Tales Twisted in Time @aritales-blog - Tumblr Blog

Writing Research: Pirates

Piracy, in international law, is the crime of robbery, or other act of violence for private ends, on high seas or in the air above the seas, committed by the captain or crew of a ship or aircraft outside the normal jurisdiction of any nation, and without authority from any government. The persons who engage in acts of piracy are called “pirates”. International treaties and national legislation have sometimes applied the term “piracy” to attacks on the high seas authorized by a government, in violation of international law; to actions by insurgents acting for political purposes; or to violent acts on board a vessel under control of its officers.

Such acts, however, are not regarded as piracy under the law of nations. Piracy is distinguished from “privateering” in that the latter is authorized by a belligerent in time of war; privateering was legally abolished by the Declaration of Paris of 1856, but the United States and certain other nations did not assent to the declaration. [1] [2]

Names

The Pirate Name Generator: Your Pirate Name

List of Known Pirates

Famous Women Pirates

Popular Names in 1880

English Names of the 1500s

Traditional American Names from the 1600s

Seventh Sanctum - Pirate Ship Name Generator

Society & Life

Famous Pirate Ships

6 Famous Pirate Ships

Pirate Ships & Diagrams

Complete List of Ship Types

The Rigging of Sailing Ship

Roles & Duties On Board A Ship

Positions and Duties on Board a Pirate Ship

Reddit: Ask Historians - How did Pirates find Ships to Steal on the Sea?

Pirate Flags

Pirates & Privateers: Pirate Flags

15th Century Sailing Terminology

A Brief History of Piracy

Pirates & Privateers: Pirate Life

A Pirate From Boyhood

The Pirate Who Could Not Swim

Pirates & Privateers: Pirate Tactics

Pirates & Privateers: To Capture Prey and Plunder It

Pirates & Privateers: Crew of Pirate Ship

Pirates & Privateers: Friends and Enemies

Ten Facts About Pirates

Pirates & Privateers: Black Pirates

Reddit: Ask Historian - Did Sailors/Pirates really walk bare foot on wooden ships?

National Maritime Museum - Pirates, Ships, Seafarers & Life at Sea

Royal Naval Museum - A Brief History of Piracy

Pirate Weapons

History of Pirate Weapons

Weapons Pirates Used

Pirate Treasure

The Pirate of the Buried Treasure

Pirates & Privateers: Pirate Treasure

Shipwrecked Treasure Galleons

All About Pirates and Their Treasure

Pirates & Privateers: Religion

Ten Facts About Blackbeard the Pirate

National Geographic - Grim Life Cursed Real Pirates of Caribbean

National Geographic - Blackbeard: Pirate Terror at Sea

The Morgan Library & Museum - Pride and Piracy: Bartholomew Sharpe

Pirates & Privateers: Benjamin Hornigold

Pirates & Privateers: Captain William Kidd

Pirates & Privateers: Women and the Jolly Roger

Part 1 - Pirate Havens in the Ancient World

Part 2 - Pirate Havens Around the World

The Buccaneers

Privateers an Introduction

Pirate or Privateer, Rogue or Hero?

Women in Piracy

If There’s a Man Among Ye: The Tale of Pirate Queens Anne Bonny and Mary Read

Mary Read, Pirate

Anne Bonny

Pirates Had Gay Marriage And Health Insurance?

6 Absurd Pirate Myths Everyone Believes

Telegraph - Interesting Facts About Pirates

Pirates: Truth, Facts, Legends and Myths

Reddit: Ask Historian - Where did the Image of the ‘Pirate Parrot’ come from?

Commerce

The Food Timeline – Historic Food Prices

Top-Earning Pirates

The Price of Things in the 18th Century

North Carolina Digital History - The Value of Money in Colonial America

University of Missouri - 1700’s Prices and Wages

Reddit: Ask Historian - Realistically, How Profitable was it to be a Pirate during the Golden Age of Piracy?

Entertainment & Food

What Did Pirates Drink?

Rum 101: The Encyclopedia of Rum!

Reddit: Ask Historians - Why was Rum the Drink of Choice for Pirates in the 1700’s?

How to Eat like a Pirate

So What Did Pirates Eat and Drink?

What Did Pirates Eat?

Pirates & Privateers: Music

Pirates & Privateers: Sea Shanties

Pirate Music & Sea Shanties

Pirate Song

Hygiene, Health & Medicine

Health at Sea in the 17th Century

Pirates & Privateers: Medicine at Sea

Pirates & Privateers: Pirate Surgeons

Pirates of the Caribbean, in Fact and Fiction - Pirate Medicine, Pestilence and Pain

Pirates of the Caribbean, in Fact and Fiction - Hygiene and Sanitation

Scurvy

Pirate Dentistry

How Pirate Really Died

Fashion

Pirate Clothing

Period Clothing & Character Guides

Pirates & Privateers: Clothing

What Did Pirates Really Wear?

Dialogue/Language/Writing

Pirate Glossary

The Un-Offical Pirate Dictionary

Renaissance Fair Pirate Terminology

Pirate Pickup Lines

Pirates & Privateers: A Pirate Lexicon

Pirates & Privateers: Pirate Lingo

Pirate Glossary - Phrases

International Talk Like A Pirate Translator

Reddit: Ask Historians - Did Historical Pirates actually use the words and phrases we currently associate with them?

Justice & Crime

Pirate of Code of Conduct

Piratical Punishments & Torture

Pirates & Privateers: Marooning

Pirates & Privateers: The Pirates’ Arsenal of Torture

Pirates & Privateers: Punishing Their Own and Hunting Prey

Pirates & Privateers: Punishing the Pirates

Pirates of the Caribbean, in Fact and Fiction - Punishment

Pirates of the Caribbean, in Fact and Fiction - Why Pirates Were Torture and Why Pirates Torture Others

Reddit: Ask Historian - Did wanted posters for Pirates actually exist? Or are they a fiction?

Reddit: Ask Historian - I’m a Typical Sailor in the Caribbean around the end of the 17th century, and a Pirate Ship has been sighted heading towards us. What would my reaction, and the reactions of my shipmates be?

Reddit: Ask Historians - What did Pirates do with Slave Ships back in the day?

#sassypiratequeen #here bitch

sleepy-and-sad

one of my biggest problems is raNDOMLY SWITCHING TENSES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STORY FFFFFF.

#problems;

ramoorebooks-deactivated2024011

The writer's blessing:

May you write 1,500 words with ease. May your characters be lively and not cardboard. May you need little editing. May your muse visit you as soon as you sit. May the Internet not distract you much. May your phone lie dormant while you write.

#blessings #writing

study-well

Reason to study #23

To stick a finger up to everyone who thinks girls don’t belong in intellectual circles.

Submitted by powerstudier.

#yes #this #reasons

i-believe-im-worth-it

#ref;#beauty;

Her smile lights my heart. It’s warm and a bit overbearing, and I know I’ve seen people kill for smiles like these. I would. I’d kill for a smile like this one to stay in my life forever. I’d kill for a love like hers to stay here until the end of time. Look at her and tell me you wouldn’t kill for hair like sandy fields, six feet tall, eyes green like the grass you lay down in on summer days. God, how I would scour the globe for anything as perfect as this, only to know I’d have to come home to find this happiness. This tough, serene beauty that keeps me afloat, keeps me sane, even when all is lost. This woman, pure love, keeps my heart from tearing apart. And though I rely on her less and less for my sanity and my heart, I know that she’s there waiting on the sidelines for the next time I fall apart.

#sutton;#mine;

its-a-writer-thing

How a Character’s Choice of Clothing Benefits the Story

When writing, it’s important that everything you include serves a purpose. The character’s name, their favorite color, and their choice of companion give an impression about the character, the world around them, and the past that shaped who they are. The more you amplify these elements, the greater the image you’re painting for the reader.

For example, say the plot calls for the character to buy a car, and they choose a blue one. “Blue” is a necessary detail to include in the narrative, but by giving this specific decision meaning, you make it important. Perhaps blue was their parent’s favorite color, and they strive to please them. Perhaps blue is a calming color, and it reflects their calm personality. This makes the narrative richer.

In the same way, characters need clothing, so why not make it a useful element in the story? Take advantage of this opportunity to tell the reader something. Here are three things your character’s choice of clothing can amplify in the story.

It Says Something About Their Personality: The way a character dresses can reflect their tastes, views, and emotions. For example, your boisterous character might be best dressed in colorful shorty shorts to reflect her free spirit. Her sass and disregard for other’s opinions is what tells us her personality, but this small addition has made the fact visual as well as mental. In another case, your reserved and slightly distrustful character might be better dressed in a bulky designer coat; this reflects on his desire to be enclosed but also regarded as superior. Your character’s personality is independent, but the proper clothing can complement and amplify their unique views.

It Says Something About The Setting: Dressing your characters in clothing that reflects their setting will reinforce this new atmosphere in the reader’s mind. Colors give impressions all on their own; dark colors such as greys or blacks will match the dark atmospheres. If you’re trying to show a contrast between two groups – one more successful and the other starving – dressing one group in bright pinks or yellows will give a sense of light and energy, making them seem healthier. The style also reflects the world; conservative dress such as long sleeves or coats can reflect order or oppression, while less conservative clothing can show rebellion and freedom. Your world itself will determine the setting, but clothing can complement it, amplifying the atmosphere.

It Can Say Something About Them Physically: In addition to symbolism, clothing can serve a literal purpose. If you have a young character, dressing them in outfits which are colorful and airy can complement their younger attitudes. If you have a character with an embarrassing scar or injury they wish to hide, constantly dressing them in long sleeves, despite weather, can subtly reveal this. These details can amplify the characters themselves but also open new doors for foreshadowing.

Every detail included in your piece of fiction should serve a purpose, and perhaps even tell a story within a story. Minor details such as a character’s style, their choice of design, or their choice of color can breathe new life into the details of your narrative.

Over the course of the next few weeks, I’ll post different character clothing options as inspiration, and detail how each item could be an asset to your story. Hopefully this will stir up some creative juices and help you make choices to apply to your cast.

Happy writing! And feel free to check out my website: Ember Ink Wordsmithing

#ref;

Beauty. Beauty in its most pure form. Beauty is what walked into my life one day and refuses to walk out, even when I deserve nothing more than her desertion. Beauty is a face that smiles even through tears, begging me with a gleam in her eye to never leave her. Beauty is a face when, even coated in makeup, shines with the same love that it shines with bare. Beauty is a heart so loving and full that it glows through her eyes. Beauty walked into my life two years ago, and if it ever walks out, then my life walks out with her. Beauty has a name. Beauty has the most beautiful name. Cimbiline. It flows off your tongue when you speak it. It brings joy to your soul when you hear it. It sits in your heart, it stakes claim to your mind. It keeps you calm, it keeps your serene. It keeps me alive. Beauty keeps me, me.

#mine;#cimbii;

Hair like ebony, short and sweet, she lilts about, floating from rock to rock on the stream like a faerie. No, not like a faerie. She is a faerie. Wings and all. Broken, frayed wing she hides so delicately to mask the fact she can’t fly. Beautiful, absolutely beautiful, tiny body moving in the small water droplets flitting across the sky as it rains. Her name escapes me, but her image does not. Her image will never escape me, cascade of water dropping off her body. The image of pure grace.

#mine;#katy;

There's a first time for everything, she guesses as she takes the razor blade out of her back pocket. The time for fear is all behind her as she drags it down her wrist, watching the blood spring from the bright, white skin. Sweet release lies in death, but she doesn't know if it'll come fast enough. She doesn't know if she will come fast enough. Losing her killed her on the inside, so she's fixing that on the outside.

#mine;

bleedforyourtypewriter

Ok here is a compilation of all the software and useful tools I’ve come across whilst writing. Some of them I’ve reviewed on here already, more coming soon.

Got an idea? Well get planning! Here’s some useful outlining, brainstorming and mind- mapping software:

Coggle

Lucidchart

Mural.ly

Blumind

MindMeister

Mindmaple

Mindomo

NovaMind

Popplet

Scapple

Tree Sheets

Visual Understanding Environment (VUE)

XMind

FreeMind

Oak Outliner

Work Flowy

The Outliner of Giants

Just want to get writing? You want a word processor:

Gedit

Google Docs

Kate

LibreOffice

Microsoft Word

My Writing Spot

NoteTab

Open Office

Quabel

Ted

Vim

yEdit

Making notes? Here you go:

CintaNotes

Evernote

KeepNote

Memonic

MS OneNote

Scribe

SuperNotecard

Tomboy

Timelines giving you a headache? Try these:

Aeon Timeline

Dipity

Preceden

Tiki-Toki

Timeglider

Timeline

TimelineJS

TimeToast

Now perhaps you want to organise those notes. Got a lot of research? Character sheets? Images? Well here’s some tools to keep all that together:

Liquid Story Binder XE

LitLift

PangurPad

Scriptito

Scrivener

Writer’s Café

Yarny

yWriter

Are you easily distracted? The following tools will keep you on track:

Dark Room

FocusWriter

JDarkRoom

Momentum Writer

OmmWriter

Q10

Writemonkey

Zen Writer

Even more productivity tools to help keep you focussed on your task:

Cold Turkey

FocalFilter

Freedom

InternetOff

Keepmeout

Nanny

Productivity Owl

RescueTime

SelfControl

SelfRestraint

Simple Blocker

StayFocusd

Strict Workflow

Time Doctor

Waste No Time

Website Blocker

So you’ve got something down? Need to edit?

AutoCrit

EditMinion

Grammarly

LyX

SlickWrite

SmartEdit

After the Deadline

All done? Perhaps you’d like some e-publishing tools:

Acrobat

InDesign

Calibre

CutePDF

Jutoh

Mobipocket Creator

PagePlus

PageStream

PDFCreator

Scribus

Sigil

Turns out I’d forgotten about screenwriters, so here goes:

CeltX

Plotbot

Scripped

ScriptBuddy

Trelby

WriterDuet

Slugline

Page2Stage

Highland

I’m feeling generous, have some more cool stuff:

750 Words

One Page per Day

Oneword

Penzu

Write or Die

Written Kitten

Focus Booster

Spaaze

AutoREALM (Map building software)

ETA: After a request I’ve added screenplay software to the list.

#ref;

studyign

the studyblr community has been super inspiring and motivating for me so life is rly great atm !!! i also hit huge follower milestones on both my tumblr and my youtube channel and i just wanted to thank all of u lovely people sooo im hosting a giveaway!!!!!

rules to enter:

must be following me [studyign]

must be subscribed to my youtube channel

you may enter more than once

likes = no entry [just a bookmark]

how to enter once:

reblog this post once

give this video a thumbs up

comment ur country and tumblr username on this video once

prizes:

there will be one winner [chosen randomly]

personalized mixtape from me [on my 8tracks]

colorful + handwritten letter from me :)

everything given away has a retail value of about $200 usd

all of the material prizes im giving away are pictured above and described in detail [with links!] in this youtube video

more info:

this isnt affiliated with tumblr/yahoo/youtube

pls be >18 or have parental permission

be comfy w/giving me ur address [if u win]

must have an open ask box on tumblr

winner will hav 48 hours to respond if they win

lmk in tags if it a sideblog [no giveaway blogs]

do not delete this text pls like thats not cool

i will be paying for international shipping !

my giveaway faq [will add to it] + my ask box

deadline to enter:

september 2, 2015

@ 7:00pm EST

best of luck!!! xoxo sareena

#g;veaway

chewpacabras

NO BUT HOW ABOUT WE GIVE ACTUALLY HELPFUL ADVICE/CRITIQUE WHEN SOMEONE’S FAN ART OF A CHARACTER SEEMS “WHITEWASHED” INSTEAD OF SHITTING ON IT AND TRYING TO MAKE THE ARTIST OUT TO BE AWFUL AND RACIST

BECAUSE THE LATTER DOESN’T HELP THE ARTIST DEVELOP THEIR SKILLS IN BETTER REPRESENTING DARKER-SKINNED CHARACTERS IT JUST MAKES THEM SCARED TO POST THEIR ART AT ALL

yourscientistfriend

I wanna add on to this by saying I am scared to draw POC characters.

There’s no real tutorials on different features, and when I find a reference I’m terrified that I’m going to make them look too stereotypical.

Even trying to do the color work for my dad’s skin (dark Latino) makes me nervous because 1) there’s very little information on how to make the skin tone look like something other than burnt Sienna orange, and 2) at what point does a race study look offensive?

I wanted to make a villain in an old RP dark skinned, but I was afraid that making a Villain dark would be racist.

As someone who draws and paints digitally, I NEED this feed back. I’m not trying to be offensive, and I’m not going to argue with constructive criticism , so please, PLEASE, offer advice to people on drawing PoC because there is a horrible lack of instruction out there.

shrineart

HELLO FRIENDS! A buddy of mind directed me to this post.

As someone who has lived with this same fear I want you to know that it’s normal for a lot of folks. I actually had this fear before Tumblr. It’s not something that sprung up from the internet only.

Steven Universe is actually the show that opened me up more to different ways of expressing a characters race presentation (I was still a bit timid about it before) and I’m very, very, very grateful for that. It’s also how I ended up drawing this little cutie:

Now, moving along, let me hand ya’ll some tutorials to see if they’ll help you out a bit.

First up is my all time fave skin tutorial. I love this one because of the range and the palettes. Part 1 Part 2 Supplemental Color Chart

A Tutorial for all kinds of hair! Part 1

Have a chart of 14 different Asian eye shapes.

A tutorial on dreadlocks.

Littlefroggies has a couple of lovely brush sets for Manga Studio 5 that depict afro textured hair as well as braids.

Draw from life. Look at references images and try to emulate how people look.

Celebrities categorized by ethnicity. This can be useful to you for reference.

And some more faces. And more faces. And more faces. Here’s a resource list.

Also mulattafury covers a really, really good aspect of this in this ask here. Remember that you’re drawing a person and people come in a wide, wide variety of forms, colors, shapes and sizes. There is no cookie cutter mold for race. The recent Blackout days are amazing proof of this. Look at the variety! Appreciate how beautiful human beings are!

Want more “real” people instead of celebrities or models to work from? OH MAN DO I HAVE THE TUMBLR BLOG FOR YOU. Now on first loading it as of right now you will see a lot of pale folks. Scroll down though. You’ll see more variety as you go through. See?

Also please remember that darker skinned folks can have lighter eyes! And that not all people that ID as a race that you would normally think of as having darker skin have dark skin. Remember, variety is endless!

There are so, so, so many resources out there! It just takes a bit of digging to find them.

Can I guarantee that you will NEVER be called racist for drawing people that are not white? No. But generally? You’re going to be called out as racist more if you only draw people that are white.

Something interesting to me is that folks that told me that my work could be seen as racist in the past? Were all white people. And I’m not even talking about drawing racial stereotypes. I’m talking about just having a dark skinned character. For some reason, the mere act of drawing someone who was not white seemed to make them think that it was racist. I had a customer give me a blank slate for drawing characters once. One of them was black. They asked me to change it to “avoid the race issue”. Which…isn’t how that works.

Try things. Practice. Draw stuff. And hell, put in a disclaimer, make a note, tell people “I am still learning, if something seems off please tell me! I’ll work to fix it!” If you tell people that you’re trying? They’re generally more than happy to help and will understand that it’s not intentional.

Focus on drawing people, not race. Focus on how this models lip does that thing or how their nose curves just so. Think about how you can simplify and apply it. Generally you’re not going to end up with gross racial caricatures. You know why? Because most gross racial caricatures? Don’t even look like real people. Let’s look at Looney Tunes for a sec:

I showed this to one of my friends who is younger and she said “Is that supposed to be a person?” Racist caricatures really blow shit way horribly out of proportion.

When it comes to the white washing aspect? I have two big suggestions to avoid that. 1) COLOR CHECK. If you are drawing someone or you are drawing a character and they are dark skinned? Check multiple image sources for the character to make sure you have the skin tone correct. That’s all you gotta do. Make sure it’s the right color. If you’re working from a real person’s photo I suggest choosing a mid tone from their face to start with. Also keep your reference image handy. 2) If you’re doing a character yourself? Consider how dark you would like this character to be. Have you tried making a darker skinned character? Why not? Try it out and see how it goes. (I’m not saying that you HAVE to make dark skinned characters but consider it in your process. You have a whole box of crayons to color with, why do you keep using the same one?) Also if you make characters treat them like people, not stereotypes.

That’s pretty much all I got on the matter. Remember, if you fuck up sometimes? That’s okay. It’s how you react that defines you. There was a really, really popular artist (shoomlah here on tumblr) who was doing historically accurate Disney princesses awhile back that misrepresented Pocahontas. Folks called her out on it and she acknowledged she made a mistake and she actually redid the piece, getting help from folks in the know to make it more accurate. Here are the original and more accurate versions. She’s stated that this incident made her a more thoughtful artist.

So there you go! Refs, tuts, thoughts, and advice! Enjoy!

shrineart

Ran this by one of my buddies, captain-naro and he added this:

“I’ve noticed that drawing POC is something that is going against the norm a little bit. And it seems to be less normal to have a POC existing in an art piece than it is to have a POC existing in the world. When there are many.”

“It only becomes a race issue when you portray them in a way that sparks a race issue”

“Honestly what it seems like to me is. Everyone has an ideal look for their character whether it is because they want that character to look the most attractive or whatever and that ideal is usually a white person.Thanks to Tumblr and progression being a thing it is not as bad as it was but it still is there and blatant to me. To most people, white people are the most appealing thing to draw for a protagonist or anything like that whereas a black character would fill the role of a background character or an enemy and pretty much any other race would be some other kind of “exotic” trope or something. But that’s probably going more into story writing and not art.”

shrineheart

Going to share this over here as well because I wrote up a huge advice and resource thing in it and maybe some of my followers here can use it too.

#ref;

thehikingastronomer

“Writing a book is so easy.”

Yes. Writing a book is the easiest thing in the whole world. In fact, let me show you just how easy it is!

Goal: change all this paper into a book.

Eh, not that hard. I mean, you just have to read, right?

Maybe scratch a few notes in the margins as reminders.

Yeah, writing and editing isn’t time consuming or painstaking at all.

In fact, I find it quite relaxing. Good meditation. No stress whatsoever!

I mean, it’s not like writing a book involves any train of thought or decision making, like when to cut scenes, because whatever you write is perfect and there to stay!

I mean, come on, it’s not like I’m going to rewrite the first chapter 51 TIMES to make sure it’s how I want it, right? That’d be crazy.

And no, it’s not like I spent over 3,000 HOURS READING AND REVISING 14 DRAFTS OF THE BOOK to make this book readable.

No sweat, no tears, no blood, and DEFINITELY no coffee stains.

Nope, writing is the easiest job in the world. I don’t see why anyone thinks otherwise. I mean, all we do is scribble words and take a few out, right?

We feel no satisfaction AT ALL when we receive a shipment of the final product for a book signing. *yawn* BOR–ING.

Nope, we don’t get excited at all. It’s just another day in the life.

And the sequels? Bitch, please. That’s child’s play.

You’re right. Writing a book is so easy. It’s not stressful, not exciting, and it’s definitely not worth the reward of holding something that USED TO BE EXCLUSIVELY IN YOUR HEAD AND NOW YOU GET TO SHARE IT WITH THE WHOLE WORLD.

titanandclank-deactivated201811

Im not sure this scares me or inspires me…

poeticteaholic

It both scared and inspires me

#ref;

study-well

Hey,im just back at high school and I finally know what I want to do afterwards and this year I need straight B's to go to Uni/leave school, Any advice on what I should do now that Im back? Or note things or tips? It would be greatly appreciated x

Hello! Here are some general things which I think could help you:

Guide to learning how to study

Guide to note taking

Guide to colour coding

Guide to organisation

Guide to making flashcards

Guide to organising typed notes

Guide to catching up on missed work

Guide to the pomodoro technique

Guide to developing discipline

Quick tips for time management

Motivation masterpost

Organising your study space

Essay writing tips

#me;

the-writers-society-deactivated

10 Ways to Build Your Writing Confidence

How confident are you about your writing?

Ideally, you feel a happy certainty that you’re a good writer. You realize your first draft won’t be perfect, but you’re confident you can improve on it. You’ve know you’ve got a message worth sharing or a story worth telling.

If you’re like many writers, though, your confidence levels might be dangerously low.

Perhaps you find yourself thinking:

It’s not worth writing. I’ll never get anywhere.

This is rubbish. I might as well delete it all.

I’m not a real writer.

At best, thoughts like this sap your writing energy. At worst, they stop you writing altogether – not just for a few days or weeks, but for years.

These ten tips should help you build your confidence and feel good about your writing.

#1: Practice Writing – Regularly

As a child, I had piano lessons. I didn’t much like having to practice – but I knew that if I didn’t, I wouldn’t get any better.

It’s the same with writing. Some people love writing, others find it tedious: but either way, you’ll find that the more you practice, the more you’ll improve.

That could mean:

Spending ten minutes free-writing every morning

Working through different writing exercises, so you get experience in several forms

Deliberately working on the elements of writing that you find hard (e.g. if you write fiction, practice dialogue or description; if you write for work, practice those difficult emails)

Writing a weekly post for your blog – no excuses!

Write from a prompt (a word, phrase, question or image that inspires you)

Your writing exercises might be for your eyes only – or you might choose to develop them into something more. Author E.J. Newman’s From Dark Places is a book of short stories that started as pieces written from prompts sent in by her “story of the month club”.

#2: Read Other Writers Discussing the Writing Process

All writers have times when they feel like quitting—even bestselling authors. By reading what they have to say, you’ll realize the difficulties you’re having are completely normal.

Here are just a few quotes on the struggle of writing:

“Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.”

– George Orwell

“Being a writer is a very peculiar sort of a job: it’s always you versus a blank sheet of paper (or a blank screen) and quite often the blank piece of paper wins.”

― Neil Gaiman

“Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.”

― John Steinbeck

#3: Start and Finish a Writing Project

“I never finish anything.” Does that sound familiar? A huge stack of incomplete projects can be really discouraging.

So this time, turn it around. Pick one not-too-huge project to focus on—perhaps a poem or a short story or a blog post—and finish it.

Sure, it won’t be perfect. (I’ll let you into a writing secret: nothing is ever perfect.) But you’ll have learned a lot in the process.

#4: Keep Learning Your Craft

One great way to grow not only your confidence but also your skill is to continually learn more about writing.

That might mean developing your dialogue skills or making multiple points of views work.You can learn from blogs, books, magazines, talks, courses … whatever fits into your life. It doesn’t matter how. What matters is that you do keep on learning.

And if you come across tips you’re already following, celebrate! You’re getting it right.

#5: Share Your Work With Other Writers

This can be a scary step—but also a hugely rewarding one. It’s an amazing feeling to have readers, and letting other writers see your work can provide you with a great confidence boost.

Hopefully, they’ll be supportive and encouraging. (Most workshop groups, and writers’ forums online, are.) You might want to ask “What do you think is working well?” and “What could I improve?”All of us secretly want to hear, “Don’t change a word, it’s perfect!” – but good feedback will help you strengthen your story. You’ll gain confidence as you realize that, while your current draft might not be perfect, you now have ways to improve it.

#6: Get Your Inner Critic to Shut Up (Temporarily)

Your inner critic is that little voice saying, “This sentence isn’t working” or “Your dialogue is too bland” or “You need to rewrite that bit.”You don’t need to listen to that voice when you’re drafting. Remind yourself that you can edit later—and then your Inner Critic will be useful, rather than discouraging.

It’s worth experimenting with different ways to block out that voice as you write. For me, music helps switch it off—and so does having long writing sessions, so I can get right into the flow of the story.

#7: Read Widely

You’re probably already reading a lot in your chosen genre or area – but try dipping into a book, magazine or blog that’s very different from what you’d normally choose.

You’ll come across authors who are:

Journalistic and factual, giving you the details without making any judgements about them

Extremely personal and introspective, writing based on their own experiences

Unconventional and creative with their use of language, perhaps coining new words …and so on.

There’s no one “correct” way to write a book, a blog post, or an article – and the more you read, the more you’ll realise that lots of different styles can be effective. You’ll learn new techniques, and you’ll also get a better feel for your own voice and style (look at what resonates with you – and what turns you off completely).

#8: Set Yourself Goals—and Meet Them

When you start out writing, your only goal might be to write on a regular basis—maybe daily, but it might be weekly or twice weekly if you’re busy.

As you go further with your writing, though, a great way to boost your confidence is by regularly setting and meeting goals.

The trick here is to make your goals a little bit challenging—but not so challenging you give up entirely. “Write novel in three months” would be pretty tough for a full-time pro, so you might want to try, “Write two chapters this month” or “Finish the first draft in 12 months.”

You might also want to consider whether word count goals or time-based goals work for you. (If you’re not sure, try experimenting with both.)

#9: Learn About Writing

I’ve been writing with serious intent (i.e. hoping to get published!) for thirteen years now – half my lifetime. I’ve read dozens of books and ebooks about writing, I’ve subscribed to a writing magazine, I’ve taken several online courses, and I’ve completed an M.A. in Creative Writing.

Obviously, I wouldn’t have progressed very far at all if I didn’t actually write (see #1!) – but I learnt a lot about the theory and practice of writing from all these resources.

Whether you’re a brand-new writer or an old hand, there’s something you can learn. Look out for:

Blogs on writing (like this one) – a great place to start learning for free.

Books about your specific area or genre – try your library

Specialized ebooks and ecourses

Writing conferences where you can attend lectures and workshops

Degree programs – a big investment of time and money, but a great way to study writing in a thorough and rigorous way, alongside other students

#10: Get Paid for Something You Wrote

One wonderful confidence booster is to get paid for your writing. That might come in the form of a competition prize, or a fee from a magazine, blog, or other publication. It could mean self-publishing your novel or a short story collection and selling it e-book form.

Don’t be afraid to submit your work to editors. Rejections are painful—but all they mean is that your story wasn’t right for one particular person on one particular day.

Getting paid might take time, and it might well mean writing something different—perhaps an article for a magazine or a post for a blog that pays guest authors. But when you receive money for your work, it’s a wonderful validation that your writing is valuable.

Maybe it seems like other writers have far more confidence than you. You see them chatting away at conferences, or you look at their work on big blogs or you read their prize-winning competition entries … and you think if only I was as confident as them.

Perhaps you already are. Maybe they spent a week screwing up their courage to send in that competition entry, or they had to take a deep breath and conquer their nerves before striking up a conversation with a stranger at that conference.

As you write more (regardless of how you feel) and as you put your work out there in the world, you’ll find that you gradually become more confident and comfortable with your writing.

What one step could you take today to help boost your writing confidence?

#ref;

itsonlythefirstdraft

Introducing the “cool rebel” character

#ref;

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

Tales Twisted in Time