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Our Love Will Remain the Same, Even as the World Changes
These translations may not always capture the exact nuances or tone of the original text. Please support Cybird by buying their stories. Expect grammatical errors.
One night sometime after I came to live at the Obsidian Castle一
Lying side by side on the bed and talking had become our recent routine. Gilbert, who was gently playing with my hair with his fingertips, suddenly looked up.
Gilbert: "You being in this room has become completely normal, hasn't it?"
Gilbert: "How about you? Have you gotten used to living here?"
Emma: "Yup. I think I'm getting used to it."
Gilbert: "Yeah? Are there any problems or things you feel are lacking?"
Emma: "No problems in particular. As for things that are lacking..."
(I wonder if something happened.)
I glanced around the room and thought about our everyday life.
Gilbert: "If there's anything you want, just let me know."
Gilbert: "Whether it's jewelry, a mansion, a city, or even a country, I'll give you anything you want.
(City and country!?)
I couldn’t help but widen my eyes at the sheer scale of what he just said. However, if he really wanted to, he could easily do any of these things.
Emma: "No, it’s okay. I don’t need anything more. It’s more than enough!"
(If by some mistake he actually gives me a city or a country, I wouldn't know what to do!)
With that thought in mind, I vigorously declined his offer.
Gilbert: "Really?"
Yet he still seemed somewhat dissatisfied.
(Maybe I need to give him a convincing reason.)
With that thought, I nodded in agreement.
Emma: "It's true. Just being by your side is enough for me."
Gilbert: "Really?"
Emma: "Yes."
Gilbert: "You're so selfless."
He happily narrowed his eyes as he twirled my hair around his fingers.
Emma: "I'm just being honest."
Gilbert: "I know. I just wanted to hear those words from you."
He smiled wickedly.
Emma: "That's just like you."
Gilbert: "Ahaha! Don't sulk."
Gilbert: "I just wanted to feel that you want me more than anything else."
(This guy is really hopeless. But...)
I couldn't bring myself to dislike him for that. Eventually, my expression naturally softened.
Emma: "Did it go according to your plan?"
Gilbert: "Yes, very much."
With a satisfied smile, he pulled me closer.
Gilbert: "You fell for a troublesome man, huh?"
Emma: "Yeah, yet I'm still here."
Gilbert: "Ahaha! Is that so? You really like troublesome men."
Emma: "Maybe I do. I never knew that until I fell in love with you."
Gilbert: "Hmm, I see. Then, from now on, I'll become even more troublesome."
Emma: "What?"
He lifted my arms together and pressed his lips against the nape of my neck.
Emma: "............"
His teeth scraped against my skin, causing a slight stinging sensation.
I couldn't see it, but it must have left a mark.
Gilbert: "You ended up being loved by a villain, so don't expect a peaceful life."
Gilbert: "But I'll do my best to make you think that even this kind of daily life isn't so bad. Fufu."
Looking down at me with a playful smile, he slowly undressed my nightgown and teasingly licked my exposed breast with his tongue, causing my body to shiver.
Gilbert: "Nice view."
Emma: "Prince Gilbert, please let me go."
Gilbert: "Do I look like the kind of man who would let go when told to?"
Emma: "That's..."
(I can't tell. I guess not...?)
Finding my hesitation amusing, he burst out laughing and released the hands he had been holding down.
Gilbert: "Here, I let you go since you're special."
Emma: "Thanks."
Gilbert: "You're welcome. Since I listened to your request, what will you do for me in return?"
(I knew it would come to this.)
I wasn't by this troublesome man's side for nothing.
I wrapped my newly freed arms around his back and hugged him.
Emma: "I'll do this."
Gilbert: "Heh?"
Emma: "Instead of being forced, I will express my love to you willingly."
Gilbert: "That makes me happy. It was worth setting you free."
I kissed him on the lips, and he reciprocated.
Gilbert: "Fufu. It’s nice to feel that you truly love me."
Gilbert: "From now on, I want you to continue wanting me like this. Otherwise..."
Emma: "Otherwise?"
Gilbert: "I might take away your freedom and make it physically impossible for you to leave me."
I couldn't decide if he was joking, but he was smiling cheerfully.
(This guy is really a pain in the ass.)
As Gilbert said, I couldn't hope for a warm and peaceful life here.
(And yet, even at this moment, he looks at me earnestly as if he yearns for me.)
(That's why I still want to be by his side.)
The more I stayed close to him, the more his charm captivated me.
Despite him being troublesome and difficult to deal with, I couldn't seem to stay away.
With that thought in mind, we shared another kiss.
⊳ Ikepri Masterlist
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Chapter 1
Summary:Axelle James' perfect life shatters when a career opportunity turns into a fight for survival.
Pairing:Chris evans x agent !married woman !Axelle James x actor ! married man ! Aaron James
Warnings: Nothing special, just fluff
Word Count: x
story masterlist
Chris Evans masterlist
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A/N: English is not my first language, so sorry if there are any grammatical errors. I don't know if I've said this before, but I wrote this story in French on my Wattpad. I'm writing it in English to perfect it, so if you find any mistakes, let me know!
The chapters will be a mix of fake Instagram posts and actual story chapters. There will be more real chapters than Instagram posts, but those posts are still super important to fully get the story and its little details.
I don’t allow translations, stolen content, plagiarism, or reposts anywhere other than MY own platforms, which are listed in the "about me" section on the pinned post of my blog :)
10 January 2018 the news channel instagram

liked by axellevincent,imsebastianstan and 2 626 002 others
news channel The news broke just as fast as their Insta post! Our favourite American actor, who got his big break in 2012 with Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained, has only gone from strength to strength over the years. He’d been dating a Frenchwoman, Axelle Vincent, who later became his personal agent, and he’s just popped the question. They’ve now made it official on Instagram with a photo and a simple caption. Wishing them all the happiness in the world!
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chrishemsworth I’m finding out through the media?! Their bloody engagement?!?!!!
↳ imsebastianstan I made the same comment. It’s kinda romantic... cough
harrbarnes I don’t wanna admit it...
sandrysand101 What did I miss? 🤨
harryfan45 Those two look good together. 😆
arwellstrank45 Ugh, that’s the definition of this couple
harrypotterjames But why didn’t she dump him for Seb? Missed opportunity!
⤷ minimaxMaybe ‘cause they’re just friends, nothing more. You’re real comfy calling him ‘Seb’ though—what, he your buddy or somethin’?
tommykally Lmao… why do some people judge them like that? Just admit they’re cute as hell and move on. Let ‘em be!
tonystank Feels like he doesn’t treat her with enough respect. 😑
⤷ ronnytrinity What do you mean?
⤷ tonystank What I mean is, maybe I didn’t explain myself well. She’s in love with him, but he just likes her. You get what I’m saying? I dunno if I’m making sense. But hey, that’s just my opinion—I could totally be wrong.
⤷ ronnytrinity Oh, I get it! But you know, not everyone loves the same way.
⤷ tonystank Yeah, I know, but honestly, they’re just way too cute together!
sandrachaoas 💕💕💕💕💕
May 16th, 2018 Sebastian Stan Instagram
liked by chrisevans, anthonymackie and 5,339,000 others
imsebastianstan Joyeux anniversaire (Did I spell that right in French?) To one of the realest people on this planet! 27 already, huh? Kinda sucks that a certain someone isn’t here to celebrate with you. Yeah, it’s sad, no doubt. But hey, @axellevincent know you can always count on your good old best friend. I mean, let’s be real, I’m the best and you know it😙
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axellevincent Oh wow, thanks a lot, Sebby, but really, you didn’t have to do that. You know you can always count on me, no matter where you are!
(P.S. You did spell it right in French 😉)
anthonymackie Happy birthday! But honestly, does Axelle actually agree with you when you say you're the "best"? I have serious doubts about that. 👀
⤷ axellevincent Oh no, I absolutely do not approve of that part of the message!
⤷ imsebastianstanYou just broke my poor little heart... 😑💔
axellefan Awwww happy birthday, Axelle!!!!!!!
borrisrials The way they comment cracks me up 🤣
sebajeans I really hope I get to have a friendship like theirs someday. Feels rare these days. 😣
jessdrumawy he’s not even there for his future wife? That’s a pretty bad look already. 🚩
⤷ evelyndreys Chill out, he’s on set. Who’s to say he hasn’t planned to call her or do something special later? 🙄
bellastiny She’s absolutely gorgeous 😍😍
hayleymoore Happy birthday! I swear, I need a best friend as solid and loyal as Sebastian! 🎉
October 15th, 2018 Axelle Vincent Instagram



liked by aaronjames ,imsebastianstan and 3,993,727 and others
axellevincent Honestly, I’m struggling to find the right words to talk about this day that means so much to me. This is the day we said yes to forever, @aaronjames . For real, I don’t even have the words. I just know that I love you and I don’t regret a single thing about marrying you! 🥰
@imsebastianstan seriously, what were you even trying to do?! I step away for two minutes, and I come back to find you messing around while @anthonymackie records like everything’s normal?! I swear, these two are completely out of their minds, but no one ever believes me 🤣😭!
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imsebastianstan I’m not even acknowledging you, Mrs. James! 😂 But this photo is absolutely insane, right?! What do you think, @anthonymackie?
⤷ anthonymackie Well yeah, I’m gonna say yes, but let’s be real, I wasn’t the one who ate the floor like a little shit 🤣!
axellefan4555 She looks so damn classy in that dress 😩😩😩. You guys are seriously gorgeous, no joke.
October 15th, 2018 Aaron James Instagram

liked by axellevincent ,imsebastianstan and 2,884,838 and others
aaronjames 💍@axellevincent
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harrystyles Just a ring? Okay then, sure, why not.
⤷harryfan1 Oh lord, what the hell is he doing here?!
⤷ harryfan774 ME TOO, I’m seriously wondering the same thing!!!
garrywhite Honestly, at least he tried something, a ring is better than nothing, right? 😭😭😭😭
aaronfan Seriously, chill a bit! Who said he’s not affectionate in private? Maybe he just prefers to keep his feelings to himself rather than showing them off to the whole world!
⤷ aliciasmy Sounds like you’re defending him like he’s YOUR man! Chill out a bit, will you...
⤷ aaronfan I’m just saying people are dragging him for no reason when he didn’t even do anything wrong. Honestly, she’s lucky to have him in her life, no doubt!
⤷ rachelfriend24589 Not wrong, but still… You’re defending him like you two are married or something. 😭 But hey, maybe you’re right, maybe being all lovey-dovey in public just isn’t his thing!
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#chris evans x oc#chris evans fluff#chris evans x reader#chris evans fanfiction#marvel fanfiction#marvel#steve rogers fanfiction#chris evans angst#steve rodgers x reader#chris evans fic#fiction#new writers on tumblr#wattpad writer#angst#chris evans x female reader
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Q&A about some characters (Jjk Official Fanbook)

Q: Who are the most popular male and female with the opposite sex?
A: Geto and Miwa.
Q: Among the Jujutsu High characters, the sorcerers and black sorcerers, are any of them married?
A: Masamichi Yaga, divorced.
Q: Who is the one who drinks the most, who is the one who becomes annoying when drunk, and who is the one who cannot hold the liquor?
A: The big drinkers are: Shoko Ieiri and Kento Nanami. The heavy drinkers are: Utahime followed by Naobito. The non-drinkers are Gojo (and all underage characters are obviously excluded).
Q: Do Itadori and first-years go out together a lot on their days off? (For example, to go to karaoke, to Chinatown, to Tachikawa City, etc.).
A: Yes, they do go out together a lot but (including second-year students) they tend to separate male and female students.
Q: Of the first-years, Itadori is the best at cooking, but who wins between Fushiguro and Kugisaki?
A: They're more or less on the same level. Both can cook to a certain extent.

Yuji Itadori
Q: In Chapter 4, Itadori says that he is not very popular with the girls, but what is the reason?
A: Apparently the girls who fall in love with Itadori are not the type to talk about their feelings to the people around them. Not even Itadori himself, of course.
Q: In volume 2, in the extra “Walking with the Institute of Occult Arts” he went to karaoke. I'm curious to know what he sang. And I'd also like to know the singing skills of each character.
A: Itadori is the best one. This is due to a prejudice of mine that people who can do imitations are also good at singing.
Q: In Chapter 34 he said: what if I became even more stupid? Maybe Itadori is not good at studying?
A: He is not good at maths (arithmetic?), while he is quite average in subjects where he just has to learn by heart.
Megumi Fushiguro
Q: When did Fushiguro and Gojo meet?
A: A long time ago. Fushiguro is related to the Zenin family and the Zenin family is related to the Gojo family and the Jujutsu High. This is the point of contact.
Q: Fushiguro often touches his left shoulder, is there something wrong with his shoulder?
A: It's just a habit. I think it even started at the time of writing the storyboard for the series pilot.
Q: Fushiguro uses shikigami through shadows, but how many animal images can he learn to create with his hands?
A: Excluding the propagation technique, there are ten types of shikigami.
Q: Why is Fushiguro's father resistant to curses even though he has no evil energy?
A: Papaguro's divine baptism (Heavenly Restricted) is stronger than Maki's. While Maki has the same evil energy as a normal person, papaguro's is zero. The reason why Maki is not resistant to curses while papaguro is yes, is that the latter's divine baptism (Heavenly Restricted) has strengthened him to such an extent that his eyesight is exceptional and his stomach is extremely strong. This means that his eyes can see curses and his body is fine, even though he has a cursed spirit in his stomach. His baptism of God (Heavenly Restricted) is the rarest of all; the fact that he has totally eliminated evil energy paradoxically makes papaguro resistant to curses.
#tomokotranslates#there may be some translation errors or grammatical mistakes (maybe)#jujutsu kaisen#jjk#jujutsu kaisen fanbook#jjk fanbook#jujutsu kaisen manga#jjk manga#itadori yuuji#megumi fushiguro#yuji itadori#fushiguro megumi#tomoko's translations
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Disclaimers, Warnings & FAQ
I’d really appreciate if you would read the rest of this post, so we can avoid some potential conflicts or problems.
just a heads up ! ━━━━━━━━━━━━━
♚ My main games are Ikemen Villains and Ikemen Genjiden (yes I know this game is dead), so you'll see a lot of those, whether you like it or not. Anything Liam related is pretty much guaranteed to appear on this blog, but the rest will depend on whether I have either time or money. Or both.
♚ You may see the occasional Ikemen Prince or hell, even Sengoku on my blog. But I don't prioritise them because their EN versions have existed for a long time, I'll only translate what I'm interested in and can't wait for official localisation. Then why am I still actively translating for Ikemen Villains, you ask? Because I started translating for it way before IkeVilEN was announced.
♚ Minors, DO NOT INTERACT WITH ME. Don't DM me, don't like my posts, don't reblog, don't even open them. I will elaborate in the next point.
♚ Ikemen series stories contain adult content, graphic descriptions of violence, paranormal events, and topics that may be uncomfortable for people i.e. human trafficking, sexual assault, sexual harassment, kidnapping etc. This list is non-exhaustive. adults, enjoy at your own discretion. Minors, read previous point again.
♚ My english is not good, so please expect grammatical errors and limited vocabulary.
♚ My posts are not meant to replace cybird's official work in any form. This is merely a way for me to expose myself to the japanese language for learning purposes, and this blog is where I archive the stories I've read.
⤷ I only have a "bare minimum" understanding of the language, thus I often will end up making word-for-word translations and mistakes, but I'm working on improving them. Please feel free to correct me in my ask box or replies. I appreciate your feedback and will use them to aid my learning.
⤷ I don't know every japanese word in existence, so I rely on the use of a dictionary + the occasional machine translation if I don't trust my own interpretation of the sentence. Like all of you, I'm learning new things every day.
♚ Please don't expect fast / daily updates. As much as i want to be fast, I can't commit to that as i have much more important responsibilities in real life.
♚ Although I used to share paid stories e.g. story set sales, I'm no longer whaling on IkeSeries games. Therefore, please stop asking me to buy... whatever story. ... Unless you want to give me the funds to? LOL. I'm literally doing this for the shits and giggles and for free so yeah let me live. I'll buy what I can.
♚ I block people liberally, I don't hold back. You will be blocked if your comment is rude, I can't tell whether you're joking/being sarcastic, or I just don't vibe. I have the right to curate my own online space, and so do you.
♚ Please don't send nsfw asks into my askbox! As much as I translate and read adult content, I'm not comfortable with unexpected sexual content.
Frequently asked ! ━━━━━━━━━━━━━
♚ Why is your ask box closed?
I like keep it open for anyone to let me know if any links in my master lists aren’t working, or if they have any questions / anything to say to me. However, I will close it the moment people use it as a means to make rude comments or I'm uncomfortable with the asks I'm receiving. I'm only human, so please treat me with the same respect I give you.
♚ I don’t like seeing you on my dashboard and under the tags you use, what should I do?
Block me. I'm not here to please anyone. If blocking me isn’t enough for you, let me know your username so I can block you back.
♚ Some parts of your masterlists don’t have links.
Please use askbox to let me know... maybe i missed out 😅
♚ Do you accept story requests?
Nope. You can ask whether something will be translated e.g. a currently ongoing event's route, but there's no guarantee that i'll do it. I have lots of stories piling up in my backlog, and my priority goes to those stories.
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The Sea Prince by knightsqueen05
M | English | Romance/Fantasy | Multi-Chapter | 17,167 words | In Progress
On: FanFiction.net
Summary: “A fantasy/historical love story loosely based on three different versions of "The Little Mermaid". Two demons manipulate the actions of a love triangle between a village princess, her fiancé through an arranged courtship, and a sea prince. Who will she choose? Will she marry for love or will she marry for commercial gain?”
Overall Score: 91.25%
Read more below (warning: SPOILERS!).
Note: As this review was completed on a work-in-progress, the reviewer comments and the rating should be taken with a grain of salt.
Canon Plausibility
Definition: How well the plot and characters aligned with the original story universe.
Score: 4.00/5.00
A high score for this element indicates that the story blended into the original universe well. This includes the characters being portrayed as they originally were, and that the plot and/or any original characters aligned with the sense of the universe as well.
Reviewer comments: The score on this will be a bit different to interpret as this is an AU. However, given the actual context, the majority of characters' actions were logically based. The only inconsistency in this was how Karasu was shown as a weeping, emotional drama queen. I can kind of see it, but at the same time, considering how the other canon characters were adapted to their new roles, his original personality didn't translate quite as well. It went a bit too far out in left field for him.
Relationships
Definition: Platonic and romantic interaction and development between characters interspersed over time.
Score: 4.00/5.00
A high score on this element indicates that the presentation of the interactions between characters created realistic and meaningful relationships that allowed the readers to connect with and understand the characters.
Reviewer comments: There was not too much of an issue with how the relationships were presented throughout the story, but as the writing style is of a more succinct/explicit nature, I did find myself not being able to understand why Kiyoni or Kurama all of a sudden felt like they were in love with each other. This is a balance though, because I can also see that it's a cliché/normal thing to do given the type of fairytale it springs from.
Plot and Technical Execution
Definition: Interrelated content sequenced in the storyline, including subplots, presented in a grammatically accurate manner.
Score: 4.50/5.00
A high score on this element indicates that the readers did not have a hard time following along with the storyline and that major situations were addressed logically. Additionally, there were likely few or no grammatical errors.
Reviewer comments: There were very few mistakes in terms of the plot and the adaptation of the period/fairy-tale time was accurately and consistently portrayed. However, there were moments where I had a harder time following the flow of the writing that could have been broken up better (i.e., the dialogue dispersion). There were a handful of typos here and there, but nothing major.
Conflict
Definition: Internal or external struggle presented throughout the storyline, eventually reaching resolution.
Score: 5.00/5.00
A high score on this element indicates a balance of presented conflict. The characters have taken a stance in a situation or addressed a pressing internal struggle. This has allowed for character development and reader interest.
Reviewer comments: As this story is in progress, I cannot rate resolution yet. However, there is logical conflict presented (Kiyoni's unwanted, arranged marriage) and it has helped develop characters and progress the story well.
Originality
Definition: Uniqueness of the presented plot as relevant to the fandom.
Score: 5.00/5.00
A high score on this element indicates that enough unique content was presented, sparking readers' interest.
Reviewer comments: I am absolutely in love with the originality of the story. The POC main OC is a nice change of pace and the actual alternate universe is a really interesting change that I don't often see. I am an ocean/mermaid fan, so bonus points on that. I wonder if the author will integrate African mermaids? Another interesting point to maybe touch on eventually.
Dialogue
Definition: Quality and quantity of the conversation had throughout the storyline, including verbal and nonverbal communication.
Score: 4.33/5.00
A high score on this element indicates that there was an effective balance in quantity and/or quality of verbal and nonverbal dialogue. The dialogue was well-utilized in furthering character or story development.
Reviewer comments: The dialogue was usually balanced. The only issue I had with it, aside from what I mentioned about breaking up different speakers on new lines, is that there was some repetition mentioned. That is, the author would say something like this: Akio made a speech. "Everyone, I have a speech." (This is not a direct quote, but my exaggerated example/oversimplification.) It's usually easier to omit this type of unnecessary repetition and put the effort into auxiliary information that can better describe the scene/setting/behaviors. A simple reread of the chapters may suffice for catching this.
Pacing
Definition: Appropriateness of the speed of the presented storyline.
Score: 4.67/5.00
A high score on this element indicates that the pacing was appropriate for the storyline and that the readers were able to meaningfully experience the story without losing interest or being confused.
Reviewer comments: Overall, the writing is very explicit and not overly detailed. I can understand this as there is a lot of story and information to convey. Usually, this representation might bother me, but I didn't feel very upset about it in this story. I want more information and details because I find it so interesting, but what is presented does suffice. Any lower ratings are indicative of just an area or two that felt like they might have needed more details (e.g., I'm missing out on what Hiei is doing while all this stuff is going on with Mukuro right now, but the author may touch on that soon).
Front Matter
Definition: Appropriateness and instilled intrigue of the categorized preview information and summary.
Score: 5.00/5.00
A high score on this element indicates that the front matter was accurate and enticing. This may range from a well-constructed summary to appropriate categorizations for the rating or genres.
Reviewer comments: No comments. All information was appropriate and interesting to catch my attention.
Additional Comments
Overall, what could the author improve most to make the story better?
I think that if there were just a few more details or possibly better transitions between scenes and dialogue, it might help the reader follow along better.
Overall, what did the author excel at that really made the story for you?
I really love the originality and new roles that everyone has. It's interesting to see how Kurama is now a mermaid prince and he has his bros he chills with and that the Kuwabara's are fishers now. Those are the kind of details I enjoy reading/seeing and like the freshness of it all.
What was your favorite moment in the story? Were there any particularly funny or surprising moments?
My favorite moment was probably just how the Kuwabara's fished Kurama out of the ocean. I imagine it'd be pretty crazy to have that happen and was almost expecting them to bring up some Japanese lore about sea monsters that are common in the supposed time period. I wasn't expecting them to be fishers, nor was I expecting them to catch Kurama, but it fit well and made their relationship development logical/fun.
#yyhffr#yyhffrREVIEW#yyh#yuyuhakusho#yu yu hakusho#the sea prince#knightsqueen05#ffr#review#mermaids#fanfiction#fan fiction#fanfic#writing#in progress#the little mermaid inspiration#the little mermaid#DID I MENTION MERMAIDS?
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what makes a good fanfic? or in your opinion, what makes one? Is there anything in a fanfiction that instantly makes you stop reading?
Eesh, so many things to answer with here. Okay, there are too many variables for a definitive answer of what makes a good fanfic… to me, personally. A story could be the polar opposite in every way to another and both be equally good, ya know?
Okay… so for me? Fanfic turn offs are as followed:
Weak plot - So, one that is overused or cliché really rubs me the wrong way and it’s not necessarily that the story is bad but I just can’t be bothered to read through another fanfic that I’ve read a similar or same plot from before. Also, plots that are kinda full of holes and just don’t flow at all? Like… if a plot is choppy, then be tactful kinda thing. Some are just a little messy and/or are hard to follow. Which leads me to another point; when people try to push too much into a plot. Like, breathe, you don’t have to shove it all in. Pick the important and meaningful parts and branch a little more from there. Even if a plot isn’t particularly exciting, that’s better than trying to force excitement into it, ya feel me? Like don’t force random events in that don’t really have a link with the rest of the plot just because you need a shock in your story or whatever.
Poor planning - Similar to what I mentioned for weak plot but omg, okay, if you are writing… plaaan it. It makes your life 100% easier when it comes to actually writing the damn thing. No matter your method, planning will always help. It structures your fanfiction out for easy guidance which will translate to your readers once you’ve posted work. Jumping straight in without thinking it through and ironing out the kinks… more often than not do not end well. I mean, you will come across problems at the same time as readers and be like, “oh...” and then you’ll have to keep altering already posted chapters and... it’s just not gewd.
Bad grammar - Okay, so I am one of those kinda readers. If I read a fanfic and it has a few spelling mistakes then I’m like eh, whatevs. But, when it is full of spelling, grammatical and general mistakes... I probably won’t keep reading it. I mean, that’s just a personal no for me. When I read a fanfic, I will actually point out to myself the mistakes like I automatically just highlight them. I don’t even mean to. I think I have an issue with this because I’m very meticulous about it, specifically. I will always proof read my work unless I’m in an ultra rush. If not, I will read my work at least twice because I want to make sure it’s coherent and there are no obvious mistakes. I mean, I’m not perfect obviously and on the odd occasion I do make a grammatical mistake, I’ll just go back in and tweak it. And I also understand that some people will write a story that is not in their native language so that’s understandable too. But, when it is just rushed and messy and chock full of spelling errors and grammatical mistakes, it just doesn’t do it for me. Like, nah. I don’t know why, I just can’t read through fanfiction like that.
Layout - Another thing that bugs me to no end is how some fanfiction is written in a big fat bulk. Like, grrrr, I hate that! It just annoys me. I feel like a written piece should be set out clearly and spaciously. Paragraphs and line breaks are your friends, not your enemies. When it is just all in one fat paragraph with no breaks, I will just click back. I cannot invest myself into reading it when it’s like that. I think I feel that way because it just looks so squashed together and bulky and it’s just not very appealing, to me personally. Other people may, in fact, love that.
Narrative & Structure - So, I mean this differently to layout. So first, narrative is a general kinda thing for me to look for in a story. I pay a lot of attention to the coherency and the continuity of narrative. If it’s 3rd person, 1st person etc then I will, without realising, read and keep my eyes open for any slips like adding a “she” when it is supposed to be, “I”, ya know? Idk how others feel with that one but it kinda niggles at me. Tying in with both narrative and structure is the way in which the story is actually told. I kinda dislike when people constantly rely on flashbacks etc throughout a story like it just doesn’t grasp me as I know is the desired effect. Again, plan it out and follow a specific structure on how you’re going to write your story because... throwback to poor planning... it might fall through the cracks and people may get confused on how you’re trying to tell your story. Just be smart about it and organised, too. Anything to help it come across as less messy.
OOC - This is a hard one because it can be easy and a little tempting to slip up with how to portray a character. This applies to both fanfiction and original work but more so the former considering the characters’ personality traits are default. I mean, I’m no saint. I draw outside the lines every so often on character portrayal. Maybe it’s something just a little off that the character wouldn’t say or a gesture that really isn’t their style. It can’t always be helped but my tip is to actually write out character bios to remind yourself when writing. If you feel yourself veering from their true character, a quick look at the bio should help get you back on track. This is something that annoys me though, if I see it quite frequently in one reading? It comes across as the writer has disregarded the actual personality of the character in favour of how they want them to act which isn’t really that appealing. It’s like when people have described Starfire, for example, as being a weepy and vindictive little bitch in stories that oh-ho you guessed it... are not robst@r. If it’s a robr@e story, for example, some writers I have seen have Starfire acting sooooooo out of character and being really snippy and bitter when we all know, if Robin were to end up with another character in the series... Starfire would be sad but unbelievably supportive because that is her character. Of course, some of those times, the writer just doesn’t like Starfire but in my opinion, writing a character in a shitty way just because you don’t like them makes you a shitty writer. Like, put your damn hate for them aside and write them accurately, damn it. Like, I’m not the biggest fan of say, Terra but if I were to include her in a fanfic, I wouldn’t write her badly just because she’s not my favourite. *eye roll*
I won’t pretend to be an expert or a perfect writer, because I’m not. These are things that every writer has probably done, will do or does do. Which is absolutely fine but try and learn from errors. Don’t ignore them. Accept them and learn from them to progress your writing skills.
So, those are the main things, in my opinion and what I personally think can make or break a fic. Erm, this is purely my opinion and you can take it or leave it but it’s what I think considering this was an ask for me.
#asks#night notions#life of a writer#night advice#writing tips#ish?#i guess#personal opinion#nightglider124
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A Little Like Whiplash
(based on this, part two of this, Russian translations under the story itself)
Jonathan isn’t generally a judgemental person. He likes to think that he sees the best in most people, even if they don’t deserve it.
For some reason, he’s never been able to do that with Yuri Plisetsky, the Russian bombshell that nobody knows or cares to know because he’s terrifying and has a tendency to be an asshole.
He has the distinct impression that Yuri, despite clearly not being a scholarship kid (he’s wearing designer everything, and he drives a Maserati; there’s no way that he came to Portland State for any reason other than that he wanted to), would rather be anywhere but here. He sleeps through the two classes that he shares with Jonathan, and for some reason, the professors allow it. If he was a bit less of an antisocial shit, though, Jonathan would probably have a crush; for all his faults, Yuri is one the most attractive person that he’s ever seen outside of magazines with his immaculately braided, waist-length hair and pouty lips and perfect eyeliner (Jonathan is sure he’s the only one that’s noticed that last bit; the subtlety of it is the reason it’s so damn perfect).
The first time he ever actually says anything, it’s one of those days that the professor decides, for whatever reason, not to show up for class. Until the fifteen minute limit passes, the class hums with a low buzz of noise. Yuri, predictably, is asleep.
Jonathan has a few friends in this class, Anthony and Thomas, and they’re chatting quietly about the baseball game on Saturday. Somehow, the topic shifts to that one asshole that’s always sleeping through class.
“Fifteen minutes!” The girl by the door calls out, and the class gets up.
“I’m just saying, why pay for the classes if you’re just gonna sleep through them?” Anthony says, shouldering his bag and heading for the door.
There’s a snort from behind them. Veronica. Jonathan really doesn’t want to deal with her right now; she’s even worse than Yuri, if only because she isn’t quiet about her disdain for the rest of them. “You know they only accept applications from people like him because he’s part of a minority, right?”
When she sees Jonathan’s raised eyebrows, she mistakes his irritation for curiosity. “Come on, don’t tell me you can’t tell. He’s a goddamn fairy.”
He’s wondering if outing himself here and now would make the situation better or worse when there’s an angry “Huh?” from behind them. The loud bang that follows terrifies all of them, but particularly Jonathan, Veronica, and the other two. Jonathan hadn’t even noticed that Yuri was awake, much less that he was nearby. Now his foot is against the wall, not even an inch from Veronica’s head (flexible, Jonathan can’t help but think). The look on his face pumps shards of ice through Jonathan’s veins.
“There is nothing wrong with being gay,” he growls.
His voice is different than Jonathan would have expected; maybe it’s a bit stereotypical, but he’d expected a low tenor, rather than a mezzo baritone, and his accent is there, but not nearly as thick as Jonathan expected. He stalks out of the room dangerously, and the entire class just stands there in shock for a moment.
Next week, when Veronica stops coming to class and he hears that she’s been expelled, Jonathan is sure that it has everything to do with the rich guy sleeping two seats behind him.
“Jonathan, there are only three people in your group for the upcoming term paper,” the professor says, jolting Jonathan out of his thoughts. It’s true; he, Anthony, and Thomas are planning on working together, since there were an odd number of people in the class. Now that Veronica is gone, that’s not true anymore. “I’m assigning Yuri to your group.”
Fantastic, Jonathan thinks, glancing at Yuri.
He looks up blearily and mutters something in the most snide, sarcastic voice Jonathan has ever heard– yoroshiku onegaishimasu –before dropping his head back on his arms. That didn’t sound like Russian, Jonathan thinks, packing up to leave.
Thomas nudges him. “Dude!” he whispers. “He speaks Japanese? What the hell? And I think that was supposed to be polite, but it sounded like an insult.”
“He can also hear you,” comes from behind them. Yuri has apparently given up on sleep since class is over, and has his phone in his hand. The one that isn’t texting reaches behind him and tugs on something that releases the bun he’s sporting today, letting the waist-length braid fall down his back. He leans his face in one hand and stares at his phone boredly. “You three aren’t the most oblivious people I know, but you’re definitely in the top twenty.”
Jonathan doesn’t know what to say, really. The hottest, laziest guy in class is in a group with him for a paper that’s worth twenty percent of their grade, and their first conversation has gotten off to the worst start possible.
“So,” Anthony says awkwardly. “When do you guys want to meet up?”
“I’m only free on Tuesdays. Yuri, I’m pretty sure you only have class twice a week? Maybe we can meet up for lunch,” Thomas says, trying a friendly approach.
“I can’t meet up on my days off. I have training. It’s a paper on the Japan’s involvement in World War II and how it affects today, right?” Yuri asks, still looking bored.
“Yeah. What do you mean? Do you practice all day on every one of your days off or something?” Anthony sounds mildly teasing, but there’s an undertone of disbelief there.
Yuri looks at Anthony, as if he can’t believe he would ask such a stupid question. “Um, yes? What else would I be doing?”
None of them really has a response for that. Yuri doesn’t look like the athletic type, really. He’s lean, almost willowy; not skinny by any means, since there’s definitely muscle there, but it’s not the build Jonathan would expect from an athlete who practices as much as Yuri claims to.
“Anyway, I’ll deal with the history part,” Yuri says, standing up and stretching. Jonathan tries not to stare at the thin strip of skin that appears when he does. What? He may be an asshole, but Yuri is gorgeous. He’d have to be dead not to notice. “I’ll have it to you by… Tuesday, right?”
“I can do Tuesday,” Jonathan says, not really sure what’s happening anymore.
“So can I.”
Yuri blinks and glances at the table searchingly. “Right,” he says, picking up a sticky note he’d left there and scribbling something down. “Here’s my number. Text me your emails and I’ll send you my part of the project. Bye.”
He walks out of the room, phone already at his ear. “Beka! Vy prikhodite na obed segodnya?”
Jonathan looks at Anthony and Thomas, not totally sure what just happened. “So who’s going to pick up the slack on his part?”
That’s not actually necessary, it turns out. Jonathan sent Yuri his email out of courtesy, but when he rolls out of bed on Saturday morning, he finds four pages of 12 point Times New Roman font on Japan’s involvement in World War II, complete with instructions to let Yuri know if there’s anything else that they want him to do (but he won’t be doing the whole damn thing, he doesn’t have time for that).
Except for a few grammatical errors, there’s almost nothing wrong with the work. Jonathan is floored. Maybe this is why the professors let Yuri sleep through class. It’s disrespectful as all hell, but from the way he writes, it’s almost like he doesn’t need to be there at all.
When he’s awake and recovered enough to send a reply, he does. He lets Yuri that there’s nothing wrong with the work, and that he’s looking forward to class on Wednesday. He’s not, but it’s the polite thing to do.
Apparently, Yuri doesn’t planning on extending the same courtesy. “Can’t make it,” he says again, looking bored as he taps away on his phone.
This time, Jonathan actually speaks up. “We could meet up after you’re done with practice or something. It actually works out better for me and Anthony, since we have class on Tuesday.”
“That would work, I guess, but I’m going to be in Japan on Tuesday.” The tone of Yuri’s voice doesn’t change, despite the bomb he’s just dropped.
Why the hell would anyone just up and leave for Japan in the middle of the semester? No matter how rich Yuri is (and he’s definitely rich; they may not know anything about him, but he’s definitely a rich Russian of some sort) it makes no sense. He’s going to miss at least three days of class even if he’s only going to be in Japan for one day, which Jonathan highly doubts. He doesn’t care how pretty or smart this kid thinks he is, there’s no way for him to pass his classes with the way he acts.
“Then cancel it.” He doesn’t even realize that he’s saying the words until they’re out of his mouth, and by then it’s too late.
The look that Yuri fixes on him is as dangerous as it was that day with Veronica. “Fuck you.”
Jonathan backpedals. “I didn’t mean–”
Yuri’s phone rings, cutting him off. The ringtone in itself is enough to cause all three jaws to drop; it’s some classical thing with a boys’ choir singing in what sounds like Latin. Yuri sneers at them, and Jonathan can’t help but think he may have fucked up pretty bad. “Just send me whatever part you want me to handle for the presentation and I’ll do it. Tell me to cancel my trip again, and I won’t do my bit. I’ll still pass without this stupid project.”
He gets up and stalks toward the door, picking up the phone. “Yeah, yeah. I’m on my way to the parking lot now. Shit! Would it kill you to wait a minute and a half, Dad? I said I’ll be there in a minute! Katsudon, get your husband off the goddamn phone when he’s driving. Do you want to die?”
Yet again, there’s this feeling of not really knowing what’s happening by the time Yuri is out of sight. I’ll still pass without this stupid project, he said. That’s almost impossible, unless he has an A in the class. Which he shouldn’t, because he sleeps through it. His participation grade alone should have dropped him to a B unless he’s gotten A’s on every single assignment. There’s no way.
“I need a drink,” Jonathan mutters, and there are murmured agreements from Anthony and Thomas both. “You guys want to go to Shizuku?”
“I’m down.” Anthony says. “Hell, I’ll pay. My treat, after all of that bullshit.”
It’s not even ten minutes to their favorite restaurant by car, but they figure it’ll be easier to walk. There’s no point in driving three cars to get to one place, and none of them are keen on getting their cars out of the student lot right now, since it’s nearly rush hour.
It takes them about thirty minutes to get there, and it’s blessedly empty when they do. There are only a few occupied tables. Still, it seems louder than it usually does, Jonathan notices as they’re waiting to be seated. There’s one table in particular that seems to be making more noise than the rest of the restaurant combined. That makes sense, he thinks, eyeing the back of a silver-haired man’s head. There are a lot of them. At least six, it looks like.
“Posmotrite na kotenke, Beka! Eto tak milo! Posmotrite na svoikh malen'kikh lapakh i khvoste.” That voice… it sounds way too happy to be him, but given how the day has gone, Jonathan wouldn’t be surprised.
The silver haired guy moves slightly. It looks like he leaned his face on his hand. “Yurio, don’t be rude. You and your friend aren’t the only people at this table, you know. Richard and Estephania are here too, and they don’t speak Russian.”
“It’s fine,” the person on silver haired’s left says. She has long, dark hair that swishes when she shakes her head. “It’s funny to see Yuri so excited about something for once.”
Jonathan gets a partial view of someone with dark hair and a very serious face. It’s almost scary how quickly he realises that he’s being looked at, and he looks Jonathan dead in the eye. The man nods once, then looks away without acknowledging him further.
“Beka? What are you looking at?” A head of blond hair comes into view, and Jonathan finds himself looking directly into the eyes of Yuri Plisetsky.
I fucked up, Jonathan thinks immediately, watching the mirth drain out of Yuri’s eyes almost instantly, replaced with irritation.
“Johnny? What is it– Oh, shit.” Anthony hides behind a menu.
“If you’re stalking me, I swear to god I will shove my silverware up your respective asses,” Yuri says, looking dead serious. “I have more than enough stalkers.”
That’s cause enough for Jonathan to pause and wonder what he means, but then the strangest thing happens. Instead of looking even remotely alarmed, the way any normal person would, the three people with their backs facing toward Jonathan, Anthony, and Thomas all turn at a totally normal, unhurried pace. Two of them, the silver haired man and the Asian looking man next to him, are even smiling.
“Hello!” the silver haired man says, waving. “Are you Yurio’s friends? Here, come sit with us! We’ve never met any of his friends from school before.”
Who the hell says something like that after hearing him call us stalkers? Jonathan thinks, feeling out of his element and way too overwhelmed. There’s really nothing to do but accept, so the three of them walk to the table as a group.
“Ya dumal, chto u vas ne bylo druzey v Amerike,” the serious man says to Yuri quietly, probably trying not to be heard.
Yuri looks murderous. “Ya ne.”
There’s a split second war between Thomas, Jonathan, and Anthony as to who is going to sit next to the scary serious guy. Jonathan loses. It’s fine. He’ll take scary serious guy over angry Yuri Plisetsky any day.
“My name is Otabek. Yuri is my best friend,” scary serious guy says, holding out a hand.
Jonathan takes it hesitantly, but Otabek’s grip isn’t anything but polite. “Jonathan. That’s Thomas, and that’s Anthony. We take American History with Yuri.”
“My name is Victor, and this is my husband Yuuri! Not your Yuri, we call him Yurio,” the silver haired man says. The Japanese man next to him blushes, and Jonathan supposes that he’s the other Yuuri.
“I will shove my knife shoes so far up your ass, Nikiforov, that you won’t be able to sit for a year,” Yuri warns.
“Yurio is our son. We’re so glad Yuri is actually making friends at school, I was worried for a while. I’m sure you know how tricky he can be sometimes,” Victor continues, ignoring the incredibly violent threat as if it happens every day. What the hell did Yuri even mean by knife shoes, anyway?
“You shut the fuck up, old man!”
It doesn’t surprise Jonathan in the slightest that Yuri has two dads; it explains a lot about the whole incident with Veronica earlier this year. What he is surprised about is the fact that Yuri’s dads seem so… nice.
Jonathan isn’t sure if that’s pleasant or terrifying.
“Victor and Yuuri are my figure skating coaches,” Yuri mutters, sounding like he’d rather be doing anything but this.
“Wait, you’re a figure skater?” Thomas asks, looking intrigued; seriously, how that guy manages to be so laid back all the time is– wait, what?
“Is that what you keep missing meetings to practice?” Jonathan asks. Suddenly it all makes sense: the lean muscle, the crazy flexibility and precision it would require to nearly kick someone in the head, the whole random flight to Japan.
The entire table erupts into laughter, even the Hispanic woman and the other man that they haven’t been introduced to yet.
Yuri turns bright red, looking both flustered and annoyed. “Oh, fuck off, all of you. Especially you, Katsudon! You have no right to laugh after what happened with these two.” He points aggressively at the two people Jonathan and the others don’t know.
The Japanese man, Yuuri, is the first one to manage to stop laughing. “I’m sorry, Yura. I’m laughing because I know how you feel.” He turns to Jonathan, Thomas, and Anthony, still smiling brightly. “He actually medalled at the Olympics last year. He’s won gold for Russia several times, as well.”
Jonathan isn’t the only person at the table with his jaw dropped. The waitress comes by and sets waters in front of the three of them. Even when she leaves, he still can’t figure out what he’s supposed to say. He’s pretty sure that earlier today, he just told an Olympian medalist to cancel a trip to what was probably a competition at the last minute. He wants to die of embarrassment, even if he had good reason.
“He probably didn’t mention it because he’s too angry that he let that Canadian get gold and he only got bronze,” Victor teases. He slings an arm around his husband. “Still, my son and my husband on the podium at the same time! It’s any man’s dream. I’m so proud!”
There’s a scraping noise on the table. When Jonathan looks down, he sees that Otabek slid over a phone with the screen open to a news article about men’s figure skating and yep, there’s Yuuri. And that’s definitely Yuri, but he looks… different. Happy. Jonathan looks from Otabek to Yuri to the article, then back to Otabek. He knows he’s panicking, because there’s nothing he can really say to make himself feel less awkward but maybe someone calm like Otabek can help him out.
Otabek gives him a thumbs up.
Translations (let me know if I need to fix any, I don’t speak Russian)
yoroshiku onegaishimasu - Japanese - I look forward to working with you (yes, he’s being a sarcastic little shit here)
Vy prikhodite na obed segodnya? - Russian - roughly translates to “we’re still on for lunch today?”
Posmotrite na kotenke, Beka! Eto tak milo! Posmotrite na svoikh malen'kikh lapakh i khvoste. - Russian - Look at the kitten, Beka! It’s so cute! Look at its little paws and tail.
Ya dumal, chto u vas ne bylo druzey v Amerike - Russian - I thought you said you don’t have friends in America.
Ya ne. - Russian - I don’t.
#skygemspeaks#yuri on ice#yuri plisetsky#otabek altin#victor nikiforov#yuuri katsuki#retirement au#i wrote this instead of doing homework#im so fucked#worth it#look at me posting shit without editing it#again#cassie writes
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10 More Phrases to Never, Ever Use at Work
Professional communication can feel like a careful balancing act. You want to keep up with the latest business jargon, but you don’t want to step on anyone’s toes in the process.
We already covered some outdated terms and clichés in our last post on the subject. Now we’re taking on some phrases that may seem innocuous, or even helpful—until you think about what message they’re really sending.
For your edification (and your next promotion), here are ten more words and phrases you should never use at work.
Here’s a tip: Grammarly runs on powerful algorithms developed by the world’s leading linguists, and it can save you from misspellings, hundreds of types of grammatical and punctuation mistakes, and words that are spelled right but used in the wrong context. Learn More
1“Let me know”
It’s easy to tag this catchall phrase onto the end of your emails, but it doesn’t translate into action. If you want results, take some initiative.
“Let me know when you’re free to meet.”
“I’m available to meet on Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. or 3:00 p.m. Which time works for you?”
“Let me know how I can help.”
“I’ll call Kevin to get an estimate for you.”
2“You Look Tired”
Someone who “looks tired” already knows—you don’t need to point it out. And since this phrase is synonymous with “you look terrible,” don’t expect a positive response.
If you notice someone seems tired and you’re genuinely concerned for them, try one of these phrases on for size:
“Hey, how are you doing today?”
“I’m grabbing coffee at Starbucks, would you like anything?”
“You’ve been putting in a lot of time on this project. Is there anything I can help you with?”
3“Just”
You may be using “just” to soften the tone of your message, but it could communicate that what you’re saying isn’t especially important.
Removing “just” from your vocabulary conveys confidence in your actions. If you know what you need, go ahead and ask for it.
“Sorry to bother you, I just want to check in on your progress on the report due tomorrow.”
“How’s progress on the report coming along? I look forward to reviewing it tomorrow.”
4“I think” / “I feel”
It’s time to let the security blanket go. These qualifying phrases may feel safe, but they’re undermining your credibility. Constantly using “I think” communicates a lack of confidence in your ideas and abilities. Instead, ditch the qualifiers and make assertive statements like:
“I can get my completed article to you by 5:00 p.m.”
“This is the best plan for the new campaign.”
5“It’s not fair”
https://giphy.com/embed/GT5VP2UQ9vXFe
via GIPHY
We all hate to feel injustice, but how you respond to difficult circumstances is your choice.
Instead of pouting, channel that frustration into useful action. What can you do to address the issue? Use facts rather than feelings to argue your case.
“It’s not fair that Kevin gets to go to the conference instead of me.”
“I’ve put in over 20 hours creating this presentation and am the most comfortable talking about the material. It makes sense for me to be the lead presenter at the conference.”
6“OMG, did you hear about Kevin?”
https://giphy.com/embed/zmRmrZFPoqh6U
via GIPHY
Who doesn’t love the inside scoop? (Especially about Kevin.) But gossiping at work is in poor taste, and could have negative consequences for your career.
If you feel the need to vent, do your kvetching with a non-work friend. And if you have a conflict with someone, talk to them directly—or, if appropriate, talk with your company’s human resources department.
7“I’ll try”
https://giphy.com/embed/pvDp7Ewpzt0o8
via GIPHY
So, will you do what I requested or not? Instead of using this wishy-washy phrase, boost your coworkers’ confidence in you by clearly setting expectations.
“I won’t be able to write the report today, but I can have it to you by noon tomorrow.”
“I’ll research how to do that and will check in with Kevin if I need assistance.”
8“It’s not my fault”
We’re all adults. No matter whose fault it is, you’ll get more respect if you explain the situation in a professional manner.
Take responsibility for your own actions, and explain the mistakes of others without throwing them under the bus. And be honest about what was and wasn’t outside of your team’s control.
9“Maybe it’s stupid, but…”
It’s natural to fear the critique of others, but using this qualifier imposes a negative lens on your thoughts before your audience has a chance to evaluate your statement for themselves.
Instead of self-sabotaging, practice stating your ideas with confidence.
“I have an idea for our next project. It’s different from what we usually do, and I think this could give us some new results.”
10“Sorry”
By all means, apologize when you’re accepting responsibility for an error you’ve made. But let’s take a moment to think about how woefully overused this little word is.
“I’m sorry, but could you have the presentation ready by noon?”
“I’ll need the presentation ready by noon so we’ll have time to review it. I greatly appreciate your work on this.”
“Sorry I’m late to our meeting.”
“Thank you so much for waiting. Let’s get started!”
“Sorry, I won’t have the article ready on time.”
“I’ll need to postpone the article until Thursday. Two of my interviewees weren’t available until today.”
The post 10 More Phrases to Never, Ever Use at Work appeared first on Grammarly Blog.
from Grammarly Blog https://www.grammarly.com/blog/words-to-avoid-at-work/
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How to Rock your Global Mobile App Business with Localization
According to GSMA Intelligence, there are already more than 4.8 billion unique mobile users worldwide, and over a half of those are located in Asia and Pacific regions. This is a huge number of users, and chances are that the majority of them do not speak your language.
In fact, only about 15% of all the people speak English as a first or second language. App installs hit the record of 25 billion worldwide in Q1 2017, but where do these downloads come from?
Localization has become a vital strategy for any mobile app or game business with the goal to get an access to these outstanding numbers of new customers. You never know where the demand for your product might come from – and without localizing your product there is no proper way to find that out. If you want your app to succeed, localization will become the vital strategy for your business.
Source: GSMA – The Mobile Economy 2017
Without doubt, localization adds an endless value for mobile businesses, and if you are reading this, you are probably already doing it or considering it.
How can mobile apps benefit from localization?
1. Extend your customer base
Nowadays, in a global mobile app economy, having an access to a constantly growing customer base is vital for any business. And a key to the international growth is providing a product that is properly translated and localized.
Localized products can lower cultural barriers, educate new users about your app, and evoke the interest in the potential customers. Properly localized apps fit local market conditions and may serve a specific need.
In case you don’t have resources available to localize all the content of your app (which can be costly), it definitely makes sense to localize listing elements: texts, such as app name, description, etc., and graphic elements (for example, provide localized screenshots and videos).
2. Enter new markets faster
Localized app store listing (product page) and a strong ASO strategy opens the doors for your app to access the foreign markets. It provides the fast entrance and the ability to make a quick check of this market and see if there really is a demand for this kind of app or game.
Current localization services and companies provide their translation services really fast —within a few hours, or up to 24 hours, you can already have a ready translation whenever you have a desire and budget to try out your product in a new country.
3. Improve user engagement and satisfaction
It goes without saying that a localized app (not only the product page, but also content, notifications, etc.) will demonstrate higher percentage of engaged users. It is true that English is one of the world’s main languages, however the customers will always be more likely engage with an app in their own language.
4. Diversify your customers profiles
Happy customers will likely spread the word about your app—any product has a higher chance to go viral if it is localized. By localizing an app, you can create a great competitive advantage by diversifying your clients and getting a bigger market share.
What are the best markets to localize for?
When talking about localization, we should keep in mind that there can be several spoken languages with a certain country or region (like in Belgium, Switzerland, or China). So instead of a country or language there is a combination of both, that is called a locale. For example: en-US or en-UK would have their differences as of wording, displaying dates, etc.
What markets are the best ones to target? There is no single answer.
You need to do thorough research to evaluate the possible pros and cons of expanding your audience in a certain locale. Maybe it will not make a commercial sense for you to invest in localization for some very competitive market.
Mobile world is still dominated by English speaking audience, however in terms of revenue or downloads there are several markets to keep an eye on:
Source: App Annie
Besides the giants of the mobile world: United States, Japan and South Korea, we can already see the new prospect superpowers: Brazil, China, India, and Mexico.
The best way to check and analyze if the market is worthy for your business, is to first localize the app store listing (product page) and see if the customers from new locales who install your app are meeting your expectations. Master your ASO and if you see a great potential for your business, invest in localizing full content.
Source: App Annie
Don’t ignore app localization and start preparing your content for it on an early stage of development so that later it will cost you less to localize it for new languages!
How to prepare an app or game for localization
The localization process consists of three key activities:
1. Internationalization (or making an app language-independent)
Internationalization is the initial preparation of the app and making it localization-ready. Once done, it allows to estimate the time and effort needed for a translation and localization to any language, and make strategic decisions about worthiness of localizing for different locales in terms of ROI.
In the process of internationalization, all user-facing text and graphic content need to be separated and stored in strings and separate files ready for translation and localization. Separate functions are built to retrieve the format of dates and numbers and display them for different locales. The developers have to do this process only once, and the earlier the better as it’s more cost-effective.
2. Localization of the content
This step directly implies translating and adapting text and graphic content for a certain language. All the small details matter here: colors, forms, dates or plural forms, and so on. Don’t trust the blind automatic translation—put in the work!
The translation and proofreading always needs to be done by native speakers of the target language. To the end user, an app that is localized to their language should feel as natural as if it was developed in their native language.
Small grammatical and punctuation errors that are invisible to you can be a pain for a native speaker, and this will soon mirror in your app reviews. To avoid these complaints, work with human translators and always proofread your texts.
A few points to keep in mind:
Your app name is well-adapted to the target language and doesn’t transmit a different meaning.
You are using the correct numeral systems and formats (1.000 vs 1,000), and applying the correct list ordering rules.
Type and format of punctuation are appropriate (e.g. spacing).
Symbol meanings and calendar systems are respected or adapted.
Bonus: Find a list of top tools and services for app localization here.
3. Implementing on the app stores
Both App Store and Google Play provide anything needed to facilitate developers to build language-independent apps and localize them. Both stores include:
Built-in internationalization: The locales are chosen by end users and applied automatically by the platform.
Quick export: Developers can easily extract their text strings and store them in separate files.
Auto-layout: Screen layout is automatically changing to adapt to different text length in localizations.
Auto-formatting of numbers, dates or plurals, according to user locale.
Read more about how to localize an app or game for Apple App Store or Google Play.
App localization checklist and final thoughts
Localization is one of the best measure you can take to open your product to the broad public and get access to new audiences around the world.
To sum things up, here is a short checklist for app localization:
Study the market and be sure to provide positive experience for all users (customers). Research what users on different markets value from similar products, what price are they ready to pay, and what tactics are your competitors using.
Take a look at the devices and/or stores that are dominant in your target country or region. (for example, in China the usual App Store and Google Play are hardly even present).
Make sure your UI can handle foreign characters and support RTL languages and vertical scripts. Ensure your app accepts user-generated text in any language and in multiple languages at once, independent of the language of the user interface.
Don’t ignore checking the images with a localization expert. Just like poorly translated text, the irrelevant images can fail to convey the right message to the users.
Make sure you are not only translating, but also adapting to the target locale in a cultural way, provide local sharing options, messaging or support to earn the new users’ trust.
Don’t forget App Store Optimization (ASO) and make sure you make a profound keyword research for your target language. You will also need to build a solid marketing strategy and create promotional materials in the target language.
Test localized version on all devices, platforms and mobile browsers to ensure consistency and absence of mistakes.
Act fast! The earlier you localize your app, the better and more cost-effective it will be.
Have you already localized your product? What were the main challenges you’ve come across during in the process? Tell us in the comments!
The post How to Rock your Global Mobile App Business with Localization appeared first on Apptentive.
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How to Rock your Global Mobile App Business with Localization
According to GSMA Intelligence, there are already more than 4.8 billion unique mobile users worldwide, and over a half of those are located in Asia and Pacific regions. This is a huge number of users, and chances are that the majority of them do not speak your language.
In fact, only about 15% of all the people speak English as a first or second language. App installs hit the record of 25 billion worldwide in Q1 2017, but where do these downloads come from?
Localization has become a vital strategy for any mobile app or game business with the goal to get an access to these outstanding numbers of new customers. You never know where the demand for your product might come from – and without localizing your product there is no proper way to find that out. If you want your app to succeed, localization will become the vital strategy for your business.
Source: GSMA – The Mobile Economy 2017
Without doubt, localization adds an endless value for mobile businesses, and if you are reading this, you are probably already doing it or considering it.
How can mobile apps benefit from localization?
1. Extend your customer base
Nowadays, in a global mobile app economy, having an access to a constantly growing customer base is vital for any business. And a key to the international growth is providing a product that is properly translated and localized.
Localized products can lower cultural barriers, educate new users about your app, and evoke the interest in the potential customers. Properly localized apps fit local market conditions and may serve a specific need.
In case you don’t have resources available to localize all the content of your app (which can be costly), it definitely makes sense to localize listing elements: texts, such as app name, description, etc., and graphic elements (for example, provide localized screenshots and videos).
2. Enter new markets faster
Localized app store listing (product page) and a strong ASO strategy opens the doors for your app to access the foreign markets. It provides the fast entrance and the ability to make a quick check of this market and see if there really is a demand for this kind of app or game.
Current localization services and companies provide their translation services really fast —within a few hours, or up to 24 hours, you can already have a ready translation whenever you have a desire and budget to try out your product in a new country.
3. Improve user engagement and satisfaction
It goes without saying that a localized app (not only the product page, but also content, notifications, etc.) will demonstrate higher percentage of engaged users. It is true that English is one of the world’s main languages, however the customers will always be more likely engage with an app in their own language.
4. Diversify your customers profiles
Happy customers will likely spread the word about your app—any product has a higher chance to go viral if it is localized. By localizing an app, you can create a great competitive advantage by diversifying your clients and getting a bigger market share.
What are the best markets to localize for?
When talking about localization, we should keep in mind that there can be several spoken languages with a certain country or region (like in Belgium, Switzerland, or China). So instead of a country or language there is a combination of both, that is called a locale. For example: en-US or en-UK would have their differences as of wording, displaying dates, etc.
What markets are the best ones to target? There is no single answer.
You need to do thorough research to evaluate the possible pros and cons of expanding your audience in a certain locale. Maybe it will not make a commercial sense for you to invest in localization for some very competitive market.
Mobile world is still dominated by English speaking audience, however in terms of revenue or downloads there are several markets to keep an eye on:
Source: App Annie
Besides the giants of the mobile world: United States, Japan and South Korea, we can already see the new prospect superpowers: Brazil, China, India, and Mexico.
The best way to check and analyze if the market is worthy for your business, is to first localize the app store listing (product page) and see if the customers from new locales who install your app are meeting your expectations. Master your ASO and if you see a great potential for your business, invest in localizing full content.
Source: App Annie
Don’t ignore app localization and start preparing your content for it on an early stage of development so that later it will cost you less to localize it for new languages!
How to prepare an app or game for localization
The localization process consists of three key activities:
1. Internationalization (or making an app language-independent)
Internationalization is the initial preparation of the app and making it localization-ready. Once done, it allows to estimate the time and effort needed for a translation and localization to any language, and make strategic decisions about worthiness of localizing for different locales in terms of ROI.
In the process of internationalization, all user-facing text and graphic content need to be separated and stored in strings and separate files ready for translation and localization. Separate functions are built to retrieve the format of dates and numbers and display them for different locales. The developers have to do this process only once, and the earlier the better as it’s more cost-effective.
2. Localization of the content
This step directly implies translating and adapting text and graphic content for a certain language. All the small details matter here: colors, forms, dates or plural forms, and so on. Don’t trust the blind automatic translation—put in the work!
The translation and proofreading always needs to be done by native speakers of the target language. To the end user, an app that is localized to their language should feel as natural as if it was developed in their native language.
Small grammatical and punctuation errors that are invisible to you can be a pain for a native speaker, and this will soon mirror in your app reviews. To avoid these complaints, work with human translators and always proofread your texts.
A few points to keep in mind:
Your app name is well-adapted to the target language and doesn’t transmit a different meaning.
You are using the correct numeral systems and formats (1.000 vs 1,000), and applying the correct list ordering rules.
Type and format of punctuation are appropriate (e.g. spacing).
Symbol meanings and calendar systems are respected or adapted.
Bonus: Find a list of top tools and services for app localization here.
3. Implementing on the app stores
Both App Store and Google Play provide anything needed to facilitate developers to build language-independent apps and localize them. Both stores include:
Built-in internationalization: The locales are chosen by end users and applied automatically by the platform.
Quick export: Developers can easily extract their text strings and store them in separate files.
Auto-layout: Screen layout is automatically changing to adapt to different text length in localizations.
Auto-formatting of numbers, dates or plurals, according to user locale.
Read more about how to localize an app or game for Apple App Store or Google Play.
App localization checklist and final thoughts
Localization is one of the best measure you can take to open your product to the broad public and get access to new audiences around the world.
To sum things up, here is a short checklist for app localization:
Study the market and be sure to provide positive experience for all users (customers). Research what users on different markets value from similar products, what price are they ready to pay, and what tactics are your competitors using.
Take a look at the devices and/or stores that are dominant in your target country or region. (for example, in China the usual App Store and Google Play are hardly even present).
Make sure your UI can handle foreign characters and support RTL languages and vertical scripts. Ensure your app accepts user-generated text in any language and in multiple languages at once, independent of the language of the user interface.
Don’t ignore checking the images with a localization expert. Just like poorly translated text, the irrelevant images can fail to convey the right message to the users.
Make sure you are not only translating, but also adapting to the target locale in a cultural way, provide local sharing options, messaging or support to earn the new users’ trust.
Don’t forget App Store Optimization (ASO) and make sure you make a profound keyword research for your target language. You will also need to build a solid marketing strategy and create promotional materials in the target language.
Test localized version on all devices, platforms and mobile browsers to ensure consistency and absence of mistakes.
Act fast! The earlier you localize your app, the better and more cost-effective it will be.
Have you already localized your product? What were the main challenges you’ve come across during in the process? Tell us in the comments!
The post How to Rock your Global Mobile App Business with Localization appeared first on Apptentive.
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How to Rock your Global Mobile App Business with Localization
According to GSMA Intelligence, there are already more than 4.8 billion unique mobile users worldwide, and over a half of those are located in Asia and Pacific regions. This is a huge number of users, and chances are that the majority of them do not speak your language.
In fact, only about 15% of all the people speak English as a first or second language. App installs hit the record of 25 billion worldwide in Q1 2017, but where do these downloads come from?
Localization has become a vital strategy for any mobile app or game business with the goal to get an access to these outstanding numbers of new customers. You never know where the demand for your product might come from – and without localizing your product there is no proper way to find that out. If you want your app to succeed, localization will become the vital strategy for your business.
Source: GSMA – The Mobile Economy 2017
Without doubt, localization adds an endless value for mobile businesses, and if you are reading this, you are probably already doing it or considering it.
How can mobile apps benefit from localization?
1. Extend your customer base
Nowadays, in a global mobile app economy, having an access to a constantly growing customer base is vital for any business. And a key to the international growth is providing a product that is properly translated and localized.
Localized products can lower cultural barriers, educate new users about your app, and evoke the interest in the potential customers. Properly localized apps fit local market conditions and may serve a specific need.
In case you don’t have resources available to localize all the content of your app (which can be costly), it definitely makes sense to localize listing elements: texts, such as app name, description, etc., and graphic elements (for example, provide localized screenshots and videos).
2. Enter new markets faster
Localized app store listing (product page) and a strong ASO strategy opens the doors for your app to access the foreign markets. It provides the fast entrance and the ability to make a quick check of this market and see if there really is a demand for this kind of app or game.
Current localization services and companies provide their translation services really fast —within a few hours, or up to 24 hours, you can already have a ready translation whenever you have a desire and budget to try out your product in a new country.
3. Improve user engagement and satisfaction
It goes without saying that a localized app (not only the product page, but also content, notifications, etc.) will demonstrate higher percentage of engaged users. It is true that English is one of the world’s main languages, however the customers will always be more likely engage with an app in their own language.
4. Diversify your customers profiles
Happy customers will likely spread the word about your app—any product has a higher chance to go viral if it is localized. By localizing an app, you can create a great competitive advantage by diversifying your clients and getting a bigger market share.
What are the best markets to localize for?
When talking about localization, we should keep in mind that there can be several spoken languages with a certain country or region (like in Belgium, Switzerland, or China). So instead of a country or language there is a combination of both, that is called a locale. For example: en-US or en-UK would have their differences as of wording, displaying dates, etc.
What markets are the best ones to target? There is no single answer.
You need to do thorough research to evaluate the possible pros and cons of expanding your audience in a certain locale. Maybe it will not make a commercial sense for you to invest in localization for some very competitive market.
Mobile world is still dominated by English speaking audience, however in terms of revenue or downloads there are several markets to keep an eye on:
Source: App Annie
Besides the giants of the mobile world: United States, Japan and South Korea, we can already see the new prospect superpowers: Brazil, China, India, and Mexico.
The best way to check and analyze if the market is worthy for your business, is to first localize the app store listing (product page) and see if the customers from new locales who install your app are meeting your expectations. Master your ASO and if you see a great potential for your business, invest in localizing full content.
Source: App Annie
Don’t ignore app localization and start preparing your content for it on an early stage of development so that later it will cost you less to localize it for new languages!
How to prepare an app or game for localization
The localization process consists of three key activities:
1. Internationalization (or making an app language-independent)
Internationalization is the initial preparation of the app and making it localization-ready. Once done, it allows to estimate the time and effort needed for a translation and localization to any language, and make strategic decisions about worthiness of localizing for different locales in terms of ROI.
In the process of internationalization, all user-facing text and graphic content need to be separated and stored in strings and separate files ready for translation and localization. Separate functions are built to retrieve the format of dates and numbers and display them for different locales. The developers have to do this process only once, and the earlier the better as it’s more cost-effective.
2. Localization of the content
This step directly implies translating and adapting text and graphic content for a certain language. All the small details matter here: colors, forms, dates or plural forms, and so on. Don’t trust the blind automatic translation—put in the work!
The translation and proofreading always needs to be done by native speakers of the target language. To the end user, an app that is localized to their language should feel as natural as if it was developed in their native language.
Small grammatical and punctuation errors that are invisible to you can be a pain for a native speaker, and this will soon mirror in your app reviews. To avoid these complaints, work with human translators and always proofread your texts.
A few points to keep in mind:
Your app name is well-adapted to the target language and doesn’t transmit a different meaning.
You are using the correct numeral systems and formats (1.000 vs 1,000), and applying the correct list ordering rules.
Type and format of punctuation are appropriate (e.g. spacing).
Symbol meanings and calendar systems are respected or adapted.
Bonus: Find a list of top tools and services for app localization here.
3. Implementing on the app stores
Both App Store and Google Play provide anything needed to facilitate developers to build language-independent apps and localize them. Both stores include:
Built-in internationalization: The locales are chosen by end users and applied automatically by the platform.
Quick export: Developers can easily extract their text strings and store them in separate files.
Auto-layout: Screen layout is automatically changing to adapt to different text length in localizations.
Auto-formatting of numbers, dates or plurals, according to user locale.
Read more about how to localize an app or game for Apple App Store or Google Play.
App localization checklist and final thoughts
Localization is one of the best measure you can take to open your product to the broad public and get access to new audiences around the world.
To sum things up, here is a short checklist for app localization:
Study the market and be sure to provide positive experience for all users (customers). Research what users on different markets value from similar products, what price are they ready to pay, and what tactics are your competitors using.
Take a look at the devices and/or stores that are dominant in your target country or region. (for example, in China the usual App Store and Google Play are hardly even present).
Make sure your UI can handle foreign characters and support RTL languages and vertical scripts. Ensure your app accepts user-generated text in any language and in multiple languages at once, independent of the language of the user interface.
Don’t ignore checking the images with a localization expert. Just like poorly translated text, the irrelevant images can fail to convey the right message to the users.
Make sure you are not only translating, but also adapting to the target locale in a cultural way, provide local sharing options, messaging or support to earn the new users’ trust.
Don’t forget App Store Optimization (ASO) and make sure you make a profound keyword research for your target language. You will also need to build a solid marketing strategy and create promotional materials in the target language.
Test localized version on all devices, platforms and mobile browsers to ensure consistency and absence of mistakes.
Act fast! The earlier you localize your app, the better and more cost-effective it will be.
Have you already localized your product? What were the main challenges you’ve come across during in the process? Tell us in the comments!
The post How to Rock your Global Mobile App Business with Localization appeared first on Apptentive.
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How to begin DIEting
A Calorie is a Calorie, Unless It’s a Shit Calorie. Then It’s Not. But It Is. And It’s Not.
More and more I have been seeing power and bodybuilding athletes adopt this “keto” craze, essentially avoiding carbs and eating a day worth of calories composed of entirely fat and protein. AAAND with that some “health magazine” catches wind, lures the general population in and cashes in on our societal driven body image problems.
For those that might not know what keto is; keto is short for ketosis. By avoiding carbs, you raise the ketone levels in your body, much like someone who is diabetic. The premise behind the diet is by replacing carbs with fats, your body will become much more efficient at burning fat for fuel as it will begin making ketones. There is no knocking the diet, it does in many cases work; but damn it’s a lot of work. To achieve peak efficiency, you must monitor blood levels to ensure ketosis, otherwise all your work could be in vain. To achieve this, you must eat foods heavy in fats and protein (think 80/20 red meat for the sake of convivence). Seems pretty rad right? You get to eat all the greasy fatty food like burgers that you love so much, and lose weight!? Sign me up. Here’s the kicker; it is a lot of hard work for most of the general population. First off, the shit is expensive. Many of the athletes you see that run keto diets do this stuff for a living, they have the funds and time. (let alone willpower, goal in mind and support team) For us normal folk, try eating 2-3000 calories (or even 4-5k for those of us trying to get jacked) worth of food with a macronutrient spilt of 75% fat 20% protein and 5% carbs for cheap; it’s not going to work. Protein is normally around $1 a serving (roughly 25g) for sources that aren’t milk or eggs, and on this diet, you may need to eat upwards of 600 grams protein a DAY (that equates to almost $25 dollars a day in protein needs for someone on a 3k goal). And go buy a bunch of avocados or coconut oil, say enough to supplement the effort to achieve 2250 calories worth of fat a day. See if it’s cheap. For a person who lives on their own it could be a breeze. Introduce a few dependents in the equation, are you really going to make separate meals? Now you’re potentially buying two separate grocery lists.
Now this again isn’t discrediting the diet, there is science behind it and it does work (it’s essentially the Atkins diet without all the dumb overpriced name brand bull). And I’m not saying don’t try it because if you can truly invest the time and money needed and do it right you could potentially see many benefits. With anything health wise, someone has done the science (usually) and it is up to you to follow it religiously and put in the time to perfect it. All I am saying is its tough, and easy to screw up. Wouldn’t eating in a way that comes more natural and doesn’t feel forced or difficult, let alone expensive seem a little more enticing? We hear “sustainable energy” all the time; making energy cheaper/more efficient/reusable and lighter on the environment. For a slightly more expensive start up than what you’re accustomed to, you can become more sustainable energy wise and make that investment back down the road. (please don’t make me go into that whole sustainable energy/climate change debate) Now think this but in terms of food; a little time investment on your part and you can avoid failure. Search the infinite resources to see what a more efficient food is (vitamin/fiber dense carb, lean protein and something low in saturated fats) and how you can make it tasty. This may require you to lower the amount of Tim Horton’s coffee flavored sugar milk you order, and replace it with black coffee. Oooor maybe opting for a serving of baked sweet potato at dinner instead of chips/fries for a more realistic scenario. In my experiences, recipes found on fitmencook.com or even bodybuilding.com can be very tasty, and full of health conscious fast food alternatives that taste similar to the real thing.
And that leads me to my point; why does no one want to eat “normal”? Like eating an abundance of veggies, moderate amounts of fruits (sugar even from a fruit should be moderate), quality carbs, lean meat (or vegan friendly alternative) and healthy fats? It seems the more radical the idea, the more people want to jump the perfectly normal ship. Now all those words before talking about keto was just to get stuff off my chest, and this is what I wanted to talk to you today about. EAT IN MODERATION, EAT SUSTAINABLY. Don’t eat on a time window, don’t sign up for a fad money pit diet, don’t do stupid stuff like STARVING YOURSELF WITH ONLY A BOWL OF GRASS PER MEAL AND A GLASS OF LIQUID AND CALLING IT A DIET. There’s so much room for failure and unhappiness there. While I am at it, don’t be a sheep. Please avoid “fit teas” and cleansing your system with some witch’s brew remedy. You have organs that are much more efficient at that, and they willingly work for free.
Eat in a manner that can be translatable in most every situation or setting you are at. Eating in a “ideal vacuum” where everything needs to be perfect is just unreasonable (learned this one the hard way). Life sucks, its hectic. Things pop up and you need to be able to take it in stride. The instant the circumstances become tougher (like traveling or a busy errand day or that midterm week from hell) and you lose that perfect diet scenario, how appealing is making sticking to and preparing that daily 600g of protein looking? How about that juice diet? Being healthy is a bitch sometimes, don’t make it harder. All it takes is a few hours of Googling what an ideal carb is, what fats to avoid and how grams of protein a body similar to yours may require to achieve your goal. Then look to see when you can eat and when you can not with your schedule and map it out. Make a loose food schedule, and stick to it. BOOM, you’re all set. (There’s obviously more to it like exercise and trial and error with everything, but that’s for another time) If you really want to hone it in, seek out a professional. Those few visits to a certified nutritionist or exercise physiologist (shameless plug) may be all you need to become a better you. (or you could spend the same money in a pyramid scheme weight loss program/supplement) All I am saying is eating to meet your goals can be easy, you may just be making it harder on yourself.
I’m still trying to sort everything out blog wise so bear with me, but I am easily findable on social media. Don’t feel shy to drop a DM and fire away at my grammatical mistakes.
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The Art of Reading Indie
Can anyone be beautiful if someone doesn’t say to them, “I think you’re beautiful”? Can anyone be intelligent if the results of a test don’t confirm: “you’re a genius”? And more pertinent to our discussion, can any book be good if not validated by a 4 or 5 star review? Can a book without reviews at all be good in any sense of the word? Doesn’t someone need to tell us it is? Otherwise, isn’t beauty, intelligence, and artistic worth a relative term, utterly meaningless without a verifiable source?
When you browse the shelves of a bookstore or library, you implicitly know that these books have been curated for you by the experts. Not only publishers, but booksellers, sales charts, award committees, and librarians have each had their say, and personally picked through the debris of literature to offer these chosen gems: these are good and worth your time, they seem to say. So even if you take a book and decide it’s not for you, the reason isn’t that the book itself is bad, or comes from an inferior pen; it simply wasn’t your cup of tea, or what you were in the mood for. You don’t take it personally (or most of us don’t).
The same certainly isn’t true for an indie writer, whose book is usually curated by the writer’s discretion alone. Such a book has no publisher or librarian standing behind it; it merely says why not give me a chance? But there’s no guarantee that if will be well-written. It may even be ungrammatical. Chapters might break off without development. Characters might be crude caricatures, dialogue a mannequin’s attempt at small talk. The story might betray its origins as a half-baked excuse for conflict. It might outstay its welcome by the second chapter. For these reasons and many more, some readers avoid them entirely, or at least approach them with considerable skepticism. Why read indie books when there are thousands—millions!—of properly curated books waiting to be found?
Perhaps the answer lies in those very “millions.” If there are millions of curated books, each one backed by a publishing company or an agent, can every one of those millions be a unique work of art? To have a publishing industry, in fact, you not only need a standardized measure of quality, but a product. In short, you have to produce many of the same kinds of books on a predictable schedule. If every book tried something new or innovative, the industry would falter. Money would be lost. Careers would go down the drain. In point of fact, doesn’t it take someone coming from the outside—an indie, so to speak—to reinvent the wheel? (and in art, the wheel could always run a little smoother).
Indie books have the potential to be true game changers in the industry. They don’t have to follow market trends; they don’t have to play by established rules; they can mimic old forms while boldly striving for something new; and most of all, they can question common sense advice about what makes writing and stories “good”. A team of gatekeepers, from agents to editors to CEOs will all have an opinion on this and will make sure a given book conforms to these models. Not that these people are Philistines with no taste…but they do have to make money. An indie writer would love to make money, too, but he/she (probably) has another source of income. His or her entire income probably isn’t riding on the success or failure of this novel (and if it is, maybe he/she should take up a more stable profession). The freedom of being able to publish a novel without scrutiny while following your own aesthetic leads to a classic Scylla and Charybdis situation: on one side, malicious indifference and anger to your ‘new’ book, and on the other, the chance of writing something slapdash that hasn’t undergone the proper vetting/editing process to make it worth reading.
And it’s true: so many indie books probably shouldn’t have been published. The authors might not have the skills or the patience to write a good book; or they might possess these talents, but the enticement of publishing on demand tempted them to release a product too quickly, selling a glorified rough draft as a slick, $15.99 novel. Given these realities, should we, as readers, become the gatekeepers these authors avoided? Should we read them with dark brows and clicking tongue, lashing every spelling error and grammatical lapse? Should we really expect them to be the equal of traditionally published novels? And what penalty should we exact upon them when they fail to meet these expectations?
My answer to these questions are relatively simple: you have to read them differently. They’re not ‘normal’ books. Lest this sound condescending, consider that I, too, am an indie writer. And I honestly hope that readers don’t read my books like the latest bestseller (which is why I only charge the Amazon minimum for each one, 99 cents). I write books that follow many traditional hallmarks of the fantasy genre, but I’m also aware that I can re-write or re-fashion the rules on a whim. And so I do. I write the fantasy novels that Jane Austen might have written, which means (I think) that I try to look at a familiar genre from an unfamiliar perspective. I love old books, books that are two-hundred, three-hundred, even a thousand years old. But I also love where books have ended up, and what’s happening to them today. When I try to write books from both perspectives, agents and publishers tell me I’m wrong; we don’t write like that anymore, the kids won’t understand it, your writing is stiff and you use too much punctuation. In short, it’s not a product they can successfully market and curate on the shelves with their other ‘millions.’
That’s why I chose, at first reluctantly, but now by choice, to self-publish my novels. I want to mix and match, to bend and twist, to mold the fiction into a new shape that resembles (without mirroring) the books that I love. I want to take chances. And most importantly, I want to amuse myself. I don’t see a lot of joy and gusto in publishing today, largely because it’s become so safe and predictable. Indie writing doesn’t have to be safe or predictable. What they have to do is be themselves—not according to a formula, but according to the inner logic of the story itself.
Of course, that requires readers who are willing to follow along. Readers who don’t mind the occasional spelling mistake or story lapse, but who are willing to take the stories for what they are: bold experiments by lone visionaries who don’t have the backing of a major publishing house or team of editors and curators behind them. These are people pursuing a dream against all odds, and it’s a dream no one particularly wants them to follow. For that reason we need to read these books not like the next Steven King novel or the latest Neil Gaiman installment. Experience them like a strange new language, one that takes time to translate and to understand properly. And if, in the end, the story turns out to be a dud, to require more time to rebuild and reshape—what then?
That’s the unique beauty of indie writing: you can then tell the author. Communicate your concerns and misgivings to them rather than simply lobbing off another 1-star review. Don’t look at indie writing as a finished product. Rather, it allows you, the reader, to be a co-creator, an editor, a quality control expert. Chances are, the author is waiting desperately in the wings to hear something, anything, about his or her novel. And the chances are, your insights and criticisms will be like manna from heaven, reminding authors that someone is listening—someone is reading their work. A single good reader makes any writer, no matter how accomplished, a better one. So doesn’t it behoove us to read as many indie books as possible, to find the gems, and encourage these writers—good and bad—to ruthlessly pursue their art? For writing is an art first and foremost (sorry marketers!), and only artists will help us adapt it for the ideas and individuals of the 21st century.
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