IM SORRY WHAT

im literally a woman and I didn't pick up half of these mannerisms n things omg

well new writing guide is here guys

Ways I Write a Woman...

➤ Who’s Tired of Being Talked Over

You ever watch someone hold in a scream behind their teeth? That’s her, constantly.

✧ She starts choosing her words like landmines. Each one is sharp, controlled, and timed like a threat. She’s learned that being polite won’t get her listened to, but sounding like you might flip a table will. ✧ She’s mastered the art of the silence that feels loud. Doesn’t fill awkward gaps. Just lets the discomfort sit in the air like smoke. ✧ She explains things with forced calm, the kind that sounds like a teacher asking a second-grade class why the hamster is missing. ✧ She notices interruptions like bruises. She doesn’t react to them anymore, not out loud. But you can bet she counts them. ✧ She repeats herself less. Not because they understood her the first time. Because they never listened anyway. ✧ She’s learned how to weaponize eye contact. Not in a sexy way. In a “I will set this boardroom on fire with my mind” way. ✧ Her voice only shakes when she’s deciding if it’s worth the explosion.

➤ Who’s Been Called ‘Too Much’ Her Whole Life

She isn’t too much. She’s just tired of shrinking for people who were never going to make room anyway.

✧ She says the thing you’re not supposed to say. Then stares at you to see what you’ll do with it. ✧ She’s loud with her laugh, loud with her grief, loud with her love, because if she’s going to be punished for being “extra,” she might as well be honest about it. ✧ She over-explains. Over-apologizes. Then catches herself and stops halfway through the sentence. ✧ She tries to “tone it down” and ends up sounding like a censored version of herself, bland, miserable, unfinished. ✧ She edits her texts four times, deletes the paragraph, sends “haha ok :)” instead. ✧ She keeps her hands busy because otherwise they’d be doing something reckless. ✧ She overcompensates with sarcasm and then goes home and wonders if everyone hates her. ✧ She’s loved fiercely. Regretted it more fiercely. ✧ She walks into a room like she owns it, and then spends the entire time wondering if she should have stayed home.

➤ Who Wants to Be Soft but Doesn’t Feel Safe

She's gentle, but that gentleness lives under twenty layers of armor. And most people never even get past the first. ✧ She’s careful with her compliments, she knows how people weaponize kindness. ✧ She keeps her vulnerability behind locked doors and guards them with jokes, sarcasm, and “I’m just tired.” ✧ She’ll comfort others like she was born to do it, but flinch if someone offers her the same. ✧ She avoids mirrors on bad days. Eye contact on good ones. ✧ She cries where no one can see. Car bathrooms. Locked bedrooms. Grocery store parking lots at night. ✧ She doesn’t ask for help. Not because she doesn’t need it, but because the last time she did, it came with a price. ✧ She’s soft with animals, with children, with strangers, but not herself. Never herself. ✧ She daydreams about being taken care of, then immediately gets mad at herself for wanting something so “weak.” ✧ She wants love, but she’s terrified of being known. Because if someone really saw her? What if they didn’t stay?

And if you’re sitting there reading all of that thinking, “God, I don’t even know how to write women like this…” Please know: you’re not alone. Like, really not alone.

Writing female characters in a way that feels true, nuanced, and unapologetically real isn’t just about avoiding clichés. It’s about unlearning everything you were taught about what women are “supposed” to be on the page. It’s about getting underneath the polish. Past the performative strength. Past the “she’s not like other girls” and the “strong but broken” tropes. Past the idea that softness is weakness and rage is unlikable.

So many people struggle with this, not because they don’t care, but because no one ever really taught them how to see women as people first.

A lot of us grew up reading female characters written through a lens that flattened us. Made us background noise, love interests, plot devices, or emotionally bulletproof when we weren’t emotionally unstable. It’s no wonder we’re all trying to figure out how to do better now. I write a Book about How to Write Women that feel Alive... For you.

In the chapters ahead, we’re going to unravel that mess, together (Promise). We’ll talk about...

❥ Tropes — the ones worth reclaiming, and the ones you can toss into the fire. ❥ The psychology of a woman — how conditioning, survival, identity, and inner conflict shape her from the inside out. ❥ Female vs. male conflict — not in a “boys suck” way, but in a “our emotional battlegrounds are different and that matters” way. ❥ Expectations — society’s, her own, and how characters shrink or shatter under them. ❥ Emotions as strength — especially the ones she was taught to hide: fear, grief, longing, joy, rage. ❥ Female anger — what happens when she finally stops holding it in. ❥ Archetypes — and how to subvert them without erasing the truths they come from. ❥ Female friendships — no more cardboard “bestie” side characters. ❥ Romantic relationships — what it means when she’s finally seen. Chosen. Or rejected. ❥Mothers, daughters, and sisters — because female relationships deserve more than being backstory. ❥ Dialogue — how she speaks when she’s safe vs. when she’s scared. ❥ Inner conflict and development — her arc isn’t about fixing her. It’s about letting her evolve. ❥ Writing exercises — to help you get past the noise and write from a place that feels real. ❥ A full checklist for writing female OCs — layered, powerful, contradictory, alive.

📖 Get your Paperback now! (Here On Amazon!)

This isn’t a rulebook. It’s a guide. A toolbox. A comfort blanket. A callout. A reminder that writing women doesn’t have to feel impossible, you just have to be willing to look a little deeper.

So if you’ve ever felt stuck writing a female character… If you’ve defaulted to tropes because you didn’t know how else to make her “interesting”… If you’ve erased her emotions to make her “strong”… Or if you’ve stared at the page wondering why she still doesn’t feel real...This book is for you.

And I promise, by the time you reach the last chapter? You’ll not only know how to write her. You’ll understand her. And maybe even see a little of yourself in the process.

Love u All!!🖤

Reblog if you’d be okay if your friend came out as transgender

let’s see how many transphobics we can weed out

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that-little-lychee

2 months ago

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that-little-lychee

1 week ago

one of your fav colours is red

you love a bunch of different types of clothes - vintage, grunge, maybe even like y2k style or somethin

you love wearing lip liner/glosses and you wear highlighter

you take good care of your hair and uhhhh you have at least one sibling

you like horror movies and you like books

there you go i'm probably completely wrong but oh well I tried

@munamarvel13 @faeriesandfables @snowfromfallenclouds @rayne143 @iloveyoumostt @andy-the-crazy @purple-dinosaur17

Reblog this post to ask mutuals to tell you their weirdest theory about u

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that-little-lychee

1 month ago

How to Write a Character with THAT *Sad Aura*

Have you ever stumbled upon a character, who, despite radiating wholesome, positive energy, also has a subtle undertone of sadness? It's kind of intriguing, isn't it? If you've ever wanted to write a perhaps more complex character or explore writing emotions, why not check this out?

What am I talking about?

Let's do a quick introduction as to what I mean. I've said this a couple times already, but to the reader, this character feels despondent even though they act nothing like it. This doesn't mean they have to act happy all the time (like my first example); they might act cold, or apathetic, but the point is they don't act visibly sad.

This faint melancholic mood provides a charming, or even nostalgic feel to the audience through ONE character! Isn't that kind of fun?

Eye Expressions

This character will not show sadness on their face--that contradicts the idea of "sad aura". But you know what they say, right? Eyes are the windows to the soul; they do not lie!

When trying to highlight some of this unhappiness, write about their eyes. Talk about how their eyes look oddly dim sometimes when they smile, or how they don't meet their friend's eyes when they laugh. These cues are simple but powerful.

Adverbs

You always have to be mindful of adverbs, but here especially, adverbs (and adjectives) unconsciously influence how your audience views the character.

For example, avoid saying too much of "smiled brightly" or "talked excitedly". If these are the adverbs you purposefully want to use to portray your character, then by all means! However, these adverbs add a happier connotation, which you must be aware of. If you want something more neutral (which I recommend for the most part), consider using lighter adverbs/adjectives, such as "smiled softly", or "offered lightly".

Reasons

A reason is normally needed for almost everything. Here, you want genuine reasons to back up why your character doesn't ask for help, thus forcing them to work through their unhappiness alone.

This could be because they think other people can't solve the problem, they don't want to bother others, they don't think their issue is a big deal, or they simply believe there's no solution.

Physical Hints

And if all this isn't enough, then drop some physical hints! Perhaps your character gets distracted often, tends to hesitate before speaking, deflects concerned comments with jokes, or has a hard time acknowledging reassurances, even when it's unrelated to their personal troubles. These habits suggest the idea your character has more than meets the eye.

Mood Changes

When people are upset, their mood tends to fluctuate. For most of us, we're typically upset for a short period, so we cycle through emotions such as anger, sadness, and even joy during these moments.

However, if your character is consistently sad, not just for a day or two, their mood might shift on different days. Maybe they're really tired one day, hardly speaking. Maybe the next, they are more frustrated, snapping at people or ignoring them. Maybe the day after that, they are overly energetic, bouncing everywhere and talking all the time, providing a bit of whiplash.

Purpose

Similar to having a reason for their reluctance of reaching out, you also want to ensure that they have a purpose for fighting. Why haven't they given up yet? This is especially crucial when considering the real world, where feeling upset leads to a lack of motivation.

So, what keeps them going, then? Do they want to fix their regrets? Do they want to change?

Backstory and Actions

To be honest, I wouldn't consider a backstory an absolute necessity, but I highly suggest creating one. Why? Because you can accurately identify the reason for your character's guilt, regret, and sorrows from the past with an actual backstory.

The events of your character's past always influence their future actions.

For example, if they were a part of a severe car accident in the past, perhaps they only feel comfortable when they are the driver in the future because that means they can control the car.

Conclusion

This character is not especially different from any other character, besides the fact that they are neither obvious nor overly secretive of their genuine feelings.

With that being said, focus on embodying their eye expressions, be careful about which adverbs and adjectives you choose to use--I recommend choosing ones with more neutral connotations for a sense of melancholy, explain why your character keeps their sadness to themselves and why they keep fighting despite it, show mood fluctuations, drop physical hints, such as actions and/or specific personality traits, and make sure to connect their past to their present!

Happy writing~

3hks ^^

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that-little-lychee

2 months ago

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that-little-lychee

1 month ago

Lust, Love, and the Sweet, Sweet Burn: Writing Romance That Makes Readers Feel

Let’s talk romance—specifically the kind that makes readers scream into pillows, clutch their chests, and whisper “just kiss already” at the page. Whether you're a seasoned romance author or just dipping your toes into the love pool, there's one golden truth to remember: good romance is about *tension*. And tension lives in the delicious space between lust and love.

First Comes Lust…

Lust is that electric charge between characters. It’s the stolen glances, the way one of them notices the other's hands or voice or the way they lean in a little too close when they talk. Lust is immediate. It’s instinctual. And let’s be honest, it’s fun as hell to write.

But if you stop there—if all your characters do is pine and make out and pine some more—you risk making it all surface-level. Lust is the spark, but it’s not the whole fire.

Then Comes Love (Eventually)

Love, real love, is slower. It’s about trust, vulnerability, and seeing the other person fully—flaws, baggage, weird hobbies and all—and still leaning in. It happens in the quiet moments: making tea for someone who's had a bad day, remembering how they take their coffee, watching them geek out about something they care about. That’s where readers fall with your characters.

The magic is in the shift—when your characters go from “I want to kiss you until my brain falls out” to “I’d burn the world down if it meant keeping you safe.” It doesn’t happen all at once. And that’s where the slow burn comes in.

Ah, the Slow Burn: Delicious Torture

Slow burn romance is a masterclass in delayed gratification. It's all about restraint. You’re letting readers live in the tension—the almost-touches, the lingering stares, the confessions that never quite happen. And every time the characters get this close to admitting their feelings or acting on them and then don’t? Readers get more hooked.

But here’s the key: something has to be progressing. Slow burn doesn’t mean nothing happens. It means everything matters.

Every moment builds the foundation. Every emotional beat gets us one step closer to that glorious payoff.

Think of it like cooking over a low flame. You’re letting the flavors deepen. So when the first kiss finally lands? It’s earned. It’s fireworks. It matters.

Tips for Writing a Killer Slow Burn

- Give them obstacles. Emotional baggage, clashing goals, external threats—give your characters legit reasons not to jump into bed right away.

- Let them see each other. Intimacy isn’t just physical. Let your characters learn each other’s fears, dreams, scars.

- Build micro-tension. Hands grazing. One of them patching the other up after a fight. A joke that turns into a confession. Let every small moment do work.

- Make the payoff worth it. When they finally get together—make it satisfying. Let it feel like the culmination of everything they’ve been through.

Don’t Just Make Them Hot—Make Them Real

It’s easy to write about two people who are attracted to each other. What’s harder—and infinitely more rewarding—is writing two people who choose each other. Who grow, change, fight, make up, and fall deeper the whole time.

So go ahead. Light the match. Let them burn slowly. And when your readers are begging for that kiss? That’s how you know you’ve done it right.

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that-little-lychee

1 month ago

THE PODCAST IS OUT

HI GUYS

So if anyone wants to listen to a podcast by two teenage girls, me (Amelie) and Evelyn, who just yap about books for an hour, we're now out on Spotify, Pocketcasts, Iheartradio, Castbox and Apple Podcasts. We'll have a new episode every fortnight.

The podcast is called Bookshelved, and our first episode is 'What's your favourite... (Book Edition!)'. You can email us at 1bookshelved.pod@gmail.com. I really hope you guys can give it a quick listen just to see if it's your jam or not :)

(P.S. Credits to Anna Smith for the cover art)