Everyone writes at their own pace. Your pace is okay.
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H Noss 🏳️🌈
@HNossProofreads@mastodonapp.uk
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Joined November 25, 2022
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Welcome back to The Writing Mirror!
Today's journalling prompt is:
"What have you accomplished as a writer that your past self would be proud of?"
Comment below or journal away in private!
It's okay if you're struggling to write this scene. Try moving on to another part of the story.
Replying to
Search engine and web browser: Ecosia.
Ecosia uses their profits for climate action, planting trees being their primary objective. They only collect data they say is necessary, and even their use of AI relies on smaller models that use less energy.
They also produce clean energy that exceeds how much energy they use in entirety.
You can also find their monthly financial reports for transparency.
Certified B Corp, based in Germany.
Replying to
- Bathrooms and changing rooms. Comfort is something I'm very aware of when it comes to bathrooms and changing rooms. Not just my own, but other people's. I'm an anxious person in general, and bathrooms have always been a source of anxiety for me. The most comfortable bathrooms, regardless of gender, have been ones where they are separate rooms. Stalls feel less safe, and they also feel less hygienic.
Replying to
Web hosting, domain names, and email: IONOS.
I use IONOS for my own website, and I've never had a problem with them yet. While they do provide AI website creation, it is optional and I've never used it.
I use their web hosting and domain name service only, not their email service.
They're committed to climate-neutral hosting and minimising CO2.
Based in Germany.
Replying to
Time tracking software: Toggl Track.
A simple time tracker tool that I've used to record my time for projects; their paid plan is a little more comprehensive than the free plan and I do recommend it.
It has privacy features so it won't take screenshots or recordings when you use it (why would it need to?), and I've never had a problem with it not working yet.
Based in Estonia.
Replying to
Email service and file hosting: Proton.
Proton is the email service I started using for my work and I absolutely love it. It's encrypted, it's intuitive, and they've expanded into file hosting and beyond with Proton Docs and Proton Sheets (the latter two are new and do have bugs and annoyances).
Focused on privacy, security, funding for good, and freedom.
They also have VPN, a password manager (recommended), authenticator, and more.
Based in Switzerland.
Replying to
None of these options are completely perfect, so I've rated them based on my own feelings and experience with them. There are improvements I want to push them all for, especially in sustainability.
Would you like to see an in-depth review and guide to any of them?
Replying to
- Labels. I've gone through so many labels in the past as I tried to find myself, and being non-binary added an extra layer of complexity and confusion here. Am I attracted to women, men, and non-binary people? Or am I attracted to feminine, masculine, and androgynous people? Reshaping how I saw people as feminine, masculine, and androgynous helped me to really understand what I'm attracted to.
I really love terms like WLW (woman-loving-woman) and MLM (man-loving-man). These are more inclusive terms that include trans people and some non-binary people. Also known as: Sapphic (an individual who is attracted to women and non-binary people) and Achillean (an individual who is attracted to men and non-binary people). Some people also interpret these as sapphic = attraction to feminine people and achillean = attraction to masculine people.
Replying to
- Trans rights. The question was: "How do you respond to people who say that trans people’s rights remove rights from women?"
I don't believe that trans people's rights ever remove rights from women. I think a lot of the genuine worries women have about this come from misunderstandings. There should also be safe spaces for all genders: women's safe spaces, men's safe spaces, trans people's safe spaces, non-binary people's safe spaces, and intersex people's safe spaces.
I believe that trans rights actually help push equal rights for many people regardless of gender. Don't we all deserve bathrooms that are more secure, as single-room bathrooms with proper locks as opposed to stalls with gaps and often faulty locks? Don't we all deserve to access help and support for different forms of abuse?
Replying to
- Formative moments. I don't have many memories from early childhood, but I have been told by important adults in my life that I would absolutely refuse to wear gendered colours (especially the colour associated with my assigned gender, but both blue and pink for years). Even stationery, my greatest love since childhood!
Because fiction has always been fantasy to me, I don't think books dealing with puberty and gendered roles ever made an impression on how I saw gender in the real world.
Until my late teenage years, I would waste every wish I made on some magical transformation where I had the body that I should have. This also predated puberty, but got much worse after puberty.
I now know that this was very clearly gender dysphoria, but without the terminology I had no idea how to explain it. I didn't know how to verbalise what I was going through or how to fix it, which of course means that I never had access to gender-affirming care.
Replying to
- Gender identity. For simplicity's sake, I usually say that I'm non-binary, because it feels like more people generally understand what that means: I don't identify as either a woman or a man. But "non-binary" does mean something different for everyone. It's an umbrella term, meant for everyone who doesn't feel like a woman or a man, which includes so many different kinds of people.
Non-binary people can be feminine or masculine. Or they can be androgynous, which is where I sit.
For me, non-binary feels like being outside of very gendered concepts. I am not comfortable being referred to as a man or a woman. I see my gender as this comfortable neutral, where I am not tied to any gendered expectations about how I should present myself physically, emotionally, or mentally.
When I'm called "sir" or "ma'am", my stomach sinks. I feel like I need to adapt how I am to suit that person's assumption or to reject it by going in the opposite way.
Replying to
- Book recommendations (non-fiction).
- Homebody: A Graphic Memoir of Gender Identity Exploration by Theo Parish (written and drawn by a non-binary person about their own experiences, explains concepts really well)
- Pageboy by Elliot Page (memoir of trans actor Elliot Page)
- Queer as Folklore: The Hidden Queer History of Myths and Monsters by Sacha Coward (researched by a gay author who works in the museum sector, with sections on both the fantastical and the historical context)
Book recommendations (fiction).
- Jamie by L.D. Lapinski (about a non-binary 11-year-old dealing with gendered schools and educating younger readers about what it means to be non-binary, written by a non-binary author)
- Jay's Guide to Crushing It by Ruby Clyde (non-binary protagonist, written by a non-binary author and comedian)
- This Feast of a Life by Cynthia So (non-binary protagonist in a sapphic relationship, written by a non-binary author who came out when this book was published)
Anything that can go wrong can also go right. Don't give up.
#Writers #Affirmations
Here's some winter romance writing prompts to get you warmed up this holiday!
☕ Whenever it’s cold, they always make their partner a hot chocolate.
❄️ It’s their first snow; now they need to experience everything winter has to offer.
🧣 One stolen scarf, a big gulp of air, and it’s almost like they’re here.
🤍 They carve a heart in the snow for their partner.
🚏 Stuck waiting for a bus in the snow, a person is offered a lift by their ex.
⛸️ To get across a frozen lake, the lovers hold hands and slide across it.
Find 22+ winter romance writing prompts for your current project, something new, or just as an exercise here on my blog: https://hnossproofreads.co.uk/winter-romance-writing-prompts/
Here's a round up of all of the blog posts and writing prompts I've posted since the beginning of October. Just click the link of any you like the look of!
https://ko-fi.com/post/Blog-Post-Writing-Prompts-Round-Up-JulySeptem-V7V31QKBQH
Sending positive vibes and well wishes to all of the writers, readers, editorial professionals, book designers, cover artists, and publishing professionals with disabilities today.
Writing and publishing is hard enough as it is without also factoring in disabilities. There are so many extra barriers, no matter whether you're physically disabled, fatigued, or otherwise disabled.
I know so many writers whose disabilities both motivate their writing and also interrupt and prevent their writing.