aut viam inveniam aut faciam

Imagine you are dead. And then you are RIPPED from the embrace of decay into the world of the living again. Your memories are hazy and you don't recognize any of these people, but they act like they're close to you? Like they love you? So you try to get your memories back, to act like you belong here, but everybody tries to forget you died. And you can't. It is omnipresent. And just trying to grapple with that fact pushes the people who "love" you away, and they're incapable of understanding, and they're so confused, what's wrong N̶̄̀O̶͛͗T̷̉́ ̷͋͝Y̴̎̌Ȍ̴̈U̸̓R NÄM̴̃͑E̵̾̇? And you just need them to understand, you aren't that person! You aren't! You don't know who that person is! You don't know why any of this is happening, but they're unwilling to bend, they keep insisting you are that person, your memories will come back, everything will be normal again, and you want to scream and cry and claw yourself open to show them you're different. Your existence as a being wholly separate from whoever you "used to be" is a sin unto itself. All you can do is scrabble for life and to them, you're killing whoever they loved to do it.

The final, brilliant word on passive voice.

“She was killed [by zombies.]” <— passive

Weapons. Trained, tested, forged in steel and fire. Failure is an inevitability that ends in death. Pain should not be felt--it should be recognized, familiar, and inconsequential

Martyrs. In the form of servants and princes, of leaders and underdogs. If blood is necessary, the martyr will lift their hands and offer it all

Shields. Like tempering a sword, but only to bear and not to lash out. Wounds are medals--not symbols of pride, but symbols of worth. A pretty shield is useless; scars mean a job well done

Experiments. Raised on the cold comfort of a lab table. Restraints are only necessary when they're not in their right mind. Is it honorable, to be twisted beyond recognition? Or is it just a necessary evil?

Monsters. Cruelty, caution, and regarding one as a creature beyond reasonable thought is tempering in its own right. But if you keep a leash at the right length, perhaps the massecre won't reach you. One can hope.

Idols. Pretty face, pretty name, pretty hands around their shoulders and throat. There to seduce, manipulate, force any feeling to come to the surface and twist it to their favor. Any genuinity stays locked behind the guilded cage that surrounds their pretty little heart

Trophies. Status and wealth and the traditions that keep someone at their heels, on their knees, to display and serve and decorate one's ballroom.

Every time you look into the mirror, your reflection is doing something slightly different… until it starts waving at you.

You hear whispering through your bedroom air vent. It's not the neighbors. It's nothing technical. It's not human.

There is suddenly a lake in the middle of nowhere and instead of asking where it came from, people jump in for a swim.

You find an old MP3 player at a thrift store. Every song describes a death that happens the next few days.

The people in the family photo on your wall keep changing and none of them are your relatives.

An abandoned TV in your attic turns itself on every night, showing footage of your house… from inside.

You wake up in the morning, but get confused because it's still dark. And the sun doesn't rise again.

You meet a man who claims he can bring someone back to life for a price. And that's all you ever wished for.

You find your childhood diary, but the entries aren't written by you. And they predict your future.

There are sounds coming from the basement. But there is no basement.

The fire in the fireplace suddenly starts to dance and turn into scenes from your life.

You walk into your house, but every door leads back to the same room. There seems to be no escape.

One night, a star disappears from the sky. The next day, people start vanishing.

You go camping and find a tree with hundreds of names carved into it including yours.

You're a rideshare driver. A passenger asks for a destination that doesn't exist… and leaves something behind after they suddenly vanish from the backseat.

A photo from your vacation shows a face staring through your hotel window. You were on the 9th floor.

A new door appears in your hallway. No one remembers building it and no one can open it.

Your partner sleep-talks, but one night, their voice changes and it starts speaking in a language you've never heard.

You buy an antique painting at a garage sale. Now you wake up each morning feeling watched.

A forest appears overnight where a neighborhood once stood. You swear you saw a house inside.

A child's doll begins writing in a notebook left beside it. The entries are chilling.

Your reflection always smiles before you do.

Your phone rings. The caller ID says it's you. After answering the call you hear yourself speaking, saying they're from the year you died.

A child asks you to walk her home. Her house is located inside the local cemetery.

You take a group photo at your birthday party. There's an extra person in every photo that no one remembers, but that interacts with everyone else in the photos.

You find torn pages from a lighthouse keeper's log describing creatures from the sea.

A package arrives with no return address. Inside is a video of you sleeping.

You move into a new town. Everyone seems nice and open, but stares at you blankly as soon as you're alone. As soon as someone else comes by, everything is back to normal.

A friend dares you to play a childhood game you forgot. When you play, something ancient answers.

Your grandfather's old clock begins chiming a 13th hour and something comes through.

You find an unfinished manuscript. As you read it, you realize it’s describing everything happening to you right now…

You can simply cut to the next scene when she's at the location, without explaining how she got there. People will fill that in. Now, if something important happens in the car on the way there, then sure, mention it. But if she's just driving? Nah. Delete that sentence, pop in a scene break, and keep writing.

Athletes need to warm up. Musicians need to warm up. Artists need to warm up. Heck, I even have to play a few matches in video games before I get into a groove every day.

Warm-ups help you get into the right headspace, give you more control of your actions and word choice, get you comfortable in your physical setting (eg: with your keyboard, notebook, tablet, or whatever you're writing with), and spark creativity.

Even if you don’t think you have spoons to write, sit down and do a couple warm-ups. If you still don’t want to, that’s alright. But. I think you’ll be surprised how often they help break that ice.

5-15 minutes is all you need. I personally set a timer for ten minutes each time and do not stop writing until the time is up. Your warm-up can be anything at all so long as it gets you writing and starts nudging those creative juices.

Here's some common warm-ups:

Journaling. Just jot down some notes about your day. Feel free to really lean into something that you noticed. We're going for description and details -- try to avoid settling into a spiral or focusing on something negative that will upset your creativity.

Short story prompts. Type that into Pinterest and pick the most ridiculous, cliche thing you can. Write a little scene, story summary, or even a rant about why you do or don't like the prompt. Just write.

Vocab challenge. If you like a bit more critical thinking to get you in the zone, have a random vocabulary word generator spit out five or so words. Check their meanings and jot down a little story or thought that includes all five. You get more familiar with beautiful and descriptive language, and it gives you a much narrowed prompt (which is lovely if you're like me and suffer each time there's an open-ended task assigned).

Character moments. Try putting your character into a generic setting and write down almost meticulously what their thought process would be. Follow them realizing they've just stepped in mud or dreading the start of the day. Pick a mundane thing and describe them working through it. This will not only get your writing going, but it will wake up the character's voice in your head.

Ongoing storytelling. Did you know that Whinnie the Poo was A.A. Milne's warm up story? He would jot down a quick little story with those very basic characters and did so every day. Whatever came to mind. He kept writing little tidbits on the same characters and eventually it turned into a series. Having that ongoing plot with isolated scenes and simple characters can help you feel more motivated to sit down and write.

Get-to-know-you-questions. Google a list of basic first-date questions (there are a million out there) and answer one yourself. Go into specifics. Where do you most want to travel and why? Let yourself ramble until the question is fully answered.

Writer's block blues. This is a favorite of mine. If you're truly stuck, write about being stuck. Eg: 'I'm supposed to write for ten minutse, but that feels so stupid and impossible. No one is goign to read this anyway. I have no ideas and the page is so overwhelming when its blank. I used to be able to write on and on and nothing could stop me. it was like breathing. but now I have nothign and do nothing and I can't even do a stupid prompt-' Even the rambling and ranting got me writing. It made things easier. It made writing this post easier. Also -- notice the typos? Yeah, don't fix those. You're in writing mode, not editing mode when you're doing this. If you edit while you write, you're forcing yourself to stay in your executive and calculating headspace rather than falling fully into creativity and dream. Ignore the mistakes. That's for future you to handle.