Dive Into Me

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Writing Exercises for Stretching Your Style Muscles

There’s a lot of writing advice on the internet, and a lot of writing prompts, but something I see relatively little of is an idea of how to actually practice.

The thing about learning a skill is that it requires practice – but practicing will only get you so far if you’re just doing the same thing over and over. you might get better at doing that specific thing, but it can seem really difficult to get over a specific hurdle to accomplish some new thing you’ve never tried. I think a really common frustration is wanting to do a thing, and knowing what your end goal looks like, but not knowing actually how to accomplish it.

So that’s where practicing specific skills can really help you to feel more comfortable with your abilities.

Here are some skills exercises I recommend experimenting with to gain proficiency and comfort in writing things.

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Write the Same Scene from Multiple POVs

Write a scene in 3rd person POV. Then go back and rewrite it from scratch in 1st person. Repeat for a 3rd person omniscient. Go deeper than just swapping out pronouns. Think: How does this scene change if I’m writing through the eyes of a single character vs over their shoulder? How does this scene change if I’m narrating the events through Character B instead of Character A?

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Write a Scene in Present Tense

Present tense bumps up the immediacy level of whatever you’re writing. I think it also helps to break you from more passive sentence constructions. Try taking a scene you’ve written and rewrite it in present tense. Combine it with the above – try switching a 3rd person past to 1st person present, or even try writing in 2nd person.

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Try Mimicking Another Writer’s Style

Sit down with a piece of writing from an author you enjoy, and pay attention to the writing itself. Ignore the plot and characters and story elements – look at just the nuts and bolts of vocabulary choices and sentence construction. Try to pick it apart. Is there a specific way the author tends to use commas? Certain words, or types of words, that they use more often? Longer sentences or shorter ones? Longer paragraphs or short? How is white space handled?

Study that and make yourself a little cheat sheet if that’s helpful to you. Then try writing a short piece – just a couple paragraphs, even – in their writing style.

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Describe an Entire Scene Without Using Visual Description

Imagine you’re writing a blind character, if it helps, or someone who’s been blindfolded. Describe a whole scene built entirely around the way things sound, smell, taste, feel. Try to make it clear what’s happening through description alone.

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Eliminate All Words like “Thought” or “Felt”

Write in deep-3rd or 1st person without any filter words. Make a character’s opinions and emotions obvious through the way things are being described without explicitly saying what they’re thinking or feeling. If you struggle with this, it might be easier to start in first person – write as a diary entry or even a Tumblr post from that person’s perspective – and then try it in 3rd person after you’ve had a bit of practice.

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Set Yourself a Specific Goal, and Write a Drabble to Achieve it

When I wrote “Happy Ending,” my entire goal was to write something that was highly descriptive in the most viscerally gross way possible. When I wrote “Mothman,” it was an exercise in writing something sexualized without explicitly being sexual, in the most disturbing way possible.

This is an exercise in word choice. It’s an excuse to bust out your thesaurus, not to sound fancy, but to nail a specific meaning. It’s also an exercise in choosing what details to focus on and which to exclude.

One way to approach this exercise is to describe something common and mundane that you’ve experienced, and write it in several different ways. Let’s say, eating a sandwich. How can you make eating a sandwich sound sexy? How can you make it sound disgusting? Which details do you focus on, and which do you omit? What words do you use to evoke the meaning you’re looking for?

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I hope these writing exercises give you some inspiration on things to try out to flex your creative wings a bit!

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bubreherro

8 months ago

ScuderiaFerrari Found the guitar, lost the mariachi suit 😅

“Carlitos”

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bubreherro

8 months ago

I feel I need to write my understanding of their characterization. There’s always so much that comes up and out and it’s like sand pieces that turn into a castle eventually. They’re beautiful

Also I believe @f1-stuff is the Charlos historian and she keeps feeding my Charlos reference library

Did carlos also used the friend word? Do you know when?

Hi, so I actually compiled some links mostly for myself, but also for you and anyone else interested. See below the cut!

Times Charles has referred to Carlos as a "friend":

The most recent instance: 'He has obviously become a friend.'

‘We were already good friends before we joined Ferrari.'

'We have a very special relationship. I mean, we are obviously friends outside the track as well. We are sharing good moments. We spend so much time - I mean, I see Carlos more than my own family...'

Times Carlos has referred to Charles as a "friend":

'My teammate and I are friends off the track, we get along very well and we have a very good relationship. And we make a very good team. I think that if there is something that worked and works in Ferrari, it is the two drivers...' (translated from Spanish)

This is just what I could track down, but if anyone knows of others let me know!

Carlos has spoken about how he and charles get along very well, but that it's hard for him (and other drivers) to truly be friends with their teammates bc they're always so competitive with each other, and there's so much pressure to beat one another. ("Friend is a strong word that I don’t like using for anything or anyone.") And combine that with what we know about how, as a kid, he was surprised by other kids he thought were his friends running him off track and out of the race, we can see how much weight he applies to the 'friend' label.

To Carlos, I think a 'friend' is someone that a part of his brain would hesitate to race too hard against, and he can't let that happen with his teammate, who he wants and needs to beat more than anyone. He can afford to maybe leave Lando or Alonso a little more space on track bc he values his relationship with them as friends, and they're not currently his teammates. But he can't let himself have that relationship with Charles, or, for that matter, Alex next season.

Will he be able to say that he and Charles are friends more readily next year when they aren't teammates any longer? I think so. That was certainly the case with Lando. But I also think his relationship with Lando was a bit different - Lando was almost like a little brother to him. With Charles, he's more firmly a peer, and I think that hyper-competitiveness between them may always linger, right up until they aren't racing eo anymore, maybe especially bc their partnership was cut short before either could win a championship as teammates.

Time will tell, but it's clear that they already view their time together very fondly. They've spoken plainly about 'hating each other' inside the helmet when they've battled and disagreed, but that they always make up after two minutes. It's beautiful that they can always come back to the respect they have for one another. It's a unique relationship, and I look forward to seeing how it evolves in the years to come. ❤️

Tags

character analysis charlos to revisit

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bubreherro

7 months ago

The clothes, kitchen linens and towels I washed 2 months ago and from which I wanted to remove the pet hairs before putting it away.

Never happened

From the book Organizing Solutions for People with ADHD:

Putting a coat on the back of a chair by the door is fine, but if you prefer, use coat hooks and a large catch-all basket for dropping keys, hats, gloves.

Small bookcase end-table next to the couch to store craft projects, books, and other things being worked on for easy access.

Add a storage unit near the dining room table to transition between eating and working there.

Daily toiletry items should be stored in a basket that you can move easily

Extra toiletries and medicine cabinet items go in open shelf/basket storage so they can be seen and used easily. If items no longer fit, purge the excess. Don’t obscure the view!

If you disrobe in the bathroom, place a tall hamper in there.

Keep a set of cleaning supplies in each bathroom

Tags

still being investigated for ADHD this book might be needed

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bubreherro

1 week ago

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLx0qTss1F9/

im sorry but its crazy that its Gabi having Noemi on the phone! Did Noemi call Gabi? Sweet. Or is this Nico’s phone and this just confirms that Gabi already knows Nico’s password

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instagram gabriel bortoleto nico hulkenberg celebrations gabico british gp 2025 sauber f1 nicodium hulk podium sauber f1 celebrations

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bubreherro

6 years ago

Misumi's and Amou’s Character Profile From The 20072017 Yoneda Kou Fanbook

Misumi Takahito (Age 62)

Character Profile

Born on August, 21th Lion, Type O 180cm/76kg Can be compared to: Lion Likes: sushi, whale meat, mahjong, clubs, golf Favorite cigarettes: Parliament Favorite car: Benz (it used to be the Crown Majesta)

Parameter

Tolerance: 5 Lewdness: 4 Intelligence: 4 Body type: 4 Straighforwardness: 3 Prudence: 3.5

Foot size: 28cm

Weak point! None

Amou Shizuma (Age 44)

Character Profile

Born on January, 1st Capricorne, Type A 177cm/67kg Can be compared to: a horse Likes: tofu skin, konnyaku, zaitech (investment, financial techniques), estimating Favorite cigarettes: once in a while, he smokes Misumi’s cigarettes in secret Favorite car: Elgrand (he uses it when Misumi goes far away)

Parameter

Tolerance: 3 Lewdness: 1 Intelligence: 5 Body type: 3 Straighforwardness: 2 Prudence: 4

Foot size: 27.5cm

Weak point! None

Please let me know if I made any mistakes!

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bubreherro

9 years ago

Heads of state randomness

The more I watch House of Cards, the more I develop an interest toward Meechum. I like dwelling on his facial expression or body language, and like imagining what thoughts are in his head. I've also just found myself thinking how interesting a thing it would be if Meechum was part of my own head of state's detail, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. And then I realize that while the picture would be delicious, Meechum is more the type to develop a certain worship toward an older male anyway.

Tags

bromance house of CARDS justin trudeau edward meechum hero worship

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bubreherro

7 years ago

Ha, I just sent @evilpixiea an ask about Rebirth, and came back to read this.

My problem is, I actually like New 52 Supes, but finding answers is not so easy! Haha how in the world did he go from leaping to flying??

I know he’s dead now.. but I liked it.

I’m gonna start into rebirth in 2018... does anyone even remember him?

Hi! I just finished reading the fourth part of your omegaverse series on ao3. It was soooooo good. Your characterizations are really realistic and I love the way you write. I've never been into the DCU fandom before, but after reading your fic, I've been sucked in! I'm not really sure where to start because there's so much. Could you possibly point me in a direction?

You have a few options.

First… comics.

If you’re looking for Batman a good beginner-friendly place to start would be Scott Snyder’s work on the New 52. It starts with Batman: The Court of Owls and continues with some other really good stories after that. You can buy it in trade paperback from any good comic book store or online. Also in the New 52 and by Scott Snyder is Superman: Unchained which is, likewise, a good comic for people just getting to know the universe and the characters.

In fact, while there is a lot of criticism of the New 52 one thing it did do well was make the universe accessible to new readers. I would also recommend Geoff John’s Aquaman and Brian Azzarello’s Wonder Woman (if you’re a fan of Greek Myth) from the New 52. Green Lantern was also amazing but might not be a great place for beginners.

A lot of Superbat fans started shipping with the Superman/Batman series by Jeph Loeb which I personally am not hugely into but because so many people in this fandom are I would still recommend it.

Stepping back a bit I also enjoyed the 90s Nightwing Series by Chuck Dixon and back even further the New Teen Titans by Marv Wolfman is absolute gold once you get over the way comics were written in the 80s.

There are a lot better comics than that but I am trying to think of stuff which inspired my writing which would be good for someone starting out.

If, though, you would rather not do comics there are other options.

Like the animated series and movies.

This is probably a good way to jump into the bat family as they have some simplified versions of famous bat stories. The best in my opinion is Batman: Under the Red Hood.

There is also a whole chain of movies with Bruce and Damian. I personally am on the fence about them as they are VERY simplified but they’re actually a pretty good place to start if you’re a bit confused as to how Damian fits into everything.

If you’re getting bored of movies and want something longer then the Justice League Animated Series is the place to be. That for me was really where I fell in love with the universe ad with Clark and Bruce. Yes, it’s a kid’s show, but I would highly recommend. It is also a really good place just to get to know other members of the DCU. The series eventually evolves into Justice League Unlimited which has a really diverse cast of characters… but it starts slow with just seven iconic heroes.

Finally you can always just read more fanfic.

Here are some of my favourite DC fanfic writers:

FabulaRasa

Skalidra

Mithen

BuckinghamAlice

ohmcgee

Plus there are heaps of others out there that I either can’t remember, can’t find, or haven’t discovered. If you hunt around I am sure you’ll be able to find some cool rec lists to hit up.

Otherwise, I am really glad you liked my work and thanks so much for leaving such a lovely message. It’s always a treat to come back from work to see another pair of thumb up aimed in my direction. <3

Tags

superman rebirth new52 New52 Superman Rebirth Superman

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