#acutallymadd

Me: *Going about doing life*

[Parents argue]

Me: *My character immediately suffers and I fix them* Ah! All better! 

Mom: I'm sorry for fighting. Are you sad?

Me: *Mentally hugging my all-fixed character* Nope!

D: What was the last daydream you had? 

**Just so you know, Tanya is one of my paras who is a British agent and works for MI6. Her and her partner, Carter, often work with Justin’s team (Adam and Audrey) when it comes to international conflicts**

I am so sorry this is happening. :( It’s awful that your family is making fun of you for pacing and not listening to you when you try to explain. And, speaking from experience, it’s always really hard to explain MD to people who don’t know what it is and have never heard of it. I really hope things get better soon or at least you’ll feel more understood by those around you. Sending positive energy your way! 

Here is a link to a post where I answered a similar ask about opening up about MD. My response has a bunch of tips on how to approach sharing MD to someone who doesn’t know or understand what it is. I’m hoping maybe one of these tips might help you with your family situation. 

Hey guys! Here is the finished product of the tips and tricks for writing with MD. A HUGE thank-you to everyone who participated. You guys are truly amazing!

Note: Some tips have been left in their original form while others have been paraphrased. If you wish to receive credit for something you sent in but I didn’t tag you in let me know and I will try to fix it. :) Anyone else who still wants to submit tips is totally welcome to. I can always make another post with more tips and tricks if more come in. 

1. Write about old daydreams. I usually end up moving on from particular daydreams and paras after about 2 or 3 years and so most of the stories I write tend to be based on my old daydreams rather than my current ones. This helps a lot since I don’t have as strong of an emotional attachment to my old paras as I do to my current ones. It also makes sharing my writing easier since I accept constructive criticism better when I’m not as emotionally attached to the characters in my story. However, if you’ve always had the same daydream or you really want to write about the daydream you currently have, this tip may not work. -Sent by anon.

2.  Just write. This advice applies to all writers, not just MDers... but I think it’s great advice anyways. Don’t read your work over and don’t rewrite. Just write what you’ve got in your head and don’t stop. If it sucks then just keep writing and wait a few days before reading it over. This way you’ve taken some time away and you might realize that your writing was actually a lot better than you originally thought. Of course, this takes a lot of self discipline. Writing without proofreading is super hard, especially when you’re writing about your daydreams which is something pretty important. Be easy on yourself, please!! - Sent by anon.

3.  It’s not going to be perfect. I’ve been trying to write one of my old daydreams for a long time now. I wrote my first chapter probably 3 years ago and I think I have over 60 rewritten copies of that first chapter saved to my drive. And if there’s one thing I learned from all those hours spent rewriting, it’s this: it’s not going to be perfect. But if your goal is to write a short story or a novel from your daydreams, you can still create something amazing and awesome, even if it isn’t exactly what is in your head. To me, your daydreams will always be something that only you can enjoy to the full extent. When translating these daydreams into written format, there’s always going to be something that just won’t click. Learning to move past this is a difficult step but is something you might have to come to terms with if it’s your biggest roadblock. -Sent by anon.

4.  Write small scenes and snippets. Try starting with something small. Take little scenes and snippets and just write a paragraph or two about it. If you can manage something longer, go for it! Don’t bother with explaining the context of the story: eg.setting, character looks/personalities, etc. Just write it as if your reader already knows everything about the story. This might help you get past the stumbling block of the actual writing since you won’t be worrying about explaining important plot points or details to your reader. Remember: The small scenes and snippets are most likely going to be warm ups for something bigger (if that’s your goal) so it’s ok if they don’t make much sense to anyone but you.   -Sent by anon

5.  Try posting your work online. If you’ve already managed to write your daydreams but you are scared to show anyone your work, try posting it somewhere where you will remain anonymous and can still get feedback. Depending on where you post your work, you’ll usually get great reviews/comments on it and some constructive criticism too. Some sites I’d recommend are: Wattpad, Fanfiction.net (if your daydreams are based on a show, movie, or book), and fiction.net (I haven’t used this site but I hear it works well). I’ve used both Wattpad and fanfiction.net and each site is really easy to navigate. Also, if you post a story it’s really easy to take it off the site if you change your mind. You can add a note at the beginning or end of your story if you want specific feedback on a certain aspect of your work or simply want to thank your reviewers for commenting. It’s easy to stay anonymous and you can even get beta readers to work with you on your writing. Posting your work online like this is a great place to start if you’re still trying to overcome that first stage of sharing your work. -Sent by anon.

6.  Keep a notebook and pen: I like to keep a tiny notebook and pen that I can put in my purse or even back pocket so when I get the urge to write I’m not at loss for tools to do so. It helps if the notebook is also a style I like— if it’s a nice looking notebook I’m more likely to write in it. Same thing if I have a nice pen I’ll write with it more. -Sent by @sach1eI 

7. Here: Here is a link to a post by @atlasismadd that I was tagged in that has a bunch of writing tips

8.  Write your daydreams like your writing a movie: If I really think about it, my daydreams are kinda like a movie playing in my head. If I was watching a movie and then writing what happened, I wouldn’t probably spend hours figuring out how to write it out. I’d just write what was going on. Eg. Jack jumped off the building. Air rushed around him and he physically felt his heart leap into his throat as the ground approached. Done. I’m not gonna bother describing what Jack looks like at this moment or what he sees (besides the ground approaching) because honestly, the readers don’t care right now. What they care about is what is immediately happening. If you were watching this scene in a movie you’d probably be really annoyed if the camera suddenly shifted to something completely unrelated. Same thing goes for writing. Write what’s important and anything you feel is really important to the story/plotline you can add in later when you edit or revise. -Sent by anon

9.  Schedule Writing Time: Schedule some time in your day to write and make sure that you don’t spend this time daydreaming instead. Set an alarm or something to keep you focused and set a goal for that writing session (whether that goal is a word count or a scene you want to get done). Trust me, you’ll thank yourself later when you come back to your story and you actually have something written rather than a blank document. Even if it sucks, it’ll still be better than nothing. -Sent by anon.

10.  Write like no one’s reading: My daydreams are really violent and sometimes I’m scared that what I write will offend people or whatever. But honestly, if I ever want to get anything down on the page, I’ve got to write it all. Every. Little. Ugly. Part. That means all the torture scenes and all the gruesome parts with colourful language. And that’s ok. I can always come back and cut these scenes out or rewrite them so that they’re not as bad. But if you’re like me and can’t stand skipping over these scenes while writing, just write them anyways. You are not obligated to show anyone your work and so it doesn’t really matter if these ugly parts of your daydreams creep into your story. Don’t limit yourself to what you consider the “good” parts of your daydreams. Just put it all out there and at least you’ll have something to go on. -Sent by anon.

11.  Take fan-fiction breaks: For me, I find it 10X easier to write fanfiction daydreams than my self-created ones. Maybe it’s because I don’t have to worry about explaining context in fanfiction (like character looks and personalities). I don’t really know… But if you’re super stuck on your main story try switching to a fanfic to just get yourself writing again. I don’t know if this’ll help anyone but it helps me so I figured I’d put it out there! -Sent by anon.