“like Blowing Bubbles”

I think I’ve seen this film before And I didn’t like the ending

My main problem as a writer is that I don’t write because “I have a story to tell”. I write because there are worlds I want to visit, ideas I want to explore, people I want to meet, conversations I want to hear, emotions that I want to express, and impossibilities I want to make real.

Which means that I still need a fucking plot.

You know what’s fucked up to me? That I feel the need—now want, but in the beginning it was a feeling that it was my onus to fight. I grew up too fast, faced and burdened by the cruelties of the world. As a kid, I never wanted anything more than simplicity. Now? I feel it’s my duty—a chore, it seems at times—to worry myself to insanity over people I don’t know. I turn on the news and you know what I see? Chaos. Not controlled chaos. No. Pure, unrelenting, pain-fuelled chaos. My aspirations are now to go to law school instead of become a teacher or something simple that I’d enjoy. Not because of the money, no that’s not why I want to be a lawyer, but because I feel I owe it to the people who take the hate and violence I’m too scared to admit I should be shouldering too. These people came out and, even though there was the chance—almost guarantee—that they’d face violence, prejudice, hate, and be stripped of basic human rights. I should still be able to be a kid. Not because of my age or immaturity. But because I should be able to enjoy life; not fear it.

Nooo! Many of the links I need are gone. 

the suffering never ends

No. Teachers Don’t Need Guns

After this last school shooting I keep seeing people talking about how we need to arm teachers, teach them how to use guns, and require them to carry.

Honestly? What the fuck? How is that a solution?

Listen. There are two BIG things wrong with that.

1. IT IS NOT A TEACHERS JOB TO BE A COP. IT IS NOT THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TEACHER TO BE ARMED. jfc people. A teacher is a teacher. They’re there to do their fucking job. Do you know how crazy it is that you’re saying that teachers should be responsible for the security of a school when there’s a shooter on the loose? Not only that, but now there are guns all over the school. How easy would it be for a student to take it off a teacher? Or, god forbid, for a teacher to decide they want to use it themselves.

Teachers that are anti-gun would get blamed for their students being killed in the event a shooter came into the school. Teachers would be forced to have guns, bring guns into their homes where they might have children, and expose them to those guns.

Not to mention, you’re giving newly trained/untrained people guns and putting them in a room with a bunch of kids. Yeah that sounds really safe.

Now imagine they’re in a scenario where there is an active shooter: a poorly trained teacher is supposed to shoot a gun at an agressive moving target while there are innocents around, in a high stress, possibly chaotic environment. That sounds like a horrible idea. Why would anyone think that’s a good idea??

The whole concept is like trying to soften the blow of a basball bat by putting nails in it. It makes no sense, and will only cause more damage.

2. More guns = more gun violence. It’s literally that simple.

When you say we should make teachers have guns, you’re saying you don’t respect their choice not to have one.

When you say that teachers should just get guns, you’re really saying that you want to place responsibility on victims so that you don’t have to address the root issue: gun violence.

Lastly, where would the teachers get thier guns? Who whould train them? Where would they train? How long would the training take? What are the requirements? What are the regulations and who would do it? What about teachers that dont want to? Who will supply their ammo? Who will regulate and make sure thier guns are stored, used, and working properly? Would we also supply them gun safes? How much would all that cost?

Districts can’t afford it, states would be unwilling because risk vs cost is not in their favor, and fed wants to cut funding. It’s absurd to ask for the teachers to pay for it, in fact if it’s added they should all get a hefty raise.

The other reality is, wouldn’t it be way more efficient to just hire security that are already trained, equipped, and experienced?

In this context it just makes no sense to arm teachers. None.

(Edit: added some from one of my additions to this post)

Please Reblog the hell out of this, I want the people saying this ridiculous shit to see it

I personally love the pumpkin orange one. And I would look good in it with blonde hair and honey eyes. 

I wanna hear these Opinions on steampunk color palettes, if you’re willing.

tbh “the Victorians did not go to the trouble of inventing aniline dyes so that we could wear neutrals” mostly covers it?

they went to a lot of effort to bring affordable screaming bright fuchsias and acid greens into the world, and we should honor their tacky, tacky choices.

YOU KNOW WHAT BOTHERS ME

when fantasy books describe the cloth of Quant Farmpeople’s clothing as “homespun” or “rough homespun”

“homespun” as opposed to what??? EVERYTHING WAS SPUN AT HOME

they didn’t have fucking spinning factories, your pseudo-medieval farmwife is lucky if she has a fucking spinning wheel, otherwise she’s spinning every single thread her family wears on a drop spindle NO ONE ELSE WAS DOING THE SPINNING unless you go out of your way to establish a certain baseline of industrialization in your fake medieval fantasy land.

and “rough”??? lol just because it’s farm clothes? bitch cloth was valuable as fuck because of the labor involved ain’t no self-respecting woman gonna waste fiber and ALL THAT FUCKING TIME spinning shitty yarn to weave into shitty cloth she’s gonna make GOOD QUALITY SHIT for her family, and considering that women were doing fiber prep/spinning/weaving for like 80% of their waking time up until very recently in world history, literally every woman has the skills necessary to produce some TERRIFYINGLY GOOD QUALITY THREADS

come to think of it i’ve never read a fantasy novel that talks about textile production at all??? like it’s even worse than the “where are all the farms” problem like where are people getting the cloth if no one’s doing the spinning and weaving??? kmart???

obsessed with the idea of vampire snow white

How to Keep an Edit Notebook

In my How to Edit a First Draft post, I mentioned something I call an edit notebook. Edit notebooks help you figure out what level of revisions your WIP requires, and exactly what is wrong with your manuscript. I use a 3-subject notebook per project, and a section per draft. An edit notebook is composed of a few parts:

1. Chapter-By-Chapter Notes

this is where you read through your manuscript and take notes on scenes

you usually want to note what happens in the chapter, how well it is written, and whether or not it is relevant to the plot

2. Overall Plot Notes

these also happen while you’re reading over your WIP

I usually made them in-between sections of chapters, but some I made while reading

these include things you’d like to add/change/remove from the plot

3. Analysis (Note: This is the most important part! The whole point of an edit notebook is to figure out how much editing you actually have to do. I sort these into different “levels.”)

Novel-Level: If all your notes say “delete scene,” “scrap,” “poorly written,” “unecessary” etc., then you’re probably looking at a full-on rewrite. Pull on your big-boy pants, grab a cup of coffee, and start re-plotting. 

Chapter-Level: If your notes are less about how bad the plot is and more about how bad the writing quality is, then your revisions should focus more on pacing, the order of your scenes, point of view, and rewriting/recrafting scenes to make them better. 

Line-Level: If the plot is flawless, there aren’t any plot holes or dull moments to be accounted for, just grammar/sentence structure problems, then this is when you print out your novel and go through it with a red pen. 

Of course, there are steps in-between, and sometimes you’ll spend several drafts in one level. But in general, this is what you should be looking for!

4. Redrafting (Especially important when making novel-level edits, which is probably what you’re dealing with when you have a first draft)

list possible scene ideas, brainstorm

try to write out your new plot, or at least the “tentpole” moments (the important events) 

from there, fill in what goes in-between the major events

remember, you can’t really know if it works or not until you actually write it!

5. Reoutlining

I like to make a summary sheet (below the cut), which ideally includes your major plot points, major flashbacks, subplots, symbols, conflicts, resolutions, and the story arc (as well as anything else you want to keep track of) 

plot out timelines/arcs for characters

basically do whatever you would normally do before you begin writing something new. Except, this isn’t new! You know what you’re doing and where you’re going this time. You got this.

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