May You Find Warmth And Welcome

Bad pacing is the most common problem I see in stories, regardless of medium. I tried reading a new fantasy book today that had good prose, decent characters, and a world with a lot of potential. But the way it was paced killed all investment I had or could've had in it.

Also, the way people talk about pacing is very rudimentary and shallow. The criticism is either "pacing too slow" or "pacing too fast" and that's it. No room for nuance and no explanation for what makes a certain pace too fast or slow.

Makes me want to write a short guide on how to pace stories properly, or at the very least a "what to avoid" guide.

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.

This is important, also might help avoid procrastination as leaving a project unfinished does not equal abandoning it, you can always come back to it

Friendly reminder to all the writers on here:

You don’t owe anyone good writing.

You don’t owe anyone a complete storyline written in order.

You can jump around. You can abandon projects. You can write really shitty stories! Writing is about telling stories and creating worlds. Not about what makes your followers happy.

I have to remind myself of this a lot, because in most of my stories I’ve gotten stuck and don’t know where to go. But you can jump around. You can skip parts. It doesn’t matter.

Write what makes you happy.

12 Emotional Wounds in Fiction Storys

Betraying a Loved One. Your character made a choice, and it backfired, badly. They betrayed someone close to them, maybe on purpose, maybe by accident. Now, the guilt’s eating them alive. They might try to fix things, but can they even make up for what they did?

Guilt Over a Past Mistake. They made a mistake, one that cost someone else. Maybe it was reckless, maybe it was a dumb decision, but now it haunts them. They can’t stop thinking about it, and no matter how hard they try to make things right, the past keeps pulling them back.

Survivor’s Guilt. Imagine surviving something awful, an accident, a disaster, but someone else didn’t make it. Now your character is stuck asking, “Why me? Why am I still here?” They push people away, convinced they don’t deserve to be happy or even alive.

Feeling Powerless. Your character is trapped, maybe in an abusive home, a toxic relationship, or just in life itself. They feel stuck, with no control over their own future.

Being Wrongly Accused. They didn’t do it. But no one believes them. Your character has been falsely accused of something serious, maybe even a crime and now they’re fighting to clear their name. It’s not just about proving their innocence, though. They’re also battling the pain of being abandoned by people who were supposed to stand by them.

Public Humiliation. They’ve just been humiliated in front of everyone, maybe it’s a video gone viral, or they were betrayed by someone they trusted. Now, they can’t even look people in the eye.

Living in Someone’s Shadow. No matter what they do, it’s never enough. Someone else, a sibling, a friend, a partner, always shines brighter. They feel stuck in that person’s shadow, invisible and overlooked.

Abandoning a Dream. They had big dreams, but somewhere along the way, life got in the way, and now they’ve given up. Maybe it was because of fear or circumstances beyond their control, but the loss of that dream has left them feeling empty.

Childhood Trauma. Something happened to them when they were young, something painful that still affects them today. Whether it was abuse, neglect, or a significant loss, the trauma follows them into adulthood, shaping how they see themselves and the world.

Being an Outsider. They’ve never felt like they fit in, whether because of their background, their personality, or something else. They long for acceptance but fear they’ll never find it.

Struggling with Addiction. They’re caught in a destructive cycle, whether it’s with substances, behaviors, or even people. The shame and struggle to break free from addiction are real and raw.

Living with Chronic Illness. They’re living with a chronic illness or disability, and it’s not just the physical challenges that weigh them down, it’s the emotional toll, too. Maybe they feel isolated, or like they’re a burden to others.

sometimes you need dialogue tags and don't want to use the same four

meet ugly steddie au where steve gets broken up with for the first time since moving blasts his favourite song and has to find a new delivery place for his comfort breakup food and opens the door absolutely sobbing starts to cry harder when he sees how hot the delivery man is and tips through tears meanwhile eddie hears wham playing at horrific volumes while walking to the door to give the food and expects a party or smth but at least a customer he doesn’t want to deal with only for it to be this one incredibly hot guy who looks like a puppy thats been kicked while its down

writing tactic:

divide your story into bullet points. one for everything you want to happen. combine similar ones together, and you have a list of bullet points.

each bullet is a chapter. try and write at least two to three pages per chapter. pick one a day.

do you ever just … picture a whole scene, a whole fanfiction in your head, you know how to place every single word of the english dictionary that you need (or your language dictionary), you know how to structure your sentences, you know just what your characters are going to say to each other and then… and then you just open microsoft word.

what is writing you ask

well, sometimes it's being in front of Word and typing sometimes it's spending forty minutes watching advanced tips and tricks on blacksmithing in order to understand a subject you know absolutely nothing about