Begin with a clear idea or concept for your story. This could be a theme, a character, a setting, or a unique scenario.
Outline Your Plot Structure
- Introduction: Set the stage by introducing your main character, the setting, and the initial situation.
- Inciting Incident: Present a problem or event that disrupts the status quo and sets the story in motion.
- Rising Action: Develop the plot by introducing conflicts, challenges, and obstacles that the protagonist faces.
- Climax: Reach the story's highest point of tension and conflict where the protagonist confronts the main challenge.
- Falling Action: Address the aftermath of the climax, tying up loose ends and resolving subplots.
- Conclusion: Provide a resolution to the main conflict, wrap up the story, and show the character's growth or change.
Create Well-Defined Characters
- Develop your main character (protagonist) with clear goals, motivations, and flaws.
- Introduce supporting characters with distinct personalities and roles in the story.
World-Building
If your story is set in a unique or fictional world, develop the setting, rules, and details necessary for readers to understand the environment.
Conflict and Stakes
Ensure that your story has compelling conflicts that drive the plot forward. Make the stakes clear to the reader.
Subplots
Develop subplots that add depth and complexity to your story and intersect with the main plot at various points.
Foreshadowing
Use foreshadowing to hint at future events and create suspense.
Pacing
Balance action, dialogue, and introspection to control the pace of your story. Speed up or slow down as needed for dramatic effect.
Themes and Messages
Consider the themes or messages you want to convey through your story and how the plot can reflect them.
Outline Chapter by Chapter
Create a chapter-by-chapter outline that details what will happen in each section of your book. This doesn't need to be overly detailed, but it can serve as a roadmap.
Writing and Revising
Start writing your book based on your outline. Be open to changes and revisions as your story develops.
âno!â you grab onto the electric buzzer and fight against him, holding gojo back. âwait, letâs think this through!â
âlook at my hair, itâs horrible! i canât go out like this!â your boyfriend whines and though he resists your pull, you know he isnât putting force behind the gesture.
âyou lookâŠâ you yank your eyes away from his head, suddenly struggling to look at him. âfine.â
âyou paused!â
âitâs fine, gojo!â
âitâs not! if my lover canât even look at me without laughing, what are my students going to think?â gojo checks himself out in the mirror of your apartment's bathroom, turning his head side to side to observe the lousy slash he had given himself.
âtheir opinion of you canât go any lower.â you reassure him. âand itâs fine, really. just, put down that shaver, thatâs it, put it down on the counter and i can fix your mess for you.â
gojo gives you a wary look but eventually relaxes his hold. you pick up the shaver and the handle is still warm from his touch. turning it on, you let the hum of the device fill the silence.
after gojo had decided to abandon his glasses for a blindfold, he realised simply letting his hair grow out in whatever direction would not cut it anymore, else he wanted to look ridiculous.
when he complained to you, you absentmindedly told him to get a haircut without thinking of the consequences of your actions. of course gojo wouldnât just go to a barber, of course gojo would think he could style his own hair and of course gojo would pick the worst haircut, making the first move without another thought. and now, after running the shaver a few centimetres up from the nape of his neck, the both of you realised that he should never be allowed near a electric shaver ever again.
you exhale. "okay, i've got this."
gojo looks at you through the mirror. "don't stress. worst case scenario, i can just buzz everything off."
you stare at him. "i cannot love you if you're bald."
"seriously?"
"what's with the look? would you love me if i was bald?"
gojo doesn't even hesitate. "yes!"
that makes you feel guilty. you don't comment on the topic any more, instead channelling your attention to the shaver in your hands and the white hair above your boyfriend's head.
âhey, donât ignore me. you wouldnât love me if i was bald? whatâs next, you wouldnât love me if i was a worm?â
you bite your lip to stop your face from contorting into a grimace. âiâm trying to focus here.â
âand iâm trying to make sure thereâs still love in our relationship.â he turns around and looks at you. âdo you love me?â
looking at him, a small smile slips through your disgusted expression. your boyfriend was regularly annoying, but there were times when his childish behaviour was more endearing than irritating. this was one of those rare times.
âyeah, i do.â you admit.
âprove it.â
âhuh?â
his hand closes around yours, the one holding the buzzer. âiâm going bald.â
âno youâre not!â
âthis is my hair, i get to decide what to do with it!â
âgojo!â you quickly reach over and unplug the shaver. âletâs be rational!â
he looks at you with bleary eyes. âi love you.â
âme too, which is why i canât let you go bald.â
âyouâre lying. if you loved me, it wouldnât matter how much hair i have on my scalp.â
you sigh, rubbing a hand over your face. when you peek through your fingers, gojo is still giving you a wounded look. âokay fine, i would still love you if you went bald. it honestly doesn't matter to me, but is this what you really want?â
âand if i was a worm?â
you look away, busying yourself with tidying your already tidy sink. âare you going bald or not?â
âanswer my question.â his hand wraps around yours. âyou canât leave here until you give me a response i can accept.â
you try to shake him off. âiâm not backing down on this, i will not love you if you turned into a worm.â
âi wouldââ
âno you wouldnât! how would you kiss me if i was small and slimy?â
he pauses. âi donât need to kiss you to show my love, itâs just a side benefit.â
âokay, and what about our species difference? what if i find a handsome worm and fall in love with him? he would treat me better since weâre both worms.â
âi would keep you in a cage so that you'd never meet another worm.â he says, completely serious.
âis that what love means to you?â
âiâll fill the cage with all your favourite things!â he brings your hand up to his cheek and presses against it, littering kisses onto your palm when you donât react. "it's also to keep you safe! you'd be completely defenseless as a worm."
"well, if you were a worm i wouldn't be able to keep you safe. you're the strongest, if you can't protect yourself then how could i?"
"that's something different. i wouldnât be the strongest, i would be a worm."
"an unlovable one."
he drops your hand and grabs the electric shaver before you can. "i'm going bald."
you donât stop him this time. âfine, go ahead. but when youâre hairless i am not taking the blame for this. if you even start to complain to me i will plug both my ears and walk away. that means if your students take photos of you and spread it like the plague, i won't stop them.â
âi knew it.â gojo says after a momentâs silence. âyou donât love me anymore.â
âif there was ever a time that i did.â
âwhen did you start falling out of love?â
this was slowly getting out of hand. âgojo.â
âwhen i ate your chcolate? i apologised, what else do you want from me? want me to kneel?â
âgojo!â
âis it because i used your expensive skincare? i was curious because it came in a little pipette thing and i wanted to squeeze it real bad.â
you hiss. âi knew that was you.â
âyou seriously believed me when i told you it wasnât me? we live together and we live alone, who else would it be?â
a humourless chuckle escapes your lips. perhaps gojo detects your intentions before you can act on them with his six eyes, because he freezes, backing up against the edge of your sink.
in his fear, you yank the shaver out of his hand and flick the power switch back on. the buzz fills the air.
âyouâre going bald.â
âi was just kidding! i donât want to be bald!â gojo leaps out of his chair and heads for the door. unfortunately, you grab onto his shirt and pull him back.
when gojo walks out of your bathroom a few hours later, his head is lighter than when he first entered.
sped wrote this so i could post smth itâs so stupid iâm crying
I think some people forget that some literature and some media is meant to be deeply uncomfortable and unsettling. It's meant to make you have a very visceral reaction to it. If you genuinely can't handle these stories then you are under no obligation to consume them but acting as if they have no purpose or as if people don't have a right to tell these stories, stories that often relate to the darkest or most disturbing parts of life, then you should do some introspection.
Iâve read some things that deal in sad/dark/actually depressing and disturbing subject matter. Iâve loved them and the points they make without endorsing the events portrayed.
Itâs always disappointing to get online and see that the conversation is âX thing shouldnât existâ on the grounds that it made somebody feel badly. It was meant to make you feel that way and itâs normal that it did - itâs okay that you stop reading it or donât finish it but I am BEGGING you to consider why it made you uncomfortable and why the author felt the need (if the answer isnât immediately obvious, as it can be). There isnât shame in something putting you off so badly that you shelve it.
The sterilization of reality is a detriment to all who exist within it. To censor stories with painful themes is to erase the reality that such stories are based in some horrific truth and works to erase the reality that many people have endured.
This trend or whatever we want to call it has gotten so bad that I listened to an entire lecture from somebody about how awful a book was and how it shouldnât exist at all, how the author was a terrible person for concocting it and how it hurt people. When I asked what the book was, this person not only could barely recall the name but HAD NEVER READ IT. I bought the book. I read the book. It accomplished its task beautifully and I found it to be a cathartic experience. I also understood how it could make people so uncomfortable and would never judge anybody for setting it down.
Itâs okay not to like something and distance yourself from it. Remember that those rules apply only to you, though, because they speak only to your own psyche.
Periodic reminder that one of the many roles of fiction is microdosing on big scary feelings so you build resilience, empathy, understanding, and defense against the real thing.
I know some fic writers get stressed about writing tropes they think are too popular or overdone, and I need you all to know that I just spent 4 hours reading every iteration of the same exact fic plot I could find, and they all brought me an indescribable amount of joy. Listen. Listen. Sometimes you want cakes of many flavours and sometimes you want Nine Carrot Cakes
"why doesn't this thing in a movie/book/tv show happen exactly like it would in real life" is the most brain dead criticism the internet has to offer, and yet I see it EVERYWHERE.
because it's not real life!! because tone and aesthetics are as important as narrative!! in the immortal words of cinematographer andrew lesnie, the light is coming from the same place as the music.
âwhat if kids identify with something and it ends up just being a phase-?â good. stop teaching and expecting kids (and adults honestly) to formulate permanent traits and ideas of themselves. everything in life is a phase. that doesnât make it any less legitimate while you experience it. let people explore themselves and know itâs okay if what you think about yourself changes.
Because I remember disinformation being spread around the last few elections and Iâm sure assholes will bring it back:
YOU CANâT VOTE ONLINE.
YOU CANâT VOTE FROM YOUR PHONE.
IN MANY STATES THERE ARE LEGAL CONSEQUENCES FOR PHOTOGRAPHING YOUR BALLOT.
DO NOT WEAR CAMPAIGN GEAR TO THE POLLS.
DO NOT TRY TO PERSUADE PEOPLE TO VOTE FOR A CANDIDATE AT THE POLLS.
DO NOT ENGAGE IN ANY KIND OF POLITICAL DISCOURSE AT THE POLLS.
NO ELECTION IS EVER A SURE THING, EVEN IF YOUâRE IN THE BLUEST OR REDDEST OF STATES. IF SOMEONE TRIES TO TELL YOU THAT YOU CAN SIT THIS ONE OUT, THEY ARE EITHER IGNORANT OR MALICIOUS.
We need mean!reader, angry!reader, misunderstood!reader, creepy!reader, gross!reader, toxic!reader, nonforgiving!reader, selfish!reader, narcissistic!reader, dark!reader, FEDUP!reader. That bitch is way too nice, passive, and sensible. âđŸđ
i WANT to read a passionate, poetic, jaw dropping, tears streaking down my face, heart wrenching, giggle inducing, feet kicking, cringy yet amazing, gorgeous story written by someone who apologizes for english not being their first language(they're the best writers ever) which has 4 chapters and then makes me scream because it hasnt been updated in months and the author is mia
germansingergirl
romaincrisis
origamiaround
turnnoffyourmind
jbbartram-illu
