jaycewriteslikealot

[jaycewriteslikealot]

The fact that I’m legally an adult is hysterical

[jaycewriteslikealot]

The next time they tell you Americans are “happy” with their employer provided health insurance remember that that “happiness” is fueled by willful ignorance of what the alternatives are really like and fear of losing what little crappy health care they currently have.

[jaycewriteslikealot]

- Reminder to eat today if you’ve forgotten to

- Reminder to shower if you haven’t gotten around to it lately

- Reminder to take a breath, drink some water and to walk around outside

You will get where you’re trying to go, take care of yourself in the meantime.

[jaycewriteslikealot]

Writing advice: don’t use adverbs ever or everything you do is terrible

Best selling author and scriptwriter Neil Gaiman:

[jaycewriteslikealot]

Coming into a fandom late

[jaycewriteslikealot]

Still haven't figured it out

Honestly, one day I really need to figure out why tumblr doesn’t give me notifications anymore

[jaycewriteslikealot]

Okay listen

One of the things writeblr doesn’t really talk about is what happens - emotionally - when you edit your first draft.

It’s hard, it really is. And not just because it’s tedious but because you begin to see you wip less as a story and more as just another project. All those posts about how “writing is just 10% of the work” are true, and you really bein to see that. In editing, it begins to feel less like passion and more like you’re just jumping from one hurdle to the next

Your writing will begin to become flimsy in your eyes - it’s not a perfect story anymore, it’s a series of plot holes, it’s not imagery anymore, it’s a bunch of words on a page. But you can’t let this stop you

Your brain is just bored. It misses “actually” writing. You’ve read the same paragraph 49 billion times of course it feels stuck to the page

You’ve got to keep going!! Your wip is your baby you can’t let it sit in its unpolished in your folder forever. It’s not done yet!! Your story isn’t here yet!! It’s still waiting for you to finish it!!

As someone patching up more plot holes than I can count right now, trust me, editing is a relief.

You begin to see themes that weren’t there before emerge, you feel prouder of it and yourself, your characters act more like themselves, your world feels more real. It’s worth it

You’re worth it

[jaycewriteslikealot]

i love capitalizing words that do not need to be capitalized At All so that you read them in that Important Voice

[jaycewriteslikealot]

For you and your internet friends! 💙

Feel free to send these to them but please do not repost

[jaycewriteslikealot]

[jaycewriteslikealot]

The person I reblogged this from deserves to be happy

I tried to scroll past this. I really did

[jaycewriteslikealot]

Okay, we need more gay/bi/pan/ace characters in the media we’ve all established that. It’s incredibly important. But I personally think we need a little more diversity in straight couples and mlw couples in general as well as queer couples and poly groups so can I please get:

A tomboy whose “makeover” consists of getting a tux and gel in her hair and goes to prom with her boyfriend in matching tuxes.

Interracial couples that don’t have a white person involved

The girl being taller than the guy and it not being played for comedy.

A double wedding with a straight couple and a gay couple

A best friend hanging out with a straight couple without being considered a “third wheel” or being part of a love triangle

A guy teaching his girlfriend how to use eyeliner. And let him like makeup without any jokes being made about his sexuality or masculinity

A couple where one of them is transgender and it’s just a fact that nobody makes a big deal out of

Both the bride and groom wearing dresses at the wedding.

An established straight couple that’s been together for some time just being a couple. No cheating. No drama. They communicate well and the story doesn’t take a detour for the relationship.

A person whose last relationship was with someone of the same sex and they’re the crazy ex and spying on the new partner that’s of the opposite sex or even have it be the other way around and nothing is brought up about the genders. It’s just normal jealousy tropes.

A non binary person that identifies as straight because that’s what they feel fits them best.

A straight couple where at least one of them is asexual.

A boy getting a makeover montage before he goes out on a fancy date.

Guys squealing and getting excited rather than acting all tough and manly when their buddy gets asked out by the prettiest girl in school.

A straight or bi person deciding that yeah they feel attraction, but relationships? Romance? Sex? Not for them.

And there’s a lot more I could think of. We don’t just need normal straight couples of the same ethnicity where the woman is one head shorter than the man and stupid cheating tropes and tomboys being turned into girly girls. There’s a world of possibilities out there and ways to show straight people how they can casually be friends with and in relationships with queer people too. I dunno. I just never see this particular thing being addressed.

[jaycewriteslikealot]

I leave my characters alone for TWO MINUTES.

[jaycewriteslikealot]

love those book series that are like

1st book: Hero goes on a big adventure, makes a bunch of friends, and saves the day!

Latest book: Hero copes with debilitating PTSD while growing increasingly disenchanted with the moral dubiety of the people and world around them, yet nevertheless still strives towards a heroic ideal.

[jaycewriteslikealot]

Writing Minority Groups

So, obviously this is going to be very much influenced by my perspective on me being queer/LGBT+ and the current state of representation in the media, but these are some very basic guidelines that I think curious writers would benefit from following when writing a character from a minority group you’re not a part of.

Be careful. - I say this as kindly as I can, because frankly, I want to see more representation, and I want to see it everywhere. And I’m never going to see it if I have to wait for the “right” person to make it. But just be aware that you’re writing a story through research and not personal experience, so if someone points out a bias or facet of the situation you didn’t think of before, listen to them. It could benefit your overall story and it’s readers immensely.

Don’t carelessly make it the focus of your plot. - For real, though. If you’re a straight person writing a queer/LGBT+ romance novel, for example, you need to be aware that your personal romantic experience will only be so helpful. Obviously exploring the lens of another viewpoint can be very, very helpful on a personal level - it’s one thing that helped me realize I wasn’t straight! - but please do it with a certain level of tact. The more research you do, the better!

Find sensitivity readers! - this will be one of your saving graces. Ask a friend/acquaintance/someobe from that minority group if they’re willing to help you read through your portrayal of these characters, and to point out things you’ve done that aren’t conducive to well-written representation. Also, the more sensitivity readers you have, the more varied viewpoints will go into your understanding of this identity.

Don’t spotlight it. - this might seem weird, at first. But honestly, the more normally you treat the character, the easier it will be to believe. This means, basically, that if it’s not immediately plot relevant that the character isn’t straight, you don’t have to toss it in as a mandatory descriptor. At the end of the day, write minority characters as individuals first, identities second.

Make lots of them! - don’t let this one minority character be your last. Keep writing them, keep introducing representation to your stories - we want to see that. I know fellow LGBT+ and queer folks genuinely want to see that - so don’t do it once for the woke point. Take what you’ve learned and build on it. Write it better!

And finally - Support Minority Writers! - actively help out and promote fellow writers, especially if they’re writing characters that represent them. Find folks that are writing good rep for minority groups and tell your following “Hey, if you liked this, check this out! This author really knows what they’re talking about!”

I think that’s it for very basic guidelines on how to write a character from a minority group. The bottom line is to be willing to learn, and to be respectful, and if you’re willing to do both of those things, then you’ll be fine.

Now, let’s boost that rep, shall we?

[jaycewriteslikealot]

My main WIP: you haven’t been … working on any side projects have you?

Me: …

[jaycewriteslikealot]

You know how there’s the occasional discussion about the children in the Harry Potter universe or what have you, wondering how they’d keep the magic stuff secret at an age when they have, y’know, zero filter?

this one time I was at the zoo, outside the coyote habitat, and this was the kind of zoo that gives the animals a ton of room so they were pretty hard to spot in the dense trees.  A couple kids were there, also looking, and the little girl spots them first.  I compliment her excellent eyesight.  And then her brother speaks up: “My sister turns into a wolf at night.”

She turns, tiny and indignant, and responds without hesitation, “No I don’t, I turn into a fox.”

it has stuck with me for YEARS how offended she was about her brother misidentifying her species and I consider this evidence that secrecy is a nonissue with younger kids because it’s not that I don’t believe her, it’s that I have no idea what to do with that information if true.