legit-writing-tips : TW: Abuse, domestic violence I’m taking a moment today to speak about something incredibly important to me - I have been dealing with complex-PTSD for ten years now. My symptoms became markedly worse after experiencing a car accident in 2015 - however, I have had complex-PTSD for much longer due to the trauma I experienced during my childhood. Though I loved my grandmother…
TW: Abuse, domestic violence I’m taking a moment today to speak about something incredibly important to me - I have been dealing with complex-PTSD for ten years now. My symptoms became markedly worse after experiencing a car accident in 2015 - however, I have had complex-PTSD for much longer due to the trauma I experienced during my childhood. Though I loved my grandmother very deeply, it also…
Hello! I know its been a long time since I posted here and fortunately, there’s a very good reason for that. As many of you who may have been regular followers of mine may know, I was dealing with a lot of very challenging issues for many years. TW: for discussion of trauma, PTSD and related issues I had a car accident in 2015 shortly after the passing of my grandmother, which left me…
Ok. First, let’s get this out of the way. There’s nothing wrong with using “said” to tag your dialog. In fact, it’s a lot better than using a ton of different dialog tags. Muttered, murmured, whispered, hissed… Those tags work if you really need to point out HOW someone is speaking - if you really need to emphasize how pissed off someone is, for example. But if you just use them to avoid “said” it…
Good Advice - Write Them Villains!
terphobic : towardsmorning : the thing about the “why can’t we say pregnant WOMEN instead of pregnant PEOPLE, PC gone mad!” discussion going on right now is that even the “cis ally” side is kind of not understanding why, exactly, “official” stuff about pregnancy needs to use gender neutral language. the use of gendered language, whether in law or in company guidelines, has been used as an excuse…
Ok, so for time travel - Time may be all jumbled up in terms of “time”. So stop thinking of time as in physical time... the way time moves for the plants and the trees and the planets and the sun. Think instead in terms of "psychological” time for your main character. And for any side characters who may have their own side plots. As you plot your story, make notes regarding how psychological time…
That’s interesting! I suppose it really depends on the character, but what I would imagine is that an 11-year-old would be fairly new to presenting information or giving presentations in general. So rather than making them less organized or making their presentation confusing, I would perhaps make them a little bit more hesitant or unsure of themself. Even if they’re a confident character overall,…
It’s really up to you. It would certainly be more fun if the object ended up having some sort of meaning later on. It could also be fun if the boy puzzled and puzzled over the object (if the boy is a character in the story and not just a random) and only later is the object revealed (to both boy and reader) revealed to be totally random. (Ex. Boy, who has some powers of his own, realizes he almost…
Reacting to the Horrible Fanfic I Wrote @ 15 : legit-writing-tips : It’s called Harry Potter and the Curse of the G***y. It’s bad. And it gets batshit crazy. Come watch me react.
Mother’s Day dawns, 1989 - On the wide, green grassy lawn, Dotted with row on row of stones. I wear my Sunday best, Carnation-pink dress, White ruffled collar and shoes. Grandmother hands me flowers, Carnations, yellow, pink and white. Youthful blooms, cut off at the stems. I grasp them, hold on tight, With pudgy toddler fingers. Nobody remains who can recall that day, Which now lays locked inside…
*Note: I am new to writing poetry so not the best person to come to for writing tips on poetry. I am mostly sharing this for feedback/to gauge interest. Standing at the edges of the rocky cliffside, Pressed in by safety rails and curious tourists, Myself overcome with that same curiosity, The vision of the morning sun blooming, Into an open sky, hues of orange and pink, And brightened to a clear…
This is going to be my first post re: incorporating humor into your story. One of the simplest and most effective ways to do this is just by subverting what the reader expects to happen. Include a classic cliche or trope into your story, something the reader has likely seen a million times - an attractive, brooding love interest or “the chosen one” for example - and over the course of your text,…
Hello all - I’m currently doing some writing lessons. One of these lessons requires me to have people read a selection of my work and describe it in ONLY three adjectives (this is to get a general idea of my writing style). If you would like to help, it would be appreciated. This is the document - https://docs.google.com/document/d/19j3BEi2n-XHy0Nhhw_aosWGUlV1CYWPR5ZWZxTo9X5s/edit?usp=sharing…
Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate the holiday! Have a wonderful day to everyone else!
Haha, thanks! I keep meaning to come back and write up some tips but I have been SO busy the past few months! My new job... I love it, don’t get me wrong, and I have the best boss and co-workers ever, but it’s definitely stressful. But also, I get to tell people I’m a “Feature Writer and Editor’ when they ask what I do for a living :)
Thank you! Yes, things have been much better! In fact, I was able to sign up for health insurance bc of my new job, and though it will take a chunk out of my paycheck every month next year it also means I’ll finally be able to see a proper neurologist/get brand name medications/get important testing I need done which could potentially be a big help for me in my fight against epilepsy!
1. Make the reader give a damn. If the reader is as invested in the relationship as the character is, then they’re going to feel the same heartbreak as the character when the betrayal happens. 2. Drop hints early on that things aren’t quite what they seem. Make sure the character isn’t picking up on these hints, or even have the character blatantly ignore them. Maybe you don’t want to clearly…
I think so much of this is just figuring out where the line is and making sure you tiptoe up to it rather than leap across. Good Example: You’re writing a "fantasy” story and people expect certain elements - for example, magic. But in-universe you suddenly explain that what people think of as “magic” is actually the remnants of technology left behind by an ancient civilization. Then you go even…
The etymology of “Black” names - a great post for etymology nerds and those interested in learning more about black culture, but also REALLY GREAT for those not a part of black culture but who want to come up with names for black characters that aren’t plain ol’ stereotypes.