vegan-brisket

[vegan-brisket]

drink tea you’ve never tried, reread your favorite book, get up to watch the sunrise, write a letter, listen to the birds, knit a bad sweater, bake an ugly cake, sing at the top of your lungs, jump crazily to some music. feel, really feel life without any restrictions, no matter the size. 

[vegan-brisket]

Non-writer: So what’s it like, having characters?

Writer: You know how cats behave? They run around the house at midnight, shrieking at the top of their lungs. They knock stuff off the counter even when you’re yelling at them to stop. The second you turn your focus to something else, they’re scratching at the closed door like an adorable agent of Lucifer.

Non-writer: …yeah?

Writer: That’s what the inside of my head is like, all the time. Even when I look bored. Even when I’m half-asleep. It never, ever stops, and I love it.

[vegan-brisket]

Spinel: Exists

Me:

Spinel: Exists

The Dimonds:

[vegan-brisket]

@punny-and-possibly-pan thank you for tagging me in this, the past couple of days have been shit and I kind of needed to hear something like this, so thank you :)

Tagging @itsxdavie @hannahs-creations @positivity-ace-books @truscum-transman @mycollectionofnuts @erinisawriter @jillheathers @kiramartinauthor @melindawrites @rainbowlovers13 @softestvirgil @everyone who needs to know they matter ❤

You are: Valid

You are: Important

You are: Loved

You are: Enough.

And if nobody has told you today: I’m proud of you for making it through to this very second.

[vegan-brisket]

sometimes character deaths aren’t for ‘shock value’. sometimes character deaths are important for the narrative. sometimes tragic endings aren’t for ‘shock value’. sometimes tragic endings are necessary.

[vegan-brisket]

What’s that? You said your idea isn’t unique enough? You’re not sure that you can pull it off? You’re scared you might not succeed?

That’s okay. Me too. Take my hand and let’s brave it together, shall we?

[vegan-brisket]

I didn't get a chance to read the whole thing yet, but so far this is an excellent post

Writing great friendships

Some of the best chemistry/relationships in fiction exist between characters who are/become friends. Here are some tips for making friendships come alive on the page:

1. Banter

One of the most interesting aspects of fictional friendships is the way the characters interact with each other whilst important plot points are occurring.

If your characters have easy banter, teasing one another without missing a beat and managing to bounce off each other even in the toughest circumstances, it will be clear to the reader that these two are/should be good friends.

Friends know each other well. They know the other’s character so well that they can easily find something to tease each other over. However, this also means knowing which topics are off-limits.

If you want to write a good, healthy friendship, your characters shouldn’t use humour/sarcasm as a way to hurt the other. It should be good-natured and understood as such from both sides.

Different friendships will have different types of chemistry. Some friends may tease each other with facial expressions. Others may already anticipate a snarky remark and counter it before it’s been spoken. Others will have physical ways of goofing around. 

Some friends might not tease each other at all. Banter isn’t necessary; it’s just a good way to make your characters come alive and make their friendship one that is loved by readers.

What’s important is chemistry - the way they automatically react to each other.

Think Sam and Dean in Supernatural or Juliette and Kenji in the Shatter Me series.

2. Mutual support 

Unless you purposefully want to write an unhealthy/toxic friendship, your characters should both be supportive of the other. 

This means that, even if one is the MC and the other the side-kick, both should be cognisant of the other’s feelings and problems, and should be considerate in this regard.

Few things will make your MC as likable as remembering to check in and be there for their best friend even when they are in the thick of a crisis.

You need to show your characters being vulnerable in front of each other and being supportive in ways that are tailored to the needs of each friend.

So, if one of the characters really responds to physical comfort, the other should know to give hugs/rub their back when they’re not feeling well. Similarly, if one of them doesn’t like being touched and responds to material comfort, have the other bring them ice cream and join them for a movie marathon. Whatever works for your characters.

What gets me every time is when a character is falling apart and won’t listen to/be consoled by anyone but their best friend (but this is just personal preference).

3. Knowing the other’s past/family life

This really only applies to characters who have been friends for quite a while.

Good friends know each other’s backstory - the highs and lows and mundane details. They know they layout of their family home and they probably know their family members well.

Friends will often talk about these things, only having to mention a few words for the other to know what they’re talking about i.e. “The ‘09 Thanksgiving disaster” or “You know how Uncle Fred is”

This will instantly make it clear that your characters are close and have come a long way together. 

Perhaps there are issues at home/trauma from the past that the other character will immediately understand. So, if one character appears with a black eye, their friend might know that the father was probably drunk the night before and got violent. Or if the character has a nightmare, the friend might know that it was about childhood abuse etc.

This can also apply to good things i.e. if one of the characters gets a nice note in their lunchbox, the other might know that their grandma is in town.

Whatever works for your story should be used to indicate the level of unspoken understanding the friends have.

4. Being protective

Few things will make your readers love a friendship more than the friends being fiercely protective of each other (in a healthy, non-territorial way).

Has someone hurt one of the characters? The other should be furious and want to exact revenge. Does someone say something demeaning to one of the friends? The other should defend them immediately and vehemently.

This can also take on a humorous twist if one of the characters starts dating someone. The friend can make extra sure that said date is sincere and promise to exact vengeance if their friend is hurt.

This can also be a great plot device, since it could explain why the MC’s best friend joins the quest/goes along on the journey. Perhaps this is the main plot point: a character seeking to protect/avenge their friend.

If you want to go in a toxic direction, this can be taken too far i.e. a friend who never lets the other spend time with anyone else/stalks the other/is patronising etc.

5.  Common interest(s)

Even if the two characters are vastly different, there should be something that keeps them together besides loyalty.

This is especially important for characters who become friends throughout the course of the novel.

This doesn’t have to mean that both of them go hiking every weekend or want to become pilots one day. It could be something small, like a love of cheesy movies or a shared taste in music. Maybe they both enjoy silence/don’t like other people. Maybe they are both social justice warriors, but for different causes. 

This could also be common characteristics instead of interests. Perhaps both are very ambitious/funny/social.

There should just be some factor that ignited the friendship and brings the two of them together.

This doesn’t necessarily have to be a big part of your story, but you should at least have it mentioned to make the friendship appear more authentic.

Reblog if you found these tips useful. Comment if you would like a Part 2. Follow me for similar content.

[vegan-brisket]

Your Worst Writing Problems Solved, Part One: The Half-Finished Project Graveyard

Your Worst Writing Problems Solved, Part One: The Half-Finished Project Graveyard #amwriting #writerslife #writingcommunity #writing #fiction #writingprojects

When I first started writing, it used to happen to me all the time: I would start a story, write a few “good” chapters and make it to between 10-15k words, then I’d get bored or stuck and walk away from it.

As far as fiction writers go, this doesn’t seem to be an uncommon problem:you start a story you’re really excited about. Things go well for a little while, and then you get stumped. “I’ll…

[vegan-brisket]

Reblog if you’d be okay if your friend came out as transgender

let’s see how many transphobics we can weed out

[vegan-brisket]

“You know you are on the right track when you become uninterested in looking back.”

—

Unknown

(via surqrised)

[vegan-brisket]

[vegan-brisket]

Tips & Inspo Roundup, Part Four: Socially Awkward Characters and Punchy Arguments

Tips & Inspo Roundup, Part Four: Socially Awkward Characters and Punchy Arguments #amwriting #writerslife #writingtips #fiction #author

Do you have enough conflict in your NaNo novel? Because as I (and many others, I’m sure) have said, conflict makes for interesting stories.

I happened to stumble upon a rather interesting article recently, about writing arguments between characters with “maximum punch.”Obviously that was the phrase that drew me in, because what’s an argument without punch (and why not have this in the maximum…

[vegan-brisket]

6 Tools To Make Your Camp NaNo A Success

Camp NaNo has arrived! Are you ready for it?! #amwriting #writerslife #writingcommunity #campnano #nanowrimo #writingtips #writingtools

The day has arrived! Are you ready for it?!

Just in case some of you are still scrambling to get everything together–or could just use some friendly NaNo encouragement–I’ve put together a list of resources to help you through.

For Last-Minute Odds and Ends: My Camp NaNo checklist.

I’ve mentioned it a few times in previous posts, but it’s definitely worth mentioning again. It’s every…

[vegan-brisket]

Character: My life is falling apart, the odds are against me, and I could literally die if I don’t solve this conflict!

Reader: Writer, have mercy!  Writer:

I don’t have mercy, but I do have a devastating plot point.

[vegan-brisket]

Getting Annoyed Is Good For Your Writing

Use what bothers you to make your stories better. #amwriting #writerslife #writing #fiction #novel #writingtips #writingideas #writingcommunity

Alright, alright, calm down a minute, because I can already hear you saying “Are you for real? That’s the dumbest backwash I ever heard.”

I mean, ouch. But just give me a chance to explain myself, because I promise it makes sense.

As I mentionedonce before, I recently hit a financial bump that required me to take on some other part-time work. Yeah, it wasn’t (and isn’t) my favorite…

[vegan-brisket]

Tips & Inspo Roundup, Part Three

Excited for #campnano? Check out my handy dandy checklist at the bottom of my latest post! #amwriting #writerslife #nanowrimo #writingcommunity #writer #fiction #campnanowrimo

Yep, I still exist guys 🙂

BUT things have been getting a lot tighter over here lately (yep, I got another job, temporarily of course because *I’m saving up for something muy importante*).

So I guess it’s a good thing I found this first tidbit, because Lord knows I need it even now.

Let’s not waste any time here, yeah?

Tidbit #1: Helpful ways to find time during NaNo.

I’ll be…

[vegan-brisket]

Holy Crap, It's NaNo Again?!

I gotta admit, #campnano snuck up on me this time. But who else is gonna give it their all this April?! #amwriting #writerslife #writingcommunity #write #fiction #yafiction #nanowrimo

So recently, I woke up and realized Camp NaNo is now less than a month away. And I have to admit: I’m so not ready.

My outlining process hasn’t been coming along as quickly as I hoped it would, not to mention several other *life things* have been vying for my attention, so safe to say Camp snuck up on me this time.

At least I have some sort of idea of what I’m doing though (or rather, what…