writing

[literature-iguess]

Our ashes now fall with the dead leaves,

On the pavement we once walked side by side

A feet of distance between us, we walked.

I matched my step with yours, I bet you didn't notice it.

It was the only way I knew to love.

A step for step, a beat for beat

Looking at the same sky, miles apart from each other. My love comes in whispers you might miss if the wind's too loud. I am praying you heard it.

[literature-iguess]

In the fog that lingers at the touch of midnight, I saw your face on the rooftop from my window.

A fading reality, the kind that's real but only for the moment.

An old melody rung in the air, a song we both once danced to.

You held your hand out for me. I didn't have it in me to take it. I couldn't risk touching you. What if I reach out but you turn into smoke? What if I reach for a hand and only grasp at the fog? After all, you are just a ghost from my favorite winter.

So you dance on my roof to a love song, all alone, all night.

[catgraphs]

do you have any tips for writing body language?

OH ANON OH ANON you've really done it now ✨ please, step into my office 🚪

first of all, I want to tattoo these charts onto my body:

and… okay there’s that. I’m not sure how much “advice” I have because I’m definitely not in a position to like, know things like this 😭 but I can tell you what I do and how I try to use body language??

I think the most effective way (i've found) to actually use it is to..... balance it out between physical descriptions (what's physically happening, what's moving the story along, physical perceptions/sensations/actions/dialogue) and some more introspective/inward descriptions? y'know?

I hope this makes sense, so bear with me for a second. I make a little triangle out of them 😭 "body language" and "physical description/action/dialogue" and "character thoughts" -- and then you can figure out based on who you're writing, and the situation they're in, what they're more likely to do, or which corners of the triangle they're more likely to gravitate towards.

for example, mickey leans heavily into body language. just as like, a part of his character. he chews on his lip and gesticulates with his hands and talks with his eyebrows. he brushes his thumb against his lip, along the side of his nose, when he's feeling uncomfortable or annoyed or uncertain. he grounds himself in the here-and-now, probably focuses more on the physical sensations, next steps to take, measurable chunks.

ian, on the other hand, is more speculative, gets tangled up in thought-webs and is more likely to kind of go inward to process things, maybe zone out a little. he won't focus on the physical sensations, won't display all these little mannerisms as openly, and instead he'll go a bit still. he'll tighten his jaw, stick out his chin, and he'll think.

so when I write for mickey, i tend to lean towards body language and tangible things, physical descriptions and thoughts tied to the here-and-now. for ian, I tend to go a little more inward, lean into the introspective and the feeling of those different body language things/physical descriptors -- lumps in his throat or red in his vision, something light or heavy or cold settling in his stomach -- rather than body language itself to show how he's feeling. thought-spirals, instead of outward mannerisms that would give away what he's going through.

....idk if any of that makes sense, but! I guess the "body language tip" hiding in this mess is that how it's used (characters, context) matters? so like... balancing it out with physical stuff and context and character insights is important, i think. there’s always going to be body language that can be described, because the characters are always doing something with their bodies. but the words you use to describe them and how heavily you lean on that to convey tone probably isn’t static, and will change as your characters move through different situations.

also, I think a lot of this just develops over time as you settle into your own style, so 🤷🏽‍♀️ there are no rules lol. language is fun! play with it!

and that's what I got!! anyone else, feel free to chime in with any tips you have and I will eat them up greedily 🤩

[literature-iguess]

One day not too far from today, it's 1 am and you're in a car with your friends, the windows are down and you are laughing and singing along to your favorite song, and the people around you know you and you know them and finally, finally you stop thinking about tomorrow. You realize tomorrow doesn't matter as long as you can laugh aloud today. Everything is okay, and the night goes on and on and you don't want it to end. But you know you'll be okay the next morning.

[literature-iguess]

Don't bother looking down, we're not going that way

At least, I know, I'm here to stay.

-GIRL IN RED

[literature-iguess]

“If there ever comes a day when we can’t be together, keep me in your heart. I’ll stay there forever.”

- Winnie the Pooh

[literature-iguess]

When the night is too dark for us to be on our own, we will meet again and it'll be like we never left at all. We will sit under the stars and for a moment I won't be scared of the infinity of the universe or the insignificance of mankind. We'll know we always have a home in each other, and maybe that would be enough.

[creativepromptsforwriting]

Masterpost: How to write a story?

Compilation of writing advice for some aspects of the writing process.

How to motivate myself to write more

How to get rid of writer’s block

Basic Overview: How to write a story

How to come up with plot

How to create a character

How to make a character unique

How to start a story

How to write a prologue

How to write conversation

How to write witty banter

How to write the last line

How to write a summary

How to write a book description

How to write romance

How to write emotional scenes

How to write yelling

How to title fanfiction

How to write an unreliable narrator

How to write character deaths

How to use songs in a fanfiction

How to name fictional things

Introducing a group of characters

Large cast of characters interacting in one scene

Redemption arc

Plot twists

Fatal Character Flaws

Good traits gone bad

More specific scenarios

Slow burn

AU ideas

Favourite tropes

How to create quick chemistry

How to write a bilingual character

How to write a character with glasses

How to create a villain

How to write a polyamorous relationship

How to write a wedding

How to write found family

How to write forbidden love

How to write a road trip

How to create and write a cult

How to write amnesia

How to write a stratocracy

How to write the mafia

Criminal past comes to light

Reasons for breaking up while still loving each other

Relationship Problems

Milestones in a relationship

Platonic activities for friends

Introducing partner(s) to family

Honeymoon

Date gone wrong

Love Language - Showing, not telling

Love Language - Showing you care

Affections without touching

Giving the reader butterflies with your characters

Reasons a couple would divorce on good terms

How to write enemies to lovers

How to write lovers to enemies to lovers

How to write academic rivals to lovers

How to write age difference

How to create a coffee shop atmosphere

How to write a college party

How to write modern royalty

Arranged matrimony for royalty

Paramilitary Forces/ Militia

Inconvenient things a ghost could do

A Queen’s Assassination Plot

Crime Story - Detective’s POV

Evil organization of assassins

Evil wins in the end

Causes for the apocalypse

Last day on earth

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[literature-iguess]

Loving you from a distance would be good for the both us. I think it'll all go up in flames the moment I touch you. I'd rather crash and burn a million times so we could warm our hands in that holy pyre. I'll let it burn down the world if it could keep us warm at night.

[literature-iguess]

"You know you can tell me anything."

I would, I would, I'd scream out every single thing till my lungs collapsed in on themselves. I'd show you every cut you made with a smile on your lips, though it would make my body fucking squirm. I'd tell you how I was right there, all along, just begging you to see what you were doing to me, yet you could never hear any of it. Mother, I'd show you every single fucking thing if I didn't know what it would do to you. But I know it. I know it will break you. Every time I open my mouth to scream it out, I remember that day I was sick and you brought me soup and ran your fingers through my hair and I choke on my tongue. So no, I can't tell you anything. And what you did to me? I'll take that to my grave.

[literature-iguess]

“Mother, make me, make me a big grey cloud so I can rain on you things I can’t say out loud.”

Florence Welch

[literature-iguess]

I just think some women aren't made to be mothers. And some women aren't made to be daughters.

Gillian Flynn

[literature-iguess]

“Years later, I am seventeen. Half daughter, half apology, all fire and the wrong kind of love. When my mother asks if I am gay, I tell her I am sorry.”

Blythe Baird

[literature-iguess]

I just want to let go now. I've been carrying you in my heart for so long with nothing but never sent letters and broken promises. It's been a long long day and I'm tired. I think letting you go now would hurt less than holding on.

[literature-iguess]

Ruin me now if that's what it takes for you to love me. And if you have to leave, leave but leave a mark on me. I'll trace that scar with a smile till it fades.

[literature-iguess]

And you understand now why they lost their minds and fought the wars And why I've spent my whole life tryin' to put it into words.

- You are in love, TS

[literature-iguess]

“It isn't possible to love and part. You will wish that it was. You can transmute love, ignore it, muddle it, but you can never pull it out of you. I know by experience that the poets are right: love is eternal.” ― E.M. Forster