How To Write Rivals To Lovers
How to Write Rivals to Lovers
Credit: https://allwritealright.com/writing-from-enemies-to-lovers-creating-dynamic-relationships/
Intro
I would argue that rivals to lovers is superior over enemies to lovers because it’s less toxic and more satisfying. Typically, it results in a healthier relationship than most enemies-to-lovers relationships because it presents a less dark or drastic reason for them to dislike each other (like killing the other’s loved ones, etc). With rivals to lovers, you get jealousy, pining, banter, tension, and of course, a great payoff!
Establish the characters
First and foremost, you’re going to need to make sure that the rivals have the potential to get along. You need to be very strategic about how you design these characters, since this will determine whether or not the dynamic will work authentically. The characters should be unique individuals, obviously, but you need to build them in such a way that your readers will be able to identify their chemistry.
The two characters should have some similar or complementary traits. They should also have traits that make up for the other’s shortcomings, and they should have struggles and flaws that the other character could help them with--if they could only cooperate. These subtle parallels should give readers the sense that the characters would get along, if not for whatever obstacle warped their opinions of each other in the beginning.
Decide why they dislike each other
There are a number of different reasons that characters could have for disliking each other, but you need to be careful about how you approach this. The characters’ hatred should never be based on things that are unforgivable, and they shouldn’t be allowed to evolve as a result of abuse or trauma. Never romanticize bullying, abuse, or manipulation. With that said, here are plausible backstories for their rivalry:
Competition, also known as the main pillar of this trope. Competition can bring out the worst in people, so if your two characters are both vying for the same goal, they might clash as a result. The great thing about this type of hatred is that it might be accompanied by great respect for their rival, and it also gives you a good similarity between the characters that you can rely on to draw them closer together.
Desires. If these characters want the same thing, then the next thing they want is not to let the other get it. This is closely connected to competition. This sets up an interesting plotline as readers wonder who will achieve their prize first...or who might lose it. More on this later!
Conflict. Being on opposing sides of a conflict, such as a debate or dispute, positions characters to dislike each other regardless of their personalities. Their dislike for each other is based on their moral dedication to their country, faction, or clan, and not on their inherent qualities as people.
Society. They might dislike each other because of their parents, education, or class differences. If characters believe they dislike each other because they were taught to dislike each other, then they will have to work out their own internal struggles individually before they can get along together.
Actually falling in love
The biggest mistake that writers make with this trope is moving through the arc too quickly. Overcoming intense feelings for another person takes time, and it happens in distinct phases. First, the characters need to forgive each other and reconcile with their rivalry. Then, they will likely be friends before they can come anywhere close to falling in love. Rivals to lovers must be slowburn to be effective. Some methods of showing it are below:
Forced proximity/conversation
Reluctant partnership (a personal favorite!)
Physical, emotional, or sexual attraction
Banter or teasing
Staring
Flirting
Remembering small things about the other character
Coming to the thought that maybe the other person isn’t so bad / things might be different if they weren’t rivals
Letting the other person beat them in something
Let the characters evolve
If the characters are going to make things work between them, they cannot simply continue the way things have always been. They must acknowledge where they were wrong, and change themselves for the better. They must confront their beliefs and change their perspective, and above all else, they need to forgive themselves and each other for the time they spent disliking the other.
In many cases, characters will need to redeem themselves before their relationship will work. This is a great opportunity to write a redemption arc for one (or both) of the characters, which can make readers feel even more emotionally attached to the characters.
Climax and conflict
At the heart of every rivals-to-lovers story, there’s something that both characters want--otherwise they wouldn’t be rivals! It sets up a very interesting conflict, due to their changing feelings for each other. Who needs the prize more? Who wants it more? Will one of them yield for the other, or will they forge ahead with selfishness and guilt? Or will they both realize that what they need is something completely different from what they thought they wanted?
This is an excellent time to incorporate a betrayal or forgiveness trope. Rivals to lovers implies high stakes, because there is something that they are fighting for. Show those stakes, and you’ll have both an excellent story and an excellent romance!
Love confessions
Once the characters have overcome the obstacles in the way of their love and come to terms with how they feel, the next step is for them to admit those feelings to each other. How your character decides to approach this decision is going to depend on their personality and their existing relationship with the other person. Make sure the scene carries some emotional weight to it: you want readers to feel like the stakes are high.
Your characters aren’t likely to confess their love without feeling some shred of reciprocity. If they haven’t noticed any indication that the other person likes them back, then they’re probably going to sit on those feelings for a while. Both of the characters can even be doing this at the same time, without realizing that the other person feels the same way (which is both really frustrating and really gratifying for the reader!).
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we keep coming back to the blank page because we believe we can fill it. we build something from nothing more than our own imaginations. we transfer thoughts to words to paper to people. writing really is one of the most beautiful things we can do, and that's one of my favorite things about it.
How to Write a Chorister
Intro
Singing has always been one of my passions--I’ve been in choirs since I was ten years old, so I have a pretty good knowledge of music and music theory! I haven’t seen many posts on how to write a chorister (aka a fancy word for a member of a choir), so I decided to make one myself. Yes, it’s a very self-indulgent post, but hopefully someone finds this somewhat helpful!
Warm up
You know how in movies and other media, people will start singing out of the blue and they're perfectly on pitch and flawless? Yeah, well that’s kind of misleading. A singer will never perform at their best without warming up. They can sing despite that, but their voice will most likely sound strained or weaker than usual, and their vocal range won’t be as wide. Singing warm ups are omitted in most media because it’s inconvenient to show, and I understand that, although I think it would be fun if the process was shown!
Choir warm ups are frequently both vocal and physical. I’ll give you my choir’s as an example. First we loosen up by stretching, paying particular attention to the neck and spine. Other physical exercises are clapping along to a rhythm that the choir director sets, practicing good posture, and doing breathing exercises.
Next comes the fun part: vocal warm up. We usually start with lip trills, “sirens,” and repeated words or vowels/diphthongs. After that, we typically do ascending and descending solfege scales, stretching into the highest parts of our range and down into the lowest parts of our range. And then we’re ready to sing!
Vocal parts
There are four main parts to a choir, which I’ll define as simply as possible:
Soprano: The highest range of voices in a choir
Alto: The second highest range of voices in a choir
Tenors: The second lowest range of voices in a choir
Bass/Baritones: The lowest range of voices in a choir
Some people fall in between these ranges or span more than one, which is normal. Also, the average singer’s vocal range is 2-3 octaves on a piano.
Characteristics of a chorister
Choristers typically have or should have the following traits:
A keen sense of pitch, rhythm, and hearing
Strength in sight reading and in reading musical score
The ability to sing as a group and blend well with other voices
Leadership! Being a leader helps you as well as everyone else
Types of choirs
Choirs usually organize and limit themselves according to voicing and/or age of the singers as well as by the size of group or the type of music they sing. Here are some types:
Mixed choir: A group with changed (usually male) and unchanged voices (usually female or children); the voicing for this group is typically expressed as SATB (soprano, alto, tenor, bass). This is the type of choir I currently sing in!
Equal voice choir: A group for either changed (usually male) voices or unchanged (usually female) voices. Sometimes these choirs are called men's choirs and women's/ladies' choirs. Sometimes they are referred to by their voicing: a TB or TTBB choir and an SA or SSAA choir
A youth choir varies widely in its voicing since adolescence is the time when most male voices transition from the soprano or alto vocal range to the tenor or bass vocal range. For this reason, youth choirs can have any combination of voice parts, including SA, SAB, and SATB
A children’s choir is most typically an equal voice group for pre-pubertal singers. Some children's choirs also include youth and may include changed voices (tenor and bass)
Choirs can also organize themselves by size or repertoire type:
Chorus/choral society/large ensemble: Usually a choir of 40 or more singers and often includes 100+ people. These groups typically sing large works, including operas or oratorios or similar pieces
A chamber choir will never include more than 40 singers and will often be considerably smaller (For example, the chamber choir I’m in has 17 singers.)
Small vocal ensemble/group: Ranges in size from 3 to 12 singers
A cappella choir: Sings only music that has no pitched instrumental accompaniment. A great example is the group Pentatonix (which many choir directors absolutely adore)
Choirs that organize themselves around specific cultural or religious music traditions
How singing in a choir can affect you
You can learn many useful talents from choir, such as:
Learning to work with other people and form bonds with them. The better the members of a choir know each other, the better they will sing together!
Growing more confident in your abilities and improving your musical talents
Singing with like-minded people
Harmonizing to pop songs on the radio
Impressing people in karaoke
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How to Write a Love Letter
Intro
Today I'm going to be talking about love letters, also known as one of the best (and oldest) motifs in literature. From Pride and Prejudice to The Cruel Prince, people have loved reading about love letters from the beginning, which means there's a lot of pressure to get it right!
I believe there are two main standards/challenges to consider when writing a proper love letter: 1.) it must sound genuinely impassioned and 2.) it shouldn’t sound like it’s been written before. This post is going to hopefully help with those two standards. Without further ado, let's dive in!
The unspoken is spoken
Many times, people write love letters because it’s easier to put their feelings and thoughts on paper than to speak them aloud. Maybe they’re afraid to express those feelings and thoughts, or maybe they don’t have the time or ability to do so. Whatever the case, these emotions likely build up in them over time, so that when they write a love letter, their words are passionate and intimate. There are many different core emotions that could be at the heart of a love letter (sorry for the pun), including fear, hope, longing, curiosity, grief, and uncertainty. Love letters can be addressed to anyone--people who are alive, missing, lost, or dead--and often many different emotions are involved with it.
How to open a love letter
“Dear [name]” is a classic, if somewhat overused, way to begin a love letter. Ways to switch it up would be including an inside joke, pet name, or a memory from the past. Or, you can forgo the “Dear” altogether and just write the name, which implies that the letter-writer is desperate to get to the point.
There are many different ways to begin the content of the letter. Typically the first item on the agenda is for the letter-writer to explain why they are writing the love letter. You can talk about recent events, past events, or launch into a description of the letter-writer’s predicament. Or you could begin by writing about something seemingly unrelated to love, that eventually connects to the recipient of the love letter in some way.
Figurative language
However much figurative language you use, it has to make sense for the character who’s writing the letter. If they’re typically a blunt person, then their letter will likely be blunt. If they’re a poetic person, then their letter will probably be poetic. Basically, the voice of the letter should sound authentic to the person writing it! Sometimes, the letters that use flowery language aren’t the best letters. Sometimes it’s the letters with simple images and language. Another thing to keep in mind is that specificity conveys even more emotion than five similes in a single sentence ever does. Have the letter writer remember a single moment, or a few events that were significant to them, and include as many details as you can.
The heart of the letter
(Did I really just make the same pun twice in a post? Yes, yes I did.) In fiction, the letter-writer always has a purpose with their letters. Sometimes they’re trying to communicate with the recipient of the letter about a misunderstanding. Maybe they even want to apologize for that misunderstanding. Or maybr they've been separated from their partner, by choice or circumstance, and desperately want to reconnect with them. Whatever the case, the letter should have a point--what is the writer hoping to take away from this? What are their hopes and goals? Keep this in mind the entire time you're writing the love letter.
Writing Account Advice
Intro
One of the reasons I joined the writing community was because of a post like this. I’d always been interested in the reading and writing part of Instagram, and this was an opportunity for me to get even more involved with it! For anyone who’s on the fence about making a writing account, I would definitely recommend trying it out!
1. Make friends
This is the most important thing you can do, in my opinion. There are many different ways you can do this, even if you’re introverted, like me. You can DM people with shared interests or join groupchats. Friends make everything worth it. I can think of so many people who mean a lot to me and make my day better!
2. Making your posts
There are hundreds of websites and apps out there you can use, but I’ll mention the ones I know best and the most popular ones here:
Tumblr
Canva
Phonto
PicsArt
Polarr
VideoStar
If you’d like to see how these are used, just take a look around the writing community and you’ll find many different styles and variations. Also, this is only a starting point! Feel free to explore other options and please add on in the comments if you know about more.
3. Themes
There’s a lot of spoken and unspoken pressure to have a pretty theme--the overall aesthetic and design of an account--in the writing community. Instagram is a very visually-based app, so a lot of people will follow or unfollow based on aesthetic. The truth is, though, it’s not necessary to have a theme. Whether or not you have one doesn’t actually matter because a writing account is meant to help your self-growth and your growth as a writer. Aesthetics don’t have any part in the friends you make or the things you learn during your time here!
4. Decide what content you want to post
Do you want to post writing tips? Original writing? Memes? Figure out what you like the most and then follow users who create that content, to get a feel for how people promote and interact with that content. However, don’t feel like you have to limit yourself--post what you want to post and what makes you happy, not what you feel like you have to post!
More and more these days, writing accounts are struggling to find new topics to cover, given that there are so many of us here now. However, I would call this a potential opportunity. You have freedom to create any kind of content you want. You can post bookish content, study tips, aesthetics, and more--having a writing account doesn’t mean you have to limit yourself to writing tips!
5. Prioritize yourself
Always, always prioritize yourself and your own well-being before anything else. You may be a content creator, but that doesn’t mean you have to create at the expense of your mental health. You do not owe anyone anything.
If prioritizing yourself means posting sporadically, then so be it. If it means taking a lot of hiatuses, then that’s the best thing for you. Sometimes you’ll see the mentality that creators are obligated to make content, and that’s an unhealthy mindset and idea.
In the same vein, you are much more than a number, whether it's for likes, comments, or follows. It's easy to become overabsorbed in numbers. Yes, it's disheartening to have low numbers, but in the end, you should just let it go, because you can't control what the algorithm chooses to do with your content. Your statistics are not a reflection of some fault in yourself. When periods of low engagement happens, as they inevitably do, try to focus on the little things, like small interactions that leave you smiling, or a comment that makes you laugh.
6. Schedule
Another step you can take is deciding which days to post. This is optional but it helps some people stay organized, like me. You might choose to post daily, only on certain days, or whenever you feel like it. Do whatever works for you and your real-life schedule!
7. Growth and engagement
As a new writing account, growth and engagement can be slow at first due to low follower numbers. However, there are ways you can help it, if you want to grow. Some don’t, and that’s valid, too! Also, keep in mind that all of the things I list here are optional!
Create a business account to track your statistics
Reply to followers’ comments and DMs
Use hashtags
Ask questions of the day in your posts
Make and share a help card
Put up question boxes/polls on your story and share the answers
Use tag lists, where you tag people in the comments who want to see your posts more quickly
Use writing/reading-related hashtags
"I am nothing but literature, and can and want to be nothing else."
-Franz Kafka
Things I Like in Books
- Rivals to lovers. Trying to upstage the other person at every possible opportunity...being equally matched in everything no matter how hard they try...continuing the rivalry because without it they have no reason to interact...it hits every single time
- Character A is injured and Character B absolutely pulverizes the enemy because they're overwhelmed with their fear and love for A :)
- Or: Character A being wounded/ill but hiding their true condition until they finally collapse from it
- Finally, I present to you: Character A tending to Character B’s wounds and acting passive-aggressive because they’re so worried about B
- The “I’m yours” love confession. I’m just a huge sucker for this trope. Not only is it really sweet, but it doesn’t have any possessive meaning. I just find it more romantic than “You’re mine”, too. It’s like you’re promising everything, all your faults and strengths and hopes to another person, and you’re receiving the same thing in return...it’s like a totally equal partnership
- THE ITALICIZED “oh”
- Grumpy x sunshine (bonus if there’s a grumpy girl and sunshine guy)
- The boy falls first
- Slowburn romance
- Dynamics where Character B constantly says, “Character A, no” and Character A replies with, “Character A, yes”
- Characters saying they can definitely do something, and then the scene cuts to them not being able to do the thing
- Found family (bonus points if they share exactly three braincells)
- Corruption arcs, especially female corruption arcs
- Strong female villains who don’t have love as their one motive
- A normally calm character going absolutely feral
- Characters who like reading
- TITLE DROPS! I always get so excited when I come across them
- Strong female friendships
C.S. Lewis once wrote,
"I sat with my anger long enough until she told me her real name was grief"
And I think we all needed to hear that.
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