I am being so serious when I say: if you have the financial and time privilege to get a group of friends together and make an indie project, PLEASE do. Indie games, indie animations, indie comics etc etc

the art industries are kind of in the shitter. It’s not so much because of AI (though that doesn’t help) but because studios just aren’t hiring people and funding projects anymore. People who’ve been in the industry for decades are finding themselves struggling, and once you have a mortgage or kids it’s harder to do something as risky as making something on your own.

completing projects is hard. it takes a lot of time and effort, and most people can’t afford it. so if you CAN afford to make art, even at the risk of no financial gain, I strongly encourage you to be as resilient as you can. We’re at a point where these industries are not going to turn around by themselves, and waiting for jobs to open up again in order to get experience and portfolio work might not be realistic.

people have been making art and telling stories longgggg before we were getting paid for it, and people aren’t going to stop just because no one has hired them to do so.

for everyone else: support indie artists when you can!!!! That person who made that cool indie game or youtube animation or webcomic might be doing this full time! your support might be the only reason they’re able to keep doing it.

and if you have already started an indie project: you’re so brave and I’m very proud of you!!! in fact, drop a link to it in the reblogs if you want! 👇

My life has been infinitely enriched by a series of collaborative projects with my friends. First voice acting, then YouTube, podcasts, creative writing, zines.... Making things with my friends is one of the things that makes life worth living

Right now I'm working on a few shows for a livestreaming network called Cable Two! And if you want to make indie art with a group of supportive friends, our pitch form and discord are always open!

Seconding all of this as a relatively successful full-time traditionally published author who is also working on indie projects now because the state of publishing is so bad that [redacted things that would get me blacklisted by most of my network].

Anyway, if you want to support my indie projects, I have a free webcomic on Webtoons and I have just launched a Patreon where I am sharing publishing info, exclusive stories, and bonus content to help fund some future indie projects that I'd really like to bring to life!

ok writeblr i have a question and it does not matter if you answer re fanfic or original work:

do you nerds know what themes you intend to tackle in longer works before you start, or are the themes a fun little surprise you don't uncover until the nth draft?

Both. I have the theme I intended, and then the theme I actually write, which are always two different things.

What they said ^

those posts criticizing common writing patterns in fanfiction are so fucking harmful and they ruined me

so like yknow what??? People tell you to avoid “smirk” and “chuckle” as descriptors because no one does those things (???) but then when I need to use those words I have a ten minute crisis about how I’m a shitty writer. So heres my unwarranted writing advice: If you want your characters to smirk and chuckle fucking let them and don’t let anyone tell you that no one smirks or chuckles because I do both on a daily basis whenever I tell a shitty pun, bye 

Edgy fanfiction critics can eat my entire ass.

Like y’all have never had a chuckle? For shame

” nobody does that”, Well sure, maybe nobody does that when YOU’RE in the room, buddy…

I smirk and I chuckle and I toe off my shoes and I card my fingers through my own hair (don’t have anyone else to do it to, but if I had, I would) and when I’m angry I growl (or wish I could, at least) and I pop the P when I say Yep. And even if I DIDN’T do all those things, the characters I write do, because fuck the language police, it’s my fic.

I honestly hated those BS things when they started coming out of not just fanfic but pro writing advice back in the 90s and 00s.

That’s how long I’ve been holding a grudge against Blanket General Absolutist Writing Advice, by the way. Thirty years now. People would post it on writing lists, or on message boards and I would be the only one going “okay except how the fuck else do you describe that”. Certain Fucking People’s much-vaunted “lists” of how a whole bunch of shit was stupid. Endless complaints about “emerald eyes” with “lololol so sharp edged and glass-looking?” and oh my god how about you fuck off.

And yes, before you go there: I do know the stuff they were reacting to, and the overwhelming trends, and the so forth and so on, and this was still the stupid, wrong way to approach the issue.

Potentially useful advice on the subject is going to a) come from someone whose taste you care about (ie this is the kind of person you’re writing for), and b) is going to be specific - “I think this piece of yours is using this kind of thing too often and it’s getting distracting” or “I feel like using ‘chuckle’ here gives the wrong vibe/imagery” or whatever. And note I said POTENTIALLY. And that’s for EDITING.

For writing use whatever word is gonna get you to the next word, you can fix it later.

Botanist’s Window 🌱

Twitter | Instagram | Print shop

It's Lesbian Visibility Week! Did you know that I -- a lesbian visible on the light spectrum -- have a book out with a likewise visible lesbian?

That's right! And she murders people!

I have to admit, I've been pretty bummed that she hasn't gotten as much love as Amastan and The Perfect Assassin. Yes, yes, she's technically the second book in a series, BUT -- hear me out -- it's a standalone! AND -- continue hearing me out -- I wrote this book first, anyway.

So for this Visibly Lesbian Week, if you enjoy: - girls with garrotes - undead camels - cranky necromancers - desert jaunts ...you should check out THE IMPOSSIBLE CONTRACT.

Love hazy, reverb drenched synths and jangly indie guitars? Duets with low voice and high voice?

Love of Montreal, MGMT, David Bowie, The Smiths, The Killers, Genesis, Grizzly Bear, Left at London, Local Natives, Lucius, Arcade Fire, Strokes or even possibly Radiohead?

Maybe you will like my new song! Hope you do 💞💖😍💖

Bonus for if you want more:

annotated hardcover giveaway

it's The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher's first birthday, so I'm celebrating with games and giveaways on social media all week! for my own sanity, the full schedule of events will happen only on Instagram, but this giveaway and select other events are happening across platforms.

if you're interested in reading the silly comments I left on this hardcover - including roasting my own characters, letting you know where I was doing my annotating that day, and occasional insights into the writing of Remarkable Retirement - here's how to enter:

this giveaway is open internationally to anywhere that can accept shipments from USPS. while it is taking place across platforms, there will only be one winner because it took me months to annotate a single copy.

the giveaway will run until 9a.m. EST this Friday, 26 April 2024.

in the meantime, you can take a quiz to find out which character from The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher you are: click here to take quiz on UQuiz

reupping for the night crowd because, as you can see, I forgot last night whoops

@caffeinated-bibliophile I personally would not know if someone were rb from a side blog or a main blog lol and also idc, rb from whatever blog you want for a chance to win!

also just an update for everyone that I am currently working on tallying up all the remaining entries in the hopes I can announce a giveaway winner in the next hour or so. it's been a very hectic and busy week at day job, plus I'll be at a convention this weekend which I am vastly underprepared for bc I've had no time to prep so despite my notification to myself I still managed to forget about this until about 15 minutes ago and then went AH SHIT FUCK THE GIVEAWAY

so if you're anxiously awaiting the winner announcement, hold tight! I'm working on it as we speak

underrated threesome dynamic of herding dog x lamb x wolf

it's about being caught between the grip of somebody who wants to protect you and somebody who wants to devour you and knowing that what they both share is a desire to possess you in your entirety btw

Small artists you need to understand that when you see an artist who you think has 'made it' tells you not to worry about the numbers and to not fret about getting more likes than reblogs they are not telling you it because they think you are stupid for caring or because they dont need to network to survive they are very likely telling you that because they have witnessed first hand the way the numbers game tears people to shreds in terms of mental health and motivation

I personally have never been one to get too hung up on numbers or clout because I've always been a very casual artist. But I have seen real lasting effects on others from even tangentially tying worth to the numbers. You can absolutely Make It and be a big artist and still have performance paralysis from The Numbers. Its not healthy, and it sticks with you in a lot of small ways. Im sure there are smug assholes out there about it, but most people telling you stop worrying are doing it because they know the end result. Even if it works and the grind pays off with lots of followers and commissions it is so, so, so easy to make yourself miserable in a myriad of ways creatively. I wish you all success but please, please try to catch this behavior/mindset early and don't let it poison your ability to create

Mossy Curtains - Sketchbook

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I’m on Patreon! I have an Etsy Store!

WAIT I LIED SOMETHING HUMAN BY AJ DEMAS IS EXACTLY THIS ACTUALLY!!! set in her fictional ancient mediterranean, this is about a romanish leader of a city-state who falls for essentially a celtic priest (who is also his enemy). it’s FANTASTIC. no prime ministers in suits but it’s 100% a political leader having a big gay love affair

omg Something Human is soooooooo good I'm literally gonna go reread it right now

I haven't personally read it but I did help prompt Kneel, Mr. President, by LA Witt (an old editing client of mine who asked for a slightly taboo smut prompt and I came back with "ex sex") an m/m/f Dom/sub with the US president, first lady, and head of the secret service security.

(source)

There are so many ways to make moodboards, bookcovers, and icons without plagiarizing! As artists, authors, and other creatives, we need to be especially careful not to use someone else’s work and pass it off as our own. 

Please add on if you know any more resources for free images <3

recently found out about openverse which i think aggregates a bunch of creative commons images from flickr, wikimedia, nasa etc… pretty handy

I’m shocked so many people don’t know about my go to – Morgue File.

It’s full of searchable, rights free images uploaded by photographers.