#about writing

[rowanisawriter]

imo the pov character should be lying to themselves and concealing shit from themselves constantly

[urwendii]

Local Writer Shocked As She Realises Planned 'Short Fanfic' Is Turning Into Multi Chapters Plot Oriented Slow Burn Fanfic

[fawndrip]

｡ﾟﾟ･｡･ﾟﾟ｡ ﾟ。 BUILD A FIC 　ﾟ ｡･

( pick a quote + a feeling + a trope ! let’s see what fic you end up with. )

author's addition: this lil build-a-fic is inspired by @scealaiscoite ’ s adorable idea ! her prompt lists are literal perfection. go stalk her blog pls she’s the best ever 🧸 you’re welcome to tweak phrasing as needed, but please don’t add to or rewrite the original post. give credits to @fawndrip / @suprclark if using.

— QUOTE

❛ stop smiling like that. it’s distracting. ❜ ❛ you make it really hard to stay just friends. ❜ ❛ why does it feel like a goodbye? ❜ ❛ you’re blushing. ❜ — ❛ no i’m not. ❜ ❛ just friends don’t look at each other like that. ❜ ❛ i missed you. that’s all. ❜ ❛ you remember the little things. that’s what gets me. ❜ ❛ tell me to stay. and i will. ❜ ❛ my hand fits so perfectly in yours. it's like i'm made for you. ❜ ❛ do you want me to leave? ❜ — ❛ no. i want you to stay forever. ❜ ❛ i think i knew it was you. even back then. ❜ — ❛ then stay. ❜ — ❛ but that's the thing. i don't know if i know you anymore. ❜ ❛ i don’t know how to stop wanting you. ❜ ❛ this means something. don’t pretend it doesn’t. ❜ ❛ you’re not just anyone. you’re you. ❜ ❛ if we kiss now, everything changes. ❜ — ❛ i know but that's a risk i'm willing to take. ❜ ❛ i’ve been in love with you since the night we met. ❜ ❛ tell me it meant nothing. lie if you have to. ❜ ❛ i was easy to leave, wasn’t i? ❜ ❛ you don’t get to miss me now. you lost that right when we broke up. ❜ ❛ say something. anything. please. ❜ ❛ i loved you. that should’ve been enough. ❜ ❛ i wish i didn’t remember everything. ❜ ❛ don’t look at me like you still care. ❜ ❛ i’m tired of pretending this doesn’t hurt. ❜ ❛ you said forever. i believed you. ❜ ❛ if you didn’t mean it, why did you say it? ❜ ❛ you chose them. you always do. ❜ ❛ i don’t hate you. i just wish i’d never met you. ❜ ❛ you let me go like i was nothing. ❜ ❛ please don’t make this harder than it already is. ❜ ❛ are you sure? cause whatever this is it doesn’t feel like love. ❜ ❛ it’s always been you. i just didn’t know how to say it. ❜ ❛ say that again. i dare you. ❜ ❛ you really don’t see it, do you? ❜ ❛ i think i like you. like, like like you. ❜ ❛ do you always look at people like that? ❜ ❛ you make it really hard to think straight. ❜ ❛ oh my god. you’re blushing. ❜ ❛ this means something. don’t pretend it doesn’t. ❜ ❛ i should’ve kissed you when i had the chance. ❜ ❛ you’re not helping. you’re being pretty. it's distracting. ❜ ❛ you make me nervous in the best way. ❜ ❛ every time you look at me, i forget what i was saying. ❜ ❛ just admit it. you like me. ❜ ❛ if you don’t kiss me right now, i might explode. ❜ ❛ you’re dangerously good at that smile. ❜

— FEELING

❛ longing ❜ ❛ comfort ❜ ❛ fear ❜ ❛ hope ❜ ❛ guilt ❜ ❛ joy ❜ ❛ jealousy ❜ ❛ trust ❜ ❛ confusion ❜ ❛ safety ❜ ❛ regret ❜ ❛ tenderness ❜ ❛ ache ❜ ❛ peace ❜ ❛ want ❜ ❛ yearning ❜ ❛ hesitation ❜ ❛ betrayal ❜ ❛ relief ❜ ❛ pride ❜ ❛ vulnerability ❜ ❛ nostalgia ❜ ❛ admiration ❜ ❛ disbelief ❜ ❛ grief ❜ ❛ devotion ❜ ❛ loneliness ❜ ❛ warmth ❜ ❛ embarrassment ❜ ❛ desire ❜

— TROPE

❛ only one bed ❜ ❛ mutual pining ❜ ❛ fake dating gone real ❜ ❛ friends to lovers ❜ ❛ strangers to almosts ❜ ❛ found family ❜ ❛ rivals with tension ❜ ❛ the “oh” moment ❜ ❛ confessions at 2am ❜ ❛ sunshine x grump ❜ ❛ forbidden ❜ ❛ hurt / comfort ❜ ❛ secretly in love ❜ ❛ reunion after years ❜ ❛ accidental domesticity ❜ ❛ slow burn ❜ ❛ “just friends” denial ❜ ❛ second chances ❜ ❛ love letters never sent ❜ ❛ childhood friends ❜ ❛ exes ❜ ❛ soulmates who don’t believe in fate ❜ ❛ enemies on the same side ❜ ❛ sleep talking confessions ❜ ❛ one falling first, the other falling harder ❜ ❛ patching up wounds with shaky hands ❜ ❛ “who did this to you?” ❜ ❛ dancing in the kitchen ❜ ❛ jealousy over nothing ( but also everything ) ❜ ❛ late-night phone calls ❜ ❛ caught in the rain ❜ ❛ almost kissing but someone interrupts ❜ ❛ waking up next to them ❜ ❛ fixing each other’s tie / collar ❜ ❛ taking care of them while they’re sick ❜

[keyotosprompts]

the look of love ೀ

how to describe a loving gaze

⇸ eyes darting all over your face, trying to figure out which part of you they want to set their eyes on the most (it's impossible)

⇸ gazing at you like you're miles away only when you're a few feet away, standing with another person. their stare is hard, intense, but also melting and blank.

⇸ a featherlight touch to your arm with their eyes softly peering up at you. they can't believe that you're allowing them to touch you like this—so innocent, so softly.

⇸ late nights where its just the two of you in a car. they turn over to look at you but immediately turn. for the safety of the both of you, they can't stare at you any longer

⇸ when you're teasing them, they have to bite down extra hard to not release that smile from their lips. their eyes are squinted more tightly than usual. still, they're glued onto you.

⇸ meeting their eyes from across the room, and the two of you have the exact same thought. you turn away first to hold back your laughter, but their eyes are pinned onto you.

⇸ a softened gaze in a random moment. there's no reason for them to be looking at you like that—with slightly hooded eyes and parted lips—except for the fact that they just love seeing you

⇸ you're twirling around in your new outfit, showing the 360 angle. their pupils look like they're completely taking over the iris of their eye. suddenly, breathing becomes a lot more faster than they remember.

⇸ tears run like thrashing rivers on your face, dripping onto your pants and soaking the sleeves of your shirt. but they don't care. even when wiping your tears, they still can't get over how you look absolutely angelic like this.

⇸ eyeing you in the middle of the night, feeling incredibly lucky that they are the only one who can look at you in this state. a smile dawns upon their face as they trace the shape of your jaw, press their fingers in your cheekbones, and kiss you on the cheek.

⇸ a make-out session that seems like it will never stop until they pull away, and the reason being, "i needed to look at you like this," with swollen lips and a red flush.

⇸ laughter dying down into silence. looking at each other and bursting into laughter again.

⇸ being completely bare in front of each other after a long night. shameless admiration where their eyes move up and down your face and body. there's a mix of lust and adoration in their eyes.

⇸ watching you storm off, and all they can do is stand there, focused on your fleeting figure. their face is contorted—not in an angry way—but a look of concern flashes across their features. did they just lose the one they loved the most?

⇸ getting food with the other person and realizing that this is all it takes for you to be content. this is what happiness feels like, you think.

⇸ a gripping hug that makes you feel so seen. that one second during the embrace where you two both look at each other, and time stands still. you want to frame the expression on the other person's face.

⇸ seeing you, and a beaming smile immediately breaks out of their face.

[heliza24]

Rolin and co are trying very hard to convince you that Armand is the antagonist of TVL but he’s not. He’s getting the villain edit right now but villainy is the not the same as the structural role of an antagonist, the person creating obstacles to the protagonist’s actualization.

Lestat was Louis’s antagonist in the first season, and now he’s our protagonist. Armand was the antagonist in season 2, so people are primed to just view him in the same way.

But Gabriella is actually Lestat’s antagonist. That’s why Rolin talked about her as the second most important character this season. She’s the one pushing Lestat into a role he doesn’t want and preventing him from making peace with his muses. She’s the one bringing on the end of the world and using sex to manipulate and abuse him.

Louis is the B plot protagonist this season; his plot with Bruce, Regina, and Claudia is its own separate little track. But the fact that he and Lestat are finally not each other’s antagonists is what is allowing them to slowly but surely come back together this season.

Armand is actually the protagonist of the C plot of the series. They’ve chosen to completely mask the where’s and the whys of that c plot from view of the audience. They’re using it to generate suspense, and to show that we’re still firmly rooted in a limited point of view even in this new season. When Lestat doesn’t know what Armand is doing, neither do we.

They’re going to reveal at least part of what Armand has been up to in his own little side plot in the finale, at least enough for his actions to make sense and to understand how they impact Lestat. They’re trying to convince us he’s the villain now because it will make the reveal of his real motives, which I guarantee are more complicated than “being evil” more of a subversion and a surprise. Armand has been that last minute twist (Volta, if you will) in every season so far, and I don’t think this one is going to be any different.

The only thing I’m sure about what they’re setting up is that whatever Armand is doing is going to be the opposite of what is “expected” (by general audiences I have to say, not real Armand understanders). Instead of standing by helplessly, he is trying very hard to prevent something. Instead of destruction, he’s protecting something (while still being willing to break a few Larry shaped eggs to make an omelette 😂). I think he is doing it with a real sense of brokenness and bitterness that Louis and Lestat have rejected him so thoroughly, but he’s still showing up. What were effectively going to see in ep 7 is the end point (or maybe the midpoint really) of Armand’s arc. He’s been changing behind the scenes, but we don’t know how. That character shift is part of the reveal.

If I had to guess, I would say that I don’t think we’re going to get a full window into what’s going on with Armand until season 4. When Lestat is grabbed by Akasha and is no longer around to limit our perspective, there’s going to be a chance to relive the whole thing from Armand’s POV. At that point he will finally be the protagonist of his own story, and we’ll be able to see a full arc from him. And I actually suspect they’ll start that timeline much further in the past, with flashbacks to the 70s and 80s with Daniel and maybe even glimpses of Venice, and take it through the time of the tour. That would be fitting with the way the book Queen of the Damned is structured, with a focus on Devil’s minion and a structure that repeats the timeline of The Vampire Lestat, just viewed through different perspectives. That was also the book where Armand transformed from an antagonist into a character in his own right in Anne’s mind So I don’t think we should expect a full Armand arc until 2028 (😭). (I also hope season 4 will give us multiple other POVs as well to match the structure of qotd, but that’s just more future speculating at this point).

[orphiccatharsis]

When world-building starts to feel like this.

Honestly. Best feeling ever.

[the960writers]

Turning Off the TV in Your Mind

Thoughts on flipping from "TV brain" to "prose brain" when writing fiction

Lincoln Michel Dec 12, 2024

I’m using “TV” as a shorthand for any visual narrative art from feature length films to video games. A lot of fiction these days reads as if—as I saw Peter Raleigh put it the other day, and as I’ve discussed it before—the author is trying to describe a video playing in their mind. Often there is little or no interiority. Scenes play out in “real time” without summary. First-person POV stories describe things the character can’t see, but a distant camera could. There’s an overemphasis on characters’ outfits and facial expressions, including my personal pet peeve: the “reaction shot round-up” in which we get a description of every character’s reaction to something as if a camera was cutting between sitcom actors.

[...]

My theory is that we live in the age of visual narratives and that increasingly warps how we write. Film, TV, TikToks, and video games are culturally dominant. Most of us learn how stories work through visual mediums. This is how our brains have been taught to think about story. And so, this is how we write. I’m not suggesting there is any problem in being influenced by these artforms. I certainly am. The problem is that if you’re “thinking in TV” while writing prose, you abandon the advantages of prose without getting the advantages of TV.

[...]

When I talk with other creative writing professors, we all seem to agree that interiority is disappearing. Even in first-person POV stories, younger writers often skip describing their character’s hopes, dreams, fears, thoughts, memories, or reactions. This trend is hardly limited to young writers though. I was speaking to an editor yesterday who agreed interiority has largely vanished from commercial fiction, and I think you increasingly notice its absence even in works shelved as “literary fiction.” When interiority does appear on the page, it is often brief and redundant with the dialogue and action. All of this is a great shame. Interiority is perhaps the prime example of an advantage prose as a medium holds over other artforms.