#i have so many worldbuilding posts outlined in this blog's drafts

[space-writes]

hi writeblr! i’ve been kicking around on here for the hottest of minutes, but this is the first time i’ve decided to start actively posting about my writing. (this is a sideblog; you can find my main @thespacelizard, and i follow from there)

about me!

I go by Space, my pronouns are they/he, and I’m staring down the barrel of 30 with grim determination. My current pseudonyms are A.L. Thorne (for my fantasy writing), and A.L. Dusk (for my queer erotica)

Aside from being a writer I’m also an artist and a Forever DM, and I love to come up with wild characters for my campaign and then complain that I have to draw them because there is no picrew in existence that can make them.

I write a lot of fanfiction, and I post about my current ongoing series on my main blog. I intend to keep my fic writing there, and my original writing here, but if you’re interested in an m/m erotic romance featuring d/s dynamics and drow wizards engaged in deeply frustrating mutual pining, the tag over there is obedience fic blogging and the series is on AO3 here

I otherwise write fantasy novels, because I am, at heart, a Weird Dragon Kid. I also like to, of late, make them queer as hell, because I too am queer as hell, and I want to write about queer characters having all the adventures I usually read straight cis characters having.

I am a big fan of playing in the traditional fantasy tropes aisle, and whilst I do love unique fantasy worlds, there’s something about a classic set of wizards and dragons that just makes my heart happy.

My writing style is fairly lighthearted but the heart still beats quite sincerely. You’ll find fantastical places, characters who all have something Fundamentally Wrong With Them, and more one-liners than strictly necessary.

current wips!

Chronicles of Valloroth

This is the main (read: only) thing I’m working on at present, and it exists because I read too many Drizzt books over lockdown, got brainworms, and then decided to write my own take.

The series features: knock-off tieflings, a grumpy assassin and a sparkly mercenary in a rivals-to-lovers arc, knock-off dragonborn, found family, gods with very mortal foibles, A Whole Entire Dragon, magical mishaps, and an entire cast of queer disasters.

not everyone in this book is trans, but there is So Much Gender in here. it’s not a trans book, but it has trans bones, and not just because I, A Trans, am writing it.

It’s basically ‘what if The Legend of Drizzt but Gay and Also Trans? what then?’

I'll be posting a wip intro for the first book soon!

My current goal is re-drafting the first book, and getting all my outlining and zero drafts finished for books two and three. I write a lot, and I write quite fast, but good god there are so many words to get down. Just. An absolutely ridiculous amount of words.

what’s on this blog?

I intend to post about my writing progress, my characters, my worldbuilding; lots of things to help keep me motivated and to (hopefully) drag other people into Caring Too Much About These Blorbos Hell with me.

Hey, it worked for Obedience and now at least three other people are yelling at those drow boys with me. trust me. yelling at my characters is a fun hobby we can all share together.

You can expect to see:

snippets of my notes (and probably chatter about Obsidian.md, which is what I write everything in, and is my favourite notes app of all the notes apps)

Thoughts About Blorbos

character art and playlists (some of which I will probably even draw myself, because when you can draw, you simply must draw your ocs and show them to everyone)

Thoughts About The Writing Process

And i will of course be reblogging every remotely relatable writing meme i come across (which is most of them)

tags!

#valloroth blogging (for all/general posts related to the series)

character posts will be #c: [character name]

#space has thoughts (for writing thoughts, and suchlike)

you can find me elsewhere on tumblr @thespacelizard (main blog), and @incoherentmuses (art blog). i’m also on twitter @/degenerate_DM (for writing posts) and @/incoherentmuses (for art posts)

over the next few days i’ll be posting a proper wip intro for Valloroth, and i am 100% looking for writing mutuals to yell about words with. I’m also very open to ask/tag games!

#writeblr #writers on tumblr #writing #writeblr introduction #writeblr intro #fantasy #yes this book has put Certain Characters into witness protection #RA Salvatore can fight me about it #hi! im here to have fun and post about my blorbos #i hope you’ll like hearing about them

[another-lost-mc]

Happy new year, Jes! Thank you for a year of wonderful writing, and here’s to many more.

What are your writing goals for this year?

You're so sweet, thank you! I hope the new year treats you well. <3

What are your writing goals for this year?

I must be feeling better because I'm excited to talk about writing again. lol I've been re-reading some of my old work and I think I know what I'd like to focus on this year.

Current In-Progress Series or WIPs: I'd like to prioritize some of my long fic WIPs first and finish those first. That includes:

Insatiable (Solomon x Reader x Others) (three chapters)

The Edge of Heaven (Michael x Reader x Simeon) (one chapter)

Divine Revelations (Michael x Reader) (two chapters)

Enchantment (Lucifer x Reader) (one or two chapters)

Discipline (Mephisto x Reader) (one chapter)

Other Series/WIPs: Stuff that belongs to the Creepy Castle AU or Pokemon AU are unrelated fics that don't have a set "ending." I'll still write for both of these when inspiration strikes. I do have a couple things for both of them in my drafts already though.

OC Content: My priority is revamping their bio pages and finishing Karasu's story. It spans the first year/S1 of the og! game and most of it is outlined already. That being said, OC characters are automatically part of the pool of characters I can write asks/prompts for and that includes Zee now too.

Current Asks/Requests: I've read them all even if I'm not accepting requests (which I haven't been for a while). There are some in my drafts, and the rest have been tucked away into my rainy day ideas folder.

Future Fics Ideas: I have a crossover mini-series for WHB outlined. I'm also considering a crossover for another game I'm sort of obsessed with atm. Some of the things I want to write are selfship-coded so I might post them on my personal blog instead of posting them here.

As always:

Writing schedule (or lack of) - between work and health-related things, I write when I have time and when I'm feeling well enough.

Requests are still closed/not guaranteed - even if something catches my eye, I might not be able to post anything for it right away.

Asks are always welcome if you want to talk about any of the games/characters, worldbuilding, or my OCs.

#jes.replies

[jackalope-with-a-pen]

ok hi! pinned post time, since I'm finally using this blog a bit!

I'm Jack (or JT, or Jackalope) and I've been writing for most of my life but I really haven't shared much yet. hoping to change that soon, though! hence this blog. :]

I have WAY too many ideas and WIPs to list 'em all, but here are a few of the writing projects I am currently focusing on...

A Tale Of Two Spies (And Some Other People) (Many Of Whom Are Also Spies)

...or ATOTS(ASOP)(MOWAAS) for short, lmao. It's the first fanfic I ever started writing; I was lowkey too intimidated to try writing fanfic for a long time, but this idea sank its teeth into me and I had to give it a shot. It's an alternate version of the Tin Can Brothers' epic musical Spies Are Forever. I've been working on it for a good while now and it has ballooned into quite a massive undertaking because I am... deranged. <3

Part one, The World's Greatest Spies, is a prequel. It will cover the span of time & our favorite agents' changing relationship from their first meeting to the beginning of the musical. I have MOST of it outlined, and I'm really having a lot of fun with it!!!

111 Waylon

Another fanfic, but this one is for Starkid's Hatchetfield universe! It's heavily inspired by I The Mighty's song "111 Winchester."

111 Waylon is just about fully outlined with 12 chapters, and it will be much shorter and quicker to write than ATOTS, lol. I'm actually going to start writing the first draft very soon! (like... tomorrow. 👁)

This story is about the night some of the popular teens from Hatchetfield High decided to hang out at an old creepy house that definitely isn't haunted and definitely isn't dangerous. Everything is gonna be fine, no need to worry. <3

The Necromancer & The Musician

This is an original work! It also doesn't have a real title yet, even though I've been working on it for almost a year lmao. help. I've done SO MUCH worldbuilding, including designing an entire glyph alphabet for my sneaky secretive necromancers to write all their sneaky secrets in, and I've been having an absolute blast with it all.

The characters in this story mean the world to me, especially the two leads: Zadock Severine (the antisocial necromancer who is Perfectly Content with their life as it is, thankyouverymuch) and Everett Flair (the overly friendly musician who likes to wander and is always on the look for his next fun experience). The two are brought together through the meddling of the nosy god Death (who gave Zadock their magic and is a little too invested in their social life) and become unlikely traveling companions. Oh, and they're both trans and aromantic. 😎

If you'd like to know more about my stories, feel free to send me some asks about 'em!

No guarantees I'll answer every question (gotta keep some things to myself! 😘) but I'd love to share what I can.

#jackalope with a pen

[planetdream]

10, 11, 25, 34, 36, 37, 38, 43, 55, 56, 68, 69, 74, 76, 78, 79 ❤️✨

hehe ahaha this is a lot omg i love talking so much so thank you baby <3

10. Do you work on multiple wips or stick to one fic at a time?

multiple! my mind constantly entertains multiple ideas at once, so i just let it take over lol

11 answered here <3

25. What’s your favorite part of the writing process (worldbuilding, brainstorming/outlining, writing, editing, etc)?

brainstorming mostly! i also enjoy worldbuilding—it's just the actual writing part that fucks me up. but i love just thinking and hypothesizing about how the story could go!!

34. How much of your personal life/experience do you include in your fics?

all of it, yet none of it at all. i would say there are minor glimpses into my personal life/experiences, but there are also things in my fics that i'd never do (ie; i rarely write abt condoms even tho i use them every time i have sex lol). it really depends and while i probably don't notice it in the moment of writing, i think it varies fic by fic.

36. What fic are you proudest of?

woah this is such a question omg. yeah so withholding a fic im very proud of. i loved the direction i went with it—there's something different about that fic (along with reversal) compared to my others that i love so much, but i can't quite put my finger on it. but both fics felt very good to write :)

37. What fic has been the hardest for you to write?

it's actually one of my wips—after dusk with minho. i've had the idea of this fic since January and i've been working on it since then, too. but for the love of GOD i cannot seem to even complete a full draft—of which i've had at least three. it's frustrating, but i know im gonna be SO damn happy when i finally finish it.

38. What is your most self-indulgent posted story?

there are three! carnal pleasures, the vapors, and 2:22AM (not mentioned by all of my changbin stuff tbh)

43. Is there a trope or idea that you’d really like to write but haven’t yet?

i want so badly to write a coffee shop/flower shop au idk. really wanna do a soulmate fic as well. and i know i've spoke about how i don't really like enemies to lovers, but i've been thinking about an e2l fic with haechan and idk ?? might go for it. lastly, i want to write something so angsty and sad (with an unhappy ending) just to do it idk

55. Have you noticed any patterns in your fics?  Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?

love analyzing myself so there are a couple of things i've noticed. usually, all the same few kinks pop up (spit play/cum play/overstimulation, etc) and i think generally, neediness is a common theme in most of my fics. i also feel like i use the word 'gracious' a fuck ton.

56. Are there any fics that you would change or rewrite if given the chance?

while im in love with every fic i've written—i CONSTANTLY think about rewriting pay attention and also skz as physical touch. i also think about rewriting my first couple of pieces (all abt channie) from when i first made this blog (not linking those bc just thinking about them is enough ❤️)

68. Are there any fics that influenced you to write the way you do?

man, i'd have to log into wattpad to answer this lol. i feel like im constantly being inspired and influenced by most of the things i read—i don't think i'd be able to pinpoint it. though, i think im more influenced by various novels, usually of the horror or thriller variety.

69. What are your favorite fics at the moment?

harness by dee (@/btssmutgalore / @/ballelino), part 2 of dance with a ghost by mint (@/hynjnhwng) and anything moon (@/gyuphorias) has written about yeonjun are all my faves <3 im sure there are sooo many others that i love but off the top of my head it's those ones that live rent-free in my mind 🛐🛐

74. Do you have a fic you wish got a bit more love?

i usually mention carnal pleasures when it comes to questions like these. but i suppose the contents of that fic are for a very niche audience and i've accepted that <3 it feels like a club that no one else can get into fr

76. How do you deal with writing pressure, whether internal or external?

i don't deal with it well—which is why i take several, frequent short breaks. i tend to get overwhelmed a lot and the best thing for me is to just...log the fuck off.

78. What motivates you during the writing process?

if i've got a really good idea that's enough motivation needed—once i start there's hardly any stopping unless i hit a wall. i usually try to bribe myself with weed or something to keep me motivated tho 😭😭

79. Do you have any writing advice you want to share?

take breaks and let yourself breathe!! don't try to push or overwork yourself either. writing takes time and that's completely fine—i feel like a lot of us, as fic writers, stress about posting often and whatnot—but people are gonna read ur stuff regardless of if you post often. just take your time <3

#💌 — mail time

[duckprintspress]

How to Edit an Over-Length Story Down to a Specific Word Count

One of the most wonderful things about writing as a hobby is that you never have to worry about the length of your story. You can be as self-indulgent as you want, make your prose the royalist of purples, include every single side story and extra thought that strikes your fancy. It’s your story, with no limits, and you can proceed with it as you wish.

When transitioning from casual writing to a more professional writing milieu, this changes. If you want to publish, odds are, you’ll need to write to a word count. If a flash fiction serial says, “1,000 words or less,” your story can’t be 1,025 and still qualify. If a website says, “we accept novellas ranging from 20,000 to 40,000 words,” your story will need to fall into that window. Even when you consider novel-length works, stories are expected to be a certain word count to fit neatly into specific genres - romance is usually around 80,000 words, young adult usually 50,000 to 80,000, debut novels usually have to be 100,000 words or less regardless of genre, etc. If you self-publish or work with a small press, you may be able to get away with breaking these “rules,” but it’s still worthwhile to learn to read your own writing critically with length in mind and learn to recognize what you do and do not need to make your story work - and then, if length isn’t an issue in your publishing setting, you can always decide after figuring out what’s non-essential to just keep everything anyway.

If you’re writing for fun? You literally never have to worry about your word count (well, except for sometimes in specific challenges that have minimum and/or maximum word counts), and as such, this post is probably not for you.

But, if you’re used to writing in the “throw in everything and the kitchen sink” way that’s common in fandom fanfiction circles, and you’re trying to transition only to be suddenly confronted with the reality that you’ve written 6,000 words for a short story project with a maximum word count of 5,000...well, we at Duck Prints Press have been there, we are in fact there right now, as we finish our stories for our upcoming anthology Add Magic to Taste and many of us wrote first drafts that were well over the maximum word count.

So, based on our experiences, here are our suggestions on approaches to help your story shorter...without losing the story you wanted to tell!

Cut weasel words (we wrote a whole post to help you learn how to do that!) such as unnecessary adverbs and adjectives, the “was ~ing” sentence structure, redundant time words such as “a moment later,” and many others.

When reviewing dialog, keep an eye out for “uh,” “er,” “I mean,” “well,” and other casual extra words. A small amount of that kind of language usage can make dialog more realistic, but a little goes a long way, and often a fair number of words can be removed by cutting these words, without negatively impacting your story at all.

Active voice almost always uses fewer words than passive voice, so try to use active voice more (but don’t forget that passive voice is important for varying up your sentence structures and keeping your story interesting, so don’t only write in active voice!).

Look for places where you can replace phrases with single words that mean the same thing. You can often save a lot of words by switching out phrases like “come back” for “return” and seeking out other places where one word can do the work of many.

Cut sentences that add atmosphere but don't forward the plot or grow your characters. (Obviously, use your judgement. Don't cut ALL the flavor, but start by going - I’ve got two sentences that are mostly flavor text - which adds more? And then delete the other, or combine them into one shorter sentence.)

Remove superfluous dialog tags. If it’s clear who’s talking, especially if it’s a conversation between only two people, you can cut all the he saids, she saids.

Look for places where you've written repetitively - at the most basic level, “ ‘hahaha,’ he laughed,” is an example, but repetition is often more subtle, like instances where you give information in once sentence, and then rephrase part or all of that sentence in the next one - it’s better to poke at the two sentences until you think of an effective, and more concise, way to make them into only one sentence. This also goes for scenes - if you’ve got two scenes that tend towards accomplishing the same plot-related goal, consider combining them into one scene.

Have a reason for every sentence, and even every sentence clause (as in, every comma insertion, every part of the sentence, every em dashed inclusion, that kind of thing). Ask yourself - what function does this serve? Have I met that function somewhere else? If it serves no function, or if it’s duplicative, consider cutting it. Or, the answer may be “none,” and you may choose to save it anyway - because it adds flavor, or is very in character for your PoV person, or any of a number of reasons. But if you’re saving it, make sure you’ve done so intentionally. It's important to be aware of what you're trying to do with your words, or else how can you recognize what to cut, and what not to cut?

Likewise, have a reason for every scene. They should all move the story along - whatever the story is, it doesn’t have to be “the end of the world,” your story can be simple and straightforward and sequential...but if you’re working to a word count, your scenes should still forward the story toward that end point. If the scene doesn’t contribute...you may not need them, or you may be able to fold it in with another scene, as suggested in item 6.

Review the worldbuilding you’ve included, and consider what you’re trying to accomplish with your story. A bit of worldbuilding outside of the bare essentials makes a story feel fleshed out, but again, a little can go a long way. If you’ve got lots of “fun” worldbuilding bits that don’t actually forward your plot and aren’t relevant to your characters, cut them. You can always put them as extras in your blog later, but they’ll just make your story clunky if you have a lot of them.

Beware of info-dumps. Often finding a more natural way to integrate that information - showing instead of telling in bits throughout the story - can help reduce word count.

Alternatively - if you over-show, and never tell, this will vastly increase your word count, so consider if there are any places in your story where you can gloss over the details in favor of a shorter more “tell-y” description. You don’t need to go into a minute description of every smile and laugh - sometimes it’s fine to just say, “she was happy” or “she frowned” without going into a long description of their reaction that makes the reader infer that they were happy. (Anyone who unconditionally says “show, don’t tell,” is giving you bad writing advice. It’s much more important to learn to recognize when showing is more appropriate, and when telling is more appropriate, because no story will function as a cohesive whole if it’s all one or all the other.)

If you’ve got long paragraphs, they’re often prime places to look for entire sentences to cut. Read them critically and consider what’s actually helping your story instead of just adding word count chonk.

Try reading some or all of the dialog out loud; if it gets boring, repetitive, or unnecessary, end your scene wherever you start to lose interest, and cut the dialog that came after. If necessary, add a sentence or two of description at the end to make sure the transition is abrupt, but honestly, you often won’t even need to do so - scenes that end at the final punchy point in a discussion often work very well.

Create a specific goal for a scene or chapter. Maybe it’s revealing a specific piece of information, or having a character discover a specific thing, or having a specific unexpected event occur, but, whatever it is, make sure you can say, “this scene/chapter is supposed to accomplish this.” Once you know what you’re trying to do, check if the scene met that goal, make any necessary changes to ensure it does, and cut things that don’t help the scene meet that goal.

Building on the previous one, you can do the same thing, but for your entire story. Starting from the beginning, re-outline the story scene-by-scene and/or chapter-by-chapter, picking out what the main “beats” and most important themes are, and then re-read your draft and make sure you’re hitting those clearly. Consider cutting out the pieces of your story that don’t contribute to those, and definitely cut the pieces that distract from those key moments (unless, of course, the distraction is the point.)

Re-read a section you think could be cut and see if any sentences snag your attention. Poke at that bit until you figure out why - often, it’s because the sentence is unnecessary, poorly worded, unclear, or otherwise superfluous. You can often rewrite the sentence to be clearer, or cut the sentence completely without negatively impacting your work.

Be prepared to cut your darlings; even if you love a sentence or dialog exchange or paragraph, if you are working to a strict word count and it doesn't add anything, it may have to go, and that's okay...even though yes, it will hurt, always, no matter how experienced a writer you are. (Tip? Save your original draft, and/or make a new word doc where you safely tuck your darlings in for the future. Second tip? If you really, really love it...find a way to save it, but understand that to do so, you’ll have to cut something else. It’s often wise to pick one or two favorites and sacrifice the rest to save the best ones. We are not saying “always cut your darlings.” That is terrible writing advice. Don’t always cut your darlings. Writing, and reading your own writing, should bring you joy, even when you’re doing it professionally.)

If you’re having trouble recognizing what in your own work CAN be cut, try implementing the above strategies in different places - cut things, and then re-read, and see how it works, and if it works at all. Sometimes, you’ll realize...you didn’t need any of what you cut. Other times, you’ll realize...it no longer feels like the story you were trying to tell. Fiddle with it until you figure out what you need for it to still feel like your story, and practice that kind of cutting until you get better at recognizing what can and can’t go without having to do as much tweaking.

Lastly...along the lines of the previous...understand that sometimes, cutting your story down to a certain word count will just be impossible. Some stories simply can’t be made very short, and others simply can’t be told at length. If you’re really struggling, it’s important to consider that your story just...isn’t going to work at that word count. And that’s okay. Go back to the drawing board, and try again - you’ll also get better at learning what stories you can tell, in your style, using your own writing voice, at different word counts. It’s not something you’ll just know how to do - that kind of estimating is a skill, just like all other writing abilities.

As with all our writing advice - there’s no one way to tackle cutting stories for length, and also, which of these strategies is most appropriate will depend on what kind of story you’re writing, how much over-length it is, what your target market is, your characters, and your personal writing style. Try different ones, and see which work for you - the most important aspect is to learn to read your own writing critically enough that you are able to recognize what you can cut, and then from that standpoint, use your expertise to decide what you should cut, which is definitely not always the same thing. Lots of details can be cut - but a story with all of the flavor and individuality removed should never be your goal.

Contributions to this post were made by @unforth, @jhoomwrites, @alecjmarsh, @shealynn88, @foxymoley, @willablythe, and @owlishintergalactic, and their input has been used with their knowledge and explicit permission. Thanks, everyone, for helping us consider different ways to shorten stories!

#writing advice #duck prints press #original content

[strosmkai-rum]

writing resources masterlist.

i have to admit. my first reason for doing this was to spite my brain because it wouldn’t write. so, instead, i made this. 

so here. 160+ links. gathered from a million questionable google searches, and some more crawling through mobile chrome tabs for 11 hours. anyways, enjoy!

where to write!

some popular platforms:

google docs is my choice for writing. it’s free, auto saves, you can access your stuff on mobile, pc, tablet, etc., and great for multi person collabs + link sharing. but, you need internet to use it, and for big documents (upwards of 55k words) it takes a while to load on pc, and editing on mobile is damn near impossible. 

scrivener is great too, and has the binder, which is great for organizing stuff. however, the mac version is way, way ahead of the pc in terms of updated versions. i mean, the pc version is still useable. and, it’s pretty expensive at $45 usd. 

microsoft word is really popular, and used pretty much everywhere. there’s templates and you can save documents in different formats, and compatible with other microsoft office programs too. it’s also a bit complicated at the start, but tbh most software is gonna be like that. sort of in the same boat as scrivener, as in, it costs money. usually a subscription, but if you decide to buy it flat out, it’s even more pricy, but def worth it imo. 

other writing platforms:

zenwriter 3 for windows and mac - $17.50 usd

focuswriter - free

libreoffice - free

credit to @scribeofred for help with this. she has an amazing writing blog that’s super helpful, so definitely check it out! and she’s a professional editor, so it’s coming from someone who knows what they’re doing. 

writing by hand is great too. some people can focus better that way, or, if you have a drawing tablet, you can write get the feeling of writing, and have it digitally too. 

of course, you could just type into your notes app, or ao3, or a tumblr draft post, but let’s not-

focusing!

spotify, youtube premium, and tidal are all great for listening to music. all of them, except for the free version of spotify, have a subscription. 

but maybe music isn’t your thing! here’s some more stuff: 

rainforme is a rain/thunder player with adjustable volume

coffitivity for café ambience

ambient mixer has a ton of different ambience, and even lets you create your own.

noisli has playlists for different situations and has a built in timer and editor.

asoftmurmur lets you make your own mixes with their own, generally nature-focused sounds. 

tabletopaudio with a focus on fantasy/noir ambience

mynoise has a lot of variety in sounds, including a...black hole

forest is an app/extension that grows a forest, for however long you manage to stay off of blacklisted sites, and dies when you revisit them. good for studying or a distraction-free writing experience (if you’ve got the restraint for it), but if you need resources on hand to write, this might not be good for you. 

moodboards!

wanna make a moodboard? lit! here’s some ways to get your images. 

unsplash (my journalism teacher, out of all the people recommended it to us. regardless, it’s a great way to source copyright free and not-stolen images.)

canva is much the same with no copyright issues, and actually lets you design the board on the site. 

adobe spark is also good and free.

now. pinterest. don’t get me wrong, it’s great for finding images. but it’s full of stolen images and all. so, maybe don’t source your stuff from there. 

character development!

behind the name name generator for different ethnicities, includes other character info like physical stats, language, age, blood type, cause of death, etc.

16personalities personality test

character flaws

how to create a character profile + worksheet below

big-ass character sheet (that’s the name) for making a wildly detailed overview of your character.

the most epic character chart ever (again, the name), a 12 page chart for your character.

character archetypes

character questionnaire

a super in-depth questionnaire for all stages of your character’s life

character development

creating a look for your character!

so maybe you’re not great at drawing. that’s okay! 

first off, there’s a ton of amazing, talented artists here, that you can commission to get a picture of your character done. i’d definitely point you towards them first, because you help support them, and you also get some gorgeous art too!

but if you don’t have the funds for that right now, here’s some generators, to have one regardless.

picrew’s really popular, so here’s some generators i found, with social media linked for credit:

sky: children of light character maker (i didn’t see any social media, just a link to the game’s terms of service) aka the one i use in my tumblr prof pic

among us character creator (@NetherHeartz on twitter)

icon maker (@lullindo on twitter/instagram)

another icon maker (tumblr)

character maker (tumblr, twitter, instagram)

girl maker (tumblr)

fantasy girl maker (twitter)

aesthetic girl maker (@rileydixondesign on instagram)

boy maker (@hellomadjackass on twitter/instagram)

another boy maker (tumblr, @GigiliJiggly on twitter, @gigili_jiggly on instagram)

western boys (@mosssygator on twitter)

and toyhou.se is great for storing your character.

prompt generators!

a list of different generators depending on what you need

pretty much the same as above

pretty much the same as above again

same again-

127 prompts if you’re writing about yourself

science fiction plot generator

random generators

map making!

cartographer’s guild is a website dedicated to map making, so a TON of resources on geography and landscape and whatnot.

inkarnate is for making your own fantasy maps, they have a free and a pro version but the free one is def enough to get going!

worldanvil is awesome for worldbuilding in general. 

nat geo has an awesome interactive world map, with options to see a ton more info like population density, animal populations, language diversity, and just a lot of stuff in general for irl maps. 

mapchart is great for irl custom maps. 

this one is also good, a bit laggy and auto-generates a map, but def useable. here’s a how-to for it. 

geoguesser lets you pick somewhere on the world map, and it’ll show you that location on google maps. 

and of course, there’s the classic ‘spill uncooked rice/macaroni on paper, trace the outline, and go from there’ technique. 

medication/wounds!

drug index to find specific medication and side effects

medicine name generator to make your own!

how drugs are named!

writing realistic injuries

writing realistic injuries 2

wound term definitions

wound documentation

interactive 3d human body with viewable layers

broken bones

bruise colors

entrance + exit wounds

gunshot injuries

stab wounds 

blood clotting and bleeding disorders

blood clotting and bleeding disorders 2 electric boogaloo

general info on bleeding to death

deathreference aka the encyclopedia of death and dying, alphabetized

how to write gore and examples

crime writing!

poisons

the human body after death

body changes after death

corpse decomposition

killing someone (not as easy as it seems)

three essays on political corruption

criminal law

usa state laws

an fairly simple overview of uk law

legal system in the uk

more guides to uk law

used + abused drugs

a-z list of illicit substances

paper on drug use, trade, and prices

64-page long paper on economic and social consequences of drug abuse + trafficking

70 page crime scene checklist

illustrated guide on kitchen knives

history of combat knives

firearms

more on types of guns

college of policing published research

forensic document examination + downloadable as pdfs (check the sidebars for many more topics)

more in-depth guide of forensic document examination and forgeries

more forensic science topics

crime scene investigation/forensics articles

serial murder

havocscope for black market/underground stuff, and more pages on corruption and organized crime

general overview of political corruption

homicide investigation procedures

psychology of famous criminals

faqs about human trafficking

fingerprints and black powder

pathology guides

understanding injuries

analyzing bodies

crime scene response and procedures 

the fbi can actually help you write your story as well, here.

more resources!

if you’re esl or struggle with grammar, this might help. 

fight scene advice (i see a lot of writers struggle with this, including me, but this helped a ton.)

more help on fight scenes

info on first drafts

editing vs. revising

10 things that might be stopping you from writing

language vs. dialect

a bunch of generators for cities and names

mithrilandmages name generators and lists (fantasy + modern generators)

over 100+ generators for a ton of fandoms 

medieval bestiary

greek mythology bestiary

norse gods and creatures

more norse mythology

scandinavian folklore

more scandinavian folklore

mythical creatures masterlist (not as in-depth as the bestiaries, but if you need ideas/a general overview, this is really good)

different types of povs

more pov stuff

more povs with definitions and lots of examples

how to choose your pov

gestures + body language masterlist

facial expressions masterlist

voice library with sounds according to different emotions (warning: they automatically play when you hover your mouse over them so lower your damn volume when you do, because some of them are really. uh. moany.)

printable storyboards

online storyboard making

writing, roleplaying + worldbuilding (advice on pretty much anything you could name)

some cool french phrases

essaytyper

harvard’s essay writing resources

tips on writing grief

a ton of different essays on writing topics

638 character traits

color shades + names 1, 2, 3, 4

alphabetical list of colors

date calculator

every literary device

animal tracking

compound bows, draw length + weight

famous last words

bite force of different animals

tips on writing accents

unique fracture patterns in glass/glassy polymers

a-z of careers

types of swords

general advice!

jot down ideas when you get them! 

don’t force yourself to write, or else you’ll burn out. and that’s never good. 

have snacks and drinks handy if you’re going to be writing for an extended amount of time. even if you’re not, your brain needs fuel to run.

so, drinks like tea and water. snacks that aren’t oily/greasy or crumbly (i mean, do you really want that on your paper or keyboard?), 

and on that note, for god’s sake use the bathroom frequently. 

if you have difficulty concentrating, get something like a fidget cube or something to help. or take a nap.

if you don’t think your writing is good at first, just keep. writing. it’s a skill, and the more you write, the better you’ll get.

beta readers and outside opinions are very helpful. and please, never antagonize them first. 

first drafts are messy! and done > perfect the first time around.

probably more stuff but it’s been 11+ hours and i want to play skyrim already so take it.  

#writing #resources #my brain did this instead of write #what do i tag here #crime #forensic science #writeblr

[sparkingstoryinspiration]

Outlining and plot development

Wherever you fall on the spectrum of pantser to plotter to throwing pens at your computer and hoping your story will write itself (that’s a self callout) here is a guide (that no one asked for!) to plotting your story! 

Is this going to be an exhaustive list of everything you have to do to write the next NYT bestseller? no. This is, like everything else on this blog, a summary of ideas. They won’t all apply, they won’t all work for everyone, they won’t cover everything, but it’s a start. That’s the best part of the writing prompt business, you supply the inspiration and other people do the hard work! 

Okay, let’s get into it 

1. What story are you telling? 

Now, I’m going to be really honest with you here. If you don’t know this, you have a lot of work to do. And that’s okay! 

Take some time to flesh out your idea. Wherever you start, I promise you there’s more in your head waiting to be discovered. Take out a piece of paper, open up a new document, write it on your walls! (we will NOT be covering lost security deposits!) and do some brainstorming. 

The basic elements of a story are 

- characters 

- conflict 

- resolution 

- plot twist(s) 

- setting/background (think physical setting where the story takes place and informational setting, worldbuilding, context, etc) 

We have a post on developing characters here and posts on the other elements are in the works! I wish I could say they’ll be posted in a timely manner but . . . they won’t, they just won’t lmao I’m sorry 

You don’t have to have all of these points completely figured out before you move onto plotting! In fact, you shouldn’t! Or, if you think you do, be open to change because it’s important to remember that all these points, especially characters, are heavily affected by the plot! 

2. How are you telling this story? 

This is for the technical stuff. 

What does the formatting look like? Are you breaking it up into chapters? Parts? Not everyone writes drafts like this so that’s okay, maybe you’re going to write out of order, maybe you’ll break it up after, whatever works for you though I highly encourage you to switch it up every now and then and see if anything works better for you than what you’ve been doing. 

3. Consider the usual structure of a story 

There are a lot of these, try not to get overwhelmed or too snagged on any of them but here are two interesting ones! 

The first is the three act structure, we’re all pretty familiar with this. 

Think of an action movie, it starts with a small introduction, it introduces a main character, side characters, stakes, a setting. Then the conflict happens! 

BAM! the beloved spy is thought to be a traitor, their family is being held hostage and they have to betray everyone they work with to save them, they have a horrible secret that’s coming back to bite them in the ass. Whatever it is, this moves us into the second act, the journey, the trials, whatever you want to call them. 

This is the largest part of the story and the tension continues to build until we reach the climax of the story. They save they world, or their family, or themselves, or they don’t. Whatever it is, this results in the final act where the action falls, everything is resolved, and the story is over (unless a sequel is set up but that’s a whole other issue), you get the idea. 

(image found here) 

Another popular structure is the hero cycle which echoes the three act structure but focuses particularly on, you guessed it! Heroes! 

(image found here) 

Let’s take a popular storybook hero as an example here, Percy Jackson. (Needless to say, there will be spoilers if you, for some terrible reason, have not read Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief) 

All of these milestones are a little debatable but I’ll pick a few to use as examples. 

Percy begins his story, he is introduced as a character, I could write a whole essay on Percy’s development and the incredible writing of Rick Riordan (lmao, I have) but I’ll try to keep this brief. 

When his mother is kidnapped, he has a call to action, a goal: to save his mother. 

He crosses a very literal threshold into Camp Half Blood and his story begins. 

He goes through many trials and tests, Medusa, St. Louis, Waterland, the Lotus Hotel, and so on. 

It’s called abyss here but I learned it as the final battle, in PJO Percy faces Ares. This is very similar to the climax and falling action of the three act structure. Following this, loose ends are tied up, characters complete their journeys and their arcs, and the hero returns. 

It’s very fascinating, I highly recommend reading up on it. Again, you’ll find many many stories you read follow this structure. 

There are literally so many of these and if you’re interested, here’s a link to some more. Keep in mind, your story doesn’t have to fit these perfectly but even if you’ve planned out a story without these in mind, you’ll probably find most, if not all of it, fits pretty well within these lines. They can also help with pacing, if your first act is most of your story, you may need to move your conflict and stakes up earlier in the story to maintain interest. 

4. Now you outline 

Obviously not everyone outlines. Personally, I cannot understand this at all. Now, since this entire post is about plotting and outlining, we’re not really going to talk about pantsing because . . . that kind of defeats the point of this post. But! If you have anything to say about pantsing, tips, tricks, personal experiences, by all means, reblog this and add them! I don’t have any experience with pantsing so I really don’t have much to say on the topic. 

There are lots of different ways to outline a story. Personally, I recommend starting big. Think acts and parts, find your conflict and your stakes, you know you have to introduce your character and the world, how are you going to do that? That goes first, then stakes, so we care and then conflict, so the thing we care about is, well, at stake. 

Chronologically, you have the journey now, but let’s take a minute to talk about the end. 

4.5. How does it end? 

Even if you’re a pantser, I really, really recommend that you know how your story ends. Having a point you want to get to can make a world of difference in the process of planning and writing a story. Sure, you can run a marathon without setting an end point, but it’ll slow you down if you’re always checking to see what mile you’re on. 

So how does it end? Happy? Sad? Who is there? Logically speaking, your antagonist and protagonist should usually be present, supporting characters? How does it end, does the protagonist prevail and save the day? Is it a cliff hanger? If it’s a race to an end, who gets there first and what does it mean? 

Find your ending, and then work on your middle. 

5. The smaller picture 

If you have the main points (a beginning and an ending, the conflict and the stakes, your characters), now you can start thinking about the smaller details. 

You have an ending so what needs to happen to get your character(s) there? Consider your minor characters, where do they come in? Make sure they have a purpose! 

Keep in mind, in the first draft and even the second and for as long as you need it to be, your outline is fluid. You may very well be writing your project and realize the pacing isn’t right, or that something needs to happen later in the story, or that you need to add a scene. Then, when it comes to editing and redrafting, it’s likely that you’ll change it even more. 

Try not to get caught up in it being perfect, that’s not what first drafts are for. Make it workable and approach it with an open mind, things are going to change, that’s a given. 

6. Write your story! 

A few notes on this. As one of my favorite authors, Neil Gaiman says, “the process of doing your second draft is the process of making it look like you knew what you were doing all along.” 

So once you’re done with your first draft and the time comes to redraft it and you’re working on your outline, now is the perfect time to add your foreshadowing and rework your plot twists. This isn’t to say they don’t have a place in your first draft, they do, give it your best shot! But your story is fluid and your outline and plans are bound to have changed and your editing stages are the best stages to really make sure foreshadowing, plot twists, and all or acts or hero cycle, or whatever you want to call it, works together. 

And this concludes another guide that no one asked for. I hope you enjoyed it and if you have any suggestions for ones you’d like to see we currently have plot twists, endings, motivation, and more in the works! 

Happy writing! 

- Mod S 

p.s. these can be found on our blog under the tag story development series! 

#writing #ideas #inspiration #writing ideas #writing inspiration #stories #story ideas #story inspiration #plot development #outlining #the hero cycle #three act story #story structure #story development series #plot bunnies #story starters #story sparks

[discocritic]

putting this under a cut because this bitch got long. 

first, let me welcome you to the fandom. since we’re a pretty small one, it’s always exciting to hear more people are joining! 

my advice for you is just basically what i wish i knew when first joining the fandom a couple years ago. the danger days album, comics, and twitters are the three main pieces of media that the universe is made up of, and some of those can be a challenge to navigate (because i was sure as hell confused when i started trying to figure everything out), so i'll outline some things you might want to know!

i'm assuming you've listened to the main danger days: true lives of the fabulous killjoys album, but there are a couple of bonus songs such as "zero percent" and "we don't need another song about california." those aren't on spotify, as far as i know, but you can find multiple audio/lyric videos on youtube.

there's also a 3-track EP called the mad gear and missile kid that includes the songs "f.t.w.w.w.," "mastas of ravenkroft," and "black dragon fighting society." tmgamk is described in an interview by mcr as a band that the killjoys would listen to. these are also not on spotify but, like the other songs, can be found on youtube.

if you don't want to buy the comics but still want to read them, i know of two (legal) ways to do that. this youtube playlist has videos that show each page of the comics, and this post has pictures of each page.

there are two danger days wikis (with comic spoilers! so beware), but one of them is way more useful and people don't tamper with the information in it.

there's also another little extra comic thing called "dead satellites" that was released for free comic book day a few years ago. it doesn't really have anything to do with the main storyline of the actual comics, but it does offer a glimpse of battery city life and zone bands, which is cool.

there are character twitter accounts for dr. death-defying, party poison, dj hot chimp, newsagogo, agent cherri cola, and gary levko (i may be missing some; i don’t really pay attention to the twitters lmao). here’s a link to dr. d’s and you should be able to find links to the rest through his tweets. 

i would also suggest checking out the danger days side of tumblr! (although you sent this ask to me so i'm assuming you've started this step already.) starting a danger days blog is a great way to get to know other members in the fandom while creating content of your own, and if you send asks to any of the blogs i'm about to mention, i'm sure they'll be glad to interact with you!

@killjoyhistory is a goddamn lifesaver. everything you could ever want to know about the danger days world is collected and archived at this blog, whether it's behind-the-scenes content from the music videos to interviews with the band where they mention danger days to forgotten concepts from the first drafts of the comics!

@graffitibible writes the most in-depth danger days fics with the best characterization and plots i have ever read. and they've come up with some super cool explanations for things in the DD universe. definitely check them out. 

@neon-rat posts tons of great headcanons and has an ongoing fic series called How To Navigate and Contemplate (and i'm promo-ing this because i cannot fucking wait for the next chapter to come out!). Although you should probably read her first fic, How Time Decides, on ao3 for the current one to make sense!

speaking of fics, @enby-partypoison has multiple different DD AUs! with everything from superheroes to ghosts to modern-day, aer ao3 will have something for you! i also had the privilege of working with aer to organize a holiday gift exchange the past december, so ae gets bonus points for that :)

if it's worldbuilding you want, @ruination-formation has tons of headcanons about places and people in both the zones and the city. she also writes tons of fics on her ao3 that you should check out as well.

@tapefish, @funkobraofficial, and @ravenxbones make amazing killjoy art! sometimes i just have to sit down and scroll through their art tags because everything they create is absolutely fantastic.

there are so many other amazing blogs i could mention, but these are a few that happened to come to mind when i was typing this out. but seriously, fire an ask towards any blog and i'm sure they'll be more than willing to answer it!

anyway, i’m going to end this now, because most of this was drafted as i sat in a drive-through for half an hour and lost track of its length, but i hope at least some of this has helped! and of course feel free to drop by my inbox again if you have any questions. 

#long post #danger days #advice #ref #asks

[wordsnstuff]

this will sound very dumb. i am sorry if this question is not important enough but how do i start writing? back in 2017 and 2018, i used to write so well but after i had to sit for board exams. i stopped everything to foucs on studies. now i have so many ideas and characters i want to develope but no way to start my story ): (sorry english isn't my native and i am working everyday to improve it)

This blog is now my full-time job and first-priority, so your support and engagement is critical to keep this content regular and free of charge! Please consider Buying Me A Coffee for $3 or supporting me on Patreon for $5 a month (or more if you’d like).

—

Your english is lovely, don’t worry, and there’s no question too small on this blog :)

**I link to various posts throughout this response that may help with the questions you’ve raised. 

I fully understand the struggle of having all of the ideas in your head, ready to go but your hand gets stuck or you’re not quite sure where to start. I would recommend starting by writing your ideas (all of them, even the ones you’re unsure of) down in one place. At least you won’t have to sidetrack while you’re working with them to try and remember or place that one thing you’re forgetting. 

Have them all in one place, ready to be molded, and then start with whichever element you feel will drive the story you’re building, which is usually either characters, conflict, or world building. Then, develop each aspect mentioned to the extent matching the amount of time it occupies in the story. If your story is character-driven, you may want to go more in depth when getting to know them and rounding them out by doing things like interviewing them, or using multiple resources to analyze and complicate them. 

Once you feel like you’ve gotten to know your main character, the antagonist, and a few secondary characters, you’d want to either start zero drafting, which is basically just telling yourself the story for the first time by rapidly drafting a loose, not-for-anyone-else’s-eyes version of the story as you develop it in your own head, or you want to begin outlining, which is much more meticulous and takes more time, but makes the first draft smoother (in my experience). In the outline, you can focus on including everything that the reader needs from a story in the first draft so that when you reach the second draft, it’s mostly about the actual words and organization of the plot, rather than honing the more stylistic, subtextual aspects of the story. However, it’s important to know when to stop planning, because with heavy outlining, you always run the risk of running out of steam for your story.

The second draft is when the story starts to come together, where you begin to cut, rewrite, rearrange, add and fiddle with scenes. You want to make sure that the characters, setting, and conflict are all as developed as you want them to be, and make turn the original idea into a full story. 

This is the point where you decide for yourself where you want to go with it, because around this point in your effort to get back into writing, you should feel more comfortable and re-engaged in the process and routine. If you have anymore questions, feel free to follow up!

Resources Relevant to Your Question:

Character Driven vs. Plot Driven Stories

Writing In Your Non-Native Language

Writing The First Chapter

Powering Through The Zero-Draft Phase

Useful Writing Resources | Part II

Interview As Your Characters

Resources For Creating Characters

Resources For Plot Development

Guide To Plot Development

Novel Planning 101

Things A Reader Needs From A Story

How To Turn A Good Idea Into A Good Story

When To Stop Planning

How To Start A Novel

Making A Story Come Together

Coming Up With Scene Ideas

Building Upon A Good Premise

Coming Up With “Original” Ideas

Resources For Worldbuilding

Improving Your General Writing Skills | Part II

Beginning A Story & Sticking With It

—

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& much more!

#writeblr #writespo #authors of tumblr #writers of tumblr #writing #writing tips #writing advice #writing help #resources for writers #writing reference #authorblr #amwriting #nanowrimo #character development #plot development

[theastrophilearchitect]

A new project.

Because the first one wasn’t working. Writing journey #3.

Tue 30/03/2021 - ‘Bay Tree’ Word Count: 42,150 07.27 Hello! So I established in my last writing update that I was taking a break from my WIP ‘Bay Tree’, to return May 10th, and even though I’m not writing today, I just wanted to say that taking a break feels amazing. I’m focusing on reading (granted, I’ve been reading House of Earth and Blood for like two weeks) and it’s really helping ideas for edits develop. 

In my draft, I got to chapter 13 (I think) of twenty-something (because I didn’t fully outline the climax, so I’m unclear as to how many chapters there will ultimately be) but I just don’t think I can get all the way through a draft without first doing some developmental edits. So, for the next few weeks, I’m going to note the changes I think I could make, then figure out which ones I won’t implement, then how I will implement the others on May 10th.

In the meantime, this Thursday, I’m going to start working on a new WIP, which I have quite a clear idea for, but obviously need to develop the plot. So that’s it for today, and I’ll update again for my new project on Thursday April 1st.

Thu 01/04/2021 09.54 It is Thursday! I’m free for a couple weeks! Which means it’s time to start working on a new project. My goal for the day is just to compile some of the various ideas I have into something vaguely cohesive, then I’ll develop it tomorrow, and hopefully make a skeletal outline on Saturday, scene block on Sunday... I’m going to shut up before I set myself a thousand insane deadlines, but I’d like to have started a draft by the end of my free time. So, let’s go.

Wow. Blank documents really are intimidating, aren’t they?

13.04 I already had my core concept, but now I have almost a justification for it--why it happens, and I think I want to build up my world first, then characters, because knowing the world and its various peoples will allow me to figure out how exactly they fit in and develop their motivations, then finally do the plot. I’ll only work out the three characters I’m currently certain will be integral for the plot, because I don’t want to waste time on developing characters who are ultimately unnecessary, like I did in the earliest days of Bay Tree. 

Basically, with a world, I can work out motivations; with motivations, I can work out characters, and with characters, I can create a character-driven plot. I want to focus on creating both lovable characters and a memorable plot--I know all my favourite books have memorable characters, but the ones I enjoy the absolute most are the ones where it doesn’t feel like the plot only exists to drive the characters into relationships (I’m looking at you, Cassandra Clare. Seriously, I love Shadowhunters books, but the technically ‘main’ plots always feel second to the subplots).

Fri 02/04/2021 08.16 Honestly, didn’t get too much done yesterday. Mostly because I ended up down a rabbit hole of researching (though I do think what I learned will help me to form my world), and I was busier than I expected to be. Regardless, I think I want to make this a series. I have a feeling Bay Tree is also going to become at least two books when I revisit it, but I’m going to go into this one with that intention.

Obviously I don’t know how long it will be right now, but I think I’m going to aim for three books, then let it shape itself.

12.25 I just spent an hour writing out a history of the world and how it got to where it is. This is really fun, but really intense.

16.36 So, I have a rough plot in mind. I have an ending, a catalyst, a backstory for the world, and a few characters. And a lot of things that need names. I waited a really long time to name my characters in Bay Tree, thinking they’d be easier to name when I had then conceptualised, which makes sense, but I’d given them numbers with which to refer to them until that point, so it was a long time before my protagonist became her actual name instead of just ‘3′, despite the fact she technically became 2 because I had to cut 1.

Anyway, going to pick names, then let nominative determinism do its thing.

Jesus, I have no good male names. I keep a list of names, first and last, I like for use, but I have so many more female ones than I do male.

In Bay Tree, I used MBTIs as a starting point for personalities, which I’m planning to do here, especially since I know the types so much better now, but I want names first.

Maybe I just ought to choose this specific character’s surname first. Maybe he goes by his surname, or some variation thereupon (like how Daniel Arlington from Ninth House goes by Darlington).

Maybe he doesn’t need a name. Maybe we literally just call him Hero Guy.

God, screw this. He’s Hero Guy until either it comes to me, or I have no choice but to name him.

Sat 03/04/2021 11.15 I feel like crap today. I’ve been doing nothing for three hours, and I, quite frankly, need to get something done. So I’m going to write.

12.41 Wow, initial development really is the hardest bit of the process, huh?

Sun 04/04/2021 08.04 I’d really like to do more worldbuilding first, and character development, but it’s difficult when I don’t know the different parts’ roles. So, today, I’m going to attempt to outline the primary plot points of the three books. Attempt being the operative word here.

13.41 Honestly, yeah, I’m struggling with the plot. I think I managed to get Bay Tree’s plot so fast when I sat down to actually write it because it had been on my brain for a couple weeks, whereas I literally started this project three days ago.

Maybe that’s how I’ll handle this--when I hit a wall with one project, I work on the other to give myself some distance. Working on Bay Tree requires less thought anyway, because that plot’s already mostly figured out. Yeah. I think I’m going to revisit Bay Tree, but for reference’s sake, I’m going to dub the new project... eh... the first thing that came to mind was ‘Feather President’ which is more related to the actual content than ‘Bay Tree’, but it sounds so much crazier. I want to dub it something that actually could be a title, even if it definitely won’t be the final title, because I don’t want people to look at my blog, see ‘Feather President’ in the pinned post and immediately assume I’m insane.

Could always just use an acronym. Let’s go with FSB; those are one of the character’s (also the only character who so far has a name) initials, which may ultimately change, but it works for now. Bay Tree and FSB.

I’m going to end this particular writing stint here and come back in a couple hours, at which point I’m going to switch back to Bay Tree.

I should really stop planning so far ahead when my plans will inevitably change.

15.40 So here’s the plan I currently have that I definitely won’t stick to: at the start of each week, I’ll determine which project I work on (operating Monday-Sunday; if you think the week starts any day but Monday, you’re wrong, and I’m not sorry), and only work on that project throughout the week. So I’ll work on Bay Tree this week, and FSB next week.

I’m going to let myself work on a project for more than one week at a time, but I think I’m going to say I can only work on one for three consecutive weeks before I have to switch to the other. This seems like a good way to stay excited. Yes.

This second? Not completely sure. Might just go read and deal with it tomorrow.

Mon 05/04/2021 - ‘Bay Tree’ 11.37 Actually really glad I just sat down and read--I read about 200 pages yesterday in total, which meant I could easily finish the last 100 pages this morning. So I finished Starsight (the recent reads post will probably be up by the time this one is)--was anyone aware the A Court of Silver Flames paperback is £24 on Amazon? Anyone?

Anyway, we’re returning to Bay Tree today, after nearly two weeks (I know that’s not even long), and I’m going to attempt to implement my edits, by which I mean I’m going to put scene changes at the bottom in brackets, then technically implement them when I redraft.

Tue 06/04/2021 - ‘Bay Tree’ 09.11 I didn’t exactly accomplish much yesterday. I spent a good few hours just watching YouTube, because I didn’t have any motivation to do work, which screwed up my schedule, and I did no writing aside from transferring my list of edits from my phone to my document. I started reading Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater, but didn’t get very far in--I’m obsessed with Stiefvater’s writing style; it’s the perfect mix between typical prose and fairytale-style storytelling. Anyway.

I’m going to switch to a new Scrivener project for the sake of cleaning it up--Bay Tree is a hot mess right now--and hopefully begin to implement my edits--maybe not today, but certainly this week.

Thu 08/04/2021 - ‘Bay Tree’ 16.53 So I haven’t yet had a day where I’ve done nothing (since my break finished), but the last couple days I’ve just been doing tiny amounts of what I’m calling ‘reference pruning’, where I’m just editing and clarifying character, worldbuilding and location documents. I’ve ‘pruned’ five character references, and I hate it. It needs to be done, but it doesn’t need to be done now. I’ve decided I’m just going to completely clear out the new Scrivener project I started for Bay Tree, and add stuff to it as it becomes necessary. I’m going to make notes of overarching edits (stuff I can’t just note at the bottom of a scene), and just get started with draft 1.7, adding and editing references as it becomes necessary. I’m also going to say I just need to spend an hour writing a day, rather than a word minimum.

Okay. Edits established. Things to bear in mind established. I need to go through the character profile for the POV character in chapter one, then we can get started. Or rather, I’ll get started tomorrow, because I need to go cook soon, and even if I do have time after dinner, I’m not going to, because I’m going to read then. Okay. Character.

I’m getting excited again!

Oh, and the setting. I need to do the setting document.

I’d like to draw attention tot he fact one of my character documents describes her as having ‘black upturned gold eyes.’ 

Clearly I couldn’t pick a colour, but now I’m inspired to give her heterochromia.

Character done, and setting undone, but I need to go cook now, so I’ll pick this back up tomorrow, when I may also do some actual work.

I just hope these posts give someone security in that writing is a messy process, and you don’t have to be perfect all the time to be a) competent, and b) a writer. I’m a competent writer, and I’ve only ever written about 60% of a draft. But I’m still going, still trying, and that’s the point.

Fri 09/04/2021 - ‘Bay Tree’: 484 words 09.15 Okay. So we’re redrafting, and this is like my fourth draft of the first chapter, so let’s just go.

Sun 11/04/2021 - ‘Bay Tree’: 576 words 09.01 Yeah, I missed yesterday. Ironically, having time off seems to be making productivity more difficult, despite the fact I actually have time for it. 

09.19 I feel like this project is making me stagnate. I think what I have is almost subconsciously tying me down, preventing me from improving, but I don’t want to just restart, because I want my bases, and it’s so ingrained in my head, I can’t physically start from scratch. Crap.

I think it needs to sit for longer. Crap.

It’s alright. I mean, it sucks, but it’s alright. It’s not like there’s any ideal age to become an author anyway, and I’m a long way off the average. I have time, and if it takes shelving projects now to complete better ones later, so be it. Maybe I’ll return to Bay Tree in a few weeks, or a few months, or a few years, or never, but I’ve learnt a lot from it.

So we move on.

Mon 12/04/2021 - FSB 08.05 This post is such a mess. I’m a mess at the moment. Today, we’re just continuing to work on FSB’s plot, and I think I’m already going to change the name of the character whose initials are FSB, so its nickname will probably change, too.

I had a trilogy in mind, but looking at it now, I think a duology will be best to convey the arc I have in mind.

21.51 I’ve actually accomplished quite a lot today--I’ve mostly been doing character profiles, but that helps me form tidbits to add to the story, which I can eventually string together. We’re progressing.

Tue 13/04/2021 - FSB 08.37 Hello! I think I can safely come to the conclusion I prefer development to actual drafting. Anyway, today I’m going to focus on completing the character profile for my other protagonist and do a little more work on another important figure. Then, I hope to be able to figure out the drive of the main plot in book one.

On another note, I am debating whether to plan out two books or three. Mulling it over, I think three books would give a more fulfilling arc, but it depends if I can work out enough content for the main plot. We’ll see.

Yeah, it’s going to be three. Two just can’t carry the impact I want.

20.00 I made pretty good progress today, but I just wanted to make the point I’m a lot more confident this project will hold my interest for longer than Bay Tree. This was something ruminating in the back of my mind for weeks, that I was desperate to write, where Bay Tree was very much a ‘sit down, make something up’ process at the beginning. Anyway, I think I’m done writing for the day, and I’ll get back to this tomorrow. (Because unlike most writers, I have a functional sleep schedule)

Wed 14/04/2021 09.19 Honestly, my head is empty right now, so I really need to open my project before determining what I want to do today.

Okay, so we’re basically just going to continue filling in holes.

14.50 Working out the plot, I’m pretty confident I’ve got the A plot covered, which the B plot will fit into, but I need more subplots.

Thu 15/04/2021 10.12 I want to work this one out mostly on the fly. I have nearly the whole of book one plotted out, but I want to work out the fine details as I write it; as I go, I’ll add more detail to my outlines of two and three. But for now, book one.

15.28 I’ve got basically the whole of book one covered; there’s just a gaping hole in act one, that I’m not sure I can fill. I mean, I can fill it, and I will, but I don’t feel like it’ll be that intentional of a thing. I think it’ll be more of an accidental idea that happens to flourish, but I’m going to keep working nonetheless.

Fri 16/04/2021 14.08 Good afternoon! I would’ve started writing earlier, but I wanted to catch up on the reading I didn’t do yesterday to make sure I finish A Court of Silver Flames within a week, so I can return the ebook and get a refund, because, despite being £6 cheaper than the paperback, it still cost me £8, and I want my money back. (Seriously, the paperback is fourteen pounds on amazon. Which is nearly twenty dollars. Which is pretty standard for a hardback, but it’s the paperback.) I’m about ten pages off meeting my minimum for the day (though I need to surpass that if I do want to finish it within a week), but it’s writing time.

14.37 I’m still establishing how, exactly, it applies, but I think I’ve solved it!

Definitely happy that as I’m planning, all I want is to make the characters happy, because I already love them so much. But they don’t get to be.

I have a section on a Pinterest board that’s just called ‘Simping’, and is just pictures of couples doing cute as shit things, and I literally just want my characters to dance together. Always. In Bay Tree, in FSB. Just dancing.

15.04 I have book one covered. It still needs development, scene development, but I can now move on to outlining book two, during which I’ll continue to develop one, integrate themes and such. 

Honestly, the plot falling into place is absolutely the most exciting part of writing. I get an adrenaline rush (yes, while sitting in a chair, typing), I start to love the characters, the world, the story... ahhhh.

I’m actually really satisfied with how the plot seems to be going.

16.44 The word ambiguous has too many Us in it. Three vowels in a row??? And the vowel sequence is a palindrome?? Don’t want it. 

I’m just sat here discovering new music. And it’s all so good and so dramatic and so perfect.

Okay, why do I have to come up with ideas so easily when I don’t need them? Then when I do I have nothing?

17.51 And just to clarify now, this post will actually end with Sunday the 18th, because after that I’m going to take three weeks completely off writing (aside from noting ideas), because I have a lot going on, then I’ll return on May 10th.

Note to self: develop a character who isn’t one of your two protagonists.

Sat 17/04/2021 10.23 I’m thinking I ought to do a more in-depth outline of book one before doing the basis of book two. Help me set up subplots and so on. Yanno, because other characters need some kind of agency, and I currently basically have two characters.

Sun 18/04/2021  08.52 I managed to plot out Bay Tree so fast because I’d already done so much development--plot was the only thing I was still missing. Anyway, I’m having a minor crisis. I think I’m a plotter, but I’m not entirely certain. It clearly didn’t work for Bay Tree. I think I may just start a draft of FSB now, and hope that lets me work out the other two books as I go.

In one of my excessive plans I will probably fail to stick to: I think I’d like to write a draft of the whole trilogy, all the way through, before even editing book one. I’ll obviously make notes of edits as I go, write as if I’ve already made them, eg. if, while writing book two, I have an idea for a book one edit, I’ll write book two as if I’ve already implemented it, which means I’ll have a little less editing to do of book two.

I have this all planned out in my head, but I’m probably being overambitious. We’re staying optimistic, though. I don’t believe in manifesting, but we’re manifesting.

14.23 I want to say I tried. I got a few details for the first couple chapters, but when I opened a doc to actually write it... nope. I need an outline to have a starting point. I just need detail.

Scene blocking sucks. But then I can’t write without it, so what can you do?

And I guess that wraps up this update. Writing this section, I’m about halfway through the writing break, and I have so many more ideas for this project. I was excited for Bay Tree because it was the first time I really made progress, but I’m excited for this one because I genuinely love this story. This post is going up May 14th, at which point I’ll be back to writing, and the next update should come mid to early June. 

And that’s a wrap.

#blog #blogging #blogger #blogpost #blog post #writing #books #book #reading #reader #readerblr #bookblr #writer #write #writes #writerblr #author #authorblr #draft #first draft #story #stories #novel #outline #outlining #writing blog #debut #debut novel #debut writer #novel draft

[the-cookie-of-doom]

Hi! Can I be nosey? I saw your post on outlining Liar, Liar, Foxfire, could you explain your process a little more? Especially the EVEN DUMBER VERSION? Please and thank you and love your blog! Especially the little snippets of what you're working on!

Dear nonny you can always be nosy, I love it <3 

I usually put the Title: DUMBEST VERSION at the top of my docs to remind myself that it’s the first draft and it doesn’t have to be perfect. It started out as a joke with Estranged back in the end of 2018 I think, when I started the fic. Then it kind of became a thing between myself and my then beta (she thought it was cute lol) I don’t really use it for its intended purpose, since I heavily edit as I write. You’re not technically supposed to do that, but I can’t write any other way if my work is unsatisfactory; it seriously kills my motivation when I know I can do better. 

Which is where the EVEN DUMBER VERSION comes in! I’ve never used that one  before this, I was just frustrated because I couldn’t get my plot to work in a way that I liked lol, so I decided to go through and outline literally every scene in season 3b. (Essentially: 3b for Dummies.) 

In the case of this fic, I didn’t actually use an outlining method, really, and I usually don’t. I’m notoriously bad at outlines, and any time I’ve had to do them for school, I would write the project first, then write the outline based on that. The few times I do use an outline, I typically end up veering very far off track. 

So what I initially ended up doing here was sitting down with a notebook and rewatching 3b, writing down the general ideas of each scene. Mostly I intended to use it just to jog my memory while I wrote the fic. It... did not work out that way. 

After struggling for a few days, I decided to type everything up into a document, splitting each section by episode. I didn’t have every scene detailed, since it wasn’t an outline for the show itself, just for the main context I needed for my fic.

 Then I used the blue text for the changes I intended to make/scenes I wanted to add. That way I had a visual representation of what was my original work, and what was the canon framework, which is what I was struggling with the most. It’s difficult for me to work within the constraints of canon like that, which I why I don’t write “missing scene” fics. (RIP) 

At that point, it was a matter of adding in the scenes I knew I wanted, and then fleshing out some more where I felt like I needed more original content to balance out the canon. My goal is to have only as much canon context as necessary, because I didn’t want to write out episodes we’ve all already scene. 

... And that still didn’t really help. I mean it was super useful in giving me somewhere to start but it wasn’t quite what I needed yet. So I started searching around for the scripts. (Fun fact: i used to be a film major, and I still have a thing for collecting scripts). I found the scripts only up to the end of 3a so that was a bust T_T But then I found the Teenwolfwiki which has scene-by-scene synopsis and it’s amazing. Way more effective than my outline in terms of laying everything out clearly for me. 

So now I’ve got my outline as a sort of guide for where my missing scenes fit in, but then I’m going through the wiki to work my way through each episode, and decide which scenes I do/don’t want to keep. Since the fic is about Mitch and Stiles, I’m focusing on scenes with a heavy focus on Stiles and Mitch (who’s Allison’s cousin here, and thus follows the Argent’s storyline). I was also unsure how mush of Malia’s storyline to include, since the person who commissioned the fic didn’t want her in, but also there was some important context she gives to the plot... but then I realized I could just... not write her scenes. That leaves it up to the reader whether that part of canon still happened or not xD (For the record, I like to think it did, but her arc ends after they get her back to her dad, He never sends her to Eichen and that’s the end of her involvement.) 

Like I said, I don’t outline very often, if at all, and I tend to get off track when I do (LLF has already changed drastically from the original ideas and outline, and a lot of scenes have been cut), the way I prefer to do it is to write essentially a very long summary. I like to jokingly call them “not-fics” because they can easily end up several thousand words long. It lays out the fic in a shorter retelling, but it’s less structured and leaves me more room for deviation. I usually don’t end up with an actual bullet-pointed outline until I’m pretty far into the fic and need to organize the remaining scenes. Estranged didn’t get an outline until I was...40k into it, maybe? It was a long time. 

But if you want an ACTUAL outline method, one I’ve found and liked is the 3 ACT, 9 BLOCK, 27 CHAPTER Method, which somewhat follows the Hero’s Journey, but more in depth:: 

Act 1

Block 1: Introductions/Inciting Incident/Immediate Fallout (Exposition) 

Block 2: Reaction/Action/Consequences

Block 3: Plot Twist/Break into Second Act 

Act 2

Block 4: New World/Fun & Games/Old World Juxtaposition (Time for worldbuilding, everything is still fun; Harry Potter comes to Hogwarts)

Block 5: Build Up/Midpoint/Reversal (Growing paints. The character is changing for the better, lots of character development, etc. Pivotal moment)

Block 6: Reaction/Trials/Dedication (Character has potential, but still has work to do. Yennefer during the lightning in a bottle scene.) 

Act 3

Block 7: Calm Before the Storm/Plot Twist/Darkest Moment (The whump chapter; Character reaches their breaking point.) 

Block 8: Power Within/Action/Converge (Stiles in Ch. 16, to plug my own fic xD) 

Block 9: Final Battle/Climax/Resolution 

This is a super condensed version, but if you look it up, you’ll be able to see the full explanation on byomentor.com. I found it through Kate Cavanaugh on YouTube in one of her outlining methods videos. 

I’m thinking of using this outlining method for this year’s NaNo when I finally, finally write Neverland, but we’ll see. It’s pretty flexible since you don’t have to exactly follow all 27 chapters; you can follow the general vibe and idea of each blog and still have a really sound story, which I like. 

Another method I used forever ago for my fic Tree of Life (and I can’t remember the name of the method, but it’s pretty basic) was to have 5 points per chapter: 

Inciting Incident

Progressive Complication 

Crisis

Climax

Resolution 

Now it didn’t work exactly that way because ToL is a pretty drawn out fic, even despite the action, but it’s a good thing to consider. If you have an action heavy or fast-paced chapter (or if a chapter feels slow to you but you don’t know why), it’s a good thing to keep in mind to help speed things up. 

But yeah, despite my research in many different outline methods, my favorite is still to write my not-fics and then outline later, if I do at all xD 

I hope this was informative! Please feel free to come back if you have any thoughts or questions : 3

#cookie speaks #cookie writes #long post #sorry this got so long... #I haven't really talked to anyone in a while #lol #i like to Talk about my writing/process #it makes me v happy when people are interested in how i do htings

[unwind-myself]

@incomprehensiblelentils​ tagged me and I’m finally doing this! Why not.

Name: B will do.

Fandoms: I grew up on Sailor Moon, and so while I didn’t publish any of it I did write Sailor Moon fic (in the form of scripts for actual movies I had immature plans to film with my friends, somehow? I remember I invented a Sailor Earth and she had purple hair with blue and green streaks, which is the most adolescent thing to write, not that having that hair IRL is adolescent but y’know). I dabbled in cracky Harry Potter fic in junior high, mostly before I hit my Rocky Horror stride. Oh man, was that a time. Then I had a break from fanfic because of some stuff and eased back in with Spring Awakening. Then came Firefly, Dollhouse, Buffy. Game of Thrones. True Blood. And now I’ve landed in the MCU (with tiny forays into the DCEU, but mostly not).

Where You Post: AO3. This blog is for linking and occasionally things like wardrobe reference.

Most Popular One-Shot: my very first MCU piece, but this is summer, takes that title. It’s collegiate Jemma/Darcy fic where they meet during a study abroad and it’s Jemma’s First Time but Darcy is real sweet about it.

Most Popular Multi-Chapter Story: I cowrite with my wife a lot, but taking those pieces out of consideration, oh gosh, it’s my Dany/Doreah fix-it, You Have Shining Eyes. I wish I’d finished that story, because these girls deserved SO MUCH BETTER, but I can’t go back now. I can barely even conceive of updating my GOT modern AU blog fic, that canon burned me so bad. I’ll take this time to tell you how this story was going to end, though: Meereen happens, it’s still crappy, Doreah really doesn’t like Tyrion when he shows up because she’s just like “I know this type,” they go to Westeros, they get up North a little sooner than in canon and find, inexplicably, Shireen, who didn’t die from being burned alive because Baratheons have Targaryen blood and she inherited some of it (this can be supported by her having survived greyscale but what do I know I guess), and so Dany adopts Shireen and anyway yeah Sansa is still the Queen in the North but not because she turned into a misogynist Republican and Dany is the Queen in the South and Doreah and Missandei are given titles because that’s how this society works shrug and there’s a socialist overthrow of the Westerosi economy and also none of the Sand Snakes die.

Favorite Story You’ve Written: I’m always going to say sad is the world when the wives are made to beg, my SHIELD -> Fury Road AU. This really got a lot of my heart. Unfortunately, it’s polyamorous femslash, so it will probably never get the attention I wish it would, but it’s gotten good reviews and I’m passionate about it and it honestly still feels relevant.

Story You Were Nervous to Post: I remember when I was starting my True Blood season 6/7 fix-it, on AO3 collected as curious shapes shift in the dark and referred to in my head as flowercrownverse because putting flower crowns on things is what you do when you make them better, and at first I was very nervous because I’d never undertaken anything of that scale before. By the end of that one there were absolutely no nerves and it was fine.

How You Choose Your Titles: Lyrics, for the most part, but my True Blood fics all just had one-word titles.

Complete: 183 if you only count the ones I’ve written alone. This is mostly because the True Blood series is split into individual installments even though it’s all one continuous story. (This is because I wrote a few one-shots before I knew I’d be rewriting two seasons of television and then retroactively built them back into the plot, and I wanted to be consistent.

Incomplete: 13, which are... mostly GOT and won’t be finished. So it goes.

Do You Outline: Sometimes? When we’re cowriting, I try to do always (otherwise we just get lost on pages and pages of aimless dialogue or something) but when I’m by myself, sometimes I just sort of go. Ironically, some of the ones I’ve had to outline most are the short fics I do for Femslash February collections, just because a lot of those have a lot more worldbuilding than they appear to.

Coming Soon / Not Yet Started: There are a couple more installments of my kinky MCU vampire AU (one that’s Natasha/Wanda/Jemma/Daisy, one that’s kiiind of Hope/Karen/Elektra) that I have drafted. I also have an introspective childhood piece about Helena Bertinelli that I’m working on, because I love her. (Cowriting-wise, we have a lot of things we’re discussing, many of them semi-pornographic in nature, all of them fucking weird.

Do You Accept Prompts: I never have before, but that doesn’t mean I never will.

Upcoming Story You Are Most Excited To Write: I swear to god one of these days I’m going to continue my Sailor Moon AU, and I’m really fucking excited for season 3 of that. I’m excited for all of it, but season 3 is my favorite and I love its villains (and “villains”) the most.

Tagging is scary.

#tumblrmeme

[theouterdark]

Hello! In the light of Storyteller Saturday writeblr event, I'm sending some questions around & since I love your work, I wanted to ask you something too even if you don't participate. :P Sooo, you haven't told us much about Topiary Black. How is it going, first of all, and what are some of your plans for it at the moment. How is Coldwater Sound's 2nd draft going, you had mentioned you were thinking of two different versions of it. No pressure, this is only if you wish to talk about them. ^^

I’m somewhat restrained when it comes to revealing details about my WIPs while I’m drafting, and what I do share is only after deliberate consideration. That said, I’d love to answer your questions, but I want to touch on my reservations as well because I don’t think I’ve ever talked about it here.

Oversharing cripples my process and my work because:

A) My creative well empties

If I receive validation or catharsis from revealing information or excerpts before the work is truly done, my brain will trick me into thinking I’ve accomplished something, thereby:

B) I become unproductive

Which inherently is my natural state, which gives me unintended distance from the narrative, thereby:

C) The story wanders from my active memory

That’s mostly why I err toward ambiguity. But. Since I’m not actively working on these for a few more weeks, let’s jump in.

Status: Outlining

Topiary Black is progressing, if somewhat leisurely. I know most of the major beats, and some of the minor ones, but I’ve been indecisive on matters of setting and character. The main cast needs to be pruned, for starters (one of my weaknesses is adding far more characters than necessary in the initial draft, so I’m trying to save myself oodles of time by shedding some of the extra weight now).

I’m also having antagonist problems that I was cognizant of early-on but chose to ignore because problems like that are for Future Dylan. I think I’m zeroing in on something interesting though.

Occasionally, I’ll pen a scene when I can’t contain it anymore. But for the most part, there is too much on my plate with this project to begin writing in earnest.

As far as a timeline, my goal is to complete draft one by mid-late summer 2020. I think it’s doable, but I may postpone work until I get more of the worldbuilding firmed up.

I know that’s not much in the way of actual interesting information so here are some nuggets:

The bulk will be recounted in the first person by the member of The Aviary known as “Loon”

Also planning on using a frame story for her “present” timeline

It will tackle sexuality and identity far more than any of my previous works

Inspirations for Topiary Black include “The Library of Babel,” the Akashic records, Rabbits, Mr. Robot, and the art of Simon Stålenhag

It takes place in an alternate 1980s

I’m currently planning it to be one of three semi-connected projects, the other two being “The God Machine” and Deerfield Run, that will form a loosely-connected speculative fiction trilogy, but each will read as a standalone work

I think that’s about all I can reveal at the moment, let’s get on to the next WIP.

Status: Drafting

Oh boy, what a mess.

In short, draft two isn’t going. I touched on this in an earlier update post, but my current struggle with Coldwater Sound is not a fun one. I have two entirely different conceptions of how the novel should go, and in my heart, I know which one is gonna win.

And it’s the one that requires me to re-write the entire thing.

At its heart, it will remain the same. The characters and their relationships won’t differ wholly from the first draft, but the bulk, as it is, is far too convoluted. I’ll be trimming the core cast, cutting locations, and refocusing the plot on Blake the mystery of Penny’s disappearance.

That means losing a lot of stuff I like about the original, sadly. Such is the way of things. I may reconsider this by holding another reading of draft one.

Honestly, I’m far more focused on a different project that you didn’t ask about, but I’ll tell you about it anyway:

Status: Seeking Alpha Readers/Drafting

I haven’t done an official ask/announcement, but I’ve gained enough distance from The Devil from the Outer Dark to begin the Alpha Read. I know some of the changes I want to make, but I’d still like some reactions to build from. I want to keep it small, likely 3-5 readers, if anyone out there is interested.

It is technically a sequel to Coldwater Sound, but the first is not required reading. Just like The Murder of Roger Ackroyd isn’t required reading for Murder on the Orient Express. Blake is still the main character, there’s still a mystery for her to solve, and horror lurks around many a corner, but spoilers for Coldwater Sound are mild at best.

If you want to help me out or learn more about the project, shoot me a message here on my blog.

Tagging: @writingmyassoff, @erin-writes-stuff, @midnightstreetwanderings, @byjillianmaria, @bethwrotethis, @doux-ciel, @hilunawrites, @ghost-possum, @zmlorenz, @doubleviewfinder, @veronicadent, @els-writes, @dantedevereaux, @tlbodine, @hypotheticalwriterquestions, @hazeywrites, @reeseweston, @dor-rose-love, and @katabasiss. (Let me know if you’d like to be added or removed from future tags for any of these projects).

D

#storyteller saturday #on sunday (sorry) #writeblr #writeblr community #topiary black #coldwater sound #the devil from the outer dark #p:tb #p:cws:d2 #p:tdftod #update #get to know me #get to know the writer #Dylan speaks #seeking alpha readers #seeking readers

[surroundedbypearls]

2019 Wrap-Up Post

Hello everyone!!

Since we’re coming towards Christmas and the end of the year, I decided to do a wee wrap-up and talk about what’s coming next year. So, here goes:

For starters, there won’t be any new original content posted on surroundedbypearls next week, since I’ll be busy with holiday stuff. There’ll possibly be some old original content reblogged throughout the week to fill the ol’ queue and do a bit of a callback, but no new content.

Soo what happened in 2019?

Well, this blog got started for one! I’m so happy I decided to join writeblr, I’ve met so many lovely people and it’s so much fun getting to share my work and see other people’s work as well 😊

As for my writing~

As of this week, I finished the first draft of my epic fantasy, ‘The Wildfire King.’ This is a huge deal for me and I’m super proud - obviously it needs a lot of work, but it’s the longest draft of anything I’ve ever done and the first original work I’ve fully drafted! 

I’ve also been working on my romantic fantasy ‘To Catch the Sea’; this is still majorly in the outline stage, but I’m loving sharing the excerpts and edits with everyone and I’m having the best time developing this idea properly.

Soo what’s coming in 2020?

There won’t be any new content posted for ‘The Wildfire King’ for the foreseeable future aside from some more excerpts from the rest of Draft 1, which will come out over the start of 2020. I’m taking a brief break from it before I go back for rewrites.

There’ll be more content for ‘To Catch the Sea’, including excerpts, edits and some worldbuilding posts. Meanwhile, I’ll be focusing on properly outlining this WIP and trying to get a real start on drafting it.

I’m introducing a new WIP; a YA superhero series called ‘Homebirds’, and possibly another new project - we’ll see how things go.

And that’s the gist of it!

This is me assuming anyone cares about my content, of course. Happy holidays and let’s hope 2020 is a little less of a hellfire for everyone!

#writeblr #writers of tumblr #violetvineyard #writeblr update #blog update #2019 wrap up #future wips #my wips #my writing

[onlycosmere]

Excerpted State of the Sanderson 2018

Most of the post is hidden below the ‘Keep Reading’

Summary: Projected Schedule of Releases:

Starsight (Skyward Two): November 2019 White Sand Three: Sometime 2019–2020 Stormlight Four: Fall 2020 Skyward Three: 2021 Wax and Wayne Four: Sometime 2020 or 2021

Stomlight:  I am on track for starting this book on January first. I’ll begin with a reread of the first three books, as I find I need a periodic refresher, even on my own novels. This will also be important for helping me really nail down the outlines for books four and five.

As I’ve worked on the Stormlight series, I’ve shifted a lot of things around in the outlines. Famously, I swapped Dalinar’s book and Szeth’s book (making Book Three have Dalinar’s flashbacks instead of Szeth’s). But along the same lines, I moved a chunk of Book Three into Book Two, and then moved around smaller arcs for Three, Four, and Five.

...

What this means is that I need to do some extra work on books four and five, as they together tie off an arc. There are some small plot lines I’ve been pushing back from book to book as I nail down what each volume will include—but I can’t do that with Book Five, as it will be the capstone of this sequence. So I need the outlines to be tight to make certain I get everything into them that needs to be there.

Anyway, that’s a long way to say, essentially, I’ll start posting updates to the Stormlight subreddit in January, and you can follow along there or on the progress bar we’ll post here on my website on January first. I’ve commissioned a special piece of artwork to be used in Stormlight Four blog posts, which we should be able to reveal next year. (I’m pretty excited about it.) So you have that to look forward to as well!

Note that while I’m optimistic about this being my fall 2020 release, delays could happen if the book doesn’t come out smoothly on the first draft. I’ll keep you updated with regular posts. A lot will depend on how long the revisions take.

Status: Book Four is my main project for 2019, for an anticipated 2020/2021 release.

Mistborn My big failure in 2018 was not getting to Wax and Wayne Four. But all is not lost! I am going to do whatever I can to squeeze this in next year. I’m feeling I might need a break in the middle of Stormlight Four, as I sometimes do. If so, I might squeeze this in there. But it will depend on a many factors. So, we’ll have to take a wait-and-see attitude.

I’m going to try to hold myself back from doing any other side projects, like Children of the Nameless or The Original from this year, until Wax and Wayne is finished. Book Four will be the conclusion of their story, and the wrap-up of era two of Mistborn. (And I have big things planned for Era Three, which I am planning to write between Stormlight Five and Stormlight Six.)

Status: Pushed off for now, but to be written very soon. No release date yet.

...

Death (Without Pizza) A major bombshell update here: we have finished a first draft of this book! I’m moving this up to major projects, as I anticipate a release of this novel in the coming two years. It is a Dresden Files-esque urban fantasy series set in London, starring a necromancer. (With a very Sanderson-style take on necromancy.)

...

Well, over the years, I found I wanted a stronger character for the protagonist. Starting with the title Death by Pizza had pushed me to make the story more jokey than I wanted, and had led me to cut corners on the worldbuilding in ways I didn’t like. So when I went back to the drawing board, I started going in different directions with the storytelling. A more intricate, interesting magic system. And a character with more heart. Where I eventually ended up going was studying metal music culture.

The subculture of heavy metal music is fascinating to me. I really like how passionate the fans are about it, and how often outsiders are wrong about those inside it. (Do a little reading on the topic, and you might find that a lot of your stereotypes of metal fans are wrong—like mine were. The more I read about and talked to metal fans, the more fascinated I became by the subculture.) It seemed to me that a metalhead who finds out he’s a necromancer could be a cool hook.

...

It’s the story of an American metal singer living in London whose day goes from bad to worse as he gets kicked out of his band, then makes his way to his favorite pub to lick his wounds—only to end up getting shot in the head during an apparent robbery. And after that, things start to go really badly for him.

... Death Without Pizza will not be the final title for the story. We’ll pick something a little less silly; I’m a little worried people will expect something over-the-top metal like Brütal Legend—which was great, but not the direction this story ended up going. Anyway, I’ll post updates as we go along!

Status: Being revised. After that, we’ll look for a publisher.

Updates on Secondary Projects

The Original I’m moving this novella (which I don’t think I’ve mentioned before in a State of the Sanderson) into the Secondary Projects section. A while ago I had an idea for a story about a world where, if you committed a crime and went on the run for it, the government could create a clone of you (with your memories and personality) to hunt you down. After all, who better to hunt a criminal than a copy of that criminal? The copy would have strict controls in place so they could be killed by the government with the press of a button, but would be given the promise that they could take their Original’s place if they succeeded in hunting them down and killing them.

...

Status: Outlined.

The Apocalypse Guard

...

Status: In revisions, getting weirder.

Alcatraz

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Status: Book Six made some small progress this year.

White Sand Graphic Novel Two came out this year, and was very well received. (Save for the forced artist change, something I hated to have to do. That said, the new artist is doing a fantastic job.) Graphic Novel Three is the end of this sequence, and is well on its way to being completed.

The prose version is still available if you sign up for my mailing list. Though remember, we’ve made numerous updates to the story during the adaptation process.

I have no immediate plans to do sequels to this in graphic novel form, though you can expect stories set on Taldain to happen in the future.

Status: Final graphic novel is well under way. Release in 2019 or early 2020 likely.

Dark One My outline for this drew a lot of buzz around both Hollywood and New York. The story, if you aren’t familiar with it, is about a young man in our world who discovers that a fantasy world has declared him to be the Dark One, and starts sending hit squads into our world to assassinate him. Pitched as “Harry Potter from Voldemort’s viewpoint,” the story follows this young man as he is forced to confront the possibility that he might do what the prophecies say.

We have a graphic novel in the works, and I’ve been doing pitches in Hollywood for a potential television show. So movement is certainly happening here.

Status: Going well. Might have art to show soon from the graphic novel.

Elantris, Warbreaker, Rithmatist No updates from last year, I’m afraid. There was no intention to make progress on these this year. Once Alcatraz is wrapped up, I’ll turn my attention back to The Rithmatist as the last looming series that needs a wrap-up that hasn’t gotten one. Elantris and Warbreaker sequels aren’t to be expected until Stormlight Five and Wax and Wayne Four are done.

Status: Keep waiting. (Sorry again.)

Potential Cosmere Stories:

Keep the following on your radar, as they may happen someday. However, as I’ll be knee-deep in Stormlight in 2019, don’t expect anything to happen on any of them until it is done. The list includes: Dragonsteel/Liar of Partinel, Sixth of the Dusk sequel, Silverlight novella, Threnody novel, Aether of Night, Silence Divine.

...

The Cosmere DMG Entertainment optioned the rights to the Cosmere, and they have been wonderful to work with. They commissioned screenplays for The Emperor’s Soul, Mistborn, and The Way of Kings. They’re currently in Step Three above, trying to get studio interest for the properties. Mostly, they’ve been pitching Mistborn as a film series and The Way of Kings as a television series.

Likely, the success of things like the new Lord of the Rings show and the Kingkiller Chronicle will influence how this goes in the future.

Bonus Mention: The Wheel of Time

Games and Other Licensed Work

Board Games: We’ll keep looking at doing more board games. The Reckoners game, from Nauvoo Games, and Mistborn: House War, from Crafty Games—who also developed the Mistborn Adventure RPG—all of which turned out very well, and (equally important) were shipped in a reasonable timeframe to the backers on Kickstarter. We had a Stormlight game in the works, but have backed up a few steps on that one for various reasons. I hope to have one of those finished at some point. You may have seen my announcement from a few months ago, but we’ve partnered with Brotherwise Games to bring you the Call to Adventure: Stormlight expansion that should be out fall of 2019. I would also be interested in doing a deckbuilding card game based on my works eventually. (After all, you know how addicted I am to Magic: The Gathering.)

Jewelry: Badali Jewelry continues to do an excellent job creating a variety of awesome artwork pieces based on my various books. They approached me to do this way back when I was basically a nobody, and have been with me all this time, creating beautiful and detailed works.

Coins: Shire Post, creator of many fantasy-themed coins for various different properties, did a very successful Kickstarter for Mistborn coinage, and I’m quite pleased with both their professionalism and artistry. We here at Dragonsteel did the designs so that they’d be 100% in continuity with the books. We’re looking at doing more with Shire Post in the future.

Music: Black Piper’s Kaladin album has been shipping its physical rewards for backers, and are finishing up the last steps of their Kickstarter. I’m very pleased with the music, which you can find on Spotify, iTunes, Amazon MP3, and many other digital outlets. I think they did a great job, and suggest that it would make a great accompaniment to your next Stormlight reread. Due to the complexities of fitting in the album around the windows for some of our other licenses, if you’re interested in owning this we’d encourage looking at it before year-end.

Amazon: We’ve recently partnered with Amazon to help bring you more apparel options. As of now, it’s the only place other than my website store to sell officially licensed clothing. And in the not-to-distant future we’re going to expand our selection to include hoodies and other things as time allows.

...

Conclusion and TL;DR

Whew. That’s quite the list, eh? This post gets longer and longer each year. The short version is actually very simple. I’m dedicating most of my efforts to Stormlight Four next year, with occasional short deviations to work on Skyward or Mistborn.

Once again, thank you all for joining me on this journey.

Brandon Sanderson December 2018

#mistborn #The Stormlight Archive #brandon sanderson #cosmere #cfsbf #root #cosmere future #wob #won't tag everything

[aschenink]

Project Updates

I’ve been a bit out of sorts the past week or so and last night I finally felt ready to start writing properly again--so I thought I should share some of my thoughts and how I’m dividing my time between my (many) projects!  Also I just need to put this somewhere so I can remember what I’m working on smh

Projects are listed more or less in the order of priority. 

Eosophobia

novel | goal: 100-120K | current: 20K | about

My main project that you’ve all heard a lot about but seen very actual content from, and whose first chapter I was supposed to post 200 followers ago (rip).  My child.  My precious.  My (gestures vaguely) masterpiece.

I’ve decided that I’m going to ease up on drafting Eos so I can pay more attention to outlining it and getting a firmer grip on the narration. I’m definitely still working on it, this just means that my already slow progress is going to become inevitably slower. 

My original goal was to traditionally publish Eos, but because it’s rather unlike anything I’ve ever read (in both content and style), I’m also starting to prepare for the possibility of self-publishing.  Traditional is still what I’m preferring, but... well, fingers crossed for future-me’s endeavors to find an adventurous agent.  

I’m also now more acutely on the hunt for science-fantasy/biopunk/post-apoc novels to get a better grip of the market.  So I mean, if yall have any reccs, please send them my way! 

Infra.Red

novella | goal: 30-40K | current: outlining | about

My new project that’s super shiny and I’m in love.  I have absolutely no fucking clue what I’m doing with this, but I love it and have lots of Good Ideas.  What little bit of plot I’ve got figured out actually has me really excited, so I’m free-drafting this while I work out Eos’s outline.  

Optimistically assuming that I’m capable of following this project to its end, I’m probably either going to self publish it as an ebook or save it for an anthology in the same world.  I, an overambitious wreck, am leaning towards an anthology--I mean, dystopic dieselpunk and cyberpunk elements with greek myth retellings?  I love this setting, and would love to write some accompanying short stories in the same world.  

The Rotted Rose

short story | goal: 3.5-5K | current: outlining

I’m scared and a little lost but I’m ready.  Short stories won’t know what hit them.  If, like, I could actually finish writing one. 

TRR is a short story that’s going to take me disproportionately long to write, and is probably going to end up being a practice run for me.  I’m not expecting it to come out any good, lol, so in the likely event that I’m displeased with it I’ll probably post it here and/or on Wattpad or something.  But if I surprise myself?  Then it’s onto Publishing Hell with me. 

I haven’t figured out how to introduce this story yet so there’s no info out there but the gist is pirates, sad romance, and a Davy Jones-esque reaper with a found family crew.

Alight in Ashes (Mortal Constellation Trilogy #1)

novel | goal: 75-90K | current: outlining | about

My high fantasy trilogy project.  AiA was my main project when I started this blog but quickly decided to put it on the backburner to focus on writing Eos and to sort out some problems with the story. 

I love the setting of the MC trilogy and I actually really like the plot.  What I hate is the characters (they’re all one-dimensional in their dynamics in comparison to my Eos cast), the one narrator style, and the main character/narrator.  Cass has a lot of potential but I need to work out a lot of her problems, too, and come back with a character whose motivations are clearer and personality is sharper.  Right now, she feels very melancholic to me, and that’s not at all how she’s supposed to be.

There’s also every chance that I’ll drop this down to a duology, unless I come up with some fantastic subplots--there’s a huge space between the second half of the second book and the middle of the third book that I either need to cut or fill. 

My optimistic hope is that whenever I do write this, I’ll be able to get it traditionally published.  I don’t think this’ll be nearly as hard to find a market for as Eos, as long as I can make the characters shine--and now that I’m starting to think about it again, that seems reasonably doable. 

Even God is Entertained by My Sins

novel | goal: 60-70K | current: 30K | about?

My psychological/historical horror experiment that I never talk about but think about a lot. Even God was my NaNo 2017 project and gave me a much needed boost back into writing.  I love the idea of the story but I’ve had a really hard time trying to write the unreliable narration in a way that’s easy to follow while still portraying the psychosis of the MC.  I put this project on hold a couple months ago to redo the characters, since I didn’t develop them before NaNo (I literally came up with the story idea on Halloween, so the worldbuilding and planning was literally nonexistent).  

I’m mostly just playing with this whenever the mood strikes me, which is fine, since it’s more for me to develop new skills with than anything else.  I have absolutely no idea what I’m going to do with this if/when I finish it, or if I even will finish it--but it’s a lot of fun whenever I do get in the mood to play with it.

#project update #aschenink #eosophobia #alightinashes #evengod #infra.red #therottedrose #writeblr