she shakes the bones and tells a story

here. we. go.

[wordsnstuff]

Words and Phrases To Include In Your Sex Scenes

Appetite - 

craving, demand, gluttony, greed, hunger, inclination, insatiable, longing, lust, passion, ravenousness, relish, taste, thirst, urge, voracity, weakness, willingness, yearning, ardor, dedication, desire, devotion, enthusiasm, excitement, fervor, horny, intensity, keenness, wholeheartedness, zeal

Arouse - agitate, awaken, electrify, enliven, excite, entice, foment, goad, incite, inflame, instigate, kindle, provoke, rally, rouse, spark, stimulate, stir, thrill, waken, warm, whet, attract, charm, coax, fire up, fuel, heat up, lure, produce, stir up, tantalize, tease, tempt, thrum, torment, wind up, work up

Assault - attack, advancing, aggressive, assailing, charging, incursion, inundated, invasion, offensive, onset, onslaught, overwhelmed, ruinous, tempestuous, strike, violation, ambush, assail, barrage, bombard, bombardment, crackdown, wound Beautiful - admirable, alluring, angelic, appealing, bewitching, charming, dazzling, delicate, delightful, divine, elegant, enticing, exquisite, fascinating, gorgeous, graceful, grand, magnificent, marvelous, pleasing, radiant, ravishing, resplendent, splendid, stunning, sublime, attractive, beguiling, captivating, enchanting, engaging, enthralling, eye-catching, fetching, fine, fine-looking, good-looking, handsome, inviting, lovely, mesmeric, mesmerizing, pretty, rakish, refined, striking, tantalizing, tempting Brutal - atrocious, barbarous, bloodthirsty, callous, cruel, feral, ferocious, hard, harsh, heartless, inhuman, merciless, murderous, pitiless, remorseless, rough, rude, ruthless, savage, severe, terrible, unmerciful, vicious, bestial, brute, brutish, cold-blooded, fierce, gory, nasty, rancorous, sadistic, uncompromising, unfeeling, unforgiving, unpitying, violent, wild Burly – able-bodied, athletic, beefy, big, brawny, broad-shouldered, bulky, dense, enormous, great, hard, hardy, hearty, heavily built, heavy, hefty, huge, husky, immense, large, massive, muscular, mighty, outsized, oversized, powerful, powerfully built, prodigious, robust, solid, stalwart, stocky, stout, strapping, strong, strongly built, sturdy, thick, thickset, tough, well-built, well-developed Carnal - animalistic, bodily, impure, lascivious, lecherous, lewd, libidinous, licentious, lustful, physical, prurient, salacious, sensuous, voluptuous, vulgar, wanton, , coarse, crude, dirty, raunchy, rough, unclean Dangerous - alarming, critical, fatal, formidable, impending, malignant, menacing, mortal, nasty, perilous, precarious, pressing, serious, terrible, threatening, treacherous, urgent, vulnerable, wicked, acute, damaging, deadly, death-defying, deathly, destructive, detrimental, explosive, grave, harmful, hazardous, injurious, lethal, life-threatening, noxious, poisonous, risky, severe, terrifying, toxic, unsafe, unstable, venomous Dark - atrocious, corrupt, forbidding, foul, infernal, midnight, morbid, ominous, sinful, sinister, somber, threatening, twilight, vile, wicked, abject, alarming, appalling, baleful, bizarre, bleak, bloodcurdling, boding evil, chilling, cold, condemned, creepy, damned, daunting, demented, desolate, dire, dismal, disturbing, doomed, dour, dread, dreary, dusk, eerie, fear, fearsome, frightening, ghastly, ghostly, ghoulish, gloom, gloomy, grave, grim, grisly, gruesome, hair-raising, haunted, hideous, hopeless, horrendous, horrible, horrid, horrific, horrifying, horror, ill-fated, ill-omened, ill-starred, inauspicious, inhospitable, looming, lost, macabre, malice, malignant, menacing, murky, mysterious, night, panic, pessimistic, petrifying, scary, shadows, shadowy, shade, shady, shocking, soul-destroying, sour, spine-chilling, spine-tingling, strange, terrifying, uncanny, unearthly, unlucky, unnatural, unnerving, weird, wretched Delicious - enticing, exquisite, luscious, lush, rich, savory, sweet, tasty, tempting, appetizing, delectable, flavorsome, full of flavor, juicy, lip-smacking, mouth-watering, piquant, relish, ripe, salty, spicy, scrummy, scrumptious, succulent, tangy, tart, tasty, yummy, zesty Ecstasy - delectation, delirium, elation, euphoria, fervor, frenzy, joy, rapture, transport, bliss, excitement, happiness, heaven, high, paradise, rhapsody, thrill, blissful, delighted, elated, extremely happy, in raptures (of delight), in seventh heaven, jubilant, on cloud nine, overexcited, overjoyed, rapturous, thrilled Ecstatic - delirious, enraptured, euphoric, fervent, frenzied, joyous, transported, wild Erotic - amatory, amorous, aphrodisiac, carnal, earthy, erogenous, fervid, filthy, hot, impassioned, lascivious, lecherous, lewd, raw, romantic, rousing, salacious, seductive, sensual, sexual, spicy, steamy, stimulating, suggestive, titillating, voluptuous, tantalizing Gasp - catch of breath, choke, gulp, heave, inhale, pant, puff, snort, wheeze, huff, rasp, sharp intake of air, short of breath, struggle for breath, swallow, winded Heated - ardent, avid, excited, fervent, fervid, fierce, fiery, frenzied, furious, impassioned, intense, passionate, raging, scalding, scorched, stormy, tempestuous, vehement, violent, ablaze, aflame, all-consuming, blazing, blistering, burning, crazed, explosive, febrile, feverish, fired up, flaming, flushed, frantic, hot, hot-blooded, impatient, incensed, maddening, obsessed, possessed, randy, searing, sizzling, smoldering, sweltering, torrid, turbulent, volatile, worked up, zealous Hunger - appetite, ache, craving, gluttony, greed, longing, lust, mania, mouth-watering, ravenous, voracious, want, yearning, thirst Hungry - avid, carnivorous, covetous, craving, eager, greedy, hungered, rapacious, ravenous, starved, unsatisfied, voracious, avaricious, desirous, famished, grasping, insatiable, keen, longing, predatory, ravening, starving, thirsty, wanting Intense - forceful, severe, passionate, acute, agonizing, ardent, anxious, biting, bitter, burning, close, consuming, cutting, deep, eager, earnest, excessive, exquisite, extreme, fervent, fervid, fierce, forcible, great, harsh, impassioned, keen, marked, piercing, powerful, profound, severe, sharp, strong, vehement, violent, vivid, vigorous Liquid - damp, cream, creamy, dripping, ichorous, juicy, moist, luscious, melted, moist, pulpy, sappy, soaking, solvent, sopping, succulent, viscous, wet / aqueous, broth, elixir, extract, flux, juice, liquor, nectar, sap, sauce, secretion, solution, vitae, awash, moisture, boggy, dewy, drenched, drip, drop, droplet, drowning, flood, flooded, flowing, fountain, jewel, leaky, milky, overflowing, saturated, slick, slippery, soaked, sodden, soggy, stream, swamp, tear, teardrop, torrent, waterlogged, watery, weeping Lithe - agile, lean, pliant, slight, spare, sinewy, slender, supple, deft, fit, flexible, lanky, leggy, limber, lissom, lissome, nimble, sinuous, skinny, sleek, slender, slim, svelte, trim, thin, willowy, wiry Moan - beef, cry, gripe, grouse, grumble, lament, lamentation, plaint, sob, wail, whine, bemoan, bewail, carp, deplore, grieve, gripe, grouse, grumble, keen, lament, sigh, sob, wail, whine, mewl Moving - (exciting,) affecting, effective  arousing, awakening, breathless, dynamic, eloquent, emotional, emotive, expressive, fecund, far-out, felt in gut, grabbed by, gripping, heartbreaking, heartrending, impelling, impressive, inspirational, meaningful, mind-bending, mind-blowing, motivating, persuasive, poignant, propelling, provoking, quickening, rallying, rousing, significant, stimulating, simulative, stirring, stunning, touching, awe-inspiring, energizing, exhilarating, fascinating, heart pounding, heart stopping, inspiring, riveting, thrilling Need - compulsion, demand, desperate, devoir, extremity, impatient longing, must, urge, urgency / desire, appetite, avid, burn, craving, eagerness, fascination, greed, hunger, insatiable, longing, lust, taste, thirst, voracious, want, yearning, ache, addiction, aspiration, desire, fever, fixation, hankering, hope, impulse, inclination, infatuation, itch, obsession, passion, pining, wish, yen Pain - ache, afflict, affliction, agony, agonize, anguish, bite, burn, chafe, distress, fever, grief, hurt, inflame, laceration, misery, pang, punish, sting, suffering, tenderness, throb, throe, torment, torture, smart Painful - aching, agonizing, arduous, awful, biting, burning, caustic, dire, distressing, dreadful, excruciating, extreme, grievous, inflamed, piercing, raw, sensitive, severe, sharp, tender, terrible, throbbing, tormenting, angry, bleeding, bloody, bruised, cutting, hurting, injured, irritated, prickly, skinned, smarting, sore, stinging, unbearable, uncomfortable, upsetting, wounded Perverted - aberrant, abnormal, corrupt, debased, debauched, defiling, depraved, deviant, monstrous, tainted, twisted, vicious, warped, wicked, abhorrent, base, decadent, degenerate, degrading, dirty, disgusting, dissipated, dissolute, distasteful, hedonistic, immodest, immoral, indecent, indulgent, licentious, nasty, profligate, repellent, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, shameful, shameless, sickening, sinful, smutty, sordid, unscrupulous, vile Pleasurable - charming, gratifying, luscious, satisfying, savory, agreeable, delicious, delightful, enjoyable, nice, pleasant, pleasing, soothing, succulent Pleasure - bliss, delight, gluttony, gratification, relish, satisfaction, thrill, adventure, amusement, buzz, contentment, delight, desire, ecstasy, enjoyment, excitement, fun, happiness, harmony, heaven, joy, kick, liking, paradise, seventh heaven Rapacious- avaricious, ferocious, furious, greedy, predatory, ravening, ravenous, savage, voracious, aggressive, gluttonous, grasping, insatiable, marauding, plundering Rapture - bliss, ecstasy, elation, exaltation, glory, gratification, passion, pleasure, floating, unbridled joy Rigid - adamant, austere, definite, determined, exact, firm, hard, rigorous, solid, stern, uncompromising, unrelenting, unyielding, concrete, fixed, harsh, immovable, inflexible, obstinate, resolute, resolved, severe, steadfast, steady, stiff, strong, strict, stubborn, taut, tense, tight, tough, unbending, unchangeable, unwavering Sudden - abrupt, accelerated, acute, fast, flashing, fleeting, hasty, headlong, hurried, immediate, impetuous, impulsive, quick, quickening, rapid, rash, rushing, swift, brash, brisk, brusque, instant, instantaneous, out of the blue, reckless, rushed, sharp, spontaneous, urgent, without warning Thrust - (forward) advance, drive, forge, impetus, impulsion, lunge, momentum, onslaught, poke, pressure, prod, propulsion, punch, push, shove, power, proceed, progress, propel (push hard) assail, assault, attack, bear down, buck, drive, force, heave, impale, impel, jab, lunge, plunge, press, pound, prod, ram, shove, stab, transfix, urge, bang, burrow, cram, gouge, jam, pierce, punch, slam, spear, spike, stick Thunder-struck - amazed, astonished, aghast, astounded, awestruck, confounded, dazed, dazed, dismayed, overwhelmed, shocked, staggered, startled, stunned, gob-smacked, bewildered, dumbfounded, flabbergasted, horrified, incredulous, surprised, taken aback Torment - agony, anguish, hurt, misery, pain, punishment, suffering, afflict, angst, conflict, distress, grief, heartache, misfortune, nightmare, persecute, plague, sorrow, strife, tease, test, trial, tribulation, torture, turmoil, vex, woe Touch - (physical) - blow, brush, caress, collide, come together, contact, converge, crash, cuddle, embrace, feel, feel up, finger, fondle, frisk, glance, glide, graze, grope, handle, hit, hug, impact, join, junction, kiss, lick, line, manipulate, march, massage, meet, nudge, palm, partake, pat, paw, peck, pet, pinch, probe, push, reach, rub, scratch, skim, slide, smooth, strike, stroke, suck, sweep, tag, tap, taste, thumb, tickle, tip, touching, toy, bite, bump, burrow, buss, bury, circle, claw, clean, clutch, cover, creep, crush, cup, curl, delve, dig, drag, draw, ease, edge, fiddle with, flick, flit, fumble, grind, grip, grub, hold, huddle, knead, lap, lave, lay a hand on, maneuver, manhandle, mash, mold, muzzle, neck, nestle, nibble, nip, nuzzle, outline, play, polish, press, pull, rasp, ravish, ream, rim, run, scoop, scrabble, scrape, scrub, shave, shift, shunt, skate, slip, slither, smack, snake, snuggle, soothe, spank, splay, spread, squeeze, stretch, swipe, tangle, tease, thump, tongue, trace, trail, tunnel twiddle, twirl, twist, tug, work, wrap (mental) - communicate, examine, inspect, perception, scrutinize Wet - bathe, bleed, burst, cascade, course, cover, cream, damp, dampen, deluge, dip, douse, drench, dribble, drip, drizzle, drool, drop, drown, dunk, erupt, flood, flow, gush, immerse, issue, jet, leach, leak, moisten, ooze, overflow, permeate, plunge, pour, rain, rinse, run, salivate, saturate, secrete, seep, shower, shoot, slaver, slobber, slop, slosh, sluice, spill, soak, souse, spew, spit, splash, splatter, spout, spray, sprinkle, spurt, squirt, steep, stream, submerge, surge, swab, swamp, swill, swim, trickle, wash, water Wicked - abominable, amoral, atrocious, awful, base, barbarous, dangerous, debased, depraved, distressing, dreadful, evil, fearful, fiendish, fierce, foul, heartless, hazardous, heinous, immoral, indecent, intense, mean, nasty, naughty, nefarious, offensive, profane, scandalous, severe, shameful, shameless, sinful, terrible, unholy, vicious, vile, villainous, wayward, bad, criminal, cruel, deplorable, despicable, devious, ill-intentioned, impious, impish, iniquitous, irreverent, loathsome, Machiavellian, mad, malevolent, malicious, merciless, mischievous, monstrous, perverse, ruthless, spiteful, uncaring, unkind, unscrupulous, vindictive, virulent, wretched Writhe - agonize, bend, jerk, recoil, lurch, plunge, slither, squirm, struggle, suffer, thrash, thresh, twist, wiggle, wriggle, angle, arc, bow, buck, coil, contort, convulse, curl, curve, fidget, fight, flex, go into spasm, grind, heave, jiggle, jolt, kick, rear, reel, ripple, resist, roll, lash, lash out, screw up, shake, shift, slide, spasm, stir, strain, stretch, surge, swell, swivel, thrust, turn violently, tussle, twitch, undulate, warp, worm, wrench, wrestle, yank

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[ourinquisitorialness]

“Machiavellian.” That’s got to be a real specific kinkfic, man.

[amusewithaview]

@wahwahwaffles - because I keep tagging you in Chris Evans picsets.  

[ashleyfanfic]

Reblogging this so I don’t have to keep searching for it!

[fourtrishea]

Writing tidbits.

[bookishdiplodocus]

How to introduce yourself to a publisher

This is an essential step a lot of people have difficulties with. Whether it's a note to accompany your query or because a publisher asks for a statement of intent when they're holding open submissions, it doesn't really matter. You need to make clear why you and this publisher are such a great match.

Think of it as the question "Why do you want to work for us?" in a job interview or the similar question on a college application.

They want a personalized answer that tells them they're not one of three million publishers you're trying your luck with. Make sure to include details and reasons specific to that publisher, not a generic applies-to-most-just-insert-different-name statement.

Let me give you a template.

Introduction: You're (name), the author of (title), and you would like to take them on a journey of why you would love to be one of (publisher's name)'s authors.

Write a separate paragraph for each argument, at least 3-4 sentences long. Show them you did your research. Make sure the arguments are specific for them. (See below.)

End with thanking them for their time and rephrasing your wish to be one of (publisher's name)'s authors.

Great reasons:

You went through their website/catalogue and your book fits (one of) their genre(s). Specify genre and explain in 1-3 sentences. This is not the time for a synopsis, that's a separate document.

Your book is very similar to (other book or books on their list). Name the title(s) and briefly explain why they are similar. If there are more than three, say "among others" and just explain the three that match your book the closest.

Good reasons:

Your book's audience overlaps with their audience. Specify.

If you have a significantly big fan base, mention it. I don't mean the few hundreds or thousands who follow you on tumblr/ao3/twitter/... They want to hear if you have an established fanbase who would be easy to target, e.g. if you wrote a non-fiction book about tropical fish and your local tropical fish club has 900 members, or if you have a Facebook author page with thousands of followers, or if your email list has a lot of people on it. If you don't have a separate Facebook page, just your personal one, don't mention it. They want fans, not just friends and family.

You share the same values as the publisher. Specify and explain.

They have a list of specifications for authors and you fit (most) of them. Specify and explain.

Bad reasons:

You think they are "great", "unavoidable", "amazing" etc. (This reason is true for everyone who contacts them.)

You like to read their books. (Nice to hear, not a reason to publish your book though.)

You're a fan of one of their authors. (That makes you a customer, not a writer.)

You're in the same city/You share a first name with the publisher/... (Or some other irrelevant coincidence. Again, not a reason to publish your book.)

I hope this was helpful. Don’t hesitate to ask me any questions, and happy writing!

Follow me for more writing advice, or check out my other writing tips here. New topics to write advice about are also always appreciated.

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[writingquestionsanswered]

Hi! Do you have any tips for writing believable romance? I've seen a lot of "draw from your own experiences" advice but as an aroace my experience with irl romance is exactly zero.

I don't want to have the entire romance genre off-limits and I don't want to portray a weird skewed version of romance.

Thank you so much!

Writing a Believable Romance

Like most things in fiction, the metric for "believable" is what you lay out in the story, not anything in the real world.

Take insta-love for example... we love to say that insta-love isn't believable, but it happens all the time in the real world. Two teens meet at a party and are planning their future wedding three days later. Two people meet at a bar, then drive to Vegas the next weekend to get married. People meet on the job and have an instant connection. Insta-love isn't unbelievable, because love isn't about quantity of time spent together but quality of time spent together. What makes insta-love unbelievable in fiction is when there's no quality to the time the characters do spend together, because the writer doesn't take the time to show what the characters have in common, why they like each other, how they bond, and the subtle signs as they start to fall in love.

So, the number one rule for writing a believable romance is to make it believable within what you laid out. The reader needs to believe these characters have enough in common that they can form an initial bond. They need to like each other enough that they want to solidify that bond. They need to have chemistry as illustrated by the "subtle signs of love." That's what sells a romance.

As for writing a romance without experience, I have a link for that! ♥

Here are some posts that will help:

Guide: Creating Romantic Chemistry Guide: Characters Falling in Love Writing Romance without Experience The Subtle Signs of Romantic Interest and Love Transitioning Through Levels of Affection

I hope that helps!

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[perpetual-stories]

How to Write an Action Scene

Happy Thursday everyone! I decided to work on a different post today and take a break from posting literally essential devices.

Today this post will be all about action scenes and how to write them.

Let's get to it!

4 Types of Fight Scenes

First we need to learn that there are various types of fighting styles or rather common fighting scenes that we see in the media and in writing.

Fight scenes can take on many iterations, but most fall into one of four categories:

Hand-to-hand combat: These fight scenes focus on the abilities and limitations of the human body. Boxing matches, martial arts battles, and straight up brawls between the good guy and the bad guy all fit this category. While there’s more to these films than mere fist fights, they’re nonetheless remembered for the fighting styles they showcase.

Fights with weapons: Weapon-based fights date all the way back to classical theater. For instance, Shakespeare concludes Hamlet with a fatal sword fight between Prince Hamlet and the aggrieved Laertes. Contemporary fights often involve guns, and indeed nearly every action movie of the past several decades seems to involve a shootout of some sort.

Fights on the run: Many of the best fight scenes pass through multiple locations before reaching a climax. Think of Indiana Jones battling villains on a train or James Bond dispatching villains using all manners of cars, boats, and helicopters.

Fights involving superpowers: Many a great fight scene has functioned as a showcase for characters’ superpowers—from the superhuman strength of a main character to the shapeshifting menace of a supervillain. These fights can thrill audiences as they push the boundaries of possibility, but writers should take care to sculpt these scenes carefully and not let them devolve into a checklist of cool stunts.

The Challenges of Writing Action Sequences

The art of writing fight scenes involves two main challenges.

Technical writing style. Whether you’re writing descriptive paragraphs in a novel or stage directions in a script or screenplay, you must be able to articulate the fight you envision in your head without wearing down your reader with technical drivel. Balancing specific details of your action sequences with a propulsive story isn’t easy to do. Sometimes a great fight sequence doesn’t come together in a first draft, so focus your revisions on clarifying each action and providing vivid detail without besieging your reader with dull technical terms.

 Storytelling during fight scenes. Your fight scene has to be part of your overall narrative, not a diversion from it. The key elements of a good story—character development, rising conflict, and detailed worldbuilding—must not be abandoned just because a fight is happening. A great fight scene will flow seamlessly from the story that comes before it into the story that comes after it.

Remember the actual actions of fighting are quick and sudden movements and it is often best to portray that in your writing with quick, short sentences. Unless you feel the need to write lengthy sentences that is!

Tips on How to Write a Fight Scene

Plan fight scenes to logically fit with your overall story. Some amateur writers use fight scenes as irrelevant set pieces—fixed moments in a book or script that other plot elements center around. In the best writing, however, fight scenes serve the overall narrative, not the other way around. When evaluating a brawl or a battle showdown in your narrative, ask yourself: Does it move my story forward? Does its inclusion align with my main character’s motivations? Does the story naturally flow into and out of this brawl?

 Include some technical details, but not too many. When you’re putting a fight scene into a script, you’ll likely want to indicate some degree of choreography so that directors and actors can envision what you have in mind. Likewise, in a novel or short story, you’ll want your fight scenes to have specific detail so they stand out from the pack. At the same time, recognize that the way to a reader’s heart isn’t through minutia. It’s through long arcs in character and story. Bogging down a fight scene in technical details will distract from those arcs and disengage a reader.

 Write in first person to try something different. Most fight scenes are told in the third person by an omniscient narrator who can describe every detail from every character’s perspective. Omniscient narrators can be great for worldbuilding, but they’re standard issue when it comes to action scenes. By contrast, a first person narrator provides a visceral perspective on a fight. Which is more unique: a narrator telling you that a boxer gained the upper hand in a fight, or the boxer himself describing the sudden shift from imminent to defeat to looming victory? First person narration connects your story to real life and can promote a deeper level of investment from your reader.

Things to Consider When Writing Action Scenes

hand to hand combat are often quick sudden movements and can cause the characters to tire out faster, unless they have good training such as boxers, who know how to use their space, distance and energy wisely.

things can get messy! There will be blood and sweat. Remember these can get in the eyes and cause irritation ad prohibit the fighter from being at their best.

Contrary to beliefs, adrenaline will not always give you the boost you need. Sometimes it will inhibit you from moving or causing damage to your opponent. It can make the fighter shake, throw inaccurate punches, jabs, weapons, sorcery, etc. Sometimes the nerves get the best and prohibit the character from expelling spells from their hands/fingertips, wants or magic object.

Weapons can and will break. What will the characters do then?

If the character isn't the best at fighting, will they use objects around them to protect themselves? Will they fight or run (flight).

There you have it! Something different from what I have been posting.

Like, reblog and follow if you find these helpful!

[writingquestionsanswered]

Creating Darker Mood, Less Contrived Feel

(this ask is edited for clarity and length...)

Anonymous asked: Hello WQA! In my story, my characters travel around searching for objects that contain pieces of the bad guy, and battling the four horsemen of the apocalypse who are also after these objects. My issue is the plot feels too light, childish, and repetitive. There is external and internal conflict and my characters all have motivation, but I want the story to feel darker and more natural.

I think this is an ask that will benefit a lot of others, so I edited it down to be shorter and clearer. ♥ Here are some things you can do to make this story feel darker and less contrived…

1 - Give it a Darker Ambience - Never underestimate the power of ambience to make a story feel lighter or darker. Stories with a darker ambience tend to have darker imagery:

//outdoor scenes// nighttime, storms and rain, lightning and thunder, howling wind, foggy days, overcast or gloomy days, treacherous landscapes, crumbling ruins, abandoned buildings, dangerous animals or organisms present, darker landscape and set colors

putrid smells, mysterious or upsetting sounds

//indoor scenes// dark or dimly lit rooms, inside ruins or abandoned buildings, dirty/shabby interiors, inside caves or dungeons and other "grim" interiors

//little details// musty and putrid smells, mysterious or upsetting sounds, dust and cobwebs, shadows, human depravity or signs of it, evidence of an unwell or injured human, death and decay, fire and smoke, broken glass and splintered wood, moss and mold, flies and spiders (or other creepy crawlies), fog and mist, rumbling thunder, creaking doors

See: Horror by Darkness and Horror by Daylight

2 - Give Your Characters Dark Internal Conflicts - Your characters may have internal conflicts, but if they're lighthearted or the kinds of internal conflicts younger characters tend to deal with (coming of age stuff), it's going to make your story feel lighter and... as you put it in your original ask, more like a Disney movie. So, you're looking for darker internal conflicts, based on darker themes like guilt, revenge, hatred, grief/loss, greed, fear, addiction, anger, abuse, trauma, dangerous beliefs, jealousy, hunger for power, corruption, betrayal, manipulation, fear of failure, etc.

3 - Give Your Characters Darker Flaws - Internal conflict and flaws dovetail, so for darker internal conflicts, you need darker flaws. Antisocial, addiction, apathy, callousness, cruelty, cynicism, dishonesty, disloyalty, entitlement, fanaticism, greed, jealousy, hostility, impulsivity, impatience, insecurity, irrationality, manipulation, martyrdom, materialism, morbidity, narcissism, obsession, paranoia, pessimism, recklessness, self-destructive behaviors, selfishness, superstition, vanity, vindictiveness, victimization, volatility...

4 - Give Your Characters Darker Internal Wounds - Internal wounds (something that happened in the past and caused an emotional wound) are a breeding ground for internal flaws and internal conflict, so darker flaws and darker internal conflicts are usually the result of darker internal wounds. It can mean that a character has a tragic past or survived a trauma, but it doesn't have to. Being betrayed by a friend is a pretty dark emotional wound, but not necessarily a tragic or traumatic one. One of my favorite emotional wounds belongs to Cersei Lannister in A Song of Ice and Fire. It's summed up quite well by this quote about her childhood with her brother, which she says to Sansa Stark during the Battle of the Blackwater: “When we were young, Jaime and I, we looked so much alike even our father couldn’t tell us apart. l could never understand why they treated us differently. Jaime was taught to fight with sword and lance and mace, and l was taught to smile and sing and please. He was heir to Casterly Rock, and l was sold to some stranger like a horse to be ridden whenever he desired.”

Cersei's emotional wound is the result of the gender-based double standard she experienced as a child. Her twin brother, Jaime, served as an example of what her life could have been if only she'd been born a man. He was free to earn or take all the glory, success, and power that he wanted because of his gender, but she was shackled by duty because of her own gender. Whereas he could be a fighter, a knight, and essentially the "king" of his own castle, she was stuck being a pawn, a wife, a consort, and a mother. She didn't get a choice. As one journalist so effectively put it, she was "high-born chattel." And I guess you could say there's an element of tragedy and trauma to that, but not in the same way as being the lone survivor of a village destroyed by an angry ruler, for example.

5 - Creating a Less Contrived Feel - I think part of why your story may feel contrived is because it's probably really repetitive. They go to a place to find the object, fight the horsemen, move onto finding the next object. But I think there are ways you can vary this format a bit. I don't know how many objects there are, but let's say there are five... One thing you can do is make three of the objects relatively easy to find. Those are the ones where they learn where the object is, travel to it and locate it, inevitably fight the horsemen, and get the object. But maybe the other two aren't so easy to find... those those two are sort of like quests within quests, where instead of going directly to the object they have to complete a couple mini-quests to be able to even locate it. Like maybe they first need to talk to a wizard who will give them a key to an old castle, but he needs them to go to a dangerous bog can collect mushrooms first so he can create an enchantment that will make the key work. And then, in the bog, some horrible calamity befalls the group that they have to deal with before gathering the mushrooms and returning to the wizard.

That's probably a bad example because it does sound kinda like a video game (something you said you wanted to avoid), but hopefully you get the idea. The point is it breaks up the monotony of travel to object, find object, fight horsemen, get object, rinse, repeat. Not only does it include the "side quests" of finding the wizard and later the mushrooms--both of which provide your characters with new settings and new circumstances outside of the object/horsemen routine--but it also provides some "down moments" that don't have to take place while traveling to the next object. They're resting at the wizard's cottage, they can eat a hot meal, maybe sleep in a real bed or take a proper bath, patch up their wounds, and let down their guard for a little while. This lets you dive into character development a bit, maybe do a little character bonding or a little character growth. And if you stagger these events so that it's something like: easy object, easy object, multi-quest object, easy object, multi-quest object, you see how that breaks up the repetitive format a bit.

I hope that helps, and thanks in advance for letting me edit down your question to make it a little bit shorter and clearer. I definitely think this is an issue a lot of writers will deal with, especially those writing quest-based fantasy.

Have fun with your story!

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[gothiclygf]

Ew. I just found out people actually ship Mel and Jayce lol.

[moonsdancer]

We.

Absolutely 💯

Do

[thisislostinlace]

OP is going to have an absolute shit time watching in the future. There were so many clues that Mel and Jayce were going to be together and stay together.

I love to see it.

[boneshakerstales]

Of course, OP deleted their original post. Coward.

[merkstreet]

5 editor’s secrets to help you write like a pro

1. Sentences can only do one thing at a time.

Have you ever heard a four-year-old run out of breath before she can finish her thought? I edit a lot of sentences that work the same way. You need a noun, you need a verb, you might need an object. Give some serious thought to stopping right there.

Sentences are building blocks, not bungee cords; they’re not meant to be stretched to the limit. I’m not saying you necessarily want a Hemingway-esque series of clipped short sentences, but most writers benefit from dividing their longest sentences into shorter, more muscular ones.

2. Paragraphs can only do one thing at a time.

A paragraph supports a single idea. Construct complex arguments by combining simple ideas that follow logically. Every time you address a new idea, add a line break. Short paragraphs are the most readable; few should be more than three or four sentences long. This is more important if you’re writing for the Web.

3. Look closely at -ing

Nouns ending in -ing are fine. (Strong writing, IT consulting, great fishing.) But constructions like “I am running,” “a forum for building consensus,” or “The new team will be managing” are inherently weak. Rewrite them to “I run,” “a forum to build consensus,” and “the team will manage.” You’re on the right track when the rewrite has fewer words (see below).

(If for some insane reason you want to get all geeky about this, you can read the Wikipedia article on gerunds and present participles. But you don’t have to know the underlying grammatical rules to make this work. Rewrite -ing when you can, and your writing will grow muscles you didn’t know it had.)

4. Omit unnecessary words.

I know we all heard this in high school, but we weren’t listening. (Mostly because it’s hard.) It’s doubly hard when you’re editing your own writing—we put all that work into getting words onto the page, and by god we need a damned good reason to get rid of them.

Here’s your damned good reason: extra words drain life from your work. The fewer words used to express an idea, the more punch it has. Therefore:

Summer months Regional level The entire country On a daily basis (usually best rewritten to “every day”) She knew that it was good. Very (I just caught one above: four-year-old little girl)

You can nearly always improve sentences by rewriting them in fewer words.

5. Reframe 90% of the passive voice.

French speakers consider an elegantly managed passive voice to be the height of refinement. But here in the good old U.S. (or Australia, Great Britain, etc.), we value action. We do things is inherently more interesting than Things are done by us. Passive voicemuddies your writing; when the actor is hidden, the action makes less sense.

Bonus: Use spell-check

There’s no excuse for teh in anything more formal than a Twitter tweet.

Also, “a lot” and “all right” are always spelled as two words. You can trust me, I’m an editor.

Easy reading is damned hard writing. ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

[uwuboowoo]

Hi! @aerynwrites and I are interested in organizing a Jayce Talis appreciation week ❤️

This is an interest check, would you all be interested in making this happen?

Anon is on! Also, if you are interested, you can tell us any ideas you might have for the prompts ❤️

Also uuuhh please reblog this so it can reach more people, PLEASE.

[boneshakerstales]

There's already a Jayce Talis appreciation week in play, @jaycetalisweek2022 so this seems redundant.

Also rather odd that you saw fit to tag all sorts of non-canon Jayce ships but couldn't be bothered to tag MelJay/JayMel, his actual canon ship. If the intent is to appreciate Jayce, surely including that pairing would make as much sense as including the others? Perhaps you intend to do a JayVik or a Jayce ships that do not include Mel Week, which is fine if that's the case but always best to be upfront with it.

[uwuboowoo]

I legit forgot to tag it 🤐 also the besties and I found out later that there was an ongoing week 🤙😩 but thank you

[boneshakerstales]

Ah okay, thanks for clarifying and I am sorry if I came off as an ass tbh, I was overly aggressive and made assumptions of you and @aerynwrites I shouldn't have. Tbh, Jayce deserves all the appreciation given how much crap he gets so I hope we'll see plenty more for him in the future and people being supportive.

[uwuboowoo]

Hi! @aerynwrites and I are interested in organizing a Jayce Talis appreciation week ❤️

This is an interest check, would you all be interested in making this happen?

Anon is on! Also, if you are interested, you can tell us any ideas you might have for the prompts ❤️

Also uuuhh please reblog this so it can reach more people, PLEASE.

[boneshakerstales]

There's already a Jayce Talis appreciation week in play, @jaycetalisweek2022 so this seems redundant.

Also rather odd that you saw fit to tag all sorts of non-canon Jayce ships but couldn't be bothered to tag MelJay/JayMel, his actual canon ship. If the intent is to appreciate Jayce, surely including that pairing would make as much sense as including the others? Perhaps you intend to do a JayVik or a Jayce ships that do not include Mel Week, which is fine if that's the case but always best to be upfront with it.

[weltraum-vaquero]

I feel like Jayce is just really good at sucking dick/eating pussy

Oh absolutely.

Like, have you seen him? He’s a people pleaser through and through. Of course he’s going to get off on his partner’s pleasure, and the fact that he’s a kinesthetically well-versed person definitely helps.

[boneshakerstales]

We do see him enthusiastically eat Mel out. At least twice. And she clearly saw stars. And he enjoyed doing it.

[cinephiles-delight]

The Killing Joke: What Arthur Fletch Finds So Funny

     Just as any other film, television series, animation, or comic book produced after The Dark Knight, Joker (and specifically Joaquin Phoenix’s performance) will necessarily be held up against what has come to be accepted as the gold standard of Heath Ledger’s unsettling and timeless portrayal of the clown prince of crime.  While I could argue the merits of both legendary actor’s turns filling the shoes of Mister J in terms of performance, technique, etc., what I find infinitely more interesting is to examine the shift in the philosophical stance of the character between the two screen incarnations.

     The general consensus amongst fans and critics alike is that Ledger’s Joker was a searing satire of and critique on the orderly, structured world he saw around him: people behaving in manners that conformed to paper-thin ethical standards that would degrade in the face of overwhelming pressure.  He claims–as the Killing Joke Joker did–that “all it takes is a little push” for people to abandon their moral sentiments and revert to sheer self-interest and chaos.  Ledger’s Joker was essentially fulfilling the archetype of the trickster god, reminiscent of Bugs Bunny or Loki, who wants to demonstrate the absurdity of the rules to those who consider themselves beholden to them by trapping said people in logical and moral puzzles that are a direct result of the contradictions inherent in the system: loopholes, if you will.  His fulfillment of the archetype is demonstrated by the final ferry sequence, the money burning, the Rachel/Harvey choice, etc.

     Phoenix’s Joker, on the other hand, comes across as rather motiveless and random, denying us even an albeit twisted logic by which to understand his actions and thought processes: he kills for sport, for vengeance, in retribution for real or imagined slights, or quite simply because he thinks it’s funny.  He rejects the idea that society even functions on a set of shared rules, and takes the absurdity of the system as grounds for refuting it’s existence entirely.  In this Phoenix becomes the pure nihilist Joker: the archetypal drifter-killer with no agenda and no reason to explain his madness and violence–just rage, insanity, and a freedom from ties to any sense of morality at all.  The degree to which this philosophy was brought to the character even on the level of acting cues can be seen in Phoenix’s tendency as Arthur Fleck to break into spontaneous and chaotic pseudo-dances at seemingly inappropriate or even random times–here, both the cause of the action and the action itself lack an internal logic by which to understand them.

     While claiming to be the ultimate embodiment of chaos, Ledger’s Joker could never truly live up to that epithet, because in attempting to use the contradictions of humanity’s purported civilization and societal rules to prove their own absurdity, he reifies their existence.  We see Ledger’s Joker engage in such behavior several times in The Dark Knight, for example in the scene where Ledger kidnaps the characters of Rachel and Harvey Dent, demanding that Batman make the terrible decision to save one and let the other die.  Ledger’s Joker believes that he has constructed an impossible situation in order to demonstrate to Batman that making value judgements of one human life against another are ultimately arbitrary, and that no matter the outcome the agent’s choice cannot, by human standards, be a moral action.  However in doing so he both acknowledges the role of the value of human life in public consciousness and seems to, by utilizing the contradictions of utilitarianism, reaffirm its salience.  On the opposite side of the equation, Phoenix’s Joker simply denies the existence of rules or governing moral principles altogether, and quite simply doesn’t care what anyone else thinks.

     Ledger’s Joker fails in his own nihilistic agenda by adopting an agenda in the first place.  By striving to win over others (namely Batman) to his point of view, he implicitly acknowledges that there exists a superior and objectively correct point of view: his.  Whereas in Joker, we see Arthur completely forgo any intentionally malicious scheming designed to manipulate humans into defying their own moral codes; he instead simply chooses to ignore their existence altogether, operating as he wishes when he wishes with no thought as to the decency or civility of his actions (though paradoxically he does blame the lack of civility in society for contributing to his crumbling psyche).  Arthur doesn’t try to convince anybody of anything, because ultimately he doesn’t think it matters.  The only person he ever even appears to “lecture” to, Murray, he kills at the conclusion of his speech!  This suggests that his entire ostensibly “rhetorical” outburst on the show was more of a twisted confession in search of or as a completion of his process of personal catharsis than any attempt to demonstrate to others the depravity of society.

     For these reasons I–personally–think that Joaquin Phoenix and Todd Phillips delivered a much scarier and much more existentially horrifying Joker than Ledger and Nolan ever did.  Ledger defied our understanding of right and wrong, but did so within a conventional framework, playing by the rules.  Arthur Fletch simply refuses to even admit the existence of a system in the first place, playing a game unbeholden to a rule system of any kind, lacking even the slightest veneer of an internal logic.  It is that which makes our blood run cold.

     Now there are those who would claim that Arthur Fleck isn’t a proper nihilist, and that he’s actually just a depraved psychopath with an ill-formed mind and the means to kill.  They would cite, for example, that almost all of his killings stem from personal slights against him: the boys who mocked him on the subway, his mother who did nothing to stop his father’s abusing him, Murray who mocked him on the show, Randall who tried to get him fired, etc.  I think the answer to this protest boils down to the fact that while those may be the primary “motives” for his violent acts, this logic fails to comment on how Arthur perceives the morality of his actions.  

     While you could argue that Arthur feels “justified” in his killings because of the wrongs these people have inflicted against him, the more correct answer lies elsewhere.  The impetus for his killing may very well be the instinctual feelings of indignation, rage, and hurt pride that accompany the pernicious acts of those around him, but he doesn’t view his killings as morally good.  He doesn’t even view them as justified: he just thinks they’re funny.  Consider the example of the drunk yuppie Wayne Enterprises boys that Arthur guns down on the subway.  In his interview with Murray, Arthur admits that he finds the boys’ deaths to be incredibly funny, and as a principle reason for the humor he cites this: the boys were mourned and wept over because they were affluent, because they were Wayne employees, because Thomas Wayne mourned them on the news.  But if it were Arthur that was gunned down on the sidewalk, he asks us to consider how many of us would simply walk right over him (a line written down in his journal right above the “cents” joke).  What he seems to find so overwhelmingly funny about this is that it’s a crystallization of the fact that humanity is all tied up in a grand, cosmic joke that, because he is removed from it, Arthur can find humor in.  The “joke”, in his eyes, is humanity’s use of moral codes as a way to define proper and improper manners of living.  He posits that if such moral codes did, in fact, exist then they would command those obedient to them to answer Arthur’s question by stating that they would mourn his death just the same as that of the rich boys.  But of course… this isn’t what happens.  And so Arthur laughs.  The parable of the drunk subway boys reveals humanity’s willingness to bend, break, and ignore morality when it is convenient for them to do so.  The irony here is that the inescapable conclusion to be drawn from this malleability of right and wrong is that there is no such thing.  But Arthur is the only one who can see this.  So in his final line of the film, he very simply responds to the psychiatrist’s request to hear his joke with the only answer he can give: “you wouldn’t get it”.

     Many critics have bashed Joker for coming off as meandering or even aimless, which I think is really a pointless criticism of a movie fundamentally about pointlessness.  If we judge a film as “good” only by its slavish narrative devotion to character-driven causality, then a character piece about a fundamental moral nihilist with no reasoning or motivation to define his actions by must necessarily appear to be a slow, meaningless, or even boring movie.  They claim that because Arthur seems to have an incoherent or rambling view of society which he is impotent to express–save for in the sad, impish ramblings of a madman masking profundity in a child’s vocabulary–the film lacks purpose and fails to take a definite stance on contemporary issues/state of affairs.  This argument is nonsensical, like trying to use a ruler to measure the passage of time: it’s a faulty metric.  The film, barring a few instances (everything with regards to the pharmaceutical industry and treatment of mental illness), on the whole isn’t trying to say anything about modern Western society: it’s a micro-level examination of how a man could come to completely abandon every moral tenet we hold dear, including belief in the existence of moral tenets at all.

     Finally, I’d like to make an interesting observation with regards to the motif of that one particular staircase that Arthur must climb to reach his apartment building.  At the opening of the film Arthur trudges his way up the staircase: it’s nighttime and the scene is lit with various cool, blue hues reflecting the depths of his depression and feelings of hopelessness.  As he struggles to reach the top of the stairs he clutches in his hand a bag of prescriptions, literally weighing him down.  What we’re presented with via this striking mise en scene is the portrait of a mentally ill man trying desperately to conform to the behavioral and emotional expectations of a society that was not designed for the mentally ill.  His medications, representative of his struggle to maintain a normal life, become the literal and emotional baggage that he must carry through his days.  As he writes in his journal: “the worst part about having a mental illness is that people expect you to behave as if you don’t”.  However, when Arthur finally completes his transformation and adopts the persona of the Joker, letting go of his desire to fit into a world that never had a place for him, opting to remove himself from its laws completely, we see him return to this very same staircase and his demeanor is completely changed.  This time it’s in the middle of the day: the sun is shining down brightly and warmly on Arthur–himself dressed in resplendent red, yellow, and orange hues–as he literally dances down the stairs, letting gravity do the work for him.  A literal, visual interpretation of Heath Ledger’s Joker’s claim that “madness is like gravity”.  This representation of insanity as a journey of mental emancipation is reflected in both The Dark Knight and the comic The Killing Joke, where in the latter the Joker specifically refers to insanity as: “the emergency exit on life… You can just step outside and close the door on all those dreadful things that happened”.  The Killing Joke Joker frames insanity as a letting go, as a liberation from the difficulties of life and an induction into a new, unrestricted way of living. This is exactly the transformation that Arthur undergoes throughout the course of Joker–living is no longer a chore…  it’s a dance.

[residentgoodgirl]

[aphony-cree]

this is why I love this joke:

Jesus was fond of telling his followers not to worry about how they’d afford food tomorrow because God would provide. But Jesus told them this while handing out free bread and encouraging them to help people who were in need, making them the outlet through which God would provide for others

My mother was a waitress, we live in an area that has a lot of Christians and people would often stiff her on tips. Instead they’d leave a pamphlet with quotes from Jesus saying not to worry because God would provide

Jesus’ message was never that God would magically put food on people’s tables. God would provide opportunities to help each other, like the boat captains offering to help the dying man. That only works if people actually help each other

When I first heard this joke as a teenager I laughed at the guy who didn’t take the help that was offered to him. As an adult, I think of all the Christian politicians who vote against food stamps and I want to tell them “You were the boat captain but you steered away from the man in need instead of offering him help. Is that really what God wanted you to do?”

[ironwoman359]

^^^

[the-writers-society-deactivated]

7 Unreliable Narrators to Twist Your Next Plot

It’s an encouraging thought.

There are more unreliable narrators in literature than we could discuss in a single article. That’s great news for you because your options as the all powerful creator of dastardly characters (or “writer” if you’re into being humble) just blew wide open.

Here are the best of the infinite to get you started.

The best surprise endings hinge on one thing—the unreliable narrator. Unreliable narrators come in rainbow varieties. And they’re the secret weapon behind those memorable plot twists that wow readers and get published.

Whether he’s a skilled liar or just naive, the unreliable narrator doesn’t tell the full story. This is the perfect plot twist recipe. Why? Because the key information your unreliable narrator holds back is the same key information you’ll unleash on your reader in the big reveal.

Here you’ll get seven character types to add to your arsenal. And at the end you’ll get tips for creating that subtly deceiving narrator for the twist your reader never saw coming. Mix and match to make it your own. Or feel free to steal what works and make up the rest.

Ready for the lineup? Here we go!

#1: The Self-Preservationist

The self-preservationist is a deliberate liar. He might lie to save his life. He might lie to escape a sticky situation. Either way, his side of the story is suspect. Which means, of course, the whole story is suspect.

Known Self-Preservationist: Verbal Kint, The Usual Suspects. Verbal Kint, the soft-spoken small time criminal, is the only survivor of a boat explosion. During the after-disaster police interrogation, Verbal tells the convoluted story of how he and four fellow criminals ended up on that boat, the victims of legendary crime boss and criminal mastermind Keyser Söze. The story is purely Verbal’s say so which makes it all too easy for it to be a great big lie. The twist? It is. After the police interrogator releases Verbal from custody, he finds an unlikely number of details from Verbal’s story in photos and documents hanging throughout the interrogation room where Verbal spun his tale. Yes, this means his story was a lie. But that’s not the biggest reveal in this mind-blowing tale. I’ll leave that final detail for your viewing pleasure. You’re welcome.

What Makes Verbal the Self-Preservationist? The self-preservationist lies to save himself. If Verbal told the truth about how he ended up in the boat explosion, he’d never leave that interrogation room.

Why It Works: In the final scene we’re left wondering if anything Verbal said was true. We realize we know as little about what really happened as the police interrogator does. You’ll want to watch the movie again with the reveal in mind, but it won’t feel like the same movie. It’s one of the most masterfully pulled off and memorable plot twists.

#2: The Sympathy-Seeker

The sympathy-seeker plays on our emotions. His lies are all about gaining sympathy. He wants us to see him as the good person in his tale. Or, at least, not all bad. That’s a great reason to lie. And a greater reason for you to suspect his tale.

Known Sympathy-Seeker: Humbert Humbert, Lolita. Humbert is a middle-aged man obsessed with 12-year-old Lolita. He narrates his story of abduction, coercion, and rape while awaiting trial. He takes us through his remorse, his genuine affection for Lolita, and speculates on the childhood experiences that may have caused his pedophilia. Although his admission of guilt makes it easier to believe the rest of his tale—after all why lie about anything if he’s so willing to share his ugliest secret?—Humbert wants forgiveness. And that is a reason to lie. We never hear Lolita’s side of the story. So who really knows what’s true?

What Makes Humbert the Sympathy-Seeker? Humbert did a brief stint in a mental hospital. That and his attraction to prepubescent girls could qualify him as The Psycho type. The difference is in his motivation for telling his story. Humbert is The Sympathy-Seeker because his desire for sympathy drives his tale.

Why it works: The surprise ending is subtle in Lolita. There is no big reveal on par with The Usual Suspects. Because Lolita is a literary tale rather than a commercial blockbuster, the burden of understanding lies with the reader. As a reader, then, you’ll only note how shaky Humbert’s tale really is if you spot that Humbert is an unreliable narrator. That subtlety works in Lolita because Nabokov wants to keep the reader thinking about the story long after she’s closed the book. But what if you’re going for a show stopping blockbuster plot twist? Draw attention to the lies in the tale for a big reveal instead.

#3: The Insomniac

The insomniac doesn’t lie on purpose. The gaps in his tale result from psychic exhaustion. But intentions don’t matter when it comes to the big reveal because it’s those gaps that leave room for the twist.

Known Insomniac: “Jack” the unnamed narrator, Fight Club. Jack is an emotionally constipated insomniac. He joins support groups for diseases he doesn’t have to get the emotional release he needs to fall sleep. Everything changes when he meets Tyler Durden, a spontaneous moonlighter who is everything our narrator wants to be. Tyler drags Jack into recreational fighting, terrorist activity, and a relationship with an emotionally damaged woman who ultimately helps Jack achieve transcendence. Fight Club is a wild ride from start to finish. And even the most jaded audience members didn’t see this plot twist coming—that Jack and Tyler are really the same man.

What makes Jack the Insomniac? Jack’s insomnia creates lost time or hours Jack can’t account for. What was he doing in those hours? The answer is obvious in the big reveal: he was Tyler Durden. Fight Club author, Chuck Palahniuk, pulled this off brilliantly. How? He distracted us before we ever thought to ask the question. The end result is the killer Fight Club plot twist. Every time Jack thought he was zoning out on the couch at night, Tyler was really using their shared body to get into trouble.

Why it works: Sleep deprivation wreaks havoc on the psyche. It’s not a far leap from insomnia to psychotic break. Insomnia and its side effects affect perception. That vulnerable psyche creates an excellent plot twist device because anything could have happened. That makes it easy for you, the author, to explain what really happened in the big reveal. Presto plot twist.

#4: The Hallucinator

Like The Insomniac, The Hallucinator’s vulnerable psyche renders his version of events unreliable. But be careful with The Hallucinator. Used without care, this type borders on that “it was all a dream” taboo—a major no-no in fiction. But if you foreshadow hallucinatory tendencies in your story, The Hallucinator can help you pull off a powerful plot twist.

Known Hallucinator: Sarah, The Descent. Sarah’s spelunking trip goes wrong when the cave entrance collapses behind her and five companions. If that weren’t scary enough, the women uncover a band of flesh-eating cave people who threaten their survival. After Sarah seemingly escapes the cave, we learn that her escape sequence was a hallucination. Turns out she’s really still in the cave, oblivious to oncoming disaster.

What Makes Sarah the Hallucinator? This one is pretty obvious. Sarah hallucinates her happy ending. The plot twist—that she never escaped the cave and is about to be devoured by flesh-eating cave people—is a direct result of her hallucinations.

Why It Works: Some critics argue that this plot doesn’t work. But we can’t blame Sarah for that. The story still packs a wallop surprise. It’s tough to fault someone who hit her head and saw heaven. The Hallucinator still works for plot twists because you can’t believe what she says. Don’t let the naysayers deter you. Any of the unreliable narrators, if used poorly, can come off as a cheap ploy. Try including hints that your character has experienced hallucinations before. This will keep the it-was-all-a-dream reveal from feeling like an deus ex machina let down.

#5: The Embellisher

Like The Sympathy-Seeker and The Self-Preservationist, The Embellisher lies on purpose. Unlike other narrators, though, everyone likes The Embellisher. That’s because The Embellisher’s lies are good natured. Like grandpa’s stories of Paul Bunyan and Johnny Appleseed, we love The Embellisher and his fantastical tales.

But while we may listen intently and love his tales, we can’t believe a word he says.

Known Embellisher: Pi, Life of Pi. After a shipwreck at sixteen years old, Piscine Molitor “Pi” Patel is trapped on a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean with a tiger he calls Richard Parker. Middle-aged Pi relates his survival story with an embellishment of fantastical details, including his growing relationship with the tiger, Richard Parker. Pi told the same tale to the ship company owners after his rescue. The owners don’t believe his version of events, though, and further prompting forces Pi to relate the truth. That he witnessed his mother’s murder. That he was alone on that lifeboat in the ocean, not knowing if he would survive. That Richard Parker, the tiger, was really Pi’s shadow self—feral, savage, and afraid.

What Makes Pi the Embellisher? Pi tells a variety of tall tales before the shipwreck story. But that isn’t enough. He’s The Embellisher because the plot twist in Life of Pi hinges on these embellishments.

Why It Works: Many of the embellished elements parallel the story’s more realistic events, like his mother’s murder. It’s natural for an imaginative man to deal with trauma the way he deals with life—with his vivid imagination. In this way the psychological elements, and the resulting plot twist, feel true to the character. In other words, the twist works because Pi tells imaginative tales the moment we meet him. It’s not a surprise when we learn that the main plot is also invented. This foreshadowing prevents the twist from feeling gimmicky.

#6: The Memory-Repressor

The Memory-Repressor lies to himself more than he lies to us. But it’s never on purpose. His experiences are so traumatic he’d rather forget them. He’s a sympathetic character. So when his memories finally surface for the surprise ending, we just feel for him.

Known Memory Repressor: Charlie, The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Charlie, a new high school freshman, suffers from emotional and psychological issues. His journal entries relate memories of his favorite aunt on the day she died. But it’s clear that something isn’t quite right with these memories and Charlie’s associated feelings. In the end, we learn that Charlie’s aunt molested him. Because of his affection for her, Charlie repressed these memories.

What Makes Charlie the Memory-Repressor? We explore Charlie’s memories alongside him. We know only what he knows. But when the repressed memories surface, our view of the story changes alongside Charlie’s. What we thought was the story wasn’t. Even without Charlie’s struggle with depression and loss, the nature of the repressed memories alone makes the reveal at the end feel genuine and true to character.

Why It Works: Charlie remembers his aunt during stressful sexual encounters. The association between the two foreshadows the revelation at the end. The Perks of Being a Wallflower author, Stephen Chbosky, also demonstrates Charlie’s psychological turmoil throughout the story. Things like depression and loss hint that something isn’t quite right. As readers, we’re waiting for something to be revealed. And this sets us up to accept the revelation. The results are believable because anyone would want to repress such a traumatic memory.

#7: The Psycho

The Psycho doesn’t have to be clinically psychotic, but it helps. Want to go subtle with the Psycho? Get loose with the definition. Maybe your character’s form of psychosis is a simple anxiety disorder, for example. But anxiety can cause her to lose consciousness at a critical moment. Maybe she has PTSD, which distracts her from a critical piece of plot information. Whatever psychological flaw you give her, make sure she misses something that you can reveal in the twist.

Known Psycho: Patrick Bateman, American Psycho. Patrick commits murder after grisly murder between office hours as a Manhattan investment banker. What spurs him to murder? A little envy and a lot of psychotic rage. After a whirlwind bloodbath spree, where Bateman slaughters prostitutes, lovers, homeless men, pets, and police vehicles, he attempts to confess his crimes only to learn that maybe he hasn’t committed any at all.

What Makes Patrick Bateman The Psycho? In Bateman’s case, The Psycho title is straightforward. And the foreshadowing? What? Murder isn’t enough? Then you’ll be pleased the foreshadowing doesn’t stop there. Bateman sees things normal people would know weren’t real. Like when the ATM machine readout says “feed me a stray cat,” for example, we start to question the events of the story as Bateman sees them. Did the events really happen or were they just the product of a disturbed mind? What separates Bateman from The Hallucinator is his extensive psychological disturbance. The psychosis that feeds the twist isn’t just about his hallucinations. With Patrick Bateman at the helm, a twisted plot is expected. And yet, the possibility that he imagined these murders still comes as a surprise.

Why it Works: It’s no surprise that Bateman is crazy. Whether he committed the crimes or fantasized about them, murder sprees are not the musings of a healthy man (unless, of course, he’s a writer). His unstable mind makes the twist easy to believe. This story, for all its faults, succeeds because you’re not quite sure which is true at the end.

#8 (Bonus!): The Fool

The fool isn’t dumb, but he is naive. His childlike perceptions help him see through the social constraints that color most people’s perceptions. He is unblemished by experience or society’s expectations. He is painfully honest, charming in his authenticity, and doesn’t lie just to save face or protect other people’s feelings. He’s an innocent just starting out on his journey, and he lacks the social wisdom of the more experienced.

But his too-honest-and-innocent outlook makes it impossible to trust his version of events because he misses key elements of every situation.

Known Fool: Huck, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Huck is an orphan in antebellum Missouri. His abusive alcoholic father kidnaps Huck from his foster family, not for love but to claim Huck’s found fortune. Huck’s father imprisons him in a secluded cabin before trying to stab him to death. But Huck escapes with Jim, a runaway slave. Huck and Jim’s adventures down the Mississippi River give Huck author, Mark Twain, the opportunity to highlight the social problems of Huck’s time, particularly slavery.

What Makes Huck The Fool? Huck is disarmingly naive when it comes to social expectations and norms. He often misses the point and doesn’t understand jokes. Mostly this just creates funny situations where the reader gets the joke and Huck doesn’t. But his naivety also makes him an unreliable narrator. Because he doesn’t always fully understand situations, we can’t always trust that his view of things would match ours. Still it’s his naivety and inherently good perspective that makes Huck immune to the rationalizations of slavery. And he makes us think twice about things we take for granted as well.

Why it Works: Like Nabakov’s Lolita above, Mark Twain’s unreliable narrator creates less of a grand finale plot twist than a subtle dramatic irony. When Huck takes horrible poetry seriously. When he questions the apologetic moralizing that attempted to rationalize slavery. When he sacrifices himself for a slave when no one else would. Or when he decides that a heaven in which he can’t cuss or smoke is no kind of heaven for him. Huck’s actions and perspective highlight the truly manipulative side of social training. It works because it makes readers think twice about what’s really going on in the story. And maybe what’s happening isn’t what you think. Again, literature with a capital “L” focuses less on blockbuster plot twists. But you can still use The Fool to pull off the blockbuster plot twist all the same. How you use your unreliable narrator is up to you.

Try This:

Choose an unreliable narrator from this list. It’s okay to choose one at random. (Quick! Think of a number between one and eight. What number did you think of? Scroll up and find that number in the list above. There’s your character. Easy, right?)

Jot down ten ways that character can hold back key information in your next plot. The stupider the ideas, the better. This is just brainstorming after all. Choose your favorite three ideas from the list and stick them into your draft. Anywhere. First drafts are supposed to look like this, I promise.

Jot down ten ways you could demonstrate or foreshadow that your unreliable narrator is unreliable. Use that list to foreshadow your narrator’s unreliability. Then use these ideas to hide key information. Foreshadow your heart out. And once you have your Frankenstein novel, with ugly bits sticking out here and there, smooth it out with a revision. This writing stuff is easy (says a possibly unreliable narrator. Dun-dun-duuuuuuuun!).

I hope this helped! If you haven any questions or just want to talk, feel free to visit my ask box!!!

[ariaste]

I LOVE UNRELIABLE NARRATORS <3333333333333

[zephyrzeitgeist]

[ladydragon1316]

This needs to be framed on my wall!

[himluv]

Some real advice. Thanks for letting me know I’m on the right track, Neil!

[thewritershandbook]

[avelera]

Useful if this is how you think, though often I don’t see the outline until after the draft is written, because after awhile one just internalize this kind of stuff from all the media one ingests. Point is, use if helpful, ignore if not.

[sharpestrose]

Another suggestion for anyone interested: because one of my weaknesses as a writer is sustaining narrative momentum, I’ve recently started using this mystery novel breakdown as a template, even though mystery/detective isn’t the genre I write in. It’s really useful as a way to keep track of what the story needs at a given moment in terms of balance and character.

[wordsnstuff]

Words and Phrases To Include In Your Sex Scenes

Appetite - 

craving, demand, gluttony, greed, hunger, inclination, insatiable, longing, lust, passion, ravenousness, relish, taste, thirst, urge, voracity, weakness, willingness, yearning, ardor, dedication, desire, devotion, enthusiasm, excitement, fervor, horny, intensity, keenness, wholeheartedness, zeal

Arouse - agitate, awaken, electrify, enliven, excite, entice, foment, goad, incite, inflame, instigate, kindle, provoke, rally, rouse, spark, stimulate, stir, thrill, waken, warm, whet, attract, charm, coax, fire up, fuel, heat up, lure, produce, stir up, tantalize, tease, tempt, thrum, torment, wind up, work up

Assault - attack, advancing, aggressive, assailing, charging, incursion, inundated, invasion, offensive, onset, onslaught, overwhelmed, ruinous, tempestuous, strike, violation, ambush, assail, barrage, bombard, bombardment, crackdown, wound Beautiful - admirable, alluring, angelic, appealing, bewitching, charming, dazzling, delicate, delightful, divine, elegant, enticing, exquisite, fascinating, gorgeous, graceful, grand, magnificent, marvelous, pleasing, radiant, ravishing, resplendent, splendid, stunning, sublime, attractive, beguiling, captivating, enchanting, engaging, enthralling, eye-catching, fetching, fine, fine-looking, good-looking, handsome, inviting, lovely, mesmeric, mesmerizing, pretty, rakish, refined, striking, tantalizing, tempting Brutal - atrocious, barbarous, bloodthirsty, callous, cruel, feral, ferocious, hard, harsh, heartless, inhuman, merciless, murderous, pitiless, remorseless, rough, rude, ruthless, savage, severe, terrible, unmerciful, vicious, bestial, brute, brutish, cold-blooded, fierce, gory, nasty, rancorous, sadistic, uncompromising, unfeeling, unforgiving, unpitying, violent, wild Burly – able-bodied, athletic, beefy, big, brawny, broad-shouldered, bulky, dense, enormous, great, hard, hardy, hearty, heavily built, heavy, hefty, huge, husky, immense, large, massive, muscular, mighty, outsized, oversized, powerful, powerfully built, prodigious, robust, solid, stalwart, stocky, stout, strapping, strong, strongly built, sturdy, thick, thickset, tough, well-built, well-developed Carnal - animalistic, bodily, impure, lascivious, lecherous, lewd, libidinous, licentious, lustful, physical, prurient, salacious, sensuous, voluptuous, vulgar, wanton, , coarse, crude, dirty, raunchy, rough, unclean Dangerous - alarming, critical, fatal, formidable, impending, malignant, menacing, mortal, nasty, perilous, precarious, pressing, serious, terrible, threatening, treacherous, urgent, vulnerable, wicked, acute, damaging, deadly, death-defying, deathly, destructive, detrimental, explosive, grave, harmful, hazardous, injurious, lethal, life-threatening, noxious, poisonous, risky, severe, terrifying, toxic, unsafe, unstable, venomous Dark - atrocious, corrupt, forbidding, foul, infernal, midnight, morbid, ominous, sinful, sinister, somber, threatening, twilight, vile, wicked, abject, alarming, appalling, baleful, bizarre, bleak, bloodcurdling, boding evil, chilling, cold, condemned, creepy, damned, daunting, demented, desolate, dire, dismal, disturbing, doomed, dour, dread, dreary, dusk, eerie, fear, fearsome, frightening, ghastly, ghostly, ghoulish, gloom, gloomy, grave, grim, grisly, gruesome, hair-raising, haunted, hideous, hopeless, horrendous, horrible, horrid, horrific, horrifying, horror, ill-fated, ill-omened, ill-starred, inauspicious, inhospitable, looming, lost, macabre, malice, malignant, menacing, murky, mysterious, night, panic, pessimistic, petrifying, scary, shadows, shadowy, shade, shady, shocking, soul-destroying, sour, spine-chilling, spine-tingling, strange, terrifying, uncanny, unearthly, unlucky, unnatural, unnerving, weird, wretched Delicious - enticing, exquisite, luscious, lush, rich, savory, sweet, tasty, tempting, appetizing, delectable, flavorsome, full of flavor, juicy, lip-smacking, mouth-watering, piquant, relish, ripe, salty, spicy, scrummy, scrumptious, succulent, tangy, tart, tasty, yummy, zesty Ecstasy - delectation, delirium, elation, euphoria, fervor, frenzy, joy, rapture, transport, bliss, excitement, happiness, heaven, high, paradise, rhapsody, thrill, blissful, delighted, elated, extremely happy, in raptures (of delight), in seventh heaven, jubilant, on cloud nine, overexcited, overjoyed, rapturous, thrilled Ecstatic - delirious, enraptured, euphoric, fervent, frenzied, joyous, transported, wild Erotic - amatory, amorous, aphrodisiac, carnal, earthy, erogenous, fervid, filthy, hot, impassioned, lascivious, lecherous, lewd, raw, romantic, rousing, salacious, seductive, sensual, sexual, spicy, steamy, stimulating, suggestive, titillating, voluptuous, tantalizing Gasp - catch of breath, choke, gulp, heave, inhale, pant, puff, snort, wheeze, huff, rasp, sharp intake of air, short of breath, struggle for breath, swallow, winded Heated - ardent, avid, excited, fervent, fervid, fierce, fiery, frenzied, furious, impassioned, intense, passionate, raging, scalding, scorched, stormy, tempestuous, vehement, violent, ablaze, aflame, all-consuming, blazing, blistering, burning, crazed, explosive, febrile, feverish, fired up, flaming, flushed, frantic, hot, hot-blooded, impatient, incensed, maddening, obsessed, possessed, randy, searing, sizzling, smoldering, sweltering, torrid, turbulent, volatile, worked up, zealous Hunger - appetite, ache, craving, gluttony, greed, longing, lust, mania, mouth-watering, ravenous, voracious, want, yearning, thirst Hungry - avid, carnivorous, covetous, craving, eager, greedy, hungered, rapacious, ravenous, starved, unsatisfied, voracious, avaricious, desirous, famished, grasping, insatiable, keen, longing, predatory, ravening, starving, thirsty, wanting Intense - forceful, severe, passionate, acute, agonizing, ardent, anxious, biting, bitter, burning, close, consuming, cutting, deep, eager, earnest, excessive, exquisite, extreme, fervent, fervid, fierce, forcible, great, harsh, impassioned, keen, marked, piercing, powerful, profound, severe, sharp, strong, vehement, violent, vivid, vigorous Liquid - damp, cream, creamy, dripping, ichorous, juicy, moist, luscious, melted, moist, pulpy, sappy, soaking, solvent, sopping, succulent, viscous, wet / aqueous, broth, elixir, extract, flux, juice, liquor, nectar, sap, sauce, secretion, solution, vitae, awash, moisture, boggy, dewy, drenched, drip, drop, droplet, drowning, flood, flooded, flowing, fountain, jewel, leaky, milky, overflowing, saturated, slick, slippery, soaked, sodden, soggy, stream, swamp, tear, teardrop, torrent, waterlogged, watery, weeping Lithe - agile, lean, pliant, slight, spare, sinewy, slender, supple, deft, fit, flexible, lanky, leggy, limber, lissom, lissome, nimble, sinuous, skinny, sleek, slender, slim, svelte, trim, thin, willowy, wiry Moan - beef, cry, gripe, grouse, grumble, lament, lamentation, plaint, sob, wail, whine, bemoan, bewail, carp, deplore, grieve, gripe, grouse, grumble, keen, lament, sigh, sob, wail, whine, mewl Moving - (exciting,) affecting, effective  arousing, awakening, breathless, dynamic, eloquent, emotional, emotive, expressive, fecund, far-out, felt in gut, grabbed by, gripping, heartbreaking, heartrending, impelling, impressive, inspirational, meaningful, mind-bending, mind-blowing, motivating, persuasive, poignant, propelling, provoking, quickening, rallying, rousing, significant, stimulating, simulative, stirring, stunning, touching, awe-inspiring, energizing, exhilarating, fascinating, heart pounding, heart stopping, inspiring, riveting, thrilling Need - compulsion, demand, desperate, devoir, extremity, impatient longing, must, urge, urgency / desire, appetite, avid, burn, craving, eagerness, fascination, greed, hunger, insatiable, longing, lust, taste, thirst, voracious, want, yearning, ache, addiction, aspiration, desire, fever, fixation, hankering, hope, impulse, inclination, infatuation, itch, obsession, passion, pining, wish, yen Pain - ache, afflict, affliction, agony, agonize, anguish, bite, burn, chafe, distress, fever, grief, hurt, inflame, laceration, misery, pang, punish, sting, suffering, tenderness, throb, throe, torment, torture, smart Painful - aching, agonizing, arduous, awful, biting, burning, caustic, dire, distressing, dreadful, excruciating, extreme, grievous, inflamed, piercing, raw, sensitive, severe, sharp, tender, terrible, throbbing, tormenting, angry, bleeding, bloody, bruised, cutting, hurting, injured, irritated, prickly, skinned, smarting, sore, stinging, unbearable, uncomfortable, upsetting, wounded Perverted - aberrant, abnormal, corrupt, debased, debauched, defiling, depraved, deviant, monstrous, tainted, twisted, vicious, warped, wicked, abhorrent, base, decadent, degenerate, degrading, dirty, disgusting, dissipated, dissolute, distasteful, hedonistic, immodest, immoral, indecent, indulgent, licentious, nasty, profligate, repellent, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, shameful, shameless, sickening, sinful, smutty, sordid, unscrupulous, vile Pleasurable - charming, gratifying, luscious, satisfying, savory, agreeable, delicious, delightful, enjoyable, nice, pleasant, pleasing, soothing, succulent Pleasure - bliss, delight, gluttony, gratification, relish, satisfaction, thrill, adventure, amusement, buzz, contentment, delight, desire, ecstasy, enjoyment, excitement, fun, happiness, harmony, heaven, joy, kick, liking, paradise, seventh heaven Rapacious- avaricious, ferocious, furious, greedy, predatory, ravening, ravenous, savage, voracious, aggressive, gluttonous, grasping, insatiable, marauding, plundering Rapture - bliss, ecstasy, elation, exaltation, glory, gratification, passion, pleasure, floating, unbridled joy Rigid - adamant, austere, definite, determined, exact, firm, hard, rigorous, solid, stern, uncompromising, unrelenting, unyielding, concrete, fixed, harsh, immovable, inflexible, obstinate, resolute, resolved, severe, steadfast, steady, stiff, strong, strict, stubborn, taut, tense, tight, tough, unbending, unchangeable, unwavering Sudden - abrupt, accelerated, acute, fast, flashing, fleeting, hasty, headlong, hurried, immediate, impetuous, impulsive, quick, quickening, rapid, rash, rushing, swift, brash, brisk, brusque, instant, instantaneous, out of the blue, reckless, rushed, sharp, spontaneous, urgent, without warning Thrust - (forward) advance, drive, forge, impetus, impulsion, lunge, momentum, onslaught, poke, pressure, prod, propulsion, punch, push, shove, power, proceed, progress, propel (push hard) assail, assault, attack, bear down, buck, drive, force, heave, impale, impel, jab, lunge, plunge, press, pound, prod, ram, shove, stab, transfix, urge, bang, burrow, cram, gouge, jam, pierce, punch, slam, spear, spike, stick Thunder-struck - amazed, astonished, aghast, astounded, awestruck, confounded, dazed, dazed, dismayed, overwhelmed, shocked, staggered, startled, stunned, gob-smacked, bewildered, dumbfounded, flabbergasted, horrified, incredulous, surprised, taken aback Torment - agony, anguish, hurt, misery, pain, punishment, suffering, afflict, angst, conflict, distress, grief, heartache, misfortune, nightmare, persecute, plague, sorrow, strife, tease, test, trial, tribulation, torture, turmoil, vex, woe Touch - (physical) - blow, brush, caress, collide, come together, contact, converge, crash, cuddle, embrace, feel, feel up, finger, fondle, frisk, glance, glide, graze, grope, handle, hit, hug, impact, join, junction, kiss, lick, line, manipulate, march, massage, meet, nudge, palm, partake, pat, paw, peck, pet, pinch, probe, push, reach, rub, scratch, skim, slide, smooth, strike, stroke, suck, sweep, tag, tap, taste, thumb, tickle, tip, touching, toy, bite, bump, burrow, buss, bury, circle, claw, clean, clutch, cover, creep, crush, cup, curl, delve, dig, drag, draw, ease, edge, fiddle with, flick, flit, fumble, grind, grip, grub, hold, huddle, knead, lap, lave, lay a hand on, maneuver, manhandle, mash, mold, muzzle, neck, nestle, nibble, nip, nuzzle, outline, play, polish, press, pull, rasp, ravish, ream, rim, run, scoop, scrabble, scrape, scrub, shave, shift, shunt, skate, slip, slither, smack, snake, snuggle, soothe, spank, splay, spread, squeeze, stretch, swipe, tangle, tease, thump, tongue, trace, trail, tunnel twiddle, twirl, twist, tug, work, wrap (mental) - communicate, examine, inspect, perception, scrutinize Wet - bathe, bleed, burst, cascade, course, cover, cream, damp, dampen, deluge, dip, douse, drench, dribble, drip, drizzle, drool, drop, drown, dunk, erupt, flood, flow, gush, immerse, issue, jet, leach, leak, moisten, ooze, overflow, permeate, plunge, pour, rain, rinse, run, salivate, saturate, secrete, seep, shower, shoot, slaver, slobber, slop, slosh, sluice, spill, soak, souse, spew, spit, splash, splatter, spout, spray, sprinkle, spurt, squirt, steep, stream, submerge, surge, swab, swamp, swill, swim, trickle, wash, water Wicked - abominable, amoral, atrocious, awful, base, barbarous, dangerous, debased, depraved, distressing, dreadful, evil, fearful, fiendish, fierce, foul, heartless, hazardous, heinous, immoral, indecent, intense, mean, nasty, naughty, nefarious, offensive, profane, scandalous, severe, shameful, shameless, sinful, terrible, unholy, vicious, vile, villainous, wayward, bad, criminal, cruel, deplorable, despicable, devious, ill-intentioned, impious, impish, iniquitous, irreverent, loathsome, Machiavellian, mad, malevolent, malicious, merciless, mischievous, monstrous, perverse, ruthless, spiteful, uncaring, unkind, unscrupulous, vindictive, virulent, wretched Writhe - agonize, bend, jerk, recoil, lurch, plunge, slither, squirm, struggle, suffer, thrash, thresh, twist, wiggle, wriggle, angle, arc, bow, buck, coil, contort, convulse, curl, curve, fidget, fight, flex, go into spasm, grind, heave, jiggle, jolt, kick, rear, reel, ripple, resist, roll, lash, lash out, screw up, shake, shift, slide, spasm, stir, strain, stretch, surge, swell, swivel, thrust, turn violently, tussle, twitch, undulate, warp, worm, wrench, wrestle, yank

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[ourinquisitorialness]

“Machiavellian.” That’s got to be a real specific kinkfic, man.

[amusewithaview]

@wahwahwaffles - because I keep tagging you in Chris Evans picsets.  

[ashleyfanfic]

Reblogging this so I don’t have to keep searching for it!

[fourtrishea]

Writing tidbits.

[bettsfic]

things i’ve learned as a slush reader

in the past month, i’ve read over 200 submissions for the literary organizations i volunteer with, and i want to share some of the stuff i’ve learned about writing as a slush reader.

(a slush reader is someone who reads submissions, and either declines them or pushes them through for editors/judges to make a final decision on whether or not a story will be published.)

a rejection does not mean you are a bad writer or that you’ve written a bad story. it’s all chaos. there’s no rhyme or reason to any of it. i was chosen as a reader for these publications because my personal taste in literature jived with the editors. that’s all it comes down to – personal taste. if your taste doesn’t match the taste of the slush readers, you’re not going to get published. there is no way you can predict that, so all you can do is keep writing and keep submitting and hope your work aligns with someone who gets what you’re trying to do. that said, there are some across-the-board things that are worth noting:

your story should be doing some kind of Work. what is the intention of your piece? what are you trying to comment on, explore, or do? it doesn’t have to be concise or obvious or complex, it can be literally anything in any way, but if you’re writing something just for the sake of getting published, or to validate yourself, it’s going to be pretty obvious to readers. that is not to say that self-validating work is not valuable, or that a story cannot be both Doing Something and self-validating, but readers want to see that you have something to say, some work to do other than, “i want to be a good writer.” 

readers will probably have made their decision by page 4. probably sooner than that depending on the quality of the writing. that means you have (if you’ve written in 12pt serif font and double-spaced, and please dear god, do these things unless you’re intentionally playing with form) about a thousand words to engage a reader. if you’ve written a short story, personal essay, or novel excerpt (sorry, cannot speak for poetry), this means your core conflict needs to have been introduced by this point and headed in some kind of direction. to put it more clearly: i need to know what’s going on. elusiveness is not your friend. i want to know: 1) who is the main character, and 2) what do they want? if you do not have these things established by page 4, your work might still be an early draft.

caveat being, of course, if you’re writing experimentally, in which case i hope you’ve submitted to an experimental publication. but there’s a big difference in good experimental vs bad experimental writing, and that is:

write with intention. intention is the difference between dancing alone in your bedroom and becoming a ballerina. both forms of dance might be good, you might be an innately talented dancer alone in your bedroom, but choreographed dancing takes discipline and practice. when it comes to writing, every sentence needs to be chosen to determine if it works for the piece. this is unfortunately one of the hardest parts about writing.

take risks. my least favorite stories are the ones that make me think, this has been done before. having to read hundreds of stories means repetition – i see the same themes over and over (white man feeling conflicted about cheating on his wife), the same writing styles (purple prose run-on sentences), the same characters (middle-class english teachers). i want to read words i don’t expect about stories i’ve never thought of. i want to see confidence in creativity. i want to see writing that acknowledges convention and destroys it for something better. show me newness, ingenuity, artistic expression. show me the stuff you’re afraid to write for fear of ridicule – that’s the stuff that gets published.

THE WORLD WANTS TO HEAR FROM FANFIC WRITERS. when i volunteered with one publication, the application involved a list of the last 15 novels i’d read. and i thought, i don’t want this gig if i can’t be brutally honest, so you bet your ass i put fanfic on there. i was accepted within a day. when i’ve told my writing mentors that i write fanfic, their faces have all lit up in excitement and they have a ton of questions. i cannot tell you how many submissions i’ve read where the interactions between characters feel stilted and normative, and all i’m looking for is the kind of dynamic tension and chemistry that fanfic authors have mastered. so if you write fanfic and don’t think you’re good enough to write “literature” i’m here to tell you, you absolutely are.