Excellent Tips And Habits For Writers

Commonly misused phrases!

idioms or sayings that people say more often than they write, so when they write it it's usually wrong.

Once in a while, not 'once and a while.'

Per se, not 'per say.'

For all intents and purposes, not 'for all intensive purposes'

Irregardless is not a word, actually, it's either 'regardless' or 'in regards'. ir- as a prefix means 'without' but so does the suffix 'less'. So if you write 'irregardless' you are writing 'without a lack of regard' which means 'in regards to.' double negative, yeah?

By and large, not 'by in large'.

I could care less vs I couldn't care less. First one means 'yeah I don't mind it, it's whatever.' second one (correct) means "I fucking hate that thing my opinions are in the basement of hell."

"leaves much to be desired" correctly is "lacking in appearance/utility", not "beautiful." What it means is, "that thing is so bad, it does not satisfy my aesthetic/utilitarian needs for it and I desire something better." not, "I desire that thing so much because it's gorgeous."

"Leaving little to the imagination" means you can see/understand all of it. it does not mean 'modest', idk which one of you fucks started that but no. wrong. A sweater leaves a lot to the imagination because you can't see any of the person. Lingerie leaves 'little to the imagination' because you can see everything, you don't have to imagine it. in terms of understanding, 'little to the imagination' would be a very thorough explanation rather than a vague outline.

if you have any others you want me to include, lmk!

xox byeeee

Readers aren’t stupid. If a character is crying, you don’t need to add “because she was sad.” They’ll get it.

I decided to finally get into Toni Morrison. I’m in love and I’ve only read part of the forward

writing badly and cringily is actually an essential part of the writing process, both in terms of individual projects and in gaining voice and confidence as a writer in the long term. there is no way around the cringe. there's no way around the work.

I opened my asks so if you want to bounce writing thoughts off another person, you can.

But just so you know, my policy in life is that if I don't know what to say, I don't say anything, so I won't have a response for everything. I'm just a guy

I think I’ve been putting too much pressure on myself lately. I’m trying to revise some poems for my slam team and write a second draft of a fic (that is almost a complete rewrite because I wanna change too much), and I’ve been struggling to get anything done because I want my writing to sound like my favorite writers.

I will try to let go and see how much I get done before I go over to friends house in about an hour

You know it’s bad when you’re writing a fictional story and wonder if you’re a genuinely bad person for what you’re about to inflict upon these characters

shipping isn’t about what the writers or actors say is or isn’t romantic. shipping isn’t even about romance a good percentage of the time. shipping is about seeing The Dynamic and going absolutely hog wild in your mind and your friends dms about it.

No seriously, writing “I” and “me” is so gross! Like do I switch to third person so I don’t fight nausea every sentence?

Writing Intimacy

i often see writers sharing a sentiment of struggling with writing kiss scenes which honestly bleeds into other portrayals of physical intimacy. i see it a lot in modernized styles of writing popularized by the recent trend in publishing to encourage short, choppy sentences and few adverbs, even less descriptive language. this makes intimacy come across awkward, like someone writing a script or clumsy recounting of events rather than a beautiful paragraph of human connection.

or just plane horniness. but hey, horny doesn't have to be mutually exclusive with poetic or sensual.

shallow example: they kissed desperately, tongues swirling and she moaned. it made her feel warm inside.

in depth example: she reached for the other woman slowly and with a small measure of uncertainty. the moment her fingers brushed the sharp, soft jaw of her companion, eliza's hesitance slid away. the first kiss was gentle when she finally closed the distance between them. she pressed her lips lightly to gabriella's in silent exploration. a tender question. gabriella answered by meeting her kiss with a firmer one of her own. eliza felt the woman's fingers curling into her umber hair, fingernails scraping along her scalp. everything inside eliza relaxed and the nervousness uncoiled from her gut. a warm buzz of energy sunk through her flesh down to the very core of her soul. this was right. this was always where she needed to be.

the first complaint i see regards discomfort in writing a kiss, feeling like one is intruding on the characters. the only way to get around this is to practice. anything that makes you uncomfortable in writing is something you should explore. writing is at its best when we are pushing the envelope of our own comfort zones. if it feels cringy, if it feels too intimate, too weird, too intrusive, good. do it anyway! try different styles, practice it, think about which parts of it make you balk the most and then explore that, dissect it and dive into getting comfortable with the portrayal of human connection.

of course the biggest part comes to not knowing what to say other than "they kissed" or, of course, the tried and true "their lips crashed and their tongues battled for dominance" 😐. so this is my best advice: think beyond the mouth. okay, we know their mouths are mashing. but what are their hands doing? are they touching one another's hair? are they scratching or gripping desperately at one another? are they gliding their hands along each other's body or are they wrapping their arms tightly to hold each other close? do they sigh? do they groan? do they relax? do they tense? are they comfortable with each other or giddy and uncertain? is it a relief, or is it bringing more questions? is it building tension or finally breaking it?

get descriptive with the emotions. how is it making the main character/pov holder feel? how are they carrying those emotions in their body? how do they feel the desire in their body? desire is not just felt below the belt. it's in the gut, it's in the chest, it's in the flushing of cheeks, the chills beneath the skin, the goosebumps over the surface of the flesh. everyone has different pleasure zones. a kiss might not always lead desire for overtly sexual touches. a kiss might lead to the desire for an embrace. a kiss might lead to the impulse to bite or lick at other areas. a kiss could awaken desire to be caressed or caress the neck, the shoulder, the back, the arms etc. describe that desire, show those impulses of pleasure and affection.

of course there is the tactile. what does the love interest taste like? what do they smell like? how do they kiss? rough and greedy? slow and sensual? explorative and hesitant? expertly or clumsily? how does it feel to be kissed by them? how does it feel to kiss them?

i.e. examine who these individuals are, what their motives and feelings are within that moment, who they are together, what it looks like when these two individuals come together. a kiss is not about the mouth. it's about opening the door to vulnerability and desire in one's entire body and soul.