Quick And Easy Way To Establish Rules In Your Fantasy/scifi Universe!

tadano says

How to Steal: Good Writers Borrow

Good writers borrow. Great writers steal. -T.S. Eliot *

This is great writing advice, but many people are wary about following it because they misunderstand what the terms “borrowing” and “stealing” mean in this context. 

I’m here to clarify. 

Borrowing is using something of someone else’s. Stealing is making something your own. 

This advice means two things:

1. Don’t be afraid of reusing elements from books you love.

I’ve spoken before about stealing in How to Steal: Know Your Tropes. When you see story elements** in a book you love, don’t think that they’re now off-limits to you forever. Just because you love The Great Gatsby and it’s set in 1920s New York doesn’t mean that you can now never write a story set in 1920s New York. Just because you love I Capture the Castle and it’s written as the protagonist’s journal, doesn’t mean you can never write a novel that takes the form of the protagonist’s journal. Just because Scooby-Doo… you get my point by now, don’t you? 

Take note of what you love in other stories.*** Remember those elements–the plot twists, character arcs, tropes, settings, etc.–and then use them to write a story full of things you love. 

2. Make the things you steal your own.

Borrowing, in this definition, would be writing about a 1920s bootlegger in love with the girl across the way, trying desperately to impress her with his wealth. You’re stealing from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby… and making it no less F. Scott Fitzgerald’s story. 

This example steals too much from one place. It’s too timid in it’s approach. it’s too afraid to take anything from the story, so it keeps everything the same. Anything that tries to be like Gatsby, but better is destined to fail. (Maybe a little like Gatsby himself. Just throw a bigger party, old sport! That’ll do the trick!) 

The key to stealing is stealing from multiple things at once until it looks like your very own thing. Stealing is writing a novel about a gang of mystery solving teenagers in 1920s New York, told in the form of a journal the group takes turns writing in. (Because we’re going to add a splash of Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants here.) 

Stealing is saying: these story elements are mine now and I’m going to use them the way I like, combined with my interests. And you know what? By stealing bits and pieces from all of the things you love, you’re creating something unique and new and wonderful. 

So go out there. And steal. Never borrow. 

*****

*This is commonly attributed to him at least. The internet tells me he definitely said something close to it. 

**Obviously, this doesn’t apply to the words themselves. Never steal somebody else’s words. Basically everything else is up for grabs, though. 

***You’re not limited to stealing from books. Steal from movies. From TV shows. From plays. From epic poetry. From that anecdote your neighbor told you last week. 

i didn’t mean to make this so long but i wanted to both analyze my own style and give other people a look into it! I hope someone can find some use for it! 

callum and rayla: [t-posing, staring each other intensely in the eyes]

ezran: what are you doing

callum and rayla, in unison: flirting

Lance in a suit reblog if you agree

Hey uh can porn accounts like, not follow me I mean I respect you and all but I’m not really here for it

Is there a list of describing a characters voice?

There are two ways to describe a character voice: the actual sound of it and what it does through words and tone. I’ll provide both since I don’t know which one you want specifically :)

Adjectives for the Sound of a Voice

Soft

Gravelly

Breathy

Abrasive

Brittle

Acidic

Barbed

Course

Dulcet

Guttural

Sweet

Hoarse

Honeyed

Shrill

Deep

High-pitched

Quiet

Loud

Mumbly

Squeaky

Wavering

Velvety

Smooth

Weak

Broken

Adjectives for What the Voice Does with Words and Tone

Accusatory

Admiring

Amused

Animated

Anxious

Deadpan

Apologetic

Ardent

Arrogant

Assertive

Authoritative

Bleak

Bored

Bubbly

Cautionary

Cheery

Defeated

Confused

Critical

Curt

Defiant

Defensive

Detached

Diplomatic

Disheartening

Disheartened

Cold

Docile

Frustrated

Intense

Intimate

Lifeless

Loving

Objective

Righteous

Sincere

Urgent

Vindictive

Nothing to see here.

Just watering some Plance.

💦💚🌱💙

Share some of your favorite screenshots if you would like! 😉

Reblog if you agree it's possible to be a big fan of someone without wanting a romantic or sexual relationship with them

For those struggling financially.

I thought I’d post some helpful links to sites I use for extra cash. These sites have saved my bacon more than a few times in the past couple of years. I can vouch that they do work and are not scams. I’ll post info with each site and how they work.

1.) Swagbucks This one is my go to website because it has the most to do. You can watch videos on your tablet, iphone, or desktop. There’s surveys you can fill out and special offers that are free(though if you do those special offers I’d use a junk email, but keep in mind that you do need to register for Swagbucks with the email associated with your paypal so you can get paid). Since I’m a stay at home mom I am mostly doing this all day long while doing my art commissions or running this blog. I earn about $100-$200 a month from this site alone. They also have giftcards to other stores, and if you redeem some of the $25 giftcards they are 300 sb(equivalent to $3) once a month. So I suggest redeeming one wal mart giftcard a month to take advantage of that and save the 300 sb(sb are points btw). Use this to get yourself groceries or necessities. The rest of the month you can redeem paypal and you can get that cash transferred to your bank to help pay for bills.

*removed*

3.) Inbox Dollars This one is very slow to pay out for me but that’s only because I JUST do the emails. It does offer special offers, surveys, and videos like swagbucks but I only concentrate my efforts on clicking the links in the emails they send me. By clicking the links in the emails you earn 2 cents. This adds up with time and its easy to do when you check your email like you normally do. It takes very little effort so it’s worth adding to your daily routine. If you want to do more on this site then you’ll earn faster. They mostly just send you a check, but they do offer a debit card and giftcards now.