starmxiden reblogged
starmxiden reblogged
Marc Lamont Hill and Mitchell Plitnick, from Except for Palestine: The Limits of Progressive Politics
starmxiden reblogged
i love you insane, unhinged female characters who fuck everything up. i love you female rage that ruins everything else. i love you evil women who don't give a shit.
starmxiden reblogged
A Bare Bones Guide to Outlining a Fantasy Novel in Three Acts
If you're trying to write a fantasy novel and you're feeling overwhelmed by the process, try to break down your story into three acts as follows...
Act 1
- Introduce the status quo - setting, main character, and any struggles they currently face
- Create an inciting incident
- Show your character's hesitancy to welcome change
- Have your character take a chance and start their journey
Act 2
- Introduce friends and mentors
- Include trials and obstacles
- Let your character have a mini success
- Have your character doubt themselves regardless of their success
Act 3
- Increase tension with more obstacles and rising action
- The climactic high point - a.k.a. the final showdown
- Show the aftermath and what your character has overcome/sacrificed in order to succeed
starmxiden reblogged
holywyrm
Writers, please, please, please, I am begging you
I know we don't vibe with Mary Sues, and I know we like watching characters fail...
But if your character is the world's best assassin, they shouldn't be botching nearly every single step of every single job just because the plot demands it. If your character is one of the greatest fighters to ever live, they can't badly lose every single fight the plot throws at them and then barely win the final confrontation. If your character is a competent military strategist, they need at least a few small successes during the course of the plot. If your character is an experienced leader, they can't be constantly making the kind of missteps that realistically would cause their subordinates to lose confidence in them.
If your character is good at something. Show them being good at it.
starmxiden reblogged
How to Write Devastating Betrayals (Pt. 1)
Here are some elements + tips on satisfying betrayals that will destroy both your characters AND your readers!
1. Relationship Between Trust and Betrayal
The #1 Betrayal Rule:
MORE TRUST = WORSE BETRAYAL
This is because TRUST implies 2 main things:
- The traitor has probably PROVEN their trustworthiness, and now has a shared history + bond with the character they’re betraying
- The traitor probably has access to a LOT OF INFORMATION about the character, whether it’s career-wise or personal. Probably at least some information the character considers STRICTLY confidential
An act of betrayal undermines Point 1 by manipulating Point 2 to their advantage.
So, if you want your betrayal to DESTROY, have the traitor be CLOSE with the character they’re about to betray. Lets compare examples:
- you are a gang boss. You hire a new recruit who doesn’t really know anything except one insignificant operation, like “today we buy groceries at 2PM”
- your recruit tells the rival gang about the grocery trip
- → betrayal doesn’t really matter that much
- you probably didn’t place much trust in a new recruit
- the implications of information leak are insignificant
- → not much plot weight
On the other hand:
- you find out that the entire time, your RIGHT HAND MAN (also your childhood friend!) has been feeding information to the rival gang and sabotaging your operations
- → HURTS a lot more emotionally
- might ruin everything you’ve built, career-wise, for good
- → LOTS of plot weight
From a completely SECULAR PLOT STANDPOINT (please don’t come for me, theologians), Judas’ betrayal of Jesus is a good example because:
- Judas was one of Jesus’ disciples, a.k.a. the people considered closest to him, and who followed Jesus throughout all of his preaching years
- Judas’ information about Jesus’ identity and whereabouts led to Jesus’ crucifixion → LOTS of plot weight (the entire Bible from a Christian standpoint foreshadows this moment, and every point after is spreading word of this moment. Talk about plot implications!)
ONCE AGAIN, I know all the “Jesus knew and allowed it to happen” “it was the will of God” stuff but this is purely used as a good plot example!!!!
2. Reason for Betrayal
“’Cause it’s super edgy/evil/cool” is DEFINITELY not a valid option.
All the plot points in a book build towards achieving a goal, and all the characters do things they think will get them closer to what they want. Likewise, the traitor must want a specific thing that ONLY betrayal can get them, or that betrayal can get them more efficiently.
People generally portray typical traitors as:
- completely selfish with no personality trait aside from infinite ambition and ruthless pragmatism
- a hero whose had enough
- someone who sees the person they betrayed as a “worthless disposable” or something
Traitors don’t have to be morally bankrupt, even though betrayal is typically seen as something inherently bad, or just a bad means to a good end at best.
They can be conflicted about the betrayal (like Macbeth delaying his murder of King Duncan), remorseful about it (like Discord from MLP feeling super guilty after he hands the main protagonists over to the villain), or even do it for the “greater good.”
- e.g. Brutus thought Caesar was becoming too power hungry, and would destroy the republic by becoming a dictator, so Brutus betrayed him to preserve the republic
- → example of a betrayal that was NOT self-serving
However, building on the MLP Discord example, a traitor can also have been manipulated into it themselves.
(For context, the villain basically promised Discord lots of power if he handed over the protagonists, but then the villain also sucked away Discord’s powers afterwards—won’t bother explaining MLP magic mechanics LOL)
3. Foreshadow It
A satisfying betrayal is usually a subtle, looming shadow that creeps over your plot before it makes its grand entrance during the scene when the character realizes the traitor sold them out.
A good example is in Shakespeare’s dramatization of Brutus’ betrayal:
- Brutus’ loyalty to the REPUBLIC is made super clear throughout. When Caesar starts deviating, seeming more dictatorial, Brutus remains firm.
- Their values are CLEARLY conflicting, so SOMETHING has to be done. Either:
- they reconcile by both agreeing on either dictatorship or democracy
- they turn on each other…and that’s what happens
Basically, planting the possibility in your reader’s mind is a great way to foreshadow a betrayal.
Other ideas could be:
- traitor begins suddenly acting a lot warmer to the unsuspecting character, or even colder right BEFORE the betrayal
- traitor is always TOO obedient and/or sycophantic
- traitor acts suspicious, e.g. caught in lies, using inconsistent body language (ex. pretending to cry when talking about something really bad), caught talking to people they shouldn’t be talking to (e.g. rival gang)
∘₊✧────── ☾☼☽ ──────✧₊∘
instagram: @ grace_should_write
stay tuned for part 2!
Hope this was helpful, and let me know if you have any questions by commenting, re-blogging, or DMing me on IG. Any and all engagement is appreciated <3333
Happy writing, and have a great day!
- grace <3
starmxiden reblogged
ingrid sundberg's colour dictionary - writing help
starmxiden reblogged
me when i have to research to write fiction instead of just magically injecting knowledge into my brain:
starmxiden reblogged
there are times in life where a girls just gotta watch a ghibli film
starmxiden reblogged
starmxiden reblogged
holywyrm
Writers, please, please, please, I am begging you
I know we don't vibe with Mary Sues, and I know we like watching characters fail...
But if your character is the world's best assassin, they shouldn't be botching nearly every single step of every single job just because the plot demands it. If your character is one of the greatest fighters to ever live, they can't badly lose every single fight the plot throws at them and then barely win the final confrontation. If your character is a competent military strategist, they need at least a few small successes during the course of the plot. If your character is an experienced leader, they can't be constantly making the kind of missteps that realistically would cause their subordinates to lose confidence in them.
If your character is good at something. Show them being good at it.
starmxiden reblogged
starmxiden reblogged
Someone on TikTok said that bitches with anxiety love the enemies to lovers trope because the idea of having someone see all of our negative traits first and then still fall in love with us is really comforting since we worry that if someone sees our negative traits after they fall in love, they’ll leave us.
It’s me, I’m bitches.
starmxiden reblogged
Elle Fanning • The Great - S02E10
I would eat his heart in the market place etc etc
starmxiden reblogged
Valfreyja, Lady of the slain.
starmxiden reblogged
This Artist Drew Disney Princesses As Armored Warriors And It Looks Damn Cool
starmxiden reblogged
must enemies turn into lovers? can't they be the mirror of each other, connected by a defining trait of their character and arc, but ultimately separated by fate or ideology? can't they feel each other's presence in the crowd, a tether, a like calls to like, and at the same time repulsion for the distorted reflection they find in their enemy? can't they be each other's most feared destiny? can't they squash every time they meet the tiny fragment of empathy and connection that refuses to die, despite the opposite ideas, despite the blood, despite and because of the tragedy of it all?