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monstergronk · 3 years

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Writing Arguments Between Characters

– Arguments in books are some of the most pivotal and important scenes in a narrative, but they’re also some of the most difficult because fights, in the moment, can seem much more dramatic in our heads than they would seem to an outsider. The great thing about writing is that you have the option to add context you wouldn’t have otherwise, which puts the reader in the characters’ heads and into the heat of the moment. I decided it was worth an article because it’s a very hit or miss kind of scene to pursue and I’ve received a lot of questions on the subject, so I’d like to answer (most of) them here. Enjoy!

Instigation

Which character began the fight? Sometimes fights start days before they actually turn into a heated argument, so if there is a build up to the scene, make sure you’ve taken the time to make that clear in the last couple scenes or chapters.

Sometimes, it isn’t actually clear to the characters what or who started the argument and it just sort of bubbles up over time or as events make the characters more confused, angry, scared, etc.

That’s another thing you need to know before you start writing an argument: what emotion is driving the characters to participate? Fear? Anger? Confusion? Sadness? Frustration? Tiredness? Repression of past feelings? Betrayal? In order to make the characters argue believably, you need to be in their headspace, and you can only do that if you know why they’re fighting in the first place.

Tone and pace

Build up

In order for an argument to be impactful to the reader, there needs to be some substantial escalation. Fights are like stories. There’s something that starts it, there’s rising tension, there’s a climax, and then there’s a cool down period before the resolution. Focus on the way you do the rising action especially, because the climax of the argument should be an “oh sh*t” moment.

Dialogue & Interraction

There are different types of arguments people can have. There’s the slow burn ones that the reader knows are coming, but are still really jarring when they come to pass. There are also the ones that seem like they’re out of nowhere if you don’t have context, but to someone who has been following maybe the past few days of the two people’s lives, they can tell that the actual subject of conflict isn’t what they’re really fighting about, but a deeper underlying issue they’ve both been struggling with. There are many ways an argument can go and feel to a reader, but a huge part of the subtext is how the two characters interact.

If your characters are screaming about a dish that was put away wet and left a ring on the stained cabinets, it will be fairly obvious to the reader, as that sort of interaction, at surface level, wouldn’t serve much of a story-telling purpose, and therefore will lead the reader to assume there’s more to it and search their arsenal of contextual evidence to find the real source of tension between the characters. This can also be accomplished through clues in dialogue, such as sarcasm in response to when something relating to the actual issue is mentioned, or a lull in the argument when the two characters realize that they’re not really talking about a stupid bowl, are they?

Resolution

How the argument ends could be used to shift where the reader believes the story is going from there on. The end could be very insignificant to your story, as fights between characters are often used to get across some key information about characters or context or introduce new conflicts, which brings up my next point.

Integration

Arguments are a really good opportunity to integrate lots of important information for your reader in a way that shows instead of telling. You can use arguments to relay lots of information to your reader, such as:

Character tendencies

Relationships between characters

Smaller conflicts

Foreshadowing

Associations that will be useful in future scenes

Shifts in tone

Changes in the direction of the story

Underlying issues that might come up later

and many more.

Some General Tips To Keep In Mind

Always ask yourself “would so and so really do this?”

During arguments, people’s responses will often be blended with their reactions. Their face will be shocked and their words will be sharp. Try to include these little mixes in order to make the pace faster and more suspenseful.

Most large arguments start with something smaller and less significant

A lot of the time, the reactions won’t be like “i can’t believe he said that to me”, they’ll be defensive and/or a shot back without much thought.

Most arguments, especially between two characters who generally like each other, will end with something like one person walking out of the room, one person deciding to sleep on the couch, or one person avoiding or ignoring the other. Most fights between characters who know and matter to each other don’t end with a punch in the face.

Arguments don’t usually end when they’re no longer yelling at each other.

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monstergronk · 3 years

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Anyone who knows me, knows that I am extra AF when it comes to things like this, and that’s why the Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions I found online (x, x, x, x) just didn’t cut it for me.

That’s why I put together 841 Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions with a range of categories including (but not limited to): religion, culture, sexuality, war, food, economy, trade, magic, science, technology and death.

I took a lot of these questions from a variety of sources, but also wrote a whole lot of them myself! There’s content warnings for mentions of sexual themes, negative sexual themes, drugs, alcohol etc, but there’s no prompting for any of it, just questions for you to answer in relation to your world!

You can access the questions and copy the document out for your own uses right over here!

If you like what I’m doing here, consider buying me a Ko-fi or you can check out my shiny new Patreon!

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monstergronk · 3 years

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mac and dee have been deprived of affection their whole lives so are constantly desperate for it. bc of dennis and charlie’s childhood trauma with uncle jack and the librarian they’re the opposite - they’re extremely uncomfortable with cuddling and touching. so when dee wraps herself around charlie in the middle of the night, or when mac lays his head on dennis’ lap when they’re watching predator, charlie doesn’t move. he doesn’t attempt to hug her back, and dennis stays completely still too. neither mac nor dee ever expect any different and they would never feel as if they’re owed reciprocation, so when one night charlie tentatively turns his head to place a small kiss on her forehead, or when dennis hesitantly strokes mac’s arm in tiny, featherlight motions with his thumb, mac and dee’s hearts swell with unprecedented appreciation as they realise it’s all they’ll ever need to be enough.

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monstergronk · 3 years

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20 Basic Plots

1. QUEST - the plot involves the Protagonist’s search for a person, place or thing, tangible or intangible (but must be quantifiable, so think of this as a noun; i.e., immortality).

2. ADVENTURE - this plot involves the Protagonist going in search of their fortune, and since fortune is never found at home, the Protagonist goes to search for it somewhere over the rainbow.

3. PURSUIT - this plot literally involves hide-and-seek, one person chasing another.

4. RESCUE - this plot involves the Protagonist searching for someone or something, usually consisting of three main characters - the Protagonist, the Victim & the Antagonist.

5. ESCAPE - plot involves a Protagonist confined against their will who wants to escape (does not include some one trying to escape their personal demons).

6. REVENGE - retaliation by Protagonist or Antagonist against the other for real or imagined injury.

7. THE RIDDLE - plot involves the Protagonist’s search for clues to find the hidden meaning of something in question that is deliberately enigmatic or ambiguous.

8. RIVALRY - plot involves Protagonist competing for same object or goal as another person (their rival).

9. UNDERDOG - plot involves a Protagonist competing for an object or goal that is at a great disadvantage and is faced with overwhelming odds.

10. TEMPTATION - plot involves a Protagonist that for one reason or another is induced or persuaded to do something that is unwise, wrong or immoral.

11. METAMORPHOSIS - this plot involves the physical characteristics of the Protagonist actually changing from one form to another (reflecting their inner psychological identity).

12. TRANSFORMATION - plot involves the process of change in the Protagonist as they journey through a stage of life that moves them from one significant character state to another.

13. MATURATION - plot involves the Protagonist facing a problem that is part of growing up, and from dealing with it, emerging into a state of adulthood (going from innocence to experience).

14. LOVE - plot involves the Protagonist overcoming the obstacles to love that keeps them from consummating (engaging in) true love.

15. FORBIDDEN LOVE - plot involves Protagonist(s) overcoming obstacles created by social mores and taboos to consummate their relationship (and sometimes finding it at too high a price to live with).

16. SACRIFICE - plot involves the Protagonist taking action(s) that is motivated by a higher purpose (concept) such as love, honor, charity or for the sake of humanity.

17. DISCOVERY - plot that is the most character-centered of all, involves the Protagonist having to overcome an upheavel(s) in their life, and thereby discovering something important (and buried) within them a better understanding of life (i.e., better appreciation of their life, a clearer purpose in their life, etc.)

18. WRETCHED EXCESS - plot involves a Protagonist who, either by choice or by accident, pushes the limits of acceptable behavior to the extreme and is forced to deal with the consequences (generally deals with the psychological decline of the character).

19. ASCENSION - rags-to-riches plot deals with the rise (success) of Protagonist due to a dominating character trait that helps them to succeed.

20. DECISION - riches-to-rags plot deals with the fall (destruction) of Protagonist due to dominating character trait that eventually destroys their success.

by Pavel Simakov

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monstergronk · 3 years

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NaNo Prep: A Quick-and-Dirty Guide to Building a Fantasy Religion

We’re deep into NaNo Prep Season, and this week, we’ve asked participants to share their thoughts on how to craft great plots and build immersive worlds. Today, columnist and ten-time participant Dianna Gunn offers three tips for creating an authentic religion in your speculative fiction:

So you’ve decided to write your NaNoWriMo novel in a fantasy world. This is a great idea! Fantasy is only limited by your imagination, and there’s always a sensible way to work in ninjas when you get stuck.

But creating your own world isn’t as easy as it seems, which is probably why you’ve come here seeking aid. After all, it’s almost halfway to November and your planning… well, let’s not talk about the state it’s in, shall we?

I’ve spent an entire decade building worlds at record pace for NaNoWriMo, and I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve. Today, I’ll show you three of the most powerful tricks I’ve learned for quickly building a believable fantasy religion, since religion is a driving force in most fantasy worlds.

Follow these three steps to create a fantasy religion on the fly:

Keep reading

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monstergronk · 3 years

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Hi, I am curious, do you still loving Urie, or the end made you change your mind about him? And also, where do you read Golden Kamuy?

I still love Urie, but definitely a lot less than I did before. The problem here is that all those things I was cheering him on for, all those issues I wanted him to overcome, all those things I wanted him to succeed in, none of it happened. He is still the same job fixated man who can’t get what he wants in life, because he can’t open his mouth. Some man who lives this mediocre life of his, because he is too much of a coward to change. Is this supposed to be a satisfying character arc? Even though the story seemed to be constantly pushing to develop and change, he actually didn’t at all in the end. He just stayed the same as ever except less interesting and entertaining, because he is no longer as salty as he was at the beginning of :re.

The only way in which Urie changed was the fact that he stopped blaming the world, stopped being a loner and started caring about others around him.

But here’s the thing, that was a good step to take in the right direction, but his main issue has always been his fixation on his father. How Urie tries to become like him even though that’s obviously bad and tries to distract himself from his loneliness with work. “You really are just like Mikito” is not a positive development when his father is someone who due to his work abandoned his own son and caused Urie to go though this mess. The entire point of his job fixation always been that it’s bad or did we forget about this?

Urie wasn’t even content with only fixating on his father, he also started fixating on Shirazu so that he can become a squad leader as good as him. It’s not positive development though when Urie’s story has never been an inspirational tale about following your dreams with work, it’s been about how some lonely guy tries to find fulfillment to his life from work unsuccessfully, because it still is not what he truly wants. Even up to the later chapters it kept being brought up

But hey, doesn’t he still have the Qs squad, aren’t they enough of a family for Urie? Actually they’re not as long as they continue to stay at CCG (or was it called TSC now) When he and Saiko were trying to stop Mutsuki on the Dragon, Urie was completely incapable of talking to Mutsuki as their friend, a family member, someone who cares about them or even someone who actually loves them, he only talked about being Mutsuki’s squad leader. This detached approach to the Qs squad continues everywhere and it muddles everything, if Saiko wasn’t there to talk with her true feelings, Mutsuki would’ve probably died. He can’t treat rest of the Qs squad like proper family, someone he spends time with purely because he himself wants to as long as he continues being their superior at work. There’s a reason why people never tend to mix their work and personal life with their loved ones. It’s not like the family is together either since Mutsuki basically left them all for some reason that makes no sense considering the main focus in their character was how lonely they were too.

Urie was offered two paths out of this mess, either leave CCG or try to get together with Mutsuki, perhaps even do both and guess what he did? Neither. I won’t even get into detail about how much I hated what happened to mutsurie, because we’d be here all day, but it’s ridiculous that Ishida put this much time into developing the feelings Urie has for Mutsuki only to show him giving up completely when he finds out that Mutsuki is in love with Kaneki. Even though that was a completely unhealthy self destructive thing and something Mutsuki had to overcome, not a situation where Kaneki and Mutsuki were going to get married or something and Urie himself had to give up and move on. Seriously Ishida, what was the message you were trying to send with this? Unrequited love can make a good story, Karren’s love for Tsukiyama or Takizawa’s love for Akira are good examples even if I hated the ending Taki got in 179 too, but this is not it. Here we have Urie and Mutsuki, two extremely lonely people who just want to love someone and have a family, but for some reason they never get together and continue being lonely forever despite having tons of development for their relationship. Despite there being literally nothing stopping them other than the fact that they just don’t want to take the step even though it clearly is something they should do and it would make them both very happy.

Was the message with both Urie and Mutsuki to be just content with their unsatisfying lives? I feel like that’s not a good message to send, especially when you should always push yourself forward. It would’ve been so easy for Urie to speak up, but he decided not to. All this time after being miserable he decided to give up just like that. How inspirational. This is probably the most unsatisfying character arc I’ve ever had to witness, I would’ve much rather followed Urie falling deeper and deeper into his bad habits with that leading to his downfall than this. This makes the entirety of :re feel like a waste of time and this comes from someone who spent the last two years having Urie as my favorite character.

Urie had so much potential for amazing things, that’s why I loved him so much, but in the end he was just a waste of a good concept. A waste of time and a waste of everything really. I’m just thinking back to all the numerous times Urie’s job fixation, his want for a family and loneliness was brought up and I honestly was tempted to find all the panels and put them in this post. I decided not to in the end, because I don’t want to reread this manga again and I’m sure you all remember those times anyway. This is especially funny though

You sure are right Urie, but you got no right to complain about that when you never even tried. Why do you think you can’t have family anyway? Destiny? Or were you already fully aware of the fact that you’re a coward? What a joke.

(anyway, you can find all the chapters of GK on Mangadex. At least this manga doesn’t let me down and actually gives the pay off for things it sets up like it’s meant to be done. I’m forgetting about Urie, I’m an Ogata fan now)

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monstergronk · 4 years

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