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How do you write characters who ignore their feelings
When you write characters who ignore their feelings, you delve into a complex psychological landscape that, if done well, can resonate deeply with readers. These characters are walking contradictions, their emotions simmering just beneath the surface. This tension between their inner experiences and external expressions makes them fascinating and relatable to readers.
Behaviour
Disregard their own emotional well-being
Focus on logic and facts
Appear stoic or unfazed in stressful scenarios
Engage in compulsive behaviours as a distraction
Will take on burdens without complaining
Avoid conversations about their feelings
Can be reliable in a crisis
Immerse themselves in work or hobbies
Seen as cold or insensitive by others
Exhibit control issues, and micromanaging tendencies
Interactions
Difficulty forming deep, emotional connections
Uncomfortable with physical displays of affection
Struggle to empathise with others’ feelings
Change the subject when discussions turn emotional
Appear indifferent or detached in social settings
Perceived as blunt or straightforward in their communication
Offer practical solutions to problems, rather than emotional support
Have a small, close-knit circle of friends, if any
Inadvertently hurt others by dismissing their emotions
Often seen as the ‘rock’ or ‘anchor’ by their peers
Body language
Cross arms or create physical barriers when emotional topics arise
Maintain a steady, controlled posture
Rarely exhibit nervous ticks or fidgeting
Minimal eye contact during emotional conversations
Often have a rigid or stiff walk or stance
Avoid touch or recoil slightly from unexpected contact
Neutral or hard to read facial expressions
Look away or distance themselves from emotional displays
Rarely cry or show signs of emotional distress in public
Likely to control voice pitch and volume meticulously, even when agitated
Attitude
A practical and no-nonsense demeanour
Often skeptical of emotional reasoning or decisions
May seem dismissive or cynical about sentimentality
Value strength, self-sufficiency, and independence
Pride themselves on not ‘giving in’ to emotions
Can be incredibly self-disciplined and focused
View emotional displays as weaknesses or inconveniences
Have a strong drive to maintain composure under pressure
Sometimes accused of lacking passion or enthusiasm
Can come across as disinterested or aloof
Positive story outcomes
Learn to acknowledge and accept their emotions in a healthy way
Build stronger, more genuine relationships through vulnerability
Find themselves more at peace after emotional breakthroughs
Gain respect from others for their growth and emotional maturity
Overcome past traumas that caused them to suppress their feelings
Develop a more balanced approach to problem-solving
Become a role model for others struggling with emotional expression
Facilitate a cathartic moment that resolves a central conflict
Experience personal breakthroughs leading to unexpected joy
Discover hidden strengths through the acceptance of weakness
Negative story outcomes
Relationships may deteriorate because of emotional neglect
They could face a breakdown from accumulated stress
Might cause unintended harm to themselves or others
Risk becoming isolated because of their lack of emotional openness
Can suffer from health issues related to suppressed emotions
Might miss out on life-changing opportunities because of fear of vulnerability
Could be overtaken by their emotions in a critical moment
May lose the trust or respect of peers who crave emotional honesty
Potentially fail to resolve a major conflict because of emotional barriers
Their growth as a character might stagnate, leading to a tragic outcome
So this was an ask I received from @costangeles, and I thought that it deserved one of my Long Posts™ to properly answer it.
Complex characters are super, super important to any fictional work, whether it be an OC in your personal short story/novel/etc. or an OC in a fanfiction. If the characters in your work aren’t complex, the readers won’t care much about the characters and therefore won’t care much about the story itself.
Complex characters aren’t a suggestion, they are a necessity if you want your story to be successful and well-liked by your readers.
Since they’re so important, I decided to make a post on how to write them instead of just answering it on the ask.
1. Know the definition of a complex character
People take a look at the phrase “complex character” and think, “Oh, I know what that is! It’s a character that’s complex!”
They are right, in a sense, but there is so much more to complex characters than it states in the name.
According to this document (which comes up when you Google “complex character”)
“A Complex character, also known as a Dynamic character or a Round character displays the following characteristics:
1. He or she undergoes an important change as the plot unfolds.
2. The changes he or she experiences occur because of his or her actions or experiences in the story.
3. Changes in the character may be good or bad.
4. The character is highly developed and complex, meaning they have a variety of traits and different sides to their personality.
5. Some of their character traits may create conflict in the character.
6. He or she displays strengths, weaknesses, and a full range of emotions.
7. He or she has significant interactions with other characters.
8. He or she advances the plot or develops a major theme in the text.”
Now that you know the definition of a complex character, it’ll probably be easier to write them. Technically, I could just end it here and have the document give you all the tips, but I felt like I should elaborate on the few of the points just to emphasize how important they are.
2. Your Character’s Gotta Change
Your story/novel/fanfiction is outlining a gigantic event, right? One that’s harrowing and draining and tough on the body and the mind?
Just a note: ANY NORMAL HUMAN BEING WOULD CHANGE AFTER EVENTS SUCH AS THESE.
It’s not feasible for a character NOT to change after something like this happens.
I’m going to use my book as an example:
Andrew, the main character and the narrator of the story, is an angel stuck in Hell.
Do you know what happens in Hell? Demons torture people.
Do you know what happens to Andrew? He gets tortured.
Now, who wouldn’t change in this environment? Andrew had to adapt in order to endure the least amount of suffering as possible. At the beginning of the story, he is quiet and reserved, and easily spooked. Wary of new people.
But as the plot progresses and he’s rescued by the other characters in the story, he comes out of his shell and realizes that there’s no one to fear.
Your characters have to change like that. They may not have to go through literal hell, but they sure have to change after the event happens.
Some of you might be panicking right now because you don’t want to change your character, or can’t see a way that your character can change.
Don’t worry, I’ve made a list of traits that can be changed during the course of your story. All of these things can either go up or down as the plot progresses.
-Ambition
-Apathy
-Assertiveness
-Capability
-Compassion
-Confidence
-Consideration
-Courage
-Cowardice
-Dependability
-Determination
-Generosity
-Honesty
-Ignorance
-Impulsiveness
-Individuality
-Independence
-Insecurity
-Literally any bad trait
-Protectiveness
-Spirituality
-Tolerance
-And many more
3. They Gotta Have a Personality
This one is necessary for any character, but like with the phrase “complex character”, many people just put it into generic terms.
Think of any character from any book, movie, TV show, etc.
Now, think about their personality traits.
Notice how, if they’re a good, well-developed character, they have a lot of them.
A personality doesn’t just mean “Oh, I like pizza”.
Liking something unimportant doesn’t make a person who they are.
Liking something is not a personality trait unless that thing is super important to them like sports or school or their family. (Athletic, bookish, family-oriented)
People are incredibly complex creatures that have a whole fuckton of things that are good and bad about them. You can’t just go online to one of those “character traits” charts and pick and choose like five of them. Your character should have a whole load of traits, otherwise they’re not a complex character.
Traits should be diverse. There should be both good and bad traits. Major and minor traits.
Take a moment and write down all of your character’s traits. They can’t be physical traits, and they can’t be minor things that they only “like” and can live without.
If there aren’t a lot of them or you can’t think of that many, then your character is not complex.
This is okay for side characters, but for your main protagonist it’s a big no-no.
4. Your character has to be an active participant in the plot
THIS IS SUPER IMPORTANT STAR THIS, HIGHLIGHT IT, UNDERLINE 100 TIMES
Here is the big question: Is your character moving the plot, or is the plot just happening to your character?
If you answered the latter, then you have a big problem.
I’m not even going to sugarcoat it; if your protagonist, the one you love with all of your heart and couldn’t bear to live without, is not advancing the plot, then they shouldn’t exist in the story.
Your character’s choices have to make the plot move forward. Their choices have to impact the story an cause consequences, whether they be good or bad in the long run for the whole cast of characters.
Unless your character is forced to be a passenger (whether it’s because of lack of physical/mental/magical ability compared to the supporting cast, or because they are actually forced), they should be the one in the driver;’s seat, not the one that was dragged along for the ride.
If you still can’t grasp what I’m talking about, you should watch this video, which explains it perfectly.
She-Who-Fights-And-Writes FAQ: A Complete List of Writing Resources
Please refer to this page before sending any asks, please!
I will answer questions about:
Characters
Plotting
POV
Setting
Tropes
Fanfiction
Genres
Getting Started
And more!!!!
I will NOT answer questions about:
Things that are already on this list
The publishing/editing industry (primarily because I’m unqualified)
Children’s fiction and Nonfiction (Same reason as above)
Hyper-specific details of your WIP; I can’t tell you how to write your own story.
“Does ____ sound like a good idea?”
Anything that can be figured out with a quick Google search (i.e. how fast can cheetahs run, how long does it take to get a license, etc.)
Asking me to reblog your post, give you a shout-out, etc. This blog is just for writing content only and will remain ad-free.
Asking me to read/edit your story for free. I’m a college student with a very busy life who also has her own writing projects to worry about, and cannot put time aside to edit someone’s work for no cost at all. Refer to my commissions page, please!
Sorry, but I am quite rigid about these rules!
This is just a compilation of the questions I get a lot or I think I answered pretty well, so if you need anything else feel free to check out my #answering asks tag!
I’ve also included some posts from other blogs/sources as well because I feel as though they can explain it much better than I ever could!
About Me!
Once Upon A Time (Starting, Improving, and Keeping Momentum)
How to Get Inspired to Write and Regain Creativity
How to Write a First Draft
How to Outline
Plotting for Pansters and Pantsing for Plotters
How to Overcome Writer’s Block
How to Write Consistently
How to Improve Your Writing
How to Expand Your Vocabulary and Utilize English Idioms/Figures of Speech
How to Get Into Writing Fiction
Is Your Story Better as a Fanfic or an Original Work?
Structuring
How to Write a Scene (Source: Jerry Jenkins)
How to Write a Sub-Plot
How to Write In Certain Tenses
How to Write a Flashback
How to Make Your Story Longer (Feat. a helpful reblog from @romancingthebook)
How to Write a Final Draft
How to End Your Story (Source: Now Novel)
Substance, Filler, and Pacing
How to Fix Your Filler Scenes
How to Cut back Filler Words (For People Looking to Reduce Their Word Count!)
How to Balance Description and Dialogue
How to Write a Smooth, Rhythmic Narrative
Prologues and Info Dumping
How to Avoid Purple Prose (Source: WikiHow)
POV Tips
How to Choose Which POV to Use (Source @evans-writing)
How to Write First Person POV
How to Write Switching POVs
Genres + Setting
How to Write About Medieval Europe
How to Write About Mid-Nineteenth/Early Twentieth Century America
How to Write About School
How to Write an Apocalypse
How to Write Gangster/Mafia Fiction
How to Write Humor
How to Make Your Story Less Sad
How to Make Your Story Scarier
Plot Points
How to Write Character Death
How to Fake a Character’s Death
How to Write Character’s Planning/An Explanation of an In-Story Plan
How to Write a Fight Scene
How to Write Magic
How to Write Missing Person’s Reports
How to Write Pain
How to Write Regret
Subverting Common Fanfiction AUs and Plot Ideas
Fantasy AU Ideas
Dialogue
How to Write Arguments
How to Write Dialogue
How to Write Humor
Master List of Speech Tags
Characters
Popular Character Tropes and Prompts to Subvert Them
When to Change Your Character’s Name
Ways To Tell if Your Characters are Too Similar (How To Cut Characters)
How to Describe Bodies
How to Describe Clothing
How to Write Characters Who Are Different From You
How to Write Close Platonic Relationships
How to Write Complex Characters
How to Write (Good) Female Characters
How to Write a Good Monarch/Ruler
How to Write a Villain
How to Write a Villain Redemption Arc
Villain Motivations
How to Write Young Children and Babies
How to Write Siblings
How to Write a Drunk Character (For people who can’t/prefer not to drink)
Love Stuff
How to Write Romance
How to Write Falling In Love
How to Write a Love Triangle
How to Write Enemies to Friends to Lovers
How to Write Healthy Relationships
How to Write Long Distance Relationships
How to Write Non-Explicit Sex Scenes
How to Write Teasing in a Romantic Relationship
How to Write Toxic Relationships
Reasons for Divorce
Fantastic Beasts (And How to Write Them)
How to Write Shape-shifters
How to Write Characters With Wings
How to Write Angels (A History of Angelic Lore)
How to Write Characters with Tails
How to Write Zombies
How to Write Gods, Goddesses, and Deities
How to Write Animals in Battle
How to Write a Hive Mind
Diversity
I am a white, neurotypical, cisgender woman and shouldn’t give you any advice but to DEFINITELY include diversity! Here are some great blogs for you to follow!
@writingwithcolor
@yourbookcouldbegayer
@scriptautistic
@actuallyblind
@cripplecharacters
Writing Deaf of Hard of Hearing Characters
Miscellaneous
MASTER LIST OF INSTRUMENTAL PLAYLISTS FOR WRITING (OR FOR STUDYING, MAKING ART, ETC.)
How to Become a Writing Advice Blog
How to Write Constructive Criticism
Books You Should Get As a Writer
check out my #writing memes tag, too!
My Book
I’m currently working on a novel titled Wings of Faith, and often post content such as art, aesthetics, and writing updates!
Summary:
Humans are nothing if not imaginative creatures. They tell tales of being watched over by invisible guardians, of bearing witness to divine messengers descending from the sky in a blaze of fire. Snowy wings, flaming swords, haloes and harps…you know, all the classic bullshit.
“Be not afraid!” they write these creatures saying, since humans like to comfort themselves with the notion that their celestial shepherds are merciful. But mercy, even for such “angels” that are so often painted and prayed about, is a luxury that only those with enough life left in them can afford.
(OR a jaded one-winged angel must team up with a ragtag band of demons to escape from Hell)
Wings of Faith Masterpost
My Art Blog
Here’s the blog that I post all of my art on, including Wings of Faith content, art wips, fandom content, and original work! Feel free to check it out here!
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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Anya is LIVE right now
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“The history of my life is the history of the struggle between an overwhelming urge to write and a combination of circumstances bent on keeping me from it.”
zorry for azking but do u know how to write panic attackz ur like the only writer i know
Grins evilly. Hyperventilation.
If you want it to really hit your reader, at least from my understsnding, be vague about surroundings. Be vague about details. When having sensory overloads, anxiety attacks, or panic attacks, its hard to focus on anything. Its a moment of distress.
As i said earlier, hyperventilation can also get the point across. You can write it using "inhale" and "exhale" or "in" and "out".
When you hyoerventilate, your breathing patterns arent normal, so its hard to breathe. This causes light-headedness, so you can include being dizzy or feeling ill.
Examples of hyperventilation;
"Inhale, inhale, inhale, exhale.
Exhale, exhale, inhale, inhale, exhale."
And just change it up. I think not repeating any pattern can grt the point across of how uneven and panicked it is. You might inhale less than you exhale, or exhale less than you inhale.
to start with, let the characters have something in common, let them bond over something.
have a reason why readers should root for their relationship with each other more than with someone else.
also, make their traits compatible.
there are endless possibilities, just make sure there is a good reason they like/love each other.
build the tension.
please do not get them together immediately.
personally, the best element of a romance is the tension.
don't put mindless obstacles and make it look forced.
make them fall in love slowly, have them be unsure of their feelings (the old school type of love yk)
if you feel comfortable with it and are able to portray it properly, you can add some sexual tension.
write a healthy romance.
abusive relationships might be popular now, but please don't let it prompt you to do that.
DO NOT romanticise things that shouldn't be.
in any relationship, respect is more important than love.
let your characters respect each other, grow together.
if two characters are not good for each other, how can you even think of them ending up together?
have people see their chemistry.
this is a no-brainer.
readers find it beyond adorable when two characters are confused about their feelings for each other, but them being in love with each other is obvious to the other characters.
have their friends tease them about it, or have them conspire to get them to admit their feelings ;)
an awkward adjustment period.
a relationship is not all roses.
when people start dating, there's a change in their dynamic and change isn't easy.
there'll be awkward moments, arguments, maybe some discomfort in going public with their relationship, new roles and responsibilities and learning more about each other.
the relationship won't be perfect right away, but nothing is, too.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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Anya is LIVE right now
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hello to my loyal tumblr followers... i am often asked to give writing advice but usually when people ask me this i'm nooooot completely sure what to say despite having a ton of advice to give. it's such a broad question when there are so many different things i can advise on, right? so i thought i'd make a sort of writing advice masterpost where i can compile the tips that i think people specifically in fandoms could benefit the most from hearing, OR that i wish someone had told me when i was still finding my footing as a writer.
hopefully this will be helpful to you. i am putting all of the advice under a read more since this is going to be a long one. let's roll!
✬ paragraph breaks are your friend
the fastest way to get me to stop reading a fic is if i click in and see that there are NO paragraphs made and the entire piece is in a huge block of text. no matter how good your work is, i just can't read it at that point. the giant paragraph makes me get lost, i can't focus on anything... it's a huge no.
the trick is you want your paragraphs to sort of act as a guide for your reader, taking them through the story, keeping them engaged. do not be afraid to do short paragraphs! i can understand wanting to shy away from one or two sentence paragraphs for fear of not having "enough substance" in your work, but the truth is, a thousand short paragraphs is ten times easier to read than a huge block of text.
realistically, you want to have a good amount of variety in your paragraph length. variety is key. readers will notice when your work gets formulaic, and some people will like that, but for others that can turn people away from your work. but don't force it! a paragraph should end at the end of a statement, or if the paragraph is getting too long then cut off the thought and continue in the next paragraph with a transitional phrase.
as a general rule of thumb, you want lines of dialogue by different speakers to be put in separate paragraphs. you also want to avoid doing huge chunks of narration or exposition in the same paragraph as you introduce a new speaker. just make a new paragraph! no big deal. i guarantee you your reader will be way more engaged and nobody is going to come at you for doing more rather than less.
✬ make sure the reader knows who is speaking and when
you don't have to end off every line of dialogue with "she said" and in fact i would really recommend you don't. but you ALWAYS need to have some kind of indication in the text as to who is speaking, otherwise the reader can get lost.
this doesn't necessarily mean that you always have to explicitly say who is saying what, though. if it is obvious in a scene who is saying something -- so for example, a scene where there are only two characters talking OR the dialogue has some kind of phrase, statement, etc that makes it obvious who the speaker is -- then in that case you can just let the dialogue speak for itself. sometimes in writing less can be more. you disrupt the flow of a scene if you start to exposit unnecessarily when the reader could reasonably work something out for themself.
✬ "said" is your friend too
related to the last piece of advice, here's another note: don't shy away from using the word "said".
don't overuse it, either. obviously, you don't want every single line to be "he says" "she says" back and forth, especially when they might be asking questions or shouting, in which case the word "said" probably isn't all that applicable at all. but it's a nice default. if you catch yourself busting out the thesaurus, my recommendation? quit it. just use said. it's not going to hurt you and the reader isn't going to mind.
but yeah, in the event that a character is raising their voice, whispering, inquiring -- there are tons of other words you can use in lieu of said and then an adverb. it's just context-dependent, and also, you don't really want to lean too far one way or another. like i said, variety is key. too much of the same breaks immersion.
✬ if you wouldn't say it yourself, probably don't use it in writing
another related tip. look, i get it. you want to spruce up your writing with synonyms. but the fact of the matter is that a lot of these words that "mean the same thing" on paper actually have wildly differing connotations and if you don't understand what those are you're going to look kind of silly whipping out a word you just found off the internet. we can usually tell, too.
your vocabulary will naturally grow and expand as you continue to read and learn. you don't have to try and force it to seem smarter in your writing. people who can write compelling prose and dialogue without throwing in fancy words they barely understand look a lot more intelligent than people who have a thesaurus at the ready 24/7.
✬ if there's a simpler way to say it, take it
this one can be sort of style-dependent, so if it's not your cup of tea then feel free to take or leave this tip, but in my opinion, taking a whole seven-line paragraph to describe a simple action wastes both your and the readers' time.
how many times have you read a fic where the main characters are having a conversation with these long rambling paragraphs between lines of dialogue? sometimes this makes sense! if you were writing a death note fic it would absolutely make sense for light or L to be pausing every few seconds to carefully analyse their opponent's move... but that's not always the case. sometimes characters are just making small talk.
i'm not saying you can't show off. you should show off where applicable. but there's a time and place. sometimes a scene benefits more from you taking the easy way to describe something and moving on. flowery language is great, but if you're meandering too much the reader will lose interest and attention.
✬ a metaphor is useless if nobody knows what it means
writing is subjective and highly personal. write for yourself first and foremost, and use the metaphors that feel right to you -- but the best metaphorical pieces, to me, are the ones that people can understand and identify with.
you've read a story like that, haven't you? with a reoccurring theme or motif that comes back into play at the end in a way that makes you feel so satisfied and complete? THAT'S what you aim for with literary devices like that. if you write a story that nobody can understand, with metaphors that just don't make any sense -- then you haven't really successfully told a good story, have you?
i understand wanting to have a magnum opus. i think it's easy to fall into the "misunderstood writer" mindset where you want your pieces to be so magnificent that only the likeminded will get it -- but writing is a form of communication. metaphor is just another means with which we can illustrate how we feel. you WANT your readers to understand what you're doing with the metaphors, you WANT the people who step away from your story to know what you were trying to say. you don't have to be obvious, just make it good. make it something that can be reasonably drawn from the text.
at the end of the day flowery language is just flowery language. that doesn't actually make your story good.
✬ grammar intermission
(.) period/full stop: used at the end of sentences. oftentimes not used at the end of sentences in dialogue, because lines of dialogue are considered a fragment of a larger sentence. use a period/full stop at the end of a line of dialogue if the dialogue is followed up by another complete sentence. example:
"i just went to the store," he said, scratching his head.
"i just went to the store." he scratched his head.
(,) comma: used in the middle or to separate different clauses (parts/sections) of sentences. used for incomplete clauses, AKA sections of the sentence that could not function as individual sentences. also used to indicate a slight pause. example:
she reached for the ripest banana, plucking it from the bunch.
a comma can also be replaced by a conjunction like "and" or "but". example:
she reached for the ripest banana and plucked it from the bunch.
(;) semi colon: used to separate different complete clauses in sentences, AKA sections of the sentence that are related but COULD function individually as their own sentences. example:
he sighed as he looked out the window; it had been so long since he stepped outside.
not to be confused with
(:) colon: used at the end of a line that leads into or introduces another line. example:
his fingers drummed restlessly against the window sill. it was finally happening: he was finally leaving this place.
(-) hyphen: used to connect compound words like three-years-old or hyphenated surnames like jones-smith.
(–) en dash: used to indicate ranges of time or distance, like 3–4 hours.
(—) em dash: a girl's best friend. slash j. but an em dash is used to indicate a few different things: an abrupt end to a thought or sentence, a "cut-in" where you interject something tangentially or unrelated before returning to the original thought, or a diversion in the sentence/thought. examples:
"no, listen, you don't understand—"
he scowled—an ugly look on his usually handsome features—and told her to be quiet.
it's not like she had wanted it to go that way—but when had it ever mattered what she wanted?
(()) parentheses: used to add additional context, information, or a semi-unrelated thought that would break the flow of an ongoing sentence without completely taking the reader out. example:
"no, i'm sorry. i just forgot to call you this morning," he said, looking away. (in truth, he'd sat by the phone for fifteen minutes trying to psyche himself into it, but hadn't been able to muster the courage.)
✬ show don't tell, and tell don't show
show don't tell is one of the classic pieces of writing advice that i do, often, think is correct -- but it's a little more nuanced than just never telling your readers what a character is thinking. you want the work to speak for itself without you implanting messages or themes into the reader's brain. at the same time though you don't want them to be doing too much work because it breaks immersion.
this ties into what i was saying above about simpler being better sometimes. you want to be concise especially in scenes that might call for it. a fight scene should be quick and snappy. no need to dig into the physical sensation of being enraged -- just say the character is pissed! but if a character is having a meltdown or panicking, you can get SO much more out of describing how that feels than just outright saying it.
✬ remember your perspective
another huge thing with show don't tell is that you don't want your character to be able to objectively say what everyone else is thinking and feeling -- unless that makes sense for them within the context of the story. really dig into it. DOES the character have a reason to know what their opponents, friends, etc are thinking? how well do they know the other characters? how attentive are they to the emotions of those around them?
it's better to focus on descriptions than labels in that case. say what face a character is making, describe their body language or tone. your character can have impressions, just make it clear that those ARE their impressions. and let your character be wrong! they do not have to be a completely objective source of information.
✬ when it comes to representation, if you aren't confident you can do it well, don't do it at all
i'm one of those people who's kind of of the opinion that white or cishet or otherwise systemically advantaged people have no place being the loudest voices in conversations about representation, least of all AS the representatives. if you are someone with systemic privilege and you choose to portray someone who is oppressed -- that's not necessarily a bad thing. but you need to be willing to do your research and have a sensitivity reader, and you have to be ready for people to say you did it wrong.
not much else to be said about that. your voice on the matter isn't actually all that important. there are people from the demographics involved who DO have stories to tell about themselves that will be MUCH more valuable than your perception of them, so it's honestly better to just let them tell it. that's how i feel.
✬ don't break the rules unless you know how to follow them. in other words, your rebellion should be obvious
a lot of times i see people breaking grammar or other rules and citing "stylistic" choices as their reasons why. which is all good and well, to an extent -- but you want it to be very clear that you ARE breaking the rules on purpose in a way that adds to the artistic merit of your piece.
if you don't know the rules, then it really just comes across like messy work. you both have to know how to apply the rules, and also how to break them in a stylistically significant way. if it doesn't make sense for the rules to be broken, if it says nothing... it's honestly better to just follow them. that's my take.
✬ don't be scared of names and pronouns
i said before that you want variety in your work, and that is very very true -- but it's also true that certain words like names, pronouns, etc will sort of blend into the background in writing. people don't notice them. that means if you're using a name or pronoun a lot in a scene to make it clear who exactly is being referred to...
hey. look into my eyes. breathe. it's okay. you do not have to resort to highlighting arbitrary characteristics of the characters. i know. just breathe. it's okay. use their names. they have them for a reason. it's all good.
this isn't to say that you SHOULDN'T do that, just do it when it makes sense to. if height is something the characters are noticing then use "the shorter boy". if age is relevant, eye colour, hair colour, whatever -- go ahead and use them. but don't be excessive with it. i should not be having to read the bluenette more than i'm reading shuichi's actual goddamn name.
✬ read
this is the huge one. reading other works informs your writing. it teaches you skills and tricks you can use. it helps expand your dialogue and your world view. it might even highlight to you things you do too much of in your own writing. read, all the time, whenever you can. it doesn't have to be books. it can be fanfic, articles, whatever -- just keep reading, because you will be passively absorbing knowledge during that time and it'll help you grow as a writer.
✬ practice
BOOOOOO TOMATO TOMATO TOMATO! SHE SAID THE THING SHE SAID IT!
but listen, it's literally just true. i write almost every day for at least a couple of hours and i have been on a trend of consistent growth for the past five years. go read my fics from 2019 if you don't believe me. i've grown fast and i've grown constantly. you just DO grow through constant practice, even if it doesn't always seem that way.
not only that, but you start to build confidence too. writing a lot helps develop those muscles to a point where you start to realise that you ARE that good and you DO have that dawg in you. or whatever. you just have to keep at it. you're not going to magically improve thinking for six months about how you want to be a better writer without practicing anything about it.
✬ yeah, betas are good
you want to have a good editor. i know that that can feel like having someone ELSE be the reason your piece is good, but that's genuinely not it. a beta reader is a second pair of eyes on your work, someone who can tell you about the issues and mistakes you're missing. they'll tell you when something doesn't make sense. they'll point out your punctuation errors. you don't NEED to have a good editor for every crummy little oneshot... but it's good to have one.
✬ numbers are fine and all but don't compare yourself to other people
i think almost everyone in some kind of creative pursuit wants to get some kind of acknowledgement for it. we want to be the best we can be, and it can be discouraging to receive utterly no validation along the way! i get it!!
just don't get caught up in crunching the numbers. you are not as good as your fanbase is. you alone know your skillset and you absolutely should not say "well this other writer got THIS much attention" because that'll just wear you down. it really will. external validation will only keep you going for so long, and you'll always end up needing more. you HAVE to build your own personal confidence first or you'll crash and burn.
✬ read your writing out loud
there is no quicker way to see if something is wonky in your prose than reading it out loud and seeing if it makes sense verbally. i highly recommend this to anybody who struggles with sentence flow. it's a good one.
✬ yippee hooray!
🥰 and that's what i've got for now. thank you if you made it this far, please take all these tips as you will, it is all subjective of course, these are just the tips that help Me the most when i sit down to write something.
please feel free to ask me for additional advice (on specific topics if you could!) at any time, i love encouraging new writers and i am passionate about writing so i will gladly offer support in any way i can, including beta reading works for anybody who might need that.
Something my screenwriting prof told us that really stuck with me was “avoid just moving bodies through space”, as in—movement on its own isn’t storytelling. I sometimes get into this habit where I get so caught up in where my characters are spatially that I forget to tell the story in favour of clearing up who is where and what each movement is, ala:
Anna walked over to the kitchen, picked up the pitcher and paused, deciding whether or not she wanted water, before crossing back through the living room and looking out the window, then walked back towards the kitchen yadda yadda yadda, you’re bored, I’m bored, this isn’t a story, this is someone walking around.
As with everything in writing, I’m not saying movement should be cut out entirely, but I am saying that it works best when it’s used intentionally. In any normal scene, other than a quick set up of who is generally where at the start of the scene: (Anna sat in the driver’s seat, staring down at her phone as John fell into the passenger seat beside her), we don’t need to know every little movement they make—readers will assume and fill in the spaces where movement may seem obvious.
Then, the best time to bring up movement again is either for a dramatic motion (Anna leapt from the car window, tumbling across the concrete), or a dramatic shift in emotion/psychology. (John’s brows furrowed tightly. Turning on his heel, he stormed from the room.)
Essentially, if you can take it out, you should. We have to trust our readers that they will fill in all the spaces we leave—we don’t necessarily have to write it out for them.
Here’s an easy secret about character arcs—they fit the same structure as plots (that’s because your main character’s arc is the main plot, but I’ve already talked about that here).
That means, your character arc will somewhat follow this structure:
Normal world
Inciting Incident
Big thing happens 1
Fun and Games
Midpoint
Things get worse
Big thing happens #2
Crisis
Climax
Resolution
It begins with your character in their ‘normal state’—who they are from their backstory. They have some sort of problem that they aren’t addressing, because why would they? Change is hard.
Then, inciting incident. Something happens that sends them into a “change spiral”. They’re forced to face something they’ve been ignoring or avoiding. This incident can be just about anything that turns their world upside down—a new person comes into their life, an old person they left behind reappears, a close one dies, or a friend moves on. Etc. Etc.
Big thing #1 is the first action they take to “right” what happened in the inciting incident. An old flame reappears in their life, maybe they decide to meet up with them. A close friend dies—maybe they decide to take a trip away for a little while. It is an action taken by your character because of what happened in the inciting incident.
Fun and Games is the part where things seem to be going okay for them. Or things can be going terribly for them—it’s up to you. Either way, it accumulates to…
The midpoint. Something happens and it’s terrible and probably their fault. The old flame reinforces why they stopped going out by breaking your character’s heart again. The funeral for the friend is happening and MC missed it. Etc.
Things get worse is just hammering home this point. From their actions, things are going downhill.
Big thing happens #2 is the second action they take to right things again. This time they’re changing strategies from the first thing they tried. Maybe if they tried avoiding their problem first, they’re going to confront it (for better or for worse).
The crisis is the recognition of their initial problem or flaw. Leading to:
The climax, in which the character either chooses to change or to stay the same. Grow and do the right thing knowing what we now know, or stay stagnant and do the thing they would have done in the beginning. What you choose here depends on if your story is a tragedy or a comedy—tragic characters don’t recognize their flaw and grow from them.
Resolution is the consequences of their actions. For tragic characters, things are probably bad and remain that way—we need to show the readers their choice was the one wrong. For characters who do grow, we see them begin to thrive for the first time in the story. They’ve achieved what they wanted, though maybe not in the way they thought they wanted it.
(Pair this post with Character is Plot to flesh out your characters.)
Character is plot. I mean that as, your main character’s arc is (literally) the main plot. If you think about arcs as something to put over
Hi. I'm the person who asked for help with the enemy of the week type thing. I was wondering if you could explain the different types of writting? (fanfic, novella, all that stuff)
Different Types of Writing and Stories
By Word Count: *
Drabble: 100 word story
Micro Fiction: 50 to 500 words
Flash Fiction: 2000 words or fewer
Short Story: 1000 to 10,000 words
Novelette: 7,500 to 20,000 words
Novella: 20,000 to 50,000 words
Novel: 50,000 to 120,000 words
Epic Novel: 120,000 words or more
* (estimates vary)
By Type:
Poetry: literature using figurative language and crafted verse
Fan-Fiction: fiction written by fans of existing canon material ***
Diary/Journal: personal account of life experiences
Travelogue: personal account of one's travel experiences
Fiction: prose literature describing imaginary events and people
Non-Fiction: prose literature about factual events/subjects/people
Creative Non-Fiction: creative writing used in non-fiction narrative
Play: a script for a story to be performed on stage
Screenplay: TV/movie script including acting and scene directions
Technical Writing: professionally written technical information
Critical Writing: personal reviews of a product like film/food/book
Expository Writing: provides facts and research about a given topic
By Fiction Genre:
Fantasy
Sci-Fi
Adventure
Thriller
Romance
Historical Fiction
Contemporary
Children's Fiction
Dystopian
Mystery
Horror
Paranormal
*** fan-fiction can be any word count/genre
By Non-Fiction Genre:
Memoir
Humor
Travel
Self-Help
History
How-To
Motivational
Humor
Personal Development
Cookbook
Art
Family & Relationships
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!
Hey, 'Show, don't tell' is a very cool and important writing tip. Here's why and how to use it.
Why is it so Important?
Engagement: Readers crave an immersive experience. By showing instead of telling, you draw them into the scene, making them active participants rather than passive observers.
Emotional Resonance: Want readers to feel the joy, sorrow, or suspense in your story? Showing allows you to evoke emotions by painting vivid pictures with your words.
Character Development: Instead of bland character descriptions, let actions and dialogues unveil their personalities. Show their quirks, fears, and strengths through their behavior.
How to Use "Show, Don't Tell"
Use Descriptive Details: Enrich your prose with sensory details. Instead of stating "It was a cold day," try "The crisp wind bit into her cheeks as she stepped outside."
Dialogue Dynamism: Let characters speak for themselves. Instead of saying "He was angry," show it with dialogue and body language: "His fists clenched, and his voice thundered, 'How could you do this?'"
Action Speaks Louder: Express emotions through actions. Rather than declaring. Instead of "Sarah was frustrated with the slow computer.", try "Sarah slammed her palms on the keyboard, muttering under her breath as the cursor lagged across the screen."
Example :
Telling: John was afraid of heights.
Showing: As John peered over the edge, his palms became clammy, and his heart raced, the vast expanse below seemingly ready to swallow him whole.
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