There'll never be a perfect time. Just do the thing.

but not for “the day after tomorrow”

Overmorrow = the day after tomorrow

Ereyesterday = the day before yesterday

Rhotacism (n): excessive use of the letter “R”

Lingible (adj): meant to be licked

Whipjack (n): a beggar, specifically one who is pretending to have been shipwrecked

Yerd (v): to beat with an object with a stick

Roddikin (n): the fourth stomach of a cow or a deer

Balbriggan (n): a type of fine cotton, most often used in underwear

and my personal favorite

Courtesy of your friendly neighborhood queer author, for all the anons who have been sweet enough to ask!

Avoid:

1.  Any queer character that exists exclusively to support the development of a straight person.

(Gif source.)

Most commonly, this is exemplified with the Sassy Gay Best Friend.  The Sassy Gay Best Friend has no queer friends, inexplicably content to surround himself exclusively with heterosexual, cisgender women and listen to them vent about what pugnacious assholes their boyfriends are.

The Sassy Gay Best Friend exhausts me just by thinking about him.  The closest friends of every other queer person I know are composed predominantly of other queer people, myself included, and it’s with other queer people that we tend to best connect.  

Dealing with large groups of straight people tends to exhaust and upset me, and I cannot imagine voluntarily opting into half the amount of heterosexual melodrama as the Sassy Gay Best Friend.

2.   Needlessly killing off queer characters.

(Gif source.)

Especially to forward the development of straight people, which it usually is.  

The Bury Your Gays trope is thought to have originated with the strict censorship laws of the twentieth century, which dictated that queer characters and relationships could only be portrayed if they atoned for their sins and “turned straight” by the end of the story, or – drumroll please – died.  

It is not, as many authors believe, a realistic portrayal of what life has always been like for queer people, because there have been innumerable examples of us living and loving happily throughout history.

In other words, the only thing burying your gays accomplishes is contributing to an ugly cycle.  So if you have the option not to kill off queer characters, don’t.

3.  Exclusively subtextual queer relationships.

(Gif source.)

This phenomenon, commonly known as queerbaiting, originated with clever creators finding loopholes in the aforementioned censorship laws of the nineteenth and twentieth century, by weaving romantic and/or erotic relationships between same gender-characters in between the lines.  

One of my favorite examples of this phenomenon is 1950s film Some Like It Hot, a surprisingly tender and thoughtful examination of gender identity, femininity, and sexual orientation.  Concisely put, the two male leads are circumstantially compelled to disguise themselves as women and travel with an all-female band, during which one of the men captures the affection of a (male) millionaire, who asks for his hand in marriage.  He says yes, and the film ends with this exchange:

(Gif source.)

Okay, this isn’t exactly subtext, which is why the film was produced without the approval of the Motion Picture Production Code.  But you get the idea:  this is as blatant as queer identities could be in 1950s America.  

The key difference?  It is no longer the 1950s, and what was revolutionary for the time period is not revolutionary now.  Don’t repeat JK Rowling’s fallacy and expect to squeak by with subtextual or offscreen representation.  

Include:

1.  Happy, healthy queer relationships.

(Gif source.)

Far too often, queer rep in the media showcases dysfunctional relationships, usually short-term, sex-based, and/or with a reasonably severe power imbalance (looking at you, Call Me By Your Name.)  This is worrisome, because it conveys an unhealthy message to queer youth about what normality looks like, and perpetrates a pervasive stereotype that queer people are more likely to be deviant and unhealthy than their straight peers.

In reality, the inverse is true:  queer couples show statistically higher rates of happiness and contentment than straight couples do.

So allow your work to reflect this!  Portray loving, supportive, and affectionate queer couples who encourage one another’s success and quality of life.  Think Nomi and Amanita from Sense8, or Holt and Kevin from Brooklyn 99.

2.  Wholesome queer love.

(Gif source.)

A reported root of homophobia is the fact that straight people, ironically, can’t stop thinking about kinky gay sex.

I’m not kidding:  research shows that straight people are so thoroughly conditioned to associate gay people with stereotypes of promiscuity, sexually transmitted diseases, and paraphilia that they think of non-straight sexuality is inherently unclean.  This is always what makes the “lol i’m sinning” culture straight girls build around queer couples and ships so harmful.  

To countermand this, try to portray queer love as sweet, pure, and wholesome whenever possible.  Depict puppy love and crushes and adorable dates between same gender couples.  Expunge the idea that queer sexuality is inherently profane.

This doesn’t mean the couples can’t be interesting or complex, mind you – books such as Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe are excellent examples of tenderly portrayed first love, while painting intriguing portraits of complex feelings and characters.

3.  Casual queer representation.

(Gif source.)

If you’re a straight person who hasn’t interacted much with the queer community, I’m going to personally recommend that you stay away from stereotypes.  Promiscuous bisexuals, flamboyant gay men, butch lesbians, et cetera.  

These people exist and deserve to be depicted – I’ve even depicted two out of the aforementioned three examples in me my most recent novel – but I’m inclined that it takes a member of the queer community to portray them with authenticity and respect.

So where do you start?  Casual representation, that’s where.

Give me trans men relaxing in their binders at the end of the day, casual mention of same-gender crushes or past partners, a same-gender partner that the hero is fighting to get home to.  Sometimes the best form of representation is to depict queer people as simply existing and living their lives.  

Disclaimer:  

These are all based off of my personal pet peeves and opinions as a queer woman, and you don’t have to follow any of them.  Though I firmly believe we need better representation from up-and-coming authors, I’m profusely anti-censorship, and I believe everyone deserves to write their story the way they want to.  

Thanks for the ask, jimin! I’m going to treat this as a 2-part question.

Part 1: how do I get better at writing? Short and sweet version: read more and write more. Learning the rules of grammar and the conventions of your genre come easier the more you read and the more you write. I know it seems obvious, but the classic “Practice makes perfect” is more than just a saying; it’s a cold, hard truth.

Beyond that, though, I suggest googling anything you’re specifically struggling with. Youtube is a great source of writing info and tips, and being auditory you can just play it in the background while you do other stuff. A few of my favs are Jenna Moreci (@jennamoreci here on Tumblr), Hanna Lee Kidder (@hanniepee ), KM Weiland, Ellen Brock, and Katytastic. 

Part 2: struggling with descriptions. My personal advice is to describe too much about each character/setting in the first draft, as clinically or purple-prosey as you like. When you go to revise, it’s easier to chop anything that’s irrelevant than it is to try and add more description later.

Also, consider what type of emotions you want to convey through your descriptions. Is the manor house spooky? then talk about the looming shadows it casts and the eerie way the wind blows through the trees surrounding it, how the branches claw at the house. Is the manor actually the home of the friendliest person in town? Describe the welcome mat sitting tidy but well-used on the front doorstep, the hand-sculpted plants and flower garden, the plethora of seats and tables for all the events the owners host.

Then consider that both of these descriptions can be the same place at the same time, viewed by different people, or the same person with different minds sets. Try painting some scenes like this, with two opposing descriptions that don’t actually conflict with one another.

Another thing you can do is to simply read your favourite book and pick out the descriptions you like best. Figure out why you like them so much, or why they’re memorable. Is it all in the prose, or is it a lively description?

Speaking of lively descriptions, avoid multi-paragraph descriptions of people. In stead of saying “He was tall, dark, and handsome,” put it into motion. “His chestnut-brown hair billowed around his shoulders as he rushed to catch up with his brother, over whom he towered by nearly a foot. As their eyes met, the brothers’ faces lit up in delight, which might have caused just about anyone to swoon, had there been anyone else to see.” So that turned out a little corny, but you get the picture.

(This is an advanced technique, so if you’re new to writing—or if your style isn’t poetic—you don’t have to do this.)

It may sound counter intuitive, but the trick to creating better visuals in your story isn’t better visual descriptions. It’s using emotional keywords to invoke a sense of place.

Try to capture a place’s mood, not just the sensory elements. For example, rather than writing “Sunlight dappled the forest floor” you could describe the forest as a “mosaic quilt of rabbit-eared trees and tumbling grass drizzled in orange slices of Christmas sunlight”.

The first gets the visual across, yes. But we’re looking for more than what the five senses can give us. The key to good description is showing us what your character sees/ hears/ smells/ tastes/ touches … but the magic in capturing a place is the sixth sense: feeling. How your character feels about being in this environment, which influences how readers feel experiencing the passage.

Writing about feelings is tricky. In adult literature being too obvious (“she screamed in frustration”) is frowned on because reading obvious cues feels like we’re watching someone act a part on stage rather than living the book through them. So it is with invoking character feelings through sensory descriptors. The above passage about a forest is meant to invoke a pleasant, pastoral sensibility and maybe capture the excitement that comes from wonderful possibilities opening up. Once you know what feelings you’re trying to invoke you can figure out what words will create (hopefully) that effect.

Quilt, rabbit, and tumbling are words that evoke a homey pastoral scene. Orange slices and drizzled invoke good things to eat. Depending on your upbringing, Christmas sunlight may sound like bright crisp excitement and general goodwill.

So, how can you learn to do this?

1. Characters should describe their world in positive or negative ways that directly mirror how they’re feeling. If Anna’s angry and hurt, she might see a “bitter ocean wrecking itself on frozen rocks”. If Anna is happy, she might instead see an “untamable ocean breaking free in glorious spray”. It’s the same scene, but the emotions are wildly different and thus so are reader’s visual impressions.

2. Use action verbs to describe inanimate objects. Trees thrusting off a cliff sound more precarious than trees leaning over the cliff’s edge. Arrows sprouting from a chest plate sound tragic and ironic, whereas arrows sticking out of a chest plate merely sounds like somebody’s dead. Grumbling ocean, and library books snuggling up to the front door sound more personal that stormy ocean, or library books ready to go back.

3. Free-associate to develop creative metaphors. For example, suppose your character is bathing in a palace. You could describe the “plush, embroidered towels”, and that would certainly give a sense of them. But if you describe “soft buttercream towels” (free-associating what sounds soft, cream-colored, and might work for an expensive towel) instead, your readers will ache to wrap up in one alongside your character. Feelings-based win!

Tip: Take a notebook someplace that inspires you. Spend a few moments just looking around, experiencing your environment. Try to come up with simple phrases that captures what you’re witnessing. I came up with the above forest’s description on a hike, because I thought the patchwork of trees and grass looked like a “mosaic quilt” and the wedges of golden sunlight on the forest floor like “orange slices”.

As with all writing techniques, don’t overdo it. You’ll learn with practice how much poetry to apply and when in order to sell your descriptions.

I recently started a new blog called @writing-with-science as a resource for other writers

What is it? it’s a blog that you can send asks in about anything science related you want to include in your WIP and I will try to answer it! Maybe you don’t know much science, or don’t want to go through the hassle of researching it, whatever your reason, you can just send in your questions and I’ll come back to you with an answer

The questions can be about anything really so long as they’re science related! they dont even have to be about writing if you’re just curious about something. Some of the questions I’ve answered so far are:

-What would happen if the moon just disappeared one day?

-is there a way that sentient trees could ‘talk’ to each other, maybe using pheromones or something?

-how big would something traveling at near the speed of light have to be to destroy mars?

I have a ‘what is this blog’ page with more info if you want to check it out

anyways, this blog is mainly going to be ask based with maybe some sparse other posts about media that does science either well or terribly. So I would really appreciate it if you reblogged this so I can get it out there! Even if you dont write yourself, you might have writers following you (although this isnt just for writers) 

• Do: give your character special interests. This will help autistic people relate to your character, and maybe they’ll even share interests with your character.

• Don’t: give your character stereotypical special interests, such as math, if that is the only interest given in your story. Even though some autistics ARE interested in that, making that the only interest seen will make the stereotypes seem realistic.

• Do: give characters multiple special interests, if you want! Most autistic people have 1-3 special interests, so multiple special interests are completely optional, but possible!

• Don’t: limit your characters personality to their interest(s). ve characters a personality outside of their special interest! For example, make them shy or confident, maybe more of a social butterfly or maybe more of a loner!

• Do: make your character talk about their interest(s)! Some autistic people tend to talk about their interests every chance they get, and some talk about them sometimes, but once they do, they talk about it a lot!

… and that’s it, folks! Feel free to add on!

As an author who doesn’t keep up with pop culture or sports, I cannot stress this tip enough: GOOGLE YOUR CHARACTER NAMES.

Before you decide for definite what you’re going to name an OC, put the name into google and hit send. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve accidentally named someone after a famed criminal from another country or a champion league rugby player because I didn’t think to check if they shared a name with someone. If it’s not immediately obvious, it might be to someone else.

Name Generator sites give you popular names sometimes: I very nearly named a Malaysian character Mona Fandey until a google search turned up who she was. (Place Name Generators often give you real place names too but that’s besides the point.)

Lawful: Rules matter more to me than individuals. Chaotic: Individuals matter more to me than rules.

Good: Other people’s well-being is more important than my own. Evil: My own well-being is more important than other people’s.

Neutrals: My opinion of what is more important is determined on a case-by-case basis.

Sure, having a king/queen is simple, but have you ever tried:

Democracy

Multiple nobles and they all have the same amount of power (lot of conflict potential)

You can become ruler by defeating the current ruler in a fight

The merchants run everything

A noble and a parliament rule

The most intelligent people rule

…

Anarchy: the social conscience maintains order, but there are no laws

Athenian Democracy: Every citizen can vote on every new law

Representative Democracy: Elected representatives form a congress or government

Clan: Pretty much whoever is older is in charge, traditions are strongly adhered to, and society as a whole is split cross many tribes that are generally similar (and usually allied) but with their own quirks and traditions

Caste: A lot like a Clan structure, but each clan has a set role in society that usually renders them co-dependent. These Castes usually follow a social heirarchy

Dictatorship: One person controls everything, and they will later pass the right to rule to someone else, whether by inheritance, election, duelling, or some other method. Not all dictatorships are bad, especially if they are formed in times of crisis or rebellion, but even those started with the best intentions may quickly corrupt.

Plutocracy: Whoever has money is in charge.

Technocracy: A group of scientists and engineers have complete control and do everything they can to run the country at maximum efficiency. The more competent they are, the more likely this is to be viewed as a good thing.

Thaumocracy: Like a technocracy, but run by a science-like form of magic (like wizards and arcanists rather than shamans and witches)

Theocracy: The Church controls everything, and their religious law is civil law. Whether this religion is real, is fake but knows it, or believes its own lies is up to you.

Corporate State: Powerful mercantile organisations have taken control of entire regions. This is a lot like a Technocracy, but with a corporate structure and a focus on maximum profitability (and no-one else is going to set them a minimum wage)

Feudal: A lot like a dictatorship, but subsidiary lords are assigned their own local power and can enforce their own law without notifying the larger state.

***VARIATIONS***

Bureaucracy: Government runs very slowly and the public has effectively no control. There is a lot of red tape and taxation is high.

Colony: Government is dependent on a mother society

Cybercracy: A computer system is the state administrator. Hopefully the programmers did a good job…

Matriarchy: Positions of authority are female-exclusive.

Meritocracy: Positions of authority require rigorous testing to qualify for.

Military Government: The Military control everything, usually but not always totalitarian

Monarchy: The person in charge may call themselves king or queen, but fundamentally this is either a dictatorship or a feudal society.

Oligarchy: A small organisation is in control, and it elects its own members.

Patriarchy: like a matriarchy, but for guys. what a novel idea

Sanctuary: A society that protects the people other societies hunt (that may be considered criminals or terrorists by other nations)

Socialist: The government directly manages the economy, education is easy to get, the government intervenes to get everyone possible a job. This is likely to collapse quickly without good technology or magic to assist it.

Subjugated: The society as a whole is completely controlled by an outside force.

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR BETA READERS:

When I send out my chapter to be read over by my beta readers, I always include a set of questions typed out at the bottom, grouped into different categories such as: plot, pacing, character, setting, etc. 

You might want to tailor the questions depending on the genre or which chapter it is. For example, if it’s the first chapter you’ll want to ask them about how well your story managed to hook them, or if they managed to easily get an idea of the world you’ve introduced them to. If it’s the climax you might want to ask if the action scenes are fluid, and if the plot twist/s were predictable or surprising. 

Here’s some example questions that you could use:

Opening Chapter:

What is your first impression of the main character? Do you find them likable? Annoying? Boring?

After reading it for the first time, what is your first impression? Was it cohesive and compelling? Boring and confusing?

Did the first sentence/paragraph/page efficiently grab your attention and hook you in?

If you were to read this chapter in a bookstore/library would you be convinced to buy it? Or would you need to read further before deciding? Why or why not?

Did you get oriented fairly quickly at the beginning as to whose story it is, what’s going on, and where and when it’s taking place? If not, what were you confused about at the beginning?

Does the first chapter establish the main character efficiently? Do they feel believable?

Characters:

Could you clearly imagine what the characters looked like? If not, who?

Who was your favourite character and why? Has your favourite character changed? (if this hasn’t changed feel free to skip this question) 

Are there any characters that you do not like? Why do you not like them? (Boring, annoying, problematic, etc.) 

Was there ever a moment when you found yourself annoyed or frustrated by a character? 

Could you relate to the main character? Did you empathise with their motivation or find yourself indifferent? 

Were the characters goals/motivations clear and understandable? 

Did you get confused about who’s who? Are there too many characters to keep track of? Are any of the names or characters too similar?

Do the characters feel three-dimensional or like cardboard cutouts? 

How familiar have you become with the main characters? Without cheating could you name the four main characters? Can you remember their appearance? Can you remember their goal or motivation? 

Dialogue:

Did the dialogue seem natural to you?

Was there ever a moment where you didn’t know who was talking?

Setting/world-building:

Were you able to visualize where and when the story is taking place?

Is the setting realistic and believable? 

How well do you remember the setting? Without cheating, can you name four important settings?

Genre:

Did anything about the story seem cliche or tired to you? How so? 

Did anything you read (character, setting, etc.) remind you of any others works? (Books, movies, etc.) 

Plot/pacing/scenes:

Do you feel there were any unnecessary scenes/moments that deserved to be deleted or cut back?

Do the scenes flow naturally and comprehensively at an appropriate pace? Did you ever feel like they were jumping around the place? 

Was there ever a moment where you attention started to lag, or the chapter begun to drag? Particular paragraph numbers would be very helpful. 

Did you ever come across a sentence that took you out of the moment, or you had to reread to understand fully? 

Was the writing style fluid and easy to read? Stilted? Purple prose-y? Awkward?

Did you notice any discrepancies or inconsistencies in facts, places, character details, plot, etc.?

Additional questions:

What three things did you like? What three things did you not like? 

Can you try predicting any upcoming plot twists or outcomes? 

Was there ever a moment when your suspension of disbelief was tested? 

Is there anything you’d personally change about the story? 

Was the twist expected or surprising? Do you feel that the foreshadowing was almost nonexistent, or heavy handed? 

Feel free to tailor these to your needs or ignore some of them if you don’t think they’re useful. Basically, your questions are about finding out the information about how others perceive your own writing and how you can improve your story.

Google BetaBooks. Do it now. It’s the best damn thing EVER.

You just upload your manuscript, write out some questions for your beta readers to answer in each chapter, and invite readers to check out your book!

It’s SO easy!

You can even track your readers! It tells you when they last read, and what chapter they read!

Your beta readers can even highlight and react to the text!!!

There’s also this thing where you can search the website for available readers best suited for YOUR book!

Before you start writing, when your story idea is in its very earliest stages, if you even have one at all, you should make a list of things you love in the books you read. List all of the story elements that draw you to novels. List the ones that excite you when they appear. Find patterns in the books you enjoy, and list those too. 

If you don’t know exactly what you love about books, or how to start a list like this, go to your bookshelves, pick out four or five of your absolute favourite novels, and examine them. If you have time, read a few chapters of each. List what you love about those books specifically. 

If you like Harry Potter–and I will always use HP as an example, because who doesn’t like HP?–instead of listing things like “Hermione” or “Hogwarts,” think about what you actually like about those story specifics. 

For Hermione: Do you like Hermione because she’s a smart, self-determined female character? Or do you just like that she’s a bit of a know it all? Or are you happy to see characters with unruly, frizzy hair?  

For Hogwarts: Do you like the boarding school setting? Or the enchanted castle? Do you like Scotland? 

Whatever the answer is, write that down, and steal those story aspects to create something original and amazing. 

Look for obvious things like character, plot, and setting, but also take into account how books are narrated and formatted. Think about themes, tropes, and language. Think about mood and tone and structure. The wider the variety of story elements you collect, the more helpful your list will be.

Here are some examples of story features to include in your list:

Mystery

Third person narration

No love interests

Alliterative names

Exciting chapter titles

Diverse characters

Autumnal settings

Main characters with unusual interests

Scenes of friends bonding besides crackling fire places

Magic but you don’t know if it’s actually magic or not

What to do with your list?

Use it to plan your novel:

Use this list to help you figure out not only what your story is going to be, but how you’re going to tell it. You don’t have to include all of the things in your list in your story, but it will be an amazing source of story elements to have in your back pocket.

Use it as motivation:

While writing, keep track of the story elements you love that you’ve managed to fit into your novel. Keep that list on your desk or wherever you write. When you can’t find any other inspiration, take a look at it. Let it remind you of what you love about your story. Let it motivate you to continue writing it.  

Use it when you get stuck:

Do you ever see those random story generators that get shared around the internet? They’ll generate random settings, random plots, random character names, random character traits, random murder methods. The list is long. 

I don’t recommend putting random story elements in your book. I may be wrong, but that has never seemed like an intelligent idea to me. 

However, if you have a large list of things you personally enjoy in books–if you have your own pile of character traits, settings, plots, etc.–there’s a good chance one of those things will inspire your next direction for the book when you get stuck. You may very well find a plot element, or type of scene, or character quirk that you will be excited to add to your story. 

The Anti-List

I was wondering if there are stereotypes related to abuse & toxic masculinity that I should be aware of avoiding when writing Jewish characters. Also, I want to be aware if there are certain common expressions of abuse & toxic masculinity that are specific to Christian/gentile culture, which would not make sense for a Jewish character to experience (beyond those overtly tied to religion such as conversion therapy). (2/2)

What does toxic masculinity look like in a culture that doesn’t focus on manliness?

This is an interesting question because usually the trope we face is completely the opposite of toxic masculinity – i.e. the idea that our men are weak, unmasculine, and under the thumb of their mothers, in addition to neutral traits like being short or unathletic.

That’s not to say we are a people free from sexist behavior. Sexism pretty much touches every culture and so does abuse. But the types of sexism I’ve seen in my community is more of the quiet wordy kind like, that one old man at my temple who complained about my pink hair and said something anti-choice once.

Toxic masculinity itself is about more than just believing women and womanhood and feminine things are bad. It’s about what one would use to distance oneself from all those things – and bulking up at the gym plus a desire to beat people up isn’t on our cultural radar unless it’s filtered in from the outside. In other words, if toxic masculinity is a desire to become more manly because of a belief in the inferiority of femininity, physical violence will only be part of this if one believes physical violence is a necessary component of masculinity.

I may be out of my depth here because the disappointing Jewish men I can think of in my personal life include a quiet Trump supporter (which is unusual for us, for the record), a quiet sexist old man, a quiet “holds-grudges-forever and says cruel things about family members he’s mad at” individual…. i.e. while I’m sure someone like your character’s father exists out there since I have no personal experience with it I don’t know what it looks like or where he got his ideas about How to Man.

However, I do want to say that it’s still possible for your character to be dealing with toxic masculinity even if it’s not from his father. You did mention peers at school, plus there’s the general idea that to be a Jewish man is already not manly enough.

I’m almost tempted to continue this post by listing ways a Jewish father might be unpleasant to his closested son. However, if you’re not Jewish I’m going to revisit the “writing about internal bigotry within a marginalized group is probably not a job for an outsider” thesis, because “I’m a gentile but I’m writing about this homophobic Jewish father!” is almost certainly going to be tinged with your own passive prejudices.