i am a question to the world

I did not know this, but it makes so much sense, and it's SO good to learn fanfiction history.

Is THAT where "No [X], we die like men" comes from?????

do you ever think about dead versions of yourself that are fossilized in someone else's mind

i see that this one kind of fucked everyone up

I've already said that my number one piece of writing advice is to read.

But my number two piece of advice is this: be deliberate.

Honestly this would fix so many pieces of bad writing advice. Don't forbid people from doing something, tell them to be conscious and deliberate about it. This could help stop people from falling into common mistakes without limiting their creativity. Black and white imperatives may stop a few annoying beginner habits, but ultimately they will restrict artistic expression.

Instead of "don't use epithets": "Know the effect epithets have and be deliberate about using them." Because yes, beginners often misuse them, but they can be useful when a character's name isn't known or when you want to reduce them to a particular trait they have.

Instead of "don't use 'said'" or "just use 'said'": "Be deliberate about your use of dialogue tags." Because sometimes you'll want "said" which fades into the background nicely, but sometimes you will need a more descriptive alternative to convey what a character is doing.

Instead of "don't use passive voice": "Be deliberate about when you use passive voice." Because using it when it's not needed can detract from your writing, but sometimes it can be useful to change the emphasis of a sentence or to portray a particular state of mind.

Instead of blindly following or ignorantly neglecting the rules of writing, familiarize yourself with them and their consequences so you can choose when and if breaking them would serve what you're trying to get across.

Your writing is yours. Take control of it.

It probably sounds like I'm preaching to the choir here because most of my mutuals are already great writers. But I'm hoping this will make it to the right people.

Things I Didn’t Think Would Be Hard To Write But ARE

on ao3 like some of these doves aren't even wounded

#people used to be freaks #we used to be a country (@spikeface)

Okay but “dead dove do not eat” means “what you read on the bag is what is inside the bag”. The punchline to the reference is opening the bag that says “dead dove” and finding a dead dove, á là surprised pikachu. A fic tagged “Fuffy fuzzy bunny cuddles, dead dove do not eat” SHOULD NOT INDICATE DARK CONTENT. ONLY THAT THE FIC HAS BEEN TAGGED ACCURATE TO THE CONTENT.

We used to say “don’t like, don’t read”. Dead Dove is just an extension of that.

The author gave you a list of ingredients. The ingredients was “dead dove”. You cannot act shocked that there was dead dove. It was in the ingredients that the author told you

dead dove BY ITSELF doesn’t mean Jack all and I will DIE ON THE HILL OF RIGHTEOUS FURY

honestly sometimes stories where characters have self awareness and solve their problems maturely can be really refreshing sometimes. and sometimes it feels like therapyspeak slop. intense stories where no one is capable of understanding themselves and act out in incorrect ways can be very fun. and sometimes it feels like contrived bullshit. whatever makes "a good story" is harder to make happen than just using the right kind of characters using the right words

Tip for avoiding therapy-speak:

You gotta let the characters screw up and say/do the wrong thing from time to time. It's one of the top ten things I absolutely hate most in my writing, but healing isn't linear and everyone screws up from time to time, so, much as I don't want to, it's necessary to keep the dumbass stick around for the times they would legit get hit by it. Then use those dumbass moments as opportunities for further growth and character development once the in-universe tempers have cooled.

Tip for avoiding contrived bullshit:

Figure out what each character's main stumbling blocks are, and make sure to put those under their feet when you need them to mess up. However, also rough out how many times they'd logically stumble over these issues in a seriously detrimental manner before they start learning to try and avoid these stumbling blocks. Then figure out what new stumbling blocks they'd run into while trying to avoid the old ones. Watching someone trip over the same step repeatedly gets boring after awhile, so stack a bunch of steps together to form a flight of stairs and push your characters down them!

me and my homies support real artists who put their passion into their pieces instead of a machine who rips off the hard work of talented peeps

another doodle of her

some of you care about dunking on individual zionists more than a) challenging Zionism as the violent colonial terrorism it is and b) more than supporting Palestinians. People like Trump, Gal Gadot, Scarlett Johansson, Amy Schumer, Jamie Lee Curtis, and whoever the fuck else - their Zionism isn't just an excuse to call them losers. It's a form of terrorism they're lending their social and political capital to in order to legitimise and further enact that terrorism. Moreover, calling Gal Gadot a shit actor (while incredibly true and accurate) and calling it a day isn't anti-Zionist enough. Support Palestinians, uplift Palestinians as much as you shit on Zionists otherwise what's the point. Speaking of which here is a campaign supporting over 80 Palestinian families in Gaza and the West Bank that still hasn't reached its goal. Support Palestinian art, film, academia, etc too. Read Mohammed El Kurd's latest book, Perfect Victims. In light of the testimony from survivors of the IOF's latest massacre Palestinian paramedics, remember Zionism isn't just something that gives you an excuse to call out celebrities. Zionism is terrorism. Zionism is genocide. May we see and and keep fighting for a free Palestine in our lifetimes.

For most people, life doesn’t truly begin until they’re 26-30 or older. The way we romanticize and obsess over youth is super harmful. Your life is not over at 21, I promise you. It’s just beginning

WARNING do NOT start reading books and comics or watching movies or looking at art!!! you will start wanting to create art yourself. or god forbid. writing.

Current mood

mood. and alternatively: 

I raise you:

THIS

“what’s your writing process” i put a pathetic guy in a blender and blend blend blend

people might think creating OC lore involves a lot of thinking & planning, but in my personal experience, OC development is more like a divine vision from a god slamming you over the head with a mallet while ur doing the fuckin dishes or folding laundry