A Good Bridge Point Between Not Breaking The Suspense Of Belief And Dramatics Is To Have A "boiling Point".

A good bridge point between not breaking the suspense of belief and dramatics is to have a "boiling point". You put a character into a type of circumstance and they start changing subtly/internally. Then, at an emotional high, all of this boiling and emotional turbulance culminates in a big dramatic display of what was happening internally. So, while the change may appear "sudden" it was actually the result of a rise in tension!

Writing Advice: Writing Out Of Character

No, this time I am not going to trash bad examples of characters being "out of character". Instead I am going to explain to you what seperates a good character who is behaving differently and a bad character who is behaving illogically.

Question 1: Why Is The Character Behaving Like This?

When we writers put our characters through the ringer we often see our characters change in drastic and "unexpected" ways. This is an example of "good character arc" and not "out of character" because if you supply justification for why your character is changing things up and doing different things then it's character development!

Virtuous Character A, in a desperate bid to stay alive and after being repeatedly pushed to the brink by these harrowing cirumstances, kills Character B? That is good character development!

Intelligent and prudish Character C suddenly starts acting like they're staring in a smut fic towards Character D as their "body betrays them" due to horomones they should've learne to control in their teens? That is out of character!

Has this writer(me) been writing informative yet argumentative works but has tried to start offering a softer and less confrontational side in order to appeal to more people? That is character development!

Question 2: Have You Given Your Character Enough Time To Evolve?

Unlike what love stories try to convince you, it takes a pretty long while for people to change their behaviors and mindset!

Has your normally stoic character who has been practicing understanding their emotions finally expressing some emotion? That's character development!

Have I been slowly adding more informative perspective and softer actions throughout my rants? Then it's much more believeable that I would express a softer side towards this issue!

What Makes A Disabled Character "Good"?

A disabled character shouldn't be judged as a failure when they need caretakers and other reliances for the important stuff in life no matter their age

A disabled character shouldn't be mocked as weak or spoiled when they refuse to break their boundaries or be happy

A disabled character shouldn't be shamed when their medical problems impede on their sex capabilities or hygiene or anything else like that

A disabled character shouldn't be celebrated only when they do break the impossible odds since most characters never break the odds

A disabled character shouldn't be dehumanized when they act cheerful

A disabled character shouldn't be treated like a child when they aren't a child

A disabled character shouldn't be forced into leading an "idealic" life that wasn't built for individuals like them

A disabled character needs to be accepted by the author when they fail to thrive, to die, to succeed.

A disabled character needs to be created by an author who understands that life is complicated and that the things they think as "necessary" to leading a fulfilling life may not be in the cards for certain characters

A disabled character needs to be understood by the author as a disabled character who can't do everything an able-bodied character can do.

And when a disabled character is not fully independent, self-sufficient, and thriving, an author should know that even in these circumstances, fulfillment and joy can be found. Disabled people do it all the time.

Many people aren't breaking odds, being fearless activists, and thriving. They struggle. They break sometimes. They succeed sometimes. But in this life, they can find the ability to be content.

How To Write Trauma Like The Lego Batman Movie

Using Batman from The Lego Batman Movie as my example. I will give you dissertation on how to write trauma whether that trauma is related to orphan shenanigans or not!

STEP NUMBER ONE: TRAUMA AIN'T COOL

This is the biggest thing that The Lego Batman Movie gets spot on! Batman, throughout the movie, behaves more like an emotionally-stunted comical manchild then the suave self-insert straight power fantasy we're used to seeing.

Not only is this more realistic then the countless power fantasy stories that romanticize traumatic experiences and shitty coping mechanisms but it serves the narrative.

And the movie is all the better for this since it's this character development which serves as the necessary emotional core for the movie. If Batman was the perfectly suave badboy then him learning to have a family wouldn't be emotionally groundbreaking.

STEP NUMBER TWO: Have The Trauma Impact EVERYTHING and do it uniquely pwease

From Batman's child-esque tendency to throw tantrums to his higly performative playboy appearance which seems more like movie then man to his edgy sensibilities, everything has been grown from Batman's infamous backstory of orphanry.

His childish and immature attitude give the sentiment that Batman has reverted back into the maturity of a child which is a common coping mechanism as it allows someone to return back to the good old days.

His playboy "stoic"/edgy mean sensibilities (when in public and as Batman) are designed to keep people away as his greatest fear is having a family only to lose them again.

I enjoy the mention of "reverting back into childhood memories" as a coping mechanism because it's a coping mechanism that's not widely explored because society tends to denigrate dependency as "weakness that doesn't deserve to be explored".

Most of the time it's just stoicism which is portrayed as cool and sleeping around which is portrayed as bad not because it's hurting the person but bad because of our puritanical values

Final Lesson: Flaws Are Only Flaws If They're Treated As Flaws

Alot of writers know they need to write flaws connected to a character's trauma because they read writing advice blogs (hey) but they don't want to write actual flaws.

So what is a guy(gender-neutral) meant to do?

Write fake flaws!

This tends to be what Batman as a legacy falls into. Batman is a sleazy capitalistic megalomaniac with control issues who has an obsessive relationship with criminals and every single emotionally unattached woman (and Joker) he can get his hands on.

But it's cool!!! Because it's philosophical, and hot, and power-fantasy worthy.

However, The Lego Batman Movie subverts this! Batman's fear of losing his family and his subsequent abandoning of Dick, Alfred, Barbara, and the Joker nearly lead Gotham to ruins.

It's only when he overcomes his flaws, he can succeed in his goal of protecting Gotham

TL;DR: Trauma isn't cool. Trauma causes a shit ton of issues that create so many different kinds of coping mechanisms from the admirablely unhealthy to the pathetically unhealthy. And the only time you should (cutely and sanely) ship Batman and Joker is in this movie universe.

Ship Dynamic: Genderless x Genderful

Think about this!!! Allow it to enter your brain cavities

You have Character A. Completely lacking in all signifiers of gender. Every single creature in your story, from the most conservative to the least, has to refer to this character with only they/them pronouns. They only wear gender-neutral clothing. Their complete lack of gender is impossible to understate.

THEN

You have Character B. They have the most luciously long hair you could ever imagine. A full-length beard of pure masculinity. And the most massive set of honkers ever. Complete mommy/daddy mikers. Whatever letter comes after Z is what they have. They have maxxed out femininity and masculinity. They are Gender™.

No one in the cast commentates on their two peers' utter fuckery with gender. No one questions what Character B has going on. No one wonders or cares what Character A is packing in their pants.

The best thing about this pairing is that it could be familial, platonic, or romantic.

Writing Curse: Gifting You My Stories

Here are some story ideas that I have but I am either never ever going to write because they deserve to live in my brain or they are permanent WIP 🥳

Prompt 1: The Curse Of God On His Child

At the beginning of time, the only two creatures who existed are the oynx night who breathed loved out into the cosmos in a wordless yet etheral manner and a creature who declared himself God. Creation spun out of this coupling as Creation became the first angel and true child of God. God's mind started to wander as thoughts combined into ideas and ideas turned into plans.

Universe, galaxy, solar system, planet, humans. Creation was made to watch over the easily excitable children who, like their forefather, also manipulated the outside to match their insides. They smeared the red of their insides onto each other's faces as they laughed into the night about tales never told.

It was pleasant. Until, Creation did something bad. They killed God. it was an accident. They swear it was an accident. But who cares when you've killed God? No one cared about God, except the humans. Not ever the night sends shooting stars for mourners.

But Creation cared. So much. And the humans cared. Too much. They begged to hear God. Hear his comforting words. Creation begged them to stop talking about God. But humans are excitable children who wanted to talk to their father.

Creation ordered a tiny village of little boys and little girls who played and killed together to do something nice for them. A perfect little birthday present wrapped in tongues. Yes, of the two-hundred villagers, a hundred would be getting their tongues ripped out.

You might expect that they would be scared and some were. But they were also blissful. It's rare you had an opportunity to be listened to. So humans did many things that night. All lot of things that Creation didn't want them to do. And after the two hundred dead bodies were gathered together under Heaven something magical happened.

Creation knew they did something bad. Again, so they changed a bit. Denial lived in the heavens and revenge was born again.

Revenge was born out of the cries of mourning and blood and tongue. Unlike the heavenly light of Creation, they were viscous and moist with blood. Just like the tongues that were thrown into the pile.

And Revenge was going to kill Creation.

Creation was going to thrive under divinity.

Now we are here, in the modern day, no one knows what happened between these two fragmented entities. But if one thing is certain, it's that Denial and Revenge are still twirling around in their dance

Hello, I hope you're doing well! My name is Mahmoud Abu Swierh, and I'm a 17-year-old from Gaza. The ongoing war has devastated my city, destroyed my school, and made daily life incredibly challenging. Despite these hardships, I'm determined to continue my education and build a better future. I've been given a chance to study abroad, but I need help to cover the costs of leaving Gaza, as well as living expenses and other essentials abroad once the crossing opens. If you can, please consider donating or sharing, your kindness can truly make a difference. Thank you. https://gofund.me/bd3ccf0b

I don't know if this is a reputable source so do your own research in your own free time. Please, check for scams from this person and others, obviously! If you have verified that this isn't a scam and this is genuinely a real person then donating is fine. But don't feel the pressure to donate, ok? 🥹