Normalize Smacking Down Needlessly Shitty People.

Normalize smacking down needlessly shitty people.

You are allowed to write a better world than you see.

Write soft academia. Write loyal friends. Write healthy relationships. Write good parents. Write siblings who get along.

You can have a plot even when your characters love each other. You can have tension even when people are kind.

When Adam bit the apple he did it because he trusted Eve. Because he loved her. Adam bit into the apple because the woman he loved told him to, no matter what God said. No matter the rules of heaven. What’s heaven to a woman’s love anyway? What’s God to your wife? The first sins of humanity, were trusting others. Eve trusted a snake, Adam trusted Eve, and I trust you. Maybe that’s a sin, just like the first couple. Maybe everyone’s right about us and we’re sinners and we offend God. But like I said, what’s God to a woman’s love anyway? What has heaven got that I can’t find sitting next to you on a cool autumn morning?

You know what’s fun to write? Healthy relationships. 

I don’t mean in the sense that healthy relationships are important to portray in fiction–no, I mean, they’re actually enjoyable to scribble down. Think of these examples:

A and B kicking ass together 👍

A and B believing in and listening to each other 👍

A and B communicating their problems (doubles as good scene-setting to further explore the characters’ reactions to stress) 👍

Makeout sessions 👍

Quick kisses that makes one/both smile 👍

One swearing to protect the other and then doing it 👍

A and B both contributing to the other’s character development in sweet and positive ways 👍

One recognizing the other’s faults but not letting the knowledge overshadow why they love their partner 👍

One doing something nice for the other, even if it’s in the middle of a battle for the fate of the world 👍

A and B overcoming all the torture you throw at them but never losing their friendship and sense of peace when they’re together 👍

and more

There’s something to writing unhealthy relationships, in the sense of drama and conflict, but there’s no reason a healthy one can’t have drama and conflict while the characters still work to make their partner happy. There’s also something to not throwing unneeded drama and conflict at them, allowing them to interact with themselves and the story in positive ways. Honestly, it’s refreshing and puts a smile on your face (or, at least it puts one on mine). It shows everyone else what the characters prioritize: a healthy dynamic with the person they care about most. It doesn’t have to be boring.

(Also applies to non-monogamous and platonic relationships.)

A collection of notes I’ve made whilst studying Norwegian 🇳🇴

you know what actually pisses me off? when I finally start to feel a smidge of confidence in my writing ability and then some JERK POSTS A SINGLE LINE FROM A TERRY PRATCHETT NOVEL AND IT’S BETTER THAN ANYTHING I WILL EVER WRITE NO MATTER HOW MANY MILLENNIA I SPEND TRYING!