Through The Course Of Time - Love

Through The Course of Time - Love

Title: Love

Series: Through The Course of Time

Description: Through the course of time, I will be documenting various parts and feelings of my life.

This is me.

This is my story. 

Foreword: Sometimes, I get weighed down with feelings and writing them out relaxes me, in a way. So, I will be documenting parts of my life as it happens; when i feel overwhelmed or stressed, I can look through this and see how I felt at other various aspects and rest easy.

I know a story like this does not belong here but there is nothing else I can do but post it here, as I can view it as a story.

This will be cross-posted on my aff and lj.

{Truth be told, I have never experienced love, romantically.

Maybe, I could have but I never knew.}

Truth be told, I have never experienced love, romantically.

Maybe, I could have but I never knew.

It had always been just a mere infatuation, now that I think about it. Back then, I would think I was ‘head-over-heels in love’ with them; it just seemed too good to be true.  It never lasted long, either. The longest I felt I ‘loved’ someone would be around 3 years, perhaps? Even then, I am not too sure. It was on-and-off. I would move on to someone else who was attractive, in my eyes, and then believe I ‘loved’ them.

I have never felt any sort of attraction towards a person, according to the textbook definition. I would have to have had clammy palms, when I’m near them; butterflies fluttering in my stomach; wanted to impress them; wanted to see them happy; have my heart pound against my chest and more. The cliché definition of love. That was something I never experienced.

All in all, I have had about five major crushes. When I reminisce, I wasted all my time fawning over them rather than trying my best to secure a good future by studying and excelling academically. Sure, I did have many achievements academically but I still misused time. My most recent one was a Japanese buddy that had come over to our school to stay for a couple of days. I was intrigued as he was an exact replica of one of my biases: Jinhwan, from iKON. I was starstruck; deluded myself into believing he was the closest I could get to Jinhwan. But that was not the case. We e-mailed once, twice and I sent the third one. I still haven’t got any reply. I have, most definitely, moved on.

I do not know the psychology behind all of this but it could have been peer pressure. Everyone else my age, my friends, younger students, older students; everyone, at that time, seemed to have a crush on someone or they were ‘going out’ with someone. I ended up thinking I have to have a crush, otherwise I would be frowned upon and I guess that’s where it all began. Acquaintances would ask me, ‘Who’s your crush? Do you like anyone?’ and I would blurt the name of the first person I thought was pretty cute. Soon, word spread. One of our mutual friends ridiculed me at lunch. It was too much, for a 10-year-old child.

It continued when I was eleven. It was a different guy, this time round. He was new to the school, to be honest, the country itself. We clicked. We soon became close friends; if you were looking for one of us, most just said, ‘Look for the other one’. I don’t know when it happened but I found myself having a crush on him because he was the most adorable, dorky and funny kid you would ever meet. Somewhere down the track, the year after, one of our mutual friends told him that I liked someone. (At this point, due to this person, who I thought would keep it a secret, the entire cohort knew about my tiny crush on him.) He was flabbergasted; I had a crush and I did not tell him. This mutual told me she knew who he liked, so I considered it to be a lost cause; there was no way on Earth I’d have a chance. He kept bugging me, all of our mutuals knew who we liked until one came up to me and told me that it was, in fact, me who he liked. Me, of all the attractive students. (I always had and still do have an insecurity considering my appearance, my personality and just me, in general.) Being the naïve child that I was, I thought it was amazing. My crush liked me back! What a great thing! We never dated formally, just knew we liked each other and that was it. During the Year 7 pool party, I had been dared to kiss his cheek. I did so and he told me it was his first. I did so too.

Months later, we drifted apart and things became awkward between us. We had just entered high school and there were a whole lot more faces. He became a social butterfly; I continued to be an awkward person, staying with the people I had befriended.

I ended up liking the boy I liked back when I was ten. I found out, at the end of the year, he liked another girl. She was pretty. Very pretty, indeed. I went through a period where I could not focus on ‘love’ as I believed it. I moved on, once again, to another boy. He was tall, athletic and intelligent whereas the other two were the same height as me, intelligent and not super athletic. He never interacted with me, only talking in Maths when he wanted to cross-check solutions. Nonetheless, my heart did not stay faithful. Exactly a year passed, when I meet this new boy. He was nothing like the other boys I had set out to have a crush on. He was Indian, just like me (although he would beg to differ, ‘I’m Kiwi-Indian’ to which I would, just as quickly, reply, ‘Well, I’m Australinsian’), tall, absolutely dorky. We talked a bit, we weren’t all that close, but soon ended up having two same classes. He told me he thought I was cool because I was unlike the others; not being disgusted by the dirty comments he made at times and shutting him up easily, a feat that was impossible to do, he said. He found out I liked him and we drifted apart. Two months later, I share four, out of a possible six, classes with him. It’s awkward, our friends are close and he’s very social.

Then came along my most recent one, which was aforementioned. I’m not going into much detail about that one.

I’m a very cheesy person. I’m an absolute sucker for romance. It’s a proven fact. However, I have never experienced it myself. After these experiences, I find myself utterly confused. I define myself as polyromantic but I am unsure if I am demisexual or asexual. This is where things come to play.

How do you define romance, anyway? How do you know if this person is the one you want to settle down with? What makes you not say that you have walked down the street, passed your potential spouse and continued embarking on your journey? If everyone focuses on the looks, what about the rest of us?

I am inching towards being demisexual recently due to one thing. Lately, I have been thinking of my closest male friend, whom I have known for a little less than six years. We talk a lot, as most friends do. He has a lot of friends, but at the end of the day, he comes back to us. (I guess, I’m the only one in our friend group who doesn’t have friends outside the group, as in at school.) When we walk together to go to someplace at the school, I just have a strong tendency to slide my hands into his. When he is upset or insecure, I feel like peppering his face with kisses, to let him know I care. Sometimes, I feel like hugging him, something through all these years we have never done. We’ve laughed together, cried together and even were angry together. He has always liked a beautiful, perfect girl and I don’t know what I feel. I know it’s not love though. My heart does not speed up or hammer in my chest, I don’t feel butterflies in my tummy but I sometimes do get jealous. However, that’s a natural phenomenon when you are like me.

In reality, writing what makes me confused is strangling me. Right now, I am choking up. I am not crying as such but I am struggling to breath, a lump in my throat. It hurts.

I have a weird tendency to want to feel loved at all times. It’s bad enough to have a mild case of social anxiety. It’s bad enough I have a handful of friends, I can count them on two hands, ones that I trust and ones that are just there due to other mutuals. I crave physical contact but at the same time, I can’t participate in it; I just stand there, not knowing what to do.

You know that feeling when there are people around you but you feel so lonely? They’re there but they are not really there. Do you understand what I mean? It feels like that every day I see my friends, to be frank. They branch out into their own little groups and my closest friends, the ones I thought would be with me, would not even spare a second glance but I still care about them. I end up, trying to hold back my tears as I plug in my headphones and zone out, knowing they do not care about me. It is one of the worst feelings, ever. It happened again, yesterday but who am I kidding? I guess, the only people who care about me are my parents. At least, my Mother provides me with enough love and affection for a lifetime of goodness.

I am a weird human, I know. Writing this down sort of helps me in a way but also wrecks me, inside out. I am feeling a bit better, releasing my frustration onto a document in Word but at the same time, I feel sick. There is a literal lump in my throat that I cannot swallow down and I am on the edge of tears. I feel unworthy of anything. Another day of school, another day to hold back my feelings and zone out.

I am only turning fifteen in a few months, I have the rest of my life to do what I want. But I find it very ironic that I have not experienced true love yet continue to write cringe-worthy stories involving this very idea.

However, how do I know I’m in love? I could have been in love with my closest male friend and never have known. Am I experiencing it now? How do I know?

I know, one day, the sun will shine and everything will be clear. One day, I will feel loved by a significant other and they will make me forget all of these negative emotions I have felt through the course of my life. I know they will. If I don’t have a significant other to fall back on, I have my God in heaven to take care of me and love me, and my parents as well.

Trouble

Title: Trouble

Fandom: BTS (Bangtan Boys)

Pairing(s): Yoonmin (Suga/Jimin)

Genre; AU: Universityl!AU

Rating: PG-13 (for mild swearing)

Word Count: 1.2K (1203 words)

Prompt: Beginning

Summary: Jimin’s first day to his new university starts off with a bang when he meets a senior, Yoongi.

A/N: Cross-posted to aff, ao3, lj

The cool breeze slapped Jimin in the face, as though it was waking him up to reality. The bus seemed ever closer while the butterflies in Jimin’s stomach tumbled faster and faster. It was his first day at Korea National University of Arts and it made him wonder if he would make any new friends as he left his previous friends behind, although they did stay in contact. He hoped he could because he didn’t want to stick out as the loner of their year. Besides, that would be degrading him totally because he was awarded the title of ‘Social Bumblebee’ at his old high school. He was sure that he could have at least one friend, who knew him inside and out, that would be sure to comply with sleepovers that would end in them having pillow fights, singing (maybe rapping) and wrapping the night up by cuddling and using each other’s warmth to slumber peacefully. Although it may sound terribly gay, it made Jimin happy. If they didn’t agree, however, they would face the wrath of Jimin that came through as the most adorable puppy dog face that he could muster. It was one of those things that you just couldn’t bring yourself to say no to. The bus screeched. Jimin made his way, slowly, to the bus. As he stepped in, he tapped his bus card and sat next to a person wearing the same uniform as him. One would only expect them to attend the same school. Jimin didn’t want to seem intrusive or weird so he observed the sleepy male next to him, in a way that wasn’t slightly creepy. He was only curious. Upon closer inspection, the student seemed to have a loose grip on his phone, with one earphone in while the other lazed around on his torso. His bag was placed between his legs and he seemed to be slouching backwards into his seat, eyes closed peacefully with the soft breaths that he took. His head was slightly tilted to the right, facing the window. There wasn’t anything particularly interesting about him but something drew Jimin’s attention to him. Maybe it was the messy hair, or maybe it was cat eyes. Jimin didn’t know what it was but he could see himself with the boy next him, hanging out and being great friends. It was perhaps the fact that none of his other friends seemed to be this… lazy. Most of them were outgoing and fun, like Jimin himself but this guy seemed to be a bit laid back. A bit calm in a sense, not that it mattered. Jimin realised that he had been staring at this stranger for way too long when he saw that he glared back. The glare was so strong, it was almost if he was pissed about Jimin staring at him and waking him up from his peaceful rest. “The fuck are you staring at?” The stranger spat. Well, wasn’t someone nice? Now that he thought of it, he seemed to be like one of those cold guys that only cared about sex and money. Or he could be one of those antisocial guys who get pissed off for people talking to them. Nah. He ruled out the latter option. He definitely appeared to be the former. Noticing Jimin staring even more, the stranger looked even more unimpressed. “Look. I fucking asked you a question. Are you deaf or just plain dumb? Stop fucking staring at my face like it’s the most incredible thing you’ve ever seen.” Jimin shook his head. “Wow. How rude. I thought you were actually nice. It seems we go to the same school so I thought I could acquaint with you but I guess you can continue acting like you’ve got a damn chopstick shoved up your arse.” He didn’t understand what the guy’s problem was. Was looking at people a crime? That would result in everyone going to prison then. But there was STILL something that drew Jimin in and he found himself wanting to be friends with the other, even with the horrendous attitude. It dawned on Jimin that the fact that they were polar opposites was what perked his interest in the other. The male scoffed. “Feisty. We got a badass over here. Watch your mouth though. Quite the sight you are, looking innocent but acting all sassy.” Jimin didn’t know whether he should be feel complimented or insulted. What was this guy doing here, acting all mighty? Did he think he ruled the world? As if. Jimin was about to retort when the other sighed and turned his head back to the window, like the window and everything outside was more interesting than his conversation with Jimin. Jimin fumbled with the zips on his backpack, not knowing what to do to erase the awkward tension between them. “Um… I’m Jimin. Park Jimin. I’m a first year.” He glanced over to the man slightly smirking which sharpened his features. He wondered what part of him introducing himself was amusing. The stranger’s actions made Jimin more curious about him. He seemed a bit rebellious like the type that would be wagging classes and dealing drugs. Who knows, it could all just be a façade. “First year, huh? No wonder I didn’t recognise you.” The man said, with a raspy voice. “I’m Yoongi. Min Yoongi, third year,” he imitated Jimin, “but call me Suga.” Yoongi turned his attention to the window again. Jimin almost gave up. Yoongi just wouldn’t seem to converse with Jimin, no matter how hard he tried but that would be his challenge. To make Yoongi his friend. It was the first time Jimin had trouble with making a friend. Normally, conversations would just flow like a streaming river, jumping from shared interests to jokes. There would be no end to them. In fact, it was hard stopping the conversation as they soon became acquainted. But with Yoongi, it turned out to be a whole different story. Jimin tried his best but Yoongi wouldn’t budge. The bus halted in front of a stop close to his school, shaking both Jimin and Yoongi awake. Yoongi stood up first, chucking his bag over his shoulder and sluggishly making his way out. Jimin followed suit and tapped his card again before he walked out, thanking the driver on the way. As the bus moved by, he saw a tremendous building. It seemed even bigger than when he came here during the holidays. The gold walls looked to go higher with each storey. The greenery surrounding the building made it picturesque, a scene to behold. Turning his head sideways, he noticed Yoongi looking at him with an entertained look adorning his face. “Do you know where to go? Don’t wanna be late for your first class, do ya?” Yoongi queried. “I’ll drop you off to the office but that’s only because you’re such a pain in the ass.” Jimin grinned, emphasising his eye smile. It seemed as though Yoongi slowly fell for it too, like the many other unsuspecting victims and found himself having the same feelings as JImin. “I don’t but thanks, Suga.” Little did they know it only progressed from there.

Cam Whore

Title: Cam Whore Fandom: GOT7 Pairing(s): Bammarkson (Bambam/Mark/Jackson), slight Markson and Jackbam Genre; AU!: Non-AU Rating: G Word Count: 448 Prompt: Jackbam - Camwhore (from the GOT7 prompt generator) Summary: Kunpimook's a cam whore by nature. A/N: Cross-posted to aff, lj and ao3.

Jackson sighed. It was their day off; they had been looking forward to this day for so long as promotions are tiring when  you don’t have adequate hours of sleep. They were all planning on repaying their sleep debt. But here they were, sitting on the couch, watching their second youngest take selcas like there was no tomorrow. It didn’t make sense to Jackson how one could take so many selcas. What use did it have? He didn’t believe he needed to take pictures for every single second of his lifetime and he didn’t understand why Kunpimook did exactly that.  What exactly did he achieve, apart from being sleep-deprived? Kunpimook’s obsession with being the center of attention didn’t just stop at selcas though. It rolled over to their  performances too. No matter what they were doing, Kunpimook was a cam whore. Jackson stood up and shuffled his way to Kunpimook, snatching the device from the latter’s hands. Kunpimook  looked at Jackson with a pout, obviously upset about it. “This will be with me for the rest of the day. Mark, come with me.” Jackson said, waving the object like a toy to a  child. Mark followed suit, closing the door to their shared room. “What are you doing, Jackson? I’ve been waiting to sleep for a long time now.” Mark said, running a hand through his  semi-styled hair. “Look. I’m sleepy as hell too. Can you hear that?” Jackson placed his hand behind his ear, “That’s the sound  of my bed calling me, ‘Jackson, come back to me. Please, I need you. Baby, come back.’ But this is a serious problem.  My baby is addicted to cameras, we need to do something about it. That’s why we’re hiding this. What if he does  something dangerous? This is seriously bad for his health!” Mark took the camera from Jackson’s hands. “I know where to put this.” He left the room, shortly, to go to  Jaebum’s and Youngjae’s shared room and hid the camera in a drawer filled with their socks. He returned with  a bright smile on his face. “Now, let’s sleep.” Both men made their way to their beds, which were joined together (manly men cuddle in winter) and sighed contently. Kunpimook disturbed their peace by climbing between them. “Hyungs, look!” They both looked up in  time to find Kunpimook taking a selca and this time, they were both involved. Mark chuckled. “Some things don’t change, aye Jackson?” Jackson grinned, and trapped both Mark and Kunpimook in a giant hug. Kunpimook piped, “Too tight, hyung! Stop!” The elder two laughed and looked at each other, thinking the same thought. “That’s what he said!” They end up  saying simultaneously.

it's tough being genderless (and yoongi)

title: it's tough being genderless (and yoongi) fandom: bts pairing: none (yoongi-centric) au: lgbtq+ bangtan!au rating: t word count: 403 warning: self-harm, lapslock summary:  society's got it all wrong, yoongi thinks. yoongi is yoongi. yoongi is genderless. a/n: cross-posted to aff, lj and ao3. this is part of the 'you're so beautiful; don't let anyone tell you otherwise' series. oh my god. not proof read at all. so i wrote this in like half an hour so idk what i was thinking. ps: i can't angst or do anything like that.

society’s got it all wrong, yoongi thinks. yoongi doesn’t need to be a boy. neither do they need to be a girl. they like to refer to themselves as ‘genderless’; it seems to be less daunting and conforming that way. it’s yoongi that you see when the sun is high, lazing around their room, playing with the maschine. it’s yoongi that you see when they go out with their friends on a hot summer’s day. it’s yoongi that you see in the morning, wrapped like a burrito in their covers. it’s suga that you see when the sun sets, spitting rhymes into a mic. it’s suga that you see performing underground with a crowd cheering them on. “he’s such a weirdo.” “why does he always act like that? he’s a guy, for crying out loud!” the whispers wrap themselves around yoongi, trapping them, strangling them. the poisonous leaves of gossip and rumours threaten their existence. they’ve had enough of this. they’re yoongi. they’re suga. (occasionally, they’re agust d but that’s rarely.) they cannot be defined as a male. they cannot be defined as a female. they are they. although yoongi was assigned male at birth, they don’t agree with that viewpoint. there are certainly more genders than the two common ones. it’s their choice as to what they feel like. when yoongi wears mix-and-match with the different sexes clothing, they get curious looks. (“what’s that young man doing? is this the ‘hip’ thing to do these days?”) but that’s to be expected. yoongi is not confused. yoongi is not strange. yoongi is, most definitely, not crazy. yoongi is yoongi. yoongi is genderless. why can’t yoongi be yoongi? (“it’s not right, little boy. you are born a man. you must not wimp out. take the world on like a man.”) the words still affect them. they try to block it out but it is to no avail. they’re too far gone now. the statements cut through their pale skin, drawing scarlet liquid. it paints itself, using their arms as a canvas, and it drips down onto the white-tiled bathroom floor. (“but, sir, i am not a boy. i do not classify myself as a boy nor a girl. i am genderless. i am yoongi.”) the wound stings but it’s nothing compared to the emotional trauma they’ve suffered since coming out. yoongi is yoongi. (“when will the pain end?”) (“show them your battle scars, lad.”)

this is the money cat, repost in the next 24 hours and money will come your way!!

99 Ways to beat Writer’s Block

By kiliunderthemountain

Make your story take a totally unexpected and ridiculous twist. It may not work as part of your actual plot, but a sudden plot twist such as a fire or an earthquake or even an alien invasion helps your mind use more creativity, helping your writing flow out more easily. 

Write a couple of one-shots about pairings or topics that interest you. Let out all your ideas onto a one-shot to free all those ideas caught up in your mind. 

Eat. Go out and find something eat, preferably sweet. It may sound like this has nothing to do with beating writer’s block, but we all know food works miracles. 

Lay down, close your eyes, and imagine your story. Maybe listen to some soft music, and let your mind take over from then on, from the point in which you left of.

Use an online prompt generator to help give you ideas, inspire yourself on the prompts and perhaps give each a little twist. Use this one if you like.

Mash the keyboard. No, this is not a joke. Just let your fingers go and mash your fingers on the keyboard, let them loosen up. This may not directly help out with writer’s block, but it helps relieve the stress which builds up inside you when you just don’t know what to write.

Go outside, look for other places to sit in to write than just your desk. Going outside or simply changing your surroundings gives your mind a change of perspective, easily giving it also a change of perspective when it comes to your writing.

When you feel frustrated with yourself for not being to write, pull out a sheet of paper or a blank document and make a list of your accomplishments as a writer, such as “I wrote for 20 minutes everyday last week” or “My story got positive reviews on WattPad”. Whenever you feel bad about your writing, pull out this list and take a look at it. It’ll make you feel better about your writing and help you lighten up and let out that story. 

Write. Simply write. Keep writing words and words that make no sense on to the document, don’t let yourself stop for at least 1 minute. Write the first things that come to mind and then read through it. Who knows, you might get good ideas from it.

The more stressed you are, the less likely you are to write. Therefore, if you’re feeling stressed, keep around a set of activities you can work on to feel more relaxed. Try crossword puzzles, listening to music or simply doodling on a sketchpad. Let yourself relax and then get to work.

Watch a movie. Movies loosen up your imagination and may give you new sources of inspiration. It can be any movie: sad, funny, romantic, scary. Any movie at all, watch it and let your writing go free.

Take a nap. If you’ve recently suffered from lack of sleep it is likely that this is one of the factors affecting your writing. Set your alarm clock for 30 minutes or even an hour, depending on the time you have, and just rest to wake up refreshed and active. 

Jog, take a walk, do some chores. Physical excercise will help you reduce your stress levels.

Take a shower or a bath, let your mind fly away while you stand under the hot water. The more relaxed you are, the more likely your mind is to relax and think away plot details and character personalities.

Play in the jungle gym, with a ball, crawl around like a toddler or just sit and read a childrens book. Let your mind wander from life’s problems and just relax and feel free like you used to.

Switch your medium. If you normally type, take out an old notebook and start handwriting your story instead. If you normally handwrite, pull out a blank word document and continue your story. A change of feel for both your hand, your body, and your mind might just help you get those ideas flowing. 

Set up a writing schedule. A strict one. Tell yourself you must follow it strictly each day. 30 minutes after finishing your homework you spend only for writing. For this time, ignore the writers block, just write what you can and let your words spill out. Eventually, your body and mind will get used to this and make it easier for you to write at a certain schedule. 

Don’t criticize yourself. Don’t re-read an excerpt until it is time to edit it. We tend to get writer’s block because we feel our writing is not good enough, and we end up racking our minds for ways to make it better. Don’t, it’ll just make you more stressed and harder for you to write. Turn the critic brain off and just do as you like, editing comes later after all.

Set deadlines and keep them. Sometimes, putting pressure on your mind and encouraging yourself to finish a certain project before a deadline may push it to release the ideas you’ve been holding.

Write down a list of your anxieties and problems which you think may be causing your writers block. After each, write a way in which you can make this anxiety or problem go away. This will make you feel more relaxed once you know your problems have a solution, making you less stressed and more free to write.

Work on several projects at a time. Some writers find it better to work on two things at a time as there is more of a chance you’ll at least be able to write for one of your projects. Also, ideas from one of your projects may help influence ideas for the other. 

Look up some writing excercises. Correct sentences, write from a basic prompt, or simply practice your cursive. Just get some words on the paper, cause eventually some of it is bound to be good writing or inspiration material. 

Remember why you’re writing. Thinking back to why you started writing your story/fanfiction may help you remember that you’re doing this because it’s what you love to do, or a pairing that you love to ship. This will end up giving you a positive feeling about your writing and make you look at your writing with a more positive view, rather than a view branching from stress. 

Take breaks every certain amount of time. Get writing what you can, even if ‘what you can’ is merely 2 sentences every 10 minutes. These breaks will give your brain some release and an opportunity to freshen up and get ready to go back to work.

Do some yoga poses. Try the dog, the warrior, or even some inverse positions. Stretch out your body to release the stress or tension of sitting on a desk chair all day.

Rant about your friend about how you can’t write. Make a draft email detailing how annoyed you are at your mind for not cooperating and either send it or keep it as a draft. Either way, this method will help you let go of all that frustration you’ve been keeping inside. 

Get away from writing for a whole weekend, give yourself a whole 2 or 3 days free from writing to let your brain flowing with new ideas. If you have a new idea, jot it down in a notebook and put it away but do not under any circumstances sit down and write. This is your break, a chance to re-encounter your writing inspiration.

Punch something (preferably not a person). Grab a pillow, a stuffed animal or a backpack and just through punches at it like there’s no tomorrow. This will help you relieve your stress. 

Know what you write. Go back and investigate a bit further on your topic, whether it be Johnlock or the conflict in DRC. Investigate and learn as much as you can about the personality of characters or the events happening in the republic. This will most likely bring more inspiration.

Make an outline. If you already had an outline, pull it out and make corrections. Add, erase, overlap, plan out your whole paper. It doesn’t matter if you change it along the way, the point is that now you’ll have a clearer idea of what you’re doing.

Sudden character death. I am encouraging you to pull a Moffat and suddenly kill off a character. You don’t have to keep it this way, but writing emotionally stressing scenes may let out emotions into your writing and maybe, if you’re a bit like Mark Gatiss, bring you pleasure over thinking about the readers pain.

Do some editing. Go back to the beginning of your work and start working on your editing process, even if you’re not even halfway through the story. Correct your mistakes and fix some loose ends. Looking back on your plot may bring new ideas for the continuation.

Kill off your lovelies. If there is a particular character or event you feel proud of, the most likely scenario is that you shouldn’t have it there. Kill it off, erase it, leave it like that or re-do it. 

Accept that your writing is garbage. Of course it’s not, but keeping in this mindset will probably turn off your critical eye and simply let you write. There is no such thing as perfect writing (although J.K. Rowling and Tolkien closely approached that line). 

Don’t go ahead of yourself. Don’t think forward to the big fight that’s coming once you finish this one particularly boring part, simply focus on the task at hand.

On the other side, jump forward. Work on the big event you’ve been waiting to write for ages and do it, then come back and fill in the gaps. This may contradict the former tip, but hey every writer is different so I encourage you to try both.

Stop worrying about being original. Stop worrying about your work being to similar to that of other writers. Who cares? Every story is based upon another in some way, every fantasy story is said to somehow connect to Lord of the Rings, every single story in the world is supposedly influenced by one of the many topics Shakespeare covered. Stop worrying about plagiarism or being too lame, just write and stop caring about other author’s work.

Put yourself in the shoes of the reader and come up with a list of questions they may ask, and answer them in your writing. Make sure your reader is left with no major doubts other than those you intended to leave hanging in the story.

Create a complex backstory to one of your minor characters. They may not matter much in the story itself, but writing a backstory and personality for a character which you may not have had many ideas about in the beginning will let you loosen up the creativity for other character writing.

Write headlines, chapter titles, small excerpts of poems or such to head every section of your book. Make them catchy and sticky, make them memorable. Once you do this, you will feel better about your writing and will be able to go back to work with a positive mindset.

Find your best time for writing. Some write early in the morning, other late at night. Find the time of the day in which you feel you write best in. Do this by spending a few days (preferably vacation or weekend days) trying to write at different times. Record how comfortable and inspired you feel at each, and finally determine which one works best for you.

Five minute more rule. If you’re tired of writing, tell yourself you’ll write only for five minutes more. Then, after the five minutes are over, say you’ll write for just five more. Before you know it, you’ll have a whole chapter in front of you!

Imagine a teacher in some school is reading it out loud to a class, how does it sound? Does it make sense? Think about how the rest of your plot would sound like when read out loud to a class, and make edits accordingly. 

Read your own work out loud. Record yourself reading your work, and then listen to it. Listening to your own story and identifying the feelings it wakens within you makes you more enthusiastic over writing more of the story.

Have a friend or family member interview you. Pretend you’re now a published author, you are at the bestselling authors and some magazine wants a feature about you. Have them ask you questions about your writing and your inspiration, and you answer as best as you can. The pure thought of getting as far as to get an interview is already enough motivation for some, but for others being able to talk about their work may help them find their inspiration once more.

Prevent interruptions. If you’re on a laptop, hide your internet browser. Hang a poster outside your door which says ‘do not disturb’, hand your TV remote to your roommate or mom and tell them to hide it from you. A distraction-free environment makes it a better environment to focus on your writing.

Break your story into smaller parts. Divide it into sections, and write one bit each day. This way the work load will be diminished and you will feel under less pressure.

Reward yourself. Every time you finish a chapter or even a paragraph, give yourself a little reward. This may vary between a small piece of chocolate to 3 minutes stretching. I don’t recommend tumblr as a reward though, we all know it’s impossible to go on tumblr for just five minutes.

Lower the lighting of your screen. Some laptops have the feature to lower the light your screen lets out. Lower it as much as you can, so you’re not able to see what you type. This way you prevent endless edits to your work.

Read some stories or fanfictions. Reading other author’s work can help inspire yourself to write and get it published. 

Also reading the praise other authors receive may be an encouragement, as you think that when you finish you’ll receive the same praise. 

Talk to an imaginary friend. There’s no joking here, seriously. Forget about your readers, instead make up your own imaginary friend. This friend will be there to listen to you as long as you listen to them. It will be like creating a character you truly interact with. This will unleash your creativity.

Curse like a sailor. Just let out all your frustration with cussing. Make sure you’re alone, though, it’s not highly attractive when in a large crowd. 

Stop writing for your readers. Write for yourself. Don’t think about what the public will think, but rather write something you will feel good about, something you’ll be proud about and think ‘yes, I wrote that’. Don’t write to please others, write to please yourself. 

Be messy. Write excerpts from chapter one of the book in one page and write excerpts from chapter 18 right after. Let yourself go messy, then piece the excerpts back together. In no time, you’ll have a full story.

Don’t worry about your grammar. To be honest, when I write I couldn’t care less about my spelling (case in point: when I referred to a medical coma as a ‘comma’ throughout a whole story). Let the words flow free like a jungle river, editing comes later.

Go through your photos, your reaction pictures, gifs or photoshoots of your favorite celebrities or shows. You never know where your inspiration will come from. Besides, looking at Tom Hiddleston’s face for a prolonged amount of time will shoo away all writers block and fill your mind with flowers and rainbows. 

Goof around. Complain on your blog (Hey, careful here, don’t let 3 minutes of ranting turn into 2 hours of tumblring). Complain and complain until there isn’t anything left for you to complain about. Then, get back to work. 

Create a weird challenge. Challenge yourself to include at least 6 alliterations in each chapter, or 3 Supernatural references in each chapter. Make it a fun challenge you’d like to comply with, this way you look forward to the next chance you get to complete the challenge.

Lay down and listen to music. Let your mind flow away into world inspired by the lyrics of the songs. I personally sit down and listen to Josh Groban, his voice tends to take me to emotional situations, and I use those feelings to vent out into my writing. (I mostly write angst, whoops).

We all have what we like to call our ‘inner-critic’. This is the annoying little voice in your head constantly telling you that your writing is not good enough, not orignial enough. Well, instead of listening to your critics’ negative comments, get him/her on your side. Get them to comment positively on your work and boost your self esteem. Hey, it’s your inner critic, inside your mind, you control it after all.

Stare intensely at your work for a few minutes. I’ve done this before, I like to call it the ‘empty stare’ or the ‘Sherlock sulk’. Just sit, stare at your paper and think. Let the thoughts race into your head until you find one that works for you, and get back to writing. 

Go out and buy pens. Pens are every writers’ secret pleasure, even those who write on the computer. Buy some pens, gel pens preferably, and just scribble with them a while. 

Take an old notebook, close down your computer, and write. It doesn’t have to be related to your story, just any outpouring thoughts. At least some of those thoughts will have to do with your story, right?

Before you even start writing, set up with everything you need. I’m sometimes an OCD freak when it comes to my workspace. Set up thinks how you like them, organize the desk before you start, or chances are you’ll get distracted by how disorganized your space is during the writing time. Boom, more writers block. *Tip: I keep a notebook, pens, and an open fanfiction on my phone to read if I get frustrated*

Kick-start the writing. Even with writers block, give yourself a kick in the butt and get yourself in gear. Let the first few paragraphs or sentences flow it smoothly, and then feel free to take ages with each individual word. 

Write about uncomfortable things. If there’s a certain topic which is uncomfortable for you to write about, such as your high school prom or sex, try writing about it. Sure, it’ll feel a bit awkward, but it’ll force your brain to work harder to get something onto the page, making it easier for you to write about the more normal things.

Try one of those daily challenges, such as the 30 day OTP challenge. If you simply can’t write for your book/multi-chapter fic at the moment work on your daily OTP minific. 

Sometimes, breaking your routine can be nice. Give your mind a break, change the surroundings, time, and general environment of your writing space all at once. This sudden change may waken the brain, as it has to get used to its new surroundings.

Ask your friends or family members topics or things they generally like reading about. Interview as many age groups as you can, try to get something each group is interested in into your story, you can feel more confident about your readers this way.

Be lazy. Write when you feel like it, but don’t allow yourself too much of a wide berth. Write 1 sentence each 3 minutes, read books and listen to music in between and when you come up with an idea, you go and write it down. For some people, this is the most effective form of writing. 

Ignore it. If you’re like me, and you never ever stop talking during the day, whether someone is listening or not, you should be able to at least try to ignore the writers block. Hell, if you can talk all day you should be able to do it with writing too! After all, it’s like talking but more permanent. 

Remember just how short life is, how close you are to death and how little time you have to accomplish all you want in life. Despite being relatively pessimistic, this should get you right to work.

Go on YouTube and search natural noises, such as falling rain or crickets chirping. This gives you more chances to relax while working. 

Remember all those writing tips your English teacher always gave you which you thought you’d probably never use? Use them. Go back to your old Middle School notebooks and look through the writing tips and the writing process. Apply them to your work. 

GET SOCIAL (HaHa. Social). No, I don’t mean going out and actualy talking to people, I mean going on Twitter and asking for suggestions for writing, what people would like to read about or simply fish for compliments. Hey, it might be annoying but it really does work to make you feel better about your writing. 

Bring up one of your old works, and pull it up next to your current story. Compare then to now, and feel better about how much you’ve improved in your writing. 

But now that I think about it, going out and actually being a social human being might work. Talk to people, go out and arrive 15 minutes late to your writing schedule with Starbuck’s. 

Threaten yourself. This honestly works. Tell yourself that if you don’t finish at least one paragraph by the end of the next 10 minutes, you will not get desert that dinner. (Make sure to keep your threats, though. Challenging given it’s yourself. Try to get someone else to help you keep to your threats if you don’t comply).

Start an inner debate, fight with yourself over the pros and cons of your work. Tell yourself ‘If this worked, then…’ and continue with a new plot idea. Even if you’re arguing with yourself, base your arguments on facts. Convince yourself that your plot is a good idea.

Start from the middle and move outwards. This sort of goes with the puzzle suggestion. Simply start from the middle of the story, or the climax, and start working downwards to the minor plot details.

Think positive. “I can finish this before Thursday”“This is a fantastic plot!”“This couldn’t go wrong!”. Make yourself feel good before going on to writing. Working with a low perspective on your work is never good. 

Consider your setting. Change it, play with it. Move the setting from a High School AU to a USS Enterprise Ship in space. After all, why not? It is your story after all. 

Write short stories to keep to yourself. Don’t show them to anyone, just keep them stored away to take a look at when you feel like you can’t accomplish anything.

Keep a document with easy writing ideas. Some people, like me, have simple kickstarters which always manage to get our brains working immediately with ideas. Keep a document full of these, or just words that may invite your brain to develop backstories. 

This one requires a bit more of time. Make a paper with 3 columns, in column 1 write a list of 20 random names. Column 2 is a list of 20 random actions (eats, plays, throws…). Column 3 is a list of random things (mangoes, lamp, dog…). Remember to number each one in every column from 1-20. Using a random number generator or a dice, select one of each list. In the end, you should have sometimes like “Susan eats mangoes”. Why does Susan eat mangoes? What lead her to have the mango in her hand? Make a backstory, include Susan in your story.

Write the general topic of your story in the center of a sheet of paper, and fold it in half right across where it says the topic. Turn it over so you can only see one half, and there write points for one alternate way for your story to go. On the other half, write another path your story could go through without looking at the other side. In the end, look at your brainstorms for each path and choose one. This gives you more chances to choose.

Treat it as a job. You work for The New York Times, you have a deadline in 1 hour, you have to write a whole article on the relationship between Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. Do it, or you’ll lose your job.

Doodle on a sheet of paper, draw things related to your story. Even if you’re a terrible artist (Case in point: me) just doodle some faces or stick figures. This generally helps me loosen up about my ideas.

Don’t let your outside problems affect your writing. Block everything, your academic, social, family and general problems with your existence. This is your writing time, not a time for you to worry, 

Go outside and jog with your pet, or simply spend some time with them. From personal experience, I can say that holding a cat in your lap while writing is honestly relaxing. 

Take a risk. No story is fun without a sudden risk, such as killing off one of the favorite characters and seeing the reaction of the public. Go ahead, kill them, then bring them back, then kill them! It actually works really well with audiences (Ahem Doctor Who)

Make your descriptions better, give the reader the feeling of ‘show not tell’. Instead of writing ‘it was a red room’ describe the colour, the feeling of the room. “It had walls as red as blood, the angry paint strokes of a lovers’ passion wiped all across the ceilings, the shelves, windows. It was a sea of red, of despair, of lost love”.

Turn it into a fairytale. Make a frog prince pop out of nowhere, a fairy godmother out of a corner, Rumplestiltskin out of somewhere in the shadows. It’s your story, you can’t be tamed. 

Create a character which you can relate to. Make them a writer, write about their feeling while writing. Making yourself feel identified in a deeper level with your writing truly helps.

Go into writing programs. Some programs such as NaNoWriMo offer programs and interviews with bestselling authors who tell you the way to keep active in your writing and how to beat writer’s block. I guarantee their tips will be better than mine. 

Make a family tree, or a relationship tree. Build it up nice and neat on a sheet of paper and start connecting every character to each other. Try to keep it simple, don’t make one mans companion be the mother of his wife who is actually daughter of time. (River Song, ease up with your complicated plot line).

Keep a character locked up somewhere. Make them go away for a while, specially those frustrating characters. If Supernatural could get away with leaving Adam in the cage, so can you!

Simply remember: writer’s block doesn’t last forever. It’s temporary, and it’s something every single writer has had to go through at least once in their life. The trick is to keep calm, take deep breaths, and look ahead to the time in which you will be free of this horrible burden.

(+1) Don’t. Just don’t write for a few hours and let yourself procrastinate. Don’t do it too often, though, there’s only a certain number of times in which this will actually work.

I honestly hope this helped you get over your writer’s block, and just help you write in general. I’m not the most expert of experts when it comes to beating writers block, but in the end I’m a writer too so I know how it feels. Thanks for reading, and spread the word so other writers can see!

- Your fellow writer, Dani