Getting Real Tired Of This Trigger Happy Fandom

Hey I made a bracket for the Choices love interests! (plus Poppy and Olivia to make the numbers even, since they seem to be commonly wanted as LIs)

Have at it!

when I was 14 I worked in a grocery store and one day I got to bag Stephen King’s groceries and of course, being the little horror fiction nerd I am I was completely starstruck

I think he thought I was gonna ask for an autograph because I was not even lowkey staring I was full on moon-faced and bouncing and he kept looking over at me hesitantly like aw jeez kid fuck off

anyways I finally managed to squeak out that I was a huge fan and asked for advice on writing, “how do I write as well as you do?” in my horrible thick German accent and broken ass English and he gave me the best writing advice I have ever received

“shit kid, stop worrying about how other people do it and just write your story”

14 years later my wife and I nearly hit him with our car because he was jaywalking

pick-me-ups for writers

for the self-conscious beginner: No one makes great things until the world intimately knows their mediocrity. Don’t think of your writing as terrible; think of it as preparing to contribute something great.

for the self-conscious late bloomer: Look at old writing as how far you’ve come. You can’t get to where you are today without covering all that past ground. For that, be proud.

for the perfectionist: Think about how much you complain about things you love—the mistakes and retcons in all your favorite series—and how you still love them anyway. Give yourself that same space.

for the realist: There will be people who hate your story even if it’s considered a classic. But there will be people who love your story, even if it is strange and unpopular.

for the fanfic writer: Your work isn’t lesser for not following canon. When you write, you’ve created a new work on its own. It can be, but does not have to be, limited by the source material. Canon is not the end-all, be-all. 

for the writer’s blocked: It doesn’t need to be perfect. Sometimes you have to move on and commit a few writing sins if it means you can create better things out of it.

for the lost: You started writing for a reason; remember that reason. It’s ok to move on. You are more than your writing. It will be here if you want to come back.

I could not agree more. This story plot setup may have worked well for the other LIs but yeah, not with Kaitlyn. Like others have reiterated, This does not only effect Kaitlyn as her character says herself. She is not completely in the wrong here.

So it also puts her in a unique position. No, she did not discuss this with MC before agreeing with it. And no, belittling MC's writing was not a smart response. However, I am not sure how I will feel if she shows up and apologises for being completely in the wrong. Because again, she is not.

MC was not dead set on actually going to London anyway. She could still write in New York. They could do long distance. They could have brainstormed something! But no.

I will retain hope the writers still have this.. I have theories of what will happen.. but I am a little nervous all the same.

What I hate most about the breakup in The Senior, at least in regards to Kaitlyn, isn’t so much that it happened. I figured the Journal and the Parents was setting this up before a big come back to together moment later. No. What bothers me is why it happens. This MC is supposed to be a writer, a potential fiction writer if you decided to do that, and here she is just so unimaginative that she can’t possibly think of any other way this is solved other than breaking up with Kaitlyn? 

Oh, and selfish too? Because Kaitlyn is right. This decision is no longer just theirs anymore. It wasn’t Kaitlyn signed in NYC, it was the band. Now Anissa, Rachel, and Amara are involved. And it’s an actual gig. Even if Kaitlyn sided with MC, the vote would be 3-2. How can the MC feel she has the right to choose for four other people. 

Like, MC, you can write anywhere. But I’ve seen you when you “lose” Kaitlyn, twice, you aren’t happy. 

look…………….. write as much shitty fic as you want. nobody can stop you. you’re learning constantly and it’s better to write hackneyed implausible ridiculousness than it is to not write at all out of fear of fucking up. you’re good

the real struggle of writing: having the entire movie mapped out in your head like ur steven spielberg but putting it down on paper is like spongebob trying to write his essay for boating school

Pros and Cons of Different Points Of View

Objective Point Of View

“With the objective point of view, the writer tells what happens without stating more than can be inferred from the story’s action and dialogue. The narrator never discloses anything about what the characters think or feel, remaining a detached observer.”

Pros

Adds a potentially useful suspense to the events of the story, as the reader cannot predict as easily what will happen next based on the characters’ internal thoughts.

More direct with the events and description of elements of the story, such as setting and the rate at which time passes in the story, which can be muddled in stories in points of view like third person, where these details can be overshadowed by descriptions of thoughts, feelings, backstory, etc.

Descriptions can come across more fluidly and make the actual images and scenes visualize more easily in the readers head. It is the closest point of view to a movie, as films don’t typically focus on what the audience is explicitly being told, but what they see and what they can deduce from the images in front of them.

Cons

This point of view can be more difficult to relate to as readers, due to the story being told and described in a more detached way, rather than being pulled into the story in a way that makes them feel like a character themselves.

You have to really utilize subtext and context with this perspective. You can’t convey the story’s tone through any of the characters’ thoughts or feelings, so you have to rely completely on the pure course of events to tell the story and grip the reader emotionally.

This makes it really hard to connect to the characters and understand their motivations unless the reader is looking really deep into the context and reading between the lines.

Third Person Point Of View

“Here the narrator does not participate in the action of the story as one of the characters, but lets us know exactly how the characters feel. We learn about the characters through this outside voice.”

Pros

This is pretty much exactly like first person narration, but with different pronouns. Instead of “I walked to the store” it’s “he walked to the store” and eliminates the reader’s potential skepticism of the narrator’s reliability while still telling the story in the same words.

You have the potential to divulge more about what other characters are thinking or doing at any point in time because you’re not technically limited to one character.

It’s a pleasing way of telling a story. It doesn’t take too much analysis for the reader to imagine how the perspective could be tainted by emotion in some way. It doesn’t require too much brain power to read. It flows nicely.

Cons

This isn’t as much a con as it is a warning. Your characters need to be rounded and diverse if you’re going to write a story in third person. If they all share the same characteristics and motivations and emotions, your story will fall flat super fast.

Third person has a viewpoint character, typically. If you want to be able to tell whatever you want about whomever you want, then you need an omniscient point of view. Third person usually focuses on a main character and occasionally shares about other characters when it serves the story.

Second Person Point Of View

“Second person is a point of view (how a story is told) where the narrator tells the story to another character using the word ‘you.’ The author could be talking to the audience, which we could tell by the use of 'you,’ 'you’re,’ and 'your.'”

Pros

Your reader feels what you write so much more intensely, because you’re referring to them specifically. It’s a reader insert point of view. You’re speaking directly to them. 

Action and romance are really good genres for this, I imagine, because those are stories where readers often put themselves in the place of the protagonist anyway, so second person would amplify that to your advantage.

There works so well when it’s done correctly, and if you take the time to practice with it and master the pacing and what really makes a reader tick in second person point of view, it will grab that reader and pull them very, very quickly.

Cons

You usually have to be really really vague about descriptions. If your reader doesn’t have blonde hair and hazel eyes, but your character does, this will really put a damper on their experience because every time you describe how their blonde hair blows in the wind, they’ll detach from the story.

Sometimes your reader may feel confused because second person is a very hard point of view to read about at first. It takes some time to get used to. A lot of fanfiction (mainly reader-insert) is second person point of view and I’ll be the (not) first to say that it took so time to adjust to, at least for me.

First Person Point Of View

“In the first person point of view, the narrator does participate in the action of the story. When reading stories in the first person, we need to realize that what the narrator is recounting might not be the objective truth. We should question the trustworthiness of the accounting.”

Pros

Is not limited to the point of view of the main character, as displayed in books such as The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

A certain connection between the reader and the character can create a sense of authenticity and intimacy between the reader and the story as a whole.

The themes and motives behind the story can become easier to decode, as they are disclosed in a more clear and direct manner.

The character can be easier to understand and relate to, as everything is being told by them, with their bias and interpretation included.

It puts the reader inside of the story rather than having them watch from the outside. The intimate details and description can make put them in a position to experience the story from inside and therefore make the story mirror their reality in a way.

Cons

It may become difficult for the reader to differentiate who is speaking to them in the story, as many sentences will begin with “I” or “we” and create a repetitive narration and lose the reader alone the way.

The reader may become bored with hearing the story from only one’s perspective. The style in which the story is told {the adjectives, the themes, the personality} may not vary enough to keep them entertained. 

Imagery can be difficult to pull off in this point of view because the writer may get into the habit of telling the reader what is happening instead of showing them through smooth interjections of descriptive vocabulary. 

The writer may experience a dependence on dialogue to try to compensate for lack of description of events, and the reader may lose track of story details that may become imperative to events later in the scene/story.

This makes it a lot easier to pull an “unreliable narrator”, as first person is only the perspective of a person, rather than the story told from a purely factual position.

Omniscient & Limited Omniscient Points of View

“A narrator who knows everything about all the characters is all knowing, or omniscient. A narrator whose knowledge is limited to one character, either major or minor, has a limited omniscient point of view.”

Pros

This makes it really easy to include details about many characters that you wouldn’t be able to from the perspective of a single person.

You are writing as yourself. You are the author, you have all the information to give the reader, and you get to give it in the least convoluted way you could ever desire, and in your own words. In any other point of view, you are pretending to be somebody else, even in third person, so this allows you to really demonstrate your unique voice as a writer and express your own style.

You can write fast paced scenes without the reader questioning what an individual character is feeling all the time. You can slip in whatever information you want at whatever point you wish and it just sounds natural to the reader.

Cons

Plot twists are ten times more difficult because there’s no reason why anything would be a surprise. Your reader technically has access to all information and foreshadowing required to predict what will happen next, so if you’re planning a big surprise, prepare for a challenge delivering it.

Keeping the focus on one subject is more important when you’re writing for younger, less experienced readers. You have to have a protagonist and a linear story for them to follow, which can be tricky with omniscient point of view. It’s important to keep your audience in mind if you’re going to choose any point of view, but especially this one.

These pros and cons are subjective, depending on what you are intending to convey in your story. Please consider this with a grain of salt and take the detail and unique qualities of your own work into account when using this resource. Not all pros and cons in this piece will apply the same to every story, and that is something to keep in mind. I hope this will be useful to you all. Cheers! 

Ext. Sources ~ x x x x 

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MY CURRENT WORK IN PROGRESS (Check it out, it’s pretty cool. At least I think it is.)

Fanfic writer: And publish! Finally got this story out now I can sleep. Hmm, maybe I should wait for a review.

Fanfic writer: *refreshes 2000 times.“

*20 minutes later*

Reviews: *1+ review*- Good story

Fanfic Writer: DEAR WHAT’S YOUR FACE YOU ARE THE GREATEST PERSON TO EVER BE BORN. I PERSONALLY THANK YOUR MOTHER FOR GIVING BIRTH FOR YOU. YOU ARE THE ONLY THING THAT GIVES ME LIFE.

Estella wearing a flower crown

Or did it technically declare all fanfics as canon? 🤔

pb opened up a wormhole for fanfic writers with all of these alternate timelines, new ships alternate stories varying outcomes like holy shit this site is going to write so hard that word processors everywhere will stage unpaid overtime protests