In My Personal Experience (which Is, Granted, Not Universal) I Have Never Been An Actor In A Play That

Forget the search history, if you really want to know a writer you should check their notes app...a writer's unhibited mind can be a frightening place.

i mean this so seriously if you have any sort of creative project you can and should be a little obsessed with it. you should reread your own writing and look at your own art and brag about your ocs its literally good for your health

My take on controversy

Introduction

Do not send hate or harassment to any of the other creators who have made posts like these or to anyone involved in this issue. That makes everything worse.

Remember that this entire post is my opinion. You can disagree with it, but I do not tolerate hate and disrespect in my comments. I will delete it. I want this post to be a safe place for discussion, but I don’t want people to blatantly insult and demean others just to make a point.

I’m going to preface this post by saying I think this entire drama is ridiculous and harmful. Read on to see why.

Originality

One of the things I’ve seen pointed out most often is that people often take inspiration from each other to the point that “we are all the same.” I would like to twist this and say that this is precisely why our community is so endearing. (Note: I am not including copiers in this. Copying other people is not the same as inspiration.)

Yes, a lot of people post Twitter themes. Yes, a lot of people have Tumblr posts. Yes, a lot of people utilize the tip/textpost format. All of this and more is true. But instead of seeing it as repetitive, I see it as a cycle of inspiration and creativity. No one person uses their post-making strategies like you. Nobody words their posts quite like you do.

The things that make us the same are the things that make us different. 

And I, for one, think that’s beautiful.

Content

Perhaps the biggest controversial statement I’ve seen so far is that posting writing tips is “basic.” I agree with this to an extent; people frequently post similar tips and ideas. But everyone always has something to add from their own unique perspective. The bones of writing advice may remain the same, but its appearance depends on who gives it. 

The word “basic” has been thrown around a lot.  "Basic” has the demeaning connotation of you not being good enough. But people pour their passion into what they post. The content you’re calling “basic” is what people want to do and what they like to do. Don’t shame them for that.

Basic is not bad. If you are “basic,” then yes, there are absolutely others like you in the writing community. But that does not mean you are worth any less. Likewise, you’re not “special” for posting different types of content. People are different and they post different things. Don't shame people because they don't align with your standards. We are all creators. There is no such thing as being inferior or superior to someone else.

Maybe you don’t want to see writing tips all the time. That’s fine! There are accounts out there that don’t post only writing content. Just don’t pressure others to change what they post because you’re tired of it. In the same vein, you can absolutely encourage people to post their unpopular opinions. However, you risk implying that people who don’t are “boring,” or, again, “basic.”

Controversy

I am not a person who likes controversy. In fact, I usually avoid it at all costs because it usually creates chaos and disharmony. Case in point.

Remember that there’s a difference between being blunt and being harmful, even unintentionally. What you can tolerate may be a lot different from what others can tolerate, and what you read as critical may read as demeaning to someone else. Understand that not everyone thinks the same way.

I absolutely encourage you to post unpopular opinions. I want you to speak up for what you want to say. I want you to express yourself. I want you to do what makes you comfortable. I want you to be able to do all of these, but not at the cost of someone else’s freedom and comfort.

I agree that you shouldn’t have to tiptoe around on eggshells when you share your unpopular opinions. The point of unpopular opinions is to provoke discussion, not to prevent it. Yet this entire drama is making people go silent because they are afraid that they are not good enough, or that they are doing something wrong. Check yourself continuously to make sure that you don’t come across as implying that someone is “wrong” or on the “wrong side” for not agreeing with you. 

I’ve seen people say that the original posters of these controversial opinions are telling "the truth.” However, there is no such thing as “the truth,” which is a generic blanket statement that fails to consider nuances. There are many different, smaller truths, and all of them often contradict each other. Just take a look at this post.

Takeaway

This entire controversy is creating too much toxicity. People are being hurt. People are losing motivation. People are thinking they aren't a real writer/creator or that they're not good enough. Every single one of you, no matter what you believe, deserves to feel worthy and wanted, and you are.

The writing community is meant to be a safe place to do what you love. I want it to remain safe. I want it to stay supportive. And most of all, I want it to understand.

In case no one has told you today: People enjoy seeing what you post and what you create. People appreciate your presence. People love what you do. Do not believe anyone who says or implies otherwise.

Post what you want to post and consume the content you want to see. Do what you are comfortable with, and do what you can to make others comfortable. 

This shouldn’t be so hard to understand.

can we as a community, no matter what writing software we use, all agree that google docs' spellcheck system is pretty screwy?

How to Write Accents

Credit: https://www.nownovel.com/blog/how-to-write-accents-dialects/

1. Use accent and dialect for the right reasons

There are many things to consider when you’re writing a person’s accent or dialect. A stereotypical rendering of regional accent or dialect based on racial, cultural or ethnic “difference" can be offensive and perpetuate harmful stereotypes. When you use dialect, make sure you're using it for the right reasons! Ask yourself:

Is it essential to the story (e.g., is it used to reinforce the main character’s insider/outsider status in a close-knit regional community)?

Are there stereotypical expressions associated with the accent or dialect you should take care to contextualize, use sparingly, or avoid?

Make sure when you describe the speech of a character whose mother tongue isn’t your own that your efforts don’t come across as superior or mocking. Giving each character believable speech will make your characters more three-dimensional.

2. Don’t overexaggerate

Obviously you want to show that your character has an accent. But if you emphasize it too much, it begins to sound exaggerated and inauthentic, and can be offensive. The accent should sound natural, not forced. Reread your dialogue--out loud--and watch for awkward moments and lulls in the flow of the conversation.

3. “Eye dialect”

This ties into the previous point.  “Eye dialect” is the term for representing deviations from "standard" pronunciation in a certain language using alternate spellings (for example, writing "fella" instead of “fellow"). Writing about non-mother-tongue speakers can seem bigoted or prejudiced because a writer can try too hard to mimic a “foreign” character’s speech. To represent eye dialect as respectfully and accurately as you can, try:

Making the minimum changes necessary to show the effect of an accent (e.g., “I’m tellin’ ya” instead of “Ahm tellin’ ya”)

Avoiding over-relying on single, overused words to create the impression of an accent (e.g. using ‘y’all’ for conveying southern accents)--variety is key

Finding more ways to show regionalism

4. Transliteration

Transliteration is the way people often insert the grammatical structure of sentences in one language directly into another, even if the second language has its own, different rules of grammar. This “transplanted” grammatical structure creates a sense of a character’s situation and relationship between languages, places, cultures, etc.

As an example, in Spanish, plural nouns take plural adjectives, but the same thing doesn’t happen in English (e.g. “blues cars” in Spanish and “blue cars”  in English). When describing a character who is not fully fluent in the primary language of your story, find grammatical particulars of their first language. Then, use these to create sentences that use transliteration to show imperfect translation.

5. Language errors

One way you can see this is when characters of later generations interact with first-generation immigrant parents or grandparents. The ways different generations of immigrants speak the same language frequently vary. To capture the speech of characters who are in an unfamiliar place or speaking an unfamiliar language, learn the most common errors that people from your characters’ home country make. Use language errors consistently but sparingly to avoid creating a national, ethnic, or cultural caricature.

6. Regional colloquialisms and slang

In all languages slang differs by location. If you plan to set a story in a real-world place, make a list of local colloquialisms/slang. Look at local news websites and social medias, listening for the inflections of local speech. Learn how regional accents sound but also write down any expressions that show up often.

Also, keep in mind that slang considered outdated in one country or city is often still popular in another! To make your characters’ dialect typical of a place and time, make sure any words you’ve included are current---slang goes in and out of fashion.

7. Idioms and sayings

Idioms breathe life and color into fiction. To create a sense of local particularity, find popular region-specific phrases you can use. If a character from your novel is from a distinctive place, give them exclamations or expressions that demonstrate this background.

This also applies for creating dialect differences between fictional groups in an invented world. If you write fantasy or sci-fi, invent regional idioms and sayings that draw on local myths or practices to give each place in your novel its own character and modes of speech!

f*ck personality tests, what font do you write in?

How I Outline My Characters

Intro

Hey guys! Today I’m going to be talking about how I outline and build my characters. I used to be so uninspired when I was building characters, because to me it just felt like I was filling in blanks, and I couldn’t really connect to the character. So I just decided to take a bare-bones character profile (specifically Reedsy’s, which I highly recommend) and cut and add things as I saw fit. I want to stress that it’s in no way comprehensive--in fact, I’m always adding new things--but it does cover quite a bit, and so far, it’s worked well for me!

1. Identity and appearance

This section involves all the fundamental parts of a character. First, I begin with names: the character’s name in English (or in another language, if applicable) and their nickname(s). Then, I go through all the details of birth, location, age, etc. etc. Next, I dive into nationality and heritage, the languages the character understands, and their gender and pronouns (I know there's a difference between the two, I just group them together because it's easier to keep track of). Finally, I go into all the statistics of appearance and health, along with a description of what they look like in the text!

2. Personality and psychology

In the second section of my character profile, I nail down the basic personality and psychology of the character. "General” includes their normal temperament, preferences, moral compass, and more. The second subsection delves into “plot-significant” elements of the character’s mind, such as the heart’s desire, weaknesses, insecurities, and fears. “Classifications,” the third subsection, is just about categorizations like zodiac signs and personality types. Last is a list of miscellaneous “favorites” of the character. I pay a lot of attention to the first two parts of this section, as they are essential for me to figure out the story!

3. Communication and mannerisms

Next, I delve into the communications and mannerisms of the character, whether that’s vocal, physical, or emotional. Most of this is pretty self-explanatory, so I’ll just elaborate on a few. A swear word can tell you a lot about a character, surprisingly enough--whether it’s religious or not, whether the character whispers it or yells it, etc.

Under the “physical” subsection, “gestures” refers to the level of gesturing that a character does, as well as what kind of gestures they make--e.g. big and sweeping gestures, or small and confined ones? In the “emotions” subsection, "humor” refers to what the character finds funny, e.g. dark humor. “Smile” refers to what the character’s smile looks like, which can be very telling. For example, do they have a close-lipped smile or a wide, toothy grin? Do they have both but show one of them more often, and if so, why?

4. Social media and related

Here, I decide what social media platforms the character would use if they had them, and if so, what type of content they would post. This is a fun character exercise and it can be taken further by actually creating social media profiles for your characters on certain websites!

I also make a miniature playlist of what songs I think they would listen to, specifically songs that would be on their all-time most played Spotify playlist. Making playlists is one of my favorite ways to flesh out characters!

5. Backstory

Probably the most important part of the profile plot-wise, “Backstory” covers the entire background of a character--their childhood, memories, aspirations, abstract details, and everything to do with the past and what their life and mind was like prior to the story. Under “Description,” I simply write out a longer summary of the character’s backstory.

6. Family

Here, I just build the character’s family, noting their names, ages, birth/death, history, their relationship with the character, etc. This is pretty self-explanatory. After going into immediate family, I mention extended family. Both can reveal insights into the character--are they closer to one side of their family than to the other? Why? Is there any conflict that may be shown between the character and their family in the story?

7. Relationships

This section is all about relationships; familial, platonic or romantic. This helps me figure out the dynamics between characters. I also include a “Perception” section, which allows me to view the character from multiple angles. If this character is involved in romance, I note what qualities they want in a relationship or in their ideal partner(s).

8. Story elements

Finally, I figure out the current situation of the character: where are they right now and where do they want to be? What’s their goal? What motivates them? These questions let me build a plot. Lastly, I plan out their character arc--how they change and develop during the course of the story.

these are so helpful thanks ! I feel more confident now :)

thank you so much! i’m glad i could help <3

How to Write Rivals to Lovers

Credit: https://allwritealright.com/writing-from-enemies-to-lovers-creating-dynamic-relationships/

Intro

I would argue that rivals to lovers is superior over enemies to lovers because it’s less toxic and more satisfying. Typically, it results in a healthier relationship than most enemies-to-lovers relationships because it presents a less dark or drastic reason for them to dislike each other (like killing the other’s loved ones, etc). With rivals to lovers, you get jealousy, pining, banter, tension, and of course, a great payoff!

Establish the characters

First and foremost, you’re going to need to make sure that the rivals have the potential to get along. You need to be very strategic about how you design these characters, since this will determine whether or not the dynamic will work authentically. The characters should be unique individuals, obviously, but you need to build them in such a way that your readers will be able to identify their chemistry.

The two characters should have some similar or complementary traits. They should also have traits that make up for the other’s shortcomings, and they should have struggles and flaws that the other character could help them with--if they could only cooperate. These subtle parallels should give readers the sense that the characters would get along, if not for whatever obstacle warped their opinions of each other in the beginning.

Decide why they dislike each other

There are a number of different reasons that characters could have for disliking each other, but you need to be careful about how you approach this. The characters’ hatred should never be based on things that are unforgivable, and they shouldn’t be allowed to evolve as a result of abuse or trauma. Never romanticize bullying, abuse, or manipulation. With that said, here are plausible backstories for their rivalry:

Competition, also known as the main pillar of this trope. Competition can bring out the worst in people, so if your two characters are both vying for the same goal, they might clash as a result. The great thing about this type of hatred is that it might be accompanied by great respect for their rival, and it also gives you a good similarity between the characters that you can rely on to draw them closer together.

Desires. If these characters want the same thing, then the next thing they want is not to let the other get it. This is closely connected to competition. This sets up an interesting plotline as readers wonder who will achieve their prize first...or who might lose it. More on this later!

Conflict. Being on opposing sides of a conflict, such as a debate or dispute, positions characters to dislike each other regardless of their personalities. Their dislike for each other is based on their moral dedication to their country, faction, or clan, and not on their inherent qualities as people.

Society. They might dislike each other because of their parents, education, or class differences. If characters believe they dislike each other because they were taught to dislike each other, then they will have to work out their own internal struggles individually before they can get along together.

Actually falling in love

The biggest mistake that writers make with this trope is moving through the arc too quickly. Overcoming intense feelings for another person takes time, and it happens in distinct phases. First, the characters need to forgive each other and reconcile with their rivalry. Then, they will likely be friends before they can come anywhere close to falling in love. Rivals to lovers must be slowburn to be effective. Some methods of showing it are below:

Forced proximity/conversation

Reluctant partnership (a personal favorite!)

Physical, emotional, or sexual attraction

Banter or teasing

Staring

Flirting

Remembering small things about the other character

Coming to the thought that maybe the other person isn’t so bad / things might be different if they weren’t rivals

Letting the other person beat them in something

Let the characters evolve

If the characters are going to make things work between them, they cannot simply continue the way things have always been. They must acknowledge where they were wrong, and change themselves for the better. They must confront their beliefs and change their perspective, and above all else, they need to forgive themselves and each other for the time they spent disliking the other.

In many cases, characters will need to redeem themselves before their relationship will work. This is a great opportunity to write a redemption arc for one (or both) of the characters, which can make readers feel even more emotionally attached to the characters.

Climax and conflict

At the heart of every rivals-to-lovers story, there’s something that both characters want--otherwise they wouldn’t be rivals! It sets up a very interesting conflict, due to their changing feelings for each other. Who needs the prize more? Who wants it more? Will one of them yield for the other, or will they forge ahead with selfishness and guilt? Or will they both realize that what they need is something completely different from what they thought they wanted?

This is an excellent time to incorporate a betrayal or forgiveness trope. Rivals to lovers implies high stakes, because there is something that they are fighting for. Show those stakes, and you’ll have both an excellent story and an excellent romance!

Love confessions

Once the characters have overcome the obstacles in the way of their love and come to terms with how they feel, the next step is for them to admit those feelings to each other. How your character decides to approach this decision is going to depend on their personality and their existing relationship with the other person. Make sure the scene carries some emotional weight to it: you want readers to feel like the stakes are high.

Your characters aren’t likely to confess their love without feeling some shred of reciprocity. If they haven’t noticed any indication that the other person likes them back, then they’re probably going to sit on those feelings for a while. Both of the characters can even be doing this at the same time, without realizing that the other person feels the same way (which is both really frustrating and really gratifying for the reader!).