#the things i would do for u all etc etc 😔✊

[ash-and-starlight]

Sokka splashed a line of water through his path. The fire fizzled. Zuko’s eyebrow raised, then he forged on. The path zigzagged out of the constellation, hopped eastwards through the galaxy’s north. Hiss. Hiss. Sokka met him each time with a streak of water. Zuko pressed on, building rhythm with each star he joined up.

The Mercy of Magpies Chapter 4 out now!!

as always written by thee @ranilla-bean and betaed by @faux-fires

Chapter Post || Cover || Map and Characters || Ch2 || Ch 3.1 || Ch. 3.2

[writeiolite]

i’m trying to pick up writing again. i used to write when i was younger but it was the cringe type. i wouldn’t use paragraph breaks and my grammar was off. now i’m older and don’t know how to actually write something good T-T. do you have any tips? specifically on characterization. i really respect and love you because yours always turns out good.

the cringe type.... we have all been there✊😔 i am... still there sometimes KSNDNSJ

i’m rly rly flattered ur asking me tho omg bc i’m definitely still learning and my technique isn’t the best so 🥺 thank you so much for this (and reading my stuff!!!) wow. i love u too pls this makes me so honored and happy and flattered and wowowo i frl don’t deserve thIS AAAAKAKENSNSBDNS

so lemme say that in no way do i think my methods are superior to someone else’s!! i don’t want to come off as some arrogant writer that believes they know all the ins and outs to writing bc honestly... unless ur a professionally paid writer with a career for writing then we’re all just some tumblr bloggers on the same path and probably going to end up doing smth other than writing later on LOL. so pls take this all with a grain of salt and pls lmk if i come up arrogant or smth bc i don’t want to and i’ll work on wording myself differently!!

for characterization, i sometimes do tiny analyses. so if a character has done action A and action B, i put them in a mental venn diagram to figure out what the reason behind them was. is it a response to an external or internal factor? is there a consistent trait underlying one or both actions? how have the characs changed since these actions? what are the changes?

i’m big on asking myself questions bc then i get a deeper understanding of who i’m writing for — like solving a mystery case or something. i do that for hq characters and my reader/oc characters ^^ it rly helps get away from the stereotypical tropes (like shittykawa) that people use bc u can make the character yours with diverse responses and stay true to the canon. it also helps get away from writing characters as foils to one another, although there are cases where that’s unavoidable

u guys already know that i use astrology in my writing so.. that’s a thing AHAH. i try to figure out which planet, house, transit, aspects, asp patterns, etc would be most influential during certain scenarios and fics so thats always helped me have some originality with characterization.

and another thing is childhood!! not just <10 y/o but even teenage years. i think abt that stuff and how my own influences me. like there are things in my childhood that occurred that ik made me who i am today (ex: hardass narcissistic phase -> being a lot more appreciative + humble for what i have + my efforts). so characters are the same too! if there’s even a small mention of smth that happened in their past, u can use it to map out its impacts.

even no impact is impact. did they not learn from it? are they ignoring it on purpose? are they stagnant?

another thing i can think of that i do is maybe mbti? not too much tho, only with characters i’m rly familiar with.

and last thing is events! whether it’s taking place in a real world setting or a made up one, there are events that go around and shape characters. kamino ward for bnha or new technology being released in the 2010s for hq. things like that seem so small and are never considered when you can rly take advantage of them. ik i’ve experienced a diff life than some of my older friends bc of the events that went on when i was growing up vs their events (same for ppl much younger than me). so with every character being different, u can take their responses to these events, find their foundation, and use them!

i hope some of this helps and if not i can try to explain it better ^^” again, there are so many ways to characterize and there is NO RIGHT WAY!! and this is just the right way for me ♡ if you guys have any tips u wanna share to help me or this anon out then pls do!! i’d love to improve my writing and lately i’ve been feeling my progress slow so ㅠㅠ ♡ anything and everything is appreciated~~