One thing I’ve learned about writing is ”give everything a face”. It’s no good to write passively that the nobility fled the city or that the toxic marshes were poisoning the animals beyond any ability to function. Make a protagonist see how a desperate woman in torn silks climbs onto a carriage and speeds off, or a two-headed deer wanders right into the camp and into the fire. Don’t just have an ambiguous flock of all-controlling oligarchy, name one or two representatives of it, and illustrate just how vile and greedy they are as people.
it’s bad to have characters who serve no purpose in the story, but giving something a face is a perfectly valid purpose.
“What's eating you alive / Might help you to survive / And even the nights, they could get better / And even the days ain't all that bad”
- Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Me and Mia
“Some people don’t understand the promises they’re making when they make them.”
— John Green
“That’s who you really like. The people you can think out loud in front of.”
— John Green
“You kept me like a secret but I kept you like an oath”
— Taylor Swift - All too well (10 Minute version) (Taylor’s Version)
“Too often, the only escape is sleep.”
— Charles Bukowski
“Making love was never about you and me in a bed. We made love whenever we held hands.”
— Iain Thomas, I Wrote This For You
Stephanie Foo, What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma
If they don't see the value of having you, don't try to convince them.
-Comatose/Skillet