kinda sad that all the poems of ‘seventy years of sleep" by nikka ursula doesn’t originally exists anymore since the website is down and became public domain… now every other people who will hear about “we deserve a soft epilogue my love” won’t know this is originally from a beautiful series of stevebucky poems that is iconic for us.
Is there anything we can do about it ?
luckily, lots of people saved the website on the wayback machine along the years until 2022, this is the best version of recovered website with all the images working:
learning from the reblogs of that post that there’s a lot of people out there under the impression that “kill your darlings” means “kill your characters” and that’s the funniest possible interpretation of that phrase
since a couple people sent asks: it means you can’t be precious about your own writing when the time comes to edit. sometimes you will write a really good scene, or a really good line, or a really good description. it will be your new favorite thing you’ve ever written. the kind of thing you want to post on tumblr attributed to “the book i haven’t written yet” because it’s just that good. but when the whole thing is done and you’re reading it over, it just. it doesn’t actually work. it stands out like a sore thumb. it fucks up the pacing, or maybe once you’ve really got a handle on characters you realize it’s ooc. “kill your darlings” is about learning to delete those bits, even though they’re really good, because they’re making the work as a whole worse.
… but a lot of people i know don’t actually delete them because it’s 2023 and you can just cut and paste them into a different document titled “bits” until you write something where they’ll fit. and sometimes it actually does fit in the work, but you tried to put it in the wrong place or in the mouth of the wrong character. but learning that you can put a lot of excellent paragraphs together to make a story that’s worse than the sum of its parts is the important part.
I feel that this is meant to be light and friendly, so it’s not that deep, but your phrasing is actually hitting something interesting for me.
“How dare you like”.
I’m actually getting a lot of messages like this- all in good fun, I think, because I know a lot of people feel that yellow is an ugly color, and folks like to poke at things like that, so please everyone be kind- but it makes me wonder. Deep down, do we actually feel this way?
I wish Americans fucked with more foreign music. You don’t have to know the language to appreciate a good record. Folks in other countries listen to our music and don’t speak a lick of english. Music needs no translator
you’ll get an endless streaming of songs (ad free!).
I personally found myself loving 1970s Ghana, Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire!
Also 1920s and 1970s Japan for sure! Cambodian music:
spectacular. Love Armenia and Mali as well. I’ve been told 70s Germany is weird and 30s
Algeria is cool but I haven’t gotten around to those yet.
Italy’s 1960s is bomb ofc but I’m biased ;)
the saddest thing about life is that tattoos cost many money. oh and traveling? also costs many money. video games? many money. starting a new hobby? usually many money. concerts? so many money and also good luck even getting tickets. going out and getting a fancy beverage? you know the drill.
eating buttered bread with honey and some cheese like a medieval peasant . this shit is sublime
where did society go wrong . why cant i just eat slices of meat with bread and cheese and butter and honey and fruits . why do i have to nuke something in the microwave
fucking post cancelled i just remembered chuck cutlery boards exist
i am not a marvel fan. i am a stevebucky fan. in my heart and mind it is still 2015 when all the fanfic writers contrived 100,000,000+ good and satisfying endings to steve and bucky’s story, post-catws. those are all canon to me.
So my problem with most ‘get to know your character’ questioneers is that they’re full of questions that just aren’t that important (what color eyes do they have) too hard to answer right away (what is their greatest fear) or are just impossible to answer (what is their favorite movie.) Like no one has one single favorite movie. And even if they do the answer changes.
If I’m doing this exercise, I want 7-10 questions to get the character feeling real in my head. So I thought I’d share the ones that get me (and my students) good results:
What is the character’s go-to drink order? (this one gets into how do they like to be publicly perceived, because there is always some level of theatricality to ordering drinks at a bar/resturant)
What is their grooming routine? (how do they treat themselves in private)
What was their most expensive purchase/where does their disposable income go? (Gets you thinking about socio-economic class, values, and how they spend their leisure time)
Do they have any scars or tattoos? (good way to get into literal backstory)
What was the last time they cried, and under what circumstances? (Good way to get some *emotional* backstory in.)
Are they an oldest, middle, youngest or only child? (This one might be a me thing, because I LOVE writing/reading about family dynamics, but knowing what kinds of things were ‘normal’ for them growing up is important.)
Describe the shoes they’re wearing. (This is a big catch all, gets into money, taste, practicality, level of wear, level of repair, literally what kind of shoes they require to live their life.)
Describe the place where they sleep. (ie what does their safe space look like. How much (or how little) care / decoration / personal touch goes into it.)
What is their favorite holiday? (How do they relate to their culture/outside world. Also fun is least favorite holiday.)
What objects do they always carry around with them? (What do they need for their normal, day-to-day routine? What does ‘normal’ even look like for them.)
prudensvulpes
