nowandevermore

[nowandevermore]

Intercutting is my favorite writing technique!! It's technically for screenwriting, but I used it to help write out scenes happening in tandem in Answers Buried in Time and have used it since to do time skips or changes I'm pov.

If you have a set format already for scene breaks, you can add an additional break to show that time is skipping forward (or back)

I usually use one scene break to show a jump within the same scene, and three for a major scene break, but two was my comfort spot with ABiT to show these two scenes happening at the same time.

Sorry to add my work to it, but wanted to show what I meant since sometimes over text just isn't enough. Hope this helps!!

I will never make fun of a show or a movie for having an unnecessary montage ever again, because the ability to have one in writing would make my life so much easier right now 😭

[nowandevermore]

sometimes the best fanfics are written by middle aged adults with years of writing experience who simply know how to craft a good story. but also sometimes the best fanfics are written by a sixteen year old girl with something deeply wrong with her

[nowandevermore]

Writing Intimacy

i often see writers sharing a sentiment of struggling with writing kiss scenes which honestly bleeds into other portrayals of physical intimacy. i see it a lot in modernized styles of writing popularized by the recent trend in publishing to encourage short, choppy sentences and few adverbs, even less descriptive language. this makes intimacy come across awkward, like someone writing a script or clumsy recounting of events rather than a beautiful paragraph of human connection.

or just plane horniness. but hey, horny doesn't have to be mutually exclusive with poetic or sensual.

shallow example: they kissed desperately, tongues swirling and she moaned. it made her feel warm inside.

in depth example: she reached for the other woman slowly and with a small measure of uncertainty. the moment her fingers brushed the sharp, soft jaw of her companion, eliza's hesitance slid away. the first kiss was gentle when she finally closed the distance between them. she pressed her lips lightly to gabriella's in silent exploration. a tender question. gabriella answered by meeting her kiss with a firmer one of her own. eliza felt the woman's fingers curling into her umber hair, fingernails scraping along her scalp. everything inside eliza relaxed and the nervousness uncoiled from her gut. a warm buzz of energy sunk through her flesh down to the very core of her soul. this was right. this was always where she needed to be.

the first complaint i see regards discomfort in writing a kiss, feeling like one is intruding on the characters. the only way to get around this is to practice. anything that makes you uncomfortable in writing is something you should explore. writing is at its best when we are pushing the envelope of our own comfort zones. if it feels cringy, if it feels too intimate, too weird, too intrusive, good. do it anyway! try different styles, practice it, think about which parts of it make you balk the most and then explore that, dissect it and dive into getting comfortable with the portrayal of human connection.

of course the biggest part comes to not knowing what to say other than "they kissed" or, of course, the tried and true "their lips crashed and their tongues battled for dominance" 😐. so this is my best advice: think beyond the mouth. okay, we know their mouths are mashing. but what are their hands doing? are they touching one another's hair? are they scratching or gripping desperately at one another? are they gliding their hands along each other's body or are they wrapping their arms tightly to hold each other close? do they sigh? do they groan? do they relax? do they tense? are they comfortable with each other or giddy and uncertain? is it a relief, or is it bringing more questions? is it building tension or finally breaking it?

get descriptive with the emotions. how is it making the main character/pov holder feel? how are they carrying those emotions in their body? how do they feel the desire in their body? desire is not just felt below the belt. it's in the gut, it's in the chest, it's in the flushing of cheeks, the chills beneath the skin, the goosebumps over the surface of the flesh. everyone has different pleasure zones. a kiss might not always lead desire for overtly sexual touches. a kiss might lead to the desire for an embrace. a kiss might lead to the impulse to bite or lick at other areas. a kiss could awaken desire to be caressed or caress the neck, the shoulder, the back, the arms etc. describe that desire, show those impulses of pleasure and affection.

of course there is the tactile. what does the love interest taste like? what do they smell like? how do they kiss? rough and greedy? slow and sensual? explorative and hesitant? expertly or clumsily? how does it feel to be kissed by them? how does it feel to kiss them?

i.e. examine who these individuals are, what their motives and feelings are within that moment, who they are together, what it looks like when these two individuals come together. a kiss is not about the mouth. it's about opening the door to vulnerability and desire in one's entire body and soul.

[nowandevermore]

Please write your story. Draw the artwork. Finish the animation. Continue on whatever project you're working on. It doesn't matter if you're not good at it, or you have doubts, or you're afraid of mistakes. Your creation has a right to exist, and it will be important to others.

[nowandevermore]

For those people who need to hear it, there is nothing wrong with going back into the closet for your own safety. You aren't less queer because you can't be queer publicly. You aren't less trans because you have to act like you're not trans.

If you need to start going by your old pronouns or quietly go back into the closet to be safe - you are allowed to do that. Please do that if it means you're alive.

Your safety is important.

You are important.

And if you know someone who has to do this, don't push them. Don't out them. Follow their lead. People's safety is more important that grandstanding.

[nowandevermore]

hello again (bill clinton limewire voice) my fellow americans

There are a few states that actually have Shield/Refuge laws designed to help trans people fleeing from trans-unsafe states, which also guarantee trans folks access to healthcare. These states are:

California

Colorado

Illinois

Oregon

Vermont

Washington

Minnesota

New Mexico

Maine

Massachusetts

Rhode Island

Connecticut

Washington D.C.

Additionally, some states have "trans sanctuary" executive orders signifying safety for trans folks seeking healthcare. These states are:

Maryland

New Jersey

New York

Living as a resident in these states means you are protected by state's rights and state government to continue or begin receiving trans healthcare. These laws have been codified in their states so everything has been a-ok'd by their state governments.

Stay alive. You got this. I love you.

[nowandevermore]

[nowandevermore]

[nowandevermore]

if you abandon gender hard enough you can unlock the secret state of nirvana where all clothes give you the thrill of crossdressing

[nowandevermore]

i’m obsessed with this

and then, two months later....

🥺

[nowandevermore]

Rule 1 of writing is to ignore everyone else's rules as you see fit and to make your own, or to not adhere to any at all if you don't want to. Rule 2 of writing is to back up everything on your computer periodically. Rule 3 is to see rule 1 again. Go forth with this new wisdom.

[nowandevermore]

Clean out some tabs they say, you have too many tabs in chrome to be able to get the full experience they say. Listen, my full experience of any internet browser is to open up a tab I so badly want to look at and then forget that it exists for an entire year cause I found something else I liked too.

[nowandevermore]

[nowandevermore]

Occasionally, I still think of God in the Midst. Today is one of those times. Debated drawing the snake or going for something different, and landed on a piece of a scene later in the fic as everyone learns more about the region that once existed in the Orange Islands' (Aske Medo's) place-- the Shamaute Region.

Ancient writing and a depiction of the ancient region are etched into a stone wall, lost and forgotten within the confines of a cavern deep below an Island now making up the Aske Medo. What appears to be a cluster of stars are carved into the middle of the region, the same as the star cluster that appears over the OI during their new year holiday celebration. Text carved below the region depicts the language that still remains prevalent to the people of the Medo, reading out -- Hasi mok kohsau fraiben, roughly able to be translated to "Forsaken are those that resist transformation"

[nowandevermore]

"You're not a real man" ok?? then explain why I'm swift as the coursing river and have all the force of the great typhoon and the strength of the raging fire and am mysterious as the dark side of the moon ??

[nowandevermore]

@torchickentacos themmm

draft

contestshipping school au yay… school camp style! lolz. i only have chapter 30 left to write and people r waiting but I DONT JNOW HOW TO WRITE AN ORIGINAL LOVE CONFWSSION,,,,…. neither do i know how to build up to that.

“..you look pretty”

“what’d you say?”

“i said you look shitty.”

[nowandevermore]

DEAR FANFICTION WRITERS

Thanks for existing