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Write What’s Burning Inside – but Beware of Its Fuel

June 7, 2021

Philosophy, Writing

affect, guest post, Igor Livramento, writing

Today’s post – “Write What’s Burning Inside But Beware Of Its Fuel” – is authored by Igor da Silva Livramento. He’s a fellow academic from UFSC, fellow author, fellow creative-writing advisor, and overall a great fellow. He’s also a composer, music theorist, and producer. Check out his papers on Academia.edu, his music on Bandcamp, and his personal musings on his blog – in Portuguese, Spanish/Castilian, and English. You can also find him on LinkedIn.

Chris mentions this time and again: Write honest to heart, from the fire burning inside. I’d like to add: Indeed, but beware of your flames’ fuel. Not for comedic tone, may I claim.

write burning inside
Write what’s burning inside; but beware of its fuel
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Emotional IQ and Writing: Why It Is Important

May 3, 2021

Writing

affect, characters, emotional iq, fiction, writing

“Emotional IQ” is one of those phrases people in marketing and recruiting love to throw around. Many of them might not even know what they’re talking about. For writers – but also readers – emotional IQ in writing is more than important; it’s crucial.

By “emotional IQ” we generally mean the ability to recognize emotions (our own as well as others’) by noticing patterns and expressions. These can belong to various categories:

  • Visual. For instance, noticing the way someone’s eyes move, or the way their lips are puckered; body language, in general.
  • Aural. Think of someone’s speech, including tempo, hesitation, pitch, etc.
  • Textual. The kind of language we use – including syntax, register, and other such details – can reveal a lot about our emotional inner worlds.

For our context, that is, emotional IQ in writing, you might think the last one is the most important. To some extent you’d be right, but don’t neglect the other two. Visuality and sounds can be major aspects in narrative. If, for example, your goal is to write realistic characters, you’d want their emotional expressions to be subtle, rich, and believable. Visual and aural cues, then, are important.

emotional iq in writing
High emotional IQ in writing – ability to to recognize and understand emotions – is an integral part of fiction.
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Interested in Story Development Software? Narrative Nods v2 Is Here!

April 19, 2021

Fiction Writing Tips, Programming, Writing

characters, narrative, plot, programming, software

Many authors, at one point or another, have used what is known as story development software. Free, paid, on Android, on PC, old, new, in some form or iteration you have likely used a program that helps you design your plot, develop your characters, and so on.

Let me guess: You “kind of” liked it, and yet something was missing. Well, that has been exactly my experience, with everything I’d ever tried, and that’s why I decided to create a piece of story development software the way I wanted it to be. Presenting Narrative Nods v2!

Although it shares the same name and basic framework with my Android app with the same name (no longer available), it’s nowhere near the same program. Not only is it much more mature, intelligent, and effective, but it’s also platform-independent. You can use it on Android or iPhone, PC or Mac (or Linux), and overall, on any device using a modern browser.

Let’s take a quick look at its features and where to find it!

story development software
Narrative Nods v2 is a piece of story development software that helps you transform your ideas into coherent, powerful plots
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