Just a place for writers

I'm Mod Flint and I'll be talking in blue. This blog is just a place to get some ideas, prompts, tropes and other writing related advice. If you have a specific question our ask box is open :]Some of the pronouns I use are they/them and wer/wers  ---------------------howdy!!!!! im mod lock and ill be talkin in purple!! my main pronouns are: necro/necrum/necroself and spiri/spiriself, but they/them works too!!!-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Hey! I'm Mod Sky and I'll be talking in pink! My pronouns are she/they!

[evilwizard]

did you know? there is a type of metal chariot, powered by the bone-ichor of ancient dragons, that you can use to access—and quickly traverse—a labyrinthine realm of desolate, pitch-black stone known to scientists as “the american highway system”

[evilwizard]

be forewarned! the chariot does release a terrible curse that ravages the sky and boils the sea. but the King’s coffers are rich with coin from the Dragonbone Ichor Council, so there aren’t many alternatives <|:^/

[catchymemes]

[bruciemilf]

Did I daydream this, or was there a website for writers with like. A ridiculous quantity of descriptive aid. Like I remember clicking on " inside a cinema " or something like that. Then, BAM. Here's a list of smell and sounds. I can't remember it for the life of me, but if someone else can, help a bitch out <3

[bruciemilf]

I FOUND IT BITCHES

[dramono]

This is going to save me so much trouble in the future.

[theplottery]

Why your story sucks

Read this if you think your story sucks.

Here are the most common reasons why it might feel like things are falling flat in your novel, or just not working out the way you want them to.

You don’t have a clear message You don’t have a grasp on what your story question is and how you’re going to answer it, or what themes you’re exploring beyond the plot.

You’ve lost sight of your character motivations This happens often, to experienced writers too. Sometimes you’re just not thinking in a way that puts your character motivations in the top priorities - where they should always be.

You rushed in without a plot structure Being a discovery writer is all good and way, pantsing your way through a story can be done, but even so, you should at least have a vague idea of what your biggest plot points are, so you don’t completely lose the middle.

You’re obsessed with the plot On the other tip of the scale, you might be obsessing over following every little plot thread you’ve laid out, that writing just isn’t fun anymore, and your characters are doing things for the sake of following your plot.

You’re not taking time to discover your world Allowing yourself some creative freedom from time to time is a great way to spark innovative scenes in your novel. Explore what the world you created has to offer, and let your characters do their own thing once in a while.

Did you hear about my group coaching for writers? I’m teaming up with Novlr to bring you a 6-month program where you’ll learn all the elements of creative writing and work to complete your first draft!

Join the waitlist today through the link HERE!

[headspace-hotel]

thinking again about TvTropes and how it’s genuinely such an amazing resource for learning the mechanics of storytelling, honestly more so than a lot of formally taught literature classes

reasons for this:

basically TvTropes breaks down stories mechanically, using a perspective that’s not…ABOUT mechanics. Another way I like to put it, is that it’s an inductive, instead of deductive, approach to analyzing storytelling.

like in a literature or writing class you’re learning the elements that are part of the basic functioning of a story, so, character, plot, setting, et cetera. You’re learning the things that make a story a story, and why. Like, you learn what setting is, what defines it, and work from there to what makes it effective, and the range of ways it can be effective.

here’s the thing, though: everyone has some intuitive understanding of how stories work. if we didn’t, we couldn’t…understand stories.

TvTropes’s approach is bottom-up instead of top-down: instead of trying to exhaustively explore the broad, general elements of story, it identifies very small, specific elements, and explores the absolute shit out of how they fit, what they do, where they go, how they work.

Every TvTropes article is basically, “Here is a piece of a story that is part of many different stories. You have probably seen it before, but if not, here is a list of stories that use it, where it is, and what it’s doing in those stories. Here are some things it does. Here is why it is functionally different than other, similar story pieces. Here is some background on its origins and how audiences respond to it.”

all of this is BRILLIANT for a lot of reasons. one of the major ones is that the site has long lists of media that utilizes any given trope, ranging from classic literature to cartoons to video games to advertisements. the Iliad and Adventure Time ARE different things, but they are MADE OF the same stuff. And being able to study dozens of examples of a trope in action teaches you to see the common thread in what the trope does and why its specific characteristics let it do that

I love TvTropes because a great, renowned work of literature and a shitty, derivative YA novel will appear on the same list, because they’re Made Of The Same Stuff. And breaking down that mental barrier between them is good on its own for developing a mechanical understanding of storytelling.

But also? I think one of the biggest blessings of TvTropes’s commitment to cataloguing examples of tropes regardless of their “merit” or literary value or whatever…is that we get to see the full range of effectiveness or ineffectiveness of storytelling tools. Like, this is how you see what makes one book good and another book crappy. Tropes are Tools, and when you observe how a master craftsman uses a tool vs. a novice, you can break down not only what the tool is most effective for but how it is best used.

In fact? There are trope pages devoted to what happens when storytelling tools just unilaterally fail. e.g. Narm is when creators intend something to be frightening, but audiences find it hilarious instead.

On that note, TvTropes is also great in that its analysis of stories is very grounded in authors, audiences, and culture; it’s not solely focused on in-story elements. A lot of the trope pages are categories for audience responses to tropes, or for real-world occurrences that affected the storytelling, or just the human failings that creep into storytelling and affect it, like Early Installment Weirdness. There are categories for censorship-driven storytelling decisions. There are “lineages” of tropes that show how storytelling has changed over time, and how audience responses change as culture changes. Tropes like Draco in Leather Pants or Narm are catalogued because the audience reaction to a story is as much a part of that story—the story of that story?—as the “canon.”

like, storytelling is inextricable from context. it’s inextricable from how big the writers’ budget was, and how accepting of homophobia the audience was, and what was acceptable to be shown on film at the time. Tropes beget other tropes, one trope is exchanged for another, they are all linked. A Dead Horse Trope becomes an Undead Horse Trope, and sometimes it was a Dead Unicorn Trope all along. What was this work responding to? And all works are responding to something, whether they know it or not

[headspace-hotel]

An incomplete list of really useful or interesting reads from TvTropes.

please note that yes many of these are concepts that exist elsewhere and a few are even taught in fiction writing classes but TvTropes just does an amazing job at displaying the range of things that can be done with them

legitimately so much of the terminology I use to talk about storytelling, and even think about it in my own head, i learned about from TvTropes

Willing Suspension of Disbelief

Watsonian vs. Doylist

Trope Tropes, for all the ways tropes are used, deconstructed, subverted, and played with.

The Oldest Ones in the Book, which is basically my favorite thing on the entire Internet

Punk Punk, for -punk subgenres

Sliding Scale of Silliness vs. Seriousness, Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism

The Weird Al Effect is a fun one

Chekhov’s Gun, Chekhov’s Boomerang, Chekhov’s Skill, and further variations

Law of Conservation of Detail

Law of Conservation of Normality

Anthropic Principle

Word of God, Death of the Author

Sliding Scale of Fourth Wall Hardness

Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness

Genre Savvy

Flashbacks and Chronology breaks down all the ways you can handle chronology in storytelling

Show, Don’t Tell is a very good breakdown of what is showing, what is telling, and how both can be used effectively.

Lampshade Hanging

Noodle Incident is just fun imo

Genre Title Grab Bag

Fridge Horror

Rule of Cool, and also Cool of Rule

The Smurfette Principle

The Hays Code - not a trope but a very good breakdown of how the Hays Code affected storytelling in film

this is just a really short list of examples I encourage people who write or otherwise create stories to browse around on this site it’s so useful

[frownyalfred]

tricky words I always see misspelled in fics: a guide

Viscous/vicious – Viscous is generally used to describe the consistency of blood or other thick liquids. Vicious is used to describe something or someone who is violent. 

Piqued/Peaked/Peeked – To pique someone’s interest is to catch or tease their attention. When something peaks, it reaches its total height or intensity. To peek (at) something is to look briefly, or glance. 

Discrete/Discreet – this is a tough one. Discrete means to be separate, or distinct, i.e., two discrete theories. Conversely, when someone is discreet, they are being secretive or cautious to avoid attention. 

Segue/Segway – one is a transition between things, the other is a thing you can ride at the park and definitely fall off of.

Conscious/Conscience/Conscientious – to be conscious is to be awake, i.e., not unconscious, or to be aware of something. Your conscience is the little voice in your head telling you not to eat the entire pint of ice cream. Finally, to be conscientious is to be good, to do things thoroughly, to be ruled by an inner moral code. 

Hope this helped! Please add more if you think of them!

[thenegoteator]

Counsel/Council - counsel is advice, the advice giver, or the verb form of giving said advice. Council is the group of people who come together to discuss and/or make decisions.

[randomingoftherandomness]

Desert/Desert/Dessert - desert is a barren landscape where little precipitation occurs. desert - abandon (a person, cause, or organization) in a way considered disloyal or treacherous. dessert - a usually sweet course or dish (as of pastry or ice cream) usually served at the end of a meal.

[theoriginaljordge]

OH MY TIME IS HERE! I HAVE MADE A POST I KEEP FOR THIS EXACTLY

Taunt/Taut - Taunt is a jeer or provocation, taut means to be pulled tight, or not slack

Weary/Wary - weary means tired and wary means cautious

Rogue/Rouge - rogue is a person who has unaffiliated themselves from what they were before (is the general understanding); a person or thing that behaves in an aberrant, faulty, or unpredictable way - rouge is red

Wonton/Wanton - a wonton is a dumpling, wanton is (of a cruel or violent action) deliberate and unprovoked and/or sexually unrestrained

Haphazard/Halfhazard - haphazard means to  have a lack of plan, order, or direction - the other isn’t a word

Corporal/Corporeal - corporal is a lack of plan, order, or direction and corporeal is to have a physical existence: to be tangible: of a person’s body

Peck/Pec - the first is a kiss (peck) and the second is the shortened version of pectoral (pec)

Virile/Viral - to be virile is to have strength, energy, and a strong sex drive (typically said about men) and then this last year (2020) has personally taught us, is how viral a plague can really be, so of the nature of, caused by, or relating to a virus or viruses

Vulnerable/Venerable - vulnerable means being susceptible to physical or emotional attack or harm, and if a person is venerable they’re accorded a great deal of respect, especially because of age, wisdom, or character (or if you’re religious, holy)

Dyed is something that is colored, and died is deceased

[mamapluto]

Chalk (it up to something) ; chock (-full of something); choked (to cutoff air).

[newmainolddead]

to affect is the action, the effect is the end result

[stardustedknuckles]

If something doesn’t bother you then you weren’t fazed by it. If you are between two states of being that is a phase.

[justgot1]

Please. For the love of all things holy. I beg you.

Loose: the opposite of tight

Lose: to misplace something or the opposite of win.

I BEG YOU.

[strangedreamings]

breath is the noun, breathe is the verb

[heywriters]

I wrote a whole list of these years ago, but the same misspellings persist, unfortunately.

Advice/Advise - in American English advice is a noun, you can give it to people, and advise is a verb, the act of giving advice

Ball/Bawl - people ball their fists when they are angry and ready to fight; people bawl when they cry loudly like a baby

Bear/Bare - to bear is to carry something physical or figurative like “to bear arms” or “to bear good news;” bare is when something is hairless, naked, or exposed as in the expression “baring your soul”

Hanger/Hangar - clothes go on a hanger in a closet or on a rack; airplanes go in a hangar to keep them safe

Definite/Defiant - when something is a sure thing it is definite; when someone acts out against authority they are defiant

Pour/Pore - you pour drinks or pour out your feelings, but your pores are the tiny holes in your skin that keep it healthy

Palate/Palette/Pallet - palate is the surface of your tongue that allows you to taste (e.g. palatable means “is enjoyable to eat”); a palette is a set of color options for paint or makeup; a pallet is a wooden platform heavy shipments are placed on so forklifts can move them around, or a pallet is a mattress stuffed with straw

One more example that I don’t see misspelled, but do see misused:

Soiled - primarily used to describe clothing or fabric that has been made very dirty with something gross and wet (feces, mud, vomit, food, etc.). It is not just a synonym for “dirty,” it is very specific. If your female character has “soiled panties,” she is not sexy she just pooped her pants.

Sodden - a close synonym to “soaked,” except it normally has a negative meaning whereas soaked is neutral. You use sodden for objects that have been made soggy or ruined by too much liquid. It is not often used for buildings, cars, or other normally solid objects. Unless the building is made of straw or the car has a fabric interior and was flooded, neither will be described as sodden.

This is partly why I stress that people READ more books if they want to be taken seriously as published authors. You make a lot more mistakes if you don’t know what your language should look like in print!

[2soulscollide]

WEBSITES FOR WRITERS {masterpost}

E.A. Deverell - FREE worksheets (characters, world building, narrator, etc.) and paid courses;

Hiveword - Helps to research any topic to write about (has other resources, too);

BetaBooks - Share your draft with your beta reader (can be more than one), and see where they stopped reading, their comments, etc.;

Charlotte Dillon - Research links;

Writing realistic injuries - The title is pretty self-explanatory: while writing about an injury, take a look at this useful website;

One Stop for Writers - You guys... this website has literally everything we need: a) Description thesaurus collection, b) Character builder, c) Story maps, d) Scene maps & timelines, e) World building surveys, f) Worksheets, f) Tutorials, and much more! Although it has a paid plan ($90/year | $50/6 months | $9/month), you can still get a 2-week FREE trial;

One Stop for Writers Roadmap - It has many tips for you, divided into three different topics: a) How to plan a story, b) How to write a story, c) How to revise a story. The best thing about this? It's FREE!

Story Structure Database - The Story Structure Database is an archive of books and movies, recording all their major plot points;

National Centre for Writing - FREE worksheets and writing courses. Has also paid courses;

Penguin Random House - Has some writing contests and great opportunities;

Crime Reads - Get inspired before writing a crime scene;

The Creative Academy for Writers - "Writers helping writers along every step of the path to publication." It's FREE and has ZOOM writing rooms;

Reedsy - "A trusted place to learn how to successfully publish your book" It has many tips, and tools (generators), contests, prompts lists, etc. FREE;

QueryTracker - Find agents for your books (personally, I've never used this before, but I thought I should feature it here);

Pacemaker - Track your goals (example: Write 50K words - then, everytime you write, you track the number of the words, and it will make a graphic for you with your progress). It's FREE but has a paid plan;

Save the Cat! - The blog of the most known storytelling method. You can find posts, sheets, a software (student discount - 70%), and other things;

I hope this is helpful for you!

(Also, check my blog if you want to!)

[wordsnstuff]

Resources For Describing Characters

Physical Appearance

Arms

Athletic Build

Back

Butts

Cheeks

Chest

Chins

Curvy Build

Ears

Eyebrows

Eyes

Faces

Facial Hair

Feet

Fingernails

Fingers

Hair

Hands

Head

Hips

Jaws

Knees

Legs

Lips

Muscular Build

Neck

Noses

Shoulders

Slender Build

Sickly Build

Skin

Stocky Build

Stomach

Teeth

Toenails

Toes

Underweight Build

Character Traits

Affectionate

Ambitious

Bossy

Brave

Calm

Cautious

Charismatic

Clever

Conceited

Courageous

Creative

Critical

Curious

Determined

Diplomatic

Dishonest

Disorganized

Eccentric

Excitable

Friendly

Funny

Generous

Glamorous

Guarded

Honest

Impulsive

Independent

Intelligent

Just

Kind

Loyal

Manipulative

Mature

Modest

Mysterious

Naïve

Optimistic

Prejudiced

Persistent

Proper

Responsible

Sensitive

Sentimental

Serious

Shy

Reckless

Stingy

Stubborn

Talented

Thoughtful

Thrifty

Visionary

Wise

Witty

Worry Wart

Wounded

Talents & Skills

A Knack for Languages

A Knack for Making Money

A Way with Animals

Archery

Astral Projection

Astrological Divination

Baking

Basic First Aid

Blending In

Carpentry

Charm

ESP (Clairvoyance)

Empathy

Enhanced Hearing

Enhanced Sense of Smell

Enhanced Taste Buds

Farming

Fishing

Foraging

Gaining the Trust of Others

Gaming

Gardening

Good Listening Skills

Haggling

Herbalism

Hospitality

Hot-Wiring a Car

High Pain Tolerance

Knife Throwing

Knowledge of Explosives

Lip-Reading

Lying

Making People Laugh

Mechanically Inclined

Mentalism

Mimicking

Multitasking

Musicality

Organization

Parkour

Photographic Memory

Predicting the Weather

Promotion

Psychokinesis

Reading People

Regeneration

Repurposing

Sculpting

Self-Defense

Sewing

Sharpshooting

Sleight-of-Hand

Strategic Thinking

Strong Breath Control

Super Strength

Survival Skills

Swift-footedness

Talking With The Dead

Throwing One’s Voice

Whittling

Wilderness Navigation

Wrestling

Elemental Abilities

Miscellaneous

Voices

Voice Types

Speech Patterns

Speech Impediment

List of Character Flaws

List of Archetypes

Hairstyles

Describing Body Types & How They Move Around

Secrets To Give Your Character

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[yeetman-yeet]

@lucifers-golden-bitch-apparently in case you need it

[lucifers-golden-bitch-apparently]

👀

[rambling-manticore]

@book-limerence

[shdghjdhdkjghjkndsvhj-deactivat]

:o

[crownquill]

Omfg yes

[the-quasar-hero]

Very generally speaking, when you see a black man in a piece of media, be it tv show, movie, video game, etc. there’s something you often see a lot of writers do. To go against the stereotype of black men (and black people in general) being dumb and lazy, you’ll see this black male character being smart and an achiever. 

The Black Nerd. A common character type, the nerd will always be very interested in all things nerdy: science, video games, mathematics, etc. In an continued effort to combat stereotypes, the Black Nerd will be lack athleticism, probably being asthmatic (the nerdiest of conditions). The Black Nerd will dress smartly, suspenders and bow ties. They’ll always talk smart too, using proper English with complex words.

Now, I don’t have a problem with a black character being a nerd, indeed black people are a people; we aren’t all the same and we all have varying personalities. The problem I have is that too often we see a distinct disconnect between Blackness and the Black Nerd. The Black Nerd doesn’t listen to hip hop or rap, only classical music. The Black Nerd only has white friends, the only other black characters are into not nerdy stuff. The Black Nerd never ever uses AAVE at any time in any context.

And again I must say that Black people, not being a monolith, there are no hard fast rules to being Black. I’m more than sure there are Black people like what I’ve described above, I’m not saying it’s impossible; what I’m getting at is that the only Black Nerd we see. There are Black Nerds that play basketball, that bump Kendrick Lamar, and use AAVE since it’s an ever changing dialect. I’m just saying there’s no one way of being a nerd and no one way of being Black.

[afrophunk]

And then when they do have Black bullies, the bullies always have to have more association with their Blackness. That just defeats the purpose of attempting to subvert stereotypes onto Black people. Cuz now you're saying Black people who are close to their own culture, all have to be mean and aggressive

It also sucks cuz Black people started some of these geek and alternative spaces. So to portray them as completely separate from Blackness ignores its roots and how diverse Black culture really is

[aishabellasbigblogofeverything]

And not to mention how white writers will use this Black male character as a form of positive discrimination and tokenization. He’s used to represent all Black people in the best way possible. Meanwhile Black women are totally absent. And if they are present, they’re represented poorly and negatively or are whitewashed. When people think of adding positive Black representation, it’s always a Black man regardless. Black women are always invisible, nowhere to be seen.

[yaboywillyshakes]

Here are some scientific facts about blood loss for all you psychopaths writers out there.

[stepoutsideagentscully-deactiva]

I would like to know what is in those bottles. 

[when-otps-attack]

It’s Siracha!!!! Siracha is life!

[liathwen-slays-dragons-blog]

That’s actually highly useful.

[hanleialuke]

5 things your character can't do while speaking

Choke. Just think about it, seriously. Think about what choking is and imagine speaking while it’s happening. That would fuckin’ hurt, man.

Hiss. Look, it’s just not possible, okay? No matter how “evil” you want your character to seem.

Snarl. Animals snarls. The Beast from Beauty and the Beast snarls. The Hulk snarls. You know who doesn’t snarl? PEOPLE WHEN THEY’RE SPEAKING.

Shriek. Come on, 99% of the time, “shriek” is not the word you want.Let’s face it: if you put an exclamation point at the end of the sentence, your reader gets the picture. Don’t bring to mind banshees and screaming toddlers.

Sneer. I’m not even going to bother explaining this one. “SNEER” ISN’T EVEN A SOUND.

[phrux]

Choked is not meant to be taken literally, an obstruction in the throat. It means they’re having difficultly speaking, they’re forcing the words out with difficulty. Often used when the character is convulsed in tears or laughter.

Hiss is a low, threatening whisper. Raw, guttural, vicious. It is NOT a literal hiss like an animal, it is a tone of voice that serves the same function. Someone will hiss that they’re going to cut your throat- a message from one person to the other.

Snarl is the same kind of thing. Not literal, it’s a tone of voice that serves the same function. It’s raw and gutteral like a hiss, but more savage than vicious. It’s loud, it’s showy, it’s intimidating. It’s very alpha male, big man, look at how fucking dangerous I am. I’ll take ALL of you on. Even if they’re snarling at one person in particular, nobody better back them up or they’re gonna get fucked up too.

Shriek. Come on, seriously? We’ve all heard people shriek either in fear or outrage. High pitched, loud, out of control, feminine. Men can shriek, but it’s funny and emasculating. Think angry italian women throwing pots and pans or ladies on tables who just saw a mouse.

Sneering is contempt whether it’s a facial expression or a tone of voice or both. There are a hundred different ways to sneer with your voice, but it all adds up to the same thing.

[carnivoredeer]

How descriptive words work 101

[susspirria]

Op radiating cinema sins energy with that list lol

[neopet-euthanization]

OP tagging this as “reasons they stop reading a book in ch 1” yet not grasping like the most basic form of figurative language is… something

[flipocrite]

[cordezshenanigans]

OP never posted again after this

[iheartallura]

just a reminder:

a black girl character growing her hair out long breaks more stereotypes than a black girl character having short hair

a black girl character getting to be soft and fragile breaks more stereotypes than a black girl character being strong all the time

a black girl character being protected and comforted by others breaks more stereotypes than a black girl character having no one to look out for her but herself

a black girl character being considered pretty or cute by other characters breaks more stereotypes than a black girl character being considered unattractive

not everything that is empowering for white girls is empowering for black girls

the sexism we face overlaps, but it is not the same

[princesseblade]

not everything that is empowering for white girls is empowering for black girls

the sexism we face overlaps, but it is not the same

[homunculus-argument]

By the way, if you're intimidated about whether your writing is good, keep in mind that "show, don't tell" is best to reserve for the second draft. In the first draft you can absolutely just explain everything as obvious statements. You can even highlight the obvious statements into some sort of a "weave into the story/fix at some point" sort of thing, you could even keep a scrap basket on a different document where you can check into.

If your first draft says, "Character A is reckless by nature", you can highlight it, and then when your second draft has a good spot for some kind of "filler", write a small scene where A acts reckless in some way that doesn't end up altering the plot. In an ideal situation, you could do this with multiple characters at the same time, showing character B (who was stated to be caring and concerned of others) stop the reckless thing. Don't worry about ~not progressing the plot~ here, illustrating character nature is important too.

You can explain in the middle of the first draft that someone is a failed electrician who dropped out of it because of a combination of how terrible he is at improvising, and his determination to try doing so anyway. Then, on the second draft, you can introduce the same guy by other characters being concerned whether he can be trusted to be left alone with a microwave. It flows naturally.

[taylortut]

the “sexy lamp test” but for disabled folks: if you can replace your disabled character with a beloved pet dog that needs an expensive surgery to survive then you have to throw out your manuscript 

[tired-fandom-ndn]

I've said this before but unwanted constructive criticism is completely useless because you have no idea what the author actually wants to improve on or what their goal for their writing was.

I've gotten "constructive criticism" for disjointed writing when my goal was to show how jumbled the protagonist's mental state was. I've been told that my formating was inconsistent on a fic where I was experimenting with formating to try different perspectives and new ways of telling a story.

If you don't know the author's intent and they haven't told you what they feel they need to work on, there is no way for you to offer constructive criticism. It's that simple.

[puttingherinhistory]

I've been thinking about the way women's anger is portrayed in media, especially in comparison to men's anger. Men's anger, at least more so than women's anger, is usually presented by the narrative as justified or a reasonable response to his situation. Even when it's not, for example in the case of a man being an antagonist, his anger if it's not justified is at least portrayed as powerful, as serious, as something to be reckoned with.

Most of the portrayals of female anger we see in media though is just women being shrill nagging killjoys, something that's obnoxious and annoying for the other characters but not to be taken seriously, only for the (typically male but sometimes other female) characters to put her back in her place as a solution to her being a shrill nagging killjoy. Think about it, the shrill nagging housewife, the shushing librarian, the bossy but whiny sister, the uptight prim and proper fuddy duddy matronly figure like a nanny or school teacher.

And it goes without saying there's an extra layer to this for WoC, the angry ghetto Black woman, the spicy and feisty Latina, the dragon lady. And even though there's obviously racism in the way MoC's anger is portrayed, when you compare MoC's anger portrayals in media alongside WoC's you'll see that MoC more than WoC get to have their anger portrayed as serious and justifiable while WoC are just portrayed as being obnoxious, hysterical, and irrational in their anger.

Or an extra layer of homophobia if you're a lesbian, think of the "angry man hating lesbian" stereotype, and this is often weaponized against lesbians who try to speak out against homophobia and misogyny.

Whether or not it has the extra layer of racism and/or homophobia added on women's anger is generally portrayed as silly, hysterical, obnoxious but more annoying to deal with than powerful or serious or justified. And again, most importantly, women's anger is presented as something for the other characters, generally but not always male characters, to dismiss then put her back into her place. The shrill nagging housewife here to ruin your fun needs to be shut up so you as her husband or child can keep on having your fun, ect. ect.

And this is really important to discuss and dissect. Because it shapes how we perceive and react to women and their anger in real life. It means a woman is more likely to stay quiet and not stand up for herself because she doesn't want to be just another shrill nag ruining everyone else's fun, she can't say anything to her husband or children not picking up after themselves or else she'll be another shrill nagging housewife, she just needs to quietly and obediently pick up after them. She can't say anything to her neighbor blasting music so loud that it's making her have a hard time focusing on studying because that would make her the uptight shushing librarian. She can't speak up about that microaggression or else that would make her the feisty Latina or the angry ghetto Black woman. She can't call out that misogynistic and/or homophobic remark her roommate's boyfriend just made or else she'll be an angry man hating lesbian. Women see these archetypes of female anger in the media and they internalize it.

Likewise, and most importantly, it's going to shape how men (and of course women with internalized misogyny) respond to women's anger. When a woman is reasonably angry at him for something justifiable, he sees her anger as silly, as shrill, as obnoxious, but otherwise something for him to dismiss and shut her up by besting her like the male protags in his favorite show do when they're being nagged by a shrill housewife or shushed by an uptight matronly figure. And of course when this is the response men have to women's anger, it makes it even harder for women to feel comfortable and justified in speaking up and asserting their boundaries when they have genuine grievances.

[writingmaz]

Writing Tips

Punctuating Dialogue

✧

➸ “This is a sentence.”

➸ “This is a sentence with a dialogue tag at the end,” she said.

➸ “This,” he said, “is a sentence split by a dialogue tag.”

➸ “This is a sentence,” she said. “This is a new sentence. New sentences are capitalized.”

➸ “This is a sentence followed by an action.” He stood. “They are separate sentences because he did not speak by standing.”

➸ She said, “Use a comma to introduce dialogue. The quote is capitalized when the dialogue tag is at the beginning.”

➸ “Use a comma when a dialogue tag follows a quote,” he said.

“Unless there is a question mark?” she asked.

“Or an exclamation point!” he answered. “The dialogue tag still remains uncapitalized because it’s not truly the end of the sentence.”

➸ “Periods and commas should be inside closing quotations.”

➸ “Hey!” she shouted, “Sometimes exclamation points are inside quotations.”

However, if it’s not dialogue exclamation points can ask be “outside”!

➸ “Does this apply to question marks too?” he asked.

If it’s not dialogue, can question marks be “outside”? (Yes, they can.)

➸ “This applies to dashes too. Inside quotations, dashes typically express—“

“Interruption” — but there are situations dashes may be outside.

➸ “You’ll notice that exclamation marks, question marks, and dashes do not have a comma after them. Ellipses don’t have a comma after them either…” she said.

➸ “My teacher said, ‘Use single quotation marks when quoting within dialogue.’”

➸ “Use paragraph breaks to indicate a new speaker,” he said.

“The readers will know it’s someone else speaking.”