Writing Tip #3781:

Alia vallence - a mood board

– More than royalty

"Please, can we try again? Let me love you one more time, thats all I need. I'll do better."

WHOS HYPED FOR FAGGOT FALL

My favourite pieces of dialogue from Sols so far,

except I don't tell you who said it.

"Then look at me like you used to! If you love me so much you'd look at me like you did when Mom was around!" "Oh my god. It's a boy?! I knew you were weird for [redacted] but you never said it was a fucking boy."

"He's dead obviously, but i see 'em. I see bits and pieces of his soul scattered about." "He didn't come back 'ere?" "No... no I haven't seen him since [redacted]." "No, no no. It's not right. We must keep tradition! We have to. I have to make sure of it." "I know what your people think of me, but I wont sit here and play pretend.”

agreeing with this entire list, specifically number 2 and 8.

What I Love In Writing

Lately, I've seen so many negative posts (including my own) circulating about things not to do in writing, "advice" about which words to avoid, which tropes are most annoying, etc., etc. No wonder writing is often seen as a discouraging avenue to explore. In response, I've decided to make a post about things I personally LOVE to see in other people's writing, things that make me want to read more and more.

Attention to physical details that are less commonly described in stories. Three of my personal favourites are descriptions of hands, necks, and shoulders, which are just as expressive as eyes and other facial features.

When writers stretch a word's known meaning in a way that feels new and off-kilter. It always surprises me and draws me in. I particularly like when a noun is made into an interesting new verb. For example, "His eyes lanterned the dim room." Even though it might not make immediate sense, it can evoke a variety of new readings and emotions based on the context. If the scene calls for it, invent your own vocabulary. Language is yours.

I personally love contrasts between emotional states and settings, like when a character is facing turmoil on a beautifully sunny day, or, alternatively, two characters expressing their love for each other in a place that's falling apart.

How wonderful is it when someone can pull off the present tense elegantly? That sense of immediacy is refreshing.

Lengthy sentences that cascade rhythmically and emotionally to the point that you reach the end of the sentence and think, "Oh my gosh, that was only one amazing sentence!"

I love when characters are raw and real and messy and complicated, when they feel like people I could meet in my everyday life. I love when good characters do bad things and bad characters do good things.

Metaphors and similes, especially ones I've never read before.

I like when ugly or unexpected things are described beautifully. There is a difference between romanticizing something ugly and acknowledging an ugly thing's attributes thoughtfully enough to illustrate it with the same care and passion as a universally accepted lovely thing.

Personally, and I've changed my mind on this one recently, but I think it's sweet when I can pick up on favourite words or phrases the author likes to return to now and again. I understand it can be repetitive at points, but it's also like discovering a secret, cherished thing I can share with the writer. It adds to the voice. (Side advice: give yourself the liberty to change your opinions and try again with writing techniques you previously disliked).

Emotion, emotion, emotion. I'm an emotional person, and I like emotional writing that always walks that line between "balanced" and "too much." Not necessarily in that everything feels exaggerated or out of proportion with the plot, but that I can sense the characters' emotional states at all times, and sometimes even the grammar or language can reflect that - shorter phrases for an abrupt feeling, elongated ones for drawn-out, languid moments. The world is gorgeous, and our feelings are gorgeous. Writing that can capture that sensitivity has an everlasting effect on me. Like I'm at a party and the lights are too bright, the music is too loud, there are too many people, but it's all a reminder that I'm a human being. We're alive.

There are many, many more aspects of writing I love, too many for me to name but these are just some of the first that came to my mind. Amid all the cautionary writing tips you read out there, I encourage you also to establish for yourself the good things you should do. The risk of perpetual don'ts is a perpetual blank page.

Do what you love, and love what you do, but above all else, do.

My fave & least favorite things about being a writer

Yay I'm a writer:

perceiving books differently than non writers

finishing a piece

designing characters

choosing chapter titles

finally figuring out how to fix a plot hole

when writing just becomes so smooth and rolls from your brain like an old film strip

writing romantic scenes of my fave ship

sharing my writing with people

those random top tier ideas you have to jot down before they go away in 10 seconds

thinking about people loving your story in the future

developing villains

making playlists & moodboards for my wips

writing desperation (for some reason ??)

Please never again:

describe the setting correctly

coming up with a cover

the first draft.

"so which ending would make the most sense'

share my writing with people

killing my fave character (i do it anyways)

trying to remember a word i cant even describe

make the side character parents well rounded

that one super cool idea you get 3/4 way through the story that doesn't actually fit anywhere

actually having to fix plot holes

writing.

Just realized I have more dialogue written for a 'wip' that I'm not even focusing on right now. I need to get my groove on and write more for my main

Book tropes & dynamics i love (in no order)

---------------------------------------------

author who writes for fun x reader who's dying for something new

enemies, but lovers

*explains everything simply but in detail* x "..huh ?"

mute/rarely talks x never shuts up

takes care if siblings a lot x doesnt know how to handle kids

enemy goes to mc for help bc they didnt know what else to do

insanely fucked up woman that no one actually suspects x "what the fuck did you do to him ?!" only one who knows about it guy

academic rivals

found family ofc

*literally has a knife to their throat* "wait, youre kinda cute"

is whump the new term for angst or what ?? im starting to see writers use whump a lot nowadays, are they the same thing ?

hey when you make posts, i just want you to know, thou/thee/thy/thine/ye are like he/you(object)/your/yours/you(subject) okay? "thou art wearing shoes," "i will wear shoes for thee," okay?

you say thine if the next word starts with a vowel and thy if the next word starts with a consonant and they both mean "your" so "thine own shoes," "thy shoes," okay?

and ye means you and refers to the subject of a sentence, "ye members of the brotherhood of shoes," okay? you need this information to create better knight yaoi. i'm personally more interested in nun yuri but we are a community

If you read the fic, leave the kudos. Leave a comment too, if possible. Just do it. It takes a few seconds of your time and it means the world to the writer.

Sincerely, me who just got told that my writing feels like watching a blockbuster movie. I don't care if they were sincere or not, I'll be thinking about that comment for the rest of my life and every time I feel bad about my art, I'll remember that someone once liked it.