More Words Than Necessary

˖᯽ ݁˖· ─ "You're too much." (Now they make themselves smaller in every room, apologize for their enthusiasm, their needs, their entire existence taking up space.)

˖᯽ ݁˖· ─ "I wish you were never born." (Now they wonder if their life is an imposition, if everyone secretly agrees, if they're fundamentally unwanted.)

˖᯽ ݁˖· ─ "You're just like your father/mother." (Now they police every gesture, every word, terrified of becoming the thing they hate most.)

˖᯽ ݁˖· ─ "No one will ever love you like I do." (Now they can't tell if new kindness is real or if they're settling because maybe that person was right.)

˖᯽ ݁˖· ─ "You're being dramatic." (Now they swallow their pain until it rots, second-guess every emotion, perform "fine" even while drowning.)

˖᯽ ݁˖· ─ "I sacrificed everything for you." (Now guilt is their primary emotion, gratitude feels like debt, and their happiness feels like theft.)

˖᯽ ݁˖· ─ "You'll never amount to anything." (Now every success feels fraudulent, every failure feels like prophecy, and they're exhausted proving themselves to a ghost.)

˖᯽ ݁˖· ─ "Stop crying or I'll give you something to cry about." (Now tears feel dangerous, vulnerability feels like weakness, and they've forgotten how to ask for comfort.)

˖᯽ ݁˖· ─ "You're so sensitive." (Now they've built walls so high they can't feel anything, and they call it strength while dying of emotional starvation.)

˖᯽ ݁˖· ─ "Everyone talks about you behind your back." (Now they perform perfection, trust no one, and friendship feels like surveillance.)

˖᯽ ݁˖· ─ "You made me do this." (Now they shoulder blame that was never theirs, apologize for other people's violence, believe they deserved it.)

˖᯽ ݁˖· ─ "You're selfish for wanting that." (Now their own needs feel dirty, asking for anything feels like sin, and martyrdom is the only acceptable role.)

˖᯽ ݁˖· ─ "I love you, but..." (Now love feels conditional, performance-based, something they have to earn daily and can lose with one mistake.)

˖᯽ ݁˖· ─ "You're broken." (Now they present themselves as a project, attract fixers, and believe they're unlovable in their natural state.)

˖᯽ ݁˖· ─ "Get over it already." (Now they put timelines on grief, shame themselves for healing slowly, pretend to be past things that still bleed.)

˖᯽ ݁˖· ─ "You're lucky I put up with you." (Now they treat basic kindness as extraordinary, stay in situations that harm them, grateful just to be tolerated.)

˖᯽ ݁˖· ─ "You always ruin everything." (Now they're terrified of trying, convinced their touch destroys, safer staying small and still and uninvolved.)

˖᯽ ݁˖· ─ "Nobody asked you." (Now they silence themselves preemptively, make themselves invisible, believe their voice is an intrusion.)

˖᯽ ݁˖· ─ "You're being ungrateful." (Now they can't distinguish between gratitude and self-erasure, between appreciation and accepting mistreatment with a smile.)

It's quite long this time - it might help. Took me ages to write since I was trying to be as detailed as possible. 16 points, 8 of each. Writing (certain) Situations and Tropes

1. Fights should be about intent. Your character can be an amazing fighter. Your character can struggle to land a clean hit. Both are fine. What matters is why the fight is happening. There doesn’t need to be a fully developed reason like a tragic backstory — but there does need to be something. Fear. Instinct. Protection. Panic. A line being crossed. A fight shouldn’t exist just because you want your character to look impressive or “special.” Remember that. (note to self) (To people who want an example, I've written a fight scene in my WIP which I'm going to share with y'all very soon, and you can read it and kinda see what I mean by this. It's coming in Chapter 5.)

2. Breaking Points are so important. Breaking points don’t have to be obvious. How to make it even better? When it’s written from someone else’s point of view. Because suddenly, we don’t get access to that character’s thoughts anymore. We watch them break without being told it’s happening — and distance makes it hurt more. But wait. Want to make it hurt even more? Let the other character miss it. Let them see the smile. Hear the jokes. Watch your character act fine enough to be believable — so people and brush it off. Let them think, They’re okay. They always bounce back. And only later, with context they didn’t have at the time, do they realise that moment wasn’t stability. It was the breaking point. The last time your character had the energy to pretend. (PLEASE I'm begging you. If you've done this before PLEASE show me! I live for these situations. Message me or just put it in the comments, I'm sure there are other people who'd love to see it.)

3. Pain doesn’t have to be dramatic to be real. Pain isn’t always screaming, crying, or collapsing to the floor. Sometimes it’s replying “I’m fine” too quickly. Sometimes it’s going quiet in conversations they used to lead. Sometimes it’s doing everything almost right and not knowing why it feels wrong. Big reactions can work — but quiet pain often lingers longer, because it shows how deeply something has settled in. But sometimes, it can just be your character sitting down and realising they don’t have the energy to stand back up yet. Those are the best kind.

4. A death should leave a shape behind. A death isn’t powerful because someone stopped breathing — it’s powerful because the world doesn’t fit the same way afterwards. If everything returns to normal too quickly, the death won’t land. Same with killing off a character. Do it if you want too... but will it change how the character thinks? Does it change anything in the story?

5. Apologies can't be written just because it's needed somewhere. We’ve all read it. A: “I’m sorry.” B: “Sorry? You think saying sorry is enough?” So what I'm saying is simple. Let the character talk first. Let them explain what they did, what they misunderstood, what they failed to notice. Let them say, No, I need to say this, and actually say it — plainly, without excuses, without fishing for reassurance. Then, once the damage is named and owned, let “I’m sorry” land as a conclusion, not a shortcut. Because for the love of God please stop dragging it. We want to see them be besties again. We want to see them hold hands and skip around. We want to see them roll down a hill together. (I'm trying to be funny leave me alone. Anyway moving on)

6. Make the Villain lie. OH MY GOD Why the freak do Villains in movies have 10 whole ass minutes to reveal their evil idea? You're not an evil genius if you tell the Hero your idea dumbass. If you want your villain to feel truly evil, stop letting them explain themselves. Let their actions speak. Let the aftermath speak. OMG just had a lightbulb moment. Want to make your villain evil? Make them lie in their monologue. Let them feed the hero just enough information to sound believable — then send them chasing the wrong problem. While the hero is scrambling to stop Plan A, the villain is already halfway through Plan C. A villain who can weaponise trust, assumptions, and urgency is far more dangerous than one who plays fair. (This is the smartest writer thing I've said this year)

7. Parents are easy to flatten. Don’t. As a teen writer, I find myself doing this a lot when I'm planning, and I think it shouldn't be normalised. Whenever a guardian/parent is mentioned, they're often dismissed quickly in a child's eyes. Totally understandable. But what’s rare (and powerful) is letting the story look back. Not to worship the parents nor excuse damage. Just to acknowledge that raising someone is hard, thankless, and often done while carrying fear, exhaustion, and mistakes of their own. Let the child grow enough to realise that some choices were made under pressure, with limited options — even if those choices still hurt. Complexity doesn’t mean forgiveness. It just means honesty. This could also help you, as a writer, explain why your character acts the way they do.

8. Don’t borrow a disease — borrow the experience. If you’re writing about an illness or condition you don’t have, your job isn’t to perfectly replicate symptoms — it’s to respect the human reality of living with it. Avoid turning the disease into a personality trait, a plot device, or shorthand for suffering. Do your research, yes — but focus on how it interrupts life, not just how it looks on paper. Fatigue, frustration, accommodations, embarrassment, routine, resilience, boredom. And one more thing: accuracy matters, but humility matters more. Write with care, acknowledge limits, and don’t assume pain looks the same on everyone. (One of my characters has schizophrenia which makes writing difficult, but on a humanity perspective, it's easier to visualise. Doesn't mean I'm right though, so research is needed.)

9. If your “grumpy” character is rude to everyone, they’re not grumpy — they’re just mean. Grumpy characters usually have limits. They might be quiet, blunt, or irritable, but they still have tells: someone they soften for, rules they won’t cross, moments where they choose silence over cruelty. If they’re cruel in every situation, readers stop rooting for them. Grumpy characters can get annoying after a while but sometimes they can be important. Especially if you've created them.

10. If your villain makes good points but never wins, they’re wasted. A compelling villain should be right sometimes. They should succeed in small ways. If they’re always shut down immediately, they stop feeling threatening and start feeling performative. Honestly, there are SO MANY people who root for the villain more than the hero... so give them the satisfaction. Oops, Hero didn't expect that did they? Looks like Villain has the upper hand. And now it's up to you to see where you want your story to go. How are you going to make the Hero win? How are you going to give the Villain a satisfying ending?

11. If your slow burn jumps straight to devotion, you skipped the work. Slow burn isn’t about delaying the kiss — it’s about layering trust. Before love, there should be hesitation, misreads, secrets, small moments of care that don’t get acknowledged yet. If they’d already die for each other three chapters in, the tension’s gone. Slow burn means taking time to get to the point so please take time.

12. If your “found family” only shows up to support the MC, it feels hollow. Found family works because everyone needs something — not just the protagonist. Let them argue. Let them disappoint each other. Let support go both ways. A family that exists only to cheer is a fan club, not a family. Same with proper family. A 'happy all the time' and 'supportive' family seems way too unrealistic but having one that may fight all the time but would never leave MC in a vulnerable situation? That sounds more realistic. BUT this all depends on your MC's situation, life style and backstory. We can't have a MC with a history of domestic abuse be welcomed with open arms when things get rough. Even when they're with their 'found family' it doesn't necessarily mean they'd be comfortable all the time with them.

13. If you use miscommunication as conflict, give it a reason to last. One wrong sentence shouldn’t fuel five chapters of angst unless there’s fear, history, or risk involved. Make silence a choice, not a convenience. I'm going to be completely honest. What the f*ck do you mean the MC hates his lover/partner/friend because they didn't answer the question properly or they stuttered for a second? I'm sorry but that happens to everyone. Sure, if you wanna do that, go for it. But please don't drag it unless MC has a proper reason for doing so. (does this make sense?)

14. If your characters agree too quickly, you skipped conflict. People rarely align perfectly — even when they want the same thing. Let disagreements be small, persistent, and human. BUT I'm not saying you should create conflict every time your characters don't agree. I'm saying make sure if you want the scene to land, make there be a reason or emotion behind it.

15. Miscommunication can create growth. When used well, miscommunication isn’t just angst — it gives characters space to change. Time apart can force them to confront things they were avoiding, learn new truths, or grow into someone different than they were before. The key is that the distance does something. If nothing changes while they’re apart, the miscommunication isn’t development — it’s delay. And that's when readers start screaming at the page going 'talk to each other you dumb f*ckers!' (or is that just me?)

16. If your love triangle has a clear “correct” option from the start, it won’t work. A good triangle forces a real decision. Each option should represent something different — safety vs growth, comfort vs risk, past vs future. If one option is obviously wrong, readers disengage. Even if you know exactly who your character is going to end up with, the reader doesn't... so use that to your advantage. Show the worst parts of your chosen character, show the best in the other... then switch it around... and after, the reader will be sitting at the edge of their seat trying to figure out who the 'chosen one' is. So worth it.

Final note (because this matters): I’ve realised a lot of this is basically me rambling about what I prefer as a reader and writer. That doesn’t make it universal, and it definitely doesn’t make it “the right way.” If any of this doesn’t match your style, ignore it. Seriously. I’m not trying to make anyone change how they write — and if you read something here and thought, oh no, I shouldn’t do that, please don’t take it that way. Writing isn’t a rulebook.

These are just tips that helped me. That’s it. They’re not better. They’re not final. They’re just mine.

So take what works. Leave what doesn’t. And remember this part, because it’s the most important one:

Your writing is already incredible.

from an indie author who's published 4 books and written 20+, as well as 400k in fanfiction (who is also a professional beta reader who encounters the same issues in my clients' books over and over)

show don't tell is every bit as important as they say it is, no matter how sick you are of hearing about it. "the floor shifted beneath her feet" hits harder than "she felt sick with shock."

no head hopping. if you want to change pov mid scene, put a scene break. you can change it multiple times in the same scene! just put a break so your readers know you've changed pov.

if you have to infodump, do it through dialogue instead of exposition. your reader will feel like they're learning alongside the character, and it will flow naturally into your story.

never open your book with an exposition dump. instead, your opening scene should drop into the heart of the action with little to no context. raise questions to the reader and sprinkle in the answers bit by bit. let your reader discover the context slowly instead of holding their hand from the start. trust your reader; don't overexplain the details. this is how you create a perfect hook.

every chapter should end on a cliffhanger. doesn't have to be major, can be as simple as ending a chapter mid conversation and picking it up immediately on the next one. tease your reader and make them need to turn the page.

every scene should subvert the character's expectations, as big as a plot twist or as small as a conversation having a surprising outcome. scenes that meet the character's expectations, such as a boring supply run, should be summarized.

arrive late and leave early to every scene. if you're character's at a party, open with them mid conversation instead of describing how they got dressed, left their house, arrived at the party, (because those things don't subvert their expectations). and when you're done with the reason for the scene is there, i.e. an important conversation, end it. once you've shown what you needed to show, get out, instead of describing your character commuting home (because it doesn't subvert expectations!)

epithets are the devil. "the blond man smiled--" you've lost me. use their name. use it often. don't be afraid of it. the reader won't get tired of it. it will serve you far better than epithets, especially if you have two people of the same pronouns interacting.

your character should always be working towards a goal, internal or external (i.e learning to love themself/killing the villain.) try to establish that goal as soon as possible in the reader's mind. the goal can change, the goal can evolve. as long as the reader knows the character isn't floating aimlessly through the world around them with no agency and no desire. that gets boring fast.

plan scenes that you know you'll have fun writing, instead of scenes that might seem cool in your head but you know you'll loathe every second of. besides the fact that your top priority in writing should be writing for only yourself and having fun, if you're just dragging through a scene you really hate, the scene will suffer for it, and readers can tell. the scenes i get the most praise on are always the scenes i had the most fun writing. an ideal outline shouldn't have parts that make you groan to look at. you'll thank yourself later.

This is important when starting out because novices absolutely overexplain. But too much showing can also hold you back. Sometimes you need to tell. Strategically.

Yeah... no. The key word here is technique. Omniscient narration is a valid storytelling style. And "zooming in and out" of characters' inner worlds is valid within this style. In fact--limited, singular POV is a very western, very modern strategy. It may feel alien depending on what literary culture you were raised in, or if you prefer classics. And it's far from the only way to tell the story. A voice of history, a whole village or nation could be the 'narrator'. What's important is that you signpost. You don't need scene breaks. But you need clarity in transitioning, especially if you were deep into one character's POV. Or, if the transition is intentionally jarring, the intent should come through.

Yes, but only if the dialogue itself feels organic. Infodumps encased inside of quotation marks will still feel like infodumps if they were written as such. 'As you know, Bob' is always a risk in this case. And also, the reader may not be learning alongside the characters in your story. Perhaps they are already well-aware of how their world works, but the reader is not. In these cases, subtle details, sneaky explanations tucked away in the prose, and side remarks by the characters work better.

Exposition dumps are usually bad, and so is overexplaining. But be aware that contextualising your world or opening in narrator voice is not inherently an 'exposition dump'. Also, hard disagree on "always" opening with action. If your story is slower, more introspective, more philosophical, experimental, opening with action might even be detrimental to it, depending on how the rest of it unfolds. Because, if the opening action feels misleading, like it's promising a fast-paced, high-energy thriller, but it's not, this could mean bad news for your book. Unless you intentionally want to introduce this subversion and plan around it.

Every chapter should end when it's done. It should have some kind of page-turning hook. A cliffhanger is one of them. A good chapter may also end on a satisfying mini-finale, a strong emotional beat, a pivotal revelation that significantly changes the stakes. Or, it could end on a quiet note, especially after a tense or heavy chapter.

Hard disagree. Every scene should do something. And that something could be subverting expectations, progressing the plot... or it could be a parent telling their child a bedtime story. If this bedtime story says a lot about the characters, their beliefs, hopes, fears; if it says something about the world or its values; even if it says something about the book's own themes or serves the meta-narrative--then it's important and it should absolutely be there. It does not matter how 'static' it is. It does not matter if it doesn't directly progress the plot or 'subverts expectations'. It does something, therefore it stays. If all you do is 'subvert expectations', even if it's just those of the characters rather than the reader's, then you have a very predictable book.

Likewise. Does the dressing moment do something for the book? Does the character's choice of wardrobe say something about them? Does it foreshadow, contrast, or symbolise something? Does it serve worldbuilding by showing us how the characters in this world dress (which has significant cultural implications)? If the answer to all that is 'no', then cut it. If the answer is 'yes' to anything, probably keep it. Shorten if it's overwrought. Because "ordinary" moments with weight are how you do worldbuilding without infodumps.

If you do this, your editor will likely edit the names out, anyway. If we already know who we're talking about, using their name too often is repetitive. Pronouns are the ideal substitute, but those get repetitive, too. If you've used their name and pronoun often enough, then you can absolutely add an epithet. This is especially true if the epithet itself carries weight: The taller man leaned over him. "You will not speak again. Understood?" His height emphasises his imposing stature, makes him feel more menacing. It isn't merely a substitute for his name.

Depends on how you define a goal. Real people aren't always (consciously) working towards some goal. Sometimes, they're just trying to survive, and sometimes that's precisely the point. What matters, again, is intentionality.

Agreed. Not much to add here, really. Except, if any of the upcoming scenes are dread-inducing, it may be worth considering why they make you feel this way.

Autistic writers who have trouble writing conversations due to difficulty with social skills

ADHD writers who want to sit down and write but can’t get themself to do it

Writers with social anxiety that are scared to share their work or talk about it with others

Writers with memory problems that know they already had an idea for a plot point but can’t recall what it was

Depressed writers that are trying their best but their mind says it isn’t enough

Dyslexic writers that have red lines under so many of their words or that have to take extra time to try and communicate their ideas

Writers with DID/OSSD that don’t feel like they get enough time to work on their project or that it gets left on the shelf for long period of time

Spoonie writers that run out of spoons for a day before they get to work on their project

Writers with tourettes who’s tics get in the way of their writing

Mentally Ill writers in general

Disabled writers in general

And yeah, there's dictation software, but that'd require me to speak. Which means other people would listen.