#writing discussion

[sanguine-arena]

one of my favourite writing stylistic Things (tm): using a phrase as a sort of repetition, but slightly modifying it little by little as the story goes on and the events of the story progress

#writing process #writing discussion #theo chatter #no but im working on acidic and like. this one scene has the main phrase going from 'It was pure bliss and he hated it' to #'it was pure bliss and he knew it wasn't so bad after all'

[writtenbyevie]

#I know we all likely experience all of these/mixes of the two #but for simplicity’s sake which do you deal with THE MOST #writer’s block #writers of tumblr #writers on ao3 #writing poll #ao3 memes #ao3 poll #writeblogging #writeblr #writing memes #writing discussion #ao3 #ao3 writers #tumblr writers #evie’s jeevies

[eldritchtouched]

Bloodborne understands something integral to most of the plot structure in the Lovecraft Mythos that most modern Mythos writers sleep on if they want to reinterpret the perspectives of the original setting. It gets complicated with Lovecraft because a lot of characters in-story go with a different interpretation but most of the stories are written in a way that offers an 'unreliable narrator' interpretation with ease.

Which is, most beings in the universe are already aware of the weird eldritch shit and cosmic deities. As a whole, most of the various aliens do not want to conquer people, or murder them, nor have they gone insane from this knowledge. The problem is when someone goes from not knowing to knowing but is deeply arrogant and believes themselves superior to others, they use that knowledge in horrible ways. This includes Joseph Curwin in The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, the Yith as a society in The Shadow Out of Time, Clarendon in The Last Test, and Ephraim Waite in The Thing on the Doorstep.

They are those who use their newfound knowledge and power to do whatever they like. It inevitably causes harm for whoever gets caught up in what they're doing, because they are the sort of edgy nihilist who learns that morality is entirely made up by a given society and is not a guiding thread throughout the fabric of the cosmos, but does not understand that does not give them the right to do whatever they like. Their actions come to bite them in the ass eventually in various ways.

While Clarendon's statement is most clear about his interpretation (that he just got involved in unwholesome things best left not meddled with by humans, with the obvious xenophobia and anti-intellectualism associated with such thinking), the actual issue was clearly his fervor to just do whatever the fuck he liked, no matter what. Surama, his teacher, told him not to do such things, too, and that he was being a fool, but Clarendon didn't wish to listen.

The same can be said of other aspects of the Mythos, like The Whisperer in Darkness. The Mi-Go were content to let Akeley listen in on their stuff for over a decade and only retaliated after a series of escalations on Akeley's part. He recorded them in 1915 doing rituals, he often was in the woods where they were, and he often spoke with one of their agents prior to everything happening, for example. Only after 1927, when he picked up one of their stones and refused to give it back did they start sending people to him. And only after he killed someone did they do the brain in a jar stuff and try to lure Wilmarth to the farmhouse to get the material Akeley had sent Wilmarth.

You could easily argue, based on some of Akeley's verbiage that he had such a severe hierarchical view as the antagonists in those other stories, too. He often spoke of certain classes of people as being lesser (going on about 'simple backwoods folk'), and his reactions to handling the Mi-Go's body as innately disgusting and revolting for its alienness, and his refusal to abide a simple request (give us our thing back) in favor of escalating the conflict over the course of several months, including shooting people over his right to have stolen something of theirs.

#writing discussion #bloodborne #cthulhu mythos #*chews on bloodborne like a pet with a new toy* #(i just got bloodborne aaaaah)

[thestorygenerater]

I don’t get why people don’t talk more about crossovers with different versions of the same series/world.

Does no one think about how cool it would be if game sonic met movie sonic and the complex dynamics that can play out? Imagine how Tom would see a sonic that isn’t lonely and more experienced, or have a different sonic appear, there is a lot!

Does no one think Kirby meeting his anime self would work because game Kirby is way stronger? He’s copy ability’s work different then anime Kirby’s does, you can work of that!

Does no one want to imagine having the persona protagonist’s meet because time travel is complicated? Head cannon your own rules so no paradox’s happening so you can focus on exploring the differences in the protagonist’s ideology!

I can’t be the only person who likes this type of content right? It’s so full of potential but nobody takes it! Just imagine any of the Links and Zelda’s meeting, or characters meeting their future selves like with Luz, Ann, or Steven, and even if it has been touched on before that doesn’t mean everything has been explored like with paper Mario and Mario!

I haven’t even started with CROSS SERIES CROSSOVERS! Imagine crypt of the necrodancer and Hi-Fi Rush, THE CHARACTERS ALL MOVE TO THE BEAT BUT IN DIFFERENT WAYS!!!

HAS NO ONE TALKED ABOUT THIS OR MADE WORK LIKE THIS

Anyway here’s a funny clip of the second coming firing a orbital math ray

#the legend of zelda #mario #paper mario #sonic the hedghog movie #sonic the hedgehog #steven universe #the owl house #kirby #kirby right back at ya #amphiba #persona series #story #writing discussion #I used a lot of series for this post #steven universe future #forgot one #animation vs math #animation vs animator #animation vs minecraft #animation vs

[unorthodoxx-page]

I honestly love the way you write your fanfics! I'm planning on writing my own but im not really good at writing one (I know this because of past works i did). Any tips to share?

LONG POST BELOW  Also this is just my opinion, and I’d love to hear what everyone else thinks!

My best advice is to write the stories anyway. Even if you never post them, if you have something finished, you have something to edit. It's easier to see plotting mistakes, inconsistent character voices, and weak exposition in a finished piece.

The plotting process is different for everyone, and I don’t plug my story into a 3 Act outline, but it’s a good idea to have an understanding of some of these structures.  Especially if you’re just starting out, it kind of gives you a base to build off of and gets you thinking about smaller sections of your story.   I also always suggest knowing your middle before you even start writing. Many people (including myself lol) have really good beginning and ending ideas, but struggle to connect them. Even if it's just one sentence explaining the middle, then you at least have something to work off of.   An unclear/unknown middle will kill a story, trust me.  

Now, writing style is subjective, but I think what's around the style is what people focus on when they say ‘I don’t/do like this writing style’.  For example, I started with poetry, so a lot of my prose reads like a poem in certain spots. Now, this gives me interesting sentences, but not good paragraphs.  It’s the delicate balance of explanations around those sentences that’s typically the hardest part.  Too much or too little can be glaringly obvious to a reader, and it can be hard to find a sweet spot.  I personally struggle with too much when explaining action.  I have an example below: 

Example below is from an old personal work so be kind lol.

Brianna flicks the dead blunt over the banister and bumps Imani on the shoulder on her way back to the party.  Imani nods in acknowledgment but she follows the blunt as long as she can to the ground below.  She doesn’t see it land, but her eyes snag on single red cup.  Her cup, she’s sure of it.  How did she find herself in this cycle of shitty interactions that end with her buzzed and alone on this railing.  Imani should be in there dancing, making memories that she’ll laugh about and decisions that she’ll regret.  Not introspecting like some philosophical bitch.

Now, the above isn’t bad but it definitely has a chunky beginning.

Brianna bumps Imani in solidarity and flicks the dying blunt over the railing.  Imani doesn’t look up when the girl leaves, instead, she tracks the faint glow as far down as she can.  She doesn’t see it land, but her eyes snag on a single cup in a sea of red.  It’s the one she dropped, she’s sure of it.  How does she always find herself in this shitty cycle that ends with her buzzed and alone?  She should be in there dancing, making memories and decisions that she’ll regret.  Not introspecting like some philosophical bitch.

See?  The first two sentences had too much explained action, so it took away from the scene and the solid sentences at the end.  The second one condenses those actions into something more character driven.  Which is another point to keep in mind: What can your character voice add to this scene?  Even if you’re describing the world, you’re doing it from the POV of the character.  What word choice would they use?  Is it big or is it massive?  Is it a warm sun or an unforgiving one?  Even one line of character observation in a paragraph can change the entire feel. 

Even in the example above “bump in solidarity” hints at the conversation before this sentence.  You don’t have to read it to know Brianna was comforting her about something.  Just the fact that Imani sees it as a solidarity motion tells you everything you need to know.  

I don’t know if that helps, but those are some of my broad tips that I keep in mind when I’m writing.  

#writing #writing process #writblr #personal writing #writing tips #long post #writing excerpt #writing discussion #fiction writing #ao3 #ao3 fanfic #fanfic #fanfiction #plotting #original characters

[girlnutt]

I used to be an "over describe my character's appearance all at once" writer, until one day I just. Stopped. And now I hardly describe how like... any of my characters look, to the point where I'm several chapters in to my WIP and the most I've said about my main character's appearance is the color of her eyes, the color of her hair, the size of her lips, and the way she holds herself.

And like. I thought this was an issue, because the reader has no clue what my character looks like. But the more that I think about it, the more I wonder if it is a problem? Like, some of my favorite books hardly describe their main characters. Some of them don't give the main character a name. And obviously that's not what I want for all of my characters, but the more I think about it, the more I wonder: how much does my reader need to know about what my characters look like? Writing is about choices, and choices are one of the few ways writers can direct how readers think about their characters. If I want my reader to think more about how my characters act, why should I spend more time than necessary on what my characters look like?

Anyways, I guess I'm trying to get used to the idea that there's no right way to write. It feels weird doing something when I feel like I'm not supposed to do it, but I guess that's what creating is.

#writing #writerscommunity #writers on tumblr #writing discussion #writing tips #writing advice

[mxxnlightwriting]

If you're a self-published author, I'd love to know your thoughts on a couple of questions:

Which platforms do you use to distribute/publish your ebooks?

If you only use one, why is that? If you use multiple, which one do you prefer and why?

If you use multiple, does your demographic overlap? By demographic, in this context, I am referring to geographical location, not age or gender (I assume these stats are available, but I could be wrong).

That last one is the one I am most curious about. I am assuming different platforms will have different audiences in different countries, considering which ones are available and which ones are most popular too. Still, I might be wrong about this; it's just something I am curious about.

Since I plan to self-publish soon, I'd also like to narrow my options! Thanks in advance if you take the time to answer any of these!

#writeblr #writing community #writeblr community #writing #writers on tumblr #writer #writers of tumblr #self publishing #self publishing: all #writing discussion

[writingonesdreams]

Established romantic relationships are kind of harder to write I think, because the most common arc is "will they/won't they" question. So when that falls off, what will be the new source of tension? I mean all relationships that progress in a story go through some kind of conflict/change/growth/detoriation. But what can happening to healthy couples that keeps it interesting and spicy?

#writeblr #writers on tumblr #writing question #romance #writing discussion #anyone?

[blackstarchanx3new]

Hi! Uh... I might sound a bit dumb for this question but I really can't think of anyone else to ask, how do you fucking go about on making an au? Because like... I don't know. And it's overwhelming me ngl. I don't know.

You know all those random head cannons that float around in your brain.

Or interactions you've thought of between characters FROM said head cannons:

You just make those a reality. X'D

Welcome to the "Character based AU" Idk what else to call it.

Creations AU for example: Born from me having dumb funny ideas like making Bonnie a stoner, or Freddy a literal prostitute and the Night guard a stone faced bad ass who reacts near emotionlessly/weird no matter what bullshit is in front of him.

Shit like that gives way to a LOT of stupid interactions/comedy. Is if objectively funny? Idk. But it makes me laugh.

Fannon Fan cannon ideas I like from a writing perspective. Not exactly a cannon/theory one lmfao can't stress that enough.

Glamrock Freddy being Michael/Josh in Creations instance, Mikebot, William murdering to try and resurrect his children, Golden Freddy being crying child. Those are just some examples of fannon ideas/theories I liked enough to run with.

Cobbled with: Scenes from the actual games I like

Also: A shit ton of OCs cause we're cringe tonight!~ >:)

I mostly focus on CHARACTER based AUs just cause I like writing CHARACTERS not character concepts.... Multiverse Mayhem is a character concept thing, but I'm not ready to write that yet, and it's way more "Character based" when it comes to how it's actually IMPLIMENTED

But you can do em with random concepts too most UNDERTALE AUs I know are more IDEA based than character based:

CONCEPT AUS!

Have you ever asked yourself:

"WHAT IF INSTEAD OF BEING HAPPY, THEY WERE ALL SAD!" "WHAT IF ALL THE CHARACTERS WERE SHRIMP!?"

And my least favorite: "WHAT IF WE SWAPPED THEIR ROLES!?"

The laziest/my least favorite/fun trope lmfao but a lot of people like that one. it's SUPER hard to make interesting At least to me but my opinions are ass so you can throw em out. X'D but if you're a good writer you can make nearly anything work.

Evil character A is the good guy and Good guy is the bad guy. They swap outfits and MAYBE their backstory's are swapped? Idk there's no consistent rules to this AU idea. Somehow we ended up with the reverse of what was there in cannon. I've only seen it done in a fun way when it's like REALLY detailed Reverse Falls I found interesting for example. Underswap is lazy af and we can all admit we only like the skelebros. I virtually ONLY like them when they're accessories to other AUs/playing off other Sans and Papyrus but that's just me....

There's also "What if x plot point from cannon was changed"

Like uhh, you know. A character NEARLY dies in cannon but ACTUALLY dies in this AU.

@james-p-sullivan wrote a fic about that with Four Swords where Vio dies at the fire temple.

That still has one chapter left that i am waiting eagerly for. X'D

Basically AUs like this are "Cannon divergence." I think is what they're called???

These are super fun.

Because if you know the characters really well you can make em react to whatever divergence in cannon in great ways.

And then there's:

THE PREQUEL, THE SEQUEL AND THE MIDQUEL

Four Swords Returns for example is a sequel with midquel elements.

Midquel: You add scenes where they COULD have fit in cannon or you flesh out scenes mentioned but not seen.

I made FSR: Because I didn't like the ending we were given.

And if you hate an ending: Make a sequel. It's fun.

I started FSR with the simple concept:

How I can split Link in 4 again?

Vaati's curse! :D

Vaati is still alive. Retcon Gannon being in the sword and retcon Vaati being dead. Literally no one has complained because Vaati is wonderful and we love him.

Make it possible for them to split again.

Oh...But what challenges COME from this?

Boom the plot happened.

Basically: Ask yourself a SHIT TON of questions.

"What if this?" "What if that?"

Keep going.

Keep writing cool scenes you would like to see in this AU.

Bam.

You got yourself an AU. :

Hope this helps.

#au #fandom #fandom talk #writing discussion #writing

[murksou]

Give us your Tales of Aether gripes Tumblr needs this

Ohhhh god I’m going to bullet point this so that this doesn’t turn into a second rendition of my 40 page essay about this nonsense.

1. World building is lackluster compared to what they could have done considering that this is a comic series that COULD have given more life to the characters and the environment rather than have it be action 24/7 like all of its other media (Rivals of Aether, Creatures of Aether, Dungeons of Aether…) I’m convinced all these people do is FIGHT

2. Expectations were completely disappointed upon considering that a large portion of the comic does NOT take place in the futuristic city that was previously associated with Clairen and Clairen ISN’T the city-dwelling rebel that some of us were expecting.

3. Clairen’s character is COMPLETELY turned on her head from the compassionate, kind, thoughtful and determined person we were told she was into this strange vengeful, bloodlust driven monster that thought a single blow to the face would kill a robot.

4. Despite being some of the more important things about Clairen her lineage (being RIGHTFUL EMPRESS) and her fire abilities are HARDLY ever a point of contention outside of the first issue of the comic series. It’s seen only again in issue 3 and then in issue 4 it’s only mentioned in passing.

5. Because of Clairen being turned into a vengeful person she kinda became exactly the opposite of who she really should be, using the excuse of her mother’s death as a motive for her actions when she doesn’t even THINK about her for a large portion of the comic other than to mention the reason for her mission.

6. Most of the characters other than Clairen are forgettable considering that the comic doesn’t give us a reason to really care about them other than if you have empathy and you feel bad for what they are going through. If you didn’t care about them before you won’t care about them here.

7. Loxodont is an extremely sorry excuse for a villain considering that the only things that are to make us “hate” him is that Clairen ACCUSES him of killing her mother and twisting the truth of history when we have no other outside source proving this as fact (within the comic itself). He’s just an end goal to defeat, not really a villain that is terrible and needs to be stopped.

8. The comic doesn’t actually end, which is expected for people who knew the franchise but for those who are having it as a first impression this could have been a disappointing shock.

TLDR. Clairen, Mollo, and plenty others got done DIRTY and you’re expected to fill in the gaps for what you think makes the villain a villain to begin with aside from the main character’s assumptions.

IF Loxodont was to be a good villain to make us think about stuff then they would give EVIDENCE of his actions and his REASONING so that we could decide if he’s bad or not. Not this nonsense where we’re asked to think up of ways he’s a bad guy.

This comic makes me angry for a variety of things, mostly bias, but I already made a 40 page essay about that. You don’t need another one lol.

#tales of aether #rivals of aether #clairen #I am PISSED #my wife deserved better smh #so did mollo #this is homophobic /j #story discussion #writing discussion #villain stuff

[phoenixradiant]

The person who reblogs this post (& me b/c OP) is letting you know that they're always looking to improve and will accept constructive criticism on the writing they post here on Tumblr.

#writeblr #writing #writing questions #writers #writing discussion #writers on tumblr #writing feedback #accepting criticism #phoenixradiant

[addomfarm]

I’d like to begin a dialogue;

I haven’t watched too much of The Simpsons, but what I’ve seen of the early series, I love. And the newest series seems promising, but that’s not what I want to discuss.

It’s come to my attention (via this video by KC Reviews) that when The Simpsons reference a piece of media, they don’t usually reference other comedies. They commonly reference dramas, and create comedy that is strengthened by the reference (if people get it. But if not, the comedy still generally works).

And it made me wonder, what would happen if I took characters I love from more dramatic media, and made them all characters in an episodic comedy series like The Simpsons?

And that’s what I’d like to discuss: How does one go about that?

In a format like The Simpsons, there are showcases of characters and character dynamics, but the characters stay the same throughout the series. There’s never really any change, which I don’t think is necessarily bad, as long as the series is consistent about how much does/doesn’t change (which, admittedly, The Simpsons tends to fumble at times).

What I’m realizing, though, is that my favorite dramatic characters find themselves in situations which call for them to change in some way or another (I tend to really like criminal characters. You understand my conundrum.)

I’m confident there are ways to work around this in a comedy—where the parody characters have similar circumstances to their dramatic counterparts, just without so many large consequences (if any)… For example, maybe a particularly unhinged character is in hiding at the start of whatever episode they’re in, and maybe they get caught once but manage to escape by the end, so the status quo never changes from one episode to the next.

But do we think that’s the best option?

I could get away with changing the occupation/situation of my favorite dramatic danger girlies so that they’re teachers or bartenders (fill in the roles of an ensemble town) and keep their personalities the same. But do we think it’s possible to keep their dramatic criminality while stripping their stories of their usual dramatic consequence?

Or could we keep both the occupations and the consequences and just create a sort of crossover-parody with the comedy jacked to eleven?

I welcome any and all input to this discussion, so please reblog with whatever you have to say about any of this!

#writeblr #writing #writers #fanfiction #parody #the simpsons #crossover #comedy #drama #comedic writing #comedic #discussion #writing discussion #writing community #writing ideas

[missroller15]

okay i’m having a random rambling moment but this story just occurred to me and i wanna tell you guys abt it.

so i was wondering recently abt side character’s and the role they play in stories. and not the side characters like the mc’s best friend or anything like that. i’m talking abt the characters that get mentioned once or only show up for a scene or two. following this thought, i started to wonder abt those character’s stories. the ones that don’t have a fleshed out deep emotional background. the ones that just love their life, in a simple bubble. and then a character came to mind with a story.

she has a simple name (either lynne or anne) and she leads a simple life. she doesn’t have a ride or die best friend, or a pack of mean girls attacking her every second, not even a swoon-worthy boyfriend. and she doesn’t mind that. she enjoys the bliss but craves something more. when a new student who’s adjusting to some pretty big changes in his life arrives, the two decide to experience changes together. a bucket list type deal and it’s not so simple anywhere. it’s pretty goofy and wacky and fun. and so yeah, there’s my idea.

#idk if you’d like to add any other ideas plz plz plz tell me! #i’d love for this to be friendship centric as well #but a cutesy lil friends to lovers romance is ofc gonna be playing out #hope my idea made some sense in this rambling! #and if you have any names plz help me i’m always struggling 😭 #miss fics #writing #stories #author #writerscommunity #writing discussion

[eldritchtouched]

I have an abiding disdain of Warhammer 40K because, as it turns out, you can't hide behind 'this is satire' when the overwhelming majority of your texts is from the perspective of fascist propaganda and they're ultimately right in some capacity to behave as awfully as they do because of the in-universe logic. At that point, it ceases to be satire and becomes pure fascist crap. (Which is what Paul Verhoeven understood about Starship Troopers, hence how he handled the adaptation into film.)

Obligatory relevant meme:

I also just hate grimdark in general because, in order to maintain the tone of unrelenting misery with no hope (unlike dark fiction, which allows for some good despite everything), it inevitably evolves into grimderp- Characters all have to be utter morons for the story to still function in that extremely dark tone continually.

Likewise, the inevitability of grimdark runs up against the status quo of not being allowed to fundamentally change, so humanity remains forever locked in equal battle with a variety of alien species in WH40K, despite how the whole tone is supposed to be that this is all done in desperation and because it's humanity's only shot. Which is to say, it becomes fundamentally ridiculous despite its attempts to be serious, leading again into grimderp.

#writing discussion #grimdark #fascism #warhammer 40K #grimderp

[serephinastardust]

"The Art of Endings: How to Craft a Memorable Conclusion in Your Stories

Endings can leave a lasting impression on readers. Explore different techniques for crafting powerful conclusions. Writers can share their favorite book endings, analyze what makes them effective, or discuss challenges they face when concluding their own stories.

Join in me in discussing this.

--------

I can't say I have any one favorite ending. To me, the best endings are where I enjoy the characters, and the endings actually fit the characters. I guess it's an ending where I'm not envisioning a death or a different outcome.

I do love plot twist endings, that make me think what could happen if the story was continued.

But I think I've read so many books at this point, that most endings are too predictable regardless if I love the characters. I mean, the main character dies, but all main characters have plot armor, so we know if the books has an ongoing series, that character isn't perma dead. Though I will say its super rare for me to find a good book that kills off the main character at the end of the series, where there is no plot armor.

I haven't finished a sotry of my own yet, usually stop writing half way through, so I have no techniques myself yet.

#female writers #my writing #writers on tumblr #writers and poets #writers blog #novice writer #writeblr #writerscommunity #discussion #writing discussion #writers and readers #writing community #seraphinastardust

[eternally-tired-cryptid]

Im not gonna lie y'all I'm not even necessarily upset Abt the Timeless Child plot or the Flux plot. The concepts and story are intruiging, I just feel the screws weren't tightened enough and the character motivations not shown enough.

Like I know the master likes to wreak havoc but why is he doing all the things he does in 13s run when the last we see of him is Missy? Or why does the doctor have no interest in explaining things when 13 is set up to be very good (even if the explanations are nonsensical to companions) at them, when that's one of the common traits most doctors seem to share with one another? Like I'm not saying the doctor should've explained her thoughts and fears, that was a very clear and intentional choice of the character, but not even explaining her plans or talking through her ideas aloud, even if no one would understand? Refusing to let anyone play a role and forcing everyone to just trust her when she's given them nothing to work with? I feel like a lot of this can be explained by her other traits (see previous posts I've made abt her) to an extent. But then they didn't explore her breaking out of that at all, it was a stagnant character trait, not an arc. Where does 13 start her regeneration and where does she end? Is that really a story?

I dunno it just felt like the writers had brilliant ideas and characters, but were lacking the time or resources or expertise to properly accomplish them

#jasper rambles #doctor who #thirteen #doctor who crit #writing discussion #ive taken a boatload of creative writing classes and i felt like the stories i was watching were good but they couldve been better. yknow?