#editing and dialogue wise

[moonfromearth]

The mini animal squad is investigating the ranch's newest resident... Much to her dismay.

[transcript under cut]

Lorenz: Who's this? Annabelle: I'm not sure.. I think they're a really big goat, but they don't look like you and Mocha. Perhaps they're a cow? I've never seen a cow but they could be one. Thunder: *wakes up* This... I don't like this.

[stresskidz]

Moodboard for my fic ideas #1

Reader and Minho are both exchange students who struggle to fit in. Minho has a hard time with English, and reader is an introvert. They build a friendship and help each other out. Despite Minho’s parents wish to study abroad improving his English in hopes of getting into a top university one day, he secretly keeps practicing his one true passion - dancing. His biggest supporter? Reader. 

"Do you ever dream of becoming like them?" I ask Minho, whose face was illuminated by the purple light of the BTS poster announcing their upcoming concert. He didn't even have to respond, i could see it in his eyes. This was his dream.

[magpie-trove]

I also am not sure it connects very well to Rogue One?

[wizerdbattle]

I'm having the time of my life in this wife au fic thing 😁

[skrunksthatwunk]

update i've written like. 3k words of the goromi encounter chapter tonight (for this fic). gonna keep at it but i thought y'all should know: yes it's been like 3 weeks, no i haven't forgotten about it. she's been marinating. i've been cooking up some good shit though and i'm SO SO SO excited to finally be getting to some parts of the outline that i just realized y'all aren't aware of yet. hehehehooohoo >:)))))

anyway hopefully it should be done within a couple days :3!!! thanks to everyone for their support so far, i swear i'll respond to the comments eventually. i look at them and giggle likee. embarrassingly often lol

[erythristicbones]

ive done next to no editing on my book for several months now bc mental illness sucks, BUT ive written like 4 paragraphs today. i am clawing my way back into productivity

[lieutenant-amuel]

I’m editing the old chapters of WBTL again. The fourth chapter, and oh my goodness Ángel is so insensitive, it’s insane.

[wallflowerglitter]

I’ve decided that the mother is the worst acting wise, though Morgan did this really strange thing with his eyes when he came to pick up Rose.

[waldensblog]

When you finally have a draft you're happy with on the Problem ChapterTM

[featherwurm]

Fun Karlach things revealed from party banter/dialogue/cutscenes (these are all 100% canonical to any run, as they are her talking about her past, these all appear in naturally accessable in-game dialogue):

She can touch demons and devils and other infernal creatures without hurting them, but opted not to in those ten years in Avernus as she says she's "not a masochist."*

She has had numerous past relationships, sexual in nature, which she describes as "quick to flare and quick to fade."

She says she was still sorting out "jumping into bed with anything with a pulse" and looking for more long-term relationships when she was sent to Avernus.

There are other infernal creatures running around with infernal engines in them but she thinks she's the only one from Faerun who survived the process (she knows others were tried but didn't make it.)

Loves a good bar fight/brawl (obvious but still cute.)

Likes walking around barefoot in the grass (which she calls "grassing", and she enjoys a good "frolic".)

Isn't keen to travel by boat down the Chionthar (from Moonrise) as her mum said the river was unlucky.

Liked to go swimming as a kid (presumably still does - after she's temperature corrected. Prior to that she mentions fear of boiling fish and her friends alive.)

Worries about being out of date, fashion wise, having been gone from Baulder's Gate for ten years.

Her mother's name is Caerlach (pronounced same as her daughter), and her father's name is Pluck. Their last name, Cliffgate, is the same as one of the lower city entries in Baulder's Gate.

Her dad was a porter and her mom was a laundress. They were poor but loving and fun.

They were poor but NOT destitute - Karlach mentions their household multiple times, and having her friends visit her family in their home. She also went to school (teasing that she'll cheer up Gale by saying she hasn't read "since school").**

When she was a teen her mom passed from illness during a plague when the family couldn't afford a healer quickly enough. Her dad passed a few years after when he was crushed by his own overturned cart on the road.

EDIT: This has been patched in later versions of the game - she does not mention her parents anymore fixing that inconsistency. There's some discrepancy about when she started working for Gortash, in the cemetery she says her parents would have seen him for who he was (implying she did not spend much if any time around him prior to their deaths). In the shadow lands she mentions he 'got his claws into her early' and that she earned enough to help her family move into a better place in the city under his employ (it's entirely possible she's referring to moving their bodies post-mortem though).

She was a young adult (describes herself as 'not-quite-kid') while in Gortash's employ, worked for him for a good span of time, and spent 10 years in Avernus. This means she's likely well into her 30s by the time of game events.

She, to her own admission in her origin, loved Gortash, but also explains that it was not romantic in nature (stating distinctly to the player character "not like that"). She clearly looked up to him as her boss and was deeply betrayed when sold to Zariel.

She lived with her friend Fitz when working for Gortash, who also worked for him at the time. Gortash lied to everyone around her about what happened to her (saying that she moved away suddenly.)

She does note up on meeting Gortash's parents and finding out they sold him to a warlock that he's repeated the same cycle on her.***

Fun fact: "Carlach/Caerlach" in the IRL is a relatively rare Scottish surname likely derived from MacThearlaich ("son of Charles" - typical naming convention dating back to pre- Norman conquest Brittan). Karlach is a very rare spelling of the name and probably was further anglicization on immigration to America (showing up in the 1920s.) As Karlach's mother has the same name as her, spelled differently - one could infer that perhaps her family passed it down in a way that felt more "Bauldrian" to them or was in some way easier to spell.

*Because I've seen this wrong elsewhere - it's not the material plane that's making her untouchable, it's the engine itself. Her engine stops actively hurting her when Raphael teleports you to the House of Hope in Act I - but she's still not touchable without fixing based on this dialogue.

**I've also seen this wrong - Karlach was never an orphaned street urchin and I don't know where people get this impression. Gortash did not "take her in" or mentor her, he was very clearly her boss, albeit one she was friends with and looked up to.

***She does not mean this as a literal one for one, of course, just that someone she trusted sold her to an infernal for his own gain.

[corseque]

Did you know the fantasy MMORPG Final Fantasy Fourteen only uses the word "okay" 9 times in dialogue throughout the entire hundreds of hours long story? And each use of "okay" that got through seems like an actual mistake that simply didn't get edited out?

There is no use of "okay" in A Song of Ice and Fire. There is no use of "okay" in the entire The Witcher series. It's something that's like... just really largely accepted for fantasy. I would argue that vocabulary choice and word choice does a huge amount of heavy lifting to make something "feel" like a fantasy!!!!! It's a part of the genre expectation that I think is largely agreed on.

If you're writing a medievalish fantasy in a fantasy land, and you chose to establish a unique vocabulary and to minimize modern anachronisms to facilitate the feeling of being in a different fantasy world than our own modern mundane world, in a way that is commonly accepted for fantasy, and you've done it in all 3 previous of your games except for deliberate exceptions for artistic reasons, then you expect that to continue into the next part of the story so you feel like there's continuity.

the FFXIV English localization team made a point never to use "okay" commonly because it DOES make it feel too modern. It's actually a really easy thing to keep an eye on, editing wise.

and FFXIV is a game that has ACTUAL MODERN CARS and PARKING LOTS!!! and the English writing team STILL cared about eliminating "okay". Because they cared in a basic way about how word choice affects fantasy experience. Anyway, so that's how it feels when fantasy writing cares about the little details :)

Anyway, I'll continue to look at it as the most easy softball lob toward the writers' and editors' bats that they just fucking whiffed for no reason. Or whiffed on purpose, which is even fucking worse.

And after this week's revelations that BioWare always HATED and devalued the medieval fantasy Dragon Age and LOVED and valued the futuristic sci-fi Mass Effect, this style change is even more important to me. When a company looks down on fantasy PERIOD and suddenly in the latest game even the very language is changed to not feel as much as a fantasy game.... HMMM Hmmmm hmmmm I'm sure it's nothing!!!!!! but yeah it's childish to have basic expectations for a fantasy setting

[silcobrainrot]

Okay I gotta talk about the Kuleshov Effect for a minute because I see a lot of people talking about how Silco and Vi were looking at each other on the bridge and it's got me scratching at the walls.

The Kuleshov Effect is a film editing effect. It is a mental phenomenon by which viewers derive more meaning from the interaction of two sequential shots than from a single shot in isolation.

In other words, the way a movie or show is edited influences the way you think or feel about it. This kind of subtle manipulation is very powerful and is used throughout film and television to guide the audience's emotional journey and can be used to influence characterization and plot just by putting things in the right order. When people talk about "unintentional implications from the writers" I have noticed several times that the cause of the unintentional implication actually being the editing, not the writing.

On the bridge just before the opening credits of episode 8, we have two perspectives: Vi's perspective and Silco's perspective. Rather than show what Vi's doing in one long sequence, and then switch to Silco's perspective in one long sequence, the editors break these sequences into smaller shots and inter-cut them.

The most common use of intercutting like this is when shooting dialogue: cut to one character, cut to the other. Because of this, to our minds, this sequence looks like they are having a silent conversation, but they aren't. They can't even see each other.

Silco can't see beyond the smog, flood lights, and oncoming parade of enforcers, and it's safe to assume Vi can't see past these obstacles either. They have no way or reason of knowing the other is observing the bridge.

So, now that we know they can't see each other, let's look at what happens if we reorder the clips so these are two distinct sequences rather than one long one.

The sequences on their own are not staged the way a conversation would be staged, because both characters are in the centers of their respective frames.

Vi is looking at the bridge where her childhood friend was about to fight her sister so she could get away. The last thing that happened on the bridge that she knows of is another bomb going off, just one. She doesn't know if Ekko or Jinx are still alive. Maybe she's wondering if she should have stayed instead of leaving Jinx again.

Silco is panicked and caught off guard by his own reaction. He has a moment of emotional vulnerability while his back is turned to his employees and while the enforcers are still too far away to see what's happening on his face. He steels himself before standing up, and faces down the enforcers before walking away.

So, why edit this scene this way? If they can't see each other, why make it look like they can? Specifically because they wanted these characters to have an emotional exchange, but can't, because they are physically too far apart. Vi and Silco only get two scenes together and they only talk directly to each other once. This helps fill in a hole where we want these two to interact, but plot-wise it makes no sense for them to be able to. The editors change the entire meaning of both of these sequences if the emotions on their faces are a conversation.

What I like about this is that it gives you two options for how to interpret this, and both can be true at the same time. You can look at each sequence on its own, and you can look at it the way the editors were manipulating you into seeing it. I do love what they've done here, and I think it's important when analyzing media to know what tools and techniques the creators have used to tell their story and be able to deconstruct their little tricks to inform your interpretation.

Anyway thank you @sweetestsixshooter for reminding me I wanted to write this down lmao

[cripplecharacters]

Hey! I have a deaf character, and I’m not sure how to especially do dialogue grammar wise. I usually use ‘She signed “how are you?”’

This is obviously a very basic example sentence, but I was wondering are there better ways to write this? Should I be using dialogue tags? I’ve heard of some people doing

‘She signed how are you?’

But I don’t want that to be confused with inner thoughts, because that’s the same style I use for inside thoughts like—

‘I can’t believe she would do that. She thought to herself.’

I’ve also heard of (I think) ‘She signed <<how are you?>>’

Is this something of importance to the Deaf community? I might post this work eventually on here, and she’s one of my main characters that drives the plot forward. I don’t want to disrespectful! I usually use dialogue tags out of convenience, but I can switch it up in my edits if there’s a better and more respectful way to do it!

Hi!

Regular dialogue marks are just fine! The “signed” dialogue tag should cover it. :) [smile face]

(I have seen some books write in ASL GLOSS but this is generally clunky to audiences who don’t know ASL, and, if the author isn’t fluent in ASL, usually wrong.)

You also don’t need to just limit yourself to “signed”. Once you’ve established that your character signs, you can use whatever you want. (If she uses multiple modes of communication, just clarify which one she’s using in which scene / when she switches modes.)

[phantomarine]

Clam's Quick Tips for Starting Your Very First Webcomic

Howdy! Here are the three bits of advice I tend to give people who ask me about getting into webcomic-making. Maybe they can help you jump into the fray with a little less fear.

1) Make Your First Chapter a Pilot Episode

You will be told by webcomic veterans to start with a short, simple comic idea first - which is wise - but if all you can think about is your big magnum opus, then you might as well hop in, right? Otherwise you'll just be glancing back at the other cooler project forever.

But if you can't start with a small simple story, start on a small, simple part of that larger story. Your first chapter should be a snapshot of the main conflict - show us a simple scene with few characters, ease us in slowly, keep things clear and focus on emotion/impact/clarity. Get the audience to care by offering something easily digested, but full of promise.

Once you're done with that 'pilot' chapter, and you're feeling more comfortable with the whole comic process, you can open the gates and show us the larger world. At that point, you'll be way more ready.

2) Simplify Your Art Style For Your Own Sanity

Always try to make your webcomic's art style as simple as possible - the standard rule is to use only 75% of your artistic skill for every comic page you make. Otherwise you will burn out quickly and terribly.

But you also need to be PROUD of your art style. If you're really feeling itchy, add a couple bells and whistles to your style so you can look at the finished page and say "Yeah, looks cool." You'll find the right balance the more you draw.

Also, don't be afraid to change your art style as you go along. Ultimate consistency is often impossible in webcomics anyway - so embrace your desire to try new things, streamline your work, whatever you feel needs to happen to be happiest. Sometimes the coolest part of reading a webcomic is noticing that style change - so don't hesitate to embrace it!

3) Resist the Reboot! RESIST!

The curse/blessing of drawing the same things over and over is that you'll inevitably get better at drawing those things. The trouble comes when you look back at old stuff and start thinking "Damn, I could draw that way better now."

You must recognize that this feeling never goes away. Not after a hundred pages. Not after three hundred. Not after a thousand.

I think everyone should be allowed one soft reboot for their first webcomic. Redraw some panels that bother you. Change up some dialogue if it doesn't make sense with your new story ideas. Do maintenance, basically. One of the beauties of webcomics is that they can be easily edited, without reprinting a whole book or remaking a whole game.

But if the ultimate purpose of a webcomic is to tell a story, then constant reboots will just be retelling the same story - slightly better each time, but the same at its core. We've heard it before. Most audiences would rather you save your strength and just keep going, rather than circling back year after year and going "Wait wait wait! I'll do it better this time."

Reboot early, not often, and only when you absolutely must! You're a storyteller, and you're constantly getting better at telling your story. Don't be ashamed of it - look back how much ground you've covered, and keep walking!

---

That's a good start. Happy webcomicking - don't be afraid to jump in, but be prepared to learn a lot very quickly. And if this advice doesn't work for you or adhere to how you did it, that's absolutely fine - webcomics are diverse by nature, and so are their creation processes. Feel out what works best for you, and good luck!

[theaawalker]

Steps to Write 1K Words a Day (with a tight schedule)

follow for more tips 💋 || request writing tips 💌

1. Establish the Foundation

Know Your Why: Clarify your reason for writing daily by finishing a novel, building discipline, therapeutic expression, etc. Purpose keeps you going when time is tight.

Pick a Project & Stick With It: Avoid hopping between too many ideas. Commit to one main project to prevent decision fatigue.

Set a Realistic Timeframe: Determine how much daily time you actually have. Even 30 minutes can be enough with focus.

2. Shape the Writing Routine

Set a Daily Writing Slot: Choose the same 20-60-minute window each day, e.g., early morning, lunch break, and right before bed. Consistency beats chaos.

Break It into Sprints: Divide writing time into 2-3 focused sprints (10–20 minutes each) with mini-goals (e.g., 300 words per sprint).

Use Micro-Moments Wisely: Jot down scenes, lines, or dialogue in short bursts during downtime, e.g., commutes and between classes.

3. Build a Writing Habit

Create a Ritual: Start with a cue (tea, playlist, app launch), write, and end with a reward. Conditioning helps it stick.

Track Your Progress: Use a word count tracker, habit app, or physical calendar to visualize your momentum.

Aim for “Done,” Not “Perfect”: Don’t revise mid-draft. Keep the focus on finishing today’s 1,000 words, not editing yesterday’s.

4. Define Your Writing Environment

Eliminate Distractions: Silence notifications, close tabs, and let others know you’re “off the grid” during your writing window.

Use Tools That Work for You: Whether it's Google Docs, Scrivener, Word, or a distraction-free app (like FocusWriter), pick what helps you stay in flow.

Keep Materials Nearby: Outlines, scene notes, character sheets. Have them within reach to avoid losing time to memory gaps.

5. Develop Content Efficiently

Outline Briefly Before Writing: Know the scene’s goal, characters involved, and 1–2 key beats. This cuts down time spent thinking mid-writing.

Use Prompts or Templates: If stuck, use writing prompts or scene formulas (e.g., conflict ↣ tension ↣ resolution) to keep moving forward.

Lower the Stakes for First Drafts: Treat your draft as clay, not marble. Write fast, revise later.

6. Reward Yourself Consistently

Use Immediate Micro-Rewards: After each sprint, give yourself a small treat: a stretch, snack, meme scroll, or a favorite song.

Build End-of-Day Rituals: After hitting 1K, reward yourself with a guilt-free indulgence:

- A hot drink

- 30 minutes of gaming

- A mini-episode of your comfort show

- Reading time

Track for Bigger Rewards: Hit a streak (5 days? 2 weeks?) and treat yourself to something bigger: new notebook, movie night, favorite meal.

Celebrate Wins, Big or Small: Even if you only wrote 300 words, that’s progress. Celebrate effort, not just perfection.

7. Develop a Sustainable Arc

Adjust as Needed: If 1,000 words becomes overwhelming, drop to 500 and scale up again. It's better to be consistent than burned out.

Build in Break Days: Choose 1-2 buffer days per week for rest or catch-up. Remember, your brain needs recharge time.

Reflect Monthly: Look back on what worked, what didn’t, and what to change. Writing daily is a living habit, not a static rule.

Tools That Can Help

Timers: Pomodoro apps (e.g., Focus Keeper, Forest)

Trackers: Pacemaker Planner, WriteTrack

Writing Tools: 4theWords (gamified), Google Docs offline, Scrivener

Voice-to-Text Options: Google Voice Typing, Otter.ai

Examples of People with Tight Schedules Who Write Daily

Octavia Butler: Wrote early each morning before work. Do what she said, “Persist.”

Brandon Sanderson: Wrote in sprints between teaching and family time.

Toni Morrison: Wrote after her children went to sleep, hence treating every moment as sacred.

You (Eventually): With the right systems, even the busiest writer can find their rhythm.

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thank you, i am farkle :)

[sorry-not-feeling-it-right-now]

I think I figured out how Cold can change (to me at least)

So. The thing about him is that he suppresses his emotions right. And any person have emotions no matter how much they try to suppress and ignore them. And one day the dam is gonna break. It’s gonna go loose. Kinda like Cold in MOC where he actually sounds like he’s got a hint of emotion in his voice. And it’s probably the only time we see him showing frustration. Like his dialogue when we approach the mirror being “I will be rid of you all” instead of the usual speech of “ignore the cowards” etc etc. Actually I wonder if he also felt a bit scared when we approached the mirror, but Cold being Cold chose to suppress those emotions. Anyway we’re moving off topic

If Cold is gonna develop and change positively(in human standards), I think a major part of his arc is gonna be accepting the fact that he does, in fact, have a heart and can feel emotions. I feel like Cold after that development would enter a sort of zen-like state. He’s still Cold, but there’s a softer look in his eyes now. He’s more in touch with his emotions and his passion is coming back to him in a low humming flame. He would become very wise, I think. He would have truly mastered himself.

(Edited to have this cause I have a stupid idea. Ignore this)