aaustinwrites

Hi! honestly the thing that helped me most was just going on reddit and actually reading for hours. like i remember sitting there going through an autism community and someone described how exhausting eye contact is, and not because they don’t want to connect but because it takes up so much mental energy that they can’t focus on the conversation at the same time. That one post completely changed how i wrote a character i’d been struggling with for months. You genuinely don’t get that from any textbook. For trauma it was similar, i found myself in communities where people talked about how their body reacts before their brain even catches up, the physical stuff, and that was so useful

Communities like r/ADHD, r/autism, r/AuDHD, or whatever is specific to what your character experiences are so worth lurking in for a while before you even start writing. just reading how people talk to each other, what language they use, what they find exhausting about how they’re portrayed in media, or what tropes make them want to throw a book across the room.

same with youtube, finding creators who actually talk about their own experience rather than explaining it to neurotypicals is such a different thing.

and sensitivity readers, honestly can’t recommend it enough. even just one person with lived experience reading your draft will catch things that months of research won’t because some stuff you just genuinely cannot know from the outside. a lot of people are happy to help when they see someone actually putting in the effort

In general, irony involves a contradiction between appearance and reality

In literature, irony is a deliberate gap between the language used and what is being discussed

Irony results when there is a difference in point of view between a character and the narrator or reader

4 Major Types of Irony

VERBAL IRONY

Verbal irony refers to spoken words only

Occurs when a character says one thing, but suggests or intends the opposite

The contrast is between what the speaker says and what he actually means.

For example, in Julius Caesar, Mark Antony repeats the words "and Brutus is an honorable man" in the famous “Friends, Romans, countrymen” speech

Mark Antony’s meaning, however, is that Brutus is completely dishonorable because Brutus, Caesar’s best friend, joined the other conspirators and plunged a knife into Caesar’s chest

Note: Verbal irony may be confused with sarcasm, but sarcasm is harsh and direct, while verbal irony is implied.

DRAMATIC IRONY

Dramatic irony involves more than just spoken words

Occurs when the meaning intended by a character's words or actions is opposite of the true situation

The contrast is between what the character says, thinks, or does and the true situation

Further, the character cannot see or understand the contrast, but the audience or reader can

For example, in Othello, dramatic irony occurs when Othello refers to Iago as “honest Iago”

Unknown to Othello, Iago is a villain who deceives him into thinking that Desdemona (Othello’s wife) has been unfaithful

For this, Othello unjustly kills his wife, believing the whole time in Iago’s honesty

Note the difference in examples for verbal and dramatic irony: Antony calls Brutus “honorable” and knows he is not honorable, while Othello calls Iago “honest” and does not know of Iago’s deceit.

SITUATIONAL IRONY

Situational irony defies logical cause/effect relationships and justifiable expectations

For example, if a greedy millionaire were to buy a lottery ticket and win additional millions, the irony would be situational because such a circumstance cannot be explained logically

Such a circumstance seems “unfair”

This sense of being “unfair” or “unfortunate” is a trademark of situational irony

Because people cannot explain the unfairness, it causes them to question whether or not the world makes sense

COSMIC IRONY (or IRONY OF FATE)

Some irony goes beyond being unfair and is morally tragic

Such irony is often so severe that it causes people to question God and see the universe as hostile

For example, if an honest, hard-working, and generous person buys a lottery ticket and wins ten million dollars, only to die in an auto crash two days later, the irony would reach tragic proportions

Such irony typically suggests that people are pawns to malicious forces

A summary of the Master Plot Formula by Lester Dent

It is a guide to writing a 6000-word pulp story divided into four 1500-word parts:

FIRST PART

Begin with a... (write as many as possible)

Different murder method for villain to use

Different thing for villain to be seeking

Different locale

Menace which is to hang like a cloud over hero

Introduce hero.

Put hero in trouble.

Hint at a mystery, menace or problem.

Hero tries cope.

Introduce ALL the other characters ASAP.

Hero in physical conflict near end.

Plot twist near end.

SECOND PART

Hero in more trouble.

Hero struggles, which leads to…

Another physical conflict.

A surprising plot twist near the end.

THIRD PART

Hero in more trouble.

Hero makes some headway.

Hero corners villain in…

Physical conflict.

A surprising plot twist which ends badly for the hero.

FOURTH PART

Hero almost buried in trouble.

Hero extricates themselves using their own skill, training or brawn.

Remaining mysteries resolved as…

Hero takes control of final conflict.

Final big plot twist.

The punch line.

After each part check:

Increasing suspense?

Growing menace?

Logical progression?

Purposeful action?

Varied action?

Continuous action?

Show don’t tell?

Character tags?

Convincing triumph?

Satisfying for readers?

"Kill your darlings" means "if something is holding you back, get rid of it, even if it sounds pretty."

That's it! That's all it means! It means if you're stuck and stalled out on your story and you could fix the whole block by removing something but you're avoiding removing that thing because it's good, you remove that thing. That's the darling.

It does NOT mean

That you have to get rid of your self-indulgent writing

That you should delete something just because you like it (?wtf?)

That you need to kill off characters (??? what)

That you have to pare your story down to the absolute bare bones

That you have to delete anything whatsoever if you don't want to

The POINT is that you STOP FEELING GUILTY for throwing out good writing that isn't SERVING THE STORY.

The POINT is that you don't get so HUNG UP on the details that you lose sight of the BIG PICTURE.

recycle your darlings

@chemistreat asked: “How can one control and write the pure emotion of learning you aren’t who you think you are- in ethnicity, religion, race or otherwise? Something that makes a character rethink all of their traditions?”

When it comes to writing these moments of epiphany or emotional overload, it might feel like your writing in these scenes just can’t get to that level of emotion you hope to achieve. With some of these moments, the emotion might start to feel cheesy or just not enough, or it might be such a mess of different emotions, like anger, shock, disappointment, and betrayal that you don’t really know how to show it all. 

In either case, the big emotions are not easy, however there are a few techniques you can use to become better at putting them into words. 

1. Describe the setting after… This is one exercise that helps you write with emotion in a way that goes beyond what the protagonist may be able to directly express. Examples of this might include, describe a living room after an argument. Or describe a bride’s bedroom the morning before her wedding. These exercises force you to think of how emotion can shape the world of your novel beyond just the protagonist’s experiences. 

Hi, this post is for a friend, but I thought it could also be for all my friends, and also anybody else, too.

I was never a present tense person until a few years ago when suddenly I was, so if you've never been able to get it to stick, no worries! You just have to be desperate enough. Or something, idk.

Okay! The main different between past and present tense for me is how you're looking at the character, and how you're experiencing the story with them.

So for past tense it feels like you're just over the shoulder, a bit to the side, and leading them into things. You push them along so they've already done the things as you're writing them. But with present, I imagine myself right between their shoulder blades, fused to their spine. You're really sitting in the moment with them. Nothing happens until you're feeling it and doing it, right along with your POV character. Even if you're omniscient, or some variant of floating pov, you only ever occupy the same breathing space. You're never ahead or behind. It's all just happening now.

My longest draft is the one I inexplicably decided to write in third person present, and I've come to really love it. Some stories really benefit from that feeling of being up closer to the characters. It can aid in making time progression feel more real. It can help the reader understand a more difficult character, where just the proximity can alter the ability to relate in a perhaps unrelatable situation.

If you find yourself constantly reverting back to past tense, then you've also reverted back to wherever you usually stand in relation to the pov. If you do typically sit pretty close to the character anyway, even while writing past tense, then exercise the notion of pulling the character behind you in the narrative, so that you write what it is they're about to do/feel/say, and then they can act it, right now. And it is now, not right after. You're not telling how something happened, you're in the thick of it right now, as it is happening. You can barely keep up with the things that are just now happening.

A fun thing you can do when you're in present tense and it feel natural is to state more things. Like, just say what the character is feeling. That they're angry, or stressed, or whatever. You can get away with some of this bluntness because it doesn't feel - doesn't read - like you're just stating the fact to get it out of the way. In present tense, that emotion is happening around the reader rather than existing in the nebulous previously. So if you establish an emotion quickly, it continues to simmer and sit while the next part of the scene rolls on. It's happening now.

It's because of this sneaky trick and other related factors that present tense is my favorite for draft 0 stuff. It's easier because I don't need to know what already happened. I'm writing what is happening. I don't have to stress about not knowing stuff yet. I'm not supposed to! Ha.

Anyway, hope this helps, let me know if you have any questions, and happy writing stuff in the now.

Dramatic Structure - the framework that allows a story’s plot to unfold.

Aristotle’s ancient Greek text on dramatic theory, Poetics, was the first written work to examine story structure.

Since then, writers and readers have used various approaches to dramatic structure to organize and analyze the plots of plays, poems, short stories, and novels.

Dramatic structure is typically broken up into acts, scenes, and plot points. Examples of popular dramatic structures include the three-act structure and five-act structure.

During the 19th century, German playwright Gustav Freytag presented a plot diagram, commonly known as Freytag’s pyramid or Freytag’s triangle. Freytag's analysis of structure—which centers around a rising action, climax, and falling action—is now one of the most common tools for storytellers.

Key Elements of Dramatic Structure

Introduction: This early part of the story includes exposition—backstory information about the setting and the protagonist, or main character. After introducing the key elements of your story, present an inciting incident—also known as an exciting force—that disrupts the status quo of the story and sets the plot into motion.

Rising action: Following the inciting incident, the main character enters a new world and moves toward a clear goal. The action rises along with the stakes as the protagonist faces obstacles and trials.

Climax: The rising action culminates in a climax, or the turning point of the story arc. At this stage, the protagonist faces their main conflict head-on, opposing the antagonistic force of the story—typically a villain.

Falling action: Immediately following the climax, the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist unravels, creating suspense about the final outcome. The falling action is often out of the protagonist’s control.

Resolution: Sometimes called the denouement, the resolution of a story concludes the plot, tying up loose ends and answering final questions.

How to Use Dramatic Structure to Write a Story

Although there is a vast variety of methods for structuring stories, consider these general tips for how to best structure your story.

Identify your theme. Before locking in a plot structure, find the central theme of your story. Integrate the central philosophical question of your theme throughout the dramatic arc of your story.

Develop your characters. Identify the goals, desires, needs, and weaknesses of your main character. The more you develop your protagonist, the clearer your story structure will become. Alongside the main plot of your story, create subplots that develop your secondary characters, including allies, mentors, and antagonists.

Experiment with genre. Different genres include different tropes when it comes to story structure. Depending on the genre of your story, choose a story structure that either confirms or subverts the expectations of that genre.

Choose a plot structure for your story. Dramatic structures can be linear, cyclical, or non-linear with flashbacks. The most common plot structure in films and television is a three-act structure with a clear first, second, and third act. Two-act stories often include a climactic midpoint where the stakes rise or the protagonist’s goal changes.

Adapt your structure when necessary. The possibilities for potential dramatic structures are nearly endless. Be prepared to change your dramatic structure based on how your story unfolds on the page. Stay open-minded during the writing process to determine whether your dramatic structure is organic and authentic to the story you’re telling.

You can use the decoration of a room to show how neurotic a character is, what they prioritize in life, what they like, dislike, their emotional life, how they lead a private life, how they are truly like in the comfort of their own homes. How an office looks, how a desk is set up, or cluttered. These things will tell you more about the character who owns them than having lines and lines of dialoge. And this can be done in one or two paragraphs. For example this snippet:

Our first insult as we opened the door was the acrid scent of trash and decay mixed in with that of rotting food. In de darkness piles of unwashed pots and pans littered the sink to heights that should have toppled over, abandoned weeks ago. Empty takeout containers filled each counterspace available, along with cans and bottles of alcohol. Paintings that were on the walls hung askew and covered in dust, while the curtains at the end of the room blocked all but the faint sliver of sunlight that cut through the apartment, revealing a sliver of the true extent of our friend’s living state.

See what I mean? You can tell a lot about the person by this description. Here is another one:

The room was dim, light filtering in through the half-open shades, walls painted a healthy earthy green. A few plants hung near it from hooks, casting shadows all over the room. A desk that was rarely used by the thin layer of dust over the keyboard, and the smell of lavender that hung faintly in the air. Shelves lined up a wall of the room, one covered in trophies of track and field as well as snowboarding, while another was filled to the brim with books of varying generes. A cat tower sat in a corner, and the bed was neatly made, plushies and pillows of varying colors bringing vibrancy to the room, yet complimenting the rest of the colors.

As you saw above, how you describe the living spaces/personal spaces tells a lot more about characters than what a lot of dialogue can do. Yes, you can mention in dialogue that a character is chronically depressed or they love plants and animals and sports, but a visual description sometimes is better than a clunky line of dialogue.

As with everything, use it as you see fit and however it best fits your book/story. These are tricks and ideas that have helped me a lot in my own works and I can’t recommend them enough.

ASPECTS OF PERCEPTION

Physical: burn, hear, smell, touch

AUDITORY

Attribute of hearing: acoustic, deaf, distinct

Attribute of noise: blatant, cacophonous, deafening, dissonant, grating, noisy, piercing, raucous, shrill, soft-spoken, strident, vociferous

Attribute of noisemaking: dumb, mute

Attribute of sound: acoustic, audible, brassy, clarion, deep, dissonant, dull, faint, gentle, gruff, high, hollow, inaudible, low, lyrical, mellow, melodious/melodic, mum, noiseless, noisy, off-key, quiet, raucous, rich, round, silent, soft-spoken, soundproof, subdued, tight-lipped, tuneful, vocal, weak

Audible object: acknowledgment, air, anthem, arrangement, bang, blast, buzz, carol, clamor, clap, click, clump, crash, din, discord, ditty, echo, groan, gurgle, hiss, howl, inflection, jangle, melody, music, peal, psalm, report, rhythm, roar, rumpus, scream, shriek, song, strain, tick, yell

Hearing: attend, commiserate, hear, mind, regard

Sound perception: hearing

OLFACTORY

Attribute of odor: aromatic, fetid, gamy, malodorous, noisome, odorous, rancid, scented, smelly, stinking, sweet, tangy

Object that can be smelled: aroma, breath, incense, perfume, smell, stink, whiff

Odor: cologne, fumes, perfume, smell, stink, tang

Olfactory perception: breathe, nose, smell, whiff

Smelling: scent, sniff, whiff

TACTILE

Attribute of dryness: absorbent, balmy, damp, dry, fluid, juicy, misty, moldy, musty, parched, soaked soggy, thirsty, watery, wizened

Attribute of hardness: adamant, downy, firm, flaccid, hard, impermeable, inflexible, limp, mushy, permeable, plastic, solid, supple, tender, unbending

Attribute of temperature: ablaze, balmy, biting, boiling, brisk, burning, chilly, cold, cozy, febrile, fiery, frigid, frozen, heated, icy, polar, sweltering, thermal, tropical, wintry

Attribute of texture: abrasive, beaten, breakable, bumpy, coarse, cozy, creamy, crumbly, crusty, delicate, diluted/dilute, elastic, fibrous, fine, fleecy, fluff, fuzzy, gelatinous, glossy, gossamer, gritty, irregular, knurled, leathery, lucid, mottled, mushy, oily, paper, permeable, porous, rough, sheer, sleek, slippery, soft, springy, tenacious, thick, threadbare, uneven, yielding

Dryness: drought, humidity, wet

Tactile perception: feeling, touch

Tactile quality: excruciating, numb

Temperature: cold, frost, heat, temperature

Texture: consistency, feel, finish, grain, nap, texture

Touching: brush, dab, finger, graze, handle, lick, meet, nestle, nuzzle, paw, reach, tickle, toothsome, yummy

TASTING

Attribute of taste: acerbic, acid, acrid, astringent, bitter, corrupt, delicious, done, edible, full-bodied, insipid, mouth-watering, peppery, poignant, racy, rich, salty, scrumptious, sour, succulent, tart, tasty, yummy

Taste: acidity, bitterness, savor, tang, zest

Taste perception: taste

Tasting: bite, sample, taste

VISUAL

Attribute of brightness: ablaze, bold, brilliant, colorful, dark, dim, drab, dusky, faded, glaring, glossy, incandescent, light, luminescent, lustrous, murky, obscure, radiant, scintillating, shady, sunny, washed out

Attribute of color: amber, ashen, black, blond/blonde, blue, bright, brown, brunette/brunet, cadaverous, clear, colorful, crystal, dark, deep, dusky, fair, flushed, gay, glowing, gold/golden, gray/grey, hoary, jet, livid, milky, mottled, muddy, murky, opaque, pale, pallor, pasty, pearly, red, rosy, sable, sanguine, smoky, speckled, swarthy, translucent, variegated, vibrant, wan, white, yellow

Attribute of vision: appreciable, clear, conspicuous, disguised, fuzzy, glassy, impalpable, lucid, nearsighted, pronounced, visual

Brightness: dark, gleam, gloom, glow, lamp, light, murk, overshadow, polish, radiate, shadow, shimmer, splendor

Clean: grimy, hygienic, impeccable, mangy, neat, pure, sanitary, slimy, slovenly, spick-and-span, stagnant, straight, trim, unblemished, unkempt, untidy, untouched

Color: auburn, blush, color, decor, flush, glow, orange, pink, red, shadow, stripe, tinge, tone, yellow

Looking: attend, bear in mind, contemplate, dip into, face, fixate, gape, gaze, glare, glower, inspect, leer, lookout, mind, ogle, peek/peep, point, regard, scan, scrutinize, skim, spy, stare, vigil, watch

Occurrence of light: beam, bolt, eclipse, flicker, glare, glimmer, glisten, glow, illuminate, lamp, light, ray, shimmer, spark, spotlight, wink

Picture: arms, caricature, chart, diagram, emblem, facsimile, flowchart, graphics, impression, layout, model, pattern, plaid, portrait, reproduction, scheme, sketch, tableau

Seeing: behold, eye, make out, meet, notice, perceive, remark, sight, view, witness

Visibility change: blur, dim, fog

Visible object: acknowledgment, aspect, beam, buoy, footprint, glare, halo, light, model, panorama, ray, scene, sparkle, track, vista

Visual perception: blindness, perspective, vision

NOTE

Excerpted from Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Updated and Expanded 3rd Edition, in Dictionary Form, edited by The Princeton Language Institute.

The above are concepts classified according to subject and usage. It not only helps writers and thinkers to organize their ideas but leads them from those very ideas to the words that can best express them.

It was, in part, created to turn an idea into a specific word. By linking together the main entries that share similar concepts, the index makes possible creative semantic connections between words in our language, stimulating thought and broadening vocabulary.

𐙚⋆.˚ The smile that doesn't reach the eyes (dead giveaway)

𐙚⋆.˚ The nostril flare of barely contained rage

𐙚⋆.˚ Pressing lips together to keep from laughing

𐙚⋆.˚ The eyebrow raise of "seriously?"

𐙚⋆.˚ Eyes widening for just a fraction of a second at bad news

𐙚⋆.˚ The jaw clench of holding back words

𐙚⋆.˚ One corner of the mouth quirking up (the smirk)

𐙚⋆.˚ The rapid blinking when processing something shocking

𐙚⋆.˚ Tongue poking the inside of cheek when annoyed

𐙚⋆.˚ The eye roll that's more of an eye drift

𐙚⋆.˚ Scrunching nose at something distasteful

𐙚⋆.˚ That face people make when they're trying not to cry (you know the one)

𐙚⋆.˚ The silent laugh where shoulders shake but no sound comes out

𐙚⋆.˚ Raising both eyebrows in surprise vs. one in skepticism

𐙚⋆.˚ The thousand-yard stare when dissociating

𐙚⋆.˚ The head shake that means "I can't believe this"

𐙚⋆.˚ Squinting when suspicious

𐙚⋆.˚ The fake smile for customer service/politeness

𐙚⋆.˚ Eyes darting to the side when lying or uncomfortable

𐙚⋆.˚ The visible gulp when nervous

𐙚⋆.˚ Wrinkling forehead in concern

𐙚⋆.˚ That specific look of dawning realization

𐙚⋆.˚ The mouth twitch when fighting a smile

Inn

guest house (Old English) ⚜ hostry (1377) ⚜ harbergery; host (1382)

hostel (c.1384) ⚜ hostelry (c.1386) ⚜ harbergage; inn (c.1400)

hostelar (1424) ⚜ host-house (1570) ⚜ fondaco (1599)

auberge; sporting house (1615) ⚜ albergo (1617) ⚜ rancho (1648)

posada (1652) ⚜ public house (1655) ⚜ inn-house (1694)

livery tavern (1787) ⚜ roadhouse (1806) ⚜ meson (1817)

tambo (1830) ⚜ gasthaus (1834) ⚜ estalagem (1835)

locanda (1838) ⚜ temperance inn (c.1849) ⚜ sala (1871)

bush-inn (1881) ⚜ ryokan (1914) ⚜ pousada (1949)

B and B (abbreviation for "Bed and Breakfast") (1961)

Hotel

hotel (1687) ⚜ hotel garni (1744) ⚜ lodge (c.1817) ⚜ gasthof (1832)

temperance house (1833) ⚜ temperance hotel (1837)

railway hotel (1839) ⚜ parador (1845) ⚜ palace hotel (1870)

metropole (1890) ⚜ Ritz (1900) ⚜ Trust House (1903) ⚜ motel (1925)

residential (1940) ⚜ welfare hotel (1952) ⚜ botel (1956) ⚜ floatel (1959)

The turning point in the first category above is around 1600.

Before then, there were relatively few words for a traveller’s lodging, and they form a close-knit etymological community.

The later decades of the 16th century saw a great increase in travel from England to the continent of Europe, during periods of relative peace. Some of it was motivated by the need to avoid religious persecution in England. Some was for cultural reasons.

Travelling theatre companies brought their plays abroad, and the wealthy made cultural visits, especially to France and Italy – forerunners of the ‘Grand Tour’ which would become a major part of the European social scene during and after the late 17th century.

By the 20th century, with travel becoming so much easier, we see words coming from further afield, as English becomes established as a global language