Snowflake Challenge #8 - My WIPs

I'm halfheartedly doing the Snowflake Challenge to get introduced to Dreamwidth, and in following with today's prompt, here's all the things I'm working on

Fanfic things:

• A fic with the working title "Polite Company," which is a Klance (Voltron) Valentine's fic based on the song "Polite Company" by RKS. The premise is that Keith wants to confess to Lance on Valentine's Day, but he ends up trailing Lance around while he tries to help everyone else have a good Valentine's Day. This was finished drafting this week, and I've set it aside to simmer so I can edit with fresh eyes before it goes up on Valentine's Day
• "it's much less picturesque without him catchin' the light," which is part three in a five part series of Klance 5 + 1 fics. Accidental five part series; I was in the middle of drafting the first two parts when I listened to "Arabella" by the Arctic Monkeys when I got possessed by the idea for the ending of a third part that would stretch into a three part arc. So I'm working through the drafts for all of that so I can post them with less time between later this year. There's two scenes left in part three.
• While listening to "Arabella" for the other fic, I made the mistake of listening to some other songs on AM and now I'm possessed by the idea of writing a Locklyle (Lockwood & Co) fic based around the song. If you're in the Lockwood & Co server you may have just seen me rant about this. So that's going to start drafting after I finish the Arabella-based fic.

Crafty things, since this is blog is supposed to be for crafts too lol

• Tunisian crochet case for my project tools-- This one is technically done but I'm including it as a WIP because I need to post about it still, oops
• Temperature blanket-- This one is going strong! I'm back up north and there's a massive cold snap right now (if you're in the great lakes region you know), so I'm getting to use more cold colors now
• Dumbo Octopi-- I've been building up an army of these as gifts for a gift exchange that's supposed to happen this month but idk when.
• Boreal throw blanket-- This one I need to pick up again. It's about half done, as I have a little of one cake left and a whole second cake to add.

Writing Resources and Tips

I'm halfheartedly doing snowflake_challenge (school takes up too much time, ugh), and I've made this for challenge #7!


I spent 2022 and 2023 struggling to get into a rhythm with writing, and these are some of things that have helped me develop a writing habit. Very casual list of tips and resources here, probably only really helpful if you're a beginner.

• Lower your standards. I'm a perfectionist and my inner critic prevented me from writing for literal years. Abandon your standards and just get through the damn draft, with placeholders and notes to yourself when you don't want to forget to change things. You can always fix it when you edit.
• Ignore the piece for a while before editing. Seriously, don't look at the piece for a week after you write it. This gives you a chance to cool off after writing it and lets you get fresh eyes for editing.
• You can also ignore your piece to get through writer's block. You know when you sit down to write and it's agonizing and you just don't want to do it? Don't do it. Take a step away. If you've got problems for where to go next, your subconscious can work on it if you occasionally return to it in your thoughts, and that can help you stumble on a solutions. If you are just burn out, this gives you time to recover. Come back occasionally and only write when you feel like it. Life's too short to force yourself through it.
• Use a designated writing location to get yourself in the right mindset. I use cafes for this mostly. It's the same psychology as studying where you take the test or only sleeping in your bed: your brain will have a better time writing when its like "hey I'm in the writing place!"
• Use music to get in the mood. I think a lot of us already do this, based on the number of fics with songs in the title haha. But seriously, even if the fic isn't based on a song, you can use music to help get in touch with the emotions you want to write. Having a bad day but need to write fluff? A cheesy love song can help you get there. This is also literally why people make character / fandom playlists, I've realized.
• Can't get started? Writing sprint! There's something about a 10 to 15 minute timer that can really jumpstart the brain. I like pomofocus.io for helping to time multiple smaller sprints. If you look up "Writing Sprints" you can find multiple tools to help you do a sprint or guides for doing sprints with a series of write and rest times.
• Need a lower stakes goal? Try Camp Nano. This is great if you're intimidated by Nanowrimo but still want to try the goal thing. I really like their goal tracking chart and the way it projects how much more you need to do per day to make your goal in time. I've halfway recreated it in Sheets for my Supernatural watchthrough (that Sheet deserves its own post), and I'm tempted to make an Excel template for others to use. Thinking about it more, you could also just make your own monthly goal for word count or amount written and track it to motivate yourself.
• Looking for a writing platform that works on your phone AND computer? Try OneNote. Okay OneNote is kind of a piece of shit. I have issues with it showing duplicate notebooks when I try to rename them. But you can get the basic version in the browser for free, it's all backed up automatically, and it's got a good system of Notebook > Section > Page that's great if you like having many files to separate things. Generally, for my longer works, the Notebook is the work, the Sections separates meta stuff (outline and ideas) from the fic and the author's notes, and the Pages are each a chapter (or a chapter's author notes in that Section). If that makes sense. I also use this for writing down my ideas, since it's easy to keep organized while still being quick to open to jot something down. I've got a notebook for ideas divided by type (original work vs fanfic vs poem, etc) with a page for each idea.
• Wanna count your words but using a platform like OneNote that doesn't let you count words? Use WordCounter.net. That's it that's the tip. You past it in the text box, it counts it. The cookies also save what you last pasted which can be useful if you forgot the number and closed the tab
• Read. Seriously, go read other fics, go read actual books! Reading tells you what you like and don't like as techniques and can help you improve your technique
• Look at "literary" writing resources / classes. While I am generally not a fan of literature-only snobs, taking a more formal writing class or reading a more formal writing resource is a great way to improve your craft. "Writing craft techniques" is probably a decent search term for finding this kind of resource. I'm minoring in creative writing and it's helped me with things like trusting my reader instead of over explaining, accepting feedback, balancing "show" and "tell," balancing "scene" and "summary," improving my details to make scenes seem more "real," and getting over the fear of writing. One resource from my classes I can share off the top of my head is "Wonderbook" by Jeff Vandermeer, a good writing resource for worldbuilding.
• Can the critics. One of the best pieces of advice I ever got from my classes was about handling internal critics and perfectionism. It comes from "Shitty First Drafts" by Anne Lamott. Here's the best part (last two paragraphs) quoted for you, a bit about getting rid of the critical voices in your head when you write:

"Close your eyes and get quiet for a minute, until the chatter starts up. Then isolate one of the voices and imagine the person speaking as a mouse. Pick it up by the tail and drop it into a mason jar. Then isolate another voice, pick it up by the tail, drop it in the jar And so on. Drip in any high-maintenance parental units, drop in any contractors, lawyers, colleagues, children, anyone who is whining in your head. Then put the lid on, and watch all those mouse people clawing at the glass, jabbering away, trying to make you feel like shit because you won't do what they want.-- won't give them more money, won't be more successful, won't see them more often. Then imagine that there is a volume-control button on the bottle. Turn it all the way up for a minute, and listen to the stream of angry, neglected, guilt-mongering voices. Then turn it all the way down and watch the frantic mice lunge at the glass, trying to get to you. Leave it down, and get back to your shitty first draft.

A writer friend of mine suggests opening the jar and shooting them all in the head. But I think he's a little angry, and I'm sure nothing like this would ever occur to you."

This is the only version of the full article I can find. As backup links, here's one without the last five paragraphs and here's one that is only the last five paragraphs. No clue why so many versions cut out the last five paragraphs, when those last two are the best damn part.

Crochet hook holder!

Here's my first Tunisian crochet project-- a little project crochet hook case custom fit to the supplies I normally carry around. Pardon the subpar images

By the way-- does anyone know how to get google drive set up to host images for Dreamwidth? I found some old guides and other guides for using GDrive as a general image host but for some reason none of it is working.






A quick overview of the pockets / design:

The right side is for hooks, and has sectioned off sleeves inside the pocket for each one. I'm hanging my stitch markers from the flap since it's stitches and a convenient place to put them. The top one on the left is for scissors and has extra padding to prevent them from stabbing through. The middle one is for scrap yarn and has my yarn needles threaded through the outside of the pocket. The bottom is a more general pocket which currently holds a measuring tape, a yarn cutter, and some safety pins. The flap on the left edge is partially to keep the scissors from sliding out but is also how the case closes-- I slide the right side under the flap and friction holds it shut pretty well. I may add buttons later on.

Overall I'm decently happy with it, since it holds exactly what I need and has been working well form me