hello! I hope I'm not bothering, but I was really interested in your writing process and wanted to ask how you do everything(at least organizing wise)? I've been trying to optimize my own process and yours seems so extensive and well-managed so I was really curious! thank you for all the work that you do, I'm hoping for brighter days for you always ♡
Hey there ty🥺💗💗💗 You guys never bother me ;; I love it when you write. Just haven't had enough time for anything lately and I can't answer all of you as fast as I'd like to—and the only people who really bother me on here are the ones too demanding . . . in which I delete their asks so. But thank you for reaching out with your questions about writing and organization something I really love to do.
I truly appreciate your enthusiasm and am happy to share my insights, as I believe in supporting aspiring authors like myself without gatekeeping valuable information we all search for (the information I'm about to give is probably going to have some gatekeepers frothing in anger lol). I understand the challenges of finding time to write, and I’m grateful for your patience, as my schedule has been quite demanding lately.
Organization is key to a successful writing process, and I strongly advocate for writing down ideas as they come. While some authors, like Stephen King, suggest that truly great ideas don’t need to be recorded, I respectfully disagree. In my experience, capturing every idea—whether it’s a fleeting thought or a vivid dream—is essential. I recommend immedieately jotting down scenes or concepts in detail to preserve them for future use, as inspiration can be rare or hard to come by for some .
Given my modest background (I’m a broke girl lmao), I’ve relied on accessible tools for writing. A simple journal is an effective and affordable way to record ideas, dreams, and notes. While devices like iPads can be helpful, they’re not necessary for getting started if you don’t have/can’t afford one (and I bring this up because most pull it up for aesthetic purposes in their videos or other. Don't feel ashamed or unmotivated by what you don't have).
For drafting and organizing, I initially used Google Docs due to its accessibility and lack of cost. However, I later invested in Scrivener, a one-time purchase of $60 for macOS, Windows, and iOS. Scrivener has become my all-in-one tool for organizing projects, streamlining outlining, and keeping everything in one place. It’s far superior to Google Docs for managing complex writing projects, making the outlining process signifiicantly easier.
Additionally, I highly recommend the free Hemingway Editor. This tool helps refine your writing by addressing wordy sentences, grammar issues, and other stylistic concerns. It’s an excellent resource for writers, whether or not they have access to a professional editor.
For staying organized in Scrivener, I draw inspiration from structured approaches, such as those used by Shakespeare (ofc . . . Thanks Highschool, it actually wasn't for nothing if you pay attention). I’ll use a new test project of Maelstrom for example. I organize my work systematically to maintain clarity and focus. (Please note I haven’t taken a masterclass on scrivener . . . ever. I am also not a professional writer (yet, I'm working on it) so you may find much more effective methods through further research from others LOL)
Create a dedicated "Important" file in Scrivener to store concise notes, character and story tags, minor details to incorporate, potential chapter titles, and other key elements. This file serves as a centralized hub for quick-reference ideas and ensures essential project details remain organized and accessible.
To streamline the writing process, I create a structured system in Scrivener for organizing my book project. Below I tried to be as clear on the explanation of my approach:
CHAPTER MAP File: I start by creating a file named "Chapter Maps" that serves as the comprehensive outline for the entire book. Within this file, I include sub-files labeled for each book in the series (e.g., B1, B2, etc.), allowing for easy expansion as needed.
BOOK-SPECIFIC Files: For each book, such as Book 1, I create a dedicated file to store revised chapter drafts, organized by acts (e.g., Act 1, Act 2, Act 3). This ensures that final, polished versions of each chapter are clearly separated and easily accessible.
DRAFTS File: My writing process begins in a "Drafts" file, where I work through multiple iterations of a single chapter. This is where the initial, unpolished ideas take shape. Once a chapter is finalized, I move the revised version to the corresponding act in the Book 1 file.
SCENES File: Separate from the chapter structure, I maintain a "Scenes" file to outline individual scenes. For example, in Maelstrom, I might plan a scene where the main character begins in the Great Hall baking, then transitions to meeting Hiccup at their shared cliffside spot, followed by a scene where she hands him breakfast, and their conversation unfolds. This scene-by-scene breakdown acts as a detailed blueprint for the chapter outline, similar to how animators storyboard scenes, ensuring clarity and flow before drafting chapters.
This structured approach keeps the project organized, supports iterative drafting, and provides a clear roadmap for both scenes and chapters, making the writing process more efficient and cohesive.
To avoid confusion and ensure clarity, I strongly recommend labeling all drafts, even rough ones, as early as possible. For example, in my Maelstrom project, I once posted an incorrect chapter due to poorly labeled drafts. Clear labeling—such as including the chapter number, act, or a brief description (e.g., "1 - rough draft cp1" or "Chapter 1 Rough Draft v1")—prevents such mistakes and saves significant time and frustration, even if you feel confident in your organization.
Once a final draft is complete, I move all earlier versions to a dedicated "Old Drafts" folder in Scrivener. This keeps them archived and out of the way but accessible if needed for reference. This practice maintains a clean workspace and ensures only the finalized chapters are used moving forward.
I maintain a dedicated file in Scrivener, named "Ideas," specifically for capturing and organizing the concepts mentioned previously. This file serves as a repository for all potential story elements, such as plot points, character details, or thematic ideas, that I may want to incorporate into my narrative.
For clarity and consistency, I name this file and its subfolders after the actual files I use in my projects :--), providing a clear visual representation of my organizational structure. This approach ensures that all creative ideas are centralized, easily accessible, and ready to be integrated into the story when needed.
For character development, I create a dedicated outline in Scrivener to ensure a deep understanding of each character. Using Maelstrom again as an example, I maintain individual files for key characters like Hiccup and the main character (MC), each clearly labeled with the character's name and relevant details tied to the file's purpose. Understanding your characters as intimately as you know yourself is crucial, and I approach this process with great care.
Each character file includes comprehensive details such as their traits, motivations, strengths, weaknesses, and other defining elements. While there are many guides available on crafting character outlines, my approach focuses on tailoring the outline to the character’s role in the story and this is a glimpse.
This includes identifying what complements them, what highlights their positive and negative traits, and even incorporating tools like the Enneagram to deepen their personality framework. A detailed discussion of my full process would require a separate post, but the key is to build a robust foundation for each character to ensure they feel authentic and dynamic in the narrative 100%.
A thorough understanding of your story’s world and lore is as critical as knowing your characters. Without a clear grasp of the setting and its details, your narrative can quickly lose coherence. To address this, I create dedicated files in Scrivener for world-building, ensuring every aspect of the environment and lore is meticulously organized.
For example, locations like The Forge—where the main character (MC) and Hiccup frequently interact—are central to the story. To avoid cluttered or vague descriptions, I maintain a separate file for each key location. These files contain detailed notes about the setting’s appearance, atmosphere, cultural significance, and any relevant history or lore (from the films/shows etc).
By keeping all details for a place like The Forge or other in one centralized file, I can access everything with a single click, streamlining the writing process and ensuring consistency. This approach applies to all aspects of the world, both internal (e.g., cultural systems) and external (e.g., physical landscapes), allowing for a rich, immersive narrative 👍🏻
To keep all research materials organized, I create a dedicated "Research" file in Scrivener. This file serves as a central hub for storing notes, references, and resources, including links to websites, articles, or other materials essential to the project. By keeping everything in one place, I ensure that critical information is easily accessible and never lost. Additionally, this file can be used to curate project-specific resources, such as a playlist for inspiration, further enhancing the creative process. This streamlined approach saves time and maintains focus while writing.
And of course, to capture spontaneous ideas and miscellaneous thoughts, I maintain a dedicated "Brainstorming" folder in Scrivener. This folder serves as a flexible space for jotting down unrefined concepts, potential plot points, or any creative sparks that arise during the writing process.
If preferred, this folder can be nested within the "Important" file for streamlined organization. Additionally, I include a separate section or file for extra notes to store miscellaneous details that don’t yet fit into other categories but may prove useful later. This setup ensures all ideas are preserved and easily accessible, enhancing the overall organization of the project.
Other little things I've seen on Scrivener are offers of several valuable tools to further streamline your writing process. The built-in timeline feature allows you to track your progress or map out your plotline, providing a visual overview of your project’s development.
Also, Scrivener’s customizable layout options 🤧💗 . . . enable you to tailor the workspace to your preferences, including the use of custom character templates and other design elements. These features enhance organization by keeping character details, plot points, and project milestones structured and easily accessible, ensuring a more efficient and personalized writing experience and something I use almost always.
All apps/sites I use:
Thesaurus and Word Tools | WordHippo
Scrivener - #1 Novel & Book Writing Software For Writers
Hemingway Editor
WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®
Helping Writers Become Authors - Write your best story. Change your life. Astound the world.
My favorite Tumblr - shewriter.
And last but not least:
Reading
Immersing yourself in the genres you plan to write. Reading widely within your chosen genre(s) helps you understand their conventions, styles, and tropes, while sparking inspiration for your own work. This practice provides a foundation for crafting authentic and engaging stories, fueling your creative process from the outset.
This took me 2 days to put together since you sent it, so it's probably sloppy and rushed but I hope these tips help you in your writing journey. Please feel free to reach out with any further questions—I’m always happy to connect with fellow writers hehe 🥺💗
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hii just wanna say that ur art is so so pretty and so so cute... ^_^ i absolutely love the way u shade and color its so mesmerizing to me
while we're on the topic how do you pick out your colors? especially when theres complicated lighting or effects (affects? idk) if that makes sense.. i love coloring and shading my art but it always finds a way to kick my ass lmaoo
anyways ur work is so awesome and definitely a huge inspiration to me ^_^ have a good day/night whenever ur reading this
THANK YOUUUU!!!
you know what. I will not gatekeep any longer and reveal my secrets...............
The Secret Is!!!!!!!!!!!
um,
its just gradient maps and photoshop camera raw tbh...
OBV LIKE. i know color theory a little but more i honestly really rely on post processing more than anything. while im an artist and i love doing art im.... i'm just really good at bullshitting LMAO
i'm better at little tricks to get to the finished product than like. being actually knowledgeable and practicing things..... which i should do more. I need to do more studies when i have time....
there's no harm in shortcuts or references or tricks and i've learned to not be ashamed of it!! (obviously, this is not referring to generative image AI or directly tracing/stealing from other creators i need to be clear)
end product- creating cool visuals/scenes is what is my passion for art has really come to in the past few years and while it's made me, sadly, a very ambitious perfectionist (the worst combo), it's the most fun i have with art!
anyway.
i actually made a bullshitting tutorial for some friends who wanted to know my process for my more quicker art pieces last year and so i will now present it to the public. Behold!!! the fucking thing!!!!
i pulled open some other, more complete pieces so you can see the change from
Raw Colors
↓
First Pass Post-Processing (CSP layer effects mainly and adding gradients/vignettes where needed for depth)
↓
Second Pass Post-Processing (Photoshop Camera Raw + back to CSP for finalizations like noise/chromatic aberration)
here's the shrimpku print
and for something a little crazy heres the salt wound routine art evolution LOL (this may not be exact, the layers are weird and i did many passes before figuring out what i wanted)
i wish i had more like...... genuine advice or something more substantial to recommend HAHA but i hope this helps in some way at least!!!
Hi everyone! I've taught beginning and intermediate french at the college level for the past two years and have accumulated a lot of PDFs that may be helpful + made some reading/listening activities that I wanted to share.
if you self-study, this may be helpful as well, especially when it comes to grammar practice.
Here is the link to the google drive folder
I am happy to answer questions as I am able.
Some notes:
grammar:
largely from: Grammaire progressive du français, (niveau avancé) | Contrastes : Grammaire du Français Courant | some (rather old) McGraw Hill French 2 and 3 texts | and various places online
SOME of these have answers. some do not. unfortunately, I don't have access to Contrastes right now to scan the answers. When I do, I'll try to upload them.
Sorted generally by what they are (adv/adj, articles, pronouns etc) however, the file names are NOT the clearest. i'll try to go through and fix those when I have time.
You'll notice that the two named texts are advanced grammar books - I adapted these when I used them in class if I needed to, or just used some of the activities on the page.
I also highly suggest UT Austin's resources here
activities:
WARNING: I created these myself so there may be the occasional error or weird phrasing in questions etc. Phrasing may also be strange due to the level it was created for.
The formatting may be a bit funky because I copied from word so my full name wouldn't be on them.
song activities are fill in the blank or comprehension question exercises. they have the lyrics and some vocabulary translations with them.
song activities - I often showed the music video but you could just play the music if that works better for you
song activities - these are typically excerpts and not the whole song. most do not have the time stamps, but the lyrics should help you figure that out.
video or reading activities are typically comprehension questions. some have my instructions for using them in class, others are just the text/video and questions.
Some of these are harder than others (songs go faster/grammar involved is more difficult) so check before you use.
Hard and rigorous levels are hard and rigorous. I died on a hard level my first time running 8s palette like a week or so ago and it was... humbling.
ALWAYS have an escape route. Ink the walls. Stay AWAY from corners. The walls of the level are okay but do NOT back yourself into a corner.
Get a bomb you WILL USE. My preferred bomb in the tower is burst bomb (takes little ink, good for inking right away), so I got that from a vending machine.
Splashdown special is good for both taking out enemies quickly and knocking enemies back. I recommend keeping it for the strat I used, unless using it is like your worst nightmare. Don't hinder yourself if that's the case, but it does work extremely well with this strategy.
Don't be afraid to run away from a hoard. Ink with tap shots if you must just to give yourself some ground, but don't be afraid to just book it.
While in the level, stay on the move. Don't take risks; take your time to do it safe and cautiously.
Keep an eye on your membux. It's 100 to skip 1-9, 500 to skip 11-19, 1000 to skip 21-29. I don't recommend skipping early levels unless the chips offered are bad.
Unless a chip you're hunting for/need for your run shows up, take the vending machine floors, even if you don't plan to buy anything.
Don't be afraid to give up and start over if the chips you've got from 1-9 aren't preferable to progress with.
Chip tips:
Knockback (purple chip) and Explosion Knockback (purple chip) are VERY HELPFUL. You want to keep enemies AWAY from you. Just one of either will be enough, two of either won't hurt but palette space is limited and you'll want other chips.
Working together with knockback, Lucky Bomb Drop (green) is also extremely helpful. Just one helped me a lot. Two was definitely worth it. I'd almost say this chip is required.
Working together with knockback and lucky bomb drop, Splash Radius (orange chip) affects bombs and popped portals. Try and get at least one, it'll help you with Smollusk.
Sticky Ink (purple chip)/Poison Ink (red chip) are both very good. One of each is good, but I don't recommend stocking up on them, unless you're having trouble hunting damage chips down. Stock up on whatever sticky and poison you can in that case.
For 8s palette, Main Damage (Close) (red chip) is much better than Main Damage (Distant) (red chip). I completely skipped the latter and did just fine with 3 main damage (close).
Try to get at least one Main Firing Speed (red chip), it'll save you a little bit of a headache and help damage enemies faster and ink turf faster. If you grab more than one, try to get any of the ink saver or ink recovery chips (purple chips)
Splash Damage (red chip) would have been helpful for me since I was focused on explosions for my run, but I didn't actually ever get any. However, if you're doing my strat, it definitely wouldn't hurt to nab a few of this chip.
Just one Main Ink Coverage (orange chip) will help you a lot, assuming you've got sticky/poison ink.
Give Pearl the Drone Splat Bomb (teal chip) so she can actually help you instead of floating around doing nothing. Don't worry about any other drone chips. Upgrading her bomb at least once won't hurt you, but it's not preferable.
Other chips that won't hurt you if you can't find the above chips:
Ink Damage (red chip) - actually not preferable for 8s palette, since it takes a large amount of them to actually show results. however, if it's the only damage chip you can find, get it
Special Charge Up (orange chip) - never hurts to stock up if you can't find damage chips
Hindrance Damage (orange chip) - if you've got more sticky ink and poison ink than other damage chips, this one will help you the most
Disc Piece Drop (green chip) - worth it to nab at least one
Canned Special Drop (green chip) - also worth it to nab at least one
Armor Drop (green chip) - definitely won't hurt to grab one if you need it
Splat Ink Recovery (purple chip) - always worth it
Ink Saver (Main) (purple chip) - extremely good for balancing against how fast your ink goes if you've got more than one main firing speed chip
Ink Saver (Sub) (purple chip) - SUPER HELPFUL if you're focusing on bombs
Ink-Recovery Rate - untold amounts of helpful
Mobile Ink Recovery (blue chip) - not preferable, but useful for a not so preferable run
Mobile Special Charge (blue chip) - same as above. this one doesn't hurt either
Squid Attack (blue chip) - only recommended if you're good at performing squid rolls
Main Piercing (orange chip) - not preferable, but useful
Ink Attack Size (orange chip) - not preferable, but useful
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Surprisingly, writing a chapter like it's a teather script helps a lot.
Like, first you describe the scenario:
A dense forest with big trees. It's afternoon. It's a cloudy day. Character A is wandering in the forest, very lost.
Then, you put what the characters do, their interations and their lines.
Character A: *walks a little more*
A house appears. There is a someone standing in front of it, doing some shit.
Character A: *coughs to get their attention* Excuse me?
I can even add a mood to the scene, and if I'm feeling like it, maybe even a sound track!
Room. It looks like a library, with bookshelves everywhere. There is a window close to a coach. It's sunrise, Character A is siting on the couch, looking through it. It has a dark academia mood. It looks like they've been in that coach for a while. Character A is well dressed. In a dark academia style.
Like, I can fuck around and be not at all subtle. It's so pratical! Then I can translate it to actual writing, after setting and building the scene, and then translate the moods and aesthetics i noted down with word choices and sentence lenght and use all my tricks. It works so well to a first draft.
for low energy/commuting kind of learning I recommend Assimil books (short lessons, very tired-learner friendly) , & short stories. Both come in pocket formats. I also deeply ENCOURAGE machine translators
