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#cannot recommend the emotion thesaurus enough
fruitytrollroll · 18 days
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your writing is so good! what's your process? mostly in regards to how you work with drafts and come up with words. are there any tips you'd give to intermediate writers? love your work!
thank you so much for your compliments!! and I'll gladly answer your questions as best I can! ✨️
one resource i can't possibly recommend enough is wordhippo! it's a clean, efficient thesaurus and dictionary website, which organizes synonyms by their individual meanings, and which also has example sentences—which is a HUGE help in figuring out how unfamiliar words get used, and what kinds of sentences they sound best in. depending on the word, some will even have a subcategory of example sentences from "Classical Literature", which does a good job emulating the experience of encountering a new word in the wild, without having to commit to reading an entire book. on the subject of reading, though, English literature from the Romantic through the Victorian eras are a big inspiration for me, and I tend to try to emulate its constructions, figurative language, tone, and sense of drama in my own writing. a Norton anthology of whatever period of literature you're most interested in will serve you well, if you like to read for your writing—they tend to include poetry, essays, and even short stories and plays, with a lot of helpful footnotes and author biographies.
as for "how I work with drafts"... I'll admit I don't quite know how to answer this, because I often just write things straight out from start to finish? I tend to have a strong idea of where I want to go with a piece already when I've started. But I usually start in Google docs, get about a thousand words out, and then share what I have with a few close friends who are anticipating the piece, and who pump me up with compliments letting me know what's working well. :) lately, most of my writing projects are actually a result of having brainstormed with them in the first place, so they tend to have robust insight into my vision, and offer helpful suggestions and commentary (or they "wishlist" things, i.e. by saying, "oh it would be kinda hot if... 👀🔥" and then I'm just like oh damn, true 💖).
When I'm writing alone, though, I just skip to whatever parts of the story I'm most excited to write, and then stitch the resulting pieces together afterward. I always try to be mindful of the fact that if I'm not having fun writing it, it probably won't be fun for my audience to read, so I tend to "zoom out" or summarize moments that I don't think will be as interesting as where I'm ultimately headed (though I try to inject a little character or wordplay or metaphor or foreshadowing or SOMETHING into even these, to treat my reader while we're waiting for the main event to start. they're helpful for setting tone or setting the stage or setting up expectations for the remainder of the piece). As the author, you can always make time pass faster or slower at your convenience, so make good use of that to maintain interest.
To leave with a few brief kernels of advice: mine your dialogue for conflict; have each line in a conversation refer back to the previous statement whenever you can; don't preemptively solve your characters' problems for them with narrative convenience, because conflict can reveal new and interesting facets of a character that would otherwise go unexamined; you can replace a lot of dialogue tags with action instead, or omit them entirely by implying with vocabulary or sequence which character at any given moment is speaking; if you've written yourself into a corner, start over a few paragraphs before you hit the hump, and see if you can take things in a different direction; give new information, revelations, and emotional beats (or "turns", as my playwriting professor called them) space to breathe.
Also, as an erotic romance author, I cannot help but roll out my frequent refrain: get either really horny or really obsessed with something, because that will motivate you to improve like very little else.
I hope that helps! Let me know if I missed anything, and thank you so much for your kind words and your interest in my process! 🥰✨️
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pastafossa · 3 years
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Can I ask what you used to learn & practice to write the way you do because a) I'd also like to improve my writing and b) because you are one of the most talented & extraordinary writer I've EVER come across on A03
Thank you so, so much, I'm honored! 😭 I can, absolutely!
So a big thing I used to learn writing is, I read a ton (had way more time for it a few years ago, but that's where a lot of the foundation was). And one of my English professors once told me, 'if you want to write a novel or story, go back and read your favorite books, but read them as a writer and not just as a reader'. And once I did, I understood what she meant. I'd read back over these books I loved, only now I was looking for why I loved them so much (and I still do this some when reading). If something hit me emotionally hard, why? Was it the body language? Their emphasis on description? If they set up an elaborate, 'SURPRISE!', how was it done? How did they lay clues? How did the author write this out? It helps a ton to look at the structural framework of something you love, and so one of the things you can easily use, that I used, is literally just your favorite books. My favorite series is Dresden Files, for example, and that's where I learned a lot about how one can write internal dialogue, action scenes, and laying clues. I also try to read books by popular authors (that I enjoy, don't get me wrong) so I can look at their techniques and hunt down new things to try. <3
Second, I'm going to rec one of my favorite books that helped me with learning to write emotions (which anyone who's read TRT knows I focus on fairly regularly). I literally always write with this nearby: The Emotion Thesaurus. The 1st edition I have has 75 emotions, and each has a connected list of physical body language signals, internal sensations, mental responses, cues of acute or long-term feeling of that emotion, and cues of suppression of that emotion. The 2nd edition now has 130 emotions (haven't had a chance to look through that one yet). That book helped teach me about linking emotion to sensory descriptions - physical, mental, internal, and then with time or suppression.
Third: if anywhere near you or online has a free class on creative writing and you have the time, I'd give it a shot! I took a fair amount of English classes in college, admittedly, but even once I was done, I kept an eye out and I've managed to get into some free or cheap classes. Some are pretty terrible, a lot are just middle of the road, and then every once in a while you get an amazing one where you hear hysterical gems like, "your job as an author is to cause pain. Embrace it! You're a sadist now," and then you learn how to torment characters with unique acts of suffering. So there's always something to learn, even in the terrible classes (it's sometimes just, 'don't do this one thing').
Writers Groups! I have had some very kind and very honest writers groups over the years that have helped me learn where my weaknesses were as a writer. One of my biggest issues used to be overdescription of everything (I wish I was joking, RIP to my early readers), and I didn't even realize it was a problem until I joined a writers group and they pointed out that things were a bit unnecessarily wordy.
Grammarly is something I use for every chapter. I generally edit my chapter, paste it into Grammarly, and then it hits me with a newspaper points out politely where I can take out some unnecessary commas. Grammarly reminds me not to get cocky. Grammarly humbles us all.
Those have been my biggest resources on learning over the years: published books I loved, books like The Emotion Thesaurus, taking writing classes whenever I could, writers groups, and Grammarly. I try to consider myself a constant student, always learning! After that, it's just practice-practice-practice. Pastafossa is, I think my third pseudonym over ohgodtoomanyyears of writing fanfic and original stories on and off. In the beginning, my fanfiction was terrible (seriously, I found some the other day on an old hard drive and, good god 😂). I've tried my hand at one-shots, parody (I wrote a bad smut fic for Dragon Age a while back and LORD that was wild), humor, prompt challenges. Try everything! Some of it will fail miserably, but much like the terrible writing classes, at least you learn something, and then you use that for next time. ❤️
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Hey do you have any advice for writing more intimate things? I don't have a lot of experience with romance and idk what to do to help fix it in my writing.
Hmmm ok yeah this is definitely the weaker part of my own writing but I’ll give you the advice I’ve researched! As with all writing, it’s definitely more difficult to write what you don’t know, But most people don’t do half the stuff they write about. It’s definitely possible to write about experiences you haven’t had, it just takes a little extra research.
First of all, you need to write a solid foundation for the relationship. Give them a reason to be attracted to each other. Maybe they’ve been through so much together their bond has been forged in fire and it slowly develops into something more. Maybe it’s lust at first sight and they can’t help being attracted to each other immediately. Maybe the burning passion of hate turns into something more. Whatever it is, make sure you sprinkle in little hints and pieces throughout the story, not just pulling it out of nowhere when they’re making out or confessing to each other (if you want to go with a character being blindsided by a confession, that’s totally plausible! You can always write a character who is naive to things the audience clearly sees)
The next part is where I always get tripped up, and thats writing about actual feelings themselves. It’s a fine line to walk between being drab and undescriptive verses being bogged down by purple prose. As with all good writing, this is where show don’t tell comes in. Instead of saying “he was excited to see him” try describing the character’s reaction. “His heart sped up when he entered the room and he sat up a little straighter, unconsciously trying to draw his attention, even for an instant.” Your job as a writer is describing this and everything else in an entertaining way. Cliches are fine every once in a while, as long as you put your own spin on it. One thing that’s helped me a ton with writing emotions is using a reasource called The Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi. They describe so many ways to feel tons of different emotions, and even more. An excellent resource that I cannot recommend enough. 
Assuming you’ve put some thought into how you want your characters to get together, the hardest part becomes writing. Here is where I have two pieces of advice. READ what you’re trying to create. If you’re writing a paranormal romance, pick up a novel or a fanfic in that genre. Examine it at an overall, big picture level as well as at a sentence structure level. Study what they do well, what you liked about it. How did they balance the plot with the relationship? How was the characterization? Did the romance come out of nowhere? Did you enjoy how the author crafted the sentences? If you don’t have experience yourself, there are other ways to find it. Studying other authors work is a great way to improve your writing in general, and if you have something specific to look for you’ll likely get more out of the exercise.
Finally, it really just comes down to practice. Writing is a lot of work, and the more you do it the more strategies you’ll figure out. Even if you don’t have an idea for a full story, write down scenes or summaries of scenes as they come to you. Who knows, you might end up with something you can use in a larger project! Starting small is a great way to keep yourself from getting overwhelmed while working on important skills.
I hope this helped at least a little bit! If you have any more questions, feel free to HMU. I hope you can at least take this as a starting point to do you own research, because I am far from an expert. Good luck in your endeavors!!!
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nona-gay-simus-main · 4 years
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How to Fix White Room Syndrome In Your Writing
Disclaimer: I do not claim to be an authority on writing, I'm simply trying to share something that has helped me.
White Room Syndrome was something I struggled a lot with, when I started out, and still do, in some scenes. In fact it was the second biggest issue with the last draft of my novel. (The first was its structure, but that's a post for another day.)
WRS is what I call it when there's a dialogue scene, but the characters feel like voices in a white room. They don't really feel grounded in the setting, you can't see the way they are standing in relation to one another, and you can't see their bodies moving.
If you've ever gotten your work critiqued, it's unlikely that anyone has called it white room syndrome. Some of the feedback I received said things like: "you need to add more details /interaction with the environment", "you need to flesh out the scenes", "" the characters are at a party, but it doesn't feel like it", "there's no setting", "the conversation feels stilted and unnatural", "the conversation has no space to breathe", "the conversation feels too fast" and so on. (One beta even said "this is not how real people talk" about a different old draft, although to be fair, to this day I have no idea if she was referring to the dialogue itself or the fact that the scene was white-roomy and I probably was still overusing dialog tags.)
So how do you fix it? 
There are several things you need to pay attention to in a dialogue scene, aside from the dialogue itself: body language, vocal cues, visceral reaction, and internal monologue.
Body language is pretty obvious. 93% of communication happens non-verbally, so how characters' bodies (and faces, but be careful not to restrict descriptions to facial expressions only) move through the scene SHOWS their emotions, instead of having to spell them out for the audience.
Vocal cues are about the way characters' voices change in different situations. Do they raise their voice when they are angry? Do they start whispering, when sharing a secret? Do they get breathy when they're aroused? I wouldn't overrely on them, but when used appropriately, vocal cues can really add to the setting.
Visceral reactions are instinctive gut reaction to a stimulus. One problem with them however, is that there’s only a limited number of gut reactions, so you need to think of more creative ways to use them. The other problem is that they are strong so they may seem rather melodramatic if used too often. Personally I also avoid describing them about anyone who isn't the POV character, because they are so personal, it might read like you are switching perspectives (also called head-hopping and a big no-no).
And finally, there's internal monologurme. People don't just talk about situations, they also think about them. But be careful not to name the exact emotion the character is experiencing. Emotions should be shown, not told. Also, a character's internal monologue shouldn't repeat their dialogue with minimal, if any, changes in wording. Characters should be saying something or thinking it, but rarely both - this can feel like you're holding your audience's hand and talking down to them. Most readers are actually pretty smart, so give them the benefit of the doubt and don't overexplain your story.
(NB: sometimes you can use the same words in both the narrative and the dialog for a joke, or in order to characterize your characters, or both - but this is a trick that should be used sparingly.)
I don't know what the best process to fix this in your own writing would be, but here’s my process: 
On my first draft of the scene, I write ONLY the dialogue, with no description ls of any kind, not even dialogue tags. Once in a while, I might add an action tag or two just because I see it so clearly in my head, and I might put a placeholder description like "and then they ate diner", but mostly I write pure dialogue.
There are two major benefits in drafting dialog scenes this way:
The first is that you don't have to break your flow to wonder what's the best description or thought to put here, so it doesn't slow you down or distract you.
The second is that you can more easily spot places where the dialogue becomes repetitive or you break one character's dialogue with a question when that's unnecessary. For example:
A: I went to the library today.
B: Wait, really?
A: And i found the book on secret pirate treasures.
B: What did it say?
Sometimes this structure can be used for emphasis, but more often than not, this exchange would stronger as:
A: I went to the library today and I found the book on secret pirate treasures.
B: What did it say?
After I’ve drafted the dialogue scene, I read it again to cut repetitive parts (as shown above), the occasional filler word like just or really or characters elaborating on their point when that's not really needed. And if there are more than two characters speaking, to better distribute the dialog between them.
Then after all that, I finally go back to the start and set the scene. If you know what the setting around them is, it makes it easier to know what elements can the characters interact with. The five senses are your best friend. All 5 are rarely needed, but what your character pays attention to characterizes them and shows their voice.
Then I start weaving the aforementioned four elements through the dialogue. Keep in mind that sometimes you don't need any of these elements and you can let the dialogue speak for itself for a couple of lines, that’s okay too. 
Some resources to help you further:
The Emotional Thesaurus. I really cannot recommend this book hard enough. Not only does it teach you all this in-depth, but it has thesaurus of all the main emotions and all the body language, sensations, verbs and so on associated with them.
Alexa Donne’s Video on The Topic
Setting the scene for dialog
Action and Movement In Dialog
How To Create Space
The Case of Vanishing Setting 
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anonthenullifier · 5 years
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Of Cephalopods and Pistol Shrimp
Summary: Vision helps Wanda figure out a new way to harness her powers by using techniques from the ocean.
AO3 link
Based on a fic suggestion from @thissweetmoment about how Wanda goes from her looser powers in Age of Ultron to the tight, electric spheres in Civil War. Sorry this took me so damn long to actually write. I hope you enjoy!
I hope everyone else enjoys this as well!
Existence is a fascinating ordeal.  Technically the number of experiences and sensations are finite, yet each day Vision encounters something new. Sometimes it is a smell, such as Rhodes’ burnt toast or the antiseptic, lemony sting of the new cleaning solution the custodial staff recently switched to. Other days it is a sound, like the way pages whisper when Sam falls asleep on the couch, his magazine tumbling to the floor or the authoritative click of Natasha’s shoes. Tactile sensations are amongst his favorite, entire nights spent running the pads of his fingers over the bumps in the imperfect paint on his bedroom wall, dipping into the crevices of the grains in the kitchen table, analyzing the difference between the tiles of the backsplash and the grout, or relishing the effervescent embrace when he flies into the clouds. Taste is a curiosity but not enough to waste food.  Even when he experiences the same stimuli numerous times, it is somehow never the same and that is what makes it so enthralling. 
His eyes do not waver from the reinforced plexiglass in front of him, arms crossed over his chest in mimicry of Sam and Steve’s shared stance (apparently, this is a sign of contemplation), as they complete the latest test devised by Stark to map the abilities of the new Avengers. They all watch as Wanda sends furious and untamed tendrils out, the scarlet matter beginning as a cohesive unit before spasming into myriad uneven pathways. It’s reminiscent of a documentary he watched the other night on cephalopods, the red clouds surrounding Wanda shimmering and undulating much like the frenzied dance of the ink as the animal fled danger. The tactic is mesmerizing, always new, the patterns sporadic and unique, much like snowflakes, yet just as with snowflakes, it is only effective in large quantities, which tires Wanda out.   
“She’s terrifying.” 
Steve grunts noncommittally at Sam’s awed comment and Vision finds himself confused at the terminology. Terror is what horror movies are meant to evoke, the white knuckles of Wanda’s hand as she absentmindedly grips his bicep during a team movie night, or the wide-eyed, shaking stance of a small child they find in amongst the ruins on a mission. There is nothing about this display that elicits said reaction. Perhaps their adversaries would feel some terror from this, but teammates should not. “I think it is calming.”  
The two men turn and stare at him, the same furrowed brows and slight side-eye occurs now that happens any time Vision attempts to make an observation counter to what has been stated. “It’s something, for sure.” Steve remains neutral, unaffected by the training as he clicks the intercom switch, “I think we’re good for now, Wanda.”  
Wanda throws a tired thumbs up in their direction and exits out the side door, arriving in the communication center minutes later, her breath light and rapid, muscles shaking slightly as she huddles in close to watch the tape of her performance. It is impolite to stare, or so he has been informed, and yet Vision cannot stop himself from watching Wanda watch her own tape, curious to see if there are any signs of terror in her stance. “It seems a bit sloppy.” Her comment is factual but tinged with a negative emotion that is not terror, per se, perhaps more like the time Wanda stepped in the aftermath of a food fight that happened at the team’s fourth of July barbecue. Disgust, yes, that’s it, not terror.  
“It could be tightened up,” Steve agrees with her observation, though he does not seem upset, “we really need to find a way to channel it all into, I don’t know,” a wary hand rubs the back of Steve’s neck, his day longer than their own, having to watch and critique each teammate, “concentrate it somehow.”  
Wanda nods, forehead wrinkling at the comment while her lips purse in concentration, “Do you have any recommendations?”  
A sigh answers her, the same one Steve used when Vision asked him if there were any known exercises to help him with his phasing. “I need to think on it for a bit.”
“Okay.”  
“Sam,” the conversation moves on as Steve turns to the last of the team to go into the simulator, “you’re up.” 
Sam grins, snapping on his goggles with an, “Alright!”  
Her session done, Wanda leaves the room and Vision waits exactly five minutes before excusing himself for the evening. 
  It’s while he’s watching another ocean documentary that Vision realizes he may be able to help Wanda. Unfortunately, this occurs at 4:15am and for once, no one else in the compound seems to have insomnia. To pass the time, he sets himself up in the common room lounge and drafts plans for different exercises, tests some of them himself with the Mindstone, though he recognizes the confound in his attempts to extrapolate his own power set to hers. It’s at 5:30am when Steve and Sam come in with a friendly, “Morning, Vision.” 
“Good morning, Captain Rogers, Mr. Wilson.”  
Sam always gets this smirk when Vision addresses him, a small shake of his head and sometimes a roll of his eyes. “Dude, just Steve and Sam.”  
This has been told to him before, yet it seems very impersonal given their longer duration in heroics. “My apologies.” 
“We’re going out for a run, wanna join?”  
Usually Vision is not in the common room at this time, mainly for this reason. He is aware the offer is out of politeness when it comes from Sam (it is a command when it is from Steve), which means he can technically say no, though his stomach always seems to rotate uncomfortably when he turns them down. But he doesn’t want to get distracted and miss out on Wanda. He also, if he is being honest, is not particularly fond of running, flight a far more invigorating experience. “No thank you, I am attempting to draw up potential exercises for Miss M- for Wanda to better examine her powers.” 
Steve nods in approval, “Good, I think that’s a great idea, you two can probably learn a lot from each other.” 
“Yes,” Vision’s stomach evens out, no longer churning at dismissing their request, “I do believe that is true.”  
“Alright, well, have fun.” Sam winks at him, taking a bite of his granola bar as he and Steve leave the common space.  
It’s approximately forty-three minutes later that Wanda enters, her hair thrown up in a ponytail and still adorning her pajamas with a baggy sweatshirt. She shuffles towards the kitchen, her eyes leaving the ground once to make sure she is heading in the right direction.  “Good morning, Wanda.” He seems to surprise her, her hands clutching the sweatshirt tighter as her face swings in the direction of his voice.  
It takes several agonizing seconds for her to respond with an un-emotive, “Morning.”  
“Did you sleep well?” 
Wanda shrugs and it conveys more than enough information, her sleep patterns erratic and unhealthy, though they are getting better. This seems to end their conversation, her feet taking her closer to the kitchen. Vision stands, fingers twisted as he considers his next step, but now that he’s standing, it would be awkward to sit back down, he thinks, so he phases through the couch and follows her to the kitchen, coming to stand next to the stools at the island while she busies herself making her tea. “I had an idea last night,” Wanda turns towards him, face expectant, “I, um, well I believe I had an epiphany on how best to harness your powers,” her stare doesn’t change, despite the fact he feels like it should be blossoming with the excitement, just as his did when he had the revelation, “the way Captain Rogers suggested, by concentrating it.”  
Her response is slow, the two-syllable, “Okay,” lasting long enough that it feels like eight. 
“I was watching a very fascinating documentary last night about cavitation and pistol shrimp—” 
“Am I going to need some coffee for this?” 
Vision pauses, taken aback by the change in her preference and why she is inquiring of him, “I believe you should drink whatever sounds most appealing to you.” 
This garners a laugh, though he isn’t sure why, but it is a pleasant experience, his own mouth lifting in response to her apparent joy at his comment. “You’re going to have simplify this for me.”  
Which is fair. “Cavitation is a phenomenon in which cavities are formed due to rapid changes in pressure and this change in pressure, if it becomes too great, the cavity can collapse into a shockwave.” 
“More simple.” 
Vision follows her as she fills her cup with tea, drizzling honey in while she stirs and then tossing in a pinch of sugar for good measure. No one else on the team ever attempts to understand him this way, to demand he work on his communication, and so he is never offended when she asks him to rephrase or simplify. “When you use your powers now, they are free-flowing, like,” the simile of his revelation may be apt to use now, “a cephalopod…” Wanda glances up at him as she blows gently on the tea, and wordlessly she informs him to keep simplifying, “a squid or an octopus, when it is alarmed, it sends out ink into the water. This method is particularly useful for obfuscating,” another glance and he runs through a thesaurus online, “confusing people, a distraction–” 
A shimmering cloud engulfs her hand, wispy and tumultuous with the rotation of her wrist, “Are you forgetting how my squid powers took you down in training last week.” 
“I am not, it was an impressive display of power,” she glances down at her tea though it is not enough to fully mask the upward curve of her mouth, “but you would have been victorious even faster had you acted more like a pistol shrimp.” 
“Which would be?” 
“Oh, um,” this speech went smoother when he rehearsed it earlier in the morning, though his conversational skills are always more confident when he is alone and practicing than when her green eyes are locking onto him, flecked with an amusement that sends electric shocks down his spine, “to gather your powers into a bundle of unequal pressure and then let it loose.” If the quirk of her eyebrow is any indication, this is still not as illuminating as he hoped. “I can show you a video?”
Wanda waves her hand at the tablet on the counter and she takes the seat next to his as he searches for a good example. Together they watch a five minute clip of a pistol shrimp, first at actual speed which makes it look like the shrimp is punching the air, but then the scientists present a slowed down version and together they watch as a small air bubble forms in the middle of the open pincher. “This is pretty cool.” 
A warmth, similar to his first time winning one of the training challenges, circles his chest, “It is.”  
Suddenly the shrimp closes its pincher and the bubble collapses, sending a shockwave through the water, stirring the rocks at the bottom of the tank and immobilizing the smaller crustacean in the tank. When the video ends, Wanda lifts her hand, powers collapsing from their usual tempest into a centralizing orb. “So, you’re saying something like this could be more effective?” 
“Assuming your powers can be driven by cavitation, yes, with enough pressure you may be able to more efficiently remove threats.”  
She studies the orb undulating in her palm, head cocked to the side, allowing the red to reflect off her eyes, and Vision is briefly mesmerized by it, until she extinguishes the orb, jolting him back to the present. “Worth a shot. I assume you already have exercises planned?” 
Others on the team have said similar statements, theirs laced with exhaustion and aggravation, at times, Wanda’s is neither of those, the corners of her eyes pinching as the right side of her mouth tips up. “I do, yes. Shall we reconvene in the training gym in approximately fifteen minutes?” 
“Sounds good.” 
  When they meet again, he has restructured his molecules into his uniform, feeling like his new staple of slacks and a sweater do not belong in such a space. Wanda is not in her uniform, but is wearing the same outfit she dons when Steve forces her on the morning run three days a week. “Okay,” Wanda’s tightens her ponytail as she talks, “so how are we doing this?” 
“I believe we should start simple, so I have set up a number of targets ranging in weight and size,” he directs her towards a table containing several sizes of soup cans, dumbbells, and kettlebells. “I have downloaded a relatively novel program that will allow me to analyze both the broadband noise and subharmonics created before you unleash your powers.” 
Wanda’s lips tighten in time with her hesitant nod, “I’m guessing that’s how you tell the, um, power of the attack?” 
It is close to what he is doing, if she replaces power with pressure. “Precisely.” A broad, toothy smile parts her lips and he mimics it, always enjoying these small moments of glee she shares with him. “Would you like to try?” 
“Yep.” Wanda spreads her feet out so her stance is a touch wider than her shoulders, her right foot approximately an inch closer to the display than her left. Slowly her powers pool around her hand and even more slowly she draws them together into an orb. He expects her to release it, but she doesn’t, instead her fingers continue to wave, weaving her powers into a bigger orb that spins faster and faster. 
He checks the measurements streaming through his mind and frowns, the display reporting an error. It is only at the subtle dip of her hand that he figures out the problem, “Wanda wai—” she doesn’t hear him soon enough and she flicks her wrist, the orb soaring through the air and exploding upon contact with a can of tomato soup that never stood a chance. The shockwave of the hit throws the table across the gym, the viscous soup coating the floor looking more like blood than lunch and several new holes have been created in the wall from the weights. Vision rushes to Wanda’s side, “Are you okay?” 
Shock pulls her jaw down, eyes wide and hands clasped into fists at her thighs. “That was fucking awesome.” 
“I—” he follows her gaze to the destruction, not certain awesome is the best term, it was remarkable, for sure, but he’s going to have to explain how this happened to Natasha and Steve and Tony, a meeting he is not thrilled about. His worry is eradicated when she laughs because it’s the freest sound he’s ever heard from her, effervescent and untamed, her body shaking so much she leans against his shoulder for support. “It was amazing.” 
“There’s soup everywhere!” 
“Yes,” her reaction is infectious, his own lungs beginning to spasm as light huffs intersperse his response, “that was an oversight on my behalf.” 
“At least it you didn't grab something like corn.” 
The image of hundreds of kernels littering the ground is a much worse reality. “This is true.” 
Wanda straightens her spine, removing her touch from him, and turns with a smile that might almost be described as wicked. “Can we do it again?” 
A survey of the damage forces him to reassess his strategy. “Yes, though I believe we need to be more methodical.” 
Together they pick up the table, Vision arranging the weights on it while Wanda uses her powers and a mop to remove the soup from the ground. “So, what’s the plan?” 
“I believe we should experiment with how much pressure you build up to determine the amount needed to effectively deal with the target without destroying it.” 
For the next hour they do just that, Vision reading the indices and informing Wanda when to release her orb. They start small, and work until finding the most efficient amount per each weight. Once they’ve done this, he stops informing her of when to attack, instead allowing her to determine the feel of it in her hands, since he cannot constantly assess her during a mission. It’s after she’s successfully sent the heaviest weight flying an acceptable and not destructive distance that they move on to the punching bags, which are more analogous to the foes they face. With each target she grows more confident, the power coalescing faster and faster until she can attack within seconds.  
During their (well her) water break, Wanda suggests the next step, one he hadn’t yet conceptualized since he did not (foolishly, admittedly) anticipate her being so proficient after a half day. “You know, in the video we watched the prey was moving, so I don't think I'm one with the pistol shrimp yet since we've just used immobile targets....” 
"Oh, well, I can find some of the mechanized bullseyes from the supply closet."
This doesn't seem to be what she had in mind, the tips of her ponytail dancing as she clarifies, "Those never move like the actual people we face on missions."
A true statement and one dripping with suggestion that is driven home by her pointed stare at him. It takes Vision 1.5 seconds longer than it should to fully grasp the implication. “Are you asking me to be your soup can?” 
“Yes.” Her face grows serious other than the flicker of red in her eyes, “Vision, will you be my soup can?” 
He’s not sure why the question releases a torrent of heat in his cheeks, a reaction he will need to further parse out at a later time. “I suppose since you asked so nicely, I have no reason not acquiesce.” 
 “Don’t worry,” she pats his arm as he walks past, an action she’s never done before, “I’ll be gentle.” 
Vision has to suppress the way her actions and the glimmer in her eye make him feel unsteady, keep his voice calm and unaffected as he quips back, “I believe I am somewhat more formidable than Campbell’s.” 
“We’ll see.” 
He stands twenty feet from her, the optimal distance they decided on during the prior phase of her training. “I will maintain my normal density for this.” Wanda sends him a thumbs up and he activates the program, recording the accelerate spike in both the broadband noise and subharmonic index, sending her a wave when he believes it should have some effect. The orb crashes into his body, the shockwave of it bursting flutters his cape, but nothing else occurs. “Try again.” And she does, fifteen times and yet she can’t seem to send him farther than a centimeter back. “Perhaps try using both hands to form the orb?” He has no basis for the suggestion, but he hypothesizes that each of her hands serves as an independent source, using both might double the impact.  
Wanda’s feet spread a bit farther apart as her arms wave through the air, the orb oscillating between her palms reaching the highest threshold of his measurement system in a matter of seconds. The power is released before he tells her, not to any detriment, the burst of scarlet against his chest sending his sympathetic system into a frenzy, his body desperate to increase its density but he resists, instead allowing her to throw him back into the wall.  
“Oh shit!” Footfalls echo around the gym, the noise bouncing too fast for him to pinpoint her location until her hands wrap around his biceps, worry streaming from her fingers, “Vizh, you okay? How many fingers am I holding up?” 
Her right hand leaves his body and hovers in front of his face, fingers bending and straightening as his eyes adjust. “You are switching between two and three fingers.” 
“Can’t even trick you after that.” 
Vision smirks at the despondency in her response, sitting up slowly while running a quick system check. “Wanda,” she meets his eyes, “that was incredible.” The last stray wisp of concern leaves her face, replaced by a proud grin. “Shall we try it again, only I will fly this time?” 
“Only if you’re okay.” 
“I am fine.” 
Despite his assurance, Wanda still offers her his hand, helping him stand before returning to her position in the gym. It’s at this point that Natasha comes in, a wave towards them that states she’s merely here to watch. Wanda’s fingers flex at the added attention, still overcoming her self-consciousness of being scrutinized by the former spy during training.  Vision takes a moment to approach Wanda, standing far enough away to not encroach in her personal space, but close enough that she can hear his slightly lower voice. “Pay no mind to Natasha,” Wanda’s head tilts, in what may be annoyance or anger or some other emotion he has yet to determine in situations such as this, “I want you to go back to one handed throws. We want to train your accuracy first and then you can add more power.” 
“Okay.” 
“And Wanda.” 
“Yeah?” 
For some reason he is tempted to reach out to her, give her arm a comforting embrace, but he doesn’t, instead clenching his fingers into fists at his side. “Remember that no one else on the team can do what you can.” 
His comment seems to latch onto the corners of her mouth, tugging it up into a brief smile. “Don’t go easy on me, okay?” 
He reassures her with a heartfelt, “I will not.” 
Vision lifts into the air, eyes scanning the gym for all accessible routes and protection. For the first attempts, he determines to remain relatively low to the ground, allowing her to fine tune her aim at a more accessible level before moving higher and requiring greater calculation on her behalf. He waits for her to form an orb before moving. Like with any other foe, he positions himself so that she is always in his view, even if it is just his periphery, but primarily he utilizes his proprioception to determine how to angle is body or bend his limbs to avoid her attacks. Even with her rapid-fire method, the closest she gets to a hit is a singe to his cape, her movements too predictable to him given the hours they have spent training together. Vision lands softly in front of her, assessing the stoop of her shoulders and the way her fingernails are digging into her palms, a small action he has come to associate with her frustration. “I believe we may be approaching this incorrectly.” 
“How so?” The weightless ease of her voice is gone, replaced by the measured rhythm she uses during any other training, particularly after being beaten down a few rounds by Natasha.  
No single animal utilizes just one attack pattern, nor do any of the Avengers, and yet that’s what they’ve been trying to do. “We have only been focusing on this one aspect of your powers, but for the task at hand, you need to utilize more than that.” Wanda waits for him to continue, arms crossing as her eyes slide to where Natasha is sitting. “You need to obfuscate first...” 
Now her attention returns to him, “So squid power you?” 
“I- yes, correct, distract me and then—” 
Her frustrations flips into understanding, “Then I pistol shrimp you.” 
"Correct.”  
A shared nod cements the plan and he returns to the air, waiting, yet again, until scarlet oozes from her hands to begin flying. This time is very different, every direction he flies is teeming with scarlet clouds, each one obscuring his view and sending him into a new location, only to be met with another dense nebula. Vision decides to tempt fate by flying through one of the formations, having no other means of getting to the other side of the gym, it’s then that the cloud constricts around him, throwing off his senses long enough that he feels an impact on his side, hard enough that it stings yet soft enough that he remains steady in the air. Vision lands, hand rubbing out the branching tingle still spreading throughout his oblique. “That was much more effective.” 
“It was. Mind if we try ag—” 
Before she can finish, a new voice enters the gym, Steve’s authoritative, “Training starts in two minutes everyone,” setting an end to her suggestion, Wanda’s mouth closing and her shoulders shrugging, the look on her face one he thinks says Maybe later?
   A week later he stands again with Steve and Sam, arms crossed and head tilted to the right, his eyes never leaving the varying patterns of scarlet through the plexiglass. This time her powers seem to dance, a careful choreography of wild undulation followed by disciplined restriction. “Holy shit,” Sam steps closer to the glass, hand rubbing his chin at the destruction being wrought within, “she’s even more terrifying now.” 
Terror is still an odd descriptor, because what Vision sees before him is more beautiful than even the undisturbed dawn over the mountains, the memory of her powers erupting in tingles along his skin, a fascinating texture he now associates with power and marvel.  
“What exactly did you two work on?” Steve only watched some of their additional trainings, never interceding, something he tends to do when the more fantastical powers are at play.  
Vision doesn’t pull his gaze from Wanda as he answers, “Obfuscation and cavitation.” 
“Not really helpful, man.” Sam, like Wanda, will always tell him if he is being too dense, though never as nicely, but never rudely either.  
The other way Vision can think to explain it likely won’t help them either, but it is how Wanda describes it to him as she eats lunch after their trainings, hair dripping with sweat, hands shaking from her hard work, and her smile radiant, so he determines it cannot be worse, “She has become one with the squid and the shrimp.”  
“Okay then,” Sam’s two words last for four seconds, his confusion palpable, but Vision doesn’t amend the statement, deciding to let Wanda explain it to them later, allowing Vision to become engrossed in the fascinatingly breathtaking display in front of them.
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purple-spring · 6 years
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How long did it take you to become this well of a writer? Do you have any tips or suggestions? I want to make my writing more exciting and vibrant like yours is. I feel like it's not as good as yours and I want it to be the best it can be.
Hey there, @fangirlthatreads​! I’ve been sitting on this ask for a while and I do apologise for that, but I was so incredibly touched that you came to me with this kind of question that I wanted to answer it as best as I could, and create a sort of masterpost for writing in the process. I’m devoting my whole day to answering this, so hopefully it’s worth the wait :)
So, to answer your first question, I guess I’ve always enjoyed and have been fairly competent in writing. I wrote all throughout school, but never really got the opportunity to continue that in college, so I got a bit rusty. I only really started again recently (Sprousehart and Bughead were too tempting to resist), which has just been the most joyful, creativity-unleashing thing. I started simply by writing the beginning for “Tomorrow” because I couldn’t get the idea out of my head, and I had a very vocal cheerleader (hi, @jandjsalmon​) encouraging me to write the whole thing. I haven’t looked back since then. 
As for tips and suggestions, I thought about this for a long time and came up with the following, which I’ve tried to divide into three sections after the cut - READ, LISTEN, WRITE. 
Anyway, without any further ado, I give you –
paperlesscrown’s personal guide to writing 
—-READ—-
I mean, your account name kind of gives it away, but I’m sure you read a lot! But my #1 tip for writers is to read voraciously. I often think of it as fuel for the tank: you can’t put out what you don’t put in. When I run into writers’ block, it’s the first thing I do - I purchase a book for my Kindle and bunker down and read.
Three kinds of reading that I do:
Fanfic - This is a no-brainer. It’s important to expose yourself to the different interpretations of the canon and the characters you are writing about. I must admit that I’m not always the most up-to-date fanfic reader, but I am always hitting up @blueandgoldoffice​ and my dear friend @theatreofexpression​ for suggestions and recommendations. 
Literature - This is important, too. As amazing as fanfic writers are, there is a whole other universe out there of incredibly written original fiction (and poetry!). Anything I can get my hands on, I get onto it. It’s why I bought myself a Kindle - I carry it around with me everywhere to make sure that I am constantly feeding my brain with exciting plots and engaging characters and beautifully turned phrases. 
I often try to read specifically, too. What do I mean by this? So, for example, when I was writing “Apparitions”, which included huge chunks of dialogue between Cole and Lili, I chose to read One Day by David Nicholls, which I knew had a lot of earthy, realistic dialogue between a couple in love. When I was writing my first smutty fic (“In here, too”), I made sure to read The Boss by Abigail Barnette, which is an INCREDIBLE Dom/Sub series (which honestly every Dom!Jug writer should read) with amazingly written sex scenes.
I also make sure I read different formats - not just chapter books, but also longform articles, poetry, etc. I read a lot of short stories because I write exclusively in one-shots, so reading them allows me to see how writers develop plot within a limited word count. 
Writers’ resources - This is something I’ve started doing recently, and it’s made such a huge difference. There is a whole world of writers’ resources out there. I recently bought the Emotion Thesaurus, which is described as “a writers’ guide to character expression.” It. Is. Amazing. It catalogues an emotion and the different ways a character could express them (that way I’m able to avoid cliches or vary the way that the emotion is expressed). It’s formatted like this:
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It’s quite cheap on Amazon and such a worthwhile purchase. You should also check out websites such as Reference for Writers, which has SO MANY amazing resources for writers, plus links to similar websites. 
Meta - Read analysis on your characters, whether it’s a recap from website like Vulture and AV Club or (with Riverdale specifically) meta posts from places like @riverdalemeta, which compiles all the incredible theorising from around the fandom. It helps you think about your characters more clearly. A good story always comes from a good grasp of character, and sometimes meta posts make a world of difference in understanding a character. 
—-LISTEN—-
Listen to…
1. A beta. I cannot emphasise this enough. Betas make all the difference between a good piece of writing and a great one. My forever beta, @jandjsalmon, has saved from terrible writing decisions and has also steered me towards incredible ones. @theatreofexpression is a constant source of ideas, headcanons and discussions about the show. The thing about betas is that they are essentially your first audience and an important first filter for your work. They are able to pick up on inconsistencies, disruptions to flow, awkward phrasing, spelling and grammar errors, etc. I often think about them as the midwives for our stories. I may be the one giving birth to it, but it’s the beta who guides me with how to breathe, stand, position myself, etc. and essentially get the baby out into the world (sorry for the weird metaphor, lol). Always, always try and work with one.  
2. The characters you are writing about. A handy tip - whenever I am writing, I put the show on in the background (as long as it’s not distracting), or interviews with the actors (if I’m writing RPF). It helps me to get a good grasp on their voice. With Bughead, I’m not much of an AU author - I prefer writing and expanding on canon scenes, so it’s important for me to try and get the voice, tone and phrasing of each character right (as well as the overall tone and atmosphere of the scene).
3. Music. Music can activate some really strong emotions and neurological reactions in us that help us to write well. Some people like writing to playlists (I made one for “What she wanted”), while others like listening to instrumental music. Both are fine, although sometimes I can find lyrics quite distracting. In terms of instrumental music, I listen to a lot of Philip Glass (classical and heavy) and Explosions in the Sky (indie and atmospheric) when I write. 
—-WRITE—-
I guess there’s nothing left to do but to write! 
Start small. I write a lot of drabbles, as you may have noticed, and those are just small writing exercises for me to keep the words flowing. Not everything you write will contribute to an amazing story, but it’s important to keep putting ideas to paper. 
Engage in writing prompts. These don’t have to be Bughead-specific. There are plenty of writing prompts on the net - Pinterest is a great place to find some good ones!
Do writing sprints. I actually learned about this idea from the incredible @tory-b​, who does this with other writers on the wonderful Bughead Family Discord. It’s basically stretches of 30 minutes to an hour where you do nothing but write. It doesn’t have to be perfect - it just needs to be written down. It’s a way for you to knuckle down and focus and not have any sort of pressure in terms of getting everything perfect. While my job and life often prevent me from engaging in these, they’re an awesome idea for any budding writer.
Practical tip: Google Docs is your friend. This is a tip just for logistics, but I write on Google Docs rather than Microsoft Word because it’s a lot more portable and I work on multiple devices throughout the day. I have Google Docs installed on my phone and I access it via my web browser off my laptop. This just means I can work on a story when I’m travelling, when I’m at home, even when I’m standing in line at a grocery store. I’m often hit by inspiration quite randomly, so this works really well for me. It’s also the best tool for betas - they are able to edit and make comments in a way that’s easy for them and doesn’t involve multiple file-sending.
Anyway. I truly apologise for that insane essay, but I hope this can help you (and anyone else). If you have any other questions, please feel free to send them to me! I hope we can read more of your work soon! xx
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