I Hate How You Get Desensitized To The Cool Stuff In Your WIP If You've Been Writing It For A Long Time

Encouragment for writers that I know seems discouraging at first but I promise it’s motivational-

• Those emotional scenes you’ve planned will never be as good on page as they are in your head. To YOU. Your audience, however, is eating it up. Just because you can’t articulate the emotion of a scene to your satisfaction doesn’t mean it’s not impacting the reader. 

• Sometimes a sentence, a paragraph, or even a whole scene will not be salvagable. Either it wasn’t necessary to the story to begin with, or you can put it to the side and re-write it later, but for now it’s gotta go. It doesn’t make you a bad writer to have to trim, it makes you a good writer to know to trim.

• There are several stories just like yours. And that’s okay, there’s no story in existence of completely original concepts. What makes your story “original” is that it’s yours. No one else can write your story the way you can.

• You have writing weaknesses. Everyone does. But don’t accept your writing weaknesses as unchanging facts about yourself. Don’t be content with being crap at description, dialogue, world building, etc. Writers that are comfortable being crap at things won’t improve, and that’s not you. It’s going to burn, but work that muscle. I promise you’ll like the outcome.

Your writing is good enough. Stop doubting yourself. Stop criticizing yourself. You are a good writer. Yes, you can always improve your craft, but that doesn't mean that your writing sucks.

me writing the worst paragraph of my life knowing that a sexier, more hydrated version of me will fix it later

So does the bright star fandom actually exist or am I alone here-

Also those who don’t know this it’s an aWesome musical I love and would really recommend-

For some reason, it never occurred to me that Project Gutenberg would have public domain old cookbooks. This is BRILLIANT. There’s a 1953 cranberry recipe pamphlet and a suffrage cookbook from 1915 and a translation of Apicus’s guide to food in Imperial Rome and a whole bunch of other fascinating old cookbooks, many pre-1800. Treasure trove!

How To (Realistically) Make A Habit Of Writing

To clarify: Works with my autism. WORKS WITH MY AUTISM!!! I’ve been meeting my goals since I made them my New Year’s resolution! Anyway I’m so sick of all those ‘how to’ guides that don’t actually tell you what the process is they’re just like ‘just do it, but don’t burn yourself out, do what’s best for you!’ because you’re not telling me what I’m not supposed to be burning myself out over but okay, so I made my own. Hope this helps

1. Choose your fighter metric. What works better for you as a measurement of your progress; time spent writing or your word count? Personally I get very motivated and encouraged by seeing my word count go up and making a note of where it should be when I’m done, so I measure by that. At the same time, a lot of people are also very discouraged by their word count and it can negatively impact their motivation to write, and in that case you may be better off working from how much time you spend writing rather than where the word count is

2. Choose your starter Pokémon time frame. How often can you write before it starts to feel like a chore or a burden rather than something fun you look forward to? Many people believe that they have to write daily, but for some people this can do more harm than good. Maybe every two or three days? Weekly? Figure out what fits your schedule and go with it

3. Choose your funny third joke goal. Now that you’ve got your chosen time frame to complete your goal in, what’s a reasonable goal to aim to complete within that time frame based on the metric you chose? If your metric is your word count, how much can you reasonably and consistently write within your chosen time frame? If your metric is time spent writing, how much time can you reasonably and consistently spend writing within that time? Maybe 1000 words per week works, or maybe 10 minutes per day? The goal here is to find something that works for you and your own schedule without burning you out

4. Trial and error. Experiment with your new target and adapt it accordingly. Most people can’t consistently write 1667 words per day like you do in NaNoWriMo, so we want to avoid that and aim somewhere more reasonable. If you feel like it’s too much to do in such a short time frame, either give yourself less to do or more time to do it in. If you find yourself begrudgingly writing so often that it constantly feels more like a chore than something fun, maybe consider adapting things. And if you think that you gave yourself too much wiggle room and you could do more than this consistently, give yourself more of a challenge. Everything needs to suit you and your pace and needs

5. Run your own race. Don’t feel like you’re not accomplishing enough in comparison to others or not working fast enough to satisfy some arbitrary feeling of doubt. Everybody works at their own pace and slower work doesn’t mean worse work. You could be on one word per day and you’ll still see consistent results, which is still one word per day more than you could originally count on. All progress is progress, regardless of its speed

Getting a weird little hobby is actually so important bc it opens your eyes up to the world. You start crocheting or knitting, and now you see scarves and sweaters differently. You try identifying plants, now you’re seeing opposite and alternate leaf pattern. Bird watching? Every chirp draws attention and interest.

Get into weird little hobbies.

meals i eat on a $50/week grocery budget

I am a PhD student living on a stipend of under $18,000 per academic year, and I have a grocery budget of $50 per week to feed myself and my dog. I typically buy groceries once a month, where I spend under $200 at Costco, and fill in the gaps with $50 or less at Fred Meyer (a PNW Kroger brand) or Walmart (the bane of my existence). The final prices average to $50 per week.

The first trick is to look for building blocks you can buy in bulk instead of thinking about recipes individually. Spices, canned goods, meat, produce. Costco and Sams Club are good, but take advantage of the bulk prices and lack of member fee at Smart & Final instead if there’s one in your area.

If you're buying spinach and tomatoes for pasta, think about adding other salad ingredients to finish off that spinach package. If you're buying a package of shredded pork for sliders, consider using the leftovers for street tacos.

I also try and utilize all my leftovers. If I only need a small portion of a red onion for a recipe, I'll use the rest to make pickled red onions and try to think of something that will use them in the next couple weeks. A lot of my dog safe produce waste—strawberry tops, cucumber ends, carrot skins—go to my dog as an easy reward. (Reminder that if it’s rotten and you wouldn’t eat it, you probably shouldn’t be feeding it to your dog, either.)

The second trick is to utilize your freezer. Freeze produce close to it's expiration date, find a recipe for it where the texture won't matter. Freeze meat until you're ready to use it to prevent it dying a sad, stinky death in the hidden depths of the meat drawer. Sometimes I'll cook an extra big batch of something with the intent of freezing half of some of the components to be used at a later time (the chicken in the pita pockets is the same as the chicken in the meal prep bowls, but I don't like having them in the same week). I also keep a few backup meals in the freezer just in case I get Big Sick and don't feel like cooking for a while.

The third trick is to reject brand loyalty. Your new lord and savior is "what's on sale" and "store brand". As someone who regularly had access to both the high price and budget options of the foods I like, there are plenty of types of food where there's no discernible difference in quality between price points.

The building blocks I keep in my house are:

Chicken breast.

If you don’t like handling raw meat (or don’t have the equipment to cook it) I highly recommend the Costco rotisserie chicken instead. It’s a large chicken and it’s under $7 for the whole thing (at least where I live in AK) and it’s already cooked! There’s plenty of meat on it and if you’re into DIY stuff you can use the carcass to make your own chicken broth.

Ground beef (I like 85:15)

Broths/stocks (i like to keep beef, chicken, and vegetable on hand)

Eggs

Rotel cans (there is more than one flavor and I find them convenient)

Canned pumpkin purée (I keep this on hand year round to give to my dog in the event of digestion issues, but it has plenty of other uses)

Tomato paste

Black beans (they're cheaper dried and bagged, but canned is fine if you dont have the time or energy for bean prep)

Chickpeas (they're cheaper dried and bagged, but canned is fine if you dont have the time or energy for bean prep)

Lentils (split lentils are more expensive but they cook way faster)

Onions

Carrots (these double as dog treats)

Garlic

Sweet potatoes (also can be dog treats) or russet potatoes when sweet potatoes aren’t in season

Parsley (I have it growing in my kitchen)

Basil (also growing in my kitchen)

Cilantro (additionally growing in my kitchen)

Green onions (growing in my kitchen)

Butter, margarine, olive oil

Flour

Baking soda and baking powder

Brown and white sugar

Noodles (whichever shape is on sale when I'm buying)

Top ramen packets (for the stove)

Sandwich bread

Bread crumbs (I make these using the heels of bread from my sandwich bread or leftover buns when the meat to bun ratio doesn't add up)

Single serving oatmeal packets

Rice (I buy the 10 lb bag from the grocery store which lasts me about a year...)

Oat milk (it's shelf stable to reduce food waste)

Coconut milk (also shelf stable)

Vanilla yogurt (big tub)

Greek yogurt (big tub)

Frozen fruit mix (these double as dog treats)

Most of the building blocks are purchased in bulk when I can. I will get a new package of whatever is running out when necessary. My entire spice cabinet is the store brand spices (almost, there've been a few fancy spice gifts recently). You can get nice herbs and spices from Walmart's Great Value brand. My food is no less delicious for it.

Breakfast:

Oatmeal. I get mine in the bulk 52 pack from costco and eat two packets at once. I would get the big canister instead, but I’m not very good at flavoring them when they come that way and it generally just makes me sad instead

Currently (sept 2024) working on big canister DIY oatmeal and overnight oats. Will report back when I manage something that isn't terrible :)

Store brand bagel with store brand cream cheese (Philadelphia is eggspensive)

Eggo waffles+peanut butter. I get the bulk 72(?) pack from costco, because they're leagues better than store brand toaster waffles and also significantly cheaper than buying freezer waffles of any kind in any smaller package. Make a little sandwich+enjoy.

Outside Breakfast: This is what I eat if I'm going to do Outside Work, like field sampling or ice climbing or hiking to the top of Mt. Healy

I Live In A Place Where Fruit Doesn't Grow Smoothie: utilizes yogurt, plant milk, frozen fruit mix. If I end up with extra I put it on a lick mat for my dog.

Breakfast tacos: utilizes egg, and leftover produce and leftover tortillas from taquito, quesadilla, or pulled pork taco recipes.

Home fries and egg: utilizes potato, onion, egg

Leftovers Egg Sandwich: utilizes egg, leftover meat (like lunchmeat or other thin sliced meat) and leftover produce or sauce, and leftover bread

Lunch:

Greek chicken meal prep boxes: utilizes chicken, greek yogurt, rice, onion, garlic

Chickpea and lentil roasted red pepper soup+grilled cheese: utilizes chickpeas and lentils, sandwich bread (vegetarian/vegan)

Black bean quesadilla: utilizes black beans, onion, cilantro (vegetarian)

Black bean taquitos: utilizes black beans, onion, garlic, cilantro, rice (vegan, requires a blender/food processor)

Chicken sandwich + roasted red pepper soup

Sausage pasta: utilizes noodles, onion, garlic

Pita pockets: utilizes chicken, yogurt, cilantro

Smashed chickpea avocado sandwich: utilizes chickpeas, cilantro, rotel (vegan!)

Dinner:

Chick(en)pea Curry: utilizes chicken, chickpeas, rotel, onions, garlic, cilantro, rice (omitting chicken makes it vegan)

Mac and cheese: utilizes noodles, breadcrumbs (vegetarian)

Mom's goulash: utilizes onion, garlic, ground beef, noodles,

White chicken chili: utilizes chicken broth, chicken, onion, garlic

Fire sick soup: utilizes chicken, carrots, garlic, onion, chicken broth (SPICY)

Magic sick soup: utilizes chicken, carrots, onion, garlic, veggie broth

Darn Good Chili: utilizes ground beef, tomato paste, black beans, onion

Sheet pan chicken fajitas: utilizes chicken, onion, garlic

Coconut ginger carrot soup+garlic bread: utilizes carrot (vegan)

Chicken tortilla soup: utilizes leftover chicken from sheet pan fajitas, onion, garlic, chicken broth

Moms meatloaf: utilizes ground beef, rotel, breadcrumbs, egg

Carnitas tacos: utilizes rice, black beans, onions, cilantro. I commit the crime of buying the preshredded pork from Costco, because I hate shredding meat by hand and don’t have a mixer to do it for me. I like to pair this with a mango peach habanero salsa. (SPICY)

Pumpkin pasta sauce: utilizes noodles, onion, garlic,

Snacks:

Vanilla yogurt + granola: both of these are store brand. Walmart makes surprisingly decent (and decently priced, at that) granola

Veggies + hummus: I eat most of my veggies raw like this. Costco sells bulk hummus but I don’t love how much extra packaging their produce comes with. If time, energy or prep space are a problem for you, you can buy precut veggies but let it be known that those no longer qualify as a budget item.

Tortilla chip + salsa/guacamole: costco sells all of these items in bulk at very cheap. One 3 pack of guac and a tub of salsa gets me through one whole bag of tortilla chips.

Ramen + egg: this is what I eat when it's too late for lunch but too early for dinner and I'm starving

Granola + chocolate chip: I guess this is just a deconstructed granola bar but it’s a 3:1 granola:chocolate ratio

Other stuff:

DIY spices

Fancy herb butter

Sweet potato dog treats

Non-Budget items

Coconut brownies (spruced up Ghirardelli box brownies, recipe stolen from a professor at my university)

Dads Goulash

Lomo Saltado

I don't currently feel like doing the math for these, but I do actually only spend roughly $50 a week on groceries. (Currently the underlined ones are the ones I have a full linked recipe posted for, which I work on in my spare time).

Additional notes: I don’t really do the whole calorie counting thing, but I do try to eat at least one serving of a food from each major food group a day as a way to naturally enforce variety and balance out my diet.

like where did it come from i was literally doing a silly little art and craft

Why You Should ‘Make Yourself’ Write (And How To Do It)

Most people who write for a hobby - especially the neurodivergent crowd - will write whenever they’re inspired, and many will be able to get an insane amount of writing done in one go, but then there’s a good while of writer’s block and low motivation/inspiration in between those bursts of creativity. You can see forcing yourself to write as something irrelevant to you; it’s just a hobby, so why burn yourself out forcing yourself to do it until it’s no longer fun?

The reason people say this, even for hobbyists, is so that you have some level of consistent progress; relying on random spikes in creativity or convenient hyperfocus isn’t a sustainable plan when it can either leave you burnt out after or leave you at a creative dead end for weeks or months between actual writing sessions

If you write consistently, you make progress consistently, so it’s good practice to make a habit out of using writing goals to keep you on track. Maybe you work best writing X amount of words, or maybe you prefer to write for X amount of time. Maybe you want to meet this goal every day, or maybe every few days, or maybe every week, or so on. I’m personally on 1000 words per week, and despite my autistic brain that thought I’d never be able to set and keep a consistent goal, I’ve been able to stick to it for nearly six months now. I also know people who are on 10 minutes per day, 100 words per week, 500 words every three days, 5000 words per month, etc

For me, being able to keep track of this not only means I get to see consistent progress being made, but it’s actually been really encouraging to see that word count go up so often and I’ve found that it motivates me to keep up with it. I’ve really enjoyed getting to work on this and having a minimum amount of progress per week really helps me feel like this is something real and something that’s slowly but surely going to be complete soon enough

Give it a try; say to yourself “if I want to achieve this goal, how long do I reasonably need to give myself to do it?” and have a go. After a few cycles it starts to register in your brain that, hey, you’re actually getting something done and being productive and watching that word count going up every day/week/etc! And don’t be afraid to change up your goal and your deadline if you think you’re not being challenged enough or if you’re starting to get burnt out on it - I’d consider it burning out when it’s consistently feeling less like a fun activity and more like a chore you have to do. It should still be fun!