? Bullet points might be the way to prepare for you. 

Any way you choose, there should be some preparation. You don’t want to sit down to record with just a topic in mind because then editing will be a nightmare. You’ll go off on tangents, you won’t complete thoughts, you’ll meander. Just do yourself the favor of putting some work on the front end so you have less on the back end. 

If possible, read your finished script to someone not on the podcast and see what they think! Ask them questions. Did they get bored or confused? 

And don’t think the episode content, or the meat, of the episode as the only thing you have to write. There are also things called ‘intros,’ ‘outros,’ ‘show notes,’ ‘episode descriptions,’ and ‘podcast descriptions.’ Don’t leave these for the last minute! They’re just as important, and most of the time more so, than your actual podcast recording. 

Intros are the introduction to the podcast. Every episode will be the first time someone listens to your show, and not everyone will start at the beginning. So be sure to hook the listener right away. Think of how long you yourself give podcasts to get you to listen, and be honest with yourself. My guess is most of you said ‘less than a minute’ or even ‘less than 30 seconds.’ And that’s fine! Your time is valuable. And so is your listeners’.

There are a few things most people include in their intros. The most important ones are the podcast name, the host’s name and credentials, the tagline, and a short description of what the episode will entail. Your podcast’s name is important because maybe someone has your podcast in a queue of all the podcasts they want to listen to. Most people listen to podcasts while doing other things, so they can’t stop and click to see what they’re listening to. So be sure to include that. Your name is just as important- listeners want to know a name to attach to the voice. And if you have any expertise in the field, definitely include that! You want to show the listener that you know your stuff and they should trust you. Even if you don’t have credentials, that can be equally as important. I don’t have a background in art, and I make sure to mention that at the beginning of every show. It tells the listener that I’m a beginner, just like they are. That can really put the listener at ease, knowing they won’t have a ton of technical jargon thrown at them. The tagline of your show is important, too. Think of it like a pitch, but slightly different. Say your podcast is about yoga you can do in 10 minutes in a chair. You want to say that! Let people know in one sentence what they need to know. And the episode description is a short summary or a teaser of what’s to come. It’s also helpful to put a little wish at the end. Here’s the intro for all of my podcast episodes: “Welcome to Long Live Bat Art, the podcast for art lovers who don’t see art as much as they want to. My name is Sydney and thank you for taking this slow tour through an art gallery with a casual art lover. Today, I’ll be talking about [ARTWORK by artist]. I hope you enjoy.”

See what I did? I named the podcast- Long Live Bat Art; I gave the tagline, ‘the podcast for art lovers who don’t see art as much as they want to;’ I introduced myself and my (lack of) credentials, ‘My name is Sydney and thank you for taking this slow tour through an art gallery with a casual art lover;’ and I gave a short description that will change from episode to episode, which is what artwork I’ll be talking about and by what artist; and my wish that the listener enjoys. 

Keep. The. Intro. Short. Keep in mind that minute or half a minute time frame. You don’t want the intro to last ten minutes. Potential listeners will skip your episode and possibly your podcast entirely and regular listeners will fast-forward. When you write the intro’s first draft feel free to jam it full of information, but remember to pare it down! Read it out loud and TIME YOURSELF. Keep it lean. 

Outros are just as important as intros. They’re what ease your listener out of the episode and entice them to listen to the next episode. Don’t leave it as an after-thought. Thank the listener for listening, make a call to action or two, and let them know when to expect the next episode. If you don’t know what a ‘call to action’ is, they’re pretty simple. They’re what you want your listeners to do. Tell a friend about the show. Follow you on social media. Leave a review. Subscribe to your newsletter. All calls to action, or CTAs. But don’t shove ten of them in one episode. If you ask too much, then your listener won’t do any. Keep them easy to do- you’re doing this for free, and it’s not a lot to ask your listeners to do something to help out. But keep them friendly! This is my outro: “If you liked this episode of Long Live Bat Art, please consider telling a friend and reviewing to help the podcast grow. You can also follow me on social media. Thank you for listening to this episode, and I will see you in two weeks.” Sometimes, I even leave off the 'follow me on social media.'

My outro anatomy is basic- two or three calls to action, a thanks, and a reminder of when the next episode is. You don’t have to go crazy. In fact, it’s better if you don’t. Try to keep the outro as lean as the intro. And don’t feel like you’re tied to your CTA- when you grow, you’ll find the need for different ones and you can always change it down the line.

Show notes are a little tricky. Some people swear by them, some people leave them for their own website. If you leave them on the podcast-listening site, think of them like an interesting bibliography. If you don’t remember what that is, it was the annoying last page you had to include in school essays listing where you got the information. But don’t think that if you don’t do research on your show, you can skip this part. Show notes, along with the episode description, show up under your episode on the podcast listening site, so make them interesting. Especially the first sentence, because that’s often the only thing people can see before hitting ‘see more.’ You want people to listen to your episode, and this is a good way to grab them. When they hit ‘see more,’ you want to make sure that the rest of the show notes are interesting and entice the listener to, well, listen. 

If you used sources, link them in the show notes. If you have social media, link them here. If you have a website, definitely link that here. If you use music, link the credit. If you do transcripts, link that here. And you can even time stamp the episode here. I generally have four or five in Long Live Bat Art- artist bio, story about the scene depicted (if included), the description of the art, my thoughts, and the challenge I pose at the end of every episode. They’re not necessary, but it is nice for repeat listeners to be able to skip to the part they want to hear. But you only get so many characters for show notes- 4,000 to be precise. If you have more than that, don’t fret. Leave a message- something like ‘the show notes for this episode are too long to be put here, so instead read them at’- and then put wherever you have them. 

Episode descriptions are NOT show notes. They’re the summary to the episode. Think of it like the episode blurb of your favorite TV show. Something that entices without giving away the plot. You don’t want to put the twist here. My episode notes end up something like “Sydney has stopped at [ARTWORK] for today’s episode. This artwork was [MEDIUM] by [ARTIST] and shows [SUBJECT]. [INTERESTING FACT ABOUT EPISODE/WHAT I LEARNED/FUNNY THING I TALKED ABOUT].” As you can see, they tend to change a lot, though, so don’t worry if a script doesn’t work. Be sure to under promise and over deliver here. It’s never good to have a description where you promise something exciting will happen and it either doesn’t or appears for a second. If you have a guest, put their name and credentials here! And give listeners who might not know who they are context.

And your podcast description is NOT your episode description. If episode descriptions are like episode blurbs of TV shows, the podcast description is the blurb for the whole series. You want to keep it broad so it encompasses what the podcast is about as a whole, and you want to make it specific enough to cater to your niche. Introduce yourself and your credentials here again so people know before ever clicking any episode. If your podcast is seasonal, write that so listeners don’t get confused if they discover you during the offseason and there’s no new episode. If you’re an interview podcast, put that too. Also put your pitch, what makes you unique here, and maybe even what you want your listener to walk away with or describe the listener to the listener. But be sure to under promise and over deliver again. My podcast description is: “So you want to see art more often than you do, or maybe you just want a fresh perspective on art you’ve seen before. Join your host, Sydney, on a slow tour through an art gallery. Every season will have a theme and each episode will be dedicated to one artwork. You’ll get a brief history of the artist before the description of the work and then you’ll get to hear Sydney’s thoughts on it. Because Sydney is a casual art fan you won’t hear overly complicated technical terms, or if you do then you’ll get an explanation of what the term means in plain English. Long Live Bat Art is seasonal, with 16 episodes a season posted every other Friday from the first Friday in July to 32 weeks later. The rest of the calendar year is the offseason.”

My description might seem long, but it really isn't. The max character limit is also 4,000, but you don’t want to come even close to that. No one likes a wall of text. But my description hits everything I mentioned- describe the listener to them, ‘so you want to see art more often than you do, or maybe you just want a fresh perspective on art you’ve seen before;’ I introduce myself and my (lack of) credentials, ‘because Sydney is a casual art fan you won’t hear overly complicated technical terms, or if you do then you’ll get an explanation of what the term means in plain English;’ my pitch, ‘a slow tour through an art gallery;’ I describe what the listener can expect from the podcast’s format, ‘every season will have a theme and each episode will be dedicated to one artwork’ and ‘Long Live Bat Art is seasonal, with 16 episodes a season posted every other Friday from the first Friday in July to 32 weeks later. The rest of the calendar year is the offseason;’ and what they can expect from each episode, ‘you’ll get a brief history of the artist before the description of the work and then you’ll get to hear Sydney’s thoughts on it.’ Every carefully-crafted sentence in the description has a purpose, which is what you should do. 

Step 7: Music

Music is optional but nice to have. They can help make even the most newbie podcaster seem more professional. Music to start, end, and transition between segments in the episode is fantastic. Music for under your voice is amazing. But don’t think you can choose any music without a problem. Even if you edit or change the music, you can still get nailed with a lawsuit. So keep it to royalty free music sites like purple planet. 

Think of what the vibe or content of your podcast is and pick music to match. Nothing is more jarring than pleasing ambient music before a heavy metal music podcast. You’ll do nothing but confuse and alienate listeners. The heavy metal fans will think the intro music isn’t their scene and click out, and the ones who enjoy the light music will be shocked at the content of the episode and click out. 

Here’s a tip, though. Keep your music softer than what you think it should be. You don’t want the music to overpower your voice. I keep mine at half the volume of my voice.

Step 8: Artwork

Now this step, like the music, isn’t technically mandatory. But I do suggest putting something in the podcast artwork, even if it’s just text on a colored background. 

Since I’m artistic, I drew my podcast artwork myself. But not everyone has that level of artistic skill built up yet, so don’t worry if you can’t do that. The text on a colored background is a great placeholder until you find someone to do your art. 

If you do decide to draw or otherwise create your own artwork, there are some things you should do, as well as some to not. Let’s start with the ‘do.’ Whatever you do, keep it simple. Simple colors, simple text, simple image. My art for Long Live Bat Art is as simple as I could get it- a bat looking at a colored line drawing of The Scream by Edvard Munch and the name of the podcast on the side. 

Second ‘do’- make it interesting. Podcast artwork stands out more than the name because sometimes people stop scrolling when they see colors. So use that opportunity to grab listeners, intrigue them. If possible, make them ask a question. My art makes people think ‘what on Earth kind of podcast would feature a bat looking at art?’ Hopefully, that makes people click and see what that’s all about. 

Third ‘do’- put your name in the art. Keep the text simple and BOLD. You can see my text clearly. 

Now for the don’ts. 

Don’t include images of microphones, headphones, or other podcast equipment. Think of it like a simplified movie poster- they don’t put imagery of TVs or cameras or those black and white striped director clapper things. People know it’s a podcast, you don’t have to remind them. In fact, you want to make people forget that. 

Step 9: Software

You’re going to need something to capture your voice. You can use equipment- like an audio recorder- but you will need software to edit. There are tons of free software out there- GarageBand for Mac, or Audacity. Then there’s paid software, like Hindenberg, Adobe Audition, or Reaper. It all depends on your budget and how comfortable you are with doing it yourself. You can pay someone to edit your podcast, but I do it myself. It was hard at first, but I got better. There’s a learning curve to everything, and you’ll learn as you go.

Step 10: Equipment

Next up is the equipment. I recommend using a microphone other than the one on your phone or computer. There are some really affordable options if you don’t have a huge budget. The microphone is probably the most important part of the technical part of making a podcast. 

There are also some ‘nice to have’ add-ons. A pop filter, a device you fit to your microphone to cut down on ‘plosives’ like harsh ‘b’ and ‘p’ sounds, would be good. I use what's called a 'windscreen' that came with the mic. It's basically a foam cover that does the same job as a pop filter. 

Make sure everything is plugged in or charged, turn on the mic, hit ‘record,’ and start!

Step 11: Record

So now it’s time to record. Awesome, this is the moment you’ve been waiting for. But before you start, I’d recommend doing some thinking first. 

Think about the room you’re going to record in. Does it have a lot of hard surfaces sound can bounce off of, or does it have carpet and pillows and furniture that the sound won’t bounce off of? If you’re strapped for cash, use a closet. I know, it seems weird. But the clothes do wonders for keeping your audio good. If you want something with a little more room, try building a pillow fort like NPR suggests for its youth podcast contest. Or use a mover’s blanket. Whatever you do, try to surround yourself with fabric and other soft things. 

Second of all, learn to talk into a microphone. This may sound weird, but it took me some time to figure out. Don’t talk too close, don’t talk too far. Spread your hand in front of your face- your thumb should be at your lips and your pinkie should be at your mic. That’s a decent distance. Also, talk past your mic, not at it. This helps cut down on the not-word noises your mouth makes- the sharp exhales and the clicks and pops. And it might feel weird at first talking to yourself in your space (if you’re flying solo). So imagine what most guides call your ‘listener avatar’ or ‘listening persona’ and talk to this imaginary person. That sounds weird, I know. But it really helps nail down who you’re trying to reach and makes you feel more comfortable. If you don’t do that (I’ll be honest, I didn’t), I recommend setting up some representation to talk to. It could be a photo of a friend or family member, it could be a stuffed animal.

Third, use water. Just do it. Keep a bottle or glass next to you and keep. Drinking. 

Now you should be ready to start talking. But don’t use your script just yet, or just use the beginning of it. Keep a short script, like your intro and outro, handy and keep saying that. Move around, taking verbal note of what you’re doing. Lean forward, lean back, turn your head, talk louder, talk softer, laugh. Do anything you can think of that you might do during a recording. And when you’re done, stop the recording and listen back. There will be differences in audio. Find the best one.

And then take those test files and play them back in different environments- through headphones, through your phone speakers, through your computer’s speakers, in the kitchen, through the car stereo. Take notes of what sounds best and keep them in mind for when you record.

When you’re ready to start recording your episode (I can practically hear the sigh of relief), take lots of breaks. This will save either future you or another editor lots of time during the editing process. Keep the speaking segments short. In Long Live Bat Art, I try to pause every other or third paragraph or so. If you mess up, don’t worry about it. There are a few ways to denote that mistake. Stop, take a deep breath, exhale, and start the entire sentence over. Or, if you prefer, pause, clap, and start the sentence over. The clap will make a spike in the wave form so you can easily see it. The silence will do the opposite- you’ll see nothing and that’s as good of an indicator as the spike. And you do want to start the sentence over, rather than just the part you messed up. Cutting whole sentences is easier than cutting words or phrases. And you WILL change your tone and cadence from take to take. Just do yourself a favor and start the sentence over. 

Remember: the best editing you can do is having a good recording session. So try to keep the audio fairly clean. I don't mean try to do it in one take, just don't clutter it. Take breaks, drink water, and just give it your best. 

If you have more than yourself talking, do yourself a favor- have one microphone per person. That will make your editing so much easier- it’s nigh impossible to edit two people talking over each other on the same track.

If you have different segments, stop recording and choose a different track for each one. I made the mistake of not doing that and when it came time to edit my first episode I almost pulled my hair out. 

This is a tip I’ve seen on one or two guides but really works wonders- record about 15-30 seconds of complete silence in your podcasting space so you know a baseline.

And if at all possible, do your first episode recording and editing before you batch the rest. You'll make mistakes in your first recording that you can eliminate and make good choices going forward. You will also make different mistakes, so try to nip obvious bad habits in the bud. 

Step 12: Edit

Editing makes or breaks a podcast. If you’re editing yourself, it will take time. If you let someone else do it, I would recommend leaving instructions. Listen to the raw file and take notes of the time stamps you want specific edits to be made and what the edits you want are. 

Tip number 1: name every track so you know at a glance what is what. It’s a small step that takes less than a minute and saves you so much time later.

Tip number 2: edit with your ears. This sounds weird, but hear me out. Just listen to the entire recording without making a single change. Take note of what you felt when. Did you laugh? Did you get bored? If you have to, start a new recording (maybe on your phone) to say what happened when. Give context like time stamps or what sentence preceded what you felt. Then when the first listen is done, look over your physical notes or listen to your voice ones. That gives you a good starting point. Some people call this a ‘punchlist’ and it’s basically a first to-do list of what you want to do with your file. 

Tip number 3: edit in passes. Edit for content first, not those random noises in the background or the weird clicks. You don’t want to take out all those little things from a section you end up cutting completely. It’ll save you time, trust me. Between passes, take breaks of at least 20 minutes. This will help you both not get in the headspace of ‘eh, good enough’ and prevent you from getting bored. 

Tip number 4: Have a goal for each editing pass. Say for the first one you want to get rid of weird silences, this way you’ll have less to listen to as you make content edits. Then the second one you’re looking for the obvious mistakes- the sentences you stopped in the middle and then took another shot at. Then the third is those hesitant words- ‘uh’s and ‘um’s and ‘ah’s and ‘like’s and ‘so’s (I’m particularly susceptible to ‘so’s. It’s my crutch word. I especially say ‘and so’ a lot). Keep making goals. 

Tip number 5: Keep the volume consistent- you don’t want listeners turning up and down the volume between episodes or even during them. 

Tip number 6: If at all possible, have someone listen to the recording before you post it. Ask them questions! Did they get bored at any point? Did they have to adjust the volume at any point? Are there any silences or noises you missed? 

Step 13: Hosting Site

Most people think that you post the podcast directly to the app/site where podcasts live. They’re wrong. There’s something called a hosting site that acts as the middleman. Basically, you need something called an RSS feed to post to the podcast app/site. Don’t ask me why because I have no idea. 

Now some hosting sites are free, some are paid, some provide websites as part of the plan, some don’t. My tip is to research the major sites like buzzsprout. You’ll find the one that’s right for you and your podcast.

Step 15: Launch

If you’re thinking the ‘Grand Opening’ route is the only way, you’re wrong. There’s something called the ‘soft open.' It helps to get the kinks out, gives you a chance to get used to the podcast, and helps you overcome that ever-so-annoying imposter syndrome. But I don’t mean ‘tell absolutely no one.’ Tell your friends, tell your family, tell the people closest to you. They’ll be your first audience. 

Most guides I read suggest posting three episodes on your first day. Not only does it give you a chance to get ahead, but it gives listeners a chance to binge. I know I binge listen and don’t always wait for each episode to come out. Because I’m a disaster who often forgets which podcast updates when and I have an ungodly amount of podcasts on my to-listen list (cough, over 200, cough). 

But don’t think that launch is a one-and-done thing. Every single episode will be the first time someone’s heard of your podcast, so treat every episode with that in mind. Make a big deal about it once you’re in the groove!

Step 16: Set goals

Set MEASURABLE goals when you want to track your progress. And don’t think of just what your audience does, though that’s part of it. Set personal goals, too! For example, my first goals for Long Live Bat Art were 50 listeners by the end of the season, and 10 interactions on my social media posts. I also wanted to find out the average time to produce an entire episode and cut it down by 20 minutes by the end of the season.

Keep them short, keep them low, keep them measurable, and keep them time-based. But don’t sweat it if you don’t reach them! They’re goals, not the end of the world. If you don’t meet a goal, reach out to your audience and see what can help you meet the goal. 

If you start to get discouraged and think ‘only 20 people listen to my podcast,’ do me a favor. Try to imagine 20 people in the room you’re in right now. That’s a lot of people. 

At the same time, don’t worry about numbers. Just make your podcast as well as you can and keep putting it out there with social posts and you will get your audience. 

Remember: the best thing you can do for your podcast is to make it good. Don’t bother promoting it if the sound quality or content aren’t as good as you can make it. 

Other tips

This is a space for tips I’ve picked up that didn’t really fit into any of the other steps. 

Build systems. You want to have a process down that you can follow over and over and over and really streamline your workflow. For example, my process for writing looks like: give story of the piece (if it’s particularly obscure or otherwise requires a bit of background knowledge), describe artwork, give thoughts on the piece, do the challenge at the end, and THEN research the history of the artist. I do it this way because I don’t want the history of the artist to influence what I think of the piece or how I describe it. If I find a particularly interesting tidbit in the history that changes how I think, I can add that in my thoughts afterwards! In addition to streamlining how I produce the podcast, if I ever hire someone on, I already have a game plan for what specifically I need help with. 

Do NOT underestimate how long it takes to produce a podcast. I thought I could get it all done in two months. Boy was I wrong. I set a soft launch date and figured I could have it all written, recorded, edited, and transcribed before then. I didn't. And that's OK! I continued to produce it during the season, and that's just fine. Now I set aside enough time to get everything done and I don't sweat it if I have to produce along the way instead of front loading all the work. 

Take. Breaks. Otherwise you'll get burnt out. I already said mine is season based, so in the offseason I don't do anything. It helps me both rest and build excitement for the next season. 

Batch. I mean batch everything. Batch write, batch record, batch edit. If you do each piece individually you'll spend like three times as long. Think assembly line, not craftsman. 

Take time to celebrate your wins. It's not arrogant, it's reassuring yourself that this whole podcasting thing is going well. 

In case someone wants a taste of what the podcast is about, or even has trouble following along with podcasts as I sometimes do, I transcribe each episode. Transcriptions aren’t necessary, but they are nice to have. There is software that does this automatically, and you can pay someone to do it for you, but I do it myself. 

 If at all possible, make a file in your audio program for a template with everything named already and just copy the file for each new episode and change the content. 

Conclusion

If this seems like a lot of work, I hope I didn’t discourage you. It’s really a lot of fun if you choose the right topic. 

Now, you can look at all the guides you want- and I do recommend looking at quite a few- but nothing will prepare you to your satisfaction. So roll up your sleeves, tell that voice that says you can’t do it in your head to kindly shut up, and just do it once you have it planned out. You’ll learn on the way. Give yourself permission to be a beginner. 

But above all, have fun. This is most likely a hobby for you that might in the future generate some pocket change. But the kernel that started this was love. Keep that love there. 

Here's a bunch of resources I found really helpful, in case you want to check them out.

On starting

Shout me loud

Buzzsprout

NPR

Podcast insights

The podcast host

How to choose a topic- Podcast host

How to name- Podcast host

Episode titles- Podcast host

First site guide

Tips

Checklist

Riverside

Castos

Shopify

Buffer

Upwork

Captivate FM

Social Pilot

Profile Tree

Music Radar

Descript

Adam Enfroy

Ryrob

Porch

Nashville Film Institute

The podcast host (again)

Writing

Intro and Outro- the podcast host

Intro- Buzzsprout

Descriptions- the podcast host

Show Notes- the podcast host

Taglines- the podcast host

Equipment

Microphone- the podcast host

Microphone techniques- the podcast host

Editing

NPR

Artwork

Buzzsprout

Well, that's it! All the advice and experience I have at this moment. Hopefully it helped someone out there.

#sydney squeaks

[ahhhsami]

Feeling spoiled by the rapid fire updates you were putting out haha. But really I’m excited for the next update no matter when it’s coming. Also I had a question. I really like how you did the a/b/o stuff bc sometimes I’m like 😬. But what made you do “non tradition a/b/o” versus like just a gp story? Anything specific?

I'm glad you're enjoying it. I actually have the next chapter written, it's going through the last edits!

That's a really awesome question. I've always enjoyed reading ABO, but just like you, there are certain things that I'm not a huge fan of that are pretty pervasive in the genre, mainly dub-con/non-con. There's also knotting and more influence of pheromones, both of which I don't mind. There's also the strict hierarchy and expectations of ABO roles. None of these fit into the story that I was creating in my head. I obviously lean heavily towards writing Modern AUs, so why not shift and take ABO into a more modern approach as well? So that's what I've done, I've taken ABO and adjusted it so that it suited my style and the story that I wanted to tell. Traditional ABO just didn't fit right. And neither did a GP story. So to create the world I wanted, a non traditional ABO setting was the best option.

As for the GP, there's a lot of layers as to why it didn't fit. I've seen stories that their main reason for existing is to fetishize the idea of a woman having a penis. In these cases, they don't address the ideas of intersex or trans struggles and identities. If I were to do a story like that, I'd want to make sure that it isn't just a fetishization and that the character's thoughts, experiences, and struggles were explored fully. This is something I don't know much about and don't have the confidence in writing. If I were to do a story along those lines... I'd make sure to do a lot of research (and even then it still isn't enough compared to lived experiences). For example, in past fics such as Roommates or even Chef's Table, there was a lot of time and effort put into accuracy, whether it be about PTSD/Anxiety/Depression (luckily I already was studying Social Work at the time so knew a lot about the subject matter, but still wanted more) or the process in which a dish is traditionally made, it's always been important to me to have more depth to my pieces through this manner. But research wasn't all of it, there were still lived experiences that I was drawing from to ground the fics and make the stories more realistic and believable.

If I do continue to write more ABO, I'll probably stick with my non traditional setting because it's been enjoyable to write and I think it also fits a lot of my reader base more as well. It's been really cool to get messages from people saying that they've enjoyed it, even when they haven't liked ABO in the past. On top of this, I think as a writer it's always good to take chances and break from the norm to write the way you want to. This is something I've grown to realize over the past... 6 years, almost 7, of writing fanfic and I think it shows in my more recent fics compared to the ones I wrote when I first started.

This was a lot longer than planned ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

PS: Maybe one day I'll live stream myself reading my old fics and cringe hard core.... My misery can become peoples' entertainment 😂

#this was way longer than intended #lmao #reply #anon #vertigo

[meditating-dog-lover]

Health and Fitness Updates (07/18/2021)

I had a really productive week!

I passed my graduate defense, I'm officially a master's grad! I'll be attending my ceremony in the fall, but I'm so happy I am done with school for good!!!!!!!! Everyone is so proud of me.

I went to the dermatologist and will be getting surgery next week.

In general I feel a lot less stressed now, and I am happy about this. I achieved so much this year despite being under so much pressure. However I am still not done, I still have some things left to do.

1. I need to get skin and dental surgery. I'm looking forward to this as I will be in less pain afterwards. I also want to speak to my dentist about braces.

2. I need to look for a job, I want to pursue a career in academic research. Unfortunately, even with a solid degree from a top university, I struggled a lot to find a job. Now I think it will be a lot easier since I have a master's degree and I established connections with local researchers. I'll be visiting the career office of my school so I can seek some advice on the best potential job positions I can apply for, specifically neuroscience research.

3. I'm still working on my fitness journey. It's been 6 months since I started and my body has changed drastically. I lost a lot of fat, but I still have a bit left. I plan on continuing my progress for the next 4-6 months.

4. I'll have to go clothes shopping in the future. I need to establish further confidence in myself as I am not used to being the attractive slim girl. I was overweight and unattractive growing up so I am in the process of reinventing myself. But I need to be more confident in general, and I will work on this. It might feel weird at first, but I just need to keep on going.

5. I want to connect with old peers. I feel this is a good thing to do to establish the fact that I haven't forgotten about them and that I hope they are doing well. They might also be curious as to what I'm up to, so I'd love to converse with them regarding what we've been going through in our lives since we last saw each other (which is 10+ years ago). I don't know why, but there is something about doing this that is really nice, but really nerve-racking at the same time. I've even stalked a few of my old peers on Facebook and my heart rate went up and my hands were shaking, there is something about the idea that makes me feel extremely nervous. I think it's because I was such an awkward kid so they probably still see me in that way, or it's because I don't have the fondest memories with them due to being a difficult time in my life and because we weren't very close or good friends. We were extremely childish and immature, but I hope that's a different story today. I hope they are more mature now, I'd love to re-establish a better relationship with them now to bring closure and to let them know what I've been to (especially in terms of school and personal hobbies). I want to work on becoming less and less nervous because this is not a healthy feeling. With time I hope I can become more rational and learn how to calm my nerves. Once I do that, I'd love to reconnect. I want to see them in a new and mature perspective, not a perspective that gives me anxiety. I'lll be sure to shoot them a message in the future, maybe mid to late August. Anytime after my birthday, but August 20 sounds like a good date.

EDIT

6. I want to dedicate a lot of time to my mental and emotional health. I am doing pretty well in terms of my physical health - I exercise, eat well, drink water, etc... But mentally and emotionally I am drained, anxious, insecure, angry and overwhelmed. I do have a lot of issues that need to be addressed. I need to learn how to relax again. I've followed many resources on how to take care of my physical health (such as fitness videos and instagram pages), but now I'll do the same with mental and emotional health resources. I know I can do it. Remember that it's okay to cry. This ties a lot with point 5.

7. I want to rely less on my parents. I love them, but I cannot rely on them forever. I will still live with them and interact with them, but I also need to make it clear that i am an adult capable of my own decision making. I'm making more and more decisions with each passing month and they don't have to always get involved. This ties in with points 2, 5 and 6. Once I get my own job I'll be less reliant on them because I'll feel more independent and I'll have my own money. My ultimate future goal is to get a partner and move out. I need to establish myself very well before I can do this, but I think I'll be on the right track months from now.

8. I want to learn how to get out of my comfort zones. I'm occasionally very good at this, but sometimes I feel too scared to do so.

9. Better sleep!

10. I want to learn how to relax. My mind is all over the place and I overthink things very often. And I have a lot of what if's and I anticipate the worst possible outcome to happen. I don't think about the present and am always worried about the future. I'm a perfectionist who wants everything to be in a perfect state all the time. I need to learn how to relax and breathe. Good sleep helps too (9).

~HEALTH IS WEALTH~

#health and fitness #healtthy #exercise #weekly updates #health is wealth #academics #jobs #dentist #dermatologist #fitness journey #body confidence #peers #friends #reconnecting #healthy relationships #healthy friendships

[rvb-happens-here]

Comics

Comics. Oh comics.

The artists' Magnum Opus. The series where things get really popular. Where you don't necessarily have to make it detailed as long as it's funny, easy to read, and easily accessible.

How do I publish a comic?

Do I do it page by page, on Tumblr?

Should I look into webtoons?

All this and more on Cobalt's 12AM existential crisis

You know, 10 days ago, I decided that I was going to adapt a fanfiction by flamethrower into a comic. 10 days later, I'm still o the design faze. There's the perfectionist and strategist in me that tells me to get everything ready before jump starting the project, but I know that I have to get it on before I lose interest.

A professional comic has 5 panels per page, and releases 22 pages per month.

I average 8 panels a page. How the hell am I going to balance final year of (the equivalence to 16 y/o grade) school, another fandom, and this?

I can't upload once a month! My 10 followers will kill me!

Solution: separate each issue into 3 parts. Upload them every two weeks. Have like a small funny chibi comic in between or like otehr fanart.

Cool, so I'm putting it on Tumblr first. I'll probably upload the complete Chapter 1 to Ao3 later (or maybe I'll do it like Tumblr uploads for the break in parts.)

But, what if I want to make a proper comic book? Which also has little tidbits between the 3 parts like mini comics, bonus art, other fanfiction fanarts, a little dabble in writing myself, stickers, etc-

And also, what if I want a graphic novel? There's a reason why I stack my layers and folders in this bottom to top order: background, sketch 1, sketch 2, panel 1 folder, panel 2 folder, panel 3 folder- and so on.

And then I would have things be separate in the folders. Take a look at panel 1 (single character) folder, top to bottom:

lineart

shading (clipped)

colour

background

I'd have merged the lineart, shading, and colour layers together to save storage, and then I could move my guy freely across teh screen. I'm also well versed in photoshopping to create edits. Proper edits. not just effects slapped onto art but master pieces that use a lot of tweening techniques (and puppeting, but I have no programs that could do that. yet)

So how should I do it?

I have no idea I haven't researched it yet-

But I do know this. If Tapas isn't satisfactory to me, nor the Panda publishing site- I'll have to make my own website.

Is wix.com still a free site? Or do I have to use Google sites?

The reason why I want such a thing is because

I have no patience in dealing with DeviantArt's 1 page per upload UI. It's messy for the reader and time consuming for the creator. I have no idea whether they've changed it but not a lot of people have DeviantArt accounts

I want people to be able to zoom in into my art. Because I've built it in such a way that it's best enjoyed with a 30% (or 70%? I dunno how to describe this) zoom, because I made the pages large to fit more panels.

That's like my main reason.

Oh but Cobalt, why don't you use Reddit? Or Imgur?

Well, I hate those sites with a passion. And I don't really know where I'd post it to. Maybe the rvb subreddit but I'm always faced with cringe culture culling from there. Maybe I can make my own subreddit, but then I'd need mods other than me because all my time would by focused on creating.

I was pretty good with reddit and gaining a reddit following, hence I don't wanna actually start over with a fresh account because my old account has like 1.2k reddit followers- but they're not of the same fandom

I don't like how Imgur looks and feels.

Anyways time to stop complaining and try testing now, see ya.

- C, 7 hours before this post will be viewable.

#artists on tumblr #dear artists #art question #crimson rambles #crimson updates #rant #vent #please let me stress #it's my way of dealing with problems #it gives me motivation #it gives me drive

[seatosomert]

Getting used to a new camera.

I've been experimenting with a new camera I bought about a week ago.

I've used it today to shoot my older Sony camera here and a few accessories.

I love autumnal type tones and quite contrasting light for certain types of product photography which is what I've applied here.

I feel that those tones suit camera kit and other dark coloured gadgetry.

I've used continuous LED photographic lighting here.

The light I use has adjustable colour temperature, coloured gels, can be used as a strobe as well as continuous lighting and runs either on mains power or batteries.

I'm moving more towards product photography from a business point of view, so testing the new camera was a curiosity rather than a necessity to be fair as I have three cameras I use for client work.

This new camera is a treat to myself for mainly Street photography, but it's good to experiment.

I am always practicing. Keeping my skills honed and learning new ones.

The brand I've bought is he first of that brand to that I have bought in over 15 years. So I'm having to learn new menu systems, dynamic range capabilities and just what custom buttons I want programming with what function.

Learning a new system can be challenging and it takes time.

However, I get to practice and find it's limits and squeeze the best I can from it before I take it down to London later this year for some street photography, which is the main reason I bought the camera if I'm honest.

I practice taking portraits of the wife and kids, shooting still life, nature etc. I always look for challenging lighting situations and low light so it really pushes me and the camera. It's the best way to learn.

Real world testing. That's when you find the new kits limitations and how to find work around for the stuff you're used to from the other camera you've been used to before.

Something I also do is set myself micro projects to complete.

Little assignments. They keep you in the game of almost working to a client brief. It helps me to think in a kind of a business mindset whilst all the lockdown issues pass and Photography and video work starts to come through again.

If I get stuck, I'll research my camera on YouTube. Almost always I'll find an answer on their.

I do end up getting right into it, I have to admit. I have two cameras now that I always feel drawn to pick up and use and two that I use only for pro work.

So this new camera really feels good to pick up and use and so I am drawn to using it.

So if you're looking to say but your first serious camera because your smart phone just doesn't fit what you want from your photography, consider not just the technical capabilities on paper and in reviews, but what feels good to pick up and use. Because if you don't include that factor, you're Camera could end up sitting in a drawer.

Also, being able to transfer images quickly from camera to your smart phone will give you a different experience all together. Being able to shoot pro quality images you can tweak in phone editing software, then send them or post them to others or Social Media, is a huge game changer and it's very convenient and rewarding. This is how I shoot many of my own hobby images.

I'll often hop down to London on the train and take an editing stylus with me. I'll shoot images, transfer them to my phone throughout the day and maybe do a few edits in a coffee shop over a brew. I'll edit the rest on my return journey to Leeds which is a little over two hours.

By the time I've arrived home I've edited the images I want, made some social media posts and often ordered prints on line also.

It's a great way of working for me that means by the time I have arrived home I can move onto the next project.

So, getting familiar with my kit ASAP through lots and lots of practice and experimentation

Allows me to get a lot more from it as quickly as possible.

You've all heard the old saying I'm sure, "Practice makes perfect?"

As usual guys, if this post resonates with you and you have any questions get in touch.

Don't forget to hit like if you do and hit follow if you want to see more content here.

All the best and speak soon.

Kind regards.

Neil.

#photography #learnphotography #learninganewcamera #productphotography #product #fujifilm #fujifilmshots

[queercounselor]

Pride challenge day 7: Favorite LGBTQIA+ Book! Forgive the shameless plug, but I just got published last year, and it truly was a labor of love.

Rewind to 2018. Jessica Kingsley Publishers approached me to write a gender affirmative therapeutic manual, which is like a dream come true, but a tall order nonetheless. But in the middle of writing the Kilauea volcano erupted 12 miles away from my house! Go check out the videos of the 2018 Hawaii eruption, they're wild! So I spent the year madly typing away, while pensively worried I'd lose everything. Volcano dies down, book gets edited...Then, right when we're getting ready to launch COVID-19 puts everything into quarantine. Not a great time for a book tour!

Anywho, I'm still proud of myself. I did this, and it took a massive amount of time and research. Is it perfect? No. Are psychology books instantaneously out dated the moment they go into print? Absolutely. Maybe in a few years I'll come out with a second edition. What's it about? It teaches therapists how to adapt Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to address all kinds of gender related issues across the life-span. I'm currently working on a self-help book that anyone can read, but this is geared towards therapists and psych majors.

Disclaimer, I do not believe Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is a good fit for everyone. There is no panacea to mental health and people are too diverse to ever create a cookie-cutter, one size fits-all approach. However, I have found ACT useful in my own life and my own self-actualization process, and I have also made it one of my life goals to educate mental health therapists about LGBTQ+ issues.

#showyourpride #show your pride #lgbtq mental health #lgbtq🌈 #acceptance and commitment therapy #ACT #gender identity #mental health #therapy #psych majors #pride #lgbtq positivity