(uses the “make your character say something while not actually saying it” writing advice i saw on here once)
(character interactions are now 200% more fun to write)
holy shit what
Pray tell, how does this advice work? For a friend
The way I’m familiar with it is:
Before:
“Bluh, I don’t wanna go to school” Sarah grumbled, “I’m too tired.”
And now, when neither Sarah nor the narration are allowed to directly say that she’s tired or doesn’t want to go to school:
Sarah glowered at her backpack, still yet to be zipped up. She stifled a yawn, and found her gaze drifting back to her comfy, cozy bed. “I could… skip a day,” she muttered, before shaking those thoughts from her head.
Reminder for folks who
1: are new too writing
2: struggle to remember all this stuff WHILE they’re writing, and/or
3: feel like their writing is lacking even when they know this stuff
THIS IS A TIP BEST SAVED FOR REVISION!! A lot of stuff like this is! When you’re writing a first draft, the only thing you should be worried about is getting the message on the paper. My “first draft” usually looks more like a rough outline and jumps around between eloquent prose, emojis, sincere dialogue, and sometimes things like “blinking white guy dot gif”. Because that gif has a very specific emotion, right? But it’s hard to put into words, it’s time consuming, and when I’m just trying to get my thought out before it slips away from me, I don’t want to stop and ponder how best to go about it.
In your first or second pass, it’s okay and normal to say “I don’t want to skip school. I’m tired.” As long as the improved/revised version makes it to the final product, you’re a-okay. 👍
PS: if you’re a fanfic author and you’re just creating for the fun of it, you can disregard this entirely if you want. I looked at this and thought “yeah but that’s a lot of work” and then remembered that I don’t have to do it when I’m not Writing Professionally. Is it objectively good advice? Yes. Do I HAVE to do it when I’m just posting things on the internet for free? Absolutely not.



















