Lorelight

˙⋆✮ Weave thought into action instead of stopping the scene to explain it. Let your character think mid-motion, not instead of motion. She doesn't need to stand still for a paragraph to process something, she can be pulling her jacket on, still fumbling with the zipper, while the thought is happening. The scene keeps moving EVEN while the internal stuff is happening underneath it.

˙⋆✮ Keep introspection specific, not vague. "She felt sad" tells the reader almost nothing and kind of just sits there. "She kept waiting for the ache to make sense, and it never did" gives the reader something concrete to actually feel alongside her. Specific, sensory thoughts land so much harder than a generic emotion word ever will, bc they're doing the work of showing instead of just labeling.

˙⋆✮ Use internal monologue to contradict what's being said out loud. that gap between what a character says and what they're actually thinking is genuinely where all the good tension lives. She says "i'm fine" out loud while internally thinking "i am so far from fine i don't even know where fine went," and that contrast tells the reader more about her than either line would alone.

˙⋆✮ Don't over-explain emotions the scene is already showing you. If you've already shown your character's hands shaking and their voice cracking, you don't also need three sentences of internal monologue confirming "she was nervous." Trust your reader to connect what the character's doing with what they're feeling, bc over-explaining it on top just slows everything down and insults their intelligence a little.

⟡ Loving a character you created so much it feels absurd

⟡ Grieving the end of a book you wrote like losing real people

⟡ Having a whole conversation in your head and calling it plotting

⟡ Reading something brilliant and feeling both inspired and devastated

⟡ Knowing exactly what you want to say and watching it flatten on the page

⟡ The gap between the story in your head and the draft in front of you

⟡ Abandoning a project and thinking about it every day for two years

⟡ The specific ache of a story that isn't ready to be written yet

⟡ Writing around the hard scene for weeks before finally going in

⟡ Feeling protective of characters like they need you to get it right

⟡ Being unable to explain what you're working on to people who ask

⟡ Knowing a character's voice so well you know what they'd order for breakfast

⟡ The difference between a bad writing day and a day the work is actually bad

⟡ Trusting a story before you understand it

⟡ Loving a character you created so much it feels absurd

⟡ Grieving the end of a book you wrote like losing real people

⟡ Having a whole conversation in your head and calling it plotting

⟡ Reading something brilliant and feeling both inspired and devastated

⟡ Knowing exactly what you want to say and watching it flatten on the page

⟡ The gap between the story in your head and the draft in front of you

⟡ Abandoning a project and thinking about it every day for two years

⟡ The specific ache of a story that isn't ready to be written yet

⟡ Writing around the hard scene for weeks before finally going in

⟡ Feeling protective of characters like they need you to get it right

⟡ Being unable to explain what you're working on to people who ask

⟡ Knowing a character's voice so well you know what they'd order for breakfast

⟡ The difference between a bad writing day and a day the work is actually bad

⟡ Trusting a story before you understand it

Well. One of my characters decided she only speaks in questions.

And she's the god of this world, so she can do whatever she wants.

Well. One of my characters decided she only speaks in questions.

And she's the god of this world, so she can do whatever she wants.

Some places on Evergreen defy its strange laws of physics--if they can be called that--contributing their own brand of chaos to the mix. While most towns stick to one spot in one realm, a powerful spell cast during the Portal Crisis detached the town of Athru from its original location and set it in infinite motion. Though the caster's plans were thwarted, the spell's effects endured.

Some places on Evergreen defy its strange laws of physics--if they can be called that--contributing their own brand of chaos to the mix. While most towns stick to one spot in one realm, a powerful spell cast during the Portal Crisis detached the town of Athru from its original location and set it in infinite motion. Though the caster's plans were thwarted, the spell's effects endured.