Despite it being literally earlier today I posted on this book I'm back with a random idea. Here is a small list of  my top 15 pieces of writing advice / inspiration advice that I either thought of myself or have a direct source to.
Also note that you can choose to ignore all of this or disagree. And please if you have any tips then id love to hear them!

~*~*~*

1. Write everything down.
I first heard this from Roald Dahl in one of his autobiographies (yes I've read both) and I have never been able to let it go. I have a note on my phone that I put literally everything I want to keep. Culture references; snippets of dialogue; whole ass life lessons; oneshot ideas; adjectives I like; potential chapter themes; scenes I want to include in my WIP and basically anything that springs to mind. Even if i don't have a place to fit it in, I'll still keep it all stored away.

2. Keep a word bank.
This sounds stupid but it's been such a massive help to me since I started doing it. I can't remember when I first started doing this, but now I've got a massive note on my phone with all the words I've come across that I like. Every time I sit down to write I will have a scroll through the list and it gives me a bit of inspiration on where I want to go. (I also scroll though my loose dialogue and ideas before I go to write too)

3. Take walks.
This is probably the best piece of advice I would offer anyone with a lack of inspiration. I love walking and living where I do there is no shortage of places for me to walk. Usually I go to forests with lochs and things like that. I always find I get random bursts of inspiration while walking through a wood. I especially appreciate an old church or abandoned building of the sort, like a cemetery always seems to bring me inspiration of the gothic sort but if you just want some more places for a WIP to go then taking a walk really really helps me. I've come up with many many ideas while walking and filled hundreds of plot holes. Alicia will know how much I rave about the inspiration I get from forests.
(Although the coastline is equally as stimulating for me as I conveniently live near both)

4. Repeat things often.
By this I mean when you have an idea and nowhere to write it down, or if you're still thinking it over before you write it somewhere then go over it, play it out, at least 10 times. According to my French teacher (shout out Mrs M) if you repeat something to yourself 10 times then it will stick in your head much better!

5. Write in the dark.
I know this is an odd one but it's one of the best pieces of advice I can give. It's especially good for writing angst or drama. (Of course this only works if you're writing in a digital device but that's neither here nor there) although i wouldn't write in the complete darkness because that just makes me sleepy unless you're really deeply into whatever it is you're writing. Regardless, trust me and try it out!

6. Annotate books.
Lots of people already do this but here's some things to consider while reading that help me while writing:
•note down words that you like or haven't heard before and add them to a word bank or something similar.
•If you see a quote you like then note it down and instead of completely stealing it think, how could I adapt this? Think about what way it applies to your WIP and think about what's different. Then consider how you would link it in, without stealing the main principle of the quote.
•the same thing with plot points or themes. Don't steal things, adapt them.
•note down character quirks you would like to include with your characters.
•and lastly, imagine the authors thought process. I've started to do this subconsciously as of recent, so whenever I see a certain word choice my brain goes through different alternatives and wonder if they had tried to use them and consider why they didn't work. Then once you pick up on these things in other peoples writing then you'll notice them in your own.

7. Use fucking paragraphs.
This is a common one but the amount of times I've clicked out of a fan fic because it doesn't have proper paragraphing is bad. I can't concentrate on anything else if there's bad grammar; and I'm not talking one or two mistakes because as we all know my shit is riddled with mistakes but if it's grossly off then I won't even attempt to read it.

8. Refrain from a cringey first person/too many pov switches.
This might be more of a matter of opinion but in a lot of things, fanfics especially, I can think of nothing worse than a first person that is just a cringey, shallow narrator. If you're new to writing then I'd always stick to third or maybe even second person if you're feeling good. Unless first person is definitely needed, in which case a lot of stories don't need to have an Amy Gumm, Percy Jackson (never read it) narrator.
Also if you have 100 changes of PoV all the time with 6million characters, not only is it confusing but it can also lose its mood. If you want to convey a lot of different characters feelings without having then explicitly said (through dialogue for example) then stick to third person.

9. There is such thing as too much description.
This might get some people to disagree but I'm not the first person to say this. I've heard this advice from multiple famous authors and despite being guilty of it myself I felt it important to include. Especially in characters and settings, sometimes one can describe something a little bit too heavily and it becomes boring to read through and also kills the imagination a little bit. If you know exactly what everything and everyone looks like then what is there left to imagine. It loses its sense of arcane-ness.

10. Dont put all character description at the beginning.
I am 100% guilty of this but it's true. If it all comes at the beginning, not only is it sort of boring to read through all the introductions but it's not as fun to learn extra quirks about your characters as we progress through the story. Speaking of character description, while I'm here, please –for the love of Jesus, Mary and Joseph and all of his carpenter friends– do not use the word 'orbs' to describe eyes or I might just pick a fight with a lawnmower.

11. Rewrite it if you don't like it.
This is something I taught myself and it's helped me so so much. If you wrote something a while ago and no longer like it, if a scene isn't working or anything similar then just put what you'd written somewhere else as redo the whole nine (DO NOT DELTE THE ORIGINAL UNTIL YOUVE FINISHED THE NEW ONE) you tend to remember the important bits and the bits you liked and forget the shit parts.

12. Don't go through boring morning routines unless necessary.
Starting a scene in the morning and following a character though their morning routine just bores me to death unless there is a specific reason for it. And that's the same reason I don't tend to care what makeup and hairstyle a character has unless it's brief. This is a matter of opinion so feel free to disagree.

13. You don't have to stick to a plan.
I've become what one might call a 'planster' where I write a plan and then completely leave it out. Heres an example of things I didn't plan for but ended up tying in decently well:
•the Slytherin locket mission in THILM
•the fourteen names in WYP
•DorcasxEmmeline in my trilogy
•Merlinda Drought's baby in THILM
•(Merlinda and Amy were originally meant to be bad guys but I changed my mind)
•the attack on Aliona in MIT
•Trudy's hearing in MIT
•(actually those two weren't supposed to be major characters)
•James and Lily's big fight in the cafe in MIT
•(they were supposed to fight over something else later on)
The point is, don't feel restricted to your plans!

14. Aesthetics and playlists are not procrastinating.
I personally adore making aesthetics, finding face claims and making playlists for my characters because it gets me hyped for my WIP and gives me more inspiration. Yeah, I might get sidetracked on Pinterest but that's okay!

15. Don't take yourself too seriously.
Not only in writing but everywhere. If someone wants to bash your writing then okay. (I do not take my own advice) but don't feel forced to do or not to do something just because readers said so because it's not their story at the end of the day. They could leave at any moment. You need to do it for you and that means writing that scene, killing that character, creating that drama, writing that ship. Just do whatever you want in your own story. It's not for anyone else and never lose sight of that fact!

~*~*~*

And with that concludes my top 15 writing tips! This BY NO MEANS makes me qualified to give advice these are just things I have gained or learned over the time I've begun writing and publishing full projects.

If anyone has any questions or suggestions then I'd love to hear them!