I Am A Simple Creature. Every Day I Am Sleepy

Donation campaigns - May 30

Below are vetted campaigns I have come across today and compiled into one list to make it easier for us to generate the best possible impact.

Donate to save Wafaa and her children

Help secure a safe future for Yusef's family

Shahad needs our help to rescue her grandmother

Bilal is trying to rescue his family and we can help him reach his goal

Hani needs our urgent help to get to safety

Nader's family is displaced and need our help

Fadi's family of 8 lost everything and we can help

Help Tala's mother get the medical treatment she urgently needs

Help save Faten and her three children

Save Maliha's family with their evacuation fund

Donate to Helpgazachildren

8 year old Yusuf needs urgent medical help

Help Yousef and his family evacuate

Renad needs our support to get her family to safety

Support Ruba's urgent request to evacuate her family

Better fundraisers master post

Help Ahmed rescue his family and children

Help Alaa by supporting her fundraiser

Donate to Ezzideen's campaign to help him and his family get to safety

Alhawa family need our help to escape the horrors

Haneen is almost halfway through to her goal to save her family

Help Marah and her family

Help Mahmoud save his parents

Laila still needs our support donating to her campaign

Support Omar continue his education

Help the Abushammala family rebuild their life

Donate to help Islam and his family

Mohammed Ayesh needs our help to escape to safety

Writing Advice Posts: A Handy Reference Guide

(Updated 8/6/19) Hey all, I’ve got quite a few writing advice posts & answered Asks on my blog at this point, so I’m making this reference guide to make it easier to find what you’re looking for. Hope it helps!

Free Resource Library Downloads

All of these PDFs are available to download in my Free Resource Library.

Creating Character Arcs Workbook

Point of View Cheatsheet

Dialogue Checklist

Setting Checklist

Questions to Ask Before Hiring an Editor Printable Checklist

Proper Manuscript Format Printable Checklist

Short Story & Novel Submission Templates

General

8 Ways to Improve Your Writing

10 Best Books About Writing Fiction

How to Spot Bad Writing Advice: 6 Red Flags to Look For

“Show Don’t Tell”? Not Always. Here’s When to Use Summary

How to start a story

More about starting stories

The first sentence

Weak words

Why Just About Every Published Book in the World Does 57 Things That Just About Every Book About Writing Tells You Not to Do

Creative Nonfiction Cliches to Avoid

How to Read Like a Writer

The Writing Process, Writer’s Block, & Inspiration

To all the Writers Suffering from Depression

How to Train Yourself to Write Faster

Just a friendly reminder that creativity is difficult to quantify.

Quick Writing Tip: Make a Note to Your Future Self in Your WIP

Quick Writing Tip: Take Notes!

Just a friendly reminder that writing is not always a linear process.

Quick Cure for Writer’s Block: Lower Your Expectations

Set Realistic Goals

Your Skills May Need Time to Catch Up to Your Vision

It’s Okay to Experiment and Be Weird As Fuck

Surround Yourself With Supporters

It’s okay to take a break.

Your First Draft is Raw Material

Getting into “The Zone”

Vomit Brain

Writing from Your Imagination vs. Reality

Dealing with Criticism

Getting Bored with Your Own Writing

Getting past a block

Doing research on topics you don’t have first-hand experience with

Journalling about your writing

How to Keep Yourself From Editing As You Write

Advice for Getting Over a Writing Slump

Dealing with Procrastination

Character Development

Creating Character Arcs with the DCAST Method

What Does Your Main Character Want?

How to Activate Your Passive Characters, One Verb at a Time

How to Use Description to Show Character Development

How to Create a Non-Cliched First-Meeting Scene

The “It Depends” Post

Shifting internal goals

When to identify your character’s goal

Writing about normal people with normal problems

If you’re worried about your character being too similar to someone else’s character 

Describing your characters without messing up your pacing

Story, Plot, & Pacing

Quick Plotting Tip: Write Your Story Backwards

Pause at the Threshold

How to Spot an “Info-dump”

Slowing Down the Pace of Your Story Without Boring Your Reader

Time Transitions

How to Create a Non-Cliched First-Meeting Scene

Creating Conflict

When & how to cut a scene

If you’re good at creating characters but awful at creating plot

When you’ve plotted your story but can’t get started

En Media Res

Writing to Your Ideal Reader

Deus Ex Machina

Foreshadowing

Finding an Ending

What to write between moments of conflict

Starting a story with waking-up scene

How to Know When You’re Done Outlining

Description, Setting, & Worldbuilding

How to Make Your Descriptions Less Boring

How to Spot an “Info-dump”

Adding Descriptions to Intense Scenes Without Messing Up Your Story’s Flow

How to Use Description to Show Character Development

Worldbuilding: How much is too much?

Modeling your fantasy world from stuff in the real world

Internal Consistency

Utilizing Sound

Point of View

How to Choose the Right Point of View for Your Story

A Beginner’s Guide to Multiple Point of View

6 Questions to Ask About Your Point of View

How to decide if you should use first person or third person

More point of view basics

Head hopping

How to Head Hop without Head Hopping

Dialogue

How to Improve Your Dialogue

3 Ways to Make Your Dialogue More Interesting

Starting a story with dialogue

Are You Using Too Much Stage Direction?

Which is Better: Exposition or Expository Dialogue?

Publishing & Sharing Your Work

7 Tips to Build an Audience for Your Writing

Pros and Cons of Self Publishing

Quick Publishing Tip: Don’t Bury Your Gold

How to Properly Format Your Manuscript for Publication

A warning about posting writing online that you intend to publish later

Advice for writers who are worried about people stealing their work or ideas

Getting feedback on your writing

How to Create a Cover Letter for a Literary Magazine or Journal

Editing

10 Questions to Ask an Editor Before Hiring Them

Quick Revision Tip: Read Your Writing Out Loud

How to Keep Yourself From Editing As You Write

Cut the fidgeting

Are you suffering from -ing disease?

Are you Using Too Much Stage Direction?

What “Editing” Really Means

Quick Editing Tip: “That”

Quick Revision Tip: Read Faster

Editing Tip: Dialogue

Tips for Editing a Story

Should You Use a Contract When Hiring an Editor?

Quick Tip: Up & Down

…if you find any broken links please let me know and I will fix them! xo

*I recently changed the name of my blog. All of these links should work, but if you come across a “Bucket Siler has moved!” page when clicking on a link inside an old post, there’s an easy way to find what you’re looking for: In the url, delete “bucketsiler,” write “theliteraryarchitect,” then hit return. Also, let me know about it & I will fix it :)

//////////////

The Literary Architect is a writing advice blog run by me, Bucket Siler. For more writing help, check out my Free Resource Library or get The Complete Guide to Self-Editing for Fiction Writers. xoxo

i love codependent relationships in fiction i love watching two messy people unforgivably in love with each other shatter the world around them i love seeing interpretations of love as a cosmic disastrous redemptive force i love watching love consume people whole i love looking at romantic relationships and going "oh that is so fucked up! good for them"

I've scheduled two hours of drinking coffee while looking out the window today

TIPS:

Tips For Characterization

21 Harsh But Eye-Opening Tips From Great Authors

The Importance Of Body Language

34 Writing Tips That Will Make You A Better Writer

Things Almost Every Author Needs To Research

Eight Short Story Tips

How To Stop Procrastinating

Ten Exercises In Creativity

How To Show (Not Tell)

Ten Ways To Avoid Writing Insecurity

Why Research Is Important In Writing

Five Ways To Get Out Your Comfort Zone

Seven Ways To Use Brain Science To Hook Readers And Reel Them In

The Difference Between Good And Bad Writers

Five Essential Story Ingredients

Formatting Your Manuscript

Four Ways To Have Confidence In Your Writing

99 Ways To Beat Writers Block

You’re Not Hemingway, Helping You Develop Your Own Skill

Best Apps For Writers

Online Whiteboard

This Sentence Has 5 Words

GRAMMAR (WORDS):

Urban Legends From The World Of Grammar

20 Common Grammar Mistakes

Synonyms For Said

Alternatives For But

Alternatives For Angry

Alternatives For Whispered

200 Words To Describe Light

45 Ways To Avoid Saying Very

Colour Names

Other Ways To Say…

Lay vs Lie

Make Words Longer

Words And Meanings

Common English Mistakes

Online Etymology Dictionary

Tip Of My Tongue

Cliche Finder

NAMES:

7 Rules Of Picking Names For Fictional Characters

Names In Different Time Periods

Behind The Name

Meaning Of Names

Fake Name Generator

Random Name Generator

Quick Name Generator

Fantasy Name Generator

Baby Names Country

Muslim Names And Meanings

Indian Names And Meanings

Name Playground

NOVEL:

How To Rewrite

Editing Recipe

How To Write A Novel

Writing 101: Revising Your Novel

Revising Your Novel: Read What You’ve Written

Finishing Your Novel

Novel Outlining 101

Outline Your Novel In 30 Minutes

13 Most Common Errors On A Novels First Page

How To Organize And Develop Ideas For Your Novel

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT:

Family Tree Maker

Tips For Characterization

Character Trait Masterlist

Character Bio Help

Character Writing Exercise

123 Ideas For Character Flaws

Three Ways To Avoid Lazy Character Description

How To Create Fictional Characters

Writing Magical Characters

Character Development Sheet

Character Development Worksheet

Character Chart

Character Chart For Fiction Writers

100 Character Development Questions For Writers

Ten Questions For Creating Believable Characters

Ten Days Of Character Building

Writing Effective Character Breakdowns

PLOT, CONFLICT, STRUCTURE and OUTLINE:

When To Change Paragraphs

36 (plus 1) Dramatic Situations

How To Write A Death Scene

The Snowflake Method

Effectively Outlining Your Plot

Tips For Creating A Compelling Plot

One Page Plotting

How To Create A Plot Outline In 8 Easy Steps

Choosing The Best Outline Method For You

Creating Conflict And Sustaining Suspense

Conflict Test

What Is Conflict?

Writing The Perfect Scene

How Can You Know What Belongs In Your Book?

SETTING, WORLDBUILDING AND FANTASY:

Masterpost For Writers Creating Their Own World

World Building 101

Creating A Believable World

Maps Workshop - Developing The Fictional World Through Mapping

Creating Fantasy And Science Fiction Worlds

Writing Fantasy

Myths

Creating The Perfect Setting

POINT OF VIEW:

Establishing The Right Point Of View

How To Write In Third Person

The I Problem

OTHERS:

Types Of Crying

Eye Colours

Skin Tones

Who Do I Write Like?

Write Rhymes

Survive Nature

How To Escape After Being Buried Alive In A Coffin

whenever I decide anything I need 15 people to say "that's a good idea" to me otherwise I feel like I'm making a catastrophic decision that will ruin my life. in a chill way I'm chill

---

something i wish i had realized earlier: you can write poems on the same subject more than once. you can write, paint, draw the same thing over and over if you want to. you can spend your whole life making art about oranges. i think i always felt this pressure to get it right the first time like i couldn’t go back and use that inspiration again. but you can. you can go back and revisit it. you can pick up the conversation again and again if you have more to say.

Undulatus Asperitas clouds seen over New Hampshire (2023)

some fucking resources for all ur writing fuckin needs

* body language masterlist

* a translator that doesn’t eat ass like google translate does

* a reverse dictionary for when ur brain freezes

* 550 words to say instead of fuckin said

* 638 character traits for when ur brain freezes again

* some more body language help

(hope this helps some ppl)

in many ways being alive is about opening your curtains after getting out of bed