to-seeking
86 posts
Latest Posts by to-seeking
basically I think that if your protagonist doesn’t want to fuck someone so bad it makes them look stupid, then there probably isn’t enough energy in your story. “Fuck someone” isn’t literal btw—they can want to uncover the secrets of their parent’s death, they can want to prove their worth, they can want a donut from one particular bakery—it can be anything so long as they want it so bad that they’ll make decisions that make any sane person go “are you a moron??”, with little to no forethought, or even tons of forethought and this is still the option they chose. Because they want to fuck that thing so bad.
I've already said that my number one piece of writing advice is to read.
But my number two piece of advice is this: be deliberate.
Honestly this would fix so many pieces of bad writing advice. Don't forbid people from doing something, tell them to be conscious and deliberate about it. This could help stop people from falling into common mistakes without limiting their creativity. Black and white imperatives may stop a few annoying beginner habits, but ultimately they will restrict artistic expression.
Instead of "don't use epithets": "Know the effect epithets have and be deliberate about using them." Because yes, beginners often misuse them, but they can be useful when a character's name isn't known or when you want to reduce them to a particular trait they have.
Instead of "don't use 'said'" or "just use 'said'": "Be deliberate about your use of dialogue tags." Because sometimes you'll want "said" which fades into the background nicely, but sometimes you will need a more descriptive alternative to convey what a character is doing.
Instead of "don't use passive voice": "Be deliberate about when you use passive voice." Because using it when it's not needed can detract from your writing, but sometimes it can be useful to change the emphasis of a sentence or to portray a particular state of mind.
Instead of blindly following or ignorantly neglecting the rules of writing, familiarize yourself with them and their consequences so you can choose when and if breaking them would serve what you're trying to get across.
Your writing is yours. Take control of it.
It probably sounds like I'm preaching to the choir here because most of my mutuals are already great writers. But I'm hoping this will make it to the right people.
editor note: "add more character descriptions throughout, I forget what these characters look like and it's disorientating"
me: "bold of you to assume I know what they look like"
favourite things about first drafts:
square brackets with notes to self mid-line like [does this make sense with worldbuilding?]
ah yes, Main Character and their closest friends, Unnamed Character A and Unnamed Character B.
bullshitting your way through something that you probably definitely need to research later
also square brackets to link up scenes. [scene transition idk] my beloved
the total freedom of word vomits
"I'll fix that later"
the moment when the world and characters start to gain a life of their own
pieces falling into place as you write that you were uncertain about before you started
the accomplishment of Made A Thing
Apparently you’re a person to ask about writing, so here I am with my writing question.
I recently started on my manuscript, and I’m finding the start kinda hard to write. I’ve heard the advice that you’re supposed to set up the protagonist’s “normal world” before introducing the conflict. However, I’m finding it a bit difficult, since everything I’ve (vaguely) outlined is after the conflict starts.
So the question is, how long do I set up the normal world before introducing the conflict? A few scenes? A couple chapters? And how do I do it without it feeling stagnant? Do I need to introduce some sort of sub-conflict to keep the plot going? Or what?
Thanks in advance!
- anon
Hi! So sorry for the delay. Life has been hectic, and I'm currently working my way through a huge backlog of Asks. So thanks for your patience.
Starting a manuscript can be such a tricky balance, especially when it comes to introducing the “normal world” before diving into the main conflict. You’re definitely not alone in finding this part hard to write—it has vexed me personally many a time.
The truth is, there’s no set rule for how much time you should spend on the normal world. Some stories linger for a few chapters; others launch right into the conflict and sprinkle bits of the normal world in as they go. It really depends on the type of story you’re telling and what feels right for your protagonist.
That said, here are a few tips that might help:
1. Introduce Change Early: You don’t have to write the entire “normal world” before the conflict starts—just give us enough to understand what the protagonist’s life was like before. A few key details or scenes can go a long way in helping readers understand what’s being disrupted.
2. Use Smaller Conflicts: If the big conflict comes later, introducing a sub-conflict early on can help keep things interesting. It doesn’t have to be huge—just something to show us what your protagonist cares about and how they handle challenges.
3. Focus on Character: The normal world is as much about setting up your protagonist as it is about the plot. Show us what they want, what frustrates them, or what’s missing from their life. That way, when the conflict arrives, readers are already invested in their journey.
4. Play with Structure: If starting with the normal world feels too slow, consider opening with a taste of the conflict (or its aftermath), then flashing back briefly to show how the protagonist got there. It’s a classic move, but it works for a reason!
The key is to keep the story moving—whether through character tension, worldbuilding, or smaller conflicts—so the normal world feels alive and connected to what’s coming.
I hope this helps, and good luck with your manuscript! Starting is always tough, but once you hit your stride, it’ll all start to click.
Hope this helps!
Bucket
/ / / / / / / / / / /
@theliteraryarchitect is a writing advice blog run by me, Bucket Siler, a writer and developmental editor. For more writing help, download my Free Resource Library for Fiction Writers, join my email list, or check out my book The Complete Guide to Self-Editing for Fiction Writers.
super simple low-effort ao3 summary methods that are 1000% better and 1000% less annoying than just saying you suck at summaries:
copypaste the first few lines of the fic. u already wrote 'em. let 'em be their own damn hook
if ur feeling fancy & don't mind showing ur hand a bit, copypaste the first few lines of the fic that u feel are esp. Important or Interesting - the ones where u first start getting into the real meat of things
state the main tropes! theyre probably already in ur tags - just say them again - maybe as a full sentence if ur feelin fancy. or with a joke if ur feelin Extra fancy
ask a question. pose a hypothetical. eg what happens if u take [character] and put them in [situation]?
make an equation. [character] + [thing] = [outcome]
just write like a one-sentence summary of what the fuck is going down. just one (1) sentence. doesnt matter if it doesn't cover every important aspect. or if it sounds bland. any summary sentence is gonna be miles better than "idk i suck at summaries"
just...explain the fic like u would to a friend? it doesnt have to be a polished back of the book blurb. it can just be "[pairing] coffee shop au, but like, still with murder, and also i made everyone trans. enjoy"
just stick a meme in there
honestly who cares
just put literally anything but a self deprecating comment in there & ur golden
how could someone get started writing poetry? what are the skills to build and how can i build them? i’m scared i don’t have anything to say…… how can i find my voice?
An excellent and very common question! I can’t lay any claim to being a big poetry maven at this point—it’s been quite a while since I’ve written any, or even seriously READ any—but I can tell you some things I learned and some things I think, and I hope that will be at least a little helpful.
The first thing to note is that finding my voice and something to say was, in my experience, inseparable from living my actual life and thinking for myself. I was writing poetry from the age of 12 or 13, and only now, 18 or so years later, do I feel like I have anything of importance to say. And that only sometimes. It may work differently for other people, but that’s how it worked for me. I would advise you not to worry about your voice for now. The thing I was doing early on is PLAYING with language, trying things out, imitating writers I admired. Take the pressure off yourself!
As for the skills you need to build, the most important one by far is perseverance. Any artist will tell you this. You won’t write masterpieces straight out of the gate; no one does. You have to learn not to be discouraged too much if you look down and your writing and feel nothing but horror. That is a universal experience, and you won’t be able to write well if you can’t push through it somehow and keep going. The rest of the skills you need you can learn by imitation, constraint, trial and error, etc.
If you want specific instructions, see below. These roughly correspond to the way I learned to write poetry.
The first thing to do is to read a lot of poetry. Find an anthology with broad coverage and generous aesthetic guidelines, one that brings together a lot of different kinds of poetry. Flip through it. Read at random. As you do, some things will enchant you, some things will baffle you, some things will make you wonder why people think they’re good, and so on. Zero in on poems that really affect you, and note the poets. These will be your foundation.
Then, read more deeply in these poets that interest you. You’ll find as you read that each poet has patterns, tricks and maneuvers they do over and over again. Note them. And note the conventions of poetry in general—how line breaks are used, what rhythms keep emerging.
Once you have a good idea of at least how your favored poets work, try out their tricks for yourself. Write about anything at all, but try to follow your poet’s motions. As you do this, you’ll discover the interactions and tensions between form and content, and you’ll start to learn why certain topics in poetry take certain forms.
A helpful thing to do when writing anything is to set yourself a rule or two. Write against challenges—write in established forms, or confine your vocabulary, or whatever you like. This will focus your work and allow for creative leaps that would never have occurred to you if you were just trying to summon something out of nothing. Free writing can also help with this—if you’re forcing yourself to write nonstop for a period of minutes, something about the stream of consciousness can unlock unusual and striking connections.
Once you’re doing all that, the next step is just to live your life. But live it observantly, with an eye toward everything—your own feelings, physical objects, images, sounds, patterns. Absorb things. And while you’re at it, tackle some nonpoetic task or project that forces you to really think. As much as poetry is associated with feeling, what a great poem really is is the track of the poet’s thought laid down in as appropriate a form as possible, so that you think along with the poet as you read. Without thought, there is no poetry.
The synthesis and end of all these steps is not only writing poetry, but appreciating, understanding, and loving it. All of these things feed and fuel one another. It’s an engine you have to build within yourself. And if you’re successful, you’ll have enriched your life as well as your art.
I wish you the best of luck.
P.S. It’s fine to discover kinds of poetry or poets that you don’t care for, or dislike, or hate with a burning passion, so long as you understand what it is they’re trying to do.
One of the most important lessons I ever learned about art was when I became a late addition to the editorial board for the literature part of my high school's lit/art magazine, which nobody ever read.
Because I realized after a couple of meetings that my moments of baffled distress during them were centering around a pattern of our votes electing by majority to reject most of the good, interesting stuff and agree to publish the very bland.
So I was looking around this room of people I mostly liked or respected if not both, trying to figure out what the fuck when there was no reasonable way of asking, until the day we by majority vote sent definitely the best thing submitted all year back pending 'revisions' which of course would not be made, because the poet would definitely either become demoralized or know for damn sure she was too good for our stupid journal. I have no idea which it was; it's a question of mindset, and the submissions were anonymous.
This good poem was rejected for two reasons, both of which were actually manifestations of it being good. One was that it had made a couple of the board uncomfortable--not by having any shocking subject material, mind, just by provoking emotions with unusual descriptive language and indirectness--and they'd transmitted that uneasiness throughout the group during discussion.
And the other, seized upon as an excuse in light of the first, was that by being complex in terms of both structure and notion it had drawn several of us in, interested enough to engage critically and respond in depth, and so we'd marked it up with lots of places we thought a word choice could have been a little stronger, a line break had been a little odd; ways we thought it could have been a more excellent version of the poem we perceived in it. None of them ways it was actually bad. Just places we felt it could have been better.
At the same meeting, we voted to accept a poem that was an utterly tepid rectangle of predictable nothing-in-particular, because no one could find anything in it to object to.
It wasn't good. It wasn't noticeably bad, either, though; it was one consistent level of mediocrity clear through, and thus no part of it stood out as a weakness, and therefore the committee found it more acceptable than the poem that was superior in every way, but which by being daring and interesting had left itself covered in vulnerable places.
The understanding I reached as a result of this experience was multi-layered and difficult to articulate, but the most important part, I think, to share is that the value and quality of a work are not, in fact, very well measured by how many negative things you can find to say about it.
dialogue tags I love: an evolving list
Chirped - their voice is high, cheerful, energetic, sweet, you likely want to pinch their cheeks
With feeling - that feeling isn’t named, but given the context of the conversation, you don’t need specifics, this person is feeling multiple things and you can hear the multitude in their voice
Blinked - people blink all the time, but you just know this one was caused by being taken aback and those eyelids are heavy with words all by themselves
Indignant - not just annoyed, not just upset, not just “with feeling”, the person is offended and retaliating on behalf of their own pride or another’s and it is likely adorable
Fondly - affectionately, but with nostalgia and a little bit of an ache present, this is exactly what you’d expect from them and you can’t help loving them for it
Blandly - there’s inflection here, but it’s so slight and almost calculated in how slight it is that the only intention can be that they’re trying to make oatmeal but with words
Far too cheerfully - because they have no business being so, not when you’re suffering, and even if they aren’t grinning hard enough to split their face open, that’s okay, you’ll do it for them, the bastard
Deadpanned - a classic, a novelty, too spicy to be bland but with somehow less inflection, it’s weird but you know exactly what they mean
Stopped - you know, in the middle of a thought, sometimes because they’re figuring out what they want to say, but often just because they’re a little bit incredulous over whatever the heck you’ve just done and maybe there are no words to be said
Mildly - like, they definitely could be responding in a more fervent way, but they’re just kinda chill and it does nothing to defuse your temper
Groused - like grumbled, but instead of “grumpy mumbled” it’s the whole demeanor and not just indecipherable curses under their breath
Breathed - because you didn’t want to write gasped, because that sounds stupid, but the character is suddenly short of breath for any number of reasons and the words are coming out like mist on a summer morning, there but hard to see
Interrupted - because it’s dumb, like, if one character was talking and then another one starts talking, clearly they’re interrupting - a more appropriate use is when character A wasn’t saying anything and character B is interrupting the moment or activity, making this word choice possible
Faltered - you can’t hear that a character’s voice is becoming unsteady or trailing off unless you’re told and any of the previous three examples are preferable to ellipses (see post)
Desperately - when their shoulders are hunched over and their eyes are too wide, there are tears clinging to the back of their throat just waiting to make an appearance
Steadily - like, this is a time to panic, or panicking would make sense, but we’re not going to panic because we need to stay focused, and our voice is not going to waver or give anything away, nope
Whispered - because “said softly” is not the same, “breathed out” is not the same, “mumbled” is not the same, a whisper is a whisper, that’s what it is, okay?
Firmly - not sternly, just also not budging on its stance
Protested - maybe you conveyed the protesting in the words you just said, but when you also say the word it edges them properly, and you really know that sentence started with a “but” even if it didn’t
Flatly - not the same as blandly, which is without inflection to a neutral extent, but flatly, which is without inflection but in an arrow-shaped way, like, we’re not rolling down a hill, just over to your feet and staring at you
PLEASE do yourself a favour and check out this wikipedia-styled template for google drive, made by @ Rukidut on twitter
I decided to try to sort my ideas and whats canon regarding my ocs with this and ITS PERFECT. IT ALL FEELS SO CONRETE. and i sure as hell AM Going to continue to use this with every single OC I have until google drives is set ablaze- Just!!!!!!!!
Also; link directly to the doc, just copy the file and you have your own lil template!!!!
tips for writing good romance tension
inside jokes— brings the reader into the relationship. create something at the beginning of the story and then bring it up in the middle or at the end. reader catches it at the exact moment the couple does, making the moment more rewarding for the characters and reader all at once
specific attention paid to the same detail scene over scene— pick one or two details that the pov character notices (a physical detail on their partner, something about their hair or their body, the way a piece of clothing looks on them, the way sunlight/moonlight/candlelight falls on their face) and bring the detail up several times, characters in love will notice specific things and keep coming back to them, this repetition will get the reader to think, “yes, i get it too”
focus on visible signs of emotion from both parties— a racing pulse, a flush creeping up someone’s neck, a smile, a bouncing knee, a shiver, either from the pov character or the partner, love makes you crazy and visible emotion noticed by one or both parties builds the crazy and crazy tension
at least one sensory detail that comes up during a critical moment— a smell, a feeling, warmth, light, pick something sensory and bring it up again just before a kiss or a moment of closeness, calling back to an earlier scene, bring the reader into the relationship by making them also remember how this started and how they got here, involve them in the chase and the reward
A lot of fiction these days reads as if—as I saw Peter Raleigh put it the other day, and as I’ve discussed it before—the author is trying to describe a video playing in their mind. Often there is little or no interiority. Scenes play out in “real time” without summary. First-person POV stories describe things the character can’t see, but a distant camera could. There’s an overemphasis on characters’ outfits and facial expressions, including my personal pet peeve: the “reaction shot round-up” in which we get a description of every character’s reaction to something as if a camera was cutting between sitcom actors.
When I talk with other creative writing professors, we all seem to agree that interiority is disappearing. Even in first-person POV stories, younger writers often skip describing their character’s hopes, dreams, fears, thoughts, memories, or reactions. This trend is hardly limited to young writers though. I was speaking to an editor yesterday who agreed interiority has largely vanished from commercial fiction, and I think you increasingly notice its absence even in works shelved as “literary fiction.” When interiority does appear on the page, it is often brief and redundant with the dialogue and action. All of this is a great shame. Interiority is perhaps the prime example of an advantage prose as a medium holds over other artforms.
fascinated by this article, "Turning Off the TV in Your Mind," about the influences of visual narratives on writing prose narratives. i def notice the two things i excerpted above in fanfic, which i guess makes even more sense as most of the fic i read is for tv and film. i will also be thinking about its discussion of time in prose - i think that's something i often struggle with and i will try to be more conscious of the differences between screen and page next time i'm writing.
writing tip: searching "[place of origin]ish names" will get you a lot of stuff and nonsense made up by baby bloggers.
searching "[place] census [year]" will get you lists of real names of real people who lived in that place.
memes are fun and relatable and all that, but don't let them discourage you. all of that stuff that doesn't make it into the final product is part of how the final product gets made
*struggles while writing* i suck and writing is hard
*remembers some ppl use ai* i am a creative force. i am uncorrupted by theft and indolence. i am on a journey to excellence. it is my duty to keep taking joy in creating.
too many stories about turning yourself into a monster as a metaphor for pretending to be something you aren't and losing yourself in the process. not enough stories about turning yourself into a monster as a metaphor for choosing to openly embrace yourself even if it's strange to other people
List of Interesting Latin Phrases
A list I made just to satisfy my vain cravings for resonating mottos for a secret society I'm working on. Enjoy!
abi in malam crucem: to the devil with you!
ad astra per ardua: to the star by steep paths
ad augusta per angusta: to honors through difficulties
aegis fortissima virtus: virue is the strongest shield
amor vincit amnia: love conquers all things
animo et fide: by courage and faith
arbitrium est judicium: an award is a judgement
aut mors aut victoria: either death or victory
aut vincere aut mori: either victory or death
bello ac pace paratus: prepared in war and peace
bibamus, moriendum est: let us drink, death is certain (Seneca and Elder)
bonis omnia bona: all things are good to the good
cede nullis: yield to no one
cito maturum, cito putridum: soon ripe, soon rotten
consensus facit legem: consent makes law
data fata secutus: following what is decreed by fate (Virgil)
durum telum necessitas: necessity is a hrad weapson
dux vitae ratio: reason is the guide of life
e fungis nati homines: men born of mushrooms
ego sum, ergo omnia sunt: I am, therefore all things are
pulvis et umbra sumus: we are but dust and shadow
quae amissa salva: things lost are safe
timor mortis morte pejor: the fear of death is worse than death
triumpho morte tam vita: I triumph in death as in life
tu vincula frange: break your chains
vel prece vel pretio: for either love or for money
verbera, sed audi: whip me, but hear me
veritas temporis filia: truth is the daughter of time
vero nihil verius: nothing is truer than the truth
vestigia nulla restrorsum: foosteps do not go backward
victus vincimus: conquered, we conquer (Plautus)
sica inimicis: a gger to his enemies
sic vita humana: thus is human life
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* . ───
💎If you like my blog, buy me a coffee☕ and find me on instagram! Also, join my Tumblr writing community for some more fun.
💎Before you ask, check out my masterpost part 1 and part 2
Reference: <Latin for the Illiterati: a modern guide to an ancient language> by Jon R. Stone, second edition, 2009
NaNo Alternatives
Okay, real post time (but keep those boops booping) - You want to do NaNoWriMo tomorrow, but you don't want to go anywhere near the main organization and their website. Here's a list of alternatives you can try:
Rogue Writers - International group launched to provide an alternative for writers. Their website has challenges, free tools, and more.
myWriteClub - Word tracking tool.
Novlr - A writing app designed to help you meet your writing goals.
WriteTrack - Word tracking tool.
Shut Up and Write - Find in-person or online groups to write together with!
NoQuWriCo - A November writing challenge with tools, tips, and encouragement to make it through the month! (Thanks to someone letting me know - this is a Christian alternative. Try another if that does not appeal to you!)
Writing Month - Write. A Month. Do It.
Your local library - If you did NaNo events through your library, chances are they're still doing it this year. Make sure you check in with all the resources you've used in the past, as they're likely still around.
Whatever you decide to do tomorrow, good luck! And remember, if you want to still use the NaNo website but don't like their AI policies and the rest of it, just don't give them money! Laugh to yourself, evilly, as you update your word count. It's very validating.
(Now back to booping.)
You will not use AI to get ideas for your story. You will lie on the floor and have wretched visions like god intended
"How do you write such realistic dialogue-" I TALK TO MYSELF. I TALK TO MYSELF AND I PRETEND I AM THE ONE SAYING THE LINE. LIKE SANITY IS SLOWLY SLIPPING FROM BETWEEN MY FINGERS WITH EVERY MEASLY WORD THEY TYPE OUT. THAT IS HOW.
“omg you’re so creative. how do you get your ideas” i hallucinate a single scene in the taco bell drive thru and then spend 13 months trying to write it
Your English teachers lied to you.
Thought I'd post my old writing advice guides onto this blog since I deleted my old one. I hope it's helpful!
::
Listen. I respect the hell out of teachers. The vast majority of them work crazy hard and most of the time, including the times they give you well-meaning ‘writing rules,’ only want to instill good and helpful habits into you.
That doesn’t change the fact that many of these rules are stupid.
Here are my top five ‘writing rule’ pet peeves, and five rules that should be followed.
✗ Don’t write ‘said.’
Okay, I know this is common knowledge by now, but it’s so important. The concept that you can never write ‘ so-and-so said’ is hurting novice writers’ narratives. Said is invisible. Said is powerful. Said is transformable. If every quote ends in a strong synonym, it is distracting. Sometimes, in an established repartee, quotes don’t need to be tagged at all. Or an adverb following ‘said’ might be better for the narrative than any single verb.
Eg. // “I hate the rain,” grumbled David.
“I love it,” Claire announced.
“You love everything,” he muttered.
“Including you!” she giggled.
versus.
“I hate the rain,” grumbled David.
“I love it,” said Claire.
“You love everything,” he said impatiently.
“Including you!”
✓ Don’t write ‘something.’
Cold hard truth, baby. ‘Something’ is a draft word. It’s what you write when you want to think of a replacement. I cringe when I see it in a sentence that would have been improved tenfold by a specific noun or descriptive phrase in its place. There are times when ‘something’ works or is the only option, but experiment by replacing that word with more description before deciding it’s necessary to keep.
Eg. // He pulled something shiny from his pocket. She craned her neck to see what it was. A metal flask. versus. A flash of light caught the metal he pulled from his pocket. She craned her neck to see what it was. A drinking flask.
-
✗ Avoid adverbs.
This is true and false, but I’ll address the false part first. The concept that you can’t use adverbs at all is ridiculous. Don’t blindly (!) replace every adverb in your prose with a single verb because someone said you should. You want whatever you are writing to flow well and to deliver the best impact or imagery. Sometimes that means adverbs. Or you might want the verb to be discreet (such as when using ‘said’) but still want to invoke emotion. That also means adverbs.
Eg. // "Don't do that!" she spluttered, panicked by the urgency of the situation. versus. "Don't do that!" she said frantically, panicked by the urgency of the situation.
✓ Use strong verbs. At least consider them.
Verbs make the world go ‘round, people. Most of the time, a strong verb will make your writing flow well and deliver the best impact or imagery. Weigh a strong verb against an adverb + weaker verb and decide the one you want to keep in a scene. Don’t just stick with whichever you wrote first because you grew attached to the sentence.
Eg. // She held up her blood-slicked sword proudly, her other fist raised triumphantly. versus. She thrust her blood-slicked sword into the air, her other fist clenched high in triumph.
-
✗ Don’t use a thesaurus.
I. HATE. This rule. I had an English teacher in middle school who marked any words she thought you had looked up as wrong. As a young reader with a large vocabulary, I was always needing to prove that I hadn’t just picked a random synonym from a thesaurus, that I knew and deliberately chose those words. (That sentence has a great example of a necessary adverb! Get BENT Mrs E. (She also hated adverbs.)) This is the same idiotic concept as telling artists not to use reference images. Use a thesaurus if a certain word is failing you or you hate every word you’ve come up with yourself. There’s nothing bad or shameful about it.
Eg. // There are no examples for this. I’m not sure how I would even do that. Insert stock photo of someone perusing a thesaurus here?
✓ Don’t use words you aren’t comfortable with.
Now, when you search the great wide web for a synonym to a word and then choose whichever one sounds nice because hey, the internet said it was interchangeable, so it must be! … Yeah. Don’t do that.
I use a thesaurus to find words that I can’t think of in the moment but they are always ones I still know. Every word has a subtle (or not so subtle) connotation that you need familiarity with before deciding it is the perfect replacement. Know your words before you start playing Mix n Match.
Eg. // Amusement in the profession puts transcendence in the performance. (Utter nonsense, written by me and thesaurus.com) versus. Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work. (Inspiring quote, written by Aristotle)
-
✗ Don’t end sentences with a preposition.
Whoever made up this rule is an elitist hack. (I just googled it, and supposedly it began with a bunch of 17th century scholars who thought English should have Latin’s grammar, so. Yeah. Elitist hacks.) Ending sentences in prepositions sounds wayyyyy more natural than the alternative. If you don’t want to sound stilted, beat this rule into the dirt.
Eg. // They didn’t know of what she was capable. versus. They didn’t know what she was capable of.
✓ Be conscientious of your sentence construction.
A lot of grammar rules are bogus. Not ending a sentence with a preposition, not starting a sentence with a conjunction, not laying face down on the floor and screeching… Oh, right, that latter one isn’t a rule, it’s just what you want to do when you have to think about grammar.
But, regardless of bogus grammar rules, you need to put thought into your sentence construction. Editing (not writing) is the best time to do this. That’s when you can make sure the words flow together naturally as an individual sentence, as part of a paragraph, and within the chapter as a whole.
Another common construction faux pas that I see is disregarding the sequence of events because you believe it will have greater impact. In reality, if you avoid putting your narration out of order, it usually results in stronger sentences.
Eg. // "Tell me it's not true!" He stood in the doorway after bursting into Kyle's room, panting from his sprint up the stairs. versus. He sprinted up the stairs two at a time and burst into Kyle's room without knocking. "Tell me it's not true!" he demanded breathlessly.
-
✗ If you break writing rules you’re a bad writer.
If anyone tries to convince you of this, kick them in the neck. (You heard it here folks, kick your DANG TEACHERS IN THE NECK.) (Not really, please don’t.) (If you do, though, don’t say that I encouraged it.) (I’m not encouraging it, I just want to make that clear. Please be nice to your teachers, they have hard jobs.)
Rules were made to be broken. You just need to know the rules in the first place in order to decide to break them, so it’s never a bad thing to educate yourself on general writing advice. Still, there is a fine line between creative liberty and bad writing, and sometimes a famous book or author turns the latter into the former. Know your stuff, but don’t be afraid to throw your stuff into the fire and watch it burn. (Figuratively. Don’t literally throw your possessions into fire, that’s irresponsible on so many levels.) (A lot of parentheses in this rule rant.) (Now that’s just bad writing.)
✓ Take writing rules and advice with a grain of salt, but don’t ignore them.
As a novice writer, or even an experienced one, it is hard to differentiate between which rules work best in your own prose. You may only realize it in hindsight. That doesn’t mean you should ignore every piece of writing advice or dismiss criticism of your work. Think critically about your own style, read books you enjoy and think about their styles, and deliberate– don’t dismiss. Maybe your writing style requires no dangling prepositions or never using an adverb. That’s your decision to make. Just… don’t make it because you’re too stubborn to see how you can improve.
-
That’s all I’ve got! Do you have any pet peeves about common writing advice? Feel free to reblog and add your own!
Don’t forget to write a sentence of your story today! Thanks for reading~
3 Ways to Write Scene Transitions
Moving from one scene to another in your short story or novel can be challenging. If your plot spans more than a day or a week, you've got plenty of time to cover.
How do you transition your scenes without jumping over crucial plot points or making the pacing feel rushed?
There are a few tips you can try when you're facing this problem.
1. Tease What's to Come
Let's say you've started a chapter with your protagonist encountering people they don't like while shopping at the grocery store with their exhausted two-year-old. The experience is frustrating, so your protagonist is simmering while sitting at a red light on the way home.
The main action of the chapter happens when the babysitter arrives that night, but it's only 12 o'clock in your scene. You needed your protagonist to encounter the people that annoy them to establish motivation for the action later on.
You could jump time by teasing the action itself. Your protagonist could thrum their fingers on the steering wheel and glare at the red light.
They opened their arms to the resentment churning under their skin. It sank into their bones, morphing into electricity that kept [Protagonist] plodding through their day. The red light mocked their need to take action, but they could wait.
Because when the babysitter showed up that night, they would take their revenge out on the city.
That could be a great place for a scene break or even the end of your chapter, depending on how much you've written. The reader won't mind a time jump because their interest gets piqued. They'll want to know what revenge means for that character and what will spin out from the choices they make.
2. Switch Points of View
If you're writing a 3rd person POV story with perspectives from at least two characters, you can also transition scenes by switching narrators.
While one character completes a plot-relevant action, the other could move the plot along by being a bit further in the future.
Consider something like this as an example:
Sarah's heart beat wildly in her chest as the heavy words finally fell from her lips. It was just the two of them in that park, but it had felt like the whole world had watched her admit her love for Melanie in the molten gold rays of the setting sun. All she needed now was an answer.
[Scene break symbol or the start of a new chapter]
Melanie heard Sarah's heartfelt words echo in her ears long after she had mumbled something about needing time. Time to think, to process. Sarah had been so understanding, even when she dropped Melanie off at home right afterward and skipped their usual Facetime call that night.
It wasn't until Melanie woke up the next morning in a sweat that she realized she finally had to unearth her biggest secret—she had only started the friendship with Sarah because she'd been in love with Sarah's older sister since the second grade.
You could make that time jump into however long you needed. Play with the scene set up in particular and then give the page or two to whoever loves to read your writing. They could talk about if it felt like a rushed scene or if the time jump felt right for that moment.
3. Wrap Up the Moment
Most of the time, I find myself struggling with a scene transition because the moment that I'm writing isn't finished.
Recently I was writing a scene with two friends in a wagon on their way to a new city. They have a great conversation that sparks some character development in-between plot points, but I could feel that conversation coming to a lull.
It felt like the right moment to insert a transition, but something didn't feel right.
I had to walk away from my work and come back to it to realize that I needed to wrap up the moment to move anything forward.
The solution I found was ending the conversation by making them appreciate their friendship more than before, based on what had been said, and then the protagonist ended the scene by reflecting on how they knew they could face anything in the new city with their friend by their side.
The next scene started with their wagon approaching the city walls after a night of sleeping under the stars. The reader will still understand that it took more time to reach their destination, but they don't have to read excessive details about the cold night air or hard ground under the protagonist's back to get to what they're most looking forward to—the arrival at the new city.
Nothing about that night would add anything to the plot, so dropping the overnight experience at the beginning of the sentence makes for a great transition to the next scene.
Make Your Transitions Clear
Whether you end a scene with a cliffhanger, a heartfelt moment, or by switching between points of view, your transitions should always help the plot.
You can always edit them while reworking the finished draft later or ask for beta reader opinions from the people who always love reading what you write.
fifty ways to get to know your characters (and how to write them)
what is their name? and how does this fit their character?
last name?
do they have a middle name?
name a song that describes them
what are their pronouns?
gender and sexuality?
do they like someone romantically?
list five words to describe them
what about five dialogue tags to use consistently on this character?
what is their motivation?
do they consider themselves a good person?
colour that describes their personality
MBTI type
enneagram type
character they're based on
person they would bring down whilst dying
person they would kill if they had the chance
character they would get along with if they were in the same universe
character they would hate if they were in the same universe
artist they would listen to
artist they would hate
give them a theme song
make them a playlist! (see my other post for songs to put on that playlist, here)
make them a mood board
assign them an aesthetic
what are their strengths?
what about fatal weaknesses?
the one person who can convince them to do something they're stubbornly against
who would they kill for?
what tropes do they fall into?
fatal weakness (food edition)
book they would definitely read
language besides their mother tongue they would (have) learned
murder accomplice
thing that makes them go weak at the knees
most obscure thing they HATE
while we're there, biggest phobia
are they (would they be) a book or movie person?
are they a romantic
childhood experience that defines an aspect of their life
what is their age?
birth sign? / zodiac?
what constellation would they be
name a famous myth could they would have been the main character
old or new soul
assign them a smell
assign them a smell they like
can they swim?
street smarts or brain smarts?
what is this character's purpose to the plot?
as a mexican i can’t help but laugh at how wrong some americans writing mexican characters get the way our name system works so lemme explain so you can get it right!
so most mexicans (remarking MOST because i do mean 99% of us) have TWO last names that come from our parents. it’s basically like this:
name / paternal last name (dad’s first last name) / maternal last name (mum’s first last name).
the first last name is ALWAYS the paternal last name, it always comes from the dad side of the family. there are some exceptions though. in 3 states of the country it’s already legal to put the maternal last name first but it’s very rare and usually only in special cases, like when the father is absent for example.
there are also cases where the person has only one last name but this is not only extremely rare but it can cause a lot of hardships with legal documentation like school, banks, etc. this can happen for some reasons:
1- they’re the child of a single parent (however, to avoid the difficulties that come with having one single last name some end up being registered with the same last names as the parent, but inverted)
2- they were registered in another country where they only have one last name (for example USA, a friend of mine was registered there and for that reason they only have one last name in their documents)
it’s important to mention that unlike american last names, the two last names are not separated by “-” they’re only separated by a space.
the last names are not necessarily one word, some have two or three. for example last names like “de la rosa” or “del olmo”
also, there’s no such thing as married name here. women don’t change their last names nor mix them with their husbands last names.
as i am aware, last names tend to work like this in all latin america but many specific details may be different depending on the country and i am not that well informed.
either way, i hope this helps anyone who’s developing a mexican character!