#writing themes

[blackrosesandwhump]

Three themes that regularly appear in my stories:

- Dealing with extreme fear

- “I’d do anything to get rid of my curse”

- Emotional scars

Open tag for anyone who wants to hop on :)

[anitalenia]

𝙍𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙍𝙎𝙀 𝙃𝘼𝙍𝙀𝙈 ⋆⭒˚｡⋆‎♡‧₊˚

꒰ঌ definition ໒꒱ ˏˋ°•*⁀➷   𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝘩𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑠. 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑎𝑠 𝑢𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑡𝘩𝑜𝑑𝑜𝑥 𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒. ˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ below you will find sub genres under this category, as well as some useful pairings for this trope. for educational writing purposes �� contains dark content <3

note: several of these can also be used in other tropes as well, just depends on how you write it and interpret it. Also, this is strictly woman x multiple men because reverse harem is just that. Harem is man x multiple women, ergo reverse harem

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A being hunted by a group of people — the circumstance can be interpreted in many different ways (can be a game between them as to who gets her first)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A being passed around a friend group

₊˚⊹.* ♡ multiple yandere loving person A

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A lost somewhere and taken to the home of person B, where multiple suitors await to take care of her

₊˚⊹.* ♡ demon brothers and their love (person A) — obey me! anyone ???

₊˚⊹.* ♡ kings and their favorite princess

₊˚⊹.* ♡ multiple boys at school wanting person A (like in anime’s where every boy has a vastly different personality / social status)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ enemy vampire clans wanting person A

₊˚⊹.* ♡ werewolves sharing person A in the pack

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A’s professors find other ways to help her grades

₊˚⊹.* ♡ men of different species wanting person A (dark fantasy au) — like elf king wants person A, rogue werewolf wants person A, vampire lord wants person A, etc.

₊˚⊹.* ♡ stuck in a house with your captors (kidnapped au)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ biker gang x waitress who serves them

₊˚⊹.* ♡ angels x demons fighting for person A

₊˚⊹.* ♡ kings x maid

₊˚⊹.* ♡ rivaling princes of different nations x princess of one — they come together in their want for her (can be kings too ig)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ criminal x cop partner x best friend wanting cop!person A

₊˚⊹.* ♡ its mating season for monsters and they all want person A

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is the only human in the monster clan

₊˚⊹.* ♡ queen x servants (where person A is the one in control / the dominant one)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A and her group of boys she grew up with

₊˚⊹.* ♡ sorceress x her creations

₊˚⊹.* ♡ servant x princes ( can be demon brothers, any kind of royalty, where person A is hired to be their servant)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ multiple psychos playing a game with person A to see who can get them first

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is a criminal being hunted by multiple bounty hunters / cops

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is stalked by a group of men then later taken by them

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is the new farm hand or new to a farm x cowboys

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is the creation of person B, but she gets passed around to his partners with his permission — maybe her needs need to be met by more than just one person (person B is the main partner, but lets others use person A)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ bouncing off that idea, person B is the main partner of person A but person B’s partners / brothers / friends also want person A so he allows it

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A and all her step brothers

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A x her step brother and his best friends

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A x her step dad and his best friends

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A x her bosses

₊˚⊹.* ♡ succubus x demon men who love offering their services (can be human but humans die so do what you will)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A x incubus men who always come to her

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A x vampire coven

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A on house arrest x her security guards ( a lot of ways this can be twisted — different species, different circumstances, etc. )

₊˚⊹.* ♡ princess x her bodyguards

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is a scientist studying alien life forms — they take turns using her so she can “study better”

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is traded to a dark king in return for her kingdoms safety (whatever reason you want), only to be shared between him and his royal court (including brothers & best friends)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A is a highly fertile woman in a dystopian world, shared amongst lords in hopes to reproduce

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A x the men sent to kill her

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A passed around between the Zodiac (as in the twelve Zodiac signs — dark fantasy)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ omegaverse — person A is passed around between the Alpha and his betas

₊˚⊹.* ♡ omegaverse — person A is passed around multiple Alphas

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A x powerful gods who want her for themselves

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A x dragon princes

₊˚⊹.* ♡ princess who gets kidnapped by pirates (doesn’t have to be a princess obvi but regardless she getting passed around the ship)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ villain x the men sent to watch her and keep her in check — bonus if at least one of the men is strongly on the hero’s side but can’t deny his attraction to her

₊˚⊹.* ♡ alice in wonderland au — person A is new to the world and taken under the care of person B. person B takes them home and is introduced to all the men there. some are also just introduced at some point and want person A (like white queen and red queen are really sexy menz, werewolf boy, twin boys, yk yk. Im trying not to make this too long but I already did)

₊˚⊹.* ♡ person A x the lost boys — person A is lost and/or new to the world and is found by the lost boys (lowkey dark fantasy peter pan au)

[imbecominggayer]

Writing Advice: How To Write A Tight Story!!!

You are trying to write a story :D

BUT! The characters just feel so disconnected from each other that at this point they come from different genres. The plot lines just seem to be weaving less of a beautiful tapestry and more of a hairball. Nothing seems to be going together.

but fear not, for I am going to be giving advice today on how to connect your characters and plot thematically!

Today, we are pulling out our tool box and breaking out themes, motifs, and great writer shit!

A) Character Design :D

The trick to character design is to make everyone unique enough that they stand apart from eachother but cohesive enough you can look at them and say "yeah".

A trick that I use is to ground them in ~realism~

If your characters live in a cold weather, then obviously they're going to wear clothing that protects them from the cold. Now, there are circumstances that might permit your character to wear non-cold appropriate clothing like superpowers or species-related stuff but just grounding your characters into the setting and just saying "what would they need?" can just do amazing things for your characters.

Other things that cohesive-fy your characters is sharing a fundamental aesthetic but then having different branches of of these aesthetics. These aesthetics tend to also come with the setting!

Sci-Fi = Futuristic (Solarpunk, Cyberpunk, Cyberpop, Oceanpunk)

Fantasy = Nature (cottagecore, ravencore, dragoncore, etc.)

Slice of Life = Mundane Cozy (Academia, Clean Girl, Casual)

You get the point. Even the social outcasts will be using the same materials as the in-crowd uses, unless it's specialized material. The difference is in how they wear it. A social outcast's Sci-Fi outfit will probably be a bit tattered. A bit dystopian maybe. But it's still Sci-Fi!

Two characters can wear a crop top of the same material and still seem distinct enough if their backstories have them being distinct.

Differentiating characters is pretty easy. Have them share the same overall type of stuff and let the details weave the story.

B) Plot Lines

Look, there is no easy way to say this but you probably need to cut out some parts of your story.

Let me tell you, a plot is a summary of all of it's subplots. The goal of a subplot is to gradually build up these elements whether it be character arcs, character relationships and all that good shit so it can light a bigger fire.

It's just like a bonfire. The characters are the spark, the subplots are the logs, and the plot is the fire.

Ask yourself this:

Is there a way I can incorperate this character arc into a grander action-focused plot where I actively demonstrate this character's change?

Is there a way I can morph two subplots together so I can get both the benefits and the lessen load?

Is there a way I can give character responsibilities onto the well-developed characters I already have instead of just making new ones?

All of these questions can help chop off some of the bad filler that is weighing your story down. And also give your story a bit more breathing room so you can have all of those important quiet moments.

C) Themes :D

Let me tell you, having themes just makes my story that much more cohesive. It feels like there is this overarching tie between all of my characters that just makes the story feel that much more well-thoughtout.

A good example of characters being reflective of the overall theme of the show is "The World God Only Knows"! It's a harem anime that genuinely feels very well-thoughtout with the comedic dating sim parody elements and the deeper message about the fight with reality both bouncing off of each other.

It feels like a world wear the characters and the theme are both gently rocking the worldbuilding and story together.

Having themes allows me to identify potential character flaws within my cast, develop characters that I didn't really have an idea about, and the overall worldbuilding of the WIP.

Overall, my themes tend to read more like central ideas. It's less about a moral message in my opinion but an explanation.

Some of my lastest themes are:

" the horrors of love and understanding"

" the alienation of being not human in a world of humans"

"the burden of being forced into selflessness"

"the desire to no longer exist"

"the fantasy of controlling reality"

"the limitations of instinct"

I'll give you a quick summary of how each different theme impacted the characters and the storyline :D

"the horrors of love and understanding" inspired the storyline of being smothered in a Hive Mind and the desire to not be an individual anymore since it's so lonely being singular. It developed my main characters extensively.

"the alienation of being not human" was definitely uplifted by the fact that this is a superhero story about literal non-humans who may look and sometimes act human but will always be eternally aware of the chasm. It shaped my protagonists extensively.

"the burden of selflessness" inspired the motivation behind why Yituing became a villain. It also serves as the mantra for Nonkosi's character arc. The theme was eventually developed into a commentary on the Strong Black Woman

"the desire to not longer exist" was uplifted with heavy religious symbolism. This was demonstrated through an angel trying to use empathy as a way of self-imploding and an ex-pastor using invisibility to try and drive themself away from humanity.

"the fantasy of controllin reality" was developed in an isekai setting which definitely drove home the theme of literally escaping the necessary evils of reality for the simplicity of fantasy. All of the characters are inspired off of motivations protagonists tend to have which ultimately boiled down to a desire for control.

"the limitations of instinct" was a crtique on the argument that what's natural is somehow better. The main protagonists work with their instinctual existences with Nariman lacking in empathy and Hetrunmeass being an android who can literally turn off their feelings at any moment. They grow beyond who they were. They still are what they are but they are also something more.

[byoldervine]

Writing Tips - Overarching Themes

A lot of stories like to have overarching themes, such as themes of redemption, acceptance, ruthlessness, love, etc. But how do you come up with the themes for your story?

1. Don’t lose the plot. What kind of journey does your plot take your characters on? What do they achieve and what do they learn along the way? Off the top of my head Miraculous Ladybug doesn’t do a great job at portraying an overarching theme of ‘love conquers all’ when love repeatedly causes problems for the heroes (to the point of “It was our love that destroyed the world” being one of the most memorable lines) and only seems to benefit the villains. Let the plot help keep you on the right track

2. Ask a question. There are tons of themes that rely on asking a question and pitting two different virtues against each other; traditional vs modern, redemption vs damnation, nature vs nurture, etc. The theme of the story is then watching one conquer the other, or finding out where the balance lies between the two if that’s more applicable. ATLA was, of course, very good at handling the nuances in redemption and damnation; it showed people learning they need to change, people wanting to change, people choosing not to change, people trying and failing to change, and even people with the capacity to change only if they take it. The episode The Southern Raiders is also a masterclass in nuance in revenge vs forgiveness, and ultimately allows the audience to form their own conclusions

3. Add a twist. One thing that really intrigues me about EPIC: The Musical is how the overarching theme is ruthlessness vs mercy - with the lesson being that main character Odysseus needs to be more ruthless. You don’t get a lot of stories that teach ruthlessness as the good and correct answer over mercy, that you should kill a defeated opponent rather than letting them live, and that makes the story so much more interesting and unique. If you can think of a way to intentionally twist the expected outcome of your overarching theme, see if you can make it work within the story

4. It’s overarching for a reason. Make sure your overarching themes are evident in the story and impact the characters and their decisions, as well as the consequences for such. Hazbin Hotel has an obvious overarching theme of redemption, and you can see it in the way each episode plays out that redemption comes into it, whether it’s Vaggie regaining her wings when learning to fight for love rather than vengeance, Charlie giving Alastor the chance to work in the hotel despite knowing he doesn’t believe in her goals, Husk encouraging Angel’s character growth and his true nature, etc. Almost everything the characters do relates back to the theme of redemption and betterment

5. Reward the theme. Maybe in the past characters have been burned before and no longer believe in your overarching theme, but the course of the story changes their perspective. The Owl House has overarching themes of non-conformity and individualism and acceptance of those who are ‘weird’ or different, and they all culminate in Luz finally feeling understood for the first time in her life after never feeling that way. Attempts in the past to be understood have often been met with people labelling her as the weird kid or her being punished, and then throughout the story there’s a lot of people that accept Luz, but in more of an “I don’t get what you’re saying, but I get what you’re trying to say” kind of way; acceptance and understanding aren’t quite the same. And lacking acceptance has negative impacts in the story for good and bad characters alike; Luz is at her most powerful when she accepts both the human and witch side of her rather than comparing herself to Azura, Amity’s potential for redemption comes only when she accepts Luz as a witch, Belos loses his power when he’s no longer accepted by others, etc. Characters are rewarded for following the overarching theme and punished for straying

[carminechrollo]

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[plip-plap-plop]

I don’t really know how to talk about reading theme into things? Cause it’s basically media literacy 101, which sounds like a solid thing to work towards, but is also astoundingly strange from the perspective of a “death of the author” reader and writer.

Like is it a thing that can be… not taught, in the sense that there’s no specific pond to lead your horse to, but is it a thing one can succinctly catalyze?

I’m thinking that using metaphor, and using your story to convey a theme applicable to the real world, is so effective because it relies on human feelings. And those are not only a whirling mass, but an uncountable amount of whirling masses of flowing in distinctly unique directions.

So Like. One can certainly read into the author’s vision, and see what’s supported by the text, but also it’s an important in analysis to be able to draw conclusions separate from the author.

For example Hajime Isayama said that Attack on Titan was about the value of doubt and considering one might be the aggressor even if they’ve reason to believe they’re a victim. I read it as primarily about fear and the limitations of aggression in human conflict, and endorsing curiosity and cooperation. They’re similar, not the same.

Even in my own writing I started one story as a piece contemplating the abuses of power, but now I see it as about death in the context of violence and sacrifice.

But I don’t know what to say to someone who reads a story as endorsing the actions of the black-wearing evil grinning mustache twirling bad guys. Like. That’s a common device for saying “eyyo, this shit’s fucked.”

But is it a language one has to learn? Largely arbitrary in origin but deliberately appropriated? Or is it simpler?

[physalian]

On Writing Theme (Or, Make it a Question)

An element of story so superficially understood and yet is the backbone of what your work is trying to say. Theme is my favorite element to design and implement and the easiest way to do that? Make it a question.

A solid theme takes an okay action movie and propels it into blockbuster infamy, like Curse of the Black Pearl. It turns yet another Batman adaptation into an endlessly rewatchable masterpiece, seeing the same characters reinvented yet again and still seeing something new, in The Dark Knight. It’s the spiraling drain at the bottom of classic tragedies, pulling its characters inevitably down to their dooms, like in The Great Gatsby.

Theme is more than just “dark and light” or “good and evil”. Those are elements that your story explores, but your theme is what your story *says* with those elements. 

For example: Star Wars takes “dark vs light” incredibly literally (ignoring the Sequels). Dark vs Light is what the movies pit against each other. How the selfish, corrupted, short-sighted nature of the Dark Side inevitably leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy of doom—that’s what the story is about.

A story can have more than one theme, more than one statement it wants to make and more than one question to answer. Star Wars is also about the inevitable triumph of unity and ‘goodness’ over division and ‘evil’.

Part of why I love fantasy is how allegorical it can be. Yes I’m writing a story with vampires, but my questions to my characters are, “What makes a monster? Why is it a monster?” My characters’ arcs are the answer to my theme question.

Black Pearl is a movie that dabbles in the dichotomy between law-abiding soldiers and citizens, and the lawless pirates who elude them. Black Pearl’s theme is that one can be a pirate and also a good man, and that neither side is perfect or mutually exclusive, and that strictly adhering to either extreme will lead you to tragedy.

Implementing your theme means, in my opinion, staging your theme like a question and answering it with as many characters and plot beats as possible. In practice?

Q: Can a pirate be a good man? A: Jack is. Will is. Elizabeth is. Barbossa is selfish and short-sighted, and he loses. Norrington is too focused on propriety and selfless duty, and he loses.

Or, in Gatsby.

Q: Is life fulfilled by living in the past? A: Mr. Buchanan clings to his old-money ways and is a sour lout with no respect for anyone or himself. Daisy clings to a marriage that failed long ago, to retain an image and security she thinks she needs. Myrtle chases a man she can’t ever have. Her husband lusts after a wife who’s no longer his. Gatsby… well we all know what happens to him.

The more characters and plot beats you have to answer your theme’s question, the more cohesive a message you’ll send. It can be a statment the story backs up as well, as seen below, questions just naturally invite answers.

—

Do you need a theme?

Not technically, no. Plenty of stories get by on their other solid elements and leave the audience to draw their own conclusions and take their own meaning and messages. Your average romance novel probably isn’t written with a moral. Neither are your 80s/90s action thrillers. Neither are many horror movies. Theme is usually reserved for dramas, and usually in dramatic fantasy and sci-fi, where the setting tends to be an allegory for whatever message the author is trying to send. That, and kids movies.

Sometimes you just want to tell a funny story and you don’t set out with any goals of espousing morals and lessons you want your readers to learn and that is perfectly okay. I still think saying *something* will make the funny funnier or the drama more dramatic or the romance more romantic, but that’s just me and what I like to read.

When it is there, it’s right in front of your face way more often than you might think. Here’s some direct quotes succinctly capturing the main theses of a couple famous works:

“He’s a good man.” / “No, he’s a pirate.” - Curse of the Black Pearl

“What are we holding onto, Sam?” / “That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it’s worth fighting for.” - LotR, Two Towers

“Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.” - LotR, Fellowship of the Ring

“A person’s a person, no matter how small.” - Horton Hears a Who

“You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” - The Dark Knight

“Can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can!” - The Great Gatsby

“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.” & “Life finds a way.” - Jurassic Park

"Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind." - Lilo & Stitch

“But… I’m supposed to be beautiful.” / “You are beautiful.” - Shrek

“I didn’t kill him because he looked as scared as I was. I looked at him, and I saw myself.” - How to Train Your Dragon

“There are no accidents.” & “There is no secret ingredient.” & “You might wish for an apple or an orange, but you will get a peach.” - Kung Fu Panda

*If any of those are wrong, I did them entirely from memory, sue me.

Some of the best scenes in these stories are where the theme synthesizes in direct dialogue. There’s this moment of catharsis where you, the audience, knew what the story has been saying, but now you get to hear it put into words.

Or, these are the lines that stick in your head as you watch the tragedy unfold around the characters and all they didn’t learn when they had the chance.

When it comes to stories that have a very strong moral and never feel like they’re preaching to you, look no further than classic Pixar movies.

“Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere.” - Ratatouille

“I’m not strong enough.” / “If we work together, you don’t have to be.” - The Incredibles

“Just keep swimming!” - Finding Nemo

Ellie’s adventure book, to live your own adventure, even if it’s not the one you thought it would be - Up

The Wheel Well montage, to slow down every once in a while, because in a flash, it’ll be gone - Cars

The entire first dialogue-less section of Wall-E, to stop our endless consumption or else

The real monsters are corporate consumption - Monsters Inc

One cannot fully appreciate happiness without a little sadness - Inside Out

With enough loud voices, the common man can overthrow The Man - A Bug’s Life

A person’s worth is not determined by their value to other people - Toy Story

These are the themes that I, personally, took from these movies as a kid and later in life. If I remembered the scripts any better I could probably pull some direct dialogue to support them, but, sadly, I do not have the entire Pixar catalog memorized.

—

After you’ve suffered through rigorous literary analysis classes for years on end, the “lit analyst” hat kind of never comes off. Sometimes you try to find a theme where none exists, coming up with your own. Sometimes you can very easily see the skeleton attempt at having a theme and a message that came out half-baked, and all the missed opportunities to polish it.

Whatever the case, while theme isn’t *necessary*, having that through line, an axis around which your entire story revolves, can be a fantastic way to examine which elements of your WIP aren’t meshing with the rest, why a character is or isn’t clicking, how you want to end it, or, even, how you want to approach a sequel.

Unfortunately, very, very often, a movie, book, or season of TV has a fantastic execution of a theme in its first run, and the ensuing sequels forget all about it.

No one here is going to defend Michael Bay’s Transformers movies as cinematic masterpieces, however, the first movie did actually have a thematic through line: “No sacrifice, no victory.” They didn’t stick the landing but, you know, the attempt was made. Where is that theme at all in the sequels? Nonexistent. They could have even explored a different theme and they abandoned it altogether.

Black Pearl’s thematic efforts fell away to lore and worldbuilding in its two sequels. Not that they’re bad! I love Dead Man’s Chest, but to those who don’t like the sequels, that missing element may be part of why.

Shrek and Shrek 2 both centered on their theme of beauty being how you define it and no one else. Fiona finds true love in her “true” form, then strengthens that message in the sequel when she has the chance to be “normal” and conventionally attractive, and still chooses to be an ogre, to be with Shrek. Shrek 3’s theme is…? 

When it was never there, that theme is missing isn’t so obvious. When it used to be there and got left behind, it leaves a crater in its wake everyone notices, even if they can’t pinpoint why.

—

TLDR: Theme is more than just vague nouns and dichotomies. Good, evil, dark, light, selfishness, altruism, beauty, ugliness, riches, poverty, etc are what your story uses. Your theme is what your story has to say with those elements, using as many characters and plot points as possible to reinforce its message. Is it necessary? No. Is it helpful and does it lead to a richer experience? Yes.

[tavyliasin]

5 Things Writing Tag Game

Thank you for the tag @graysparrowao3

Tagging in @morb-untamed @thylyre @tynithia @elinorbard @oh-moth and anyone else who would like to play along~

Five things you might find in my writing

1.) Themes around names, identity, and the importance of both. Particularly with Haarlep, but it creeps into other pieces too...

2.) More depth, emotion, and believable relationship dynamic than you thought when you looked at the ship tag. Wulbren Bongle x Enver Gortash? Volothamp Geddarm x The Emperor? Haarlep x Wyll Ravengard? Trust me, I promise I will make it make sense every time.

3.) Vivid descriptions of pain - whether it's for kink or angst, those physical sensations will be right there. Source: personal expertise...

4.) A kink you didn't know you had, and the author did not know she had either. Don't worry about it. Enjoy it~

5.) Little cutaway gags where I look up from the page and wink at the reader with some silly pun or joke that I could not stop myself from including~

[filmcourage]

Writing Meaningless Themes? You're Doing It Wrong - John Vorhaus

Watch the video interview on YouTube here.

[austin-friars]

trope of immortal being who stops aging but his partner continues to grow old and regardless he still loves him even in old age > trope where they both look young.

bonus when the immortal one who looks youthful gives his elderly/older looking partner immortality and they are frozen at an older age yet still immortal.

[kmackatie]

What you can find in my writing

@sky-scribbles tagged me to talk about five things you can find in my writing, so here! This was surprisingly difficult to work through.

1- Physicality

Physicality is one way that I find my connection to characters and the story I want to tell with them. It's often a focus for me--conveying emotion or a story beat/character moment through how they exist in a scene and their physical presence. Especially if I feel like I'm getting too wordy or too much 'in the head', I try and ground it back into a physical presence. I think this comes a little bit from my background in drama/theatre as it was a key part of any scene work.

2- Comedy

Comedy is something I used to think I struggled with, but in reflection, it's something that I actually enjoy and is present in a lot of my writing. Even in the more 'serious' fics, little moments of levity, of breathing room and finding those beats where characters can develop in different ways balances out and builds connection.

3- Experimental formatting

I mean this one in the sense of playing with convention and typical format, either in utilising short chapter lengths and perspective switches for dramatic framing, or replicating codex entries from video games, or tenses changes between past and present. It's something that I have fun in doing, trying to find different ways to still tell a story that isn't strictly a linear narrative.

4- Emotional weight

It's the core of everything for me, what is the emotional line or moment that this fic is exploring? Even if it's short or 'just' a smut fic, the emotional beats are something that is key to unlocking what the fic is about for me.

5- Dialogue

I really enjoy dialogue, and finding ways for it to feel natural. Often when I get stuck in a scene, I'll default to writing out just dialogue to find my way through it, then come back to other parts on a second pass. Again, this is my background in drama/theater influencing it since that is a form that is largely based on dialogue with minimal stage directions.

Tagging (with no obligation!) @lakrisrot, @stygiusfic, @augentrust, @nellasbookplanet, @road-rhythm, and anyone (you, I mean you!) that wants to do this!

[imbecominggayer]

Writing Advice: How To Craft The Perfect Plot!

For @seekerknight557: How do you go about making good plot? I have a lot of characters, but I struggle with making plot for them. I know to use character motivations and etc, but I was wondering what else I could add in order to make it interesting.

Obviously, due to the multi-faceted nature of plots, this post can't cover everything and won't be applicable to every type of plot. :3

In reality, plots are a sum of writing structure so this post will be going over different structures that you gotta have for plots!

A) Writing Structure: Character Roles

First things first, you have to decide what roles your characters are in!

Characters in literary works are divided into roles that communicate what function they serve in the overall plot. While these roles can change overtime as characters develop, having your initial starting point allows you to understand whose story you are investigating and who is just a side character!

If you are a visual person, you can make a diagram that labels characters! Obviously, not all stories have love interests so these roles aren't always used in every individual story. Bear with me as I give you a good list of different characters roles!

Protagonist (the stories' perspective/main character)

Antagonist (the character that opposes the main character)

Hero(the morally good character)

Villain(the morally bad character)

Love Interest (involved romantically with the protagonist)

Deuteragonist (side characters)

Confidants(your best friend characters and other allies)

Tertiary Characters (characters with little to no screen time)

Oftentimes these character roles overlap. Which is a good thing! It saves you pages by not having so many focused-on characters, potentially subverts expectations, and can lead to more 3-dimensional characters!

The point of learning about this non-exhaustive list of characters roles is so you can start understandin the "functionality" of your world. You now know what characters will be focused on in terms of screen time/page appearance, basic attributes about a character, and who the main star-runners are!

B) Writing Structure: What Is Format Of Your Plot?

Authors across the ages and cultures have worked to find different ways of classifying their plot from the infamous Three-Act Structure or the Hero's Journey!

source: https://kindlepreneur.com/story-structure/

But how do you decide what structure you should follow?

Well, look at the genre of your work! While genre is multi-faceted, understanding the genre can help you understand what plotlines you are prioritizing.

Romance tends to focus on, well, romance! Sci-Fi focuses on technology whether showing how amazing it is or how it's robbing people of their humanity! Horror focuses on horrific things!

While Romance can be set in a fantasy land, the focus of the story is the romance. Fantasy can include a romantic subplot but the main focus of the story is the fantastical nature of the world!

You can read stories that share your genre and overall aesthetic, preferably the short stories, to understand what structure they have!

Or you can read an analysis of that book.

If you don't like the structure, you now have some preference and some dislikes!

C) Wrapping Up - Themes And Genre

So, let's say that you have perfectly mastered everything before right now! What happens at the end of your characters journey?

While I can't tell you the exact specifics of their ending since endings depend on other character's goal and motivations, the main character's goals and motivation, and a host of other factors, I can give you a light at the end of the tunnel.

Overally, whether your story ends badly or has a happy ending depends on the genre, tone, and theme! Let's start dissecting that!

Genres like Horror tend to have bad endings for their protagonists! From the casual killings to the fates-worst-than-death endings, protagonists are put through the ringer and even their "happy" endings tend to either set up a sequel baddie, leave them traumatized, or ambiguous. Meanwhile, Romance tends to have a happy ending where the love interest and the protagonist kiss and all problems are solved!

Is this always universal? No, obviously not. Sometimes horror protagonists do unequivocally win at the end. Sometimes Romance leaves a sour-tasting ending, especially in the Dark Romance sub-genre!

The point of genre isn't to tell you what you need to do but just gives you a sense of what readers are expecting and conventions that sometimes need to be followed and sometimes need to be twisted.

For tone, this one is pretty simple. If your story is hopeful, bittersweet endings where not everything is perfect but hope is present tend to be on the rise. If your story is cynical, sad endings are your endings. If your story is cheerful, happily ever afters are always there!

Of course, these can be twisted. Sometimes stories are happily ever afters for one character while everyone is suffering a fate worse than death. Sometimes you don't really know if you should be cheering or not.

But still tone and genre are the major deciding factor in whether or not the ending is happy, sad, justified, bittersweet, or a "he had it coming" type of ending.

What also assists is the theme aka the message. If this story is a cautionary tale against greed, then the story could have the greed-filled people suffering while the heroic, not-greed-filled people rise.

The story could also be about how greed is always rewarded to the detriment of actual virtue and good by showing the good protagonist being crushed by people whose desire carries them off into the faux-heaven or by having the evil protagonist crush everyone to rise to the top.

Tales where wicked is punished and good rises can give you heavy insight into who gets the hammer of the bad ending and who scraps by!

[cepheusgalaxy]

Here's how I understand Themes in stories

[Plain text: Here's how I understand Themes in stories /end PT.]

So, yeah, I've heard lots and lots of times that what makes a story great is want X need, the lesson your story teaches; the Theme.

But I really didn't wanna teach a lesson or put a moral in the story because i don't know what it would be and so i refused to understand the theme thing this way.

So, yeah, I think I accidentally discovered what this Theme thing can mean:

Not a lesson. Not a moral. But a concept to play around with.

Doesn't make sense? Let me explain:

I like to treat Themes as questions. "What makes human human?", "What is the worst people can do?" (insert other questions here.) This theme is the concept you'll play with in your story. Using answers. Put a lot of different answers in your story, and have your character, or your reader, or maybe both, question what answer is the right one. I mean, maybe you, the writer, doesn't know. Maybe you do and you'll show them in no time. Let's say, What is Love? One of the characters has an answer: It's devotion. But wait, the other character has another answer: It's soft and tender care. Oh no, wait another sec, this culture here in my worlbuilding believes that love is obsession. What is the right answer? Oh man, your character doesn't know. Your reader doesn't know. What is love supposed to be? Maybe your protagonist is someone who really wants to know what love is. Maybe they need to. Maybe they're looking for love. Maybe that isn't even the main plot, but it connects back to it every now and then somehow. Maybe you find a way to put this concept deep down in other aspects of the story to keep things consistent.

So, yea. Maybe you have a perfect idea in your head of what Love is to you. But maybe you want to explore more ideas and concepts around Love. Not to have a moral in the end, but to mess around and to turn around every rock and have so much fun.

Idk, maybe just a concept.