ser-parapluie

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The good plot twists aren't the ones that are wild left turns out of nowhere, they're the ones that make all the other little things that didn't quite add up before suddenly click

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Pondering my orbs.

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“As far as words go, ‘crying’ is louder and ‘weeping’ is wetter. When people explain the difference between the two to English-language learners they say that weeping is more formal, can sound archaic in everyday speech. You can hear this in their past tenses—the plainness of ‘cried’, the velvet cloak of ‘wept’. I remember arguing once with a teacher who insisted ‘dreamt’ was incorrect, dreamed the only proper option. She was wrong, of course, in both philological and moral ways, and ever since I’ve felt a peculiar attachment to the t’s of the past: weep, wept, sleep, slept, leave, left. There’s a finality there, a quiet completion, of which ’d’ has never dreamt.”

— Heather Christle, from The Crying Book (via thingsworthsaving)

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the self-indulgent fanfiction will continue until morale improves

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the urge to write is like a cat meowing for dear life for someone to open the goddamn door, who then shows utter disinterest in said open door

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When writing always remember… a character flaw is only a flaw until becomes useful. 

Is your protagonist manipulative? Well that’s awful… until they manipulate the antagonist into making a decision that saves the lives of their friends. 

Is your protagonist a skeptic? Well that’s not good… until someone tries to lie to them. 

Is your protagonist overprotective? That sucks… until someone they love is in danger. 

Is your protagonist remorseless? Well that makes them pretty unlikeable… until a hard decision has to be made. 

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Tips from a Beta Reading Writer

This one's for the scenes with multiple characters, and you're not sure how to keep everyone involved.

Writing group scenes is chaos. Someone’s talking, someone’s interrupting, someone’s zoning out thinking about breadsticks. And if you’re not careful, half your cast fades into the background like NPCs in a video game. I used to struggle with this so much—my characters would just exist in the scene without actually affecting it. But here’s what I've learned and have started implementing:

✨ Give everyone a job in the scene ✨

Not their literal job—like, not everyone needs to be solving a crime or casting spells. I mean: Why are they in this moment? What’s their role in the conversation?

My favourite examples are:

The Driver: Moves the convo forward. They have an agenda, they’re pushing the action.

The Instigator: Pokes the bear. Asks the messy questions. Stirring the pot like a chef on a mission.

The Voice of Reason: "Guys, maybe we don’t commit arson today?"

The Distracted One: Completely in their own world. Tuning out, doodling on a napkin, thinking about their ex.

The Observer: Not saying much, but noticing everything. (Quiet characters still have presence!)

The Wild Card: Who knows what they’ll do? Certainly not them. Probably about to make things worse.

If a character has no function, they’ll disappear. Give them something—even if it’s just a side comment, a reaction, or stealing fries off someone’s plate. Keep them interesting, and your readers will stay interested too.

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What do I do when the characters have chosen to go somewhere that makes sense, but leads absolutely nowhere?

I know exactly what you mean, and fixing it is certainly not impossible. It's pretty natural, especially if you're a pantser, to have your characters end up in a situation that wipes out all the tension. (It's easy to fall into this as a plotter too, so beware.) What you need to do is turn up the pressure in the plot, both externally and internally.

Possible Problem 1: Your Characters Are Too Comfortable. If your characters don't have enough internal conflict going on, they might just not want to move forward with the plot. This is a really easy hole to fall into (for all the stereotypes of writers tormenting their characters, I find it's much harder not to pull punches, especially with the first draft). Drive up that internal conflict within the characters and with each other. Laying down a subplot about an unrequited crush or a secret identity that implodes right when your characters feel safe can help get them going again. An argument between characters that causes them to do something reckless might be the catalyst you need.

Possible Problem 2: Not Enough Plot Tension. If your characters have lost steam, they may be in the wrong place. You may need to ramp up the danger by backtracking in the plot to lay down more external pressure to keep the characters going. A ticking clock fueled by the need to cure a deadly disease, a looming threat that's on their heels. If your characters still end up in a spot that too easily solves their problems, cut them off from getting there! The pass collapses, forcing them through the shadowy woods instead.

Possible Problem 3: You Don't Have the Next Plot Point Lined Up. If you're pantsing and are stuck (or if your outline isn't working), sometimes you just gotta take a moment to figure out where your characters actually need to be next and jump to that point. Sometimes writing out the next big scene will help you figure out how to build the connective tissue between them. Sometimes you will write "fix this later" and curse your past self into oblivion. We've all been there.

Possible Problem 4: You Might Just Need a (Short) Break. Truly stuck? Inspiration often strikes when you take your mind off the issue. Go for a walk, play a video game, try not to think of your writing issue for a couple of days. You'll likely realize the solution in the middle of doing something else.

Now, all of these techniques are for writing a story or a novel. If you're plotting out a game, you may just need to drop a Big Bad in the middle of things to force your characters into action. (Hell, you may need to do that for your novel too.) The most important thing is that no matter how clunkily you fix it, you can always go back and smooth over those rough parts with the power of hindsight.

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approaching the wip carefully from the side like a skittish animal. speaking in a low, gentle voice so it doesn’t run away

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you'll get the urge as an artist or a writer to say out loud the things you're worried about "the proportions are off" "kind of out of character" "i'm not good at summaries" "didn't get as much detail as i wanted" "i made a mistake and here's how" and that's the self-conscious part of your brain telling you "it's bad and if you don't tell them you know it's bad then they'll think you're stupid" but you've got to ignore that little voice and pretend you think it's good or else that little voice is going to ruin your life

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Update a partially posted wip- Talia: A Coda, which is a coda to Threshold.

(text description in ALT and below the cut)

Based on some rumblings I heard, I ended up quickly throwing together a fun little WIP bingo sheet! I'll admit I largely wrote the prompts for writing, but I think a good number of them should also apply to art!

Ultimately, the goal is to have fun, and finish whatever WIPs you can (without burning yourself out or having a bad time). If you needed a sign to pick up that project you've been putting off, the time is now!

3x4 Bingo square titled "Finish your fucking fics february"

the top three across left to right read "Update your oldest WIP", "Finish a WIP that's been buried deep in your drafts", and "Finish a WIP that you haven't posted yet"

the second row reads "Finish a recent WIP", "Finish a WIP you're scared of" and "Finish a WIP that's been haunting you"

the third row reads "Update a partially posted WIP", "Finish any WIP/Free Space", and "Finish the next WIP in a series you've been avoiding"

the last row reads "Update your newest WIP", "Finish a WIP that's been ignored for at least 6 months", and "Finish the next chapter for a fic you've been meaning to for months"

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Wrote a little coda to Threshold, now part of a series, Schrodinger's Bildungsroman.

I present: Talia: A Coda

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Finished my new Red Robin fanart

I tried a new way to draw rain and idk if I like it or not.

Also changed the armour design which turned out pretty nicely, even if i'm not completely satisfied e.g. with the knee pads.

Anyway, hope you like it.

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sometimes the best writing advice is "just let it be bad." revolutionary. terrifying. but it works.

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UPDATE! Nothing too important, just note that I changed the title to 'Dick Grayson's Adoption Speedrun Arc', which is a much better title.

New fic!

Dick Grayson's Golden Opportunity by Ser_Parapluie on AO3

"Summary":

I'm read many fics where either Tim or Jason go back in time and save Robin!Jason from the Joker and prevent his untimely death. They're great, I love the trope- however, I don't think I've seen Dick get a turn to do the saving. In this fic, Dick gets a turn to pop out of nowhere and save Jason. However, he doesn't stop there.

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I have accomplished one!

Finish a fic that's been deep in your drafts: Dick Grayson's Adoption Speedrun Arc by Ser_Parapluie on AO3

(text description in ALT and below the cut)

Based on some rumblings I heard, I ended up quickly throwing together a fun little WIP bingo sheet! I'll admit I largely wrote the prompts for writing, but I think a good number of them should also apply to art!

Ultimately, the goal is to have fun, and finish whatever WIPs you can (without burning yourself out or having a bad time). If you needed a sign to pick up that project you've been putting off, the time is now!

3x4 Bingo square titled "Finish your fucking fics february"

the top three across left to right read "Update your oldest WIP", "Finish a WIP that's been buried deep in your drafts", and "Finish a WIP that you haven't posted yet"

the second row reads "Finish a recent WIP", "Finish a WIP you're scared of" and "Finish a WIP that's been haunting you"

the third row reads "Update a partially posted WIP", "Finish any WIP/Free Space", and "Finish the next WIP in a series you've been avoiding"

the last row reads "Update your newest WIP", "Finish a WIP that's been ignored for at least 6 months", and "Finish the next chapter for a fic you've been meaning to for months"

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New fic!

Dick Grayson's Golden Opportunity by Ser_Parapluie on AO3

"Summary":

I'm read many fics where either Tim or Jason go back in time and save Robin!Jason from the Joker and prevent his untimely death. They're great, I love the trope- however, I don't think I've seen Dick get a turn to do the saving. In this fic, Dick gets a turn to pop out of nowhere and save Jason. However, he doesn't stop there.