seftonswriting

[seftonswriting]

“I want the part of you that you refuse to give.”

— Ellen Hopkins

[seftonswriting]

“Things change. You can’t stop them, and you’ll drive yourself crazy if you try.”

— Kailin Gow, Shimmer

[seftonswriting]

“Sometimes you just have to stay silent because no words can explain what’s going on in your heart and mind.”

— Unknown

[seftonswriting]

“The art of knowing is knowing what to ignore.”

— Rumi

[seftonswriting]

“I gave you things I wasn’t sure I even had.”

— Miranda July

[seftonswriting]

writing morally gray characters

[@/moonlit_sunflower_books on ig]

we all love a good morally gray character, from kaz brekker to helene aquila. but there are things that make them stand out and make the reader genuinely root for them, as well as ways to make them more realistic, that can really help when writing a morally gray character.

disclaimer: i’m not a professional, just a student who writes for fun, and anything written here is based on my personal experience and opinion. you should always do your own research as well, and i am open to respectful discourse!

give them boundaries

one of the most important aspects of any morally ambiguous character is that they aren't entirely unhinged. it's unlikely a character will be willing to murder someone they love, or that they would betray someone unless they are getting something in return. any character has their limits. the goal of your plot is to push them beyond that limit, break them, and force them to stitch themselves back together.

give them a moral compass

many people misunderstand "morally gray" and confuse it for "does whatever the hell they like". possibly because one of the first lines in six of crows is "kaz brekker didn't need a reason" and kaz is bookstagram's favourite example of a morally gray protagonist. but actually, everything that kaz does through the novels only proves that he always has reasons. for absolutely everything that he does.

the difference is that it's not for the Greater Good and Evil.

morally gray characters are often selfish, but will have their own idea of what is considered right and what is considered wrong. for example, helene aquila thinks that it is wrong to disobey one's country. that doesn't mean she thinks it's right to murder, it's just what is done. so she doesn't question it.

make them justify their own actions

any morally gray character should be sympathetic, and this is achieved by having them justify their actions.

<six of crows spoilers ahead> if we saw kaz rip out someone's eyeball or drop someone out of a lighthouse window into a harbour without context, we'd probably think of him as completely unhinged /hyp. but the reader justifies his actions in their mind because kaz's narration justifies the action to himself: he is getting vengeance for inej. <six of crows spoilers end>

essentially, the character's narration should justify their own actions. they murdered someone? it was for revenge. they stole something? they've been starving for weeks. they lost their temper? the blow-up is the culmination of decades of internalised anger. make sure that the reader sympathises with your character by justifying their actions.

don't make them dark haired and brooding

okay okay yes i am a simp for dark-haired morally gray white boys but you know what? sometimes it'd be refreshing to see someone else be morally gray!

give me a morally ambiguous black girl or mother figure or indian character. the world has enough kaz brekkers and severin montagnet-alaires and cardan greenbriars (although i will say that i love all three of them from the bottom of my heart)

but helene aquila was a very pleasant change from all of them!

show them being Good

there is a difference between "morally gray character" and "villain whose actions are justified by the fandom" *cough* the darkling *cough* and it's really important to show that a morally gray character can be objectively good - or at least have pure intentions

for example, jude duarte murders people - Bad. but then in the next chapter, she'll go and have a picnic with her sister or try to save a human girl trapped into slavery - Good.

a morally gray character is not a character who gets a redemption arc, but rather a character whose actions blur the line between good and evil. their character development will not necessarily be going from bad to good, but going from unhinged to self-aware or from revenge-driven to loving.

[seftonswriting]

person a and b are trying to outrun each other in a friendly way.

person a: listen, B this isn't a race, right?

person b: yeah we're totally doing it for fun.

person c who has been sitting on the bench and watching them run the whole time: actually, it is a race.

person a staring at person c: ...

person c: what? i am just saying, hypothetically-

person b: shut the fuck up.

#writing #writers on tumblr #prompts #otp prompts #dialogue prompt #dialouge #three people #person b #person c #person a #original idea

[seftonswriting]

person a kisses person b.

person a: sh! don't say anything, just act cool!

person b, confused: wha-

person a: oh don't act like you didn't enjoy it

person b: alright then i won't. it was a nice kiss.

#otp prompts #otp dialogue #writing #writers on tumblr #dialouge #dialogue prompt #writing dialogue #person b #person a #enemies to lovers

[seftonswriting]

i love holden caulfield !

why is no one talking about the catcher in the rye? i recently read the book and i am obsessed with it. even the top posts aren’t as exciting as i wanted. 

#holden caulfield #the catcher in the rye #j.d. salinger

[seftonswriting]

reblog cuz i write about extroverts as an introvert.

Writer's Guide: Writing about Alcoholic Drinks and Cocktails

Or how to write believable bar and nightclub scenes. I often find myself helping friends with their WIPs and often it as a bartender, I find myself having to correct them on bar and mixology terminology. So here's my quick guide to keeping your lingo on the straight and narrow.

Terminology

DASH/SPLASH: a drop of a mixer such as juice or flavouring.

MIXER: non alcholic beveraged served with the measure of alcohol in the same glass.

NEAT: Plain, without any addition of ice or a mixture. Just the alcohol.

ON THE ROCKS: Served over Ice.

STRAIGHT UP: The cocktail is chilled with ice and strained into a glass with no ice

DIRTY – if somebody asks for a dirty martini, you add olive juice, the more juice the dirtier it is

DRY- A dry martini includes a drop of vermouth and an extra dry martini contains a drop of scotch swirled in the glass and drained before adding the gin

BACK – a ‘back’ is a drink that accompanies an alcholic beverage such as water or Coke, but isn't mixed.

GARNISH – something added to a drink such as a lime or lemon or orange.

TWIST - a twist is literally a twist of fruit skin in the drink.

BITTERS – a herbal alcoholic blend added to cocktails.

RIMMED - the glass is coated in salt or sugar to enhance the taste.

VIRGIN- non alcoholic

MOCKTAIL- a virgin cocktail

DOUBLE - Two measures of the same alcohol in the same glass. A bartender can only legally serve a double in the same glass. They cannot serve you a triple.

Equipment

COCKTAIL SHAKER - it is a metal cup that fits into a glass, used to shake the components of your drink together with ice to chill it.

STRAINER- used to seperate ice in the shaker from the liquid within as you pour it into the glass.

MEASURES- these are little metal cylinders meant to measure out the pours of the alcohol. You pour the alcohol from the bottle into the measure and then put it into the glass. It's imperative that the right measure goes into the glass or the drink will taste of shit.

BAR SPOON – a long spoon meant to mix the drink.

OPTIC- it is a mechanism that attaches a bottle to an automatic pourer. The bartender usually fits the glass under the spout and pushes up to release the amount which cuts off at the single measure.

SHOT GLASS- a shot glass is a small glass to contain one measure

PINT GLASS- a glass used for serving pints of lager or ale

HALF PINT GLASS - a tulip shaped glass half the measure of a pint glass

SPEEDWELL/TAPS/DRAFT: are the taps used to pour beer from kegs stored under the bar floor.

SLIM JIM/HIGH BALL GLASS- It is a tall straight holding 8 to 12 ounces and used for cocktails served on the rocks such as a Gin and Tonic.

ROCKS GLASS - or an old fashioned glass, it is short and round. These glasses are used for drinks such as Old Fashioneds or Sazerac

COUPE GLASS- Are broad round stemmed glasses used for cocktails that are chill and served without ice such as a Manhattan, Boulevardier or a Gimlet

MARTINI GLASS - a martini glass is that classic stemmed "v" shaped glass, used to serve drinks without mixers such as Martini and Cosmopolitans

MARGARITA GLASS - is a large, round bowl like glass with a broad and a tall stem used for Margaritas and Daiquiris

HURRICANE GLASS- a tall tulip-like shaped glass with a flared rim and short stem. It holds 20 ounces which means it is the perfect glass to serve iced cocktails in such as Pina Colada, Singapore Sling, Hurricane

Alcoholic Drinks

Vodka- Vodka is made from potatoes or fermented cereal grains. It has a strong taste and scent. It is usually consumed neat with a mixer such as Coke or Orange juice or cranberry juice or in cocktails like Martini, Bloody Mary and Cosmopolitan.

Whisky/Whiskey- Whiskey is a distilled alcoholic beverage, made from fermented grain mash such as barley, corn, rye, and wheat. It gets its flavour form being fermented in casks for long period of time. When serving a whiskey, one asks whether they want ice or a mixer. Everyone has their own preference. I prefer mine like myself, strong and Irish. Scotch is Scottish Brewed whisky.

Rum- Rum is made by fermenting and distilling sugarcane molasses/juice. It is aged in oak barrels. It has a sweet taste.

Beer: is made out of cereal grains and served chilled in bottles or pulled from taps/speedwells.

Ale: Ale in the middle ages referred to beer brewed without hops (a kind of flowering plant that gives beer its bitter taste). It is sweeter and would typically have a fruity aftertaste.

Stout- is a darker beer sometimes brewed from roasted malt, coming in a sweet version and dry version, the most famous stout being Guinness.

Poitín- (pronounced as pot-cheen) is made from cereals, grain, whey, sugar beet, molasses and potatoes. It is a Dangerous Drink (honestly i still don't know how I ended up in that field with a traffic cone and a Shetland pony) and technically illegal. Country folk in Ireland used to brew it in secrets in stills hidden on their land.

Vermouth: Is made from infused with roots, barks, flowers, seeds, herbs, spices, brandy but vermouth is classed aromatized wine. It comes sweet or dry

Gin- is made from juniper, coriander, citrus peel, cinnamon, almond or liquorice and grain alcohol. Gin has a strong scent and taste and is usually served in a martini or a tonic water.

Schnapps- refers to any strong, clear alcoholic beverage. It is considered one of the best types of spirits because of its pure and delicate aroma. Lesson: never drink peach schnapps.

Cocktails and Drinks

Irish Coffee: an Irish coffee is adding whiskey to coffee and sugar and topping it with cream. As a bartender, I would honestly rather cut my arm off than make one of these.

Baby Guinness: Is a shot made by pouting Tia Maria or Kaluah into a shot glass and spreading Baileys on the top so it looks like a small pint of Guinness.

Silver Bullet: a shot of mixed tequila and sambuca.

Long Island Iced Tea:  The Long Island contains vodka, gin, tequila, light rum, lemon juice, triple sec and cola. It has a real kick.

Mai Tai: is made with light and dark rum, lime juice, orange curacao, orgeat syrup and rock candy syrup and served with a mint garnish.

Manhattan: The Manhattan is made with rye whiskey, sweet vermouth and bitters.

Margarita: The margarita is made with tequila, cointreau and lime juice.

Mojito: a mojito is made with muddled mint, white rum, lime juice, simple syrup and soda.

Martini: a martini is made of gin, dry vermouth and garnished with a lemon twist or olives.

Mimosa: a mimosa is a made with sparkling wine and orange juice.

Mint Julep: Made with Kentucky bourbon, simple syrup, mint leaves and crushed ice

Pina Colada: is made with white rum, dark rum, pineapple juice and coconut cream

Screwdriver: Vodka and Orange juice

Tequila Sunrise: tequila, orange juice and grenadine

Tom Collins: made with spiked lemonade, sparkling water, lemon juice, simple syrup and gin

Whiskey Sour: is made with powdered sugar, seltzer, lemon juice and whiskey.

White Russian: made with vodka, coffee liqueur and cream.

Black Russian: made with two parts coffee liqueur and five parts vodka.

Gin and Tonic: gin served with tonic water

Bloody Mary: made with vodka and tomato juice mixed with lemon juice, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, fresh herbs, brown sugar and cracked black pepper.

Brandy Alexander: served straight up and made with brandy, cognac, creme de cacao and cream

Cosmopolitan: Made with citrus vodka, Cointreau, cranberry juice and fresh lime juice

Daiquiri: made with rum, lime juice and sugar.

Gimlet: gin and lime juice

My Top 10 Bartending Rules and Responsibilities

Overpouring is never an option. You can seriously hurt somebody by overpouring, not to mention spoil the drink and ruin your sales. You only serve people what they ask and never more.

When somebody has had enough, you stop serving them. After a while, you know when to cut somebody off.

Never leave bottles on the counter or in reach of customers. Your expensive spirits should never be in reach of anybody but you.

If you tell somebody your selling them premium and top shelf alcohol, you cannot substitute with cheaper licqor. It's illegal.

As a bartender, your eyes always have to be scanning a crowd. You can't leave people hanging.

The golden rule - if you see somebody messing with someone's drink, you chuck it if you can or warn the person. And you get that son of a bitch out of your pub.

50% of the job is cleaning. You have to clean your tools constantly. You cannot reuse measures and spouts, you have to wash everything. Beer traps are clean out every night, rubber mats are washed and anything you have used has to be clean.

You have to hand dry your glasses. You never polish a pint glass as it fucks up the pint. You polish your cocktail glasses, shot glasses and straight glasses.

If someone seems down or on their own, you try make conversation. Often you'll hear some disturbing stuff but always try lend an ear or make everyone feel included.

If you break a glass in the ice bucket, you got to get rid of the ice.

#reblog #writing advice #Writing tips

[seftonswriting]

person a:... and then i was like- damn d-

person b: what the fuck are you talking about?

person a: did you not listen to anything i just said?

person b: uh not really. i was busy staring at you

#writing #writers on tumblr #otp dialogue #imagine your otp #otp prompts #ship prompt #dialogue prompt #prompts #romance #ship

[seftonswriting]

person C: why are b and a sitting back to back?

person D: oh they had a fight.

person C: and they're holding hands?

person D: yeah. A gets upset when they and B fight.

#otp #imagine your otp #writing #dialogue prompt #ship prompt #prompts #otp prompts #credit on twitter #writers on tumblr #person a #person b #conversation

[seftonswriting]

reblog for myself 

Tuesday Tip #36: Use body language.

Check out these resources:

Body Language Cheat Sheet

Cheat Sheets For Writing Body Language

@referenceforwriters‘s body language tag

#reblog #wrting

[seftonswriting]

hi! i need a beta fanfic reader.

i am writing a miraculous ladybug fanfic and i would love to have at least one beta reader. 

#fanfic writing #fanfiction #fanfic help #beta reader #mlb #mlb fanfic #writers on tumblr

[seftonswriting]

angst prompts

somewhat not safe for work. change pronouns as needed.

you and your childhood best friend's catching feelings for each other, but he's dating your best friend. eventually, they break up, and the two of you are unable to keep your hands to yourselves. you end up sleeping with each other, with his ex-girlfriend sleeping in the same room. does she wake up or not?

you're dating the villain, but you're under the impression that he's changed. he hasn't. his greed for power leads you to be kidnapped, and almost beheaded.

you've just started dating your lover, having finally gathered enough courage to tell them you're in love with them. you're happy, and they're killed the next day.

you've been wanting to tell your best friend for years that you've always loved them, and the day you plan on doing it, they're killed by the antagonist. “ i never got to tell them. and now? it's all gone. it's too late. “

it's november, and your best friend introduces you to their new partner. when you lock eyes, about to greet each other, you and your best friend's partner freeze up, horrified. you had a summer fling back in june. and suddenly, everything you felt back then comes rushing back to the surface. you thought you'd never see each other again, but now, you can't get each other out of your heads.

you're still not over your ex, but you get a invitation to the wedding. you end up banging each other in the bathroom after the reception.

you're restrained, and the antagonist presents your lover with two choices. kill you, or be on the run for the rest of their lives. they choose the latter. now you either have to fight for your life, or let it happen.

you're in a love triangle, watching your two lovers beat the ever-loving crap out of each other. if you don't kill one of them, you'll lose both. who do you choose?

your boyfriend is dying, and it's your fault. you're crying, holding him in your arms, apologizing profoundly for what you've done, but he won't acknowledge you. he's dying, he's pissed at you, and there's no forgiveness in sight.

you come home from work, reaching for your girlfriend to kiss her. she pushes you away. her ex called earlier, and they're getting back together.

you and your childhood best friend end up sleeping with each other, but you don't stay the night, and end up ghosting them. a couple weeks pass by, and there's a knock on the door. it's your childhood best friend, introducing you to his new partner. he tells you they're getting married, and that's when you realize, you fucked up. a couple days later, you show up at his house, wondering why he would marry someone he's only been dating for a couple of months. he tells you it's because he first used her as a rebound to get over you, but then he stops. you're right. she's just a rebound. he's subconsciously marrying a girl to get back at you.

you and your ex has been locked into a confined space together. both of you keep quiet at first, but eventually, you start yelling at each other, both over your worst qualities and who's fault it was that the relationship ended.

you and your boyfriend just broke up, but you're so broken up over losing them that when you leave their house, you can't get to your car. instead, you drop to your knees on their porch, crying yourself, to sleep. the next day, your ex-boyfriend wakes you up. you lock eyes, but not a single word is being spoken between you as you get up on your feet and walk towards your car.

you're about to be killed by the antagonist. your lover has gone through a corruption arc. he's given one last chance to save your life, and you search his eyes for one last glimpse of humanity. there is none. he turns around, walks away, and the antagonist prepares to kill you.

your family has disowned you for being in a relationship with your boyfriend. you decide to skip town together, but it's been hours, and you can't reach your boyfriend's phone. eventually, you get a text message, of your boyfriend telling you he's not coming.

you come home to find your lover cheating on you. with your sibling. [author's note: worthless piece of shit]

you and your lover have been in an argument, and it's your fault. you try to apologize, but instead of forgiveness, they break up with you, reason being ''trust is the most important thing in a relationship, and clearly, you don't have any.''

you kiss your lover, and you can tell they're not kissing you the same way they used to do. they've grown distant, and eventually, you confront them ''you don't love me any longer, do you?''

you're angry at your lover-that-isn't-really-your-lover, and you decide that the proper response is to kiss someone else in front of him. as you pull back from the kiss, you lock eyes with your ''lover'', and you can tell by their face that this broke them. and suddenly, there's no anger in your eyes. just guilt, and a pressing urge to run up and give your ''lover'' a hug, telling them you only want to be with them. but you can't. by kissing another man, you just pushed your relationship in the wrong direction

you're dying in your lover's arms. you're upset that you never got to tell your lover you love them, so you want to say it before you die, but you can't. you don't have enough energy to even speak, but your lover knows, says ''i know.''

''you don't abandon the people you love!'' ''i didn't abandon you.'' ''then where were you?!''

on your wedding day, you and your lover both admit that you're in love with other people. you're in love with the best man. your fiancé is in love with the maid of honor. the problem? they're dating each other. you're all part of some love-square in which the already existing couples don't want to be with each other.

you head over to a guy's house that you know your best friend has a crush on, with the intention of asking them to give your best friend a chance, but instead, you end up kissing him.

you planned a birthday party for your lover, inviting a bunch of your friends, but no one showed up. [author's note: this is true evil]

you and your lover are traveling abroad for your three year anniversary, and you're planning on proposing. only, when you get to the hotel, you come to discover that you forgot the ring at the kitchen counter at home. big brains

i could go darker but let's maybe stop there. i don't think fucked up angst is what tumblr needs right now

#reblog

[seftonswriting]

Alice, a beauty queen who always has to make sure she looks perfect.

Tag the OC that checks themself out in every mirror they come across

[seftonswriting]

“hey can I make fanart for your fic?”

yes

“hey can I make fic for your fanart?”

yes

“hey can I-”

the answer is yes and I’m probably screaming on my end of the computer because someone thinks my stuff is cool so please send me the thing you make