Op: "i Really Don't Mind-" Zeta: "Do Not Enable Him"

Spiderman being the most relatable superhero part one

Common dialogue mistakes

Are you making any of these common dialogue mistakes? Read the post to find out what they are and how you can quickly fix them.

Does dialogue feel like a struggle? Here are the most common mistakes I see writers make that have their dialogue falling flat.

👉 The length of a single line

Less is more, and this is very true for dialogue. The quicker you can get your point across, the punchier the dialogue will read.

A lot of the time if you feel your dialogue dragging, you may be repeating points that you’ve already said.

👉 No unique character voices

A big web to untangle, but ask yourself this: If I left out dialogue and action tags entirely, would my readers still be able to tell who’s speaking?

If yes, that’s when you know you have a strong and unique character voice.

The worst thing you can do is make all your characters sound the same, or just like you.

👉 Exposition everywhere

Using dialogue as a means to lay down exposition or explanation can come off very cringy to readers.

Would these characters realistically say that to each other, if you didn’t need the reader to know?

When in doubt, trust that your readers can take hints and fill in gaps. Always write from the head of your character first.

👉Trying to be too realistic

Adding in too many pauses, elipses, ums, uhhs, and errs can get tiring very quickly, especially if every single character does this.

Yes, most people speak like that, but fictional dialogue is stronger the punchier and tighter you keep it.

👉 The white room syndrome

Sometimes writers get so involved in the dialogue and scene that they forget to lay out the setting or tell the readers what’s happening around your characters.

This leaves no image in your readers’ heads, and makes your writing feel non-immersive.

Use the setting, background people, and props to enhance the scene.

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New Fic!

As if it wasn't enough to be a part spider superhero, Peter was also part fish. Well, merman. It was definitely a challenge to stay dry and keep the secret, especially when he was the leader of a team of young superheroes in a secret spy agency. Or, five times the team almost found out that Peter is a merman and once they did.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: Gen

Fandom: Ultimate Spider-Man (Cartoon 2012)

Relationships: Samuel Alexander & Ava Ayala & Luke Cage & Peter Parker & Danny Rand, Nick Fury & Peter Parker

Characters: Peter Parker, Sam Alexander, Ava Ayala, Danny Rand, Luke Cage, Nick Fury

Additional Tags: 5+1 Things, Inspired by H2O: Just Add Water. Peter Parker is a Mess, Trans Peter Parker. Merperson Peter Parker, Team as Family, Father-Son Relationship, I think the team's relationship can be interpreted as poly or platonic. shoulder angel and devil, no beta we die like ben, Secrets, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, Crack Treated Seriously, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, language: English, Translation Available

Writing Subplots

Who doesn’t love a good subplot? Some of my favorites books are the ones that have super interesting subplots because who doesn’t love hearing about that secondary character development arc or those lovely side characters with the inevitably doomed romance? What’s not to like? But, subplots can often be one of the hardest to write and the most misunderstood storytelling elements. They aren’t part of the main narrative thread, so they can’t overtake it, but they also need to have their own story arc separate from the main plot. It’s a delicate balance that can be kind hard to strike, because subplots aren’t just secondary plot-lines, they have to serve a narrative purpose and engage with the story’s central conflict. 

First, let us define some different kinds of subplots

Mirror Subplot: A subplot where a side character experiences a conflict that mirrors the protagonist’s main conflict and gives the protagonist the insight or motivation they need to resolve their own conflict.

Romantic Subplot: The protagonist’s relationship with a love interest complicates their journey to resolve the story’s central conflict.

Parallel Subplot: a subplot where something seemingly unrelated occurs at the same time as the main plot and then all of a sudden the two plots collide towards the end of the book.

Complicating Subplot: a subplot where a secondary character’s actions actively complicates the protagonist’s journey with the central conflict

Foil Subplot: a subplot where a secondary character experiences the same or a very similar conflict as the protag but wants to resolve that in a different way (this contracts or creates a “foil” that highlights the protagonists qualities and characteristics)

There are a lot more different kinds of subplots, but these are some of the most common, so here are some tips for writing subplots!

Is That Necessary? 

This is the first question we should ask ourselves anytime we add anything to our stories, but especially subplots. Sometimes, authors (meaning me) will get to the end of writing their first draft and realize that they are not anywhere close to their goal word count. To remedy this, they will just throw in a cute little subplot. Unfortunately, friends, this does not work. The best, effective subplots should be integral to a story’s central conflict. If you can remove your subplot from the story without their being a big impact on the central conflict, then the subplot doesn’t really serve a strong narrative purpose. We most often see this problem arise in romantic subplots. Authors will just throw in a romance or the dreaded love-triangle as a subplot for absolutely no reason. I’m the first person to admit I love a good romantic subplot, but I also like it to be there for a good reason. That is why the Hunger Games will never go out of my top five all time books/series because despite what a lot of people think the romantic subplot in that story is essential. Katniss and Peeta’s love story is the reason they both survive the Games which is the central conflict of the book. It works perfectly, and if you want a good example of a subplot done well, look no further.

Keep the SUB in Subplot

Honestly, sometimes the subplot really is better than the main plot. That’s not necessarily a good thing, but I think we have all read a book where the main plot just drags and you just can’t wait to get back to your favorite side characters and their little adventure. But, a good subplot shouldn’t steal the limelight from the main plot. It should enhance the main plot and maybe add a layer of complexity but never overshadow. Going back to my example for the day, the Hungers Games does a really good job of this. I read something once where someone said Katniss’s romance overshadows the Games and the Rebellion, and I was like, did we read the same book? If you go back and read the books, Katniss doesn’t think about her romance with Gale or Peeta all that much. She’s mostly thinking about her own survival and the survival of her family. Both of which relate directly to the main plot. We never forget about the romance in the book because it is important, but in my opinion, it never overshadows the main plot of the Games and the Rebellion even in the first book where it’s more heavily featured. 

But, Its Still A Plot

On the flip-side of that, even though the subplot shouldn’t overshadow the main plot, it still needs to follow its own narrative arc. This is where a lot of new author’s get lost. A subplot is way more than just a short conversation or a quick event that inconveniences or helps the protagonists. All your subplots need their own beginning, middle, and end. Make sure that you definitely developed all of your story’s subplots accordingly. That includes paying attention to all of your characters’ goals, motivations, and the conflict that they experience. Generally when I’m in the development stages of the subplot, I develop it the same way that I develop one of my main plots. While they do not necessarily need the same attention or development as your main plot, developing them with the same goals in mind will only help you in the long run!

Bruh did I just get clocked wtf

As someone who is starting to create stuff, I was curious :)

Don't hesitate to elaborate if you want to !

My mom didn't like that they represented men as fools in Barbie but then I told her, "Barbieland is a representation of the real world but in reverse, where the Barbies are men and the Kens are women. And if you think about it, Barbieland is made from the 'female gaze' (Barbies/men), and just like in many situations in real life the products made from the male gaze -like movies- represent women as fools and nothing more than an object, an accessory of man."

"Still...I am sorry you were born, child. I have brought you a hero's fate, and a hero's fate is never happy. It is never anything but tragic."

GOD I WAS ALWAYS GOING TO LOVE PJO

Controlling Your Pacing

                Pacing is one of my favourite things to pay attention to when reading or writing something. The pacing of a scene is literally how ‘fast’ or ‘slow’ a scene appears to be moving. Action scenes that spring the story from one place to another tend to go faster than introspective scenes or scenes that explore character dynamics.

                All of this is created through putting space and words between elements of the scene. What I mean by that is that readers interpret a passage of time between ‘things’ (actions, dialogue, gestures, etc.) on the page, and pacing is controlling that interpretation.

                For example,

“Georgia sat on the couch, “wow it sure is hot in here,” she said. “It sure is,” Henry agreed, sitting next to her.”

                This sentence is just about the actions with some breaking dialogue, but it goes pretty quickly through what’s happening.

                Whereas, if we were to intentionally pace this scene, it may look like this:

“Georgia swiped at her brow, wandering over to sink into the couch. “It sure is hot in here,” she said, peering up at Henry through the wisps of her bangs. He nodded weakly, his entire body sagging from the heat. Crossing the room to collapse next to her, he added dryly, “it sure is.”

                It’s not perfect, but you can get a sense of the time between things happening. The added detail between the two characters talking conveys maybe a minute between sentences, which might be accurate for two people dogged down by a heat wave.

                To speed things up, we want less space between elements:

“Adam slammed open the door with his shoulder, letting it bounce off the concrete wall behind him. “Everyone out!” He shouted. A crack in the roof snapped above them.”

                The added (or subtracted) elements of a scene that control your pacing is the sights/sounds/feelings/smells/maybe tastes of a place. When we’re anxiously rushing to get out of the house we may not acknowledge that the kitchen smells like the bread our roommate baked that morning, or that there are smudges on the window from when the dog climbed up on the couch. However, when we have a second to contemplate, we’re going to notice these things, and it would be appropriate to write them in.

                Another important element to controlling pacing is your character’s thoughts or acknowledgement of feelings.

                For example:

“Adam slammed open the door with his shoulder, it bounced off the concrete wall behind him. He winced, his mother’s high voice ringing in his head, chiding him for damaging the walls even though he knew the building was coming down on top of them. How long would he live with her constantly in his mind? He tried to wave away the memory. “Everyone out!” He shouted.”

                That slows down the scene quite a bit, yeah? And maybe that’s what you wanted in that moment. Play around with the details and pacing in your scenes, you might be surprised how much can change.

                Good luck!