#get the first 3 paragraphs in then skip to the last 2 for a shorter experience lol

[reavenedges-lies]

Okay now to the proper answer and not just an expansion on others content. (This is long and also functions as a mini primer about Dylan Guenther)

Now unfortunately as you've seen with other responses this is a very nuanced conversation with many factors e.g., age (Prime or Peak ages usually ranging from 23-30 for forwards and 25-32 on defenseman and goalies), location, coaching & staff, availability, and physicality. Now I will go over some of these things but since the Penguins have already been touched on by my lovely friend and mutual @coffee-at-annies I'll be focusing on the Coyotes. Notorious in the last decade or so for having atrocious luck with prospects and draftees.

My poor poor desert dogs have been in a off and on rebuild since 2013, and with multiple bad ownership groups starting back in '09 its been a long and draining process on our fans and players. Our General Manager situation didn't seem to help either with Chyka in 2020 seemingly not wanting to be here and also breaking league rules and getting the Yotes 1st rounder taken away that year. Later that same year we had a GM with a mere 2 month stint before we landed on our current GM Bill Armstrong (I will be referring to him as GMBA from here on out for times sake). We (Yotes fans and maybe @desertpups or @patrichornkissed can corroborate) haven't had this stable of a GM with a solid plan in what seems like ages, and under him we have completely revamped our Player Development staff and programs.

Now that we have some context out of the way, I'm going to go through all of the Yotes 1st rounders from the last decade (2014's draft) and go over how many games they played for ARI and if they got traded. (If you have any questions about these players send me an ask and i'll answer to the best of my abilities.)

2014- Brendan Perlini (12 OVA) Currently Inactive at the NHL level, played 153 games for ARI with 57 points (33-24-57) 2015- Dylan Strome (3 OVA) Currently with WSH, played 48 games for ARI with 16 points (7-9-16) 2015- Nick Merkley (30 OVA) Currently Inactive at the NHL level, played 1 game with ARI 2016- Clayton Keller* (7 OVA) Still with ARI, as of right now (MAR 25, 2024) he has played in 509 games with 404 points (163-241-404) 2016- Jakob Chychrun* (16 OVA) Currently with OTT, played 373 games for ARI with 170 points (60-110-170) 2017- Pierre-Olivier Joseph (23 OVA) Currently with PIT, Traded before he could play for ARI 2018- Barrett Hayton (5 OVA) Still with ARI, as of right now (MAR 25, 2024) he has played in 209 games with 84 points (35-49-84) 2019- Victor Söderström (11 OVA) Still with ARI-AHL, as of right now (MAR 25, 2024) he has played in 53 games with 11 points (1-10-11) 2020- NONE 2021- Dylan Guenther (9 OVA) Still with ARI-AHL, as of right now (MAR 25, 2024) he has played in 67 games with 37 points (17-20-37) 2021- FORFEIT (11 OVA) 2022- Logan Cooley (3 OVA) Still with ARI, as of right now (MAR 25, 2024) he has played in 71 games with 34 points (13-21-34) 2022- Conor Geekie (11 OVA) Prospect -WHL 2022- Maveric Lamoureux (29 OVA) Prospect -QMJHL 2023- Dmitriy Simashev (6 OVA) Prospect -KHL/MHL 2023- Danil But (12 OVA) Prospect -KHL/MHL

5/10 of our last NHL playing 1st round draftees are no longer with the team and 2 are no longer active in the NHL. Of the remaining five only two can be considered full time players for the Coyotes -I'm not counting Cooley just yet as he may get assigned to the Roadrunners next year for Dev reasons- those being Hayton and Keller. The two players with Stars next to their names played in the season they were drafted with everyone else on this list getting at least one full season in a development league or college. Keller IIRC didn't play until the end of the season post his college season rounding out, but I really want to talk about his line mates.

Now I have a lot to say about Hayton's development as a whole, as he is a fantastic skater who makes great decisions and moves the puck beautifully with his line mates, but has no finish. He does not score often, with last seasons 19-24-43 being his best since he has been playing at an nhl level, this year he has been plagued with injury after injury. But the real enigma is Dylan Guenther and his progression.

Gunner (Guenther) played his first year post draft and post ELC signing with the WHL's Edmonton Oil Kings and would've been part of the WJC-U20 team had it not been cancelled. After that he officially joins the Coyotes to everyone's excitement. However he only posts 6 goals in 33 games prior to that years WJC-U20. Post WJC he gets sent down to WHL's Thunderbirds (Traded from EDM to SEA at the deadline) for more development and a chance once again at the playoffs ultimately winning them a championship. The season is over, and he is doing off-season training trying to bulk up on his own before the mini training camp and ultimately the AUS games. He is looking dead ringer for a spot in the opening night line-up, and he starts the season in the AHL. He is mad, and turned that into an opportunity to get better.

According to reports from the Roadrunners HC Potvin he was spending almost all his free time training in some way or another and taking advantage of all the resources provided to him. He gets better over the course of his time down in Tucson and eventually is the team leader in points. He is working on himself and his game and Zucker gets suspended for 3 game. There is an empty spot on the roster for the best player on the Roadrunners, and Guenther is it. His mentality as a call up? “I’m not really thinking about what might happen. I’m just gonna go out there and I’m gonna play well. That’s all I can do, make it impossible for them to send me down. Absolutely, that’s the plan.” And He Does Just That. He has been playing since Zucker got suspended, he is currently at 34 games played and 22 points (11-11-22). He is the epitome of how you want development to go at this stage.

Right Now, the coyotes have the stability in their coaches on and off the ice as well as in their want and drive to be here. We could not have said that in 2020. As of the beginning of this season fans got an interview with GMBA where he said "We're in Phase 2 right now. It's right on track". We've got depth, we have draft picks, we have prospects and we have players who want to be here. The Prospects are the life blood of any given team, but that means nothing if you don't have a working system around them of a stable GM, HCs, Scouts and Development team. Prospects and Rookies take time, they take effort and they take what they can, to get what they need. There is no real stigma around whether or not you can call them up, its a decision on whether they're ready mentally and physically, if they're ready to be pushed into more grueling hours than they had been prior, if they're ready to use their drive to be better into being better not only for themselves but their team, coaches and fans, and whether or not the coaches and gm are ready to help those players each step of the way to the best of their abilities even when its not what the players want.

NHL-wide thought: it's funny how when a team has reached it's expiration date they call for a retool to get younger and refresh the roster to compete. but when they see prospects doing so well before coming in the show, they're like "but does his game translate well to the NHL???" or "is he NHL ready?" What really is the deal about prospects and why is there so much stigma about them despite the need to rebuild at some point?

good question, anon! I would like to know the answer to this too, but sadly I am here exclusively for the shits, giggles and pretty faces so am probably not the best person to ask.

I would suggest asking... perhaps @reavenedges-lies @coffee-at-annies or @idontlikeem all of whom i think know far more about Proper Hockey Stuff!

[aj-thegreatest]

Next up is Topaz and Hody! I did them next because 1) They’re the big thing now and 2) I want to get my Mewni redesigns outta the way before the rest. They were pretty fun, and the first example of my rewrites! Sometimes when I redesign a character, I’ll rewrite them to fit the change. It’ll be minor or major changes; basically my spin on them. I’ll explain everything below, but here’s the final if you wanna skip!

I’ll start with the designs first, then my rewrites:

For Hody, I wanted him to resemble Larry more. I went with his canon design instead of the redesign, since I liked it more (gives me big himbo vibes).

So Hody has his eyes and hair/fin style, but Camie’s eye color. I simplified the outfit so it’s easier to draw: the red sash just goes around his waist, but above his tail. I covered up his chest, kept the gold and red gems, and made his arm armor shorter. I went with the colors that harchibudytgorichi used, cause I love how muted they are! Also, he’s wearing a skirt now! I’ll explain that later.

Topaz’s first change was her hairstyle. No real reason, but I thought her hair being half shaved would look cool! To compensate I made her hair longer, so she’s still a warrior. I gave her Cole’s nose and eyes, so she’s even more aligned with him. But now she has Phyrus’ colors to equalize. She also has pudge! I remember when someone asked if older Topaz could have pudge, and I thought it was a missed opportunity. Alot of her outfit is based on Cole’s (with some Braze too). She has shoulder armor with spikes, a gem placement like Cole, and pants with fur boots. I tried to make her more “battle ready”, with the utility belt and more coverage. No tiara, but her earrings are a hint to her status.

Now onto the good stuff Let’s start off with Hody! Instead of being jerky and prejudice, he’s dumb but has a big heart. Major Himbo vibes. Like Maria he wants to help the Waterfolk kingdom, but can’t retain a lot of knowledge (Diplomacy, Trading, etc). So he fights as a warrior to support them. Hody was a bigger deal until Astro came along, but his strength is acknowledged. He’s still protective of Maria; he can’t accept his sister growing up and surpassing him. To him, she’ll always be his baby sis. It’s also why he’s hesitant towards Astro; why would she need to date??? He does respect him right off though. Eventually he realizes Maria’s grown now, and that won’t change their relationship. After this, Hody treats Astro as part of their family. They also spar on occasion. He’s way more accepting of monsters since he’s too dumb/kindhearted to realize. He hangs with the Johansson brothers but the dynamic is different, I’ll explain later. Hody also loves wearing skirts and dresses; his fashion style leans towards Billy Porter. I...just thought it’d be neat. He was supposed to be the heir, but after meeting a fire-headed warrior that might change… In this version, Topaz is more aggressive and tactical. She never goes in without a plan or escape route, especially in fights. After a horrible “relationship” with her controlling dead ex, Topaz left her tribe to get some space and explore the surface (Cole’s idea). Nobody knew about their relationship, but once they did they were not happy. Her relationship with Scorch went on for too long. It made her feel weak and scared. Which she hates. So Topaz pushes those feelings down and fights to cope. She also doesn’t like unfamiliar people touching her...something Hody (a person who hugs everyone) learns that very quickly. She loves her dad and thinks highly of him. She often stands up for him and his ideals, wanting to help the tribe be more intellectual. Topaz doesn’t read a lot, but books about war and strategy are her favorite. She misses her mom, but doesn’t talk about it (yet). She finds her escort flighty, and wants to teach him to think smarter. Once they travel together, they’ll definitely get closer and help the other with their issues. For Topaz it’ll be her mother, her last relationship/fear of intimacy, and getting close to people. Hody’s will be his feelings about his sister, his place in the Waterfolk kingdom, and his relationship with the Johanssons (which he’ll also learn to put himself first instead of others, but I’ll explain in the next paragraph). I’d compare them to Jess and Lake from Infinity Train. I think they’d both slowly realize they have feelings for each other, and soon start dating. Because of Topaz’s previous relationship, she’s hesitant about doing “heavier” stuff early on. But Hody understands. At some point Hody gives his heirship to Maria; around that time they’d either get married or engaged, and travel around Mewni. They do have kids (maybe 2-3 because this Topaz hates pregnancy idk) and just chill as parents. Now onto the Johnasons!

Hody hangs with the Johnasons, but in their eyes he’s on thin ice. Because of Hody being pro-monster, there’s slight tension between them that Hody side steps. He thinks befriending them will change their minds about monsters, and accept them more. When Topaz comes in, things become shaky. Hody tries to keep the peace but Tor, Twister, and Gale aren’t having it. However, Topaz convinces Hody he needs to look out for his own well being/mental health, and that sometimes you can’t change someone by being their friend (Also conflicting ideals can break a friendship, maybe for the better). After Hody confronts them, Tor puts his hands on Topaz and they both beat them up (Topaz more than Hody, but ehhh semantics. Idk if Twister and Gale would get involved but 🤷🏿‍♀️). Afterwards, Gus comes by and apologizes to Hody. He wasn’t actively prejudiced but complacent and, while not as bad, has its own issues. He asks if they can still be friends, which Hody readily accepts. Topaz is suspicious, but they eventually warm up as a trio (This would also progress Gus’s development, like the 2nd or 3rd step).

...This was a long way of saying I like Grumpy Girl/Soft Boy better than the og dynamic but I’m done! Next one will come out whenever, here’s their full body!

[20somethingartist]

Recap of what I’ve been up to the past year (part 1)

2019-2020, it’s been on and off with making art. There was so much I’d planned to do: I wanted to produce good work while personally learning from it, compile a stellar portfolio, and establish online presence. While I was still in school, I was up to my ears in creative ideas. Stories to tell, illustrations to make, concepts to explore ~ I was itching to be done with school and start working on new projects, chasing my own dreams... 

By the time I graduated in winter 2018, I was burned out. I came home and fell into a slump. I played around with the ideas in my sketchbook now and then... started projects but never finished... slowly lost motivation... and became overwhelmed with adulthood. [ pressure to make an income, job hunting, loneliness, trying to figure out what to do with my life... which can be a whole post in itself but I won’t get into that now ]

2019: I studied various artists and practiced to improve my draftsmanship. I wrote many rough drafts for stories and characters I had in my head. I was productive yet scatter-brained. The challenge, for me, was learning to balance my lifestyle: I started to become a workaholic, yet never really finished anything because I only wanted perfection. It was a stagnant and unhealthy mindset. I even developed a bad case of imposter syndrome, which surfaced when I made my first big sale. My seller’s guilt caused me so much anxiety, I took a complete hiatus from painting. 

Imposter Syndrome: my 2 cents

Imposter syndrome partially comes from self-doubt; it can be a fear of failure or even a fear of success. Like reaching a level you feel like you can't live up to (if that makes any sense). I don't know why it's so common among artists to feel this way.

( this paragraph is just my personal experience; feel free to skip ) // I had a bad experience with imposter syndrome too, the first time I sold an oil painting. Even though I knew the buyer was happy to pay for and support my work, I felt extreme guilt as soon as I received the payment. I worried that I charged too much for my painting, and that they would start to think it wasn't worth the price. I started comparing myself to other artists and felt anxious about showing my work to anyone. Even though I'd studied painting and earned a degree in studio arts, I still felt like an imposter. //

What helps me is remembering why I enjoyed making art in the first place. Maybe take a break from posting your work online; and stop comparing. Remember that being an artist does not mean having a following, getting a degree or making a profit... and those things aren't a measure of how good of an artist you are (though those are all good things). Being creative makes you an artist; and enjoying what you do and striving to improve makes you successful. At least that's the way I see it.

[ I might write more about imposter syndrome and seller’s guilt, if I could just figure out why it is and how to deal with it... PS this was my response to a thread on Reddit; my username is SunnyGrace7. Sometimes I post feedback/critiques. ]

In November, I signed up for 4 life drawing sessions at a small studio called Kline Academy of Fine Art, in LA. It was for 3 hours every Saturday with the same model and pose. I learned a lot about light and shadow on the human figure; but it was much more time than I needed for the piece and I wasn’t sure what to do for the last couple hours, haha. Maybe I needed to be more patient and meticulous with refining the details. This is the finished result:

I liked Kline Academy and would want to sign up for more workshops, if only it wasn’t such a long drive from where I live. Maybe one day I will move to the city... Anyway, I’d decided I needed more practice with life drawing and started searching for other options. Preferably a session with various poses held for shorter times, so I could practice gestural drawings and movements. Because I had ambition to one day become an animator ~

{ to be continued }

[badbookreviewclub]

Empress Theresa, Chapter 2

If you haven’t read the chapter 1 review, I highly recommend you do so. You can find it here: Empress Theresa, Chapter 1  Should you choose not to, this could get confusing, though the book is already confusing enough as is, so who knows, it may make sense.  This should be the last time that I copy over my tweets directly, so reviews on here should be far more competent.  It took a full week, but I was finally able to get through chapter 2. It was significantly shorter than chapter 1, which in its own way, made it better than the first chapter. However, that doesn't mean that it was good. In general chapter 2 is going over Theresa's high school and middle school life. This means that Norman has to cover things that a high school and middle school student should experience. However, Norman really only covers two things. 1. The Boy's Baseball Team 2. Cyberbullying Theresa gets recruited to the boy's high school baseball team when she's in middle school. She's about 12 years old when she gets recruited and the best I can make out is that this is her last year of middle school too (9th grade). Call me a liar if you want, but I haven't... ...ever met a 12-year-old in 9th grade. For fuck's sake, I was 14 in 9th grade and I have a late birthday in the (United States) school year. Norman claims that Theresa is so young because she skipped a year in school, but I think there's more to it than just skipping a year. Anyways, Theresa joins the high school boy's baseball team. The reason that Norman gives for this is a bit confusing because he jumps back and forth between her being a 'great pitcher' and 'living in a small town, so they didn't have enough boys to recruit for the baseball team.' Because she's on the baseball team, she starts getting cyberbullied and this is where you see just how out of touch with reality Norman is. For some reason, despite that it's a high school baseball team, Theresa is on television all the time. All. The Time. And because... ...of this, Theresa gets cyberbullied. "Anonymous strangers" make entire websites dedicated to cyberbullying Theresa. Yes, they make entire websites. Not only do they use an online forum, or bully her on "the social medias," as Norman likes to put it, but they make entire... ...websites just to show the world how much they truly hate Theresa for being on the boys baseball team. They claim that she must have slept with the coach or was making out with everyone on the boys baseball team but here's the thing; Theresa is still a minor. She's not any older than 13-16 here. This are absolutely absurd accusations to be making to a 13-16-year-old. Even more so that the coach would sleep with her so she could get on the team. That's an accusation of pedophilia. If a rumor like that was floating around, I... ...highly doubt that nothing would come of it. But, Norman doesn't cover this at all. In fact, all of the people on Theresa's team, including the coach, are faceless cardboard figures in the background. The only person in this story that matters is Theresa, and yet, Theresa... ...is just as much of a cardboard figure as the rest of them. It's maddening. But nonetheless, the criticism and 'cyber-bullying' is really starting to get to Theresa so the principle of the school has a teacher sit down with her to try and cheer her up. What we get is a long as fuck and very repetitive monologue from the teacher who then goes over an amazon ad for a doggy door that is explained in so much detail that it's confusing and puts meaning where there is none. Kind of ironic that it does that when I seem to be... ...doing the exact same thing with this book. If you're curious, I did find the ad so you could watch it yourself if you wanted to: video Aside from Theresa's omniscient Trolls who know what all her moral values are and that she has straight A's, we basically just have Theresa's ego stroked more as Norman desperately tries to prove to the reader just how amazing Theresa is. She really isn't and it comes off... ...as narcissistic and unbecoming, especially because Theresa is supposed to be writing this as her autobiography. The other thing that you get from this whole meaningless section of the book is that Theresa blames the cyberbullies parents for not raising them right. What can be summed up as Theresa's parents are good role models in her opinion is then dragged out in a much wordier manner. "My parents gave a good example of the kind of people to be. I'd have to write a book about them to explain." You're writing a book right now. Explain. Or better yet, space it throughout the book. Lessons that your parents taught you when they apply rather than just in one big go. However, Norman was far too lazy to actually do that or have any sense of planning and continuation of subplot throughout the book, so that's not... ...going to happen. Aside from that we also get this banger of a sentence. "It's enough to say I wanted to be a woman like mom and I wanted a husband like dad." Now I know Norman didn't mean it this way, but it sounds an awful lot like Theresa wants to bang her dad, in... ...context or out of context. Blah blah blah we get more boring stuff until it skips to her senior year of high school where she's still 16. She's supposed to be turning 17 in high school so I assume she has an early birthday? That is if Norman still remembers that. Theresa meets Jan Struthers, who I can't remember if I covered or not before because there are so many fucking people in this book who are completely pointless and disappear whenever Norman just forgets about them or doesn't want to keep them in the book anymore. Going back and looking through my tweets, I did indeed cover who Jan Struthers was. For anyone who forgot like me, she's the lady from the government who is in charge of watching Theresa and has been since Theresa was 10, despite being absolutely horrible with children. Anyways, Jan meets Theresa in a Burger King so they can talk about HAL. Despite being in such a public place, Norman gives the reasoning that it's a good place because "the noise gave privacy as good as the Sahara Desert..." I don't know about you but it's really easy... ...to eavesdrop on people in public. Especially in Burger King. Not saying I've done it before, but I've definitely done it before. We find out more about how they found out about HAL and Theresa and the operation that was created to watch Theresa and search for HAL. If you're curious, the operation is literally called the Office of Orbital Phenomena Surveillance, or OOPS. Yes, fucking OOPS. This book was a fucking OOPS. Apparently, the reason for creating the office was, and I'll put it in Norman's words here so it makes sense; "It was supposed to keep track of all the space junk we put into orbit. Its real purpose was to watch for anything going on anywhere in the world that would later be something HAL was doing." The group is called fucking OOPS. Office of Orbital Phenomena Surveillance.  I don't know about you all, but space trash is not a phenomenon. This is just kind of piss poor logic on Norman's part and a weak excuse for him wanting a good acronym for the group. Surprise Norman, we kind of already have a group like that. The CIA. They already...  ...investigate shit like this. But you do you, Norman. You do you. Blah, blah, blah, we get introduced to like 3 more presidents in the span of two paragraphs which is confusing as shit, but alright. "I hadn't heard a peep out of HAL in the six years since he merged with me." So Theresa assumes that HAL is sentient despite the fact that HAL has given literally no indication of sentience. This is a theme that at the very least continues on from chapter one, even if... ...it makes absolutely no god damned sense. Norman brings back in the idea about how HAL makes Theresa put out an absurd amount of heat despite the fact that nobody around her seems to notice that she puts out an absurd amount of heat, which is more absurd logic. Apparently there's a column of disturbed air above Theresa that goes into space an this is how they tried to see if there were any other HAL's on the planet (there aren't). We also get another one of my most hated lines in this book when Theresa asks how much... ...the satellite cost that they sent up to look for more columns of disturbed air. "a hundred million" This is terrible grammar for one, and when someone says it out loud, it sounds wrong too. "One hundred million." is better in every way shape and form and nobody... ...can convince me otherwise. Anyways, Theresa says that they can give her 'a hundred million' and she'll give them HAL. She can't even fucking do that at this point. She doesn't even know if she can do that so why is she offering it? Besides, Jan never even responds to it... ...in the slightest. It's a fucking pointless line in this stupid fucking pointless book that I'm covering because I guess I just love to torture myself with terrible literature before I have to go and read a good book for my history classes. Moving on though, Jan goes into how Theresa needs to get a broad education just in case she ever needs to be the alien ambassador. She really doesn't. She just needs to double major or have a major and a minor in two things probably, Linguistics and Foreign Affairs. But no, instead Jan says that "You might need the knowledge of Thomas Jefferson, and the wisdom of Abraham Lincoln." Apparently, these are our brightest minds in history. Like not to bash on the two of them, they did a lot in the foundation and the forming of the USA... ...but what about the brilliant philosophers of the past? What about the leading and brightest minds of today? What about the scientists of the past who revolutionized how we think and act today? There's more to what formed history than just the people in America. In fact, the... ...presidents of the United States pulled from the philosophy and the knowledge of histories most prominent figures of the Enlightenment. They just helped to spread the word. But how could I expect Norman to know that? It's not like it's taught in every single school... ...in the United States or that all it takes is the fastest Google search to ever happen to find out about that. But I heavily digress. We move on from the meeting and Theresa gets a note in her mailbox that only has her name on it, meaning that someone slipped it... ...into her mailbox while she was away at school. The letter asks where Jan Struthers is and if Theresa can meet him [Jeremy Benton] at the Framingham Library. Theresa tries to email Jan to let her know about it at "janswatchers at snoop.gov" That is exactly... ...how it was worded in the book, not as "janswatchers@snoop.gov". Anyways, the email doesn't go through because I suppose it just doesn't exist anymore. We find out that Jan is missing and the blame is put onto the NEW president who gets brought in with 0 context. They assume that President Martin got rid of Jan because she 'knew too much' or she said something that he just didn't like. We find out that Jeremy Benton is the P.A. to Prime Minister Peter Blair in England. And oh yeah, Theresa brings Father Doughnut back into the fray. Blah, blah, blah, we get this brilliant line; "Seeing you close like this took my breath away. Do you realize the effect you have on people?" from Jeremy to Theresa (who is still 16/17 at this point). We get another of my most hated lines in the book, "I'm beginning to." More bad an inconsistent writing. Apparently, HAL showed up when Theresa was 3 and not six months before she was born. Jan sent all the information about Theresa before she went missing to the Canadian Prime Minister and the Canadian Prime Minister sent that information... ...to the British Prime Minister. Blah, blah, blah more pointless repeating shit. Jeremy offers Theresa and her family a home in England along with new identities (which is 0-100 real quick) all because they think that President Martin made Jan disappear. Father Dick Doughnut jumps in and says that the Holy Father is interested in Theresa's case and wants to offer her a place and protection in Rome. Speaking of Father Dick Doughnut, the meeting with the cardinal that he promise to Theresa never actually happened. Jeremy suggests they bring Theresa's situation to the public, and Theresa agrees though she doesn't exactly completely agree because she thinks that it will ruin her life. Despite wanting to bring it to the press though and agreeing that it would be a decent enough idea... ...she still doesn't want to tell her parents because "one mistake on their part and my future was ruined before I had it." I just... I can't at this point. I'm only two chapters in and I just can't. Besides that, we get the most confusing diatribe ever and I'm going to subject you all too it because I had to suffer through it and still don't know what it's trying to say. "I'd learned that somebody with eloquence may not have seen his powers of understanding receive... ...any aid from education. Ignorance and deficiency of mental improvement could still remain. There's some quirk in their personality that keeps them from becoming wise. The President gave great orations but he was a babe in the woods when it came to dealing with me." If you understood any of that please let me know because even after typing that out I'm still not entirely sure what Theresa is trying to say. I think she's threatening death on him for making Jan disappear, but I'm not sure. and at the very end of the chapter, she says; "If HAL wanted me to do something good I was ready, if it was something bad, I wouldn't do it. President Martin should have left things alone." However, when I first read this I read it as her saying that she wouldn't do the... ...bad thing alone. Which made her sound like she really was going to gather a group a murder President Martin. However like I said not even two tweets ago. It really does sound like Theresa wishes harm on President Martin, with or without HAL's influence.

[nullshocked]

@orlesianapologist Been busy this morning but now I can sit down and talk about this aaaaaaa!

I'm putting it under a cut to spare my dash. But:

My Process(TM) for Getting That Shit Edited

Step 1: Write the Draft

Like obviously you need a base to work from. I won't tell you how to draft your stuff, because everyone approaches it differently. I try not to focus too much on how something looks or sounds when I am writing a rough draft because fixing it and making it nice is what revisions are for. Sometimes when I write drafts I skip over details and just try to get the action down on paper.

I also have a habit of outlining SECOND rather than outlining first because that's what works for me: I write drafts in what I've seen Chuck Wendig describe as the bring your flashlight method of plotting a story, where I have a vague idea, kinda sketch it out either in the document or in my head, and write from there. (I found this post from him like ten years ago and have found it to be very valuable. Your mileage may vary of course, and what works for one person may not work for someone else.)

Step 2: Rewrites

You have a draft! I'm so proud of you! Now write it again. Writing is rewriting is rewriting. We know the saying.

I focus on fleshing out parts of the story I didn't flesh out the first time around, or adding in details that I didn't think of the first time. Sometimes there's a lot of me planting in FORESHADOWING(tm) that I didn't do the first time because I hadn't thought of it yet. This necessarily tends to balloon my wordcount because of how I tend to write, but it's fine.

I do at this point also take into account what I'm going to call Structural Edits. (I think that's a film term? idk someone probably uses this. Or I might sound insane.) That's the part where I move chunks of the story around for better narrative flow, or remove superfluous chunks that don't fit in. At this stage I am not concerned with how it reads, I am concerned with the plot beats and getting as much detail in as I think is important.

Step 3: Scribble All Over That Shit

It's a little bit of a running joke that I do this stage of editing like a total weirdo. I prefer to print things out because working with paper is easier for me, but you can do this however you want: comments in googledocs/word/etc, make it a pdf and write highlights, etc. Recently when I did this I made the file into a PDF, then turned THAT into image files and draw all over them in photoshop because physical notes help me. Yeah idk either.

This is the stage where I go line by line and pick things apart. I'll list what I look for and why, but this is by no means a hard and fast rule and please do not take my preferences as the arbiter of what makes good fiction. If I made good fiction, I'd be published in something non-academic.

╰┈➤ Paragraph Construction: Everything I talk about after this will largely feed into constructing paragraphs, so I'm gunna start with it. Words matter, as so does the word order. Sentence order also matters. I have a habit sometimes of placing just whatever details I think of down, and it doesn't always flow with the rest of the paragraph it's in. Take it out, rearrange it, use it in a new paragraph. I underline stuff like this to rearrange as needed.

╰┈➤ Sentence Structure As Mood Music: Now into the nitty gritty! How you structure sentences is SUPER helpful for conveying emotion. A lot of the last piece I wrote had structures where Jack is feeling extremely anxious, so there are parts where I let sentences run on and into each other to help convey his anxious mental state. Shorter sentences can hit harder and faster. Longer ones can feel meandering or dreamlike. It's all in the language and the structure. If you wanna be seriously annoying about it, there are entire courses on syntax you can look into.

╰┈➤ Sublimation vs. In Your Face: So the whole "show don't tell" argument is fucking annoying and I don't really pay much attention to it anymore. So my rule for stuff is this: what is a character trying to hide, versus what are they more obvious about? If someone is manipulative and cruel, I'm not going to fucking point that out in the text. I try to work that into how they move, speak, and react to a situation. Body language and expression. All of that. If something is more obvious, then I make it more obvious. I might have the POV character outright state that they think someone is acting manipulatively if they think that's what's happening. I think that's far more useful as a storytelling tool personally and also lets a clever reader piece together little details as they go, which is frankly more engaging.

╰┈➤ Adverbs (-ly) words: This is preference and there's lots of arguments for why it's fine to keep these in. For me, I find that I tend to rely on adverbs in spaces where I can stand to be more descriptive. I usually circle the ones I find on the page and then in the next step I'll look at them and see how I feel. If the adverb feels like the best choice for that moment, I leave it. If I feel like I can use a better word or description, I change it. That's entirely up to you and what you prefer!

╰┈➤ Commas, commas, commas: I tend to learn toward a LOT of comma splices when I write drafts, which leads to a lot of long and confusing sentences. I do try to eliminate some of these if I feel like a passage is harder to follow. Others I leave if they suit the mood.

╰┈➤ The rest of it: Lastly, I just look for how things are worded. Sometimes I see a sentence and I just hate how it reads, so I underline it to see if I can do something better with it. Sometimes I don't like how a scene is flowing so I make a note of it. I also make what I will call "stage notes" in the margins for things I am trying to convey, like "Jack in this scene is feeling very anxious because of x thing" or "this is a tense situation" etc. This is for me to remember when I go to do the next step so I can make sure I am getting across the information I am trying to get across.

Woof, that's a lot. Okay so...

Step 4: Rewrites Two: The Rewritening

WRITING IS REWRITING IS REWRITING— anyway.

So this is the full revision process. Take your notes (however you decided to compile them) and get through and make those changes. Sometimes you will come across other things to fix in the process and that's perfectly fine. Sometimes you may decide not to go with something you made a note of before and that's also fine. But this is where you are making your little tweaks and making it better. There's not a lot to this phase.

Step 5: Optional Beta

I don't tend to ask people to beta read my stuff because I am an impatient asshole and just want to finish it. Don't be me. Find a trusted friend and ask them to read over your work. They don't need to dig into huge details at this stage unless something is just really not coming together for whatever reason. Getting another pair of eyes to make sure something is flowing the way it should is very helpful. A scene may make sense in your head, but another person may have difficult parsing what you're trying to say.

Also my dumbass ADHD brain has a problem with things like missing typos when I go to correct, or leaving out entire words because my brain mentally skips over them, so someone who can find those for me and point it out is helpful.

Step 6: Final Tweaks

Find your typos and missing words. Make sure your punctuation is in the right places. Make any final adjustments you want. You've got this I'm so proud of you. It's not a big thing, mainly just combing to be thorough.

And that's it! You're done! Go forth.

Additional Notes

╰┈➤ Take your time with a piece. I know it's extremely tempting to put something up as soon as it's done. I've speedran finishing fics for a laugh. But between each of these steps, it's a good idea to let the draft sit for a day or two before returning to it with fresh eyes. It's good for your brain and also it'll help you find shit you may otherwise miss because you're too close to it.

╰┈➤ Rough drafts are rough drafts. They're allowed to suck. The entire point of editing and revision is to make it not suck. This was a lesson I really had to beat into my skull so I wouldn't get discouraged from finishing anything.

╰┈➤ Writing is not one size fits all. I do all these steps because that is what personally works for me. I look for the things I do in my nitty-gritty editing because those are personal preferences. Do not take any of this as a hard and fast rule, but rather as insight for how to develop your own process.

╰┈➤ Like a hypocrite, I did not edit any of this post. That's not really important, I just thought it was funny and you should know that.

╰┈➤ I've said this elsewhere, but READ!! Read lots of books! Read different eras and genres of books! Reading will teach you how to be a better writer. Reading theory is also nice if you like, but really just read a bunch of authors and think on their stories. Learn from how they write, and apply those lessons.

THAT'S IT SORRY THIS WAS SO LONG.

My writing advice is to learn how to self-edit your work. It's a skill that takes time and practice to develop but it helps so fucking much. I probably edit way more than is necessary for my fanfic but tbh it's also my practice for learning how to edit my other writing.

[be-dazzled]

She’s In Your Court #SIYC Gray Fullbuster, Juvia Lockser FFnet link: click here Tumblr: explore here Genre: Multi-Chapter, Romance, Comedy Rating: M for Sensitive Language

SUMMARY: Gray Fullbuster is a player both in love and in life. He plays Professional Basketball and is being groomed to be in line with Basketball Legends Michael Jordan, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant and Stephen Curry. 

There’s just one problem, Gray Fullbuster is a play-ah. His life is a giant mess of crazy parties, waking up with random women and waking up in random women’s apartments. Just living the life. The opinion of the public on him is waning. To save the million-dollar endorsements in the verge of disappearing, Gray needs to change his image. Therefore, Gray Fullbuster, Fiore Knight’s Team Captain and Most Valuable Player, will be in the next season of “My Star Can Dance”. 

There’s another problem: it seems like his star isn’t that bright since his partner, one of Fiore’s prominent ballerinas, doesn’t know him? His billboard is hanging in front of her dancing school! And it was a good billboard since all he was wearing was his six-pack and an Aztec bandana. How come she didn’t notice?

The days are bright and so are the nights. ‘Cause when I’m with you I'm grinning Once I was screwed now I’m winning No I won't let you go Now you know

– Heart on Fire, Jonathan Clay

Juvia Lockser held herself together until she finally got inside her house. But the moment the door clicked shut behind her, the memory of the kiss sapped all her strength in one go.

 The ballerina leaned against the oak door, heart trembling in excitement. She had no idea how late it was but Juvia Lockser was wide awake. Every cell in her body was electrified by the kiss. She lifted her fingers to her own lips. The warmth of Gray’s lips lingered and his taste stayed.

 Oh his taste.

 Juvia wondered if it was okay to let him kiss her and in such a way on what technically was their first date. (She finally gave up in the middle of it all and finally called it a date.) Juvia wasn’t sure. It has been a while since the last time she went on one.

 The following morning, as the memory of last night flashed before her eyes, a wave of shame hit her at full speed. Juvia ought to hit herself with the way she cradled her body against Gray’s; like it was the most normal thing to do. She probably looked too promiscuous. Oh, and how welcoming she was when he slid his tongue in. Juvia slapped her palms against her burning cheeks. She wasn’t her normal self. But it’s 2019. Kids nowadays were a bit straightforward and liberated. A kiss on the first day was normal, right?

 “Okay, Juvia. Just act normal.”

 The wall clock on her studio read 3:50. Its short hand stroke clockwise. Juvia could almost hear it ticking. Or it could have been her heart beating against her chest. She wasn’t sure anymore.

 From: BILLBOARD GUY

 BE THERE IN 10.

 Juvia prepped herself as she waited. She felt both nervous and excited. It was crazy. Why did she have to feel all conscious when it was her own studio?

 There was only one reason: last night she wasn’t able to sleep. Not just because she actually stayed up to google ‘kiss on a first date’ and something along that line. While the results shocked and comforted her, Juvia had one problem: she was going to face Gray in practice today and Juvia Lockser had no idea how to do just about that.

 Juvia expelled a long breath.

 “Normal.” She finally chanted. Yet, the fast hammering in her chest morphed into butterflies in the stomach.

 Was a kiss on a first date appropriate? The internet was divided. For Juvia, however, she wouldn’t normally do it. She’d save a light peck on the lips for when she was finally exclusively dating the guy. But last night’s kiss wasn’t a light peck. Suddenly remembering what transpired the night before, Juvia felt the heat rise up her cheeks.

 “Are you alright, Juvia?”

 Levy came up behind her and startled the ballerina.

 “Of course! Why wouldn’t I be?”

 Levy narrowed her brown eyes at the blushing ballerina. Her look was suspicious. Juvia had to admit, she sounded a little defensive there.

 “Anyway, what are you doing here, Shrimp?” Juvia quickly changed the subject before Shrimp had the opportunity to interrogate her about turning tomato.

 “Well, tallest woman around here…”

 Juvia smiled at the jab. Shrimp was learning to fight for herself.

 “We’re going to take a clip of you and Gray practicing. It’s for the AVP.”

 Juvia looked over her friend’s shoulders. It wasn’t really hard to do so because Juvia was taller than Levy. Behind the writer, the show’s crew was already setting up their expensive film equipment.

 “I called and texted to remind you last night, remember?”

 Of course, not. That part skipped her mind. With that thing with Gray happening last night, how could she remember anything else?

 “Right.” Juvia lied but Levy did not buy into it.

 Levy could tell when she was lying or trying to keep something from her. If there was one thing she’d learned within those ten years of friendship it’s that Juvia Lockser was a bad liar. But she had to give it to Juvia, the woman was great at avoiding topics; ignoring the poor “My Star Can Dance” writer included.

 Juvia walked back to the reception desk where her young assistant, Mary, busied herself around the computer. The ignored show writer trailed behind her. If Levy wanted to get some information, she would have to work for it.

 “So… you went on a date last night, huh?”

 “It wasn’t a date.”

 Juvia knew Shrimp would never back down. The latter was already phishing for answers. Also, didn’t she finally give up and started calling last night a date?

 “It’s all over the news you know. Even trending on twitter!” Levy squealed.

 The shorter bluenette took one of the seats at the reception desk and planted her elbows on the flat surface. She was going to get to the bottom of things.

 “It’s true!” Mary acclaimed, weighing in on the conversation. “It’s trending at Top 2 on twitter. Look, Ms. Juvia.” Mary all but shoved the phone to Juvia’s face who acted as if she didn’t care a whit. Truth of the matter was it got Juvia curious.

 “It’s giving us a lot of publicity.”

 “That’s good, then.”

 Juvia reminded herself to create her own twitter account later. Of course, she’d lurk around that site under an assumed handle name.

 “You met the Fiore Knights?” Levy’s brown eyes glistened with excitement. She could only imagine how it would have been to be surrounded by the men from Fiore Knights. Her high school fan-girl heart was leaping.

 “Yeah. They were nice.”

 It wasn’t the reaction Levy McGarden had in mind. She expected some squealing, high-fiving, excited shrilling: the full fan-girl experience!

 “C’mon! Spill the deets, Juv.”

 Talking to Juvia Lockser about her date was like talking to a brick wall. The woman wouldn’t budge an inch. Levy could not help but wonder when did her best friend get so secretive?

 “We danced and had fun, Levy. That’s all.”

 Poor Levy; Juvia wouldn’t give her the real thing. But Juvia wasn’t ready to throw it out to the universe, the real thing. She wasn’t even sure herself what last night meant. They went out, they had fun and they kissed. But that was all there was to it – just fun.

 Juvia felt a knot in her stomach. For all she knew, she could just be another name in Gray’s list. That possibility stung a little. Did she want something more from him? Could she expect more from Gray? Juvia had no answer. But if there was something she was quite sure of, she didn’t want to be just some fun night for Gray.

  Gray couldn’t sleep; he couldn’t sleep a wink. When he reached his uptown loft last night, he threw himself on the bed; heart leaping in joy. It has been awhile since he went on a date ‘date’ and not just some one-nighter with some stranger.

 Gray tossed and turned in his bed and screamed into the pillow. His body simply cannot contain the excitement from tasting Juvia’s kiss.

 “Should I text her?”

 The man bolted up from his lying position and searched for his phone. Fishing it out from his pocket, Gray started typing something in his mobile. But for some reason, the confident Fiore Knights Captain became so unsure of himself and it made him delete and retype his message over and over again.

 Suddenly, it hit him. It has been awhile since he went on an actual date and not just some hook-up with a meal plan. He forgot all about the SOP. Should he text her? Should he call? Should he just leave the woman alone?

 It was easier for one-night stands. He just left them ‘thank you’ notes and never saw them again. That was it. He did not like any drama. With Juvia it was different. Gray wanted to see her everyday. He actually looked forward to every meeting and every practice. He missed her the moment they separate. Like how he missed her now.

 “No. I should call her.”

 Gray scrolled through his contacts and ended at Juvia’s name. Just as he was about to click ‘call’, the current circumstances registered to him. His eyes darted on the desk clock sitting on his nightstand; it read four.

 “She’s probably asleep now.”

 As much as he wanted to hear her voice again, Gray decided against calling at that ungodly hour. He settled on just staring at the photo of him and Juvia from the party earlier. Natsu sent it to him but not before some friendly teases and violent threats.

 Gray remembered the moment immortalized in the paragraph. He had said something funny which earned a laugh from the ballerina. They looked so comfortable and so natural that Natsu called it cozy. Gray was looking at her, at Juvia who had her usually condescending eyes closed. Her nose crinkled too. Then his gaze fell on her lips and Gray remembered their kiss and how she tasted.

 Oh, her taste. How much he missed it.

 The following morning, Gray still had that foolish smile on his face. He looked for his phone first and pondered over sending Juvia a good morning text. He did, writing a short but sweet message. His heart hammered like crazy as he waited for Juvia’s reply. It almost jumped of his chest when not a minute later he received a reply from the ballerina.

 He waited not long to continue the conversation but his typing was interrupted by a call. It was Briar.

 “Oh, shhh*!” Gray cursed. He guessed he should save the texting for later.

  Gray walked into the gymnasium like some kind of a hero or a punchline of a joke. It depended on how he would take the teasing from his team. But he was such in a good mood he didn’t even give a damn. He used that energy to wipe the floor with his Vice Captain’s face.

 “Someone’s all fired up.” Natsu managed to say as he tried to catch his breath. He was the one guarding the Team Captain and was effortlessly side-stepped.

 “Try to keep up, Old Fart.” Gray patted his Vice Captain at the back, mocking him with pretentious concern.

 “Don’t be too smug.” Natsu yelled after him.

 Gray only shrugged at him. Then he pointed at the scoreboard. 15 vs. 5. Team White, headed by Vice Captain Natsu, got some catching up to do.

 “A man in love is invincible.” Loke, Fiore Knight’s Resident Playboy, proudly announced.

 “Are you on my team or what? Just get to your position.” Natsu hissed.

 “Geez. Who hurt you?” Loke thought his Vice Captain needed to get a girlfriend. And fast.

 The practice match ended with Gray’s Black Team winning by a landslide. He rushed over to the bleachers and searched for his phone in his duffel. On bat, he opened the message from Juvia.

 ‘HAVE FUN. CAREFUL.’

 The message said. It felt like Gray was back in High School exchanging texts with his first girlfriend. Butterflies fluttered in his stomach. He bit his towel to refrain from squealing.

 ‘YOU TOO. WILL BE THERE AFTER A FEW MORE ROUNDS.’

 Gray texted back.

 “So, what’s the deal with you and Ms. Lockser?”

 Gray raised a bow at his nosy teammate.

 “What? You went home together after the party, right?” Loke accused.

 Gray could see the interest in Loke’s eyes. Knowing the playboy, he was waiting to hear from him since this morning.

 “Well, you really want to know?”

 The orange head bobbed in anticipation; his eyes sparkled with excitement. Gray’s adventures had always been exciting. Natsu, who stayed behind, just shook his head. He knew where the conversation was going.

 “Come closer.” Gray invited, putting his arm around his small forward’s shoulder and pulled him close. He lowered his voice as if telling the man a secret.

 “I drove her home.” Gray purposely talked slow, playing on his listener’s anticipation. He paused for reaction when Loke, so invested with the story, impatiently pressed him to continue.

 “Then, we went to bed...” Gray hit the playboy at the back of his head. “Separately, you snoop.” He finished and the entire gym erupted in laughter.

 “Geez, man. You got me excited for nothing.” Loke complained as he nursed the pain at the back of his head. He didn’t get mad at his Captain’s violence. If Loke had to ask himself, Mr. Playboy deserved it.

 Natsu laughed at Loke’s misfortune. Knowing his best friend and Team Captain, he knew Gray would never kiss and tell. Sometimes, he did just to rub such fact in Loke’s face. They have some kind of stupid competition. Boys will be boys. Sometimes, he saved those details to himself. Especially when it came to a woman like Juvia.

 The sound of the whistle yanked their heads back to the coach. Coach Macao called the team for another round. Gray asked for an extra minute. He wanted to send Juvia one last text before he finished practice.

 ‘CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU.’

 He just hit send when he felt a sudden contact with a hard object. It bounced off his head.

 “Hey!” His anger deflated quickly when he turned around and saw Briar glaring at him. Her hands were on her hips, eyes narrowed at him. Briar did not look happy.

 “Get your head out of your pants and focus.”

 Gray laughed it off like a bad joke. He knew he was in the wrong so he did not bother to cook up some excuse. Texting during practice was not professional of him.

 “Yes, boss!” He gave Briar a salute as he jogged past his manager’s murderous look.

 At the other end of the line, a certain blue-head choked on her bottle of water reading the last text Gray sent.

  Gray shook his hands and his entire body. The excitement and the familiar feeling were threatening to escape his body. The cool down exercises were not enough.

 A sharp breath escaped him. Gray needed to let it out. His heart was beating like crazy.

 “C’mon, self. We’ve waited the whole day for this.” He prepped himself before pushing the twin door open.

 Juvia’s beauty was magnet. Gray came upon that realization because the moment he entered Juvia’s studio, his eyes wandered over to where the ballerina was. From that moment, he couldn’t take his eyes off her.

 Gray walked over to the reception desk where two blue-heads and a pink one gathered. He met Juvia’s eyes and he recognized the slight surprise in them. Gray smiled at her, the yearning feeling bringing his feet to where she was. He was glad when she walked around the desk and toward him.

 Gray anticipated the friendly greeting, he wasn’t sure how Juvia would approach him. Would she give him a kiss? A hug? Either would not be so bad, Gray thought. They stopped in the middle, a few feet away from each other. Gray leaned in for a kiss but Juvia walked past him after saying, “get changed.”

 That was it? No kiss or hug or anything?  He was disappointed but the smile would not leave his lips. When he turned around he saw the show’s crew studying them.

 “Ah, maybe, she’s shy.” He told himself. He would let it pass for now. They both need to focus.

 When he returned after changing into his practice clothes, a few crew members asked for his autograph and took photos. Then the production director briefed Gray and Juvia on the scenes that they needed to film. Whenever he got the chance, Gray would strike up a conversation with Juvia. Every time, however, she found some reason to dodge him.

 Gray had enough of it. So, when he pulled the evasive ballerina against him per their dance routine, Hoopster discreetly asked.

 “Why are you avoiding me?”

 “I’m not.” Juvia answered point blank.

 “Yes, yes you are.”

 When he turned her around to face him, Gray saw Juvia inhale a breath. Her eyes landed on his lips. Then, she shook her head as if trying to shake away some thoughts. Gray was pleased. He knew she liked the kiss and, like him, she wanted more.

 The next section of the routine brought Juvia to face the audience with her back leaning against Gray’s chest. Hoopster seized the contact and leaned in to whisper something to Juvia’s ears.

 “I’m sure you remembered last night’s–”

 What he was about to say next was cut-off by Juvia, placing a finger on his parted lips. She then traced a seductive trail from his lips down his chest before she ended the choreography. Gray was caught off-guard at how she turned the table on him. He froze on the spot; his body went haywire from the simple touch.

 “That-that wasn’t in the original choreography.”

 Gray announced which drew laughter from their audience.

 “That’s going in the final cut.” He heard someone say.

  It was little over eight in the evening when the production director called it a day. His crew members gathered all their expensive equipment and bade goodbye to the stars of the day – Juvia and Gray. Levy stayed behind and chatted a little about the live performance. In the next few days, Juvia and Gray would be performing in front of a live studio audience.

 Mary was the last one to leave. Juvia felt a knot in her stomach when she realized that she was now all alone with Gray. Breathe in, breathe out, she ordered herself. She was going to face him whether she liked or not.

 What was she so afraid of?

 If Juvia was being honest, she was afraid that the kiss meant nothing to Gray. To her, there was something. That fear gripped at her heart. To Gray, she knew, she was easily replaceable. When she turned around, ready to face the music, Gray was already standing before her waiting for some sort of explanation.

 “So, should we talk about last night?”

 “There’s nothing to talk about.”

 It was Juvia’s defense mechanism – managing expectations. In order to protect her feelings and to stop before she began to feel something she shouldn’t, Juvia masked her fear with indifference. She’d pull back before it was too late. Gray was the kind who jumped from one lover to another, Juvia wasn’t.

 “Really? So can you please explain to me why you’re acting so distant all of a sudden?”

 “What are you talking about? I’m my normal self.” Juvia defended, looking everywhere but at Gray.

 She walked past him and pretended to arrange the stack of magazines on the counter. It was, at least, true. She was just back to the serious, no non-sense Juvia that she originally was.

 “Then look at me.”

 Juvia did as she was told, wanting to prove Gray wrong. The ballerina looked Gray in the eyes for a second but she couldn’t hold his gaze. Her eyes keep drifting away from his eyes and unto his lips. She caught herself drawn into his enticing lips.

 Last night’s kiss flooded her memory and it awakened a longing she had been fighting all day. Juvia pulled away before she revealed more of herself. But before she could turn away from him completely, Gray caught her by the waist and ended both their agony.

 Gray crashed his lips against hers. Juvia tried to pull back but he slid his hand behind and cupped her head, holding the helpless ballerina to him. She stopped fighting the voice at the back of her mind and surrendered to her feelings. Juvia kissed Gray back with the same fervor. His taste was as sweet and as heady as she remembered. Only this time, Gray wasn’t holding back and neither was she. Juvia softened into him and molded her body to fit his. She instinctively tried to get close to him as much as possible, unable to stand the idea of being apart. So did Gray. He held Juvia against him, afraid to lose her woman.

 The kiss was the type she never had before: satisfying and hungry at the same time.

 Juvia didn’t hear a knock but as soon as she heard her assistant’s voice, she pushed Gray with all her willpower.

 The arrival of the sudden guest stunned the two and the panic of getting caught rotted the couple on the spot. Juvia wished Mary didn’t see anything or she wouldn’t be able to live it down.

 “Mary! What brings you in here?” Juvia managed to ask as she tried to hide the red spread over her cheeks.

 “I just forgot the papers you told me to study, Ms. Juvia.” Mary answered.

 Mary threw the couple a suspicious look but Gray played it cool. While Juvia, Juvia was stuttering like a bad liar. If Mary didn’t know better, she’d think her boss was so eager to get rid of her with the way she was almost shoving the girl out the door.

 Maybe, Juvia Lockser was eager to be left alone with Gray Fullbuster.

 A sigh of relief escaped her lungs. Juvia’s legs almost gave out. She leaned against the twin doors after shutting them close, her back against the wood. She finally let out the breath she was holding. Next thing she knew Gray was right in front of her, just a breath away. She saw his intent and had only time for an indrawn breath when Gray pressed her against the door, his mouth was on hers. He was ready to pick up where they left off.

Writer’s Corner: Hi guys! I’ve uploaded the latest chapter per @justbeingtruemyself‘s request. Thank you for all your support especially @ship-ambrosia @thewritingstar @juviaesthetic. You guys make me feel special with all your comments. Hope you guys like this new chapter. 

To all other Gruvians, let’s keep the fire burning. #GruviaForever

[justsomeelf]

Was Korekiyo Shinguji Innocent?

!tw: lots of abuse topics !!This is very long but there’s a TLDR at the bottom !!!Danganronpa spoilers ahead for V3 (obviously)

Cough oh shit look at that, discourse which no one cares about because I’m irrelevant.

No but seriously, I want to make this perfectly clear before I begin, I am writing this while throwing away my biases and being as open-minded as I always try to be. This is going to be an incredibly long post about what people think about Korekiyo Shinguji, and that reasons for disliking him isn’t as shallow as just disapproving of the actions he took in the game. If you’re interested about what I have to say, click keep reading, if you just want a shorter version of what I meant there’s a TLDR at the bottom.

Oh wow you actually clicked it? Wait, wait, gotta keep this professional. So I’ll be splitting the topics around Korekiyo as; Storyline, Character Design and Personality, Fandom’s Backstory Headcanons, The “Main Problem”, and a Conclusion. Remember, you don’t have to read all of it, there’s still a TLDR at the bottom, but thanks for giving this a chance!

Danganronpa V3 Storyline

We are all aware at this point at what happened in V3 regarding Shingucci, and if you aren’t aware, then why are you reading this-

Throughout the first chapter Korekiyo is mostly just neutral and calm throughout everything, but still a little creepy with a few off hand comments about the beauty of humanity. Similar events happen in Chapter 2, calm, not really bothered by his fellow Ultimates no matter how bizarre some of them are. Rather helpful in the trial but still annoyed by Himiko’s insistence on genuine magic and continues to theorise how she could be the culprit, but was still mostly the same even after seeing Kirumi’s undignified exit and execution at the end of the trial. Chapter 3 rolls around and Angie decides to try and resurrect one of our fallen Ultimates, Kiyo decides to hold a seance to communicate with one of the lost spirits as well, but of course this is just a murder plan in disguise to send his sister more “friends”. Angie accidentally walks in on Kiyo mid-saw-cutting and to make sure she couldn’t tell anyone about his plans later on, he hits her over the head then brings her to her own lab, ends her life, and sets up a lock mechanism to lock the lab with the corpse in it.

He continues his seance plan due to ‘not wanting it to go to waste’, and says the next day they should use it to contact Angie. More stuff happens and Kiyo’s pleased with Tenko being such a good candinate to be his sister’s friend, and proceeds to kill her with the plan he originally set up. (While also setting it up so he could almost perfectly pin it on Himiko.) During the trial he’s as composed as ever but as more clues show him towards him being the culprit to both of the murders, he becomes increasingly more erratic, and the tulpa split personality of his sister appearing to calm him, but he eventually admits to being the culprit. After the trial he confesses his reasoning, the incestuous relationship with his older sister who he swore to send 100 (female) friends to after her sickly passing. Obviously, people were going to be disgusted by the incestuous relationship he had with his older sister, but that’s not always the reason people are going to dislike him in the story. 

Korekiyo obviously hadn’t done much in the first two chapters aside from being helpful in the trials, and people don’t particularly like it when characters they like are killed, in Chapter 3 that concerns Angie, Tenko, and Kiyo. Angie was increasingly infuriating towards her demise, with the Student Council and the actions she took for what she wanted with the school, but was still an enjoyable character with her cheery attitude and honestly good intentions. Tenko both is and isn’t quite popular, with her resentment of men (which I won’t get into because that’s another topic entirely) gaining her hate, but her good intentions and wishes for friendship making her a likeable character. Kiyo hadn’t done much to establish his character side from being creepy, calm, and neutral, which doesn’t put much towards liking him if there’s no reason to, that isn’t to say there’s a reason to dislike him, just that there’s not enough events to show him in a highly positive light.

Character Design & Personality

To be perfectly fair, Kiyo’s final design was pretty well made in terms of appearance. By Kodaka taking a combination of multiple sorts of imagery, including underground culture, anthropology, and visual style, made him pleasing to look at aesthetically and in terms of genuine character. People can dislike him but still see his positive points essentially, at least design wise.

His personality is essentially what was previously mentioned, neutral, calm, creepy sometimes, and that’s essentially it. During the third trial he quickly became panicky when it was becoming obvious he had killed both Angie and Tenko (side note: it was extremely obvious he had killed Tenko from the start, Angie was the difficult one) but was calmed down by the ghost of his sister, also claiming he was deeply in love with her with what seemed to be genuine sincerity. There is also the fact that Kiyo felt no guilt for killing all those women to send to his sister, and seemed to consider everyone in the academy his “friends”, indicating he’s unable to understand or care about what other people feel. In the end he finally accepts his defeat and is executed by Monokuma and the later appearance of his sister’s spirit, causing his last expression to be disbelief and horror as both of them banish his spirit to the afterlife. The point of this paragraph is that although I understand why people can like his personality, people are allowed to dislike the kind of person he is by finding him boring, maybe a little annoying, selfish for having no regards for what the other characters felt, and it’s fine, because even if people dislike his personality they can still see why people like his personality.

Fandom’s Backstory Headcanons

Of course to start off with, there’s the canonical backstory of Korekiyo that we were given through FTEs and the storyline.  Kiyo had a sickly older sister who almost constantly required to be in the hospital, since she was lonely without friends Kiyo would spend all of his time with her. One day reading a book about Anthropology with his sister who suggested he could research it, motivating him to become an anthropologist. His sister normally picked most things for him, his hair, tailoring his uniform, and so on. According to Korekiyo, he had an incestuous relationship with her, believing it was truly love with no care of what others thought, although at some point his sister died. Left alone and frustrated he swore to kill and send 100 friends to her since she had none in her lifetime, we’re also able to assume he got somewhere close to that number before his death though. (side note: I personally headcanon that Tenko was the 99th “friend”). While travelling he had been captured and tortured by locals, leading him to hallucinate his sister that calmed him down, which also caused him to form a split personality/tulpa.

Since that’s about all the information we were given, of course it left the fandom theorising and wondering about possibilities. There’s the semi-popular headcanon of Kiyo that he was abused by that sister, of course there’s obvious signs of manipulation in their relationship, telling him how to act, dress, talk, what to do and like and so on. The headcanon is also backed up by canon, which essentially does imply he was manipulated and abused by the sister, as he spent so much time with her that she relied on him.

(Personal Experience Ahead, I don’t mind it if you skip) I tried to force myself to like Kiyo. I really did. I thought that with this idea it does explain his actions better than the canon did. But I couldn’t. I was and still am abused by my older sister for a decade now, emotionally/psychologically, verbally, and physically. Now leaving me medically diagnosed with anxiety (social and generalised), depression, and PTSD. While the fandom seems to say Kiyo had been abused psychologically and some add sexually abused. Abuse is a difficult topic to talk about, even bringing it up in this sense has brought back horrible memories from my life, if you do genuine research or know from experience what that abuse like that is like, it’s fine and I wish the best for you. But please do not just slap “abused” on like a label, like it justifies his actions. I said previously it explains it, not justifies. The “Main Problem”

I’m sure some people would be aware this was coming, if you have knowledge of V3′s full game, simply hearing Kiyo’s name will remind you of the third trial.

Korekiyo’s sister. Implied to be abusive, manipulative, constantly sick, dependant on Kiyo, now deceased, and previously in an incestuous relationship with him. The things Kiyo said about her would obviously throw everyone off, incest is quite revolting, so of course people would dislike him after hearing he was in a relationship with his older sister.

But that does not mean it’s the only reason to dislike Korekiyo.

(Intense) Kiyo fans immediately go to hating on and blaming the canon whenever someone says they dislike him, assuming they’re always referring to the sister relationship for their dislike. That is not always going to be the reason. Yes, the presence of the incestuous relationship is problematic if you want people to like Kiyo, but please don’t always assume it’s because of the third chapter. It’s as simple as having an open conversation, not attacking the creators, the character, or the person you’re disagreeing with, then if you can’t reach a conclusion, just agree to disagree and leave it there.

Conclusion I guess

Obviously most of this was just covering what we already knew, but reminding information is normally necessary for things like this. Did I just waste hours of my time writing an essay on a fictional character? Yes. Do I expect everyone to agree? No. Do I mind? No. Was there a reason to make this? Yeah, kinda. I just want to lay it out there that people are entitled to their own opinions, free speech and all that good shit. So people are allowed to decide whether they like Kiyo or not, just don’t hate them or assume and scream that it’s only because of chapter 3 that they dislike him. Everyone can have an opinion, people like Kiyo for their own reasons, people dislike Kiyo for their own reasons, V3 is done and finished. If you’re still unsatisfied you can go ahead and argue with me, I’ll try to stay level headed and hear you out. 

TLDR: People can have opinions. Kiyo stans don’t always assume it’s because of the sister that people dislike Kiyo, you can say he’s underrated or overrated it doesn’t matter either way, just don’t shove it down people’s throats. You’re all entitled to your own opinions and ideas, as long as you can reach a conclusion together that doesn’t end in hate it should be fine.

Either way, if you read this far I hope you have a good day/night! Stay hydrated, eat some snacks and all that jazz!

[elcrivain]

If you’re new to playwriting and want to practice playwriting, there is no better way than to learn how to write a 10-minute play. Not only is the piece short and sweet, but it makes it easy to practice over and over without wasting time. You can feel free to make errors, write dumb lines of dialogue, and tell a story that makes no sense all at the cost of 10 pages or so. (If that seems like a lot to you, remember that play pages are much shorter than fiction pages.)

For those who are new to theater, a 10-minute play is a short story that lasts no more than 10 minutes long. It usually is a vignette in a series of plays at a festival or competition and offers a great way to practice writing for theater. Below, you’ll learn how to write a 10-minute play and tips for starting out.

Requirements Of A 10-Minute Play

1. STICK TO 10-MINUTES

This is a fairly simple rule to understand, but when you’re writing a 10-minute play, you actually must stick to the 10 minutes allotted to you. You wouldn’t ignore a word count rule for a short story, so neither should you ignore a time limit for a play.

As a writer, the timing is somewhat beyond your control if you are not also directing your piece, as the speed at which lines are said can change the pace of your story. However, to make sure you’re on target when writing, be sure to read each draft out loud with a timer on hand.

(I mean it. Your story really has to be 10-minutes long if you want to have a chance anywhere!)

2. CREATE A STORY WITH AN ARC

It might seem obvious that you should write a story with an arc of some sort, but often what can happen in 10-minute plays is that you’ll end up writing a sketch instead of play. While the difference is minute, a sketch tends to be working towards a punchline, even in dramatic instances, whereas a play has an arc to either the story or character.

Often a play can have something similar to a punchline called the climax, but that isn’t what the story is completely working towards. Instead, the climax just marks the apex of the story, not what the story has been working towards. The action following the climax is equally as important to understanding the story, whereas in a sketch, the punchline is the end of the narrative.

Additionally, in sketches, there is no character development or purpose to the story besides the punchline. For a play, even characters do not change, there is a realization or arc to the narrative beyond this final point.

How To Write A 10-Minute Play

When writing a 10-minute play, any method can be used to brainstorm the standard parts of any story, such as the character, world, and so forth. For best results, focus your brainstorm for a 10-minute play on the same things you would for a short story.

Whether you do these things before you begin writing your play or after, is up to your short story writing approach. However you do it though, you’ll want to stick to the following how-to:

1. ASK A QUESTION

According to Sam Graber, every 10-minute play should ask a question. This truly goes for any play in my opinion, but it is something to keep in mind when writing a 10-minute play as it helps you avoid writing a sketch.

Your play can ask any sort of question. It can be a simple one, such as “What would happen if someone found their true love two months before their death?” to something more ambiguous like “Is loyalty good?”

Whatever you ask, make this the thesis of your play. It will give your play purpose, keep your story focused, and reveal many other important things like your story’s theme and motifs.

2. DEVELOP YOUR CHARACTER, CONFLICT, AND SETTING.

This isn’t new information. For any story you write, you’ll have to develop these things. After you’ve asked the main question of your 10-minute play, you’ll want to flesh out character, setting, and the conflict that derives from your question.

For theater, character is extremely important as the entire is communicated by people. There isn’t a camera for editing, language for someone to read and process, but raw human connection between the actors and the audience.

Because of this, you’ll really want to focus on character first and foremost. Develop at least one complex character to intrigue your audience, then if you get stuck, movie on to the conflict that is rooted in your story. After developing that, you can then focus on setting, but know that given the constraints of theater, setting is often attributed to the imagination of the actors and audience, so fleshing out minute details for a 10-minute play may only be helpful for your own brainstorming.

3. SKIP EXPOSITION

As we’ve emphasized, you only have 10 minutes—and not a second more—in your 10-minute play. Given this time constraint, you’ll need to skip exposition of any kind to get to the center of your story. While you may be tempted to slip it in with a few lines of dialogue, it really isn’t worth the time you’ll lose. When you could be pushing the narrative forward, you’ll be wasting precious seconds talking about something that the audience likely doesn’t need to know.

Keep in mind that in short fiction and even short films, exposition often makes up a few sentences or paragraphs, or the opening shot. But in short fiction, the reader dictates the pace of the story, so there is room for creative exposition and a slower narrative. For short films, you should stray away from exposition, but occasionally films may introduce them because they aren’t in time crunch.

But in a 10-minute play, you are bound to that time limit. While many short films would be better without exposition, you really cannot afford in a 10-minute play to waste any time on exposition. If you feel that exposition is necessary in any way, then you may have a full-length play instead of a 10-minute one. In which case, this guide is no longer of use to your narrative.

4. INTRODUCE THE CONFLICT QUICKLY

Just because you skip the exposition, doesn’t mean you should take your time introducing the conflict. Introduce the conflict as soon as possible so the audience knows why they’re following your story right away.

You don’t have to introduce it in the first line of dialogue, but ideally in the first minute of the page, the second minute at the latest. Even if you have a more subtle conflict that audience members can’t pick up on right away, it’s still essential that you introduce the conflict as soon as possible. It’s a part of answering the question you asked before you began writing, which brings me to…

5. USE THE PLAY TO ANSWER THE QUESTION YOU ASKED

Your entire play should work to answer the question you asked before you even started your script. This could mean a resounding climax for some stories, or it could mean something more subtle and haunting. Whatever it is, every page, every line, every movement of your play should seek to somehow answer the question you asked at the beginning.

When editing future drafts, look at each part and ask yourself how the piece answers the question. If it doesn’t answer the question, rewrite it so that it does or scrap it all together. With only 10 minutes, every single part of your story must answer the question you asked when you began this play.

Tips For Writing A 10-Minute Play

1. GET CREATIVE AND TAKE RISKS

One of the most exciting parts of writing a 10-minute play is the experimentation you can easily incorporate into your story. It can be in a draft, or in the piece itself, but given that you have such a short time, you can really get creative and take risks without wasting tons of time.

So, if it’s your first time writing a 10-minute play, don’t stress about getting things right, but instead, let your imagination take over and do things you usually wouldn’t think to do. The worst that can happen is you’ll have to rewrite the piece, and that will only consist of 10-15 pages.

2. CUT OUT EXTRANEOUS DETAILS

It’s called a 10-minute play. Unlike a short story, there is an actual time limit to this piece, so cut out anything that isn’t relevant to your story. This could be a side character, a scene, or a line of dialogue. Once you’ve written your script, look at it with a critical eye and treat every detail of your story like a choice. Ask yourself if it answers your main question you posited at the beginning of this post, and if it doesn’t, cut it out.

3. USE ACTION TO ADD DEPTH

Avoid telling the entire story with dialogue alone. You have living, breathing people on stage who can use their bodies, their movement, their expressions to tell even more. Make your story more efficient and jam-pack it with more information by adding in action that signals deeper meanings.

4. MAKE SURE YOUR IDEA IS MEANT FOR A 10-MINUTE PLAY

This is a big problem you’ll find in short stories of all types, be it film, fiction, or playwriting. You think you have a great idea for a short story, and then suddenly realize you’ve tried to cram a three-act story into a short story.

It doesn’t work.

If you are running into continuous issues with your 10-minute play, it may be worth evaluating whether your story is for a short play or a full-length play. If you aren’t sure, take a look at what makes a short story (be it fiction, film, or so forth) different.

[raspberryparker]

Hi!! So can I just say how much in love I am with your blog? My theme was very old so I updated it thanks to your help! That really means a lot to me and your fic recs are always so spot on for me! I also write a Tom Holland x Reader fanfic named "Starstruck on the Red Carpet" and it honestly would be like a dream come true to hear your opinions&thoughts on it. Thank you so much!!

Hello my love! First of all, thank you so much for your lovely and kind words! I’m so glad you find my recs helpful and it’s great that I was able to help you with your theme (which is gorgeous, by the way. Nice job).

I’m so sorry it took me so long to answer this ask but I wanted to read the entire fic and the sequel before I did so you got my full thoughts on it, so here we go! (It’s incredibly long and for that I’m sorry.)

In terms of storytelling and plot, I loved it! I think you did great with the conflict, the main plot and the sub plot/sub conflict(s), and the progression of the story as a whole. I really enjoyed the whole Cinderella thing and the way you spun it. I don’t think I’ve read a Cinderella story like that before so you’re definitely original, but I also enjoyed how that wasn’t the main point of the story and how it grew from there. Also, you’re really good at staying in character for the actors that you were writing for. It’s always important to be able to picture them saying what you’ve written if you’re writing someone who actually exists, and during the after-party scenes, I definitely could.I also really loved your OC’s. Blake made a really good point of conflict that enhanced the story in a great way, and Elijah just made me really happy, as did Nathalie. All good stories need an equally good cast of supporting characters and you executed it really well, so good job!That last part of the final chapter of the sequel was both funny and loving, and it’s hands down my favourite chapter. I always love when things come together, and the whole dating thing made me laugh out loud.The only criticism I have is that of structure, which every writer has struggled with at some point or continues to struggle with. I know I sure as Hell have. I’ve been writing fanfic since I was 12 and I’m 18 now. I’ve written a lot and I’ve read a lot and now that I’m an English major in university, I know what works and what doesn’t to keep people reading.Firstly, it would be so much easier on the reader and keep them engaged in the story regardless of what the story even is if you adjusted the way you structure paragraphs first and foremost. I noticed this especially in the first few chapters of your fic but less and less as I read on (Meaning you’ve improved on your own! Which is amazing!) but it was still quite choppy and hard to grasp what was happening, especially with dialogue. I don’t want to say there are “rules” for paragraph structure for fics, because fanfic is technically fanart and art is subjective, but there are guidelines to follow when you’re writing for school, for work, or professionally. These are in place because it makes your work flow better and makes it easier to read and take in. Some of these include making a new paragraph every time someone new speaks, every time the “camera angle” changes, when you’re starting a new idea, etc. It’s incredibly daunting to see a huge block of text instead of the same text broken down into smaller paragraphs. Seeing one big page of words makes people not want to read it. It’s harsh, like judging books by their covers rather than content, but it’s the truth and everyone is guilty of this whether they know it or not.Something you tend to do a lot is have multiple people (up to three or four at some points) talking during the same paragraph. When this happens, it’s easy for the reader to lose track of who is talking and what’s happening and often leads to them being confused and having to reread the paragraph just to know what’s going on. Fixing this would take your already wonderful plot and give it an extra something to appeal to readers even more.Here are some helpful posts for you if you want to read more in depth on paragraph structure !! 

1  2  3  4My other point is about how you broke up the chapters. I am a writer myself and I know how hard it is to write lots at a time (especially considering I’m a uni student too so I have, like, no time) but I try to make my chapters anywhere between 4k and 7k words. However, a lot of people don’t do this and make their chapters way shorter. But ultimately it all comes down to scene breakdown and length, which I will explain. Especially in the first 5 or 6 parts of your fic, I felt like that could have been condensed into about 3. This is because you spread the same scene out over multiple chapters. This is fine; again fanworks are artistic works and you can write however you want, but another thing I do is try to keep the consumer of my fanworks in mind as I create them. It’s a little bit jarring to jump from chapter to chapter (or wait a week between chapters, if someone is keeping up with the fic as it’s updated) even though it’s still the same setting, the same characters, and essentially the same thing happening. My chapters are longer because they’re usually one or two scenes depending on the length of the scene, but they’re entire scenes regardless. And I’m not saying you should cut stuff out, that’s not what I mean by “condense”. I mean you could have copy and pasted a chapter into the chapter before it and just made it longer. Sometimes, a higher word count is fine if the story flows.For example, and this is just off the top of my head, let’s say a character is going to hang out with a friend. The scene begins with them meeting up, and ends with them parting ways. even if you don’t want to write the ENTIRE scene or think some of it is pointless filler that doesn’t contribute to the plot and you want to cut some parts out, you can put time cuts within the chapter as long as that one scene remains within that one chapter. Again, these aren’t rules. But as both a fanfic reader and writer, it’s easy to notice these things. You actually did this very well once, when you made a time cut where you didn’t write the interviews themselves in chapter five, I believe. You were right in your endnote on that chapter; it would have made it far too long. That’s the kind of thing I’m talking about. But I still thought you could have put that time cut in the middle of a chapter rather than between chapters. And when I say time cut, I don’t mean something in bold like ****Time Skip**** placed between paragraphs, because that’s just jolting. It takes the reader out of their immersed state. To make an adequate time cut, just make the space between paragraphs larger, or put a horizontal line that you can copy and paste from google or something (like I did) to separate the pieces without making it look messy.A helpful tip I read a while back while writing my first fic on tumblr was to use the “A and B therefore C” method, or the Incentive, Action and Result method. I forget where I read this tip and I’ve been trying to find it for you but I haven’t been able to, I’m sorry. Here’s an example using a scene from the first chapter of my fic:A or Incentive: Peter is failing EnglishandB or Action: Ned doesn’t want him to fail English; Ned wants him to do well so he doesn’t get kicked out of schoolthereforeC or Result: Ned gets the reader to tutor Peter, which kicks off the plotThat’s the scene! Altogether, the scene written out was about 3,000 words but I made it into half of a chapter because I had more to add to it (if you’ve read my fic you’ll know what I mean, but you don’t have to).Here’s the other half of the chapter broken down like this:A: Peter is struggling with English and it’s distracting him during his hero workandB: He has a nasty run-in with Hammerhead that leaves him injured beyond beliefthereforeC: The reader witnesses him coming back to their dorm building bloody and bruised, and she becomes suspicious I would say the only time that people can get away with ending a chapter in the middle of a scene is when there is a huge cliffhanger they want to incorporate and leave their readers hanging in suspense for a week before the next chapter release. Other than that, it’s better if one scene is confined to one chapter. And my last point is tenses! Oh boy tenses, those horrible, awful tenses. They suck but they’re so so so important. I often found that you randomly switch between present tense and past tense in the middle of your chapter when there isn’t any actual time difference in the scene. Going from “says” to “said” is a little bit confusing, but everyone does it. EVERYONE. Hell, I still do. The important thing is catching yourself when you do. I know I have a few times where it’s slipped through the cracks and I’ve published a chapter where there are a few slip-ups, but again, everyone does it. That’s why I’m not making a huge deal out of it.These are a few reasons why having someone to beta read or edit your fic before you publish it is super important! I’m lucky I have my close friends to do it for me, but a lot of fic writers hide the fact that they write fics from their friends because, let’s be honest, it can be kind of embarrassing. If you ever need someone to beta read or edit for you, don’t hesitate to reach out to me or any other fic writer that you know! I’m more than willing to help you improve your writing (as you can probably tell by this long winded response to your ask) and finally put all this studying for my English degree to good use. I plan to become an English teacher, so the more experience I get the better! I’m always here for you!I really hope you don’t think I’m being rude or pretentious because that is not at all what was meant by this review of your fic. I think you’re incredibly talented and creative, and the idea of your story is a great one that I enjoyed following as I read it. Basically, my main point of this is to say that even if you have an amazing story, if the structure isn’t appealing, chances are people won’t read it. Again, it’s a sad truth but we’re all guilty of it. All in all, it was a wonderful story that was well written and well planned, and I really enjoyed it! I hope you continue writing because you have so much potential, and maybe even take some of my advice. I’m so happy you’re open to opinions, thoughts and constructive criticism on your writing. But remember that you don’t have to do what I say. You art is is just that: YOUR art. And my advice is just advice. At the end of the day, just keep doing you, love.- Gabi  ps. YOUR ART IS LOVELY!! I really love that you added illustrations for the last two parts of the sequel, really helps envision what is happening better. I might start drawing for my fics too ;)

[ariyadaivaris]

two questions: 1) why is kenny a bad person? be specific if you can, I honestly want to understand. 2) what's the better lgbt+ representation you mentioned in your post? Not trying to be mean I'm really and truly ignorant about these things and you seem like you know something. Help me understand so I don't support bad people/content.

uhhh kenny isn’t GREAT, i know that that varies from person to person but i personally don’t think he’s a good dude. back when he first won the iwgp heavyweight championship off of kazu, he had an interview where he said that the “local” (japanese) talent were complacent and lazy and the gaijin wrestlers (the only ones he mentioned being white, ofc) were just hungrier and wanted it more and people like naito and evil were very rightfully pissed off. (also kazu and misu had a match like a week later in the middle of a monsoon while kenneth was off who KNOWS where so like #Whatever) 

he also booked a convicted sex offender/p*do for an event? on the preshow? i think he also used his ring and then claimed he didn’t know abt the dude when he’d associated with him before and also when people were pissed about it he responded VERY sanctimoniously bemoaning how cruel people were to judge him for this lmao. (the dude’s name is chasyn rance if you wanna...go verify stuff i really dont wanna delve into. all that on here its a sensitive topic) he’s also best buds with michael elgin whos an abuser so thats neat

also like a few weeks ago tanahashi criticized kenneth on a podcast and said that his matches were all flash and no substance and you could just as easily skip to the last five minutes because thats where ALL the story is, which, i mean, disclaimer i agree with! kenneth heard this and freaked OUT, which is WEIRD because tana has a history of giving his coworkers constructive criticism and advice bc he’s a veteran and its like he’s trying to help people improve and not be complacent??? weird! anyway kenneth started insulting everything from tana’s hair to his wrestling and its just generally REALLY poor form and behavior

idk it varies depending on who you ask and im not...the best memory? sammy hiromutakahashl and ava purplesandgolds both do INCREDIBLY valid work pointing and laughing at kenny and if you delve into their archives you could probably find more in-depth and like, credible criticism of him? but tldr he can eat a pile of dirty socks

AS FOR OTHER WRESTLERS YOU CAN SUPPORT!!!!!!!!

charlie morgan is a british wrestler and a lesbian and she’s very very butch and very very cool!!!!!!! she’s the current ace of pro wrestling eve and its rightfully earned, she also wrestles in progress and she has like, THE most incredible moonsault. also this which kicks ASS

ddtpro (and tokyo joshi pro) is at the very least friendly to The Gays!! one of the co-founders, dino danshoko, is a gay man and his gimmick is HMMMM A LITTLE FLAMBOYANT AND UNCOMFY TO WATCH AT TIMES but coming from a man who is very explicitly incorporating his gayness into his wrestling and yknow what...thats valid. also i think he became champ recently FUCK yeah dude gay RIGHTS

a wrestler named asuka has wrestled for ddtpro to boot, but she mainly works in wave, and she’s trans! you can find an interview she did with lgbter over here! also she and daisuke sasaki had a very cute romance arc for a bit it was excellent

dragon gate has the ICONIC tribe vanguard, and i know they’ve got several queer wrestlers in their ranks that i unfortunately don’t know TOO well bc i dont watch dragon gate, but i DO know yosuke santa maria is VERY cool and i love her and she jumps real good

CANDY LEE!!!!!!!! SHE’S THE CURRENT IPW WOMEN’S CHAMPION AND I WOULD LAY IT ALL ON THE LINE FOR HER her twitter is very very good go look at it and love her and support her

progress wrestling in general is usually PRETTY good re: Ze Gays!! besides charlie morgan, killer kelly and laura di matteo also wrestle there (UGH we love iconic lesbians), and so does KNOWN light of my life and yours too probably jack sexsmith, THE pansexual phenomenon. sexy starr is canonically a thing. we LOVE romance and we love queer romances being the heart of goodness and honesty and bravery. PLEASE support my boys. i love them so much

ive got a bad memory and also limited knowledge of things but randy myers? i believe? is very cool and weird and talented and he sings sometimes and yknow what that is? valid

sadly i don’t know many lgbtq+ luchadors off the top of my head because im a fool and a coward tumblr user luchagoth might have more valuable input on that than i do!!! ^^;

i know this is long and winding and poorly worded but i hope this can be like, at least an...introduction? an IDEA of where to go? there are so many more spaces that don’t throw you just table scraps or suggestions of support, there’s the A Matter Of Pride events that you can find on full in youtube, there are so many promotions and wrestlers out there that are good and i hope you can find folks you like and wanna support!!!

im sorry this is a weird bad post i hope i could help even a bit, thank you for being patient with me and for being curious in the first place, whatever you decide to do from here is your choice but whatever choice that is i hope you find happiness and peace in it!!

[epackingvietnam]

Fast & Featured: How Entities Can Help You Conquer Snippets in Less Than 4 Minutes

Posted by larissa-lacerda

From the moment I started working with SEO, I was faced with countless optimization tactics. After heading down numerous rabbit holes, I came to see how important it is to identify your low hanging fruit: the opportunities to generate great results with less effort.

The first time I saw notable results in my work was in the optimizations I put into practice to reach featured snippets. The thrill of jumping to the top of the page was so great that it soon became my passion.

But not everything in SEO is so simple (or stable). Soon, methods that had previously brought results were no longer working. With the competition growing increasingly competent and challenging, great results were becoming less frequent.

If, like me, you’ve reached that point — don't worry! I’ll show you how I overcame this with a method that I lovingly refer to as “Fast & Featured”.

What are SEO entities?

I started with an unpretentious study of entities. I hadn’t read much on the topic, but what caught my attention was the understanding entities can offer into how search algorithms work.

Google’s definition is: “A thing or concept that is singular, unique, well-defined and distinguishable.”But this definition is very broad, leading to even greater confusion. I wanted a clearer understanding of what entities are all about, so I crafted my own definition that I’ll share with you today.

Basically, an entity in SEO is everything definable, unique, and not limited to a specific shape, spelling, or image (e.g. mom, mother, mummy, and a picture of a mother all relate to the same entity).

I really like to make an association with the following image, famous in the study of semiotics, which illustrates entities very well:

"One and Three Chairs", 1965, by Joseph Kosuth. Gautier Poupeau, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Here, we have three chairs: the physical chair, the representation of a chair, and the dictionary definition of what a chair is. All three refer to a single entity: the chair.

What matters here is the essence, the content, and what lies behind it.

In the same way, this is how algorithms understand elements that exist on the web, overcoming restrictions of language, form, or representation — which results in huge improvements in the accuracy of the SERP results.

So, what if I use this concept to understand which entities are most important in searches with featured snippets? With this knowledge, I’d have an in-depth understanding of what the ideal answers are, not just the ones I, totally biased, considered good.

It may seem a simple concept, but it's like telling your SEO to focus on basic practices or understand the user's intention. No matter how much you talk about it or how obvious it seems, people will still be reluctant to do it. The tendency is to look for more complicated or advanced hacks — but that’s not what we want here.

Our goal is to show how to associate a basic concept with a previously understood practice, making each step very clear, logical, and uncomplicated.

Let's get down to the method!

How to use the Fast & Featured method

As mentioned, this method was developed to make achieving featured snippets more intelligent and strategic, so each of these seven steps is essential to increase your probability of success.

1. Understand context and objectives

As with any strategy, whether SEO, marketing, or across other areas, we must first understand the current context — what we have at the moment (and how it serves us) — to then determine our objectives, where we intend to catch up.

As a result, the first step is to compile a list of searches for keywords that you rank in the top ten positions for, and note which already have featured snippets. For even greater chances, filter for just the top three positions as well, since that’s where Google selects the featured snippet 70% of the time.

There are several methods for this, with the main difference being speed. I will share three approaches, to cover the range of demands that different teams may have.

Moz Keyword Explorer

In a very intuitive way, Moz's Keyword Explorer has an easy approach to help you out with this stage of creating your list of opportunities.

To do this, simply access the keywords you rank for and filter positions 1-10.

Then, create your own list and then select the “Featured Snippet” option under “SERP feature”.

Source: Moz

Now you have a complete list of opportunities!

Ahrefs Webmaster Tools

Ahrefs WebMaster Tools (the free version of Ahrefs) can also be used to create your list of opportunities.

The process is largely similar, simply access the “Organic keywords” feature, click on “SERP features” (under “Include”) and select “Featured snippet”.

After doing this, the tool will present a series of results, including snippets that you have already achieved. You can follow up on each result separately or export the complete list.

To clean your data, leaving only the opportunities, exclude all keywords that are in first place — those already considered featured snippets by the tool — after all, you hear less about position zero nowadays.

Google Search Console

This technique was used when free tools were not yet available and a user simply needed a way to generate this list.

If this is not your case — and you’re not curious to find out more — feel free to skip ahead.

To find opportunities where there is less competition and greater focus on long tails, it’s necessary to access the "Performance" report, go to "Search results" and filter by "Queries" using expressions such as "what is", "concept", "definition" , “how to” among others.

As it’s not possible to identify the SERP features this way, it’s not as accurate, but is worth mentioning.

2. Start a SERP analysis

Now that you’ve managed to create a respectable list, select your priorities. Again, keywords with higher positions and more traffic coverage are ideal.

Start by accessing the SERP and identifying the following aspects:

What type of snippet is it?

Are there other definitions highlighted on the page? (This could include definitions under a “knowledge panel” or “people also ask”.)

This information will help you understand what Google interprets as the ideal answer, giving you more information than just what the featured snippet contains. This way, you will know if the snippet is a paragraph or shorter, or what the user hopes to find when searching for that term.

For the keyword “interactive ebook”, we find a paragraph snippet. Below, the SERP presents PAAs on how to make interactive ebooks and the difference between digital books and ebooks.

Hang on to this info, as we’ll need it in step 4.

3. Look at competitor content

In addition to the previous questions related to the SERP, the time has come to meet the current winner and understand what sets it apart from the rest. Identify:

Who has the current snippet?

Where is it located on the page? (first paragraph, summary, middle of the text)

How is the concept in question currently defined?

How objective is it?

Look for answers to these questions and, especially for the last two, try to set aside your current definition or how you would approach it differently, in order to be as impartial as possible in your analysis — however difficult it may be at times.

In the example I presented, the competitor is Visme, the snippet was taken from the beginning of the second title, the definition is very objective, succinct, and logical, and takes advantage of the formats that make up an interactive ebook.

4. Use a comparative analysis

I consider this next step to be the most important. I suggest that you write down the information somewhere. I usually use an online text counter, but feel free to do it on a spreadsheet or another platform.

Whatever tool you use, first record the result of the snippet. Then, add another definition, if found on the SERP (could be a Google dictionary or Wikipedia definition), then finally add your current definition.

Now, the time has come to apply the concept of entities. We will focus on the first two definitions from the beginning of this post.

Below, list the entities you found and how many times they appear in the text — which helps to indicate their relevance in context.

To get the hang of this when starting, you can use Google's own NLP API demo tool or another tool, such as TextRazor, to help you identify it:

5. Identify entities

After you identify the entities and their level of relevance for the definitions you found (the snippet itself and another highlighted definition), see which entities are most repeated on both lists (if the SERP presents more than one definition) and the relationships established between them.

Once you do that, you have the set of entities considered the most important for that Google search and can then avoid relying on “I prefer this” or “I think this word is better”, because it will be based on what the search engine understands to be the best.

Then, just like a puzzle, assemble these entities with your own text in an objective and easy to understand way.

Ideally, your definition should be slightly shorter than the current one, making it as unbiased as possible — very important, especially for voice searches.

Take a look at this example:

In blue are the entities I decided to use on my new definition. You can also note that this paragraph is a lot shorter than the previous one.

Finally, insert your updated paragraph into your text, making sure it fits with the rest of the text, and avoiding any breaks in the flow of the text that could throw off your reader.

6. Re-index your page

After making these changes, the next step is to request that your page be re-indexed through Google Search Console.

This action wasn’t possible until a few weeks ago, but Google announced on December 22, 2020 that “Request Indexing” is back to their tool.

The re-indexing part is not an indispensable step, but it is ideal to streamline the process and verify whether it was possible to achieve the snippet or not more quickly.

To illustrate the results my team and I were able to make, here are some snippets won using this strategy:

And the one that made me proudest (it is in Portuguese, my native language): Before:

After four minutes:

Besides conquering it incredibly fast, this exact snippet made me realize I had created an effective strategy and I needed to share it with the SEO community.

7. Don’t give up

Something went wrong? Check if your content as a whole relates to what is presented in the snippet text, and make the necessary adjustments or consider re-analyzing the entities to see if something important was left out.

For some tests I’ve carried out, simply shortening the definition by two words was enough for Google to accept my definition and not a competitor's.

In addition, there are cases of reaching the snippet, but then quickly losing it. While this can be very frustrating, it’s a sign that you are on the right track. Several factors can influence this, such as your text not being attractive enough or sounding confusing.

When this happens, keep trying and update your definition from time to time (at two-week intervals), to continue increasing the chance that you show up on the snippet.

Final tips

Here are a few final thoughts. If you have other advice, let me know in the comments!

Test the use of abstracts in WordPress (that bold section that appears at the beginning of the text).

Try to work concepts into your text objectively, preferably using the composition “what is + the keyword” in the given intertitle. This doesn’t mean that your copy should lack variety and personality, but look for ways to adapt this formula your own way to attract people with your style, while also being accessible to a wide audience.

Intertitles of lists should be more obvious as well: "What are the best channels on Youtube" — something simple and without being too distracting.

See how reaching snippets can be simple (and fast) when using a clear method?

It may feel great to achieve a position without much effort or even when we don't know what we did, but it's much better when we know exactly what it takes — without mistakes or crazy tricks.

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

#túi_giấy_epacking_việt_nam #túi_giấy_epacking #in_túi_giấy_giá_rẻ #in_túi_giấy #epackingvietnam #tuigiayepacking

[bfxenon]

Fast & Featured: How Entities Can Help You Conquer Snippets in Less Than 4 Minutes

Posted by larissa-lacerda

From the moment I started working with SEO, I was faced with countless optimization tactics. After heading down numerous rabbit holes, I came to see how important it is to identify your low hanging fruit: the opportunities to generate great results with less effort.

The first time I saw notable results in my work was in the optimizations I put into practice to reach featured snippets. The thrill of jumping to the top of the page was so great that it soon became my passion.

But not everything in SEO is so simple (or stable). Soon, methods that had previously brought results were no longer working. With the competition growing increasingly competent and challenging, great results were becoming less frequent.

If, like me, you’ve reached that point — don't worry! I’ll show you how I overcame this with a method that I lovingly refer to as “Fast & Featured”.

What are SEO entities?

I started with an unpretentious study of entities. I hadn’t read much on the topic, but what caught my attention was the understanding entities can offer into how search algorithms work.

Google’s definition is: “A thing or concept that is singular, unique, well-defined and distinguishable.”But this definition is very broad, leading to even greater confusion. I wanted a clearer understanding of what entities are all about, so I crafted my own definition that I’ll share with you today.

Basically, an entity in SEO is everything definable, unique, and not limited to a specific shape, spelling, or image (e.g. mom, mother, mummy, and a picture of a mother all relate to the same entity).

I really like to make an association with the following image, famous in the study of semiotics, which illustrates entities very well:

"One and Three Chairs", 1965, by Joseph Kosuth. Gautier Poupeau, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Here, we have three chairs: the physical chair, the representation of a chair, and the dictionary definition of what a chair is. All three refer to a single entity: the chair.

What matters here is the essence, the content, and what lies behind it.

In the same way, this is how algorithms understand elements that exist on the web, overcoming restrictions of language, form, or representation — which results in huge improvements in the accuracy of the SERP results.

So, what if I use this concept to understand which entities are most important in searches with featured snippets? With this knowledge, I’d have an in-depth understanding of what the ideal answers are, not just the ones I, totally biased, considered good.

It may seem a simple concept, but it's like telling your SEO to focus on basic practices or understand the user's intention. No matter how much you talk about it or how obvious it seems, people will still be reluctant to do it. The tendency is to look for more complicated or advanced hacks — but that’s not what we want here.

Our goal is to show how to associate a basic concept with a previously understood practice, making each step very clear, logical, and uncomplicated.

Let's get down to the method!

How to use the Fast & Featured method

As mentioned, this method was developed to make achieving featured snippets more intelligent and strategic, so each of these seven steps is essential to increase your probability of success.

1. Understand context and objectives

As with any strategy, whether SEO, marketing, or across other areas, we must first understand the current context — what we have at the moment (and how it serves us) — to then determine our objectives, where we intend to catch up.

As a result, the first step is to compile a list of searches for keywords that you rank in the top ten positions for, and note which already have featured snippets. For even greater chances, filter for just the top three positions as well, since that’s where Google selects the featured snippet 70% of the time.

There are several methods for this, with the main difference being speed. I will share three approaches, to cover the range of demands that different teams may have.

Moz Keyword Explorer

In a very intuitive way, Moz's Keyword Explorer has an easy approach to help you out with this stage of creating your list of opportunities.

To do this, simply access the keywords you rank for and filter positions 1-10.

Then, create your own list and then select the “Featured Snippet” option under “SERP feature”.

Source: Moz

Now you have a complete list of opportunities!

Ahrefs Webmaster Tools

Ahrefs WebMaster Tools (the free version of Ahrefs) can also be used to create your list of opportunities.

The process is largely similar, simply access the “Organic keywords” feature, click on “SERP features” (under “Include”) and select “Featured snippet”.

After doing this, the tool will present a series of results, including snippets that you have already achieved. You can follow up on each result separately or export the complete list.

To clean your data, leaving only the opportunities, exclude all keywords that are in first place — those already considered featured snippets by the tool — after all, you hear less about position zero nowadays.

Google Search Console

This technique was used when free tools were not yet available and a user simply needed a way to generate this list.

If this is not your case — and you’re not curious to find out more — feel free to skip ahead.

To find opportunities where there is less competition and greater focus on long tails, it’s necessary to access the "Performance" report, go to "Search results" and filter by "Queries" using expressions such as "what is", "concept", "definition" , “how to” among others.

As it’s not possible to identify the SERP features this way, it’s not as accurate, but is worth mentioning.

2. Start a SERP analysis

Now that you’ve managed to create a respectable list, select your priorities. Again, keywords with higher positions and more traffic coverage are ideal.

Start by accessing the SERP and identifying the following aspects:

What type of snippet is it?

Are there other definitions highlighted on the page? (This could include definitions under a “knowledge panel” or “people also ask”.)

This information will help you understand what Google interprets as the ideal answer, giving you more information than just what the featured snippet contains. This way, you will know if the snippet is a paragraph or shorter, or what the user hopes to find when searching for that term.

For the keyword “interactive ebook”, we find a paragraph snippet. Below, the SERP presents PAAs on how to make interactive ebooks and the difference between digital books and ebooks.

Hang on to this info, as we’ll need it in step 4.

3. Look at competitor content

In addition to the previous questions related to the SERP, the time has come to meet the current winner and understand what sets it apart from the rest. Identify:

Who has the current snippet?

Where is it located on the page? (first paragraph, summary, middle of the text)

How is the concept in question currently defined?

How objective is it?

Look for answers to these questions and, especially for the last two, try to set aside your current definition or how you would approach it differently, in order to be as impartial as possible in your analysis — however difficult it may be at times.

In the example I presented, the competitor is Visme, the snippet was taken from the beginning of the second title, the definition is very objective, succinct, and logical, and takes advantage of the formats that make up an interactive ebook.

4. Use a comparative analysis

I consider this next step to be the most important. I suggest that you write down the information somewhere. I usually use an online text counter, but feel free to do it on a spreadsheet or another platform.

Whatever tool you use, first record the result of the snippet. Then, add another definition, if found on the SERP (could be a Google dictionary or Wikipedia definition), then finally add your current definition.

Now, the time has come to apply the concept of entities. We will focus on the first two definitions from the beginning of this post.

Below, list the entities you found and how many times they appear in the text — which helps to indicate their relevance in context.

To get the hang of this when starting, you can use Google's own NLP API demo tool or another tool, such as TextRazor, to help you identify it:

5. Identify entities

After you identify the entities and their level of relevance for the definitions you found (the snippet itself and another highlighted definition), see which entities are most repeated on both lists (if the SERP presents more than one definition) and the relationships established between them.

Once you do that, you have the set of entities considered the most important for that Google search and can then avoid relying on “I prefer this” or “I think this word is better”, because it will be based on what the search engine understands to be the best.

Then, just like a puzzle, assemble these entities with your own text in an objective and easy to understand way.

Ideally, your definition should be slightly shorter than the current one, making it as unbiased as possible — very important, especially for voice searches.

Take a look at this example:

In blue are the entities I decided to use on my new definition. You can also note that this paragraph is a lot shorter than the previous one.

Finally, insert your updated paragraph into your text, making sure it fits with the rest of the text, and avoiding any breaks in the flow of the text that could throw off your reader.

6. Re-index your page

After making these changes, the next step is to request that your page be re-indexed through Google Search Console.

This action wasn’t possible until a few weeks ago, but Google announced on December 22, 2020 that “Request Indexing” is back to their tool.

The re-indexing part is not an indispensable step, but it is ideal to streamline the process and verify whether it was possible to achieve the snippet or not more quickly.

To illustrate the results my team and I were able to make, here are some snippets won using this strategy:

And the one that made me proudest (it is in Portuguese, my native language): Before:

After four minutes:

Besides conquering it incredibly fast, this exact snippet made me realize I had created an effective strategy and I needed to share it with the SEO community.

7. Don’t give up

Something went wrong? Check if your content as a whole relates to what is presented in the snippet text, and make the necessary adjustments or consider re-analyzing the entities to see if something important was left out.

For some tests I’ve carried out, simply shortening the definition by two words was enough for Google to accept my definition and not a competitor's.

In addition, there are cases of reaching the snippet, but then quickly losing it. While this can be very frustrating, it’s a sign that you are on the right track. Several factors can influence this, such as your text not being attractive enough or sounding confusing.

When this happens, keep trying and update your definition from time to time (at two-week intervals), to continue increasing the chance that you show up on the snippet.

Final tips

Here are a few final thoughts. If you have other advice, let me know in the comments!

Test the use of abstracts in WordPress (that bold section that appears at the beginning of the text).

Try to work concepts into your text objectively, preferably using the composition “what is + the keyword” in the given intertitle. This doesn’t mean that your copy should lack variety and personality, but look for ways to adapt this formula your own way to attract people with your style, while also being accessible to a wide audience.

Intertitles of lists should be more obvious as well: "What are the best channels on Youtube" — something simple and without being too distracting.

See how reaching snippets can be simple (and fast) when using a clear method?

It may feel great to achieve a position without much effort or even when we don't know what we did, but it's much better when we know exactly what it takes — without mistakes or crazy tricks.

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

[nutrifami]

Fast & Featured: How Entities Can Help You Conquer Snippets in Less Than 4 Minutes

Posted by larissa-lacerda

From the moment I started working with SEO, I was faced with countless optimization tactics. After heading down numerous rabbit holes, I came to see how important it is to identify your low hanging fruit: the opportunities to generate great results with less effort.

The first time I saw notable results in my work was in the optimizations I put into practice to reach featured snippets. The thrill of jumping to the top of the page was so great that it soon became my passion.

But not everything in SEO is so simple (or stable). Soon, methods that had previously brought results were no longer working. With the competition growing increasingly competent and challenging, great results were becoming less frequent.

If, like me, you’ve reached that point — don't worry! I’ll show you how I overcame this with a method that I lovingly refer to as “Fast & Featured”.

What are SEO entities?

I started with an unpretentious study of entities. I hadn’t read much on the topic, but what caught my attention was the understanding entities can offer into how search algorithms work.

Google’s definition is: “A thing or concept that is singular, unique, well-defined and distinguishable.”But this definition is very broad, leading to even greater confusion. I wanted a clearer understanding of what entities are all about, so I crafted my own definition that I’ll share with you today.

Basically, an entity in SEO is everything definable, unique, and not limited to a specific shape, spelling, or image (e.g. mom, mother, mummy, and a picture of a mother all relate to the same entity).

I really like to make an association with the following image, famous in the study of semiotics, which illustrates entities very well:

"One and Three Chairs", 1965, by Joseph Kosuth. Gautier Poupeau, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Here, we have three chairs: the physical chair, the representation of a chair, and the dictionary definition of what a chair is. All three refer to a single entity: the chair.

What matters here is the essence, the content, and what lies behind it.

In the same way, this is how algorithms understand elements that exist on the web, overcoming restrictions of language, form, or representation — which results in huge improvements in the accuracy of the SERP results.

So, what if I use this concept to understand which entities are most important in searches with featured snippets? With this knowledge, I’d have an in-depth understanding of what the ideal answers are, not just the ones I, totally biased, considered good.

It may seem a simple concept, but it's like telling your SEO to focus on basic practices or understand the user's intention. No matter how much you talk about it or how obvious it seems, people will still be reluctant to do it. The tendency is to look for more complicated or advanced hacks — but that’s not what we want here.

Our goal is to show how to associate a basic concept with a previously understood practice, making each step very clear, logical, and uncomplicated.

Let's get down to the method!

How to use the Fast & Featured method

As mentioned, this method was developed to make achieving featured snippets more intelligent and strategic, so each of these seven steps is essential to increase your probability of success.

1. Understand context and objectives

As with any strategy, whether SEO, marketing, or across other areas, we must first understand the current context — what we have at the moment (and how it serves us) — to then determine our objectives, where we intend to catch up.

As a result, the first step is to compile a list of searches for keywords that you rank in the top ten positions for, and note which already have featured snippets. For even greater chances, filter for just the top three positions as well, since that’s where Google selects the featured snippet 70% of the time.

There are several methods for this, with the main difference being speed. I will share three approaches, to cover the range of demands that different teams may have.

Moz Keyword Explorer

In a very intuitive way, Moz's Keyword Explorer has an easy approach to help you out with this stage of creating your list of opportunities.

To do this, simply access the keywords you rank for and filter positions 1-10.

Then, create your own list and then select the “Featured Snippet” option under “SERP feature”.

Source: Moz

Now you have a complete list of opportunities!

Ahrefs Webmaster Tools

Ahrefs WebMaster Tools (the free version of Ahrefs) can also be used to create your list of opportunities.

The process is largely similar, simply access the “Organic keywords” feature, click on “SERP features” (under “Include”) and select “Featured snippet”.

After doing this, the tool will present a series of results, including snippets that you have already achieved. You can follow up on each result separately or export the complete list.

To clean your data, leaving only the opportunities, exclude all keywords that are in first place — those already considered featured snippets by the tool — after all, you hear less about position zero nowadays.

Google Search Console

This technique was used when free tools were not yet available and a user simply needed a way to generate this list.

If this is not your case — and you’re not curious to find out more — feel free to skip ahead.

To find opportunities where there is less competition and greater focus on long tails, it’s necessary to access the "Performance" report, go to "Search results" and filter by "Queries" using expressions such as "what is", "concept", "definition" , “how to” among others.

As it’s not possible to identify the SERP features this way, it’s not as accurate, but is worth mentioning.

2. Start a SERP analysis

Now that you’ve managed to create a respectable list, select your priorities. Again, keywords with higher positions and more traffic coverage are ideal.

Start by accessing the SERP and identifying the following aspects:

What type of snippet is it?

Are there other definitions highlighted on the page? (This could include definitions under a “knowledge panel” or “people also ask”.)

This information will help you understand what Google interprets as the ideal answer, giving you more information than just what the featured snippet contains. This way, you will know if the snippet is a paragraph or shorter, or what the user hopes to find when searching for that term.

For the keyword “interactive ebook”, we find a paragraph snippet. Below, the SERP presents PAAs on how to make interactive ebooks and the difference between digital books and ebooks.

Hang on to this info, as we’ll need it in step 4.

3. Look at competitor content

In addition to the previous questions related to the SERP, the time has come to meet the current winner and understand what sets it apart from the rest. Identify:

Who has the current snippet?

Where is it located on the page? (first paragraph, summary, middle of the text)

How is the concept in question currently defined?

How objective is it?

Look for answers to these questions and, especially for the last two, try to set aside your current definition or how you would approach it differently, in order to be as impartial as possible in your analysis — however difficult it may be at times.

In the example I presented, the competitor is Visme, the snippet was taken from the beginning of the second title, the definition is very objective, succinct, and logical, and takes advantage of the formats that make up an interactive ebook.

4. Use a comparative analysis

I consider this next step to be the most important. I suggest that you write down the information somewhere. I usually use an online text counter, but feel free to do it on a spreadsheet or another platform.

Whatever tool you use, first record the result of the snippet. Then, add another definition, if found on the SERP (could be a Google dictionary or Wikipedia definition), then finally add your current definition.

Now, the time has come to apply the concept of entities. We will focus on the first two definitions from the beginning of this post.

Below, list the entities you found and how many times they appear in the text — which helps to indicate their relevance in context.

To get the hang of this when starting, you can use Google's own NLP API demo tool or another tool, such as TextRazor, to help you identify it:

5. Identify entities

After you identify the entities and their level of relevance for the definitions you found (the snippet itself and another highlighted definition), see which entities are most repeated on both lists (if the SERP presents more than one definition) and the relationships established between them.

Once you do that, you have the set of entities considered the most important for that Google search and can then avoid relying on “I prefer this” or “I think this word is better”, because it will be based on what the search engine understands to be the best.

Then, just like a puzzle, assemble these entities with your own text in an objective and easy to understand way.

Ideally, your definition should be slightly shorter than the current one, making it as unbiased as possible — very important, especially for voice searches.

Take a look at this example:

In blue are the entities I decided to use on my new definition. You can also note that this paragraph is a lot shorter than the previous one.

Finally, insert your updated paragraph into your text, making sure it fits with the rest of the text, and avoiding any breaks in the flow of the text that could throw off your reader.

6. Re-index your page

After making these changes, the next step is to request that your page be re-indexed through Google Search Console.

This action wasn’t possible until a few weeks ago, but Google announced on December 22, 2020 that “Request Indexing” is back to their tool.

The re-indexing part is not an indispensable step, but it is ideal to streamline the process and verify whether it was possible to achieve the snippet or not more quickly.

To illustrate the results my team and I were able to make, here are some snippets won using this strategy:

And the one that made me proudest (it is in Portuguese, my native language): Before:

After four minutes:

Besides conquering it incredibly fast, this exact snippet made me realize I had created an effective strategy and I needed to share it with the SEO community.

7. Don’t give up

Something went wrong? Check if your content as a whole relates to what is presented in the snippet text, and make the necessary adjustments or consider re-analyzing the entities to see if something important was left out.

For some tests I’ve carried out, simply shortening the definition by two words was enough for Google to accept my definition and not a competitor's.

In addition, there are cases of reaching the snippet, but then quickly losing it. While this can be very frustrating, it’s a sign that you are on the right track. Several factors can influence this, such as your text not being attractive enough or sounding confusing.

When this happens, keep trying and update your definition from time to time (at two-week intervals), to continue increasing the chance that you show up on the snippet.

Final tips

Here are a few final thoughts. If you have other advice, let me know in the comments!

Test the use of abstracts in WordPress (that bold section that appears at the beginning of the text).

Try to work concepts into your text objectively, preferably using the composition “what is + the keyword” in the given intertitle. This doesn’t mean that your copy should lack variety and personality, but look for ways to adapt this formula your own way to attract people with your style, while also being accessible to a wide audience.

Intertitles of lists should be more obvious as well: "What are the best channels on Youtube" — something simple and without being too distracting.

See how reaching snippets can be simple (and fast) when using a clear method?

It may feel great to achieve a position without much effort or even when we don't know what we did, but it's much better when we know exactly what it takes — without mistakes or crazy tricks.

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

[xaydungtruonggia]

Fast & Featured: How Entities Can Help You Conquer Snippets in Less Than 4 Minutes

Posted by larissa-lacerda

From the moment I started working with SEO, I was faced with countless optimization tactics. After heading down numerous rabbit holes, I came to see how important it is to identify your low hanging fruit: the opportunities to generate great results with less effort.

The first time I saw notable results in my work was in the optimizations I put into practice to reach featured snippets. The thrill of jumping to the top of the page was so great that it soon became my passion.

But not everything in SEO is so simple (or stable). Soon, methods that had previously brought results were no longer working. With the competition growing increasingly competent and challenging, great results were becoming less frequent.

If, like me, you’ve reached that point — don't worry! I’ll show you how I overcame this with a method that I lovingly refer to as “Fast & Featured”.

What are SEO entities?

I started with an unpretentious study of entities. I hadn’t read much on the topic, but what caught my attention was the understanding entities can offer into how search algorithms work.

Google’s definition is: “A thing or concept that is singular, unique, well-defined and distinguishable.”But this definition is very broad, leading to even greater confusion. I wanted a clearer understanding of what entities are all about, so I crafted my own definition that I’ll share with you today.

Basically, an entity in SEO is everything definable, unique, and not limited to a specific shape, spelling, or image (e.g. mom, mother, mummy, and a picture of a mother all relate to the same entity).

I really like to make an association with the following image, famous in the study of semiotics, which illustrates entities very well:

"One and Three Chairs", 1965, by Joseph Kosuth. Gautier Poupeau, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Here, we have three chairs: the physical chair, the representation of a chair, and the dictionary definition of what a chair is. All three refer to a single entity: the chair.

What matters here is the essence, the content, and what lies behind it.

In the same way, this is how algorithms understand elements that exist on the web, overcoming restrictions of language, form, or representation — which results in huge improvements in the accuracy of the SERP results.

So, what if I use this concept to understand which entities are most important in searches with featured snippets? With this knowledge, I’d have an in-depth understanding of what the ideal answers are, not just the ones I, totally biased, considered good.

It may seem a simple concept, but it's like telling your SEO to focus on basic practices or understand the user's intention. No matter how much you talk about it or how obvious it seems, people will still be reluctant to do it. The tendency is to look for more complicated or advanced hacks — but that’s not what we want here.

Our goal is to show how to associate a basic concept with a previously understood practice, making each step very clear, logical, and uncomplicated.

Let's get down to the method!

How to use the Fast & Featured method

As mentioned, this method was developed to make achieving featured snippets more intelligent and strategic, so each of these seven steps is essential to increase your probability of success.

1. Understand context and objectives

As with any strategy, whether SEO, marketing, or across other areas, we must first understand the current context — what we have at the moment (and how it serves us) — to then determine our objectives, where we intend to catch up.

As a result, the first step is to compile a list of searches for keywords that you rank in the top ten positions for, and note which already have featured snippets. For even greater chances, filter for just the top three positions as well, since that’s where Google selects the featured snippet 70% of the time.

There are several methods for this, with the main difference being speed. I will share three approaches, to cover the range of demands that different teams may have.

Moz Keyword Explorer

In a very intuitive way, Moz's Keyword Explorer has an easy approach to help you out with this stage of creating your list of opportunities.

To do this, simply access the keywords you rank for and filter positions 1-10.

Then, create your own list and then select the “Featured Snippet” option under “SERP feature”.

Source: Moz

Now you have a complete list of opportunities!

Ahrefs Webmaster Tools

Ahrefs WebMaster Tools (the free version of Ahrefs) can also be used to create your list of opportunities.

The process is largely similar, simply access the “Organic keywords” feature, click on “SERP features” (under “Include”) and select “Featured snippet”.

After doing this, the tool will present a series of results, including snippets that you have already achieved. You can follow up on each result separately or export the complete list.

To clean your data, leaving only the opportunities, exclude all keywords that are in first place — those already considered featured snippets by the tool — after all, you hear less about position zero nowadays.

Google Search Console

This technique was used when free tools were not yet available and a user simply needed a way to generate this list.

If this is not your case — and you’re not curious to find out more — feel free to skip ahead.

To find opportunities where there is less competition and greater focus on long tails, it’s necessary to access the "Performance" report, go to "Search results" and filter by "Queries" using expressions such as "what is", "concept", "definition" , “how to” among others.

As it’s not possible to identify the SERP features this way, it’s not as accurate, but is worth mentioning.

2. Start a SERP analysis

Now that you’ve managed to create a respectable list, select your priorities. Again, keywords with higher positions and more traffic coverage are ideal.

Start by accessing the SERP and identifying the following aspects:

What type of snippet is it?

Are there other definitions highlighted on the page? (This could include definitions under a “knowledge panel” or “people also ask”.)

This information will help you understand what Google interprets as the ideal answer, giving you more information than just what the featured snippet contains. This way, you will know if the snippet is a paragraph or shorter, or what the user hopes to find when searching for that term.

For the keyword “interactive ebook”, we find a paragraph snippet. Below, the SERP presents PAAs on how to make interactive ebooks and the difference between digital books and ebooks.

Hang on to this info, as we’ll need it in step 4.

3. Look at competitor content

In addition to the previous questions related to the SERP, the time has come to meet the current winner and understand what sets it apart from the rest. Identify:

Who has the current snippet?

Where is it located on the page? (first paragraph, summary, middle of the text)

How is the concept in question currently defined?

How objective is it?

Look for answers to these questions and, especially for the last two, try to set aside your current definition or how you would approach it differently, in order to be as impartial as possible in your analysis — however difficult it may be at times.

In the example I presented, the competitor is Visme, the snippet was taken from the beginning of the second title, the definition is very objective, succinct, and logical, and takes advantage of the formats that make up an interactive ebook.

4. Use a comparative analysis

I consider this next step to be the most important. I suggest that you write down the information somewhere. I usually use an online text counter, but feel free to do it on a spreadsheet or another platform.

Whatever tool you use, first record the result of the snippet. Then, add another definition, if found on the SERP (could be a Google dictionary or Wikipedia definition), then finally add your current definition.

Now, the time has come to apply the concept of entities. We will focus on the first two definitions from the beginning of this post.

Below, list the entities you found and how many times they appear in the text — which helps to indicate their relevance in context.

To get the hang of this when starting, you can use Google's own NLP API demo tool or another tool, such as TextRazor, to help you identify it:

5. Identify entities

After you identify the entities and their level of relevance for the definitions you found (the snippet itself and another highlighted definition), see which entities are most repeated on both lists (if the SERP presents more than one definition) and the relationships established between them.

Once you do that, you have the set of entities considered the most important for that Google search and can then avoid relying on “I prefer this” or “I think this word is better”, because it will be based on what the search engine understands to be the best.

Then, just like a puzzle, assemble these entities with your own text in an objective and easy to understand way.

Ideally, your definition should be slightly shorter than the current one, making it as unbiased as possible — very important, especially for voice searches.

Take a look at this example:

In blue are the entities I decided to use on my new definition. You can also note that this paragraph is a lot shorter than the previous one.

Finally, insert your updated paragraph into your text, making sure it fits with the rest of the text, and avoiding any breaks in the flow of the text that could throw off your reader.

6. Re-index your page

After making these changes, the next step is to request that your page be re-indexed through Google Search Console.

This action wasn’t possible until a few weeks ago, but Google announced on December 22, 2020 that “Request Indexing” is back to their tool.

The re-indexing part is not an indispensable step, but it is ideal to streamline the process and verify whether it was possible to achieve the snippet or not more quickly.

To illustrate the results my team and I were able to make, here are some snippets won using this strategy:

And the one that made me proudest (it is in Portuguese, my native language): Before:

After four minutes:

Besides conquering it incredibly fast, this exact snippet made me realize I had created an effective strategy and I needed to share it with the SEO community.

7. Don’t give up

Something went wrong? Check if your content as a whole relates to what is presented in the snippet text, and make the necessary adjustments or consider re-analyzing the entities to see if something important was left out.

For some tests I’ve carried out, simply shortening the definition by two words was enough for Google to accept my definition and not a competitor's.

In addition, there are cases of reaching the snippet, but then quickly losing it. While this can be very frustrating, it’s a sign that you are on the right track. Several factors can influence this, such as your text not being attractive enough or sounding confusing.

When this happens, keep trying and update your definition from time to time (at two-week intervals), to continue increasing the chance that you show up on the snippet.

Final tips

Here are a few final thoughts. If you have other advice, let me know in the comments!

Test the use of abstracts in WordPress (that bold section that appears at the beginning of the text).

Try to work concepts into your text objectively, preferably using the composition “what is + the keyword” in the given intertitle. This doesn’t mean that your copy should lack variety and personality, but look for ways to adapt this formula your own way to attract people with your style, while also being accessible to a wide audience.

Intertitles of lists should be more obvious as well: "What are the best channels on Youtube" — something simple and without being too distracting.

See how reaching snippets can be simple (and fast) when using a clear method?

It may feel great to achieve a position without much effort or even when we don't know what we did, but it's much better when we know exactly what it takes — without mistakes or crazy tricks.

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

[camerasieunhovn]

Fast & Featured: How Entities Can Help You Conquer Snippets in Less Than 4 Minutes

Posted by larissa-lacerda

From the moment I started working with SEO, I was faced with countless optimization tactics. After heading down numerous rabbit holes, I came to see how important it is to identify your low hanging fruit: the opportunities to generate great results with less effort.

The first time I saw notable results in my work was in the optimizations I put into practice to reach featured snippets. The thrill of jumping to the top of the page was so great that it soon became my passion.

But not everything in SEO is so simple (or stable). Soon, methods that had previously brought results were no longer working. With the competition growing increasingly competent and challenging, great results were becoming less frequent.

If, like me, you’ve reached that point — don't worry! I’ll show you how I overcame this with a method that I lovingly refer to as “Fast & Featured”.

What are SEO entities?

I started with an unpretentious study of entities. I hadn’t read much on the topic, but what caught my attention was the understanding entities can offer into how search algorithms work.

Google’s definition is: “A thing or concept that is singular, unique, well-defined and distinguishable.”But this definition is very broad, leading to even greater confusion. I wanted a clearer understanding of what entities are all about, so I crafted my own definition that I’ll share with you today.

Basically, an entity in SEO is everything definable, unique, and not limited to a specific shape, spelling, or image (e.g. mom, mother, mummy, and a picture of a mother all relate to the same entity).

I really like to make an association with the following image, famous in the study of semiotics, which illustrates entities very well:

"One and Three Chairs", 1965, by Joseph Kosuth. Gautier Poupeau, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Here, we have three chairs: the physical chair, the representation of a chair, and the dictionary definition of what a chair is. All three refer to a single entity: the chair.

What matters here is the essence, the content, and what lies behind it.

In the same way, this is how algorithms understand elements that exist on the web, overcoming restrictions of language, form, or representation — which results in huge improvements in the accuracy of the SERP results.

So, what if I use this concept to understand which entities are most important in searches with featured snippets? With this knowledge, I’d have an in-depth understanding of what the ideal answers are, not just the ones I, totally biased, considered good.

It may seem a simple concept, but it's like telling your SEO to focus on basic practices or understand the user's intention. No matter how much you talk about it or how obvious it seems, people will still be reluctant to do it. The tendency is to look for more complicated or advanced hacks — but that’s not what we want here.

Our goal is to show how to associate a basic concept with a previously understood practice, making each step very clear, logical, and uncomplicated.

Let's get down to the method!

How to use the Fast & Featured method

As mentioned, this method was developed to make achieving featured snippets more intelligent and strategic, so each of these seven steps is essential to increase your probability of success.

1. Understand context and objectives

As with any strategy, whether SEO, marketing, or across other areas, we must first understand the current context — what we have at the moment (and how it serves us) — to then determine our objectives, where we intend to catch up.

As a result, the first step is to compile a list of searches for keywords that you rank in the top ten positions for, and note which already have featured snippets. For even greater chances, filter for just the top three positions as well, since that’s where Google selects the featured snippet 70% of the time.

There are several methods for this, with the main difference being speed. I will share three approaches, to cover the range of demands that different teams may have.

Moz Keyword Explorer

In a very intuitive way, Moz's Keyword Explorer has an easy approach to help you out with this stage of creating your list of opportunities.

To do this, simply access the keywords you rank for and filter positions 1-10.

Then, create your own list and then select the “Featured Snippet” option under “SERP feature”.

Source: Moz

Now you have a complete list of opportunities!

Ahrefs Webmaster Tools

Ahrefs WebMaster Tools (the free version of Ahrefs) can also be used to create your list of opportunities.

The process is largely similar, simply access the “Organic keywords” feature, click on “SERP features” (under “Include”) and select “Featured snippet”.

After doing this, the tool will present a series of results, including snippets that you have already achieved. You can follow up on each result separately or export the complete list.

To clean your data, leaving only the opportunities, exclude all keywords that are in first place — those already considered featured snippets by the tool — after all, you hear less about position zero nowadays.

Google Search Console

This technique was used when free tools were not yet available and a user simply needed a way to generate this list.

If this is not your case — and you’re not curious to find out more — feel free to skip ahead.

To find opportunities where there is less competition and greater focus on long tails, it’s necessary to access the "Performance" report, go to "Search results" and filter by "Queries" using expressions such as "what is", "concept", "definition" , “how to” among others.

As it’s not possible to identify the SERP features this way, it’s not as accurate, but is worth mentioning.

2. Start a SERP analysis

Now that you’ve managed to create a respectable list, select your priorities. Again, keywords with higher positions and more traffic coverage are ideal.

Start by accessing the SERP and identifying the following aspects:

What type of snippet is it?

Are there other definitions highlighted on the page? (This could include definitions under a “knowledge panel” or “people also ask”.)

This information will help you understand what Google interprets as the ideal answer, giving you more information than just what the featured snippet contains. This way, you will know if the snippet is a paragraph or shorter, or what the user hopes to find when searching for that term.

For the keyword “interactive ebook”, we find a paragraph snippet. Below, the SERP presents PAAs on how to make interactive ebooks and the difference between digital books and ebooks.

Hang on to this info, as we’ll need it in step 4.

3. Look at competitor content

In addition to the previous questions related to the SERP, the time has come to meet the current winner and understand what sets it apart from the rest. Identify:

Who has the current snippet?

Where is it located on the page? (first paragraph, summary, middle of the text)

How is the concept in question currently defined?

How objective is it?

Look for answers to these questions and, especially for the last two, try to set aside your current definition or how you would approach it differently, in order to be as impartial as possible in your analysis — however difficult it may be at times.

In the example I presented, the competitor is Visme, the snippet was taken from the beginning of the second title, the definition is very objective, succinct, and logical, and takes advantage of the formats that make up an interactive ebook.

4. Use a comparative analysis

I consider this next step to be the most important. I suggest that you write down the information somewhere. I usually use an online text counter, but feel free to do it on a spreadsheet or another platform.

Whatever tool you use, first record the result of the snippet. Then, add another definition, if found on the SERP (could be a Google dictionary or Wikipedia definition), then finally add your current definition.

Now, the time has come to apply the concept of entities. We will focus on the first two definitions from the beginning of this post.

Below, list the entities you found and how many times they appear in the text — which helps to indicate their relevance in context.

To get the hang of this when starting, you can use Google's own NLP API demo tool or another tool, such as TextRazor, to help you identify it:

5. Identify entities

After you identify the entities and their level of relevance for the definitions you found (the snippet itself and another highlighted definition), see which entities are most repeated on both lists (if the SERP presents more than one definition) and the relationships established between them.

Once you do that, you have the set of entities considered the most important for that Google search and can then avoid relying on “I prefer this” or “I think this word is better”, because it will be based on what the search engine understands to be the best.

Then, just like a puzzle, assemble these entities with your own text in an objective and easy to understand way.

Ideally, your definition should be slightly shorter than the current one, making it as unbiased as possible — very important, especially for voice searches.

Take a look at this example:

In blue are the entities I decided to use on my new definition. You can also note that this paragraph is a lot shorter than the previous one.

Finally, insert your updated paragraph into your text, making sure it fits with the rest of the text, and avoiding any breaks in the flow of the text that could throw off your reader.

6. Re-index your page

After making these changes, the next step is to request that your page be re-indexed through Google Search Console.

This action wasn’t possible until a few weeks ago, but Google announced on December 22, 2020 that “Request Indexing” is back to their tool.

The re-indexing part is not an indispensable step, but it is ideal to streamline the process and verify whether it was possible to achieve the snippet or not more quickly.

To illustrate the results my team and I were able to make, here are some snippets won using this strategy:

And the one that made me proudest (it is in Portuguese, my native language): Before:

After four minutes:

Besides conquering it incredibly fast, this exact snippet made me realize I had created an effective strategy and I needed to share it with the SEO community.

7. Don’t give up

Something went wrong? Check if your content as a whole relates to what is presented in the snippet text, and make the necessary adjustments or consider re-analyzing the entities to see if something important was left out.

For some tests I’ve carried out, simply shortening the definition by two words was enough for Google to accept my definition and not a competitor's.

In addition, there are cases of reaching the snippet, but then quickly losing it. While this can be very frustrating, it’s a sign that you are on the right track. Several factors can influence this, such as your text not being attractive enough or sounding confusing.

When this happens, keep trying and update your definition from time to time (at two-week intervals), to continue increasing the chance that you show up on the snippet.

Final tips

Here are a few final thoughts. If you have other advice, let me know in the comments!

Test the use of abstracts in WordPress (that bold section that appears at the beginning of the text).

Try to work concepts into your text objectively, preferably using the composition “what is + the keyword” in the given intertitle. This doesn’t mean that your copy should lack variety and personality, but look for ways to adapt this formula your own way to attract people with your style, while also being accessible to a wide audience.

Intertitles of lists should be more obvious as well: "What are the best channels on Youtube" — something simple and without being too distracting.

See how reaching snippets can be simple (and fast) when using a clear method?

It may feel great to achieve a position without much effort or even when we don't know what we did, but it's much better when we know exactly what it takes — without mistakes or crazy tricks.

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

[ductrungnguyen87]

Fast & Featured: How Entities Can Help You Conquer Snippets in Less Than 4 Minutes

Posted by larissa-lacerda

From the moment I started working with SEO, I was faced with countless optimization tactics. After heading down numerous rabbit holes, I came to see how important it is to identify your low hanging fruit: the opportunities to generate great results with less effort.

The first time I saw notable results in my work was in the optimizations I put into practice to reach featured snippets. The thrill of jumping to the top of the page was so great that it soon became my passion.

But not everything in SEO is so simple (or stable). Soon, methods that had previously brought results were no longer working. With the competition growing increasingly competent and challenging, great results were becoming less frequent.

If, like me, you’ve reached that point — don't worry! I’ll show you how I overcame this with a method that I lovingly refer to as “Fast & Featured”.

What are SEO entities?

I started with an unpretentious study of entities. I hadn’t read much on the topic, but what caught my attention was the understanding entities can offer into how search algorithms work.

Google’s definition is: “A thing or concept that is singular, unique, well-defined and distinguishable.”But this definition is very broad, leading to even greater confusion. I wanted a clearer understanding of what entities are all about, so I crafted my own definition that I’ll share with you today.

Basically, an entity in SEO is everything definable, unique, and not limited to a specific shape, spelling, or image (e.g. mom, mother, mummy, and a picture of a mother all relate to the same entity).

I really like to make an association with the following image, famous in the study of semiotics, which illustrates entities very well:

"One and Three Chairs", 1965, by Joseph Kosuth. Gautier Poupeau, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Here, we have three chairs: the physical chair, the representation of a chair, and the dictionary definition of what a chair is. All three refer to a single entity: the chair.

What matters here is the essence, the content, and what lies behind it.

In the same way, this is how algorithms understand elements that exist on the web, overcoming restrictions of language, form, or representation — which results in huge improvements in the accuracy of the SERP results.

So, what if I use this concept to understand which entities are most important in searches with featured snippets? With this knowledge, I’d have an in-depth understanding of what the ideal answers are, not just the ones I, totally biased, considered good.

It may seem a simple concept, but it's like telling your SEO to focus on basic practices or understand the user's intention. No matter how much you talk about it or how obvious it seems, people will still be reluctant to do it. The tendency is to look for more complicated or advanced hacks — but that’s not what we want here.

Our goal is to show how to associate a basic concept with a previously understood practice, making each step very clear, logical, and uncomplicated.

Let's get down to the method!

How to use the Fast & Featured method

As mentioned, this method was developed to make achieving featured snippets more intelligent and strategic, so each of these seven steps is essential to increase your probability of success.

1. Understand context and objectives

As with any strategy, whether SEO, marketing, or across other areas, we must first understand the current context — what we have at the moment (and how it serves us) — to then determine our objectives, where we intend to catch up.

As a result, the first step is to compile a list of searches for keywords that you rank in the top ten positions for, and note which already have featured snippets. For even greater chances, filter for just the top three positions as well, since that’s where Google selects the featured snippet 70% of the time.

There are several methods for this, with the main difference being speed. I will share three approaches, to cover the range of demands that different teams may have.

Moz Keyword Explorer

In a very intuitive way, Moz's Keyword Explorer has an easy approach to help you out with this stage of creating your list of opportunities.

To do this, simply access the keywords you rank for and filter positions 1-10.

Then, create your own list and then select the “Featured Snippet” option under “SERP feature”.

Source: Moz

Now you have a complete list of opportunities!

Ahrefs Webmaster Tools

Ahrefs WebMaster Tools (the free version of Ahrefs) can also be used to create your list of opportunities.

The process is largely similar, simply access the “Organic keywords” feature, click on “SERP features” (under “Include”) and select “Featured snippet”.

After doing this, the tool will present a series of results, including snippets that you have already achieved. You can follow up on each result separately or export the complete list.

To clean your data, leaving only the opportunities, exclude all keywords that are in first place — those already considered featured snippets by the tool — after all, you hear less about position zero nowadays.

Google Search Console

This technique was used when free tools were not yet available and a user simply needed a way to generate this list.

If this is not your case — and you’re not curious to find out more — feel free to skip ahead.

To find opportunities where there is less competition and greater focus on long tails, it’s necessary to access the "Performance" report, go to "Search results" and filter by "Queries" using expressions such as "what is", "concept", "definition" , “how to” among others.

As it’s not possible to identify the SERP features this way, it’s not as accurate, but is worth mentioning.

2. Start a SERP analysis

Now that you’ve managed to create a respectable list, select your priorities. Again, keywords with higher positions and more traffic coverage are ideal.

Start by accessing the SERP and identifying the following aspects:

What type of snippet is it?

Are there other definitions highlighted on the page? (This could include definitions under a “knowledge panel” or “people also ask”.)

This information will help you understand what Google interprets as the ideal answer, giving you more information than just what the featured snippet contains. This way, you will know if the snippet is a paragraph or shorter, or what the user hopes to find when searching for that term.

For the keyword “interactive ebook”, we find a paragraph snippet. Below, the SERP presents PAAs on how to make interactive ebooks and the difference between digital books and ebooks.

Hang on to this info, as we’ll need it in step 4.

3. Look at competitor content

In addition to the previous questions related to the SERP, the time has come to meet the current winner and understand what sets it apart from the rest. Identify:

Who has the current snippet?

Where is it located on the page? (first paragraph, summary, middle of the text)

How is the concept in question currently defined?

How objective is it?

Look for answers to these questions and, especially for the last two, try to set aside your current definition or how you would approach it differently, in order to be as impartial as possible in your analysis — however difficult it may be at times.

In the example I presented, the competitor is Visme, the snippet was taken from the beginning of the second title, the definition is very objective, succinct, and logical, and takes advantage of the formats that make up an interactive ebook.

4. Use a comparative analysis

I consider this next step to be the most important. I suggest that you write down the information somewhere. I usually use an online text counter, but feel free to do it on a spreadsheet or another platform.

Whatever tool you use, first record the result of the snippet. Then, add another definition, if found on the SERP (could be a Google dictionary or Wikipedia definition), then finally add your current definition.

Now, the time has come to apply the concept of entities. We will focus on the first two definitions from the beginning of this post.

Below, list the entities you found and how many times they appear in the text — which helps to indicate their relevance in context.

To get the hang of this when starting, you can use Google's own NLP API demo tool or another tool, such as TextRazor, to help you identify it:

5. Identify entities

After you identify the entities and their level of relevance for the definitions you found (the snippet itself and another highlighted definition), see which entities are most repeated on both lists (if the SERP presents more than one definition) and the relationships established between them.

Once you do that, you have the set of entities considered the most important for that Google search and can then avoid relying on “I prefer this” or “I think this word is better”, because it will be based on what the search engine understands to be the best.

Then, just like a puzzle, assemble these entities with your own text in an objective and easy to understand way.

Ideally, your definition should be slightly shorter than the current one, making it as unbiased as possible — very important, especially for voice searches.

Take a look at this example:

In blue are the entities I decided to use on my new definition. You can also note that this paragraph is a lot shorter than the previous one.

Finally, insert your updated paragraph into your text, making sure it fits with the rest of the text, and avoiding any breaks in the flow of the text that could throw off your reader.

6. Re-index your page

After making these changes, the next step is to request that your page be re-indexed through Google Search Console.

This action wasn’t possible until a few weeks ago, but Google announced on December 22, 2020 that “Request Indexing” is back to their tool.

The re-indexing part is not an indispensable step, but it is ideal to streamline the process and verify whether it was possible to achieve the snippet or not more quickly.

To illustrate the results my team and I were able to make, here are some snippets won using this strategy:

And the one that made me proudest (it is in Portuguese, my native language): Before:

After four minutes:

Besides conquering it incredibly fast, this exact snippet made me realize I had created an effective strategy and I needed to share it with the SEO community.

7. Don’t give up

Something went wrong? Check if your content as a whole relates to what is presented in the snippet text, and make the necessary adjustments or consider re-analyzing the entities to see if something important was left out.

For some tests I’ve carried out, simply shortening the definition by two words was enough for Google to accept my definition and not a competitor's.

In addition, there are cases of reaching the snippet, but then quickly losing it. While this can be very frustrating, it’s a sign that you are on the right track. Several factors can influence this, such as your text not being attractive enough or sounding confusing.

When this happens, keep trying and update your definition from time to time (at two-week intervals), to continue increasing the chance that you show up on the snippet.

Final tips

Here are a few final thoughts. If you have other advice, let me know in the comments!

Test the use of abstracts in WordPress (that bold section that appears at the beginning of the text).

Try to work concepts into your text objectively, preferably using the composition “what is + the keyword” in the given intertitle. This doesn’t mean that your copy should lack variety and personality, but look for ways to adapt this formula your own way to attract people with your style, while also being accessible to a wide audience.

Intertitles of lists should be more obvious as well: "What are the best channels on Youtube" — something simple and without being too distracting.

See how reaching snippets can be simple (and fast) when using a clear method?

It may feel great to achieve a position without much effort or even when we don't know what we did, but it's much better when we know exactly what it takes — without mistakes or crazy tricks.

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