V.E. Schwab’s Advice On Creating Memorable Characters.

Canorus I Aprix 

this is so self-indulgent is2g but what if this audio was in video form?? 

so basically what we have here is: makoto having the courage to leave a love message on haru’s phone and haru stays in bed and thinks about it while he plays it again and again

this took me like three hours j e s u s

*talks about demons loudly in local diner*

I love the ambiguity of the term ‘WIP’. Is it a project in it’s third draft? A final draft being queried? An idea I came up with six months ago and haven’t written anything about yet? You don’t know. Nobody knows. 

MONARCHS IN LOVE  —  some haunted parts and spilled secrets ago… (listen)

Psychology for writers: first impressions matter

I was thinking about plotting, and about telling a story chronologically or not.

It reminded me of first impressions and the primacy effect. Solomon Asch studied this in the 1940s I think. The primacy effect shows us that we appoint more weight to information that we learn first than to information we learn later.

He studied this by giving two groups of people a list of personality traits. For example, group one is introduced to a woman, “This is Anna. She is beautiful, funny, spiteful and mean.” Group two, however, hears this: “This is Anna. She is mean, spiteful, funny and beautiful.”

The second list is of course the reverse of the first list. You would think that both people form the same impression of Anna, because they are given the same adjectives. But no. Group one had a more positive impression of Anna and were more prepared to forgive her for her meanness and spitefulness than group two.

This is how you can use the primacy effect for your characters:

Introduce your main character by showing her doing something good first.

If you plan to redeem a villain in the end and make your readers feel positive towards him, show him having some small positive traits first, for example petting his kitten.

If you want your readers to go, “I knew this character was bad even though everyone trusted him, I just had this feeling he’s up to no good!”, show him doing something bad first, like kicking the kitten, and then some good acts. (”I never forgave him for kicking that helpless kitten!”)

Flashbacks, flash forwards and other ways to tell your story non-chronologically can influence the impression your readers have of your characters compared to a linear, chronological story.

I hope this was helpful. Don’t hesitate to ask me any questions, and happy writing!

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Saoirse Ronan as Jo March in “Little Women” (USA, 2019)

look, im just a slut for some magical exhaustion okay give me your whumpees overusing their magic and having physical repercussions from it, bloody noses, unable to stand, getting progressively weaker, utterly exhausted and spent !! 

bonus points:  if they know they are running low on magic but they have no choice but to keep using more until they just collapse

bonus bonus points: if their magic is somehow connected to their life force!!

tropes that will always f*ck me up

composed characters losing their composure

kind characters snapping

characters hugging each other after one or both of them have been through hell

character cradling their significant other’s face while they kiss

character says something hurtful. later on in the movie they are in a similar situation and say something kind instead.

self sacrifice

griefstricken women (who under normal circumstances wouldn’t hurt a fly) lashing out and striking the person responsible for the loss of their loved one

ugly crying

characters struggling to talk because they’re about to cry

characters reuniting with someone whom they thought were dead

FOREHEAD KISSES

F O R E H E A D     T O U C H E S

— robert frost

to whom it may concern: live on.