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your writing has been really important to me, especially your early Wattpad stories. i’ve also been helped by your writing advice posts on your blog. I have a few questions I was hoping for advice on :))

- how do you commit to writing something and not just meticulously planning it out in your head? i keep thinking of more and more details, scenes I want to include, etc and not writing them down and i’m especially worried because my autistic inertia has been holding me back from writing for years and it will prob come back — i feel like now’s the chance to get stuff down before it’s too late

- one of my pitfalls as a writer has always been describing the physical environment or someone’s physical appearance. i have trouble keeping an image in my mind for more than a split second, and once I’ve found a reference photo to work off of it’s nearly impossible to describe it in language. i have a lot of pictures of the camp and already know the setting (rustic campsite in MA, summer) but remembering words for sensory details and things i see is SO HARD. any advice for getting better at this skill esp for people with visual processing disabilities?

thank you!!!

A new writing idea? I'm so happy for you! I love the premise. The ideas you plan to explore sound fun and fascinating.

Drafting

One of the things that helps me is not feeling like I need to write scenes in plot order. In my latest story "Breaking Mary Sue" (working title), I wrote the beginning, then the end, then the middle. It's okay to write scenes out of order. So when you're developing a scene in your head, just start writing it down. You can always fill in in-between scenes later. (Sometimes, I write "TODO: Stuff goes here" to mark spaces where I should add things.)

Don't worry about visuals when the ideas are flowing. Focus on getting the scene physically written first. Put your ideas down. You can add the harder stuff when editing. This can help prevent you from hesitating and not getting work done.

When you're drafting, the most important thing is getting it on (digital) paper. Filling in gaps, scenery, etc. can always be done while editing. Don't get hung up on those. Just draft!

Seeing without a mind's eye

Regarding the visuals, it sounds like you're experiencing something like (borderline?) aphantasia. People with aphantasia have no "mind's eye" and can't visualize things. I can't offer personal advice since I don't have this. But maybe if you look it up, you can find good advice from people who have this.

And not all description is visual. Maybe your characters experience:

The music of leaves rustling in the breeze

Warm sun on their skin

The scent of pine

If non-visual sensory details are easier to write, lean into those! It creates a stronger atmosphere. Include some visuals for the important stuff, but branch out into other senses as much as you'd like.

Potentially weird idea: What if you created your characters in Picrew? You could save the images and then have a visual reference. If you have a multi-monitor setup, that could also help with visuals: put your story on one monitor and the pictures on another.

Plot construction

As I plan out my plot and theme when writing, I tend to use what I call the golden structure. It helps me create a cohesive outline and find a sense of direction. A quick summary:

Beginning: The main character believes the Lie, which is stopping them from being happy.

Rising action: The plot challenges the value of the Lie. Stakes rise. Maybe a villain advocates for the Lie.

Climax: Big drama! The main character must either reject the Lie or lose something important.

Ending: The main character's success or failure determines whether they get a happy ending.

I've got more detail in my blog post I linked. This was key to me developing "Breaking Mary Sue" from a scene I got in a dream to a structured story. Building a premise into a plot can be challenging, and this helps me.

This blog post is more personal than my usual work. Writing it was difficult. But I also think it may be one of the more important things I've written.

Autistic people are told we are burdens. That we make the lives of our loved ones harder. We're told that we need too much and that we're doing everyone a big inconvenience by selfishly existing.

I don't know if they realize how it feels to hear that again and again.

And I mean packed with it! Like, you're cringing on every or every other page!

Someone recommended the book to me because it features an autistic character, Holly, who is apparently quite likable with a great character arc. But I put the book down after the first dozen-ish chapters (some of which are quite short).

Like, oh my gosh. Ohhh my gosh.

A Black teen is referred to as a "N*gro" and speaks like a minstrel character.

Some women are referred to as "wh*res" or animals like hens and kittens. (Either that or a wife got fed up with her husband getting too many cats.)

In one chapter, a butch woman/transgender man describes getting a homophobe to reconsider things. Which is nice. And then the next chapter or so, our protagonist's friend uses homophobic language to describe a murderer of an unknown sexual orientation. You say "it's nice to hear of a kettle being cleaned up a little" and then you look down and see you've sat yourself in a horribly dirty, blackened pot. And it's just... eww.

There are so many sexist, racist, and homophobic comments from the various characters. Like, I get that sometimes people say bad stuff. But does the story highlight how messed-up it is to say that garbage? No. It is woven into the story and not questioned.

The book is from 2014???

People say the villain of Mr. Mercedes is extra hateable because he is racist and sexist. But in the first dozen chapters, nearly everyone is racist and sexist. The people you're supposed to dislike and the ones you're supposed to like or tolerate. It is pervasive. It is unrelenting.

(You might read the very beginning and think, "these characters, while imperfect, don't seem that bad." But it's coming.)

Look, Stephen King has good turns of phrase and he portrays characters and their feelings in insightful ways. But come on.

I hope Stephen King has learned better, will portray Black characters more respectfully, and can learn to handle prejudiced comments from characters more thoughtfully rather than just throwing them everywhere. You can only cringe through so many comments before you put down the book.

I don't recommend it. If you want a story with horribly depraved villains, awful language that reminds you of more prejudiced centuries, and lots of racism, check out works by Toni Morrison. Unlike King, she portrays the racism as bad instead of normalizing it.

My novella Witches Rising is launching this Pride Month! It features:

An awkward lesbian protagonist, Valerie, who's a gifted witch doing her best

Her high school best friend, Daniela, a transgender bisexual woman who moved away but misses Valerie

Multiple autistic characters (William, our protagonist's loving nonspeaking brother, and Kiana, an oft-underestimated vet tech)

A sardonic nonbinary character, Blair (they/them)

Valerie wants to change world, but it feels like nothing she does can ever be enough. She enters the perilous Trials, which have fascinated her since she was little, to prove to herself she has what it takes.

Valerie brought plenty of supplies for her trip to the top of Mt. Piety. But success in the Trials will take things she never expected.

[New friends Kiana and Valerie on their trip up the mountain]

As an autistic a-spec lesbian, I'm sharing this story to celebrate Pride Month. No one can take Pride from us, and I hope you will enjoy reading this story just like I've enjoyed writing it!

Chapters release every Sunday through June-July (Pride Month & Disability Pride Month).

Read it here!

Yes, it is! And we aren't sure why.

Autistic people are less likely to be straight and cis. Asexuality is common. Researchers aren't sure why, but two theories include prenatal hormones and genetic quirks.

Both my sister (Stella) and I are okay!

I took a break from blogging when I got my first full-time job. We will call the company Garbage Bag Graphics. It was draining and demanding, so I had little energy left for the things that make me happy. Plus, at my level of disability, working full-time isn't healthy for me. That is why I vanished.

Anyway, I now work part time at "Gradual Graphics," which is more chill and understanding. I get to work from home and have reduced hours, so I have real time for art and writing now!

Stella is okay, thanks to strict social distancing. She has never had covid and hasn't been to the hospital in years. Her understanding of the world is getting more advanced every year and she loves her doll characters. She's discovered a love of storytelling, including making her own fanfics.