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from observations, I feel like many people took “history books are full of propaganda” and ran with it and instead of more deeply investigating history from varying sources, they just don’t know jack shit about history

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What do you mean I have to tell people about my stories in order for them to like them

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why you should keep writing your story

because it’s a puzzle no one else will ever arrange the same way as you.

because there are ideas that simply won’t come to you until you write down the wrong words.

because all the bad scenes are the bones of the wonderful scenes.

because someone will love it: someone will read it once, and twice, and thrice; someone will ramble to you about the complexity of it; someone will doodle your characters out of love; someone will find it in exactly what they were looking for with or without knowing it.

because they have things to say, your characters. they’ve told you all those secrets and they have more to tell you, if you will listen.

because you love it even when you don’t; even when it drives you mad or when it accidentally turns into apathy; even when you think you’re doing it all wrong; you love it, and it loves you back.

because you can get a treasure even from things that go wrong; because if a story crumbles down you can build a shinier one on the same spot; because you won’t know where it will take you until it takes you there.

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Resources For Writing Period Pieces: High Middle Ages & Renaissance

Major Events Of The Time Period

The Black Death kills approximately a third of Europe’s population {1348 - 1350}

The Great Famine {1315 - 1317}

The Hundred Years’ War {1337 - 1453}

The Western Schism {1378 - 1417}

The Gutenberg Bible published {1454}

Leonardo DaVinci is born {1452} and dies {1519}

The Crusades

Popular Culture & Society

Johann Gutenberg

Joan of Arc

Vlad The Impaler

Culture in the Middle Ages

Society in the Middle Ages

Culture in the Renaissance

Renaissance Life

Renaissance Entertainment

Middle Ages Women

Kings in Middle Ages

Middle Ages Food

Life in the Middle Ages

Middle Ages People

Medieval English Terms

Old English Insults

Clothing

Medieval Knight Clothing

Middle Ages Ladies Dresses

Medieval Lord Clothing

Medieval Peasant Clothing

Medieval Kings Clothing

Medieval Women’s Clothing

Monks Clothes in the Middle Ages

Nuns Clothes in the Middle Ages

Simple Dresses from the Middle Ages

Middle Ages Hairstyles

Miscellaneous

Middle Ages Knights

Middle Ages Castles

Knights Templar

Middle Ages People

Middle Ages Torture

Middle Ages Weapons

Siege Weapons

Feudalism

List Of Renaissance Figures

List Of Medieval Figures

Names

Medieval/Renaissance Female Names

Medieval/Renaissance Male Names

Medieval/Renaissance Surnames

English Renaissance Name Generator

Italian Renaissance Name Generator

French Renaissance Name Generator

German Renaissance Name Generator

Spanish Renaissance Name Generator

By Country

Medieval Afghanistan‎ 

Al-Andalus‎

Medieval Albania‎ 

Medieval Algeria‎ 

Medieval Anatolia‎ 

Medieval Armenia‎ 

Medieval Austria‎ 

Medieval Azerbaijan‎ 

Medieval Belarus‎ 

Medieval Belgium‎ 

Medieval Bosnia and Herzegovina‎ 

Medieval Bulgaria‎

Byzantine Empire‎ 

Medieval Croatia‎ 

Medieval Cyprus‎ 

Medieval Czech history‎ 

Medieval Denmark‎ 

Medieval Egypt‎

Medieval England‎ 

Medieval Estonia‎

Medieval Ethiopia‎ 

Medieval Finland‎ 

Medieval Georgia (country)‎

Medieval Germany

Medieval Great Britain‎ 

Medieval Greece‎

Medieval Holy Roman Empire‎

Medieval Hungary‎ 

Medieval Iceland‎

Medieval India‎ 

Medieval Iran‎ 

Medieval Iraq‎ 

Medieval Ireland‎ 

Medieval Israel‎ 

Medieval Italy

Medieval Jordan‎

Medieval Lebanon‎ 

Medieval Lithuania‎

Medieval Luxembourg‎ 

Medieval Montenegro‎ 

Medieval Morocco‎

Medieval Netherlands‎ 

Medieval Norway‎

Medieval Poland

Medieval Portugal‎ 

Medieval Romania‎

Medieval Russia‎

Medieval Scotland‎

Medieval Serbia‎

Medieval Slovakia‎

Medieval Slovenia‎

Medieval Somalia‎ 

Medieval Spain‎ 

Medieval Sweden‎

Medieval Switzerland‎ 

Medieval Syria‎

Medieval Tunisia‎ 

Medieval Ukraine‎

Medieval Wales‎

Ottoman Empire‎

Medieval Palestine‎ 

Medieval Persia‎ 

Medieval Latvia‎

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I had some feelings about the writing process I had to share.

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What do you mean it's only 7:20pm.... It's fucking 12am

#idk could be prompt? #anyways its a mood so here

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60 Awesome Search Engines for Serious Writers

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some of the best parts about the writing process:

finding out past you set up some really sick ideas that play out later in the story

sitting down to write and knowing what you what to accomplish in that session

and then doing it

remembering an idea you had just before falling asleep last night

starting a new passion project that you’ve decided to write because you want to

realizing that your writing is primarily for you and that you have the power to take the story wherever you want

finding a song that fits a scene or character really well

writing a description or piece of dialogue that just. fits.

hitting your next big milestone

the feeling of writing the first words on a document for a new draft

finishing a draft and writing “THE END” at the bottom of the page

editing and realizing how far you’ve come as a writer

please add on with any of your favorite moments! let’s spread some writing positivity!

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Me writing about a character’s happiness: And now for my next trick, I’m going to take it all away.

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When you randomly work out the plot twist of the book you’re reading:

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Tips On Introducing Characters

This is also available on wordsnstuffblog.com!

– A lot of questions I receive revolve around the introduction of story elements, such as backstory and politics, so I decided to cover character introductions because it’s a good way to ease into all of these other topics. I hope you all find this helpful. Happy writing!

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Find A Suitable Way

The way in which you introduce a character can be a really big subtextual clue as to who they are and how they will function in the story. Some really good ways to introduce them are:

show how a character performs simple actions

let their reputation speak for them in the form of other characters’ interactions about them

Use some backstory that shows the reader their relevance prior to their personality

Don’t Focus Solely On Physical Description

The truth is, when you meet a person in real life, you don’t spend 5 minutes analyzing the flecks of color in their eyes, the intricate patterns in their outfits, or the marks on their skin. Filter in physical description over time, when physical features become relevant to the narrative. First impressions majorly rely on subtext through common associations with actions, appearances, and words. It’s more important that your reader knows information about them than what they look like. The image will come together with time.

Avoid Cliche Introductions

Anne R. Allen made a short and simple list that she called the Robinson Crusoe Openings, and the following were on it:

driving alone in a car

sitting on an airplane

waking up and getting ready for the day

out on her morning jog

looking in the mirror

Simply, these put a bad taste in the reader’s mouth because every reader has seen each and every single one of those a million times before. There are more interesting ways to introduce a character to your readers, and there are ways that will suit your character way more.

Make Your Reader Care Early

Don’t jump right into the action without showing the reader multiple reasons why they should care about your character. Introductions are a good way to set up future information about their motivations, struggles, etc. which make your reader invested in what happens to that character.

Relevance = Page Time

What I mean by this is, the impact a character will have on the story and conflict resolution for that story (even in a series) should determine how much time is devoted to describing them. If they aren’t a huge part of the story now, but will come in hot in book 2, leave the meaningful introduction for when the reader actually needs to remember them. If a minor character comes in that isn’t apart of any major subplot or the main conflict, then spend less time describing them to the reader than the main characters. This seems like common sense to a lot of people, but this strategy is often overlooked in practice.

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A Writer’s Guide to Viewpoints

Most of us know that there are three major viewpoints from which stories are told:

First Person – “I tell my own story with the pronoun ‘I’ because I’m just so damn awesome.”

Second Person – “You are a character in this story, and you can’t do anything about it.  If it makes you uncomfortable, tough shit.”

Third Person – “He muttered himself and pulled the blankets over his head, wishing this asshole would stop narrating his life.”

Those are the three viewpoints, and that’s all there is to it.  Just pick your favorite, and you’re ready to go.  Right?

Well.  Not exactly.  

You see, my fellow scribblers, there are actually multiple sub categories of each viewpoint – beyond even the “Third Person Omniscient” or “Third Person Subjective.”

To be specific:

First Person:

First Person Informant

First Person Reminiscent

Unreliable

Second Person:

Reader as Character

I Substitute

Third Person:

Objective 

Limited 

Multiple Selective Omniscience 

Omniscient

This might seem overwhelming, but fear not!  Each perspective is fairly easy to break down, and ultimately, apply to your own work and understanding of literature.  This post will elucidate each.

So let’s take charge of our narratives and delve in, like the active protagonists we are.

Keep reading

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Acing pacing in your writing

I’ve read too many books and watched too many shows where pacing has ruined a good story. So, here are some of my tips for getting pacing right:

1. Don’t take too long to get to the inciting incident

Look, showing the ordinary life of your protagonist might be interesting if there’s something strange about their life, but readers want stuff to happen.

At least with genre fiction, you shouldn’t take too long to get to the action - the event that gets the story going.

If you can do it well and have readers invested from the start, you can start with the inciting incident. However, for most works I would recommend having it in the second chapter.

Your readers want to know what the story is about, not what the character thinks of his English teacher

2. Keep it moving, but don’t rush

Action is important. It drives the story and it’s interesting. You should make sure to put enough action in your work. Things should be happening.

BUT a novel is not a play or a movie or a comic. What makes reading a full-length novel so entertaining is the detail. The in-depth characterisation and description. The emotion and thought processes.

So, keep it moving, but don’t sacrifice the juicy details. Don’t skip from one action or dialogue scene to the next without taking your readers deeper into the intricacies of the story and characters.

It’s a delicate balance that can only truly be found by reading a lot and practicing.

3. Avoid a sagging middle

Your beginning is solid. Your end is exciting. But the middle is a chaotic mess that bores the reader. Trust me, it happens more than you might believe.

Sagging middle syndrome is a thing, and the only way to avoid it is to plan.

Look, I like pantsing, but planning the middle of your novel will help your pacing exponentially.

Make a rough outline of what needs to happen to get your characters to the climax. Add a few lighter/character-driven scenes where there are too many action scenes in the sequence. Remove events which are unnecessary. And make sure that everything makes sense!

This counts for second books in series as well. It should be good on its own, not just as a filler.

4. Don’t fast forward to the end

I’m looking at you, Game of Thrones.

If you’ve built up the story and set up everything for the final big bang, you have to deliver.

Keep the pacing somewhat similar to that of the rest of the story. Your readers have gotten used to it. And if they’re still reading at that point, they probably like that pace. Don’t write a relatively slow book and then have the climax be over in three pages.

I know you want the climax to be exciting. So, yes, make it a little more fast-paced than the middle. But not massively different.

5. Trust your characters

As with every aspect of creative writing, character is most important.

Is your character experiencing the scene quickly and choppily? Or are they slowing down and taking in everything?

If you stick with what your characters are feeling, you will get it right.

Look, exams have fried my brain. So, this isn’t the most well-formulated post I’ve made. But I hope that it can be helpful.

Reblog if you found these tips useful. Comment with your own pacing tips. Follow me for similar content.

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Repeat after me. I’m loveable

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A Guide to Writing: Making New Cultures

Cultures, like anything, take time to build. They are what define a people and what make their customs. It’s complicated and integrated into their society. It changes as the people change but the fundamentals often remain unchanged even centuries and millennia into the future.

When creating new worlds, if it’s not set in the world that we know, then the people, while being similar, will be different. What they hold as value will be different. That’s where new cultures come in. countries will be define by something and way out of the way towns will have things that are connected to them. Making new cultures can be a messy process, and I am by no way an expert, but there are at least five things that define a culture and should be present and known.

Customs

Customs are a traditional ways of doing something specify to a set of people or place. If you can’t think of any, think of some traditions that are from where you’re from. For example, in America and many other countries, it’s traditional to put up a tree for the winter holidays. 

If the story you’re writing centers around a new culture, then the customs of its people is something that should come into play, even it’s something small. Maybe it’s someone coming of age. Maybe it’s someone passing away. Whatever the case, customs are a personal thing that people share. Be sure to not overlook them.

Arts

Art is a way people share their thoughts that are hard to convey. A way to pass on knowledge and to capture the emotions. Perhaps they capture their history in tapestries and artisans make paintings for a living.

Not only that, body art is an important part of many cultures. Maybe tattoos mean something at a certain age or it’s something like a brand. Perhaps they’re just decorative and meant to look flashy.

Social Institution

A social institution is a group of people who are together for a common purpose such as economy and government. These institutions are a part of the social order of society and they govern behavior and expectations of individuals.

For example, a charities and other nonprofit organizations fall under this category. In this culture you’re writing about, how do they feel about such organizations? Are the promoted? Frowned upon? Not only that, but this includes the education system, cultural groups, how families are defined, health care, market values, politics, and religions.

Each of these things may not hold equal value, or perhaps they all have the same weight. Are the church (in this instance used only to refer to religion) and state separate or together? Is the market, trading goods and services, more important than anything else? What’s the health of the people like and what methods do they use for healing?

Achievements

Achievements, in this case, are defined as things the people have done to better and further themselves. What are some of the things these people have done since they became a people? Was something medical? Was it something that benefited not only them, but the people around the as well?

However, the achievements don’t always have to grand. It could be something small like finding an easier way to make paint or a way to make their weapons. Achievements are things that are well earned and come from something small like inconvenience or big like a fight.

And not all that glitters is gold. An achievement can benefit the majority, but what about everyone else? Is it useful to everyone? Does it need to be? More importantly, what was the reason? It doesn’t always need to be known in detail, but things happen for a reason. As the writer, you, are the very least, need to know.

Behavior Characteristic

We all know that there are somethings that are frowned upon in modern culture. Things like people with breasts going around topless or anyone walking pants-less through the streets. There are certain things people just don’t do because of the consequences and the culture.

What are some of the things that are okay for people to do? What are things that are harmless yet frowned upon? There are things that are widely accepted and if these normal things are challenged then it should be explain if it’s not something carried over from a real culture.

If there are things that are carried over from real cultures, then that’s a tricky ground to walk on if you don’t know anything. Research and asking are an important part of this process if you want to do this. Carrying over form real cultures is fine as long as it’s not a bastardization of it.

Of course, like I said in the beginning of this, I’m not an expert. I don’t really know everything there is to know but this is what I’ve realized when making new cultures myself.

See ya, kiddos

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