7 Tips To Build An Audience For Your Writing

never underestimate my ability to platonicaly yearn for somebody

Question!!! But how do I integrate subtlety into my writing? Like I have a hard time picking up on it and I annoyingly have a tendency to tell not show, so I wanted to know if you have any advice!

Writing with More Subtlety

-- Getting the hang of "showing vs telling" is a great place to start if you want to integrate subtlety into your writing. Saying, "Moonlight glinted off the lake," is more subtle than, "The moon was shining."

Guide: Showing vs Telling

-- Learning to evoke emotion and ambiance with sensory description is another way to write with more subtlety. After all, saying, "The house was scary looking," is not as subtle as, "Thick fog curled around the decaying timbers of the once grand Victorian home."

Horror by Darkness Horror by Daylight

-- Knowing what internal and external cues can be used to illustrate your characters' feelings is also helpful, because, "Sarah was sad," is not as subtle as, "Tears pooled in the corners of Sarah's eyes, and she bit her upper lip to keep it from quivering."

Showing a Character's Feelings The Subtle Signs of Romantic Interest and Love

-- Learning to weave details into your story is also helpful, as it's more subtle to work details in naturally than to do a big info dump.

Weaving Details into the Story

-- Finally, learn to drop hints rather than declare something outright.

Dropping Hints without Giving Everything Away

I hope that helps!

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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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Here’s Lapis! Technically it’s her in my glitch au but since we don’t have context yet I’ll just call her happy lapis :)

also should out to @albanenechi for their wonderful pose references!

do you have any advice on writing beginnings? i never know where to start so that the exposition and action are balanced enough to make the opening interesting. i can do middles and ends easily enough if the beginning is well-set up, but i’ve always struggled. any tips?

I'm going to focus on balancing exposition and action in this answer, as it seems to be the key area you are struggling with, rather than openings more generally.

Okay. Let's go!

1 - Need to know

The first question to ask yourself is what does the reader actually need to know to follow and understand the story?

Openings can vary by genre and the age group they are written for, but beneath all of the variations and methods, is the need to know. So long as you have that covered, the rest honestly just comes down to reader and author preference.

What a reader needs to know will depend on your story and your plot. E.g. if it is a portal fantasy, then we typically just need to know what the protagonist is missing/yearning for/struggling with in their everyday life in order for us to see how this is changed through their adventure in a new world. We will learn about the new world as the protagonist does so there will be a natural exposition point as they explore (exploring = action, we learn as they learn).

If, on the other hand, the whole story is set in a magical fantasy land that the protagonist has always known, then you're going to have to do more exposition in order for your reader to understand the key rules of the world and what things mean.

2 - Start at the interesting bit/provide your protag a goal or the reader with a question they want answered

We don't typically start on an ordinary day where nothing happens, even if it shows us what the protagonist's normal life is like. We start on the day that they have a job interview they desperately want to ace, or the day a body is found in the river, or a day where something unusual happens or two characters meet for the first time.

This raises external, concrete plot questions.

Because we have started at an interesting point in the story where something is actually happening, it makes it easier to interweave action with exposition.

To go hand in hand with this, give your character a goal/something they want. This doesn't have to be a big or seemingly important thing, although it can be. The recent film Everything Everywhere All At Once did a wonderful example of this in that the main character just wanted to do her taxes. Other examples might be that a character just wants to get home after a bad day, or to pick a cake for an event. Whatever.

This can have a number of different purposes depending on the story. For example, it provides tension and conflict because there is an obstacle in the way of what they want (to get home), or it provides an opportunity to showcase character or relationship (e.g. the cake).

3 - Options for exposition

There are different options for doing exposition.

A narrator or first person POV can tell the reader about the world even through direct narration or their internal thoughts. This works especially well if you have a strong sense of character. It is useful for conveying key information quickly, but you will likely want to break it up with other forms of exposition to avoid an info dump.

A flashback. Flashbacks are a great tool! I don't recommend starting a story with a flashback. They are much better for providing important information a little later after you have hooked your reader with the more immediate plot.

Dialogue. Dialogue is a natural and excellent way for us to learn about characters and the world that is also action. The danger being that your dialogue still has to sound natural. If the characters wouldn't be standing around actually talking like that in that setting at that time, sorry mate. Do a different exposition technique.

Exploration/setting. Characters can learn about a place/world as they explore it, which means the reader can learn with them as they experience the world.

One way to balance your exposition with action is to vary how you do your exposition. If your reader is having fun reading the story, they won't care that it's exposition/set up. All stories start with exposition. Look at your favourites and break down what they are actually doing, shamelessly steal the framework, and adapt as relevant for your work.

4 - Remember that you don't have to start by writing the opening

Openings are easier when you know what your story is about. This is because openings often showcase something that is going to be relevant throughout the story. This could be a specific image, a nod to theme, or some character trait that will be important.

If you don't know what your story is about yet because you are still writing it (totally valid!), feel free to come back to the opening later, in the same way that you might write the body of an essay and then do the introduction/conclusion last once you have figured out what you want to say.

You're allowed to work backwards. You're allowed to work in any jigsaw way that works for you. You don't have to write the first line first.

When you know your story, it's also a lot easier to figure out what your reader will need to know.

pls give me 1(one) reason aces have ever been oppressed, and 1(one) example of aces being a part of lgbt history(before 2004 at least) and then maybe i’ll consider the idea that aces belong in the lgbt community lol

Stop making this prologue mistake

Are you making this mistake when writing a prologue? Lots of new writers don’t know what prologues are for.

But let’s first jump into what they are not for →

Infodumping, worldbuilding, or backstory! A prologue is not the place to set the image of what your world is, what led to it being this way, why your protagonist finds themselves in their current predicament, or retelling the backstory of your hero.

Why not? Because when a reader first opens your book, they don’t yet have an incentive to care about your world or your character, and therefore pummeling them with a ton of information about things they haven’t gotten to know yet (or care about!) is the easiest way to lose their interest.

I know you might be thinking - but how will they know whose story I’m telling and what world it’s set in? This comes down to one simple thing → Trust your readers.

Building your world, your characters, and their backstories organically throughout the story you’re telling is going to result in a lot more gratitude from your readers.

Why? Because you’re not serving them all the information on a silver platter. Instead, you’re letting them ask questions and discover things on their own. They will FEEL that sense of trust you’re giving them, when you don’t over explain yourself.

So what are prologues actually for then? A strong prologue should tease the story, or set up the central story question that you’re asking. It should never give away too much, but act as a small glimpse or hint of things to come. It should make your readers intrigued about the story.

Here’s how you can figure it out easily →

The simplest distinction to conclude whether you have a strong prologue is this: Does your prologue pose questions or answer them? If it’s the former - great!

If it’s the latter - rethink whether you need it, or you might simply be too untrusting of your readers.

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Simple Plotting Tools to Get You Clear on Your Story

ᴛɪᴘꜱ ꜰᴏʀ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇʀꜱ [ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴀ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇʀ]

don't let your skill in writing deter you. publishers look for the storyline, not always excellent writing. many of the greatest books came from mediocre writers—and also excellent and terrible ones.

keep writing even when it sucks. you don't know how to write this battle scene yet? skip ahead. write [battle scene here] and continue. in the end, you'll still have a book—and you can fill in the blanks later.

find your motivation. whether it's constantly updating That One Friend or posting your progress, motivation is key.

write everything down. everything. you had the perfect plot appear to you in a dream? scribble down everything you can remember as so as you can. I like to keep cue cards on my nightstand just in case.

play with words. titles, sentences, whatever. a lot of it will probably change either way, so this is the perfect opportunity to try out a new turn of phrase—or move along on one you're not quite sure clicks yet.

explain why, don't tell me. if something is the most beautiful thing a character's ever laid eyes on, describe it—don't just say "it's beautiful".

ask for critique. you will always be partial to your writing. getting others to read it will almost always provide feedback to help you write even better.

stick to the book—until they snap. write a character who is disciplined, courteous, and kind. make every interaction to reinforce the reader's view as such. but when they're left alone, when their closest friend betrays them, when the world falls to their feet...make them finally break.

magic. has. limits. there is no "infinite well" for everyone to draw from, nor "infinite spells" that have been discovered. magic has a price. magic has a limit. it takes a toll on the user—otherwise why can't they simply snap their fingers and make everything go their way?

read, read, read. reading is the source of inspiration.

first drafts suck. and that's putting it gently. ignoring all the typos, unfinished sentences, and blatant breaking of each and every grammar rules, there's still a lot of terrible. the point of drafts is to progress and make it better: it's the sketch beneath an oil painting. it's okay to say it's not great—but that won't mean the ideas and inspiration are not there. first drafts suck, and that's how you get better.

write every day. get into the habit—one sentence more, or one hundred pages, both will train you to improve.

more is the key to improvement. more writing, more reading, more feedback, and you can only get better. writing is a skill, not a talent, and it's something that grows with you.

follow the rules but also scrap them completely. as barbossa wisely says in PotC, "the code is more what you'd call 'guidelines' than actual rules". none of this is by the book, as ironic as that may be.

write for yourself. I cannot stress this enough. if what you do is not something you enjoy, it will only get harder. push yourself, but know your limits. know when you need to take a break, and when you need to try again. write for yourself, and you will put out your best work.

Drawing bases & pose references pt 46 ✨

There are 3 more poses for patrons today!

He fell quietly from her arms. He was a king.

i'm @ imjenndove on instagram! I post more regularly there<3