Writing and Such

[thewritingrealm]

If you're reading this...

go write three sentences on your current writing project.

[ezzydean]

# my favourite part about this post # is that nowhere does it say to reblog this # but we’re all reblogging it # because if we have to suffer # so do other writers

[thefoundationproject]

Boop

[assiraphales]

I kind of miss the impulsivity that certain spaces used to allow. oh you want a hair cut today? hairdresser in the corner can fit you in before her 2 o’clock. tattoo of a cobra… sure leg or arm? even concerts, back when you could go to the box office thirty mins before any show. not saying these things don’t exist at all, but everything feels booked five months in advance and 10x more expensive

[misandriste]

BLACK SWAN 2010, dir. Darren Aronofsky

[writersblockcentral]

There were many great things I saw today in my tiny town's pride parade but I think my favorite was the guy I overheard explaining to his friend, "I couldn't find my bi flag pin so I put my Irish flag pin on instead. Close enough"

[writersblockcentral]

I've reached such a chronically single point in my life that every time I hear a breakup song about a girl feeling ignored by her boyfriend I think "this is how I feel about my cat"

[hopeless-eccentric]

humiliating to be attracted to a conventionally attractive person. I thought I was a more sensitive and refined pervert than this

[writersblockcentral]

I'm sorry but I'm just having feels over this movie, like...

The way Jo puts the letter to Laurie in their old mailbox because he's a remnant of her childhood just like it is...

The way Amy says she'd be "great or nothing" but we can still se her painting in the outro at Jo's school, teaching the next generation and just friggin enjoying herself for once...

The way all of Meg's dreams came true even if they weren't grand like the other sister's...

The way Amy saw it as her duty to marry for money but still married for love in the end...

The way the first half of the movie when they were younger is done in warm colors to represent the homey atmosphere and the second is in cold colors to represent how the sisters are all drifting apart into the harsh world, but the outro is done in a combination of both to show that they created their own home together, but needed to be apart first to do it and have those lonely years...

It just gets me every time.

[deadpanwalking]

why do you think it's so common for writers to insert themselves into their stories?

I don't know.

[writersblockcentral]

I read something the other day about how we should start making headcannons for characters based on their phone cases, and at first I was like "yeah, sure, I bet you could get away with that if they fit the mold of a caricature". And then I thought about it for a moment and realized that I have my student ID and stickers made out of stoppers from my favorite hometown coffee shop in my phone case. I guess we all have a bit of caricature in us.

[writersblockcentral]

The best writing advice I've ever been given is legitimately just to give the characters a break. Why should I care about your characters if I don't even know them? Why would I endlessly read over their death- defying antics and fast-paced fights when I don't know anything about their relationships, their good traits, how they act when they're not under fire? Give them a breather. It gives the reader a moment to connect to them, and builds tension and eagerness to keep reading.

[writersblockcentral]

Was writing today and was like, "I only have 45 minutes left to write" and I... completely forgot 11 am existed. Like I forgot a whole hour because I was too busy worrying about how much writing time I had left

[writersblockcentral]

There's a lot of different ways to look at the editing process but this is personally what works for me:

Draft 1. Just get the story down. You can go back and look at things for consistency's sake but honestly don't worry about anything but getting your ideas down.

Draft 2. Make it make sense. This could be as simple as rewriting a line where you said a character is blond but is actually a brunette, or as complicated as completely deleting and/or rewriting a certain scene. Usually it's a combo of both.

Draft 3. All about character. Are your character's actions consistent? Would they really say that line? Are you sure?

Draft 4. All about style. Would that character really say that word? Does that paragraph have a good enough transition? ect.

Draft 5. Just another go around of the two above. Character consistency and style are very important, my friends, and you may need another Passover.

Draft 6. Spelling, flow, ect. You're reaching the end now. Polish it up.

Draft 7. Just reread It 3-5 times. Edit anything and everything you can.

[abhainnwhump]

There's this little thing I like to call Passive Villain Syndrome (probably an actual term for it somewhere but I don't know it), which is where the villain of a story is introduced, the reader is told how evil they are and then . . . they don't do anything until the story needs a climax or the series needs a finale.

My biggest issue with this is that it reduces what could be an interesting and memorable character to a mere obstacle, a plot device. They're evil and they're said to do evil things. It's hard to explain, but it's just boring. It's a similar reason where I don't like stories about a kind character becoming evil just by grabbing a knife and going on a killing spree with a crazed smile. You can put any character in that scenario and they don't stand out. Am I saying you need a deep complex motive for your villains? No, some of my favorite villains are evil because it's fun. But the key thing is that they have creative ways of causing pain and chaos and they feel like a real threat. This got a bit off topic, but my point is these kinds of villains aren't memorable. Your villain should have as much thought put into them as the hero so there is tension and a sense of danger.

It also causes "show don't tell" violations where the reader is told how twisted and dangerous a villain is, but they're never shown. It's worse when the villain is defeated in about 3 pages after all that build up. (cough cough Harry Potter cough cough)

Yes, I know wanting mystery around the villain is a thing. But even something as simple as the villain holding one of the hero's friends captive as they torture them is something. Or keep the identity of the villain a secret, but throughout the story, murders or crimes happen that apply more pressure on the hero to not only find who's doing this, but to also stop them. Present day events, not flashbacks, that's important. I also suggest having smaller encounters throughout the story to build a relationship between the two, put some personal stakes and grudges between them.

TLDR: Please have main villains that don't sit off on the sidelines of the story until the climax needs to happen.

[writersblockcentral]

This is a pretty obvious writing tip but I've been thinking about the time I tried to read Hatchet by Gary Paulson in high school and within one page, the author basically repeated "the plane engine was loud" in three different ways. This made me quit the novel immediately and I've never picked it back up.

Don't. Be. So. Repetitive.

In this case, the author was trying to paint the scene by using imagery, repeating and rephrasing the statement several times to make it seem important in different contexts, but it fell completely flat. A good tip for writing imagery is that if a detail is important to the story, it should be said at the top of a scene (or immediately whenever it pops up). It should not sprinkled throughout the text, and definitely not just restated. Give the reader more credit. They get it. Instead, try to weave less important details and small bits of scenery in throughout the scene so you don't info dump at the beginning of the scene, but a reader can still get a mental picture. In other words, make sure your reader knows enough about where your character is, what it looks like, sounds like, ect. but not enough to where the reader is bored with your description.

[writersblockcentral]

Something that's especially helpful for me to remember when writing (especially as a person with ADHD) is that people are most productive in twenty five minute stretches. Set a timer. Take a break. Go to the bathroom, get some sun, take a few drinks of water, check your socials, just stare into space for a while. Give yourself permission to stop and reassess.

[writersblockcentral]

Remember that your writing isn't going to be good right off the bat. I've been writing out of school since I was eight, I've wanted to be a writer since I was nine, but I honestly still suck sometimes. Writing takes practice.

[writersblockcentral]

This is gonna sound stupid but honestly I think the best way to write romance is to take two(+) well rounded, interesting characters and have it make sense that they're together. No one wants to read a romance where the characters are underdeveloped, and no one wants to read a romance where it makes absolutely no sense that these characters are endgame (and I mean that thematically and personality wise)