A Message About Writing (ft a special guest character)

1-2-3 testing… is this thing on… SQUIRREL?!

Slaps Microphone hard!

SCREEE FEEDBACK!

Takes microphone and fixes it onto the stand and takes out ‘speech page’ and makes Pissy read it out because he’s doing nothing.

I, Churro have decided not to care anymore about finishing a novel and focusing on it. I just can’t. There is no sense in forcing myself to do so. I think that no one should force themselves to dedicate to one project if they aren’t feeling it, or it’s not going in a certain direction.

It’s liberating to drop things that aren’t working out properly, in favor of something you feel more passionately about and something that makes more sense to focus on. It might take some time, but you will get there in the end.

It’s okay to abandon things that aren’t working out, or to come back to them when you feel inspired again. It’s better, mentally for you in the long run, and it saves a lot of time. It lets you focus on something you know you will finish, or have more interest in.

Also, you don’t need to stick to your outline fully. Things will change, and your story won’t be the same thing exactly that you planned it to be and that’s alright. Creating a story is an evolving document and an involved process.

You also don’t need to follow every writing rule all of the time. It’s okay to break some of them if it makes sense within the confines of your story structure and its plan. I break rules all the time. I invent new ones. Everyone is learning. No one has the exact same process and method. It’s all about figuring out what works for you and gets results for your goals, and that’s okay.

A self-published author isn’t going to have the same goals and aspirations as someone who wants to be traditionally published; a teen fic writer isn’t going to follow the same structure as someone who’s writing an experimental lit-fic and that’s okay. There is no one size fits all method.

I think that some people are stressed when it comes to writing because they have invented some imaginary set of aspirations, or think that following X method is what they must do to achieve Y result, but it’s not always the case. A lot of people get disheartened over it.

My best advice is to sometimes just go with the flow. Especially on your first draft. You can fix it up, and edit it later. Let the words flow out, like the skeleton form, and then turn it into a full-bodied story. If you have nothing to work with, you won’t get very far. No first draft is perfect. It’s not the end of the world if you have to fix things up.

It’s also a part of the learning process. If you get through the first draft, most of the battle is one. Keep on hanging in there, and eventually, you will get something you like. Enjoy the ride, and have a good time in the process. If it’s not working out, take a break and re-evaluate things.

Everything will make sense in the end if you don’t give up.


Pissy smiles and steps back from the microphone

Pissy: So Churro, where’s this coffee you promised me? I’m not leaving here until it’s in my hands. I will be holding you accountable until then, got it?!

Churro sighs and makes Pissy a coffee.

Churro: There you go, thanks for your custom. It’s a decaf coffee, extra dark, just like your soul and heart.

Pissy: Excuuusee me!? What do you MEAN it’s decaf? Am I a joke to you?!

Churro: Just drink it, be thankful that I even made you it. Enjoy

Churro walks out and leaves Pissy to sulk

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Every single story requires different elements and techniques. It is something that not a lot of people talk about enough.

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Exactly!

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Bold of you to assume I’m capable of coming back to a project once it’s abandoned. :laughing:

This is my biggest hurtle. I’m learning to take breaks now and step away. Forcing myself even. Painfully. Like trying to rip a tick off of your skin without tweezers.

But because of the way my brain works, if I don’t force myself to do anything, even if it feels tedious/stressful at the time, I will accomplish nothing. (ADHD brain) And so it’s confusing for me to decide whether I should drop something bc it’s not worth it anymore vs not dropping it bc I know it’s my brain just being an a$$ and I’ll reeeeeally regret it if I don’t finish it. Like I don’t trust my own “desires” bc my brain is a liar haha constantly chasing that fresh dopamine.

Honestly, if I was in a situation where someone else fully supported me financially and/or I lived alone, there are SO many things that would never get done or at least not until I reeeeally have to. Make lunch? Screw that. I’ll just eat some tortilla chips. :laughing: I only do any cleaning, chores, cooking, working etc. bc life literally does not allow me, not to even if I avoid it as long as I can, so at the very least, I feel like, damn it, I want to stick to the hobby, the thing I’m supposed to enjoy bc then all is lost. Someone’s gotta force me to do the joy thing or I will just be a useless potato. :potato:

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Amen, brother! I’ve been taking my writing too seriously too, and for what? I just noticed I have some new ratings on my books on Amazon, all three stars, and the readers didn’t even buy the books. Meanwhile, various YouTube influencers whose writing is objectively awful are raking in six figures just because they have a pleasing on-camera presence. Argh. This is one twisted business.

Once I publish my current work, I’m taking a break! I’m just going to focus on reading for awhile. To hell with writing. (-᷅_-᷄๑)

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This! It’s definitely a popularity contest these days. Popularity > Skill. Especially now with the internet/social media. No social media presence, no marketing power for your books. :weary: Ugh. But at least now we can self publish whereas before, it was only traditional publishing as an option?

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It takes me about a year on average to come back to a project I abandoned, lol.

Yes, exactly. If you don’t step back, things will be worse at times. Well, at least in my opinion. Need some time to reflect.

Yes. I need to force myself to do things. When I do ONC, I like to use deadlines to force myself to finish things. I did that last year and wrote 3k in an hour. And I managed to get it finished in time. I made like 30k, or something.

But yeah, deciding what things are worth dropping is hard. Especially when your brain is being poopy. One day, it’s working on X, and the next Y, then Z, and then Y wants to come back :joy: It’s kinda annoying lol.

…and yes, dopamine! :smiley: My bren loves it too.

Yeah, I agree. The joy thing is hard for me to do as well since I have to force myself as well.

Yes, and that sucks! People shouldn’t be allowed to do that, they should have to have read the book before actually being allowed to review it.

Yeah cough Jenna Moreci, and Abbie Emmons cough. I heard some of Jenna’s story, and I wanted more than anything to mute it. The audio narration is annoying (not funny at all) and the story is boring.

Maybe you should make a channel called Akje Writes and pretend to be nice :imp:

Yes, exactly lol.

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I will say that having had 7 ONCs to test, its been no need to worry about sticking to 1 thing.

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True :joy: 7 is a lot, even for me.

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This is my first ONC and while I won’t have a “complete” story by tomorrow’s deadline, I will have reached the 20k count from what? Two or three months of writing? That’s a lot for me. Deadlines definitely help. :smiley:

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I hate how that’s the bitter reality of things.
It really isn’t fair.

I’m sorry that happened to you.

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ONC is extended until April 30th by the way.

Yes, reaching 20k is great. I got 20.7k for my story and 20k is a lot for me too.

Deadlines are great lol.

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What’s weirder is that everyone on the globe gets paid for their labor except writers and pretty much everyone in publishing who isn’t an exec. Why is it considered acceptable for us to work on a book for YEARS without any pay whatsoever? And why does everyone sympathize with the pirates who steal what little money we do make? This planet is totally wack. (ง︡’-'︠)ง

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Omg :sob: very true everybody except the execs has it bad. The whole system is running on funds and grants by independent benefactors which most have to claw and fight their way to. I mean the industry “fair rate” for literary translators is less than 5k for 3-5 years of work? The absolute tomfoolery. And let’s not get into the plight of the poets. If you’re not commissioned, you’re not making anything. No wonder everyone’s doing freelance hustlin.

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Sorry for the late reply and all.

Wow, I’ve been a bit ignorant on things like that. I knew/had an inkling that things were pretty bad for writers, but that is pretty upsetting to hear that things are still bad for us.

Yeah…makes you wonder so much.

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Here’s a little good news. ٩(˘◡˘)۶

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The search for good coffee is unending…

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This is why I went to self publish it all.

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I think you’ve got the right idea now that self-pubbed authors earn more than traditionally published authors. They say the real money’s in writing a series, so I think I’m going to try that as soon as I can think of a sustainable storyline. You should too! Or link all your churroverse books together as a series. Individual standalones in the same universe seem to be popular now. ( ˆ◡ˆ)۶ ٩(˘◡˘ )

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Yeah, it seems to be the way that things are going. Even stories that could easily be standalones, have their own series. Cemetery Boys is also getting a sequel cause the first one did so well, lol.

Yeah, or just have a series of different stories link up to one main storyline or something. Just think about it, and use something like Obsidian to link the ideas together.

It’s not like I have a shortage of universes, and ideas inside them :joy:

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