Art Critic: the skull in the corner is artfully placed on the periphery of vision to symbolise the omnipresence of death, important thematically to the artist’s conception of life and mortality.
Actual Artist: aw shit, I got all this negative space, guess I’ll stick a skull there that looks pretty rad.
I painted a copy of Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring for a class in college, and when I displayed it for review the professor was like, “Are you making a statement about materialism by not painting her wearing the actual earring?”
And that, kids, was the first time I ever cursed in front of a teacher.
The painting is called The Girl with the Pearl Earring, and I forgot. To paint. The damned. EARRING.
I see a lot of writing advice, particularly about giving characters flaws. The main advice is “everyone has flaws! make sure to give your character flaws or else it’s not realistic!” And after thinking about it… I would like to challenge this.
It essentially posits a view of human nature that there are good and bad traits, and that these traits can be neatly diagrammed into separate columns, one set of which can and should be eliminated. It tends to go along with a view that posits character development should be about scrubbing away of “flawed” traits until the character achieves more a higher level of goodness, or else the character doesn’t and falls into tragedy. This is not untrue, necessarily. There are definitely some “flaws” that are 100% bad and sometimes a good arc is about slowly losing them. However, I could call this advice incomplete.
Consider thinking about it this way. Characters have traits and often whether or not that trait is a flaw is purely circumstantial.
For instance, fairy tales I read as a child. In some, when an old beggar asked for money on the road, it was a secret test of character. The prince who gave the old man money or food would be rewarded. But in other folktales I read, the old beggar would be malevolent, and any prince who stooped to help him would be beaten, punished for letting his guard down. Now, in a story as well as in real life, either of these scenarios can occur–a stranger who asks for help can be benevolent or malevolent. So which is the flaw? Is it a “flaw” to be compassionate? or is it a “flaw” to be guarded?
Trick question–it’s purely conditional. Both traits are simultaneously a strength and a weakness. Either has an advantage, but either comes with a price as well. And whether the price is greater than the advantage depends on circumstance. The same can be said for most character traits, in fact!
An agreeable character who gets along with everyone will be pressured into agreeing with something atrocious because it’s a commonly held viewpoint. A character who’s principled and holds firm even under great pressure will take much, much longer to change their mind when they are actually in the wrong. A character who loves animals and loves to shower them with affection will get bitten if they try the same on every animal. As the circumstances change, flaws become strengths, and strengths become weaknesses. And even a trait that’s wholly virtuous, such as compassion, comes with a price and can be turned for the worst.
You don’t have to think about inserting flaws into your character. Your character, even the most perfect “Mary Sue,” is already flawed the moment you give her any traits at all. The problem with Mary Sue isn’t a lack of flaws, it’s a lack of circumstances to challenge her properly, to show her paying the natural price. Your job as an author is to create circumstances in the narrative that 1) justify why these traits exist in your character 2) show what your character gains from these traits and then 3) change the circumstances to challenge her.
Make your character pay the price for their traits, for their choices. And then, when challenged, you can make a hell of a story by showing us how they adapt, or why they stick to their guns anyway.
As a fellow writer I’d say to just write and practice as much as you can even if you never publish it! As for length I’d say whatever it takes to get to “the thing” as Bukowski would say. Some people need 2k or more words while some need much less. It’s all about finding your own style of writing, the people who want to read your work will show up regardless. In my opinion, as a reader I like at least 1k words but I have read really short fics too. Just find what suits you and get good at it! Sometimes I read really long fics, and when I’m done it felt short because it was that good. Just do what feels right. You say you’re new to writing fanfiction, but if you’re new to writing for enjoyment in general my suggestion would be to try to make the goal of setting up the first chapter solidly if it’s going to be a long one(multiple chapters).
YOU SAID IN YOUR TAGS TO JUMP IN WITH THOUGHTS SO HI, HERE I AM.
One of the things I love about fanfiction is that it’s the fucking Wild West and there’s so much out there and it’s so subjective. Everyone has their own standard on lengths and such and I guarantee you that no matter what the length is that someone will want it. Like yeah we all wanna read a nice novel length fic that’ll keep us occupied for a week and rip our hearts out, but there’s a huge value in finding tiny fics that you can read real quick while you’re on your lunch break or waiting in a line somewhere. I promise there is an application for all lengths of fics. 😀
I did wanna say though, as a writer, I find it super fucking distracting to worry about how long my fic is while I’m writing it. I use TextEdit to write a lot cause it’s really plain and doesn’t have a wordcounter and doesn’t show you page breaks, so you can like smash away and not have to worry about it. I try to think of my stories as having a beginning, a middle, and an end, and it takes as long as it takes to get there. Don’t let the number bug you. If you’re telling a good story it truly doesn’t matter.
those posts criticizing common writing patterns in fanfiction are so fucking harmful and they ruined me
so like yknow what??? People tell you to avoid “smirk” and “chuckle” as descriptors because no one does those things (???) but then when I need to use those words I have a ten minute crisis about how I’m a shitty writer. So heres my unwarranted writing advice: If you want your characters to smirk and chuckle fucking let them and don’t let anyone tell you that no one smirks or chuckles because I do both on a daily basis whenever I tell a shitty pun, bye
Edgy fanfiction critics can eat my entire ass.
Seriously all this. All those posts and people who decide to ‘give me advice’ on how to write make me want to write 1000% less than I already do.
This post is uhhhh bad because criticism is important and helps you grow as a writer?? However, I do agree with OP that those common writing mistakes posts are not great.
Not because they’re “fucking harmful” to you by giving general advice, but because they fall into the same pit as bad grade school teachers by giving absolute advice. Fact of the matter is, all of the advice those posts give is useful, but NONE of it is true in absolutely every circumstance. All of it has to be taken with a grain of salt, but it’s never framed that way.
It’s important to know rules and conventions when you write but it’s equally important to know when to break them. I remember my sister getting a C for a writing assignment in school because she had the sense to know that a hillbilly character would not speak in “proper English” but her 50-year-old teacher did not.
So yes, criticism can be stupid and shitty and you shouldn’t always listen to it (even if you’re 10). But um… no, you are not victimized by people online sharing writers tips’. Read the tips, absorb them, and then apply them only where they are useful. OP already had the sense to do that, apparently they were just really salty about having to do so.
Since you said green and purple, I’m going to assume you’re using semi-permanent dyes (such as Manic Panic, Splat, Special FX, and so on), so my advice will be around that.
Heat or time. You either need to heat the dye on your head (which opens the hair cuticle so the dye penetrates better), or let it sit for at least an hour. (Because I work from home, I can leave my dye in for as long as I want, and I usually go for at least 3 hours.)
Rinse in cool to cold water.
Some people use a vinegar + water rinse after rinsing out the dye. I’ve done that in the past, but haven’t found it makes that much difference in extending the life of the color.
Wash your hair less often, and with a gentle shampoo. Washing always fades the color. (I only wash my hair once a week, and it’s fine.
Add a few tablespoons of your dye to your conditioner to refresh the color when you wash your hair. WARNING: this will stain your hands, but baby wipes or Dr. Bronner’s soap with a smidge of coconut oil (any oil, really) will remove the stain.
Maintaining unnaturally colored hair takes some effort, but I think it’s worth it. I hope my tips help! 🙂
I just wanted to pop in and remind all the fic writers & RP’ers out there that you don’t have to listen to the black & white thinkers trolling this website who want to shit on you every time you bring up something sympathetic about your character.
It’s okay for “bad” characters to have sympathetic traits. It would be boring as fuck if they didn’t. It’s unfortunate that so many people out there are too salty and dense to understand a complex character, but don’t let it get you down!
If you’re a good fic writer or RP’er it’s really important to take all facets of the character’s personality into consideration. You aren’t here to write a 2D ebul cartoon. You should be taking their motives into consideration. You should be figuring out their demeanor. If they are a charming sociopath, you shouldwrite them as being charming. That’s the whole fucking point!
Fic writers and RP’ers engage in fandom in a way that unwraps characters and tries to figure out what makes them tick. We want to figure out why they feel the way they feel, we want to figure out their temperament, we want to understand. It’s an exercise in creative empathy and there are a lot of people out there who just don’t have a creative bone in their body. They’re gonna try to shout you down for acknowledging that a character can have gray morality or be a dichotomy in some way and I hope it doesn’t discourage anyone.
So get outta my face with all this purity politics bullshit, plz & thank you. Acknowledging conflicting pieces of your character is a responsible and creatively intelligent thing to do, and people who don’t get that can eat a dick.
I-want-my-IWTV 