Oh, Anon… I’m right there with you. This WIP I’m currently writing was supposed to be a lot more dark and twisted, but to be honest… After what I did to the men in ITLATN and while watching the new season, I just didn’t have it in me to hurt them too much anymore. 💀 So the WIP is going to be a much softer Rivaere than I had originally intended… And the sequel for ITLATN is literally going to be me getting all the damn soft moments of love and laughter that I couldn’t get with ITLATN. I just… I can’t. I cannot deal with the heartbreak right now, these men are too precious to me. So prepare yourself. I can’t say there won’t be angst (because of course there will be!), but I CAN guarantee that there will be so much softness and love. So much. SO FUCKING MUCH. 💞

Haha, thank you! TBH, Poli Sci majors tend to be insufferable, because we’re all there to be politicians and lawyers and the like. 😂 It’s funny, because I ended up not going to law school because I couldn’t stand the narcissism in my field. So your words are kinder than you even know 💕

AH, THAT’S SUCH A COMPLIMENT. I know I’m just a scrub that tweets dumb shit sometimes, but I really am thankful I can make someone’s day a bit brighter. ✨

Don’t speak that way! I feel that the only thing that makes writing “subpar” is the lack of proper spelling or grammar, which are objective things that can be taught/learned. Otherwise, the writing style and substance just isn’t to someone’s tastes. So don’t ever say your writing is subpar (especially as someone as brilliant as you, studying Neuroscience!) If you’re anything like me, being someone who studied something outside of the “arts” and whose brain tends to work in a more logical way, I know delving into creative writing (especially the kind that focuses so heavily on the emotions of characters) can be difficult, but I hope you know that all writing has value — even if it’s writing that doesn’t seem to come as natural to those like us!

Or maybe I’m talking out of my ass, who knows! 🤷🏻‍♀️

Haha, no, though I did enjoy my Lit classes! Funnily enough, my major was Poli Sci - Public Law. I’m not sure that helped me any in terms of my creative writing skills, but it did help in terms of coherence — barely. 😂

Tips? I find what works best for me is that I don’t try to be something I’m not. For example, I really admire those who can write emotions so clearly, so beautifully, using flowery language and extrapolating with deep metaphors. BUT — that’s just not my style. It’s not me! If I try to force that type of writing too much, writing because SO much more difficult, and you can tell when it was a struggle when reading it. Writing is (supposed to be) fun. When you feel really passionate about something, or are having a lot of fun with it, it really flows. Yes, there are writing blocks and slumps at times, but nothing you can’t work through.

So if I were to give any sort of advice, it’d be to just practice writing little scenes to develop your style. It’s okay to take inspiration from other writers, but remember: no one can write like YOU can. Focus on what YOU like writing, how YOU like to express emotion or actions or thoughts or smut. Do you really like creating vivid imagery when describing a scene, the way a person’s shirt falls, the way their hair flutters in the wind? Do you love a more poetic style, with a lot of soft, ethereal, meaningful words that depict just how the heart breaks and how it finds new life in love? Are you a smut writer, where nothing is more fun than laying out exactly how getting penetrated makes someone’s insides feel? Are you most creative and inspired when you’re creating interesting plot lines, outlining them from start to finish and creating a twisted map of scenarios that you love to explore?

Lean into it! Focus on working that writing muscle and developing what makes your style unique! The writing will come off more naturally than if you try to emulate how someone else writes, and it will be more special, I feel.

So whatever makes your heart happy, focus on that, and the style will come. Your heart and soul to the cause — whatever it may be. 💖