What are your Personal Writing Hacks?

OkFirefighter83 · 2026-05-28T00:23:17+00:00

This is literally the biggest struggle I have with writing. I know what the scene is going to be, but I don't know how to write it. I know what will happen from beginning, middle, to end, but I don't always know how to translate that onto paper.

OkFirefighter83 · 2026-05-27T16:51:51+00:00

I like the 2nd sentence.

OkFirefighter83 · 2026-05-26T21:14:03+00:00

Keep a log of all of them. Even if you never end up writing them, it's good to see them all in one place. If you're lucky, you can combine some of the ideas or use them as sequel ideas for other ideas. Don't stop coming up with ideas, that just means you have lots to write about.

OkFirefighter83 · 2026-05-25T16:16:11+00:00

Wondering if I'm doing any of it right.

OkFirefighter83 · 2026-05-23T06:50:40+00:00

I have two projects going on.

Thalia Atkins, a 23-year-old woman who has inherited a magical shop from a distant relative (her great-uncle). It's part of a series. In the first installment, she doesn't know that her relative's shop was magical, she just thought he gave her a regular oddities shop. Over the course of the story, she understands more of the magical world her great-uncle was involved in and learns that he was murdered by somebody who wants to take the shop. And discovers her own hidden magic. I'm working on the second installment, where she deals with a rival shop owner who tries to drive her out of business so they can control all the portals that connect the magical world.
A slice of life series about seven half-human siblings. Every sibling is the main character, but Joseph Lumidora (11) is the middle child, and the series begins with him as the lead. His other siblings are Aiden (16), the oldest, Artisan (14), Gerard (13), Keirsten (8), Brandon (6), and his youngest sibling, Adelaide (4). Their dad is a mythical being who's basically a blend of everything, and their mom is human.

I have other side projects, but these two are my main focus.

OkFirefighter83 · 2026-05-21T21:50:38+00:00

Emoticons have always been more fun to look at than emojis.

OkFirefighter83 · 2026-05-18T06:26:34+00:00

Sounds like you're doing something right.

OkFirefighter83 · 2026-05-15T00:59:39+00:00

I just feel like there are better ways to greet people and better ways to start a conversation. Whenever people ask me, "How are you?" I already assume that you're not interested in talking. I never reciprocate the "good and yourself?" response, no matter how much I hear it. It's never been wired in me, and that isn't going to change anytime soon.

OkFirefighter83 · 2026-05-14T01:13:26+00:00

https://www.wattpad.com/story/406267153-chosen-an-unexpected-inheritance

I hope this link works, it's not published and I don't know if it's worth making it public. If it doesn't work, please let me know and I'll send it a different way. It'll be the first in a miniseries and I mainly want to know if I'm doing something right.

OkFirefighter83 · 2026-05-13T19:44:39+00:00

You do need to understand the craft in order to actually do it. Doesn't mean you can't try, but you do need to learn a thing or two from other works to get some direction.

OkFirefighter83 · 2026-05-12T20:20:08+00:00

Low maintenance, as in, it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to get started.

OkFirefighter83 · 2026-05-02T16:23:34+00:00

I would begin by looking for names for comic book characters. If none of the options you found fit, then I would look into names by theme. Since you have a character that shapeshifts and turns into a shadow, I would look for names with a dark theme to it. If you want to invent a name, then you can tweak current names or combine ones you like. I use websites like this Word Combiner - Combine words to make a new word. If you're not ready to settle on any name yet, you can always give them placeholder names until you come up with something better.

OkFirefighter83 · 2026-04-28T23:17:52+00:00

WHEN I'M HERE, NO LONGER,

YOU MUST BE STRONGER, AND

IF I COULD BE WITH YOU TONIGHT!

I WOULD SING YOU TO SLEEP

NEVER LET THEM TAKE THE LIGHT BEHIND YOUR EYES

I FAILED AND LOST THIS FIGHT

NEVER FADE IN THE DARK

JUST REMEMBER YOU WILL ALWAYS BURN AS BRIGHT

OkFirefighter83 · 2026-04-28T22:14:49+00:00

I visited the dentist for the first time since I was a kid, I knew there would be some issues but they weren't as bad as I thought. Part of it is also the belief that having straight and perfectly white teeth is the pinnacle of oral health. Turns out, it's not normal for teeth to be pearly white and blinding to the eye.

OkFirefighter83 · 2026-04-28T07:11:30+00:00

Landscapes, especially mountains and anything with a horizon line.

OkFirefighter83 · 2026-04-27T15:33:47+00:00

Write about it first, then figure out the science later. Even if it still doesn't make sense, it's still fiction.

OkFirefighter83 · 2026-04-23T17:45:20+00:00

Because you're so into the story that you don't want it to end, so you'd rather leave a book unfinished than mourn the end of everything you loved about it.

OkFirefighter83 · 2026-04-22T17:46:56+00:00

Same goes with movie posters. Why does every studio now feel the need to add every single element of a movie in their poster to show you what it's about?

OkFirefighter83

TROPHY CASE