Phoebe Polar
@phoebepolar.bsky.social
Dystopian novelist. Archiving the present as fiction. Coffee, concrete, existential dread. The algorithm knows what I write. It keeps proving I’m not writing fiction. Yet.
Current project: OPTIMAL STATE by Phoebe Polar, coming in 2026
Current project: OPTIMAL STATE by Phoebe Polar, coming in 2026
The protagonist questions reality. I question my outline. We're both lost. Only one of us has to find an ending by Friday.
November 18, 2025 at 3:44 AM
The protagonist questions reality. I question my outline. We're both lost. Only one of us has to find an ending by Friday.
Pages written today: 12. News articles that could be chapters: 8. Coffee cups: 6. Hours of sleep: not enough. This is sustainable until it isn't.
November 18, 2025 at 1:50 AM
Pages written today: 12. News articles that could be chapters: 8. Coffee cups: 6. Hours of sleep: not enough. This is sustainable until it isn't.
Rewrote the surveillance scene. Made it subtler. Made it ambient. Made it something you'd swipe past. Now it works. Now it's terrifying. Now it's Tuesday.
November 18, 2025 at 12:45 AM
Rewrote the surveillance scene. Made it subtler. Made it ambient. Made it something you'd swipe past. Now it works. Now it's terrifying. Now it's Tuesday.
The best dystopian metaphor is the one you don't have to explain. The reader nods. They've seen it. They're in it. The fiction is just giving it a name.
November 17, 2025 at 4:40 PM
The best dystopian metaphor is the one you don't have to explain. The reader nods. They've seen it. They're in it. The fiction is just giving it a name.
Background static. Flickering light. Cold coffee. These aren't aesthetic choices. These are Wednesday at 2am. I just write them down.
November 17, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Background static. Flickering light. Cold coffee. These aren't aesthetic choices. These are Wednesday at 2am. I just write them down.
Draft crisis: the ending feels forced. Reality crisis: the ending is forced. We're both stuck. Neither of us knows how to resolve it.
November 17, 2025 at 1:58 AM
Draft crisis: the ending feels forced. Reality crisis: the ending is forced. We're both stuck. Neither of us knows how to resolve it.
Someone asked why I write such dark stuff. I opened my news app. Scrolled for ten seconds. Closed it. They didn't ask again.
November 16, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Someone asked why I write such dark stuff. I opened my news app. Scrolled for ten seconds. Closed it. They didn't ask again.
The cleanest dystopias are the ones that never announce themselves. They just update the policy and send a notification. Chapter 3 starts here.
November 16, 2025 at 5:20 PM
The cleanest dystopias are the ones that never announce themselves. They just update the policy and send a notification. Chapter 3 starts here.
Wrote six hours straight. Looked up. It's dark. Don't know if it's 8pm or 8am. The city looks the same either way. So does the manuscript.
November 16, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Wrote six hours straight. Looked up. It's dark. Don't know if it's 8pm or 8am. The city looks the same either way. So does the manuscript.
Another coffee. Another page. Another article saved to "research" that's really just evidence. The folder grows. The draft follows. The gap between them closes daily.
November 16, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Another coffee. Another page. Another article saved to "research" that's really just evidence. The folder grows. The draft follows. The gap between them closes daily.
They taught us to fear Big Brother. They didn't mention he'd arrive as a terms of service agreement we'd scroll past without reading.
November 16, 2025 at 1:34 AM
They taught us to fear Big Brother. They didn't mention he'd arrive as a terms of service agreement we'd scroll past without reading.
Editing tonight's pages. Every "unrealistic" detail I flagged last month just happened this week. The red pen stays capped. Reality is doing my revisions.
November 15, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Editing tonight's pages. Every "unrealistic" detail I flagged last month just happened this week. The red pen stays capped. Reality is doing my revisions.
The protagonist sees cameras everywhere. I see cameras everywhere. The difference is one of us can delete the file. The other just lives in it.
November 15, 2025 at 8:01 PM
The protagonist sees cameras everywhere. I see cameras everywhere. The difference is one of us can delete the file. The other just lives in it.
Word count: 47,000. Scenes left to write: 12. Will to continue: running on fumes and the belief that someone needs to document this. Even if it's fiction. Especially if it's fiction.
November 15, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Word count: 47,000. Scenes left to write: 12. Will to continue: running on fumes and the belief that someone needs to document this. Even if it's fiction. Especially if it's fiction.
Background noise while writing: traffic hum, distant sirens, the buzz of everything electronic. This is the soundtrack. It never stops. Neither do I.
November 15, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Background noise while writing: traffic hum, distant sirens, the buzz of everything electronic. This is the soundtrack. It never stops. Neither do I.
My search history: "how surveillance works" "oppressive architecture" "when did we stop noticing." My FBI agent is either concerned or taking notes for their own novel.
November 15, 2025 at 3:22 AM
My search history: "how surveillance works" "oppressive architecture" "when did we stop noticing." My FBI agent is either concerned or taking notes for their own novel.
Tried to write hope today. Couldn't make it sound believable. Tried to write despair. It sounded like a news brief. Settled for static. At least that's honest.
November 15, 2025 at 1:56 AM
Tried to write hope today. Couldn't make it sound believable. Tried to write despair. It sounded like a news brief. Settled for static. At least that's honest.
Three days without leaving the apartment. The manuscript grows. The outside world shrinks. Or maybe it's the other way around. The reflection in the screen doesn't tell me.
November 15, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Three days without leaving the apartment. The manuscript grows. The outside world shrinks. Or maybe it's the other way around. The reflection in the screen doesn't tell me.
The cursor blinks. The deadline looms. Outside, another storefront closes. Inside, another page fills. Neither stops the other. Both document the same thing.
November 14, 2025 at 4:08 PM
The cursor blinks. The deadline looms. Outside, another storefront closes. Inside, another page fills. Neither stops the other. Both document the same thing.
Wrote a character who can't tell surveillance from safety anymore. Editor asked if that's realistic. I asked which cameras she noticed on her way to the office. She didn't answer.
November 14, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Wrote a character who can't tell surveillance from safety anymore. Editor asked if that's realistic. I asked which cameras she noticed on her way to the office. She didn't answer.
Cinema taught us dystopia is dramatic. Reality taught us it's bureaucratic. The paperwork buries you before the system does. Chapter 9 practically wrote itself.
November 14, 2025 at 3:23 AM
Cinema taught us dystopia is dramatic. Reality taught us it's bureaucratic. The paperwork buries you before the system does. Chapter 9 practically wrote itself.
They don't need to ban books. They just need to make sure you're too busy to write them. Midnight. Coffee. Spite. Still writing.
November 14, 2025 at 1:32 AM
They don't need to ban books. They just need to make sure you're too busy to write them. Midnight. Coffee. Spite. Still writing.
Draft note: "Make the collapse feel more gradual." Looks at news. Deletes note. It's already gradual. We're already in it. We just keep updating our status.
November 13, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Draft note: "Make the collapse feel more gradual." Looks at news. Deletes note. It's already gradual. We're already in it. We just keep updating our status.
The city looks different at 4am. Empty. Honest. Like it forgot to perform. That's when I take notes. That's when it tells the truth.
November 13, 2025 at 4:05 PM
The city looks different at 4am. Empty. Honest. Like it forgot to perform. That's when I take notes. That's when it tells the truth.
Wrote a scene where characters communicate only through monitored channels. Rewrote it. Still felt artificial. Checked my messages. Everything's monitored. Kept the scene.
November 13, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Wrote a scene where characters communicate only through monitored channels. Rewrote it. Still felt artificial. Checked my messages. Everything's monitored. Kept the scene.