#I just edit the phrasing and dialogue to make it more natural

[jankwritten]

i think one of my biggest gripes with TSATS is the sentence structure and the way that things are phrased.

Sentence structure: the book is CONSTANTLY using ", and", or "then", or "but" instead of splitting up a phrase into two separate sentences. Once I noticed it, I couldn't stop noticing it. In some places it works fine, but right out the gate, as the first line of chapter one, it 1) caught my attention in a negative way and 2) felt immediately clunky and awkward.

The way that the book demonstrates action also feels unnatural and doesn't flow as well as it could. Things are described as happening "now", such as when Kayla takes her lolipop out of her mouth and holds it at her side, the book narrates it as "now holding the lolipop at her side". We didn't SEE that action occur, we're just being described the RESULT of the action, does that make sense? As a reader, you want to SEE the action, you want to SEE her tug the lolipop out of her mouth, see her hand hang by her side as her expression pinches with anxiety over the discussion. We don't want to just be told that "now" her lolipop is out of her mouth, y'know?

There are also sentences that just feel flat out unedited, phrases that have too many words for what they want to accomplish, or with a structure that doesn't make sense - like on page 56, the sentence "They raced up the steps to the platform, Nico easily outrunning his boyfriend, though that was mostly due to Will having to get his land legs again."

First of all - why are they running up the platform? In the previous line, where we're told their cab driver got them to the station with 6 minutes to spare, the specific choice of saying "to spare" makes it sound like there is plenty of time to make it to their train. In the sentences after, we even learn that Nico and Will wound up waiting for their train anyway, so, the fact that they're running when Will feels sick reads...weird, to me. If I was car sick, and then somebody forced me to run for no reason, I would not be a happy camper.

Second of all - The addition of the final third of the sentence, after the second comma, should be it's own phrase. It should be given it's own space, like "(though that was mostly because Will didn't have his land legs back yet)." because it's not important information, just an offhanded comment Nico is making.

Third of all - "though that was mostly due to" and "having to get his" are clunky and wordy. It could've just been "Nico easily outrunning his boyfriend, who didn't have his land legs back yet." It's a smoother sentence that doesn't get bogged down by the extra words.

And that's just one instance. This book is LOADED with moments like this, where action will get lost in a sentence's wordiness. The book tries to be quick and snappy, in Riordan's style, but it fails because it can't quite nail down the phrasing.

There are also moments where the only thing the characters are interacting with is each other, only grinning, grimacing, sighing, glancing at one another, etc etc, instead of doing actions while they speak. Fidgeting with their hands, shifting from side to side, looking away at their surroundings, that kind of stuff is how you convey a MOOD. Body language is important when writing character conversations!! Is somebody relaxed, or are their shoulders tensed up, arms folded across their chest with their muscles flexed, leaning back on one leg with their body halfway tilted away, as if they were ready to flee at a moment's notice? These are the kind of details that I'm missing in TSATS, the kind of things that feel like they're missing.

I also have a lot of gripes with the dialogue itself.

People don't talk like they do in TSATS. The content of what they're saying is realistic enough, sure, yeah, but the specific way that a lot of the dialogue is phrased? It doesn't feel natural. Try reading some of the sentences out loud without editing any of the words. It doesn't sound the way a human being SPEAKS.

THAT'S what I mean when I say these characters are OOC. The way that they're speaking is uncomfortable and feels as if they're being used as a puppet, or a mouthpiece for what somebody ELSE wants them to say.

#tsats #tsats spoilers #like just from a reader's standpoint this book feels offputting and weird!!! #it makes me genuinely want to do a rewrite where I go through and I don't change any of the plot #I don't change any of how anything goes #I just edit the phrasing and dialogue to make it more natural #the book sets no mood!!!! it doesn't commit to itself!!! it tries to be too many things at once and doesn't fully settle onto any of them #and then comes out SWINGING when it does try to do something which just comes across as heavy handed pandering !!!!! #GAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #like I want Nico and Will to be consistent with how they feel throughout the book. I want them to DEMONSTRATE #Consistency and not constantly swinging between their extremes of being scared or angry or sad #I want them to slowly become more and more skeptical of each other until they're forced to come to terms with the fact that #they both have darkness inside of themselves and each other that they have to accept and love!!! #I see so many people who are like 'omg but they talk to each other about their feeligns!!!! it's so sweet!!!!' when the 'talking' they do #isn't anything SUBSTANTIAL. Throughout the whole beginning of the book Nico is writing off Will's fears about tartarus and ignoring #everybody being concerned for him and he doesn't talk about any of it! THAT'S NOT HEALTHY!!!! #ugh. just. ugh. #pjo #nico di angelo #will solace

[sketchy-tour]

OKAY SO I AM slightly shy about sharing my Welcome Home oc after being absent from this account for a hot minute but- MEET DANDY! Dandy Leon, the quiet flower gardener and neighbor in welcome home! Ignore how horribly I edited the template by @fetusmeme I have been relying on a toyhouse code for Dandy's "official" little neighborhood page and I am so bad at editing templates. I couldn't fit all of Dandy's silly info into the template so I'll put the full bio down below!-

"Resident gardener of Welcome Home, Dandy Leon is a calm, careful presence among the others in the neighborhood. They enjoy the quiet and spending their time tending to their various flowers. While a little shy around their fellow neighbors, they open up quickly when asked about their garden. Despite their more introverted disposition, they're always determined to make everyday just dandy!"

Dandy came onto the cast only in later episodes of the show, not getting much screentime before it's end. But in old scripts found with them, it's shown that they moved to Home specifically because they were interested in the local plant life there. The episode that featured their move in seemed to focus on them slowly warming up to the others in the neighborhood, as their shy nature made it difficult for them to properly meet everyone. When asked as to where they lived before moving to Home, Dandy mentions living in a farm town far away, simply deeming it "far more south from here!" A lot of their dialogue also mentions their father, though he's never named but instead mentioned passively as Dandy would often use phrases like "Well it's like my pop always said-" when speaking to the other puppets.

During their short time on the show, Dandy's segments focused on teaching easy 'do it yourself' gardening tricks that audiences could follow along with, usually showing these to the other neighbors while in their garden. While they were always shown as polite and nice, their quiet personality clashed with the more loud ones in Home. Julie and Sally being namely the neighbors they struggled to communicate with, often shown feeling a bit talked over. However Dandy is still depicted around Julie in illustrations, especially alongside Frank as the two got along quite well in the show. Frank and Dandy often shown chatting about their respective interests together. Before the show's end however, most of Dandy's screentime is with Wally as he tried to get Dandy out of their shell more to spend time around others.

Interestingly, what pronouns were used for them seemed to change between the shows episodes and illustrated materials. While neighbors would refer to them as 'she' during the show, most art pieces seemed to refer to Dandy as a 'he'. Whether this was simply a miscommunication between teams or a printing error is unknown.

#welcome home #welcome home oc #welcome home original character #welcome home arg #welcome home fandom #welcome home puppet show #my oc #my oc art #welcome home wally #wally darling #howdy pillar #welcome home howdy pillar #frank frankly #welcome home frank frankly #Dandy Leon #my art

[probablyhuntersmom]

An Uncommonly Discussed Trauma Symptom

Disclaimer: This is in no way a substitute for therapy: it’s only psychoeducation. Please consult a therapist and/or hotline and get the help you need if you are experiencing mental health difficulties, especially if experiencing distress or issues that feel unmanageable.

Warnings: Mentions and discussion of suicidal ideation, death, abuse and violence.

Special thanks to @ashanimus and @childlikegoblinqueen

Ever heard of "the sense of a foreshortened future"?

If you have suffered trauma over a sustained and long enough period of time, you may find that you can't imagine yourself living long. You can't see yourself reaching milestones, because it hardly makes sense to your mind that you can go on for that long...given how much you have felt like you've escaped danger, given just how many close calls you have had in life.

Yet the sense of a foreshortened future is a separate thing from suicidality.

If you have both of those together though, it really isn't fun because they may feed one another in a cycle, in the way that symptoms under the same mental health condition have the potential to do the same.

It isn't a desire for pain to end (which is what suicidality is), more so a generated expectation that takes root, and a framework which a survivor tries to fit their experiences into, with the goal to get things to make as much sense as can be. Because it's often the easier thing to devise a simple formula, to feel certainty and to manage one's expectations: rather than embrace the grey areas of uncertainty about how life will turn out.

It's almost as if this feeling of a foreshortened future is in a tug-of-war match between what appears to be solid reasoning, and a person's natural survival instinct along with the hunger for a meaningful life.

This symptom isn't on the *official* criteria for a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist to make any diagnoses, it is not listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) or International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10). But informally it is sometimes categorized as an avoidance symptom under both PTSD and Complex PTSD, and also under longer-term depression.

(however, I think it can extend to other conditions. The key criteria is it emerges from repeatedly experiencing horrible things until it makes sense in one's head to expect themselves not to last much longer)

If you hop onto Google Scholar to find proper research about it, the findings are very scarce because it's hard to define it, empirically measure it and quantify it in the first place.

Again, it's not the same as suicidal ideation because a foreshortened-future view is an expectation, while the latter is about a desire.

I wasn't taught about this symptom in any training and supervision before becoming a licensed therapist, nor did any of my own therapists bring it up as psychoeducation when I saw them. It was only through online articles on informal websites that I stumbled upon the phrase and it all clicked for my long-term experiences.

But I feel it is good knowledge for anyone providing psychotherapy to bear in mind.

In The Owl House, the grimwalker lore weaved into Hunter's arc, can shockingly be linked with this symptom, symbolically and thematically.

But the show's age rating means it would likely be too dark for the writing team to explicitly incorporate it into Hunter's dialogue.

Hunter was a lamb marked for the slaughter early on.

He has questioned his survival and ability to thrive.

The following article on Psychology Today describes Belos's long-term influence on Hunter pretty well and provides info that strengthens the points I'm making in this whole post:

Link

It's bad enough that before Hunter and Luz found Belos's mindscape, he struggled with the fear of failure to the extent that there was already the raging inner battle between his primal survival instinct and the already knackered part of him that sought eternal rest from his suffering (showing up as suicidal thoughts):

Fast forward a number of episodes...and we see the looming horrors in Hollow Mind that culminated in Hunter's discovery of what his predecessors went through:

followed by permanent rejection by his parental figure:

The power held by a foreshortened-future view, and its potential to isolate you - to make you feel like you're invisible, or a ghost - can be strong.

What Hunter said to Gus in the following screencaps sums up what it feels like pretty well:

In the context of having an abuser, it emerges from the negative beliefs they impose on you. It gets tricky if those beliefs are internalized, and which may remain internalized even after you get to safety and away from said abuser. Internalized until they become what you expect of your life.

It's about those thoughts which you know in your rational mind are lies, but you feel their apparent truth. They go more silent when you practice self-care but they return to try and reel you in again, and to a degree, they succeed in getting you to believe them all over again, before you renounce them once more.

Being in the C-PTSD Club along with Hunter, I personally experience the feeling of a foreshortened future as a voice deep down which almost always says that life feels too long and it therefore feels absolutely weird, like it doesn't make sense. Life feels too long, contrary to that commonly heard cheesy quote, "Life is too short to blah blah blah".

When I reached milestone birthdays like my 21st, it was confusing and made me irritable, feeling an itch deep down that I could not scratch.

The voice asks me why the heck I'm still around when it apparently doesn't make sense. It's a pervading feeling which can be pretty annoying, though I have it far enough in the background that it's like noise instead of being a source of distress.

It's not the easiest thing to explain this, but Hunter may have confusing thoughts creeping into his head like "Caleb didn't last long, why would I?" whereby such thoughts have a strange feel to them. They aren't exactly hard rules, nor are they distant enough that they can be easily brushed aside. Brain hurty, emotions spooky.

After the horror of this night:

I can definitely see Hunter wrestling with this symptom from time to time. No doubt. It was a major loss of autonomy and control that would significantly aggravate what was already brewing deep down.

I'm doubtful that the crew even established this on purpose (unless they actually consulted trauma experts and/or experienced mental health practitioners), but...this one symptom ties in with grimwalker lore so perfectly...it's hella fascinating that all Hunter's predecessors' lives (including Caleb's) were cut short. Prematurely.

They came with an expiry date set by their abuser: something very characteristic of this foreshortened future feeling, though not unique to survivors of abusive home environments (e.g. if you experienced natural disasters over many years, yet had a loving family, you could also feel like you may not live long). And Hunter's experience of seeing the grimwalker graveyard in Hollow Mind is a shockingly visceral and visual metaphor to symbolize a concept like this, which matches perfectly with his symptomology as a Complex PTSD survivor.

The battle for inner peace has a high price: it is ongoing, and extends beyond him being physically free from Belos. Because Hunter can't just trim away the Belos-related memories from his earliest years and formative years. He can't forget, but he can choose to give those memories less attention, and choose not to let them take the steering wheel in the long-term.

In my opinion, the possession scenes don't just portray the physical experience of an abuser returning to try regaining control or restoring the status quo of having the survivor in their grasp.

The scenes also represent the abuser's imprint upon the survivor that lasts beyond the duration for which Belos is present in Hunter's life. Belos is the kind of abuser that is so insidious that he knows he could leave some marks that outlast his directly physical presence, in the event that he meets his own end. He would have definitely thought about this. Leaving the kind of grisly reminders that won't ever technically fade away (not to be confused with how they can certainly "fade further into the background" via therapy, new positive experiences and the support of loved ones).

For example, the patterns of the permanent scars on Hunter look so much like the patterns on Philip's own face and body. When possessed, the markings were dark green, later faded to the colour of scar tissue once Belos leaves his body.

As we all know, it's hella sad to imagine Hunter having to look at himself in mirrors throughout the rest of his life. It was awful enough that he had the haircut-related panic attack.

If we tie all that back to the symptom of a foreshortened-future view: Hunter might be left with a spooky nebulous feeling (that will alternate between coming back to haunt him, and subsiding) that he too has some expiry date that is different from how the people around him naturally and confidently expect to live a substantially long life. As a cult survivor with C-PTSD, Hunter can't afford the luxury of those natural expectations.

I don't mean that he might plan a day in the future to end his own life, not at all. But he may have a strange ghostly expectation of how long more he has till his life may come to an end, and he wouldn't be sure of how this subconscious expectation came about.

The darker days of navigating the confusing mess of his complex trauma may feel like exhaustion from paddling and swimming to keep your head above water to breathe.

Speaking of water and drowning, plus the theme of sinking down vs. rising back up above the water surface...the fact that Camila jumped in to bring him back up, his friends helped to pull him out, and Flapjack passes new life to him...this is also some crazy powerful symbolism for surviving complex trauma.

Falling back on a support network, your "tribe", that won't abandon you.

My other Hunter analyses (link) go into more detail about his support network and why he needs it.

I was talking to a friend about all this: she has relevant lived experience and mentioned that poor Hunter would reach a milestone birthday and perhaps cry at least a bit on that day, maybe even during the birthday party: out of sheer confusion. The confusion would be silently screaming "But...this doesn't...make sense?". And he might feel confusing waves of darker emotions along with a strange sense of joy.

He may make a decision to start a family with Willow, and a confused questioning voice will bother him now and then with "How are you still here, doing this and living to see this?".

(...also, when is his birthday...? Is it documented in some Emperor's Coven records that they will find..? Even the mere concept of having a birthday is messed up for him to think about, given the purpose behind his creation)

Complex trauma changes its survivors' relationships with the world, not just with people, and this can even apply to their relationships with things like joy and how joy is experienced.

Flapjack's absence would have bred survivor's guilt. It might translate into Hunter questioning whether he is worth the love and effort his friends put in for him. This feeling could emerge at random moments over the years in his life.

Visually, I feel that these two frames - the lighting (which I'd say is unique among all his scenes because they are parts of his arc that stand out so much), his pose, his expression - somehow capture the experience of how complex trauma is chronic and long-term:

The currently most known C-PTSD memoir out there, What My Bones Know by journalist Stephanie Foo, has some content that I feel matches nicely with what Hunter is experiencing in the two separate scenes above.

The author describes something she calls "the dread" (if you get the book, it's first mentioned on page 51). I would call it the amalgamation of multiple things such as shame, the fear of impending harm, self-doubt where you question whether you did something wrong, fearing that someone hates you, etc.

And basically, good lord my poor boy in the first screenshot..with that expression of suspecting what he thought was Belos's presence in the room: something about it fits the book author's words, feeling like she was "on the precipice of fucking everything up".

That's certainly something that would cross Hunter's mind multiple times as he processes the worst night of his life. That he could have done something to prevent all that.

With so much pre-existing worry that his friends and family might actually hate him, the possession scenes and Flapjack's death would definitely shake his foundation and I'm sure he isn't past this kind of ingrained thought pattern at all:

Second, the book author calls C-PTSD a shapeshifting "beast" (page 316). And when she fights it, she must use a different strategy depending on what form it takes, and that it will keep coming back from time to time in another form. Which is why there is a particular exhaustion one feels from having to adapt to each battle.

For Hunter, the second screencap of him fighting Belos's coercion in a direct physical manner is the first of many battles he has to win in his mind, even after Belos is gone for good. Outlasting whatever invisible assailant is trying to get him, as he faces inevitable episodes of being retraumatized in the future: these are called emotional flashbacks (one of the symptoms of C-PTSD).

Being a survivor of complex trauma who experiences a weird sense of time via a foreshortened-future view, can feel like being on the outside looking in.

But! To end this meta on a hopeful note, I should reiterate something from my most recent long meta about Retraumatization vs. Self-Soothing, the first part of Hunter's important speech in Thanks to Them touches on wild magic and palisman. Wild magic represents freedom, while palismen (quoting the Bat Queen) represent close bonds in relationships, emotion, and conviction.

Applying this to how we can navigate the swampy waters of a foreshortened-future view, Hunter can use his newfound freedom and sense of agency to create the story he'd like to tell about his life. It is pretty much impossible to avoid bringing beliefs from our young formative years into adulthood. But expectations (which have a direct link with emotions we end up feeling) of ourselves and of life can be altered over time, so they become less rigid and instead more open to new possibilities.

He has an inquisitive mind which is a big plus point in understanding the impact of what he has been through, and I have full faith that he'll do just fine in that regard because of the courage we have seen in him.

Among the hobbies he explores in the future, flyer derby will be one example of an excellent outlet for him because of its physicality: trauma and grief are not only emotional battlegrounds but also highly physical ones. The body is also very much involved e.g. feeling the lead-like weight of depressive moods in one's body, feeling the physical tension of hypervigilance, etc.

It's fantastic that he has Luz, Willow, Gus and company, he will have a very meaningful career, and he'll have everyone else in his large found family.

His story...his heart...his resilience and vitality...it's all truly inspirational.

We might learn even more about the grimwalkers in the finale and that would undoubtedly prompt me to do a shorter Part 2 on top of this meta.

#toh analysis #toh hunter #grimwalkers #the owl house #loz writes a meta #huntlow

[zsakuva]

How do you come up with so many intricate plots and characters? They seem so… human? I’m very surprised you don’t read much! I guess what I’m asking is, what’s your creative process? Do you take inspiration from aspects of yourself, or is it more of a form of escapism? When you write your plots, do you imagine yourself as the character, the audience, or both? 

Another thing that truly amazes me and makes your channel stand out a lot is the way you give the listener a voice. It feels like each listener is so different and unique, and *actually* interacts with the character. It also feels like you’re never spoon feeding us information? All the questions do get answered, but it’s different style imo. Usually, in most ASMR RPs I’ve heard, the speaker will repeat what you said verbatim, (eg. “You think XXX?”, or “You want me to XXX?”), and the frequency at which these types of phrases are used makes it *seem* like a RP. Of course, it’s a challenging medium - the audience needs to know whats going on somehow, but you manage to achieve the same in a much more subtle way. It makes me wonder how long you spend planning out your content haha.

Final question, do you prefer to type or handwrite your plans, scripts, etc? I’ve always preferred planning on paper, even though it’s a bit impractical haha. Also, would you mind showing us your handwriting? I think it says a lot about a person! There’s the stereotype that people usually have a certain handwriting that corresponds to their major/occupation, and if I remember correctly, I think you studied film? I’m just curious hehe. No pressure, of course!

Sorry for sending you an essay, I hope you have a restful and comfy Friday! 

Thank you!

Honestly, I don't know how I do it myself considering my memory is absolute shit! Though I don't read much, I learn about characters through other mediums such as television shows and movies. I'll try and break this down for ease of reading!

~My Creative Process~

When making a character or series, it all depends on where my initial inspiration began. For example, with Niall, I wanted to create an M4M series exploring a character who carries trauma of being forcibly outed, betrayed by someone he confided in, and how those events affected him through his adult life. The core of Niall's story was confronting fears that manifested due to the Listener's actions in school, and finding that there was a way to heal, albeit slowly, and a hope to love despite external animosity. Niall exists because I wanted to tell a particular story.

With Zaros, he first came about because of The Noble Trials plot. I knew that he would be different from other characters, so I'm using this series as a means of testing my skill with a new editing style, story format, and new world setting. Although it's more work, I have the most fun with The Noble Trials and making its lore (though I'm always a sucker for that)!

I go into creating characters with the belief that they are all extremely flawed. Whether that be by nature or nurture, there will inevitably be some slew of events in their pasts that shaped the way they act in the current timeline. This also extends to the Listeners so they aren't rigid, boring, and an empty shell. Characters can clash, but they can also change with and for each other. A good example is Isaac's story. He was scarred by his past, and was willing to confine Pickle in the house if it meant not losing someone he cared for again. Pickle was also scarred with abandonment and instability, wondering if they would ever find a home. Isaac gave them a place to belong, and Pickle gave him consolation and courage to face the unknown.

When I write, the character's actions must reflect the backstory in which they were crafted, so I always need to dive into their heads.

~Listener Dialogue~

This requires much more thought to make interactions seem authentic, but there's a fine line between repeating words verbatim and not alluding to any sort of context. I dislike repeating the Listener's words so I try to indirectly insinuate what they were saying whenever possible. If I can do so with SFX alone, that's a bonus! But when scenes contain heavy dialogue, it can be difficult to get the message across without being heavy-handed with repetition, unless that's the purpose of a specific moment.

~Handwriting vs Typing~

I always handwrite my outlines! On some occasions, I can start and finish a script without the help of one, but my workflow tends to include writing an outline of some kind, and it has to be done on paper! I feel like the ideas manifest quicker that way.

However, I always type my scripts. It's much easier to edit, share with other voice actors, and there's a level of professionalism in formatting that motivates me to write more!

Here is an example of my writing. This screenshot was part of a Twitch stream!

#zsakuva #sakuverse #audio roleplay #boyfriend audios

[em-dash-press]

Reasons Why Your Characters Don't Feel Real

Even if you love your characters, they might not seem like real people when you’re writing them. When you can’t pinpoint the problem, consider these potential factors hold your characters back from their full potential.

1. They Don’t Have Goals

Imagine yourself on vacation. You don’t have any plans or expectations other than to relax. If you stayed like that for too long, you’d eventually feel bored. Your mind would wander.

Characters can have the same problem when they don’t have at least one goal.

Typically, the goal gets established at the beginning of a story. Especially in the first chapter if you’re writing a book. The goal could be a quest or a question. It also doesn’t have to be the primary plot driver for your entire story. It just has to get your character started.

Their goal could be to solve a mystery, make a new friend, protect someone they love, or make a specific change in their world. 

Need more inspiration? This blog post has over 100 potential goals to jumpstart your creativity.

2. They Don’t Have Any Specific Motivation

Let’s say you have a real life goal: you’re going to buy your first car.

That’s great, but what’s your motivation? What made you set that goal?

You might consciously want to have a car so you can join a travel sports team or get your own place. The subconscious motivator would be a desire for change or freedom.

Once you know your character’s primary or initial goal, figure out what their motivation is. They should have some inner drive to achieve that goal even when things get hard. 

Motivations also add emotional depth to flat characters, which might be why your protagonist or supporting characters feel not as well-rounded as you’d like. As you’re developing your characters or writing your story, keep their motivation central to the decisions they make to achieve their goal. (Or not—it depends on your planned arc for their growth.)

3. Their Dialogue Doesn’t Feel Right

We’ve all read bad dialogue and we’ve all written it. Conversations might feel too tight or robotic. How do you fix it?

First, I highly recommend reading it out loud. Act the lines out by yourself. You’ll notice the emotional weight and might write body language more accurately. You’ll also hear the unnatural phrasing or whatever’s specifically the problem, making it much easier to edit.

It’s also possible that your dialogue contains too many long sentences. It might feel natural to write them that way, but people don’t always speak at length. Sometimes sentences are short. Or incomplete. People hesitate on words, catch their breath, rush through thoughts.

You can also check out the great tips over here for more dialogue-specific work.

Remember, how people speak shows what they mean as much as your dialogue tags or body language descriptors. Give your dialogue room to be more human and your characters will be too.

4. They Don’t Have Flaws

You probably wouldn’t be friends with someone who was perfect. I definitely wouldn’t be. People who are perfect (or pretend to be) are irritating. They can also leave us feeling depressed or held at arm’s length.

Characters can create the same problems for readers when they don’t have flaws. Create those incredible characters you adore so much—then make them realistic.

Make people who have different morals than you. People who push themselves to be smart to ignore their emotions. People who love so immensely that it’s their fatal flaw.

Flaws can be physical, but they should also be internal. This site is a great resource if you want a list of flaws for inspiration. 

5. They Aren’t Growing

All great characters start their story with a worldview, a perspective, or a personality that hooks readers. By the end of the story, one or more of those things change.

Stories are about learning. Characters and readers learn things or experience things together. Characters are much less interesting if the plot doesn’t affect them in some way.

Double-check your plot outline or ideas to make sure they create a character arc. Flat characters can be useful, but they shouldn’t be your protagonist. This could be the reason why your characters don’t feel real. Make sure something challenges them so they feel like a real human growing through ups and downs.

Make Your Characters More Realistic

We’ve all found ourselves bored with our own characters. That doesn’t mean you’re a bad writer—it means you have room to work on your character development skills. Use these tips to get started and you’ll feel more confident about your story in no time.

#character development #character growth #creating characters #writeblr #writing tips #writing advice

[wholoveseggs]

Hey

How do u write so good smut

Can u share some tips...

~♡~ Smut writing tips ~♡~

Have an idea of what you want to happen during the intimate parts – positions, of course, but also:

~♡~ Foreplay ~♡~ How rough or how soft ~♡~ If your characters are talking during it or if they're not much for dirty talk ~♡~ Do they have any kinks? ~♡~ Is it their first time, or is it routine? ~♡~ Is this an actual act of love, or is it something else? ~♡~ And most importantly, what does your character want to get out of this scene?

Ask yourself what this moment means to them. Why now, why then, why with that person?

Always keep track of where everyone's body parts are and what they are doing, like hands, mouths, legs, etc. You want the scene to be very vivid and realistic, and the best way to do that is to be as descriptive as possible.

The goal is to make the reader feel as though they're right there, experiencing what's happening along with your characters. Describe the sights, sounds, scents, tastes, and sensations, as well as any actions. Make sure your dialogue isn't too cheesy or corny and try not to use clichés. On top of all that, throw in what they are feeling emotionally from time to time.

Remember to use this stuff only when it seems fitting; not everything should be overly detailed, and not everything has to be said in one single paragraph. Try to make the pacing flow naturally and have the scenes come together seamlessly. Avoid using the same phrases over and over, but also don't go crazy with the thesaurus.

My process usually starts with a single moment or idea. For example, in Je t'aime, Je t'adore, I had an idea of Elijah all wet and sexy on the beach, and then I created a whole story around it.

Know your weaknesses in your writing; I tend to ramble on a bit too much, so I make sure always to edit down my work. I have pages and pages of what I call 'scraps' – just random smut that I cut out. Sometimes, less is more.

If you're not into romance then don't force yourself to write it. Write something that makes you happy, if you like rough, kinky stuff then write it, and if you like to write something cute and sweet then go ahead, just enjoy the experience. One last thing, write what you enjoy, write the things you like to do, see, feel and read yourself. If it makes you happy, your readers will be happy too.

Here is a great smut thesaurus by @prurientpuddlejumper for finding just the right word to capture the image in your mind: Smut Thesaurus

♡♡ Thank you for listening to me and my ramblings. I hope it was of some help! ♡♡

#smut writing #smut #fantiction #fan fiction #fanfic #writing #writers on tumblr #creative writing #Smut thesaurus #writing resources #writing romance #writing reference #writing tips #writing advice #writing tools #writer tips #writing help #lissa responds #writeblr

[yuurei20]

Added Dialogue Compilation Part 1

Dialogue changes are a natural part of the localization process, and sometimes entirely new dialogue that never existed in the first place gets added to better appeal to the different target market.

For example:

Trey: His signature spell is a weapon.

A heavy judgement from Trey, this line didn't exist in the original game. Does this mean that Trey (as he was originally written) doesn't actually consider Riddle's magic to be a weapon? Or maybe it's originally unspoken subtext being said aloud?

Ace: Nah, bro. I've got a shovel and I am DIGGING.

Ace, Cater and Grim might be the three characters with more NA-original dialogue than any other. Most of the time it is very much on brand.

Chenya: They're out of this world.

Chenya: Oh, but it's LOTS of fun!

Trey: ...but calling it "poison" is kinda...yikes.

I just realized that NA isn't getting Chenya's verbal tic of saying "nya" (meow) all the time! Linguistically impossible, I think, which is too bad :<

Cater: If you were on all Magicam, I'd totally unsubscribe from your feed.

Cater: Hashtag # lame.

Cater: ...and keep this in the figurative DMs, if you catch my drift?

Cater's original slang is impossible to recreate in English, but it is certainly less SNS-centric than what it has been turned into on NA.

Cater: The smiles and the tears?

For Ruggie, both "Boss" and "Cross my heart and hope to die!" were added to the NA edit of the game. (memo: want to confirm whether or not Ruggie ever canonically refers to Leona as anything other than Leona-san)

Ace: You're more of a square than Loosey-Deucey over here!

Ace: Keepin' your friends close and your anemones closer over there!

Ace: All in favor? Aye! The ayes have it!

Given how difficult humor is to translate, the introduction of American-style jokes is no surprise :>

Ace: ...but what's life without a little spice?

Floyd: ...a dirty dishrag!

Floyd's expression here was changed from a one-time throwaway line by Azul in Book 4 (that made sense in the context of one specific scene) on JP to a phrase that Floyd uses repeatedly on NA.

Grim: Er, do they have hills underwater? Whatever.

Grim: And make it extra drink-y!

Grim and Ace having so many NA-style jokes added might come from them being on the "comedy relief" end of the spectrum? These aren't gags that were changed, however, but were added entirely.

Jade: ...brother...

(neither twin refers to the other as anything other than their first name, as an age-neutral word for 'brother' does not exist in Japanese and neither tweel is any older than the other)

Floyd: Hey, are you yankin' my tail here?

Azul: ...your face is going to crack when you hear this

Ace: Gee, you think a GAZILLION windows was enough?

(all above added for NA)

Cater: Oh, the drama! Oh, the SUSPENSE!

Jack: What're they gonna do, flog me?

Jack has a variation to his speech patterns similar to (but less dramatic than) Epel's, which really can't be recreated in English. That might be where lines like this come from, to compensate.

#twstdialogue #twst translations #twisted wonderland

[obstinaterixatrix]

✄ and ✎ !

✄ what’s your editing process?

I already answered this but I always have more to say...!

when editing for other people and for myself, I try to keep in mind: 1) filter phrases, 2) repetition, 3) information, 4) momentum. (and a ton more but that's what's coming to mind right now).

filter phrases and close repetition of words both tend to be easy to fall into, but easy to pick up on if you're specifically looking out for them; addressing that really helps clean up a draft.

With information, that actually means... a lot of things! what I usually focus on re: information is how it's chunked and what can be moved to subtext. I've been using the phrase 'chunking information' since forever, but I haven't really seen people talk about it until this post on 'economy of information'--even then, the economy of information post is more large scale and I approach it on a smaller scale. if one sentence has like, three-ish pieces of information--like, expressing an emotion, introducing a topic, expressing a second emotion--a lot of the times it's easier to parse if it's separated out UNLESS it's done intentionally or in a structured way. with what can be moved to subtext, I'm a big believer in making the reader do a little work. I love leaving specific things unsaid and/or setting up an obvious conclusion without directly stating it.

with momentum, that also means a lot of different things... so I'm just gonna focus on one part of it lol. characters can contradict themselves, or change their minds, but going back and forth can kill momentum if it's not done *intentionally*. I really like writing characters that lie to themselves or are kind of chaotic, so it's something I pay attention to a lot. I look for where the contradiction/back-and-forth feels natural, and where it slows things down.

✎ how do you think readers would guess a fic was yours if you posted anonymously?

probably dialogue and voice, but it really depends on what I'm writing for. I think my Yusuke voice *could* be sussed out because I have a very specific interpretation of a character that people seem to have a lot of different interpretations for, but Ryuji's voice is a little more universally characterized in the fandom...? (ish.)

I also go very over the shoulder third person, so I think the way I use prose more for internal processes than I do for description could be picked up on...?

#ask #ketolic #tumblr ask thing reply #the editing part got away from me #I love editing and talking about editing

[queerofthedagger]

Do you maybe have tips for editing? I never really know where to even start...

Hey nonnie, funny that you should ask because editing might just be the thing about the writing process I'm having the most thoughts on 😂 Mostly it's because I do write my first drafts pretty fast, and that means they tend to need a lot of polishing until I'm satisfied with them. I'm not saying this would work for anyone - it's simply what I've come up with for myself; feel free to adjust, restructure, ignore altogether or, most importantly, use only half of it because according to my friends, I'm insane. Anyway.

I basically do 6 editing rounds, not counting beta-edits. Bear with me. First of all, I never edit before I'm done - it's a matter of taste, but I don't post my long fics before they're fully written, partly so that I can change things when editing. It's mostly a result of being someone who doesn't outline, so again, feel free to adjust this as needed.

First editing round: colour-coding the shit out of the thing, as follows:

Purple: plot-things that need to be changed, foreshadowing to adjust, dialogue (both content and does it sound natural?), consistency of timeline, characterisation, places, etc. etc. Red: to be deleted or massively shortened (in my case, too many dialogue tags, characters getting stuck in their own head for too long, stuff like that) Dark blue: Repeated words and phrases, wording/phrasing in general, passive voice (is it needed?) Turquoise: fine-polishing of wording (i.e. I could leave it like this, but I could also still word it a little better, find a more fitting metaphor, stuff like that). Green: sentence structure and flow, meaning run on sentences, rhythm, anything that reads wonky not due to word-choice but beats Pink: Words that I tend to overuse, filler words ("really, only, just, though" etc.), as well as those that create unnecessary distance ("feel, think, wonder, remember," etc.) - not that you have to delete all of them, but it makes sense to check if they're needed. Yellow: maybe change. The stuff you're not sure about, that could work or maybe not. The cheating colour, basically. Orange: grammar, tense, spelling (I tend to correct a lot of that as I go, but as English isn't my native language, sometimes I have to look stuff up/want to check whether it's the British/US spelling).

Right, so that's a lot. I'm not going to try fixing all of it at once, so:

Second round: fix purple and red, it takes the most rewriting. Third round: dark blue and green. Fourth round: turquoise, pink, and yellow. Fifth round: orange Sixth round: one final read through as a whole, not with an intent of changing anything anymore. If anything still sticks out to you, fix it as you go.

This is mostly for longer fics - for one shots, I sometimes throw three and four together, or even two to four. Again, this is very in-depth, but I do hope it might help you/give you an idea where to start! ❤️

#answered asks #anonymous #mona rambles #on writing #*mine

[shortkingviktor]

if you were writing s3, what’re the boggest changes that you would make?

i'm going to be quick and hit the general things:

uhh fix the dialogue. just fix it.

don't flanderize the old characters and don't make the new ones so flat. e.g., luther gets dumber and goofier each season, sparrow ben was cartoonishly dickish, most of the other sparrows were likewise one-note.

no silly plots because i hate fun. okay, not really, but drop the bad or pointless subplots. example: grace worshiping the kugelblitz (maybe it's the former catholic in me but that was worth nothing more than an eye roll). as an extension of that, adjust the pacing and prioritize the important threads. the wedding dragged on – oblivion was rushed.

on the topic of oblivion, give that convoluted central plot way more focus and cohesion because it seemed like they were just pulling shit out of thin air. samurai! sigils! reset the universe! (seriously what did this phrase mean and why did they keep using it).

answer more long-standing questions. for example, don't "jennifer incident" ben's death. go into it. they may do that before the end of the series, but in my opinion, this was the season to do it. the sparrows are set up as foils to the umbrellas, which makes it natural to explore the question of why he lived in this timeline and not the last.

details and exact plot points, i'd have to think about more. i'd probably cut or heavily edit big things like luther/sloane and the five founder plot. but this is a roadmap of the changes that i think would make the biggest difference in quality.

#tua #tua salt #tua s3 #tua s3 spoilers #the umbrella academy #ask

[mintmatcha]

hi mint ! just saw ur rant abt the article, and as someone who tries to improve my writing (i try to be more conscious with my choice of words) how do you think can you improve that excerpt that you showed us?

Oooo yes yes yes okay!! i am not an expert but here's my two cents:

here's the original

-So, starting with the first line: I think it simply reads poorly. I like to add an exclamation point after Linda to separate exclamation from the rest of the sentence. I think it reads better an makes it more clear that Linda and the sales rep are two different people. I actually moved the dialogue tag in between the ideas to differentiate more. (I like how it looks better lol.)

Then, there's also that kind of exclamation "Hey Linda! Oh sweet! No kidding!) statement three paragraphs in a row. Take one out.

-The second paragraph has "Linda added." when she isn't really adding anything. It's simply another statement.

-The exposition of the dialogue is really chunky and I think it just gives too much. I just edited it to make it flow more naturally as a conversation. This is supposed to be a short lil ditty before a longer article-- you can cut it back even more.

Dialogue flows better when you take out repeat words. For example, they say brand a LOT. Once its said once, the reader is smart enough to know thats what is being discussed.

The other thing: when using dialogue tags, the sentence's period is always replaced with a comma. If there's an action, you use a period.

Example:

"I am writing today," she said. VS "I am writing today." Mint stood as she spoke.

-Hailey isn't continuing. She's just speaking.

-Chipper doesn't been quotations. She was just less chipper.

-Chins dropped sucks. It's jaws dropped. Its okay to use common turns of phrase. They are common for a reason.

Here's my edited version:

[rowenna-887]

ok ok soo, this gonna look a little confuse,yes,Meredy has tails,i will explain more that in another post that a pretend to do. Also,i am very proud of this edit!i not really good on draw things,but her hair turned so good 🥰 i also changed the arm because was really bothering me.

but know,the story behind that illustration,because it nothing like the event:

🌴 it made 4 years since the sacrifice of Erika and Leiftan.

🌴 Meredy and Lance are just married and decided to spend their honeymoon on the tropical Island. A ideia from Lance.

🌴 they were crazy to spend sometime alone,since before the marriage,they didn't have any. When they not in missions with others members,orders from Huang Hua,they were in reunions or helping the people from QG. making spend sometime alone impossible.

But in the Tropical Island,Lance and Meredy finally had that -well deserved- time alone.

🌴 on the time they spend there, Meredy and Lance was enjoying the company of it each other in peace. And one of this days,Lance find a natural pool and immediately decided to take Meredy there.

At first,Meredy didn't want to leave her peace and put her body to work climbing a mountain,but she give up after a minutes.

She passed the way complaining,receiving from Lance phrases like "we are almost there" "i promise it will worth it" "just a little more".

When they finally arrived to the top and Meredy see the natural pool,she looked admired,and Lance seeing that, say to her "i told you" with a grin in his face. Meredy just rolled her her eyes and said "fiiine,you won...this time"

🌴 and the rest of the dialogue follow the dialogue of the event in this part.

#eldarya a new era #eldarya lance #eldarya meredy #eldarya #eldarya event #eldarya edit #eldarya summer 2022 #eldarya summer event #eldarya nueva era #eldarya oc #eldarya new era #eldarya guardian #eldarya guardienne

[stackthedeck]

Hiiiiiiiiii i kinda had a question #lol. The fact that you write is awesome and makes me wanna write too, but every time i try i feel like i have such a large amount of self doubt that comes with it. Every single scene i finish is accompanied by an "oh god this sucks" in my head. Im also having a lot of trouble getting character voices down?? Like wow. Writing's harder than i thought it would be🫡 anyways just wanted to see if you had like tips or anything for dealing with that😨😨😨

Okay so my most practical advice is for how to get character voice. What I'll do as a writing exercise is I'll pick an episode of a show or like a scene from a movie or maybe a podcast episode, pick a medium that has a focus on dialogue. Transcribe the dialogue as you watch or listen (pause or turn on subtitles as needed) and pause the thing between chunks of dialogue and add the action tags, describe what the characters are feeling, give them internal monologue, describe the setting. I know this sounds tedious and like it is and it might not work for you and you definitely can't post it. But it makes me super aware of characters' speech patterns, the way they pause between words, what nicknames or phrases they use often, etc. It's also something that I just pick up on naturally, like I'll talk like my friends not as like an impression of their voice but how they talk and people say it's spooky.

The short cut to nailing how a character talks is to steal dialogue directly from the source, have them use nicknames from canon, and like be aware of their general tone. Like in most situations, Deadpool leans into a more jokey way of speak while Spider-Man is sarcastic with dry jokes and Daredevil is serious and gruff. These will change with each situation you know characters have moods and stuff. But if you're familiar with the source material you're probably really close to a character's voice that you think

with original stories, if I want to create a strong voice for characters and narration, I'll do a writing warm up by going outside or like a library and describe what I experience. I'm not allowed to start writing my actual thing until I include all five senses in those descriptions. I also tend to narrate how I think which doesn't work for everyone but I love metaphors and alliteration so it works. With original characters, they're usually based on someone I know so I'll just memorize their exact words or watch videos that they send me. It's kinda creepy tbh. But rule of thumb is to always read your stuff out loud, heck I usually say the dialogue before I write it, and it gives it a more human sound.

Okay practical advice done now I gotta tell you the thing you won't like. The best way to get over the "this sucks" mentality is to just write a lot. Anytime I'm not so sure about my own writing, I got back to the Hamilton fanfic I wrote in middle school that I proudly put on the internet and sent to my friends and I think "okay it could be so much worse" self-doubt will always be a part of the process you will always be your worst critic. But also you've also gotta be your biggest fan, it helps to find someone else to hype you up, but I dare you to read what you've written a say at least one nice thing about it. Any time you're in the editing stage, say one nice thing about what you've written before you say something that's not working. When you finish editing, say one thing that you're happy you added. You gotta write a lot but you've gotta be good to yourself

#asks #was this helpful?

[mugenloopdalove]

If you're looking for writing critique, i think your biggest issue might be repitition! using the same phrasing really close together + not a lot of variation in sentence structure can make the flow feel really stiff and awkward. For example:

"Would you like me to kiss it better?" The words kind of slipped out stupidly. He almost instantly regretted them but, as he did any time he said something he said something he instantly realized was stupid, played it off smoothly.

the word "stupid" is used in some form twice, instantly twice, and stupidly, smoothly, and instantly have a repeated -ly ending, creating a bit of clutter for such a short paragraph. Alliteration can be great, but it should be more intentional and used to create a specific atmosphere.

vs

"Would you like me to kiss it better?" The words kind of slipped out, sounding like an idiot. He almost instantly regretted them but, as he did any time he said something he said something he realized was stupid, played it off smoothly.

see how the second just flows a bit better without much change? your brain isnt tripping at every repeated phrase, and each part of the sentence has a unique feel.

You could also stand to shave off some filler words! Things like almost, kind of, and some of the middling phrases that come out naturally when we speak can make the narration feel less impactful.

"Would you like me to kiss it better?" The words slipped out. He instantly regretted them but, as he often did, played it off smoothly.

Additionally, phrases like "the words slipped out stupidly" are repetitive: "slipped out" already implies an awkward, unintentional vibe to the dialogue that makes any variation of stupidly/like an idiot redundant. "as he did anytime he realized what he said was stupid" creates that same redundancy with "he instantly regretted it", which already implies the phrase was stupid and he didnt like it.

Trimming helps a lot with clarity! It can feel scary to watch your word count go down, but taking a second and third pass at editing, trimming off and rearranging your sentences to see what makes the most sense and provides the smoothest read can really help!

(of course, there are times where cluttered, awkward, or nervous-seeming narration can help build atmosphere, but just as a general rule)

Sorry if this seems like a lot! I really, really love editing haha, its my favourite part of the writing process! I hope these tips help, though, and if they do and you ever want a beta reader or some specific help with something youre working on, i would LOVE to help out ^-^

OH SORRY ANON I MEANT TO ANSWER THIS SOONER BUT IM A DUMMY

thank u for the help!!

i do agree reading your edits that like. i do tend to be a bit wordy and awkward at times salkdjflsdkfj thank u again!!!

its def not a lot and sorry for not coming up w a longer reply but!!

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

Whenever One Of Those Disney Remakes Comes Out...

This was originally a Twitter thread that I wrote the other day, and wanted to repost it here because I... Accidentally deleted the first tweet, haha...

Anyways... Regarding "shallow" Disney romances, plot elements of the animated films that supposedly don't add up, and how these remakes supposedly "improve" on them or "add depth"...

For all the talk about some Disney romances happening in such ostensibly short amounts of time or feeling kind of halfhearted... It becomes apparent when you step back and think about it, possibly... but there's a reason the stories hold up and work despite this perceived issue... That's animation and lyrical storytelling bypassing what's supposed to be realistic. That's one of the medium's very special abilities...

Like, most people watching those Disney animated classics back when they came out were so engrossed in the stories and even the romances, because animation like that is really on its own plane of existence, operating on a unique wavelength that really makes it all register so seamlessly. But there's also plenty of substance & depth in what's being told, as it's woven in there by the visual (and sometimes visceral) storytelling itself. That's a big thing for me with Disney's animated movies, that they can establish so much in such short bursts in an 80-90min runtime.

A lot of what's often said about certain animated films reminds me of "style over substance", which is a phrase I absolutely can't stand. The style *can* be the substance, actually... it's there if the one watching is on the film's wave. Otherwise, it's just pretty pictures and noise to them.

A lot of my favorite Disney animated movies play this game very well, going all the way back to Walt's output. That there can be so much feeling, emotion and ideas in mere drawings mixed w/ music, dialogue, editing choices, etc. It's often hard for me to explain, but I naturally feel it whenever I watch it.

And that's not even getting into the language of fairy tales and fantasy stories, often laden with symbolism and metaphors and such, which are also on their own wavelength entirely. I feel, when you try to take all of that so literally, to make it "realistic" and feasible in another medium, let alone apply these ideas completely to *real life* itself... you're breaking it apart and overdressing it. Hiding its unique essence, ripping it away even. The fantasy element is dialed down, which kind of takes away from the whole appeal?

As I get older and I really try to nail how I write fantasy stories myself, I find the connection between this kind of fantasy and reality fascinating, how they in different ways inform each other. Not in the sorta "cute" ways that you can put into a neat little box ("Disney movies once taught me-"), but much more complex than that.

I'd say in terms of a recent live-action fantasy movie, one of the most interesting was David Lowery's THE GREEN KNIGHT, an adaptation of Arthurian legend, which really embraced a kind of lyricism and dream-like logic that you don't often see these days. Even in mainstream animated movies that favor talking heads scripting over this kind of thing. Naturally, it was "confusing" for some. I know I was kinda lost when I first saw it, but I couldn't stop thinking of the intricate texture of the piece after I left the theater. It's a feat when a movie of any kind can preserve that onscreen, not what was only in the text.

Of course, a classic animated movie isn't immune to criticism, but sometimes I think a lot of what I see written online is done out of misunderstanding of the animation medium (does that peer pressure from when they were 10 years old still linger in their heads?), and there's a lack of media literacy there as well. As if the CinemaSins crew are in charge here, nitpicking small things that don't matter while missing the much bigger picture. Animation and fantasy like this require a nuanced perspective to dig in, I feel.

Animation itself, when executed like this, is just really on a whole other field... And those who dig the films so much, I feel they naturally get it and don't knock the movies for these perceived "issues". Nor make rash generalizations about a whole body of work, which is also common with some folks who talk a good show about Disney animated movies. Even Disney themselves, which is always concerning, but this is nothing new. As far back as the late '80s/early '90s, various people who worked for them or on their movies echoed these kinds of weird reductionist sentiments, too... And I feel it really all boils down to... These movies are animated. Thus shallow, for children, lacking, without much substance...

If not that, then I feel it's a misunderstanding of how these outlandish stories work and what level they are on... Almost like it's being reduced to a "that was weird!" MCU-level joke, or- Again, fodder for CinemaSins or some garden variety Nostalgia Critic-style video.

[wingedcat13]

Hiya! I just utterly blew through all four chapters of your superhero story and was curious what you're writing process was like? How long does it take you to write the various chapters?

Ahaha, good question my pal.

So, I generally write ‘from the hip’ - or just going in general, start to finish. Any time I take a break, I reread from the beginning of the portion I’m working on - for example, when I take a break on Villains Never Retire, I don’t reread Call Me Menace, just what I’ve already written so far - and edit any typos or weird phrasing as I go.

However, Synovus has largely been a writing exercise rather than a ‘serious’ endeavor. I definitely put effort into it, and I do take it seriously, but I’m approaching it with a lot more of a devil-may-care attitude. I didn’t even know who Synovus’ parents were until I started writing VNR 4.

(Y’all did want backstory)

Usually, I write in snippets. Dialogue comes most naturally to me, so I start there. Sometimes I won’t even know who the lines belong to, sometimes they’re the cornerstone for the whole character. If I’m writing in a world that exists, like when I’m working on FanFiction, I’ll pause whenever I need to look something up and figure out if X is available or if Y happened when I thought it did, usually accompanied by IRL research to shore up if the universe itself doesn’t provide an answer. (Not super in depth research, normally I just trawl Wikipedia)

When I’m working on my own works for worldbuilding, I go uh. Hm. I built the world for Tower’s Fall from the literal ground up. I know what regions are likely to grow what crops, the way the tectonic plates are laid, why the land is shaped the way that it is. Most of that will never come up, and if it doesn’t matter to you, I’m not going to tell you that kind of depth is critical - it’s a personal approach, because if I know down to my (in this case literal) bedrock, I won’t contradict myself. Things feel like they’re built on a steadier surface.

Of course, again, I didn’t start there. I started with a protagonist and a time span that shifted to become two protagonists and a different time span, and one country became three, and now I’m trying to figure out exactly how many Lords there would be to control X amount of land.

And banter. I started with a lot of banter. Heavier moments too - I have scenes where one or the other has a breakdown, and I may not ever use them. I may rewrite them entirely, have it be witnessed by a different character instead of described from the inside, or change the pieces. But I know the general vibe I wanted from it, and that gives me a chance to build.

Edit: realized I didn’t answer part of the question. It uh… it takes the time that it takes, unfortunately. I did Call Me Menace in a straight five hour shot, VNR has taken me a week or so for each piece. I don’t hold myself to a timeline or a word count goal - I just write. Sometimes that means a few thousand words. Sometimes it just means one, and that’s the word ‘FUCK’ written and deleted when I can’t figure out where to go from where the story’s at.

TL;dr - writing is like pottery. You can’t get a sculpture until you have a block of what looks vaguely like shit. Slap it down, then start shaping.

(And yes, I do actually type a lot of my writing into my phone. It’s a modern day notebook for me - something about the small size makes it easier to focus, to narrow the thoughts down into words? Again, a personal preference.)

#I hope this is what you’re looking for! #this also does not include the relentless spamming of friends and fellows with snippets and clips #to ask ‘is this good or am I stupid’ #and sometimes the answer is ‘go to sleep’ #ask box #I am not a model