Reminders For The Anxious/Depressed Creatives

HEY!

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Writing Tip #9

Have someone you look up to or respect read your work. It can be nice to have your parents and best friends read it, but face it, they’re prone to bias. You can still show it to them, but if you want feed back turn to someone else. A respected teacher, someone you admire on tumblr, or a friend you know will be brutally honest will all work. Just remember to ask nicely, they’ll be taking time out of their schedules to do this for you.

Give them a hard copy if you can or use Google Docs, it allows them to place comments so you won’t forget. Also, try not to be offended. You won’t be around to defend your work to other readers, so take it to heart. Don’t get snippy to that person, remember that you did ask them to do it.

Don’t get discouraged! There is always room to improve and so challenge yourself. Keep writing and don’t forget to thank your readers for helping you out. Maybe they’ll do it again.

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.

writers

write that sentence, that dialogue, that scene that terrifies you

don’t delete stuff, just move it to another document

have a “bits and pieces” document for all the odds and ends you can’t fit anywhere else

think of the color of a person’s eyes, imagine something reflected in them, now write that scene

fiction doesn’t have to be 100% accurate, don’t research yourself to boredom

i’m being serious there’s a thing called suspension of disbelief and it’s magical (yes that’s me making a joke)

write something that makes you cry

write something that makes you laugh

write something you can’t explain to other people

write something you won’t remember until you read it the next day

don’t read about the publishing industry until you really, really need to. all it will do is make you unbelievably tired

listen to music from open world RPG video games, you’re welcome

always take a small journal or some paper and a pen with you

write by hand in a journal every once in a while

put the ending of your story in the beginning and see what happens

listen to input from other people. yes you’re the writer, but they’re the reader and they want to help you make something spectacular

said is not dead dude like wtf

the thesaurus is shiny and lovely and a great resource but don’t let words get in the way of your story telling, you don’t need to write prose as poetry for it to be beautiful

just finish the draft first, worry about perfection after

yes, you do have talent

yes, you can do this. you already are

Words to use instead of “Very”!

👎🏼 Very simple             👍🏼 Basic 👎🏼 Very shy                  👍🏼 Timid 👎🏼 Very short                👍🏼 Brief  👎🏼 Very shiny                👍🏼 Gleaming  👎🏼 Very sharp               👍🏼 Keen 👎🏼 Very serious             👍🏼 Grave 👎🏼 Very scary                👍🏼 Chilling  👎🏼 Very scared              👍🏼 Petrified  👎🏼 Very sad                   👍🏼 Sorrowful 👎🏼 Very rich                   👍🏼 Wealthy  👎🏼 Very rainy                 👍🏼 Pouring  👎🏼 Very quiet                 👍🏼 Hushed 👎🏼 Very quick                👍🏼 Rapid 👎🏼 Very pretty                👍🏼 Beautiful  👎🏼 Very powerful           👍🏼 Compelling 👎🏼 Very poor                 👍🏼 Destitute  👎🏼 Very perfect             👍🏼 Flawless 👎🏼 Very pale                  👍🏼 Ashen  👎🏼 Very painful              👍🏼 Excruciating  👎🏼 Very open                 👍🏼 Transparent 👎🏼 Very old-fashioned   👍🏼 Archaic  👎🏼 Very old                    👍🏼 Ancient  👎🏼 Very often                 👍🏼 Frequently  👎🏼 Very noisy                👍🏼Deafening 

I agree with the above. My writing professors always said 'there are rules, break them as long as you understand how and why'. The rules are important, but you're allowed to play with them. Bend them. Writing is an art form, we push the boundaries and limits set to us and that's what makes it interesting to read. Makes each author sound unique. Just be sure it's all moving the plot in some way or revealing character. It has to have a purpose.

Otherwise, write what you want to write. J. K. Rowling was denied again and again till someone saw the magic - pun fully intended - in her work. Stephen King was told his stories were too depressing, that no one would want to buy science fiction with negative utopias. That his novels would never sell. In the end they got picked up by agencies. Keep your heads up, there is hope.

Blood of Arlathan: Solas vs Elgar'nan

Solas and Elgar'nan's war of words is truly one of my favorite moments in the entire game. So, I thought I'd post a quick transcript for anyone who may be interested.

(I did my best with the translations, using the Dragon Age Wiki as a source.)

Part One

Solas: Elgar'nan! Lethallin! Ma banal'evanuris. Ma salin ar ghilana? Translation: Elgar'nan! Brother/Friend! You are not a god. Do you need a guide? (Do you need me to show you how?) Elgar'nan: Fen'Harel, you have no power here!

Part Two

Elgar'nan: So, the Dread Wolf has arrived to defend his pawn. Solas: Your cruelty forced my hand. Elgar'nan: A hundred generations, and still the same refrain. Solas: Again you have caged our people, and again, I will set them free. Elgar'nan: But you were always stubborn, Fen'Harel. Insubordinate. Unmanageable, even by Mythal's reckoning. Solas: You have lost the right to speak her name. Elgar'nan: Ma vallas ban! Shev gar, Fen'Harel! Translation: You cannot kill/defeat me! (You set (the setting sun) never!) Come, Fen'Harel!

Part Three

Solas: The only reason Mythal joined you was that she knew the monster you would become if left unchecked. She thought to temper your brutish ego. Instead, you betrayed her. Murdered her. Elgar'nan: (Chuckles) Only the first time, Dread Wolf.

Part Four

Solas: The cruelty is nothing new, but what has happened to the vaunted brilliant mind of Elgar'nan the mighty? The blight has left you blunt and slow, a monster, not a mastermind. You used to be a challenging opponent. Elgar'nan: You saw me as an opponent. To me, you were an irritation. A fly buzzing ceaselessly. Solas: I must speak to you in this tongue. It seems elven is beyond your grasp. Elgar'nan: As much as freedom is beyond yours.

Part Five

Solas: Once the blight is free, it will rule this world, and you will be its attack dog. You will burn this world at its command, as Andruil did at yours, and you will leave only ruin behind you. Elgar'nan: This world is ruined already! Your Veil destroyed it! Solas: You could heal it. You have the strength to repair the damage without using the blight! Elgar'nan: (Choked laughter) Save your games for the mortals, Dread Wolf. The blight is my blade, and it will take more than your tricks to get me to lay it down. Your whining comes from envy, Fen'Harel, but it does not have to be so. There is a place for you at my side in a new, glorious empire. Solas: But it will not have eluvians, will it? June built them, and now he is dead. Our great cities came from Sylaise. Our deepest mysteries from Dirthamen. Elgar'nan: I will restore it all. Their achievements will not be lost. Solas: You were a bully who ruled over what others had built, and now the others are gone. Who do you have left? Ghilan'nain? You cannot rebuild a world by stitching together monsters.

You want weapons? We're in a library. Books are the best weapon in the world. This room's the greatest arsenal we could have. Arm yourself!

David Tennant as the 10th Doctor. - Doctor Who season 2: "Tooth and Claw"

The first rule of writing is hoard notebooks

Sharing this on both blogs since it's so amazing and I'm awed by it.

Ryiah Lavellan, commission for sinedra