Cee | SFF Editor

Digital drawing of a snarling wolf ripping the cables out of an illuminated digital device in a dark room. The drawing reads "Your email found me and I killed it." The drawing is by the user @adigitalsky on tumblr and was originally posted in August 2023.

Sending all the hugs and best wishes. May each of the books be a comforting 5* read while you're recovering!

If I had a nickel for every time I asked an author, "hey, did you mean to include this allegory in your work?" and got "OOPS!" in reply, I'd have a lot of nickels.

Save yourself the grief and *very carefully* examine the power structures and systems in your writing before hitting 'publish.' [3/3]

Plz understand that what you *intended* to write and what you *actually* wrote won't necessarily have 1:1 overlap. Try a thought experiment and ask yourself, "If the reader perceives these as cops, what have I said about the relationship between police, institutional power, and the citizenry?" [2/3]

SFF writers:

Do you have a non-military organization which protects the public in your story? Is it funded by the gov't or dominant social group? If so, there's a chance you're writing a cop allegory.

Before you tell me why that can't possibly be the case, I implore you: [1/3]

#fantasywriters

The most important advice can I give to new (genre fic) writers is that in each scene:

1. The protag should be trying to do something

2. Something must change

There's more to it, of course, but if you lock down a sense of progression in every scene, you'll be off to a strong start.

#writesky

Editors explaining to authors how that one small style change affects the entire project.

A screenshot of a Tumblr post by user doctor-doodleman. The post reads, "I should lock the fuck in. *half an hour passes* I should lock the fuck in. *half an hour passes* I should lock the fuck in. *half an hour passes* I should-"

Me. All day. Everyday. #writesky

Ah yes, it's "I'm too stubborn to turn the heat on before November" season. My favorite.

"I'm going to get my life together this week," said Cee.

"Guess again," said the lurg.

Did I delete every single adverb out of that manuscript? Of course not! They're a useful tool like any other. But we tend to overuse them, and by doing so, we stop ourselves from learning stronger ways to transmit information to the reader. (3/3)

Not bc adverbs are evil and you're Not Allowed To Use Them Ever, but rather, bc if you're able to get rid of the adverb, then you didn't need the adverb.

I deleted *twelve pages* of adverbs out of my first manuscript. One superfluous "softly" won't wreck you, but 3k of them will. (2/3)

If you're a relatively new writer, consider doing a find+all for -ly adverbs and getting a bead on how often you use them. (It's probably more than you think, and seeing all of them highlighted in neon is both humbling and helpful.)

Delete as many of them as you can. (1/3)

Authors! If your character is examining or studying something, they are poring over it, not pouring over it.

Homonyms are jerks, and this is a common one, so keep an eye out the next time your characters get invested in detail work!

www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/p...

In every romantic pair, one partner is a cat and the other is a dog. I have no explanation for this. It's just vibes.

Question for writers:

Are you naturally good at writing dialogue and capturing character voice? If so, are you any of the following:

-A musician
-An actor
-Good at accents/impressions
-Good at learning foreign languages

I have a budding theory about skill crossover and how we 'hear' when writing.

anytime someone comments on my anonymously posted, emotional-support fanfic to tell me I nailed the characters' voices, an angel gets its wings

I know it's lame af that my favorite flavor of ice cream is vanilla chocolate chip, but it's not my fault perfection can't be improved upon.

I really, really want to get behind Skylight, but the fact that I can't upload most of my videos because they're too large -- even the ones that are well within time limits -- is a significant detriment. I'm not gonna go back and make compressed copies of hundreds of craft videos, kwim?

The problem with getting on top of and responding to all of your emails is that, by the end of the work day, they spawn and generate new emails.

Check out Lacey's post on tension, pacing, and emotional momentum! I give feedback along these lines in most editorial letters I write.

A screenshot from Tumblr user novelconcepts which reads: "Hey, man, c'mere. Listen. Get in real close, this is important. You're gonna make stuff again. You're gonna make stuff you're proud of. You're gonna make stuff you're excited to share. You're going to feel that overwhelming drive to create, not just the frantic 'I want to want to' you're stuck in now. You're going to have awesome ideas, and you're going to make them into a reality. You're going to create again. You're still an artist. You're still a writer. You're still home to the same passion you had before. You'll find it again. It's not gone. It's just resting. Let it rest. You're going to make stuff again. I promise."

For all the writers who've felt this way over the past months:

I’m the worst most intermittent TikTok/Instagram social media poster ever but I think this video about conlangs in fantasy novels is good. You have to watch @ceemtaylor.com ‘s video to have full context though

vt.tiktok.com/ZSAj2a23X/

In my inbox rn I have about five emails from clients who've learned my father passed and wrote to ask if I needed a deadline extension, content warnings about bereavement in their work, or any support they could give.

I'm so fortunate to be surrounded by wonderful authors.

Just. Wow. Thank you. 🫂

My version of "write drunk, edit sober" is "come up with 10/10 story ideas while going through intense periods of grief, stress, and emotional pain, but be unable to execute any of them until that shit has all been processed"

RIP to future me going through these worldbuilding docs 💀

You are *killing it!* Best of luck with your capstone -- creative writing under a deadline is no joke, but it sounds like you have the resources you need to nail it.

Sure! But this level of support isn't accessible to most folks learning to write as adults, so I'm trying to encourage new writers to slow down and have patience with themselves and their skills. It sounds like you're working exactly at your pace, and imo that's fantastic.

The trunk isn't permanent! Many writers pull old manuscripts out of the trunk once they've developed the skills to rewrite / revise them. Even if you don't publish this first version of the story, the idea -- and the work you do on it now -- will never be wasted.

Many writers feel this way about their first passion project (myself included!). For some, the feelings change as years pass and new ideas have time to cook. Others will draft their passion project, set it aside, write other things, then come back to edit / revise it down the line.