#writing resources

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writing-with-olive:

Disclaimers: while I have been learning ASL (American Sign Language, I am not yet fluent. Also, I am not deaf. Both of these things being said, I have been learning ASL for nearly a year and I’ve been doing independant research about the language itself and the Deaf community. What I’ve listed below are things that I have learned from my own personal experience signing, what I’ve learned in my ASL class, and what I’ve learned from my independant research.


1) When you write signed dialogue, use quotation marks and everything else you would use for any other type of dialogue. Yes, I know they didn’t do that in the Magnus Chase series, but many Deaf readers were made uncomfortable at the choice to depict sign language as not speech. Establish early on that the character signs and then use tags such as “xe signed,” or “hir motions were snappy with irritation.”

2) Without facial expressions, someone’s signs are going to be almost meaningless. All of the grammar is in the face, as are some descriptors. For example, if you can’t see a character’s face, and you’re only looking at their hands, the signs would be the same for the statement “Xe doesn’t have dogs.” and the question “Does xe have dogs?” 

3)There is no such thing as fluent lipreading. The best lipreaders in the world can only understand about 70% of what’s being said, and factors such as darkness, the presence of mustaches, lack of context, and a bunch of other common things can easily lower that ability. If someone’s lipreading, they’re taking little pieces of what they can lipread, and stitching together context and other details to get a general picture of what’s going on, but there’s still always going to be holes.

4) If you’re writing a character who can’t hear, know the difference between deaf (lowercase d) and Deaf (uppercase D). The medical term for not being able to hear anything is deaf. People who use their deafness as part of their identity are referred to, and refer to themselves as Deaf. They are part of the Deaf community.

(more tips below cut)

Keep reading

thecaffeinebookwarrior:

1.) Commaful – a friendly and supportive writing community, smaller but denser than Wattpad, and far more active and engaging.

2.) FictionPress – original fiction’s answer to FanFiction.net.  If you’re familiar with that format, you’ll be familiar with this.  

3.) Smashwords – an ebook publishing platform that also welcomes short stories, and collections thereof.

4.) WritersCafe – old-school but solid, with an active community and plenty of contests/challenges to get the creative juices pumping.

5.) Medium – a place where you can post, essentially, anything and everything.  Articles and non-fiction are its biggest market, but fiction is welcome as well.

6.) Booksie – less community-based, with fewer interactions and comments.  However, it still attracts great talent, and can be great for authors who are shy and don’t want to get bombarded with interaction.

7.) RoyalRoad – a rich community, with a strong emphasis on mutual support between authors.  Focuses on web novels, fanfiction, and original stories.

8.) FanStory – an oldie but a goody.  Don’t be fooled by the name – it seems to be predominantly original fiction, and offers contests with cash prizes. 

9.) Young Writers Society – as the name suggests, oriented towards writers in their teens and twenties, but is by no means exclusive to authors of this age bracket. 

10.) Wattpad – Wattpad provides users with the opportunity to post original fiction and gain a loyal following.  It’s not for everyone, but some people swear by it.  

On that note, you can also post original fiction to AO3 and FanFiction, but as they are predominantly for fan works, I decided not to include them on this list.  What’s your favorite way to post original fiction?

Happy writing, everybody!

inkwell-attitude:

possiblypedanticrpgideas:

fatal-blow:

inkwell-attitude:

all the tips I found for drawing a fantasy map are like :) “here’s a strategy to draw the land masses! here’s how to plot islands!” :) and that’s wonderful and I love them all but ??? how? do y'all decide where to put cities/mountains/forests/towns I have my map and my land but I’m throwing darts to decide where the Main Citadel where the Action Takes Place is

okay so i know i said most of this in the replies but it might be easier to actually reblog and say stuff instead lmao

Cities - go near water!  freshwater lakes and rivers (rivers especially) are the best places for cities because A) source of water and B) travel and trade is much easier cus you can put your boats like right there.  Basically ever relevant city ever was built on a lake or a river.

for rivers in general - because gravity, rivers run from mountains (forming from melting snow and ice (this is why they get fat in spring–more stuff melting)) to lakes/ocean where they can empty out (and even lakes will have rivers leading out that eventually get to the ocean), which can help when mapping out where those start and end.  rivers are also much thinner and faster in steeper elevations and very slow and wide when the land is flat

mountains - i like to think of what the tectonic plates look like because that’s what makes mountains!  mountains are also never standalone they’re always in mountain ranges (archipelagos are really just underwater mountain ranges babey).  a cool trick I like to do is occasionally separate mountain ranges across continents, because over time the tectonic plates shifted and literally split the range in half.  These mountains are really old tho so they’ve eroded and therefore it makes them smaller and rounder (like the appalachians) as opposed to relatively young mountain ranges like the rocky mountains which have taller and sharper peaks

Another mountain trick: if your mountains run along the ocean, the ocean side of the mountains will get a LOT of rain while the other side will be very dry–almost desert-like, in fact.  think of temperate rainforests in British Columbia vs the drier conditions in the canadian prairies

forests - depends on how warm the area might be.  coniferous forests are found further north (before you hit the tree line, and then it’s only tundra onwards) but as you head south you get leafier trees, and the leaves tend to get larger too

If you think about general elevation too, you’ll have places that might be swampy (wet + lower).  if your world has an ice age like we did, then glaciers may have carved the land, leaving piles of soil in the south that was left when the ice receded and places where the bedrock has been bared north of that (like the Canadian Shield in Canada–the reason we see that is because of the glaciers)

You might also have a land that’s dotted in a shitton of freshwater lakes as well because the meltwater filled the holes that the glaciers scraped out (this is why canada has so many goddamn lakes)

and if the ice age was more recent than it was in our world, then you might not even have the forest re-growth and it could be a lot of open plains

tl;dr i like to think of major climate events that might have also shaped the land on top of some basic rules

The Artifexian has an entire series on building your world from literally the stars down and then the ground up.

Though, for fantasy, you can make the world operate on entirely different principles:

With that done, the actual topic of city placement can be covered by videos like this:

Or

Once you have your places, if you want help naming them in realistic ways, this video can help:

This one is on architecture, which is definitely a subset of cities:

But for a more relevant practical guide on making settlements realistic:

Here’s a quick guide for making demographics:

holy shit?

wafflewrites-blog:

So… I found this and now it keeps coming to mind. You hear about “life-changing writing advice” all the time and usually its really not—but honestly this is it man.

I’m going to try it.

aspergyaru:

FromWikipedia:

Inpsychologyandneuroscience,executive dysfunction, or executive function deficit, is a disruption to the efficacy of the executive functions, which is a group of cognitive processes that regulate, control, and manage other cognitive processes. Executive dysfunction can refer to both neurocognitive deficits and behavioural symptoms. It is implicated in numerous psychopathologiesandmental disorders, as well as short-term and long-term changes in non-clinical executive control.

FromMusings of an Aspie:

Executive function (EF) is a broad term that refers to the cognitive processes that help us regulate, control and manage our thoughts and actions. It includes planning, working memory, attention, problem solving, verbal reasoning, inhibition, cognitive flexibility, initiation of actions and monitoring of actions.

Most people on the autism spectrum have some degree of impaired executive function. Because executive function is such a complex concept, it can be hard to understand how it impacts our lives in practical ways. 

For me, it’s not so much an unwillingness to do things or being lazy or putting it off. It’s that I can’t make myself focus on them. Sometimes other things take precedence in the hierarchy of my mind. Sometimes I feel like I’m waiting for this ephemeral thing that I can’t name. I will sometimes feel stuck in place, unable to move or think. In those instances, it’s like being mute but with my body. It’s a very hard thing to pinpoint. Sometimes, the thought forms in my head, and then it’s gone before I can act on it.

For me, it leads sometimes to chores not getting done, or to forgetting to go to events if I don’t set myself a reminder, or even doing things like reading or charging my computer or doing laundry.

inky-duchess:

Court Archetypes: The Bad King

Kings are not exempt from being as evil as their queens. Kings have all of the power in their kingdom and some yield it with cruelty. There are categories of the Evil King.

  • The Cruel
  • The Mad
  • The Cruel
  • The Incompetent

The Cruel

This king loves to exercise his power over others. He is savage and will torture his people to get all he can from them. He is mostly likely vain and savage and will do anything for power.

  • Henry VIII: You knew he would be on this list. Henry began his reign as a charismatic and lovable monarch. When his desire and obsession for a son grew, Henry grew more crueler and sadistic. He cast off four wives, killing two of them and abandoning two more. His third and fifth wives are the only ones who experienced a natural separation in death from Henry. While stuffing his face and getting the mediaeval equivalent of catfished, he put thousands to death including the eighty year old Margaret Pole, his mother’s cousin. He was unendingly cruel to his wives and children
  • Tiberius: The heir of the first Emperor of Rome. He took power after his mother murdered Augustus. He secured his power by killing his popular nephew and two of his grand-nephews while imprisoning his last nephew and grand-nieces. He is rumoured to have built a palace with a pool of young boys to nibble at his genitals whilst he bathed. He was reputedly murdered by his heir, his final grand-nephew Caligula.
  • Nero: The Roman Emperor who they called the Anti-Christ. Nero kicked his own pregnant wife to death and has his own mother killed. He was fond of sacrificing Christians to lions and making them human candles.
  • Leopold II, King of the Belgians: You might know this fucker from every show/movie/book made about Queen Victoria. In these adaptations he is presented to be grasping and evil but the truth is far worse. Claiming the Congo as his, he sent in soldiers to force the natives to resource rubber for him making him a wealthy man on the backs of thousands of dead natives.
  • Genghis Khan, Khan of All Khans: Though he has an awesome back story, the crimes of this Mongolian conqueror are unforgivable. He sacked thousands of towns and cities, burning and destroying as he went. He also allowed his men to rape millions of women some even before their families. He himself has thousands of descendants through these heinous acts.

The Mad

This king is off his rocker. He has lost his marbles and he runs a nation holding thousands of innocent lives. Gods save us.

  • George III: Mad King George began his reign as a well-liked king but grew worse as he went on. George suffered two periods of illness, one thought to be Alzheimer’s. He was one of the longest reigning British monarchs. Some believe that his madness led to was the cause of his mental instability. He spent his last few years under the Regency of his son.
  • Henry VI: The son of Henry V. He came to the throne as a baby. In 1453, he became catatonic, unable to speak or do anything. This led to a civil war that lost him the crown in 1461. Henry was reinstated in 1470 but was overthrown within months.
  • Caligula: The Mad Roman Emperor. Caligula, “Little Boots” was made emperor after the demise of Tiberius. Though popular because of his tragic back story and his hero father, Caligula was as mad as a box of frogs. He tried to make his horse a consul, made the navy build a bridge across a bay so he could ride across it, went to war with the sea and raped his sisters. He was murdered by his bodyguards after a few years in power.
  • Charles VI of France: Came to the throne at the age of 21 and came to be called “the Beloved”. However, he grew mad and killed four of his knights and attacked his brother. He attacked his wife so much that she employed a mistress so the king could have sex with somebody rather than her. His madness sparked the Hundred Years War.

The Incompetent

This king is useless. He is not fit for the job and he sucks at it so badly, he’s considered a loser.

  • John I of England: England’s worst king, or so people think. The son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, John sh p uld have been a good king. However, he usurped his hero-brother Richard the Lionheart and had his nephew killed. He mistreated his nobles so much, by forcing himself on their wives and taxing them, that they revolted leading to the Magna Carta.
  • Richard II: This king came to the throne at a young age. He began as a pretty ok, king bravely riding out to meet the peasants who revolted against him. He rebelled against his impressive uncle, John of Gaunt leading to five lords taking him aside, (i.e kidnapping him and holding him prisoner) and having a chat with him. Richard got revenge on these lords later and so incited a coup led by Gaunt’s son, Henry Bolingbroke. He was left starve to death in a cell.
  • Edward II: the son of Edward I. He came to the throne to relevant peace but then decided to fuck up the applecart. He lost Scotland, the country his father fought bloody wars, at Bannockburn to Robert de Bruce. He lavished titles and honours to his rumoured lover Piers Gaveston and leant on his counsel whilst sidelining his more competent queen. He picked fights with his nobles making them rebel more than once. When Gaveston was murdered, Edward found a new buddy in Hugh Despenser. Edward was such a shitty king that the county supported his wife’s foreign invasion and her regency over their twelve year old son.
  • George IV: The Prince of Whales, as he was so dubbed. He was more interested in mistresses and extravagance than ruling. He married Catholic to his father’s despair and was bailed out by Parliament frequently due to the massive debts he incurred. George married Princess Caroline and slept with her twice to produce an heir which miraculously he did.

writingmyselfintoanearlygrave:

endlesshourglass:

roselinproductions:

audreyroseb:

endlesshourglass:

I’m low-key tired of all this “diversity makes writing good” bs like… yeah it’s great to include! But it doesn’t automatically make your story good? Idk I personally don’t want to read about an ace person that has the personality of a sack of potatoes just bc they’re ace

Respectfully, I don’t think anybody is saying diversity automaticallymakes a story good (or at least, that’s not my understanding of it.) People are just saying a story withoutany diversity isn’t good writing, which IMO is true?

There’s also a tendency for people to find any reason not to include diversity, by saying things like "but a story can be good without it!” and okay, sure. There are things I enjoy/have enjoyed even if they’re not diverse, but said lack of diversity is definitelya major flaw of those things, and it feels like we should be trying to do better than that?

i get what you’re saying, tho! bad writing is bad writing, diversity or not. but lack of diversity isbad writing in itself, which i think is the point of the general “diversity makes writing good” discourse, and not asking people to engage with flat characters or flat stories ✨

From what I’ve seen, there’s less of an issue of people saying “having a diverse cast automatically makes x thing good” and more an issue of people relying on the diversity of their cast as the primary selling point, which can give the impression that the story doesn’t have much else to offer.

I will admit that when someone pitches their WIP as having “x representation” before any information about the plot or characters, it can put me off a bit. And if they don’t mention the plot or characters much beyond that, I’m likely to pass on it because I haven’t been told enough about the story to get interested.

And, well… if something gives off the feeling of using marginalized people as a marketing gimmick (which is certainly not alwaysthe case but does sometimes happen) then I’m definitely not going to be interested.

Diverse casts are definitely something to embrace, but I can understand the frustration when having one seems to be the onlyfocus. If allI know about your characters is that they’re x marginalized group, the pitch probably needs some work.

This is just what I’ve seen, and I don’t want to invalidate anyone else’s opinion because admittedly I don’t always have time to read through my dash as thoroughly as I’d like. Just my observation.

@roselinproductions Reblogging this version because you explained my point way better than I did lol

Your plot should never take a back seat to diversity, but that doesn’t mean you get to kick diversity out of the car.

viewtokill:

your character should be morethan a tragic backstory. more than i lost my parents at a young age so now i rebel against the world. more than i have all these wicked skills without proper background or training. 

sass is great, and so is silence — but when aren’t they using their biting wit? when do they speak up? do they use their ass-kicking skills for good? for evil? have they lost people along the way — actually, it’s inevitable, so what happened after the funeral? did your character attend? did they seek revenge, or search for answers at the bottom of a bottle? 

don’t toss around tragedies if you’re not going to apply them to your characterization. alcoholics aren’t just loud and physically abusive; ptsd doesn’t mean you’ve boarded up the windows and refuse to leave your house. you won’t always continue to hate your parents after they’ve died. you will doubt your life decisions. being rich doesn’t make you sexy. being smart doesn’t make you socially awkward [ alternatively, it doesn’t make you the most attractive person in the room. ] even if you’re wicked smart, you’ll still get some things wrong. 

do your research. if you put your character through traumatic events, not everyone walks away unscathed. but being haunted by the ghosts of your past doesn’t make you attractive either. it’s a nitty gritty, dirty fucking business. you get mad, your world loses color, you feel alone, and sometimes you ask yourself why you’re the one who lived. 

treat your character like their own person. just because you wouldn’t say something to someone doesn’t mean they’ll keep their trap shut. it doesn’t mean they’ll want a big wedding or fast cars or apple pie made the way your mother taught you. maybe you’re pro-life and your character is pro-choice. maybe it’s vice versa. just because your character is a dick doesn’t mean it should be a reflection on yourself. but if they’re going to be a dick, and you want it to be believable, give them a reason to be a dick. a reason to hate the world, only slightly less than they hate the people living in it. maybe more. maybe it’s maybelline.

being smart and young and witty and attractive doesn’t mean your character will be respected. it doesn’t mean your character deserves to be respected. older, more experienced characters may trust your character less because they’re so damn young, no matter what you do or say to try to prove them wrong. 

toboldlywrite:

by-ethan-fox:

toboldlywrite:

Are you really…. not supposed to…. describe what your characters are wearing….

I think there’s a great deal of misinformation on this topic.

I believe it’s fine to describe what your characters are wearing. However, like all things, it should serve some kind of purpose.

For instance, describing winter clothes helps impart to the reader a sense of how cold it is. Describing summer clothes helps explain how warm it is.

Describing an outfit before a social event gives a window onto the character’s sense of fashion, or explains their reverence (or lack) for the event; for example a character can wear a black suit to a funeral, or watch from a distance while wearing a t-shirt and jeans. These impart a different attitude.

An outfit may be described purely to give a little more interest to a character; to give the reader a bit more insight into who they are, through the way they present themselves. It may have no greater significance to the wider story but this is still a reason to do it.

So the “purpose” doesn’t need to be super-vital to the story. It canbe just because “describing this to the reader helps them appreciate the character or scene”, but that’s still a purpose.

I like that last comment because I think it can apply to a lot of things in storytelling! Anything that shows some element of your character has a purpose to the story even if it doesn’t exactly advance the plot.

thatwritergirlsblog:

DISCLAIMER: This is my opinion

1. Passive voice is always bad

  • There are so many tests/checkers for identifying passive voice in your writing and it has become a rule to change every instance of its occurrence.
  • Why?
  • Yes, I get that it isn’t as exciting and makes your plot/characters seem passive rather than active. Maybe it doesn’t make for great prose.
  • But it does have its place.
  • I think that one/two/five passive voice sentences in a book are fine. Will you really get burned at the stake if you have the sentence “Her heart had been broken” in your manuscript?
  • Maybe I’m just missing something.
  • Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying every second sentence should be passive voice. I’m just saying that you don’t have to change every single passive sentence in your work.

2. Real writers write every day

  • Listen, I’ve been writing for thirteen years. I’m always working on a project and I take my writing very seriously. I AM a writer. But I don’t think there’s ever been a period in my life where I wrote every single day.
  • Yes, if you schedule time to write every day and you manage to stick to it, you’re amazing. And you’ll probably be published quicker.
  • But that doesn’t mean that other writers aren’t serious about their writing or aren’t “real” writers.
  • Sometimes, life gets in the way. Sometimes, your creative muscles are really tired and all your words come out crappy. It’s normal.
  • It depends on your energy cycle/other responsibilities/goals. If you are working on your WIP and making progress, you’re a writer.
  • Don’t be so hard on yourself. Jeez.

3. Only include what is relevant to the plot

  • I confess: I am an overwriter. My current WIP is looking to be 150k words, so I’m gonna have to do a LOT of cutting in the editing phase. So yeah, maybe I should take this advice.
  • But objectively, I don’t believe in the strict application of this rule.
  • If JK Rowling/J.R.R Tolkien only included what would move the plot forward, we wouldn’t have the amazing fleshed-out worlds of HP and LotR. The extra, interesting stuff is what makes those stories so amazing.
  • So, I think a much better way to think about this is: Only include what is relevant to your CHARACTERS’ LIVES.
  • If there is something awesome that your characters do/see that people don’t get to experience in the real world, tell the reader about it. If there’s some fantastical element about your world that the character would definitely notice, describe how the character experiences it. Live through your characters in the world you’ve created.

4.  Every chapter should end on a cliffhanger

  • There’s this idea that each chapter should follow a formula: End with a tense reveal/cliffhanger > the next chapter opens with the character’s reaction to said reveal > the middle of the chapter is the mini resolution > the chapter ends with another tense reveal.
  • This is a great way to structure a chapter. But it gets tedious and overdone if every single chapter follows the same basic steps.
  • Ending EVERY chapter on a tense cliffhanger will drain your readers emotionally and numb them to the tense points in the rest of the novel. So, give your readers time to breathe and enjoy the less intense parts of your story too.
  • Have a few chapters that don’t end in absolute suspense.

5. Real writers don’t see writing as a business

  • “Real” writers are in it for the art. They live apart from the world of mortals and only care about fairy tales and castles in the sky. They are too pure and dainty and creative to concern themselves with something as mundane as money.
  • You are going to die of hunger.

If you agree with these pieces of advice, good for you. I just don’t. 

Reblog if you agree. Comment with the writing advice you can’t endorse. Follow me for similar content.

writingmyselfintoanearlygrave:

h-brook-writes:

“I’m such a shit writer, I can’t get anything to sound good!”

I guarantee if you’ve written more than a few sentences, there’s one in there that you like. There’s something that made you glow with pride, or at least made you think for a moment, “hey, a few more of these and I’ll be set!”

So here’s what you gotta do. 

Compile them.

Make a separate document and name it “Lines I Like”, “Good Shit I Wrote”, or anything that proclaims that it’s the best of your work. Not “okay stuff I guess”. This is for tooting your own horn, not negging yourself straight back into misery.

Then go through any and all WIPs or past projects and paste them into it. Save it to your desktop and maintain it. Add to it every time you create a turn of phrase that sounds right, any time you write a good pun or a striking paragraph. Top it up with fresh material.

Open it up when you’re feeling down on yourself as a writer. Anything that makes you doubt your abilities, open it and reread those lines. It’s an instant mood boost. 

Be your own inspiration, because if you’ve written a good thing once, you can absolutely do it again.

Great advice! I do something similar, I have a document with my favorite line from every chapter in it, and it works like a charm! ❤

noblecrumpet-dorkvision:

Religions have many different aspects that should at least be given thought if not careful consideration. Use these to guide your creative process when developing new religions and deities.

Key Aspects

Deity/Pantheon: Your religion does not need to necessarily have a deity, and it can even have an entire pantheon. I would venture that while a trained priest might perhaps specialize in one deity, a religion can have many.

Dogma: What are the principles and teachings of your religion? What does the deity implore of their worshippers? What is and isn’t allowed? What are the ethics of the religion? Why must we follow these principles?

Symbols: As important as the religion’s dogma are its symbols. How is your religion recognized on flags, tabards, armor, weapons, artwork, and holy symbols? Does your religion have a holy color or color scheme that they could use for their priestly robes?

Temples: Where are the religion’s places of worship? They could be secluded and secret or in/near cities. What do they look like? Are they merely household shrines or grand cathedrals? Do they have any distinguishing features?

Religious Practices

Rites and Rituals: What sorts of special ceremonies do the clerics of your religion practice? Are there any special material components that have meaning for the religion, deity, and ceremony? How long do ceremonies take and what is supposed to come from them? Rituals always serve a purpose, even if that purpose is merely affirming your faith. Rituals are useful as story elements as well as for players to perform.

  • Affirming Faith: telling your god you’re there and in prayer. It can be as simple as a daily prayer or weekly ceremony or more in-depth like a monthly or yearly ritual.

  • Proving Devotion: proving your faith to your god, usually meant for those who might be in doubt or who have wavered.

  • Initiation: rituals for new members to the religion.

  • Induction: rituals for new clergy members or clergy moving up in hierarchy.

  • Satiation: your deity demands sacrifice of something valuable to you or to it.

  • Boon/Blessing: the ritual seeks something of your deity, perhaps a bountiful harvest or victory in battle.

  • Magic: a ritual might be held to cast certain spells or perhaps to increase the power or scope of a spell. These can also be used in creation of magic items.

  • Healing: rituals for performing healing magic.

  • Funerals: ceremonies for the dead.

  • Marriage: ceremonies for binding individuals together spiritually

Holy Days: Often rituals can coincide with special days or times of the year. Holy days can be predicted and often signify important seasonal or historic events. Harvest, springtime, solstice, and equinox holy days are common, as are those commemorating the deaths of martyrs or important dates in the religion’s history.

Myths/Legends: Are there any stories or parables that your religion teaches? What stories of the gods do they tell? Do they have any specific myths relating to things like the creation of the world, the creation of elements, the invention of everyday things, or perhaps the invention of morality?

Prayers/Sayings: To help you roleplay priests of this religion, you can come up with some common greetings, farewells, and blessings that might be associated with the religion. “Pelor shines upon you” and whatnot.

People

Titles/Hierarchy: What are the ranks of the clergy and do they have any special titles? Are there any notable NPCs in the religion’s hierarchy? For instance, those that worship Mammon, the archdevil of greed are often called Covetors.

Clergy: Do the clergy perform any services for the rest of the population? Usually this involves healing or holding ceremonies, but they could have a broader scope in a theocracy or a narrower scope if secluded or unpopular. What do the clergy look like and wear? Do they favor certain classes other than clerics?

Worshippers: What sort of people are drawn to the religion? Are there certain races, classes, or kingdoms that worship them? What convinces them to follow the religion’s dogma? Is it out of fear, necessity, protection, comfort, or prosperity?

Relations: Does this religion have allies or enemies? These could either be allied or rival churches, deities, or religions. Furthermore, certain kingdoms or people could ally with or oppose the religion. Think of how each faction and religion in your world sees this religion.

Culture

Art: How does your religion express itself? Define your religion’s art, architecture, fashion, and songs and how they compare to other religions and cultures.

Relics: What sorts of holy relics belong to your religion? These can be body parts or objects belonging to important martyrs or high priests or heroes that champion the religion. These might be kept in temples or may have been lost to time. Perhaps some are magic items being used by chosen (or unscrupulous) adventurers.

writingmyselfintoanearlygrave:rychillacases:scriptmedic:fixyourwritinghabits:thewritershandbwritingmyselfintoanearlygrave:rychillacases:scriptmedic:fixyourwritinghabits:thewritershandbwritingmyselfintoanearlygrave:rychillacases:scriptmedic:fixyourwritinghabits:thewritershandbwritingmyselfintoanearlygrave:rychillacases:scriptmedic:fixyourwritinghabits:thewritershandb

writingmyselfintoanearlygrave:

rychillacases:

scriptmedic:

fixyourwritinghabits:

thewritershandbook:

Types of Ships

Parts of the Ship

Wind Directions

Sides of Boats

my bad, should have reblogged from here. 

Oh my gods, guys, this looks so useful!!

Reblogging for future reference.

A reference I desperately needed


Post link

autisticeducator:

“But you got to remember the parents…”

Okay, I was wondering when I was going to end up writing this.


Okay abled bodied parents of disabled children/children with disabilities, listen up:

We’ve got some problems between you and the disabled community.

Let’s start with the fact that you’re dominating the discussion on disability and this is wrong. Unlike us, you don’t personally have to live with the decisions to advocate for “on our behalf”. Nor do you have to live with the language choices you promote.

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have a seat at the table, but we need to be leading the discussion and it is very clear we aren’t. Part of the problem is you either infantize us or claim that we must not be disabled if we can perform some arbitrary list of tasks your kid can’t do (some they might be able to do if you actually accommodated their needs in a way that was actually respectful).

Let’s talk about those language choices. I get you want to see your child “first”, but that isn’t actually how the world works. Society can (and does) use people first to deny your child accommodations, especially when they’re adults. Again, you don’t have to live with this language structure, we do. Let’s try not being allergic to the word “disabled”. That would solve a lot of problems right there. Also, the euphemisms are even worse than people first. Your kid will resent you for calling them special needs, differently abled, or anything of that sort.

Also, none of this actually addresses any of the actual societal issues that we face. You know, the things you benefit from via abled bodied privilege like having a society built for your needs, normalizing apdative tools and tech to make them less costly, dealing with the entire SSI/SSDI/Medicare/Medicaid system when it comes to disability, especially for adults 21+, prevelant forced poverty due to said systems and/or extreme unemployment and underemployment. The sub minimum wage is another issue that we could really use help addressing.

The final point is that with you dominating the conversation, you’re creating a false narrative that certain disabilities are only in childhood and stop at 18/21/what other magical made up number we all know doesn’t exist. Autism doesn’t stop at 18, neither does ADHD, any learning disability, cerebral palsy, etc. But due to this false narrative, getting services and medical care as a disabled adult is more difficult as there are doctors who literally believe we don’t exist. And guess what- your kid has to grow up and deal with that and you don’t have to directly live with it.

Abled bodied parents and others are free to reblog this but those who leave rude responses or try to make it about themselves will be ignored since they’re proving my exact point.

helloagonyaunt:

ash-the-neko:

angelkin-autie:

Literally everyone will ask if you broke your leg(s). Everyone. Even people you don’t know. Theyll ask a lot and think you’re extremely fragile.

bruises show up within the first day of rolling around, and they can really suck

people will try to grab your chair if they think you’re struggling and it can be hard not to snap at them for it

static electricity is a huge issue. You will probably either continuously shock your leg when you’re rolling around or do what I did today and zap someone so hard as you pass that both of you nearly keel over

people will call you out as a faker if you do anything even remotely fun ever on your wheelchair. Wheelies? Obviously your legs are fine lol not like you have to go down fucking curbs /s

puddles are the worst and if there’s a curb with a puddle all around and you have some ability to walk its a better idea to just stand up and navigate the chair than to fall backwards into said puddle

weird looks from people are inevitable, especially from people who don’t like you

bus drivers will often push your chair and give you advise you don’t want to hear, even if you tell them nicely you can push yourself. Its really hard not to get mad at them for it

no wheelies in school. Though if you do it in the elevator when no one else is with you you can’t really get caught.

speaking of wheelies, always be ready to throw at least one arm behind you in case you fall. They say tuck your chin in but its easier and more reliable to throw your hands back and keep your neck up so you don’t hit the floor. Sore arms are way easier to put up with than head injuries

don’t even bother to try and roll back up curbs. You will either be there for an hour or fall backwards. I managed to do both.

90% of classrooms that aren’t special ed are not very wheelchair accessible.

people will automatically assume you’re faking something if you’re not considered dumb enough in their standards to fit in with disabled students (aka high class ableism at its finest)

people are going to give you weird looks if you don’t suddenly start sitting with the other disabled kids

standard backpacks usually dangle way too much to keep on you easily, so try to pack light

built in storage on wheelchairs cannot sufficiently carry books

don’t try to hold an umbrella. Period. Especially not with your teeth. It doesn’t work.

don’t try to give the bus driver your ticket while you’re stuck on the ramp. And speaking of, its easy to start falling down the bus ramp so be careful, and when in doubt throw on the breaks

and finally if you’re like me pray to god you don’t go nonverbal when someone is trying to push you and you don’t want them to because it is hard to get them to stop if you can’t speak

able-bodied people can and should 1000% reblog this, some of these things I’ve seen on tips about using a wheelchair but a lot of these weren’t things I’ve seen

Seriously, never, ever touch someone’s mobility aid without their permission.

A very helpful guide, both for first-time wheelchair users and those around them!

spinach-productions:

jackironsides:

quarter0master:

avi-burton-writing:

every writing tip article and their mother: dont ever use adverbs ever!

me, shoveling more adverbs onto the page because i do what i want: just you fucking try and stop me

May I add something, because I will never shut up about this book (Writing Tools by Roy Peter Clark):

Finally, some good fucking advice


theblackqueen-ofmyheart: depressionhope: Here are some warning signs of depression that you shouldn’

theblackqueen-ofmyheart:

depressionhope:

Here are some warning signs of depression that you shouldn’t ignore.

*realizes I’ve got all of these but one* *nervous laughter* oh….


Post link

iamthecutestofborg:

headspace-hotel:

headspace-hotel:

thinking again about TvTropes and how it’s genuinely such an amazing resource for learning the mechanics of storytelling, honestly more so than a lot of formally taught literature classes

reasons for this:

  • basically TvTropes breaks down stories mechanically, using a perspective that’s not…ABOUT mechanics. Another way I like to put it, is that it’s an inductive, instead of deductive, approach to analyzing storytelling.
  • like in a literature or writing class you’re learning the elements that are part of the basic functioning of a story, so, character, plot, setting, et cetera. You’re learning the things that make a story a story, and why.Like, you learn what setting is, what defines it, and work from there to what makes it effective, and the range of ways it can be effective.
  • here’s the thing, though: everyone has some intuitive understanding of how stories work. if we didn’t, we couldn’t…understand stories.
  • TvTropes’s approach is bottom-up instead of top-down: instead of trying to exhaustively explore the broad, general elements of story, it identifies very small, specific elements, and explores the absolute shit out of how they fit, what they do, where they go, how they work.
  • Every TvTropes article is basically, “Here is a piece of a story that is part of many different stories. You have probably seen it before, but if not, here is a list of stories that use it, where it is, and what it’s doing in those stories. Here are some things it does. Here is why it is functionally different than other, similar story pieces. Here is some background on its origins and how audiences respond to it.”
  • all of this is BRILLIANT for a lot of reasons. one of the major ones is that the site has long lists of media that utilizes any given trope, ranging from classic literature to cartoons to video games to advertisements. the Iliad and Adventure Time ARE different things, but they are MADE OF the same stuff. And being able to study dozens of examples of a trope in action teaches you to see the common thread in what the trope doesand why its specific characteristics let it do that
  • I love TvTropes because a great, renowned work of literature and a shitty, derivative YA novel will appear on the same list, because they’re Made Of The Same Stuff. And breaking down that mental barrier between them is good on its own for developing a mechanical understanding of storytelling.
  • But also? I think one of the biggest blessings of TvTropes’s commitment to cataloguing examples of tropes regardless of their “merit” or literary value or whatever…is that we get to see the full range of effectiveness or ineffectiveness of storytelling tools. Like, this is how you see what makes one book good and another book crappy. Tropes are Tools, and when you observe how a master craftsman uses a tool vs. a novice, you can break down not only what the tool is most effective for but how it is best used.
  • In fact? There are trope pages devoted to what happens when storytelling tools just unilaterally fail. e.g. Narm is when creators intend something to be frightening, but audiences find it hilarious instead.
  • On that note, TvTropes is also great in that its analysis of stories is very grounded in authors, audiences, and culture; it’s not solely focused on in-story elements. A lot of the trope pages are categories for audience responses to tropes, or for real-world occurrences that affected the storytelling, or just the human failings that creep into storytelling and affect it, like Early Installment Weirdness. There are categories for censorship-driven storytelling decisions. There are “lineages” of tropes that show how storytelling has changed over time, and how audience responses change as culture changes. Tropes like Draco in Leather Pants or Narm are catalogued because the audience reaction to a story is as much a part of that story—the story of that story?—as the “canon.”
  • like, storytelling is inextricable from context. it’s inextricable from how big the writers’ budget was, and how accepting of homophobia the audience was, and what was acceptable to be shown on film at the time. Tropes beget other tropes, one trope is exchanged for another, they are all linked. A Dead Horse Trope becomes an Undead Horse Trope, and sometimes it was a Dead Unicorn Trope all along. What was this work responding to? And all works are responding to something, whether they know it or not

An incomplete list of really useful or interesting reads from TvTropes.

please note that yes many of these are concepts that exist elsewhere and a few are even taught in fiction writing classes but TvTropes just does an amazing job at displaying the range of things that can be done with them

legitimately so much of the terminology I use to talk about storytelling, and even think about it in my own head, i learned about from TvTropes

this is just a really short list of examples I encourage people who write or otherwise create stories to browse around on this site it’s so useful

YES I love TV tropes so immensely. It combines two things my neurodivergent brain loves: fiction analysis and putting things into categories

early-sxnsets:

devilswalkingstick:

i think more characters should have canes actually. theyre cool. theyre sexy. they can have swords in them. they come in any color u want.

hi im stepping in as ur local cane user and i just wanna quickly add this about cane swords: if someone is putting weight onto their cane, they almost definitely aren’t using a cane sword (some exceptions may be possible). this is because the usual cane sword is made hollow with a relatively flimsy exterior metal as to not scrape against the interior sword, and thus the handle is typically the only solid part.

trust me–i’ve been on the lookout for a sturdy cane sword for years that would be practical for use and everytime i could feel it struggling under pressure.

it makes it relatively unreliable as a cane for the majority of people who use canes…. however! there is a neat alternative!

you can instead opt for a trusty knife hidden in the top of the cane, therefore making the rest of the cane sturdier to use, and, additionally, less likely to be checked when passing security. another fantastic cane that a friend of mine has actually unscrews the handle to reveal a tiny compartment that fits a small bottle. she mentioned it’s an antique, so we theorized that it was for cocaine back in the day, but it could fit other things (cyanide, maybe for a disabled spy character?)

also, as someone who also is trained in sword-based self defense: i find that i can relatively translate most basic strikes using my cane, if needed. just something to use….

what i’m getting at is there are lots of ways to expand upon epic cane usages.

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