A Bell Went Off In My Head...

[A Bell Went Off In My Head...]

[quasi-normalcy]

I find it personally offensive how many bad writers can get published so easily.

[quasi-normalcy]

I used to find it reassuring, like, "Haha, wow, if THIS can get published..." but now I take it to mean "It doesn't matter if your book is good or not, all that matters is if you're in the right social circles (and you're not)"

[littlemissmanga]

As someone who used to acquire for an indie publisher ... it sucks on the other end, too. We don't WANT to work on shitty books with shitty writing. But bossman wants to make money, and shitty writer has marketing clout/knows the right people/is already published (even if it's only online/ebook).

I used to read the most AMAZING submissions I'd be forced to pass on. Like, there was one, a literary fantasy featuring a bi deaf protagonist who learns how to navigate a spectrum of relationships while discovering herself (I don't want to give too many details out of respect to the author/don't want her concept stolen) and I couldn't get it acquired no matter how thorough my proposal and marketing plan was because she was a debut author with fewer than 10k Twitter followers and we needed that advance money for another Fifty Shades knockoff (this was a few years ago lol).

BUT PLEASE DON'T LET THAT DISCOURAGE YOU! If you're a writer, and you're trying to get published, don't give up!! If your first novel isn't getting traction with either a house or agency, publish it yourself on amazon. Get that "debut" moniker away from your name. Prove you can sell your shit and keep working.

A good agent will work with you to come up with a marketing/publicity proposal. That will be huge in getting houses to notice your work - makes the acquisitions team's job easier as they can point to it and tell bossman "we have a plan". Look online for titles that have high ratings/are on the NYT list that can be compared to yours. That helps give acquisitions an idea of what they're getting into - and how to represent your book to their ED/publisher.

A good agent will also help you target editors/imprints whose lists match your book, increasing your odds of getting positive feedback or even constructive feedback. If I had a submission that just wasn't quite ready for publication, I'd give detailed notes of what I wanted and ask them to revise and resubmit.

Keep writing! Even if a book isn't picked up, start your next. It's so attractive to see an author with several unpublished works ready to be polished if you already like the work that's submitted. And more writing only refines your skills.

Yes, bad writers get published. And too many good writers, even when published, go unrecognized (if you like southern gothic fiction a la Where the Crawdads Sing, go read The Past is Never, which came out four months earlier and got NO national attention but is BEAUTIFUL). Be such a good writer that you break those odds.

Because you can. I've read your stuff on Tumblr. On Ao3. On Fanfiction.net. On Wattpad. You can do it.

[quasi-normalcy]

This is actually practical advice; thank you.

[A Bell Went Off In My Head...]

[awake-society]

Your daily reminders

[A Bell Went Off In My Head...]

[thesmileykate]

there is something significant that suzanne begins thg with an interaction between gale, katniss, and madge. and in that interaction, gale specifically calls out madge for having only five entries, implying that her chances of going to the capitol are nonexistent (thg, 12). or at least less than him, who has forty-two entries (thg, 13).

suzanne integrates this scene with madge in the novel to show (1) the class division throughout the district that creates animosity. and although gale knows that it is not her fault, that doesn't stop him from digging into her (thg, 13). and it also emphasizes (2) the illusion that some people are safe, or benefit in this system.

yet, you know who had also only five entries? just like madge? peeta. and prim only had one entry. the two people whose names were called that year. so when the reaping happens, it proves just one thing. no one is safe. not a merchant's son. not even a girl with only one slip in the bowl.

and it just goes to emphasize the theme that follows katniss's throughout the novel: who does this system benefit? one that she finally reaches her conclusion at the end: that "it benefits no one to live in a world where these things happen" (mj, 321). because no one is safe in a world where people murder children in order to solve their differences. and that means no one. not a capitolite. not a mayor's daughter. and not even a young medic whose sister has done everything in her power to keep her safe.

[A Bell Went Off In My Head...]

[thesmileykate]

when gale opens his arms in the justice building before katniss leaves for the first games, katniss does not hesitate to go into them (thg, 38). in this moment, gale's body is familiar to her and brings many memories of her hunts with him. it is obvious from this embrace that she is close to gale and feels comfort in his arms, reminding her of the past and the woods she loves so much. 

and she feels similarly about peeta after those games. because when she sees him before their victory interview, she doesn't wait for him to open his arms before she flings herself into them (thg, 360). and they cling to each other as the audience becomes chaotic around them (thg, 360). so, by the end of the first book, both peeta and gale hold equal positions as people who katniss wants to hug and actively embrace. 

this continues when katniss sees gale after the games. similar to her reunion with peeta, she doesn't think when she jumps up and throws her arms around gale (cf, 7). and he is holding her so tightly, not letting her go until he has to because of her hiccups. so, katniss fears are calmed when it seems as though her relationship with gale is the same as before the games.

but everything changes when gale kisses her. because as he kisses her, her perspective of his embrace shifts as she considers how his hands can easily entrap her (cf, 8). and, from that point, they begin to trap her. and it is so ironic that katniss decides to choose gale over peeta to maintain her freedom and agency because the way that she describes gale's embraces suggests otherwise.

because when gale hugs her at the lake house, katniss remains very passive, trapped even, as gale is the one to initiate and pull her into his embrace. gale is the who one steps in and lifts her off the ground. and gale is the one who eventually releases her (cf, 28). and katniss goes along with gale's actions. 

and dynamic continues after the quarter quell is announced when gale is the one who pulls a drunk katniss into his arms (cf, 51). throughout their embraces after their kiss, gale is the main agent and katniss is, although laughing and happy, still passive. 

katniss is not the one reaching for gale. she is not deciding when to let him go. she doesn't do any of the actions in their embraces. she is merely affected by them.

katniss is no longer the one who runs into his arms like she did before his kiss. because even if she is fine with them, his embrace is still trapping her in a way. she is still being ensnared by his arms.

and compare this to her embraces with peeta. because, following the first games, katniss is consistently running to embrace peeta. with most of their interactions, katniss is making an effort to touch and embrace him. katniss is the one who grabs his hand and presses it into her cheek (cf, 45). katniss is the one who runs into his outstretched arms on the train heading to the quell (cf, 55). katniss is the one who refuses to let go (cf, 55). because, unlike the ones with gale, katniss is an active agent in her embraces with peeta.

but katniss's habit of enthusiastically embracing peeta takes a tragic tone as she reunites with him after he is rescued. because as she runs to meet him, she extends her arms to embrace him (mj, 153). and when his hands reach for her, she suspects that it is to caress her face in the embrace (mj, 153). and why should she think anything else? this is peeta. and she has always felt free to embrace him. expecting nothing but his happy reciprocation. but, in his hijacked state, he instead chokes her.

and so, because she is so lonely, she turns to gale in district two. and it is the first time that they have embraced the entire book. gale might have touched her cheek (mj, 19). gale might have squeezed her hand (mj, 17). but they never embraced. and still, even with the image of hijacked peeta haunting her mind, she still doesn't actively embrace him. so, in district two, katniss once again takes her position of passivity as she finds herself wrapped in his arms (mj, 171). 

but it doesn't work out. because her heart isn't into it. because she is trying to forget everything in a last-ditch effort to escape her personal hell. and because gale isn't peeta.

and so, from katniss's perspective, it seems as though the peeta that she so freely embraced was irretrievable (mj, 171). that he will die hating her and she will die heartbroken. that she will never feel his arms embrace her again. 

but, slowly, she sees him inching his way back to her (mj, 259). and with him inching, she had enough reason to once again extend her hands to wrap around his neck in an embrace before they parted ways in the capitol (mj, 288). and after an initial shock, the arms she thought would never embrace her again reciprocated.

and it is in these same warm and strong arms, that katniss finds comfort after the war. because, although she thought that peeta would never embrace her again, he did. he came back for her. and his arms were there to comfort her (mj, 329). arms that were always there to protect her. to comfort her. to embrace her.

[A Bell Went Off In My Head...]

[mega-aulover]

Week 32

I wrote 302 words for Fletcha...

Have you ever had those moments where you know what you have to write but the words don't come to you...ugh. That's what's happening to me..how about you? Any suggestions? Advice other than scrapping and starting over - lol

[mtk4fun]

Wrote 685 words @mega-aulover​ this week. My only advice to keep writing is write crappy. Just get words on paper.

[A Bell Went Off In My Head...]

[katnissmellarkkk]

I just re-read my old comment on someone else’s post and now I’m thinking about the epilogue again 🥹.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we’ve all heard and seen the posts saying “Peeta forced her to have babies!” Which, okay, if you’ve read the book and connect with his character, you already realize that isn’t true. But I’m just saying, if you eradicate away that bad take, Peeta actively wanting children is such a good step for his character. It indicates so much healing on his part? In those fifteen years before they had their children, Peeta didn’t just grow back to loving Katniss but also himself. The boy who was hijacked, who didn’t know who he even was during the war, would never have wanted to have a baby. Even the boy on the beach, who was preparing to die in a matter of hours, would never have chosen to have a child. The fact that Peeta wanted the toastbabies strongly indicates how he feels about himself. He no longer thinks himself a monster or a mutt or even a bad person. He sees himself for who he is, good and bad and scars and all.

And this also goes hand in hand with another implication. We already know Katniss and Peeta end up back together again but the fact that Peeta wants the kids means he not only believes himself to be a good parent but he sees Katniss as one. No one — especially not someone who’s seen the dark side of the world as much as Peeta has — is ever going to try for kids with someone they don’t think highly of. If you want children with a person, you’re pretty convinced they’re going to be a good parent. The fact that Peeta, who was brainwashed into thinking Katniss is a mutt, who tried to kill her for what he thought was his own protection, who saw only the worst in her amplified — and then some — and who had to struggle within himself to even be in the same vicinity as her, actually convinced her she’d be a good parent, that she would give their children an amazing, happy life, full of hope and understanding and love above all else, tells you everything you need to know about how he sees her in the end.

[A Bell Went Off In My Head...]

[thesmileykate]

when katniss describes her kisses with gale, she focuses on physical, practical aspects. almost as if she is describing a kiss that she was not a part of. when gale first kisses her, all katniss can remember is the feel of his lips (cf, 8). and unlike a few of the kisses that she shared with peeta in the arena, she doesn't even know if she likes the kiss or not. and that confuses katniss a lot.

and even as katniss begins to give her own kisses to gale, they are woven with guilt and sadness. first, she kisses him after apologizing for her desire to run away from the district instead of fight (cf, 34). and then, her kiss amidst bombed ruins of district twelve tastes of heat, ashes, and misery (mj, 115). even when she decides to lose herself with gale's kisses in district two, the kiss is reduced to heat and sensations that can be used to escape a lonely reality without her peeta (mj, 171).

and throughout all of these kisses, katniss does not once mention her emotional reaction. she will always mention the physical descriptors of the kiss. the pressure of his lips. the taste. his smell (cf, 8). she even mentions his heat (mj, 171). but the heat is always coming from gale. never her.

and even though she explains that it isn't fair to compare gale's kisses to peeta's kiss (cf, 8), there is no denying that peeta makes katniss burst with warmth. and it is not even just his kisses. because even as katniss is desperately trying to distance herself from him, this boy just sharing a shy smile with her causes an unexpected warmth to rush through her (thg, 72). 

and during their first kiss they are both fully aware of, that same warmth courses through her chest, leaving her curious for more (thg, 298). and as peeta's lips graze her skin as the embrace on the train, katniss, clinging to the sudden warmth spreading throughout her body, refuses to let go. 

and this, of course, leads to the magnum opus of their kisses: the beach scene. because as katniss's passionately kisses peeta, she feels the same warmth from the cave. only this time, it is allowed to bloom until it morphs into a fiery hunger (cf, 100). a hunger that will not be satisfied.

and this is the center of why gale and peeta's kisses were so different for katniss. because while she remembered the pressure of gale's lips, she relished in the steadiness that peeta's brought. and although gale's kiss was accompanied by his heat, peeta's kisses promised a warmth of her own. for no one else could make the girl on fire burn quite like her boy with the bread.

[A Bell Went Off In My Head...]

[el-ffej]

That point when you're 2/3rds through writing a long fanfic:

[A Bell Went Off In My Head...]

[charlunday]

I would like to issue this as a formal apology for my last drawing.

[waywardangel-wilds]

Scruffy Peeta supremacy!!!!!!

[A Bell Went Off In My Head...]

[batrachised]

it's interesting to me to see people say they base fic they write off the kudos they receive, bc I get it! I thrive off responses to my writing especially comments--but I actually tend to like my less popular fics more and get bored with my (relatively, let's not get too excited here) popular ones instantly. It's as if I turn into a protective mother over my child, like HOW COULD YOU NOT LIKE MY BABY