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writing tips for people who aren’t assholes and/or just subtweeting she-ra and star wars
(yes I am subtweeting that thread, no I don’t care if that’s hypocritical)
(yes I am subtweeting that thread, no I don’t care if that’s hypocritical)
Twists and mysteries are fun and spoilers are real; just don’t bend your plot out of shape to make it “unexpected”.
Get the main couple together whenever it makes sense, if you even have a main couple. Beginning, middle, and end all have things going for them and create different tones, so don’t feel restricted to one story structure
Friends to lovers and enemies to lover, and many other configurations, can all make good stories. Write what you enjoy and make it enjoyable; you’ll never please everyone.
Recovery from abuse often involves recognizing and owning the ways that you hurt others during it. Including this in your stories is good.
Your protagonist does not have to be purely good or make only good decisions, nor should your villain be purely evil.
queer kisses are great, have as many of them in your story as you like. Don’t feel limited to just the main pair or just when they get together. Messy relationships are interesting.
Your story should stand alone, but discussing bonus facts and ideas on social media or elsewhere is fine and fun for fans.
“Redemption” is a nebulous concept in fiction and can be handled however you want, so long as it feels true and satisfying to your readers. If you don’t want to hold your characters to the standards of our real modern world, you do not have to.
putting bigotry and harmful stereotypes of real marginalized groups in your work, and then justifying it as “making sense in the universe”, is bullshit. You can and should choose not to recreate real bigotry in your fictional world.
Pair whoever you want with whoever you want, depending on the effect & mood you want to create (though find a way to warn if you’re going with a potentially triggering relationship).
Some exploration of teenage sexuality, age, maturity, etc. can be very interesting. All adults have experienced teenage sexuality and can relate to it, after all. If it’s just gratuitous sexualization of teens for an adult gaze, that’s just probably not a great story
Metaphors for marginalized groups can be great and allow us to explore aspects of those identities in fiction without getting Too Real, but they aren’t a substitute for actual representation.
Learn about tokenism and the stereotypes of a marginalized group you’re hoping to represent. In general, it’s probably best to avoid these.
Sexy outfits are fine. Just say you wanted them in a sexy outfit. Don’t throw out bullshit in-universe explanations for the sexy outfit. Everybody knows why it’s there, you’re just making yourself look guilty.
ADDENDUM: if the inclusion of the sexy outfit or sexy situation is majorly out of character, detracts from the plot, or is the only reason a character exists, consider whether that’s really the story you want to tell. Do you just want to make softcore porn?
Experiment with different writing methods. If you’re frequently getting writers block or needing to rewrite huge chunks from scratch, maybe look up different methods and try something new. Some writers can improvise; some have binders full of planning. What matters is finishing.
Most popular stories are driven by character relationships. People like stories about people. If you’re going for broad appeal, this is good to keep in mind.
Genre shifting can be great and add depth, variety, and emotional resonance if done well; just stay conscious of the effect you’re having on your audience. It can also cause whiplash, boredom, and dissonance if done poorly.
We need more queer stories of all kinds. Good relationships, loving relationships, bad relationships, ugly relationships, messy relationships. More of all of the above. In general, just write what you enjoy reading, but make it queer.
You can and should listen to criticism and also block people who hate your story and are shouting about it in bad faith. These aren’t mutually exclusive.
Sensitivity readers are great. Hire them for professional works, don’t ask them to do it for free.
Last one: write a good story that’s fun to write, fun to read, and includes a variety of people. Stay humble, respect others, but don’t let a fear of doing it wrong keep you from doing it at all. Write for yourself first.
- <3, Sim
- <3, Sim
