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2026 booktok discourse: sad books are a cognitohazard (they make you sad)

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it will pass but like can i at least get an eta

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give your characters exes.

give them a variety of exes. give them relationships that shaped who they are but did not last. give them people they tried very hard to love but it didn't work out. give them situationships that taught them things. give them something deep that was real but could not endure. things that hurt. things that ended amicably. people with whom hot passion cooled to warm affection and became undying friendship.

no more first and only. give me the context of what made them know the next or one after was final and right.

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Sometimes it hits me all over again how much J.K. Rowling and Orson Scott Card both wrote books that dug deep into children who read them and taught incredible lessons about inner strength and the importance of empathy and understanding and connection when the world tries to enforce bigotry, paranoia, and fear... and both of them apparently totally missed the point of their own work.

It's so... deeply bizarre, isn't it?

How do you write Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead, books about the use of xenophobia and fear to ruin our minds and make them more malleable and willing to hate anyone different than we are, and become what Orson Scott Card became? How do you write Order of the Phoenix and jump headfirst into the same "won't somebody think of the children" shrieking mindless hatred that you literally satirized and mocked in your own work?

I just don't understand it.

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5 Tiny Writing Tips That Aren’t Talked About Enough (but work for me)

These are some lowkey underrated tips I’ve seen floating around writing communities — the kind that don’t get flashy attention but seriously changed how I write.

1. Put “he/she/they” at the start of the sentence less often.

Try switching up your sentence rhythm. Instead of

“She walked to the window,”

try

“The window creaked open under her touch.”

Keeps it fresh and stops the paragraph from sounding like a checklist.

2. Don’t describe everything — describe what matters.

Instead of listing every detail in a room, pick 2–3 objects that say something.

“A half-drunk mug of tea and a knife on the table”

sets a way stronger tone than

“There was a wooden table, two chairs, and a shelf.”

3. Use beats instead of dialogue tags sometimes.

Instead of:

"I'm fine," she said.

Try:

"I'm fine." She wiped her hands on her skirt.

It helps shows emotion, and movement.

4. Write your first draft like no one will ever read it.

No pressure. No perfection. Just vibes. The point of draft one is to exist. Let it be messy and weird — future you will thank you for at least something to edit.

5. When stuck, ask: “What’s the most fun thing that could happen next?”

Not logical. Not realistic. FUN. It doesn’t have to stay — but chasing excitement can blast through writer’s block and give you ideas you actually want to write.

What’s a tip that unexpectedly helped with your writing? Let me know!! 🍒

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what to do when you’re 50k words into a first draft and suddenly get the urge to rewrite it all because you just thought of a really important way that the characters simply MUST be written 😭

asking for a friend of course

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