𖦹 bisexual wizardry 𖦹

HOLD YOUR HEART IN YOUR HANDS LIKE A WOUNDED BIRD

DRINK MORE TEA AND LET YOURSELF GET BURNT A LITTLE

REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE JUST A LITTLE FISH; YOU DO NOT NEED TO CONTROL THE WHOLE RIVER

HAVE FUN WITH YOUR BODY

SING LOUDLY

WALK INTO THE FOREST AND PRESENT YOURSELF TO ALL WHO LIVE THERE; DO NOT FLINCH WHEN THEY OPEN THEIR EYES AND GLIMPSE INTO YOUR SOUL

TALK TO PLANTS MORE OFTEN

FIND THE OLD GODS IN EVERY MUNDANE FORM

CLIMB TO THE TOP OF THE TREE EVEN IF YOU'RE SHAKING

ALLOW YOURSELF TO PICK UP THE SHELLS YOU THINK ARE PRETTY

PLAY THE PREVIOUS SONG ONCE MORE AND SING IT EVEN LOUDER

GIVE AWAY WHAT YOU DO NOT NEED. YOU ARE NOT AN EVIL DRAGON

WRITE LOVE LETTERS TO THE OCEAN AND HER BOATS

LEARN SEA SHANTIES AND ESPECIALLY POEMS BY HEART ("THEY HAVE TO BECOME THE MARROW IN YOUR BONES")

NETWORK, YES THIS INCLUDES WITH OLD GODS

ALLOW FOREIGN TONGUES TO PLAY IN YOUR MOUTH LIKE A CHILD ON A GRAND PIANO

TELL EVERYONE YOU LOVE THAT YOU LOVE THEM

FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR OWN BODY AND DO NOT BE AFRAID TO SHOW IT. ALSO SET IT ON FIRE AND SPOIL IT WITH OFFERINGS— THE SACRIFICIAL KIND

SIT AND BELONG TO THE WORLD. ALSO WALK LIKE EVERY DAY IS A PILGRIMAGE OF BEAUTY

LEARN ABOUT NEW BIRDS AND GREET YOUR NOW-FRIENDS BY NAME

TAKE THE PATH LESS-TRAVELLED

INTRODUCE YOURSELF BY YOUR TRUE NAME. STOP WORRYING ABOUT WHETHER THIS IS CREATING SOME EVIL PACT. IT PROBABLY IS NOT.

CONTINUE SINGING

IF YOU WANT TO MAKE IT OUT OF THE NEST, TRUST IN THE FEATHERS ON YOUR BACK

LET WHAT HAS DIED REST

TRUST IN THOSE WHO WILL CARRY WHAT IS TOO HEAVY FOR YOU. TRUST IN THOSE WHO WILL HOLD YOU AS YOU TREAD WATER

DWELL ON WONDER

DO NOT STEW IN DESPAIR

WALTZ INTO FRIENDSHIPS

READ AND READ AND READ UNTIL YOU ARE FLYING UPON THE DRAGON'S BACK

EAT MORE

FERMENT IF YOU MUST BUT DO NOT ROT

PLAY GOD AND CREATE ALWAYS

(a non-suffering writer’s guide to structure, sanity, and staying mildly hydrated)

Hey besties. Let’s talk outlines. Specifically: how to do them without crawling into the floorboards and screaming like a Victorian ghost.

If just hearing the word “outline” sends your brain into chaos-mode, welcome. You’re not broken, you’re just a writer whose process has been hijacked by Very Serious Advice™ that doesn’t fit you. You don’t need to build a military-grade beat sheet. You don’t need a sixteen-tab spreadsheet. You don’t need to suffer to be legitimate. You just need a structure that feels like it’s helping you, not haunting you.

So. Here’s how to outline your book without losing your soul (or all your serotonin).

—

🍓 1. Stop thinking of it as “outlining.” That word is cursed. Try “story sketch.” “Narrative roadmap.” “Planning soup.” Whatever gets your brain to chill out. The goal here is to understand your story, not architect it to death.

Outlining isn’t predicting everything. It’s just building a scaffold so your plot doesn't fall over mid-draft.

—

🧠 2. Find your plot skeleton. There are lots of plot structures floating around: 3-Act. Save the Cat. Hero’s Journey. Take what helps, ignore the rest.

If all else fails, try this dirt-simple one I use when my brain is mush:

Act I: What’s the problem?

Act II: Why can’t we fix it?

Act III: What finally makes us change?

Ending: What does that change cost?

You don’t need to fill in every detail. You just need to know what’s driving your character, what’s blocking them, and what choices will change them.

—

🛒 3. Make a “scene bucket list.” Before you start plotting in order, write down a list of scenes you know you want: key vibes, emotional beats, dramatic reveals, whatever.

These are your anchors. Even if you don’t know where they go yet, they’re proof your story already exists, it just needs connecting tissue.

Bonus: when you inevitably get stuck later, one of these might be the scene that pulls you back in.

—

🧩 4. Start with 5 key scenes. That’s it. Here’s a minimalist approach that won’t kill your momentum:

Opening (what sucks about their world?)

Catalyst (what throws them off course?)

Midpoint (what makes them confront themselves?)

Climax (what breaks or remakes them?)

Ending (what’s changed?)

Plot the spaces between those after you’ve nailed these. Think of it like nailing down corners of a poster before smoothing the rest.

You’re not “doing it wrong” if you start messy. A messy start is a start.

—

🔧 5. Use the outline to ask questions, not just answer them. Every section of your outline should provoke a question that the scene must answer.

Instead of: — “Chapter 5: Sarah finds a journal.”

Try: — “Chapter 5: What truth does Sarah find that complicates her next move?”

This makes your story active, not just a list of stuff that happens. Outlines aren’t just there to record, they’re tools for curiosity.

—

🪤 6. Beware of the Perfectionist Trap™. You will not get the entire plot perfect before you write. Don’t stall your momentum waiting for a divine lightning bolt of Clarity. You get clarity by writing.

Think of your outline as a map drawn in pencil, not ink. It’s allowed to evolve. It should evolve.

You’re not building a museum exhibit. You’re making a prototype.

—

🧼 7. Clean up after you start drafting. Here’s the secret: the first draft will teach you what the story’s actually about. You can go back and revise the outline to fit that. It’s not wasted work, it’s evolving scaffolding.

You don’t have to build the house before you live in it. You can live in the mess while you figure out where the kitchen goes.

—

🛟 8. If you’re a discovery writer, hybrid it. A lot of “pantsers” aren’t anti-outline, they’re just anti-stiff-outline. That’s fair.

Try using “signposts,” not full scenes:

Here’s a secret someone’s hiding.

Here’s the emotional breakdown scene.

Here’s a betrayal. Maybe not sure by who yet.

Let the plot breathe. Let the characters argue with your outline. That tension is where the fun happens.

—

🪴 TL;DR but emotionally: You don’t need a flawless outline to write a good book. You just need a loose net of ideas, a couple of emotional anchors, and the willingness to pivot when your story teaches you something new.

Outlines should support you, not suffocate you.

Let yourself try. Let it be imperfect. That’s where the good stuff lives.

Go forth and outline like a gently chaotic legend 🧃

— written with snacks in hand by Rin T. @ thewriteadviceforwriters 🍓🧠✍️

Sometimes the problem isn’t your plot. It’s your first 5 pages. Fix it here → 🖤 Free eBook: 5 Opening Pages Mistakes to Stop Making:

on survival

one of the hallmarks of a kingism is that when a character is being Horny On Main (or In Maine), they can never do it in a normal way. they have to come up with a sequence of words that nobody has ever said before in the history of the english language. here's another example:

Greek bowl with a medallion depicting Dionysos and Ariadne on the left, and Silenos on the right

ca. 100 BCE

Ask yourself, how does this piece make you feel? (No wrong answers)

Look for an artist statement nearby. What does it say about the artist and their relationship to their work? What does the artist say that they are trying to convey with their art? What contextual clues can you pick up from what they say about their background, or what they omit?

Look at the title of the piece. What is the artist saying about their work by naming it that, either explicitly or implicitly?

Look at the medium. Is there anything about the piece that stands out to you, knowing what it's made of?

Look at the year it was made. What cultural events might have been happening around this time? Was this piece part of a particular art movement? What was the purpose of that art movement, and what was it trying to say?