writing

You are not stuck. You are embarrassed. There is a difference.

A lot of writers stall out not because they lack ideas, but because they are terrified of being sincere in public.

You want the confession scene. You want the dramatic vow. You want the obsessive yearning monologue.

But the second it gets intense, your brain goes:

“Is this too much?”

“Is this dramatic?”

“What if someone thinks this is cringe?”

Here’s the truth:

Earnest emotion almost always feels a little cringe while you’re writing it. Because you are exposing something real... You're being vulnerable.

When you hold back to avoid embarrassment, your scenes become:

half-confessions

almost-kisses

arguments that never properly escalate

grief that never quite breaks you

Readers dont fall in love with restraint and nonchalance. They fall in love with commitment.

If your character is jealous, let them be jealous. If they are in love, let them be in love. If they are devastated, let it bruise.

You can edit later. (Or not..)

Cringe is just authenticity without fear.

When you’re stumped and you don’t know what’s not working for your writing, or you don’t know where to go next, take out a rubber duck (or any equivalent friend/inanimate object, I like to use my dogs) and start explaining every single detail as if the rubber duck knows nothing about writing or about your story. Explain out loud what’s going on, what part you’re up to, why you’re stumped, and what you know you need to get to when you figure out how to get there

Looking for something specific? Find every post I've made through these collections:

Characterization/Development

Plotting

Outlining

Worldbuilding

Theory

Misc. Writing Advice

Prompts

Folklore

NaNoWriMo

Inspiration

regular human modes of transport: walking, biking, public, car, bus, subway

portals hidden throughout the human world: in laundromats, behind shelves of select stores, doors in a subway station, fountains, ...

riding lightning or clouds from highrise to highrise

carsharing (especially if it is an oblivious human getting into a car with a group of non-humans)

carsharing services specifically for supernaturals (including regulations about which species may ride with each other)

gateways activated via seemingly random graffiti

tiny shortcuts through narrows gaps that were long forgotten by humans

jumping from building to building using magical boosters

ancient tunnels built underneath the city

taking shortcuts across rivers with magic that allows to walk on water

taxis that appear normal at first glance, but travel via unnatural pathways

Palace

luxurious residence for high nobility

symbolical display of wealth and governance

often not or barely fortified

Corrupted by greed and pushed to the brink

Desire to gain the affection of the one they are infatuated with

Desperation to be acknowledged as great

Evil for evil’s sake

Fear of what would happen if they gave up control

Genuinely believing they are doing the right thing

Grief turned revenge

Having felt powerless once and swearing to never be weak again

Having literally no other choice for their own survival

Loyalty to a mentor or superior who is purposely leading them astray

Needing to prove that they are capable of succeeding

Protecting the one thing / person they have left

Protecting/increasing their wealth / power

Trying to get justice for a perceived wrong that was done to them