Write Every Day

liamdryden

not-the-very-button

Sometimes I think that maybe Harry naming his children after two of the most flawed and morally dubious characters in the whole series was meant as an indicator of Harry’s own flaws — outrageous loyalty and black and white morality.

Harry has the most fucked up childhood yo. And due to that childhood, the expectations placed upon him by pretty much everyone, and Dumbledore’s interference, Harry develops his “hero complex.” Harry learns to identify morality in terms of heroics — a true Gryffindor indeed. Harry wants so much to believe that what he did was right, that the sacrifices others made for him were valid, that he cocoons himself in a fantasy world where the smallest of good deeds can redeem you.

Maybe JK Rowling didn’t fuck up as bad as we like to think.

Maybe Harry naming his kid after two corrupted puppet masters was absolutely and utterly in character.

Maybe Harry is so desperate to not hate himself for anything less than true-red-and-gold brave he ever did that he’s convinced himself heroism is the ultimate good. And by extension he is the ultimate good. And Dumbledore and Snape were the ultimate good. Because the died in grand flourishes and left behind mysteries. Just like his parents did.

Harry isn’t ungrateful to Hagrid or Remus or Tonks or Molly or Arthur or Fred. They simply don’t fit the showy model Harry was conditioned to accept in terms of greatness.

Because there is a little truth to Harry’s insolence. To his belief that he is an exception to the rule. And it’s not his fault. It never was. He was groomed and led down a path of exceptionalism. So he rewards the exceptional. the exceptions. Snape. And Dumbledore. And James. And Lily. And Luna. And Sirius. The outlandish and the bold and sentimentally heroic.

What Harry forgets is that the ordinary can be just as exceptional. Just as heroic. Just as good.

Source: not-the-very-button harry potter hp

fixyourwritinghabits

Anonymous asked:

have you written any books yet? are you planning to?

clevergirlhelps answered:

I’ve written several books. No publishing aspirations yet - still editing. And some of them there is no way in heaven or hell that I will ever publish. Astonishing as it sounds, I wrote Mary Sues, self-inserts, utopias, cliches, black-and-white morality, entirely cis/white/hetero worlds, and deus ex machinas. I also used «shudder» comma splices.

What changed? I read some writing advice. I revised my work. I took criticism. I wrote and wrote and wrote. As a result, I grew as a writer. So if you’re comparing your beginning work to what writing blogs suggest and feeling like a failure, don’t. You will learn and you’ll get to where you feel you should be.

fixyourwritinghabits

I think the thing about writing is that everyone starts out like this - seriously, everyone. (Although at FYWH we don’t like the label Mary Sue, because it tends to be thrown about willy-nilly and can be used to describe, say, Batman).

And the thing that’s important is that you shouldn’t feel bad for that. We certainly don’t want you to feel bad for realizing that’s what you have written! I certainly wrote the same damn thing when I was younger.

The beautiful book you adore absolutely took years to make. And while that sounds discouraging, don’t be discouraged! It means you’ll improve and get better, just by writing more and seeking comments and advice.

Source: clevergirlhelps writing

whataboutwriting

lynhaner asked:

Do you have anything on writing cancer?

whataboutwriting answered:

(Trigger warning: cancer).

I personally don’t. I think that, to portray cancer accurately, you’ll need to learn the specifics about the cancer your character’s going to have. Each type of cancer affects people differently, and even the same type of cancer can affect different people differently. It’s not a black-and-white thing, and therefore I recommend you, first of all, decide on the sort of cancer your character is going to have and focus your research on that.

Cancer patients are often very aware of what’s happening with their bodies, as many doctors choose to inform them on the nature of their condition: treatment, causes, the biology of cancer, evolution, etc. Even if you choose to have a character who’s less informed about this, you, as the writer, should know quite a lot about this cancer - the psychology of cancer patients, how it evolves, the biological explanation for the cancer, etc.

Reading testimonials of people who have lived with cancer, specially the specific cancer you’re going to be portraying, can also be very interesting and give you insight on how cancer makes people feel - psychologically, socially, biologically, emotionally… Books and leaflets on the matter can also be helpful sources of information.

Ultimately, I’d say: do a broad research, gather as much information as you can, and don’t limit yourself to Google. Still, I found these articles that might be interesting for you to read:

writing

journaling-junkie

Writing is an underestimated art,
you are painting colorful images
in people’s minds by using words
of black and white.

i.c. “The Art of Writing” (via delicatepoetry)

Source: delicatepoetry

fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment

Anonymous asked:

Is it considered whitewashing to write a mixed race character (ie half-black, half-white)?

fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment answered:

No… as far as I’m aware, whitewashing is taking a poc from a pre-established piece of work (be it a novel, film or any other media) and consciously choosing a white performer/character to portray the original in your remake/reinvention or whatever it is you’re doing.

Some people would argue that writing a mixed race character is ‘copping out’ (‘why not write [insert race here] character instead of playing it safe by making them half-white?’, is one discussion I have come across), but other than rejecting that argument entirely, I also don’t believe we can apply it here as,

We can’t speculate on the other characters that exist within your work and suggest you aren’t representing poc because as far as we can see, your mixed race character is ONE character out of your entire cast and;
I’m pretty sure a good 99% of people who come into our ask box spend more time worrying about being offensive and/or aggravating the SJ community instead of just, you know, writing.

You can write a mixed race main character among an all-white cast. Does that mean you should? Can you think of solid reasons why all of your characters must be white or avoidably one race or the other? It’s something to think about, but NOT something to worry about…!

Consider representation in your writing, but don’t let worry paralyze your creativity. Instead, you should be practical and research. Listen, learn and keep an open mind.

- enlee

writing diversity

fuckyeahreading

The way you feel about books is the way other people feel about movies or music or photography or cooking or [insert other artistic pursuit here]. Books are the lens through which you make sense of the world, but they’re not the only lens or the best lens. (There is no best lens.) Don’t limit yourself to only books. Don’t turn away interesting friendships or relationships on the grounds that the other person isn’t a reader.

from Letter to a Young Reader
(via bookriot)

Source: bookriot books