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Trying a new thing, here’s first assignment

Listening to the podcast Start With This, and will be trying to do each assignment. Here’s the first. 

“Create for one hour, doing nothing else, and post it somewhere without revising or editing, just in raw form.”

~

Cardyn was sick and tired. Literally. The latest bug making it's way around the office was a doozy of a cold, and between sneezing herself into throbbing headaches and coughing herself into a strained abdomen, Cardyn. Was. Done.

"Why I thought a nice, mortal existence would be fun is beyond me," she moaned to Andy. Her familiar looked back at her, jade green eyes utterly unimpressed.  

"Mraiuo," was the only answer from that corner, which didn't seem entirely fair to Cardyn, since she had managed to keep the cat fed and watered even when unable to do the same for herself.  

"Not helpful, Andromeda. Not even a little helpful. Aren't familiars supposed to be helpful?" The question merely earned her another glance, this one disdainful, and a piqued little shoulder lick.  

"Maybe Mom has a potion that would help, or I bet if she doesn't, Grams does..."

Fumbling for her cell, she mashed the call button, and toggled speakerphone. Task accomplished, she let her head fall back into her pillow face first, her riotous curls bouncing haphazardly with the motion.

Ring ring, ring ring, ri-click. "Hello? Dygareedoo? Is that you, baby? Hello?" The bright and slightly distracted voice of her mother prompted a slight turn of her head, so that she could answer.  

"Mooooooooooom. I'm siiiiiick," the whine escaped before she managed to temper it into something less....infantile. Oops.  

"Oh no, sweetheart! What's wrong? Do you need me to come out? Do you need some medicine? Or I have some potions I could fix up that would make you right as rain in a heartbeat, if you've got a proper circle at your place. Are you still observing the major holidays, at least? I know you've gone all in on your "normal life" but honestly, sweetheart, you come from a very long line of occult practitioners, and you just can't turn your back on all that history."

Cardyn suppressed a groan at the oft-repeated barrage, and flopped over onto her back. "I have a circle, I am fully onboard with a potion that will make this go away, and I've been rethinking the normal life thing..."

"!?"  

It was entirely impressive the way her mother managed to articulate an interrobang. Before the conversation could get too far into the weeds, however, Cardyn interjected, "I will talk about this more when you're here, if you could come out and help me..."

"Jumping in the car now, my darling girl, I'll be there in an hour and a half, traffic willing."

"Thanks, Mom."

*****************

The air smelled like sage and chamomile, with the sweet tang of honey underneath it. Cardyn breathed it in appreciatively, completely thrilled at being able to take a breath without either coughing or sneezing.  

"Mom, you're the best," she sighed, as she slumped against her mother's shoulder. A gentle hand stroked over her curls, accompanied by a soft chuckle.  

"I know, baby girl, but always glad to hear it. Now, you were going to tell me about how you were thinking about coming back into the magical fold?"  

Another sigh, this one laden more with woe and weariness than gratitude. "Yea... I mean, I've always kept the solstices and major holidays, but I miss being around other practitioners, and being able to talk about magic without being seen as a weirdo, or just spending time with spirits and creatures again. I mean, it has been less complicated living as a normal person, but... I do miss being a witch. More than I thought I would."

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I made these as a way to compile all the geographical vocabulary that I thought was useful and interesting for writers. Some descriptors share categories, and some are simplified, but for the most part everything is in its proper place. Not all the words are as useable as others, and some might take tricky wording to pull off, but I hope these prove useful to all you writers out there!

(save the images to zoom in on the pics)

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Real-life solarpunk: the Cosmovitral

The Cosmovital Botanical Gardens of Toluca, Mexico are known for their stunningly beautiful stained-glass windows, and provide a stirring example of ways that a city can find beautiful re-use for its built infrastructure.

Designed in art nouveau style by engineer Manuel Arratia, the building was originally constructed in 1909-1910 as the 16th de Septiembre Market. Over time, Toluca outgrew the market’s capacity, and it was closed in 1975. Debates over what to do with the space ensued: some suggested it be demolished and replaced with an open plaza, or sold to private interests to convert into offices. Local artist Leopolodo Flores worked with Yolanda Sentíes (the city’s first woman mayor) to gather support around converting the metal-and-glass upper structure into a space for art:

Flores envisioned something magnificent for the space.  He saw a huge stained glass mural encircling the entire building and running across the ceiling.  Below and within its confines he proposed a botanical garden.  The art would show the relationship between man and the universe, the flora that which places man in his ecological environment.

Over the next four years, work continued to clean off seven decades of grime, reinforce structural integrity, and construct the vast mural. It opened to the public in 1980, though battles in local government meant that the ceiling was only finished in 1990.

Flores and sixty artisans worked for three years, from 1978 to 1980. The window-mural consists of 71 modules which cover an area of about 3,200 meters square. The work uses approximately 75 tons of metal supports, 45 tons of blown glass and 25 tons of lead to join the about 500,000 glass pieces, which range in size from 15 to 45 cm. Twenty eight different colors of glass were used, most of which came from Italy, Germany, France, Belgium, Japan, Canada and the United States. On the north side of the building, blues dominate, with brighter colors on the south side. The sun is placed on the east side. The windows are the largest of their kind in the world.

Each year on the spring equinox, the sun aligns with the Hombre Sol. This annual event lasts about twenty minutes in the late afternoon and is celebrated with a classical music concert, timed to the passing of the sun. 

The Hombre Sol has come to be taken as a semi-official symbol of the city and state. At present only five percent of visitors are foreigners, but perhaps that might change.

Source: Kuriositas, Wikipedia. Also check out Lucy Nieto’s Flickr for more great photos.

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Beyond this, consider how these professions might vary depending on who the customers are - nobles, or lower class. Are they good at their job or just scraping by? Do they work with lots of other people or on their own? City or village?

For younger characters:

Apprentice to any of the above

Messenger/runner

Page/squire

Pickpocket

Shop assistant

Student

Looks after younger siblings

(Images all from Wikimedia Commons)

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Basic overlooked worldbuilding questions

Whether you are writing a futuristic dystopia or a cloud city of dragons, you need to figure out how people get basic supplies. These are often the most overlooked worldbuilding questions since it’s more fun to think about how cultures honor the dead or where the mountain ranges are, but answers are necessary to create a complete world.

-Where does the water come from and how is it distributed?

-Who makes the food?

-Who transports and distributes the food?

-If your world has modern utilities, are they widespread or only for the rich? For that matter, do utilities have to be modified to work in your world (for example, electric lines with anti-magic coating)?

-What happens to trash?

-What happens to sewage? 

-What building materials are available?

-What do people do when they get sick?

-What do people do in the case of a natural disaster?

-What do people do in the case of a fire?

-How are large objects moved?

-How are items that take skilled labor to make created and distributed?

Remember, the answers might be different for people at different economic levels.

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Ridiculous Sentence Prompts

“Who wouldn’t be angry you ate all of my cereal and faked your death for three years!”

“I’m going to need you to put on some underwear before you say anything else.“ 

“Quick catch that cat it stole my wallet!”

“Fuck I feel like I got hit by a car… Wait I did? And it was your car?”

“The skirt is short on purpose.”

“I can’t believe I’m sitting in space jail with you of all people.”

“So why did I have to punch that guy?”

“I may have accidentally sort of adopted five cats.”

“I hope you know that my name is actually ________.”

“Please stop petting the test subjects. ”

“That is the tenth demon summoning this week holy shit.”

“Please put me down it’s just a sprained ankle" 

“So what if I broke my arm I’m still doing it.”

“Why exactly do you need chloroform at 2AM?”

“I’m like 75% sure this won’t explode on us.”

“You need to stop leaving dead bodies in my kitchen.”

“I understand the whole sleep talking thing but what I don’t understand is the princess dragon dream and why I’m in it.”

“I’m sorry that I got way too into playing house and accidentally kissed you passionately.”

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So You Want To Make a Character..

I’ve got a few generators you can use.

Need some clothes?

Try Here Here or Here Definitely here Steam punk clothing Char Style preference Dress

Need an Appearance idea?

Humanoid generator? check Non-Humanoid? Got that too and this and maybe this Need Monsterpeople?  I’ve got you. Maybe you need Cats?

Need some details and shit like that?

Bam Backgrounds and stuff? yep Personality. you need that shit Need something fandom related? World-building? location? got ya City generator hell yeah make your own god damn laws Oh shit someone died Landscape. CHAR DEVELOP QUESTION GEN Profile Thingy Have some dates Quirks

You thought I was done? Nope. Motha. Fuckin. Names.

So many fuckin names MOTHERLOAD OF NAMES

Plant Names Magic Book title

Just search ur ass up some names man

Items. Yeah. You heard me.

Medicine? got it Items out the ass more items wow

Other shit.

Wow Yep Plots More writing stuff This site has everything so fucking go for it Need AUs? How the shit did these two meet? Fanfic plots. you bet your ass. (tag me in the shit u write i wanna see what you get) What does it do thing (you come up with a better name for this one. fuckin fight me.

You bet your ass I will continue to update this. If you’ve got something I should add to this hmu. Now, go forth! Make characters and live yo life. UPDATE: Added more shit everywhere.

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You have a really good grasp on what works and doesn't in a story or character so I was wondering if you could help me solve this conundrum. I know that presenting both sides of a conflict with legitimate reasons for why they're fighting is a good technique for drama but what's a way to make sure that while the villains are sympathetic in certain ways the good guys are the one you ultimately want to win?

Hmmm.

This is a really interesting question.  I mean, at its core, I think it opens up the question of what heroes and villains are, and how and why we assign those roles to characters.  I kind of feel like it deserves an undergraduate writing seminar rather than just a Tumblr post, but here are a few thoughts to get the ball rolling, at least:

Focus on making your heroes more likeable than Good.  I think a lot of works of fiction try so hard to impress on the audience the idea that the good guys are Good and deserving of the audience’s loyalty that the heroes end up self-righteous, overbearing, or simply bland.  (This also touches slightly on another problem, which is that a lot of cultural ideas of what a “hero” looks like tend to line up with dominant group traits, so we can end up with a disproportionate number of heroes who are straight/white/cis/male/not disabled/neurotypical, and a lot of villains who tick a different box for at least one of those characteristics.)  Make your heroes likeable, make them diverse (in personality as well as in demographics), make them flawed.  Your villains can be likeable, diverse, and flawed, too!  It’s just crucial to make sure they’re not the only ones.

Have a likeable villain with a terrible cause.  A lot of classic Disney villains fall into this category, I think.  They’re selfish, they’re power-hungry, they’re just evil for the lulz - but, by God, are they fun.  I’d also recommend the webcomic The Order of the Stick for great examples of this.  The main villain is a lich named Xykon who is both thoroughly cruel and really petty (the creator has said about him, “He is the embodiment of absolute evil, but, more to the point, he’s also kind of a dick,”), but who is impressive, funny as hell, and gives epic villain speeches.  (General Tarquin, the charming, intelligent, and breathtakingly vicious dictator, is an even better example.)  You can also go the Atomic Robo route, and have a villain who’s so wacky that he doesn’t seem to have a coherent cause, but who’s loveable all the same:

This is a good way to create a villain people will enjoy, but still want to see taken down at the end.

Have an unlikeable villain with a good cause.  Not a better cause than the hero’s, but still a cause most people would find pretty reasonable.  Think of Inspector Javert in Les Miserables, The Operative in Serenity, or the police in The Blues Brothers.  It’s not that they’re necessarily wrong.  People can understand where they’re coming from - especially since villains like this tend to be on the side of the legal or social authorities.  But they’re uncompromising, or ruthless, or simply not as much fun as our loveable rogue protagonists.

Have a villain with a good cause who goes too far.  This is different from the last one, because this could be a villain who’s very likeable and sympathetic… and then they cross a line.  There are a lot of different ways to do this, as well.  You can have a villain who unapologetically strides across the line just when the heroes were starting to soften towards them.  You can have a villain who hesitates, but ultimately does cross the line, and doesn’t look back.  You can even have a villain who’s wracked with guilt, but eventually - and for the noblest of reasons - steps over that line, and feels awful about it, but doesn’t think they had a choice.  (I hate to keep recommending the same comic as an example, but Redcloak in Order of the Stick is one of the best versions of this you’ll find.  His turn towards genuine evil is a bit like the urban legend of the frog in boiling water; he compromises himself a little bit at a time, all in service to the greater good, until he finds himself doing horrific things.  Order of the Stick is like a tutorial on writing villains, possibly because it’s based on D&D, so there’s a lot of scope to experiment with different alignments and ideas of evil.)

Have a villain with a good cause that has a terrible endgame.  The Decepticon uprising in IDW or Aligned is entirely justified, but Megatron’s solution is a bid for world domination.  The protagonist of Death Note responds to the very real ills of the world by murdering people he deems unworthy or criminal.  Whether what the villain is trying to do is irrational or simply out of proportion to the evil they’re trying to set right, this is a good way to get audiences to sympathise with where the villain is coming from, but not where they’re going.

Have a villain whose morality is based on a misconception, prejudiced, or simply alien to the audience.  This covers misguided villains serving regimes they don’t realise are evil; villains upholding bigoted or outdated systems, but doing it with a certain degree of honour (Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones comes to mind); and villains who are following codes that are radically different from what the audience believes, but who adhere to those codes loyally and in ways that make logical sense, once you understand their belief system.  Dinobot has a wonderful speech in Beast Wars about how Predacons think:  how they live for the glory of conquest, and won’t back off just because an opponent who’s capable of fighting back refuses to do so.  It’s a very different idea of ethics from that held by the Maximals or the viewers, but Dinobot himself makes a lot more sense when you get where he’s coming from.  (The “alien sense of morality” is usually my headcanon for Megatron, also.)

Have a wounded villain acting out of hurt, fear, or rage.  I almost hesitate to include this, since I think it’s often done badly, especially if it’s used in place of giving the villain an actual philosophy (or is used as a philosophy after the fact by fans who reason that if their favourite character feels hurt, it must be because Bad People hurt them).  But it can be done well.  In this case, the audience doesn’t sympathise with the villain’s cause, but does understand their pain.  This is the Loki school of villainy from Thor; it’s not that he’s right, it’s that sibling rivalry and feelings of exclusion resonate with a lot of people, so it’s possible to feel for Loki without excusing what he does.

Like I said, these are more preliminary thoughts (that got slightly out of control) than anything.

One last word:  for my money, if you end up having to choose between hammering home whom the audience is supposed to root for, and writing a more subtle story that risks some members of the audience liking the baddies more than the heroes, I would usually go for the latter.  You’ll be in good company:  many famous authors have been taken aback to find that some of their readers like their villains more than their heroes (JK Rowling doesn’t get the whole Snape thing, and Alan Moore has talked about being horrified by the number of people who think Rorschach is the hero of the story).  And while this can sometimes be down to a failure in communication, more often, it’s just a symptom of having written something complex and multifaceted; you can’t always control what people’s reactions will be.

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So how does one write a trans character? The big secret is that there is no such thing as “the trans experience.” Trans characters may have some things in common: some of them may have come out at some point in their lives, which can go a variety of ways, or happen at a variety of ages—others may be every bit as trans and never admit it to anyone; many have lost the love and support of their families, but others have not; some trans people experience dysphoria, the sensation of being at odds with the gender they were assigned at birth and elements of their physical body, while others do not; trans people may or may not choose to transition in any number of ways including socially (e.g. gender presentation, changed name or pronouns), hormonally, or surgically; trans people statistically experience high rates of homelessness, intimate partner violence, rape, and murder while other trans people live in mansions with people who love and support them. These are all important things to consider if you are writing a trans character, but, unless you are writing a story about their transition (which far too many trans narratives by cis writers seem focused on), a lot of these questions will just be deep character background. Furthermore, while trans characters will inevitably have common points to their stories, there are many things about them that need to surprise and delight the reader—they’ll need hobbies like knitting or strong political affiliations or literary heroes or undying dedications to brands of sneakers. It seems to be easier for trans writers to keep this in mind and not try to make trans characters symbols like Hedwig or wrecks like Georgette.

Writing Trans Characters | Brevity: A Journal of Concise Literary Nonfiction (via sociolab)

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Smash those tropes

a fantasy book where:

the necromancer isn’t at all evil, keeps their reanimated cat as a companion

the ‘dark lord’ is woman who wears a floor length floral cloak and pink kitten heels

the orcs are highly intelligent and frequently engage in orc chess and deep philosophical debates

the elvish archer is the clumsiest, most inaccurate little shit ever

the bard writes deep emo poetry, constantly quoting sonnets by the most talented musicians of the era-  ‘fall out bard’ and ‘panic at the inn’

the mage only knows 3 spells- and they all involve cutlery

the intellectual character that finds the powerful relic/enchanted item/mysterious glowy thing is 120% done with all of it ‘for GODS sake, that is the SEVENTH DARK ORB THIS YEAR are yOU KIDDING’

the healer character is also the most ripped, usually ends up treating their own wounds more than anyone elses

the ‘deep broody’ character is actually mute the whole time but no one realises and thinks it’s just part of his moody persona until he has to fucking spell it out for them (literally), spends the whole story making exasperated faces and gestures

the dragon that’s hunting them down for the whole story is actually just trying to give back the shoe that one of them lost while running away, and is actually very conversational ‘bro, you’ve got this all wrong– look, you dropped this bro, haha i’m always forgetting stuff too don’t worry’

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TO THOSE MAKING NATIVE OCS

I see this a lot, no one has actual names, or any reference for names, that are legit Native American, varying among the tribes, for their characters.

Babynames.com and shit like that will give you names made up by white people.

However, I’ve got your solution.

Native-Languages  is a good website to turn to for knowledge on a lot of native things, including native names. If you’re unsure about the names you’ve picked, they even have a list of made up names here!

Please don’t trust names like babynames.com for native names, they’re made up and often quite offensive to the cultures themselves.

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Choosing the central conflict of your novel: Infographic

Remember our post about the six major conflicts that can be used when you write your novel? It’s now an infographic. Click the image below for full-size viewing and pin it or share it on Twitter or your other favourite social platform. Click image to view full size If you like this …

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How would would you recommend planning character arcs?

Planning character arcs goes hand-in-hand with planning the plot itself. I like doing both at the same time, because the plot affects how the character changes, but, ultimately, the character dictates how the story will end. Or, at least, they should.

Start with what will change. You probably have an idea of what the character is like at the beginning. So, what changes? Is it an opinion? Do they rectify a personality trait? If you have what changes and what it changes to, then you have a beginning and an end to the character arc.

How will they look in the middle? The middle is the most important part. The character is in the midst of their change, challenging their past opinion/trait while simultaneously holding onto it. What do they hold onto and why? What change do they embrace first and why?

Allow them to seek out the change. Normally, people don’t radically change themselves of their own accord. The character may need to be convinced to change via an accidental kidnapping or something equally dramatic. But, ultimately, there’s a point where you need to stop dragging your character through the checkpoints and let them walk there themselves. That’s how you show true change: by letting the character embrace it of their own accord. 

How do they change? How is your character most open to being changed? (This is more to help the plot along, but, as I said, the plot and the arc should be intertwined.) Is your character best convinced by conversations with people they trust? Are they best changed by only the most dramatic of circumstances? Will they pretend to change, while the real change takes much longer?

Character arcs are about change, for better or for worse. However, you could do a character arc that begins in the same way it ended, with the character learning nothing at all or discovering the assumptions they had at the beginning of the work were correct all along. Even if this character learns nothing, other characters should change (unless you’re trying to drive home that being a stick in the mud is no way to live).

A good way to show the character has changed is to pose them the same situation at the beginning, middle, and end. Not in-story, mind – although you could do that – but as a drabble or something similar. The situation should compliment their change, e.g. someone afraid of heights having the chance to go skydiving. If you’ve done your job, the character should react differently at each stage of the story. At the beginning, they’d say no, of course. In the middle, they may think about it before ultimately jumping out of the plane and screaming the whole time. At the end, they jump out of the plane without any hesitation.

If you have any other questions, look in the character arc tag. 

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putting these here, want to take a look later

Welcome back to the Virtual Writing Academy, a show where we learn by writing! This time around I have a very magical writing exercise for you— so get ready to write! Today, the task is simple: you are going to create a magic system. The catch? It’s going to get a little emotional~ ;3

Today’s writing musical recommendations are:

Mermaid Magic (Writing Mix) - Listen

“Memories Lost in Time” by GrayLightning - Listen & Download

➤ Missed our previous classes? Check out the playlist!

Want more writing advice, writer positivity, and more? Follow me!

✚ Writing Advice Blog: maxkirin.tumblr.com ✚ YouTube Channel: youtube.com/mistrekirin ✚ Twitter: twitter.com/mistrekirin ✚ Writing Playlists: 8tracks.com/mkirin ✚ Instagram: instagram.com/maxkirin ✚ Free Stories: wattpad.com/mkirin

Keep writing, the world needs your story~ ♥︎

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View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-makes-…

What trials unite not only Harry Potter or Frodo Baggins but many of literature’s most interesting heroes? And what do ordinary people have in common with these literary heroes? Matthew Winkler takes us step-by-step through the crucial events that make or break a hero.

Of interest to writers :)

(Although, no; Frodo isn’t technically human *g*)

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how do I plot ;-;

Hey Anon, I know plotting can be one of the most overwhelming parts of writing a new story and it can seem, at first, like too big of an endeavor to take on, but if you take the time to write down your ideas and map out whatever is currently flying around your imagination, plotting will guide you throughout the entire writing process. Here are some simple resources to get you started. 

How to Write a Plotline in 8 Easy Steps

How to Plot a Novel: More On Plotting

How To Plot Your Novel

The Snowflake Method for Developing a Novel 

How to Plot a Novel in 10 Steps

25 Ways to Plot, Plan, and Prep Your Story

11 Plot Pitfalls–and How To Rescue Your Story From Them

What is Plot–How To Build a Story From Start To End

The Golden Rules For a Good Plot

How I Plot a Novel in 5 Steps

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How to Write a Long-Term Relationship

Sometimes writing about characters in a long term relationship can be difficult. There’s no new spark, they have settled into companion love, and healthy relationships often don’t have much conflict. I realized this issue in the middle of my second book in the Deathless Trilogy.

So how did I overcome these issues? And how do we as authors write these relationships in interesting and engaging ways?

5 Tips for Writing Long-Term Relationships

1. Establish goals for your characters that can be accomplished outside of the relationship.

Real people who have been together for years have moved past that initial oh-my-goodness-my-life-revolves-around-my-significant-other phase, and have returned to join regular society. They have aspirations outside of “I want this person to love me,” and the all too familiar “I only want you to be safe/I only want to protect you.” They know the other person loves them, why else would they still be hanging around? (Unless that’s the conflict! That there is no other reason to hang around! Oooh.) And if you’re with someone and not living in mortal danger, you can ease up on the safety talk.

Real people in relationships have their own things going on, and can feel comfortable doing them without the other person objecting. For the example I talk about between me and my husband, check out my post about love and anniversaries. Besides, giving your characters unique goals that are personalized to their character helps to deepen their characterization.

2. Give them inside jokes and memories.

There is nothing cuter than a couple who has been together for years, and who still has so much fun together. Because what people say is true: Your significant other really does become your best friend over time. After awhile, the passionate love comes and goes, but the companion love is always there. And think about it: People living together or spending that much time together are going to develop jokes and fun memories together.

What is the phrase your characters repeat? What is the “that one time” they often remember? Including these stories via flashbacks are also a great way to incorporate some of those butterfly feelings other stories about new loves often give readers.

What is important is that you show these characters as friends first. Kissing is awesome, but friendship and laughter with the person you love… man, that’s sweeter than anything.

3. Let them argue.

Real people argue. Especially when they are around each other for so long. What I was concerned about with this one was the line between healthy arguments and hurtful ones. In my books, I often portray arguments, but whether or not the characters say something they don’t mean during their fury, I made sure to always include an apology. (At least at some point. In The Blast one of the characters doesn’t receive an apology from another character until about 6 years after the argument. But hey–at least it happened.)

This was important to me, because I certainly don’t want to write situations that can be seen as unhealthy to one or both of the characters, unless that’s the point. Unless I’m writing to show the dangers of domestic abuse, I don’t want my characters mistreating each other. Especially as a YA author this is important. We have to model what relationships should be all about: Balance.

After my parents got a divorce, I held onto the juvenile belief that if a couple fought, they should break up. This idea ruined a lot of my relationships with friends andboyfriends. It wasn’t until I started dating my husband (who is by far the more level headed person in the relationship), and he explained to me that we could argue and still love each other that I realized he was right. As long as we apologized, and really meant it, and made conscious choices not to upset each other again, we forgave each other.

I still argue with my husband every now and then (usually about stupid stuff, but they are arguments nonetheless), but the majority of our arguments are behind us. Why? Because we apologized, and we worked to make sure we will live harmoniously in the future. We work to balance our own needs with the needs of the other person.  Love isn’t about being perfect. Love is about forgiving each other for your misunderstandings.

4. Give them a new adventure.

Put them in a new situation or on a new adventure. They will be forced to make new memories and learn new things about each other, which can always lead to drama or more butterflies. Besides, your plot needs movement. This helps with that.

5. Give them friends.

Real couples have friends, they don’t just hang out with each other all the time. Or, at least, hopefully they have other people in their lives… unless they’re homebodies… in which case, I guess, staying home might be the best thing ever.

However, giving your characters friends helps to switch up the dynamic. Now it’s not just the two of them providing all the action and drama. Now they can work together with someone else, or become jealous of someone, or gossip about someone.

Friends can also function as foils for the characters, especially if one of your characters feels they need to act a certain way around a new friend, or if an old friend comes to illuminate characteristics your character used to possess.

So those are my 5 tips for writing a long-term relationship. Any other tips you would add to this list, or that you have tried? Leave your thoughts in the comments!