🟢 You Are Still A Writer Even When You Haven't Written In A While.

“these stars are for you, child.”

One thing I like about Pixar films is how the happy ending isn’t always what you think it’ll be. The toys don’t go with Andy to college, Gusteau’s restaurant gets closed down, Mike and Sully get kicked out of university, Carl never gets Ellie to Paradise Falls. But they find out that what they wanted isn’t necessarily what they needed, and I really like the fact that kids get to learn that life doesn’t always turn out the way they dreamed and that’s okay.

Relationships that have real king/lionheart energy, that whole “I have sworn myself wholly to you, I am your sword arm, I am your dog” to someone else’s “you are the one person in this world I can rely on, and I am both bolstered and burdened by your absolute faith in me” vibe, but it’s in circumstances that are like. so low stakes. Manger of a movie theater/the one usher who doesn’t smoke weed at work.

Tunnel of love | Oleg Petrenko

Location: Tunel Kokhannya, Rivne region, Ukraine

personal playlists i’ve made that might fit your niche

a country playlist for a friend who is playing rdr2 but doesn’t actually like country

soft pop bops

bad 70s/80s music that i love a lot

early 2000′s nostalgia playlist for kids that were born 1995-1999 and dont fit with millennials or gen z

classical bops that didn’t need to go that hard

some people think writers are so eloquent and good with words, but the reality is that we can sit there with our fingers on the keyboard going, “what’s the word for non-sunlight lighting? Like, fake lighting?” and for ten minutes, all our brain will supply is “unofficial”, and we know that’s not the right word, but it’s the only word we can come up with…until finally it’s like our face got smashed into a brick wall and we remember the word we want is “artificial”.

overgrown ruins are great and all but you know what really goes hard? overgrown ruins partially or entirely submerged underwater

Andrey Surnov evening traffic 1 subway shipyard crane cranes evening traffic 2 evening traffic 3 night shop 1  6:00 AM shooting gallery dark street pizzeria night shop 2 red café

more art by Andrey Surnov

More favourite tropes:

Character responds to legitimate and urgent concern with reassurances only tangentially related to the thing folks are worried about

Character takes advantage of others’ false assumptions about their skill-set or identity, then when caught out, defends themselves by pointing out how unreasonable those assumptions were

Character’s argument for why they couldn’t possibly have done what they’re accused of accidentally cops to a different, unrelated offence

Character caught doing something suspicious offers an explanation that makes it clear they have a completely different understanding what it is that needs justifying than the person asking the questions does

Character attempts to brazen their way out of a compromising position by pretending to be unaware of an object they’re holding in their hands

Character apparently displays great bravery in the face of overwhelming peril, only for it to become clear after the fact that they had no idea the threat existed

Character reassures others that a particular problem is nothing to worry about by pointing out another, far more urgent problem

Character reveals that they possess some skill or resource that would have allowed them to save the day at any time, but didn’t realise it was relevant until just then

Character threatens a would-be assailant with an innocuous object they insist against all appearances is actually a deadly weapon

Character brightly announces they’ve solved the problem at hand, then proceeds to reveal that they’ve completely misidentified what the problem actually is

Hello, I am writing a book where rather than having one main character/protagonist there is multiple characters that are sort of 'focused' on in third person. I have been looking into this for some time and many resources simply say 'your main character' and I struggle with what I am meant to do if I have more than one character. Am I searching for the wrong things here? Have I bitten off more than I can chew and do you have any resources for writing more than one MC?

Balancing multiple main characters...

The key to this balance is smooth transition and a balance of “screen time”. The story lines must be evenly balanced and prioritized in the actual text and the overall plot/conflict.

It’s definitely challenging to incorporate multiple focus characters and storylines, but it’s not impossible. It’s more time you’ll have to spend on character development, and then weaving the plots together in a way that feels balanced and purposeful. This can be as simple as utilizing format, and as complex as jumbling all of the separate conflicts and background noises together without pulling the reader in a million different directions. 

I have a few resources you may find helpful as you go along, but the overall piece of advice I have on this is to focus on an even distribution of time, energy, and care into each character and their own stories, and then make sure it all fits nicely by the end. 

How To Fit Character Development Into Your Story

Giving Characters Distinct Voices in Dialogue

Tips on Character Consistency

Resources For Plot Development

Guide To Plot Development

Tackling Subplots

Plot Structures

Pacing Appropriately

Tips on Introducing Backstory

What To Cut Out of Your Story

Tips on Balancing Development

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Masterlist | WIP Blog

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