theglareyousee

[theglareyousee]

How to write hospital scenes 

From someone who’s definitely been in too many and would very much like a refund...ツ

⊹ Waiting rooms are emotional purgatory. They’re too bright, too quiet, and weirdly timeless. Fluorescent lights buzzing, TVs playing muted news no one watches, coffee that tastes like burnt stress. People aren’t relaxing in there, they’re just existing, awkwardly pretending their phones are interesting while dissociating at 40% battery.

⊹ Everyone talks in a whisper, but not because it’s respectful, no, it just feels wrong to speak normally. Like the walls might be listening, like if you talk too loud, something worse might happen, even the loud people get quiet in hospitals.

⊹ Overnight stays are hell. hospital chairs? medieval torture devices with upholstery. even if someone’s trying to nap next to a patient, they’re not sleeping. They’re half-listening to the symphony of beeping machines, nurse shoes squeaking, the occasional cough, and distant Code Something crackling over the intercom. it’s anxiety with a blanket.

⊹ The smell is unforgettable, like it’s not just antiseptic. it’s plastic and cafeteria meatloaf and sweat and fear and the smell of a place where people are very much not okay. the first time your character walks in, it’ll hit them like a wall. later, they might not even notice, or maybe it’s the only thing they can smell for days after.

⊹ Talking to doctors is a weird performance. You're trying to be calm, they’re trying to be calm. But no one is calm, your character wants to ask 47 questions and not sound desperate. The doctor explains things like they’re narrating a science video, and when they leave, someone will immediately go “wait... we forgot to ask” every. single. time.

⊹ Monitors beep constantly. half the time, it’s nothing. A wire got loose, someone rolled over. But the second it is something, the vibe shifts fast. Nurses appear like ghosts, machines start going off, and everyone starts moving. And your character? they might freeze, or panic, or forget they have lungs. Go with whatever makes sense for them, but make it visceral.

⊹ Time goes full funhouse mirror. Ten minutes waiting for test results feels like a year. A full hour stretches into eternity, meanwhile, three hours can pass without anyone realizing it. You can use this in your pacing, make it drag when the waiting is unbearable.

⊹ Hospital cafeteria food: Garbage. It’s either offensively bland or stupidly overpriced. The grilled cheese is six dollars and tastes like regret, and someone will 100% cry into a cold sandwich at 3am, because grief doesn’t care where you are.

⊹ People start fixating on tiny, random things. They can’t control the big stuff, so their brain zeroes in on a sock slipping off, a crooked IV pole, the repetitive drip-drip-drip of medication. Let them obsess over something small, it’s how the brain copes with being completely powerless...

[theglareyousee]

I open my WIP document.

I read over what I've got so far. I reach the end. I carefully consider how the plot is going to progress from here, and what direction the narrative will steer things in order to move forwards.

I add a single punctuation mark to the end of the last sentence, then hit save.

I immediately close my WIP document.

[theglareyousee]

the whump fan’s dilemma

[theglareyousee]

The thing about poetry is that 99.9% of it sucks by volume & that's okay. And when you realize this you can just do whatever you want. Playing with my touys (words). Maybe it'll do something for you. Maybe it won't. Fuck it we ball

[theglareyousee]

writing is so funny because i could write nonstop for 9hrs and then hit a block where im like "how do i transition between this moment and the next?" and then i just dont touch it for 6 months

[theglareyousee]

fanfic writers what font do you write in

i know on ao3 it's all in verdana but when you're drafting the fic in word or docs or whatever

[theglareyousee]

hey uh new type of ao3 spam comment just dropped. (I know it's spam because the fic they left this comment on . doesn't have chapters. lmfao). Report this kinda comment as spam and don't take it personally it is literally recycled bullshit

[theglareyousee]

to put it simply: there are millions of stories where the world is about to end and our protagonists need to save it. your job, as the author, is to show me what about the world makes it worth saving to these particular characters. THAT is where the story is.

[theglareyousee]

brick by yellow brick (i’ll walk this path with you)

Chapters: 3/? Fandom: Wicked - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Elphaba Thropp/Galinda Upland Characters: Elphaba Thropp, Galinda Upland, Lurline (Oz) Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Canon Divergence, I just want angsty healing sessions yall, Magic, Violence, the broom is a shield yall and i think that's brilliant if I do say so myself, Guilt, be gay do crime, no beta we die like Nessa, Ozian Politics, Prayer, dnd mechanics (kinda...), the grimmerie is a cat in book form Summary:

“Oh, Elphie,” Glinda murmurs, taking her cloak and ripping a strip off of it. She ties it around the bleeding wound just below Elphaba's sternum. Her hands are shaking too much to tie it properly and Glinda is thrust headlong into the realization that Elphaba will die. Here, on the cracked yellow brick road because Glinda had been stupid, had let her focus drift from the goal at hand, and now someone else was paying the cost of her mistakes. “Elphie, I'm so sorry.”

Glinda bows her head, feeling the barely there rise and fall of Elphaba’s chest and a clawing sort of desperation rises in her throat. For the first time in a long time, Glinda prays.

or

When faced with an impossible scenario, a desperate plea to a long-absent goddess gets Glinda more than she would have ever expected.

**Was formerly "Wishes and Worship"**

Resharing the whole work bc i changed the title. but i did add a new chapter as well!!

[theglareyousee]

writing tip #3834:

it doesn't matter if readers have no idea what's going on, as long as you, the author, have no idea what's going on either

[theglareyousee]

Most infuriating part of writing is having an idea and thinking oh, this is gonna be so good and wanting to IMMEDIATELY share the vision with other people because it's gonna be good but then you start writing it down and - it is gonna be good. Except. It is also gonna take so, so, so long to finish. And in the meantime. You are the only one with The Vision. Alone. Losing your mind. 😭

[theglareyousee]

Reblog to give prev the power to write their fanfiction

[theglareyousee]

[theglareyousee]

writers who make playlists before writing anything scare me. how are you setting a mood for something that doesn’t exist yet. are you conjuring it. are you a witch.

[theglareyousee]

Can I just say something honestly and very seriously to all you writers?

With the Internet going down the "nothing adult, no death, no nothing. Make it kid friendly" route,

Please don't ever stop making art or writing wips that are gruesome, horror, other things like that. Don't let the Internet sanitize how you wanna tell a story. Channel your rage into your art and keep going and don't give up

[theglareyousee]

the horrors persist but my friends write beautiful fanfic

[theglareyousee]

why would you ever outsource fun to chatgpt? are you stupid? you can make mediocre shit by yourself too.