gigglesandfreckles-hp

[gigglesandfreckles-hp]

i look at jfk jr in the 90s to give myself visuals for an adult james potter bc they're technically the same age- plus he's also ridiculously good looking with a fantastic head of hair so it doesn't hurt. (probably almost too good looking if i'm being honest but i like to think adult james potter would have a similar athletic build)

hahaha this is such a funny, but also great take! i immediately thought of that one shirtless picture of him. if you're a john-john fan at all i'm certain you know the one i'm talking about. and you're correct—his hair does have a certain jp quality to it. i think he's a bit too refined for the jp in my head? like i think i need more boyishness? but also it's just difficult for me to dissociate any kennedy from social elitism soooo 😆 to be fair, james was also the socially elite, but i imagine he wore it differently as an adult than jfk jr (i say as if jp ever even lived past 21 in canon.....)

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love and other words also has that one thing you don't like but in suchhh a weird way along with other terrible tropes shoved right along it i hate it and if you have any second chances reccs or anything similar that would be healing please do share 😭

that's what i've heard which is why i've avoided it!!

unfortunately, i think several second chance novels take this angle because of a lack of creativity in how to justify breaking up. which is so silly to me, personally. i'll be honest...i don't read a ton of contemporary romance because most of them are too cringe-y for me. like...if it's been recced on tiktok, i probably hate it hahaha SORRY. so honestly—the only book i can think of which meets the requirements of: - 'second chances' - not cringe-y enough to need to shut the book and breathe for a second because it makes my stomach hurt and not in a good way - no use of That Awful (in my opinion) Trope - good, overarching story threaded throughout the book, aside from just the romance (which is a requirement for me)

would be 'happy place,' by emily henry! she's so popular rn that i just sort of assume most contemporary romance readers have read her books...and i say that as someone who isn't even a contempo rom reader ha! so there's a good chance you've already read it, but i really think this one holds up!! in my opinion, it's so overhyped because it's actually that good. side note: i use the motif of 'home' as a central part to my jily (i'm not sure if you're the same anon who said you're reading omtnwf or not) and this book does an excellllent job of crafting a deep, beautiful tie-in to the idea of home for the main couple in finding their happily ever after )

oh and this book specifically influenced one specific scene in omtnwf hehe

[gigglesandfreckles-hp]

i have to tell you that i thought i'd read one golden summer because you talked about it and im always (in vain) hoping to find a romance book where you don't want to punch the characters in the throat as you put it (and then spend the rest of week giving hate speeches in your mind) bUT i saw it's something of a sequel so i went to that and saw people heavily comparing it to another book called love and other words (which was second chances!!) so i thought i'd read that first and it was also in one more time now format, one chap present one past etc so i was excited but oh my gOD i hated it SO much and i want to blame you but instead ill say one more time is hugely healing from this trauma

HAHAH OH NO. i have heard of ‘love and other words’ but never read it because i heard something specific about it that i know I’d hate…

one golden summer is definitely more meaningful if you’ve read the first one ‘every summer after’ HOWEVER just in case you’re still considering it, i’ll put a spoiler below the cut that may turn you off to it……(only proceed if you don’t care to have something spoiled!!)

every summer after has a cheating moment. it’s a bit more complicated than just that but if you’re like me and just sooo black and white about cheating in general and detest it’s appearance in media, then it may be a difficult pill to swallow. one golden summer addresses it in an incredible way and completely redeems the story in my opinion. but still worth knowing beforehand!

like…i hate cheating and cannot express enough how much i hate it casually popping up. and so ‘every summer after’ rubbed me the wrong way because of it but then it’s like the author knew exactly what i was feeling and she used it as such a a cool tiny plot device in the second book (one golden summer) to grow a character and it was genuinely so so good. I finished the first book feeling a little ehhh and then finished the second book like OH WHOA!!!!!!! that was so rambly but…there’s a reason i don’t usually blindly recommend the first one to people 😆 the second one is so good (in my opinion) that it redeems the one meh part about the second. it’s a ballllm to the soul!

[gigglesandfreckles-hp]

✏️ Writing Dialogue That Sounds Like Real People, Not Theater Kids on Red Bull

(a crash course in vibes, verbal economy, and making your characters shut up already)

Okay. We need to talk about dialogue. Specifically: why everyone in your draft sounds like they’re in a high school improv group doing a dramatic reading of Riverdale fanfiction.

Before you panic, this is normal. Early dialogue is almost always too much. Too polished. Too "scripted." So if yours feels off? You’re not failing. You’re just doing Draft Zero Dialogue, and it’s time to revise it like a boss.

Here’s how to fix it.

─────── ✦ ───────

🎭 STEP ONE: DETOX THEATER ENERGY I say this with love: your characters are not all quippy geniuses. They do not need to deliver emotional monologues at every plot beat. They can just say things. Weird, half-finished, awkward things.

Real people:

interrupt each other

trail off mid-thought

dodge questions

contradict themselves

repeat stuff

change the subject randomly

Let your characters sound messy. Not every line needs to sparkle. In fact, the more effort you put into making dialogue ✨perfect✨, the more fake it sounds. Cut 30% of your clever lines and see what happens.

─────── ✦ ───────

🎤 STEP TWO: GIVE EACH CHARACTER A VERBAL FINGERPRINT The fastest way to make dialogue feel alive? Make everyone speak differently. Think rhythm, grammar, vocabulary, tone.

Some dials you can twist:

Long-winded vs. clipped

Formal vs. casual

Emojis of speech: sarcasm, filler words, expletives, slang

Sentence structure: do they talk in fragments? Run-ons? Spirals?

Emotion control: are they blunt, diplomatic, avoidant, performative?

Here’s a shortcut: imagine what your character sounds like over text. Are they the “lol okay” type or the “okie dokie artichokie 🌈✨” one? Now translate that into speech.

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🧠 STEP THREE: FUNCTION > FILLER Every line of dialogue should do something. Reveal something. Move something. Change something.

Ask:

Does this line push the plot forward?

Does it show character motivation/conflict/dynamic?

Does it create tension, add context, or raise a question?

If it’s just noise? It’s dead air. Cut it. Replace it with a glance. A gesture. A silence that says more.

TIP: look at a dialogue scene and remove every third line. Does the scene still work? Probably better.

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💥 STEP FOUR: REACTIVITY IS THE GOLD STANDARD Characters don’t talk into a void. They respond. And how they respond = the real juice.

Don’t just write back-and-forth ping pong. Write conflict, dodge, misunderstanding. If one character says something vulnerable, the other might joke. Or ignore it. Or say something cruel. That’s tension.

Dialogue is not just information exchange. It’s emotional strategy.

Try this exercise: A says something revealing. B lies. A notices, but pretends they don’t. B changes the subject. Now you’ve got a real scene.

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🔍 STEP FIVE: PAY ATTENTION TO POWER Every convo has a power dynamic, even if it’s tiny. Who’s steering? Who’s withholding? Who’s deflecting, chasing, challenging?

Power can shift line to line. That shift = tension. And tension = narrative fuel.

Write conversations like chess matches, not ping pong.

─────── ✦ ───────

✂️ STEP SIX: SCISSORS ARE YOUR BEST FRIEND The best dialogue is often the second draft. Or third. Or fourth. First drafts are just you figuring out what everyone wants to say. Later drafts figure out what they actually would say.

Things to cut:

Greetings/closings ("Hi!" "Bye!"--skip it unless it serves tone)

Exposition disguised as chat

Obvious thoughts spoken aloud

Explaining jokes

Repeating what we already know

Readers are smart. Let them fill in blanks.

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🎧 STEP SEVEN: READ IT OUT LOUD (YES, REALLY) If you hate this step: too bad. It works. Read it. Mumbling is fine. Cringe is part of the ritual.

Ask yourself:

Would someone actually say this?

Does this sound like one person speaking, or a puppet show with one hand?

Where does the rhythm trip? Where’s the breath?

If you can’t say it out loud without wincing, the reader won’t make it either. Respect the vibe.

─────── ✦ ───────

🏁 TL;DR: If you want your dialogue to sound like real people, let your characters be real. Messy. Annoying. Human. Let them interrupt and lie and joke badly and say the wrong thing at the worst time.

Cut the improv class energy. Kill the urge to be ✨brilliant✨. And listen to how people talk when they’re scared, tired, pissed off, in love, or trying not to say what they mean.

That’s where the good stuff is.

—rin t. // thewriteadviceforwriters // official advocate of awkward silences and one-word replies

P.S. I made a free mini eBook about the 5 biggest mistakes writers make in the first 10 pages 👀 you can grab it here for FREE:

[gigglesandfreckles-hp]

Just want to pop in to say I have dyslexia and am so obsessed with your one more time now jily fic that I speed through it in 2 days (no clue how I did that tbh) and will be waiting anxiously every week for whenever you post more of it cause I am dying to know how it ends

PS please give them a happy ending they've suffered so much already 🙏🏻

thank you so much!!! i'm so glad you've enjoyed it so far! x

i'm certain some people who have been following this story from the jump may be a bit annoyed seeing me say this over and over, but it's very important that i let anyone who is ever worried about it know: james and lily will not be dying in this story :) (and as i've also said before...i will not make any promises about anyone else 😘)

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question do we ever get a James pov outside if the hogwarts era because thay ask about Peter gave me some thoughts and I'm 👀

innnnteresting that you should ask this because yes we will hehehehe (but actually i'm curious on your peter thoughts if you care to share!!)

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stupid, brave, and TOO loyal james potter. the amount of anxiety i had reading your last chapter and continue to have until the spy is found out is incredible. he just doesn't even entertain the IDEA of a spy within his friends. boy oh boy does he have a world of hurt coming

[gigglesandfreckles-hp]

Hii. I love all your writing and been binging all your work after completing my exams. Small question, do you think Lily and James had other relationships or one time dates before dating each other in the OMTN universe? Were they each other's first time? (you don't have to answer that if it's too invasive)

i think james snogged around a bit and did the casual hogsmeade thing with lots of girls 4th and 5th year. during that time, lily mostly stuck with snape and crushed on james from afar. what! who said that!!. then swm happened (exactly like canon) and the tectonic plates shifted a bit.

lily had a semi-serious boyfriend for a bit in 6th year and went on a few other dates, but james chilled out a lot on the dating scene (something something about how all the girls except for one seemed kinda meh all of a sudden, what's that about). they both ended the year single and friends!

so i wouldn't say this for every universe i write of jily, but in omtnwf...yes, they were each other's first time :) (and for those of you that were peer pressuring me to write this scene, you'll be happy to know i finally did. we'll see if it ends up making the final cut or not though hahaha)

[gigglesandfreckles-hp]

Do you think you'd ever write any sapphic fics about the marauder girls like Marlene and Dorcas or Marlene and Mary?

my toxic trait is that i don't hc marlene as going to school with lily 🫢 i know that's the commonly accepted norm and i have absolutely no qualm with it! i just really like the idea of there being some older women in the order holding things down along with the kiddos.

that being said, i tend to stay in my lane with jily because that's what i know and love the best (and randomly fleamia apparently? though i'm not sure where that even came from for me lol), but i never say never! i think if i had a distinct enough characterisation in mind for any of the girls, i could be quite easily convinced :)

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(opening the author’s works page after finishing a fic) and if im lucky they’ll have written this exact same fic but different a bunch more times

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I LOVED THAT MCGONAGALL MOMENT!!

thank you! mcgonagall + jily is one of my most faaavourite dynamics ever! 💖

[gigglesandfreckles-hp]

this point in the story is ripe for reckless lily to make an appearance but alas she is heavily pregnant :(

and you can’t possibly know how much that frustrates me, the author who decided she would be pregnant hahaha

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yay jily fighting 🥺💀

they’ve been getting along too well lately! i had to give them a little soooomething 😉

[gigglesandfreckles-hp]

Ok so Dumbledore doesn’t suspect Peter at all!?

Please don’t kill James and lily!! I need an epilogue with them and Harry

dumbledore suspects one of the marauders! he hasn’t narrowed it down, though! (i mean beyond assuming it can’t be james but damn wouldn’t that be quite the exercise in commitment to a cause if it were him hahahah)

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I don't know your timeline, but the UK weather has changed in the last 5-7 years, it's a different kind of heat, oppressive and sticky disgusting. The lack of ac sucks enough that people linger in supermarkets and shopping centers and anywhere they can cool off. AND guys walk around shirtless - not all JP pretty! We do have plenty nice seasides though, and the rain is never that far away :)

see the lack of ac is absolutely something i can sympathise with because that’s not an issue in the southern us at all!! i am genuinely so sorry for that. i don’t think i could even do the “no ac” thing ever again tbh hahah i am admittedly WEAK now!!!

but i’ve just seen sooo many brits talking about how americans could never understand the humid sort of heat the uk is experiencing right now and….i just don’t believe them 😆 for a large portion of the us that experiences a dry heat, that’s probably true! but i’m close to the gulf of mexico so we pretty much stay on heat-humidity advisory for about four months straight. i can’t speak for all of england but my in-laws live in london and the humidity has certainly been abnormal there lately…but still a significant bit lower than what we’ve got here and a ten degree (celsius) difference at least. so my thoughts are WITH the uk because YUCK!!!!!!! but….i think my empathy is selfishly attenuated by my own misery here in coastal texas hahahah

on the note of the shirtless men. I AM TRULY SO SORRY. this had not been brought to my attention until this moment and since i am of the opinion that i married one of the only british men who looks decent without a shirt….GODSPEED TO YOU!!! why aren’t more brits talking about this specific horror outcome the heat?!?!?

tldr: WE’RE ALL SO HOT AND GROSS AND UGH I WANT AUTUMN AND UGH PLEASE KEEP YOUR KIT ON BRITISH MEN UNLESS YOU LOOK LIKE JAMES POTTER

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not to be an american but like. air conditioning is the greatest invention of all time.