"What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July?"

"What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?"

Charlie: Would you rather Kill Angel or-

Alastor: Kill him.

Charlie: Uh, Al, you didn't even hear the other options.

Alastor: Don't need to, I'd kill him.

Angel Dust: ...Feelin' a little unsafe.

Hello! I need some advice. How to write a character that lost someone they love and fell in love again? I want to avoid the "learn how to love again" cliche and I dont want their new love interest to "fix" the loneliness. Any tips, please? (also I apologize for any mistakes, english ia not my native language)

Ah, good question! I've been working with a character like this myself.

Writing a new love interest will nearly always depend on the emotions your character has about their last love. So, if by "lost" you mean "died" they might be looking for different things in a new lover than if there was a bad breakup.

I'm going under the assumption you meant this character died. In that case, grief can be expressed in many ways. Some people jump right back into love to "fix" how bad they feel. Other people need some time or perhaps a long time to heal from the loss and feel ready to try again. There is sometimes also guilt because new love seems like disloyalty to their old partner. However, when they overcome these obstacles they can find peace and comfort in new love, even if they still feel pain from time to time.

The love interest may share attractive qualities with the lost lover, or they may complement the mourning character in different ways. Perhaps the last love was better for the character at that stage in their life, but this new person is better for who they are now. Even if the new lover doesn't understand the grief your character feels, they should seem empathetic and patient. Once you decide what your mourning character needs, it will be easier to write a lover that fulfills those needs.

Avoiding the "fix-it" relationship is pretty simple. Here are some things you might consider:

allow your character to heal before they meet their new love interest, or at least before developing feelings for them

let the romance develop gradually once they've already been friends for a while so it feels more natural

the love interest too can choose to pause the relationship until the mourning character is emotionally ready for it

if the love interest feels your character is just using them for comfort, they might end the relationship

a love interest that knows they're in a "fix-it" relationship and continues being in it is probably taking advantage of your character and aren't a great person

There are other ways you might discover too, and it really is okay for a new relationship to help a character heal as long as it's balanced. A relationship that's heavily skewed toward "repairing" a love interest tends to lead to a bad relationship. It can also reinforce sexist ideas that women exist to repair broken men, that men do not understand how to care for themselves emotionally, or that women are too emotional to get "better" without a "rational" man's help. So I'm glad you're concerned about this! Just remember that comfort and emotional support between potential lovers when one is in a weak emotional state is good to portray. I'm sure you'll do it well!

Hi, I'm working on a series but I'm having trouble mapping it out. Any tips?

Hello! I have a few:

Don’t outline every single event before you even start writing the first draft of the first book. You’ll burn yourself out. Know when it’s time to leave some planning for later.

Focus more on how to build up multiple different paths for your story from the beginning. If you only plan for your story going one way and ending one way, your readers will find your story predictable and boring. Leave some mystery for yourself.

Plan the major turning points in the series, and create smaller scenes and subplots that will build up those major events. 

Plan visually. Create a literal picture of your plot and its progression. I recommend making story maps. I make a story map for every single one of my stories and it is insane how much seeing my story physically laid out in front of me helps. Even if you think it won’t do you any good, there’s no harm in trying. 

Keep track of every location, every character, every event, every world detail, etc. and keep that information handy for when you’re planning or writing. When you map out a series, you can easily forget details you’ve already figured out or lose track of characters, etc. You want to know your story inside out, so make that easier for yourself.

Don’t forget to plan your character development. Be intentional with the scenes you plan to reveal character development in. 

Hope this helps! 

x Kate

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♠ Enemies to Friends Prompts ♠

“Maybe…you’re not as bad as I thought.”

“C’mon, give me a chance at least!”

“Slow down, we aren’t that close.”

“Friends? Whoa there buddy.”

“At this rate, we should make a best friend handshake.”

“Inside joke? I thought you were genuinely insulting me.”

“Don’t say that, people might think we are friends.”

“I’m only going to play this game if they’re on my team.”

“I never expected you two to work together!”

“I’m holding back from smacking you because you’ve been nice lately.”

“Did you just compliment me? And I didn’t even gag.”

“Can we high five or are we not there yet?”

“Why are you being nice to me?”

“Are you guys friends now?”

“Everyone’s looking at us real weird.”

“So are you friends or mortal enemies?”

“Hey, leave them alone! Only I can make fun of their stupidity!”

“Don’t take it personal, they’re just a softie on the inside.”

“You being an asshole has become more endearing than not these days.”

“So cute nicknames are crossing the line?”

Thank you @yamtaroh for this commission! Inspired by this post from @cheinsaw !