Tag Archives: on writing
Today on “rules of English language I didn’t realise were a thing until someone pointed it out”
I read a fanfic once where the writer played with adjective order to make the person speaking sound weird and wrong and dangerous somehow and it absolutely fucking worked
I envy writers.
As an artist I can give you a snapshot into a world.
But a writer.
A writer can take you there.
They can weave together words and create a portal to anywhere. You can visit those places instead of looking out a window and wishing to be a part of it.
I envy writers.
I envy artists.
A writer can give you a story.
But an artist.
An artist can show you the exact emotions behind everything.
They can paint a picture worth a thousand words without ever writing one. They can show you every single emotion, every single thought in a second. They can show emotion like a writer never could.
I envy artists.
Anyway so another thing I really like about fanfiction and one of the reasons I continue to defend it is that fandom can be an amazing and supportive community when you might not have any other outlets for feedback. I don’t know where I’d be as a writer if I hadn’t started sharing my work on FF.net.
Getting feedback on your work is so, so, so important to your growth as a creator of any kind, even when it’s only to teach yourself how to ignore it and trust your instincts. And I personally would not have had an audience if I hadn’t gotten into fic writing. All of the adults in my life stifled my creativity and I constantly felt like I had to censor myself. I couldn’t show anything to my English teacher without being sent to talk to the school shrink.
And LEMMIE TELL YOU how fucking disheartening it is for a young writer to be sent to the office and feel like you’re in trouble, only to get plopped down in front of the social worker’s desk and see your story picked apart there, complete with highlights and post-it’s. I was so close to letting everything I’d ever written just stagnate in my notebooks.
Not everyone has a healthy support system at home and a lot of times fandom is the thing that’s going to push you and encourage you and don’t let anyone make you feel silly for taking advantage of that.
When you are writing a story and refer to a character by a physical trait, occupation, age, or any other attribute, rather than that character’s name, you are bringing the reader’s attention to that particular attribute. That can be used quite effectively to help your reader to focus on key details with just a few words. However, if the fact that the character is “the blond,” “the magician,” “the older woman,” etc. is not relevant to that moment in the story, this will only distract the reader from the purpose of the scene.
If your only reason for referring to a character this way is to avoid using his or her name or a pronoun too much, don’t do it. You’re fixing a problem that actually isn’t one. Just go ahead and use the name or pronoun again. It’ll be good.
Using names or pronouns too much is a NON-PROBLEM – these words are “invisible” to readers. (I mean, you don’t worry about using the word “the” too much, do you?)
I have known many people who will hit the back button if a fic uses too many epithets. On the other hand, I’ve never heard anyone complain, “This author doesn’t refer to the characters by their occupation or hair color NEARLY enough!”
Just say “No” to epithets, kids.
Some advice for the writers in our fandom…
THIS.
THIS.
*SMASHES REBLOG BUTTON*
Seriously like. Overusing random attributes in writing pops off the page at me as much as BAD ADVERBS. I understand the temptation, especially when you’re writing same-sex situations and you need to keep distinguishing who’s who and whose limbs are whose when the pronouns alone can’t, but honestly like, it gets really cheesy really fast and it’s worth combing back over afterwards. Saying the person’s name 1000 times is less obnoxious, in my opinion!
Be careful! Slow down and work over it when you’re done to make sure you don’t do it too much! It’s so uncomfortable to read!
Isnt it amazing how beautiful people are. Like just look at anyone and study them and their features and how their lips tort and eyes glisten and how their hair falls or sticks or lays. How their eyebrows flex and the way their arms fold, how expressive their hands are. The way their body moves and how their chest rises and falls so subtley with their pulse. People are beautiful even if we dont find them attractive. The fact that they’re a living being is unbelievably magnificent.
If you love to write, just keep doing it. Keep writing. If you feel skeptical about your ability, keep writing. If you get stuck, take a little break, read, get to know yourself, collaborate with others, then keep writing.
Keep writing.
Eventually you’ll look back at some of the first things you wrote, then to what you can write now, and you’ll be astounded by your growth. Be in awe that you grew, because growing is so rarely easy, then write and grow some more.
Sometimes writing is like having an enormous lake in your head, and you want to get it out of your head and into a proper place for a lake so other people can come and go swimming and ride jet skis and stuff, except all you have to move the lake is a teaspoon. So you’re just sitting there frantically flinging water out of the lake with your teaspoon and telling people, “Guys, this lake is going to be so cool when it’s done,” but it will never be done. There is so much lake.
I didn’t really expect this to be relatable, but if you wanna reblog, go wild.
Wow, thank you for all the things you said about writing. (Same person) I will say I do think I’m a very good writer when I really try and have good ideas, I struggle with being burned out in that class after having taken it for almost an entire school year. And thanks for the fic reccs! It’s funny how you say you have a fear of failure bc I DO TOO and struggle with it daily. I’m also an artist and question my abilities a lot. I’ve kinda out of practice and am a perfectionist so its hard. (1/2)
(2/2) And now that I think about it I might try some A/L art. I drew Armand once and it actually turned out pretty good. I always appreciate what you say. You offer extremely helpful advice (:
You’re so very welcome! (Anon refers to this post) <333
It’s great that you recognize that you are a very good writer when
you’ve got good ideas and when you try. Yes, burnout is a very real thing that can happen when doing smtg for a class for so long… both with writing and arting. Lemme tell ya, if you can push past the start-up inertia, it gets easier. There will be ebbs and flows of your writing/arting/etc. muses, that’s totes normal and fine.
(^Don’t listen to this guy, that’s a false dichotomy, Do the thing.)
I’m also an artist who’s wayyyy out of practice with drawing. I really need to take a figure drawing class and have that experience of a teacher guiding me and the inspiration of being with classmates. I don’t think I’d be at risk of burnout as much since those classes only meet 1-2x/week, thankfully.
BUT ANYWAYYYY. Here’s an old chibi Lestat I did in MS Paint, drawn with a mouse, and I purposely did it that way bc I didn’t want to take it too seriously. I could blame it on MS Paint that it has crappy lines and basic colors, and I could blame it on the mouse that the lines aren’t as smooth as they could be w/ a tablet. Despite those limitations, I think it turned out well and I really like it for what it is. It felt good just to do it.
^His expression was pretty much my own expression as I was drawing it. LOOK HE EVEN HAS VIOLET-BLUE EYES.
YES so do it! Draw the A/L fanart, and please share with us, if you feel comfortable doing so. We have an insatiable thirst for more fanart, but especially pairings like that that which don’t get as much attention.
I always appreciate what you say. You offer extremely helpful advice (:
That really means alot to me and I am so glad to help, your message really made me smile (ppl are going to think I sent this to myself! So you better come back here, off-anon, w/ your writing/fanart/ideas!) *hugs*
I-want-my-IWTV 