Cas

🎬 Miyazaki’s Ma 麻: Intentional Emptiness

Miyazaki emphasizes ma—intentional pauses that allow space, breath, and humanity.

Without pauses, constant action numbs; quiet moments deepen emotion and connection.

In writing, these are scenes that don’t push plot forward but reveal sincerity, interiority, or humanity.

✍️ Writing Prompts for Ma

Connection: Two characters bond over something unrelated to plot.

Curiosity: Let a character explore their fascination.

Discontent: Show subtle ways unease shapes behavior.

Longing: Reveal what a character truly wants through an unrelated moment.

🎭 Examples of Stillness in media:

🥒 Moments of Connection (Murakami)

Example: Toru bonding over cucumbers with Midori’s dying father in Norwegian Wood.

Small, mundane act becomes a lasting memory and proof of aliveness.

Shows how fleeting details often become most meaningful.

🐸 Moments of Curiosity (VanderMeer)

In Annihilation, the biologist recalls her childhood pool ecosystem.

A pause in high-stakes narrative reveals grounding love for nature.

Quiet curiosity acts as antidote to loneliness, shaping identity.

❄️ Moments of Discontent (Keegan)

In Small Things Like These, Furlong imagines another life while fixing a neighbor’s lock.

Daydream exposes dissatisfaction but he returns to duty and loyalty.

Fleeting thoughts hint at larger moral choices and meaning.

🌊Moments of Longing (le Carré)

In The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Leamas reflects on Liz’s gift: caring about small things.

Simple scene of gulls and bread reveals his longing for ordinary life.

Sharp contrast between espionage duty and desire for normalcy.

The above is a summary of Diane Callahan - Quotidian Writer’s commentary on "The Power of Quiet Moments in Fiction | Miyazaki's Storytelling Advice”

These are some lowkey underrated tips I’ve seen floating around writing communities — the kind that don’t get flashy attention but seriously changed how I write.

1. Put “he/she/they” at the start of the sentence less often.

Try switching up your sentence rhythm. Instead of

“She walked to the window,”

try

“The window creaked open under her touch.”

Keeps it fresh and stops the paragraph from sounding like a checklist.

2. Don’t describe everything — describe what matters.

Instead of listing every detail in a room, pick 2–3 objects that say something.

“A half-drunk mug of tea and a knife on the table”

sets a way stronger tone than

“There was a wooden table, two chairs, and a shelf.”

3. Use beats instead of dialogue tags sometimes.

Instead of:

"I'm fine," she said.

Try:

"I'm fine." She wiped her hands on her skirt.

It helps shows emotion, and movement.

4. Write your first draft like no one will ever read it.

No pressure. No perfection. Just vibes. The point of draft one is to exist. Let it be messy and weird — future you will thank you for at least something to edit.

5. When stuck, ask: “What’s the most fun thing that could happen next?”

Not logical. Not realistic. FUN. It doesn’t have to stay — but chasing excitement can blast through writer’s block and give you ideas you actually want to write.

bad news: you have to read it.

good news: you only have to read it like a scientist, not a judge. (more on that in a second.)

it's not proof that you can't write. it's proof that your instincts are working. you can SEE that the dialogue is wooden and the pacing collapses in chapter six and there's a character who shows up in act two and then, spiritually, dies. the fact that you can see all of this means your taste has outpaced your execution.

that's not a crisis. that's just where you are right now.

the scientist thing

a judge looks at the evidence and delivers a verdict. guilty. not good enough. why did i think i could do this. the verdict is emotionally satisfying for about four seconds and then completely useless.

a scientist looks at the same evidence and asks: what is this telling me?

the subplot that goes nowhere — what were you trying to add? the scene you wrote in twenty minutes because you just wanted to get through it — what were you avoiding? the ending that felt earned in december and now feels like a shrug — what didn't get set up earlier?

the bad draft isn't a failure. it's a very long, very specific note to yourself about what the story needs. you just have to learn to read it that way.

what to actually look for

the scenes you wrote fast and felt weird about. that's not momentum, that's avoidance. your subconscious knew something was off and you kept going anyway. go back. that's where the structural problem lives.

the character who disappears. you didn't forget about them. you wrote yourself into a corner where they didn't fit, which means something in your structure shifted mid-draft and you never corrected for it.

the dialogue that makes you wince on reread. nine times out of ten, the character is saying the theme out loud instead of living it. fixable. actually very useful to know.

the ending that feels hollow. the ending is almost never the problem. something earlier didn't do its job and the ending is just where you noticed.

the reframe

a first draft isn't a failed final draft. it's you finding the story before you can tell it.

the writers you love have embarrassing drafts. you just never see them because by the time the book is in your hands, the map has already been folded up and put in a drawer. yours is still on the table.

read it. take notes. figure out what it's trying to tell you.

then write the real one.

— rin t. ✨

every novel starts with one question that refuses to leave you alone.

maybe yours is hiding somewhere in here.

i spent weeks putting together The Story Hook Library, 300 original story hooks, prompts, and idea-building exercises for writers who are tired of waiting for inspiration to magically appear.

♡ grab your copy:

1. Slow down at emotionally important moments.

Big emotions need space to land. If a scene feels rushed, pause the plot briefly to show how the moment affects the character.

2. Add reactions, not explanations.

Instead of explaining what a character feels, show it through physical responses, hesitation, or small actions that reveal emotion naturally.

3. Ground every scene in the senses.

If a scene feels thin, add one or two sensory details—sound, texture, smell, or temperature—to make the moment feel lived-in.

4. Let thoughts interrupt action.

A line of internal thought can deepen a scene without slowing it too much. Thoughts show stakes, fear, longing, or conflict beneath the action.

5. Expand consequences, not events.

You don’t need more things to happen—you need to show what matters. Focus on how events change relationships, decisions, or self-perception.

6. Strengthen setting where emotion peaks.

The environment should echo or contrast the emotion of the scene. Setting is not decoration—it’s emotional reinforcement.

7. Add specific details instead of general ones.

Underwriting often relies on vague language. Swap “they argued” for one sharp line of dialogue or a specific breaking point.

8. Let dialogue breathe.

Short dialogue exchanges without pauses can feel flat. Add beats—silence, gestures, interruptions—to give the conversation weight.

9. Show transitions between scenes.

If scenes jump too quickly, readers feel disoriented. A brief transition helps establish time, mood, and emotional continuity.

10. Clarify stakes early in the scene.

If readers don’t know what can be lost, scenes feel empty. Make sure the character wants something specific and fears losing it.

11. Use the “what are they feeling right now?” check.

After each major beat, ask what emotion is dominant in that moment. If it’s missing on the page, the scene is likely underwritten.

12. Expand scenes that feel “too clean.”

the corruption of the republic increases rapidly in the 10 years between tpm and aotc, and during the clone wars, encouraged by palpatine. the increasing corruption due to palpatine is literally a plot point and part of the big villain's plans, not a base setting of the republic. there was certainly corruption and inaction before but it was often challenged successfully - even in tpm, though palaptine engineers the vote of no confidence in valorum, it is passed by the senate majority who clearly find valorum's response to the trade federation's invasion of naboo to not be strong enough. in aotc, even after 10 years of palpatine as chancellor, it is still challenged and seems to have a good chance of being beaten - palpatine feels threatened enough by padmé's anti-military position that he tries to have her assassinated, nearly blowing his whole secret army plot, so it seems like he thought she and the other senators who were against a standing army had a pretty good chance of winning the vote.

the jedi also regularly challenge corruption where they find it - tcw is full of examples of this and that's when the jedi are distracted by a whole galatic war. one of my favourites is mace windu telling a senator he and their whole planet can shove it in defense of the last living zillo beast. but it is also an important plot point in rots that the jedi are investigating palpatine. despite palpatine's best efforts, they were able to find the source of many things getting worse, and they go to arrest him, to cut off the head of the snake. would that have solved all the corruption and issues in the republic? no, but it was a good start and probably would have led to them investigating his connections.

and to those "it doesn't matter that some people were trying, the republic was Too Corrupt and had fallen from grace before the movies even started and there's no hope of it becoming a force for good" arguments, you're missing one of the most vital messages of the whole star wars saga - you can always choose good and you CAN be better than you were. the point isn't trying to cleanse the sins of the past, it's making a better future. but a real chance for better existing is essential, especially in the prequels, where anakin has the potential to turn everything around and do the right thing, but chooses not to (until episode 6). if there was never any hope all along, you've taken the biggest message and the tragedy of anakin completely out of the story. you've nothing left but fun special effects and action pieces without all that.

i never see people argue that padmé and the other senators should have just thrown their hands up and walked away from the republic like they do for the jedi, which is weird because they're explicitly part of the political decision-making process and the jedi are not, though they can give advice. in fact, one of their main roles in the republic is diplomacy, because it's a given that there will be disagreements, trade disputes, and planets happy to fuck over other planets if it suits them. but diplomacy and the idea that these things can be worked out is a core part of the jedi's role and their beliefs. another central belief is their mission to help people, which is why palatine and dooku encourage the the CIS (that acronym makes me laugh every time) to be so over the top evil, like attacking hospitals and developing weapons that target all organic life, to make it impossible for the jedi to ignore all the suffering and just stay out of the war. so in what world would these same people walk away from the republic because it's been a really rough 13 or so years? especially when they're pursuing an avenue (investigating palaptine) that might turn things around? it doesn't really seem like the jedi have "lost their way" by sticking with the republic, like some claim, given what they're doing is very in line with their beliefs, but rather you want them to be fundamentally different characters with radically different beliefs. which is fine, but it means that all your analysis of the jedi is built on what you wish they were instead of what they actually are.

should the jedi have gotten more involved politically? maybe - there's reasons we could argue yes, in that it might help address the causes of issues in the republic rather than just treating the symptoms, and reasons we could argue no, such as how pursuing power, even with the best of intentions, can be dangerous for both jedi and everyone else, given that the jedi could fall to the dark side and there's very little normal people could do to stop them. but that argument is the opposite of "they should have just walked away, the republic was doomed to fail" and has a lot more nuance than "any interaction with any flawed institutions thereby makes them morally bad too".

This is partly because he's my SW fave and I don't like my faves being flattened into fandom's fixation on a generic soft wholesomeness, least of all a fave with as strong a tendency towards anger and solving problems with violence as Luke has. And it's partly because I see a strong kinship in character as well as blood between him and my other faves, Anakin and Leia.

But I was thinking about it today, and thought that a big part of it also is because (IMO) it denies a lot of his character growth.

You could chalk it up to the writers wanting a heteronormative ending (and I’m certain that’s part of it) or the fact that Elphaba and Fiyero had a love affair in the book. But I think there’s a bit more nuance to it.

The whole point of Glinda’s character is that she upholds the status quo of Oz. No matter how much she loves Elphaba or sympathizes with the plight of the Animals, she will always align herself with the current system and those in power. And as long as that remains the case, a relationship between her and Elphaba is futile because Elphaba will not give up her cause.

Elphaba and Glinda represent to different ends of a spectrum. Elphaba resists the oppressive forces in Oz, while Glinda upholds them. But Fiyero is somewhere in the middle. He starts out privileged and carefree like Glinda, but quickly turns to Elphaba’s side. He does become Captain of the Guard, but only to find Elphaba and help her evade arrest.

And therein lies the difference between Glinda and Fiyero as love interests to Elphaba. Glinda would never sacrifice her title as “the Good Witch” and all her power granted from the Wizard, even if it meant helping Elphaba. Fiyero, on the other hand, does give up his privilege, his title, and even his human form for Elphaba. Glinda clings to what the status quo gives her, while Fiyero ultimately rejects it.

Yes, the writing around Elphaba and Fiyero’s romance is a bit rushed and doesn’t have the same gradual development that Elphaba and Glinda have. And yes, I have no doubt heteronormativity played a role in giving Elphaba a male love interest in the end. But I see a lot of people write off Fiyero and his relationship with Elphaba and I just don’t agree.

Plot armour can be difficult to avoid. We get so attached to our characters that hurting them in any way feels like a betrayal.

But plot armour is detrimental to any good narrative. Having your characters avoid harm, whether that be emotional or physical, means that there aren't any stakes. And without stakes, it's difficult for readers to invest.

There are three simple things you can use to avoid plot armour:

🔵 Injury 🔵 Sacrifice 🔵 Consequence

In every conflict, make sure the resolution contains at least one of these things.

a good time;

Has exactly the tropes you like and the characterization you want to read;

Gratification: yes you did finish a thing and yes you did do good;

just a very fun time all around.

Cons of re-reading your own fic:

Part 1 - 1 & 2/3 are here 👉 1 2 little illustration along the way

It’s the sequel to The Iron Woman. This is part 1 of chapter 5 in The UNSPOKEN webcomic series.

Beta’ed by my good friend @secretsofdbz. Thank you lots, always 🤗

After this is a 6 pages prelude of chapter 6, which will be focusing more on Trunks. Below is the preview: