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wayward-musings · 3 years

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okay so i've decided to get back to writing. if you can, maybe send in a short prompt to my writing blog? i'll aim to get one completed every day.

here's my writing blog ask box

i'm gonna be posting all of my work on my writing blog @wayward-musings, so please send in the prompts there? i'm gonna start small, with maybe 300-400 word pieces.

#send some prompts please 👉👈

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wayward-musings · 3 years

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PSA: Just a friendly reminder that whenever you start a creative project, you will invariably hit a phase where the Thing™️ appears horrendous and you start asking existential questions. But if you keep working, it invariably passes and starts to resemble something less like the devil’s vomit. Doesn’t matter if it’s art, writing, or what–this happens repeatedly. Carry on.

#omg...i did not know that #thank you #reminders

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wayward-musings · 3 years

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Sweet love, what are your biggest creative inspirations? How do the words just flow from you? I long to feel such passion for words and write in those ways. Sending you love and love and love.

i love u but this is not accurate to my experience. i love u but i don't feel that way. i love u but. i am rarely excited to write.

that's the whole secret. i taught myself to sit down and do it anyway. writing is a craft, not just a hobby. in the same way musicians sit down and make themselves run scales - writers need to sit down and just-write-something.

"but it's bad". so what? you don't need to sell it. it just needs to exist so your muscles warm up.

"i have nothing left to say." me neither. i ran out of things to say about 10 years ago.

"i don't know what to do here!" there isn't a right answer. you are leaning in to that feeling, not away from it.

"i hate what i've made." yeah, that happens. keep going anyway. you don't need to like it, you just need to do it.

our brains are plastic and every time we do this, we train ourselves a little bit better. we might not be able to say exactly why we hated something we wrote, but if you write 40 things you hate, your brain starts forming a picture in your subconscious - maybe you actually only like to write about feathers. maybe you're not really into prose. maybe you like gardens. whatever.

and it makes you bored. that's the most important thing. it makes you super, horribly bored. and then you write anyway. writing bored is often annoying but it is also super important. because your brain is going to start looking for new things to say and do. and then , there you go - suddenly you're writing something fun and wild.

and if that doesn't come for a year? whatever. you have had a year of practice. of writing without the wings of inspiration. when it does come, you'll be able to push through parts that would have otherwise stopped you - because you haven't been stopped by worse conditions. you'll have a more interesting language scheme, you'll have a sense of your own style, you'll have a better grasp on body language... and it feels amazing. it's like. taking off the weights around your ankles.

without that year of practice? of slogging? you don't have those muscles. so the first time inspiration sort-of flags, you find yourself unable to finish your writing. or it's not "good enough" so you stop. or you don't love a paragraph, so you stop.

with the year of bad writing, you're like - i don't even care about that stuff, i've made worse, let's keep going. you can make yourself do it.

artists do studies and try different styles. singers do voice lessons and try different genres. dancers put in hours at the gym and then hike to rehearsal. the thing about art is that it is difficult and not all of it is going to come from a place of harmony and passion. it's just about gritting your teeth and grinding through it.

because when you do finally get it? yeah, dude. i promise it's worth it.

#reminders

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wayward-musings · 3 years

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okay so i've decided to get back to writing. if you can, maybe send in a short prompt to my writing blog? i'll aim to get one completed every day.

here's my writing blog ask box

i'm gonna be posting all of my work on my writing blog @wayward-musings, so please send in the prompts there? i'm gonna start small, with maybe 300-400 word pieces.

#pinned

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wayward-musings · 3 years

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Writer's Guide: Writing about Alcoholic Drinks and Cocktails

Or how to write believable bar and nightclub scenes. I often find myself helping friends with their WIPs and often it as a bartender, I find myself having to correct them on bar and mixology terminology. So here's my quick guide to keeping your lingo on the straight and narrow.

Terminology

DASH/SPLASH: a drop of a mixer such as juice or flavouring.

MIXER: non alcholic beveraged served with the measure of alcohol in the same glass.

NEAT: Plain, without any addition of ice or a mixture. Just the alcohol.

ON THE ROCKS: Served over Ice.

STRAIGHT UP: The cocktail is chilled with ice and strained into a glass with no ice

DIRTY – if somebody asks for a dirty martini, you add olive juice, the more juice the dirtier it is

DRY- A dry martini includes a drop of vermouth and an extra dry martini contains a drop of scotch swirled in the glass and drained before adding the gin

BACK – a ‘back’ is a drink that accompanies an alcholic beverage such as water or Coke, but isn't mixed.

GARNISH – something added to a drink such as a lime or lemon or orange.

TWIST - a twist is literally a twist of fruit skin in the drink.

BITTERS – a herbal alcoholic blend added to cocktails.

RIMMED - the glass is coated in salt or sugar to enhance the taste.

VIRGIN- non alcoholic

MOCKTAIL- a virgin cocktail

DOUBLE - Two measures of the same alcohol in the same glass. A bartender can only legally serve a double in the same glass. They cannot serve you a triple.

Equipment

COCKTAIL SHAKER - it is a metal cup that fits into a glass, used to shake the components of your drink together with ice to chill it.

STRAINER- used to seperate ice in the shaker from the liquid within as you pour it into the glass.

MEASURES- these are little metal cylinders meant to measure out the pours of the alcohol. You pour the alcohol from the bottle into the measure and then put it into the glass. It's imperative that the right measure goes into the glass or the drink will taste of shit.

BAR SPOON – a long spoon meant to mix the drink.

OPTIC- it is a mechanism that attaches a bottle to an automatic pourer. The bartender usually fits the glass under the spout and pushes up to release the amount which cuts off at the single measure.

SHOT GLASS- a shot glass is a small glass to contain one measure

PINT GLASS- a glass used for serving pints of lager or ale

HALF PINT GLASS - a tulip shaped glass half the measure of a pint glass

SPEEDWELL/TAPS/DRAFT: are the taps used to pour beer from kegs stored under the bar floor.

SLIM JIM/HIGH BALL GLASS- It is a tall straight holding 8 to 12 ounces and used for cocktails served on the rocks such as a Gin and Tonic.

ROCKS GLASS - or an old fashioned glass, it is short and round. These glasses are used for drinks such as Old Fashioneds or Sazerac

COUPE GLASS- Are broad round stemmed glasses used for cocktails that are chill and served without ice such as a Manhattan, Boulevardier or a Gimlet

MARTINI GLASS - a martini glass is that classic stemmed "v" shaped glass, used to serve drinks without mixers such as Martini and Cosmopolitans

MARGARITA GLASS - is a large, round bowl like glass with a broad and a tall stem used for Margaritas and Daiquiris

HURRICANE GLASS- a tall tulip-like shaped glass with a flared rim and short stem. It holds 20 ounces which means it is the perfect glass to serve iced cocktails in such as Pina Colada, Singapore Sling, Hurricane

Alcoholic Drinks

Vodka- Vodka is made from potatoes or fermented cereal grains. It has a strong taste and scent. It is usually consumed neat with a mixer such as Coke or Orange juice or cranberry juice or in cocktails like Martini, Bloody Mary and Cosmopolitan.

Whisky/Whiskey- Whiskey is a distilled alcoholic beverage, made from fermented grain mash such as barley, corn, rye, and wheat. It gets its flavour form being fermented in casks for long period of time. When serving a whiskey, one asks whether they want ice or a mixer. Everyone has their own preference. I prefer mine like myself, strong and Irish. Scotch is Scottish Brewed whisky.

Rum- Rum is made by fermenting and distilling sugarcane molasses/juice. It is aged in oak barrels. It has a sweet taste.

Beer: is made out of cereal grains and served chilled in bottles or pulled from taps/speedwells.

Ale: Ale in the middle ages referred to beer brewed without hops (a kind of flowering plant that gives beer its bitter taste). It is sweeter and would typically have a fruity aftertaste.

Stout- is a darker beer sometimes brewed from roasted malt, coming in a sweet version and dry version, the most famous stout being Guinness.

Poitín- (pronounced as pot-cheen) is made from cereals, grain, whey, sugar beet, molasses and potatoes. It is a Dangerous Drink (honestly i still don't know how I ended up in that field with a traffic cone and a Shetland pony) and technically illegal. Country folk in Ireland used to brew it in secrets in stills hidden on their land.

Vermouth: Is made from infused with roots, barks, flowers, seeds, herbs, spices, brandy but vermouth is classed aromatized wine. It comes sweet or dry

Gin- is made from juniper, coriander, citrus peel, cinnamon, almond or liquorice and grain alcohol. Gin has a strong scent and taste and is usually served in a martini or a tonic water.

Schnapps- refers to any strong, clear alcoholic beverage. It is considered one of the best types of spirits because of its pure and delicate aroma. Lesson: never drink peach schnapps.

Cocktails and Drinks

Irish Coffee: an Irish coffee is adding whiskey to coffee and sugar and topping it with cream. As a bartender, I would honestly rather cut my arm off than make one of these.

Baby Guinness: Is a shot made by pouting Tia Maria or Kaluah into a shot glass and spreading Baileys on the top so it looks like a small pint of Guinness.

Silver Bullet: a shot of mixed tequila and sambuca.

Long Island Iced Tea: The Long Island contains vodka, gin, tequila, light rum, lemon juice, triple sec and cola. It has a real kick.

Mai Tai: is made with light and dark rum, lime juice, orange curacao, orgeat syrup and rock candy syrup and served with a mint garnish.

Manhattan: The Manhattan is made with rye whiskey, sweet vermouth and bitters.

Margarita: The margarita is made with tequila, cointreau and lime juice.

Mojito: a mojito is made with muddled mint, white rum, lime juice, simple syrup and soda.

Martini: a martini is made of gin, dry vermouth and garnished with a lemon twist or olives.

Mimosa: a mimosa is a made with sparkling wine and orange juice.

Mint Julep: Made with Kentucky bourbon, simple syrup, mint leaves and crushed ice

Pina Colada: is made with white rum, dark rum, pineapple juice and coconut cream

Screwdriver: Vodka and Orange juice

Tequila Sunrise: tequila, orange juice and grenadine

Tom Collins: made with spiked lemonade, sparkling water, lemon juice, simple syrup and gin

Whiskey Sour: is made with powdered sugar, seltzer, lemon juice and whiskey.

White Russian: made with vodka, coffee liqueur and cream.

Black Russian: made with two parts coffee liqueur and five parts vodka.

Gin and Tonic: gin served with tonic water

Bloody Mary: made with vodka and tomato juice mixed with lemon juice, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, fresh herbs, brown sugar and cracked black pepper.

Brandy Alexander: served straight up and made with brandy, cognac, creme de cacao and cream

Cosmopolitan: Made with citrus vodka, Cointreau, cranberry juice and fresh lime juice

Daiquiri: made with rum, lime juice and sugar.

Gimlet: gin and lime juice

My Top 10 Bartending Rules and Responsibilities

Overpouring is never an option. You can seriously hurt somebody by overpouring, not to mention spoil the drink and ruin your sales. You only serve people what they ask and never more.

When somebody has had enough, you stop serving them. After a while, you know when to cut somebody off.

Never leave bottles on the counter or in reach of customers. Your expensive spirits should never be in reach of anybody but you.

If you tell somebody your selling them premium and top shelf alcohol, you cannot substitute with cheaper licqor. It's illegal.

As a bartender, your eyes always have to be scanning a crowd. You can't leave people hanging.

The golden rule - if you see somebody messing with someone's drink, you chuck it if you can or warn the person. And you get that son of a bitch out of your pub.

50% of the job is cleaning. You have to clean your tools constantly. You cannot reuse measures and spouts, you have to wash everything. Beer traps are clean out every night, rubber mats are washed and anything you have used has to be clean.

You have to hand dry your glasses. You never polish a pint glass as it fucks up the pint. You polish your cocktail glasses, shot glasses and straight glasses.

If someone seems down or on their own, you try make conversation. Often you'll hear some disturbing stuff but always try lend an ear or make everyone feel included.

If you break a glass in the ice bucket, you got to get rid of the ice.

#writing resources #first draft

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wayward-musings · 3 years

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ok but like. space shanties.

there’s a thing that should definitely be a thing in sci-fi.

#sci fi #worldbuilding #writing resources

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wayward-musings · 3 years

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Bioscope

Sometimes I view the world through stained glass. It makes everything seem softer, nicer somehow. Everything fits into place nicely like the smooth edges of jigsaw puzzle pieces, and life seems so simple.

I can sit by a window and look out at the people and the sky and birds and listen to songs about love and friendship and go to bed in peace. I don’t have to worry about my future or my fraying friendships or the iron anvil of heaviness that comes with existence. I don’t have to open my phone to a flurry of articles about anguish and conflict and fear. I don’t have to flinch at every phone call, fearing news of death.

Sometimes life can just be me on a swing, the sky before me, the wind through my hair and music in my ears. Sometimes I can write silly things for people to see and make myself happier for a minute or two. Sometimes I can let go of the responsibility of being the bigger person for a few minutes, and allow myself to feel. Sometimes I can shed the guilt that comes with doing so, and sometimes the guilt settles unshakably beside me, and I have to cope. But I do cope. Or, at least, I try. Sometimes in a world that is so new and frightening, where my actions bear consequences larger than I can comprehend, small, familiar things bring me comfort. Sometimes they act as the hand which tucks me into bed, leaving a protective kiss on my forehead.

Maybe I'm just projecting, but is it wrong of me to find comfort in mundane things when it seems as though there is so little comfort to be had? All of a sudden, it appears, everybody has forgotten that everybody else exists, so is it wrong for me to be a little bit selfish too?

-♤-

reblogs>>likes.

taglist :

@weird-u @lemonsparkly @inaayaat @psycho-mocha @synesthetic-simp @washingpowdernirma @dragonsblowingoutbirthdaycandles @enderanboo @cipher-dorito @more-like-reyna @rainbowsnowflake @vanini-head @kurohiraeth @aestaeticbts @tributetotheliving @aureatemoonshine @myrealnameisbetter @disneys-desi-child @nityasundara @kannon @pepto-bismol-veins @arrigatoroy @acereader @thehornoftheunicorn @livelistenlove @rosadiaz-givesme-bipanic @ithefriendlyneighborhoodphoenix @the-fault-in-our-inquilab @glittering-galaxy-grapes @amy-carstairs-jackson @puran-poli @law-iz-in-the-air @junebugsandknives @sam1772 @cloudygreywolf @anou-yes @limestea @with-love-anu @screechingnightchild @bookedforevermore @i-am-not-crazy-as-you-think @scarletteflamerald @thepanipurisimp @holding-infinity-and-a-book @ih8u-smd @uniheart1 @book-dragon-not-worm @apocalyptic-cake @awesomeuvinthings @artistic-booklover @stars-triumphant

send me an ask to be added or removed :)

#mango writes

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wayward-musings · 3 years

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writers:

break up your paragraphs. big paragraphs are scary, your readers will get scared

fuuuuck epithets. “the other man got up” “the taller woman sat down” “the blonde walked away” nahhh. call them by their names or rework the sentence. you can do so much better than this (exception: if the reader doesn’t know the character(s) you’re referring to yet, it’s a-okay to refer to them by an identifying trait)

blunette is not a thing

new speaker, new paragraph. please.

“said” is such a great word. use it. make sweet love to it. but don’t kill it

use “said” more than you use synonyms for it. that way the use of synonyms gets more exciting. getting a sudden description of how a character is saying something (screaming, mumbling, sighing) is more interesting that way.

if your summary says “I suck at summaries” or “story better than summary” you’re turning off the reader, my dude. your summary is supposed to be your hook. you gotta own it, just like you’re gonna own the story they’re about to read

follow long sentences w short ones and short ones w long ones. same goes for paragraphs

your writing is always better than you think it is. you just think it’s bad because the story’s always gonna be predicable to the one who’s writing it

i love u guys keep on trucking

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wayward-musings · 3 years

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i'm just. there. i exist alone, around others, around you. i will sit by you and bask in your presence and watch as your face changes when you talk about something you like. i will bring you things i think you might like and i will feel happy when you smile. and yet it is not enough. i will still be hollow. i feel like an empty vessel sometimes, a container meant to hold things. of use to others, not itself. what are the things that the container holds? that changes. rotates, like on a schedule. a checklist. have i asked enough? have i conducted myself properly? what are my thoughts but not my own? and yet i talk about myself too much. or not enough? do i withhold too much, subconsciously, a side effect of too much broken trust? does that make me someone i do not want to be?

who even am i? when will there be a time when i look at my reflection and feel complete, know exactly who is staring back at me. when will every action of mine be washed of the stain of doubt, or hesitation? of am i doing this wrong? will i be punished? will i lose all i have? i wish there comes a time where i can finally see the goodness in the world. for the problem is, mother, that you taught me not to trust; and hence, i do not trust myself.

#mango writes

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wayward-musings · 3 years

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song recommendation : Amaro Porano Jaha Chay by Abhay Jodhpurkar. It is recommended to play while reading, and listen to the sound rather than the lyrics. [alternate : Damage I've Done by Anarbor]

Song of my City

The sun dips low on the horizon, flanked by tall silhouettes.

A drill whirrs. Cars honk. Voices from the traffic-choked highway pepper the air with fiery human indignation.

A lilting melody breaks through the din and rises gently to float above it all. It hovers by my ears—for a moment—and settles pleasantly in the air.

On the street below me, two men greet each other and burst into raucous laughter as they recall old memories. The waning light makes their shadows seem long and strange.

Roosting birds in the towering trees chatter noisily, and a shutter clatters into place from a nearby window to capture their glossy plumage.

The city flushes with the warm orange-red hue of the sunset and hums contentedly as the noise dulls, settling instead into a companionable murmur.

Like many other citizens for kilometres around, I rest my arms on the cool railing of my balcony and listen with a happy, aching heart

To the Song of my City.

#mango writes #send an ask to be added to the taglist! :)

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wayward-musings · 3 years

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Writing Websites

1. a website with a list of superpowers and what they are

2. a website that generates random au ideas

3. a website that generates names, basic info and futures in a bunch of languages

4. a website that checks your grammar

5. website that lists types of execution in the states

6. a website with info on death certificates

7. a website with info on the four manners of death

8. a website with info on the black plague

9. website with information on depression

10. a website with info on the four types of suicide

11. website that lists famous quotes

12. website with different kinds of quotes

13. a website with info on food in every country

14. a website with a list of different colors

15. website with a list of medieval jobs

16. website with a list of fabrics

17. website with a list of flowers and pictures

18. website with a list of flowers and no pictures

19. website with a list of poisonous plants

20. website with a list of poisonous and non-poisonous plants

21. website with a list of things not to feed your animals

22. website with a list of poisons that can be used to kill people

23. website with info on the international date line

24. website with a list of food allergies

25. website with a list of climates

26. website with info on allergic reactions

27. website with info on fahrenheit and celsius

28. website with info on color blindness

29. website with a list of medical equipment

30. website with a list of bugs

31. website with an alphabetic list of bugs and their scientific name

32. website with a list of eye colors

33. website (wikipedia sorry) with list of drinks

34. website with a list of religions

35. website with a list of different types of doctors and what they do

36. website (wikipedia again sorry) with a list of hair colors

37. website that generates fantasy names

38. website with a list of body language

39. website with a list of disabilities

40. website with an alphabetic list of disabilities

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wayward-musings · 3 years

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[warning : there will be mentions of death in this piece. please read with caution.]

Apathy as a form of self-preservation

May 2021

She sat curled up in a blanket by her window. Leaning her head against the glass, she looked down at the deserted street. Below her, the lamplights cast pools of shimmering light onto the rain-drenched street. Behind her, her small apartment throbbed in loneliness.

Today was a productive day. Work call after work call had sapped her of her energy. She hadn’t even realised how late it was when she finished her last call for the day. She liked these kinds of days, when she was so busy that she didn’t have time to think about the world, about all that was going on - the sorrow, the grief, the tragedy.

But now, all alone in the dark of the night with only her thoughts and the mice scampering across the street to keep her company, her heart ached. She felt hollow - as though whatever it was that made her human had been scooped out inside of her and thrown away. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream and sob and spend days suspended in a grief-induced limbo, but she didn’t have the liberty. Not that she could, even if she had the luxury of doing so.

Some days she felt she was nothing but a faded husk of what she had once been. She closed her eyes and tried her hardest to produce tears, but none came. Opening her eyes, she saw her reflection staring back at her from the glass. Her eyes seemed blank, lifeless.

Exhaling deeply, she took a sip of her chamomile tea and tried not to think about the bodies she had seen being buried in the news the other day. Growth was up by 2.31%, and management wanted her to conduct an employee survey tomorrow. Her manager had lost his mother yesterday. When he had given her the instructions for the survey, his voice had sounded as lifeless as she felt.

Idly, she wondered what she would wear for work calls on casual Friday this week. Maybe that cute sundress she had bought last year to wear for her sister’s birthday picnic, which she hadn’t had the courage to take out of her closet ever since she got the news? She squeezed her eyes shut at the memory of her sister, limp and pale in the hospital bed. Too soon.

Every half hour or so, the wailing of an ambulance would pierce the silence of the night as it passed under her window. A little more than a year ago, such a sight would have made her sit up in worry and look out of the window at the pristine vehicle and hope that whoever was inside would make it. Now, she just rested her head on her knees and looked blankly at the glass as the brief wash of red and blue light illuminated her face.

Why had she stopped feeling anything when she saw the dead bodies, the funeral pyres? Why would she just stare blankly at the TV screen, a gaping hole clawing away at her where her humanity had once been?

She sighed, got up, and headed to bed. On her way to the room, she shook a sleeping pill out of the bottle near her bed and knocked it back with the rest of her tea. Sure, it wasn’t healthy for her. But at least it was better than lying awake for hours staring at the ceiling and starting the next day exhausted.

She needed sleep. Tomorrow was going to be hectic.

#mango writes #death tw #tw death #self rebagel

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