It Was A Command.

This also applies to self care as well.

not sure if this will make sense to anyone besides me but: the antidote to negativity is not positivity, its warmth

But it's June...

The single most important piece of writing advice I would give to a lot of amateur writers is to write less beautifully - or at least to write beautifully less.

I rarely find a piece of writing I can't read because it's too simple, or too concise and to-the-point - not memorable, perhaps, but also not a headache on a page. On the other hand, I see loads of pieces which are effectively unreadable because they're far too rich to swallow, and badly in need of watering down a bit.

The absolute worst culprit is the dialogue tags and stage directions. I'm a big fan of letting people write in their own style, but I would love it if a lot of writers could please cool it with letting me know every time a character blinks or licks their lips. I don't need to know that, especially if it happens every time they speak.

So many dialogue excerpts look like this:

"So this is how we talk?" he queried quietly, his eyebrows furrowed into knots. "Apparently," she replied with a puzzled grin, bouncing on the balls of her feet with restless energy. "Isn't that... exhausting?" he questioned, a lop-sided smile snaking its way across his lips. "The bouncing?" she asked shyly, her eyelids fluttering in shame. "No, of course not," he told her, his lean arms reached out to pull her closer. He buried his face into the mess of her hair, taking a deep breath of her perfume. "I just feel a little nauseated by all of these actions." "I don't know what you mean," she giggled, brushing the hair back out of her eyes as her cheeks flushed red. "Don't worry," he sighed, rolling his eyes up towards the ceiling.

I'm assuming this is a convention that comes from somewhere, given its ubiquity - perhaps somewhere in the world of fanfiction, where there will be short, intimate pieces entirely focused on the ways in which characters interact with each other. But to me, in an original work, it's so exhausting that I can't make it down the rest of the page.

Dialogue may be the worst, or most obvious offender, but the same principle extends pretty much everywhere else. Each line doesn't have to be some great quote you can hang on your wall, and it's hard to read a whole story written like that.

There's been some recent backlash on here against modern films where every line of dialogue is a quip, at the expense of building an authentic conversation, but that's how a lot of people start out writing - thinking that each sentence should be made as flowery as possible, when too many flowers in the same pot will crowd each other out.

You need to leave some gaps to let the sunlight in, and illuminate the beauty of the occasional flourish you do include. Think of it like vanilla extract, to make a reference that was topical when I started writing this post: you need to add a little for flavour, without which the writing will be too dull, but tip the bottle and I will actually be sick. Write beautifully less. Learn to embrace the prosaic.

Dhdhehejehebebdn

i know literally nothing about dogs/adopting dogs but i've grown up thinking adopt don't shop is good/breeders=bad. if you don't mind explaining a lil bit about your pov i'd love to hear it

hey! i’m happy to explain. some of this may be slightly boiled down 

so like, right off the bat, my central ethos about dog ownership/adoption is that 

people should get dogs who are the right fit for them as a person, for their household, and for their lifestyle. not every home is good for every dog and not every dog is good for every home. 

all dogs deserve to be in circumstances that maximize their likelihood to have a home. this means making sure that dogs end up in appropriate homes to begin with, that dogs are successful in their current homes and don’t need to be rehomed, and that if they need to be rehomed, they have the highest possibility of quickly finding a new home

another right-off-the-bat statement: for many people, a dog at a shelter or rescue will be a wonderful fit, and that’s great! homeless dogs deserve homes. there is no argument here that is anti-dog adoption for those who want a shelter dog.

so like, two key points here:

not all dogs are interchangeable and not all homes are interchangeable

responsible and reputable breeders contribute positively to both ethical principles i mentioned above

what you have to understand about dog homelessness is that it’s not just, like, an arithmetic problem. it’s not like there’s, let’s say, 5 million dogs coming into existence and 4 million prospective adopters and if we could just have a million fewer dogs then all our problems could be solved. 

the reasons dogs become homeless (and the reasons dogs have trouble finding homes) could frankly be their own essay. i do want to particularly note marginalization, impoverishment, and a lack of resources for vulnerable dog owners – sometimes keeping a dog in a home can be as simple as fronting someone the money for a pet deposit. 

other reasons include things like behavioral issues, health issues, and breed. 

in many areas – like mine – the issue is not necessarily that there are all these adopters simply choosing not to adopt all these available dogs who would be a good fit for them, but that there are not many adopters for whom those dogs would be a good fit. 

for some people who are buying a dog for a specific reason, notably service dogs and other working dogs, like herding dogs, a purpose-bred dog is most likely to succeed in their situation. 

for other people, they need a certain amount of predictability or stability and can’t take on the risk of a shelter dog who won’t be appropriate for their situation. 

and some people are just passionate about a specific kind of dog and that’s the dog they’re going to be happy with! i don’t think those people should be obligated to get an animal they don’t want out of guilt.

so really quickly, i want to define what i mean when i talk about a responsible breeder. a responsible breeder:

performs all of the health tests that are appropriate for their breed

breeds temperamentally sound, relatively predictable dogs

has a clear purpose and vision for their breeding program (why are they breeding this breed? why are they breeding these dogs in particular? what are they hoping to accomplish?)

screen their owners to ensure that they and the dog will likely be good fits for each other  

are willing to take back their dogs at any time should the dog need to be rehomed (many breeders require this)

are actively working on early socialization and behavioral development – the first 12 weeks of a puppy’s life are developmentally crucial, and breeders have an extraordinary ability to set their puppies up to be successful down the line

are a resource for their puppy buyers for the lifetime of the dog (i deliberately chose a breeder who i think is more knowledgeable and a better trainer than i am!)

breeders who do these things are not a part of the dog homelessness problem, they are part of the solution.

they are choosing homes for their dogs where they are likely to succeed and are unlikely to be rehomed. 

they are willing to provide the dog a home if the dog should become homeless. 

they are providing their dogs a foundation in terms of health and behavior that will make it most likely that the dog stays in their home or is adopted if the dog should be rehomed. 

they are giving puppy buyers guidance to raise dogs that are likely to be well-adjusted and healthy, which maximizes the likelihood of the dog staying in the home or being adopted if the dog should be rehomed.

if all dogs were bred under these circumstances, or even most, it would be a net positive for dogs individually and as a population. supporting good breeders is, for me, an arm of preventative animal welfare along with behavioral care and access to low-cost resources. 

hope this helps! i know it’s long lol

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