#[ thank you for this it’s truly fantastic ]

[literaryvein-reblogs]

A huge THANK YOU for the fantastic writing advice and resources you are creating and sharing. I'm reblogging almost all of your posta on my side blog, which is for storing writing advice, so I can easily come back to your wonderful pieces of advice whenever I need them. I can't begin to tell you how helpful your posts have been for me!

May I ask if you happen to have any tips on writing dialogue, where the POV character is not taking part in the exchange?

For example, Kali, the POV character, is in the room when Brim and Sheila have a conversation. Or maybe all three of them are having a conversation, which at one point becomes a conversation between Brim and Sheila, while the POV character is sort of left out of whatever affairs they have to discuss.

Do you have any advice or good practice examples on how to build such dialogue scenes so that it doesn't feel as if the POV character is too passive and in simply in the scene for the reader's convenience (so that the reader may listen in to what is being said).

Totally understandable if you don't have time for this and decide to disregard the ask. :)

Again, a million thanks for your wonderful blog!

Additional detail from your private message: "The POV character is narrating in third person. It's a close third person POV."

Close Third Person POV Dialogue

Third-Person Limited Point of View

(Often called a “close third”) When an author sticks closely to a single character but remains in third-person.

The narrator can do this for the entire novel or switch between different characters for different chapters or sections.

Allows the author to limit a reader’s perspective and control what information the reader knows.

Used to build interest and heighten suspense.

It is the most common POV choice in modern literature.

This narration adheres to a Sympathetic POV the way first person does, getting the reader inside that character's head but also allowing the depiction of reactions or other things the character isn't aware of.

If the pronouns could be changed to first person without losing any comprehension, this is the POV you're in.

Learning from The Classics. E.g., George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four:

The dialogue that follows between two men, and later, a third, does not include the POV character, who is reduced to a spectator:

After the altercation, we return to the POV character, Winston, then the narration provides more context on what just transpired:

Another Example: Lois Lowry's The Giver

The dialogue that follows among Lily, Father, and Mother, without the POV character's involvement, but we are aware that he is in the room, listening to the exchange:

After the dialogue, we return to the POV character, Jonas:

Examples from George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire:

Daenerys is an interesting example. Reading about descriptions of her from some other characters (who have mostly only seen her from afar or heard rumors and second-hand accounts about her), she gets painted as a bloodthirsty tyrant who has left Slaver's Bay in ruins and is possibly as mad as her father. Reading her POV, we see she's sane, albeit naïve, and is truly compassionate and well-intentioned in her actions; unfortunately, her good intentions tend to horribly backfire due to mistakes or sheer bad luck.

Cersei is actually something of an aversion; while the audience finally gets a look at the childhood prophecy which has shaped her entire life through fear, we also get a look at her utter hostility — such as her silent fury during the marriage of Tommen and Margaery and her paranoid beliefs that anyone who opposes her is working with her enemies. Even in her own POV, she comes across as petty and selfish at best, and outright psychopathic at worst. Even as a child of ten, she was capable of arranging the murder of one of her best friends.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 ⚜ More: References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

With these examples, we see how some writers utilise similar techniques. Even though the POV character is not taking part of the interaction, they don't feel passive to the reader. We still feel their presence as an observer (like Winston in 1984 and Jonas in The Giver). In that moment, the POV character and the reader seem to merge. The authors simply allow the conversation/interaction to flow, thus writing the dialogue as normal, including more context either before or after (or both) the dialogue/interaction.

More: Writing Tips & References on Dialogue

Thank you so much for your kind words, really warmed my heart! You are so lovely. In addition to these examples, you can also look for sample dialogues in this POV in your favourite novels, or the ones you wish to emulate, for further inspiration. Hope this helps with your writing :)

[magnusunpopularopinions]

Anon says:

“I'm so glad this blog exists!! Now I can actually be honest about this show without getting my neck metaphorically snapped ajskdke

Short Version: I seriously think that the romance between John and Martin is the weakest aspect of the show and the crew fumbled the ball on making them believable.

Long Version: I understand that Martin was madly in love with John from the start but, even after the ship became canon, I genuinely don't understand what they see in each other. Se1 Jon treated Martin like shit and even if it's supposed to be interpreted as typical Tsundere behavior, I still don't get why Martin fell in love with the workplace bully. And likewise, John's complaints and dislike for Martin's clinginess and shoddy work ethic were justified as John seemed like a married-to-one's-work type of guy, it makes complete sense for Martin to drive him up a wall.

The reveal from Elias (118) that Martin has some "precious image" of John inside his head made a lot of sense. I was like, 'Oh! So he's only in love with the idea of John, not the person he actually is!? That's crazy!' And I was honestly happier under the impression that his feelings were unrequited and he was just too obsessed to take the hint. That would've made his adventure into Lonely Avatarhood way more interesting. To know that the man you love isn't the him you want to be with and the real him never loved you back anyway...

On that point too, John's desperation to keep Martin from turning fully in Se4 felt more like a begging plea to keep the last of his original assistants alive than anything truly romantic.

But nonetheless, John and Martin have only interacted a handful of times before the end of Se4, and only two of them were positive (039 being the main one I can remember). The rest of the show's runtime is them hearing about the other through hearsay, progressing the plot, and arguing over John's increasing monster-status, with an added dash of John getting audibly uncomfortable whenever romance came up in conversation. That's not enough to build an eventual love confession and romantic relationship on. No matter how hard the fandom shippers carry it with their art and fics, they shouldn't have to do the heavy lifting in the writers' stead.

Don't get me wrong though! 186 and Epiphany (winner of the Magnus Fluff contest) were FANTASTIC, and if we had seen more of THAT before they got together, I'd have no complaints!

It just wasn't apparent enough that John ever reciprocated in canon.”

—————————————————————————

Thanks for sharing! Let’s chat!

1) Sorry to anon, but the ask went HAYWIRE in my inbox and this was the only way I could get it out. My apologies! I haven’t changed anything!

2) Ok, ok… I have to speak my truth. I am also not the biggest fan of Jmart. I agree with anon- Jon is the kind of guy who likes to be and works best alone. Martin’s approach to Jon did seem quite obsessive and it just felt very… sudden that they should become a couple. I just never saw it, and when it did happen, it felt quite out of left field.

3) Now I want to play devil’s advocate to anon and myself because DISCUSSION! I love talking things out in a respectful and kind way, and that’s what we’re here to do!

-Alrighty so, if Jon is adverse to romance as anon says, why did Johnny and Alex decide to make Jmart cannon? Wouldn’t that go against all of Johnny’s hard work in building up believable characters?

-Secondly, doesn’t fan response make Jmart more believable? This to say- if fans picked it out so quickly, doesn’t that mean it was obvious from the start? (Or is this just how fan bases work? Michael and Gerry never met and yet we have DoorKeay!)

4) I wanted to reiterate something: Quite often my posts get circulated without the context of why I made this blog (and honestly I may start putting it at the bottom of every post I make from here on out.) I created this to be a safe space to share opinions without harsh feedback or rude response. You are very welcome to disagree with someone! In fact, I encourage this sort of back and forth! But if your words are not respectful and kind, then I cannot hear you out. We can disagree with each other and still be kind. If we cannot be kind to one another in such a small community as a fan base, then it becomes harder to hold on to hope of kindness outside of it.

I’ll step off my soap box now, and say that I’ve been meaning to say as much for a minute. It does not correlate as much to this ask/post as it does to some others that have received mixed responses. As expected, some people have taken my posts and responded in negative ways.

I can’t stop people from responding negatively. What I can do is make sure that, no matter who sees these, that they know where I stand as a Tumblr user, blog author, and person. I value kindness and respect above all else. If I ever veer from this, call me out.

5) I appreciate you guys a lot, and I have been so so grateful to have this community. Keep those asks coming!

Thanks for sharing and remember to keep your words kind!

-E

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

(Accidentally mis-clicked enter on my last ask. Here's the full "ask")

What he says...

VS What I read...

("us" as in him and WWX, not the spider just to be clear)

They should make an adaptation called 'The Unfiltered', where Lan Wangji says exactly what's on his mind.

[scopophobia-polaris]

My farmer arc

[artificialac1d]

pictures from the neil show ..

[crossbackpoke-check]

the pics of morgan and joel are from travis sanheim's wedding this weekend!

^^^me experiencing the one-two knockout punch of “oh they WERE each other’s wedding date” followed by the realization that sanny finally got married 🥹😭 cheers indeed!!!

[that-foul-legacy-lover]

Wifi did you see?! Foul Legacy is getting his own figure!!

https://twitter.com/GenshinUpdate/status/1738381153445511445?t=5dAeU1K6iJpQI9CP-f_McA&s=19

I saw the news on Twitter and knew I had to send 'em to you

EXTREMELY LOUD INHUMAN SCREECHING

[javierduffy]

Same anon from earlier who sent that ask about how Dutch would react to javieran. I finished the fic but uh it's porn lol. If you're still interested it's "steady beat" on ao3

anon i would like you to know that i spent the first 20 minutes of my shift sitting in the bathroom reading this and i do not regret a single moment

THAT WAS SOOOO GOOD ARE UOU INSANE !-?/!?:3! JAVIERAN CONTENT WAS EXCITING ENOUGH ALREADY BUT PORN ??? AND SOFT, FLUFFY, HEAD-OVER-HEELS IN LOVE PORN ???????? you wrote this for ME !!!!!!! and i am SO GRATEFUL !-!2!2!3 OMG !!!!!!!!!! it was sooo good i was literally giggling and kicking my feet the whole time, you nailed their dynamic sooo so perfectly imo 😭💔 reading that was such a pleasure thank you for the food !!!!!

[sillygoofyqueer]

I came across your MDZS fic and it’s amazing and I just wanted to say I appreciate the extreme angst because it’s so well written! (I love angst and your fic is the best I’ve seen in awhile) tho ngl at one point I was wondering if MXY would be brought back as a fierce corpse like WN. Kinda glad you didn’t go that route but also I’m crying over WWX taking care of MXY’s ribbon. Thank you for writing this!

Am I crying??? Maybe I am, but you'll never know. In all honesty, this is so so sweet, I'm so glad that you're enjoying reading it! It actually never crossed my mind to bring Mo Xuanyu as a fierce corpse, and thinking about it now I'm also glad I didn't go down that route. I think it'd kind of take away from the whole thing of another stranger dying just so he could survive - if Mo Xuanyu came back, it'd minimise the sacrifice, I think. It's like Mo Xuanyu would still get a shot at life like Wen Ning did, which means that his death was able to be rectified. It shows the cruelty of Jin Guangyao as well, because it shows that he doesn't care about anyone that doesn't help his goal? Conversely, there would be a good touch of angst if every time Wei Wuxian saw Mo Xuanyu, he was reminded that this teenager is undead because of him (bonus points if he was the one to raise Mo Xuanyu, because then there would be the internal argument of selfishness vs selflessness for bringing the boy back). However, that could definitely still be shown through the ribbon as a constant reminder? If that makes sense. Once again, thank you so so so much for sending this, I'm passing out with such joy, sobbing my eyes out fr!!! Don't mind my rambling, but I love that you cared enough to actually mention the alternative in the ask, it really got me thinking because it's such an interesting change that I can't believe I didn't think of. I love you so soso soooo much, and I'm going feral at the insinuation that you like my fanfic this much! I LOVE YOU!!!!

[dimsilver]

❤️

[vonlipvig]

i finished reading terry pratchett a life with footnotes

i don't think i have the words to explain how i feel after that but i am sobbing and i'm unbelievably sad and i feel so happy that i somehow stumbled upon the work of such an inspiring and extraordinary man and that it and he will live forever and ever in my heart.

so yeah. GNU terry pratchett. ♡.

[hopkei]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY YUSEI! ⋆ 97.05.06

[ppg-villains-defense-lawyer]

🧡

🧡: What is a popular (serious) theory you disagree with?

Well, I've been pretty vocal about how much I hate the "Ace was just an actor" thing in Gorillaz, but that's not really a theory, more just canon (or at least, Murdoc being Murdoc).

It's hard to think of a fan theory I straight up hate or that makes me think ''no, that's wrong." There are certain theories I think are cool but also pretty limiting, like the PPG being unable to grow up. That can provide a lot of juicy angst and tragedy, but it also makes it impossible to tell any stories about them that aren't about that. Which is probably why the girls are aged up in like 90% of fics.

If character portrayals count as theories, I guess I dislike how the PPG are sometimes written. Like, teenage/adult Bubbles being made into an airhead who only cares about fashion and boys. Probably because Bubbles is the PPG I've been associated with the most in my life so whenever people treat her like "the dumb, shallow one," it internally makes me go >:( But it's also a huge disservice to her genuine kindness and emotional intelligence.

There's also this undercurrent that since she's the "girliest" out of the girls that that makes her dumb by default which isn't cool.

[emptymilk-bottle]

I met @hamishsteele today (dead end paranormal park creator) with @thisappconfusesme when at comic con (truly identifiably by blue hair and yellow coat)

we both went kinda insane (they went more insane)

he was super nice and my sketchbook was honoured with this:

[mvshortcut]

I heard about the divorce party. Do you two already have dresses planned? You mentioned they would be worn with divorce dresses, but I want to know the style.

I already drew up something that might fit (sorry if anything is inaccurate), but I want your opinion too so that I know how to dress.

If you want, you can make one yourself. I made the one in the picture with Wedding Dress Creator.

See you at the ceremony!

Already preparing for the best party EVER,

fandom-queen-13 (should my nickname be Fan or something? If someone does give me a nickname, tell me)

oooh, this is FANTASTIC!! The drama here! The ruffles! The lace! The sleeves! The flower and the collar and the designs! It's so dramatic and over the top and perfect.

Actually, I've been thinking about the dress code, and @amysterywrappedinanenigma I'd love your thoughts on this. I think it would be splendid if everyone showed up in the most controversial outfit they could think of. Whether that's a hawaiian shirt and khakis, a wizard cape, a floor-length ballgown, a spirit halloween costume, a spirit halloween turkey costume, or even your own wedding dress to one-up the bride(s), I think whatever creates the most drama will be appropriate for our big day. What say you, Maren?

Can't wait to see you at our ceremony!

[arianwells]

Me, listening to the serratura's descriptions