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writingquestionsanswered · 8 days

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Hello I have a question on behalf of my friend who doesn't have tumblr. So, my friend has been working on her long story for about 2 years now when she found time after school. However, it was recently discovered that she has a tumour in her brain that she will have surgically removed within the coming months and while she told me the chances of anything happening is low, she is still worried and has expressed concern over her story. She told me that she has so much of the story planned out but not written down, so many details or plotpoints etc.... So her question is: how can one prepare for the worst case senario if you have an unfinished story? There are so many details and conversations that need to happen.

Friend Concerned About Surgery/Not Finishing Story

It's very nice of you to ask on her behalf. Just to clarify, though, I'm not a legal expert, so I can't give you or your friend legal advice. Just some ideas based on personal experience.

As much as I wish this would be an easy thing for your friend to address, it isn't. Our stories are copyrighted the moment they are written down in a tangible form, and if something happens to us, that manuscript and all of the pertinent documents and notes become part of our estate. That said, it would be up to the executor of the estate to determine what is done with the story based on the person's wishes as outlined in their will. If someone wanted another person to finish the story for them, they would be designated as this person in their will and the executor would contact them and give them any documents and instructions that were needed. But, ideally, this will have been arranged between the writer and other person long before. If there isn't time for those conversations, your friend could put as much of the detail and instructions as they can in a document and have it kept with their important documents.

If your friend doesn't have a will or an estate (if they're a minor, for example), this is just something that will have to be arranged between them and the person they want to finish their story, but they should also make sure to notify their parents/guardians that this permission has been given, and may even want to give the person a notarized document stating that they give the person permission to finish the story. Otherwise, the friend's family could potentially file for copyright infringement.

I worry a little because I remember getting a similar ask a while back about someone who had been reading a story in progress, and it looked like the writer had passed, and this person wanted to know if they could just finish the story since they'd talked to this person and knew where the story was going. And I'm hoping this ask isn't coming from the same person looking for some loophole that would allow them to go ahead and do this. So, just in case and to clarify: you can't finish someone else's story without their express written permission. It doesn't matter whether that story was posted online and abandoned, or whether they told you what was going to happen and you're the only one who can finish it, or even if you had a verbal agreement. The best anyone could do in that scenario would be to contact the family (who either hold the copyright or have a right to contest infringement) and ask for permission.

And, in the case of this ask specifically, if the friend wants you or someone else to finish their story if the worst happens, they need to make sure they have granted you written permission that is notarized or otherwise legally commissioned.

Ultimately, your friend probably will want to talk to a lawyer. Though, I am deeply hoping that they come through their surgery safely and successfully so they don't have to worry about it. ♥

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

#tw death #tw surgery #wqaadvice

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fire-but-ashes-too · 7 months

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SOOOOOO

i was tagged by @rickie-the-storyteller over heeeereeee and it didnt let me reblog so new post!

LAFGSLKRGHLSKGH THIS IS SO FUN HELP WHY DIDNT I KNWO THIS EXISTED-

ANYWAYSSSSS

i gto very little ships (sadly) so im gonna go with both platonic and romantic ehehehe

Annexander (is it how were calling it?? idk) (@holdmyteaplease ur the expert on this give me a feedback)

Alexander: Think you can answer some questions without the usual level of sarcasm? Anne: If you can ask the questions without the usual level of stupid.

Alexander: *shatters a window and climbs through it* Alexander: *turns around and helps Anne through it* Breaking and entering is wrong Anne. Anne: Okay. Anne: Shut it Alexander, I only shook your hand because I had to. We will NEVER be friends. Alexander: Lets survive this together! Anne: I HOPE YOU DIE. Anne: Fellas, I gotta know for science. Is the opposite of red green or blue? Alexander: Technically a mix of green and blue? Anne: So blurple. Alexander: That's implying you're mixing blue and purple. Anne: Would you rather have fucking bleen? MOTHERFUCKING GRUE? Alexander: You were confusing before but now I'm scared Anne, holding a scooter: Alexander! Can I go outside and play with this? Alexander: Sure, whatever. I'm not your parent, okay? Anne, running outside: Thanks Alexander! Alexander, running out after them and screaming: NOT ON THE STREET! STAY AWAY! Alexander: It’s quick, it’s easy, and it’s free: pouring river water in your socks! Anne: Why would I do that? Alexander: It’s quick, it’s easy, and it’s free!

HELP CAUSE WHY IS THIS SO THEMMMM AKFGASKJGF

Anne and Indigo (the absolute besties)

Anne: So... what would you do if you were in bed with me? Indigo: Depends. Is your bed comfortable? Anne: Yes. Indigo: I'd sleep.

*Anne sends more than 5 messages in a row* Indigo: I ain’t reading all that. Indigo: I’m happy for you tho. Indigo: Or sorry that happened. Anne: I have a plan. Indigo: Good! As long as we aren’t breaking the law again, I’m open to hearing it. Anne: … Indigo: … Anne: I no longer have a plan.

Anne: Oh, so when crows remember people who wronged them and hold grudges, its “intelligent” and “really cool”. Anne: But when I do it, I’m “petty” and “need to let it go”.

ok... this is scarily accurate...

Alexis and Claire (friends to lovers complete dumbasses edition)(they have exactly 1 brain cell and they take turns being the responsible one. most times i gets forgotten at home)

Alexis: My hands are cold. Claire: Here, let me hold them. Alexis: My lips are cold too. Claire: *covers Alexis's mouth with their hand* Alexis: You’d be stupid to lay a hand on me. Claire: Oh, you’d be surprised how much stupid shit I do. Claire: You either buckle down and do your work or you’ll end up at McDonalds. Alexis: We're going to McDonalds if I don't do my work? Claire: NO- Alexis: What do you do for a living? Claire: I exist against my will. Alexis: Claire, I have a question. Claire: What is it, Alexis? Alexis: What color is an orange? Claire: Alexis, you bonehead! Its color is the same as its name. Just like a lemon. Alexis: I hope no one lowkey hates me. Alexis: Highkey hate me. Hate me with every fiber of your being. Alexis: Go big or go home.

THIS IS FUN. VERY FUN.

HOW TO CREATE CHARACTERS 101: NAME, BASIC VIBES AND THROW THEM AROUND IN THE INCORRECT QUOTES GENERATOR✨

tagging literally everyone i know on this one cause the world deserves to do this

@olivescales3 @albatris @bloody-neon @bassguitarinablackt-shirt @briannaswords @cabbojage @daisywords @desastreus @did-i-do-this-write @deanwax @digital-chance @enchanted-lightning-aes @ember-writer @eli-is-an-idiot @firesmokeandashes @fioreshere @guessillcallitart @gwenthekween @harleyacoincidence @holdmyteaplease @iannicellis @jaxypaxyhaxy @j3st3rfun3r4l @kooperation1101 @koala2all @lycaens @liv-is @lyonette-does-things @mayakern @nocturnalmohawk @quinnharperwrites @roisinivy @raspberrykraken @spicymochi @scifimagpie @the-mindless @unmellowyellowfellow @whynotcherries @writingmargo @writing-with-sophia @writeblr-of-my-own @wrenofthewords @yeahthatswhatimtolkienabout @yesireadbooks @your-absent-father @zihus @zillanovikov sorry if i tagged any

#NO IT WONT LET ME POST AAGAINNNNN #OKOKOKOKOK IT DIDDDDD AHHH #well damn #thats a lot of tags you got there huh

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maskedemerald · 6 months

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Pre-Order The Last Straw Novella

So the Kickstarter didn't work out but that isn't going to stop me! The book still comes out on the 25th of November! I'm still planning to do a smaller print run so if you want Paperback its going to exist! Follow the link to my website to pre-order in either E-Book or Paperback format!

A Curiosity Piqued – The Last Straw Novella – Masked Emerald

Also If you are interested I have some thoughts about the Kickstarter experience below the cut! Just my thoughts going forward and not words from any kind of expert on the matter. In fact they are rather rambly, sorry about that.

The Numbers

Costs

Indie printing is definitely not cheap, the costs have gone up for pretty much everything. However the worst thing was the increased cost of postage. Everything I read said make 20% of the goal postage costs. The way things are now I found it was more like 35% which is not good. My original printing costs were £3000 but by the time I'd added on fees, postage for the physical books and taxes it was £7000!

The Problem with Social Media

One of the biggest adversaries I faced was the algorithm and social media. Discoverability is shit on pretty much all social media at the moment. Getting seen beyond my existing followers was a big challenge. The only place I found growth was Tumblr and specifically in the Writeblr side of it (Hi new writer friends! I appreciate you! I'm still catching up on the tag games from when I was ill!)

The Experience

Preparations

Definitely next time starting preparations earlier. There is a lot of preparations involved so I'm definitely going to give myself more time so I'm not trying to do it all at the same time.

The video was harder than I thought it would be, give me unscripted streams any day over trying to get that perfect take.

Shy Bens Get Nout

Is a useful phrase however my anxiety sometimes makes it hard to actually do but seriously if you don't ask then you don't get. While it wasn't me that asked, someone asked on my behalf and as a result I got to do a talk about the book on the radio. Pick up the courage and ask, it might just make a difference. The worst they can do is say no. Which yeah can be intimidating but I need to get better at it!

Stress

I've been describing the Kickstarter as a mad dash. That's what it felt like. I had to constantly be pushing it and then things got worse, I got ill. I was in bed with no capacity to do anything for a week. It tanked my ability to push the Kickstarter. I seriously think its a good idea to have a bunch of posts already written and scheduled to go out. That way anything I post is extra. I really didn't like the stress of it personally so if I try again in future I'll be working to keep the stress low.

Future Plans

Longer Term Funding Pool

I'm going to be tracking the money made by The Last Straw and any merch designs to count towards the next print run of either The Last Straw or the next book. I'm also thinking about the people subbing on Twitch and the people considering becoming a Patreon. These people by the time a book comes out have put money into the printing pool and I think it would be more fair if they can also get the physicals without needing to pay full price. Also without them feeling they need to participate in a Kickstarter to make the thing they want happen. So I'm planning to change my rewards! Subs and Patreons will get virtual stamps towards physical items. This lets me keep entry low and even based on how much I get across the Twitch subs and Patreons. I'll be posting a proper breakdown soon.

Plans for Trying Kickstarter Again

I plan to try crowd funding again if the long term pool doesn't get enough for the next book but I am also considering trying out other sites like Indiegogo. The flexible funding is interesting if I could work out the costs the right way. We'll see what happens in March/April when I need to start thinking about printing the next A Curiosity Piqued.

#writing #writeblr community #creative writing #writeblr #amwriting #writer #A Curiosity Piqued Series #The Last Straw Novella

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sunstranded · 4 months

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INTJ: Disposable Art

My ISTJ friend is an artist that does art and shared this curious advice to try and get me out of my slump. Since no one kindly asked, I'm going to analyze it.

At the moment I don't have a particular interest in anything, like a painter without a muse. Imagine how frustrating that is if I want to paint but I cannot find anything to paint.

Anyway, this is interestingly compatible with the Ni-Fi loop of overthinking and the good advice of avoiding that Se-grip when stressed. It tickles the Te of my brain to do something until it's done. It also does not make it highstakes because the point is to brush off the rust (do you brush of rust?)

Without the jargon: the advice of making art (where you're just going to throw away to kind of stretch that creative mind and body) is a good alternative to steer away from the unhealthy self-indulgence spiral. A spiral that my brain thinks is the solution to my loop of self-rumination that detaches me from the external reality. Speaking of that external reality, it's the part of my brain that works well with being a contingency planning visionary. Whenever I create plans and do projects from start to finish, I either leave it and move to the next or get lost in this dissatisfaction with myself (which is the start of that self-ruminating loop).

Enough rambling, I'll start making some disposable art. In my case, since I am a writer having no subject in my sentences feel pointless. Conveniently enough, I talk about MBTI often and consume media similar to it. So I thought, why not write about the types?

I'm not an expert on every type; I might not do very well on depicting them (let alone even write about them all). I won't be promising anything, this is literally me talking to the void but whenever I share plans (which I often do not), I feel this incessant need to fulfill them like I'm on a deadline. To avoid that and miss the whole point of this exercise, I'm just going to disclose this here for myself. LMAO let's see how well that ages.

#intj #istj #mbti

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theharlotofferelden · 1 year

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Not the sender of that last ask but I wanted to still inquire on something that has also been on my mind. Not cause you're some expert on Pathea but I generally like hearing your thoughts since you make an effort to also look into things.

Miguel and Pen's content being high and yet they barely have any content in the game itself has always confused me. Do you think maybe their contentis regarded as High because of their roles in the plot? Especially recently? I always thought the content being regarded as High was due to romance interest, despite the fandom seeming to mostly be eh towards Pen from the start. I was like, maybe people who like Pen aren't making it known? But now I'm wondering if he's listed like that due to general content of him in regards to the storyline? And if we're suddenly going to see a drop in that rating.

Idk how to better phrase this thought since it's based also around Pathea's sorta weird ways of doing things based on their interest vs any other way. Which isn't wholly a complaint, I've just never seen a team do it to this extent.

Anyways, word vomit done. Just curious to hear your thoughts!!

It was to my understanding that the content was always about the number of personal quests each character has (including romances). I asked some ppl in the Pathea server about this and they said pretty much the same thing.

With regards to Pen and Miguel....I honestly have no fucking idea lmao. Pen basically went from "low" to "high" within a single update and they added like 2 quests to the game for him.

I'm also not sure as to whether the ranking scale is indicating the total amount of content the character is ever going to get, or if it's representative of the amount of content Pathea has planned to be in the game on release. Because they did say they were looking to continue working on content for "less popular" characters and releasing it as free DLC after the base game is released (this is part of an answer from the dev answers channel in Pathea's Discord server that I originally transcribed in this post):

Yes, popular characters/10 original marriage candidates will have a bit of priority with content in the full release, but we do intend to continue to work on other less popular characters' stories after release as free DLC. I know that's not an ideal answer, it's not ideal for us, either. I'll say there are no unpopular characters in the writers' room, so I personally will be continuing to push for as much content for as many characters as possible. Note: as I mentioned in an above post, what we're able to do with post-release content depends on the success of the game. Personally, I'm confident in what we've created these last four years, but still, there is a universe where it doesn't happen.

I may sound like I'm being pedantic, but the distinction matters. It's the difference between "this is all the content you're getting" vs. "you may get more content as free DLC after full release".

#my time at sandrock #game: my time at sandrock #god i hope i'm making sense lmao

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fixfoxnox · 1 year

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What are some good writing tips to give? Your book has me quaking I wanna be as good lmao

First off, thank you so much! I appreciate the love 💙💙💙

So I'm just gonna drop some general things that I've kinda learned over the years have helped me. A couple of notes first:

I've been writing for close to ten years at this point and believe me when I say it has been a very slow learning process. My writing even a year ago wasn't as good as I consider it to be now, and I'm still very much learning/not an expert.

That all being said, here are a few things:

Choose your POV and stick by it. I cannot stress this enough. If you're constantly changing between 3rd omniscient, 3rd limited, switching between different characters,etc. Things can get very muddled very quickly. Any changes in POV should be very deliberate.

To give an example: In SiTO I stick with 3rd limited. Roach has tended to be my focus, so most of the story is over his shoulder. When I break this, its done to either add emphasis to something, or increase a feeling of chaos in the story. So, for example, in some of the newer chapters that will be coming out, you'll notice me switching between characters much more

Read your work out loud, especially dialogue. This helps you a ton with editing as you can typically hear when something sounds off. With dialog especially, if you find yourself reading it and going "this doesn't sound like something someone would say" you probably want to go back and change it

Description is important, try to show your audience what is going on and explain feelings to them rather than simply tell them. So for me, I draw from a lot of my own experiences when describing emotions. Saying "He felt anxious" doesn't have nearly as much of an impact as explaining that he felt "tendrils of anxiety creep up his throat"

I'm still telling you the emotion, but I'm helping you understand how that emotion actually feels

With regular description, its a bit harder for me to explain because I know the way that I do description isn't universal. For me, I'm able to put a scene together in my head and watch it play out.

The best way I can explain is to tell you to think of it like a director who is blocking a play. There is a lot more to a scene than just characters walking around. If you can create that scene in your head, it becomes easier to transcribe on paper.

Do not be afraid to act things out!!! Put yourself in your characters shoes. Stand up and talk to yourself if you need to. It will help you understand the small things a character might do!

I know it can be tempting to turn on a TV or have something going in the background while you write, but a lot of times those things act more as distractions than help.

If you're like me and sometimes need the extra stimulation though, I recommend putting together a Playlist for whatever you're writing and listen to it as you write! So for SiTO, all of the songs that I use for chapter titles or quotes at the beginning are actually in a Playlist that I listen to while writing

Listen to your writers block!!! If you're blocked, it may mean that something in your story isn't working or is stopping you from progressing the story. Take the time to go back and reread what you've written. If something feels off, consider trying to rewrite it. (Ik this can suck sometimes because concepts can be so good, but sometimes they just don't fit)

When I'm writing chapters, I find that it helps me to not necessarily plan out the chapter in detail, but rather have certain points lined up that I want to hit.

So typically I have three points that I choose for a chapter: something that happens at the beginning, something that happens in the middle, and something that happens at the end.

So for the current chapter I'm writing (trying to stay as spoiler free as possible here lol) I knew I wanted the beginning to feature a conversation between Roach and a Doctor. I knew I wanted a middle section with Roach having a flashback. And I knew I wanted the end to feature Price and Laswell.

With these things picked out, I can write my chapter while keeping in mind where I'm going and what I need to work toward. So If I'm starting with this conversation with Roach and a doctor, I need to figure out how this will eventually connect into that middle section and how it will transition into the end. It generally helps me keep things more cohesive

Use Metaphors/Similes sparingly!!! I know it can be tempting to shove those things everywhere. It makes things sound so much nicer! But, eventually those things can get so crowded that it almost becomes a drag to read. When you cram so many in at once, they become watered down and the text becomes super dense.

One last note, if you use something like Grammarly to edit, make sure that you are checking over every suggestion that they give you. Sometimes those machines make mistakes or will try to water down something in your writing because it isn't "professional" enough or isn't necessarily "correct."

#thoughts with luke #you asked luke

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michael-runs-hot-guerin · 2 years

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As someone who has never written for tv, this is how I would be head writer of RNM specifically:

1. There's a fucking plot outline for the whole series. It's checked for sense after each episode is written and if parts don't make sense anymore they are re planned.

2. Each season has its own outline too. Same rules as previous.

3. Each character is given a goal and a point.

3.5. Each writer has 2-3 characters they keep track of. There's overlap. They also collaborate closely with the actors of their characters, who should end up being the foremost experts on said characters.

4. Sensitivity readers for race, sexuality, disability, and gender. I'm a panromantic ace nd white demigirl, I don't know everything and I don't expect anyone else to either.

5. Continuity reader whose only job is to make sure this continuity is coherent.

6. I write the malex. Other people write echo. Other people Kybel. They are Actually on the same level. We check each other's work and make sure that's true.

7. Nobody gets sidelined; actors' contracts are taken into account when writing and their existence is in some way acknowledged.

8. The star of the show (that's Liz fyi) is the star of the show. Episodes can be otherwise other character centric but given we only have 13 episodes a season it wouldn't work out.

Ok I'm tired but there's my basics off the top of my head

#rnm s4 spoilers #It's not really I think but I'm pretty much just tagging everything that rn #I could probably come up with more #I'm just being petty but like come on........#I feel like continuity should be a big part of the job #ok I'm done #btdubs I think I would be a great tv writer bc I love writing dialogue

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wolfpants · 2 years

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Hello lovely! I just wondered if you could talk through your fic outlines in more detail? Newbie writer over here. Thank you for all your advice! You're amazing x

Hi there!

YOU are amazing! And I firmly believe that anyone can write, if they want to. All you have to do is want to do it, and trust me, the words will come. You just need to start!

I wrote a little about outlining in this anon ask.

But if you want something a little more detailed I will try my best, and I'll use my process for writing Pages of You because it's fresh in my mind and I still have all of the plans written out.

And I'll also preface this by saying again: I'm not an expert. I've only been publishing fic since August. Some more seasoned writers might have better insights than I do, but here's what I did for this particular fic:

The first thing I do when planning a story is create a folder for it on my Google Drive: this way, all of my "bits" stay together, from my chapters (I use one doc per chapter) to my outline doc itself, to anything else I include there (picture collages, links to websites I might use for research, that sort of thing; I also rewatched You've Got Mail for inspiration and wrote a bunch of notes to refer to).

Speaking of You've Got Mail - that was my step two. Because I knew I wanted to pull out some influences and scenes from this film, I picked out a few things I knew I wanted to include, including the infamous scene where Tom Hanks's character eats all of the caviar at the dinner party (Draco eats all of the macarons at the business mixer). So I laced these ideas together, made a note of them, and this is where I started my fuzzy outline.

While I left that to simmer, the next thing I did was write 2 short biographies for Harry and Draco, so I knew where they would be at during the start of the story:

... god, I actually used the word yuppie!? Anyway, moving on...

Once I got a feel for who these boys were in this world (including putting some work into how they look: see my Harry mood board), I started drafting out my chapter plans. I always think it's a good idea to think of chapters as mini stories within themselves: they have a beginning, a middle, an end. They don't always have to have a resolution, but I find it helpful to make sure they tie up in a way that a) leaves something answered that was questioned earlier in the chapter, and b) opens up a hook for the beginning of the next chapter, or a continuation.

For example, here is my original outline for Chapters 1 and 2, and this is how I usually sketch them out - by listing what I want to happen:

In writing them, I don't always stick to everything as planned, but I make sure I at least hit all of the major events I wanted to cover: like, Dean and Harry hooking up; Harry getting his summer job; sequence of the letters; Malfoy's opening sign and the family's reaction to it.

And I tend to write all of these out until I come to the end of my story. I will rarely start something without knowing how it ends, but that doesn't mean I don't add little bits and pieces here and there, such as:

speech and dialogue that pops into my head (often while out for a run)

bits and pieces of desktop research (for example, I listened to a podcast series about queer life in the late 70s/80s to get an idea of what club life would be like for Harry, when on his trip to York)

character development

Dean was never supposed to have as prominent a role as he ended up having; I extended out and included some additional chapters to involve him more, and more interaction with Harry via the telephone calls. And Regulus was never meant to have his own chapter either, or much of a part to play really other than the role of the snarky Uncle figure. But he had such a strong voice as I was writing him, and he became really parallel to what Draco was, who he was growing up to be, so it made sense to flesh him out and also take charge of Draco's living situation when Draco was disowned by Lucius and Narcissa. I actually really love this part of the story, and it was never in my original plan.

So that's how I outlined Pages of You. It's not a cut and dry formula; my plans never are. They take lives of their own as I write and I end up forming more chapters as the story flows, but as long as I know where my protagonist(s) starts and then ends up within the story, I feel confident to begin writing.

I hope this helps. I have tons of other meta on Pages of You if you're interested in scrolling through the tag.

#writing #my head is kind of like Alton Towers though everything is all over the place #if I could invite you in here I would #no height restrictions at Theme Park Wolf #pages of you

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marinaratrench05 · 5 months

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Writing Tips :3

Not sure if this'll actually be helpful, but I've found I have some things I do when writing that help me with plots structure and beating writers block to a pulp. So, take it as you will.

1.) Treat Your Story Like a Body

Skeleton: What's the structure of the story? What shapes your setting/plot and keeps it up?

Organs: What makes things function? What is the importance of each function that makes it important and necessary to keep things running? Things may over lap or be completely separate, but all organs have a part to play (not you appendix).

Muscle: What gets the plot going? How much can things be stretched, strained and worked out without breaking things? The human body has limitations, but people can do some crazy stuff with their joints, so don't think you're too limited by your own story.

Skin: How does this all appear to others, whether an outsider or someone who knows what's going on under there? Remember, the surface doesn't reflect the inside, whether better or worse or about the same. People tend to be prettier with their guts inside them, and it's the same with a stories dirty secrets and plot twists. And the POV can drastically change the way others see things and what details are considered important.

2.) Organize Your Thoughts

I personally use an app called Novelist, which had these neat bits where I can separate stories with pictures and have segmented parts for themes and characters and such.

It's also good to have easy access to something you can write your ideas on, where it's some dialogue, a word you thinks sounds cool, or just a random idea. Don't assume you'll "remember when you wake up" because you won't. I never do... But still sleep, please.

3.) Create Ambience

Background music is my go-to when it comes to getting a certain vibe. This can be all sorts of songs either on loop or a playlist you made or found online. It doesn't even have to be traditional music! It can be sounds of rain and thunder, waves with whale sounds, or the low, ominous whistling of death incarnate... or Ghibli music, that works too.

You can also read other stories or look at pictures and art related to the vibe or fandom you're writing about. Obviously don't copy off them, but they can put you in the right headspace you help you write what you plan too.

4.) Do Research

Whenever you don't know something about what you're writing, look it up! Don't always assume you know or that it doesn't matter, because when you take the time to learn a bit more, you'll probably find something you missed, or even something interesting about it. You can even just research for fun, get some ideas flowing, maybe make a story off of something you discovered.

This is also great for vocabulary! Whenever I don't like a word or want something like it, I'll look up the meaning and click on 'more words' or 'similar words' and get some options that aren't the same thing five times in a row.

5.) Take a Break!

It's a tale as old as time, with a worn writer ignoring their health and well-being. But it's true! You're not some ninja turtle doing kick-flips in the sewer system, you're a fleshy person with moderate combat skills. So stop acting like you don't need water! You do!

Treat it like a treat to yourself, a reward system Pavlov's dog would be salivating for. This will help writing feel more rewarding if you make a point of making the experience good, both when writing and leaving it.

If the issue is writers block, you can try working on other things, whether it's things around the house, a hobby you're been itching to get to, or even working on a separate story and/or aspect of the story you're having trouble with.

That's about it. Again, I'm no expert, but my dog looks at me like I'm the best human ever, so I'm feeling a bit overconfident at the moment. Hope any of this helps!

#my post #:3 #advice

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grace-personified · 2 years

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July 30th, 2022

I'm going to be really real here. This is a personal blog, all opinions are my own, and all experiences are my own unless otherwise stated. This first post may or may not be all over the place. I'm not going to proof read too much, I don't really have a plan for how I want to post yet. I hope you stick around though : ) .

I've gone back & forth on picking writing back up again for awhile. I was always an avid writer until I left college and became increasingly overwhelmed with work and life to be able to write leisurely like I wanted to. I've always described myself as a writer, though, not a master poet or novelist.

I feel the need to write, to document, to create, to share. I am far more comfortable writing than verbally expressing myself.

I haven't always been a Christian, either, unfortunately. I should probably write my testimony next, and post a disclaimer explaining my core beliefs/denomination/etc. And I'll get to that.

I feel like this year has definitely been the most trying of my life. I don't want to come across the wrong way, because I also acknowledge God's goodness & grace even in this difficult (to say the least) situation I'm in. That's why I want to write. I know God is teaching me and working on me. I want to document it all as much as possible, for my personal records and maybe to help someone else. If my blog or testimony reaches at least one person, I would be more than overjoyed. I want to document God's work in my life in real time. I also think it's important now more than ever to defend and explain the reasons I hold to the faith that I do, and to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ (as well as standing for what is right, even if it is not well received or easy to do so) while there is still time.

ALSO, I could use the accountability.

Disclaimer - I'm not perfect (shocker). I'm also not an expert theologian, religious scholar, expert linguist, or anything like that. I'm simply me, a 24 year old American woman who 1) Loves the Lord Jesus Christ & 2) Wants to document my life through that lense, as well as touch on the World, Culture, and Christian issues in 2022. I base my belief off of the Bible (I mostly read the NIV translation) and no other text (IE: Book of Mormon, etc.) I am pretty much non-denominational, my previous home church was a small country church in SW Oklahoma that recently joined with the Assemblies of God. I say previous home church because, while the Assemblies of God Church I'm referencing will always be in my heart and prayers, I married last year and mostly out of convenience (my husband plays the drums in his church's worship service) I attend my husband's Baptist church.

I hope you find something that encourages you and spurs you forward in your own relationship with Christ. Maybe you don't have a relationship with Christ, or maybe you used to but you're feeling as if you've fallen away. I want you to know that regardless of whichever category you fall into, I love you, and more importantly, Jesus loves you. My ask is always open. Follow me for more relatable content like this lololol.

Anyways..

God Bless you. Until next time.

#intro #day 1 #christian blog #christianity #faith #personal #trials #first post #woman #2022

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criminol · 3 years

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The Unsolved Murder of Faith Hedgepeth

Faith Hedgepeth was a university student who planned to become either a paediatrician or a teacher. She lived close to campus at the University of North Carolina.

During her third year of university, Faith moved in with Karena Rosario, with who she had been friends since freshman year, and Karena's boyfriend, Eriq Takoy Jones. Jones had been violent and abusive to Karena and she eventually ended to relationship and Jones moved out. In July 2012, Jones tried to break into the apartment twice. Faith drove Karena to the police to report Jones. Jones was allegedly furious with Faith and threatened over the phone to kill her if she prevented Karena from resuming their romantic relationship.

On 6th September 2012, Faith went to a sorority event, she left at 7.15 to work on a paper. At around 8 pm, Faith and Karena went to the library to study, Faith left at around 11.30 pm and returned to their apartment close to midnight. The two girls re-met and went to a nightclub to go dancing, they entered the club at around 12.40 am. Karena developed an upset stomach and the girls left the club to go home at 2.06 am.

At 3 am, when Karena and Faith were home, a woman living below their apartment heard three thumping noises. Close to that time, Faith's Facebook page was accessed and a text was sent to an ex-boyfriend asking him to come round and saying Karena 'needed' him. At 4.25 am, Karena left the apartment believing Faith was asleep in her room, she stayed overnight with an acquaintance. Karena later said she had left the apartment door unlocked. Karena phoned Faith in the morning to arrange a lift home, when Faith did not answer she asked another friend to drive her back. Karena arrived home just before 11 am and called for Faith who did not respond, she entered Faith's bedroom and found her partially nude body wrapped in a quilt, Karena called the police immediately.

Semen collected from the crime scene gave police a DNA profile of her killer. The autopsy gave the cause of death as blunt force trauma to the head probably inflicted by a rum bottle found in the apartment. She had numerous cuts and bruises and cuts as well as blood under her fingernails, suggested she had fought back against her killer.

Jones was a strong initial subject, he had asked a friend for forgiveness for 'what I am about to do,' previously. DNA testing showed Jones not to be a match for the semen found at the scene.

Among the evidence left at the crime scene was a note written on a torn white paper bag, the bag had come from a take out food bag probably from Time-Out. Time-Out was a 24-hour restaurant near the club Karena and Faith went to. The note said 'I'm not stupid bitch jealous.' A handwriting expert suggested the writer used their non-dominant hand to disguise their handwriting and also suggested that the note may have been written, at least partly, by a female writer. The note was free from blood suggested it was written away from the crime scene or before the murder. It was questioned why the note was there, it made no sense for the killer to leave incriminating evidence and it made no sense if the note was for Faith for it to be left next to her if she was dead. It was suggested the note may have been left as a red herring to confuse the case.

A friend of Faith's accidentally recorded an hour of audio when Faith pocket-dialled her on the night of the murder. It recorded a conversation between Faith, a male and a female which was about three minutes long. The conversation, while mostly inaudible, was determined by an audio expert to be Faith crying for help, the female saying 'I think she's dying,' and the male saying 'do it anyhow.' The female voice sounds angry. The expert suggested this to be a recording of Faith's death. A potentially incorrect timestamp of 1.23 am prevented the audio from being used as evidence.

Multiple theories including Jones, Karena, a former lover of Faith's and an unknown intruder being the murderer surfaced in aftermath of the killing.

On 16th September 2021, police arrested Miguel Salguero-Olivares for first-degree murder. He was identified by a DNA sample he gave after a drunk driving arrest. The police have stated they are still establishing what happened to Faith adding; 'This story will take time to completely unfold.'

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the28thofseptemberr · 3 years

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helloooo!! i didn't do a fic rec last month because i was so busy with my exams and barely had time to read, so this month's post is going to comprise of mostly fics i've read in june but also some i've read in may.

thank you to all of the incredible writers, please go support them!! and remember to read all of the tags and possible warnings before reading the fic! here is the list of fics (mostly below the cut):

read

•° — led by your beating heart by @missandrogyny 29.4k | E | famous harry/non-famous louis

Nick leans over. "Oh," he says, his voice smug. "Who is that?"

Harry just blinks at his phone. "Um," he manages to stammer out.

"Who's that, Harry?" Nick asks again, but this time he raises his eyebrows and smirks. Harry knows Nick is just teasing, and that he's not really looking for new Harry Styles gossip, but, um. He might have found something. Accidentally.

Harry opens his mouth to speak, but all that comes out is another 'um'. He really needs to work on translating his thoughts into words. But then it probably wouldn't be any help right now, would it? His mind is as blank as a newly erased etch-a-sketch.

"Oh," Nick says again, this time gleefully, seemingly having picked up on Harry's distress. "Looks like we've got a story here! Are you going to call or delete her number?"

Her number. So Nick thinks it's a girl. Well, Harry can't blame him: 'Lou' is kind of an androgynous nickname. His stylist's name is Lou.

But this Lou, well, Louis, he's kind of, really, really not a girl. He's really pretty though, which, is something.

(Or: AU where Harry's in One Direction, Louis isn't, and they reconnect over a game of 'Call or Delete'.)

note: this was so funny and cute and well written, and everyone was characterized so perfectly!! i adored the chemistry between louis and harry, this fic kept me smiling for the whole time while i was reading <3

•° — sounds like love to me by @neondiamond 14.6k | G | kid fic

“Do you want to hear the heartbeat?”

Louis watches as Harry’s face falls with the realization that this is one of those things he won’t be able to experience. For a second, Louis considers saying no, to show Harry they’re truly on the same boat through all of this. But he nods in the end, reaching over for Harry’s hand as the doctor flips a switch. Noise fills the room then, and it takes a few seconds for the sound to become clear enough for Louis to make out the baby’s fast heartbeat.

“It’s really fast,” he voices his thoughts out loud as he uses his thumb to tap against the back of Harry’s hand, replicating the rapid rhythm of the baby’s heartbeat. It takes the younger man a little while to figure out what Louis’ doing, but a huge grin breaks out on his face as soon as he does.

“Is that them?” He signs with the other hand, his own eyes starting to tear up when Louis nods.

OR: Harry is deaf, Louis is pregnant. They figure it out.

note: i'm not a fan of mpreg or kid fics in general, but i stumbled across the fic post for this on my dash and the summary sounded really intriguing to me, so i had a go at reading and it did not disappoint!! it was really sweet and fluffy but also so touching and heartbreaking in some parts. plus, i really enjoyed how harry and louis worked together and supported each other.

•° — this restless dream by @afirethatcannotdie 5.6k | NR | first meetings

“Hiii, I called earlier about the dogs?” he asks, taking a few steps closer to the desk where Louis is standing. He’s taller than Louis, with a dimple when he smiles and bright green eyes. There's a cute eagerness about his whole presence. “Do you have any puppies?” He’s a bit like a puppy himself, actually.

AU. Louis works at an animal shelter and Harry wants a puppy. Things don't go quite according to plan.

note: this was so so adorable and soft, especially since i have a soft spot for h&l with pets. i also have a soft spot for h&l being oblivious lovesick idiots and this was perfect!!

•° — all i see is you, lately by @runaway-train-works 2k | G | first meetings

Harry noticed him for the first time three months ago. He couldn’t not, really, what with the man being so pretty and all, and Harry remembers it well because it was three days before his birthday and he had joked to himself that seeing someone so gorgeous for three days on the trot must be an early present from the Gods.

The one where Harry has a crush on a fellow commuter.

note: this one was quite short but so sweet and perfect and lovely!!

•° — the things i'd do to wake up next to you by orphan_account 36.1k | M | amnesia fic

AU. Harry wakes up to a pregnant Louis Tomlinson and a wedding band on his finger.

note: this fic was incredible, i'm always up for an amnesia fic and this one was heart-breaking and realistic but also sweet and fluffy as well :)

•° — this glorious mess by theweightofmywords 14.2k | M | post-breakup

His head lolls to the side, and his eyes float open to focus on what used to be his bedside table.

It’s empty now, devoid of the framed photo of the two of them. And Louis knows that he has no right to feel hurt, but somehow, this only confirms what this really is.

“This is the last time,” he cries, his voice breaking both from pleasure and pain.

“I know, baby,” Harry breathes, burying his face in Louis neck.

note: this is the third mpreg-centric fic i've read this month and... i don't even like mpreg?? but god the premise of this fic intrigued me so much, and it was lovely and emotional and beautifully written.

•° — BLAH BLAH BLAH there's a moment you know (you're f*cked) by @mercurial-madhouse 3.2k | M | spy au

Anyone impulsive enough to betray their country is either foolish or overly-confident. Louis’s too cunning for the former. So his inflated ego tips precariously close to the edge between pride and hubris. In sum: He may be an expert, (as proven by the .32-cal Beretta Alleycat Harry found strapped to his back) but ex-agent Louis Tomlinson will explode like a busted bullet misfiring in a broken gunbarrel if Harry can find his trigger.

___

Or, the spy AU in which Harry thinks he's prepared to meet Louis only to find he's not.

note: the banter and tension in this fic was so good and so fun!! i need moreee

•° — every lonely place by @ham-palpert 38k | E | time travel/alternate lives fic

Facing the fact that he’s been prioritizing his career over his relationship, Harry proposes to his longtime boyfriend Louis on a whim. But when yet another work emergency takes precedence over their plans, Louis decides he’s had enough. Harry goes to bed drunk and alone, and when he wakes, he finds himself in an entirely different world. Over and over again, Harry visits a lifetime he’s once lived, across time and dimensions. And wherever there’s a Harry Styles, there’s a Louis Tomlinson.

note: this was such a unique fic! and such an emotional one too, love the message it sends and the character arc and development was so good

•° — tick-tock by bubblegumclouds 6k | G | soulmate au

When Louis was born to Jay Tomlinson with a tiny 2 years on his clock, it starts the most beautiful love story. Even if things are missed, fate finds a way to make it work.

note: this was just so, so cute and fluffy and sweet! i loved it

•° — baby baby, you're a caramel macchiato by @missandrogyny 3.2k | T | coffee shop au

So, yeah, Harry doesn't think it's that far of a stretch to call himself a good barista. There are some particularly bad ones, and some particularly good ones, and, with his work ethic, his skill, and his charm, he'd probably be lumped in with the latter group.

note: this was so lovely, and i especially really loved the little section talking about louis' name and how it suits him!

re-read

•° — one shines brighter by @afirethatcannotdie 11.8k | T | wedding fic

“Hi, baby. You doing anything fun today?” Harry shrugs. “Dunno. Thought I’d see how I was feeling before making any plans.” “You wanna get married?” Louis asks. Harry’s face breaks into a smile, and he nods. Louis’ lips are just brushing Harry’s when Gemma appears in the hallway. “You two are in so much trouble.” Harry's wedding was never supposed to be the happiest day of his life. No, that was going to be the day after, when he finally got to start his marriage. Unfortunately his family (and Louis) have other ideas.

Featuring a pair of moms who only want the best for their kids, meddling sisters with too much time on their hands, and a groom who gets caught up in the fairytale.

note: i adore this fic!! it's so so so adorable and so soft and well written, and you can feel how in love h&l are with each other. so so good!

my own fics

•° — under your bed in new york 33.4k | T | exes to lovers

"We know you're still in love with Harry."

Louis' nostrils flared up. "I'm not—"

"Louis."

"I'm not!"

there are many things louis likes to tell himself. we broke up for a reason. it's been so many years. and of course, the classic: i’ve definitely moved on from him. but when he suddenly finds harry back in his life after three years, louis realizes he might be a little less moved on than he thought.

au; spilling coffee onto an ex, being set up on dates, and having a nosy puppy might be all louis needs to find love again

note: i didn't actually write or publish this one this month, but i did edit, revamp and make a fic post for it this month so i thought i'd put it in here anyway. reblog the fic post here!

#28th appreciation #tracksintheam #trackinghome #hl source #1d source #fic rec #my fic rec #2021 recs #fic list #june rec #june 2021 rec #*#sched

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cherries11 · 3 years

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Bonus - WitW cut scenes and notes

So, as with most writers, I have a lot of cut scenes. Writing the The Woman in the Woods, my word count on cut scenes has reached 20k. Although that's probably inaccurate 'coz I ended up putting some of it back in, either parts of it or whole paragraphs. But for Chapter 12, there were two scenes that almost made it to the final version.

If you haven't read my fanfic and plan to, please don't read this because this spoils not only part 1 but part 2 as well. Here's the link in case you're interested.

Oh, and to those who plan to re-read the whole thing, you might notice minor changes. Some are corrections, some are lines I accidentally deleted or realize later on that I've forgotten to put in...

...such as why Sasha was holding out on moving in with Saul (they agreed not to do anything rash for six months).

Scene 1 - Right after they kiss

Because Saul's still not well (very, very low blood), he gets lightheaded and takes a second.

“Just breathe,” Sasha said.

“I have to tell you something.” His head leaning on the couch, he tilted his face toward her. “And you have to remember that I’m convalescing right now.”

The smile on her face disappeared. “What?”

He took another deep breath and blew it out through his mouth. “I… saw you naked.”

She smirked at that. “Yeah, right.”

“I did.”

She then frowned. “How could you have—” and then she gasped. “You were awake!”

“I didn’t see a lot. Just calves, and legs,” he was quick to point out. “And ass—but very, very briefly.”

Her jaw was still on the floor, unwilling to pick it up.

“Should I have not told you?”

It seemed she didn’t hear. “If you were awake, then you were aware that I dropped blood in your mouth.”

“I thought it was a dream.” She didn’t look convinced.

“How briefly, really, did you see?” Maybe he didn’t answer fast enough that she slapped his arm and repeated louder, “How briefly?”

He muttered an ouch even though it didn’t hurt. “Like a second. Half a second!”

Sky then comes in the house and calls for "Maja". After Sasha responds with "Out here" this happens.

Then to him, she tilted her head. “A second, huh. Well, we can make it longer the next time.”

He was beaming at her when Sky emerged from the backdoor, who was visibly surprised at finding him there.

I ended up taking this scene out because, when I re-read it, it dragged the scene--the kiss was already a happy ending, though I really wanted to address her getting naked and Saul seeing that.

Scene 2 (Epilogue) - Farah's visit

One of the ideas I have for ending the story was for Sasha to say something like, "I think I'll open a school" (for witches). So the first draft of the epilogue begins with her jittery because she's about to give a two-hour lecture (which should culminate with her having confidence enough to maybe open a school). But as I was writing that, I realized that she's right to be jittery because she's declaring herself a blood witch, and the scope of what that would mean, standing there and doing that, I had to rethink because I was hoping the epilogue was just 1k and should just be light and fluffy. So, I thought it might be better if the lecture was just an idea she contemplates doing. Scene below is when Farah visits.

“What is it about? Should I be concerned?” Saul asked.

“No,” the fairy said, though she seemed to reconsider. Then, “No, I don’t think so.”

Saul frowned at her, just as Sasha came down.

“Oh, hi Farah,” she said while slinging on her backpack.

“I’m glad I caught you,” she eyed Saul, silently indicating that it was a private conversation. But he was unwilling to leave.

“Saul,” Sasha said, giving him a nudge to the ribs. “Come on, hun.”

The two women then sat on the living room while Saul made himself scarce by the kitchen, doing his best to overhear the conversation.

“I just have an idea I wanna run by you,” Farah began. “What do you think about giving a lecture, just two hours or longer if you like, about red witches.”

Sasha didn't expect this at all. Hearing this turned something inside of her dead cold with fear, just the idea of standing in front of a roomful of strangers and declaring that she was a blood witch. The last time she did that, her kind was wiped out.

Maybe reading where her thoughts went, Farah said, “You don’t have to say that you’re one. We can just say that you’re an expert on the subject. You’ve studied it all your life, their ways, their customs."

She was already shaking her head, seeing how this would be taken—what were her credentials? Her history? When the students go home, would they tell their parents about the “expert” who spoke so personally about these witches, and would they then hound the school for this lecturer? Also, what would it do to the school?

“I think it’s a bad idea, Farah.”

“I think it’s important that our students get informed as much as they could, especially about subjects where the common knowledge is just utterly wrong.”

Sasha blew out a nervous breath. Her hands had gone clammy and it was because this was the very thing that made doing it so tempting. But the repercussions attached to it, was it worth it? Would Alfea even be able to stand it? What if it destroyed the school?

She looked at the kitchen and, almost immediately, caught Saul’s eye. He had heard everything.

“Just think about it,” Farah placed a hand on top of hers.

She looked at it and just nodded.

“I do have a question,” she said just as Farah retreated her hand. “Have you found out what Rosalind meant? When she said my kind endanger this world?”

But the woman only shook her head.

When she left, Saul was back in the living room with Sasha still sitting on the couch.

“You should do it.”

Sasha chewed her lips and looked up at him, but didn’t say anything.

Then in the airport, the scene is the same as in the final version, but as they say goodbye, Saul mentions the lecture again and she just says she'll think about it. I stopped there, had a break, and was about to write the closing paragraphs but it just didn't sit well with me. I thought that even if it's something that's left hanging, something that a reader could decide on, the story still doesn't end with my original plan of her wanting to open a witch school. Also, even if it's left hanging, story-wise, the logical conclusion is that she does it because that's the brave thing to do. But doing it could legitimately put her in jeopardy and might actually destroy Alfea (I could imagine angry parents complaining about it, which includes royalty, and shutting down the school). It's an epilogue, and even if I'm not covering that part of the story, I didn't want it to be the last thing a reader thinks about.

So, I ended up cutting it all out and changing the purpose of Farah's visit. I thought it worked out much better because the epilogue should just focus on Saul and Sasha, and also hint that Saul has a better, more honest relationship with Sky.

Notes

I tend to not write any of my ideas down (I do that by writing the story already). But whenever I have a problem with a story, instead of using a digital notepad, I actually use pen and paper and write all of the questions I need answered and put in all answers I could think of (and why that won't work). I was doing that today for this other thing I'm writing (it's not a fanfic, sadly, but my main character is based off RJC), and found my notes from writing Part 2 of WitW. Since I'm making this post, thought it would be fun to include it too.

These were made after writing Ch 6. Yes, my handwriting is terrible. I think only I can read them. But if you're able to read them, then you must be a nurse (to those who aren't, nurses' handwriting aren't bad, but they read doctor's notes all the time). I was at this for a couple of hours. I think ch 7, 8, 9 are on point to what I ended up writing. Some changes in Ch 10, but epilogue is totally different.

tagging @astrid-v, and thought you might be interested reading this too @kingunder221b

#saul silva #saul silva x oc #fate: the winx saga #fate winx saga #fanfic #my writing

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solacefruit · 4 years

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hello! something i really enjoy about your stories is how naturally you blend worldbuilding and stories within the actual story itself - do you have any advice on how to do that effectively? i always worry i'm going to too far into "just listing off facts about the world" in the middle of a story if i try and include TOO much worldbuilding, but i'm a big lover of worldbuilding and have a hard time not planning out every detail

Hello there! Thank you so much. Stories within stories (fun fact: this technique is called mise en abîme or mise en abyme) is something that I’m really enthralled by and that I’ve worked hard to try to get the hang of in my own work, so it’s wonderful to know it’s something you enjoy about my writing! That feels very good to hear.

As far as advice goes, I can offer the following thoughts:

Whatever amount of world-building you think is enough, go slightly under it. What I mean by this is that very often less is more when it comes to building a world (see my notes on Pullman’s Northern Lights here). By using a bit of restraint and cutting things down just a touch on your final edit, you can help yourself resist the thrall of the too much gene that many writers experience when talking about their world-building. Ask yourself “does this need to be here, or am I just excited to share it?”

Unfortunately, if it’s just the latter, it’s probably a good idea to trim it: lean storytelling keeps readers hungry, and hungry readers usually ask for more. Trouble is, as a writer, you’ve got to be the one to remember that it’s always better to leave while a crowd is wanting more than stay until the crowd is begging you to stop. (cough several media series we could mention cough)

An example of this would be in a world where there are ten gods. In your first chapter, you don’t need to list all the gods. You can maybe mention one or two, and perhaps imply there’s more. Immediately, that creates mystery and a sense of a larger world; a reader gets to wonder, who are these other gods...

You mentioned you’re a planner, so I want to reassure you: keeping the story trim doesn’t mean all your planning is wasted! If you, the writer, knows the details of your world, it will come through in everything you write. The fact you know all the answers means you have a lot of control over what you want to reveal, when, where, and how. Which leads me to:

When possible, world-build obliquely. What I mean by this is that a lot of world-building can be done in subtle ways, that leave impressions of the world without having to be told directly by a character. You also can stretch out details, sprinkling them only here and there, meaning that it takes multiple chapters to piece together concepts or institutions or other world-building elements.

Doing this can help make it never feel like an exposition dump or listing off facts, because you’re putting only tasty little morsels in (sometimes hidden) for readers to find or look back on later. The reason for it is the same as why keepers will scatter-feed animals in enclosures: enrichment. If you dump it all in one place, the animal will eat, get full and/or bored, and won’t feel good. But if you make it into a puzzle to solve, the emotional reward of finding and figuring things out for yourself is so much nicer than whatever you’re finding, usually. (Sorry to keep using animal metaphors for readers, but like... it works).

An example of this would be something like:

Anwar turned the corner onto the opulent mosaic path of the shrine district and continued towards the temple of Kenuf, furthest from the city centre. On either side, acolytes of all kinds were leaving offerings--jars of salt for Meshut, baskets of yellow lilies for Pesht--and the air was thick with the smell of incense, making his eyes water slightly. He walked as quickly as he could past the grinning crocodile faces carved on the outer wall of the second last temple, before greeting the black-robed bell-keeper outside of Kenuf’s shrine.

I’ve made this up off the cuff so none of it “means” anything, but if we look at what’s here, we learn the following:

there’s at least four gods, possibly more

Pesht’s devotees leave yellow lilies, but we don’t know what Pesht is god of yet

Meshut’s devotees leave jars of salt, but ditto above

Kenuf’s shrine is furthest from the city (does this imply it is least favoured? or maybe least used?)

all gods seem to be named in consonant-e pattern (pe-, me-, ke-), but we don’t know yet if this is meaningful or coincidental (but if you wanted it to be, make all gods and maybe royals have this same pattern and just... leave it. let your reader infer from the text that the pattern signifies divinity)

the unnamed god is represented by crocodile iconography

the bell-keeper of Kenuf wears black robes (is this a uniform, or just a fashion choice?)

Anwar does not feel comfortable with the unnamed god in this passage (scared? disdainful? a mystery...)

A “too much” passage would offer lengthy descriptions of every shrine, listing what the offerings were and what the acolytes and other staff wore and Anwar’s thoughts about how he felt about each of the ten gods. It’s not impossible to write something like that that’s good, I do want to point out! But if you’re looking to slim things down, less is more, space out details over multiple chapters.

Write for your ideal reader, who is clever and attentive. Some writers fall into the habit of over-explaining their world (resulting in info-dumping) because they don’t trust their readers to get the “right” vision of their world, or because they’re worried readers will overlook all the cool stuff they’ve put in. I can recommend not doing this and part of getting to that point is imagine you’re writing for the perfect reader of your story, who does get it and will look for all the cool clever tricky things you sneakily put in. Will every reader be that person? Definitely not! But if you write for that reader, you will elevate your work, rather than dumb it down and make it heavy with unneeded hand-holding.

This kind of overlaps with the above in the sense that it boils down to “you’re allowed to leave things out, let readers make the intellectual leaps based on the pieces you give them” but it’s also saying that you’re allowed to let things rest. Put in subtle symbolism and never draw attention to it.

Additionally, as the creator, you know all the information about the world, which is a huge power and means you can choose the exact right moments to reveal meaningful, revelatory details. For example, somewhere around chapter three or four:

Anwar closed the door of his room, walked to the wall shrine, and fell to his knees, pulling the curtain aside.

“Ye’emer, it is done,” he said, looking at the floor. “It is finally done.”

In the distance, the bells of the temple of Kenuf began to ring: a strident sound, sharp and mournful. The dawn acolytes must have found the body already.

He reached forward, carefully placing the offering on the black silk of the tiny altar. The chips of animal bone looked like stars at night, bright white in the dark.

“I don’t know why you chose me,” said Anwar, forcing himself to look up.

The burning eyes of the crocodile statue stared back.

And now you get to go ohhhh. You know the name of the god now, you know the offering, you know (or at least can speculate better at) why Anwar felt so uncomfortable near the temple. If you time when you reveal world-building details, you can make them do so much work for you in telling your story.

Make up lies about your world--or at least, untruths. This maybe sounds counter-intuitive, but there is a logic in it. Most of us are not experts on our world, and your characters should be the same. They should be biased in their perspective, or limited by what they know, or perhaps even inclined to embellish details. If two characters talk about the same event, make them have personal feelings about it! Unless your character is a historian, their account of a historical event probably isn’t going to be totally correct or certain about all the details, and that’s not a bad thing. You can use that to weave in ambiguity or intrigue, or leave out important facts that will become relevant later, or contradict it later with a different telling and make the protagonist have to question who to trust or what’s the truth.

As a species, everything we do is stories. The concept of a nation is a story we tell ourselves about what it is to be “us.” Who we each are is a story we are always telling to ourselves: I am me because I do x, I am me because I don’t do y. Often, these things aren’t The Truth so much as they are A Truth, so when it comes to writing stories into your stories, don’t forget to think about the stories characters are telling themselves about who they are. And remember that all characters are unreliable narrators, because they’re people and they’re filtering the world through their perspective. You can do so much with that.

Use stories to create meaningful parallels for the larger narrative. If you’re featuring a story (which I’ll call tale from here, to cut down on confusion) within your story, it needs to be doing something more than just telling the reader facts about the world or passing the time. One way to make sure you’re doing that is thinking about parallels, which is to say, think of how the tale can impact the “real world” of your story. This might be the protagonist having a realisation or plot breakthrough, or later deciphering out important information or applying ideas from the story to a problem they encounter.

You also can (and often should) create tonal and emotional parallels within the tale as well and/or use tales as a form of foreshadowing. For a very basic example, in a story that involves a protagonist who gets trapped in a big horrible maze later in the book might feature a version of Minotaur in the Labyrinth as foreshadowing, and the character might have a fleeting thought about it that later will resurface with new significance.

I hope some of this is helpful to you! Good luck with you writing, and please write in again if there’s anything I can help with.

tl;dr: my tips are:

do a little less and space out what you tell your reader

don’t say directly what you can imply or gesture vaguely at

write cleverly and time your moments

make use of ambiguity

make the story impact the real world

#reply #advice #i really hope some of this makes sense. it's a difficult question to answer in a post #because honestly you could do six weeks of seminars just on world-building. this is like a hyper condensed minimal example version.

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class1akids · 4 years

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[1/2] I'm planning to write a bakudeku fic set in the canon and I plan to develop their romantic relationship in the most likely and unforced way possible, so I wanted to ask you how you would develop it and if you have any advice to give me. For example what should I avoid? And how do you think they can develop romantic feelings for each other? And what would be canonically plausible for you? Sorry if I +

[2/2] Sorry if I disturb you but I love your metas and you have an objective way of seeing the various characters and the various relationships so I think your opinion would really help me! Of course answer me only if you feel like it and it's not too much trouble for you! (If someone else wants to reply in the comments I'm more than happy to read them!)

I’m not much of a romance writer myself, and I tend to enjoy more offbeat stories than straight-up tooth-rotting fluff. So remember, something that I may find nice or realistic could be a total turn-off for others.

I think for canon bkdk, the key is to build up the friendship properly first. You need to figure out where you want to set your story in canon? If you are setting it now - end of first year, beginning of second year - I think it’s more tricky to develop a realistic romance than let’s say setting it at the end of third-year, beginning of pro-Hero time where you can conveniently do a time-skip and pretend that they are already good friends and worked out all their problems.

If you are talking current relationship, BKDK is more rivals with grudging respect, with a ton of unresolved history, who keep each other at arms’ lengths, until they inevitably collide and blow up in some spectacular fashion. They can talk about OFA or cooperate in a battle, but they still move mostly in separate social orbits and don’t really discuss personal things except when they are yelling and fighting.

So the first thing is to fix their friendship. This will require personal growth on both sides, though admittedly mostly on the angry gremlin’s side. He’ll need to become more emotionally honest (even with himself), be able to take risks at being vulnerable, learn to emote through other ways than anger and continue to become more outward looking. It would help to develop more empathy so he can learn to see things from Deku’s point of view.

Here you could try to use as a shortcut a catalyst like a bodyswap, soulbond or truth-telling quirk (anything that can provide a window inside each other’s head a bit), or just meeting a person who could be a stand-in for Deku (like a quirkless kid who’s being bullied) so he can look at it as an outsider.

Bakugou needs to get to the place where he both sees how fucked-up his treatment of Deku was, and wants to do something about it. BKDK has a ton of baggage, which makes writing a healthy romance tricky (unless you want to write unhealthy coping mechanism romance, which has its own charm), so I think it’s good if they somehow clear the air in this “growing friendship” stage. An apology from Bakugou and Deku expressing his feelings would be good, so they’ll have sort of a clean start. Obviously it will never be in a vacuum totally, but they should have a shift here where they put the past behind them (it can rear up its ugly head sometimes though, that’s good tension, but sparingly).

Then continue to build intimacy - in whatever way. My preferred drug is mutual emotional support (and the keyword here is mutual!), but revisiting childhood memories (the good ones), developing their own little communication where they understand each other without words or developing a routine - e.g. training together, or make them sit together even after AM is gone in the breakroom, drinking tea - whatever you like. They should become each other’s best champions.

One of my favourite tropes are BKDK deciding to date for real and them realizing that it’s the same stuff they’d been doing for months/years. Like eating out, geeking out about hero stuff - this sort of stuff. And also how effortlessly they are able to handle each other once they clear the air, like Deku becomes an expert of diffusing Bakugou’s anger without giving an inch, and Bakugou can snap Deku out of whatever spiral he gets into.

I guess there’d have to be an AHA moment, where one or both realizes a sexual attraction. There is no need to overdo this bit, but like there can be subtle hints here or there before. Like establishing how a touch feels, borrowing clothes from each other, checking each other out. Here, I think some emotional constipation / overanalysis / hiding stuff would not be out of character. (I hate love triangles, so I wouldn’t do that).

Then there should be some sort of breakthrough - a moment that lowers their walls - this could be due to a quirk, drink, physical danger, injury etc that could push out a confession. Or it can happen on a random Tuesday night when one side just decides that they are sick of hiding. Both can work well.

What I personally don’t like in some BKDK fics (but then again, it’s your story):

- when their relationship doesn’t feel equal - dainty Deku heart-eyeing strong hero Bakugou or strong Deku fixing poor broken Bakugou.

- when either of them is given God-mode and can never be wrong - let them both screw up, let them both shine

- dragging the childhood bullying into the romance endlessly or pretending it never existed - neither is good. I like when the fic deals with the baggage.

- when the romance turns them into pink, fluffy bunnies. Remember that you build on an existing canon dynamics and their friendship should be the foundation of the romance. So the romance shouldn’t erase their personalities - Bakugou should stay rough around the edges, Deku should stay himself, they both are hyper-focused on their hero goals, etc. These should remain there in essence.

There is no need to drag down Kirishima or Todoroki to develop BKDK. Canon friendships can and should remain.

These are my main no-no’s.

But anyone having an opinion, please chime in.

In the end, experiment with whatever feels natural to you - the most important thing is to have fun and be excited about your own project.

#bnha #bakudeku #bakugou katsuki #midoriya izuku #but this is just my personal opinion / taste #write what you feel like

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