#unsolicited advice

[lyraeon]

who taught you that suffering in silence was noble, and how would you shutting up have benefited them?

[madame-snail-smooches]

Easily the most complimented feature of my writing has always been how strongly I convey emotion, so here's my unsolicited advice on making your readers feel what your characters are feeling:

Physicalize - I am personally a very emotional human being, and I feel things very physically. I think that helps me describe emotions on paper, because I tend to connect emotions with physical sensations. For example, instead of "he felt sad," I would say "sadness washed over him in a lukewarm tide." That physicalization of the abstract feeling can make it easier for people to replicate the feeling in their own minds. So basically, I'm taking the emotions I want to convey and thinking, "how does this emotion feel on a physical level?" and then describing that. "Anxiety tightened in her gut." "Anger bubbled under his skin." "Her body was light, drifting in euphoria." Metaphors are your friends.

~Body Language~ - Another physical indicator of emotion is how people's body language changes to reflect what they feel. This is huge when dealing with non-POV characters. Any time that you could say "she looked upset," you would do better to just describe how she looked. "She furrowed her brow, looking down." "His fist tightened on the door handle." "The silverware rattled in the drawer as she jerked it open." Emotions often come through in the way characters interact with objects around them. In that vein, you can usually express it more clearly if you focus around some action that the character is performing (even a tiny little one). Making note of details like avoiding eye contact, how/when people fidget, whether their movements are sharp or fluid, and stuff like that can go a long way in conveying emotions more naturally.

Wait How Do People Talk Again?? - Dialogue can be really tough if it doesn't come naturally to you. I voice-act quietly to myself pretty much all of the dialogue I write just to make sure it sounds natural. Again, pulling from real-life experience is usually best here; imagine how you've heard real people talk when they are feeling angry, depressed, panicked, etc. Think about phrasing and tone inflection - do their words sound short, sharp, and clipped? How do their phrasing choices show that? Do they ramble in a bright, bubbly tone? Are they monotone and flat? Do they use a lot of filler words because their brain is moving too fast (or too slow)? Are they so tired or hesitant that they trail off or pause frequently?

That's my main advice on conveying emotion through writing. Feel free to add on or ask questions!

[eldritchbauble]

One of the reasons that giving unsolicited advice is so rude is you're assuming the other person knows less than you or isn't capable of thinking of the same answers for themselves. You aren't asking first whether they want advice or what they've already thought of or tried, which is condescending.

[dissociatingdumbass]

I only have one advice for fanfiction writers (including me) and that's the following:

Don't ever let anyone else tell you how to write your story or your characters...

[tozettastone]

More people should try being a little conceited. It's good for your self confidence. It makes you less insecure and anxious to be a little conceited. And you really can't guarantee anyone else is going to admire you for your many cool and laudable qualities. Doing it yourself is just as good, you know?

[nobeerreviews]

we old folk enjoy that, we're in our element giving out advice, telling other people to do what we didn't do when we were young and still won 't do now we're old

-- Miguel Angel Asturias

(Laufen castle, Switzerland)

[aquabarbariancleric]

Unsolicited Writing Advice

When you need to rewrite something, start with a blank document. Do split screen between the original and your new document.

It helps your brain think because you're not editing over the top of something that already exists and agonizing how to make it better, you're simply using it as an outline for what you want to accomplish.

I'm currently doing this with a scene I wanted to add more detail to. The opening paragraph was originally 102 words. I have now written 1000 words, and I haven't reached the point where the next paragraph comes in from the original yet.

I've added details. I've add context. I've brought in characterization. I've made silly jokes. This scene is already 1000x better than if I tried to write over the top of it.

So, get a new document and start from the beginning. See what happens.

[queer-as-in]

hot take: you don't have to be sexually experienced to write great smut. like. you can write an incredible murder scene without first committing homicide

but. if your personal awareness of sex comes primarily from fanfic, your smut will likely read like fanfic

(this is NOT a bad thing, just a thing. we have all read and enjoyed our fair share of "one finger, two fingers, dick" porn)

imao you just gotta get weirder about your research. watch a grower dick get hard in real time, deepthroat something, contort yourself into the position you're describing, read fetish journal entries, dig into that reddit thread about squirting. and! don't forget to read at least a little smut that isn't fanfic