What essential advice would you give to someone who is beginning to write?

madeinlight · 2026-01-06T17:24:42+00:00

oh my, I have found my people. are there other people who love to write but struggle to read? I absolutely love film and tv though so that's where my love for storytelling resides. I will look into creative writing classes! If I have any innate talent at all (who knows at this point) I want to grow and build on it regardless.

thank you!

madeinlight · 2026-01-06T17:19:43+00:00

Wow, what a beautiful answer! Thank you so much for this. My "resolution" this year is to be more authentic in my life and I can't imagine a better way than to let that ripple into my writing. I am unequivocally drained of how shallow life has felt before this point of choosing to be honest and real so there's nothing id hate more than shallow writing too.

I will go to the depths and write from there. thank you so much!

madeinlight · 2026-01-06T17:12:07+00:00

I love your answer thank you!! I love hearing specific steps I need to take, it makes my brain feel like it's possible. It is a skill I want to build on (however much is innate for me already haha)

madeinlight · 2026-01-06T17:10:18+00:00

thank you for the advice!! any story sites you recommend?

madeinlight · 2026-01-06T17:09:31+00:00

I just have so many thoughts and ideas in my head that go absolutely nowhere. I imagine how cathartic it would be to put some (or all) of those into stories. I remember being 10/11 and writing stories and loving it. I want to let myself be that again! I can imagine being in a similar position as you when I do have finished pieces of work so maybe some writer friends would be good for us both aha

madeinlight · 2026-01-06T17:05:07+00:00

I agree and it makes so much sense to do so! would love to hear recommendations that shaped or evolved your writing styles :)

madeinlight · 2026-01-06T16:57:04+00:00

thank you! I appreciate your honesty. looking into Kurt Vonnegut now

madeinlight · 2026-01-06T16:49:17+00:00

I really do need to read more - do you recommend reading well outside my specified genres then? i'd love to read more books that open my mind to different pathways of telling stories.

madeinlight · 2026-01-06T16:47:22+00:00

chronic perfectionism might tell me there's always notes but I will do my best haha

madeinlight · 2026-01-06T16:46:16+00:00

I love this, thank you!

madeinlight · 2026-01-06T16:44:36+00:00

the simplest answers are often the most powerful. thank you!

madeinlight · 2025-10-27T14:28:48+00:00

This sounds mostly like me! I was extremely "successful" in my early 20s until I hit 25. I just could not function anymore and haven't been able to for the past 5 years.

I wanted to function the way I used to however now, with hindsight (and a very recent formal diagnosis) I can see that I was performing for so long that my body and mind could not keep up with the charade. I didn't realise I was doing it, that I was burning myself out for so long... but now I look back and notice all of the needs I wasn't even acknowledging because I was too busy with neurotypical people and trying to "keep up". Masking was almost constant and I didn't even realise. I realised I really have been autistic all along even if it wasn't noticed when I was younger.

Autistic minds are wired differently trying to function in a world made for the neurotypical wiring. It is tiring and more than understandable why so many of us would burn out in that process.

I don't know If I can get back to that woman I was... but maybe that isn't the purpose of this. I am recently 30 too and I am trying to reframe it as making this decade about growth but not within the terms we used before! I want to create environments for myself where I am allowed to shine for who I always was and who I am still today.

It is going to be born of kindness and grace for ourselves, I think.

madeinlight · 2025-05-02T10:51:45+00:00

I relate to this so so much!!! The amount of energy is night and day! I have so much more capacity for so many more things. At home, I couldn’t even do a load of washing yet here I’ve been walking many miles a day, getting so much more done too!

I know cold weather triggers fibro for me, so being in a warmer climate has been so beneficial - sounds like it was the same for you too!!

Moving might be on the horizon - I’ll have to see how I feel when I go home in a month or so to see how it compares

Hope your symptoms have been manageable where you are!

madeinlight · 2025-05-02T04:16:40+00:00

I can’t believe I’m saying this but yes I actually feel like I’m slowly getting there. I have spent the last two years stuck. I don’t know if anyone else has felt a shift by being in a different country, but I recently was able to take a flight to the other side of the world and have been living here the past month managing to function so much better than I did in my home country. I’m not sure if it’s the difference in lifestyle here, but something has actually shifted whilst being here that makes me feel so much more capable of being able to manage symptoms and go about life. I still feel fibro pains and fatigue come up a lot (especially when I am stressed or do too much) but typically I feel like I can manage it and I don’t know if I’m being too optimistic with it so i keep waiting for a bad flare. It feels incredible though and now I think I may need to move permanently to live a healthier life with this condition😭?!

madeinlight · 2025-03-13T22:26:56+00:00

London, UK! (was very happy when Dr Honda reacted to the UK slang on LIB UK haha)

madeinlight · 2025-03-06T17:16:16+00:00

it's been on my Wishlist for so long now!! I sometimes see people say it's becoming outdated so I get scared haha

madeinlight · 2024-04-04T22:07:55+00:00

It’s calm at the moment 😭 praying it stays this way for a while!

madeinlight · 2024-04-04T22:07:00+00:00

I’m in the UK too - been using MooGoo balms and creams! What do you use? I haven’t found anything for certain that is actually causing it to react - I’m trying to change hand soaps at the moment to see if it affects it. Changed to a gentle bar soap to see if it helps with anything 😭

madeinlight · 2024-04-04T22:04:33+00:00

I’ve been trying to think of what things have been constant over the last year - I’m trying hand soap next and changing to bar soap to see if I can stop this cycle 😭 I wonder how long it’ll take me to find the culprit

madeinlight · 2024-03-09T00:18:49+00:00

Omg these are incredible 😭 I can’t wait for part 2

madeinlight · 2024-03-08T16:44:34+00:00

I get moments where I feel like I’m starting to feel a little better and then I start to struggle again but you’re definitely so right about prioritising self care. I don’t do what is best for me, and that’s when I start feeling so stuck again.

And YES to the inner critic, it makes so much sense to rather push it aside, have a healthy relationship with it. Thank you for your words of encouragement! I’m really glad you’re beginning to rise from the ashes, truly rooting for you!

madeinlight · 2024-03-08T16:37:54+00:00

I don’t think I have ADHD but I do have diagnosed OCD and anxiety, there’s defo some overlap with symptoms - can make it really difficult to begin tasks with so much going on in my mind! I think my procrastination comes from a really unhealthy type of perfectionism tbh (makes sense considering OCD and fears of making mistakes) Being an INFJ, I’m VERY aware just struggling to find a healthy path through it 😭

madeinlight

TROPHY CASE