Achillean Romance with Fangs
PART ONE: the basics. PART TWO: the nitty gritty. PART THREE: common pitfalls and easy fixes. Here we’ll cover some common situations where writing respectful non-binary characters can be trickier. Writing Non-human Non-binary characters. Non-human non-binary characters aren’t inherently disrespectful to non-binary people, but it can easily become negative representation when there are no non-binary […]
Visit PART ONE: the basics first! PART TWO: the nitty gritty. Non-binary in relation to Presentation. What are we talking about here when we say presentation? Presentation in relation to gender is how a person chooses to look, dress, and act in relation to their culture’s gender norms. A person who wears dresses and makeup, […]
PART ONE: the basics. Disclaimer: While this guide is written by a non-binary person in collaboration with many other non-binary writers and readers, it does not necessarily cover the views of all people within the non-binary community. First off, what is this thing you call non-binary? Non-binary genders are any gender identity that isn’t covered […]
First off, you have to know these two things: Your first draft of your first book will be terrible. All your favorite authors of all time wrote a terrible first draft of their first book too. Probably a terrible second and third draft, maybe even a terrible second and third book. This is okay. It can […]
Writing diversity isn’t “forced.” What’s forced in writing is continuously cherry pick the situations in which many groups have been deliberately forced outby the one group who prides themselves as being ‘the norm.’ Let me explain: While the world is very diverse, there are situations and areas where someone could justify not including diversity (such as if you were writing […]
There’s a hot take circulating lately that “some villains don’t deserve to have a redemption arc.” But I don’t believe this. No villain deserves a redemption arc. But every villain could have one, if they tried, if they worked towards it, if they’re written well in both their understanding of their wrongs and their dedication to being a better person. No villain deserves a […]
Though we don’t usually need a lot going on outside the dialogue itself, it often feels static or otherwise unnatural if you have a entire conversation with dialogue, a few tags, and nothing else. But we never want to add extra words for the sake of just having words. Everything we write should contribute to […]
Some writers confuse “you must further the plot with every scene” with “heavy plot handling must happen constantly.” (Which is a shame, because the latter is not only incorrect, but can make your character’s interactions stiff and boring.) It’s okay to let your characters joke. It’s okay if they get off track of the plot […]
These types of relationships can be some of the most interesting and enjoyable, both to read and write, because they show us many sides of the same characters and the growth from a hatred to mixed feelings and finally to genuine love and acceptance is often heartwarming to experience. But relationships like also require finesse to […]
I’m incredibly disappointed with the trend in stories (especially ‘edgy’ YA novels) to bombard the reader with traumatic situations, angry characters, and relationship drama without ever first giving them a reason to root for a better future. As a reader… I might care that the main siblings are fighting if they had first been shown […]
