Soren | He/Him 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈 | 18+ Hello and welcome to my blog! Here you’ll find posts about both reading and writing, as well as the occasional book review! Icon made w/ @adriabun’s picrew
I’m still not sure how to explain to non-writers that sometimes characters can just do things without your consent or foreknowledge and there’s not a lot you can do to stop them.
#also when they are like #so this is my back story #and I’m like that’s a little dark can it lighten up a bit? #and they’re like no in fact it gets worse! #and I’m like thanks I hate it (via @artsome3rdthing)
There are few things better than falling asleep to the slow, steady breathing of your partner. Their soft snores as you slowly fade into sleep beside them. The slow rise and fall of their chest against you, their soft murmurs as you roll over. Such absolute comfort and peace, safety and love.
happy sts! what are some of your favorite settings in your wip? what were they inspired by?
Happy sts! Thank you for asking this, @feathered-inkling!
My favorite settings in my most recent WIP are probably Shiloh’s forge/shop as well as the home Oliver buys at some point later in the story. Shiloh’s place is very much inspired by just kind of the general concept of family owned and run businesses. Her father’s name is still on most of the branding and supplies, and you can find his old tools and gear scattered throughout. But if you look around just a bit more, you can find her own personal touches that she’s slowly added ever since she took over. Oliver’s home starts off inspired by just a bunch of pictures of cool, abandoned houses I found online but very quickly becomes a full representation of everything and everyone he loves and ends up looking a lot like my “cozy home” board on pinterest (think definitely designed by a couple of very different people, but still well loved by both).
happy sts! are there any songs that you associate with your characters?
Oops, I’m a bit late on this one. Sorry!
I only have playlists for two of my characters (Shiloh and Oliver) and, oddly enough, their songs often more closely match their story’s plot than their actual character. A song I definitely associate with Shiloh though is Don’t Threaten Me With a Good Time by Panic! At The Disco. With her easygoing personality and some of the shenanigans she gets into in her story, it’s a fantastic fit.
happy storyteller saturday! what are some of your characters’s favorite childhood memories?
Happy sts! Thank you so much for sending a question again, @feathered-inkling! I love answering these!
Oliver’s favorite childhood memories all surround the rare times he and his siblings got to just be kids. Times like playing hide and seek when his parents weren’t home and staying up late telling ghost stories with his younger brother. Shiloh’s favorite childhood memories are just whenever her dad gave her metalwork lessons and taught her anything new surrounding his forge.
It’s been months since I’ve seen them—three months and nine days, to be exact. That last, monumental fight echoes through my mind as I sit, waiting, in our favorite cafe. It was a mutual decision to take this break, I remind myself. We just needed time to cool off from the fight and better ourselves before we tackled the whole “serious relationship” thing again. The idle chatter of the other customers, the clanking and hissing of the coffee machines, and the muted pop music emanating from the speakers on the wall do nothing to dull my nerves.
I glance at the clock above the door and, noting that they’re definitely late now, check my phone as well. No messages. My stomach clenches as I turn my attention back to the door. I shouldn’t be surprised by their tardiness, considering they've never been particularly concerned about timeliness.
The door swings open again and in they finally walk. In our months apart, nothing has changed in their appearance and, despite my anxiety, that warm feeling only they can create spreads through my chest.
“Can I get my usual? With almond milk this time, though. I’m on a diet.” Their voice cuts through the cafe as they order their drink. The barista nods, sets up their order, and charges them. They scan the cafe and, spotting me, saunter over to our table.
“Long time, no see, huh?” They greet me, giving me a relaxed smile. Without waiting for a response, they add, “I love what you did with your hair. I told you that color would look great on you.”
“Thank you! You were right, I really like it.” I comb my fingers through my hair as I speak, proud of this change I’d managed to make. “It’s faded a bit-”
“You should’ve cut it shorter,” they cut in, their smile giving way to a speculative frown. “That length makes your face look fat.” Their tone is remarkably light as they say it but it still makes my stomach drop. Of course I didn’t get it right.
Before I can come up with some sort of response, the barista calls out their order. The table shakes gently as I tap my foot against its leg and watch them retreat to the counter. It was just a comment about my hair; we can still salvage this.
“Excuse me, but I need a straw.” Again, their voice cuts through the cafe, this time dripping with that familiar annoyance of being inconvenienced.
“Oh, I’m sorry, someone must’ve just taken the last one,” the barista replies quickly, her voice squeaking at the threat of a true confrontation. “Give me just a second-”
“Is it really that hard to do your job?” They demand before the barista can even step away from the counter. “No wonder you all make such little money at these jobs. You idiots can’t even keep the straws stocked.” Without waiting for the barista’s response, they storm back to the table.
Silence settles over the cafe for a moment as the others watch their return to our table. They take their seat, pointedly pop the lid off of their cup, and take a sip. The flavor must meet their standards since they don’t speak up to the barista again.
They quietly study me over their coffee before asking, “How have you been? Haven’t fallen in love with someone new while I’ve been gone, have you?” Their tone almost feels joking but their fingers clench around their cup of coffee, white from the pressure.
“I’ve been fine,” I offer, carefully watching for any sort of new reaction as I speak. “I made a lot more progress with my novel, so I’ll be-”
“Did you meet anyone new?” They interrupt, their tone as sharp as the pinning stare they give me.
“No, I didn’t meet anyone new.” I match their tone as best I can, hoping it at least somewhat conveys my intention to not let them walk over me again. “I’ve been looking into querying-”
“Good,” they reply, leaning back in their chair and setting their coffee on the table. “I met someone pretty cool at a bar a little while back. They actually live in the other wing of your apartment complex. I barely even recognized it was the same building, they decorated it so nice. Your place doesn’t have to look like such a dump, you know. A few nice rugs, some original art, and boom, no one would be able to tell it was practically falling apart.”
I listen quietly, considering their comments as I sip my coffee. They ramble on, talking about their new job, their joy from seeing me again despite my ugly hair, and their plans to travel to the east coast. They’re in the middle of telling me about the pie they made earlier this week when I finally speak up again.
“Do you even care?” I ask. My leg bounces under the table, the only outward sign of my anxiety that I’ll allow. They raise their eyebrow at me, a smirk forming on their lips.
“Do I care? About what?” They question back. “About you? Yes. About my new job? Also, yes, even though it pisses me off sometimes. I care about a lot of things.”
“You don’t even-”
“I think the question here is whether or not you care about me.” They plow on, leaning forward and planting a firm hand on the table. “You disappeared for three months and didn’t contact me at all. We took this break for you and you took your merry time, torturing me with your silence. Your parents even said you’d told them not to talk to me.”
“I think that’s enough,” I say and, even though it comes out quieter than I intend, they stop talking immediately. They stare at me in shocked silence as I continue. “I thought we could make this work, but I’m done.” I get up from the table, retrieving my coffee as they process what I’ve just said.
“You can’t just break up with me,” they finally say, their eyes narrowing at me as they rise from their seat. “You think you’ll get on without me? Who else do you have-”
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t contact me again,” I say, keeping my voice even as theirs rises. “Goodbye.” I turn and make my way to the barista’s counter, drop an extra tip in their jar, and leave the cafe.
This is a piece I wrote for a creative writing course I took recently. I don’t have any current plans to continue it but I thought it’d be nice to share it with you all! I hope you guys like it!
Like most children, the Loner was born crying. Unlike most children, the Loner was also born fighting, squirming violently in the arms of the doctor as he tried to hand them to their mother. Their parents never quite knew what to do with them as they grew up, that vicious fighting instinct sticking with them even as they learned other ways to vent their emotions. When the Loner finally learned to speak, among their first words was the persistent repetition of the word “doom”.
Early Years
The Loner’s childhood was filled with just that: loneliness. Since learning to talk, they never quite learned to filter their language. The topic of doom—with occasional variations of “the end of the world” and “Armageddon”—was almost always on their lips. Their parents came to ignore it, pretending it wasn’t happening, just like they did with everything else they deemed odd from their child. The children at school never managed to do the same. They always did their best to steer clear of the Loner, even when all they wanted was something as harmless as teaching their peers how to efficiently sharpen a stick into a spear.
The Collection
Shortly after the Loner entered second grade, a secret collection of food began to grow in their bedroom. They quickly discovered the short lives of the bananas and ham and cheese sandwiches their mother packed for their lunches. The cans they stole from the pantry, however, never seemed to fail them as the other foods did. Cans accumulated in every hidden corner of their room: under the bed, at the back of the closet, and at the bottom of their toybox.
The Model
High school shop class quickly established itself as a favorite of the Loner. They were allowed to build whatever they wanted, so long as they made sure to complete their actual assignments, and it was in that class that they built their first bunker model. Wood sanded perfectly smooth held the shape of their dream home and they could barely hold back their excitement over their creation. The Loner proudly showed the model off to their parents and, met with their characteristic disappointment and disapproval, resolved to keep it hidden on the top shelf in their closet. Only they could truly appreciate the craftsmanship.
Higher Education
College was never in the Loner’s plans. Their parents begged them to go, but there was nothing they could do when the Loner signed up for a survival camp instead. It wasn’t different from most other summer camps, aside from the poisoned water and the death of four campers. There, the Loner finally received the final pieces of their education and when they returned from camp, they were ready to move out into the world on their own.
Home
The Loner’s first home was, as it would turn out, also their final home. They hand-built their fortress in a section of forest just near enough to society to reasonably live. Everything about it was perfect from the complex water filtration system, to the diverse garden in the greenhouse, to even the armory hidden in the basement. Their favorite part of their home was none of those details, but rather the bunker nestled below the basement. It matched that first prototype almost exactly, with only a few important differences in the air filtration system and the food storage. As the rug that laid before their front door said, this was truly their “Home Sweet Home”.
The Outbreak
The day the first outbreak aired on the news, a persistent knocking came at the Loner’s door. They knew who their guests were even before checking the security cameras; their parents, old teachers, and old classmates crowded at their doorstep. Everything the Loner had warned and tried to teach them about was coming true and they begged the Loner to save them. The Loner contemplated their options for dealing with their unexpected guests for a while—days, actually—before making their decision. They knew they’d be hated for their choice but, as they reasoned with themselves, they only had accommodations for one.
Survival
Long after those guests rotted away, the Loner lived peacefully in the fortress they’d built. Every aspect of the survival system they’d created served them dutifully. Despite its perfect working condition, they spent much of their free time even further upgrading their home, just for fun. As soon as the Loner managed to fix the local telephone lines, communication was quickly revived in the surrounding area. It took some time, but a close community of survivors eventually rose from the ashes of their fallen society.
They knew it was still too dangerous to travel outside so underground tunnels were soon built between the survivors’ homes, further connecting their new community. After a month of heavy negotiation, a simple trade system was established in their community, allowing proper sharing of all of their resources. The Loner was everyone’s go-to person for whatever they might need, and the Loner’s prices were always the fairest in the community. Despite the unlivable conditions beyond their walls, the Loner eventually settled into a comfortable life. They finally weren’t alone.
Death
Of all of the causes the members of the old society died from, the Loner died peacefully of old age. The friends they’d made in local survivors made the journey to their fortress to stay with them in their final hours. It was a peaceful release, the most peaceful the survivors witnessed in the many years following the outbreak, and it was the end of the Loner’s long life.
This is a piece I wrote for a creative writing course I took recently. I don’t have any current plans to continue it but I thought it’d be nice to share it with you all! I hope you guys like it!
happy sts! what's something you're proud of/happy about in your writing?
Happy sts! Thank you for sending in this question, @feathered-inkling!
I had to sit on this one for a bit before I could figure out my answer, honestly. I’ve always been really insecure about my writing, hence why I’m only slowly sharing parts of it now. One thing I’m really happy about in my writing, however, is my ability to really illustrate a scene once I’m comfortable with it. Some of my favorite pieces of mine are ones where I managed to actually describe the full atmosphere, not just rely on sight and sound. A previous creative writing professor of mine actually personally disliked my writing because it was too “flowery and descriptive”.
Other writers, what are things you’re proud of/happy about in your writing? I’d love to hear from you as well!
Thank you for tagging me, @feathered-inkling! I think this was actually just a random bit of writing based off a prompt I found but hey, it still counts!
They tried to push themselves back to their feet as she left the room but, realizing the futility of the thought—and yielding to their own exhaustion—they laid their head back to the floor in resignation.
As usual, I won’t directly tag anyone. If you see this and want to do it, however, feel free to say I tagged you!
Thank you so much for tagging me, @feathered-inkling!
Rules: bold the statements that apply to you, italicize your aspirations, then tag nine people.
AIR
i have small hands / i love the night sky / i watch small animals and birds when i pass them by / i drink herbal tea / i wake to see dawn / the smell of dust is comforting / i’m valued for being wise / i prefer books to music / i meditate / i find joy in learning new truths from the world around me
FIRE
i don’t have straight hair / i like to wear ripped jeans and overalls / i play an organized sport / i love dogs / i am not afraid of adventure / i love to talk to strangers / i always try new foods / i enjoy road trips / summer is my favorite season / my radio is always playing
WATER
i wear bracelets on my wrists / i love the bustle of the city / i have more than one set of piercings / i read poetry / i love the sound of a thunderstorm / i want to travel the world / i sleep past midday most days / i love dimly lit diners and fluorescent signs / i rewatch kids’ shows out of nostalgia / i see emotions in colors not words
EARTH
i wear glasses or contacts / i enjoy doing the laundry / i am a vegetarian or vegan / i have an excellent sense of time / my humor is very cheerful / i am a valued advisor to my friends / i believe in true love / i love the chill of mountain air / i’m always listening to music / i am highly trusted by the people in my life
AETHER
i go without makeup in my daily life / i make my own artwork / i keep on track of my tasks and time / i always know true north / i see beauty in everything / i can always smell flowers / i smile at everyone i pass by / i always fear history repeating itself / i have recovered from a mental disorder / i can love unconditionally
I won’t specifically tag anyone but if seeing this makes anyone want to do it as well, feel free to say that I tagged you!
happy sts! how do you pick character names? is there any particular reason to why you picked certain names for you OCs?
Oh, I love this question! Thank you so much for asking!
As much as I’d love to say that all of my character names are carefully chosen for them, it actually depends entirely on my mood and if I’m currently really into a particular book/show/podcast/etc. The characters I’ve been working with most lately are Oliver, Juno, Shiloh, and Maggie. Oliver and Maggie essentially just got their names from random generators (and I just made sure the generated name seemed right for their personalities).
Juno, however, I actually named after Juno Steel from The Penumbra Podcast. I adore his character in the podcast and, while my Juno isn’t really that similar to him, I wanted to have that sort of personal connection. When I chose Shiloh’s name, I, again, pulled from a character I (at least used to) like. She’s actually named after Shiloh (an adorable beagle) from the children’s book Saving Shiloh, which I read a ton as a kid.
I know I have tons of other characters I didn’t mention here, but that’s generally how my name choosing works. It’s either almost entirely random or connected to something else I love. (And, in the case of a super old WIP, it’s just a self-insert.)
Thank you again, @feathered-inkling, for asking me this! I’d love to get more questions sent about my writing (especially as I slowly share more of it)! And if you have anything you want to add to this, I’d love to see how other writers go about naming their characters.
here have 10 pieces of writing advice that have stuck with me over the years
every character’s first line should be an introduction to who they are as a person
even if you only wrote one sentence on a really bad day, that’s still one sentence more than you had yesterday
exercise restraint when using swear words and extra punctuation in order for them to pack a punch when you do use them
if your characters have to kiss to show they’re in love, then they’re not in love
make every scene interesting (or make every scene your favorite scene), otherwise your readers will be just as bored as you
if you’re stuck on a scene, delete the last line you wrote and go in a different direction, or leave in brackets as placeholders
don’t compare your first draft to published books that could be anywhere from 3rd to 103rd drafts
i promise you the story you want to tell can fit into 100k words or less
sometimes the book isn’t working because it’s not ready to be written or you’re not ready to write it yet; let it marinate for a bit so the idea can develop as you become a better writer
a story written in chronological order takes a lot more discipline and is usually easier to understand than a story written with flashbacks
It’d been years since he’d last seen him, but there was no mistaking that crooked nose or the mole above his left eyebrow. Nothing was left of the sunny little boy he’d caught sneaking crumbs from his birthday cake, but years of missing his older brother couldn’t have possibly been easy for him.
!!!! i’ve had four consecutive zooms today and ready to scream so have a bullet pointed list that more than one person did actually ask for
READ OLDER WORK
read!! ur!! older writing!!! if you’re working on a wip that you’ve had for a while, go back to the start and reread it!!
if it’s in chronological order (impossibly cool of you if it is) even better.
rereading ur older writing and thoughts about a wip will 100% make you think of new thoughts to add in, or lines to rewrite or parts where you could’ve said something more
it’s a v. easy way to turn add a few more ks of words to a long doc
DIALOGUE THOUGHTS
dialogue is so fucking awesome!! write more dialogue!!
seriously though, when you’re envisioning a super specific scenario of your characters where you know every fucking thing about the scene down to how they’re sitting and what color the wallpaper is, dialogue / script format is your friend. it’s there for you.
just get all of their dialogue out into one page, add actions and descriptions and relevant info in brackets or clauses or some kind of script format if that’s what works
and now you have a semi coherent scene! it’s in order! character a said this, in this kind of tone. they did this action. the wallpaper was this color. they were having the conversation over lunch. this is foreshadowing / symbolism because xyz reason!! it’s coherent!! it’s scene!!
SAID IS THE BEST WORD EVER OK YOU CAN ADD FUN THINGS LIKE ‘SHE SAID BEFORE SMIRKING’ OR ‘THEY SAID HUNGRILY’ OR WHATEVER IT’S SO GOOD IT’S LIKE A SANDWICH BASE FOR UR DESCRIPTIVE TOPPINGS.
no seriously don’t trip yourself up- especially if you’re on a sudden burst of inspiration -by trying to pick words and adjectives that haven’t already been used. this is your doc. this is your draft
do not waste twenty minutes trying to figure out the perfect balance between ‘x said’ ‘x laughed’ ‘x did action no said or other synonym’ just fucking write x said, and stick with is but also write things in clauses or brackets like (she’s saying it angrily, you can feel the tension. her hands are clenched around the handle and the protag notices) to unpack later
so much of writing is unpacking things you wrote to be honest
on the flipside of this, writing as dramatically as you want just to get the ideas out in the way that you want them to, head to paper, is something that using ‘said’ alternatives is good for.
it’s better to write an entire doc of ‘she screamed’ ‘the cat wailed’ ‘x howled’ ‘he yelled’ than to reread your writing and go no!!! this doesn’t capture my intentions!!!
if you write as dramatically (definition when used in this context is to go all out with your words, no said angrily, we use screamed in frustration) you have an excess of prose and adjectives and weird phrases that you wrote to capture what the feeling of the moment felt like in your head, it gives you something to prune away at.
‘VIOLENT STABBING FANTASY OF FALLING AND KNIVES IN FULL ON PROSE AND ANALOGIES AND SO MUCH DIFFERENT ADJECTIVES FOR WORDS RELATED TO PAIN AND TORTURE’ vs. ‘(x is fantasizing about taking revenge on y. dramatic sequence of imagined gore is involved)’
ACTING AND REACTING FOR CHARACTERS
character!!! is very important!!! ur characters have to act, okay?
bad stuff can’t just happen to them and kickstart plot events, it makes a unengaging story filled with shitty things happening to people.
you can’t just write about someone reacting to events that are happening to them. your characters need to have some kind of agenda, to act.
one of my favorite things in knife summer (one of my wips) is the fact that while many horrible shitty things happen to our protagonist, most of them are due to her own actions.
*snaps fingers* it’s about the acting instead of reacting
it’s the difference between ‘my mc is a victim whose suffered a humiliating defeat because of fate oh no look at what angsty bad event has happened’ and ‘my mc is a bastard who actively acted like one and attempted to kill this other character and yeah the humiliating defeat part is kind of her fault because she was the one who incited the other character into claiming their fate and also this event was v. good for her character development in a way because it showed how they’d underestimated the people around them and also how in the aftermath of it, discovers that isolating themselves was a bad decision’
bad things will happen!! to your protagonist! your protagonist has to fuck up at least once or else it isn’t fun.
but you can’t just make them go through events where all they’re doing is reacting. *mentor figure is murdered!!* *protag is sad* *dog is kidnapped!!* *protag is furious* *love interest betrays them!!* *protag is completely useless and unable to do anything about it except be betrayed*
or alternatively you could have figured something out that’s entirely the opposite of what i just said. different things work for different people.
most of my thoughts on the above stem from my personal aversion to when horrible shitty things happen to a character, that are out of their control and all they can do is react and try to catch up to the pain of what’s happening. and that’s for personal reasons, and my personal opinion
SECONDARY AND MAIN RELATIONSHIPS
this is going to turn into a wishlist of things that i love in any media at any moment, but i’m sorry and three of you did ask for this to be honest.
but !!! your protagonist shouldn’t have zero significant bonds with people who aren’t their love interest!! even if this is a romance novel- people don’t exist in their own bubble of themselves singular. they have friends, they have acquaintances, they have work friends, they have people they went to school with who they awkwardly bring up going out for coffee to and never actually do it- so many relationships.
and not all of them are romantic!! and that’s the coolest part about it!
anyway develop the relationships your characters have with other characters (not just their love interest) and plot will suddenly be much easier.
for spring hanging (one of my wips), all of the main characters have some kind of relationship with each other, whether it’s ‘childhood friends who know a terrible secret’ or ‘unwilling accomplices’ or ‘situational friends but that doesn’t mean their relationship is zilch in terms of plot’ and it makes writing plot events, so much more easier.
you need to be able to think of your characters as people too. and people react to events differently based on whose involved. if someone you loved was implicated in a terrible event, the fact that their someone you love, will create bias for whatever decision you make. even if you choose to make a decision that you’d make if they were a stranger.
relationships can further plot!! why would x and y work together? because z is x’s friend and also the student y is supposed to be mentoring! so of course they’d work together to figure out what happened to z!!
and more friendships in media!! friendships are this very cool concept of when you and two people mutually decide to be associated with each other, and it is hella fucking rad and can not really be explained
but look a story is surreal when you think about it, how you’re creating a world and all the characters are you in a way, and all the things they do have been predetermined by you and- don’t think about it too much.
the point is that you should definitely have more than one kind of relationship in your work. because platonic bonds can affect plot just as much as romantic ones, whether it’s familial or friendship.
Hi, everyone! I try to keep this blog as on topic as possible but I wanted to talk a bit about the impact COVID-19 has had on a lot of us.
First, I want to express to anyone that may need to hear it that it’s completely valid and understandable to be scared right now. Many of our lives have been completely uprooted thanks to this pandemic. Many of us have lost our jobs, been abruptly sent home from school, worried about our health, and dealt with difficulties staying home and away from others.
As cheesy as it may sound, no one is alone in this. We all, technically, have easy access to our friends and family still thanks to social media/texting. It can be difficult to actually reach out to others, however, and to help out with that I’d like to offer my support to all of you that may need it.
I know that most—if not all—of you that read this are not at all close to me, nor have I previously spoken with almost any of you, but if you need someone to talk to right now—about anything, really—feel free to message me. As long as your message doesn’t strike me as odd or threatening, I’ll gladly reply. If you want to talk anonymously, feel free to send me anonymous asks and I’ll gladly respond to them. Keeping our community happy and healthy is one of the most important things we can do right now and I really hope you’re all doing okay right now.
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