#improve at writing without writing

[3hks]

How to Get Better at Writing Without Actually Writing

Are you looking to improve your writing without needing to write? I'll admit, I am definitely that kind of person--I have the hardest time even finding something interesting to write--despite that, I have noticed that my writing has vastly improved over the past year or two when it was hardly a hobby, and here's how I did it!

ANALYZE DIFFERENT WORKS

Yes yes, everyone tells you to READ, READ, and READ, even I will agree. However, unlike what some people tell you, you don't actually have to read all those classics like Heart of Darkness or The Hobbit. Of course, those books are very beneficial, but if you find no interest in those types of books (like me), then don't read them!

If you prefer reading casual stories posted by online authors, whether it be a fanfiction or their own, original story, it still qualifies as reading! As long as you are able to find a work that you particularly enjoy, that's all you need!

When reading, the key to improving at writing is to always study the story. Take a moment to look at certain words or phrases that stick out to you. How does the author use them? What do they mean? Keep track of the characters' development and how it affects them. Additionally, note things like powerful scenes, dialogue, and more to have an idea of how you can create something just as impactful. For example, if a text made you cry, think about how and why you reacted like that. This can actually help you re-create events that hold the same effectiveness, if not more!

To add on, if you really dislike reading just that much, then you can always analyze things like shows, movies, etc. However, this will prove to be less efficient because you often don't get access to the text behind the shows. Still, it's a good way to study the plot, characters, character developments, dialogue, and relationships!

2. PROOFREADING

No, I'm not saying that you should be an editor; this actually ties back to my first tip. Remember how I said that if you don't want to read classics, then don't? Well, this is because forcing yourself to read them is completely unnecessary (unless you like them or want to write like the author, of course). As a matter of fact, reading poorly written stories can be very helpful for improvement!

When we read books or novels that have obvious grammar errors, repetitive words, and choppy sentences, we will realize these mistakes and point them out to ourselves. Being able to scout out faults means that we are able to learn from them and grow! Noticing these things will also help prevent you from making the same or similar mistakes!

3. STUDY TIPS ONLINE

I used to go search up websites on Google whenever I wanted help with a certain topic. Of course, not all of the sites are reliable and/or helpful, but some point out good ideas that a couple of us just need! This can be especially useful regarding the things that we are unfamiliar with when writing. They can offer a base foundation and tips on how to start and finish!

They can also serve as a great inspiration for fresh ideas and new perspectives!

Yes, these three tips are pretty simple; however, I have found that they work very well for me! People vary from person-to-person, so it can't be guaranteed the same effect, but this is the best I got! HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! <3

Happy writing~

3hks :)

#writing #writeblr #writerscommunity #writing tips #creative writing #writing advice #improve at writing #improve at writing without writing #writers on tumblr #writer tips #get better at writing #get better at writing without writing

[beastwhimsy]

six YEARS of art between these two drawings. I'm proud of where I am now and the practice I've done over the years [: I can't wait to see where I go next with my art!!

#not just as an artist but as a character designer too!! though I tried to make it similar to the original #artists on tumblr #furry #furry art #furry oc #anthro #wizard #magic #I dont know why their name was 'griphook' #art improvement #character design #technically the second piece was ALSO traditional. I sketched it on paper with a pencil before transferring it to procreate #described art #accessible art #they look like an npc for a fantasy game... I like that :3 #CHAT. HOW TO WRITE IMAGE DESCRIPTIONS THAT MENTION IMPROVEMENT WITHOUT SOUNDING EGOTISTICAL

[girluimfailing]

I feel like some of yall forget that Damian was spoilt to death and treated like a prince, which is where his snarky bratty personality comes from. Remove that and you remove a core of Damian's character. It makes no sense.

#also you can be abused without the 2D villain physical abuse #and recently all the racist writing does is make the al ghuls 2D villains #sad because in the newer writing for talia at least she's shown to be a good parent or at least like; not BAD at best #theyre trying to improve her writing but fanon loves to make her evil to lift up the male or yt characters #damian wayne #ras al ghul #talia al ghul

[deadpanwalking]

That writing advice makes me wanna kms 💀

I don't know what to tell you, man. None of that should feel like pulling teeth. If you truly dislike reading books, do yourself a favor and find another outlet for creativity that doesn't require it. Ask yourself if you want to be a writer or if you just want to be perceived as the kind of person who writes—if it's the latter, thrift a tweed coat with leather elbow patches and keep vaguely alluding to an unfinished novel.

#we aren't catholics here! we don't do things to punish ourselves! if it sucks hit da bricks! #do the unthinkable and write anyway without trying to optimize the skill—that's how i play chess‚ you know. #i reached my chess ability threshold like 20 years ago and i'll never improve in any meaningful way but i play every day because its fun #if i were actually angling to win tournaments i'd be miserable because i'd suck no matter what #anonymous #assbox

[darkcreamz95]

Now that I've mamaged to sleep...

So if you've heard Umazane Misli in Malay yesterday at Joker Out's Amsterdam show (6/12), that was me who sang it at the barricade in front of the boys.

If you have any video recording of me singing it, please send it to me!

I would love to keep it and also tell my parents that getting a C for my Bahasa subject during my high school final exam ACTUALLY GOT ME SOMEWHERE HAHA.

Thank you also to everyone who cheered as I attempted the lyrics in front of Bojan. It's a great honor to bring Malaysia and South East Asia to the spotlight for a moment.

For anyone curious about what the actual words are...

#joker out #joker out amsterdam #MALAYSIA REPRESENT GUYS #SEA REPRESENTTTTTTT #i did it #i did the ultimate umazane misli experience OH SH #i only decided to try it yesterday as i was on my way to amsterdam so i just typed out the lyrics on my phone while i was on my way #i tried to not use too much negative words #because for smell in malay “bau” is associated with foul smells #so “wangi” is better #also if you want to suggest better words or phrasing please dm me! im happy to take in suggestions on what i can improve on for the lyrics #plus i cant think of a nice way to say “dirty thoughts” in malay without sounding too harsh #shoutout to my friend for also bringing papers and markers so i can write my sign #umazane misli

[abutterflyscribbles]

when a character says 'I can't live without you' I often think it would be more powerful to say, 'I don't want to live without you'. Life will go on, the world will turn, but a light has gone out of it that cannot be replaced even if new ones are lit. I want to be with you, I'm choosing to be with you, I could live without you but I would be losing something incredibly precious that brings a certain richness that nothing else ever will.

'I can't live without you' sounds kind of coercive to me. I can't live without you I don't have a choice so you don't have a choice unless you want to destroy me, do you want to destroy me? Without each other we have nothing, are nothing.

#a butterfly scribbles #ideas #prompt #prompts #someone else please say this better #I mean if you want to write about characters that can't live without each other that's your prerogative #I get tired of how it's supposed to be the ultimate romance or even normal and healthy and just thrown into stories willy-nilly #like in pride and prejudice darcy is all 'I'm in love with you against my will and better judgement' like there's no choice involved #elizabeth is unimpressed 'too bad so sad' #and guess what? his life goes on. in some ways it gets better as he improves himself #it wasn't a plan to win her back. whether or not they ended up together I think he would have ultimately been okay #I think that's great #my life is good but you would make it so much better please be a part of it #I shouldn't write when it's past my bed time

[gem-magpie]

Gosh, you're fat. You're *so* FAT.

I know you fantasize about it. You dream about being a completely immobile blob of pure hedonistic gluttony, but you forget all too easily that you actually are already *very* fat.

You aren't exactly in denial of it, but you don't tend to truly recognize your real-life achievement when you're busy thinking about being fed by a magical tube until you can't move, or becoming addicted to magical flying cakes.

You're the real deal!

No magic potion did this, no hypnotism necessary, no living slime forced you into what you are. You did this through sheer, unmitigated, piggish overconsumption. You made yourself huge, and you didn't even try.

Let me guess, you're reading this with a sugary drink nearby. Maybe a few empty cans sitting on your desk; calorie bombs that you already guzzled down? Don't worry, I know you needed them to wash down the huge breakfast *and* massive lunch you had today.

No no, you've been responsible, right? Just a little cereal, and a simple sandwich for lunch? A reasonable little ham and cheese?

Maybe you just forgot that you finished the entire box of cereal? I guess you didn't notice that had the majority of a family sized bag of chips with that sandwich as a "side"?

You couldn't stop yourself. With each handful of chips you promised yourself it'd be the last one, but then it wasn't enough. Again and again you stuffed your mouth with those delicious, greasy, salty delights as you searched for the perfect mouthful to end on. Just one more. Just one MORE. Oops, better leave the crumbs. That way you can tell yourself you didn't eat the whole thing. Gosh, You must be *so* full.

Maybe you’re thinking of just a small meal for dinner since you've been gorging yourself silly all day?

Who are we kidding, you're ordering out again aren't you? You did yesterday, and the day before, and you are going to do it again today.

You don't even have the supplies necessary to cook something in your kitchen, do you? Just snacks and drinks to keep yourself stuffed between meals.

You go to the store to pick up "groceries'' and you just end up buying ice cream, frozen pizzas, chips, and soda. You shamelessly place a towering stack of cookies on the checkout belt and pretend not to notice the looks you get. You hope everyone assumes that you're shopping for a family, but you know it's all for you.

You grab a few things here or there that you tell yourself will make for a healthy dinner, but they are just extra calories when you pack your tummy with something fried anyway. No wonder you look more and more like a big, soft ball of dough each day.

Alright, I digress. You're already looking past all the food you already mindlessly shoveled into your fat gut today. Let's get to that delivery order. Of course you're putting in for a large combo. No, wait, a large combo and… a few extra entrees?

Wow, to think I thought you might stop with enough food for just one helpless glutton. You're justifying 3 people’s worth of food to yourself now. Just because you're not ordering 3 large combos doesn't mean you aren't eating three entrees *with* additional sides, you know.

It's okay, just happily plop your fat ass down on the couch and fill your capacious belly with everything you bought. This amount of food doesn't even slow you down anymore, does it? It's actually stunning watching you eat.

As usual, you ate all of that before even one act of your show was up; And, as usual, you're grabbing something more from the fridge to tide you over for the rest of the episode. It's only thirty more minutes, but we both know you really can't go thirty minutes without eating.

Gosh…

It's no wonder none of your clothes really fit. You buy the biggest sizes you can find, and you tell yourself it fits "well enough" because your gut is technically not hanging out of the front of your shirt (yet).

I guess it doesn't matter to you much how tightly it hugs your wobbling chest and generous paunch, huh? I mean, it's drawn so tightly over your body that it's dimpled inward into your cavernous belly button.

You might as well not even wear a shirt with how snugly everything hugs your curves.

You're too fat to even see that, aren't you? You had no idea so much of you was on display even when your clothes "fit". Aww, look at how red you're getting!

Maybe I was wrong earlier when I said you didn't try. You love this. Maybe you wouldn't admit it (yet), but you did all this to yourself *on purpose*.

You love hearing about just how fat you are. You can barely contain your excitement as I describe how blatant it is that you've lost control.

You couldn't stop gorging yourself if you wanted to. You're just too hungry, not to mention you love how soft and heavy you've gotten…

Now that the show's over it's time for some recreational activities. Maybe a walk outside?

No, grab yourself some dessert. You just ate over 2500 calories in fast food and guzzled 32 ounces of soda, but I know it's never enough. Not only is your heaving, plump gut pining for MORE food, you yourself are longing to be bigger.

You managed to squeeze those massive hips of yours into that little office chair. The poor thing looks like it's about to shatter under the weight and pressure of all that fat! Seeing as you're eating sandwich cookies four at a time, and washing them down by chugging milk straight from the carton, I'd guess that's your goal. With every heavy gulp you fantasize about just how amazing it would be if your swelling ass broke the armrests. Then you could get yourself a double-wide chair. I bet it excites you to think about having such a blatant monument to your hedonistic gluttony. Don't worry, you'll get there soon.

Regardless of what you're doing after dinner, the only thing that matters to you is that you're sitting and eating *again*. Honestly I can't believe you can still be hungry after all of that, but the unmistakable roar of that insatiable gut of yours is proof otherwise.

It's OK, it's just a few more hours of continuous eating after you already had a huge dinner. No big deal. It’s super cute, actually. You look so full, and yet you keep going. You’re practically begging for more.

I can't blame you, it feels fantastic to be so blissfully full.

Just think of how fat you could *really* get if you gave in completely to your desire. I would love to help you. There's no need to spend a moment hungry, I'll take care of everything. Give in, and let me make you huge.

Yes? Absolutely.

Finish off that sleeve of cookies for me, ok? Good, now open another. Throw away the wrapping, you won't need to reseal them. Another. More. Another. Don't stop. Eat. Drink. Fill yourself for me.

Let me feel you swell. I want to watch your strained clothing ride up your flesh and expose your taut, bloated belly. I need to hear you burp and moan with the pressure and pleasure of truly giving in. I can't wait to watch it all melt away and fill your lap with more warm fat.

Go on, polish off that bag of chips from earlier. Tip the bag back and prove that you don't need to pretend any more. Never again hold back your gluttony for appearances. You NEED to finish off that calorie loaded, family size sack before bed. A sense of completion is important after a long day to get some decent rest, you know.

And you’ll need plenty of rest to give your body time to grow.

Go ahead, roll your huge, swollen body into bed. I got you a heaping bowl of ice cream to finish off your day. Sweet and salty go so well together. Eat up. Dump some chocolate syrup on top. Treat yourself.

Actually, why not finish the gallon? Even after all I fed you, I can tell it wasn’t enough. I’ve got it nice and melted for you. Good, chug it down. Let it fill you and, if we’re lucky, finally satiate you.

I'll see you tomorrow for breakfast.

Gosh, you're fat. You're *so* FAT.

#Some writing of mine from Twitter improved without character limits #feeding kink #burp kink #feedee feeder #belly expansion #weight gain #fat belly #fatfur #fat #Gluttony #my writing

[meownotgood]

writing would be so joyous without the plague of the Compare Self to Others debuff

#I think about how much better others are at writing than me and I take passive tick damage #I'm usually good at just writing without caring much #I enjoyed it in the first place because I could express myself freely #but every so often I get those nagging things in my brain #that tell me I'm not good or popular or talented enough #I hate it lol #I think it happens to everyone creative though #it's difficult not to feel inferior to others #creating can often feel like climbing a big pyramid #like there's people at the top and you're all the way down #but really. it's a landscape #with everyone on their own plot of land #you can improve by working hard #but you will always have something different to offer compared to everyone #and you will always grow differently #so it's useless to compare #sorry for my gibberish my brain is running on low connection

[cywscross]

Dick-or-Treat 2024

A multi-fandom fanfic/fanart fest that runs from April 1 to May 31. Participation is open to anyone 18 and older, no sign-up required!

Rather than a prompt-and-claim style fest, Dick-or-Treat is a no minimum free for all where participants title their works after any Pokemon move in existence. Requirements to participate are minimal: one complete smut fic or artwork with a title named after a Pokémon move/attack.

Rules/FAQ: https://dick-or-treat.dreamwidth.org/375.html

#fandom events #multifandom #dick or treat 2024 #dick or treat #i've already written one lolol #trying to see if i can improve my nonexistent smut writing skills #pwps with no word min requirement seems like a good way to do that #i'll never be able to look at a list of pokemon moves without thinking about sex again tho lmao

[zukkaoru]

sits. hello grace. give me the top five fics ur most proud of

oh this is. so hard uhmm

1. (i am) the whisper of a memory - this has to be number 1. this is probably my favorite fic i've ever written. i don't want to spoil it but i made some risky stylistic choices and i think they really really paid off bc it turned out so good and i've had multiple people tell me it is THE megumi fic of all time and that is a badge i wear with great pride

2. the body i'm in - my akutagawa siblings character study fic!! also known as body dysmorphia: the fic. this fic was actually a really early idea i had shortly after i got into bsd so i'm proud that i not only managed to write it but also that i was happy with how it turned out after daydreaming about it for so long

3. alive & free (look at me!) - i've only had this fic finished for about a month but. wow. i really wrote 22k words about two characters i previously hardcore struggled with in one week. there's something so very wrong with me but at least it's mildly entertaining for a handful of people on the internet

4. the things all come and gone - my geto with sleep issues character study fic!! this got way longer than i expected but i think it turned out so well and i had so much fun writing it

5. this ultraviolet morning light - i think this one has to go on the list bc it's the longest fic i have published sitting at a pretty 86k words and i still can't believe i actually did that

honorable mentions: to know i am real (yuki & riko canon divergence au) brushed pink with false fire (utahime character study ft. shokohime) of all the stars, the fairest (mailee fake dating) a little bit of you & a little bit of me (modern au jinora character study)

#i'm proud of a lot of my fics for different reasons so this was. challenging dfgfhgjhkj #like there are so many more i could have included.. #you're a cage without me ; where the fields are painted gold ; entertain my faith ; if one of us dies ; etc etc #but anyways yes i think these are some of my best works from over the years lol #the writing in some of the older ones could be a bit better imo but i'm biased #bc i know how i can write now and i know i've improved significantly #ty for the ask!! #louie tag #asks

[hella1975]

obligatory 'i feel a bit bad to that one anon bc it's the usual case that your ask wasn't actually bad so much as a bit annoying but alas it's the breaking point of something that's been bugging me so now im making a post about it' disclaimer but if you really really REALLY feel the need to ask me when the next update is going to be on a fic - and please ask yourself if you really need to - then i have some things for your consideration. the first is that i have a tag called 'taob updates'. when i am writing taob, i talk about it on here. initially and mostly, it's bc i genuinely enjoy sharing the experience and it helps me get my thoughts in order, but also it's my way of going 'hey, taob is happening! look!' if there have been posts in the 'taob updates' tag lately, then yay! an update is imminent and/or i tend to actually SAY on those posts how long i think the chapter will take. 'what if there haven't been any posts in that tag for a while?!' i hear you cry. 'what if you're actively posting for another fandom and clearly enjoying yourself and dont want to constantly have cold water dumped on you for a thing you currently aren't thinking about?' well.... maybe.... maybe i am not writing taob at that time..... and crazier yet.... maybe you demanding it isn't going to make me switch interests at a moment's notice.... food for thought x

#this always happens when we reach the ~2 month mark between updates i just start getting progressively shittier anons #and it's like yeah i bet you think it's harmless. i bet you might even think it's encouraging #which is why im not saying any of this maliciously but instead to explain how it looks like from MY point of view #like im seriously enjoying mha atm. im having fic ideas for it. me having fic ideas for a non-atla fandom IMPROVES my writing #wholesale bc it breaks me out of the block id be in if i forced myself to remain in the atla fandom #but even without needlessly justifying the space i take in other fandoms in terms of what they can contribute to taob #you shouldn't be bothering writers anyway! there are ways of encouraging specific fics without being annoying about it! #so yeah <3 just saying

[essektheylyss]

Okay I did start handwriting again for the first time since high school and I've only done a bit thus far but I'm remembering how much less pressure it is, which is great because I really needed some lower pressure writing.

But also I'm realizing it's fascinating for reasons I could not have appreciated when I was a teenager because I was so new to writing and didn't really know what I was doing; specifically I've realized that I can really identity strengths and weaknesses based on what comes more naturally and what I have to really think about to remember to include. It's super neat!

For instance I am great at scene motion and where active elements are relative to each other. I'm good at dialogue flow. I really struggle with the balance of internal narration, and drop it a lot when it would be good for character but I don't currently need it for exposition. I will straight up need to add atmospheric elements in later, because I have entirely failed to account for things like weather even though my pov character started out on a small boat on a busy waterway used as an major thoroughfare in the middle of the night.

A lot of descriptions are overall lacking per my taste, because I tend to go back and add those small details as I get farther into a scene and nail down the setting and vibes. And it's easy and unobtrusive when I'm in a word processor, because I jump back a few lines, type the phrase I wanted, and go back to the end, and it only takes me a few seconds, whereas on paper I have to flip back and then try to wedge it in nicely enough that it's legible later.

It's super neat to analyze and I highly recommend it if only because it might tell you stuff about your process that are so autonomic that you haven't noticed them, and could help point toward stuff that you could make more seamless if you deliberately practice putting more active thought in to incorporate.

#if you don't want that then yanno. disregard and keep scrolling but i am a process improvement bitch lmao #megs is writing #I'm having SO much fun tho i used to love handwriting and it's not as efficient but it does just... flow #which i really needed #i can sustain a typed writing flow longer but i find it harder to get into it if I'm not already feeling the writing vibes #and like. i wrote ten pages the other day without even realizing it. fucking wild

[analyzingadventure]

You know I actually never realized this before-- so you remember how tri. retconned Original Chosen fighting and defeating Apocalymon into them fighting the Dark Masters instead? (To be fair it is possible they could've ALSO fought Apocalymon afterwards but that isn't the Epic Final Showdown tri. decided to depict so it's borderline a retcon)

If the Original 5 Chosen fought and defeated the Dark Masters once in the distant past, doesn't that mean that

A) They survived and hid for just a few thousand years until they came back for a Round 2 at conquering the world

B) They died, were reborn, and THEN went for the Round 2

You know I've just DYING with curiosity, desperately wanting to know if any of the villians in Adventure would ever be reborn after Adventure, right. Because according to the lore they should, right (unless their data was like somehow absorbed by Apocalymon and destroyed along with him (though that would still leave Piemon as an exception (and Vamdemon but we all know what happened to him) and the sole survivor))

And what tri. has essentially done is confirm that most of them should, in fact, be reborn sooner or later

But that just raises the question of if Apocalymon was lowkey driving the Dark Masters nuts (as suggested by the novels), and if tri. was kind of about destroying the last remnants of Apocalymon's data (within Meicoomon), if they were reborn this time would they be free of Apocalymon's influence

If so, would their third (?) lives then turn out different? Would they still try to take over the world all over again for funsies (this time just without Apocalymon giving them power etc), or were they just the same as Ken was in Zero Two? I mean Apocalymon was supposed to be a spawn of Milleniummon and Ken was infected with Mille's malice directly, so while it may have been a bit filtered it was still the same source of malice and corruption, right

And like regardless of how their next lives would turn out, shouldn't the kids (OR AT THE VERY FUCKING LEAST GENNAI) like realize that this is going to happen eventually and like. Go and see if they can find them (either as their pre-Ultimate forms or even when they're still in their Eggs) and try to figure out what to do BEFORE shit hits the fan

I JUST

#Sorry I'm rewatching the second half of Adventure while working (it improves my focus actually) and #Oh the brainworms are real #Text post #I'm sorry I'm just thinking about Pinocchimon. My sweet poor murder child just needed friends 😭 #But even if he was reborn without the craving for blood- who would be friends with him. After all he did in his past life #Who would want to be friends with him. Who would forgive him #IS HE GONNA BE DOOMED TO BE ALONE FOREVER. I'M 😭😭😭 #Meanwhile for all we know Piemon is still stuck in that other dimension 10 years later lmao #Depending on if tri.'s reboot ever affected him at all or not because god fucking knows we'll never find out #(Or if he even COULD be affected by the reboot to begin with. God knows Wizarmon seemed to be fucking IMMUNE to it) #(Even though it was supposed to reset EVERYBODY) #But also that could have horrifying implications too if Piemon was just left to cook overnight with a part of Apocalymon #Like Apocalymon is just a collection of grudge and hate from Digimon who've gone extinct right #What's stopping that part of Apocalymon from just restarting the collection of hatred and grudge all over again #This time using Piemon as a vessel to just contain it #Like Apocalymon came from beyond the Wall of Fire to begin with so it's not like dimensional barriers should stop him either #I mean the good news is that there probably haven't been that many Digimon species that've gone extinct after Adventure #But still kids. Y'all might have a timebomb on your hands #Edited to remove some of excessive cursing lmao. I was feeling very intense when writing this sorry lmao

[unexaggerateddumbass]

I am once again going to commit a carnal sin and compare balance with the rest of the campaigns in The Adventure Zone. I know that it’s in poor taste–and, to be clear, I love the other campaigns–but their relationship to one another fascinates me.

The McElroy brothers really just haven’t done a lot of creative writing, especially not dramatic writing. What makes balance so compelling is the way that it leaned on fun tropes. It was a fantastic starting point, and since then they have been experimenting with new and more original ideas for stories. They come off as somewhat stunted and amateurish because the McElroys are amateur writers.

At its very core, balance is a very compelling execution of very compelling tropes. Anytime I try to articulate what it is that I like about balance, I find it impossible not to just sort of describe the story in terms of its tropes. “well you see, the group of oddballs is being pursued by an army of shadow monsters who destroy worlds. And their ship is propelled by the power of friendship. And the longer they get to know one another the stronger they become. And they were very good friends, practically brothers, but they lost their memories and forged their bonds all over again.” Not to mention every arc in the campaign is explicitly recycled from a movie that Griffin had watched recently, with the exception of Gerblins, which is built off a pre-built adventure book. The whole campaign bleeds tropes.

And I don’t say this to disparage balance! Every good story in this age is built on tropes. The tropes do a lot of work in balancing the fact that the McElroys were very out of their element in trying to write dramatic stories. Part of the reason that balance is 70+ hours long, double the following campaigns, is that they spent a lot of time retreating into comedy improv(their safe space). The trope that balance bleeds the most is bathos. Nearly every sincere moment, without exaggeration, is undercut by a joke. And, just to be absolutely clear, this is a strength. It was good for the McElroys to have that as a readily available crutch. Especially in this particular story, where so many characters were hiding immense pain behind carefully crafted facades. It makes the story all the more compelling, especially on second, third, and hundredth tellings. It was good for the McElroys, in their first major dramatic creative writing project, to be able to lean into comedy at all times.

And then, balance Concluded. The Mcelroys wanted to tell new stories, and, looking back, all their favorite parts of balance were the dramatic parts, not all the jokes that they had sandwiched in between. Moving forward, they abandoned their old crutch and tried to write mostly dramatic characters and scenes from the get-go. Aubrey the fire-bender who accidentally burned her own parents alive, the world of Ethersea that was cursed by the Gods and strangled itself to death, Fitzroy the ragged boy who only ever dreamed of being a knight and had the dream plucked away at the last moment. I adore these stories, but I would be lying if I tried to argue that it isn’t apparent that they were written by amateur writers. The McElroys thrust themselves into the world of dramatic writing all at once, but they only ever wrote a little bit, less than one week at a time. And, unlike most amateur writers, they didn’t have the luxury of holding off on publication or revising. The post-balance campaigns are a living record of their writing and learning process. Naturally, a lot of the work they would produce in such a project is not strictly of publishing quality.

And, to look at things from a meta-perspective, it is also natural that a significant portion of the audience would step back at this point. pre and post-balance are two very different kinds of stories. So much of the response and–to be frank– backlash to the these newest seasons stems from high expectations. The Mcelroy brothers have this huge brand and one very compelling writing project behind them already. The audience was expecting professional quality work, but that expectation is a little unearned. They were amateurs. The Adventure Zone is, and always has been, from the moment of its inception, an experiment. After completing balance and taking a massive shift of focus towards dramatic storytelling(because that was what the results of their first experiment demanded) the published product demanded a shift in audience.

Balance was a fun and tropey story spliced with very compelling moments of drama and written by amateur writers. The McElroy brothers created balance because they wanted to sit together and play dnd every other week. When they finished balance, they decided that those dramatic moments were their favorite parts. So, for their bi-monthly game of dnd, they chose to focus on writing those dramatic moments. Even though it was new to them. Even though it was uncomfortable and often cringey. Even though they had a huge audience with high expectations. Because it was fun.

#taz #the adventure zone #my essays #midnight writing #I guess maybe it is a little unfair to consistently call them amateur writers when it has been like nine years since the beginning of balanc #but like #when you consider just how infrequently they have practiced writing in all that time #and how they still leaned on the crutch of improv comedy so heavily for the first four of those years #and that literally every word out their mouth has been published immediately without a chance for revision #makes sense to me

[flowercrowncrip]

[ID: A piece of digital art with the word “breathe” written in a modern calligraphy style. The writing is watercolour style and is different shades of green. Framing the writing on the left side of the page is a watercolour style painting of a pine tree. Only the right half of the tree is visible as the rest is off the page. The whole piece of art is on a light green rough paper texture background. / end ID ]

#this was so helpful to draw with my ptsd being bad #I can’t believe I’ve improved to the point where I can write words without looking like a toddler’s writing #echo paints stuff #mouth artist

[yohankang]

shit went down at work today and there's a chance they'll fire me 🙃

#my boss will talk to the ceo tomorrow and it's entirely up to him....... #multiple people at work saw me crying and i was so ashamed i wanted to cry even more lol #i'm just so bad at this job and i hate it but it's so hard to find a job when you dropped out of uni twice #and they pay well and i truly love some of the people there #like my boss expects me to do better (if i won't get fired) and she wants me to propose some improvements #but like. the problem is me. the workload is too much for me and there's no magic way to solve it #and the worst part is i'm so emotionally unstable i can't even talk about it without crying #i'm crying even now lol #and i know if i start crying tomorrow it will only annoy him #and i'm not doing it to seem pitiful i just can't control it at all #godd i'm so tired #i wish i could just cry it out today and then have a serious conversation tomorrow but it doesn't work like that #i had plans today but i start crying every 10 minutes so i just came back home and opened a beer #maybe it will put me to sleep idk #at this point i'm also annoyed with myself #i will let you know how it goes tomorrow 🙃 #k.txt #dl #btw please don't try to comfort me because it only makes me cry harder lol i'm just writing to let it all out