the dark before the dawn

LEARNING TO BREATHE ao3

Chapter 22: i wake with your memory over me

Quentin, a student at Columbia, and Eliot, a student at CUNY, meet at a coffee shop in Harlem and find themselves incredibly drawn to each other. Despite their prior traumas, romance isn't able to escape them, and an all encompassing love blossoms. But the ghosts of their pasts, in particular, threaten everything that they have.

“Don’t let it get to that big head of yours, Merlin.

We all hit those blah writing days. Your fingers are ready, your doc is open... and your brain goes static. That’s where writing exercises come in — small creative boosts to shake off the dust and get back into your story flow. Here are six to try when your words feel stuck in traffic.

1. The 5-Minute Word Sprint

Pick a random word (use a generator or close your eyes and point at a book), set a 5-minute timer, and write anything involving that word. No stopping, no deleting.

2. Dialogue Without Context

Write a short convo between two people. No descriptions. No setting. Just back-and-forth lines.

3. Rewrite a Scene in Another Genre

Take a scene from your current story and flip the genre. Drama becomes comedy. Fantasy becomes sci-fi. Romance becomes horror.

4. Describe a Place Using the Five Senses — No Sight Allowed

Can’t mention what anything looks like. Only sound, touch, smell, taste, and intuition.

5. Character Swap POVs

Write a paragraph from the POV of a side character reacting to your main character. Bonus if the POV is brutally honest or completely wrong.

6. One Line Story Hooks

Write 3 one-sentence story starters that make you want to keep writing. (Example: “I woke up married to my enemy, and worse — he knew it before I did.”)

I do have a family. One that needs me.

LEARNING TO BREATHE ao3

Chapter 21: forevermore

Quentin, a student at Columbia, and Eliot, a student at CUNY, meet at a coffee shop in Harlem and find themselves incredibly drawn to each other. Despite their prior traumas, romance isn't able to escape them, and an all encompassing love blossoms. But the ghosts of their pasts, in particular, threaten everything that they have.