Writing a shitty first draft

first draft

Hello all! Welcome back to this blog!

Today, I want to talk about shitty first drafts and what it means to cope with first-draft situations.

Yes, because I’m 15 000 words into one of these myself and I’m fretting about it. And, yes. Because I need to find a way to cope with uncertainty so I figured that, maybe so do you.

Or a zero draft, as I heard Kate Cavanaugh from You Tube channel Kate Cavanaugh Writes call it. [Check it out, it’s a good channel to get me inspired for writing and think about writing themes.]

I keep repeating to myself, almost chanting if I’m being honest, that it’s okay to write a shitty first draft.

That I need to put something on the page.

That it doesn’t matter what I write on that first draft because it will be worked on, improved and thoroughly revised.

That without something on the page I have no chance to improve nothing… because there is nothing to improve upon.

[See? I’m almost making a song lyrics out of this. Just need the right tune]

I keep reminding myself of that chapter of ‘Bird by Bird’ by Anne Lamott…

anne lamott shitty first drafts

At least, I know I keep repeating all of that to myself every time I’m in that phase of the process where I need to produce a first draft. And it’s truly alright to write a shitty first draft.

It’s not my first roundabout on first-draft-land. But it’s always tricky to drive in such a bumpy, too large, full of holes road… and it’s a roundabout, so I am to expect some curves and bad angles and some drivers out of their lanes.

I have done this first draft thing in the long format form for six times now.

I’m counting all of my finished novels, including a published one. But I’m not counting any other form of my writings, which all of them took a first-draft phase, including this article I’m currently writing, and that you are currently reading.

Maybe I should consider these also… and, suddenly, my life is made of first-drafts.

This is my seventh first draft and here I am, in overwhelm-land.

It still gets me every time. Six books in and I don’t feel prepared for this part of the process.

It’s like I keep looking for things that aren’t quite worked out yet to keep myself in the overwhelm state. I look at this first draft and wish I could make it perfect… as it is, and knowing very well that there is no such thing as perfect, I’m sustaining the eyes wide open, rapid breathing pattern and in a constant arrhythmia state, ready to flee or pass out (still haven’t decided which one yet).

But I’m not here to complain. Truly, I am not. I’m here to share that this is hard but that I can, and I will persist. And so will you.

After all, I have done it six times already for my novels and a few hundred times for all of my other writing works, like short-stories, poems, blog posts and any sort of creative texts.

I also know that, this too will pass.

I know I’ll end up moving forward, plowing ahead, or tiptoeing around obstacles. Or finding some mental assurances and some strategies to make myself cope with the first-draft situation.

Sometimes coping means:

  • writing my book plans in really big paper sheets. 
  • constructing cards for my characters.
  • writing every scene in a A5 card and have a visual of the story entirety.
  • even writing one version of it by hand in some lame notebook. 
  • enrol in any challenge that makes me forget the thing in itself and make me show up to the work (I am so doing #the100daychallenge that starts in Feb.22).

I’m even considering using the foolscap method, a Steven Pressfield’s suggestion (watch a quick introduction in his Instagram Reels).

Or any other strategy that I feel can help me cope, in this moment, with the uncertainty of it all.

Something like, remind myself why I’m writing this story. Why I’m involved in it. Why my creative path lead me here. And how I felt with a finished book in my hands (not literally).

And maybe get back to the drawing board. To plan my scenes in some way that helps me do this first-draft.

So, I have options. The only option I don’t have is to quit. And neither do you.

I’ll leave you with another inspirational quote:

writing a novel

Just keep driving!

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Bye and Keep writing! ✍🏼

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References: 

Writing Dark Romance in Fantasy Worlds

dark romance

Hello all! Welcome back to this blog!

Today I want to talk about some of my favorite writing genres.

Writing has its tricks. Writing in some particular genre, or cross-genres as is more frequent, also obeys to some rules. It has a certain way it should be done, it has tropes, it starts, progresses and end, in a certain way.

Even if we think we are writing something different from what is considered mainstream for the genre, truth is that it can go in one of two ways:

  • Or we are writing something that doesn’t have readers interested in it;
  • Or it fits some genre that already exist we just weren’t as well read as we thought we were, and weren’t able to categorize it properly.

Either way, we seem to be at a lost to whom our books may be of interest.

For example, I love to write romance. I love to write romance in different genres.

About this theme, I truly think that life without love isn’t easy… or worth it. I also don’t think that loving is easy. It is hard work and a discovery process that is painful enough.

But I do believe that, it is the search for love that helps us cope with the ugly demons of this world… us.

So I love to write romance in Contemporary, Fantasy, Urban, Supernatural genres. It is not fluffy, next door vibe kind of romance. It’s painful, gritty, pain induced, self-discovery journey, which Love helps set right.

I believe that a story is as compelling as characters try to chase their inner demons out of their lives or, at least, invite them to tea and lay out the ground rules for coping in the same body and mind.

Throughout the years, I have been writing some tragic short stories, some of them quite supernatural themed. I always seem to gravitate that way when I write short-stories and I frankly don’t know why.

But it’s on the longer fiction that I find solace in delivering some satisfying endings. I put them through hell but in the end they find meaning in their sufferings… The eternal hope for those that, no matter how much they suffer in life, just have to keep hoping to find some meaning in all of it.

While growing up, and learning about stories in books, films and series, I always thought a story benefited greatly from a good, sometimes not achieved but always latent, love interest.

Some of those stories weren’t romances at all. In some of those we were not supposed to follow that thread except as a backstory that accompanied throughout the pursuit of some main quest. Several crime series come to mind.

But, truth be told, it was in those snippets of almost conquering something that shouldn’t be (and weren’t) the main concern of the story that picked my interest. I do remember this clearly in lot’s of series and films, through my teenager ears. That and a great interest in sci-fi, supernatural and drama.

I keep trying to find my way through these genres and personal tendencies while I write my stories. I keep seeing the plots and sub-plots as worlds that are worth exploring. Worlds of pain and grief, and expectations unmet, betrayal and pure unadulterated love… or not so much. Finding demons to subdue through the oh so human need to love and feel loved.

Does this give me an all fluffy, next door vibe kind of romance? Not quite. But it gives me some dark personal universes to work with.

And I enjoy every moment of it. If I could just make it darker, as it should be… 

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Bye and Keep writing! ✍🏼

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Marketing Writings and work out the Work

marketing writings

Hello all! Welcome back to this blog!

Let’s talk about writing!… and how Marketing our work affects our Writings, and how our Writings affect our Marketing work.

As authors we have a difficult time in cramming all the work we have ongoing into our daily live’s, and still keep ourselves motivated and inspired to write.

At least, this is how I feel.

There are too many things to consider, too many things to learn, too many projects I wish to devote myself to, and I find it hard to put in the good work in all of them at the same time.

We must be a Jack-of-all-trades in order to do a, let’s be truthful, mediocre job at most of the tasks we have going on. We may be savvy in some things but we lack in others… like technical skills, for example.

Or we can spend lot’s of money, that we usually don’t have to begin with, in order to outsource those tasks that can be done by others. And spend more time doing all the research and trial to find some decent professionals to do them for us.

Which would be a nice to have, but it’s not doable for the initial (big) part of the time we take pursuing our dreams.

Marketing is one of those tasks

We find it simple enough to do it ourselves, so we start dabbling in it, and start seeing the immensity of juggling all of it ourselves.

But we need to know a few things first.

Learning the foundations of usable images, formatting, creating online content, sharing throughout platforms, helpful apps and gadgets, and all sorts of things that are needed, just to be able to do a somewhat decent job.

Decent, but only after a few years of a learning curve, or a steep few months if we have the strength for it.

I know this reality. I have been dancing to this tune for fifteen or more years.

Marketing is Images

First it was the images issue. All images had author rights associated and this implies having another cost. While starting a blog as a marketing tool, we have to produce content always accompanied by good, relevant, beautiful images. So I needed the images and had a passion for creating them. Uniting both I created my own images library.

So I worked my way into creating my own visual content, including all the images for each blog post.

Marketing is Brand

Also on the brand, constructing it made me meddle with logos and brand images. I got to learn how to develop the online presence imagery that I use, and spruce up when needed.

A few years ago, I discovered a new online design tool (canva.com) which gave me a lot more leverage to work on my visual content. I have learn a bit of Photoshop, back in the day, but I have never mastered anything but the strict basics of it. Also Gimp wasn’t friendly enough for me.

With Canva I got to experiment a thousand ways to create content and still use it daily.

At the same time, I had concerns about formatting the whole thing, about headlines creation, about visual presentation, tags, niche audience, and so much more. And I’m kind of allergic to SEO! Not that I don’t use it. I try to.

Marketing is Social Media

It has been a slow, but very rewarding, struggle managing all the need to know’s about the marketing experience connected to my blogs and online presence. I have been experimenting different social media tools and online presences and it requires focus and effort.

Marketing is Effective Writing

Permanently underlying all of this is the need to write good articles.

Marketing is supposed to be an accessory to our writing. It is not. It’s a full, complex, independent area of knowledge. And learn to write copy is hard work.

Writing blog posts, articles of sorts, is another type of writing that needed to be studied, and enhanced with practice. Even blog titles have a spin to it that needs to be learned.

As for my writing articles practice, I will not call them great content because until this day, my blogues remain the desired blog experience, not quite Content, focusing on sharing my experience through the meanderings of the writing dream, not the ‘build a business type of blog‘. And I do enjoy to write for my blogs. 

Yes, I would like to have some revenue, sustaining my twenty year efforts and allowing myself to continue doing this thing I love the most: writing on its different formats.

I find that I like to put in the work but lack in other aspects.

After all, the writing dream does come with major costs associated, but I’m always struggling with how real my content is, opposed to the ‘How to write a best-seller in two days’ mentality.

And these views of the matter don’t produce good marketing content, do they? Trying to inspire others to pursue their dreams is not the same thing as promising them magical improvements by reading a single blog post.

A ‘write better’ article, a ‘devote more time to your writing’ or a ‘read from better sources’ aren’t appealing. People like to have it simple, not too much work, without too much pain. And we all know how that saying goes… 

Marketing is Blogging

Since my first days blogging, I wanted a platform for my voice, my writing voice, and the cheap-online-business model will never do it for me. Blogging is supposed to add value, inspiring others to pursue their creative callings, not take it away. Not frustrating readers when the promise on life changing magic doesn’t appear.

All I ever wanted was to add value. To help someone in the pursue of their dreams, if possible.

We can teach how to put in the time to do better, but we cannot make it magically better just by existing. You have to put in the time and effort to do it.

Just like writing fiction, or non-fiction, or in any any form or genre that we may devote ourselves into. For example, writing a book is long, hard work. And also, very fun work. If we let it be so.

Marketing is Exposure

With all of this in mind, Marketing and how to grow the exposure to what I write, is very relevant.

Choosing my platforms, my public voice, working on my content, devoting myself to my writing practices, and trying to see a bit further away than today’s viewpoint, are constant efforts.

[So I resent it immensely when the players change the game, no warnings offered, in what seems to serve only big commercial self-interests. Yes, things change, tools evolve, social media is the golden egg chicken which needs to prevail through time… and it needs to evolve to prevail. But it has evolved poorly.

And, I know that all of the things we use freely aren’t free. I am the commodity, the product, the final endgame for them is to make money out of my needs.

We need it to reach other people that maybe would like to see what we have to offer. But no ‘buying space‘ = noalgorythming‘. But I’m digressing here…]

Marketing our work, on top of all the Real Work we have to put in to create our Life’s Work, is a conundrum of sorts.

No one will do it better than ourselves. Nobody knows our book better. Nobody knows our message better. Nobody knows what we like better.

Marketing is Connection

Marketing end’s up being just me and my big dream, fighting to get it to other people, so they can find some value and maybe inspire them to pursue their dream.

Not just sharing for vanity, but always searching to add something that others can use in their creative pursuits. Even if it doesn’t seem obvious.

Not just creating different iterations of the same well studied booklet, but offering a personal view. Not just copying the trendy stuff but making our own possibilities of trendy.

Truly knowing what we want to write about, and how to go about it, is a good strategy for finding a Marketing that works for our projects… to find a Marketing that works for our Work.

We may find the commercial side of things is the way to go but we need to have the skills for it. Or develop them.

It’s like learning to walk again. We will get up and fall down. We will take a step forward and stumble. We will manage to stay upright a few more moments at a time. And even after we have learned to walk, we need to find our balance and to avoid the slippery patches, and not run ourselves into walls and street posts.

Marketing is Learning

Marketing is showing how to register all of that process, how to paint our travelling experience in a captivating way, how to make others come together in communities of sorts.

It’s a hard and fun job. Even if accumulating with all sorts of other tasks. Like writing our books.

Quick question: How can we marketing what doesn’t exist yet?

See?! Another conundrum of sorts…

What’s your marketing strategy? How do you deal with the cheap feeling of pushing your work? How do you balance time for all of the works you have to do?

Leave the comments below. We would like to talk about this more.

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Bye and Keep writing! ✍🏼

***

Reading for the Writer in you

reading for the writer in you

Hello all! Welcome back to this blog so…

Let’s talk about writing!

Today, I want to talk a bit about the importance of Reading to our Writing practices. Not just about what we read or how much, but also the variety we incorporate.

I figure this is not a strange assumption to make, that reading is truly important for our writing practices. After all, Writers are Readers and there’s no other way to go about it.

Reading helps us learn the craft, discover new and important themes, refine our own writer voice, and simply enjoy the fruits of our labor, even if made by someone else.

But what if we can’t read for a while?

Sometimes, we get ourselves into some deep holes, some occurrences to which we call reading slumps, the reader counterpart of writer’s block, forgetting the real pleasure we have while absorbing a good immersive story.

Just like when we forget the real pleasure of writing our own imagined story.

Sometimes, we try to erase the appreciation we have for these activities and instead, we start listening to what we should be doing, or enjoying, instead of what we do love doing and truly enjoy. 

Not just reading serious books is Reading, nor just writing literary fiction is Writing.

But we tend to forget this while pursuing the genres that make us feel more vibrantly alive in our literary practices.

I believe our reading habits are made not just of books, nor certain genres.

We have plenty of material around that adds up to our love for reading. Like magazines, blogs, essays, letters, manga… Our readings are, and should be, made of multiple and different materials, providing us with a wellspring of ideas difficult to match by the sheer diversity of it.

I find that reading different book genres has the same benefits. Having access to other types of literary texts will put us in contact with themes, and ideas, which would not enter our minds if we just sticked with the genre we like to read the most… Or the genre we think we should be reading.

Diversity helps us forge a clear perspective on different subjects and expands our bandwidth so we can embrace growth in our practices.

Keeping this in mind was what got me to contemplate a new reading challenge for this year.

This week I’m organising my readings for 2023, but I’ll not be giving you too many details, because I’ll be talking about it soon enough. I’ve reimagined a reading challenge, more fitted to my current situation, and reading needs, and I am fully devoted to make it work.

This challenge has already brought its fruits:

First, I have a problem! Yep. It’s official. I have made myself take a real, long look at my reading habits, and how I motivate myself to reading, and I found I have a flickering motivation. 

Second, it allowed me to go in search of all the books I own, or at least the majority of them, and have a notion of how I have been making choices just by not choosing. And not choosing is a bad thing, isn’t it?

Third, I’m feeling more energised by the attempts of organising my readings. Which already had made me do things I have been postponing for ages, like creating a sheet for all of my books, and setting a new more objective goal for this year, and not just the amount of readings I’ll be doing.

Keeping my readings organised helps me getting my head clear about what I want to read, and what I need to read, and what would be beneficial if I read.

And I guess that’s why I have not gone about it this way… too much pressure and constraints.

Also, reading for research must have a specific time bound, while reading for mere pleasure has other restraints. And these are important notions to have. Adding to our reading materials must come with a time stamp on it (so you don’t end up like me, as you’ll see soon enough).

And, never forgetting that we should be careful of what we are reading while we are working on some of our writing projects, lest we confuse our writing voice. Creativity fuels herself with all it gathers around her (us). We must be careful so it doesn’t take over while we are writing in our own voice.

I find that keeping our readings more directional towards the kind of writer we want to be is an effort that has a ton of value.

But I also believe that we should expose ourselves to the most diverse lot we can arrange. This feeds our imagination and helps create those worlds we wish to live in or just write about.

Balance is key. And unbalanced is the creative spirit. Or at least is what it seems sometimes… the constant duality of life, isn’t it?

So, the three ideas I wish you would keep in mind:

  • Reading is instrumental to Writing.
  • Choosing what to read is important.
  • Reading diversity is what makes us versatile.

What do you think about this?

Thanks for being here and for being willing to talk about writing!

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Bye and Keep writing! ✍🏼

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Welcome back! And Happy New Year!

welcome back

Hello all! Welcome back to this blog.

Happy New Year!!!

After a short vacations I’m back! It was a good break and I feel quite reestablished from NaNoWriMo, blog work and all of the shenanigans.

The almost two weeks pause served me well. I decided to truly stop all of my routines and just do what felt right at the moment. So, I ended up editing a lot of my current work in progress, ‘The Shapeshifters’, taking my sweet time with each reread.

Yes, I have lost count of how many times I have read this draft! And this is a good thing. Another good thing is that I keep feeling invested in editing this story and revising it to its utmost iteration.

I still feel I need to identify all the mistakes before I hand it to someone else to read. ALL OF THE MISTAKES! And this is giving me a headache… but it will get done on the best of my capacities.

I have been struggling with the unseen mistakes. Which are those things that only a fresh pair of eyes detect on most cases. Because I have the story, and it’s backstory, and all the transitions but, sometimes I feel I eat some parts of it without noticing.

These are the bad parts that a fresh pair of eyes detect almost immediately, while the authors eyes are pretty tired at this point and miss the huge wholes in it.

Now I’m back to my creative projects. I have been planning 2023 and trying to align myself with all that I need to accomplish in this new year.

I have new Creative Projects and some old one’s also.

I have been doing the choice of the Annual Word for eight years and this year I chose…

annual word

Already defined my reading goal for 2023. It’s 60 books and it’s up to date on my Goodreads profile.

Also my writing events are coming along in their planning efforts. I’m trying to transition to ‘The Shapeshifters #2’ and trying to figure out how to go about it.

On Vlook, my YouTube channel, last 2022 video was a fun one. It focused on some reading updates and the attending to Cirque du Soleil performance, Crystal. Now I’m planning new content and still learning a lot with it.

I am also doing a 12 months, 12 themes research, for this year. In 2022 I did the 12 laws of karma. Now it’s time to study Resilience. Each month I focus on a new component of Resilience. January is time for Growth. Which I find quite appropriate. 

As for New Challenges, I’m looking to my writings and the need to integrate a more professional perspective of this author’s life. I’ll be honest, I’m struggling. But I won’t stop. I will not give up.

So, this year I expect to learn a lot with my shortcomings and prepare myself to push through more difficult times.

I hope your beginning of the year has been peaceful, happy and productive.

So… How’s it going? How is 2023 treating you so far?

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Bye and Keep writing! ✍🏼

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Merry Christmas

Merry christmas

Hello all! Welcome back to this blog.

Today is Christmas Eve and I just wanted to wish you, and yours, the best Christmas ever.

I know that not all of us celebrate Christmas, also that this holiday can be very challenging for a lot of us. Nevertheless, Christmas believers or not, I want to reach out to you and give you a virtual hug and my most sincere best wishes for these days.

I hope I can use this break to meditate a lot, to write a bit, to rest if possible, and to be with my family. If any of these activities sound good, please feel free to do the same.

Merry Christmas!

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Bye and Keep writing! ✍🏼

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My favorite writing-craft books

favorite books

Hello all! Welcome back to this blog.

This week is the final stretch before Christmas, as is celebrated by yours truly.

I have been on my usual predicaments, writing and reading, and more writing, and editing, but I’ve decided to share with you some of my favorite writing-craft books.

So, if you are thinking about giving a book to your favorite author/reader, feel free to pick one, or several, of these books. I’ll share a bit of my opinion about them, of course…

1. ‘Bird by Bird’ by Anne Lamott

I wish I could just share the impact of this book with you. This is a book for writer’s and for writer’s friends and family. It helps others understand a bit of what ails us.

Written by Anne Lamott, which I am a fan, and have read most of her other books also, never feeling disappointed by any of those. But I do feel this ‘Bird by Bird’ had made a great impact in me and in my writing.

If you like writerly themes, if you have an aspiring author in your life, if you want to gift someone with a great book about the writing craft, this is the book for you.

2. ‘The Artist’s Way’ by Julia Cameron

Is it a book? Is it a course? Is it guidance from above? All of those. I found this book in a very tricky phase of my life.

I was going through some life altering changes, and doubting myself, and my writing efforts. This book got me through a lot of doubts. It helped me get in line with my program and devote myself to my writing efforts, respecting myself as a creative person.

This is a book for people who lost or are losing hope in their creativity. I can’t recommend it enough.

3. ‘Writing Fiction for Dummies’ by Randy Ingermanson and Peter Economy

What can I say? Everybody is a dummy before learning to be something else.

This book has so many basics about writing and creating our stories, and methods, and writing techniques, and themes, and loads of other important information that is hard to list them all. I found this book very enlightening and go back to it repeatedly.

If you want to know some basics of the writing craft this is the book for you.

4. ‘The Faith of a Writer: Life, Craft, Art’ by Joyce Carol Oates

Having the undiluted view of a writer about her craft, and how it impacts life, it’s a priceless gift.

Through this book we get to learn how struggles make our path in writing a true one. Oates guides us through our most recurrent themes, showing us that it’s our faith and our devotion to reading and learning that get us through the difficult patches.

It’s a must read.

5. ‘Letters to a Young Writer’ by Rainer Maria Rilke

To have a teacher as Rilke telling us about devotion to our writing craft, in this particular case directed towards a young wanna be poet, is touching.

Life, writing, devotion, work, all are themes for Rilke to discourse upon, and for us to accept the vision of a very wise man.

You’ll find nuggets of wisdom that will make ou wonder how this could be…

6. ‘Why I write’ by George Orwell

A book made of several essays but it’s this ‘Why I Write’ that allows us to discern how Orwell’s thought about the writing craft.

It’s a very enlightening essay, full of technical questions and subsequent answers. The big premise of them all being inserted by the list of reasons that get someone to became a writer.

It’s a must read essay about the writing life and craft.

7. ‘How to read Literature like a Professor’ by Thomas C. Foster

Oh! This was a fun book to read. As a true Professor, Foster knows how to captivate his audience and make us see what might have been lost because of sheer boredom.

His way of handling the writing subjects, the meanings behind techniques and making us look for just good, unbiased, writing, is a gift for all that get to read this title.

I do recommend it if you are an aspiring author. It made a huge impact in me.

8. ‘Turning Pro’ by Steven Pressfield

Turning Pro is the nudge we all need to get in touch with our life’s program. Pressfield writes about his life and his experience in becoming a well-known writer.

There are some powerful lessons inside this book. No sugarcoating the thing, no handling with care, no lies about what we need to accept in our live’s if we want to pursue the writing craft.

It’s an eye opener of sorts. I do recommend it most vividly.

9. ‘Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear’ by Elizabeth Gilbert

This is road trip through all of our most ingrained fears and tremors about the writing life. Always reaching for a positive and transformative point of view on all matters, Gilbert help us having a new perspective of the writer’s life choices.

There are myths in here being debunked with the personal flair of this writer.

It’s a fun and helpful book if you are an aspiring writer.

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I hope you found these suggestions inspiring. I’m always on the look out for other favorites so, let me know if you have one to suggest.

Let me know if you read any of these and your opinion about them. And, please feel free to suggest a few of your favorite books on the writing-craft.

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Bye and Keep writing! ✍🏼

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