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Instead, I chose one thing to improve on: moving forward. Getting one word down, then another, until at last the draft was done. Because out of all my issues, of which there are many, my biggest was that I was not finishing projects. None of the other stuff matters if I’m not able to finish writing the story.

So I focused on writing. And now that I’m confident in my ability to finish things, I’m focusing on making my POV characters more proactive, making them more than a lens into the story. And when I’m done with that I’ll focus on writing a story that has meat on its bones (with an end goal of a zero draft that is more than a plot speedrun).

And I’ll keep going, and going, and going, and I might have to go back and revisit some things. But that’s fine, so long as I keep finishing the story. There’s always another draft where I can fix those issues, make sure the dialogue reads well, get rid of white-room syndrome; but none of that matters if I can’t finish the story.

my pea brain: finished

me: what?

The much-requested, positive counterpart to my classic “Female Characters to Avoid in Your Writing” and it’s much-later sequel.  

Here, I will discuss some of my favorite fictional ladies and what makes them work so well;  given my rapturous love of women, there will probably be a sequel!  In the meantime, I talk more about portraying female characters here.

Happy writing, everybody!  <3

1.)  The Warrior

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When most people hear “strong female character,” they picture the most popular definition of the term:  a stony-faced, emotionally shallow, conventionally attractive broad who punches and kicks stuff.  She may occasionally shout things like, “I DON’T NEED NO MAN,” while perhaps punching a small baby. 

I decided to start with my wife Diana, because she is the perfect antithesis of this trope.  She isn’t stony, she’s courageous.  She’s unabashed about showing her doubts, hopes, affections, and optimism.  Her love interest never steals her spotlight, but she feels no need to shun romance to appear “strong.”  She’s beautiful, but not sexualized or objectified.

And while most Strong Female Characters™ are ironically reduced to damsels in distress at some point in their own narratives, Diana consistently takes the lead, totally autonomous over her own story.

You can kick ass AND love babies, people.  Joss Whedon, please take notes.

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Other examples:  Okoye from Black Panther, Furiosa from Mad Max: Fury Road, Rey from Star Wars, and Ser Brienne of Tarth from Game of Thrones.

2.)  The Comedian

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If you haven’t watched Chewing Gum on Netflix, stop whatever you’re doing and watch it right now.  Its relatively simple premise – a twenty-four-year-old from a fundamentalist Christian household struggles to lose her virginity – is a segway into a hilarious, genuine exploration of human sexuality, relationships, and how we forge our identities.

Brilliantly portrayed by the series’ creator, Michaela Coel, Tracy is essentially that one friend who knows exactly what you’ve been thinking and isn’t afraid to say so.  She is never relegated to a single trope or stereotype.  She’s stumbling, clumsily but enthusiastically, through the life experiences that shape us.  Most importantly, she is allowed to be sexually curious, awkward, aggressive, insecure, and – I can’t stress this enough – hilarious.  The dialogue is infinitely quotable, and endlessly relatable. 

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Watching shows like Chewing Gum makes me realize how few female characters – and even fe wer Black female characters – are portrayed as truly human.  Typically, they’re allowed to be sexy, but not sexual.  They’re allowed to be awkward, but only if it’s cute.  They can be insecure, but only if that insecurity can easily be solved by the affirmations of a male love interest.  And they’re rarely allowed to be the main source of a series’ comedy.  

So remember:  let your female characters be human.  Let them be awkward, funny, sexual philosophers.  It’s easier than you think.  

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Other examples:  Abbi and Ilan from Broad City, Leslie from Parks and Rec, Tina from Bob’s Burgers.

3.)  The Drama Queen

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Watching Riverdale is like hurtling along on a structurally unstable rollercoaster.  It’s utterly insane, a lot of fun, and once you’re on, you can’t stop.

But amidst the explosions of batshit crazy plot points, killer cults, and the existential perplexity of finding yourself attracted to emo Jughead, there are some real gems.  One of these is Cheryl Blossom, and pretty much every plot line surrounding her.

Cheryl is introduced as a fairly one-dimensional, catty mean girl, though the Regina George-esque charisma with which she’s portrayed makes her instantly likable.  Initially, we expect her to be a character we’ll love to hate.

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And yet, within the first few episodes, I was impressed by how layered and complex her motivations were.  Much of contempt towards others was misdirected rage from an upbringing of extreme emotional abuse, and grief over her dead brother – all portrayed without a Snape-style condonation of said behavior.  By the end of season one, my thoughts were generally, “Oh, crap, I don’t think I can claim to be watching this ‘ironically’ anymore,” and “MORE CHERYL.”

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Season two answered my wish, and then some.  Cheryl was saved from an (impressively conscientiously portrayed) attempt at sexual assault by a pack of her female friends, and her attacker got the shit beat out of him in one of the most cathartic moments of modern television.

To the exaltation of my queer heart, she also came out as a lesbian, in a deeply moving story arc that I never would have expected from this show.  Without spoiling too much, she and her new love interest kissing in front of anti-gay propaganda footage was legitimately one of the most powerful moments I have ever witnessed.

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Before the season was over, she viciously threatened her abusive, homophobic mother while covered in blood, shot a serial killer with a bow and arrow, and joined a gang.  If that’s not gay culture, I don’t know what is.

Oh, how I wish this show was just about her.

Other examples:  Alexis from Schitt’s Creek.

4.)  The Lovable Bastard

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Ah, The Good Place.  I have never experienced such a breath of comedic fresh air.  A new philosophical principle each episode, examined and applied in hilarious and thought-provoking ways.  A complete absence of harmful stereotypes.  Incredibly lovable, three-dimensional, and ever-evolving characters. 

I was considering using my queen Tahani for this list, who externally larger-than-life and internally vulnerable after emotional abuse by her parents.  Also, she’s hilarious.  Everyone and everything in The Good Place is hilarious.  And I also thought about talking about Janet, who is the best character in anything ever, but of course:

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Instead, I’ll be talking about bisexual icon Eleanor, who is something very few female characters get to be:  the lovable bastard.

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Eleanor, when we first meet her, is not traditionally good in any sense of the word.  She turned down a high-paying job because she was expected to be nice to people.  She sold placebos to the elderly, and was great at it.  She was drunken, slovenly, hedonistic, and selfish.  And she’s instantly incredibly likable.

Why and how Eleanor is so enjoyable, even at her very worst, merits an essay all its own.  But in a nutshell:

We empathize with her.  We are introduced to “The Good Place” completely through her eyes.  We are in her shoes.  

The stakes are high.  When we discover that her entry into the good place was a mistake, we want her to be okay.

We come to understand her, and how her terrible childhood shaped her destructive behavior.  

She wants to be a better person, and with time, effort, and character development, we watch her become one. 

Not only is this an amazing lesson in how to endear audiences to your character, it is also infinitely refreshing.  The most famous lovable bastards are all men –  Han Solo, Dr. House, Captain Jack Sparrow, the Man With No Name, et cetera – but women are rarely afforded the same moral complexity.  If a woman in fiction has done bad things, she’s not usually a lovable bastard.  She’s usually a bitch. 

Eleanor isn’t just a great character.  She conveys an important lesson:  women are people.  People with the same capacity for mistakes, growth, redemption, and love as anyone else.

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Other examples: Chloe from Don’t Trust the B*tch in Apartment 23

5.)  The Cinderella

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Yep.  I said it.  Cinderella is a strong female character.

My girl not only survived in an abusive household, she persistently stayed positive.  She worked each day to make the best of an impossible situation, from which she had no means of escape.  That takes an insane amount of courage and tenacity. 

But Caff, I hear you scream, she needed help to escape!!  Well, my imaginary counterargument, so the fuck what?  MOST people need help to escape their abusive situations, and there’s no shame in that.  Accepting help from someone you trust is the best thing you can do in a situation such as that, and implying otherwise is horribly damaging to victims of abuse.  

But she married the prince, you more feebly protest.  Yes!  She did!  She found love and happiness and a great life in a socially influential position!  And that’s an amazing message!

So in the flurry of female warriors, let’s not forget Cinderella, who tells people that their terrible circumstances won’t last forever, to stay hopeful and kind, and that accepting help from a trusted friend can lead to a happy life.  

Cinderella is a bad bitch, and she deserves her happily ever after.

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Do you ever find yourself over-using the word “scared” to describe characters in your writing? Try using these words instead:

terrified

horrified

worried

spooked

afraid

paranoid

anxious

aghast

hesitant

panicked / panicky

concerned

nervous

startled

petrified

scarred

traumatized

frightened

fearful

shocked

• coming up with a vague concept that sparks something in your brain. Not really excitement yet, but it’s not numbness and despair so it might be worth nurturing?

• creating a Pinterest board for your aesthetics, until you get mental images of your idea

• making a Spotify playlist full of songs that might fit said aesthetics (and cursing yourself because you don’t have Spotify Premium and have to listen to 3 ads in a row urgh)

• having random scenes that start to pop in your head? Characters, relationships, things

• still no plot or even premise, though. You’re just shamelessly indulging on all these little things until you can pull yourself together and work on it for real

We love our banners and flags. They make a battle field bright, they light up a hall, they look great piled on a courtyard after being pulled down by one victorious lady and dashing bastard. Ah, the good old days.

These are my coats of arms, which technically I cannot have because I too am a bastard. But hey, I can dream. So lets get to it.

Major Divisions of the Field

These are the ways that different parts of the arms can be divided off from each other. Some banners and arms can contain multiple divisions depending on how many titles the person owns.

Chequy : Checker squares

Fess: horizontal stripe across the shield Pale: vertical stripe down the shield

Bend: diagonal stripe

Chevron: like a house gable, pointing upwards

Cross: a plain cross

Saltire: a ‘St. Andrew’s cross’

Chief: bar across top edge of shield

Bordure: border round edges of shield

Pile: downward-pointing triangle

Engrailed: with semi-circular bites taken out of the charge

Embattled: shaped like battlements.

Dancetty: larger zig-zags

Wavy: undulations

Nebuly: more pronounced waves

Rayonné, rayonny: shaped the rays of the sun, sort of like the Karstark sunburst.

Bevilled: with a single offset or bevel.

Quartered: A section of the shield is a different colour to the others.

Gyron: A triangular charge, half a canton.

Flaunches or flanches: These are curved “bites” taken out of the sides of the shield.

Canton: Like the quarter, it sections off some of the banner. But only one-ninth of the shield.

Tincture

Or colours. In many fantasy novels, we have banners of different colours or thousands of shades. But in heraldry, there are certain colours and each have their own fancy French name.

Silver / White : Or the proper name, Argent. Means truth, sincerity, peace, innocence and purity.

Gold: Called Or. Stands for wisdom, generosity, glory, constancy and faith.

Black: Called Sable. Means wisdom, grief, constancy and prudence.

Green: called Vert. Means abundance, joy, hope and loyalty in love.

Blue: Strangely not called bleu but rather Azure. Stands for loyalty, chastity, truth, strength and faith.

Red: Another strange one. Referred to as Gules. Means magnanimity, military strength, warrior and martyr.

Purple: Called Purpure and it means temperance, regal, justice, royal majesty, and sovereignty.

Orange: is called Tenne / Tawny. Means ambition.

Ermine: Black and white.

The one rule of Tincture is that you never even put two metal colours together. So no silver banners with gold.

Positions of the Heraldic Beasts

If your banners and arms feature a critter, than your creatures have to learn how to stand. There are many positions within the arms that the beast can take.

Statant: all four feet on the ground

Salient: The forelegs off the ground and the backlegs on the ground

Rampant: Rearing with a single leg on the ground

Passant: Standing with one foot raised

Sejant Erect: Stop chuckling. The beast is sitting but has its forelegs raised

Couchant: Lying down and head raised.

Dormant: Lying down, asleep.

Lodged : Lying, with the legs tucked under the body

Trippant: Walking, with one foreleg slightly raised

Courant: Running

Springing: Leaping or jumping, with the hind legs on the ground (the term for a herbivore animal)

For the Birds

Displayed: facing out from the shield, the wings fully extended

Close: standing on the ground with the wings folded.

Perched: perched on an object like a branch.

Rousant: about to take wing.

Soaring: Flying upwards.

Volant: Flying more or less horizontally

Non-Beastly Charges

You don’t need to have animals on your banners. Sometimes a good old shape will do.

Bordure or border: runs round the edge of the shield; often it is used to difference arms, for instance for separate branches of the same family.

Orle: is narrower than the bordure.

Lozenge: Diamond shaped.

Fusil: A narrower lozenge

Tressure: A double orle treated as a single charge.

Roundles: These are discs which can be of different colours, which each bring different terms.

Byzantine: gold

Argent/ Plate: silver

sable: pellet

Pomme: apple

Annulets: are roundles with a hollow centre like rings.

Fret: an interwoven design of six pieces.

The Laws of Heraldry

Sometimes when the arms can change depending on who in the family is using the banner. They might add a certain symbol or even the shape of the banner to denote who that person is in the family. This is called cadency.

Bastards and illegitimate children are not permitted to carry their parents arms. However they can have similar arms if the colours are reversed and there might even be a bend sinister on the shield.

The main charge should cover its field

I find that a rise in LGBT in books, tv, movie etc to be so inspiring an outstanding. I love how people are finally getting the idea that if you want your audience to feel a connection to a character you charter has to be real. A HUGE part of real life is the LGBT community.   But I dislike when shows and books just throw LGBT characters in there with no development. It is great to see some representation but why is that character gay for like two episodes or the last thirty seconds of a movie.

Here are some tips for writing great sub-plots, romantic or otherwise.

1. When to introduce a sub-plot

Of course, every story is different. However, there is some consensus that it's good to introduce your sub-plot a little ways into your book

The main plot needs to be established first. The readers need to know the main character(s) and understand what the story is about. They need to care about the crux of the book and the characters first.

Then, you can introduce an intriguing subplot to keep their interest.

Don't wait too long, though. Anything after 1/3 through might feel forced and misplaced.

2. When to resolve the sub-plot

The sub-plot should be resolved before the main plot is.

Generally, you want your readers' attention focused on the main conflict once you reach the climax.

This means that you want to give them the resolution of the sub-plot a few pages/chapters before the big showdown of the main plot.

You'll see that most TV episodes also follow this guideline and it works.

You can, roughly, aim for the 3/4 mark if you're unsure.

3. Remember the sub in sub-plot

I love a good sub-plot, especially one about characters growing closer. However, if I pick up a sci-fi thriller from the bookstore only to read a 400 page love story, I'm gonna be disappointed.

You classify your genre according to your main plot. What is the main conflict or purpose in your story? That should be the focus.

A sub-plot of whichever variation is always secondary to the main storyline.

If you focus too much on the subplot, it may overpower your real story and bump your book into a whole other genre.

So, maybe have the romance take a backseat when the main plot comes to play.

4. When to indulge

Let's be honest; we all love writing our sub-plots. They often contain the scenes you envisioned when thinking up your story - the conversations and fluff, the banter and depth of character. This, unfortunately, means that it's easy to get carried away, as I made clear in my last point.

However, there is a part of your book in which you can indulge, a point during which you can explore the sub-plot to your heart's desire.

When is that point? The middle.

Often, the main plot slows down in the middle of the book. The characters need training or there's a period of false security etc. Many stories have a lull in the middle where the main conflict isn't in full swing.

And this is where the sub-plot shines. This is where characters fall in love and heroes reunite with long-lost fathers. This is where you get to place your darling scenes.

And no, this doesn't mean that your middle can be 200 pages and you can write an entire romance novel. It also doesn't mean that the main plot must disappear. It's just a stage in the story where you can let the sub-plot loose a bit.

Also don't leave every aspect of your sub-plot for the middle. It should be woven into your story.

But use the middle to let the sub-plot shine.

5. Should you have a sub-plot?

Personally, I think every story needs some form of sub-plot.

There has to be some conflict/story/relationship that develops and adds intrigue aside from the main plot.

Not having one could screw up your pacing, make your characters feel underdeveloped and generally make for a boring read.

But, this is just my opinion. Each unto their own.

That's it. Those are some basic tips on writing a sub-plot. I hope that they could be helpful. As always, my inbox and asks are open for any questions.

Writing is indeed hard. If you’re like me, you’ve got a hang of it and now it’s just down to improving and building on the skills you have down pat. I’ve been writing for awhile now, and there is so much I’ve learned through trial and error. So many things that this post may get a little lengthy, because I’m gonna share all the stuff that’s really helped me improve. So let’s get down to brass tacks!

A few apps and websites that I use and totally suggest-

> Google Docs is my old faithful. It auto-saves your work, which is such a godsend, and there’s a mobile app so you can write on the go.

> Evernote is quickly becoming my favorite way of writing, planning, and organizing my writing. If you’ve heard of scrivner, I use evernote in a similar, yet more stripped-down way. It’s great for organizing wips, ideas and prompts, and planning and writing series. It’s pretty damn flexible, and I’m enjoying it so much. I also love the fact that you can download it for your desktop, so writing becomes that much more distraction-free. Which is usually my downfall.

> Edit Minion is a tool that can analyze your writing and pick out weak and over-used words. It can also tell you if your sentences are too short or long. It’s a great step-up from hemingway editor.

> TwinWord is a tool with a built-in thesaurus that suggests alternative words when you pause in your writing. It’s great for getting just the right word that may be on the tip of your tongue.

> Written? Kitten! rewards you with pictures of kittens every 100 words. I mean, it’s great if you find cat photos to be motivating to get you to write more.

> Coffivity is great for background noise, especially if you like that coffeeshop feel without the hassle of leaving your house. If you aren’t into that, there’s always Supernatural-themed background audio over at Ambient-Mixer. My favorite is the ‘Riding with the Winchesters’ track- it’s chill and you could turn off the ambient ‘radio’ and play whatever classic rock mix you’d like on low in the background for that authentic feel. There’s also some really great other fandom-themed stuff for Marvel, Doctor Who, Harry Potter, and more if you’re so inclined.

There’s a few things I’ve learned that I really think has helped improve my writing-

> Body language is so incredibly helpful for setting a tone to a situation, and clue the reader into how a character feels without having to say it outright. Everyday we all use body language to clue us in to tell us things that someone isn’t saying, and is as important as what they are saying.

General body language cheat sheets- x, x

The body language of attraction for Men and Women.

Body language in conjunction with conversations and dialogue- x

Make body language unique to the character. Sam and Dean show frustration differently, so let their body language reflect those unique tics.

> Showing emotion

Emotion should always lead to decision-making, either good or bad, that will propel the story forward.

Body movements should never be random. Everything a character does should have a specific intent: to achieve an end, reveal emotion, or to characterize.

Understand your character’s emotional range. For one character, intense situations may make them hyperventilate. For another, it might cause them to shift slightly while seated. Knowing how expressive a character is will help you find the perfect body cue to convey an emotional meaning.

Too many emotional internalizations in a scene can slow the pace considerably. If the thoughts are key, try shifting some of these to active, realistic dialogue. It will increase the pace and still allow the character’s feelings to be known.

Characters experiencing raw emotion often react without thinking- either through dialogue or action. This creates the perfect storm for mistakes, generating more conflict.

> Show vs Tell. 

Show examples- x

When to Tell- x

> Building mood- x

> Adding conflict and drama- x, x, x

> Flashbacks are a common way to show the reader a backstory event ‘in real time’ but you gotta use them with care.

Only use a flashback if it propels the story forward and the backstory is crucial.

Flashbacks should reveal something important, not explain.

Get in and get out- no flab.

Give it a punch. The event should have a huge impact on the current scene and emotions at work.

> Dialogue- x

Short, sharp dialogue is a prison shiv: moves fast ’cause it’s gotta, because Big Larry only has three seconds in the lunch line with to shank Jimmy the Snitch all up in his kidneys. Longer dialogue moves more slowly. Want to create tension? Fast, short dialogue. Want to create mystery? Longer, slightly more thoughtful dialogue.

Don’t let one character lecture; let it be a conversation. Otherwise, you end up with an infodump, and readers are just gonna skim it. And we don’t want to skim.

Dialogue is not always turn-based. Sometimes people are interrupted, because of a variety of reasons. People also stammer and try to work out what the hell they’re actually trying to say out loud. Don’t be afraid to mix it up and keep things interesting and dynamic.

Dialogue should flow like water. Find the boring parts. The unnecessary stuff. The junk. Anything that doesn’t feel a) necessary and b) interesting. Stick it in a bag and set it on fire. That means don’t hang a bunch of ornaments on your dialogue. In fiction, use the dialogue tags “said” and “asked” 90% of the time. You might use “hissed,” “called,” “stammered,” etc. These are strong spices; use minimally. Novice writers are tempted to pimp up their speech tags instead of the dialogue. You can do better than that.

Example - “Don’t ever talk to me that way again,” Peter hissed.

Better version - The twinkle in Peter’s eyes disappeared as he stepped closer. His voice was low, almost a growl. “Don’t ever talk to me that way again.”

Other Research guff that’s helpful when writing in the Supernatural world-

List of legendary creatures by type

Writer reference masterlist

Random name generator

Writing Injuries

Wound Types and How to Treat Them

More like this:

Surreal/magical realism/horror stories where it was all in the imagination of a mentally ill person in the end.

Villains with scary/stigmatized mental illness, especially to explain their “evil” or to make them scarier.

Psychosis causing people to murder others.

Really, equating mental illness with violence at all.

A character being “crazy.” Not schizophrenic, not traumatized, just ambiguously “crazy.”

Neurodivergent qualities (stimming, echolalia, and so on) being used to code a character as offputting. How often have you seen a character rocking or talking to themselves shown in an attempt to make you scared of them?

Therapists being cold, unfeeling, clinical in their treatment of patients. That’s just called a bad therapist. You can have a bad therapist character, but a therapist treating you like a laboratory animal isn’t normal.

Therapists not seeming to have or follow ethics at all.

Therapists being unhelpful because the protagonist is not actually mentally ill and there’s something fantastical or supernatural going on.

The supernatural misdiagnosed as mental illness (not bad necessarily but overused)

Characters always hating and resenting being in therapy (yes, you can have a character who hates therapy but therapy does help people and many people look forward to their appointments a lot.)

Weird, Freudian psychoanalysis and Rorschach ink blots being all that therapy is. Therapists analyzing dreams and deducing deeply buried childhood traumas from random habits a character has.

OCD as a character quirk or as comedy.

OCD just meaning neat freak.

Any mental illness as a character quirk or as comedy.

Mental illness always being extremely severe and life-altering instead of being something that people can learn to live/cope with. (For example, depressed people are perfectly fine if they aren’t actively suicidal.)

“Tough love” approach to panic attacks or severe phobias. (Example: the scene in Endgame where Rocket smacks Thor in the face.) Even worse, this actually working.

A character recovering from mental illness because another character tells them to get over themselves/yells at them/shows them how stupid they are.

PTSD where there are no other symptoms besides flashbacks and nightmares.

Trauma being used to make a character Edgy and not really being honestly handled.

Trauma being used to excuse evil acts a character does.

Characters having to forgive their abusers as part of their character growth.

Someone getting triggered for comedy.

Panic attacks being used for comedy…ever.

^Either of these things being supposedly comedic because they happen to a male character and are thus emasculating. Men have trauma. Men have anxiety disorders. They just do.

Mental illness in men being emasculating ever, at all.

Mental illness always being caused by some kind of trauma or past tragedy.

There’s a Big Reveal of what happened to a character and that precipitates their recovery. (Recovery is more complex than that.)

A character being on any kind of medication for mental illness symptoms hinting at a character flaw. (For example, a character going on anxiety meds because the author wants to denote that they’re excessively uptight. I can’t remember specifically where I read this but I’m so sure I have.)

Characters for some reason being super opposed to being on meds.

Characters entirely recovering from their mental illness as part of their character arc. (Recovery is a complex process and it’s almost never that smooth. You can show recovery of course but this is oversimplified.)

Characters recovering from their mental illness in the same way they might overcome a character flaw.

Mental illness cured by getting with the right partner. (A supportive partner can help, but the mental illness is still going to be there.)

Specifically trauma being cured by romantic relationship. There’s a kernel of truth to this in that social relationships aid in healing trauma, but being loved by the right person isn’t just going to make trauma disappear.

Autistic character who is a genius asshole; really the whole trope of “super smart and eccentric but no empathy or any attempt to show regard for others.”

Autistic character who has one super specific savant skill (I mean that happens but it’s not most of us)

The autistic younger sibling or endearing kid that does nothing in the story.

Autistics who are there for inspiration porn.

Autism being portrayed just as a person having the mind of a child forever. Autistics being super innocent about sexual things or unintentionally doing something sexually inappropriate.

That hyperactive little boy background character whose ADHD diagnosis is clearly just his mom making excuses for his terrible behavior.

Any kind of anti-psychiatry sentiment from people who know nothing about it. Your opinions about how antidepressants are overprescribed are as irrelevant as they can possibly be if you neither have a mental illness nor have ever studied it outside of a gen-ed psych class. Don’t slip shit like that into fiction.

If you are not mentally ill/ND: Your opinions about mental illness or neurodivergence, how people should cope with it, what it reveals about society or the world, or what secret superpower it confers, put into the mouth of a mentally ill or ND character. Basically don’t use your characters as mouthpieces for your opinions or insights about mental illness if you don’t belong to the group(s) you’re writing about.

Insane asylums as settings for horror because mentally ill people scarey.

Tortured Artist; the idea that having a mental illness (specifically an unmedicated mental illness) gives you this deep artistic insight others don’t have.

Aesthetic Depression. Depression being this deep, poetic darkness.

Suicide being poetic and romantic.

Depression gets better when your life does, automatically.

Disabled people being assumed unable to survive in a post apocalyptic setting.

Gendering of mental illness: anorexia only happens to teenage girls, PTSD is for men who have served in the military.

Characters dropping the “mentally ill” label as part of their character growth.

ND characters acting more like everyone else as part of their character growth.

Aesthetic Eating Disorders.

Normalizing disordered eating, unhealthy dieting. Disillusioned middle aged woman characters or teenage girls who keep starving themselves and taking dangerous detoxes as a throwaway quirk.