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cyberphuck · 1 year

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HOW TO DO THE WRITING THING: OUTLINING AND WRITING YOUR FIRST WORDS

Previously: Feeding the Story Monster

[IMG ID: a black Corona typewriter.]

HOW DO I LIKE, START WRITING THOUGH You’ve fed the story monster, figured out what kind of stories you like and even have an inkling of the story you want to tell, and now you’re ready to start banging the keys. Great! Do that. Yes, for some people it’s as easy as just sitting down and starting from Chapter One Word One, without even a slight idea of where the story is going to go, and I assure you those people are not invited to my biannual Creative Crying Party. (We call those people “Pantsers,” as in “Flying By the Seat of Their Pants.”) Pantsing works best for short works of fiction, since by the time you’re done, there’s going to be a lot of editing and revising to do and that gets to be a pain in the ass with novel-length works. I used to Pants exclusively from High School until about 27 or 28 years old, keeping only a very, very loose idea of the story in my head and just letting whatever was going to happen, happen. I wrote a lot and did not finish much. HOW TO DO THE OUTLINE THING Once I realized that just winging it wasn’t going to work for me, I started experimenting with different forms of brainstorming, outlining and story building and came up with a mishmash of methods that I use at different times for different purposes. (I’m not going to go over the Three Act Structure because it’s one of those things that’s been so oversimplified to fit every story that it’s become kind of useless. I will instead link you to HULK PRESENTS MYTH OF 3 ACT STRUCTURE, in which a blogger and screenwriter writing as the Hulk breaks down why the TAS kind of sucks.) TELLING THE STORY TO YOURSELF You’ve probably already done this part: this is just you and you, thinking about how cool it would be if a robot chef entered a chili cookoff and had to compete against the notoriously anti-robot Sheriff Blowhard for the blue ribbon. You may have even done the next part, which is jotting some of this stuff down when you have the chance. I used to send emails to myself, but now I use the notes app on my smartphone because I can come back from a half-asleep bedtime brainstorming session, grab my phone, turn on dictation and just blurt out a few lines so that in the morning I can still see the shape of the story I’d been dreaming of.

[IMG ID: screenshot of the notes app. Text reads: “The use of aperture runes, also called moving runes, spring runes, or trap runes, is forbidden by students and can result in expulsion. Turning argentavis house into a workable novel. Neptune is protag and every chapter ends with him dreaming, seeing himself frequently. It isn’t revealed until later that he’s dreaming other people’s dreams.]

[IMG ID: screenshot of the notes app. Text reads: “Who is the patron saint of Limberry? It is saint katherine, is it not? the woman who--

--drank all the waters of Lake Poescas when the Ydorans tried to drown her in it, yes.

and does she not appear nude in the visions she visited upon high confessor whatever?

Yes, but--

Do you think her nakedness was inappropriate then? That she had appeared to tempt the high confessor into sin?

No, I--]

[IMG ID: a screenshot of the notes app. Text reads: “Brig Thing. Burying Milleuda and burying Wiegraf. Zalbaag sends Wiegraf’s body back west and expects it to be all gross and rotten when it gets there, but he opens the coffin and discovers he’s still completely intact, like a saint. Wiegraf is injured and too weak to dig a hole in the frozen ground. Also crows keep trying to eat her and he can’t shoo them away and dig at the same time. Wiegraf upends his money bag looking for viaticum but he’s broke. Zalbaag says oh let me and reaches for his purse but Wiegraf is like fuck you. Wiegraf ends up putting something precious of his in her mouth, like his cross or a rock or something.]

Once you’ve got the loose shape of a story-- what dirty beatniks call a premise-- you can move on to step two. TELLING THE STORY TO SOMEONE ELSE (QUICKLY) When you search for a movie on wikipedia, there’s a section marked PLOT. In this section is a brief synopsis of the entire film, beginning to end. Look up a movie you know pretty well and read the plot section. It doesn’t have every single detail, but it does have all the important points so that you can understand what happens in the movie, and what it’s about, in five hundred to one thousand words. Try to do this for your own story: tell it to someone else (in a message or email is ideal, since you can copy-paste it into a word doc for safekeeping), front to back. Don’t be coy about spoilers, don’t get bogged down into unnecessary exposition or scene setting, just let it all out as if the two of you are standing at the-- do they even have watercoolers in offices anymore? Hell, do we even have offices? Fuck it, let’s reel it all the way back to 3rd grade and your friend has asked you what happened in the last episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. When you write out the wiki-plot section of your story, make sure you’re asking yourself the kinds of questions that someone seeing the story for the first time would ask (or pay attention to the questions they are asking!). The robot chef is entering the chili competition. Why? What is Sheriff Blowhard going to do with the prize money if he wins? Why would that be bad for all of robot-kind? You guys have no idea how hard it is to find an example in my notes that isn’t NSFW, so here’s just the beginning of a story that I told to my brother last year: a lawyer who mostly works from home doing simple wills and amicable divorces and stuff like that does a job for a super shady guy who ghosts him when it's time to pay. Lawyer sends this guy like fifteen invoices and then threatens to sue, which is a real threat since he's a fucking laywer.

The next morning someone knocks on his door and it's the shady guy, with a catboy. He says "I don't have any money but here, take this it's worth a lot more." Lawyer says bullshit, get the fuck off my doorstep and come back with my fucking money you deadbeat, and slams the door… Very casual, hardly structured, just a rundown of what happens in the story. If you find that you get stuck in the middle, that’s fine! Make a list of questions that need to be answered in order for you to fill in those gaps. Keep going back until you’re able to tell the story all the way through. SOME THINGS THAT YOUR STORY WILL NEED: A place to start. This does not have to be “at the beginning.” The start of your story should be attention-grabbing; a lot of authors like the first paragraphs to be an action scene, or finding the main character in the middle of a crisis. You can always catch the reader up later. A place to go. Something happens to upset the status quo and start your character on their journey through the story. Lawrence the Lawyer is paid for his work with what is effectively a living sex doll and now he has to figure out what to do with it. The robot chef finds out that if he presents the blue ribbon to the mayor, it can be taken as proof that he’s human enough to own his own business. A problem. If everything goes smoothly and as planned, it doesn’t make for a fun read. Something, maybe many things, have to go wrong along the way. Sheriff Blowhard sends his goons to kick dirt into the robot chef’s chili pot. It might rain, and robot chef’s partner, rustbucket, isn’t waterproof. A solution or a way through. How do your characters solve the problem? Does solving the problem make more problems? How many obstacles will they have to face until they reach their goal, and does that goal change through the story? Do they ultimately succeed, or fail? A wrap-up. It doesn’t have to be THE END, but you are going to have to stop writing eventually. Not every single question needs to be answered, but the biggest ones should be in order to have a satisfying conclusion, whether good or bad. NOTE: this is not EVERYTHING a story needs-- just some things for you to think about when you’re getting ready to write your synopsis. THINGS THAT HELP OTHER PEOPLE Go ahead and experiment with other methods of outlining to see what works best with your creative process. Some of the things that other people do to help them tell their story: Drawing Maps Making Timelines Character Profiles/Relationship Wheels Song Playlists and Image Boards Very, Very Detailed Outlines But be wary of doing all these things just because it gives you the feeling of getting something done. At the end of all of it, you are going to have to start writing. You can’t avoid it forever. COME BACK HERE. MAKING NOTES, OR, A CHEAT SHEET Alright, Act One, Scene One, Paragraph One, Line One… Word One.

[IMG ID: Spongebob “The” meme]

Alright, alright, still a little bit scary to jump into feet-first. So we’re going to tell ourselves the story again, but just a piece of it-- the piece you’re about to write. [In this section, the robot chef is just seeing the headline in Robo News Daily that anyone who wins a human competition will hereby be declared a human by law. He jumps up from the table, spilling his mug of oil coffee, and yells for Rustbucket to come over and see. Together, they re-read the article and agree that this is their big chance to be able to open a restaurant of their own…] You’ve got the work blocked out. Now all you have to do is the little noodly bits, the description, the dialogue, the nice prose. Once you’ve reached the end of what you’ve planned out-- and try not to do more than a chapter or a few pages at a time, so you can keep your planning true to what you’re actually writing-- take a breather, look back on what you wrote, and then plan some more. [Chef and Rustbucket agree that Chef’s Six Alarm Chili is the best in Botville and he’s sure to win the ribbon at the Chili Cookoff if he enters…] BANGING. THE. KEYS. Set a daily time goal for yourself-- say, 30 minutes of writing-- and try to get to it every day. This works best if it’s at the same time every day; your brain will start to associate 3:00 with “time to write” the same way it associates 4:20 with “time to study quietly or volunteer at the old folks’ home.” Notice I said set a time goal, not a word goal. This is because in my humble opinion, setting a word goal is setting yourself up for failure. You’ll end up setting it too high because you think you have to, struggle for hours on end alternately picking at the word doc and scrolling Twitter, and ultimately give up, falling further and further behind on your quota and then giving up altogether. Everyone writes at a different pace; people who write very quickly don’t necessarily produce better or worse work than those who take their time with every word. And let’s face it: folks be busy. So just set yourself a reasonable amount of time in which you are to do nothing but write (and maybe sip a hot bev), and then get your fingers moving. If you write a thousand words one day and two hundred the next, that’s okay. You’re getting it done, little by little, thirty minutes by thirty minutes. If at the end of your writing time you don’t feel like you’re “done,” great! Keep going until you feel like stopping. If you write pretty much nothing one day because you just can’t get into it, that’s fine too-- just make sure that you’re not doing anything but writing during that time, even if you’re just making notes for the next scene, or a blog post about how much you hate writing today. “SPRINTS” A writing “sprint” is when you and at least one other person decide to take writing time together, usually in increments of 10, 15, or 30 minutes at a time with breaks in between. Sprints are a great way to get your writing done since you have the fun and companionship of “racing” another person, and you can even share what you wrote afterwards for some of that sweet sweet validation. In my experience sprints work best in person, but with the world being on fire right now it’s fine to virtually sprint with someone over Discord or on Twitter. A BRIEF NOTE ON ROUGH DRAFTS Save the editing for when you are done with a section-- a chapter, an act, a half, whatever. See how the story begins to take shape before you start hacking bits off and sticking them back on. And, if you can help it, don’t edit as you go for anything bigger than spelling, grammar, and word choice. (Some people don’t do heavy editing at all. I’m mostly one of those people, but I will have some wordage about it when the time comes.) TAKE IT EASY ON YOURSELF Not everyone can write all day, every day. In fact, almost no one can. There are certain authors who shall not remain nameless-- STEPHEN KING-- who are of the opinion that if you don’t spend all your time writing, then you aren’t a writer. Tell you what, Steve, fuck you. Let me let you in on a secret: everyone is a human being, and human beings need fun, community, social activity, and rest. If you need a break, take one. In fact, let’s call it a “Fuck Steve” break. Take a “Fuck Steve” break anytime writing begins to feel like a chore for you. Fifteen minutes or one entire day, however long you need to look away from the page and gather your thoughts again. Grab a drink, a snack, a blanket, make sure you feel comfortable and content. Because your writing is important, but so are you. TODAY’S TAKEAWAYS: Fuck around a little bit with outlining and see what works for you. I showed you a method that works for me that’s beginner-friendly. Remember to ask yourself questions about your story in order to get the full synopsis. Set a reasonable daily writing time (not a word goal) and try your best to stick to it. You can also do sprints with writer friends! Give yourself a fukken “Fuck Steve” break. Writing should not be painful, it should not be something you dread. Take a breather and come back to it later. NEXT TIME: POV and rich description!

#writing #writeblr #writers on tumblr #how to do the thing

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just-spacetrash · 4 months

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the 'what if you played it a little risky' post literally Changed my life but i cant fujkign find it in my blog because its. a tiktok screenshot

#like literally every time ive hesitated sending a text or complimenting someone or stuff ive thought of it #like youre right. what if i played it a little risky what do i have to lose in doing a nice thing!!!!!! ur so right!!!!!!!!#but its forever lost cos i cant search it with any words cause its an image #misery and pain. you know how it is #my post

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lazylittledragon · 4 months

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can't believe we're all adults being forced into the club penguin level of censorship in 2024

#ramble #if you say unalive in front of me i will personally kill you with my hands #you just can't muffle and censor and hold someone's hand through some things #some things are horrible. and they should be spoken aloud and they should upset you. because they are horrible #the second we started kidzbopifying the world was the end of taking anything seriously i think #i'm not even joking i've spoken to people older than me who won't even say the world sex #this isn't the playground you're not going to get in trouble just let us say the word!!!!!!#how am i supposed to listen to you when you won't even say the thing you're supposed to be talking about #yes this is the fault of the platforms with their censorship rules but the fact that we all just go along with it like it's not dystopian #you do know it doesn't stop with cursing right. people are already having to censor queer terms because they get flagged as inappropriate

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dirtytransmasc · 7 months

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the men and boys are innocent too.

we cry "the innocent women and children" to appeal to the masses, to try and force their sympathy, but the men and boys are innocent too.

I have seen sons crying out for their mothers, their fathers, their siblings. I have seen them break down at the loss of their families. I have seen them cling to their dead and grieve.

I have seen fathers cradle their dead children, seen them kiss their faces and hold their little hands. I have seen them faint with grief when asked to identify the dead. I have seen them carry their sons and daughters. I have seen them fasting to provide what little they can for their families.

I have seen men and boys digging through the rubble with just their bare hands, I have seen them comforting strangers, playing with children, rocking them, hushing them, even if the face of such imminent danger. I have seen them cry, seen them grieve, seen them break down into each other's arms, seen them be selfless, beyond selfless, becoming something I don't have a word for.

I have seen the men who are doctors refuse to leave their patients, even when they have no medicine or supplies to give them, even when they're threatened with bombings. I have seen fathers who have lost all their children pick orphans up into their arms and proclaim them their child so they are not alone. I have seen men and boys digging pets out of the rubble.

the men are innocent too. the men and boys are being hurt and killed too. the men and boys are grieving too. the men and boys are scared too. the men and boys are fighting to save their people too. the men and boys deserve to be fought for too.

#I don't have words to describe how I feel for the men of Palestine #the things I have seen them do after everything they have been through goes so far beyond selfless #what do you call this? this prevailing goodness and willingness to give everything they have and more? what word even touches it?#I don't think there is one #islamophobia has conditioned us to see these men and boys as evil and dangerous #we see this in how we speak about Palestine #and we need to uncondition ourselves #they're just as innocent and of value and good as the women and children #so fight for them #they don't deserve this any more than the women and children #free palestine #palestine

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epicsauce · 10 months

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learning that self deprecation isnt cool and just makes the people around you uncomfortable unironically improved my mental health a lot. like if you just stop saying negative shit about yourself you will genuinely like yourself more and other people wont be repulsed by your attitude and you will have more friends. it's true.

#people will fr go ''god im such an ugly loser LOL i suck at everything i do and i should just kms“#and then go “why does no one want to be around me”#maybe because your attitude sucks. maybe because i said 'those mean things you say about yourself arent true'#and you spent five minutes arguing with me about how im wrong.#00

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redvelvetwishtree · 4 months

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#they just resort instantly to bombing #and everyone just thinks it's normal #coz it's a non white middle eastern Muslim country #how are the us uk and israel allowed to exist when they're the worst thing for world peace #why do their governments get away with so much #and they then have the audacity to lecture other countries about human rights #fuck off #yemen #palestine #israel #free palestine #gaza #gaza strip #middle east #free gaza #fuck israel

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qiinamii · 8 months

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we'll do fine.

#fionna and cake spoilers #what hits me a little is how similar fionna and simon's stories are in the case of finding nuance in their lives #when both have gone through their separate but still valid pain no matter the extent it had been #and its that they met each other they get to see how it compares and they're no less worth of the peace and fun they dreamed of #even in the form of simplicity and just being normal #“i wouldn't have met THE fionna and cake” “we wouldn't have met THE simon petrikov”#it hits me harder that after the dandelion scene would've been their last time seeing each other physically #and how assuring simon sounded when fionna didn't know what to do with the literal world in her hands #tho im sure prismo isnt that much of a rule jerk lol i still drew out the revelation anyway with this tiniest addition #also the fact fionna's world is influenced by simon's thought processes and conditions so now things are a little better for both of them #fionna the human #fionna campbell #simon petrikov #qiiarts #the lil flashback of #betty grof #fionna and cake #adventure time

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bixels · 5 months

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Baffled.

#personal #not art #like how do you arrive at this conclusion #what beliefs?#the man may be a total grouch but if there’s one thing he HATES it’s Japanese nationalism #Japanese nationalists famously HATE his work especially the wind rises which criticizes imperial Japan and calls out the invasion of China #don’t ask for context on the first part of the tag I’m not answering

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corviiids · 5 months

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my top bit of advice going into the new year: compliment people. especially strangers. literally everyone you interact with if you can. when you buy coffee in the morning compliment the barista's tattoos. when you're chatting with a coworker tell them that by the way you like their outfit. always find something they've chosen to do on purpose. nail polish, jewellery, tattoos, hair colour/style, statement accessory, outfit, etc are all good bets. things people hope will be noticed. things that aren't too personal so it doesn't make them uncomfortable (eg probably not their physical features). i've gotten into the habit of scanning everyone i talk to for something about them that i think is cool so i can tell them. it's a great habit because it makes me notice people and realise just how many neat little details there are in people's presentation of themselves that might pass me by if i wasn't paying attention. and it brings out so much joy. you'd be surprised how much it disarms people to receive an unexpected compliment from someone they don't know. it is the most sincere smile you will see all day long. it feels nice to make people happy but it also means you win the social interaction. establish dominance by complimenting a stranger's earrings and disappearing into the fog

#rookposting #the little 'oh!' followed by a big grin is now my highlight in every interaction i have with a stranger #you can always spot the things people hope will be noticed and you have no idea how happy it makes people when it gets noticed #i find it's always better to compliment things they did deliberately vs complimenting stuff like their voice or their face or other things #that are inherent or they cant change because that can make people uncomfortable for one thing to hear that from a stranger #but it's also just less meaningful imo because they didnt do that on purpose

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inkskinned · 9 months

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because sometimes there are invisible tests and invisible rules and you're just supposed to ... know the rule. someone you thought of as a friend asks you for book recommendations, so you give her a list of like 30 books, each with a brief blurb and why you like it. later, you find out she screenshotted the list and send it out to a group chat with the note: what an absolute freak can you believe this. you saw the responses: emojis where people are rolling over laughing. too much and obsessive and actually kind of creepy in the comments. you thought you'd been doing the right thing. she'd asked, right? an invisible rule: this is what happens when you get too excited.

you aren't supposed to laugh at your own jokes, so you don't, but then you're too serious. you're not supposed to be too loud, but then people say you're too quiet. you aren't supposed to get passionate about things, but then you're shy, boring. you aren't supposed to talk too much, but then people are mad when you're not good at replying.

you fold yourself into a prettier paper crane. since you never know what is "selfish" and what is "charity," you give yourself over, fully. you'd rather be empty and over-generous - you'd rather eat your own boundaries than have even one person believe that you're mean. since you don't know what the thing is that will make them hate you, you simply scrub yourself clean of any form of roughness. if you are perfect and smiling and funny, they can love you. if you are always there for them and never admit what's happening and never mention your past and never make them uncomfortable - you can make up for it. you can earn it.

don't fuck up. they're all testing you, always. they're tolerating you. whatever secret club happened, over a summer somewhere - during some activity you didn't get to attend - everyone else just... figured it out. like they got some kind of award or examination that allowed them to know how-to-be-normal. how to fit. and for the rest of your life, you've been playing catch-up. you've been trying to prove that - haha! you get it! that the joke they're telling, the people they are, the manual they got- yeah, you've totally read it.

if you can just divide yourself in two - the lovable one, and the one that is you - you can do this. you can walk the line. they can laugh and accept you. if you are always-balanced, never burdensome, a delight to have in class, champagne and glittering and never gawky or florescent or god-forbid cringe: you can get away with it.

you stare at your therapist, whom you can make jokes with, and who laughs at your jokes, because you are so fucking good at people-pleasing. you smile at her, and she asks you how you're doing, and you automatically say i'm good, thanks, how are you? while the answer swims somewhere in your little lizard brain:

how long have you been doing this now? mastering the art of your body and mind like you're piloting a puppet. has it worked? what do you mean that all you feel is... just exhausted. pick yourself up, the tightrope has no net. after all, you're cheating, somehow, but nobody seems to know you actually flunked the test. it's working!

aren't you happy yet?

#almost wrote the champagne line as ''effervescent'' but legit could not write it without saying ''effervescent like a snail''#ah tumblr...#writeblr #warm up #idk . having trouble writing rn #ps i don't like to talk about it . it is my medical information. but before you ask. yes this is about being on the spectrum #i really don't like when ppl make my writing about how im [whatever ID]. i want it to ring true for the people who it rings true for #i don't want it to be like ''awwwww look at this person!!! she's the EXCEPTION!!! :)" .....#no.... not really.....#idk something gross happens whenever i admit to certain conditions and i turn into like inspiration p*rnography #like yes they actually let us use keyboards these days #furthermore i just... dont feel comfortable talking about this part of me. i had too bad of a childhood. adhd is one thing...#this one im like. still coming to terms with. which is like. my own journey.#idk. just please be kind. some things are more private than others. this one feels private to me.#i do not know how to help others w/this . and i do not know how to help myself. i will talk about it if im ever ready. idk if that will #actually ever happen #ty in advance i love u im kissing you we are kissing somewhere on the spectrum

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cyberphuck · 1 year

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How To Do the Writing Thing: Feeding the Story Monster

(these “how-to” posts were originally posted on my ko-fi page, and originally-originally posted on Reddit’s r/writing forum from which I am now banned which is an angry rant for another time. I thought some of the people who follow me would appreciate being able to read them here.)

[IMG ID: a black Corona typewriter.]

WHERE DO I START? The asshole answer to this question is “just start writing, hur hur!” And yeah, sure, in order to write you do have to actually write. But if you’re not in the habit of doing it, or if you’ve seldom or even never done it before, “just start writing” is about as useful as dumping someone in a river and telling them to “just start swimming.” THE STORY MONSTER: AWAKEN Before you think about your story, let’s think about other stories that you enjoy. It doesn’t have to be in a book; these days sitting down to read is getting more and more difficult with all the other data being shoved in your eyeballs every second. I like to start with movies, because everyone has a favorite movie (or two, or several) they know by heart and can dissect to figure out the story-type elements of it. (Listen, I tested out of high school and dropped out of college. I’m doing the best I can.) The best way to start doing this is to ask yourself a lot of “why” questions, starting with, “why do I like this story?” We’ll use Star Wars: A New Hope (the first one) as an example since most people have seen it and it’s a very basic story. You liked that movie well enough: why? Did you like the dialogue? The characters? Luke’s coming of age story, the dark menace of Darth Vader? Did you like how plucky Leia was, how dashing Han Solo could be? Did you just really like all the spaceships? Think about your favorite movie, and ask yourself, why do I like it? - it’s exciting. Why? What parts were most heart-pounding? - it has great characters. Why? Which ones, and what kinds of characters are they? Heroic but flawed? Determined and gritty? Deliciously evil? - the story is amazing. Why? What kinds of twists and turns are there? (and why are they so satisfying? A twist has to make sense backwards and forwards!) Pick apart two or three of your favorite movies and see if there’s a central theme there, so that you can make a statement like “I like movies where x happens” or “my favorite type of movie is x because y.” That’s getting to know yourself, and the better you know yourself, the better your own writing will be. Now that you’ve got the hang of picking apart your favorites, see if there’s a movie or TV series that you’re not that into, and ask yourself why you don’t like that one as much. This’ll be easier-- everybody likes to talk about stuff they fukken hate. There’s a prestige series on Prime called The Boys that my dad loves and I can’t stand; it’s a superhero tale that loves to make scenes as bloody and ultraviolent as possible. People’s eyes get burnt out, heads explode, guys get cut in half or blown up, etc etc. I’m not into that, so I won’t put that on my list of “story stuff I like.” (Don’t get me wrong, it’s an extremely well written and well produced show-- it’s just not For Me. A show can be really great in every way but just not your cup of tea, and that’s fine. I really like Call the Midwife. It’s a very twee British show about nuns helping women give birth. My dad fukken hates that show.) At this point you might want to get a notepad or text document to start writing down things that you saw, or read, that you really loved or really hated. Write down the name of the show, the day you watched it, and a little blurb about what it was that stood out to you and why you liked or disliked it. 50 words or less-- don’t get too carried away. Then, when it’s time to think about the story you want to tell, you can refer back to your notes. THE STORY MONSTER: FEED The more media you consume, the more feed for the story monster you’ll have, but you’ll have to keep cutting the stories up into bite size pieces (liked x about y, hated z about b) to really get a handle on the kind of story you want to tell. You’ll also start noticing how stories are structured, what type of pacing is used for different kinds of scenes, and how a character’s actions and dialogue affect how the author (or director, or whatever) wants you to feel about that character. Cut out those pieces of story and hold them up to your budding idea, and ask yourself, “how can I make this work for me?” Chopping up stories to feed the monster is something that you should keep doing even after you’re a total expert writer with nothing more to learn who makes a million dollars a second, like me. You can use stories from anywhere, too-- not just TV, movies and books, but also newspaper articles, comics and graphic novels, dance, poetry, any medium at ALL that has some sort of message to it or is designed to make you feel a certain way is something you can chop up for the monster. Dance and music are particularly good for pacing; poetry is good for interesting and varied descriptions. Listen to people tell stories out loud to learn the rhythm and cadence of the way people talk in real life to give your dialogue a boost. (Real People Talking will also be important when I get to Word Choice and Tone in writing!) TODAY’S TAKEAWAY: Watch, read and listen, take a lot of notes about what you liked. Get to know yourself, and your writing will improve for it. NEXT TIME: Getting the words down, “taking notes,” outlines and rough drafts.

#writing #writers on tumblr #writeblr #how to do the thing

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