Dec 7, 2024
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
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An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Finally got around to craft the Light on the Horizon hardcovers!
I was extremely rusty making them and it unfortunately shows but the overall result looks pretty good!! And my "paperbacks" weren't quite functional while these are perfectly functional despite their flaws so yay!!
Used pale fabric transfer paper for the first time too and tbh I should use that one anytime my title is in black, way less hassle (but I do generally prefer using dark fabric transfer paper, more simple)
So I went for a bit of an old map aesthetic for these, half improved because the reason i'm so risty is because I kept putting off the cover making because I didn't know what to do with it, so I figured if I wouldn't know, might as well improvise, and I think it worked nicely!
Also tried to make them both identical yet different but that part shows more on the back cover. At first, only At Hope's End would have had the "leaky" aesthetic, but transfer paper mistakes forced me to paint over it so oop kcbsjc
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Now that I got to heal a bit from my burnout and get chapter 20 done, here’s a new chapter! Enjoy <3
Using "said" is okay
Aka Second Edition of Rep's lil writing tips
Said is the default when nothing else is needed, said is perfectly fine and functional. You don't have to look for synonyms of 'said', in fact you plain shouldn’t search for "synonyms" of said. Dialogue tags are not here just for who's talking, they do a lot more!
When it comes to dialogue tags, the best thing you can do to make them varied yet feel natural is to ask yourself "is there something I want to convey that the dialogue itself can’t?". Like whispering, growling, blurting out, etc... The dialogue tag isn't just to say who’s talking, it's about serving the dialogue and narration! It’s about deepening the dialogue with what the dialogue itself can't say! (So maybe refrain from the "he asked" when there's a question mark since that's the function of a question mark. Same with exclamation marks)
The dialogue tag can play with the tone and volume, they're so fun!
-"Whatever," he grunted
-"Whatever," he sighed
-"Whatever," he muttered
And if you got an exclamation mark, go wild, I love those, I love playing with the volume and tone the dialogue tags do!
-"Go away!" he growled
-"Go away!" he spat
-"Go away!" he yelled
-"Go away!" he screamed
Also lil life hack tip: Since "!?" Is technically not grammatically correct, you got a free dialogue tag right there by removing one of the marks 😎 So instead of:
"What are you talking about!?" he said (or "he exclaimed"/"he asked" which would be repetitive and perhaps a lil awkward since the marks are already saying that)
You can get an easy:
"What are you talking about?" he exclaimed.
^^^ Bam. The dialogue itself couldn’t convey it, so the dialogue tag came along and did it.
And once you've made sure the dialogue line can’t really be deepened by anything, that it doesn't really need anything aside from a tag because it's unclear who's talking: go with said!!! It's a good dialogue tag! Super functional, go nuts!!!
So instead of asking yourself "what synonyms are there to 'said'", ask yourself if your dialogue could use a lil extra word to convey the feelings, speed, and tone more clearly! If you ask yourself this new question you'll never worry about overusing said again!
And have fun exploring what dialogue tags can do for your dialogues!!!
Bonus: Using actions as a "tag" works too! Like:
-“I don't know,” he shrugged.
-He shrugged. “I don’t know.”
(I like to use the latter with the name, I usually use it when it needs to be extra clear who's talking before the reader can put a voice to the dialogue, like a group setting, was very useful while writing At Hope’s End)
Because sometimes you don't feel the need to convey a tone, but a feeling that's better shown a lil out of dialogue. Maybe they turn away as they say it, maybe they hurriedly take a bite of food to stop talking so their voice doesn't crack, maybe they're unimpressed and cross their arms, or maybe you just want to exploit the "this is a tavern" setting and make a character sip a beer for setting purposes, lots of possibilities here too!
Dialogue tags serve the dialogue, but they also serve the narration! Up to you to decide what exactly you want it to serve!
The first bit you write of your story doesn't have to be the first paragraph of the story
Aka First edition of "Rep’s lil writing tips"
We all know that writer's block, that white page syndrome where you don't know how to start, where that first paragraph feels so important so you don't know where and how to start it.
My advice? Drop that social construct and fuck that first paragraph. You absolutely want to start with chapter 1? Understandable, so do I! Then what's the first element you want to write in chapter one? That dialogue you're looking forward to, that one description of that house they reach in that chapter? Go with that, the rest can be figured out later. It's much easier to edit in a first paragraph according to your needs (that can be found more easily when the rest is written!) than feel stuck in front of a blank page with all these expectations on the first words. Besides, sometimes you have to delete that first paragraph for various reasons anyway. (I've had to delete an entire first chapter before once a few more had been written)
Maybe you'll need to put a lil something before what you wrote, and maybe that can be what you need to find out what to do with that first paragraph later.
Bonus: Some people have shared with me before that sometimes they don't know where to start their story, what part to make the first chapter about. My answer to them is "start where the story starts" aka start as close to the inciting incident as you can. Lots of exposition can be overwhelming for a reader, and often a lot of that chapter 1 exposition can be easily shared later more naturally when the story needs that specific explanation.
I had even made a test once with A Use for a Doomed Soul when I was starting to wonder just how useful chapter 1 of that story was. And so I made 3 versions of the beginning of the story and sent them to a friend to tell me which intro was their favorite. The winner? The shortest one... which was the beginning of chapter 2. Right where the inciting incident started. Sometimes the simplest is the best.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Didn’t feel like waiting for April 2nd to post so here's a new chapter B)
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Everyone say thank you to the 6 hour drive in the backseat I had to do last weekend that allowed me to write that much B)
And here's to hoping next week's 6 hour drive allows even more progress