“One of the things I had to learn as a writer was to trust the act of writing. To put myself in the position of writing to find out what I was writing.”
— E. L. Doctorow
“Planning to write is not writing. Outlining, researching, talking to people about what you’re doing, none of that is writing. Writing is writing.”
— E. L. Doctorow
Glennon Doyle, Untamed
Sorry to break it to you but you literally have to face your fears and slaughter them. Otherwise you will live a small life that you do not want. You literally have to view your biggest fears and attack them head on. You have to fall into the abyss to find your way out. The easy path does not exist. There is no get out of jail free card. You have to allow yourself to die a spiritual death over and over again in order to reinvent yourself into the person you are actually supposed to be. And you have to be painfully honest with yourself and the people around you. It’s horrible but it’s truly the only way.
🎉 Write characters that you find interesting and compelling.
🎉 Don't worry about making characters too over the top, or 'too much'.
🎉 Write characters who want big things.
🎉 Write characters with conflict between what they want and what they need.
🎉 Write characters who don't realize they are doing harm.
🎉 Write characters who don't know how to communicate well.
🎉 Write characters with people they love in the way of what they want.
🎉 Write characters with amazing abilities who use them in ways that unintentionally fuck them over.
🎉 Write messy characters!
“It’s never too late to start over again and to be happy.”
— Anurag Prakash Ray
“Any form of human creativity is a process of doing it and getting better at it…[Writers] don’t usually peak in their 20s. It’s usually quite a lot later on.”
— Margaret Atwood
Naomi Shihab Nye, from You & Yours: Poems; "The Sweet Arab, The Dangerous Arab," originally published in 2005
Had a shitty stupid day, came home and made myself a hot buttered rum, and with the first sip every sore muscle in my body relaxed. In case you need a cure like that, here's my recipe. I make mine in a big ass mug so if you use a standard coffee mug you'll need to size it down. It's all to taste, anyway.
Brew mug most of but not all the way full with strong black tea. Traditionally it's made with hot water but we all know tea is the best kind of hot water. Chai would probably be great but I love just an English breakfast.
Add a couple spoonfuls of brown sugar, a splash of vanilla extract, a little cinnamon, and a pinch of salt (a little more than you think you'll want)
Add rum. A strong warm flavor is ideal - black rum, spiced rum, I got a vanilla one once that made phenomenal buttered rums. Strength is up to you. In a big mug that I'm just drinking for comfort I'll still put a good shot in there, but if you want you can mix this shit deadly and it'll still be delicious.
Look at me. Look at me. I wouldn't lie to you about this. "Buttered" is literal. Add a big hunk of butter. No, bigger than that. Whisk it in until it melts. When you got enough in there it should be just a little paler and more opaque than it started.
If you sip it and it tastes sweet but flat, like it's missing something, add more butter or salt. Enjoy. Don't say I never did anything for you.
“Be willing to walk alone. Many who start with you won’t finish.”
— Unknown
Crazy how bullying is not really acknowledged as a real trauma like you really have to endure years and years of lord of the flies and then just move on like it never happened