Noah Kahan
oozey mess
#extradirty
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Jar Jar Binks Fan Club
Color Me Curious
The Bowery Presents
YOU ARE THE REASON
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almost home
🩵 avery cochrane 🩵
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cherry valley forever
The Stonewall Inn
Kiana Khansmith
Discoholic 🪩
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Phantogram Three
Cosmic Funnies
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@wortgefecht
Writers have two modes and they are "i haven't written in three weeks and i am rotting from the inside and everything feels wrong and i don't know who i am anymore" and "i wrote for four hours straight and forgot to eat and it's dark outside and when did that happen and i feel like a god" and there is nothing in between. no chill. no medium setting. just famine or feast and a very confused nervous system.
i think as a writer, the older you get and the more you read, the more you realize there are very few actual truly bad ideas. which is a relief. but! the other thing you learn is that stories live and die on the execution and ha ha. lemme tell you. unfortunately. there are lots and lots of bad ways to execute an otherwise fine idea
i've reblogged this before to say the same thing but i think it bears repeating that crucially, if you do execute an idea and feel like you got a less than stellar result....... you can do it again. remix. mashup. v 2.0. take another run at it.
the majority of writing is the process, anyway
"Write character relationships that are normal" WRONG ☝ CODEPENDENCY BEAM 💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥
The most interesting question you can ask about any character is not what do they want. it's what do they believe they deserve. because those two things are almost never the same and the gap between them is where your entire story lives. a person can want love completely and believe they don't deserve it and that belief will destroy every good thing that comes toward them in ways they won't even notice they're doing. write the gap. the gap is the character.
the best thing you can do to a character make them averse to touch and absolutely starved for it
when the persona you made eats you; when the performance youve been putting on eats you; when the name they gave you eats you; when the image people made of you eats you; when the role you were assigned eats you; when the you that other people see or even made for you or you made for them takes over the you that you know and eats you alive.
I can’t believe that in order to tell a story I need to withhold certain information from the reader at first. I’m excited about it and I want them to know.
i really liked this essay on why literary fiction is sounding so much Like That these days, especially work by asian american authors:
This entire process selects for homework-doers, personal entrepreneurs, and individualistic bureaucrats. It's why, like I said, the oracular outsiders, the Pauls of the world, who can't conform to society's expectations to check boxes and become legible to the powers that be, aren't in these programs and aren't getting the opportunities that are downstream of them. It's why you end up with tons of fiction about "my white boyfriend" and "everyone online is mad at me" or "anxious strivers in NYC" or "my annoying polycule." These are the obstacles this class encounters. You can't spend time, like Cormac McCarthy did, living in an unheated cabin in the Smokies, or embedding with the Mujahideen like William T. Vollman, or working as a psychotherapist like Olga Tokarczuk. You must move from strength to strength, always turning in your homework on time, and certainly never suffering a psychotic break.
-- Trip, Estragon News, The Oracular Outsiders and the Homework Doers
i quite liked the conclusion to the piece:
Maybe it's because that fiction is being written for the people already bought in. Art that is made for the purpose of institutional legibility and approval is dead on arrival. Writing must stand on the outside, viewing the world at a tilt. Our world is being eaten by word machines that can imitate us perfectly. Unless American letters find the courage to welcome back in the oracular, it will disappear, replaced by machine that can conform to the demands of institutional legibility—really, the demands of capital—better than any human ever could.
The Writer's Technique in Thirteen Theses by Walter Benjamin (as appears in his 1928 treatise One-Way Street, in a section titled "Post No Bills")
remember that even if it’s bad, it’s still better than the draft you didn’t write.
the dynamic between two people who love a third person so much and come to understand each other because of that is so important to me. you would put them first, and so would i. you understand why we have to save them from themself. i trust you with their life, and so, that means more than if i trusted you with mine. the love doesn't have to be the same, but it's powerful enough that you understand why you're not the only satellite drawn into their orbit.
“No weapon forged by human hands can harm m- OW, did you just hit me with a stick??”
my actual vampire hot take is that if you're going to be a 'vegetarian' vampire (a vampire that only drinks the blood of animals) you MUST have hunter education. i'm so sick of people being like oh well predator animals are mean and scary because they kill cute 'harmless' animals like NO they're crucial for the environment and if you're going to hunt animals for blood you still need to stick to regular people hunting guidelines and only hunt things that are in season and abide by your areas bag limits
vampire that did a detailed study about whether vampires can get prion diseases and concluded they can't and preferentially hunts animals with chronic wasting disease. and then incinerates the corpses.
vampire who is a woke predation abolitionist and so exclusively hunts predators, leaving primarily herbivorous and scavenging animals alone
"For miles around the foul creature's lair is nothing but barren wastes"
"because of The Curse?"
"Because of the deer and rabbits, fucking thing ate all the wolves"
steps of writing a sex scene 1) get really embarrassed 2) read it back later and go what the fuck was I embarrassed of this is tame I need to make it nastier 3) reread everything in your story so many times during writing and editing that you have no idea if it’s hot anymore
on “the blond,” “the older man,” and other crimes against third-person limited
You know that thing where a story is written in tight third person limited — we’re meant to be inside someone’s head, seeing the world through their thoughts — and then suddenly the narration says “the blond frowned” or “the shorter woman sighed” about a person the POV character knows really well?
That’s called antonomasia — using a descriptive label instead of a name. And it’s fine when we’re talking about strangers: “the cashier handed her the receipt,” “the tall guy blocked the door.” The POV character doesn’t know their names, and we just need a quick way to tell people apart.
But the moment it’s used for someone the POV character already knows, it breaks immersion. Because that’s not how our minds work. We don’t think “the older man smiled at me.” We think “Mark smiled.” Or maybe “my boss” if that relationship matters in the moment.
Third person limited means the narration sits inside someone’s perception. Their inner monologue is the story’s voice. So when you switch from “Mark smiled” to “the blond smiled,” you’ve pulled the camera away from their mind and turned it into an outside shot.
If you want to create distance or irritation, you can do it on purpose —
“The idiot from accounting emailed again.”
That’s character voice. That’s judgment. That works.
But otherwise?
As soon as your POV character knows someone’s name, use it. While we do tend to worry about repetitions, names rarely register as such to the readers.
If you need variety for rhythm, use relational or emotional identifiers that make sense in their head: her friend, his partner, their teacher, the person they loved.
Because inside someone’s thoughts, there are no “blonds” or “brunettes.”
There are only people they know.
How to Actually Write a Party Scene
Okay so, I've read approximately eight thousand YA novels where the party scene goes like this: protagonist shows up, immediately finds themselves in a Deep Meaningful Conversation with their love interest in a convenient quiet corner, maybe there's some Tension, maybe someone spills a drink, and then something Plot Relevant happens and they leave. And I'm just like... have you people BEEN to a party???
Because actual parties are SO MUCH WEIRDER than that.
parties don't just START, they like... materialize
First of all, there's always that horrible awkward beginning that nobody wants to write but is SO REAL. Like, you show up and there's maybe four people there and everyone's just... standing. The music is playing but it's too quiet so you can hear everyone breathing. The host is running around moving furniture and hiding their embarrassing stuff and you're like "should I help? am I allowed to sit? why did I come?"
And there's ALWAYS that one person who shows up thirty minutes early because they're anxious (it me) and now they have to help set up while pretending they totally meant to arrive early, it's chill, they're chill, everything's chill (nothing is chill).
For the first like forty-five minutes everyone's doing this weird performative standing thing in the kitchen because kitchens are Safe Spaces apparently. Nobody sits down. Everyone's holding their drink like a shield. Someone keeps fiddling with the speaker because the volume is never right, it's either so loud you're screaming "WHAT?" every five seconds or so quiet that everyone can hear you chewing and it's unbearable.
and the CONVERSATIONS oh my god
Here's what actually happens: you do NOT have one continuous conversation with one person for twenty minutes. That's not a thing. You START a conversation—"so how do you know—" and then someone cranks the music and you're just screaming half-words at each other. Or someone squeezes between you to get to the drinks and by the time they pass you've both forgotten what you were talking about. Or your friend grabs your arm because they need you to come meet someone RIGHT NOW and you're just gone, mid-sentence, RIP to that conversation I guess.
You end up having the SAME conversation like six times with different people. "How do you know the host?" "What do you do?" "This place is nice right?" And you're recycling the same responses and doing the same polite laugh and it's like being an NPC in a video game but you're also kind of okay with it because at least you know the script?
But THEN—and this is the part that's actually interesting—you'll end up in these random deep conversations that come out of nowhere. Like you're waiting for the bathroom at 1am and the person in front of you just... starts telling you about their existential crisis? And you're giving them genuine life advice even though you met them seven minutes ago? The party creates this weird bubble where normal social rules don't apply and suddenly you're trauma-bonding with a stranger over your complicated relationships with your mothers.
the party has LAYERS like an onion or whatever
Okay so parties aren't just one thing happening in one room. They're like multiple parties happening simultaneously in the same space and you're just bouncing between them.
The kitchen is always home base. That's where you go to refuel, to hide, to have actual conversations because the music's quieter. There's always someone camped out in there eating chips directly from the bag and having a surprisingly coherent discussion about like, capitalism or their thesis or whatever.
The bathroom line is its own ecosystem. People get REAL in the bathroom line. Someone's crying. Someone's hyping them up. "Your hair looks AMAZING." "No YOUR hair." They've known each other for ninety seconds but they're soulmates now. Also someone's definitely asking everyone if they have a tampon.
If there's any outdoor space (balcony, backyard, fire escape, whatever) that's where the Philosophers go. Doesn't matter if it's literally freezing. Something about being outside makes people want to discuss simulation theory and whether free will exists. There's always someone out there on the phone having a whisper-argument with their partner. There's always someone smoking (something) and waxing poetic about a professor who changed their life.
And then there's the dancing zone which starts with one (1) brave/drunk person just... dancing alone and everyone's pretending not to watch but also kind of rooting for them? And then their friend joins and then it hits critical mass (which is like four people) and suddenly everyone's dancing and it's the best part of the night.
the party EVOLVES it's like a living organism
Okay so parties have this arc right?
Early party (like 9-10pm): Everyone's too sober. Too self-aware. Doing that thing where they're standing in little clusters with the people they came with, creating these sad islands of familiarity. The music's background noise. People are ASKING PERMISSION to sit on the furniture. It's tragic.
Sweet spot party (like 10:30-12): THIS is the vibe. Everyone's there, everyone's loose, the playlist is HITTING, multiple good conversations are happening, someone's telling an incredible story with way too much hand-waving, people are laughing for real not just polite-laugh. This is the Instagram story moment. This is the party you'll remember.
Post-midnight party: Things split. Some people have to leave (they have brunch, they have work, they're weak). The people who stay are IN IT. The energy shifts into something weirder and looser. Inhibitions are gone. Someone orders food and when it arrives at 1:30amit's treated like a miracle. The music gets quieter or weirder or both.
Deep night party (2-3am): It's like eight people max. Someone's asleep on the couch and everyone's just accepted it. The conversations are DEEP because everyone's too exhausted to maintain their personas. Someone's crying-laughing about something that isn't even funny. These are your people now. You're bonded. The host keeps saying they should clean up but nobody moves.
the little chaos details that make it REAL
Someone always breaks something. A glass, a bowl, someone's phone screen. There's that horrible frozen moment and then everyone's like "DON'T MOVE" and someone's getting paper towels and the person who broke it is apologizing way too much.
The music becomes a legitimate source of conflict. "Who put this on?" "This song SLAPS." "This song is literally eight minutes long can we skip?" Someone's trying to queue songs but someone else keeps overriding them and there's this silent aux cord war happening.
People VANISH. Like you'll be talking to someone and turn around and they're just... gone. Teleported. You find them twenty minutes later deep in conversation with someone's roommate's cousin about pasta shapes. Or they've been in the bathroom for fifteen minutes and you're getting concerned.
Someone always shows up with a guitar or ukulele and it's either going to be magical or a disaster, no middle ground. Someone's always asking if anyone has a phone charger. Someone's always trying to take a group photo and it takes literally twelve attempts because someone blinked or "wait I look weird one more."
The host's pet is getting more attention than most humans. There's always someone who's just... opted out of socializing to pet the cat for forty-five minutes straight. Valid honestly.
the game situation
Okay so someone ALWAYS suggests a game. Beer pong, Kings Cup, Never Have I Ever, Cards Against Humanity, whatever. And here's what happens:
Someone suggests it. Everyone's like "YES." Someone else is like "okay wait what are the rules?" Cue five people explaining five different versions of the rules. Nobody agrees. You play anyway with a Frankenstein version that makes no sense.
It's fun for exactly twenty minutes. Then either:
Someone reveals something too personal and it gets awkward
Someone gets way too competitive and kills the vibe
Everyone just... loses interest and wanders off
All of the above
The cards/cups/whatever end up scattered everywhere. Nobody cleans them up. You find a random King of Hearts under the couch three days later.
AND....you cannot and should not try to describe everything happening at the party. That's not how human brains work. Your POV character is having a conversation while ALSO half-aware that someone's dancing badly in the corner, while ALSO the music just shifted to a song everyone knows and there's this collective recognition moment, while ALSO someone's laughing way too loud across the room.
Let stuff happen OFF PAGE. Your character goes to get another drink and when they come back everything's different. Someone's crying now. Someone left. A new group arrived and shifted the whole energy. That's real! That's how parties work! You miss stuff!
And like... not everyone's having the same experience? One person's Best Night Ever is someone else's "I'm quietly having a panic attack in the bathroom." The person who looks like they're having the most fun might be running from something. The quiet person observing might be perfectly happy. A good party scene holds all that contradiction.
the actual dialogue bits
If you want it to feel real, people need to sound like people:
"Wait how do I know you? Were you at—" "I'm not even that drunk watch—" immediately fails at something simple "Okay but WHERE is Jake he's been gone for like an hour" "Is this weird? This feels weird." "It's not weird." "It's definitely weird." "We should totally hang out sometime!" (they will never hang out) "WHAT TIME IS IT?" "Oh my god it's 2am???" "I'm leaving after this song" does not leave after this song "Dude we were literally BEST FRIENDS in middle school"
anyway parties are chaos and if your party scene feels too clean and organized you're doing it wrong, make it messier, make people interrupt each other, make someone spill something, let it be weird and loud and confusing because that's what they actually are
okay rant over i'm gonna go drink water (or maybe apple juice?? idk)
REQUEST: @regalun-street <3 I hope it helps <3
