@danafaithwriting / danafaithwriting.tumblr.com
people on my "making AUs for OCs" post keep going like "oh you mean like a STORY? like a BOOK? OP that's just a STORY!!" like no you don't get it. you don't get how much my friends and i play with our ocs like dolls. we're talking swap AUs. homestuck classpecting. MLP AUs. evil AU. "so just making stories" you're like a little baby to me. leave my sight
Cliches exist to provide a common narrative language the audience is familiar with, so you can put your own personal spin on it. What does your use of cliche say about you? About your art?
First base is violence second base is convoluted codependence third base is applying pressure to the vulnerable parts of their body to keep their entrails from spilling out
Honestly? My main piece of advice for writing well-rounded characters is to make them a little bit lame. No real living person is 100% cool and suave 100% of the time. Everyone's a little awkward sometimes, or gets too excited about something goofy, or has a silly fear, or laughs about stupid things. Being a bit of a loser is an incurable part of the human condition. Utilize that in your writing.
Sometimes it's useful to look at your dialogue and ask yourself, "would a real human being talk like that?" But it's also good to ask the follow-up questions of "would the way a real human being talks sound good here" and "does this character actually talk like a real human being or are they weird about it."
Mark Rothko on the "recipe of a work of art," lecture at the Pratt Institute, 1958:
1. There must be a clear preoccupation with death—intimations of mortality... Tragic art, romantic art, etc. deals with the knowledge of death.
2. Sensuality. Our basis of being concrete about the world. It is a lustful relationship to things that exist.
3. Tension. Either conflict or curbed desire.
4. Irony. This is a modern ingredient—the self effacement and examination by which a man for an instant can go on to something else.
5. Wit and Play..for the human element.
6. The ephemeral and chance...for the human element.
7. Hope. 10% to make the tragic concept more endurable.
thinking about non-violent approaches to doppelgangers and shadow selves and runaway reflections
It's about "I am through hating something just for bearing my face" it's about "I am through hurting myself" it's about "I know you're wrong and full of anger and ready to hurt and I have been there and I have gotten through, I think, I hope, and I have to hope for you, too". It's about hugging the growling snarling creature because it's you, it's you, and of course you're a monster, nothing new in that regard, but you also know a monster is not a lost cause. Because you have to try kindness even if nobody else would.
WEIRDLY SPECIFIC BUT HELPFUL CHARACTER BUILDING QUESTIONS
tagged by @late-to-the-fandom
“I appreciate the thought,” they said. “Thank you, really. But it’s alright, I know I’ve been nothing but trouble. I don’t need sympathy.” Her smile dropped, and she rested her elbow on the counter and her chin in her hand. She watched them in the mirror until they felt too scrutinised and looked away. “I think you deserve some sympathy,” she said. Their heart ached. “Do you?”
tagging @surroundedbypearls @thenewsthaturdead (i don't know if urs is a writing project but i know u have ocs so just in case) @radiowrites. no oblies.
Thank you for tagging me @surroundedbypearls, her post about Logan can be found here
Rules: Share 15 or fewer lines of dialogue from an OC, ideally lines that capture the character/personality/vibe of the OC. Bonus points for just using the dialogue without other details about the scene, but you’re free to include those as well!
This is for my beloved Esra xoxoxo
wow they sound so much more like an asshole without their inner monologue of concurrent panic attacks. lmao.
I don't know who's active in writblr anymore, so I'm going to tag the first few writblrs I see in my dash, feel free to ignore if not your vibe. @sidhewrites @albatris @leave-her-a-tome. and @late-to-the-fandom since you tagged me in a game I haven't responded to yet :>
As in how much energy and depth do you put into the characters and do you have a sustained interest in them or do you come up with an idea for a character then immediately move on
me when characters who are performers & obfuscators & and careful curators of what they show to others are asked to define themselves outside the identity they've constructed
Thank you blessed @owlsandwich for the tag game from a couple of days ago which sponsored this morning's writing time (I wanted to skip). I've spent so long just revising and revising a first draft, it's been a while since I had to write basically from scratch and I forgot that's its own different skill set (the imagination muscles are flabby).
Tagging: @mysticstarlightduck @by-allison-kai @danafaithwriting @tildeathiwillwrite @smzeszikorova @virgolioness @composterhedgehog
“And that never struck you as suspicious?” Renathal grimaced. The arm not trapping Elisewin to him contorted to reach the teacup on the nearby nightstand. “Historically,” he explained, fumbling for the tiny porcelain handle, “even when Denathrius was more inclined to approve the practice, it was only ever among the lower classes of venthyr.” He angled his neck to take an awkward sip of long-cold tea, before admitting, “I always assumed its falling off had more to do with a fashionable imitation of nobility.” An echo of the day’s congealed amalgamation of horror, anger, and shame - at the Master’s long-standing manipulations and Renathal’s own willful ignorance of them - shuddered through him. He gulped down the last bitter dregs of tea, feeling the meagre anima content seep into his thirsty veins, but it was the soft pattern Elisewin’s fingers traced across his bare chest, and the memory of her yes, that soothed him.
op on the version of this I saw has turned off reblogs while posting lots of frustrated messages about how they don't care about people's actual responses. I'm adding some things they didn't think of.
I care about y'all's actual responses.
I wanna hear all about your writing in the tags. do tell.
writing something with two characters who use the same pronouns and fighting to balance using names vs using pronouns in a way that's both smooth to read and easy to comprehend
