Writing Tips from an Editor (Who Also Writes)

People throw around the phrase “Show, don’t tell” all the time. But what does it mean? Really?

When I’m editing a client’s work, I always explain what I mean when I say “Show, don’t tell,” so I know we’re on the same page (pun intended). 

FYI: This advice is really 2nd or 3rd draft advice. Don’t tie yourself in knots trying to get this perfect on the first go. First drafts are for telling yourself the story. Revisions are for craft. 

Ruthlessly hunt down filter words (saw, heard, wondered, felt, seemed, etc.). Most filter words push the reader out of narrative immersion, especially if you’re writing in 1st person or a close 3rd person. “She [or I] heard the wind in the trees” is less compelling than “The wind rustled through the trees” or “The wind set the bare branches to clacking.” Obviously, the point of view character is the one doing the hearing; telling the reader who’s doing the hearing is redundant and creates an unnecessary distance between the character’s experience and the reader’s experience of that experience. Was/were is another thing to watch out for; sometimes, nothing but was will do, but in many instances—“There was a wind in the trees” “There were dogs barking”—“was” tells, whereas other phrasing might evoke—“The wind whispered/howled/screamed through the trees” “Dogs snarled/yipped/barked in the courtyard/outside my door/at my heels.” 

Assume your readers are smart. What does this mean? Don’t tell the reader what your characters are thinking or feeling: “Bob was sad.” How do we know? What does Bob’s sadness look like, sound like? What actions, expressions, words indicate Bob’s sadness? Does Bob’s sadness look different than Jane’s would?

It also means that you need not repeat information unless you have something new to add to it—even if it’s been several chapters since you first mentioned it. I think a lot of readers fall into this trap because writing often takes a long time. But what takes a writer days or weeks or months to write might take a reader fifteen minutes to read. So, if the writer keeps telling the reader about so-and-so’s flaming red hair or such-and-such’s distrust or Bob’s blue eyes or Jane’s job as a neurosurgeon, the reader gets annoyed. 

The last thing you want is your reader rolling their eyes and muttering, “OMG, I KNOW” at the story you’ve worked so hard to write. It certainly means you don’t need to have characters tell each other (and through them, the reader) what the story is about or what a plot point means.

Along these same lines, let the reader use their imagination. “Bob stood, turned around, walked across the room, reached up, and took the book from the shelf.” Holy stage directions, Batman! A far less wordy “Bob fetched the book from the shelf” implies all those irrelevant other details. However, if Bob has, say, been bedbound for ten years but stands up, turns around, and walks across the room to fetch the book, that’s a big deal. Those details are suddenly really important.

Write the action. Write the scene with the important information in it. Let the reader be present for the excitement, the drama, the passion, the grief. If you’re finding yourself writing a lot of after-the-fact recap or “he thought about the time he had seen Z” or “and then they had done X and so-and-so had said Y,” you’re not in the action. You’re not in the importance. Exceptions abound, of course; that’s true of all writing advice. But overuse of recapping is dull. Instead of the reader being present and experiencing the story, it’s like they’re stuck listening to someone’s imperfect retelling. Imagine getting only “Last week on…” and “Next week on…” but never getting to watch an episode. I’m editing a book right now with some egregious use of this. The author has a bad habit of setting up a scene in the narrative present—“The queen met the warrior in the garden.”—but then backtracking into a kind of flashback almost immediately. “Last night, when her lady-in-waiting had first suggested meeting the warrior, she had said, ‘Blah blah blah.’ The queen hadn’t considered meeting the warrior before, but as she dressed for bed, she decided they would meet in the garden the next day. Now, standing in the garden, she couldn’t remember why it had seemed like a good idea.”

That’s a really simplified and exaggerated example, but do you see what I’m getting at? If the queen’s conversation with the lady-in-waiting and the resulting indecision are important enough to be in the narrative, if they influence the narrative, let the reader be present for them instead of breaking the forward momentum of the story to “tell” what happened when the reader wasn’t there. Unless it’s narratively important for something to happen off-page (usually because of an unreliable narrator or to build suspense or to avoid giving away a mystery), show your readers the action. Let them experience it along with the characters. Invite them into the story instead of keeping them at a distance.

Finally, please, please don’t rely on suddenly or and then to do the heavy lifting of surprise or moving the story forward; English has so many excellent verbs. Generally speaking, writers could stand to use a larger variety of them. 

(But said is not dead, okay? SAID IS VERY, VERY ALIVE.)

— Unknown

Some Advice for Incoming (or Current) Film Majors

Script Format: Scene Headings

A Scene heading, also known as a Slugline, tells the reader where a scene takes place. Examples:

EXT. NEW YORK STREET - AFTERNOON EXT. VILLAGE SQUARE (ROME) - NIGHT INT. GRIFFIN INC. - CONFERENCE ROOM - CONTINUOUS

-Format: Scene headings are  in all caps and left aligned. They are placed at the beginning of each new scene.

-The first part of a scene heading indicates whether the scene is interior (INT.) or exterior (EXT.)

-The second part specifies the location.In the first example, the location is a street in New York. Sometimes, the location needs to be more specific. In the second example, the location is a village square in Rome. Rome is put in parenthesis because it establishes the larger setting encompassing the entire story. Once it is established the story takes place in Rome, the information inside the parenthesis can be dropped. In the third example, the more general location is followed by a hyphen then the more specific location.* This is common, but not always necessary.

-The third part specifies the time of day. Usually the time is general, such as MORNING, DAY, NIGHT, AFTERNOON, etc. It can also be more specific (if necessary) such as MIDNIGHT, 1:30PM, DUSK, etc. CONTINUOUS shows that the scene takes place immediately following the previous scene and no time has passed. MOMENTS LATER is also used to show a small jump in time.

*I would like to note there are other ways of specifying location that are acceptable in the industry. This just happens to be the way I prefer.

Script Format: Action/Description

In a screenplay, the action/description sets the scene, describes the setting, introduces characters, and set the stage for your story.

Example: excerpt from the unproduced draft of Seven (1992)

Format: -Action appears after the scene heading. It is left aligned, single spaced, and mixed case. -It is written in present tense, active voice, and in as few words as possible. -Action should be no longer than 4-5 lines at a time. -When introducing a speaking character for the first time, put the name in all caps. -Capitalize specific sounds in the action. (Radio, door slam, shouting, etc.)

Content: -The action describes what can be seen on screen. Do not describe thoughts or what happened off screen unless it can be shown. (For example:You can’t say a character arrives home after a lunch out with friends. You need to show it via visuals, action, or dialogue. The character could be holding leftover food from a restaurant or tell another character about the lunch.) -You can use the action to describe a new setting or character. -Describe what is important in a scene, nothing more. Call attention to important details that give the setting or characters personality. For example:

“THOMAS (34), stands in the middle of the pristine, unfurnished foyer in muddy jeans and a tattered shirt.”

“Gabby (8) sinks into her seat in the back of the classroom. All eyes are on her bright purple Mohawk.”

-You can get fancy by having the action transition to another scene. You could say, for example:

“Suddenly, Maya bolts from behind her desk and runs out into:

INT. DRISKILL HOTEL HALLWAY - DAY”

-Avoid putting dialogue in the action. You can put generalizations about crowds (such as “Rosa pushes her way past a jeering crowd”) but specific dialogue should not be in the action. -Do NOT write camera angles or shots unless absolutely necessary! It’s the directors’ and cinematographers’ jobs to visually interpret the script.

*Note: There are definitely screenwriters (especially famous ones) out there that break these content “rules.” But they can afford to break the rules. When starting out, you should follow the rules until you can prove to people you know your stuff.

Editing - Techniques

Editing may seem technical, but it is just as much of an art form as acting, directing, or writing. In filmmaking, the story is retold three times: when it’s written, when it’s filmed, and when it’s edited. Here are some techniques editors use to tell an effective and engaging story.

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Outlining Methods

Not sure how to start outlining? Try some of these methods!

Summaries: break your story up into major events then write smaller summaries for each event. It is less intimidating and helps you focus on the conflict and characters in each scene rather than trying to tackle it all at once.

Stream-of-consciousness: write down whatever comes to mind about the story and once you start, don’t stop until you have everything down. Your ideas might seem scattered at first, but often, it will build on previous ideas and create something more cohesive than you may expect. When you reread and edit, you can clean it up and solidify the story.

Snowflake Method: start with a small detail and build out. Start with a sentence summary, then a paragraph, then a page, etc. It is a good method for those who are detail oriented and it forces the writer to consider multiple aspects of the story.

Three Act Structure: start with a big concept and build in. Create a main conflict where the action builds up to a climax and ends with a resolution. This is good for those who have an idea, but are not sure where they want it to go. (Or they know the end, just not how to get there.) Think of individual character conflicts or the sub-plots for each act.

Draft Zero: an anti-outline and the draft before the draft. Like stream-of-consciousness, the point is to just write. Make it messy, use cross-outs, drawings, symbols, and shorthand. Ramble on. This method is good if you know where your story is going or need to fill in some blanks.

One of the best bits of advice I’ve ever heard was from a director I’ve worked with a few times now.

“It is way more interesting to watch someone struggle to not cry than to watch someone crying,” he tells his actors, again and again. He talks about how that creates tension, because of that fighting against the emotion (and often, the obvious choice as well).

I think about it whenever I’m working with actors, but also when I’m writing. Crying can often end a conversation. If someone starts off yelling, where do they go from there? Fighting against those emotions - and it works for all of those big, strong, showy emotions - is often much more powerful and multi-layered than giving into them right away. It’s the build and then release of the tension that is heart-wrenching and satisfying.

It also can make a scene more intimate. Leaning in, just barely picking up that tremor in someone’s voice. It shrinks the space, makes the audience feel more connected.

Anyway, this bit of advice has been so dang helpful for me, I think about it every time I sit down to write or direct an intense emotional scene. Thought I’d pass it on to y’all!

Happy writing. <3

How to Outline: For Beginners to Writing Veterans

Let me start out by defining a few things:

Pantsers

These types of writers generally plan out very little before diving into their novels. They might have some ideas, maybe a small outline, but they feel free to take their story in any direction they please. The lack of outlining and planning lends itself to untethered creativity.

Plotters

These types of writers usually have some sort of outline that they follow while writing their novel. They spend some time planning and rewriting their outlines and know what’s going to happen (to an extent). Usually the novel is planned out before they begin writing it, which cuts out the element of surprise for the writer and tends to reduce writer’s block.

There’s no right way to be, but personally I’m a plotter. I probably plot too much. If you’re a pantser and it’s working for you, keep doing it! More power to ya!

However, if you’re looking to experiment with plotting or you just want to learn how to do it, check out these tips below:

Where to Begin:

Skeleton Outline

If you’re looking for a little bit of direction, but don’t feel like/find it necessary to build a huge outline, this is probably what you’re going for. Create an outline that focuses around the main points of your story.

Detailed Outline

A detailed outline usually builds on what you did for the skeleton outline. This adds more detail to the structure of your story and helps focus on fleshing out what’s going to happen throughout the novel. I usually add in some sections about my characters and any sort of world building I might do.

Chapter-by-Chapter Outline

This is literally when you plan out each chapter of your novel. Some might find it unnecessary to get that detailed, but if you have pacing problems or want to cut down on extensive editing, this might work best for you.

How to:

Skeleton Outline

This is essentially the “road map” of your story. Figure out what the conflict is and focus on the beginning, middle, and sometimes the end (a lot of writers aren’t completely sure what their ending will be, but sometimes it helps to have to planned out so you can effectively lead up to it in the story. It could also help with tone issues. Example—if you ending is dark, you might want to set up the audience for that).

For a skeleton outline it helps to focus on story arcs. For example,

·         Stasis

·         Trigger

·         The Quest

·         Surprise

·         Critical Choice

·         Climax

·         Reversal

·         Resolution

Learn more about story arcs here: http://www.dailywritingtips.com/how-to-structure-a-story-the-eight-point-arc/

Filling out those story points will help you build a more detailed outline if you choose to do so and will help you focus your story, so it’s not all over the place. If you want to have a clear idea where you’re headed, but don’t want to bog yourself down with the details, a skeleton outline might be best for you.

Detailed Outline

For a detailed outline, you basically just take your skeleton outline and flesh it out. Add to each section of the story arc and drop in more detail. Focus on what scenes will help you get across each main story point.

For example:

Stasis – Amy lives with her mother and her sister in a house that’s nearly falling apart. She’s unhappy with her life and her family doesn’t treat her well.

This is Amy’s everyday life, but you can do more to plan it out before jumping into writing. What’s Amy’s home life like? What does her family do to treat her poorly? What scenes will you explore to show the audience what’s going on.

Maybe Amy’s sister teases her or makes her do all the chores. Maybe Amy’s mom often doesn’t come home or doesn’t take care of her children. Explore these ideas and use them to flesh out your outline. Then, you’ll have some idea what to write when the time comes, instead of just something vague. This could also help you cut down on telling instead of showing.

Chapter-by-Chapter Outline

This takes a lot of time, but from experience, it does help cut down on the editing process, AND it helps you write a synopsis and query letter when or if the time comes. I spent around a month writing my last chapter-by-chapter outline, so I know exactly what I’m going to do when I start writing. I prefer this because I know I won’t get stuck and I’ll be able to get through the draft quickly. If you like to write fast, which I do because I like to keep my excitement for my project up when I’m writing, a chapter-by-chapter outline might work for you.

A chapter-by-chapter outline might be difficult for your first time writing a novel because you might not know how long it should be or what your strengths and weaknesses are as a writer. There’s no right answer for how long a chapter-by-chapter outline should be because only you know how long your chapters usually are or if you have any problems with word count (Is your novel usually too long? Too short?).

Anyway, if you feel like you want to do a chapter-by-chapter outline, I usually do something like this for each chapter:

Chapter 1:

Paragraph or more about what’s happening in the chapter. Think about each chapter as its own tiny story. Each chapter should have a beginning, middle, and end, and should lend itself to the overall story. Think about what the purpose is for each chapter and what information you want to convey to the reader.

Conflict (I tend to write a sentence about what the conflict is in each chapter. If I can’t find any, I know that’s a sign I need to rewrite that section of the outline. There should always be conflict! There should always be something driving the plot forward!)

I also suggest letting your chapter-by-chapter outline sit for a week or so and editing it. I know that sounds like a lot of work, but that will help your catch any plotting, pacing, or conflict problems BEFORE you start writing. If you’re a planner, this will help tremendously.

Additional Notes:

Obviously, some people like editing. They feel that’s when their story really comes together and they love that aspect of it. They like tearing their story apart, starting over, and building something new. That’s perfectly okay! You don’t need to have a detailed outline if that doesn’t work for you.

The reason I focus on planning is because I can look at the bigger picture before I start the draft. I have a clear focus and I know what’s coming next.

Also, there are plenty of ways to write an outline. How I do it isn’t necessarily right, it just works for me. Experiment with it until you find something that makes you feel comfortable.

What I’m really saying is:

There are no rules for writing. Whatever feels right or whatever makes you happy is what you should focus on. If you don’t want an outline, don’t write one. If you’ve been having trouble with writer’s block or the editing process, maybe try it out! Figure out what’s right for you!

Creating Dynamic Characters That Feel Real

Despite what people may have led you to believe, the plot or structure is not the most important thing about your story–whether it’s a screenplay, short story, novel. That’s not what makes the story real and important. That’s not why your readers care.

Characters are the most important part of your story. Without them, you have nothing. Your story is nothing.

If you want your readers to find your story complex, compelling, and dynamic, then your characters have to be complex, compelling, and dynamic. You’re thinking, “Oh, that’s easy. I’ve already done that.” Your babies are complicated. They’re beautiful but damaged. Intelligent but socially awkward. They want to be an astronaut; they want to save the world.

Sorry, but you’re full of shit.

Characters aren’t just characters, they’re real people, even if they only exist in ink and paper and your mind rather than in flesh and blood. They need to be as real to your readers as their mother, father, best friend, the person sitting next to them. Otherwise, you have failed. Flesh them out, bring them to life on the page.

Your characters are the heart and soul of your story, and you need to treat them as such. That is your job as a writer. And when you don’t do that, you not only fail your readers and your story, you not only do yourself a great disservice, but you also expose yourself. You reveal something to your readers that you don’t want them to know. As Claudia Hunter Johnson says in her book, Crafting Short Screenplays That Connect (which is an excellent book I recommend you all read), character creation is “an artistic and ethical issue.”

Repeat after me: It is an artistic and ethical issue.

Keep reading

Do Yourself a Favor

And write for actors.

Not long monologues and foaming at the mouth, necessarily. If you think like an actor, which means creating a sensible string of motivations and reactions and plans so that the character behaves like a person instead of a mechanism to move the plot to a given point on a given page, then half your story is done.

Plots are backdrops. They are interesting theories and timelocks and landscapes for coherent, interesting, struggling characters to inhabit.The characters are the story. The plot is just there to demonstrate what kind of people they are.

Photography Tricks Anyone Can Do.

@i-dont-believe-in-saints this seems relevant to your interests

Now THIS is the sort of photography tutorial I’ve been waiting for!

some advice I got a long time ago about making your characters more realistic:

If you can’t imagine your character in silly or embarrassing situations without feeling very personally offended; take a step back, kick your character off their pedestal and let them breathe.

Let them feel and react in the same way you and others do. Let them laugh at dumb things, let them trip and fall on their face a few times. Let them experience life.

Don’t take your characters so seriously that all the fun qualities are removed in the process.

The Secret To A Relatable Villain:  An Illustrated Guide

@moonsp1r1t​ asked:

Do you have any advice for writing villain motivations, especially making them relatable?

A while ago, I made a realization that was life changing:  

Villains can – and frequently do – have exactly the same motivations as heroes.  

Think of them as the shadows, the inverted versions, of benevolent desires.  

I’ll show you what I mean:

1.  Love

(GIF source.)

The hero:

The hero wants love and validation, and earns it through their actions – namely, treating those they care about with support and value.

Examples:  Megamind, Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice, Quasimodo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

(GIF source.)

The Villain:

The villain wants love and validation, and believes others owe it to them.  They’ll frequently get enraged and violent when the objects of their affection deny them.

Examples:  Tighten from Megamind, Severus Snape from Harry Potter, Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Ross from Friends.

2.  Power

(GIF source.)

The hero:

The hero wants power in order to gain agency and autonomy for themselves and/or promote justice and improve the lives of others.

Examples:  T’Challa from Black Panther, Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones.

(GIF source.)

The villain:

The villain wants power in order to dominate others and to do what they want without consequence.

Examples:  Killgrave from Jessica Jones.  

3.  Family

(GIF source.)

The hero:

The hero will do whatever it takes to protect their family, while abiding by a code of underlying morals that they will not violate.

Examples: Dean Winchester from Supernatural, Joyce Byers from Stranger Things, Marlon from Finding Nemo, the man and the boy from The Road.  

The villain:

The villain will do whatever it takes to protect their family, including taking away their freedom, abusing them, or hurting and killing other innocent families.

(GIF source.)

Examples: Eddie’s mom from IT, John Winchester from Supernatural, Mother Gothel from Tangled, whoever Bruce Willis’ character in Looper was.

4.  Safety

(GIF source.)

The hero:

The hero was raised in an abusive, violent environment.  They’ll do whatever it takes to never have to experience that again, and to make sure others never have to suffer in the same way.

Examples:  Finn and Rey from Star Wars, Katniss from Hunger Games.

(GIF source.)

The villain:

The villain was raised in an abusive, violent environment.  They’ll do whatever it takes to never experience that again, including doing the exact same thing to other people.  

Examples:  That one dude from A Series of Unfortunate Events, Severus Snape (again.)

5.  Justice

(GIF source.)

The hero:

The hero wants a remedy for injustice, and goes about it by attacking the source of the corruption or providing a platform for the truth to be told.

Examples:  Every classic superhero, Robin Hood, The original trio from Star Wars, Aibileen, Minny, and Skeeter from The Help.

(GIF source.)

The villain:

The villain wants a remedy for injustice, and goes about it by hurting innocents to get an audience or power.

Examples:  Killmonger from Black Panther, Magneto from X-Men.

The realization that evil or destructive people are human, and, essentially, want the same things as good people, is a realization that makes them easier to write in an identifiable way.

I hope this helps, and happy writing!  <3

How to Impress a Script Reader

So I’ve spoken a bit before on how I’ve covered scripts. Now, I am reading and covering scripts every day, some of which are being bought and going into production. And let me tell you, it takes a lot out of you. It’s easy for readers to become jaded when they have to sift through so much material, so it can be difficult for a screenwriter to get their script reviewed past the first wave of coverage.

Most of what I review isn’t outright bad, it’s just… meh… The plot/premise is average or boring, the characters don’t connect with the audience, or the writer doesn’t have a strong or engaging voice. As a reader, our jobs are on the line if we consider a script and send it to our bosses. So we are looking for every reason to pass on a script. Good enough doesn’t cut it, you need to make your script the best it can be.

So, here’s a few things you should consider when revising your scripts to send to companies…

Don’t:

Send first drafts. Don’t submit second drafts for that matter, either. We can tell. Revise. Your. Work. It can always be better, and the closer it is to perfect, the easier it is for a reader to see it as a film. If a script needs work, it costs the company money. The less work we have to do on the script, the more appealing it is for us.

Have blocks of action. My coworker opened the first page of a script and audibly groaned before even reading it. It was a block of action description. No dialogue. Many readers get paid by the script, and those that don’t usually have some sort of quota to meet. So if we have to slog through what is essentially a novel, it takes up more of our time and money. We like white space and we like quick reads. Pare down your action/description as much as you can while still keeping it entertaining. Separate your paragraphs into no more than three sentences.

Make all character dialogue the same. Give everyone a unique voice. And not just accents. Do they talk fast? What is their vocabulary like? Do they speak before they think? Do they overshare? If every character sounds the same, the reader will get bored and will also have to waste more time trying to figure out which character is which. And if the voices of the characters aren’t distinctive, chances are, they won’t be interesting to watch on the screen.

Use “creative” formatting. Yes, A Quiet Place did it. Yes, scripts that change up font still make it in competitions. No, it does not help your script. There is a big risk in messing with the format. It looks unprofessional and often it’s done as an embellishment on not-so-good scripts. It often does more harm then good on scripts so help yourself out and avoid it.

Do:

Have a strong premise. Readers will forgive a lot of you have an interesting/original story to tell. But if the story has been told endless times before, not only will a reader get tired of the story, but your script will be held at the standard of the successful scripts similar to yours (thus making it harder to impress the reader).

Have a strong protagonist. If I don’t care about your protagonist, I won’t care about your script. Why should we care about the character? What are they trying to achieve? What do they have to overcome? How are they different from other character’s we’ve seen.

Remember the emotion. I don’t mean a character shows emotion. I mean the emotional stakes. What does the character have to lose if they fail? How do they handle defeat? Success? Who and what do they care about? What stands in their way of that? How are they challenged personally/emotionally?

Revise your jokes. There’s nothing worse than slogging through a comedy that isn’t funny. Give your script to a friend and see if they laugh. If a joke doesn’t make them at least smile when reading, rewrite the joke. Seriously. I’m begging you.

Have a theme. Why are you writing the script? What is it really about? If you don’t know or the reader can’t tell, the story will feel bland. You don’t have to set out to write a thematic piece, but you should find elements that speak to you and the audience. Say something about a topic you care about.

My husband’s job primarily employs adult men but there is one (1) teenage girl and my husband said originally he worried she might be a bit of an outcast but instead every man on the crew was like “huh guess I am a dad/older brother now.”

She was in a car crash on the way to work one morning and called my husband to let him know she’d be late and he was like wtf guess I’m gonna be late too because I’m coming to pick you up and then he told his team and they were like I think you mean WE are coming.

Imagine you are a teenage girl probably rushing to get to work and you crash your probably new car and feel absolutely miserable and now you’ll be late to work but then suddenly in the distance a car full of all the adult men you work with just pulls up and is like “we came all the way here to pick you up” the mental image right now is fr.

Apparently she tried to call her dad but it was 3am and he was obviously sleeping so she called my husband and he not only came to find her but fished her glasses out of the hood of the car (she’d dropped them while looking inside), drove her to the hospital, and told her to take the day off. She insisted on coming back to work so he used his lunch break to watch TV with her to make sure she didn’t doze off (concussion risk).

You’ve heard of the Mom friend but my husband is very much the Dad friend. He said when he answered the phone she said “hey please don’t be mad” and he’s never felt such powerful Fatherhood energy in his life.

Bold of you to assume he’s not well past that point.

have you ever noticed you pick up little habits and phrases from the people you love? it’s no wonder our hearts are so easily broken when people leave. we become a reflection of the people that we care about and those personality traits stick with us even if the people don’t

I make my ramen the way a friend taught me in eleventh grade. Every fall, I listen to a playlist made for me by a boy I drove across a border to hook up with. I eat sushi because a girl who won’t talk to me anymore made me try it, and Indian food because my best friend’s parents ordered for me before I knew what I liked. There are movies I love because someone I loved loved them first. I am a mosaic of everyone I’ve ever loved, even for a heartbeat.