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[jamesdallasrhinesmith]

August Prompts

August prompts are here! Feel free to use the exact words in your poem(s) or just be inspired by them and your own interpretation(s). I can't wait to see what you come up with and I'll be reblogging your creations throughout the month! If you use any of these or take inspiration from them please tag me and use the tag #jamesdallasprompts and have fun ☺️

1. Front porch

2. Weeds

3. Bookworm

4. Worshipped

5. Classified

6. Malachite

7. Songbird

8. Riptide

9. Moonlit dinner

10. Prophecy

11. North star

12. Fields

13. Milkshakes

14. Rain

15. Lemonade

16. Drive-in Theater

17. Dandelions

18. Golden hour

19. Memories

20. Potted plants

21. Silence

22. Paper airplanes

23. Coming home

24. Decluttering

25. Snakes

26. Medicine

27. Grandmother

28. Palm Tree

29. Spirits

30. Farmer's market

31. Gone

[jamesdallasrhinesmith]

Things You Should Know About Your Characters: Part 4

1. Is your character good at whispering?

2. Would your character ever do karaoke?

3. Is your character religious? (How religious are they and what is their religion if they have one?)

4. What is a food crime that your character commits?

5. What is your characters tell(s) when lying?

6. Has your character ever had their heartbroken?

7. How easily and how often does your character get brain freeze?

8. How does your character get themself out of awkward situations?

9. Is your character happy with who they are?

10. How easily does your character cry?

11. What is your characters favorite junk foods?

12. How does your character feel about social media?

13. Is your character naturally athletic?

14. Is your character happy with how they look?

15. Does your character normally see the glass as half empty or half full?

16. What words or phrases does your character overuse?

17. What is your characters biggest pet peeve?

18. How long does it take your character to make a decision? (Are they quick on their feet?)

19. How easily does your character get angry?

20. Does your character drink alcohol?

[jamesdallasrhinesmith]

July is disability pride month & I wanted to post a poem I wrote two weeks ago about some of my experiences as someone who is disabled. I also wanted to shed some light on some of the ableism I’ve experienced, how it’s affected me, & my struggle with disability pride. I have an incredibly deep shame & guilt about my experiences of being discriminated against & about being disabled in general. I and many others have suffered in silence and that is why disability pride is needed.

To my fellow disabled people you deserve to talk about your experiences, you don’t deserve the shame and guilt others have given you. You deserve to love yourself and define your experiences for yourself without others' unsolicited input. You deserve much more than what others have given you.

And to the nondisabled people, this is why you need to listen to those of us that experience these things. Those of us who are disabled live a life you have never seen or experienced and most of you never will. It doesn't matter if you have a disabled family member or friend or coworker, etc. You have not and probably never will experience what they have. You will never truly be able to understand their experiences on the same level as other disabled people can. You will never be that eleven-year-old. Think before you speak and educate yourself on our issues(and by educate I mean get your education from disabled people only, not those speaking over us or "on our behalf"). We fucking matter and we deserve to be proud and live a life without suffering. Stop contributing to the problem.

Also mobility aids aren't a bad thing, stop treating them like they are.

Happy disability pride month, even though it can still be hard to feel proud.

[jamesdallasrhinesmith]

Hi :) I saw your post and I was wondering what are the do's and don'ts of writing a nonbinary character, in my story i currently have someone but I'm a little worried that I'm not doing them justice.

Do’s and don’ts of writing nonbinary characters.

Hey there! The nonbinary identity is a very broad category, made more complex when you try to then fit things into a speculative fiction context with differing worlds and fantastical social constructs, and there are certainly things I can’t add to this list simply because I haven’t seen them done before and so haven’t occurred to me yet.

So, an incomplete list off the top of my head:

Do write nonbinary characters. Not labels or brownie point grabbers, but characters. They should be diverse. They should not be defined by their identities.

Do write nonbinary characters whose identities, presentations, and pronouns vary. Write they/them nonbinary characters and gendered pronoun nonbinary characters and multi-pronoun nonbinary characters. Write them fat and thin and muscly, masculine and feminine and androgynous, wearing dresses and suits and t-shirts. 

Do listen to nonbinary and trans people talk. Listen to how they feel and what they want to see in literature and what tropes hurt them.

Do get nonbinary and trans beta readers.

Don’t write stories about how your nonbinary characters discovered they were nonbinary or their complex emotions regarding their identity. (Unless you have a nonbinary co-writer or a wealth of experience and knowledge regarding the subject.)

Don’t write all your nonbinary characters as non-humans. Also don’t imply your human nonbinary characters are less human or natural for being nonbinary.

Don’t have the genital discussion. Maybe there’s exceptions to this but if you haven’t discussed it with a fair number of nonbinary or trans people just don’t fucking do it.

Also, here is an old ask about writing nonbinary characters, and I have some more info scattered through my LGBT characters advice archive. 

And do have fun! You should love writing the characters you write, so let them be wild and interesting and don’t fret too much in the rough draft stages!

[jamesdallasrhinesmith]

“Before we start, I would just like to tell you that nothing you say will leave this room.” The boy didn’t look up as he stated, “So, what you’re saying is that you can bring people in here and tell them everything I say.” The therapists eyes widened and he quickly shook his head.

- Excerpt From A Book I’ll Never Write #9

[jamesdallasrhinesmith]

With my book coming out soon, I thought I'd take this as a chance to answer a very tough question:

What's the Best Way to Support an Indie Author? Where should you buy their books? 🤔💵

Big post incoming!

Before we start talking about the wild, wild world of 👑royalties👑, I want to make this crystal clear:

The best way to support an indie author* is to BUY OUR BOOKS. Straight up. Paying for our hard work is good enough.

You want to support me? Easy. Buy my book.

*Now, let’s say you don’t care where you get the book from or your goal is to make sure most of your hard-earned money actually goes to the indie author rather than some corporation… then, in that case, read on!

So… what the heck are book royalties anyway?

When you purchase an indie eBook the money you spend is split between the author and the retailer. Depending on the split, more or less of your money will actually end up on the hands of the author you’re trying to support.

This differs from traditional publishing, where the author receives a lump sum as an advance from the publisher (which is then split between author and agent).

The publisher then sells this book on other storefronts, which further splits where the money actually goes.

PS: It is not until the book has actually generated as much revenue as the advance that said author begins to *actually* earn royalties on books sold, which may be as little as cents per book to a percentage of each sale.

To further confuse matters, different retailers offer different royalty rates! 😵

Where should you purchase books from if you want to super-duper support an indie author?

Well, let me give you a tier list—beginning from the TOP!

S TIER: Author's Personal Shop

Buying a book directly from an author's shop is by far the best way support 'em. Outside of a small % that goes to cover for credit card fees (~5% in my case), pretty much all of your money goes to the author.

If the author has a shop—buy it from there!!

A TIER: Itch.io

It's not just for games, you know! Its royalty rate is one of the most generous with a default 90/10. This is crazy-good compared to most other retailers.

Seriously, more authors should start selling their books on Itch.io!!

B TIER: Most Retailers

Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Google Play Books, and Kobo all offer a 70/30 split. It didn't use to be like this, tho!

If you like to have all of your books on the same platform, buying an indie author’s book through these platforms is honestly A-OK! 👍

C TIER: Amazon

Amazon has a default 35/65 rate (ouch) and has the option for a 70/30—but it's not easy. The latter option is not available in all territories and has many prerequisites.

Also, one way to get the 70/30 split is to *exclusively* sell your title on Amazon (ooof).

As if Amazon’s system wasn’t already confusing enough—there’s also *delivery fees*. Yes, you read that right. Amazon charges the author for the delivery of the digital item based on the file size, nickle-and-diming you like it's 2004 and you went over your text message limit.

I don’t want anyone to feel bad for buying books through Amazon. Like I said before, the best way to support us is to buy our books—no matter where you get them.

A sale is better than no sale at all. 🤞

The reason I set out to write this is because the average person has no clue that where you buy a book from actually matters.

You spend your hard-earned money wanting to support an indie author and the bulk of that Hamilton doesn’t even go to them.

And now you know. 🧵🔚

[jamesdallasrhinesmith]

[jamesdallasrhinesmith]

Prompt #1

"They're coming, I'm saved!" I cried out in relief as I watched the screen in front of me. The villain tsked before replying, "You put a lot of faith in them, don't you? But you should be more patient with coming to conclusions like those..." I looked up at the villain with scrunched eyebrows, "What do you mean?" I asked. The only response I got was a pointed look at the screen while they replied, "Just watch." And so I did. I watched as my friends seemingly made their way to save me, to finally bring me home. But soon I realized the villain was right, I was too quick with my judgement. I had put too much faith in them, especially when they didn't know I could see them make the choice to leave me. They all thought I wouldn't know they came and left without me, they all thought they could just leave me without any consequences. As I watched them leave and my cheeks became wet with my despair and betrayal, there was something else I realized they didn't know. What it was, was that it was the villain who came to me. It was them who wiped my tears and it was them who chose to untie my bindings and it was then I was given a choice that they didn't even knew existed.

[jamesdallasrhinesmith]

Things You Should Know About Your Characters: Part 3

1. How does your character deal with hard emotions?

2. How does your character feel about drama?

3. What color would your character dye their hair?

4. What makes your character feel vulnerable?

5. How does your character do with public speaking?

6. Does your character get freckles from being in the sun?

7: Does your character have trust issues?

8. What song will your character always dance to no matter what?

9. Does your character fall asleep during long car rides?

10. What is your characters favorite hobby?

11. What does your character hate the most?

12. What is your characters favorite season?

13. Would your character have voted for Trump or Biden?

14. What is your characters favorite type of weather?

15. What is your characters top goal?

16. What would your character be like as a candle?

17. What would push your character to the good/evil side?

18. What kind of vibe does your character give off?

19. How does your character react to bugs?

20. What is something that hurt your character so badly that it still hurts to think about to this day?

[jamesdallasrhinesmith]

He used to wonder how she could always find a silver lining in everything even when her life was so filled with darkness until one day he realized why as he watched her dance in the pouring rain, laughing with the biggest grin he had ever seen even though they were stranded because of her old, broken down car once again. She was a black whole, she took everything in, including all the light the world had to offer. But because she took it all in, it seemed, to the ignorant, to be an enigma. 

He realized that she was like this because of the dark and empty void that had encased her, her whole life and because once she had been outwardly bright, blinding those around her until she collapsed. Until she took her brightness and shown it inwards instead. 

- Excerpt From A Book I’ll Never Write #1

[jamesdallasrhinesmith]

I have a mute character in the story I’m writing and one of my beta readers suggested I use italics when they sign so that I don’t have to keep peppering “they signed” or “their hands flashed” throughout the piece.

But like…I always read italics in a different tone like they’re thoughts. It seems quieter than using normal quotations which makes what they say look less significant on the page than other character’s dialogue.

I really don’t think my audience needs me to use completely different punctuation around a mute character. There’s no need to act like they’re speaking a different language since their muteness isn’t a focal point in the story.

So really this reader’s comment has done the complete opposite of what they intended. Now I’m actively taking out as many of my “hands flashed” notations as possible and just writing in normal body language because, clearly, the other characters understand them and my audience doesn’t need to be coddled.

[jamesdallasrhinesmith]

She ran swiftly while barefoot through the forest balancing on branches and pointed rocks alike with a grin on her lips. And as I watched her graceful movements, movements that almost seemed like dancing as if it was only a melody she could head, I realized something. I realized why it is that her feet didn't bleed and her knees didn't scrape. It was because of her thick skin, built up over years and years of hardship. Years of walking on nails and balancing on breaking tightropes led her here. And as I realized this, the smile that graced my face fell because the scene in front of my wasn't only beautiful anymore, but also heartbreaking.

- Excerpt from a book I'll never write #4

[jamesdallasrhinesmith]

Things You Should Know About Your Characters: Part 2

1. What is your characters biggest fear? (Is it irrational or rational?)

2. Who has the biggest influence on your character? (Is it positive or negative?)

3. What are your characters political beliefs?

4. How is your character with kids?

5. What is your characters biggest secret?

6. What piercings would your character get, if any?

7. What is something your character finds repulsive?

8. What does home mean to your character?

9. How loudly does your character talk?

10. What is your characters favorite flower?

11. How does your character respond to physical affection?

12. Is your character a feminist? (Why or why not?)

13. Is your character good at keeping secrets?

14. How would your character respond to a stranger hitting on them?

15. What traits has your character inherited? (And from who?)

16. What does your character do at sleepovers?

17. If your character had access to social media, how many accounts would they have, what apps would they use, and what would their username(s) be?

18. How does your character react to reuniting with someone after a long time?

19. What is your characters sexuality?

20. What does family mean to your character?

[jamesdallasrhinesmith]

“I, um, I want to tell you something. And I know what your answers going to be, but I just would feel better if I said it.” She glances at him, before staring back down at her fidgeting hands.

“Well, here it goes I guess.” She lets out a long breath. “I like you,” She looks up from her hands and stares at him. “More than a friend.” She clarifies. Oh, he thinks to himself, right. So, how does someone let someone else down easily? He opens his mouth, not sure what’s gonna come out but she says something he wasn’t expecting.

“You don’t have to. I know already, it’s obvious. I see the way you look at him.” He stares at her, eyes wide and mouth agape.

- Excerpt From A Book I’ll Never Write #10

[jamesdallasrhinesmith]

Tips for white artists/writers on PoC characters:

DON’T

•Dehumanize poc characters. This includes giving only your poc characters monstrous features (animal ears, tails, fangs)

•Don’t make your white girl oc’s soft and cute or fun while your brown/black girl oc’s are Muscular and Strong with Don’t Need No Man and strict attitudes, let brown and black girls be soft and cute and fun, too

•Make the only poc characters as villains, victims, refugees, especially the tan and dark-skinned poc—let poc be heroes, too

•Write your Muslim (and any brown) character in an arranged marriage or being forced into anything in general (ie, hijab)

•Give your East-Asian oc’s yellow skin, even if it’s light enough to almost look ‘natural’—it doesn’t, and no one has that skin tone

•Make your only East-Asian character(s) meek, submissive, quiet, brooding

•Describe poc skin tone with food (ie, chocolate skin)

•Make only your poc characters the edgy, temperamental, brooding or jealous characters while your white oc’s get to be colorful and bright and strong and fun

•Have your white oc’s always better off than the poc characters (whether it’s money, status, beauty, power, etc)

•Kill all your poc characters off or torture them repeatedly while the white characters get everything they want

•Fetishize your poc characters (ie, how the brown girls in Disney films are all sexualized vs the soft innocence of white Disney princesses, how Native Americans are often sexualized, etc)

•This includes the sexy “Exotic” trope

•Write about an experience or identity that isn’t yours to write about—IE, you shouldn’t be writing from the perspective of a Muslim Arab-American girl facing racism and islamophobia in a small, white town. Write about another white character witnessing the events instead. (ie, secret life of bees)

And lastly…

•Don’t be afraid to ask.

DO

•Your research

•Include poc in a respectful manner (no it’s not that complicated)

•Be mindful of harmful tropes (angry Black woman, Muslim women being oppressed, etc)

•Let brown and black girls be love interests

•Romanticize (not sexualize) poc features (black and brown eyes, monolids, tan and dark skin tones, different nose shapes)

•Let girls have darker skin tones than their male love interest

•Let poc be disabled or have other identities—no it isn’t ‘too much’ to have a deaf, black, non-binary Muslim character

•Be mindful of internalized racism. The best way to avoid this is to…

•Ask poc about your non-white oc’s; if you think you’ve got a good handle on things, it’s likely you don’t. Don’t get mad if/when poc correct you. If you don’t know any poc, that already sounds like a problem and you should reach out to some people and go to @writingwithcolor’s blog, and do some of your own research as well

•Include interracial couples (yes it’s okay to have a poc in a relationship with a white person)

•Let brown/black men be soft and weak and romantic and kind

•Include tan and dark-skinned poc

And lastly…

•Write them as a person.

Feel free to add more! This was just off the top of my head

[jamesdallasrhinesmith]

The body landed with a solid thump, but then I watched as it began to decay. Slowly at first and then faster and faster until, within thirty seconds, there was nothing left but bones. What is going on here?

- Excerpt From A Book I’ll Never Write #6

[jamesdallasrhinesmith]

Things You Should Know About Your Characters: Part 1

1. Who or what would your character die for?

2. What is the best gift to give your character?

3. Does your character want kids?

4. How does your character take criticism?

5. What is the best way to calm your character down?

6. Who or what does your character have a soft spot for?

7. How easily does your character admit to their mistakes?

8. What would break your character?

9. How does your character react to death?

10. How is your character with money?

11. How does your character respond to compliments?

12. How forgetful is your character?

13. What is a false belief that your character has?

14. What would push your character to murder?

15. What is the dumbest thing your character has ever done?

16. How does your character react to bugs?

17. How does your character avoid uncomfortable topics?

18. What does your character define beauty as?

19. How touch starved is your character?

20. How does your character do with public speaking?