Say what you will about the holmes fandom, I don't know anyone else who CELEBRATES a Fictional character's "Death" Day

hey op, have you heard of ianto jones?

“if he be mr. hyde, i shall be mr. seek” is such a funny line i can’t believe robert louis stevenson actually wrote that in the actual original dr. jekyll and mr. hyde in the actual year of 1885

me: there is no way this is true *pirates a pdf real quick to check it out* WHAT?!

“But let me give you the dark side of writing groups. One really dark side of writing groups is, particularly newer writers, don’t know how to workshop.

“And one of the things they’ll try to do is they’ll try to make your story into the story they would write, instead of a better version of the story you want to write.

“And that is the single worst thing that can happen in feedback, is someone who is not appreciating the story you want to make, and they want to turn it into something else.

“New workshoppers are really bad at doing this. In other words, they’re really good at doing a bad thing, and they’re doing it from the goodness of their heart. They want you to be a better writer. They want to help you. The only way they know is to tell you how they would do it, which can be completely wrong for your story.”

—Brandon Sanderson, Lecture #1 Introduction, Writing Science Fiction And Fantasy

And this is why many writers (including me) don’t ask for concrit on their published  stories - they’ve told the story they want to tell. 

If that’s not the story you want to read,  you are welcome to write your own version. 😉

He goes on to say that to give good feedback, tell them how the writing made you feel. Don’t say, “instead of that you should do this.” Tell them, “this part confused me.” Or, “my attention drifted during this scene.” Your job isn’t to tell them how to fix it or even that it needs fixed. Your job is let them know what impact their story had on you, the reader. Then they can determine if it’s accomplishing what they want it to and if not, they know which parts need attention.

It isn’t just young writers who do this! Until last fall, this is what I did because this is what my teachers taught me to do. And I hated writing workshops. I kept going to them because I needed to learn how to be a better writer, but…did I actually learn? Mostly what happened was that my work got picked apart and I became depressed and left the story behind because I no longer thought it was any good. My teachers were operating with the best intentions in the world too, but with their help, I ended up with the world’s worst case of writer’s block and a chronic lack of belief in myself.

Then, last fall, my very last semester of college, I took a class with a professor who told us that we were not going to use the classic workshop format. Instead of writing down everything that we thought our classmates should do, we were assigned to ask them questions. And as writers, we were assigned not to sit passively while feedback was fired at us, but to ask questions, to explain what we had been going for and ask if it worked, and if not to brainstorm together how we might make it work.

It was miraculous. Instead of shutting my mind down, this workshop process blew it wide open. Instead of going home after class dispirited, never wanting to touch my story again, I went home inspired, with a hundred new ideas.

So I am a big advocate for this method–and I think it is important to underscore that it isn’t just students who need to be taught it. Writing teachers need to learn it too.

This is so important! And it’s also the reason 90% of “concrit” sucks ass. I have been ignoring “concrit” cheerfully ever since 2003 when people were actually awkward enough to say things like “I’d like this story so much if there weren’t any slash (or het) in it!”

Telling people to write what you want to read isn’t concrit. It’s begging.

Speaking from a past life in journalism, that also counts for changes of style. Maybe you wrote a sentence and used the words you wanted, but an untrained editor might try to change the words they would use instead; to say the same thing but not in your style - or, as we say it, “calling six half a dozen.” Only suggest change of style if the sentence gramatically doesn’t make sense, as it’s often the case with non-native speakers (like me, but I’m blessed with the best friends and betas!)

It's the same for art btw, and i would hazard to guess it's the same with every form if art, not just writing

One of the worst parts of current internet culture is that it makes good old fashioned complaining so difficult. I don’t wanna cancel anyone or bully anyone, I’m not trying to form a hate mob I’m not calling anyone out, i just wanna bitch about something. Because complaining is fun, good for you, even. Is that too much to ask? Where is the room for shooting the shit?

You two! We're at the end of the universe, all right? Right at the edge of knowledge itself and you're busy... blogging!

DOCTOR WHO (2005 -) I 3.11 - Utopia

telling a joke on tumblr is fun but watch out! if it gets over 1000 notes your joke is automatically exposed to people who have never once heard a joke in their life.

"why would you say that" because it was funny. "but that isn't true" it's the funniest way to express that sentiment. "why would you do that" because it's a joke.

you guys would never believe what's happening to this post

Mother Fucker Unlimited

BIG CHUNGUS

It’s Meep! Meep is a bit of a celebrity in the axolotl world. She is believed to have a form of dwarfism and is not significantly overweight, although she looks it especially in this photo.

The owner is a well-known and experienced handler who has four other axolotls that are way more… axolotl shaped lol. But she is healthy, not being overfed or suffering due to poor husbandry.

Actually Cute!

Stardew valley is fun until you actually have to get money to be able to get stuff

running into a trans girl while you're out and about makes the entire miserable errand worth it, whatever it was. like glancing upward at just the right time to see a shooting star. I spot a trans flag and it sincerely ceases to matter that the bus is crowded and it rained unexpectedly and my shoes are soaked through and my headphones are dead. I am happy to be on that specific bus on that specific day, because you're there too.

People complaining about the lack of reblogs and interaction with gifs/other art posts; then you look at their blog and they don't reblog other fellow gifmakers and artists.

Something to think about. Don't complain if you're in the middle of the problem. Do what you want, but don't hold up other people to different standards. And don't be surprised if you don't get reblogged, after people notice what you're doing.

Sometimes a creative outlet is a fun little hobby and sometimes it's a lifelong affliction. Like I crochet because making little woven animals sparks joy and I'm a writer whether I like it or not because I'm tormented by visions

Me crocheting: I made a duck ! ^_^

Me writing: pacing around talking to myself compelled by forces beyond my comprehension