Writeblogging - Tumblr Posts

I just realized how much I love editing my work. Like just reading through and changing things. Maybe there’s something about making a story exactly the way I want it to be, but I just love it. 

~Productivity Log~ 9.3.2024

Finally made it to 10k words for a single work!

It’s crazy how a number that seemed like a pipe dream before now just feels like the first goal post. I am catching myself thinking of 20k, but I’d like to keep my goals realistic.

It’s interesting how, in continuing to write past what feels “necessary”, separate plot points are naturally coming together, without any intention on my part. The foreshadowing for certain events really feels like it’s beginning to write itself.

Next Goal: 12k, and 15k by the end of September, if we can get that far.

Oh this is the worst

Y'all, I just found my name in a provisional merit list of one of the colleges I applied to.... This was kinda surprising bcoz NONE of the other colleges have released merit lists yet. Please pray for me & wish me luck with my college admission!!! 🤞🤞

5 frustrating workshop rules that made me a better writer

Throughout the 15 workshops I joined in college and grad school, I encountered two types of writing rules.

First, there were the best-practice guidelines we’ve all heard, like “show don’t tell.” And then there were workshop rules, which the professor put in place not because they’re universal, but because they help you grow within the context of the workshop.

My college’s intro writing course had 5 such rules:

No fantasy, supernatural, or sci-fi elements.

No guns.

No characters crying.

No conflict resolution through deus ex machina.

No deaths.

When I first saw the rules, I was baffled. They felt weirdly specific, and a bit unfair. But when our professor, Vinny, explained their purpose (and assured us he only wanted us to follow the rules during this intro workshop, not the others to come), I realized what I could learn from them.

1. No fantasy, supernatural, or sci-fi elements.

Writers need to be able to craft round characters, with clear arcs. While you can hone those skills writing any type of story, it can be more difficult when juggling fantastical elements, because it’s easy to get caught up in the world, or the magic, or the technology, and to make that the focus instead of the characters. So Vinny encouraged us to exclude such elements for the time being, to keep us fully focused on developing strong, dynamic characters.

2. No guns.

Weapons have a place in many stories, but when writers include a gun, they often use it to escalate the plot outside of the realm of personal experience and into what Vinny called “Hollywood experience.” He wanted us to learn how to draw from our own observations and perceptions of life, rather than the unrealistic action, violence, and drama we’d seen in movies, so he made this rule to keep us better grounded in our own experiences.

3. No characters crying.

When trying to depict sadness, writers often default to making characters cry. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, tears are just one way to show grief, and they aren’t always the most subtle or emotionally compelling. That’s why Vinny challenged us to find other ways to convey sadness — through little gestures, strained words, fragile interactions, and more. It was difficult, but opened us up to depicting whole new gradients of grief and pain.

4. No conflict resolution through deus ex machina.

This is the only one of the rules I’d say is generally universal. Meaning “God from the machine,” deus ex machina is a plot device where a character’s seemingly insurmountable problem is abruptly resolved by an outside force, rather than their own efforts. These endings are bad for various reasons, but Vinny discouraged them because he wanted us to understand how important it was for our characters to confront their struggle and its consequences.

5. No deaths.

Death is inherently dramatic and can be used to good effect, but many writers use death as a crutch to create drama and impact. Writers should be able to craft engaging, meaningful stories, even without killing off their characters, so this rule challenged us to find other methods of giving weight to our stories (such as through internal conflict).

How these rules helped me grow as a writer

First things first, I’ll say it again: apart from #4 (deus ex machina), these rules were never meant to be universally applied. Instead, their purpose was to create temporary barriers and challenges to help us develop key skills and write in new, unfamiliar ways.

For me, the experience was invaluable. I liked the way the rules challenged and stretched my abilities, driving me to write stories I’d have never otherwise attempted. They made me more flexible as a writer, and while I don’t follow the rules anymore (I LOVE me some fantasy), I’ll always be thankful for how they shaped my writing.

My recommendation to you?

Give some of these rules a shot! Follow them temporarily while writing 2-4 short stories — but remember to always keep their purpose in mind, because the rules themselves will only help if you understand what they’re trying to achieve.

Write with purpose, and you’ll always be growing.

— — —

For more tips on how to craft meaning, build character-driven plots, and grow as a writer, follow my blog.

Introduction

I’ve been so worried about what to say in my intro that I still haven’t done it after nearly three months so I’m just going to smush my perfectionism down and finally say something! 

My name is Anna and I’m 25. I’m a Leo and a Slytherin and my passions (aside from writing) are fashion, cooking, and the Real Housewives (I mean can you blame me tho). I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember but with a few breaks and am just now getting back into it after a hiatus. I have a few WIPs whose working titles are just keywords to help me remember which is which (am I killing this writing thing or what). Here’s a list:  - Dust: post-apocolyptic-esque story of a girl who runs away from home to move across the country and ends up tangled up in some drama and turf wars in the desert - Magic: modern-day urban fantasy about a girl who inadvertently falls in with a witch and a warlock and realizes she’s less normal than she thought - Blue: a disease is ravaging a country and a group of friends set up a haven for victims - and one victim in particular throws them all for a loop - Lost: medieval-esque fantasy about a kingdom whose princess disappears and the girl they take to be her secret replacement - Cream: the age-old story of a girl who works her way up to high society - and then falls hard

I know these are so vague and definitely not at all the type of blurbs to make you want to pick up a book and read it, but there’s a lot more to them - and I'm going to share all of that with y’all soon! 

Hell yeah

The Weird Proposal

In all those years

That I lived;

I learned

But one

Truth.

Sometimes

Normal

Is not

Okay.

So what

Do you

Say?

Will you

Break normality;

Embrace weirdness

With me?

-Stormykatie

The Found Door

Panting in exhaustion;

She gasped in some air.

Engulfed in desolation;

Sword of Democles

Gashed her in depair.

In the midst of confusion;

She tried so hard to flee.

From the whirlpool of oblivion;

Her sorrows danced with glee.

Determined to escape;

This dumbfounding tribulation.

Heading to somewhere safe;

From all these retribution.

At the heart of the woods:

She found a forlorn key.

Amidst its hideous look;

An enormous risk she took.

She picked it up with ardor;

Walked a few miles more.

In the end of the weary road;

Lies her new found door!

-Stormykatie

August 14

I wish

You could

Swim through

My darkness

And hold

Me there.

-Stormykatie

Fell for the Night

Unfortunately for the girl

Who loves to be around

Broken people;

Tending their wounds;

Pulling them up from the dumps;

No one's there for her

When she needs healing.

So she embraced the darkness;

Kissed the demons;

And fell for the night!

-Stormykatie

Window

A place to behold;

The snow as it falls.

A refuge to the lonely;

Somewhere to catch cold.

For me it is a border;

Parting me from you.

Oh beloved stranger;

I watch you from here.

Not wanting to interfere;

My gloomy soul tries;

To make sense of it all.

This window is a wall;

Preventing hearts to collide.

Behind it, I hide;

All my yearnings inside.

-Stormykatie

Home to your Heart

In my world dear

Sleep is as bizarre;

As the possibility

Of you falling for me.

But I'll let you ignite;

My frozen soul.

Barren like a desert;

I'll let you plant kisses;

On the corner

Of my famished lips.

Hope you will awaken

My withered passions.

Buried too deep-

Beneath my zonked

Flesh; Unleash it-

From the grave.

With your hands;

Touch my sleeping soul;

Lead it home;

To your heart

Where it belongs.

-Stormykatie

The Sea

Dearest, the truth is-

I have always been

Part of the sea.

When I saw you,

Surfing with the waves

I thought that maybe

You can tame me.

But then again

My dearest,

You have always

Been so scared

Of the ocean;

Just as the devil

Is scared of

His own name.

-Stormykatie

Dear destiny

Don't talk;

Come closer.

Silence is too sacred

To spoil.

Just hold me;

Be with me;

Like we own

Dear destiny!

-Stormykatie

September First

I want to be the song

Playing in your stereo

Watch you dance to the beat

As I sit by my window

I want to be the books

You read all night long

The words you internalize

The concepts you speak

The dream you seek

Or the notes lying cold

On your desk

Waiting to be remembered

For a test

I want to be the wind

That caresses your face

Sorrounds you like a Phantom

Feel you breathe me in and out

A zephyr you can't live without

I want to be the poems

You read in admiration

Commenting on the rhymes

Connecting with the meaning

I want to be everything

That could keep you baby

Hold you

Own you

But even in dreams

I am nothing it seems

What am I?

I wanted to ask you

Yet the words were frozen

Without escaping my lips

As I watched you run into her arms

Last September First.

-Stormykatie

They are a little breathless as they speak.

“Please, don't leave like this.”

Rage simmers in a pot of tears in my lungs.

“Stop!” I mean it to come out commanding but instead, my voice cracks and it comes out a rasp.

They've paused a few feet away from me.

“Stop. okay? Just...do me a favour. Pretend like this never happened. Not tonight, not last night or the night before. You’ll go home and keep living your life the way you did before you came here. And I’ll go home too.” I swallow hard.

“I’ll go home and live my life the way I did before I came here.” I try and fight tears to speak clearly.

“A-and we’ll both keep living as though we never met someone in a kitchen in Paris and--” I'm falling apart at the seams.

“You know we can't do that,” Jun rasps and takes a few small steps forward.

“We both know that can’t happen. I-I can’t go home and forget. Adam--”

“Stop,” I angrily wipe my eyes.

“You don't get to say that.” the tears are spilling out all over again. It seems like I never run out of them.

“You don't get to tell me that you can’t help me and that I have to go back home to them and then that you can’t forget me, you-you-- JUST CAN’T!” I'm sobbing now.

Another few small steps forward as they speak their voice softens a little.

“I never said I couldn't help you, Adam. I just can't help all of them. I can’t. It's not possible, you have to try and understand that. And--and try and understand that I don't know any one of them. But--Adam I know you. And God damn me for saying this but I’d choose you. I’d choose you over all of them. Those hundred men. Overall those women and their political titles. I’d choose you over all of them.”

This only makes me cry harder and yet Jun continues until they're there in front of me, hand brushing the tears away.

“Let me help you.”

Leaving France ~ Excerpt From A Woman’s World

Love it when during my research I google something and the first thing that comes up is a Tumblr post.

Just added numbers to the pages of my draft god I'm so professional

Love when I'm listening to the playlist I specifically made for this one piece I'm writing and then while writing the one song I only put in for That One Scene I Really Want To Write But It's Ten Chapters Away™ comes on and I just die