Katherine Frances's Blog, page 208
July 20, 2016
I don’t think there’s going to be an “after.”
In one sentence is the spark of a story. Ignite.
Mission: Write a story, a description, a poem, a metaphor, a commentary, or a memory about this sentence. Write something about this sentence.
Be sure to tag writeworld in your block!
"When asked to describe something, most people will tell you what it looks like. If a scene is..."
What does his hair smell of? What’s that taste in her mouth? How does their hand feel? And no, dialogue doesn’t cover hearing. Tell us what it sounds like for your character to be nervous, joyful, determined, or lonely. Scents are associated with memory and can be an especially powerful tool for bringing your reader into the scene.”
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Alex Gino loves glitter, ice cream, gardening, awe-ful puns, and stories that reflect the diversity and complexity of being alive. George is Alex’s debut.
Writer’s Care Packages from Camp NaNoWriMo and We Need Diverse Books.
(via nanowrimo)
nerd–of–all–trades:
I am all for poc being cast in roles that highlight their...
I am all for poc being cast in roles that highlight their cultural history and struggles
But can we also campaign for giving poc roles that are about an average person with average problems????? Roles that are given to white people by default…….
A black girl in a romance movie where the greatest obstacle isn’t her race and the greatest reward isn’t that she ends up with the white dude…….
A romantic comedy where all the poc characters aren’t stereotyped by what Hollywood classifies as their culture…..
A coming of age story starring a diverse group of children instead of a token (stereotyped) minority character…..
Can we make movies that don’t make the family dynamics in black or latinx culture dramatic or toxic?????
Can we have more Muslim representation in general????????
Can we show non-christian religions as more than oppressive?????
Can we give poc more roles than the ones that were “written for them”?????
Can we make movies showing the true diversity of society rather than trying to convince ppl that poc are just sprinkles in a white world ????????
How do you do love triangles well? Like, when all three characters are supposed to be likable and sympathetic, but the mess of feelings causes drama/breakups/unrequited feelings/ETC.? Almost all love triangles get automatically labelled as "romantic plot t
We discussed this a bit in the mod chat today. The general consensus was that love triangles would only really work if the characters grew out of them. Kyo, Kim, and D all mentioned polyamory as a viable way to resolve a love triangle–and it’s an option that doesn’t get a lot of attention or love in popular media.
I’m going to use Betty, Veronica, and Archie as examples of a static love triangle–they are probably one of the most well-known examples of a love triangle. Betty and Veronica both love Archie, and Archie loves both of them back. But Archie is unwilling to choose one girl over the other, and while Betty and Veronica have shown interest in different boys, they always seem to gravitate back to Archie–and they are constantly fighting each other for his affection.
Now think about how awkward this situation would be in real life. What are the odds that every member of the love triangle would be content to stay in such an awkward place for such a long period of time? Eventually, someone is going to make a decision. The ‘Archie’ will decide which suitor they prefer, or the ‘Betty’/’Veronica’ will get tired of waiting for a decision to be made and they’ll move on to someone else…or maybe they’ll decide they would all be happier if they just stayed together, and the feud is dropped. Regardless of what decision is reached, the love triangle is broken.
The characters of the classic Archie comics never change. Their personalities, their ages, their relationships–it’s all static. They have no agency over their lives, their goals, or their romances. They are completely static. And that’s the only way for a love triangle to never break.
~Cori
An additional note - most love triangles are actually love Vs. If they were truly triangles, they’d be easier to resolve, because each person would have feelings for both of the other two. In a love V, which is what we usually see, there are two people who have feelings for the same person, who is then forced to choose between them by circumstances outside of their control. This situation ignores the possibility of non-monogamy or non-exclusivity in dating, which is a real life solution that works for lots of people just fine.
In a non-monogamous or non-exclusive situation, for example, A and B would be dating, and A and C would also be dating. Their relationships would have no overlap with each other and would be completely separate, except that A has to be careful with their scheduling and they all have to be good at communicating about things like safe sex practices and feelings. If C or B (or A!) wanted to date someone else, that would be okay as long as it was discussed openly with their current partner(s); if it’s not discussed and okayed ahead of time, that’s when it veers into cheating territory.
With that tangent aside, how do you write a good love V when it’s not really a triangle and you don’t want to veer into polyamory territory? Well, it has to feel plausible. When I read about a love V:
Sound like a tall order? That’s because it is, which is why so many love Vs aren’t well-written and why they’re so often considered “romantic plot tumors” - a well-written love V can take up your entire story and consume the entire plot. They don’t make good subplots because they require so much attention to get right! However, I really believe that it can be done; you just have to be thoughtful about how you do it. Check out the TV Tropes entry for Love Triangle (and the subtropes!) for more information. I hope this helps - good luck!
-Kyo
How do you do love triangles well? Like, when all three characters are supposed to be likable and sympathetic, but the mess of feelings causes drama/breakups/unrequited feelings/ETC.? Almost all love triangles get automatically labelled as "romantic plot t
We discussed this a bit in the mod chat today. The general consensus was that love triangles would only really work if the characters grew out of them. Kyo, Kim, and D all mentioned polyamory as a viable way to resolve a love triangle–and it’s an option that doesn’t get a lot of attention or love in popular media.
I’m going to use Betty, Veronica, and Archie as examples of a static love triangle–they are probably one of the most well-known examples of a love triangle. Betty and Veronica both love Archie, and Archie loves both of them back. But Archie is unwilling to choose one girl over the other, and while Betty and Veronica have shown interest in different boys, they always seem to gravitate back to Archie–and they are constantly fighting each other for his affection.
Now think about how awkward this situation would be in real life. What are the odds that every member of the love triangle would be content to stay in such an awkward place for such a long period of time? Eventually, someone is going to make a decision. The ‘Archie’ will decide which suitor they prefer, or the ‘Betty’/’Veronica’ will get tired of waiting for a decision to be made and they’ll move on to someone else…or maybe they’ll decide they would all be happier if they just stayed together, and the feud is dropped. Regardless of what decision is reached, the love triangle is broken.
The characters of the classic Archie comics never change. Their personalities, their ages, their relationships–it’s all static. They have no agency over their lives, their goals, or their romances. They are completely static. And that’s the only way for a love triangle to never break.
~Cori
An additional note - most love triangles are actually love Vs. If they were truly triangles, they’d be easier to resolve, because each person would have feelings for both of the other two. In a love V, which is what we usually see, there are two people who have feelings for the same person, who is then forced to choose between them by circumstances outside of their control. This situation ignores the possibility of non-monogamy or non-exclusivity in dating, which is a real life solution that works for lots of people just fine.
In a non-monogamous or non-exclusive situation, for example, A and B would be dating, and A and C would also be dating. Their relationships would have no overlap with each other and would be completely separate, except that A has to be careful with their scheduling and they all have to be good at communicating about things like safe sex practices and feelings. If C or B (or A!) wanted to date someone else, that would be okay as long as it was discussed openly with their current partner(s); if it’s not discussed and okayed ahead of time, that’s when it veers into cheating territory.
With that tangent aside, how do you write a good love V when it’s not really a triangle and you don’t want to veer into polyamory territory? Well, it has to feel plausible. When I read about a love V:
Sound like a tall order? That’s because it is, which is why so many love Vs aren’t well-written and why they’re so often considered “romantic plot tumors” - a well-written love V can take up your entire story and consume the entire plot. They don’t make good subplots because they require so much attention to get right! However, I really believe that it can be done; you just have to be thoughtful about how you do it. Check out the TV Tropes entry for Love Triangle (and the subtropes!) for more information. I hope this helps - good luck!
-Kyo
How do you do love triangles well? Like, when all three characters are supposed to be likable and sympathetic, but the mess of feelings causes drama/breakups/unrequited feelings/ETC.? Almost all love triangles get automatically labelled as "romantic plot t
We discussed this a bit in the mod chat today. The general consensus was that love triangles would only really work if the characters grew out of them. Kyo, Kim, and D all mentioned polyamory as a viable way to resolve a love triangle–and it’s an option that doesn’t get a lot of attention or love in popular media.
I’m going to use Betty, Veronica, and Archie as examples of a static love triangle–they are probably one of the most well-known examples of a love triangle. Betty and Veronica both love Archie, and Archie loves both of them back. But Archie is unwilling to choose one girl over the other, and while Betty and Veronica have shown interest in different boys, they always seem to gravitate back to Archie–and they are constantly fighting each other for his affection.
Now think about how awkward this situation would be in real life. What are the odds that every member of the love triangle would be content to stay in such an awkward place for such a long period of time? Eventually, someone is going to make a decision. The ‘Archie’ will decide which suitor they prefer, or the ‘Betty’/’Veronica’ will get tired of waiting for a decision to be made and they’ll move on to someone else…or maybe they’ll decide they would all be happier if they just stayed together, and the feud is dropped. Regardless of what decision is reached, the love triangle is broken.
The characters of the classic Archie comics never change. Their personalities, their ages, their relationships–it’s all static. They have no agency over their lives, their goals, or their romances. They are completely static. And that’s the only way for a love triangle to never break.
~Cori
An additional note - most love triangles are actually love Vs. If they were truly triangles, they’d be easier to resolve, because each person would have feelings for both of the other two. In a love V, which is what we usually see, there are two people who have feelings for the same person, who is then forced to choose between them by circumstances outside of their control. This situation ignores the possibility of non-monogamy or non-exclusivity in dating, which is a real life solution that works for lots of people just fine.
In a non-monogamous or non-exclusive situation, for example, A and B would be dating, and A and C would also be dating. Their relationships would have no overlap with each other and would be completely separate, except that A has to be careful with their scheduling and they all have to be good at communicating about things like safe sex practices and feelings. If C or B (or A!) wanted to date someone else, that would be okay as long as it was discussed openly with their current partner(s); if it’s not discussed and okayed ahead of time, that’s when it veers into cheating territory.
With that tangent aside, how do you write a good love V when it’s not really a triangle and you don’t want to veer into polyamory territory? Well, it has to feel plausible. When I read about a love V:
Sound like a tall order? That’s because it is, which is why so many love Vs aren’t well-written and why they’re so often considered “romantic plot tumors” - a well-written love V can take up your entire story and consume the entire plot. They don’t make good subplots because they require so much attention to get right! However, I really believe that it can be done; you just have to be thoughtful about how you do it. Check out the TV Tropes entry for Love Triangle (and the subtropes!) for more information. I hope this helps - good luck!
-Kyo
How do you do love triangles well? Like, when all three characters are supposed to be likable and sympathetic, but the mess of feelings causes drama/breakups/unrequited feelings/ETC.? Almost all love triangles get automatically labelled as "romantic plot t
We discussed this a bit in the mod chat today. The general consensus was that love triangles would only really work if the characters grew out of them. Kyo, Kim, and D all mentioned polyamory as a viable way to resolve a love triangle–and it’s an option that doesn’t get a lot of attention or love in popular media.
I’m going to use Betty, Veronica, and Archie as examples of a static love triangle–they are probably one of the most well-known examples of a love triangle. Betty and Veronica both love Archie, and Archie loves both of them back. But Archie is unwilling to choose one girl over the other, and while Betty and Veronica have shown interest in different boys, they always seem to gravitate back to Archie–and they are constantly fighting each other for his affection.
Now think about how awkward this situation would be in real life. What are the odds that every member of the love triangle would be content to stay in such an awkward place for such a long period of time? Eventually, someone is going to make a decision. The ‘Archie’ will decide which suitor they prefer, or the ‘Betty’/’Veronica’ will get tired of waiting for a decision to be made and they’ll move on to someone else…or maybe they’ll decide they would all be happier if they just stayed together, and the feud is dropped. Regardless of what decision is reached, the love triangle is broken.
The characters of the classic Archie comics never change. Their personalities, their ages, their relationships–it’s all static. They have no agency over their lives, their goals, or their romances. They are completely static. And that’s the only way for a love triangle to never break.
~Cori
An additional note - most love triangles are actually love Vs. If they were truly triangles, they’d be easier to resolve, because each person would have feelings for both of the other two. In a love V, which is what we usually see, there are two people who have feelings for the same person, who is then forced to choose between them by circumstances outside of their control. This situation ignores the possibility of non-monogamy or non-exclusivity in dating, which is a real life solution that works for lots of people just fine.
In a non-monogamous or non-exclusive situation, for example, A and B would be dating, and A and C would also be dating. Their relationships would have no overlap with each other and would be completely separate, except that A has to be careful with their scheduling and they all have to be good at communicating about things like safe sex practices and feelings. If C or B (or A!) wanted to date someone else, that would be okay as long as it was discussed openly with their current partner(s); if it’s not discussed and okayed ahead of time, that’s when it veers into cheating territory.
With that tangent aside, how do you write a good love V when it’s not really a triangle and you don’t want to veer into polyamory territory? Well, it has to feel plausible. When I read about a love V:
Sound like a tall order? That’s because it is, which is why so many love Vs aren’t well-written and why they’re so often considered “romantic plot tumors” - a well-written love V can take up your entire story and consume the entire plot. They don’t make good subplots because they require so much attention to get right! However, I really believe that it can be done; you just have to be thoughtful about how you do it. Check out the TV Tropes entry for Love Triangle (and the subtropes!) for more information. I hope this helps - good luck!
-Kyo
