this is too real

You know what we need more of? Condemnation arcs. Show us the villain’s deepest motivations. Show us the family they love, show us them at peace, sharing time with their friends/minions. Show us what reasons they have that they think justify what they’re doing.

And show us that they are wrong. 

Show us that they believe that they’re right, but that their belief doesn’t justify what they do, the people they hurt, the damage that they think will be justified if they can only get what they really want.

weird little girls are literally the most powerful creative beings on the planet like i promise you no art made by an adult man can even begin to touch the plotlines of an elementary school girl’s pretend game

The quickest show not tell tip ever.

‘Always show, not tell,’ is a big fat lie. If you always show, you’ll have half a novel of descriptive words and flowy sentences that will be hard to read.

Here is a quick tip:

Show emotion.

Tell feelings.

Don’t tell us ‘she was sad.’ Show us- ‘Her lip trembled, and her eyes burned as she tried to keep her tears at bay.’

Don’t show us ‘her eyelids were heavy- too heavy. Her limbs could barely function and she couldn’t stop yawning.’ Tell us - ‘she felt tired that morning.’

Showing emotion will bring the reader closer to the characters, to understand their reactions better. But I don’t need to read about how slow she was moving due to tiredness.

Likewise, when you do show, keep it to a max three sentences. Two paragraphs of ‘how she was sad,’ with no dialogue or inner thought is just as boring.

WRITING TIP OF THE WEEK:

Sometimes, simplicity is better.

You don’t always have to try and make every sentence complex, flowery, and overly pretty. Some moments call for a very simple, plain sentence so the impact of the actual moment isn’t overshadowed by too many/too complex of words.

Yes. Preach. Yes. Oh so much yes. The sentence that left me the most shook in a book--ever--had less than eight words in it. 

New ask game for writers

1. Favorite place to write. 2. Favorite part of writing. 3. Least favorite part of writing. 4. Do you have writing habits or rituals? 5. Books or authors that influenced your style the most. 6. Favorite character you ever created. 7. Favorite author. 8. Favorite trope to write. 9. Least favorite trope to write. 10. Pick a writer to co-write a book with and tell us what you’d write about. 11. Describe your writing process from scratch to finish. 12. How do you deal with self-doubts? 13. How do you deal with writers block? 14. What’s the most research you ever put into a book? 15. Where does your inspiration come from? 16. Where do you take your motivation from? 17. On avarage, how much writing do you get done in a day? 18. What’s your revision or rewriting process like? 19. First line of a WIP you’re working on. 20. Post a snippet of a WIP you’re working on. 21. Post the last sentence you wrote in one of your WIP’s. 22. How many drafts do you need until you’re satisfied and a project is ultimately done for you? 23. Single or multi POV, and why? 24. Poetry or prose, and why? 25. Linear or non-linear, and why? 26. Standalone or series, and why? 27. Do you share rough drafts or do you wait until it’s all polished? 28. And who do you share them with? 29. Who do you write for? 30. Favorite line you’ve ever written. 31. Hardest character to write. 32. Easiest character to write. 33. Do you listen to music when you’re writing? 34. Handwritten notes or typed notes? 35. Tell some backstory details about one of your characters in your story ________. 36. A spoiler for story _________. 37. Most inspirational quote you’ve ever read or heard that’s still important to you. 38. Have you shared your outline of your story ________ with someone? If so, what did they think of it? 39. Do you base your characters of real people or not? If so, tell us about one. 40. Original Fiction or Fanfiction, and why? 41. How many stories do you work on at one time? 42. How do you figure out your characters looks, personality, etc. 43. Are you an avid reader? 44. Best piece of feedback you’ve ever gotten. 45. Worst piece of feedback you’ve ever gotten. 46. What would your story _______ look like as a tv show or movie? 47. Do you start with characters or plot when working on a new story? 48. Favorite genre to write in. 49. What do you find the hardest to write in a story, the beginning, the middle or the end? 50. Weirdest story idea you’ve ever had. 51. Describe the aesthetic of your story _______ in 5 sentences or words. 52. How did writing change you? 53. What does writing mean to you? 54. Any writing advice you want to share?

Worldbuilding: Things That Might Have Been Missed

These are the miscellaneous questions I didn’t put anywhere else.  Things that didn’t get enough questions to have its own post, or things I didn’t think of too much until the end.  In this post, I have written a list questions of … . well, everything else?

Have fun, be detailed and creative, and by all means come up with questions that are not asked.

Because my computer ate everything, these questions are not directly taken from the NaNoWriMo website.  Some are asked from memory, some are questions that sounded like ones I had, and others are ones I came up with.

How is a funeral held?

What happens to the body after someone has died? Do they bury it?  Place it in a tomb?  Cremate it?  Drop it to the bottom of the sea?  Send it down the river?  Toss it into a dragon’s lair?

How do people mourn?

What is consider an appropriate amount of time for mourning?

What color is used for mourning and funerals? Black?  White?  Red?  Blue?  No specific color?  What does the color symbolize?

Are there any coming of age rituals?

What happens during a coming of age ritual?

What age is the child normally at when he or she goes the coming of age ritual?

Does it vary by gender?

What kind of jobs exist?

Which jobs are held in high esteem?

Which jobs are despised?

How do people get jobs? Do they become an apprentice?  Do they need work experience?  A college degree?  How are they offered jobs?  Do they apply?  Talk with the owner?  Get recommended?

What jobs are influenced by magic?

What is the most common way someone meets his or her future spouse? By growing with them?  Through connections?  School?  In the market?  At a dance?  Arranged marriage?

How technologically advanced is the world?

What is the latest piece of technology?

How does magic affect technology?

How is new technology viewed? Is it embraced?  Are people apprehensive?  Do they outright spurn new technology?  Do people care?

What does the average bed look like? Straw mattress?  Water bed?  A pile of blankets?  A wooden platform?  A chair?  A couch?

What are some rules regarding sleep? Are mixed genders allowed or is that frowned upon unless they’re married?  Do people have their own beds or share with siblings?  Do the rules vary depending on where they’re sleeping?  Is everyone smooshed in together at an inn?  Can money get better bedding?

What are the basic pieces of furniture found in an average house? Chairs?  Couches? Tables?  Beds?  Bookshelves?  How many are acceptable?  How many pieces of furniture would indicate lavishness?

What are some toys for children?

What do people use as a light source when the sun is not available?

What kinds of dishes are used? Plates?  Bowls?  Cups or glasses?

What kind of eating utensils do people use? Chopsticks?  Forks and spoons?  Their hands?

What materials are dishes and eating utensils made of?

What kind of items are used for cooking? Pots and pans?  Clay pots?  Crock pots?  Skillets?  Wok?  A wooden plate?

These are so good!!!

Sum up the plot of your novel/main story in one sentence

I’m bored and this could be fun

I’ll start 

“The importance of proper closure.” 

skeletons want better working conditions, proceeds to run up many stairs

Fuzzball is tired and wants to go home to read. 

Dumpy losers and a competent ghost fight the mob.

A grouchy and directionless orphan girl gets involved in Weird Magical Shit ™

Man catches on fire, is adopted by lizard.

Forcing demons to possess humans is all fun & games until someone loses an eye.

Man thinks taking a vacation to the east coast will repair relationship with son, encounters old gods and eldritch horrors and cries naked in the snow instead.

A single mom tries to retire quietly, but accidentally picks a fight with everyone on the planet instead

Mutant fighter takes a chance with making friends with a robot geek and now has to beat up an addict with superpowers to survive.

A teenager and a buckethead run errands.

A polite retiring FBI agent goes to online therapy, finds himself dragged into a vibrant cyberpunk adventure with a bunch of internet/virtual reality detectives while befriending a strange AI with an ambiguous past.

Two postmortal unlikely friends travel to take down the government

A woman and a velociraptor shaped alien help some new friends hack a starship.

trans siblings become a giant robot pilot and a magical girl.

1)Somebody’s killing people and we need to find out if it’s a person or a puma.

2) Retired fairy godmothers are shit at not meddling, insist on bringing soulmate into each other’s lives.

3) A lady and her cat have to travel the length of the continent to stop a grudge holding ice goddess from taking over the world.

1) super heros really should keep a closer eye on their offspring.

2) trying to kill your archnemisis before they come into their power is really a bad idea, like have you read any fiction at all before?

A bunch of robots get mad at each other.

A Coven of queer witches fight monsters at night but in the mean time a dude who is basically The Silence but more memorable just won’t leave them alone.

“A homeless thief girl runs from all of her magical problems.”

READING OUTSIDE YOUR GENRE

Reading is wonderful and informs writing. However, reading only within the genre you write, is very limiting. Exposing yourself to books outside your genre will help you branch out and mature both as a reader and as a writer.

REASONS TO READ OUTSIDE YOUR OWN GENRE

Exposing yourself to books outside the genre you write will show you how the common stories’ threads work across genres, while exposing you to new techniques you can incorporate into your own book. It is also a brilliant way to find inspiration and open you up to a new genre that you just might fall in love with.

YESSSS!!!

All very good points!

I definitely need to read outside my genre more.

Random Writing Asks

okay i havent seen anyone bring this up in regards to wonder woman and im disappointed in that so i figure i should talk about it a little bit 

now look, i really loved wonder woman. i did. i had some issues with it, like i will with any movie, but i did genuinely enjoy it. but i havent seen a single person talking about dr poison, and i think that needs to change 

namely the scar and accompanying prosthetic mask 

i was immediately saddened at her reveal, because here was another in a long tradition of movies to have disabled villains. namely superhero movies. i can really only speak to the marvel side of it, but this is a trend i’ve noticed a lot recently. (even guardians of the galaxy, which doesn’t feature a disabled villain as the main villain (though nebula does use prostheses) has a running gag about taking prostheses away from disabled people, like thats supposed to be funny) 

look at iron man 3. the whole movie was about people with physical disabilities being used for evil and doing evil things because of their disabilities. look at the disabled villains in logan, and how the main villain’s prosthesis was used to make him othered and intimidating (similarly to how the reveal of bucky’s prosthesis was meant to be intimidating in the winter soldier). and isn’t batman’s whole shtick is that all his villains are disabled?? 

when are we going to stop using disability as a code for evil?? 

i looked up the original character of dr poison in the comics, because i was SURE that the prosthetic was a design element they had (unfortunately) chosen to keep from there 

i was shocked to discover that the original character had no such thing. this was something they actually ADDED for the movie. and why? 

i read an interview where the director of wonder woman, patty jenkins, says that dr poison is “damaged” and thats why she wants to hurt people 

and i quote: “There is that way of being a damaged and dark person where you’re waiting for other people to face that wrath too.”

like how blatant can you be that you think disabled people are evil?? i was so completely disappointed when i read this, because though i was upset when i saw dr poison’s prosthetic in the movie, i thought SURELY it was coming from a place of ignorance, not malice. but i was proven wrong 

i know there’s a lot of creators on this site. a lot of artists, a lot of writers. can we just collectively agree now that we are going to STOP this trend? of using prostheses to be intimidating. of using disability to mark otherness and badness 

what kind of message is this sending to our disabled kids and teens? and us? 

what kind of message are we sending by continuing to support this trend without speaking out about it? 

we MUST DO BETTER. we absolutely must

for too long disabled people have had to absorb messages that their disabilities make them bad. this shit is vile. let it stop with us. let it stop now 

please feel free to discuss, especially if you’re a prosthesis user, which i’m not. we NEED to be talking about this and getting the idea that this is bad in our collective consciousness. i’ve seen discussion of the other worrisome elements in wonder woman but i’ve seen absolutely nothing about disability. let’s change that. speak up

ALL OF THIS. ALL OF THIS. Her character bothered me immensely during the film, and especially during the climax.

There’s a way to do disabled villains right - and I think about this a lot since I want to get the balance right in my own writing - but this was nowhere close.