#story poetry

[82letters]

12/08/24

20:12

The sunflower fields have opened this year

But it’s not the same cause you are not here

I’ve searched for you in willow trees

Searched but can’t find what it means

That you were taken away

I examine every kind of sky

And I ask higher powers every day

“Why?”

I saw that old bench, I smelt those roses

I heard that song by that girl nobody knows

And I watched that old show that we used to quote

And I sat alone

Cause nobody gets the reference

Nothing here but severance

Now you have such eminence

I’m handing into evidence

All of our prevalence

And replacing it with petulance

I search for you in cherry blossoms

I’m too grown now to hit rock bottom

But I wonder where you are

I search in every star

And I ask higher powers but they never reply

I just need to know: why?

I just don’t understand

How something dark up there laughed at your plans

Cause you never even had a chance

[doll-poetry]

Nostalgic & love luster

Milkway sensation, relief

Feeling safe, I always come back to you

{"Part 2" coming}

•"Story" Poetry 1🌸

[iamdontis]

Devil on my shoulder

I walk through the shopping center

And stop when an old man with white hair and

A white beard

Waves me down.

He’s telling me something but

I don’t really listen because all I can focus on is

At first,

His english accent.

I always loved English accents.

He’s talking and talking and

Part of me appreciates that he

Wants?

The talk to me.

Not a lot of people stop to talk to strangers anymore.

I learn he used to be a teacher.

A dean.

A principal.

He once fired a lady for losing a kid three times.

I laughed.

He wouldn’t mind when the kids kissed in the hallways,

And would have to argue with the teachers

About whether or not is was ok.

He said « it was best to keep em’ in school because if they went home 

They would just fuck all day. »

He pardoned his French.

I laughed.

He smoothly mentions he’s divorced.

I think to myself,

It’s because he talks too much.

I feel guilty for that thought because I actually

Appreciate him.

He eventually leaves and says it was nice to meet me.

Although he didn't learn anything about me.

I learnt more about that man in twenty minutes,

Than I knew about my own father.

I scratch at the tip of my nose as I watched him

Waddle off.

And I think to myself,

Now I’m late for my movie.

Original by ~ IamDontis

[jordanbolton]

“The Driver” by Jordan Bolton

My first book ‘Blue Sky Through the Window of a Moving Car’ is out now! Order it here - https://smarturl.it/BlueSky

[aluminumneedles]

I'm knitting in the corner at a party

and guys my age stop by to tell me I remind them of their aunt, of their grandmother. This is a compliment and I take it as such. They confess to having tried crochet once, and I smile. They get back in line for the bathroom.

I'm knitting in the corner at a party and a queer woman sits on the floor next to me, arranges her skirt, and smiles up at me. (I try not to blush.) She asks me all the questions on her mind about my craft and I answer them, hands still moving. We swap yarn sources. She doesn't stay, but she knows where to find me.

I'm knitting in the corner at a party and everyone knows where to find me when they need a minute, when socializing is too much and the music is too loud and they need to catch their breath. They pretend to be checking in on me, which is sweet, but I can see the relief in their eyes the moment they stop performing for a house full of people. They sit down and tell me things and all the while they never take their eyes off my hands.

The party has wound down and I'm still knitting and the hosts, two guys in their twenties, thank me for "helping to curate the vibe." I had no idea that's what I was doing. I leave the party having forgotten to drink anything and without that woman's number but with many rows added to my top-down raglan sweater. I call it a night, and a good one.

[mournfulroses]

Margaret Atwood, from True Stories: Poems; "Postcard," originally published in 1981

[writersbloxx]

Character Building

Some things to think about when building/describing a character:

Physical traits

Hair: color and length. Maybe it's natural, maybe it's dyed

Build: height, weight, muscle

Face: maybe they have a longer nose or forehead. Think about specific features like freckles, gapped teeth, jaw shape, acne scars, lip shape

Eyes: eye color, shape, 

Backstory

Where is your character from?

Do they have family? How has that affected their personality?

What are their goals?

What are their likes/dislikes?

Strengths and weaknesses

Age

Personality

Voice: is their voice deep? Lilted? Strained?

How do they react to stressful situations? 

What do they wear?

Are they kind? Meaner? Restrained? 

How do they move? If they're older maybe they're a bit slower. Maybe your character is clumsy or move awkwardly

Body language/face: is your character normally more serious? Do they have RBF? Maybe they smile more or their face is more relaxed at rest. Maybe they leave their hands on their hips a lot, or prefer them crossed or in their pockets.

How are they perceived by others? How do they view the people around them? 

Should I dive deeper on some of these?

[skellydun]

absolutely love reading such a well-written story and falling a bit in love with the author based solely on the way they write. like baby the way you italicize words makes my heartbeat quicken.

[tahbhie]

How many drafts should you go through before deciding your novel is ready?

There's no specific (official) number, but to create a foundation that ensures you don't burn out quickly, overwork yourself, and get tired of your work, I'll say four. It's the same number I use for my students since most of them have other engagements outside writing that take up a copious amount of their time.

1. Initial or Zero Draft:

This draft is also called the 'just write' draft. Focus on putting that idea down. As the creative juices flow, let it all out. Don't worry about perfection or coherence; the goal is to capture your raw ideas and get the story out of your head and onto the page.

2. Second Draft:

This is the plot draft. Read through what you have written to see if every detail you added was meant to be. Here, you focus on the structure of your story. Ensure that the plot makes sense, the pacing is right, and there are no major plot holes. This is where you might add, remove, or rearrange scenes to improve the overall flow of the narrative.

3. Third Draft:

Character development draft. In this stage, you look deeper into your characters. Make sure their motivations, backgrounds, and arcs are well-defined and consistent. Flesh out their personalities and relationships, ensuring they are compelling and believable. This is also a good time to refine dialogue and make sure it sounds natural and true to each character. That's for this drafting stage.

4. Fourth Draft:

Grammar and punctuation draft. This is the polishing stage. Focus on correcting grammatical errors, punctuation, and spelling mistakes. Pay attention to sentence structure, word choice, and overall readability. This draft is about making your manuscript as clean and professional as possible.

Keep in mind that the goal is to define what completion means for each draft. Once you reach the goal, take a break and return to it for the next drafting stage.

Some writers pay people to carry out some of the drafting stages for them, so if you fall into that category, you might have fewer drafting stages to handle yourself!

Reblog to save for later 😉

Thank you all for the support 💜!

[agirlwiththoughtsandnegativity]

”oh so how did you get into writing?-“ no, writing got into me. Actually it infiltrated my brain, starting with the slow takeover of my room with books to the extremely fast claiming of my notes app and now there’s no way to stop it and no way for me to stop.

[82letters]

04/07/24

00:12

I still feel crazy

When I mention your name

It’s still ingrained in me

All your little games

All those years of sitting right at your feet, I was singing along only to your beat

All you did went so deep

I still feel so crazy

I can’t say what we had without feeling bad

I can’t compare it to what the others go through

Do I dare call it love? Will you call my bluff?

Did I make it up? Did I make it up?

I still have the messages, still have the songs, still have all the old call logs

Still remember the words you whispered in my ear… right? I’m sure that you were here?

And the sound of your voice when you were under the weather, still recall falling light as a feather

And I still remember all the admiration, all of the frustration, unanswered invitations and pathetic desperation

Can I just get some validation?

All you did went so deep

That I still feel so crazy

I can’t say what we had without feeling real bad

I can’t compare it to what people go through

Do I dare call it love? Will you just call my bluff?

Did I make it up? Did I make you up?

Did I make this up? Did I make us up?

[doll-poetry]

From my Poetry Picks poll🌹

Majority rules|a night of Poetry it is🎙

•will post the next update soon♡

•Part 2 coming for my Story Poetry on my page

[and-corn]

[sunshinesere]

Emily Henry / Funny Story

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: The Shape of Story

by Christina Wodtke 

Start with Conflicted Characters

The character needs a goal, a motivation and a conflict.

The goal can be alien to your audience,

but the motivation must be shared by them, and

the conflict creates struggles that increase engagement.

Paint a Picture

Details transport you into the story.

The world disappears and you have a story play in your head.

Even though there are no literal pictures.

But be careful—Too many details and the story gets bogged down.

Make the Protagonist Suffer

“Be a Sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them - in order that the reader may see what they are made of.” (Kurt Vonnegut, How to Write a Great Story)

And when it can’t get any worse, make it worse before it gets better

The two key moments that create the peak of excitement in a story is the darkness before the dawn, and the dawn. 

The climax is the moment when the protagonist is either rescued or rescues themself.

In older tales, we saw a lot of Deux ex Machina (the hand of god) rescuing the hero. A hero could be rescued by luck, a partner, another hero…but modern audiences strongly prefer stories where the protagonist helps themself.

Resolution is Boring, Keep it Short

Interest grows with every additional conflict, but once the hero figures out the solution, our fascination collapses.

Don’t natter on while the audience’s mind is drifting.

Also Consider:

You need a good inciting incident to move your protagonist to action.

A setting is more than a place, it’s a situation and a moment in time. A vivid place has details.

Modern audiences prefer “return home changed” to “return home the same.”

EXAMPLES: ARCHETYPAL PLOTS ALONG THE ARC

Boy Meets Girl

Internal conflict is always satisfactory (e.g., she believes love interferes with his career, he believes love interferes with his beer.)

The crises usually revolves around betrayal — lying, cheating — and the climax shows it was a misunderstanding or we get atonement.

The struggle is always about them being separated.

The resolution is about binding them more tightly together than ever.

The Quest

You seek things, and find yourself.

Return home changed and don’t pass go.

Common elements include companions, a mentor, great losses and extreme character arcs.

The Underdog

Even though they do not have a shot in hell, the underdog wants something. They want it so bad.

Common elements include an enemy who blocks their path, and a coach who helps them forward.

In this case, they do not return home changed but rather move into a new life that fits their changed self.

Coming of Age

Naive person has the world teaches them a hard lesson, and they become a better person for it.

Struggle revolve around life sucking and then sucking more.

The hero grows and becomes better because of it, and via new understandings becomes competent.

In some tragedies, the world breaks them.

They can return home changed, but more often they move to a new life they have earned.

More Examples. Justice & Pursuit:

Weaving Multiple Plots:

Weaving multiple plots together to make subplots can further increase tension.

Multiple plots woven together makes the whole story not only unique but very compelling.

Writing Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs