#writing rel
I hate tumblr’s idea of ‘problematic’ characters so much.
An example of a problematic character would be a stock character of a marginalized group that’s reduced to a conglomeration of stereotypes that have a harmful effect on people from that group in the real world.
A problematic character is not a developed character with developed flaws and belief systems that people irl happen to be at odds with. It is not a character that interacts with other characters in ways that hurt them within the narrative. That’s what a story is. That’s what creating characters means. Developing a fleshed-out fictional person to serve a function within one’s narrative.
And characters that are solely mouthpieces for the creator’s own moral views and belief systems, regardless of what those views are, are bad characters, and make bad stories.
firstly, some general tips from me:
- don’t use spark notes/schmoop/other reference sites until AFTER you have read your book and formed your own opinions, because it makes your essays a lot more interesting, which your teacher will appreciate, if everyone is doing the same essay on something! (However, don’t do this if you don’t have time, rely on those sites when you are racing a deadline or juggling tons of stuff ofc)
- do the in-class reading beforehand! this sounds so silly, but doing the reading beforehand can help so much if there is an in-class discussion on it after
- highlighters (or other writing utensils in various colors) are your best friend when there is an in-class essay! while obviously in general they are great, if you have a few different colors you can quickly mark up the text to find recurring elements and structure essays around that!
- look up the social-cultural-historical context of a book! this is super great for reading nonfiction, but also great for most fiction because it allows you to understand the lens the author was writing through and their motive for doing so, which gives you great fodder for discussion if you need to discuss purpose
other useful tips + guides:
- mla official formatting
- general essay help (basically recipe for a good essay)
- SOAPSTone method
- words that connote tone
- standard themes in literature
i know this isn’t a comprehensive list, but i hope it helps with untangling the mess that is understanding some lit classes!
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We’ve all been there before. Staying up into the early hours of the morning, trying to complete that essay you’ve left until the night before it’s due, you reach that euphoric moment of completion, only to glance at the word count and be bombarded with anguish. Somehow in your haze of too much caffeine, 3am tears, and zero cares, you have to cut out a chunk of your essay to reach the word limit. Have no fear! Here are a few simple tricks to reducing your word count so you can meet that dastardly word limit without having to rewrite whole sections of your essay.
Plan and structure your essay before writing it
Pre-planning and structuring your essay will not only give your essay a clear voice and a more coherent argument, it can also help in reducing your word count before you start writing! Spending 15 minutes creating an essay plan will ensure you address your argument’s main points without straying and writing about irrelevant ideas. You could even set yourself a word limit for each paragraph depending on it’s content and significance to your argument.Use gerunds
Gerunds,-ing verbs,are an easy way to reduce your word count, simply by rewriting a few sentences to remove unnecessary words. Consider the following:He ran towards the car andquickly gulped down his coffee. (10 words)
Runningtowards the car, he quickly gulped down his coffee. (9 words)Delete adverbs
Using adverbs can, at times, be an insult to the reader, and adds unnecessary words to an essay. The redundancy of those (majority) -ly verb modifiers can be trying. When I’ve finished an essay, I alwaysctrl+fsearch-ly and decide which ones need the cut. Let’s look at that example again:Running towards the car, he quicklygulped down his coffee. (9 words)
Running towards the car, he gulped down his coffee. (8 words)By definition, the act of gulping is to swallow quickly. Why waste your precious word count for an unneeded word? Alternatively, write actively by removing an adverbandreplacing it with another verb!
The window shook loudly. (4 words)
The window rattled. (3 words)Keep in mind some adverbs may be necessaryif they provide important information!
Delete ‘that’
I had a family member who refused to read over any of my work until I had gone through and deleted every unnecessary ‘that’ I could find. Often, it’s such a superfluousword that you could almost strike it from the English language. Now reread the previous sentence without ‘that’. You’ll be surprised how often you use it!. Ensure you read the sentence you’re removing the word from; it’s not always useless!Delete auxiliary verbs
I’ll admit to finding this difficult, deleting ‘can’, ‘could’, ‘might’, ‘should’, and the like. Deleting these unnecessary verbsbothreduces word count and also gives your writing more strengthandauthority! While useful for expressing tentativeness, you shouldn’t be tentative in arguing your point. For example:Manymay have been negatively impacted by the Great Depression. (10 words)
Manywere negatively impacted by the Great Depression. (8 words)Replace phrases with words
Some phrases become fixed in our writing, using long strings of words instead of simply one. There’s no set rule for this, it just comes with reading through your work. Googlecan be your friend here!On the other hand… (4 words)
Conversely…(1 word)These are the ways I most commonly use to lower my word count, but there are definitely a lot more out there! Hopefully they can help you too! Feel free to messageme if you’d like!
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Anonymous asked:
Your blog is so helpful! My question is how do writers know when their first draft is ready and its time to start a new draft? Thanks in advance!
Your first draft is ready when you reach the end of the story. You start the second draft when it’s time to edit the first draft. Let me explain…
First Draft - the first time you write your story from beginning to end.
Second Draft - when you make changes to the first draft.
Third Draft - when you make changes to the second draft.
Fourth Draft - when you make changes to the third draft.
Fifth Draft - when you make changes to the fourth draft.
See how that works? New drafts are just about making changes to the previous draft. The method and process in which you do this is completely up to you. Some writers like to start a completely new draft from scratch and rewrite as they go while pulling from the previous draft. Other writers prefer to save a new copy of the previous draft and make the changes within the new document as they read through it. And, some people prefer to print out the previous draft and mark notes with a pen and post-its, then re-type the new draft based on those notes.
What you choose to accomplish with each successive draft is also up to you, but there are some general guidelines for what you might focus on in each draft:
First Draft - getting the story down from beginning to end for the first time.
Second Draft - making significant changes like cuts, additions, and rewrites
Third Draft - making significant changes to structure, scenes, characters, etc. often based on notes of beta readers, critique partners, and/or editors
Fourth Draft - making minor changes, such as sentence structure, wording, spelling, grammar, etc., often based on notes of critique partners/editors.
Fifth Draft - final draft/polishing run, looking for spelling and punctuation errors, formatting errors, grammar errors, etc.
Once again, you don’t have things in exactly that way. Some people accomplish all that in only three drafts. Some do it in six or ten. It just depends on how many it takes you to get through each of those important stages (major changes, minor changes, superficial changes) and which way you prefer to do things. :)
Which Shakespeare Play Should I See?
This coming Saturday is the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death! Not sure what Shakespeare play you should see or read to commemorate the occasion? No worries! I’ve put together a little flowchart to help you make up your mind.
HAPPY SHAKESPEARE-ING, EVERYONE!
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Here’s some considerations for the tiny little details that can add a lot to a character. Figuring out these mannerisms can do a lot for conveying character traits through their normal actions rather than just their thoughts, dialogue, etc.
- How’s their posture? There are more options than just sitting up straight or slouching a lot. What’s their most comfortable sitting position? Do they have a consistent posture or does it change depending on situation / present company?
- How’s their etiquette? Do they hold the door for people behind them? How do they handle handshakes and other kinds of typical contact? Does their language change or become more formal when speaking to strangers? To their elders? To their superiors?
- In a crowded space, do they get out of people’s way, or do people get out of THEIR way?
- How do they point something out? Pointing their finger? Nodding their head? A flippant wave of the hand?
- What are their comfort gestures or self-touch gestures? Common comfort gestures include rubbing the back of the neck or gripping their own arms. Can they suppress these gestures or do they do them often?
- Also consider the character’s common reactions to common emotions. Do they whoop when they’re excited? Do they tremble when angry?
- What parts of the body are the most expressive? Do they shuffle and stomp their feet a lot when agitated or excited? Are they a hand talker? Do they have an impressive range of motion with their eyebrows?
- How do they sound? Do their car keys jingle as they walk? Do they drag their feet? Do their heels clack resoundingly on hard floors? Do they breathe loudly? Do they fidget in ways that make a lot of noise?
- How do they handle eye contact?
- Any behaviors they reserve for moments when they’re alone? (Or possibly among family/friends that don’t care?) Do they pick their nose? Do they bite their toenails? Do they sniff their armpits? Or do they not care if people see behavior like this?
- Apart from comfort gestures, what else do they do to comfort themselves in trying times? What’s their go-to self care? What’s their comfort food? Where’s their safe space?
- What are they doing with themselves as they’re suppressing emotion? Lip biting, fist clenching, and avoiding eye contact are common methods of coping with strong emotions.
