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itsforexposure · 4 months

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"we are already undervaluing you, why don't you just give out your creative work for free from now on?"

#for exposure #it's for exposure #fuck you pay me #writing and editing

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arcanemoody · 5 months

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All I wanted to do was write a stupid little flashback scene of Vyvyan and his social worker having an argument in a car reminiscent of That Scene from The Babadook. And it's taken an unexpectedly serious emotional turn.

#god damn it #writing and editing #vyvyan basterd #the young ones

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theriu · 8 months

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Editing question: in a fantasy book, what ratio should "describing the world" to "main story line" be? Or, at least, what do you recommend?

Thanks for your question! I think a lot of this depends on your writing style; some authors are going to focus primarily on the main storyline and keep it fast-paced, but others (like Mr. Tolkein) are going to weave in a ton of worldbuilding. Both of these can be done very successfully!

From a purely editing standpoint, I typically look at how the placement of the worldbuilding is affecting the story's flow. Am I getting bored or forgetting what the characters were doing because there is such a large amount of exposition in the middle or beginning of a scene? Could some of the information be condensed to be more easily digestible? Conversely, is the story barely mentioning some piece of worldbuilding that I think would be FASCINATING to learn more about, and would appreciate the author dwelling on for a moment? I think there's a good balance to be found there, and if I'm doing more thorough editing (copyediting or developmental), I'll probably leave a comment on the document mentioning what I think could help the scene flow a little better. Overall, I wouldn't worry about it too much in your first draft; trimming stuff down or fleshing things out is something you can typically do on the second draft after you get the overall story nailed down. =)*

(*I say this, but I myself definitely tend to fiddle with scenes and add/subtract stuff in the middle of my first draft ALL THE TIME XD This isn't a hard and fast rule, just a suggestion that sometimes helps people finish.)

One helpful tip that I have run into myself (in my own fantasy setting) and had pointed out to me by other readers: Try not to throw in too many new, fictional words and names right off the bat. It can be a little difficult for readers to get a grip on the story if they're dealing with a ton of new vocabulary, and a lot of worldbuilding can be woven in more gently throughout the story as bits become relevant. You can always dedicate a few pages to describing the more intricate nuances of your magic system after we're already invested in the hero's trip to the citadel to avenge his grandparents' burned unicorn farm, or what have you.

#river replies #thriteenbirds #river edits #writing and editing #advice #fantasy #worldbuilding

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papasbaseball · 2 months

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A study in fiction writing and how to improve your fanfiction

Part of me feels not qualified to make this analysis, because I am still learning. Most writers are still learning, but I feel like maybe breaking down a poorly constructed first paragraph of a former fanfic (50SoG) might be useful to some. Analysis under the cut.

One of the things that immediately stands out is the lack of sentence structure variety. Several sentences that start with "I" could be replaced with descriptive sentences that make it seem less repetitive and boring.

The first sentence has no hook or flavor. A first sentence is like a first impression and should be geared toward making the reader want to know what happens next. Scowling in frustration at yourself in the mirror is just not it. This is incredibly mundane and brings up two separate problems

Cut the mundanity. Do not include everyday activities in a book or fic (unless they will be directly involved in action that hooks the reader (e.g. do not write about a character driving from point A to point B unless that car will be in an accident)). The reader picks up a book or logs into AO3 to experience something they would not in everyday life. Brushing your hair and having a bad hair day is boring and trivial. It is an immediate tension killer, and tension is what keeps a reader reading.

Mirror descriptions are exceptionally lazy. There are many ways to describe a character that doesn't involve them looking in a mirror, even if you are writing in the grammatical 1st person. Having descriptions that feel like a laundry list, whether physical or clothing, is another tension killer and breaks the reader out of the immersion of the story as they try to play paper dolls with the character. If you really wanted to get across that the character has brown hair in this scene (the scene really should be cut altogether) make a show of maybe her brushing her hair too hard. "The tell-tale tiny snaps of hairs have me grimacing. Looking down, I see a brown spider-like knot freshly torn from my hair. Great."

As mentioned before, the entire scene should be cut. This starts too far away from the conflict, and conflict is what you need to keep a reader interested and a story moving. She is to be interviewing him. Her hair troubles and sick roommate are nowhere near close enough to the inciting incident. The book/fic should start mid-interview or at least in the office.

I hope this was helpful. If you want to request another excerpt of a book that didn't work for you, or something that you really loved and would like to see positively highlighted, I might do some more analyses in the future and would be open to inbox prompts.

#fanfic writing #writing analysis #writing and editing

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jacquelynlscott · 1 year

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🧐 What is Characterization in Literature?

In literature, writers use characterization to teach readers about a character. There are two main elements of characterization: Direct and indirect.

🫵 Direct Characterization

Direct characterization means the writer directly tells a reader about a character. When characterized directly, there is little to no room for reader interpretation. Direct characterization examples include physical descriptions or the author outright stating facts about a character, like their job, relationships, etc.

📚 For example, from Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See:

“In a corner of the city, inside a tall, narrow house at Number 4 rue Vauborel, on the sixth and highest floor, a sightless sixteen-year-old named Marie-Laure LeBlanc kneels over a low table covered entirely with a model.”

Doerr directly characterizes Marie-Laure LeBlanc as a sightless sixteen-year-old. There is nothing up for interpretation about where she lives, her blindness, or her age.

👉 Indirect Characterization

Indirect characterization reveals information about a character through their actions, dialogue, thoughts, etc.

📚 For example, again from All the Light We Cannot See:

“All evening she has been marching her fingers around the model, waiting for her great-uncle Etienne, who owns this house, who went out the previous night while she slept, and who has not returned.”

In this passage, readers learn more about Marie-Laure: she is patient and focused, maybe even a little obsessive.

You may have noticed that Doerr mixes direct with indirect characterization in this passage, as writers often do. While readers learn more about Marie-Laure through her actions, Doerr also directly tells readers that her great-uncle owns the house.

🥸 Physical Descriptions

Physical descriptions of characters can work on three levels:

They tell readers what a character looks like.

They tell readers a little about what a character is like.

They tell readers more about the main character because of what they’re choosing to notice about other people.

🫠 When writing descriptions, keep in mind that it’s not really interesting to describe characters by their hair color or their eyes. Those kinds of descriptors don’t tell readers anything about the character.

Instead, try focusing on interesting or unique bits of the character. For example, you could talk about the ash between a character’s fingers. While strange, it gives readers a visual to latch onto while also indicating that this character must wash their hands a lot and not follow up with lotion. Are they OCD? Do they work in the medical field? But also, why is your MC noticing this? Are they judgmental?

The point is small, strange details can generate questions and intrigue, whereas “The woman had brown hair” does no work for any kind of character development. However, if that woman had blonde hair with ends so fried you can see them crunching and breaking off and brown roots two inches thick, that kind of hair description says a lot about who that character is as a person.

⛔ Characterization Don’ts

New writers often introduce characters in cliché ways. Here are some characterization mistakes to avoid:

Letting your character introduce themselves directly to your readers. For example, “Hi, my name is Mary, and I’m 53.” This might work for children’s or middle grade books, but otherwise, it’s best to avoid it.

Information dumping. In real life, people get to know each other over time, learning bits of information every time they see each other. Your characters should do the same.

Introducing your main character’s physical appearance by looking in a mirror or at a picture of themselves.

Introducing your main character as they start their day, such as waking up or showering. Instead, start your story in media res, which is Latin for “in the midst of things.” Start your story when the action begins.

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blot-squisher · 1 year

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✨To write is to suffer✨

#alexander pennington #writing and editing #writing thoughts #i suffer #but i enjoy it

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colby-k · 1 year

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Graduating

Since I was 5 years old, I have been going to school. Now, as a 23-year-old, I graduated college and don't have to go to school anymore.

From August 2018 to December 2022, I attended Regis University. Going into my first year there I was double majoring in English and Education because I wanted to be a high school English teacher. I had one of my English teachers be one of my role models, and I wanted to follow in her footsteps.

The first semester went very well. I got accepted into the Honors program, which I was proud of myself for. That class was taught by who would become my favorite professor and earn the title, "college mom."

Meeting my college mom was one of my favorite memories of college. She is such a wonderful human being and a great baker. Her baklava is insane. She also became my advisor.

Unfortunately, the first Education class I took didn't vibe well with me. I enjoyed the content, but there were certain aspects of the teaching world that I didn't want to be a part of. It just didn't sit well with me. So, I dropped my double major and decided to major in just English and add a minor. I chose psychology as my minor, and I'm so happy I did.

I took a general psychology course in my second semester and I learned so much. The class motivated me to take different psychology classes and some of my favorites are Psychology of Personality, Social Psychology, and Behavioral Genetics. If you are in college, and your university offers these classes, I highly recommend taking them if you can.

As I progressed through my studies, I also expanded my social circle. I made a bunch of new friends within my first two years at Regis. They introduced me to a lot of new things, including smoking marijuana. I'm glad I got into it, though, because it helps me sleep, and lack of sleep is one of my main seizure triggers.

I'm glad I expanded my social circle because by my junior year I found out who are my real friends and who wanted to say they were my friends.

I have lost a few friends along the way. One used to be my roommate, and, once she made fun of my epilepsy, I knew our friendship was over. Over the course of my 4 years of living in dorms, I have changed rooms about 6 times. I don't have good luck with roommates.

I have had many health problems over the last 4.5 years. Along with my seizures becoming more frequent, I've also experienced dizziness almost every day, migraines and debilitating headaches, and mental health issues.

I think that making it through my undergraduate years with this many health problems deserves a reward.

Even though it took me an extra semester, I still graduated with a Bachelor's degree. Even though it was so difficult to get through, I still made it. Now I don't have to go back to school until I go get my Master's.

#blog post #lifestyle blog #writing #writing and poetry #writing and stuff #writing and such #writerslife #writing and editing #graduación #graduation #college #college life #student #epilepsy #actually epileptic #epileptic problems #epileptic seizures #education #english

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butchfalin · 5 months

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the funniest meltdown ive ever had was in college when i got so overstimulated that i could Not speak, including over text. one of my friends was trying to talk me through it but i was solely using emojis because they were easier than trying to come up with words so he started using primarily emojis as well just to make things feel balanced. this was not the Most effective strategy... until. he tried to ask me "you okay?" but the way he chose to do that was by sending "👉🏼👌🏼❓" and i was so shocked by suddenly being asked if i was dtf that i was like WHAT???? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?????????? and thus was verbal again

#yeehaw #1k #5k #10k #posts that got cursed. blasted. im making these tag updates after... 19 hours?#also i have been told it should say speech loss bc nonverbal specifically refers to the permanent state. did not know that!#unfortunately i fear it is so far past containment that even if i edited it now it would do very little. but noted for future reference #edit 2: nvm enough ppl have come to rb it from me directly that i changed the wording a bit. hopefully this makes sense #also. in case anyone is curious. though i doubt anyone who is commenting these things will check the original tags #1) my friend did not do this on purpose in any way. it was not intended to distract me or to hit on me. im a lesbian hes a gay man. cmon now #he felt very bad about it afterwards. i thought it was hilarious but it was very embarrassed and apologetic #2) “why didn't he use 🫵🏼?” didn't exist yet. “why didn't he use 🆗?” dunno! we'd been using a lot of hand emojis. 👌🏼 is an ok sign #like it makes sense. it was just a silly mixup. also No i did not invent 👉🏼👌🏼 as a gesture meaning sex. do you live under a rock #3) nonspeaking episodes are a recurring thing in my life and have been since i was born. this is not a quirky one-time thing #it is a pervasive issue that is very frustrating to both myself and the people i am trying to communicate with. in which trying to speak is #extremely distressing and causes very genuine anguish. this post is not me making light of it it's just a funny thing that happened once #it's no different than if i post about a funny thing that happened in conjunction w a physical disability. it's just me talking abt my life #i don't mind character tags tho. those can be entertaining. i don't know what any of you are talking about #Except the ppl who have said this is pego/ryu or wang/xian. those people i understand and respect #if you use it as a writing prompt that's fine but send it to me. i want to see it #aaaand i think that's it. everyday im tempted to turn off rbs on it. it hasn't even been a week

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dragonbleps · 7 months

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what artists dont tell you is that every compliment is actually 100 compliments because they'll go back to re-read it 100 times and it'll make them feel fuzzy all over again every single time

#missy rambles #edit: and art includes writing <3

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orcboxer · 9 months

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those first couple weeks after escaping a time loop have gotta be disorienting as all fuck. all those little cues that used to tell you what's about to happen are now triggers that cause you to brace for something that isn't coming. you have to relearn the permanence of death -- hell, you have reacquaint yourself with the entire concept of finality altogether. everything keeps changing but it never changes back and you keep having to remind yourself that this is normal. "it won't reset anymore," you echo to yourself, over and over and over, like a broken record, like you're still trapped in a loop, like someone who escaped the time loop but was doomed to bring it into the future with them

#orcspeak #edit: this is not about fanfic nor is it about a specific fanfic nor is it about a specific show or movie or book #this post is about the time loop trope itself which occurs in many different stories spanning many different art forms #i don't read or write fanfic and I'm not looking for fanfic recs and whatever character you think this is about there's #an 80 percent chance i don't recognize their name

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itsforexposure · 1 year

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#for exposure #it's for exposure #fuck you pay me #writing and editing

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arcanemoody · 1 year

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WIP Word Search Game, Take 2!

The thing about having a reall l o n g project is that I was inevitably finding the words all came from the same wip. So here’s extracts from that where the words loud, hard, frown, hold, joy and red appear. A little steamy so check below the read more.

Tagged by the wild and wonderful @esperata

tagging, if you want to, @basilintime @augustjustice @chierei with the words blue, trim, soft, murder, and jump. Most of these are from the college AU series, all of them are Riddlebird/Nygmobblepot.

==

red:

He has to go home sometime. His steps are slow and heavy as he makes his way there.

Ed‘s not sleeping. And he’s not alone.

"I told you that—"

"I said no, Izzy."

Oswald sees red, letting the door slam shut behind him. "And 'no' is a complete sentence. Get the hell out of my room before I call your sister, ding-dong."

--

hard, hold:

Oswald’s hand is in Ed’s lap. Exhibitionism here too, playing it slow, seeing if he can keep Ed hard for the full 90 minutes of the movie. He wants to see if he can get him to hold his hand as they walk all the way back to the dorm, a stiff hard-on perfectly outlined by his cords.

--

loud:

“Lean forward, you Ent. I need to start on your pants.” Ed obliges, crouching just low enough for Oswald to kneel on the floor, finally sitting with his knees bent as he hooks the seam ripper at his ankle and moves upward, slowly. “…you’ve read Lord of the Rings," he says, the thought tickling something inside him. “I’ve read ever book in that library at least twice.” Ed laughs out loud this time. “God, it’s been a long year,” he sighs, feeling the cold edge of hysteria creeping in. -- frown:

The "referral" is a nasty surprise, particularly when he came to the health center to top up his cold meds after his pneumonia cleared up.

"After you fainted and fell off the Pier," the grad student cosplaying as a licensed therapist posits thoughtfully as she scribbles on her notepad. "That was an accident, was it?“

Oswald frowns at the memory; dark and blurry, blunted by alcohol and denial. Butch had pulled him out, Ivy had given him CPR, and he’d apologized for ruining the last few hours of her prom night… not the plan he’d had in mind for her first college rager.

"If it wasn’t, I’d be in a 5150," he glares at her. "Not talking to you."

"Don’t be so sure." --

joy:

"No. Mentioning no names but pegging tended to be something more girls were into than guys.”

“Sofia, right?” he glances up at his scowl. “You didn’t say that I couldn’t mention names.”

There’s a flicker of jealousy there – which is gratifying now that Oswald knows what to look for. Here, it might be the only thing that makes that memory bearable.

“…we were friends. Or so I thought. I told you I tend to enjoy it more if I at least care about the other person.” He pauses, considering. “We can place her just below Jim Gordon on my long ladder to hell.”

Ed kisses his brow, his temple, his cheek, long arms folding him in tightly against his chest and Oswald feels the cold spikes receed as joy blooms in his chest at the warmth of big hands and soft, fierce lips.

#wip #meme #writing and editing #college AU #nygmobblepot #riddlebird

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linusjf · 23 days

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Anais Nin: Living ideas

English: Photograph of Anaïs Nin as a teenager, circa 1920. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) “My ideas usually come not at my desk writing but in the midst of living.” —Anais Nin.