LIZORAE

Zootopia  is a fantastic movie on several levels. Firstly, its brilliant way of addressing intersectionality and secondly, its foreshadowing, which is today's blog topic. Foreshadowing is a technique that sets up or prepares the readers for a reveal later on in the story. There may be spoilers , but hopefully you've already watched this epic movie and this is no problem. 1. Foreshadow early. Don't be a sloth when you foreshadow. Source: Giphy One of the most important aspects of foreshadowing is to do it ASAP. In Zootopia , the conflict is foreshadowed in the opening scene! Of course, you don't necessarily need to start this early because it might not work for your story like it works for  Zootopia . What matters here is weave a clue to set up something in later scenes. In Neil Gaiman's Masterclass Article , he states: The closer to an event foreshadowing is placed, the less effective it usually is. In fact, foreshadowing immediately before an event

With Valentine's Day around, people are giving gifts to their loved ones. Or, you know, the person they like  like. But Valentine's Day doesn't have to only be for the lovebirds, it can be for us authors too. Does your character have a love interest? Here's some great gifts to give them! Warning: There may be sarcasm ahead. 1. House alarms.  The kidnappers should invest in a sedative. Source: Giphy Love interests get kidnapped a lot. Why? I don't know. But often, the love interest is too helpless to defend against their kidnappers. So why not give them house alarms to give warning when their house is broken into? It might give the love interest and their family enough time to hide from the to-be kidnappers. Maybe they'll simply evacuate their house instead, just in case they can't defend themselves. 2. A Bodyguard. A job can't be done half heartedly. Source: Giphy On the topic of defence, it might be a good idea to give the love in

I'm an INFJ. This type is known for being a perfectionist. I'm also a Type 1 on the Enneagram, which is sometimes known as The Perfectionist. Yep. I'm notoriously perfectionistic. Back at school, I would procrastinate on tasks because I was trying to make it perfect. Trying to get that A+. (I later found out they didn't do A+'s so...yeah.) I would spend all my time trying to make the project absolutely perfect. I'd do all the research, formatting and all the other things my younger self thought I had to do but I'd never actually do it. The night before whatever assignment I was doing was due, I'd rush everything. So of course it didn't meet my standard and of course  I was tired the next day. So then I tried to learn how to deal with perfectionism but treating it like a plague didn't sit well with me. Instead, I've realised that there's a time for perfectionism and a time for imperfectness. It's all about the balance. *sparkle fi

From the second movie in the  Ice Age  franchise comes this phenomenal scene where Sid and Diego talk about Diego's fear of water. I mean, non-fear of water.  I'm going to pick apart the conversation, so this is basically several quotes in one. You can thank me later. I advise you watch the clip before reading the post so you have an understanding of the whole scene. Or, if you're an Ice Age fan like me, you already know the scene pretty well. And by pretty well, I really mean, very well. 1. "All animals feel fear."  Or, all humans  feel fear. (Because I'm assuming everyone reading this is a human.) If everyone feels fear, then we can rest assured we're not the only ones. Similar to how everyone needs water, we all get scared. I don't know about you, but knowing that makes me feel better. You're not the only one afraid. But because so many of us are scared, we can grow. It's part of our human nature. We're always striving to m