Royalrhythm - Artemis

Hi! I am stuck in my writing, in the romance scenes..if i could ask for your help, could you give me some examples for showing, not telling love in an already existing relationship?

Hi :)

Love Language - Showing, not telling love

smiling at each other without reason

listening to each other rant

caring about each other’s health

lots of innocent and not so innocent touches

writing each other notes

giving small gifts without special occasion

making sure to spend quality time together

showing interest in each other’s interests

supporting each other

caring about each others’ lives outside of the relationship

doing something nice for each other

trying to get to know each other's friends and families

taking their load off of them

remembering things they told them

holding hands in public

telling their friends about them

Have fun!

- Jana

So apparently last year the National Park Service in the US dropped an over 1200 page study of LGBTQ American History as part of their Who We Are program which includes studies on African-American history, Latino history, and Indigenous history. 

Like. This is awesome. But also it feels very surreal that maybe one of the most comprehensive examinations of LGBTQ history in America (it covers sports! art! race! historical sites! health! cities!) was just casually done by the parks service. 

writers:

break up your paragraphs. big paragraphs are scary, your readers will get scared

fuuuuck epithets. “the other man got up” “the taller woman sat down” “the blonde walked away” nahhh. call them by their names or rework the sentence. you can do so much better than this (exception: if the reader doesn’t know the character(s) you’re referring to yet, it’s a-okay to refer to them by an identifying trait)

blunette is not a thing

new speaker, new paragraph. please.

“said” is such a great word. use it. make sweet love to it. but don’t kill it

use “said” more than you use synonyms for it. that way the use of synonyms gets more exciting. getting a sudden description of how a character is saying something (screaming, mumbling, sighing) is more interesting that way.

if your summary says “I suck at summaries” or “story better than summary” you’re turning off the reader, my dude. your summary is supposed to be your hook. you gotta own it, just like you’re gonna own the story they’re about to read

follow long sentences w short ones and short ones w long ones. same goes for paragraphs

your writing is always better than you think it is. you just think it’s bad because the story’s always gonna be predicable to the one who’s writing it

i love u guys keep on trucking

Some words to use when writing things:

winking

clenching

pulsing

fluttering

contracting

twitching

sucking

quivering

pulsating

throbbing

beating

thumping

thudding

pounding

humming

palpitate

vibrate

grinding

crushing

hammering

lashing

knocking

driving

thrusting

pushing

force

injecting

filling

dilate

stretching

lingering

expanding

bouncing

reaming

elongate

enlarge

unfolding

yielding

sternly

firmly

tightly 

harshly

thoroughly

consistently

precision

accuracy

carefully

demanding

strictly

restriction

meticulously

scrupulously

rigorously

rim

edge

lip

circle

band

encircling

enclosing

surrounding

piercing

curl

lock

twist

coil

spiral

whorl

dip

wet

soak

madly

wildly

noisily

rowdily

rambunctiously

decadent

degenerate

immoral

indulgent

accept

take

invite

nook

indentation

niche

depression

indent

depress

delay

tossing

writhing

flailing

squirming

rolling

wriggling

wiggling

thrashing

struggling

grappling

striving

straining

“Don’t abuse a kind heart. You may never be offered one again.”

— Pokello Nare

Hello!!!! Do you have any tips / prompts for slowburn? Or romance in general? It's been a long time since i wrote about love and I think I'm rusty ;;;

Hi :)

Here are some tips for writing slow burn romance.

Slow burn

Slowing it down

make it slow, but not too slow. Give the readers little moments and interactions at first and then show how they develop a deeper connection over time

you need realistic reasons for why they are not together yet

here are two lists of reasons why people break up while still loving each other and for forbidden love that you could both use

Chemistry

make it realistic, a couple with good chemistry needs to be balanced

they need to have similarities to make them connect, but don’t just agree with everything the other one is doing

same goes for contradicting traits, it is important to show the differences and working around them makes for a good partnership, but don’t have them fight constantly

Don’ts

slow burn is often full of mistakes, misunderstandings and problems, but your characters should never do something that is unforgivable for the other person

don’t make one person totally unlikable without a believable redemption arc and the other person to be a sweetheart, because chances are, the readers may not even want them to be together in the end

don’t make the pair dysfunctional without giving the reader reason to believe that they better themselves and their relationship, otherwise the reader will leave the happy ending feeling like this is not going to work out in the long run and is therefore really unsatisfying

Prompts

I don’t have specific prompts for slow burn right now, but check out my romance tag if there is something in there that inspires you. Here are two older prompts I instantly thought of (from this post).

“We don’t have to go quick if you feel uncomfortable. I just need to know that we’re moving somewhere.”

“I just can’t. Not right now.” “That’s ok. Is it alright if I wait for you?“

Have fun!

- Jana

Not all character development is positive. Characters can, and in my opinion, should, develop both negative and positive traits throughout the course of their story. As the story goes, they shouldn’t be perfected, they’re people, not artpieces, and so there shouldn’t be a stage where they’ve improved/changed exclusively for the better, to the point where they have no negative traits at all. 

I got bored and made A Thing.

Smile (writing references)

(So I was doing research for myself, but I thought that it might be useful.)

Adjectives for Smile

radiant; broad; beautiful; sexy; lovely; rustic; uneasy; gracious; seductive; warm; disarming; regretful; winning; surprised; bitter; reminiscent; whimsical; boyish; girlish; wreathed; metallic; faint; apologetic; affectionate; sweet; amiable; solitary; pitying; ridiculous; quizzical; spicy; special; contagious; fawning amused; icy; wistful; courteous; crafty withering; beaming; dazzling; ravished; enormous uncontrolled; sickly; sly; devilish; maternal; eager naked; frank; joyous; complacent; brilliant answering; forced; angry; sympathetic wanton; contemptuous; deadly; sad; simulated; audible; illumined; parting; approving; ironical; mocking; sudden; indulgent; welcoming; irradiating; agreeable; restrained; watery; rare; playful; superior; arch; perpetual; innocent; sparkling; big; somber; polished; responding; irrepressible; religious; peculiar; convenient; everlasting; tolerant; vapid; priceless; vague; racked; complicated; smart; polite; murderous; disdainful sunny; indomitable; sinister; diabolical; complaisant; dim; patient; haughty; endless; rapid; passing; benign; lurid; crooked; placid; hot; grave; malicious; incredulous; timid; bland; provocative peerless; vivacious; mellow; wan; new quiet; calm; abrupt; loving; sagacious; cautious; buoyant; greasy; sardonic; conciliatory; sidelong; nasty; dawning; grim; ironical; false; meaning; sustaining; saucy; atoning; cynical; prodigal; charming; natural indifferent; tolerant; wry; little; visible mournful; naughty; weary; patronizing; languid deprecating; fitful; humorous; sarcastic; mutual; idiotic; frigid; hospitable; doubtful; ingratiating counterfeit; curious; mischievous; childlike exultant; saturnine; speculative; pensive immutable; condescending; pert; impish roguish; ghastly; rueful; hollow; unctuous inane; joyless; wild; satirical; reassuring slow; hideous; flattering; listless; parting fleeting; engaging; severe; immortal; insipid; moonshine; fascinating; facile; beatific; restless; scornful; blossomed; wondering; moony; senile; ambrosial; covert; airy; incisive; faded; shy; social; angelic; envious; debonair; bashful; artificial; waking; antiseptic; mischievous; paternal; dubious; malevolent; roguish; hungry; pale ready; clear; thoughtless; gentle; infectious conscious; timorous; haughty; frequent backward; enamored; obnoxious; pallid derisive; beguiling; excited; brittle; smarmy; conceited; sneering; wide; rascally; timid; meek; reluctant; courageous; nervous; kind; involuntary; smothered; ardent; brave; beaming; glowing; incandescent; inviting; fake; phony; imploring; practiced; delightful; endearing; cheerful.

Verbs for Smile

achieve—; answer with—; bestow—; cloud—; conceal—; crinkle into—; extinguish—; extract—; flash—; grant—; illuminate with —; induce—; loosen—; manage—; mock— permit—; provoke—; quench—; repress— rouse—; share—; shed—; suppress— throw—; toss—; wear—; wreathe in— wrinkle into—; —abashes; —basks; — confronts; —contorts; —creases; —crinkles; —deludes; —departs; —disconcerts; —disparages; —fades; —flashes; —flickers; —hides; —hovers; —lightens; —lingers; — mantles; —plays; —reassures; —renders; —reveals; —twitches.

Adverbs for Smile

delightedly; approvingly; shrewdly; affectionately; reluctantly; ecstatically; whimsically; tolerantly; radiantly; indulgently; benevolently; tremulously;grimly; sympathetically; blandly; beamingly; wanly; auspiciously; impudently; disarmingly; mischievously; magnanimously; unctuously; contemptuously; lewdly, winsomely; wryly; languidly; artificially; automatically; apathetically; benignly; facetiously; superficially; demurely; guilelessly; angelically; affably; ambiguously; coyly; cynically; cunningly; exultantly; exaggeratedly; cryptically; ruefully; benevolently.