Pretty Jane

(feel free to use<3 THE 6TH PROMPT OMGMGNFBSJSH IF ANYBODY WRITES ANY OF THESE, TAG MEE)

when you're late to an event and they wait outside for you, and say, "I saved you a seat, come on babe."

when you're the one they look at, even if they're at the other end of the room

"i like your smile."

when you're working and they sit by your side, just--admiring and memorizing your every freckle, scar and they mindlessly tug a strand of your hair behind your ear

"do you know.. h-how beautiful you are?" followed by a forehead kiss that lingers longer

when they ask "Please--can i kiss you?" fisting their hands on either side of ur head, just breathing heavily cause they want all of you

when they jog over to you, taking you in their arms and spin you followed by an "i missed you, my love"

"Fall in love with me, just once, I'll carry you in my heart forever."

when they let you sleep in their lap and gives you head messages while frequently stealing kisses

knuckle and palm kisses>>>

when they're an absolutely worst cook but they try to make a cake for you

tugging you by their side and not letting you get out of bed while they whisper in their hoarse, deep voice, "Morning, mi amor"

when they slide their arms around your waist, pulling you closer to their torso

"Out of everything that suits me, you suit me better."

for more:

If your dialog feels flat, rewrite the scene pretending the characters cannot at any cost say exactly what they mean. No one says “I’m mad” but they can say it in 100 other ways.

Wrote a chapter but you dislike it? Rewrite it again from memory. That way you’re only remembering the main parts and can fill in extra details. My teacher who was a playwright literally writes every single script twice because of this.

Don’t overuse metaphors, or they lose their potency. Limit yourself.

Secondary characters make your stories stronger. You can have a fully developed protagonist, a vivid world, and a great series of plot twists, but it will all fall flat if your secondary characters are starkly underdeveloped.

There are a few ways you can improve those characters, even if you've already completed your story or novel.

Figure Out Their Life Story

turn your protagonist into a supporting character, map out your secondary character's life as if they're your next protagonist

Give Them Unique Characteristics

what are their hobbies? what is their physicality when they're nervous? are they obsessed with something? do they have a quirk, like talking in their sleep? Even if these details don't all make it into your story, just a few will make that character feel more real to you and your readers.

Assign Each Character a Purpose

Your secondary character will support the protagonist, but why else are they there? The best characters often fit into a particular story because they represent a secondary theme. Their purpose is to deepen your story or carry a theme as a B Plot to your main plot.

Make Your Character Unpredictable

People are never just one thing. Your characters shouldn't be either. The supportive best friend to the protagonist is boring if they don't do anything but make jokes and offer a word of advice occasionally. What happens to your plot if they purposefully make a bad decision? What if they can't fix a terrible mistake?

Include a Few Flaws

No one is perfect, just like no one is ever one thing. If your secondary characters never have flaws, they'll be unrealistic and take the reader out of the experience. Maybe they have a temper, they can't keep a secret, or they have a bad habit like self destructing serious relationships.

Plan a Future for Them

If you're writing long-form content like a series of short stories set in the same world or a novel, will your secondary character return? Deciding this will guide how you invest your time and energy into developing each character. Sometimes it's okay to forget characters. It's very likely that you don't remember every person who ever appeared in The Hunger Games books, but you do remember the ones who had the most influence on Katniss or the plot.

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Stakes - What would happen if the protagonist failed? Would it really be such a bad thing if it happened?

Thematic relevance - Do the events of the story speak to a greater emotional or moral message? Is the conflict resolved in a way that befits the theme?

Urgency - How much time does the protagonist have to complete their goal? Are there multiple factors complicating the situation?

Drive - What motivates the protagonist? Are they an active player in the story, or are they repeatedly getting pushed around by external forces? Could you swap them out for a different character with no impact on the plot? On the flip side, do the other characters have sensible motivations of their own?

@everything.writing on IG!

Some people are now drafting during Camp Nano, while others are doing a little summer editing. If you're in the latter boat, editing can feel so overwhelming when you're staring at a shitstorm of a draft. But fear not, because baby steps will bring you to a finished book.

Distance yourself from your WIP by taking a break (at least 2 weeks) between drafts. During this time, work on another WIP or just take a break to touch some grass so you'll get a fresher perspective

Change the font since you'll be able to see mistakes with a fresh new perspective

Print out your manuscript if you can (I get that it's a lot of words and a lot of paper, I've done it)

Get beta readers to help you, since other people normally notice mistakes you wouldn't usually notice

Read your story through before making ANY edits. Use this stage to make comments on things that don't make sense or that can be improved

Fix the big picture issues (plot holes, character arcs) before changing the grammar to save yourself from having to repeat the proofreading process twice

Take it step by step. You don't have to edit a huge chunk of words at once because that's just going to overwhelm you.

Read it aloud. This can help you notice choppy sentences and some that flat out don't make sense

Use a thesaurus to swap out commonly used words like "good", "bad", "nice," etc.

Don't be afraid to delete things. Yes, you worked hard on them but you can save them for another project if they're not working for your current project

Know that you have plenty of drafts left. Just because the draft is so messy now doesn't mean it's never going to be a finished book

fear - open mouth - backing away - fake smiles - hugging themselves - long / dragged breaths - rocking

jealousy - snide remarks - darting looks - self-deprication - visible judging - folded arms - arguing a fair point

hurt - steadying breaths - overly bobbing head - teary - anger - trembling - pressed lips - insisting everything is 'fine'

lying (ticks) - picking at nails - touching hair - licking lips - laughing too loud - avoids subjects - won't meet eyes

worry - reaching out physically - pursing lips - looking to others - reassuring smiles - looking you up and down - tilted head - sympathetic nod

shame - will not meet eyes - feet turned away - teary - desperate - fidgeting - begging

humiliation - lashes back - cheeks flush - palms turn sweaty - face frowns -> brows scrunch, lips pull back - teary

Thieves stealing important objects from the main characters and then being forced somehow into a found family situation

Saving a character’s life by doing something like taking an arrow/bullet

By losing a bet with a stranger and then teaming up

Gambling with a shifty character and getting really mad at them, only for them to later end up saving the other character’s life

Meeting the other in an arranged marriage and actually liking them (or really, really hating them)

Or having a chaotic dynamic where they irritate each other but they’re equally chaotic, so they become the mischievous duo in the found family

By bickering over the last piece of food at a banquet

Getting hired as a servant or maid, or some other serving position

Storyteller Saturday!

Hello there, @glittertrashreloaded! Thanks for dropping by my ask box on this fine Saturday!

I’m gonna throw this under the cut since it got long. 😊

You want to describe your characters in the by-the-way, but somehow, you can't seem to nail it, and it seems out of place. here's a couple of tricks to help you out!

#1. Tie in descriptions with backstory and character

A steady rule to follow is - two lines of description, one line of inference. What this means is, that after your character has been described (for example, a girl with red hair and freckles) then you follow up with an inference your character makes about the character being described (for example, that the red-haired girl is from Europe, and that she's fairly young in age) This way, the description doesn't get monotonous, and we get inner dialogue!

#2. Use figurative language

Don't go overboard with "her blue orbs rolled backwards into her skull" - but a few metaphors and similes never hurt anyone. It can help your description go deeper, and try to make interesting metaphors, rather than old, overused cliché ones like "her blonde hair shone like the sun" but rather, "her honeycomb-gold hair was tucked into a bun" (it's 2am so excuse my bad examples)

#3. Talk about facial expressions

Facial expression show a lot about a character! Are their eyes twinkling, or somber? Are there eyebrows relaxed or knitted tightly in tension? Are they smiling or chewing on their lip in nervousness? What is something about their facial expressions that immediately catches the eye of your reader? Does their smile reach their eyes? There are a lot of little details you can incorporate along with regular description.

#4. Use body language effectively

Are they standing with their arms crossed, defiant? Or are they meekly smiling? Or do they have a forced smile as their hands are curled into fists with rage? Body langauge and facial expressions go hand in hand - use them well!

#5. Try to talk about a single unique feature about your character that will help your readers remember and differentiate them.

Tropes are great, but they don't make your story. You do.

Execution matters. Something that has been done a million times before, still valid to write about. Yes, it might be a concept storytelling has since long been exploring, but it has never been done by you.

There are things you bring to the table, worlds, plots and characters, that no other writer would ever even think of, and you should never strive to mirror another writer. We don't need ''just another writer.''

The only thing we need is you, your thoughts, feelings and ideas. That's enough. Your passion for writing is enough. You don't need to prove anything, to anyone. Write because it ignites something in you.

Your voice as a writer, it matters. It's unique and irreplaceable, and you should never feel like you aren't allowed to write about something just because it's considered ''old news'' or cliché.