— Frank Bidart, From “Half-light: Collected Poems 1965-2016; ‘In The Ruin."

I’m so fucking serious when I say ‘whether a person can understand the chronology of Pride and Prejudice is a marker of intelligence.’

Like. The reader receives very detailed character study of Darcy in the first half of the book that omits one very crucial detail of why he decided to indulge himself in his absolute worst traits in the scene in which he is introduced. This allows the reader to assume that this is his base state and not Darcy at his worst. Then the reader is, via Wickham, fed a fictitious account of Darcy at his worst which really does make him look like a villain who could and would have the power to make the lives of his family utterly miserable. Then at the midpoint of the book we are given information about what occurred prior to the start of the book which recontextualises everything about both Darcy and Wickham. Most people understand this should change their understanding of Wickham because Elizabeth explicitly dwells on it and thinks about how this changes her opinion of why he was behaving the way he was when Elizabeth and Wickham met. A surprisingly large amount of people don’t seem to realise that this should also change their understanding of Darcy, possibly because Elizabeth doesn’t explicitly dwell on these same facts being the reason Darcy was behaving the way he was when Elizabeth and Darcy met.

This makes sense from Elizabeth’s perspective because the primary way in which she relates to both Darcy and Wickham is as men who are courting her and who she has to decide to encourage or reject based on limited information, and Elizabeth has already been established to have an extremely low tolerance for male and marital bullshit — see Mr Collins, who is not brutal or economically foolhardy but simply an insecure ass who needs to be intensively managed. Darcy on a bad day is still a pretty good guy, but he’s Elizabeth’s absolute upper limit of how much she is prepared to put up with in terms of ‘my husband is having a bad day and I have to deal with it’ so it’s not enough for her to know he can be like that. She needs further encouragement that Darcy on an okay or good day is an actively nice, pleasant, responsible person to be around — which is what we get at Pemberley and in Aunt Gardiner’s observation of him.

But. But. YOU ARE NOT ELIZABETH, DEAR READER. You are getting to read about all these characters and their flaws. Which is why you need to understand when Elizabeth is wrong or doesn’t notice something!

Some ideas for bad things that are white/light:

lightning, very hot fire

snow storms, ice, frost on crops

some types of fungus/mold

corpses, ghosts, bones, a diseased person

clothing, skin tone, hair, etc. of a bad person

fur, teeth, eyes of an attacking animal/monster

bleached out deserts, dead trees, lifeless places

poison

Some ideas for good things that are black/dark:

rich earth/soil

chocolate, truffles, wine, cooked meat

friendly animals/pets/creatures

a character’s favorite vehicle, technology, coat, etc.

a pleasant night

hair, skin tone, clothing, etc. of a good person

undisturbed water of a lake

the case/container of something important

valued wood, furniture, art

velvet

Think to burn, to infect, to bleach vs. to enrich, to protect, to be of substance.

no thoughts just the trope where A and B are fake dating and B is looking at A intensely, enough to make others blush, all while declaring their undying love. A commends B for their pretending, and B goes, "I wasn't pretending."

AHHHH

idk why but rose beating the shit out of Dimitri even after she won while everyone looks worried and gives each other sidelong glances is so funny to me

this is all I want

*.✧ Floral cottages (_letstravel_)*.✧

"enemies to lovers" but she's offering to buy him lunch in the first chapter. okay.....

Why your story sucks

Read this if you think your story sucks.

Here are the most common reasons why it might feel like things are falling flat in your novel, or just not working out the way you want them to.

You don’t have a clear message You don’t have a grasp on what your story question is and how you’re going to answer it, or what themes you’re exploring beyond the plot.

You’ve lost sight of your character motivations This happens often, to experienced writers too. Sometimes you’re just not thinking in a way that puts your character motivations in the top priorities - where they should always be.

You rushed in without a plot structure Being a discovery writer is all good and way, pantsing your way through a story can be done, but even so, you should at least have a vague idea of what your biggest plot points are, so you don’t completely lose the middle.

You’re obsessed with the plot On the other tip of the scale, you might be obsessing over following every little plot thread you’ve laid out, that writing just isn’t fun anymore, and your characters are doing things for the sake of following your plot.

You’re not taking time to discover your world Allowing yourself some creative freedom from time to time is a great way to spark innovative scenes in your novel. Explore what the world you created has to offer, and let your characters do their own thing once in a while.

Did you hear about my group coaching for writers? I’m teaming up with Novlr to bring you a 6-month program where you’ll learn all the elements of creative writing and work to complete your first draft!

Join the waitlist today through the link HERE!

What do I bring to the table? I bring my presence, my time, and my devotion. I have nothing else to prove and nobody to impress.

“i have of late lost all my mirth” should be a valid reason not to come in to work

“You can say anything and I will not abandon you.”