[jessicacaseyauthor-deactivated2]

This is a PSA

Please do NOT assume my characters are straight until it is stated explicitly otherwise.

Please do NOT assume my characters are white until it is explicitly stated otherwise.

Straight and white are NOT the default.

[beowulfgang]

me: I literally created you, I decide who and what you are

my character: it’s cute how you think you have any power here

[ask-thepostmaster]

My characters are out of control and they do what they want Please Send Help

[bookishdiplodocus]

Make your post fit for any reader

I was wondering about blind and sight impared readers and how I can make my posts accessible for their reading software. So I called my local institution and they pointed me to a website that lists tips on how to make a website accessible for any surfer, be it blind readers, readers who can’t use a mouse, deaf readers, colorblind readers, epileptic readers, readers with RSI etc. Because about 15% of the population is not able-bodied.

The reading software I mention is software that reads a website out loud, based on the code behind it. Not only blind and sight impared people use it, but also people whose body isn’t fit to work with a mouse and/or a keyboard.

Since the list they pointed me to is not in English, I want to translate it for you. Here’s what I learned for tumblr posts. Spread the word!

1 Navigation

1.1 Use the structuring tools tumblr provides

Use the title feature for (sub)titles, so that the software knows it’s a (sub)title. A text in bold, cursive, or in a different or larger font type is just a plain text for the software. It doesn’t know that it’s a title.

If you make a list, don’t write a dash (-) or an asterisk (*) in front of the listed elements. Use the list feature, like I did in this list.

Don’t write *** between paragraphs to structure your text.

1.2 Your links are meaningful

The reading software makes a list of all the hyperlinks in a text. It’s confusing for your reader if it lists the word “here” five times. Provide context and meaning in your hyperlinked text.

Don’t write: “You can find more interesting articles here.” but write: “You can find more interesting articles here.”

Don’t write: “Sources: (x), (x) and (x)”, but write “Source 1, source 2 and source 3.

2 Content

2.1 Your post has a meaningful title

You don’t read every post from beginning to end, you scan to see if there’s anything interesting. So does this software. It scans the main title and any subtitles formatted in the title feature, so the reader can decide if it’s worth reading the plain text as well.

2.2 Images are described or have an alternative

The software can detect that there is an image, but can’t read it.

If you can avoid it, don’t give text in an image. If you share for example a poster of an event, with a date and a venue, that’s essential information the software can’t read.

Alternatively, you can add an image description, for example: “[Image description: a printscreen of my manuscript, with the word THE END in all caps underneath the last paragraph]”.

Sometimes an image works better than describing it in words. For some of my more complex writing advice posts, I choose to put information in an image because it works better than writing it all out. In that case, I will add the image description underneath the cut (”read more”) and mention above the cut that readers can find it there.

2.3 Video and sound

Like with images, label video and sound.

Subtitle videos (because automatically generated subtitles are not dependable).

Don’t let video and sound start automatically.

This is also relevant for able-bodied readers who are in a loud environment, or choose not to activate the sound or video because of slow internet connection etc.

3 Format/design

Don’t use spaces and other characters to format your text.

Chose texts and images that don’t blink more than 3 times per second, for epileptic readers.

Make sure colorblind people can understand your post, don’t use color as a differentiating feature.

Make sure your links are distinctly recognisable as links.

I hope you find this as useful as I did. I realised that it takes me little effort to include all kinds of readers into my posts, so I will take this into account with future posts.

Feel free to add to this, or correct me if I’m wrong, or if I accidentally gave information that is specific for my language. I don’t need to use it myself, but I want to include everyone.

This website is the source for this list. I only included the points that are relevant for tumblr posts, but the entire list is much longer. Its English version is a stub at the moment, so I have to link to the Dutch version. If you’re interested in making websites other than tumblr posts accessible for any surfer, especially websites of which you are allowed to control the html, you can translate the text on this website through google translate. Or maybe by the time you read this, they have a good English site.

[frognonbinary-deactivated202412]

i’ve been doing my homework on how to break into a writing career and honestly. there’s a Lot that i didn’t know about thats critical to a writing career in this day and age, and on the one hand, its understandable because we’re experiencing a massive cultural shift, but on the other hand, writers who do not have formal training in school or don’t have the connections to learn more via social osmosis end up extremely out of loop and working at a disadvantage. 

[frognonbinary-deactivated202412]

like, i didnt know about twitter pitch parties!! i didnt know about literary agents and publishers tweeting their manuscript wishlist, in hopes that some poor soul out there has written the book they really want to read and publish!! this isnt some shit you learn about in school! you really need to know the ins and outs of the writing community to be successful! 

[frognonbinary-deactivated202412]

for anyone interested, here’s what i’ve learned so far in my quest for more writing knowledge:

1. Writer’s Market 2019 is a great place to start– it gives you a list of magazines and journals that you can send your work to depending on the genre as well as lists a shit ton of literary agents that specify what genres they represent, how you can get in contact with them and how they accept query letters. this is a book that updates every year and tbh i only bought it this year so i dont know how critical it is to have an updated version  

2. do your research. mostly on literary agents because if you listed on your site that you like to represent fluffy YA novels and some asshole sends you a 80k manuscript about like…gritty viking culture, you will be severely pissed off. always go in finding someone who you know will actually like your work because they’re the ones who will try to advocate for you in getting published.

3. learn how to write a query letter. there are slightly varying formulas to how you can write an effective query letter. you’re also going to want to get feedback on your query letter because its the first thing the literary agent will read and based on how well you do it, it could be the difference between them rejecting you outright and giving your manuscript a quick read

4. unfortunately, you’re gonna want to get a twitter. Twitter is where a lot of literary agents are nowadays, and they host things like twitter pitch parties, where you pitch your manuscript in a few sentences and hashtag it with #Pitmad #Pitdark, some version of pit. a lot of literary agents and publishers will ALSO post their manuscript wishlists, which is just the kind of books they’d like to represent/publish, and they hashtag this with #MSWL (it is NOT for writers to use, only for agents/publishers)

5. connect with other writers, literary agents, publishers at book events. you will absolutely need the connections if you want to get ahead as a writer. thats just kind of the state of the world.

[heywriters]

Hey, even if you don’t plan to publish yet, #5 is an excellent stepping stone into the market. Be known, make friendly connections, and you’ll at least have access to people who can answer your questions and help you out later on.

[writingquestionsanswered]

What's your opinion on writing a prologue? I've heard there not useful at all, but also that they are needed for a story. So I'm torn if I should write one or not.

The Main Timeline, Back Story, and the Prologue

Well, saying that prologues are “needed for a story” is like saying “glasses are needed for vision.” Yes, there are stories that need prologues for various reasons, but most stories don’t require them. Here’s what you need to know about stories and when prologues are meant to be used...

The Main Timeline

Stories are made up of a string of events that happen to a character or group of characters starting on page one of chapter one and unfolding one after the other along a timeline known as the “main timeline” or “main story timeline.” These events stretch out from chapter one until the end of the story.

For most stories, these events occur on a linear timeline, meaning that the dates of the events occur in chronological order, like this:

But sometimes important story events don’t occur in chronological order. This may be due to time travel, flashbacks, dual timelines, or simply because of an unusual narrative structure. When this happens, it’s called a nonlinear timeline. The events still stretch out between chapter one and the end, but the dates are out of order because the events are ordered by where they occur in the narrative (chapter one, chapter two, chapter three...) rather than the date when they occur.

 Backstory

In most stories, there are events that happen outside the main timeline, usually before the story begins--or in other words, they are not part of the forward moving sequence of events from chapter one to the end.

There are two types of backstory events: 

1) Detail Providing - backstory events that simply provide important details about character, setting, or plot elements.

2) Story Driving - backstory events that actually advance the plot.

When backstory is detail providing, that backstory is usually delivered in one of three ways:

-- as part of the story’s exposition, such as when Katniss reveals details of the mining accident that killed her father several years back.

-- through a flashback, such as when Harry uses the pensieve to see Snape’s childhood memories, including when he met Harry’s mother, Lily.

-- via dialogue, such as when Tyrion Lannister tells the story of his tragic first marriage to his companion, Bronn.

Because these events only provide details and do not advance the plot, they can be brought into the story at any point that those details become relevant.

When a backstory event is story driving, it needs to play out in the actual story rather than being mentioned through exposition or dialogue. Typically, when there are multiple such events, these would be told through flashbacks, which ultimately gives you a nonlinear story. But if you have a single backstory event that is story driving, as the earliest event in the story, it needs to go at the beginning. If your story’s main timeline stretches out over the course of say ten years, but this backstory event occurs eleven years before that, it’s really not such a big deal to put that event right in chapter one and be done with it. Kind of like the first chapter of the first Harry Potter book, which details the moment when Harry is left with the Dursleys. In a series that’s going to play out over the course of several years. a five or ten year time gap between chapter one and chapter two is ultimately no big deal.

But let’s say your backstory event takes place in 1970, and your main story begins in 2016 and unfolds over the course of a few months. In that case, you’re talking about a 46 year time jump between chapter one and chapter two in a story that spans just a few months. It might be kind of weird. Enter the prologue...

The Prologue

In Ancient Greek theater, prologues were used to “set the stage” for the audience by filling them in on any important backstory they needed to know in order to understand the events of the play. In much the same way, prologues in fiction are used to deliver a story driving backstory event that is far removed from the story’s main timeline. Over the years, prologues have come to be misused and overused, but that is their true purpose.

So, if that’s why and how you’re using a prologue, then it’s definitely useful and probably needed.

Otherwise, you can skip it and either use flashbacks, dialogue, or exposition to reveal important backstory details. :)

[itallstartedwithakiss]

[wholeheartedsuggestions]

it will never be too late for you to rewrite your story

[wordsnstuff]

How to Write a Novel Without an Outline | Writing Tips

For all the free spirits out there, this one's for you RELEVANT VIDEOS: Why I Stopped Outlining: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doie_OCLmbo&t=698s Writing V...

A really good, solid video I found by the lovely @shaelinwrites. Her channel is very helpful and has a lot of very thorough videos for writers to learn through her experience. I definitely recommend checking this one out. Not only does it have a lot of good tips for approaching the “pantsing” method of plot development, but a lot of general tips that I sometimes find hard to put into words about many topics a writer may need help with.

[susiephone]

when you finally get to writing the scene you started this story for, and now you have to make sure you don’t fuck it up

[newhologram]

You can be angry about things but still make the conscious decision not to be cruel. When we remind each other to be kind, we’re not saying don’t be mad. There’s a lot of stuff to be mad about right now. But you can still be a kind and patient person. You don’t have to be mean to other people. You can choose.

[harriedwriter-deactivated202510]

Say it with me

YOUR STORY ISN’T STUPID

YOUR STORY IS GOOD

YOUR STORY MIGHT NEED REVISIONS

BUT NOT RIGHT NOW

KEEP GOING

[the-mermaid-typist]

Please be gentle with your first drafts; they are the way they are because this is the first time you’ve ever written those scenes, chapters, etc. Some concepts you thought of literally moments ago. Of course they’re not going to be perfect or come out exactly the way you wanted. There will always be more time to perfect them, though, so just keep writing and have as much fun as you can!

[writingquestionsanswered]

I don’t know if you’ll be able to help me with this, and if not that’s completely okay, but I thought I’d ask anyway just in case. I really struggle with actually writing my story. I have so many plots planned but I just can’t get to writing it down. Can you help me?

Have Plot, Can’t Write

If you have a plot planned out but can’t manage to write, you need to figure out what’s stopping you. Consider the following possibilities and solutions:

Problem #1 - Not inspired/excited

Having a plot in mind and even having the bare bones fleshed out doesn’t mean you’re going to be excited about the story. For me what works here is to spend time fleshing out the characters and setting, casting, finding inspiration photos, doing aesthetics, starting a playlist, etc. 

Problem #2 - Not sure where to start

Even with your plot fleshed out, you might not know exactly where to start the story, and there’s so much pressure to start in the right place, it can make it hard to actually dive in. But don’t worry too much about the “right” place in the first or even second draft. Just start the story at a place prior to the inciting incident, preferably when something interesting is happening. Once you get the story fully written, you’ll have a better idea of where you want to start, and if you don’t it will be easier to figure it out then.

Problem #3 - You’re a “planner” not a “panster”

There are two types of writers: those who need to plan and those who don’t. If you can’t start writing based on a general idea or a fleshed out plot, there’s a pretty good chance you’re a planner. After you have a plot fleshed out, you need to sit down and figure out the timeline of the story and a scene list. This isn’t something that’s just going to come to you in a matter of hours. This is something you’ll have to spend days or possibly even weeks hammering out. You’ll need to look at the plot and what needs to happen and figure out scenes for those things to happen in. Scene lists are honestly the best roadmap you can have for your story, so once you get a scene list (or even a general scene list) hammered out, it’s going to be easier to actually write.

Problem #4 - You’re distracted by other things.

If you sit down to write and you’re busy scrolling through facebook, texting with friends, and singing to the radio, you’re probably not going to get much done. Try blocking out thirty minutes or an hour (or whatever amount of time you can afford) and dedicate it entirely to writing. Shut down social media and other tempting apps/sites. Put your phone on silent. Tell friends/family/roommates not to bother you. Put on soft music without lyrics, and focus solely on writing. If you find your mind starting to wander toward other things, yank it back and focus on your story.

Problem #5 - You’re lacking the physical/mental energy to write.

Whether you’re sick, not getting enough sleep, super busy, depressed, or just in a bad mood, not having physical or mental energy can make it very hard to write. Do what you can to bring your energy up as much as possible, both physically and mentally, and you may find it’s easier to actually write.

I hope something here will help you! Good luck with your story!

[sandy-days-and-sun-rays]

[vodkakilledtheteen]

““I’m still trying to figure out how to let certain people go. There are days when I tell myself that I’m not going to text so and so first, or if they text me I’m going to ignore them. But I swear it’s impossible to do. Letting certain people go is like holding your breath and never breathing again. Letting certain people go makes you wonder if maybe that person was it, and maybe we had to reach the top of a hill and fall a million times, and maybe after that millionth time we could’ve been steady and invincible,” she said”

— Alexa Evangelista, the book i’ll never finish writing 

[juansendizon]

“Fear is the imaginary wall between you and everything.”

— Juansen Dizon

[librarysilverfish]

There was a point in my life where I wouldn’t even write self-indulgently in the privacy of my own room on my own computer where nobody would ever see it and wow am I glad I’m over that