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@wivibook
Hello, Moon.
Are you hazy or am I?
Forget āstrong female character.ā Aim for: āWoman or girl with agency.ā One who makes decisions, affects the story, pushes the plot. āā Chuck Wendig
how to unstick that stuck scene:
- make sure you know how each character feels going into the scene, and how that progresses throughout
-understand what each character wants out of the scene
-understand why you are including this scene in the first place
-check the last scene and make sure it is resolved the way you want it
5 frustrating workshop rules that made me a better writer
Throughout the 15 workshops I joined in college and grad school, I encountered two types of writing rules.
First, there were the best-practice guidelines weāve all heard, like āshow donāt tell.ā And then there were workshop rules, which the professor put in place not because theyāre universal, but because they help you grow within the context of the workshop.
My collegeās intro writing course had 5 such rules:
No fantasy, supernatural, or sci-fi elements.
No guns.
No characters crying.
No conflict resolution through deus ex machina.
No deaths.
When I first saw the rules, I was baffled. They felt weirdly specific, and a bit unfair. But when our professor, Vinny, explained their purpose (and assured us he only wanted us to follow the rules during this intro workshop, not the others to come), I realized what I could learn from them.
1. No fantasy, supernatural, or sci-fi elements.
Writers need to be able to craft round characters, with clear arcs. While you can hone those skills writing any type of story, it can be more difficult when juggling fantastical elements, because itās easy to get caught up in the world, or the magic, or the technology, and to make that the focus instead of the characters. So Vinny encouraged us to exclude such elements for the time being, to keep us fully focused on developing strong, dynamic characters.
2. No guns.
Weapons have a place in many stories, but when writers include a gun, they often use it to escalate the plot outside of the realm of personal experience and into what Vinny called āHollywood experience.ā He wanted us to learn how to draw from our own observations and perceptions of life, rather than the unrealistic action, violence, and drama weād seen in movies, so he made this rule to keep us better grounded in our own experiences.
3. No characters crying.
When trying to depict sadness, writers often default to making characters cry. While thereās nothing inherently wrong with that, tears are just one way to show grief, and they arenāt always the most subtle or emotionally compelling. Thatās why Vinny challenged us to find other ways to convey sadnessĀ ā through little gestures, strained words, fragile interactions, and more. It was difficult, but opened us up to depicting whole new gradients of grief and pain.
4. No conflict resolution through deus ex machina.
This is the only one of the rules Iād say is generally universal. Meaning āGod from the machine,āĀ deus ex machinaĀ is a plot device where a characterās seemingly insurmountable problem is abruptly resolved by an outside force, rather than their own efforts. These endings are bad for various reasons, but Vinny discouraged them because he wanted us to understand how important it was for our characters to confront their struggle and its consequences.
5. No deaths.
Death is inherently dramatic and can be used to good effect, but many writers use death as a crutch to create drama and impact. Writers should be able to craft engaging, meaningful stories, even without killing off their characters, so this rule challenged us to find other methods of giving weight to our stories (such as through internal conflict).
How these rules helped me grow as a writer
First things first, Iāll say it again: apart from #4 (deus ex machina), these rules were never meant to be universally applied. Instead, their purpose was to create temporary barriers and challenges to help us develop key skills and write in new, unfamiliar ways.
For me, the experience was invaluable. I liked the way the rules challenged and stretched my abilities, driving me to write stories Iād have never otherwise attempted. They made me more flexible as a writer, and while I donāt follow the rules anymore (I LOVE me some fantasy), Iāll always be thankful for how they shaped my writing.
My recommendation to you?
Give some of these rules a shot! Follow them temporarily while writing 2-4 short stories ā but remember to always keep their purpose in mind, because the rules themselves will only help if you understand what theyāre trying to achieve.
Write with purpose, and youāll always be growing.
ā ā ā
For more tips on how to craft meaning, build character-driven plots, and grow as a writer, follow my blog.
Your character is driven by 3 emotional motives. See? I even made a graphic.
(Iām proud of the graphic, too.)
Mood:Ā The immediate (and temporary) emotions of your character. A feeling of joy after kissing the girl they like; frustration after a busy day working a summer job at the fair; despair after somebody eats the last Oreo.
Situation:Ā The plot and relationship contexts of your character. The apprehension they feel with a friend in the weeks following a nasty fight; the nerves felt in the week leading up to their big championship game; the frustration and boredom of being grounded after crashing the family car into the county creek.
Struggle:Ā The core, deepfelt pain of your character, which often emerges from their background. The fear of failure from overly demanding parents; a deep longing for a family they never knew; a desperate need to be accepted after spending years as an outcast.
How these 3 motives influence your character
The above emotional motives all play an important role in driving your characterās actions, muddying or even overriding their more logical intentions ā just as it happens to the rest of us. (Weāre all human, after all.)
That being said, while your characterās mood and situation will shift throughout the story, their struggle will remain constant: their true north, emotionally speaking. This struggle will always be at the root of their actions, even as you swap in new situations and moods.
Take Bethany as an example
Letās say your characterās name is Bethany, and her struggle is this: a deep fear of failure, stemming from her parentsā impossible academic expectations, which conflicts with her own desire to finallyĀ experienceĀ the life she sees passing her by.
Her actions, while primarily driven by that struggle, are going to vary quite a bit depending on her situation and mood. For example, if itās the night before a big test, she might blow off a friendās invitation to a party so she can study.
But if the party is a weekĀ before the big test, and she finds a handwritten invitation in her notebook from Emma (the girl on the lacrosse team she has a crush on), Bethany might act differently. Maybe she feels a lightness and warmth in her cheeks as she reads Emmaās note. Maybe she puts those textbooks away, and maybe, just maybe, sheĀ sneaks out the window and goes to the party.
But if Bethany finds the note after her parents just chewed her out for being ungrateful and not studying hard enough? Maybe Bethany doesnāt go to the party. Instead, maybe she reads Emmaās note, trembles, then rips it in two, knowing she canāt disappoint her parents like that. Then she spends the rest of the evening studying. Alone.
Mood. Situation. Struggle.
All three kinds of emotional motives are important. Your characterās struggle is the anchor, but their mood and situation are the ever-shifting masks you use to express their struggle in fresh ways.Ā
And by the end of the story, hopefully your character will overcome their struggle ā putting awayĀ the textbooks, sneaking out the window, and meeting their crush at a party. Maybe even having their first kiss.
Whatever the character, and whatever their struggle, Iām sure youāll do great.Ā
So good luck! And good writing.
ā ā ā
Your stories are worth telling. For tips on how to craft meaning, build character-driven plots, and grow as a writer, follow my blog.
Estate Sale Ghosts
Instead of shoulder angels, I like to imagine that Iām haunted by the previous owners of the desk and desk chair I got at an estate sale.
I imagine that the previous owner of the oversized, antique, executive desk is a lanky, crotchety old man who doesnāt understand my writing or the action figures I put on the desk but nods approvingly when I remember to water my plants or hit a milestone. Heās the type thatād hover over the desktop or to the left the desk by my window and sigh when I forget which desk drawer to pull out first to unlock the other ones. Every time I pick up my phone or misspell a word, heād be likely to glare daggers at me past bushy, ethereal eyebrows.
The other ghost is an agent of chaos I picked up with my brown, leather desk chair with padded arms and a slightly tattered right side. Another old man with a lop sided grin, heād prop his feet on the desk when his counterpart isnāt looking and sit on the desk when Iām in the chair. Heād be amused when I get distracted, laugh when I lean back in the chair too far and cause my stomach to drop, and have passionately aggressive opinions on my writing. Chair Ghost would want to race my hotwheels cars across the desk, but Desk Ghost wonāt let him.
I imagine both of them think I should be writing and that writing this doesnāt count.
External vs. Internal Character, Part 2: Taking Advantage of POV
One major reason to choose a written medium over a visual one is that it more clearly shows the external vs internal workings of a character. This not only allows for reader closeness, but the direct link to the protagonist (or other POV characters) enhances the readerās understanding of the character(s) and their motivations, personalities, and three faces.
Part 1: The three faces (link embedded) helps bring to light how varying company affects actions and highlights theĀ āsecond faceā as theĀ ābasic character personalityā. It also puts emphasis on theĀ āthird faceā where the point of view lives, but unlike the third face a narrating characterās POV can be seen no matter where they are or what/who surrounds them.
A character may be judged by other characters according to actions but POV writing allows access to thought and can affect the readerās impression and knowledge.Ā
āDid you like it?ā
It took June a moment to realize that Allen was talking to her, leaning so far over the bar to see past their colleagues that his hair brushed the Angry Orchard tap.
āSorry, I was asking Pierre something,ā she said, having to elevate her voice over the distance and din of the bar.Ā āWhat am I judging?āĀ
āMy show!ā
Ah. The talent show. Her spine was still crooked from cringing at his attempt to rile up the tired work crowd to little avail. Some of the acts were decent, she wasnāt going to deny it, but most of the office only went for the free food and a measure of support that didnāt extend to the in-depth critiques and exuberance that Allen had been asking from everyone since the start of happy hour.Ā
She took a sip of gin and tonic and tried to think of something positive to not choke on.Ā
āIt was cute,ā she said.Ā āI liked the stage setup and the banner was well-decorated.ā
āIt was beautiful, wasnāt it?ā
It was hastily made and gaudy, but the color choice was complementary. She nodded anyway.Ā
Allen likely finds June to be an agreeable person, but Juneās narration teaches the reader that her reaction is monitored to not give away her natural thought. Allen sees the external character,Ā the reader sees the internal character, and the interplay of both shows Juneās personality as critical but still outwardly polite and measurably concerned for her colleagueās happiness.
Not every moment of external vs internal warring has to be that dramatic. The point is that most people just donāt behave in ways that 100% matches their thoughts and that effect can shift depending on which of their three faces is prominent at the given moment. Perhaps June would have been more honest with a close friend, but still not as brutal as her thoughts automatically jump to.Ā
So how do you take advantage of the internal character to make someone more human?
Lies. Small or large, good intentions or bad ones, lies spill into everyday life and often go unnoticed by those being lied to. The thing to keep in mind is that people lie for a reason. June lied to spare Allenās feelings, not just because she felt like it. Some characters may be more prone toĀ āunexplainedā lying than others but those characters should have a reason theyāre chronically untruthful.Ā
Holding back emotion. A form of lying, but one thatās seen as much less distrustful and is extremely common in real life. Sometimes emotions are held back to avoid hurting others, to manipulate a situation to an outcome, to āstay strongā, etc. In the end it comes down to the consequences of letting the emotion out not being judged as worth it.Ā
Doing things they donāt want to. Something that everyone can relate to is having a task to complete that theyād really rather not, but while there may be complaining and internal fighting, it has to be done anyway. What a character doesnāt want to do, but does anyway, can show duality of personality by what they prioritize (or donāt prioritize) over how they feel.Ā Ā
Personality traits fight for dominance. People are complicated. Someone can be competitive until they start losing. Someone can be cowardly unless a loved one is put in danger. Someone can be aggressive until their victim fights back. When necessary, let the internal character fight itself over which trait shows up more prominently in a situation.
There can be many more examples, but everyĀ POV character should have some form ofĀ external vs internal character depth because nobody has their true self out to the world at all times. Non-POV characters have it tooā the reader doesnāt get to see that narrated part of them. Itās still possible to hint at the inner workings of a non-POV character with commentary on body language, especially if the narrating character knows them well or if clues are dropped that indicate that disagreement of thought and action, but at the end of the day itās still all filtered through the eyes of the narrator.
Thinking of asking a question? Please read the Rules and Considerations to make sure Iām the right resource, and check the Tag List to see if your question has already been asked.
Writing Advice Posts: A Handy Reference Guide
(Updated 11/22/19) Hey all, Iāve got quite a few writing advice posts & answered Asks on my blog at this point, so Iām making this reference guide to make it easier to find what youāre looking for. Hope it helps!
Free Pocket Guide to Self Editing for Fiction Writers
A collection of 5 checklists to help you map out a revision plan and move forward with your story.
Pre-Editing Checklist
Story Editing Checklist
Scene Editing Checklist
Sentence Editing Checklist
Post-Editing Checklist
Download the pocket guide for free right here.
Free Resource Library Downloads
All of these PDFs are also available to download for free on my website:
Creating Character Arcs Workbook
Point of View Cheatsheet
Dialogue Checklist
Setting Checklist
Questions to Ask Before Hiring an Editor Printable Checklist
Proper Manuscript Format Printable Checklist
Short Story & Novel Submission Templates
World-Building Checklist
Access the Free Resource Library right here.
General
8 Ways to Improve Your Writing
10 Best Books About Writing Fiction
How to Spot Bad Writing Advice: 6 Red Flags to Look For
āShow Donāt Tellā? Not Always. Hereās When to Use Summary
How to start a story
More about starting stories
The first sentence
Weak words
Why Just About Every Published Book in the World Does 57 Things That Just About Every Book About Writing Tells You Not to Do
Creative Nonfiction Cliches to Avoid
How to Read Like a Writer
The Writing Process, Writerās Block, & Inspiration
To all the Writers Suffering from Depression
How to Train Yourself to Write Faster
Just a friendly reminder that creativity is difficult to quantify.
Quick Writing Tip: Make a Note to Your Future Self in Your WIP
Quick Writing Tip: Take Notes!
Just a friendly reminder that writing is not always a linear process.
Quick Cure for Writerās Block: Lower Your Expectations
Set Realistic Goals
Your Skills May Need Time to Catch Up to Your Vision
Itās Okay to Experiment and Be Weird As Fuck
Surround Yourself With Supporters
Itās okay to take a break.
Your First Draft is Raw Material
Getting into āThe Zoneā
Vomit Brain
Writing from Your Imagination vs. Reality
Dealing with Criticism
Getting Bored with Your Own Writing
Getting past a block
Doing research on topics you donāt have first-hand experience with
Journalling about your writing
How to Keep Yourself From Editing As You Write
Advice for Getting Over a Writing Slump
Dealing with Procrastination
How to Write Like You Used to, Before You Learned Stuff that Fucked Up Your Natural Creative Flow and Turned Your Writing into Boring, Stilted Garbage
Character Development
Creating Character Arcs with the DCAST Method
What Does Your Main Character Want?
How to Activate Your Passive Characters, One Verb at a Time
How to Use Description to Show Character Development
How to Create a Non-Cliched First-Meeting Scene
The āIt Dependsā Post
Shifting internal goals
When to identify your characterās goal
Writing about normal people with normal problems
If youāre worried about your character being too similar to someone elseās characterĀ
Describing your characters without messing up your pacing
Story, Plot, & Pacing
Quick Plotting Tip: Write Your Story Backwards
Pause at the Threshold
How to Spot an āInfo-dumpā
Slowing Down the Pace of Your Story Without Boring Your Reader
Time Transitions
How to Create a Non-Cliched First-Meeting Scene
Creating Conflict
When & how to cut a scene
If youāre good at creating characters but awful at creating plot
When youāve plotted your story but canāt get started
En Media Res
Writing to Your Ideal Reader
Deus Ex Machina
Foreshadowing
Finding an Ending
What to write between moments of conflict
Starting a story with waking-up scene
How to Know When Youāre Done Outlining
Description, Setting, & Worldbuilding
How to Make Your Descriptions Less Boring
How to Spot an āInfo-dumpā
Adding Descriptions to Intense Scenes Without Messing Up Your Storyās Flow
How to Use Description to Show Character Development
Worldbuilding: How much is too much?
Modeling your fantasy world from stuff in the real world
Internal Consistency
Utilizing Sound
How to Do World-Building Research
Point of View
How to Choose the Right Point of View for Your Story
A Beginnerās Guide to Multiple Point of View
6 Questions to Ask About Your Point of View
How to decide if you should use first person or third person
More point of view basics
Head hopping
How to Head Hop without Head Hopping
Dialogue
How to Improve Your Dialogue
3 Ways to Make Your Dialogue More Interesting
Starting a story with dialogue
Are You Using Too Much Stage Direction?
Which is Better: Exposition or Expository Dialogue?
Publishing & Sharing Your Work
7 Tips to Build an Audience for Your Writing
Pros and Cons of Self Publishing
Quick Publishing Tip: Donāt Bury Your Gold
How to Properly Format Your Manuscript for Publication
A warning about posting writing online that you intend to publish later
Advice for writers who are worried about people stealing their work or ideas
Getting feedback on your writing
How to Create a Cover Letter for a Literary Magazine or Journal
Editing
10 Questions to Ask an Editor Before Hiring Them
Quick Revision Tip: Read Your Writing Out Loud
How to Keep Yourself From Editing As You Write
Cut the fidgeting
Are you suffering from -ing disease?
Are you Using Too Much Stage Direction?
What āEditingā Really Means
Quick Editing Tip: āThatā
Quick Revision Tip: Read Faster
Editing Tip: Dialogue
Tips for Editing a Story
Should You Use a Contract When Hiring an Editor?
Quick Tip: Up & Down
Pre-Editing Checklist
ā¦if you find any broken links please let me know and I will fix them! xo
*I changed the name of my blog a while back. All of these links should work, but if you come across a āBucket Siler has moved!ā page when clicking on a link inside an old post, thereās an easy way to find what youāre looking for: In the url, delete ābucketsiler,ā write ātheliteraryarchitect,ā then hit return. Also, let me know about it & I will fix it :)
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The Literary Architect is a writing advice blog run by me, Bucket Siler. For more writing help, check out my Free Resource Library or get The Complete Guide to Self-Editing for Fiction Writers. xoxo
I love the ambiguity of the termĀ āWIPā. Is it a project in itās third draft? A final draft being queried? An idea I came up with six months ago and havenāt written anything about yet? You donāt know. Nobody knows.Ā
Least of all the author
On Representation, Diversity, andĀ āhave characters of color just donāt write about the experience of being a person of colorā
Alright. Iām gonna piss a bunch of people off and also confuse a bunch of well-intentioned white people because I donāt think that you can write about a character of color without talking about the experience of being a person of color of a certain culture.
Seriously. Thereās so many conversations celebrating how people have narratives where itĀ ādoesnāt matterā that one of their characters is a person of color and that their charactersā identity as a person of colorĀ ādoesnāt affect the storylineā or whatever.
Iām going to cut right to the chase here: as a reader and storyteller of color, Iām not a fan of narratives where race doesnāt affect the story.
My race and culture and ethnicity ABSOLUTELY impact the way I perceive the world around me! For instance, many South Asian families bond with lively debates and discussions and lovingly roasting their family members. The way that I develop positive relationships, often with a solid dose of conflict and loudness and argument, is therefore fundamentally different from the way a white person would develop relationships; in fact, many white people are intimidated by how loud South Asians like myself are. Weāre dramatic and loud and love jokes with wordplay! Thatās just how it is and it means I form bonds with people differently.
I also have different values. White people are often more individualistic in culture, with more weird distant formal bonds with their parents (shit like referring to their parents by first name or, on the other end of the spectrum, calling their dadsĀ āsirā???) as opposed to the more comfortable and closer bond I have with my parents, where my family is all up in my shit literally all the time LMAO.
Literally white families are SO DISTANT to the point where white people consider practices like co-sleeping with your young child, something very common in South Asian families, to be child abuse?? Like, as if keeping your baby in a crib in another room where theyāre not close to you and itās harder to hear them isnāt dangerous but apparently suffocating a child while sleeping (which is very rare especially since co-sleeping is a practice that has gone on for MILLENNIA) is the bigger threat here??
White kids might perceive that as invasive or a violation of their privacy; I donāt perceive it that way because of the way South Asian families are structured. Thereās a stronger emphasis on closeness with family. Of course, there are situations of kids being estranged or difficult family relationships or child abuse in South Asian families as well, but family is more valued in my culture.
The plants I put in my garden are different because of my identity; flowers like bela (Arabian jasmine) and bougainvillea and roses and gladiolus and marigolds and such things are what Iām fond of because of biases based on what my parents and grandparents like. I even once grew nenua (a type of squash). (Iām gonna get my hands on a raat ki rani soon I hope!!) And, of course, not every South Asian is partial to these flowers, but thereās definitely a cultural aspect as to why I personally like them!
The colors and patterns I gravitate towards are also different! Iām not a big fan of westernĀ āneutralsā and I find bright colors more appealing, especially because hey, those vibrant shades look better on brown skin! And GUESS WHAT, part of why the western world gravitates towards neutral colors in formalwear is because of colonialism and a disdain for the vibrant colors and dyes that colonized countries used.Ā I love wearing jhumka earrings and statement necklaces and bright, vibrant jewelry as well. Now, obviously, this isnāt the case with every South Asian, but there is certainly some level of impact on these choices from my culture and upbringing.
Hell, even the food I eat is different! I drink chai in the evenings. I gravitate towards spicier dishes and better seasoning. I donāt eat meat other than fish/seafood and chicken and occasionally turkey because of cultural stuff, though ofc lots of South Asians are vegetarian and on the flip side lots of South Asians DO eat red meat and stuff.
And this isnāt even universal to ALL South Asians by any means, because my parents are specifically Hindu and from northeastern India and Iāve grown up in California! And thereās so many other details I could go into but for the sake of not writing a twelve-page essay Iām stopping here.Ā
Basically, my point is, I donāt want representation where raceĀ ādoesnāt matterā to the story. Race impacts so many aspects of my life and how I perceive and interact with the world around me.
Itās ridiculous to me how so muchĀ ārepresentationā is basically just starting with a default of a white character, making her brown, avoiding the stereotypes, and thatāsā¦.it. It doesnāt feel real. It doesnāt feel authentic to take away cultural impacts on your characters. People start with white western archetypes and tropes and try to mold them to fit characters of color, instead of starting off with an authentic character of color, and it really, really shows.
Especially because Tumblr and writeblr are such white spaces, and also because culture is usually picked up from the environment as opposed to online, the conversations centered aroundĀ ārepresentationā are always aboutĀ ādonāt do x stereotypesā as opposed to how to actually learn about other cultures and actuallyā¦.write a character of color. So many of yāall only know how to NOT write a character of color as opposed to how to ACTUALLY write a character of color.
I see so many lists of tropes and things to not include in stories, and not enough things about values and family structures and food and fashion and ways of developing relationships and all that fun stuff that will shape who you are as a person.
And some of yāall donāt even TRY to, I dunno, engage with the culture of your character of color to actually write them. For instance, if youāre writing a South Asian character, go explore South Asian cinema! Go make South Asian friends who can tell you little details about their lives as they, yāknow, exist and are your friend! In general, explore the movies and literature and music and dance types and food and drink and whatnot of the culture your character is from! Form relationships with people of those cultures; itās the internet! I know this is a super white space but thereās PLENTY of poc on here! Make an effort, not just to avoid harmful stereotypes, but to write a character of color whose identity actually MATTERS.
When Iām reading escapist fantasy/sci-fi/romcom/etc. literature where characters arenāt being hurt by racism, I donāt want a story where RACE doesnāt exist, I want a story where RACISM doesnāt exist. I want cultural understanding, empathy, and compassion!
I donāt want a role a white character would play just switched out with a character of color.
For instance, in the movie To All the Boys Iāve Loved Before, Lara Jeanās identity as East Asian is reflected in her fashion choices; book author Jenny Han lent inspiration for this. The Yakult drinks she likes, inspired by Korean tastebuds, plays a role in the story, too. These are details that donāt necessarily heavily impact the plot; itās a fake-dating high school romcom. But they make a more real, fleshed-out character. Theyāre little details, little in-jokes and references, showing that the characterās race and culture actually MATTER to the story.
Thereās a part in Pacific Rim where Raleigh Beckett, a white man, is frustrated with Mako Mori, a Japanese woman, for not going against the wishes of her father figure, Pentecost. When he tells her she doesnāt have to obey him, she responds,Ā āItās not obedience, Mr. Beckett. Itās respect.ā This depicts her cultural understanding of family and respect; her relationships and her responses to things are impacted by her culture.
This is what Iām talking about! In order to write an actual character of color, you MUST write about their experiences to a certain extent. Of course, donāt make your characters of a certain culture a monolith in terms of personalities and responses and all that, but understand how they may be similarly impacted by their identities.
Now, donāt write a whole damn novel about a character coming to terms with their racial identity and coping with racism, but you absolutely MUST holistically incorporate their identity into your narrative.
Otherwise, itās not actually representation. Itās you essentially writing a racebent white character. Itās you using a white default and trying to adapt it to totally different experiences.
yes to all of this! the small things matter!! like even down to the music I listen toāas much as I enjoy my fair share of western artists, I also listen to afrobeats a lot, because thatās my culture. or how I would never swear in front of or walk out on my mum, and sheās always in all of my business regardless of whether I want her there or not. but then that small thing can have bigger implications in the story, like I couldnāt just not talk to her for days or weeks at a time, so maybe if youāre writing a black/brown character who goes missing, their parent would notice quickly (not to imply white parents wouldnāt, donāt get me wrong).
there are just certain quirks and habits that come with being a poc that I really want to see reflected in these characters, even if theyāre just small. they help flesh them out and make it clear that this is not just a whitewashed view of what it means to be a poc, and the emotional payoff to a character of colourās arc may be different to a white characterās.
This is all so right. I have read stories where both Black characters and queer characters act as if their worldview is not informed by these things and it just feels so wrong and poorly done. I have literally read a book where a Black lesbian raised in a Christian home has no thoughts on issues in the Black community, like police brutality, and doesnāt even wonder if her religious family will treat her differently for being queer or question any religious teachings at all. This doesnāt even make sense! I was just honestly dumbfounded. It was a white character with dark skin and an afro, thatās all. It felt so inauthentic.
Thatās not representation. Itās not showing communities with the complexity and nuance required because the authors arenāt putting in the work to understand. Itās half-done and honestly somewhat trivializing. Like so many people say, privileged authors writing marginalized communites should do the research. And one of the things we need to stop advising people to do is to write āa person who just happens to be [x]ā because itās more like āa person who is informed by [x]ā and preaching the former only leads to this hollow type of so-called representation that is only members of the default wearing our skin, but not our histories or cultures.
The conversation about what to do and what not to do when writing marginalized groups we are not part of needs to shift. Because it does matter and it is part of who we are, not just a sidenote to add later. That just makes things incongruent.
Yes!! Thank you so much for articulating the experience of reading stories with hollow representation (seriously thatās some super clever word choice for this phenomenon, since itās likeā¦.those authors give characters a certain race on the outside and not on the inside!) and the problem with the conversations on diversity right now!
I understand where the rhetoric of wanting stories where race, sexuality, gender identity, etc.Ā ādonāt matterā to the story comes from, but I feel like a lot of people donāt understand what it means. Likeā¦.I like seeing stories where racism or homophobia or things like that donāt exist if itās a sorta escapist fantasy setting type thing, but peopleās concepts of anĀ āescapist fantasy story,ā at least in western media, tends to be with a cishet, white, etc. default. Therefore, people will use their conceptualization of an escapist fantasy story and just paint their characters different colors, without meaningfully examining culture and how different aspects of identity will mean that a trope/archetype/etc. doesnāt actually work when you change such a meaningful aspect of a characterās identity.
I talked a little bit about this here, but if a character of color can just be switched out with a white character without meaningfully changing the story, then it isnāt actuallyā¦..representation. Itās just the spicier version of a white character!
Justā¦.a lot of the whole idea ofĀ ārace doesnāt matter in my story!ā goes a little too close to the idea of ~colorblindness~ and the wholeĀ āi donāt see color!ā thing that white people like to pull tbh and it makes me a little bit uncomfortable because itās soā¦dismissive of how pervasively race affects peopleās lives, and itās so blatant in badĀ ārepresentationā like what you described above @jaydewritesfiction!! And youāre so so right, itās so trivializing because itās like, āoh, this author doesnāt think that the environment I was literally raised in and the culture I grew up with was that impactful on who I am as a person at allā and itās not as blatantly racist as, yāknow, a racist stereotype, but itās certainly insensitive in a very particular way.
And itās awfully ironic, too. I think when white authors do this, it really indicates how blind white people are to how ubiquitous white western culture is in their media, to the point where they expect that their experiences are the default. They donāt realize how heavily whiteness affects their own perception of the world and of people of color, while also thinking that being nonwhite doesnāt actually affect that much.
Diversity isnāt about just telling the same exact (western) story but with spray-painted characters, itās about understanding different identities and incorporating them holistically and meaningfully into your work!
I think the world needs more fantasy novels with completely made up animals. No more āhorses.ā No more ārabbits.ā Deer can stay but ONLY if theyāre weird. All wolves must have wings, NO exceptions. No more laziness, its time to Make Shit Up. I expect your heroes to be riding scaly civets with antlers by midnight. I demand a survey of wildlife in the nearby forest that leaves me with no idea what a single word you said meant. I want CREATURES WITH FUNKY NAMES THAT YOU MADE UP OUT OF YOUR OWN HEAD. I want to be UNABLE TO PRONOUNCE THEM. I want all of your RODENTS to be POISONOUS for NO REASON. I deeply desire GIANT BIRDS. I hereby sentence you to five hours on Wikipedia reading about the Carboniferous period and hydrothermal vents.
If you canāt be creative, at least reskin some dinosaurs. Itās time to decide what kind of man you areāthe kind that would let his evil overlord ride a tyrannosaurus, or a coward.
Just lifting animals wholesale out of the past is a perfectly reasonable variant. Maybe your fantasy world has an oxygen content of 33% and everybodyās a part-time volunteer firefighter but you also have butterflies the size of sailboats and your knights ride war centipedes.
Weak Trope: Having a characterās driving motivation be REVENGE up until the last second when they pull theĀ ārevenge wonāt bring my wife/sister/town/three-eared dog backā and leave the bastard theyāve been hunting down alive.
Strong Trope: Hello! My Name! Is Inigo Montoya! You Killed My Father! Prepare! TO! DIE!Ā *corners count rugen* Beg for your life *slashes cheek* Offer me anything I want in the world!Ā *slashes other cheek* IĀ WANT MY FATHER BACK, YOU SON OF A BITCH.Ā *stabs count rugen to death*
iāve stopped trash talking comic sans after learning the font is actually one of the only dyslexia-friendly fonts that come standard with most computers and i advocate for others doing the same
In the event that you would like to continue hating Comic Sans, other dyslexia-friendly alternatives include Arial, Verdana, Tahoma, Century Gothic and Trebuchet.
thank
Random fact: Verdana is one of the few fonts which was specifically designed to be as easy to read as possible, even at smaller type sizes. It was designed this way for use on screen, but the same principles apply in print too. This is part of why some Universities use Verdana as their default font for documents.
āIn the event that you would like to continue hating Comic Sansā is one of the best things Iāve ever read on this website
@pedeka @lunariagold @darklittlestories
Iāll take Comic Sans over Arial any day.Ā
Century Gothic and Trebuchet are both quite handsome typefaces.
Iām partial to Century Gothic as well. Itās serif, but not boring.
Thereās also a dyslexic font designed especially for dyslexic people to read.
You can install on your tablets, laptops and browers etc, so not only can you change things like documents into it, you can change websites into that font as well!Ā
Iām sure youāre bright enough to do a google search, but sinceĀ Iām dumb enough to forget to postĀ a link, here it is. Better late than never
https://www.dyslexiefont.com/en/dyslexie-font/
I default to arial for this reason, but I will now be defaulting to verdana or dyslexie. nice.
I donāt think I have dyslexia but that dyslexie font was the easiest fucking thing to read ever. Books should be written in that shit.
ALSO!!!
For computer reading, when you mix up lines of text, thereās a web browser app called Beeline Reader. It looks like this
The colors are also customizable, to an extent and while I donāt have dyslexia, I have adhd which makes reading large amounts of text harder and this helps A LOT.
This is dope. I freaking love how much more accessible this information is nowadays.
for our dyslexic ravens.
I always thought I was a decent reader, but holy crap that BeeLine made reading enjoyable lol
Not dyslexic myself, but this is really cool and Iām spreading this.
And run you do, your paws are fleeting, time is brief, the hunterās shadow long as you flee.
When did running stop feeling safe?
When did safe start meaning dead?
For the dead donāt run, and the hunter cares not for the dead, the dead are cold and alone,
you run on the warmth of your torn muscles, and on the company of the hunter; for heās always there, there, there.
Does running still make you feel free?
When did your paws become your cage?
Now your bodyās weak, your lungs are abandoning you,
you hear one heartbeat,
you used to hear five,
youāre beginning to hear none.
But there are still miles to go before you sleep,
there are miles to go, but now you hear none,
do you feel safe?
excerpt from a series of when wolves cry retellings.
Seen a few snippets from this story and I can't wait to read it in its entirety one day.
Things I Try to Remember When Iām Nervous About Writing
1. Write what you want to read.Ā
2. There is no problem with a story so great that it cannot be fixed in revision. Keep going.
3. If your story is as uncreative as you think it is, you wouldnāt want to write it so badly. You want to write it because thereās a unique spin on it you have never seen, and want to express. Many people may write similar stories, but itās the details that make it personal. You may not know it now, but there is someone who is looking for exactly what youāre writing. If you donāt finish it, theyāll never see it.Ā
4. You can write something amazing and still be met with silence. There are myriad reasons for this that have nothing to do with the quality of what you produce.Ā
4.1 Itās okay to repeat post your work if no one has seen it.Ā
4.2 Itās okay to post your work in multiple places.
5. You donāt have to agree with every criticism (but take it gracefully anyway).Ā
6. Most writers are scared of the same things you are.
7. Donāt judge your works in progress against the archives of finished, polished stories other writers have put together. Archives are Internet portfolios and generally donāt show all the multitude of failures, incomplete, and draft-form works those writers are also struggling with. They arenāt perfect and you donāt have to be, either. Keep working and you will have a portfolio of your own.Ā
8. Donāt be afraid to share your ideas with other writers. Itās not annoying as long as youāre not self-important about it. Be humble and gracious, and others will reciprocate.
8.1 You canāt write as well in a vacuum; the more people know that you are working on something, and what, the more support you will get for that work. Starting a dialogue before you post something will make it more likely people will read it when you do post it.Ā
9. Itās okay to take breaks. If the ideas just arenāt coming, go do something else for a while.Ā
10. Be kind to yourself. Donāt call yourself names. You are not a failure, or uncreative, or boring. You wouldnāt call other people those things, so donāt do it to yourself.Ā
I donāt know if these are helpful to other people, but they are helpful to me, so just in case, here they are!
Donāt Worry AboutĀ āStrong Female Characters.ā
In a world where a woman showing her chest is somehow pro-feminist and anti-feminist at the same time, itās easy to see why any writer would stress over theirĀ female characters.
Relax.
Chances are, if you know anything about writing, your fictitious females are fine, even if they areĀ fine.Ā But if youāre still worried, I have two good examples from Disney coming up. (Hint: Theyāre sisters.)
But firstā¦
The termĀ āStrong Female Characterā is ludicrous and makes writing worse.
Thereās more scrutiny and expectation placed on female characters than male characters, and at a risk of writing a twenty-paragraph essay about who is to blame for that, letās just say I think the term āstrong female characterā is part of the problem. It isnāt just a case of high expectations that are impossible to meet, but also about the stress it puts on the author that halts the creative process.
So again, relax.
Stress aside, it can also lead to this:
āI want to write a strong female character. Someone inspiring. Someone every little girl can look up to. Someoneā¦ā
No. Stop right there, Idealist. This is why there are so many more Mary Sues than Gary Stus.
You didnāt even know Gary Stu was a thing, did you?
Let go of the idea of representation. You donāt represent anyone. Your character doesnāt represent anyone. You are you, and they are them. Write people.
What does āstrongā even mean?
Mentally strong? Physically strong? It can mean just about anything.
The vagueness of the term hasnāt helped.
A lot of people have taken it to mean ā and stop me if youāve heard this before ā a fiery, no-nonsense woman, who donāt need no man.
That was good for the first, what, twelve times? Heck, I take that back. Itās still a good archetype, when done correctly. Sarah Connor and Ellen Ripley are beloved examples of this. Iconic, even. Since then, itās been turned into a formula by people who donāt understand why those characters are liked to begin with, and repeated to the point of yawn-inducing parody.
A character who makes you yawn is not a strong character.
Remember: In writing terms, strong = well-written.
So what makes a well written character?
Letās look at that example now.
Disney⦠Sisters⦠Eldest sings a famous songā¦
Iām sure you already know. It is of courseā¦
Lilo and Nani.
ā¦What?Ā Who else did you think it was going to be?
Lilo and Nani are, hands-down, two of the best characters Disney has ever put out.Ā They have interests, hobbies, and jobs. They love each other, make each other laugh, but also get on each otherās nerves. They have good qualities and they have bad qualities - and not bad as in Elsaās āoh, Iām so insecureā or Mulanās āgosh, Iām so clumsy.ā They areĀ flawed.Ā Nani is short-tempered and irresponsible. Lilo is stubborn and violent. Yet, theyāre still likeable because their situation makes it clear why they are the way they are. We can relate to them.
In short: They feel like real people.
And possibly the most important thing for any character: They drive the plot forward.
āWait, Ashlee!ā those of you who have seen the movie cry out, āWhat about Stitch? Heās the main character. Heās the one who drives the plot forward, surely.ā
Stitch is the catalyst. The point of attack. The first plot point. The inciting incident. etc. At the start, its Stitchās escape from the prison ship and crash landing on Hawaii that causes the plot. After that, itās largely Lilo and Nani who control the story and the tension.
Speaking of tensionā¦
Good characters have stakes. Raw bloody stakes!
Lilo and Nani have the most to lose. If Nani doesnāt get a job and Lilo doesnāt train the born-to-be-wild Stitch, they lose their home and each other.
To sum it upā¦
Character Checklist:
Vulnerable
FlawedĀ
RelatableĀ
High stakes and the ability to overcome them
Thank you for reading. Comments, criticisms, and trolls are welcome.
Interesting
Writers can use these 12 Archetypes to create characters
The 12 Common Archetypes by Carl Golden
The twelve archetypes are divided into ego types, self types, and soul types.Ā
1) The Four Ego Types Ā 1. The Innocent Motto: Free to be you and me Core desire: to get to paradise Goal: to be happy Greatest fear: to be punished for doing something bad or wrong Strategy: to do things right Weakness: boring for all their naive innocence Talent: faith and optimism The Innocent is also known as: Utopian, traditionalist, naive, mystic, saint, romantic, dreamer. Ā 2. The Orphan/Regular Guy or Gal Motto: All men and women are created equal Core Desire: connecting with others Goal: to belong Greatest fear: to be left out or to stand out from the crowd Strategy: develop ordinary solid virtues, be down to earth, the common touch Weakness: losing oneās own self in an effort to blend in or for the sake of superficial relationships Talent: realism, empathy, lack of pretence The Regular Person is also known as: The good old boy, everyman, the person next door, the realist, the working stiff, the solid citizen, the good neighbour, the silent majority. Ā 3. The Hero Motto: Where thereās a will, thereās a way Core desire: to prove oneās worth through courageous acts Goal: expert mastery in a way that improves the world Greatest fear: weakness, vulnerability, being a āchickenā Strategy: to be as strong and competent as possible Weakness: arrogance, always needing another battle to fight Talent: competence and courage The Hero is also known as: The warrior, crusader, rescuer, superhero, the soldier, dragon slayer, the winner and the team player. Ā 4. The Caregiver Motto: Love your neighbour as yourself Core desire: to protect and care for others Goal: to help others Greatest fear: selfishness and ingratitude Strategy: doing things for others Weakness: martyrdom and being exploited Talent: compassion, generosity The Caregiver is also known as: The saint, altruist, parent, helper, supporter. Ā 2) The Four Soul Types Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā 5. The Explorer Motto: Donāt fence me in Core desire: the freedom to find out who you are through exploring the world Goal: to experience a better, more authentic, more fulfilling life Biggest fear: getting trapped, conformity, and inner emptiness Strategy: journey, seeking out and experiencing new things, escape from boredom Weakness: aimless wandering, becoming a misfit Talent: autonomy, ambition, being true to oneās soul The explorer is also known as: The seeker, iconoclast, wanderer, individualist, pilgrim. Ā 6. The Rebel Motto: Rules are made to be broken Core desire: revenge or revolution Goal: to overturn what isnāt working Greatest fear: to be powerless or ineffectual Strategy: disrupt, destroy, or shock Weakness: crossing over to the dark side, crime Talent: outrageousness, radical freedom The Outlaw is also known as: The rebel, revolutionary, wild man, the misfit, or iconoclast. Ā 7. The Lover Motto: Youāre the only one Core desire: intimacy and experience Goal: being in a relationship with the people, work and surroundings they love Greatest fear: being alone, a wallflower, unwanted, unloved Strategy: to become more and more physically and emotionally attractive Weakness: outward-directed desire to please others at risk of losing own identity Talent: passion, gratitude, appreciation, and commitment The Lover is also known as: The partner, friend, intimate, enthusiast, sensualist, spouse, team-builder. Ā 8. The Creator Motto: If you can imagine it, it can be done Core desire: to create things of enduring value Goal: to realize a vision Greatest fear: mediocre vision or execution Strategy: develop artistic control and skill Task: to create culture, express own vision Weakness: perfectionism, bad solutions Talent: creativity and imagination The Creator is also known as: The artist, inventor, innovator, musician, writer or dreamer. Ā 3) The Four Self Types Ā 9. The Jester Motto: You only live once Core desire: to live in the moment with full enjoyment Goal: to have a great time and lighten up the world Greatest fear: being bored or boring others Strategy: play, make jokes, be funny Weakness: frivolity, wasting time Talent: joy The Jester is also known as: The fool, trickster, joker, practical joker or comedian. Ā 10. The Sage Motto: The truth will set you free Core desire: to find the truth. Goal: to use intelligence and analysis to understand the world. Biggest fear: being duped, misledāor ignorance. Strategy: seeking out information and knowledge; self-reflection and understanding thought processes. Weakness: can study details forever and never act. Talent: wisdom, intelligence. The Sage is also known as: The expert, scholar, detective, advisor, thinker, philosopher, academic, researcher, thinker, planner, professional, mentor, teacher, contemplative. Ā 11. The Magician Motto: I make things happen. Core desire: understanding the fundamental laws of the universe Goal: to make dreams come true Greatest fear: unintended negative consequences Strategy: develop a vision and live by it Weakness: becoming manipulative Talent: finding win-win solutions The Magician is also known as: The visionary, catalyst, inventor, charismatic leader, shaman, healer, medicine man. Ā 12. The Ruler Motto: Power isnāt everything, itās the only thing. Core desire: control Goal: create a prosperous, successful family or community Strategy: exercise power Greatest fear: chaos, being overthrown Weakness: being authoritarian, unable to delegate Talent: responsibility, leadership The Ruler is also known as: The boss, leader, aristocrat, king, queen, politician, role model, manager or administrator.
Note: There are four cardinal orientations: freedom, social, ego, order. The types have a place on these orientations.
Article viaĀ soulcraft.co