This chapter includes emojis, abbreviations, and brackets

Read the disclaimer if you haven't already.

Last night I could have sworn I pressed publish, then I wake up just now and find out I didn't publish this chapter??? I pressed 'publish now' and it looked like it went through. Am I glitching? What is going on with my Wattpad? First I can't see comments, then pms, and now publishing is weird????

Anyway, let's get started with emojis.

Why?

Just why?

So, for some reason, some authors like to use emojis, abbreviations, and brackets. To that I ask: why?

You know, the beauty of online writing is that it's unofficial. Anyone can write anything, and they can use whatever style they want.

I am a huge fan of authors doing whatever they want with their stories; I support that! However, emojis, abbreviations, and brackets are not creative risks. They are... weird, for lack of a better word.

And that's not to say they can't be fun if used well, but the problem is, I am yet to see someone use it well.

No hate to anyone who does these things.

Let's begin.

Emojis

Unless it is over text, please do not use emojis in your stories. Again, I have no problem with people who want to be creatively free and write their stories however they want. But I do have a problem with people using emojis in a story emojis have no business being in.

In a/ns, character chapters, and other unofficial chapters, they're fine. In a comedy, I can think of ways emojis can work, but it's not worth the risk, in my opinion. Emojis are not fun to read because you're not reading, you're just staring at emojis.

While on the topic of visual media, try not to overuse pictures or gifs either. I've used pics and gifs in my stories before and they work well and evoke strong reactions out of the reader, but overusing them can drag readers out of the story.

🤮😭💀 As much as I love using emojis in text and when replying to people in the comments, using them in stories is a completely different animal.

I don't think I've ever met someone who enjoys reading stories with emojis in them. There's no real reason to add them, in my opinion.

If someone can give me a list of reasons they'd be useful (outside of texting and comedy purposes), I'd be happy to listen, but after brainstorming for several minutes, I can't think of anything.

What do emojis do that words can't? Sure, a picture can paint a thousand words, but I don't think the skull emoji is telling me anything I need to know that basic description can't.

It feels lazy and, in all honesty, immature. I'm not saying authors who use emojis are immature, I'm just saying it makes the writing feel less serious and mature as a result.

If you're okay with that, then I won't stop you from using emojis. However, if you want to be taken more seriously, I would strongly recommend not using them.

I hope none of that came off as harsh, it's just that emojis are not meant for storytelling for a reason. They're used for texting, not to show emotion in the serious parts of a book, y'know?

Abbreviations

Abbreviations like omg, ikr, atp, wtf, and more are things I've seen used in stories. Again, unless the characters are texting, they aren't very good devices to use, especially in dialogue.

I cannot tell you how many times I've read a story where the scene is supposed to be serious, then a character says "OMG."

I can't take it seriously. It pulls me out of the moment.

There isn't much to say about this one because it's pretty self-explanatory: don't use abbreviations unless they're texting.

There may be times where it can be used in a funny way, but unless you're using abbreviations very purposefully for comedic purposes, I can't imagine a time where they work.

I could be wrong, but in general, avoid them.

Brackets

So these are a little confusing, but I'm calling them brackets because that's what I believe many people in the rp world call them.

So, instead of doing dialogue normally, sometimes authors do this:

Raven: Hey

Then, they'll do this:

Raven: Hey [she takes his hand]

Or they'll use ( ) instead.

Either way, they're putting the actions in some type of bracket.

The dialogue isn't always like that, but it is a common case where authors will use brackets when the dialogue is written more like a script.

I hope that makes sense, but the easiest way to say it is authors putting actions in ( ) or [ ] instead of just typing it out normally.

It's very distracting and hard to read. We are not reading scripts, we are reading novels. While script format is interesting and definitely fun at times, we read novels because we want to read novels.

When you splice novel format and script format together, the result is not as aesthetically pleasing as one might think. Having dialogue be formatted incorrectly is not fun to read. I don't want to read actions, I want to read a book.

Maybe other people feel differently, but I am yet to meet someone who likes reading emojis, abbreviations, and brackets.

Long story short: describe the actions, don't put them in brackets. This is not a roleplay (rp) or script. Why format it like one?

I can get behind authors writing scripts on Wattpad, but I can't get behind authors writing a hybrid of a script and a novel. I love scripts; I actually have one due on Sunday. However, I don't want to read them because, quite frankly, they're boring. They're meant to be matter-of-fact, so when you give the audience actions through brackets, it feels less serious. It doesn't have the same impact that description does.

So, stop doing this:

[He walked]

[She took his hand]

(She laughed)

(He left)

Instead, describe the scene. Make it cinematic.

Don't use emojis / abbreviations / brackets.

P.S.: I'm talking specifically about ( ) being used to describe actions, not for anything else. ( ) is fine to use in many cases, but that's a topic for another day. Again: I'm talking specifically to authors who format their actions to be in brackets instead of in normal description.

I'm sorry this chapter is a little short. Unlike most chapters, these things are pretty self-explanatory, so I didn't need to go too far in-depth with them. I hope you understood everything!

~End~

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