thatchickcanwrite

[thatchickcanwrite]

FIND THE BOOK HERE

#romantic comedy #indie books #booksbooksbooks #new adult #contemporary fantasy #cat sith #own voices #adhd #autism #plus size #lgbtqia+ #grumpy x sunshine

[thatchickcanwrite]

As I type this, there are over 380 anti-trans bills being proposed in the United States. Republicans in office have begun using genocidal language to talk about eliminating trans folks. I am a part of the #bookstagram and #booktok communities, and I want to see us DO SOMETHING about it. Several influential tiktok accounts have banded together to create various events throughout late March to help raise money and awareness for trans rights. I want to do my part in my own way to do the same. @mercurystardusttopz and @alluringskull have banded together to do a 30hr livestream on March 31st, which is #transdayofvisibility with the goal of raising $1M for @pointofprideorg Several book-related accounts (including my own) on #tiktok and #Instagram are planning to do a #readathon of books by #transauthors I'm writing this to ask you to sponsor me or another reader you know who will be participating and pledge to donate a certain amount of money for every book I read by trans (as in transgender/agender/genderqueer/non-binary/…) authors, and I will match those donations up to $100 (or more if I can get my finances to cooperate). Alternatively, you can donate to Point of Pride and/or tune into the tiktok livestream with me on March 31st. I'll #livestream as much of my reading process as I can on my tiktok and #twitch accounts, as well as be participating in pro-trans #writein or #writingstream sessions on my twitch channel. Feel free to follow me on tiktok @thatchickcanwrite and twitch at twitch.tv/alleyroseplays to participate, follow some of my favorite trans content creators (links will be made available) and PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE donate, sponsor, and show up for our trans siblings throughout March because #transrightsarehumanrights and we cannot allow hate to win. -- Here's which books I plan to read: 🏳️‍⚧️ Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White 🏳️‍⚧️ Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas 🏳️‍⚧️ Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey -- #lgbtqia #transisbeautiful #protecttranskids #protecttranslives #blacktranslivesmatter #transrights https://www.instagram.com/p/CpmZKLKOwHJ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#bookstagram #booktok #transdayofvisibility #tiktok #instagram #readathon #transauthors #livestream #twitch #writein #writingstream #transrightsarehumanrights #lgbtqia #transisbeautiful #protecttranskids #protecttranslives #blacktranslivesmatter #transrights

[thatchickcanwrite]

#indie writer #indie author #indie books #writers of tumblr #writing community #writeblr #authors on tumblr #queer books #booksbooksbooks #2023 books #booklover #books & libraries #book review pending #booklr #books and reading #book reviews

[thatchickcanwrite]

[thatchickcanwrite]

Of Magic and Monsters

#writers on tumblr #writing #writers and poets #booksbooksbooks #indie author #indie books #moodboard #pacific northwest gothic #of magic and monsters #absolutely in love with this story #its gonna get spicy #lgbtqia+

[thatchickcanwrite]

I'm so excited to get back into the swing of reading more! These are the fiction books I have planned on my 2023 TBR list. I have plenty of non-fiction planned as well, but those aren't as fun to talk about with most netizens.

There's also a number of books that I've been waiting AGES for that aren't listed because they don't have an official release date or cover art available yet. Just vague "2023" dates. Ugh! Gimmie the books, dammit!

Most of this list are indie books (naturally) which I'm excited to sink my teeth into. I'm sure the list is going to expand from here, so keep an eye out for all the titles and reviews to come.

If you're an indie author and you want me to read and review your work, please reach out! You can DM me or click on my website and sign up there!

#reading #tbr #booksbooksbooks #2023 books #amreading #readers of tumblr #indie books #lgbtqia+

[thatchickcanwrite]

Took everyone's advice and slept instead of trying to meet my deadline. Now I have more work to do in even less time. Time for a drink...

[thatchickcanwrite]

What would Sevro say?

#writing #writers and poets #writers on tumblr #writeyourstory #writeblr #pierce brown #sevro was here #red rising

[thatchickcanwrite]

I've been ATTACKED

“I can fix him” but it’s writers and they’re determinedly talking about that book they’ve been working on for ten years. 

#the sword of light book #writers on tumblr #don't look at me okay? #writblr #writing problems

[thatchickcanwrite]

not writing, not not writing, but a secret third thing

[thatchickcanwrite]

Legend has it my cousin is still trying to find this profile…

[thatchickcanwrite]

When someone leaves a comment on my fic and suddenly my desire to write comes back:

[thatchickcanwrite]

Just found out about these cool indie romance awards! I would be so grateful if anyone wants to vote for Moth Pit in monster, and LGBTQIA if you want! Go to indieromanceawards.com to vote! Link in my stories! #indieromanceawards #indieauthor #monsterfudgers #monsterromance #monsterlover #monsterfucker #nonbinary #lgbtqromance https://www.instagram.com/p/ClHqnw0LZ7J/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[thatchickcanwrite]

I'd like to add to this that it's okay to do something unproductive, especially if it brings you joy. I feel like we tend to get caught up in all the not-so-fun or stressful aspects of writing and storycraft and forget to just...enjoy being a writer and making stories?

It's okay to just have fun with it.

Just daydreaming about your stories or what you want to write truly is being productive despite what your brain demanding immediate results to and gratification from your productivity might tell you, like it lets you work through details, figure out what you want, rotate scenes around and change things up if you're still unsure about them, have a little fun without committing just quite yet, even if it's not being written down, it is being processed in your mind nonetheless and it is contributing to future productivity and the eventual endgame of wherever you want to be going with it all, even if you're not physically interacting with or creating or consuming something at the moment, you are creating thoughts, coming up with the blueprints, and maybe those blueprints won't always come to fruition, but maybe one day they'll help you build something great, or maybe they just brought you some joy or intrigue at the time and that's fine too, and etc, etc, so yeah, let yourself daydream more

[thatchickcanwrite]

Story drafts be like

[thatchickcanwrite]

adding characterization to a story you've already written

How? + What?

These are the questions to take with you when going through a draft to add characterization.

Your character will already be doing and saying things in a set situation. You got the most arduous part of writing down-- the story is there.

So now you're going to take that and ask WHAT? or HOW? with certain details. An interrogation of the story to dig more out when a scene might feel empty or the characterization feels off.

Let's say you want a scene where the character cries in a car.

Anyone can cry in a car.

But only YOUR character is going to cry in the parking lot of their old high school, so angry about their '96 Toyota's heater being broken that they slam their fist against the vents.

HOW? is about defining present behavior.

Take the situation your character is put in.

How do they react, how do they make decisions, how do they set and complete goals, how do they approach emerging emotions, how do they think about or observe the situation?

How do they deal with something like this based on personality, values, and their current life?

All of these things are informed by larger, earlier forces but "how?" is about the state of things that fluctuate.

With the car, present behavior is their anger at the broken heater and the decision to physically lash out. The fluctuation of personality, values, and current life converge in a way that is unique to this moment and this reaction.

WHAT? is about specificity with already-established reality.

Look at every variable in the scene, like the car or the location. They are established. The character had the car before the passage began. This was their old high school before the passage began. Making these variables specific tells us about the character's world outside this scene. What car? What significance of the location? Those are exclusive to the character and existed before the scene. At this point, they are out of the control of the character and therefore do not fluctuate.

An old Toyota with a broken heater and the parking lot of their former high school give us background information.

The main idea of this technique is to push yourself as a writer. Specificity, definition, and characterization enrich the narrative and add authentic complexity to your world.

As always, take what you found useful and forget the rest! Happy writing.

[call it good] writing

[thatchickcanwrite]

Troubleshooting Your Plot

                Plots are such complicated things that often when something doesn’t work, we can tell that it’s falling apart, but we can’t really tell where. I’ve spent many hours picking apart my plots and looking for the loose thread, so here’s some ways I’ve noticed plots most commonly go wrong.

The character transformation isn’t believable

Very likely whenever an arc goes wrong it’s not because of the circumstances the character went through, it’s because the character didn’t have enough agency. If your characters are never forced to make tough decisions, they’re also never forced to change. I’d go back to their goal and motivation and look through your plot to see which ways they are actively choosing it again and again.

2. It feels rushed

Plots that meander or feel rushed are usually not due to the plot itself, but pacing issues within it. Before you touch your outline, look into your scenes and see where you could be adding more description. Are you using all five senses? And if you are, are you getting into your character’s head? Sometimes all a rushed scene needs is a moment of reflection, a little “check-in” with your protagonist.

                Look through your work and mark down what the pacing of each scene should be. Fast-paced action scenes should have shorter paragraphs and less reflection than say a deep discussion between two characters.

3. It’s too short!?

When it’s not an issue with pacing the problem might be with the scope. Is the transformation you’re writing large enough for the word count you were expecting? Lord of the Rings couldn’t have been written in a novella, and an episode of Spongebob couldn’t have been turned into a novel. Consider the stakes of your story—if it’s too short, the inciting incident might not have turned the world upside down enough.

4. The character dynamics aren’t coming together

Ah the friends that just don’t seem to want to be friends, the group that’s constantly falling apart, the attractive strangers who stay strangers. Characters are really good at ruining our plans. In cases like these, it often comes back to the goals and motivations of every character involved. When groups don’t come together maybe not all of them have a reason to want to be there—how will it help each one of them achieve their goal?

                Good luck!