For those of you who write but have trouble and get frustrated: some advice.

In packing up/organizing some rl stuff, I came across an entry I printed out back in 2006 about - what else? - writing. I printed it out because it contained very sound advice from a woman (who does write for a living) to another woman asking about how to get back into that writing groove. It's here and it is a worthwhile read, as are some of the comments.

The biggest thing to take away from it, I think, is this:

Be kind to yourself. Be kind to yourself as a writer, but also be kind to yourself as a person. If you want to write and are not writing, do not berate yourself. Very few people become better writers by telling themselves how worthless they are, or how lazy, or how pretentious, or that they do not deserve to call themselves writers.

We deserve days off because we have lives (and don't argue that you don't, trust me, everybody does) and with lives come obligations to family and friends and pets and house upkeep and feeding yourself and your job and your hobbies and your craft, be it writing or painting or composing or just sitting around musing about the finer points of the world, and in the midst of all that life happening we forget about ourselves. We deserve days off! So take them when you need them - not when you think you deserve them, but when you need them (and the world will be sending you a clear message about that, so learn to recognize when it does) - and know that it isn't because you are lazy or untalented. It is because you are human, and you have lots to do, and lots of other people to please - your name among them.

On a more personal writing note, damn, was I ever having a time of it. (Again, back on the essay.) I'm not even done dissecting Blossom yet. I spent so much time away from it that I lost the rhythm of it; I just kept rambling and it was kinda saying what I wanted it to but I wasn't making my point very clear. This morning went a lot better - I went back through the Blues and Greens sections and realized FUCK ME, no wonder - my points are there, but I'm not clearly marking where canon ends and fanon!interpretation starts. I am a dorkface. Anyway, it's fixed now, and I think I'll be wrapping up Blossom and starting on Brick tomorrow. Then I can close out the essay and be back on TEF in a couple of weeks. Whooo.

Oh hey! Speaking of essays, there is a Him/Bubbles manifesto posted at - where else? ship_manifesto. Put together by the lovely alicornmoon, incylilspider, and amilolomy. I have only made it through the Him section so far, but it is an interesting read and worth checking out!

Do I have to tell anybody here not to ship bash? I hope not. Because you shouldn't do it. I trust you guys not to. Let's be good to one another, please.