#write better

[vivsinkpot]

The Words We Don’t Say: Dialogue Should Reveal, Not Just Inform.

Every line of dialogue is a tiny window into who your characters are, not just what they need to say. In real life, people rarely say exactly what they mean. They dodge, hint, exaggerate, fall silent, or say one thing when they feel another. Your characters should, too.

Good dialogue isn’t about giving information cleanly — it’s about revealing layers.

For example:

A character could say “I’m fine,” while tightening her grip on the table so hard her knuckles go white.

He could say “You’re impossible,” but his voice is soft, almost laughing — meaning you’re impossible and I love you for it.

She could say “I hate you,” in the rain, soaked through, desperate — meaning don’t leave.

The surface words and the real emotions don’t always match. That’s where the tension lives.

That’s what makes dialogue linger.

Three quick tricks to deepen your dialogue:

1. Layer emotion under the words.

Surface: What are they saying?

Subtext: What do they really mean?

Conflict: What’s holding them back from just saying it?

E.g. Two best friends sitting in a car after one of them has announced she’s moving across the country.

She fiddled with the edge of her sleeve, staring straight ahead.

“You’ll forget about me after a week,” she said, light, almost laughing.

Surface: She says he’ll forget about her.

You’ll forget about me after a week. (The outward words are casual, a joke.)

Subtext: She’s terrified of being left behind, feeling abandoned.

I’m scared you don’t care enough. I don’t want to be alone. Please tell me you’ll miss me.

Conflict: She doesn’t want to beg him to stay — she’s too proud, too afraid he doesn’t feel the same.

She wants to stay close, to ask for reassurance — but fear of rejection makes her hide her true feelings under humor.

2. Use silence and body language.

• A pause can scream louder than a speech.

• A glance away can whisper I’m afraid better than a thousand words.

E.g. After her apology, it’s his silence — heavy, raw, unspoken — that says everything words can’t.

After an argument, she finally admits, in a shaking voice, “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

He says nothing.

Instead, he leans back against the wall, scrubbing a hand across his mouth, looking everywhere but at her.

The silence stretches between them — heavy, aching, almost unbearable.

When he finally does speak, his voice is hoarse: “I know.”

Breakdown:

Pause: His silence after her admission isn’t empty — it’s full. It screams his hurt, his struggle to forgive, his overwhelming emotions.

Body Language: Scrubbing his hand across his mouth, looking away — it all whispers I’m overwhelmed. I’m hurt. I don’t know how to say what I’m feeling.

Result: The tension between them becomes almost physical without a single extra word.

3. Let characters miscommunicate.

• Real conversations are messy.

• People interrupt, misunderstand, react to what they think they heard.

• That tension is pure narrative gold.

E.g. A confession turns into heartbreak when he misunderstands her words and walks away before she can explain.

She pulls him aside at the crowded party, her voice low and urgent.

“I need to tell you something — about us,” she says.

He stiffens immediately, crossing his arms. “Don’t bother. I get it. You regret everything.”

She blinks, hurt flashing across her face.

“No, that’s not what I meant—”

But he’s already turning away, anger burning in his chest.

She watches him go, the words she was really about to say — I love you — still caught in her throat.

Breakdown:

Miscommunication: He interrupts and jumps to conclusions, assuming the worst.

Realism: Conversations are messy; people hear what they’re most afraid of hearing.

Narrative Gold: Now, there’s heartbreak, regret, and a perfect setup for future emotional payoff when they finally untangle the truth.

Some brilliant examples to study:

‘Normal People’ by Sally Rooney — where miscommunication becomes the air between them.

‘Pride and Prejudice’ by Jane Austen — where formality and wit mask tenderness and fear.

‘Six of Crows’ by Leigh Bardugo — where silence says what pride refuses to.

Dialogue is not just a tool for moving the plot.

It’s a doorway into the heart of your story.

Open it carefully.

[hauntedraggedyanne]

Uncommon villain motivations

Just have some fun with them

—Protection of a loved one, because the hero’s actively pursuing something that would kill the loved one

—They represent a part of nature (illness, natural disasters, fungi, etc)

—They’re in pursuit of knowledge

—They don’t want to be forgotten. Easier to go down as a horrible person rather than a good person to them.

—Pursuit of something that can save themselves (ex: a cure to an illness)

—To make a statement about the current political/religious/community climate

—Forced to always do the exact opposite of the hero. They’re their shadow, and when the hero saves, the villain kills. You could make them a doppelgänger, or a literal dark reflection of the hero. (Okay I’m kinda biased I really like this one. If you’ve got any ideas for it please please let me know)

—They’re forced too, not by mind control or anything, but through their own will. Arguably that’s worse.

—To make change in whatever way they can

—They’re trying to rebuild whatever (or whoever) they lost

[the-ellia-west]

How to make your Readers Feel Emotions for Dummies

(AWWWWW :]]]] Edition)

So... Do you have any cute animals or children in your story?

No?

Then I can't help you go away

Kidding, kidding, you can make AWW moments in your story no matter who or what your characters are.

First

You have to have at least semi-Likable characters (Pets, adorable animals, or children make this wayyyyyy easier)

Likable characters make your readers want the characters to be happy! You can't really get AWWWW moments if you want the characters to suffer

Most AWWW moments come from Shipping or cute baby moments

Second

Decide what Type

whether you want it to be an AWWWW Romance moment, or an AWWWWW Baby moment

There's also #3 I forgot to mention: AWWWWW comfort/sentimental moment

Third

Decide which character the AWWW moment will happen between

Couple, Father/child, mother/child, friends, siblings, doesn't matter - Well... it obviously matters Which AWWW moment you're going for but... yeah

Fourth

What's Gonna happen?

For romance it's usually cute fluff moments - Want examples? Too bad, look it up on Pinterest! No, no, Joking. Here's a list:

Small cheek/hand kisses

A small, 'I love you so much.'

Wearing other's clothes

Forehead touch

Cuddling

Holding BOTH of each other's hands

FACE TOUCHES - Cheek/jawbone is best

Leaning into touch

Careful dancing

For parental figure and Child it's usually a comforting trust moment, a protecting the child moment, or a 'make me proud' moments

I fucking love these and I'm gonna go on a rant Addict, Tired, bitter mentors are so fucking great. There's so much you can do with them Mostly there's 'make me proud moments' The first 'I approve' moment There's 'you've made me proud' moments There's also 'Fine, you're my kid' moments And comforting trust moments hit so much harder when the mentor rarely shows affection.

It's just so... :D

For Friends, You should do with comforting moments, or a 'you don't know how much I care about you moments

Fifth

Soft Phrasing = soft emotions

Use long, calm sentences. No exclamation points or question marks unless it's dialogue. Keep everything smooth and fluid.

Tears are a powerful tool so use them sparingly

Use short words, and use cuter, softer words, metaphors, and adjectives.

Sixth

Have a visible result

Smiles, cute thoughts, cute dialogue, different feelings or actions towards other characters

Stuff like that

AWWWWW moments can be very powerful to characters as they can for real people, they can change so much with little words.

They can be turning points, displays of affection to the audience, turning points of affection, showcases of change, strengthening of relationships, a final goodbye, they can be so much in just so little.

Good Evening and Good Luck with your Writing My loveable Writing friends! you can do this! <3

[ayeforscotland]

A new* trope that annoys me:

White woman author (who needs to find herself/go on an adventure) has a montage of a pushy black woman agent/publisher leaving voicemails asking when the book will be finished.

*new trope from me, not a new trope by any means.

[anonameisadditions]

So You Want To Write #1 : The Amazing Digital Circus

In my work with the ever-impressionable and quick learning @mikiib, We often end up working with a particular dynamic on her creative projects, ranging from fanfiction to self-started fiction like our ongoing comic series, PARANOiD. She's a great artist, mind you- I wouldn't work with her if she wasn't- But our lives were spent very differently before we met; She chose a life of drawing, I chose a life of reading.

In this, I'm frequently put into the position of helping her make writing "sing" in the tune of what genre or media property she's drawing from. One of my many talents is my ability to quickly deconstruct and recognize the various influences a writer has taken from in a body of work, and The Amazing Digital Circus is one that I find a lot of people seem to misunderstand it's roots, and the kind of stories it's drawing from. To this, much-despised reader, I come to help, to scream from my digital soapbox the advice I would have needed a decade ago to write something properly.

THE AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS: Mr. Elison needs to stop watching PBS

Most casual fans of the Amazing Digital Circus would know that the Harlan Ellison short story "I Have No Mouth And Must Scream" is the conceptual well that ADC draws from. It's one hell of a starting point- for those unfamiliar, a brief recap- The last 5 humans on Earth are tortured and controlled by the A.I Singularity known as A.M, the maniacal, suicidally minded A.I. who, in realization of the inherent trappings of the microchip in his existence, chose to exert his frustrations on the global earth as a whole, leaving only these 5 to torment for the rest of existence as punishment for the sins of mankind.

... Quite a different story on the surface than ADC, no? But to engage with Mouth a surface-level retelling of events deprives the story of it's wit and candor. Harlan, as a writer, is a reader's antagonist- and his contempt for the people who read his stories is palpable.

Harlan professes, in this interview, an anger towards the concept of self-reverence- the idea that he, himself, is any more significant on this unholy thing we call "earth" than another person. Thus, he reacts to fans by despising them when they reject his jocular, irreverent sense of self as some kind of personal attack. This shows in his writing, if you consider how he views his typical set of characters. In "Big Sam Was My Best Friend", the titular Big Sam, a likable, if reserved teleporter in the far future of space travel is revealed to be a lout, a creep- A man who, when gifted the ability to teleport vast distances unbounded by energy or time, chose to spend his existence chasing a woman who hated him. In "Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes", we have Koster and Maggie: One a down-on-his-luck, pathetic idiot representing the average Vegas coin slot jockey, and the other, Maggie, a rage-filled prostitute who regularly John's for a sleazy mafia boss.

The marking of the Elison school of writing is to defy the status quo expectation of morality winning. Here, the characters are tragic figures driven by their own incompetence and lack of self-awareness- They continuously battle themselves, refusing the luxury and peace of the ordinary to try to shape reality to their will, and every time, reality bites back.

But what does this have to do with The Amazing Digital Circus?

HELL IS OTHER PEOPLE

In the pilot of Amazing Digital Circus, we get to know our selection of trapped souls with a unique lens of understanding that Pomni does not get- For her, these characters of the "Show" of the Amazing Digital Circus (I mean this in a meta sense- More on this later.) are strangers, who's cascading complexities will surely open up with time. But for us, the viewer, we exist beyond the 4th wall- We know we are watching a virtual play, in a sense, where we can expect that there is no dramatic spiritual transition in store for anyone- that whatever we discover will be building on the foundation of each archetype.

But what's unique to both Digital Circus and No Mouth is the reality that these characters know each other quite well- Too well, in fact. They have been trapped together for an unknowable amount of time- and with this knowledge, Pomni is played as the foolish interloper for expecting any more or better from each character.

In a "normal" show, Jax should learn a lesson from the Candy Castle plotline in the first real episode of the show. But in the Digital Circus, Jax CAN'T learn a lesson- because he's done this stupid song and dance a million times, and his reputation precedes him in the eyes of the rest of the circus. He is trapped, figuratively and literally, in his character- He is the cunty rabbit, in and out, because frankly, his own identity might be the only thing keeping him sane.

This is not to say Jax's character cannot change and develop in the space of the canon of the show, or in your own fanfiction writings- far from it- but you need to approach these characters with an understanding that they have been this way for a long, long time- much in the same way that the various psychotic behaviors of the trapped survivors in A.M. have been the same way for a long time, too. To maintain this status quo- this character's "stickiness" as a coping mechanism - is how the soul of Elison sticks through the Digital Circus.

Wait, a stuck Status Quo, with weekly adventures that, at this point, largely don't seem to affect the behavior on a weekly basis for most of the characters, in a bright and shiny animated environment? This sounds kind of like...

A Saturday morning kid's show.

No, Really: Hell IS other people.

This is the missing component people seem to miss about the Amazing Digital Circus- Its aesthetic, its connecting theme, its horror- it's all based on the simple, ironclad premise of a children's show.

Think about it. "People get stuck in a virtual world to solve problems each week meant to help teach them social and practical life skills" is a motif used in a variety of 2000's era CGI animated shows that would air on PBS and (Canadian Broadcast Cartoons). This is "ReBoot". This is "Jay Jay The Jet Plane". This is "Jane and The Dragon". The soft, pliable, safe consequenceless world of the Children's Cartoon is the A.M. Digital World that Caine has his "players" trapped in, much to their chagrin.

At first, this doesn't seem too bad- It's safe, for one. It's remarkably easy to exist in, for another- Food isn't an issue, beyond a simplistic pleasure behavior. There's no bathrooms, no need to sleep- nothing. But in this, the true hell arrives. Week after week, month after month, you continue to participate in "Games" meant to serve the same moral lessons you've heard a million times at this point, as the only break to the skull-fucking monotony of an existence trapped in a consequenceless space where nothing you say or do changes the reality around you. You are stuck in a padded room- where you cannot touch yourself, or others, or the world around you in a meaningful way. It is a gilded cage, that seeks to patronize you and break down your mentality to the point of acting like a monocentric character archetype for the education and entertainment of a captive audience of 12-year-olds with nothing better to do.

You can see how this changes a person's priorities, fast. In this, our Circus members choose to find relief in the only ways they can- with one another, in the only thing that CAN change- their feelings towards one another.

JAX becomes the cunty rabbit he is, because vexing his fellow players is at least some form of change and control for him that makes him feel empowered. Zooble refuses to participate, as their ennui and rejection of the concept of the show enables them to, at the very least, take a stance against Caine, their captor. Ragatha tries to remain optimistic and make the best of the bad situation, as maintaining a positive attitude lets her at least pretend she's making a difference. Kinger's cracked behavior of madness is him attempting to find meaning and test the boundaries of his own existence, as the oldest member of the Circus, in a attempt to break the tedium for himself. And Gangle is reacting with a massive victim complex- She makes herself out to be a pathetic, weak, spineless creature because she can't conceive of this reality being one she has to exist actively in, for she finds the whole effort futile.

Where does this place Pomni? Well, it's a search for her own meaning in the space of the Circus. She is still an "open character", meant to play the role of the Audience's fool- And the drama comes from us wondering whether she'll sink, or swim.

SO YOU WANT TO WRITE THE AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS

This is the soul of the show, distilled to a fine, thin gruel- If you want to make your fiction "Sound" Like The Amazing Digital Circus, you need to marry two concepts together- The horrific behaviors of Harlan Elison's characters in their efforts to deal with the ways life has personally screwed them, and the soul-sucking mundanity of the weekly format of the children's television serial. You present the cast with an adventure each week, one that is definitely below their intended age level, and let them react to it with their individualized efforts to escape the mundanity of the circumstances, in their own way- Jax tries to make everything worse, Ragatha tries to play along, and Pomni is still freshly experiencing everything for the first time.

This is not to say you can't do MORE with these characters and the base premise- @hootbon does an excellent job recontextualizing the idea of weekly "shows" with the circumstances of the abusive ringleader of a 1950s-styled circus. But they seem to understand the narrative underpinnings of the TADC in this rewritten examination; The cast is chained to the premise, and can only act within the dimensions of said premise- and what they do with those circumstances defines them as a person.

If you liked this blogpost, Give it a reblog and a like, and don't forget to follow me for more media analysis and creative endeavors. Below, you can vote on the focus of my next entry in "So You Want To Write" series. 

~ Yours Fallaciously, AN0N

[a-ginger-in-black]

New rule: no one is allowed to complain about "passive voice" until they learn to identify it. It's a technical term with a technical meaning, it doesn't just mean "I think this sounds like weasel-words".

So, time for a quick primer. Summary: "passive voice" and "indefinite phrasing" are not the same thing.

Consider the sentence Akiko dropped a rock. The grammatical subject is Akiko, and she's the one who did the dropping; the sentence is in the active voice. It's also definite in meaning, because we know exactly who performed the action of dropping: it was Akiko.

A rock was dropped by Akiko is still definite - Akiko is still the one who did the dropping - but it's in the passive voice because the grammatical subject, a rock, was the thing that was dropped, not the entity that did the dropping. So far, so good.

Now, consider Someone dropped a rock. This is indefinite phrasing, because "someone" is pretty much a placeholder that tells us nothing aside from the fact that the entity that did the dropping was a person. However, it is still in the active voice, because the grammatical subject is "someone" and "someone" did the dropping. If you want it in the passive voice, it has to be A rock was dropped by someone.

The TLDR here is that if the sentence does not contain a phrase like "by Akiko" or "by someone" (or "by zombies"), and cannot do so while remaining grammatical, it's not passive voice. Someone dropped a rock by zombies doesn't make sense, and therefore isn't passive voice.

You can use the passive voice all day long and still be very, very clear about who did what; you can obfuscate with the active voice. Mistakes were made is passive voice and indefinite weasel-wording; Mistakes were made by the president, the military commanders, and the emergency responders is passive, but definite. Similarly, Someone made mistakes is both active voice and indefinite.

And of course there's the ultimate indefinite phrasing, A rock fell. Why? Could've been a person dropping it, a cat batting it off the counter, an earthquake, we don't know. We just don't know.

But it's still active voice.

[luckyluan]

THE COUNCIL OF SEVEN SOULS, PT. II

MARCH 18, 2024 - 10:17PM

He took her ankle gingerly in between his fingers. She shifted gingerly at his unusually warm hands. He noticed her discomfort and gave a weak smile.  

“It’s the serum.” he offered. “It quickens the metabolism...warms the blood...it’s only mildly uncomfortable. Heh.” 

“Mildly uncomfortable...can’t imagine.” she gritted her teeth as he rotated her ankle. 

He was silent for a moment. He examined her ankle carefully; touching at certain angles and applying pressure. A dull ‘clink’ sent her heart into racing and—without lifting his head from his observation—he addressed her fear. 

“It’s the anatomic field receptor. It’s come unplugged again. It’s always coming unplugged. No worries.” 

“Yeah, I’d hate for the field thingy to receipt accidentally...could be catastrophic.” 

He snorted. “you’re funny.”  

“A goddamn comedian.” She grimaced. “Are you done?” 

“Oh, yes, quiet. Erm. You’ve merely twisted your ankle. I imagine the pain is terrible. I can fix it...but I’m afraid I’d have to use the anatomic field receptor.” 

Seymour looked up at her with a lopsided grin on his face. The glare from his pointed glasses made his eyes dangerously bright.  

“Very funny, Doc. We should go on tour together. I’ll give you top billing if I get the bigger dressing room.” 

“Deal.” Seymour set her ankle down carefully. 

“Excuse me, Doctor.” a metallic voice echoed through the laboratory. 

“Yes, Kali?” 

“The analytics you asked for are ready.” 

“Thank you, Kali.” 

He knelt in front of Izzy. His fingers now fidgeting with the aglets on his brown sneakers. His gray-streaked coils fell, lazily, over the broad rim frames of his glasses. There was a faint glitch in his frames.  

“I’m not evil.” he said. “I’m not a mad scientist. I—I just had to know.” 

[poetryslutsreloaded]

Excerpts from Uses of the Erotic by Audre Lorde

Brought to you by PSR

[rightwriter]

Ellen Brock again with solid tips on how to write believable characters!

[roleplaysocial]

How to write a Great Roleplay Post!

Writing a great roleplaying post can seem harder than it really is. Forum roleplaying may seem difficult on the surface — and some aspects really are! There are certain things you can do as a roleplayer to craft a really great roleplay post — and almost every time! Give Action Note your character’s quirks, movements, body language, gestures, and so forth. Don’t overload your posts with action.…

[hauntedraggedyanne]

Fictional setting ideas

Extra little bits to make things more interesting. I tried to make these for both fantasy and realistic fiction so they’re a bit vague

—Unusual pets that are treated normally (ex: people going on walks with their tarantulas)

—Games played by the locals that they made up on their own X amount of years ago

—Buildings. How tall, short, and what style? Are they well put together, or was there some kind of rush so now they’re quick to fall into disrepair?

—Local plants and wildlife. Go beyond squirrels and trees. Nature is expansive and horrifying so you have plenty of inspiration

—Where is it located compared to the closest city or landmark? Do they get tourism/travelers because of it, or are they forgotten next to the big city?

—Landscape. How does it affect the climate, and also how things were made, or how things were destroyed?

—How has man (or whatever the main species is) affected the location? Is it untouched due to laws and protections? Is it explored thoroughly, or is it torn apart, a shell of what it used to be?

—Most importantly, why is it even being used as a setting in the story? Does it have minerals, hidden artifacts, locals willing to aid the team in some way?

[a-ginger-in-black]

Also lying and gaslighting don't have the same goals! Time for the list again!

If I am telling you things that aren't true in the hopes that you will...

...be entertained, that's a story.

...learn from them, that's a parable.

...think they're funny, that's a joke.

...have a funny reaction before realizing they're not true, that's a prank.

...believe them and act accordingly, that's lying.

...look at the difference between what I'm saying and what you perceive and decide that your own perceptions are wrong, that is gaslighting.

Like, if I turn down the lights in the room and you say, "Hey, why'd you turn the lights down, it's too dark in here," it's lying but not gaslighting to reply, "I didn't turn them down, there must be a clog in the gas line." Gaslighting is replying, "It's not any darker than it was five minutes ago, what are you talking about?"

i am NOT gaslighting you. i am lying to you. gaslighting implies a level of effort that i am simply not putting in. deceiving you does not require much

[a-ginger-in-black]

New addition to The Evil Overlord List:

All of my guards and other security personnel will immediately apprehend any pair of people discovered kissing in a place where they shouldn't be, or those encountered in the course of a hot pursuit. If they really were just random people who happened to be overcome by affection in an inconvenient place, they will be given an apology and reasonable compensation for the trouble.

[luckyluan]

THE COUNCIL OF SEVEN SOULS, PT. III

He sprang up from the floor and made his way down an aisle of inventions. His head swiveled, left and right, as he searched. He never left her sight, and she was grateful. He returned a moment later with a rolled bandage and a small needle. As he knelt in front of her, he saw her fear. He offered her the needle with an apologetic smile. She accepted. 

He took her ankle, once again, as he spoke. 

“When I was twenty-six years old, I mastered the sciences. I did what no other scientists had done. I successfully cloned myself-split myself into seven equal pieces. No, no not like the children’s book—though I do like that story and—and the magic bits—but I conquered the biggest challenge of adulthood. I answered the question of choice. Why choose only one option when all the options are possible? I won. I finally freakin’ won. I just did not account for the—what did I call it, Kali?” 

“The Soul System, Doctor.” 

“Right. The Soul System.” He continued. “You see, every person only has one soul and try as I might, I cannot recreate...the soul. The body, yes. Eye color? Hair length. Build. Ambition. Aspiration. All of those boxes have check marks, but the soul is the only entity I cannot build.” 

He wrapped her ankle snuggly, and the pain ebbed, but she did not move. This was the first time since she met him that she’d heard his heart and not his mind. 

“That. My Soul System cannot be replicated and that is why they search for me relentlessly; why they beat down the doors of my lab because only one of us can have the soul...and I guess they’ve figured my time is up. I can’t say I disagree.” 

“I do.” Izzy spoke up. Only of them tried to counteract the science. Only one of them is in here with me trying to bandage my ankle—you're actually succeeding. Wow, that works fast—and only one of them is fighting back despite being outnumbered by his own self, you’re here with me. That counts for something.” 

Izzy stood up as she lightly tapped her foot to the floor before putting her full weight on it. She let out a grand sigh as she pushed her flying hairs back into the lagging ponytail. Seymour sprang up beside her. 

“Look, you fucked up. A lot, but not even your great mind could foresee an all-out Battle Royale for a soul that has belonged to you for the last thirty years. You teach us to be a solution-based scientist and that’s what I have become. My solution is simple. We fight back. They may have some of your brains and ideas, but no sequel is better than the original!” 

“I’m pretty sure that last bit is not true.” Seymour scratched his head. 

“You with me or not?” 

Izzy raised her chrome baseball bat. Her eyes were bright with passion and that passion inspired Seymour. He tipped his shotgun against her bat, and he smiled.” 

“Don’t aim that thing at me. Are you crazy?” She shouted. 

“Sorry--sorry. You’re right.”