This Is An Appreciation Post For The Fanfic Authors Who Aren’t Included On Rec Lists

I know not everyone wants to read the books, but I think more people should read this passage from the masked empire specifically. Especially those who are struggling to understand modern elves being oppressed and the evanuris having been oppressors.

Notes For Writers:

1. Write what you like without shame

2. Your writing doesn’t have to be morally “just” to be good writing/storytelling

3. Being “good” and being “righteous” are not one and the same

4. Your writing doesn’t have to meet any guidelines to be good - just write it

5. It doesn’t matter if your writing sucks now. Get the words down; you can always edit later

6. We all have self-doubt. Yes, even the famous author you think could never possibly because you think they’re that incredible. One day, if you don’t already, there will be people that think like that about you. Keep going.

7. Your writing is not less important than anyone else’s. All writing has its purpose. Yours may not be something that’ll start a social movement, but it has a purpose to the people it matters to.

8. Stop comparing your writing to others. You’re insulting yourself and them. Your writing isn’t meant to be like theirs. Your writing is meant to be like yours.

9. You are better than you give yourself credit for.

10. ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE PROUD OF YOUR WRITING WITHOUT FEELING SHAME. It is not self-centered, conceited, selfish or anything similar to be proud of what you create. YOU SHOULD BE PROUD OF IT.

11. You’re allowed to be proud of your writing, even if you think it sucks. You are allowed to be proud of your writing, even if you think it sucks. Be proud of the growing you’ve done. Be proud of the fact that you push forward in spite your self-doubt. Even terrible writing has things to be proud of.

Remember: What you do is incredible and hard. Let yourself feel pride. Let yourself struggle and find what does and doesn’t work for you. Allow yourself to learn and grow. That’s what life is about - growing into yourself. That means creatively as much as any other way. <3

Happy writing, my friends.

🤍 H

@janeopries sorry, not sorry.

planning horrible headcanons with your friends but accidentally crossing the line like

@ all my fellow fic writers, I hope 2019 blesses you with inspiration, motivation and time to write, and your inboxes and messages are flooded with lovely comments and feedback/reviews

Never let anyone tell you that you can’t write. You are NEVER: too young, too old, too mature, too naive, too uneducated, too intelligent, too unoriginal, or too boring.

ANYONE can be a writer and EVERYONE is just as qualified as published authors.

You don’t have to have an english/literature/creative writing degree to magically make you worthy enough to try. Many published authors just picked it up after their day jobs, did it for a hobby. If they can do it, you can as well.

No one can stop you unless you let them, yours is the only opinion that should matter. So write your fanfiction, your novella, short story, screen play, or novel. Don’t give a damn about what the naysayers believe. Be fucking proud of every word you put down on the page (yes, even horrible rough drafts) because you’re amazing.

You ARE a writer. Be proud of that.

Reminders for the Anxious/Depressed Creatives

You’re more than what you make.

Your productivity does not determine your value.

It’s okay to do nothing sometimes.

Not everything you do has to result in a product.

Not everything you make has to be important, significant, or even good.

You can make things just for yourself.

You can keep secrets for yourself, whether it’s not posting some of your projects or not sharing your techniques.

You’re allowed to say no.

You’re allowed to rest.

Dear Writers

Your value as a person is not at all dependent upon the quantity or quality of writing you produce

Your identity as a writer is not at all dependent upon the quantity or quality of writing you produce

Your stories are still important even if they can only live in your head

You are still important even if you can’t tell your stories right now (or ever)

Having a story that fails or flops or stops or falls apart doesn’t mean that story is worthless, a waste of time, and you are not worthless or a waste of time because you couldn’t see the story through

Don’t tell yourself getting published is your capital-G Goal, and that you’re worthless until you’ve been published. The goal is to practice that art that makes you so happy. If you’re writing specifically to get published, you’re no longer writing for you.

You are still important whether you last wrote ten minutes ago, yesterday, a month ago, or three years ago.

People, your parents, society, capitalism will tell you all of these things aren’t true. Fuck them.

And please be kind to yourselves and to your writing.

Love,

A writer who has learned all these things the hard way so maybe you guys won’t have to

My Home Library: The Meme

As requested, I have put together a meme based on my Home Library posts. You can do all of them, but feel free to skip a number if you don’t own any books relevant to the day’s prompt (just replace it with an idea of your own). Take a picture, write down the stories attached to the book(s) in question, go nuts!

1. “The System” (example). 2. Favourite female writer. 3. Favourite male writer. 4. Bought on location (where the writer lived, the book takes place, the movie adaptation was shot). 5. The largest and the smallest book you own. 6. Complete works of one author. 7. Favourite poetry collection 8. Favourite biography. 9. Favourite cookbook. 10. Favourite graphic novel. 11. A book you didn’t understand at all. 12. “One of these things is not like the others” (inconsistent editions within a series, like so). 13. Best bargain. 14. Most recent purchase. 15. Favourite lay-out design. 16. Book you bought because of the title. 17. Book you bought because of the cover design. 18. Multiple translations of the same work. 19. Multiple copies of the same work. 20. The funniest book you own. 21. The most expensive book you own. 22. A recurring interest/theme. 23. A book you read so many times that it fell apart. 24. A book you think everyone should read. 25. A book that made you cry. 26. A book you would prescribe for an aspiring author. 27. A cover design you hate. 28. A book that was a waste of your time. 29. Favourite book from your childhood. 30. The book with the most pages in your collection.

Eight rules for writing fiction: 1) Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted. 2) Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for. 3) Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water. 4) Every sentence must do one of two things — reveal character or advance the action. 5) Start as close to the end as possible. 6) Be a sadist. Now matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them — in order that the reader may see what they are made of. 7) Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia. 8) Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

– Kurt Vonnegut

The Motivation Guide

One of the biggest problems writers face is the lack of motivation to continue or finish their projects. For me personally, it’s the number one reason why I give up writing something. Losing interest is a problem that can be fixed, however.

I came up with this guide to refer to when you’re wondering how to motivate yourself. Remember, there are reasons why you might want to skip out on a project, but you should try getting yourself excited about your work first. Here are a few things to do when you’re lacking motivation:

Make plans for the future – try to figure out what the next step in your story is going to be.

Overanalyze your characters – it’s better to know too much about your character than not enough.

Think on your feet – don’t be afraid to go in an unexpected direction.

Invent new ideas – if you’re stuck, look at something from a new angle

Visualize your characters – try casting your novel in your head

Anticipate what will come next – when you’re done for the day, figure out what you’ll tackle next

Try something new – introduce a new character or explore a different subplot

Invite other writers in – get together with writer friends and brainstorm, in person or online

Organize your outline – don’t forget to revisit your outline from time to time and reorganize

Never forget your goals – write them down and put them somewhere you can see every day

-Kris Noel