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writing tip #3133:

can't write a novel?

start with a word.

then add another. and another. keep going like that until sentences start to dance and weave, until they latch onto one another and refuse to let go.

and whatever you do, don't stop.

and whatever you do, don't think.

trust me.

just write.

because this is how it happens.

this is how stories are born: one paragraph at a time. so keep adding lines until those lines start to blur, and then step back, bring them into focus, and add a few more.

and before you know it, something greater will have taken their place.

and before you know it, you'll realize that novels are really just words.

and sure, some of those words might be nicer than most, but at the end of the day, that doesn't change what they are.

words.

and this thing you've written?

this apparatus of sentences, this web of paragraphs that you've ripped free from the storm in your mind?

well--

that's just words too, isn't it?

so stop worrying about the outcome, and start falling in love with the process. writing a novel is tough. maybe even impossible, but words?

those are easy.

so start with one, and see where it takes you.

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Following a Trail of Clues

                Lots of plots have at least some aspect of figuring out a mystery or uncovering some hidden truth. While it may not be a traditional murder mystery, writing a plot that revolves around the gathering of information and uncovering of clues can be written using a lot of the same techniques.

1. You should probably plan it

If you’re strictly a pantser, give it a shot, but I have never been able to pants mysteries like this. I would recommend planning it from the beginning and saving yourself a lot of time and headaches trying to piece it together later.

2. Start with the beginning and end

When planning a mystery, I start with the beginning, and then skip to the point that they uncover the truth or figure it out and work backwards to fill out the middle. What is the last hint they need to uncover the full truth, then, what leads to that hint, rinse and repeat until we get back to that beginning you created.

                For example, say the MC is trying to find their missing friend. The last point would be ‘they find their friend’, so that’s where we begin. Maybe right before that, they’re told the location, to get their location, they’ve kidnapped one of the bad guys who knows it, to get to him, they need to break into the evil lair, to find the lair, they need to spy on the organization, and so on.

3. Diversify the hints

I talk about this a bit in my post about written elements (here), but essentially, you’ll want to diversify how your characters get their hints. It will seem cheap if they find everything they need to know on conveniently spaced notes or journal entries (unless you can really justify that), or it’s all told to them by someone who happens to know it all (such as the ‘wise man’ trope).

                Maybe they find the last clue written down, but the one before was told to them from a key character, and the one before was puzzled out through a riddle, etc. etc. Here are some places to find clues:

Someone else knows something

This could be either an ally or an enemy. Family members, friends they weren’t aware of, a hidden partner, seemingly a stranger who knows more than they’re letting on. If they are an ally, there should be a reason they haven’t come forward yet, or justification for why their testimony is where it is in a story. Maybe they are somewhat accidentally guilty in the mystery, maybe they are afraid to be involved, maybe they aren’t aware anything has happened at all.

If they’re an enemy, maybe your protagonists need to corner them, best them in a battle, talk to them away from their boss, kidnap them, etc. Consider why this person would betray their ‘side’ to provide a clue to the protagonists.

Journal entries, notes, letters, ledgers, or otherwise written down

Physical evidence—footprints, pieces of clothing left behind, an object, photos, drawings

Biological evidence--fingerprints, DNA, hair, etc. If your character already has access to the equipment for this, great! If not, consider how they could find this out.

A prophetic dream or vision (use in cases in which it would make sense for your character to have this, obviously)

A riddle, poem, or song, if you can justify it.

An educated guess (for small jumps)

Timing—if they can figure out a timeline, they may be able to figure out something else

Something is missing or off place. That’s odd, character always leaves their book on the bedside table, so why isn’t it there?

Any other ways to get hints or clues to your characters?

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I am a(n):

⚪ Male

⚪ Female

🔘 Writer

Looking for

⚪ Boyfriend

⚪ Girlfriend

🔘 An incredibly specific word that I can't remember

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A very detailed character biography to help build characters. I found the original template HERE and edited it to make it more suitable for the characters I'm creating, and also to add some more details, such as a mental illness checklist section to use for myself to reference (because it helps to know what's wrong with your characters) and other details. You may not need so many minor details for a character, but you never know if you'll end up needing an explanation for something. I'll be using this template myself so I figured I'd share it in case it could help others too. I have edited it in a way that would be more suitable for my medieval fantasy characters, so it will not list any types of modern content (such as cell phones and planes and such) Enjoy. ♡

☆ Trigger Warning - Sensitive Mental Health Details ☆

Character 1

• Character’s full name:

• Reason or meaning of name:

• Character’s nickname:

• Reason for nickname:

• Character’s titles & what they mean:

• Birth date/season:

Physical appearance

• Age:

• Appears how old:

• Race:

• Gender:

• Weight:

• Height:

• Body build:

• Shape of face:

• Eye color:

• Skin tone:

• Distinguishing marks:

• Predominant features:

• Hair color:

• Hair type:

• Usual hairstyle:

• Voice:

• Overall 1-10 attractiveness scale:

• Physical disabilities:

• Usual fashion:

• Favorite outfit:

• Jewelry or accessories:

• Tattoos:

• Miscellaneous:

Personality

• Good personality traits:

• Bad personality traits:

• Most common mood:

• Sense of humor:

• Greatest joy in life & why:

• Greatest fear & why:

• What event would be most devastating & why:

• Most comfortable when:

• Most uncomfortable when:

• Most angry/furious when:

• Most depressed/sad when:

• Most happy/joyful when:

• Priorities:

• Life philosophy:

• Biggest wish & why:

• Character’s soft spot:

• Is this soft spot obvious to others or common:

• Political views:

• Greatest strength:

• Greatest weakness:

• Greatest vulnerability:

• Biggest regret:

• Minor regret:

• Biggest accomplishment:

• Minor accomplishment:

• Most embarrassing event & why:

• Character’s darkest secret, if any:

• Does anyone else know this secret:

• Miscellaneous:

Goals & Dreams

• Drives/Motivations:

• Immediate goals:

• Long term goals:

• How to accomplish the goals:

• How others will be affected if the goals are achieved:

• How long has character had the goals:

• Goals that character thinks are hard to achieve:

• Goals that character thinks are easy to achieve:

• Goals that character has already started working on & how long:

• Dreams:

• Miscellaneous:

Past

• Location of birth/childhood:

• Socioeconomic status:

• Cultural traditions:

• Parents Socioeconomic ranking:

• Parents involvement:

• Type of childhood:

• Siblings/other family involvement:

• Friends/Acquaintances:

• First memory:

• Most important memory & why:

• Childhood hero:

• Pets:

• Dream job:

• Education:

• Religion:

• Wealth/inheritances:

• Miscellaneous:

Present

• Current location:

• Currently living with:

• Type of residence & who owns it:

• Possessions/Owned assets:

• Weapons owned:

• Socioeconomic ranking & how it was achieved:

• Cultural traditions/practices:

• Religion:

• Sexual orientation:

• Occupation:

• Wealth:

• Acquaintances/Friends/Lovers:

• Pets:

• Miscellaneous:

Family

• Mother:

▪︎Alive or Deceased:

▪︎Relationship with her:

• Father:

▪︎Alive or Deceased:

▪︎Relationship with him:

• Siblings:

▪︎Alive or Deceased:

▪︎Relationship with them:

• Spouse:

▪︎Alive or Deceased:

▪︎Relationship with him/her:

• Children:

▪︎Alive or Deceased:

▪︎Relationship with them:

• Other important family members:

▪︎Alive or Deceased:

▪︎Relationship with them:

Favorites

• Color:

• Food:

• Form of entertainment:

• Story/Myth/Legend:

• Mode of transportation:

• Most prized possession:

• Location/place:

• Season/weather:

• Miscellaneous:

Habits & Activities

• Hobbies:

• Training:

• Magical/special abilities:

• How he/she would spend a rainy day:

• Spending habits:

• Smokes tobacco:

• Drinks:

• Drugs/herbs:

• Activity does too much of:

• Activity does too little of:

• Extremely skilled at:

• Slightly skilled at:

• Extremely unskilled/terrible at:

• Nervous tics:

• Usual body posture:

• Mannerisms:

• Peculiarities:

• Places visited for fun/interest:

• Miscellaneous habits:

• Miscellaneous activities:

Traits & Flaws

• Optimist or pessimist:

• Introvert or extrovert:

• Daredevil or cautious:

• Logical or emotional:

• Disorderly/Messy or Methodical/Neat:

• Prefers working or relaxing:

• Confident or unsure:

• Easy to anger:

• Easily pleased:

• Manipulative:

• Apologetic:

• Accepting of advice:

• Easily bored:

• Mentally/Emotionally strong:

• Accountability:

• Ambitious:

• Work ethic:

• Demanding & bossy:

• Submissive & subordinate:

• Playful or boring:

• Brave or cowardly:

• Chases power/success/glory:

• Protective of loved ones:

• Doubts themselves or others:

• Talkative or quiet:

Mental Illnesses

• Trauma & why/who/what/when:

• Addictions:

• Depression:

• Anxiety:

• Paranoia:

• Hallucinations:

• Personality disorder:

• PTSD:

• Obsessive compulsive:

• Bipolar:

• Stable:

• Triggers:

• Miscellaneous:

Self-perception

• Feelings about himself/herself:

• One word the character would use to describe self:

• One paragraph description of how the character would describe self:

• Character considers their best personality trait:

• Character considers their worst personality trait:

• Character considers their best physical characteristic:

• Character considers their worst physical characteristic:

• Character thinks others perceive them:

• Character's aspect they would change about themself:

• Miscellaneous:

Relationships with others

• Opinion of people in general:

• Does the character hide opinions/emotions from others:

• Most hated/Biggest enemy & why:

• Most loved & why:

• Best friend(s):

• Love interest(s):

• Who to go to for advice:

• Who they're responsible for/Who they take care of:

• Who character feels shy or awkward around:

• Who character openly admires:

• Who character secretly admires:

• Most important in character’s life before story starts:

• Most important after story starts:  

• Opinion of relationships with family:

• Opinion of relationships with lovers:

• Opinion of relationships with friends:

• Treats strangers:

• Treats authority figures:

• Opinions of authority figures:

• Treats subordinates:

• Opinions of subordinates:

• Treats the opposite gender:

• Opinions of the opposite gender:

• Treats other races/cultures:

• Opinions of other races/cultures:

• Treats children:

• Opinions of children:

• Treats others with different tastes/interests/activities:

• Opinions of others with different tastes/interests/activities:

• How they treat others who admire them:

• How they treat others who love them:

• How they treat others who betray/harm/bully them:

• How they treat others who disrespect/harm others:

• How they react when someone needs their help:

• How they react when someone tries to help them:

• How they react to sexual/romantic advances:

• Opinions of sex & brothels:

• Miscellaneous:

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I think this is one of the best posts everrrrr

I'm not sure I can express this sentiment strongly enough, but I'm going to try via the medium of large bolded text.

Write what the fuck you want.

Write what makes you happy. Write what makes your soul sing. Write what fucks you up and makes you cry. Write what comforts you. Write what distracts you. Write what you want to read. Write what you want to watch.

Write what you want to dream about tonight.

Write what you can't get enough of. Write what you're completely obsessed with. Write what wakes you up at 4am and drags you out of bed because you can't stop thinking about what your characters are going to do next.

Write what turns you on, if that's your vibe. Write characters you're in love with and characters who inspire you and characters you want to be friends with and characters you fucking hate but oh my god they're so much fun.

Write about things you would sell your soul to do in real life and things you would never do in real life. Write about things that are happening right now and things that happened a thousand years ago and things that might happen in the future and things you wish could happen.

Write to get a publishing deal or to sell your books yourself or not to sell your books at all. Write for your friends or for strangers or for the people who reblog your posts on Tumblr and send you songs that remind them of your characters.

Write for yourself.

Fuck any system that tells you there's only one right way to create or one valid way to share your writing. Your story, the way you tell it, has so much value. Make people smile or piss people off or do both of those things because art is divisive and fascinating and beautiful.

Start writing. Keep writing. And write what the fuck you want.

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Anonymous asked: So who started the shadow daddy joke?

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helpppppppp

Is it possible to get an A* in A level Physics if I have an E in P3 but A in P2 and a B in P1 (I still have P4 and P5 to give)?

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in an era 💭📓

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Tell me, dear August. Is it me, or is it the weather? In one moment, I’m cold; in the next moment, I’m hot. And then I’m content with that which I possess, and then I’m longing for something else.

– Abdulsamad S. M.

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what do you mean i have to actually study languages to learn them???

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writers and artists are underappreciated. they're literally creating universes, people, timelines,,, with their bare hands??? incredible

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that problem that you can technically do, but its hard, but you can do it so you don't really need to practice it- go practice that sucker untill you can do it in your sleep. the moment you don't have notes and half an hour per problem, you are well and truly fucked

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friendly reminder that every language is beautiful and amazing and worth learning and preserving

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INTRODUCTION!!

🖋 about me

Deja;

19;

she/her

Pakistan/GB;

🖋 studying

sciences in college (phy, chem, bio);

languages on my own: german, latin, french, arabic, persian;

content writer;

🖋 hobbies

writing fantasy and fiction books;

reading;

🖋 likes

slytherin/dark academia;

Taylor Swift;

reading;

podcasts;

Pride and Prejudice;

fantasy books;

winter and autumn;

tea;

cold coffee;

writing;

languages;

Studying (that's a given lol)

🖋 dislikes

staying up late

non-fiction unless it's historical stuff

obnoxious people

🖋 obs

I created this blog as a form of inspiration and motivation for myself, and I would be happy if I could help someone else

I would also love to have people to practise my languages with!!

my name is Khadija, but Deja is fine too;

I might make posts in other languages when I'm feeling more confident;

I'm an introvert;

i love chatting! feel free to bring up any subject.

Some studyblrs that inspire me:

|| @myhoneststudyblr || @adelinestudiess || @eintsein ||  @elleandhermione ||

#study #new studyblr #studyblr #studyspo #study motivation #study notes #chemistry #biology #physics #a levels #dark academia #dark academia aesthetic #myhoneststudyblr #adelinestudiess