Latest Posts by emilerry - Page 5
You’re writing PTSD dreams wrong
But don’t worry, most writers are and I’m here to help because reading them is making me cRAzY.
I’m writing this because I’ve read three otherwise great romance novels back to back featuring characters dealing with PTSD (or PTSD symptoms) and each one of them made the same dream mistakes. I honestly can’t think of a fiction book I’ve read that didn’t make these mistakes, so I thought I’d compile a handy dandy list of mistakes and how to fix them.
Lucky for you, I have PTSD and a ton of fellow veteran friends who deal with these symptoms.
*This is based on my experience and things told to me by friends. This is not to say that the below doesn’t happen in real life, only that it’s not as common as you might think.
The issue with these dreams is twofold: on one side is the psychological accuracy of the dream and on the other side is how you’re using the dream within the narrative.
Oh an Black Sails spoilers-ish ahead.
1) Stop writing the dream as a shot-by-shot accurate retelling of Traumatic Event.
Listen, not only do dreams seldom follow reality, but our own memories are tricky at best. I don’t remember getting beaten up because a) it was horrifying and we block stuff like that out and b) I was going in and out of consciousness. It would be pretty strange for me to dream something I don’t even fully remember. Our brains are simply not wired to do these vivid factually-accurate cinematic retellings.
My friend dreams things that did happen, but in his own words those dreams are always wrong in some noticeable or bizarre way. For instance, he’s getting chased through the streets of Iraq by a werewolf.
2) Dreams are informed by reality, not direct reflections of it.
It’s entirely likely my friend dreamt of a werewolf in Iraq because I got him binge watching Supernatural and the two ideas merged in his dreamstate. But see, that’s how dreams work.
The trauma event exists as a constant in his subconscious, but he has all this other information right there in his conscious mind all day, every day. In dreams, there isn’t a clear delineation between that information.
My dreams are often dependent on whatever I’ve fallen asleep watching on television. The themes are consistent, but not the content.
In Black Sails, Captain Flint’s trauma dreams feature his dead partner and friend following him around his empty ship. You have an element of the trauma (the animated corpse of his friend) + his daily existence (his ship). The two things intersect to form these unsettling nightmares as expressions of his fears and grief. He never once relives the event itself in his dreams as shown on screen.
Speaking of…
3) Trauma dreams often revolve around feelings, not necessarily the events themselves.
The PTSD package generally includes heaps of shame, guilt, anger and fear. As someone who survived a beating when I should have had control of the situation, my dreams tend to revolve around fear that people will know I’m a fraud or being unable to act in a dangerous situation.
Again, it’s entirely common for trauma victims to not remember large chunks (or the whole thing) of the trauma event. So why should their dreams be stunningly accurate? What we remember are feelings. Real strong feelings.
You cannot go wrong if you write your trauma dream around feelings, not a specific event.
4) If you present trauma dreams as expressions of themes, you can let go of the trauma dream as an exposition dump/way overused suspense trope.
You know you’ve read this: MC has dreams that are a shot-by-shot retelling of Traumatic Event that always cut off right before Traumatic Event, so that the Big Reveal must happen by a discovery later in the novel.
If I were the MC in a book, the easy and common thing would be to use the “dream sequence” as an expository retelling of Traumatic Event as a way to give some backstory to why I might be surly, mistrustful, afraid to try something new, whatever, and to clumsily shoehorn in suspense where there doesn’t need to be.
The much more interesting thing might be if my dreams were inconsistent in content but consistent in theme. In one I’m on an alien planet (because I fell asleep watching the Science Channel again) and the ground opens up and I fall into a pit from which I can’t escape because I am helpless. In another a man is watching me while I sleep where I am again frozen and helpless. This would force the reader to think: what is the recurring issue in these dreams? Why is it important? What is this telling me about this character and what happened to her?
It could be a personal preference, but I’d rather see the Traumatic Event either told in narrative flashbacks (not dreams) or verbally retold by the character in question. Let the dreams tell me something deeper about the character. It’s not that I was beat up, it’s that I feel like a failure because of it. One of these things is a shallow factual detail, the other tells you something about me as a person that I’m sharing with you, gentle reader, because talking about this stuff is healthy.
5) The Traumatic Event doesn’t have to be a big secret.
In Black Sails, we know what happened to Captain Flint’s partner. It happened in real time in the show. That didn’t make his uber disturbing dreams less disturbing or mysterious. Fans still debate exactly what the symbolism was and what they were telling us about James Flint in those moments. We do know from the dreams that he was disturbed, obsessed, and also monumentally guilty and blaming himself for what happened.
The mystery was perhaps more heightened by the fact that the dreams weren’t direct reflections of reality. We know who this person was, what she believed, and why she died. That Flint is imagining her screaming silently in his ear is horrifying and discordant with what we know to be factual. This adds emotional complexity to his character and the decisions he’s making while suffering these dreams.
^^^this didn’t happen. It was a dream. A real unsettling dream.
Once you let go of the concept of the trauma dream as a literal retelling and exposition dump, you have the entire dreamscape to work in other narrative elements, like symbolism, metaphor, foreshadowing, etc.
*1st gif source: @idontwikeit
More often than not I’ll crack into a sprawling fantasy series and, while I appreciate the luscious descriptions of furniture, landscapes, and clothing, all I’m focused on is that I don’t actually know how this world works. I only know what it looks like.
Including some functionality to your universe can add to immersion and give your reader a strong foundation on which to build their mental model of your universe.
You certainly don’t need to use all of these questions! In fact, I recommend against that, as all of these certainly won’t make it into your final draft. I personally find that starting my worldbuilding off with 5 to 10 functional questions helps pave the way for glittery and elaborate aesthetic development later on.
How is the healthcare funded in your world?
How does healthcare functionally differ between the wealthy and the poor? (i.e. can only the wealthy go to hospitals? do poor families often have to rely on back-alley procedures?)
Where are health centers (i.e. hospitals, small clinics, etc.) organized in your cities?
Does it differ in smaller towns?
How does this affect people’s ability to get healthcare?
Is healthcare magical, and if it is, how does that affect the healthcare system?
If healing is instantaneous, how does that affect people’s views on injury, illness, and chronic ailments?
If you have both magical and physical healthcare, which one is deemed superior and how does that affect society?
What illnesses are common in your world?
How does this affect daily life?
What do the people in your world think illnesses are?
Is it a miasma theory?
Humor theory?
Demons?
Do they know about biological viruses and bacteria?
How does this affect healthcare?
How do people get water?
Is the water sanitary and if not, how do they sanitize it?
How does agriculture work?
Is it large corporations or individual farms?
What sort of agricultural technology exists in your world and how does it affect food production?
Are farmers wealthy or poor?
What sort of natural resources does your world/country(ies) have and how are they obtained?
How does this affect the average wealth of the country?
How does this wealth affect the culture?
What livestock or beasts of burden are most valued? Least valued? Why?
What is considered a luxury good vs. a regular good?
What forms of transportation does your world have?
What classes use what forms of transportation?
How far has the average citizen traveled, given your transportation limitations?
Which cities are the most accessible and which are the least? Why?
How do popular transportation methods change how cities/towns are laid out?
Does your world have public transportation? What is it?
Is there a coming-of-age aspect to travel?
Describe your world’s postal system or whatever equivalent there is.
Who pays for it?
How reliable is it?
Are there emergency methods for transporting information?
How does your world keep time (i.e. watches, sundials, water clock, etc.)?
Does your world have a currency system, barter system, or something else?
If you have multiple countries, do different currencies have different values across said countries?
How does this affect travel?
Do you have banks in your world and if so, how are they run?
Who owns the banks? Government? Wealthy? How does this affect the economy and/or class system?
How does credit operate in your universe?
Does your world operate more on big corporations or small business? Something in between?
How are workers/labourers treated in your world?
Are there workers unions and if so, what are common views on unions?
Describe your tax system. If you don’t have a tax system, explain why and how your world is affected by that.
Can certain social classes not own property, certain livestock, certain businesses, etc.? Why?
How are business records kept? Are business records kept?
If your world has technology, does your world prioritize developing entertainment tech, communications tech, transportation tech or something else entirely?
What does this say about your world?
How does this affect your economy?
To the closest approximation, what type of government does your world have?
How are rulers/presidents/nobles put in place?
How much power does an individual ruler have?
Is there a veto process?
If you have multiple countries, do they have different types of rulers?
Describe any large-scale alliances (i.e. countries, factions, etc.) that are present in your world.
How did they come about and how are they maintained?
Are they strained or peaceful?
How does it affect the greater politics of your world?
Describe how wars are fought both internationally and nationally.
Do methods of war differ between countries/races?
What about philosophies about war?
If there is a military, what is its hierarchy structure?
How does the military recruit?
Is the military looked upon favourably in your society?
What weapons are used by each country/type of people during warfare, and how does that affect war strategies?
Describe the sentencing system of your world.
Is your accused innocent until proven guilty, or guilty until proven innocent?
How are lawbreakers punished?
If you have prisons, describe how they are organized and run, and who owns them.
Does differing ownership change how the prisons operate?
What are the major ways in which laws between countries vary?
Do laws between cities vary? If so, how and why?
How does citizenship work in your world? What rights and privileges do citizens have that others do not?
Can certain classes or races not become citizens?
Are there certain taboo subjects or opinions that artist/authors/musicians are not allowed to depict (i.e. portraying the official religion in a negative light, explicit sexual material, etc.)? What does this say about your society?
How do people get around these censorship laws?
What is the official hierarchy of duty in your world? (i.e. is family the most important, or patriotism? What about clan?)
How many languages are there in your world, and how many languages share a common origin?
How many people are multilingual?
Which language is the most common?
How is multilingualism viewed?
How are different languages viewed? (i.e. is one language ugly/barbaric while another is romantic and sensual?)
Feel free to add your own questions in reblogs or in comments!
WWC - General Topics
A collection of WWC posts that deal with more general writing advice, character creation and diversity topics applicable to most marginalized people, particularly People of Color and some more specific ethnic and religious groups.
Tools
Writing Research and Google Search Tips
WWC Research & Resources Guides (Compilation)
Character of Color Research Tracking Chart (Google Sheet)
Writing Characters of Color: The Generals
On White Authors “Getting it Right”
The Do’s of Writing People of Color
Writing POC with Little Experience
Properly Coded: Creating Characters of Color
On “Overthinking” Writing Characters of Color
On White Writers Writing Characters of Color (I, II, III)
Researching PoC + Supporting Writers of Color
Description
Words for Skin Tone
Words to Describe Hair
Describing Asian Eyes
Describing Wide Noses
Praising Beauty Without Fetishizing
Describing PoC and Avoiding Caricatures
Featured Description Guides (Compilation)
Diversity & Representation
To Write (or not write) with Diversity
So You Want To Save The World From Bad Representation
Diversity vs. Exploiting Cultures
Diversifying a Predominately-White Cast
On “Diversity Quotas”
On Excluding Diversity Out of Fear
Different Heritage POV’s in a Story
Including Realistic Diversity Naturally
White-Dominant Rural Areas and Diversity
White Privilege, Publishing, and Diversity Quotas
Writing: Making Efforts in Diversity
Characters - Creation & Culture
More on Assigning Race after Writing
Tradition and Culture vs. Stereotype
Showing Culture Writing Advice
Character Creation: Culture or Character first?
Character Design and Assigning Race and Ethnicity
Characters’ Races Added Last During Development
Determining your Characters’ Race and/or Ethnicity
Stereotyped vs Nuanced & Audience Perception
Writing Powerful Women of Multiple Races
Characters - Cultural Disconnect & Erasure
A Discussion on Culture and Erasure
Western Neutral Characters
‘Whitewashed’ Character of Color?
“Culturing” Culturally-disengaged PoC
Characters of Color with “No Culture”
Mixed Race + Disconnect from Culture
Reconnecting to Culture After Assimilation Attempts
Fantasy & Coding
Defining Coding (& Islam-coded Fantasy)
Denoting Race in Fantasy Setting
Fairy Tale Retellings with POC
Fairies of Color & Cultural Fairy Concepts
Fantasy Races Based off of People of Color
Naming People and Places, Avoiding Explicit Coding
Racially-coding Aliens
Real Religions in a Fantasy World
Religion in Fiction & Fantasy
South Asian-Coded Fantasy Caste System
Whitewashing in a Fantasy Setting
Including Racism in Fantasy
World-building: A Fantasy World without Racism
Representing PoC in Fantasy When Their Country/Continent Doesn’t Exist
Race Allegories / Symbolic Racism
Avoiding Racism Allegories
Blue eyed people enslaved in story
Half Human as Allegory for Mixed Race Struggles
Avoiding Half-Human Allegory for the “Mixed Race Experience”
Eye Color Discrimination as Racism: Story Concept
Racism, Micro-Aggressions & Slurs
Everyday Racism, Friendship and White Allies
Incorporating Micro-Aggressions in Writing
Racist Characters + Including Racism in Stories Not “About” Racism
The Pitfalls of Racist Character Redemption Arcs
PoC Educating White Privileged Friend (Context: Black Characters)
On “Normalizing” Protagonists of Color: Writing Stories Where Racism Isn’t in the Plot
Racial Slurs & Offensive Terms
Slur use in stories
Racial Slurs and Webcomics
Portraying Racist Characters without Racial Slurs
Offensive Terminology and Historical Accuracy
Stereotypes & Tropes
Stereotypes & Tropes Navigation
Stereotyped vs Nuanced Characters and Audience Perception
Useful Non-WWC Posts
When Diversity Is Bad by tropesaretools
Diversity Exists in the Real World by shiraglassman
How to Write WOC and MOC if you are White by kaylapocalypse
“I feel pressured to be inclusive in my writing!” by nimblesnotebook
On White Fear & Creating Diverse Transformative Works by saathi1013
Villains / Anti-heroes
Villains of Color
Family of Villains (Black)
Predominately White Villains
PoC Villains, Anti-Villains and Anti-Heroes
PoC in Crime Families & Black/Native Boss
Writing Flawed Black Characters is Okay
Dark and Light-skinned Characters, Black Villain and Avoiding Colorism
Worldbuilding
Black & White Symbolism: a look at that trope
Homogenization, Cultural Appropriation
How To Blend Cultures (Without Making Impossible Mixes)
Research:Large to Small Scale, Avoiding Homogenizing East Asian Cultures, & Paralleling Regions Appropriately
White Saviors, White - POC Interactions
Interracial Relationships: Romantic | Writing Interracial Friendships
How to Avoid Glorifying White Characters
Handling a White Female Savior in story
White Character Adopts Black Child in Apocalypse
White Villainous Cult Leader Uses Fascism to “Correct” Colonialism
How to write bigoted villains without coming off as a bigot yourself
Infantilization of white characters (At PoC’s expense)
Solving World Hunger: Changing Skin to Fantasy Color to Avoid the White Savior
Writing About Your Own Culture (Ownvoices)
Misrepresenting Your Own Culture
Why Insiders Can Write Their Experience
Writing Authentic Black Characters (as a Black writer)
Representing yourself in stories when “yourself” isn’t white
Braving Diversity: How to Write Yourself (and others) out of your Story
Building a Community for Fellow Sci-Fi/Fantasy [Black] Writers of Color
Writing Authentically From Your Own Experiences When They Don’t Match Stereotypes
Writing Sensitive & Controversial Topics
White Authors and Topics to Avoid/Tread Carefully
Do I Need Permission to Write About Marginalized People?
Writing a Genocide to which you have No Personal Connection
On Outsider-Written Stories About Issues Of Another Group
Writing About Diverse Cops (Cops of Color, LGBTQA+)
Outsider-Written Stories, Issues of other Groups, Speculative Situation
Writing about Prejudice between People of Color
Reclaiming negative, dehumanizing stereotypes outside the group
Representing yourself when “yourself” isn’t white
Why do you need to tell this story right now? (Muslim monster focus)
Writing About PoC Trials and Tribulations
When Am I Writing an Identity Story?
To Write or Not to Write: Tackling The “Struggle Novel” as an outsider
–WWC
Arcane girlfriends doodles
AU where Caitlyn somehow caught Vi during the heist and oh no childhood friends to lovers
Girls of Arcane
modern vi terrible middle school crush
LIFE IS STRANGE: BEFORE THE STORM (2017) ✖ ARCANE (2021—)
I just love her
*posts the worst shit youve ever seen* oh the gays are going to love this
genuinely from the bottom of my heart i wish every single one of you peace love joy and happiness for not only 2022 but for the rest of your lives.
No offense but the internet gives you the most wrong and fucked up idea of helping people because people get mad if you don't care about disasters happening in 72 countries, meanwhile the people in real life that are doing the most good picked one VERY SPECIFIC thing to care about and care about it REALLY HARD
Emily Henry / Henry H / Matty Healy / Taylor Swift / Madeline Miller
NSFW will be tagged as #lemon sorta NSFW is #Lime Weird fet shit/ extreme NSFW is #orange reblog to spread awareness that we’re back on the citrus scale
In light of tumblrs stupid new banned tags I will continue doing just whatever I want
no fuck you im not making a pillowfort. im not unlocking my twitter. until the literal day this site becomes a blank 404 error crater on the face of the internet i am here with my little pictures and indecipherable text posts from users just as unkillable as i
we could be covered in blood together if you stopped playing hard to get
winter by Katie Maria ( @heavensghost )
let me see you and stay
naudline pierre, through the clouds // @flintcoded, 08 – 15 – 21 // Anne Carson, Euripides // @rebeccabinch, x // Taylor Jenkins Reid, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo //@softhe4rted, Mitski, I Will // Vance Joy, Mess is Mine // Molley May // x
man some of the seven deadly sins aren’t even that bad. sorry I’m angry n wanna fuck? Sorry I ate a lot? shut up
*dry food crunches* Ridiculously small kitten: “Myam myam myam. Njam njam njam njam njam njam njam! Myam myam myam nyam nyam myam. Mmmam. Mrrrrram. Meep!”
The Current Harlivy Arc and The Full Comic Arcs Leading Up To It
For @inhumansandwiches and anyone else who might need it ❤️❤️
The War of Jokes and Riddles
Batman (2016)
#25, #26, #27, #28, #29, #30, #31, #32
Everyone Loves Ivy
Batman (2016)
#41, #42, #43
The Gift
Batman (2016)
#45, #46, #47
Heroes In Crisis
Heroes in Crisis
#1, #2, #3, #4
Batman (2016)
#64, #65
Heroes In Crisis
#5, #6, #7, #8, #9
Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy (2019)
#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6
Their Dark Designs
Batman (2016)
#86, #87, #88, #89, #90, #91, #92, #93, #94
Journey to Joker War
Nightwing
#70
Detective Comics
#1022
Nightwing
#71
Detective Comics
#1023
Nightwing
#72
Joker War
Batman (2016)
#95
Batgirl (Tie-in)
#47
Detective Comics (Tie-in)
#1024
Batman (2016)
#96
Harley Quinn (2016)
#75
Detective Comics (Tie-in)
#1025
Batman (2016)
#97
Nightwing (Tie-in)
#73
Batgirl (Tie-in)
#48
Detective Comics (Tie-in)
#1026
Red Hood: Outlaw (Tie-in)
#48
Batman (2016)
#98
Nightwing
#74
Batman (2016)
#99
Catwoman (Tie-in)
#25
Batgirl (Tie-in)
#49
Batman: The Joker War Zone (Tie-in)
Batman (2016)
#100
Nightwing (Tie-in)
#75
Catwoman (Tie-in)
#26
Batgirl (Tie-in)
#50
Aftermath Arc
Batman (2016)
#101, #102, #103, #104, #105
Infinite Frontier
#1
Batman (2016)
#106
Batman: Urban Legends
#1
Harley Quinn (2021)
#1
Batman (2016)
#107
Harley Quinn (2021)
#2
Batman (2016)
#108
Catwoman (2018)
#31
Harley Quinn (2021)
#3
Batman (2016)
#109
Catwoman (2018)
#32
Harley Quinn (2021)
#4
Batman (2016)
#110
Catwoman (2018)
#33
Harley Quinn (2021)
#5
Batman (2016)
#111
Detective Comics
#1043, #1044
Catwoman (2018)
#34
Harley Quinn (2021)
#6, Annual #1
Fear State
Harley Quinn (2021)
#7
Batman Secret Files: The Gardener
#1
Batman Secret Files: Miracle Molly
#1
Batman Fear State – Alpha
#1
Batman (2016)
#112
Batman: Urban Legends
#8
Batman Secret Files: Peacekeeper
#1
Batman (2016)
#113
Catwoman (2018)
#35
Nightwing
#84
Batman (2016)
#114, #115
Catwoman (2018)
#36
Nightwing
#85
Harley Quinn (2021)
#8
Batman (2016)
#116
Batman: Urban Legends
#9
Nightwing
#86
Batman (2016)
#117 (Released Yesterday • 11/16/2021)
ive never played league but im obsessed with whatever these two have going on
I think the dsmp should end with all the ccs going on it at the same time and finishing their character arcs in the worst way possible. And they only have an hour to do it. Beeduo divorces, Ranboo is given custody of Michael, who promptly dies because Ranboo forgets about him. Techno gets bored and murders Dream, then escapes and sets off all his withers. Him and Phil lose their canon lives to a wither. Jack Manifold gets lost in the desert and dies of dehydration. Quackity and Wilbur make out while blowing up all of Las Nevadas. Tubbo was wordlessly flipping burgers the entire stream before dying in the explosion. Ponk, and Sam decide to get married. They die in the Las Nevadas explosion during the wedding. Badboyhalo swallows The Egg whole and then is murdered by Puffy, who is murdered by Antfrost, who is murdered by Foolish, who is murdered by Hannah, who is murdered by Skeppy when he crawls out of BBH’s dead body (he was inside the egg again for an unexplained reason). Eret suddenly gets all their memories back and spontaneously combusts. Sapnap goes on a rampage killing as many people and animals as he can before setting Kinoko kingdom and himself on fire. Velvet and TapL show up and immediately lose all their canon lives due to the Las Nevadas explosion, being hunted down and killed by Sapnap, and Techno’s withers. Karl time travels back in time and never returns. Drista shows up and takes Tommy away to go make him a god. With his new god powers, Tommy destroys the entire server with lava, killing anyone who remained. Afterwords he dumps water on it so the entire server is covered in cobblestone and obsidian. Alyssa joins the server holding starbucks, sees how it looks, and then logs off. Slimecicle survives and is doomed to squish around the empty server forever. cc!Dream removes the whitelist and cc!George tweets out the ip. The server floods with fans and they are all talking about dnf. Sneegsnag joins and kills the server for good by immediately finding a rare glitch which duplicates withers infinitely. None of the ccs ever talk about the dsmp again.
tubbo
tubbo
reblog if you literally wouldn’t be here if not for sad-ist
