Writing Advice 365

Writing advice, tips, & info | main blog: writingprompts365 | Lauren | she/her| Support on Ko-fi

[writingadvice365]

Back up your work!

(Do it now.)

(Do it often.)

(Do it in multiple places.)

[writingadvice365]

Character Description Writing Resources

Secrets to Writing Effective Character Descriptions

Character Descriptions: How to Write Them

How to Describe Skin Color

Describing Black Hair in Fantasy Settings

Importance of Small Details

@writingwithcolor Description Guide Posts

~~~

~Grand List of Writing Resources~  

[dollopheadedmerlin]

I have … a tip.

If you’re writing something that involves an aspect of life that you have not experienced, you obviously have to do research on it. You have to find other examples of it in order to accurately incorporate it into your story realistically.

But don’t just look at professional write ups. Don’t stop at wikepedia or webMD. Look up first person accounts.

I wrote a fic once where a character has frequent seizures. Naturally, I was all over the wikipedia page for seizures, the related pages, other medical websites, etc.

But I also looked at Yahoo asks where people where asking more obscure questions, sometimes asked by people who were experiencing seizures, sometimes answered by people who have had seizures.

I looked to YouTube. Found a few individual videos of people detailing how their seizures usually played out. So found a few channels that were mostly dedicated to displaying the daily habits of someone who was epileptic.

I looked at blogs and articles written by people who have had seizures regularly for as long as they can remember. But I also read the frantic posts from people who were newly diagnosed or had only had one and were worried about another.

When I wrote that fic, I got a comment from someone saying that I had touched upon aspects of movement disorders that they had never seen portrayed in media and that they had found representation in my art that they just never had before. And I think it’s because of the details. The little things.

The wiki page for seizures tells you the technicalities of it all, the terminology. It tells you what can cause them and what the symptoms are. It tells you how to deal with them, how to prevent them.

But it doesn’t tell you how some people with seizures are wary of holding sharp objects or hot liquids. It doesn’t tell you how epileptics feel when they’ve just found out that they’re prone to fits. It doesn’t tell you how their friends and family react to the news.

This applies to any and all writing. And any and all subjects. Disabilities. Sexualities. Ethnicities. Cultures. Professions. Hobbies. Traumas. If you haven’t experienced something first hand, talk to people that have. Listen to people that have. Don’t stop at the scholarly sources. They don’t always have all that you need.

[dollopheadedmerlin]

I … LOVE reading the replies and tags for this post! I’m happy that, out of all my posts, this is the one that’s blown up so quickly. 

I love the people who are a part of a minority, that are gushing about their favorite fics or books that seem to have done this and offer proper representation. 

I love the people who are bringing up the toxic mindset that is very popular on tumblr, the “you can’t write about it if you haven’t lived it” ideology that makes writers feel guilty for providing representation.

I especially love the people who are mentioning how they should start doing this. I love the people who are probably young or inexperienced writers that are seeing this and thinking of doing this for the first time. I love that there are people who read this and then think to better their writing because of it.

[writingadvice365]

Grand List of Writing Resources

I will link each category post here as I add more and I will continue to update it.

Outlining

Point of View

Character Development

Villains and Antagonists

Story/Character Arcs

Romance

Dialogue (new)

...

[writingadvice365]

“I think new writers are too worried that it has all been said before. Sure it has, but not by you.”

— Asha Dornfest (via sophialikestowrite)

[writingadvice365]

Try changing your word document page background to black or brown and your font color to white or pink if your eyes hurt from looking too long at a bright screen when writing.

[writingadvice365]

“Nothing will stop you from being creative so effectively as the fear of making a mistake.”

— John Cleese (via writingdotcoffee)

[gaiabamman]

Using the appropriate vocabulary in your novel

It is very important that the language in your novel reflects the time and place in which the story is set.

For example, my story is set in Italy. My characters would never “ride shotgun”, a term coined in US in the early 1900s referring to riding alongside the driver with a shotgun to gun bandits. 

Do your research! A free tool that I found to be very useful is Ngram Viewer. 

You can type any word and see when it started appearing in books. For example…one of my characters was going to say “gazillion” (I write YA) in 1994. Was “gazillion” used back then?

And the answer is…YES! It started trending in 1988 and was quite popular in 1994.

Enjoy ^_^

[storiesintheashes]

This is really important, especially because language can change in very unexpected ways. 

For example, did you know that before 1986 people never said “I need to”?Instead, they were far more likely to say “I ought to”, “I have to”, “I must”, or “I should”.

Don’t believe me?

Anyway, most people won’t notice subtle changes like that. But your reader will notice and be confused when characters in your medieval world use metaphors involving railroads and rockets.

One of the things you can do besides use Google Ngrams is to read books or watch movies written in the time period you want to set your story. The key here is that they can’t just be set in that time period, they have to have been made in that time period.

Also, there’s a Lexicon Valley episode on this very topic which I highly recommend. It’s called Capturing the Past. 

[still-intrepid]

SEE ALSO Etymonline.  Word origins and when they’re first recorded. So, say I wanted to find out when a “coffee break” became a thing – around the 1950s, as seen in magazine adverts – or characters might talk about more genrallly “taking a break” from the 1860s…

[elumish]

People talk a lot about how reading is necessary for writing, but when you really want to improve your writing, it’s important to go beyond just simple reading. Here are some things to do when reading:

Note how they begin and end the story. There are a ton of rather contradictory pieces of advice about starting stories, so see how they do it in the stories you enjoy. Don’t only look at the most popular stories, but look at your more obscure favorites.

See what strikes you. Is it fast or complicated scenes with a lot of emotions? Is it stark lines? Pithy dialogue? What do you remember the next day?

Pay attention to different styles. It’s not just whether they use past or present tense, first or third person. It’s whether the writing is more neutral or deeper inside character’s heads. Do they use italics? Parentheses? Other interesting stylistic choices? Take the ones you like and try them out in your own writing. See what works and what doesn’t.

Keep track of how they deal with other characters. Do we see a lot of secondary character each for very brief periods of time or are there a couple that show up a lot? How much information do we get about secondary characters? Do they have their own plots or do their plots revolve entirely around the main characters? 

Count how many plots there are. Is there just one main plot or are there multiple subplots? Are the storylines mostly plot-based or character-based?  

Pay attention to what you don’t like. If you don’t like what’s going on in a book or even just a scene, note what it is. Does the dialogue feel awkward? Are the characters inconsistent? Does the plot feel too convenient or cobbled together? Does the wording just feel off? See if you can spot those issues in your own writing, especially when reading a completed draft or beginning a later draft.

[gg-writes]

(Great advice! I wanted to tack on other things I look for when reading)

Pay attention to how they introduce characters. Very rarely will it be all at once, and I guarantee the author went over the intro of each major character again and again while editing, so I always like paying extra close attention! Did the intro endear you to the character? Make you dislike them? How did the author impart that emotion?

Note instances of worldbuilding/info dumps, especially parts that don’t seem like worldbuilding/info dumps. Maybe the character mentions something offhand about a location you’ll see five chapters later. Maybe the internal dialogue makes a comparison to the character’s childhood. Was the information effective or did it leave you wanting more? Make note of anything that made you go, “ooh, neat!”

After you finish the story, try to find foreshadowing that you missed the first time through! It can be as simple as skimming and looking for phrases you know are important after finishing the story. Most authors add foreshadowing in the editing stage, so I tend to ponder how the story would read before they added it. Ninety-nine percent of the time, the story seems more magical for it and it’s just nice to appreciate.

What plot structures could the story fit into? We all know about the three arc stories, hero’s journey, etc. Sometimes stories can fit into more than one category. During the read and after, keep it in the back of your mind. Can you predict where the climax of the story will hit? Is it man v man or man v nature? Does the predictability (or lack thereof) add to or take away from the story?

[writingwithcolor]

Caring for natural (curly) hair in a setting with no access to modern hair products

So it’s the apocalypse. Your curly-haired character is on the run. They find themselves on an adventure in a fantasy world. It’s a castaway story. Or the whatever-eth century and they’re in an environment that doesn’t exactly accommodate curly, coily haired types. 

Either way, manufactured hair products are far and few between, or they’re simply not made for afro hair. Considering how your Black character handles their hair in this environment makes their circumstances more realistic and relatable.

Topics Featured in this Guide:

Hair Products found in Natural Environment

Hair Oils - Benefits and How To Extract

Protective Hair Techniques & Styles

Curly Hair Types & Hair Needs

Hair Routine Samples

Hair Straightening 

FAQ

There is a writing takeaway at the end of each topic. 

Brief descriptions provided after images. Contact me for fully accessible version.

Hair Products found in Natural Environment 

Consider the essential needs of afro hair: water and fat.

Water (or liquid) is essential for nourishing the hair. 

Fat (hair oils, creams, butters) is essential for both growth and protection.

Many curly-haired folks already use natural resources and plants to care for their hair - aka DIY hair-care. So characters concocting their own products should not be a strange concept. (I personally buy most of my natural hair products, and create my own hair masks, protein treatments, and oil blends.)

What they could use would depend on environment, time, and availability. 

Hair Healthy Produce 

Coconut - The all-purpose hair aid with multi forms, from oil to solid cream. Hardens in cold weather; best not to use when environment has freezing temps. Banana - Typically removed after use (hair masks, conditioners) Avocado -  Applied as hair products, masks, and oils. Strawberry - Mashed and applied directly to hair or mixed with oils.

Hair Healthy Proteins, Plants, Fats

Eggs - Hardens when dry. Strong odor. Removed after use. (protein masks) Honey - Pulls moisture from air into hair - avoid during the dry winter! Shea Nuts -  Made into shea butter. All-purpose hair and body care. Flaxseed - Gel made by boiling & straining flax seeds. Many DIY videos online.

Hair Healthy Herbs and Flora

Hibiscus - Sebaceous = oil-producing gland. Flowers crushed into paste or oil. Peppermint - Can rub out oil from leaves. Often used in oil form on scalp. Lavender - Often used as an oil directly applied to the scalp, or brewed as tea. Rosemary - Often combined with olive oil in use with hair; can be used alone. 

More Hair Healthy Herbs and Flora

Aloe Vera - Succulent. Can extract sap directly from leaf and apply like gel.  Burdock - Contains essential fatty acids and phytosterol compounds. Dandelion - Can use the roots, stems, leaves and sap for hair and skin. Rose - Common use is rose water: steep roses in boiling water to create.

Hair Healthy Products (rare or require effort to make/find)

Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) - Diluted before use and often washed out after. Bentonite Clay - Aged volcanic ash. Combined with ACV for best activation. Oils - Key component for sealing moisture. See the next discussion. Yogurt - Base of many DIY hair products like masks and deep conditioners.

Oils for Hair 

Oil is a key component to afro hair care. It nourishes and seals in moisture. Let’s discuss common hair oils and extraction methods that could, more likely, be done using homemade or historical equipment. 

Oil Extraction

If oils aren’t readily available to purchase, the person would need to find or create tools to either extract the oil via pressing or heat the nuts or seeds. Consider the basic tools that have been around since ancient times. For example, the mortar and pestle. What creative use can be made out of existing tools in the person’s environment? 

Hair Oils and Benefits  (by potential ease to extract.)

Coconut Oil, Castor Oil, Almond Oil, Olive Oil, Avocado and Grapeseed Oil. 

FYI: These aren’t the only methods or necessarily professional means of extraction. I also left off hair-healthy oils that seemed complicated to extract without high-grade equipment. So, this isn’t an all-inclusive list of oil or methods. 

Natural Hair Product Creation

So what exactly would your character create? Here’s some natural hair products and potential main ingredients. May be used alone or combined. 

Leave-in moisturizers: Plain water, coconut water, rose water

Leave-in creams: (protect/style) honey, shea, aloe vera, flaxseed, flora

Hair Cleansing Conditioner: plant water, coconut, honey, light oils

Hair Rinse/Co-wash: Apple cider vinegar, coconut, brewed tea water

Hair Masks: Mashed fruits, yogurt, proteins (eggs), clay, honey

DIY Recipe Search: Try keywords like “DIY natural hair” + “curly hair” “Afro hair” or search all natural hair products and read over the ingredient list. Try small home business and independent sellers (Like etsy)

More Sources:

15 DIY Hair Recipes for Almost Every Step in Your Regimen

14 Homemade Leave-in Conditioner Recipes

Best DIY Recipes for Naturally Curly Hair

Product Storage:

Most homemade products last everywhere from a few days - weeks

Extend the life of spoil-prone products via the cooling system in the work.

Honey does not spoil. Be mindful if it’s mixed with spoil-prone ingredients.

Oils can usually be kept at room temperature and last a long time.

Keeping a small bit of ready made supply may prove time-efficient. If impossible, they may opt to use products that don’t require much time and effort, and are worth their time to make in small batches or to potentially dispose of after.

Writing Takeaway - Natural Product/Oils Creation  

With just the above compounds, I can see creative naturals being able to create styling products and moisturizing leave-ins, shampoos, conditioners and hair masks.

Do consider the following:

How simple or complex can their regimen be?

Would they rely more on protective hair styles in their situation?

What is the natural environment: what products are accessible?

How will they store products or must they make a new batch each use?

Can items be purchased by craftsmen or found in abandoned locations?

Can they afford to use edible plants if food is scarce? Food scraps and non-edible plants (like the flora) might be what they rely on.

What are their specific hair care needs? -Discussion on this later-

Natural Hair and Styling 

LOC Method as base style

Moisture, sealing in the moisture, and protection are the basic needs for natural hair. The Liquid, Oil, and Cream (LOC) Method, or a variation of the steps, fulfills those basic needs. It can be treated as both a care routine and a style in itself. Personally, if my hair is not in a protective style, I use it every week.

Liquid - Liquid opens hair cuticles to allow moisture to enter hair strands.

Oil - Once cuticles are opened, the oil penetrates hair & seals in moisture.

Cream - Cream further locks in the moisture, and can be used as a styling agent as well to shape and define curls.

Should you use the “LOC method” by name in your work?  

A modern setting? Sure. But don’t assume readers know what it means.

A fantasy setting? Probably not, unless earth and its terms carry over. 

A historical setting? No. It is a newly coined term. 

Protective Hair Styles

Protective hairstyles protect the hair by tucking ends away from the elements. For example, heat, air, hand and fabric manipulation. While not forever solutions (except maybe locs which are a permanent style) there’s many benefits to your character’s wearing them.

Benefits:

Hair growth retention

Saves time styling hair

Helps prevent damage and keep hair healthy

Ideal for any natural (the best style itself may depend on hair type)

Lessens hair’s need and dependence on moisture and hair products

Eliminates some hair maintenance activities (such as detangling)

Considerations:

Hair more difficult to wash and dry thoroughly. 

Dryness (unable to access all tucked away hair to moisturize)

Styles kept in too long accumulates dead skin and product build up.

Uninstalling styles can be time consuming, and should be done gently.

Style gets frizzy from growth overtime and/or getting soaked in water.

Protective Styles Short-term (lasting days to weeks)

Afro puff(s) or bun(s)

Back Tuck or Roll and Tuck

Bantu knots

French roll  

Pompadour

Roller set

Two-strand twists

Wash and go (low manipulation style)

Shaved (lower maintenance, but not an overnight decision)

Protective Styles Long-term (lasting weeks to months+)

Braids (endless styles and patterns. Typically smaller braids last longer)

Cornrows

Dreadlocks/locs (permanent style, research the hair care)

Extensions

Flat Twists /Twists

Head wraps and hats (endless wrapping styles, colors and patterns!)

Wigs (unless glued, hair maintained underneath or often put in braids)

Writing Takeaway - Protective Hairstyles

Protective styles are an amazing way to protect the character’s hair and would very likely be the go-to for any natural in an uncertain or fast-paced environment. Just in everyday life they’re highly worn so it would especially be the case! Just remember the character needs to eventually undo whatever protective style they have installed to do some hair maintenance (washing, detangling, etc) and give their strands a rest. Also, even hair in protective styles need some attention.

Curly Hair Type and Associated Needs

Determining your hair type is important to knowing its needs. Certain ingredients work best for certain hair types. However everyone is unique and there are more factors to consider than just curl pattern (Also, most curly folks cross into a mix of hair types). There is hair thickness (width & density) and how much moisture and product your hair absorbs (porosity) to consider as well. 

I will only cover curl pattern and the commonly associated needs here. To learn more about porosity, width, and density check out the FAQ under the read more.

naturallycurly.com is a great resource and is the source for the images, terms, and information provided below. 

Curly Twirly (3A) 

Defined loopy “S” pattern. Curls well defined and springy. Big, loose and shiny. Size: Sidewalk chalk size. Best Products:  Gels and creams with light moisture and curl definition.

Curly Spirally (3B) 

Well-defined, springy copious curls that range from bouncy ringlets to tight corkscrews. Size: Sharpie size. Best Products:  Gels and styling creams with extra moisture and frizz control.

Curly Kinky (3C) 

Voluminous, tight corkscrew curls. Either kinky or very tightly curled, with lots of strands densely packed together. The very tight curls are usually fine in texture. Size: Pencil. Best Products:  Styling creams, butters, and oils. Needs gentle care.

Coily Springy (4A) 

Well-defined “S” Pattern. Tight, coily, and the most fragile curls. Size: Crochet Needle or smaller.

4A Best Products & Tips: Styling creams, butters, and oils. 

Clarify scalp with tea tree or jojoba oil during washes

This hair needs extra moisture and tender care

Be gentle when handling and detangling hair to avoid stress & breakage

Use thick moisturizers like mango and shea butters to maximize styles

Coily Crimpy (4B)  

Less-defined “Z” Pattern. Tight, coily fragile curls. Hair bends at sharp angles.

4B Best Products & Tips:  Styling creams, butters, and oils.

Add moisturizing oils before washing (pre-poo/pre-shampoo) with coconut or castor oil to help retain the natural oils in scalp

Do heat-free styles on stretched hair for maximum definition and less frizz

Air-dry hair whenever possible, or use soft cloth to gently dry.

Terry cloth will strip hair’s natural moisture and cause tension on strands 

Coily Ziggly (4C) 

Tight, coily, fragile curls. Curl pattern won’t clump without styling. Little to no visible definition.

4C Best Products and Tips:  Styling creams, butters, and oils.

Use a cleansing conditioner with slippery elm or marshmallow root

Use a creamy humectant [like honey] as a leave-in to maximize protection

A curl defining custard or gel can stretch the coils safely for styled looks

Read the full guide here: Curly Hair Guide: What’s YOUR Curl Pattern?

Writing Takeaway - Hair type and needs

While hair type is just the start of all the intricacies of natural hair needs, it’s definitely a good start. There are other important parts to consider for real life naturals, but going off from hair type and the commonly associated needs should be enough for a story. (But read the FAQ under the read more to keep learning)

Do not get lost in the details, especially for a story that won’t need to cover tons of it. Learn enough to know what you’re talking about and can describe hair care accurately for situations that would affect hair.

Writing Takeaway - Overall:

You don’t have to be lavish in detail, but acknowledging how hair is handled here and there or in a dedicated section is thoughtful and satisfying to see included. It’s also a neutral way to show race without the use of micro-aggressions or racism. Finding the time and means for proper hair care would be a part of their life and potentially a stumbling block on the adventure, so mentioning how hair is handled during these circumstances is a fine idea. 

It’s also a great means for representation.

–Mod Colette

Additional Info:

The following information will be nestled under the read more:

Hair Routine Samples - One super simple and one complex hair routine 

Hair Straightening - Not ideal to maintain in survival situations, but also was a means of survival and daily living during some historical contexts

FAQ - Would any of this matter during the apocalypse? And what about natural products that attract bugs? Plus more.

Keep reading

[rivalwrites]

I think the best piece of character design advice I ever received was actually from a band leadership camp I attended in june of 2017. 

the speaker there gave lots of advice for leaders—obviously, it was a leadership camp—but his saying about personality flaws struck me as useful for writers too. 

he said to us all “your curses are your blessings and your blessings are your curses” and went on to explain how because he was such a great speaker, it made him a terrible listener. he could give speeches for hours on end and inspire thousands of people, but as soon as someone wanted to talk to him one on one or vent to him, he struggled with it. 

he had us write down our greatest weakness and relate it to our biggest strength (mine being that I am far too emotional, but I’m gentle with others because I can understand their emotions), and the whole time people are sharing theirs, my mind was running wild with all my characters and their flaws.

previously, I had added flaws as an after thought, as in “this character seems too perfect. how can I make them not-like-that?” but that’s not how people or personalities work. for every human alive, their flaws and their strengths are directly related to each other. you can’t have one without the other.

is your character strong-willed? that can easily turn into stubbornness. is your character compassionate? maybe they give too many chances. are they loyal? then they’ll destroy the world for the people they love.

it works the other way around too: maybe your villain only hates the protagonist’s people because they love their own and just have a twisted sense of how to protect them. maybe your antagonist is arrogant, but they’ll be confident in everything they do.

tl;dr “your curses are your blessings, and your blessings are your curses” there is no such thing as a character flaw, just a strength that has been stretched too far.

[writingadvice365]

What should you look out for when editing your first draft? Other than mistakes in grammar and spelling and all that.

There is no one correct answer but I think an important thing is filling in any gaps in the story that you skipped over for whatever reason. Do any research that you need to do. Look at the big picture and see if all the plot points line up and make sense. Look at the main character arcs and see if they develop over the course of the story.

And be sure to take a look at the Nanowrimo "Now What" page which has a downloadable workbook and links to resources for editing on their blog to help get you started.

I have a number of other good resources for editing so I will make a resource list post in the coming days. I will link it here when I do.

[writingadvice365]

Hi! How would you write someone speaking in sign language?

Treat anything said in sign language like you would a verbally spoken language. It is the way that character talks so write it like any other dialogue. Simply indicate they are using sign language in their dialogue tags and actions (ex. use "signed" instead of "said").

[sunnydwrites]

On Finding Character Motivations

Hey everyone, Abby here with another advice post! Today I’m talking about motivations and how to make them unique to each character.

What is character motivation and why is it important?

What motivated you to get out of bed this morning? What’s motivating you to read right now?

Even if it isn’t immediately apparent, everything you do has a motivation behind it, big or small. Maybe you got out of bed this morning to turn your alarm off, or maybe because you have an ultra-important job interview happening today that you can’t be late for.

Character motivation is important because your characters have to have a reason to be doing what they’re doing. Even if it’s just because they feel like it - why do they just feel like it? If your character is going on a journey for literally no reason, there’s no reason for them not to be laying on their bed staring at the ceiling instead. If they’re doing it to rescue someone, to see the world, to pay a debt, they have a reason, and their journey has an understandable purpose.

In essence, motivation answers the age-old question of “why.”

Simple Motivation

Simple character motivation is this: your character wants or needs something, and they are motivated to fulfill that want or need. If they’re hungry, they’re going to eat. If they want they’ll ask someone for a hug or drop hints that they want a hug until someone complies. They’ll do their thing.

A simple character motivation is determined by one will. Your character has a drive to do one thing, and they will do that one thing.

Complex Motivation

Complex motivation is where it gets interesting, where we really see the dimension to your characters. Simple motivation is determined by a will. Complex motivation is determined by a will and at least one counterwill, when your character is pulled in multiple directions and they’re trying to satisfy everything.

Think of it with this situation: Character A’s S.O. cheated on them.

If A’s simple motivation was to be respected, this occurrence would be a sign of disrespect and would more than likely result in them leaving their S.O.

However, if A has a complex motivation, things get complicated. They want to be respected, but they also want to feel loved and supported in a way that perhaps they believe only their S.O. can. Because of these two conflicting interests, what we interpret as a simple decision has a lot more riding on it. Whether or not A decides to leave their S.O., they’re failing to fulfill one of their motivations. A complex motivation like this adds character dimension because we see how A prioritizes what they want in a relationship and what they’re willing to sacrifice or compromise at this level. Whether or not it’s something you as an author (or reader) necessarily agree with, we see depth.

How do we know what motivates our characters?

This question should be one of the first few that you answer when developing each of your characters. What qualities or ideas do they hold to the highest level in everyday life? We’ll stick with the simple motivation of being respected that we used before.

Great! We have a simple motivation. Now: take something your character cares about, and use it to challenge that simple motivation. They want to be respected, and something (that matters to them) makes them feel that they’ve been disrespected. What is their motivation in regard to this thing that happened, and does it challenge their simple motivation?

We see characters at their most engaging when they’re being pulled in what feels like a million different directions, forced to choose between things that matter to them. This is why we so heavily emphasis character motivation.

If this post helped you out, please consider buying me a coffee over on ko-fi!

[writingadvice365]

I find both your blog and Hello Future Me's videos very helpful. So: I remember that Hello Future Me made a video about dialogue, where he brought up that instead of focusing on dialogue tags, you should focus on the different perspectives (?) that they'd bring to a conversation. What's your take on that? (also pls correct me if I misinterpreted or misremembered his words, I'm not v sure.)

I am glad you find the blog helpful! I am not familiar with that person/channel so I had to look the video up and I hope I watched the one you are talking about.

Yes, he talks about how one of the ways to create excellent dialogue is by focusing on each character's individual perspective of the world and conveying that perspective through what they talk about, how they talk about it, and what words they use. A character's dialogue is often a more useful way to convey information to the reader than what a dialogue tag can do.

From what I understand, he is suggesting to focus more on the actual spoken dialogue and how to make it really vibrant and specific to each character rather than trying to covey all that information only in the tags.

I think it is excellent advice. Dialogue is a large part of showing who the characters are so it is important to make it as well written as possible. Characters are one of the main reasons why people read stories and so if the reader is not interested in the characters, they will not be interested in the story.

Hope this answers your question! =)

[writingadvice365]

any tips on writing a very very close and strong friendship without it appearing romantic?

In general, the characters should be totally comfortable with each other, as well as comfortable being in each other's spaces. They shouldn't get flustered or embarrassed if one suddenly holds hands or compliments them on something they did. They should not afraid to be their true selves or express their opinions.

There is absolute trust between them. The characters have each other's back and are always there to support each other. They have excellent communication. Even if they get into a big argument, they will work it out. They can tease each other without being offended. They know how far they can push the other person.

They know A LOT (if not everything) about each other. They know their likes/dislike, their goals and fears, what annoys them, what compliments they love. They can anticipate how the other will react in certain situations.

If in doubt, perhaps try to think of the characters as family rather than friends. If an interaction feels creepy and/or incestuous, then you will probably need to make changes.

Also, be aware that no matter how well-written the friendship is, there will be readers who will romantically ship the two characters despite absolutely everything to the contrary. Every reader will interact and connect with the story and characters differently and that is something you can't control.

This is kind of vague but I hope this helps a little! =)

[writingadvice365]

Hello, any tips for writing a fast-developing romance that isn't cheesy or unrealistic? For a story too short to utilise slow-burn.

Give them similar interests and beliefs that the characters can bond over. Make sure it is clear that there is a genuine connection between the characters as well as a physical attraction.

But they should also disagree on some things. It is okay for them to argue and have differing opinions. It is only natural. Communication is important in a relationship so they ultimately should be respectful and keep an open mind even if they are in disagreement.

Give them lots of mutual chemistry. Show how well they click together even if they have only known each other for a short time. Mutual trust and respect will help make their relationship feel real.

You can also indicate that the characters understand that it is just the beginning of a potentially long relationship and that they know it is not going to be only sunshine and rainbows as their relationship continues to develop but that they will have to put effort into it to make it flourish.

And here is a link to my romance resource list.

Hope this helps! =)