The Atypical Journal

mentally and chronically ill

[flowerytale]

― Emily Dickinson

[theatypicaljournal]

I swear im going to start posting more.✨ Promise ✨

[theatypicaljournal]

I took a nap then I baked a cookies

[theatypicaljournal]

January 13

[guerrillatech]

[theatypicaljournal]

Keep the kid in you till he's old enough to get his own insurance plan

[theatypicaljournal]

My coping mechanism for 2025

[theatypicaljournal]

Hello. I have once again risen out of mild seasonal depression to add my necessary thoughts to your day.

[theatypicaljournal]

Junk journal pages dump because I did a few in one go

[wafflewarrior111]

So... I found this and now it keeps coming to mind. You hear about "life-changing writing advice" all the time and usually its really not—but honestly this is it man.

I'm going to try it.

[missroserose]

I love the lawyer metaphor, because whenever I see “John knew that...” in prose writing I immediately think “how?  How does he know it?”  Interrogate your witnesses.  Cross-examine them.  Make them explain their reasoning.  It pays dividends.

[heck-in-a-handbasket]

All of this, but also feels/felt. My editor has forbidden me from using those and it’s forced me to stretch my skills.

[ineedthesons]

This is your "show not tell" advice explained!

[tarysande]

Editor here.

First, let me preface this with something very important: you can treat all of this advice as SECOND-DRAFT ADVICE. It is so much easier to rewrite this kind of stuff once you have words on the page. Telling yourself the first draft is totally appropriate and acceptable.

What we’re talking about here are FILTER WORDS (and to some degree verbs of being). Yes, “thought” words are included. But so are “heard, saw, looked, tasted, smelled” etc.—most words having to do with the senses.

This isn’t black and white advice; sometimes you’ll use these words and that’s okay. They’re not WRONG. They’re just weaker. And they’re weaker because they create distance between the reader and the experience of the character.*

If you want your reader to feel like they’re experiencing the story right alongside the character, you want to cut down on filter words.

*This is particularly important with first person and close third POVs. The reader always knows whose eyes they’re seeing through and thoughts they’re privy to. So you don’t need to tell them “I saw X.” Or “I heard X.” Or “I thought Y.” You can just jump into the action/observation as it’s happening.

This is also where you want to pay attention to verbs of being.

“It was rainy.” Versus: “The rain pounded against the roof.” Or “The rain howled like an injured animal.” Or “The rain tapped against the window like an anxious lover.” All of these are inviting the reader deeper into the experience of the story by using stronger verbs and similes. And, at the same time, they stir feelings (instead of TELLING feelings). And feelings keep your reader engaged. Engaged readers keep turning pages; engaged readers become FANS.

[the-haiku-bot]

This is also where

you want to pay attention

to verbs of being.

Beep boop! I look for accidental haiku posts. Sometimes I mess up.

[academia-lucifer]

@academia-lucifer

[lottiestudying]

14.10.2024—happy monday. can’t believe there’s only two weeks left of my undergrad degree

[theatypicaljournal]

My junk journal spread from the localish fair I went to.

[lattejournalss-deactivated20250]

~ and all of my devotion turns violent ~

[theatypicaljournal]

I started a new junk journal. It's been a while since I made one

[theatypicaljournal]

[belovedapollo]

visual diary from recently 🏷️ reblog is ok, don’t repost/use

[theatypicaljournal]

Howw am I approaching the end of the semester already??? I swear it only started last month. But here I am worrying about assignment deadlines and final projects again. I hate end of semester