Kiimigi - "living In The In Between Moments"

the creatures beneath; (protagonist 1/?)

❝ his voice shakes but he swallows his fear once again, blinking thrice to make sure he isn’t dreaming. the bundle of darkness is sliding closer to him and it takes every ounce of self control for levi to stop shaking. FEEL NOTHING, his father’s wise words thrum in his skull as he searches for the nearest weapon. unlike afryea, he didn’t think to have one nearby. STUPID BOY, this time his father’s words aren’t as helpful, but at least he isn’t thinking too much about the intruder. FEEL NOTHING, Levi takes a deep breath before closing his eyes - letting Fate decide whether or not he’ll be spared this time round. ❞

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*talks about demons loudly in local diner*

the “the the monster”

One of the best writing tips I’d ever gotten was from my seventh grade history teacher–that of which he called the ‘the the monster’

the best way to explain it is that you should never start two sentences with the same word. this might seem like a simple idea/very mundane–pretty much something everyone would know. However, you can find yourself doing this a lot more often than you think. 

for example writing this:

The soft, warm blanket lay atop her and keeping her warm as she slept. The boy had been waiting for her to wake up for awhile, constantly checking her. 

is a lot chopper than writing this:

The soft, warm blanket lay atop her, keeping her warm as she slept. Across the room, the boy sat and anxiously waited for her to wake.

personally, I like to give a two sentence space between using the same word to start. Doing this makes the writing seem less repetitive & overall can make you think of creative ways to get certain points across. I find if the sentences sound too similar it will bore the reader fairly quickly, leaving them to skim over what could be important information. Similarly, using the same word twice in one sentence has similar effects. That shows lack of ‘creativity’ so to say. 

overall, try to vary your writing! it might be tough sometimes but you got this!

Very much inspired by this post by @papanorth

I was tagged by @e-iji!! This is my first time being tagged in something like this so thank you friend :D

Name 10 favorite characters from 10 different things then tag 10 people

Wash (rvb)

Makoto (free!)

Yamaguchi (hq)

Elliot (ph)

Roland (vnc)

Angus (taz)

Erasmus (capri)

Bartimaeus (bartieamus trilogy)

Jade (homestuck)

Sun (rwby)

I tag: @oiek @montevena @writings-of-a-narwhal @tsaikovs @lizziewriting @skeletongrrl @addadora @somerecycledideas @chtoyant @meliyal

Psychology for writers: first impressions matter

I was thinking about plotting, and about telling a story chronologically or not.

It reminded me of first impressions and the primacy effect. Solomon Asch studied this in the 1940s I think. The primacy effect shows us that we appoint more weight to information that we learn first than to information we learn later.

He studied this by giving two groups of people a list of personality traits. For example, group one is introduced to a woman, “This is Anna. She is beautiful, funny, spiteful and mean.” Group two, however, hears this: “This is Anna. She is mean, spiteful, funny and beautiful.”

The second list is of course the reverse of the first list. You would think that both people form the same impression of Anna, because they are given the same adjectives. But no. Group one had a more positive impression of Anna and were more prepared to forgive her for her meanness and spitefulness than group two.

This is how you can use the primacy effect for your characters:

Introduce your main character by showing her doing something good first.

If you plan to redeem a villain in the end and make your readers feel positive towards him, show him having some small positive traits first, for example petting his kitten.

If you want your readers to go, “I knew this character was bad even though everyone trusted him, I just had this feeling he’s up to no good!”, show him doing something bad first, like kicking the kitten, and then some good acts. (”I never forgave him for kicking that helpless kitten!”)

Flashbacks, flash forwards and other ways to tell your story non-chronologically can influence the impression your readers have of your characters compared to a linear, chronological story.

I hope this was helpful. Don’t hesitate to ask me any questions, and happy writing!

Follow me for more writing advice, or check out my other writing advice here. New topics to write advice about are also always welcome.

Tag list below, a few people I like and admire and of course, you can be too. If you like to be added to or removed from the list, let me know.

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“Why are fanfictions always so much better written than canon??”

Because they’re catered to you and your ideas of what the characters, story, etc. should be, which doesn’t always line up with canon.

It’s not a matter of which one is objectively better, but of audience. 

Fanfiction is made for fans by fans with copious amounts of fanon concepts made to appeal to, well, the fandom. This is not inherently bad, and obviously the amount of fanons and which ones will vary from fic to fic, but given that the quote above generally only applies to fics the poster likes…yeah. That fic is written specifically for you and the people who agree with you. Again, not inherently a bad thing.

BUT that is not the case for canon. Canon is not written for the fandom; the fandom can’t form until after the canon exists. How that fandom changes as different people come and go as they decide they do or don’t like the directions canon takes is another story, but nonetheless unlike fanfiction it is not written to cater to fanon concepts and preferences. And “not catering to fanon” is not synonymous with “bad writing”.

Now that said, yes there are obviously fanfics out there that are objectively very well-written and creative, and yes there is canon material out there for whatever book/movie/tv show/etc that objectively isn’t so great.

But most of the time, your perception of fanfics is better because they’re tailored to your biases. Not because they’re objectively better-written.

Again, there’s nothing inherently wrong with that–it’s completely normal to prefer/enjoy things that fit your opinions/headcanons–but maybe step back and consider that a moment before you go and bash the creators of your favorite book/movie/show for not following the same plot of your favorite fic.

if you guys have characters but no plot just put them in a scenario where they suffer the absolute most and you’re set

Okay so a production of Hamlet that ends with “Goodnight, sweet prince,” etc. and then Horatio looks up and sees the audience for the first time and is both shocked and furious, because his world is falling apart and you sat there and watched.