Smash That Mf Reblog Button If You’re Loving And Supporting Trans Lesbians On This Day

How to Kick a Reader in the Gut

Disrupt the reader’s sense of justice. 

This generally means setting a character up to deserve one thing and then giving them the exact opposite. 

Kill a character off before they can achieve their goal. 

Let the bad guy get an extremely important win. 

Set up a coup against a tyrannical king. The coup fails miserably.

Don’t always give characters closure. 

(Excluding the end of the book, obviously)

A beloved friend dies in battle and there’s no time to mourn him.

A random tryst between two main characters is not (or cannot be) brought up again.

A character suddenly loses their job or can otherwise no longer keep up their old routine

Make it the main character’s fault sometimes. 

And not in an “imposter syndrome” way. Make your MC do something bad, and make the blame they shoulder for it heavy and tangible.

MC must choose the lesser of two evils.

MC kills someone they believe to be a bad guy, only to later discover the bad guy was a different person altogether.

Rejection is a powerful tool. 

People generally want to be understood, and if you can make a character think they are Known, and then rip that away from them with a rejection (romantic or platonic) people will empathize with it.

MC is finally accepting the Thing They Must Do/Become, and their love interest decides that that’s not a path they want to be on and breaks up with them

MC makes a decision they believe is right, everyone around them thinks they chose wrong.

MC finds kinship with someone Like Them, at long last, but that person later discovers that there is some inherent aspect of MC that they wholly reject. (Perhaps it was MC’s fault that their family member died, they have important religious differences, or WERE THE BAD GUY ALL ALONG!)

On the flipside, make your main character keep going. 

Push them beyond what they are capable of, and then push them farther. Make them want something so deeply that they are willing to do literally anything to get it. Give them passion and drive and grit and more of that than they have fear.

“But what if my MC is quiet and meek?” Even better. They want something so deeply that every single moment they push themselves toward it is a moment spent outside their comfort zone. What must that do to a person?

Obviously, don’t do all of these things, or the story can begin to feel tedious or overly dramatic, and make sure that every decision you make is informed by your plot first and foremost. 

Also remember that the things that make us sad, angry, or otherwise emotional as readers are the same things that make us feel that way in our day-to-day lives. Creating an empathetic main character is the foundation for all of the above tips.

actually me too, I see it like, 

dating Rowan would be nerdy and fun, 

dating Penny would be cute cuddles, 

dating Merula could be snarky comments, flirting through sarcasm

 tbh I like all three, plus I’m still in year 1, were 11, she is a literal child that deserve a redemption arch 

Soooooo I started this game too. the only problem (besides the energy system) is that Im so gay Im in love with every girl, Rowan, Penny and (yes, yes, I know) even Merula

Rick Riordan finally snapped and released emails he sent to The Lightning Thief movie makers….

I can’t stop laughing

Because only Doctor Who and Sherlock are worth watching

why are the hot ones always gay

Because straight people are ugly

Them: how are you?

Me:

She-Ra s5 characters as John Mulaney quotes

Adora:

Catra:

Glimmer:

Bow:

Entrapta:

Scorpia:

Mermista:

Sea Hawk:

Perfuma:

Spinerella and Netossa:

Have my cute son, Ben Copper, who’s probably gonna Neville Longbottom us in year 7

looking for writing friends!

reblog or message me if you;

are a writer

want to talk about WIPs

like books like The Raven Cycle

like dark/light academia, cottagecore, or cryptidcore

I’m a bit shy but I’d love to meet new friends! 

disclaimer: no terfs or I break your kneecaps

“happy endings” this “sad endings” that– you can debate the relative merits of each till your mouth goes dry and it’s still not a meaningful binary. Is the ending coherent and emotionally appropriate for the story? Cool.