elliotswriting

[elliotswriting]

How to write a cane user character

(Written by a cane user)

A few months ago, I wrote a small guide on good disabled characters and why they were good that gathered quite the attention, and I thought that doing another more specific guide this time would be interesting for writers or just people that are curious ! This guide will include general informations, some things to do, some things to avoid and some ideas that might revolve cane users's lives.

Things to know about cane users

Cane users are pretty diverse, and putting us in little boxes usually isn't the best idea if you want to make a character that has substance and isn't just "the disabled one". Here some infos about cane users that might be helpful knowledge !

Canes don't have ages. Most cane users in media are portrayed to be old, but truly, anyone can have the need to wield a cane ! I've been using mine ever since I was 17.

Can users can have a large variety of problems for their canes. Some canes are used to avoid pain from effort. Some canes are used for balance purposes. Some canes are to make walking less exhausting (works the same as walking sticks !) And sometimes, it's multiple problems at once.

Not everyone needs their cane 24/7. Some always need it, some can make small efforts without it but overall often need it, and some people, like me, can spend quite a lot of time without it. I almost never use my cane in my house, and mostly take it outside !

People with canes can run. We're not necessarily slow, I'm even faster than a lot of my friends.

Not using a cane can come with consequences, but not always. Some people might be able to walk without a cane but then suffer horrible consequences, but for others, canes are just a commodity for specific occasions.

Canes don't have to be looked down upon. Look at some characters with canes that look cool as hell ! Arsène Lupin, Roguefort Cookie, Brook ... Their canes serve their style !

We can be pretty healthy. Some people can have canes just because they were born with a bent leg and that's it. Our cane doesn't define our health status.

Canes aren't a curse. Think of them as something positive. It's a tool to make our lives better. You don't see someone sitting on a chair and think "awh, it's sad that they need a chair". It's more something like "hey it's cool that this chair is here so they can sit down"

Things to do

Make them use their cane. And when I mean use, I mean that canes are just funky long sticks usually made out of metal. Have fun with it ! Let them use it as a weapon ! Trust me, one hit in the knees with a cane and you're DOWN. Use it to reach stuff that's too high for everyone ! Have fun. Be creative.

Let them decorate their cane. It's an extension of their body ! You usually put on clothes that you like, don't you ? It's the same for a cane. If they like cutesy stuff, let them paint in it pastel colors ! If they like a more flashy style, add some stickers on it ! If they're a fancy person, give them a beautiful crafted cane with jewels on it !

You can make them a little shy or uneasy about their cane. Some people don't feel worthy of confident enough to wield one. It's not rare to see people think they're "not disabled enough to do so"

But on the other hand, you can do the complete opposite !! Make them proud of that cane ! Make them act like they're feeling pretty and more confident with it ! One thing i like to think about with my own cane is that I look like a cool gentleman. That boosted my confidence immensely.

Things to avoid

Don't make it their whole world. And by that, I do not mean that their cane shouldn't be a defining trait of their personality. Think of Toph from ATLA. She is blind, and you usually can't think of her character without describing her as blind. However, that isn't her entire personality trait. Make cane users have a goal in life, friends who enjoy them for who they are and not just pity them, have fun ... Don't just make them the disabled one.

Don't try to make the character's life just a plain disaster unless it's the focus of your story and you really know what you're talking about. Having a character who's always in pain, who feels bad about relying on their cane and/or who's angry at the entire world for being disabled is a REALLY tricky subject to use if you don't want them to be either a mass of unhappiness and angst for no good reason or some inspirational porn of the character who inside is deeply tortured but outside keeps up a facade because they shouldn't cry to avoid making others uneasy.

Do not, and I repeat, do NOT try to heal them, especially in a magical way. Bad idea. A lot of disabled people's goal isn't to be healed. It's to live a normal life. Making it so the ultimate goal for them is to be healed makes it as if they were worthless as long as they were disabled. Making their situation better physically or mentally is one thing. Curing them completely is really bad. "But some disabled folks want to be cured !" True, true. But if you are able bodied, I'm not sure if you can have the right mind to understand all of the complex details about this situation that leads to someone's life choices and the end result may look like you think the only thing that can make disabled people happy is being freed from their condition. I think it's best to just avoid it altogether. If you need a more nuanced idea, try to give them a solution that still has a few downs ! For exemple, a prosthetic that feels like a real arm, acts like a real arm and basically replaces it perfectly is a full cure. But a prosthetic that takes time to adjust to, needs repairs sometimes and doesn't look 100% like an arm can be a better narrative choice

Smaller thing, but don't make the handle uneasy to wield if you draw the character design. You can decorate most of the cane, but if you have chunky spiky decorations on the place you're supposed to clench your hand over, you're gonna hurt yourself. I've seen quite a lot of jewel handles or sculpted metal handles and usually their not good. If it's detailed metal, your hand will end up cramped in little parts and it can hurt. If it's a jewel, it's so easy for it to slip out of your hand it's unpractical.

List of tropes/ideas of scenes/details about canes to help you write new situations !

If you walk with a cane during winter, you can't put your hand in your jacket to get warm and there's a high chance your hand will get freezing. So after a long walk, you get an excuse for another character to hold their hand and warm them up.

If the handle is metallic, you get the opposite problem during summer. You can burn yourself so easy ! Easy accident if you want someone to help and get closer to the disabled person without it necessarily involving their disability.

Canes are SUPER useful when you're walking upon heights. They make things really easy, just like hiking poles on mountains ! I live on volcanoes and whenever we clim on a harsh slope, I'm always the first to get up there. Good moment for your character to get a boost of confidence if they get all the way up somewhere before their friends !

The first time using your cane feels magical. If you have chronic pains, it makes you feel like your pain disapear. If you can't walk right, it feels like everything is suddenly alright. The moment where a character chooses to wield a cane can be huge for character development. It's a moment of fear because of the impact a cane has on their appearance, but also a moment of confidence and relief.

Canes fall. All the time. And after a while, it becomes fucking comical. Trust me, putting a cane against the wall, seeing it fall and doing it three times again in a row while it doesn't want to stay up makes you embarrassed but also makes you want to laugh because of how stupid it looks.

When you get a cane, you stop being invisible. When you walk outside, generally speaking, people don't look at you. They don't care about you. But when you get a cane, people start to stare at you for no other reasons that you have a cane. Half of them are just curious, especially if you're young. The other half has a very specific look. The "oh, you poor thing" look. Which is, trust me, particularly awful to get, especially when you're just existing and doing nothing special. How does your character react to this ? How do they feel about it ?

I believe that is all I had in mind. I may add some more details in the future if I get other ideas, but this should already be a good start. I would be thrilled to answer questions if you have some, either in my askbox or through DMs.

I will tag this post with characters holding canes that aren't necessarily considered cane users but that some people may be interested in writing as such. Feel free to tell me if you'd like to see tags being added !

Edit : I'm highly encouraging everyone to look at the tag section under this post where a lot of other can users are sharing their experiences !!

[elliotswriting]

Okay my life got unexpectedly busy so I dont have art for this, but:

10 concepts for architecture, furniture, and minor lifestyle details when writing societies of winged people (any wing type)

1. Since people fly all the time, most of the buildings are probably up higher, with walkways between them. Winged people would invent amazing suspension bridges long before they invented a wheel (see also: the mountainous regions of central and south america, where wheels are not very useful, but bridges are extremely important)

2. Doorways would probably be wider and taller to better accommodate wings, no matter how they're held at rest (ex: if you want fairies with dragonfly wings, their rest position is out to the sides. So wide doorways would be important.) And doors would more likely be sliding doors rather than hinged doors (so you don't have to worry about stepping back and aside for the door, you can just walk through and not risk having your wings bump stuff)

3. Speaking of wings bumping things! Tall ceilings, wide hallways, and absolutely zero breakable objects at potential wing bumping height. The walls are basically bare from shoulder height on down.

4. Hammocks and nests instead of beds. Any form of sleep furniture must be built to let people comfortably sleep on their stomachs, possibly curled up into a fetal position with their knees beneath them. Lots of pillow piles. In the same vein, any lounging furniture would be built with either no back or a very low back. Maybe things like couches and chairs that just have a single armrest to lean against, but no back. Lots of sideways lounging. Any tables would have stools rather than full backed chairs.

5. Wing care is important. This will vary based on the style of wing you're using. Feathery wings will more likely lead to a culture of social grooming and feager combs. Maybe every bedroom has a wall with a feather comb to rub up against. Chairs that seat two so they can help each other groom their feathers. Bat wings would need regular bathing routines, probably some very nice large tubs in their homes for a proper washing, also a social grooming culture around that. Insect wings, I'm not sure exactly. They don't need cleaning the same way. But they are easier to damage. And we know from real life that they can be repaired and replaced! So perhaps a society of people with insect wings would get very very good at prosthetics and wing modification.

6. Wing flapping creates wind. So maybe people would hang up windchimes to hear when people come and go. Theres a lot of wing flapping involved in the landing process, so wind chimes would be an effective way to notice when someone has just landed at your doorstep.

7. Big windows, easily opened. Sometimes you just dont want to use a door. The door is the formal entrance, but windows and skylights are the causal entrances and exits.

8. Consider nomadic winged people who migrate seasonally: they would probably develop a lot of lightweight gear to help them migrate with all their belongings. Hammocks, communal huddling, possibly advanced cartography skills, special devices to distribute weight between multiple fliers carrying a large object together. Special carrying devices to hold children, elders, and the injured.

9. The outsides of every building would have many perches, especially social buildings. Rooftops are just another social space. Ladders are commonly used by anyone who cant fly for any reason.

10. Pretty much anything they make is going to be lightweight but hard to break. More carved wood dishes than ceramic ones, archery more than swords, very light clothing with open backs. But paper maybe not so much. It blows around too easily. Maybe they invent voice and image recording devices sooner than other people so they can more reliably record information in flight.

And that's 10 ideas for world building with winged people! @wolfeyedwitch I hope this is helpful to you! And to anyone else who may have been having trouble thinking up little details for their own winged folks.

[elliotswriting]

In worldbuilding - like in many things in life - the best route is choosing the second laziest option. If you want to come up with a new culture for your setting, starting from scratch would mean insane amounts of all kinds of research. And the laziest possible route would be just picking a real, existing culture and just changing a few details - flat, one-dimensional and boring at best, and insanely offensive at worst.

Therefore, the best option is to pick two. Decide on one key defining feature for the people you want to write, and then pick two otherwise completely unrelated, real historical cultures, read up a bit about them and find two things that they have in common. Like let’s say you picked two cool nomadic cultures. Oh, they’ve historically both largely relied on one specific animal - a large even-toed ungulate - and though one of them farms them as livestock and the other one just hunted them, they’ve both revered this animal, and regard them as a sort of a divine gift to their people, that has freed them from having to farm like sedentary peoples? Yoink.

Two warrior cultures that believe in some kind of a Warrior Heaven where you can only get into by dying in battle? One of them were raiders who only went outside their borders to pillage other peoples, and the other were aggressive conquerors, but both had a very organised society in their own land, and women had a strong legal status and could be financially independent? Yeah makes sense, a man can’t really look forward to dying gloriously in battle if he’s worried what’s going to happen to his widow. You’re gonna use that.

The key to doing this kind of “compare and contrast” groundwork is to build up a framework, an outline that you’ll start building your own fictional peoples’ culture on. Do not just grab two cultures and mash them together, I’m explicitly forbidding it now, because that is still a variation of the laziest possible option. After you’ve figured out what sort of elements tend to naturally emerge in a specific kind of cultures, or what elements they require to function, then you take that framework and start making shit up. That is an order.

[elliotswriting]

US climate with equivalent cities from around the world.

Keep reading

[elliotswriting]

Places you should add to your little town/city in your fantasy world!!

Post offices. Wild, I know. But give me the unhinged kind. Pingeons and little postal dragons all over the place. You enter. The most disgusting smell fucking assaults your nostrils. You know what it is. Letter in hand, you go up to the counter. The postal worker is just a slightly bigger pigeon. You shed a tear.

PLAYGROUNDS!! Create the most dangerous kinds of playgrounds, the ones suburban moms would TRIP if they ever saw one. Monkey bars that are way too tall, swings that go full circle... The metal slide stays the same, it's already painful enough.

PARKS!! MAKE IT ALIVE!! Show people going on walks, reading beneath trees. C'mon most of them are already hundred years old (And are going to die after that CR 15 creature wrecks the town) anyways!! Show couples and picnics, show a family enjoying the sunday, give me someone picking flowers for their loved ones.

A bakery! Do you know how much these places are underrated? And do you know how much plot potential they have? Every good story starts with food poisoning or granny's recipe! Give me a place your players/readers are going to treat like home and, for once, it's not a tavern or a guild.

Government buildings! Give me a town hall that has a kilometric line in front of it. Give me a registry that is as old as this town. Give me police stations! Give me courtrooms! Make one of your players get arrested and now all of the party has to go through burocracy like a bunch of normal people!

(Who am I kidding? You don't need to make them get arrested. They are going to do that for you.)

Touristic attractions! Give me a full-on statue of the country's leader! Give me museums! Give me streets, ruins and whatnot that attract thousands of tourists everyday! Give me an annoying city guide that tries to get the party's attention everytime!

Magazine stands! Magazines don't exist? Newspaper stands! From the Queen's Journal to the most questionable new piece of Fox's Tailtracker, you have it all! Make your players doubt what's actually happening, sprinkle a little fake news... Or is it fake at all?

...Toy stores. OK HEAR ME OUT. Make magic toys; miniature skyships that actually fly, metal toy dragons that expel fire, little wands that make little light spells, wooden creatures that can move and make noises... Make children happy! And your players too because they will waste their money on these stuff.

Instrument store!! Make your bards happy with special instruments or just weird ones! Give me a battle in one of those that is just filled with funny noises and the worst battle soundtrack ever!!

Not exactly a place but... Cleaning carts!!! Show me people cleaning the streets, picking up the trash, cutting trees!! Make the town look clean!! Give me an old man that is really proud of his work!!!

(or ways to make your players feel even worse when the villain destroys the town later on :) )

[elliotswriting]

shout out to ace and aro kids who are constantly bombarded with the opinion that sex and romantic love are directly connected to living a happy life.

[elliotswriting]

Writing Chronic Pain

By a person who kinda sorta has chronic pain (I am getting better) <3

First I want to say that all of this is general advice and nothing I could possibly say would constitute a “rule.” Also, this advice is extremely specific to pain resulting from an old injury. My experience is only one person’s, but I thought it might be helpful so here goes.

Describing pain

It is surprisingly difficult to accurately describe pain, especially when that pain is long-term and evolving. My injury was in my knee, under my kneecap, and almost two years out, I still have trouble even identifying if the pain is coming from the top or back of my knee. It sounds small, but it isn’t. Not being able to describe what you’re feeling or where it is can be frustrating and feel invalidating, especially if you’re trying to explain to someone else what’s going on.

It doesn’t always feel like pain, or any words commonly associated with pain (throbbing, aching, etc.) A lot of the time it’s hot, swollen, or even itchy. 

When you’re used to something hurting all the time, your relationship to that pain changes. I started to think of it less as pain and more as discomfort, or an “awareness” of my knee that I didn’t have for other body parts. This isn’t denial - my pain threshold had changed, and what might have registered as pain before didn’t affect me in the same way.

Complicating factors, AKA Things That Make It Worse

Something I never ever see addressed, even though “my old bones hurt when it’s cold” is the most common thing on earth:

My leg also swells and gets worse when it’s hot. Extremes in temperature, generally speaking, are both not good for me, but it’s easier to protect from cold than from heat.

Especially for joints, moving in new ways puts new strain on the injury, and that hurts a lot. You might do PT to recover your ability to run, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to jump. In fact, if it’s a knee injury, jumping is probably the last thing you’ll get back. Think the same way about hips, or ankles, or elbows and shoulders. Having one thing back =/= getting everything back.

Some things might never come back. I don’t really want to talk about this, and it’s pretty self-explanatory. There’s a lot of grief that comes with that.

Endurance builds back slowly, and isn’t always linear.

I think everyone knows this already, but there are good days and bad days. They don’t follow any schedule or logic. Sometimes I do something knowing that I’ll be in pain that night, but other times I wake up, sit at my desk for a few hours, and realize I’ll have to take 4 Advil to get through the day. 

Things that help!

Rest! Physical therapy! Painkillers!

Elevating the injury (above the heart) is shockingly helpful. I was always surprised by what a difference it made.

Sleeping in positions that don’t put stress the affected area. Positions that actively support it are even better! Pillows help a lot with this. Sharing a bed with someone…not so helpful.

Before doing something strenuous, heating up the muscles/joints so that it’s less of a shock to the system when they’re used. After doing something strenuous, ice.

A note about ice packs: Even small ice packs can make you very, very cold. When I’m icing my knee, I definitely need warm socks. If I’m icing my shoulder, I’d want something for my hands. A blanket definitely doesn’t hurt.

Effects of being in pain all/most of the time

It’s hard to sleep! Sometimes I will walk around all day without really processing that my leg hurts, and then I’ll lie in bed and realize that I can’t sleep because I can’t stop thinking about my knee. It doesn’t necessarily register as pain, but I have come to realize that not being able to stop thinking about it = it is pain.

It is hard to ask for help, and it doesn’t get easier. In fact, sometimes it feels like it gets harder. People are less understanding the farther out you are from the actual injury - or at least I worry that they will be.

And finally

This one is a HUGE for me.

I know people love to write sweet, long-suffering angels but I really really struggle with that portrayal because

When I am in pain all day/for several days, I turn into a massive fucking bitch. It is exhausting and infuriating and drains me emotionally and physically, even if I don’t notice it happening. I get frustrated easily, I snap at people, and while all my emotions run high, mostly I get pissed off. I understand people want to write the characters they want to write, and I would never ask anyone not to, even if that character is a perfect angel whose response to pain makes me envious and self-conscious. I would (gently) request that such authors reflect on a few things:

Why does your character respond to pointless, unstoppable pain with such bravery or sweetness or stoicism? Where does that response come from, and what does it do for your character and the characters around them? What are the consequences of holding back more “unsavory” feelings? 

I would also (again, gently and respectfully) urge people to think hard about the motivations behind having a character who stays kind and sweet and good despite massive amounts of pain and helplessness. What ideas does this reinforce about pain and martyrdom in the disability community? What messages does it send about how disabled people can or even “should” behave?

That’s all I have for now! Please feel free to ask questions, my ask box is always open. Please also let me know if this is helpful to you - I’m considering writing a few more things about disabilities/diagnoses that I have direct experience with, and I’m wondering if people are interested in that.

Thanks for reading!

[elliotswriting]

that's my emotional support mutual that I never interact with

[elliotswriting]

[elliotswriting]

I wish I could even start how to write about how tropical or even "warm" places are never portrayed as "home" in art (especially in pop culture), if that makes sense. They are always portrayed as wild places, exotic places, or both, but they're never shown as places were people live their lives.

Main characters don't ever come from a tropical country. There aren't sitcoms set in a hot city in the tropics (well, of course there are telenovelas) about the daily lives of normal people. Fantasy and science fiction series often start in places that look suspiciously like medieval Europe, and when they go to a jungle or desert land or planet, it's because something Exotic is about to happen.

Temperate climates (and their cultures) are The Default. Every other place, in real life or in fiction, is judged against them.

To the point that people who live in the tropics are jealous of snowy Christmas. Because that's what we've been raised with with the cultural monopoly of the US/Europe.

It's so weird. Everything has to have snowy winters, orange fall leaves, and pine trees in fiction. I live in a place where winter lasts a month, there are palm trees everywhere, and long, hot summers. I could never relate. Bro I'm j jus existing here.

[elliotswriting]

40 OC Development Questions

I enjoy making character development questions way too much. These ones have basic and more random ones mixed in, but I tried to make them more in-depth.

Feel free to send in some asks with some numbers! Pick an oc, or I’ll pick randomly. If you reblog, I’ll roll a few dice and shoot some numbers your way, too!

If your oc was to host a TV show, what would it be about? Would your oc be good at it? What sorts of guests would appear?

Can your oc play any instruments? Have they ever wanted to learn how to play any? Why?

If you were to choose another name for your oc, what do you think it would be? Did you choose it for how it sounds or for its meaning?

How does your oc fare in the dark? Are they scared? Do they trip over things really easily or navigate like they have night vision? (Or do they have night vision?)

How well would your oc fare as a teacher? What subject would they be best at teaching? What about the worst?

What was your oc’s relationship with their parents like? If they didn’t have any parents/didn’t know them, who in their life was the closest to a parent to them?

Does your oc have any allergies, intolerances, or other sensitivities? How dangerous is it? Does this affect their daily life in any way?

Does your oc prefer being in a crowd or being completely alone? How many people can be around them before they get uncomfortable?

How easily does your oc make friends? Do they have difficulty talking to new people? Why?

How open is your oc to trying new things? Are they the adventurous sort, or would they rather stay in their comfort zone? Why?

What is the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to your oc?  Do they still feel ashamed for it? Were there any witnesses?

Does your oc have any best friends? Who was/is their closest friend? What about their worst enemy?

How dangerous is your oc? Are they completely innocent, or someone to be feared? Do others know?

What is your oc’s vision like? Do they require glasses, are they completely blind, or do they have 20/20 vision? Does this have an effect on their life?

What is your oc’s favourite time of day? Why is this? Do they have a daily practice during this time?

How often does your oc lie? Why is that? What was the biggest lie they’ve ever told?

How well can your oc keep secrets? Is there a difference between how they handle their own vs someone else’s? To what lengths would they go to keep something hidden?

How does your oc fare in an emergency situation? Do they panic, do they freeze, do they take charge?

If your oc were to be arrested for something, what would it be for? For being too kind, for a legitimate crime?

What is your oc’s personal hygiene like? Is it important to them? What is their daily routine for this like?

Are there any public events your oc would love to go to? Concerts, plays, movies, parties, etc? What about ones that they would hate? Why?

How quiet or loud is your oc? Are they easily capable of sneaking around without being heard, or do they feel it’s impossible to stop talking?

How difficult is it for your oc to get to sleep? Do they fall asleep the moment they hit the pillow, or do they have insomnia? Any reason why?

How dramatic is your oc? Do they make a big deal over every little thing, or do they fail to react to even the most crazy of events?

How does your oc handle being sick? Do they pretend not to be? Do they complain a lot? How susceptible to getting sick are they?

How stylistically fancy is your oc? Or would they rather go for comfort and plainness instead?

What’s your oc’s preferred mode of transportation? Walking, vehicle, (or in a sci-fi/magic setting) teleportation?

Is your oc always late, always early, or always right on time? Is there any reason for this?

How empathetic is your oc? Or are they closer to being a sociopath? Any reason why?

How much does your oc swear? Or do they keep completely clean? Why is this? Is there any situation where they would be the opposite?

What is your oc’s sense of humour like? What do they find funny? Do they try to be funny? Are they actually?

Is your oc a pacifist, or someone who picks fights? Why? In what situations would they be the opposite?

How does your oc’s own perception of themselves compare to how other people see them? Is your oc aware that other people see them differently (if it’s different)?

How easily does your oc throw something away? As soon as something is through with its usefulness, or are they more like a hoarder? Is there a reason?

Is your oc a workaholic, or do they find it hard to be busy at all? Do they find it easy to relax, or must they have something to do at all times? Why?

What is your oc’s ideal night out like? Or would they rather spend it at home?

How picky is your oc? Will they not accept something because of the smallest details being off, or do they not care in the slightest? Why?

How energetic is your oc? Do they have trouble sitting still or do they feel low on juice all the time? Any reason why?

Is it difficult for your oc to focus, or do they have no trouble being in the moment? Do they daydream or zone out?

How humble is your oc? Or are they closer to royal in their self-perception? Why? Is this obvious to others?

[elliotswriting]

Ok but before you go throwing random stuff into your story to spice it up or get it un-stuck, consider doing the following:

Grab a few events (minor or major doesn’t matter) from earlier or later in the story and trace out the causal chains. What caused it and what did it cause? Can the domino effect lead to a new event?

Trace out the “story” of the main cast’s motivation. How does the motivation interact with the story and how does the motivation change over time?

Go hunt for story elements you put in earlier that could be escalated into subplots.

Take a few characters who have different levels of information (or are more or less close to antagonists) and go through the story from their perspective. Perhaps you don’t know what should come next for your main character, but it might be obvious what comes next for a different character.

When you throw in new characters, first try to repurpose old characters. This makes them feel less cheap and gives them a better chance at developing depth. And when you do want to use a totally new one, consider someone who’s related to an existing character or a causal chain. The reader might already be wondering where X character’s parents are, after all. 

Point is, the deeper the connections between your story elements, the more satisfying the read. You don’t have to view those connections as a constraint. They can tell you what needs to happen next.

[elliotswriting]

HEY, Romance Writers!

A few followers have asked for tips on writing romance into their stories or as the basis of their stories. Here’s a masterlist of sources (below cut) that may help.

General Romance:

What Defines Romantic Love?

How to Build a Romance Thread in Your Story

How to Plot a Romance Novel

Slowburn Romance

When Friends Fall for Each Other (ask)

Tips for Writing a Character Who Has a Crush

Tips on Writing Unrequited Love 

Writing Healthy Couples in Fiction

An Antidote to “Love at First Sight”

How Attractive Should Your Characters Be?

3 Great Ways to Show That Your Character Is In Love

6 Ways to Get Your Readers Shipping Like Crazy

Six Steps to Stronger Character Arcs in Romances

Seven Great Sources of Conflict for Romances

9 Romance Writing Mistakes to Avoid

20 Tips for Writing Lovable Romance Novel Heroes 

How to Write a Kissing Scene in a Romance Novel

Types of Kisses and Kissing + This Post Is All About Kisses

List of Ideas to Keep Romantic Tension High

100 Questions for Character Couples

How Do I Make the Relationship Development Realistic?

How Do I Know If Two People Are Compatible?

Healthy Relationships Can Include Teasing

How to Write a YA Romance Without Cliché   

Intercultural Romance:

How do I write an interracial couple accurately? (ask)

15 Common Stereotypes About Intercultural Relationships

Cross Cultural Relationships

[Ideas for] Your [Fictional] Cross-Cultural Relationship

Things to Avoid When Writing Interracial Romance

writingwithcolor: Interracial Relationships (w/ links)

Bad Romance:

Removing the Creeps From Romance

Why The Surprise Kiss Must Go

Possessiveness 101

10 Signs You May Be in an Emotionally Abusive Relationship

Edward & Bella Are In An Abusive Relationship

Red Flags, Verbal Abuse, Stalking… | Script Shrink

5 Huge Mistakes Ruining the Romantic Relationships in Your Book

How do you write a [bad] relationship without romanticising it? (ask)

General Tips for Writing Characters Love Interests:

How to Write from a Guy’s POV

Writing Awesome Male Characters: What You’re Doing Wrong

7 Point-of-View Basics Every Writer Should Know

How Do You Describe a Character?

4 Ways to Make Readers Instantly Loathe Your Character Descriptions

3 Signs Your Story’s Characters Are Too Perfect

Is a Quirk Just What Your Character Needs?

Six Types of Character Flaws

Is Your Character Optimistic Or Pessimistic?

5 Ways to Keep Characters Consistent

9 Simple and Powerful Ways to Write Body Language

10 Body Language Tricks for Deeper Characterization

Describing People Part Three: Gestures, Expressions, and Mannerisms

33 Ways To Write Stronger Characters

Conveying Character Emotion

Distinguishing Characters in Dialogue

How to Make Readers Love an Unlikable Character…  

Characters: Likability Is Overrated

Relationships in General:

How to Create Powerful Character Combos

8 Secrets To Writing Strong Character Relationships

Character Relationships: 6 Tips for Crafting Real Connections

Writing Relationships: Hate to Love

Stereotypes, Archetypes, & Tropes:

Five Signs Your Story Is Sexist: Part 1, Part 2

Five Signs Your Story Is Sexist – Against Men

Always Female vs Always Male

Born Sexy Yesterday & Manic Pixie Dream Girl

7 (Overused) Female Love Interests

Other Resource Lists

Resources For Romance Writers

Pinterest Board “Writing: Romance Arcs and Plots”  

thewritershelpers FAQ (romance, kissing, sexuality, etc)

+ Follow HEY, Writers! on Ko-Fi // Wattpad // AO3 // Goodreads // Pinterest

[elliotswriting]

It's not an "abandoned" WIP, I didn't intentionally leave it in the forest to die and forget about it, it is a lost wip who wandered into the forest despite my pleas not to. I sit at the edge of the forest every day and hear it calling for help but there is nothing I can do. It is a haunting wip

[elliotswriting]

Bad pacing is the most common problem I see in stories, regardless of medium. I tried reading a new fantasy book today that had good prose, decent characters, and a world with a lot of potential. But the way it was paced killed all investment I had or could’ve had in it.

Also, the way people talk about pacing is very rudimentary and shallow. The criticism is either “pacing too slow” or “pacing too fast” and that’s it. No room for nuance and no explanation for what makes a certain pace too fast or slow.

Makes me want to write a short guide on how to pace stories properly, or at the very least a “what to avoid” guide.

[elliotswriting]

oh btw, if you're looking for resources, @.writingwithcolor has like 8 or so years worth of writing advice wrt characters of colour and has tags split up by ethnicity, woc and moc, specific tropes/stereotypes, etc., and still answers questions today.

they cover stuff about descriptions, making sure characters don't fall into racist stereotypes, worldbuilding, POC in fantasy/sci-fi, things to be careful about, things that would be cool to see more of, incorporating characters' culture without overstepping and making the story about being part of that culture, etc. they're really really good and i recommend checking them out for sure.

[elliotswriting]

"The magic system is never fully explained" yeah that's how life works. Imagine having a story set in modern day America and the characters have several pages of exposition on combustion engines and telecommunication networks before we get to the plot