jailforwriter

[jailforwriter]

Symbolism Associated With Flowers For Writers

Acacia: Since ancient times, acacia has been associated with purity and innocence. It is also a symbol of resurrection and new beginnings.

Amaryllis: Amaryllis is a symbol of passion and desire. It is also associated with strength and courage.

Anemone: Anemone is a symbol of grief and sorrow. It is also associated with hope and new beginnings.

Azalea: Azalea is a symbol of love, passion, and desire. It is also associated with beauty and elegance.

Carnation: Carnation is a symbol of love, affection, and appreciation. It is also associated with motherhood and childbirth.

Chrysanthemum: Chrysanthemum is a symbol of longevity, happiness, and good luck. It is also associated with death and mourning.

Daisy: Daisy is a symbol of innocence, purity, and simplicity. It is also associated with childhood and new beginnings.

Delphinium: Delphinium is a symbol of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. It is also associated with royalty and nobility

Frangipani: Frangipani is a symbol of love, passion, and desire. It is also associated with beauty and elegance.

Gardenia: Gardenia is a symbol of purity, innocence, and grace. It is also associated with love and admiration.

Gerbera Daisy: Gerbera daisy is a symbol of new beginnings, happiness, and joy. It is also associated with optimism and hope.

Hyacinth: Hyacinth is a symbol of love, passion, and desire. It is also associated with grief and sorrow.

Iris: Iris is a symbol of faith, hope, and wisdom. It is also associated with royalty and nobility.

Lily: Lily is a symbol of purity, innocence, and chastity. It is also associated with resurrection and new beginnings.

Lily of the Valley: Lily of the valley is a symbol of purity, innocence, and sweetness. It is also associated with new beginnings and springtime.

Magnolia: Magnolia is a symbol of love, beauty, and elegance. It is also associated with femininity and motherhood.

Orchid: Orchid is a symbol of love, passion, and desire. It is also associated with beauty, rarity, and luxury.

Rose: Rose is the most popular flower in the world and has a wide range of symbolism. It can symbolize love, passion, desire, beauty, romance, friendship, gratitude, and respect.

Tulip: Tulip is a symbol of love, passion, and desire. It is also associated with springtime and new beginnings.

Why Symbolism With Flowers Is Important For Writers

Flowers can be used to foreshadow events or themes in a story. For example, a writer might use a white rose to foreshadow a character's death, or a red rose to foreshadow a romantic encounter.

Flowers can be used to represent characters' emotions or motivations. For example, a character who is feeling sad might be described as holding a wilted flower, or a character who is feeling passionate might be described as surrounded by roses.

Flowers can be used to create symbolism that is specific to a particular culture or region. For example, in some cultures, the lotus flower is a symbol of purity and enlightenment, while in other cultures, it is a symbol of death and rebirth.

#YES #flower symbolism supremacy!! #nothing better than channeling your inner elizabethan/victorian/edwardian and going wild with the subtext imo #an artform i refuse to let die

[jailforwriter]

writers should be given honorary medical degrees imo because at this point i genuinely believe i know more about the physiological effects of slowly bleeding out from a concealed stab wound than your average physician

#i mean this with the utmost respect for hard-working medical professionals #por favor no me funen #(that's spanish for please don't put me on blast) #writeblr #writing #writing memes #writer humor #writer memes

[jailforwriter]

If you want to write a dumb little story with a dumb little plot and ridiculously silly characters. No one's stopping you. Genuinely, no one should be allowed to stop you. Write that dumb story with your whole heart and don't hold back.

#YES #and also there are many resources out there to help you in your dumb little story writing quest! #and even then it doesn't need to be perfect #it just needs to be and that's good enough!

[jailforwriter]

I think the closest thing I‘ll ever accept as a proof of god‘s existence are fix-it fanfictions. Jesus sounds great and all - but have you ever had a post canon fanfic that was so well written that it sounded like it was actually canon and you felt as if all your wounds were suddenly healed?? THAT‘S a religious experience if there ever was one, if you ask me.

#i'm really tired rn and i accidentally read this as jesus himself being fix it fanfiction for the bible lmao #which i'd bet some karaite jewish people might be inclined to agree with #RESPECTFULLY i meant that as a joke and so so respectfully please don't yell at me

[jailforwriter]

#this paragraph is a sin against the english language and the semicolon is here to facilitate it #if i wasn't meant to use them then why do they have their own little button in the keyboard hmm? #why are they not relegated to the periphery of importance like < and &? checkmate #writeblr #writing #writing community #writing memes

[jailforwriter]

Getting inspired to write is actually really easy! All you need to do is be the busiest you've ever been in your entire life and as far away from a computer as humanly possible. Hope this helps 🥰

#i just know the guys in the titan sub suddenly remembered all their abandoned wips and felt real crushed about it #writeblr #writing #writing inspiration #writing inspo #writing community #writing memes #writing humor #writing problems

[jailforwriter]

The Oracle (and why prophesy in storytelling doesn't have to suck)

You know what most people hate to see in their Fantasy stories? Prophesy. You know what's really fun to pick apart and analyze and makes for some delicious dramatic irony when handled properly? Prophesy.

How come? Well, for one, The Chosen One trope is a little overused. Readers tire of it quite quickly nowadays. Does that mean that it's bad and you should avoid it at all costs? Haha no. We're not Sith. We don't deal in absolutes. What it does mean is that you'll have to get really clever to justify that choice, narratively speaking, and that even then, some readers might still dislike it on principle. The inevitability of prophesy can often deter from our enjoyment of it, and we run the risk of it falling flat if it's not engaging enough.

Which is why I'm advocating for Prophesy Lite™️ (aka The Oracle character archetype) and its untold engagement potential! This business is no longer about ancient scripture handed down from generation to generation coming to wreck your protagonist's shit (boring). All the wrecking shall henceforth be done by one annoying creep only (fun).

By assigning The Oracle this role, we get to pump them full of all sorts of interesting human quirks, such as being a manipulator who purposefully miscommunicates messages, or being a bad public speaker who accidentally miscommunicates messages. Think the three witches in Macbeth. Either way, we're in for a great deal of misinterpretation and ethical conundrums, neither of which would've been half as fun from an ancient stone slab, now would they?

So what does The Oracle do, exactly?

Tergiversate. Like, everything, all the time. They're there to lead everyone down the wrong path via the three most annoying "s" words: semantics, sophistries, and symbolism (derogatory). They may or may not get high on fumes while doing so, Pythia-style, but there are a handful of things on the job description that they must comply with to qualify for the position:

Know stuff: mystical stuff, not just any stuff. The kind of stuff your character couldn't just find in the library. We're talking divine wisdom and esoteric truths of enlightenment here.

Foretelling: okay, so they know stuff. Now, we need them to make that everyone else's problem. For that, they need to prophesize.

Insight: this is the main reason why we didn't just use a cool ancient rhyme. It's because our dear Oracle can offer their own biased advice – riddled with deceit – and make everything worse.

Enigmatic: they gotta be at least a little weird, okay? They're one with the universe from 9 to 5, there's no way they can just integrate into society whenever they want because we need them to. Bonus points if they talk weirdly, too, so no one quite understands what they mean at any given moment, leading to even more hilarity.

Pals with God (optional): ideally, yes. In practice? Well, just imagine all the fun stuff you could have them do if they're only pretending to be a phone for the Sky People.

Why did this merit a whole human person?

Are you still not convinced that this human being couldn't just have been an email? Fine, let's look at other ways in which they could earn their keep:

Ethical spouting machine: remember how we established that they can introduce their own biased interpretations into their prophecies? Well, they also happen to have a mouth, and can therefore cause great emotional turmoil in your protagonist if they decide to pick their moral compass apart with it.

Manipulable: you thought your protagonist was the only one who could be manipulated? Ha ha. No. Your Big Bad is pulling at the Oracle's strings and they don't even know it! Or do they? Idk man, it's your story. Sounds real interesting though. I'd read that.

Potential allyship: unlike a slab of carved stone, this Oracle may establish cute lil' bonds with your other characters, making whatever you choose to do with them have emotional stakes, and we should always raise the emotional stakes where we can.

People grow: and your Oracle is a people, so we can certainly have them grow better. Or worse. Negative growth is also growth. They're a cool villain waiting to happen, is all I'm gonna say.

Subverting expectations since circa 4000 B.C.: I know Pop Culture has made us hate the term "subverting expectations", but contrary to what Hollywood seems to think, it can be done properly. One such way is via the Oracle, who, if we write them that way, can be less ominous and more babygirl. They maybe even down to help our protagonist avoid what should've been an unavoidable fate.

There you go! You can have your proverbial cake and eat it, too, so long as you make that cake (prophesy) very intricate and its baker (prophet) a little wacky. Thanks for reading!

Happy writing!

#writeblr #writing #writing advice #writing community #writing tips #character archetypes #the oracle

[jailforwriter]

#that last one may only apply to me but hey lmao #writeblr #writing #writing things #writer memes #writer problems #writer humor

[jailforwriter]

#feeling very validated in this chili's tonight

[jailforwriter]

There's no word that doesn't automatically become ten times sexier with a "be" before it. Moan? Bland, whiny, commands no respect. Bemoan? Catchy, has panache, everyone at the dinner party thinks you're a vampire (sexy by default).

#and yeah i know that some of them change meaning radically when you do that #but do i care? #no #i wanna say bequeath and beget and bespoke and befall and betwixt and befog and besmirch and bepraise and besot and befuddle and belove and #i need us all as a community to normalize using these words because how else am i to say befurbelowed and not get kicked out of chili's?? #PLEASE #writing memes #writing #writeblr

[jailforwriter]

Today we're looking at...

Okay, so, there are about as many plotting devices as there are writers out there. We all have different bits and pieces of advice that work for us and our stories, and since storytelling is inherently versatile, I'm afraid that this is a "no one method serves all" kinda deal. So... thanks for stopping by, catch you next time! 😘

HA, GOTCHA. Sit back down, please. There's a "however" coming.

However, most outlining practices come down to the same few plot beats that narratives must usually hit to keep the pacing tight, the characters developed, and the audience from pulling out the pitchforks.

One such method is 3 Act Structure. Yes, the very one you've already heard all about – it is widely popular, and for good reason! It's an effective way of arranging our fake little people doing their fake little stuff, but like, satisfyingly. It's through outlining that we make sure we didn't just ramble on for 400 pages, boring the reader to tears. A lot of times, when we think of a novel as being "badly written" (or, as I once saw someone describe The Metamorphosis by Kafka: "wtf"), we don't just mean that the prose itself was bad, but that the actual core of the narrative (what happens, in what way, and because of whose fuckery) was... well, wtf.

Now, believe it or not, I'm a corny soul with a bleeding heart, so I wanna help you be a little less lost in the tumultuous waters of the plotting sea. The waves of pacing and development do not need to wreck your boat, mate. To this end, I shall attempt to impress upon you the specific configuration of 3 Act Structure methods that I, Tumblr user jailforwriter – who is NOT an authority on any topic, making this post NOT legally binding – think works best.

Without further ado, we're looking at how each Act is subdivided into six subcategories, starting with Stage 1 of Act 1.

Act 1

Firstly, let's look at an overview of what needs to happen in roughly the first 25% of your novel. This section is all about introductions and setup: of the main players, the world, the stakes, the obstacles, and the themes. Chances are you're already clear about what'll happen in this section, because we humans are generally pretty good at beginnings and ends and pretty bad at everything in-between (see: The Roman Empire).

One thing to note here is that, while a lot of exposition will naturally happen at this stage, we must valiantly fend off the Frank Herbert-shaped demon on our shoulder telling us to take up three pages describing hyperspace travel. And it's not that we can never describe it – it's that it needs to be relevant and not detract from the tension, which exists in a fine balance between worldbuilding and action upset by the merest suggestion of power converters. But don't worry, I know that doesn't actually tell you much, which is why I'll go into further detail in another post, the sneaky devil that I am.

With that out of the way, let's delve a bit deeper and look at Stage 1.

Stage 1: Living My Truth

Well, not my truth. Your character's truth. Let's play a little game: reach for a novel right now and read the very first page, if you would. Unless it's a dream sequence or a flashforward/back or something wacky like that, chances are your protagonist is just hanging out in their world, doing their thing. This is called the Status Quo.

Oftentimes, the story will begin at a particularly crummy day for your protagonist, and they may or may not know why, and may or may not be aware that their life is about to go places. Bad places, for the most part, but places.

Let's look at an example. (*SPOILERS* for the beginning of the The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins).

In The Hunger Games, we open on Reaping Day, which sucks unfathomably for a lot of reasons. But Katniss knows about it, and that will affect the flow of information from her to us. What she does not know, however, is that her sister is about to be handpicked for a deathmatch, meaning that she doesn't know her life is about to change, which puts a crafty little asterisk in the way she's been conveying information to us so far and shakes everything up deliciously.

In this case, it's the author's job to get us up to speed on all the information relevant to understanding Katniss' situation without overwhelming us. Now, nothing exists in a vacuum, so it's worth noting that the audience will likely come with some preinstalled notion of what a dystopia is, so it's alright to leave certain details up to interpretation if it means not bombarding us with exposition.

Let's now look at a different example. (*SPOILERS* for the beginning of The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang).

In The Poppy War, the story opens with Rin having no clue that she's about to be sold off to be married, and the events from that point onward unfold as a direct result of her deciding that she ain't about that life, actually, and that she intends to do something about it.

In this case, we're as clueless as Rin walking into this situation, and while it's still the author's job to ensure we're not completely lost, there's a bit more leniency in how to go about it, since Rin is stumbling through the scene alongside us. She's learning the stakes, too, and the stakes suck so bad we instantly understand her urge to get the hell outta dodge.

Finally, if you permit, I'm afraid that I must be cringe and use an example from my own WIP, not because I think it's better than a published novel or really even close to it, but because my brain is fried from working on it and it's an easy-made example for what I want to discuss.

In The Paradox of Nonchoice, Nahia is well aware that she's about to walk into an exam, and that her future (and her family's, to an extent) depends on how well she performs in it. The focus of this scene is in getting across what the audience needs to know in terms of worldbuilding and stakes, which, in this case, are most important for understanding what's happening and why we should, y' know, care.

In this case, the tension is directly impacted by the protagonist's actions. The dynamic, along with the flow of information, is much more one-sided here, as there is no mystery being revealed to Nahia, or to us. In such instances – where we as authors control the narrative more closely – it's crucial that we ensure the stakes are clear and the consequences sucky.

Okay, so what can we get out of these examples, then? Well, for one, that there's a handful of things that Stage 1 of Act 1 needs to cover if we want things to flow naturally. Let's list them so we can refer back to these whenever we need:

Introduce the main character: the more, well, character that you can imprint upon the page in the first couple scenes, the better. The audience will be more likely to want to follow them if they find them interesting, or think that they stand out, somehow.

Introduce the world: and what's most immediately relevant for the audience to understand in order to follow along. We can reveal little morsels of worldbuilding throughout the rest of Act 1, so don't feel pressured to stick everything into Stage 1.

Background: some background details may be important for the audience to know as the first few scenes unfold and they get to know the characters and setting. For instance, it's okay to let us know that your protagonist hates makeovers if they're suddenly thrust into Queer Eye as their new mystery contestant.

Tone and atmosphere: this is crucial. The first few scenes should reflect the tone of the rest of the book (i.e. don't make the first scene hilarious if the rest of the novel is going to be an abject tragedy. The reader will feel scammed, I promise). Same goes for establishing atmosphere, with the caveat that you can sometimes play with it to subvert expectations or otherwise get a point across. I wouldn't recommend doing it right off the bat, though.

Themes: I cannot stress this enough: your themes will make your story! There is an absolute encyclopedia to be written about themes, and I will go into it with the fine-toothed comb it deserves in the future, but just know that your first scene needs to get across your themes. That's the core of your story! It matters!

Foreshadowing: listen, there's a reason they say you should write your first scene last. You need to be foreshadowing the events of the climax from the very beginning – this is part of the "setup" stuff we've discussed for Stage 1. Again, I'll be going into detail regarding foreshadowing as part of the Symbolism series, so please hang on tight if you're not sure how to go about it!

Finally, it's worth noting that there are cryptids who fly by with their galaxy brains and insane improv abilities as their only guide, having never once needed a word of plot structure advice yet still making it work, somehow. We'll delve into this "discovery writing" stuff later, to cover all our bases, but I just want to say, if you are a discovery writer reading this... how does it feel to know that you're God's favorite? Do you think She looks upon you with pride, and us disdain? Food for thought.

Anyway, that's it for now, thanks for sticking around for the long post!

Happy writing!

#writeblr #writing advice #writing tips #writing #plot structure

[jailforwriter]

It's time for...

Look, I'll be honest with you. Nothing makes me go feral over a book faster than picking up on a bit of clever symbolism. This hand-rubbing, cunning little storytelling shortcut can really make a difference between a book you enjoyed, and one you cannot sandpaper off the grooves of your brain. In many ways, it's a sneaky bit of puzzle-solving that the author tucked under the rug of the main text for us to find, and yeah, engaging with it takes a bit of getting on your knees and dusting, but boy are those proverbial allergies satisfying!

Hopefully by the end of these series you'll love this device as much as I do, so let's get into it!

What's symbolism?

Okay, right off the bat, I have to warn you that symbolism exists in the nebulous realm of things that take some thought to like, proper get, but we as writers thrive in places where we get to dissect and interpret complex stuff, so don't worry too much.

Now, a symbol could be an object, a place, a character, an action – so long as it represents something other than their literal meaning, it's the double-agent of literature: a symbol. We come across some of the most common ones pretty often, even in daily life. Suffice to walk by a flower shop and see a red rose for it to recall romantic attraction; whether we personally have an interest in it or not, the image still sparked the thought. That's the power of association, and just this once, it's here to help.

We can use those associations on a smaller scale to add layers of depth and evoke more complex ideas in our stories – like themes and messages – without needing to spell them out. In that way, we're ergonomically inviting the reader to solve our hidden puzzle (engage with the narrative on a different level) and get a little treat for it (a deeper understanding of the story's themes and messages, yummy!).

Types of symbolism

There are no hard and fast categories for the kinds of symbolisms we might come across in media, which really means that there are so many that we can get a bit liberal in our sorting criteria. As a scientist, this hurts my soul. As a writer, however? Let's get biased! Personally, I like to look at them this way:

Objects: one of the clearest ways to express many things in one. For instance, think of a pocket watch. Yes, it symbolizes the passage of time, but what else could we add onto it to say even more? Maybe the watch is worn, reflecting on the character's old struggle with reconciling the inevitability of aging and its inexorable march toward death (joy!). Maybe it starts ticking erratically at some point, paralleling the character's own mental instability. Maybe they decide to break it in the end, symbolizing them finally freeing themselves from time's constraints and their obsessive preoccupation over aging. We can get creative here!

Animals: these we often get from cultural exposure. For instance, someone interested in Greek mythology might see an owl and immediately think of wisdom – not necessarily because of any inherent attributes to the owl itself (although there's some interesting discussions to be had about where the association came from in the first place!) but because it's been drilled into them through history and repetition.

Characters: let's take it up a notch. What if we have a character who embodies, for instance, something antithetical to our protagonist? Who questions their values and challenges their worldview by mere dint of existing? What if our protagonist, Johnny Apple-Lover, comes across our antagonist, Lenny Apple-Hater? What happens when they interact? Characters may embody archetypes or have certain attributes that, juxtaposed to those of other characters, say a lot of interesting things about them. (Deep dives about this particular topic to come!).

Settings: this is your classic "ye olde manor existed in a state of perennial darkness, engulfed by the shadows of the thunderclouds above, through which nary a sunray ever ventured" business. Gloomy weather in a dark forest tends to evoke a desire not to go there, while a flowery, sunny meadow seems more like a place where you'd wanna hang out (please disregard if you're a vampire...and also hmu). This allows for some interesting subversions of expectations, in some cases, and we'll look into those a bit more later down the line.

Actions: actions (and lack thereof) can function as a fantastic substitution for directly stating a thought, and may add onto theme without needing to overexplain it by throwing up a mirror to the character's state of mind. For instance, a character opening a bird's cage and urging them out might symbolize their appreciation for their own freedom, particularly if they have resisted doing so throughout the book for fear of its consequences. Double-points for including animal symbolism, too! You'll find that a lot of the best symbolism exists at the junctions of all these categories, so don't be afraid to get creative with the combinations.

Colors: stop me if you've heard this before: red means angry, blue means sad, green means envious...yeah, so on and so forth. This is a straightforward method of conveying deeper meaning that goes hand in hand with symbolic objects, and can cast them and the characters who interact with them in a new, more exciting light. Speaking of lights, here's an example: what if Gatsby's was red instead of green? Suddenly, the entire message changes. It's no longer the green of money, nor of "go", but may now symbolize the red of violence and of "stop". We can extrapolate a lot from a little change, and therein lies the beauty of this literary device.

It's worth noting that other people may break down symbolism as it pertains to its effect on the reader, or give particular credence to religious symbolism as its own category, or focus on thematic relevance and imagery as their own types. I've based my breakdown on what I feel most accurately represent the tools we as writers need in our toolbox, and have tried to make them as easily accessible as I can. Hopefully it's not too convoluted!

In the next part, we'll focus on how symbolism differs from allegory, simile and metaphor by looking into some specific examples, and we'll also discuss why it's important to be a little picky and careful with the kinds of symbolisms we use in our work. I look forward to seeing you all there, thanks for sticking around!

Happy writing!

#writeblr #writing advice #writing tips #writing tools #writing #writing community #symbols

[jailforwriter]

Alright, let's tackle this...

So, here's the thing. This piece of advice is my nemesis. This piece of advice has led me down many a dark road, full of bloated and unnecessary descriptions of gestures and expressions and people sighing so much their lungs should've rightly collapsed. And it's not because it's bad advice per se – in fact, it can be, dare I say...really good? Only sometimes, though. It's a bit complicated, so let's get into it!

"Show, don't tell" is fantastic for new writers. It's shorthand for "you're not reciting a textbook on new and exciting synonyms for the word 'sad'." And it's absolutely true – you should, ideally, delve a bit deeper than that. Firstly, let's look at what it's good for:

Experience and connection: a vivid description of the pinks and purples of dusk, "as though flower petals scattered across a starry pond", is certainly more effective at evoking emotion than just saying that the sunset was pretty. Chances are the reader has seen a sunset like that at some point and can therefore extrapolate some emotion from the awe they felt in that moment. And if nothing else, it'll engage their senses enough for them to paint a pretty mental picture, which puts the reader in the driving seat for a bit. Hopefully they weren't falling asleep, but hey, it happens, so make 'em work a bit!

Immersive and dynamic: look, if you tell me that the monster's gaping maw – full of jagged, razor-sharp teeth filed to bloody points – snapped closer to your protagonist's face, wafting a rotten, coppery stench into their eyes that made them water, I will 100% feel more uncomfortable than if you told me that the monster was scary and wanted a snack. This technique can be particularly effective when it comes to building tension and the emotions that come with it, as it can foster a sort of chumminess between the reader and the character (not ideal when a monster's about to get them, but we made the reader care, so...checkmate).

Avoids exposition: ah, yes. The dreaded "e" word, only minutely edged out by the word "exam", capable of evoking the kind of budding horror that we as writers have to work hard to get across on-page. Basically, since you aren't just relying information like rattling off a shopping list, you're going to retain the reader's attention more efficiently and, hopefully, be more mindful about what does and doesn't need to be on the page. Listen, I hate this just as much as you do, but rambling will kill the narrative mega-dead.

"But Tumblr user jailforwriter," I hear you say, "doesn't that mean that 'show, don't tell' is actually really good?"

Yes. Kinda. Again, complicated. For now, let's look at the other side of the coin: the reasons why this piece of otherwise fantastic advice can be misconstrued and completely wreck your shit.

Oops, All Description: look at you! You got so good at description and implication that, instead of plainly conveying that a tertiary character with no long-lasting impact on the plot is a snake-handler, you now have three pages of this dude buying frozen mice at the pet store and treating all the bite marks on his arms. And yes, that can be fantastic – when it's relevant. Otherwise, it'll read like filler and drag the pacing through the mud. It takes a little bit of discernment to figure out when all that detail is important and when just saying "he handled snakes" suffices, but that's part of the process, babey 😎. (Don't despair, though. As we continue to demystify it, it'll become clearer, I promise!).

Vagueness and confusion: you know your story. I know you know your story. You know every little detail inside out and how it impacts the plot. Unfortunately, 100% of readers are not, in fact, you, dear reader. Aside from the cruel reality that I cannot body-swap with someone who owns a cat whenever I want, the other main issue with this is that we may not be expressing what we think we're expressing, pretty much ever. When we over-describe and avoid stating things plainly as a rule, the reader will have to interpret a whole lot of stuff, which can get to be too vague and confusing when they, through no fault of their own, arrive at the Wrong Place. And I'm pro-girlboss gaslighting in books, absolutely, but only when it's narratively resonant and not an accident (lol).

Length and lack of variety: AKA "shucks, I've already described the sun as everything from a painting to a bruise twenty times, what now? Ah, I know! Unnecessarily lengthy and contrived metaphors!". Nope. Not the way to go, my guy. We've all shoehorned our fair share of metaphors in places they oughtn't be (don't lie to me, I'm under your bed) but chances are, if it's happening too often, it's time to include some plain ol' telling the reader what's UP. It'll shake up the prose, too, which again, might just wake them up a bit.

So, yep. You know what's up. It's that "balance and moderation" stuff your parents failed at drilling into you, but that you nonetheless learned after getting a tummy ache from eating a whole family-sized bag of M&M'S at 3 A.M. (As an aside, experience is the best teacher, particularly when the experience in question sucked ass, so there's another reason to make your readers experience emotion rather than telling them how to feel!).

To conclude: "show, don't tell" is a matter of perspective and discernment, which yes, is a copout, but to that I say: how dare you say something with the word "cop" in it to me? Yuck ew.

Happy writing!

#writeblr #writing advice #writing #writing tips #writerscommunity

[jailforwriter]

Hey, good lookin'!

Greetings and salutations, fellow word-arranger! I see that you also enjoy the art of reshuffling letters until they spell out cool stuff. That sounds like a pretty solid basis for a friendship, hmm...

This is a little nook for all things writing! It covers everything from tips and book reviews to the very backbone of society (memes, duh). The aim here is to build a nice community and foster friendships and support and all of that good stuff. Writing can be pretty lonely, so let's make it a little less so!

About me

Hey, I'm Alai. I'm a queer Venezuelan girly, mid-20's, looking to become more active in the writeblr community. Some of my other interests include philosophy, Greek mythology, all sciences (I have an Honors degree in Laboratory Medicine!) and everything to do with the Classics.

My focus is on fantasy and queer romance, but I'm open to all sorts of genres and do very much read other stuff on the reg. Also really into Sci-Fi, Thrillers, Horror and Literary Fiction.

Most of my work is novel-centric, but I also love reading short stories and poetry and cannot resist a good out context quote lol.

Lover of all things character-driven and morally ambiguous, pyrrhic victories, interpersonal drama, tragic losers doomed by the narrative, and the liberal use of Catholic Guilt™️ as literary garnish.

I'm an only child who once heard that sharing is caring, so please hit me with your best WIP and let's chat about it! We can even hold each other (accountable so we can get it DONE).

WIPs

The Paradox of Nonchoice (Adult Fantasy/Romance)

Summary: Nahia is an angel who, after years of studying human culture and behavior in the heavenly realm of Zion, is finally sent to Earth on her first assignment: to grant the deepest desire of the first person she meets. With the support of her mentor and sisters, along with a promise to reunite with her mother should she succeed, the stage is set for God's newest angel to carry out His word. However, when Nahia learns that her ward – a disillusioned handywoman by the name of Rory – wants something she isn't altogether prepared to give, the indentured angel must decide whose orders to follow: if God's, or her heart's. Note: there's a TON more to this plot, I promise!! But unfortunately, any particulars I may give would constitute an absolutely gargantuan spoiler lol. Tropes: soulmates, forced proximity (kinda if you squint), co-workers to lovers (squint a bit more just trust me lmao), absolutely rancid sibling dynamics, mommy issues, daddy issues, crisis of faith, Everything Is A Lie Nothing Is Sacred, loser women cringefailing, "ah, you're one of them queers", The Catholic Church. TWs: religious trauma, suicide, violence, blood, slight body horror, France (mentioned).

Will be looking for betas and feedback very soon, so please stay tuned! Updates to come on this blog. If anyone's at all interested, any sort of engagement would be very welcomed and appreciated :)

Happy writing!

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