Cross stitch pattern of Vaatu and Raava from Avatar Legend of Korra. The sprites were designed by Piphybuilder88. Check out their Deviantart to see more of their awesome pixel art and 3D models. Download the PDF here: Vaatu and Raava by Piphybuilder88 Pattern

Grid Size: 171W x 130H
Design Area: 12.07″ x 9.14″ (169 x 128 stitches)
Colors: 6

My Patron, Natasha Maxwell, lives in the perfect place to raise baby star phoenixes, a shattered planet held together with the scavenged remains of thousands of ships that found themselves trapped by the irregular gravity of the surrounding nebula. So many refugees have called this planet home, but now these star phoenixes may be Natasha’s one chance to see those worlds they’ve only heard stories about.

How do you become a great writer? Oh gee, I’ll have to tell you when I get there, but I did have someone tell me that a story I wrote made them cry so I’ve got an ego right now. If you want some writing advice, then one thing stands out to me as something I don’t hear about that often.

A few years ago I stopped writing entirely, and looking back on that time, I noticed that I stopped thinking as if I was writing. Like, when a person who does a podcast lives their life, there will be events that stick out to them as something they want to talk about later during a recording, or someone who enjoys gossiping will flag something that happened during their day as a thing they want to talk to their friends about later. These people will even practice what they are going to say in their heads so that it will sound exciting to the people listening.

It’s like that but for writing. I find that, compared to those years when I didn’t write, my thoughts are now more often in words. After something happens to me, I’m more likely to process it by thinking about how I would write about it and the words in my head would match the words on a page. I’m sure people who keep a daily journal do this too because they know later they’ll be writing it down. But even if you don’t plan to write it down, that way of thinking about your life in words is really useful practice for any kind of writing, not just slice of life.

It can be a little weird if you’ve never done it before, like your trying to teach a dog to say the word “bark”, but it’s just a habit that you can build up. I’m sure everyone has had an imaginary conversation in the shower. It’s like that but I’ll also think of things like how I’m going to describe facial expressions, props, and settings along with the dialogue.

I haven’t gotten to the point yet where I can see a whole paragraph in front of me in my mind, but I can still remember the flow of words and recreate them later. They’re never exactly the same, because my memory sucks, but I still know where the words are supposed to go. It helps me push through that initial hurdle of writer’s block so I can get into the zone more smoothly.

Everyone has their own vibrant inner world. You’ve got to write these stories down now while they’re fresh or else you’ll lose interest later. I have so many stories that will never be written because I didn’t take the time to write them down and now the inspiration has passed.

Do it. Write that story. Even if it turns out bad, even if you don’t finish, future you will be glad you did it.