writeblr

your one-stop shop for writing resources, memes, and writer things. occasionally post my works here too

[fluorescentbrains]

seeing straight men be disgusted by booktok smut recommenders has actually radicalized me to the side of booktok smut recommenders. girls your taste may be atrocious but i will never disparage you for exposing mainstream discourse to the concept of soaking through your underwear. spent my whole life listening to men talk about penises it’s about time they get jumpscared by women talking about pussy in crude detail on social media. go forth and goon my warriors

[the-fandomwriter]

any other writers out there ever read a paragraph of your own work and just, in the least self centered way possible, think

fuck, i’m such a good writer.

if you haven’t, that day will come eventually, i promise. but until then, keep writing whatever your little working brain tells you, because one day you’ll consider it a masterpiece or absolute shit that’ll make you laugh and realize just how far you’ve come.

keep writing words so your future self has stuff to look back on and either compare to current wips, or to reminisce on. words are permanent as long as you let them be.

[the-writers-bookshelf]

This is for the slow writers out there. Those who take weeks to write one chapter. Those who take years to finish one manuscript. Those who regularly write only 100-300 words in several hours. Those who take months to put out a new chapter. Those who haven’t touched their stories in years but it’s still a WIP because they can’t stop thinking about/taking notes for scenes/etc.

I see you. You’re valid. Keep up the good work!

[lchnss]

we dated once in college…. list of au’s.

we dated once in college and i never got over you. now i’m a single parent because my ex didn’t want a kid, and holy fuck you’re my kid’s kindergarten teacher.

we dated once in college and right after we broke up, i found out i was pregnant. but we both moved but now you’re living down the hall from me and our kid in a very small apartment building.

we dated once in college and things ended pretty roughly after i cheated on you, and we don’t talk anymore but i just saw your new fiance(e) making out with someone at the bar i work at.

we dated once in college and now i’m your wedding planner.. how awkward.

we dated once in college and hold up, what do you mean you’re my new fiance(e)’s sibling?!

we dated once in college and we had this super secret spot that we always went to but neither of us have been back in forever. ( or so the other thinks ) and fuck, my fiance just left me at the alter so here i am in my dress/tux sitting at this damn spot and … what are you doing here?

we dated once in college and now our kids are best friends.

[moldstars-deactivated20230721]

writing is simple. i put my characters into a situation that i, the author, cannot figure out how to get them out of and i close the document

[horsegrl]

not to be all “tw*light did nothing wrong” but misogyny honest to god killed the hunger games

[horsegrl]

it was no masterpiece sure but it also sure as hell wasnt the love triangle bullshit everyone made it out to be. seriously everyone blames this whole “YA fiction with the special One and teens overthrowing the oppressive government tropes” trend on the hunger games but the truth is that none of those books are anything like thg

[horsegrl]

god!!! im mad!! name one cliche YA novel where the government actually is BAD like not just “oh love is illegal” or “they barcode you!!uwu” instead of like. actual slavery and rampant poverty while the rich waste their money on dumb bullshit!! and name one main character who ACTUALLY suffers under the government’s regime!! who actually starves and works and suffers and has genuine REASON to rebel!! thg is the only YA book that had anything to say about wealth disparity and the dehumanization of the poor,, every other YA book uses it as a plot device to put some dumbass romance together or show how “badass” the MC is!! thg is genuinely emotional and the focus of the book isnt katniss’s archery and how cool she is and its NOT gale or fucking peeta bread. and then the marketing for the stupid fucking movies took the WHOLE POINT OF THE BOOK (which is to satirize and critique how women in entertainment have any serious things about them ignored in favor of whatever dress theyre wearing or who they’re dating) and turns that into……….. a fucking love triangle. and then the world forgets it because its just another dumb teen girl series. okay. 

[horsegrl]

Me @ myself rn

[horsegrl]

oh also last thing. the fact that at the end katniss chose to kill Coin (the rebel leader/soon to be newest dictator) instead of just having a plain and simple boring happy ending shows just how different thg is from the YA fiction its compared to. no other book in this genre would have the guts (or even the idea) to put out such a blatant, obvious “the fight against oppression never ends, stay diligent” message and thg is iconic for it and it shows how much thought was actually put into its message. im sorry to susan collins for my 12 yo self for not understanding at the time and thinking it was just bad writing

[horsegrl]

thanks to everyone adding on about the representation! about finnick’s story and being trafficked! and about peeta and his disability!! and katniss and her  indigenous coding and PTSD!! And about how it shows how war n dictatorships always prey on marginalized groups!! and a billion other things!!! that the movies just fucked off n forgot about!!!

[thisloveforyourmom]

Also, like…Katniss’ love triangle with Peeta and Gale was never about the love aspect. She was choosing between war and peace. It wasn’t “oh nooo i have too many boys :(” it was “one of these people represents war and violence and revolt, which is necessary in the world but unsustainable, and one of them represents peace and love and rebuilding, which can tolerate too much but ultimately is the goal.” and it had to be a romantic relationship because she had to be put into a position where choosing one cut her off from the other. katniss choosing peeta was NEVER about choosing the boy she loved most; it was about choosing a future where she counted up good things in the world, where she had children because she was no longer terrified of what their future would look like, where she grew primroses in her garden and started moving on from living her entire life steeped in trauma. gale was important to her because he was ferocious like her; but even he goes further than her, like when he refuses to run away with katniss because he wants to be part of the rebellion.

thg is a war story. peeta and gale both represent another aspect of what happens when the war is over - you can focus on it, enjoy it even, continue to bring it back every time something goes wrong; or you can slow down, rebuild, heal, refuse to glorify the effect it had on society and you personally. choosing one means you cannot have the other. you cannot hold hands and play in the grass with peace and war at the same time: you marry one of them. doing so erases your ability to commit to the other. and katniss’ choice of peeta is significant because she is choosing peace. she is choosing, despite how hard it is and how easy it would be to be bitter and broken and angry, to heal.

[writergirl719]

YES THAT LAST PART

[fedonciadale]

The Hunger Games is just a good book. Period.

[aye-write]

Top Tips for Clues, Red Herrings, and Breadcrumbs

One of the most important parts of writing MYSTERY is figuring out what to do with clues and red herrings - and how to use them effectively. Here’s some advice that’s never steered me wrong: 

Hide the real clue before the false ones! Most people, so by extent your readers and your sleuth, tend to focus on the last piece of information presented to them. A good strategy is to mention/show your real clue and then quickly shift focus. 

Do a clue cluster! Squeeze your real clue in among a whole pile of red herrings or other clues, effectively hiding it in plain sight. This works especially well with multiple suspect mysteries. 

Struggling to think of what a clue could be? Try this list: 

Physical objects: Letters, notes, tickets, emails, keepsakes, text messages, diaries, etc. 

Dialogue: voicemail recordings, overheard conversations, hearsay, gossip, rumours. All of these can hold grains of truth! 

Red herrings distract and confound your protagonist and your reader, so you should be careful not to overuse them. Well balanced, red herrings should lead your characters down false paths to create confusion, tension, and suspense.

Contradictions! Have characters claim they did so-and-so at such-and-such a time, but other characters have evidence that contradicts this.

Balance! Avoid a clue that’s so obvious it’s like a neon sign saying “Look at me, I’m a clue!” but don’t make it so obscure it’ll be missed entirely. A good clue should leave a reader saying “Damn, I should have noticed that” 

[benditlikekorra]

Korra Sketches by Brittney Williams, the artist for the upcoming Legend of Korra Comics! [x]

[ms-mazarin]

Words to replace said, except this actually helps

I got pretty fed up with looking for words to replace said because they weren’t sorted in a way I could easily use/find them for the right time. So I did some myself.

IN RESPONSE TO Acknowledged Answered Protested

INPUT/JOIN CONVERSATION/ASK Added Implored Inquired Insisted Proposed Queried Questioned Recommended Testified

GUILTY/RELUCTANCE/SORRY Admitted Apologized Conceded Confessed Professed

FOR SOMEONE ELSE Advised Criticized Suggested

JUST CHECKING Affirmed Agreed Alleged Confirmed

LOUD Announced Chanted Crowed

LEWD/CUTE/SECRET SPY FEEL Appealed Disclosed Moaned

ANGRY FUCK OFF MATE WANNA FIGHT Argued Barked Challenged Cursed Fumed Growled Hissed Roared Swore

SMARTASS Articulated Asserted Assured Avowed Claimed Commanded Cross-examined Demanded Digressed Directed Foretold Instructed Interrupted Predicted Proclaimed Quoted Theorized

ASSHOLE Bellowed Boasted Bragged

NERVOUS TRAINWRECK Babbled Bawled Mumbled Sputtered Stammered Stuttered

SUAVE MOTHERFUCKER Bargained Divulged Disclosed Exhorted

FIRST OFF Began

LASTLY Concluded Concurred

WEAK PUSY Begged Blurted Complained Cried Faltered Fretted

HAPPY/LOL Cajoled Exclaimed Gushed Jested Joked Laughed

WEIRDLY HAPPY/EXCITED Extolled Jabbered Raved

BRUH, CHILL Cautioned Warned

ACTUALLY, YOU’RE WRONG Chided Contended Corrected Countered Debated Elaborated Objected Ranted Retorted

CHILL SAVAGE Commented Continued Observed Surmised

LISTEN BUDDY Enunciated Explained Elaborated Hinted Implied Lectured Reiterated Recited Reminded Stressed

BRUH I NEED U AND U NEED ME Confided Offered Urged

FINE Consented Decided

TOO EMO FULL OF EMOTIONS Croaked Lamented Pledged Sobbed Sympathized Wailed Whimpered

JUST SAYING Declared Decreed Mentioned Noted Pointed out Postulated Speculated Stated Told Vouched

WASN’T ME Denied Lied

EVIL SMARTASS Dictated Equivocated Ordered Reprimanded Threatened

BORED Droned Sighed

SHHHH IT’S QUIET TIME Echoed Mumbled Murmured Muttered Uttered Whispered

DRAMA QUEEN Exaggerated Panted Pleaded Prayed Preached

OH SHIT Gasped Marveled Screamed Screeched Shouted Shrieked Yelped Yelled

ANNOYED Grumbled Grunted Jeered Quipped Scolded Snapped Snarled Sneered

ANNOYING Nagged

I DON’T REALLY CARE BUT WHATEVER Guessed Ventured

I’M DRUNK OR JUST BEING WEIRDLY EXPRESSIVE FOR A POINT/SARCASM Hooted Howled Yowled

I WONDER Pondered Voiced Wondered

OH, YEAH, WHOOPS Recalled Recited Remembered

SURPRISE BITCH Revealed

IT SEEMS FAKE BUT OKAY/HA ACTUALLY FUNNY BUT I DON’T WANT TO LAUGH OUT LOUD Scoffed Snickered Snorted

BITCHY Tattled Taunted Teased

[writing-reigns-deactivated20200]

reblog to save a writer 

[nichelle-my-belle-deactivated20]

excellent resource

[prokopetz]

Okay, this is in incredibly petty nitpick, but: if you’re writing a fantasy setting with same-sex marriage, a same-sex noble or royal couple typically would not have titles of the same rank - e.g., a prince and a prince, or two queens.

It depends on which system of ranking you use, of course (there are several), but in most systems there’s actually a rule covering this scenario: in the event that a consort’s courtesy title being of the same rank as their spouse’s would potentially create confusion over who holds the title by right and who by courtesy, the consort instead receives the next-highest title on the ladder.

So the husband of a prince would be a duke; the wife of a queen, a princess; and so forth.

(You actually see this rule in practice in the United Kingdom, albeit not in the context of a same-sex marriage; the Queen’s husband is styled a prince because if he were a king, folks might get confused about which of them was the reigning monarch.)

The only common situation where you’d expect to see, for example, two queens in the same marriage is if the reigning monarchs of two different realms married each other - and even then, you’d more likely end up with a complicated arrangement where each party is technically a princess of the other’s realm in addition to being queen of her own.

You’ve gotta keep it nice and unambiguous who’s actually in charge!

[prokopetz]

Okay, I’ve received a whole lot of asks about this post, so I’m going to cover all of the responses in one go:

1. The system described above is, admittedly, merely one of the most common. Other historically popular alternatives include:

The consort’s courtesy title is of the same rank as their spouse’s, with “-consort” appended to it: prince and prince-consort, queen and queen-consort, etc. This is how, e.g., present-day Monaco does it.

The consort is simply styled Lord or Lady So-and-so, and receives no specific title. I can’t think of any country that still does it this way, off the top of my head, but historically it was a thing.

(Naturally, your setting needn’t adhere to any of these, but it would be highly irregular for it to lack some mechanism for clarifying the chain of command.)

2. The reason why the consort of a prince is historically a princess even though those titles are the same rank is basically sexism. This can go a couple of ways:

In many realms, there was no such thing as being a princess by right; the daughter of a monarch would be styled Lady So-and-so and receive no specific title, so the only way to be a princess was to marry a prince.

In realms where women could hold titles by right, typically a masculine title was informally presumed to outrank its feminine counterpart. So, e.g., kings outrank queens, princes outrank princesses, etc.

In either case, no ambiguity exists.

(Interestingly, this suggests that in a more egalitarian setting where masculine titles are not presumed to outrank their feminine counterparts, or vice versa, you’d need to explicitly disambiguate rankings even outside the context of same-sex marriages. Food for thought!)

3. It would also be possible to have two kings or two queens in the same marriage without multiple realms being involved in the case of a true co-monarchy. However, true co-monarchies are highly irregular and, from a political standpoint, immensely complicated affairs. If you’re planning on writing one of those, be prepared to do your research!

4. The next rank down from “countess” is either “viscountess” or “baroness”, depending on which peerage system you’re using.

(Yes, that last one actually came up multiple times. Apparently there are a lot of stories about gay countesses out there!)

[prokopetz]

I’d like to argue with this, but I can’t.

[humunanunga]

[shortvideosandstuff]

[the-absolute-best-posts]

[organicslut]

[crowsent]

remember, this is for a DOOR lock.

remember that when picking a DOOR lock, you have to apply a little bit of pressure to your tension wrench (the thing that you use to turn the knob). too little or too much and you wont be able to pick the door open. you can use anything for the tension wrench. a bobby pin. bits of wire. a paper clip. etc.

its best to be completely silent when youre picking locks bc theres this small ‘click’ when youre picking that you might miss if youre using headphones or listening to music.

.

if youre picking one of these

you jam something thin and long above one of the rotation dials and you push up on the shackle.

. if its one of these

you get yourself some shims. (or make one. you can make shims out of fucking soda cans), you wiggle them in the tiny space between the shackle and the body of the lock, and you pop these suckers open.

. for a chain deadbolt,

you get something flexible but sturdy and you just push this fucker down

. for one of these rotating combination locks

you can also shim this motherfucker open. jam your shims between the shackle and the body and pry it unlocked. if, for some reason, you dont wanna shim it open, maybe you dont have a shim or you just like a challenge, this bitch can be decoded ridiculously easy. heres what you do:

spin this bitch to the right about two or three times to “reset” it. then you pull up on the shackle a bit, and turn it right slowly until you hear a click. your number is two spaces further. then you turn left 360 degrees until you land on the right number again, and start turning this motherfucker left until it stops. when it stops, turn right. if its loose, its the wrong number, keep going left. if its not loose, you have the right number, and you turn right all the way until this bitch pops

.

now you know how to pick several common locks!!!!! congratulations!!!!

[summerwithaniinit]

Thanku

[official-lucifers-child]

*frantically takes more notes*

[vergeofinsanity]

saving this for gods know what

[writingquestionsanswered]

Hi! Your blog is amazing and really helpful! The Master List has helped me so much! Anyways, I was wondering if you had any tips on writing “the almost scene” (non-sexual). Like, ways to build up to it and such. Thanks!

Writing the “Almost Sex but Not Quite” Scene

First, I’m so glad you’re enjoying the blog and have found the master list to be helpful. I hope this post will be helpful, too, but I’m not 100% I’m interpreting your question correctly, so if I missed the mark, please feel free to re-submit a clarification. :)

Here goes!

1) The Long-Term Build Up

Building up to an “Almost Sex but Not Quite” scene is much the same as building up to a sex scene. You need to build up the sexual tension between the two characters ahead of the moment where they actually start making out. These posts will help with that:

The Subtle Signs of Romantic Interest and LoveGuide: Characters Falling in LoveTransitioning Through Levels of Affection

2) The Short-Term Build Up

When the moment arrives that they’re finally making out for the first time, you want to give the scene as much emotional, sensual impact as you can without them actually engaging in intercourse. To do that, try the following:

Build lots of sexual tension into whatever they’re doing prior to making out. Whether they’re having a suggestive/flirtatious conversation, laughing and romping through a flower-filled field, or on a tenderly romantic date, there are lots of opportunities to push some of that long-term build up from above to the brink.

Explore what both characters are thinking and feeling (emotionally) in the moments leading up to making out and during those first moments. Are they nervous? Excited? Embarrassed? Aching for more? Letting your reader know what’s going through the character’s minds can add a lot of impact to that moment.

Use the five senses to ramp up the description of what’s happening. What does your character hear? See? Smell? Taste? Touch? All of these things play a role in ramping up the anticipation of each subsequent touch, kiss, utterance of love and/or desire, etc.

Remember to touch on internal sensations being felt by the characters. 

3) The Cessation

If you don’t want your characters to go through with intercourse, you’ll need to figure out how to stop their make out session. There are lots of ways you can do this, so choose something that works best for the story. Some possibilities:

One or both characters puts on the brakes, saying they’re not ready to go any further at that moment.

The more fervent making out slows down and turns into a session of cuddling and conversation, maybe even blissful sleep.

The make out session is interrupted. This could be a family member or roommate arriving home unexpectedly, a text message/phone call, the doorbell ringing, a strange noise in the house, noticing the time and realizing they’re late for something.

One participant suddenly becomes angry about something, perhaps recalling an unresolved argument or the other person said something upsetting.

4) The Fade to Black

If you want your characters to go through with intercourse, but you just don’t want to show it happening, you can make use of something known as the “fade to black.” The name comes from TV shows and movies when two characters are about to have sex or starting to have sex, so the scene would literally fade to black and open on a new scene where something else was happening. The best way to write a “fade to black” is to leave off with something that implies what’s going to happen in a way that is interesting without being cheesy. Something along the lines of “we spent the rest of the night exploring our love for each other” but less cheesy and more poetic.

5) The Cut to After

Whether you cease the make out scene before it gets to sex, or let your characters have sex behind closed doors, you may want to consider how you’re going to handle the “after” scene. That may be immediately after they stop making out (or after they’re done in a “fade to black” scenario), or it could be hours later, the next day, days later… whatever. But making sure to explore what that moment meant to your character and their relationship is an important part of doing it well. Did it change anything? Did it make them closer? Did it make things awkward? Are they excited to go again? Do they feel ready for more? These are all issues worth exploring, unless, of course, it was a one night stand.

Best of luck writing your “almost” scene! :)

————————————————————————————————-Have a question? My inbox is always open, but please make sure to check my FAQ and post master lists first to make sure I haven’t already answered a similar question. :)

[gingerly-writing]

Do you have any advice for when you want to write but at the same time you're just Tired™??? Thank you

well that really depends what kind of Tired™ you are

you’re Tired™ of everything and everyone, aka you’re just totally exhausted: bro this is not a healthy space to be writing from. take a nap. chat to a friend. daydream. rest and recover. 

you’re Tired™ of writing (and you might have burnt out): also rest. if you want to, rest “productively”. read books, watch films, have fun being a consumer, analyse and dissect what you do and don’t like, and generally recharge your creative spirits. you have to put something into your brain before you can tease something out

you’re Tired™ of writing because it’s fucking hard: I feel you. make a writing friend to a) bitch to and b) mutually lift up. make a ranty post about it in your drafts. indulge in one of the fun parts of writing like some frivolous worldbuilding or making a cute edit. then keep writing.

you’re Tired™ physically: go to bed earlier. take a nap, bitch! 

you’re Tired™ because you’re a millennial or gen z and this is how we all live: mood. but if you want to write, write anyway. write through it, above it, around it. in your bed, on the loo, while you snack. in snatched moments and long designated periods. whenever suits you (and sometimes whenever doesn’t suit you).

you’re another kind of Tired™ which I can’t think of right now because I, too, am Tired™: do something fun for yourself that reminds you of your project. then keep writing. 

fun things I have been doing at the minute include: venturing into RPing, watching heist movies for joint research with @radley-writes, watching Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries with my parents, watching YouTube videos about real world heists, reading books like Six of Crows that (surprise) contain heists (can you tell my next book project contains a heist yet?), getting into bullet journalling, setting up a writing/bujo Instagram (follow me at the same username!), and playing minecraft with my brother. I also finished the third draft of my novel in a month and a few days. 

all of this might make me sound like some kind of hyperorganised machine, but I promise you it’s a) scattered and sporadic fun that’s very badly scheduled and b) very very necessary to the completion of that draft. 

tl;dr pretty much every young writer is Tired™. alongside dedication to actually getting words on the page, you also need inspiration and energy to fight the Tired™ back.

[randomramblesofaraven]

This!!! This is very important and very useful. Triage your Tiredness~

[writing-and-nutmeg]

When you write an amazing line and can’t tell if you’re a genius or just accidentally plagiarized it from a book you read seven years ago:

[heedra]

I feel like the problem ppl have when constructing redemption arcs is people make ‘the character realizes what they’ve done is wrong’ the end step instead of like…one of the earliest ones. a satisfying redemption arc doesn’t resolve when the character first feels sorry, it resolves when a character has really journeyed towards atonement and made enough change in themselves to achieve some kind of symbolic victory over who they used to be

[michaelbjorkwrites]

How to craft good figurative writing according to Dead Poets Society

Good figurative writing is electrifying.

It adds beauty and depth to your prose in a way literal language struggles to match.

But the challenge of good figurative language is that it doesn’t come from your head — it comes from your gut.

You don’t sit there and systematically craft metaphors by analyzing and connecting two separate ideas; instead, you let your intuition take the wheel, and you follow it down any and every dimly lit street, until you reach its intended destination.

Sometimes that destination is beautiful and inspiring. Other times (oftentimes) it’s a horrible, ugly place that should never see the light of day.

But the trick is this: to write good, natural figurative language, you need to let your intuition run wild, because for every few bad metaphors you write, a great one will emerge — and that’ll be the spark that brings your image or scene to life.

Nobody illustrates this process better than Mr. Keating in Dead Poets Society.

Empowering your gut to write better figurative language

In the above scene, Todd is the writer, and the class is his inner critic. His writing is stifled by their laughter and judgment, and he’s afraid to follow his gut on strange images, such as “truth like a blanket that always leaves your feet cold.”

But Mr. Keating (Robin Williams, God bless him) pushes Todd to ignore the class, putting a hand over Todd’s eyes and giving commands like, “Don’t think — answer!” and, “Say the first thing that pops into your head, even if it’s total gibberish!” Mr. Keating gives Todd permission to run with the wildest of impulses — and the end result is a fascinating string of figurative language and images, ranging from “sweaty-toothed mad man” to his full elaboration on the blanket of truth.

To write better figurative language, you need to be your own Mr. Keating. You need to give yourself permission to write (and pursue) gibberish, so that something artful and organic may jump out of you.

Here’s some advice on how to make that happen.

1. Start with freewriting

Freewriting is an exercise where you write for a short period of time without a filter, without editing, and without stopping. The goal is to shut down your inner editor and make fresh connections between ideas — which makes it great for figurative writing, especially if you tend to struggle with metaphors and similes. The next time you’re working on a scene, take just 5 minutes to freewrite some relevant similes and metaphors. Most will be nonsensical, but you’ll often come away with at least one great idea.

2. Write similes before metaphors

If your goal is to write metaphors, I suggest you start by writing similes. The word “like” is a helpful bridge, making it easier to form initial connections between unrelated ideas. Then, in revision, you can experiment with deleting the word “like” if you want to double down with a metaphor.

3. Trust the connection is there

When your subconscious makes a connection between two unrelated ideas, know that there is a connection, even if it seems completely random on the surface. Your subconscious wouldn’t have made the connection if there wasn’t something there — you just need to find it. Which brings me to #4.

4. Don’t judge a rabbit hole before diving in

Remember in the scene above how Todd initially shies away from the idea that truth is like “a blanket that leaves your feet cold”? The class laughs, but Mr. Keating encourages Todd to go further, and further, until Todd finally stumbles into a fully-realized simile that silences everyone. Just like the class, you might think your figurative language is dumb at first, but always take a few minutes to go down the rabbit hole and explore its potential.

5. Ask yourself questions

When you’re trying to explore and develop a piece of figurative language, ask yourself questions as Mr. Keating asks Todd:

What do you see? “A mad man.” What kind? “A crazy mad man.” You can do better. “A sweaty-toothed mad man.” Describe what you see. “A sweaty-toothed mad man with a stare that pounds my brain.” That’s excellent. Give him action. “And all the time he’s mumbling.” What’s he mumbling? “Mumbling truth. Truth like a blanket that leaves your feet cold.” Tell me about that blanket. — And so on.

Even if it feels like you’re going in circles, keep riffing and elaborating upon the idea until you land on something that works.

O Captain! My Captain!

To quote Mr. Keating, who in turn quotes Whitman: “The powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?”

Whatever your verse, I hope figurative language plays a part.

— — —

Hey there! My name’s Mike, and I’m a writer & copywriter with an MFA in fiction. For more tips on how to hone your craft and nurture meaningful stories, follow my blog.

And thanks to @vilchen​, whose original question about half a year ago prompted this post. This is an updated version of my original answer.