I don’t often give writing advice, but here is some actual, solid writing advice I 100% stand behind when writing contemporary, fantasy, or sci-fi:
Look at your side characters. Every single one of them. The villain. The neighbor. The captain. The politician. The doctor. The boss. Heck, even the animals—the horse, the dog, the cat, the creature.
If 50% of them aren’t female, why not?
Don’t default to male.
HEY WRITER FRIENDS
there’s this amazing site called realtimeboardwhich is like a whiteboard where you can plan and draw webs and family trees and timelines and all that sort of stuff. you can also insert videos, documents, photos, and lots of other things. you can put notes and post-its and, best of all, you can invite other people to be on the board with you and edit together!!
this is really really awesome and a great tool for novel planning, so if you’re doing nanowrimo…. this could be good for you!!
Fairy tales are more than moral lessons and time capsules for cultural commentary; they are natural law. The child raised on folklore will quickly learn the rules of crossroads and lakes, mirrors and mushroom rings. They’ll never eat or drink of a strange harvest or insult an old woman or fritter away their name as though there’s no power in it. They’ll never underestimate the youngest son or touch anyone’s hairpin or rosebush or bed without asking, and their steps through the woods will be light and unpresumptuous. Little ones who seek out fairy tales are taught to be shrewd and courteous citizens of the seen world, just in case the unseen one ever bleeds over.
S.T. Gibson (via sarahtaylorgibson)
As for the lately siblings typing and them being Fe-dom really reminds me of why I always feel high Fe users (especially Fe-dom ones) are rather... hard-to-like. The thing about how they are extremely vocal about their dislike is actually correct and common for high Fe users I have ever met in my life...
You understand why, though, right? Fe needs and wants to address what upsets it and processes their feelings while they talk, so they do so in order to work through it, resolve it, and clear the air. They don't understand emotional repression or silence and want others to respond in kind. Most EFJs who do not study typology can't understand why other people are not more open with their emotions, both good and bad. They need and want "signals" that come from other people and their emotional reactions, in order to know where they stand with people and how to adjust their behavior to fit the situation. Their entire life is about molding themselves to fit social, emotional, and relational cues. It's as normal for them to say "you hurt my feelings" as it is for them to exclaim in rapturous delight "I love being here with you!!!" Their emotional reaction to everything is immediate -- and they are sensitive, not only to insults against themselves or slights, but other people having an impact on those around them. (You hurt my daughter/girlfriend/boyfriend/friend, you are Enemy Number 1.)
As a Fi user and a 9 who avoids conflict, I understand that they can seem "intense" and "loud" and "confrontational," but you can't change them or expect them to be different than they are. It's as unnatural for them to repress their emotions and not be direct with them, as it would be for you to talk your way through your feelings "in real time" and be combative while doing it. All you can do is try to understand them, and focus on your own growth as a 9 -- learning that not all confrontation is bad, that not all raised voices are full of rage, that it's okay for other people to engage in conflict (it's not about me), and that you are likely "over-sensitive" to them due to being a 9.
I guarantee if you find some EFJ 9s and give them a chance, you will find out that not all of them are direct. One EFJ 9 I know is super sweet, tolerant, open-minded, easy-going, and never raises her voice.
From chrisfox:
In case you need some inspiration while you write… Here is “Written? Kitten! “
Basically, it gives you a place to type your words. Then in increments of several hundred words, you get a picture of kitten. I completely forgot about this… but it’s a thing of beauty.
We’ve featured Written? Kitten! on Yeah Write before but we should probably feature it basically every day because it is the greatest invention ever and the combination of my two favorite things.
192 posts