You Ever Start Writing Something And You’re Like Almost Finished But Then You Suddenly Decide You Hate

“Don’t wait until the last minute to do your assignments!”

listen. I don’t. But I am always trapped in a vicious cycle.

And the only thing that breaks this cycle is the dread of an imminent deadline

the suffering never ends

WEIRDLY SPECIFIC BUT HELPFUL CHARACTER BUILDING QUESTIONS

What’s the lie your character says most often?

How loosely or strictly do they use the word ‘friend’?

How often do they show their genuine emotions to others versus just the audience knowing?

What’s a hobby they used to have that they miss?

Can they cry on command? If so, what do they think about to make it happen?

What’s their favorite [insert anything] that they’ve never recommended to anyone before?

What would you (mun) yell in the middle of a crowd to find them? What would their best friend and/or romantic partner yell?

How loose is their use of the phrase ‘I love you’?

Do they give tough love or gentle love most often? Which do they prefer to receive?

What fact do they excitedly tell everyone about at every opportunity?

If someone was impersonating them, what would friends / family ask or do to tell the difference?

What’s something that makes them laugh every single time? Be specific!

When do they fake a smile? How often?

How do they put out a candle?

What’s the most obvious difference between their behavior at home, at work, at school, with friends, and when they’re alone?

What kinds of people do they have arguments with in their head?

What do they notice first in the mirror versus what most people first notice looking at them?

Who do they love truly, 100% unconditionally (if anyone)?

What would they do if stuck in a room with the person they’ve been avoiding?

Who do they like as a person but hate their work? Vice versa, whose work do they like but don’t like the person?

What common etiquette do they disagree with? Do they still follow it?

What simple activity that most people do / can do scares your character?

What do they feel guilty for that the other person(s) doesn’t / don’t even remember?

Did they take a cookie from the cookie jar? What kind of cookie was it?

What subject / topic do they know a lot about that’s completely useless to the direct plot?

How would they respond to being fired by a good boss?

What’s the worst gift they ever received? How did they respond?

What do they tell people they want? What do they actually want?

How do they respond when someone doesn’t believe them?

When they make a mistake and feel bad, does the guilt differ when it’s personal versus when it’s professional?

When do they feel the most guilt? How do they respond to it?

If they committed one petty crime / misdemeanor, what would it be? Why?

How do they greet someone they dislike / hate?

How do they greet someone they like / love?

What is the smallest, morally questionable choice they’ve made?

Who do they keep in their life for professional gain? Is it for malicious intent?

What’s a secret they haven’t told serious romantic partners and don’t plan to tell?

What hobby are they good at in private, but bad at in front of others? Why?

Would they rather be invited to an event to feel included or be excluded from an event if they were not genuinely wanted there?

How do they respond to a loose handshake? What goes through their head?

What phrases, pronunciations, or mannerisms did they pick up from someone / somewhere else?

If invited to a TED Talk, what topic would they present on? What would the title of their presentation be?

What do they commonly misinterpret because of their own upbringing / environment / biases? How do they respond when realizing the misunderstanding?

What language would be easiest for them to learn? Why?

What’s something unimportant / frivolous that they hate passionately?

Are they a listener or a talker? If they’re a listener, what makes them talk? If they’re a talker, what makes them listen?

Who have they forgotten about that remembers them very well?

Who would they say ‘yes’ to if invited to do something they abhorred / strongly didn’t want to do?

Would they eat something they find gross to be polite?

What belief / moral / personality trait do they stand by that you (mun) personally don’t agree with?

What’s a phrase they say a lot?

Do they act on their immediate emotions, or do they wait for the facts before acting?

Who would / do they believe without question?

What’s their instinct in a fight / flight / freeze / fawn situation?

What’s something they’re expected to enjoy based on their hobbies / profession that they actually dislike / hate?

If they’re scared, who do they want comfort from? Does this answer change depending on the type of fear?

What’s a simple daily activity / motion that they mess up often?

How many hobbies have they attempted to have over their lifetime? Is there a common theme?

There's a post floating around the tumbls to the tune of "stop writing your characters like they're winning at therapy." The overall thrust of this "advice" seems to be that it's not interesting characterization or good fiction to write characters who already have good self-awareness and the ability to communicate with the people around them.  The strong implication of the post was that self-awareness and therapy are boring, so don't put them to paper.  

There's another post that's a kind of follow up, talking in a more nuanced way about how characters, like real-life people, may well have extreme difficulty 1) identifying the emotions they're having, much less 2) being able to talk about them, or 3) being willing or feeling safe enough to say it aloud.  It's not such an intentionally quelling piece of direction about how to write effectively, but it still comes down on the side of "conflict makes for more interesting reading in the end." 

The other implication of "this isn't good writing" is that those kinds of stories do not hold value, and that conflict has a very narrow meaning.

It's true that people grow up in all kinds of situations that affect their understanding of their feelings, much less their ability to communicate them or ask for help. Those folks may struggle alone for a long time before they are in a place where it's safe to slow down and think things through.  Some folks may never get to that place, and it's important to read their stories and struggles.

It's true, too, that there are people who are naturally more self aware, who are able to speak up for themselves regardless of any past trauma or any ongoing anxiety disorder or whatever other thing might have otherwise hampered their insight and communication about their needs and desires. Their current success doesn't mean their story isn't worth penning.

Here's what the "don't write it, it's not realistic" crowd and the "don't write it, most people don't have these skills" folks fail to answer: why is it wrong to write and read stories where the characters behave like self-actualized people who love themselves enough to spend the time doing the work getting over their shit, and who love and respect the people around them enough to communicate clearly with them?  Why is it wrong for a writer to give a reader a lens into a world where some people reach a point in their life where they don't have to deal with drama, understand why they feel a certain way, and take affirmative steps to solve their problems?  Why is it wrong for some writers and readers to want a story where there isn't conflict, and where there is a calm, peaceful ending for everybody involved?

"Conflict's more interesting!" 

Maybe, but it also contributes to stress, anxiety, depression, physical health issues, sleep disruption, anger issues, violence, crime, self-harm, and suicide.  Acting like everyone ought to be writing conflict instead of healthy communication is racist, ableist, and classist as hell-- pretty mean-spirited, too, if all you care about is the drama.  It's also incredibly intellectually lazy.

It's pretty rude to assume you know what all writers ought to write, or what all readers must read.

People write for all kinds of reasons, and people read looking for all kinds of things-- mirrors of their own life, but also windows with views onto something they might not have been able to imagine before reading your story. 

Some people have already been through the wringer and did the work, and want to write a world where they can remind ourselves and other people that it's possible to do the work-- even when it's hard-- and end up on the other side of things in a better place.  We've been through conflict, and we don't want anyone else to have to go through it, either. We want to share our tools and coping mechanisms and reframing devices so that others who are having a hard time while they are reading have at least one positive view that gives the reader permission.  Stories that write about winning at therapy are important, because they say this: 

"Go ahead, you're allowed.  Acknowledge that what's happening to you isn't fair or healthy.  Admit that you deserve better, because you know that the character in this story is like you and you can see clearly for them what's still hard to accept for yourself.  Understand that you're not a failure for having strong feelings. Know that it's not selfish to take care of yourself and to read the books/see the therapists/erect the boundaries/take the meds you need in order to feel like life can be better."

Getting better and staying that way isn't boring or unrealistic, and neither is writing about it. One of the hardest stories I ever wrote was a story about communicating about mismatched needs. When it was done, I reread it and saw-- oh, I need to do the thing I just put my characters through the therapeutic exercise of figuring out for themselves.  It was embarassing, to know myself better through fiction writing than through therapy-- but the process of writing let me figure out on paper what I wanted to happen. The kick in the teeth of realizing it wouldn't happen was what let me make a hard decision-- that my story gave me permission to make.  And then I published the fic, which was more embarrassing because there were several folks IRL who realized what it meant for my offline life. I published it anyway, and few years ago, someone read the fic and commented something along the lines of:  "I'm going to therapy and making X decision because of reading this fic." 

My uninteresting story about a character telling another character that they needed to talk some things through and get help?  It helped someone else.  And it was a popular story, because lots of people who read it understood-- the struggle to understand yourself and your needs is one of the hardest conflicts all of us face, and coming out on the other end of it is a victory that we deserve to share with others, in the hope that they'll see a way through too. 

So, dearly beloveds-- please be assured that you have at least one writer's permission to write boring, uninteresting stories about people who know how to solve their own problems and put on their own emotional oxygen mask before helping others.  I, for one, can't wait to read your story and tell you how much I enjoyed it, and how happy I am that you're sharing that kind of success and the hope it might give to others.  

Certain words can change your brain forever and ever so you do have to be very careful about it.

Hi Neil, as someone who wants to write and can't bring themselves to write, despite loving writing and wanting to write; how do you write? Is there a magical way to make yourself write? Or is the truth more honest and genuine: that writing is the way to write?

I have half a novel, a deep desire to write, and an inability to make my fingers type the words.

How do I circumvent this? Or, as I suspect, is there truly no shortcut?

There's no shortcut. You polish a chair with your bottom, get through the backache and the bad days and you write it, one word at a time.

This is amazing, I wish more creative teachers gave this advice

"Stop saying 15 year olds with weird interests are cringe, they're 15" this is true however you should also stop saying adults with weird interests are cringe because who gives a shit

Luminol is a powder which is made up of oxygen, hydrogen,nitrogen, and carbon. It glows luminous blue when it comes into contact with blood, even minuscule amounts of blood and even after the area has been cleaned. The glow of luminol only lasts for around 30 seconds but it can be captured through a camera. It’s often used as a last resort because the reaction can destroy the evidence.

learning from the reblogs of that post that there's a lot of people out there under the impression that "kill your darlings" means "kill your characters" and that's the funniest possible interpretation of that phrase

Go to any town in America, big or small, and the nicest looking building is their public library. Followed by the Post Office.

They are built by the public for the public.

Regressives and conservatives can't fathom helping others without a transaction in return.

The first places fascists attack/destroy are libraries. Connect the dots.