L.P.Nicholl

There's been some pretty good views of the northern lights lately. Hadn't actually gone out to see them before, so it was an interesting experience.
#photography #aurora

I've been trying to figure out for a while how not to burn myself out, but so far my life has mostly been cycles of falling down and getting back up. I'm fairly drained atm, but I'm grateful for the snowfall out where I live. The sudden chill always manages to shock me awake.

Messing around with the formatting again.

#poetry #poem #writing

In the end, I’m reliant on a process which does not yield the results I seek. It’s draining. My solace for the moment is the hope that my words will someday reach who they need to reach, even if I’m not aware or around to see it. But that’s a small thing to hold onto.

Still, that process can often feel like a sinkhole when nothing comes out the other end. I understand people who write as a method of self-exploration, but my writing has always been something I’ve made for others, not myself. I want to reach people.

I often ask myself why I put so much into my creative pursuits. Before, I thought I was only writing so my stories could help people in the same way some stories have helped me over the years, but I’ve since realized how reliant my mental health is on the creative process. 🧵

Some more #poetry

As a recent example, Orb: On the Movement of the Earth deals with a lot of big philosophical ideas in such a way that it pretty much just reads as someone's master thesis half the time. This allows it to meaningfully comment on those concepts within a short 26 episode run.

I feel like a lot of high-brow western storytelling leans too hard into trying to deliver its message in a "smart" way, rather than saying something interesting. Maybe part of the reason for the growing popularity of things like anime is their willingness to just be direct.

A story about finding beauty in life's small moments probably doesn't need to be direct with its messaging, but a story about the ethics of large scale political conflicts likely does.

In fact, refusing to directly address your work's subject matter can greatly inhibit your ability to meaningfully comment on it. This, of course, will depend on your subject and the length of your work.

Subtext is cool and all, but I think there is a tendency among writers to mistake obfuscation for depth. The message of your work is not somehow more impactful if the characters refuse to say it aloud. #writing 🧵

Is this a good method of sharing writing?

#writing #poetry #poem

I enjoy poetry as a method of conveying feelings/ideas in a succinct and poignant way, but I find poetry is primarily valued for its use of form rather than its content. I feel there should be more space for writing which toes the line between poetry and prose.

#writing #poetry #writingcommunity

Went to Ireland recently.
#writing #poetry #poem

I hate how much of social media is just shallow (usually inflammatory) bullshit, propaganda, or barely disguised corporate advertising. I will counter this by being as onerous, needlessly long-winded, and pretentious as possible.

It is interesting—as a #writer who takes a fairly methodological approach to creating—how much of what actually sticks about a narrative comes down to symbols and memetics. People (especially critics) claim to value technical skill, but well made stories that neglect symbol use tend to be forgotten.

That is to say, I am going to be posting far more frequently and with a far less narrow focus. If I think something is interesting, I will share it (likely to no one, since I've made no real effort to grow this account). That's all for now!

At this point, I really just want to share my thoughts and creative works. I don't want to restrict myself to what has been recognized by publishers or what fits a certain brand / image.

The process of getting writing published is long and tiring. I created this account as a place to share about my writing and as a somewhat "professional" face for my work as a writer, which was a good intention, but a rather limiting one (hence my quite infrequent posting).

#TheWayofKings review: book good

After all these years, I’ve done it. I’ve finally started reading the Stormlight Archives. Can’t wait to still be reading the series like 3 years from now (I do not go through books quickly).

My writing's been going a bit slow lately, but the sights are as beautiful as ever. Sometimes I think I should lock myself away and work, but I try to remember that good stories draw from experience. To write, you need to live.
#writing #writingcommunity #photography

My overall point here is that doing some basic organization is good (I definitely should have been more organized when I got started), but you don't need to worry about it too much. The software doesn't matter; just go out there and write your story!

The editor provided by word in the review menu also has its uses, but imo you can find better editors online (for free) if you want to. I've used Hemingway Editor a few times before since it's really easy to drag and drop your writing into it.

What I love about word specifically is the heading system. If you select your chapter titles, set them to any of the heading options in the home menu, then click on the headings tab in the view menu, you can easily view and navigate between all of them.

One of the more obviously useful features provided by both softwares is the ability to leave comments. Most people just use comments when editing other people's works, but they are great for making quick notes on specific sections of writing that you want to come back to later.

If you have access to word or google docs then you're in even better luck. Personally, I use word docs for my writing, but both softwares have a lot of useful organizational tools not everyone knows about.

If you want to take additional notes on your creative project, you can put those into a category as well. That way all your character sheets, plot notes, fantasy maps, etc are easily available while you write.

To begin with, almost every notetaking software that you can find free online or pre-downloaded on your phone allows you to make categories for your notes. So, you can write scenes or chapters as individual notes and put them all in one category for easy access.