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Witches!! There are three weeks left for our preorders, make sure to get your bundle before it's too late ✨
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When Your Character Walks Into a Room…
There’s this funny misconception that when a character walks into a room, the important part is the room. Writers start scrambling to describe the walls, the wallpaper, the lighting, the color of the rug that no one asked for. And sure, you can do that. But the room doesn’t matter until your character touches it with their thoughts.
And I’m saying this with love, because I’ve written those “character enters room, now here’s a paragraph about the furniture” scenes too. We all have. They’re basically a rite of passage.
But the more you write (and the more drafts you survive) the more you realize something important: the room is NEVER the point. The PERSON entering it is.
When someone walks into a room in real life, they don’t float in like a neutral non-entity. They bring whatever emotional chaos they’ve been dealing with. They bring the argument they just had in the hallway. They bring the secret they’re not ready to tell anyone. They bring the memory the smell of the room just stabbed them with. People don’t arrive clean. They arrive mid-story, even if they pretend they’re fine. So instead of focusing on the chair in the corner, try starting with the emotional “temperature” your character walks in with.
Are they anxious and trying to hide it?
Are they exhausted and hoping nobody notices?
Are they excited but scared they’ll ruin everything the moment they open their mouth?
You don’t have to spell it out like a weather report, just let it tint the way they see the space. Plus, a room changes depending on who’s looking at it. If your character is confident, the space might feel open, manageable, almost welcoming. If they’re overwhelmed, the same room can feel too loud, too bright, too filled with people who suddenly seem to know exactly where they’re going and what they’re doing. If they’re guilty, every shadow becomes suspicious. If they’re sad, the room might seem bigger than it really is.
It doesn’t matter how the room “objectively” looks. What matters is what they see first.
And please let your characters enter rooms in realistically messy ways. Not every entrance needs to be cinematic or in the Hollywood style. Not every character glides. Some fumble the door handle. Some hesitate in the doorway because they suddenly can’t remember why they came in. Some scan the room too fast because they’re nervous and then pretend they weren’t scanning the room at all. Some try way too hard to appear casual and end up bumping into a table they didn’t even notice was there.
That kind of stuff makes your characters feel like a real person and not because the action is interesting, but because it’s familiar. It’s that tiny, “oh god, same” moment between the reader and the character, even if they never consciously notice it.
So REMEMBER: an entrance is a doorway for change, not just a physical movement. You’re not writing, “They walked into the room.” You’re writing, “They stepped into a moment.” And that’s a gamechanger.
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🪡 WRITER SPOTLIGHT 🪡
Let's give a warm welcome to @biscuitsandspices ⭐⭐⭐
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OUR OTHER WRITING MOD IS @biscuitsandspices !! DONT WORRY, EARTH WILL BE LOOKING BETTER REAL SOON !!!! TRUST ME.
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🍃 Contributor Spotlight 🍃
Introducing one of our writers for the zine, @biscuitsandspices! We can't wait to see what they end up creating.
Romance and sci-fi/fantasy genres are DOMINATING online writing spaces. There's nothing wrong with these genres, but my god is it the dominant population. Are any other writers out there working on comedies, mysteries, thrillers, dramas, horrors, historical fiction, non-fiction, or books of unromantic poetry?
Just read someone say that "write what you know" is "obviously terrible advice." Obviously...you all don't know what "write what you know" means.
This writing advice does NOT mean "write only what you've experienced," or else we wouldn't have fiction. Really, it could be extended to "write what you know...based on your experiences." You need to have empathy with your story and characters.
I may not be a princess being betrayed by her knight, but my life has been shaken by people who I thought were my friends. I may not be a ghost, but I've suddenly lost contact/connection with those dear to me. I may not be a murderer cleaning up my crime scene, but I know the anxious pangs of scrambling to hide something + what it's like scrubbing up blood at 2:00 a.m. It's not to say that I know exactly what these experiences are like, but I can draw upon similar experiences to make my writing more realistic.
"Write what you know" is also a challenge to research. Want to write about a character who is poisoned? Never been poisoned before? Don't guess or make assumptions, research. Know what you're writing, and you'll be more convincing. Write what you know, and your work will come alive.
There's this misconception I'm sure you're familiar with concerning daydreaming about one's original story and characters. I've seen many posts/memes that are like "teehee relatable writer things- I'm always thinking about my story for hours instead of actually writing it lmao." YES. OBVIOUSLY. Honestly, GOOD.
Call me crazy, but that's just called having a well-thought-out narrative. You can't tell a good story if you haven't spent time considering it, how it's structured, how it progresses, how your characters progress, etc.
Even if it boils down to half an hour of this confession scene is going to be so hot and complex or I think my OC would like Beyonce, you're putting thought into your narrative, which gets you more familiar with it, which eliminates holes and narrative weaknesses, which will make you more confident writing it, which strengthens your overall writing and story.
These posts/memes treat it like you're wasting time when you should be writing instead, but that's not true. It's practical. Don't condemn yourself for enjoying your creation, an act that will ultimately strengthen it.
If you hate writing outlines it's because of how they're taught in school. Toss out indentation and Roman numerals and map out your writing how you want to. Outlines are your FRIEND, dammit. This goes for everything, from political essays to fanfiction. If it's written you need an outline because the outline is for you. It can be general, vague, or a mixture of both! Be as informal as you want, who cares. They're to keep you on track and keep your writing flowing, so don't disregard them even if you dreaded making them in grade school. My outlines by chapter tend to look like this: 1. Character "P" goes to the diner to meet character "Q."
2. "P" tells "Q" about how the confrontation went. (dialogue I thought up on a bus ride) That's when shit goes DOWN. They're yelling, they're drawing attention to themselves, but before they can take it outside, "P" says (dialogue I thought up in the shower).
3. THEN "Q" SAYS THAT ONE LINE THAT "R" SAYS TO HIM IN CHAPTER FIVE BECAUSE THAT'S CALLED COHESION WOOOOO
4. idk they both leave??? you'll figure it out later
5. Self-reflection for "P." Keep your main point on how his moral compass goes to extremes and hurts others. He finally is realizing that HE is the PROBLEM
6. "P" drives to "Q's" house to apologize but GUESS WHO ANSWERS THE DOOR it's "R" and then just end the chapter there This is coming from someone who didn't write with outlines for years. Now I don't write anything longer than 400 words without one! Make them your own, make them so that they're useful to you. That's their purpose, so accept the help!
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Writing Fight Scenes
Here are a handful of tips on how to write intriguing and strong *no pun intended* fight scenes! 1. Give your character a meaning behind their actions. Are they fighting to survive? Are they the aggressor or the victim? Are they defending someone they love or hunting down someone who hurt them? Makes sure the audience knows why this action scene is important to your character. Unimportant and nonmeaningful actions can be boring!
2. Short sentences. Generally speaking, longer more detailed scenes slow the pace of your novel down. This is because the reader has to take more time to read and absorb all the details. Quicker, brief sentences make the pace move faster because there is less for the audience to read. Most fighting happens quickly and instinctively— without too much thought or anticipation. When things are happening fast, we have less time to take in details.
🏃♀️ Fast-paced with minimal details: "He punched me in the cheek, my back molars ripping open my fleshy skin. By the time the next punch came, I was already choking on a mouthful of blood."
🐌 Too many details/thoughts that slow down the action: "His large fist hurled towards me with insane speed. I could hardly believe it. He punched my cheek so hard that my sharp, back molars ripped open my fleshy skin. It hurt so bad, but I couldn't stop the next punch from coming. Blood filled my mouth, the irony taste causing me to choke and for my face to wilt."
3. Use all five senses. When adrenaline is pumping, the body can become hyperaware! Touch and sight are the senses that most people focus on... but don't forget about smell, hearing and, taste. Does your protagonist hear dogs approaching? Do they taste the blood from their busted lip?
4. Don't' slow down the pace by adding too much detail. Try to keep an ebb and flow in your action scene. When the action is happening, keep the details quick and short— no one has time to think about their next move when in the heat of danger. However, you can balance the scene out by giving your character a chance to breathe and think and observe
5. Research/study. Watch famous fight scenes in movies or anime to see what is realistic and what is exaggerated. Pay attention to the pacing or what keeps you on edge. When does the character get a chance to think or come up with a plan? What makes this action scene so enthralling?
6. Consider what is at stake. Stakes always make a scene more tense. What does your character have to lose and how does this affect their mental state? Does it aid in their energy, or does it distract them from the fight?
7. Develop characters/the plot. Consider how this action scene will either further your character in the plot or set them back. Does this scene give them a lasting injury that follows them throughout the story, or do they lose an ally that they desperately loved? How does this affect them moving forward?
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Dialogue tips that actually work:
- You are not writing a movie (ignore this if you are). The reader doesn't need to know every word the characters say for the duration of the story. Less is more.
- Dialogue can happen within the prose. "And they awkwardky discussed the weather for five minutes" is way better than actually writing five pages of dialogue about the weather.
- Balance your dialogues. Surprise yourself with a monosyllabic answe to a dialogue that's ten sentences long. Don't be afraid of letting your character use half a page for a reply or nothing at all!
- Don't write accents phonetically, use slang and colloquialisms if needed.
- Comma before "said" and no caps after "!?" unless it's an action tag. Study dialogue punctuation.
- Learn the difference between action tags and dialogue tags. Then, use them interchangeably (or none at all).
- Don't be afraid to use said. Use said if characters are just saying things, use another word if not. Simple. There's no need to use fancy synonyms unless absolutely necessary.
- Not everyone talks the same way so it makes sense for your characters to use certain words more often than others. Think of someone who says "like" to start every sentence or someone who talks really slow. Be creative.
- Use prose to slow down the pace during a conversation.
- Skip prose to speed up the pace during a conversation.
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theplottery
How to keep writing with ADHD
Having ADHD as an aspiring writer can be really difficult and frustrating.
I just want to add a quick disclaimer that I have not been diagnosed with ADHD myself, but I have worked with several clients who struggled with this, and done some research online to compile a few tips you might be able to implement in your writing! (I will also link to some articles I read at the end of this post).
So let’s go!
- Turn off the internet This popped up as one of the most common pieces of advice for ADHD writers. Eliminating distractions can be hard, but turning off your wifi altogether might help with at least a few of them. Train yourself to disconnect when it’s writing time, and see whether this affects your productivity positively!
- Delay the research This can be really difficult if you’re writing historical fiction, or anything set in an area that requires some level of prior knowledge to write about. But, wherever possible, if you can save yourself pausing to research whether a certain item or word is plausible for you to use in that specific moment, then you should. Leave it, make a quick note that that’s something to research later, and keep going.
- Test out radical changes Something that came up as a common downfall was losing interest halfway through the project, or dropping it after the first chapter. If you find yourself losing interest in the project, maybe try out making a radical change to a part of your plot, one that might inspire you for the story once again. Of course, make sure that this change fits in with the rest of your story as you begin to implement it.
- Succinct & clear goals This is something I recommend to any writer or artist of any kind! Keep your goals as clear and small as possible. The more specific you are with a goal, the less overwhelming it will feel. Think of breaking down a big goal of “I’ll finish my book this year” into “I’ll finish 5 chapters this month” or even “1 chapter this week.” Go as small as is comfortable for you!
- A fine line between plotting & exploring This is an issue that comes up very often for writers who have a tendency to get bored with their projects if they don’t keep some element of surprise to it. I’d recommend finding a good balance between how much you plot out, and how much you allow yourself to discover along the way. Find your most important plot points, and let your creativity fill in the gaps!
- Tools to help you out Stay on task - browser extension that checks in on you at timely intervals to make sure you’re working on your chosen task Ommwriter - atmospheric simple writing program, with typewriting sounds & ambience Stayfocusd - browser extension to block time-wasting websites Nanowrimo.org - community challenges, self-set goals, achievement badges, progress tracking The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression - a book to help with expressing emotion in a show-not-tell way
Further reading from some ADHD fiction writers themselves:
The ADHD guide to writing https://booklaunch.com/the-adhd-guide-to-writing/
Tools & tricks for writers with ADHD https://larawillard.com/2018/03/02/tools-tricks-for-writers-with-adhd/
Feel free to share your own advice in the comments below to help out other authors!
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💶Pre-Orders💶
We’re excited to announce that pre-orders for Team Confidence, a Great Pretender Fanzine, are now open!!! 🛒http://teamconfidence.bigcartel.com please refer to this twitter thread for bundle info: https://twitter.com/TeamConfidence_/status/1653066759899955201?s=20
Okay, question for the character creators out there: Do you first write the backstory and then decide the character’s personality/traits based on their past, OR do you first decide how the character’s personality/traits fit into the story and then write the backstory of how the character became the person you created?
I’m sure there is a lot of overlap and intermingling of the two during character creation, but PRIMARILY which do you do more? Personally, I lean more towards the second, but I’m curious to see the process of the majority!
Encouragment for writers that I know seems discouraging at first but I promise it’s motivational-
• Those emotional scenes you’ve planned will never be as good on page as they are in your head. To YOU. Your audience, however, is eating it up. Just because you can’t articulate the emotion of a scene to your satisfaction doesn’t mean it’s not impacting the reader.
• Sometimes a sentence, a paragraph, or even a whole scene will not be salvagable. Either it wasn’t necessary to the story to begin with, or you can put it to the side and re-write it later, but for now it’s gotta go. It doesn’t make you a bad writer to have to trim, it makes you a good writer to know to trim.
• There are several stories just like yours. And that’s okay, there’s no story in existence of completely original concepts. What makes your story “original” is that it’s yours. No one else can write your story the way you can.
• You have writing weaknesses. Everyone does. But don’t accept your writing weaknesses as unchanging facts about yourself. Don’t be content with being crap at description, dialogue, world building, etc. Writers that are comfortable being crap at things won’t improve, and that’s not you. It’s going to burn, but work that muscle. I promise you’ll like the outcome.