Latest Posts by feed-the-trash - Page 2
stop writing fanfiction we need political assassins now more than ever
Good news for American minorities: shooter was white
No cool ideas today so take some sub-par art of my favorite through the years ig-
Ignore my friend, Lily. She wanted to be included in the art so I sketched her on @lilymireles7
Ghost city
Me: You know how when you were a kid and you’d wish that you’d get sick or injured in a way that would justify why you didn’t live up to your potential?
Everybody, apparently: No?
Jason Todd I fear
They just don’t assassinate politicians like they used to anymore
5 Things Literary Magazines Look for in Short Stories
Submitting your work for publication in a literary magazine can be nerve-wracking. They outline what they’re looking for when they open for submissions, but it can seem pretty vague.
Here are a few things they generally look for when searching for the next stories they’ll publish.
1. A Story That Sticks With Their Submission Requirements
Literary magazines plan their editions at least a month in advance, if not more. They may create new editions based on a theme, a seasonal motif, or another connecting idea that pulls every story and visual design together.
Always check the submissions page for their requirements. If a magazine wants to create a spooky edition for October but you submit a heartwarming historical fantasy story that has no spooky elements, you won’t get selected.
Requirements also include essential details like page length, word count, and formatting instructions. The editorial teams know how much time they have to read submissions and how much space they have for selected stories in their upcoming edition. Following these requirements makes you much more likely to get selected.
2. A New Perspective
People don’t buy literary magazines to read the same stories over and over again. They’re looking for new perspectives and points of views in stories that have fresh ideas. The editorial team also doesn’t want to read the same types of stories every time they open for submissions.
You can bring a new perspective or twist on their required themes or story details by thinking outside the box to connect with your readers while bringing something fresh to the table.
3. Vivid Characters
It’s almost impossible to enjoy a story when the characters don’t feel real. You can avoid that by creating character profiles or outlines for your cast. Imagine their backstories or write scenes from the most important moments of their life.
Also, consider what they want from your story’s plot. What’s their goal? What will they learn? Vivid characters are dynamic, so they should grow into a different (possibly better, but not always) version of themselves by your story’s resolution.
It’s also helpful to use free online tools to create characters. I have a huge list on this blog post for generating their faces, mapping their world, and inventing other details so they feel like real people to you and your readers.
4. A Meaningful Purpose
You might write a story just to get published, but that might lead to a story that lacks meaning. Published short stories have some kind of meaningful purpose to make them matter to the editorial team and readers.
Your readers might learn a life lesson from your work or process some shared human emotion or experience through your characters. It’s helpful to consider a theme for your story before writing it so it always has a clear purpose.
5. Unexpected Plot Elements
Readers want to be entertained. Entertaining stories sell magazines. Remember to add a few unexpected plot elements or twists as you’re writing a story with the intent to publish it.
I have a few ideas in this blog post that might inspire you, but you can also create plot twists by shifting your perspective.
If a story has a character who stops to talk to someone in a crosswalk, your readers will likely assume they’re about to get hit by a car or pushed into traffic if the scene has rising tension. Counter their expectations by asking yourself, what’s the opposite of what they’re expecting? Your character might face an oncoming car with a distracted driver by lifting it over everyone as it’s about to crash into pedestrians. Maybe they learn how to fly or lie flat on the road as the car passes over them.
Purposefully thinking about what your readers will expect and choosing to do the opposite is a great way to add unexpected plot elements that also pique the interest of editorial teams.
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It’s also important to remember that you’re likely submitting a story alongside hundreds if not a thousand other writers. It depends on how popular or well-known the literary magazine is.
You can write a great story and still not get published because a big part of that experience is getting lucky. You have to hope the right editor who will appreciate your narrative style and story choices will be the one to open your submission.
Sometimes writers take years to get published. Give yourself some grace as you send your work off. Whether or not your stories get accepted, you’re still learning from the process and developing your writing skills. Eventually, your work will shine in the place it’s meant to be.
Preacher trying to discourage students from having premarital sex
*helps a bug outside so people don't kill it*
*flash forward and I'm convicted of a crime I didn't commit*
*no lawyer touches the case for me*
*everyone hears a buzz and turns around*
*the bug is wearing a tiny suit with a tiny suitcase and becomes my defense attorney*
i think good conversationalists are genuinely impressive and a fulfill a vital role in party compositions. i tend to use a more defense oriented listener build myself in less familiar situations though it is not as helpful to the group in scenarios where high dps is needed
Its the same ppl from 2017 just 7 yrs older
Bruce Wayne wakes up in the past, five months after Jason Todd died, and spends most days sat beside the grave because he never found out exactly when Jason had come back and he wanted to be there to save him when he did.
From an outside perspective, everyone is extremely concerned.
RYAN GOSLING "I'm Just Ken" wins Best Original Song at the 29th Annual Critics' Choice Awards (January 14, 2024)
good ol sonic prime <3
The Five Types of Readers That Read Your Fantasy Book (For Writers)
As a fantasy writer, understanding your target audience is crucial for the success of your book. Knowing the different types of readers who are drawn to the genre can help you tailor your writing to their preferences and create a more engaging experience. In this blog post, I'll help you explore the five types of readers that are likely to read your fantasy book and provide insights into their characteristics and expectations.
The Escapist Reader
The first type of reader is the Escapist. These readers are looking for a break from reality and crave immersion in a rich and imaginative world. They are drawn to epic quests, magical creatures, and fantastical settings. As a writer, you can capture their attention by crafting a vivid and detailed world, filled with intricate plotlines and larger-than-life characters. Engaging their sense of wonder and providing an escape from their everyday lives will keep them hooked from the first page to the last.
The World-Builder
The next type of reader is the World-Builder. These readers are fascinated by the intricacies of world-building and the lore that shapes the fantasy realm. They enjoy exploring the history, mythology, and geography of the fictional world you create. To captivate these readers, focus on developing a well-constructed and cohesive world that feels authentic and believable. Pay attention to the small details, establish consistent rules of magic, and provide glimpses into the rich tapestry of your universe.
The Character-Driven Reader
Another important type of reader is the Character-Driven reader. These readers are emotionally invested in the journeys and growth of the characters they encounter. They want to experience the highs and lows alongside the protagonists, forming deep connections with them. To engage these readers, focus on creating well-rounded and relatable characters with compelling arcs. Develop their motivations, flaws, and relationships to evoke empathy and resonate with your audience on a personal level.
The Plot-Oriented Reader
The fourth type of reader is the Plot-Oriented reader. These readers are primarily interested in the twists, turns, and surprises that unfold throughout the story. They enjoy intricate and well-paced plots that keep them guessing. As a writer, you can capture their attention by crafting a narrative with unexpected twists, clever foreshadowing, and satisfying resolutions. Keep the suspense high and deliver a satisfying payoff to keep these readers engaged and coming back for more.
The Theme-Seeker
The final type of reader is the Theme-Seeker. These readers are drawn to the deeper meanings and messages embedded within a story. They enjoy exploring philosophical, moral, or social themes that resonate with them on a personal level. As a writer, you can captivate these readers by weaving thought-provoking themes into your narrative. Explore complex issues, challenge societal norms, and offer unique perspectives to stimulate their intellect and leave a lasting impact.
Conclusion
Understanding the different types of readers that are drawn to your fantasy book can help you tailor your writing to their preferences and create a more immersive experience. Whether you are capturing the attention of Escapist readers, captivating the World-Builders with your intricate lore, evoking emotions in Character-Driven readers, surprising Plot-Oriented readers, or stimulating the intellect of Theme-Seekers, knowing your audience is key. By crafting a story that resonates with these reader types, you increase your chances of creating a loyal fan base and achieving success as a fantasy writer.
Blow your readers mind. Happy writing!
World Building
Creating Land
❂
⥇ agriculture
⟿ what is grown in abundance? how common is farmland? where is the farmland?
⥇ architecture
⟿ what kind of buildings? how tall/spacious? what are they made of? how well made? how well planned?
⥇ animals
⟿ what wild animals are lurking in the area? hunting? any animals affecting the livestock or agriculture?
⥇ biomes
⟿ desert? tundra? grassland? forest? savanna?
⥇ bodies of water
⟿ seas? lake? ponds? rivers? fresh water/salt water? fishing? keep in mind, settlements are often built near bodies of water
⥇ climate
⟿ dry? rainy? temperate? tropical? polar? how have people adjusted to this climate?
⥇ elevation
⟿ altitude? how does the altitude affect lifestyle?
⥇ geology
⟿ rocky? types of rocks?
⥇ landforms
⟿ mountains? valleys? plateaus? plains? hills? glaciers? peninsulas? volcanos? canyons?
⥇ latitude / longitude
⟿ location on planet? how does it affect other elements of land?
⥇ livestock
⟿ common domesticated animals? common animal usages?
⥇ minerals
⟿ any valuable minerals / metals? are they mined regularly? how are they used?
⥇ natural disasters
⟿ earthquake? tornado? volcano? duststorm? flood? hurricane? tsunami? how often do these occur? protocols?
⥇ population
⟿ how many people? how dense is the population? how does the population affect surrounding nature?
⥇ resources
⟿ what is abundant? scarce? how are they used? how available are they?
⥇ sacred land
⟿ religiously important land? historical importance? widely accepted as sacred? how is it honored?
⥇ soil
⟿ good or bad for vegetation? rocky?
⥇ tectonic activity
⟿ earthquake frequency? volcano frequency? trenches?
⥇ topography
⟿ how common are maps? how accurate? how long have they been around? who makes them?
⥇ vegetation
⟿ what is abundant? scarce? what grows easily? with difficulty? what is commonly foraged? who forages? plant types? tree types?
10 Ways to Develop your Writing Skill
Read with intention, especially stories you normally wouldn’t
Take yourself out of your comfort zone—mimic a writer with a totally different style/tone/POV than you.
Go out and experience more of the world
Try out some writing prompts
Share your work with another writer
Rewrite your project (or a chapter) in a new light—write the ending at the start, switch the main characters, change the setting
Gather sources and inspiration
Experiment using new concepts/words/characters you never would have otherwise
Take time away from writing and come back to it with fresh eyes.
Try taking your idea to other artforms—drawing, animation, music, knitting, singing, anything!
What are some other ways you believe help develop writing skill?
REBLOG IF YOU ARE HELLA BORED AND WOULDN’T MIND SOME CURIOUS ANONS.
Character is Plot
Character is plot. I mean that as, your main character’s arc is (literally) the main plot. If you think about arcs as something to put over or alongside an existing plot, they probably aren’t working very well. Or at least, you don’t have as much time or space as you need to fully explore both a good plot and a good arc. They are one of the same, so I’d even say throw whatever idea you have about plot out the window. They’re called arcs now. Congrats.
This also means if your characters aren’t working, the whole thing is going to fall apart. So I’m going to relay what was taught to me about solid character creation, and finding your arc!
There’s five critical things that go into character building: Goal, Objective, Unconscious Need, Disrupting Characteristic, and a Formative Event. They all work very closely together, so once you get one going, the others typically fall into place. (oh, and they sound complicated, but I promise they’re not.)
Goal and Objective go hand in hand, I’m sure you’re telling me right now that actually they’re the same thing. You’re right, they kind of are. The reason I split them up is so I make sure I always get not only a journey for my character to go on, but a meaning behind it. Action and intention. So:
Objective: the actionable (your character can work at it) objective of the story. What your character is physically doing throughout the story. Frodo taking the ring to Mordor is his Objective, Rapunzel going to see the lanterns in Tangled. Mulan protecting her dad by taking his place. Essentially, objective is what we’ve thought of as plot.
Goal: the intention behind the objective. Why is your character doing this? This is usually the emotional core of the story, where we tuck away arc and characterization. Rapunzel wants to see the lanterns to finally get out and start her life. Mulan wants to prove she’s worthy. Your character wants to make someone proud, or hurt someone who’s hurt them, or feel loved. This is the emotion behind their objective and cannot on its own be turned into an arc. One cannot ‘prove themselves worthy’ out of a void, that’s the goal, you also need an objective, ‘prove themselves worthy through taking their father’s place in the war’.
If you have these, great job! You’ve got a really solid foundation for your arc. What your character wants, and why they want it. However, if we just follow an objective and goal, your characters are going to feel very lifeless—so we need some additional depth:
Unconscious need: This will probably be the one you get stuck on the most. Good thing is, both of these words are hints on what to do here, Unconscious meaning your character doesn’t realize it, couldn’t put it into words, and Definitely doesn’t say it out loud. Need, is the start of how to answer this blank space. Your character needs to realize something they haven’t been aware of to achieve their goal. Or they need to realize a flaw in their goal. For example, a woman wants to run for president (objective) to make her mother proud (goal), but she needs to realize all her mother wants is to spend more time with her, and by using all her time to campaign for president, she’s actually splitting them further apart. Mulan needs to internalize that she doesn't have to be bigger than life to make her parents proud of her and bring them honor.
Your need is character specific, which means no one else should need the same thing. If your need can apply to multiple people, you probably didn’t get specific enough. Everyone needs to be loved, everyone needs to feel cared for. However, not everyone closed themselves off from relationships and needs to open up to people if they want to foster a connection. See the difference?
This step will directly influence how you write your climax, because it leads to a choice your character makes. They can either realize their need and adhere to it (Fine, I’ll take my name out of the campaign for president/call my parents/apologize to the people I’ve hurt) or continue with their objective despite it. Typically, characters that ignore their need after they realize it are considered to have tragic arcs. Getting your character to realize their need is the end of their positive arc, it’s what we’ve been working towards all along.
So it’s important. Don’t skip, yes?
Disrupting Characteristic: this one is fun. This step is adding a flaw to your character, specifically, it’s the flaw that’s holding them back from meeting their need. If there was nothing holding them back, wouldn’t they be satisfied already? So that’s the easiest place to start with this one, what they need, and what could possibly be holding them back from it. If they need to see their father as he truly is, maybe their disrupting characteristic is that they’re optimistic to a fault. This characteristic could be a thing the character does (idolizes their father, acts fiercely independent, etc.) or a belief they have about themselves or the world (self conscious, believes humans are inherently cruel, etc.) It’s the epitome of their internal conflict, they need something, but some ingrained part of them is keeping them from it. Evil? Absolutely. But us writers tend to be.
The disrupting characteristic is the internal arc your character goes through, they are working and being challenged throughout the story to overcome this characteristic. So in another example, a romantic character may realize their parents led them to believe they were undesirable (unconscious need), and that it has no merit, so they gain a new confidence and overcome their self consciousness (disrupting characteristic) to ask their ideal partner out.
You see what I mean why I say all these steps work together. Need and disrupting characteristic and goal are so intertwined that it can be difficult sometimes to voice them apart from each other, but they also can’t carry each other. A solid need and disrupting characteristic isn’t going to do much if you don’t have a very convincing goal. Make sure you can put them into words (preferably write them down) and voice them all as separate things from each other, and how they work together. If you can do that, you’re set.
Last but not least is Formative Event: this is essentially your beginnings of backstory. The formative event Is the (usually) singular event in a character’s past that made them to be who they are today—importantly, that developed their need and disrupting characteristic. Your character showed up to school in their new dress and was bullied, a mom left, or a dog died. The reason they are the way that they are. From this, you can build up the rest of their backstory. Moana is chosen by the ocean, her parents try to keep her away from the ocean, she grows up unsure about the idea of being the next chief. If you’re struggling with backstory, start here, build around it.
(Oh, and you don’t necessarily have to mention the formative event in your story, in fact most screenplays don’t. As long as you know it, you’re set.)
Speaking of backstory, it’s our invisible sixth step (or… first, really) because all of these things you come to know about your character is developed out of backstory (which makes it a pretty good place to start). It makes sense, really, if these steps are who they are, they’ve become that way because of where they’ve come from. I tend to start with family when I’m trying to discover backstory, given family is a large part of who we are—then education, then home/community, friends, interests, etc. But there’s no real ‘perfect’ way to do it. Just write, let your mind wander, add and take away whatever you want, and meet your new character for the first time.
So how did all of that give you your plot? It’s through how they change! We’ve created someone who wants something, and needs something else, and unless we take them on a journey so they can figure it out, we’ll never have a story. So that journey to help them realize their need? That’s your plot.
If you’re struggling with how to help them change, consider putting your arc into a logline (something screenwriters do, but I find it really helpful even in novel writing). A logline is essentially your plot (character arc) summed up in a sentence or two. It goes like this: A but B so C
A: Disrupting characteristic
but
B: Conflict (goal/objective meets antagonist)
so
C: Changed character
Loglines are a tool for writing (at least in the way we’re using them), so make sure you have your full story—ending, character change, conflict, anything you’d find helpful to keep you on track.
I’ll often write a logline for each major character I have. Here’s an older one about a character I’ll call “Mark”:
A: Obsessive
B: His death has been predicted
C: Opens up to the others, recognizes he only has a little bit of time left, and should spend it with the people he loves (that’s also his need!)
Logline: Private Mark Jackson obsesses over an unproven myth that promises the escape of his small life, but when his untimely death is foretold and every day drives him closer to his fate, he opens up to his friends to be content in a slightly different life than he had imagined for himself.
Loglines are great because they have it all!
Private (additional characteristic) Mark Jackson obsesses (disrupting characteristic) over an unproven myth (objective) that promises the escape of his small life (goal), but when his untimely death is foretold and every day drives him closer to his fate (conflict), he opens up to his friends (need) to be content in a slightly different life than he had imagined for himself (change).
You see how the entire story is right there in that sentence? This is a great place to start before we move onto officially outlining next week, so save your work, we’ll come back to it!
To get a good handle on all this, I’d recommend watching your favourite movies or reading your favourite book and filling out as many steps as you can, then creating loglines for each major character. Disney movies especially stick to this structure (thus all the examples) and typically have very clear arcs, but anything works.
Good luck!
Character is Plot
Character is plot. I mean that as, your main character’s arc is (literally) the main plot. If you think about arcs as something to put over or alongside an existing plot, they probably aren’t working very well. Or at least, you don’t have as much time or space as you need to fully explore both a good plot and a good arc. They are one of the same, so I’d even say throw whatever idea you have about plot out the window. They’re called arcs now. Congrats.
This also means if your characters aren’t working, the whole thing is going to fall apart. So I’m going to relay what was taught to me about solid character creation, and finding your arc!
There’s five critical things that go into character building: Goal, Objective, Unconscious Need, Disrupting Characteristic, and a Formative Event. They all work very closely together, so once you get one going, the others typically fall into place. (oh, and they sound complicated, but I promise they’re not.)
Goal and Objective go hand in hand, I’m sure you’re telling me right now that actually they’re the same thing. You’re right, they kind of are. The reason I split them up is so I make sure I always get not only a journey for my character to go on, but a meaning behind it. Action and intention. So:
Objective: the actionable (your character can work at it) objective of the story. What your character is physically doing throughout the story. Frodo taking the ring to Mordor is his Objective, Rapunzel going to see the lanterns in Tangled. Mulan protecting her dad by taking his place. Essentially, objective is what we’ve thought of as plot.
Goal: the intention behind the objective. Why is your character doing this? This is usually the emotional core of the story, where we tuck away arc and characterization. Rapunzel wants to see the lanterns to finally get out and start her life. Mulan wants to prove she’s worthy. Your character wants to make someone proud, or hurt someone who’s hurt them, or feel loved. This is the emotion behind their objective and cannot on its own be turned into an arc. One cannot ‘prove themselves worthy’ out of a void, that’s the goal, you also need an objective, ‘prove themselves worthy through taking their father’s place in the war’.
If you have these, great job! You’ve got a really solid foundation for your arc. What your character wants, and why they want it. However, if we just follow an objective and goal, your characters are going to feel very lifeless—so we need some additional depth:
Unconscious need: This will probably be the one you get stuck on the most. Good thing is, both of these words are hints on what to do here, Unconscious meaning your character doesn’t realize it, couldn’t put it into words, and Definitely doesn’t say it out loud. Need, is the start of how to answer this blank space. Your character needs to realize something they haven’t been aware of to achieve their goal. Or they need to realize a flaw in their goal. For example, a woman wants to run for president (objective) to make her mother proud (goal), but she needs to realize all her mother wants is to spend more time with her, and by using all her time to campaign for president, she’s actually splitting them further apart. Mulan needs to internalize that she doesn't have to be bigger than life to make her parents proud of her and bring them honor.
Your need is character specific, which means no one else should need the same thing. If your need can apply to multiple people, you probably didn’t get specific enough. Everyone needs to be loved, everyone needs to feel cared for. However, not everyone closed themselves off from relationships and needs to open up to people if they want to foster a connection. See the difference?
This step will directly influence how you write your climax, because it leads to a choice your character makes. They can either realize their need and adhere to it (Fine, I’ll take my name out of the campaign for president/call my parents/apologize to the people I’ve hurt) or continue with their objective despite it. Typically, characters that ignore their need after they realize it are considered to have tragic arcs. Getting your character to realize their need is the end of their positive arc, it’s what we’ve been working towards all along.
So it’s important. Don’t skip, yes?
Disrupting Characteristic: this one is fun. This step is adding a flaw to your character, specifically, it’s the flaw that’s holding them back from meeting their need. If there was nothing holding them back, wouldn’t they be satisfied already? So that’s the easiest place to start with this one, what they need, and what could possibly be holding them back from it. If they need to see their father as he truly is, maybe their disrupting characteristic is that they’re optimistic to a fault. This characteristic could be a thing the character does (idolizes their father, acts fiercely independent, etc.) or a belief they have about themselves or the world (self conscious, believes humans are inherently cruel, etc.) It’s the epitome of their internal conflict, they need something, but some ingrained part of them is keeping them from it. Evil? Absolutely. But us writers tend to be.
The disrupting characteristic is the internal arc your character goes through, they are working and being challenged throughout the story to overcome this characteristic. So in another example, a romantic character may realize their parents led them to believe they were undesirable (unconscious need), and that it has no merit, so they gain a new confidence and overcome their self consciousness (disrupting characteristic) to ask their ideal partner out.
You see what I mean why I say all these steps work together. Need and disrupting characteristic and goal are so intertwined that it can be difficult sometimes to voice them apart from each other, but they also can’t carry each other. A solid need and disrupting characteristic isn’t going to do much if you don’t have a very convincing goal. Make sure you can put them into words (preferably write them down) and voice them all as separate things from each other, and how they work together. If you can do that, you’re set.
Last but not least is Formative Event: this is essentially your beginnings of backstory. The formative event Is the (usually) singular event in a character’s past that made them to be who they are today—importantly, that developed their need and disrupting characteristic. Your character showed up to school in their new dress and was bullied, a mom left, or a dog died. The reason they are the way that they are. From this, you can build up the rest of their backstory. Moana is chosen by the ocean, her parents try to keep her away from the ocean, she grows up unsure about the idea of being the next chief. If you’re struggling with backstory, start here, build around it.
(Oh, and you don’t necessarily have to mention the formative event in your story, in fact most screenplays don’t. As long as you know it, you’re set.)
Speaking of backstory, it’s our invisible sixth step (or… first, really) because all of these things you come to know about your character is developed out of backstory (which makes it a pretty good place to start). It makes sense, really, if these steps are who they are, they’ve become that way because of where they’ve come from. I tend to start with family when I’m trying to discover backstory, given family is a large part of who we are—then education, then home/community, friends, interests, etc. But there’s no real ‘perfect’ way to do it. Just write, let your mind wander, add and take away whatever you want, and meet your new character for the first time.
So how did all of that give you your plot? It’s through how they change! We’ve created someone who wants something, and needs something else, and unless we take them on a journey so they can figure it out, we’ll never have a story. So that journey to help them realize their need? That’s your plot.
If you’re struggling with how to help them change, consider putting your arc into a logline (something screenwriters do, but I find it really helpful even in novel writing). A logline is essentially your plot (character arc) summed up in a sentence or two. It goes like this: A but B so C
A: Disrupting characteristic
but
B: Conflict (goal/objective meets antagonist)
so
C: Changed character
Loglines are a tool for writing (at least in the way we’re using them), so make sure you have your full story—ending, character change, conflict, anything you’d find helpful to keep you on track.
I’ll often write a logline for each major character I have. Here’s an older one about a character I’ll call “Mark”:
A: Obsessive
B: His death has been predicted
C: Opens up to the others, recognizes he only has a little bit of time left, and should spend it with the people he loves (that’s also his need!)
Logline: Private Mark Jackson obsesses over an unproven myth that promises the escape of his small life, but when his untimely death is foretold and every day drives him closer to his fate, he opens up to his friends to be content in a slightly different life than he had imagined for himself.
Loglines are great because they have it all!
Private (additional characteristic) Mark Jackson obsesses (disrupting characteristic) over an unproven myth (objective) that promises the escape of his small life (goal), but when his untimely death is foretold and every day drives him closer to his fate (conflict), he opens up to his friends (need) to be content in a slightly different life than he had imagined for himself (change).
You see how the entire story is right there in that sentence? This is a great place to start before we move onto officially outlining next week, so save your work, we’ll come back to it!
To get a good handle on all this, I’d recommend watching your favourite movies or reading your favourite book and filling out as many steps as you can, then creating loglines for each major character. Disney movies especially stick to this structure (thus all the examples) and typically have very clear arcs, but anything works.
Good luck!
how do you make a couple fight without completely cementing the relationship as toxic? what do 'healthy' couples even fight about???
as someone with zero experience regarding arguing with someone whom i didn't immediately cut off afterward because of how it was handled, i've struggled with writing this concept forever 😭
send help pls :')
Every couple fights. Fights and disagreements are a part of a relationship just as much harmony and agreement. It's highly unlikely that there is a person with whom you always agree on every aspect. So, sooner or later you'll reach a point of disagreement and that can be about anything really.
A lot of couple fights are about the most trite things. Who does the dishes? Why doesn't the other want to do me that favour? No, I never said that. You must remember it wrong.
We are the most honest and blunt but also the most vulnerable with the people closest to us. That makes siblings fight a lot and it often makes couples fight more than good friends. Paired with love, these fights don't have to make a relationship toxic. Partners fight about whose turn it is to do the dishes. One ends up having to do it, and the other thanks them for it, promising to do it the next time. I think what is important when writing a 'healthy' fight is to show that even when they fight they still care a lot about the other. If it's a bigger fight, they're thinking about the other a lot afterwards. They feel bad about it afterwards, they're thinking about how the other feels now, they don't like making the other feel bad, they're crushed to find out that they're causing the other's misery. Their heart can't be at peace until they've apologised and made up.
Another sign of a healthy relationship is that minor fights aren't a rarity but are handled well. They can fight about the TV remote and it's not giving their relationship a crack or making them doubt their partner's love. Communication that is well-balanced between two partners and supports a symmetrical relationship doesn't exclude arguments but makes them a means to a functioning life together.
I made a few prompt lists about couples fighting and they are all meant to apply to healthy relationships. Here is an excerpt from a prompt list about minor fights to give you an example.
1. A: "I wanted this cookie!" B: "But there is another one." A: "That's not the one I want." 2. A: "Stop looking at me so weird!" B: "That's just how I look!" 3. A: "That's nonsense! I didn't hug you less than usual!" B: "Yes, you did! Don't try to trick me! I know exactly how long you're hugging me usually and this hug wasn't the same. So I don't approve of it as a real hug. Again!" 4. A: "Get me the remote, please." B: "Why don't you get it?" A: "I asked you a favour!" 5. A: "But it's my turn!" B: "No, it was your turn last time!" A: "That's not true! I remember it clearly!" the full prompt list: ~ FIGHTING OVER SILLY STUFF ~ OTP PROMPTS
other prompt lists about a couple arguing:
~ ARGUING LIKE AN OLD MARRIED COUPLE ~ DIALOGUE PROMPTS
~ FIGHTS OVER A GIFT ~ DIALOGUE PROMPTS
~ JEALOUSY, JEALOUSY ~ PROMPTS (this could turn toxic but you can use most of these for healthy couples)
I hope this helps you. I realised I just rambled a lot; hopefully, it makes sense :)
Neil Gaiman does both.