#writing struggles

[dragonslayer-secretagent-a]

Original template cr: @mhuyo from Twitter

[authorssd]

This is why I sleep with my phone next to me. Not just to fall asleep while listening to music or a podcast, but for those moments when i wake up with a writing idea, or had a weird dream I thought would be worth writing down. Sometimes you just need to write down something fast before you forget!

Cause of my insomnia number one:

[cranberry-queen]

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.

[xyywrites]

Juxtaposition of High and Low Register

basically, it's the mixing formal and informal language.

1. Breaking Tension with Absurdity

Imagine you’ve just written an emotionally intense scene. Your character is standing on the edge of a cliff, contemplating life, death, and stuff.

Formal/High Register: "The cold wind lashed against her skin, as though nature itself sought to strip away any last remnants of warmth, of hope. She could feel her heart, beating erratically, a frantic drum echoing through her veins."

And then, right when the tension is at its peak, you suddenly drop in...

Informal/Low Register: "She tugged at her boot, cursing under her breath as it got stuck. ‘For god's sake, now’s not the time for this,’ she muttered."

Now, instead of dragging the reader down into despair, you’ve briefly punctuated the seriousness of the moment with absurdity. This not only lightens the mood but also heightens the emotional gravity when the serious moment returns. The levity makes the stakes feel more intense because, even in a life-or-death scenario, life keeps going—and sometimes, that’s just really annoying.

2. Creating Dramatic Irony with High Register in Stressful Moments

Another way to use this technique is by throwing high register language into moments of extreme stress or fear. It’s like when a character uses overly formal, eloquent language at the worst possible time.

Low Register: He was cornered, backed into a dark alley with no way out, the sound of footsteps closing in. His pulse pounded in his ears, fingers trembling.

Then, in a panic, he might say something way too formal for the moment:

High Register: As it appears I have reached an impasse. Might I inquire as to the purpose of this most precarious encounter?

The use of high register here creates a sense of disconnection—the character’s formality feels completely out of place in such a visceral, dangerous moment. The tension is amplified because it’s clear that the character doesn’t understand the gravity of the situation—or maybe they’re so overwhelmed they’re overthinking their response.

TL;DR: Mixing high and low register in your writing isn’t just a fancy stylistic choice—it’s a great way to mess with emotional tension, highlight the absurdity of serious moments, or show how someone is struggling to maintain control in the face of fear.

I’ve run into this so many times in books before, but it’s only now that I realize there’s an actual name for it.

[munamarvel13]

Can I just say this: please give respect to fanfiction writers because they honestly going through all these AI scraping shit and still manage to update your favourite fics that your lazy ass always forgets to comment on.

[princessofgreed7]

valid, I feel the same, it's like I know I update late and sometimes the chapters are way longer than usual, but seeing the decline of comments from chapter to chapter had me thinking in quiting the fics as the lack of comments seems to translate 'you are doing it wrong', comments are vital to keep the fic alive

I'm literally so saddened by the fact that comments on ao3 have become so sparse all of a sudden.

I used to get quite a bit, but now I'm lucky to get more than one, even if that.

It doesn't matter if it's only a few hearts or three letters, I just want to know people are enjoying my work. But it's nothing.

If you're worried about embarrassing yourself by leaving a comment, trust me, if it's positive, the author will cherish whatever you say no matter what.

Am I close to crying over the fact that no one seems to comment anymore, and i think my writing has declined because it feels like no one cares... no it's not that serious no

[thebadphilosopher]

Ah hello plotline that I forgot to write down but wanted to remember, nice of you to show up at a time where I *still* can't write you down. I will remember you this time.........I think.

[nondelphic]

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

[the-coffee-fandom]

Had to make a meme to describe me currently

[elleldoe]

grammar this. grammar that. sometimes 'grammatically correct' just doesn't hit the spot. the vibes are telling me to laugh in the face of the english language and that's exactly what I'm going to do, one incorrectly structured sentence at a time.

[quinnjgraham]

I know this is the website where we talk about artists and writers doing anything other than making art or writing, but man, we REALLY undersell how good it feels to actually work on your stuff.

Like you hit your word count for the first time in a week and its like

[the-golden-comet]

Please stick to ONE TASK, brain!!

🧠: No. :)

[moninils]

Cause of my insomnia number one:

[munamarvel13]

"Ugh, I can't write 600 words for school!"

Bro, I can write 10k words for fun.

[thedeepbluedark]

sitting down to write isn't really about creating a story, it's about getting the story onto the page before it destroys me