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isabellestone

Reasons to keep writing

No one else is gonna tell that story.

You know what’s even more gratifying than having people like your work? Finishing it.

To show your readers something in a new light.

To show yourself something in a new light.

To understand other peoples point of view.

To help your readers understand other points of view.

To help your readers get through a tough time.

To help readers understand their tough time.

To make a reader feel represented.

Because you can’t let the haters win.

Because you’ll only get better if you carry on.

Because it makes you happy.

Because it makes you sad.

Because, inherently, writing comes with the ability to create emotions from thin air,

And that is magical.

[if reposting to Instagram please credit @isabellestonebooks]

darklesmylove

me: yeah i have a wip!

my friends: oh cool, can i read some of it?

me, sweating because my wip is really only character moodboards, a poorly organized outline, twenty spotify playlists, and scraps of random dialogue:

thewritingumbrellas

What does it mean if someone says your writing doesn’t “flow.”

Add a little bit more internalized thought or emotion in between big events or revelations.

Your plot is driving the characters instead of character driving the plot.

Lengthen your sentences.

You’re over explaining.

You’re info dumping.

critgemhero

You know what Good Omens does NOT get enough credit for? How it never, not once, makes gender presentation the butt of a joke.

Crowley presenting as female to be Warlock’s Nanny? The way this was filmed, acted, and written wasn’t made to be funny whatsoever. She was stunning, I loved the hat!

Pollution using they/them pronouns while the postman used the gender neutral honorific of sir for them? What’s there to make fun of? They’re royalty.

Archangel Michael, who has a traditionally male name, played by a female actress? Never questioned.

Lord Beelzebub’s androgyny? Only respect for the Lord of Hell.

Aziraphale sharing Madame Tracy’s body? Crowley recognized his angel and accepted it no problem. He was right about the dress too, it did suit him!

Crowley’s pure, unfiltered non-binary/gender-fluid energy in general? Fucking fabulous. Who could seriously make fun of this demon’s style? As someone once pointed out to me, you could swap him with Tilda Swinton and I’d see no difference. What an icon.

Good Omens is the first big show I’ve seen to basically avoid transphobia all together when the opportunity presented itself, and even say fuck you to the gender binary as a bonus. If the biggest binary in all the universe, Heaven and Hell, don’t give a damn about it then why should you?

nphofrph

any tips on writing an asexual character?

Advice on Writing Asexual Characters

A Crash Course in Asexuality

Asexual Spectrum Identities

Myths About Asexuality

Asexual Relationships FAQ

Writing an Asexual Character

Stereotypes to Avoid When Writing Asexual Characters

What Is It Like to Be Asexual?

Asexual Erasure

A couple of key points:

Asexuality is the lack of sexual attraction, NOT the inability to have sex.

An asexual person’s sex organs work just fine, and are just as functional as anyone else’s. Many ace people have sex, for their partner’s sake, out of curiosity, for procreation, or even because physical pleasure can occur for them during intercourse (there just isn’t any physical attraction or desire leading up to it). A lot of ace people even masturbate, it’s just that it’s typically a completely physical act - that is, it’s not directed at any object of desire, it’s just a thing that is done and can feel good.

Asexuality is a spectrum.

There are people who are asexual who have no sexual desire whatsoever, and are very weirded out by sex as a whole. There are people who have no sexual desire, but are still okay with or indifferent to having sex. There are ace people who can experience sexual attraction, but only after forming a strong emotional bond first. Decide where on the spectrum your character is.

Asexuality does not equal aromanticism.

A person who is asexual can still desire a close romantic relationship with a partner, and can enjoy acts like hugging, kissing, and cuddling, or even just emotional closeness through acts such as deep conversation. A heteroromantic asexual person feels romantically attracted to people of the opposite gender, and can want to create an deep emotional bond with them without sex (and a homoromantic ace is romantically attracted to the same gender, a panromantic ace is romantically attracted to any gender, etc.) A person can be both aromantic and asexual, and it is more common for an ace person to be aromantic than it is for other sexualities, but it’s still not as common a romantic-sexual-orientation-pairing as some people think.

Asexuality does not equal celibacy.

Celibacy is the choice to abstain from having sex, and, while many asexuals choose not to have sex because they simply have no desire to, people who experience sexual attraction can also choose not to have sex, often due to religious or other personal reasons. Not having sex does not make a person asexual, and having sex does not negate a person’s asexuality.

There’s no moment when you realize you’re asexual.

A lot of people can talk about their sexual awakening, or pinpoint a time when they first realized they were attracted to the same gender. This isn’t case for asexuality. There are no asexual urges that you feel to tell you what your orientation is. It’s just a whole lot of waiting around for those sexual desires to pop up, like they kept warning you about in middle school, and it never happening.

Asexuality is not a mental illness.

And I cannot possibly emphasize this enough. It is a legitimate orientation, like any other sexual orientation. It is officially recognized by mental health professionals as such. The American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders do not diagnose a hyposexuality disorder in patients who identify as asexual. It is found in lots of other species besides humans. It is not caused by trauma or by emotional problems. It is not something that needs to be “cured.”

Asexuality does not determine a person’s personality.

You’ve probably seen portrayals of asexual people who are terrible at social interactions, who have a hard time making connections of any sort, or who have a robot-like emotional spectrum. No. Asexuality does not cause any of this, and none of this is symptomatic of asexuality. Sure, an ace person can be emotionless or socially awkward, but no more frequently than people of any other orientation.

Asexuality experiences A LOT of erasure.

I cannot even begin to tell you how often a person who identifies as asexual has been told that they just “haven’t found the right person yet.” Sex is everywhere in popular culture, and people insist that everyone wants sex. People make fun of virgins, people will tell their friends “we have to get you laid.” Everyone is told that sex is an inherent part of relationships. And, despite the fact that as much as 1% of people are asexual, there are still very few people who recognize it as a legitimate orientation. There are even pride parades and LGBTQIA organizations that do not welcome ace pride. It’s frustratingly common for people who have come out as asexual to have people simply not believe them, or for them to have a lot of doubt about their own mental wellness if they don’t even know asexuality exists.

I am asexual myself, so, if you have any specific questions about asexuality, feel free to ask, and I’ll answer as best I can!

#asexuality #writing resources #writing advice

thecaffeinebookwarrior-deactiva

Resources For Writing Deaf, Mute, or Blind Characters

Despite the fact that I am not deaf, mute, or blind myself, one of the most common questions I receive is how to portray characters with these disabilities in fiction.

As such, I’ve compiled the resources I’ve accumulated (from real life deaf, mute, or blind people) into a handy masterlist.

Deaf Characters:

Deaf characters masterpost

Deaf dialogue thread

Dialogue with signing characters (also applies to mute characters.)

A deaf author’s advice on deaf characters

Dialogue between deaf characters

“The Month I Suddenly Went Deaf”

What It’s Like Going Deaf In Your Thirties

9 Women Share What It Feels Like To Lose Your Hearing

What It’s Like Being a Deaf Teenager (video)

Parenting With Sign Language (video)

Deaf Teen Talks About Losing His Hearing To Meningitis (video)

Things Not To Say To A Deaf Person (video)

Deaf Kids Shining in High School (video)

I recently discovered the youtube channel of the amazing Jessica Kellgren-Fozard, a vintage-loving, lesbian, happily married queen, who talks about her deafness in many of her videos. I can’t recommend her enough.

Mute Characters

Life as a Mute

My Silent Summer: Life as a Mute

What It’s Like Being Mute

21 People Reveal What It’s Really Like To Be Mute

I am a 20 year old Mute, ask me anything at all!

Blind Characters:

Things Not To Say To A Blind Person (video)

What It’s Like to Go Blind (video)

The 33 Worst Mistakes Writers Make About Blind Characters.

@referenceforwriters masterpost of resources for writing/playing blind characters.

The youtube channel of the wonderful Tommy Edison, a man blind from birth with great insight into the depiction of blind people and their lives.

As does Molly Burke, “a typical sushi and makeup loving millennial girl who just so happens to be blind.”

And Alyssa Irene, who talks about her experience going blind and life as a blind person.

An Absolute Write thread on the depiction of blind characters, with lots of different viewpoints and some great tips.

And finally, this short, handy masterpost of resources for writing blind characters.

Characters Who Are Blind in One Eye

4 Ways Life Looks Shockingly Different With One Eye

Learning to Live With One Eye

Adapting to the Loss of an Eye

Adapting to Eye Loss and Monocular Vision

Monocular Depth Perception

Deaf-Blind Characters

What Is It Like To Be Deafblind?

Going Deaf and Blind in a City of Noise and Lights

Deaf and Blind by 30

Sarita is Blind, Deaf, and Employed (video)

Deaf and Blind: Being Me (video)

Born Deaf and Blind, This Eritrean American Graduated Harvard Law School (video)

A Day of a Deaf Blind Person

Lesser Known Things About Being Deafblind

How the Deaf-Blind Communicate

Early Interactions With Children Who Are Deaf-Blind

Raising a DeafBlind Baby

If you have any more resources to add, let me know! I’ll be adding to this post as I find more resources.

I hope this helps, and happy writing! <3

fruithoods

good literary shit

- when the first and last line are the same in a book

- WHEN THE TITLE IS AN IMPORTANT LINE SOMEWHERE IN THE SERIES AND YOU DONT UNDERSTAND UNTIL YOU READ THE WHOLE THING

- when a character does something 100% against what others believe of them, but we the audience knew their true colors all along (this can be good or bad both ways it’s good)

- unapologetic villains with a dramatic flair and sense of humor

- when people you thought were good turn suddenly bad and you’re sitting there with whiplash

- characters who know what they want and actually get it (though maybe not through the way you think)

- morally grey characters being friends with good people (™) characters and it actually working

- a male/female friendship that’s wholesome and intimate but doesn’t end in romance

- when the author completely tricks you and it’s amazing. for example: I read a book a few years ago and there was an ancient society with a saying “come eleven hither thee” and it was built as this Ancient Knowledge that Had to be unlocked. turns out it was just a guy in the 16th century calling his dog and a drunk writer wrote it on his wall. he promptly forgot what it meant and started a secret society on it.

- when characters say “it’ll be fine” and then fall promptly into a disaster

- when the only reason a character helps the protag is so they can get what they want (this can range from intense manipulation to “if this bitch leaves I can get back to my book”)

- when an “all powerful” character does something and people take it seriously and they’re like; no wait?? I didn’t mean it like that?? come back I don’t actually want a statue!

- drunk idiots doing harmless but funny things

- selfish characters hiding their good deeds but their love interest/teammate finding out and exposing them

- female villains. that’s it. they’re all amazing.

- feel free to add your own

eevielearnsfrench

Can someone just………………. explain French to me?

markedbyx

its spanish but you speak it in cursive

celtic-pyro-deactivated20230725

You have 11 letters. You pronounce 4 of them.

wideeyedsmile

Learn to speak spanish. Now learn to speak italian. Now subtract the spanish from italian. You are left with french.

iamnotswarley

Latin, but then make it fashion

andthosearesmalleragents

Cover the second half of the word, squint, and pronounce only the vowels you think you see

thehighpriestofreverseracism

gargling but with air

kendrixtermina

Learn German. Then try doing the exact opposite of that.

Know that thousands of highschool students share your pain.

blueriverr

if you dont believe in god thats fine but when extremely horrible things have happened and people are praying for the lost souls of children, it is not the time to speak up. it is not just “stating your opinion” it’s being an asshole

sweaterkittensahoy

I reblog this as an atheist who really wishes other atheists would shut the fuck up and let people deal with tragedy in their own way that hurts no one.

hugealienpie

Aaaaand the opposite is also true. If a horrible tragedy befalls an atheist, don’t try to use it as an opportunity to lead them to Jesus.

strangegerrl

BOTH OF THESE ARE SOOOO IMPORTANT JUST LET PEOPLE GRIEVE !!!

aye-write

alex-wrtng

Visual representation of writing one (1) scene and then realizing you have no idea what goes next:

someemochick

cheeseanonioncrisps

Y'know, whenever people want to talk about why aspec people ‘count’ as an oppressed identity, they tend to go for the big stuff like corrective rape and conversion therapy. And like, we should absolutely talk about that stuff. Obviously those things are terrible and important and we need to raise awareness and deal with them.

But I feel like people often gloss over how… quietly traumatising it is to grow up being told that there is only one way to be happy— and that everybody who doesn’t conform to that norm is secretly miserable and just doesn’t know it— and then to gradually realise that, for reasons that you cannot help, that is never going to happen for you.

You’re not going to find a prince/princess and ride off into the sunset. Or if you do, then it’s not going to look exactly the way it does in fairytales. You’re not going to get a ‘normal’ relationship, because you are not ‘normal’, and everybody and everything around you keeps telling you that that’s bad.

You see films where characters are presented as being financially stable, genuinely passionate about their work and surrounded by friends and family, but then spend the rest of the plot realising that the real thing they needed was a (romantic and sexual) partner, to make them 'complete’.

You absorb the idea that any relationships you have with allo people will ultimately be unfulfilling on their side, and that this will be your fault (even if you discussed things with your partner beforehand and they decided that they were a-okay with having those sorts of boundaries in a relationship) unless you deliberately force yourself into situations that you aren’t comfortable with, so as to make uo for your 'defects’.

You grow up feeling lowkey gaslighted because all the adults in your life (even in LGBT+ spaces. In fact especially in LGBT+ spaces) are insisting that it’s totally normal to not be attracted to anybody at your age, and then you go to school and everybody keeps pressuring you to name somebody you’re attracted to because they can’t imagine not being attracted to anybody at your age.

And then you get older and realise that one day you’re going to be expected to leave home, and that one day all your friends are going to be expected to put aside other relationships and 'settle down’ with a primary partner and you don’t know what you’re going to do after that because you straight up don’t have a roadmap for what a 'happy ending’ looks like for someone like you.

(And the LGBT+ community is little help, because so many people in there are more than happy to tell you that you’re not oppressed at all. That you’re like this because you don’t want to have sex, and/or you don’t want to have any relationships, that your orientation is some sort of choice you made— like not eating bananas— rather than an intrinsic part of you that a lot of us have at some point tried to wish away.)

Even if you’re grey or demi, and do experience those feelings, you still have to deal with the fact that you’re not experiencing them the 'normal’ way and that that’s going to effect your relationships and your ability to find one in the first place.

If you’re aiming for lifelong singlehood (which is valid af) or looking for a qpp, then you’re going to have to spend the rest of your life either letting people make wrong assumptions about your situation (at best that your relationship is of a different nature than it actually is, at worst that the life you’ve chosen is really just a consolation prize because you 'failed’ at finding a romantic/sexual partner) or pulling out a powerpoint and several webpages every time you want to explain it.

This what being aspec looks like for most people, and it is constantly minimised as being unimportant and not worth fighting against— even in aspec spaces— because we’ve all on some level absorbed the idea that oppression is only worth fighting against if it’s big, and dramatic, and immediately obvious. That all the little incidents of suffering that we experience on a daily basis are not enough to be worth bothering about.

I mean, who gives a shit if you feel broken, inherently toxic as a partner, and like you’re going to be denied happiness because of your orientation? Shouldn’t we all just shut up and thank our lucky stars we don’t have to deal with all the stuff some of the other letters in the acronym have to put up with (leaving aside the fact that there are many aspec people who identify with more than one letter)?

So you know what? If you’re aspec and you relate to anything I’ve said above (or can think of other things relating your your aspec-ness that I haven’t mentioned) then this is me telling you now that it’s enough. Even if we got rid of all the big stuff (which we’re unlikely to do any time soon because— Shock! Horror!— the big stuff is actually connected to all the small stuff) we would still be unable to consider our fight 'over’ because what you are experiencing is not 'basically okay’ and something we should just be expected to 'put up with’.

No matter what anybody tells you, we have the right to demand more from life than this.

kitt-the-werefox

OP, I hope it’s okay to expand on this, but I just wanna add how it’s nearly impossible to be self sustaining while being single.

The fact that you get tax benefits for being married and having children as well as the dual-income household is something aspecs are barred from on an inherent basis because of our identities. Not to mention intersections like other queer identities, neurodivergency, disability, mental illness, chronic illness, and a host of other things I can’t think of right now.

Your breakdown of the social impact of what we face and how deeply we’ve internalized all that was spot on, and everyone who still doesn’t understand what aspecs experience needs to read it. I feel that it’s also important to talk about how this system either guarantees we’ll be working poor or that we force ourselves into unhappy normative relationships to avoid it.

And like. I wish aphobes would shut the fuck up about how our suffering and discrimination starts and ends with “someone was mean to me online uwu” because I’m tired of people suggesting aspecs need to have their identities raped out of them, and then turn right around and call us toxic perverts.

paintedrecs

I’m in my 30s, and sometimes I still panic about being single. Not because I actually WANT someone in my home, sharing my space and touching my things, and not because there’s anyone in particular I’m attracted to in that way. And DEFINITELY not because I ever, ever want children. But it’s frightening to keep getting older without finding that safety net of a spouse and a family.

My mom’s cried on the phone a few times about how she thinks about how lonely I must be. I’ve never talked to her about being ace because I have no idea how to. I nearly told one of my college/post-college best friends a year or two ago, but I ultimately couldn’t find the words. I’ve never told two of my (gay and bi) very closest friends because a part of me still thinks they’ll judge me for it.

So I just never talk about an extremely important part of who I am, and all the fears and anxieties that come along with that. Because it’s only News if I’m dating someone, or if I have feelings for someone I would like to date. How do you talk about the absence of that, with people who’ve never felt that way? Who weren’t born that way?

Every day I’m faced with a barrage of information about how it’s not “normal” to have zero interest in finding someone to spend the rest of my life with. I panic not because I want that, but because there aren’t any support systems built into our society for people like me, people who will get old alone and retire alone and die alone.

So yes, it is a Coming Out conversation, and yes, many of us keep our identity hidden, and yes, it is complicated and difficult, and I’m tired of people cutting the A out of LGBTQA+. We belong, we matter, and our identities are real.