The Ghost of the Navigator

basically i've been reflecting a lot on the kinds of writing advice i tried to follow growing up and where it did and didn't help me - i think a lot of it came down not to the advice itself actually being bad but to not having enough of a context at a young age to know how to interpret the advice or know what its "position" is on the ladder of importance when it comes to writing

specifically, with regard to character writing - a lot of the advice i saw when i was really actively working on improving my writing was to "get to know your character" to an extreme degree of detail. the advice reminded you that real people are quite detailed, and the basic idea was to give your character detail in a way that makes them feel more like a real person

the problem with this advice isn't that it's bad advice, it's that it assumes something about the person taking the advice that may not be true. so - in my case, following that advice, i would create very detailed backstory for my character, and then layer a lot of supplementary detail on top of that - advice often suggested knowing your character's cafe order, what kind of music they like, etc. the problem is that (for me anyway) that kind of thing should come later, not at the beginning step of character creation. so i ended up with very detailed character sheets and still no sense whatsoever that my character was a "real person" - now i just had all these out of context details i needed to remember and keep track of

the lack of context is really the beast here. i think a lot of young writers feel pressure to make their characters distinct and unique, when really what's going to make a character feel like "a real person" to the writer is a connection to something the writer actually cares about. probably the most important thing to ask yourself as a writer, before anything else, is - what do i find interesting? what do i want to explore? if your character is a vehicle for themes that are actually of importance to you, that'll give you a reason to be actually invested in them.

once i've established some kind of thematic relevance of the character to me, i've found it's best to start with a big picture sense of who the character is. what role does the character play in the story, relative to everyone else? what does the character do to move the plot forward? what kind of impression and impact does the character leave on the other characters? how does the presence of my character affect the overall dynamics? who does the character remind me of - both drawing on people i know in real life, celebrities, or other fictional characters? what kind of role do those people play, and how is my character similar or different?

another piece of writing advice i didn't really know how to work with as a young writer was to 'give your character flaws.' at this point with my writing i actually never think about this because i think it leads to the same kind of problem i mentioned earlier, where i was just writing stuff down out of context and now it was another thing to keep track of that didn't actually make my character feel more real to me. instead, i basically ask myself - what challenge does my character need to face? story and character go hand in hand - depending on what your character is dealing with in a big picture sense, the story should put them up against that and make that thing relevant. this is naturally what produces "flaws" in the character, and ties those flaws in with the actual story being told.

i think a lot of people - myself included in the past - tend to see plot and character as separate when they actually go together. certain kinds of characters invite certain kinds of plot. if you have a plot in mind, ask yourself - what kind of person would end up in this situation? who's the person who would really be transformed by going through this? and the same in reverse - if you're starting with a character, ask yourself, what kind of journey does this kind of person need to go on? a path for "growth" is already built into the character when you have a big picture sense of who they are, because character is story.

if you look at your own life, and the real people around you, you'll notice that you tend to encounter the same kinds of problems and learn the same kinds of lessons over and over again. it's the same thing for fictional characters, certain themes emerge and repeat because their disposition makes it so that there's certain kinds of issues they need to contend with and learn from.

a lot of people say they're bad with plot when they're quite good at writing short fanfic stories (hi c) - because when the character "feels real" to them they have a good sense of how to position that character so they're contending with something that they struggle with. the story teaches the character something, or at least positions the character to have a conflict that requires them to learn, even if it's short.

I saw these on twitter and liked them a lot. I thought they’d make a fun ask game for tumblr! I don’t take credit for these questions.

How many concerts have you been to?

Have you been to any festivals?

Which artist/band have you seen the most live?

First concert you went to?

Last concert you went to?

What is your next concert?

Which artists/bands would you love to see live?

The farthest you’ve traveled to go to a concert?

Best opening act you’ve seen?

Worst opening act you’ve seen?

Have you met any bands/artists at a concert?

What’s one thing you have to bring to a concert?

What’s the most you’ve paid for a ticket?

Best concert you’ve been to?

Worst concert you’ve been to?

Have you been in a social media post an artist posted after a show?

Funniest concert memory?

Do you buy your tickets as soon as they go on sale, after, or the day of?

Have you ever been noticed by an artist at a concert?

Have you met any internet friends at a concert?

Which concert that you’ve been to has had the best stage setup/production?

Have you ever caught a guitar pick, drumstick, got a setlist, etc.?

Favorite concert venue?

Least favorite concert venue?

Which do you prefer: indoor or outdoor concerts?

Which do you prefer: clubs, theaters, arenas, or stadiums?

Have you ever missed school or work to go to a concert?

Have you ever been surprised with tickets from someone?

Who do you enjoy going to concerts with?

General admission or seated concerts?

Have you been to multiple dates for one tour?

Have you been to concerts 2 or more days in a row?

Have you ever received free tickets from a contest or an artist’s crew?

Have you been front row and/or back row for a concert?

Have you ever gotten sick, bruised, or broken a bone after a concert?

Have you ever had surprise guests at a concert you attended?

Did you start listening to an opening act after you saw them in concert?

What’s the latest you’ve got home from a concert?

When is the earliest you’ve arrived to a venue for a concert?

Have you seen your favorite artist in concert?

Longest you’ve waited in line for a concert?

Have you ever attended a concert alone?

What’s the best part of a concert in your opinion?

Have you ever heard/seen an artist soundcheck before their show?

What’s the biggest venue you’ve been to a concert at?

What’s the smallest venue you’ve been to a concert at?

Have you ever had side stage seats?

Which venue have you been to the most concerts at?

Do you post a lot about a concert you’ve attended on social media or very little?

Has a concert or tour you were planning on going to got cancelled?

Have you seen a band in concert before a member left the band / they broke up?

Favorite song you’ve heard live?

Have you ever seen an artist/band play an album in full?

Which artist would you refuse to see in concert?

What’s the craziest thing a fan has done at a concert you’ve been to?

Which venue(s) would you love to go to for a concert?

Have you ever been to a concert at a venue that no longer exists?

Have you ever lost something/got something stolen at a concert?

Have people made fun of you or laughed because of how you were acting at a concert?

Have you ever been kicked out of a concert?

Has an artist thrown or spit water on you?

Have you ever seen a security guard dance to a song at a concert?

Have you seen any acts you don’t like at a concert?

Have you ever passed out or thrown up at a concert?

Seeburg Castle, Kreuzlingen, Canton of Thurgau, Switzerland,

I guess I wanted to ask if you ever caught yourself thinking what if? What if he is in fact trying to gaslight you or someone else- why else would he say that? And, how healthy is that line of thinking? I don't think it's very healthy but I keep finding myself in this pattern of thinking, just trying to survive in a highly political first job

You know what, I DID on occasion suspect it was happening again, and as it’s kind of a personal cptsd trigger I DID have a couple embarrassing meltdowns over it, but at the end of the day I figured either his memory was bad or he had some personal issues I couldn’t account for, and decided to continue taking notes as normal and if it conflicted with his reality to treat him the same way I would someone experiencing psychosis

Which is. I guess when he said stuff that didn’t make sense- like that I had done something I was pretty sure I hadn’t- instead of spiralling down that “am I crazy” hole again, I’d say. Like. “I believe that you’re telling me what you remember but I genuinely can’t recall that”, or, “What I remember you saying was actually X”, or, “I think this might be a miscommunication- when I say X, how does that make you feel?/What does that make you think?/What does that mean to you?”.

Basically, like. Instead of saying “you’re gaslighting me” or “you have memory problems” or “you’re lying” I’d just. Verbally affirm that I understood what they were saying, reassure that I didn’t think it was false, and remain firm that my own experience or perspective on the matter was different from theirs. And if they felt like discussing it, I’d be happy to narrow down where exactly our perspectives diverged, and if they weren’t- well. In hindsight, he’d get angrier, which makes sense, but when he started getting accusatory or loud I’d just leave.

Like. I’d just ask him to lower his volume, or tell him his language felt unprofessional, or tell him I didn’t want to talk to him while he was acting combative and I’d take my break early so we could both calm down. I’d explain exactly what language was unfair and if he was flat-out saying things like “I don’t care” or “that’s stupid” then I’d point it out immediately as hurtful and unproductive.

That held the ship together long enough that we still OPERATED fairly well together, and I was mostly able to brush it off as a rough personality until he… exited… and it all came out.

Whoops?

Imagine that. You're Aragorn. You're Isildur's heir. You inspire loyalty wherever you go. All who know you love you. Your people will follow you into the gates of hell. You're a deadly and valiant soldier, yet your hands also have magical healing powers. You save Middle Earth and become a great and beloved king.

Erick “Dub” Weir, “Wanna Play?”

Richard Wells, “A Warning to the Curious”

You can't do that. Absolutely not. Anakin is unqualified for that and a university would not do it in any case. A university would literally hire a junior or senior undergraduate workstudy student to do as much of that work as possible first. They would do NOTHING other than do that and make the prof do all his own grading.