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Cheat Sheet for Writing Emotion

Anger:

Grinding teeth

Narrowing eyes

Yelling

A burning feeling in the chest

Heavy breathing

Unjustified or justified accusations towards other characters

Jerky movements

Glaring

Violence

Stomping

Face reddening

Snapping at people

Sadness:

Lack of motivation

Messy appearance

Quiet

Slow movements

Crying

Inability to sleep

Frowning

Red eyes

Isolating oneself

Fatigue

Not concentrating

Love:

Thinking about someone

Good communication

Not forcing a friend/lover into something

Smiling randomly

Making eye contact with loved one

Nervous behaviors (fiddling hands, biting lip)

Cuddling

Flirting

Inside jokes

Holding hands

Kissing

Offering gifts

Fluttering stomach

Racing heart

Losing track of time while with loved one

Daydreaming

Denial:

Disagreement with someone

Shaking head frantically

Backing away

Putting hand on one’s chest

Rapid speaking

Rationalization or justifying something

Dismissing someone or something

Embarrassment:

Blushing

Avoiding eye contact

Grimacing

Looking down

Changing the conversation

Rubbing back of neck

Shoulders slumping

A weak voice

Tightening chest

Panicked thoughts

Running away

Getting quiet

Concentrating on something else

Happiness

Smiling

Laughing

Squealing

Bouncing on toes

Warmth in chest

Fast pulse

A sense of contentment

Relaxed posture

Quick movements

Breathlessness

Desire to help

Fear:

Face going pale

Panicked thoughts

Jerky movements

Mind racing for a solution

Running

Freezing

Fighting

Fawning (doing what people tell you to do)

Side note: flight, fight, freeze, and fawn are all reactions to adrenaline. Aka the fight or flight response

Thinking of survival

Rapid breathing

A panicked feeling

Guilt:

Feeling horrible about oneself

Lying

Grimacing

Trying to redeem themselves

Asking for forgiveness

Anxious thoughts

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Facebook is launching a Patreon-like “Fan Subscription” thing and it’s got red flags all over it already.

One part of the terms is that they get a lifelong, transferable license for your content, which persists even if you stop using their service. They can transfer or sub-license it to third parties, and you can’t stop them, because you agree to that when you sign up.

Another is that once they start taking a cut, which they will once this launches officially, they can take up to 30%. For comparison, Patreon takes 5%. So you sign up, you post content, they raise the fee, you decide it’s no longer worth it and stop using it… and they get to keep using your content anyway.

You can read more about it here. But basically, the takeaway seems to be that this is another example of Facebook trying to make their own version of a good thing, and turn it into a worse thing, and sell it to you as the best thing ever. Don’t buy it. Please, please, do your research before you sign up for anything.

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Q&A: Mary Sues

Do you have any advice for writing female characters who fight without being accused of being Mary Sues? Miss Martian I’m Young Justice has been called a Mary Sue “because she is too powerful” even after an episode that revealed that she basically lied to her team and one where she has mind-wrecked/manipulated people. And yet several other characters are powerful are not seen as Mary Sues. It seems like male characters are allowed to be super gifted but not female characters, even flawed ones.

I can’t speak to the Young Justice example. I’ve never watched the show. If the idea is that she’s been psychically manipulating the team, that’s messed up. If they’re cool with it, then that might be Mary Sue-ish behavior. Identify a Sue can be as much about how other characters respond as what the character does. It’s not the kiss of death on its own, and there could be some valuable context I’m missing here.

Let’s unpack what a Mary Sue is, before we get into how to avoid it.

Depending on your preferences, the term Mary Sue isn’t gendered, or, at least the concept certainly isn’t. You can have a male character who’s just as much a Mary Sue. If you want to use the term Marty Stu for those, that’s your choice. Either way, it’s the same writing problem; changing the name does nothing. (I’m not going to be writing Mary Sue/Marty Stu for the rest of the post. Just remember, whenever I’m talking about a Mary Sue all of this still applies to male characters.)

A Mary Sue is a character who excels at everything, or at least everything put in front of them. These are often (though, not always) author insert characters. The desired result is for you to look at the character and think how awesome the author is. But, when the term applies, that failed somehow.

A couple things to keep in mind, as a kind of litmus test:

A Mary Sue is never really tested: Every challenge they face is well within their wheelhouse. Any serious adversity can be dispatched without serious effort.

A character can face every adversity successfully without being a Mary Sue. There are plenty of stories where the character triumphs over all. However, the real fine line on this is, “did the character have to work for their victories?” If the answer is yes, then that’s not (necessarily) a Mary Sue.

Characters who have to struggle, or have to learn and grow to face new challenges aren’t Mary Sues. In a real sense, the Mary Sue is a power fantasy for the author. So, a character who has to grow to face new threats doesn’t fit within that.

A Mary Sue gives up nothing: usually. This is a similar situation. The character does what they want, gets what they want, and it costs them nothing.

There is a special case here; sometimes the author’s goal is angst, and you’ll see comical amounts of misfortune heaped on their Sue to feed that.

Generally, if you have a character who does everything they want, without having to give up anything, that’s a Sue. A character who gives up friends, or suffers to achieve their goals is probably not a Mary Sue. (With the mentioned exception above.)

I’m reminded of the Ralph Waldo Emerson quote, “you shall have joy, or you shall have power, said God; you shall not have both.” Sues look at that and flip the bird.

A Mary Sue breaks the rules of their world: As tests go, this is a little more generic. There’s a lot of ways a character could potentially break the rules for their world, and in some cases, it’s entirely legitimate.

With a Mary Sue, it’s almost always about self-aggrandizement. Again, this is the, “look how awesome my character is,” played out against a setting where it doesn’t fit.

This often expands to how other character respond to and threat them. A character who doesn’t face consequences for their actions, without (a credible) explanation might be a Mary Sue.

A Mary Sue is always the center of attention: This goes back to the mindset that leads to the creation of a Sue. The author is writing a character to validate themselves. They’re inserting themselves into the story. The result is that character steals the attention from everyone else in the room.

It’s possible to have a character that is legitimately that charismatic. This is especially true in first person limited, where the narrating character really could be making everything about themselves. That’s fine, up to a point.

You can write a story about a character who’s an egomaniac and thinks everything has to do with them. I’ve read a few good books like that. But, you are setting a difficult bar to hit with this.

However, if a character starts pulling people into their orbit without effort or explanation, that’s something to keep an eye on.

A Mary Sue is not a powerful character: Power is a poor metric to judge a potential Sue. Their ability to affect the world in ways that are favorable to their goals? Sure. But, “this character is so powerful that they must be a Sue?” No.

Now, I said Sues aren’t gendered, and I stand behind that, but some people will use the term as a gendered shutdown against any competent female character. That’s sexism. That’s a double standard. They’re trying to use the term as an insult to disregard the character without actually looking at the character.

So, how do you avoid this?

First, know that misogynistic assholes are going to be misogynistic assholes. They have nothing of value to contribute to your work, and no power over the characters you create. They’re telling you that your character needs to sit down, be quiet, and smile, because they’re female. Ignore them.

Don’t get too invested in a single character: In theory, there’s nothing wrong with insert characters. The problem is when the author is overly invested in their insert and it becomes an Author’s Pet. It skews the work, and yes, your audience can tell.

Not every pet is a Sue, but there is a strong correlation.

Every character you create is a piece of you. You’ll carry them with you for the rest of your life. They’re reflections, moments, identities that you made. Just. Don’t. Play. Favorites.

Make sure your characters belong in their world: again, one of the biggest things you can do to make a Sue is have a character who doesn’t belong in their world. When you’re creating a character, figure out where they belong in that setting, and how that shapes their identity.

I’m not talking about characters who are literally from outside the setting, like wardrobe fantasy or fish out of water stories. That’s different. They belong in their world; they’re just not in it right now.

Remember opportunity cost is a thing: Opportunity cost is the idea that in order to do one thing, you’ve giving up the opportunity to do another.

If your character spent years training to fight, that would eaten into their social life. If they spent years training as a thief, same difference. These choices further shape who they are as a person.

Combat is a skill like any other. You can learn it, and it changes how you see the world. Your character can learn to fight. Your character can put in the time and become exceptional at it. But, that comes at a price. They have to give up other things to do that. There aren’t enough hours in the day.

The other side is, a character can develop a complex skillset over time. They can grow as a person, and that means that some of the things they used to do fall by the wayside as they go.

Also, there’s nothing wrong with creating hyper-competent characters, just remember to drag them out of their comfort zone.

Try to avoid, “the special” unless you need it: For everything, there are special exemptions. Special cases. Remember, you’re unique, just like everyone else. If your character is the last surviving member of their kind, a demi-god, the lost scion of a deposed royal lineage, or some other extraordinary, unique individual, that needs to be a central focus of their story. Note: “their story,” it’s possible they may end up split off in a different direction from the rest of your characters, to follow their story. Even if they’re trying to reject their legacy, others may not be so accommodating.

To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with characters that have something special about them, that’s fine. However, the more special they are, the more they’ll weigh on the story. Meter your plans accordingly.

Finally, this may sound a bit odd, but there’s nothing inherently wrong with a well written Mary Sue. The protagonists of 19th century lit are utterly saturated with characters that, to a modern audience, look a lot like Sues. The problem is when you have poorly written characters. That’s the issue here. Is the character well written? Do they feel like they belong in their world? Do they pay for their choices? It’s not a Sue.

Someone telling you that your character is too powerful because they’re female, and automatically a Mary Sue is applying a vicious double standard. Like I’ve said, while the name itself refers to a female character from a Star Trek fan fiction, the writing issues apply regardless of gender. Anyone saying, “no, your character is too powerful for a girl,” can fuck right off.

-Starke

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Q&A: Mary Sues was originally published on How to Fight Write.

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STOP FALSE TAGGING

I get you want your imagines seen BT as many as possible, I do. But I know I speak for a large amount of readers when I say false tagging just pisses me the fuck off. No one wants to wade through a million things we weren’t looking for to hopefully find one post lost among them.

Disclaimer: I am targeting no one in particular and have no one writer or artist in mind. This is a vast issue and I know they mean nothing bad by it. It just completely kills the whole reason we have a tagging system.

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Asks for you OC’s

Some of the questions I found while on my crazy ask adventure earlier. If you answer these, make it entertaining! Let us get to know your OC! There are no boring stories. 1. Do they have a strange habit? Is there a reason behind it? 2. They can talk to their future self for two minutes. What would they say? 3. Do they believe in soulmates? If not, do they want to? 4. What’s one thing or person that can drive them absolutely crazy? 5. What do they want to be remembered for? 6. Do they have a personal rule they won’t break? What’s the story behind it? 7. Do they like getting older? What’s the reason behind their answer? 8. What do they think their spirit animal would be? What would their spirit animal actually be? Why are they wrong or right? 9. If they were forced to re-live a memory over and over again for all eternity, what memory would they choose? Why? 10. If they could have a video of any memory in their life, what memory would they choose? 11. Would they choose to fight 10 horse-sized pigeons or 100 normal sized pigeons? Would they win? 12. Do they have a lie they tell often? Why do they lie about it? Is there someone they never lie about it to? 13. Is there something that ended badly that they still don’t regret doing? What is it? Why do they not find it in their heart to regret it? 14. Would they kill a huge spider by themselves or would they get someone else to do it? Who would they ask for help? Would they lie about being scared if they asked for help? 15. If they could make an ice-cream truck play ANY song/melody in the world, what song/melody would they choose? Why do they choose that one? 16. What’s the grossest thing they have ever done? Why did they do it? 17. The most inappropriate time they’ve ever started laughing? Do they often laugh at inappropriate time? 18. There’s a lot of different types of friends, like the mom friend or the cool uncle friend. What type of friend are they? 19. Do they prefer hard work or do they like to have it easy at work? Share a story about them being at work if you want! 20. Who is their oldest friend? How has their friendship changed over the years? What’s their best memory of their friend? 21. If they had an intro song, what would it be? 22. What do they think of tattoos? Do they have any? Tell us about them! 23. Describe their perfect weekend! Who would they share it with? 24. What is, in their opinion, the most beautiful place in the world? 25. Would it help if they were in a bad mood and a friend showed them videos of people falling over? What about cats doing stupid shit? Which friend would try this? 26. If they HAD to change their name, what would they choose? Why? Would they be sad to see their old name go or not? 27. If they could know either how they die or when, which one would they choose? Or would they choose not to know at all? Why? 28. What method of dying would be their worst fear? 29. Are they afraid of dying? Why? 30. What song makes them sing along no matter what they’re doing and where they are? 31. Do they curse a lot? Why? Why not? 32. What’s one thing they want to achieve before the die? 33. Which room in their home do they spend most time in? Why? 34. Other than their home, where can they usually be found? Why? 35. Is there a particular smell that brings back a memory for them? Is it a good memory or a bad one? Tell us about it! 36. Best place to take them out on a date? If they don’t date, just name the best place to take them for a special day, like their birthday. 37. Are they good at helping others with things in the everyday life, like cleaning? Would they lie to get out of helping someone with such a task? 38. If they could bring back one TV-show that was canceled, what show would it be? Why? 39. What do they think about game shows? If they live in a different time, what would they think if they were to pop up in modern time to watch a game show? 40. Do they celebrate birthdays? How and with who? If not, why? 41. Is there something that always makes them cry? Why? 42. If you were to put your character in a video game, what game would it be and would they do well? Why did you choose that game? 43. If you were to put your character into a movie, what movie would it be and why did you choose that movie? What character would they be in it? The love interest, the hero, the damsel in distress, the clown, etc. 44. They wake up in a room with no doors and no windows. There’s a red button on the floor next to them, a warning written under for them not to press it. How long would it take before they pushed it? 45. Which one of your characters would be able to convince you to do just about anything if you met them? What would happen? 46. If they could only eat one food for the rest of their life, what would they choose? 47. What’s the best compliment they’ve ever received? From who? Why did they like it so much? 48. Tell us about something they’ve done but will never, ever do again! Why do they refuse to do it again? 49. They wake up with no memory - expect of the person they cared for the most. Who is it? 50. Do they live up to a stereotype? What is it? Do they mind? 51.  If they could suddenly know any language they wanted, what language would they choose? Why? 52. If they could know the truth about a big mystery that no one else knows the answer to but not be able to tell anyone about it, would they still choose to know? Tell us about the mystery if you have one in mind! 53. If they could have any animal as a pet without the risk of it hurting someone, which animal would they choose? Why? 54. What type of student were, are or would they be? Would you want to be their teacher or not? Why? 55. How long can they go without talking? 56. Link us their favorite song! Or your favorite song! Spread the music! 57. If they have one, how often do they check their phone? 58. Are they or would they be a triple texter that uses a lot of emojis? 59. Which would make the best stripper? Have they tried it or would they be open to do it? 60.  Have they ever embarrassed someone on purpose? How and why? 61. Are they the type to refuse to ask for directions if they get lost? Who would force them to ask for help? 62. Are they the type to wander off of the path while hiking in a huge forest? What’s the reason behind the answer? 63. Do they want to retire at some point? What would they do? 64. Have they planned their future out? What’s the reason behind the answer? 65. If they could, would they get rid of three of the seasons so there was just one? Which one would they choose? Why? 66. Have they ever gone snowboarding? If yes, do they enjoy it? If not, would they be any good at it? 67. Do they have any traditions? Tell us about them! 68. Have they ever been in a food fight? If yes, did they start it? If no, would they ever want to try it? 69. If they were able to choose their last meal, what would they get? 70. What meme represents them? Do they like memes? 71. Would they make and bring soup to a sick, elderly neighbor? 72. If they had to lose one of the five senses, which one would they choose? Why? 73. Would they be able to cover up a murder if they had to/wanted to? 74. If a loved one asked for help with covering up a murder they committed, would you help? What are the reasons you might turn them in to the police? 75. If they could talk to ANYONE in the world for an hour, who would they want to talk to? What would they talk about? Would it change something for them? 76. Describe their own personal Hell, and then their personal Heaven. Give us reasons for why they are the way they are. 77. A portal to another world opens up. They have no idea how long it will stay open. Do they go through? If they could take someone with them, who would they choose? 78. If they were on the run from the police, where would they go? Why? 79. Would they rather lose all their money or all the pictures they have ever taken? 80. Would they rather see ten minutes into their own future or ten minutes into the future of everyone but themselves? 81. Would they rather that their family thinks they’re a horrible person and the general public be very proud of you or the other way around? 82. Would they rather die in twenty years with no regrets or in fifty years with a lot of regrets? 83. Would they rather be feared or loved as a ruler? 84. Would they want to be able to control water or fire? 85. Would they rather go back to age 5 with everything they know now or know now everything their future self will learn? Why?   86. Would they rather relive the same day for 365 days or lose a year of their life? Why? 87. Would they rather never have to work again or never have to sleep again (you won’t feel tired or suffer negative health effects)? Why? 88. Would they rather be fluent in all languages and never be able to travel or be able to travel anywhere for a year but never be able to learn a word of a different language? 89. Your character suddenly have the power to shrink and grow at will. Does it help the character in any way through the rest of the plot? Gives us an example of a situation they might end up in. 90. If they could make someone forget something, would they? If they would, who would it be and what would they make them forget? Why?

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Fair Use in Novels

I often get questions from Anons asking me what is appropriate to use in a novel, from song quotes to character names of wildly popular characters from other books (names that are obviously more unique than just Sarah or Alice or Amelia). So I’m going to lay the groundwork of what writers can and can’t use in their novels—or for their novels.

Quotes from song lyrics. You can’t do this. Period. If you want to use quoted song lyrics, you would have to get permission from the artists themselves—and you would likely have to pay a heady sum of money to obtain that permission. A big part of the reason why you can’t do this is because song lyrics are often so short in the first place, and if you misquote even one word, you run the risk of being sued. In fact, you run the risk of being sued period if your book is somehow published with quoted song lyrics from an actual band. 

Names of fictional characters. One Anon asked me if he or she could use a fictional character’s name as a nickname for one of his/her characters. As far as I know, this is not copyright infringement, especially if the character whose nicknamed Harry Potter does not in anyway resemble the actual Harry Potter. It is also not copyright infringement to use a fictional character’s name in passing. For example, in Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick, Leonard frequently mentions Holden Caulfield as a comparison to himself. Holden Caulfield, however, is not an actual character in the book. There’s also the question of cameos, and whether or not a writer can use an actual character as a cameo in the book. This is on shaky ground, because using a published fictional character as a cameo technically is not copyright infringement, until that character actually starts talking. However, from the article I linked to you, you still run the risk of being sued. Fan fiction is an entirely different matter, as most writers don’t profit from this work, and authors want to please enthusiastic readers. (I would both cry and feel EXTREMELY flattered if someone were to ever write a fanfiction of my book, When Stars Die.)

Public domain. Any book before 1923 is fair use. Granted this does not mean you can re-write the entire book. Basically this means you can quote these works, while attributing their authors to them, in your novels. Frenchie,from Death, Dickinson, and the Demented Life of Frenchie Garcia by Jenny Torres Sanchez, frequently talks about Emily Dickinson and quotes her as well. Libba Bray puts a part of Tennyson’s poem, The Lady of Shallot, in A Great and Terrible Beauty. And when I do revisions for my novels, I’d like for my protagonist to quote parts of Edgar Allen Poe. 

Titles. You don’t need permission to use song titles, movie titles, book titles, television titles, and so on and so forth. You can also include the names of things, place, and events and people in your work without permission. I mention Paula Dean in brief passing in the current work I’m writing, because she owns a restaurant in Savannah, Georgia, the place my character lives. 

Pictures. I’m primarily talking about if you’re self-publishing or are allowed to work with your publisher (usually small press) on designing the cover. ANY stock photos listed on any stock photo website is fair game and can be photoshopped as much as you want to. However, you often have to buy these photos, but once you pay for them, they are yours to do with what you want. Unfortunately, you run the risk of having a similar book cover as another book, especially if you don’t do too much to that image beyond slapping your name and title of the book on it. The cover for When Stars Die received a heavy makeover, so it is not likely that I will find another book using my exact cover. I may find a book using the girl on the cover, but the plum blossoms, the colors, how the girl was edited, and my title and name are probably going to be next to impossible to find on another book. 

Quoting famous people. If the quote from, let’s say, a famous speech in the past, is over 100 years old, that work is likely in the public domain, so it’s fair to use quotes from  Georgie Washington or another popular figure. 

Referencing facts. If you’re referencing facts, like how the universe was made, this is not copyright infringement—they are unadorned facts. For the current novel I’m working on, I did use a website to help Gene’s teacher explain black holes, because Gene uses black holes as a motif to describe how people can have an effect on one another. However, because this is knowledge that you can pick up from any text book or even an astronomy class you took, I don’t need to quote the source I took it from because I did not repeat word-for-word what that website said. The website simply listed facts that you can find anywhere from a legitimate source. 

Using quotes from TV, films, or advertising. These are copyrighted, so don’t use them, unless you want to get sued. 

For now, these are the only points I can think of on what writers are allowed to use and not use in their novels. If someone can think of anything more, feel free to re-blog and add to this list!

Ask Box is always open, and I think this is the last day for my book/Amazon gift card giveaway, so you better enter while you can!

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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.

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I think Voltron would have suffered less if they followed a similar theme to Six of Crows, which explored the issues that arose when children had the roles of adults forced upon them far too young.

This would have made for an interesting narrative and I would have preferred it a lot more, especially coupled with themes of war and loss that Voltron attempted to tackle.

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this is a callout post  —-

keep writing

keep drawing

keep building up your OCs backstories

keep creating

continue putting yourself out there

fuck others opinions of what you’re doing

do YOU do what makes YOU happy

do it for yourself first and the results will follow

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If you’re having trouble developing a character for one of your stories, here’s an idea that may help you. Create a Pinterest board for that character and pin the following things:

Things they would like

Food they would eat

Clothes they would wear

Places they like to go

Places they dream of going

Elements of their culture

Elements of their religion (if they have one)

Where they live

Color palettes that fit them

Their aesthetic

Quotes that relate to them

Seeing all of these things together in the same board may help you visualize the character more.

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I cannot emphasize enough how much you need to read thoroughly through the terms of any publication before you send your writing to them. It is mandatory that you know and understand what rights you’re giving away when you’re trying to get published.

Just the other day I was emailed by a relatively new indie journal looking for writers. They made it very clear that they did not pay writers for their work, so I figured I’d probably be passing, but I took a look at their Copyright policy out of curiosity and it was a nightmare. They wanted “non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free, perpetual, worldwide license and right to use, display, reproduce, distribute, and publish the Work on the internet and on or in any medium” (that’s copy and pasted btw) and that was the first of 10 sections on their Copyright agreement page. Yikes. That’s exactly the type of publishing nightmare you don’t want to be trapped in. 

Most journals will ask for “First North American Rights” or a variation on “First Rights” which operate under the assumption that all right revert back to you and they only have the right to be the first publishers of the work. That is what you need to be looking for because you do want to retain all the rights to your work. 

You want all rights to revert back to you upon publication in case you, say, want to publish it again in the future or use it for a bookmark or post it on your blog, or anything else you might want to do with the writing you worked hard on. Any time a publisher wants more than that, be very suspicious. Anyone who wants to own your work forever and be able to do whatever they want with it without your permission is not to be trusted. Anyone who wants all that and wants you to sign away your right to ever be paid for your work is running a scam.

Protect your writing. It’s not just your intellectual property, it’s also your baby. You worked hard on it. You need to do the extra research to protect yourself so that a scammer (or even a well meaning start up) doesn’t steal you work right from under you nose and make money off of it.

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things you should totes not view as positive portrayals of love/romance:

the great gatsby

romeo & juliet

the phantom of the opera

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“I’m finally going to write! I have a great idea!”

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Writing fanfic

Mixing tenses

Losing focus

Doubting myself as a writer and a human being

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people who are “anti non binary” smash that unfollow button babey cause I don’t want you near me or my blog

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Reblog the writers’ fortune cookie for luck!

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your character should be more than a tragic backstory. more than i lost my parents at a young age so now i rebel against the world. more than i have all these wicked skills without proper background or training. 

sass is great, and so is silence — but when aren’t they using their biting wit? when do they speak up? do they use their ass-kicking skills for good? for evil? have they lost people along the way — actually, it’s inevitable, so what happened after the funeral? did your character attend? did they seek revenge, or search for answers at the bottom of a bottle? 

don’t toss around tragedies if you’re not going to apply them to your characterization. alcoholics aren’t just loud and physically abusive; ptsd doesn’t mean you’ve boarded up the windows and refuse to leave your house. you won’t always continue to hate your parents after they’ve died. you will doubt your life decisions. being rich doesn’t make you sexy. being smart doesn’t make you socially awkward [ alternatively, it doesn’t make you the most attractive person in the room. ] even if you’re wicked smart, you’ll still get some things wrong. 

do your research. if you put your character through traumatic events, not everyone walks away unscathed. but being haunted by the ghosts of your past doesn’t make you attractive either. it’s a nitty gritty, dirty fucking business. you get mad, your world loses color, you feel alone, and sometimes you ask yourself why you’re the one who lived. 

treat your character like their own person. just because you wouldn’t say something to someone doesn’t mean they’ll keep their trap shut. it doesn’t mean they’ll want a big wedding or fast cars or apple pie made the way your mother taught you. maybe you’re pro-life and your character is pro-choice. maybe it’s vice versa. just because your character is a dick doesn’t mean it should be a reflection on yourself. but if they’re going to be a dick, and you want it to be believable, give them a reason to be a dick. a reason to hate the world, only slightly less than they hate the people living in it. maybe more. maybe it’s maybelline.

being smart and young and witty and attractive doesn’t mean your character will be respected. it doesn’t mean your character deserves to be respected. older, more experienced characters may trust your character less because they’re so damn young, no matter what you do or say to try to prove them wrong.