natsumesfangirl

[natsumesfangirl]

Writing Tips Masterlist

✎ Types of Romances ‘I’ would love to read

✎ Villains: a guide

✎ How to write angst

✎ How to write Panic Attacks

✎ How to write Hurt-comfort romances

✎How to write thriller/horror

✎ How to make character deaths painful

✎ Nickname Guide

[natsumesfangirl]

Tips for (beginner) writers

Set yourself a daily word count. You don't have to do it daily, just make sure everytime you sit down and write you do it with the thought of "I'm gonna write at least a page today".

Don't let bad writing demotivate you. Fuck it, if its bad, it's bad. You can edit it. But don't just stop at bad scenes, write your way through it.

If you're stuck in a scene and you don't know what's coming next, write another chapter. Just a random one. Maybe one you don't even know where to put it in the plot.

When you don't know how to write a scene, write the dialogue, then add the actions.

Don't loose yourself in endless planning. Your characters are bitches, they're gonna do it differently anyway.

Following that, don't characterise your characters in detail before you start writing. As I said, they know better. Instead, characterise them while you are writing.

The Comic Sans writing tip works.

You don't have to edit every chapter right after writing it. You're gonna have to edit the whole thing again anyway and you're gonna change things in previous chapters, so save your time and finish the story before you edit.

Never speak the sentence "I'm kinda in a flow, writing is so easy currently." The writing gods can hear you and they hate you.

If you have no motivation to write, read.

Don't be afraid to try out stuff.

Don't be afraid to be evil.

Drink enough water/tee/coffee.

"I have an idea for my story, but I'm gonna memorise it, I don't have to write it down." YES YOU DO.

Make sure you can answer the question "Oh, what is your book about?" with two simple sentences.

Have fun and find your way. Every writer is a little different. Don't care too much what others do.

Publishing is not easy, especially your first book. Find an agent or good people who will support you with self-publishing.

[natsumesfangirl]

If your plot feels flat, STUDY it! Your story might be lacking...

Stakes - What would happen if the protagonist failed? Would it really be such a bad thing if it happened?

Thematic relevance - Do the events of the story speak to a greater emotional or moral message? Is the conflict resolved in a way that befits the theme?

Urgency - How much time does the protagonist have to complete their goal? Are there multiple factors complicating the situation?

Drive - What motivates the protagonist? Are they an active player in the story, or are they repeatedly getting pushed around by external forces? Could you swap them out for a different character with no impact on the plot? On the flip side, do the other characters have sensible motivations of their own?

Yield - Is there foreshadowing? Do the protagonist's choices have unforeseen consequences down the road? Do they use knowledge or clues from the beginning, to help them in the end? Do they learn things about the other characters that weren't immediately obvious?

[natsumesfangirl]

Fake it til you Make it (Faking Expertise)

                One of the hardest parts of writing is that we're rarely just writers.. We have to be doctors, magicians, politicians, thieves, masters in chemistry, song writing, theatre, biology. The perfect writer would be someone with a little bit of knowledge about literally everything. As much as I’d love to spend the rest of my life just taking random university classes and learning about whatever I needed for the project I’m working on—eventually I have to graduate and, y’know, pay off student loans.

                So when you’re writing about something you really don’t know anything about, but your character is supposed to (or worse, supposed to be an expert) here’s what I do:

Research what you can

I start with the basics. Vocab lists, beginners classes or articles, and news stories about recent contributions to the field are an easy way to make your character sound like they know what they’re talking about, and also they’re super available to find. Just don’t overuse niche vocab or you’ll lose your readers—if you’re going to use a term or word most wouldn’t know, you can also define it or use context to allow readers to know what it means, stick to a few of these max.

2. Keep it vague

If my characters are learning about something in class that I know nothing about, an easy way to get by this is to start the scene in the classroom with a little intro: “open your textbooks to page 33”, and then focus on something else, “outside shadows stretched long across campus as the sun dove behind the horizon”, then finish it up, “Next assignment is on the fundamentals of linguistics we went over today. Please have it in by next week.”

        Obviously if it’s important you should teach it to the readers too—there’s only so much faking we can do in this area, but this allows you to keep from literally teaching an entire lecture within your story and is going to help you keep interest and control your pacing.

3. It’s okay if you fib a little

The truth is, most of your readers aren’t going to be experts or professionals in whatever you’re writing about either. When we read fiction, we’re reading from an understanding that the things within it aren’t realistic or stretch and exaggerate the truth. If you make some things up about the topic you’re writing about, few will notice, many less will care. It doesn’t have to be perfectly accurate, we’re here for the story, not to study for our next exam.

                If you have the basics, the base of knowledge, but build fiction or magic off of that, it will be convincing enough while saving you from spending too much money getting a masters in your topic.

                Good luck!

[natsumesfangirl]

people who like and reblog are my type ( ͡° ͜   ͡°)

[natsumesfangirl]

Sometimes a booty is just a booty.

You can Read All of Aces Wild on TAPAS: [HERE]

And on Webtoon: [HERE]

Don’t Forget Aces Wild Books 1 & 2 are available on Ko-Fi!: [HERE]

If you would like to support the artist on other platforms, check out their Carrd: sallyvinter.carrd.co/

[natsumesfangirl]

Newly Licensed Manga Explores a Young Women's Asexual Identity

On January 26, Kodansha Comics announced that it has licensed Uta Isaki's manga Is Love the Answer (Kimi no Sekai ni Koi Wanai). This single-volume manga follows a young woman as she explores her identity as aromantic asexual. It releases in English in Fall 2022.

The publisher describes the manga:

When it comes to love, high schooler Chika wonders if she might be an alien. She’s never fallen for or even had a crush on anyone, and she has no desire for physical intimacy. Her friends tell her that she just “hasn’t met the one yet,” but Chika has doubts… It’s only when Chika enters college and meets peers like herself that she realizes there’s a word for what she feels inside–asexual–and she’s not the only one. After years of wondering if love was the answer, Chika realizes that the answer she long sought may not exist at all–and that that’s perfectly normal.

Is Love the Answer was serialized in Katsu Kiss and published in a single Japanese volume by Kodansha in 2020.

Uta Isaki is a Japaanese manga artist known for her series Sayabito: Sword of Destiny and Bukimi no Tani no Roboko-san. She has contributed to a number of manga anthologies, including Golden Time, Masamune-kun's Revenge, and Éclair. Her doujinshi oneshots Silkscreen and Mine-kun Is Asexual are licensed in English by Irodori Comics.

[natsumesfangirl]

Something a bit more heavy, about amatonormativity...

Image transcription:

Image 1: Amatonormativity (The assumption that everyone needs to be in a lifelong monogamous romantic (and sexual) relationship, and the social expectations and pressure to live up to it) Fucking SUCKS!!

(for literally everyone — so let's all kill that fucker) said by cartoons (one has a knife and is ready to kill)

and here's some of my experience with it:

Image 2: Children....

(annoyed cartoon character talking to small shadow)

- Do you have a girlfriend?

- No.

- Then do you have any crushes?

- No.

- What? I don't believe you. You're lying.

- Why would I??

Image 3: Adults....

(uneasy cartoon character talking to tall shadow)

- So have you found someone yet?

- No, I'm not looking either.

- Don't worry, you still have time.

- I'm not worried, I'm fine like that.

- You'll see in a couple years.

Image 4: ....or even myself...

(cartoon character is overwhelmed by various amatonormative thoughts and is in distress)

Image 5:

(cartoon character is sitting in the middle, making a peace sign)

I wish I could say something uplifting and inspirational on how to fight it...

But I'm still figuring that part out for myself...

Just don't act like being single is the worst thing you could imagine

(Don't be a douche)

End of transcription.

[natsumesfangirl]

haha ace memes go brr

[natsumesfangirl]

“The women I loved most in the world horrified me. I did not want to grow up to be them. I made myself proud of their pride, their determination, their stubbornness, but every night I prayed a man’s prayer: Lord save me from them. Do not let me become them.”

— Two or Three Things I Know for Sure, Dorothy Allison (via zoe-bug)

[natsumesfangirl]

“People have always told me: ‘You’ll understand once you start dating. You’ll feel it when you like someone. You’ll learn when you grow up’. But the feeling of romance I was supposed to understand one day - the meaning of kissing or sex - I couldn’t get that at all. I thought I was lacking something as a human. That’s why the words aromantic asexual… they saved me.” | KOISENU FUTARI

(how to watch)

[natsumesfangirl]

Preach, Takahashi! Don’t use love as an excuse for bad behaviour!

[natsumesfangirl]

Koisenu Futari ep3

[natsumesfangirl]

[natsumesfangirl]

[ID: Four screenshots from Koisenu Futari ("Two People Who Can't Fall In Love") followed by the "Unfollow me now" meme.

The four screenshots show Kodama Sakuko saying, "I thought I was lacking something as a human... That's why... The word Aromantic Asexual... no, your words have saved me."

The last image is a tweet from Tyler the Creator that says "Unfollow me now, this is gonna be the only thing i tweet about for the next week. I've wanted this for years. Fuck. What the fuck." END ID]

[natsumesfangirl]

Anatomical heart by L Hodgins

Free Crochet Pattern Here

[natsumesfangirl]

if you have time, please watch the japanese drama 恋せぬふたり (koisenu futari; the two people who can’t fall in love) which focuses on two aroace characters

Sakuko finds it difficult to live in a society which operates under the assumption that people will fall in love with each other. She meets supermarket employee Takahashi when she goes to support a "fall-in-love" campaign by her junior at work. She is startled when she hears him say that there are people who don't fall in love. As Sakuko's mother keeps hurrying her to get married, she decides to move out and rent an apartment with her friend but her friend backs out at the last minute after reconciling with her ex-boyfriend. Just when Sakuko is about to give up, she ends up living with Takahashi under one roof because of their similar values towards romance.

(how to watch)