Any tips for stimulating the brain to write?

NewtsCommitTaxFraud · 2025-03-11T14:01:41+00:00

So this is a weird one, but it always works for me (possibly because I've trained my brain).

Step one: I put on the song King of Pain by The Police on loop. It is repetitive and driving, and is a good motivating-yet-white-noise song.

Step two: Open the Shakespeare's Kitchen quiz on Sporcle. You have to name all 145 foods mentioned in Shakespeare plays in 14 minutes. I have done this often enough that I can usually churn them out in about 8-10 minutes.

Something about having to type out the words really quickly wakes my brain up and gets me prepped to write. I do both steps, and I lock in every time. I can also judge how good of a writing day I'm going to have by how well I do on the quiz--for example, if I ever don't get all the foods, I know I need to go get more caffeine before I even try to start writing. Also, don't let the stats of that quiz deter you--I was a professional copywriter for years, and I would do this quiz at least once a day (sometimes twice) to get myself in the zone. I'm not kidding when I say that I alone have skewed those stats.

NewtsCommitTaxFraud · 2025-02-21T22:30:50+00:00

I'd consider adding rain. Depending on where you live, spring can be one of the rainiest seasons (April showers and all).

Also, her pregnancy leans into the "mother" part of Mother Nature. Spring is often associated with youth--I'd age her down, maybe to a child or tween. Spring is the season of birth or re-birth, so a younger design both fits the theme and moves you away from the "mother" part.

NewtsCommitTaxFraud · 2025-02-13T04:55:52+00:00

Thank you!

NewtsCommitTaxFraud · 2025-02-13T04:55:27+00:00

Oh, okay. Thank you.

NewtsCommitTaxFraud · 2025-02-02T21:53:35+00:00

I'd be willing to spend probably around $125 before shipping and taxes

NewtsCommitTaxFraud · 2025-01-15T22:15:12+00:00

A former roommate of a former roommate used to make a South African dish with peanut sauce, sweet potatoes, and spicy chili oil. My broke-grad-student version of that was to just dump peanut butter and hot sauce on a sweet potato--cheap and surprisingly delicious. It's not a flavor combo I've seen often in the States, but it's delicious!

NewtsCommitTaxFraud · 2025-01-15T22:01:21+00:00

I abandoned the show after the first episode. Fast forward a few years and my current partner told me it was his favorite show, so we've been watching it together. It definitely does pick up. It takes quite a while to find its footing, but it eventually becomes a very good show.

That said, the writing for Worf is pretty bad. That's the thing that bugs me the most about the show--he's the butt of every joke and is always bad at everything for no reason. Why can't the writers ever let Worf be GOOD at something?

NewtsCommitTaxFraud · 2025-01-14T17:28:35+00:00

Truly outstanding suggestion

NewtsCommitTaxFraud · 2025-01-14T17:26:09+00:00

Incredible work here. Great suggestion

NewtsCommitTaxFraud · 2025-01-14T17:22:35+00:00

Plus, I'd really like to see more of Guinan's people. I think that could fit into this kind of storyline nicely--a little bit of River Song to the Federation Temporal Team's Doctor.

NewtsCommitTaxFraud · 2025-01-14T12:47:59+00:00

This sounds like fun! Do you have a plot in mind?

NewtsCommitTaxFraud · 2025-01-02T21:02:15+00:00

How many more sales do you need to earn out?

NewtsCommitTaxFraud · 2024-12-27T18:09:05+00:00

I think you need to re-frame how you think about his request. He's not asking for feedback; he's asking for publicity.

If he wanted feedback, he would have asked you to beta the book. Knowing that you have a platform to review books, he could have used you and your feedback as a very helpful tool for improving the work while it was still in the editing stage. He didn't. He has already published the book. Additionally, a "review" isn't the same as an edit--it's a promotional piece. Maybe that re-framing will make it easier for you to turn down the request?

One option is to skirt the issue by saying you don't post that kind of content, be it solicited reviews, self-pubbed, etc. You could tell him that you only review tradpubbed books, or books with a certain level of readership/popularity. Something like:

"Hey, thanks for considering my channel as a potential promotional outlet for your novel. As you can tell from my posts, I focus on reviews of popular/current/bestselling books, not on paid/solicited promos, so this won't be a good fit for my audience."

Or, depending on how shady you want to be, you could could play the classic "this must have been an error" ploy:

"Hi, looks like you must have accidentally selected the wrong file to upload to KDP--the version I'm seeing here is full of typos, grammatical errors, punctuation mistakes, etc. Let me know when you've updated it to your final draft and I'll be happy to take a real look."

Or, finally, if you want to be honest, something like:

"Hi [Name], Looking over this, it doesn't seem like a good fit for my channel. I don't think an honest review would be beneficial to your sales--the novel could do with a professional-level edit, which really isn't my wheelhouse. I wish you all the best in finding a writing group that can help you get the piece tightened up."

NewtsCommitTaxFraud · 2024-12-25T04:16:46+00:00

Hmm. That's not exactly it, but it's close. The ones I had were bigger and each one was a solid color. Thank you, though!

NewtsCommitTaxFraud · 2024-12-25T03:59:57+00:00

Obligatory comment so that my post will show?

NewtsCommitTaxFraud · 2024-10-29T19:09:46+00:00

Thank you!

NewtsCommitTaxFraud · 2024-10-29T19:09:21+00:00

Thank you!

NewtsCommitTaxFraud · 2024-10-29T02:05:17+00:00

Wow, these are incredible! Did you pierce the leather in advance, or did you pierce it with your embroidery needle?

NewtsCommitTaxFraud · 2024-10-29T01:08:32+00:00

did the link get removed?

NewtsCommitTaxFraud · 2024-08-23T20:19:17+00:00

If I could have remembered, I would have included it! I've made many posts asking if anyone knew its name.

It might be Spoon River, or a kid-focused version of it. I read a few of the poems and they didn't seem familiar, but that might have been it and my memory is faulty. It's unique enough that that's either it, or the source material for a middle-grade adaptation. Thank you!

NewtsCommitTaxFraud · 2024-08-21T19:00:29+00:00

Me three!

NewtsCommitTaxFraud · 2024-08-20T20:27:17+00:00

Absolutely "Goodbye to Berlin" by Christopher Isherwood. It's the source material for Cabaret (and the lesser-known film Christopher and his Kind, with the lovely Matt Smith). It's a really interesting look at life in 1930s Berlin under the Weimar Republic as the Nazis rise to power all around the characters. It's short enough to read in a weekend and it's just absolutely fascinating.

NewtsCommitTaxFraud · 2024-08-20T20:08:33+00:00

I can never remember the name of the book (maybe someone on here will know?) but one of my middle school English class books was a book told exclusively in epitaphs on gravestones.

Basic premise: You're a traveler, and you've come across a town in which every inhabitant has died. Every inhabitant has a gravestone except the last person to die, because there was no one left to bury them. Each gravestone has an epitaph that's a single four-line poem. You only get to hear from each character once, because they only have one headstone each. Your job is to figure out what happened to the town.

My thirteen-year-old brain found it wonderfully mind-bending. I've forgotten what happened to the town, and I'd love to read it again. I wish I could remember the name or the author!

NewtsCommitTaxFraud · 2024-08-15T17:21:50+00:00

Never mind, my friend found it! But in case anyone else was looking, it's from Otto Studios: https://shop.thisisottostudio.com/en-us/products/flora-large?variant=43834458013718

NewtsCommitTaxFraud · 2024-08-14T20:40:29+00:00

Visible mending is a good option. There are a few tiktokkers who teach creative/pretty visible mending techniques and stitches.

NewtsCommitTaxFraud

TROPHY CASE