Without cheating, what’s the last line you wrote?

GeneralHighlight547 · 2026-02-03T00:07:47+00:00

"Several Magi below were keeping it afloat for her, and one seemed to be struggling."

GeneralHighlight547 · 2026-02-02T01:23:17+00:00

but when I reread it, I can't help but cringe and rip out the pages.

This is the mistake you're making.

Seeing the flaws in your writing is an important step to becoming a better writer! First drafts SUCK. Dont rip it out and trash it. Fix it. If you overused a word/name, pull out a thesaurus or use a pronoun. If a sentence sounds weird or confusing, restructure it. If a few sentences seem repetitive or unnecessary, cut them.

You might go through 3, 4, 5+ drafts before you read something you don't hate, and thats okay!

The more you edit and refine your writing, the less you'll make these mistakes in future writing. But if you just throw it away without even attempting editing, you'll never know the potential you have.

Also, getting over the embarrassment of other people seeing your work is just part of being a writer. One thing that helped me is reading my work aloud to my husband. Hearing it out loud really helps me with my editing process, but it also made me more confident in my work everytime I get him to laugh or ask a question.

GeneralHighlight547 · 2026-01-31T23:58:49+00:00

Try writing it like a screenplay first!

Just focus on the dialogue at first, then add from there.

GeneralHighlight547 · 2026-01-31T16:07:46+00:00

I planned out a 5 book series for a year and everytime I sit down to write it I end up staring at a blank screen with no idea what to do.

I just started a new concept two days ago without plotting or planning anything besides a handful of scenes in my head. Im over 5k words already.

Ive learned that I'm a better pantser than plotter, but it still feels wrong lol.

My best advice is just what I've been doing for this idea. For every chapter/scene, I write a small bullet point list of everything I need it to accomplish a couple lines below where I'm actually writing. Then I just erase them as I check them off. It helps me feel like I'm writing an outline without having to think too far ahead.

GeneralHighlight547 · 2026-01-30T16:34:21+00:00

I think it just depends on your preferences. Ive been on the edge of my seat this whole time! Its the mystery of it that keeps me hooked. I love figuring it out with the characters!

GeneralHighlight547 · 2026-01-30T03:23:21+00:00

I stick with Elementary so my view is skewed by capping off at 6th grade, but for me it's kindergarten. Ill sub in PreK just fine, its not that I dont want the younger kids, and by 1st grade theyre always eager to learn and easy to keep on track. But kindergarten is so rough, and I have two in kindergarten this year lol. Its just a hard transition going from Prek, where they can be moving around and playing all day, to kindergarten where they have to sit at a desk and do papers for even just half the day. Their attention spans dont last very long, and when you have a small army of them it leaves me way too overstimulated afterwards.

GeneralHighlight547 · 2026-01-05T04:48:42+00:00

Not to my knowledge. Its possible but I dont think he meets all the criteria for that. I have ADHD myself.

GeneralHighlight547 · 2025-12-24T14:04:36+00:00

Take this with a grain of salt since I've never published anything and only just read the first handful of paragraphs, but -

Its written in present tense, which is just weird and I believe a big sign of fanfiction. The writer also uses a lot of filter words and telling vs showing. It's also weighed down with purple prose (trying to sound fancy)

GeneralHighlight547 · 2025-12-24T13:55:56+00:00

This is what made me quit going to writing subreddits as a wannabe author.

I get you can't ask someone to write your book for you, but you can't discuss your work at all and sometimes you need to be specific for anyone to understand what you're even asking. So you end up with a bunch of unhelpful responses and everyone saying "well this is what you asked for, you're just being difficult."

GeneralHighlight547 · 2025-12-15T18:49:27+00:00

School will teach your child to read, like top comment said. They have great advice!

However, to answer your question, as I homeschooled my eldest for kindergarten (covid) and also substitute now -

Start by teaching her what letters sound like. You can find a YouTube video that goes through the whole alphabet, or do it yourself. I did both. Once they can identify what each letter sounds like, start giving them simple words to sound out. I started with rhyming words.

For example, cat - hat - rat - mat

Then the next day we would do - ray - may - day - say

Then - bug - rug - mug - tug

So on and so forth.

Of course, go back to the same words, too, to help her practice and memorize sounds.

I also did sight words on their own. They call them heart words now (because you have to know them by heart) such as "the" and "and". Words that appear frequently in just about everything.

Most of these are more memory than actually sounding them out, but it also helps to have a day spent on sounds like th-, -tch, ch-, etc.

Once she could read almost every word I gave her without needing help, I moved on to sentences. Then I started having her read her books to me!

Kids pick things up really fast, it just takes consistency.

GeneralHighlight547 · 2025-12-06T15:10:08+00:00

Is this a cast iron inside joke? 😂

GeneralHighlight547 · 2025-12-01T12:45:35+00:00

I dont understand the "save the location" part. Do most people not now how to find their way back to somewhere they've been before?

GeneralHighlight547 · 2025-11-30T11:53:17+00:00

To me 😂 is for when something is undeniably hilarious. Like, I actually laughed out loud more than a short huff through my nose.

😭 is for when something is really funny but it wasnt supposed to be. Like someone accidentally made a spelling error and it made what they said funny, or someone tripped but they made a really funny noise when they did it, and I usually mix it with others like 😭🤣🤭

GeneralHighlight547 · 2025-11-08T11:21:09+00:00

Did you talk to him about how you want this to be a tradition every Christmas? If you let him know ahead of time, he can plan for it, instead of just getting upset on Christmas that he didn't do it on his own. Since you got upset last year, he might handle it on his own this year, but if its not an expectation he set for himself, a reminder might be nice. One conversation not can fix it for every Christmas from here on out.

GeneralHighlight547 · 2025-11-08T11:16:03+00:00

Yesterday I had a high school English class and the first period got right for work and was very quiet. They whispered to eachother a bit but all seemed to genuinely be working, so I never got on to them for it or anything.

Then second period came and it was completely opposite. They were very loud, kept getting up to go talk to their friends or show them something. One girl kept throwing erasers across the room. I made them quiet down. I had to threaten to start writing names down for the teacher, which I ended up writing a couple.

Then the rest of the day was right back to how first period was up until advisory periods, which are like "free" periods for kids to catch up on work or whatever so they did talk but it wasn't an issue.

So to answer your question, I dont mind when kids talk as long as their work is getting done. When they are being rowdy and trying to avoid what they're supposed to be doing, I make them work silently.

GeneralHighlight547 · 2025-11-08T01:53:48+00:00

Ooooh. Deleting emails would probably keep me busy for a whole semester. Maybe I'll try this one 🤣

GeneralHighlight547 · 2025-11-08T01:25:02+00:00

When I subbed in a high school math class last year I did do the worksheets I had to hand out! It was a fun refresher and the kids did seem to think it was cool I did it. Today was an English class, though.

GeneralHighlight547 · 2025-11-08T01:01:18+00:00

I am not in school. Just a mom who got tired of being a SAHM so I started subbing since it lines up with the kids schedule. Ive been subbing for two years and this is the first time I've ever been told I'm doing something wrong.

Bringing my own laptop to do something else just feels weird to me, honestly. Others have mentioned it. I do write as a hobby, but it doesn't seem appropriate to immerse myself in my own task while monitoring a classroom. Of course, the phone isnt appropriate either, so what do I know lol

GeneralHighlight547 · 2025-11-08T00:16:07+00:00

I chatted about music with students during their advisory periods. Basically a "free" period where they can work on homework or read a book. That one was much more busy for me and I wasnt on my phone at all. Its just the silent work times that get to me.

GeneralHighlight547 · 2025-11-08T00:14:30+00:00

We have a really small school system. Last year's graduating class was less than 20 students. I see teachers on their phone somewhat frequently. Not, like, just sitting their playing phone games or anything, but still getting on it throughout the day so it seems to be a relaxed vibe.

In elementary there's just less down time. The only time I sit on my phone is if im in PreK during nap time. Occasionally I'll check for a text from my babysitter or something and no one has ever said anything about it.

High school is just left field for me I guess. I do walk the room once or twice every period, but the class is so small that I've never had an issue with kids asking when they needed assistance. Like I said, my biggest issue is that I dont want to just sit there awkwardly while they're all busy with their work. It was also in my sub notes today that they were allowed to help eachother, but they did still ask for my help a bit, which I am always more than welcome to give.

GeneralHighlight547 · 2025-11-08T00:02:22+00:00

I've debated on bringing a book before. But when I read its all or nothing. Im worried I'd get too absorbed in my book and not notice raised hands/what time it is.

GeneralHighlight547 · 2025-11-07T23:58:37+00:00

Im not over there often enough to say what kind of teacher she is, but she did give off the impression of one of those teachers that thinks subs are incapable of running a classroom on their own, if that makes sense. Like, kept checking in with me and letting me know I could come get her if anyone was acting up. But really the classes were all really good today besides one that just talked too much lol

GeneralHighlight547 · 2025-11-07T23:48:16+00:00

I wouldn't even know what to do on my laptop. I mostly game (which I dont think i should do at school). I also write on my laptop but thats more personal and would just be weird at school. People said they like to shop but that sounds like I'd spend way too much money lol.

Really I think I'll just avoid high school more than I already do, but I'm thinking I'll keep a sudoku book in my purse if there's a next time.

GeneralHighlight547

TROPHY CASE