And surreal can be evocative of dreams, dreams are often fun. Least mine usually are. And deeper meaning hidden among all the weird is always appealing. (Not that every dream has a deep hidden meaning)

Idk ive never really analyzed why I like surreal stuff.

There is a certain vicarious appeal to dark stories. Like we all want a little excitement, but not anything dangerous. Dark stories can scratch that itch for danger imo.

And, dark can often bring feelings of empathy, in ways “lighter” tales dont always channel.

For better or worse I never encountered sandworms (only to a beach a handful of times in my life). These are the sort of things I want to use in my stories at some point.

Gonna have to mention to my mother that she has a cool tag to add to some of her poems.

Dont psyche yourself out too much. Imposter syndrome often comes to those who are taking themselves seriously

And if you ever need a beta reader, let me know! I dont do too many beta reads (as I am a writer as well), but I am trying to stay involved with my contemporaries. Hermit that I am 😂

I get ya. It can be tricky to catch your own. I still hold on to the belief I should’ve waited longer before submitting my current manuscript, that I rushed it (I gave myself a deadline… perhaps stuck to it too hard)

My editor is nothing but reassuring… but… yeah. Doesnt make the feeling go away

I gotta practice a little self restraint 😆 too many seeds to add to my already bursting personal seed bank

Baker’s Creek (AKA Rare Seeds)

Good and bad examples. But he isnt about “this is how you should write”. He explores the elements and acknowledges that even bad execution of something, can still be interesting in light of the bigger story/plot.

He helped me a lot in improving my writing. (Although there are plenty of spoilers fwi

Letting anyone’s eyes see lmao

And, dont let too much writing advice get to you. Take it all with a grain of salt.

On that note I recommend to check out HelloFutureMe on YouTube if you are not aware of him already.

His On Writing video series explores different tropes and themes, showing 2/3

I think just being open about improvement and being humble on this never-ending journey of writing is plenty enough.

There will always be some haters, plenty of people think some great stories are trash because of “something or the other”.

The amount of things I sent to my editor that I regret 1/3

Some of my typos I take pictures of and still laugh at.

Others… I still can’t believe i made 😂

I think it is more a personal mindset sort of thing. If you are too stubborn to recognize your weaknesses or when writing is bad… then yeah you arent going to improve.

But if one is determined to do well and always improve? Yeah, you can begin as a terrible writer and become a great one

Beatrice’s greatest fear is losing herself to the whirlpool of power she keeps within her. And, arguably, confronting the memories of the day she and her sister returned home to a massacre.

At this point I am focusing more on editing, so the production portion is taking a back seat. Average word count goals has helped me get to where I am now tho.

I am a touch lazy-oriented, so building routine and momentum is very important. Hence the word count goals. Easy to quantify yet flexible

A natural part of the process.

I also tell myself that very few stories are truly perfect.

I keep reminding myself that I have come so far from when I started. Heck even from what I was a couple years ago!

And, oddly, sometimes I “greet” self doubt when it creeps in. Passive aggressively, of course. Helps to treat it as 1/2

One of my sisters sent me a clip of the AI dub of Banana Fish. I went from “thats definitely cringe and shouldn’t happen, but kinda just sounds like bad acting. I’m actually impre-“

Got to a character death. “Oh. My. God. How did anyone think this was okay?”

Like…omg 🤦 glad the backlash is working

That is honestly next level character channeling