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kyburgroane72:
aprillikesthings:
berlynn-wohl:
btamamura:
bonos-grindcore-sideproject:
berlynn-wohl:
puppyvegeta:
the-stonedsoldier:
Pros of writing gay relationships:
- gay
Cons of writing gay relationships:
- they both have THE SAME FCKIN PRONOUNS SO I CONSTANTLY HAVE TO NAME BOTH CHARACTERS BECAUSE OTHERWISE IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO TELL WHO’S DOING WHAT OR WHO’S SPEAKING WHO WILL SAVE ME FROM THIS HELL
I CAN’T BELIEVE THERE’S A POST ABOUT THIS. THE STRUGGLE IS REAL.
Worst way to deal with this: use epithets (the taller man, the blonde) DO NOT
Best way to deal with this: Use the pronouns a teensy bit more than you maybe feel is sufficient. Leave the fic for two days before editing (i.e. allow yourself to forget it a little). Come back and re-read. If at any point YOU can’t tell who’s doing what to whom, put names in. Leave the rest of the pronouns.
Also, for dialogue: use characterization instead of names. Let it be clear by the things that are said, the way they are said, who is saying them.
Readers are smart, let them infer sometimes. :)
^^Great advice for all kinds of writers!
@berlynn-wohl May I please ask why it is best to avoid using epiphets? I tend to use those when writing my fanfics, especially those of Danger Mouse and Albert the Fifth Musketeer seeing as those usually focus on one shorter character and one taller character.
There’s actually a whole webpage about why you should not use epithets! It’s here: Epithets: Fandom’s Designated Hitters.
But long before I saw all these things laid out and explained, the reason that I, personally, vowed to never, ever use epithets was because of all the times I’d seen people in the fanfic community specifically say that when they read something like “the taller man” or “the shorter man” they would just. Stop. Reading. The fic.
Dear SU fandom: STOP USING EPITHETS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD I know it’s tempting when you can literally describe characters by color and size BUT IT’S AWFUL and it plagues SO MANY otherwise terrific fics
Just use their names it’s okay I promise
Using/not using epithets has a LOT to do with the POV character you’re writing from. If you’re writing third person limited (and let’s be real, most of us are), you are writing from the perspective of a single character. So, ask yourself, in the middle of a steamy hot threesome scene, would Luke be thinking of Han as “the smuggler”? No of course not. If you use that epithet, you are reminding the reader that they are reading and that you are writing–which is not what you want in the middle of a steamy hot threesome scene.
Now, on the other hand, there ARE times when a character would possibly use an epithet. In the aforementioned steamy hot threesome scene, if your POV character is Han, it’s entirely plausible that he’d make some reference to what the princess is doing. (But probably not “the Jedi”–unless there’s maybe some Inappropriate Use of the Force happening.)
The issue fandom has with epithets is that we get twitchy about repeating character names and clarifying pronouns, and it’s the same way we get twitchy about overusing ‘said’. (Note: You cannot overuse said. I mean, you CAN, but it’s a LOT harder than you think.) Name, like ‘said’, are invisible words. We read them and move on. If you use ANYTHING OTHER than an invisible word, you are drawing attention to it. And if you weren’t meaning to draw attention to it, you’ve just thrown the reader out of the story again. USE THE NAMES. I promise you, we won’t care. We won’t even notice.
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aprillikesthings:
berlynn-wohl:
btamamura:
bonos-grindcore-sideproject:
berlynn-wohl:
puppyvegeta:
the-stonedsoldier:
Pros of writing gay relationships:
- gay
Cons of writing gay relationships:
- they both have THE SAME FCKIN PRONOUNS SO I CONSTANTLY HAVE TO NAME BOTH CHARACTERS BECAUSE OTHERWISE IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO TELL WHO’S DOING WHAT OR WHO’S SPEAKING WHO WILL SAVE ME FROM THIS HELL
I CAN’T BELIEVE THERE’S A POST ABOUT THIS. THE STRUGGLE IS REAL.
Worst way to deal with this: use epithets (the taller man, the blonde) DO NOT
Best way to deal with this: Use the pronouns a teensy bit more than you maybe feel is sufficient. Leave the fic for two days before editing (i.e. allow yourself to forget it a little). Come back and re-read. If at any point YOU can’t tell who’s doing what to whom, put names in. Leave the rest of the pronouns.
Also, for dialogue: use characterization instead of names. Let it be clear by the things that are said, the way they are said, who is saying them.
Readers are smart, let them infer sometimes. :)
^^Great advice for all kinds of writers!
@berlynn-wohl May I please ask why it is best to avoid using epiphets? I tend to use those when writing my fanfics, especially those of Danger Mouse and Albert the Fifth Musketeer seeing as those usually focus on one shorter character and one taller character.
There’s actually a whole webpage about why you should not use epithets! It’s here: Epithets: Fandom’s Designated Hitters.
But long before I saw all these things laid out and explained, the reason that I, personally, vowed to never, ever use epithets was because of all the times I’d seen people in the fanfic community specifically say that when they read something like “the taller man” or “the shorter man” they would just. Stop. Reading. The fic.
Dear SU fandom: STOP USING EPITHETS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD I know it’s tempting when you can literally describe characters by color and size BUT IT’S AWFUL and it plagues SO MANY otherwise terrific fics
Just use their names it’s okay I promise
Using/not using epithets has a LOT to do with the POV character you’re writing from. If you’re writing third person limited (and let’s be real, most of us are), you are writing from the perspective of a single character. So, ask yourself, in the middle of a steamy hot threesome scene, would Luke be thinking of Han as “the smuggler”? No of course not. If you use that epithet, you are reminding the reader that they are reading and that you are writing–which is not what you want in the middle of a steamy hot threesome scene.
Now, on the other hand, there ARE times when a character would possibly use an epithet. In the aforementioned steamy hot threesome scene, if your POV character is Han, it’s entirely plausible that he’d make some reference to what the princess is doing. (But probably not “the Jedi”–unless there’s maybe some Inappropriate Use of the Force happening.)
The issue fandom has with epithets is that we get twitchy about repeating character names and clarifying pronouns, and it’s the same way we get twitchy about overusing ‘said’. (Note: You cannot overuse said. I mean, you CAN, but it’s a LOT harder than you think.) Name, like ‘said’, are invisible words. We read them and move on. If you use ANYTHING OTHER than an invisible word, you are drawing attention to it. And if you weren’t meaning to draw attention to it, you’ve just thrown the reader out of the story again. USE THE NAMES. I promise you, we won’t care. We won’t even notice.
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via IFTTT
