Brief Summary Of My Wips

Hey everyone reblog (no likes, only reblogs pls) if you want to be tagged in writeblr tag games

WHY DO CHARACTERS MATTER? 

I’m a big fan of characters, obviously. (That’s not even all of my characters. I have two BINDERS worth of character sheets.) But why? Surely other elements of story are just as important, like the plot, setting, tone, etc. And they are! But I think characters are the most important aspect of the story, for a few reasons: 

They are the lens through which we view everything else. Characters color the world we create. Sure, you might write a world guide, but largely, we see the world through the eyes of the characters, so they have to be good eyes to see through. (Even if they’re blind.)

They can save a bad story. Not to say any of you have bad stories, but they can add something to a lackluster story that wouldn’t be there otherwise. Think about Bioshock Infinite. It’s one of my favorite games, even though the gameplay is okay and the story is convoluted at best. I praise it almost entirely for the relationship between Booker and Elizabeth. They make that game, and if the characters (especially Elizabeth) weren’t as memorable as they are, I doubt anyone would really care much about Bioshock’s failed prequel. 

The more complicated and intricate a character, the more you can do with your plot. If you have a flat character, you can’t make them act. They can’t do much except react to the plot happening around them. But a complex character with a good backstory and interesting motivation will interact with the world and change things in it, which is the basis of plot. 

HOW I MAKE MY CHARACTERS

I’m going to walk you through my process, and hopefully do my best to make it easy for you to understand.

Lees verder

---

Hello, Writeblr!

I’m new and very socially awkward but I made this blog to collect character/story inspiration and writing advice, and I’d love to make some connections with fellow writers and hear about the cool stories you’re all working on. Maybe even share some writing positivity and snippets of my own work.

A litte bit about me: I’m Laura, I’m from Wales, I’m fast becoming a ‘tumblr old’ (if I’m not there already), and I’ve been writing since I was about twelve or so. Up until now though I’ve mostly concentrated on play-by-post roleplay on various message boards. I’ve never actually written anything particularly lengthy and I’d like to branch out a little bit and try my hand at plotting out a whole story.

I love to read fantasy, magical realism, historical fiction, children’s literature, and anything based on folklore, myths or fairy tales. Those are the kind of genres I’m primarily interested in trying to write too. Outside of reading and writing I’m primarily a history nerd, a (partial) dog-owner, a student, and a folk music junkie.

I’ve only got the one WIP at the moment, a Harry Potter fanfic featuring an older Charlie Weasley as he tries to unravel a mystery at a dragon sanctuary in Wales. I’m more of pantser than a planner so it’s all still very vague at the moment but I’m hoping it’ll have a little bit of adventure, some original-ish worldbuilding, and a lot of cool dragons. Everyone loves dragons, right? A lot of OCs will be involved too so I ever get close to finishing it I might try to turn it into an original NaNoWriMo project or something. (Hey, if Stephenie Meyer and E.L. James can do it… )

Anyway, if you think our interests might overlap in any way please do like or reblog this and I’ll most likely follow you (as @lothlaurien, since this is a sideblog).

Welcome to the first in a very long series of posts in which I talk about my writing process from conception to the end of my first draft. I wanted to do this series for a few reasons: 

I think that learning about others’ writing processes is really interesting. I get to see other ways of going about my work, thinking either wow, that’s really insightful, and I should implement that or I definitely won’t be using that, but now I know that about myself. 

I also think it’s important to understand others’ processes is important, because it allows you to see other views of writing besides your own. You will learn very quickly that I am a planner (or, as George RR Martin says, an Architect, which I prefer). I sit down and plan everything. Some people can’t fathom that, but I hope those people will come to understand why I do it this way, rather than the Gardening way. 

Before we start, I want to add a little disclaimer: what works for me might not work for you. I’m not presenting this, or any of the subsequent posts in this series, as fact, but just my own way of going about our shared profession. 

Also, finally, I will be discussing all of these steps in greater detail. Don’t worry. 

Let’s go!

THE STEPS

1. GENRE. Before I start with anything, I start with genre. Genre is the flavor, it’s the broad idea of a story. It colors everything that comes after.  

2. CHARACTERS. Characters are the next thing on my list. I can’t develop my plot until I have my characters, because I want to tie my plot to my characters and their backstories and motivations. 

3. WORLDBUILDING. Not everything I write needs a lot of worldbuilding, but worldbuilding comes right around here. It’s often combined with steps 2 and 4, but a large bit of it gets done after character creation. 

4. PLOT AND OUTLINE. This is the part of the process when I start coming up with the plot and working on my outline. This part takes a while! My outline is essentially my first draft, so I need a lot of time to work on the pacing and flow.

5. FIRST DRAFT. The first draft is definitely the hardest, I think for anyone. I don’t have a lot to say here, other than just get through it. It doesn’t matter how long it takes - I’m definitely not one of those people who can slam out a draft in a month - just do it. Start, and keep working on it until it’s done. 

And that’s about it! I’m planning on talking about my drafting and editing process at some point, but I need to finish My Heart is a Concert first. Let me know if you found this helpful or insightful, and look forward to my upcoming articles!

WriterofthePrompts Ultimate Ask Masterlist 2 (Updated)

Wow, first of all I just want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the support on the First Ask Masterlist! Obviously I had to make a second one with all the asks I’ve answered since then so here you go. You can also check out my list of Random Writing Tips. As last time, some of these posts have notes from lovely people who have added onto my answers with their advice and you can also help out fellow writers by adding your tips or ideas to the posts in the replies or by reblogging. Hope you enjoy! 😊

Writing Tips

Writing unnecessary scenes with your characters just for fun

Can’t think of what to write for a scene? Cut it.

The “organized chaos” form of outlining

Resources for writing a story synopsis

Can a comedy also have a good message?

Writing a fantasy fit for most ages (also under Fantasy)

When you’ve got an idea but don’t know how to expand it

Building on your story yourself  

Will posting writing online hurt publishing chances?

Using a prompt for a series

Ways to give information to a character

Dialogue tips

Coming up with a title (expanded)

Making the real villain a plot twist 

GRAMMAR CHEAT SHEET

Some resources for creating a language

Coming up with villains

How to decide if you want a good or sad ending (Also, how not to screw up an ending) (Also, why the GoT ending makes me sad)

Story Structure Tips

Travelling scenes: when to skip and how to make them impactful

Writing a sloooow carriage ride without being boring 

Moving back and forth in time in the story

difference between inciting incident and plot point 1

Blending backstory with present to further the plot

Writing scenes with a lot of characters

Writing a story as a journal or video log style

Third or first person?

Writing a long series

Connecting your ideas

When to introduce major and minor conflicts

Motivation and Positivity

Worrying about “originality” with your writing

Staying focused on writing

Turning off the editor voice

starting to write and keeping motivation

quick tip on writing down inspiration in the moment

How do you know you are cut out to be a writer?

When you feel your plot isn’t exciting enough*

When you think your idea is stupid (it’s not)

Character Development

Tips for writing a fully-fledged peppy girl

Teen raised by twenty-year-old family member

Mentor/Mentee relationship

Describing nature the way a nature-lover would

Showing a dead family member’s impact on the MC

Writing about a character losing loved one

Ways to show a character’s disgust 

Why a “good” character would switch to the bad side

Why the “White Saviour” thing is a cliche and sucks

Villains who do things like “killing the dog”

Good and bad reasons to kill off a character

Character exercise when you lose their voice

Resources for learning more for a Jewish character (in the notes)

A reason a character might feel cliche

Representations of Gluttony and Laziness as humans

Writing Types of Characters

Writing a good guy MC who turns out to be the villain

Bad guy turning good and making them sympathetic

Dr. Doof: how to write a great villain

A character raised by a computer

Bilingual character tip

Interracial couples

Some negative traits for someone in a zombie apocalypse

Flaws for a Gary Stu type 

a character trying to learn the language on a new world (also under World Building)

Good guy vs bad guy stories aren’t a cliche

Writing a CIA/FBI/Military character (also under Thriller)

writing a drunk character with some heartfelt moments and humour

Why NOT having diversity in your story cast is odd

A character with diabetes

Fictional races where one is “superior” to the other

Writing a serial killer as your main character (also under Thriller/Crime)

Writing a good Strong Female Character™

World Building

Creating a creation myth

History research post

Making an acronym from an organization

Naming world building aspects 

strange weather ideas

ideas for ridiculous rules to join an excuse club

Why someone would put on a massive tournament

a character trying to learn the language on a new world (also under Types of Characters)

Making a magical setting exciting (also under fantasy/paranormal)

When you have too much information for an expansive world

Weaving a complex magic system into your story (also under fantasy/paranormal)

Using words referring to our world in a fictional world

Fantasy/Paranormal

Why gods would abandon their world

Aphrodite, Hephaestus and Ares: the original love triangle

basing gods on multiple gods

Why someone would control dreams

Dark fantasy with a dream shop

Conflicts for someone with the power to share dreams with others 

Ways to break the curse to get the Prince out of the tower

Prince/ss of one kingdom raised by another king

why a princess would run away

Prompts for a King or Queen getting assassinated 

Why a villain would overthrow a royal family 

Reasons two Kings would marry each other 

which fairytales deserve retellings

Writing a fantasy fit for most ages (also under Writing Tips)

Vampire and human couple meeting

Angel and ex-demon hanging out together

demons that feed on love and joy?

mythical kids meeting humans

Sword fight resources

Using an axe as a weapon

Haunted house story from ghost’s perspective

A family moves in to a house that is alive 

Does the afterlife have to include religious aspects?

Witch sisters with unequal powers 

Reasons a village would be afraid of a kind wizard

Making a magical setting exciting (also under world building) 

Weaving a complex magic system into your story (also under world building) 

Things a magic council would use money for 

Prompts about cities that are always in night 

Prompts about a changeling

Coming up with a good curse for your character

Reasons a magical world would need a saviour 

mirroring strengths and weaknesses for magic manipulation

How an immortal could die under mysterious circumstances

How to get regular folk involved in a magical world

“Underused" fantasy settings

Thriller/Crime (aka I-swear-I’m-not-a-criminal-just-a-writer asks):

writing assassins

Clues that would make a character suspect another for murder

Writing a CIA/FBI/Military character (also under Types of Characters)

Serial/mass murder…causes?

Quick reasons why genocide doesn’t just happen overnight

tests to get into secret organization

Writing a serial killer as your main character (also under Writing Types of Characters)

Tips for writing a consistent murder mystery

Murder mystery party prompts (humorous)

Superheroes and Super Villains

Sidekick wanting to be a superhero

Super villain cause ideas

Sidekick and villain falling in love (also under Romance)

Superhero story originality

How a super villain can get notoriety

Woman unknowingly falls in love a super villain

World building ideas for superhero stories

Effects of the power of intangibility

Romance

How a princess and a pirate fall in love

two exes who end up working together

How two random kids could meet at school

Sidekick and villain falling in love (also under Superheroes)

Cliches in romance scene?

Original ways that a couple could break up

How to introduce a living girl and ghost love interests

Miscellaneous

Prompts about being abandoned

Character who has never danced in pressured into it

Futuristic space pirates

The best ask ever

MC and sister get kicked out of clan. What next? 

Reasons characters would hate another (a concubine)

How to tell who is the clone and who is the original

Artifacts curious aliens would steal from Earth

A disturbing cultish 1950’s-esque town

---

Underwriting: ways to boost your word count

I wrote a fic recently and the word count for the first draft came to about 40,000 words – roughly the length of a novella or ficlet. And that’s fine because I wasn’t striving for a novel or a 100K slow-burn coffee shop AU.

But coming to edit my first draft I realised something about myself. I am an underwriter. My fic could actually be at least 10k (maybe 20k) longer. Of course it’s not all about word count, it’s about the story, but in this case a smaller word count isn’t because I’m a fantastically efficient storyteller it’s because I’ve missed out a lot of stuff. Like, Important Stuff.

So as I set out to add muscle to the skin and bones I’ve already created in draft one I thought I’d share five tips for my fellow underwriters to help you flesh out your writing too.

1)     Make sure to describe the place and space in which the action happens.

There are quite a few places in my first draft where there’s no indication as to where things are taking place– or there is, but it’s the bare minimum and not really enough to build up a clear picture. This probably because as the writer I know exactly what the place looks like so I make the assumption that a bare minimum description will mean the reader knows too.

Now I’m not saying go into masses of detail about what your settings look like. In some cases it’s not useful to describe setting in a lot of detail (e.g. during really fast paced action sequences) but doing a verbal sketch of the space is essential for putting your characters in context and reader understanding.

I really is a fine balance (which is why beta readers are your friend!) But definitely go back to your setting descriptions if you’re an underwriter, they might need some work.

2)    Make sure to describe your character’s appearance.

Similar to the above point – you know what your characters look like, but unless you describe them, the reader won’t.

It’s fair to say that descriptions are open to reader interpretations, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t describe them in a healthy amount of detail. So you might try to nail down some of the interesting quirks about your characters to help the reader build a picture – not only will it help the readers understanding, it’ll boost your word count too!

Note: This one functions a little differently in a fic because the readers are probably familiar with how the character looks, but there is nothing wrong with adding your interpretation (or even reminding them, especially if the characters are from a book.)

3)   Include character reactions outside of what they say out loud.

Real life conversations aren’t just about the stuff that comes out of our mouths. So much of human interaction is about body language – so include it in your writing! Saying that the character covers their mouth with their hand when they talk suggests shyness. While another character crossing their arms shows they’re defensive -perhaps because they’re feeling threatened. In real life we don’t always say what we mean – but a lot of the time our actions give away what we’re really thinking. By including these actions around dialogue writers can influence how we as readers view characters and how we interpret interactions between characters. And it can boost your word count too.

The big stuff:

4)     Check your pacing.

When you write it feels like your scene is taking place over hours, days, weeks because when you’re writing it takes time. Reading, on the other hand, is much quicker. A seasoned reader can fly through a 100 page novel in a few hours – a seasoned writer can spend hours writing a 100 words.

When you read back your writing, make sure to check your pacing. You might just find that the Impossible Task you set for your characters at the start of the story is suddenly resolved within the next fifty pages. To boost your word count you might want to start by adding more obstacles between the character and their goal.

For example; your character has to find an object such as a precious jewel. Sounds relatively easy, right? But what if the jewel is lost in the mines of an ancient people, amongst thousands of other treasures that look very similar? What if no one has found this jewel because it’s guarded by a fire breathing dragon? What if the ancient mines and dragon are located in a mountain which is miles and miles away across dangerous lands? What if your characters need to enlist the help of someone with a very specific skill set?

You take one simple objective (finding the jewel) and you put into play a series of obstacles that must be overcome in order to complete the objective. Your underwriting tendencies, like mine, might just mean that there aren’t enough metaphorical (or real) dragons in your story!

5)    Sub-plots.

A sub-plot is a smaller scale plot - often involving the supporting characters - which runs secondary to the main plot. It can be directly linked to the main plot, i.e. the info provided in the subplot directly influences events in the main plot. Or it can simply be linked through place, time or themes of the overall story (e.g. Hermione’s elf rights campaign ‘S.P.E.W’ in Harry Potter and the OoTP is linked to the overall theme of oppression.)

Sub-plots are great because they can serve as some respite from a traumatic main plot; your character is fighting a war (main plot) but also fighting and failing (in hilarious ways) to win the affection of their love interest (sub-plot).

Plus, sub-plots can also help with characterisation, can cause your main character to have the moment of realisation which allows them to overcome the obstacles they face in the main plot and is generally a better reflection of real life! Sub-plots often centre on side-kicks and other characters – people who might not be as devoted to the end goal as the protagonist is. In fact, well written side characters seemingly live their own lives with their own goals. You might choose to showcase this in your sub-plot by letting the conflict of interest cause more problems for the protagonist to overcome.

Either way you could find your word count sky rockets as soon as you add in a few clever sub-plots.

I hope this helped!

Got any questions? Send me an ask

Death never brought itself onto her, but she noted how it always felt like a distant memory.

Maybe she had died once before—death at the hands of an executioner for her vile felonies that she was lucky to have only been imprisoned for, or at the hands of her own, the rich heiress with a family heirloom using her breast as a sheath she had buried there. Maybe, once, she’d seen death, seen his skeletal hands and his shrouded face and the infamous scythe to steal her soul and escort her onto the next host body as if she were a parasite. The baby she’d inhabit until death, when she was reunited with what would feel like her one and only true love, the only love she’d ever really know as she continued to cycle back to him and be in his arms once again.

Or maybe she was a new soul. A soul fresh from the womb of her mother, a fire forged and made to burn hot until the day she fizzled out into the cold hands of the being she’d like to envision as friendly and be forever trapped in the abyss of nothing, wandering in a place that certainly wasn’t Hell but did not match the stories of Heaven with the gates or whatever God or gods there were or the familiar faces of family and friends long since passed.

‘where lucia died’ tagslist: @theforgottencoolkid @vandorens @whorizcn @alicekaiba @evergrcen @goldbonne @babeineauxs @the-writers-blocks @suswriting @lucamused @noloumna @shezadis @semblanche @emdrabbles @sapphospouse @waterfallofinkandpages @calfromzeroday @andinbetweenwegarden @aphteavanawrites @bbabyapollo @hillelf @milkyway-writes @the-introvert-cafe | ask to be added/removed

---

I already love him

Character Intro: Zach “Zamsel” Amsel

Neutral Good // INFP // Ravenclaw // Aquarius // Bi // Jewish-American // Playlist // Pinterest

If there’s a character who I would award with the “Most Relatable” award, it’s Zamsel. He’s been through a lot. A hopeful romantic with a competitive streak and a massive fear of failure, Zamsel puts a lot of pressure on himself. 

Backstory

Zamsel’s grown up being mostly raised by his mother, as his father has spent a lot of Zamsel’s childhood in the Air Force. Mama Amsel is a sweet, understated woman who passed a lot of her softness onto Zamsel. 

Halfway through high school, Zamsel began dating his long-term girlfriend, Chai Watson. Though their relationship was initially happy, it’s deteriorated into something really toxic and draining. Nevertheless, he graduated as co-valedictorian with Kam Suzuki.

Present

Zamsel’s entering his first year of college with Kam. They’re both sort of adjusting to the freedom that comes with living several states from their families, but Zamsel is adjusting to it far better than Kam is. He’s a fan of his new life.

Playlist

Zamsel’s playlist is huge. It’s full of jams from New Medicine and The Front Bottoms, which I use to more or less build up his aesthetic and general mood.

Twin Size Mattress - The Front Bottoms

Heart With Your Name On It - New Medicine

Boy Like Me - New Medicine

Bad At Love - Halsey

Flannel - The Cardboard Swords

Called You Twice (feat. K.Flay) - FIDLAR, K.Flay

Peaches (Text Voter XX to 40649) - grandson, K.Flay

Self Esteem - The Offspring

Excerpt

Zach closes his eyes. His face is wet from crying, raw from rubbing at it, red all over. Even then, even after what’s happened, he still looks almost beautiful. There’s something about the lighting in an art museum that makes everything look like art, even raw emotion. It rounds out the patheticness of breaking down in public into something artful. Zach doesn’t look anything like a model, but he does look like art.

Aesthetic

Lying on the ground when you’re overwhelmed with emotions, mumbling the lyrics to your favorite songs under your breath to the radio, duct taping all your things together because you don’t want to buy something new, buying new sweaters from Goodwill, when a cat lays on your chest,  wearing sweaters that are too big so you can ball your hands in the fabric, people with small voices, leaning your head on someone’s shoulder while you’re talking, the feeling of slowly falling in love.

Taglist

@aelenko​, @keen2meecha​, @magic-is-something-we-create​, @emdrabbles​, & @yourwriters​

(You can always ask to be added to or subtracted from the taglist!)

---

Symbolism! Yeah! 

Disclaimer: Again, my advice is always just that: advice. It’s often to teach beginners or help those struggling, so these aren’t set in stone rules! Experiment! Write freely! Write on!

Contemporary F/F Audio Books

Here’s a list of contemporary wlw books you can listen to on audiobooks.com. You can also check my list of sci-fi & fantasy audio books.

Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour

It’s Not Like It’s a Secret by Misa Sugiura

The Brightsiders by Jen Wilde

Winning by Lara Deloza

Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour

You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour & David Levithan

Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli

Lies My Girlfriend Told Me by Julie Anne Peters

Her Name in the Sky by Kelly Quindlen

Girl Mans Up by M-E Girard

Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee 

Ask the Passengers by A.S. King

The Summer of Jordi Perez by Amy Spalding

People Like Us by Dana Mele

Happy listening~ 🎧