My Dreamland ✨

IWTBY Verse on AO3 aka the NFL Fake Dating AU

Thank you so much @redfurrycat for having this done by the amazing @enthyrea

hell yeah, I love writing questions. Show not tell is the age old classic, and it's such a delicate balance because there are times it's worth simply telling. I think my biggest pieces of advice are

-focus on action and senses. put yourself in the scene, what they're seeing/the ambiance/etc. I don't agree that adverbs are always bad but I do agree that it's an easy catch sometimes of taking out 'sadly' and instead showing they're sad. this goes hand in hand with don't say an emotion. if you find any mention of a named emotion, most of the time it can be taken out and replaced by action to show the feeling instead.

-remember you're in a character POV so when I start word vomiting I stop and think...would they be thinking this? how would they show it? how would they react? do they even understand why they're doing this or how they're feeling? and redirect

-stories are for building so focus on how their actions would shift throughout the story as it progresses, how the emotions would shift and how that would outwardly show. you want tension and a bit of 'mystery' too so play on that instead of word vomiting information. show things in pieces throughout. everything the character notices can be important whether it's things in the room, how they're taking in the other person, etc.

-anytime you have a piece of information that needs to be conveyed, stop and think okay what would be the most interesting way to show this?

-editing. I do a read-through when I'm done and take out a lot of stuff or rewrite it.

-you always want to lead with cause and then show effect. It needs to be the reason why/action first, then reaction.

-I remind myself I want the story to feel lived in. The story should jump right in, and the character wouldn't be thinking all this backstory or info dump or whatever immediately. they'd be living their life. so introduce information when it makes sense, based on something that would bring it up. Ex: they aren't going to think about this awful thing that happened to them, but maybe a few scenes later a smell reminds them of it and they clinch their fist, start thinking then stop themselves and redirect, etc. or maybe they distract themselves

-I sit and I go okay, I need to show this person is lonely. How do I do that? And I go through setting clues, or things like no texts on their phone but checking again a few minutes later. sometimes dialogue can be a good way to show instead, showing how they'd talk around something or put a double meaning on something etc. You don’t want it in your face obvious but to convey meaning. (people so often have so many reasons for saying things that aren't true or bend truth or don't say everything and that too can say so much)

Taylor and Travis getting married at Madison Square Garden on July 3 officiated by Adam Sandler was not on my bingo card but I’ll take it ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I'm very emo about this. The T&T. The massive, fun wedding. Thinking back to the ask I got years ago after the bracelet podcast during IWTBY height about if they'd get together and here we are. Very happy for them. (and selfishly this is so fun for me hahaha my fave guy from my lifelong fave team marrying my lifelong fave artist wow)

Also the Adam Sandler of it all is hilarious

tagged by @exhuastedpigeon @welcometololaland @mxrcusflint @roosterseresin @tgmsunmontue

Another snippet from my ex-college baseball teammates fic which went from hehe i'm not gonna do it to 34k and counting. (it's...really fun)

“Technically, I was here first.”

“Making yourself into my boyfriend.” Jake smirked, giving him a once-over over the papers. “You really could’ve just asked me out, darlin’, but I’ll admit, the initiative is sexy. Never thought I’d be into the whole tellin’ not askin’ thing.”

Bradley huffed and zipped his bag. “Yeah, would you have said yes?”

“Guess you’ll never know.”

With a shake of his head, Bradley said, “You’re such a—”

“Love of your life?” Jake filled in, as gleeful as ever for the opportunity to be a shit-stirrer. “I know.”

Bradley could only let out a breath and check the time. “You were wrong about the hour.”

A cocky half-grin grew. “Guesstimate.”

“Let me guess, never brought a guy home before, so it’s new territory?”

Jake’s amusement didn’t dim, but his focus returned to his paperwork. “It is a matriarchal household.”

Bradley belly flopped onto the mattress beside him, smirking when it fucked up the note Jake was making and earned him a scowl. “It’s funny, seeing you surrounded by 50 women. Not what I expected, but it actually makes so much sense.”

“You make plenty of sense, too, Bradshaw.”

In his short time, he’d already put together the fact that Jake had his mother’s maiden name. He debated asking, but he had to know. “What happened to your dad?”

“I’ll give you the dirty details if you give me yours.”

Bradley let out a breath and rolled onto his back. As he shifted to get comfortable, he winced at the lower part of his spine that was always angry those days, the cost of professional sports. There was no doubt the run had aggravated it. He wondered if Jake had any effects of the game, or if he was annoyingly perfect in that way, too.

“You okay there, gramps?” Jake teased.

“I’m two years older than you.”

“Funny, I recall that meaning a lot.”

It was odd, teetering between the past and the present, with the person on the other side of the teeter-totter someone he’d never been good at fully predicting. He’d once known him so well and also not at all, a decision that he still stuck by even if the reasons no longer mattered. It was surprising and unsurprising that Jake was deadset on bringing it up as much as possible. Bradley sighed and closed his eyes, dropping his arms onto the mattress. “You’re retired, and my back’s fucking shot, think things have changed.”