RMH
he wasn't even looking at me and he found me
Claire Keane
2025 on Tumblr: Trends That Defined the Year

blake kathryn
Monterey Bay Aquarium

if i look back, i am lost
Keni
ojovivo

Kiana Khansmith
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hello vonnie
Cosimo Galluzzi
DEAR READER

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TVSTRANGERTHINGS
Jules of Nature
Sade Olutola
almost home

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@thefryingdutchie
Text: congrats on the failure babe, most people don't even try
ASS trio dynamics. I do not know what possessed me to draw this.
abigail sketch 🪻
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.
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.
All of this, but also feels/felt. My editor has forbidden me from using those and it’s forced me to stretch my skills.
This is your "show not tell" advice explained!
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.
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.
The most valuable advice that Author Ex gave me through the years that we wrote together was this: the problem with all these filter words is that they create distance in the POV.
That means that when you read a line like
John saw that the curtains were open.
It immediately takes you OUT of the character's perspective and instead tells you what they experience as a secondhand observation.
You don't have to get fancy or purple with how you rephrase things like this. Not everything needs a ton of breathing room.
You wanna know what's perfectly impactful while keeping a tight POV?
The curtains were open.
Simple as that.
What I always love about this every time it crosses my dash is that while it's good advice, it's not actually framed as advice. It's framed as a time-limited challenge. That's very different!
It's not saying "never use these words again." It's saying "give this a try, a really hardcore try, just for a little while (it says six months but obviously you can adjust that), and see what happens." Which is so much more useful, because it's framing it as a learning experience.
If you do this, for six months or two months or one full story or whatever, at the end of that time you'll have a better understanding of when these words are and aren't necessary and when and how to use them to get the specific effect you want - because like defilerwyrm says, they create distance, and maybe sometimes you want that!
So much writing advice falls flat because you can always think of an exception that allows you to ignore the rule. But a writing challenge gives you a chance to explore new territory and see how it works.
I’d like everyone to see this
{Credit to amalasrosa on Twitter}
#real #not to be salty but this is what ive been saying#like everyone out here really still acting like fanfic isnt really writing#like its subpar and like it cant be good and have amazing lines#even fanfic writers treat it like its LESS and like theyre PLAY writing and not actually writing#like friend buddy ican ASSURE YOU that fanfic is every bit as real and good as writing from books#the only difference between fic and actual books is that books go through several stages of processing and editing and filtering#and are worked on by professionals who studied the craft of editing#while fanfiction cuts that filtering and everyone gets a chance to be heard and to be read#and instead of editors we have peer editing and reviewing#dont be fucking tricked by the mass notion that anything that young girls and queer people are interested in is immediately bad and subpar#bc it is fucking not #i will FIGHT for it #fanfiction (tags by @crossroadswrite bacause they add so much to this post)
The real irony is there is plenty of fanfiction that goes through more rigorous editing than some published fiction. So the difference in quality between fanfiction and “professional writing” is totally arbitrary and made up. Except that some things that are more expensive are worse.
Fanfic has really raised my standards for what constitutes good writing.
Also, fanfiction isn’t affected by a publisher and the market.
I’m a huge fan of @cosmicdraghon and their art, so when I saw commissions were open I had to get one of my favourite scenes from my AO3 fanfic, ‘if you want a lover’, drawn! And hoooollyy crap, did cosmicdragon deliver and more 🤩
I’d never commissioned art before, but the whole process was so easy and cosmicdragon was so kind and professional throughout the whole process. I’ve literally been staring at the comic all day, it’s just so beautiful! 💖
Please go and support their amazing work and, if you’d like to read ‘iywal’, I would be so grateful! (For those wondering, this is Chapter 26 - we love a slow burn in this house 😉)
My favorite Star Trek Captains as Troubled Bird Memes
Ninjago Fanart - Wyldfyre! Yesterday on stream, I did this quick sketch of Wyldfyre from Ninjago, and today I cleaned it up a little bit and completed the render a tad more. I really like this redesign/interpretation, I think it really captures her attitude and spirit well! Let me know what you all think!
perceived skill
your month, your mini cat!
These tiny cats are now sticker sheets in my shop!!
Just found out it's been a year since Mario Kart World came out, so I scrambled to get this done.
You get to let Mario eat a burger in this game, he deserves it. 10/10👌
So yeah, here's Mario enjoying a burger.
(And I just wanted to draw Mario happy and not possessed. Poor boy's been going though it in my recent drawings.)
(Feels good to draw something wholesome. Nice little palate cleanser.)
Oh, guess Mario was really hungry.
He's good, the boy's got a hardy appetite.
QUASAR CPM i can't use because i don't own minecraft java and my computer doesn't run it well. model by me textures by @wltchdagger
Loid on a horse, heal me 🙂↕️
I'm always curious why Anya always says her name every time she refers to herself. i think it has to do something from her past or it's just a cute trait that the author made but who knows anything can happen (◍•ᴗ•◍) heres my little head canon comic i made, hope y'all enjoy!!
I really didn't expect to be slammed with such angsty thoughts..... 😭😭😭😭💔💔💔💔
Oh my heaaarrttt 😭😭😭😭
I just got. The single funniest dm I've ever received in my entire life
Characters in media fighting back against the mind control:
let's hunt with mama