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tumblr post?

*puts on hat*

PERRY the tumblr post?!

Yearning for someone who doesn't exist

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A few years ago a roommate abruptly decided to move out to live with her boyfriend, and I ended up spending half a year sharing an apartment with someone I had never met before: an Egyptian girl with very limited English.

She was confused by my appearance and asked me “boy or girl?” It took me a while to understand what she was saying, but eventually she got the point across, and I told her that I was a girl. She seemed unsatisfied, and I explained that I was transgender. Unsurprisingly, she didn’t know the word.

We ended communicating by typing our respective sentences into Google Translate. Unfortunately, whatever the Arabic word for “transgender” is, it wasn’t a word she knew either. Eventually I ended up typing in “I used to be a boy but it made me unhappy so I decided to be a girl.” She stared at it for a moment then asked “You are happy now?” I said yes, and she smiled and looked thoughtful.

A couple hours later she came up to me and said “You and me, we are sisters,” and gave me a hug. “You say you are girl, you are girl.”

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My friend’s little brother (non-verbal) used to hide people’s shoes if he liked the person, because it meant they had to stay longer. The more difficult it was to find your shoes, the more he liked you.

One day my cousin came over, and she was a bitch. When it was time to leave, my friend’s brother handed her shoes directly to her and she went on and on about how he must have a crush on her because he only “helped” her.

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Writing prompt?

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Readers and writers: go read this!!! (It's free.)

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Take heed, ye writers and storytellers all!

Committing to the bit so hard you actually start thinking all the technology on the set is real

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Bought the cute sticker on the left from Etsy and they sent me the extra one in the right, they are both so adorable! Gonna put them on my Scooter :3

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so I got into grad school today with my shitty 2.8 gpa and the moral of the story is reblog those good luck posts for the love of god

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x

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Real Talk from an Editor

Hey there. Are you considering working with an editor? Have you had some bad experiences, or maybe none at all? Here are a few things to consider:

You don't need to know the terminology. That's our job. It's okay to say you aren't sure what you want or need.

Personal compatibility does matter. The more in-depth the editing, the more important it is to mesh as a team. This is also true regarding literary agents.

You and your editor should be a team—you both want your manuscript to shine. You're on the same side.

You're paying them. You need to get what you want from editing services. The agreement is usually in the form of an email or simple document, and if either of you fails to hold up your end, renegotiation or early termination should be options.

Free sample edits are common. Many editors offer free sample edits because they allow both the potential client and the editor to gauge if and how to move forward. It's ok to ask for one.

Editors love words and writers. We LOVE them! You never need to feel embarrassed about your genre, topic, or skills when approaching an editor. We want you to succeed!

Worried about finding someone legit? Consider searching/posting to professional org websites, such as ACES or the Editorial Freelancers Association (requisite plug for myself here).

Now go write something! We need stories!

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WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS

WHO IS USING THIS

AN APP??? THEY HAVE A FUNCTIONING WEBSITE

THE LAST FUNCTIONING WEBSITE

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wholesome thread (src)

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my 10 holy grail pieces of writing advice for beginners

from an indie author who's published 4 books and written 20+, as well as 400k in fanfiction (who is also a professional beta reader who encounters the same issues in my clients' books over and over)

show don't tell is every bit as important as they say it is, no matter how sick you are of hearing about it. "the floor shifted beneath her feet" hits harder than "she felt sick with shock."

no head hopping. if you want to change pov mid scene, put a scene break. you can change it multiple times in the same scene! just put a break so your readers know you've changed pov.

if you have to infodump, do it through dialogue instead of exposition. your reader will feel like they're learning alongside the character, and it will flow naturally into your story.

never open your book with an exposition dump. instead, your opening scene should drop into the heart of the action with little to no context. raise questions to the reader and sprinkle in the answers bit by bit. let your reader discover the context slowly instead of holding their hand from the start. trust your reader; donn't overexplain the details. this is how you create a perfect hook.

every chapter should end on a cliffhanger. doesn't have to be major, can be as simple as ending a chapter mid conversation and picking it up immediately on the next one. tease your reader and make them need to turn the page.

every scene should subvert the character's expectations, as big as a plot twist or as small as a conversation having a surprising outcome. scenes that meet the character's expectations, such as a boring supply run, should be summarized.

arrive late and leave early to every scene. if you're character's at a party, open with them mid conversation instead of describing how they got dressed, left their house, arrived at the party, (because those things don't subvert their expectations). and when you're done with the reason for the scene is there, i.e. an important conversation, end it. once you've shown what you needed to show, get out, instead of describing your character commuting home (because it doesn't subvert expectations!)

epithets are the devil. "the blond man smiled--" you've lost me. use their name. use it often. don't be afraid of it. the reader won't get tired of it. it will serve you far better than epithets, especially if you have two people of the same pronouns interacting.

your character should always be working towards a goal, internal or external (i.e learning to love themself/killing the villain.) try to establish that goal as soon as possible in the reader's mind. the goal can change, the goal can evolve. as long as the reader knows the character isn't floating aimlessly through the world around them with no agency and no desire. that gets boring fast.

plan scenes that you know you'll have fun writing, instead of scenes that might seem cool in your head but you know you'll loathe every second of. besides the fact that your top priority in writing should be writing for only yourself and having fun, if you're just dragging through a scene you really hate, the scene will suffer for it, and readers can tell. the scenes i get the most praise on are always the scenes i had the most fun writing. an ideal outline shouldn't have parts that make you groan to look at. you'll thank yourself later.

happy writing :)

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you can make nearly any object into a good insult if you put ‘you absolute’ in front of it

example: you absolute coat hanger

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I’m a simple being. I see a book, I want to read it.

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Following the author of The Last Unicorn on Facebook is the only thing that makes being on that site worthwhile.

(source)