hi!!! well first of all, thank you for the compliment, that's really nice of you to say! i don't think i have a magic formula, but i think i'm just really meticulous with my time and i work really hard to make time to fit everything i enjoy into my day-to-day. that looks different everyday though and i have adhd as well, so some days are harder than others. sometimes i'll go days not reading so i can make time for a busy work schedule or i'll read more and not have many plans with friends with weekends. i think it's just deciding which things you want to focus more on in the moment and reminding yourself you can pick something back up if you set it down.

for instance, i'm taking a writing break currently as i want to focus more on work and some leadership things that i'm involved in this year! but i think on a smaller level, it's really about fitting things in where you can. i read in the mornings on my commute and then journal after work. sometimes i'll see a friend for coffee before work or for dinner after. i always tell myself there's 24 hours in a day and i can use them however i'd like for as little or as long as i'd like! sometimes if i'm scrolling for too long on my phone, i remind myself i can use that time to read a bit or go on a walk, or sort of multitask a couple of time if i can (i.e. junk journaling to an audiobook that i'm alternating w a physical book) or just scroll for a bit because i'm resting anyway.

i have a pretty busy and stressful job but i make a point to have things to look forward to so it's not just all work and no play even though i really love what i do. i like reminding myself that even though things are busier, i'm lucky to have something to fill my time but there are also moments in between to fill with things that bring me joy.

lastly, i'd also say i appreciate the admiration but it's nothing to be jealous over! i think anyone can make it work for them and it's just a matter of figuring out what works for you. try not to be so hard on yourself if stuff doesn't always fit, and let yourself be more flexible! you good luck!!!

hi!!! thank you so much! i'm not sure if i have a set process, but i'll take a whack at answering this!

usually a fic idea starts with a piece of dialogue or a small scene snippet that comes to me throughout my day or was inspired by something i've read, watched, or listened to. i tend to scribble those down in a notebook i carry around with me and when i sit down to write, i'll expand on that one piece and start building around it to create the larger work.

i don't really write in chronological order, so i usually jump around within my document and fill in the different scenes and vignettes that way. i like doing this because it helps me keep track of where the buildup of the work starts and where it needs to go to reach the climax and eventually get to the end. i suppose that's how i outline in a way where i keep track of "milestones" in a piece and make sure i'm planting references and buildup to each of those milestones so it feels like it pays off when it ultimately gets reached and how (aka, does the buildup feel frantic, burn slowly, etc.).

i like writing dialogue a lot as well, so i spend a lot of my time making sure the dialogue feels like it flows naturally or if it doesn't, that that's a purposeful part of how a certain character talks, etc. when i'm out on my café days, this especially comes in handy to hear all the different ways people talk about things and what their mannerisms are when they do.

earlier on in my writing, i think i was really concerned with churning out a work quickly and racking up as much of a word count as possible, but these days i'm finding that i'm more comfortable with writing as much as i feel a story needs and making sure to slow down a little bit so as to make sure i'm telling the story that i want to and maybe to feel like i'm doing something different than what i've done before in previous works, whether it's exploring a different ship or a way of storytelling i wanted to play with!

mostly, i try to have fun with it and try different things since writing fic is such a great space for experimenting with different forms and styles and being ambitious with stuff like world-building! sometimes when i read a book i'll like the way an author formed a sentence or how they drew out a scene and i'll try to emulate that. i find writing to be a very satisfying personal challenge and i like seeing where i can push myself but also where i can have the most fun!!

thanks again for the question and reading my fics!! 💘💘💘

hiyaaaaa! thanks for the question! i think if i wrote it again i'd just make it longer LOL which honestly. insane to say because i already felt like it's quite lengthy as someone who doesn't Love to write more than 20k, but i do think it could've benefited from some filler and some pacing in the final three-ish chapters. i do feel like conflict was sowed throughout but i always wonder if i could've upped the ante more, so when that conflict was ultimately reaped it would have a bigger impact. but that said, i still loved writing it! it is definitely a reflection of how i was writing at the time and i feel like almost a year later my style has evolved somewhat, so it might have changed in that regard too.

hi there! thank you for the kind observation, i'm really lucky to have a life that is indeed lovely and that i'm grateful to share parts of with everyone. you're definitely right in that social media isn't always reality and i have hard days myself, but i find those more to be things that i challenge myself to work through rather than allow myself to give into by dooming about it publicly or privately.

i'm not sure if i have habits per se as much as a mindset that has helped me welcome more joyful things in my life. that's to say, i think something i find to be most important is to remember that there are good things all around you and a lot to look forward to. i try to make little plans for myself throughout my week rather than saving my Me time for One Big Thing or The Weekend. that way, if i'm having a tough day, i remind myself that i'm seeing a friend for dinner or i'm taking myself to the bookstore later that day. i think investing in these little things only amount to a bigger joy and make things feel less monotonous and rote. if i just go to work and go home it feels sort of oppressive so i try to shake it up with something as small as a walk or a listening to a new album in full on my commute home.

i also think how you talk about yourself, your life, and others makes a difference as well. i used to have a horrible habit of catastrophizing the smallest things, even to make a joke about myself or how sad i was or how awful i was, only to realize how much i internalized it to the point that i started believing it. so i suppose i'd say a big habit i try to be consistent about is trying to be gentler on yourself and believing that your life is already whimsical, and that it's just about shifting your perspective a bit and seeing that there's fun and joy in every interaction, even the ones that can be a bit stressful or annoying. that's not to say if tragedy happens, i find it particularly funny, but it helps to cope with the difficulties when you ground yourself in what's good and what you know to be good.

as for the miscellaneous things, i would say think about the things you enjoy and what little ways you can incorporate them into your day-to-day. i like reading a lot so i try to squeeze in a couple pages on my train ride and i find that it puts me in a good mood from the very beginning of my day. idk if this was helpful???? hopefully????

hi there! sure, it'll depend on what you like so here's a mixed bag of reads i've enjoyed, with some of my all-time faves scattered throughout:
- stay true by hua hsu
- kitchen by banana yoshimoto
- murder on the orient express by agatha christie
- abigail by magda szabo
- my brilliant friend by elena ferrante
- the secret history by donna tartt
- say nothing by patrick radden keefe
- pachinko by min jin lee
- beloved by toni morrison
- the dutch house by ann patchett
- never let me go by kazuo ishiguro
- giovanni's room by james baldwin
- scent of apples by bienvenido n. santos
- the history of sound by ben shattuck
- tinker tailor soldier spy by john le carré
- my life in france by julia child
- kitchen confidential by anthony bourdain
- gone girl by gillian flynn
- dune by frank herbert (but dune messiah must be read immediately after!!!)