Gotta appreciate a girl that warms you up during a blizzard
If there's no one in the book store (especially Ms. Lim), how freak would Chaewon and OC get?
Would Chaewon and OC would take turns reading smut out loud?
Chaewon blowing OC while he's stacking books?
If both of them are edging each other while reading smut, who do you think would lose control first?😛
HELLO, FRISKY!!
Your asks are always so fun and interesting to read. Thank you for sending one again! ❤️
How freak would they get, hmmm?
They are both too shy to do it while the bookstore is open. But once the bookstore closes, the legs open. They'd start off small, still conscious about someone wondering into the store (as you said, blowing while stacking books or reading smut as they get each other off).
They'd get freakier and freakier with time: roleplay as customer and librarian, trying to read books aloud while the other plays with their body, use the book straps to tie each other.
(If both of them are edging each other while reading smut, they'd both lose control at a similar time, depends on what they're reading)
Hi couch!! How long have you been writing for?? I have a whole ass English degree but I'm finding it so hard to... find a style? Your chaewon fic had me thinking about it a bunch. I mean ive never really done any creative writing till recently, but I love your writing style. Writing essays is so much different than creative writing. You're so good at evoking emotion and that doesnt really translate all that much with academic rhetoric (i mean kinda but theyre different for sure). Anyways never thought id be so inspired from reading smut lmao but ever since i found your page ive been super motivated. Thanks for the great reads as always!
Hi J!! (hope it's alright to call you J)
First off, I'm flattered you enjoy my writing enough to send this ask. I have been writing for a couple years now. I don't want to get into what I was writing, but still, I am VERY NEW to writing smut, so I am very much surprised people seem to enjoy it.
I'm not sure what they teach an English major, but I'll assume you've heard: cut down on the adverbs and use stronger verbs to shorten the word count. I'll skip that.
I think writing—and finding your voice—is one of the skills you can’t learn without doing. The best advice I can give is READ and WRITE and READ and WRITE and READ and WRITE. You can ignore EVERYTHING else in this post, read books you enjoy and write every day; you'll improve a lot faster than watching lectures on how to write. (at least in my opinion)
I know you want to kill me now. I sure did want to kill whoever came up with that advice when I stumbled upon it.
Now—although I don't think writing can be learned without doing—I'll give you some ways to decide what to pour your time into. I'm going to use categorical language, but remember this is just my view on writing. Take what you find useful and discard the rest.
If an interesting story is the steak, characters are the meat. I'd much rather read a story with amazing characters and garbage plot and setting than a story with garbage characters but amazing plot and setting. (though that is hard to do, as plot and setting play into the characters)
Even then—there’s the question—what makes a good character? And how the hell do I write one? For me a good character is one who thinks, acts, talks like a real person. The best way to get better at doing that is… observing people in real life.
People rarely say what they mean; they have desires, they have fears, often in conflict with one another. Maybe you like that girl, but you are friends, so confessing—and getting rejected—ruins that? Maybe you have to earn a lot of money for your family, but you have to do it by pushing and bending and twisting your moral compass?
Try and not make relevant characters one-dimensional.
Be careful though, one mistake you can make is coming up with over-complex characters and spelling everything out for the reader. DON’T DO THAT. USE SUBTEXT AND LET SOME THINGS UNKNOWN TO THE READER. You don’t know everything about the people you meet in real life—not even the ones you’re close to—so don’t force your reader to.
By using subtext I mean the following: (yes, I’m using my own fic as an example)
“Fix that,” she says.
“It’s tied,” you say. “It’s doing its job.”
“It’s crooked,” she says. “And you’re in front of customers.”
“I didn’t realize my back was part of the customer service.”
“It is when I have to look at it.”
You feel your spine stiffen. “Newsflash, Chaewon: you don’t have to look at me at all.”
In my opinion, that exchange offers the reader a decent glimpse into the relationship dynamics without spelling it out. Imagine instead of that, there was this:
“Fix your apron,” Chaewon says, her tone sharper than necessary.
“It’s tied,” you say, shrugging. “What’s the big deal?”
“It’s crooked,” she says, frowning. “And we’re supposed to look professional.”
You glance back at her. “Didn’t know you cared so much about my apron.”
She looks away quickly. “I just don’t want to get in trouble. Ms. Lim notices stuff like that.”
You pause, wondering if there’s more to it. She’s being weirdly intense about this for some reason.
This sounds like I’m SCREAMING at the reader. Look! Look! She is strict, but cares for you. It’s cheap and unsatisfactory, essentially calling the reader a dum-dum who can’t read social cues and has to have everything explained.
I can’t write a whole essay about how I write characters, so just remember: think of them as real people. Let them act and think and talk on the page as they would in real life. Don’t force the poor characters to do your bidding for the sake of the planned ending you have in mind.
Let’s move on to the plot, which is the next most important thing. I’ll use the steak analogy again. If your story is a steak: the characters are the meat, the plot is the way you cook the meat, and the setting is the condiments.
Plot boils down to one word. Conflict. The characters want something, but an obstacle in the story doesn’t let them have it.
They want to live a peaceful life, but a crazy clown tries to eat them. They want to date a hot girl, but she’s out of their league. It can even be something as simple as they are hungry, but the fridge is empty. Though you’d need some premium meat and condiments for that last idea. (also, there are usually multiple plots in one story)
The plot should serve the characters; alter their relationships, reveal desires and fears, or force them to change themselves and their world view. Change is crucial for the story. If nothing changes, then the reader grows bored and begins to wonder what even is the point of the story.
Change doesn't have to be change in the world of the character. The reader finding something new about a character is change.
Now onto the setting. The condiments. This is the world where your story unfolds, which aids in fleshing out and developing your characters.
Once more, I will use my Chaewon fic as an example (I know, this guiltycouch guy is shameless):
The setting is a college bookstore during a blizzard. Why did I choose the setting? Both main characters are shy, hiding their feelings behind meanness. They won’t confess, much less hook up in normal circumstances.
So I put them in a crisis.
A crisis where they have to work together. A bookstore where they can’t hide much from each other. A SETTING where they have to be honest. Now, did the setting have to be a bookstore during a blizzard for the story to work? Of course not. That’s one of the reasons setting is the least important of the three.
It could have been any setting as long as it helped the characters and plot. In this case, helping meant a close space and a crisis.
You can make a good story with most settings, but molding the setting for the characters makes writing a lot easier.
Do I think everything through like this every time I write? Hell no, my head would explode. But whenever I edit or re-write or feel there’s something wrong with the story, I think which of the three I screw up on.
Now this is cool and all, but don’t forget, READING and WRITING are still 90% of the work. If you don’t do it consistently and want to get better, it’s the same as wanting to get muscle without eating protein and working out. Not gonna happen.
Right now, I aim for anywhere between 1000 words on a bad day to 2000 on a good one. I did start with 500 for a good while to build consistency. It doesn’t matter if my writing is absolute garbage, I can always fix it later. Just. Get. The. Words. Down. (I realize these might seem like a lot. I enjoy writing as a hobby—it’s something I do for fun—so don’t force yourself.)
Also, writing when you have distractions around makes everything 10x harder. For that I use an app called Freedom, which blocks everything except Scrivener (where I write) and the thesaurus site I use to find synonyms for however long you choose. Freedom also has a phone version so you don’t give yourself that out.
One last thing and I’m done.
It’s hard to go into detail since it’s one of those things you learn by doing, but try to vary both sentence and paragraph length depending on what is going on.
Example, look how short the sentences and paragraphs are when the lights go out:
The lights go out.
Everything snaps to black so fast your stomach drops. The humming of the heaters stops. The buzzing from the old fluorescent tube in the back disappears. Even the little mechanical whir of the receipt printer dies.
For half a heartbeat, it’s just the storm and breathing.
The emergency lights blink on. They’re low and yellow, barely illuminating the aisles. The store looks different in them, older somehow, shadows stretched long between shelves.
Outside, something slams into the shutter with a metallic boom.
You and Chaewon both flinch.
“Ms. Lim?” Chaewon calls, too loud in the sudden quiet.
The boom comes again.
In intense situations, it’s a lot harder to form proper thoughts, so I tried reflecting that in the writing. Everything is fast. Reactive.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaand that’s it. I yapped a lot, but I can’t think of a much shorter way to explain. Hope it helps somewhat!
Small town vibes with a unique landmark + hot girls? Count me in 😁
A portal opens up and you're OC. You don't understand what you're seeing until it hits you, you're looking at an alternate reality. Which one would you choose:
Walk through the portal. You'll be back to where you started before you made the decision to move back. This time you will not be back in town.
The connection you forged with Karina and Minjeong will be lost, their memories of you during that time will fade. However, your memories will not be altered.
The outcome for the pier is guaranteed to be favorable towards the town. The relationship between Karina and Minjeong will be close yet at arms length sometimes (Just sibling things they say).
Overall everyone would be doing pretty good for themselves. Though life gets in the way. You'll only have surface communication with the both of them if at all.
You will not get the chance to properly reconnect with them until later in life (at least 6+ years later)
OR
Stay.
HELLO FRISKY!
This is a really fun ask, so thank you!!! I'm sure each time an author receives an ask from you it makes their day. (it certainly made mine)
Now to answer the question... although it is tempting to save the pier and repair the relationship between the siblings, I am one selfish bastard.
If I were in OC's shoes it'd be too hard to wait 6+ years before reconnecting with the two of them—so even though I might end up making things worse—I'd choose to STAY and try to solve the problems myself.
Karina has the reader to lean on. Could you write the reader also leaning on Minjeong? Either a past relationship or a fling but they stayed close or at least cordial. Or maybe the reader finds himself in a complicated relationship between Karina and Minjeong.
Wonderful work as always! I like how you expanded on the story, tying in how Minjeong had her internal debate and worries. And how MC managed to convince Karina to bring out her tue feelings and thoughts in front of not only just Minjeong, but everyone! Very very nice development and progression~
Just a curious question, who else are you interested in writing, as part of the same series, or new oneshots, or other series!
Couches are comfy~
ACORNN!!
AHH, you've actually read it! You have no idea how much it means to me that you took time out of your busy day to read my fic!! 🥹
For who am I interested in writing? HMMM... For this series definitely Winter. (99% sure this series will only have her and Karina) For other fics, I'm interested in AESPA and Le Sserafim. However—not too long ago, I've read some fics by a cute adorable acorn which made me interested in IVE. So I'll likely make a poll to decide who the last fic of the year is about.
