Musings from A paranormal author

grabbing new writers by the shoulders. it is important to write what you love and to love what you write. if you spend all your time trying to make something other people will approve of you will hate yourself and everything around you. learn at your own pace. you have time. i’m proud of you

Me, who is only now hearing of the apparent WattPad migration and the deluge the Ao3 volunteer team are needing to put up with (that seems to be a lot of complaints about things that tie back to ao3 being fundamentally against censorship of any kind and newcomers being confused about that):

Thanks Ao3 Team, we appreciate you

I collaborated with the Human Artistry Project to make this strip alongside other web cartoonists to make the point that “Stealing isn’t Innovation” when it comes to A.I. usage. It seems to be doing numbers on instagram and elsewhere, so you may also read it here, tumblr.

May the discourse that ensues be long and unhelpful.

every day i get a little madder about the ‘dream job’ narrative… all i want is to have a job that benefits society somewhat, doesn’t abuse me, and lets me live a happy life outside of my job lol. jobs should not be (and arguably can’t be) cosmic destinies and identities

To get good at this, you have to start examining the anatomy of a story: one collection of several smaller plots.

Typically, there is:

If you have a larger cast of characters (more conflicts) or a mystery (red herrings etc.) there will likely be many more. I like thinking of story development like weaving, so I call these my story "threads."

the two fundamental truths of historical and contemporary mankind:

crisp glass of water moodboard

I've been writing a fanfic for a while but I started rereading moby dick recently and upon rereading my fic u can tell exactly when I did

yeah ok bro

To all my writers living in areas going through heat waves right now:

1. Drink some water, please

2. Remember that even if you aren’t out in the heat that it can still make you tired and make it harder to think coherently. Go easy on yourself.

3. DRINK SOME GODDAMN WATER!!!!!!!!!!

the feminine urge to abandon the novel and start a newer, hotter, less emotionally demanding novel

"But I don't like the ending/the character/the plot point. I would have done it differently."

Yes. Good. Go get a pen. This is where it begins.

the reality of being a writer

heres how to fix it

classic way

This was my art school’s water fountain. Drink from them wolf tiddies

Assignment misunderstood. I have now built a city.

Give it a day

When you're writing and then all of a sudden you write a sentence either so good or so bad that you need to immiedetly shut your device

Or jump from your seat and pace around in either the absolute cinema pose OR generally questioning your life decisions......

Ray Bradbury’s short story “There Will Come Soft Rains” that was written in 1950 is set on the day of August 4th, 2026 (tomorrow)!! Now’s your chance to read it around the time it’s based in!

I used to set this one for second year undergraduate creative writing seminars on writing science fiction on a double bill with Octavia E. Butler's "Bloodchild" and no-one here gets out alive.

!!!! Today is the only chance we’ll ever have to listen to this absolute banger of apocalyptic fiction on the very day the story is set 😲✨

Nemoy’s voice is PERFECT in this!

(A content warning if you do listen - the dog dies, though it’s not super graphic)

I paused the robot vacuum so I could listen to this 1950’s story predicting the robot vacuum.

Person A: "You need to take a break. You're busier than me now. Me. You're going to die like this."

Person B: "That would be good for you."

Person A: "Then I'd have no one to argue with. Like I said, take a break. Preferably where I can bother you, thanks."