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The week before my last relationship ended I spent every second of my time watching every romcom I could get my hands on. They’ve always been comfort media to me, but this little marathon fucked me up. By the second movie I knew we had to end things. By the fifth movie, the crying started and it didn’t stop until I eventually couldn’t finish the films anymore.

I’m not saying romcoms are the best examples of “realistic” love, or that every romance should be like a movie. But I also don’t think magic is deserving of compromise. If romcoms are visual depictions of a feeling, then love should feel like watching a romcom, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it has to mimick one. There’s no need for grand speeches and dangling off of ferris wheels, but if someone doesn’t make you feel like you’re having an impromptu paintball war after a paddle boat ride just by the way they look at you, then maybe that’s not the person for you.

#love #the notebook #10 things i hate about you #romcom #relationship #dark acadamia quotes

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Writing Romance— Rapid Fire Advice

- slow it down. People want to see the romance bloom. I personally lose interest when they’re together, even if it’s slow burn. So you might as well delay the disinterest

- people say writing romance is about describing all of the feelings and emotions and personally, I don’t think so? I’ve never once written paragraphs of a characters internal thoughts about how madly in love they are with another person. The whole point is that you shouldn’t have to. The reader should get how the characters feel without you having to say it. If you find yourself doing that, it may be a sign that the romance between your characters isn’t so obvious.

- play with the idea of love languages. When we think of love a lot of us think of touch. But I’ve found it effective to focus on the other forms of showing love. Not only does it challenge your writing instead of taking physical cop outs, it also draws attention to more specific details and classifications of love

- There’s this new trend of characters getting into relationships and saying “I love you” right away which classifies all romantic feelings into love, and that’s not the case. PLEASE don’t do this. So many shows have been doing this lately and it puts a bad taste in my mouth. Some people fall in love fast, but he majority of people don’t. This goes back to my first point, SLOW IT DOWN

- y’all know I’m the number one supporter of cliches. But if you come over here with the bad boy with anger issues who reads books trope, I will riot. There’s so many things wrong with it, and I feel like we’ve advanced as a society. Again, always write what you want. But try to spin it

- this goes for all romance cliches. Try to add a little twist. The romance genre is purposefully predictable so despite popular belief, I really don’t think you have to try your best to be crazy unique. Still in all, something about the way you write the trope should be different or unique to you based on your experiences. All writing should be like that.

- focus on contrasts, the differences between your characters. I think complements are just more fun to write than “wow we love all the same things.” But I do think that’s fun too. There’s just more room for depth here.

- because relationships are all about communication, I feel like dialogue is a key aspect to romance. Teasing. Arguments. Long conversation in the beach. Romances win me with their character dynamics and overall wit in how they speak to each other. And characters can speak to each other without talking.

- focus less on attraction and more on what non-physical traits are attractive

-this is just something I want to see, normalize couples getting into arguments that are painless without it destroying the relationship. Couples fight y’all, not just when they find out someone cheated or lied to them about a long lost sister or something.

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Writing Tips I Think Are Bullsh*t — Pt. 4

After talking with some people in the writing community and integrating my way into it, I’ve come across a lot of things that I find particularly harmful. Since a lot of these “tips” are written as if they’re rules, and they’re geared toward younger, more impressionable writers, I find some of them problematic. The exciting part about writing is that there is no one way to write, but these tips make it seem like there is one style of writing everyone must strive to achieve. That’s bullsh*t.

#4 Nobody wants to see romance subplots. It takes away from the story and dulls the reader

I feel like people want everything to be so serious and cynical all the time so they complain about anything that’s happy? Hi, yes, I’d like to give my characters a break from all the constant angst and bloodshed. I’m so sorry the existence of love in my story offends you.

I’m not sure if y’all just hate romance, or if y’all don’t know how to write it well so it’s easier to invalidate romance writers and complain about it instead.

I can acknowledge that sometimes there’s just not a place for romance in a story and how these plots can drag it down. But, that’s where the difference between well written romance and hastily placed romance for the hell of it comes in.

Write fluffy lovey dovey bs if that makes you happy. If it feels right. Make your characters make out at the base of a crime scene in the middle of your murder mystery book if that’s where the spirit takes you.

I just think the cool thing about love is that you can find it in places you wouldn’t expect, and the fact that we’re calling romance subplots “unrealistic” just because you want your characters to be as lonely and cold as you feel, isn’t right.

Don’t let tips brainwash you into thinking everyone has to write the same way, and that the path to a published book is a formulaic, straight line.

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Writing Tips I Think Are Bullsh*t — Pt. 3

After talking with some people in the writing community and integrating my way into it, I’ve come across a lot of things that I find particularly harmful. Since a lot of these “tips” are written as if they’re rules, and they’re geared toward younger, more impressionable writers, I find some of them problematic. The exciting part about writing is that there is no one way to write, but these tips make it seem like there is one style of writing everyone must strive to achieve. That’s bullsh*t.

#3 You must know every single detail about your character, including what they ate for breakfast last Tuesday, or else you can’t write them well

Get this out of my face lol. You know how I learn about my characters? Actually writing about them! You really do not need to have a whole back story about your character before you start writing, especially if it doesn’t contribute much to your plot.

Learning about what my characters like and how they act is the best part of writing to me. It makes it fun, like I’m going on an adventure instead of writing it.

I’m not saying that it isn’t good to know a bunch of things about your character if it helps you see it clearer. But realistically, if you give a description in your book about how your character has a birth mark on their left arm that looks like a giraffe and their eyes are green but not too green and they dress alt but not emo alt, more thrift alt, I will riot. I will skip right over all of that.

All of the character diagrams and aesthetics are cool guys, it’s fun to see. But don’t invalidate other writers for not doing those things and making them feel like they have to, or else they can’t write their character well enough.

Don’t let tips brainwash you into thinking everyone has to write the same way, and that the path to a published book is a formulaic, straight line.

~

Part One

Part Two

#writing ideas #writing advice #writing community #writing critique #writing life #writing #writing tips

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Don’t Editorialize

I’m not one for following most writing advice but this was something my English teacher taught me my senior year of high school.

Usually the term “editorialize” refers to news media. Basically, it means that you shouldn’t insert your own comments or opinions, just report the facts.

Hearing this in my AP literature class felt pretty strange, since I was in the journalism track as well and felt used to hearing it in that context. But I found this advice pretty useful then and now.

In class, sometimes we’d go around in a circle and share a line of what we wrote from our work that day in class. Just one line. We weren’t allowed to explain ourselves or prelude with any context. “Don’t editorialize, just go,” he’d say before waving us off.

I don’t like to explain my work anymore. There’s value in letting something “hit” without having to describe your intentions and aspirations. Let your listeners and viewers make their own opinions. Share, then leave.

While I do love hearing people go in depth about why they wrote a piece, knowing about the intentions behind the work too soon dulls the experience. Trust your readers’ ability to interpret. If you write something you don’t think can be easily interpreted without explanation, take that as fuel to get rid of that barrier.

There’s always the chance that people won’t get what your work is about, and I think that’s okay. I wrote a story about a sibling duo obsessing about whether or not the boy next door would like them because they’re black, which is an unfair deciding factor for relationships based on my experience as a black woman. Not thinking, “does he find me attractive?” But having to think, “would be even consider dating a black girl?”

Everyone found the story cute and adorable.

Sometimes, your work can go over people’s heads, but let them figure it out themselves.

#writing ideas #writing community #writing critique #writing advice #writing life #creative writing #writing #writer #writing tips

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Writing Tips that I Think are Bullsh*t — pt.2

After talking with some people in the writing community and integrating my way into it, I’ve come across a lot of things that I find particularly harmful. Since a lot of these “tips” are written as if they’re rules, and they’re geared toward younger, more impressionable writers, I find some of them problematic. The exciting part about writing is that there is no one way to write, but these tips make it seem like there is one style of writing everyone must strive to achieve. That’s bullsh*t.

#2. You’re going to need to write at least ten drafts for your book to even be decent

I’m sorry but can we please normalize that’s okay not have to feel like you need to write so many drafts? Let’s be honest, some stories may not have very intricate or complex plot lines that require so much rewriting.

Also, maybe the third draft cut off works for some people? Especially if they’re very organized, took notes of all the things they wanted to change while writing their first draft, and are confident in their skills? Everyone has different writing and editing processes.

Why is it so widely accepted that a project can’t possibly be good unless they spent 5 years writing something?

You, as a writer, will know when something needs more work. You’ll also know, to the best of your ability, when something feels done to you at your current level of skill.

This isn’t to say stop at your first draft because it’s perfect. This is to say, don’t feel pressured to force yourself into writing so many drafts because you’ve been convinced that your work still isn’t good enough. There’s such thing as overwriting. Don’t overwrite yourself into hating a project by the time you’ve reached draft 8, if you really loved at draft 4.

Don’t let tips brainwash you into thinking everyone has to write the same way, and that the path to a published book is a formulaic, straight line.

~

Part One

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Writing Tips that I think Are Bullsh*t

After talking with some people in the writing community and integrating my way into it, I’ve come across a lot of things that I find particularly harmful. Since a lot of these “tips” are written as if they’re rules, and they’re geared toward younger, more impressionable writers, I find some of them problematic. The exciting part about writing is that there is no one way to write, but these tips make it seem like there is one style of writing everyone must strive to achieve. That’s bullsh*t.

#1. Your First draft is going to be absolute horsesh*t. All you can do is write complete nonsense, and trust me, it will be. You should be embarrassed about it. But remember to have fun!1!1!1!

I hate this one. Everyone has a different writing process. Am I denying the fact that your first draft isn’t going to be anywhere close to what your end product will look like? No. But does that mean your first draft has to be trash in order for you to get to a better end Product? Not at all.

For some people, writing whatever it comes to mind to get words down is an absolutely amazing way to allow for creativity and inspiration. It also helps get you further along. If that’s how you work best? Great. Continue down that route. Even so, you shouldn’t reduce that work you created to just “sh*t.”

For some people? Having a polished first draft is *believe it or not* a thing. Some writers prefer writing more developed scenes and chapters in their first draft. That’s the way they’re hardwired. Some writers even prefer editing as they go. If that works for them, no one is in a position to tell them that they’re wrong. Forcing someone to believe that even a pretty polished first draft is “sh*t” isn’t productive.

I feel as if a lot of tips encourage the idea of “Ive written books and got published and if you youngsters think you’re better than me? Think again. You’re going to be awful starting out. Your first draft, no matter how much you poured into it, has no promise. Know your place.”

I don’t know about you, but I think that’s really messed up. It would be different if the narrative changes from there. But after the first draft, other tips come pouring in like, “oh so you’re on your 6th draft? It’ll never be perfect. You’re going to have to accept that. You better look at it again, even professionals have had 7k drafts and 400 beta readers before they even thought about publishing, and you have the audacity to be proud?”

Don’t let tips brainwash you into thinking everyone has to write the same way, and that the path to a published book is a formulaic, straight line.

#writing advice #writing community #writing life #writer #writing tips #writing #publishing #first draft

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Little romance tropes and other cute occurrences that I love 🥺

The title basically explains it but feel free to use these as prompts because I feel like this could work for that too :) I love cliches.

- I like you so I’m going to “accidentally” bump my leg up against yours and if you don’t move away I’m gonna keep my leg there and try to hide the smile on my face as electricity shoots up my spine

- insults that eventually become petnames. (F*ck you dumb*ss becomes f*ck me dumb*ss and never leave my side ‘cause I love you).

- I’m scared of thunder and lightning and I don’t want you to know but you can tell I’m terrified by the way I’m shaking and you comfort me in an intimate way that has my heart pounding even harder

- THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED

- so it turns out I don’t like you in a brother/sister way, unless incest is socially acceptable now

- singing songs at the top of our lungs in the car even though we’re both equally bad but I don’t care because the smile on your face is so big that it makes mine grow even wider

- little innocent touches without thinking. (Rubbing circles on my/your wrist out of habit ‘cause it’s comforting.)

- sitting on the same side of the booth at a restaurant when we go out to eat because I want to be close to you

- being so in synch that you can tell what I want/need without saying a word.

- I suck at sports but you’re good at them and I challenge you to a game because I’m stubborn and petty but what did start as a competition quickly just turns into an excuse for our bodies to make contact in a not so game regulation way (but it’s doesn’t need to be dirty lol).

- I’m sick and whiny and you take care of me

- making up after an argument in a wholesome way

- cooking dinner together

- being on a video call with each other before we go to bed and still being on the same video call when we both wake up

- being that couple who everyone thinks are really just close friends but act so different and lovey when they’re by themselves (um yeah we’ve been dating for a year now. You didn’t know??).

- having one (1) shared brain cell between the two of us which either consistently puts our lives in danger or gets us into an unbelievable amount of drama.

- AND THEY WERE ROOMMATES

- my one sole mission in life is to make you laugh although I’m not funny at all so I usually never succeed but you appreciate the sentiment anyway

- terrible dancing together. That’s it.

#writing community #writing tips #writing promps #writing romance #romance #romance tropes #romance prompt #writing

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Love, Victor

Okay just finished the series. Scrolled through tumblr for about an hour. Seeing a lot of dislike for some things. So here’s my thoughts and analysis

Going into the show and the way they branded it, I fully expected Victor to be bi or pan. And I’ll admit, I was a little upset that they made me battle with shipping him with Mia or Benji for most of the season just for him to be gay and not have as much interaction with Benji if that was the root they were going down...

But opposing that, I can see why that development was necessary and I STILL ship Benji and Victor with everything in me. Sure they didn’t have as in depth as a relationship as Victor did with Mia, but it was obvious from the start that Victor was attracted to Benji. The way they show their feelings for each other in the smallest things.... serenades, “let me listen to your music so I can determine what kind of lover you are,” road trips, THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED, being sooooooo in synch at work, Benji painting Victor like this is the titanic. COME. ON.

Plus that parallel with Simon saying kissing felt like a tidal wave and the little “wow,” Victor gave at the end of kissing Benji. My whole heart....

I love that this show took love, Simon in different direction. Victor is basically like f*ck you, you were a theater kid with liberal parents no one cared if you were gay but I have everything to lose and just, this take is just as important and valid as Simon’s.

Felix?? Favorite character. Amazing. The bestest of friends. The most caring of lovers. Such an adorable idiot. Lake doesn’t deserve him. Lake pissed me off most of the show. I get why she has issues, because of her demanding mom which is way too relatable, but besides the whole appearances think her personality is just crap. The most basic b*tch... but Felix looks so happy with her so I guess that last kiss kind of made me ship it a little because Felix looked so happy...

I guessed Felix’s mom had depression from the jump. But I’m seeing a lot of people reacting to it kind of insensitively? That Felix doesn’t deserve to go back to a house like that every day and that his mom needs to get her act together? Y’all clearly have not experienced living with someone who has depression and it shows. I’m glad this was a part of the show and glad that Felix was understanding toward his mother. The fact that they play board games every Friday together is ahhhh my heart.

I wish Pilar had more development. She just played the role of the angsty teen going through an emo phase to cause drama for her family and that was annoying. I wanted to see if she at least made some friends. I wanted to see how she was really coping instead of just sulking all the time. I thought we’d at least get some kind of view into what her school day was like since so much time was spent on the other heteros.

My thoughts were all over the place but SIMON AND BRAM AND THE ROOMMATES BASICALLY BEING VICTOR’S PARENTS?!?!? THAT WHOLE DYNAMIC TOOK ME OUT. AHHHH THE HUG. THEM WRITING BACK AND FORTH IT JUST MADE MY HEART SWELL. Can you just imagine them all gathered around Simon’s phone waiting for Victor’s next update and arguing about what to say or rolling their eyes every time he talks about kissing Mia. Oh my gosh that was everything I didn’t know I needed.

THE PRETTIEST GIRL IN SCHOOL BEING A BLACK GIRL WITH DARKER SKIN AND CURLY HAIR. THANK YOU.

Victor telling his parents off about all of their arguing made me so jealous. It’s everything I can’t bring my guts to tell them because I just know it wouldn’t go down as well as it did for Victor. But he said everything I wanted to say and that felt like a breath of fresh air. I don’t get to see that very often

I could honestly go on and on about their family dynamic and I’m probably missing something else but one last thingggggg

I’m scared for season two because their parents separating... that means the dad is staying here and the mom might want to move back to Texas. And I hope Victor doesn’t end up going with her and leaving his friends behind.

#love victor #love victor analysis #victor salazar #love simon

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Victor: sends another message about Mia and how much he likes her.

Simon and his friends who all have been shipping him with benji:

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Somehow the most unrealistic thing in 13rw is that they all end up going to Ivy League....

#13rw #13reasonswhy #13rw season 4 #13rw spoilers

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How to Get Readers to Stay

Getting readers to want to read your work requires a good hook, but a lot more than that. I’ll do my best to describe what I think gets readers to the end.

1. Opening/First Lines

As a reader, an editor for some papers, and now an editor for a small publication, I can tell if a book is going to be good just by the first page. I get a lot of people asking me to read their fics on Wattpad, and I’m infamous for only getting past the first few lines and then closing out of it. Here’s why:

- Your first line has to be enticing enough for me to want to read the second one. If you start your story with something like “I woke up,” I’m leaving. I’m sorry, but I can’t do it.

- I need to get a glimpse of your main character somewhere within the first page at least. If I don’t know who I’m supposed to be rooting for, I won’t feel connected enough to continue. I see people make the mistake of doing so much world building in the first few pages. Yes I find that hella interesting, but if you don’t get to the point soon I’m not going to be as invested in the plot. Make the two marry each other. I need to see personality amidst action and setting.

-just the writing itself. If your prose feels robotic, I can pick up on it quickly. Nothing is worse than opening a book and seeing that all of the sentences sound like “he said this. He did this. He walked here. He sat there.” That isn’t interesting. I won’t stay. Avoid that. Pieces that borderline someone taking notes on a notepad with lists of description and vague action are draining.

-Your first chapter should hint at the impeding conflict or at least set up some heavy foreshadowing through backstory or what have you. Even the fluffiest of stories have a conflict or desire. Don’t deprive me of that

-keep to the promises you gave in your summary/synopsis. If the summary says something along the lines of “they hate each other.” And the first chapter is more “I know I love him but I hate him,” because you’re trying to establish enemies to lovers, please make the hate real and drag it out at the beginning. On another note, your character shouldn’t have to tell me they love him, I should have to figure that out. Anyway, There’s a difference. Stick to your promises!! Especially in the beginning!!

2. From there on...

-Something always needs to be happening to advance development of the character or plot. Even if there’s a lull in the overarching plot of your tale, this space should be filled with writing that enhances the characters or their relationships. Is that scene of the main couple watching movies on the couch cute? Sure. Does it tell me anything new about them? Not really. But if they had an important conversation that establishes their feelings, or how they reconcile or what have you during that movie, that would enhance development. There’s a difference.

-please don’t rush. I hate nothing more than when I’m reading the book and there’s a nice pace in the beginning out then all of a sudden something happens and the characters/relationship rushed ahead 3 stages without an explanation. I will leave.

-don’t ruin your characters. If you change up their views or essence in the middle of the story, that causes confusion and annoyance. I will leave.

- Your chapters, or in shorter pieces, should end with intrigue. Even if it’s a short story where they live happily ever after, there should still be more for me to wonder about. For instance, I know Cinderella gets with the prince. But there’s still things to think about when it comes to their lives after the fact. That’s why Disney milked it and made like 3 more sequels... even if you don’t believe in all of that “left up to your interpretation” bs that rules a lot of the darker stories I see today, you should leave just enough for me to wonder. That works especially well at the end of chapters. It gives me a reason to stay and turn the page. It’s that build of suspense and wonderment that keeps people.

-when you’re writing, try to find your “thing.” Everyone has something that makes them unique. Once you find that little quirk, play up on it. Readers can usually point it out too, and it makes them want to stay in order to see more of it. For example, a lot of what makes my fanfics readable is I have a few things that have come staples for me. I’m good at one liners, and my humor gets people. Not only that, but I hide little things in all of my longer stories. The number 27. The time 11:57. Putting the line “I can assure you, I am not little,” has become an inside joke between some of my readers because I add it in like every fic to see if people catch it. These are little things you can hide throughout your work.

-don’t reveal all your cards too soon. Make your characters, and your readers, work for that satisfying ending even if they know it’s coming. It’s the other elements along with the plot that make people stay. Don’t spend all your time focusing on just linear plot points to get from start to finish. I need more than that to stay.

I know this list wasn’t very concise, but I hope it helps! For those of you publishing on platforms such as Wattpad or ao3, all of these apply, along with interaction!! Ask questions at the end of chapters! Respond to comments! Get people coming back :)

#writing ideas #writing advice #writing critique #writing community #writing life #creative writing #writers #writer #writing #editing advice #editing #editor #readers #plot

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Things I’ve learned from my College Creative Writing Classes

I should warn you that this post isn’t going to a list full of tips and helpful tricks I learned, because creative writing classes don’t teach you how to write. I did however, learn a lot about myself as a reader and a writer.

1. You will probably feel inadequate

Maybe this is such a bad way to start off, but yeah that was one of my first thoughts. Whether you have a writing circle of friends or not, chances are you’ve never been around people with such different levels of experience in such different genres of writing before. It’s daunting. And you’re all put in a class together, convincing yourself you’re writing your best work to improve when secretly, you’re also just trying to prove you deserve to be there, that you’re just as good as everybody else if not better.

This was especially true for me, since I was the only freshman among a class of juniors and seniors. Then there’s the fact that writers in real life tend to invalidate me as a fanfic writer (which is a whole different story worthy of its own post).

2. Other writers may not be as supportive or welcoming as you’re used to

Since I’ve grown up writing on the internet, I’ve rarely experienced anything but support. Meeting some of the people in my classes made me realize why some writers get bad reps of being... egotistical. We’ll go with that.

I’ve had classmates who refuse to take criticism, who believe their words are the gospel. I’ve had classmates who love to give out harsh critiques, but never give out compliments. I’ve had classmates who refuse to give critiques to certain people besides a few off handed comments in order to get participation points.

No joke, this one a*shole in my class gave these long winded critiques to everyone else in my class with vocabulary such as “your words were mellifluous like the ocean, very [name drop author here] style and simple like honey.” But for one of my stories, he went out of his way to comment, “this was pretty well thought out for something written on your phone.”

WHAT?? What does my preferred method of typing have to do with—

You just have to let it go. Petty comments like those don’t reflect your writing.

3. Criticism: less doesn’t always mean good

Workshops are brutal but helpful for a number of reasons. You get crucial feedback, and the bad feedback helps you build a thicker skin.

This has to do with my next point, but a lot of times my classmates would bash things they didn’t consider “intellectual” or “deep enough” which honestly, pissed me off.

I don’t know if college kids in America are just obsessed with proving how smart and woke they are, or if maybe this is another writer stereotype, but if you weren’t writing about how capitalism sucks or analyazing philosophy, your work wasn’t as appreciated as some other “elevated” pieces with buzzwords like “global warming,” “depression,” and “eat the rich.”

Some of the writers in my classes got away with receiving little to no helpful critiques because they insisted of writing about topics people were too afraid to critique on due to not wanting to seem stupid for not getting it, or controversial for not agreeing with their views. That doesn’t mean their piece was better. Less feedback doesn’t always mean perfect. Take it as a compliment if people can understand your message clearly enough to give you useful feedback. Critiques don’t mean your work isn’t any less good.

4. Everyone has an audience. Don’t change your style if the people critiquing you don’t fit yours.

Just because Brandon is interested in biblical archetypes doesn’t mean you have to stop writing sci-fi. Don’t feel like you should change what you write about because other people don’t find it as “beneficial” as their own work. This is something I really struggled with in one of my classes.

Don’t feel the need to make yourself “deeper” or even “dumb yourself down.” If your story is about buying a gift for your grandmother, keep it that way. Don’t feel the need to make the gift a metaphor for accepting her impending death in a society where life is less valuable than monetary possessions. And you think I’m exaggerating, but these are legitimate suggestions I’ve heard.

Someone will want to read about your grandmother’s gift. It may not be sleep deprived college students who want to bring down the government, but it will be someone.

While this was a little discouraging to see, it only made me grow more confident in my style and voice. Even though I wrote stories about breakups and cross country volleyball games through the mail, nobody could deny that my writing was good. It just wasn’t for them.

5. Not all feedback is helpful

It’s okay not to take feedback you don’t agree with. You learn after a while which advice to take, and which advice you shouldn’t. Don’t feel like you should buff up your piece with metaphor because the guy who wears a satchel and dress shoes to class everyday says so. Don’t be afraid to take suggestions that challenge you, but know your style and your vision. Sometimes things can be straightforward. Not every piece you read needs to be a puzzle.

I learned a lot about the kind of writer and reader I am. I learned my strengths, weaknesses, and what I dislike in some of my peers approaches to writing and reading. I’ve met some great people in the writing community in real life, but a lot of bad. That only encourages me to set the sample I want to see more of. It also re-established the idea that I need to have more confidence in my own work, because clearly other people aren’t so willing to do it for me.

The writing world is a lot more competitive than I thought. It can sometimes do more damage to your creativity than good. Don’t let it stop you from achieving what you want to achieve. Let it push you, let other people’s achievements inspire you. That’s all you can do.

#critiques #writing criticism #writing critique #creative writing #college classes #writer #writing tips #writing ideas #writing #writing community #writing life

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Writing Opening Scenes

I’m going to be real honest with you, this really depends on circumstance for me and even then, stylistically, I usually steer toward a certain pattern. And disclaimer, it’s a little hard for me to express exactly how I do what I do in terms of writing, but I promise I know what I’m doing (sometimes). Nevertheless, I hope this helps as a general overview!

1. Setting

Let’s start here, the basics. It’s always important to establish the setting, and the easiest way to do this is right off the bat in the beginning. I think this works especially well when special attention is shown to your description. Using those five senses immerses your reader right away, and helps shape the story/scene. It’s a good go-to, especially when you don’t even know what you’re going to write yet. Diving right into the setting has a way of sparking tons of ideas you wouldn’t have even thought of.

2. Dialogue

I have such a bias toward starting with dialogue. I love dialogue. It’s perfect clickbait. I’ve said this before, but my writing style isn’t very heavy on narration and I tend to skip all of the fluffy descriptions in my first drafts, so spending time cultivating a setting isn’t really my first priority when I sit down to write. My ideas usually come from random lines, jokes, or aspects of my characters’ personalities. This is why dialogue openers work really well for me. If your scene involves a conversation you know you want to write, try starting with it! See where it takes you. Jumping right into the action has a pleasing affect on the page.

3. Action

Speaking of action... movement is a great way to suck a reader into a scene as well. I love opening a new page to see something like “my feet hit the ground running...” it creates intrigue right away. Put the reader directly into whatever is going on. Of course, your scene doesn’t have to be action or adventure heavy to start with an action. Something as simple as “my hands shook with anxiety” is another action that creates interest. It’s a simple start, but helpful to build off of.

4. Background

Be a little wary of this. There’s a difference between adding background and straight up info dumping. Using background to start a scene seems like something that would be more helpful at the beginning of piece rather than a chapter. If you have to start a chapter with a lot of background information, it’s a sign that this information could’ve been given to the reader earlier on. Generally “showing instead of telling” is the golden rule, so if you find yourself writing words upon words of something that happened, you’re probably info dumping. Try writing the scene yourself and see if it makes a difference.

When I suggest starting a scene with background, I mean something more along the lines of “the old country picnic, the town’s one and only annual affair was, as usual, a breeding ground for chaos.” You want to go for light foreshadowing, not intense evidence that shows you’ve done some extensive world building. If you can summarize something in a paragraph that can set up the scene you’re trying to create, then I’d say you’re doing it right.

5. Inner Monologue/Thoughts/Emotion

I’m grouping these together because I want to say it’s the same depending on which POV you write in. I usually write in third person, so the narrator describes thoughts and emotions whereas, if it were first person, the mc’s inner voice would describe these things. I’ve read so many writing tips that strictly advise against saying things like “she was sad,” or “he was anxious” because it’s “telling instead of showing” but I’m going to be honest with you...

She was sad. But sad couldn’t quiet describe it. Sad was surface level, a quick attempt at trying to characterize the pit growing at the bottom of her stomach and the hole digging itself into her broken heart.

So I don’t know “writing tips,” you try to tell me that’s a bad way to start a scene.

My point is, establishing strong emotion in the beginning is another great way to carry the rest of the piece together. It’s a grounding theme that starts momentum.

You can easily do this with thoughts too. Inner monologue is also fun. I don’t write much first person, but if your character is particularly interesting, their thoughts alone are enough to set off a great scene.

There are so many different ways to start a scene, this post could go on and on. Find what compliments you, or try them all out as a writing exercise. See what you can create.

I hope this was at least good advice, per request. As always, writing tips are subjective and not so black and white. If you’re struggling with an opening scene, skip it and come back to it at the end. Don’t let it stop you from writing at all. It’ll come to you eventually :)

#writing tips #writing advice #writing #writers #writer #writing ideas #opening scene

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My Quick (not really) Editing Process

I’m calling this “quick” based on the kind of editing I’m doing. Since I publish chapters as I go, and write as I go, this editing technique isn’t as in depth as it would be for someone writing a novel or a short story. I’m not dealing with plot holes, outlining, themes, or character motives and such. This editing is more surface level and deals with grammar/style choices within a single chapter or contained piece of work. That being said, this might not work for everyone.

My process is around 10 steps. So yeah not quick at all, but I swear by it.

Step One: Grammar/Spelling

Obviously. Can’t do anything if you can’t read it. It’s the most meticulous part of editing in my opinion, but clearly important. Going into how I edit grammar could be a whole different post, so I’m not going to go into it. Grammar for me includes some light phrasing as well.

Step Two: Grammar/Spelling in a different font, platform, or view

This is going to sound so weird but it works. I’m telling you, if you think you found all of those mistakes in step one you didn’t. That’s because you’ve probably read it so many times, and your eyes have adjusted so much to the document, that you won’t be able to pick out common slip ups. Switching the font helps. Since I write on my phone I usually just take my work and copy it into my notes app. Times New Roman to Helvetica isn’t necessarily a drastic shift, but it does the job.

Step Three: Info Dumps/Time Skips

I’m really guilty of this. Especially on my first draft it’s sort of like “here’s all the information right here” and it’s not done gracefully at all. Good thing about info dumps is that they’re really easy to spot. My particular style of writing isn’t really heavy on narration, so for me it’s really obvious where info dumps are because it’s just huge chunks in the middle of the page. Find these and find ways to weave the information through naturally. It could be in between dialogue or over a period of time. Before that though, figure out if the information is even necessary.

Time skips are fun. I use them way too much. I love using *** in the middle of a page. It’s a habit I’ve picked up from fanfiction, and instead of learning how to develop transitions smoothly I’ve used it as a cop out. Try not to rely on them so much. Sometimes a descent transition between the time skip can just be a matter of filling in what happened with certain words. Something like “the sun fell and the sky turned black” instead of *scene finishes* [time skip] *new scene begins*.

Step Four: Repetition/word choice

Repeating words, repeating actions, repeating themes (in a bad way). Scope out all of this. How many times did your character smile before doing something else? Change it up. Did your character just say something in dialogue that was already said in narration? Change it up. How many times did you use the same word for “walked.” Change it up. This kind of goes hand in hand with word choice, but on a basic level. I don’t like seeing the same word repeated in my sentences back to back. I will come up for another name for a common word just to avoid having the word repeat back to back. My most recent example of this is when I ended a sentence with “record player” and started the sentence right after that with “the music machine.” This could just be an extreme pet peeve of mine? But I think it’s a good habit. I’m not telling you to describe a car as a “4 passenger automobile,” but if you can pull something off with eloquence, do it.

After you get the basics out of the way, play around with word choice. Is there something that can be described better? Is there a stronger word you can use to get your message across? Can you say the same message in fewer words? This is more about style.

Step Five: Details!!

As a writer, I don’t focus on details within my setting enough. As a reader, I quite honestly skip over all of that. I like to get to the point. I’ve never really cared much for beautiful prose that describes the skyline for a whole page. That’s just how I read, therefore I skip over details in my setting a lot. There should be a balance between the two. A lot of my editing means going back and filling in setting details, establishing those five senses in the beginning and drawing attention to them when relevant again.

Step Six: Structure/Phrasing

I mentioned doing a little bit of editing with phrasing during the grammar section. This is more in depth. This section is very objective and stylistic. Here is where I mess around with sentences. I butcher them, elongate them, and make them look pretty. “He grabbed the ticket and put it down,” turns into, “With a sigh, he snatched up the ticket and tossed it onto the table as if it were meaningless.” I look at my neighboring sentences and how they’re structured, then try to add variation. Instead of “he [verb], he [verb], he [verb],” it becomes “he [verb], with [emotion] he [verb], while [past participle] he [verb].” It’s simple things like this that add elevation.

Besides sentence structure, I look at how the chapter is structured. Would something here make sense somewhere else? How can I make these sections flow better? Is this part really needed at all?

Step Seven: Keep Things in Canon

Make sure you characters keep in character, and keep your details consistent. If there was a dog in chapter three, don’t act like it doesn’t exist in chapter seven. This sounds pretty self explanatory but I’m so guilty of just dropping random characters or adding new details to the plot when it’s convenient to me. This is something that could be easily be avoided while editing a story in general, but since I publish as I go, I’m prone to stupid mistakes like this.

Step Eight: Take a break and come back

Generally, I don’t even start editing until I’ve taken at least a day away from it after writing. After I finish doing all of these other steps, I take at least another day or two away from it. Then I edit again. Yes, I really go through these steps AGAIN. And I STILL find things I want to correct. Even after I publish it, thinking it’s sound, I still see mistakes I didn’t manage to pick up on through this entire process. I’m convinced that’s just how it goes.

Bottom line, good self-editing comes from really knowing your strengths and weaknesses. My process is more fine tuned because I know what needs to be improved on, and I know what doesn’t need much work.

Feel free to give this a try! A lot of effort should go into making sure your piece is the best it can be.

(It would be ironic if this had typos in it.)

#writing advice #writing #writers #written #editing #editing advice #writing tips

[distressindisguise]

Can somebody please start a Jarchie group chat on here I need it. I’m deprived and since I don’t watch the show anymore I cant keep up with the ship as well as I’d like 😭

#riverdale #archie andrews #jughead jones #jarchie

[distressindisguise]

Tohru wanting Kyou to let her help him, too.