Writers Thread!
Hey everyone!
I couldn't find any recent threads on writing, so I decided to create one! 
I'm very passionate about my writing, although recently I haven't been writing that much. I'm constantly creating stories/ characters in my head. My biggest problem is getting my ideas onto a page (or word document) without perfectionism taking over. I usually like to write novels (though I've never finished any) or short stories, and I like writing journals when I can. I keep getting ideas for some poetry but I'm not confident enough to experiment with free-form quite yet. 
All are welcome: from journalers to novel writers to poets!
I just saw this thread and I think it's such an awesome idea! I love writing and I haven't really had a place to share so I thought I'd put a poem up that I wrote last week!
Forgotten by Time:
In a small grey hand,
Over yellow, dust land
Is a tattered memoir
By a people from afar.
Of a time long ago
That was lost in the snow,
Of a world full of trees
That burned to its knees,
Of tribes from before
Who were always at war,
Of song and dance, stories and trust
All faded away, lost in the dust.
Some remnants still stand
Raised from the sand,
Towering glass and soaring beams
Pass the girl as she dreams
In this place, from this time
With its own ancient rhythm and rhyme
And as she walks, she feels their lives
A part of their story briefly revives..."
Or so it was said in another old tale
Of a girl and her book, on a shelf, turning pale.
Waiting waiting, always waiting,
what will I do when the time is done,
i hear a voice,
a whisper,
no sound,
come forth and show me what to do,
how will I know which path to choose?
Time is shifting, memories forming,
racing heart and breathing shortening,
what will happen upon pain and death,
or will there be light shining up ahead?
[R] What am I doing?
For no good reason at all,
I'm writing haikus.
Here's another one.
Or's it just a new stanza?
We may never know.
I know it's been a while since anyone posted here.
Anyway I got bored a whileago and wrote a poem about being queer. It's probably not very good but I got the urge to share it anyway.
If everyone's heart has a song,
Then ours sing
With a different tune,
With our own beat.
We are the songs
That were cut short
By the ones who understand
Only thier own rhythm.
We are the songs
Who silenced ourselves,
To escape the world
That tries to drown us out.
We are the duets
Sung quietly in the shadows,
Where we will not be heard
And where we cannot be silenced.
We are the songs
Drowned out by layers of pink fabric;
And the songs who would sing more truly
If we were the ones wearing it.
We are the wispered melodies,
Muffled by the closet door.
We are the shared harmonies
Who clothe the streets in rainbows.
We have our own role
In the music shared by all hearts.
The song would not be complete
If we all sung the same part.
@N1ghtW1ng speaking of writer's problems, am I the only one who gets so attached to random background characters that I've just made that I end up with like five protagonists instead of one?
I swear that's half the reason I don't write stories that often.. 
@N1ghtW1ng haha, same..
My new strategy is to change point of views so I can focus on each of them, and try really really really hard not to fall in love with too many.. I think it's a losing battle though...
@N1ghtW1ng oh my gosh I now want a party with all my characters!!
Knowing me though I'd feel the need to make invitations for each one and never get any further than choosing the best font.....
And I want to introduce you all to one of my fledgling characters. She's not fully developed and her story is nowhere near finished (or started) but I want to share her with you all anyway because I like her (and I need to be doing something productive right now :P)
ANYWAY her name is Lani and she's an aspiring chef living in a hellish kingdom ruled by a selfish warlord who executed the royal family to take the throne. Until, of course, the warlord learns that he didn't actually kill the entire royal family and the prince actually escaped under the guise of a servant (RIP poor servant boy who died in his place). So of course, the warlord now sends the towns into a panic has he tries to find the one person who can actually stop him, a little boy with the rights to the crown. Lani's friend, Isaiah, is a suspect of being the prince given his open dislike of the warlord, correct age and close build. And off they go on and adventure!
And because this story will never go anywhere, this story came from the idea of having a lost prince who is actually trans and "hiding" as a girl (although it's not actually hiding because they are a girl) who also had a close male friend who is the faux-prince. Lani is the prince, and Isaiah is her friend.
It's inspired by those stories where people will hide as their opposite gender to escape or whatever except instead of it being a cover, it's their actual gender. Because I felt like it.
@N1ghtW1ng I love that idea!! Also omg a trans fantasy character?!?!
Ahhhh so I haven't done any writing in weeks, but I applied for a writing job today. That's something, right?! 😄
Trigger Warning -
It feels like there are waves all around me. The ocean is ever moving with a current that doesn't know which way to pull. Darkness is in my mind, in the sky and in the wind as it wraps itself around me. I'm not swimming and i'm not on a boat. I'm not even flying. I don't know where I am. I don't know how I got here. I don't know where here is. Maybe there is ice somewhere under my feet, but it's not stable. I tip-toe across the ice sheets as they move and i'm constantly slipping. I feel myself fall and as I land on my face I feel everything shatter. Not the ice...but everything inside me. I guess I am falling now. The ice is disappearing and a cold, seeping wet that I have never known before fills my whole body. It's like i'm in a cage full of water and I can't breathe. There's no one here. I'm screaming. Why can't you hear me? Why isn't anyone coming?
I don't want to drown any more.
I haven't been in this thread forever!
@mspaceK - Amazing as always, thanks for sharing! I love the imagery!
Late replies, but...
@Tiny_leaf - Wow, I feel the same way about my characters! I've had a few that have just taken over the entire story. Like, who do you think you are, side-character?
@N1ghtW1ng - Yay, I love hearing other people talk about their characters! Trans representation in fantasy stories is something I'd definitely love to see more of!
@Hozzles you might like this site then: https://queerbooksforteens.com/
Love this thread @Hozzles!!
I'm currently working on two different novels (although not so much since uni went back) and am trying to write in my journal everyday! 🙂
Thank you @Hozzles .
I had a really weird adventure type dream last night and now I can't remember what is was about. I just remember thinking that that would be great for a story idea.....but not it's gone. *cries* haha - hopefully it comes back to mind.
I have about 4 different stories that I started with full on plans for. I have been having a break from it all though. I haven't had the focus and motivation much recently. I do like writing though so that may be a good distraction. Most of mine are about psi fi, magic and adventure with mystery and betrayal.
Her name was Polly Taylor. People admired her spirit and courage because she was always so positive. Every day she would come to school with a smile on her face and her laugh would make others smile, no matter how they were feeling. She seemed to be a really happy girl with so many aspirations; be a doctor, be an engineer or a teacher or a singer. There was always something on Polly's mind, whether it was a story or movie she'd heard about, you would hear about it too because that's what she would do..include others and tell a story. No one could take away the joy and excitement when she started telling a story. It was like the world would light up in those moments in time.
But there was one story Polly never told. A story that involved the type of secrets people don't really like to talk about. And this story was important. This story had meaning. It was a story about a girl who so desperately needed help and no one could see. There were little signs here and there but people were oblivious. How could a person who seemed so happy and successful be holding on to so much pain? No one knows what happened to make the girl change. No one saw the pain inside or the suffering. No one did anything. And whose to blame? Is there someone to blame? Of course not. But what would happen to the girl?
What would happen to Polly Taylor?
There is a kingdom far, far away with a palace unlike any other. Turrets climb high into the clouds giving a view of all the lands out to the east and a beautiful ocean expanding the whole western border. Ships come with crates full of the most desirable goods. Many foreigners come for the taste of the kingdom's fruit, the best in all the lands. Everyone is kind and obeys all the laws. People have no reason to stray the path of goodness, the path of happiness and comfort. But like most stories, happiness always comes with a price and unfortunately there is sometimes bad fruit among the good. Unusual fruit, different fruit...outcast fruit. And what do people do with the fruit that doesn't belong? What should you do with the fruit that doesn't belong? Can it be fixed? Can it be saved? There are some people in the kingdom who believe that bad fruit should be destroyed, that the bad fruit is as a result of evil farmers wishing to poison the goodness of our land. Then you have the other side. They are called "the Others." These "others" believe that there needs to be a balance of good and bad, for without bad, there won't be any good. But where does this badness come from? Where does it originate and why on earth would anyone want there to be badness in the first place? Can't we just keep everything good?
However, there is only one person in the kingdom who knows the truth. The truth that the goodness of the fruit is not what it seems. The good fruit is actually poison because it is blinding people to the fact that we need some bad in our lives to move forward, to grow and to learn. When people eat the fruit in this kingdom they forget themselves and their emotions. Their emotions are in fact fake and automatically generated. People aren't being who they are supposed to be. They are robots because the rulers of the kingdom are too afraid to let in any darkness. The sunshine is so strong in this kingdom that people have lost the ability to have hope and faith.
You might be wondering who I am or why, if I know these things, why am I not doing anything? Why don't I tell the people of the kingdom that they're under a spell? Because.. well, I'm under a spell too. But mine is different. Mine is the keeper of knowledge, the keeper of stories. There are those who a fighting to restore the balance to the land and maybe one day, they will prevail. For now - let us remember that happiness can be picked out even among the dark fruit of this world...you just need to know where to look...
I use short free form poems as a weird form of journal writing. They're probably terrible, but I always lose my train of thought with normal journaling, and for some reason the rhythm of poems seems to keep me on track better. I'm at the point now where when I try normal journal writing it slowly turns itself into a poem somehow...
That sounds cool @Tiny_leaf 🙂 the only sort of poem writing I come up with would be for song lyrics if I feel like it. I haven't written a poem in a very long time.
I look over the ocean and out into the horizon. What I see does not make sense. I expected to see the beginning lights of dawn, the beautiful pinks and orange of the morning sun. But something is wrong. There are no pretty colours today.
A feeling of dread and impending doom comes towards me. There is nothing I can do as the water begins to crash and churn. Even the water is trying to escape. Escape what? I don't know.
I look around again as I feel a shift from under my feet. I am no longer standing on the cliff face that bordered the beginning of the ocean. What is happening? Panic starts to build within the pit of my stomach as I float towards the crashing water.
No. Please not there. I begin clawing at the air in my attempts to grab onto something but it is futile and ridiculous. I look around and scream for help, "HELP ME." But no one is coming. I turn my head back to in front of me and notice that the horizon is changing. A great big wave of darkness is coming closer and I hear a voice. Quiet at first and then louder..
"Come to us, child. It is time to face your destiny. Join the darkness as it was intended."
Invisible hands are now pulling me at a faster pace. The water is so close now, my toes brushing the surface as I fly towards the wave. Splashes of water hit my face and run down the back of my spine. A piercing chill seeps through my body and I start to cry. I don't know where my tears begin or whether it is just water from the ocean. It does not matter.
Suddenly I come to a stop and everything goes quiet. I close my eyes and pray that this is just a dream. A cold frost begins to encircle me and I feel my legs slowly begin to sink. The first touch of water is cold as ice, enough that I start shivering. I think of my shoes, where did they go? I'm naked now.
Slowly, ever slowly I am pulled under the water...
The last thing I hear is a strange but oddly comforting voice..."now, child, you shall sleep."
