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Writers: here are ten free and easy ways to add a dash of visual interest to your blog posts without resorting to AI imagery (which signals to readers that your blog post is probably also AI and there’s no need to bother reading it):
1) A thoughtful photo you’ve taken yourself — a nice sunrise you saw, a cool angle spotted on vacation, your pet curled up on the couch, flowers. Play with your phone photo app’s filter settings to nail the tone. It doesn’t need to be particularly related to the post, it’s related to you as a person.
2) An image from Wikimedia Commons that’s somehow related to the subject matter — there are unfathomably many, you can search by keyword. Remember to credit. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
3) A screenshot of a scene you made in a sandbox game such as Minecraft or Animal Crossing
4) A scene you made with toys such as Lego (you can also use free Lego design software such as Bricklink Studio) https://www.bricklink.com/v3/studio/main.page
5) Play with the effects in whatever image editor you have access to, using your own photos or free-to-use images, to create something a bit abstract and avant-garde
6) Even if you can’t draw or paint very well, you can probably make some pretty cool abstract or collage imagery with whatever art supplies you have around. Dampen some paper and randomly dip watercolor paint onto it and see what happens
7) Those stickers you stashed and never used? Yeah you can make something with them. If they’re individually cut, you don’t even need to peel them, you’ll still find the One True Way to use them one day, I’m sure
8) Shelfies. None will dare question your competence after they see you have a real paper copy of Subject Matter Tome Volumes 1 through 6
9) You can get a lot of mileage out of compositing pre-made video game assets into an image. A good place to start is Kenney’s free and generously licensed 2D assets: https://www.kenney.nl/assets/category:2D and the Tiled editor which is specifically meant for assembling images out of video game asset tile sheets https://www.mapeditor.org
10) the most ridiculously amateurish thing you can scribble on a post-it note or in MS Paint is preferable to AI imagery because it clearly signals a real human cares about the post.
The worst is when I can remember having an idea, but not what it was 😂
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18th Aug 2026. What are your limits for writing outside your lived experience?
I write SF: writing *within* my lived experience isn't really part of the job!
So I use this thing I call "my imagination" and feed it by reading and traveling and talking to people.
Stressed? Feeling overwhelmed? Why not give your frazzled nerves a warm, literary hug and melt your worries away for a while? This week’s Butch/Femme Fiction Therapy Thursday theme: Love At First Sight.
#loveatfirstsight #therapythursday #butchfemme #lesfic #sapphicbooks #bookstodon #writingcommunity #butchfemme #lesbian #lgbtq #lgbtqia
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#ScribesAndMakers 7/4 Sample?
This is the beginning of The Last Princes, my latest release. It's a Steampunk short story, currently on sale for 99ct.
You can grab it directly from my store, without DRM, delivery by BookFunnel:
I need to get off Google Docs. It's where I've been doing my writing for years. As of this week, it's got AI nonsense all over the damned place. No, I don't want AI to even out my writing. How do I disable this shit?
How do I get all my writing to an AI-free program without ripping out my hair?
I want to be able to access my documents across different devices. How can I do this?
I am not a programmer.
Are you a book reviewer? We're looking for book reviewers for Musecharmer Media Network. We'd love to hear from you and showcase your reviews.
Personally I like to edit in new and improved typos with every round of editing 😁 Even grammar has to 'Evolve or Die' in this new fast paced world 😜😂
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My weekly roundup of #publishing news #writing craft tips and #bookmarketing links is now up for free on Substack. If you subscribe you get it in tour inbox every week.
https://maureencrisp.substack.com/p/shining-a-light?r=8opd8&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
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I mean I really thought no one loved the spectacluar Plains of Procrastination in the super-comfy Lands of Laziness more than me, but I guess this little hobbit is going on an adventure 😂
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Got a couple of hours of writing done today 😁
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Quick question, for writers/artists of speculative fiction based in the EU. We are organizing the first edition of a specfic festival sometime next year, perhaps in May, in Kampala. It's still very early stages of planning, but there's a grant by Goethe to facilitate travel of artists based in the EU, and deadline is in September. So I'm wondering, if you are eligible to apply and want to visit our festival as a guest, well, send a DM....
https://www.goethe.de/prj/aep/en/cal/ssa/mobility-grants-for-artists-an.html
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27th Aug 2026. Does 'humanity' as a concept figure often in your works? How so?
"Humanity" is a very dangerous concept because denying the humanity of a target group is a necessary precondition for genocide.
(Currently working on a space opera in which *our* kind of humanity is long-extinct, but there are many distinctly different hominin descendant species running about. Will be using it later to take some pot-shots at "scientific" racism.)
Went paddle boarding yesterday, which was great, the weather was superb. But now I'm so spent I don't know how I'm going to get any writing done...
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NAMING THE SNAKES: New Writing Scotland 44
Glasgow launch
8 September, Waterstones Sauchiehall St, Glasgow – £5 / £12 with book
Celebrate the latest issue with a mix of readings of poetry, short fiction & non-fiction in English, Gaelic & Scots – all welcome!
https://www.waterstones.com/events/new-writing-scotland-44-launch/glasgow-sauchiehall-street
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Remember when I said that actually, publishers really, really, like LLMs? Never believe them when they tell you they do not like LLMs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckFPZDIJnv8&is=-JbAdAeQJtFy76yS #WritingCommunity #Publishing
My weekly roundup #publishing news, #writing craft tips and #bookmarketing links is up for free on Substack. You can subscribe if you want it in your inbox. https://maureencrisp.substack.com/p/re-inventing-the-publishing-wheel?r=8opd8&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
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Are you a book reviewer? We're looking for book reviewers for Musecharmer Media Network. We'd love to hear from you and showcase your reviews.
Genuine question for anyone who listens to audio fiction instead of reading it: what's actually happening around you when you hit play? I write some scenes assuming a dark room and full attention, and I have a growing suspicion most of you are doing the dishes. #audiodrama #WritingCommunity
Options: (choose one)
New free tool: QuickWrite — a simple WYSIWYG text editor for Android, built for writing fiction on the go. Bold, italic, font size, indents, saves straight to RTF. No Play Store listing, no account, no subscription. Just download the APK and use it.
davidmkelly.com/quickwrite/
I never let the truth ruin a good story... But then again I'm a writer A.K.A professional liar 😜😂
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Edited 82d ago
Does thinking of cool ways to kill the multiverse count? 🤔 😁
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I've said it before (and I'm saying it again because I'm practicing to be an old guy who repeats his stories over and over) but I do not like the idea that adapting a book or comic or whatever into a movie/TV show is "bringing it to life".
Nah, the original work is what was alive. The movie is just official fan fic 😛
Edited 100d ago
An Empirical Study of the Impact of Library E-Lending on the Book Economy: As Public Libraries Prioritize eBook Formats, Harm to Commercial Markets Across All Formats is Quantifiable and Significant.
“[C]onsumer print sales decline by approximately 0.85 to 1.0 percent for every one-percentage-point increase in the share of e-books in public libraries, with adult fiction being at the upper end of this range.”
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