l0s3r95:

question prompts for oc/character development

These are questions that are really silly and the kind of stuff nobody really asks or thinks about lol!!

• What kind of clothes do they usual wear?
• What is their criteria for the ideal platonic/romantic partner?
• What is their aesthetic/style?
• What does their handwriting look like?
• Which celebrity do they absolutely despise?
• What kind of music makes them hyper? What kind of music makes them cry??
• Do they have any nervous habits? If so, what are they??
• How tall are they? What is their body type?
• What is their favorite food?
• Where do they love to hang out?
• Do they have a TikTok account? A Tumblr account? A Wattpad account?
• What kind of memes make them laugh the hardest?
• What do they smell like?
• Who always manages to make them smile?
• Which clique did they belong to in highschool?
• What are their biggest pet peeves in another person?
• What is their favorite book/movie? By extension, what is their least favorite book/movie?
• Do they have any specific texting quirks? Do they have any specific speaking patterns??
• What does their voice sound like? Do they have a speech impediment, an accent, etc??
• What dream job did they want to have as a kid? What job do they have now?
• What shenanigans do they indulge in when with their friends?
• Which time of day do they look forward to most and why?
• What is their blood type?
• What is their favorite fantasy/scenario to daydream about?
• What’s their favorite videogame?
• What does their bedroom look like?
• How sincere are their hugs?
• How cringey are they???
• How good is their posture?
• Do they prefer chocolate or fruity candy?
• What is their favorite holiday? What is their favorite type of weather??

the-evanescent-inkwell:

Some Fun World Building Tips!

Disclaimer: Your plot/story comes first. Don’t add a bunch of flaunty details for the sake of ‘World Building’ if it doesn’t add to your story or takes it off course, It’s not worth it. These are just some things I’ve tried in different, separate stories that were fun exercises for me as a creator.

1.) Language!

This is the most useful if you have multiple countries in a fantasy world that interact with each other in some form or fashion. Most countries have a different national language, and then different dialects of that language. Therefore, if you have two characters from Country A and Country B that speak different languages and live a decent distance apart, they’re probably going to have different speaking structures and slang. For instance, maybe Character A always says ‘Oh my God’ and maybe Character B always says “My Gods!” Incorporating little details like that will make your story more real and believable without requiring writing out another language. 

Also, language is based on history, religion, and culture. If Country A and Country B have different religions, they’re going to swear differently. It’s more interesting if you don’t just substitute their god’s name into a generic phrase that is the same across all languages.

2.) Food!

Food is SUPER cultural and SUPER fun to play with while world building. What is considered “travel food” in the country? What do they drink out of? What’s a popular type of alcohol? What’s the traditional ‘comfort food’? Desserts? What do you offer guests when they come over to your house? This is also dependent on the terrain. If the country has a lot of swamp and bogs, they’re not going to have an endless supply of grains. If it’s mostly a prairie, they’re not going to have oranges. Do a little research on what type of foods could be grown in the environment your country is in, then figure out what foods can be made from these plants. 

This is really easy to incorporate into fantasy worlds by just mentioning for half a sentence what food the characters are eating, and it tells the reader a lot about the environment and culture of this country. 

3.) Education!

This one only works if you have younger characters who are attending school or receiving lessons. If you have the right environment for it, it’s really fun to mess around with. Ask yourself questions: what would my character study at this age in this environment? History? Math? Language? Art? Music? Philosophy? Magic? Combat? Religion? 

While your character is learning about the history of one or multiple countries, you can easily expand your reader’s depth of the world through short descriptions. You can explore the linguistics of a country’s language and develop time periods. I have one WIP where the main character is having to read multiple classical novels and plays, but she also reads modern fantasy. Having a history helps deepen the believability of a world. If you’re exploring art, music, or philosophy, make sure to mention famous artists, musicians, and philosophers that your character either despises or looks up to. Magic is fun too. What type of magic is your character learning? How do they practice it? How is it viewed by the majority? Combat depends on culture; different groups of people fight differently and use different weapons. Religion is fun to play with, and through an educational setting, it can be smoothly explained. 

Even picking just one or two of the above list (or even adding some more!) gives just a bit more depth to your story and solidifies your world!

4.) Popular Culture

Pop culture shapes our world soooo much it’s ridiculous. Having some version of it will make your world so believable. What is your world’s version of Taylor Swift or Pan!c at the Disco? What’s your world’s version of Fortnite dances? What are their ‘memes’, so-to-speak? Who do they make fun of? My high school of 300 people has inside jokes that make fun of our principal. Even if it’s a little jab at the president/king/dictator of a country, just add a little something extra that can help give a clear image of modern social culture.

5.) Media

How do the citizens of your country receive their news? Newspapers? Is there just a giant bulletin where the king posts news? What type of news do they receive? Politics? International? Economic? Environmental? Sports? Pop culture? Editorials? Feature stories? Do they receive news magically? If so, how? Do they have some form of radios or televisions? What issues are present in society? Is anyone doing anything about this?

This is fun because it’s a very real thing you can include that once again gives your story some believability. A large country needs some sort of communication, and through the media is one way to do that. In an absolute monarchy where news is completely controlled by the government, this can be used to show contrast if the king is indeed a bad king. Also, differences in mass communication between two countries (maybe one has a bulletin controlled completely by the king and another has a law protecting freedom of the press) can show differences between the two. Also, political cartoons are fun.

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST!!

Study world history. Pay attention to differences between countries and mirror/combine elements of culture and history into your own original world. You learn the most from what has actually made it—the real thing!

inky-duchess:

Writer’s Guide: Writing about Alcoholic Drinks and Cocktails

Or how to write believable bar and nightclub scenes. I often find myself helping friends with their WIPs and often it as a bartender, I find myself having to correct them on bar and mixology terminology. So here’s my quick guide to keeping your lingo on the straight and narrow.

Terminology

• DASH/SPLASH: a drop of a mixer such as juice or flavouring.
• MIXER: non alcholic beveraged served with the measure of alcohol in the same glass.
• NEAT: Plain, without any addition of ice or a mixture. Just the alcohol.
• ON THE ROCKS: Served over Ice.
• STRAIGHT UP: The cocktail is chilled with ice and strained into a glass with no ice
• DIRTY – if somebody asks for a dirty martini, you add olive juice, the more juice the dirtier it is
• DRY- A dry martini includes a drop of vermouth and an extra dry martini contains a drop of scotch swirled in the glass and drained before adding the gin
• BACK – a ‘back’ is a drink that accompanies an alcholic beverage such as water or Coke, but isn’t mixed.
• GARNISH – something added to a drink such as a lime or lemon or orange.
• TWIST - a twist is literally a twist of fruit skin in the drink.
• BITTERS – a herbal alcoholic blend added to cocktails.
• RIMMED - the glass is coated in salt or sugar to enhance the taste.
• VIRGIN- non alcoholic
• MOCKTAIL- a virgin cocktail
• DOUBLE - Two measures of the same alcohol in the same glass. A bartender can only legally serve a double in the same glass. They cannot serve you a triple.

Equipment

• COCKTAIL SHAKER - it is a metal cup that fits into a glass, used to shake the components of your drink together with ice to chill it.
• STRAINER- used to seperate ice in the shaker from the liquid within as you pour it into the glass.
• MEASURES- these are little metal cylinders meant to measure out the pours of the alcohol. You pour the alcohol from the bottle into the measure and then put it into the glass. It’s imperative that the right measure goes into the glass or the drink will taste of shit.
• BAR SPOON – a long spoon meant to mix the drink.
• OPTIC- it is a mechanism that attaches a bottle to an automatic pourer. The bartender usually fits the glass under the spout and pushes up to release the amount which cuts off at the single measure.
• SHOT GLASS- a shot glass is a small glass to contain one measure
• PINT GLASS- a glass used for serving pints of lager or ale
• HALF PINT GLASS - a tulip shaped glass half the measure of a pint glass
• SPEEDWELL/TAPS/DRAFT: are the taps used to pour beer from kegs stored under the bar floor.
• SLIM JIM/HIGH BALL GLASS- It is a tall straight holding 8 to 12 ounces and used for cocktails served on the rocks such as a Gin and Tonic.
• ROCKS GLASS - or an old fashioned glass, it is short and round. These glasses are used for drinks such as Old Fashioneds or Sazerac
• COUPE GLASS- Are broad round stemmed glasses used for cocktails that are chill and served without ice such as a Manhattan, Boulevardier or a Gimlet
• MARTINI GLASS - a martini glass is that classic stemmed “v” shaped glass, used to serve drinks without mixers such as Martini and Cosmopolitans
• MARGARITA GLASS - is a large, round bowl like glass with a broad and a tall stem used for Margaritas and Daiquiris
• HURRICANE GLASS- a tall tulip-like shaped glass with a flared rim and short stem. It holds 20 ounces which means it is the perfect glass to serve iced cocktails in such as Pina Colada, Singapore Sling, Hurricane

Alcoholic Drinks

• Vodka- Vodka is made from potatoes or fermented cereal grains. It has a strong taste and scent. It is usually consumed neat with a mixer such as Coke or Orange juice or cranberry juice or in cocktails like Martini, Bloody Mary and Cosmopolitan.
• Whisky/Whiskey- Whiskey is a distilled alcoholic beverage, made from fermented grain mash such as barley, corn, rye, and wheat. It gets its flavour form being fermented in casks for long period of time. When serving a whiskey, one asks whether they want ice or a mixer. Everyone has their own preference. I prefer mine like myself, strong and Irish. Scotch is Scottish Brewed whisky.
• Rum- Rum is made by fermenting and distilling sugarcane molasses/juice. It is aged in oak barrels. It has a sweet taste.
• Beer: is made out of cereal grains and served chilled in bottles or pulled from taps/speedwells.
• Ale: Ale in the middle ages referred to beer brewed without hops (a kind of flowering plant that gives beer its bitter taste). It is sweeter and would typically have a fruity aftertaste.
• Stout- is a darker beer sometimes brewed from roasted malt, coming in a sweet version and dry version, the most famous stout being Guinness.
• Poitín- (pronounced as pot-cheen) is made from cereals, grain, whey, sugar beet, molasses and potatoes. It is a Dangerous Drink (honestly i still don’t know how I ended up in that field with a traffic cone and a Shetland pony) and technically illegal. Country folk in Ireland used to brew it in secrets in stills hidden on their land.
• Vermouth: Is made from infused with roots, barks, flowers, seeds, herbs, spices, brandy but vermouth is classed aromatized wine. It comes sweet or dry
• Gin- is made from juniper, coriander, citrus peel, cinnamon, almond or liquorice and grain alcohol. Gin has a strong scent and taste and is usually served in a martini or a tonic water.
• Schnapps- refers to any strong, clear alcoholic beverage. It is considered one of the best types of spirits because of its pure and delicate aroma. Lesson: never drink peach schnapps.

Cocktails and Drinks

• Irish Coffee: an Irish coffee is adding whiskey to coffee and sugar and topping it with cream. As a bartender, I would honestly rather cut my arm off than make one of these.
• Baby Guinness: Is a shot made by pouting Tia Maria or Kaluah into a shot glass and spreading Baileys on the top so it looks like a small pint of Guinness.
• Silver Bullet: a shot of mixed tequila and sambuca.
• Long Island Iced Tea:  The Long Island contains vodka, gin, tequila, light rum, lemon juice, triple sec and cola. It has a real kick.
• Mai Tai: is made with light and dark rum, lime juice, orange curacao, orgeat syrup and rock candy syrup and served with a mint garnish.
• Manhattan: The Manhattan is made with rye whiskey, sweet vermouth and bitters.
• Margarita: The margarita is made with tequila, cointreau and lime juice.
• Mojito: a mojito is made with muddled mint, white rum, lime juice, simple syrup and soda.
• Martini: a martini is made of gin, dry vermouth and garnished with a lemon twist or olives.
• Mimosa: a mimosa is a made with sparkling wine and orange juice.
• Mint Julep: Made with Kentucky bourbon, simple syrup, mint leaves and crushed ice
• Pina Colada: is made with white rum, dark rum, pineapple juice and coconut cream
• Screwdriver: Vodka and Orange juice
• Tequila Sunrise: tequila, orange juice and grenadine
• Tom Collins: made with spiked lemonade, sparkling water, lemon juice, simple syrup and gin
• Whiskey Sour: is made with powdered sugar, seltzer, lemon juice and whiskey.
• White Russian: made with vodka, coffee liqueur and cream.
• Black Russian: made with two parts coffee liqueur and five parts vodka.
• Gin and Tonic: gin served with tonic water
• Bloody Mary: made with vodka and tomato juice mixed with lemon juice, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, fresh herbs, brown sugar and cracked black pepper.
• Brandy Alexander: served straight up and made with brandy, cognac, creme de cacao and cream
• Cosmopolitan: Made with citrus vodka, Cointreau, cranberry juice and fresh lime juice
• Daiquiri: made with rum, lime juice and sugar.
• Gimlet: gin and lime juice

My Top 10 Bartending Rules and Responsibilities

1. Overpouring is never an option. You can seriously hurt somebody by overpouring, not to mention spoil the drink and ruin your sales. You only serve people what they ask and never more.
2. When somebody has had enough, you stop serving them. After a while, you know when to cut somebody off.
3. Never leave bottles on the counter or in reach of customers. Your expensive spirits should never be in reach of anybody but you.
4. If you tell somebody your selling them premium and top shelf alcohol, you cannot substitute with cheaper licqor. It’s illegal.
5. As a bartender, your eyes always have to be scanning a crowd. You can’t leave people hanging.
6. The golden rule - if you see somebody messing with someone’s drink, you chuck it if you can or warn the person. And you get that son of a bitch out of your pub.
7. 50% of the job is cleaning. You have to clean your tools constantly. You cannot reuse measures and spouts, you have to wash everything. Beer traps are clean out every night, rubber mats are washed and anything you have used has to be clean.
8. You have to hand dry your glasses. You never polish a pint glass as it fucks up the pint. You polish your cocktail glasses, shot glasses and straight glasses.
9. If someone seems down or on their own, you try make conversation. Often you’ll hear some disturbing stuff but always try lend an ear or make everyone feel included.
10. If you break a glass in the ice bucket, you got to get rid of the ice.

wordsnstuff:

– Arguments in books are some of the most pivotal and important scenes in a narrative, but they’re also some of the most difficult because fights, in the moment, can seem much more dramatic in our heads than they would seem to an outsider. The great thing about writing is that you have the option to add context you wouldn’t have otherwise, which puts the reader in the characters’ heads and into the heat of the moment. I decided it was worth an article because it’s a very hit or miss kind of scene to pursue and I’ve received a lot of questions on the subject, so I’d like to answer (most of) them here. Enjoy! 

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Instigation

Which character began the fight? Sometimes fights start days before they actually turn into a heated argument, so if there is a build up to the scene, make sure you’ve taken the time to make that clear in the last couple scenes or chapters. 

Sometimes, it isn’t actually clear to the characters what or who started the argument and it just sort of bubbles up over time or as events make the characters more confused, angry, scared, etc.

That’s another thing you need to know before you start writing an argument: what emotion is driving the characters to participate? Fear? Anger? Confusion? Sadness? Frustration? Tiredness? Repression of past feelings? Betrayal? In order to make the characters argue believably, you need to be in their headspace, and you can only do that if you know why they’re fighting in the first place.

Tone and pace

Build up

In order for an argument to be impactful to the reader, there needs to be some substantial escalation. Fights are like stories. There’s something that starts it, there’s rising tension, there’s a climax, and then there’s a cool down period before the resolution. Focus on the way you do the rising action especially, because the climax of the argument should be an “oh sh*t” moment.

Dialogue & Interraction

There are different types of arguments people can have. There’s the slow burn ones that the reader knows are coming, but are still really jarring when they come to pass. There are also the ones that seem like they’re out of nowhere if you don’t have context, but to someone who has been following maybe the past few days of the two people’s lives, they can tell that the actual subject of conflict isn’t what they’re really fighting about, but a deeper underlying issue they’ve both been struggling with. There are many ways an argument can go and feel to a reader, but a huge part of the subtext is how the two characters interact. 

If your characters are screaming about a dish that was put away wet and left a ring on the stained cabinets, it will be fairly obvious to the reader, as that sort of interaction, at surface level, wouldn’t serve much of a story-telling purpose, and therefore will lead the reader to assume there’s more to it and search their arsenal of contextual evidence to find the real source of tension between the characters. This can also be accomplished through clues in dialogue, such as sarcasm in response to when something relating to the actual issue is mentioned, or a lull in the argument when the two characters realize that they’re not really talking about a stupid bowl, are they?

Resolution

How the argument ends could be used to shift where the reader believes the story is going from there on. The end could be very insignificant to your story, as fights between characters are often used to get across some key information about characters or context or introduce new conflicts, which brings up my next point.

Integration

Arguments are a really good opportunity to integrate lots of important information for your reader in a way that shows instead of telling. You can use arguments to relay lots of information to your reader, such as:

• Character tendencies
  
• Relationships between characters
  
• Smaller conflicts
  
• Foreshadowing
  
• Associations that will be useful in future scenes
  
• Shifts in tone
  
• Changes in the direction of the story
  
• Underlying issues that might come up later

and many more.

Some General Tips To Keep In Mind

• Always ask yourself “would so and so really do this?”
  
• During arguments, people’s responses will often be blended with their reactions. Their face will be shocked and their words will be sharp. Try to include these little mixes in order to make the pace faster and more suspenseful.
  
• Most large arguments start with something smaller and less significant
  
• A lot of the time, the reactions won’t be like “i can’t believe he said that to me”, they’ll be defensive and/or a shot back without much thought.
  
• Most arguments, especially between two characters who generally like each other, will end with something like one person walking out of the room, one person deciding to sleep on the couch, or one person avoiding or ignoring the other. Most fights between characters who know and matter to each other don’t end with a punch in the face.
  
• Arguments don’t usually end when they’re no longer yelling at each other.

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spaceshipkat:

dunno if this is gonna be like. at all useful, and i’ve more than likely mentioned it before, but when i wrote my 1920s manuscript (which had been my first secondary world fantasy in years) i kinda became obsessed with learning the etymology of words i used to make sure they’d exist in the time period/world (if, for instance, your world doesn’t have a fantasy France, words like champagne or armoire probably shouldn’t be in the vocabulary you use) bc, if not, they can really detract and distract from the story. i’ve practiced the same behavior ever since, though it was, admittedly, easier with 1920s bc a lot of the vocab is still in use today and/or bc i had an actual specific decade i was using for inspiration.

so when you’re world-building, choose a year (or a decade) you don’t want your world to exist beyond. with my witchling WIP, the decade i’ve chosen is the 1760s, so i don’t use a word that was invented past that decade. this is a good site to bookmark for this exact purpose, and this is a good site to find slang that was used in whichever year/decade you’ve chosen! anachronisms are bound to happen, and sometimes can’t be avoided, but reducing them is the best thing you can do for your world :)

I hate writing advice.

That’s my little tongue-in-cheek joke for this post, because the irony of what I’m doing literally as I type that statement is not lost on me. It’s true, though— I honestly think that advice is one of the most damaging things to a writer’s mindset. It makes them second-guess their methods, their ideas, and even whether they truly have what it takes to be a *~*writer*~* in the eyes of the rest of the world.

It’s a truly unfortunate thing, because it’s so important for writers to be able to share their experiences and successes. The problem is that these experiences get passed around in a game of It’s-Been-Ten-Years-Since-This-Essay-Was-Written Telephone, and the original intent of the advice (and sometimes its actual meaning!) gets lost along the way. They become these overarching blanket statements that offer broad limitations without reason or potential alternatives.

One of the greatest offenders of this is the idea that you ought to avoid clichés in writing. I’ve been part of online writing communities for a while now, and by far the most common concern I see is some variant of, “I’m thinking about doing [x], but I’m worried it’s too cliché”. It’s an epidemic amongst writers, and it absolutely infuriates me that so many writers have come to doubt their own work just because some vague internet grapevine has told them that clichés are to be avoided at all costs.

Because I’m so infuriated by this (and because I’m super extra and actually have a relevant platform on which to discuss this), I’m going to take some time to explain the actual meaning of this particular piece of “advice” and why it’s far less of a concern than you’ve been lead to believe.

To begin, it’s very important to address the fact that there’s a fundamental misunderstanding surrounding this idea. This starts with the fact that the terms cliché andtrope are mistakenly thought to be synonymous, or otherwise become confused with one another. Before I move forward, I want to offer the proper definition for both.

Acliché is a particular phrase that’s been used often enough to become commonplace. In writing, they’re generally used to create a specific image or tone that we can take for granted that the reader will recognize.

She was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. It was raining cats and dogs, but she still stood with her arms to the sky, laughing like she didn’t even notice. She turned to me and winked, and I felt my face go as red as a beet.In that moment, I knew that I’d give my right arm to be with her.

Atropeis a convention used in writing to give meaning to aspects of your story. They’re used as storytelling shorthand to attach identifiable qualities to your plot and characters— recurring themes that exist throughout history to guide stories.

Examples of tropes include the hero’s journey, the character’s fatal flaw, the comic relief character, thehero with a dark past, and the Mom Friend.

I’ll be the first to admit that there are similarities between the two— both are used to help readers understand parts of your story, and tropes can be specific phrases as shown in the cliché example above. The key is to separate the two in your mind and think about them only by the definitions above.

It’s important to do this, because part of the central misunderstanding is that “cliché” is often used in daily life to describe ideas as a whole that have been overused (think of the “I’m holding up the tower!” pic that literally everyone takes at the Leaning Tower of Pisa). I get the confusion and concern here, I really do. The most important thing to remember is that clichés have a specific meaning when it comes to writing. No matter how often you may see a particular theme or character arc, it is and always will be a trope.

With that out of the way, I’d like to discuss why this should be good advice. The truth of the matter is that clichés should be avoided where possible because they give the impression of lazy writing. Writers and readers alike take the imagery for granted and rely on these tried-and-true phrases to add physicality to their prose instead of finding unique descriptors; while it certainly gets the point across, it comes across as more of a 2D picture from a magazine than a scene from the movie adaptation we all know our books are destined to have.

To illustrate this, let’s take a look at the example above with all of the clichés removed:

The world had never experienced a beauty like hers— neither had I. I just watched as she stood there, arms to the sky as the rain pelted her relentlessly, soaking into her clothes and hair. She smiled as it ran down her face, laughing at each raindrop, finally turning to me and winking. She could have just been blinking the water out of her eye, I don’t know, but my face was hot and I suddenly found it hard to look at her. I stared at my shoes, willing them to take a step for once so I could go and join her.

Clichés fall flat because they aren’t specific to you as a writer— they aren’t at all indicative of your unique style. Your story loses so much when it’s not told in your own voice, so you shouldn’t rely on old phrases just because you know people will automatically understand them.

While the argument could be made that tropes fall into this same category, I would point out that tropes serve a deeper purpose than clichés. Where a cliché would act as filler, a trope would act as a foundation. Tropes are tools (most frequently, structural tools) that guide the story through plot/character development and tonal themes to give your reader a general idea of what they’re signing up for when they read your story.

Example Time!

Say that you wanted to write someone a love poem. You do your research, sifting through decades of poems to pick out the best phrases and metaphors, and you end up with the following:

Your eyes are as deep as an oceans
Your eyes shine like stars
They’re like windows to your soul
I get lost in them every time I look

The poem is essentially a cut-and-paste of phrases from every cheesy romance novel out there, and will most likely leave the object of your affections wondering why you’re so obsessed with their eyeballs.

Alternatively, you hand them this:

Roses are red,
Violets are blue…

and things get a little more interesting. Sure, the opening to the poem is a cliché in and of itself, but it sets the stage for whatever you want to fill it with. You could go with something traditional and make it cutesy, you could subvert the trope by dropping the rhyme scheme for dramatic or comedic effect, you could even revive the old 2015 “gun” meme. The world is your oyster!

The point is, the poem hasn’t been written for you. Sure, it follows a similar structure to poems that have been written before, but where you take it is entirely up to you— the opening lines are simply the prompt to make way for your own creative license.

Let’s be real, here. 

I get that everyone wants to make something new and exciting that comes entirely from their own imagination. It’s the dream! The idea that anything we write could potentially be sourced back to an existing piece is super aggravating, and you don’t have to tell me how discouraging it is to have something that you’re genuinely proud of suddenly fall flat because someone says, “Hasn’t the teen dystopia thing been done to death?” or “Didn’t Star Trek do an episode like this?” or “Penney, this is just a Star Trek fanfiction with the names changed to Dirk and Spork, please stop.”

To be totally honest, there is not (nor will there ever be) a single piece of writing on this earth that’s 100% original. Everything is based off of a story that came before it, or had plots and characters that were cherry-picked from the millions of plots and characters that existed previously.

Even more honestly, people like it that way. Tropes help us to identify our favorite genres and characters, guide us to stories that we may like based on those preferences, and open our eyes to new stories and authors that follow those tropes in a slightly different way. 

In short, embrace your tropes. Learn to recognize them and how they can be used and reimagined, and build your story out of the wonderful things that come of that knowledge. Be like me and waste a billion hours in the rabbit hole that is TV Tropes!

Most importantly, write the way you want to write and don’t let anyone else tell you how to do it. They’ll have their time when you’re ready for peer review. Right now is your time to do as you please, ignore all writing advice you see online, make a few mistakes, and do it all over again because that’s what writers do! Get out there and make some beautiful, cliché-ridden, trope-y masterpieces.

Love,
Penney

focsle:

I hate tumblr’s idea of ‘problematic’ characters so much.

An example of a problematic character would be a stock character of a marginalized group that’s reduced to a conglomeration of stereotypes that have a harmful effect on people from that group in the real world.

A problematic character is not a developed character with developed flaws and belief systems that people irl happen to be at odds with. It is not a character that interacts with other characters in ways that hurt them within the narrative. That’s what a story is. That’s what creating characters means. Developing a fleshed-out fictional person to serve a function within one’s narrative.

And characters that are solely mouthpieces for the creator’s own moral views and belief systems, regardless of what those views are, are bad characters, and make bad stories.

emweaver:

shadokatninjakitty:

bookishdiplodocus:

candy-m-s:

rumpuswriters:

Writing Tip:

If you don’t feel like actuallywriting,prepare for writing:

1. Open your WIP Word doc
2. Read the last page again
3. Scribble notes on what happens next

Once you’ve done this, you might just find yourself wanting to continue after all. And if you don’t, no worries. You’ve made it easier to jump back into it later. 

This always works for me! Really good advice!

I do this to get into the writing mood. I can tell myself: “I don’t have to write, no pressure. Look, I’m not writing, this isn’t writing.”

^^GREAT advice!

I started doing something like this for NaNoWriMo this year. 

It has turned me from a die-hard pantser to a plantser, and it’s made writing the next scene and the next and the next so much easier. 

And the only reason I’m lagging behind now, is because I haven’t been doing this in the last week or so. 

eruvadhril:

mageflow:

headspace-hotel:

incandescent-creativity:

ruinedambitions:

the-knights-are-not-dead:

ruinedambitions:

the-knights-are-not-dead:

ruinedambitions:

Part of me wants to shift the entirety of Magical Fantasy Adventure Land into the normal world instead of splitting it into a separate realm.

Part of me is still annoyed that this fucker still doesn’t have a proper title. Or at least something that sounds better as a place holder.

it’s called Mafalia. that’s your world’s name. ‘MAH-FAR-lee-uh’.

That actually sounds really good as a world name. I’m curious to know where that came from?

it’s the acronym. “Magical Fantasy Adventure Land”-ia becomes MaFAL-ia: Mafalia.

i always find if you need a placeholder name for something, write it out and make up an acronym, adding and removing letters or vowels if need be.

for example:

• “The House Where Clio Fell in Love With Him”
  
• “TheHouseWhereClioFellinLoveWithHim”
  
• “THoWeCliFiLWH”
  
• “ThrowecliFiLWH”
  
• “ThrowecliffiLWH”
  
• “ThrowecliffiLWH”
  
• “Throwecliffe”
  
• “Thrawecliffe”
  

hence ‘the house where Clio fell in love with him’ becomes ‘Thrawecliffe House’. what’s a ‘thraw’? i don’t know. is it on a cliff? maybe; that’s an author’s preogative.

suddenly the name of the house itself throws up new questions which an author in answering goes off down a rabbit hole of worldbuilding.

Holy fuck. That is absolutely amazing advice.

Thank you so much!!!!!

As someone who regularly smashes words together for humorous purposes, I’m appalled I’ve never thought to use it in my writing. Bless you.

good advice

My favourite example of this is Dragon Age. The setting is called Thedas, which comes from calling it “the Dragon Age setting” in development!
TheDragonAgeSetting
The DAS
Thedas

The D&D game that my boyfriend is currently running is based in a city called Isan, which is an acronym for “I Suck At Naming”.

a-sundeen:

@kaulayauwritessaid:

what is, in your opinion, the best way to world build? how can you avoid writing a bland, archetypal universe or copying an already existing one? sorry if I’m not being clear, haha, and thanks so much!

Hey there, thanks so much for your ask! I honestly love talking about the world-building process, so I’m really glad you sent this; let’s dive right in!

Best Way to World-Build?

In my opinion, there isn’t a best way to world-build. The “best” process depends on what is needed and what you’ll actually need to know for your writing. What follows isn’t necessarily what I would call the best way, but it’s a good way to cover your bases and opens up a lot of options for going in-depth with details. (It’ll be a bit of a long list, but definitely worth it in the long run.)

For each country you’re going to include or mention in your story, think about:

• Name
  
• Capital and major cities, and locations
• Border shape
• 3 most common landforms
• Historical sites or places that mean a great deal to the people living there
• General economic scheme (ex. capitalist, Communist, Socialist, etc)
• Most important laws
• Major differences from the character’s homeland
• Military setup (different branches, enlistment age, etc)
• Climate
• Relations with surrounding countries
• Societal norms (gender roles, public & professional behavior, etc)
• Stance on LGBT+ rights, and treatment of LGBT+ people
• Most and least respected professions
• Common religions
• Stereotypes about this country (any and all)
• Common pastimes and hobbies
• Popularity of sports, movies, and other forms of entertainment
• Genres of music (and possibly stereotypes of people who listen to them)
• Language(s) spoken
• Beauty standards and the commercialization of them
• Commercialization that feeds off of the peoples’ insecurities

For each city you’re going to include or mention in your story, think about:

• The “aesthetic” (think of it the way NYC’s aesthetic is taxis, skyscrapers, and nightlife)
  
• Public opinion of street performers
• Any recreational centers and common activities
• Popularity of a town counsel or the idea of opening to the public for improvement ideas
• How well-known the city is by everyone around it, or how much of a tourist attraction it might be
• State of educational buildings
• Percentage of unemployment versus those who are actively searching for jobs, and how this affects the city’s reputation
• 3+ popular businesses, maybe food or clothing stores
• The way business is generally conducted
• Opportunities for nightlife (etc. bars, night clubs, etc)
• Usual daytime attire, usual nighttime attire
• Any sort of tradition (ex. sharing dreams in the morning, praying before meals, etc)
• Stance on more advanced technology
• Treatment of different age groups
• Again, cliches and stereotypes that might exist of people who live there
• Most common architectural style (ex. modern, Victorian, etc)
• Commonly seen colors
• Any inflation that might exist, local economic troubles
• People’s opinion on the government as a whole (then in-depth, if you want)

As you can see, these two lists are very open-ended. I can’t go too far in-depth with world-building ideas and explaining, because it’s all up to you to create this world. Every single item on this list here can be expanded into tons of different things, but if your goal is just to cover your bases and explore needed details then I think this would be a good place to start.

Making Your World Distinct

This can be pretty tough, honestly. There’s (almost) always a world themed around something out there that’s probably more well-known, famous even. Let’s start with everyone’s favorite wizarding world, that of the Harry Potter books. Your world can be as interesting and different as it gets but because it includes wizards, someone out there is always going to relate it to Harry Potter. So how can we avoid this?

There’s one proven way to this this, especially if you don’t want to change your world. Accentuate any and all differences that would set your story apart from a more well-known world. Maybe our wizards’ spells depend on a material transaction, or they won’t work. Maybe there’s some sort of wizarding god who must be pleased to cast a successful spell. Not so much like HP anymore, huh?

Just remember, there’s a huge difference between world-building through details and world-building through exposition. Both are acceptable, but both have their own appropriate time to be utilized. Take a break from telling the reader flat-out how this thing works, and instead reveal it through the world’s details. Not only does this help treat your readers like the competent individuals they are, it also immerses them so much in the world that there isn’t much of a chance to compare your world to others.

Tl;dr—World-building isn’t really something that can be explained for you by someone else. There are certainly questions that exist to help you, but following a guide that works for someone else might not work for you. Explore the details! (And let the reader explore them, too!)

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Describing The Setting Itself

1. Begin With The Basics

• Where did the story take place?
• When did the story happen?
• What’s the weather or climate like?
• What are the social or community conditions?
• What is the landscape like?
• What special details make it clear to understand?

2. Is It A Specific or Quick description?

• Try to describe the character in a wider setting and gradually narrow to a specific location. Go from a description of the country/state/region, then move to the town, then neighborhood of the town.
• You may also want to go from physical setting to the population by describing the type of people who live in the town. This is a common way to transition from inanimate objects to living beings that think, feel, and care. This starts to give the story meaning.

3. Keep The 5 senses Involved

• Think about what the room smells like. What does the sand feel like under the characters feet? Is the edge of mountain cutting into the character’s hands? Describe the way the character’s favorite meal tastes.
• For example: She entered the front parlor. Lady MacDougall sat enthroned like Queen Victoria on a blue chintz-covered settee and motioned Elizabeth to take the matching armchair opposite. The salmon-painted walls made the duchess’ white hair glow pink. Elizabeth flinched when a log shifted in the blazing fire in the enormous fireplace surrounded by the marble the previous Lord MacDougall had brought back from Egypt himself.

4. Don’t Let The Description Get In The Way Of The Story

• The setting should enhance the story, not block it. This can happen if you stop in the middle of the scene to provide a lengthy description of the world around the characters. Instead of providing separate setting description in the middle of a scene, describe the setting through the characters’ actions. The setting should be integrated along with what the characters are doing.
  
• For example, if the character is running from a vampire in the woods, don’t stop and describe how scary the woods are. Have the character notice how dark it is and the lack of sound. Have the character trip over an exposed root and get a cut on her cheek from a branch. Focus on how the character can’t see anything, but can hear the footsteps behind her. This incorporates the setting with the action so it doesn’t block the story.

5. Show, Don’t Tell

“Don’t say the old lady screamed, bring her on and let her scream.”

- Mark Twain

• To do this, use vivid language. Choose nouns and descriptive adjectives to describe the setting. Use concrete action verbs.
• Telling: The girls were excited.
• Showing: Giggles and screams filled the arena. The soft curls were now damp with perspiration and the anticipation of the event. They held tight to each other in a mock effort to contain themselves. Arms flailed upward, and voices echoed in varying tones. The moment was here.

6. Focus Only On The Important Details

Choosing The Setting

1. Begin With Location

Start by choosing a country, state, region, city, or town. You can be more specific, such as describing a neighborhood or a street. Decide if your location is an urban city, a farm, islands, or mountains.

2. Describe The Room

• When you do this, setting helps give meaning to your story.
• For example: The walls were made of dark stone, dimly lit by torches. Empty benches rose on either side of him, but ahead, in the highest benches of all, were many shadowy figures. They had been talking in low voices, but as the heavy door swung closed behind Harry an ominous silence fell.

3. Time Setting Is Key

• Time of day. Does your story happen in the morning, the middle of the day, or at night? Each time of day has a specific association with it. Also keep in mind the different ways that characters may act at various times in the day.
• Time of year. Is your story set in the summer, the winter, or the spring? Is it centered around a holiday, like Christmas or Halloween? Time of year can also include the anniversary of a significant historical or personal event.
• Elapsed time. Think about the transition of time in your story. This includes hours and even months. You have to describe the passing of time through the setting. This can be time progressing as the story unfolds, or situating the reader within a flashback.

4. Weather

• If your story is set in a harsh climate, you need to describe this for your reader. Describe the difficulties of living in the desert or arctic temperatures. Or explain the ease with which someone lives in their beach house.
• For example: And after all the weather was ideal. They could not have had a more perfect day for a garden-party if they had ordered it. Windless, warm, the sky without a cloud. Only the blue was veiled with a haze of light gold, as it is sometimes in early summer. The gardener had been up since dawn, mowing the lawns and sweeping them, until the grass and the dark flat rosettes where the daisy plants had been seemed to shine.

5. Geography

• Think about geographical formations, like mountains, rivers, lakes, or forests. The character should interact with these things and they should be important to the story. Otherwise, ask yourself why you are setting the story there in the first place.

6. Historical, Social, and Cultural Settings

• Think about social and political settings. This is important for a modern or historical story. These things influence the values and actions of the characters.
• Cultural settings can include religion, traditions, and community interaction. Population of your location can play into this. Is the place densely populated, or is it remote?

Use Character To Describe Setting

1. Action

• Have the character react to the setting. This can provide important character and plot development.

2. Experience

• A native New Yorker would describe the subway very differently than someone from a southern, rural farm. Decide whose point of view you want to describe the scene from and why it’s important to get that character’s perspective.
  

3. Mood

• Think about how a high school freshman and senior would view a school dance. The freshman might be excited because it’s her first dance, while a senior may groan and complain about being there. A kid who has been bullied may be afraid of going to the dance in case the people who bully him are there, while the popular president of the student council is excited to see all her friends at the dance.
• Plot events can also affect the mood of the character. A forest stroll in the afternoon may be a relaxing event for one character, while another character may be lost in the woods and be scared.

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