˒⠀S O T T . . . 𝙲𝙰𝚁𝙳𝙸𝙸𝙰𝙲

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writing emotional scenes! ━━ no. 015
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     I HAVE FOUND THAT THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST REQUESTED TIPS OTHER THAN WRITING ACTION SCENES. This is something that a lot of people have trouble writing, which for me, is confusing because I find these to be the easiest scenes to write. However, that might be because I feel so much and find that writing out my feelings, emotional scenes, and emotional dialogues come easily and make me feel better.

     However, I understand that not everybody is the same and can view writing emotional scenes as their downfall. I've always seen them as easy, and sometimes too easy to write.

     Now, I'm not saying I'm an expert at writing them. I am in no way, shape, or form amazing when it comes to writing emotional dialogues, etc. I have so much space and room to grow and blossom into a better writer, as do you. What I am pretty good at (in my opinion), is giving advice and gathering together research to help you, the reader, learn how to grow in your writing capabilities. So, I introduce you to 'Grayson's Dumbed-Down Tips and Tricks for Writing Emotional Scenes and Making Your Readers Cry Like a Little Bitch.' Let's get it poppin'.

     For this chapter, I have decided to break up my tidbits of advice into sectors that will (hopefully) not overwhelm those who are reading this too much. I did some research as well and integrated my own advice within the articles I will be sharing in this chapter.

     ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐎: 𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐒 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔'𝐃 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐎𝐓 ⸝⸝ ⇗
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀→ ⺌ These tips all stem from Writer Unboxed. Credit for this portion goes to them. Disclaimer: I have added my own words, advice, and paraphrased sections of the article.

          Whether we realize it or not, we are all striving to write the "quintessential delivery system" for the feels. Even if we're purposefully attempting not to do so. The main reason we do this is "because that's what drives us to tell stories in the first place." At one point or another, you and I have both read something that hit differently; that made us go, "Oh. I know that feeling. I've been there too."

          This causes the question of, What can I, as a writer, do to elicit more empathic reactions from your readers than detached ones?

          As always, I'm going to be forthright with you — writing emotional scenes and dialogue has less to do with the scene at hand, itself, and rather more to do with tapping into "universal experiences" and the feelings/emotions that come with them. You can describe the setting, atmosphere, and baseline feelings all you want, but that won't do much except cause your reader to skim and lose their train of thought; they will stop paying attention to the story you're telling.

          Not everybody, or anyone at all, will have experienced the "exact scene you are writing and be able to connect to it." But everyone has experienced some sort of loss, grief, disappointment, triumph, failure, anger, love, and sadness. With that being said, those personal experiences contribute to the creation of an individual's empathy and the bond or connection they make with your story. If you, as the writer, find yourself empathizing with the scene you're writing, chances are that you will be able to manufacture an empathetic bond with your story and your readers as well.

          Now, here is a list of step-by-step tips to help write emotional scenes when you'd really rather not:

          ╰─── 𝟬𝟭. Take a step back. "If you find yourself in a scene that is so much bigger (emotionally) in your head than it is coming out on the page, take a step back. Identify the emotion you are going for, then recall the last time you felt that way yourself."

           ➳❥ Example: Feeling despair for failing at something.

          ╰─── 𝟬𝟮. Commit to not identifying the emotion (or its synonyms) by name in the scene. Commit to not using the words despair, sadness, hopelessness, etc. Gosh, this is so hard to not do. Talk about a struggle. However, it's important to at least attempt. "The reason being, when you tell the reader what they're supposed to feel, the reader may subconsciously feel trapped and resentful that they weren't allowed to form their own reaction."

          ╰─── 𝟬𝟯. Identify a time in your life when you felt the same emotion. You don't have to be too on the nose with this, but find a time when you felt the exact emotion you're trying to write.

          ╰─── 𝟬𝟰. Write about the/that personal experience. For this step, keep in mind step two. For this particular step, there are a few things you should focus on when thinking back to your own personal experience(s):

           ➳❥ How you learned that you'd failed something or someone.
           ➳❥ The sights/sounds/visceral sensations you experienced when hearing the news, receiving the backlash, or where you were/who else was around (e.g., the sound of whispers around you, others' shouts of joy, tears from others; etc).
           ➳❥ How others reacted (e.g., pats on the back, sympathetic murmurs, unhelpful clichés from family members).
           ➳❥ How you felt/reacted to others' reactions (e.g., trying to smile and be happy for them; shrugging off their attempts to make you feel better).
           ➳❥ What you instantly worried about (e.g., friends talking behind your back; what your parents would say/how would they react).
           ➳❥ How you protected yourself from the feelings (e.g., skipping school, avoiding people or particular settings or conversations; isolating yourself; faking happiness; etc).
           ➳❥ Fallout or the fallout you imagined would happen (e.g., being out of the loop; cut off socially; people being angry or disappointed; heated arguments that wouldn't end well; etc).

          ╰─── 𝟬𝟱. This is more of a bit of advice/words of wisdom; not a step. If the character(s) in the scene cries, the reader doesn't have to. When writing an emotional scene, explicitly a sad one, if at all possible, delete the part where your character cries, sobs, and wails. Now, I absolutely suck at this. Exhibit A: my book, Expedite. I love Piper Lita to death, but homegirl cries so fucking much. (Yes, I know I was the one that made her cry. After all, I'm the author, but still.) I made her go through absolute hell, both in her backstory and in the book, and her emotional responses mirrored the pain that she was going through. Looking back in hindsight, however, if I hadn't had her cry in particular scenes... some chapters would be a lot more emotional than they are. But I can't change that, and I won't. It's a reminder of a learning experience.

          What I do recommend, now, is following this step. If you can get your reader to become more emotional than your characters, that's how you know (in my opinion) that you've written a great emotional scene.

     ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐎: 𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐈𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐒 ⸝⸝ ⇗
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀→ ⺌ These tips all stem from The Editor's Blog. Credit for this portion goes to them. Disclaimer: I have added my own words, advice, and paraphrased sections of the article.

          As readers, we all like to be touched and moved by a story. We like to imagine ourselves in the worlds we're reading about and the various challenging situations we'd face. Ones that allow us to be something other than what we already are or who we are in "real life."

          Fiction, specifically, allows people to "not only step into other worlds but to experience those worlds. To do what they can't on a normal day. To feel beyond their normal feelings." Since they wish to immerse themselves into another world and other lives, what can, you and I, as writers do to make that desired experience authentic and real, if only for a few minutes or hours?

          One technique we writers can use to create reality out of fiction is to induce emotion into our readers — to make them feel some of what the characters are experiencing. Yes, the scenes aren't real, but the emotions included in them can be.

          But, the question remains, how can a writer accomplish this? How does a writer make their readers feel emotion?

          ╰─── 𝟬𝟭. Write in scenes, aka: showing rather than telling. Don't report that a character is afraid or joyous or grieving. Show the signs of character emotions through their actions. Show what fear or giddiness or grief does to them, both physically, mentally, and emotionally. Character action and response are one of the best places to focus on.

          This is a major key for triggering the reader's emotions. No one gets emotional over a simple report of how an individual is feeling. But they do get emotional when they can step into someone's shoes and experience their feelings as if those feelings were churning inside them.

           ➳❥ "Glancing down at the floor, the young girl became afraid as she noticed a deep pool of blood was soaking through the fabric under her feet. Dropping the key to the floor, her eyes widened as she grew panicked and frozen to the spot."

VERSUS

           ➳❥ "Glancing down at the floor, the young girl froze in shell-shock fear as a deep red substance was soaking through the fabric under her feet. A trail of thick wine-red blood swam past the carpet-painted stairs and to the right, where the living room directly connected to the dining room. Dropping the key to the floor, her chocolate-brown eyes widened as a rush of panic seeped through her veins. The air leaving her lips became ragged and harsh as she stepped forward. Her hands began trembling at her sides, and she jammed her fist into her mouth, trying to stifle the scream that was crawling its way up her throat."   ── 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐄, 𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝙾𝙽𝙴.

          ╰─── 𝟬𝟮. Make your character(s) sympathetic, so your readers can identify with them. If a reader can identify with a character, they can also identify with their emotions — pains, sorrows, griefs, stressors, etc. "(Readers can also identify with the shared human condition, so sometimes a particular situation will resonate with readers even before the character becomes involved.)"

          However, make sure your readers know/understand/or identify with your characters before trying to connect emotionally. A reader won't "be affected by a character's deep emotions on page one, simply because they have no ties to said character. By chapter three, if you've put the reader in the character's place in the story, what touches the character can touch the reader. By the novel's climax, the reader should so identify with the lead character that the character's pain becomes the reader's pain; their triumphs, the reader's triumphs. You know how this plays out in your own life. A death reported on the nightly news means one thing when it's a stranger and something totally different when it's someone you know or a relative or someone you know."

          Bottom line: Help your readers know your characters. Make your character believable and sympathetic so the reader wants to be that character — wants to go through everything they go through for the length of the story.

          ╰─── 𝟬𝟯. Make a character unsympathetic, so the reader feels anger or repugnance toward them. Oh, I love doing this so much. It genuinely gives me such a deep, satisfying sense of contentment. Some writers/readers love the emotional scenes, but only if they're sad. Not when they're filled with anger, resentment, or fury. Sometimes it's easier to connect to sadness rather than anger, and I believe that applies heavily when it comes to fictional stories. However, making a character unsympathetic or disliked by your readers is a power move.

          "A character who is hated has already created an emotional response in your reader. I'm not talking caricature or stereotype here. I'm talking about creating a character who is soul ugly or evil or unfeeling, but one who belongs in one story and no other. Your unsympathetic character might be no one of consequence in another book. But here, in this particular story, their actions/words are destructive to your protagonist or someone close to them.

          "Cruel characters doing cruel things — cruel in the eyes of the protagonist or the reader — can affect the reader. If the character reacts to the cruelty, the reader can as well. Or, if the reader feels something because of what a cruel character does, you've already stirred their emotions. If, however, your protagonist has no response to the cruel actions of another character, your readers may feel both bewildered and cheated. Show the reactions/responses of characters to the actions of another character. Characters must do more than think about the evil of another character. They must have a response in terms of action and/or dialogue."

          In 𝐀𝐜𝐭 𝐓𝐰𝐨 of this book, I will have a chapter completely dedicated to writing evil/corrupt/antagonistic characters. These are my favorite characters to write and are becoming the main ones in my upcoming books.

          ╰─── 𝟬𝟰. Do not hold back. This is one piece of advice that I wholeheartedly live by. In my chapters, I do not hold back. If any of you have read any of my books — you know this. I genuinely don't care. I will put my characters through hell and make sure that my readers feel at least something, even if it's small. It helps get people involved and dedicated to my characters, as well as makes for good storytelling.

          "If you want to reach the reader's emotions, you need to write emotion-evoking scenes. Killing or injuring a character's child, friend, or loved one can touch the reader if the reader has a sufficient investment in the character."

           ➳❥ Example: "If Sarah gets a phone call, with someone saying her son has died, readers won't feel grief, even if you show Sarah grieving unless you've created a tie between Sarah and the readers, unless you're prepared for the death ahead of time, showing Sarah's love for her son, perhaps her fear for his life or her dreams for him. If he's never been mentioned and the readers don't know how much he means to Sarah, an announcement of his death will have no emotional impact on them. If, however, Sarah had been worried about his safety or has been sitting at his hospital bedside, the reader is connected both to Sarah and her son, and his death can shake up the reader."

          ╰─── 𝟬𝟱. Don't be afraid of killing off someone close to your main characters or of taking away something else dear to them. I know I might sound evil, but this is something else I love to do. I love killing off my characters. (Someone is going to report me for saying that, I already know.) Killing off your characters not only creates conflict and for your audience to react, but it also creates a way for new storylines, character arcs, the introduction of new characters, and so much more. If a character is crushed, the reader can be as well. That sounds so twisted, I'm sorry but it's true. Here's the truth: this is fiction. You're not really hurting someone if you write them into a car accident.

          "Death or injury aren't the only ways to hurt your characters. Misunderstanding, betrayal, and forced choices that hurt their friends are all ways to agitate characters. And when characters are agitated, readers can be as well."

          In 𝐀𝐜𝐭 𝐓𝐰𝐨 of this book, I will have a chapter completely dedicated to writing off characters/killing them and why you should.

     ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐎: 𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐍'𝐓 𝐒𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐘 ⸝⸝ ⇗
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀→ ⺌ These tips all stem from Book Edits by Jessi. Credit for this portion goes to them. Disclaimer: I have added my own words, advice, and paraphrased sections of the article.

          One of the greatest challenges for fiction writers is writing emotional scenes that are genuine, believable, and moving while steering clear of the sand traps of sappy, phony, and overdone. For someone who has been writing on Wattpad since 2012, this is something I used to, and sometimes still do find challenging.

          Why is it so hard to write an emotional scene that works? That doesn't sound like a scene from a Disney Channel movie and comes across as natural and real? I think it's because the human heart is subtle, so the writing must be incredibly subtle to work for emotional scenes/dialogue/etc.

          To help those who might find it challenging to write emotional moments that aren't sappy or phony, here are some tips and criticisms that might help!

          ╰─── 𝟬𝟭. The Secret of Subtext. "In real life, our emotional moments usually occur with less being said than is unsaid. At times of peak emotion, people feel vulnerable and usually allude to what they mean rather than say it directly. Writers call such unspoken thoughts and feelings "subtext," and powerful scenes are generally full of this stuff. So, when you aim to create a dramatic scene, it's better to hold back a bit on your character's self-expression than give it full-throttle. The scene will be more true-to-life."

          ╰─── 𝟬𝟮. Was That a Violin? "What makes a scene sappy, phony, or overdone is when an author tries too hard to get the emotion across. The amateur writer wants to make sure we understand that the character is enraged, or in love, or terrified, so a whole thesaurus of adjectives and adverbs gets trotted out to guarantee we get the point. Instead, what that causes in a reader, is the "eye-rolling reaction." We resent an author trying to tug, for all she's worth, on our heartstrings. We feel manipulated, just as we would in real life if someone turned on the fake tears. In fiction as in life, people insist on authenticity, or they walk away."

          ╰─── 𝟬𝟯. Authentic, Not 'Emotional'. "...make authenticity the aim in writing your emotional scene — rather than emotion itself. Make your characters talk like real people, and the emotion will come through without you exerting any effort. If you try to write emotion, the emotion will feel strained. It will come across as false. Instead, focus on writing like the characters would actually talk in that situation, and what will come through will be genuine and amazing."

          ╰─── 𝟬𝟰. Trim it. After writing an emotional scene, it's usually necessary to trim it afterward. (Something that I always do.) You'll probably have written more than is needed, and more than an actual person would say. I notice that I do this, quite frequently, in fact, despite knowing the points I'm making and giving here. Very few authors can write a scene that is stellar in its first draft.

          ╰─── 𝟬𝟱. No Red Crayon! Less is more when it comes to writing emotional scenes. Cut away the added emphasis, and you'll find that emotions speak very well for themselves. "Personal scenes descend into maudlin sentimentality if an author does not write with subtext and restraint. It cheapens human emotion to underscore it with a dark red crayon. Handle the heart lightly. Trot out the violins, and readers will laugh and groan, not feel the sublime emotion you were intending. One bad scene can spoil an otherwise good novel, giving the book an amateur flavor. Take particular care to make your most important scenes genuine and moving."

     ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝟑 𝐓𝐈𝐏𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐋𝐘 𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐒 ⸝⸝ ⇗
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀→ ⺌ These tips all stem from Jami Gold. Credit for this portion goes to them. Disclaimer: I have added my own words, advice, and paraphrased sections of the article.

          The hardest type of emotional scenes to write are the heavily emotional ones. This is mainly the most difficult one to write because they require us, as writers, to dig within ourselves, or our characters, for an emotional (real and honest) truth that we're not always ready to face. However, the truth that we share can resonate with readers, and the scene we create might end up as their favorite.

          Before we get into the three tips, let's talk a bit about how people experience emotions when they're reading, and, more specifically, the heavy kind of emotions — the ones that we, as readers (and writers), don't necessarily want to experience (or write). With common and normal emotions, many authors tend to want readers to empathize with the main character. They want the readers to feel the same emotions as the character because, as mentioned before, empathy creates a bond between the character and the reader. Empathy means the character is relatable and therefore can prompt your audience to feel some type of way when reading.

          "However, with heavy, often dark, emotions, readers' self-preservation instincts might kick in and make them pull back from deep empathy. Some readers don't like overly emotional stories." Personally, it depends on the book for me. Sometimes I love the overdone angst and other times, I'm not a fan and find it unnecessary. Over time, I've learned that it all depends on whose book you're reading and what their writing style is like — if it works.

          For heavier emotions, we, as authors, could maintain a better bond with our audience if we "settle" for sympathy rather than empathy. If we allow the readers to process the emotions in their own way. "This means we shouldn't focus on a poignant phrase here or a heartbreaking image there to create a specific emotion. Rather, a reader's sympathy will come from the scene as a whole — the situation, the consequences, the circumstances, the actions, and the reactions.

          "In other words, let the emotion come from the subtext. If we, as readers, know how a situation is going to affect the character — how this will make their goals harder to achieve, how this will hurt them, how their subdued reactions hide their true pain — then we will sympathize with them. Sympathy leaves readers room to form their own reactions and can prevent them from checking out of the emotional experience."

          ╰─── 𝟬𝟭. Use a less deep point-of-view for uncomfortably heavy scenes. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, sympathy can be extremely useful in heavily emotional scenes. However, the sympathy concept can play into the issue of readers' feeling like an invader in difficult scenes. One way around this problem is to create a sense of privacy when dealing with heavy emotions.

           ➳❥ Example: "In Chapter 34 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry enters the forest with his ghostly parents and friends to turn himself over to Voldemort. As readers, we know what Harry's decision ultimately means. We understand his reasons. We know this will result in his death, and we see his strength in carrying it through anyway. J.K. Rowling didn't take the route of heavy-handed melodrama with "oh woe is me" thoughts from Harry. She kept this chapter very distant, almost numb, with lines like, "Harry understood without having to think." That is, she didn't state what Harry's thoughts about this journey were. This restraint in stating the obvious gives us, as readers, the "privacy" to experience our emotions our own way."

          It's common knowledge (or at least it should be) that everyone experiences grief differently. This technique discussed above — where the author pulls back so the reader doesn't have to — gives the audience the ability to fully experience strong emotions such as grief on their terms. The reader's take on the emotion can be more powerful, intimate, and immediate than what they would experience if we, the authors, tried to tell them "here's what this emotion feels like."

          ╰─── 𝟬𝟮. Emotional doesn't mean melodramatic. Not everybody wants melodramatic displays of characters falling to pieces. Some do. Honestly, I'm that bitch that does. However, there are some downsides to scenes where the character is breaking down. If we're too explicit with emotional details, we can wind up cornering our audience. A cornered reader doesn't have any room to form their own reactions to what's happening. A cornered reader will pull away in a natural human instinct for self-preservation and purposely try not to feel what we're sharing with them.

          The trick to making a heavy scene emotional isn't about telling the reader what to feel or showing the reader what the character is feeling. The cliché "a single tear slid down her cheek" both tell and show on some level, but it's a cliché. It's too simple and too easy. Instead, we should inspire the reader to experience the emotion, rather than painting the picture perfectly for them every time. And we do that by using the scene as a whole, as well as subtext, to create an experience of sympathy.

          ╰─── 𝟬𝟯. Don't skip scenes that are part of a character's emotional journey. There's this quote I found in this tip that I like a lot: "We read fiction because we want to go on an emotional journey with the main character. If you cheat us out of sharing the emotional journey, why should we go on reading?" In other words, we can get creative in finding ways not to cut readers out of the journey, even if we feel the scene isn't needed from a plotting perspective. Don't leave the reader to make huge emotional jumps without leading them along.

     ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐎: 𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐒 ⸝⸝ ⇗
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀→ ⺌ These tips all stem from Prompts for Poem, Prose, and Play on Tumblr. Credit for this portion goes to them. Disclaimer: I have added my own words, advice, and paraphrased sections of the article.

          Crying scenes are/can be an important element or feature of an emotional scene. When we get emotional, we tend to cry. That's just how we are, and it's important to represent that in story-telling. (I'm not speaking for everyone, I'm just speaking in general.)

          One of the things I've heard numerous times on Wattpad is the difficulty of writing crying scenes or the inability to write one that you like. And I get it. Crying scenes can be the hardest ones to write because it can feel awkward or uncomfortable to write them at first. You don't want to overly describe a crying scene, but you don't want to gloss over it as if it's something small and insignificant.

          I'm not an expert on writing crying scenes and I am most certainly not amazing at writing them myself, but I've improved drastically. Below, I am listing my last two tidbits of advice that I have found to be extremely helpful and good reminders when writing crying scenes!

          ━━━━ 𝙽𝙴𝙶𝙰𝚃𝙸𝚅𝙴 𝙲𝚁𝚈𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙲𝙾𝙽𝙽𝙾𝚃𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽𝚂. . .

            ❱ 𝗪𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦: 𝖸𝗈𝗎 𝗈𝗇𝗅𝗒 𝖼𝗋𝗒 𝗂𝖿 𝗒𝗈𝗎'𝗋𝖾 𝗐𝖾𝖺𝗄.
            ❱ 𝗘𝗠𝗢𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗕𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬: 𝖮𝗇𝗅𝗒 𝖾𝗆𝗈𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒 𝗎𝗇𝗌𝗍𝖺𝖻𝗅𝖾 𝗉𝖾𝗈𝗉𝗅𝖾 𝖼𝗋𝗒.
            ❱ 𝗜𝗠𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗬: 𝖮𝗇𝗅𝗒 𝗄𝗂𝖽𝗌 𝖼𝗋𝗒, 𝗌𝗈 𝗂𝖿 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖼𝗋𝗒, 𝗒𝗈𝗎'𝗋𝖾 𝖼𝗁𝗂𝗅𝖽𝗂𝗌𝗁 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗂𝗆𝗆𝖺𝗍𝗎𝗋𝖾.
            ❱ 𝗙𝗘𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗧𝗬 (𝖮𝖱 𝖳𝖧𝖠𝖳 𝖨𝖳'𝖲 𝖲𝖮𝖫𝖤𝖫𝖸 𝖱𝖤𝖫𝖠𝖳𝖤𝖣 𝖳𝖮 𝖳𝖧𝖠𝖳, 𝖭𝖮𝖳 𝖳𝖧𝖠𝖳 𝖥𝖤𝖬𝖨𝖭𝖨𝖭𝖨𝖳𝖸 𝖨𝖳𝖲𝖤𝖫𝖥 𝖨𝖲 𝖭𝖤𝖦𝖠𝖳𝖨𝖵𝖤): 𝖶𝗈𝗆𝖾𝗇 𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗐𝖾𝖺𝗄, 𝖾𝗆𝗈𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒 𝗎𝗇𝗌𝗍𝖺𝖻𝗅𝖾 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗂𝗆𝗆𝖺𝗍𝗎𝗋𝖾, 𝗌𝗈 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗒 𝖼𝗋𝗒. 𝖬𝖾𝗇 𝖺𝗋𝖾𝗇'𝗍, 𝗌𝗈 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗒 𝖽𝗈𝗇'𝗍.

          It's important to keep in mind these negative connotations and find ways to actively avoid them when writing!

          ━━━━ 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝙽𝙶𝚂 𝚃𝙾 𝙰𝚅𝙾𝙸𝙳. . .

            ❱ 𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗜𝗔𝗟: 𝖯𝗁𝗋𝖺𝗌𝖾𝗌 𝗅𝗂𝗄𝖾 ❝ 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘺 ❞ 𝗈𝗋 ❝ 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘺𝘦 ❞ 𝗈𝗇𝗅𝗒 𝖾𝗇𝖿𝗈𝗋𝖼𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗌𝗍𝖾𝗋𝖾𝗈𝗍𝗒𝗉𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖼𝗋𝗒𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗂𝗌 𝖻𝖺𝖽 𝗈𝗋 𝗌𝗁𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽 𝖻𝖾 𝖺𝗏𝗈𝗂𝖽𝖾𝖽. 𝖮𝖿 𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗋𝗌𝖾, 𝗂𝗇 𝖼𝖾𝗋𝗍𝖺𝗂𝗇 𝖼𝗈𝗇𝗍𝖾𝗑𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗒 𝗐𝗈𝗋𝗄, 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗒 𝗃𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝗌𝗁𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽𝗇'𝗍 𝖻𝖾 𝗎𝗌𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗈 𝖽𝖾𝗏𝖺𝗅𝗎𝖾 𝖼𝗋𝗒𝗂𝗇𝗀.
            ❱ 𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥 𝗗𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘: 𝖣𝗈𝗇'𝗍 𝗆𝖺𝗄𝖾 𝗂𝗍 𝗌𝗈 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗈𝗇𝗅𝗒 𝖿𝖾𝗆𝖺𝗅𝖾 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗌 𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗌𝗎𝗌𝖼𝖾𝗉𝗍𝗂𝖻𝗅𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝗌𝗁𝖾𝖽𝖽𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝖾𝖺𝗋𝗌, 𝖾𝗌𝗉𝖾𝖼𝗂𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒 𝗂𝖿 𝗒𝗈𝗎'𝗋𝖾 𝗍𝗋𝗒𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗈 𝗉𝗋𝗈𝗏𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝗆𝖺𝗅𝖾 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗌 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝖺𝗇 𝖾𝗆𝗈𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇𝖺𝗅 𝗋𝖺𝗇𝗀𝖾 𝗅𝖺𝗋𝗀𝖾𝗋 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗇 𝖺 𝗍𝖾𝖺𝗌𝗉𝗈𝗈𝗇. 𝖶𝗁𝖾𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝗈𝗋 𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝗌𝗈𝗆𝖾𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝖼𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗌 𝗌𝗁𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽 𝖽𝖾𝗉𝖾𝗇𝖽 𝗈𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗂𝗋 𝗉𝖾𝗋𝗌𝗈𝗇𝖺𝗅𝗂𝗍𝗒.
            ❱ 𝗔𝗣𝗢𝗟𝗢𝗚𝗜𝗭𝗜𝗡𝗚: 𝖨𝖿 𝖺 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗁𝖺𝗌 𝖼𝗋𝗂𝖾𝖽, 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗂𝗌 𝗇𝗈𝗐 𝖿𝗂𝗇𝗂𝗌𝗁𝖾𝖽, 𝗆𝖺𝗄𝖾 𝗌𝗎𝗋𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗒 𝖽𝗈𝗇'𝗍 𝖺𝗉𝗈𝗅𝗈𝗀𝗂𝗓𝖾 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝖼𝗋𝗒𝗂𝗇𝗀 (𝗎𝗇𝗅𝖾𝗌𝗌 𝗂𝗍'𝗌 𝗉𝖺𝗋𝗍 𝗈𝖿 𝖺𝗇 𝖺𝗋𝖼, 𝗈𝗋 𝖺𝗀𝖺𝗂𝗇, 𝖼𝗈𝗇𝗍𝖾𝗑𝗍). 𝖨𝗇𝗌𝗍𝖾𝖺𝖽, 𝗍𝗋𝗒 𝗉𝗁𝗋𝖺𝗌𝖾𝗌 𝗌𝗎𝖼𝗁 𝖺𝗌 ❝ 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 ❞ 𝗈𝗋 ❝ 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸. ❞
            ❱ 𝗔𝗩𝗢𝗜𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘: 𝖯𝗁𝗋𝖺𝗌𝖾𝗌 𝗅𝗂𝗄𝖾 ❝ 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 ❞ 𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀𝗌 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗌𝗁𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽 𝗀𝖾𝗇𝖾𝗋𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒 𝖺𝗏𝗈𝗂𝖽 𝖺𝗌 𝗐𝖾𝗅𝗅. 𝖳𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝖽𝗈𝖾𝗌𝗇'𝗍 𝖾𝗇𝖿𝗈𝗋𝖼𝖾 𝖺𝗇𝗒𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗉𝗈𝗌𝗂𝗍𝗂𝗏𝖾 𝖱𝖾𝗆𝖾𝗆𝖻𝖾𝗋 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖼𝗋𝗒𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗂𝗌 𝖺 𝗀𝗈𝗈𝖽, 𝗁𝖾𝖺𝗅𝗍𝗁𝗒 𝗐𝖺𝗒 𝗍𝗈 𝗅𝖾𝗍 𝗈𝗎𝗍 𝖾𝗑𝖼𝖾𝗌𝗌 𝖾𝗆𝗈𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗂𝗌 𝖻𝗒 𝗇𝗈 𝗆𝖾𝖺𝗇𝗌 𝖺 𝖻𝖺𝖽 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖼𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇 𝗍𝗈 𝖺𝗇 𝗈𝗇𝗌𝗅𝖺𝗎𝗀𝗁𝗍 𝗈𝖿 𝖾𝗆𝗈𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇𝗌. 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝙖𝙡𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙭𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴.

          I hope these were all helpful and if you have any questions or want more tips, let me know!

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❛ YOU 𝑪𝑨𝑵'𝑻 𝑩𝑹𝑰𝑩𝑬 THE DOOR
ON 𝒀𝑶𝑼𝑹 𝑾𝑨𝒀 TO THE 𝚂𝙺𝚈. ❜
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