December Writing Log: Week One

all grown up

trying to find the time/energy to write now that the semester has started up again is not going to be as easy peasy as i thought lol

writers, pls reblog with your fav writing rituals/habits! i love getting inspired by seeing what works for other people :)

personally, i definitely think that these phrases stand out a lot more to the writer than to the reader, but if you feel like those comparison phrases are adding up too much or getting a bit clunky, I’d recommend experimenting with metaphors rather than trying to look for replacements for “like” or “as”

to a reader, something like “her smile was like the rising sun” is super easy to read and can do a lot of work communicating theme and mood and details about the character (or narrator, depending) but switching it up to something more complex like “her smile was akin to the rising sun” can make a reader pause and go ‘huh that’s a little awkward’ unless that’s the style of language you’ve been writing in the whole time

that said, i think the simplest way to cut down on similes if you have too many (or don’t enjoy how they affect the flow of your sentences) is to use metaphors. they can help cut down that barrier between a character comparing two things (e.g. her smile & the rising sun) and instead appeal directly to a reader’s senses or their understanding of the world, so that the comparison just becomes part of the scene itself

for example, I was reading Sally Rooney’s Normal People during the unit on comparisons for a writing course I took and some that stood out to me were how she described “rain silver as loose change in the glare of traffic” and how that rain “[whispered] on slick roof tiles”

the first quote is a simile while the second is a metaphor, but both of them are making comparisons (the first comparing rain & loose change, leaning on a readers visual reference for shiny coins and implying that the narrator thinks these two things are alike) while the second one compares the sound of rain to the sound of whispering by making it part of the scene description directly. rather than say “it was as if the rain whispered on slick roof tiles” Rooney broke down the barrier that similes sometimes put up by directly appealing to the reader’s senses instead (sound here, instead of sight) and that’s effective bc a reader can very easily understand what it means for rain to whisper without the author having to put in a lot of work looking for a natural way to say “the rain seemed as if it was whispering on slick roof tiles”

and sometimes similes just work better than metaphors. it really depends but, as the author, you get to choose what works for you and what doesn’t

these kind of considerations can be hard to remember when you’re in the middle of writing, too, but the editing phase can be a great place to turn some similes into metaphors (or to decide that you like all your similes and to leave them be!)

i know a lot of my writing involves me writing exactly what I mean, and then scaling it back in the editing phase so that I’m showing what I mean instead of stating it all outright- and in that process a lot of similes end up incorporated in different ways (either by using metaphors instead or by dropping the comparison altogether and leaning more on body language and or theme to draw out the ideas and impressions i want a reader to get) so maybe that strategy could work for you too?

i got a little long-winded here but I hope this helps!

As a newer writer, I'm struggling to use similes in more ways other than by phrases like "like", "seeming as", "as if" or other versions of these three.

What are some of the other, if any, ways to compare something to something else, to avoid a book turning mundane?

hey you guys should check out the yuri cupid manga it's totally just laughs and hijinks I swear

writing accountability, day 26

sprints are fr my life-savers lmao. it's not guaranteed, but whenever I sprint with other people, I consistently get sooo much more done than I would otherwise. I really should employ them more often aaa. I'm writing quite well these days, but I don't expect to keep this pace up forever, so I'm just buffing up my word count for the inevitable drought lol

today's word count: 1273/800

so, I think I started act 2 today? the previous chapter does very much feel like the end to act 1 lol. which is good! I'm getting somewhere! WE'RE GOING PLACES AHHH. still, the fact that I'm almost 30k in and I'm just now ending year 1 is... um... 💀💀💀 well, okay, it makes sense, BUT STILL... oh boy

snippet (for context, Quilin has a condition which makes any plant matter he eats multiply extremely rapidly in his stomach, so he's essentially deathly allergic to it):

“Yes, there are many types of mutations we have yet to encounter,” the man sighed, adjusting his thin glasses. “Say, at what rate approximately do plant cells multiply when exposed to the affected tissue?” “Quickly,” Quilin said, very clipped. “Never thought to time it, however.” On the account of being in the process of dying was left unsaid. Which, should be noted, took no small amount of self-control. The man nodded, entirely unfazed. Either he was ignorant to Quilin’s annoyance, or he simply did not care.

wdym u never thought to time the speed at which death approaches . lame

see ya tmr

Fantasy au BKDK! I had way more fun with this than i expected so I'll probably play with the au designs more in the future

MHA 430 spoilers (4)

I love that Dai referred to Bakugou as “Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight” in his head. Like yes, pls use his full government name

HEY YOU 🫵

Yeah you

Yeah you're very cool

Have some glitter ✨

(eat it, find out if it's edible)

thanks so much :)

You have quickly become one of my favourite MHA accounts just for the fake tweets- absolutely criminal that these don't have more notes holy shit

Will now be stalking you on here and ao3 <33

Ahhh tysm!!! <33 I’m super flattered

making fake tweets is so fun so I’m glad you enjoy mine! also your art is super impressive!!