#I realise it sounds pretentious af but that was the reason

[adhd-merlin]

She looks at Merlin from under heavy eyelids, drinking in the sight of him before he has to slip away and back to the quarters he shares with Gaius. He’s quiet, as if lost in thought — his cheek pillowed on his hand, while with the other he plays with a stray tendril of her hair, twirling it between his fingers. Gwen is looking right at him, and he is touching her, and yet it still feels so unreal to have him there, in bed with them, half-naked. She thinks of the night that started it all — an innocent conversation, a playful remark, Arthur’s shock at hearing about her kiss with Merlin turning into mortified arousal. “Do you remember the first time I kissed you?” she asks, out of the blue. Merlin’s hand stops and he glances worriedly at Arthur. It makes Gwen laugh because it’s unexpected, and ridiculous — that he should worry about this, after all they’ve done. As if they hadn’t coaxed him into it. “Oh, he knows,” Gwen reassures him. Arthur snorts softly into her neck. “You were just about conscious,” he drawls. “If anything, Guinevere is the one who should apologise to you.” Gwen pokes him in the side with her elbow. “I thought he had died!” “I didn’t mind,” Merlin interjects, and there’s a grin hidden in the curve of his mouth. “Clearly,” Arthur says, dryly.

from Call It Anything We Want on AO3

[sothischickshe]

4, 5, 12?

Thanks!

Ugh I just realised tumblr ate my tags on the original post 😭 why is it like this

4. Avoid repetition

So I'm gonna cheat for this one and repost the thing I posted some unit of time ago (#timeisfake), I was thinking about it (and how blanketly applying generic advice is a bit... Questionable, which is what led to the list!) as ever I am on mobile and incompetent so can't link to it like a normal

 Here's what I think writing advice about avoiding repetition means:

 Vary your sentence structures (if you have 17 lines in a row that start with 'he wants', is there a different way you can say/convey that?)

Listen to how it sounds (many words have multiple meanings so you may not clock that you've used them a lot, does the sentence actually need the word 'back' 5 times? The answer may well be yes but investigate!)

 Word repetition (especially in a block) can be powerful and also can highlight similarities and consistency (and irony!), if that's not what you're trying to achieve it might be worth looking for a simple and true synonym if there is one

Language is fun! Is there another way you can convey this that isn't the same way you've said it before and/or that doesn't feel a little cliché? (clichés aren't necessarily bad though!)

Making the same point over and over again can be...well, repetitive! Even if you've used different words, do you need to make this point again? (maybe you do! Is it clear to you why you're doing this?)

Word choices can convey mood very well, is there a slightly odd synonym you can use here instead that makes sense and helps convey the tone (or level of ambiguity) you would like to use?

Looking across your entire body of work, maybe you return to the same tropes or plots or language (is that intentional? Are there things you'd like to challenge yourself to not/use?)

 There might be an interesting (metaphorical?) way you can refer to the thing that's worth exploring rather than just describing it repeatedly as the thing (if you're talking about it a lot presumably it has significance? Otherwise... Do you need to keep talking about it?)

 Superlatives can be varied fairly reasonably a lot of the time

Characters' speech patterns vary (do you talk the same all the time? With everyone? In every mood?)

 Here is not what I think it means:

 There is a limit to how many times you can use a perfectly normal and pertinent word

You should start casting about for weird af synonyms for 'eyes' or 'table' and just fold them in willy nilly

Synonyms are interchangeable

Writerly tics are bad

You shouldn't foreshadow

You should use lots of weird synonyms for 'said'

Yea I stand by it!

5. Write every day

Psssssht noooooo 😂 I mean if you're a professional writer and/or you have the time, sure!

And the sentiment of it being a muscle you need to use? Sure!

But I have a full time job and I need to spend time being unproductive to relax, and I don't want writing to feel like a chore.

And I find that I need a break between finishing something and starting something! (I can only really work on one thing at a time though.)

I do think time thinking about a story is kinda writing work though!!

But still... Write every week, maybe. Even that feels rather draconian!

12. Never use a long word where a short one will do

Psssssht no 😂

Tbf Orwell did finish up that list with:

. Break any of these rules sooner than saying anything outright barbarous.

But I am not sure I know what that means??

Tbf again, I don't think he was talking about fiction when he wrote that advice for effective communication or whatever, but I do see it quoted generally as well as for fiction.

I agree that fancy flowery language CAN stand out and be a bit jarring, but ultimately that CAN also fit if it melds with a character or an author's voice. Definitely not an automatic no. Also I don't think all long words are automatically pretentious, while short ones are not?? I mean that seems a bit unfair to any dull compound word?? #falsedichotomy