novlr - Tumblr blog

novlr · 16 hours

Text

Join the 24-hour novel challenge!

Does that sound intense and scary? It absolutely is, but it is also so worthwhile.

We're partnering up with Rebecca Higgins, founder of the 24-Hour Novel Challenge this year to try and spread awareness for the event. It's a crazy endurance challenge but it can be such a fun way to learn about yourself as a writer.

I participated myself in 2022, and despite being a working writer, I was surprised by how much I learned about my writing process over the course of the challenge. You can read all about my experience here:

This year, I'll be participating again, but doing this a little differently. Instead of the full 24 hours, I'm breaking up my weekend into two chunks of 12 hours over two days.

Want to get involved? Then join us for the event. Break it up however you like. Whether it's a single 24-hour session, two lots of 12 hours, or 24 lots of 1-hour blocks, it’s up to you! The only rule is that you need to write for 24 hours between the 15th and 17th of June.

Join us at the link below!

#writeblr #writing challenge #writing community #24 hour novel challenge #writers of tumblr

12 notes · View notes

novlr · 2 days

Note

I'm struggling to find my writers voice? Do you have any tips?

Finding your writer's voice takes time and practice. You won't know your style until you've done a fair bit of writing and seen where your language naturally flows.

As a ghostwriter, I've spent a lot of my career mimicking the voices of others, so it took me a very long time to find my own. When I did, though, I found that writing for myself came a lot more naturally.

We've got an article in the Reading Room to help you with some techniques for finding your unique voice. It's all about reading lots, writing lots, and being open to experimentation.

#writer's voice #writeblr #creative writing #writing tips #writing advice

28 notes · View notes

novlr · 3 days

Text

“Do it every day. Make a habit of putting your observations into words and gradually this will become instinct.” — Geoff Dyer

#Geoff Dyer #writer #author quotes #writing inspiration #writeblr

26 notes · View notes

novlr · 4 days

Note

I had to stop using this service because of the automatic google docs backup, which put my work at risk due to google deciding to scan all content for AI. Just wanted to give you a bit of feedback that divesting from google may be something worth considering.

Our Google Docs backup integration is completely opt-in, so it isn't forced on any of our users. There are no automatic backups with third-party services without your permission. Any integration must be manually set up by the individual user and will not be done automatically.

Google Doc and Dropbox backups are optional things we offer but are not required to use Novlr. We keep your work backed up and saved on our own servers, so your writing is perfectly safe without the additional integrations.

If you're currently using a Google Docs integration, all you need to do is disable it via your settings, and all sync permissions will be removed from the service.

#novlr #google docs #writers #writing

15 notes · View notes

novlr · 4 days

Text

#writing prompt #story ideas #writeblr #writing community #writers of tumblr

30 notes · View notes

novlr · 5 days

Note

Hello! Do you have any advice for indecisiveness when creating characters? I don't have much trouble with creating conflict, but figuring out my characters is difficult. I'm working on a character-driven story, and I have an internal conflict, I'm just not sure how the story will manifest. The worst part is I can't even find advice online because all character advice is about character development, making your characters complex, etc.... My problem is I don't know what my character is doing. I'm talking about their occupation. Student? Corporate job? Architect? Artist? My conflict is good to go but now I'm stuck here...

As a writer, creating characters who are believable and relatable is one of the most crucial aspects of storytelling. However, many writers struggle with indecisiveness when it comes to creating their characters, especially when it comes to their occupations and how their stories will manifest.

You get to mould your characters into whatever form you like, but it’s easy to suffer from choice paralysis when you’re confronted with the entirety of human experience, both real and imagined. The good news is, if you already know your story conflict, then you can actually narrow down and be a bit more targeted in how you go about creating characters.

Start with the basics

When creating a character, it’s essential to start with the basics. This includes their name, age, gender, physical appearance, and personality traits. These fundamental elements will serve as the foundation for your character and help you build upon them as you develop their story. Come up with these by asking yourself a series of questions with your story conflict and theme firmly in your mind.

Name: Choose a name that fits your character’s personality and background. Consider their age, culture, and the time period in which your story takes place. And don’t be afraid to use a random name generator or even a placeholder—there’s always a chance to change your mind in the editing phases.

Age: Determine your character’s age by how it influences their behaviour, beliefs, and experiences. Would an older or a younger characters respond to their conflict differently? And which better suites the story you want to tell?

Gender: Decide on your character’s gender and how it shapes their identity and interactions with others. Will your story’s conflict play out differently if your character’s gender expression were reversed, or if they were non-binary?

Physical appearance: Describe your character’s physical features, such as their height, weight, hair colour, and any distinguishing characteristics. Unfortunately there’s no easy way to do that. You just have to use your imagination and commit.

Personality traits: Identify your character’s key personality traits, such as their strengths, weaknesses, fears, and desires. These should relate to your character’s goal and conflict in some way.

Explore their background

Once you have a basic understanding of your character, it’s time to delve into their background. This includes their family history, upbringing, education, and any significant life events that have shaped who they are. Their background can feed directly into the conflict, as it can be a great source of pressure for how your plot develops.

Family history: Explore your character’s relationships with their family members, or how not having a family unit around them affects them as a person. Consider how their family dynamics have influenced their beliefs, values, and behaviours and how this can feed into their internal and external conflicts.

Upbringing: Determine where your character grew up and how their environment has shaped their worldview. Did they have a happy childhood, or did they face challenges and adversity? Did this affect their career choices?

Education: Decide on your character’s level of education and how it has impacted their career opportunities and whether it feeds into their internal conflict.

Significant life events: Identify any pivotal moments in your character’s life that have had a lasting impact on their personality and behaviour. Do they have any direct or indirect relationship with your story’s conflict and theme?

Determine their occupation

One of the most challenging aspects of creating characters is deciding on their occupation. This is especially true for writers who are working on character-driven stories and have a clear internal conflict but are unsure how the story will take shape. So how can we make that easier?

Consider their skills and interests: What is your character naturally good at? What do they enjoy doing? Their occupation should align with their skills and interests.

Think about their personality: How does your character’s personality influence their career choices? Are they ambitious and driven, or are they more laid-back and content with a simple life?

Explore their background: How has your character’s upbringing and education influenced their career path? Did they follow in their family’s footsteps, or did they forge their own path? Did they overcome adversity to reach where they are now, or were they barred from certain opportunities because of an educational, physical, or social handicap?

Consider the story’s themes: How does your character’s occupation tie into the overall themes and message of your story? Can their job serve as a metaphor or symbol for something deeper?

Connect the dots

Once you have a clear understanding of your character’s basics, background, and occupation, it’s time to connect the dots and see how these elements influence their internal conflict and the conflict and theme of the overall story.

Identify the internal conflict: What is your character struggling with internally? Is it a moral dilemma, a personal struggle, or a conflict between their desires and responsibilities?

Explore how their background influences the conflict: How has your character’s upbringing, family history, and significant life events contributed to their internal conflict?

Consider how their occupation ties into the conflict: Does your character’s job create additional challenges or pressures that exacerbate their internal conflict?

Think about how the conflict will manifest in the story: How will your character’s internal struggle play out in the plot? Will they face external challenges that force them to confront their internal conflict?

In summary

Creating compelling characters is a crucial aspect of storytelling, but it can be challenging for writers who struggle with indecisiveness. By starting with the basics, exploring your character’s background, determining their occupation, and connecting the dots between these elements and both their internal and the story conflict, you’ll be well on your way to creating characters that will bring your stories to life.

Remember, character creation is a process, and it’s okay to take your time and explore different options until you find what works best for your story. Don’t be afraid to experiment and make changes as you go along. With practice and persistence, you’ll become more confident in your ability to create compelling characters that resonate with readers

#writeblr #creative writing #writing community #writers of tumblr #writing asks

28 notes · View notes

novlr · 6 days

Note

I swear, when I look in a bookshop, every book in there seems to have a "New York Times Bestseller" written somewhere on the cover.

Can you explain this to me? How is it that every writer seems to be on the list, and is it really that hard to do?

The New York Times Bestseller list is not just a single list, but rather several lists grouped by genre and format. The fact that many of the lists are released weekly and are based hugely on presales means that many of the new releases you see hit the shelves are already bestsellers on release day.

Publishers will court presales on their specific lists precisely so they can put those bragging rights on the cover of the book the day it's released, and each list has the potential to feature between 10-15 books every week. That is why you'll see so many books with that claim on the cover. Getting yourself on the list can be hard work. It requires minimum sales targets, strong presales, and also sales diversity. But if you want to know more, including tips on what you can do to get yourself on the list, then we've got this article ready for you!

36 notes · View notes

novlr · 7 days

Text

Build a writing habit by setting goals

The best way to build a writing habit is to set yourself goals, and make them achievable.

Whether it’s writing for 10 minutes every day, or writing 1000 words every week whenever you can snatch some time, just committing to doing it will put you on the path to success. Make your first goals easy to achieve to give yourself the serotonin boost you need, then renegotiate those goals as you get into the swing of things. Once you get into a daily practice, you'll have a fully-formed writing habit that will be second nature.

114 notes · View notes

novlr · 8 days

Text

36 notes · View notes

novlr · 9 days

Text

Have you ever tried to write a novel in 24 hours?

Join us for the 24-Hour Novel Challenge!

This year, from June 15th to 17th, writers from all over the world will come together to attempt a 50k draft in 24 hours over the weekend.

We want you to do this challenge in a way that looks and feels accessible to you as an individual. If 24 hours in one go doesn’t suit you, feel free to tackle it in more manageable chunks over the weekend.

A single 24-hour session, two lots of 12 hours, or 24 lots of 1-hour blocks; it’s up to you! The only rule is that you need to write for 24 hours between the 15th and 17th of June.

Curious to learn more? The event's founder is here to tell us all about it in the Reading Room today.

374 notes · View notes

novlr · 10 days

Text

“A little autobiography and a lot of imagination are best.” — Raymond Carver

33 notes · View notes

novlr · 11 days

Text

52 notes · View notes

novlr · 12 days

Note

How do I create laws/rules for my world-building?

Creating laws and rules is a crucial aspect of worldbuilding in any piece of fiction. Well-crafted guidelines help maintain consistency, add depth, and enhance the reader’s experience by making the fictional universe more believable and immersive. When fiction is set in our world, in current times, these rules are implicit but still exist. The trick is to make all readers, regardless of genre, feel that same familiarity.

Why are laws and rules important?

Laws and rules provide structure and order to your fictional society

They help define the boundaries and limitations of your world

Consistent laws and rules make your world feel more realistic and believable

They can serve as a source of conflict and tension in your story

Laws and rules can reflect the values, beliefs, and cultural norms of your fictional society

Understanding your world’s laws and rules will help you create a world that’s more immersive

Consider the context of your world

Take the genre and tone of your story into account when creating laws and rules

Consider the technological advancement and magic system (if applicable) of your world

Think about the political structure and power dynamics within your society

Reflect on the history and cultural background of your fictional world

Determine the environmental factors that may influence laws and rules (e.g., resource scarcity, climate)

Tailor your laws and rules to fit the unique context of your world

Draw inspiration from real-world examples

Study historical and contemporary legal systems for inspiration

Look at how different cultures and societies have approached law-making

Analyse the laws and rules of other fictional worlds you admire

Consider how real-world laws and rules have evolved over time and why

Examine the consequences and implications of real-world laws and rules

Adapt and modify real-world examples to fit your fictional world

Balance realism and creativity

Strive for a balance between realism and creativity when creating laws and rules

Ensure that your laws and rules are logical and consistent within your world’s context

Allow room for creative and unique elements that set your world apart

Consider how your laws and rules can contribute to the overall narrative and themes of your story

Don’t be afraid to break conventions and introduce unconventional laws and rules

Remember that your fictional world is an opportunity to explore new ideas and possibilities

Integrate them into your story

Introduce laws and rules organically through character interactions and world-building elements

Use laws and rules to create conflict and tension

Show how characters navigate and respond to the laws and rules of your world

Explore the consequences of breaking or challenging the established laws and rules

Use laws and rules to reveal aspects of your characters’ personalities and motivations

Integrate laws and rules seamlessly into your narrative to enhance the overall reading experience

Evolve and adapt laws and rules

Consider how laws and rules may change and evolve in response to events and character actions

Reflect on how these changes impact your world and its inhabitants

Have laws and rules be dynamic and responsive to the needs of your fictional society

Explore how different groups or individuals within your society may interpret and respond to changes in laws and rules

Use the evolution of laws and rules to showcase character development and growth

Consider how the changing laws and rules may impact the overall plot and direction of your story

114 notes · View notes

novlr · 13 days

Note

I've often heard the writing advice to "start late, leave early" but I have no idea what it means. Can you help?

In essence, all that "start late, leave early" means is to enter enter a scene as late as possible, and exit it as early as possible.

It's a technique that streamlines storytelling and comes from screenwriting. It keeps the narrative tight, audience engaged and the plot moving along at a brisk pace.

Like with any writing advice, it's something you'd use at your own discretion, but for novels essentially what it means is not to bother with endless background and info dump before action happens. It prevents overwriting, and unnecessary exposition. We go into more detail in today's Reading Room post, so check it out!

74 notes · View notes

novlr · 14 days

Text

Not all consequences in storytelling must be negative

A consequence is simply something that happens because of an action or event.

So long as an action or event means something within the story, then there is no reason a consequence can’t be something good for your characters. As much as it can be tempting, we don't always need to torture them.

611 notes · View notes

novlr · 15 days

Text

782 notes · View notes

novlr · 16 days

Text

19 notes · View notes