H.L. Hinkle

Being homeless, living with a mental health issue, being of a different ethnicity, etc. Those are not made-up things. They are real people, real situations. Stop equating people different from you to monster sharks and Alien.

The answer is yes, if you do the appropriate research, and are respectful. But hot dam the amount of whit neurotypical writers saying you can just make shit up. 🧵

I have seen this question asked a bit. "Can I write being homeless, living with a mental health issue, being of a different ethnicity, etc." 🧵

@StoniAstley So, I'm going to disagree with some others. While writing fantasy about fantasy things, you can just make it up. But if you are writing about a person with disabilities, a different ethnicity-. You don't need to have lived their life, but you should do your best to understand it.

Writers: In a work of fiction, do you feel one must 'live' an experience to write about it in order to accurate depict? For example, being homeless, living with a mental health issue, being of a different ethnicity, etc.

@stephenRB4 Mostly because it's just people posting pointless questions, they don't really want the answer to that will just lead to more questions for engagement. The general lack of NGAF but wanting that most precious engagement just gives me the ick.

Why has engagement dropped on Twitter, and people scroll, but won’t interact?

@HDunn_Writer As a non-neurotypical who can't spell but loves to write. I completely understand. But don't give up and don't worry about the rules. Do bad art/writing and then get some eyes you trust on it.

A thought I had earlier today about the "rules of writing" brought up periodically by various members of the "writing community" here... I am generally one who thinks "write what you want to write and mind your business otherwise" - I fancy myself a person who is impervious to the uninformed opinions of others, but I don't think that I really feel this way - truth be told, all of these rules have affected me in the worst way. I don't write fiction anymore. At all, really. Because I no longer think my fiction is good enough. I read through the few chapters I've managed to get down on my second novel, and I'm haunted by "is this passive voice?" and "adverbs path to hell, bullshit this and that" and "first person third person past present seventh person." I think worrying about what you all think has ruined me. And I thought I was a pretty good novelist before, but it seems that I (none of us, really) can possibly live up to the expectations of other writers on here. I don't really know what to make of it. I have recently gone back and reworked my first chapter - and I think it is a strong bit of writing - I even considered reading it on here, but I don't think I will. I don't think I can handle the unsolicited rude comments and critiques. Anyway, I thought maybe I wasn't the only person who might feel this way. Maybe keep your arbitrary writing rules to yourself going forward. Just a suggestion.

You have to remember, a lot of these older folks from the 60s and 70s have been fighting for equal rights for decades. What’s happening in this country is horrific, they’ve watched as rights were gained (like Roe) and then lost again. It’s devastating.

@PJSkinnerAuthor Fair, boomer is more of a thought prosses and attitude then when you are born. I definitely see a lot of GenX acting the Boomer.

Can we called Boomers Gen B and 1957-1964 Gen C? Boomers is used as a perjorative despite the fact that lumping a whole generation together as racist Luddites is obviously ludicrous. We born in the 60s children did not go to Woodstock, we were at primary school. We did not have life long careers. That finished before we started work. We didn't get cheap mortgages, inflation was 20%. We are not the same. Stop lumping us together.

i don’t care if it’s cliche i will always enjoy a “small town but something fucked up is happening” story

Writing Tip: Assume your readers are at least as smart as you. Your plot twist? They probably saw it coming. Rethink it a hundred times.

@robbswallace @Wolfpackmiitomo @ToriatheistTori

@Wolfpackmiitomo @ToriatheistTori Student loans? My wife and I both worked really hard to pay ours off. Why should we also have to pay for others getting worthless degrees and being indoctrinated to hate our country?

@woofknight I just imagined eating this and now I'm extremely unhappy. Thankfully I don't know what chicken liver tastes like.

@elchandler I don't just drink coffee I drink too much coffee and then make more coffee under to pretense that it is for other people and then I also drink that coffee.

Do you drink coffee?

Well, how else are you going to get bigfoot to come for the camera.

Just wondered back on and the site was like prove you are not a computer by conversing with people. Well... do I just start talking in code or Beep Boop's?

@WCRaustler God, I hope not.

Do your dreams come true?

For whoever needs it, here's how to turn off Copilot in Word. (Note that the recent update has automatically turned this on, so it needs to be done manually) Open a blank Word doc Go to "File" Go to "Options" on the very bottom of the left-side menu Selecto the "Copilot" tab Uncheck the box to disable! Click the "OK" button to make it so.

I will never forget when someone referenced this scream in a horror novel. I completely took me out of the terror they had built and from there on I just mumbled to myself. "Thats not scarry," every time someone screamed and died.