blog for writing things

poorly active - ao3: tbhyourelame, header is by @Mishonii_ on twitter, icon is by @pencantdraw (any pronouns)

[heytherestilinski]

welcome!

this is the official welcome post to my tumblr. this is my only social media account, i am tbhyourelame on ao3 and use this blog to answer questions, post about whatever, and talk about writing

very nice to meet you all :)

[heytherestilinski]

hi all, i wanted to post an update just so you know, i did take down my work from ao3 recently, and i’m sorry if this causes mixed feelings for anyone. i enjoyed writing for a while but my interest just tapered, and even in the past couple months since i mentioned putting it all on hiatus i’ve felt like i wanted to make a clear decision on whether to continue or not. for me, having the fics still up meant there was always gonna be a temptation to complete it, but that’s not what i want anymore. i’m not trying to erase it from the internet (lord knows that’d be impossible) but personally wanted to not leave the option open, if that makes sense. ao3 was a big part of my life, but since that has changed i wanted a bit of closure, and no malice or hurtful feelings were going through my mind when i finally got around to clearing out my account. i really am grateful for everything this community has done for me, and i’m sure other uploads of it exist out there so its nowhere close to being gone forever (if you still want to read it). i did think it over for a long while, and as my friends know, taking it down was always floating around in my mind from pretty early on

i don’t anticipate uploading stories for any fandom in the future, but thank you for your support and joy all this time :) it has been crazy. <3

- dakota

[heytherestilinski]

hi blog! just a little update since ik ive been absent for a while, i’m not planning on updating the fic anytime soon and im not sure if it will continue to be updated in the future. i thought since i’ve lost interest i’d wait until i wrote the rest of it completely to keep uploading buuuut that is also not a very fun thing to do. its been taking such a long time and part of me wants to be done with it and move on rather than keep trying, so i hope that makes sense. still a big maybe. still unsure. just gonna let it be and see what happens :) 

thanks for the love and support <3 you guys rly made the tough bits worth it

[heytherestilinski]

i’m finally gonna be able to watch mcc this saturday for the first time in so long and im actually excited 

[heytherestilinski]

THAT WAS AMAZING THEY KILLED IT

[heytherestilinski]

how im coping rn...

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/190ln2nvE4643Cy8nA3CM9?si=e5a7f280b9eb400e

OMG giving me music?? this is amazing and so sweet of you i will definitely listen :D thank you (link for anyone who can’t open it)

[heytherestilinski]

i’m finally gonna be able to watch mcc this saturday for the first time in so long and im actually excited 

[fearwastaken]

it’s the middle of june again.

heat waves, glass animals / diaries 1910-1923, franz kafka / june, florence + the machine / sonnet XL, pablo neruda / the black saint & the sinner lady & the dead & the truth, morgan parker / the truth the dead know, anne sexton / when the day met the night, panic! at the disco / the one thousand and first (after richard siken), lucie / anne of the island, l.m montgomery / disorder, vanesha pravin

[elleefanning]

STRANGER THINGS 4 (2022) + selected songs (insp for this amazing set x, x)

[heytherestilinski]

happy june !

[heytherestilinski]

dakota how do u write dialogue im strugglingggg

i have no idea

ok no i'll try to explain how i approach it, i think a lot of comfortability in writing dialogue comes with practice so that'd be my biggest suggestion: practice by writing, by reading, paying attention to dialogue in shows/movies/books, even in everyday conversations. i know some writers who will jot down something they notice in conversation that someone says, like, ex. a friend of mine who likes to debate will often reply starting with "no, i know--" before continuing on. noticing casual stuff can go a long way. write down what interests you. notice when you're reading what you think comes across as awkward, and try to figure out why (trust ur inner ear!)

reading dialogue out loud is a must imo, easiest way to see if it sounds natural. cutting out words like "it," "just," "have," "then," "thing," etc. can help characterize dialogue a little bit more? like, if asked "what's wrong!" anyone can say, "It just feels like I have so many things to do," but if the person says, "This week has given me no time to breathe," or even, "I'm stuck. Work is killing me." then maybe you get more of a sense of how they think, feel, specific thoughts / worries than you would if you relied on "meh" words to articulate what you want them to say. hopefully that makes sense. (in opposition to this, filler words and repetition in a person’s speech ARE natural sounding things that ppl do, so, use them sparingly?)

i personally really like splicing up dialogue into bits, interjecting dialogue tags to add certain beats, and using descriptors also as character beats to nudge the flow where it needs to go. lots of great resources online to help navigate this sort of stuff if you’re unfamiliar with it. 

last thing i’d say to keep in mind is that every convo is a negotiation of multiple conflicts, big or small, and keeping in mind each character’s motivations within an exchange can guide your drafts. what is the person saying, verbally? what aren’t they saying? what are they trying to hear/ what don’t they want to hear (what could set them off)? sometimes arguments in dialogue follow a similar pattern; starting on a normal topic or observation, one person is hiding something, one person is giving avoidant answers, this triggers conflict-inducing statements/reactions, misinterpretations of reactions, and a natural circling back and forth until the real issues underneath are voiced/come out. 

mainly it’s just being comfortable with going through a lot of revisions. killing your darling dialogue phrases if they’re not working. being patient with yourself, with the process, knowing you have a lot of room to grow and just having fun experimenting along the way

[heytherestilinski]

guys we have our seal of approval

[heytherestilinski]

a cliffhanger?? dakota. you’re better than this.

says WHO

[heytherestilinski]

both can be true. both can exist.

[unbotheredmuse]

@txdjuuuls

[heartstoppercentral]

HEARTSTOPPER 1.05 - FRIEND

[fanficmemes]

Ohhhhh so the reason I can’t write today is because I didn’t preheat the google docs

[heytherestilinski]

My friend and I are massive breaking bad fans and upon seeing your post about watching walter white murdering people in cold blood whilst editing dnf fluff, we hope to see a dnf breaking bad au in the future <33 /lh

LMAOOO in what world would meth ever touch these dummy gamer boys