#we are flawed and we learn and grow

[sing-you-fools]

This is funny because I'm in the middle of a reread of that exact series. I didn’t read the entire blog post there (it is very long and I feel like I'll find it more interesting post-reread) but I read a fair bit of it. I do think the narrative ends up treating Corbin well in the end, but since we get each section in third person limited and we don't see in his head until later, so we mostly get how the other characters feel about him, and yeah, Sissix really hates him. (And once you've run into her culture, it's more understandable why those two specifically butt heads so intensely.) I don't think the book as a whole treats him the way her sections do, though it's totally understandable why that would put you off, and I do wish we got more from his pov earlier.

And. Okay. I'm having trouble expressing this thought but I'm going to try.

I find it very frustrating when every fantasy or alien race is immediately treated by any reader/reviewer as "a symbol for [x]." I find it limiting.

As writers, we only have the world around us to inspire us. When we write fantasy or sci-fi, this world bleeds through no matter how much we try to separate from it. You can spend all your time meticulously crafting a bunch of different alien species, building their societies, figuring out how they're structured, and so on, but we still only have real life to inspire us, or give us ideas, and yes, people will pick up on it. But as soon as they say "oh, the aliens are a metaphor for queerness!" then anything else is mixing metaphors and confusing the message and teaching readers the wrong lesson! But if the author were to say, okay, aliens represent queerness, and stick loyally to that, it would be too heavy-handed, too obvious, too boring.

We can't write an alien species that handles gender completely differently from how we do without "sending the wrong message about trans people."

Do the aliens represent queerness, or does Ashby and Pei's relationship make this particular reviewer think of how gay relationships used to be? Did the reviewer consider how mixed race relationships used to be? So why do they jump to this straight couple representing queerness instead of that? Do "the aliens" as a whole have to represent anything at all? Can we not just write some cool aliens for a fun story? Can we not accept that each alien race is a disco ball, each mirror of which may, yes, reflect back a different aspect of our own society?

I've seen the exact same criticism aimed at Pratchett, too, and I just don't know what an author is supposed to do. What I am supposed to do. There aren't many Fauns left and this one has kind of a hippie nature dude sort of vibe and suddenly I'm having visions of a reviewer who decided the fauns are a metaphor for indegeneity and is furious at me over the reveal that this faun's talking out eir ass and doesn't know shit, and now I'm canceled for my convoluted political message when I was just trying to write one fantasy creature who kinda sucks.

And - okay, I'm sorry, but "every species only seems to have one language/culture/etc" - fine, go ahead and write a book with this many distinct species and make up a whole fuckton of different cultures and languages for each of them if you want, but it's certainly not expected within the genre, and fuck. Worldbuilding is hard enough as it is. No one has time for that. That's weak criticism based in completely unrealistic expectations. Not doing a Tolkien level of worldbuilding for a hundred different species.

And the politics. Everything is political, yes. There are political implications to all our choices. Our politics will carry through in our writing, but that doesn’t mean we're sitting down with the intention of teaching a lesson every time we work on a story. I don't think Becky Chambers wrote this series with the intention of making anyone think real hard about politics, and I think we should be allowed to write a fun story where the politics aren't the point because something else is. So reviewing this series as if it's trying to teach a political message seems very strange to me. It's obviously not.

The whole thing in book 4, for example. I don't think suddenly giving us more info about that war is necessarily trying to teach us anything political. I think, yes, the author was informed by current events. I don’t think she was trying to tell us anything new about them, though. I think she was using them to hold up a mirror.

There's probably more I could say, but I only just started rereading book 2 last night (after I DNFed that other one) and I don't want to come back in a few weeks and be like, ah fuck I got all that wrong! so I'm gonna stop here. But Becky Chambers is one of my absolute favorite authors, and the impression I got from the first, I dunno, ten minutes of that review seemed like it was reviewing the series for not doing things it wasn't trying to do. Next time you need a warm hug of a book, I recommend her Monk and Robot series if you're soured on this one.

Started a book last night that I think has beaten my record for fastest DNF - made it through literally one page. One of those "the tone has such contempt for the genre that I'd rather just get hate mail from the author" situations. Like (I don't have it on me right now this is just me attempting to capture how it felt to read it): I'm Sparkle Queen. Yep, that's seriously my actual title. I know it sounds stupid as fuck but it's for real. Queen of Sparkles. And I have to do this thing. Seriously. Yeah, it's stupid and dumb, but I gotta do it, and there will be glitter which is gross and ugly and anyone who likes it sucks.

Anyway, if anyone's read Battle of the Linguist Mages and wants to tell me I'm wrong, please go ahead. It sounded good and I'm disappointed at how immediately it sucked.

(Second-fastest DNF prize goes to Playing the Palace, which mentioned so many brands by name in the first page and a half that it was all I could do not to throw it directly in the trash.)

[nonbinarylesbianherb]

Unpopular opinion: people are looking at young!Rhaenicent with rose tinted glasses, it was never as “sweet and innocent” as people make out.

Their dynamic reminds me of a less extreme version of Kizzy and Missy-Anne’s in Roots. On a surface level it’s an adorable friendship between two young girls overcoming racial boundaries, but once you delve deeper you realise how one sided it truly is.

Two things are very clear about Rhaenyra, even from a young age:

She’s a narcissist

She’s a Valyrian supremacist

As a result she never actually viewed Alicent as an equal, she was her lady in waiting who she was nice to but that’s about it. She never viewed Alicent as her equal nor did she think it was ok for her to marry into House Targaryen.

Even in 2x03 when she’s urging Alicent to end the war, it was abundantly clear her idea of peace was simply expecting Team Green to give up so she and Jace can take the throne. Then in 2x08 Alicent was stripped down to how Rhaenyra always saw her: the handmaiden with no titles and no power, “humbled” in front of Queen Rhaenyra I Targaryen.

hi!

i did a big yap but lowkey i just deleted it and gonna still yap but less yap okay nvm not less yap it was more yap actually om

sometimes children are just children. Sometimes 14 yr old girls are just 14 yr old girls. Sometimes young teens are just young teens. What do I mean by this? I mean that I’ve seen people say alicent was a master manipulator or that rhaenyra is e.g a narcissist and supremacist, and maybe in the future! But saying a 14 year old who’s your average, flawed, non perfect, going to be immature and selfish at times kid is showing signs of narcissism etc i don’t think is necessarily correct. Young teen friendships and relationships have issues, because young teens lack maturity and communication skills. Rhaenyra loved alicent and alicent loved rhaenyra, for the first like episode before everything out of their control happened. it WAS a sweet and innocent relationship because it was a normal one between two girls of that age, (plus some romantic feelings developing). Was there times where rhaenyra could’ve been selfish? yes! but i promise you we all have been selfish without meaning to at the age, not to mention rhaenyra was raised as royalty, extremely privileged even though she was a woman, which adds to the fact she may have lacked understanding for alicent but it does not mean she didn’t try. We see scenes of her showing empathy and trying to understand alicent, we see alicent do the same for rhaenyra. I understand how people viewed it one sided, but i promise ive thought about young rhaenicent a lot lol, and their friendship was just as important and meaningful to the both of them, alicent DID receive care and thought too, I know rhaenyra was a taker a lot but she did love alicent. Had their friendship not been interrupted from everything that happened it would’ve progressed as best friends from a young age do, slowly maturing together and understanding each other better, recognising each others struggles, etc. My best friend and I have been friends since a young age of like 10/11, were there times we fought? yes, were there times our communication was immature? yes, were there times we weren’t very nice or understanding? yes! but we grew, we learnt, we apologised, we AGED above a pre teen lmaoo. I love her and she loves me, she’s so fucking amazing and kind and i love her which ive already said but its true, we’ve been there for each other, we always will be, unless she dies or I die, but if i die im haunting her and if she dies im following her to the grave and into the afterlife which i don’t even believe in. anyway not to turn this into my best friend appreciation post,, was young rhaenicent flawed? yes, i never said they were perfect but they were innocent and it was sweet to watch them giggle and hold hands and lie in each others laps. their relationship as they grow slowly sours (which i mention) because of everything that happens, but i’d like to imagine that if that never happened they would’ve been friends for a very very long time, and also maybe a bit homosexual ❤️

[jazzzzzzhands]

Inktober 2023 Year 8 Day 18: Sisters

I really really love Bluey and Bingo so much!! Also good sibling relationships!!

[the-apocrypha]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💗 (i don't know if you do these sorts of chain-letter things, or if you'd prefer not to, but for my part i do like to know which of their works a given author is especially hype on, so consider this an opportunity to gush!)

Feel free to ignore if you've already done it (or recommend another five!)

Ooooo I technically haven't done this one before, but I did answer an ask about a month ago that was "What's your favorite fic that you've written" and I am indecisive and so I answered with like four different fics. Oops! So here's the link to that post, if you want to see.

(Self-reccing is painful and I refuse to do it more than once every six months.)

[falllpoutboy]

its always "we support womens wrongs" until yall see her 🙄

[ninja-knox-ur-sox-off]

Good day, it’s been a while, I am thinking about Tang Sanzang

[countessofravenclaw]

Look, Luna is my sunshine baby and I love her, but she can't really be defended during this.

So, let me get this straight... You couldn't watch the guy who you secretly have a crush on play guitar because he had to do his job that he's paid to do?

How awful

Definitely worse than your bestfrined being worried that her boyfriend of over a year thinks that she is cheating on him while he's overseas.

Look, I don't want to hate on Luna, but this is such a SHE'S THE MAIN CHARCTER -moment as it can be.

Luna is amazing friend and the best person to hype you up, but she can be very ignorant and self centered, in a very non-self aware way. She does not realize what she's doing and no one calls her out on it, so she can't learn and grow.

Luna becoming more self aware of her own behavior and learning m,re about herself as a result would ahve been such a god charcter arc for her in S3, since she didn't really have one outside of the Roller Stuff (where she was always right, when she made super stupid choices).

[13eyond13]

.

[bloodravensarecommies]

Yeah this is probably the lesbianism talking but like. I'm really struggling to give more than a surface-level shit about 9S. Like. I'm here for a story about women bro, get this fucking twink out of my sight

[fortes-fortuna-iogurtum]

oh another thing about "Miss Scarlet and the Duke" s2.01--I love Hattie. I might actually die for her. I hope she and Eliza become the best of friends.

[us-the-voices-and-more-voices-2]

me: wow, I uh actually am an okay person whoa.

also me: how is this possible it shouldn’t be why how why how why how why how why how why how.

[dragonfyre-creations]

I don't think I've ever poured so many of my physical attributes and so much of my heart and soul into a character design before in such a personal way before so fuck it whenever I finish the final design for Faeng and whatever I come up with I'm making her into my sona (dragonsona? Persona? Idk how this works lmfao)

(long dump in the tags and under the cut)

The last time I was even remotely connected this much to a character was when I designed Jaxsu, but honestly never truly made her my sona/main character, she was just the one I used most often in art pieces. I never really actually liked her lore and backstory enough because she was what I wanted to be instead of what I am/was. Jax isnt perfect either, but her parents love her and otherwise has friends and is loved unconditionally. She has a healthy relationship with everyone and everything. This is where the disconnect happened and where I actually started to dislike her despite her being my otherwise favorite character for awhile. Both Faeng and Jaxsu have ADHD and Autism but Jaxsu was able to put that towards a job and becoming a ship captain and winning a colosseum tournament. She's done all of these great things so even if she didn't have a healthy relationship with her parents they'd still love her because she's done something impressive and useful.

Faeng on the other hand, has to fight for everything. Her parents are important and have important jobs, and place all of these unreachable and unrealistic expectations on her and expect her to reach them with minimal effort and be perfect, but she can't no matter how hard she tries. She needs someone to explain it and break it down for her in steps so she understands what do to and how to do it so she doesn't mess it up. She's both strong and smart but it's not in practical "normal" ways or subjects. It's convoluted, It's not in the ways everyone wants her to be, she has no teachers to help her understand how to channel that strength and intelligence into something "useful" so she puts it towards the things she likes and wants to do, and thus struggles in a world that would otherwise be easy to navigate and conquer if she were "normal". Those that do understand her and try to help her are alienated by other people in an attempt to either punish both of them or force her to adapt to be somewhat passing as normal, if not then at least listen to what she's told to do. She does eventually make acquaintances but find that her twisted speech and weird explanations aren't worth trying to decipher and understand so they leave, they don't put in the effort to meet her halfway even though she's struggling and doing her best to speak in a way they'll understand.

Her parents acknowledge her differences but in a way that frames it as flawed and wrong, something that needs to be corrected, and push her to figure out her problems by herself, tearing down any support network she tries to build. She tries her damned hardest but it's not enough, it never is and never will be for them because she's not the perfect child they wanted. She showed promise in her younger years being a "gifted child" so she knows what love and acceptance lies in wait and what could be if she could just be normal and perfect. Her achievements and promise come and show in waves. She burns and fizzles out in one of the most virulent, painful ways possible after getting hurt trying to prove her worth yet again. She holds nothing but criticism, vitriol and contempt for herself because she can't claw her way back to where she was before, this time something happened and something is terribly, horribly wrong this time but she doesn't know that it is and can't figure it out, nor will anyone tell her. Whatever it is, left a mental and several physical injuries and it does nothing but deepen her self hatred and her parent's waning belief in her. She listens to false promises and praise of other people who do nothing but wish to manipulate and harm her but she stays because any form of praise is deemed good, she hungers for more and does worsening things.

She ignores the people who tell her that what she's doing is dangerous and will only end in disaster, because she doesn't believe them. If the people who are saying they're her friends are telling her that the people she hurts deserve it and that what she's doing is good, then surely she needs to believe them over strangers, right? Everything comes to a breaking point and shatters around her leaving her with quite literally nothing but her own self hatred, newfound rage and overbearing mental issues she needs to navigate once again to find out what hell it is and what's wrong with her now. She's scared of everyone and everything with the added bonus of now being hyper-aware and perceptive of people's mannerisms and behaviors, especially those who want to manipulate or harm her again. She wraps every vulnerable part of herself in metaphorical thorns and teeth to bite and maim whoever pries and digs into what she truly is, even people who want to understand her. She suffers at more than her own hand, forcing herself to deal with everything alone, until she finally meets someone that could be considered a true friend. She slowly opens up and helps them as much as they help her before everything comes crashing back down once again upon the reveal that they've been lying to her the entire time about very serious issues, and she's been used as nothing more than an attack dog once again. She burns every bridge and everyone around her in one final breakdown of rage before shutting down completely. One of the groups of friends she's shoved stay comes back and asks if she's ok. She doesn't understand why they're being kind, why they're concerned it why they care and tries to shove them away again. Every single day they still ask, talking even if there's no response from her, until she finally relents and breaks.

She's finally loved and accepted despite every fault and every flaw she has, and every time she tries to pull away out of fear of being an inconvenience they pull back twice as hard and remind her that she's able to just exist, she doesn't need to constantly be useful and that they care. She finally, finally is comfortable enough to let herself be accepted and then becomes the most clingy little shit, just as they do with her. But yeah, my own life has been very much of the same, especially the last part. Every time I go on another self-hatred spiral and drop off the face of the earth my MonHun bros give me a metaphorical slap to the face and remind me that I don't need to constantly prove my worth to everyone and prove that I'm useful, and that existing every once in awhile is more than enough. If that doesn't work then it's "you need to get your ass back over here because we're failing the Safi siege without the absolutely ridiculous amount of DPS your build Switchaxe does". I was not intending for her to be so much like me but goddamnit she's wormed her way into being my favorite now and I guess Mirage is no longer my impromptu sona

[impactrueno]

it helps me to remember when i get sad about how annoyed lydia gets in s4 is that she’s fourteen at that point so she is ACTIVELY going through puberty. and we’re all kind of annoyed with the world at that point, even the people we love.

that's very true. she's also known him for years at that point, and he can be uhh a lot. he can't get away with displaying his huge flaws as often as he used to, lydia doesn't allow it, and when he DOES get away with it, the episode ends with lydia disappointed and even outright mad at him. Midnight Scum in particular is so hard to watch, you can see her losing respect for him as the episode progresses and...then it ends. episode over. beetlejuice is horrible, what did we expect?

but yeah season 4 is. whoof man.

sure, you can chalk up part of it to teenage hormones making her more irritable, but i really do think she's just like, at her limit sometimes. i can't blame her, i too want to strangle him a lot of the time and i'm not even the one putting up with his shit, babysitting him or having to deal with the consequences of HIS actions.

this isn't Critter Sitters anymore, she is simply not having it and she won't make a cute little excuse for him "oh he makes me laugh and eats bugs hee hee"

season 4 lydia reacting at his jokes like 😒🙄

she's probably heard that one a thousand times by now. beetlejuice is a static character; he doesn't change, he doesn't go through character development, he doesn't learn his lesson (outright refuses to) but lydia DOES change. and she will continue to change as she grows older. and i KNOW this is a sad theory but i can't help but think that, as she grows and moves forward, she's just...gonna leave him behind.

it'll be hard for her not to. not only is she starting to make her own life and will continue to get busier and busier and not having time to hang out with her ghoulish best friend...she's also maturing. something beetlejuice has never done, and seemingly never will. and as she grows more mature, those puns and pranks and hijinks will become less funny, and his lying, clinginess and refusal to grow will become more evident. season 4 has lydia expecting better of him and being let down, constantly. if it's exasperating for us imagine how it must be for her.

at what point does it become too much? how often has lydia sat and thought about this kind of thing? considering how intelligent and sensible she is for her age, probably more than a few times. this dead guy inadvertently saved this depressed little girl by becoming friends with her and giving her the confidence to be herself and make her own friends. does she know that though? beetlejuice does, he saw it when they showed him the reality in which lydia never meets him. but lydia has no idea (and he will never tell her) so sometimes i wonder if she's missing that key aspect of why he's so important in her life. it's possible she might've come to the same conclusion herself; but even then, these things can be hard to remember when you're having to, once more, clean up after him and the messes he gets them into because his chaotic impulses are always stronger than him. you can tell she's very tired of this. and she will become even more so as time passes.

best friends forever though.

...

...right?

[nezz-cringe-crib]

growing up is realizing that dipcifica was actually a pretty damn good ship and holy shit i totally misjudged this pairing.

i never really liked dipcifica mainly because of how it got represented by the fandom, but looking back on it, it would've made a lot of sense and it would've been beneficial for both of them to date each other. and even in a completely platonic sense, their dynamic worked well enough that they could've done a lot more together.

dipper is a very nerdy awkward guy, clearly. he likes solving mysteries and sometimes he gets a little in over his head because of it. and his silly little awkward teenage love life reflects all of these things. that little shrimp was disney's #1 simp, it's actually insane. whenever he'd start to fall for a girl it'd end up going pretty terribly because he'd have no idea how to just act like himself and he'd also become a little bit of a jerk. (i'm not trying to like dog on dipper btw. he's just a kid and these are all understandable flaws, especially at his age and at the time period gravity falls took place in). however, with pacifica, a lot of these flaws are manageable solely because of how they're introduced to each other. dipper hates pacifica at first and wants nothing to do with her, but eventually they're forced to work together and realize "huh. we actually make a really good team." for dipper, this gradual building of a relationship is really beneficial to him. he wouldn't just go head-first into simping for some random girl and he'd also learn to respect her as a person and realize when he's being a little bit of a dick. being with pacifica, platonically or romantically (though personally i think romantically would strengthen their pros more but thats just my personal taste), would've helped dipper become a better person.

this goes for pacifica as well. pacifica's homelife is extremely controlling and it's what groomed her into becoming the mean girl that she's first presented as. as the show continues though, it's clear that she doesn't really want to be mean to anybody. she only acts spoiled because she doesn't know what else she can act like. she wants to connect to people but she's been so forced into this fake rich life that she has no idea how to be genuine with anybody. that's why her having a connection to dipper is so important. dipper is a little blunt, and he especially won't hide that from pacifica because he initially hates her and her family's lifestyle, so this'll eventually help pacifica realize "oh shit. i'm kind of a dick. my family are kind of huge dicks." and we do end up seeing this from her in "Northwest Mansion Mystery". she learns how to be herself, learns who "herself" even means, and learns to stand up for who she is when she figures that out. also pacifica's pretty damn smart???? especially socially???? she could absolutely help dipper do a lot of things when it comes to mystery solving, and with her status it'll most likely be things that dipper could never pull off and never even thought about because that's just what he's used to. they'd both end up learning a lot from each other because they'd be dragged into environments that they're not familiar with, but the other is. and their different perspectives/lifestyles would help the other view their environment in a new light.

not only is their relationship genuinely really beneficial to the both of them, but i also just know that their dialogue and scenes with each other would be so damn silly i can't not say yes to it anymore. i also just personally like headcanoning them both as bisexual so that's a plus for me.

anyways, tldr: i was wrong about dipcifica and its actually really good, i just think people should really analyze their relationship more since the way the fandom presents it (or how ive personally seen the fandom present it) is a little icky and shallow at least in my opinion. yay for dipcifica being silly little goobers :3

[3hks]

Writing Character CHANGE

Character development is absolutely CRUCIAL to a story, but having spent more time thinking about this topic, I came to the realization that I misunderstood a lot of points other people have made when teaching how to write character development.

There are a lot of factors that play into character development, but in this post, I'll cover some overall, but the main thing concerns any change to your character! (Which is also a huge part in development, really.)

So with this post, I'll be teaching you MY personal tips regarding this subject!

*The Basics*

Before we really get into the developmental stage, there are some things you want to establish, in which I'll explain later!

A couple of flaws.

How your character views themselves at first.

Your character's morals/ideals and how they think.

These things may vary, but you want your readers to be able to at least roughly predict how your character will act during specific events!

*Change*

Character development is just about how your character changes throughout the story. I like to say that there are several different ways one may change, (we'll get into that later on) but your character should NOT stay the same as the same person during the exposition and during the resolution!

"During character development, your character should grow."

This is a common piece of advice; your character needs to grow. And while I've assumed for the longest time that I understood what it meant, it never truly clicked.

While they will use words such as grow, what they really mean is that your character should mature. By the end of your story, your character may not always end up as a better person. When I say mature, I mean that they have reflected back on their life and have understood the consequences that came with their actions (if any) or how they could've done things differently.

Your character will not always end up as a better, fixed person, but they should understand their world and themselves better.

*Negative/Passive Change*

Alright then, so how does a character develop if they don't necessarily change for the better? Well, I'll get into that!

No matter what, your character should have learned a lesson through their experience. Even if they haven't exactly improved as a person, there should be a moral they can learn from what they have gone through.

If not, then did they really grow?

Additionally, how did their qualities negatively impact themselves? If they are bad traits, then it needs to be clear. And the best way to achieve this is by demonstrating how it hurts your character! However, it is rather uncommon for a character to undergo little to no change after a story!

*Positive Change*

Let's circle back to the basics, real quick. Remember how I said that before any development takes place, your character should be anything but perfect? That same thing applies to after the change.

Do NOT create a flawless character by the end of your story. Instead, focus on one or two flaws that get fixed as the story continues. These don't have to be huge, life-changing imperfections, but they can be minor ones that still shape their life in one way or another.

"Fixing" too many shortcomings can make your character seem, well, out of character, producing a character development that's more forced. The same thing applies if you're attempting to FULLY alter a fault that's just too big. The change will be too noticeable.

What am I talking about? Here's an example!

Imagine a character who's incredibly closed off to other people, wanting to ensure that he never gets too close to others.

That's a pretty sizable flaw, no? By the end of your story, you do not want to completely change because you need to preserve character, but you can change it a bit. Does he have a few friends now? Does he understand that there are some people worth trusting?

He may still be closed off to majority of people, but at least it's not everyone, and that's a realistic change.

*Different Changes*

As I continue to read more stories and watch more shows, I have realized that character development is not always about fixing flaws or personality, but it can extend far past that line.

So listen up, because I feel like no one really talks about this.

Your character can change their IDEALS, MORALS, and how they VIEW THEMSELVES.

Hear that? If your character has strong morals, they will hardly stay the same as they reach the end. Remember the requirements I mentioned at the beginning?

See how it connects now? There is SO much more to character development than changing a few imperfections. Like I said in the start, your character needs to grow and mature. Things like new morals or ideals assist with that!

*SUMMARY*

In order to start character development, you need a couple of flaws, an idea of how your character looks at themselves, and their morals. This is because those are the main parts of you character that may change through time.

Growth = Maturing (gaining a better sense of who they are and the world they live in.)

NOT ALL CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IS POSITIVE!

For negative or passive change, make sure to clarify how their imperfections affected or hurt them and have some sort of moral that follows.

YOUR CHARACTER SHOULD NOT BE PERFECT!

They should not be perfect in the beginning, and not perfect in the end! Do not 'fix' too many traits because you want to preserve character.

I think that's all! It's quite the post for something so simple, eh? But hey, character development is absolutely PIVOTAL to a story so I hope I at least explained the 'change' part of that well!

Happy writing~

3hks <3

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Plot Method

The Save the Cat! Beat Sheet was originally developed by Blake Snyder to help screenwriters plot movies, but it works just as well with novels.

It breaks down the 3-act structure into small, specific sections (sometimes just one scene long).

Each section pushes your story forward in its own way.

The exact word count/page count of each section depends on how long your novel is and what type of story you’re telling, but you can use the colored chart below and the percentages in the instructions as a guide. 

Context Note: This method is based on the concept of the Three Act Structure, which is an inherently Western approach to plot. It can be a useful way to tell a story, but it is by no means the only one.

ACT 1

Opening Image (0-1%)

Show a “before” snapshot of your protagonist and their world.

What is life like before the adventure begins?

It represents the struggle & tone of the story.

Set-up (1-10%)

Expand on the “before” snapshot.

Explore your protagonist’s life, including the internal flaws and external challenges they’ll have to overcome in order to change for the better by the end of the story.

Present the main character’s world as it is, and what is missing in their life.

Also introduce important supporting characters.

Theme Stated (happens during the Set-up)

What your story is about; the message, the truth.

Usually, it is spoken to the main character or in their presence, but they don’t understand the truth/lesson…not until later, when they have some personal experience and context to support it.

Thus, include a scene where a character says something that hints at what the protagonist’s big life lesson will be - how they’ll have to change and grow by the end of the story.

Catalyst (10%)

The moment where life as it is changes.

Examples: It is the telegram, the act of catching your loved-one cheating, allowing a monster onboard the ship, meeting the true love of your life, etc.

There’s no going back to the “before” world from here… What is the inciting incident that pushes the protagonist into the next phase of the story?

Debate (11-20%)

But change is scary and for a moment, or a brief number of moments, the main character doubts the journey they must take.

Show the protagonist questioning themselves and resisting the path ahead - wondering whether they have what it takes, or whether or they should just run home and hide under the bed.

“Should I just…?” “I really shouldn’t because…” “But what about…” Can I face this challenge? Do I have what it takes? Should I go at all?

It is the last chance for the hero to chicken out.

ACT 2

Break Into 2 (20%; Choosing Act Two)

The main character makes a choice and the journey begins.

We leave the “Thesis” world and enter the upside-down, opposite world of Act 2.

They make the choice to begin their adventure/transformation/journey/new thing.

Show your protagonist deciding to plunge into Act 2.

The Promise of the Premise (21-50%)

This is when the reader thinks “Ah, now we’re getting to the good stuff they hinted at on the back cover of this book!”

It’s also one of the longest sections in your book.

Show your protagonist getting used to their new world - loving it, hating it, making mistakes or doing well, meeting new people (see more below) and keeping the reader entertained.

This is when the main character explores the new world and the audience is entertained by the premise they have been promised.

B Story (happens during The Promise of the Premise)

This is when there’s a discussion about the Theme – the nugget of truth.

Usually, this discussion is between the main character and the love interest.

So, the B Story is usually called the “love story”.

Introduce a new character or characters who will eventually help the protagonist learn their life lesson.

Friends? Mentors? Love interests? Nemeses (nemesi?)? Who are they? How will they help?

Midpoint (50%)

This moment is when everything seems “great” or everything seems “awful,” depending on your story.

The main character either gets everything they think they want (“great”) or doesn’t get what they think they want at all (“awful”).

Either the Fun and Games section has lead to a false victory for your protagonist (they think they’ve been doing great so far) or a false defeat (they’ve been having a hard time so far).

What happens in this moment, halfway between beginning and end?

But not everything we think we want is what we actually need in the end.

Bad Guys Close In (51-75%)

Get ready for a bumpy ride. If your Midpoint was a false victory, now things start to go wrong for your protagonist.

If the Midpoint was a false defeat, well, things seem to be looking up, but the bad guys are getting closer and will have something to say.

Note: Bad guys can be actual physical enemies, but they can also be emotional enemies, like doubt or jealousy or fear.

Doubt, jealousy, fear, foes both physical and emotional regroup to defeat the main character’s goal, and the main character’s “great”/“awful” situation disintegrates.

Show the protagonist’s newly-built world beginning to unravel.

This will also be one of the longer sections in your novel.

All is Lost (75%)

This is when something happens to make your character hit rock bottom.

It’s the absolute lowest part of your novel.

Maybe someone or something dies (either literally or figuratively).

The initial goal now looks even more impossible than before. And here, something or someone dies.

It can be physical or emotional, but the death of something old makes way for something new to be born.

What does this moment look like for your protagonist?

Dark Night of the Soul (76-80%)

Your protagonist now has time to react to their “All is lost” moment, to mourn what they lost and wallow in hopelessness.

They’re worse off than they were at the beginning of the novel.

Show how low things have gotten.

Mourning the loss of what has “died” – the dream, the goal, the mentor character, the love of your life, etc.

But, you must fall completely before you can pick yourself back up and try again.

ACT 3

Break Into 3 (80%; Choosing Act Three)

The “aha!” moment; the “lift yourself up and try again” moment.

Show the protagonist realizing what they need to do in order to tackle their problems, both external and internal.

Thanks to a fresh idea, new inspiration, or last-minute Thematic advice from the B Story (usually the love interest), the main character chooses to try again.

Finale (81-99%)

The protagonist does what they decided to do in the Break Intro 3 beat, and (because of all the learning/growing they’ve done and the support or insight from the B Story), their plan works.

This time around, the main character incorporates the Theme – the nugget of truth that now makes sense to them – into their fight for the goal because they have experience from the A Story and context from the B Story.

The Bad Guys are defeated, the world is changed for the better.

What are the battles? How will the protagonist triumph (or not)?

This is another longer section, so you’ve got the space to make things dramatic and intense.

Act Three is about Synthesis.

Final Image (99-100%)

This is the opposite of the Opening Image, the “after” snapshot instead of the “before.”

Show the reader how the protagonist and their world have changed.

THE END

Sources: 1 2 ⚜ Writing Notes & References