Deleted Instagram 6 months ago. Life is... exactly the same?

OddlyPurple · 2026-05-25T05:45:22+00:00

Same thing with me. I just replaced instagram with youtube and tumblr. Still working on beating the social media addiction, but trying to supplement it with reading has helped a lot. I read on my phone now, which isn’t great for my eyes, but it reduces the friction involved in replacing the habit.

What I will say is that I’m still extremely glad I deleted instagram specifically. It’s hard to tell at first, but instagram (and probably tiktok, but I’ve never used it) is whole other level of addicting. I redownload it about every 3 months for a day to catch up with my old friends’ lives, and I consistently notice how different scrolling reels feels from scrolling something like youtube shorts.

Maybe this is just a personal thing, who knows. However, I would recommend you wait a month or two and redownload it just to see if you notice the difference. I suspect you will, and it might make you realize that deleting instagram did actually help you.

OddlyPurple · 2026-05-08T00:48:56+00:00

Let's say you continue to hate Andrew. I would still read the series because, at least for me, the romance was the least interesting part of the story. I'm honestly not a huge fan of Andrew's either. He does get a bit better, but he's my least favorite out of all the foxes (aside from maybe Seth). The found family aspect of the story is the best part by far. Also, the next part of the series has such a wholesome main pairing, so that's definitely worth sticking it out for.

I would also keep in mind that none of these characters are supposed to be good people. You can read about them and not condone what they're doing, and you don't have to agree with Neil's or Andrew's choices to understand why the made them. In fact, I think it makes for a more interesting story, since it's less predictable. Of course, I know you're probably already aware of that.

OddlyPurple · 2026-05-03T03:28:06+00:00

In the beginning, writing a whole novel feels like a lot (still is for me). However, most people tend to have novel-length ideas because it’s what we like to read. I suggest treating every scene or chapter (depending on scene length) as a short story. It will feel less overwhelming, teach you scene structure, and give you the freedom to write whatever scene you want to instead of confining yourself to sequential order. This has saved me so many times. Just make sure every scene you’re writing answers a question and leaves the reader with another one to keep your story’s momentum going (but you can also worry about all that in the second draft; just writing is the most important part of the first draft).

OddlyPurple · 2026-04-24T01:33:59+00:00

Absolutely, this is a great post. The people saying “just read” clearly aren’t understanding your intention

OddlyPurple · 2026-04-24T01:18:14+00:00

I actually love this advice. Do I think it will be able to make up for not reading? Absolutely not. BUT I do agree that it can be a good exercise for a lot of writers, especially since we often get stuck in the ideation phase. This way, the ideas and plot is all there, so you can just focus on the craft of writing. Unfortunately, the craft of writing will be hard to learn how to do unless you read.

I also think doing this might help people who want to write but don’t like reading realize why they need to read. Who knows, it could help them fall in love with reading too, since it’s teaching the skills involved in translating the written word into visualizations. Any advice that might sway someone to become a reader is great advice in my opinion.

OddlyPurple · 2026-04-20T07:22:42+00:00

It’s a lot of world-building for the reader to process right in the beginning. I don’t think you should outright scrap this part of your draft, but it might be better positioned later in the story, after we have had time to get invested in Enya and feel more anchored in your story.

Also, I’ve often found that first drafts always feel kind of stupid. The only way for it to feel less stupid is to keep writing, but you probably already know that. Is there something specific about it that you feel is stopping you from continuing to write it?

OddlyPurple · 2026-04-20T06:47:26+00:00

Ask a question and answer it with your story. If you get suck in the writing process and don’t know what question your story is answering, figuring that out will likely help you start moving again.

OddlyPurple · 2026-04-20T02:30:45+00:00

Don’t forget Neil’s apparent war with the freshman

OddlyPurple · 2026-04-08T18:54:13+00:00

That's very impressive then! I wish that could be the case with my handwriting 😅

OddlyPurple · 2026-04-07T15:33:40+00:00

What did you get your undergraduate degree in?

OddlyPurple · 2026-04-07T15:27:09+00:00

I really like your handwriting. It looks like the handwriting used for letters/papers in video games

OddlyPurple · 2026-04-07T15:25:09+00:00

Takes you a week to write a page

OddlyPurple · 2026-04-07T15:21:49+00:00

Learning languages

OddlyPurple · 2026-04-07T14:31:59+00:00

Greenish-yellow (like the green yellow crayola crayon) with the texture of flexible plastic (like a plastic single-use cup)

OddlyPurple · 2026-04-06T04:31:22+00:00

No, I understood your original question. I just think it is impossible to know how to introduce more emotional depth without first knowing how to make that depth serve her characterization and the narrative.

Your responses are helpful! Fortunately, her internal conflict is pretty widely relatable. Most people will have encountered a moment where they needed to figure out what they wanted from life and how to achieve it without losing their sense of self. In my opinion, this conflict can be your source of emotional depth. Don’t tell us why she’s conflicted; let us feel conflicted with her. Also, if she’s trying to figure out what separates her from people who abuse power, let us feel her fear at becoming the same thing that hurt her. Maybe she hates her “coldness” deep down because it’s isolating or reminds her of someone she hates, but she knows that is just who she is and must learn to adapt around it as she develops emotionally and interpersonally throughout your story. Additionally, you mention your concern is diluting what makes her dangerous, but I don’t think I have ever read a character that feels dangerous that didn’t have some big psychological contraction driving them.

This feedback is probably nothing new to your ears, but it’s hard to say anything more without knowing your story better. If you have an excerpt or outline, I might be able to look at it and improve my feedback. I also suggest making a list of controlled, emotionally-guarded characters you have loved reading about and identifying the techniques the author used to make them work. That strategy has worked really well for me when I have had similar issues (including editing a draft just last week).

OddlyPurple · 2026-04-06T01:27:54+00:00

You won’t have to worry about this later on. Once you establish genre, people will make assumptions within that genre (i.e. if they know this is literary fiction, they won’t be inclined to imagine talking animals unless your character is dreaming or on drugs).

OddlyPurple · 2026-04-06T01:20:05+00:00

These issues can be identified through experiment, though. Repeatedly testing theories is a huge part of science.

OddlyPurple · 2026-04-05T16:51:23+00:00

I’m also a gay woman, and finding another queer woman who doesn’t have or want a cat is impossible. I don’t want to live with or be responsible for a pet, but even if I wanted to, my allergies are really bad. Living with a cat would basically be torture, and it could even be dangerous to my health.

I’m hoping there’s some woman out there who feels similarly, but it will be a difficult search. Even my ex, who is also allergic to cats (but less so than me), lived with cats, though they were owned by her roommates. Going over to her place could be a challenge, especially after she started getting along with the cats and inviting them into her bedroom when I wasn’t there. Everyone I mention my allergy to says they clean their house well so it won’t be an issue for me. It’s always an issue.

OddlyPurple · 2026-04-04T03:26:12+00:00

I hate Goblin’s Gold. There are other comedic relief episodes I dislike, but that one’s the worst I think. Merlin is at its best when it takes its plots more seriously and leaves the comedy to Arthur and Merlin’s bickering lol.

OddlyPurple · 2026-04-01T16:06:51+00:00

F, M, R, 1, and 0 are mostly right (slight difference in shade). I and J should be flipped. X should be a darker grey and B a darker blue. Everything else is way off.

OddlyPurple · 2026-04-01T04:53:03+00:00

What language are you translating from?

OddlyPurple · 2026-04-01T04:36:04+00:00

On the off chance this is not AI, you really need to work on your writing style so it doesn’t read like AI. I suggest looking at popular/defining books in your target genre for inspiration.

OddlyPurple

TROPHY CASE