Today In Niche Genres Of Joke That I Can Never Get Enough Of And Will Probably Still Be Secretly Thinking

Returning to writing after a break is like having the old Windows startup sound playing on a loop in your head.

“we were lovers in a past life” trope but the current incarnations are enemy-to-lovers trope. when. 

How to Research for Diversity

Introduction

Inevitably, you’re going to be writing characters who have had much different experiences than you, whether that’s due to race, ethnicity, religion, and much more. The best way to understand and properly represent these characters is to do research--a lot of it. A few Google searches isn’t going to cut it. Yes, the research and reading process for writing minorities is long and tedious. But it’s worth it when someone can relate to that character, see themselves in that character, or look up to that character. Properly representing us is important because we want to see ourselves in the stories we read, and giving us that boosts our confidence in ourselves and our culture!

Make it matter

If you’re making a character diverse just for the sake of being diverse, stop and reconsider. Your representation needs to be genuine. You can’t just throw in an Asian character because you feel like your cast isn’t diverse enough. Diversity shouldn’t be forced. You don’t need to have a character of every race in your book. But you should research for what you do have.

You don’t always have tap into a character’s background if the plot doesn’t call for it. But knowing that background 1.) allows you to understand them better, and 2.) allows people to relate to them, both of which are very valuable. Your representation needs to feel natural. Bringing up diversity casually throughout the story is the best way to do that.

What you should never do is define a character by their minority or oppression. Above all else, your character should be just that--a character, and a well-rounded one at that.

Record your research

You’re never going to be able to remember everything that you look up. So, write it all down. That could mean doing it the old-school way, aka handwriting (kudos to anyone who does this) or dumping it all in a word processor (I recommend Google Docs because it has the “outline” feature that allows you to go to a specific place when you need it).

I would suggest categorizing your research, preferably into separate documents. Here are some ideas for how you can divide it:

Names

Language

Music

Normal/formal clothing

Stereotypes in literature and other media

Food for everyday and formal occasions

Holidays and special occasions

Restrictions and taboos

Researching on the Internet

It can be really tempting to just click the first link that pops up--most likely Wikipedia--on the Internet, do a 10-second fact check, and call it a day. But that’s not enough. Wikipedia is a good source if you’re looking for general information, but even better are the citations at the bottom. These lead you to trustworthy sites.

You should also look up organizations and official websites of minorities. These websites are more likely to be reliable. In the US, these websites commonly end in “.org” or “.gov.” Other countries have different website domains--there’s a list on Wikipedia here.

Read blogs and articles that people have written about themselves and others. Government-run websites may be important, but personal accounts are just as valuable. Look up online encyclopedias as well--for example, the Encyclopedia Britannica is a great resource, and it ends in “.com”. By contrast, paper encyclopedias are more likely to become outdated, and they can’t be edited.

Consume media by marginalized people--this one is pretty self-explanatory. Read books by marginalized authors, fiction or nonfiction. Watch TV shows and movies directed by marginalized people. Keep doing this until it's barely a conscious decision to choose marginalized media.

Include other people

This is one of the most effective research methods you can employ because it involves only primary sources, while researching on your own involves primary and secondary sources. First, prepare a list of questions that aren’t easily answerable by the Internet. It helps if you specifically relate them to your book. For example, you might ask someone their opinion on a certain character who has a certain arc. Interview as many people as possible. Even characters in a single minority are vastly diverse!

When you’re done with your book, you’ll want to enlist sensitivity readers. Sensitivity readers are different from beta readers because they specifically critique a book’s representation. Looking at their feedback, you’ll be able to see recurring mistakes and flaws in your characters.

Social media

Social media is extremely valuable for talking to a variety of people and seeing different perspectives.

First, follow people of the minorities you’re researching. I would suggest a mixture of “ordinary” people and celebrities. Observe how they might include facets of their culture in their day-to-day life, and how they might speak about issues concerning their culture. You can also (politely) ask if they can answer your questions.

Another thing you can do is look at memes--yes, you read that right! Memes made by marginalized people depict common struggles and relatable situations, which is extremely valuable (and entertaining!).

Media representation tests

You may have heard of the Bechdel test--2 or more female characters have a conversation that isn’t about guys. This is just one of the many media representation tests out there. Media representation tests check your work against stereotypes and misrepresentation, although they aren't comprehensive or completely accurate--sometimes, there are exceptions. Here are a handful of tests:

“Sexy lamp” test (women)

Ellen-Willis test (women)

Deggans rule (race in general)

Vito-Russo test (LGBTQ+)

Topside test (trans people)

Duvernay test (race in general)

Maisy test (sexism in children’s media)

Mako-Mori test (women)

Ris test (Muslims)

Villalobos test (Latina women)

Waithe test (Black women)

Imperfection

No matter how much you research, understand your representation will never be perfect because people have such vastly different experiences. And that’s okay! The best you can do is keep learning and listen when people point out your mistakes.

I love the phrase "they get along like a house on fire". It's perfect. You and me have perfect chemistry and it's setting off the carbon monoxide detectors. People are calling emergency services to get us to stop being so chummy. Someone died

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

Twitter

Canva

Phonto

PicsArt

Polarr

VideoStar

Pinterest

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

My writing advice for new writers

masterlist. main navigation.

@bluebxlle_writer on Instagram

1. Write for yourself

This is the #1 tip I will always give to writers, so you've probably heard me say this a few times. Don't write for others, but write for yourself.

People have different tastes. There will always be some who dislike your book, and some who consider it their favorite. Lots of people hate famous books like Percy Jackson or Six Of Crows, and I'm sure you've disliked a popular book before. So instead of writing a book that others would read, start writing a book that you would read. If you end up liking your book, I can assure you that many others will too.

2. Flesh out characters

When you're excited to write a new WIP, you might delay your character building process and decide to start writing while trying to figure out the characterization on the way. I've done this a couple of times, thinking that it would speed up my writing process, but trust me, it did not. It actually slowed down my writing instead.

If you start writing your wip without at least finishing 80% of your character building process, you'll find yourself getting stuck in scenes, not knowing what your character would say or do, which is very inconvenient.

If you ever get bored of character building and really want to start writing instead, I suggest writing one-shots unrelated to your WIP. By doing this, you don't have to worry about writing your characters out of character, and its actually useful to their characterization process.

3. Experiment!

If you feel like there's something off with your writing, or you're beginning to feel that writing is a chore for you, experiment with different writing techniques. Switch up your genre, time period, plotting method, etc.

For reference, I used to be a pantser who writes plot-driven mystery stories. But now, I'm more comfortable with being a plantser who writes character-driven low fantasy stories! Basically, don't be afraid of change, because it might help you later.

4. Know your ending

In my opinion, the most important thing to consider while writing a story is your ending - not your beginning or middle. You can rewrite your beginning chapters anytime, and you can always figure out your middle chapters later, noone knows how to write the middle of a story anyway.

But if you don't know the ending of your story, you're screwed, buddy. Without knowing how your story ends, you can't write the events that build up to that ending.

You're unsure about your novel's ending at first and decided to throw in a last minute plot twist? That means you've been foreshadowing the wrong ending the whole book, and you gotta rewrite. You don't know how your characters will develop throughout the book? You won't be able to write the journey of their arc throughout the story. Hassling, right? That's why, try not to start writing your WIP without having a possible ending in mind.

5. If you write, you're valid.

Nowadays, the standards of being a writer is that you have to write a full-length novel and be traditionally published. This isn't true, not even the slightest.

You write poetry? You're a writer and valid. You're a screenwriter? Bro, look at the word. ScreenWRITER. valid. You write fanfictions? Valid, and you're not cringey. You have NO idea how much I worship fanfiction writers for writing what canon won't give us. You're writing but don't want to be published? You're still valid. As long as you write, you're valid, because that's the whole point of being a writer.

6. Don't follow every single tip

There's a reason why they're called writing tips, not rules. You're not meant to follow every single one of them, they're only meant to guide you on the way. Some will be useful, some won't, depending on yourself. So please, don't be pressured to follow every writing tip you see.

writing first drafts.

credit : halloween.writes on instagram 🍯

sources : masterclass.com

Set a goal.

Write down the main points, and donʼt worry about how everything flows, and if everything is perfect. Give yourself deadlines on certain exercises so you donʼt waste time writing things that youʼll most likely edit out, or eventually change in other drafts. Stick to a schedule, or a certain amount of pages or hours you write in a day.

Prewrite.

What is prewriting? Itʼs the first step before writing your novel! Some examples are brainstorming, freewriting, journal writing, listing, and outlining.

Prewriting is helpful for getting started, and can be doing writing prompts or other writing exercises. This allows for you to write freely without a strict guideline to follow, or any at all, which is also useful for stimulating creativity when you’re suffering from writer’s block.

Let your ideas flow!

Your rough draft is where you let your wild ideas run free, with nothing holding you back (besides yourself, of course). Don’t be shy to experiment with point of view, or holding back ideas that might be worthy of sharing! This is the draft for your eyes only, so you donʼt need to hold back and feel the weight of self-consciousness weighing you down.

Outline (or donʼt).

Prewriting is also about outlining the structure of your piece, like the sketch for an illustration; not all of them require it. But if you do like to know where youʼre trying to head, outline would be the best bet. It helps you see all the pieces in front of you, either in detailed pages that make your computer lag, or in simple bullet points. It also helps you figure out which bits are necessary with story flow, and which ones drag and donʼt let the story move on smoothly.

Forget editing.

When you’re writing your first draft, donʼt worry about grammar, or writing complete sentences—or ones that make much sense. Leave the editing process for future you. As long as you can read the manuscript, and it makes sense to you, youʼre going in the right direction. You can worry about all the little mistakes for later drafts.

Start wherever.

Start in the middle of a big battle, where your main character is kicking enemy behind, or wherever you may please! Start in a place where you feel most stimulated or motivated to write, what makes you feel most excited to write. You don’t have to weigh yourself downby writing each thing in chronological order and having to bore yourself with facts you already knew. Writing a novel, or anything really, is a long journey, and you want to stay entertained throughout.

Take breaks.

Taking breaks is fundamental to any kind of creative process, especially those that deal with easy burnout. Sometimes you just have ti step away from your first draft and come back with fresh eyes.

Finishing it.

Donʼt start your next draft until you feel like your current one is finished, and the sooner you get it done, the better! Sticking to your goals and putting in the time and effort into making something truly yours is what will make you happy and fulfilled with your final draft in the long run.

You know. Reading is important. Because I'm like always trying to make every line I write this groundbreaking mindfucking art but like. A book is 90% just saying what happened. "I hugged him around the waist." "The chair was brown and overstuffed." "I woke up alone." Etc etc. Like normal ass lines. I just keep comparing my boring, necessary to set a scene lines, with famous authors' absolute best lines and like.... every line doesn't have to shatter the earth. Sometimes someone just sits in a chair and the lines that wreck you come later, one at a time, here and there. It's alright.

how to write the second draft

@writingwithacutlass on instagram

source: https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-write-a-second-draft#why-do-you-need-a-second-draft

hello and welcome back to my page! this post was requested some time ago and i finally got around to making it. second drafts are arguably the hardest draft to write, since you are taking your jumbled mess of a first draft and rewriting it to be more cohesive and organized. although picking apart your novel is a painstaking process, it’s a necessary step that will improve your novel and make you a better writer in the process. here are five tips on how to write the second draft!

take a break, then return to your draft with fresh eyes

especially if this is your first novel, only start your second draft after you’ve had adequate time away from it. creating distance between you and personal work can give your mind time to reset and detach from particular ideas. certain story elements may feel necessary but don’t actually fit into the story, or your story may need something, but you’re not sure how to implement it. taking a break can help you view your writing from a previously unseen angle that can bring more refreshing ideas to the table and help you get through your second draft. take some distance from your writing to brainstorm new scenes.

understand your chaos

your first draft got your ideas down and, hopefully, created a loosely structured beginning, middle, and end. however, the first time you go through the whole thing, it will probably feel overwhelming—and it should. go into your first chapter knowing there will be big changes and improvements to be made. you’ll cut some things and add others, but don’t be afraid. if it starts to go off into a direction you’re not happy with, or if you have no idea how to continue forward from what you’ve rewritten, you can always reconfigure. that’s what second drafts are for.

break it up into separate goals

you don’t have to comb through your second draft beginning to end and address everything along the way. setting goals to address each element of your first draft, like working on emotional character arcs first, or solidifying the bare bones of your plot through each chapter can help you divide and conquer each necessary aspect of your story that needs to come together in a cohesive manner. once all these elements have been solidified individually, you can piece them together in a way that makes your second draft feel more manageable.

track your narrative

read through each plot point or chapter and see if the narrative tracks. make notes on anything that stands out to you or doesn’t feel as smooth. are events moving logically or sequentially into the next? are character goals clearly defined? does each new chapter feel connected to the last? it may be a rough version you’re going through, but these elements should be in place in order for you to analyze it accurately. your subplots should feel natural to the central story and characters you’ve created—they should just be added fodder to take up space. ensure there aren’t any redundant scenes or a repeat of information that doesn’t need to be explained again.

don’t proofread until the end

it’s tempting to go back and fix all your errors, but unless you’re in your third stage or fourth stage, this may end up being a waste of time. correcting typos and grammar should be saved for your final draft, as the entire writing process will entail rewriting, restructuring, and reorganizing until the moment you’re ready to publish.