rainnecassidy
The past is rarely as we imagine it.
As a medieval scholar I can confirm this us 100% accurate and 1000% adorable
why the fuck does english have a word for
but not for “the day after tomorrow”
???
solnishka1927
mrozna
Because you’re not looking hard enough! ;)
Overmorrow = the day after tomorrow
Ereyesterday = the day before yesterday
Example: I defenestrated my brother ereyesterday. I shall defenestrate my sister overmorrow! Because I hate my family and also windows.
english has some of the best examples of stupidly specific words, tbh
Rhotacism (n): excessive use of the letter “R”
Lingible (adj): meant to be licked
Whipjack (n): a beggar, specifically one who is pretending to have been shipwrecked
Yerd (v): to beat with an object with a stick
Roddikin (n): the fourth stomach of a cow or a deer
Balbriggan (n): a type of fine cotton, most often used in underwear
and my personal favorite
Cornobble (v): to slap or beat another person with a fish
This makes the English nerd in me extremely happy.
Who even made these words I’m going to cornobble them
My dick is lingible
thecharactercomma
Revision Method: Rewriting
Everyone has different writing methods, and everyone has different revision methods. That said, you never know what you might be missing out unless you at least try a different way of doing things. You might find you really like it.
That was the case when it comes to revision drafts for me. I used to “save as” my file with a new draft number, then go through and make changes to that document. Typically, this only included line edits and the occasional paragraph rewrite. For me, it worked fine—I thought my first draft of this particular story was pretty great and only needed a few tweaks.
Boy, was I wrong.
I tried my friend’s method. I can’t remember why I decided to try it, but I went for it. Here’s how it goes:
- Wait a month (or longer) after finishing your
first draft. This is a great time to collect feedback, make a list of change
intensions or potential problems, and let your thoughts on the story simmer.
- Open your draft.
- Open a completely blank document.
- Put the two side by side and literally rewrite
it from scratch.
- After one or two rewrites (depending on how much
you need it), THEN you can go into line-editing combs drafts.
It’s daunting, honestly. And it takes a lot of time. Rewriting 50k+ words? Besides, I thought it would end up mostly a word-for-word retyping. Wrong again. Even though I was pretty happy with my original draft (which had gone through 5 combing “drafts” of line-edits already), as I got further into the draft, I started changing more and more. And honestly, I’m so much happier with this new rewritten draft.
Reasons I think rewriting from scratch is effective:
- If it’s not worth writing a second time, then
how much is it actually worth?
- You’ll find a lot to cut for a leaner, tighter
story.
- It’ll free your mind to experiment with new
scenes/methods/timelines.
- You’ll find plot holes and have an easier time
finding spots to fix them.
- If you get stuck rewriting a scene, you’ll know
it’s a problem scene and it probably needed rewriting anyway.
This is going to be my method from now on! Even though it’s exhausting and not as quick and easy as the smaller edits I was doing. But the result is definitely worth it.
–E
writingwithcolor
Racism and Fantasy Novels
heputhisthingieintomyyouknowwhat said:
I’m a white fantasy writer and have been planning out (very vaguely) my series. I plan for my next main character to be a either bisexual or homosexual black girl with a prominent black cast (in the beginning for sure—she adventures away from this part of the world later on and, of course, meets other people, some of which wouldn’t be black).
I recognize stereotypes and how characters can fall victim to them, so that’s not really the thing worrying me. I plan on writing them…just like my white main characters…only they’d be black. Of course, I’m going to create some kind of culture (+issues non-white people in this world would face) once I get into the culture building side of my world as well as hair-related issues since that’s something I’ve seen mentioned on a number of writing blogs on posts pertaining to portraying black characters.
MY DILEMMA THOUGH…is also that I’ve seen a few people be criticized/posts made (on tumblr, not anything professional) about characters being “written white.” By this I mean they’re described as being black, but that’s really it? Some of the advice I read was talking about avoiding stereotypes, of course, but then things like writing issues POC would face. Which I agree, I mean, but I have a fantasy world where no one race is really the majority and I don’t plan on making racism a huuuuge part of my world or its history (call this an issue of escapism which I hope isn’t a bad thing u_u I’m doing it also with sexism and LGBT-phobia).
So really, I guess my question is…I don’t know really. I can’t sum it up into one thing. I guess just general advice on writing POC in a fantasy world that /wouldn’t/ face racism issues like we do in our world? I don’t plan on describing the characters as black and leaving it at that (culture & history-building is on the way!), but that’s left me wondering /is/ it a bad thing if that were to happen in one’s writing?
So the main question is whether it’s okay to have Black characters in a fantasy world not experience racism in the same way as Black people in the real world? The answer to this would depend on your culture and history building, which in this case, you should do before or while creating your characters. Building your culture and determining whether racism towards Black people exists in your would as it does in ours will guide your character creation and the types of freedoms and privileges (or perhaps the lack thereof) you want your Black characters to experience.
What is the system of oppression in your world? Is this oppression tied to race, class, status, etc…? What is the culture of the Black characters in your story? Is it based on an existing culture? If it is, what is the system of oppression within that culture? If oppression is not tied to race in your world, then it wouldn’t make sense for Black characters to experience racism in that world. In fact, it would be an oddity within the context of your narrative.
It’s not a bad thing if it makes sense in the context of your world. It’s not bad if they are “written white” because this term makes absolutely no sense. This term assumes that all Black people can only act one way when there is a wide range of diversity of cultures and individual personalities. Sometimes the characters can be described as Black and really that’s all there is to it. They are Black, it’s obvious that they are Black, and in the context of the story there is no racism. This is not a bad thing. Personally, it would be refreshing to see a story about Black people that isn’t just about race.
~Mod Najela
nimblesnotebook-blog
writingwithcolor
Anonymous asked:
Hello! I've been planning a science fiction novel for quite some time. Recently I decided that the main romance of the novel will be between a black man and a white woman. So my question is this: what tropes/stereotypes/anything else should I avoid with a black man/white woman pairing? I googled and read a bunch of articles written by people who have been in these relationships, and that helped a lot, but I was wondering if you could give me any tips? Thanks!
writingwithcolor answered:
Here are posts all found of the interracial tag.
- Interracial Relationships (Black man, White woman)
- White + African Interracial Relationships (Black man, White woman)
- Interracial Relationships (Black, White, & Asian)
- Interracial Relationships & Avoiding Fetishizing
~Mod Colette
writingwithcolor
Characters of Color and Horror
Anonymous ask: Most of my characters, if not all of them, are of colour because of representation. I’m worried, thought, that my genre of choice is horror videogames, and to be wrong when I kill a character for good in the true ending, because I don’t want it to be about race (I rarely kill someone for good, but this is still a concern of mine). I do my best on having everyone be a fully fledged person, but is there anything I should do or avoid?
Hello anon. Allow me to assist. For your benefit, I’m using the Scream series, for my analysis of tropes and do’s and don'ts. You can find all the movies (1,2,3,4) on TVTropes. If you’ve ever watched any modern horror movie, whether satire or not, you’ll recognize that there’s a lot of “tropes” you should definitely avoid, or at least subvert:
- Don’t kill the Black person first. This is overused, and quite frankly, becomes offensive. You can subvert this by having any character die initially, or by having a shock death.
- Additionally, if any of your characters are Queer/LGBTQAIP*/MOGII, it’s alright to give them a happy end. Try not to kill them for the sake of the story simply because of their sexuality.
- You can subvert the entire genre by having realistic characters. Do they run if a loud noise happens, or do they seek it out? No, they run. Things like that can, and will, make for more shocking deaths or surprises.
- If you do include sex at any point, not all characters have to die from it. Scream 4 subverts it by making it so the typical “Virgin Survives” trope doesn’t count anymore. Additionally, don’t make a situation where the characters have “We might die so let’s have sex so we’re not virgins anymore” because, realistically, they’re in a horror situation.
There’s lots of fluidity and tons of options when it comes to horror. Don’t be afraid to use tropes, but don’t also be afraid to subvert them. Kill characters off, but make them meaningful. Have them engage in relationships that come from a bond, or are meaningless and a poor choice. Most of all, have fun!
I suggest playing a few games to help: try Ai Oni, Mad Father, The Witch’s House, and Yume Nikki. Also, heck out the ABCs of Horror Tropes along with TVTrope’s page on Horror for more tropes you can use or subvert.
Best of luck, and good writing!
-Mod Nagone
If most of your characters are PoC, readers are gonna have to accept that most of said PoC will die, and that’s understandable. I’d suggest you don’t kill off all the Characters of Color (lest everyone is supposed to die) though. You mention your characters are fully fledged so that’s hopeful in regards to their deaths not being baseless or as Nagone mentioned, just for shock value.
~Mod Colette
lmtyl
An interesting article about race and writing, and the difficulties of writing characters of different races.without playing into stereotypes.
yaliteraturebookshelf
Characterisation: 16 Personalities
Just like star signs, the 16 personalities are a great way to create 3D characters or flesh out existing ones. Each personality is made up of four letters that stand for a different personality type. This makes it easy to build fully-rounded, realistic characters your readers can relate too. Everyone fits into the 16 personalities, so why shouldn’t your characters?
The 16 personality website details each personality trait and explains their strengths and weaknesses, along with what a person with that personality is like in different areas of their life, such as the workplace, in friendships and as parents.
Building characters is about using your imagination, so you don’t have to stick to each personality rigidly, but use them as a building block to add your own character’s traits, quirks and backstory into. Everyone may fit into 16 personalities, but everyone is also unique, so your characters should be too.
Check out the personality traits here: 16personalities.com/personality-types.
I hope this helps you build more realistic characters!
Happy writing!
*Check out more of my writing tips here.*
bayaruska
yourfavouritedoll