a massively extended version of ruthlesscalculus’ post
General Tips
Joss Whedon’s Top 10 Writing Tips
Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone
34 Writing Tips that will make you a Better Writer
50 Free resources that will improve your writing skills
5 ways to get out of the comfort zone and become a stronger writer
10 ways to avoid Writing Insecurity
The Writer’s Guide to Overcoming Insecurity
The Difference Between Good Writers and Bad Writers
You’re Not Hemingway - Developing Your Own Style
7 Ways to use Brain Science to Hook Readers and Reel them In
8 Short Story Tips from Kurt Vonnegut
How to Show, Not Tell
5 Essential Story Ingredients
How to Write Fiction that grabs your readers from page one
Why research is important in writing
Make Your Reader Root for Your Main Character
Writing Ergonomics (Staying Comfortable Whilst Writing)
The Importance of Body Language
Character Development
10 days of Character Building
Name Generators
Name Playground
Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test
Seven Common Character Types
Handling a Cast of Thousands Part 1 - Getting To Know Your Characters
Web Resources for Developing Characters
Building Fictional Characters
Fiction Writer’s Character Chart
Character Building Workshop
Tips for Characterization
Character Chart for Fiction Writers
Villains are people too but…
How to Write a Character Bible
Character Development Exercises
All Your Characters Talk the Same - And They’re Not A Hivemind!
Medieval Names Archive
Sympathy Without Saintliness
Family Echo (Family Tree Maker)
Behind The Name
100 Character Development Questions for Writers
Aether’s Character Development Worksheet
The 12 Common Archetypes
Six Types of Courageous Characters
Kazza’s List of Character Secrets - Part 1, Part 2
Creating Believable Characters With Personality
Body Language Cheat Sheet
Creating Fictional Characters Series
Three Ways to Avoid Lazy Character Description
7 Rules for Picking Names for Fictional Characters
Character Development Questionnaire
How to Create Fictional Characters
Character Name Resources
Character Development Template
Character Development Through Hobbies
Character Flaws List
10 Questions for Creating Believable Characters
Ari’s Archetype Series
How to Craft Compelling Characters
List of 200 Character Traits
Writing Characters of the Opposite Sex
Making Your Characters Likable
Do you really know your characters?
Character Development: Virtues
Character Development: Vices
Character Morality Alignment
List of Negative Personality Traits
List of Positive Personality Traits
List of Emotions - Positive
List of Emotions - Negative
Loon’s Character Development Series - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Phobia List A-L (Part 1), M-Z (Part 2)
30 Day In Depth Character Development Meme
Words for Emotions based on Severity
Eight Bad Characters
High Level Description of the Sixteen Personality Types
Female Characters
How Not to Write Female Characters
Writing Female Characters
How to write empowering female characters
Why I write strong female characters
Red Flags for Female Characters Written by Men
Writing strong female characters
The Female Character Flowchart
Eight Heroine Archetypes
Male Characters
Eight Hero Archetypes
Tips for Specific Characters
Writing A Vampire
Writing Pansexual Characters
Writing Characters on the Police Force
Writing Drunk Characters
Writing A Manipulative Character
Writing A Friends With Benefits Relationship
Writing A Natural Born Leader
Writing A Flirtatious Character
Writing A Nice Character
Fiction Writing Exercises for Creating Villains
Five Traits to Contribute to an Epic Villain
Writing Villains that Rock
Writing British Characters
How To Write A Character With A Baby
On Assassin Characters
Dialogue
It’s Not What They Say…
Top 8 Tips for Writing Dialogue
Speaking of Dialogue
The Great Said Debate
He Said, She Said, Who Said What?
How to Write Dialogue Unique to Your Characters
Writing Dialogue: Go for Realistic, Not Real-Life
Point of View
Establishing The Right Point of View
How to Start Writing in the Third Person
The I Problem
Plot, Conflict, Structure and Outline
Writing A Novel Using the Snowflake Method
Effectively Outlining Your Novel
Conflict and Character Within Story Structure
Outlining Your Plot
Ideas, Plots and Using the Premise Sheets
How To Write A Novel
Creating Conflict and Sustaining Suspense
Plunge Right In…Into Your Story, That Is
Tips for Creating a Compelling Plot
36 (plus one) Dramatic Situations
The Evil Overlord Devises A Plot: Excerpt from Stupid Plot Tricks
Conflict Test
What is Conflict?
Monomyth
The Hero’s Journey: Summary of Steps
Outline Your Novel in Thirty Minutes
Plotting Without Fears
Novel Outlining 101
Writing The Perfect Scene
One-Page Plotting
The Great Swampy Middle
How Can You Know What Belongs In Your Book?
Create A Plot Outline in 8 Easy Steps
How to Organize and Develop Ideas for Your Novel
Create Structure in your novel using index cards
Choosing the best outline method for you
Hatch’s Plot Bank
Setting & Worldbuilding
Magical Word Builder’s Guide
I Love The End Of The World
World Building 101
The Art of Description: Eight Tips to Help Bring Your Settings to Life
Creating the Perfect Setting - Part 1
Creating a Believable World
Setting
Character and Setting Interactions
Maps Workshop - Developing the Fictional World Through Mapping
World Builders Project
How To Create Fantasy Worlds
Creating Fantasy and Science Fiction Worlds
Creativity Boosters* denotes prompts
*Creative Writing Prompts
*Ink Provoking
*Story Starter
*Story Spinner
*Story Kitchen
*Language is a Virus
*The Dabbling Mum
Quick Story Idea Generator
Solve Your Problems By Simply Saying Them Out Loud
Busting Your Writing Rut
Creative Acceleration: 11 Tips To Engineer A Productive Flow
Writing Inspiration, Or Sex on a Bicycle
The Seven Major Beginner Mistakes
Complete Your First Book with these 9 Simple Writing Habits
Free Association, Active Imagination, Twilight Imaging
Random Book Title Generator
Finishing Your Novel
Story Starters & Idea Generators
Words to Use More Often
Revision & Grammar
How To Rewrite
Editing Recipe
Cliche Finder
Revising Your Novel: Read What You’ve Written
Writing 101: Revising A Novel
20 Common Grammar Mistakes That (Almost) Everyone Makes
Synonyms for the Most Commonly Used Words of the English Language
Grammar Urban Legends
Tools & Software
Tip Of My Tongue - Find the word you’re looking for
Write or Die - Stay motivated
Stay Focused - Tool for Chrome, lock yourself out of distracting websites
My Writing Nook - Online Text Editor, Free
Bubbl.us - Online Mind Map Application, Free
Family Echo - Online Family Tree Maker, Free
Freemind - Mind Map Application; Free; Windows, Mac, Linux, Portable
Xmind - Mind Map Application; Free; Windows, Mac, Linux, Portable
Liquid Story Binder - Novel Organization and Writing Application; free trial, $45.95; Windows, Portable
Scrivener - Novel Organization and Writing Application; free trial, $39.95; Mac
SuperNotecard - Novel Organization and Writing Application; free trial, $29; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable
yWriter - Novel Organization and Writing Application; free; Windows, Linux, portable
JDarkRoom - Minimalist Text Editing Application; free; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable
AutoRealm - Map Creation Application; free; Windows, Linux with Wine
Specific Help
Fashion Terminology
All About Kissing
Genre Help: Romance
187 Mental Illnesses
Types of Mental Illness
Eye Color List
Spectral Groupings
Remember, you will always be growing as a writer. There is no peak, only improvement. It's a continual learning curve and you can only go up from here. So keep writing lovelies.
Beirut: Two suicide bombings have killed 41+ people. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34805466
Japan: A tsunami warning has been issued for parts of Japan after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off its south-western coast. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34816292
Paris: Dozens dead, 3 explosions, and 60+ hostage situation. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34814203
I don't want to earn my living; I want to live.
Oscar Wilde
Small physical things that give your characters personality
How they smile
What their “tell” is for lying
Posture
Volume of speech, if they’re verbal
Nervous tics
How much eye contact do they make
In a group conversation, how close do they stand to others? Are they off to the side just listening and occasionally speaking or are they right next to people?
When standing, what do they do with their hands? Talk with their hands, cross their arms, put hands in pockets, prop up against the wall, etc
The sound of their footsteps
Nonverbal greetings: do they wave, nod, hug, glare, punch, high five, something else?
How do they get others’ attention? Raise hand, clear throat, etc
Writers don’t write from experience, although many are hesitant to admit that they don’t…If you wrote from experience, you’d get maybe one book, maybe three poems. Writers write from empathy.
Nikki Giovanni (via wordsnquotes)
Too, many, commas,,,
Is this ooc??
I used that word already
Do people even blush this much??
*squints* Is that canon?
Tropes
*cries while writing death scene*
Wait what happened last chapter?
I wrote like a thousan- 354 words!?
*googles the lifespan of a tropical fish*
have I spelt his name wrong all this time?
Would they say that tho?
Changes plot 539932 times
Looses inspiration, goes back to tumblr
I agree with the above. My writing professors always said 'there are rules, break them as long as you understand how and why'. The rules are important, but you're allowed to play with them. Bend them. Writing is an art form, we push the boundaries and limits set to us and that's what makes it interesting to read. Makes each author sound unique. Just be sure it's all moving the plot in some way or revealing character. It has to have a purpose.
Otherwise, write what you want to write. J. K. Rowling was denied again and again till someone saw the magic - pun fully intended - in her work. Stephen King was told his stories were too depressing, that no one would want to buy science fiction with negative utopias. That his novels would never sell. In the end they got picked up by agencies. Keep your heads up, there is hope.
i just found this website that can randomly generate a continent for you!! this is great for fantasy writers
plus, you can look at it in 3d!
theres a lot of viewing options and other things! theres an option on-site to take a screenshot, so you don’t have to have a program for that!
you can view it here!
Spend time world building. Even if you're writing fanfiction, you need to know the world in which your characters reside. I’ve beaten this to death, but that will require research of the source material or history books.
Is it a monarchy or is there a president? Who delivers justice? What are the rights of the people? How is education?
Keep notes and make sure nothing conflicts. It’s just as important to have a seamless world as a flawless plot. You can’t have a world full of contradictions (unless you’re writing Alice in Wonderland) and holes without hurting yourself in the long run.
Plot out your worlds like you would your characters.
A simple blog dealing with writing, books, and authors. Writing blog is Sinedras-Snippets. Icon and header by miel1411
164 posts