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justgottafinishthischapter · 6 months ago

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Writing Romance: Courting

Prior to the 20th century, most couples engaged in courting politics to find their partners, and there were a lot of rules about how to properly court your intended partner. So I figured I’d put out a guide to proper romancing etiquette for those setting their stories in more antiquated settings. But a lot of these courtship practices don’t work as well for same-sex relationships. So, I’ll go through some of the rules for courtship that apply to any story that wants to use courting romances, then I’ll explore ways this could work for a queer couple.

Gender Dynamics in Queer Courtships

Gender is a HUGE aspect of courtship, as the expectations of men and women were starkly different. This leaves queer couples with two choices: either conform to the gender roles, or make the roles more generalized that both parties are expected to uphold. Whichever route you take, be consistent. Not just with queer couples but heterosexual ones as well. If a lesbian barmaid can chase skirts, why can’t a heterosexual seamstress chase chaps?

If you choose to lean into gender roles and active vs passive roles in courtship, I believe it is best to leave it that the one of higher social status takes on the role of the female, as it would be uncouth for a Duke to be chasing lowly Viscounts. Those looking for a higher status husband should be the one working to win the Duke’s affections. While one could argue that the one of higher status should be the active pursuer, the thought of a queen chasing skirts simply fails to capture the regal dignity of the position when we think on it. It seems more in line with the properness and decorum of the era to have the elite have the suitors come to them.

Even if you do away with the gender roles in favor of gender equality in relationships, social status and rank would still be enough to impact the active vs passive roles. A prince looking for a spouse will always be more passive, while his knights, dukes, and counts vie for his affections. Meanwhile, a lowly Baron will almost always be in pursuit of a match. This follows the Order of Precedence, a real life rule of etiquette that states that those of lower status are the ones introduced to someone of higher status. So before a Baron can speak freely with a Prince, someone must introduce the Baron to the Prince and never the other way around. If the Baron is being introduced to a group, they will be introduced in ascending order of rank. The Baron will first be introduced to the Count, then the Duke, and then the Prince. This is why in many court scenes, someone will introduce a character to the king before they speak to one another.

But what if they’re of equal status? What happens when a prince is seeking another prince to be his husband? While they have equal titles, a prince of a tiny, less powerful kingdom is more likely be the pursuer to the prince of a bigger, wealthier kingdom. Likewise, in a relationship between two Dukes, the one who is higher in the line of succession to the crown would be the one to be pursued by the one lower down the line of succession. TL;DR: Whoever has the bigger house is the one getting pursued by suitors.

Presenting at Court

When a young gentleman or lady had come of courting and marrying age, their parents would petition to have them present at court, though people could also be recommended by other nobility. This was an effective way for some to social climb, being recommended by someone of much higher status and impeccable reputation can skyrocket their child into an advantageous position. These events would be held at the palace multiple times per year, and were invite only. The Lord Chamberlain was in charge of going over the guest list with the utmost scrutiny, and nobody would be permitted who did not have a pristine and stainless record.

Men of good social standing would present at court at formal events called Levées. They would present before the King or Prince. In the event that there were two queens or otherwise no living males of the royal family, they might present before the highest ranking male in the line of succession, or otherwise just present before the Queen. In the Victorian Era, men wore buckled shoes and swords to both a Levée and a Presentation. They had to wear either court dress or a uniform. So, if he was a soldier, he might present at court wearing his finest military dress uniform.

Presenting at court for girls were much less imaginative, only being called a Presentation. They were expected to drag long trains behind them, to bow and address the queen flawlessly, and then leave the room without fumbling over her dress or shoes. Like with the Levées for the gentlemen, these events would be held multiple times per year, and multiple girls would present on the same day, meaning that all of the girls would be compared. The better she performs, the more desirable she will be. Some men might be charmed by a little clumsiness, but it was generally seen as extremely important for a girl to make a great first impression on the court as a lady of courting and marrying age. This is also why the presentation itself is rather short. There’s a lot of girls to get through, and the queen’s a busy lady.

Someone who was already of marrying age but marries into higher status would be expected to present at court after the wedding. As a king and queen had the power to bestow titles on people at their leisure, it was not impossible for an older married woman to be made a high enough status to make her formal debut at court, and older women had different expectations when making their debut, such as styling themselves differently, and wearing different colors. Thus if, for example, a lowly washer woman saved a nobleman’s son from drowning, she might be rewarded by being recommended for a title like Lady or Baroness and being allowed to present at court. Regardless of age, the presentation mostly serves as an introduction of a new face at court to the rest of high society.

The Rules for Men

Men were encouraged not to flirt with everyone they found attractive, as being too friendly might earn them a reputation that hurts their social image. Guidelines to courtship from the Victorian Era makes it clear to young men that not every girl will be interested in his pursuit of her, and that he should take a lack of positive response to any advances as his cue to move on, lest he embarrass himself or his family.

Never allow a woman to be uncertain of your feelings and intentions. Women were permitted some leeway with acting coy, but for a man to toy with a woman’s affections was seen as improper. Once a man is aware a woman mistakes his attention for affection, he is to quickly, yet politely, lay bare his true feelings. In a similar vein, a man should never make any declaration in jest, whether expressing love or proposing marriage, any attempt to make such grand declarations as a jest does grave disservice to the woman, and will earn him great dissent and contempt from those of good breeding and high social standing. This second rule also extends to the fairer sex, and is just universally sound advice when navigating romantic entanglements.

A man must put out his cigar in the company of women, which also meant that if a woman approaches him to engage him in conversation, he must discard it, regardless of how expensive it was.

When greeting a woman in public, a man should tip his cap in a polite manner, though if she stops to talk to him, she will extend her hand to him. In this case, he must remove his hat with the hand farthest from her, and take her extended hand with the one closest to her. If they are well acquainted, he might bestow the back of her hand with a quick kiss before letting go of her hand. He would then be expected to walk with her as they converse. If he has somewhere to be or the conversation has reached a natural ending, he should politely excuse himself, and wait for her to say her farewells before he leaves her company. If he simply cannot stop to talk, he should make his urgency clear, and apologize before carrying on, still being sure to tip his hat in a show of politeness.

The Rules for Women

Accepting gifts from a suitor is dangerous. If a suitor brings you a gift and you accept it, it indicates that you are interested in their advances. Being too accepting can also cause a man to continue to shower you with gifts, which could be seen as greedy. If disinterested in the suitor, it is advised to decline his gift. However, it’s best to try and decline his gift in a courteous manner, as a calous decline will earn you a reputation for a foul temperament, which may discourage other suitors.

An unmarried woman should never be outside alone. She should always be in the company of a companion, chaperone, parent, or legal guardian. This is a means of protecting women from being set upon by unscrupulous men.

Even while courting one another, an unmarried woman should never be alone in the company of a man outside of her immediate family. This usually meant that any sort of date the pair might go on will always be supervised from afar by a parent or chaperone, such as a lady-in-waiting or a governess. The young couple would usually be left some leeway to conversate privately, so long as they were within clear eyesight of the woman’s caretakers, and close enough for them to step in should the man act dishonorably toward her.

A man will come to call upon a woman he is interested in pursuing, meaning that he will come to her house in order to pitch woo or charm her. This is to ensure she is in the safety and protection of her family, so as to prevent her from being done ill by the man where her family cannot protect her. As such, a woman would never call upon a man or go to his residence. In a queer relationship, this is simply swapped to the one of lower status coming to the house of the one of higher status. Although, due to the role of status, the suitor will require an invitation (either specific or open) to come a-courting on the object of their affections.

Women would often have a dance card which indicated who she intended to dance with at an upcoming ball. She’d save a dance for the host, and likely also her suitor. Any special guest of the ball would likely also be afforded a dance. If she has multiple suitors, she would be expected to dance with all of them, and not to spend her entire evening doting on only one of them. It was also seen as improper for her to dance too often with the same partner, regardless of whether she was looking for a spouse or not. If she was the guest of honor, it might be expected for her to share more than one dance with the host, possibly sharing the first and/or last dance with him to start or close out the night. Sometimes at dances, the guests would know the music selection and dances ahead of time, and women would have the music or dances on their dance cards. While I don’t know if it was done historically, I don’t think it would be too unorthodox for a man to write a woman ahead of a ball (assuming he’s familiar enough for such audacity) and request that she save a specific kind of dance for him. If his Waltz is shabby, but he does a marvelous Minuet, he’d want to be sure his dance with a possible match would be a dance he’s more proficient with. A lady might fill up her entire dance card ahead of time, but she’d more often than not leave a spot or two open to allow for more spontaneity. As dance cards were only used by women, I don’t know if they’d be used by gay men in courtship or not. Queer people at a ball however might wear something to indicate their preference in dance partner. A visual cue to let the gentlemen know that the Baroness of Arendale doesn’t have much interest in dancing with men.

Courting in Public

Courtship, especially among the upper class, was predominantly undergone during the Social Season, which in the UK ran from March until September, and included a wide variety of events and activities including balls, picnics, dinner parties, and sporting events. During the social season, every personage of noble blood would gather in a central location, usually the capital. These were not the only times during the year when people courted, it was more akin to a feeding frenzy for eligible bachelors, largely due to all of their marital options being assembled for the season, making it much easier to find someone to his liking.

It was wildly scandalous to show public displays of affection. That was to be reserved for private life. As such, suitors would instead exchange gifts, photographs or locks of hair instead of kissing or holding hands. For a queer relationship, it might be allowable for suitors to give one another their clothing, jewelry, weapons, or armor, either in their entirety or a particular piece of it. However the intimacy of sharing garments would likely be reserved for couples that have been courting for some time, and would be ill-advised as a first gift to one’s admirer.

At a ball or other such party, if someone catches your fancy but you’ve never met them before, it is impolite to speak to them until the host or hostess has formally introduced you to one another. Even if you dance with them, it is ill-mannered to speak to them during and after the dance if neither of you have been introduced to one another.

If someone insults your suitor, a gentleman should be ready to act the part of a knight and defend his lover’s honor. If his partner initiated the conflict, it is advised for a gentleman to apologize on their behalf, though not so meekly as to offend their lover or besmirch their honor. If another man is looking to start a quarrel, a gentleman should not return his hostilities, as a foul temper and lack of self-control is an indication of ill manners and poor breeding, bringing you down to the other man’s level.

A gentleman should always carry his lady’s luggage, and on the sidewalk, takes the side closest to the street to keep his lady’s dress from being splashed with mud or water, or to keep her safe should a wayward horse, carriage, or car veer off the street, it is more likely to strike him than her.

A couple talking in public must speak succinctly, poignantly, and softly. Long drawn-out conversations were best for private, whereas in public, it was unwise to spend one’s entire evening conversing with a single person, unless it is well-known the severity of their entanglement. It was considered ill-manner to speak excessively or too loudly as to disturb others.

Matchmaking and Gold-Digging

Due to eldest sons getting the entire inheritance of his father, women seeking to court would seek out eldest sons who would be coming into their family fortune, while sons left out of the inheritance would be more willing to marry below their station in pursuit of rich heiresses whose wealth would keep them in the lifestyle to which they have grown accustomed. Likewise in a queer relationship, wealth and power would likely effect the interests of relationships, and differences in inheritance laws might also change the power dynamics in courtships. If a daughter can inherit the full control of her father’s mercantile empire, she’s going to be fighting off second-born suitors with a stick, regardless of gender.

I mentioned above the Levées and Presentations that young nobles would go through when entering the public sphere of the court. Parents of other noble families would often be in attendance of these parties, and if a presenter impressed them, they may approach the parents and suggest a courtship between their children. This is less of an arranged marriage, and more the parents steering their children to give each other a chance. It’s much closer to playing matchmaker than paying 5 cows and a corn mill for someone’s daughter. The children could still decline the courtship out of lack of interest or an absence of chemistry, so long as they settled things politely.

While that was a lot of information, I do hope it is something you found helpful. Most of the rules are much harsher on upper class characters, but most people who write historical romances are more interested in the romance between the countess and the duke, rather than the washer woman and the fisherman. I will also admit this is not a flawless breakdown, as I could have easily missed something. Still, as someone who loves period dramas and historical costume, I couldn’t leave such a tantalizing topic untouched.

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justgottafinishthischapter · 6 months ago

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Writing Worlds: Exposition

One of the trickiest things in writing is getting the lore and rules of your world across to the reader or viewer in a natural way. If it’s mishandled, it can become an info dump that’s a slog to get through. At worst, it’s an incoherent mass of worthless information that doesn’t apply to anything. So, how can we make sure we’re giving our audience the right information at the right time?

Only Tell Your Audience As Much as They Need to Know

In the opening for Avatar: the Last Airbender, we are given a basic understanding of the magic system, and one special person who can use all the magic. He disappeared, and now there’s a war. When we cut to the first scene of Sokka and Katara fishing in the South Pole, we know as much as needed for this scene to work. We know there’s magic, a war is going on, and the special person is missing. Sokka then somewhat clumsily explains that magic is unique to a culture, and it’s so commonplace that he’s dismissive of it as being an interesting topic. We also get to see magic for the first time as Katara does a very basic demonstration. Then they stumble upon Aang frozen in an iceberg, and the glowing eyes makes it pretty clear he’s going to be important. Finally, we meet our main antagonists who are hunting the very special person. Everything established in the intro has played a role in the story. Compare this to the Shaymalan movie, and we’re told too much. Katara sets up at the start of the movie that Toi and La have come to the mortal world, and goes on a whole tirade about Spirits, but it’s not relevant to the first scene. We’re being given exposition that is not immediately relevant, and so it’s clunky and excessive.

Let’s use another example: Ba Sing Se. It’s name dropped quite a few times in season 1. However, other that it being implied to be the capital and the site of Iroh’s greatest military defeat, we are told nothing else about Ba Sing Se before the Gaang arrives there. We know nothing of its ring structure, the dai li, lake laogai, the ju dees, or the Earth King being a puppet. About the only thing we sort of know is that its walls are impressive. We only know as much as is needed. Ba Sing Se is not immediately important so it’s only being name dropped as an important location for later, because a big important city would be important in-world too.

Compare this to RWBY’s intro. Salem tells the origins of Dust, and how mankind came from dust. That mankind learned to use dust to fight off the Grimm. She then talks to Ozpin who asks her about the value of a single light from a smaller, more honest soul. This seems fine enough. Except, most of what we were just told wasn’t helpful. Ruby doesn’t really fight with dust unlike Weiss, we don’t see Grimm until we reach the Emerald Forest, and we don’t know how priceless or valuable dust is to know whether Torchwick’s robbery of a Dust shop is closer to being like robbing a jewelry store, robbing an ammo cache, robbing a bank, or robbing a general store. Ruby gets excited about the appearance of a huntress, but we have no idea what a huntress is. The intro, if it wanted to be stronger, should have focused more on the soul aspect, fleshing out that souls manifest shields and powers, and that brave warriors with strong spirits fight back against the darkness that lurks in this world. We have a basic explanation of auras, semblances, and what a huntress is, even if it’s still somewhat vague. But the audience goes into the opening scene understanding that the important thing in this scene is not the dust, its the strength and purity of Ruby’s spirit or soul, and her willingness to combat the darkness that lurks in this world, be it villains or grimm alike. The opening scene introduces the audience to what huntresses do, and so the exposition should inform the audience what a huntress is and what they do.

People Focus on the Unusual while Ignoring the Mundane

Catelyn Stark never explicitly says there is not a Godswood at Riverrun where she grew up. She doesn’t have to. All she has to say is that the Godswood is creepy and she’s never gotten used to it. She also highlights that Ned had a Sept built for her, letting the audience know that Ned and others in the region had no reason for a sept to exist until a southern woman married into the noble family. I don’t know about you, but I don’t tend to spend my days reflecting on when the Vatican was constructed, the founding of Jamestown, or how my family came to settle in the area I now live. These things are just aspects of the normal world I live in. We don’t tend to reflect on the normal, but rather to fixate on the abnormal. Think of it like this: how often do you think about any one of your neighbors on a given day? Probably not a lot unless you’re well-acquainted and friends. Otherwise, you probably pay little attention when you see them outside. If you were narrating your day as you head to work and spot your neighbor watering their garden, you might spot that you notice it, but wouldn’t think much of it. But if you saw them dragging a really oddly shaped bag across their lawn toward the backyard, that suddenly seems more suspicious. Suddenly, you might spend your entire commute thinking about your neighbor. When did they move in? How have they presented themselves to yourself and the neighborhood thusfar? You wouldn’t normally think about it, but something happened to put your neighbor on your mind. That’s a great way to lead into exposition. Something has happened to warrant your protagonist’s attention, and now they’re actively reflecting on what they know about the thing that caught their attention.

Make the Audience Want Exposition

I’ve heard it said that one of the best ways to get exposition across is to make it a mystery. Make your readers ask questions, and then reward your readers with the exposition that answers these questions. This is why lore-heavy shows can drop information bombshells and have fans react positively and begging for more. The story left gaps in the lore, which left the audience pining to figure out how the pieces fit together. So, when the story connects the dots, it’s an incredible catharsis. Let’s use Pearl from Steven Universe as our example. For all of season 1, all we really knew about Pearl was that she was the fussy intellectual perfectionist of the mom squad, she’s a little overprotective, and she had feelings for Rose. It wasn’t until the second to last episode of the season that we got the first nugget of Pearl’s true past, as Jasper dismisses her as “some lost, defective pearl”, which was also one of the first indications in the show that there were multiple copies of a single gem type, as up until that point, we’d never seen two of one gem type before. So, in Back to the Barn, when Peridot dismisses Pearl as being just a servant drone and then spells out for the audience that pearls are a slave race that serve other gems, this was a payoff for Jasper’s earlier remark. But the show paces itself perfectly here, as just as one dangling plot thread is addressed to satiate the desire to know more, Peridot also remarks that Pearl looks really fancy, and literally hands the audience the big juicy question: who did Pearl belong to? For the next 3 seasons, this was one of the biggest aspects of Pearl’s character, and every time a new important gem showed up, the audience speculated whether or not this gem or this type of gem could be Pearl’s owner, with Morganite being one of the better suggestions. If you can get your audience begging to know more, they’ll much more happily sit through exposition. And it doesn’t even have to be long. Jasper’s entire relevance to Pearl is literally one throw-away line, and Peridot shares most of the lore about pearls on homeworld in just a minute or two of dialogue. You don’t need to lock your audience in a room and rant about your world to them. Make them want to know more on their own. Just don’t pull a RWBY and have to release a companion book to answer all the lore and worldbuilding you forgot to explain in the actual story. Like what a huntress is. The thing that the main characters are training to become. Or what the fuck is a semblance, which is their main super powers. Or just wait and explain a core worldbuilding mechanic in the 5th installment. That won’t irritate your audience whatsoever.

Express Exposition Through Dialogue

When writing a scene, I like to always do the rough draft in a script format because in a script format, I can’t have a character think about the important thing that I want the reader to know. While narration exposition is doable, as I discuss with Catelyn’s thoughts on the Godswood and the Sept, sometimes it’s better to handicap yourself to not rely too heavily on it and force yourself to get across exposition through dialogue. In Game of Thrones, when the royal procession arrives, Arya excitedly exposits about Jamie being the queen’s brother, the hound, and impertinently asking where the imp is, referring to Tyrion. This might seem egregious, but I think it’s honestly flawless. If you’ve ever talked to a small child, this is exactly the way they talk. They point out every little thing and talk eagerly about it, even when it’s rude or impolite to. Robert and Ned also make it clear they haven’t seen each other in a long time, as Robert has never met Bran, who is 7 in the books and 10 in the show. Robert also immediately asks to go see the crypt so he can pay his respects to Leanna. Again, we get masterful exposition through dialogue. Robert bemoans that Leanna was buried in a dark and dreary crypt instead of some idyllic hilltop, he asserts that he murders someone every night in his dreams, and also implies that the later drunken whoremongering sides to him that we see later are all shallow attempts to fill the void in his heart when he lost Leanna Stark. Arya is more clumsy in her delivery of exposition, but she’s also a child. Arya is used to establish characters, likely people she’s heard about but never seen, which is why she’s so excited. Meanwhile, Sansa has met these people before and just wants Arya to stop annoying her, and shushes her excessive talking. Let’s compare this good exposition to bad exposition. In the Once Upon a Time episode The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, the fairytale counterpart of Sheriff Graham enters a tavern with his pet wolf, and a bunch of background extras talk very loudly amongst themselves about how the Huntsman was supposedly raised by wolves, and cries when he kills. Not only is this clunky and unnatural because they are gossiping about him while he’s in the room and able to hear them asking about his backstory, but we the audience have already seen the huntsman cry after killing a deer. So the people saying he cries when he kills things is redundant exposition. It is noise. But now for the gif in question I used to represent this part: Avatar episode 12: The Storm. One of, if not the best episode in the entire award-winning series. And Iroh spends a good 80%+ of it committing the worst exposition sin there is. He sits a bunch of characters down and explains the plot. In any lesser show, this would be a death blow to the episode, but Avatar is no lesser show. So, how come Avatar can commit this egregious writing sin? A few reasons. Firstly, Iroh was present for the backstory. He is an eyewitness who knows the truth. Secondly, the topic he is covering is a painful and traumatic memory for Zuko, something he wouldn’t freely share with people. Zuko would never tell anyone about this backstory, so the showrunners need Iroh to tell the crew and the audience the backstory. Thirdly, they asked. The crew, and the audience, wants to know why catching the Avatar matters so much, and what crawled up Zuko’s butt and died. Daddy issues, that’s what. And finally, it’s thematically relevant. The Storm is an exposition dump. That is its purpose as an episode. But it doesn’t feel like it because of pacing, characterization, and most importantly, parallels. This episode makes it clear that Zuko and Aang are foils. Despite being on opposing sides, they come from similar backgrounds, made big mistakes, and are seeking redemption for their actions.

Don’t Write a Jaune Arc

No, I’m not done shitting on RWBY yet. For those of you not invested in seeing how this train wreck will end: fireball, blackhole, or nuclear ice age, let me introduce you to Jaune Arc. He’s the descendant of multiple generations of huntsman and heroes. And he doesn’t know what Aura is. A basic component to living in his world, and more importantly, for going in the job field he’s at Beacon Academy to train for. Jaune doesn’t know basic shit that is vital to living in his world. I know he forged his transcripts and he’s at anime warrior hogwarts, but there is a line between being dumb and getting low grades on history homework and not knowing a key aspect of his world. Your character can be dumb, they can be as dense as my self-doubt. But for the love of Cthulhu, they should know they’re in an action anime. Unless you are writing an Isekai or a Hidden Magical World like Percy Jackson or Harry Potter, you have no excuse for a main character to be this stupid. This is literally the world and culture they were raised in. They should know what is “normal” for their world. This is like if Ron had no idea Hogwarts was going to sort him into one of four houses, or he had no knowledge of the virtues of Gryffindor despite literally every one of his older brothers and both of his parents also being sorted into Gryffindor. And Ron’s still not going to be getting high marks in his classwork anytime soon. Ron is of average intelligence at best, at least when it comes to his grades. But at least he knows the basic crap everyone in his story knows about how the world works.

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justgottafinishthischapter · 9 months ago

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Do you have any tips on making characters more plot relevant? I have characters that are important to the story because of who they are and their interactions, but when it comes to their page time or POV I struggle to make their side and individual story meaningful. I’ve been able to add more events that they deal with and add importance to their character, but I feel as if it’s too secondary. I won’t call them afterthoughts but they kind of are. I struggle with having character arcs and development that are a part of the main plot but don’t deal with it directly often.

Making Characters More Plot Relevant

If you have characters who are important to the story in terms of their relationships with other characters, and who you feel need to be a bigger part of the story, here are some things you can do to give them a stronger role in the plot:

1 - Give Them Agency in Main Plot Events - First and foremost, you want to make sure these characters have at least some bearing on what happens in the main plot. Each character should make decisions or take actions that directly affect the main plot, at least once in a while. They can even make decisions or take actions that initiate major plot events even if they're not involved in them.

2 - Create Subplots That Feed into the Main Plot - Can you think of any "side quests" (so-to-speak) that need to be carried out in order for the story to progress that these characters could do? For example, maybe your protagonist has to pull off a big heist in order to solve the story's external conflict, so they are gathering their team. Perhaps some of these characters could go on a "side quest" to locate one of the potential recruits.

3 - Create Main Plot Conflict for Them - Each of these characters should have their own internal conflicts and their own motivation for working toward the story's goal. Can you think of some way to create conflict for them between what they want and what actually needs to happen? For example, maybe they were trained in the dark arts and the reason they are with this heist group is because they left that life behind and no longer want to practice dark arts... but maybe their role in the heist will require them to use dark magic. How will they overcome this conflict?

4 - Utilize their Unique Skills or Knowledge - Consider giving some of these characters unique skills or knowledge that can be used in the fight toward resolving the conflict. So, in the case of the example heist story, maybe one of these characters is really good at creating forgeries. Or maybe another character has incredible stealth skills. By making their knowledge or skills invaluable to the "mission," you can give them more weight and make them invaluable to the plot.

5 - Consider Combining Characters or Reassigning Tasks - Quite often, if you're really honest with yourself, you can probably take some of these important-but-not-plot-relevant characters and combine them. In other words, if you have one character who is important because they're the protagonist's love interest, and you have another character who's important because they're a main character's sibling, is there some way you can combine this into one character? So that this character is both the protagonist's love interest and the main character's sibling? Another option would be to look at important tasks completed by other characters. Can any be reassigned to a character who needs something more important to do? Or could they play an important role in assisting that character with the task?

By utilizing some of the tips above, you should be able to give your characters more relevance in the plot.

Happy writing!

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justgottafinishthischapter · 10 months ago

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I'm working on a series of books. I have character arcs and the series storyline nailed down. Where I'm struggling is figuring out what plot in book 1 will best support my plans for later books. Book 1 is the foundation the rest will build from. What advice do you have to best figure out the beginning of a series when you have a clearer idea for the middle and ending?

Stuck Plotting Book One in a Series

First, I think it might be helpful at this point not to think of your series as individual stories, but rather as one cohesive story that you'll eventually break up into individual books as the story unfolds. That way, you're just figuring out the beginning of the story rather than thinking of it as a story contained within a book.

Next, remember that stories revolve around conflict, or in other words a problem in the character's self or world that needs to be solved. When you eventually break the bigger story into its individual parts, each one will revolve around its own conflict. The resolution of that conflict should play a role in setting off the events of the next book. For example, the conflict in The Hunger Games was the event itself, and the fact that Katniss needed to survive it so she could continue to take care of her mom and sister. Because of what she did to win the Hunger Games (thus resolving the conflict), President Snow called a Quarter Quell to force her and Peeta back into the arena, which is the conflict of the second book, Catching Fire.

This is why it's so important to figure out your first book's conflict and--if you already know the conflict that will be at the heart of later books--how it relates. You can probably reverse engineer the first book's conflict based on what needs to launch the conflict of book two.

I would suggest using a story structure template/beat sheet to map out the events of your first book. This will help you get a better picture of what needs to happen, which will help you figure out how everything connects to later books. I suggest some options in my post Creating a Detailed Story Outline.

Happy writing!

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justgottafinishthischapter · 10 months ago

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The symbolism of flowers

Flowers have a long history of symbolism that you can incorporate into your writing to give subtext.

Symbolism varies between cultures and customs, and these particular examples come from Victorian Era Britain. You'll find examples of this symbolism in many well-known novels of the era!

Amaryllis: Pride

Black-eyed Susan: Justice

Bluebell: Humility

Calla Lily: Beauty

Pink Camellia: Longing

Carnations: Female love

Yellow Carnation: Rejection

Clematis: Mental beauty

Columbine: Foolishness

Cyclamen: Resignation

Daffodil: Unrivalled love

Daisy: Innocence, loyalty

Forget-me-not: True love

Gardenia: Secret love

Geranium: Folly, stupidity

Gladiolus: Integrity, strength

Hibiscus: Delicate beauty

Honeysuckle: Bonds of love

Blue Hyacinth: Constancy

Hydrangea: Frigid, heartless

Iris: Faith, trust, wisdom

White Jasmine: Amiability

Lavender: Distrust

Lilac: Joy of youth

White Lily: Purity

Orange Lily: Hatred

Tiger Lily: Wealth, pride

Lily-of-the-valley: Sweetness, humility

Lotus: Enlightenment, rebirth

Magnolia: Nobility

Marigold: Grief, jealousy

Morning Glory: Affection

Nasturtium: Patriotism, conquest

Pansy: Thoughtfulness

Peony: Bashfulness, shame

Poppy: Consolation

Red Rose: Love

Yellow Rose: Jealously, infidelity

Snapdragon: Deception, grace

Sunflower: Adoration

Sweet Willian: Gallantry

Red Tulip: Passion

Violet: Watchfulness, modesty

Yarrow: Everlasting love

Zinnia: Absent, affection

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justgottafinishthischapter · 11 months ago

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I've got a wip where stories and myths are thematically relevant, but I always hear writer advice like never start with a dream or things that aren't happening. How do I present this in the first chapter without it feeling intrusive or feeling like a false start? I've dabbled with ways to convey this story: a character is reading the legend when they're interrupted, a character might be told the story as a child, or a character might be watching performers do a play about the legend. I'm using limited third person with shifting POV every chapter, if that matters.

Avoiding the "False Start" of Beginning with Dreams and Stories

When you start the story with a dream, story, myth, or other story within the story, the risk is that you invest the reader in that story... they believe the setting is the story's setting, the characters are the story's characters, and the plot or conflict is the story's conflict. The risk is that when you reveal it was in fact a story within the story, you potentially confuse them, disappoint them, or give them literary whiplash. Obviously, you wouldn't want to do that unless you DO want to do that... in other words, that may be just the effect you're going for, or it may be a necessary facet of how the story is told. So, unless you're doing it intentionally, because that's the effect you're going for, you want to provide context for this being a dream, story, or myth as soon as you possibly can.

Instead of beginning with an epic battle between a young woman and a powerful witch, you could preface the dream with something like:

Cara almost always dreamed, but this dream was more vivid than most--and darker...

That way, the reader understands that what's about to happen is part of a dream sequence.

Or, if the myth is being read to the character as a child, you could do something like:

Sometimes, in the stillness of the night, Cara remembered the childhood nights she'd spent perched on Grandmama's lap, listening to her spin epic tales about the mighty gods. Cara loved all of the ancient myths her grandmother told, but she loved none more dearly than the tale of Ariadne and Theseus, which began like this...

Here again, you're providing context for the reader that the story about to unfold here at the beginning is in fact a myth, and with this framework, the reader understands that this myth will have importance to the story somehow. They're not going to feel like their time is being wasted.

Happy writing!

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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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justgottafinishthischapter · 1 year ago

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Hi, so I want to write an enemies to friends arc by having them work together on something, but I'm having trouble thinking of what. Too easy and they won't have enough time to bond. Too difficult and they'll have to let the experts/authorities handle it, thus not getting the chance to bond (enough).

Mode for an Enemies to Friends Arc

True "enemies to friends" or "enemies to lovers" requires your characters to start the story on opposing sides of a major conflict. This conflict isn't something minor like they just don't like each other or they play for rival sports teams. This needs to be something that matters, something with actual stakes, like political adversaries running for the same office, soldiers on opposite sides of a war, or two people from families engaged in a bitter (and sometimes bloody) feud for centuries. And to really make it work, the external conflict of the story needs to be the thing that gives them a common goal or common enemy and forces them to work together.

So, if you have two political adversaries running for the same office, maybe the external conflict is that there's a coup before the election and a dangerous third-party steals the position. This could force the two political adversaries to team up and fight to unseat them and make sure an election happens. Or, if you have two soldiers on opposite sides of a war, maybe the external conflict is that they both get captured by a group who are unaffiliated with either side, but dangerous to both. Now the two characters must team up to escape captivity and warn both of their sides of the danger that's coming.

Hopefully by viewing it this way, you'll be able to to come up with some logical reasons why your two characters would team up.

Happy writing!

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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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justgottafinishthischapter · 1 year ago

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Do you have any advice for writing with adhd? I can craft these elaborate storyline in my head, but the minute I try to write any of them down I get bored. (Or is that just regular writer block?) It's really discouraging, because I feel like my mind is moving faster then my head, and any time I try to bring any of my ideas to life it just disipates.

Writing with ADHD: 5 Game Changers for Me

Here are some things that have been game changers for me as a writer with ADHD: [Edit: everyone's ADHD is different. This is just what works for me. It may not work for you...]

Planning: It's different for everyone with ADHD, but for me it's essential to spend time planning my story before I start writing. I like to flesh out as much as possible concerning plot, timeline, setting, world, characters and arcs, subplots, and themes.

Summary, Outline, and Scene List: Three items that are critical for me to have in hand before I sit down to write are a beginning to end summary of the story detailing all plot events as far as I know, an outline loosely based on the story structure template/s that feel right for the story (for example, I may use elements of Save the Cat! and some elements of of the Six-Stage Plot Structure), which helps me navigate my plot and hit the relevant plot points. And finally, I need a detailed scene list/timeline combo which lists chapter, scene, date/time, POV character, location, and a one to two sentence summary of what happens in the scene, including the character's goal in the scene, the scene's conflict, and the scene's resolution or how it carries into a later scene.

Gamifying: When I'm struggling with a particular time period or project, it can help me to gamify things. You can do this using a game board strategy, the Yahtzee Method, making a list of bench marks that serve as "levels," race against yourself by trying to bet the previous day's goal, etc. The key to gamifying is to set reasonable benchmarks and give yourself periodic rewards. Rewards can be anything from buying yourself a boba, watching a favorite TV show episode, an hour of playing your favorite game, or going to a movie. Some people like to go to the dollar store and buy a lot of small fun things and use those as rewards. Whatever works for you! Sometimes, turning it into a game with tangible progress and rewards can keep you motivated.

Setting Up a Routine: Although I have my general daily routine, I am without a doubt more productive when I can stick to a more specific routine that includes writing time. For me that works out to writing early in the day before other distractions start ramping up. When I put on my music, sit down with some coffee and a snack, and pull up my manuscript, my brain knows it's time to get to work. That doesn't always mean the work happens, but it's much more likely I'll get something done.

Minimizing Distractions: Anything that can be a distraction when I write is problematic. For that reason, I only listen to music without words and advertising. I turn off my phone or leave it in the other room. If possible, I try to use placeholders for things I need to look up. If I absolutely have to look something up and I get distracted by headlines, interesting articles or videos, or other things, I bookmark them in a special folder and immediately close the window. That way, I know I can go back to them later (I almost never do...) And, for me, as much as I love Scrivener and the ability to organize by chapter, have quick access to character profiles and photos, toggle between scene cards and my story... it's just too distracting for me. I'll sit down to write a chapter, then decide I need to re-do my scene cards, or cast characters, or do mood boards for every location in my story.

For that reason, writing in Word works best [for me] It's simple and there's nothing to distract me. Any story references I might need while writing, such as character profiles and photos, mood boards and aesthetics, setting inspiration photos, etc. are all organized in a special folder, categorized into sub-folders, so I can go straight to the required reference.

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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

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justgottafinishthischapter · 1 year ago

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Stuck Anon. Thank you for your wonderful advice. I feel relaxed. Maybe I am trying to force my story to be perfect.

But based on what you said, instead of focusing on one part of the story and waiting until I like it enough to move on, is it better to just draft it anyway?

Let's say I know my characters, but I'm uncertain of the conflict. I brainstorm, look for inspiration, and note down anything that pops into my head. Usually, this is where I work hard on those ideas, judging them by how much I like them and if I think they suit the characters - really just whatever causes that tingling sensation of excitement in my nervous system.

But instead, is it better for me to just draft an outline, synopsis or even the whole story (if i have enough) with all of the ideas?

Focus on One Part of the Story or Draft All At Once?

There's no "one size fits all" answer here. Only you can figure out what works best for you, and that might change over time or from one project to the next. Personally, if you're feeling that tingle of excitement by following those ideas now, I think it's worth doing that. As long as you're not losing motivation by the time you get to the outline, in which case it probably is a good idea to go ahead and outline or alternate between the two.

As frustrating as it is, it can take years to hammer out a writing process, and like I said, your writing process can change from one project to the next or may evolve over time. So always be open to trying new things and seeing what works. Never feel like you have to do something a certain way if it isn't working for you. And, writing advice is great, but when something doesn't work for you, you can take what does and chuck the rest out the window. :)

Happy writing!

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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

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justgottafinishthischapter · 1 year ago

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How do you make a ‘themed’ story not repetitive? I want to write a story where each chapter has a themed plotline, for example betrayal. I have multiple main characters for this story and usually I outline it like A is betrayed by B, then C is betrayed by A, so on. But I feel like it’s hard to make it not seem repetitive because of the shared theme despite each character having their own unique plot about betrayal. Do you have any tips for this? thank you<3

Variations on a Theme

The thing to remember is any given theme isn't just one thing. Like, with betrayal, we tend to think of it as Character A cheats on Character B. Character C lies to Character D. Character E disrespects Character F... but betrayal doesn't have to be one character deliberately doing something wrong to another character. For example, betrayal can be falling through on a standing obligation, like promising to stay by your friend's side during a party, and then failing to do so. It can be something done to a person by a group or organization, like getting laid off by your company after thirty years of hard work. Realizing your friend group isn't there for you when you go through something difficult--that's a betrayal. Being neglected or ignored by someone who's supposed to love you, that's also a betrayal. And, you can explore betrayal in other ways besides focusing on an actual betrayal. You could have one character who is recovering from a bad betrayal. You could have another character who is contemplating committing a betrayal. You could also subvert the theme by having a character who thinks they're going to be betrayed, but they discover the person/group they were worried about is unceasingly loyal.

I hope that gives you some ideas!

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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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justgottafinishthischapter · 1 year ago

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Hello! I wanted to know if you knew any good warm ups/exercises to sort of get into a characters head?

Exercises to Get You Into Your Character's Head

Write a journal entry about an important event from their POV

Do a magazine style interview with them

Write a “reality show” follow-around chronicling a normal day

Take some personality tests/quizzes from their POV

Write a short story based on a moment or event in their past

Have your character write a letter to another character (or to you)

Swap them into a scene from a favorite story/movie and write it

Do some writing prompts starring your character

Create a character playlist and note why each song fits them

List 5 things you love and 5 things you dislike about them

List 5 things you have/don’t have in common with them

Make a list of words that fit them and make a Wordle

Write a poem or song about your character

Make a character "mood board"/"aesthetic

Make the vision board you think your character would create

Present your character's "TedTalk" ... what would they talk about?

Act out important scenes as though you were your character

Drop your character into a strange situation to see how they react

Happy writing!

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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

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justgottafinishthischapter · 1 year ago

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I've noticed a lot of your asks are similar, and it got me thinking about a problem of my own. When something in your story isn't working, how do you know what to change? If I realise my character's backstory doesn't make sense for my plot (that's still being fleshed out, it isn't definite), how do I know if it's better to change the character backstory, or the plot?

What to Change When Something's Not Working

If you realize something's not working in your story, what you change will depend on what's not working and the broader needs of your story. However, I suggest at least starting with the lowest impact item. As in your example, if your character's backstory isn't working, I would suggest changing the backstory so that it does work, not changing the plot, which is a much bigger/more difficult change.

The exception would be if you're trying to build a plot around the needs of the backstory, in which case you would change the plot to accommodate the needs of the backstory.

Happy writing!

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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

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justgottafinishthischapter · 1 year ago

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In my story, my antagonist is this secretive cult group that is targeting my protagonist because of a person/item they are in possession of; though I'm having trouble fitting said antagonist into my story. The majority of the rising action I've thought up so far is my protagonist interacting with their mundane setting which contributes to their inner conflict. While I still want my story to keep its mundane/slice of life esc elements to contribute to their inner conflict, I also don't want it to feel like the characters are ignoring the main external conflict while doing so. I want to have this external conflict contribute more to the plot, but I also don't want it to clash with the mundane moments, or ruin their secretiveness. How can I make my antagonist an active threat?, and how can I make it so the protagonist actively acknowledges said antagonist/active threat throughout the story as well?

Imbalanced Internal and External Conflict

It sounds like you're trying to write two stories at the same time.

One story is a "slice of life" story that focuses on the minutiae of daily life. The other story is a thriller, involving the possession of a coveted item and the villainous cult leader who wants possession of it.

Although you're trying to marry these two plots together, you can't do that by focusing on the internal conflict through the rising action and then trying to shoehorn the external conflict in without upsetting the "slice of life" nature of the internal conflict. That just isn't how plot and story structure works.

When you have an internal conflict and an external conflict, your external conflict is still your main plot, which unfolds from the beginning to end of the story. It's just that your internal conflict evolves alongside the events of the external conflict. As your character navigates the external conflict, they're faced with situations and events that influence the evolution of their internal conflict. The two play out side by side.

Ultimately, it sounds like you need to decide which story you want to tell, because if you want the "slice of life" story to dominate, that's probably not a good choice for this particular external conflict. Instead, you may want to find an internal conflict that has more weight to it. Perhaps instead of being in possession of a secret object the villain wants, maybe the internal conflict stems from being torn between the mundane life they're living and whatever life the villain is trying to pull them toward.

If you really want to keep these two conflicts together, there are potentially things you can do to minimize the external conflict, giving equal weight to both conflicts. However, what those things are will depend on the story and what you're trying to do with it. It may take some brainstorming, but you can get there. Have a look at my Plot & Story Structure master list if you need more help.

Happy writing!

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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

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justgottafinishthischapter · 1 year ago

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Writing Worlds: Exposition

Only Tell Your Audience As Much as They Need to Know

People Focus on the Unusual while Ignoring the Mundane

Make the Audience Want Exposition

Express Exposition Through Dialogue

Don’t Write a Jaune Arc

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