u/Suspicious_Clock_133

I am soooo so bad at writing good, let alone decent descriptions. It's so hard for me to describe things in detail, like how a place looks, how the scenery is, how the streets are and all. My stories have so many unique structures and different places that aren't the usual palaces or forts, and I can see them clearly in my mind, but when it comes to describing them in writing, I get stuck terribly.

Maybe it's because I don't have enough vocabulary, or maybe because English is literally my third language. I read a lot, but I still can't properly wrap my head around this.

And I know it won't get better just by randomly writing things. I need to understand how to properly use sensory details and all that, which sounds good, but it's so hard to actually paint the picture that's in my mind.

So are there any good writing exercises, tips, or anything else that could help with this?

I've been reading ASOIAF for quite a while, and I love how GRRM keeps you hooked, whether it's a random character POV or one of the major ones. We all know how well he handles his main characters, but I've started noticing how even the random POVs feel like you're actually living in the world. They give you so much worldbuilding without making it feel like an info dump. And it feels ancient and magical, and I think a lot of that comes from the prose. Martin can make even ordinary things feel fantastical. Like- “The night came with the song of dragons.” “The snow whispered in the night, burying the path of travelers.”

It's just so damn good. And despite the books being massive, I keep wanting to read not only because of the characters or plot, but because I genuinely want to spend more time in that world and experience the prose.

That's something I struggled with while reading the third Stormlight Archive book recently. It took me a long time to finish it because, if I wasn't invested in a character, I didn't always have another factor pulling me through. Sanderson have a great world but somehow he can't make it magical like the most interesting part for me the interludes but they feel so hollow despite having such amazing fantasy elements.

And the best thing is that Martin's prose is actually quite simple. It's not purple prose, but his imagery and clever similes make everything incredibly vivid. I especially love how invisible the prose feels. I'm not constantly thinking, “Wow that's beautiful writing.” I'm just seeing the scene in my head. And that's the biggest straight of him. I just hate that he have become a meme in community, he is literally one of the best writer among all the authors.

Also What other authors do this well? Martin has mentioned Guy Gavriel Kay as one of his inspirations, so how are his books?

Look, I get it. There have been so many greats movies this year but most of the time when anything new announced ppl start acting like it's gonna be bad hollywood is dead, their movies suck these days. Media literacy is dead, there isn't good contant everything have become netflix and all...But you know what? There are other countries creating content too. Yeahhh, it might sound unbelievable, and some self centric people can’t even comprehend this, but it’s true Hollywood and the West aren’t the only ones making stories. Other countries have been making them too and in many cases, long before.

It baffles me to my core when someone says “movies aren’t movies these days” or “everything sucks.” They trash Hollywood… then turn around and watch more of that same corporate slop and complain even harder. Or they stick to old American movies, maybe throw in some French or Spanish ones just to feel cultured.

But all you have to do is cross that tiny barrier of subtitles, and you’ll be shocked. Stories are still good they always have been. Media creation hasn’t died. You just need to look a little deeper. Come out of your comfort zone and try to dig a little harder.

Japan isn’t just anime and manga. They have some of the most beautiful explorations of everyday life. Japan is the hub of slice-of-life storytelling whether it’s countryside stories or high-school summer films. That quiet, human core is central to Japanese cinema. And they were doing elevated horror in the 2000s long before the West caught on.

Korea doesn’t just have Bong Joon ho or Park Chan wook. It doesn’t just have Parasite or No Other Choice. Beyond the romance K-dramas, there are powerful stories that dig into Korean culture and history. Their thrillers often explore real human conflict instead of cheap gimmicks.

Same goes for China. Have you ever tried C-dramas? They explore their rich history and mythology in tender, unique ways you rarely see elsewhere. And China is rapidly becoming a major animation hub expect a lot more from them.

Then there’s Indian cinema. God, I’m still waiting for Westerners to watch their second Indian movie after RRR. India isn’t just over-the-top action and musicals. Dig a little deeper and you’ll find so many grounded, rich stories. Explore Malayalam cinema they’ve been crafting thoughtful films for 50–60 years. It will blow your mind.

There’s Iranian cinema too, with its deep, subtle psychological explorations of grief, conflict, and the human condition. And recently, Thailand has been putting out some incredible GL and BL series. If you think love stories no longer feel real or full of yearning, watch those.

The truth is, most people don’t even try. They don’t want to challenge themselves. There’s a hell of a lot of great content in the world, but so many so-called American cinephiles stay locked in their comfort zone, endlessly crying about how everything is bad. I’m so sick of it at this point. Keep exploring, if you actually want to feel something through stories.

Mine is from piranesi "Beauty of the house is immeasurable; it's kindness infinite"

Qualifications -- Am currently in the final year of my bachelor's degree in Math and for future I've been thinking about doing my masters in a different subject.

And i did some reasearch abt it and tbh I cant handle math more like yeahhh I love the subject but that's it man am done for now with this. This is enough maths for me and there are plenty of career options for me now with this subject.

I also did research abt English cause it's always been my fav subject or in general topic too and from what I've seen it involves studying history of English literature like...major authors and analysing their works, Old English, Modern English, Indian English literature, literary movements, poetry, essays, and so on...

Am also a reader. I have read plenty of classics, fiction, and other books, and I'm naturally drawn towards literature. I also love writing and discussing movies, books, their deeper themes, symbolism, and storytelling in general. So.... on paper this degree seems almost perfect for me isn't it?

But then I came to Reddit... And OMG a lot of people seem to genuinely dislike studying it. Many even calling it the most useless degree in India that anyone can do. Others say it's incredibly difficult and much more demanding than people expect.

So am confused and it now that...is it really that complicated or hard?

And is the course only abt about analysing literature, writing essays, poetry, and understanding authors, literary theory, culture social stuff or is there much more to it that people don't realise before joining?

Cause for me this isn't really about career pressure. My bachelor in Mathematics is still my main career path. I simply thought that doing a master's in English Literature would be a good opportunity to study something I've genuinely wanted to learn for a long time. And i also write quite a lot so it will help in that thing too. Plus having a masters degree in English could also open up another career option in the future, especially in teaching maybe...

So my main question is... Is an M.A. in English Literature actually worth it if you're genuinely interested in literature? Or is it really as bad as many people on Reddit make it sound?

I'd love to hearing from people who have studied English Honours or completed an M.A. in English Literature...

I have been thinking about getting blue light glasses but am not sure if they are worth it or not. I spend around 10 hours a day on my laptop and phone. I don't wear glasses and don't have any vision problems. The main issue is eye strain, burning eyes sometimes, and sometimes discomfort around my eyelids or between my eyebrows after long screen sessions. Bright white backgrounds like Google Docs seem to make it worse, while dark mode is much more comfortable. I already use night mode/blue light filters on both my phone and laptop and my room lighting is decent too.

Soo....for people who spend a lot of time on screens, did blue light glasses actually make a any difference? Should I buy it? Or was something else more helpful? Am looking for some real experiences.

I have been thinking about getting blue light glasses but am not sure if they are worth it or not. I spend around 10 hours a day on my laptop and phone. I don't wear glasses and don't have any vision problems. The main issue is eye strain, burning eyes sometimes, and sometimes discomfort around my eyelids or between my eyebrows after long screen sessions. Bright white backgrounds like Google Docs seem to make it worse, while dark mode is much more comfortable. I already use night mode/blue light filters on both my phone and laptop and my room lighting is decent too.

Soo....for people who spend a lot of time on screens, did blue light glasses actually make a any difference? Should I buy it? Or was something else more helpful? Am looking for some real experiences.

I have been thinking about getting blue light glasses but am not sure if they are worth it or not. I spend around 10 hours a day on my laptop and phone. I don't wear glasses and don't have any vision problems. The main issue is eye strain, burning eyes sometimes, and sometimes discomfort around my eyelids or between my eyebrows after long screen sessions. Bright white backgrounds like Google Docs seem to make it worse, while dark mode is much more comfortable. I already use night mode/blue light filters on both my phone and laptop and my room lighting is decent too.

Soo....for people who spend a lot of time on screens, did blue light glasses actually make a any difference? Should I buy it? Or was something else more helpful? Am looking for some real experiences.

Firstly many PPL are complaining that episode are so short but I think it's for best. It's way better then dragging it or repeating the same thing over and over like most of Netflix shows. And secondly OMGGG they teased us so much that everyone believed that evan would be the one but I knew already that something was fishy when they were taking so much time with rosemary's scene. Like writers knew ppl will be expecting evan but mannnnn they played soo well. the twist was sooo well done. And now they have so much meterial to play with in finale episode. That Sherif's wife plot and then storm and then ruth being at her own home. And them thinking to kill her. It's such brilliant writing!!!!

And the best thing is they can do so much with it. Another plot twist abt ruth's child and all with lots of open threads for interpretation. The more I think it gets better and better. There were sooo many foreshadowing in early episodes too. And this is the beauty of weekly episode release. Can't wait for finale but it's gonna be wild week seeing PPL theories.

It's already my fav show of this year.

Don't kill me first of all but am currently reading warbreaker and siri is giving me so much of shallan, serene, lift, rsyn vibe??

Like that same witty sarcastic humor, disrespecting others, rebeling and all. Which was the main reason i have to drop oathbringer for a while and started with warbreaker thinking it would be fresh breath but man here i found another shallan. Like omg in stormlight archive it's been 3 books and shallan is still the same :((

And it doens't mean sanderson can't write good female characters. Vin, navani, marasi, steris and shai are my one of favourite ones. Though shai and steris still little bit feel same. But is just me or anyone else felt like that too? Maybe it's because of sanderson's YA Writing??

“The people united can never be ignited!”

I wanted to get into Discworld since I started my fantasy journey last year. I tried many times; I started with The Colour of Magic but couldn't get into it. Then I tried Small Gods, as people suggested, but I still couldn't get into that one either. Idk, maybe my mood was different back then. After doing a bit of research, I saw people saying that Guards! Guards! is the best starting entry for Discworld.

I tried this one too and… I still couldn't get into it at first. But this time I didn't give up. I tried one more time, and this time it finally clicked! Maybe the problem was that I am new to fantasy; I have only read the popular ones mistborn, SA, the first law, red rising and few WOT books. Terry Pratchett's writing style is so unique and different from others. But as I finished that opening secret society brotherhood chapter and Carrot's chapter started, I instantly grew a connection with him. When he was leaving the house and saying goodbye, it was all so good. then that summoning the dragon thingie. i was hooked in the story completely
and...
The rest is history. He meets with the Watch members and the fun starts…

And speaking of it--OH MY GOD. I knew there were crossovers with characters in the books, but I totally didn't expect DEATH to be in this book! And it might just be me, but that moment he shared with that one guy was soo sweet? I liked that so much. There were some other cameos from DEATH too, like the one where those secret society members die and DEATH comes and says, "CONGRATULATIONS." Lol. And then later, during the patrician's wance death scene when he says, "Is that you, brother doorkeeper?" and DEATH says, "METAPHORICALLY." Lmaoooo. I love him already. My next Discworld read is going to be Mort; it is already chosen.

Going ahead… my favorite part of the whole book was the characters. My god, they were so likable, fun, and entertaining. Every single character even the random citizens had a distinct personality. Anyone can tell just by a single line of dialogue who a character is.

I really liked Vimes's arc in this book. He started out as a drunk whom nobody respected, and then later at the end, the whole Watch stands up for him to increase his payroll, and he even found love too. It was so wholesome. Nobby, Sergeant Colon, Carrot, Sybil...I just love them so much. They are like a family to me now. Their dynamics were so much fun, too; the one between Sybil and Vimes was my favorite, and Sergeant Colon, Nobby, and Carrot are the funniest trio ever.

“Now, what are the chances of a man standing on one leg with his hat on backwards and a handkerchief in his mouth hitting a dragon's voonerables?”
“Million to one chance.”

And how about Lord Vetinari when he was in the prison dungeons and the rats were serving him bringing him things, and he was shaving with the help of rats? 😭

Not just the characters, but the whole story is just so well written. I thought it would delve too much into satire and that type of thing, but I love how well-constructed the whole plot structure was. Every character had their own arc, from the little dragon Errol to a mon.… I mean ape… APE! The Librarian also had his own journey. While the whole city was facing a dragon problem, he was doing his own inter multiverse library travel just to find a book 😭

Speaking of it, this book reminded me of Game of Thrones in terms of the city folk and random characters, and how much of a part they play in the story. When the dragon came, they all went to hunt it or just for the sake of the spectacle. And even "Cut-Me-Own-Throat" started selling dragon resistant things.

Despite all these things, the main plot never got lost, and the main characters weren't overshadowed by the chaos. It was perfect from start to finish.

I don't think there was anything that I didn't like, but yeah, there were so many POV shifts like going to random characters and then other ones which was a bit confusing sometimes. There was even a dragon's POV too! 😭

But I got used to it because the writing was just sooo so good. I was literally laughing at simple, random quotes for like five minutes continuously lol. The whole book was filled with these. Some probably went over my head because I am just new to it, but I am pretty sure these books are going to be even more rewarding on rereads. These books can be reread endlessly.

“Thunder rolled . . . It rolled a six.”

That being said, I think this book is a perfect 10/10 for me. Yeah, maybe a 9.8 or 9/10 if I nitpick some itsy-bitsy things but it was so, so much fun.

What makes me even happier is that there are 40 more books like this!!!! The whole journey is going to be so much fun. I am so excited. I can already see Terry Pratchett becoming my favorite author after reading one or two more of his books. and I already know Ankh-Morpork would be my comfort place for years and stay with me until I die.
But I won't waste this whole experience by binging all the books like a madman I am going to take my sweet time with this. This is going to be one of the best and most memorable reading experiences ever.

“Nobby had survived any number of famous massacres by just not being there.”

"Both dragons appeared to realize that the fight was the well-known Klatchian standoff."

also cant wait for interacting with discworld fandom they seem pretty chill and cool person.