"I Am Sharp Edges And Shattered Glass. Yet, When I'm With You, I Am Soft."

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).

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

Invaluable writing tips (From Blake Snyder’s “Save the Cat”)

I just finished this book on screenwriting and have highlighted some amazing advice for novelists as well:

1. Save the Cat

This refers to a scene at the beginning of yoru manuscript in which the main character does something that makes the reader root for them them i.e. saving a cat.

This doesn’t have to be something altruistic - it can include smarts or humour or naivety - just something that will make the reader want to follow this character through the story.

Without this scene, you’ll probably end up with a boring character. And no matter how amazing your plot, you need a “followable” character to carry it.

2. The Pope in the Pool

This refers to a scene in which necessary exposition is given whilst the audience is distracted by something more entertaining i.e. having the Pope explain important backstory aspects whilst doing laps in the Vatican Pool.

This is the best way to give readers the information they need whilst still keeping them engaged. Something funny/interesting/moving should happen whilst this necessary exposition is provided.

3. Double Mumbo Jumbo

This refers to the mistake many writers make in asking readers to believe in more than one type of magic/miracle. This suspends reality too much and causes the reader to lose faith in the realism/probability of your story.

So, if you already have magical fairies, don’t throw aliens into the mix as well.

ONE magical element is enough.

4. Laying Pipe

Another error often made is writing a story that needs too much set-up. This means that so much backstory must be explored in the first part of the novel that your catalyst only occurs at page 100 or so.

This will cause readers to lose interest long before they’ve reached the inciting incident. If you don’t get the beginning right and move on the exciting stuff as soon as possible, it doesn’t matter how great your ending is, since few readers will get there.

5. Watch out for that Glacier

This is when the danger in your novel takes too long/perhaps the whole book to get to your characters/to threaten them. Therefore, the reader is aware that there is some eventual threat, but the characters aren’t affected by it throughout the story.

It’s a glacier coming for them rather than a missile. And it dampens the tension.

6. The Covenant of the Arc

Every somewhat important character in the novel should change, except for the bad guy. This is what will ultimately distinguish your good guys from your villain: moral change.

So, take a look at the journey of every primary and secondary character in your manuscript and ensure that they grow/experience some for m of change that is brought about by the events in the story.

7. Keep the Press Out

This is the tip I think should be used with the most circumspection. It’s for you to decide whether you want to follow this piece of advice or not.

This tip calls for leaving media coverage/the press out of your story. If some supernatural/extraterrestrial event occurs in a secluded neighbourhood and remains a family secret, it’s much easier for your reader to believe that it could really have happened than if the whole world is supposedly in on it.

Like I said, use with discretion.

These are all Blake Snyder’s tips (not mine) and are explored in greater detail in the book. So, if you would like more information and more great advice, I suggest grabbing a copy.

Reblog if you found this useful. Follow me for similar content.

I hate to break it to ya, guys, but

You’re all so creative and everything you wrote, drew and created made the world a tad bit more beautiful

Don’t ever stop, you little chunks of mess and fabulousness, because in this world today, we need every single drop of beauty we can get

Brief summary of my wips

(inspired by @titaniaen) 

Bloodlines: what if you meet your soulmate during a war between your people and have to deal with the unexplainable emotional consequences while also realizing that your family has been lying to you about your heritage for the past twenty years

Solene’s verse: local gang of queer orphan street kids feat. a narcissistic wizard and a cowardly wallflower work together to rescue their friend from the authorities before everything goes to hell

Star White: ageless dark cosmic entity abducts a man’s boyfriend, so he gets a dog and finds a ship that turns him into Nicholas Flamel to search for him across the entire universe the longway round

The Wasteland / the waste wip: area man goes on the world’s worst walking roadtrip with a light necromancer after his girlfriend blows up their entire village and herself with it. the world is horrible and on fire and all we know but somewhere else there might be green things and mud and a pseudo-goblin king

Revenant wip: a war machine woman who can come back from the dead and her snarky crossbow-slinging longtime best friend turned boyfriend are your token straight couple, leading the equivalent of a medieval biker gang to tear the castle down

I was wondering if you knew any basic guides to outlining a novel for the first time?

Outlining a story is very, very important. Without an outline and thorough planning, your story will veer off in wildly different directions and will cost you a ton of time editing later, like my book did.

1. Get the characters down first

Characters are like the chess pieces of the story. Their moves and strengths/weaknesses will decide what is going to happen and how it will happen. Sure, you can have a nice plot and setting, but without the characters, the story is meaningless.

Here is the character chart that I usually use:

Name (First/Middle/Last/Maiden name)

Aliases/Nicknames

Age

Race

Gender

Sexuality

Height

Weight

Eye color

Hair color

Clothing style

Religion

Political views

Personality Traits

Strengths and Weaknesses

Likes and Dislikes

Family

Friends

Enemies

Role in the story

Backstory/past

2. Choose a template

Just bulleting the events does not give the plot the dimension that it deserves and does not really accommodate side plots.

I personally use the zigzag method that I discovered from this post. I branch off of the zigzags for my side plots so it looks kind of like a graph.

You can also use the subway method, which I found on the nanowrimo website.

There are a whole other host of outlines to choose from if you search them up!

3. Know that you don’t have to stick to it

An outline is just that: an outline. It’s not the final decision for the plot, it’s the first draft for the plot. If you’re writing and one of the points just isn’t working anymore, you don’t have to keep it because it was a part of your outline.

Write what feels right.

Happy outlining, and good luck with your story!

Mysterious Masquerade: a fairy tale

@flashfictionfridayofficial

The Princess had reached the right age to marry. Her father picked some young noblemen and noblewomen from families that he had an allyship with as marriage candidates. However, when he presented his daughter the options she rejected all of them. "Father, I'm in love with my best friend. I will marry her or no one at all."

The King was not satisfied with that answer because he was in conflict with that family. "I don't believe you're really so in love with her. You'll have to prove it. Next week I host a masquerade ball in celebration of my birthday. Show me you still recognise that girl when her face is hidden under a mask." 

The Princess agreed. 

A week later the masked Princess entered the ball room. It was crowded with guests from all over the country. A few of them dared to ask the princess for a dance but she declined them all. Soon she spotted her friend in her heavenly blue dress. She was masked but the Princess could still see how her smile lightened up her whole face when their eyes met. "Will you dance with me?" 

"I saw you dancing with her the whole night, how did you recognize her?" the King asked the Princess the next day. 

"That was easy, father," she answered. "She wore the dress we sewed together last year and a necklace I gave to her."

"That's not fair," he said. "I still don't believe you're really so in love with her. You'll have to prove it again. Next week I host a party in celebration of the anniversary of my reign. Show me you still recognise that girl if you go there with a blindfold on." 

The Princess agreed. 

A week later the blindfolded Princess entered the assembly room. She bumped into a few acquaintances but she left them alone as soon as possible. She went to the terrace, one of her friend's favourite places. "Hi?"

"There you are, I was already waiting for you!"

"I saw you talking with her the whole time, how did you recognize her?" the King asked the Princess the next day. 

"That was easy, father," she answered. "She wore the same perfume as always and I can recognize her voice everywhere."

"That's not fair," he said. "I still don't believe you're really so in love with her. You'll have to prove it again. Next week I will have dinner with the noble families of this city to celebrate my successfulness. Show me you still recognise that girl if you can't see, hear or smell her." 

The Princess agreed bitterly. 

A week later the Princess entered the dining hall, her eyes, ears and nose covered. She sat the whole evening quitely besides the King. 

"You did not recognize her this time, did you?" the King asked the Princess after the guests had left. 

"No, but neither did you," she answered.  "Look, I am not your daughter. The Princess left this morning, with her girlfriend." 

"But why?" the King cried. 

"You proved her you don't really love her."

OKAY LISTEN UP YOU BEAUTIFUL OC-DEVELOPING FIENDS

After my long and lengthy years of developing characters (not really) I have a nugget of wisdom for y’all.

Do this:

Look. You don’t need any artistic talent. Hell, this could be a vaguely brain-shaped oval with some words in it.

But the point of this is that you draw your character’s brains and fill it with the things they think of most, the things that matter to them most, the things that are so essential to them that they are nothing without it.

I find that doing this helps so much when shaping a character’s voice, and it visually maps out their personality in a way that character sheets can’t.

For example, my character Isha is logical and she compartmentalizes things, so I drew a more angular design, while Aster’s mind more resembles her anxiety and wandering thoughts.

Yeah that’s all.

Knock yourself out friends.

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~ 🎧