A Writing tip, covering various writing topics:

(This post got me thinking and I needed to make a post:)

Writing...LOVE:

Love is an emotion so few can describe. It’s a deep, in-the-gut feeling that most can’t even make sense of themselves. My boyfriend says often that he hears music, whereas I tend to say it’s a blanket- a constantly warm blanket of safety and knowingness. There’s no right or wrong way to describe the term ‘love’ as it’s a different experience for everyone. Some people feel a pit in their stomach.

Many of you have probably seen those posts that go something like this: “100 ways of saying ‘I Love You’ without saying ‘I Love You’” Sound familiar? Well, it’s true.

Holding hands is a form of love. Hugging. Kissing. Those actions say, ‘I want to be as close to you as I can be.’

Smiling at someone is a form of love. Spiteful people don’t smile at strangers as they pass them on the street, right? Now, that’s a bit more platonic, but it still stands for romance, too.

Asking someone how their day went is a form of love.

I could go on and on. The point is that... (continued in next part)

Writing...ANYTHING:

The point is that writing- not just love, but anything- is about observing.

I started writing by trying to write anything and everything, even though I didn’t know how to do it. Once I had a story, I reread it and said, “Oh wow. That needs work. Well, that sounds cheesier than I meant for it to. Why does that action scene sound so terrible? There’s not enough detail in this part- that’s because I don’t know anything about it.”

Writing is observing.

I’ll say it again, in all caps this time.

WRITING IS OBSERVING.

Dip your hand in everything so that you can pick out where to start.

(For example) The first book I ever wrote was an absolute whirlwind of Hell. It had demons and angels, gargoyles and regular ole humans, unrefined magic and a ton of very fast-flying emotions. I cannot even begin to describe how awful the vast majority of it was, BUT...I had this one totally oddball character who brought light to the protagonist- and the whole plot. Her name was Raina and she was just this bubbly ball of magnificence. She was a minor character but I enjoyed every single scene with her. This brings me to my next point...

Writing...HUMOUR:

Humour. I was great at writing humour, so I built on it. When I was in school with friends, I listened to the timing of jokes when friends told them. I paid attention to the humour that appealed to everyone versus the humour that only applied to a select few. I watched reality tv shows. I already wrote it well, but by observing everything around me, I became GREAT at it.

Having said that, and going back to something I said before, everyone has a different sense of humour. You need to explore all of them at some point.

Tumblr is a world of its own, a place where writers often write prompts on the daily. In that case, don’t cram all the humour in the world into one piece. Pick a sense of humour, and use it.

Or, if the joke is that one character tried to crack a joke and failed, well, that’s great! Do that- in prompts or stories. Not every character is going to get or like the same jokes, alright? That doesn’t mean they won’t get along. My entire friend group has a a side of their humour that I just...cannot make myself laugh at, even as an act. But they’re my best friends and I wouldn’t change them for the world.

At the same time, some characters do share the same sense of humour. In that case, you get to write- wait for it...DETAILS!!! Writing humour involves writing an intense amount of wordless joy. Talk about the face, about the expressions and tightness of the muscles. The muscles are going to be tense everywhere.

Face/nose scrunched.

Eyebrows pinched.

Mouth open in silent laughter.

Fists.

Overly opened palms.

Crunched in a ball/ knees to their chest.

Accidentally let out a fart.

Stuff like that^

You know how sometimes a friend will be laughing so hard that they go, “If I don’t have abs by the end of this...” and they don’t even have the capacity, or breath, to come up with a threat? Laughing HURTS, but it’s the best kind of hurt.

Remind people what laughter is, make them feel the same joy as your characters undoubtedly are.