— Sandra Cisneros

Book of the Day

“The Chaos of Longing” by K.Y. Robinson

— Juansen Dizon, To Young Creatives

— Juansen Dizon, The Sacred Art of Crying

Writing Exercise: Point of View Swap

Part of writing a strong plot is tying it to the protagonist to the point of where the story wouldn’t be the same without them in the spotlight, but there are often many parts of stories where other main characters (or even side characters) would give the reader a completely different impression of an event if it were told through their eyes. The POV Swap isn’t meant to be included as part of the story, but to exist a way that gets the writer thinking about how scenes unfold outside of the protagonist’s mind and help with better development of unique character voice and viewpoint. (It’s also just fun practice that requires less work than making something completely new up!)

Trying a POV Swap is as simple as finding a passage/scene/chapter that contains multiple characters and rewriting it using the narrative point of view of someone other than the original person. Typically, a single scene works best because a passage can often be too small and an entire chapter might not continuously feature that character you want to choose to narrate. If you find a passage or chapter that works, then go ahead and use it, but don’t scour your work for either of those things when a single scene would be easier to find. 

POV Swaps can be subtle or dramatic, often depending on the content of the scene. A POV Swap about two characters listening to a speech may result in different internal commentary but they will still hear the same words. A POV Swap about a character watching a sports game in a stadium would be very different than a character playing in the game itself. Scenes where POV characters have agency (the ability to make choices that can change outcomes) will always rewrite at a more drastically different level than those when a character is passive. 

As said before, the point of this exercise is practice. This is not for extending a story or branching off into plot tangents, so it’s okay if the new POV character takes things in a direction that doesn’t fit the story. They weren’t your protagonist for a reason. However, if a good idea that betters the story arises from the exercise then of course it’s okay to use it.

The POV Swap can be used for:

Helping writer’s block: If the scene already exists from one POV then the track of events already exists. That doesn’t mean that it won’t include new things, but rather that you don’t have to come up with something completely new– it’s like coloring an image in two different ways rather than re-drawing it. 

Practicing voice: Every narrating character should sound unique and gaining that skill doesn’t just happen overnight. When writing full stories is too hard because you don’t have the full skill, start with practice. 

Practicing in general: More writing is more skill application.

Expansion of story ideas: You have to be careful with this one because you don’t want to take it so far that you end up with unnecessary story appendages. Some stories work with multiple POVs and some don’t, so make sure to critically analyze the addition to make sure it makes the story better and isn’t just an addition for fun.

Some other variations of the POV Swap include:

The more you write, the better you get at it. While the POV Swap isn’t made for the continuation of a story, it can help you better understand what you’re working with and increase your overall skill.

Thinking of asking a question? Please read the Rules and Considerations to make sure I’m the right resource, and check the Tag List to see if your question has already been asked.

— Juansen Dizon, Philophobia

Writing Exercise: The Sprint

One of the hard parts of writing as a hobby is that there’s often very limited outside push to get things done and internal push can dwindle from time to time. While replying purely on outside pressure isn’t a good idea for productivity or enjoyment, it’s possible to create a form of it with a writing exercise called the Sprint. 

Step 1: Set a timer.

Step 2: Write as much as you can.

Okay there are some more details in there, but it’s an idea that isn’t hard to simplify. Sprints can be used to further a specific story from a point, to start a new story, to actualize a scene onto paper– almost anything that requires getting words on paper can benefit from a sprint.

Notice the “almost”. The point of a sprint is not to end up with perfection; it’s to get you in the flow of writing and/or to force words onto the paper. Do not expect high quality of writing or perhaps even for all of the work to be usable. Not everything you write has to be put into a story and any writer who expects to keep everything needs a reality check. Part of growing as a storyteller and writer is learning to cut bad pieces, unnecessary scenes, subplots that don’t quite fit– a true edit tears a story apart for the better. 

Getting good at sprints requires learning to turn off that inner editor and self-questioning, allowing you to get something on paper to edit later. 

How to Sprint:

Method 1: Find a site

There are a few ways to do this, the first being sites like Word Sprints, the slightly more novelty Written Kitten, or ones that have actual reinforcement of goals like Write or Die. I recommend testing out a few before you stick with any method, as some people may find, or know, that they work better with certain parameters over others. 

Method 2: Find some friends

Most online options have the comparisons with other writers, but comparing with strangers doesn’t always give the right push that some people need. You can also find and join, or create your own, group in person or on social media where you all sprint together and compare at the end.

Step 1: Gather your group in person or online.

Step 2: Set the timer.

Step 3: Write as much as you can as fast as you can until the timer is up.

Step 4 (Optional): Compare word counts and tips that helped each of you.

If you set up your own group, remember to designate a timekeeper or use an application where you’re all on the exact same countdown. It also helps to make sure that everyone is clear on the rules for the Sprint before you start. 

Method 3: It’s all on you!

Set the timer and go.

It’s best to develop a routine for Sprints to help with getting used to the no-edit rule, particularly when you use it to write a longer story. What start as 15-minute Sprints can turn into and hour or two with practice, but I wouldn’t recommend going beyond two without a break to avoid burnout. Writing for over two hours is different than Sprinting for over two hours.

Tips for success:

The challenge of finishing a first draft is learning to throw out the idea that it’s going to be good. Even if you plan to have beta readers, they shouldn’t be seeing anything until the second draft where you can clean up the first one and have a coherent story. Writing Sprints are for maximizing word count and moving forward, not for editing or thinking about what happens next.

It’s easier to edit a bad story than to perfect a nonexistent one. 

Try a few Sprints out! Who knows, if done properly they may turn into the easiest way for you to get things done. 

Thinking of asking a question? Please read the Rules and Considerations to make sure I’m the right resource, and check the Tag List to see if your question has already been asked.

if you’re sad all the time, I’ll still be yours all the time.

Close your eyes & I’ll bring you a dream.

A Writer’s Thesaurus

Here is a massive list of synonyms for the most commonly over-used words in the English language. All sources are linked below each list if you click the bolded “x” below each individual section.

550 alternative words for “said”

Source x 

Other words for “amazing” Because we’re all a little sick of that damn word:

Keep reading

When you are writing a story and refer to a character by a physical trait, occupation, age, or any other attribute, rather than that character’s name, you are bringing the reader’s attention to that particular attribute. That can be used quite effectively to help your reader to focus on key details with just a few words. However, if the fact that the character is “the blond,” “the magician,” “the older woman,” etc. is not relevant to that moment in the story, this will only distract the reader from the purpose of the scene. 

If your only reason for referring to a character this way is to avoid using his or her name or a pronoun too much, don’t do it. You’re fixing a problem that actually isn’t one. Just go ahead and use the name or pronoun again. It’ll be good.

Someone finally spelled out the REASON for using epithets, and the reasons NOT to.

In addition to that:

If the character you are referring to in such a way is THE VIEWPOINT CHARACTER, likewise, don’t do it. I.e. if you’re writing in third person but the narration is through their eyes, or what is also called “third person deep POV”. If the narration is filtered through the character’s perception, then a very external, impersonal description will be jarring. It’s the same, and just as bad, as writing “My bright blue eyes returned his gaze” in first person.

Furthermore, 

if the story is actually told through the eyes of one particular viewpoint character even though it’s in the third person, and in their voice, as is very often the case, then you shouldn’t refer to the characters in ways that character wouldn’t.

In other words, if the third-person narrator is Harry Potter, when Dumbledore appears, it says “Dumbledore appears”, not “Albus appears”. Bucky Barnes would think of Steve Rogers as “Steve”, where another character might think of him as “Cap”. Chekov might think of Kirk as “the captain”, but Bones thinks of him as “Jim”. 

Now, there are real situations where you, I, or anybody might think of another person as “the other man”, “the taller man”, or “the doctor”: usually when you don’t know their names, like when there are two tap-dancers and a ballerina in a routine and one of the men lifts the ballerina and then she reaches out and grabs the other man’s hand; or when there was a group of people talking at the hospital and they all worked there, but the doctor was the one who told them what to do. These are all perfectly natural and normal. Similarly, sometimes I think of my GP as “the doctor” even though I know her name, or one of my coworkers as “the taller man” even though I know his. But I definitely never think of my long-term life partner as “the green-eyed woman” or one of my best friends as “the taller person” or anything like that. It’s not a sensible adjective for your brain to choose in that situation - it’s too impersonal for someone you’re so intimately acquainted with. Also, even if someone was having a one night stand or a drunken hookup with a stranger, they probably wouldn’t think of that person as “the other man”: you only think of ‘other’ when you’re distinguishing two things and you don’t have to go to any special effort to distinguish your partner from yourself to yourself.

This is something that I pretty consistently have to advise for those I beta edit for.  (It doesn’t help that I relied on epithets a lot in the earlier sections of my main fic because I was getting into the swing of things.)  I am reblogging this so fanfic writers can use this as a reference.

A good rule of thumb: a character’s familiarity with another character decreases the need for an epithet (and most times you really don’t need one at all).

Good writing advice.

— (a.e.) // the universe (via i-am-poetrying)

— Juansen Dizon, May 30, 2018