This was meant to go out on Sunday but I spent most of the day sleeping. If I don't fight it, I'll spend most of today sleeping too. Depression is a horrible, hungry thing, that eats away at your ability to do things, your ability to want things. I am trying to give myself some grace in these tough times. I've never been good at that but I know I won't survive if I don't.

You should do the same. Show yourself some grace, some kindness, some comfort. Nobody else can do it like you.

When I work on a story, especially a longer one, I keep a list of questions that need answering if I want to finish the damn thing. They come in two categories: overarching and individual. Overarching questions are about the story as a whole. Individual questions are about scenes in the story and important moments within those scenes.

I answer these questions, both overarching and individual, at two points in my work. First I answer them before I begin writing. Then I answer them again when I get stuck.

When I get stuck, “writer's block” some might call it, that's my sign that something in the story isn't working anymore and I need to figure out what. Sometimes I haven't put enough thought into my setting details. Sometimes I need to develop a side character more. Sometimes, unfortunately, I just need sleep. (You are sleeping when you can, right? Dreams are story fuel so don't intentionally neglect it.)

I won't include all the questions I've come up with, because that list is long. But I'll share some of them to give you an idea for your own list.

• What details about the setting matter here?

• Why does the antagonist matter?

• What is the protagonist encouraged to do?

• What is the protagonist supposed to do?

• What are the side characters doing in this scene?

• What do the side characters, individually, want?

I might go deeper into some of these questions later. Especially the question about the side characters. I learned some interesting lessons about side characters while writing Friend of the Damned…

This week's recipe is Back of the Box Stew, modified from a recipe on the back of a Food Lion brand au gratin potatoes box. It's filling, easily modified and, if you're single like me, makes a lot of leftovers.

Back of the Box Stew

• 1 pound ground beef

• Box of dried au gratin potatoes

• Frozen or canned vegetables

• Can of stewed tomatoes (optional)

• Five cups of water

• Salt and pepper

• Slices of any cheese (optional)

Brown the ground beef in a very big skillet or pot. Add seasoning packet from the potatoes box and small amount of salt, then mix well. Add vegetables, dried potatoes, tomatoes if using them, and water. Cook for 30-40 minutes or until everything is tender. Check for seasoning. Serve as is or topped with cheese slices. Cheese slices are especially nice when reheating leftovers.

This recipe seems really easy to modify. I don't like tomatoes, for example, so I left them out when I first made this, and it came out great. Let me know how you make it your own.

I leave you with these two links:

A Nostalgic Look Back at Whimsigoth

And the source of the title, an 80s dark fantasy inspired playlist

I guess I'll let y'all go now. I hope you got something out of all my rambling.

Keep reading, and don't let the bastards get you down.